30 April 2005
In California, bus riders are fighting back against rail
In light of Metro's continuing focus on "improving" bus service by changing routes (often so the routes feed light rail) and cancelling routes, here are a couple of stories from the Los Angeles Times relating to bus service in California. First, the Bay Area:
Minority bus riders and community groups from Alameda and Contra Costa counties filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission of maintaining a "separate and unequal transit system" that favors white suburban commuters.
The lawsuit is modeled on a 1994 Los Angeles case filed against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by the Bus Riders Union. The settlement in that case resulted in a federal consent decree mandating improved services for urban riders.
The Bay Area lawsuit alleges that the commission has disproportionately funded Caltrain and BART — rail services used predominantly by white suburbanites with relatively high incomes — while under-funding the East Bay's AC Transit bus system, used mainly by low-income minority city dwellers.
According to the lawsuit — filed on behalf of three minority riders from East Oakland and Richmond, the nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment, and Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192 — the commission has channeled a per-person public subsidy of $2.78 to AC Transit riders, $6.14 to BART riders, and $13.79 to Caltrain riders.
That lawsuit has per-rider subsidy numbers -- we'd love to see MetroRail's per-rider subsidy!
And in Los Angeles (original LAT article requires subscription; free link here):
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority must put 134 new buses into its Metro Rapid fleet under a legal order issued Thursday.
[snip]
The court action by Special Master Donald Bliss is a victory for the Bus Riders Union. Earlier this year, the transit advocacy group accused the MTA of flouting a consent decree requiring the agency to improve bus service for Los Angeles County residents.
[snip]
Part of the agency's response to the decree was the Rapid Bus service, which features bright red vehicles that make fewer stops than ordinary buses.
"The MTA had implemented the Rapid Buses by reducing local services," said Manuel Criollo, a Bus Riders Union organizer.
Under Bliss' order, the MTA must pay for the new buses mostly with funds currently designated for services such as light rail and the subway that are unrelated to the agreement. The MTA is allowed to recoup only a third of the costs by reducing local service along the Rapid routes.
Steven Carnevale, the county attorney who represents the MTA, said it would cost about $20 million to operate the new buses — at a time when the agency is strapped for funds.
Which, of course, begs several questions: how long can Metro slash bus service to subsidize the 7.5 miles of light rail when its own Metro Solutions goal says it will increase bus service? How long will Houston-area citizens allow Metro to continue the course it's on? And how long will the Chronicle continue to cover for Metro?
via Out of Control
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/30/05 01:43 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chronicle: U.S. should emulate Iran
Bizarre is the best word to describe this Chronicle editorial that urges the U.S. to be more forward-thinking like the progressive country of Iran, which is now allowing women "reproductive freedom":
Some autonomy for half Iran's population is essential for a functional society. A woman's power over her reproductive system has been proved to be inextricably linked to her country's economic health.
[snip]
Judging from the few English-language press accounts, the Iranian Parliament's decision was strikingly rational in another way. The lawmakers avoided psuedoscience and political pandering and focused on the law and the rights of the disabled.
According to Reuters, "Opponents of the bill argued many disabled people had played important roles in society and that the legislation was open to abuse. Proponents of the law underlined the financial drain of handicapped children on families."
[snip]
Abortion is a serious matter, worthy of mature debate and responsibly crafted law. How ironic that Iran is moving forward toward this goal, while the United States is sliding backward.
That is breathtaking. Literally. And since our progressive judiciary just allowed a disabled person to be dehydrated to death, it's unclear why the Chronicle thinks the U.S. is sliding backward.
We suppose we should be impressed that editorial board member Andrea Georgsson has moved on to more substantive topics than her neighbors refusing her leftovers, except for the disturbing conclusion that she's more concerned about food going to waste than she is about killing innocent babies!
And Orrin Judd observes that Iran and the U.S. are actually "moving towards identical goals."
RELATED: More progressive nations to emulate? North Korea and China
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Here's the stunner for me from that editorial:
A woman's power over her reproductive system has been proved to be inextricably linked to her country's economic health.
Does Georgsson (the Chronicle editorial board's most outspoken abortion advocate, and the person we assume wrote this editorial) really mean to suggest that a nation's economic health depends upon the extent to which the state promotes abortion?
I'm a careful reader, and that's how I read it. Mouth stayed agape for a while.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/30/05 11:46 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
blogHOUSTON on the radio (updated)
Kevin is scheduled to be on the radio (BizRadio 1320) this morning a bit after 10 a.m., discussing a hot topic or two. Charles Kuffner will be on too, if he can drag himself out of the pool.
UPDATE: Charles is so nice. He posts a radio wrap-up, so I can just link to it. Yes, he did manage to get out of the pool -- AND little Olivia decided to weigh in with her opinion, too.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: I've started an archive of recent shows (look to the box on the far right). So long as Jon-Michial Carter keeps having us on, we'll keep trying to post the most recent three shows, as long as it doesn't suck up all of our bandwidth.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/30/05 09:16 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
29 April 2005
Neighborhood residents complain about MS-13, HPD reaction
KHOU-11's Vicente Arenas reports that residents of an unnamed Houston neighborhood are complaining that they can't get HPD's brass to take their concerns about suspected MS-13 gang graffiti seriously:
In a neighborhood that 11 News won't identify for security reasons, a number of people are saying their property and cars have been tagged by gang members who they believe may belong to MS-13.Graffiti like this has some Houston residents concerned that MS-13 gang members are trying to send a message.
And the neighborhood wants action from police.
"I do have a real concern," says one resident who asked not be named.
The number 13, they say, seems to be popping up everywhere -- fences, signs, you name it. That is why they are asking for help.
"I came out on Sunday morning and saw that someone had marked up my truck. It's happened two times in less than a month."
Six cars have been tagged since last week.
The markings were similar. All the vehicles this man says belonged to Anglos whom he believes are being targeted through vandalism and messages.
"I do have a real concern. It's always been a real peaceful neighborhood until just the last year, I guess."
Growing graffiti here was the first surprise. The second came when he called police for help.
"And I called the police to have them come and investigate and got no response whatsoever," he says.
"An officer was at the scene in a handful of incidents as I stated and reports were filed with very specific information," says HPD's Lt. Robert Manzo.
The resident 11 News talked to says police showed up only after he contacted a council member and 11 News.
"We have contacted the captain who's responsible for this specific area and he's telling us he will be assigning some resources," says Lt. Manzo.
Police aren't sure how bad the gang problem is here. Graffiti can be cryptic or copycats trying to have fun.
From recent local reporting, we know that MS-13 is active in the Houston area. Yet one wouldn't know that from any public statements or activities from HPD's brass. Of course, HPD's current manpower shortage doesn't help, yet that doesn't seem to be a priority for Chief Hurtt, Mayor White, or council either.
In what can only be described as a rarity, we find ourselves in complete agreement with this Chronicle editorial:
HPD's silence might have some logic when it comes to small, attention-hungry neighborhood gangs. But gangs such as MS 13, the Crips or the Latin Kings are organized crime operations not in it for the publicity. Identifying their habits — the colors they wear, the graffiti they pen, the way they shave their eyebrows and tattoo their foreheads — can't make these vicious gangs more dangerous. However, it will help Houston residents to protect themselves and give law enforcement agencies essential gang-busting intelligence.
To that end, we've reposted the suspect graffiti that appeared in the KHOU story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/05 04:10 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
May Day, May Day!
"Before, I thought model workers only recognized ordinary people who worked tirelessly and without asking for anything in return," the 24-year-old Yao said through his agent. "Now the award also includes someone like me, a special kind of migrant worker. That's a sign of progress."
Workers of the world can surely unite behind a twenty something Communist of the Year who earns millions a year from those silly American capitalists.
A tip of the hat to Chris Baker for calling attention to this important award.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/29/05 03:38 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Park and Pillage overcrowding
Metro has issued a press release warning:
On Monday, May 2, METRO Police will begin issuing citations for parking violations at the Northwest Station Park & Ride lot.
In an effort to reduce overcrowding and illegal parking at the Northwest Station Park & Ride, METRO is encouraging customers to sign up for the Northwest Freeway Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) Program. The Program allows solo commuters to use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane to travel from the Northwest Station Park & Ride to the less crowded West Little York Park & Ride lot. The SOV Program is free, but only valid for registered solo commuters traveling between the two facilities.
The W. Little York Park & Ride lot is served by the 216 W. Little York/Pinemont route, which stops at the same Downtown locations as the 214 Northwest Station route out of the Northwest Station Park & Ride.
METRO recently completed improvements to the Northwest Station Park & Ride, including new fire lanes, additional parking spaces and new lane striping throughout the facility. However, customers may still encounter difficulty in finding available parking spaces.
Parking violations could result in fines of up to $200 per citation. Jersey Village police officers and other local law enforcement agencies, such as the Harris County Sheriff's Department and Precinct 4 Constables Office, also reserve the right to issue citations at will.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/29/05 02:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
Metro news
The Chronicle reports that Metro has been given permission by the FTA to "begin preliminary engineering studies for planned north and southeast extensions of its light rail line."
The letters from the Federal Transit Administration do not provide money for the projects but give the transit agency standing to compete for money in the congressional appropriations process, said Frank Wilson, Metro's president and chief executive officer.
Interestingly, the story doesn't have a byline; it simply says "Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle." Hmmmm.
Also, yesterday was supposed to be the day that Metro finally allowed KPMG to deliver its FY2004 financial report (CAFR). I emailed Tom Bazan this morning asking if that had happened. Bazan replied that Metro says the CAFR is now available. I assume it can be picked up at Metro's new Lee P. Brown Administration building!
And here's an item from the Metro Board of Directors Executive Session meeting:
Approval to sell the 12.3 acre of land previously used for the Alief Park & Ride lot to the City of Houston
The link on the Meetings and Notices page says this meeting was held yesterday, but the direct link used above says the item was from March 24. I'm not sure why there's a discrepancy.
RELATED: Another Park and Ride bites the dust (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/29/05 11:24 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron: HISD is the "worst"
It must be nice to be a Chronicle sacred cow, like Metro. How else could a quasi-govenmental body with appointed officials waste millions and millions of dollars, cut bus service for the poor and the elderly, play down a record-setting light rail crash rate, end security service at Park and Rides and watch crime double, and hide from last year's financial report, with nary a word from our lone "watchdog" newspaper?
Of course there are plenty of people and entities in Houston that don't enjoy such a status: there's Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal -- who is too hard on criminals until Rick Casey's house gets broken into, then the DA is too soft on criminals; and of course, there's HISD. In spite of trying to implement aggressive reform ideas, the Chronicle won't cut HISD or Dr. Saavedra the teensiest bit of slack. The Chronicle will, however, practice lots of selective and shoddy reporting so that the public maintains a negative image of HISD.
Today's editorial about two-thirds of HISD's fifth-graders passing the TAKS math test is especially repugnant, in light of what we know about HISD's attempts to implement change, and because the Chronicle's less-than-stellar reporting has helped turn many local activist groups against HISD's attempt to improve three underachieving high schools.
Here are some questions for Jason Spencer and James Howard Gibbons (who LOVES ideal states): Has the Chronicle examined the test results of any other school district in the Houston area? Where are the results from Cy-Fair ISD? What percentage of Cy-Fair ISD's students are low income or ESL? What about Aldine ISD -- can we get some results and percentages for that district? How about Alief ISD and Spring Branch ISD? Or will those stories, if they are ever written, be stashed away in the "This Week" sections so most Houstonians won't get to see them?
I will point out that it took the Chronicle almost a year to report on Spring Branch ISD's 2004 TAKS results (in "This Week" of course), and the story was glowing and positive. The story didn't provide a single 2004 TAKS statistic; it merely passed on the district's characterizations of the results.
I would never argue that HISD should get Metro-style reporting from the Chronicle, but a fair-shake certainly would be a welcome development.
RELATED: NAA Study: Readership Declines in 2004 (Editor & Publisher), Study: Vast Majority Says News Reporting is Biased (Editor & Publisher)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/29/05 10:12 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
28 April 2005
Rick Mitchell addresses criticism of I-Fest music
Last weekend, we noted that the alt/Texas country music acts at the Houston International Festival didn't seem as strong as usual.
That could be because Rick Mitchell, who did a fabulous job with the bookings for many years, has not handled the music for the festival since 2003.
In a lengthy letter to the Houston Press this week, however, Mitchell does take issue with John Nova Lomax's criticisms of the festival's music.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/05 10:47 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (2)
Hospital to remove Houston man from life support
KTRK-13 posts an AP dispatch that checks in on Spiro Nikolouzos, who was mentioned in earlier blogHOUSTON posts:
A man in a persistent vegetative state whose family battled with a Houston hospital to stop his removal from life support is set to be removed from support Tuesday at a San Antonio hospital, his family said.
The family of Spiro Nikolouzos, 68, has vowed to keep him on life support and is trying to get him moved back to the nursing home where he was sent after leaving the Houston hospital. A nursing home official said Thursday they would take him back.
The nursing home will take him back and keep him on the life support his family wants. That doesn't seem particularly controversial.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/05 09:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Homeowners associations make themselves look bad (updated)
This story about a homeowner's association selling a house without the homeowner even knowing about it, is alarming:
Pamela Bernhardt was close to completing renovations on a house she owned and hoped to sell. She had installed a new roof, new granite tops in the kitchen and new tiles in the bathroom.
Earlier this month, she arrived at the house on the 14200 block of Swallowfield in southwest Houston and found a small, yellow note stuck to the front door.
The handwritten note said that the house had been sold at a foreclosure sale seven months earlier. The local homeowners association had sold the house, valued at about $250,000, saying Bernhardt failed to pay a $420 assessment fee.
"It was so devastating," Bernhardt said. "I was just stunned."
Bernhardt's situation was another example of the excessive power of homeowners associations and the need to reform the use of foreclosure sales to collect fees, state leaders and activists said Wednesday.
A lawyer for the Briarhills Homeowners Association, which foreclosed on the house, said sufficient protection is on the books for homeowners and that Bernhardt was given ample opportunities to pay the debt.
A $420 debt caused her home to be sold. It's bad enough that homeowners associations can tell you what you can and cannot do with your own backyard, but selling a home for a $420 debt is outrageous. That shouldn't even be legal.
RELATED: KHOU-11's coverage
UPDATE: Chris Baker (KTRH-740) is raging about this. And it really is unbelievable -- as Chris says, "this is America; this is TEXAS!" Yeah, there is something very unAmerican about this whole mess.
Chris talked to the homeowner, Pam Bernhardt. The homeowners association attorney, Terry Sears, was on the Debra Duncan show before Chris' show and the homeowner, Pam Bernhardt, said her attorney was scheduled to meet with Sears at 3 p.m. But Sears didn't show up...because he had been on the Debra Duncan show! Sears left copies of the certified letters for Bernhardt's attorney and she says all the notifying letters went to an incorrect address.
Bernhardt also told Chris that her house was sold for (oh my goodness) $1,600!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/28/05 11:03 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (15)
CNN, Washington Post provide balance to Gebe Martinez story
Gebe Martinez's story about House ethics rules changes being reversed is strangely one-sided.
However, we can go to CNN -- yes, CNN! -- to get more information than what Martinez is giving us:
"There's a reason that they don't want to go to the ethics process and as long as they can keep someone dangling out there like they have with Tom DeLay, they take great glee in that," the Illinois Republican said.
And what reason would the Democrats have for wanting the ethics process to be stalled?
Three sources close to House GOP leaders said the Democrats being targeted include Pelosi, of California, Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio and Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania.
Pelosi was fined by the Federal Election Commission in November 2002 for improperly operating two political action committees.
The commission told Pelosi, then minority whip, to close one of her two PACs, called TEAM Majority, saying she was skirting federal fund-raising limits by operating two PACs.
The commission imposed a $21,000 fine on Pelosi, who continued to run her other fund-raising committee, known as PAC To the Future.
[snip]
McDermott has been the subject of a long-running court case triggered by a 1998 eavesdropping incident involving Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.
[snip]
The Washington Times reported House documents show a 2001 trip Tubbs Jones took to Puerto Rico was improperly paid for by lobbyists. A spokeswomen for Tubbs Jones denied the charge and blamed the documentation on "human error."
[snip]
Republicans say charges against Kanjorski date to 1998, when the 11-term congressman helped two Pennsylvania-based companies owned and run by his four nephews and daughter by earmarking more than $9 million in federal contracts and grants for the two firms.
Kanjorski insisted he has not profited personally from those deals. The companies, Cornerstone Technologies and Pennsylvania Micronics, research water-jet technology.
And the Washington Post reports that House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is having to play a little catch-up:
House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) is reviewing privately financed trips he made after Republicans suggested that he might have violated House rules by not reporting the travel within 30 days.
House records show that Hoyer has filed updated reports with the clerk of the House of Representatives in recent days, detailing at least four trips, dating back to 1999.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/28/05 11:01 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
It only took two days to get a Galveston editorial
Someone must have lit a fire underneath editorial page Editor James Howard Gibbons, because today we get an editorial on President Bush's trip to Galveston where he talked about Social Security.
The President's trip out here was on Tuesday and today is Thursday. Wow! That's pretty timely.
As for the editorial itself, the Chronicle doesn't like the president's plan, which isn't too surprising.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/28/05 09:49 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Officer awarded $600,000 in HPD sexual harassment lawsuit
Yesterday, the Chronicle ran a story by Harvey Rice about the number of women on the HPD force that included the following quote:
"I don't know what they've done in Houston, but I suspect they could increase their numbers if they went to the extra effort," said Mary Ann Viverette, first vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The thrust of the story was a sexual harassment lawsuit. Later in the day, Rice posted another story that began as follows:
A jury awarded the first woman on the Houston Police Department's elite motorcycle unit $600,000 today, fully agreeing with her contentions that she was sexually harassed by her supervisor and that his supervisors failed to take appropriate action.
That may partially explain the lower numbers of women on the force compared to large police departments in other cities. Unfortunately, that's $600,000 that would be better spent on cadet classes of new male and female officers, if not for the bad judgment among the HPD brass.
Incidentally, the second story by Rice yesterday was corrected in a timely and transparent manner after an error was apparently discovered. That's exactly the approach to corrections that we've been requesting. Thanks to someone at the Chronicle for listening! We hope that becomes routine.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/28/05 08:47 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
27 April 2005
Is the Toll Road Authority feeling a bit defensive?
The Harris County Toll Road Authority has sent out a press release trying to temper the idea that it is taking over the Spring segment of the Grand Parkway. I'll reprint the entire release in the extended entry and highlight one paragraph here:
The Harris County Toll Road Authority has no plans to circumvent the right of the public to be heard in this matter, and restates that the Grand Parkway project is still under the state’s jurisdiction and is subject to their public hearing guidelines. As HCTRA is a department under the authority of Harris County Commissioners’ Court, the public does have the opportunity to address their comments and concerns on this or any other issue directly to Commissioners at regularly scheduled Commissioners’ Court meetings. Dates and times for these meetings are available on the internet, as is the contact number to schedule appearances before the Court.
Right. The current spate of publicity pointing out that HCTRA can do practically whatever it wants, whenever it wants must be unwelcome.
But since HCTRA says it is open to public input, let's put that to the test: HCTRA should begin holding monthly, evening meetings at Klein Oak High School which is in the path of one proposed Grand Parkway alignment, so the local citizens who would be most affected by the Grand Parkway can voice their opinions. And don't tell Spring residents to go to Commissioners Court. Spring isn't right around the corner from 1001 Preston, Suite 938, Houston TX, and holding meetings on a weekday morning is NOT what I would call constituent-friendly.
Let's get those county commissioners, including Jerry Eversole who represents Spring, to the area that would be wiped out by the Grand Parkway. Let's get the commissioners face-to-face with the many people whose homes would be razed and otherwise affected.
And if HCTRA is really all for public input, then I would expect it to come out against state Sen. Jon Lindsay's proposed bill that would allow some road building regulations to be circumvented.
And if HCTRA wants to know why folks in Spring are so concerned about being run over by a bunch of bulldozers, think Hardy Toll Road. Here's one excerpt from Houston Freeways that makes it all crystal clear:
If any major transportation facility in Houston can be attributed to the efforts of one individual, it is the Hardy Toll Road. Jon Lindsay made this project happen. Not only did then Harris County Judge Lindsay make the Hardy Toll Road happen, but he did it in the face of substantial opposition to the project. Building an all-new, limited-access transportation facility is a big accomplishment in the modern era. Doing it nearly single-handedly is even more impressive.
Ugh. And who is the Number One Champion of the Grand Parkway being built through Spring? Yep:
Lindsay said he is doing what it takes to get the Grand Parkway built expeditiously through the Spring area, and it may mean taking the state transportation department out of the equation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/27/05 04:21 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
The Chronicle's road trip to Galveston
It took a visit from President Bush, but the Chronicle has finally covered Galveston's alternative Social Security program:
President Bush touted Galveston's alternative public retirement system as family-friendly Tuesday as he sought to promote his own plan for Social Security private accounts.
[snip]
In 1981, public employees in Galveston, Matagorda and Brazoria counties opted out of Social Security in favor of a private accounts system.
Although different in many key aspects from Bush's proposal, the Galveston program and Bush's plan embrace the concept that Social Security isn't sacrosanct and that taxpayers are better stewards of their own retirement money than the government is.
Seated at the center of a U-shaped table, Bush walked participants through a discussion of the program's success, noting that unlike Social Security, beneficiaries of the Galveston plan can bequeath their earnings to family members.
"Here, the government is saying 'we trust you to make the right decisions for your family,' " Bush said. "It's an interesting concept, isn't it?"
(In about 10 days, we should expect a Chronicle editorial.)
At the end of the story, the reporters cite a new poll that "shows" decreased support for the President's plan:
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 51 percent oppose the accounts, up from 41 percent in mid-March. And support for Bush's proposal to add private accounts to Social Security dropped to 45 percent from 56 percent in March.
Which would be worthwhile to note except that:
If you look at page 16 of the poll data, which can be downloaded from the Post's article, it discloses that 35% of the poll's respondents were Democrats, while only 28% were Republicans. Given that slightly more self-identified Republicans than Democrats voted in last November's election, this represents an egregious, seven-point over-sampling of Democrats.
We know Cragg Hines isn't a Power Line fan, but Julie Mason really should bookmark that blog.
RELATED: Covering Galveston's Social Security program (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/27/05 11:09 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
26 April 2005
Increasingly personal journalism from the Chronicle?
The Chronicle's makeover seems not to have ended with the big layout changes that reduced the amount of actual information in the paper in favor of more text boxes and graphics.
We've been noticing that, more and more, serious journalism is being displaced by what we've deemed the LiveJournal approach -- all sorts of personal accounts taking up space where we'd prefer to see harder news.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/05 10:40 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Council to take up rules on library behavior (updated)
Chris Elam calls attention to a Chronicle report on new rules being requested by the Houston Public Library.
Yesterday, KHOU-11's Dan Lauck also reported on the matter:
The library house rules haven't officially been changed since 1981.
"Quite a bit has changed since then," says the Houston Public Library's Sandra Fernandez.
The homeless, for example, in 1981 didn't view the city library as a public shower.
Now, some do.
"Unfortunately, a few get carried away," says patron Mike Kane.
"They're washing clothes in the sink," says patron Thomas Goutier, "Y'know, dirty socks."
Kane and Goutier come to the central library a couple days a week to read or use the Internet. They've seen the change.
"There was one gentleman who'd go upstairs and it looked like he'd take a full bath up there," says Kane. "I saw him do it several times, and I was not too enthused about it."
It was for the vast majority of its patrons that library officials decided to officially prohibit anyone from using the restrooms for bathing, shaving and changing clothes. .
City councilman Gordon Quan said he is concerned about the way the homeless will be treated if the new rules pass city council Wednesday.
At some point, it seems likely that a court will rule that the homeless have a right to bathe, wash clothes, and otherwise abuse the library facilities generously provided by taxpayers. In the meantime, they seem to have Councilmember Quan as their advocate.
UPDATE (04-27-2005): Council passed the new rules for the libraries. The full list of rules is available here (in PDF format).
UPDATE (04-29-2005): Laurence Simon takes apart the contentions of councilmember Ada Edwards, who opposed the new rules.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/05 09:30 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (16)
Chronicle corrections that make you say, "oh my!"
From a Saturday Chronicle story:
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings fined Texas $444,282 Friday for the state's continued defiance of the No Child Left Behind Act.
For the last two years, the Texas Education Agency has exceeded the federal cap on how many students with learning disabilities can be exempted from regular state testing, mandated by the act, in favor of an easier exam.
