25 November 2008
Local attorney bestows special award on Jared Woodfill
Various news sources have reported an old story with a new (?) twist: Harris County GOP Jared Woodfill has called for a Harris County judge to resign over emails that apparently sparked some controversy in 2006.
In the meantime, be sure to read attorney Mark Bennett's nicely crafted post on the matter. Rather than excerpting, we'll just say that he makes a good case for bestowing his "Asshat Lawyer of the Day" award on Jared Woodfill.
Why Woodfill is still the Harris County GOP chair is one of the area's ongoing mysteries. But we are guessing he might be in the running for bigger things in the future (say, an "Asshat Lawyer of the Month" award...)!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/25/08 09:25 PM |
Maybe Houston's red light cams can apply for a FEMA grant
The Chron's Matt Stiles notes that Hurricane Ike caused the city to lose some expected revenue from the red light cameras...er, not that those cams are there to make money, of course:
Only about 9,000 citations were issued during the month of September, Houston police records show, about half the monthly average. The department issued 17,000 in August, for example, and about 19,500 in October.
Police say many of the cameras stopped working after the storm brought high winds and left power outages in its wake. (You'll remember that some traffic signals were out for weeks after the storm.)
The outage could be costly. Let's assume that the city didn't issue about 9,000 tickets. Then factor in the 70-percent collection rate on the $75 tickets. That's a potential loss of $500,000 in revenue.
As one commenter on Stiles' post notes:
Well, since it's not supposed to be a money making project for the city, but more of a safety patrol instead, I don't see the problem here!
Yep!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/25/08 04:48 AM |
23 November 2008
Excitement* at Commissioners Court
The Chronicle's Liz Austin Peterson reported on some excitement at Commissioners Court this week:
Fresh from a decisive re-election victory, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is wasting no time trying to build his office's influence as he fights for more authority over the county's lobbying effort in Austin.
He brought the matter to Commissioners Court on Tuesday, the first regular meeting since Election Day, and butted heads with County Attorney-elect Vince Ryan and Commissioner Sylvia Garcia when the two Democrats sought to delay a vote on the change.
For a body known to vote on an entire agenda without discussing a single item at length, the debate offered a public peek at the increasingly tense relationships between some court members.
The county's Office of Legislative Relations has been a part of the county attorney's office since 2006. Ryan said he wanted to have a chance to evaluate the proposal once he takes office in January. Garcia said she does not believe the office should fall under any one member of Commissioners Court, and she questioned Emmett's motives for proposing the switch.
Since 2006? In other words, all of... two years.
The Chronicle's Rick Casey provides some useful background on this maneuvering in his most recent column:
The fact is, in this skirmish [Vince Ryan] was poorly armed. He lacked any arguments for why the lobbying squad should remain in his bailiwick. The location doesn't actually seem to make a whole lot of difference.
It was in the county judge's office until 2001, when it was moved to the office of Dick Raycraft, the county's director of management services. I'm not sure why.
Two years ago it was moved to County Attorney Stafford's office, apparently because Cathy Sisk, who was tapped to lead the lobbying operation, already worked for Stafford as an attorney specializing in environmental matters and preferred not to move.
Nobody thought her location was worth worrying about. Emmett was appointed county judge later and, he says, at some subsequent point later he began worrying about it.
He says he had talked to his staff about recapturing the office well before the election and planned on bringing the matter to Commissioners Court as soon as he solidified his position by winning an election, even if Republican Stafford had won re-election.
"I'm the one legislators call," he said, asserting that it was not a power grab, but an effort to assert control.
After all, it's Commissioners Court that sets the county's legislative agenda, always by unanimous vote, not the county attorney.
From an institutional perspective, the change proposed by Judge Emmett makes sense.
From the perspective of partisan politics and politician egos, it probably would have been wiser for Judge Emmett to take a page from Mayor White's playbook, and get his Commissioner's Court colleagues on board ahead of time by consulting with them as he apparently did his staff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/08 08:55 PM |
Houston should consider "broken-windows" approach to crimefighting
Over the little blog's short lifetime, we have posted with some regularity on broken-windows policing and CompStat, two approaches to crimefighting popularized by Rudy Giuliani in New York City (and treated with some disdain by MayorWhiteChiefHurtt).
