27 June 2008
Astros-Rangers: Shawn Chacon Is Suspended, Carlos Lee Is Fat (Houstoned Ballz)
Drayton McLane's PR man in the Chron sports department thinks Carlos Lee gets criticism not because he appears to loaf, but because the local media isn't diverse. John Royal is flabbergasted (Houstoned Ballz).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 09:31 PM |
John Culberson: Most connected Congressman (PoliSci@UST)
The UST poli sci folks call attention to Rep. John Culberson's web connections (PoliSci@UST).
Proof that the Left doesn't have a monopoly on web geekery!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 08:41 PM |
Metro consultants: Search and report (Chron Houston Politics)
Matt Stiles posts a link to a searchable list of METRO contract vendors since 2006 (Chron Houston Politics).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 01:38 PM |
Mixed thoughts on Smart Growth Distinguished Lecture (Houston Strategies)
Tory Gattis comments on Scott Bernstein's smart-growth lecture for the Gulf Coast Institute (Houston Strategies).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 12:37 PM |
Chief Hurtt's trip to London cost $14,000
KPRC-2's Phil Archer has details of a trip Chief Hurtt took to look at a DNA lab:
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt addressed concerns on Thursday about a trip to London for the crime lab that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, KPRC Local 2 reported.
HPD is rebuilding its scandal-plagued DNA lab. That's the reason Hurtt said he and three staff members flew to London earlier this month at a cost of more than $14,000.
[snip]
The chief insisted that it was not a pleasure trip. He said the visit was strictly business.
"We have to be able to do this right where people have confidence," Hurtt said.
Hurtt went to London to look at a DNA laboratory operated by Forensic Sciences Services, a state-of-the-art lab that the chief said can process more DNA samples faster and more accurately than any in the U.S.
"This is the vision that I have for the Houston Police Department's DNA lab," Hurtt said.
You'll recall just this week city councilmembers couldn't think of a single probing question to ask HPD Crime Lab Director Irma Rios.
The story notes that HPD is now negotiating to hire "London-based consultants." It was just this past January that HPD's crime lab was in the news as the head of DNA testing resigned after a cheating scandal. So now Chief Hurtt wants to go from disgraced and dysfunctional to state-of-the-art and tops-in-the-U.S. I'm guessing Houstonians would settle for just processing DNA samples successfully. Period. You know the old saying, "champagne taste on a beer budget"? Chief Hurtt has champagne taste, with a near beer track record.
Does Harris County's Crime Lab function successfully without London-based consultants? Well, we know it functions successfully and with little media fanfare!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/27/08 05:12 AM |
26 June 2008
Mayor White: Dynamo and city are working constructively on stadium deal
According to the Chron's Bernardo Fallas, negotiations on the Dynamo's soccer stadium are moving along:
Mayor Bill White joined other community leaders at Houston Community College's South Campus to unveil plans for an adjacent 18-field, soccer-centered youth sports complex near Texas 288 and Airport Boulevard that will also serve as the Dynamo's training facility.
White also met with Leiweke for more than an hour as both sides work toward a stadium deal.
"We had a good meeting," Leiweke said. "Today was significant because I think we're down to one or two issues — they're big - but one or two issues."
Calling the meeting productive, White said negotiations are in the advanced stages and agreed that points of contention have been narrowed down.
"We're working constructively with each other," White said.
The sticking points, White and Leiweke said, involve money and how a $110 million, 22,000-capacity facility would be financed. White warned those points could still be deal killers.
Asked what those points are, White didn't hesitate.
"Money," he said.
The Dynamo's parent company wants to build the stadium near downtown. The city recently spent $15 million to buy five blocks of land and swapped for a sixth block just southeast of Minute Maid Park and U.S. 59. The tract, located near Texas and Dowling streets, would house the stadium, and White has said the city could find other uses for it should the deal fall through.
White also said the proposed youth soccer complex, which the Dynamo are a partner in, will not be affected by the outcome of the stadium negotiations. That facility is expected to open by late next year.
Even though Mayor White says he learned his lesson about transparency, he's obviously not quite ready to put that lesson into action: He's still not sharing details.
It's also on point to remember that whenever Mayor White really wants to do something, he'll find the money to do it. Emergency radio system -- not a priority. Youth soccer complex and Dynamo stadium -- priorities.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/26/08 07:54 PM |
Do the Rockets plan on sawing Craig Ackerman in half?
