04 December 2007
Channel 2 got it wrong
Now, watch the video that accompanies it. Bill Balleza says that because the 14-year-old is charged with capital murder he could get the death penalty. Later into the video, reporter Daniella Guzman quotes assistant District Attorney Kelli Johnson as saying he could get the death penalty or life in prison. One small problem with this assertion is that they are dead wrong. State law says:
§ 8.07. AGE AFFECTING CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a) A
person may not be prosecuted for or convicted of any offense that
the person committed when younger than 15 years of age except:
(1) perjury and aggravated perjury when it appears by
proof that the person had sufficient discretion to understand the
nature and obligation of an oath;
(2) a violation of a penal statute cognizable under
Chapter 729, Transportation Code, except for conduct for which the
person convicted may be sentenced to imprisonment or confinement in
jail;
(3) a violation of a motor vehicle traffic ordinance
of an incorporated city or town in this state;
(4) a misdemeanor punishable by fine only other than
public intoxication;
(5) a violation of a penal ordinance of a political
subdivision;
(6) a violation of a penal statute that is, or is a
lesser included offense of, a capital felony, an aggravated
controlled substance felony, or a felony of the first degree for
which the person is transferred to the court under Section 54.02,
Family Code, for prosecution if the person committed the offense
when 14 years of age or older; or
(7) a capital felony or an offense under Section 19.02
for which the person is transferred to the court under Section
54.02(j)(2)(A), Family Code.
(b) Unless the juvenile court waives jurisdiction under
Section 54.02, Family Code, and certifies the individual for
criminal prosecution or the juvenile court has previously waived
jurisdiction under that section and certified the individual for
criminal prosecution, a person may not be prosecuted for or
convicted of any offense committed before reaching 17 years of age
except an offense described by Subsections (a)(1)-(5).
(c) No person may, in any case, be punished by death for an
offense committed while the person was younger than 18 years.
I'm just curious. Who said a 14-year old can get the death penalty? Was it ADA Johnson? If so, then it looks bad on her. If the news reporters said it (misquoting the ADA), then we just shake our heads and hope the public realizes the truth.
Posted by Jason @ 12/04/07 10:27 AM |
Private firms try to push construction of Grand Parkway
Without a lot of fanfare, something popped up on the latest Commissioners Court agenda:
Recommendation that an unsolicited proposal by Grand Parkway Constructors be subjected to review and fact-finding negotiations by county staff and consultants for a public-private partnership for a project delivery system for the Grand Parkway for the county's Toll Road Authority.
"Unsolicited." Nice.
Today the Chron's Bill Murphy has more information:
A joint venture led by a road construction company and an engineering firm has asked Harris County to enter into a public-private partnership to build and operate the 197-mile Grand Parkway as a toll road.
Commissioners Court will consider today whether it wants to study the unsolicited offer to undertake the $5.3 billion project to build an outermost ring skirting the metropolitan area.
"It's intriguing because we have not seen details of the proposal," said Art Storey, director of the county's public infrastructure department.
"It appears that it would allow us to retain some control of the project, (rely on) the local construction community and get financing for the project guaranteed."
If the court decides to go ahead with a partnership between the county and Grand Parkway Constructors, the joint venture would need approval from the Texas Department of Transportation.
Grand Parkway Constructors' principals are Williams Brothers Construction and Dannenbaum Engineering.
Executives at both companies did not return calls Monday.
Storey said the joint venture proposal envisions the Harris County Toll Road Authority serving as the project's managing partner.
Under a partnership, the county and the joint venture could agree to have the toll road authority operate the Grand Parkway and retain some of the revenue, Storey said.
The idea of a Grand Parkway encircling the metropolitan area outside Highway 6 has been around for decades. Critics long have contended that it is a highway sought by road builders and developers who intend to build subdivisions and strip malls in the still undeveloped areas.
Regardless of one's stance in that debate, the Legislature and TxDOT have decided the Grand Parkway will be built.
Delvin Dennis, TxDOT's deputy district engineer in the Houston area, said some areas where the highway would be built are rural now, but will not be in 10 to 20 years.
Critics contend it's being pushed by developers, because...it's being pushed by developers! Billy Burge is the president of the Grand Parkway Association, and former state Sen. Jon Lindsay held meetings with developers in an effort to further the project. Goodness knows what he's been up to these days, since he now has some free time on his hands.
