30 September 2006
Park and Pillage safety takes a "quantum leap forward"
More than one and a half years after Park and Ride security became non-existent -- resulting in Park and Rides turning into Park and Pillages -- Metro is excitedly touting its new $16 million security system:
Safety at METRO's Park & Ride lots is taking a quantum leap forward with the ongoing installation of the agency's new high-tech security system.
The Kuykendahl Park & Ride is now operational; others including the North Shepherd and Northwest Station will come online in the coming weeks. All lots are scheduled to be up and running by the end of Jaunary 2007.
"Customers need to know they've left their expensive assets in a secure environment," said METRO President and CEO Frank Wilson, "and that from a personal security point of view, they are in a safe haven on METRO property."
At the heart of the new security system are cameras that can be programmed to spot a variety of activities, from a car parked in a bus loading area to a suspicious package left near a bench. Such events will alert METRO police officers at Houston TranStar of a suspicious activity or that a crime may be in progress.
The multifaceted system also features call boxes for patrons who have an emergency or who spot suspicious activities, a public address system, and entrance gates that can be closed at a moment's notice.
Well, at least Metro can say it didn't rush headlong into buying a security system. I'll bet Metro patrons (who have been victims of crime at Park and Pillages over the past 18+ months) find that reassuring.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/30/06 09:55 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
Modifications to city's sanctuary policy
Following up on this hint that some changes in Houston's sanctuary city-status were imminent, here are a couple of stories from KTRH-740 with early details. First this teaser was in a Brent Fuller/Scott Braddock story from Thursday:
The department's current policy forbids officers from asking about someone's immigration status, unless they've committed at least a Class B misdemeanor. It also prevents officers from inquiring about citizenship if a person has committed no crime.
Both White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt supported that policy. However, White said Wednesday at a City Hall press conference that certain "operational refinements" could still be made. "I think it's fair game for discussion with a committee," said White.
Then yesterday some of those refinements came to light in this KTRH story:
[...]if an officer should decide to arrest an individual and bring them to the city jail, "We will be checking fingerprints of Class C offenders," said City Council Public Safety Committee Chairman Adrian Garcia. "If there's information that comes back in relation to questionable immigration status, we will put a 'hold' on you until Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials can investigate."
Garcia, who helped draft the plan, said they're trying to seal "gaps" in the system that can occur between booking at the city jail transfer to the Harris County lock-up.
HPD began holding high-level meetings and reviewing its inmate processing procedures after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered an officer after a traffic stop.
While officers won’t question citizenship status on the street, they will once a person is taken to jail, no matter how minor the crime.
“It shows the pressure they’re under to change,” said Wanda Schultz, Protect Our Citizens. “We are grateful for that. We have been begging them for that much at least for years.”
Sources told 11 News everyone arrested will also now be fingerprinted—even those arrested for minor crimes.
HPD will also be working closely with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to make sure illegal immigrants are not caught and released by police.
[snip]
Police Chief Harold Hurtt and the mayor are scheduled to make an announcement regarding the change in HPD booking procedures on Sunday.
This policy review comes one week after Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson was killed in the line of duty.
It's a step in the right direction. This blog has frequently wondered why a 1992 HPD policy memo is so sacrosanct that it could not even be discussed. It would appear Mayor White realizes that stance is no longer politically viable and he is now willing to consider some modifications.
One can guess his right hand does not support the changes.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: We'll see if this is anything more than an effort to deflect the bad PR that MayorWhiteChiefHurtt have been receiving. We know how Mayor White and his press shop hate bad PR.
Despite all of his talk of including Council on major policy decisions, Mayor White and his out-of-town/soft-on-crime police chief seem to make most important decisions with no input from Council, whether it has to do with the sanctuary directive or the no-chase policy.
Mayor White and Councilmember Garcia (whose committee would presumably start the discussion) should bring the matter to Council for hearings. While Doctor-Councilwoman Sekula-Gibbs' raising the issue the day of Officer Johnson's funeral was crass and opportunistic, one can sense her frustration over Mayor White's absolute refusal to bring this matter to Council for input (although her timing could have been much better). Why in the world are Mayor White and his soft-on-crime police chief so scared to have a conversation about this important issue?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/30/06 09:07 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
29 September 2006
Slampo's the bestest!
A while back, Banjo Jones (proprietor of the Official Blog for the Petrochemical Underarm of Texas) turned us on to a new local blogger named Slampo, and have we ever become fans! As an example (or two), take Slampo's latest couple of offerings: asking some questions our local media didn't about cop killer Juan Quintero, and artfully skewering the Chron's editorial board when the LiveJournalists took on the topic of "anchor babies."
Well, guess what? The Houston Press has named Slampo's Place as the Best Local City Life Blog for this year's Best of Houston awards:
Though this mysterious fellow's real name is a secret, regular readers of his blog know that Slampo is an ex-employee of the defunct Houston Post, a native of southwest Louisiana now living in the Westbury area, a fan of both baseball Hall of Famer Enos "Country" Slaughter and primordial swamp-bluesman Slim Harpo, and a guy who can, on occasion, be tart as a, um, persimmon. Slampo's high-tension prose positively crackles with electricity, whether he's taking on immigration, the Enron trial, City Hall or Tom DeLay, or lamenting the deaths of music heroes such as Buck Owens or Wilson Pickett. (The latter's demise prompted one of Slampo's most Proustian posts.) And just when you think you've seen every mojo in his trick bag, he pulls out something like a very good original poem or a dialogue with his daughter and her schoolmate that rivals the best work of Mike Royko.
Congratulations, Slampo! It's well-deserved.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/29/06 06:40 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (4)
28 September 2006
They almost paced themselves out of contention
We have a little saying in our house when procrastination seems to be the order of the day -- we're just pacing ourselves.
Perhaps the Astros were just pacing themselves most of the season, not trying to peak too early, or some such explanation. I have no idea (smart baseball folks will figure it all out), but it sure is exciting, isn't it?
Go 'Stros!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/28/06 09:39 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (3)
In memory of Officer Rodney Johnson
Matt Bramanti has linked to a moving photo montage of HPD Officer Rodney Johnson's funeral procession.
Make sure you have some tissue handy.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/28/06 12:40 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
SAP -- an appropriate name?
Ubu here, with a little gossip from inside the bowels of the city: The SAP folks are sniffing around our offices. From the questionnaires we're getting, I suspect they're hinting that we should just toss aside the millions we spent on a new system just a few years ago, and the thousands of man-hours required to update to Y2k standards. We should spend thousands more hours and several million more dollars customizing their system to do what ours already does, instead of investing that time and money in further improvements to the system we've got. Hey, it's a great idea, if you want to see an entire department melt down, and several thousand really angry citizens. The Traffic Court's problems (although not SAP-related) would seem like a minor issue in comparison.
Bear in mind that this morning, I was just listening to someone complain that they spent over half of yesterday on ONE line item for our IT group, because SAP was so difficult to use. Frustrated by dealing with such an arcane system, he remarked, "I've got to move on." The clear implication was that someone else's request was going to the top of the stack, and IT was just out of luck.
So what's the problem? Every little transaction (just changing screens) required some mysterious six- to ten-digit code that he had to locate and confirm was correct. Menus are not simple, and are located in odd places. The software doesn't behave in the expected manner, and the icons are really different (i.e. the software does not follow the Microsoft system that 90% of the office workers in the U.S. are used to--remember SAP is German in origin). The old system? Two to four alphanumeric digits, or a simple menu with a Windows-standard interface. And the codes, when necessary, were often mnemonic. Where they weren't directly mnemonic, they were often derived from the code for one's department and branch, so they were easy to remember. When I fill out a procurement request now...
Well, let's say I need to order pens. Wait, was 2030010042 for furniture, or office supplies again? Oh, neither, that's the code for my office. Office supplies is...(grab a multi-page printout and start looking through several hundred items...) 511070. Now what's the name of the line that corresponds to the budget program?
Isn't this the 21st century? Where are my drop-down menus?
Those numbers used to be 1836 and 2405 in our old system. Much shorter and easier to remember, no? (Actual numbers have been slightly altered to conceal my office of course, but the number of digits is the same.) I'm just lucky that all I have to know are the numbers, so I can fill out paperwork properly. Our procurement people have to deal with the actual software. And they wonder why I built a stash of office supplies ahead of time?
I just hope IT has enough paper to last, until someone can figure out SAP.
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 09/28/06 10:12 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
Revisions to Houston's sanctuary policy?
Are there rumblings of discontent within HPD about Houston's (don't call it a) sanctuary policy? An emailer suggests that is the case. The emailer also suggests we may hear something in the very near future about Houston's status as a sanctuary city.
Stay tuned...
RELATED: Text of General Order 500-05 issued in 1992
BLOGVERSATION: Greg's Opinion
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/28/06 06:45 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)
27 September 2006
A break from me
I'll be taking a break from the blog and cell phones and internet and city life in general for a few days of backpacking.
See ya'll in a few. Play nice while I'm away!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/06 01:58 PM | Announcements | Technorati |
Who is this John Beoner from Illinois?
Even when they try to be reasonable, the Editorial LiveJournalists sometimes have problems.
Here's an excerpt from today's editorial on gasoline prices:
The politicians must take some blame for inducing Americans' misapprehension about a link between the coming elections and falling gasoline prices. In an e-mail, House Majority Leader John Beoner, R-Ill., hailed the falling prices, implying that the party in power had something to do with it. He and other Republican officials have blamed Democrats' opposition to wilderness and offshore drilling for scarce supply and high prices.
Who is this John Beoner from Illinois, and why is he impersonating the House Majority Leader?
The last time I checked, the House Majority Leader was John Boehner, from the 8th Congressional District of Ohio.
UPDATE: Matt Bramanti noticed another mistake:
According to a recent Gallop Poll, 42 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's election." The truth is more complicated:
Well yee haw, a poll of the horsies! Unless, of course, the Editorial LiveJournalists meant Gallup.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/06 09:15 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
LULAC, NAACP criticize local talker
The Houston chapter of LULAC -- the League of United Latin American Citizens -- is mad at KTRH-740's Chris Baker. Again.
I was listening to the program. It was a good local talk radio host doing some very good talk radio. In fact, the podcasts from Friday still appear to be available on KTRH-740 for anyone who'd like to check them out (I know, crazy concept, listening to audio content for yourself instead of simply relying on a press release about it from a political interest group or from the station itself).
Apparently, however, some idiots decided to call and make threatening, possibly even illegal, calls to the organization, which saw this as an opportunity to turn and attack Chris Baker.
Here's an excerpt from KTRK-13's Gene Apodaca's report:
A day after the murder, KTRH talk show host Chris Baker addressed the issue, urging his listeners to speak their minds about actions and inactions surrounding the death. But LULAC claims listeners did more than that. A 24-year-old receptionist who doesn't want to be identified took most the calls.
She told Eyewitness News, "The one that got me scared is the one -- the man said he was going to come and kick my a** and then shoot me."
"We can't let these talk show hosts divide us," said Rick Dovalina with LULAC. "It is imperative that we keep focus, that we grieve together."
In a statement from KTRH, the radio station's program director says, "At no time did Chris Baker encourage his listeners to incite or threaten violence. ... While our hosts are free to express their personal opinions about issues and events, KTRH does not take editorial positions."
And here's an excerpt from KHOU-11's report:
On his show Baker read a news release from LULAC that condemned the shooting but didn’t mention officer Johnson by name.
Baker urged listeners to call LULAC to remind them of officer Johnson’s name and LULAC said some callers went too far.
The NAACP is also lending LULAC its support.
“We condemn the irresponsible actions of clear channel communications in creating this needless divisiveness in putting individual’s safety at risk,” said Yolanda Smith with the NAACP Houston Branch.
The Houston chapter of the NAACP Tuesday called for an end to what they said have been violent threats against LULAC.
Johnson's widow, Joslyn, agrees.
“Please stop the violence” said Jocelyn Johnson. "It's not going to resolve anything. It's not going to bring him back. All it does is divide our city and our people. I don't want it. My family doesn't want it and Rodney wouldn't want it."
Neither Baker nor Clear Channel encouraged anyone to make violent threats against LULAC. That's something nobody on this blog would defend, and one suspects that Baker's Clear Channel boss Ken Charles wouldn't defend that either (or leave any such podcasts on KTRH's website for days!). Such threats are indefensible, and we condemn them.
However, the same First Amendment that protects the right of organizations like LULAC and the NAACP to express their views also protects the rights of Chris Baker and other talk radio hosts and even lowly bloggers like ourselves to express their views. Sometimes those views are controversial. They might even offend someone, somewhere. But the First Amendment does not end where controversy begins. Indeed, controversial speech is what it's intended to protect. That's important to keep in mind when political interest groups are condemning entire media organizations because they disagree with some talker's point of view.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/06 04:34 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (11)
26 September 2006
MayorWhiteChiefHurtt have a new spokesman
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/06 10:52 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston's #1!
And it's a fun list to top (via the Houston Business Journal):
Houston has earned the hospitable distinction of being named the country's most pet-friendly city for travelers, according to travel-industry group AAA.
The Bayou City -- which has two off-leash dog parks and 20 AAA-accredited emergency veterinary hospitals -- led a contingent of three Texas cities taking the top three spots in the rankings, with 108 hotels that accept pets.
With 98 AAA-rated lodgings that accept pets, San Antonio ranked second in the United States for pet-friendly hotels. Meanwhile, Austin landed at the No. 3 position, with 72 AAA-rated hotels and motels that accept pets. Dallas rounded out the Texas cities on the top 10 list, coming in at No. 6 with 62 pet-friendly accommodations.
Now that's world, er, woof-class. =)
SOMEWHAT RELATED THOUGHT: Maybe it's not Houston residents causing the city to rank so poorly in this survey.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/06 07:51 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Illegal-immigrant cop killer polite, calm (con't)
This time the Chron Eye story is courtesy of KHOU-11:
In stark contrast to the wild-eyed suspect we first saw taken into custody, Quintero seemed collected, respectful and even sincere, when we sat down with him in the San Jacinto jail.
Although police say he’s confessed, he told 11 News, “Right when they picked me up, I said something to them. That’s it. What I remember about the accident.”
And while he wouldn’t comment on his guilt or innocence, he does concede he was carrying a handgun the day he was stopped.
“There’s been a lot of robberies,” he said, “It was to protect my family.”