The Chronicle's David Barron reports on the selection of Craig Ackerman as the new radio voice of the Houston Rockets, but it's this snippet that is most interesting:
His elevation was expected, as was the Rockets’ decision to become the latest NBA team to cut back to two broadcasters from one.
They cut back to two from one?
Neat trick!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/08 12:35 PM |
Jason Friedman signs off (Houstoned Ballz)
Jason Friedman has done such a nice job covering the Rockets for the Press... that's he's moving on to the Rockets (Houstoned Ballz).
That alone should make it worth adding the Rockets.com RSS feed to your favorite feedreader. (If the feed were updating, anyway ).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/08 12:20 PM |
25 June 2008
Chron's Stiles scores interview with Sheriff Tommy Thomas (updated)
Yesterday, the Chronicle's Matt Stiles reported on his extended interview with Harris County Sherrif Tommy Thomas.
Stiles followed up with additional material on the Chron's Houston Politics blog, and is considering ways to make more of the interview available.
Thomas has been in the news a great deal lately, for all sorts of alleged scandals. Until now, the sheriff has taken Clarence Bradford's approach to tough questions (avoid them at all costs!), which should be an untenable stance for someone who wants an important public office and certainly is an untenable stance for someone who already holds an important public office. Ducking tough questions about real issues only gives the appearance that there is something to hide.
Sheriff Thomas claims all of the negativity is "pure politics." Maybe so. But the last time we checked, Thomas held an elected (political!) office. Politics is to be expected.
If Sheriff Thomas intends to hold on to his elected political office, then the Stiles interview needs to be the start of many more interviews in which the sheriff tries to convince the public he deserves to keep his job -- if he really wants to keep it. Because we doubt that one interview is going to do the trick.
UPDATE: Given Wayne Dolcefino's latest reporting on the emails Sheriff Thomas tried to avoid giving up, we're even more convinced that Sheriff Thomas' damage-control interviews are far from over.
UPDATE (06/27/08): More Dolcefino stories here and here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 08:21 PM |
Falkenberg: Houston still sucks (Bayou City Madman)
"The neat thing about Lisa Falkenberg isn't the stunning narcissism that requires a half-dozen first-person pronouns in every column, but the desperate lack of originality that transforms other journalists' work into her personal discovery (it's the journey)" (Bayou City Madman).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 12:13 PM |
24 June 2008
Local law-enforcement agencies turn to the net for recruiting
KTRK-13's Mike McGuff reports on HPD's officer recruitment blog:
The blog is the unique brain child of Mike McCoy, a senior officer with the Houston Police Department. It's one of the few blogs that show up in a search engine concerning the subject. Officer McCoy, who works in recruiting, says he wanted a way to go straight to the potential recruits.
"I think a lot of young people nowadays are on the Internet all the time," Officer McCoy told abc13.com. "They're always searching different career paths on the Internet. And I thought, if you blog and you YouTube, and you just put in keywords like 'The Houston Police Department,' not only will you get our website, but my blog is popping up now because I post every day on it."
The Houston Police Department Recruiting Blog has only been around since March but has already started a dialogue between an officer hungry department and possible recruits.
Kudos to HPD for taking the initiative on this. The internet should certainly be used to full advantage in recruiting.
Elsewhere, KPRC-2's Daniella Guzman reports on the Harris County Sheriff's Office recruiting site, which we discussed briefly here:
The new Harris County Sheriff's Office Web site is fast and action-packed, similar to a Hollywood movie, but some have problems with it, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.
The site is filled with hi-tech, 3D, high-definition films targeted to the young generation.
"We are trying to attract people who are are into video games, hi-tech and electronics," said Capt. John Martin with the Harris Country Sheriff's Office.
It has a Mission Impossible theme, filled with music and modern graphics. The Sheriff's Office is promoting positions in all their departments, a very similar strategy to the Army and the Navy's Web sites.
The Democratic candidate running against Sheriff Thomas doesn't like the website:
Councilman Adrian Garcia is running for county sheriff.
He said the quote on the Web site from Ernest Hemingway does not appear to be recruiting public servants. It reads, "There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."