The Economist runs some interesting news on a "broken-windows" social experiment:
A PLACE that is covered in graffiti and festooned with rubbish makes people feel uneasy. And with good reason, according to a group of researchers in the Netherlands. Kees Keizer and his colleagues at the University of Groningen deliberately created such settings as a part of a series of experiments designed to discover if signs of vandalism, litter and low-level lawbreaking could change the way people behave. They found that they could, by a lot: doubling the number who are prepared to litter and steal.
The idea that observing disorder can have a psychological effect on people has been around for a while. In the late 1980s George Kelling, a former probation officer who now works at Rutgers University, initiated what became a vigorous campaign to remove graffiti from New York City’s subway system, which was followed by a reduction in petty crime. This idea also underpinned the “zero tolerance” which Rudy Giuliani subsequently brought to the city’s streets when he became mayor.
Many cities and communities around the world now try to get on top of anti-social behaviour as a way of deterring crime. But the idea remains a controversial one, not least because it is often difficult to account for other factors that could influence crime reduction, such as changes in poverty levels, housing conditions and sentencing policy—even, some people have argued, the removal of lead from petrol. An experimental test of the “broken windows theory”, as Dr Kelling and his colleague James Wilson later called the idea, is therefore long overdue. And that is what Dr Keizer and his colleagues have provided.
The rest of the story is here.
We hope as the policing era of MayorWhiteChiefHurtt winds down and the mayoral race gets underway that the candidates will discuss (and embrace) innovative approaches to crime that continue to be proven effective -- especially since HPD remains short on manpower.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/08 08:29 PM |
Andrea Georgsson has left the Chronicle
Andrea Georgsson, the Houston Chronicle editorial board member who apparently violated newspaper policy by donating to political candidates, has left the newspaper.
Georgsson left the newspaper just after the election, according to this column from Richard Prince:
Andrea Georgsson, the only African American editorial writer at the Houston Chronicle, left the paper Wednesday after being at the paper since 1987 and a member of the editorial board since 1995. "It was my own decision," Georgsson told Journal-isms. "I'm going to just follow my bliss," Georgsson, 44, said. She said she has three little boys to take care of and may do volunteer work.
Media monitor Cision (as well as Georgsson's own Facebook page) confirms the departure:
Longtime Houston Chronicle staffer leaves
Posted on: 11/10/2008Andrea Georgsson recently left her post as an editorial page writer for the Houston Chronicle. She previously served as an education reporter. Prior to that, she covered Harris County and state news. She joined the paper as an intern in 1987. To learn more, call 713-362-7171.
If anyone calls the number, please let us know if you "learn more." We would be surprised.
Recall that we found Georgsson had donated to the Harris County Judge campaign of David Mincberg (not to mention the presidential campaign of Barack Obama). Such donations apparently violate newspaper policy, and for good reason -- it is hard for an editorial board to preach transparency for others when it doesn't practice what it preaches. Even worse than the lack of transparency, it is thought that Georgsson penned at least one editorial about Harris County ethics (which referenced Ed Emmett, the incumbent opponent of Mincberg) -- an editorial that was quickly posted to Mincberg's campaign site.
The Houston Chronicle refused to answer substantive email queries about Georgsson in the leadup to the election, and has not addressed the scandal publicly. On the surface, it appears that Georgsson left the newspaper of her own accord. It seems likely, however, that both she and the newspaper concluded that it would be best for all if she moved on. We would email the reader representative and ask, but we have yet to see evidence that he actually uses email.
It's too bad that the Chronicle didn't take the opportunity to practice what it preaches about transparency and to inform readers about the scandal. Chronicle execs like to describe the editorial board as leading a community discussion, but more often it seems like the insular editorialists are simply lecturing to the community, without much interest in an actual conversation.