As for Officer Johnson’s family, he had this to say, “There’s nothing I can do or nothing I can say to change what happened, but I’m so sorry for what happened.”
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/06 07:43 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (18)
HCTRA funds to repay a HC Sports & Convention Corp loan (updated)
See if you can follow the (Harris County) money in this KTRH-740 story:
Presently, Harris County uses "hotel-motel taxes" to pay for operations at the Reliant Center, including electric bills, and property insurance. The tax money also goes to pay off debt owed for construction of the center. Hotel-motel taxes are not considered "local" tax dollars because they're generally paid by business travelers and other out-of-town visitors.
However, county budget documents reviewed by KTRH show a local tax bailout may be needed to keep the center open. The amount owed for utilities, insurance and debts totals $31.8 million. Total revenues from hotel-motel taxes are averaging $21 million.
Raycraft said 30 percent-plus increases in the cost of utilities and property insurance are boosting the Reliant Center funding shortfall. The bill for utilities went from $8.4 million last year to $10.9 million this year. Property insurance jumped from $2.6 million to $3.9 million in one year.
And those are not the only financial problems the county faces with Reliant Center.
On Tuesday, county commissioners will consider paying back a $19 million loan made in 2001 to the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp. by RCM Financial, Houston Texans' owner Bob McNair's company. According to Raycraft, the sports corporation is unable to pay the debt by the deadline. The plan up for commissioner's approval Tuesday would use revenues from the Harris County Toll Road Authority to repay the loan. That cash would then have to be paid back to the toll road system by the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.
At least one person on Commissioner's Court is not fond of the idea. "It's a shell game," said commissioner Sylvia Garcia. "I think that's not what the money was intended for. Toll road money should be for building toll roads."
I got lost in the fourth paragraph, but it doesn't sound good.
But other commissioners, like Steve Radack, said they have no problem with the deal. Radack said he trusted the sports authority to pay the money back. The sports authority also gets its money from hotel taxes.
That's why the red flags went up. The Sports Authority should have been shuttered when the opportunity arose.
UPDATE: Commissioners Court approved the loan payback:
Harris County will help pay off a $26 million loan for land the Houston Texans use.
It’s the property that houses the Texans practice bubble and a parking lot.
Tuesday, Harris County Comissioners Court approved the loan 4 to 1.
Sylvia Garcia was the lone dissenter.
The Harris County Convention and Sports Corporation is unable to pay.
Now the county will step in, using money from the Harris County Toll Road Authority.
The loan has a 5.5 percent interest rate.
Lots of hands are in the hotel/motel tax revenue pot. Too many? Maybe.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/06 06:13 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (14)
The Gallant Knight is closing
Via Houstonist comes bad news from the Chronicle's Lance Scott Walker: The Gallant Knight will be closing its doors after tonight.
The Gallant Knight is a Med Center-area fixture. The dark, funky, blues/jazz live music dive was always a good time, although it's been a while since I've been in the joint. It was always a pretty cool escape from.... whatever.
Alas, progress dictates that funky inner loop dives be replaced with strip malls and poorly constructed townhouses. So go pay your last respects to the Gallant Knight later, if you're so inclined.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/06 03:37 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (5)
Mayor: sanctuary policy critics are disrespecting officers
Mayor White has now entered the illegal immigrant debate by attempting to change the focus (via Matt Stiles, Chronicle):
White, who disputes the "sanctuary" label, said critics were "disrespecting officers" by claiming that they aren't doing their jobs. He blames lax border security, and he said officers do cooperate with federal immigration enforcement authorities when they arrest criminals in the country illegally.
Very nice. Critics of the sanctuary policy aren't saying police officers aren't doing their jobs. Critics are saying a 1992 directive handed down from a former police chief (that is supported by current city of Houston leadership including the current police chief) is not allowing police officers to do their jobs.
I suppose that's one way to silence critics -- accuse them of saying something that hasn't even been said. Since Mayor White fancies himself such a consensus builder, he'd do well to actually have a honest debate about the 1992 HPD memo, but that won't happen. His right hand won't allow it.
UPDATE: Chris Baker has led off his program on KTRH-740 by blasting on Mayor White's bizarre characterization.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/06 06:24 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
25 September 2006
Houstonian comes to aid of seven-year-old Iraqi
From the American Thinker and a reader comes this bit of news on a Houston naval hospital corpsman who, along with some Marines, helped out a seven-year-old Iraqi girl who had suffered a three-story fall:
“America’s Battalion” Marines made a midnight run to rush to the aid of a seven-year -old Iraqi girl after she fell from a three-story building.
Marines from Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, rushed the girl to Camp Fallujah’s surgical center for treatment after local police were unable to get her proper medical attention.
The incident occurred late at night in Gharmah, a small city north of Fallujah. Iraqi police there tried to rush the young girl to the Jordanian hospital in Fallujah, but had difficulty getting to the hospital, according to 1st Lt. Joshua R. Rosales, a 25-year-old platoon commander who responded to the call for help.
“We got the call from the commanding officer to link up with Iraqi Police at the police station,” explained Rosales, from Raleigh, N.C. “We met up with them in Gharmah, and they had the little girl. They wanted us to be careful.”
Rosales said the girl was accompanied by her uncle. She was crying, suffering from waves of pain from her injuries. She was scared, and then Marines were loading her into the back of a humvee. Rosales’ hospital corpsman, Navy Seaman Royce A. Ross, a 23-year-old from Houston, got to work immediately checking his tiny patient.
“I was making sure all her vital signs were good,” Ross explained. “Everything looked good enough to move her. I saw right away she was going to be OK.”
Ross saw that she already had an intravenous tube inserted into her arm, but the tubing wasn’t put in properly. He spoke through his broken Arabic and the girl’s uncle’s broken English to get permission to start another.
“The blood clotted at the IV,” he explained. “I wanted to start another but her uncle didn’t want me to.”
Ross kept on with his preliminary examination. He said he saw a large contusion to the girl’s left wrist and possibly a fracture. The girl’s breathing was labored. Ross said he was concerned there were possible injuries to her chest affecting her breathing.
“It sounded like she was snoring,” he said. “What we had then was a possible broken wrist, possible problems with her torso, but she was crying, so she was breathing. We knew she’d be okay.”
Still, Marines couldn’t be sure until they could get the young child to the trauma center at Camp Fallujah to have a thorough examination. Ross, the girl, her uncle and Cpl. Jared S. Nelson, a 21-year-old from Salisbury, Md., climbed into the back of the humvee for the sprint from Gharmah to Camp Fallujah.
Be sure to read the rest of the account.
Thanks for your good work, guys!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/06 12:27 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (2)
Hurtt a hot talk-radio topic
HPD Police Chief Harold Hurtt's effort to blame Officer Rodney Johnson's death on the federal government's immigration policies/enforcement is the hot topic on the Michael Berry show today on KPRC-950.
Incidentally, Councilmember Berry just informed that Chief Hurtt made an appearance on Good Morning America today -- from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Will he be back in time for his golf tourney?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/06 09:19 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
24 September 2006
How should HISD have handled recent closed-session meeting?
Last Wednesday, HISD spokesman Terry Abbott sent out a press notification that the HISD Board would be holding a meeting at Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse. The press notification made clear that the meeting, which was described as a "mini-retreat," would mainly be a closed-session meeting to discuss legal and personnel matters, as allowed by state law.
The Chronicle ran a story before the meeting that seemed unclear on the nature of the meeting:
Plan to make a reservation for tonight's Houston Independent School Board meeting. The "mini-retreat" is at 6 p.m. in the board room of the high-priced, downtown Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse.
Outside of meat and potatoes, the menu will mainly consist of HISD leaders discussing personnel issues behind closed doors. Among the items is Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra's performance evaluation.
"That's just altogether weird," said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. "It's like they're trying to make sure you don't go."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 10:08 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati |
Apple hits Houston-based company with threatening letter
On Friday, Wired's Listening Post blog reported that Apple has hit Podcast Ready with a nasty cease-and-desist letter:
Apple Computer has slapped Podcast Ready with a "cease and desist" letter, claiming that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe Apple's trademarks, and that they cause confusion among consumers. The company has been cracking down on use of the word "pod" by all sorts of parties, even though its trademark is for the word "iPod."
Podcast Ready CEO Russel Holliman said he'd consider dropping the name myPodder if he had to, but "Podcast Ready"? If that's infringement, Apple is claiming that it owns the word "podcast."
Podcast Ready is a Houston-based outfit that produces software that makes it very easy to find and download podcasts to assorted devices, from different computers.
This move by Apple seems a little heavy handed, to say the least.
The Chronicle's Dwight Silverman has been following this story on his TechBlog, and will surely be giving the local angle some nice coverage in the coming days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 03:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Chron: Illegal-immigrant cop killer polite, calm
I was sort of joking about how long it might take for a Chron Eye for the Illegal-Immigrant Cop-Killer Guy.
I didn't really expect it from the newspaper.
Maybe I should lower my expectations further.
Take this headline from today's Chronicle:
Okay. Focus on the victims of a cold-blooded killer for a change instead of the Chron Eye treatment. Defy my worst expectations. Good.
Except the story doesn't lead with the thoughts of the slain officer.
Instead, it took seven paragraphs to get around to the quotes from the victim's family promised by the headline.
What led? This:
Juan Leonardo Quintero, accused of killing a police officer was calm and polite Saturday when interviewed briefly by a Houston Chronicle reporter but would not comment at all about the incident that has landed him in the Harris County Jail.
Quintero, 32, who police said has confessed to shooting veteran Houston police officer Rodney Johnson in the head on Thursday from the back of a patrol car, gave answers to a reporter's questions that were short and provided no information.
Asked about the officer's slaying, he immediately replied, "I can't say anything."
Asked if he felt any remorse, Quintero paused, then said, "I really can't talk without my lawyer, ma'am."
Asked whether his illegal immigration status was a factor in the shooting, Quintero again apologized politely and said he couldn't comment. The interview ended shortly after.
After Johnson stopped Quintero for speeding near Hobby Airport on Thursday, Quintero was handcuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car. Police said Quintero was able to get his cuffed hands in front of himself, draw a concealed pistol and shoot Johnson four times in the head.
The headline promised thoughts from the family of the victim of the illegal-immigrant cop killer. And the story eventually delivered. But only after we got to hear that the illegal-immigrant cop killer wouldn't talk with the reporter. But he was polite to the reporter. And that's important. To someone. Apparently.
An earlier story yesterday focused on the same theme:
Accused cop killer Juan Leonardo Quintero's demeanor was quite different this morning than it was two days earlier when he fought off officers arresting him and appeared "cold and crazy" to witnesses.
When interviewed briefly by the Houston Chronicle today at the Harris County Jail, Quintero, 32, was calm and polite, addressing the reporter as "ma'am."
Quintero, who police said confessed to shooting veteran Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson in the head on Thursday from the back of a patrol car, was composed and appeared as if he might want to talk about what happened.
He remained seated for a few questions - why he killed the officer, whether his illegal immigration status was a factor, whether he had remorse - but he repeatedly paused and then apologized politely and said he couldn't.
"I cannot say anything without my lawyer here. I'm very sorry ma'am," he said.
Interestingly, most of that seems to have made it into today's story. At least the Chronicle didn't put a misleading headline on the earlier story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 01:47 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (11)
Chron opinion section: Where "olds" is new again
The Chronicle opinion section is rarely timely.
It's such a problem that it really stopped being worth regular comment a while back.
But every once in a while, it's kind of fun to take a look at what the editors of that page are passing off as "new" to their declining subscriber base.
Today, the worst examples are a Joe Scarborough column that appeared in the Washington Post a week ago, and a George Weigel column that appeared in the LA Times last Wednesday.
They are interesting columns, and maybe some Chronicle print subscribers actually depend on the newspaper to reprint such "olds."
For some of us, though, it's just a sign that James Howard Gibbons and crew really are behind the times (and the Post, for that matter).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 12:58 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Administration abandons threatened handicapped parking crackdown
The Chronicle's Alexis Grant reports that Liliana Rambo's bizarre proposal to cut down on handicapped parking abuse by eliminating designated free parking for individuals with legitimate handicapped parking permits has been shot down (for now):
The city has shelved a proposal to tighten restrictions on free parking at city meters by motorists displaying placards indicating they are disabled.
The idea, intended to help curb abuse of placards, has been put aside, at least temporarily, partly because of a negative public response, said Michelle Colvard, chairwoman of the Public Parking Commission's committee on disabilities.
Drivers using disabled-parking placards can continue to park all day for free at metered spaces downtown instead of facing the four-hour limit that had been proposed.
Several people with disabilities spoke against the proposed change at a public forum last month, saying it would hurt those it was intended to help.
Instead, the Parking Commission will focus on pressing the state Legislature to designate fraudulent use of a disabled-parking placard as a Class B misdemeanor. That would increase the maximum fine from $500 to $2,000.
"We really need to focus on getting the penalty increased, and there's other avenues that we can explore," said Colvard, who uses a wheelchair.
Exactly! If the goal is to crack down on people using handicapped parking placards fraudulently, then why was Liliana Rambo proposing to crack down on all handicapped parkers, even those with legitimate placards? Crack down on the abusers first, not legitimately handicapped people.
For whatever reason, neither Liliana Rambo nor Councilmember Michael Berry (who defended Rambo's bad proposal here) were quoted in this story. Here's hoping they're not still pushing the earlier proposal behind the scenes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 12:37 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
Will the LiveJournalists comment on Army's good recruiting news?
A little over a year ago, the Editorial LiveJournalists ran a misleading, internally-inconsistent editorial that began by trying to tie a decline in Army recruiting to the war in Iraq:
OF the many institutions buffeted by the controversy over the war in Iraq, the U.S. Army has been one of the more bruised. For the first time since 1999, officials announced, the Army expects to miss its yearly enlistment goals. As of June, only 47,121 recruits had signed up to fight - just over half the number needed to meet the annual quota.
We previously addressed some of the substantive problems with this editorial, leaving aside any consideration of the political point the Editorial LiveJournalists were trying to make.
Interestingly, though, Robert Burns of the Associated Press reported earlier in the week on some interesting news about Army recruiting this year:
The Army is ending its best recruiting year since 1997 and expecting similar success in 2007, despite the weight of grim war news from Iraq, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said Thursday.
