17 June 2008
KHOU: DPS ready to audit HPD; Mayor says no; Congressmen critical
Last night, KHOU-11's Mark Greenblatt continued his reporting on HPD's recent difficulties in reporting crimes accurately. To recap the earlier stories:
In the last year, the 11 News Defenders have uncovered crime after crime that Houston police simply never reported, leaving them off annual crime counts.
We found them claiming an amazing “zero” embezzlements; having not one, not two, but four different totals for the amount of DWIs; and leaving at least 16 murders out of reports to the state and federal government — often leaving their investigation and grieving loved ones in limbo.
The problem has drawn the attention of two area members of Congress, Ted Poe and John Culberson, both of whom are interviewed by Greenblatt. Neither is complimentary of the city's handling of this scandal.
Mayor White, who really doesn't like criticism, wants no part of an independent audit (or, seemingly, Greenblatt's questions):
The Texas Department of Public Safety is the FBI’s partner agency watching over Texas’ crime statistics, and they said they’d be glad to do a full audit of HPD’s figures.
The problem?
Houston’s leaders need to ask for one.
It is something Mayor Bill White doesn’t want to do.
11 News: Why not ask DPS to come in and do this audit?
Mayor White: I would prefer to have the internal controls and procedures that we think are sufficient that work and have more DPS people come and help us find criminals.
11 News: Why not put this to bed for good and get the most comprehensive audit that’s being offered, if you ask, by DPS?
White: Well I think some of the things we’ve done internally to check the numbers are very comprehensive, and you think by asking the same question time and time again you’re going to get me to say something different?
Snippy, snippy!
Of course, that strategy of comprehensive internal checks of the crime lab some years ago worked out really well. For a while. Until the city had to spend millions of dollars to hire an independent auditor to tell them everything that was wrong.
Mayor White's bumbling police chief apparently wanted no part of Greenblatt's questions:
The Houston Police Department, via a statement, said that it would welcome an audit of its crime stats from “any authorized outside agency.” Still, Police Chief Harold Hurtt declined an 11 News request for an interview for this story.
Way to reassure the public, Chief! That's some leadership. If he keeps practicing hiding under a table when reporters are asking questions, maybe one day he too can run for District Attorney!
It's good to see Greenblatt continuing to push this important story forward. Citizens need to be able to trust the crime statistics being reported by their local government.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/17/08 10:50 PM |
Litton Loan: Unsatisfactory to the BBB, good enough for Mayor White*
Did you know that Mayor White recently teamed up with ACORN, and some financial institutions to hold a "Foreclosure Prevention Fair"? The Houston Press' Richard Connelly dug up a stunning tidbit about the event:
One of the participating financial institutions: Litton Loan.
That caused some raised eyebrows at the Houston chapter of the Better Business Bureau.
"We [moved to] revoke their membership some years ago, and they have maintained a high volume of complaints with a lot unanswered and unresolved," says Stacey Fletcher, BBB's senior director of dispute resolution.
When the agency notified Litton of the action it intended to take, the company quit the BBB. (Take that!)
Litton has maintained "a consistently unsatisfactory rating" at the BBB since June 2005, Fletcher says.
The problems aren't limited to Houston. Nationwide, Litton has faced an avalanche of complaints, with consumers saying they have been charged late fees for on-time payments or even when a consumer sent his mortgage check to his old bank just after the bank sold the loan to Litton. (There's supposed to be a 60-day grace period for such payments, but Litton tends to lack grace, apparently.)
Fletcher says the BBB is baffled as to why the Mayor's office chose to have Litton as a participant.
"The Bureau is not going to recommend a company to help people for the Mayor's program or otherwise if they choose not to meet our basic consumer complaint standard," she says.
Mayoral spokesman Frank Michel says Litton is exactly the kind of business that should be participating at the fair.
"The whole purpose of the foreclosure fair is to help fix the mess made by some of the lending industry's most-problem[atic] practitioners. That's why we have to have some of those companies at the fair," he says.
Say what??? That has to be one gigantic misquote. It is not possible that someone could think it was a good idea to team up problem lenders with folks facing foreclosure. That's insanity! City-sponsored insanity!
