26 November 2009
Mike McGuff on Eric James
MIKE MCGUFF posts an update on former KTRK-13 reporter Eric James, who claimed to be a carjacking/kidnapping victim this summer.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/09 07:39 PM |
Hair Balls: Toyota to reshape pedals in effort to curb "sudden acceleration" errors
VILLAGE VOICE HOUSTON mocks Toyota for its recent announcement that pedals on some vehicles would be reshaped in response to recent reports of "sudden acceleration" (caused most frequently by drivers stomping the wrong pedal).
The publication ran a story on the same topic earlier this year, neglecting to identify the wife of a Village Voice staffer as such. She apparently had an arbitration claim against Toyota at the time due to her "sudden acceleration" incident, but we have not seen an update from Village Voice whether their consumer-advocacy journalism helped produce a favorable outcome for her.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/09 07:38 PM |
Another turkey candidate was closer to home
VILLAGE VOICE HOUSTON announced their 2009 "turkeys of the year" awards this week.
They might have considered giving one to themselves for the ongoing amateurization of a publication that once produced interesting journalism from real journalists.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/09 07:35 PM |
THANKS
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/26/09 07:41 AM |
25 November 2009
Texas Watchdog visits Locke campaign event, queries candidate (updated)
SINCE CANDIDATE GENE LOCKE'S STAFF wouldn't return Texas Watchdog's calls about his tax returns, Texas Watchdog dropped by a campaign event to get candidate Locke on the record. Locke tells the nonprofit journos he will release his tax returns "soon." And we bet he later told his staff to return their calls/emails moving forward!
The Locke campaign still has a few hours left to drop those returns in the Wednesday pre-Thanksgiving news black hole. Will they behave as predicted?
UPDATE: Texas Watchdog and Miya Shay both tweeted about 4:00 pm that Gene Locke had released his tax returns. Can we call 'em or what?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/25/09 01:01 PM |
Houston Arts Alliance: Some things never change
KTRK-13's WAYNE DOLCEFINO CHECKS BACK IN with the Houston Arts Alliance:
Last November we questioned why the city had spent $69,000 on city art and then put it inside a poop plant. One piece of art was near the coke machine in the employee breakroom.
"I also think in that case we should probably move the piece," said Glus.
A year later, Aqua Profunda Est Quieta is still here.
Of course there's more at the link. And Part Two airs tonight.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/25/09 04:19 AM |
Cy-Fair ISD's overhead
AT THE END OF THIS CHRON STORY about how local ISDs are having to face new economic realities, is this eye-opening sentence: "Besides delaying school construction, Cy-Fair cut $41 million by eliminating 450 positions primarily through attrition last year, then cut another $14.5 million by deleting another 100 positions this year."
Wow! Cy-Fair sure has been generous with taxpayer dollars!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/25/09 03:53 AM |
24 November 2009
Just one question.... Did Bernstein write the CCTT's editorial? ;)
HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT PR MAN (AND FORMER CHRONSTER) ALAN BERNSTEIN and Grits for Breakfast blogger Scott Henson have an interesting back-and-forth on the proposed Harris County jail booking facility expansion.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/24/09 07:05 AM |
23 November 2009
Bill White channels Ross Perot, asks the folks to weigh in on gubernatorial race
Houston Mayor Bill White: "I'm running for the U.S. Senate.... Yeah, I'm running for the U.S. Senate" (KVUE News, 20 November 2009).
Houston Mayor Bill White: "Today I agree to consider running for Governor, and shall make a decision by Friday, December 4th." (Bill White for Texas, 23 November 2009).
We're sure he'll bring decisive leadership to whatever race he eventually decides is the one he wants to run.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 09:08 PM |
Texas Watchdog on parking commissioners and conflicts
TEXAS WATCHDOG reports interesting details on the vague "conflict of interest" aside raised by the KPRC-2 story on the Parking Commission that Anne Linehan posted about yesterday:
Joe Martin and Bruce LaPree were on the appointed parking commission last year when the booting ordinance was created, asking questions and applying their expertise to the proposed ordinance. Records show that even before the Houston City Council approved the panel’s booting suggestions on Sept. 9, 2008, the two men had taken steps to create a company called Equipark....
[Martin and LaPree] said in separate interviews with Texas Watchdog last week that they immediately advised the city of their new business once it was beginning to take shape, but that the city attorney’s office simply advised that they get an attorney and present their case at a later date.
That was in September or October, LaPree said; according to Martin and LaPree, after numerous meetings with city officials and Houston’s ethics committee, the two were asked to step down from the parking commission late last year.
That is certainly an interesting twist! Mayor White's office, which likes to call itself transparent, had no comment for Texas Watchdog about the matter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 01:34 PM |
Clearing up confusion on financial info and political candidates
SELF-DESCRIBED "POLITICAL INSIDER" NANCY SIMS admits confusion on a local campaign topic:
Texas Watchdog is calling out Locke for not releasing his income tax returns. Parker has released hers. Locke might as well. This issue has always confused me. We require candidates to file detailed financial statements and you can view those on the City Secretary’s website. Yet, it has become common practice in campaigns to pressure candidates to release their income tax returns as well.
I'm just an outsider who doesn't attend Thanksgiving parties with mayoral candidates like some insiders, but I'll take a stab at this and suggest that income-tax information, tax liens, and financial/legal information beyond the basic required campaign-finance documents give voters (outsiders!) a much fuller picture of candidates for public office. The more information, the better (says the outsider with the Ph.D. in politics)! If candidates don't want the public scrutiny, then maybe it's best they remain in the private sector.