In an Associated Press interview, Harvey said the Army will enlist its 80,000th soldier on Friday, reaching its goal for the year with eight days to spare. That is a considerable turnaround from last year when the Army missed its target for the first time since 1999 and by the widest margin in more than two decades.
At the start of this recruiting year, which began Oct. 1, 2005, many questioned whether the Army would reach 80,000, given the many alternative career options available to young people and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war. But a package of new financial incentives, new recruiting approaches and a bigger recruiting corps did the trick.
The Editorial LiveJournalists were all too happy to trumpet the Army's bad recruiting news last year. We'll be looking forward to their editorial on the Army's recruiting rebound this year.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/06 12:05 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston doesn't need Police Chief Montalvo
Since I wasn't able to listen to Chris Baker's show on Friday, I am listening to the podcast of the show (at Kevin's suggestion), where the topic was the murder of Officer Rodney Johnson.
Wow! Chris really voiced the anger and frustration that so many are feeling right now at the rudderless, impotent city of Houston leadership: Mayor White, Chief Hurtt, (temporarily only a) Councilmember Carol Alvarado (who cheered an illegal immigrant rally back in March), and the rest of City Council.
In the first hour of the show, Chris suggested the mayor send Chief Hurtt back to Phoenix -- where his heart obviously is -- and find a tough-on-crime police chief, perhaps promoting someone who is already within HPD's ranks.
Chris, I'm with you, as long as Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo isn't the one promoted.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/24/06 09:08 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
23 September 2006
Mayor now has opinion on crime lab probe
It took several months, but the Chronicle's Roma Khanna reports that Mayor White finally has an opinion on continuing Michael Bromwich's investigation of the HPD crime lab:
Houston Mayor Bill White, who initially questioned spending $1.5 million to complete an investigation of the police crime lab, said Friday that he supports the proposal and has scheduled a vote for next week.
The independent investigation of the Houston Police Department crime lab stalled in June after the team of lawyers and scientists conducting it asked for more money.White, several City Council members and a high-ranking police official raised concerns about whether the city should spend more on a project that has cost $3.8 million to date.
"The mayor wanted a full accounting of how the money was being spent and the assurance that this would be the final request for funds," said White's spokesman, Frank Michel.
bH Political Translation: The recent bad press on Mayor White's refusal to take a position on this issue combined with strong criticism from some Councilmembers over the delay finally produced action from our footdragging mayor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/06 01:58 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
The mayor's press shop won't like this
A Chronicle story related to Houston's illegal-immigrant cop killer contains a strong condemnation of HPD's sanctuary directive from U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R):
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, said the shooting highlighted the need to tighten the borders and beef up enforcement of immigration laws.
"We know that 25 homicides a day are committed by people who are illegally in the country and this is one more," he said.Poe said police officers should have the authority to arrest people in the country illegally. He said Houston is viewed as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.
"The city of Houston has created an atmosphere that it's a sanctuary for illegals," Poe said. "They knew that, and that's why they go to Houston."
If KTRK-13's experience is any indicator, we're guessing Chronicle reader representative James Campbell has already been on the receiving end of complaints by the mayor's communications staff that HPD's sanctuary directive isn't really a sanctuary directive.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/06 01:51 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Apartment crime index initiative still percolating downtown
Earlier in the week, KHOU-11's Doug Miller reported on a crime "initiative" that is still floating around downtown:
[A] proposed apartment security ordinance would establish an index to identify high crime complexes.
The managers of those units would have to meet with police to come up with a crime reduction plan, possibly new fencing or lighting.
Complexes that don’t comply could face fines and courts injunctions.
[snip]
They’ve been talking about this proposed ordinance at City Hall for months.
They have indeed. And we already knew quite a bit about it, because KRIV-26's Isiah Carey was one of the first reporters in town talking about the proposed crime index, well over a month ago.
Carey's going to be even harder for his competitors to keep up with now that his laptop's repaired!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/06 01:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
The job description from hell
The Chron's Mike Snyder reports that Mayor White's director of Neighborhoods and Housing has resigned, citing the desire to get his life back (not exactly using those words):
John Walsh, who signed on to help Mayor Bill White improve housing and neighborhoods for poor Houstonians and ended up directing the massive housing program for hurricane evacuees, has resigned from White's administration.
Walsh, 62, said this week that the overwhelming challenge of housing evacuees had made it increasingly difficult to fulfill his other duties as White's deputy chief of staff for neighborhoods and housing.
Heading the city's Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force, Walsh said, "became more than a full-time job."
[snip]
When evacuees began streaming into Houston a year ago after Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area, Walsh took charge of a program that would provide free rent and utilities to some 35,000 evacuee households in apartments throughout the Houston area. His staff of three expanded to more than 600.[Wow!]
"We worked 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for five months," Walsh said.
Walsh's duties will be divided among various city officials, but his position will not be filled, mayoral spokesman Frank Michel said.
One can hardly blame the guy.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/06 08:46 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 September 2006
YouTube: Council gets egged
Last week, "Senator Robert Horton" (who regularly addresses City Council) was arrested for tossing an egg at Council.
Here's my video capture of the event. The audio is slightly out of sync with the video, but a loud bang accompanies the egg toss. Poor Mayor White truly looks as if a gun was fired, but then soldiers on admirably.
Note the egg that slowly drips down the Council wall over his shoulder, and to the left.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/06 10:17 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
Poor taste: Chron.com runs front-page photo of smirking cop killer
On its front page, Chron.com is currently running an image identified as a "2003 family photo" of Juan Leonardo Quintero, the illegal alien who shot an HPD officer in the back yesterday, killing him.
I will submit to readers that it shows incredibly poor taste for Chron.com to be running a photo of a smirking cop killer today. I hope they're not planning a Chron Eye For the Undocumented-Immigrant Cop-Killer Guy tomorrow.
What do you think?
ANNE LINEHAN ADDS: After being out most of the day and evening, I was surprised to click over to Chron.com and see a picture of Officer Johnson's killer. Why isn't Officer Johnson's picture prominently displayed on Chron.com's front page? And where did the Chron get that terrible picture? Did they search it out? Did someone send it to the Chron? It's very strange and shows poor judgment.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/06 08:14 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (9)
KTRH: Cop killer is illegal immigrant
KTRH-740 is reporting (mp3 download) that "sources" tell them that the man who killed the HPD officer yesterday was an illegal immigrant, in addition to having a rap sheet.
This is a hot topic on the Chris Baker show at the moment, which began at 1pm today.
It's odd that no other news source bothered to dig up this information that KTRH is reporting.
UPDATE: KTRH-740's report has been updated online. The Chronicle is also now reporting that the killer is an illegal immigrant.
UPDATE 2: KTRH-740, KPRC-2, and KTRK-13 went to live coverage of the 4pm press conference on this topic. KHOU-11 declined to switch from ratings powerhouse Oprah (very nice use of the public airwaves, KHOU -- thanks). Chief Hurtt concluded his statement by referencing "Rodney Brown... uh Rodney Johnson." Very impressive, Chief. Probably in a hurry to catch that flight to Phoenix.
UPDATE 3: On KTRK-13's 6:00 pm news, anchor Tom Koch reported that the Mayor's office contacted KTRK to dispute the use of the term "sanctuary" to describe HPD's policy banning officers from asking about immigration status. It's good to know the Mayor's communications shop has ITS priorities in order following the tragic death of a police officer!
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Cigars, Donuts, and Coffee.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/06 01:29 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (22)
Officer Rodney Johnson, RIP
Various media outlets reported the bad news yesterday: An HPD officer had been shot and killed in the line of duty.
Here is the Chronicle's account:
A 12-year veteran of the Houston Police Department was fatally wounded during a routine traffic stop in southeast Houston this evening.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt identified the dead officer as Rodney Johnson, a 40-year-old Houston native.
Hurtt said Johnson was fatally wounded shortly after stopping an unidentified 32-year-old man, who was driving a white Dodge truck near the intersection of Randolph and Braniff.
An unidentified woman was a passenger in the truck, Hurtt said.
Johnson, Hurtt said, handcuffed the man and placed him in the back of his squad car.
``Shortly thereafter, the officer was shot while sitting inside the vehicle,'' Hurtt said.
Our sincere condolences go out to the family of officer Johnson.
Our ongoing thanks go out to the law-enforcement professionals who go out every day and take this chance to keep our community safe.
We'd additionally ask you to consider a donation to The 100 Club, which helps survivors and dependents of officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: Chronicle, KTRH-740, KPRC-2, KHOU-11, KTRK-13, KRIV-26.
BLOGVERSATION: Cigars, Donuts, and Coffee, Ain't Chicken, Lone Star Times, Greg's Opinion.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/06 09:08 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
Houston blogger nominated for four Emmys
Local blogger and KTRK-13 producer (and blogHOUSTON friend) Mike McGuff has been nominated for several Lone Star Emmys:
I have to take a moment to pat myself and others on the back after some hard TV work. The Lone Star Chapter Emmy Award nominations were announced and I received four!
Interactivity
Stossel Interactive
KTRK-TV ABC 13, Houston
Michael McGuff, ProducerNews Special
Jeff on the Job
KTRK-TV ABC 13, Houston
Michael McGuff, Producer
Michael Carl, EditorBusiness/Consumer - News Series
Sales Tax
KTRK-TV ABC 13, Houston
Michael McGuff, Producer
Michael Carl, Editor
Jeff Ehling, ReporterSpecialty Assignment Report - News Single Story
Valuable Coins
KTRK-TV ABC 13, Houston
Michael McGuff, Producer
Michael Carl, Editor
Congratulations to Mike and his Ch. 13 compatriots, Mike Carl and Jeff Ehling. We'll be rooting for you!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/06 05:57 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
21 September 2006
Charity events won't tie up Chief Hurtt's weekend
This is amusing: You know how Chief Hurtt likes to spend his weekends in Phoenix, right? Well, here's an HPD press release with details of a benefit golf tournament the chief is hosting:
Texas Cops & Kids and Kids at Hope is pleased to announce it is hosting Chief Hurtt's Empowering Our Youth Golf Tournament benefiting the Kids at Hope Initiative on Monday, September 25, 2006 at Tour 18 Golf Course located at 3102 FM 1960.
[snip]Golfers are asked to check in at 7 a.m. for a four-person scramble shotgun start at 8 a.m. This event supports Chief Hurtt's Empowering Our Youth Stomp Out Illiteracy Campaign. Other events in support of this effort are:
- Kick-off for the Kids at Hope -Kid's Village being held at Hartsfield Elementary, 5001 Perry Street on Friday, September 22, 2006 at 8 a.m.
- Friday, September 22, 2006 and the HPD Empowering Our Youth Dinner at the Hyatt Regency, 1200 Louisiana at 8 p.m.
Related events will be held on Friday (as in tomorrow), and the golf tournament will be on Monday, keeping Chief Hurtt's weekend free so he can head home to Phoenix.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/21/06 05:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
20 September 2006
Wong asks governor for help with Houston crime
KTRK-13 reports that State Rep. Martha Wong has asked Gov. Rick Perry for help with Houston's surging crime problem:
A local lawmaker is demanding the governor step in to help fight crime in our area. It's a plan that's raising some eyebrows.
State Representative Martha Wong made the plea after being inundated with concerns by several Meyerland area residents -- people who say they have been victimized by crime. Those who've lived in Meyerland for years now say they've never seen as much fear about crime as they see now.[snip]
Wong asked specifically for a "unified command," similar to that implemented by the state near the border, which she says helped cut crime there by 67%. Wong stopped short, though, of calling her request a call for military intervention.
"I just said state help, any law enforcement officers that he could send and help," Wong explained.
Mayor White, who inexplicably does not have opinions on some important city issues, sure had an opinion on Rep. Wong's action:
Houston Mayor Bill White applauds Wong's efforts, but says sending state law enforcement is not the best solution to the problem.
"It's more important that we get funds," said Mayor White. "We want any help we can get, particularly federal help, so we can maintain a very aggressive level of police. I don't think it's necessary to bring the national guards in."
Maintain a very aggressive level of police? Right! Good ones!
Let me translate Mayor White's statement: No way in heck does he want Gov. Perry to help out with Houston's surging crime problem, because that would be admitting that the city under White's leadership can't get a grip on the problem, and that would really look bad when the mayor runs for higher political office.
Gov. Perry told KTRK-13 that he would consider sending in DPS officers. Rep. Wong's opponent in the November election sent word through a spokesperson that she is concerned state officers could undermine the jurisdiction of local law enforcement.
It would be nice if more of our elected leaders and those who aspire to lead would concern themselves with undermining the criminals!
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Pundit.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/06 10:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
METRO has a nice approach to customer service
On Monday, the Chronicle ran a Q&A column featuring METRO officials addressing questions about the coming changes to the fare structure.
One exchange was enlightening:
Q: Travis Chatman, interviewed at a bus stop after the changes were announced, said some of his bus rides are longer than an hour, and if the connecting bus takes more than 30 minutes to arrive, he would have to pay again under the new policy. At present, he has three hours to use a paper transfer.
A: Metro's analysis shows that most transfers occur within an hour and a half, [METRO spokesperson Raequel] Roberts said.
It's worth mentioning that transfers have been a sore point with Metro, whose officials said transfers often are sold or given to other riders instead of being used for their intended purpose.
Okay, that really wasn't a question, but a statement. Then again, Roberts didn't really answer the implied question either ("What happens if METRO screws up and I don't get my transfer in time"). But her implied answer is, "You're the exception. You pay again. So sad for you."
That's always a nice attitude from public officials at your regional mass transit agency.
RELATED COVERAGE: METRO urged to keep discounted fares (Rad Sallee, Houston Chronicle).
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/06 10:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
Audit of GHCVB is complete; Jordy Tollett unavailable for comment
City Controller Annise Parker has released the findings of the city's audit of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, which (not surprisingly) found a few problems. KPRC-2 had the story on last night's 10 o'clock news, but I can't find a link to it on their site. Kristen Mack, however, has a story posted for the Chronicle:
[Parker] said the audit did identify "sloppy procedures, lack of internal controls and the need for more cooperation between entities working to sell the city."
The bureau's success — and a portion of Tollett's annual bonus — has long been determined by the number of hotel-room nights booked each year. The audit found that the bureau is using "subjective estimates" to determine hotel-room-night bookings.
The bureau's goal for this fiscal year, which ended June 30, was 675,000 room nights. It booked 638,000.
"Room nights are almost an impossible thing to quantify," Parker said. "It's easy to inflate room-night bookings."
