27 December 2008
Holiday slowdown linkpost
We're still playing with new Christmas toys, but here are a few local stories that have caught our attention:
Vasquez sworn in as county tax assessor
City sends woman a $4,700 water bill as an early Christmas present Lest you think the city doesn't have a heart, "The city agreed to reduce the bill from $4,000 to $1,000, which is still a big jump from Baylous’ $10 a month bill."
City's pension plans lose $1.9 billion in value But, the experts assure that there's nothing to worry about.
Garcia, Lee offer deal for Dynamo: Commissioners propose to offer $10 million for stadium project
Suit claims city withholding red-light camera study
Mayor Bill White's office attacked the lawsuit as a publicity stunt.
Considering the study was supposed to be released in "a couple of days" back on December 10th, there might be some merit to the suit. Maybe NOW the city will release the study...after it's cleaned up:
The mayor's office later asked Stein to make some changes for clarity so the public and reporters could more easily understand the conclusions.
Ooooo, a Bob Stein-sighting!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/27/08 08:39 AM |
23 December 2008
Holiday slowdown
Are you procrastinating? Or have you finished all your shopping?
With just one weekend left before Christmas, the average person has completed nearly 65 percent of their holiday shopping.
But about 44.5 million people, or 20 percent, haven’t even made their list or checked it twice, the survey found.
Posting will most likely be slow over the next few days as we busy ourselves with final holiday preparations, and then celebrate Christmas with our families.
Here's wishing everyone a Merry Whatever Holiday You Celebrate!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/23/08 05:34 PM |
People like their cars
Yesterday's Move It! column noted that METRO's ridership is down:
Ridership went down in November for all of Metro's primary modes of transportation: rail, Park and Ride and local bus service.
The slide in Metro's ridership comes at a time when commuters now rely upon public transportation at record levels, according to a recent report from the American Public Transportation Association.
METRO's ridership bookkeeping has always been mysterious, so who knows what the agency's real numbers are. But it's not hard to figure out that a contributing factor in the reduced number of riders is what happened to gas prices. Given a choice -- affordable gas prices vs. late, uncomfortable, inflexible mass transit -- the vast majority of people will choose to drive their cars. It's personal freedom.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/23/08 05:10 AM |
20 December 2008
Area transit agency manipulating statistics? Just call it the Houston Way
The Chronicle's Rosanna Ruiz reports that the performance of METRO's bus service is registering complaints from management and riders alike:
Metro buses continue to run late and have failed to achieve the agency's modest goal of 61 percent on-time performance, a feat that does not evoke confidence in the transit agency, board chairman David Wolff complained Thursday.
Metro buses have run on schedule 59 percent of the time for the first two months of this fiscal year. The agency reported a 55 percent on-time percentage in 2008.
"I get letters from people saying, 'I wait and wait. I'm going to quit taking the bus because I can't depend on it,' " Wolff said during the board's monthly meeting. "An important part of running a transit service is dependability. An important part of dependability is punctuality."
[snip]
During the public-comment portion of Thursday's meeting, board members waited on Bellaire resident Marta Epps to breathlessly make her way to the podium, where she wanted to complain about Metro's decision to raise the fare from $1 to $1.25.
Epps apologized, but said a late bus was to blame for her tardiness.
That's priceless.
The following comment -- not so much:
David F. Feeley, the agency's senior vice president of operations, said the 61 percent goal is nothing to boast about, but he blamed the shortfall on the way Metro measures its travel times.
"I don't think that number accurately reflects the actual performance," Feeley said about Metro's arrival and departure times in October and November.
According to Metro staff, the agency calculates its on-time performance through on-board devices that count passengers and time of arrival at each stop. The agency collects data for each stop, not simply at the start and end of each route. If one bus along a route, for instance, experiences a delay because of a parked train, subsequent stops also will be behind and recorded as late arrivals.
Buses are considered late if they are more than five minutes behind schedule. Delays of 20 minutes or more are considered "anomalous" and are excluded from the final tally.
We had to re-read that bold part a few times to make sure we were reading it correctly.
Upon reflection, however, it does not not surprise. After all, if MayorWhiteChiefHurtt's police department can miscategorize murders so that Houston won't be designated the murder capital of Texas on their watch, why shouldn't the local transit agency lie about delays to make their dismal numbers look a little less dismal? We've been learning a lot recently about the "Chicago Way" in terms of politics -- maybe we can deem this sort of deception the "Houston way!"
In any case, it's good to see the Chronicle transportation reporter offering a little more criticism of METRO than either of the last two reporters on the beat (Rad Sallee and Lucas Wall).
Cory Crow asks some pointed questions in his post on the story. We'll conclude with a "what he said."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/20/08 11:58 PM |
Better wait a few days before trying the recipes (cont'd)
As we've noted before, it's always good to wait a few days (for corrections) before trying any recipe that appears in the Chronicle.