As for the assertion that some areas are rural now, but won't be in a decade or two, Mr. Dennis should come and visit the Spring area where the F-2 segment has been mapped out. It's already a whole lot less rural than it was even a couple of years ago, and running a big highway through it will be devastating.
Judge Emmett has already said that completion of the Grand Parkway must occur, but I can't recall seeing where the other candidates for county judge stand on the issue.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/04/07 05:08 AM |
03 December 2007
Copper thieves shut down downtown library
The downtown library, which seemingly has been under renovation forever, is shut down today.
The shutdown wasn't planned. Rather, as the Chronicle's David Ellison reports, the library was forced to shut down today because of another brazen instance of copper theft:
The Julia Ideson Building, which houses reference and circulation services for the downtown Central Library while it's under renovation, is closed today while workers repair damage from a copper wiring theft at the library.
Houston Public Library spokeswoman Sandra Fernandez said the wiring was cut about 10:15 p.m. Sunday from the electrical system of the downtown Central Library. Because the electrical box is next to the Ideson Building, workers had to cut its power to perform the repairs, she said.
"Well, without any light, we cannot operate," Fernandez said. "We had to send everyone home, or tell them to stay home, as the case may be."
The Ideson Building, the oldest in the library system, is the permanent residence for the Houston Metropolitan Research Center that includes archival, Texas and local history, and special collections departments.
The Houston Police Department is investigating the theft.
Houston seemingly had already ceded downtown to vagrants. Apparently, copper thieves feel right at home too -- on city property no less!
UPDATE: KHOU-11's Leigh Frillici, who has been doing some excellent reporting on the copper theft problem, has more detail on this theft and others on city property:
Someone took the copper wiring from the back-up generator at the Central Library overnight.
That cut power there and at the Ideson building next door.
Both were closed Monday.
“Customers, you and I, citizens, lost a day not using the facilities,” said Issa Dadoush. He’s with Houston Greater Services.
And it was revealed that the city lost even more.
In the past two years copper thieves have hit five city buildings.
Sunnyside Health Center, the Dixon and Smith Libraries, the Kashmere Multi-Service Center and now the generator at the Central Library.
The grand total in repairs stands at $150,000.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/03/07 04:34 PM |
Quanell finds himself unwelcome
I think it was around last Friday when Quanell X, Houston's own "community activist" was boasting in front of the cameras about his planned protest for Sunday in Joe Horn's neighborhood. Remember, Joe Horn is the Pasadena man who shot two burglars at his neighbor's home. At his conference, Quanell dared Mr. Horn to come out with his shotgun and meet him and his crew. Instead, Quanell arrives with his crew to meet an angry crowd. They walk through the crowd getting taunted, and throwing taunts back.
It appears that Quanell was shocked that he wasn't welcomed with open arms. In one video, you see a big biker confronting Quanell (something he likes to do) to be whisked away by his guards. Check out the videos. It makes for good watching.
Posted by Jason @ 12/03/07 11:06 AM |
Rail down busy streets hurts mobility? Who knew?!
In today's Move It column, the Chronicle's Rad Sallee addresses reader complaints about the progressive synchronization of downtown traffic signals.
One problem with synchronizing the east-west signals is, of course, METRO's transit backbone:
MetroRail on Main, which can override traffic signals, giving motorists a red light when the trains pass, makes it harder to time the crosstown lights.
After the train preempts a signal and passes by, "it typically takes about three cycles for the signal to get back in sync with the rest of the system," Weatherford said.
Public Works wants to reduce this to one cycle, but it isn't working as planned. "We will need to work with Metro to work out the bugs," he said.
Laying rail down/across busy streets hurts vehicular mobility.
I know what -- METRO should build even more rail down busy streets!
Genius.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/03/07 08:13 AM |
02 December 2007
A joint press release effort between the Chron and Metro
How has the line blurred between the Chronicle's Metro reporting, and Metro's blog postings?
So much so that this Rad Sallee story on the new stores Metro has opened to "ease the pain" of light rail construction has been crossposted at Metro's Sit and Spin blog.
Well, practically.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/02/07 03:13 PM |
Progressive Bag Alliance supports Mayor White
The name might sound like a parody, but the Progressive Bag Alliance has a mission -- to save plastic grocery bags, and Mayor White is in its camp:
Some cities, including Austin, that once considered plastic bag bans, like one approved by San Francisco this spring, have begun leaning toward a different option, heavily favored by plastic bag makers: recycling.