KPRC's story also indicated that the GHCVB hands out bonuses based on room-night bookings; therefore, inflated booking numbers are quite a problem. Another problem -- and this one blows me away -- is that the bureau has no accountability controls in place for when officials woo prospective clients:
Auditors concluded that the bureau has no policy on entertaining prospective city visitors, including expenses for food and alcoholic beverages.
But these problems are nothing to get too excited about, according to some folks:
Doug Horn, chairman of the board, said the audit will be a learning tool for the bureau and that he is open to looking at how it accounts for room nights.
"It's a real nebulous, ambiguous issue," he said. "This audit, all in all, reveals that we have some areas to work on. There is nothing in here that is egregious or dishonest."
Eh, no biggie. Inflated room-night numbers? Wining and dining clients without backup and accountability? It's all so vague and complicated.
The audit also noted low staff morale, high turnover, inadequate record keeping to document use of free air travel and sporting-event tickets, and strained relations with the city-run Department of Convention and Entertainment Facilities.
That sounds about par for the government entity-course. No doubt lots of bonuses will be handed out again at the end of this fiscal year.
Tollett, who returned to the job late last month after taking a six-week leave from the bureau for unspecified treatment, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
[snip]
Horn said it is too early to tie the audit to Tollett's future at the bureau. "We ought to allow him to get reacclimated to his job properly and given all the confidence this board can give him in order to succeed," he said.
Oh, absolutely. A government employee who makes over $200,000 per year, plus bonus, shouldn't be expected to answer any questions.
UPDATE: Tollett did speak to KHOU-11:
“If you are trying to book a convention like the Offshore Technology Conference that is worth say, $70 million, and you have to spend $1,000, that’s a good expenditure,” said Jordy Tollett, President GHCVB.
[snip]
“Any resources for food or entertainment come out of that private money. We just thought that was more appropriate. And let me say this, all of the food and entertainment bills are approved in advance,” said Tollett.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/20/06 06:28 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (14)
19 September 2006
Chief Hurtt's multi-faceted crime-fighting plan
Recently Chief Hurtt gave a speech where he detailed some new crime-fighting plans (via the Chronicle):
New programs include creating a new police division in the Westside area, an anti-gang initiative and overtime programs. Hurtt spoke about the crime-fighting plans Tuesday in a speech at the Citywide Positive Interaction Program.
[snip]
Hurtt also mentioned several other ongoing programs the department is working on.
The new red light camera program is under way and motorists who run red ligths will be ticketed with a $75 fine. In the first week, cameras were up at 10 intersections and police identified 600 violations.
On the technology front, Hurtt said the department is developing a 24-hour call information center to monitor criminal activity and pass information on to the divisions to more quickly shift officers from anywhere in the city to the location of an ongoing crime.
The department is also developing an online crime reporting system.
Hurtt said the department is also trying to get three ordinances through City Hall. The ordinances would hold apartment complex owners responsible for crimes committed on their property; drop weeknight curfew for juveniles from midnight to 10 p.m.; and a graffiti abatement measure.
That one ordinance Hurtt is trying to get passed, the one that punishes apartment owners for criminal activity on their property, is really underhanded. The city of Houston encouraged apartment owners to take in Katrina evacuees last year, and this is how the chief wants to thank them. Very nice.
There is one new policy Chief Hurtt failed to mention as this meeting. KHOU-11 got hold of an internal HPD memo that says officers will now have to handle DWI arrests differently:
It’s a memo some say means officers will be forced off the streets to take care of paperwork they’ve been handing off to others.
[snip]
The paperwork can take longer on a DWI than on a murder case.
So Tuesday, as Marticiuc was reading the department’s new policy, which requires the patrol officers to carry the case almost to the cell door, some patrol officers were telling 11 News they’d write fewer DWIs in the future.
KHOU's story is a bit light on specifics; maybe a local journalist will explore this new policy more in-depth to find out what's really going on.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/19/06 10:17 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
Crime lab investigation stalled; Mayor has no opinion
The Chronicle reports that the city is still dragging its feet on spending the money necessary for Michael Bromwich's team to finish its investigation of HPD's crime lab:
The only comprehensive investigation of the Houston crime lab remains on hold, three months after dwindling funds stalled the probe that first exposed evidence of serious problems such as falsified test results and the tailoring of reports to fit police theories.
While Police Chief Harold Hurtt has expressed support for completing the inquiry, another high-ranking police official has said it is not worth the $1.5 million investigators are seeking. Several City Council members also have raised doubts, and Mayor Bill White has been noncommittal.
[snip]
"My question to Mr. Bromwich is, basically, 'What are you going to provide in that $1.5 million that we haven't already received?' " Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo said at a July 25 council committee meeting.
Hurtt, however, has said he would like to see Bromwich complete the probe.
"The money would have to be worked out by City Council," he said after Montalvo's comments, "but we ought to let him finish up his job."
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, who last year provided $500,000 to help with the probe, agreed Monday that the team should be allowed to complete its work.
Hurtt and Rosenthal are right. The city has already spent a considerable amount of money on this investigation, which is not complete. HPD's crime lab fiasco has cast doubt on this area's criminal justice system. Finishing this important investigation into what went wrong really is not optional.
The stunner here is Mayor White's refusal to take a stand one way or the other, just as he has refused to take a stand on his soft-on-crime police chief's temporarily suspended no-chase policy. We elect leaders to lead. So it's time for Mayor White to push this investigation to its rightful conclusion, or to explain why investigating past problems with our criminal justice system does not merit the expenditure (instead of hiding behind an executive assistant police chief).
This is one area where money shouldn't even be that big a concern, but here's a win-win proposal -- since Mayor White continues to insist that his red-light-camera revenue stream really isn't about the money, surely he can't object to setting aside revenues generated by the red light cameras to fund the conclusion of Michael Bromwich's investigation of HPD's crime lab.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/06 12:11 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
AP: Houston fourth most dangerous big city in US in 2005
There's good news and bad news in the FBI's latest statistics on crime in the nation's ten largest cities.
The good news is, Houston isn't worst. That dishonor goes to Dallas.
The bad news is, Houston (and Phoenix, the last stop for Chief Hurtt's soft-on-crime policies) are much closer statistically to Dallas than they are to America's safest big city, New York.
Here is the AP's breakdown of large cities and per capita crime in 2005, from the Chronicle:
1. New York: one crime per 37.38 residents.
2. San Jose, Calif.: one crime per 34.46 residents.
3. Los Angeles: one crime per 25.97 residents.
4. San Diego: one crime per 24.09 residents.
5. Chicago: one crime per 21.9 residents.
6. Philadelphia: one crime per 17.96 residents.
7. Houston: one crime per 14.17 residents.
8. San Antonio: one crime per 14.12 residents.
9. Phoenix: one crime per 14.10 residents.
10. Dallas: one crime per 11.79 residents.
UPDATE: Some useful caveats on the use of the FBI's crime data are located here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/06 10:24 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
18 September 2006
Editorial LiveJournal: Oriana Fallaci
James Howard Gibbons, editor of the Chronicle's opinion pages, today offers up another personal reflection that the newspaper calls an Editorial Journal (we prefer the term Editorial LiveJournal).
The title of this one is kind of fun:
So it is, Mr. Gibbons, so it is!
The Editorial LiveJournal reflects on the late Oriana Fallaci, for whom a young Mr. Gibbons worked when he was 18. Fallaci passed away last week.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/18/06 11:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
If Alvarado has her way, cigar bars will be history in Houston
If (temporarily only a) Councilwoman Carol Alvarado gets her way, Houston's cigar bars will have to shut down to comply with her push to get a citywide smoking ban passed (via Greater Houston Weekly):
The Houston City Council is looking at broadening the current antismoking ordinance that currently bans smoking in restaurants. That means bars and even cigar bars could soon be hanging up no-smoking signs.
"We'll look at what other cities have done," Councilmember Carol Alvarado, chair of the Environmental and Public Health Committee, said regarding cigar bars and stores. "But my goal has been to ban smoking in any workplace.
Well, one might think a councilmember would be interested in keeping thriving businesses thriving, not shutting them down. One might also think that cigar bar patrons would expect to be exposed to cigar smoke. But the former mayor pro tem has a goal, and what Carol wants, Carol gets.
"I guess they're trying to put us out of business," said Geoff Neal, general manager at Downing Street. "I'd like to tell City Council what I think about that. They should leave it up to the marketplace. There should be smoking bars and nonsmoking bars and let the public decide where they want to go."
Downing Street, frequented by state senators, city councilmembers (including Alvarado, on occasion), lawyers, pro athletes and even doctors, is the premier cigar spot in town, but it's hardly the only place one can light up a stogie.
Mike Wells, the former general manager at Downing Street, now owns the infamous no-sign-lounge Marfreless, a well-known spot for romantic liaisons, martinis and smokers.
"I don't smoke, I don't like it, but most of my customers do," Wells said. "They need to stay out of it and let us run our business. It's not illegal to smoke so don't tell me they can't do it in my bar. If they want to make it illegal than make it illegal to make them and sell them."
Geez, don't give Councilwoman Alvarado any ideas. Mayor White's liable to let her run with that one, too.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/18/06 08:29 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (27)
City Council agenda item #50
From this week's agenda; it's also a carry-over item from last week:
50. ORDINANCE amending Ordinance #2005-1272 to provide a maximum contract amount for contracts between the City and Various Tow Company Operators for the Safe Clear Program $1,882,414.00 - Police Special Services Fund (From METRO)
TAGGED BY COUNCIL MEMBERS WISEMAN and SEKULA-GIBBS
This was Item 26 on Agenda of September 13, 2006
Almost $1.9 million...for what? Is that Metro's contribution? Does that include the city's share of the cost? What time frame will the money cover? Agendas are woefully inadequate information sources. How typical of government.
Regardless, it must be about time for Bob Stein to spring into action and produce another study showing how SafeClear has improved Houston's freeways. Or Mayor White can cite another apples-to-oranges comparison of accident rates from year to year.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/18/06 07:09 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
"Run from you" now available from KPRC-950
Last week, Michael Berry debuted a fun parody song "Run from you" on his show on KPRC-950.
The song mocks Chief Hurtt's no-chase policy.
It's now posted to the KPRC-950 website for download here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/18/06 09:18 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Editorial LiveJournalists endorse Orlando Sanchez
The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists have issued a handful of endorsements, and one name in particular really stands out. They've endorsed Orlando Sanchez for Harris County treasurer, but with a very important caveat:
If elected, Sanchez, a Republican, says he will shun involvement in political issues that have little bearing on his office, while providing an additional check against improper expenditure of county funds.
Recall that Sanchez's big plea to the Harris County GOP to be their nominee in this race after Jack Cato passed away was that he would use the office as a bully pulpit to advance "conservative" issues (mainly the red-meat issue of immigration).
David Benzion has a few words for Sanchez's naive supporters:
You. Have. Been. Punked.
Pretty much. Benzion also notes that the Editorial LiveJournalists have contradicted an earlier editorial (big surprise!) in which they argued for abolition of the political office.
The candidate in the race who does favor abolition of the office is Democrat Richard Garcia. Conservatives turned off by Sanchez's typical me-first opportunism may wish to give Mr. Garcia some consideration.
BLOGVERSATION: Greg's Opinion, Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/18/06 08:01 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
17 September 2006
Shocker: Editorial LiveJournalists praise METRO
Matt Bramanti calls our attention to this praise for METRO from the Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists:
Despite those cost increases and the expensive, locally financed construction of the Main Street light rail line, Metro has kept its spending flat while preserving its $1 base fare.
Overall spending has been flat despite increased operating and light-rail construction costs?
Phrasing it that way allows the Editorial LiveJournalists to ignore METRO's related cuts to bus service, the core of the area's mass transit system.
Of course, METRO promised a 50% increase in bus service in the METRO Solutions plan approved by voters in 2003. As we now know, though, METRO really doesn't think the specifics of the METRO Solutions contract with voters really must be adhered to all that closely.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/17/06 10:43 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Mayor criticizes opponents for misleading rhetoric
Several days ago, the Chronicle's Matt Stiles reported that Mayor White is not very happy about some radio ads by a group opposed to the Mayor's proposal to gut the city's revenue caps:
The new ad, voiced by Proposition 2 supporter and former Councilman Carroll Robinson, encourages voters to reject White's plan, called Proposition G. The ad links the mayor's proposal with recent high energy prices.
"Is your electricity bill too high?" Robinson asks in the ad. "If it is, vote against Proposition G." Moments later, he asks, "Are you paying too much for gas at the pump? If you are, vote against Proposition G."
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday's City Council meeting, White blasted the ad.
"That really discredits their whole campaign," he said, adding that the ad "is intending to mislead people."
Robinson said he wasn't trying to mislead anyone. He said he and other Proposition 2 supporters think that changing the revenue cap could lead to future tax and fee increases.
"If Proposition G passes, it leaves open the potential for unreasonable water and sewer rate increases," he said. "The more you lose in terms of your paycheck in terms of paying property taxes, sewer rates and other city fees, the less money you have to pay your regular bills."
The ads are somewhat misleading, and the local media is doing its job in pointing out the same.
Mayor White's criticism of the ads being misleading is kind of amusing, though. This would be the same Mayor White who insists red-light cameras are all about improving compliance and safety and not revenue (but whose administration refuses to put signage in camera intersections to deter red-light runners), who regularly ties any and all favorable traffic statistics to his SAFEclear program (when the cause/effect relationship isn't clear), and who has made wild assertions (without much investigation by local media) that voters must approve Proposition G because police budgets may have to be cut if the airports have a good year (huh?!).
Mayor White is right that it's a shame when exaggerations and distortions become a prominent part of the political conversation. He isn't always an example of innocence and goodness himself, however.
RELATED COVERAGE: KTRK-13.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/17/06 10:18 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
HPD issues a red light running ticket!
KHOU-11 gives us a bit of humor today:
Sunday morning, Michael Kubosh, a bondsman in Harris County, purposely ran a red light at Elgin and Milam.
He claims that the city of Houston is being “hoodwinked by vendors” into a program that will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Houston police apparently learned of Kubosh’s plan to run the red light, because he was pulled over by an HPD patrol car shortly after going through the intersection where one of the red light cameras was set up.
How in the world did HPD learn of Kubosh's plan? It was such a secret.
