25 October 2009
Not everyone's a TIRZ fan
MAYOR WHITE may be a big fan of TIRZs, but The Examiner's Rusty Graham reports not everyone is so enamored:
TIRZ 17 and its projects have never been popular with residents of surrounding neighborhoods, many who challenge every move and decision the board makes. They say the TIRZ and its board are tools of Metro National, the real estate giant that owns or controls a majority of the property within the TIRZ.
TIRZ 17 is a city-initiated TIRZ, with a board appointed by the City of Houston.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/25/09 08:10 AM |
24 October 2009
Newman: It's tough being one of the spokespeople for the Lykos Gang
LOCAL ATTORNEY AND FORMER PROSECUTOR MURRAY NEWMAN blogs, "it's tough being one of the spokespeople for the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight."
No doubt. Here is the KTRK-13 story by Ted Oberg that Newman references.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 11:13 PM |
Bennett: Not every wrong is a crime...
LOCAL ATTORNEY MARK BENNETT blogs, "not every wrong is a crime; nor should it be." That ought to be enough to get you to click over.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 11:09 PM |
Swamplot: Where floodwaters will park downtown
SWAMPLOT blogs about YOUR tax dollars being used to purchase a 2-acre downtown site that had previously been touted as a great new private development. You'll have to pardon us for wondering if there are Houston Way connections we're missing here...
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 11:05 PM |
The latest 287g debate
BRADLEY OLSON (WHO ELSE?) AND SUSAN CARROLL report for the Chron that three city councilmembers have dared to challenge Mayor Bill White by trying to force a debate on the city's immigration policies.
Better late than never in trying to force open, transparent conversation about city policies, we suppose, but this one probably ought to be punted to the next mayor/council and a true public debate among leaders who will be around for a while. If all of this is truly about public debate, as opposed to meaningless grandstanding, that is.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 10:58 PM |
Katz: A police commission for Houston
GUEST COMMENTARY: RETIRED PROFESSOR HOWARD KATZ proposes a police commission for Houston.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 12:59 PM |
HPD compound?
THIS made me wonder if Chief Hurtt is still pursuing a new $250 million HPD headquarters/compound.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/09 11:03 AM |
Park and Ride expansion
METRO IS EXPANDING parking lot capacity at the South Point Park and Ride from 376 spaces to 766. Unlike inner loop light rail, moves like this will actually contribute to a stated METRO Solutions goal of reducing traffic congestion.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/09 08:58 AM |
23 October 2009
Dangerous time/place/behavior update: Sheriff Garcia's driveway
HOUSTON NEWS OUTLETS report that Sheriff Adrian Garcia's county-supplied SUV was vandalized. In his driveway. (Chronicle, KPRC-2, KHOU-11, KTRK-13)
KHOU ran this quote:
"I thought having him living across the street would make things safer for me but I guess not," said Jack Castle, who lives in the 700 block of Sue Street near Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia.
HPD Chief Harold Hurtt would probably give us some sort of time/place/behavior warning, but it's the weekend, and, well....
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 11:25 PM |
Texas Watchdog on HISD shortcomings
TEXAS WATCHDOG'S LEE ANN O'NEAL explores ethics loopholes and HISD.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 10:59 PM |
Court orders "transparent" White Administration to turn over info
THE CHRON'S JAMES PINKERTON reports that a court "has ordered the city to release 160 of 208 contested documents" related to the White Administration's effort to withhold public information related to red-light cameras. Strangely, the White Administration has frequently referred to itself as transparent.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 09:43 PM |
Chron: Locke goes negative on Brown
REPORTERS BRADLEY OLSON AND MIKE SNYDER report for the Chron that the Gene Locke campaign has resorted to negative advertising:
"Peter Brown is spending millions of dollars in this mayor's race because he can't match Gene's longtime record of service," former City Councilman Jew Don Boney, associate director of the Mickey Leland Center for World Hunger at Texas Southern University, says in the ad. "But our community is not for sale."
Is it overly cynical to ask if the ultimate goal of politics isn't to buy more votes than your competitors? That being said, I will concur with Cory Crow's notion that actually asking for people's votes is pretty important, and Brown certainly has been doing that, in abundance. We'll leave it to others to debate the fact he's largely spending his own cash on the race.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 03:34 PM |
Slampo on Khalid Khan
SLAMPO'S PLACE asserts that "Scooter Khan is still a campaign finance scofflaw."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 12:55 PM |
Swamplot: Bye bye to El Torito
SWAMPLOT says goodbye to two Harrisburg haunts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 12:26 PM |
Houston Strategies and Land Use Prof on HRG conference
HOUSTON STRATEGIST TORY GATTIS blogs about the smart-growth/land-use conference put on by Houstonians for Responsible Growth. He links to another post about the conference on the Land Use Prof Blog.
It's unfortunate that the website of Houstonians for Responsible Growth isn't somewhat more robust.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 12:09 PM |
Dr. Dickinson blogs about his Afghanistan medical mission
THE CHRON'S MEDBLOG calls attention to Dr. Dickinson's Medical Mission blog. Dr. Robert Dickinson is a local Kelsey-Seybold physician who is blogging about his medical humanitarian mission to Afghanistan.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/09 12:03 PM |
22 October 2009
Chron gets scooped (again)
THE LAST TIME TEXAS WATCHDOG beat the pants off the Chronicle on a local story, the news side of the ever-shrinking newspaper never reported it, instead letting Rick Casey do his own noxious form of *ahem* damage control.
The Chronicle took a different approach tonight to getting scooped again, treating the topic as a legitimate news story but neglecting to mention that Texas Watchdog reported it much earlier today. Denial doesn't change reality, though.
Advantage: Texas Watchdog! Can a Chron.com/Dwight Silverman link ban be far away for the Watchdoggers?
UPDATE (10/23/09): Texas Watchdog reports that one of Green's firm apparently also failed to file some tax paperwork with the state of Texas, although Green says there are no outstanding fees as a result of the oversight.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/09 10:49 PM |
Harris County Almanac: Who are these fiscal conservatives?
CORY CROW asks, "who are these 'fiscal conservatives' of which you speak?"
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/09 10:25 PM |
Unca Darrell calls attention to city's pension mess
"UNCA DARRELL" Hancock calls attention a fine recent Chronicle op-ed by John Diamond on the city's pension mess.
Mayor Bill White couldn't resist writing a letter in response, to disagree with Diamond (of course). We wish Andrew Prieditis would send them a letter on the topic!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/09 10:19 PM |
CCTT could use a few copy editors, researchers, fact-checkers
THE CHRON'S CAUCASIAN THINK TANK has had a rough few days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/09 10:09 PM |
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