Houston Mayor Bill White also recently expressed support for recycling plastic bags over a ban, although the city is not actively weighing specific initiatives for either approach.
One can only hope there are more pressing issues for the city to tackle right now.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/02/07 08:59 AM |
01 December 2007
If you see a copper thief, be sure to call HPD
Houston's copper bandits have been in the news again lately.
This bit of advice to citizens from an HPD captain (via KHOU-11's Jeff McShan) following the latest brazen copper heist caught our eye today:
“Usually we see people with drug addictions, and often times they are homeless, so they are people that are very difficult to track down,” [HPD Captain Cesar] Moore said.
But he said you can help. If you see someone walking down the street [carrying] wire or copper, call HPD so they can check it out
Right! We bet there will be a rapid response to that sort of non-emergency call involving people who are "very difficult to track down."
If that doesn't pan out, maybe Council can pass another ordinance. Or Chief Hurtt can come up with an acronym!
UPDATE: Even better, let's put Borris Miles in charge of a copper-theft task force!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/01/07 02:49 PM |
Cragg Hines returns
Retired Chron politics columnist Cragg Hines returned to the newspaper last weekend... in the travel section.
Hines had a nice write-up on the rebirth of New Orleans, replete with a list of his favorite spots for food and drink.
We weren't the biggest fans of Hines the political writer, especially in his last few years, but he is an avid traveler and an interesting travel writer. We wouldn't mind seeing more of his writing in the Chron travel section (especially since there isn't much compelling travel writing coming from Chronsters these days).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/01/07 02:13 PM |
Interview with new GHCVB leader
Last week the Houston Business Journal posted an interview with the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau's new president, Greg Ortale.
It sounds as if he's quite the polar opposite of Jordy Tollett.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/01/07 10:09 AM |
30 November 2007
Did someone at the Chronicle get the Editorial mixed up with the Metropolitan section?
I was surprised to read Rick Casey's "Have pity on the poor DA" article this morning. Is it me, or does this belong on the editorial page? Why is this listed (on the website) under the metropolitan news pages? This is another example of someone's opinion (regardless if you agree with it or not) showing up as news. I would also like to point to another statement that got my attention:
The unfairness is made more serious by the growing competitiveness of the Democratic Party in Harris County. Three years ago, Democrat Reginald McKamie, a little-known personal injury lawyer with little criminal law experience and less campaign cash, won 45 percent of the vote. Next year, Rosenthal is likely to face former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford, who already has better name recognition and is likely to be much better funded than McKamie was.
Well, perhaps another reason is some people aren't too thrilled with the DA's office performance as of late (let us not forget that his office did get an indictment against Bradford for perjury that was later dismissed). However, the assertion is that DA Rosenthal is going to face a tougher re-election battle than he did the last time. That shouldn't matter. The DA has a job to do and he/she should do it regardless of political affiliations. This next race should be interesting to watch.
Posted by Jason @ 11/30/07 11:16 AM |
29 November 2007
When you lose Mrs. White...
Yesterday, Mrs. White surprised us with criticism of HPD's murder reporting (as first reported by KHOU-11's Mark Greenblatt).
As Greenblatt now reports, Mayor White has taken the lead after Chief Hurtt's poor handling of the situation:
And now, the Mayor's on the defensive.
“There's not been an intentional effort to hide data,” said White.
Intentional or not, the mayor is admitting to potential problems in at least six homicides the 11 News Defenders uncovered.
“Based off some of the issues you've raised… I think there's going be a lot more discipline in the way the reports are handled,” said White.
And in a major about face, the city’s finally admitting to problems in HPD’s investigation of Stephen McCoy's death that after being shot in the chest three times and then in the back of the head, police labeled a suicide even though the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
But now?
11 News: The investigation's now back open?
“Yes,” said White. “My take is: It was a murder and then it was ruled a suicide. And I'm asking (HPD) to take a new look at this case.”
That's quite a rebuke from the Mayor for his bungling police chief, considering that Chief Hurtt refused to take questions on the matter before Thanksgiving (in fairness, he might have had a plane to Phoenix to catch); and after Thanksgiving HPD merely took to repeating talking points that called Greenblatt's reporting "inaccurate and misleading." So much for Chief Hurtt's ghostblogger's effort to smear an award-winning reporter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/29/07 10:35 PM |
City hopes to buy 15,000 foil bags, solve sewer clogging (really!)
