31 January 2007
Casey: Texas governors to blame for TSU's problems (huh?)
Chron lefty plagiarist Rick Casey launches today's column on TSU as follows:
Gov. Rick Perry could have done much more than appoint a blue-ribbon panel to help address the financial scandals at Texas Southern University.
He could have appointed a czar to run the place.
Casey (probably with some help from his research assistant) then spends 18 paragraphs (some of the one-sentence variety that he favors) recounting how the governor roughly thirty years ago was given the power to appoint a conservator to run troubled universities.
After that fascinating tale, he writes:
Ironically, Slade was promoted to president because six years ago the university was still having problems with financial management. With a doctorate in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and years of teaching at TSU's business school, she was considered the right person to clean up persistent financial problems.
With this pattern of long-term problems, neither the blue-ribbon panel the governor has promised nor a czar — even if he or she served the full two years provided by law — is a solution to the problem.
Nothing like knocking the thesis that led the column right out from under it about two-thirds of the way through!
Casey concludes by criticizing Texas governors for not appointing regents who would hold Texas Southern to account over the years and for not taking TSU as seriously as UT and A&M. Talk about being all over the place!
The difficulty with blaming the problems of TSU on Texas governors (current and past) is that while we have plenty of state institutions of higher learning that are less prestigious than A&M and UT, those less prestigious institutions don't seem to have the recurring problems of TSU.
The problems at TSU almost seem systemic at this point. It's not clear that Texas governors have caused the problem (never mind the nice history lesson that Casey's research assistant dug up), or that Texas governors really have that much power to effect a solution, given the school's historic mission and certain sensitivities that cause most people to shy away from a real debate on truly holding TSU to account (or finally folding it into a university system that will).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/07 11:01 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Breaking news you CAN get elsewhere (cont'd)
The Chron.com Froot Loop bureau checks in this morning with the following account of a shooting courtesy of the local TV news:
A man was shot in the parking lot of Haude Elementary School when an attempted carjacking went wrong Tuesday night, according to reports this morning by KHOU-TV (Channel 11).
The reporter gave this account: The crime happened around 9:30 p.m. at Louetta and Haude in north Harris County when investigators said the victim pulled into the parking lot to work on his car. An armed man then approached him and demanded the red Camaro.
They got into a scuffle, and the victim was shot twice. He's in serious but stable condition. Deputies are looking for the suspect, who fled the scene.
A Klein ISD patrol officer will remain at the school as students arrive today. Investigators told KHOU that there are no signs of what happened Tuesday night in the parking lot, so children won't see something they shouldn't.
There's nothing like a local newspaper getting out and covering the local beat! And if that's not possible, well, you can always post what other organizations covered while you were watching television and enjoying your cereal.
UPDATE: There's more reporting posted from the Chron.com Froot Loop bureau:
A standoff between a Conroe man and a pit bull ended with the dog's death early this morning, according to a report by KHOU-TV (Channel 11).
A KHOU-TV reporter gave this account: . . ."
Is there ANYBODY at the Chron city desk to cover the area's news today?
UPDATE 2: The second linked story has been updated with coverage from a Chronicle reporter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/07 10:55 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (6)
30 January 2007
Chron headline writers strike again (cont'd)
A Chron.com story with this headline appeared in various neighborhood sections of the online newspaper today:
Here is the lede:
The Harris County Hospital District's Troubleshooters mobile immunization outreach program is offering $5 flu shots to the general public.
$5 or free -- who can tell the difference?
UPDATE (01-31-2007): They changed the headline finally. Glad we could help out, guys.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/30/07 11:19 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Chron tries to keep Ruben Cantu story alive
The Chronicle's efforts to win that elusive first Pulitzer via the Ruben Cantu story have stalled somewhat, but the local Hearst daily just keeps plugging along in its efforts to keep the story alive:
Sam Millsap Jr. knows that most people in his home state disagree with his fervent opposition to the death penalty, but the former Bexar County district attorney remains puzzled by a particular expression of sympathy he gets from many of his fellow Texans.
They frequently admonish him not to beat himself up over the execution of Ruben Cantu, a potentially innocent man Millsap helped send to the death chamber.
And why is Cantu potentially innocent? The story elaborates:
Ruben Cantu, a gang member convicted of a robbery-related murder when he was 18, was executed on Aug. 24, 1993. In 2005, a Chronicle investigation suggested that Cantu was possibly innocent.
Here is some background on the Ruben Cantu story that should make clear his "innocence" is hardly a decided question. It's also useful when evaluating the Chronicle's death-penalty stories to keep in mind the Chronicle's fervent anti-death-penalty stance and the fact that editor Jeff Cohen's wife is a noted anti-death-penalty activist.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/30/07 11:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
KTRH: Houston Federal Reserve branch flies Mexican flag
KTRH-740's Josh Carroll and Scott Braddock report that Houston's Federal Reserve bank branch flew the Mexican flag today:
The flag of Mexico flew at the Federal Reserve Bank’s Branch in Houston Tuesday because Mexican dignitaries are in town, officials said.
“They’re holding a conference on trade between Mexico and the U.S.,” Federal Reserve Vice President for Houston, Robert Smith said.
Several callers to KTRH Tuesday afternoon were upset by the display. But, it is proper procedure for a foreign flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. flag on federal property during the visits of foreign officials, Smith said.
Edd Hendee and Pat Gray are NOT going to be happy about this!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/30/07 10:43 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
New Chron Galveston bureau reporter could use a little balance
In a story that appeared on Chron.com momentarily on Saturday, then disappeared, then reappeared on Sunday, Harvey Rice reported on some rail utopians on the island:
A passenger train between Houston and Galveston could begin rolling along the oldest rail line in Texas in as little as five years, according to members of a study group trying to make it happen.
The group is working on a blueprint for the city of Galveston, which it expects to complete in June, that will specify the costs and construction needs for reviving passenger service that ceased in 1967.
The passenger line is needed to ease steadily worsening traffic congestion on the Gulf Freeway and reduce automobile pollution that is contributing to the Houston area's failure to meet federal clean-air standards, proponents say.
The commuter rail line would cost far less than light rail or expanding the freeway, allow an increase in rail-freight service and offer an efficient evacuation route from Galveston when hurricanes threaten, they say.
"It has all the elements that would make it eminently possible," said study-group member John Bertini, chairman of the Galveston Railroad Museum board.
If by "eminently possible" we mean that Houston-Galveston rail could be built at great expense for reasons that are not compelling, then yes, anything is possible. Councilmember Michael Berry, on the other hand, offered a far more skeptical view on his KPRC-950 program Monday, available for a limited time for download on this page.
Rice is fairly new to the Galveston beat, having replaced Kevin Moran, who covered it for years. It's a shame his story was written entirely from the perspective of the Galveston rail utopians, with no counterbalance. It's as if the new reporter on the scene has already been captured by the natives, or rail utopianism, or something. Here's hoping there will be less cheerleading from Rice's future Galveston bureau reporting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/30/07 10:32 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
29 January 2007
Chron: METRO cuts bus service six days, claims net weekly increase
In an article about rider complaints over METRO's latest "service adjustments," the Chronicle's Rad Sallee takes a closer look at the recent changes:
Ever since the massive 2004 revamping to coordinate bus service with the new MetroRail — which replaced all the buses on Main Street — critics have accused the agency of cutting bus service and forcing riders onto the light rail to boost its ridership.
At first glance, the current changes do look like a cut in bus service. As Metro describes them in capsule summaries, 18 say "discontinue trip" and another 10 say "remove service."
On the plus side, seven of the changes "add a trip," two "extend trips" and one will "increase frequency."
Another 10 are described with the neutral term "adjust." The reasons given include "to match ridership demand," "for more effective service," "to eliminate passenger overloads," "to operate directly to downtown," and — yes — "to allow connection with MetroRail."
Overall, there will be fewer bus hours on weekdays and Sundays and more on Saturdays, for a modest net increase of 20 hours a week, [METRO spokeswoman and former Chron staffer Raequel] Roberts said. The sum includes the new Cypress Park & Ride.
Those numbers seem a bit unusual, since Roberts is effectively saying METRO has cut bus hours systemwide six days of the week, but has increased bus hours systemwide enough on one day (Saturdays) for an overall weekly increase.