Isn't it good to know that HPD really can issue a red light running ticket? Maybe on weekends when Chief Hurtt is in Phoenix, Houston police officers cut loose and defy the old man.
Meanwhile, speaking of Arizona, Scottsdale-based ATS, which has Houston's red light camera contract, is experiencing booming camera business:
Ultimately, there are 350,000 signalized intersections in the United States. Tuton figures maybe 100,000 or so are candidates for photo enforcement. And each of those have up to four approaches to the intersection.
“The first thing you do is put redlight cameras in and, at some point, you can turn them on and covert them into speed enforcement and speed monitoring cameras and then later do midblock or mobile speed,” he said.
That's the future Chief Hurtt wants -- speed cameras.
And while MayorWhiteChiefHurtt won't admit the (financial) truth behind cameras, ATS's boss will:
Cities and towns across the country are under budget constraints, making the business of photo enforcement lucrative. Residents want more services with less taxes, Tuton said.
It's about generating revenue, not safety.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/17/06 06:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
16 September 2006
Cy-Fair's expensive Berry Center is for the children, of course
Cy Fair ISD's big, new, expensive Berry Education Support Center got a boatload of press yesterday (did someone send out a press release?), and at a cost of $73 million (oh my!) it does seem to warrant a bit of scrutiny. Here's an excerpt from KTRK-13's coverage:
Every time Alan Rankin drives by the new center, he cringes a little.
"It's not an educational facility. It's a sports center," he said. "It's a teacher conference center. They're renting it out to private for-gain venues."
[snip]
"We've grown to 91,000 students," said Kelly Durham with the Cy-Fair Independent School District. "We're the third largest school district in the state of Texas. About 10 years ago, we were about half that size."
Supporters say they built this facility because voters approved a bond referendum back in 2001. But opponents say the voters didn't know exactly what they were asked to pay for.
"What we're trying to do is promote some sort of accountability and fiscal responsibility that tax dollars need to go toward education," said Rankin.
The school district says the facility provides a venue for performances, student outreach, and teacher education that cannot be measured by its $72 million price tag.
The Berry Center is priceless! Its value is immeasurable! And as a bonus, it's for the children.
KTRH-740 recently noted the center's electric bills:
KTRH News has learned the center’s electricity bill for its first two months of operation was over $80,000.
Roy Sprague, Cy-Fair’s assistant superintendent for facilities planning and construction, says the $72.9 million facility had electricity bill of about $48,000 in June, but that the costs did drop to about $35,000 in August. The first month saw a higher cost because all the systems were being checked out, Sprague said. “In subsequent months, we’re not running the systems as much.”
Officials are working to defray costs.
Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack is one of the critics (also via KTRH):
He says there’s a big difference between money for construction and cash for ongoing operations.
“I think the residents of the Cy-Fair School District are starting to see the real costs of the Taj Mahal (Berry Center),” he told KTRH Thursday afternoon. “It’s going to cost a whole lot of money to build it, and it’s going to cost a lot of money to operate it,” Radack said.
Supporters say voters approved it, and opponents say the voters were misled. Can someone dig up the original ballot language from 2001 so we can see how the center was described and what the price tag was on it? Maybe there's a lesson in here about ballot language. As we all know, ballot language can be important.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/16/06 01:35 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
15 September 2006
Chief Hurtt rolls out "Robbery Reduction Initiative"
KHOU-11's Jeff McShan reports that Chief Hurtt has rolled out yet another program to the press fight crime:
An HPD robbery crackdown has put a special task force on Houston streets.
The dozens of lawmen and women are part of what’s being called “The Robbery Reduction Initiative.”
The idea is to have police respond to robberies before crooks have a chance to escape.
Officials made the move because they said that it is not uncommon to have 100 robberies on Friday and Saturday nights.
Wednesday night officers began patrolling the Greenspoint Mall area.
[snip]
Officials said it’s much needed. They said that from January 1 to July 1 of this year 6,690 robberies have been committed inside Houston’s city limits.
There were 6,151 robberies during the same time last year.
[snip]
The initiative hits Houston streets twice a week.
So if the initiative hits Houston streets twice a week, and Fridays and Saturdays are big robbery nights, why did the initiative begin on Wednesday? Wouldn't it make more sense to roll the program on Fridays AND Saturdays?
This new crimefighting by day of the week notion is pretty interesting in itself. I propose we do murders on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we can do downtown jaywalking on Mondays. Robberies on Fridays and Saturdays. And no chases on any day of the week (of course)!
What should we do with Wednesdays? Any suggestions?
(Thanks to Matt Bramanti for alerting us to this exciting new crimefighting initiative)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/06 11:00 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
14 September 2006
Checking in on Houston's world-class crime problems
Johnnie McFarland, the president of the Houston Police Patrolmen's Union, has responded to that Chronicle editorial blasting his union's billboard ads:
IN response to the Houston Chronicle's Sept. 13 editorial ["Crime scene"] that the Houston Police Patrolmen's Union used scare tactics by misstating facts, I will admit that it must have been scary for Houstonians to discover:
•The violent crime rate is rising.
•There is a shortage of police officers.
•Some calls to the Houston Emergency Center might not get answered.
•The police might not chase lawbreakers who start out as traffic violators but could possibly end up as serious felons.As for the rise in violent crime, I'm sure most Houstonians would prefer to see a rise in hubcap thefts versus murders, assaults and robberies. It gives me no comfort to know that Houstonians possibly too poor to move to safer neighborhoods and apartment complexes from the "few" violent geographic hot spots are considered "acceptable" casualties. A murder in Acres Homes should be considered just as important as one in River Oaks.
It is not an officer's or a union's job to provide residents with a false sense of security. We are sworn to our duty to protect as well as obliged to serve. The Houston Police Patrolmen's Union will continue to tell the truth.
In related news today, try as he might, Chronicle reporter Matt Stiles still can't get Mayor White to commit to a firm position on his soft-on-crime police chief's no-chase policy:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/14/06 10:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
13 September 2006
Development of walkable utopia hindered by... parking regs?
The Chronicle recently ran an interesting story by Mike Snyder on efforts to transform midtown into a great, walkable, urban utopia.
So far, the results are mixed:
Midtown leaders have achieved a remarkable transformation of the area between downtown and the Museum District. They have turned a neglected wasteland into a thriving, rapidly growing community still widely regarded as Houston's best hope of creating an "urban village" where people can work, shop and enjoy themselves without having to drive.
When the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone took effect on Jan. 1, 1995, developers were "scared to death" to invest in an area where vagrants used drugs in abandoned buildings and vacant lots were choked with weeds, said Charles LeBlanc, executive director of the Midtown TIRZ and Redevelopment Authority.
"We'd give our spiel and you'd look in people's eyes, and you could tell they thought you were crazy," LeBlanc said. "We were finally able to induce a couple of developers to give it a shot."
Those early investments have paid off. Since the TIRZ was created, Midtown's population has increased from about 500 to more than 9,500 and its tax base has grown from about $157 million to more than $800 million.
Apartments, townhomes, restaurants, bars and shops have replaced vacant lots and shuttered buildings. Distinctive street lights, landscaping, brick pavers and signs bearing the Midtown logo have helped to create a unique identity for the area.
The revitalization of Midtown, however, is far from complete.
Passengers zipping by on the MetroRail line that bisects Midtown still see boarded-up buildings and graffiti on Main Street. A vacant building where a young entrepreneur is developing a wine bar serves as bedroom and bathroom for uninvited guests. On many streets, taking a stroll still requires squeezing past others on narrow, unshaded sidewalks.
Actually, only a few pockets of the vast wasteland known as midtown have seen much of a transformation at all. In my part of midtown, there are lots of new townhouses but not much of a sense of community, and not many amenities within walking distance (my gym counts as an amenity within an easy walk, but other than that, there's a wholesale auto parts store); it's easily the worst of the last three neighborhoods I've lived in in terms of walkability and amenities despite being in the geographical "heart" of the city. But closer to downtown, along Bagby/Brazos, there has been some nice mixed-use development, which seems to draw from the neighborhood that has grown over from Montrose/Freedmen's area. That's the exception in Midtown, though, not really the rule.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/06 10:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
Editorial LiveJournalists: Gun control as panacea
Violent crime is surging in Houston. HPD is suffering from a manpower crisis. It's also in the midst of a leadership crisis, brought on by a soft-on-crime chief and the mayor who continues to support him. And we have an increased criminal element among the New Orleans evacuees who now reside in Houston.
The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists, though, have a handle on the problem:
Whatever the causes, more crimes are being committed with illicit guns. Keeping those guns from illegal re-sellers, straw buyers or convicted felons must be a national priority. Two rational steps include requiring gun-show dealers to conduct buyer background checks and limiting the number of gun purchases to one per person per month.
Here's a thought -- more crimes are being committed in Houston by criminals! How about we boost HPD staffing, and empower our officers to go after the bad guys (instead of banning our officers from giving chase). And if Chief Hurtt isn't the leader for the task, how about we arrange for him to remain in Phoenix permanently after one of his weekends there and we find a chief of police who will take on the bad guys.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Live from the (upper) Texas Gulf Coast.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/06 10:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Chron helps "counter the religious right"
Today the Chronicle found a "study" that fits in nicely with the standard thinking at 801 Texas Ave.:
Public school students don't need to go to church on Sunday for a strong dose of religion — in some cases, according to a new study, they merely show up for class.
A yearlong investigation by the Austin-based Texas Freedom Network found that the majority of Bible courses offered as electives in the state's high schools are devotional and sectarian in nature and not academic, as required by a host of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court on down.
[snip]
The 76-page report, titled "Reading, Writing and Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools," is one of the most ambitious looks so far at Bible courses that have sprouted in the nation's public high schools.
The report was a joint effort by Mark Chancey, a biblical studies professor at Southern Methodist University, and the Education Fund of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that works to counter the religious right. The report was endorsed by at least eight mostly religion scholars from around the country.
Phew! Where to begin?
First off, the Texas Freedom Network is a liberal special interest group -- something the Austin bureau's Lisa Sandberg failed to mention. Second, Mark Chancey has been "studying" this for a while now, so it's doubtful he's just an objective professor without a preconceived idea as to what his "study" would find. Third, since when is it neutral journalism for a reporter to say that the Texas Freedom Network is "a group that works to counter the religious right"? That statement comes straight from the TFN's website.
Imagine if Focus on the Family had released a study that said the sex education curriculum encourages students to have sex. Do you think Lisa Sandberg and the Chronicle's editors would give it the serious, glowing treatment the TFN "study" was given today? Of course not. Would Sandberg state that Focus on the Family is a group that works to counter the radical anti-Christian left? Yeah, right.
And what's with the last part of that bolded paragraph: "The report was endorsed by at least eight mostly religion scholars..." Say what?
MORE: Reading, Writing and Religion (Texas Freedom Network)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/13/06 07:53 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
Senator arrested?
KHOU-11 reports that a man was arrested for tossing an egg at City Council today:
The Houston City Council meeting was anything but routine Wednesday, after an egg was thrown over Mayor Bill White’s head.
It hit the wall.
The incident occured during discussion of the proposed airport shuttle contract.
We don't much like the shameful shuttle deal either, but we don't condone tossing eggs at Yellow Cab's lackeys on Council.
From KHOU's report, it looks like the arrested party was none other than Senator Robert Horton, whose public comments we've been recording and posting to YouTube of late. This one ought to be a great additon to YouTube if the Muni channel shows it.
Sen. Horton has had previous egg incidents during the Council sessions.
Sensible leaders would ban such individuals from council chambers after repeated criminal acts, but our elected officials seem to fear a lawsuit. It's more of the soft-on-crime attitude that just seems to radiate from downtown these days.
UPDATE (09-14-2006): Matt Stiles and Alexis Grant cover the story for the Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/06 12:11 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (12)
12 September 2006
What Yellow Cab wants, Yellow Cab usually gets
City Council is set to reward a major Houston political player (Yellow Cab company) tomorrow, as the long-delayed shared-ride airport shuttle contract is scheduled again to come to a vote (items 40a and 40b on the agenda).
To recap previous posts, the shared-ride shuttle concept is designed as alternative transportation between airports and homes/businesses. The cost will be less than taxis, because vans will transport multiple users at any given time. For several years now, there has been such a van service between airports and a handful of fixed locations (mainly hotels), and the market has supported more than one company. At DFW, four companies offer shared-ride shuttle service.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/12/06 11:12 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
Editorial LiveJournalists blast union for exercising speech rights
The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists are very upset today that a local police union would have the audacity to exercise First Amendment rights to criticize Mayor White's embattled, bumbling police chief:
Instead of serving the citizens of Houston, the union is engaged in a fear-mongering campaign that will damage the image of the city, frighten visitors and unnecessarily alarm residents and suburban neighbors.
The city's image will be harmed by talking to Houstonians about rising violent crime, the problem-plagued dispatch center, the manpower shortage, and the soft-on-crime police chief's no-chase policy (and not by the problems themselves)?
A newspaper editorial board actually thinks we shouldn't be discussing such important issues because said discussion might harm the city's image?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/12/06 10:00 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (6)
Houston still depends on old emergency radio system
KHOU-11 revisits a topic it first brought to light in early 2005 -- HPD's aging radio system. A year and a half ago, KHOU discovered a 2003 taxpayer-funded city study that concluded the radio system Houston's emergency personnel are using is outdated and unreliable. As a bonus, an outspoken former HPD officer is featured in the story.
Here's the conclusion of that 2005 story:
Nearly a year and a half ago the SWISS report suggested a solution: That Houston fast track its move to a new digital radio system, like ones already online in Harris County and many other cities. But the city has failed to even seek bids on the design of that new system.
It would appear that nothing much has changed since then. Jeff McShan has more:
This is a problem we’ve been tracking for more than a year.
Exactly five 5-years after 9/11 the Houston police department is acutely aware that should an attack happen here, communication would be a problem.
In its new monthly in-house publication, the department admits there are limitations with its police radio system, largely due to the age of the equipment.
Replacing the system, going from analog to digital, which would require new equipment department-wide, would cost approximately $150-to-160 million.
That’s money it doesn’t have, but will have to find soon.
According to HPD, “By 2013, our current system, with wide band frequencies, will most likely be discontinued”.
[snip]
The last time it bought any new radios was back in 1990 for the National Republican Convention.