In a stern letter addressed to Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, Spellings said "the TEA has not shown cause why" she should not withhold the money from the agency's 2004 federal grant.
So, after reading that, I think that the TEA was fined because it allowed more special ed students to take the easier TAKS test than NCLB allows.
But wait -- there's a correction today:
The Texas Education Agency was fined by the U.S. Education Department for not providing state test results to school districts on time, not for exceeding a federal cap on special education testing exemptions, as the Chronicle reported on Page A1 Saturday. See story, this page.
Oh my! That's quite an error.
And today we get a new story:
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Shirley Neeley said Monday a federal fine levied against the agency would not affect the state's classrooms.
The agency was fined $444,282 by the U.S. Education Department on Friday for not providing state test results to school districts on time. The Houston Chronicle erroneously reported Saturday that it was for exceeding a federal cap on special education testing exemptions.
Now, the Chronicle does admit in the story that it got the original story wrong -- which is a new development -- but still...that's something.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/26/05 06:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
An editorial NOT in its ideal state
If today's Chronicle editorial on HISD's acceptance of bids to reform three underachieving high schools is an example of an editorial in its ideal state, then I want a new definition of ideal.
We all know the Chronicle torpedoed Dr. Saavedra's efforts at reform (unwittingly, of course -- the professional journalists at the Chronicle would never misreport the news on purpose) by using misleading, gigantic headlines to put the fear of privatization into every special interest group in Houston. And then the Chronicle strolls along -- tra la la -- reporting the outrage that its shoddy reporting inspired.
Today's editorial -- 10 days after the Chronicle's news story on the bids -- is the same regurgitated garbage:
After his initial announcement provoked protests from minority organizations, including LULAC and the NAACP, Saavedra promised their leaders that he would seek their approval before making major changes at the high schools. Houston Federation of Teachers President Gayle Fallon says, "If I ever had to give a superintendent advice, I would strongly suggest he keep his word on that one."
The difficulties that HISD is encountering should also send warnings to education reform groups that have proposed the so-called death penalties for chronically underachieving schools.
No kidding. Those warnings would be not to invite Jason Spencer to any press conferences!
Here's what the educational experts/editorial board members think is the answer for HISD:
Citizens pay hefty property taxes to fund top-flight district educators and have approved bond issues to build a decent education system. Privatization might work for certain school functions, including food service, but when it comes to school management, it's a copout to hire a private educational firm to solve district problems.
Saavedra should use HISD's resources to make necessary improvements. If the district needs talent, it should recruit and hire the administrators and teachers needed to get the job done. If the job doesn't get done, taxpayers won't have to look beyond the superintendent's office to find the person they can hold responsible.
Oh please. Do the editors really think they know better than Dr. Saavedra how to fix these three schools? Do the editors WANT the state to take over the schools? If it was within HISD's abilities to fix them, don't the editors think Dr. Saavedra would do it? And who knows, maybe the best bid to fix the schools will come from a group within HISD. But the constant Chronicle screeching of "PRIVATIZATION, PRIVATIZATION, PRIVATIZATION," does nothing to improve the education of students; it only inflames an already tense situation. (How did the situation get tense? Oh yeah.)
I've made this point before (sorry to be repetitive): the elites at the Chronicle are always pushing new urbanism ideas. A key component of getting families to move back to the city is good schools. Dr. Saavedra has shown a willingness to think outside the public education box to improve the education HISD provides. The Chronicle, however, seems to be doing its utmost to put up obstacles and stop any talk of reform and improvement.
Why?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/26/05 05:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
Chron sees glass one third empty
Chronicle headline this morning:
Two-thirds of HISD fifth-graders pass tougher math TAKS test
Oh, sorry. That wasn't it at all:
Third of 5th-graders here fail math exam
(online headline has been changed: Third of 5th-graders fail harder-to-pass math test)
Well, the Chronicle is nothing if not predictable. (Too bad we can't get some of this "skeptical" press for Metro)
Jason Spencer has written a very odd story, and not just because of the headline:
A third of Houston's fifth-graders failed the state's math exam, the school district announced Monday, meaning 4,500 students face the threat of summer school, and perhaps another year in elementary school, if they don't manage to pass by August.
This is the first year that fifth-graders are required to pass the math and reading portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam in order to move on to the sixth-grade.
Those who haven't passed both subjects after the third try in June can still be promoted if their parent, teacher and principal unanimously agree that promotion is in the child's best interest.
Even fewer Houston Independent School District fifth-graders — 62 percent — passed the reading exam on the first try, according to results released last month
Wait. Does one-third of Houston's fifth graders equal 4,500? That seems like a very low number. Is it Houston's fifth graders, or HISD's fifth graders? Because -- and this may come as a surprise to Spencer -- there is a difference.
Spring Branch ISD, Cy-Fair ISD, "the largest recognized school district in Texas," Aldine ISD, North Forest ISD, Alief ISD, Galena Park ISD, Sheldon ISD and Spring ISD all have schools in Houston.
That appears to be some sloppy reporting.
And if the two-thirds of HISD students who did pass the test see the paper this morning, what do you suppose they are thinking? Since we know that 80% of HISD's students are classified as low-income, a two-thirds passing rate on a math test with a tougher standard is not the end of the world. Let's celebrate the students who did pass! Plus, there will now be special tutoring and two more chances to take the test for those who didn't pass.
What is really incredible about Spencer's story is that HISD's news about the 18 new executive principals announced to facilitate improved instruction and learning in HISD, is added to the end of the story almost as an afterthought. Why? It should be bigger news than that, since it is the next step in Dr. Saavedra's reorganization plan -- a reorganization plan that aims to improve the test scores Spencer is reporting negatively.
Would you like to know who those new executive principals are? You can visit KTRK-13's story I linked to yesterday, or you can read HISD's press release, because the Chronicle won't tell you.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/26/05 11:05 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
25 April 2005
A public-service suggestion from the Houston-area coven
The blog has been a little quiet tonight, as Anne and I have been in a conclave with other members of the Houston-area coven.
We've been trying to come up with a solution to METRO's Park and Pillage problem.
Really.
No security presence in the lots, but a Task Force and Crime Stoppers!
We weren't satisfied with that. So we've conjured a few spells. We've looked into the crystal ball. We've even re-read Reagan's famous 1964 speech (being a "hard-right" coven and all).
And we think we've come up with a much better proposal.
Much like the volunteers of the Minuteman Project are guarding the border with Mexico because the government has abdicated its responsibility to do so, we propose that Houstonians form a voluntary security detail for the Park and Rides, since METRO has basically said you're on your own if you choose to use their lots. Just to give METRO grief and prompt James Howard Gibbons to write a new LiveJournal entry, we propose limiting the security detail to volunteers with concealed-carry permits.
Now, before anyone starts complaining that we're advocating vigilante justice -- that's not what we're advocating at all. We don't actually want anyone shot. We think a local Minuteman Project would simply provide a deterrent to thieves and vandals that METRO isn't providing at the moment. Or, the very thought of it will scare METRO into staffing the Park and Rides with security, like they should be doing already.
So that's the Houston-area coven's public-service suggestion for the evening.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/05 11:13 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
The Coven's crystal ball is put into action
HISD held a press conference today to make two announcements. First was to announce the executive principals who have been tapped to oversee the new feeder school patterns -- a part of Superintendent Dr. Saavedra's reorganization plan.
The second announcement was HISD's fifth-grade math TAKS results. This year's test required that students get more questions correct, in order to pass, and fifth-graders must pass the test in order to advance to the next grade. HISD announced that 67% of fifth graders passed -- showing a slight increase over last year -- when compared to the same standard as last year (last year's standard to pass was lower; to make an equal comparison one has to take that into account).
Anyway, let's gaze into the Houston-Area Coven's crystal ball: I foresee that the Chronicle's story tomorrow will focus on the students who didn't pass the TAKS test. We can even guess the headline:
One third of HISD students FAIL TAKS test: No hope seen for HISD schools; private companies commence takeover.
RELATED: Wanted: a policy of clear and transparent corrections (blogHOUSTON), Ho-hum: Chron runs another HISD-is-bad story (blogHOUSTON)
UPDATE: KTRK-13 has a short story on HISD's new executive principals.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/25/05 05:30 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Morrison withdraws from Congressional race
Democrat Richard Morrison, who last year challenged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R), has apparently announced his withdrawal from the 2006 race, citing a number of familial concerns. Here's wishing Morrison well with those matters.
Former Rep. Nick Lampson and current city councilmember Gordon Quan, both Democrats, have expressed interest in the race.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/05 05:01 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Big rig takes out METROrail (updated 04-26-2005)
KPRC-2 reports that a big rig has taken out the city's world-class light-rail line:
METRORail was ground to a halt Monday after an 18-wheeler hit overhead lines and knocked out power to the light-rail train service, officials told Local 2.
Shortly before noon, the big rig accidentally hit the power line at Loop 610 and Fannin, cutting off the power for the line, which runs from Fannin to Reliant Stadium.
Buses were brought in to transport passengers to their destinations.
Crews are on the scene to repair the damage, which is expected to take up to six hours.
Buses certainly are a reliable and flexible form of mass transit, no?
Let's hope they get this fixed quickly. We wouldn't want Lucas Wall to be inconvenienced again.
UPDATE: The news report has been updated, and now states that only service south of Smith Lands station has been affected.
UPDATE 2: The news report has been updated again. Service was disrupted further north on the rail line by a collison with a vehicle at Main and Alabama.
UPDATE (04-26-2005): KTRK-13, KHOU-11, and the Chronicle have coverage.
Also, Don Gallagher, moderator of the Houston-MET Yahoo group, offers the following firsthand account:
Today, Metro had another torn down power line...make that TWO power lines! A flatbed truck tore down both the North and South bound power lines at approximately 11AM. All train traffic ceased between the Fannin Park N Ride and Smith Landing, both prime parking facilities (and the only one's actually).
At around 3:30 this afternoon, another MetroRail train hit a minivan at Alabama and Main. The train was heading South.
I drove by the Smith Landing station at around 5PM and saw total mayhem. There were Metro vehicles and personnel directing trains as the apparently were manually switching trains. It was difficult to see why until one passed by the station. The train involved with the second accident was sitting, out of commission at the station so they only had one side to load and unload passengers to be then transferred to buses. I was also puzzled as the trains there had very few passengers (Metro claims high ridership and it was rush hour).
After leaving that station, I drove down to the 610 interchange to see an even worse situation. Dozens of Metro vehicles and Siemen trucks all over the place and traffic shut down on both sides of the feeder road. All traffic was forced to make major detours and there were no signs in place to advise people how to get around this mess (remember, this had been going on for six hours).
Interesting that there were three workers sitting at the Reliant Station waiting for a train. No one seemed to have placed a sign there saying "Out Of Service". So they simply get to waste time also.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/05 01:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
Free ice cream, part 2
It's not Ben & Jerry's; it's Cold Stone Creamery -- yea!
There's no word yet on whether or not there's a Cold Stone Creamery-sponsored effigy rolling around Houston.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/25/05 11:32 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Downtown entities study need for multi-purpose transit center
MSNBC is running a Houston Business Journal article on a study being conducted to determine if Houston needs an "intermodal transit center":
The Houston Downtown Management District is taking the lead in an inter-governmental agency project to study the feasibility of an intermodal center, which is also referred to as a multimodal center. The 32-member steering committee that will analyze the resulting data is co-chaired by Mark Cover of Hines, Bill Franks of Spire Realty Group and Houston City Councilmember Adrian Garcia.
[snip]
The downtown district is spearheading the intermodal center study with several sponsoring entities: The Main Street Coalition, Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) and the Midtown Management District/Midtown Redevelopment Authority.
A total of $430,000 has been raised to pay for the feasibility study, but officials say not all of that may be spent on the process.
The Texas Department of Transportation is contributing $200,000 in grant money earmarked for intercity bus service; the Houston City Council voted this week to allocate $150,000 in federal funds that are designated for Main Street work; the downtown district is paying $40,000; Metro is throwing in $20,000; and the Midtown district and Main Street Coalition are each putting up $10,000.
The consultants will help determine whether Houston needs one large intermodal transit center or whether the area might be better served by several smaller sites throughout the city.
[snip]
As the consultants begin their work, they will likely look to the success of Mockingbird Station in Dallas. The 10-acre, pedestrian-friendly development adjoins the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Mockingbird Station. Commercial development includes more than 90 shops and restaurants, office space, parking, 216 loft apartments and an eight-screen Angelika Film Center and Cafe.
Consultant John Stainback, Stainback's managing partner, says a transit-oriented development that typically includes housing and retail is funded in such a way that does not require voter approval.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/25/05 09:49 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Hybrids in HOV lanes
Here's a question and answer from today's Move It! column:
Q: Other states are allowing single-passenger hybrid vehicles in HOV lanes as a means to promote fuel/emission-friendly vehicles. Has Metro discussed this subject? Are there plans to follow other states? This certainly would help our air quality and would promote more people purchasing hybrid vehicles.
— Paul Faulkner, Seabrook
A: California has approved allowing single-occupant hybrid vehicles in that state's High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. However, because federal funds were used to build the car-pool lanes, the federal government must approve the policy change before it may go into effect. Currently federal law prohibits single-occupant vehicles from using HOV lanes (though there are some exemptions, such as for motorcycles and law enforcement vehicles).
Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Capt. Tim Kelly said his agency is researching how to accommodate some single-occupant vehicles in the Harris County HOV system. One of Metro's goals is to convert some underutilized HOV lanes into High Occupancy Toll lanes. That would allow solo drivers to use the express lane by paying for the privilege. The Katy Freeway reconstruction project is converting the single, reversible-direction HOV lane into four HOT lanes (two each direction). The Katy HOT lanes are scheduled to open in late 2008.
Congress continues debating the six-year transportation reauthorization bill, which has been past due since October 2003. Changes to the HOV policy are among the numerous policies under consideration.
I was surprised that Lucas Wall left out a big component of the hybrids-in-HOV-lanes fad. Virginia implemented that plan and the HOV lanes in Northern Virginia are often more congested than the regular lanes:
A surge in the number of hybrid vehicles has left carpool lanes nearly as congested as the regular lanes they are intended to relieve, a Virginia transportation task force said yesterday.
A detailed study of carpool lanes on Interstate 95 found that the number of hybrids more than tripled between last spring and October. State transportation officials fear that the trend will continue as more hybrids enter the market and more commuters take advantage of an exemption allowing them to ride alone in such vehicles.
The findings reflect the sentiments of carpool-lane users, who have inundated state officials with complaints about increased delays and congestion over the past six months. Many blame hybrids.
Another issue with hybrids: states collect less in gas taxes and that can make them cranky, which could lead states to get even MORE creative at collecting revenue!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/25/05 09:11 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
24 April 2005
Chronicle's Hines deems blogHOUSTON part of a coven
We were delighted this morning to discover that Chronicle D.C. editorialist Cragg Hines is apparently a blogHOUSTON reader -- albeit a disgruntled one.
Hines seems not to have liked this post that called attention to a "talking-points memo" he referred to in a column.
We couldn't have known before the post, though, since he neglected to answer multiple emails about his knowledge of the memo.
As we now know -- and as we posted -- the "talking-points memo" originated with a Republican staffer, wasn't a "talking-points memo" for other Republicans, and was mischaracterized by the Washington Post and others in their original reporting. Indeed, if not for the blogger outcry, we probably would never have gotten to the bottom of the matter, and the "Republican leadership" would have been unfairly and inaccurately smeared.
At most, the memo was a dumb document written by a staffer of a freshman Senator -- hardly a "talking points memo" embraced by the Republican leadership.
Interestingly, though, we now understand why Hines preferred to ignore our emails asking about this memo he wrote about authoritatively. It turned out he hadn't seen it:
Although I had not seen a copy of the full memo at the time, I confirmed with a trusted source on Capitol Hill the existence of the memo and the quotes I wanted to use.
My characterization of the memo and its contents was accurate.
Actually, the journalistic process was lazy and the reporting bordered on dishonest (since it gave the impression that Hines had seen the memo, when he had only heard hearsay about it). A broken clock is right twice a day, but that doesn't make it a reliable timepiece!
Hines just can't help taking a few more uninformed shots:
As far as I can tell, the once-blazing bloggers have commented little either on the accuracy of the initial reports about the memo....
We'll repeat our advice in the original post -- maybe Cragg Hines needs to diversify his blog reading! We've posted an update, and the PowerLine crew who drove ABC and the Washington Post to correct their mistaken reporting have posted multiple updates. If Hines hasn't seen them, he's not looking very hard. Or at all.
Here's our favorite whine from Hines:
The reaction of the neander-bloggers? So much noise was followed by what sounded a lot like silence.
A small part of their wrath, especially from the Houston-area coven, had been directed at me.
Neander-bloggers? Houston-area coven?
Houston-area coven has a nice ring to it, actually! We like that! So much so that we worked up the graphic at the bottom of the post. Note the depiction of Cragg Hines in his lovely fur coat, being tormented by the Houston-area Coven of anti-Idiotarian Bloggers, or maybe the Houston-area Coven of the Northern Alliance. We haven't quite decided a good name for like-minded bloggers in the area. Perhaps readers might share suggestions in the comments?
In the future, though, we'd advise the Chronicle's vindictive D.C. columnist to: 1) diversify his blog reading, 2) read this blog more regularly and certainly more carefully, and 3) whine less. Be wary of the coven, Mr. Hines!
The above image is a parody based upon the brilliant original artwork of Ian Churchill
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/05 09:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (14)
Food and drink roundup (04-24-2005 edition)
We skipped the food and drink roundup last week, so this installment will include a few extra links.
Alison Cook checked out Romero's Las Brazas located on Highway 6 in far northwest Houston, and found the restaurant to be a real gem. This week, she stayed close to downtown and gave Jenni's Noodle House another try.
Last week, Robb Walsh gave us his opinion of Pronto Cucinino, the area's newest entry in the fast-casual market. This week, he headed over to the city's west side to try Yanti's Restaurant & Bar, and we get another one of his informative cuisine lessons in the process.
Ken Hoffman gives Domino's new American Classic Cheeseburger Pizza a try.
And finally, Mr. C's Irish Pub gets reviewed by the Chron's Lance Scott Walker.
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 04/24/05 09:47 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron announces Gibbons promotion
The Chronicle finally got around today to announcing what blogHOUSTON readers learned on Tuesday -- the "interim" tag has been removed from James Howard Gibbons' job title, as he has been named the editorial page editor:
"Editorial pages are designed to help you pause and think about the current and critical issues of the day," said Chronicle Publisher Jack Sweeney. "James Gibbons has demonstrated his ability to do just that in leading our daily discussion with Chronicle readers."[snip]
Chronicle Editor Jeff Cohen said he has asked Gibbons to "discern the community's daily concerns and to lead the discussion with the editorial board as we offer guidance about what is good for the people of Houston."
"We will persuade with reason and without antagonism," Cohen said. "We will be mindful of Texas' diversity. And our focus will not be on who or what is conservative or liberal; our focus will be on what is interesting, important or provocative."
Offer guidance about what is good for the people of Houston?
Spoken like a true liberal mainstream media dinosaur. Seriously, could that be any more condescending?
As for Jack Sweeney's reference to Gibbons' demonstrated ability to lead the daily discussion -- well, we'll just say it's been some discussion! The editorial page under Gibbons has been extremely slow to offer opinions on hot local topics. He's put state Rep. Rick Noriega (D) in Iraq instead of Afghanistan. He's cited a nonexistent treaty. He's gotten so excited about Walter Matthau that he completely blew the numbers on a budget editorial of all things. He's gotten attention from the Wall Street Journal for referring to Afghanistan's president as "Hamid Crazy." He's let way too many serious substantive and copy errors get through. And, of course, there's the now famous editorial from Mr. Gibbons on the ideal state.
Those are just some of our favorites. As they might say in the journalism business, space considerations prevent us from really reflecting on these Chronicle editorial pages in their ideal state! But, we're sure we'll continue to have plenty of opportunities now that Mr. Gibbons' "interim" tag has been removed.
ANNE ADDS: My favorite Chronicle editorial is Hamid Crazy. All those layers of professionally-trained journalists and that whopper makes it into print!
The most stunning example of the Chronicle's mindset is the contrasting editorials on the topic of death: one editorial wondering why an innocent person in an incapacitated state, like Terri Schiavo, would be allowed to live, and another celebrating the end of death sentences for convicted murderers.
Ugh.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/05 08:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
We may not be world class, but we're as good as Dallas!
There's nothing that convinces me that Houston's elites no longer have an inferiority complex with regard to Dallas quite like an editorial from those elites that says they no longer have an inferiority complex with regard to Dallas because (among other reasons) the Texans beat the Cowboys in 2002!
That settles it.
Thanks, Chronicle elites, for that little boost to our collective self-esteem!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/05 07:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Casey mimics editorial board on political speech
We've noted before that the column of the Chronicle's Rick Casey is frequently used to flesh out and develop opinions that are taken by the Chronicle editorial board.
Thus, it was hardly surprising on Friday when Rick Casey devoted an entire column to a political campaigning scenario that then got him to this conclusion:
These corporations are forbidden by law to contribute to [Rick Perry's] political campaign, but they can contribute to "issues" ads.
In practical reality, these ads would be part of Perry's campaign for re-election.
Maybe it's better for our elected officials to pay lobbyists than to be in debt to them.
Recall that the Houston Chronicle editorial board has, several times, come out in favor of legislation being considered in Austin that would ban certain "issues" ads. And note how Rick Casey's Friday column cleverly tied such "issues" ads to Chronicle "bad guy" Rick Perry.
There's a reason Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen wasted no time in getting Rick Casey to Houston. He's reliable, and he's good at what he does. Readers can decide for themselves whether it's good journalism, but Casey is rarely (if ever?) out of step with the editorial board on their issues, and consistently fleshes out that perspective on the "news" pages. It's not subtle to careful readers, but it's effective.
Turning back to the "issues" ads that Casey and the editorial board are attacking, we'd just like to remind Houstonians that this is yet another example of their local newspaper criticizing the political speech of others, while continuing to advocate special privileges for professional journalists.
That, in our view, serves a very special interest (the Chronicle and other "professional" journalism outfits), but not the public interest.
Further, if the Chronicle is as philosophically opposed to "issue" ads as they say, we'll be looking forward to a Cragg Hines/Clay Robison/Rick Casey/James Howard Gibbons denouncement of the "issue-oriented" activities of the Center for American Progress. Philosophical consistency would seem to demand no less from the Chronicle.
So long as there is disclosure of funding sources, we don't mind those ads or other issue ads. Indeed, we tend to think of it quaintly as political speech. Then again, we try to practice some degree of consistency here, and don't merely craft our posts to attack "bad guys" or advance pet causes. Maybe the Chronicle could learn from that example?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/05 10:43 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
23 April 2005
Spring residents meet with HCTRA officials -- finally
Grand Parkway opponents in Spring had a chance to meet with some Harris County Toll Road Authority officials last week -- for the first time. The meeting was prompted by residents receiving survey notices from a HCTRA-contracted company:
For the first time since announcing their opposition four years ago, members of a coalition opposed to the Grand Parkway running through Spring met with transportation officials to resolve issues on the proposed highway projects.
United to Save Our Spring coalition member Connie O'Donnell said the coalition pushed for this meeting because several residents who live in the study area were sent letters last week from a Harris County Toll Road Authority consultant seeking access to their properties for a right-of-way study.
"It was time to get all of the issues on the table with all of the people involved in the project," O'Donnell said.
Remember, HCTRA officials LOVE to tell local media that HCTRA invites public input:
The Toll Road Authority said even though it doesn't have open forums, it has never gone against public outcry to build a project.
And:
Eckels goes on to say the public has a chance to give input on these toll roads at the county commissioners' meeting every two weeks.
And:
Jonnie Bryant, public information officer for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, said that while the toll road authority is not required to hold public hearings, it invites public comment.
"We always welcome comments," Bryant said. "We have an open-door policy, and individuals or groups can meet with our director, Mike Strech."
But this was the first time Spring residents and others interested in the Grand Parkway had been able to meet with HCTRA officials, and according to a first hand account, Art Storey and Mike Strech of HCTRA weren't thrilled at having the meeting. AND state Sen. Jon Lindsay has never met with Grand Parkway opponents, even though they are his constituents.