In any case, it seems far short of METRO's promise in the 2003 referendum to boost bus service by 50%. Of course, METRO doesn't always see the need to stand by its promises to voters, instead letting real-estate developers and other special interests drive the area's transit policymaking.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/29/07 10:28 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (6)
Stephen Smith, we hardly knew ya!
The Washington Post's Frank Ahrens reports that the Washington Examiner has scored a high-profile new editor, luring him away from our own Chronicle, where he served as the Hearst daily's D.C. bureau chief for roughly two years:
So why, then, is [Smith] leaving his latest job as head of the Houston Chronicle's Washington bureau to take over the two-year-old tabloid Examiner, which has a staff of 55 and is given away free?
"I think the Examiner represents a new model of newspapering that really reflects how people want their papers organized, what sort of content they want and how they want [the papers] delivered," Smith said Friday. "I look at life as an adventure. This is an opportunity to do something new and stretch my talent."
At the same time, Smith said he had increasingly thought that his strengths and interests as a journalist no longer aligned with what the Houston paper wanted out of its Washington bureau.
"I've been here a little over two years, and the newspaper landscape has changed dramatically," Smith said. "Now the paper is wanting more enterprise stories, and that's a tricky word. It means different things to different people."
Like all U.S. newspapers, the Chronicle has had tough times, with circulation and advertising declines. Most papers are beefing up their Web sites and rethinking their coverage in an attempt to make themselves more relevant to readers. For many large papers, that has meant de-emphasizing prestige (and expensive) coverage -- such as foreign and Washington bureaus -- in favor of highly local coverage.
The Chronicle should seriously consider shutting down its D.C. bureau and beefing up its regional and state coverage, but instead the D.C. bureau just seems to live on, uncertain what it should be beyond a vehicle for Cragg Hines' frothing, Julie Mason's blogging, and the occasional fluff piece. Given Smith's pedigree, he'll likely be much happier at a newspaper with bigger aspirations.
In an amusing twist, the Chronicle has covered news of Smith's departure from the Chronicle with an AP story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/29/07 12:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
28 January 2007
Chron, Texas Monthly cover Sunnyside, Gulfton Ghetto
Over the weekend, the Chronicle ran a story by Robert Crowe on Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood (where Robert McIntosh was recently shot), and the drug culture that prevails there. Here's an excerpt:
Parts of Sunnyside are saturated in a drug culture that is at once celebrated in Houston's unique rap music and vilified by older residents who say Houston is losing an entire generation to drugs like sherm, crack and codeine syrup.
"We want the drugs off the street," said the Rev. James Nash of St. Paul Baptist Church and a member of Houston Ministers Against Crime.
But Nash said the traditional police response to drugs can lead to the types of scuffles that end with the use of stun guns or deadly force. Police responded to more than 400 calls about narcotics activity in Sunnyside last year. At least eight were made to Knoxville and seven to Kings Row.
"We don't want these young men injured and killed (by police) just because they're using drugs," Nash said. "We got to find another way."
Houston Police Department officials say force is sometimes an unavoidable consequence in the line of duty, especially when suspects resist arrest.
It's a fascinating (and disturbing) read on one of Houston's problematic neighborhoods. Indeed, we'd like to see more stories written by and for grownups (like this one), and less of this sort of treatment of serious issues.
While we're on the topic of good journalism about Houston, we should have called attention long ago to an outstanding article by Skip Hollandsworth that appeared in the December 2006 Texas Monthly. Hollandsworth managed to spend some "quality" time with gang leaders in the infamous Gulfton Ghetto area of Southwest Houston, and the result was an even more fascinating (and disturbing) read. Here's an excerpt:
Since the spring of 2005, the police department has expanded its gang unit, established a “gang murder squad” in the homicide division, and budgeted approximately $10.5 million in overtime pay to send more officers into what are described as high-crime hot spots, most of them plagued by gangs. In August of this year, police chief Harold Hurtt announced the formation of the Violent Gang Initiative, a task force composed of members of the department’s own specialized “gang unit” as well as agents from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Immigrations and Customs Enforcement; and the Department of Public Safety. Hurtt declared that the task force would “target the most violent gangs in Houston” and “disrupt and dismantle the gangs themselves.”
But so far, the task force has not come close to dismantling a single gang. And nowhere is that more glaringly evident than in the former Swinglesville—an area that some police officers are now calling Gang Land.
“No one seems to have any idea what is happening down here,” says Amanda Escobedo, a 65-year-old community advocate in southwest Houston who has spent nearly twenty years holding workshops and speaking at schools, trying to persuade kids to stay out of gangs. “The nice Houston people who live in the nice Houston neighborhoods and who come shop at the nice Galleria don’t have any idea—or don’t care—that the apartments that they all used to live in have now become a war zone. And it is a war zone, make no mistake about it. Every week, I hear about a stabbing or a shooting or a drive-by that doesn’t make the newspapers. It never, ever stops.”
It is indeed difficult for an outsider to imagine that this area is a war zone. (To get to Gang Land, all you have to do, if you’re at the Galleria, is drive for about half a mile down Loop 610, turn south onto Texas Highway 59, then take one of the next few exits—Fountainview, Bellaire, Hillcroft, or Fondren.)
If you have a Texas Monthly login (the link may not work for nonsubscribers), this one is certainly worth your time.
We love it when grownups produce such interesting writing about our city.
The mayor's PR spin machine operators probably don't share our enthusiasm.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/07 09:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Fun with Metroblog
The suspense is over: Sit and Spin is the "official" name of Metro's new blog, although bH didn't wait for the final results to start using it.
Last week's Sit and Spin offerings are not terribly encouraging, but some posts are leading to high humor in the comments. For example, check out this comment by Bobby J Moon (responding to Matt Bramanti) who works in Metro's CIA department (or something like that):
Mr. Bramanti,
I am very proud of my 20-year record as METRO's Manager of Audit-Contracts. You are "right on" about my frugality in my professional life as well. My professional staff of CPAs; CIAs; CFEs and CGFMs work very hard and diligently to advise METRO's Procurement Department and Project Managers relating to the work that various contractors and subcontractors do for our Authority from procurement of buses to designing METRORail line extensions. We are very proud to identify in excess of $500K in cost savings for the Authority in FY06.....frugal, yes!
Bobby J Moon CIA CFE CGFM
Manager of Audit-Contracts
METRO Transit Authority
Which completely underwhelmed Matt:
"We are very proud to identify in excess of $500K in cost savings for the Authority in FY06.....frugal, yes!"
Forgive me if I'm less than floored, but you're talking about an organization with a budget of more than $750 million.
Your $500,000 in identified savings represents less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the FY07 budget.
That's like patting yourself on the back for using a 10-cent-off coupon on a $100 grocery bill.
Hahahaha! Too funny!
Then there's this post with Chief Lambert's Top Ten Reasons Why METRO Needs Security Cameras on Park & Ride Lots (and I think it was a serious post, too) which led to this amusing rebuttal by commenter duhmoose, and this post over at Metro Is Full of Crap with Laurence Simon's interpretation of Chief Lambert's Top Ten.
Oh my, that's good stuff!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/28/07 06:30 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
Teachers, salaries, and bonuses
The Chronicle's editorial board has written a conventional-wisdom type of piece today filled with the usual nonsense about underpaid teachers. The editorial is partly a response to HISD's handing out of bonuses last week. (More on that in a minute.)
The LJ's editorial thesis is that teachers are so underpaid, their morale is somewhere deep in the earth's crust. I hate this tired conventional wisdom because by and large it's just not true. The key is the number of days each year a teacher works. Everyone knows teachers get gobs more vacation days than average working folks do.
Let's say a teacher making $40,000 a year works 186 days a year -- that works out to $215 per day. Divide that by eight hours and the teacher is making almost $27 per hour. Factor in benefits -- and thanks to teachers unions, teachers have good benefits that don't come out of their paychecks like private sector employees' benefits -- and teachers aren't doing badly at all. That $40,000 salary is actually well-beyond $50,000 with benefits added in!
As for summer vacation -- teachers can save their money so they can take a two-month vacation, or they can teach summer school and make even more money.
How many non-teaching folks can take 60 vacation days a year and not lose their jobs? Eh, I certainly can't!