And it's not even a very good lecture these days. In recent weeks, the editorial board -- sans Georgsson and James Howard Gibbons -- has turned out some truly clunky prose. We certainly didn't agree wth Georgsson or Gibbons on most issues, but who knew their departures would give readers even less cause to visit a so-so, left-leaning editorial page?
Perhaps it's another reason for the Editorial Board to start a blog (as we've suggested before). Even poor writers can get better if they really work at the craft (practice, practice, practice!). Frequent blog posts on local affairs could be just the sort of practice that is needed. And who knows -- a little interaction with readers might actually improve a product that could use it.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Hair Balls.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/08 08:11 PM |
20 November 2008
Greek festival time (finally!)
Thanks to Hurricane Ike, the 42nd annual Greek Festival (put on by Annunciation Orthodox Church) was postponed from its usual time in early October. Not to worry -- your chance for good souvlaki and spanokopita and sweets and more is finally here!
Parking is always difficult near the festival. If you're not familiar with Montrose, your best bet is to park at Lamar High School and take the free Metro shuttle (details here).
Opa!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/20/08 10:02 AM |
Outstanding red-light camera ticket? No car registration for you!
City Council has approved MayorWhiteChiefHurtt's latest plan to get red light runners to pay their tickets:
The City Council on Wednesday approved a measure that will allow the state to deny vehicle registration to drivers who do not pay their red-light camera tickets after repeated warnings.
As many as 25 percent of those who receive the $75 citation never pay up. Until now, there was nothing the city could do about it.
Under the measure approved Wednesday, if a driver does not pay after 85 days, the city can get the Texas Department of Transportation to put a "hold'' on the vehicle owner's registration that cannot be cleared until the ticket is paid.
"It's not complex,'' Mayor Bill White said. "If you get a citation when you're running the red light, then you pay the citation. Or, if you think there's some mistaken identity, then you go and contest it. It's pretty simple. But what you don't have an option to do is just ignore the citation."
Yeah, if you want to contest a ticket, all you have to do is take time off work, arrange daycare for the kids, drive all the way to downtown, pay for parking, etc, etc. Simple.
Despite Mayor White's assertion that "it's not complex," there are concerns from other quarters:
Not so fast, said George Hammerlein, who handles local governmental affairs for Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt's office.
Because that office administers registration renewals, the city would have to reach an interlocal agreement with the county, a step for which there still were a number of hurdles, Hammerlein said.
"We had a meeting and identified a series of areas we had concerns about before we could even think about going forward, and they haven't addressed them all yet," he said.
Hammerlein said a primary concern is customer service. If 100,000 people a year fail to pay red-light tickets, he said, that would mean 100,000 people could end up waiting in long lines at county offices to get new registrations, only to be turned away.
"That has a big impact on our lines and the overall customer service level that we strive for," he said.
And Councilman Sullivan wasn't sold on the plan:
Sullivan said he was skeptical of the ordinance for a number of reasons: What if a couple goes through a divorce and the notice of a ticket goes to the wrong address? What if someone gives away a vehicle as a gift? He also cast doubt on whether the process would be fluid, given that it involves the city; a private contractor that administers the cameras; the county, which handles vehicle registration renewals; and the state, which would apply the holds.
What could possibly go wrong?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/20/08 05:38 AM |
19 November 2008
METRO addresses Danger Train collisions, financial deals gone bad
METRO's expensive blogger would like you to know that the organization has a plan for dealing with those pesky cars that keep running into the Danger Train:
For the past few months, left-hand turn accidents between cars and METRO trains have been increasing in the downtown area.
Now, METRO and the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Division has [sic] launched a pilot program to curb those accidents. It calls for a three-pronged approach that includes:
* Signal priority adjustments for METRORail
* New traffic-light fixtures
* Increased METRO police enforcement along the Red LineThe changes - implemented by METRO, the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Division - will also improve safety and help traffic move along Main Street and major intersections.
[snip]
With the resignaling, this means METRORail will get a green light first, before motorists get a green light to proceed. This allows the train to proceed ahead of regular traffic at intersections. Westbound and eastbound traffic will not be affected.