Here's something from recent corrections that helps make the point:
A recipe for Beef Tamales on Page F5 of Wednesday's Flavor section was mistitled. Also, the ingredients should have called for 4 ounces of dried New Mexico chilies and 4 cups of masa mix. For the corrected recipe please see chron.com/food.
Happy cooking (once you've checked the corrections)!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/20/08 11:05 PM |
18 December 2008
METRO police babysit the Danger Train
For the past month, METRO police officers have been doing something a little different:
The transit agency has parked officers at six downtown intersections every day for the past month, aimed at preventing motorists from making illegal turns into the path of oncoming light rail trains.
There have been 57 accidents on the rail line this year — five fewer than in the first year of operation — many of them the result of illegal turns, the transit agency has said.
The officers are monitoring the intersections as part of a pilot program that began Nov. 17, said Police Chief Tom Lambert of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. Last month, the city of Houston and Metro made adjustments to traffic signals at the same intersections to allow rail cars to proceed a few moments ahead of motorists.
"Some may say we're being very aggressive with having officers at every intersection," Lambert said. "But we have a responsibility to public safety to make sure we reduce accidents."
Lambert said he will scale back the number of officers at the intersections along Main at St. Joseph, Franklin, Texas, Prairie, Preston and Congress. He said his review revealed no accidents had occurred at those sites since the start of the pilot program.
Starting Friday, he said, officers will be assigned to patrol "as appropriate" between Pierce and Commerce.
The change could not come soon enough for Metro officers, who have questioned the wisdom of requiring police to sit at the intersections for an entire shift rather than being out on patrol, said Dean Goodrick, the president of the Houston Police Patrolman's Union.
Remember, this is the same police department that said it cannot possibly patrol its entire service area. But it can spare 6 officers to sit and watch the Danger Train all day long.
That's how Chief Lambert does safety.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/18/08 07:33 PM |
Elizabeth Shelton sues driver she hit, while drunk, for her mental suffering!
Remember Elizabeth Shelton? The daughter of the Harris County judge who was drunk, rear ended a box truck and ended up killing her boyfriend who was her passenger? I can't remember her ever showing remorse that her boyfriend was killed. She and her father blamed the truck driver for the accident, trying to distract the jury from the fact that she was 20 (too young to be legally drinking alcohol) and three times the legal limit. In other words, the girl was drunk!!!! She was given basically a slap on the wrist. Again she amazes us all with her poor sense of judgment! She is suing the box truck driver she hit while she was drunk!
So she is arguing that while she was driving drunk, she rear ended a box truck, killed her boyfriend, and she's suffering mental anguish! She must still be in denial or trying to convince the public it wasn't her fault even though she was drunk. Or her insurance won't pay off or got canceled because she was drunk and she wants a new Lexus SUV. I didn't want to lump her in with her father's position as a judge. Even judges can have bad apples. Yet, according to the article, her family, and the family of the dead man are also suing the box truck driver. So maybe she isn't the only one with a lapse in reasoning.Shelton, her family and the family of the boyfriend who was killed are suing for $20,000 for the destruction of the Lexus SUV she was driving and an undetermined amount for mental anguish, pain and suffering.
Posted by Jason @ 12/18/08 11:07 AM |
17 December 2008
A New Year's resolution for Houston: Be more eventful in 2009!
This reminded me of when Carol Alvarado said Houston was "event-ed out" in 2006:
The Bayou City fell six spots to No. 13 on the 2008 list of “Most Eventful Cities,” a survey published by San Diego-based Eventful Inc. that ranks U.S. cities according to the number and diversity of local events for residents and visitors.
[snip]
Though he could not cite specific reasons for why the city dropped from its seventh place ranking last year, Jordan Glazier, chief executive officer of Eventful, said Hurricane Ike’s appearance in September likely was the culprit, though other cities might also have beefed up their event roster.
“It’s actually impressive that Houston was able to stay at No. 13 instead of completely falling off of the list, considering you had a hurricane,” Glazier said.
It also says something about Houston, he said, that the city was able to remain in the Top 10 for categories such as best outdoor events (No. 5) and family events (No. 6).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/17/08 08:13 PM |
Airport survey to cost almost $700k
KHOU-11 reports that city council has approved Houston Airport System's request for a passenger survey:
The people that run Houston two major airports want to know what you think about them.
They asked the city to spend $686,000 on a survey of passengers passing through Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport.
The city council agreed. The survey will ask about everything from ground transportation to ticketing to concessions.
I'd LOVE to see what people think of Terminal C's concessions.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/17/08 06:41 PM |
16 December 2008
Surprise! Mayor White wants to be Senator White
It's official: Mayor White is running for the U.S. Senate.