Litton Loan undoubtedly found some new victims, courtesy of the City of Houston. Maybe Annise Parker will soon start a new initiative to help folks harmed by the city's foreclosure fair!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/17/08 08:25 PM |
16 June 2008
Sheriff's office video. Let's go hunting! (Houston Politics)
Matt Stiles questions the tone of this video featuring the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force (Houston Politics).
I think it's pretty cool, and Cynthia Hunt's inclusion is even better. What do you think?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/16/08 09:28 PM |
Lifestyles of the less well-heeled (cont'd)
Mayor vows action on apartment safety
With renewed attention on substandard conditions at some Houston apartments, Mayor Bill White plans to spend up to $1 million a year on additional inspections to ensure compliance with the city's safety standards.
[snip]
White has considered policy changes for more than a year, since two children were shocked by an open power transformer at a north Houston apartment complex. But recent Houston Chronicle stories documenting code violations and substandard conditions at apartment complexes helped speed the decision, city officials say.
Mayor White "vows action," "plans to spend up to $1 million," "has considered" doing something for more than a year, and now (more than a year later) things are "speeding up." Man, talk about a breakneck pace!
Just wondering, why didn't he take action a year ago after two children were injured?
Contrast this with how Mayor White sprung into action when a high rise threatened the views of some of his, er, wealthy, influential, civically-active constituents. He moved so fast, he created an ordinance that would have had a stifling impact on high-rise and multi-family construction all over Houston.
However, when it comes to dealing with Houston's slum apartments, Mayor White paces himself and considers things. That's pretty revealing.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Interestingly, a post over at the Chron's Houston Politics blog that hinted at former multifamily housing czar and current County Judge candidate David Mincberg's ineffectiveness in solving these problems produced an entirely self-serving proclamation from Mincberg's campaign:
I'm thrilled to see this initiative come to fruition," Mincberg said. "The Mayor's program not only helps identify problems, but also provides project owners with the information to make the necessary improvements. Everyone involved has worked hard to ensure the City developed a long-term solution to protect the safety of residents.
Back in March 2007, Mincberg seemed to be (self-)promoting the notion that a fix for Houston's slum apartments was just around the corner. Apparently it was not. Just a few months later, according to Mayor White's dispatch on the Chron blog, Mincberg became preoccupied:
David Mincberg had worked on this a bit, and the City has been grateful for his services, but he has been asked to pass off responsibilities for this because of other time commitments and pursuits.
He got too busy running for Harris County judge actually to finish solving the City of Houston problem he said was on the verge of being solved?
And this is the guy who promises to run Harris County "like a business"? Yikes!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/16/08 07:42 PM |
15 June 2008
Trees for Houston unhappy over Kirby reconstruction
The Examiner news group's Michael Reed checks in with ongoing complaints over the Kirby reconstruction that will take out trees between Richmond and Westheimer:
Four months after learning a compromise it agreed to on Kirby Drive construction would still mean the loss of all the trees lining the street between Richmond Avenue and Westheimer Road, Trees for Houston has withdrawn its support.
“These plans will, in fact, completely destroy the very environment that has drawn significant reinvestment dollars and marketing appeal to the Upper Kirby area,” said Barry Ward, director of the organization.
Ward’s comments came in a news release a week before the organization’s founding President William Coats told a group attending the Upper Kirby District TIRZ on May 28 that the nonprofit now supports reducing the width of the proposed street surface alterations by a foot on either side.
Mayor White, who doesn't much care for critics, certainly doesn't seem to care for this group's criticism:
In a news release May 23, Houston Mayor Bill White took issue with the Trees for Houston statement, saying it gave the appearance the city, “various council members,” merchants and landowners had “cooked up” a plan to destroy the area.
“That sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? But it’s not true,” White said.
The mayor added that the top priority of the project is drainage, followed by mobility, promotion of a pedestrian-friendly retail area and added greenspace.
He said not only had Trees for Houston agreed to the original compromise, but all but one adjacent property owner endorsed the project.
As presented in a May 21 letter to Bailey, Trees for Houston asked that a redesigned Kirby consist of five 10-foot lanes and two 10.5-foot outer lanes to accommodate buses. City ordinance, however, requires outer lanes of 11 feet.