If all it takes to cut down on the number of traffic/train collisions is changing a few traffic signals, why in the world has it taken years of collisions to implement the plan? At-grade rail down a busy traffic corridor used by (bad) Houston drivers seems like the problem (more so than traffic signals). Nevertheless, the organization plans on building even more at-grade rail. Won't busy Richmond be a hoot when even heavier traffic blends with another Danger Train?
Meanwhile, METRO is begging the federal government to help save the profits it made by entering into sell/lease-back deals that required financial backing from firms like AIG (now in default -- uh oh!):
The Metropolitan Transit Authority joined 10 other transit agencies across the nation Tuesday as they urged Congress for help with financing deals imperiled by the credit crisis.
The move is the latest attempt by Metro and the other agencies to avoid millions in default payments triggered by the collapse of insurance giant American International Group.
AIG provided payment guarantees on lease agreements between Metro and several banks. Those deals required payment guarantees from insurers, such as AIG, with high credit ratings. The deals guaranteed by AIG now are in technical default as a result of the insurance giant's slashed credit rating.
[snip]
Metro entered into dozens of the deals, which allow transit agencies to sell rail cars, buses and other assets to banks and them lease them back.
All of the lease agreements were lawful and approved by the Federal Transit Administration.
Metro could be on the hook for about $14 million, roughly the amount in revenue it earned from the deals, officials have said.
Sometimes when a deal seems too good to be true...
Perhaps some intrepid reporter(s) will follow up with some obvious questions to the transit agency about future deals of this nature, and what it has done to mitigate its risks moving forward.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/19/08 10:02 PM |
Armchair quarterbacking at HPD
Remember the police chase in which a man claiming to be a federal agent was shot and killed after he initiated a pursuit? Well, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt has disciplined two officers involved in the shooting. A major pet peeve of police officers is being second guessed by administrators who weren't even there. Of course there is a video and you can watch the video attached to the link. I'd like to know how Chief Hurtt was watching this video. The internal investigation found that:
Sgt. Andrew J. Washington and Officer Cecil A.T. Foster did not use sound judgment and did not follow department policy in the incident.
The department policy . . . they didn't talk to the man at the end of the chase! One officer was given a one-day suspension and the other officer was given a written reprimand. Both are appealing their punishments.
One could ask if Chief Hurtt and IAD were watching the video through the eyes of an officer in that situation, at that exact moment in time. Or with the eyes of a long time police administrator trying to use the benefit of hindsight, and "what ifs." Because the city is now being sued over this, were they watching this video looking for the slightest policy violation so that disciplinary action could be handed out to cover the city? Watch the video at the end of the chase. You can hear officers giving verbal commands that are plainly being ignored, so they are talking to him but he isn't listening.
Something to keep in mind is that a violation of policy doesn't mean a violation of the law or liability. Department policies are rules and guidelines that are supposed to have all officers act the same way in any situation. Well, policies, like laws, are interpreted differently by different people. Also, policies cannot foresee every possible situation and that's when officer discretion has to kick in. Think about this. Situations can change in an instant; policies and procedures don't change. For example, let's say a department has a policy that says officers, while involved in a vehicle pursuit, cannot chase the criminal the wrong way on the highway. Let's say the man running just killed a woman and kidnapped her baby. Knowing this policy, he drives east in the westbound lanes and, by a stroke of luck, there is no westbound traffic. Now what is this officer supposed to do? Follow department policy and not chase the kidnapper? Or use judgment and go after the kidnapper the wrong way on an empty road?
At least HPD's internal investigation found the shooting to be justified.
Posted by Jason @ 11/19/08 10:57 AM |
18 November 2008
City to repay $15 million in HUD funds
Back in March, we noted that the city had been told to repay $15.5 million in HUD grants due to misuse of the funds. After months of negotiations, the city has finally agreed to repay the amount, and city council will vote on the proposed settlement this week (via the Chron's Mike Snyder):
The City Council on Wednesday will consider the five-year repayment plan, which city officials have been negotiating with HUD since May 2007.
