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06 November 2009

HOUSTON CHRONICLE HEADLINE: Some Muslims fear backlash after rampage.

There was no mindless "backlash" after 9/11. There will be no mindless "backlash" after 11/5.

Why?

"Unca" Darrell Hancock has the answer.

And if the local newspaper had any sense, Unca Darrell would be a staff columnist (or at least a Dwight Bright).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/09 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

IN AN OP-ED TODAY, FORMER HARRIS COUNTY TAX-ASSESSOR COLLECTOR Paul Bettencourt follows up on the Chron's recent correction of both a news story and an editorial with the account of how his office processed tens of thousands of new voter registrations (with 3,518 lawful rejections).

"Facts are stubborn things," writes the (former) Tax Man. Even for the reality-based community.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/09 06:16 PM | Comments (0)

TEXAS WATCHDOG'S STEVE MILLER posts an entertaining story (on a slow news day) about Councilmember Jolanda Jones' efforts to install a shower at the City Hall Annex, and the reaction by Councilmember Mike Sullivan. Councilmember Sullivan told Texas Watchdog the proposed project is now dead.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/09 05:51 PM | Comments (0)

THE CHRON'S DAVID BARRON reports that KILT-610 has regained the sports talk radio lead during morning drive (men, 25-54) that had been held by KGOW-1560's John Granato and Lance Zierlein. The shift coincides with the addition of John Lopez (and subtraction of Andre Ware) from the KILT morning show.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/09 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

KHOU-11'S DAVE FEHLING reports on Houston's aggressive towing companies and some of the towing hotspots in town.

If you've lived in Houston for a while, you're probably aware that parking in a marked tow zone -- even a poorly marked one -- can turn into a costly error. This story is a good reminder, though, and also includes information on how to seek reimbursement for an improper tow.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/09 07:45 AM | Comments (1)

05 November 2009

KPRC-2 reports that a local homebuilder and his wife have been arrested on drug trafficking charges (involving some 24 kilograms of cocaine confiscated by authorities). Here are two seemingly disconnected grafs:

Jerry Heaton said by all appearances, Adrian Mosley was a pillar of the community and a quiet neighbor.

"You'd just see cars going in, staying about 15 minutes, then they'd leave," he said. "It's not like you see running in there, a gang shooting, stuff like that. It was just -- they keep a low profile."

Perhaps he served a high-end clientele?

Here's one more tidbit from KPRC:

Adrian Mosley received a Pinnacle Award from the Houston Chronicle in 2003 for giving back.

Oh my!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 09:37 PM | Comments (1)

KUHF-FM'S LAURIE JOHNSON reports that METRO chief David Wolff told the Greater Houston Partnership today that he favors abolition of the general mobility agreement that requires METRO to allocate 25% of sales tax revenues to area road maintenance. It's not clear if Wolff mentioned that it remains a disputed matter as to whether METRO has actually fulfilled its obligations to the City of Houston.

We look forward to hearing our remaining mayoral candidates further discuss their views on General Mobility funding before the runoff.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 09:29 PM | Comments (5)

AFTER THE MASSIVE LAYOFFS at the Chronicle this spring, some of the pet projects of the newspaper (or at least the newspaper's editor and his wife) were curtailed: the Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy has appeared much less frequently.

Today, though, the Chron's arts columnist (and editorial board member) took up the old cause with a special "arts" edition of the Chron Eye. Nevertheless, the death-row killer guy departed this world earlier tonight.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

THE CHRON'S CAUCASIAN THINK TANK took some time, but they have finally found a defense for Mayor/Senate Candidate Bill White's waffling on the 287(g) program: He really had a better program in mind all along (which doesn't explain the waffling, but hey, it's ChronBlog). Here they are quoting their man:

"The Secure Communities program is faster and more automated because ICE computers make the identification instead of relying on local resources and the interview process," says the mayor. "We want something fast and complete that does not require us to take officers off the street who could be solving crimes."

They can stay on the street posing as vagrants along roadways and holding up "Please buckle up" signs!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

THE CHRONICLE'S CHRIS MORAN reports that Councilmember Toni Lawrence will not be running against embattled County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, now that he has decided to run for re-election.