More of the Chronicle's story is in the extended entry. I get the feeling that HCTRA is a bit defensive and is attempting to keep the focus on TxDOT -- by continuing to say that the project remains in the hands of TxDOT and that no decisions have been made. Of course, opponents aren't buying that. Why else would HCTRA be spending $5.6 million to study the Grand Parkway if it didn't have a good idea that it wants to build the segment through Spring?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/23/05 02:52 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Houston International Festival returns to downtown
In the Houston Press, John Nova Lomax is highly critical of the festival's music bookings. Although Taj Mahal is a rare treat for Houstonians, I'm inclined to agree with Lomax -- especially with regard to the booking of Texas and regional alt-country acts. The festival once shined in booking up-and-comers in that genre and getting them exposure. That doesn't appear to be the case this year.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/23/05 09:16 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (3)
MeMo on the radio
MeMo will also be on the radio this morning:
3. And even though Anne Linehan fakes a tooth abcess when she hears this -- I'm on Wait, Wait .. Don't Tell Me on KUHF (88.1 FM) Saturday at 10.
No, really -- it's okay. No fake tooth abscess for me, but thanks for the concern. Since the non-tooth abscess doesn't seem to affect my ears, maybe I'll tune in after the Kevin and Kuff show.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/23/05 07:33 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 April 2005
blogHOUSTON on the radio
Kevin Whited is scheduled to be on BizRadio1320 (KXYZ-AM) Saturday around 10:15 a.m with host Jon-Michial Carter and Charles Kuffner.
What topics and happenings from this past week will they discuss? Be sure to tune and find out.
UPDATE (04-23-2005): For those who can't get the station over the air, the streaming audio link, which seemed to be down last week, is working fine so far this morning.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/22/05 08:42 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
Fun with headlines
Best of the Web highlights a Galveston County Daily News headline:
If They're Nice, Maybe the Republicans Will Yield the Floor
"County Democrats Still Without Chair"--headline, Daily News (Galveston County, Texas), April 22
Or maybe a local furniture store will give them a good deal.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/22/05 06:58 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (2)
Metro's Chief Lambert on with Chris Baker today (updated!)
We've received a heads-up that Metro police Chief Tom Lambert will be on with Chris Baker (KTRH-740) at the beginning of the 3:00 p.m. hour. Maybe Chris will ask him if he's interested in Laurence Simon's remote cam technology that can go on the web. Then Park and Ride patrons could keep an eye on their own cars.
It's interesting that talk radio, TV news and blogs are on top of the security problems at Metro's Park and Rides, but the Chronicle (Houston's Daily Information Source) is MIA.
The Chronicle did, however, manage to squeeze in that LULAC story today.
UPDATE: Wow! A whole day to get himself together doesn't appear to have helped Chief Lambert. He has a set of bullet points and he's sticking to them:
-- He's forming a Park and Ride Task Force (PART F) -- 15 officers who will patrol Park and Rides.
-- He's joining up with Crimestoppers (which will provide signs and rewards)
-- The security guards will not be back
-- Metro has learned some lessons
-- Technology to support the PART F officers is the best course of action (technology that Metro is still searching for)
-- Metro must learn to be flexible, adaptable and be open to directive action (whatever the heck THAT means)
He said that he alone made the decision to get rid of the security guards and he anticipated an increase in crime. Really?! Did he warn Park and Ride patrons beforehand? Did he post any signs warning Park and Ride users that they should anticipate increased crime? Good grief. And he says Metro has learned. Well that's nice, but Metro just used a whole bunch of its customers as guinea pigs.
He said that Metro needs to broaden its knowledge, change and learn. Chris pointed out that it sounded like Lambert was in therapy! Chris also pointed out that everything Lambert is proposing is reactive. Chris wondered if valued Metro customers should be worth more than "after-the-fact" thinking.
When Metro made the decision to get rid of the guards, it said cameras would be used instead. Now we find out that there aren't any working cameras in use. Chief Lambert hasn't explained why.
And expecting Crimestoppers to solve Metro's funding problem is unbelievable. That light rail train has sure impacted Metro in ways Metro never warned Houston-area citizens about!
Does all this make Houston world-class?
UPDATE AGAIN: A story finally showed up at Chron.com. In it we learn that Metro is testing some new surveillance cameras on MetroRail platforms and Lambert says the cameras will be installed at Park and Rides by July 1. Of course, that doesn't explain why Metro didn't wait until July 1 to end the security guard service.
The story also includes this:
Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert and Kim Ogg, executive director of Crime Stoppers, also asked bus riders to watch for suspicious activity on the lots and report it to 713-222-TIPS.
Ummm, who's hanging around the lot to call Crime Stoppers? The people who use Park and Rides tend to park and then ride to work, right? (They aren't called Park and Hang Outs) Who do those two think are going to be around to do the job Metro is supposed to do?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/22/05 02:55 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (4)
LULAC releases complaint to the media but not the city
LULAC is getting some media attention this morning with its claims that the City of Houston discriminates against Hispanic employees:
"LULAC has received numerous complaints of discrimination against Hispanics who have been subjected to a hostile working environment," Johnny Mata, District VIII spokesman for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said Thursday.
The complaint, which was also sent to the U.S. Department of Transportation and distributed to the media on Thursday, details numerous incidents of alleged mistreatment of Latino city employees. These include allegations of ethnic and sexual harassment and discriminatory hiring, firing and promotions.
However, the city says LULAC wouldn't let it see the complaint:
Frank Michel, Mayor Bill White's spokesman, said LULAC leaders would not release a copy of the complaint to the city legal department...
And:
LULAC officials have advised City Attorney Arturo Michel they were not yet authorized to release a copy of their complaint to us...
LULAC releases its complaint to the media, but not to the city? Why? Maybe LULAC didn't want the city to have a response for the morning news cycle. And since the Friday afternoon news cycle is the beginning of the weekend news tune-out, LULAC gets to have its talking points in the public's mind all weekend, without a city response.
RELATED: KPRC-2, KHOU-11, KTRK-13
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/22/05 08:53 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
21 April 2005
Lambert: Park and Rides just need technology -- where do we get some? (updated!)
I was going to add yet another update to the Metro Park and Pillage post, but this KHOU-11 story is too incredible for an update:
In January Metro pulled contract security workers from all 26 Park and Rides. At the time it said safety would not suffer, but the numbers are dramatic as seen in the crime reports for all Park and Rides for the first three months of the year.
There were 27 crimes reported in 2001, 48 in 2002, 63 in 2003 and 44 in 2004. With vacant security shacks, the number for 2005 jumped to 90 before 15 reports were filed Wednesday from the Addicks location.
"We said then and we will still say now that we will redeploy our resources based upon situations that take place. We clearly learned a lesson yesterday," said Chief Tom Lambert, Metro Police.
Does Metro really want a police chief who is learning as he's going along?
Crime Stoppers will be adding signage to all lots, hoping that will help as a deterrent.
"The chances of someone turning you in just got a whole lot better," said Kim Ogg, Crime Stoppers.
Yeah, some signs will be very helpful, no doubt.
And for a strong close:
Metro is assigning 15 officers to a Park and Ride task force working to improve security. The officers will focus on trouble spots and work at all hours, but Metro will not be going back to private security.
"We believe that in the longer term technology is the right approach to take," Chief Lambert said.
Right now Metro doesn't have much technology. There are security cameras at two Park and Ride locations, one of which happens to be the Addicks location, but the cameras there don't work.
Metro is currently researching other possibilities to up their technology to help stop these problems.
Maybe Metro officials could have worked on this research BEFORE they got rid of all the security guards? Just a thought.
And now, after today's many jaw-dropping moments, Metro would be well-advised to get Lambert away from the cameras and microphones.
UPDATE (4-22-2005): Laurence Simon offers Metro an example of his ability to catch thieves on camera. Someone please call Chief Lambert -- I think we have found the technology Metro's seeking!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/21/05 08:54 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
White and Lee oppose ending sports authority
Nearly two weeks ago, Jack Rains appeared on the Dan Patrick show on KSEV-700 to talk about disbanding the Houston Sports Authority, then Billy Burge called in, and finally all sorts of hilarity ensued, as described on various blogs.
Last week, the Chronicle's Rick Casey commented on part of the conversation that took place, although he didn't bother to interview Rains.
This week, Rich Connelly also comments on the Patrick/Rains/Burge exchange for the Houston Press.
It's good to see all the print publications are finally up to speed now on a two-week old story.
In the last election, Bill White ran as a fiscally sensible businessman who would be mindful of the city's purse strings. In office, however, he's overseen a significant expansion of long-term municipal debt, he's opposed Proposition 2's effort to control the growth of municipal revenues (to the tune of being forced by a court to report the outcome of the election), and now we find him in alliance with perennial tax-and-spender El Franco Lee, who seems to support transforming a sports authority that's served its purpose into a perpetual boondoogle authority.
Interestingly, Mack reports that Mayor White claimed to be speaking for council, even though council has not taken a position on dissolving the Sports Authority. Perhaps it's time for Jared Woodfill to encourage certain members of council to express their opinions on the matter.
ANNE ADDS: The story also points out that Oliver Luck is busy trying to secure new sports teams for Houston and specifically mentions Major League Soccer. Well, take a look at what is going on in San Antonio:
The proposal to bring Major League Soccer to San Antonio continues to balloon, with the price tag of the proposal San Antonio City Council is set to vote on today in excess of $22 million, 1200 WOAI news reported today.
That's three times higher than the $6.2 million dollar price tag which was placed on the deal just one week ago.
ONE WEEK! The price of a MLS team went from $6 million to $22 million in ONE WEEK! This is what happens when these governmental authorities get their grimy mitts on taxpayer dollars.
The Aeros need to buy their own ice, Les Alexander needs to pay for his own parking garage (or give up the money he's currently pocketing), El Franco Lee needs to find a Parks and Rec Department to build his pool and youth center, and the Sports Authority needs to close up shop. No more endless boondoggles!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/05 06:10 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
Metro's Park and Pillage (updated -- Metro's forming a Task Force!)
Remember Metro's bright idea to save some bucks and install security cameras at Park and Rides instead of having security guards? That was some good thinking:
More than a dozen angry commuters could be found among the shattered glass and broken car locks at a Park 'N Ride lot at the Addicks location on Old Katy Road in the far west side of Houston.
As each bus pulled into the lot, more and more passengers, like Noelle Stewart, immediately reached for their cell phones.
"I said whoever did this job over here, they was having party with the cars for a long time. There wasn't no police, no security, no nothing," says one victim.
All of the victims were surprised by the lack of security. There are cameras and security tower, but no one was inside.
When asked if he thought there was security, victim Frank Flores says, "I thought so. When I first started working downtown, I saw a security guard back up there. Recently, I didn't see anybody, but I thought they came in later or they were here earlier, but I guess that's not the case."
Metro stopped putting guards in all the booths as of January 1.
The suspect or suspects took everything from digital cameras to CDs to Walkmans to a lot of satellite radios.
[snip]
Metro officers arrived and began taking reports. Some of them even took the time to take fingerprints.
[snip]
There is no one in the security booth during the day and it appears that the cameras in the lot are pointed toward the traffic to let Metro know how much traffic flow is going through the area.
Oh my! On top of the bad decision to use cameras for security, KHOU-11 says Metro is using the cameras to count cars instead of actually keeping an eye on the cars in the parking lot!
Metro's decision-making continues to defy reason.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: And where has METRO deployed the manpower that might previously have been out preventing theft and vandalism in its Park and Ride lots?
As I noted previously, three METRO (not HPD) officers were sitting near the Sears parking lot in midtown this past Monday, issuing traffic citations related to an intersection that is confusing and dangerous to motorists because of METRO's own poor planning with regard to the rail line!
Taxpayers deserve better from their transit authority and other municipal leaders.
RELATED: Park and Rape (Laurence Simon)
Yeah, my jaw is on the floor as well...
UPDATE AGAIN: KPRC-2 has more and Metro looks even worse, if that's possible:
Lambert does not believe bringing back the security guards would be effective, and it would cost METRO nearly $1 million a year.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS MORE: Here's a possibility. Have the Task Force meet several times a day. And hold the meetings in the unused guard towers at different Park and Rides throughout the METRO service area! Hey, if they have time to meet in the first place, then why not actually have them do some good while they're meeting?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/21/05 12:12 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
Mack: Jon Lindsay may be vulnerable
Kristen Mack sure knows how to make a girl smile:
Some think [Lindsay] may be vulnerable to a GOP primary challenge.
He didn't schedule any public appearances during a recent weekend visit to the district, and has none planned as the legislative session in Austin heats up during its final weeks. Detractors view that as a sign that constituent contact is not a priority.
One of the area's longest-tenured public servants, Lindsay has spent eight years in the Senate and spent 20 years as Harris County judge.[snip]
He fell from the political pinnacle in the mid-1990s amid corruption allegations that ended his county reign.
Lindsay was indicted in 1993 on misdemeanor charges of lying on campaign finance reports for failing to report the use of $195,000 in campaign money to buy a dive boat for his son.
Later, a federal convict claimed that he had acted as the middleman in the delivery of more than $100,000 in cash to Lindsay in 1986, in return for Lindsay raising the value of private land by rerouting a county road.
The allegations did not result in criminal charges, and Lindsay recently called the convict's claims "totally bogus and absolutely false."
Maybe the claims were bogus, but just for fun, let's visit the archives:
County officials rejected state Sen. Jon Lindsay's offer to work for the county as a consultant who would try to persuade north Harris County developers to donate land for the [Grand Parkway] project.
Lindsay, a Republican who represents much of the area where the segment would be built, has long supported the Grand Parkway.
He said he met last year with 14 developers who own land between Texas 249 and I-45. About 10 of the developers agreed to donate land to the county for the toll road, Lindsay said.
With that land, the toll road could have been built without traversing as many Spring residential areas as called for under TxDOT plans, he said.
Lindsay said he met with Eversole and other officials in the fall and tried to sell them on hiring him as a consultant.
He would have asked the county to pay him about $5,000 or $6,000 a month for his services, Lindsay said.
"I told them I was not going to do it gratis. It was too much work," he said.
County officials balked at the proposal, saying it could appear to be improper for the county to hire a state senator to lobby developers who were his business acquaintances or friends and who would benefit from the highway's construction, Lindsay said. "I did not understand where the conflict of interest was, just because I was a senator," he said.
And:
Lindsay said he is doing what it takes to get the Grand Parkway built expeditiously through the Spring area, and it may mean taking the state transportation department out of the equation. He said he is not worried it will move to Montgomery County.
"We brought the developers together to make sure everyone was on the same page," Lindsay said. "There was some discussion about different routes and how they would affect developments, but everyone there agreed we need to do the project."
You really have to hold your nose around Lindsay.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: If he gets chased from office, he'll at least have his tree farming to fall back on. Tree farming, readers may ask? Yes, tree farming.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/21/05 11:37 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
METRO: CAFR to be released April 28
On April 17, Anne Linehan raised questions about the release of METRO's FY 2004 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), and noted Tom Bazan's efforts to obtain information about the report.
As a followup, blogHOUSTON has received the following note from a representative for George Smalley, METRO's Vice President of External Affairs:
The audit report for FY04 has been completed and incorporated into the Annual Report, which is now being printed. We expect it to be presented to the Board of Directors Thursday, April 28. Upon presentation to the Board, the audit report becomes public.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/21/05 11:11 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Cities, counties pay lobbyists to defeat taxpaying citizens
R.G. Ratcliffe has a story on municipalities lobbying against lower property taxes, which has been a big topic on KSEV-700 this legislative session.
Advocates for lower taxes say it is outrageous that associations representing cities and counties are paying lobbyists to fight legislation that would limit how much money local governments can raise from property taxes.
The four biggest groups in the fight are the Texas Municipal League, the Texas Association of Counties, the Texas Conference of Urban Counties and the Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association.
These groups are spending as much as $1.3 million on lobbying efforts this session.
So far, they have killed legislation to lower the cap on property appraisals. And they have strenuously fought against a measure to limit the growth of local government revenues from property taxes, saying it would cripple local government operations. That bill is up for House debate today.
"There is a worrisome conclusion that these groups are drowning out a citizens lobby in these types of firefights," said Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt, referring to the local government associations as a "spending lobby."
I'm glad to see the Chronicle provide some space to this issue, although it would have been nice to see it sooner.
Now, if we can just convince the Chronicle to cover some of the numerous transportation bills that have been proposed in Austin. Some are especially galling.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/21/05 10:24 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
20 April 2005
HPD gets serious...about jaywalking
MS 13 is running amok in Houston. We've got home invasions, carjackings, murders and rapes.
So, what's HPD doing? Cracking down on jaywalkers.
Yep. The city's gotta pay for Prop. 2 somehow.
RELATED: HPD's "productivity policy" begins (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/20/05 07:55 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chron letter complains about Austin not allowing vote on bill
Look what's in today's Chronicle: a letter about the Texas Legislature refusing to allow a vote on an important bill! Yea Chronicle, for shining a (small) light on Rep. Fred Hill's successful killing of the property tax appraisal cap bill:
...I am astounded at the abuse of power the leadership of the Texas Legislature is exhibiting by refusing to allow this bill to come up for a vote. What total disregard for their constituencies. Does this mean that they believe their constituents are ignorant, or do they just believe they can be re-elected despite rolling over for special interests to the detriment of the voters?
It's just further grist for the argument that the voting machines are fixed, because these "leaders" clearly feel they needn't be accountable to anyone but the corporations that put the money in their pockets.
DIANE GARCIA Houston
Oh wait. I read that letter wrong. Diane Garcia was complaining about another bill. Sorry.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/20/05 09:55 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
A Chronicle correction on Monday's Metro story
On Monday the Chronicle ran a story about Metro's attempt to get its new light rail lines back on schedule and on budget through a process called "design-build":
Under design-build, a prime contractor hired through bids or negotiation oversees all phases from preliminary design through construction. The contractor guarantees a price, covers any overruns and deals with the subcontractors.
It's a controversial method and would require Legislature approval for Metro to do it. Currently there are two bills in Austin addressing Metro's desire to get around a traditional construction method.
In the story, Rad Sallee added a sentence that caught my eye:
Metro has proposed paying for two lines itself if the FTA will fund the other two.
Uh, no. That was Metro's original plan that got the agency into hot water and inspired much Chronicle hyperventilating directed at Reps. Culberson and DeLay. So, I wrote to Sallee questioning that sentence. He kindly replied saying he agreed the sentence was probably wrong, and today's paper carries this correction:
A story on Page B2 of Monday's edition misstated the Metropolitan Transit Authority's current proposal for funding its next light rail extensions. Metro initially proposed that the Federal Transit Administration pay for the North and Southeast lines if Metro would pay for the later Harrisburg and Westpark lines. This plan was rejected and now Metro is seeking 50 percent of federal funding for the North and Southeast lines. Metro has no current proposal before the FTA for the other two lines.
Thank you, Mr. Sallee.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/20/05 09:11 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Robb Walsh wins Bert Greene Award
Congratulations are in order to Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh, who was announced last weekend as a winner of the 2005 Bert Greene Award, given annually by International Association of Culinary Professionals.
His 2004 column, Sex, Death, and Oysters, won the organization's award in the newspaper category.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/05 09:01 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chronicle finally reports on Monday's Prop. 2 legal decision
On Monday, a court ruled that the City of Houston must certify passage of Proposition 2, the revenue limitation major that won a slightly smaller majority than Mayor White's competing, less stringent Proposition 1 measure.
The Houston Business Journal posted the news shortly after the ruling on Monday.
The Chronicle finally got around to reporting on it today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/05 07:58 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
19 April 2005
DeLay and supporters take on critics
The Chronicle's Gebe Martinez reports on a memo initially sent by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) to supporters and other constituents.
Since we like to see a bit of balance in news and editorials, here are some recent perspectives on the House Majority Leader that seem unlikely to make an appearance on the pages of the city's only newspaper:
Rove Backs Up DeLay, Calls Critics "Desperate" (Bill Sammon, Washington Times)
Delay, Red Statesman (Jeffrey Bell, Weekly Standard)
Innuendo vs. Evidence (David Limbaugh, Washington Times)
Exterminator: The Snobby Sneer Against Tom DeLay (Rich Lowry, NRO)
Liberal Media Target Tom DeLay Because He's An Effective Leader (Bob Livingston, Human Events)
Mountainous Presumption (R. Emmett Tyrrell, American Spectator)
Keep DeLay, Or Pay The Price (Tony Blankley, TownHall/Washington Times)
UPDATE: Chris Elam found this one -- DeLay Explains Why He Hired Family Members (Sheshadri Kumar, Fort Bend/Southwest Sun)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/05 11:00 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Gibbons Editorial LiveJournal: Guns, guns, oh my!
Matt Bramanti takes Gibbons to task for some specific references in the Gibbons diary about his trip to the NRA gun show.
I have a more fundamental question -- why should newspaper readers care about James Howard Gibbons' trip through a gun show? And how self-important does the man have to be to think the editorial page of a major daily is the place for said ramblings (as opposed to a LiveJournal)?
We've taken to calling these insipid diversions "Editorial LiveJournals," a play on the Chron's own name for the columns and an allusion to the diary-like nature of the LiveJournal service. It's an ongoing source of amusement that the same person who lectured bloggers about editorial pages in an ideal state continues to grab space on his own editorial page for personal columns that are closer to LiveJournal entries than editorials in an ideal state.
Incidentally, recent Editorial LiveJournals have referred to Gibbons as the editor of the editorial page, with the previous "interim" tag removed. An email to the newspaper confirmed that Gibbons is now the editor of that page. So, it looks like we can expect even more Editorial LiveJournals -- unless Mr. Gibbons takes us up on this offer.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/19/05 04:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
Mmmmmm -- free ice cream
Ben & Jerry's is giving out free ice cream today:
Houstonians can enjoy free ice cream all day Tuesday. Ben & Jerry's is having a free cone day and it's all for a good cause.
You don't have to pay, but they're hoping customers will leave a donation.
All of those donations will benefit Texas Children's Hospital.
KHOU-11's short blurb also includes this link to find a Ben & Jerry's locally.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/19/05 01:21 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
18 April 2005
Proposition 2 backers win legal victory
Backers of Houston's Proposition 2 initiative to limit municipal revenues won a legal victory today.
As reported by the Houston Business Journal's Jenna Colley, a U.S. appeals court ruled today that the city of Houston must report election results related to the proposition, which voters approved. Mayor Bill White's competing Proposition 1 won more votes, and he has long contended that it takes precedence over the "conflicting" Proposition 2.
Colley notes that the court ruling avoided any substantive judgment of conflicts between the two propositions. Mayor White issued a press release characterizing the decision as "ministerial."
A second, district court case related to implementation of Proposition 2 remains active, and is scheduled for trial in February 2006.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/18/05 06:54 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Dan Patrick resurfaces as Chron "bad guy" (updated 04-19-2005)
Imagine the excitement that must have gone through the offices at 801 Texas Avenue a few days ago after somebody there received a "tip" about KSEV-700 conservative talker Dan Patrick.
Isn't that just potentially great copy? Conservative Chron critic turns out to be hypocritical blowhard on property taxes!
There's just one tiny little problem: the facts didn't bear out that fantastic story.
And now there's potentially a much bigger problem, because the Chronicle's Dan Feldstein pretty much told that story anyway today.
Note how the story is framed:
Sure enough, Patrick's home on Lake Conroe has a full homestead exemption, designed to lessen the tax burden on a primary residence. And his home in Katy also had a homestead break from the Katy Independent School District.
Until we made a couple of calls.
When Patrick transferred his homestead to Lake Conroe a few years ago, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties coordinated the removal of most of his Katy exemptions.
But Katy ISD straddles two counties and its school taxes are collected by Waller County. Montgomery didn't communicate with Waller, and Patrick didn't volunteer that he still had a KISD exemption because, he said, he didn't even notice.
Waller kept the exemption until contacted by the Chronicle. The county has billed him $595.
Patrick tells a very different story on Lone Star Times today. He offers to provide documentation for his assertions, AND he writes that he made all of this very clear to Feldstein, whose story omitted or mischaracterized (in Patrick's view) key facts:
Again, I want to be perfectly clear– I communicated to Dan Feldstein and the Houston Chronicle the substance of all of this information last week.
I haven't seen the documentation to which Patrick refers, but I have no reason to doubt his account. Obviously, I wasn't part of the conversations between Feldstein and Patrick, but I have no reason to disbelieve Patrick if he says he shared the facts he posted today.
That's potentially problematic for the Chronicle. Because if Patrick's account is true -- that he shared all of this information with Dan Feldstein, and the Chronicle chose to smear Patrick anyway by running a selective, misleading account -- the newspaper is treading dangerously into the territory of libel.
Even if the article wasn't libelous, it was certainly of questionable news value.
UPDATE: Dan Feldstein emails the following:
I sent a response to KSEV and the Lone Star Times at about 4:30 this afternoon. It is 7:50 p.m. and they still haven't posted it. They said they were having server problems.