The $15.5 million sum is unchanged from the amount HUD demanded in a letter to the city in March, although it is far less than about $32 million the agency once said the city owed. Even so, it represents one of the largest repayments HUD has ever demanded from a local government receiving its funds, the agency said.
Local and federal officials said they believe the settlement will signal a new era of cooperation after a troubled relationship that dates back 20 years. The problems peaked in 2005, when an audit of spending found that Houston's housing department chose projects based on its directors' whims, allowed for massive defaults on loans and created opportunities for conflicts of interest and fraud.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/18/08 04:59 AM |
17 November 2008
Chron: Suspected illegal immigrants out on bail frequently disappear (UPDATED)
The Chronicle has posted some troubling reporting by Susan Carroll on illegal immigration and crime in the Houston area. Here's an excerpt from the story:
A Houston Chronicle investigation found dozens of cases in Harris County involving suspected illegal immigrants who posted bail and absconded on criminal charges, including murder, aggravated sexual assault of a child and drug trafficking.
The Chronicle examined arrest and immigration records for 3,500 inmates who told jailers that they were in the country illegally during a span of eight months starting in June 2007, the earliest immigration records available.
The review found at least 178 cases involving suspects who absconded, meaning they had their bails revoked for missing court dates or allegedly committing more crimes. Of those, 30 cases involved felony charges and two-thirds had initial bails set below $35,000 — the minimum recommended in the county's bail schedule for illegal immigrants accused of felonies.
Local officials said the problems stem from a shortage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dedicated to identifying illegal immigrants in the county's jails.
The entire story is well worth reading. Also see this related story.
Most readers here are aware of the broken-down immigration system and have some sense of the resulting illegal-immigration problem. But this story makes concrete the criminal impact of the illegal-immigration problem on the area (as opposed to, say, MayorWhiteChiefHurtt denying that Houston is a sanctuary city while simultaneously defending sanctuary policies as useful in getting illegal immigrants to trust the police and report crimes). It's the sort of analytical local journalism we like to see.
Carroll follows up with a report tonight that Sen. John Cornyn has called for an investigation of the ICE screening process in the Harris County jail.
UPDATE (11-18-2008): Another installment in the series is posted here. This one explores the use of probation in cases where deportation is an option.
The Chronicle's Teen Diarist also peeps in on the series to chide all you racist Houstonians for having your prejudices confirmed by... Carroll's detailed, analytical reporting. Here is one of the Teen Diarist's rambles:
There are many lessons from the Houston Chronicle's three-part series on federal officials' failure to detain or deport admitted illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
One is that immigration officials should spend more time at the Harris County Jail and less raiding Shipley Donuts, rag factories and meat-packing plants.
Another, confirmed by reader response to the articles, is that hatred knows no nuance.
Actually, the lessons from reality are that immigration officials need to enforce immigration law at the workplace (Shipley Donuts, rag factories, meat-packing plants, and other places that employ illegal immigrants... illegally!) AND that immigration officials definitely need to step up their game at the Harris County Jail. Thanks to Susan Carroll's excellent reporting, we know the latter, which we would not know if we relied on the Teen Diarist's opinion on such matters (we would just know that the Teen Diarist thinks many Houstonians who are critical of illegal immigration are racists).
Speaking of the Teen Diarist and race issues, this is a fine correction in today's column:
My apologies to Harris County prosecutor Tiffany Johnson. In my column Thursday about former prosecutor Mekisha Murray's decision to change her name to Jane after losing a judicial race, I mentioned how a trial bureau chief at the DA's office used to confuse Mekisha, who is white, with Tiffany, who, I wrote "happened to be white." I ended up making the same mistake as the trial chief. Tiffany is black.
It is unfortunate that this is what Jeff Cohen offers as a metro columnist in the nation's fourth-largest city (alongside a plagiarist whose background is San Antonio). I know the quality of a John Kass is a bit much to hope for, but surely Houston can do better than this.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/17/08 10:31 PM |
A new Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy!