The city has been collecting record tax revenue, is sitting on a surplus, and has created numerous new revenue streams/taxes. There is simply no excuse for this serious safety issue to have been left unaddressed. To top it off, check out Harris County's situation:
Ironically, while HPD finds itself in a tough spot. Harris County, in some cases, is leading the nation in law enforcement communication.
The county system is so impressive it was recently featured in 911 Magazine.
The sheriff’s department is already on a digital system and has the ability to talk with dozens of other agencies in our area, something HPD is sorely lacking.
The department has 20 mobile command stations so that in case of a disaster it can send these units out like it did during the Columbia tragedy.
Their equipment enabled NASA, the FBI, FEMA, the EPA, and the U.S. Navy dive team to talk with each other.
Each mobile unit has up to six source of redundant power with multiple generators on board. They are all equipped with satellite phones and wireless network systems and the ability to take over 911 if needed.
Harris County's system can take over 911 calls?? How embarrassing for MayorWhiteChiefHurtt.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/12/06 06:01 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
11 September 2006
Corsicana's police chief dislikes police unions, loves Chief Hurtt
Chief Hurtt is really scrambling for support.
There's a letter in today's Chronicle from G.M. Cox, the president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the chief of police in Corsicana (just south of Dallas). Mr. Cox wants Houstonians to know that they have nothing to worry about, and that the criticism of Chief Hurtt is all just a mean union ploy. Here's an excerpt:
A popular strategy widely used by police labor unions is to attempt to discredit competent leadership through the use of employee surveys designed to be votes of no confidence for the chief and command staffs.An experienced police union organizer in Texas has said that the issue "is power, not wages, benefits. If you have power, you can get the other."
Hopefully, Houstonians won't be intimidated or deterred by the unfounded criticisms being leveled at Chief Hurtt by the police labor unions.
Hmm, well, thanks Chief Cox for that helpful info. I'm sure the fine people of Corsicana appreciate your keeping such a close eye on Houston public affairs, and we sure appreciate people who don't live in Houston nonetheless telling us what we should think here.
Unbelievable.
Maybe for his next fan letter, Chief Hurtt can get one of his buddies in Phoenix to write in and say that the way he did things in Phoenix will be really good for Houston!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/06 10:10 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (8)
Best Chron Eye of 2006?
Matt Bramanti was the first to alert us today to a new Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy, the latest installment of the local Hearst daily's semi-regular effort to redeem death row killers awaiting execution.
The typical Chron Eye formula, readers may recall, has three parts: 1) reporter points out some "redeeming" quality of the death row killer guy; 2) reporter points out some bad aspect of the death row killer guy's childhood; and 3) reporter calls into question some aspect of the justice system's treatment of the death row killer guy (with a bonus if the HPD crime lab or Chron "bad guy" Chuck Rosenthal can somehow be criticized).
Today's Chron Eye goes for the hat trick. Here's the "redeeming" quality:
"I live every day with what happened, and I regret what happened," he said. "How much remorse does society want me to show?"
Hmm, three brutal murders involving beatings with a meat hammer? Just a guess, but I'm thinking society feels like a lethal injection is just about right.
Here's the childhood angle:
Matchett was raised early on by his paternal grandparents in the East Texas town of Madisonville. His teenage mother lived in nearby Midway, and he rarely saw his father. After his mother, Annie Robinson, married, Matchett went to live with her in Grand Prairie near Dallas.
At 13, Matchett began to hang out on the streets and run errands for drug dealers and prostitutes. The bottom really fell out of his life when his 11-year-old sister was raped. Matchett said he blamed himself for not being around to protect her.
"It was the worst time of my life," Matchett said.
And finally, the reporter questions the criminal justice system:
Roy E. Greenwood, an Austin lawyer appointed to represent Matchett in the Huntsville cases, said he remains puzzled about Matchett's guilty plea. He said Matchett should have been able to argue in court that he killed Anderson in self-defense, but was prohibited by the plea.
"Why he (Davis) pled him guilty and blew off all these legal issues never made sense to me," Greenwood said. "You just don't give up with plea of guilty."
Matchett, whose federal and state appeals all were denied, also faulted his trial attorneys for not presenting mitigating evidence for jurors to consider a lesser punishment. He also claimed that court-appointed appellate attorneys botched his appeals.
There's an added celebrity bonus in this Chron Eye:
Anti-death penalty groups and activists, including French actress Bridget Bardot, have latched onto Matchett's case.
French actress? THAT is world class!
This death row killer guy is scheduled for departure from the living on Tuesday.
Thanks to Rosanna Ruiz for a top-notch edition of the Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer guy. That is probably the best one so far in 2006!
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/06 09:46 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Urban Socrates adds to Third-Ward rail debate
Houston's expert on everything (including bicycling) makes an appearance today in Rad Sallee's Chronicle coverage of the debate over the rail alignment in the Third Ward:
All three routes that the Metropolitan Transit Authority is studying for the eastern segment of its planned University line pass through the Third Ward, whose residents have long been wary of gentrification.Rice University professor Bob Stein recalls bicycling through the area and seeing signs saying, "My home is not for sale." In the 2003 transit referendum that authorized MetroRail expansion, 43 percent of Third Ward voters turned out, but just 52 percent approved the measure.
Bicylist Stein had to be quite a sight pushing the pedals through the Third Ward while pondering policy issues, almost a contemporary urban Socrates! The signs to which he refers were widespread in the years after the rail referendum, but one sees far fewer of them today. My notion was always that they were a response to speculative developers who were attemping to buy whole blocks of property for expensive townhouse development, and not rail per se, but I am no urban Socrates.
Our amusement at bicyclist Stein's latest appearance aside, Sallee's piece is a good update on the state of affairs in the Third Ward, and well worth reading. It is interesting that METRO not-so-subtly seems to be suggesting to Third-Ward residents that the Westpark/Richmond imbroglio further west could mean no rail for them. Interestingly, METRO didn't tell voters in 2003 that adhering to the Westpark alignment in the METRO Solutions plan could mean no rail through the Third Ward to UH and Texas Southern.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/06 09:04 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
10 September 2006
Council committee to review chase policy
The Chronicle today ran a front-page story by Matt Stiles on Chief Hurtt's temporarily suspended chase policy. The headline at the top of the Chron.com page (and in the Chron email newsletter) reads as follows:
Funny, but quite a few people (other than our soft-on-crime police chief) think that nabbing criminals actually enhances public safety!
Stiles' analysis of HPD chase data lends support to critics of Chief Hurtt's policy:
Police Chief Harold Hurtt's proposal, set for a hearing Monday at City Hall, would restrict his officers from engaging in lengthy pursuits when a fleeing motorist's only known crime is a Class C misdemeanor, such as a traffic violation.
That was the reason officers gave for almost half the chases recorded in the past year and a half. Yet when those chases ended and suspects were questioned, 40 percent said they fled to avoid arrest for felonies, drug possession or driving while intoxicated, according to a department database obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
The statistics, detailing 1,045 chases since January 2005, could lend support to those who argue that pursuits are necessary to get wrongdoers off the streets — and that limiting them gives criminals a green light to bolt.
Previously, local media reported that the Houston Police Patrolmen's Union recently took out several billboard advertisements warning visitors to Houston of the current crime situation. Anne Marie Kilday's reporting for the Chronicle describes the billboards:
The billboards, which are being posted just outside the Houston city limits, state: "A rising crime rate, an undermanned police force, a dysfunctional dispatch center and a 'no chase, no catch policy.' Nowhere else but Houston." The sign is billed as: "A public service announcement from the Houston Policeman Patrolmen's Union."
Johnnie McFarland, president of the HPPU, vigorously defended each point on the sign posted Friday. Three identical signs will be erected Monday, McFarland said.
Needless to say, the HPD brass wasn't happy with the advertising.
City Council's Public Safety Committee will hold hearings on Chief Hurtt's temporarily suspended chase policy Monday morning. According to Stiles, Mayor White remains noncommittal on the policy. It seems strange for Houston's mayor not to have an opinion on important matters of public safety.
RELATED COVERAGE: KTRK-13.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 11:38 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (21)
TSU removes Slade from classroom
On Friday, the Chronicle's Matthew Tresaugue reported that Texas Southern University has decided against allowing disgraced former president Priscilla Slade to teach classes, and has begun the process of attempting to revoke her tenure.
That sounds like a sensible move. Sensible, and a little familiar...
RELATED COVERAGE: AP.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 11:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Editorial LiveJournalists focus on very important issue
This weekend, the Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists opined on the following important matter:
Now in his third and final term on council, Berry risked raising the hackles of a good chunk of the electorate by describing cat owners as "un-American" and proposing an ordinance to allow diners to bring their dogs onto restaurants' outdoor patios.
According to Berry, no invitation will be issued to feline owners. "Cats are not cool," Berry told Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman. "They don't belong in restaurants or near people food. Cats aren't even good pets. You don't own a cat; a cat owns you."
While the councilman's comments might have been tongue-in-cheek, he'll find those words will make plenty of cat fanciers bare their claws.
The Editorial LiveJournalists do not discuss the substance of Councilmember Berry's proposal, but instead ramble on about his wife's potential bid for a Council seat that has not opened.
It's a little sad that the Editorial LiveJournalists couldn't figure out that Councilmember Berry's comments about cats to the Chronicle's fine humorist (Ken Hoffman) were very tongue-in-cheek. Councilmember Berry is a pretty funny guy, as anyone who listens to his radio show or who has heard him speak knows. It's also pretty funny that the same editorial board that seems to go out of its way to offend a good chunk of its Harris County audience nonetheless sees fit to lecture Councilmember Berry on potentially "raising the hackles of a good chunk of the electorate."
Hoffman ran this followup from Councilmember Berry today:
Call off the dogs — or should I say the cat lovers? I've heard from lots of people who were upset that I insulted their beloved cat Fifi by calling cat lovers un-American. I was being facetious. I now see why politicians speak in PC. People need to lighten up. I joke with my friends about their cats, they joke with me about my dogs. It's just a joke — a flippant, lighthearted jest about cat owners from a proud dog owner.
As for the ordinance, that's not a joke. I suspect very few restaurants will allow dogs on their patios, but there should be a place for that in the marketplace. For those like you who disagree, don't go to those restaurants. I wish people would stop imposing their will on restaurants and let the marketplace decide issues like this. We need less government intrusion into areas where the marketplace is the best guide.
The ordinance isn't a joke, but as noted previously, it is a questionable priority. And it's strange for Councilmember Berry to be extolling the virtues of freedom in the restaurant market even as he talks about Houston not being ready for multiple companies to compete in the shared-ride airport shuttle market.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC, Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 10:15 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (6)
Councilmember's spouse considers political run
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack has an interesting quote from Professor Richard Murray in a politics column that discusses the possibility of Councilmember Michael Berry's wife Nandy running for Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' seat should it come open:
"It's easier to run if your husband is leaving council than to serve at the same time," said University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray. "Generally, voters want council members to be independent. There will be suspicion if you have a husband-and-wife team that they will be voting together."
Professor Murray is not identified by Mack as a sometime Democratic political advisor and pollster.
Speaking of keeping it in the family, however, Professor Murray's commentary on the potential Berry/Berry Council tandem sounds a lot like his son Keir Murray's perspective:
Mrs. Berry may well be a fine person and a potentially great public servant, but if she wants to run for City Council she needs to wait until her husband's term is up at the end of next year. One person per nuclear family at a time serving on a major elective body is enough, thank you. If she wants to run, she should run in November to replace her husband, not in May, so they can office together through the end of the year.
It is difficult to imagine, that over the course of even an abbreviated campaign season, other candidates to replace Sekula-Gibbs won't make an issue of this nepotism.
It's not clear how it would be nepotism if the voters of Houston (not her husband) chose Nandy Berry to serve on Council with her husband (however unlikely that possibility seems), but it is clear that the Murray family doesn't think much of the idea.
Maybe Bob Stein was off riding his bike and so Mack had to turn to the other go-to Democrat for political commentary in town.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 05:59 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
While the Chron librarian is fixing some spelling errors...
The Chronicle reader representative today describes the Chronicle's efforts to make sure a name is spelled right in the newspaper archives:
We've misspelled the name of Beyoncé's dad a lot. We did it again recently, prompting this missive from Melissa Aguilar, assistant managing editor of the Features Department: "Mathew Knowles spells his name with one t ... It's wrong in today's Star section. It's a name that we see all the time, so let's all memorize it."
Curious about just how many times we've misspelled it, I asked the ever reliable Chronicle librarian Sherry Adams. She found that, "we've spelled it Matthew about 26 times, or almost a quarter of the time when we've used his name. I've corrected 26 stories dated from Nov. 11, 1990 (a pre-Destiny's Child feature about the Knowles' Christmas celebration) to July 31, 2006. We've run 77 stories with it spelled correctly, dated from Aug. 24, 1997 to Sept. 5, 2006."
The newspaper still hasn't corrected this editorial that misspelled Warren Buffett's name repeatedly. Erroneous editorial page items seem to take much longer to correct than other errors.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/06 08:36 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Protesting Metro's Harrisburg transit plan
Not all East End folks are thrilled with Metro's plan to put a (don't say) Bus Rapid Transit line down Harrisburg (via KRIV-26):
Residents and business owners from Harrisburg Blvd. and from the East End voiced their opinion during a protest against Metro's plan to build a Guideway which would be used by Bus Rapid Transit and eventually by light rail. The protest was directed to reach East End leaders and Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and Mayor Bill White about the issue.
Business owners say there is much more opposition to Metro's plan.
P.C. Gonzalez, spokesman for the Harrisburg East End Committee and manager of "Gonzalez Income Tax Service", said that, if the guideway is built, it will seriously hurt one of the main Hispanic business communities of Houston. Gonzalez said that every business owner on the block is scared to death about it, and that the BRT will split the Harrisburg commercial corridor in two.
What it could be the future of Harrisburg Boulevard is already showing. There are already empty lots and boarded-up buildings on Main Street south of downtown.
Now why wouldn't East End folks be excited about this? Or this?
As for the protest:
The protest took place this morning before Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's annual State of District I Breakfast.
There really is a "State" event for every single government entity.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/10/06 05:15 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
09 September 2006
Acres Homes residents don't want another crime-attracting park
KHOU-11 reports on the concerns of some Acres Homes residents about the city's plans to build another park in their community:
“Nothing but drug dealers hang out, selling drugs. Nothing good,” said resident Mary Taylor, “Wouldn’t nobody come here but some of the bad people.”
