Leaving town stirs up the news
Whenever I leave town for a few days, interesting news seems to break.
Two such items popped up while I was away this time.
First, reports surfaced of allegations of some boorish behavior by state representative Borris Miles (D) at a party:
The Harris County District Attorney's Office is investigating a complaint that state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, made threats and brandished a gun at a holiday party last month.
According to witnesses, Miles entered a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, confronting guests, displaying a pistol and forcibly kissing another man's wife.
David Harris, who threw the party for his property management company, said he believes Miles, an insurance agent, was angry at him for investing in a rival business."He was saying things such as, 'I told you to get out of the insurance business. There ain't room in this town for the two of us. I'm going to come after you and take you down,' " Harris said.
[snip]
Rumors about the incident have swirled for weeks in both Houston and Austin. Harris agreed to speak publicly about it last month only after being contacted by the Houston Chronicle. It was not until Friday, however, that the District Attorney's Office confirmed the investigation.
[snip]
Last July, Miles shot and wounded a burglar who police said was trying to steal copper from the lawmaker's 9,000- square-foot Third Ward home. Miles, who had a concealed handgun permit and was not charged in the incident, said the shooting was self-defense.
Women, liquor, and guns! The stories may not be true (although the use of the plural term "witnesses" could suggest trouble for Mr. Miles), but they are certainly entertaining.
Less entertaining, but still worth noting, is the news that METRO's transit backbone requires more repairs because of shoddy construction. Here's the Chron reporting/METRO press release (who can really tell the difference any more?):
The downtown and Midtown segments of Metro's light rail line will be closed during parts of the next two weekends to fix problems the transit agency blames on faulty construction.
In December, Metro's board of directors authorized KBR Inc. to repair the problem at a cost of up to $812,000.
The closures will last from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and on Jan. 19-20. Buses will shuttle passengers in the closed segments at 12-minute intervals, Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said.
Roberts said the work is to fix persistent trouble with the cables that carry current from power stations along the route to the rails. Metro says the problem caused parts of the line to shut down on three occasions.
The cables, enclosed in boxes between the rails, expand during power surges, which causes them to rub against each other and the boxes, Roberts said. Metro contends the cables were not properly suspended inside the boxes to prevent chafing.
METRO should serenade inconvenienced customers with mariachi bands and provide scratch-off cards.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/08 11:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Print | Comments (14)
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