Allan Turner offers up a Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy* today.
The Death Row Killer Guy's lawyer declined to talk to the Chronicle, and the newspaper could not reach members of the victim's family, so Turner was reduced to building this Chron Eye from court testimony:
Cathey's sister, Charlotte Ezeh, testified that the killer was pampered at home. But his mother, Willie Lee Cathey, told jurors that the family's home life was tumultuous, with her husband drinking, using drugs and accosting family members with firearms.
Cathey married at 17 and fathered two children, jurors were told.
Luke Ezeh, Cathey's now former brother-in-law, said he employed the killer in his battery shop.
"He was a very good guy," Ezeh said. "He sold batteries and kept the money and never took anything from me. I don't think he deserves to die. He made a mistake, but he should be corrected, not put to death."
Ezeh said Cathey was a musician whose partner had absconded with a recording. "He was trying to locate him through the girl and things got out of hand," he said. "That is what I heard. I was not there."
In a death row interview, Cathey insisted he had spent the night of the murder watching television with his girlfriend.
"I am not guilty of the crime," Cathey said. "I never met the woman."
The killer admitted he had been convicted of an earlier drug offense, but said he had never served prison time.
Upon arriving on death row, he said, he was "very fearful."
"I knew that I didn't do anything," he said. "I had a sense of hopelessness. ... I had seen guys who had gone off to their executions."
Now, he added, "I play it by ear. I'm praying to God to work things out."
We trust that He will.
This Chron Eye does continue the very recent practice of working in the term "Huntsville death house," which the author/editors would surely deny is subtle editorializing** (despite the fact it tends to be used -- derisively -- by those opposed to the death penalty).
Why a shrinking business with declining readership continues to expend so many resources on pet political causes favored by the editor's wife is an ongoing mystery.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/17/08 10:11 PM |
16 November 2008
Dolcefino shines light on arts spending, draws fire from arts community
Over the past week, KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino spent some time looking at publicly funded art in Houston.
In this report, Dolcefino criticizes the expense of various projects and the lack of completed projects, and talks to an unimpressed city controller Annise Parker.
In this report, Dolcefino looks at some public art in a city sewer plant, proposed art in the form of yet another new sign at the airport, and even more projects that have yet to be completed.
And in this report, Dolcefino decries the lack of visible results after nearly $2 million annual "arts tourism" expenditures in the Museum District.
Needless to say, Dolcefino's stories haven't gone over very well in the Houston arts community. The La Dame San Regrets, Houston Arts Alliance, and Pithy blogs all responded to the reports.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/16/08 07:55 PM |
There's (more) poo poo in the bayou!
Last week, KTRK-13 reported on another nasty mess in one of our bayous:
Volunteers made a gross discovery in Buffalo Bayou while trying to clean up a park.
They found sewage leaking into the bayou. According to those volunteers, the problem stems from a hole in a sewage pipe that runs underneath a bridge.
They say the dirty water discharges when excess pressure builds up in the pipe.
Crews say they've been complaining about the leak for five years, but no one has fixed it yet.
Hey, the matter of investing in infrastructure to prevent recurring problems of poo-poo in the bayou just can't compete with trinket governance!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/16/08 04:24 PM |
14 November 2008
Papal exhibit coming to local museum
The Houston Business Journal reports that Houston will be hosting a unique papal exhibit later this month:
Houston’s National Museum of Funeral History will host the world’s first papal exhibit outside of the Vatican on Nov. 25.
The 5,000-square-foot exhibit, “Celebrating the Lives and Deaths of a Pope,” features the rituals by which popes have been elected and buried over the last 2,000 years.
The exhibit is part of a three-year collaboration between the Vatican and the not-for-profit National Museum of Funeral History, a collector of funeral memorabilia located at 415 Barren Springs Dr.
I have to admit that my sense of the macabre led me to our Museum of Funeral History years ago. It's worth the trip.