In the response, I asked them to provide me with any error they found in the story. So far, they have only alleged that we took credit for this great caper when in fact Dan Patrick contacted the Waller appraiser in March. As the Waller appraiser would tell you, I brought it to his attention in February (and, actually, forgot about it -- it was so important -- until a week or so ago). I can also show you the printout I made of Patrick's property records, with a Feb. 15 timestamp from the Chronicle printer. I'm still waiting for word of any other alleged error.
I told Lone Star Times that I applied a two-point test in whether to run this small item. If Dan Patrick had discovered that Mayor Bill White or some other Prop 2 opponent had two homestead exemptions, however inadvertent, would he have mentioned it on the air? Yes. Is it mildly ironic, possibly even mildly humorous, that the area's leading low property tax advocate owes back taxes? Yes, I think. The article says very clearly that the situation was not Dan Patrick's fault. But it seems I have given Mr. Patrick great fodder for his show. Fine. I also think he's steamed because I printed his real name. Hey, I use mine and you use yours.
UPDATE 2 (04-19-2005): Lone Star Times has posted the response to which Feldstein refers above.
UPDATE 3 (04-19-2005): David Benzion considers the original article and subsequent posts/comments at Lone Star Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/18/05 06:05 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (12)
Traffic-enforcement revenue stream blitz
Last Thursday, I saw limited HPD manpower being used to ticket motorists driving in midtown from downtown.
Over the weekend, I saw two cars being issued what I guessed were traffic citations from speed traps on the inside "emergency" lanes of the US 59 in southwest Houston (funny, but I thought Mayor White told us parked cars on those "emergency" lanes were dangerous -- it seems they're no less dangerous when enhancing city revenues).
On the way home just now, I saw three METRO cops waving over people who were confused at that midtown intersection near the rail line that KHOU-11 reported on just last week. The vehicle two spots behind me was waved over for... something. I couldn't tell what, as I was trying to make sure I didn't get pulled over.
Anyway, consider this a warning to watch yourselves out there. The city may not have the manpower or resources to devote to graffiti abatement or homeless crack addicts who burn down property or home invasions, but there certainly seems to be a blitz to enforce those laws that can produce revenue for Mayor White and his merry band of spenders.
ANNE ADDS: Has HPD's quota progr...oops, I mean productivity policy... inspired Metro?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/18/05 04:20 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
We want Billy Burge as a speaker!
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority's website isn't terribly exciting or interactive, but I still check it periodically in case something catches my eye. Well, now the Sports Authority has placed a notice about Oliver Luck being available for speaking engagements in a big blue box:
Harris County-Houston Sports Authority CEO Oliver Luck is available to speak to Houston-area organizations on a number of sports in business topics. Topics he is comfortable addressing include:
* The Sports Authority -- past, present and future
* Mission Accomplished--Where do we go from here?
* Sports Venues -- The changes in security since 9/11
* Houston as a sports destination
* Will Houston support professional soccer?
* Economic Impact of 3 major new sports venues in Houston and more.
(emphasis added)
Forget Oliver Luck -- we want Billy Burge as a speaker!
RELATED: Billy Burge: THE best reason to shut down the Sports Authority! (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/18/05 10:03 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Another example of press release journalism?
Saturday the Chronicle ran a story about a new study out of Stanford that says teachers who come from traditional certification programs are better than teachers who come from untraditional programs. The study focused on HISD and Teach for America which provides some of HISD's teachers, according to the Chronicle's story. Teach for America would be considered an untraditional program.
Something I found interesting is that if you go to the Stanford website, you can find the press release announcing the study, with the date April 15. The Chronicle story was posted late on April 15th. Things that make you go hmmmmm...
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/18/05 07:18 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
17 April 2005
Regional crime lab law dead; sponsor blames HPD chief
The Chronicle's Steve McVicker reports that a bill that would have created regional DNA labs to process evidence will not be passed during the legislative session.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Kevin Bailey (D), lays the blame on Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt:
"The single-most important thing that can be done in order to improve the quality of forensic evidence used at criminal trials is the one thing the Legislature appears not to be doing," said David Dow, a University of Houston Law School professor and a frequent critic of the Texas criminal justice system.
State Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, sponsor of the bill, blamed its demise on last-minute demands by Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.Bailey stopped just short of accusing Hurtt of intentionally sabotaging the legislation.
"I don't know for sure, but it's certainly a possibility," Bailey said.
[snip]
[A]ccording to Bailey, during a committee meeting March 30, he was given a copy of the chief's prepared remarks just minutes before testimony was to begin.
Bailey said he learned that Hurtt's support for the legislation was contingent on several conditions, including a reduced fee for HPD evidence processed by the lab and a guaranteed turnaround time on evidence analysis.
Chief Hurtt, on the other hand, denies that he helped to kill the bill:
"The last thing I heard from (Bailey) was that we would be able to work around any problems (in the bill)," Hurtt said. "I supported the bill, I still support it, and I'm disappointed that it's dead."
Without more detail, it's hard to know whether Hurtt intentionally sabotaged this legislation, if Hurtt unintentionally sabotaged the legislation simply through the White/Hurtt team's ineptitude in dealing with the state legislature, or if Bailey had some other reason to scuttle the legislation.
What is clear is that one potential state solution to Houston's crime lab problems will now have to wait until the next legislative session.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/17/05 11:32 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron advocates banning some political speech
The Chronicle has spilled quite a bit of ink on its news and editorial pages agitating in favor of House Bill 1348, which is broadly characterized as campaign finance legislation.
Interestingly, the bill would also curtail political speech. The Chronicle only hints at as much in today's editorial:
The proposed legislation would clearly define political action committee administrative expenses, the one area where corporate or union funds can legally be spent. A key provision would ban such funding for attack ads against candidates in the closing days of a campaign.
That's not exactly what it would do. The editorial idealists were more honest in an editorial published February 28:
There is no shortage of sources for campaign money. Any individual - including corporate executives, employees and union members - can donate his own money directly to a candidate or to a political action committee. Political action committees - set up to promote company, union or other special interests - then pool the money and make contributions to candidates.
To get around the restrictions, corporations have turned to the tactic of airing ostensibly independent attack ads against candidates they wish to see defeated. (Unions in Texas , strapped for cash, can seldom afford to go this costly route.) These attack ads masquerade as issue ads designed to educate voters. Typically, without mentioning the opponent the special interest favors, these radio and TV spots criticize a particular candidate's record or personal background and advise voters to call or write the target and set them straight. Because they avoid using key phrases like "vote for" or "vote against,"the ads have gone unregulated and can be funded secretly.
If such issue-oriented political advertising is that bad, then it should be banned outright, not in the final 60 days of a campaign. But, one gets the sense it's only bad to the editorial idealists because unions allegedly have less money to spend than other groups. And how does one differentiate legitimate issue-oriented advertising from "attack" advertising against candidates? A far preferable approach would be simply to enhance disclosure laws, not ban political advertising/speech.
Still, it's not entirely surprising to find the Chron pushing for bans on political speech for others and special privileges for professional journalists. Political speech is apparently much more important for those editorial idealists who have ascended from the cave than for others.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/17/05 11:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Weekend fun with headlines (updated)
We sometimes wonder if any grownups oversee the Chronicle on the weekends.
Earlier, the site posted a story with the following sub-headline (and page title):
Now, the sub-headline has been been changed to the following:
NRA fights closing loopholes, even if it means terror suspects can still buy guns
The second headline is an improvement. Some acknowledgement that the first headline was problematic would be better.
Amusingly, the website has posted the following coverage of today's close to the NRA convention:
NRA loved just about everything: Panel on last day takes parting shot at major media
Hard to believe that last, isn't it?
UPDATE: The Chronicle editorialists are unintentionally hilarious responding to the slams from the NRA. Here's the title of the editorial:
And here's a line in the editorial:
Just as negative press coverage of America's gun culture rallied gun enthusiasts to their cause, unrelieved, extremist hostility is more likely to erode the NRA's hard-won political victories than to secure them.
Unrelieved, extremist hostility? Nice job, editorial idealists. Sometimes you just make it too easy.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/17/05 09:40 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Metro's winning friends
Here's a comment on a Houston Metroblogging post:
...Recently, I got taken off the metro-rail for supposedly 'scamming fare' when in fact I had a valid ticket, or so I thought. I paid a two-dollar fare FOR A 'DAY PASS'. However, the date on the ticket was for ONE-DAY [as in a few hours, not a full 24-hours]; never mind the fact that the price on the ticket was two-dollars. The police officer proceeded to give me a ticket anyway, no matter how logical/rational/deductive my statements were; made me late for an appointment; and then had the nerve to check my ticket again after having to buy another ticket and wait for another train. Not only that, but the kook gave me a yellow slip saying that if I paid for it within 30 days then I would only have to pay $75 [by going to some facility termed 'Crime/Theft Department- so the incenuation is that I'm a criminal now...for what..two-bucks??!!!] instead of $200; yeah, thanks Barney!!! Yeah, my lawyer and I'll see you in court and have a field day....though, totally an incovenience!!!
RELATED: Metro's fare policy (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/17/05 06:21 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Why won't Metro release 2004's financial information?
If you go to Metro's website you will find annual reports for 2001, 2002 and 2003. Since we are well into FY2005, Tom Bazan has been asking where FY2004's report is. He has sent several requests to Metro, under the Texas Public Information Act, requesting FY2004's official Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and all other audits issued by KPMG.
So far he has been given quite the run-around. His last email with lack-of-progress information noted that Metro unhelpfully mailed him 2003's CAFR, which is available online. That's what I would call a stalling tactic. Very nice.
Bazan believes that KPMG has delivered 2004's CAFR to Metro, and if the information in it had been positive, Metro would have released it right away. Bazan notes that while this information is being withheld, federal funding decisions for new rail lines are being finalized.
That is rather curious, isn't it? Why won't Metro release 2004's information? And will we see the information released after the feds announce light rail funding grants? Hmmmm...
Recently, the Reason blog Out of Control highlighted a new study that concludes forecasting for rail demand is often highly exaggerated:
The study shows with very high statistical significance that forecasters generally do a poor job of estimating the demand for transportation infrastructure projects. For 9 out of 10 rail projects, passenger forecasts are overestimated; the average overestimation is 106%.
[snip]
The result is substantial financial risks, which are typically ignored or downplayed by planners and decision makers to the detriment of social and economic welfare. Our data also show that forecasts have not become more accurate over the 30-year period studied, despite claims to the contrary by forecasters.
Again, why doesn't Metro release 2004's CAFR?
And where's the Chronicle -- that great champion of sunshine in government?
RELATED: The Boondoggle Files (PubliusTX), Metro needs help figuring out why ridership is down (blogHOUSTON), John Gaver's Action America
UPDATE: Tom Bazan emails that the Metro board has not yet been presented the 2004 CAFR; in fact, Metro has refused to allow KPMG to deliver the 2004 CAFR. Curiouser and curiouser. He is requesting any general purpose statements, which are public documents once signed, and which would have been mailed to Metro already. They contain information that would be included in the final CAFR that Metro has not yet accepted.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/17/05 04:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
Taxpayer-funded Hilton Americas not living up to expectations
Here's an Orlando Sentinel story about taxpayer-funded, convention center-hotels that highlights the Hilton Americas-Houston:
This south Texas metropolis has what Orange County wants: a new, upscale hotel attached to an expanded convention center.
Built at a taxpayer cost of $250 million, the Hilton Americas-Houston is a luxurious 24-story hotel sporting 1,200 nicely appointed rooms, a glass-enclosed rooftop pool and a magnificent view of the city skyline.
Connected by an enclosed walkway to the 862,000-square-foot George R. Brown Convention Center, the Hilton is the cornerstone of Houston's efforts to revitalize its slumping convention business.
But the city, which also spent $165 million doubling the size of the Brown center, did not buy itself a quick fix, at least according to 2004 results.
Attendance at the center actually dropped a bit to fewer than 150,000, if events open to the public -- which typically attract many local residents -- are excluded. And the Hilton Americas on average had almost as many empty rooms as filled ones -- just like the rest of the hotels downtown.
[snip]
After a dozen years seeking a private developer, the Houston City Council finally agreed in 2001 to use a variety of taxes to pay for the Hilton Americas. It opened in late 2003.
Both the hotel and convention center have struggled much of the time, reflecting the plight of many smaller centers. That also has happened in places such as Myrtle Beach and St. Louis, each of which put tens of millions of tax dollars into convention hotels. Myrtle Beach had to refinance its debt because of poor performance, while St. Louis saw its bond rating drop.
The number of people traveling to Houston for trade shows and conventions has dropped almost 70 percent from 1999 to 2003, from 503,796 to 156,699. The 2004 count, excluding events open to the public, was 146,057.
"It's tough," said Ric Booth, the center's assistant general manager. "We don't have Disney. We don't have gambling. We don't have the French Quarter."
What Houston does have is thousands of new hotel rooms, nearby professional-sports facilities, a large theater district and a newly expanded convention center.
All that's lacking is more delegates.
That last part is depressing, since Houston's "benefits," as cited by the reporter, are largely taxpayer-funded. All the reporter left out was light rail.
Tom Bazan recently examined the state comptroller's quarterly room revenue report and discovered that the Hilton Americas' daily average room rate for the first quarter of 2005 was $31.33. As Bazan noted, that's an average room rate more akin to a Motel 6 than a $200 million luxury hotel with rack rates ranging from $159 to $244 per night.
RELATED: Was expanding the GRB Convention Center worth it? (blogHOUSTON), Fitch downgrades Houston bond rating (blogHOUSTON), Does downtown's growth need to slow down? (blogHOUSTON), Hyatt Regency in foreclosure (blogHOUSTON), Jordy Tollett, special hunter with very special shoes (blogHOUSTON)
UPDATE (5-28-2005): Tom Bazan says there is a revised room revenue report that shows an average daily room rate of $88.75 for the first quarter of 2005. That's still not an impressive showing for an almost $300 million, 1200 room hotel, with rack rates of around $200 per night.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/17/05 10:50 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 April 2005
HISD in the news
10 groups submit bids to manage 3 HISD schools:
The list of 10 groups that have submitted bids to manage three troubled Houston high schools includes private education companies, nonprofit organizations and current Houston Independent School District employees.
[snip]
The bidders include Kaplan K12 Learning Services, a New York City-based company best known for its standardized test preparation services. Kaplan was among several private companies recently given management control of schools in Philadelphia.
Other bids came from:
•EdFutures, a California-based charter school operator.
•Perceptiva Partners, an organization that listed a Houston phone number on its application. A phone call to the number was not returned Friday.
•A coalition of nonprofits headed by the Houston-based Knowledge is Power Program and YES College Preparatory Schools.
•Project GRAD, a local nonprofit organization already involved in about 70 HISD schools.
•The Beulah Land Community Development Center, a Third Ward group that volunteers in school literacy programs.
•HISD's Career and Technology Education Department, which oversees the school district's vocational programs.
•Current HISD leaders at Yates, Kashmere and Sam Houston.Parents and residents in the Yates and Kashmere communities have said they will oppose plans to turn the schools over to non-HISD management.
"We expect HISD to live up to its commitment to provide a quality education," said Bill Miller, president of the Yates Parent-Teacher-Student Association. "If they cannot provide a quality education, then maybe HISD needs to cease to exist."
Parents at Sam Houston support first-year Principal Aida Tello, but are open to any proposal that will improve the school, said Maria Garcia, a member of the Sam Houston Parent Involvement Committee.
"We're not saying we're against change. We're all for it," she said. "The Latino community of Sam Houston is tired of being put on the back burner, and we want to be heard."
The quote from Bill Miller is asinine, and as long as that attitude is prevalent at Yates, then Yates will continue to struggle. Maria Garcia's attitude, however, shows that Sam Houston will have a greater chance of success with a reform program.
In other HISD news, the board has approved several school closings:
The Houston Indepedent School District board met Thursday afternoon to talk about closing nine elementary schools. They ultimately decided that Argyle, Brock, Clinton Park, Douglass and Ryan elementary schools would be closed at the end of this school year and the students be transferred to other nearby schools.
"It is our job to provide the best education for kids that we possibly can," Dr. Saavedra said. "Unfortunately, the enrollment of these five schools is so small that they can't offer the full range of educational services that children need. We need to offer those kids more than they're getting now. This is an issue of educational effectiveness and efficiency."
Four of the five schools have experienced sharply declining enrollments as neighborhoods have changed. As families mature and leave school, and as others leave neighborhoods to move to other parts of the Houston area, school enrollments shift dramatically.
HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said after public hearings and further consideration, he will not recommend closing Isaacs Elementary, which had been on the original list of schools considered for closure.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/16/05 01:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Gebe Martinez finds another "moderate Republican" to denounce DeLay
Gebe Martinez, who is no doubt hard at work investigating Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's congressional trips, manages to find time for another story on Majority Leader Tom DeLay:
A former Republican congressman who was a moderate ally of former President Bush is leading an effort to find a 2006 Republican primary election opponent for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Former Rep. Pete McCloskey, whose eight terms in Congress ended before DeLay arrived in 1984, said Friday that he will meet in Houston this month with perennial DeLay opponent Michael Fjetland and "any Republican who is willing to challenge Mr. DeLay."
"It takes guts to challenge him," said McCloskey, who was known as a party maverick and endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004.
But, he said, he and moderate allies are embarrassed by the controversies surrounding DeLay, R-Sugar Land, including three admonishments of him last year by the House Ethics Committee.
"The stench coming out of the DeLay operation" does not represent the GOP that he served with in Congress, McCloskey said.
He called his effort the "revolt of the elders."
McCloskey and nine other Republicans who are former House members complained in a letter delivered Friday to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that recent changes in House ethics rules were an obvious move to protect DeLay.
What Martinez fails to mention in the story is that the "moderate" McCloskey is actually a liberal "Republican" from California. He's about as conservative as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Wait -- now that I think about it, Sen. Feinstein may be more conservative than McCloskey.
Please.
UPDATE: I finally saw this Samantha Levine story about the the Houston-area delegation's travel history:
A review of travel records filed by Houston-area representatives, and by Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, reveals enough trips for a global travel guide.
Houston Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and Gene Green took the most trips.
Between March 2004 and January 2005, Jackson Lee went on 12 privately financed trips to cities including Miami, Detroit and San Francisco, and countries such as Cuba and Brazil.
Well! Why isn't that in big giant headlines?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/16/05 08:26 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
15 April 2005
Municipal campaigns kick off in earnest
The campaign season for offices in the city of Houston seemed finally to get underway in earnest today, as KHOU-11's Doug Miller reported on campaign finance allegations raised by candidate Sue Lovell against candidate Jay Aiyer.
It's a good thing Miller was covering local political news, because the Chronicle's local political columnists were rehashing "olds" in today's edition.
Rick Casey focused on the week-old Jack Rains/Billy Burge/Houston Sports Authority controversy, and still managed only to tell about half the story. Blogs and talk radio have been all over that story for a week, and Casey's column was basically a transcription of the mp3 available here, with his usual bilious perspective mixed in.
Kristen Mack focused on Democrats who were missing from a key vote in the state legislature. Apparently, the connection that makes it "local" and thus relevant to Mack's column (as opposed to the newspaper's separate coverage of the legislative session) is that three of the Democrats were from Houston. Lefty bloggers had already been all over this story.
We continue to hope that Philip Anschutz will soon bring in six reporters to stir up the local scene here, as he's already done in another Hearst market. This market certainly seems ripe for it.
ADDITIONAL: Sue Lovell campaign site, Jay Aiyer campaign site
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/05 10:27 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
blogHOUSTON on the radio
Kevin Whited is scheduled to be on BizRadio1320 (KXYZ-AM) Saturday around 10:15 a.m with show host Jon-Michial Carter and fellow Houston blogger Charles Kuffner, who writes Off the Kuff.
Be sure to tune in!
RELATED: A voice made for blogging (Charles Kuffner)
KEVIN WHITED ADDS (04-16-2005): Well, that's a wrap. Kuffner was super, and I didn't cough on air, so I think it's all good! Thanks again to Jon-Michial Carter for having me on and for plugging blogs. I couldn't get the stream to work, so I'm hoping he'll send along an mp3 at some point, so we can share with those outside of radio range.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/05 06:28 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)
South Post Oak Toll Road?
The Harris County Toll Road Authority is facing more opposition:
On April 7, members of Super Neighborhoods Nos. 39 and 40 unanimously approved a resolution that calls for changes to a state law so that the public can participate in decisions to build toll-funded roads or to convert free highways to toll roads.
"As it stands now, toll road authorities can act almost with impunity," Rich Farley, a representative of the Citizens' Transportation Coalition, told 20 residents during a meeting at South Post Oak Baptist Church. "It's really quite frightening. There are no public hearings. The local municipalities don't even have to be notified."
Jonnie Bryant, public information officer for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, said that while the toll road authority is not required to hold public hearings, it invites public comment.
"We always welcome comments," Bryant said. "We have an open-door policy, and individuals or groups can meet with our director, Mike Strech."
The Harris County Toll Road Authority is considering a toll road that would link up with the Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road at U.S. 90 and Chimney Rock Drive and continue down South Post Oak Road to Loop 610.
"South Post Oak would be turned into a freeway," Farley said. "It would be a four-lane freeway with an extensive feeder system. It would require significant widening and would invade property on South Post Oak."
These two quotes toward the end mirror my own thinking:
Ronald Sinnette, president of the Central Southwest Super Neighborhood No. 40, said citizens need to be involved in the toll road process.
"We need a voice," he said. "We need a say in the things that involve our neighborhoods."
Rita Foretich, president of Central Southwest Super Neighborhood No. 39, said she doesn't have a problem with the concept of toll roads.
"I do have a problem with them sneaking them through, though," Foretich said.
HCTRA's ability (and any toll road authority, for that matter) to build at will without answering to neighborhoods or municipalities is the biggest problem here. Yes, I have my own reason for opposing HCTRA's ability to bulldoze wherever it pleases, but it's apparent that HCTRA's sights are set on more than the Grand Parkway running through Spring.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/05 04:24 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Ten years ago, there was the Post
Former Houston Post editor Lynn Ashby reflects on the approaching ten-year anniversary of the demise of his old newspaper.
These days, as Banjo Jones points out, Ashby has to open his own mail. And he's still not very happy about the way things ended or the way the end was reported:
Ever since the paper's folding in 1995, there has been the rumor The Post had gone bankrupt. Wrong. Each Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m., I attended an executive meeting where we would go over the paper's finances. Unless our owner, Dean Singleton, was cooking the books, we had made $10 million the year before and had posted a profit 12 of the 15 preceding months. So Hearst, the Chronicle's New York-based owner, has always been careful to say it bought the "assets" of The Post. To have purchased the competition and closed it might have raised questions with the Justice Department, which issued a statement saying the deal was just fine. We are supposed to believe that on the very day The Post ceased operation, Hearst whipped out a pen and signed a check for $120 million to Singleton, who promptly got on his private plane and left for his home in Denver. A lot of newspapers run a last edition, their own obit, when they cease operations whereby the staff bids farewell to its readers. Singleton said such a gesture would be "useless."
This sentence also caught my eye:
The Chronicle remains the largest newspaper in America never to have won a Pulitzer, but it's improving.
That last seems overly generous, but maybe Ashby hoped to sound a little less bitter with that caveat. I'm not sure that he was successful.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/05 04:12 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (6)
Coming soon: Chronicle reporting on Reps. Jackson Lee and Green?
Yesterday an interesting thing popped up on Rush Limbaugh's show:
Now, I want to take you to C-SPAN this morning. There was a caller, a caller to C-SPAN's Washington Journal. The host is Rob Harlson. The guest is Houston Chronicle congressional correspondent Gebe, G-e-b-e. How would you pronounce that? Gebe? Geebe? Geebee? I don't know how to pronounce it. If it was G-a-b-e I'd say "Gabe." Her name is Martinez, and so what have here, what you have here is a caller -- a caller, ladies and gentlemen -- to C-SPAN doing the job the mainstream media used to do. A caller at C-SPAN, doing the job for the media they should be doing. The host Harlson says, "Our next call toms from Tampa, Florida. Good morning.
C-SPAN CALLER: Are you aware of a story Rush Limbaugh read on the air (Tuesday) where the five top people in the House of Representatives were all Democrats that took trips overseas and spent the most money? And this is what the liberals do. They'll take the New York Times together, the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, the same old co-conspirators to try to bring somebody down. It's because you can't win at the ballot box. So you can't win at the ballot box, you've got to try to bring somebody down and ruin his career. It's just disgusting. But take you know what? Take a good look around you, Ms. Martinez: We own everything and there's nothing you and your liberals can do about it.