Plus, with increased longevity within a district, and the earning of a master's degree, teachers can increase their pay quite nicely.
Generally speaking, once a teacher has spent a good number of years in a district and earned a master's degree, a teacher is paid a pretty good salary, for 180+ days of work!
Now take your average working person (AWP) who makes $40,000 a year. Let's assume AWP gets weekends off, two weeks of vacation a year, and five holidays. AWP works 246 days a year, which means AWP makes $20 per hour AND gets benefits taken out of each paycheck.
That's quite a difference!
If the editorial board wants teachers to be "paid what they are worth to society," I'd like to know if the editors have put any REAL thought into the matter. Do the editors have a dollar figure in mind? Would $30 per hour be sufficient? How about $40? And at what level? Is that entry-level? Let's get specific!
Where there is low morale in schools, other factors are often the cause -- unruly students, uninvolved parents, weak-willed administrators, dumbed-down curricula geared to lower-level students, etc. Pay isn't generally at the top of the list of gripes. Teachers who love to teach aren't doing it to get rich. They love to help students learn.
Then there's the issue of the Chronicle posting every teacher's name who received a bonus, along with the amount of the bonus. I have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with the Chronicle posting the amounts, the schools and the subjects, but there was no reason for the names to be printed. (Although Gayle Fallon must have enjoyed the blog brawl that ensued. Anything that can get her closer to ALL teachers getting ALL the bonus money is a win for her. More union dues money -- yay!)
Yes, it's public money and that makes it perfectly reasonable to disclose the amounts. It strikes me though that issues of individual pay should be private whenever possible, just as entities are loathe to disclose personnel matters. Can HISD go back to the drawing table to fine-tune the bonus program? Certainly. And that's something the private sector has been doing for years, but the decision to print the names was unnecessary. The teachers are public sector employees, but generally don't put themselves in the public eye, and that's something I wish the Chronicle had considered.
BLOGVERSATION: Stories From a Teaching Life.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/28/07 03:49 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (15)
Chron: White/HPD will cut overtime funding
As noted in an update to this post, Mayor White rushed a memo to Council after a critical report by KHOU-11's Jeff McShan regarding alleged plans to cut back on police overtime and cadet classes. In the memo, the mayor disputed some of the assertions in McShan's story.
Later, the Chronicle posted a story by Matt Stiles ("HPD plans to cut overtime jobs") that would seem to confirm some of the assertions in the earlier KHOU story. Here is an excerpt:
Houston police plan to slow spending on overtime programs credited with reducing crime so they can stretch the diminishing grant money that funded the effort, officials said Thursday.
Knowing that the city's crime rate declined 5 percent last year, Mayor Bill White asked the department to "phase down" grant-funded overtime spending to avoid an abrupt halt in officer presence in certain high-crime areas when the money runs out.
Mayor White flatly denied that he plans to cut cadet classes for this fiscal year, however:
White said the re-evaluation of overtime spending will have no effect on the three remaining police-cadet classes scheduled for this fiscal year, which runs through June 30.
Meanwhile, KTRK-13's Miya Shay notes that Mayor White's bumbling police chief was in Austin (strangely referred to as the Hill, evoking thoughts of the national capital) clumsily lobbying not on Houston issues, but in his capacity as head of a large city police chiefs' organization. It will not come as a surprise to Houstonians that he seems not to have made a very good impression.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/07 01:30 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
27 January 2007
Love to travel? Bookmark this one
If you love to travel, and also love to get a good deal on travel (since that means you can afford even MORE travel), you need to bookmark a new Chron.com site, and/or add it to your RSS feed reader of choice.
Houston Departures seems to have launched a couple of weeks ago.
Blogger Bill Montgomery is a traveler after my own heart. He seems to scour all the airline deals, and posts the best ones on the blog. And they are some good ones indeed! Here's what he promises in his first post:
Just as I've been doing for myself and my friends for years, I'll forgo the delights of late-night TV and instead troll the Web in search of bargains that are of interest to Houston travelers. I'll post what I find here, and you won't even need to buy me a hummingbird feeder, as one grateful friend did when he saved several hundred dollars on two tickets to Atlanta with my help.
I'll coach you on the best way to play the frequent-flier game, I'll offer tips on searching for your own fares, and I'll prove the flight doesn't have to be the most stressful part of your vacation.
Subsequent posts seem to deliver the goods.
My only suggestion would be to connect a Chron.com forum to the site, so that readers can easily add any travel deals they find to the conversation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 06:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Residents want West Alabama bike lanes restored
Ken Fountain reports for the Examiner newspapers that people who live near West Alabama are wondering why the street has not been restored to its previous (non-contraflow lane) configuration, now that the Spur 527 construction that forced the changes is complete:
Nearly eight months after the completion of the reconstruction of Spur 527 from the Southwest Freeway into downtown, some neighbors along West Alabama Street wonder why the once primarily residential street has not been returned to its original configuration.
Two residents who were involved in the original controversy and the city councilwoman whose district the street runs through said it was their understanding that officials promised the street would be restored after the spur’s completion.
[snip]
Both [Neil] McKenna and Ray Jones, the founder of the West Alabama Quality of Life Coalition, say they heard officials say during a hearing in the federal proceeding prior to the spur reconstruction project that once it was completed, West Alabama would be restored to its original configuration.
District D Councilwoman Ada Edwards, who had only recently taken office when the spur project began, said she doesn’t specifically recall who may have said that the street would be returned to its original status, but that was her understanding of what would happen.
However, Wes Johnson, spokesman for the city’s Public Works Department, said that commitment was never made.
I lived in that neighborhood when these changes were implemented and followed the issue closely. I recall most officials involved with the project refusing to give clear answers about what would happen after the Spur was finished, and I certainly don't recall any official promising that West Alabama would be switched back. A search of the Chronicle's archives does not turn up any such promise. One Chronicle report from October 2004 does indicate that the problem was still on the minds of residents:
The re-striping and reversible lane on West Alabama - designed to carry traffic during the reconstruction of U.S. 59 and Spur 527 - were cited as major problems, Brewster said.
Bicyclists who live in the neighborhoods near West Alabama want assurances that the bike lanes on that street will be preserved once the freeway construction is finished, Brewster said.
If those people were still asking for commitments about restoring the street back then, it seems unlikely that public officials had previously committed to such changes in public.
It also seems unlikely that the City of Houston is going to switch the lanes back to the earlier configuration, because that will require spending on a matter that is nowhere to be found on Mayor White's list of spending priorities. However, here's wishing Councilmember Ada Edwards luck in getting funding for the reconfiguration, if that's what her constituents want. Maybe if she proposes some revenue-generating red-light cameras at affected intersections, it will improve her chances at winning over the mayor!
BLOGVERSATION: Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 04:52 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)
Local Congressmembers want promised light rail, not bus rapid transit
The Chronicle's Rad Sallee reports that two area Democratic members of Congress are pushing for federal money to fund light-rail lines that METRO promised voters in the 2003 referendum:
As Metro began negotiations with a contractor to oversee construction of four planned bus rapid transit lines, two local members of Congress said Thursday they will push for federal money to fund light rail lines instead.
Metro said last year it would build the lines with rail in the ground and operate buses in their own right-of-way — separated from other traffic — along the track until ridership grows enough to justify switching to trains.
Some residents who voted for light rail in a 2003 referendum have objected to that, and Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, both D-Houston, said they would work with the Democratic majority in Congress to get the rail funding.
We do not often print the following words, but Reps. Jackson Lee and Green are correct.
The 2003 referendum specified light rail (not bus rapid transit) routes, and it promised a 50% increase in bus service. Minority communities such as those represented by Reps. Jackson Lee and Green were targeted by pro-rail advocates, and likely provided the winning margin in the referendum vote.
Since then, those communities have seen cuts in bus service (called service improvements!), and bus rapid transit lines substituted for the promised light rail lines. There has also been an effort to route the Westpark light rail line away from Westpark (which would best service riders in the impoverished Gulfton area) to areas that are favored by Galleria-area real-estate developers, architects whose firms hope to capitalize on certain types of projects, bloggers who live in the Heights, and other special interests.
At some point, we would expect some communities that are more dependent on mass transit than others to ask what METRO is doing for them.