Now, why hasn't Gene Locke followed Annise Parker's lead and released his tax returns?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 09:23 AM |
One faith-based paradigm the Chron loves
THE CHRON CAUCASIAN THINK TANK warns ominously today that "evidence continues to accumulate that the threat [of man-made global warming] is accelerating," and something must be done!
Apparently, the CCTT took a cue from faith-based man-made global-warming enthusiast and amateur weather forecaster SciGuy, and decided it would be best to ignore the revelations last week about the faith-based scientific global-warming community. Because "science" is all about ignoring facts that don't confirm your faith. *wink*
BLOGVERSATION: Unca Darrell.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 09:03 AM |
Chron readers: Don't try the recipes, and don't trust the lottery numbers
The Chronicle ran an embarrassing correction last week: "The Mega Millions lottery numbers were incorrect in Wednesday's editions. The correct numbers are in today's lottery information on this page."
It's not the first time the newspaper has managed to get the lottery numbers wrong.
We've long warned Chron readers not to try the recipes without checking the corrections. Better not throw away your lottery tickets based on what the newspaper prints either!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 08:26 AM |
Hair Balls: La Plus Ca Change At BARC
LAST WEDNESDAY, a dog managed to strangle itself at BARC while an employee cleaned its cage. Unsurprisingly, White administration flacks delayed releasing any info until Friday, typically the day where news goes to die in this town. Craig Malisow posts several questions Elena Marks and White administration officials should have answered, but haven't.
UPDATE: Malisow has posted an update to the original post.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 08:18 AM |
22 November 2009
Houston's Parking (and Pillaging) Commission
THE CITIZEN-LED PARKING COMMISSION: KPRC-2 recently ran a story about drivers complaining how their cars were being booted even though they had paid to park. Color us unsurprised; after all, Liliana Rambo's Parking Commission has been a disaster pretty much from the get-go. But buried in KPRC's story was this gem:
A company called Equipark is among the new players in the arena. Chief Executive Officer Joe Martin said, "We're doing anywhere from 30 to 60 boots a day."
He admitted that he helped craft the city's boot ordinance while serving on the city of Houston Parking Commission.
"It kind of dawned on me that there may be a business opportunity here," he said.
Martin said he stepped down from the Parking Commission before the City Council passed the law to avoid a conflict of interest.
Back in 2006 when Mayor White announced the formation of the Houston Parking Commission, he made a big deal of calling it a "citizen-led" commission, with nine mayor-appointed members. Joe Martin was one of those average citizens. And after Joe "Citizen" Martin helped create the city's boot ordinance, a little light bulb went off in his head and he said, "Aha! I can make some money!"
Why in the world didn't the city have commission members sign something akin to a non-compete clause? Or at least an I-will-not-benefit-off-my-insider-knowledge-clause?
We wondered back in 2006 why no local media was interested in checking out the new Parking Commission members, and now we are wondering HOW Mayor White chooses the commission members.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/22/09 04:29 PM |
Economic realities invade Klein ISD
VOTERS WHO SUPPORTED Klein ISD's bond referendum last year are now dismayed to learn the district has begun rethinking how to spend the bond money:
Klein ISD says the new scenarios are being presented because the economics of the original bond plan have changed in a down economy. Klein ISD spokesperson Trazanna Moreno says their analyses have shown a large impact by decreases in property values and a slow-down in the growth of the student population.
The biggest boondoggle in the bond proposal was the plan to raze and rebuild Klein High School. Thankfully, that stupid idea is at the top of the list of reconsiderations.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/22/09 01:22 PM |
21 November 2009
Credit where due on McGrady reporting
THIS BLOG POST by Chron basketball writer Jonathan Feigen (he of the sometimes tortured prose) explains the latest Tracy McGrady controversy in detail, from an informed perspective. In contrast, here's a blog post from KTRK-13 sportsreader Tim Melton.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/09 11:19 AM |
Chron Caucasian Think Tank endorses Parker
THE ANNISE PARKER CAMPAIGN emails that they've secured the endorsement of the Chron Caucasian Think Tank*.
We're disappointed. We were hoping for another lame dual endorsement that we could mock.
* Cory Crow's moniker for the current iteration of the Chron editorial board.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/21/09 10:58 AM |
Dangerous time/place/behavior update
WE HAVE A NEW DANGEROUS TIME/PLACE/BEHAVIOR UPDATE, via KPRC-2: Weekends, Eleanor Tinsley Park, visiting a park.
Remember Chief Hurtt's motto -- you're pretty safe in Houston, except when you aren't.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/21/09 09:08 AM |
Another example of Mayor White's lack of follow-through
REMEMBER ONE AND A HALF YEARS AGO when the Chron's Matt Stiles investigated dangerous apartment buildings, and the city began "in earnest" to crack down on slum-like properties? You'll recall state Rep. Hubert Vo was exposed as a serial slumlord, and Mayor White announced the city would set aside $1 million annually for "a new team of multifamily inspectors."
Well. KHOU-11 is reporting that city is REALLY going to get serious about it...in April 2010:
After an apartment stairwell in the 9400 block of Concourse collapsed and killed two young boys last year, we all learned just how little is being done to check the safety of apartment communities.
The city admitted the apartments where the two boys died hadn’t been inspected in 12 years.
The new program will be managed by Public Works. Beginning in April 2010, the department says it will take a proactive, instead of just a reactive approach.
“We are going to periodically cycle through all of the apartments through the city of Houston doing an inspection to be sure we’ve got compliance with the city codes,” said Andy Icken, Deputy Director of Public Works.
So, the city didn't start investigating and citing run-down apartments in 2008 as Mayor White said it would?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/21/09 06:06 AM |
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