C-SPAN: Are there any Democrats who are in the same situation --
MARTINEZ: Sure.
C-SPAN: -- or being investigated for the same things?
MARTINEZ: Absolutely, and I think what's interesting about this the way this story is developing is you're going to see local newspapers all over the country checking into the travel practices of their members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. I mean, the trips Mr. DeLay has taken are not uncommon. Members of both parties take them.
Well, well. blogHOUSTON eagerly awaits reporting by Ms. Martinez on Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's and Rep. Al Green's trips (although there may not be much to report on Rep. Green yet). And, since the Chronicle is neither liberal nor conservative, we're sure she'll investigate ethics, too. Because we all know the Chronicle supports sunshine in government.
RELATED: DeLay regrets remarks about Schiavo judges (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), DeLay wants 'chance to defend himself' (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Conservatives go to bat for DeLay (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), GOP leader's ties to lobbyist deepen his own controversy (Gebe Martinez, Michael Hedges and Bennett Roth, Houston Chronicle), GOP supporters denounce call for DeLay's resignation (Gebe Martinez and Samantha Levine, Houston Chronicle), Republican calls for DeLay to step down (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Case puts DeLay back in control of the news (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Bush voices his support of DeLay (Gebe Martinez and Julie Mason, Houston Chronicle), Administration has yet to target DeLay for ouster (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), DeLay defends his travel, fund raising (Gebe Martinez and Michael Hedges, Houston Chronicle), Despite controversies, DeLay wins support (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Supporters dismiss ethics claims against DeLay (Gebe Martinez and Michael Hedges, Houston Chronicle), DeLay faces noisy debate on ethics (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Bickering ethics panel in limbo (Gebe Martinez and Michael Hedges, Houston Chronicle), DeLay admits aiding group, denies wrongdoing (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), GOP loyalists take seats on House ethics panel (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Republicans defend House ethics changes (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), DeLay oks reversal of rule shielding him (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), Despite criticism, DeLay is undaunted (Gebe Martinez, Houston Chronicle), DeLay legal fund returns $3 ,500 in contributions (Gebe Martinez and Julie Mason, Houston Chronicle)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/05 12:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Rick Casey's not in favor of sunshine for the Sports Authority
Rick Casey devoted his column today to Billy Burge's on-air meltdown from last week:
Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln and Samuel Johnson left no record of their feelings on the use of their tax money to subsidize millionaire athletes and owners. The only reason, I suspect, is that in their times taxpayers didn't build extravagant playgrounds for rich owners of sporting teams.
There were no such government entities as the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, which is sucking wind as it tries to pay off more than $900 million worth of bonds for the city's new football, baseball and basketball palaces.
But all three are credited with advice that would have well served Billy Burge, a successful real estate developer who serves as the Sports Authority's chairman.
The advice? "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Casey got THAT part right, but he went downhill from there. Here's how Casey framed the interview/call-in:
The venue: Dan Patrick's ultra-conservative radio talk show.
The opponent: His predecessor as Sports Authority chairman, Jack Rains.
It's hardly a new fight. Rains, a Republican politico who was Orlando Sanchez's campaign manager back in 2001, made no secret during that race that he would work to scuttle the authority if Sanchez beat Mayor Lee Brown.
Not that sour grapes were involved, but it was Brown that replaced Rains with Burge.
So when, last week, a friend called Burge on his cell phone out in San Francisco and told him Rains was on the air trashing him and the authority, Burge called in to take on Rains and Patrick.
The problem with Casey's column becomes apparent with this sentence:
In 23 minutes, not a single substantive fact was revealed.
Aha. Of course, those of us who listened to the whole show last week know that's not true at all. In the previous 20-30 minutes of Patrick's show, Rains gave listeners plenty of facts relating to the Sports Authority, and not in a mean-spirited, sour-grapes way. That's why Burge's call-in was so incredible. Burge came on attacking Patrick and Rains when there was no basis for it.
Out of curiosity, I emailed Casey asking if he had listened to the entire show or just the mp3 on Lone Star Times. He replied, promptly, saying that he had only listened to the mp3. I wrote back explaining that there was more to the show and sent him my write-up to show that Patrick's show had been informative and not angry and accusing, until Burge called in. He kindly responded again, saying that his column was only about Burge's call-in.
Well, okay. But the context of the previous part of the show is key to the whole issue.
Here's how Casey ends his column:
It was bad enough that when Sports Authority Executive Director Oliver Luck heard a replay Monday morning, he felt the need to invite himself on Patrick's show to counter " a couple of things Jack said that were flat-out untrue."
"I'd be the first to admit Billy didn't handle himself very well," Luck said.
Burge didn't disagree.
"I shouldn't have done it," he said. "It was one of those things that tees you off, and I responded to that."
The good news, Luck said, is they received only four e-mail messages generated by the show.
"On a bad parking day at Reliant, we get 15 or 20," he said.
So no great harm. Just keep Billy in the back room.
I listened to Oliver Luck on Monday with Patrick, and I am trying to remember what Luck corrected. If he really did correct something, it had to have been fairly minor, and in fact, Luck didn't do much for the Sports Authority's case to remain open.
I guess Casey doesn't mind the Sports Authority staying in business, making odd deals and frittering away taxpayer dollars. He also seems to be encouraging the Sports Authority to keep Burge in his little hidey-hole, away from public scrutiny.
Which is interesting since Casey often rails against secrecy, and since I thought the Chronicle was in favor of more government sunshine.
RELATED: Better late than never, we guess (Lone Star Times)
UPDATE: Jack Rains was on with Dan Patrick today repsonding to Casey's column. He wondered if Casey had heard the entire interview and emailed him to ask. We already know, since I did the same, that Casey did not. Rains also reacted to the part of Casey's column where he says that Oliver Luck went on Patrick's show to correct some things that Rains had gotten wrong. He too wondered what those things were. Rains says he didn't have his facts wrong, and as I said above, I can't recall any point that Luck corrected.
Rains also said that he was never contacted by Casey for the column. Since Casey does have quotes from Luck and Burge, that tells us plenty about Casey's point of view -- he was helping Burge and the Sports Authority with damage control.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/05 10:15 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Connelly dissects Chron comic strip
Just a few years ago, the Chronicle apparently felt the need to insulate its readers from such tough language as "suck" and "damned."
Now, Richard Connelly reports, the Chron seems to have relaxed a bit:
A couple of years ago the Houston Chronicle was refusing to use in quotes such terms as "suck" as a synonym for "stink." Now it's printing cunnilingus jokes.
The April 4 edition of the comic strip Get Fuzzy was based on a discussion of traditional holiday meals. "Rabbit? For Easter? What are you, crazy?" one character asked. To which another replied, "Christmas turkey. Thanksgiving turkey. Valentine's Day beaver. Easter bunny. It's tradition."
Talk turns to eating leprechauns for St. Patrick's Day, and the first character goes, "No, no n…Hold on -- Valentine's Day what?"
The syndicator of the strip, United Media, sent out two versions, one using beaver and one using (for some reason) marmot. Papers like The Washington Post -- and the United Media Web site -- used the marmot version; a spokeswoman for the syndicate said, however, that there's no tally for how many papers went beaver.
Chron features editor Kyrie O'Connor made the decision to be bold, although she says she didn't find the strip in question too funny. "Darby Conley [the strip's author] has, alas, made beaver jokes before," she says. "Frankly, I hate it. He's too good to get away with this."
So far, no reader has complained. The "people who get it won't be offended, and the people who don't get it won't be offended," she says.
Take note, writers of Blondie. Writers of Hagar the Horrible, please ignore.
Am I mistaken in thinking that explanation is a version of, "our smart readers are enlightened enough not to be bothered; our stupid readers are too stupid to get it?"
Whatever might be said in private meetings, that just seems like an odd thing to say to the local media critic about one's customers.
UPDATE: Kyrie O'Connor sends along the following note:
Let me clarify -- this "Get Fuzzy" issue had nothing to do with "stupid" or "smart" readers, nor would it ever. What I meant was that the word in question can easily be taken innocently. That is, small children and parents of small children would not be puzzled or have to explain away anything. That's not the only criterion for running or not running a comic strip, but in this case it seemed to be the operative one. I'd be happy to answer any questions you or your readers have, just as I answered Rich's.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/05 09:03 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Senate takes first look at red light camera bill
The issue of cities installing red light cameras is getting some attention in the state Senate:
After being stalled for nearly a month, a bill that would thwart a Houston initiative to catch red-light violators by placing cameras at intersections finally got a hearing Thursday in the state Senate.
The bill received overwhelming approval in February in the House, where sentiment has run strongly against red-light cameras for several years.
Sen. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, who chairs the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, said the panel appears split on the bill. Madla was the only one of the five committee members who listened to testimony Thursday, as senators attended other meetings. He said he hopes the committee will vote on the bill next week.
The bill would prohibit cities from issuing civil citations against the owners of cars photographed running red lights. That is the approach planned in Houston and other cities.
[snip]
Houston and several other cities are fighting the bill, as are companies that want contracts to provide camera systems.
The cities are promoting camera enforcement as a safety measure. Opponents contend the cities' real motivation is increasing fine revenue. They also raise privacy concerns.
Since Mayor White/Chief Hurtt have been thwarted on another revenue stream (SAFEclear) and the city keeps announcing new spending ideas, red light camera revenue would come in very handy to pay for shiny new police badges and graffiti removal.
Someday perhaps their to-do list will include hiring some police officers.
RELATED: Do red light cameras reduce accidents or generate revenue? (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/05 08:39 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
14 April 2005
HISD accepts proposals to reform schools; teachers union frets
Today is the deadline to submit proposals to reform three HISD high schools, and Jason Spencer is on the case for the Chronicle. (I have already checked -- the story appears to be accurate.) Unfortunately, the story provides a disturbing look at the mindset of those who consistently oppose ANY school reform:
"My community has made it quite clear that they are not interested in outsourcing the schools and I intend on representing the will of my community," said trustee Kevin Hoffman, whose northeast Houston district includes Kashmere.
Trustee Arthur Gaines, who represents the Yates community, said HISD should fix the schools on its own. "We have strong supervisors and good resources."
[snip]
A deal with KIPP and YES would likely have a hard time winning the support of teachers, said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers.
"KIPP has a great program, but I can tell you right now they would run smack into a lot of legal problems with things that they require of their teachers," Fallon said. "They work a longer day. They get paid more. They are there because they buy into the program. They know what they're getting into when they hire on."
What's missing? Not one word of concern about improving the education of students. Trustee Kevin Hoffman is worried about his community's outsourcing concerns, Trustee Arthur Gaines thinks HISD is perfectly fine to run the three schools, and teachers union president Gayle Fallon, well, she's worried about the teachers.
Here's some irony for you: all those "smart growth" fans (Chronicle included) like to wax poetic about people returning to the city instead of fleeing to the 'burbs. A big factor in that flight is good schools and when HISD tries to improve three schools that are faced with state takeover, the public education power elite stomp their feet and say NO! And of course, the Chronicle played its own part in making this whole thing very difficult for HISD.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/14/05 03:47 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Chronicle editorial board should imitate Washington Times
The Washington Times posts a transcript of an interview between its editors/reporters and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R).
This is exactly the sort of approach we'd like to see the Chronicle adopt, instead of conducting secretive editorial board meetings with political figures and then deciding what news consumers should be allowed to know.
Savvy news consumers want to know everything, and decide for themselves what's important.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/05 12:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron eye for the death row killer guy - variation on a theme
Eric Berger pens a variation on the ever popular Chron eye for the death row killer guy theme today, reporting on a study that suggests death row prisoners may experience pain in some circumstances when put to death by lethal injection.
In the interest of equal time, we suggest that Eric Berger next be assigned to troll for studies related to the following:
1) Pain experienced by disabled persons when their feeding tubes are forcibly removed
2) Pain experienced by victims of violent crimes at hands of Death Row Killer Guys (rape, murder, torture and the like).
We're sure Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen will get right on those stories.
UPDATE (5:43 PM): Google News searching on Dr. Koniarias, one of the authors of the study and who is quoted in the story, turns up an interesting selection of how this story has been treated thus far by major media. The first news source (as captured by Google News) to run the story was the Common Dreams Progressive News Wire, which picked up a press release from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty yesterday. Other U.S. media outlets have picked up various versions of the story. ABC News is running the Reuters version in its health section. Ditto MSNBC. Forbes runs a version in its health section. Ditto the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Washington Times posted a version of the story as part of its UPI wire service.
It seems that not many news editors were attuned enough to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to devote staff to producing their own version of this story for today's edition, let alone put it on the front page. But then again, that's why we call it the Chron Eye, as opposed to, say, the Dallas Morning News Eye.
UPDATE 2: James Taranto's Best of the Web weighs in with this little blurb:
Problem Solved
"U.S. Executions by Lethal Injection May Not Be Humane"--headline, HealthDay News, April 14
"Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death"--headline, New York Times, March 20
I doubt Mr. and Mrs. Kathryn Kase are amused.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/05 10:29 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (12)
Downtown HOV lanes a METRO funding sham?
Lucas Wall posted an interesting exchange in his transit question/answer column for the Chronicle earlier this week:
Q: On some downtown streets (such as Louisiana and Milam), the second lane from the right curb is designated for "buses and car pools only" during rush hour. I notice the majority of cars driving in this lane have no passengers. Why is this a restricted lane, making right-turners have to switch over two lanes? How many blocks can a one-person car drive in these two right lanes before being in violation of the law?
— Grant Elam, Houston
A: The HOV lanes, or "diamond lanes," on downtown and Midtown streets are confusing to many drivers.
Because the Metropolitan Transit Authority used federal transit funds to help reconstruct these streets, it had to designate some lanes for buses and car pools to meet the U.S. requirements. Federal capital transit grants normally go to pay for nonroad projects such as rail lines. Houston's project to rebuild dilapidated city-center streets heavily traveled by buses is unique.
Here's the secret: The regulations are not enforced. The lanes are marked only to meet the federal transit requirement. As you point out, enforcing the car pool restriction on urban streets is impossible because single-occupant vehicles must use them to make right turns.
And the Chronicle wonders why conservative legislators like John Culberson (R) and Tom DeLay (R) ask detailed questions about various METRO funding requests.
UPDATE: Here's another reason to applaud legislators who ask tough questions of transit organizations during the funding process.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/05 09:54 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
Is this supposed to be good or bad?
Toll booth workers are lonely:
The Houston Toll Road Authority said 800,000 people travel toll roads in Harris County each day. So it's hard to imagine that business could ever be slow for the people who work the tollbooths.
But the popularity of EZ-Tags is taking a toll on jobs.
First, came the coin machine, then the EZ-Tag. The toll taker is left alone in the booth, passed by, disregarded, marooned on the island and just maybe the loneliest people in town.
Wednesday morning, Geraldine Clark passed the time reading. This is not to say that she doesn't get the occasional wave.
But almost no one stops and talks anymore.
"They want to pay their toll and keep on going," said Clark.
At the outpost near Rankin Road, nearly 75 percent of the drivers have EZ-Tags. System-wide, that figure is nearly 60. That comes to more than a million people -- and growing.
A few years ago, they thought those numbers were going to level off, but they didn't.
The fact is, the EZ-Tags make it so darn easy.
"What we're really seeing is a depersonalizations of society," said Ed Reitman Ph.D., clinical psychologist.
Still, psychologist Ed Reitman said for some this can be the perfect job. "Every peg has its hole, I guess."
I find it amusing that KHOU-11 goes to a couple of psychologists to interpret this trend for us -- that EZ Tag users don't want to talk to people, and toll booth workers don't need people-skills since they increasingly don't have to talk to people.
It sounds like a win-win.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/14/05 08:45 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
13 April 2005
Now Fort Bend County wants to take over its part of the Grand Parkway
Following up on these posts about state Sen. Jon Lindsay's bill that would allow a county toll road authority to take over a TXDoT project to expedite construction and then transfer the property back to the state when it is complete, check out this Chronicle story about Fort Bend County trying to take over portions of the Grand Parkway:
If Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers has his way, a series of overpasses planned for the Grand Parkway through Fort Bend County would be built and managed by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority.
Under Meyers' plan, surplus revenue from tolls would be reinvested by the county to build the parkway south of U.S. 59.
As many as 11 overpasses would be built along the Grand Parkway between Interstate 10 and U.S. 59.
[snip]
"TxDOT has been a very good partner with the two tollroads we did build. We want to maintain that relationship," Meyers said.
Meyers thinks it is possible to maintain that relationship by having the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority take over the Grand Parkway and commit to build tolled overpasses.
The surplus tolls would be used to continue building the Grand Parkway , he said.
Having the county authority maintain and continue to build the Grand Parkway would take a burden off the state, Meyers said.
The county can build the road quicker and less expensively because it doesn't have to meet all the requirements the state does, he said.
[snip]
Meyers said that TxDOT has expressed concern about having Fort Bend County operate the tolled overpasses because state funds were used to construct the existing portions of the Grand Parkway .
One issue to be resolved is whether the state would want the county to pay back the $50 million to $60 million it spent building the highway.
As Charles Kuffner points out, the main problem with toll road authorities is that municipalities have no legal avenue to do anything about a toll road authority project. TRA's practically have a build-at-will capability.
RELATED: Grand Parkway Segment C, from US 59 to SH 288.
UPDATE: This Katy Times story says that not everyone supports the move:
"This new proposal would create a convoluted mix of both tolled facilities and free roads, which is both confusing and an unecessary burden to all drivers," [State Rep. Glenn Hegar] said.
He said the conversion to a toll road is an effort to provide funding for the project and an attempt to speed up the construction timeline.
Hegar is encouraging Katy residents to attend a TxDOT meeting scheduled for 6-8 p.m. May 4 in the Cinco Ranch High School Ninth Grade Center.
"It is important that the people who live and work in Katy and Fort Bend County, and who will be affected most by this proposal, let the Department of Transportation know just how they feel about essentially be asked to pay for these highway improvements twice, first with their tax dollars and now with tolls," he said.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/13/05 02:50 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
The Chronicle covers Laurence Simon -- the San Francisco Chronicle
blogHOUSTON favorite Laurence Simon is featured in a San Francisco Chronicle story about dead pools:
For hundreds of millions of religious followers around the world, last week's passing of Pope John Paul II was a time of intense mourning, prayer and introspection.
For a much smaller congregation playing Laurence Simon's online dead pool, it was worth 41 points. Plus there was a raffle for a Jesus-themed action figure.
"I'm not even going to try to link every player who scored on this one," Simon wrote on his deadpool.isfullofcrap.com blog, a few hours after the pope's death on April 2. "The official standings will be updated later today."
[snip]
While the pope's death was a watershed moment in the world of dead pools, 2005 may be remembered for the sum of its celebrity deaths, which have come faster than any year in recent memory. Prince Rainier and Saul Bellow died within four days of the pope, and perennial picks Arthur Miller, Hunter S. Thompson, Max Schmeling and Johnny Carson also passed earlier this year.
"It's been a pretty hectic year compared to other years," Simon said. "In 2003, people were calling it the live forever pool, because the ice didn't get broken on that one until David Brinkley died. It took all the way until June for the first score."
[snip]
"I don't get that many hate mails. I think people figure it's a waste of typing," Simon added. "What's it going to accomplish? It takes me one click of a key, and then it's gone, and I don't even think about it."
Dead Pool operators also say that most willing to play don't pull their punches when it comes to choosing benevolent, holy or otherwise beloved figures. Simon points out that the readership for his blog, based in Houston, leans heavily toward the right -- and there's still no shortage of people picking Rehnquist and heart attack-prone Vice President Dick Cheney.
[snip]
Simon points out that he didn't personally wish the pope dead, but has no apologies for his musings, which included the raffle of a "Buddy Christ" figure from the movie "Dogma." The winner was chosen by Simon's cat, with each participant's name written on a piece of paper and covered with a kitty treat.
"We live, we die," Simon said. "Might as well score points along the way."
(Full disclosure: I am a Dead Pool participant and I picked the pope. I also picked Prince Rainier.)
So, let's check the tally of media outlets that have covered Laurence: New York Times -- check; Time Magazine -- check, San Francisco Chronicle -- check; Houston Chronicle -- nothing. A big goose egg.
But Houston's Daily Information Source did manage to scrounge up a reporter to cover the Toby-the-Bunny-faux-crisis today. Those of us who read Laurence's site already knew about Toby the Bunny, since he posted on it weeks ago.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/13/05 10:29 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (6)
Chronicle "balances" its DeLay coverage
Whoa! There are three (count 'em -- THREE!) letters today in support of Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Here's one:
Spreading partisan nonsense
I am tired of the Chronicle's vendetta against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay because he dared to oppose the sacrosanct Main Street rail line.
Will you folks please move on? Why won't the Chronicle disclose how many on its management team live inside the Loop and have access to rail, and how much the Chronicle's real estate holdings went up in value due to the rail line?
You got your rail, so please leave the people's choice alone.
Stop spreading the Democrats' partisan nonsense.
TED GREEN Houston
Of course, this is how the Chronicle can say it's neither conservative nor liberal, since it published three pro-DeLay letters. Never mind that a positive-DeLay story on the "news" pages is rarer than a story critical of Metro.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: I know the editorial page is under no obligation to do so, but has there been any balance in terms of a pro-DeLay op-ed mixed in with the anti-DeLay barrage? I can't think of anything but the occasional letter. Where is Phil Magness when there are sentences and paragraphs and column inches to be counted?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/13/05 09:26 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
The Chronicle DOES know Rep. Noriega is in Afghanistan
Remember that Chronicle editorial that said Rep. Rick Noriega is serving in Iraq? (Rob Booth at Lone Star Times caught it and pointed out that Noriega is serving in Afghanistan.) The Chronicle never issued a correction, and in fact, the editorial still says "Iraq."
Well, check out the first sentence in today's Rick Casey column:
When, at the age of 46, State Rep. and National Guard Maj. Rick Noriega received orders to go to Afghanistan last June, he had two weeks to transform his and his family's civilian life to one of a family with the father at war.
Apparently, that's another example of an editorial page in its ideal state.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/13/05 07:46 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
12 April 2005
Another manifestation of HPD's manpower shortage
If you think you've seen more graffiti around Houston lately, you're probably not imagining it.
Now, the only graffiti abatement program in the fourth largest city in the country is available exclusively to East End residents and businesses, under the auspices of the Greater East End Management District:
The Greater East End Management District has the only mobile unit created to wipe out illegal aerosol art.
[snip]
"We're here to clean graffiti. We're the only graffiti abatement here in the City of Houston, right now," [Martin] Chavez explained. He said his team is the only weapon against the crime since HPD stopped its graffiti abatement program more than a year ago.
Every day, private citizens and property owners who have been tagged call Chavez' team for help. So do HPD and the city's neighborhood protection office.
"The unique thing about the program is we color match the colors of the buildings," Chavez said.
And it doesn't matter where in the East End the crime was committed. The modern day "Mr. Cleans" armed with paint brushes and power wash equipment are committed to wiping slates clean.
Chavez said his team is always up for the job. "It doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees or 50 degrees, we're out here."
The driving force -- Restoring surfaces back to the original style and bringing prestige back to one of Houston's oldest neighborhoods.
"As far as our area goes, which is the East End, graffiti has really gone down," said Chavez.
There were 700 sites abated when the program started five years ago, 526 in 2002, 528 in 2003 and 520 last year.
The crew is also spending less time on the streets. It used to take four days a week. Now they're down to two.
"We've seen graffiti spread out of the East End and more into Midtown and downtown and other areas of town," Chavez said.
Chavez said the mayor's anti-gang office and a city council member have approached his group wanting to copy the program.
HPD used to have such a program! And as we learned from Mayor Giuliani in New York, such programs are not as trivial as they might seem.
But, Mayor White and Chief Hurtt seem to have some very different priorities for the city.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/12/05 10:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Banjo Jones: The "golden age" of Houston columnists
Remember back when Houston was a three newspaper town?
Yeah, that was before my time too. But Banjo Jones has the details over at his blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/12/05 10:19 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)
Who knew bankers care so little about numbers?
Matt Bramanti discovers the latest problem on the Chronicle letters page.
Today, the newspaper printed a letter that asserted:
More than 226,000 children and 104,000 adults are raped every year in Texas, and most of those rape victims are younger than 18. Texas ranks 17th in the nation of forced rapes per 100,000 people — and those are only the ones that are reported! Rape is the most dramatically underreported crime.
Statistics also show that 30 percent of rape victims contemplate suicide while 13 percent actually follow through with their suicides.
