01 April 2010
Council should discuss/revise city's sanctuary policy
ONE REASON we don't take some MSM journos seriously when they engage in "fact-checking" and "analysis" is that too often the end product just appears to be editorializing posing as something more objective. Quaintly (it seems), we prefer straight reporting of news/facts, so that we can decide what we think for ourselves.
Perry vs World analyzes one such instance of editorializing-as-fact-checking that involves Houston: The debate over Houston's "sanctuary city" status, and Politifact's opinion that it's not.
We like Cory Crow's term PolitiFarce for this sort of editorializing-posing-as-fact-checking that we sometimes see from these folks.
On a related note, Mayor Annise Parker recently asserted that Houston is not a sanctuary city.
We hope that means that, unlike former Mayor Bill White, she will allow City Council seriously to discuss revisions to General Order 500-5, the edict from HPD chief Sam Nuchia in 1992 that established Houston's sanctuary policy. We believe that elected officials should be vetting and deciding such policies, and that a discussion of that order's positives/negatives is certainly warranted after nearly two decades.
UPDATE: Perry vs World posts even more on Houston's sanctuary status.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/01/10 09:33 AM |
31 March 2010
Slampo: Aloysius Chronicles, the Hoang Way
SLAMPO checks in on the latest antics of favorite councilmember Al(oysius) Hoang.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/31/10 09:47 PM |
Council approves Lakewood sale
CORY CROW posts two perspectives on the Summit/Compaq Center sale (three, actually, counting his).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/31/10 09:44 PM |
Chron star section apologizes for unfunny joke
AMERICA'S WORST BIG CITY DAILY was forced to run a correction today after a joke* in MeMo's Star section missed the mark:
AS April Fools’ Day approaches, we called psychologist Muriel Meicler to see if she could think of some pranks or practical jokes that parents might play on their kids. “I might sound like an old sourpuss,” Meicler said, “but I’ve never been a fan of those jokes. The purpose is to make the recipient look stupid, silly, gullible. It’s humor at the expense of somebody else’s feelings. So no, I don’t encourage April Fools’ jokes for children or even adults. Nobody likes to be laughed at.” We should have called her earlier. Tuesday we ran a short list of possible parent-on-child pranks.
No. 3 was this: Tell the kids they were adopted and now their birth mothers want them back.
Many readers have let us know how unfunny and inappropriate that advice was.
We don't have a link because that elaboration on a teaser correction isn't to be found on Chron.com; we pulled it from the e-edition.
Back when the Chronicle actually had a reader representative who wrote a regular column, MeMo's horrible Star section regularly was in the crosshairs. It's not improved since then.
That description is the newspaper's. Many readers might well have difficulty distinguishing the types of content in the section.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/31/10 09:42 AM |
30 March 2010
Changes at the Housing and Community Development Dept
ROUGHLY TWO WEEKS AGO, Bill White appointee Richard Celli resigned from the City of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department (seemingly under pressure).
Last week, Mayor Annise Parker quietly appointed former councilmember Ada Edwards to head the organization on a temporary basis, while a search for a permanent director is conducted.
Texas Watchdog adds that before that resignation, Mayor Parker had asked Celli's assistant director to leave as well.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/30/10 07:22 PM |
29 March 2010
Sports economist on economic impact of stadiums
KUHF'S JACK WILLIAMS runs an interesting perspective on the economic impact of sports stadiums:
Andrew Zimbalist, a noted sports economist, says you can't just plop a stadium downtown and expect the area around it to flourish.
"A sports facility by itself cannot be expected to boost the area economy and when we say area economy we're talking about the amount of output in the area and the number of jobs in an area. The evidence simply does not suggest that one could reliably depend upon any type economic boost whatsoever."
Zimbalist says downtown projects that have been successful in other cities have usually included a commitment by the city, county or team to invest in the surrounding area.
The skeptical perspective is a nice addition to the debate, although we hope the powers-that-be don't take that last as a reason to invest even MORE in the soccer boondoggle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/29/10 10:40 PM |
Russian bombings: METRO's on it!
KTRK-13 just reported that METRO, unlike some American transit agencies, will not be increasing security in response to the Russian bombings, but will be monitoring the situation closely.
Two quick thoughts:
1) All those broken cameras in the park-and-pillage lots? Yeah, no rush to fix those in response.
2) METRO PD Chief Lambert will be monitoring world transit terrorism closely!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/29/10 10:28 PM |
A new Chron eye (fore!)
THE CHRONICLE has posted a new Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy.
It sticks to the formula pretty well.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/29/10 08:12 AM |
28 March 2010
Good news: Sports Authority to oversee construction of Dynamo Stadium
THE LOCAL QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL SPORTS AGENCY THAT has been on shaky financial footing several times in recent years (including, er, now!) will oversee construction of the quasi-privately funded Dynamo stadium, and then manage it. Will the Dynamo pay for their own grass? Will taxpayers pay for Dynamo parking while the Dynamo make off with the proceeds? Did the Sports Authority resolve their most recent bond crisis?