Taylor is talking about Acres Homes city parks, places she said welcome problems, not families.
When Taylor learned that the city is planning on building another park in her community, she rallied her neighbors.
“We want something better than a park,” Taylor said.
They want a YMCA.
“We fighting crime as it is without a park and if you put up a park out here with no kind of facilities or supervision or what have you, we just got more crime,” she said.
[snip]
The proposed park sits on 27-acres, enough, Taylor said, to build a YMCA where families can go and not be afraid.
Steubner-Ariline park, in Acres Homes is the same area where there have been problems including several women being murdered, a search for a serial killer.
When 11 News spoke with the City Parks department, they said this was the first they had heard of this proposition. They said they would listen to Taylor’s and the concerns of other residents.
Who can blame Ms. Taylor, really? Crime is on the rise and an unsupervised park can be a magnet for unsavory sorts of people. Are there adequate police patrols in the Acres Homes community? Did the city talk to Acres Homes residents when it was drawing up its plans for the new park? Will the new downtown park face the same problems?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/09/06 05:03 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Why let ignorance get in the way of opining?
The outrage of the week for the Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists seems to be a movie that none of the LiveJournalists has seen (and which may be pulled by ABC before anyone sees the final cut). Here's the headline from yesterday's editorial:
Fabricating history: ABC docudrama on 9/11 jettisons accuracy in favor of fictional sensationalism
An email to the Chronicle confirmed that no member of the left-leaning Editorial Board has actually previewed the docudrama (unlike other reviewers who have written about the preview released to them), which makes their criticism of the unseen docudrama premature and their subheadline way too strong.
The right-leaning Investor's Business Daily also ran an editorial on the docudrama yesterday, and unsurprisingly their perspective was more sympathetic. Nobody from IBD answered my email as to whether they had viewed a preview copy of the production before opining on it.
While the production is billed as entertainment (hence the term docudrama), it is historical. One hopes that the producers don't take extreme liberties with what actual American foreign policymakers said or did. By extreme liberties, I mean inaccurately putting words in the mouths of people who never said such things. Entertainment shouldn't be license for libel/slander (although sometimes it seems to be), whether we're dealing with the Clinton or Bush or Reagan Administrations.
That said, it's amusing that editorialists and bloggers who have not yet seen even a preview of the docudrama nonetheless feel the need to write about it so authoritatively! Perhaps this advice from ABC would have been good advice for the Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists:
"No one has seen the final version of the film, because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible," the network said in a statement Thursday.
Premature and irresponsible? Our Editorial LiveJournalists? Shocking!
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/09/06 12:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
08 September 2006
Let's rename it The Lee P. Brown Emergency Center
The problems keep on coming at the Houston Emergency Center (via KTRK-13):
The phone system at the center went down around 9:15am Friday. The center could not receive any 911 calls so they immediately re-routed those calls to Harris County call centers.
HEC Spokesman Joe Laud said, "We had seen a problem. We went to our contingency plan. The plan worked. As far as the details of the investigative results, that will be soon."
The phone system went back on line just over an hour later, but the officials had to spend some time testing the system.
This past July, the Houston Emergency Center experienced a computer failure which knocked out the automated dispatch system.
Let's see: a $53 million system that costs $40 million per year to operate. Seems about par for the course, as far as Lee P. Brown projects go.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/08/06 08:18 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
HPRA hosts East End anti-BRT speaker
The Houston Property Rights Association sends out this info on today's lunch speaker:
This Friday the HPRA lunch time speaker is Percy Gonzalez, a long time East End businessman who heads up the East End/Harrisburg Committee which he organized to fight Metro’s proposed plan to build a Bus Rapid Transit guideway on the primary commercial street in the Hispanic inner-city.
East End opponents of METRO's plans have not been as successful as Richmond-rail opponents at getting their message out, so Gonzalez's talk should be a good opportunity for people to hear their arguments.
HPRA meets at noon at the Courtyard restaurant, 1885 St. James Place. Lunch is optional, and is $14.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/08/06 07:59 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
07 September 2006
Council expands (little-enforced?) civility ordinance
Last week, Councilmember Ada Edwards compared a proposed civility ordinance to racism:
"We just can't keep moving people from point to point," she said. "It reminds me of the signs that said 'no blacks served here.' I find it very offensive and very frustrating. We need to find a way other than to criminalize these people."
As KTRH-740's Brent Fuller reports, Council extended the civility ordinance this week:
Avondale, Old Sixth Ward and Hyde Park are now covered by the City of Houston's "civility ordinance," which bans sitting or lying down on sidewalks for most of the day and previously applied only to Midtown and downtown.
Some at City Hall say the law should apply citywide. "To say something is illegal on one street and not on another makes no sense," said Councilwoman Addie Wiseman.Discussion of a more inclusive ban has centered on whether a citywide ordinance could pass constitutional muster. City Attorney Arturo Michel says some proof of necessity will be key. He suggested that a ban on "sleeping" should be a part of any blanket ordinance, "because on its face, that could be a safety hazard."
Councilman Adrian Garcia is calling for a specific ban on urban camping and says the question is not "are you homeless?" but rather "are you sleeping in a temporary facility inside the city limits that is not a designated camping area?"
Vagrants and panhandlers don't take Council's weak efforts to cut down on street panhandling seriously, and it doesn't seem likely that they are going to take this ordinance seriously either. In fact, if you click on the thumbnail, you can pull up a larger photo on Flickr that shows a vagrant who has set up a tent on a vacant lot in Midtown (where a civility ordinance has already been applied, but has gone unenforced), right across from the rail station. I don't think this is the sort of "development" all the rail Houtopians have in mind as they carry on about the wonders of light rail.
RELATED COVERAGE: Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/07/06 10:18 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)
There's still time to join our football pool (update: no more time!)
There's still a little bit of time to join our blogHOUSTON Bad Sports football pool.
There's no charge, and you can test your skill picking winners of the week's NFL and top college games.
We'll offer up some prizes (as yet undetermined) to the top three finishers at the end of the season.
Deadline to submit picks is one hour before the first game each week. This week, that would be an hour before tonight's Dolphins-Steelers matchup.
Details on joining are here. Good luck to everyone!
UPDATE (6:35 pm): Gametime is an hour away, so picks are locked for this week. Good luck to everyone who's joined our pool!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/07/06 08:57 AM | Announcements | Technorati | Comments (14)
06 September 2006
Reporter and bicyclist crack on doctor-councilwoman
KHOU-11's Doug Miller and Houston bicyclist Bob Stein team up for a little hit on Councilmember and Congressional candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs tonight:
Shelley Sekula Gibbs is asking voters for their support for a general election write-in campaign and for a special election that would send her to Congress for just a few weeks.
But if voters give her what she wants the City of Houston will have to fill her empty council seat with a special election.
“The cost is not inconsequential, probably around two million dollars.” “So it’s going to cost two million dollars for a special election.” “Yes, it’ll cost two million dollars to fill her unexpired seat. And I don’t believe there will be anything else on the ballot,” said KHOU political analyst Bob Stein.
“Well, these issues are something that are done in the charter. It’s the city charter and really, we don’t have much control over that. It’s just unfortunate, but it’s part of the city charter,” said Sekula Gibbs.
It does seem like a somewhat selfish move that may cost the city quite a bit of money and is likely to be temporary at best (since the doctor-councilwoman has little chance of winning the regular election as a write-in candidate), but that is what is spelled out in the city charter.
Miller tosses out some fun gossip as to who might run if doctor-councilwoman leaves Council early:
Among the candidates talked about on the political grapevine are former state reps Melissa Noriega and Diana Davila-Martinez, former council candidate Jay Aiyer, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce head Richard Torres, a councilmember’s wife, Nandy Berry and district councilmember M.J. Khan, who could run for a citywide seat and build a citywide political base.
Aiyer would seem well positioned to make the run, if the seat does open up. Berry is certainly an interesting name.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/06/06 11:02 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Hurtt's no-chase policy cited by man who fled authorities
KPRC-2 reports that one bad guy didn't get the word that Chief Hurtt's ill-advised no-chase policy had been temporarily suspended:
A man who thought law enforcement officers could not chase him led deputies on a chase Tuesday night, officials told KPRC Local 2.
Harris County sheriff's deputies said the man refused to stop for a traffic violation on Aldine Bender Road near Aldine Westfield Road at about 9:40 p.m.
The chase, which reached speeds above 80 mph, ended when the driver pulled over at a gas station on the Southwest Freeway near Kirby Drive, officials said.
Deputies said the man told them he thought Houston police officers were not allowed to chase him for a traffic violation.
"He said he thought the no-chase policy for the city was still in effect," Deputy Kevin Hanson said.
The man apparently did not realize that it was a sheriff's deputy who initiated the traffic stop, not a Houston police officer.
If Chief Hurtt's no-chase policy returns, we are likely to see even more bad guys emboldened by the fact that Mayor White's soft-on-crime police chief seems determined to place more obstacles in the way of HPD officers than Houston's bad guys.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: KHOU-11, Chronicle.
BLOGVERSATION: Cigars, Donuts, and Coffee, TBIFOC, Lone Star Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/06/06 09:01 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (12)
05 September 2006
Letter: US steeped in "classicism"
The Chronicle ran an unintentionally entertaining letter from a Katrina refugee today:
I read Harper Jones' Aug. 27 letter, "A muck of poverty," with disdain. While statistics may help confirm Jones' assertion that Houston's crime increase is directly related to the "institutionalized welfare generations coddled in government housing projects," he should be aware that generalizations and stereotypes can be dangerous.
While it is true that historically many of New Orleans' citizens were trapped in the unforgiving clutches of poverty, let's also remember how badly history treated them. A country steeped in institutional racism, classicism and castigation of certain of its members has reaped a bountiful harvest of poor educational systems that "leave many behind," high rates of unemployment, poor health care, an economic divide and, even worse, a sense of hopelessness.
Mon cher, resilience is rooted in adversity, not in happy times.
I am grateful for the tremendous outpouring of generosity heaped upon us immediately following our arrival in Houston. But don't let your pride in that put you at risk of leaking arrogance disguised as superiority.
KATHY C. PATTERSON Katrina evacuee from Harvey, La., temporarily residing in Houston
Ah, Ms. Patterson, but were it so! We just can't help but think that a country truly steeped in "classicism" -- one that knows its Aristotle and Plato and Homer and Cicero -- would be a better place, but perhaps I reveal myself as an evil Straussian in putting forth such scandalous thoughts.
In any case, kudos to letters editor Judy Minshew, whose experience in the banking industry surely helps her pick out some interesting letters to run in the local Hearst daily.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/05/06 11:33 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
Hoffman: Just say no to dogs in restaurants
Chronicle columnist and dog lover Ken Hoffman takes Councilmember Michael Berry to task today:
Houston City Councilmember Michael Berry is set to propose an ordinance that would allow restaurants the option of permitting dogs on outside patios and outside seating areas.
Currently, it's against the law in Houston for dogs to be inside or outside a restaurant.
I think the current law is a smart idea.
I would never eat at a restaurant that allowed dogs to mingle with diners. It's a health issue, a safety issue and a disgust issue.
I don't want to be eating near a dog who decides, well, this is a good time to lick himself. Or pee. Or shake off excess moisture from his coat. Or bite me. Or get amorous with another dog ... or my leg.
You don't know anything about that dog, where it's been, whether it's had its shots, whether it has fleas or ticks or anything else.
Councilmember Berry has distinguished himself as a serious and thoughtful member of Council, especially over the most recent couple of terms, which is why it's unfortunate to see him pursuing this trivial matter. I'm a "dog person" like Hoffman, and because I'm a "dog person" I agree with Hoffman -- dogs have no place in restaurants or on cafe patios. Because they might shake off moisture or fleas or ticks, as Hoffman says, they create health issues. There's also the issue of shedding and dander (dog hair being blown on my Michael Berry Burger -- yum!). And, unfortunately, I've seen too many instances in Houston of boneheaded dog owners thinking they have absolute control over their off-leash dogs, only to have Fido go bounding away (usually to attack a dog that's on leash, as required by city ordinance) -- so yes, dogs in restaurants/patios must be regarded as a potential safety hazard.
There are many serious problems in the city of Houston that need to be considered by serious people. Changing the city's ban on dogs in restaurants isn't one of them.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/05/06 10:38 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (30)
Push polling in HD 134 race?
The Chronicle asserts that push polling is taking place in the race for State House District 134 (here in Houston).
Evan at Perry vs. World thinks that is highly unlikely, and suggests that some journalists may not actually understand what push polling is.
Following on Evan's discussion -- Mystery Pollster has a good post on push polling (which isn't really polling at all) and legitimate polling (which sometimes does test negative messages) here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/05/06 09:41 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Light rail boondoggle (cont'd)
In the back and forth of the light rail debate, a big point that often gets missed is the overall benefit of light rail. Or lack of benefit, more accurately. Metro has already spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a type of transit that a small fraction of Houstonians use. And we already know the per-rider subsidy is astronomical for light rail, when compared to bus service. The human cost is that Metro has sacrificed many bus routes, especially ones that provide service for the poor and the elderly, both to feed bus riders to the train, and to cut costs, since the train is a huge money drain.
Metro is a public transit agency, and the core mission of public transit is to provide transportation to those who otherwise wouldn't have it. Metro, however, has decided to change its focus and become a mass transit agency -- except that the "mass" part is misleading. Metro is actually trying to become an inner-loop taxi service. If it was actually doing some mass-transit service (Katy and The Woodlands commuter lines), in addition to providing the bus service for which it used to be known, perhaps Metro wouldn't be in its current shape.
Now go read Tom Kirkendall's post on the light rail boondoggle, and how we can look to Los Angeles to see what we are heading toward. Here's a taste:
I continue to be amazed by the Houston mainstream media's myopia in failing to take a look at the rail experience of Los Angeles, an area that shares many characteristics with the Houston metro area, but is much more densely-populated, which is normally a requirement for making an urban rail line successful.
That myopia is leading to a dangerous dynamic in the rail transit debate that USC urban economics professor Peter Gordon notes in commenting on this LA Times story regarding extension of the LA region's rail system. Professor Gordon observes that, despite irrefutable evidence that the LA rail system has been a boondoggle of massive proportions, the LA Times article does not even bother to address the threshold issue of whether more money should be dumped into the black hole rail transit system in the first place. Rather, the article assumes that the money will be spent and then simply addresses the issue of where it will go.