UPDATE: In a semi-related story, Bennett Roth of the Chronicle's vestigial D.C. bureau speculates that new Congressional rules on earmarks may or may not affect funding of Houston projects, including transit projects.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 04:16 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
Houston Auto Show starts today
Cory Crow reminds us that the Houston Auto Show gets underway today.
I haven't been to the show in a number of years, largely for the reasons described in Brett Clanton's story for the Chronicle:
There will be plenty of cars and trucks to drool over this weekend at the Houston Auto Show. But there also will be a few glaring absences.
Some of the highest-profile vehicles making the rounds at auto shows this year won't be stopping in Houston — again.
Never mind that Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation, one of the biggest U.S. markets for new-vehicle sales or that the nine-day Houston Auto Show attracts more than half a million visitors.
With a few exceptions, automakers save their best stuff for more prominent auto shows in Detroit, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles and a handful of other regional and international events.
That has been the case as long I can remember (about 11+ years living in Houston now), which is why I only make it out to the show every 4-5 years.
It's a shame that event planners can't convince the exhibitors that Houston is a world-class market deserving of a world-class auto show -- but it's still a fun time, especially if a person hasn't been in a while.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 03:09 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (2)
Advantage: Insite!
While at the gym yesterday, I saw a report by KPRC-2's Robert Arnold on the drunk driving arrest of Mayor White's daughter, and the fact that some sources who have seen the police video have suggested the prosecution's case may be weak.
That sounded pretty familiar -- in fact, it sounded a lot like Isiah Carey's blog post from a week ago.
Advantage: Isiah Carey and the local blogosphere!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 01:45 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (2)
The state of the editorial page is not good (cont'd)
The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists lead today's effort as follows:
A commission appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to reform the property appraisal system has come out with a raft of proposals that provide little in the way of reform.
The Editorial LiveJournalists then devote the rest of their editorial to complaining about the reforms proposed by the Pauken Commission.
First Question: If there are no real reforms being proposed, then why do the Editorial LiveJournalists spend so much time complaining about the non-reforms?
First Answer: Apparently, they confuse reforms they don't like with lack of reform.
Second Question: Do any Hearst grownups actually read these editorials for factual accuracy and logical consistency before they go out for public consumption?
Second Answer: It sure doesn't seem like it much of the time.
The public would certainly benefit from an intelligent conversation about the issue of Texas property taxes and the problem of appraisal creep, and there are certainly intelligent competing perspectives on the issue -- not that one would know it from reading the editorial page of Houston's Hearst daily.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 01:26 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 January 2007
METRO Communications Web Log Specialist rakes in the cash
HouStoned's Keith Plocek inquired with METRO about blogger Communications Web Log Specialist Mary Sit's salary and job description, and was told he needed to file a public information request for that info.
He did, and discovered that the proprietor of METRO's Sit and Spin blog rakes in $76,622 per year!
He has posted a PDF with the salary and job description here.
It appears that METRO employees enjoy 8 paid holidays and 3 "employee days" per year. It's not clear how much vacation time the Communications Web Log Specialist receives, but we'll go conservative and assume 10 days. Since the Sit and Spin blog has averaged one post per business day so far, we'll assume that at the end of the year, the Communications Web Log Specialist will have crafted roughly 239 posts. That means the transit organization is paying the weblog communications specialist approximately $320 per post.
That's a pretty good rate (especially since many of the posts read like recycled press releases)!
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC, Houstonist, Deskmerc.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/26/07 03:20 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (26)
KHOU: Mayor slashes HPD manpower initiatives
Since the big "state of the city" address, the mayor's PR machine has been in full spin mode on the absolutely fabulous job the administration has done on crime.
The Chronicle's reporting after the big blitz from the administration emphasized that one measurement of crime (overall crime per 100,000 residents) saw a 5.7% drop year on year, even though murders per 100,000 residents saw a 5% increase year on year. The reporting did not make clear that those figures rely heavily on city estimates of population increases, nor did the reporting equally emphasize raw crime statistics.
Those raw crime statistics were available in an accompanying graphics box, and it's easy to see why the administration preferred not emphasize them. Of the seven categories measured, four saw increases, two saw declines, and one remained roughly the same from year to year. That's useful information. It's also useful to compare the crime statistics with earlier years (pdf link) -- for example, murders have surged above 300+ per year in the last two years of the White Administration, after remaining below that for several years.
But the Administration really doesn't want people looking at those numbers too closely. Indeed, as Jeff McShan reports for KHOU-11, Mayor White is really tired of this tedious crime stuff and wants to move on to other spending priorities:
There are big changes in the Houston Police Department as all overtime for Houston police officers is being cut and classes to train new police new officers are also being scaled back.
There is a fear among many inside the department that crime stats will soon rise again, thanks to a big financial cutback quietly handed down by Mayor Bill White.
[snip]
High ranking sources inside HPD told 11 News that overtime programs that have blanketed crime ridden areas for months deterring a lot of crime are now gone.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt reportedly asked the mayor for $15 million to pay for continued overtime patrols through June but that request was refused.
We learned he relayed the bad news to his command staff at a retreat in Galveston Wednesday.
Since a close look at the statistics shows crime is still increasing across several categories and is still well above pre-Katrina figures, it is not good news at all for Houstonians that Mayor White has decided once again to de-prioritize HPD's significant manpower shortage.
RELATED COVERAGE: Chief Hurtt says Houston's crime rate is down, others aren't so sure (Gene Apodaca, KTRK-13).
UPDATE (01-26-2007): A reader passes along a memo from Mayor White that disputes assertions in the KHOU story referenced above. I've asked the Mayor's press shop to be added to their press distribution lists countless times, without the courtesy of a response one way or the other. Obviously, there's no way for the little blog to post such information if we never receive it, but at least we can note that mayor disputes the story. We'll post any followup as well.
UPDATE (01-28-2007): Followup posted here.
BLOGVERSATION: Red Ink: Texas, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/26/07 12:00 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
25 January 2007
The state of the editorial page is not good
In 1975, then-President Gerald Ford declared that "the state of the union is not good."
Since then, politicians at all levels of government have figured out that it's much better to extol the brilliance of their leadership, exaggerate their accomplishments, and ignore their failures in various "state of" addresses.
For that reason, we didn't see much reason to comment on the most recent "state of the city" address by Houston's mayor, since it followed the post-Ford "state of" formula very well.
As exaggerations go, however, Mr. White had nothing on the Editorial LiveJournalists (aka Mrs. White), whose own "state of the city" editorial contained the following whopper:
Somehow, that spirit and compassion must find a way to elevate the two-fifths of Houston households that live in abject poverty.
As Matt Bramanti points out, the Census Bureau estimates that roughly 20% of Houston households live below the poverty line (as of 2005). That's one-fifth of Houston households, not two-fifths (completely leaving aside the "abject" characterization).
We expect "state of" addresses to be full of exaggeration, but it's a real shame that the editorial page of Houston's only newspaper is even more out touch with reality.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/25/07 11:00 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Ken Hoffman is now a blogger
It's been a LONG time coming, but Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman has finally joined the blogosphere.
As he describes in today's column, he'll be blogging about his experiences as a little league coach:
For the fifth time, I'll be managing a team in West U. Little League. I should be ready for a visit from those friendly men in white lab coats waving butterfly nets, oh, around March 20 — Opening Day.
This time, I won't put up a struggle. I'll go with them to the Happy Shade Home for Fritzed-Out Little League Managers.Another thing different this time — I'll be writing a blog about my Little League season.
The blog will be called No Crying in Baseball.
They gave me that name. And if you've ever been to a Little League game, you know it's not accurate. There certainly is crying in baseball, for crying out loud.
Lots of crying and whining and temper tantrum-throwing.
I'm talking about the coaches and parents.
Sometimes the children cry, too.
The blog is available here.
This should be very entertaining. Welcome to the blogosphere, Mr. Hoffman!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/25/07 08:46 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (3)
24 January 2007
Celebrate Houston's Arbor Day by planting a forest!
Have you had enough of the cold and rain? Tired of being cooped up? Ready to get out in the sun?