Just for kicks, let's recall the way former Sports Authority head honcho and current Dynamo prez Oliver Luck USED to talk about a stadium:
And among the first promises [newly named club president Oliver] Luck announced was a most important one that every sports fan should note: A soccer-specific stadium here would not be financed like every other sports mansion on the local landscape.
Financing will not be another tax burden on citizens.
When the pols and the powerful get together, the taxpayers always end up with the burden.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/28/10 10:37 AM |
Wolff: Everything is great at METRO!
UNBIASED *wink* OBSERVER DAVID WOLFF writes that "an objective review of Metro's progress during this board's tenure would conclude that we accomplished a great deal.... and have positioned the organization for a bright future."
On the other hand, we think another observer (the one who won the mayoral election) was right in saying METRO needed new leadership -- and going on to nominate Wolff's replacement.
BLOGVERSATION: Harris County Almanac.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/28/10 09:05 AM |
Non top-10 stuff we read
THIS is just a pleasure to read, even though it's not a Dwight Silverman "bright" or a Corporate Alt-Weekly Top Ten or whatever. We aren't either. We just read stuff, and write about it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/28/10 01:45 AM |
27 March 2010
METRO PD: Tell us how we can do our jobs better
METRO PD WOULD LIKE YOU TO TAKE A SAFETY SURVEY: "One of our goals is to provide the highest quality of professional police services to the community. You can help by providing useful information to us about how we do our jobs and what we can do to meet your expectations."
The survey is here.
This from the agency that admits it cannot adequately police its bus stops, and encourages riders to carry their own protection. And this from the agency that pulled security guards from Park and Rides without a backup security plan, thereby turning them into Park and Pillages.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/27/10 08:35 AM |
26 March 2010
A "broad range of opinions" on term limits in Houston?
THE CHRON'S MIKE SNYDER writes that Houston's term-limits panel has generated "a broad range of opinions from local civic and community leaders and members of the public."
Marc Campos, on the other hand, has a less enthusiastic view:
Commentary doesn’t think the case has been made to tinker with H-Town’s City Council term limits. At last night’s meeting only one person got up to speak during the public session. Less than a handful of folks showed up if you don’t count the Term Limits Review Commission members and some staff.
Last night’s meeting was the third that has allowed the public to give their three cents worth. Commentary has been to all three and I haven’t seen leaders from either political party, no labor folks, none of the Dem Party groups that endorse in city races, no GLBTers, aside from the engineers, none of the other interests groups that get involved in city races like realtors, apartment owners, home builders, and business PACS, no media members, and none of the online opinion givers. A few from the mover-and-shaker crowd, a couple of super neighborhood types, a few civic leaders, a couple of elected officials, a couple of former elected officials, and a few others have weighed in. So far it looks like there is not a whole lot of public interest to change or not to change the current system.
[snip]
It seems like a whole lot of something for nothing if you get my drift. Stay tuned!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/26/10 08:06 PM |
The Chron's wrong side of history
REGARDING THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Perry vs World posts:
I've never quite figured out why a corporation would let its brands (in declining industries!) be run by people who have a habit of chasing away potential customers.
Indeed.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/26/10 07:54 PM |
Robb Walsh leaving the Press
FOOD WRITER EXTRAORDINAIRE ROBB WALSH is leaving the Houston Press and becoming a full-time freelancer.
We presume the tired corporate alt-weekly will take this "opportunity" to build on the Village Voice strategy of proliferating nonprofessional (but relatively cheap!) content, along with other stunts to boost pageviews artificially.
Here's hoping Walsh will find some way to highlight his freelance work, because we're gonna miss his perspective on local food.
UPDATE: The man himself says to follow him on his blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/26/10 07:45 PM |
25 March 2010
Chron editorial counterpoint from Unca Darrell
UNCA DARRELL thinks the Chron editorial board's "end of history" healthcare sermonizing "should be filed under 'Graveyard, Whistling Past the Political,' with a carbon copy to 'Thinking, Wishful.'"
Ouch!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/25/10 08:07 PM |
TW update on nontransparent weatherization stimulus boondoggle
Texas Watchdog has posted an interesting followup to an earlier story.
As the Texas Watchdog headline describes, the State of Texas can't provide addresses of Houston homes retrofitted with $3.7 million in stimulus money, and the nonprofit overseeing the work won't release the addresses.
Nothing to see here. Your money is surely being spent wisely. Move along now.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/25/10 07:59 PM |
24 March 2010
A question you won't see on ChronBlog
CORY CROW asks, "what is the difference between the downtown Dynamo Stadium and the Harris County Soapbox Derby Hill" (other than $32 million)?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/24/10 02:21 PM |
23 March 2010
Houston pols can smoke the Hopium too
PAUL KNIGHT writes that the City's Dynamo Stadium plan is magic!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/23/10 09:39 PM |
Chron: McClelland to be named HPD chief this week
THE CHRON'S BRADLEY OLSON reports that Mayor Annise Parker is poised to name her new police chief this week... and that it will be acting police chief Charles McClelland.
UPDATE (03-24-2010): Isiah Carey questions the contradictory comments from the Mayor's office.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/23/10 07:09 PM |
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