30 June 2005
Chron: We professional journalists need special privileges!
Earlier this year, the Chronicle editorial board advocated a state law that would create new privileges for professional journalists. The legislation died.
Undeterred, the Chronicle editorial board today advocates a national law that would create new privileges for professional journalists:
The obvious solution is a federal shield law guaranteeing the confidentiality of journalists' communications with sources. The natural propensity of news reporters to print what they know will prevent abuse of the privilege.
Sure. Because professional journalists always disclose everything they know.
We remain unconvinced by the editorial idealists on this issue.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/30/05 11:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Bromwich releases damning Phase I report on HPD crime lab
Michael Bromwich, the independent investigator charged with analyzing problems at the HPD crime lab and property room, issued a damning final report (pdf) of Phase I of his investigation today.
The report is highly critical of leadership with regard to the HPD crime lab dating back more than a decade, citing leadership problems within the lab itself as well as HPD.
Having read the seven-page Executive Summary and the 68-page report itself, I have to recommend that interested parties at least read the Executive Summary (but preferably read the entire report at some point). Bromwich and his crew bring impressive credentials to the task, and the written report reflects work that seems to be extremely well-documented, organized, meticulous, and extensive. Because the report is lengthy and complex, I would suggest that media accounts (or blog posts) are no substitute for reading the report itself.
That said, KHOU-11's Doug Miller gives a good, brief summary. KHOU is cited in the report for its previous reporting on the crime lab.
Former Chief Bradford makes a number of appearances that don't exactly reflect well on his leadership, and even former Chief Lee P. Brown makes an appearance (yes, the problems date back that far). The report also documents the extensive efforts of the office of the Harris County District Attorney to analyze all cases where the HPD crime lab's treatment of evidence might have affected cases. Phase II of Bromwich's investigation will also analyze a sampling of such cases.
I plan on updating this post at some point with interesting excerpts from the report, but I don't have an easy way of converting the PDF file to text at the moment, so that will have to wait.
Incidentally, it is worth noting the Houston Chronicle's hit piece on Harris County District Attorney and Chronicle editorial board "bad guy" Chuck Rosenthal today. However much certain people at 801 Texas Avenue seem to dislike the Harris County District Attorney, the fact remains that Bromwich's report is highly critical of HPD and City of Houston leadership with regard to the crime lab, not Rosenthal or the Harris County District Attorney's office. The timing of the hit piece on Rosenthal is curious, since that's what Chronicle readers got to see this morning before Bromwich's highly critical report on the crime lab took over the news cycle later in the day, not-so-subtly connecting Rosenthal to a crime lab fiasco that Bromwich's report clearly identifies as an HPD/City of Houston fiasco.
That's another reason why there is no substitute for reading those reports, and why the technology that makes them available to anyone with an internet connection changes everything about media.
UPDATE (07-01-2005): Selected excerpts from the report follow below. In all instances, the excerpts have come from the main report (not the executive summary). The page(s) are identified above. Some footnotes have been omitted.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/30/05 10:29 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
Busy HISD board meeting today
HISD had an action-packed board meeting today, with the most surprising development being the reinstating of the Key Middle School principal who had been demoted after an HISD investigation determined TAKS cheating took place at the school.
As expected, the board approved next year's budget which includes a pay raise for teachers and more money for the district's Pre-K program, which had a waiting list last year. Next year, all eligible Pre-K children will be able to attend the district's program.
Also, the board approved Dr. Saavedra's proposed tougher code of conduct for students, cracking down on students who make "hit lists" and organize gang activities.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/30/05 07:52 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Besides Metro, mayor and developers, who DOES like the new plan?
So let me see if I have this straight: the people who thought they were getting light rail aren't getting it, and they are not happy about it; and the people who weren't getting light rail are now getting it, and they aren't happy about it.
Nothing says government quite like spending billions of taxpayer dollars when none of the taxpayers likes what the billions of dollars will be spent on.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/30/05 10:51 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Major League Soccer in the Astrodome?
How does Mayor White do it? He just got finished dreaming up a new $2 billion expansion plan for Metro and today we learn that he's been busy working on getting a Major League Soccer team in Houston:
The Astrodome might recover some of its faded glory if a Mexican club interested in bringing a professional soccer franchise to Houston has its way.
Club América, the Mexican First Division franchise that hopes to bring a Major League Soccer team to the Bayou City, has told city and county officials it would like its prospective Houston club to play at the former home of the Astros and Oilers. Officials with the Mexico City-based team, which is looking to buy MLS' San Jose Earthquakes from the Anschutz Entertainment Group and relocate it to Houston, met this week with Mayor Bill White and officials with the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp.
[snip]
Club América officials met with White on Monday to discuss a potential move and its impact, city spokesman Frank Michel confirmed.
"The city is optimistic that the talks have been ongoing for some time. We have a lot of details to work out," Michel said. "The market here for sports in general but also for soccer is a potentially huge one, and I think soccer folks recognize that."
Well, yes. If there's one thing Mayor White is filled with (be nice now) it's optimism for Houston. And when city officials are filled with optimism, that generally means BIG tax bills for its citizens. All that optimism doesn't come cheap.
You'll notice that this story fails to mention who will pay for the Astrodome to be made soccer-ready. But don't worry, I have it ALL figured out: Mayor White is planning on taxpayers giving him $2 billion for his new Metro plan, right? Well, who'll notice if a stray $20 million slips through the cracks? These things happen all the time. Besides the Astrodome is at the end of the downtown rail line. I'm sure the mayor can tie it all together and sell it.
This is definitely world-class!
UPDATE: Here's Laurence Simon's take.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/30/05 10:26 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (5)
29 June 2005
McGuff covers local blogging
KTRK-13's Michael McGuff has posted a good article on local blogging to the station's website.
The article features quotes and such from Charles Kuffner, Anne Linehan, and me.
The Armadillo Palace gathering to which McGuff refers was actually our last blogger gathering. Laurence Simon has organized the next one for the Stag's Head Pub, July 5, 5-9 pm or so. Please drop by if you're free. We had a really good time at the last one.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 10:36 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
Connelly: METRO's version of Pimp My Ride
Rich Connelly writes the following in the latest issue of the Houston Press:
Metro has famously made some "adjustments" to the $2 billion transportation plan approved by voters in 2003. Basically, areas of town represented by influential Congressmen Tom DeLay and John Culberson, both former rail opponents, will now be getting rail; minority communities promised rail will be getting...buses tricked out to look like trains. It's like the most expensive episode ever of Pimp My Ride. Immediately after the plan was announced, the Houston Chronicle dispatched a staffer to Las Vegas to report that people there really, really love their fake-train buses, so who knows why the minority community here is complaining?
Mayor White's announcement of his new transit plan strongly implied that Reps. DeLay and Culberson had endorsed it, even though DeLay's press office had little to say about the plan and Culberson has since issued two statements denying that he endorsed the plan or helped to design it.
Further, Nancy Sarnoff's reporting suggests that METRO chairman David Wolff may view the new Greenway/Galleria rail component as a boon for commercial development.
For those looking for someone to blame for the departure from the METRO solutions plan approved by voters, they need not look much further than Mayor White and Chairman Wolff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 10:13 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron editorialists discover Brown Administration "rotten dealings"
The Chronicle editorial board weighs in with a shocker today: things were really bad during Lee Brown's administration!
Of course, the Chronicle editorialists did not feel that way during the Brown experience, instead preferring to make excuses for the bumbling mayor as they endorsed him over and over.
Note to editorialists: Your support of the man for six years didn't exactly hold his administration to account, but that's over and done with. You can make amends by focusing attention on the city's current problems, such as: the unfunded municipal employees pension fund liability that Brown bequeathed to Mayor White and that still has not been solved, the HPD manpower shortage that Mayor White and his council haven't done enough to correct, the bait-and-switch tactics of METRO with regard to the METRO Solutions plan, and the growing MS-13 gang problem (for starters).