Well, this Saturday the city is looking for volunteers to help plant a whole lotta trees along Will Clayton Parkway -- 20,000 of them, in fact:
On January 27, 2007 a forest of 20,000 trees will put down roots on the Will Clayton Parkway esplanades between Lee Road and Highway 59 with a lot of help from willing volunteers. 2,000 volunteers are needed (rain or shine) to help accomplish this massive tree planting effort. Getting dirty is not optional; it’s required! Who can resist that? Bug spray and sunscreen are recommended. Volunteers must bring their own shovels, rakes and gloves. All volunteers must register and sign waiver forms prior to planting.
If the lure of being part of this great project isn’t enough to get you to volunteer, water, refreshments, and lunch will be provided.
Follow this link for registration information. Visit Trees for Houston here.
RELATED: Houston Gets Ready to Plant Thousands of Trees (KUHF-88.7)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/24/07 08:39 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
UH considers medical school proposal
The Chronicle's Todd Ackerman reports that leaders at the University of Houston are seriously considering a proposal to develop a medical school:
In a move that would ratchet up an ongoing rivalry in the Texas Medical Center, the University of Houston is considering starting a medical school in partnership with The Methodist Hospital and Cornell University.
The idea, quietly explored by UH leaders in recent months, comes amid appeals for medical school expansion because of projected statewide and nationwide doctor shortages. Houston now has two medical schools — Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
"We would be remiss if we didn't explore the possibility," UH President Jay Gogue said. "When you're sitting next to the world's largest medical center, in a state that's 41st out of 50th in physicians per capita, it would be almost unconscionable not to do due diligence."
Under a consultant's proposal, UH would provide students' basic-science training in their first two years and Cornell-affiliated physicians at Methodist would provide the clinical training in the last two years. Students would get a medical degree jointly awarded by UH and Cornell.
UH acknowledged its interest in a medical school only after the Houston Chronicle filed a Texas Open Records request.
Developing a medical school is a natural component of UH's ambitions of becoming a top tier public urban research university, and the university (not to mention the greater Houston area) can make a compelling case for both.
Unfortunately, the compelling case is not likely enough to overcome longstanding academic/political realities that favor two state flagship educational institutions over all others -- logic, reason, and other concerns be damned.
It also is of no help when shortsighted lawmakers play the following sorts of games:
The University of Texas-Austin also is interested in starting a medical school, and state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, is pushing for a medical school affiliated with Prairie View A&M."It would be my preference that Prairie View gets a medical school before UH or UT," said Coleman, UH's representative.
He's an embarrassment.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/24/07 02:42 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (13)
Imagine if each Park and Pillage had its own Jim Archer...
On their Sit and Spin blog today, METRO celebrates the first days of operation of its new HP/Cypress Park and Pillage facility:
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 12:38 PM [sic] On its second day of operation, the new 217 HP/Cypress Park & Ride was a resounding hit with most of its riders.
It had 26 percent higher ridership- or boardings - on opening day than the previous best Park & Ride – and 232 percent more ridership than the average Park & Ride during its first week of operation.
Jim Archer, manager of ridership analysis and service evaluation, stood in the parking lot for all 21 bus trips on Monday and watched passengers get on and off the buses.
That was probably reassuring to people who have heard about the crime at METRO's other Park and Pillages since the decision to remove security staff from the lots.
Unfortunately, Jim Archer probably isn't going to be standing out there every day. Good luck to the folks who park there when he's back in the office!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/24/07 02:02 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
23 January 2007
Kellner: Airport likely to retain hub status
As the Chronicle's Bill Hensel reports, Continental chairman Larry Kellner was doing a little bit of damage control earlier this week in light of recent airline merger talk:
Continental Airlines Chairman Larry Kellner said Monday that he expects Houston to keep its status as a major connection point for airlines no matter the outcome of recent merger talks.
"It would be a little surprising to me not to see Houston have a big hub here for a very long time," Kellner said.
His remarks came in response to concerns raised at a meeting of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston about the airline industry's recent merger talks.
Houston has a considerable investment in Continental's hub operation at Bush Intercontinental, so it's hard to imagine Kellner saying anything different to a Houston crowd.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/23/07 11:10 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
News you CAN get elsewhere (cont'd)
Chron.com has been better of late about updating its Froot Loop morning news "reporting" with details gathered by the newspaper's own reporters later.
Their reporters must have been too busy to fill in details today, though, as this morning report remains on the website:
Police are searching for a gunman they believe shot two men in northwest Harris County early this morning, according to televised reports by KTRK (Channel 13) and KHOU (Channel 11).
Authorities gave reporters this account: Police responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment at the 100 block of Hollow Tree near Interstate 45. Police found one man shot and several men fleeing the scene in a Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Marquis with Louisiana plates.
The vehicle was later found at a nearby Lexus dealership where a security guard found a man hiding and other man shot in the stomach.
Police recovered a gun at the apartment parking lot and have one man in custody. The investigation continues at the crime scene. No word on the conditions of the men.
At least Chron.com is now crediting their early-morning news sources (which makes Chron.com look a little less dumb if those sources happen to get some facts wrong). It would be better, though, if the Chronicle city desk was actually doing its own city reporting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/23/07 10:43 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Looking back at Bob Lanier's 1991 campaign dream team
On Sunday, the Chronicle's Rick Casey took a fascinating look back at Bob Lanier's 1991 campaign team -- and how members of that dream team have gone on to much bigger things.
It's an interesting read, especially coming from a columnist who did not live here during the Lanier campaign or administration and whose expertise is San Antonio.
Perhaps this line that effectively sets up the substance of the column is telling:
Consider this lineup of then-30 somethings, drawn largely from a short list culled for Lanier by longtime Houston political operative Dave Walden:
Does anyone else think that Walden dropped this great column idea on Casey, who then paid him back with that nice mention (nicely timed before the next municipal races)?
That would be a smooth move from a top local political operative. If it happened that way, of course.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/23/07 10:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 January 2007
METRO fails Cuney Homes residents
METRO's latest service "improvements" have kicked in, and some people aren't happy. KHOU-11's Rucks Russell reports:
[Mary Thomas] said she’s used the same bus stop for 40 years – just a stone’s throw from her back porch – to get her to and from work.
But now that’s all changed.
“I’m angry. I’m very angry,” Thomas said.
Thomas’ bus, the No. 68 Brays Bayou, started traveling a brand new route Sunday, leaving behind The Cuney Homes and an 81-year-old loyal customer.
Now Thomas and other Cuney Homes residents have to walk several city blocks to catch their bus … and that has many in the neighborhood hopping mad.
[snip]
A Metro representative said that when a route moves, it may hurt one patron but help several others.
But that doesn’t help the residents of the Cuney Homes – or the TSU students just across the street. A number of students even said they believe the new routes could place their safety in jeopardy.
“These aren’t necessarily the safest places for high school, college students, young women to be roaming by themselves,” Jade Cooper, a student, said.
It's not the safest place, no.
Unfortunately, METRO more and more seems to think of itself as a real-estate redevelopment organization, instead of a transit organization focused on mobility (and especially on mobility of those who are less fortunate). Good for you, if you live in a loft along Main or plan on purchasing one at the redeveloped AstroWorld site. Too bad if you are a transit-dependent resident of one of Houston's poorer neighborhoods.
RELATED: METRO route changes worry some riders (KTRK-13).
BLOGVERSATION: METRO Is Full Of Crap.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/22/07 11:37 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)
21 January 2007
Foronda: I'm just tired of the spotlight
The Chronicle's Clifford Pugh checks in today on former KHOU-11 anchor Lisa Foronda, who walked away from the station she helped propel to the top of Houston's news ratings:
She has heard many of the rumors over the abrupt end to her broadcasting career, including a rift with management (false), an affair with a co-worker (false) and a change in sexual orientation (false). "The most outrageous (rumor) is that I'm a kept woman and that my sugar daddy doesn't want me working," she said with a laugh.She has a boyfriend close to her age, but even if he were richer than Bill Gates, which he isn't, she would never depend on a man for financial survival.
"I've never had a man take care of me and I don't ever want one to take care of me," she said. "Everything I've bought, I've done on my own. My mama taught me to save."
She maintains the real story of her departure is not nearly as sexy: She was simply tired of the spotlight and craved a life out of the public eye.
