18 January 2010
Slampo: Portrait of Hunger, with bluetooth
LAST WEEK, the Chron predictably covered the OUTRAGE from an Obama Administration official that the State of Texas is allegedly so stingy with its food stamp program. Lefty bloggers/editorialists piled on afterwards, just as predictably.
Today, Slampo posts an alternative perspective.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/10 05:23 PM |
Chron eye for the affluent university president guy?
THE LATEST IN THE CHRON'S SERIES of reporting for and of the newspaper's niche education sources focuses on... how university presidents in the state of Texas are weathering the recession.
Seriously.
As we asked last time, why would any Chron editors think this niche, inside-baseball stuff would ever appeal to a general readership?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/10 04:58 PM |
17 January 2010
Klein High parents suddenly agree with bond opponents
Back when Klein ISD was promoting an ill-conceived bond proposal that included plans to build a new high school, temporarily relocate Klein High School to the new campus, then demo Klein High and rebuild it, bond proponents did everything they could to drown out opponents who didn't understand why district leadership would support such a wasteful expenditure of taxpayer dollars. We wondered why it was not enough to renovate Klein High, especially considering Klein High was not facing the student growth other district high schools were. We wondered when the looming economic downturn (which was already within sight) would burst bond proponents' bubble. Anger was high in the district before and after the election, with the bond narrowly passing.
In November, the bubble burst, with news that Klein was rethinking how to spend the bond money. Growth was slowing, and property values were decreasing. Suddenly, razing and rebuilding Klein High was off the table, and new scenarios were on, including closing Klein High (Option B), and renovating the school while it remained in session (Option C). And just like that, bond proponents were crying foul -- where was their brand new Klein High?
The district finally decided on Option C: renovate Klein High with students on site. In this Fox report, it's amusing to see Klein High parents and district officials have suddenly become big fans of the option to renovate the school while it stays open. I guess Option B -- closing Klein High -- helped them see the light.
MORE: I should add, back when the district was trying to sell the bond, Superintendent Cain was asked how he could justify a raze and rebuild as opposed to just a renovation. The district never provided engineering reports that said a complete rebuild was necessary, and in fact, the district's engineering reports recommended renovation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/17/10 10:12 AM |
15 January 2010
Texas Liberal: Transparent as a wall
TEXAS LIBERAL offers Mayor Annise Parker some good tips on transition team transparency.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/15/10 09:08 AM |
Imagine the OUTRAGE if Karl Rove had made such a call
THE WHITE HOUSE apparently didn't like the fact that President Obama's phone call congratulating Mayor-elect Parker went public. Craig Malisow has the details.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/15/10 08:35 AM |
Boehme: West U stands for open government
BLOGHOUSTON FRIEND AND WEST U POL GEORGE BOEHME lands a small blow for open government, concluding as follows: "If you want to make your decisions in private, don’t run for public office."
Agreed!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/15/10 08:03 AM |
KHOU's Greenblatt wins award
CONGRATULATIONS TO KHOU-11'S MARK GREENBLATT, whose reporting on the Texas National Guard has won a duPont award.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/15/10 07:49 AM |
13 January 2010
Isn't that quotation space normally reserved for Bob Stein?
THIS ASSESSMENT appears towards the end of a Chron story on Mayor Parker's transition team:
Councilwoman Jolanda Jones praised Parker for putting community leaders and “regular” citizens on the committees, noting it was a continuation of the attention given to grass-roots politics in her mayoral campaign.
“I am extremely pleased,” she said.
How did Councilmember Jones steal Bob Stein's reserved Chron quotation space? Was the Bicyclist/Professor unavailable?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:57 PM |
Kirkendall: What to do with the Texas Bowl?
THREE YEARS AGO, the Chron was doing its part to cheer on the Houston Texans' backing of the irrelevant Texas Bowl, and their dream of becoming "one of those big-time bowls everybody's talking about...."
Tom Kirkendall has been (clearly) thinking about the still-irrelevant bowl game, and asks: "Frankly, why bother with it?"
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:48 PM |
Slampo: Shami Time
SLAMPO has a great name-change suggestion that could really boost the gubernatorial campaign of Farouk Shami (so go read to the end).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:27 PM |
Cy-Fair ISD PSA
PSA: LOU MINATTI points out that Chapstick and Carmex are banned substances at Cy-Fair ISD.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:24 PM |
BREAKING: A Chron editor sighting?!
LEDE FROM A NEWS STORY that appeared on Chron.com yesterday morning:
Texas has the worst performing food stamp program in the nation, says the federal director who oversees the project designed to help desperate people get nutritious meals.
Emphasis supplied. Nice editorializing, no?
LEDE FROM THE REVISED NEWS STORY on Chron.com today:
Texas has the worst performing food stamp program in the nation, the federal director for food assistance told state officials here Tuesday.
Who knew there were still editors to fix these things?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:17 PM |
Chron sports section paves way for conflict-free cheerleading?
JOHN ROYAL points out on the Houston Press blog that the Chron was beaten once again on a bit of baseball news, but his news of interest is that Jesus Ortiz has been moved from the Chron baseball beat (where he reliably served up Drayton McLane cheerleading) to the soccer beat, and that rumors have current soccer reporting Bernardo Fallas (whose sister works for the Dynamo) shifting to baseball.
If so, that will remove one conflict-of-interest, and the two reporters' cheerleading for their (new) teams can resume guilt-free!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/10 09:08 PM |
12 January 2010
HCGOP: "Everything's cool" with previously uncool campaign finance reports
TEXAS WATCHDOG follows up on its earlier reporting on some campaign donations the Harris County GOP had apparently misplaced/misreported. The Harris County GOP informs that their campaign finance documents have been amended and "Everything's cool." So there you have it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/12/10 08:40 AM |
Maybe they could put Martha Montalvo in a hot air balloon?
KPRC-2'S STEPHEN DEAN writes about HPD's secretive tests of drones (and KPRC's nice effort to make the tests a little less secretive). (Link via Mike McGuff)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/12/10 08:19 AM |
Newman: Lowry and the partisan debacle
MURRAY NEWMAN comments on Terry Lowry and the partisan (judicial) debacle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/12/10 07:47 AM |
Problem solved. Next?
SLAMPO proffers a solution to the problem (according to the Chronicle) of not enough Spanish-speaking cops.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/12/10 07:46 AM |
11 January 2010
Chron: Queen Sheila will lose. Or she'll win.
THE CHRONICLE runs a three-reporter story today that begins by speculating the climate is ripe for change in Queen Sheila Jackson Lee's Congressional district, then points out that it will be an uphill struggle for her poorly funded opponents. Democratic Professor Richard Murray is quoted in the story, but Democratic Professor (and bicyclist!) Bob Stein is not, sadly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/11/10 07:38 AM |
10 January 2010
Sudden acceleration = bad mistake (unless you know a journalist)
KPRC-2 REPORTS on a poor woman who stomped her accelerator instead of her brake and crashed into a local strip center.
It's too bad she's not married to a Houston Press staffer, or a story of "sudden acceleration" might have found its way across the Village Voice empire. Alas, this one appears to be just another case of clumsy footwork.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/10/10 09:08 PM |
METRO's ridership/financial situation continues to deteriorate
TOM BAZAN passes along the latest dismal METRO ridership and fare-collection statistics, which we have posted for public review.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/10/10 08:57 PM |
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