10 August 2010
Fortunately, no bus riders were on the bus that crashed (what?)
LAST NIGHT, a METRO bus driver crashed into an empty building to avoid a car running a red light.
Neal Meyer noticed an interesting fact in the reporting:
No passengers were on the bus or riding in the Infiniti at the time of the crash.
No riders were on the bus around 7pm last night? Why not?
Seriously -- transit usage continues to plummet in town. Perhaps the New METRO needs to consider why usage is down, even though population is increasing and the economy isn't exactly humming. Since Mike Snyder opined two months ago that all METRO's credibility problems had been solved, surely it's time to start tackling the main task of moving more citizens about the city.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/10 09:14 PM |
More (amateurish) content isn't better, whatever Village Voice HQ says
WE don't comment much here on professional food writing in Houston these days, since we're still somewhat in denial over the fact that our big and diverse restaurant town is pretty much covered by one truly professional*, experienced restaurant critic these days.
That said, this recent line on the Village Voice Houston food blog was pretty bad even by their low standards:
Though Killen's menu described blue as having a cold, red center, it sure gave me a warm fuzzy center.
We really do miss the days when professional journos staffed the local alt-weeklies (yes, plural!), and the writing was compelling and substantive.
* By this, we don't mean simply "paid," but rather paid, anonymous, and possibly able to visit a restaurant more than twice before declaring it inconsistent.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/10 09:04 PM |
09 August 2010
Dolcefino: Is CM Johnson avoiding 13 Undercover?
KTRK-13'S WAYNE DOLCEFINO says that ethics questions are swirling around Councilmember Jarvis Johnson's office.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/10 10:16 PM |
Chron: "City's take-home cars burn red ink by the gallon"
THE CHRON'S JAMES PINKERTON AND YANG WANG turned in some excellent watchdog reporting today on the city's fairly lax (and costly) take-home vehicle policy. Here's a teaser:
[A] Houston Chronicle analysis shows hundreds of municipal employees use taxpayers' cars more for commuting to work than they do for job duties. According to mileage reports filed for 1,200 vehicles assigned to city employees, only 54 percent of the total mileage reported was work-related.
It's also worth revisiting Rorschach's earlier post on the costs associated with former Mayor Bill White's preferred "green" Toyota Prius purchases.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/10 09:38 PM |
Yellow Cab vs World Class?
THE NEW YORK TIMES posts a blurb on Washington Avenue and Houston's Washington Wave jitney service.
Will such "world-class" acclaim hold off Yellow Cab (which surely would still like to put jitneys fully out of commission, not unlike the competing shuttle service some years back)?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/10 09:29 PM |
08 August 2010
Headline: Women at Houston Port win a round in Potty Wars!
THIS may have been the best local news headline of the week:
Women at Houston Port Win a Round in Potty Wars
Definitely go read, then come back to comment!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/08/10 10:37 PM |
Carey: Are black newspaper owners going to blackball Bill White?
ISIAH CAREY asks, Are black newspaper owners going to blackball Bill White?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/08/10 10:34 PM |
Live Oaks on the Jitney re-regulation
LIVE OAKS comments on Houston City Council "absurdity" regarding the latest jitney regulations.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/08/10 10:27 PM |
Texas Watchdog notes campaign-finance irregularities, pol jumps!
ON FRIDAY, TEXAS WATCHDOG reported on some irregularities in campaign-finance reports from HISD board president Grey Myers.
Not many hours later, Texas Watchdog reported that Myers was *ahem* correcting his campaign-finance reports.
Maybe next week, the Chronicle will have something on this story!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/08/10 10:17 PM |
Houston DWI Blog: Preferential treatment for athletes?
HOUSTON DWI BLOG has an interesting question about the Pat Lykos DWI divert program and preferential treatment for athletes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/08/10 10:07 PM |
06 August 2010
Blogger/Journo/Activist/Citizen-Journo meetup Saturday
TEXAS WATCHDOG is hosting a blogger/journo/activist/citizen-journalist meetup at the Stag's Head Pub, Saturday, 3-5 pm.