Bramanti does a little fact-checking, and discovers the following:
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, there were 8,541 rapes in Texas in 2002, not 330,000. That same year, according to the Texas Department of Health, there were 2,304 suicides, a far cry from the 42,900 that the writer suggests.
Perhaps if Bramanti had more experience in the banking business, he would not question why a letter made it into print despite being in error by about 321,500 rapes per year.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/12/05 09:49 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
HCTRA fulfilling developers' dreams with Grand Parkway
Some Spring residents who are in the path of the proposed Grand Parkway are receiving survey notices from the Harris County Toll Road Authority:
Homes in north Harris County could soon be up for sale without their owners consent. That's because the properties may be in the path of the expanded Grand Parkway, Houston's proposed super loop.
[snip]
"They're ruining the whole landscape of Spring," said Sheryl Badoni, homeowner.
Badoni fears the potential path of the Grand Parkway will take what has been home to her family for seven years. "They're supposed to take our whole property, come right though our house and right through our property," she said.
Badoni and several of her neighbors are upset about the letters from the Harris County Toll Road Authority, requesting permission to survey their property.
"It says they want to conduct a survey for the acquisition of right-of-way and design of the Grand Parkway," Badoni said as she read part of the letter.
But the Grand Parkway Association said the final decision on where the road will go has not been made.
"If I can find a route that doesn't take anybody's home, that doesn't take any wetlands, that's the route I'm going to pick," said Robin Sterry, Grand Parkway Association. "I don't like having impacts if I can avoid them."
"I think we can't believe a word they say," said Badoni.
With state Sen. Jon Lindsay pushing the project and the HCTRA trying to take it over from TxDOT, residents have good reason not to trust what the Grand Parkway Association says. Also, Lindsay has introduced a bill that would appear to allow the HCTRA (which has the power to build at will) to build this segment of the Grand Parkway and then transfer it back to the state when completed. Follow this link to read commenter Bill F's interpretation of Lindsay's bill.
(Billy Burge is the president of the Grand Parkway Association and his over-the-top performance the other day doesn't give me any confidence that he'll be looking out for the best interests of Spring residents.)
The Grand Parkway Association said some subdivisions didn't exist when the project first started. And that's why many homeowners in those areas said they want the Grand Parkway moved a lot farther north, where there are fewer people to impact.
Proponents of the Grand Parkway like to say that the road was proposed back in the 1960's. What they fail to add is that the plan was basically dropped until a group of developers revived it in the 1980's, as a Chronicle story from last year describes:
The concept for the parkway route has been around for 40 years. In the early 1960s, planners envisioned an expressway extending from the southwest corner of Loop 610 all the way to Matagorda County. The huge South Post Oak off-ramps that cross Brays Bayou stand as testament to that plan.
It was never realized. The state, with money tight, had bigger freeway priorities. Planners anticipated resident opposition to an alignment slightly west of South Post Oak through Westbury.
The issue was dead until the early 1980s, when a different set of landowners in a different part of town came up with a master stroke.
West Houston interests convinced the state to allow them to assemble and donate land for the state to build a highway - in this case, the Grand Parkway - and pump up the value of their property. The state would get a route it wanted anyway, but much more quickly and without any right-of-way costs.
Not one to beat around the bush, future Houston Mayor Bob Lanier said "avarice and greed" were the most natural and effective ways to get the project done. When he said it, he was chairman of the state highway commission and a landowner on the proposed route.
So when Commissioner Jerry Eversole says the Grand Parkway "has nothing to do with selling homes or building shopping centers," I respectfully have to reply that he's full of you-know-what.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/12/05 04:57 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
Chronicle ignores adult stem cell research
Legislators in Austin are considering several bills related to embryonic stem cell research, and while the Chronicle gives us a story about the debate, the story never mentions adult stem cell research (the one that's seeing results):
Two bills focus on the embryonic stem cell research itself, while three bills and one joint resolution examine funding and oversight for the work. The therapeutic research is hailed in some quarters as the future of medicine but decried in others as destroying human life.
Many think therapeutic cloning holds the greatest promise for diseases that defy treatment. Using cells cloned from a patient's own tissue could lead to cures for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease, various cancers and spinal cord injury.
Unlike embryonic stem cell research, adult stem cell research is already much more than promising; it has achieved remarkable results already. The media just doesn't like to report on ASCR successes, for reasons that remain a mystery to me.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/12/05 01:51 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
City should be wary of Cubic parking meters
I'm sure everyone is aware that Houston is trying out some new parking meters downtown, but there was one interesting bit of information at the end of Lucas Wall's story that really should have received more attention:
Each demonstration meter is connected to the Internet via a wireless network. That will allow the meters to instantly process credit card transactions. Lewis said a critical piece of the evaluation will be how well each vendor's network performs.
Cubic Parking System, with meters on Preston between Main and Fannin, has connected its equipment to headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. The system can send an alert whenever a machine experiences a problem and a local technician can be dispatched. The solar-powered machines accept cash and credit cards.
That's the same Cubic that's in hot water because it never delivered a working "smart card" system to Metro.
Why didn't Wall point that out?
And just for fun, check out this press release on Cubic's website:
Cubic Awarded $11.3 Million Contract to Provide New Smart Card-Based Fare Collection System to PATCO
Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corporation (AMEX:CUB), has been awarded an $11.3 million contract for design and integration of a new multi-modal contactless smart card-based automated fare collection system that will link rail and parking services for the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), a subsidiary of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA).
I hope someone from Metro calls someone from PATCO to tell them how well Houston's "smart card" system is working.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/12/05 12:50 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
Metro sees nothing wrong with dangerous intersection
KHOU-11 ran a story last night about a particularly bad intersection downtown, with unclear signage, faded lane markings and...the Danger Train:
Accident after accident appears to be waiting to happen at the intersection of Wheeler and Main, where drivers and trains could be on a collision course.
[snip]
It's challenging enough during the day, but it gets even worse at night. The right lane of Main is marked and intended for right turns on to Wheeler only, allowing traffic from the left lane to merge right and away from the tracks.
Bt if the right turn lane' vehicle doesn't turn, the other cars have few options -- stop, hit the car that didn't turn or drive on the tracks.
[snip]
In the time 11 News was at the intersection, car after car ignored the signs, totaling about 40 percent of all cars going through the intersection.
[snip]
Metro says that any signage that would make the turn only lane clearer is the city's responsibility.
Many drivers say a sign on the crossbar above the lane might help, or at least a sign with an arrow. Right now the signs are only text, with a washed out arrow on the pavement.
More officers later came to the location and said that they monitor the spot all the time and often write dozens of tickets at a time for various vilations.
Metro says they have researched the location and think it is safe.
HPD says there have been 13 vehicle accidents in the last year.
Rail supporters can scream all they want about bad Houston drivers, but as Callie Markantonis has tried to point out, what does it say about Metro that it knew all about Houston drivers and still decided to put a train down the middle of Main street, at grade-level?
And Metro sees nothing wrong with the intersection and thinks the city should correct any signage problems. It's like the blind leading the blind.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/12/05 12:21 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
11 April 2005
Where is Sam Malone? Hoffman knows
Here's a little bit of fun from Ken Hoffman:
Q: Gotta get me some scoop on why Sam Malone isn't at KRBE anymore! Waz up with that???
Karen Winkler, Houston
A: Malone quit KRBE suddenly — on the air — to take a job with the Clear Channel group of radio stations. He has to sit out a few months, but then he'll be back on the air.
It was quite a shocker when Malone announced he was leaving, but I still give the edge to Channel 11 news anchor Marlene McClinton's leaving in a public huff. She closed a newscast by basically saying, "I don't like what TV news has become, and I'm not going to take it anymore. I'm out of here."
I was so outraged and appalled (wink wink) by McClinton's action that I offered $100 to any other anchor who would quit on-air. People like me need people like her.
The Ken Charles/Houston Clear Channel empire just keeps getting stronger. If we still had an interesting alternative weekly in this town, you'd think they might have Rich Connelly interview that Charles guy.
As for Hoffman's offer, what the heck -- we'll up it by another $100. I want to see more anchors quit with flair too!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/05 10:52 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (5)
James Howard Gibbons' editorial LiveJournal
We've gotten used to Lucas Wall using his transportation column for petulant outbursts when he is inconvenienced by the city's public transportation.
His LiveJournal-like "editorial journal" makes it clear that he's not happy that somehow, his license plates flagged him as someone with a phantom arrest warrant. It's Kafkaesque, he (almost) says!
While blogHOUSTON would certainly never wish misfortune upon anyone (as Ayn Rand might say, we believe in a beneficent universe), we can't help but be slightly amused when certain Chronicle journalists discover the problems that normal Houstonians run into every day. The difference, of course, is that most normal Houstonians don't get to use the city's only major daily to express their displeasure.
We're also amused that Mr. Gibbons is discovering the ineptitude that has resulted from six years of mismanagement by the mayoral candidate his editorial board endorsed repeatedly.
Perhaps the Editorial Idealist should (con)descend to the cave with the rest of us commoners more frequently. He might just discover that the city isn't exactly in an ideal state.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/05 10:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
Chron conjures up new beat
Gebe Martinez, formerly of the Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau, apparently has been assigned a new beat: the anti-Delay Drum.
Martinez's new duties on the Anti-DeLay Drum beat seem occasionally to include "analysis" rather than reporting (although the output is still featured on the news pages), recycling of old news as "new questions," and marshalling of quotes that don't necessarily support assertions. It's a very special beat for a very special drummer!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/05 10:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Billy Burge mp3 available at LST; Oliver Luck on damage control duty
Lone Star Times has posted the mp3 of the Billy Burge call-in from last Friday.
Also, Oliver Luck will be appearing on KSEV-700 at 4:40 this afternoon with Dan Patrick -- no doubt doing some damage control. We can guess Billy Burge is in the Sports Authority dog house.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/05 04:28 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (14)
Metro seeks public input on service adjustments
Metro has scheduled two meetings on Thursday to discuss service adjustments. Some of the adjustments listed are already in effect. The rest look to be newly proposed bus route modifications. It's a long list, so I'll copy it in the extended entry.
(Thanks to Tom Bazan for the email alert.)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/05 02:47 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron: now the journalist shield law is too weak
The Chronicle has ANOTHER editorial on the proposed journalist shield law, but this time the editorial board is unhappy because it says the bill has been "so weakened as to provide little or no protection."
In its present form, SB 604 does not keep prosecutors from trying to extract the names of confidential sources. Texas prosecutors who oppose a strong shield law do not seem to realize that without the confidential source, the prosecutors likely would remain as much in the dark as the public.
A majority of the Texas Senate cannot possibly favor the intimidation of whistle-blowers from going to the press with news that benefits the public. A strong shield law would protect not just journalists, but everyone.
The Chronicle appears to be arguing that prosecutors should support the shield law because prosecutors could learn information they might not otherwise be able to find, meaning (I think) that the Chronicle wants the journalist shield law to protect whistleblowers.
If the editorial board feels the current state whistleblower law isn't sufficient, then the Chronicle should encourage Austin to deal with that, instead of seeking new privileges for journalists.
In an attempt to bolster its case, the editorial uses (bizarrely) the Valerie Plame case as an example of prosecutorial intimidation of journalists:
In a federal case, two journalists agreed to listen to an administration official off the record. The official then revealed to them the name of a CIA agent. Now the journalists face 18 months in jail for honoring their agreement.
The media went on a hot and heavy frenzy for months demanding an investigation into which Bush Administration official leaked the (not-so-secret) name of a CIA employee. So, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft gave the media the investigation it wanted and when the investigation turned to journalists for source information, the media cried foul. James Taranto has a good summation of the New York Times' howling outrage and whimpering backtracking in the Plame hubbub. Here's his conclusion:
[...]Novak's sources asserted that Plame had recommended Wilson for the trip, which turned out to be true despite Wilson's denials. Thus it would appear that Novak's sources were the ones acting as whistleblowers, calling public attention to nepotism at the CIA.
In other words, it is increasingly likely that the entire Plame investigation--in which two journalists are being threatened with jail--is based on nothing. Yet as a Journal editorial noted last week, it may end up having a deleterious effect on press freedom. If Miller and Cooper appeal their case to the Supreme Court, the justices could "end up eliminating whatever hint of protection for sources remains" under existing law.
Such an outcome might have been avoided if journalists--notably including the Times' editorialists and columnists--had treated Wilson's accusations with responsibility and skepticism in the first place.
The media has all the protection it needs in the First Amendment; the media also has a responsibility to use that protection wisely and the Valerie Plame case is not a good example of why Texas needs a journalist shield law.
RELATED: Texas shield law for journalists rears its head again (blogHOUSTON), Give us an example of why journalists need shield law (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/05 02:22 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro ridership numbers for March
The Chronicle passes on some Metro ridership numbers today:
MetroRail carried more than 1 million people in March, the first time the monthly passenger total passed that milestone.
Trains recorded 1,063,446 boardings last month, 25 percent above the prior monthly record of 853,524 in October. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo generated an estimated 225,000 boardings, helping the Metropolitan Transit Authority surpass the million mark.
Estimated?! Let's hit the archives:
Metro's light rail is also helping get people to and from the show. Last year, 100,000 rode the rails in, and that's not just a number. It's very official business.
"I'm a Metro traffic checker," said Mary Young as she clicked her counter. When asked how many people had just gotten off the last train, "We are told that we can't give out that information," she said.
Unlike regular MetroRail service, it sounds like Metro specifically had people counting Rodeo riders. Why can't we get more than an "estimated" number? And we can see a significant increase in Rodeo rail ridership this year over last year, which means Metro's effort to funnel riders to the train paid off.
The "staff report" story also includes March's regular light rail and bus ridership numbers:
In another category, there were 32,803 weekday boardings on average in March, up less than 1 percent from February's count. The March average came close to the Main Street light rail line's record of 32,941 average daily boardings in October.
[snip]
Bus ridership was 271,564 average weekday boardings in March, down 2 percent from February's total.
Bus ridership is down again. I can't wait for a highly paid Metro official to give an interview to the Chronicle where he acts surprised that cutting or redesigning (Metro calls that "improving") bus routes leads to a decline in ridership.
RELATED: Monthly METRORail Boardings Exceed 1 Million In March (METRO press release)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/05 11:00 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
Jack Rains on with Edd Hendee
Edd Hendee (KSEV-700) is interviewing Jack Rains right now about the Sport Authority. Rains is really a fountain of good information about that governmental entity.
UPDATE: Something interesting Rains mentioned is how he has learned, through his years of public service, that there is a large subset of people and companies from the private sector that subsist on taxpayer dollars and therefore have a huge interest in keep governmental entities in business, with tax dollars flowing.
Tom Kirkendall has highlighted this point before in relation to Metro:
[...] why do voters continue to approve new taxes for the construction and expansion of light-rail systems?
One economic reason is that the benefits of light rail are highly concentrated, while the costs are widely dispersed. The direct benefits of a light-rail project can be quite large for a relatively small group of people, such as elected officials, environmental groups, labor organizations, engineering and architectural firms, developers and regional businesses, which often campaign vigorously for the passage of light-rail funding.
[snip]
Proponents of light rail argue that it will create jobs, foster economic development and boost property values. While there is some academic evidence of these benefits, it is important to realize that they are not free to society—light rail is kept afloat by taxpayer-funded subsidies that amount to hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Billy Burge gave us this argument last Friday -- that Houston sees a benefit by having the Sports Authority subsidize a parking garage and the ice the Aeros skate on.
It's maddening, especially when homeowners in Texas are getting cremated by property tax increases.
MORE: And, as Edd Hendee just pointed out, Houston has the nation's highest rental car tax disparity as we pointed out recently, and has very high hotel taxes, which probably doesn't help Jordy Tollett as he tries to get conventions booked for Houston.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/05 08:15 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
10 April 2005
Jack Rains' letter in the Chronicle (Updated)
I am a day behind, but Saturday's Chronicle ran a letter from Jack Rains:
Time's up for Sports Authority
In response to the April 7 Chronicle editorial "Lease on life," the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has outlived its purpose.
It was authorized by the Legislature and narrowly empowered by local voters to complete two venues — baseball and football.
A third venue was added after two referendums, narrowly passing on the second attempt.
The authority's purposes were limited to authorized venues approved by the voters, all of which have now been completed.
Without voter approval, the Sports Authority should not take on any new projects, and certainly not on a politician's whim!
The city efficiently operated the Summit, and Harris County operated the Astrodome, for years without the Sports Authority.
The leases for the three new venues give all the promotion rights to the lessees — the team owners who are the lead tenants. These are who should take the promotion risks, as they are the ones who will reap the rewards if successful.
Further, we have in place tax-supported city and county convention and visitors bureaus charged with promotion.
We have tax-supported city and county auditors and legal staffers who handle other public properties. We clearly do not need to squander another $3 million in overhead for the superfluous Sports Authority; it is just a bureaucracy looking for a new purpose.
Finally, the authority exceeded its original budgets on the Reliant and Toyota venues, and was forced to issue additional bonds to prevent a downgrade to junk bonds. Today, it is out of money.
The $3 million now being wasted could better be applied to shoring up the financial base on the existing debt.
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority's time has come and gone.
JACK RAINS
founding chair, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
And after Friday's scary display of entrenched, arrogant bureaucrat-itis courtesy of Billy Burge, I think it's clear why the Sports Authority needs to be shut down.
RELATED: Shut down the Sports Authority and save $40 million (blogHOUSTON)
UPDATE: David Benzion from Lone Star Times says the Jack Rains/Billy Burge/Dan Patrick interview should rerun Monday morning between 7 and 8 on KSEV-700 (you can listen online). Also, the interview will repeat Monday afternoon during Patrick's show beginning at 4. And Benzion says the MP3 should be posted on Lone Star Times some time tomorrow.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/10/05 05:00 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (22)
Feldstein covers Dolcefino dustup
Today, the Chronicle's Dan Feldstein beefs up the Chronicle's previously miniscule coverage on Wayne Dolcefino's spat with KTRK-13 over a story Dolcefino was working on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a story that was ultimately spiked.
Laurence Simon hints that there's more of the story to be told yet (think May sweeps), and Banjo Jones is somewhat amused at Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen. Tom Kirkendall also offers some thoughts.
PREVIOUSLY: Is Wayne Dolcefino out at KTRK?, Wayne is out of the building... for now, DMN: Rodeo gives Houston reporter a rough ride.
UPDATE: Banjo Jones hears from Dan Feldstein.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/10/05 10:43 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (6)
Chron publishes Chris Bell outlook column
Chris Bell (D) has an article that appears in the Chronicle's Outlook section today.
Readers can make whatever they'd like out of Bell's column, although the allusion to the old Soviet Politburo seems typically overwrought. Of more interest to me is the fact that the Chronicle editorial page decided to give the potential political candidate Outlook column space in the first place. It is worth noting that recently, the editors declined to treat an article from Rep. Culberson (R) as an Outlook column, instead running it as a letter that the letters editor (or someone) chopped.
To us mere amateur media-watching bloggers, that sort of treatment makes the editorial board look like it's pushing an agenda, and not very subtly. However, if anyone with more experience than us in the banking industry would like to raise other journalistic possibilities, feel free to comment.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/10/05 10:26 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
09 April 2005
Food and drink roundup (catching up edition)
I've neglected the food and drink roundup for a couple of weeks now, so tonight is catch-up time.
Robb Walsh has been trying out the Philly cheese steaks at South Philly Steaks near the UH main campus, and the Korean cuisine of Sharpstown's Sam Bo Jung.
Alison Cook checks in on the much hyped Noé by the much hyped Robert Gadsby, and also checks out La Parmigiana in Cypress.
And finally, Ken Hoffman reviews two new ways for The Fat City to get even fatter: Burger King's Enormous Omelet Sandwich, and Dairy Queen's new CheeseQuake Blizzards.
Enjoy!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/09/05 11:06 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)
Were the editors too stressed out to edit?
Lone Star Times has two fine examples of the Chronicle's rigorous editing process.
First, Matt Bramanti caught a story yesterday that had four pretty noteworthy errors. In short order, after he had posted the errors and the corrections needed, the Chronicle's story was fixed! He should send the editors a bill!
Second, Rob Booth notes that an editorial in yesterday's Chronicle carried a big mistake:
I do have a problem with this:
Temporary Acting Rep. Melissa Noriega, wife of Rep. Rick Noriega, who is serving in Iraq,
Rep. Noriega (D-Houston), for whose service in the Texas Army National Guard we should all be thankful, is serving in Afghanistan.
Oh my! And not only that, but if you click on the link to the editorial, the mistake is still there, and today the Chronicle's Corrections section is EMPTY!
Yesterday, MeMo said, "a lot of folks here at the Chron are stressin' at the end of this busy week. You do not want to look at anybody funny, let me tell you." Especially if you had a piece that needed to be edited, apparently.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/09/05 04:24 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro adds a new vice president
Is this because Lucas Wall is leaving town?
George F. Smalley has joined METRO as Vice President, External Affairs. He began work April 5 and will have responsibility for media and public relations.
Smalley, 47, is a native of Michigan and a 20-year resident of Houston. He brings with him more than 19 years of corporate communications experience, most of it with Shell, Texaco, Saudi Aramco and their joint venture companies. He began his career in the non-profit sector in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he served as Director of Communications for Shell Oil Company.
Smalley is active in the Houston community. He serves on the boards of his local civic association and Lanier Middle School PTO, as well as being an advisory board member of Avance - Houston.
Metro will be hard-pressed to find a bigger light rail champion than Wall.
RELATED: Metro has an executive shake-up (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/09/05 11:48 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
blogHOUSTON on the radio
Kevin Whited is scheduled to be on BizRadio1320 (KXYZ-AM) this morning sometime before 11, talking with Jon-Michial Carter and another local blogger. The website has streaming audio so you can listen online.
UPDATE: It's 10:45 and Carter just said the blogger segment is up next.
UPDATE 2: It's 10:48 and Kevin's on now.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Well, that was fun for me (not so sure what listeners thought necessarily). Thanks to Jon-Michial Carter for having me on. The other blogger participant runs Gochman Social Gazette, a hyperlocal blog that appears to be all about Houston restaurants, bars, social events, and other fun stuff. It's new to me, but if I had to categorize it after a quick read, I would say it takes our Houston Life category and blows it up by several orders of magnitude. That's one I'll definitely be adding to the blogroll when I get around to an update.
UPDATE (04-11-2005): Jon-Michial Carter sent the mp3 of the segment, which is here. It's about 3 megs, so you'll probably want broadband to listen.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/09/05 10:34 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (4)
08 April 2005
Billy Burge: THE best reason to shut down the Sports Authority!
--Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park) came in on time and under budget, although about $20 million worth of extras that Astros' owner Drayton McLane was supposed to pay for, the Sports Authority let him get out of (that was after Rains had left the Authority).
--Reliant was supposed to come in at around $300 million but ended up coming in at around $500 million. Rains said some of those extras were due to Rodeo needs and the Rodeo paid for its extras, but those didn't total $200 million.
--Rockets' owner Les Alexander got a nice deal on the Toyota Center at about $100 million more than what the Sports Authority had been authorized to approve. (I think Rains said Lee Brown negotiated the deal, but I could be wrong.)
--Reliant Stadium has already been handed over to Harris County, and the Toyota Center to the City of Houston. So, as Rains said, Minute Maid Park needs to be handed over to the city or the county, and then that will relieve the Sports Authority of any further oversight.
--Regarding the idea that Oliver Luck is busy promoting Houston's professional sports teams (an idea furthered by the Chronicle's editorial board), Rains said that's nonsense. He said the owners of the teams would never hand over promotion of their teams to Luck. And in the off-chance that they did want Oliver Luck to handle promotional duties, then Rains said the team owners need to be paying Luck's salary, not taxpayers. (Amen and hallelujah!)
--Rains said he thinks the $3 million operating budget for the Sports Authority is steep for what the Authority currently has to do. He said that the city and county should WANT to dissolve the Authority and get control of the money, if the Authority isn't handling the finances as well as it should be (think last summer's near-miss with junk bond status.)
--Rains thinks governmental entities like the Sports Authority should have a sunset-clause built in.
--Rains said the Sports Authority is a "creature that has outlived its usefulness."
When Patrick and Rains questioned Burge about the $3 million Sports Authority operating budget, Burge let slip that the taxpayers (you and me) are subsidizing a parking garage and the ice for Aeros games.
Really! $100,000 worth of ice for Aeros' players to skate on is paid for by the taxpayers!