KHOU-11's Lee McGuire reports on the problem of grease clogging the city's sewer lines, and one of the more bizarre proposals to find its way to Council in a while:
So to stop the problem at the source, the City of Houston wants to buy 15,000 foil bags. They are boxes, with two foil-lined fat-trapper bags inside. These would be used in your kitchen, instead of pouring the fat down the drain. The problem is, before this happens, the City Council has to approve it.
“Buying fat trapper bags when anyone could use an old tomato can or a piece of alumninum foil is to me a silly use of taxpayer dollars,” Anne Clutterbuck from the Houston City Council said.
It would cost $63,000 to hand the bags to only 15,000 people in a city of 2.1 million.
Some question whether this would really make a difference.
Clutterbuck is right.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/29/07 10:05 PM |
28 November 2007
Dolcefino looks into Eversole campaign spending
KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino continues his reporting on County Commissioner Jerry Eversole's questionable ethics.
In his latest report, Dolcefino looks into "charitable" contributions from Eversole's campaign fund, contributions that allegedly resulted in personal gain for Eversole (an ethical and legal no-no).
The full report is posted here.
UPDATE (11-29-2007): The Chronicle's Bill Murphy reports that the Harris County DA is looking into Eversole's campaign finances:
The Harris County District Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into whether Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole misused thousands of dollars in campaign contributions for his own benefit, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Wednesday.
The inquiry will focus, in part, on collector-quality guns and a Florida vacation Eversole bought at charity auctions.
The probe was prompted by stories about Eversole's work habits and campaign spending aired by KTRK (Channel 13) in recent weeks. A story by KTRK reporter Wayne Dolcefino questioned whether Eversole benefited from auction items purchased with campaign contributions.
Eversole defended the charity purchases during an interview with the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday, although he has refused to discuss the accusations with Dolcefino.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/28/07 11:18 PM |
HPD officers sue over grooming policy
One of Chief Hurtt's big priorities upon arriving in Houston -- a policy banning facial hair on officers -- has resulted in a lawsuit against HPD and the city, according to the Chronicle's Cindy George:
Four Houston police officers placed on plain-clothes duty for wearing facial hair have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming discrimination for a skin condition that primarily affects black men.
Sgts. Shelby Stewart and Kenneth Perkins said they wear goatees because they suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, a dermatological condition common among men of African descent. Shaving can cause severe irritation, rashes and ingrown hairs. Stewart and Perkins, who are not allowed to work in uniform and have been reassigned, estimated that more than 100 HPD officers have the condition.
The lawsuit, which was also filed Tuesday by officers Adrian White and Raul Collins, claims the Houston Police Department is enforcing only the part of its appearance and grooming standards that disproportionately afflicts black officers. The City of Houston also is named as a defendant.
HPD lawyer Craig Ferrell said the department adopted the standards because officers with facial hair cannot properly seal gas masks in the event of bioterrorism attacks. He said the policy was not discriminatory, but will be changed.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt will modify the rules to "accommodate as best we can" officers with skin conditions by identifying uniformed positions that can be performed with facial hair, Ferrell said.
Officers in those positions who cannot shave would be able to use an "escape masks" that can be worn over a beard.
In 2005, HPD revised its grooming policy to prohibit beards and goatees.
Given all the serious problems in the City of Houston, we never quite understood why facial hair was such a priority for Chief Hurtt. That said, we're not entirely convinced of the merits of this lawsuit. What do you think?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/28/07 11:10 PM |
Miami-Dade's surveillance drones won't write traffic tickets?
Along with HPD, Miami-Dade is the other police department that will be testing unmanned surveillance drones as part of an FAA program. This story on the Florida city's upcoming experimental program is notable in that the spokesman fails to mention the UAV's would be used for issuing traffic tickets:
The unmanned aircraft will be used during SWAT team and tactical operations, especially when officers need video of a heavily armed suspect.
Shoot, Miami-Dade isn't thinking outside the box.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/28/07 10:14 AM |
Additional red light cameras help the city's coffers!
