11 August 2009

Chron columnist burger smackdown!

Nearly two years ago, Chron editor Jeff Cohen's reputed distaste for his scribes' endorsing products on the radio seemingly led to the departure of one Chron sports columnist (John Lopez, who chose to stick with his radio gig) and a ban on others endorsing products on the radio.

In 2008, when the Chronicle still had a reader representative (and an associated blog!), Steve Jetton noted that sports columnist Jerome Solomon had to quit his radio show on KNFC-95.7 because the station wanted its hosts to read ads on the air. "The Chronicle's Ethics Policy," Jetton wrote, "prohibits editorial employees from endorsing products."

Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman remains on KGOW-1560, even though he cannot read ads on the air. In his latest column for the Chronicle, he seems to have figured out a clever way around that limitation:

Spurred by envy, Chronicle sports columnist Richard Justice has talked Nick's Place into putting a “Justice Burger” on its menu.

Nick's Place is located on Rocky Ridge, off Westheimer just east of Gessner. It's a sports bar and pizza joint — hardly a burger barn.

Justice couldn't stand that I've been immortalized in Certified Angus Beef with the Hoffy Burger at Demeris BBQ on South Shepherd.

[snip]

I say good luck to the Justice Burger, but if I see an onion ring on top … we're suing.

Demeris BBQ and Nick's Place both advertise on 1560-The Game.

That Hoffman is creative!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/09 10:10 PM |

Linkpost: 08/11/09

Here's a new set of local blog links, guaranteed mostly dim-free or your money back!

Apparently Houston's a Little Dim (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport) If you only click on one link in the latest roundup, make it this one!
What was here? Peter Brown edition (Houstonist)
BARC Whistleblower's Case To Continue (Hair Balls)
The Beatification Of St. Bud, Patron Saint Of A-Holes (Hair Balls)
Titans honor Oilers by wearing throwback jerseys. Too bad it is all a lie (Houston Sports Examiner)
Bud Adams: Houston's Football Savior? (3CB)
More Dunta Robinson talks, the less sense he makes (TexansChick) One Chron sportswriter's response on twitter was a sneering "LOL" which is actually a more appropriate response to the Texans coverage found in that newspaper, especially when compared to the analysis regularly offered by the Stephanie Stradley.
Interview with Natasha Kamrani (Kuff's World)
Firefighters endorse Gene Locke (Houston Politics)
Peter Brown’s traffic plan (Off the Kuff)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/09 08:09 AM |

10 August 2009

The arrogance of METRO (cont'd)

The poor Chron.com metro/state editors have been having a time of it lately.

The Chron.com edition of a weekend story by Bradley Olson on the mayoral candidates' timid approach to crime repeated grafs, which nobody caught*.

The Chron.com edition of today's column by Carolyn Feibel omitted a graf (the lede!). We'll just paste that in below as an image, in case the Chron.com editors are too busy to fix it.

For that matter, we'll also post a correction, since Chron editors don't always get around to them any more: The Texas Watchdog story referenced in the column ran on Friday, not Thursday (as Feibel wrote).

The rest of the column is here.

Recall that METRO spokeswoman Raequel Roberts lashed out over Feibel's previous criticism of the inadequate notice of meetings, ranting that Chron reporters never attend the meetings in question, and METRO would basically continue to decide what is best in terms of notification. METRO board chair David Wolff offered Feibel yet another lame excuse for the ongoing lack of transparency regarding meetings:

Wolff contends that any reticence has developed defensively, after years of being under fierce attack by anti-rail political foes, notably former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican.

Translation: Screw transparency for the taxpayers AND for legislators responsible for our funding -- especially the ones who look at what we are doing closely.

Is there a more arrogant public organization in Texas?

BLOGVERSATION: Texas Watchdog.

* Frequently when the little un-blog points out such errors, they are quickly corrected. But not this time. [UPDATE (08/11/09): All three errors have now been corrected. Glad the un-blog could help!]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/09 09:58 PM |

Timid mayoral candidates reject "drastic" approach to crime

Houston's three mayoral contenders -- and even the other guy in the race -- all agree that we need more police on the street and need "smarter" policing.