For the pro-rail crowd, it's more of a feel-good thing than a measurable benefit thing.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/05/06 08:25 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
04 September 2006
Hurtt's no-chase policy generates criticism
Last week, the Chronicle ran a letter from a police officer critical of Chief Hurtt's temporarily suspended no-chase policy:
THE Aug. 28 letter from Sondra Tucker "Hurtt's on the right track" was hard for me to understand. Having been a policeman for more than 20 years, I have learned that most car chases do not even involve the owner of the car.
So trying to get the license plate number and picking up the criminal later wouldn't work. Most chases involve a stolen car with some other crime preceding the taking of the car.
Also, when a person gets away with criminal activity, they often try again. Police officers do not always know when they are chasing a car if a felony has been committed by the driver.
Most officers have common sense and we have hired them to protect us. Why not let them do their job? We don't want to handcuff our police and then complain about their inability to catch criminals.
No one wants anyone to be hurt, but if we don't allow the police to chase criminals, the criminals will use this as a successful evasion tactic when the chance arises.
JAMES BERRY Huntsville
No disagreement here.
Later in the week, Councilmember Michael Berry and union chief Hans Marticiuc wrote an op-ed on the no-chase policy. Here is an excerpt:
[T]he two of us, and many others, were surprised and disappointed when [Chief] Hurtt last week announced that he wanted to ban Houston Police Department officers from pursuing so-called "Class C" minor traffic offenders. In announcing this "no-chase" policy, the chief cited legal liability and public safety concerns related to high-speed chases, and said officers could offer pursuit only if they know the person behind the wheel is a felon.
Otherwise, officers would be required to try to take down the license plate number, and someone else would theoretically follow up later and try to enforce the law. With staffing shortages at HPD, and legal concerns over issuing an arrest warrant based solely on a license plate number, this raises serious problems.
We were also disappointed to hear about this proposed new policy because we believe it sends exactly the wrong message, at the wrong time, to the wrong people. At a time of rising crime, it tells dangerous felons with weapons or drugs in their car to hit the gas, not the brake, when ordered to stop.
Both the chief and the Chronicle's Editorial Board seem to think that the question is whether to pursue a chase versus letting a minor traffic violator go. Would that it were so simple.
Criminals who flee from police typically do so to hide a more serious crime, and failing to pursue them deprives officers of a key crime-fighting tool.
Their op-ed, which should be read in its entirety, goes on to give examples of the current chase policy working well against bad guys.
Unfortunately, unless Houstonians raise heck (because Mayor White doesn't like negative publicity), Chief Hurtt's suspended policy is coming back. It will be officially "vetted" before Councilmember Adrian Garcia's committee (which begs the question -- why can't the police chief's sanctuary directive from 1992 be discussed similarly by Council, but we digress), but Chief Hurtt has made it clear that he intends for his new policy eventually to take effect, and Mayor White doesn't seem to disagree substantively with his handpicked, soft-on-crime police chief on the policy.
BLOGVERSATION: Cigars, Donuts, and Coffee.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/04/06 04:23 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (14)
Framing a story: How to discount good education news
On Thursday of last week, HISD sent out a press release that stressed the following news about SAT scores in the district:
Scores of HISD students on the important college readiness test the SAT improved strongly this year while national and Texas averages fell, a new report from the College Board shows.
HISD’s average SAT reading score increased five points while the Texas average score fell two points and the national average score fell five points.
In math, HISD’s average SAT score was up five points, while the national average fell two points and the Texas average rose four points.
[snip]
HISD’s average reading score was 469, up from 464 in 2005. The average math score was 478, up from 473 in 2005. The Texas average reading score fell to 491, and the national average reading score fell to 503. The Texas average math score rose to 506, and the national average math score rose to 518 [bH note: According to the New York Times, it actually declined to 518].
HISD’s average SAT writing score, 468, was below that of the state, 487, and the nation, 497. At HISD, 4,401 students were tested, down by 373 students from last year.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/04/06 03:59 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
Another Bill angling to run for mayor (in 2009)?
The Chronicle runs a story by Kristen Mack on Bill King, the former mayor of Kemah, who is hinting that he wants to run for mayor of Houston in 2009:
Meet Bill King.
If the name sounds familiar but you can't quite place it, here are some reminders: He has made dire predictions of hurricane devastation and has become a top advocate of preparedness. And he's weathered political storms as part of the Texas Southern University board that ousted President Priscilla Slade.He was mayor of Kemah for four years.
Now he wants to be mayor of Houston.
No, he doesn't plan to challenge Mayor Bill White — who can run one more time under city term limits. King is looking past White to the 2009 election.
Even if it's early to talk about an election three years away, King, 54, an ambitious lawyer, lobbyist and civic leader, wants to be in whatever conversation there is.
The ubiquitous Bob Stein makes an appearance in the story. It's apparently very hard for local journalists to find anyone else who might have an opinion on Houston politics or bicycling. Maybe the oft-quoted Houston bicyclist should run for Mayor in 2009 also!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/04/06 12:36 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
AP profiles Dan Patrick
KHOU-11's website picks up an AP story on local talker and likely Texas Senator Dan Patrick.
Here's an excerpt:
Patrick’s laser focus on conservative issues and the ensuing bedlam his broadcasts can ignite have since become known around the Capitol as the “Dan Patrick Effect.”
Now Patrick hopes to set up shop in the Capitol himself—not only to continue beating up on politicians in his radio broadcasts, but as a state senator himself, representing northwest Houston. Patrick coasted to victory in the GOP primary and is heavily favored in the Nov. 7 general election.He plans to continue broadcasting as often as possible from a studio near the Capitol.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the new job, if Patrick wins, might be an adjustment for him.
“He might have to get used to letting people talk so that all points of view are heard. That usually isn’t the case on the radio show,” Coleman said. “He may run the phone lines and board there, but he will not run the state government. His ideas will be looked at with everyone else’s.”
He’s already annoying his own party with stinging rebukes of fellow Republicans and on-air promises to bring budget cuts and fiscal restraint to Austin. He’s stirring up the Houston editorial pages with promises to curb illegal immigration and pass a “trigger law,” which would preemptively outlaw abortion in Texas if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.
Incidentally, the Chronicle has yet to correct its mischaracterization of South Dakota's trigger law in its editorial, and multiple emails to the Chronicle's reader representative on the topic have gone unanswered. It shouldn't require a reader forum for the newspaper's executive editorial leadership to figure out that correcting errors is a way to boost credibility and transparency.
Interesting tidbits from the AP story: 1) Patrick's "Democratic" opponent in his Senate race, Michael Kubosh, is one of twelve investors in Patrick's new Dallas-area radio station; 2) Richard Murray is referred to as a Democratic pollster; he and Houston bicyclist Bob Stein are rarely identified by local media as Democrats.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/04/06 12:05 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
Danger Train safety streak comes to an end
On the first of the month, METRO issued a press release which was picked up by the local media. METRO was celebrating the fact that the Danger Train enjoyed its first full month with no collisions with vehicles/wheelchairs/people:
METRO posted its first accident-free month on METRORail in August – an achievement it couldn’t have reached without the help of Houston’s motorists. By observing signs and traffic signals drivers helped keep themselves and METRORail running safe and accident-free since July 7, 2006.
Safety, though, is a team effort and METRO also wants to thank the entire Rail Operations organization, the Safety department and METRO Police for this accomplishment.
KTRK-13 reports that the streak has come to an end:
One of METRO's trains is in need of some repairs after it slammed into a car near downtown.
The crash happened Sunday afternoon on San Jacinto near Southmore. Police say the driver, who was not familiar with the area, stopped on the tracks. The train hit the car before the driver was able to get out of the way.
At-grade rail along a busy traffic corridor is a recipe for trouble, however much METRO has decided to emphasize safety since this line opened.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/04/06 10:50 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (6)
03 September 2006
There's a teensy problem with Metro's new bus shelter stickers
Laurence Simon details Metro's latest oops:
Have you noticed the new stickers at the bus shelters (or bus stops when they're nothing more than a mushroom-like post that doesn't stop the rain or noonday sun) which have shelter numbers, the street intersection, and a few phone numbers for getting assistance?
I have. And at first, I thought they were a great idea. Maybe it could be the beginning of marking all stops for some kind of project involving GPS tracking of buses so you know if you've just missed your rarely-running route. Just type in the shelter number and the route number, text it to the FrankieBot, and the FrankieBot tells you that you've just missed it by 1 year, 24 days, 18 hours, and 55 minutes. Then FrankieBot says it in Spanish.
Cool, right?
Well, I thought so. Until I started actually reading the locations on them.
The rest is here.
Metro: Working hard to live up to the name on its headquarters.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/03/06 08:48 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron reporter: Katrina evacuees need more compassion
It's always interesting when we get a hint as to what an objective, professional journalist really thinks. For example, today we discover that the Chron's Salatheia Bryant thinks Houstonians who are fed up with Katrina evacuees living off government assistance are a bunch of heartless yahoos:
Once they were displaced people worthy of human compassion, but our impatience with their progress has made them a dark collage of thugs, freeloaders, losers and nuisances.
Some of us, in fact, like those West Houston residents who attended a recent neighborhood meeting with Mayor Bill White, want nothing more than to have White send the evacuees home. It has become another them vs. us. They are the strange "others."
I guess we only meant for them to be our temporary project, our feel-good domestic mission trip. But in the words of blues man B.B. King, the thrill is gone — long gone. We lost it months ago. Instead of asking how we can help, we're singing the get-a-job-go-back-to-New Orleans-don't-bother-us-anymore song. We no longer want to be do-gooders but evictionists.
It's too bad that we see have come to view these Americans only as a burden. In those days under the Dome and in the months after, they showed themselves to be people who were innovative, capable of speaking up for themselves, dignified, willing to encourage each other — people in an individual and collective struggle to pick up the pieces.
Yes, they were people we were rooting for. These are things we usually applaud and appreciate, so where did we go wrong?
I propose that instead of examining them, we might regain our compassion if we examined ourselves. I know, I did. It reminded me that what I think should be easy to do isn't always. The old adage of walking a mile in their shoes came back to haunt me. They've got to first have boots before they can use the bootstraps to pull themselves up.
I have a question for Ms. Bryant: How long should Houstonians help support Katrina evacuees? Five years? Ten years? Forever? Is that how we define compassion?
How would Ms. Bryant like it if she welcomed someone into her home, didn't ask that person to pay rent or utilities, and after a year had passed, that person refused to leave, refused to take responsibility for rent and utilities, and sometimes behaved badly?
Somehow I don't think she would examine herself to regain her lost compassion.
RELATED: FEMA Money Ends For 2,800 Evacuee Families (KPRC-2)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/03/06 08:34 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (6)
"Distinguished" visitors address City Council (2006-08-29)
"Senator" Robert Horton and "President" Joseph Charles separately address City Council during the public comment session.
UPDATE (09-04-2006): I captured another segment featuring a local activist who semi-regularly (and only semi-coherently) addresses Council, but YouTube was a little slow to process it. It is available here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/03/06 01:32 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
02 September 2006
A new Out-of-Town-Brown
The Chronicle's Alexis Grant reports on the hilarity that ensued at Council when the topic of Councilmember Peter Brown's vacation in France (and missed Council meetings) came up:
[Councilmember Peter] Brown missed two meetings last month while on vacation in Nice, France, where his wife spent the summer. During one of the meetings, a staffer or fellow council member put a sign on his chair that read "Out of Town Brown."
He missed the other meeting earlier this summer, also for a trip to Nice, one of Houston's sister cities. That trip was listed as city business because he met with Nice's mayor.[snip]
Brown was in his seat this week when Mayor Bill White briefed the council on the state of freight rail here. Brown pressed for details, asking: "Are we headed toward some kind of master plan that would identify priorities for the city in terms of mobility and protecting neighborhoods from noise?"
That brought laughs from several council members, and White smiled while considering how to respond.
"We adopted it last week when you were in France," he replied.
Ha ha ha! What great fun!
Not really.
It doesn't make much sense that a guy who campaigned so hard for so long to be on City Council doesn't take the job more seriously. In fact, it's annoying.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/06 03:22 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
Chron finally gets Sekula-Gibbs to answer important question
Congratulations to the Chronicle!
After several suggestions from this blog (and even a few emails), a professional journalist covering doctor-councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' bid for Congress finally decided to ask her (for the record) why she's not resigning her council seat to work full-time to introduce herself to the voters of the district (many of whom do not know her):
If Sekula-Gibbs wins the special election she will have to resign from the Houston City Council, even if she doesn't win the term that begins in January.
"To me, that's a risk that I am willing to take," said Sekula-Gibbs, whose council term runs through next year.
"I am not half-hearted in my commitment."
Asked why she is not giving up her council seat now to focus on the congressional race, she replied, "Because being on the City Council gives me a tremendous opportunity to speak out on issues that are important to our region. I cannot give up that position."
Kudos to the Chronicle for finally getting an answer to a question that should have been asked of doctor-councilwoman weeks ago. You would have thought doctor-councilwoman would have come up with a better answer, but maybe she didn't actually expect the local media ever to ask the question.
Democrat Nick Lampson, who is now the heavy favorite to win the Congressional seat, decided not to run in the special election, which he might well lose.
Elsewhere in the story, Kristen Mack quotes Houston bicyclist Bob Stein, which always pleases blogHOUSTON.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/06 03:11 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
01 September 2006
The perfect time to dump news in a black hole
When is the perfect time for the city to announce news certain to go into the media black hole?
On a Friday afternoon that kicks off a three-day weekend, of course!
[UBU ROI TAKES OVER FROM HERE!]
Yesterday afternoon, Matt Stiles reported for the Chronicle that the City of Houston is filing suit against four handpicked employees who formerly worked for Carol Alvarado in the Mayor Pro Tem's office. The "Bonusgate Four" were fired last March after the managers Rosita Hernandez and Florence Watkins arranged raises and bonus payments for themselves and the other two employees in the office, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta. The total amount that they helped themselves to was over $143,000. The extra payments came to light when a manager in the city's Finance and Administration department overheard two employees complaining how much council aides were paid.
Among several causes of action, the lawsuits in state district court allege that the employees committed fraud, theft and a breach of fiduciary duty in obtaining bonuses and pay increases that the city's Civil Service Commission found they didn't deserve.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/01/06 04:09 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.