Those last twenty red light cameras the city hurriedly installed (to beat a state deadline) have provided Houston quite a tidy little stash of cash, according to the Chron's Matt Stiles. Stiles notes that the past several months had seen a downward trend in the number of tickets issued, but with the new cameras, revenues jumped quite nicely.
However, Chief Martha Montalvo assures us that sneaking those twenty cameras in had absolutely nothing to do with revenue. Oh no, no, no, no:
Police officials dismiss any suggestion that the cameras were installed to replace money being lost because of the new state law.
Montalvo said the department added the extra cameras because certain intersections still were seeing a lot of violations, even with the intense media publicity about the program.
"I never ever thought about those things," Montalvo said. "The whole purpose of the other approaches was to make people aware that their safety is important."
She never, EVER thought about the revenue!
Right.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/28/07 05:13 AM |
27 November 2007
Any particular mall in north Houston?
Chron.com has a breaking news story posted which is a bit light on some necessary info:
Houston police were responding to reports of shots being fired at a mall in north Houston.
Police were checking out a report today that shots were fired inside the mall after a burglary was called in to authorities. A portion of the mall has been closed off.
A SWAT team was on the scene. There's no immediate word on injuries.
How did the SWAT team know which mall to converge upon?
If the Froot Loops bureau had been open, Chron.com would have known what KHOU-11, KTRK-13, and KPRC-2 were able to report: The mall in question is Greenspoint.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/27/07 11:42 AM |
Kotkin: The rise of family-friendly cities
The always provocative Joel Kotkin has an interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal. Here's an excerpt:
For much of the past decade, business recruiters, cities and urban developers have focused on the "young and restless," the "creative class," and the so-called "yuspie" -- the young urban single professional. Cities, they've said, should capture this so-called "dream demographic" if they wish to inhabit the top tiers of the economic food chain and enjoy the fastest and most sustained growth.
This focus -- epitomized by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's risible "Cool Cities" initiative -- is less successful than advertised. Cincinnati, Baltimore, Cleveland, Newark, Detroit and Memphis have danced to the tune of the hip and the cool, yet largely remain wallflowers in terms of economic and demographic growth. Instead, an analysis of migration data by my colleagues at the Praxis Strategy Group shows that the strongest job growth has consistently taken place in those regions -- such as Houston, Dallas, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham -- with the largest net in-migration of young, educated families ranging from their mid-20s to mid-40s.
Urban centers that have been traditional favorites for young singles, such as Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, have experienced below-average job and population growth since 2000. San Francisco and Chicago lost population during that period; even immigrant-rich New York City and Los Angeles County have shown barely negligible population growth in the last two years, largely due to a major out-migration of middle class families.
Married people with children tend to be both successful and motivated, precisely the people who make economies go. They are twice as likely to be in the top 20% of income earners, according to the Census, and their incomes have been rising considerably faster than the national average.
Indeed, if you talk with recruiters and developers in the nation's fastest growing regions, you find that the critical ability to lure skilled workers, long term, lies not with bright lights and nightclubs, but with ample economic opportunities, affordable housing and family friendly communities not too distant from work.
As Houston-area leaders continue to pursue the latest, greatest amenities (like a park and shopping center in a part of town ceded to vagrants, or trolley-like "trains" that run down busy streets) that will allegedly make the city seem world-class to the young and hip, it's probably worth keeping in mind Kotkin's notion that Houston might just be doing some things right already (and what those things are).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/27/07 10:04 AM |
26 November 2007
Meyer: METRO's $3 billion limousine
Clear Thinker Tom Kirkendall has previously noted "the sheer lack of any perspective from the local mainstream media regarding the dubious nature of Metro's urban economics" and the "vacuity of media coverage of METRO."
For whatever reason, the Chronicle is particularly weak (and getting weaker) in terms of analyzing METRO and regional mobility policy in any critical, economic sense.
Fortunately, where the local media have dropped the ball, blogger Neal Meyer has stepped in with a lengthy post analyzing METRO spending, bus routes, revenues, and alternative mobility solutions. It's a fascinating post that mixes historical Houston transit data, economic analysis, and a good working knowledge of transit systems. There aren't pretty graphs (or simplistic cheerleading masquerading as analysis by an impartial transportation think tank), and the writing is a bit dense at times, so the approach may not interest the Chronicle. But for folks interested in a grown-up, cost/benefit-oriented discussion of local transit policy, it's a very interesting read (the first of several, we hope).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/07 11:01 PM |
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