And Burge couldn't figure out why Rains and Patrick found that astonishing. Rains had said earlier that when he was in charge of the Sports Authority, he knew that he was representing and looking out for the taxpayers. Burge appears to take the exact opposite view -- he made it clear that his mission is to look out for the teams and the owners. He said it was small-minded of Patrick to think that the Aeros should pay for their ice, he had no idea if the Aeros make money or lose money, and he didn't appear to care. Plus, while he was berating Patrick and Rains, Burge was confirming his dinner reservations!
It was an amazing call-in from Billy Burge, who is also the former chairman of Metro's board of directors and the current chairman of the Grand Parkway Association. (Uh oh, Grand Parkway...)
Patrick said that Lone Star Times would have an MP3 of the interview/call-in later this weekend. If they do, I will post an update and I would encourage everyone to listen to the entire show. Rains' information was invaluable and Burge's display...well, mere words cannot convey what an ass he made of himself. You really need to hear it.
He is a disturbing example of someone who has access to taxpayer money, and the mayor and county commissioners would be wise to get rid of him, after that display of unbelievable bureaucratic arrogance.
And then they can get to work shutting down the Sports Authority. The Aeros need to pay for their own damn ice.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: If that's not a post worthy of the designation #1000 for our little experiment in hyperlocal blogging, I can't imagine how one would look. Thanks Anne!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/08/05 06:32 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
KTRK: #1 with viewers who prefer silence?
Arbitron has a new device to measure radio and television audiences, called the Portable People Meter, and Arbitron is set to demonstrate the PPM in Houston, but so far KTRK-13 hasn't agreed to participate:
KTRK-TV, ABC TV's owned-and-operated station in Houston has yet to agree to participate in Arbitron's upcoming demonstration of the portable people meter.
So far, 15 of the 16 TV stations in the market are actively encoding their signals, which the PPM needs in order to track TV viewing and radio listening. Arbitron has some time to convince ABC, since the first TV ratings are scheduled for the July survey period.
ABC is concerned that since the PPM works by detecting an audio code, it won’t detect viewing when the TV set is on mute. The PPM could also pick up viewing when someone is out of the room. "We're continuing to work with Arbitron to address those concerns," said Pat Liguori, vp of research for the ABC owned stations.
Does KTRK know that its viewers don't like to listen to KTRK's shows?
RELATED: KHOU news ratings success (blogHOUSTON), It's about damned time (Laurence Simon)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/08/05 02:01 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (4)
HISD reform is welcome news; Chron still works a faux-controversy
I saw this headline last night on KHOU-11:
HISD to undergo major shakeup, affecting hundreds of administrators
And I thought, "Excellent!" since HISD Superintendent Dr. Abe Saavedra promised this a while back. Fast forward to this morning and I see the Chronicle can take that good news and find the negative in it:
A revised plan still cuts HISD structure: Criticism leads Saavedra to call for 5 regional superintendents, not 3 as he said
Saavedra's original proposal called for three regional superintendents to supervise the Houston Independent School District's 300 campuses. Instead, in the plan announced Thursday, there will be five, still a major reduction from the present structure that divides schools among 13 area superintendents.
[snip]
The organizational change, which takes effect next school year, should save HISD about $4 million, Saavedra said. An undetermined number of positions, from high-level administrators to office workers, will be eliminated under the plan.
It sounds good to me! But Spencer focuses on the fact that the plan differs from Saavedra's original proposal (who cares? Reform is reform -- and it's welcome); and it wouldn't be a Spencer story without this little aside:
Most of the criticism focused on Saavedra's decision to move forward with the plan with little input from outside his inner circle of top assistants. Saavedra's fast-moving leadership style also proved controversial in February when he announced plans to seek new management, possibly from a private company, for three high schools, catching some parents and alumni off guard.
As I've said before, Spencer's unbelievably lousy reporting of Saavedra's State of the Schools speech has no doubt caused Saavedra unending headaches. The Chronicle's gigantic headlines trumpeting false information were the impetus for a community uproar that the Chronicle continues to report on. It's an incestuous little arrangement: put out wrong information, don't correct it prominently (or even correctly!), then report on the outrage that the wrong information generated.
And Spencer never mentions that HISD doesn't have a choice when it comes to those three high schools in question. Texas law now requires schools that are low-performing for two straight years to either be restructured or shut down. If parents and alumni (and the Chronicle) were paying attention, Dr. Saavedra's call for ideas to reform the three schools (from outside groups AND inside-HISD groups) wouldn't have been a surprise.
But we only have one daily paper in this town, and we are stuck with whatever local news it deigns to give us.
RELATED: HISD to Streamline Operations, Improve Focus on Learning (HISD press release)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/08/05 11:12 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
07 April 2005
Culberson to hold town hall meetings
Here is the information from the press release:
The first meeting will be held at River Oaks Elementary in the cafeteria, from 10 -11:30 a.m. River Oaks Elementary is located at 2008 Kirby Drive, Houston, TX 77019.
The second meeting will be held at Truitt Middle School in the cafeteria from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Truitt Middle School is located at 6600 Addicks Satsuma Road, Houston, TX 77084.
Go out and ask questions of your Congressman if you're so inclined.
UPDATE (04-08-2005): I just received a press release that Rep. Culberson will also be appearing on Fox News at 4pm tomorrow to discuss House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/05 11:47 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Rambling thoughts on MeMo and Journalism 2.0
The Chronicle's Kyrie "MeMo" O'Connor posted some thoughts to her blog yesterday that were indicative of prevailing attitudes in legacy media -- and, I would contend, in need of updating and upgrading:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/05 11:41 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
House bill would scuttle SAFEclear oligopoly
Kristen Mack reports that a House Committee approved a bill today that could throw a monkey wrench into SAFEclear:
A House committee approved a bill today that would ban a central component of Houston's Safe Clear mandatory towing system -- the exclusive contracts designed to keep dozens of wreckers from converging at accident or breakdown scenes.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, would allow all wreckers meeting certain requirements to respond to freeway scenes. The Safe Clear program carves the city's freeways into segments served by wrecker companies under exclusive city contract.
The day Kristen Mack goes beyond repeating talking points will be a good day for Houston journalism.
Regarding that bolded section of her first paragraph, that is of course what proponents of SAFEclear have said all along. Of course, that's also what proponents of zone permits for towing said also in the 1990s -- and since we have the zone permits they wanted, presumably that solved the "problem."
However, both the zone permits and the exclusive SAFEclear tow zone permits were designed at least partly (if not wholly) with other ends in mind: revenue enhancement for the city.
That's why later, Mack quotes State Sen. John Whitmire as follows:
"The bottom line is, we ought to leave it alone," Whitmire said. "If you did away with the sections and contracts, you would destroy Safe Clear."
That's most likely true. Initially, Mayor White and Bob Stein came up with a scheme by which the city would make money by selling those exclusive tow zones. Sen. Whitmire forced the mayor to promise that money would be dedicated to SAFEclear/mobility by threatening to scuttle the whole scheme. If Talton's bill goes through, there will be no revenues coming as a result of the oligopolistic zones White and Stein created, and SAFEclear will have to be scuttled, or funded differently.
Mack discusses other interesting provisions of Talton's bill in her coverage.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/05 10:59 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Jordy Tollett, special hunter with very special shoes
Chris Elam forwards a story about Jordy Tollett from the Greater Houston Weekly.
There are some unintentionally hilarious tidbits from the puff piece on the head of Houston's Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.
For one thing, author Cynthia Calvert really digs the man's shoes:
Tollett is actually a spiffy dresser - he is noticeably different from most dark-suited, downtown businessmen - he was wearing the latest in men's shoes, a pair of brown and white, two-toned lace ups.
According to Calvert, Tollett's a real hunter for convention business:
Tollett says his task, as president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB), is to get the word out and his slogan is "Think Houston First!"
Finally, there's this whopper:
Tollett says we lose many lucrative conventions because we don't have gaming. If he had his way, he would turn the Astrodome into the world's largest casino. "We are completely surrounded by gaming states and all those dollars aren't coming here. Those states don't want us to have gaming and they hire our lobbyists to work against it. The huge homebuilders association and the national rodeo group and dozens of others - well, why do they go to Las Vegas? Hmmm, I think all I need is one little ol' casino here.
Tilman Fertitta should be very happy to hear that. Maybe he even planted the idea.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/05 10:39 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chron: All DeLay, all the time
The Chronicle obsession with the House Majority Leader is becoming a source of amusement.
Today's effort finds this bit of Tom DeLay commentary mixed in with what is ostensibly coverage of the upcoming convention of the National Rifle Association in the Bayou City:
Attractions will include an exhibition hall with "five acres of guns and gear;" a performance of the national anthem by Ted Nugent; seminars on a variety of hunting, personal protection and political issues; and a keynote address by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.
"He's been a great supporter of the Second Amendment," LaPierre said of DeLay. "We're proud to have him as a speaker."
LaPierre declined to comment on the criticism surrounding DeLay regarding ethics issues and the controversy over his recent statements suggesting federal judges will have to answer for what he calls politically motivated decisions.
And why would NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre have a comment on such tangential topics?
For that matter, why was it so important to work that tangential commentary into a news story on a big convention for Houston?
Obviously, the Chronicle editorial board drove the commentary that appeared in this "news" article, since the article was about LaPierre's meeting with the editorial board. So why not publish the entire transcript of the meeting? Where's the transparency of our editorial idealists?
This sort of selective reporting from editorial board meetings is outdated. In this technological age, it's time for newspapers to open those meetings up and make public both their own agenda and the full commentary of those they interview.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/05 10:12 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Shut down the Sports Authority and save $40 million
The Chronicle's editorial board would like to see the Houston Sports Authority stay in business:
Shuttering the agency sounds simple but overlooks the complexities of servicing more than a billion dollars in stadium bonds and seeing that the public's property is well-maintained. There are also sports projects that could use the expertise of Sports Authority staff, including efforts to build community centers where young people can swim and play sports.
The Sports Authority should stay intact to build community centers? The editorial also says the the Authority has a "continuing role to play in attracting premiere events such as the Super Bowl and new teams, including soccer and ice hockey." Well, I don't see that in its mission statement; and anyway, we already have the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Put Jordy Tollett to work handling sports promotion, in addition to his other promotion duties.
Tom Kirkendall addressed the Sports Authority issue the other day:
After spending a total of $1.036 billion to build all three stadiums, the Authority voted to sell another $37 million in bonds last summer to induce the investment rating agencies not to downgrade the bonds from investment grade to junk. The additional bond revenue was needed to make up for lagging hotel and car rental tax revenues that are dedicated to pay the bond debt.
The sports authority has about a $3 million operating budget, about half of which is dedicated to contractual obligations and professional fees that either the city or county would have to pay even if the authority were dissolved. However, the bonds are amortized over 30 years, so saving $1.5 million a year over that period is not chump change.
I'd trust Kirkendall's opinion ANY day over the opinion of the Chronicle's editorial board.
Here's what Paul Bettencourt said this afternoon on KSEV-700: the money that could be saved by dissolving the Sports Authority -- over the course of 30 years -- would cover the revenue shortage that forced the Sports Authority to sell more bonds last year. That should be reason enough to end the Authority. He also pointed out that we have a problem getting rid of government entities that have fulfilled their missions.
The Sports Authority's mission has been fulfilled; the three venues are completed. It's time to dissolve it.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/07/05 04:59 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Fire the mean city employees and save $85,000
Mayor White wants Continental Airlines to teach City of Houston employees some customer service skills:
Before you build in Houston, you need a building permit. But getting your plans approved can get frustrating.
Rick Tolliver tried to call the mayor, after waiting in line for hours.
"And I hate working in the city of Houston because of this," he says. "You know, I was pulling permits for a job in Meyerland. Took me 39 days to go through the crap to get my permits."
But people waiting in line aren't the only people getting angry.
"My goodness, if people didn't build stuff within the city of Houston, where would our economy go?" asked Mayor Bill White. "And yet, there's this casual and often bureaucratic attitude with the way people are treated. So we want to change that."
Now the mayor wants to teach the people who hand out building permits and inspect buildings a lesson in customer service. And so, he wants to give a contract to one of the biggest businesses in Houston.
Continental Airlines would receive an $85,000 contract from Mayor Bill White's administration to teach some city bureaucrats about customer service.
But the idea is raising questions around City Hall.
"I question the need, again, of spending that much money to teach people to be nice," says city council member Toni Lawrence. "If people don't know how to be nice, maybe they shouldn't be working for the City of Houston."
I'm at a loss. The city has found a spare $85,000 lying around and is going to teach its employees how to be nice. I think Councilwoman Lawrence is onto something when she questions why not-nice people are working for the city. Firing the mean people would save $85,000.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/07/05 03:44 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
The things one learns in a letter to the editor
Note to self: avoid Dr. Martin Steiner:
A natural, peaceful passing
Until the introduction of a feeding tube in the late 1890s, if patients could not eat or drink, they would die.
That has been the way millions on Earth have passed on. Dying in this manner is a natural way to die.
There is nothing cruel or inhumane about dying from dehydration the way Terri Schiavo did. In fact, the building up in the body of various electrolytes produces a natural sedation and a peaceful death.
DR. MARTIN R. STEINER
Houston
What the...? We didn't have antibiotics until the first half of the 20th century, but I'm fairly certain we don't want to go back to letting infections run amok in our bodies.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/07/05 01:18 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (2)
Memo mystery solved; media doesn't look good
That "GOP talking points memo" mystery has been solved:
Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez says an infamous unsigned memo passed around on Capitol Hill emphasizing the politics of the Terri Schiavo case originated in his office.
So what do we learn from this AP story? That the media isn't doing its job:
Well, now we know the truth. Thanks to the Associated Press, with the Washington Post bringing up the rear. And, gee, it only took 18 days to nail down a story that differs in key respects from what [ABC's Kate] Snow and [Washington Post's Mike] Allen reported on March 19 without adequate substantiation.
[snip]
But it was the MSM that failed to play it straight in the first place.
And:
So that mystery is cleared up. The memo wasn't a fake. But Allen doesn't come off looking too good in this latest account. a) The memo was apparently not "distributed to Republican Senators by party leaders," as Allen's initial story, sent out through the Post news service to other papers, reported. It was--at least judging from today's account--handed to one Democratic senator, Tom Harkin, by one freshman Republican senator (who isn't in the party leadership); b) Allen doesn't explain why he told Howie Kurtz he "did not call them talking points or a Republican memo" when he had in fact done just that in the news service draft; c) Even the later, more "carefully worded" account Allen published in the Post itself was apparently wrong. Allen wrote
In a memo distributed only to Republican senators, the Schiavo case was characterized as "a great political issue" ...
This is almost the reverse of what Allen now reports. We know the memo was distributed to at least one Democratic senator.
[snip]
But certainly whatever legitimate valence Allen's 'memo' story had depended almost entirely on the impression that the memo revealed and represented the strategy of the GOP leaders who pushed the Schiavo bill. If all that was involved was a staff memo Martinez gave to Harkin, Allen's story was way out of whack. The memo wasn't close to being worth the play it got in WaPo or in Douglass' report. (It's not worth the current Senate investigation either. What's the crime--politicians considering politics?)
And:
In fact, if the current AP account is correct, the amazingly inept "talking points memo," which got the number of the Senate bill wrong, misspelled Terri Schiavo's name, and contained a number of other typographical errors, did not come from "Republican officials" or "party leaders," but rather from an anonymous, unknown staffer. Senator Martinez himself--forget about members of his staff--is a freshman senator, in office for three months, not a "party leader" or "Republican officials." (The plural in the Post's original article is interesting.) Also, the reporting by ABC and the Post suggested that the memo was widely or universally distributed among Republican senators, while a survey reported by the Washington Times indicated that none of the 55 Republican senators had seen it. So, if the current AP story is correct, it confirms that ABC and the Post misreported the story--in the Post's case, in an article that was picked up by dozens of other newspapers off the paper's wire service.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/07/05 01:17 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
06 April 2005
Hoffman votes for Bullard over Chancellor
Ken Hoffman is a fun columnist, because he tucks away some real zingers in many of those otherwise innocuous humor columns.
Here's a recent example:
Matt Bullard will substitute for Van Chancellor as color analyst on the next four Rockets telecasts.Let's hope the switch becomes permanent next season. Bullard has two advantages over Chancellor — he understands the NBA, and viewers can understand him.
Ouch!
Of course, he's only written what we're already thinking.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/06/05 10:44 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston's daily gossip source
The Chronicle continues today with its annoying practice of reporting hearsay and gossip:
A West Texas Republican on Tuesday said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison told her she wants to challenge Gov. Rick Perry in next year's GOP primary because she is tired of commuting and having her children raised by a nanny in Dallas.
A Hutchison spokesman denied that the senator made the statement and said she has not made up her mind about running for governor.
Midland GOP Chairwoman Sue Brannon told the Houston Chronicle that Hutchison recently confided to her that she is "worn out going back and forth" from Dallas to Washington, D.C. "She just said, 'Oh, Susan, I'm ready to come back to Texas and be with my children,' " Brannon said.
Who cares? When there's news to report on the governor's race, report it. Otherwise, why not devote the space to the legislative session in Austin?
Or even better -- if the newspaper wants to report hearsay and gossip, why not start taping editorial board meetings and posting those on the web? I would love to hear those sessions of deep thinking, and I bet I'm not alone.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/06/05 10:25 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Catching up on a non-correction
As we point out from time to time, the Chronicle correction policy is a regular source of confusion (and amusement).
On 26 March, we called attention to a glaring error in a column by R.G. Ratcliffe, and I also forwarded the error to the Chronicle reader representative so he could present it to whoever decides corrections at the newspaper.
Apparently, whoever decides such matters didn't agree with our assessment of error, as here is the response that the reader representative sent me last week (my internet was down during my move, hence the delay posting):
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/06/05 08:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
When will he get around to new police officers?
HPD Chief Hurtt wants new police badges:
More than a half a million dollars could be spent by the Houston Police Department to get new badges.t's a symbol of authority, and every Houston police officer has earned the right to wear one. While the shiny silver badges are marked with an identification number, the gold ones worn by higher-ranking officers are not.
"So there's no means of identification. When a citizen asks, 'Officer, I need your badge number.' And the supervisor says, 'Well, I don't have a badge number.' Apparently that's caused some problems for some folks," explained Hans Marticuic of the Houston Police Officer's Union.
The chief is said to be looking at replacing all badges with shield identification numbers, similar to what law enforcement in other large cities have. Marticuic says the money would be better spent elsewhere.
"You know, we would have about a $700,000 bill to go along with this," he said. "We're in a little bit of a budget crunch. I think there's other issues and other things to be spending money on at this point."
Chief Hurtt didn't want to talk on camera, but says he'll pitch the idea to the rank and file before a final decision is made.
Let's take a teensy trip down memory lane:
By year's end, the Houston Police Department will have lost an estimated 740 officers — as many as the city of Orlando employs — to retirement in a two-year period.
For comparison purposes, in 2003 the department lost 138 officers through retirement, resignation, termination or death.
And there may not be enough money available in the next two fiscal years to train replacements for even half the officers the department is losing. Or to hire the 1,000-plus civilians the department is missing.
[snip]
Mayor Bill White said through an aide Friday that it is possible more money will be found for additional classes during that period.
As we have learned time and again, when MayorWhiteChiefHurtt wants something, the money will magically turn up.
Except for more police officers.
But the remaining officers WILL have new badges and Tasers. And that will be very reassuring as we all watch the never ending crime report on the 10 p.m. news.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/06/05 06:44 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
KIOL moving to a bigger signal
Via Banjo Jones, we learn that KIOL-97.5 is gearing up for a move:
Moving trucks have been spotted in the vicinity of Cumulus Rocker KIOL/Houston, which is poised to annex the 103.7 signal of currently silent sister KUST on April 23. Cumulus Market Manager Pat Fant tells ST the Rock will spew forth on both signals until around the second week in May, when 97.5 will flip to a new, top-secret format and 103.7 will become KIOL's new home.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/06/05 05:19 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
All DeLay, all the time
It's yet another day of Tom DeLay bashing, as the Chronicle picks up a Washington Post story:
A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with knowledge of the trip arrangements.
Chris Elam has a reality check: "I'll admit. It was all my idea. I'm the evil genius who invented the idea of junkets with strings attached! Up until 1997, it had never been done!!" Ha!
The story also includes the latest New York Times "revelation":
In another development, the New York Times reported DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by his political action and campaign committees. The report was based on a review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Texas. Most of the payments to his wife, Christine DeLay, and his only child, Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund raising fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about how they earned the money.
Ed Morrissey, of the Captain's Quarters blog, has a reality check: "But once one reads past the first couple of paragraphs -- and uses their elementary-school math -- one realizes that not only does the Gray Lady have nothing unusual to report, but that she's playing games with the numbers." NO! Not our "professional" media! I'm shocked -- SHOCKED!
And here's one more reality check: A search of the Chronicle archives shows that the paper didn't run the story of Rep. Maxine Waters' (D-CA) family members earning money through her connections -- nearly $500,000 for Waters' husband and nearly $450,000 for Waters' daughter.
Here's Morrissey's conclusion:
Don't get me wrong. I think the practice itself is a problem, one that we should pressure our representatives to end. It can lead to back-door corruption far too easily. However, for the Times and the Left to jump all over DeLay as unethical and singular in this practice is dishonest, ignorant, and transparently partisan.
Yes, it is lazy reporting for the "professional" media to scream DeLay, DeLay, DeLay when many in Congress are doing the same things. Look, if "some" don't like it, then "some" should try to get the rules changed.
And if the "professional" media wants to report on this in a "professional" way, it should do a "professional" investigation and analysis of all Members of Congress and provide the "professional" results in a "professional" story that presents the whole picture.
But that's not what we have today (or almost any day!), and it's yet another reason why this town is begging for an alternative paper.
RELATED: Eric Pfeiffer of the Beltway Buzz has some extras to add, and here's NRO's David Frum:
The Times story is sourced to - and is packed full of quotations from - a series of groups whistled up by George Soros for almost the exclusive purpose of attacking DeLay. [...] Maybe the Times should be alerting its readers to the true identity of those sources of these shocked-and-appalled quotations? Or even balancing this bought-and-paid-for expertise with comments from some genuinely disinterested and impartial observers?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/06/05 08:41 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Restoring the Warwick
Last week, Tom Kirkendall called attention to the purchase of the Warwick Hotel by the owners of Hotel ZaZa in Dallas.
The Warwick is a Houston institution that generates warm thoughts among many longtime Houstonians. Here's hoping (along with Kirkendall) that the new owners will invest in restoring the Warwick to a place of preeminence.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/06/05 08:07 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
05 April 2005
The Bubba's charm endures
The Chronicle's David Kaplan has written a nice piece on Bubba's, the nearly famous Westpark buffalo burger shack/icehouse that now sits in the shadow of the Westpark Tollway.
Kaplan doesn't mention the crime issues that plagued the joint last summer.
Somehow, the place just endures. It's really amazing that it made it through the tollway construction intact.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/05/05 10:33 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Why is this guy in charge of the Austin news bureau?
Matt Bramanti fairly well exposed Robison's ignorance of American constitutionalism by pointing out to Robison that he might actually read the text of our venerable Constitution before ranting incorrectly about Congressional authority to alter jurisdiction of courts.
A quality newspaper surely wouldn't run editorials of this quality every Sunday.
Alas, we don't have a quality newspaper in this city. Yet.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/05/05 07:32 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
More fun Chron corrections
Several days ago, the Chronicle ran this letter:
As the Chronicle's March 28 editorial "Greenbacks for greenery" stated, our park system provides a refuge for Houstonians and all Texans. Yet, Texas ranks 49th in per-capita spending on it [sic] parks, 63 percent below the national average. In 1999, we spent $2.71 per person on parks and recreation, while sister states spent $14.12 on average.
Current local park funding recommended by the Texas Legislature is approximately $5.7 million, which would benefit both Houston and Harris County. The preservation of our green space, expanded opportunities for recreation, and stewardship of the existing park system need the support of all of us.
JOE TURNER
director, city of Houston, Parks and Recreation Department
Not long after, the newspaper posted the following on its corrections page:
A letter on Page B10 of Thursday's City & State section about local park funding from Joe Turner, head of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, failed to say that he supports HB1292, which would restore adequate funding to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and to the Texas local park grant fund.
Sometimes, that newspaper is just priceless. One can't help but suspect that the letter "failed to say" what was in the correction because the letters editor chopped it. Yet the letters editor did not correct the glaring error in the letter, which I marked with a [sic]. And the correction itself, far from being a neutral correction of fact, editorializes about "adequate" levels of funding for parks.
Perhaps my political scientist's mind wouldn't be so boggled if only I had more experience in the banking industry.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/05/05 06:49 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Propositions 1 and 2 battle in court
The Proposition 1 vs. Proposition 2 battle is now in court and Ron Nissimov has the details:
A three-judge panel today skeptically questioned the city's claim that it does not have to enact Proposition 2, a city revenue cap initiative approved by voters in November.