His campaign and his supporters will portray him as a moderate Democrat, a businessman who gets things done. What they won't mention is that he's fond of stealth taxation (revenue streams), creating new regulations, and kicking undesirable problems down the road so he doesn't have to address them.
He's been known to shake down the mentally retarded for millions of dollars, award lucrative, non-competitive contracts to political faves, and to approve selling a portion of a street to a developer using suspect appraisals, afterwards admitting that the process was less than ideal.
He has favored liberal pet projects and policies over basic municipal needs.
Plus, he can be thin-skinned, and he doesn't appreciate dissent.
Supporters will say to look at how competently he's run the city; common sense would say former Mayor Lee P. Brown set such a low bar, it was hard to go anywhere but up.
This will be fun to watch play out.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/16/08 06:58 PM |
15 December 2008
Houston priorities: Clinton Climate Initiative before flooding
Last week, Texas Watchdog noted that Houston was one of many cities submitting a bailout wish list to the feds:
The two biggest items the city says it needs federal tax dollars for are:
+A city-wide flood control program. That comes to $221 million and 4,420 jobs.
+Infrastructure improvements to make way for the Metro Houston Intermodal Terminal near downtown. That’s a project priced at $175 million wih 4,870 new jobs.
In all, Houston is asking for $587.7 million in projects that the city says will create 12,500 jobs.
You may recall that the city recently decided to scale back $100 million-worth of infrastructure improvements due to the credit crisis.
In other city news, the mayor announced that 11 million square feet of city buildings will be retrofitted to meet the Clinton Climate Initiative's Energy Efficiency program standards.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/15/08 06:43 PM |
13 December 2008
Swamplot award nominations (updated!)
Swamplot has added to the Houston real estate fun by introducing the Swampies -- awards dedicated to the "best and most of Houston Real Estate in 2008." There are ten categories, and the blog's proprietor(s) are looking for nominations.
I have my own idea about what is the "Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate in 2008," but we'll see if it makes the cut.
Best of luck to all the nominees!
UPDATE: And the nominees are:
1. Construction Is Completed on the Katy Freeway
2. Vestalia Opens for Business
3. The Astrodome Goes Dark
4. Discovery Tower Begins Construction
5. The Opening of Discovery Green
6. Inland Houston Escapes Extensive Flooding
7. Get-to-Know-Your-Neighbor Week
My fave made the list! Woo!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/13/08 02:34 PM |
Don't call METRO insensitive
A couple of weeks ago, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee held a press conference (give or take a day) accusing METRO of insensitivity toward Houston's small business community.
Yesterday, METRO sprang into action, holding a small business seminar. METRO's expensive blogger highlighted the exciting details:
Nadeem Ainuddin, METRO's senior contract specialist in procurement, had the audience laughing as he encouraged them to "bug" him and call him with questions, telling them that he, too, was once an entrepreneur and understood their issues.
Will Rep. Lee hold another press conference, applauding METRO's increased sensitivity (and humor!)?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/13/08 12:58 PM |
Shuttle fly-by
How cool is this?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/13/08 12:19 PM |
Klein Oak student accesses non-password protected file with school-issued laptop, gets expelled
At Klein Oak High, a freshman reportedly gained computer access to thousands of employees’ personal information while in class.
"He was just clicking on folders in a network. Then he clicked on a folder that was not password protected," said Daniel Merritt, the boy’s father.
When Klein Oak handed out 3,000 laptops last fall, it became apparent within, oh, about 30 seconds that Klein ISD was in over its head. That's about how long it took the teens to start exploring their new little toys. And we all know how kids love to test boundaries.
What it essentially boils down to is that the district was completely unprepared, which is just mind-boggling.
Michael Garfield, a computer expert, said that a network is a shared pipeline where any number of people can share the same files.
“If you don't want anybody else accessing it, you have to make sure it’s locked down with password encryption,” said Garfield.
Daniel's father and uncle are standing behind him. They said the teen realizes he made a mistake, but so did the school.
The school district admitted that not all files are password protected, but other restrictions are in place to prohibit access.
"Not all files are password protected." Stunning.
And so, yesterday, a computer generated call was made to all Klein Oak parents warning of the consequences of students doing things they shouldn't be doing:
On behalf of Klein Oak High School administration, beginning Monday, December 15th, students will no longer be issued warnings for technology violations. All technology violations will receive a discipline based upon the severity of the incident. Please remember that these disciplinary measures may affect your child's exemption status.
Secondly, due to the number of violations of the district's technology acceptable use procedures, students will no longer be able to run executable files from their USB or media ports. Also, in lieu collecting the tablets for the holiday and in order to ensure safety and prevent violations of the acceptable use procedures over the winter break, all students will be denied internet access except to the district's LMS site from the afternoon of December 19th to the morning of January 5th. During this period, students will also have zero access to USB and or media ports.