Readers should feel free to add their own suggestions for the editorial board in the comments.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 09:32 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Sunshine is blogHOUSTON's friend
Chronicle metro/state editorialist Rick Casey brings up an old topic today:
The result is that Andy Taylor may be, legally speaking, absolutely correct. If that turns out to be the case, look for the Legislature to degenerate even further than the sorry body that it now is.
Nearly every incumbent will know that if he or she votes against the interests of the corporations, unlimited secret cash can be used to run attack ads in the weeks leading up to the election.
A group of reformers did offer a bill clearing up the matter last spring.
It would have done what federal law does: outlaw corporate and union spending related to races for a set period immediately before the election.
If Casey's complaint sounds familiar, that's because he and the Chronicle editorial board have previously argued in favor of banning some political speech.
Isn't it nice when alleged press champions of free speech turn out to be phonies who are more than happy to ban the speech of some, even as they advocate for greater privileges for themselves?
"Secret" cash involved in political advertising is undesirable -- not unlike "secret" meetings between the Chronicle editorial board and political figures, or undislosed relationships between members of the pro-METRO Chronicle editorial board and attorneys who deal with that transit agency.
That answer to such problems? Disclosure. Sunshine. Openness.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 09:14 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
AmericaSupportsYou.mil omits Humvee adoption
The Lone Star Times today posted a link to AmericaSupportsYou.mil and declared its support of American troops.
Given the effort by the Lone Star Times, KSEV-700, and at least one prominent weblog to raise money for outfitting of Humvees in Iraq with special armor, it was surprising to find no mention of that effort on the Texas page at AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
Perhaps the Lone Star Times crew will themselves post an update on how many Humvees they've been able to outfit with the nearly $200,000 that had been raised as of the March update. Some Humvee photos might even be a nice touch.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 08:17 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Biggio hit for 268th time, sets modern record
Tom Kirkendall calls our attention to the news that Astros second basemen Craig Biggio was hit by a pitch for the 268th time today, passing Don Baylor to claim the modern Major League record.
It's not entirely clear if congratulations are in order, but the crew at Plunk Biggio reacted with enthusiasm, and apparently got some attention from ESPN earlier.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 04:57 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Beware tailgate thievery at Park and Pillages
It's very hard to keep up with crime at Metro's Park and Pillages. One day we hear crime has been conquered thanks to Metro's PART F (Park and Ride Task Force) and then another day we hear that thieves are stealing tailgates:
Metro police say several tailgates have been stolen from trucks at its Park and Ride lots.
"They look for parts that are easily removable and have value. The tailgate is one of those parts, as is your CD or DVD player," explained Capt. Michael Raney with Metro police. "They look for something that's easy to remove and they can turn around pretty quickly."
We found seven missing from the Eastex Park and Ride on this day.
Cops say newer Chevrolets and Fords are targeted most.
Charles Kurth became the latest victim Monday night, minutes after he pulled his F-150 into his Alief driveway.
Crooks took the tailgate, but left his expensive tools.
"Of course, that would have required work. These lazy sons of guns, they're not in to working. They're into stealing," said Kurth. "A bunch of low lifes."
In the last couple months, Metro officers investigated 14 stolen tailgates from Park and Rides. Metro has undercover officers staking out Park and Rides to try and nab the thieves.
[snip]
Police say thieves often prefer individual parts instead of the entire vehicle because they're virtually untraceable.
Tailgates can be sold to salvage yards for several hundred dollars -- quick cash for a crime you can commit in seconds.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/29/05 03:51 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
HISD preserves some history at Lantrip Elementary
HISD is renovating part of a historic school, and KUHF-88.7 has the story:
Lantrip [Elementary School] was built in 1914 as Eastwood Elementary, and it's one of the finest examples of Spanish Mission style architecture left in Houston. Project Manager Steve Morton says part of the school will be demolished -- but the old main building with its Alamo style front will stay.
Morton says the old main building will be renovated, and the adjoining new buildings will be in the same Spanish Mission style. The buildings coming down have some striking architectural fixtures, such as high arching wooden entryways, which will be saved and incorporated into the new buildings. Morton says a lot of people were involved in the effort to preserve this old school.
Lantrip's old library building is coming down, but a Spanish style fireplace donated to the school by Miss Ima Hogg in the 1920s will be saved and moved to the new library. Morton says he's been in construction a long time and he's torn down a lot of old buildings, but it's nice to save something once in a while.
The $16 million price tag for this work will be paid out of school bond funds approved by HISD voters several years ago.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/29/05 01:04 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)
Energy Institute relocates to UT-Austin (updated)
The Houston Business Journal reports that the University of Houston's Institute for Energy, Law and Enterprise -- frequently referred to simply as the Energy Institute -- has left the energy capital of the world and UH for Austin:
The University of Houston has lost a leading energy expert and her research team to the University of Texas at Austin.
Michelle Michot Foss, who directed the Institute for Energy, Law and Enterprise at UH's Law Center, has joined the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences.
Foss' group will be re-named the Center for Energy Economics.
In 2002, Foss and her research team moved from UH's Bauer College of Business, where the program was initiated in the 1990s, to the Law Center.
Key project areas of the group include research on North American natural gas supply-demand balances, including the expansion of the liquefied natural gas industry and energy restructuring in the U.S. and abroad.
It boggles the mind how the University of Houston and industry affiliates let such a program leave this city, but we wish Dr. Foss and crew well.
RELATED: Center for Energy Economics.
CLARIFICATION: J.B. Bird, Communications Director of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, informs in the comments that Dr. Foss and crew will remain in Houston, but will now be affiliated with UT. The linked Houston Business Journal article now states that the Institute will remain in Sugar Land, but the excerpt from earlier did not include that information (the story appears to have been updated). That's excellent for Houston, excellent for the University of Texas, and a loss for the University of Houston.
UPDATE: Another commenter points out that the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business Administration retains its Global Energy Management Institute, which will no longer have to compete with a similar institute within the same university.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/05 10:21 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Godspeed, little Edloe
It's a sad day. (Don't miss the comments and trackbacks, but be sure you have a box of Kleenex next to you.)
She was a much beloved kitty and Laurence was very generous in sharing her with us. It was especially fun to watch her on the catcams.
Laurence and Edloe (and the other kitties, of course) achieved national fame by being featured in the New York Times, Time magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. And last week she hosted the Carnival of the Vanities (be sure to scroll all the way down for some of the funniest pictures and captions you'll ever see).
Our heartfelt condolences to the Simon family. She will be missed, so very, very much.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/29/05 10:08 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
28 June 2005
From METRO Solutions to Galleria redevelopment?
In her excellent "Trust Us" post earlier, Anne Linehan linked to this story by Nancy Sarnoff.
For those METRO patrons wondering why METRO has cut their bus services and is now giving them buses that resemble trains instead of actual promised rail lines while the Galleria gets a new rail line in the revised $2 billion plan Mayor White won't let them vote on, it's probably worth highlighting these tidbits:
"Traffic is so bad that some people just shy away," said David Wolff, Metro's chairman, who also runs a land development company based in the Galleria area.
Indeed, occupancies in office buildings there have suffered because large businesses are moving to places they say are more accessible, like downtown, or to the suburban areas where their employees and customers live.
The Galleria office market had a 21.9 percent vacancy rate in the first quarter of this year, according to real estate firm Studley.
People who want to blame Rep. Culberson (R) or Rep. DeLay (R) for a "transit" plan that seems more like a Galleria zoning/development plan may want to take a closer look at the mayor who gladly took their votes, cut their bus services, and says they don't need to vote on his and Chairman Wolff's new plan to boost the Galleria.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/28/05 10:26 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
HISD strengthens code of conduct
HISD Superintendent Dr. Abe Saavedra is asking for a tougher code of conduct for students, specifically dealing with students who make "hit lists," and with students who direct gang activities:
Superintendent of Schools Abelardo Saavedra will ask the board this week to make schools even safer by allowing the school district to discipline anyone who makes a “hit list.” The change would allow HISD to automatically remove any student who makes such a list even if it was not legally classified as a terroristic threat. The Texas Legislature has defined a “hit list” as a list of people to be harmed by means of a firearm, a knife, or any other object to be used with the intent to cause bodily harm.