It's still a big loss for KHOU, and for Houston viewers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/07 10:28 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (34)
Chron STAR section not for 8-year-olds
In today's Chronicle, reader representative James Campbell followed up on an earlier blog post about the STAR section's recent decision to reprint a New York Times feature on fiftysomething year-old porn stars. The decision upset some readers who didn't think the spread (pardon the pun) belonged in a family newspaper and asked "Where were the editors?"
The newspaper's features editor responded as follows:
Kyrie O'Connor, deputy managing editor/features, responded: "We didn't choose the 50-plus porn star story deliberately to annoy people. We chose it because it was one of the most interesting stories we'd seen in a long time, well-written, lively, unusual. It's true that it may not be the first story you would want your 8-year-old to read that day, but while we need to be respectful of our readers, we don't need to plan the newspaper for 8-year-olds. Any child who could read that story should have his or her questions answered about it by a thoughtful adult. Our desire was not to endorse the over-50 porn star lifestyle or advocate for it — that's not what we do — but to give people something to read and think about, to be amused or mildly provoked, as they choose. The picture was not risqué."
She's right about one thing -- The STAR section sometimes seems run as if 12-year-olds just starting to hit puberty (not 8-year-olds) are both in charge and the targeted audience.
Campbell concludes:
So, where is the boundary when it comes to publishing stories about sex and sexuality? I agree with O'Connor that the story was "interesting." For some readers, however, it ultimately was about hedonistic sex and the too-salacious-to-discuss-in-public subject of pornography.
For those readers, the story crossed the line of good taste and judgment.
Those readers are right.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Custos Fidei.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/07 10:22 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (8)
AstroWorld site developers seek management district designation
The Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff reports that the group redeveloping the old AstroWorld site hopes to create a municipal management district and get a light rail extension:
Angel/McIver Interests is seeking the creation of a municipal management district for the site.
The special district would help finance infrastructure, such as roads and drainage systems, as well as parking facilities, landscaping and security, according to Robert Randolph, an attorney working with the Conroe-based company that bought the acreage last summer.
The investment group is planning a mixed-use transit-oriented development for the former theme park land. It would include high-density residential units, offices, shops and a hotel.
The management district would sell bonds to build the facilities, as well as collect taxes, user fees, parking revenues and potentially levy special assessments on property owners to pay for the bonds.
Part of the plan includes a proposal to reroute the light rail line through the property.
A Metro spokeswoman said the Metropolitan Transit Authority has requested a proposal from Angel/McIver, but it has not yet received it.
Why does it so often seem like METRO views itself as a vehicle for real-estate development, rather than a transit organization?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/07 10:06 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (11)
City's still in no rush to upgrade emergency radio system
More than three years ago, the city of Houston learned that HPD's radio system was outdated. Two years ago, KHOU-11 got its hands on the report and asked Mayor White what the city was going to do about it. His answer?
"It's not a problem that's going to be solved in one day. It will be over a period of years," said Mayor Bill White.
And he wasn't kidding. A year and a half after its first report, KHOU followed up to check on the progress of a new emergency radio system. The conclusion? No progress. Zip, zilch, nada.
Today the Chronicle gets into the act, questioning HPD's unreliable, unpredictable radio system. What's Mayor White's response this time?
Mayor Bill White scoffed at the criticism, insisting the city remains well prepared for disasters. He noted that the city's radio system withstood Hurricane Rita when more than a million people evacuated.
''I think that there tends to be an overemphasis in Washington on hardware and an underemphasis on the planning and cooperation and ability to improvise by our community," White said.
Planning and cooperation are going to be worth squat if Houston's front-line emergency responders don't have the ability to communicate with each other.
Steven Jones, executive director of the First Response Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes for advanced communications systems for police, fire and other agencies called Houston's incompatibility with other local agencies "incredibly alarming."
[snip]
As the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington made emphatically clear, emergency response crews must be able to communicate with each other during disasters. In New York, commanders were unable to radio firefighters to direct them to evacuate the World Trade Center before the towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
And the Chron's story points out that in addition to the 2003 study, the city commissioned ANOTHER study last year!
Here's the bottom line: The city has had years of notice that its emergency radio system is woefully inadequate, and the city, under Mayor White's leadership, has done nothing to start fixing the problem. (Two studies don't count.) The city is drawing in record tax revenue, has new revenue streams in place, and last year was sitting on a surplus. Considering that some of the cost of a new radio system will be covered by federal grants, Houston should be well into the upgrading process by now. Since the city has taken no steps to get a new system in place, it is facing a critical problem that will be much harder to tackle since it won't be able to do it in pieces, like Harris County has done.
As it stands now, the city says it's probably five years away from the radio system it needs. But Mayor White says he'll be ready to tackle it...down the road. He just needs to be reelected again:
"If the public allows me to keep the job for the next three years, I do want to put in place a strategy and contracts and a financing plan to get us into a state-of-the-art public safety communications system," White said.
Meanwhile, take any of Mayor White's pet causes over the past several years and note how fast he's moved to implement them: $AFEclear, Parking Authority, red light cameras, smoking ban, downtown park, Proposition 1, Proposition G, commercial vehicle parking ordinance, subsidized housing, apartment remodeling, etc., etc.
It's quite a contrast.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/21/07 04:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
Editorial LiveJournalists open mouth, insert foot
The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists came out today strongly in favor of keeping the Houston's Gay Pride parade in Montrose:
Few events are as unique to a neighborhood as this city's best-known gay celebration, the Pride Houston Parade, is to Montrose. For nearly 30 years, that midtown neighborhood has not merely served as a place to stage the pride parade and its associated festivities; it has been the soul of Houston's gay community.
That is why the idea to relocate the event to the humdrum environs of downtown should be rejected.
Humdrum environs?
That certainly caught Cory Crow's eye:
Humdrum environs? Our "vibrant, and energetic" Downtown district?
The same district that has been "revitalized" by the DangerTrain, new bars, more bars, the Theatre District expansion, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, and more bars?
Humdrum?
To quote Matt Bramanti: Heh.
We'll see that "heh" and raise!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/07 03:23 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
HPD officers accused of bad behavior
News of alleged wrongdoing by HPD officers has dominated the local news this weekend.
The Chronicle reports that HPD's internal affairs division has busted an officer for taking bribes:
A veteran Houston police officer arrested Friday in an undercover bribery sting is among the highest paid and most-disciplined employees on the force, city records show.
The officer, Alfred Alaniz, is charged with felony bribery after police allege he took cash during a traffic stop from an undercover officer posing as a civilian motorist.
A complaint about Alaniz, a 20-year veteran accident investigator, prompted the Houston Police Department's internal affairs division to conduct the roadside sting.
"The department had received information that he was accepting money in exchange for not writing citations," said Assistant Chief Michael Dirden, who heads internal affairs.
KRIV-26's Isiah Carey reports that HPD's internal affairs division is also investigating the arrest of a local political activist on a gun charge, even though the woman has a concealed carry permit. Carey reports that the woman says she was tipped off by an HPD sergeant that the arrest was retaliation for a complaint she registered with the department's internal affairs division. The video report is available here. Carey promises to stay on top of HPD's internal affairs investigation.
We're always hesitant to blame cops first, as some people do, in part because they're doing a hard job in tough circumstances right now (thanks to the manpower shortage and surge in bad guys). But if there are cops behaving badly, here's hoping that the internal affairs division gets it sorted out -- quickly.
BLOGVERSATION: Isiah Carey's Insite.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/07 12:50 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (18)
20 January 2007
Put red light camera money to good use
Yesterday ten more red light cameras starting clicking away in Houston; for safety purposes, of course, not revenue purposes (wink, wink).
Interestingly, Charlotte, North Carolina, ended its red light camera program last week after a state appeals court said revenue generated from fines must be turned over to public schools. It would seem Charlotte city officials weren't that interested in safety if it meant losing ticket revenue while still having to pay the camera vendor.
Closer to home, MayorWhiteChiefHurtt could prove their dedication to safety by giving all Houston red light camera revenue to a very worthwhile cause: funding an adoption-only municipal animal care facility.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/20/07 10:58 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
19 January 2007
Hurricane LeeP hits New Orleans
A week ago, KHOU-11 reported that Lee Brown had been hired to help New Orleans with its crime problem (really!).
