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 |
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 |
16 January 2007
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 |
13 January 2007
Lee P. Brown heads off to New Orleans
Offered up without comment (because it leaves one speechless):
Houston’s former Mayor and Police Chief Lee Brown has been hired to help handle New Orleans’ growing crime problem.
This comes one day after hundreds of people marched in the streets demanding something be done about the violence.So far this year, nine people have been killed.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says Brown’s company will evaluate the city’s police department and help establish community police policies.
Brown says that should take about six months.
Wow.
RELATED: Visit Kevin Whited's personal blog's archives for plenty of Lee Brown memories.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/13/07 08:11 AM |
09 January 2007
Dan Patrick loses first Senate battle
As various media outlets and blogs have noted, local talker and new state senator Dan Patrick lost his first Senate battle today.
Today, the talk radio host lectured his colleagues on his notion of the requirements of democratic government, after which they promptly outvoted him 30-1 on the matter.
The Blocker Bill tradition continues to strike me (and apparently Evan at Perry vs World) as a conservative tradition, so it's probably best in the long run for conservative governance that Patrick lost.
Patrick, incidentally, has gotten interesting coverage recently in the Economist and Texas Monthly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/09/07 09:33 PM |
06 January 2007
Jordy Tollett sounds like The Terminator
In today's offering, the Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists ran a fun quote from Jordy Tollett, who recently stepped down as head of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau:
For those who figure Tollett's service at the city is finished, think again. Previously caricatured as someone who'll outlive the cockroaches at City Hall, Tollett said those writing his municipal epitaph might be premature. "I just can't wait to come back, working for the next mayor."
Unlike those elected to city offices, people who can make things happen in Houston don't have term limits. Tollett probably will find his way back into the downtown power structure after White's tenure ends. Tollett might just as easily have told the Editorial LiveJournalists "I'll be back."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/06/07 11:39 PM |
28 December 2006
Rick's Cabaret celebrates a successful 2006
Via the Houston Business Journal:
Adult entertainment company Rick's Cabaret Inc. reported stronger annual net income and revenue Thursday, aided by robust performances [Anne adds: I'll bet!] from both new and existing nightclubs.
[snip]
"The excellent performance of Rick's Cabaret-New York City gave us a strong revenue boost for the fiscal year and this club continues to grow steadily each month," said Eric Langan, president and CEO of Rick's Cabaret. "Our growth program is on track and we are looking forward to another strong year in 2007 from our existing clubs and the four acquisitions we have made recently."
Langan added that the company plans to evaluate possible additional acquisitions that fit the company's business model and can provide a quick boost to earnings.
Rick's (NASDAQ: RICK) operates upscale adult nightclubs serving primarily businessmen and professionals who offer live adult entertainment, restaurant and bar operations.
If Mayor White wins his battle to oust Jordy Tollett from the GHCVB, perhaps Jordy can land a job at Rick's, working in the PR department:
When Houston Civic Center Director Jordy Tollett explained why he spent several thousand dollars in taxpayers' money escorting visitors to Rick's, [his answer that] "They wanted to go there" became the quote on another billboard. Tollett's public reprimand from the mayor led to what may have been the apogee of Rick's public acceptance, a Houston Chronicle editorial that declared, "As a city trying to attract convention business, we must spend money to make money, and if Tollett was bowing to the demands of clients to go to topless bars, we probably shouldn't fault him too much."
(Thanks to Charles Kuffner for posting that classic gem.)
I may be in the minority here, but I'm rooting for Jordy to keep his job. He's quite a character!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/28/06 12:56 PM |
26 December 2006
Do we need to get him a present?
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Houston City Councilman Michael Berry have proclaimed December 26, 2006 as Wayne Dolcefino Day. It's also Wayne's 50th birthday.
The proclamation lists Wayne's achievements while working with 13 Undercover. In the last year, 13 Undercover got $2 million back for Houston taxpayers after exposing possible fraud in the city's garbage bills. Wayne also exposed handicapped parking cheaters and a scheme to fake marriages for immigration fraud.