None of them really goes into much detail how they will pay for those police, beyond "efficiencies" (or what "smarter" really means beyond "technology").

And they are all pretty timid when it comes to addressing crime, as this excerpt from Bradley Olson's reporting for the Sunday Chronicle (Chron.com editing errors and all) illustrates:

The four candidates' public safety plans share many elements, including a push toward more neighborhood-oriented policing, better cooperation with police agencies in the region and the use of technology for daily crime-fighting.

The four candidates' public safety plans share many elements, including a push toward more neighborhood-oriented policing, better cooperation with police agencies in the region and the use of technology for daily crime-fighting.

Although several candidates noted that having more police has not always been shown to equal less crime, they all generally agree that the department needs more officers. Where they part ways is in how they plan to reach that goal.

All said they would avoid taking steps as drastic as Mayor Bob Lanier's after his 1991 election, when he used hundreds of millions of dollars from the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to pay for street construction, freeing up more money for police staffing.

Paul Magaziner has pointed out that METRO already owes millions to the city (and that the city doesn't seem inclined to collect), so we're not that surprised that none of these candidates is inclined to adopt former Mayor Bob's stance. The new precedent established by Mayor Bill White seems to be hands off METRO.

While it might be "drastic," we're not so sure pulling money from METRO to free the general fund for short-term, reactive policing would be all that effective anyway. We do think that HPD manpower levels are low and that we need to spend what it takes to boost those levels and sustain them, but we also think that HPD needs a better approach to crimefighting overall (CompStat).

In fact, here's our idea of "drastic" leadership when it comes to HPD. William Bratton just announced he's stepping down as police chief in Los Angeles. Is there a mayoral candidate bold enough to endorse bringing Bratton to Houston to implement CompStat (which is all about preventing crime by being smarter)?

That would be bold -- and distinguishing.

Photo of Houston's mayoral candidates by flickr user eschipul, used via a Creative Commons license.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/09 01:22 PM |

Chronicle Doing Its Part? Or Just Coincidence?

Today the Chronicle has a gigantic header about the deaths caused by medical mistakes.

DEAD BY MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!

That got everyone's attention, didn't it? I encourage everyone to read the whole article for yourself. It's filled with a lot of statistics, some tragic examples.

However, some points were not addressed in the article.

First, HIPAA. How much of this would be feasible under HIPAA regulations? After all, since employers cannot inquire as to why their employees are calling in sick, how can a doctor/hospital publicly say they goofed on a patient John Doe?

Second, if the government does run health care, who will be the doctors administering the health care services? It will most likely be the same people.

Third, if a medical practitioner makes a mistake, there are remedies through state licensing boards and in the civil courts. If the government is running the show and a doctor fouls up, who can the patients complain to?

It just seems odd, with all the recent negative backlash against the national health care bill, that the Chronicle would come out with this in such a dramatic fashion.

Posted by Jason @ 08/10/09 11:08 AM |

09 August 2009

Linkpost: 08/09/09

It's time to clear out the weekend blog link backlog and get ready for the week. Enjoy!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/09 09:25 PM |

METRO board: We're not a rubber-stamp; we just all vote like it

The chair of METRO's board doesn't like being called a rubber stamp for CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson.

Nevertheless, a board that once had vigorous debates no longer does, and votes almost seem predetermined.

To quote board member Jackie Freeman, "We end up voting in one voice... and it appears like it’s a rubber stamp, but there’s a lot of work that goes into it before each meeting.”

In a story on Friday, Texas Watchdog's Rosanna Ruiz sorted out METRO's new, please-don't-call-it-a-rubber-stamp approach to delivering near unanimity for Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/09 07:45 PM |

Witness Mayor White's business expertise

You know how Mayor White loves to talk about how he runs the city like a business?

He's fond of using his management experience as a selling point in his senate campaign. Today's Chronicle story of how the feds raided a Southeast Houston waste facility contains a nice little example of that expertise:

The city sued the company in January, initially seeking to temporarily shut down the Griggs plant.