The superintendent will also ask the board to crack down on students who recruit and direct gang members while keeping their distance from the gang activities. Current HISD policy calls for tough punishment of students who engage in gang activities, but there is no provision in the policy for punishment of students who recruit gang members or direct their activities but who don’t actually take part in gang-style conduct.
“What we’ve seen in some cases is that students will recruit other kids into a gang and get those other kids to do their bidding. That allows the student who actually functions as the gang boss to keep his hands clean so he has no record of wrongdoing. We’re going to put a stop to that,” Dr. Saavedra said.
The proposal will be voted on at Thursday's Board meeting.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/28/05 05:41 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro: Trust us
The METRO Solutions transit plan for better mobility calls for the creation and improvement of numerous transportation options over the next 20 years:
72 miles of additional rail service, 50% more bus service, Signature Express bus service, 250 miles of two-way, all day Park & Ride service, nine new Park & Ride lots, nine new Transit Centers, and more!
Laid out in the presentation are pages with maps of transit services that will be eliminated, or modified so that the routes feed into the METRO rail.
"The plan is designed to integrate the rail system with the overall transit system, to make the maximum use of both buses and rail," said METRO spokesperson Ken Connaughton.
Effective Monday, April 4, METRO will discontinue three Local bus routes and the two Downtown Trolley routes due to low performance. These routes were given six months' probation last fall, with the understanding that unless ridership on the routes improved during the probationary period, they would face discontinuation.
The Metro board's decision to curtail the bus, one of several either eliminated outright or on weekdays or weekends, hasn't gone down well with several of the riders who say they depend on the bus to get to work. About 1,000 of them signed a petition asking Metro to reconsider the decision, signatures Peterson received Oct. 20.
The plan White and Metro unveiled includes some elements that go beyond what voters approved in the November 2003 Metro Solutions referendum, but other aspects were scaled back to reduce costs.
Bus rapid transit, which uses buses running on their own guideways, would be substituted for light rail in the initial phases of the North, Southeast and Harrisburg corridors and in a corridor through the Uptown-Galleria area from the Northwest Transit Center to the vicinity of Westpark and S. Rice.
The implementation plan also includes more miles of commuter rail than were in the Referendum plan, as well as 40 miles of Signature Express/Suburban BRT instead of 14.
The net result is 97 miles of rapid transit instead of the 36 envisioned in METRO Solutions.
Metro spokesman George Smalley said the revised plan would provide "equivalent service" to light rail until the changeover. "Everything is the same except for the wheels," he said.
Trust us:
Smalley said the changes are covered by a footnote to the ballot resolution that says: "Final scope, length of rail segments or lines, and other details, together with implementation schedule, will be based upon demand and completion of the project development process including community input."
Voters will be able to hold Metro accountable throughout the process because they will have the opportunity to vote to continue funding based on their experience with Metro Solutions up to that point.
ARTHUR LOUIS SCHECHTER, Chairman, Metropolitan Transit Authority
[Metro CEO Frank Wilson] said the changes will not require another referendum.
As part of its $2 billion initiative, Metro is proposing to run an east-west light rail line between the University of Houston's central campus through Greenway Plaza to the Uptown-Galleria area.
Some say that line could lure more companies to the Galleria and Greenway business districts.
"Traffic is so bad that some people just shy away," said David Wolff, Metro's chairman, who also runs a land development company based in the Galleria area.
The big-ticket item in Wilson's presentation, which has not been scheduled for a vote, is the purchase of 15 more rail cars for about $58 million.
"It's the happy price of success," he said. "It happened a lot sooner than we expected. We're running 18 cars a day now — every car every day."
Fare box revenue for March 2005 was $2.2 million. Fare box revenue for March 2004 was $4.5 million.
[T]otal system ridership in March was a bit over 8 million riders, a decline of 3.3 percent from March 2004 (8.3 million riders, system-wide). March 2005 bus ridership declined more than nine percent, compared to March 2004.
There's a "shocking" problem with Metro's Main Street train which officials are trying to keep hush-hush.
Electric current is apparently straying from Metro's overhead power lines and eating away at some nearby material, including metal rail anchors at bridges over Buffalo and Brays Bayous, six track switches and two concrete-paved areas along the rail line.
The report notes Metro performed no "baseline" testing of electric current before it started running passenger rail service because it was in a hurry to get the line started.
[Metro CEO Frank] Wilson replied, "My responsibility is to move the project forward. I can't blame those who came before me."
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/28/05 11:00 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
27 June 2005
Jackson Lee cites "progress" at Guantanamo
Following an actual tour of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) and others conceded that it did not live up to its billing by certain interest groups:
"The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif.
[snip]
After a classified briefing from base commanders, the House delegation ate lunch with troops — the same meal of chicken with orange sauce, rice and okra that detainees were served. They then toured several of the barbed-wire camps where detainees are housed, viewing small cells, dusty recreation yards and common areas.
[snip]
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is one of many Democrats who have called for an independent commission to investigate abuse allegations and said the facility should close. She stopped short of changing her position after the visit but acknowledged, "What we've seen here is evidence that we've made progress."
Evidence of progress, or evidence that "gulag" claims were wildly overblown in the first place?
Thankfully, Rep. Jackson Lee did not tell any wild tales about her activist escapades as a six-year-old. Or at least the AP writer had the good sense not to print them if she did (unlike the local newspaper).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/05 08:34 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
Congratulations, Miss Houston/Texas
Houston's own Lauren Lanning is the new Miss Texas USA:
Miss Houston Lauren Lanning was crowned Miss Texas USA 2006 on Sunday.
Lanning, 21, was one of 131 contestants in the pageant.
Miss Harris County Crystle Stewart was first runner-up. Miss Beaumont Kendahl Beal was second runner-up. Miss South Central Texas Cassandra Meyer was third runner-up and Miss North Texas Candace Campfield was selected as fourth runner-up.
Lanning is a student in radio/television communications at the University of Houston Clear Lake. She has volunteered for several organizations and founded "Coins for the Cure," a program to raise awareness and help find a cure for breast cancer. The disease runs in her family.
"I want to carry my platform on creating more awareness about early detection and research," Lanning said in a story in Monday's editions of the Laredo Morning Times.
She will represent Texas in the Miss USA pageant in February.
Lanning said during the interview portion of the pageant that she would like to be either a television journalist or an actress.
"I want to be a leader either in the community as an actress bringing attention to issues or on the TV set in Texas delivering the news," Lanning said.
Congratulations to Miss Lanning. Perhaps we'll see her on the local evening news one of these days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/05 07:57 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Lanier three-peats!
HISD spokesman Terry Abbott sends word that the Lanier Middle School speech and debate team won its third straight National Junior Forensic League title.
Congratulations!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/05 03:14 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
HPD doesn't appreciate red light camera entrepreneurship
So, a company makes a spray on product that can thwart a red light camera...and HPD is whining:
Houston Police Department Lt. Robert Manzo said the city may want to consider an ordinance or a state law against PhotoBlocker.
"So people are already gearing up to defeat the system, huh?" Manzo asked. "We're not happy to hear this product is available and already being marketed to Houston before the cameras are even installed. This is obviously going to be a concern, and it may be something we have to address with the Legislature."
Well, of COURSE people will try to defeat the system -- it's human nature! And HPD now wants to run to the Legislature (which just refused to ban the cameras) to get a ban on anything that might defeat Houston's money-grab.
Then there's this at the end of the story:
The images then would be wired to the city's vendor for owner identification. The city also is considering giving the vendor a cut of the revenue and setting up decoy cameras as deterrents in some areas.
Giving the vendor a cut of the revenue is a bad idea. Just think of the shenanigans that could ensue. Oh wait:
"It's going to be ugly. There's a lot of money involved," said Rice University political scientist Bob Stein, whose wife works as the mayor's agenda director.
"The mayor will be watching carefully to ensure that the contracts are handled properly and that there are no shenanigans."