We're still awaiting the (shelved) Rodeo exposé that caused such a stir almost two years ago.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/26/06 02:14 PM |
04 December 2006
Lisa Foronda leaving Channel 11
That's according to this story posted on KHOU.com:
11 News anchor Lisa Foronda has decided to leave the news business to launch another career outside broadcast news.
“I’m ready to do something else,” Foronda said. “I want to do something that’s not in the public eye. I really like Channel 11 and I love these people and am truly fortunate to be working at a station that believes in quality journalism. I got to meet some wonderful people in the community and I’m anxious to be working with them face to face rather than talking to them through the camera.”
According to KHOU-TV President and General Manager, Peter Diaz, “This is totally Lisa’s decision. I’ve been trying to talk her out of it since she told me last month, but her mind is made up. We wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life.”
The story doesn't say what her new business will be, but she will be staying in Houston. December 22 is her last on-air date.
That's a shame. She's one of my favorite local anchors.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/04/06 04:12 PM |
The little cat nobody wanted brought joy to so many
The Simon family has suffered another loss: Laurence's beloved little Piper died suddenly early this morning.
She was a hoot of a kitty, chasing her tail, making funny faces, gnawing on her blankie, endlessly grooming herself (man, that cat was CLEAN!), and those of us who watched Laurence's catcams enjoyed it all:
It was only yesterday she was climbing up my pants leg, up my shirt, sitting on my shoulder, and shrieking for more from the bottle.
Ten years later, my little kittybaby is gone.
When I had finally gotten a new job, I wanted to keep tabs on the cats, so I went a little overboard with catcams. One here... one there... a "skycam" for watching Piper as she slept.
Many other people started watching her.
For such a little cat that nobody had wanted, she brought joy to many.
Yes, she did. Farewell little Piper, and peace be with Laurence and Gina.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/04/06 08:28 AM |
01 December 2006
Infamous Fourth Ward resident attends townhall meeting (updated)
Last night at a townhall meeting, Fourth Ward residents blasted city officials for the city's continued inattention to their community's problems (via KTRK-13's Miya Shay):
Houston's mayor found himself face to face with a tough crowd Thursday night. Dozens of residents gathered, wanting to know why city promises to improve their neighborhood have gone unfulfilled. We're talking about the Fourth Ward, which recently has seen its share of crime, including a massive suspicious church fire.
[snip]
That's why Williams and hundreds of neighbors with similar concerns brought their opinions to a fiery meeting between residents and city leaders, including Mayor Bill White
"For too long, we haven't had the capital improvements and the public safety protection that we deserve in this neighborhood," said Mayor White.
An alarming footnote to the story mentions that confessed killer and Fourth Ward resident Robert Durst attended the meeting:
Among the crowd Thursday night at that meeting on crime was admitted killer Robert Durst. He's the millionaire who just ended his parole this week after cutting up a neighbor's body and dumping it in Galveston Bay. Durst lives in the Fourth Ward, but most of his neighbors didn't recognize him. However, his appearance was certainly a talking point among the politicians, police and reporters who saw him.
Oh dear. Fourth Ward residents concerned about crime would be well-advised to memorize his face and curb their neighborliness.
UPDATE: Shame on me for not thinking of visiting Miya Shay's Political Blog. She has more on Durst, including a picture of him at the meeting.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/01/06 12:30 PM |
28 November 2006
Pat Gray is podcasting
For those of you who are missing former KPRC-950 talker Pat Gray following his abrupt departure from the station, there is good news: He's now offering a podcast at PatGray.com.
Judging from his commenters, it seems to be a hit.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/28/06 08:45 AM |
22 November 2006
Thanks for thinking of us!
Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal visited with Isiah Carey recently and mentioned this little blog:
Even though he didn't indicate he reads the Insite - Chuck Rosenthal - The Harris County District attorney came pretty close. When I went to interview him this week he had a question for The Insite. He asked me if I've ever read a website called Bloghouston.net...I said yes. Rosenthal replied by saying The Insite is quite often mentioned on their site. So I'm sure at some point Mr. Rosenthal clicked the link my fellow bloggers Kevin and Anne have included. [...]