Without a doubt, the main priority of this project is drainage.
But, we have competing secondary priorities -- center esplanades with pretty landscaping and lanes wide enough for oversized-SUV navigation by affluent River Oaks types (ultimately, what the "compromise" favors and what Mayor White is defending) versus pedestrian-friendly development that also seeks to preserve existing trees/"greenspace" for people who actually live in the area and prefer walkability improvements (what Trees for Houston and this former resident of the affected neighborhood favor). It's not entirely honest for the mayor to act as if choices aren't being made among those secondary priorities (poor choices, in my view).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 10:22 PM |
Plagiarism at Hearst: A tale of two Texas newspapers
A few days ago, Bob Richter, the (not-invisible) public editor/ombudsman/reader representative of Hearst's San Antonio newspaper reported that one of the newspaper's columnists had resigned (no doubt under pressure):
“Ramiro [Burr] caused the Express-News to unknowingly publish work under his name that was not, in fact, his own work,” said Robert Rivard, editor of the Express-News.
“It was the work of at least one other writer who did not receive credit and who we did not know about. Ramiro decided on his own to resign just as our investigation was concluding and we were preparing to take appropriate action. We have a zero-tolerance policy whenever someone on our staff presents work as their own that is not their own.”
Richter has previously described the Express-News' zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism:
Express-News writers who plagiarize other writers' work typically are summarily fired. In an era when nearly anyone can publish nearly anything — on blogs, personal Web sites and the traditional ways — newspapers and media Web sites must be ever vigilant against plagiarism.
In contrast, at the Hearst daily in Houston, writers who have "borrowed" other writers' work with no consequences include a featured columnist and editorial writers, the editor doesn't seem to care, and the reader representative is an invisible man.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 09:08 PM |
Dash Express: Very cool, but a little stupid where it counts (Chron TechBlog)
Dwight Silverman gives a Dash Express a Houston test drive (Chron TechBlog).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 06:01 PM |
Clarence Bradford sighting! (cont'd)
DA candidate Clarence Bradford, the former Houston police chief, asserted that "crime is out of control" here. We wondered out loud whether that means former police chiefs did not do their jobs right. Bradford did not answer directly or offer stats to gird his assertion but did say that more and more citizens "distrust components of our criminal justice system" because of said scandals.
We don't imagine he did deign to answer a reporter's question directly! Indeed, the scary thought that he might have to answer tough questions about his role in the crime lab fiasco probably sent him scurrying back under a table.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 05:41 PM |
Thinking jobs and cost of living? Think Houston.
A publicist for BusinessWeek passes along the news that in their latest compilation of "Best and Worst Cities For Your Job," Houston gets the most mentions.
The accompanying article reflects on some of Houston's strengths:
Only a few years ago, Houston was reeling. The implosion of Enron in 2001 had sandbagged the local economy, and the mood was grim. But that seems like a long time ago now. The explosion in energy costs has boosted the city's oil- and natural gas-fed economy, which is home to ExxonMobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), as well as Waste Management (WMI), KBR (KBR), and many more. Job seekers in all sorts of careers have started streaming into Houston, where the unemployment rate was 3.8% in April, the lowest level in eight years, and where the job growth rate was 2.8%.
Businessweek.com worked with Seattle's Payscale.com to determine where the best and worst cities are for 20 common careers and found that—when it comes to earning a comfortable living—Houston it [sic] at or near the top for most jobs, from human resources manager to graphic designer. We adjusted the median compensation for jobs in each of the top 25 big-city metros for cost of living. Houston, Dallas, and Charlotte, N.C., rose to the top for many of the jobs because they're affordable cities with competitive salaries. New York, San Francisco, Washington, Los Angeles, and Boston, which have some of the highest salaries, sank to the bottom because residents there pay through the nose for real estate, parking, groceries, and almost everything else.
[snip]
Barton Smith, a professor of economics at the University of Houston who summers in Colorado, towed his favorite 1987 Dodge Colt Vista station wagon back to Houston one year because it would have cost him more than twice as much to replace the engine in Colorado, he said.