Mayor White, also known as the Father of Houston, will save Houston from any shenanigans.
RELATED: What's the penalty for not paying a red light camera ticket? (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/05 02:33 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
State audit of Metro is available for public review
Thursday, Metro will be holding a public meeting (it must be public meeting week!) to present the state's performance audit:
The state performance audit of METRO will be the subject of a public hearing to be held on Thursday, June 30, 2005, at 12:00 Noon in the METRO Boardroom on the 2nd floor at 1900 Main in Houston, Texas.
The performance audit document and METRO management responses to the audit are available for public review prior to the hearing at METRO headquarters at 1900 Main on the 14th floor by contacting Rose Gonzales at 713-739-4834.
I am going to leave you with a cliffhanger: Tom Bazan went to the Lee P. Brown Administration building to view the performance audit and what he saw in the report was astounding. Metro is NOT a healthy organization.
If you have time this week, call Metro and go take a peek at the report for yourself.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/05 11:04 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (9)
KTRH obtains draft report on Metro's "stray current" problem
We posted recently on Metro's "stray current" problem and how Metro is attempting to keep a draft report from the public, specifically from Tom Bazan who filed an open records request.
Well, it appears KTRH-740 has obtained the draft report, or at least a portion of it:
There's a "shocking" problem with Metro's Main Street train which officials are trying to keep hush-hush.
Electric current is apparently straying from Metro's overhead power lines and eating away at some nearby material, including metal rail anchors at bridges over Buffalo and Brays Bayous, six track switches and two concrete-paved areas along the rail line.
A draft report obtained by KTRH warns the stray current also has the potential to damage underground utilities.
At a board meeting last month, Metro CEO Frank Wilson estimated repair costs at nearly $3 million, but Metro Chairman David Wolff says they're not yet sure how big the problem may be.
The report notes Metro performed no "baseline" testing of electric current before it started running passenger rail service because it was in a hurry to get the line started. The authority says repairs to electrical damage at the two bayou bridges are underway, and there is no danger to the traveling public.
Now, why can KTRH get the report, but not Tom Bazan?
And isn't it ironic this story comes out on the same day Mayor White and Metro are trying to sell their $2 billion expansion plan to city council?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/05 10:20 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Mayor calls special council meeting to present Metro plan
At the end of Kristen Mack's Friday column she said that Mayor White was going to present his full Metro expansion plan to city council today.
And here's the mayor's notice:
I hereby request that you call a Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Houston for 11 a.m., MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2005, in the Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 901 Bagby, for the purpose of holding a briefing for Council Members on the Metropolitan Transit Authority Phase II Implementation Plan.
______________________
Mayor Bill White
Thanks to Tom Bazan for the reminder.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/05 09:56 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
26 June 2005
Food and drink roundup (06-26-2005 edition)
It's ten o'clock on a Sunday night, and what better time to read about food. That's right, we have a food and drink roundup about to happen.
Alison Cook checks out Vieng Thai and deems what she finds "authentic Thai cookery."
Robb Walsh tries Soul on the Bayeaux. Who knew that little place we pass on the way to U. of H. games might actually be good? My favorite part of his review:
The menu at Soul on the Bayeaux describes the place as a "Cajun Soulfood Restaurant." It also says "We zydeco everyday!" and "N'awlins cooking at its best." No doubt this mixed bag of cultural catchwords is going to get people riled up. They'll write letters explaining that there aren't any Cajuns in New Orleans and I need to take a trip to Opelousas or Mamou or somewhere.I'm used to it. Every time I write about Houston restaurants serving food from Louisiana, somebody sends a letter to the editor calling me an idiot. I don't mind -- really. Because the truth is, people in Louisiana don't agree on this stuff either. And they call each other idiots all the time. It sort of makes me feel like part of the family.
Ok, Robb.
Peggy Grodinsky sits in on a Dorothy Huang cooking class.
Dai Huynh sets out in search of flan.
Ken Hoffman makes me purchase a liter bottle of the new Coke Zero. I don't know. I must still have the old Pepsi One on the brain.
And finally, Joey Guerra likes the new digs for Guava Lamp.
World class, all of it. Enjoy!!
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 06/26/05 10:39 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)
Slanted coverage of ongoing probation debate?
The Chronicle, which has argued editorially in favor of softer probation requirements supported by state Sen. John Whitmire (D), today runs a "news" story by Andrew Tilghman that clearly seems slanted in favor of that position.
Here is the crux of the article:
Roughly one of every seven Harris County probationers was put behind bars last year for failing to comply with court-ordered conditions, the highest revocation rate of any major Texas metropolitan area, state data show.
Once viewed as a respectable sign of a tough criminal justice system, a high revocation rate is increasingly considered a liability that fills costly jail space with low-level offenders and drains tax dollars.
Increasingly considered by whom? No longer viewed as respectable by whom?
That language clearly signals to the reader that one view is superior to the other, but not enough information is provided in the story to back up the assertions. Is that news reporting, editorializing, sloppy editing, or some combination?
Interestingly, Sen. Whitmire makes an appearance:
"The (county) bench is made up of very conservative people, most of them former prosecutors," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "Elements of the judiciary are applying their own theories and philosophies, contrary to what a lot of experts and advisers would suggest works."
Sen. Whitmire co-authored the legislation that Gov. Perry (R) vetoed. That veto gets a mention near the end of the story:
Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a crime bill June 17 that was designed to reform the probation system by limiting community-service requirements and forcing judges to review probation cases and consider ending supervision early for good behavior.
The reform legislation sounds great, right? It's certainly shaded that way by Tilghman, who neglected to report the governor's stated reasons for the veto:
House Bill No. 2193 would reduce the maximum period of probation for certain third degree felonies from 10 to 5 years. This bill would shorten the probation for those who are convicted of assault on a peace officer and taking a weapon away from a peace officer. I will not sign legislation that reduces penalties for offenses against law enforcement officers.
This bill would also reduce the maximum period of probation for offenses such as kidnapping, injury to a child, repeated spousal abuse, intoxication assualt and habitual felony drunk driving. These are serious crimes and I do not believe Texas should reduce probationary sentences for offenders who endanger the lives of others in such crimes.
House Bill No. 2193 would also add court fines to expand drug courts in Texas; however, there was no appropriation of these new revenues and the intended purpose would not be funded.
Attempt to improve this legislation that would have provided greater public safety were rebuffed, ensuring a flawed piece of legislation that would endanger public safety made it to my desk instead of one that could have made needed improvements to our probation system.
This legislation has raised concerns from many on the front lines of prosecuting these crimes, and I can only conclude their opposition stems from good cause.
That certainly raises some issues that were ignored by Tilghman's reporting.
Regardless of whether the story's shading and omissions were intentional, they give ammunition to people who question whether "the division between the opinion pages and the news pages" is as clear as it should be.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/05 10:09 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Casey disppointed with Hutchison decision
Featured Chronicle metro/state columnist Rick Casey admits today that he is "disappointed" that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) has decided not to challenge Gov. Rick Perry (R):
We like a fight for the simple reason that battles are great stories. Truces are good stories, too, but you can't have them without war.
The healthy newsroom's motto is this: Any storm in a port.
That helps explain why so many of us in the news business were disappointed that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison decided in the end not to take on Gov. Rick Perry.
It would have been a glorious gutfight, and it would have had the added virtue of spawning uncounted other fights as congressmen lined up to run for Hutchison's Senate seat, county officials lined up to run for Congress, city pols lunged after county posts and on down.
The rest of the column rambles on about how "moderates" might have made a difference in the hypothetical race:
Kay Bailey Hutchison had an opportunity to destroy a myth that is crippling Texas.
It is the myth that the only way to win the Republican primary — and therefore to win any statewide office and many regional ones — is to appeal to social conservatives and starve-the-government ideologues.
Hutchison had a chance to show something only a candidate with her profile and credibility, and not least of all her budget, could show: that given a credible choice, a Republican could win a Texas primary by appealing to moderates.