Today, the Chronicle's Kristen Mack devoted over half of her weekly column (really!) to this bit of news. Here's an excerpt:
Former Mayor Lee Brown is headed to New Orleans to help the storm-ravaged city develop community-policing tactics he pioneered while he was Houston's police chief back in the 1980s.His consulting company, Brown Group International, will evaluate the New Orleans Police Department and help it improve its relationship with residents.
BGI's specialties include public safety, homeland security, crisis management and government relations.
Hmm, many Houstonians understand the "specialties" of Brown Group International somewhat differently from Mack's glossy version!
After his disastrous run as Houston mayor, Brown spent a year as "scholar in residence" (using that term lightly) at Rice University, allegedly to complete a textbook on neighborhood policing. His hagiographer at the Chronicle is forced to concede it still has not been completed:
After leaving the mayor's office in 2002, Brown spent a year as a "scholar in residence" at Rice University writing a textbook on community policing. It has yet to be published. Brown said he's done with the research, now he just needs to finish writing."It's long overdue," Brown said. "I would not give you a deadline. I've passed all the past deadlines."
At least now he can show another city how it's done before people there can refer to his book and figure it out for themselves.
Ha ha ha, what a jokester that Mack is.
Or, of course, the people of New Orleans may figure out that the bumbling Brown's inattention to detail and deadlines related to the overdue book is just a manifestation of his general incompetence.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times I, Lone Star Times II.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Mayor Pothole's Archives (TBIFOC).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/19/07 09:39 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (10)
Romantic Houston
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Texas Highways magazine highlights Houston's "Flirty Dozen" -- twelve places to inspire romance. Here's an excerpt:
THE CHOCOLATE BAR
Sweets for your sweet
If you imagine anything appealing that can be done with chocolate, you can probably find it in this well-appointed shop in Houston's Montrose District (see "Move Over, Godiva...," page 20 of the print issue). You can smell the aroma before you enter, and watch chocolate being made once you do.
Ice cream. Chocolate-covered fruit. Chocolate pizza. And all things covered in chocolate, from Nutter Butters to popcorn. Get it to go or eat it here. There's an ice-cream wing, where the staff will scoop multiple flavors to your fancy, and, in the cake wing, enough cake to get you through the worst heartbreaks. You'll fall in love with the best-selling Aunt Etta's Cake. This rich, moist chocolate cake lives up to every great chocolate-cake experience you've ever had. It's a decadent meal in itself.
JPMORGAN CHASE TOWER OBERVATION DECK
Room with a view
Need a little inspiration? Take a trip up to the Chase Tower's 60th-floor "Sky Lobby" observation deck for a terrific view of the cityscape. As it gets dark, you can see the countless stars in the sky and the millions of city lights below the horizon.
Formerly the Texas Commerce Tower, the 75-story building was designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi until the Library Tower building went up in Los Angeles. (It's only got 16 feet on the Chase.)
The entire article is not available online, so here are the top twelve:
1. Events
2. The Chocolate Bar
3. Houston Arboretum
4. JPMorgan Chase Tower Observation Deck
5. Cocktails at Marfreless
6. Dinner at the Rainbow Lodge
7. Stages Repertory Theatre
8. Bergamos Spa Retreat
9. Picnic at The Menil
10. Williams Tower Park
11. Nazar's
12. The Lancaster Hotel
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/19/07 08:45 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (5)
"Ice storm" leads to severe blood shortage in local hospitals
Local hospitals are having to cancel surgeries because of a shortage of blood, due in part to this week's weather hysteria:
The Texas Medical Center and other hospitals around town were hit hard by the winter weather in Houston and across Texas. It not only kept regular donors away, but also forced organizers to cancel blood drives and blocked shipments expected from other cities.
They're actually having to ration blood at the worlds biggest cancer center. They have been canceling cancer surgeries this week with no end in sight.
"We've had to cancel between 10 and 15 cases over the last three days because of the shortage," said Dr. Garrett Walsh, head of surgical services at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The blood supply there is so low, they think surgeries Friday and all of next week will also be canceled. And that's a real hardship for patients.
"They come from all areas of the U.S.; they come to Houston. They get geared to the time of surgery and then when you tell them the operation is canceled because of a blood shortage, there's obviously a tremendous amount of anxiety surrounding that," said Dr. Walsh.
Surgeries are often timed between radiation and chemotherapy treatment programs. And canceling is hard, too, because many surgeries involve huge medical teams because they're so complex.
Thankfully, the Houston area is recovering from the "ice storm." Hopefully, blood donation levels will recover too.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/19/07 07:57 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
18 January 2007
A tale of two headlines
This is an example of a bad headline:
This is an example of a better headline:
Continental has profitable 2006 after cutting fourth-quarter losses
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/07 11:21 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (4)
Light rail no boon to Wheeler Watch Clinic
Several days ago, the Chronicle's Mason Lerner reported that the promise by light-rail boosters of increased foot traffic and untold commercial possibilities hasn't worked out so well for one business on Main:
In its 50 years downtown, Wheeler Watch Clinic has survived three moves and changed generations once — major feats for any small business.
But its owners say the threat to its business by Houston's light rail is a new challenge that's getting hard to take.
"We were doing really well before the train came along," said John Galvan, who with his three brothers has taken charge of the business founded by their father, Richard Galvan Sr. "We still get business, but we don't have the volume that we used to."
Galvan did not want to disclose his store's revenue, but he estimated that it is down by about a third since the train started running by in 2004.
He attributed this to the fact that the train has decreased foot traffic passing by the store and made it much harder for drivers to park nearby.
Galvan explained that the only way drivers coming from the west side of town can reach the store is by using cross streets several blocks away.
"People used to come and see me from all over the city," he said. "Now it's more difficult for them to get here, so we are losing them all."
To "balance" the story, the reporter found a University of Houston intellectual who thinks the problems are easily solved. James Evans, the director of the University of Houston Small Business Development Center within its prestigious Bauer College of Business Administration, advises the following:
[Evans] suggested that the business deal with the decrease in customer traffic by focusing on new residential developments in the downtown and Midtown areas nearby.
"They have to market to those people," he said. "They have to make colorful, attention-grabbing fliers and distribute them throughout the neighborhood."
Colorful fliers! It's so obvious, yet so elusive. We hope the Galvans are paying attention to that cutting-edge business advice from Houston's university.
We thought perhaps METRO's Sit and Spin blog might comment on the story, but apparently the site has simply become a daily press-release depository.
BLOGVERSATION: METRO Is Full Of Crap, This Blog Is Full Of Crap.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/07 10:55 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (21)
So this is running government like a business?
Slampo's been poking around on the webpages of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, and has a few observations:
In addition to advising the mayor on immigration policy---which we thought he himself has said is a federal matter---the office seeks to “inform and educate the public about immigrant and immigration policies, act as a liaison between immigrant communities and city government [and] advocate on behalf of constituents.”
Some picky sorts might take issue with the notion that all people living in Houston are entitled to the “full benefits” offered by the city “regardless of … current citizenship status,” but we wouldn’t quibble with the larger notion that in a city with so many immigrants---many of them legal!---the mayor’s office ought to have some sort of formal liaison with the newcomers and the various institutions, organizations, Bar card holders and gum-beaters who represent them.
But check out almost any issue of MOIRA’s newsletter and it’s apparent that this arm of the mayor’s office takes its charge to “advocate on behalf of constituents” (which constituents, by the way?) to mean advocate in one of the most blatantly partisan and political manners that we’ve seen in supposedly non-partisan city government.
It's the usual good stuff from Slampo, so better go read it all.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/07 10:17 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
17 January 2007
New Metro service "improvements" coming January 21st!
It's a new year and Metro has decided it's time for some new service adjustments. (Alas, Metro no longer calls them service "improvements." What a shame.) Metro is so excited about this latest round of adjustments (including some route downsizing), there's an exclamation point at the end of the press release title! Woo hoo!
METRO Service Adjustments Coming Sunday, January 21, 2007!
METRO is implementing the following route and schedule modifications to provide more efficient service. The information within this brochure will inform you of any changes that may affect your daily travel.
Please note that METRO peak service hours are Monday through Friday from 5 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. Late Evening service begins at 7 p.m. and continues until the last trip of the night. The frequency of each bus is calculated by how often, on average, a bus arrives at each stop along its route. Of course, weather, traffic and the number of boardings may affect the frequency of a route.