The two sides settled the next month, with CES agreeing to pay the city more than $100,000 to move some operations away from the facility and to put an end to the odors.

[snip]

Last week, Mayor Bill White defended the city's oft-questioned decision to settle with CES.

“We took action which was pretty aggressive, at least by historical city standards,” he said. As a result of the settlement, CES agreed to move “a significant portion” of its operations to another location.

“I know that various attorneys and inspectors have been on it,” White said. “The aggressive action we've taken has been vindicated.”

He wielded the power of his office to get a little revenue for the city, and then he walked away.* A few months later, after the feds swept in to shut things down, Mayor White became defensive (as he tends to do) when questioned about his administration's handling of the settlement, and used his standard "we were aggressive/tough" line -- a usual indicator that he's been neither.

But hey, he garnered $100,000 for the city. And by "historical" standards, he was aggressive. What more can Texans ask for?

*Perhaps the neighboring residents are not what the Chronicle's editorial board would call "well-heeled, civically-active voters," therefore not as deserving of Mayor White's attention as, say, Ashby high-rise opponents.

Photo of Houston Mayor Bill White by flickr user STANANDLOU, used via a Creative Commons license.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/09/09 04:59 PM |

Mr. Andrew Prieditis, declared citizen of Houston and the world!

Today, we salute one Andrew Prieditis, prolific newspaper letter writer and citizen of the world!

Mr. Prieditis came to our attention as we were catching up on Chron letters to the editor over the past week. Although the Houston Chronicle has "an informal 90-day waiting period between letters being published," Mr. Prieditis of Houston managed to get two letters (one on Sarah Palin on 3 August, and one on Joe Biden on 7 August) published within days of each other.

"Punking" the local Hearst daily -- especially now that former letters editor Judy Minshew is no longer around to bring her banking-industry expertise to bear -- is a little like adults taking candy from children (or perhaps even like mayors trying to take the homes of mentally handicapped people). While it certainly can be done, it should probably not be a source of pride or praise.

Mr. Prieditis, however, took it one step further. Not only did he beat the Chron's 90-day limitation on letters from the same person, he managed to get the same Palin letter published in at least five other newspapers (signed Andrew Prieditis, Rosemont in the Chicago Sun-Times online and print, Andrew Prieditis, Seattle in the Seattle Times online and print, Andrew Prieditis, Dallas in the Dallas Morning News online and in print, Andrew Prieditis, San Francisco in the San Francisco Chronicle -- another Hearst paper!).

Mr. Prieditis isn't a one-trick pony, nor is he just a man of this nation. He has managed to get letters on various topics published all over the the world. A cursory search turns up letters-to-the-editor from Andrew Prieditis, Torquay, QLD in The Australian, Andrew Prieditis, Leeson Street, Dublin in The Irish Independent, Andrew Prieditis, Hamilton in the The Southland (NZ) Times, Andrew Prieditis, Elland, West Yorkshire in the UK Independent, Andrew Prieditis, Manila (the address he gives is for a restaurant) in the Manila Times, and Andrew Prieditis, Germantown in the Washington Times.

We emailed a couple of hotmail addresses we found for Mr. Prieditis in hopes of scoring an interview, but haven't heard back from him. In 2007 at least, it would seem that the mysterious Mr. Prieditis was indeed a resident of Germantown, MD. But we prefer to think of him as a citizen of the world.

And to bring it back around to our hyperlocal angle, we view Mr. Prieditis's selection of Houston as one of his cities as yet further validation that WE ARE WORLD CLASS! So congrats to US -- and thank YOU, Andrew Prieditis!

Portrait of The Mystery Man by flickr user Sylvain Bourdos, used via a Creative Commons license.

UPDATE (08/13/09): Thanks to Romenesko for the link!

UPDATE (08/14/09): Eric Shackle emails us this great story that he did. Perhaps Andrew Prieditis was aiming to be the next Oscar Brittle!