Housing Is a Crucial Cost"The real wages in Houston adjusted for cost-of-living differences are relatively high because cost of living is low," Smith said. "It's not just housing, but housing gets a lot of attention."
People way outside of Houston are starting to catch on to its strengths, even as some less enlightened locals continue the hot pursuit of world-classness via trinkets.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 05:29 PM |
The definition of insanity, Harris County style (Off the Kuff)
Charles Kuffner laments the "insanity" of Harris County wanting to expand its space to lock up bad guys (Off the Kuff).
In their provocative book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner argue persuasively that the significant reduction of crime in America in the 1990s can be attributed to three significant factors: 1) the impact of abortion, 2) higher rates of imprisonment, and 3) increased number of police.
Their abortion linkage, while interesting, is not very instructive to policymakers.
Locally, however, the other two factors are extremely important for crime policy. HPD's manpower shortage is a significant problem for area crimefighting, a direct result of of former Mayor Brown's policies and the seeming indifference of current Mayor Bill White, so significantly boosting HPD manpower almost certainly will fall to Bill White's successor.
Compounding HPD's manpower issues by undoing the positive effects of higher rates of punishment (and the prison capacity for the same) would be a big mistake, though. We hope more sensible thinking will prevail at the county level.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 05:12 PM |
Entitled to their own facts (Unca Darrell)
Since the Chron's letters editor is not always up to the task, Unca Darrell does a bit of fact-checking/debunking of a letter that appeared in the Hearst daily. (Unca Darrell)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 04:54 PM |
TxPIAs for Dummies (The METRO Edition)
We've written before about Tom Bazan's regular attempts to pry ridership data, fare revenue, and other assorted items of interest out of METRO, and how METRO routinely ignores his requests. When Tom gets really insistent (translation: he gets the TXOAG involved), METRO reluctantly complies, but even then it's often only a partial fulfillment.
A recent example of METRO's delaying tactics was when the transit agency finally handed over March's ridership details -- in the middle of May. The reason for the stalling was apparent: March's numbers showed a decline in ridership.
Anyway, Tom has decided to help out the poor dears who compile the information. He's now making daily TxPIA requests for ridership and fare data, thinking this might make it easier to get him the numbers. Presumably METRO tallies its numbers daily, so forwarding that shouldn't be too hard, right?
So, how's it going? Well, I did see an email last week from METRO paralegal Jacqueline Maldonado regarding the June 8th TxPIA request. METRO will notify Tom by June 23rd if/how it will be complying.
Now seems like a good time to recall the immortal words of METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson:
We operate the METRO organization in a completely transparent manner.
Can you imagine how much worse it would be if METRO weren't completely transparent???
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/08 02:47 PM |
METRO's insanity
I thought these three opinions on METRO's current focus were worth highlighting. First up are two letters to the editor in today's Chronicle:
MARTA vs. Metro
Councilman Peter Brown is against any delay in the Metro light rail vote, saying we are "woefully behind Atlanta." (Please see "Amid concerns, council delays rail line vote," Page B2, Thursday.) Has he ever ridden Atlanta's rail system (called MARTA)?If we had a system like MARTA, we wouldn't have a majority of Houstonians against our own rail system. MARTA is grade separated, so it doesn't stop for every red light, and never has street accidents. MARTA has real train stations, where you actually use a ticket for entry, instead of Metro's "honor system." MARTA has built parking garages at many stations, so commuters can drive to the closest station, park and ride to downtown. How many of us would like to use Metro light rail, but there is nowhere to park near a station? And most importantly, MARTA runs from the suburbs through downtown and to the airport.
In most cities, residents fight to get the rail system to come to their neighborhood. In Houston, we fight to keep it out. And this won't change until Metro realizes street-level rail will never work.
STUART FELDMAN
HoustonDanger of currents
On Wednesday I earnestly asked City Council to deny Metro consent to build rail on Richmond Avenue because of the 66-inch high-pressure waterline that lies beneath 2.6 miles of Richmond Avenue, from Wheeler Station to Cummins and beyond. There is no question that the water line would be subject to stray currents produced by the rail line above it. The steel pipe cannot be fully protected from stray electrical currents, nor can it be properly inspected with the rail line built on top of it.