Mr. Casey seems blissfully unaware that he lives in a conservative state, and those social conservatives and limited-government types to which he disdainfully refers are known as the majority. It's good to see the featured columnist on metro/state matters so plugged in to the area he covers.
Thrown in for good measure is this non-sequitur:
Sure, most Texans are against gay marriage. But if you gave them a choice between a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and a tax system that funds schools adequately and fairly, my bet is that the overwhelming majority would choose the latter.
Where did THAT come from?
Actually, maybe asking that question isn't such a bad idea. To figure out where Casey is coming from, it's useful to recall some of his recent remarks at a Harris County Democratic Party event:
Rick says there is a new nationl religion: God wants you to be rich. If you are not rich, you are not with God. Basically, the right wing would like to do away with CHIP, Medicaid, and the school fund. Instead religion says we should worship markets.Markets aren't all bad, but Rick cautioned that we should consider how to make markets do what they do well and to tame them so they do. The rich say we do not have to do anything to manage markets. The poor just have to get with God, and that will solve their problems. Rick noted that at one time it was the blacks who were not believed to be with God, now it's the poor.
Essentially, the right wing has stollen the identity of Chritianity and turned it against the "non-believers." Rick asked how is it that God wants us to have a 3-5% revenue cap?
Those are "Rick's" own words, quoted by an apparent admirer.
That view of conservatives and Republicans is useful to keep in mind when "Rick" editorializes on Republican primary politics. It's also useful to keep in mind that a weakened Perry emerging victorious after a bloody hypothetical primary fight with Hutchison was one of the best hopes for the Democrats to retake the governor's mansion. One can understand their disappointment over her decision to put her party ahead of selfishness, even if "Rick" declined to share with readers that aspect of his disappointment.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/05 09:25 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Sports Authority finds another project to keep itself busy
The Sports Authority has a notice posted about its next board meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, June 28. Let's see if there's anything interesting on the agenda:
6. Discussion and possible action on resolution approving an agreement with Houston YET Center, Inc. for the development of youth, educational and recreational facilities at Finnigan Park and approving other matters related thereto.
7. Discussion and possible action on resolution approving an agreement with Hermes Architects to serve as the architect for the YET Center and approving other matters related thereto.
Sigh. That would be the NFL's Youth Education Town.
It's time to revisit the Sports Authority's mission statement:
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, “The Sports Authority” is charged with the responsibility of rejuvenating the infrastructure for our community’s professional sports as well as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
It doesn't say anything about developing youth, educational and recreational facilities, even for the NFL.
RELATED: Billy Burge: THE best reason to shut down the Sports Authority! (bH), Uh oh: Sports Authority still working on Major League Soccer deal (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/26/05 08:47 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Community doesn't want Mayor White to be dad
On the heels of state Rep. Garnet Coleman's scolding of Mayor White, is this excellent op-ed in today's Chronicle by Robert Muhammad:
Let me be clear, it is not just the revised rail plan, but the way the mayor and the Metropolitan Transit Authority communicated the rail plan changes to the community that opens them to criticism. The community's angst is rooted in what appears to be the arrogance of power.
The citizens of Houston elected White to be the mayor — not their father. The title of the popular television show was Father Knows Best — not mayor, congressman or transportation planner knows best. In his op-ed, Mayor White stated, in the future tense, that he and Metro will listen to the community and will explain the transit plan to them. If the listening and explaining would have been in the past tense, the mayor and Metro would not find it necessary now to be defensive about the plan.
Similar to the fallout from the implementation of the Safe Clear program, it appears that the community is a public policy afterthought with White's administration.
He's not alone in thinking that.
Whenever voters are asked for their approval of a policy, the mayor, as a policy implementer, should remember to confer with the voters if the approved policy is substantially changed — as we now see the Metro transit plan has been substantially changed.
In Texas, popular sovereignty means that power lies in the will of the people governed, not with the government itself. The community wants to make this view crystal clear to the mayor, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the congressional delegation and private developers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/26/05 06:32 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Steffy: the flawed logic of economic development programs
Don't miss Loren Steffy's column today:
Just hours after the Supreme Court's decision Thursday, Freeport officials began efforts to seize waterfront property from two seafood companies as part of an $8 million marina development, according to a report by Chronicle correspondent Thayer Evans.
The action was accompanied by the usual economic development blather. The marina will lure $60 million worth of hotels, restaurants and shops, create hundreds of jobs and revitalize downtown.
"It's all dependent on the marina," Lee Cameron, the city's economic development director, told the Chronicle. "Without the marina, (the hotels) aren't interested. With the marina, (the hotels) think it's a home run."
Therein lies the flawed logic that too often creeps into economic development programs: Success is assumed. Build the marina and the hotels will be a "home run."
It ignores questions developers don't ask, but cities should. What if they strike out? What if, even with a marina, no one stays at the hotels? How long will the hotels stay in business if occupancy rates trail their forecasts?
Is a shuttered hotel development preferable to a waterfront of small, if aesthetically unappealing, businesses?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/26/05 10:54 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
25 June 2005
Rep. Coleman: Mayor White is overturning an election by fiat
Kristen Mack's column yesterday about Mayor White selling his new $2 billion Metro expansion plan included some criticism from several elected officials:
Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said Metro still has to "earn back the trust of the area I represent." His district includes the east side of Houston.
"I may not be the majority leader or in the majority party, but I sure can make things hard," Green said.
And:
Other elected officials, including state Rep. Garnet Coleman and Councilman Adrian Garcia, who met with White late last week, still have not signed on to the plan.
"You don't take an election and overturn it by fiat," Coleman said. "What White didn't want was anyone pre-empting their announcement."
Coleman contends that White made a unilateral decision and did not attempt to build consensus. Federal money is important, but the sales taxes local residents pay and the fares riders contribute also should buy them a role in the decision-making, Coleman said.
Garcia still has questions as well."I was never told anything about ridership threshold. I was not told there would be an indefinite time period when we would go from guided transit to rail," he said. "My constituency has been looking for light rail, and I've been fighting to keep it on track for my district."
Rep. Coleman lays it all out, very succinctly.
I foresee some outreach by Mayor White to get Rep. Coleman on board with his plan. It's what Mayor White does when he's faced with dissent.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/25/05 04:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
HISD middle school seeks third straight national debate title
Here's a great story from Jason Spencer earlier this week about HISD's Lanier Middle School:
The march of shorts-wearing, briefcase-toting students to and from Lanier Middle School this time each year has become an annual rite of summer.
Inside the Montrose-area school that draws some of Houston's most academically gifted children, 45 students are putting the finishing touches on their speeches and debate arguments in the hopes of winning a third straight National Junior Forensic League title in San Antonio this weekend.
"These guys work so hard in the summer," debate coach Jim Henley said earlier this week in Lanier's auditorium. "They haven't lost since 2002. They've beaten every public and private school team."
[snip]
In the eight years he's led Lanier's speech and debate squad, Henley has turned the team into a powerhouse program that draws some of the best talent in the nation's seventh-largest school district.
"It is an advantage," Henley said. "Lanier is such a sought-after school."
Students will board two San Antonio-bound buses Thursday on their way to compete in debate events such as Lincoln-Douglas, public forum, cross examination and parliamentary debate. Speech competitors will interpret poetry, prose and other forms of literature.
Those are middle school students! That's terrific.
And on HISD's website is a story of debating success for a couple of Scarborough High School students:
Scarborough’s team became the only one from an HISD high school ever to have students ranked in the top four in individual forensic events at both the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand Nationals held May 28 and 29 in Milwaukee and the National Forensic League (NFL) Speech Tournament held June 12–17 in Philadelphia.
Chris Hunter, who will be a senior this fall, competed against more than 200 other students to win fourth place in dramatic interpretation at the NFL Speech Tournament, while classmate (and cousin) Seth Hunter was awarded fourth place in Milwaukee at the NCFL Grand Nationals. Seth also finished in the top 15 in poetry interpretation at the NFL competition.