The list of adjustments follows:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/17/07 04:56 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (6)
Houston survives latest severe weather
This morning on KPRC-950, Michael Berry and guest Ken Hoffman discussed one of the Chronicle columnist's favorite topics: Houston's out-of-control weathermen.
The streaming audio of the show is available here (downloadable version here). It's pretty funny stuff.
UPDATE: Chris Baker is hitting the same topic today on his show on KTRH-740.
BLOGVERSATION: Mike McGuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/17/07 01:45 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (25)
16 January 2007
Launch of METRO's stored-value card system delayed again
Yesterday, the Chronicle's Rad Sallee reported that the date for METRO's launch of its much delayed stored-value card system has slipped once again (although METRO spins the slippage more positively):
To work out the expected bugs and soften the shock to transit riders, Metro says it will phase in its new fare structure and "Q Card" payment system over several months and hopes to complete the changeover this summer.
"We're planning a rolling start rather than dumping an entire new system on patrons at once," said Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.
"It's just such a massive thing that to start Feb. 4 (the previously announced date) and expect everybody to be on board would have been too overwhelming," she said. "We don't want people getting on the bus and having all kinds of problems."
Let's hope the Q Card rollout at least goes more smoothly than Frank Wilson's E-Z Pass "procurement disaster" in New Jersey. So far, the record is not good.
METRO does deserve credit for recruiting testers for the new cards and fares:
Metro has recruited about 600 riders from all parts of the transit system — including local bus, Park & Ride bus, MetroRail and MetroLift — as part of an eventual sample of 1,000 who will use the new cards and report any glitches.
This cross-section of riders, dubbed "Q Boosters," are being issued Q Cards with $10 of stored value on them and will receive partial refunds for charging the cards up again when that runs out, Smalley said.
Oistad said these riders will use the new system and fill out forms about their experiences.
Among other things, they'll be surveyed about use of the card readers on buses, error codes they may observe in the reader window, whether they were able to transfer within a route, and when and where they rode.
The group also will test new fares, Smalley said. "If you're a student, for instance, the fare will go up from 25 cents to 50 cents, and we're testing to make sure the card reads 50 cents."
All Q Boosters should be on the job by Feb. 4 and will continue to report during the phase-in.
They should have recruited Laurence Simon, who already documents his experiences with METRO.
METRO blogger Mary Sit was busy today writing about the rubber sidewalks (that really have nothing to do with METRO) that Tory Gattis blogged about last October, but promises some comment on Sallee's Monday reporting on Wednesday. Hey, if the launch of the stored-value card system can't be timely, why should the blog spinning of the same?
UPDATE (01-17-2007): It's another late-afternoon blog post over at Sit and Spin, which probably means it took the PR folks most of the day to turn the Q-Card press release into this blog post.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
BACKGROUND: METRO still waiting for working "Smart Card" system, METRO stops paying smart card developer, METRO's "smart card" saga rolls on, ACS gets contract to develop Metro's "smart card" system, METRO's new smart card system appears to be working, METRO advises rider to board bus that doesn't exist.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/07 11:04 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
HPD faulted for inadequate tracking of overtime expenditures
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles stole a bit of City Controller Annise Parker's thunder today, as his analysis of HPD overtime from payroll records was posted before the release of Parker's report on the same subject. Here's an excerpt from Stiles' reporting:
The Chronicle examined 2006 payroll figures for all police employees using data obtained under the Texas Public Information Act.
The department paid $53 million in overtime last year, about 10 percent of its budget for all personnel costs in the current fiscal year. The average overtime total was about $10,000 per department employee, up from $6,000 in 2005.
Only 74 of the city's roughly 21,000 employees made more than $50,000 in overtime last year. Three were from the fire department, and the rest work as police officers or sergeants.
Police commanders say the concentration of high overtime pay in a small group of rank-and-file officers reflects several factors.
The story goes into much more detail, and should be read in its entirety. HPD's severe staffing shortage contributed significantly to the overtime expenditures, of course.
Controller Parker's report is available here (pdf). In her press release, she criticized HPD for inadequate control and tracking of overtime hours:
A performance audit released today by Houston City Controller Annise Parker concludes the Houston Police Department lacks adequate controls to manage the amount of overtime and extra job hours worked by its classified officers. Auditors found no correlation between overtime worked for HPD and on the job injuries, accidents or disciplinary actions. However, they were unable to reach any conclusions regarding the impact of extra employment on job performance because the data was not available.
[snip]
HPD policy limits officers to no more than 16 hours on the job per 24-hour period and/or a total of 80 hours per workweek. According to the performance audit, the department lacks a process for identifying, tracking and reporting regular hours, overtime hours and extra job hours worked by officers. Officers are not routinely required to report hours worked on second jobs. As a result, there is no way to ensure compliance with the work hour limit. In fact, auditors noted that one officer included in the test group averaged pay for over 79 hours per week for the entire period covered by the audit without including extra employment, which he also worked.
The audit recommends HPD develop an internal program for scheduling and tracking overtime and extra employment hours worked by officers. “If anything, this is a matter of utilizing available computer technology to help HPD more effectively meet the very important demands of protecting Houstonians. HPD should know where every uniformed officer is working throughout the city. A manual system should be utilized until the new computer system kicks in. Other departments around the country are already doing this. ” Parker points out.
The audit was done at the request of Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
On the surface, it looks as if the city's watchdog media and one official watchdog (the Controller's office) have done some good work.
What do you think?
BLOGVERSATION: About: Chron.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/07 10:20 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Nothing like stating the obvious
The following observation appears in R.G. Ratcliffe's Chronicle story about the inauguration and coming legislative session:
"When I take my hand off the Bible, I'll be 100 percent governor. I won't be 39 percent governor. I'll have 100 percent of the authority," Perry said. "When the session is done, take a look, and I believe we'll have had a pretty successful session."
At the moment, though, the scorecard is mostly blank.
Really? At the start of the legislative session? Shocking.
You can't get cutting-edge analysis like that from just any news organization's Austin bureau!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/07 02:24 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Rumbo continues downsizing in Houston
The Houston Business Journal reports that the Spanish language newspaper Rumbo is further scaling back its operations:
Spanish-language newspaper chain Rumbo, which had previously been published daily, has started publishing its Houston paper weekly.
The chain, owned by San Antonio-based Meximerica Media, is also reducing frequency of its hometown paper to a weekly as well, citing the success of its existing weekly in the Rio Grande Valley.
The company says the weekly format responds to Hispanic media buying trends which are heavily on weekend editions, delivered to newsstands on Friday and to homes on Saturday.
Rumbo's circulation in Houston is 100,000 copies, 50,000 in San Antonio and 45,000 in the Rio Grande Valley.
Less than a year ago, the publication pegged Houston distribution at 230,000 copies weekly while announcing it would be cutting its publishing schedule to Monday/Wednesday/Friday. The publication launched with lots of hype about its local focus and talented journalists. Unfortunately, they seem to have overestimated the market for such a product.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: Associated Press.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/07 01:27 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (3)
Doctor-Former-Congresswoman lauds her perfect attendance
Last week, Doctor-Former-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula Gibbs sent out an email lauding her perfect attendance and voting record as she filled out the term of former Rep. Tom DeLay. Doctor-Former-Congresswoman tells us she participated in 25 roll call votes!
She vowed to continue working for the people of CD-22:
With the close of the Congressional session, Congresswoman Sekula Gibbs met with top law enforcement officials in Laredo, TX to talk about border security. National, state and local officials along the U.S./Mexico border have their hands full dealing with numerous challenges such as the crackdown on illegal immigration, the constant flow of illegal drugs brought in from Mexico, and an exploding crime problem caused by turf battles between rival drug organizations.Congresswoman Sekula Gibbs pledged her support to the law enforcement efforts and vowed to return regularly to monitor progress being made and future needs that call for Congressional support.
Has someone told her she's not going to be much help providing Congressional support since she's no longer a member of Congress?
Or perhaps she meant that differently, and she's planning on some sort of Doctors Without Borders free dermatological clinic just across the border in Mexico?
Hard to say.
Isiah Carey has posted the entire email here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/07 01:06 AM |