08 February 2007
Hide the kids if you see the "Mystery Machine" in Houston
KTRK-13 ran this disturbing report recently:
Authorities were able to keep a close eye on a registered sex offender because of his attention-grabbing vehicle he drove around.
Police in Waller County say they could always keep track of Ricky Stroble's whereabouts because of his unusual van. It's a custom painted to look like the van from the Scooby-Doo cartoons. It even says "Mystery Machine" on the side.
Stroble was arrested last month of possession of child pornography charges. Stroble is now behind bars accused of videotaping a young relative in the shower. Investigators say they also found child porn on his computer.
The van is not part of that investigation.
The last line of the report is an amusing, extraneous bit of information.
Anyway, if you see a Mystery Machine van cruising near schools or parks in Houston, it's probably a good idea to hide the kids.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/08/07 08:45 PM |
Lone Star Pundit on the latest Chron Eye
Lone Star Pundit noticed a new Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy.
His post is here.
Nice catch, Kyle. Mr. Kathryn Kase must have thought he could sneak that one by in between rounds of golf!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/08/07 06:30 PM |
07 February 2007
Sorry for the slow posting...
(Note: It makes sense to move this to the top. We hope to get posting back to normal soon! Thanks!)
Some of the blogHOUSTON contributors are under the weather.
If you are looking for something fun and diversionary (I hope that's a word), help our buddy Laurence Simon in the Pickle Tales Final Round:
[H]ere's what you need to do:
1. Listen (If you don't want to slog through all the lead-in garbage, Phil's story begins at 36:00 into the show.)
2. Register
3. Vote
4. Spread the wordThere will be three promos appearing on the 100 Word Stories Podcast feed in the next three days for your amusement.
Hopefully we'll get ourselves back to regular posting soon. Thanks for your patience with us.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/07/07 11:46 PM |
05 February 2007
City of Houston Agenda 2-6-07
Readers might remember that for a few months, I summarized the City of Houston agendas, first on Houblog, and later, here on blogHOUSTON. However, work commitments and the fact that it took me upwards of six hours to craft those posts led to my abandoning the effort. It's past time I picked the task back up, though I'm not going to go so overboard this time. I will no longer attempt to post explanations or comments about each and every item on the agenda; instead I will select the items I think are most noteworthy and bring them to readers' attention each week. This will make the articles much shorter and easier to get through as well, perhaps inviting more comment.
The drawback is that the original style allowed the reader to decide what was important; now it's up to my judgment. I invite readers to bring any overlooked agenda item to my attention in the comments if they believe it is important; I'll endeavor to update the article prior to the meeting if I have any input to add.
Once again, readers are cautioned that I delete what I judge to be extraneous text, and often paraphrase in order to make the legalese a lot more readable. Such deletions may accidentally result in a key omission; if you wish to read the original text, please follow ths link to the currently posted agenda. Note that I use the full "backup"; the agenda with the actual Requests for Council Action appended. These are often quite illuminating, but are not available online to the public prior to council meetings.
It's a long agenda this week, and I've cherry-picked some really good items for you. Head below the fold and check it out.
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 02/05/07 09:53 PM |
Reader participation time: What happens if Eckels steps down?
In a weekend editorial about the possible early departure of Judge Robert Eckels, the Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists made a couple of statements about upcoming elections that raised questions.
Here's the first assertion:
If he does quit, Eckels will be following in the footsteps of Houston at-large Councilwoman Shelley Sekula Gibbs, who bailed out midway through her two-year term to become an instant lame duck in Congress in December. Sekula Gibbs finished out the term of former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, who also had resigned his position. Sekula Gibb's maneuver will cost Houston taxpayers several million dollars. State law mandates that she be replaced in an expensive special election that will take place next month.
The Chronicle previously reported that the special election to which the Editorial LiveJournalists refer has been scheduled for May.