Councilmember Lawrence must be relieved that she can now "move out" of that 648 square-foot shack of hers, hmm? Because we're sure she's been living there like a real resident, right? *wink*

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 08:43 AM | Comments (6)

MIKE MCGUFF posted yesterday that various Belo affiliates were rolling out new websites.

KHOU-11 has joined the party with a new site that is, on first impression, a nice improvement over the old one. Just don't forget to add the "www" to the web address, or you'll get an error page.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/09 08:33 AM | Comments (1)

04 November 2009

THE FEISTY JOURNOS at Texas Watchdog have wasted no time in asking for the tax returns of mayoral runoff candidates Annise Parker and Gene Locke. This could prove interesting.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/09 12:21 PM | Comments (8)

DWIGHT SILVERMAN posts a roundup of liberal blogger commentary on yesterday's local elections. The tech columnist had promised daily poliblogger roundups, then neglected to post one since 23 October. Some people are easily distracted.

Now, what else were we going to add?

Oh yeah, notably missing was the best writeup of the election so far (certainly better than the lazy plagiarist's), at Slampo's Place. It's a rollicking good read, as usual.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/09 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

KTRK-13 REPORTED YESTERDAY that a pregnant woman fatally shot a man after observing several men breaking into a neighbor's car, then turning to hers. "The man still had a screwdriver in his hand when the woman opened fire with a shotgun," reports the Chronicle. "The door lock to her car also had been popped open, officers at the scene said."

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/09 09:51 AM | Comments (7)

TIRED OF ALL THE ELECTION CHATTER? Today's Houston FaF (sports) Smear could be just the ticket!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/04/09 09:41 AM | Comments (0)

03 November 2009

MURRAY NEWMAN blogs about budget difficulties and broken promises in the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

UPDATE: Newman posts more on Budgeting, Lykos style.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/09 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

TORY GATTIS calls attention to a Dallas Observer blog post on the congestion that rail expansion may produce in downtown Dallas. "My understanding is that Houston may face the same risk when the east-west line opens downtown," writes Gattis, "It will take some amazingly sophisticated train and traffic signal synchronization to keep things running smoothly down there. Same for the Uptown/Galleria line on Post Oak."

The coming light rail congestion in Downtown and Uptown isn't going to be pretty, although it is going to come as a surprise to most (since the topic doesn't seem to interest most media outlets in Houston).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/09 11:06 PM | Comments (1)

THE CHRONICLE was forced to issue a lengthy correction to both a news story and staff editorial today:

An Oct. 24 story about a settlement reached in a federal lawsuit against former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt quoted Harris County Democratic Chair Garry Birnberg using an incorrect figure regarding the number of voter registration applications rejected in 2008. That figure was repeated in a subsequent editorial. According to the county attorney's office, during 2007 and 2008 the voter registrar's office rejected 3,518 persons who applied for voter registration cards. During the same period, the tax office also sent 64,036 notices to voters who had submitted incomplete applications; of those, 29,386 registered, according to county records.

Does the newspaper employ any fact-checkers these days? At least they issued a correction, which is not always the case when errors are pointed out.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/09 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

SINCE HOUSTON-BASED CONTINENTAL AIRLINES switched alliances a few days ago, newspapers in Continental's other hub cities (Newark/NYC and Cleveland) have reporting interesting news from President Jeff Smisek, who takes over for CEO Larry Kellner next year.

Bloomberg reports that Smisek envisions more a-la-carte fees for Continental fliers. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Smisek may re-open merger talks with United if the Delta-Northwest merger proves profitable. The Houston Chronicle.... hasn't reported either bit of news.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/09 09:24 PM | Comments (1)

FOLLOWING THE LEAD of Nancy Sims and her Sams (awarded to all three major mayoral candidates -- no need to offend a potential future client after all!), Cory Crow has posted his own Significant Houston Internet Triumph awards. Well played, sir!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/09 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

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ACTIVE TOPICS

"The thing he attacked... is civilization itself"

Harris County "voter suppression" meme takes another hit

KUHF: METRO still doesn't like General Mobility obligations

Texas Watchdog on Council's shower follies

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