We are fans of the no-nonsense, law-and-order DA, and not just because he's a Chron "bad guy," although it is a bonus that he isn't swayed by those who aim to teach Houstonians how to be proper liberals. ;-)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/22/06 05:53 AM |
21 November 2006
Doctor-Congresswoman goes to Washington (cont'd)
Doctor-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' (mis)adventures in Washington have inspired some biting commentary from Austin American-Statesman humorist John Kelso. Here's a snippet:
About 24 hours after she took over Tom DeLay's office, seven staff members walked out and quit.
Now that's what I call a mean case of halitosis. Time to dive for the Listerine jug, lady.
Actually, it wasn't her breath. The staff members left because they reportedly didn't like the way Sekula-Gibbs was treating them. Did I mention she's a dermatologist? That's not surprising, considering how fast she got under these people's skin.
Ouch. There's more.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/06 10:50 AM |
18 November 2006
Doctor-Congresswoman goes to Washington (cont'd)
Doctor-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' great comic (mis)adventure in Washington shows no signs of letting up!
And for Sekula-Gibbs, it's just one week down, seven to go.
"I'm a very small part of a very big team," she said. "I don't want to overstate that."
I think she meant "understate."
Certainly, her seatwarming in D.C. for a few weeks has been anything but understated!
It's bad enough when your abrasive manner leads professional staffers to flee. It's worse when you make reckless accusations about those professional staffers. It's worse still when you persist, generating headlines like this one:
Nope, not understated. At all. But definitely comical.
Interestingly, Isiah Carey has posted that Mayor White is already moving to erase Doctor-Congresswoman from the city payroll. That didn't take long!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/18/06 12:13 PM |
17 November 2006
Doctor-Congresswoman goes to Washington (cont'd)
During her short tenure in Washington, D.C., Doctor-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs continues to spread the charm that made her such a hit among some former colleagues on City Council.
Meanwhile, a grown-up political reporter (the Washington Post's Charles Babington) dug up what seems like a pretty benign explanation for the "mysterious" computer activity:
Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R-Tex.), who is warming the 22nd District seat for only a few weeks, said that former DeLay employees apparently deleted the office's computer files shortly before they walked out, en masse, on Tuesday.
The records dated from her assumption of the office Nov. 8 and did not involve matters related to the former majority leader, Sekula-Gibbs said in an interview in her unadorned office in the Cannon Building. Those who erased the records, she said in a statement, "have harmed the 22nd congressional district" and "brought shame to this office." She has asked for an investigation.
David James, DeLay's former chief of staff, who stayed to work for Sekula-Gibbs -- until Tuesday's walkout -- said last night that the office computers "were scrubbed and reconfigured by an outside vendor in the days immediately prior to her assuming office," as House policies require. The new congresswoman was given a copy of everything "electronically or in hard copy, or both," James said in a statement.
Whoops! Maybe the Doctor-Congresswoman and her former city council staff were too busy flying off the handle as if still in campaign mode to familiarize themselves with House policies. Of course, as Doctor-Congresswoman has been known to say, we're not (medical) doctors, so maybe we just don't understand.
In the KRIV-26 interview taped segment, Doctor-Councilwoman also complains about all the work that has gone undone while the office has been unfilled. While it is unfortunate that the Congressional seat has been unfilled for so long, it is worth noting that the professional staff had continued to be fully engaged in constituent service work -- at least up until something about the Doctor-Congresswoman led them to resign en masse.
In other news related to the Congressional district, the Chronicle's Kristen Mack reports today that popular Harris County Tax Collector/Assessor Paul Bettencourt has all but formally announced his intention to run for the seat in 2008:
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collecter Paul Bettencourt said he is seriously considering taking Lampson on in 2008.
Problem is, he would have to resign his county seat as soon as he announced for Congress. He has two years left in his term.
He says he's willing to do that because of the "magnitude of the (Republican) turnover" in Congress.