"I can't imagine that the Legislature said, 'If a City Council doesn't like it, it doesn't have to become law,'" Justice Laura Carter Higley told Scott Atlas, a private lawyer representing the city in the case.
[snip]
Atlas claimed that the appellate court had no jurisdiction to order the city to enact Proposition 2 because state law does not require the city to enact the amendment.
Andy Taylor, a lawyer representing the backers of Proposition 2, said such a policy would give any city a "pocket veto" over voter-approved initiatives.
The city also contends that backers of Proposition 2 don't have standing to sue after the election, because the legal dispute no longer involves the election itself.
"Who would have standing to sue?" Chief Justice Sherry Radack asked Atlas, who replied that the Texas Attorney General would have standing.
And here's a refresher bit of background:
Mayor Bill White contends that according to state law, the city cannot enact Proposition 2 because it would contradict Proposition 1, a charter amendment backed by White that was approved by a larger number of voters in November. Under the city's charter, if voters approve two charter amendments in the same election that have conflicting policies, the city must enact only the amendment that garners the most votes.
Backers of Proposition 2 contend that the two amendments can coexist.
This will be VERY interesting to watch play out.
RELATED: The Prop. 2 tall tale that won't go away (blogHOUSTON)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/05/05 03:55 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Not seen in the Chronicle...
...but I'll keep checking. Chris Elam points out that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has an ethics problem hanging over her head, but our "professional" journalist friends haven't shared the story with us:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers.
Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.
But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program.
Heavens to Betsy! Or Nancy, as it were.
According to campaign records, WestStart-CALSTART Chief Executive Officer John R. Boesel also gave $1,000 to one of Mrs. Pelosi's political action committees in 2003 and $1,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Both Mr. Boesel and Mrs. Pelosi's spokeswoman, Jennifer Crider, said there is no link between the staffer's trip and the grants.
Well, that denial of impropriety would NEVER have passed muster with the Chronicle, if House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was involved.
As Chris points out:
Why isn't this story being splashed across every liberal newspaper in the country? When Tom DeLay's name appears on the letterhead of a group, that gave money to a group, that gave money to a group... the Democrats / MSM are chomping at the bit to try and tenuously link DeLay to any wrongdoing. They leave no stone unturned to discover if DeLay took a piece of salt-water taffy out of a jar in some donor to a donor's office. THEN, when nothing can be dug up, the 'journalists' call up a few anonymous aides, and trumpet DeLay's rising unpopularity within the GOP leadership!
However, when Nancy Pelosi is personally overseeing the grant of THREE MILLION DOLLARS to a political donor, and accepting European trips for policy advisors from said group... what do we hear from our always-so-ethically-concerned-about-keeping-up-appearances friends?
*crickets*
Business as usual.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/05/05 03:14 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Mean Republicans want to take $900 million from HISD!
Here's a good example of an agenda-driven, press release-inspired "news" story:
The Houston school district could lose up to $900 million over the first two years under various private school voucher bills being considered by the Texas Legislature[...]
This sounds frightening -- 'til you read the rest of the paragraph, and the subsequent paragraphs:
[...]according to an organization that opposes the proposals.
"Texas lawmakers need to solve school finance problems, not create new ones with vouchers," said Carolyn Boyle, coordinator of the Coalition for Public Schools.
The group released its report on vouchers' potential impact on Houston and other urban school districts Monday, the day before a House committee debates the volatile issue.
Zzzzzzzz. Yawn. Oh sorry, I thought this was going to be some "news." Instead it's a nice piece for the Coalition for Public Schools to add to its website, to show how important its "study" was. "Look, we're in the Houston Chronicle!"
And who makes up the Coalition for Public Schools:
Coalition for Public Schools Executive Committee
Co-Chairs
Brock Gregg, Director of Governmental Relations, Association of Texas Professional Educators
Craig Tounget, Executive Director, Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers (PTA)
Executive Committee Members
Harley Eckhart, Associate Executive Director, Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association
Richard Kouri, Director of Governmental Relations, Texas State Teachers Association
John O'Sullivan, Secretary-Treasurer, Texas Federation of Teachers
Amy Beneski, Associate Executive Director, Governmental Relations, Texas Association of School Administrators
Lindsay Gustafson, Staff Attorney/Governmental Affairs, Texas Classroom Teachers Association
M. J. Nicchio, Assistant Director, Governmental Relations Division, Texas Association of School Boards
Cindy Kirby, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals
Kathy Miller, Executive Director, Texas Freedom Network (self-described as a "counter the radical right")
Deece Eckstein, Texas Director, People for the American Way
The usual group of naysayers and Chicken Littles.
Is there anything from the other side?
The sponsor of one voucher bill, Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, disputed the coalition's numbers. She said her bill would apply to fewer than one-half of 1 percent of the state's 4 million public school students.
"Vouchers will not take any money away from the public schools," said Harper-Brown. "It's strictly a scare tactic."
Is the study a scare tactic? Yep:
Boyle said the projections on potential loss of school district funding were based on the maximum number of eligible students using the vouchers. She said the numbers are conservative because they don't include students currently enrolled in private school or home-school students who could qualify for funding.
The truth is out there, but it's best to hide it, when pushing an agenda.
And for a nice touch toward the end:
Voucher proponents, however, have powerful allies. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick all support a pilot program to allow students in low-performing schools to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend private schools.
Oooooo, powerful allies support allowing students stuck in low-performing schools to attend private schools to get a better education. Scandalous!
UPDATE: I missed this Dallas Morning News story on KHOU-11's website. It's hysterical, too (not "hahaha" hysterical):
"These three voucher bills are a mean assault on our urban school districts," said Carolyn Boyle, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Public Schools.
[snip]
Staley Gray, a PTA leader from Austin, said state money would be handed over to "unproven private schools" with no requirement for public accountability.
[snip]
Virtually all public education groups in Texas are lobbying against the voucher proposals.
Gee, what a surprise! We wouldn't want the monopoly of power currently enjoyed by "public education groups" to be messed with, now would we? It's interesting that these "public education groups" never seem to worry about the poor education children are receiving at some public schools.
And check this out, at the end:
A Hispanic group will stage a rally in support of school vouchers today, with Mr. Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick expected to attend.
The Chronicle's story failed to mention that.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/05/05 11:18 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
04 April 2005
Barron on local sports and TV
The Chronicle's David Barron doesn't get proper appreciation for his columns, most likely because they're of the sports/TV genre that isn't easily classified (hence the slash).
Still, Barron is one of the few Chron columnists who's a must read. Today's column is indicative.
There's this:
If things go wrong for the Astros this season, I'm guessing that you'll hear a lot of things similar to the recent comments by Baseball Tonight analyst (and former Mets general manager) Steve Phillips, only amplified.
"Losing Gerry Hunsicker was a major blow," Phillips said. "The other thing that happened (during the offseason) is that the Astros put all their eggs in one basket that had Carlos Beltran's name on it. They allowed Jeff Kent to leave and waited until the 11th hour on Beltran. Because they waited, all their Plan B options were off the board.
"It could be a tough season for the Astros. With their aging players, they may be this year's version of the 2004 Seattle Mariners."
For those of you who don't memorize standings, the Mariners fell from 93-69 in 2003 to 63-99 last year.
I disagree. I don't think Houston sports fans are that perceptive. But Barron gets credit for regarding his readers more highly than, say, the editorial board regards the typical Houstonian.
There's also this:
The Astros and Rockets were the main reason FSN will rebrand its network as FSN Houston in the Houston, Beaumont-Port Arthur and Lake Charles, La., television markets between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. beginning Wednesday.
Fans of both teams will benefit through increased team-related programming, but Rice and the University of Houston also might benefit.
"We're going to try to create more opportunities for weekly programming that we haven't been able to do in the past because we didn't have enough time for weekly themed programs around the Houston franchises," FSN Southwest general manager Jon Heidtke said. "Our Texans Huddle show, for example, could get only one airing. Now we can air it multiple times."
Texans huddle? Good gawd, it's hard to imagine anything much worse. Maybe Calisthenics with Jeff Van Gundy or the Comets Huddle.
Hint: There's a guy named Tom Penders leading a resurgence at UH. His teams play exciting ball. If you're rebranding your cable sports network as Houston's sports network during certain hours, ride that horse next season.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/04/05 11:17 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Friendswood ISD property tax pressure?
Last week Lone Star Times reported on an astounding memo and related documents it obtained through an open records request, that seemingly showed two Friendswood ISD officials "manipulating the appraisal process, issuing legal threats, and deploying unprecedented pressure on the Galveston County Appraisal District."
KHOU-11 also reported on this story:
In the Friendswood School District, property values have historically risen 7 to 11 percent per year.
But last year, the school district got the word that the hike would amount to about 6 percent.
When Friendswood school district officials learned their property valuations weren't rising nearly as quickly as they had in the past, they got concerned. And so, the superintendent and a number of school board members held a face-to-face meeting with Galveston County's chief appraiser.
After that meeting, the appraiser sent the superintendent a letter saying in part, "I am disappointed that we could not meet your expectation with regard to value increases, but assure you ... that we are making every effort to maintain an equitable and uniform appraisal roll."
The appraiser then reviewed home valuations in a half-dozen subdivisions and raised them an average of 6.5 percent.
When Dan Patrick (KSEV-700) first discussed this story last week, I was floored. At the very least this is highly questionable behavior on the part of the Friendswood ISD officials. LST believes that Attorney General Greg Abbott is reviewing the matter. I would certainly hope so!
How often does this go on, in our local governments? I'm almost afraid to ask, but I'm glad it's being looked into.
Unfortunately, this story hasn't received much play in local media outlets, other than LST and KHOU. I suppose it's not a very sexy story (not everyone appreciates "property tax" radio like I do), but it should raise huge red flags for homeowners, when property tax appraisals in Texas often increase ten percent every year.
According to LST, Galveston County Chief Appraiser Ken Wright will be on air with Patrick today at 4 p.m. to discuss what happened.
UPDATE: Ken Wright, to his credit, was on with Dan Patrick for most of the two hour show, and I am really amazed at how out of whack the Texas property tax appraisal system is. I don't quite grasp how appraisals are determined, but what I do understand is how punitive the process is, in that the homeowner has to go out of his or her way to fight the appraisal. The onus is on the homeowner to gather data to prove that the appraisal is unjust, the homeowner must take time off to protest it and there is very little recourse if the Appraisal Review Board says no. One caller said she was humiliated before the ARB. Really! She said two of the board members humiliated her for protesting her appraisal. This system seems to be completely backwards. Frankly, I don't understand why the onus isn't on the government to make ITS case that the appraisal increases it is sending out, are justified.
Something is very, very wrong.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/04/05 02:34 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
Two examples of local government at its "best"
Tom Kirkendall, at Houston's Clear Thinkers, is reacting to a couple of today's interesting local stories.
First, Kirkendall comments on the completed audit of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department:
[...] essentially concludes that the Authority has been run as the personal fiefdom of some of its directors for over a decade.
[snip]
Probably only the department's system for setting up directors' travel arrangements worked without a hitch.
The findings in the report are no surprise to anyone who has attempted to deal with the City of Houston Housing Department in an honest and businesslike manner. Tip to Mayor White: Clean house.
This is the same department that issued $40 million worth of loans, some for hotel redevelopment, that have not been repaid.
The second story he tackles is the call by some to end the Houston Sports Authority:
Seems as if a few local legislators are questioning whether the $3 million annual overhead for the Sports Authority is really worth it when it appears that all the Authority is doing is writing checks on bonds issued to build the stadiums.
[snip]
The sports authority has about a $3 million operating budget, about half of which is dedicated to contractual obligations and professional fees that either the city or county would have to pay even if the authority were dissolved. However, the bonds are amortized over 30 years, so saving $1.5 million a year over that period is not chump change.
Curiously, the Sports Authority is attempting to justify its existence by proposing the construction of yet another sports venue.
That would be for Major League Soccer.
The only thing I would add is the study that came out about a week ago showing that the taxes Houston adds to cars rented from Bush Intercontinental (which help pay for Houston's sports stadiums) end up leaving customers with a much higher bill, compared to a rental's base price, than any other airport in the nation:
After first revealing major discrepancies from total versus quoted rental car prices in 2003, an updated Travelocity study examining added rental car taxes (which, for the purposes of the study, include government imposed fees such as facility charges, stadium initiatives, etc.) has discovered that sticker shock on the whole has slightly worsened and that consumers can save on the amount of extra taxes they pay by renting at a local outlet rather than at the airport.
[snip]
Houston's Bush Intercontinental continues to lead not only Texas, but the nation overall in airport taxes, adding 66.1 percent to the base rate of the rental car[...]
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/04/05 09:35 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
The "free" ride ended last fall
Here's a KTRK-13 headline:
METRO ends free trolley rides in downtown
Except that the "free" trolley rides ended last fall when Metro instituted a 50 cent fare. It is the end of trolley rides. Period.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/04/05 08:25 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
03 April 2005
Is the staff three if they include the receptionist?
Because of my move, internet access has been and remains sporadic.
Still, I've saved this priceless Chronicle correction from last week:
An editorial in Wednesday's Chronicle, "Hillary-us politics," quoted from a column by Austin Bureau Chief Clay Robison. The quote was mistakenly attributed to another Chronicle writer.
So if they include the reporters and the receptionist, what is the size of the Austin bureau? Three? Four?
It's not very impressive that the same editorialists who can lecture us mere bloggers can't even get the names of their own writers right on their editorial page.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/03/05 11:41 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chron pounds DeLay, commissions polls to "find" declining support
The Chronicle is, no doubt, ecstatic over its latest poll on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R).
Admittedly, the numbers aren't as strong as one might expect.
However, I have a slightly different take on them.
For quite some time -- but certainly in the last year -- the House Majority Leader has taken the best shot of pretty much any lefty or lefty sympathizer one wants to name: the Chronicle, Chris "Mandate" Bell, Richard Morrison, various interest groups, various bloggers who beg for money for volunteer blockwalking, you get the idea.
Still, even during a period when the Majority Leader once again showed his usual legislative skill in moving Schiavo legislation consistent with his pro-life principles through the House, a move the Zogby poll showed to be unpopular, his numbers certainly aren't all that bad.
And nationally, the Majority Leader still is not well known -- he's hardly the albatross for the Republican party some opponents like to make him out to be.
If anything, the fact the Majority Leader's numbers haven't deteriorated any more than they have provides further anecdotal evidence of the decline of the Chronicle's influence and reach.
UPDATE (04-04-2005): Chris Elam shares his thoughts. And Laurence Simon shares his thoughts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/03/05 11:33 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (11)
Metro looks to real estate development for revenue
In today's Chronicle, Nancy Sarnoff tells us that Metro is jumping in to real estate development:
Metro put the word out last week that it's looking for a developer to collaborate with on a transit-oriented development, which is a project mixing residential and commercial uses near a rail stop.
Metro wants this project built within the next two years at the Texas Medical Center Transit Center on nearly five acres at Fannin and Pressler.
The property would be built atop the existing transit center, which was constructed to accommodate vertical development.
Metro hopes to establish a short list of four to six developers capable of building this sort of project.
It says the development would increase ridership on the transit system, generate economic development through new jobs and support the growth of the Medical Center.
As part owner, it could also provide Metro with a profit.
The Houston Business Journal covered much of this back in January, in greater detail, and in an accompanying article in the Journal we also learned that Metro has the right of eminent domain around light rail stations:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/03/05 08:51 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Give us an example of why journalists need shield law
Today the Chronicle covers the proposed journalist shield law that we have previously posted on. The story confirms what we were told last week, that state Sen. Rodney Ellis' bill is ready to be voted out of committee:
Filed by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, the bill is expected to be voted out of the jurisprudence committee on Monday and would then be eligible for debate by the full Senate.
It's an interesting story in this context: the editorial board wrote an editorial in favor of this legislation in February, and then, a few weeks later, the paper writes a "news" story on it. To cement that seemingly inverted story progression, today's "news" includes very little dissent:
"We run the very real risk of seeing our reporters and photographers and editors jailed for simply doing their jobs," said Donnis Baggett, publisher of the Bryan-College Station Eagle and legislative chairman of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association and the Texas Press Association. "We are on dangerously thin ice."
[snip]
"(This bill) will safeguard the free flow of information to the public by protecting the rights of journalists to protect their sources and communicate the news without unwarranted intrusion," Ellis said.
[snip]
But Larsen said it has gotten to the point at which reporters are being asked to testify in cases at an increasing frequency.
"Essentially, the district attorneys are trying to make the media an arm of the prosecutor's office," Larsen said. "It puts journalists in the position of having to choose between testifying or jail, and that's a tough decision."
[snip]
"This bill is a moderate, sensible approach to the problem," said David Anderson, a University of Texas law professor. "It's not an absolute privilege, and it's the right way to go about defusing the crisis that has erupted over the last few years."
It would have been helpful at this point if the reporter had included an actual example of "the problem" -- you know, details of a journalist being put in jail for refusing to testify, thereby illustrating "the crisis that has erupted over the last few years."
Because without examples, this story looks suspiciously like an extension of the Chronicle's February editorial.
(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) RELATED: David Shaw -- Shield Laws Are For Me, Not You (Matt Welch)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/03/05 10:29 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Another Voice says Annan should stay on to fix UN
Substitute President Bush, Majority Leader Tom DeLay or Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in this Chronicle Another Voice editorial and tell me if you think the conclusion would be the same:
His staff promises that more practical proposals — protection for whistle-blowers, greater rules about transparency and accountability — are in the works. Annan has indeed been personally damaged by the oil-for-food scandal, but many of the United Nations' problems predate his arrival and will continue after he leaves unless they are addressed. And that, in the end, is precisely why he should stay on in the job: Both he and his staff should now have the motivation to carry out an ambitious, vital program of reform.
Was this Washington Post editorial chosen because the Chronicle agrees or disagrees with it? I have my own guess.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/03/05 09:08 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
02 April 2005
La Porte ISD superintendent missing
KTRK-13 has a story about the disappearance of La Porte ISD Superintendent Molly Helmlinger:
School Superintendent Molly Helmlinger has been missing for more than a month. La Porte ISD says Helmlinger has always been responsible.
"We have not seen her," La Porte ISD spokesperson Beth Rickert told us.
Helmlinger has been there about two years. But a little over a month ago, she stopped coming to the school board meetings. The district hasn't heard from her since.
"You know what, I'm worried," said Rickert. "And I'm concerned for her as a person."
Parents like Don Ballard say Helmlinger's missing in action status sets a poor example.
"You have to have leadership, and it starts from the top and goes to the bottom," he said. "If you don't have qualified at the top, then it's not going to go down to the bottom."
Because of Helmlinger's absence, the school board held a special session this week and made a decision.
"Proposed to terminate our superintendent," said Rickert.
The termination process could take at least 75 days and until those proceedings are over, Helmlinger will remain on the payroll with an annual salary of $150,000."
"If I gotta go to work, she needs to go to work," said parent Was McAnally. "If i don't show up to work, I'm losing my job. She's not there and she's making that money. She's making more than me."
Parent Randall Wilson added, "It's definitely a waste of our taxpayer funds."
After reading the story, I am left wondering if she is just not showing up for work, or if she is really missing -- as in the police are searching for her. That isn't made clear. And, frankly, the parents quoted in the story sound terribly unfeeling and harsh if she is really missing.
We went to Helmlinger's home to try to track her down. Flowers and a package delivery were on the front porch, but she wasn't there; not surprising for parents who have already made up their minds.
[snip]
We tried contacting Helminger for comment, but our efforts were unsuccessful.
It's a strangely-worded story. I also watched the accompanying video report, but it doesn't offer any further explanation on what "missing" means.
UPDATE (04-03-2005): In the forum, connie links to a story that seems to provide much needed context. It's too bad the KTRK story didn't include some of these details.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/02/05 01:27 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
Say it ain't so! Is Lucas Wall leaving the Chronicle?
We've heard that Lucas Wall may soon be leaving the Houston Chronicle for the Boston Globe, where he would also be the transportation reporter. Watch out Big Dig!
If this really is true (maybe Monday's Move It! column will let us know), we'd like to offer our congratulations to Lucas. After all, he's given us endless hours of entertainment and (light rail) trainloads of great material to work with. Actually, now that I think about it, blogHOUSTON may have to observe a period of mourning. The Chronicle can't possibly find someone to fill Lucas' shoes, in the way we would appreciate.
But, in case the higher-ups are looking for suggestions, I'd like to nominate Ken Hoffman. He'd give us endless hours of entertainment, too, although it'd be in a meant-to-be-humorous sort of way; and he'd keep those Metro officials on their toes.
We may have to put together a Lucas retrospective. No, I insist -- it's the least we can do for the guy who has given so much to blogHOUSTON. Now, where's the Kleenex? I'm feeling overcome.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/02/05 10:11 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
Chronicle makes Best of the Web
James Taranto highlights an improbable opening sentence in a Chronicle story from yesterday:
We Didn't Think It Possible to Be This Unlucky
"For the second time in a week, a woman was killed after being struck by passing cars while attempting to run across a busy Houston freeway."--Houston Chronicle, April 1
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/02/05 08:44 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
01 April 2005
Gebe Martinez referenced the "GOP memo," too
I recently posted about Cragg Hines buying into that most-likely-fake "GOP talking points memo" that ABC News and the Washington Post were crowing about, regarding Congress's Terri Schiavo legislation. (As an aside, I have written to Hines twice asking him if he will clarify that the provenance of the memo is highly suspect. He has not responded to either email. We're all surprised, right?)
It wasn't just Hines who fell for the memo; so did the Chronicle's Gebe Martinez:
Republican leaders denounced an unsigned GOP strategy memo that outlined how the Schiavo issue could play well with the religious conservative voting base in the 2006 congressional elections.
ABC News and the Washington Post are both backtracking from the assertion that it was a GOP-generated memo, and in fact, the Power Line blog has done enough work to suggest that, in fact, the memo may have been put together by Democratic supporters.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/01/05 10:08 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chronicle readers take apart the Taser story
Predictably, the Chronicle editorial board wrings its hands over yesterday's Taser story. As I said yesterday, I am amazed at the seeming lack of critical thinking skills in "professional" journalists, and the Chronicle's editorial hits that point home. Here's the last paragraph:
Beyond the use of Tasers, the police and the public might ask what elements of police tactics and Houstonians' behavior cause officers to come so disproportionately into contact with minorities — contact that is often involuntary and frequently hostile.
Are they serious? As Chris Baker continually asks, why don't people follow police commands? How many of these incidents could have been prevented if there was respect for law enforcement? The Chronicle sure doesn't help.
In an interesting turn, today there are four letters to the editor that take the Chronicle to task for Roma Khanna's story. I'm posting highlights:
Is the Chronicle that desperate to sell papers that it has to continually play the race card? The Houston news media seems to really love to hate cops (those who daily risk their lives to protect us all — even the members of the media).
And, by the way, since Anglos technically became a minority in Houston a few years ago, shouldn't they be classified as a minority in the chart? And if you are going to write about what race is getting shot with Tasers most often, why not also show which racial group is committing the most crimes?
That would be too politically incorrect, wouldn't it? The media should quit trying to divide us up by race.
[snip]
The city's minorities are upset about the use of Tasers and want them forbidden. Do they want us to go back to using bullets, instead?
[snip]
Forty percent of the Houston Police Department is made up of people of color and most of these officers are in patrol units.
That means there's close to a 50-percent chance that the officers using these Tasers are themselves minorities. That information might deflate the alleged racial motives implied in this article.
No police profile yet requires disclosing the race of the officer involved, but that's certainly a factor when putting statistics like the article's 87 percent into full context.
[snip]
The Chronicle used faulty math analysis in its Taser article. It is ridiculous to compare the percentage of Taser hits by race with the population percentages by race. What it should have looked into is the population percentages by age and race.
The Houston Independent School District percentages are 53 percent Hispanic, 38 percent black and only 9 percent white. Of those who are more than 65 years old, I believe more than 80 percent are white. If we compare the percentages of Taser hits against the percentages of people who are 15 to 30 years old — which I bet accounts for almost all of the total — the racial breakdown of the Taser hits would match the population much more closely.
Houston is beyond ready for another paper to move in and challenge the Chronicle.
UPDATE: I see that Laura Ingraham's website has a link to Khanna's Taser story. Perhaps she'll be discussing it during today's show.
UPDATE 2: Laurence Simon has, what I am sure is, a Taser exclusive. =)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/01/05 07:59 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
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