Here's the second assertion:
The idea that voters will not be able to vote on a replacement for nearly four years is repugnant. At minimum, Eckels and fellow commissioners should choose an interim who will pledge not to stand for election, so no candidate will have the advantage of incumbency in 2010.
While we obviously have some sympathy for the idea that the best time to decide to take an offer from the private sector would have been before the last election, is it a decided matter that an interim appointment will serve until 2010?
Kristen Mack's reporting for the Chronicle is unclear:
Someone appointed to the job would have the advantage of incumbency in running next year to complete Eckels' term or in 2010 for a full term.
Reader participation time -- A replacement would serve until an election to fill Eckels' term (if he resigns early), correct? Or would an appointee be granted the full term (nearly four years, as the Editorial LiveJournalists assert)?
UPDATE (02-13-2007): The Chronicle posted a correction today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/05/07 09:23 PM |
The City of Houston thanks you for your (ticket payment) support
A majority of red light runners ARE paying their tickets:
Nearly two-thirds of drivers cited for running red lights during the first three months of the city's camera-monitoring program have paid the $75 fine, according to new Houston Police Department data.
The figure is higher — and police say more precise — than previous reports because it includes more payments delayed until near or after a 45-day deadline.
"It's a more accurate reflection," said Sgt. Michael Muench, who oversees the program.
What's funny about the story is that when the Chronicle previously reported payment rates, it had to do so through an open-records request. Apparently the Chron's last story lit a fire under MayorWhiteChiefHurtt and HPD released the updated figures all on their own:
Previous data, obtained by the Houston Chronicle through an open-records request, showed about a quarter of violators paid through the end of December. Police predicted then that the final percentage would be higher.
The Houston Police Department released the new data, which adds payments made in January, after a Chronicle story reported the less favorable statistics.
More than 70 percent of violators caught on tape in September and October, the first two months of the program, had paid the fine by the end of January, according to HPD.
And how much money has the city earned?
Statistics for September and October, which police consider the most complete because those violators have had the longest time to pay, show almost 2,000 violators paid the $75 ticket. That brought nearly $150,000 to the city.
The city paid about $90,000 of that to American Traffic Solutions Inc., which operates the system, police spokesman John Cannon said.
Jim Tuton, that company's CEO, has said he expected the collection rate to be as high as 90 percent, based on collections in other cities.
And dismissals?
About 40 percent of contested tickets were dismissed. The reasons varied, Muench said, but included instances in which partly obscured license plates were photographed and the citation was mailed to the wrong vehicle owner.
There's another statistic I'd like to see: How many of the tickets issued were for people who entered the intersection in the first second after the light turned red? Studies show that about 80% of red light runners do so in the first second. That tells us that adding a second or two of yellow would seriously decrease red light running, as other studies have proved. And historically, cities have decreased yellow light times, creating yellow light dilemma zones where motorists have a split second to decide whether or not to stop.
But Mayor White doesn't want yellow light times increased, because he says that would reduce mobility. But if the primary concern is safety (as he keeps saying), then safety should trump mobility.
RELATED: Grits for Breakfast red light camera archives (Scott Henson)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/05/07 05:50 AM |
04 February 2007
If it's unstoppable, why bother trying to stop it?
The History Channel ran a show this morning on LBJ's secret tapes in which journalist David Brinkley tells Jack Valenti that no one reads the New York Times editorials, not even the New York Times' editorial writers!
Well, as you know, Kevin and I do often read the Houston Chronicle's editorials, gluttons for punishment that we are, and the one the other day on the UN report on global warming (we're all DOOMED!) was great fun. There was nary a dissenting thought to be found. Why, global warming "science" is settled (it's all man's fault) and we had just better deal with it, according to the echo chamber that is the Chron's editorial board. They even cite as evidence the correlation between rising sea temperatures and severe hurricanes, à la 2005, although they conveniently fail to mention 2006's hurricane season.