UPDATE (08/17/09): Here is additional commentary from Eric Shackle and from Dan Bloom.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/09 02:44 PM |

07 August 2009

A little good news

Two events that occurred on the streets of our metroplex that won't make the news:

First: A teenage girl was home alone when two burglars pulled into the drive and started forcing their way into the home. A call to 911 was made and police made it to the residence relatively quickly. One determined officer arrived as the two burglars were running out of the back (abandoning their car) and hopped over a fence. The lone officer hopped the fence and two others in pursuit of the two burglars. He chased them down a bayou and ran them down. This lone officer was able to catch and arrest both suspects with nobody getting injured. On top of that, these guys are suspected in numerous other burglaries in that area. That lone officer's supervisor wrote a letter of commendation on the same day!

Second: Another officer on patrol attempted to stop a car. The car took off starting a short pursuit. The car went the wrong way; however, not very fast due to rush-hour traffic. The car hit another car head on (thankfully no injuries) and the two occupants fled on foot and were apprehended a short time later. It turns out that the car was taken in a robbery and both suspects were being investigated for other robberies in that part of town. One annoying thing is that the district attorney's office refused to charge them with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle (they did take the evading arrest in a motor vehicle charge though). The DA's office is very reluctant to take UUMV (auto theft in layman's terms) when the suspect has the key to the car. Originally this came about from too many cars reported stolen that were later learned to have been already recovered, or the car was loaned out and a dispute led to the owner calling to report it stolen. However, a car key taken by force usually doesn't constitute auto theft to many assistant DAs.

In conclusion, kudos to these two officers for getting some felons off of the streets!

Posted by Jason @ 08/07/09 11:41 PM |

06 August 2009

Linkpost: 08/06/09

Here's another edition of local blog links, none of which are overrated!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/09 10:50 PM |

Mayor White backtracks from Senate-candidate White (cont'd)

My blogging colleague Anne Linehan was far ahead of the curve* in Houston when she pointed out, back in March, the difference between Mayor Bill White and Senate-Candidate Bill White.

As the city has gone on autopilot and Senate-Candidate White has ramped up his campaign, we've only seen more such instances of our mayor working to redefine himself (as the expensive political consultants put it) for Texans outside of Houston, while pursuing different sorts of policies here in town.

So, it came as no surprise today when Susan Carroll reported for the Houston Chronicle that Mayor White is interested in scaling back the city's newly adopted federal 287(g) program to screen people in the jail for immigration status:

City and police officials have been negotiating changes to the program since last month, when ICE approved Houston's request to train its jailers through 287(g).

The city wants to write in specific instructions for HPD jailers to turn over to ICE only suspected illegal immigrants with “serious” records, such as state jail felonies or certain federal convictions.

Senate-Candidate White, however, insists that his efforts to scale back the program really aren't efforts to scale back the program:

Mayor Bill White denied that the city would create a weaker version of the program implemented nationally. White said Wednesday that the city would target “noncitizens who have committed violent crimes, serious property crimes and serious narcotics crimes” to ensure they are deported after coming into the jails.

“That's pretty strong,” White added.

It may well be "pretty strong." It is also a weaker version of the program implemented nationally.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/09 10:27 PM |

Disconnect: Female firefighters praise HFD, City approves $190k contract related to racism/sexism complaints

Earlier in the week, Mayor Bill White met with over 20 female firefighters to discuss recent controversies in the department. Here is the takeaway line from Miya Shay's reporting for KTRK-13:

"We're being perceived like we're racist, that there is sexual harassment, there's gender discrimination," said Iris Rodriguez with the Houston Fire Department. "That's not the case."

Well, that's certainly some good news after a rocky few weeks!

Nevertheless, City Council yesterday approved a $190,000 contract for two law firms to review HFD's grievance and equal-opportunity policies, just as we predicted they would do two weeks ago. In terms of specifics, we are not exactly sure what the review will entail, or why at least one management-consulting firm wouldn't have been included, but The Houston Way is less about those sorts of questions than it is connections.