And the first papal exhibit outside of the Vatican? That almost sounds world class!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/08 10:32 PM |
What's in an election? Perhaps more than a name
The local newspaper's teen diarist chronicles one (losing) local judicial candidate's lament that her unusual name may have caused her loss last week. It reads a little like a bad Lifetime movie (or is "bad Lifetime movie" redundant?).
Meanwhile, the legal set over at A Harris County Lawyer's blawg offers supplemental discussion for grownups. This one was particularly entertaining.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/08 09:14 PM |
Local corporate alt-weekly wants a political blogger
Remember back in the day when the Public News and the Houston Press covered local politics, and alt-media names like Fleck and Simmon and Woodall actually mattered?
That seems like a long time ago. These days, the corporate alt-media rag is practically begging for someone to write about local politics:
Hair Balls is looking for a good political blogger, one who can keep up with local and state goings-on.
We're not looking for inside-baseball minutia, but we don't want broad-brush "The Other Side Sucks!!" stuff linking to Daily Kos or NRO's The Corner.
It's Internet money, so you won't get rich, but you will get a chance to have a platform.
If you're a local political blogger and want to lend your talents to a publication that once covered local politics and occasionally shook things up, shoot 'em an email. We're looking forward to reading about local politics in the Press again (or at least reading the website).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/08 08:43 PM |
13 November 2008
That's Peter Brown, ARCHITECT
KHOU-11's Lee McGuire has a great quote from Councilmember Peter Brown on some goofy construction at the new Costco on Richmond:
We found a traffic signal and utility pole sticking out of a handicap ramp on the sidewalk.
The maze lines one side of the new Costco shopping complex along Richmond. The sidewalk is part of Houston's effort to become more pedestrian friendly.
[snip]
Houston City Council Member Peter Brown saw the sidewalk for himself on Thursday."Well that's a brand new pole," Brown said. "This is really the dumbest kind of construction I've seen in a long time and you know I'm an architect."
[snip]
"It's really frightening, it's atrocious that this would happen in a new project," Brown said. "But, you know, you can't blame anybody particularly, except I would blame the city for not having standards."
Peter Brown is an architect? Who knew?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/13/08 09:50 PM |
12 November 2008
Another Houston driver takes on Danger Train, loses
In a rare bit of reporting on the topic, the Chron notes that a Danger Train crash took place earlier:
Three passengers on a MetroRail train were taken to a hospital this morning after the train collided with a car at a downtown intersection.
The accident occurred about 9:20 a.m. as the driver of the car attempted an illegal left turn at Main and Leeland, said Metro spoieswoman Raequel Roberts.
The passengers were taken to St. Joseph Medical Center with injuries that were deemed non-life-threatening, Roberts said.
The car was traveling on Leeland when it crossed the northbound train's path and was struck on the driver's side, Roberts said.
The driver, who was not injured, was cited by police for turning illegally, she said.
Northbound train service resumed about 10:50 a.m.
So, the Danger Train, METRO's "transit backbone," was out of service for an hour-and-a-half because at-grade light rail and bad Houston drivers continue to be a bad mix.
Imagine how well the coming at-grade rail lines in busy corridors like Richmond (which is how METRO and its sycophants translate "Westpark") will mix with Houston drivers!
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/12/08 02:18 PM |
The Big Flip: HC GOP recriminations and navel-gazing (11/12/08 edition)
Texas Watchdog calls our attention to some interesting posts on National Review about Harris County's flip to the Dems
Last Thursday, David Frum apparently noticed the flip.
Since then, he's added three posts of reader emails interpreting the results, here, here, and here.
Shortly after the election, former Harris County GOP chair Gary Polland blasted the way the current regime (i.e. Woodfill/Blakemore) conducted the election. Sadly, the article will eventually scroll from the front page of the site, and there is no permalink currently available, which is something of a statement in itself on the local GOP's technological competence. The County Seat adds some perspective to the Polland broadside.
Those of you who followed the links and read the commentary -- what's your take? What are these folks getting right, getting wrong, and leaving out in terms of Harris County's big flip?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/12/08 12:36 PM |
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