Never mind that there are serious problems with the "settled science" that says global warming is caused by man. Our planet has had a history of climate changes, including the warming period that occurred between 900 and 1200 AD, and the subsequent cooling period that lasted until the mid-1800s. It would seem that yes, we are in a warming period, because we just finished a cooling period! Did man cause the earlier warming period?
Anyway, since we are all doomed and "man-made" global warming is unstoppable, why should we kill our economy trying to fix it? And can Mexicans now have their corn back for tortillas?
RELATED READING: Environmentalism as Religion, Michael Crichton
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/04/07 09:01 AM |
03 February 2007
Former HPD Chief Bradford to run for Harris County Sheriff?
We hope he does. Aside from the Bromwich reports (which have gone largely unread by the broader Houston-area population), there has been little public discussion of the role that the dynamic duo of Lee Brown and Clarence Bradford played in the scandalous mismanagement of HPD's crime lab over the years.
A campaign for Harris County Sheriff ought to provide plenty of opportunities for Bradford to enlighten the public on his role in the matter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/03/07 02:57 PM |
METRO restores Cuney Homes bus service after outcry
The outcry over METRO's latest round of "service adjustments" has led to an unusual outcome: a rare reversal of a decision. Here's an excerpt of KHOU-11's report from Friday:
Protests and complaints have paid off for some disgruntled metro riders in Southeast Houston.
Next week, the #68 Brays Bayou bus route will return to the Cuney Homes.
It was removed along with other routes in an effort to streamline service last month.
When that occurred 81-year-old Mary Thomas joined others in insisting the loss would force her to walk several city blocks.
Since then, Metro has held two meetings with Cuney Homes residents, and has decided to return the #68 to their community.
Kudos to METRO for reconsidering the decision and responding to the people it is supposed to serve. We'd like to see more behavior like that from the transit organization.
PREVIOUSLY: METRO fails Cuney Homes residents.
BLOGVERSATION: Sit and Spin, TBIFOC, MIFOC.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/03/07 02:29 PM |
02 February 2007
KTRK interviews TSU interim president
Earlier this week, KTRK-13's Melanie Lawson scored an interview with interim Texas Southern University president Timothy Boddie, a former Air Force brigadier general.
The text and video are available here.
When questioned in Austin previously, the general had snapped at KTRK reporter Miya Shay that she would need to follow the proper protocol for an interview. Maybe Melanie Lawson knew the secret Air Force handshake?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/07 10:31 PM |
Crime statistics continue to confuse Chron reporters, editors
The Chronicle's Mike Glenn reports somewhat positive news on Houston's murder rate for January 1-30 in 2007 (24) compared to January 2006 (30). We're not quite sure why January of this year was cut short by one day, but we're even less sure about this characterization:
The city recorded six fewer homicides in January than during the same time last year, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Thursday.
From Jan. 1-30, there were 24 homicides in the city, a slight decrease from the 30 slayings the city reported in January 2006, he said.
The murder rate is still too high, but we would submit that a 20% decline is more than a "slight decrease."
Percentages do seem to confound Chronicle reports and editors when it comes to crime reporting. In a January 2007 story on crime, the newspaper characterized an estimated 7.5% increase in Houston's population as "massive," yet contended that a homicide rate that increased 5.57% from 2005 to 2006 "hardly changed at all."
If Chronicle reporters and editors are so easily confused about how to interpret crime statistics, maybe a good practice would be to stop editorializing about the changes and stick to reporting the raw numbers.
BLOGVERSATION: Houstonist.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/07 09:29 PM |
Remembering Molly, the Editorial LiveJournalist way
The new-and-improved Slampo's Place (now with comments!) weighs in today on the Chronicle's paean to Molly Ivins. Here's his first sentence:
The Upper West Siders of the Chronicle editorial page weighed in with a posthumous hind-licking of Molly Ivins Friday that naturally raised the question of why, if Ivins were the Second Coming the editorial cracked her up to be, the newspaper never acquired the rights to run her column in Houston.
You know you want to go read the rest of it.