KHOU-11's Lee McGuire reported some interesting quotes from Councilmember Jolanda Jones (who voted against the contract, saying "Something doesn't smell right"), Councilmember Ron Green (who voted for the contract, despite lamenting the large amount of money going to lawyers instead of quality-of-life improvements), and Councilmember James Rodriguez (who voted against, wondering what the law firms will be doing exactly since HFD's own investigation isn't complete).

Bradley Olson has more coverage for the Chronicle. Meanwhile, KRIV-26's Isiah Carey asks why HFD refuses to honor his related public information request.

Photo of HFD truck by flickr user finnadat, used via a Creative Commons license.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/09 08:53 AM |

05 August 2009

Just a few tidbits on some METRO "olds" from July...

Turning to a bit of "olds" that has been in the bH blogging queue for a while now...

Readers probably will recall the story that Stephen Dean broke for KPRC-2 a couple of Fridays ago (July 24), on the indicted METRO VP. Here is an excerpt:

A Fort Bend County grand jury indicted William Murphy Madison, 44, of Houston, on charges of online solicitation of a minor, and he was arraigned before a district judge in Richmond this week.

[snip]

Metro has suspended Madison without pay from his $136,000 per year job, where was hired in 2007 as Associate Vice President of Infrastructure and New Initiatives.

The Chronicle finally managed to cover this story the following Monday (July 27). Here is an excerpt from Dale Lezon's reporting:

William Murphy Madison recently was indicted by a Fort Bend County grand jury for online solicitation of a minor, said Sgt. Dwayne Williams, of the Missouri City Police Department.

Williams said the department began investigating the case in September 2007 after a woman alerted authorities that she had found inappropriate images in e-mails on her 16-year-old son's computer.

Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said that Madison, who had worked for the agency since September 2007 and had the title of associate vice president, was suspended without pay the day he was arrested pending the outcome of the investigation.

Notice anything missing? Okay, the bolded text gives it away: Neither of these two stories, several days apart, gave hard dates.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/09 12:46 PM |

04 August 2009

Linkpost: 08/04/09

The day got away from us, so no new blog content tonight, but here is a bunch of good stuff from local bloggers, so please click click click! We'll try to crank out some copy of our own tomorrow.

A Three-Hour Council Meeting On BARC Achieves...About What You'd Expect, Unfortunately (Hair Balls) And still, nobody seems to have any more of a clue why Gerry Fusco was selected for the job of fixing BARC, or why Mayor Bill White chose to bypass Council and effectively throw the money catapult at the guy.
Reports Confirm the Obvious: Locke Is the Undisputed Insider-Establishment Candidate for Mayor (Not That There's Anything Wrong with That, Per Se) (Slampo's Place)
When Green meets the entrenched, inflexible bureaucracy (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport)
Chronically Ephemeral (the series) (Lone Star Times)
Has someone's needs become your world? (The List) That's some headline from one of Chron.com's stable of "brights."
Yet again, Texas does not measure up . . . (Unca Darrell)
The Chronicle loses its nerve (Unca Darrell
Miss Lisa stands up for Texas (Unca Darrell)
Treatment For People Who . . . Don’t Need It? (Defending People)
Lisa Falkenberg's Column on Carvana (Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center)
Interview with Brenda Stardig (Kuff's World)
Gene Green Town Hall Meeting (Lone Star Times)
The Sad State of the HCRP (Lone Star Times)
Have You Been to Pho Binh? (She Eats)
Tour de Wine (Cook's Tour) The Chron's former sports columnist turned Weekly Spec's Wine Shill invades a Chronblog that's almost always worth reading otherwise.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/04/09 11:12 PM |

03 August 2009

TW on Turner, Hutchison: Conflicts of interest?

State Rep. Sylvester Turner has been in the news lately, defending normal people against those mean utility companies. None of the local stories we've seen mentioned one very interesting fact that Texas Watchdog's Jennifer Peebles pointed out here.

That interesting fact may not raise the question of conflict-of-interest so much as the question of whether a truly good investment has been made!