Congratulations!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/25/05 11:54 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron criticizes eminent domain case
The Chronicle editorialists wrote the following today:
Municipal and county governing bodies frequently miscalculate or wildly overestimate the benefits of tax abatements and other incentives.
Besides that, individual taxpayers don't necessarily benefit from increased government revenues.
Sometimes the increased revenue proves insufficient to cover the cost of providing services to new development. Sometimes increased revenues are wasted on things other than essential services.
So, are they talking about METRO?
The Harris County Sports Authority?
Any number of toll-road authorities?
The Lee Brown Administration?
No. We rarely see the Chronicle make such arguments about local authorities. They are talking about a Supreme Court decision with which they disagree. Here is the crux of their complaint:
A majority on the court was convinced that the possibility of improving the tax base for the benefit of the wider community satisfies the Fifth Amendment's requirement that private property can be taken by eminent domain only for a public purpose.
That's not entirely accurate. The majority showed great deference to municipalities and states in their making the public purpose/public use determination. Personally, I think it's a bad decision, and would urge the Court to be far less deferential. But, some people would characterize my preference to apply Lochner-era reasoning to the matter as radical.
In any case, the Chronicle editorialists get it right in this conclusion:
In Texas, lawmakers would do well to pass restrictions on this distasteful form of eminent domain.
Indeed, that is precisely the remedy recommended by the majority. Let's hope the Texas legislature will take it up in the next regular session.
Further, let's hope the Chronicle's new regard for taxpayers and property owners continues to be reflected in editorials about local issues.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/05 09:12 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Spellman testifies in Cleveland/Houston corruption trial
Chronicle reporter Dan Feldstein checks in from Cleveland, where former Brown Administration officials have been testifying in court:
A chief of staff for former Houston Mayor Lee Brown testified this week that he advised contractors to select minority subcontractors based on their support of the mayor.
As they prepared bids for city work, prime contractors would sometimes call and ask which firms in the city's affirmative action program were "preferred," said Oliver Spellman, testifying against Cleveland entrepreneur Nate Gray.
"Certain minority firms are more supportive of the mayor than others," Spellman explained to the jury.
The testimony came during the federal court trial of Gray and two other men snared in a Cleveland-based bribery investigation that has reached to Houston and other cities.
Brown has not been accused of wrongdoing. He has said that he was unaware of improper efforts to influence contracts listed in charges against Spellman and another former Brown official, building services director Monique McGilbra.
The bad thing is, given how former Mayor Brown was generally oblivious to the city falling down around us on his watch, it's almost believable and certainly plausible that he didn't know the degree of corruption on his staff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/05 07:21 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
BizRadio 1320 blogger segment
Don't forget the BizRadio 1320 blogger segment, about 10:15 Saturday morning.
Anne Linehan and Charles Kuffner will be chatting about the past week's fun blog topics.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/05 12:54 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)
24 June 2005
This testimonial won't be seen in a glossy Metro brochure
You know how Metro is spending $250,000 to figure out why its ridership is declining? Perhaps Metro officials should talk to actual riders, such as Laurence Simon:
Know what I think? I think that METRO is issuing the bonds and going into debt for better crackpipes. That's right. Crackpipes. Because there's no other rational explanation for this kind of neglect, ineptness, and chaos than their planners being wacked out on crack.
Somewhere in there is a new slogan for Metro.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 07:17 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chron's reader rep is blogging!
What a wonderful Friday afternooon surprise:
When I recently mentioned to a Chronicle colleague that I soon would be writing a blog titled About:Chron, he joked: "It's about time."
Yes, it is.
But more precisely, it's about the Houston Chronicle.
I've been the Chronicle's readers' representative for three years. During that time, I have received tons of interesting and fascinating questions and ideas from readers. Common questions relate to the weather page, redesign of the newspaper, bias, comics, sports coverage, politics and photos.
We appreciate it, even the complaints. The feedback helps us to understand and better serve you.
About:Chron will be an extension of that communication.
Also there's a new nightlife blog, called "bar tab."
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: At the start of the year, we threw out some suggestions for improving the Chronicle. Here's #2:
The reader rep should have more authority and more impact
One can't help but suspect that the job of reader rep/ombudsman at most newspapers -- and certainly the Chronicle -- is a thankless task, for the person must take all sorts of grief from readers, without possessing any real power to fix any but the most egregious problems/errors.
That's unacceptable. We think Jeff Cohen should boost James T. Campbell's authority considerably at the newspaper, and give him a regular column (or even better, a blog) to address reader concerns and criticisms.
I've had a fair number of email conversations with Campbell about problems this blog has found at the newspaper, and he's been professional and responsive. That said, the newspaper would probably benefit if that process were much more transparent. To that end, Campbell should have a column and blog where he regularly addresses reader complaints, and the Chronicle's responses (because sometimes, reader complaints are not legitimate).
The Chronicle deserves credit for this smart move.
Welcome to the blogosphere, Mr. Campbell!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 07:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Freeport moves "aggressively" to seize waterfront property
It's just so un-American it makes me want to cry:
With Thursday's Supreme Court decision, Freeport officials instructed attorneys to begin preparing legal documents to seize three pieces of waterfront property along the Old Brazos River from two seafood companies for construction of an $8 million private boat marina.
The court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that cities may bulldoze people's homes or businesses to make way for shopping malls or other private development. The decision gives local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.
"This is the last little piece of the puzzle to put the project together," Freeport Mayor Jim Phillips said of the project designed to inject new life in the Brazoria County city's depressed downtown area.
[snip]
Since September 2003, the city has been locked in a legal battle to acquire a 300-by-60-foot tract of land along the Old Brazos River near the Pine Street bridge as well as a 200-foot tract and 100-foot tract along the river through eminent domain from Western Seafood Co. and Trico Seafood Co.
[snip]
The tracts of land would be used for a planned 800- to 900-slip marina to be built by Freeport Marina, a group that that includes Dallas developer Hiram Walker Royall. He would buy the property from the city and receive a $6 million loan from the city to develop the project.
State Rep. Frank Corte Jr. (R-San Antonio) has already said he will propose a state constitutional amendment to limit "local powers of eminent domain, or condemnation."
Faster, please.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 05:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
One more reason to create a Houston Parking Authority?
Here's another handy piece of news that can be used by Mayor White in his quest to get a Houston Parking Authority:
The people who broadcast from the KPFT studios park their cars on Lovett Boulevard. An old house on the street has been KPFT's home for more than 30 years. But the neighborhood is changing.
Across the street from the radio station, in the heart of Montrose, sits a comparatively new townhouse complex. People who live in those townhouses were upset that customers of nearby bars and nightclubs often parked their cars there, tying up all the spaces on the street. So they went to the city government and convinced the planning department to restrict parking there.
Now, if you want to park on the street in the area, you're supposed to have a permit; something the radio station's visitors don't have.
"We have relied on street parking all this time," said Ray Hill, KPFT talk show host. "And those folks don't use the spaces in front of their building at night, because they have plenty of parking inside the compound."
If you think downtown's the only place with parking problems, think again. With so many cars crowding onto Houston streets, parking issues are popping up all over the place.
"Fifteen years ago, when we created a parking ordinance, maybe there were two cars in a household. Today, there could be two, there could be four. We're using up the street capacity," said Bob Litke, Houston Planning Director.
Of course, city council could deal with the issue, but there's probably little chance that will happen. Councilmembers appear to be happy when Mayor White proposes solutions, which they can then approve.
Get ready Houston -- another quasi-governmental agency with eminent domain power could be right around the corner.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 01:10 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
Iran's sham election -- in Houston?
The Washington Times comments on "Iran's sham election -- on U.S. soil," and mentions a Houston blog:
On Friday, a clash occurred at one of the polling places, located at the Commerce Hotel in Los Angeles, between security guards working for the Iranian government and anti-regime activists. Aryo Pirouznia, coordinator for the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran, tells us he was attacked, sprayed with pepper gas and sent to the hospital by the guards. In Tucson, Ariz., freelance journalist Robert Mayer visited a site at a local school for the visually impaired, where voting officials prepared to count the ballots, phone the results in to Tehran and mail the votes to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. Mr. Mayer interviewed the poll monitor, a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona, who treated him to a bizarre lecture explaining how Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are CIA agents. In Houston, Will Franklin, who blogs on the site WILLisms, posted photos showing how he was nearly arrested by the Houston Police Department when he attempted to write a story and take pictures of the polling place.