And leave some feedback for that guy. He turns a nice phrase.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/07 08:47 PM |
Breaking news you CAN get elsewhere (cont'd)
The Chron.com Froot Loop bureau checks in again with the following coverage of the local television news beat this morning:
Two HPD officers were injured while trying to avoid a collision with a suspected drunk driver, according to televised reports this morning by KTRK (Channel 13).
The station gave this account. The cruiser was traveling on Westpark near Walnut Bend around 1 a.m. when another driver made a sudden left-hand turn. The officer swerved to avoid the car and crashed into the side of road.
The driver hurt his ankle, which may be broken, and the officer riding in the passenger seat injured his knees. Both were taken to the hospital.
The driver of the other vehicle failed a field sobriety test and was arrested.
The KTRK-13 story is available here.
What newspaper needs a robust city desk to cover local news, when all it takes is a television and some guy who can type while eating his Froot Loops in the morning?
UPDATE: There's more Froot Loop coverage posted:
A third person has been killed this week after trying to cross a Houston freeway and being hit by a vehicle, according to a report this morning by KTRK (Channel 13).
Police gave reporters this account: Just after 6 a.m. today, a homeless man darted into the eastbound lanes of the North Loop, just before the Yale exit, where he was hit by an SUV.
The driver of that SUV was apparently a nurse, who stopped and attempted CPR on the victim until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The KTRK-13 story is available here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/07 07:59 AM |
Anderson: Well at least he isn't plagiarizing anymore
The following headline from Chronicle cartoonist Nick Anderson popped up on our Bloglines feed reader earlier:
We were mildly surprised that Anderson would pick columnist Rick Casey as a subject for his illustrations.
Then we clicked over and discovered that the subject was not Casey, but Sen. Joe Biden.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/07 07:48 AM |
01 February 2007
Editorial LiveJournalists lay out nine-paragraph plan to end Darfur genocide
The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists decided to think big today -- much bigger than that first Pulitzer that has eluded the newspaper -- and go for the Nobel Peace Prize!
Their contribution to world peace? In only nine short paragraphs, the Editorial LiveJournalists lay out their plan to end genocide in Darfur. Here are some excerpts:
Darfur is not the only place where repressive leaders or civil war are slaughtering civilians. Darfur is distinctive, though, because the U.S. Congress, the State Department and the president have all deemed the conflict there a genocide: violence aimed at liquidating a whole people.
State governments and universities are trying to end the killing with an economic tool: targeted divestment. Texas should be at the forefront of the movement. Targeted divestments involve purging public pension portfolios of firms that do business in Sudan without challenging the genocide, and whose economic benefits only help those in Khartoum's control zone.
[snip]
Above all, the immediate goal of targeted divestment is precise. It would pressure Sudan to allow on the ground a complete, fully active force of peacekeepers sent by the United Nations, rather than the sprinkling of technical advisers Khartoum currently allows.
The divestment move is a measure that will likely make academics feel better, but it's a little naive to think that the divestment move in itself is going to have much of an effect on Khartoum's behavior. Indeed, just this week, the Washington Post pointed out that the two main enablers of Khartoum's ongoing misbehavior are state actors:
THE DARFUR crisis has demonstrated the limits of U.S. influence. President Bush and administration officials have described it as genocide and pushed intermittently for sanctions, peacekeeping deployments, and a deal between Sudan's government and its rebel opponents, but their efforts have been hampered by the hesitancy of other players. Sanctions resolutions in the U.N. Security Council have been delayed and diluted because Russia sells weapons to Sudan's government and because China has a large stake in Sudan's oil. Efforts to deploy a serious peacekeeping force have been undermined partly by foot-dragging within the Security Council, partly by the indifference of Sudan's Arab neighbors to the suffering of Darfur's Muslim victims and partly by the ambivalence of the African Union, which has veered between brave efforts to supply soldiers and a misplaced deference to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Yesterday brought a small victory in the effort to force action. Now a bigger test follows.