During Wednesday's City Council meeting, we witnessed the remarkable appearance of Dr. Richard Wainerdi, president of the Texas Medical Center. Wainerdi graduated from the University of Oklahoma in engineering, and then took a masters and a doctorate in engineering from Penn State. Wainerdi stated he was speaking as a "professional engineer.
The Medical Center is concerned about stray electrical current eating away at their building foundations near the rail line, but they are beyond anxious about stray current opening up "pinhole leaks" in the enormous system of high-pressure steam pipes that form the backbone of the Medical Center's heating and air-conditioning capabilities.
Wainerdi pointed out that if a pinhole leak developed in a high-pressure steam pipe, it would burst with a catastrophic blast, probably injuring or killing people nearby. Even more devastating, it would mean immediate loss of heating or cooling in the entire Medical Center, where "there are at least 800 babies in bassinets at all times." It would make the Medical Center uninhabitable for 150,000 employees, patients and staff. Wainerdi said that for such a failure not to occur under the circumstance of stray current from the rail line, "you have to repeal the laws of physics."
What does this have to do with Richmond Avenue? Everything. The source of the stray current is the same: the electric rail that Metro intends to build on top of 2.6 miles of high-pressure steel pipe. And the effects of that stray current on the Richmond pipe would result in precisely the catas-trophic failure and blast of the pipe that the Texas Medical Center is so anxious to avoid.
Metro and the city of Houston Engineering Department are untruthful when they state that stray current will be contained on Richmond Avenue and proper inspections of the pipeline can be achieved. How do you inspect 2.6 miles of pipeline through a few manholes placed along the route? Stray current is highly unpredictable; it can cause a pinhole leak at any point along the entire pipeline.
I urge City Council not to let Metro build on Richmond, but move the rail back to West-park, where it already owns the right of way, and where none of these problems exist.
CHRISTIAN N.SEGER
Houston
I don't recall any local media stories highlighting Dr. Wainerdi's appearance before City Council last week, but because of a busy week, it's entirely possible I missed it.
Secondly, Kevin highlighted this post by Lou Minatti last week, which translated some METRO spin for us. In response to a commenter, Lou Minatti posted a comment that nicely sums up what many of us think:
So clue me in: How does Metro's light rail plan remove cars from the roads, other than via collisions? The Red Line is a charade, and the numbers Metro touts are due to the fact that TMC employees use it to get from remote parking lots to their offices. (It's handy during Rodeo time, though.)
Hands up: How many of you will be riding light rail once it's expanded out to Hillcroft and out to the east side? That's what I thought.
Light rail in low-density cities like Houston, Atlanta and Dallas is not about moving as many people as efficiently as possible from work to home to play, it is about the city promoting land development. They think that by running light rail along certain corridors that people will naturally want to live work and play along these corridors. Well, that's great for monied DINKs with $300k townhouses and condos. The city also thinks that's great because of the additional property taxes. Meanwhile, it doesn't get one single person in Sugar Land, Katy, Woodlands, Pasadena or west Houston off the road. The light rail lines benefit a tiny handful of inner-loop residents (and property developers) at the expense of all of us. You 1 million people up along FM 1960, do you enjoy paying your 1 percent Metro sales tax despite having NO SERVICE WHATSOEVER?
The only thing I would add is that there is bus service along FM 1960 between Kuykendahl and SH 249. I've been meaning to take pictures of all the bus stops along that westbound stretch to highlight how METRO treats the folks who have to ride the 86. Generally speaking, the bus stops consist of a METRO sign and a small square of concrete. One or two have benches, and a couple have trash receptacles. None has a mural covered shelter. About the only shelter any of these bus stops have is a nearby tree or the overhang of a nearby business.
But hey! I'll bet inner loop residents will enjoy their new light rail stations.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/08 08:06 AM |
14 June 2008
Slumlord-Rep. Vo: I hope voters won't hold this against me
Slumlord-Rep. Vo pats himself on the back, saying "I kept my promise," except that he kept his promise only after he was caught. He certainly didn't keep his promise to his tenants until Councilman Rodriguez raised a stink.
Former Congressman J. C. Watts' definition of character is fitting in this instance: “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.”
"I have put into place some procedures to keep this from happening again. [...]"