The BH crew encourages fellow bloggers/readers/commenters to show up a bit early (say 2pm), and have an early drink (or several).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/10 11:10 PM |
Hookers, HPD, dismissed charges, oh my!
HOOKERS! HPD! DISMISSED CHARGES! OH MY!
In all seriousness, a hat tip to the Chron's Brian Rogers, who wrote up that story much more professionally than we might have.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/10 11:01 PM |
Parker Administration shrinks Housing and Community Development
THE ANNISE PARKER ADMINISTRATION started making headway today on another of many problems they inherited from former Mayor Bill White.
Jim Noteware, the person Mayor Parker appointed to reshape the city's troubled Houston and Community Development Department, announced a significant downsizing at the organization:
The Houston Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today announced a restructuring that will restore financial integrity, improve performance and facilitate expansion of the mission to include a new focus on community development.
“This is a top to bottom reorganization reflecting our commitment to improved operations and changing the overall culture and public perception of HCD,” said HCD Director Jim Noteware. “It involves everything from greater focus on communication and transparency to improved staff training and enhanced monitoring of compliance with federal and state guidelines. This department has had difficulties for years. Mayor Parker’s charge was to fix it. This plan will do just that.”
The restructuring includes a reduction in force of 29 positions. “This step is necessary to reduce spending that has exceeded our allowance for administration of the grants that we manage,” said Mr. Noteware. “We have to live within our means.”
Frankly, this city department probably is still larger than it should be, but we commend Mayor Parker and her staff on the downsizing. We're not quite sure why they saved it for a Friday, though. We would have tried to get this "good government" story on all the news broadcasts at the start of the week.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/10 10:38 PM |
Chron ed board: Rah Rah establishment (whoever they are today)
HERE is the conclusion to a recent Chron editorial:
It will take time to change Metro's internal culture while altering its public image of executive arrogance and unresponsiveness. The new team has the right priorities and the right talk. We hope that with all possible speed they can turn that talk into reality.
It's the sort of establishment cheerleading (and complete amnesia regarding their cheerleading for the previous corrupt leadership) that we've come to expect from America's Worst Big City Daily.
As a reminder, this is the same editorial board that all but screeched to the new Mayor-elect back in December to keep her hands of METRO (exact headline: Full plate: With a plethora of pressing issues, the new mayor should tread lightly on Metro). Thankfully, Mayor Parker ignored them (like most Houstonians do) and replaced the corrupt leadership at the organization, without any support at the time from America's Worst Big City Daily (indeed, quite the opposite).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/10 10:15 PM |
05 August 2010
Prof 13: Redistricting, Part Two
RICHARD MURRAY takes a closer look at the upcoming political redistricting in the City of Houston.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 05:29 PM |
Pot, kettle?
RICHARD CONNELLY is back on the KTRH beat for the Houston Press, lamenting that the radio station used to have "aggressive and competent" journalists "who covered the city well."
Funny enough, but some of us remember when the Village Voice Houston corporate alt-weekly was staffed with professional journalists who covered the city well. Now? Cheap/amateur content and fluff predominate.
Times change, we're told.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 05:24 PM |
Texas Tribune on HC jail overcrowding
TEXAS TRIBUNE'S BRANDI GRISSOM looks at the ongoing controversy over Harris County jail overcrowding.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 04:47 PM |
McGuff: Houston radio reception
MIKE MCGUFF explains why you might have had reception problems with Houston radio stations last weekend.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 04:42 PM |
Live Oaks: METRO's got a gun
LIVE OAKS follows up on a couple of points in The Mighty Wizard's recent post on METRO.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 04:37 PM |
More on that non-partisan voter registration project
TEXAS LIBERAL concedes that those "non-partisan" claims from Houston Votes look a little bit shaky.
That conclusion is so obvious that one may have to be a staffer for Texas Tribune to miss it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/10 04:33 PM |
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