Yesterday's victory occurred at the summit of the African Union. For the second consecutive year, Mr. Bashir sought the presidency of the union, even though its chief achievement has been the Darfur peacekeeping operation made necessary by Mr. Bashir's own support for genocide. In the days before the meeting, reports suggested that Mr. Bashir might succeed in his ambition, an outcome that would have destroyed the African Union's credibility not only in Darfur but in conflict mediation elsewhere. Fortunately, Africa's leaders balked at this prospect and chose a rival candidate.
The next test involves Chinese President Hu Jintao, who today begins a 12-day tour of Africa that includes a stop in Sudan. Mr. Hu's main goal is to do business: China's trade with Africa is booming. But he may also be ready to push Sudan's leadership to accept the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that would build on the existing African Union contingent. A Security Council resolution already calls for such a deployment, but Mr. Bashir has been resisting it. Yesterday a Sudanese spokesman indicated that his government no longer objected, perhaps signaling an awareness of the limits to China's willingness to provide diplomatic cover.
The Editorial LiveJournalists probably do not want to concede that diplomacy has its limits, and that Western diplomatic efforts to stop the genocide in Sudan specifically have been constrained by the fact that China is Sudan's largest investor, and views its investment in Sudan in strategic terms.
It would be helpful if China could be convinced to pressure Khartoum to end the genocide, and no doubt Western diplomats continue to try to convince their Chinese counterparts. It's not clear, however, that the divestment approach favored by the Editorial LiveJournalists is going to have much impact. The Nobel will likely prove as elusive as the Pulitzer.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/01/07 06:10 PM |
Eckels to the private sector?
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack reports that Harris County Judge Robert Eckels is considering walking away from his political office:
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said Wednesday he is mulling offers from the private sector and can't rule out walking away from the four-year term he just won in November.
[snip]
"In the last 90 days I've had conversations with a New York firm and international investment banking firms," Eckels said, saying he often has been approached by lobbying and law firms interested in hiring him.
"I have had more serious discussions than in the past. They are more concrete."
[snip]
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt talked to Eckels Tuesday. Bettencourt declined to divulge the particulars of their conversation, but said his fellow Republican gave him the sense that he was seriously weighing other options.
"There's no doubt Robert is considering doing something else," Bettencourt said.
"He's already served 12 years in this job. There comes a time when everyone has to decide what difference they can make and whether they are ready for the next phase of their lives."
Maybe a better time would have been prior to running for re-election?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/01/07 02:33 PM |
Breaking news you CAN get elsewhere (cont'd)
The Chron.com Froot Loop bureau is covering the local television news beat again this morning:
Deputies say a chase suspect took off his clothes as he tried to run from them in northwest Harris County, according to a report today by KTRK (Channel 13).
Authorities gave reporters this account: After pulling a driver over for speeding, the passenger in the vehicle got out and fled on foot. As deputies ran after him, the suspect stripped off his clothes and ran into a park.
Here's the link to KTRK-13's story.
UPDATE: More Froot Loop reporting from Chron.com!
A man man was rescued from his burning home in northwest Houston early this morning, according to a report today by KHOU (Channel 11).
Authorities gave KHOU reporters this account: The fire started around 1:45 a.m. in the 5800 block of Silver Forest, but firefighters were initially dispatched to West Tidwell.
When fire officials arrived at the first location, they saw a column of smoke and located the correct address of the fire. As they approached the home, they heard a man calling for help.
"When they went around the structure to see the extent of the fire, they heard somebody calling for help," HFD spokesman Herman Gonzales said. "They figured out which window he was calling from; one of the firefighters gave him his mask to help him breathe."
Another crew got inside the house and pulled him out before the flames could get to him. He suffered some mild smoke inhalation. The Houston Fire Department knocked out the blaze in about 30 minutes. Investigators believe the fire may have been started by a candle on the back porch.
A man man? Goodness.
Here's the link to the KHOU-11 story. KHOU's copy seems pretty clean.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/01/07 08:16 AM |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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