Maybe he could actually visit his properties once in a while, and talk to his tenants.
Vo said he hoped voters would not define him based on one issue.
"I can't speak for my opponent," he said. "I just hope that people will look at my legislative record and the things that I have done for the district."
Don't forget Vo's motto: Accessible. Responsive. Independent -- "It’s all about being accessible to you and our community, responsive to the needs of your family or small business, and independent enough to put people over politics."
Maybe now Vo will apply his motto to his tenants, and not just voters in his district.
MORE: I had forgotten about Vo's attempt to intimidate HPD to ease up on his slum properties -- he used official Texas House of Representatives letterhead! As Kevin noted at the time, "Nothing like trying* to use your elected position of power to intimidate local law enforcement to the benefit of your private enterprise."
I'll bet Slumlord-Rep. Vo hopes voters won't hold this whole sorry spectacle against him.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/14/08 09:03 AM |
13 June 2008
There's no such thing as "closure" (Women in Crime Ink)
Extraordinary Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler tries her hand at blogging (Women in Crime Ink).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/13/08 07:49 AM |
Constitutional scholar (Slampo's Place)
Slampo points out some potential problems with Senate candidate Rick Noriega's recent comment on constitutional amendment (Slampo's Place).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/13/08 07:30 AM |
Slumlord-Rep. Vo cleans up his act
Matt Stiles posts that Slumlord-Rep. Howard Vo has resolved electrical and structural issues, and his apartment complexes are now in compliance.
Now, can he keep his properties in livable condition?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/13/08 04:57 AM |
11 June 2008
Chron Editorial LiveJournalist still piqued over leftover rejection?
Some time ago, Chron Editorial LiveJournalist Andrea Georgsson lamented on the Chronicle editorial page that none of her neighbors wanted her leftovers when her electric went out.
The outrage!
She may still be upset (and unstable), judging from this unsigned editorial today:
Waste not
This nation of fatties who throw out tons of food is beginning to stop taking meals for granted
The newspaper is full of stories of rising food prices, more demand for food assistance through food pantries and sharply lower food donations to feed growing numbers of hungry people — not to mention violent unrest provoked by unaffordable prices and scarcity. From this, a small bright side is emerging: Americans are taking renewed interest in curtailing the massive amount of food wasted everyday.
In the lean years of the Great Depression, families would not dream of throwing away perfectly edible food. But economic times improved, and modern agriculture production and distribution methods created a cheap and plentiful supply of meats, grains and produce. Today, cleaning one's plate to avoid wasting a morsel has given way to wasteful all-you-can-eat buffets, outsized portions and leftovers that are thrown out rather than eaten. The moldering contents of office fridges across the land tell the story of a people who by and large take food for granted and are indifferent to its waste.
The last time the Department of Agriculture reported on how much food goes to waste each year was in 1997. That study found that Americans toss out or let rot an astonishing 96.4 billion pounds of the 356 billion pounds of edible food produced, according to the May 18 New York Times. Milk, fresh produce, grain-based foods and sugars, the Times said, comprised two-thirds of the waste.
Some of the tossed food is table scraps. Some is left to rot in fields. A shocking amount is composed of restaurant and grocery discards that are 100 percent edible. They are fruits and vegetables with minor blemishes, dented canned goods, still-fresh dairy products discarded on sell-by dates that are widely viewed to be overly conservative, and trays of never-touched prepared dishes that didn't sell.
She had to be DYING to work her unwanted leftover London Broil into the editorial!
Calling the US a "nation of fatties" was a nice touch, though -- surely a demonstration of the "elegance, wit and insight one looks for in ... editorial pages in their ideal state," as Chief Editorial LiveJournalist James Howard Gibbons once put it.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/11/08 11:25 PM |
Consultants paid to recommend rail, recommend rail (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport)
Cory Crow is unsurprised that consultants paid to recommend rail end up recommending rail (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/11/08 10:59 PM |
Houston Metro admits: Mass transit doesn't work (Lou Minatti)
Lou Minatti breaks down some transit spin from METRO's expensive blogger (Lou Minatti)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/11/08 10:55 PM |
[Previous 20 Entries] [Next 20 Entries]