In the comments at the end of KHOU's story is this:
Klein ISD knew they had poor security back in October. They were warned by a security expert.
So when does Due Diligence play a part for Klein ISD when it comes to protecting peoples data? Giving students access to the same network this data is stored on only proves they have a very poor understanding of security.
Their new policy to restrict the use of portable devices via the USB port will NOT stop a full breech of the system.
As for the student:
Simply taking the files because they were in an unlocked folder is the same as saying it’s ok to take stuff from someone’s house because they didn't lock their door; it simply doesn't fly.
That being said Klein MUST accept the fact that THEY failed to practice Due Diligence and therefore MUST accept at least HALF the responsibility of this breech.
Following the same analogy of the house:
If you live in a violent neighborhood (and any network can be violent) and are warned to lock your doors, and fail to do so and get robbed, you must accept at least half the responsibility of the theft as you failed to follow due diligence in protecting yourself.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/13/08 11:16 AM |
11 December 2008
City borrows more money for pension obligations
A week ago, the Chron's Carolyn Feibel reported on a "positive" development in the city's looming pension nightmare.
Over at Houblog, Ubu Roi took a closer look, and came to a, um, different conclusion:
This article is pitched as good news, but what it really says is that the City just borrowed an additional $59 million to finance the police pension fund and $41 million just to pay the deferred interest on the previous $300 million debt. The last sentence of the quote makes it obvious that the first sentence is misleading. Worse, the math doesn’t add up. Here’s what happened, if we cut out all the smoke and mirrors.
Go forth and read. And shake your head.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/11/08 07:16 PM |
10 December 2008
Snow?!
Goodness! It was snowing as I left work this afternoon, and it had actually covered my windshield. That was unexpected!
Thankfully, no shoveling needed. We moved here to get away from that nonsense. =)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/10/08 06:33 PM |
The OTHER red-light camera study
The Houston Press' Hair Balls blog hears that there's another red-light camera study, and this time it focuses solely on Houston:
Much is being made of a Texas A&M study recently released saying that red light cameras reduce accidents by 30 percent across the state.
But Hair Balls has gotten a whiff that there's another study out there looking specifically at Houston and that the results are not so rosy. What's more, a local civil rights lawyer says the City of Houston is refusing to release it.
Attorney Randall Kallinen says Rice University professor Robert Stein (who is no enemy of the mayoral administration) completed a study three months ago and turned it over to the city. Kallinen says he spoke to Stein about the report.
"Legally," says Kallinen, "I could tell you everything I know about that study, but morally I told Mr. Stein that I wouldn't say much about it. But let me tell you, that draft report is in direct odds to what the report from A&M said."
So far the city is refusing to release the study in response to TxPIA requests, but mayoral spokesman Pat Trahan says it will be released in a few days.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/10/08 04:54 AM |
09 December 2008
Dynamo Stadium (con't)
KHOU-11 has a blurb posted with the latest on Dynamo Stadium negotiations:
Dynamo officials are prepared to invest $50 million in the stadium, but they still need approximately $10 million from the city and another $10 million from the county.
The Dynamo presented a plan to the county, but on Tuesday Commissioners Sylvia Garcia and El Franco Lee said they will ask the county to run the numbers again.
They said they want to make sure that the deal is feasible in a weak economy.
Back in June, it was a $110 million project; now it's $70 million? And since the city's already spent $15 million for land, is Mayor White willing to drop another $10 million on a sports stadium, at the same time he's planning on cutting back on infrastructure improvements due to the credit crisis?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/09/08 07:39 PM |
08 December 2008
Fast Company profiles Opportunity Houston
The latest Fast Company has a feature on Opportunity Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership's multimillion dollar effort to market Houston. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Houston's corporate mandarins set a goal of creating 600,000 new jobs by 2016. But the region was doing a lackluster job selling itself. "Houston had no brand," says John Hofmeister, an architect of Opportunity Houston and former president of Shell Oil. Even when companies took the initiative to inquire about moving to Houston, the partnership, with its shoestring budget, had little capacity to reply helpfully. Its leaders regularly declined invitations to fly to make presentations, citing a lack of funds. The city government did little -- it had only one full-time economic-development employee.
So two years ago, Hofmeister joined Moseley, Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane, and marketer Gio Tomasini on a fund-raising tour of executive suites. They collected $30 million, a fund initially directed toward building buzz with a new marketing push and attending economic-development conferences. In March, Richard was recruited from the consultancy Hawes Hill Calderon to help turn hype into deals.
Since last spring, the relocation pipeline has ballooned from fewer than 500 corporate candidates to well over 1,100. And during 2007, Opportunity Houston's pilot year, the partnership tallied $500 million in new capital investment and $15.2 billion in new foreign trade directly related to its efforts.
The entire story is here. Please give it a read and come back to discuss!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/08/08 10:09 PM |
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