Bettencourt will be extremely popular among primary voters (and doesn't have the Doctor-Congresswoman's baggage of being a flip-flopper on the key issues of abortion and Houston's sanctuary policy), and a formidable general-election candidate. Jared Woodfill is surely right to call him the frontrunner for the seat in 2008.
BLOGVERSATION: Texas Safety Forum.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/17/06 08:23 AM |
15 November 2006
Doctor-Congresswoman scares off D.C. staffers
Roll Call is reporting (subscriber-only) that Doctor-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs has already managed to rub some people the wrong way early in what will be a short tenure in Congress:
The woman who was sworn in this week as the interim Republican successor to ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was, shall we say, not a hit with holdover DeLay aides.
In fact, they showed their feelings about their new boss Tuesday by walking out of the office en masse and resigning, effective immediately.[snip]
She showed up to take over DeLay's old office on Thursday and, according to sources familiar the office dynamics, was "mean" to the staff. On Tuesday, at her new Member's open-house reception in the office, sources charged that she was less than pleased that neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney showed up with the rest of the welcome wagon, despite the fact that others who stopped by included Texas GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and Texas GOP Reps. Kevin Brady and Michael Burgess. (Apparently, according to sources, she was under the impression that the president of the United States would be there to greet the seven-week Congresswoman.)
We hope Doctor-Congresswoman enjoys her short stay in Congress. One suspects that some former colleagues on City Council are not going to miss her much, and it doesn't sound as though professional staffers or anyone else in D.C. will either.
UPDATE: Of course, the useless Chronicle D.C. bureau reports nothing of this development in its coverage of the Doctor-Congresswoman.
BLOGVERSATION: Texas Safety Forum, Polimom.
RELATED: The Raw Story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/15/06 11:05 AM |
14 November 2006
Saves you money!
Last week, the Chronicle's Loren Steffy wrote a nice column on the success of Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale.
Locally, we're so familiar with Mack that we don't always think about how he's built his successful business. As Steffy put it,
Little, though, has been written recently about what's become one of the top 100 furniture businesses in the country as ranked by Furniture Today, an industry publication.Perhaps it's because McIngvale is already an icon of Houston business. He and his story are so well-known that I almost hesitate to write about him for fear of stating the obvious. But his story is worth telling, or perhaps retelling, because it's one of those rare tales in which a small business on a shoestring budget burgeoned into a large and successful enterprise.
Steffy goes on to describe the successful marketer (that we know well) and the successful businessman (that we don't know so well). It's a good read.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/06 07:32 AM |
08 November 2006
Doctor-Congresswoman-elect-for-a-few-weeks plans tax cuts!
Doctor-Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who won the special election to serve out the last weeks of Tom DeLay's term but mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign for the full term, told the Chronicle's Alexis Grant today that she will be resigning her Council seat and assuming the Texas CD-22 seat in Washington as soon as the results are certified:
As she prepares to head for Washington, D.C., for a two-month stint in Congress, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs said this morning that she plans to resign her Houston City Council seat as soon as Tuesday's special election is certified."I made a commitment to the voters of District 22," she said at the start of today's regular council meeting. "It would be really wrong of me to say I don't want that vote and that responsibility."
[snip]
"It is a short job and people know that," Sekula-Gibbs said of her upcoming job.
She added that she still believes she can accomplish some improvements such as lowering taxes during that time.
Huh?
Basically, she's going to have time to let in the movers to take measurements in her office, so the new majority can move in. Maybe she'll use her franking privileges at least one time, to send out Christmas holiday cards to the district.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/08/06 01:02 PM |
29 October 2006
How does one get a $95 tax bill?
A veritable who's who of Harris County and Houston good ol' boys got together to roast and toast retiring state Sen. Jon Lindsay, and Matt Bramanti highlighted it as only Matt can.
LST wishes him well on his retirement. Hopefully he’s got enough cash stashed away to pay the $95 tax bill on his 13-acre tree farm.
Goodbye, Sen. Lindsay.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/29/06 08:40 AM |
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