Franklin has more details in this post. The post to which the Times editorial refers is here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/05 11:35 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Where's LULAC's outrage?
Well, I thought LULAC would be upset about HPD photographing day laborers. Instead it's the ACLU.
Maybe LULAC's taking a little summer vacation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 10:55 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
New HEC problems: poor training or "productivity policy" fallout?
Yesterday KHOU-11 reported the story of a woman who called 911, but couldn't get the help she was seeking:
Pamela Gray was headed home in her car at night when she looked in the rear view mirror, saw the problem and made the call for help. " The people behind me were actually pulled out of the car and they were actually beating their heads against the car, and that's when I was rear ended," she says.
Frightened, she called 911, but the emergency operator said help would not be coming unless she stopped. Gray to the 911 operator: "But now they're chasing me, wanting me to stop and I'm scared and I don't want to stop. I'm a single female in the car and it's these guys who were in a fight behind me. I don't know what to do."
911 operator: "Okay, if you want me to send you an officer you're gonna have to pull over and stop."
Today's Chronicle continues the story:
Gray came through that nightmarish June 4 experience unharmed, but was so stunned by the handling of her plea for help that she went to KHOU (Channel 11). Councilman Mark Ellis demanded answers from the Houston Emergency Center, which responded by revising some of its operating procedures.
[snip]
The call-taker will not be disciplined, said HEC spokesman Joe Laud, because an internal investigation concluded that the call was properly handled, based on her belief that Houston Police Department policy forbade dispatching officers to moving complainants.
But Houston police Capt. Dwayne Ready said there is no such policy.
"We have dispatched to moving targets before," he said Thursday. "We even have a call code for road rage, so officers can find you on the road."
Ellis said officers told him that police are dispatched in such cases "all the time."
"I think they probably can't discipline (the call-taker) because there was nothing in their operating procedures addressing it," Ellis said. "I certainly think a little common sense would have gone a long way."
HEC doesn't address road rage incidents in its operating procedures? What else is missing in HEC's operating procedures? Will someone have to be injured or killed before we find out?
[...]the call-taker never told police dispatchers about Gray's call, said Capt. Ready.
Had dispatchers been notified, Ready said, the call probably would have been given to a supervisor who could stay on the line with Gray until a police officer could find her.
"Common sense has to prevail," Ready said. "If someone says, 'I witnessed a crime, and now they're following me,' you don't tell them, 'Call us back after they catch up with you and kill you.' "
Unbelievable.
Also, KTRK-13 has the story of another 911 call that didn't go as it should have:
Houston's 911 dispatch center has disciplined five employees. It's all related to one disturbance in the Clear Lake area that happened three weeks ago. Despite numerous calls, no help arrived for almost an hour. Investigators say the blame falls on the dispatchers.
Is the problem poor training or HEC's "productivity policy"?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/05 08:21 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
23 June 2005
Eckels: "My intention is to stay right here"
The Chronicle's Bill Murphy reports that Harris County Judge Robert Eckels will apparently seek re-election:
As part of the fallout from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's decision not to run for governor, County Judge Robert Eckels said today that he anticipates running for re-election next year.
Eckels had been considering a run for state attorney general or lieutenant governor if either post had opened up when its incumbent sought Hutchison's Senate seat. The popular Republican senator's decision to seek re-election increases the likelihood that most statewide officials will stay put.
Eckels acknowledged that Hutchison's decision narrowed his options. "My intention is to stay right here. This is a great job," Eckels said. "I'm happy right here."
Eckels will be seeking his fourth term. He has previously said he would only serve three terms.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/05 10:33 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bush is a band
The Chronicle editorialists begin a paragraph of a staff rant about "unfettered authoritarian government" as follows:
Bush likes to view the threat of terrorism in black and white, which in many instances is a perfectly defensible stance. But the president should be equally decisive in ensuring that impingements on intellectual freedom, which the current Patriot Act abridges, are carefully crafted.
Bush is a band.
President Bush, on the other hand, is the elected leader of the United States.
Whatever the Chronicle editorial board's views towards the man and his conservative policies, the respectful way to address him throughout an editorial is President Bush.
UPDATE (06-24-2005): It's pointed out in the comments that my real beef is with the AP style guide. That's fair enough. I'd like to see media outlets make an exception on this one, which is probably the political scientist in me speaking.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/05 10:01 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Graffiti taggers target bayous
KHOU-11's Doug Miller reports that graffiti taggers, whose "work" has been increasingly visible all over town, are now targeting the bayous:
Houston's growing graffiti problem has spread to the city's waterways where taggers are now defacing the bayous.
So far, no government agency is taking responsibility for cleaning up the graffiti.
City landscapers work hard to make Houston look good and that's why they're bothered when somebody goes to a bayou with a can of spray paint to leave their mark.
"Being out here in this heat, we take pride in our work as far as like trimming around the trees and doing what we're asked. So when we see stuff like that it's kinda like disrespectful to our job and our work," said Charles Thomas, a city mower.
But here's a strange problem: When taggers have trashed up highway signs, for example, the highway department has taken care of it. But when nature becomes a vandal's canvas, cleaning it up becomes a bureaucratic mess.
The Harris County Flood Control District cuts the grass and trims the bushes on the bayous, but it does not clean up the graffiti.
In fact, people who've tried to tackle this problem say no government agency has accepted responsibility for getting rid of the graffiti along the Bayou City's bayous.
Looking around town, one could pretty much say that no government agency has accepted responsibility for getting rid of the graffiti anywhere.
Graffiti abatement efforts take money and effort, and Mayor White and his council have had other priorities.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/05 06:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)
Spirit-filled city council approves mayor's budget
City council approved Mayor White's proposed budget yesterday and Matt Stiles provides some details:
The council, with two dissenting votes, approved the general fund — the tax- and fee-supported portion that covers city departments' operating costs — as part of a $3.2 billion overall budget that also includes enterprise funds such as those dedicated to aviation, water and sewer, and convention facilities.
About 64 percent of all nondebt costs in the general fund will go to public safety, which increased about $48 million, or 5.8 percent, in a budget that doesn't require large cuts or spending increases in most departments.
Part of the added public safety costs comes from $19 million set aside in the event that the city's firefighters approve a collective-bargaining deal in the coming weeks.
[snip]
"This is a strong mayor form of government. The mayor is going to always do what the mayor wants to do. There's very little that a council can do unless they are all united against the mayor," said Councilman Mark Goldberg.
Among several other amendments passed by the council was an $878,000 cap on city spending for the Safe Clear mandatory freeway towing program. That figure, which doesn't affect additional contributions to the program from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and tow-truck operators, was the fiscal 2006 Safe Clear expenditure estimated last week by Controller Annise Parker.
The two council members who voted against the budget, Addie Wiseman and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, criticized the decision to issue $71 million in pension revenue bonds to help cover payments to pensions instead of using tax revenue.
"We're relying on $71 million in pension bonds, passing the burden on to future councils," Wiseman said.
The story also included this amusing quote:
"City Hall is operating in a businesslike fashion," White said. "There's a good spirit around the council table that we're working toward some common goals of creating a good quality of life in our neighborhoods, greater mobility and better value for the taxpayer dollar."
Aha. We can look to Councilman Mark Goldberg for the definition of "good spirit":
"This is a strong mayor form of government. The mayor is going to always do what the mayor wants to do. There's very little that a council can do unless they are all united against the mayor," said Councilman Mark Goldberg.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/05 11:04 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Feldstein reports on Cleveland corruption trial
The Chronicle's Dan Feldstein reports on the ongoing Cleveland corruption trial that involves former Brown Administration officials Monique McGilbra and Oliver Spellman:
Former city building services director Monique McGilbra has already pleaded guilty in Cleveland to taking bribes from major national firm Honeywell through consultant Nate Gray.