"It looks like a commercial for Dog the Bounty Hunter. It's not professional. We need to send out a professional message," said Garcia.
Of all the criticisms he might level about professionalism in the department, that one seems misplaced. Reasonable people might quibble with a spot or two in some of the videos, but the end product doesn't seem unprofessional to me -- far from it. And the department claims that it's effective:
The Web design company, ATGNAT.COM, said the site is already starting to pay off for the department.
"They have had enormous number of hits. The other advantage is the people looking at the Web site stay there for at least seven minutes," a company spokesman said. The Web site has been since June 1. Officials said they have already had 30,000 hits.
Both HPD and the Sheriff's Office need qualified officer candidates. If they can use the web effectively to attract those candidates, that seems like a good thing.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/08 08:23 PM |
Fundraiser for Harris County District Attorney candidate C.O. Bradford (Isiah Carey's Insite)
Isiah Carey posts about a Clarence Bradford fundraiser, in which the former police chief promised to pursue outreach and true justice in the community (Isiah Carey's Insite).
Since this was a fundraiser, we presume no tough questions were asked about Bradford's tenure running HPD.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/08 10:18 AM |
Dad was right about law school (Houston Politics)
Carolyn Feibel reports that one of the city's outside lawyers is giving himself a $100/hour raise (Houston Politics).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/08 08:47 AM |
Is there a Heights highrise in the works? (Off the Kuff)
Charles Kuffner worries that dense development might be coming to an area near him (Off the Kuff).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/08 08:45 AM |
Council committee holds a lovefest for Crime Lab director
KHOU-11's Jeremy Desel reports on the grilling HPD Crime Lab director Irma Rios didn't receive yesterday before City Council's Public Safety Committee:
However, five months after the DNA section of the lab was shut down and its manager resigned in another scandal, the city council members who sit on the committee did not have any tough questions to ask of Rios.
“As you can see, there is some good news. We have some real accomplishments to report,” committee chairwoman Melissa Noriega said at the start of the meeting.
The praise did not stop there.
“I want to thank you very much Ms. Rios for all your hard work and leadership,” said committee member Anne Clutterbuck.
No questions about the proficiency testing scandal that closed the lab down. There were questions about a recent trip to England by lab personnel who were on a “fact finding mission,” on the use of private crime labs.
“Are there many privatized crime labs in America also?” councilman M.J. Khan asked Rios.
The answer is yes. As a matter of fact, that is exactly where the city of Houston has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars as it sends out all DNA testing while the HPD lab has been closed.
No questions about that though.
So, 11 News asked Noriega why no questions about the scandal.
“That is a very, very legitimate point. I don't disagree with you at all,” she said.
Then why didn't councilmembers do their homework so they could ask her tough questions? Why even make a pretense of questioning Rios if nothing substantive was going to come of it? It's not hard to "Google," and certainly local media have had more than a couple of stories on crime lab problems over the past several years.
This past February, Jeremy Desel sat down with Rios and was not afraid to ask her pointed questions. His interview revealed that the lab was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside testing -- still.
But that was of no concern to councilmembers. Did Mayor White not want any tough questions asked? Is D.A. candidate Clarence Bradford trying to ride out any mention of "crime lab scandal" during this election season, since investigations have condemned his leadership?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/24/08 05:14 AM |
23 June 2008
Taxed, but not serviced -- and Rad Sallee explains why
Here's an amazing admission from Rad Sallee in today's Move It! column:
Metro and Harris County are planning commuter rail, and outlying counties are interested, but now it's the inner city's turn. It voted for rail. Affluent suburbs generally voted against it. Years earlier, some of the same suburbs also voted not to be part of Metro. Some didn't want its 1-cent sales tax. Some just didn't want transit and what it might bring. Metro cannot legally extend service outside its taxing jurisdiction, except by contract.
So there you go. METRO won't provide transit services to the outer 'burbs because those folks didn't vote for light rail. Oh sure, there are several (overcrowded) Park and Pillages, and a few token bus routes, but by and large, METRO will continue to collect tax revenues from the outer loop residents, and as punishment, will make sure the inner loop gets the lion's share of the pie. It's nice to see Sallee confirm what many of us have suspected.