Elsewhere on the Texas Watchdog site, Peebles calls attention to an AP story by Jay Root that explores the appearance of conflicts of interest raised by Sen. Hutchison's advocacy of projects that sometimes have connections to her husband's work (including past dealings with METRO, an organization that Sen. Hutchison has boosted).

Ethics watchdogs question the appearance of some of the dealings. The Hutchisons say everything is aboveboard and their dealings are separate. And Gov. Rick Perry's campaign staff is surely smiling tonight.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/09 10:18 PM |

Olson: We're #1! (in violent crime in Texas)

In a front-page story for the Chronicle today, busy reporter Brad Olson took an in-depth look at FBI crime statistics and how Houston ranks among the largest 25 cities in the country.

The results, in terms of violent crime, aren't good at all. Despite recent chirping from MayorWhiteChiefHurtt that crime numbers in Houston are astoundingly good (and getting better!), the reality as demonstrated by Olson's analysis is that Houston is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. Indeed, Houston is ranked #8 nationwide in terms of violent crime per capita, and #1 in Texas.

Please go read Olson's story in its entirety (as journalists who do that amount of research and analysis at least deserve a proper cite, link, and an "attaboy"), and also check out his accompanying blog post and the crime data he compiled.

We have long made our opinion on Houston crime and policing clear. We think HPD is understaffed, a problem that emerged under Mayor Lee Brown and that remains with us today. We also think HPD is poorly managed, and could benefit from adopting a management philosophy (CompStat) that not only makes wiser use of technology, but is also proactive, strategic, and proven.

We hope our current mayoral candidates will be addressing HPD and crimefighting in much greater detail over the coming weeks and months. Because Houston can be better than #8.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/09 09:23 PM |

02 August 2009

No progress on initiative to remake blighted Hobby area? Declare victory and move on!

Remember back in 2006 when Mayor Bill White's new Housing Czar David Mincberg (another successful BUSINESSMAN, we were told), announced with great fanfare that through various funding sources, the city would be overseeing a $35 million investment in renovating apartments surrounding Hobby Airport?

Then-Councilmember Carol Alvarado was giddy about the expected cleanup of the blighted area:

“When you’re driving either to or from Hobby you kind of just put your eyes over your head until you get to 45,” said City Councilwoman in Dist. I, Carol Alvarado.

Indeed.

And who better to lead the charge than David Mincberg, as Mike Snyder reported for the Chronicle:

Jerry Winograd, president of the Houston Apartment Association, said some developments experienced multiple foreclosures that led to a cycle of neglect and degradation. And in recent years, he said, apartment owners have been hard-pressed to pay for maintenance as rents have decreased while costs such as insurance and utilities increased.

After briefing the City Council on the plan, Mincberg explained it to about 200 apartment industry leaders in a luncheon speech. Winograd said the industry is supporting the effort in part because it is led by Mincberg, a longtime apartment industry executive.

"It was a brilliant move on the mayor's part to bring in an industry person to run the program," Winograd said.

Unfortunately, as Paul Knight reports for the Houston Press Hair Balls blog, that $35 million revamp of the Hobby area never materialized, so putting one's eyes over one's head, as Miss Alvarado put it, is still the norm.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/02/09 09:30 PM |

Linkpost: 08/02/09

It's time for local blog links, the post bH-bash edition.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/02/09 07:54 PM |

Does Mayor Bill White hate puppies? (cont'd)

We are baffled as to why Mayor White refuses to expend any political capital fixing the horrifying conditions at BARC. He has no problem browbeating local industries about pollution and work schedules; he loves to help his developer friends; he dreams up new revenue streams with the greatest of ease; he champions the cause of weatherizing poor Houstonians' homes. But when it comes to helpless little animals, he can't be bothered, other than to hire yet another consultant.

A $200,000 consultant will be of no use to an agency that can't even manage to feed the animals in its care.

If the "eagle-eyed lawyer" put half as much energy into BARC as he just put into CenterPoint, imagine what could change. That would be putting his faith into action.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/02/09 10:06 AM |

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