She also pleaded guilty to one count in Houston that included accepting gifts from the Keystone Group, a Houston-based firm that built the city's 911 emergency call center.
On the stand Wednesday as a government witness against Gray, she said she also improperly received gifts from officials of national engineering firm CDM (formerly Camp Dresser & McKee), Atlanta-based construction firm Thacker Operating Companies and Reliant Energy.
All had business with her department. City rules forbid employees from receiving gifts. McGilbra was in charge of enforcement for her department.
Feldstein's full story has more details.
The Houston angle seems to be, as Drudge might say, developing:
As the federal government presented its seventh day of evidence in the corruption trial of two Cleveland men and a New Orleans man, all signals clearly pointed to a continuing investigation in Houston.
"Is it over in Houston?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach asked FBI agent R. Michael Massie one day last week as he introduced dozens of wiretapped calls.
"No," Massie said.
Stay tuned. This could get very interesting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/05 07:35 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
LULAC won't like this
HPD has begun photographing day laborers as a method of identification:
For months, people have complained day laborers trespass on their private property while waiting for work.
This week, Houston police started a new initiative, warning them to stay away.
Since few carry identification, officers are taking pictures of the people they talk to, using snapshots as proof they've been warned. If they're caught trespassing again, they'll go to jail. Businesses say it's about time.
"Well, we've been open for the last two years and we've been having complaints since the day we opened," said Rahul Parikh with Midtown Ace Hardware.
He says customers, mainly women, get harrassed.
Ace Hardware is one of two dozen businesses in this stretch of Durham with similar complaints.
"Some people have been intimidated by individuals because of their behavior," explained Houston Chief Harold Hurtt.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/05 07:11 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
A hint of what Mayor White spoke about at the Progressive Forum
It's not much, but it's more than any other local media outlet gave us:
Mayor Bill White basked in his pro-environment credentials June 13 when he appeared with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Hobby Center. The Prius-driving mayor told the crowd that half of the municipal-car fleet will be converted to hybrid technology, air-monitoring activities will be expanded, and polluters will be hunted down, tortured and slowly killed.
Well, not that last part. But White played the green card for all it was worth.
"Nobody has a right to chemically alter in some risky fashion the air or water they do not own," he said.
White doesn't want to go overboard on this whole tree-hugging thing, though. His office is refusing to sign the mayoral equivalent of the Kyoto Protocol against global warming.
More than 130 mayors -- including those from Austin, Denton, Hurst and Laredo -- have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which was begun by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
"The overriding purpose of this is to encourage more action to reduce global-warming pollution in more cities," says Steve Nicholas, an environmental aide to Nickels.
Mayor White ain't signing. (Somehow he didn't mention that in his Hobby Center speech.)
Why not?
Spokesman Frank Michel says White "stands by his environmental record here in Houston, but he's not particularly interested in signing on to something the mayor of Seattle wants him to."
Richard Connelly doesn't mention what Mayor White said about his new $2 billion Metro expansion plan, but I'm sure the mayor brought it up. After all, if he had "played the green card for all it was worth," his proposal to spend billions of dollars on light rail and (don't say Bus) Rapid Transit probably would have been a hit with the Progressive Forum.
RELATED: Transcript of mayor's speech won't be posted (bH), A missed opportunity for local news coverage (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/05 06:51 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
22 June 2005
Speaking of bombs...
From time to time, we've suggested that the Chronicle editorial board refrain from topics on which they have no special expertise, such as international politics.
Otherwise, unfortunate gaffes can occur, such as the time the editorial board conjured up a nonexistent treaty.
Today, another one got away from the idealists:
After decades of bloody civil war and de facto partitioning of the country by Syrian and Israeli forces, the government of Lebanon has regained sovereignty over its territory, and with it the chance to re-establish a peaceful, multiethnic, multireligion democracy in the Middle East.
Note the implied moral equivalence of the "de facto partitioning of the country by Syrian and Israeli forces."
But the two nations aren't morally equivalent. For years, Lebanon was a client/staging state for Syrian-sponsored terrorism. Lebanon didn't exercise sovereignty because it was a satellite of Syria.
Israel certainly is not opposed to a peaceful, democratic Lebanon. But Lebanon was neither peaceful nor democratic when under Syria's sway. That's pretty much the end of the story.
Maybe we've been wrong in our past criticism of the Chronicle editorial board. Maybe they should do more Editorial LiveJournals, because they sure have trouble with anything more serious.
Laurence Simon wasn't impressed with the editorial either.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/05 08:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
"It gets him on base"
Laurence Simon points out that Craig Biggio is about to tie Don Baylor in the "ouch" category.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/22/05 03:04 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chief Hurtt conquers downtown lawlessness (updated)
Chief Hurtt has given an update on Operation Generate Revenue...I mean Operation Downtown Mobility...better known here as Operation Jaywalking:
Since the Downtown Mobility initiative began on June 20th, Police Chief Harold Hurtt says there have been 1,750 violations.
Officers on foot and bike patrol have been watching for jaywalkers, red light runners and other traffic violators and there have been plenty of them.
Of the 1,750 infractions, 335 people were given citations.
•5 percent were cyclists
•25 percent were pedestrians ticketed for jay walking
•70 percent were drivers cited for various traffic violationsChief Hurtt also reiterated that by the end of the year the 10 worst intersections in Houston will have red light cameras. He added that some may be decoys.
He says there will be signs saying "You are entering a red light camera zone" at those intersections.
I feel safer already.
UPDATE: The KHOU-11 link above now takes you to a different story on the same topic, with this bit of information added:
Chief Hurtt also says that about 100 more officers will soon be hitting the streets. Those officers currently work in the city jail and the city plans to replace them with civilian workers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/22/05 01:54 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
Some thoughts on "affordable housing"
I have a couple of problems with a story in today's Chronicle about the city seeking "expert" opinions from community activists such as ACORN in order to fix Houston's "affordable housing" program.
I don't blame the reporter (Mike Snyder) as much as I blame conventional wisdom. Better editorial direction might have helped, but I'm not even sure about that.
Anyway, my first problem is with the term "affordable housing." What is "affordable housing"? Who defines it? What is the price range of it? What income level determines who gets it? How many taxpayer dollars are required to subsidize it?
I have lived in both Northern and Southern California and I can guarantee you that the vast majority of housing in Houston would be considered "affordable housing" in California.
My second problem is with something that is barely touched on in the story -- property taxes. Texas' very onerous property tax system probably does more to hurt lower-income families with home ownership than anything else. Snyder makes a passing mention of property taxes here:
In neighborhoods where redevelopment is driving up property values rapidly, protect residents from displacement through tax relief.
If I am reading that correctly, the suggestion is to shield lower-income families from skyrocketing property taxes. But that only masks the problem. We already give seniors a property tax exemption, and in Galveston County there is a new program that freezes property tax rates for seniors and disabled persons. Now we have a suggestion to provide property tax relief for lower-income homeowners. While I certainly understand the reasons for all these breaks, what it does is place more and more of the state tax burden on a shrinking group of citizens.
Most likely there will come a time when the property tax burden squeezes middle-income and higher-income homeowners to the point that they revolt. (This is a much fairer system of taxation.)
A similar situation had California teetering on the brink of bankruptcy recently. After years and years of narrowing the income tax burden to the wealthiest Californians, two things occurred: many wealthy Californians started fleeing the state thereby taking taxable income away from the state coffers, and California's economy tanked when the tech bubble burst. It's a cautionary tale for governments that continue to narrow the tax base.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/22/05 01:39 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
21 June 2005
Perry follows Oberg interview with "Mofo" gaffe
KTRK-13's Ted Oberg recounts the end of an interview with Governor Rick Perry (R):
Our questions were not recorded on tape, but in saying goodbye I told the governor, "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."
Eleven seconds after he said goodbye, the camera crew was getting ready for the next interview with another station. That's when Gov. Perry repeated what he thought I'd said, and added