I'd rather see my tax money go to Harris County to pay for the upkeep and expansion of the roads we use, many miles from any METRO transit offerings.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: There was another amazing admission in the column:
Transit service does not pay for itself and is not expected to. Its core mission is to serve low-income areas, where a high percentage of residents depend on it. Metro needs some improvement on that score, and distributing the planned rail lines around the city is a start.
He was doing such good work, until he got to the last part. Unfortunately for low-income residents, they've mainly seen their bus service reduced (despite the promise of a big increase in the referendum) and the routes adjusted to feed the existing light rail line to nowhere.
METRO in recent years (without much adult supervision from the mayor, we would add) has acted much more like a development agency for affluent types who desire a world-class city than it does a transit organization whose primary mission is to move people who can't afford cars.
And here's an interesting admission in another Rad Sallee piece (on plans for rail in the East End):
The Metropolitan Transit Authority has loyal supporters in Houston's East End, whose voters approved Metro's transit plan in 2003 by a 14 percent margin.
Voters in the East End and other lower-income areas certainly helped push the 2003 referendum to its narrow victory. They almost certainly were persuaded both by rail and by promises of a 50% increase in bus service. The promised bus service hasn't actually panned out, and the rail service remains a work in progress (although the folks in the Gulfton area in southwest Houston are probably wondering why there aren't more rail stations for them in METRO's grand plans).
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/08 06:30 PM |
Houston sports media wars (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport)
Cory Crow comments on Houston sports talk (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/08 08:02 AM |
22 June 2008
Experiment: TXPIA Requests/Updates forum
As promised a while back, we've finally launched a little sub-forum experiment in local sunshine.
Here's how we envision it working:
Anyone registered for the forum can add a post to this sub-forum. The initial post should be the actual TXPIA request that has been filed (with an informative subject line). Replies can be left for status updates (if the agency has responded, or not, details, etc). Electronic documents can easily be posted to Google Docs (pdf included now), shared, and linked, so that people can peruse the results of the TXPIA requests.
We'll keep an eye on the forum, and highlight the most interesting stuff (if anyone winds up posting material there -- we have no idea at this point) on the blog.
There is probably some better way to go about this (comments and suggestions welcome), but we'll give it a try this way for now.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/08 11:19 PM |
City settles ERACER-related lawsuits
KHOU-11's Lee McGuire reports that Houston taxpayers will wind up spending nearly $750,000 to settle lawsuits stemming from the infamous 2002 K-Mart parking lot raid:
Settling a lawsuit concerning two 2002 crackdowns on illegal street racing will cost taxpayers $731,617.
The Houston City Council Wednesday approved a settlement agreement between the Houston Police Department and two groups of teenagers. In a lawsuit, the teens claim they were detained and arrested in violation of their civil rights.
[snip]
Under the settlement, each of the 101 teenagers will get between $2,500 and $5,000, and it awards several hundred thousand dollars in attorneys’ fees.
The KHOU story does not mention that HPD was led by Clarence Bradford at the time, nor does it offer any quote from the current candidate for Harris County District Attorney. He may have been hiding from reporters under a table somewhere, though.
The Chronicle coverage does mention Bradford:
The city is close to settling the last two lawsuits stemming from the botched police raid and mass arrests in a Kmart parking lot in 2002.
If council approves the proposed settlements on Wednesday, the city will be finished with the legal fallout from the raid, which became a scandal for the Houston Police Department and then-Police Chief C.O. Bradford.
Bradford now is the Democratic candidate for Harris County district attorney.
Houston police arrested 273 people during an Aug. 17, 2002, sweep through a Kmart parking lot on Westheimer.
The sweep was part of a crackdown on illegal street racing, but Capt. Mark Aguirre ordered the arrest of everyone in the parking lot. Many of those arrested said they were store customers or passers-by.
The action was roundly condemned and led to the indictment of Aguirre on five misdemeanor charges of official oppression. He later was acquitted. Aguirre was fired in 2003. He unsuccessfully appealed his firing, saying he was being made a scapegoat for the botched raid.
There is no quote from Bradford in this story either. That table he's hiding under must be impenetrable!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/08 11:07 PM |
Response to Peter Brown's op-ed (Houston Strategies)
Tory Gattis takes apart some of the more fanciful arguments advanced by Councilmember Peter Brown in today's op-ed (Houston Strategies).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/08 10:44 PM |
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