Having previously made a mockery of the announcement that the state GOP has hired Talmadge Heflin to the post of Executive Director, I was all set to cackle a little more when I saw that Paul Burka's jaw had dropped open with shock at the announcement as well. Unfortunately, Burka then went on to ruin all the fun.
I'm told that Heflin is just a temporary replacement for Jeff Fisher. Fisher was no prize as executive director, having been suspected by mainstream Republicans of running push polls against them before the 06 elections. There was also a bizarre arrangement at the party that made it impossible for a member of the media to contact anyone on short notice; the message was relayed to a spokeswoman in Houston who might or might not call you back. Anyway, Fisher "needed to be out" (as my source put it) and state chair Tina Benkiser "needed someone to keep the trains running on time while she looked for a permanent replacement." Heflin and Benkiser have known each other for a long time, and there is a level of confidence that Heflin can keep things going until she can find a successor to Fisher. When that occurs, Heflin will reestablish his relationship with teh Texas Public Policy Foundation. I was specifically told, "Contrary to popular sentiment, he does not need the money." Heflin will be acting executive director for a few months while the business of raising money and beating the bushes for candidates goes on.
Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted.
The following is an op-ed by Rep. Nick Lampson on the farm bill that was just passed out of Congress. I confess, this is not the sort of thing that I normally follow closely (some folks at MyDD did a lot of interesting blogging on it), but I thought it was worth printing here.
This past week, Congress passed the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007. As a new Member on the House Agriculture Committee, I had the opportunity to work on a far reaching, vital, and fully paid-for Farm Bill. The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the President, will affect every American and every Texan, whether they live on a farm, in the suburbs, or in a busy city center. We all put gasoline in our cars, wear clothing made from natural fibers, many of us donate to food pantries at our local churches, and our children eat snacks and meals at school. This legislation ensures our farmers can continue providing our nation with the safest, most reliable, and most abundant food, fiber, and now energy.Most importantly, we've taken care to make these proposals fiscally responsible. All new programs and spending were approved only if they had offsets in other parts of the bill. Funding for a portion of the bill was provided by closing a tax loophole that allowed foreign corporations operating in the U.S. to avoid paying taxes on income earned here. This is in line with the pay-as-you-go ("PAYGO") budget mechanism to curb irresponsible deficit spending, adopted by Congress earlier this year. PAYGO is the responsible thing to do with your hard-earned tax dollars, and it is the right thing to do for our children and grandchildren.
The challenge to diversify our resources is the moon-shot of the 21st century, and America's farmers can lead the way. The 2007 Farm Bill has a 600% increase in renewable fuels funding, including $2 billion in federal loan guarantees for the development of bio-refineries for bio-fuel production. The bill also includes $1.5 billion for production incentives for ethanol and bio-diesel made from agricultural, forest, and waste plant materials. The possibilities are endless, the environmental benefits enormous, and the push for new research and production beneficial for all Americans.
The Agriculture Committee also took steps to expand nutrition programs recently addressed by Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Green in the Houston Chronicle. The bill aims to help the 16% of Texans living in poverty by nearly doubling the funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, so that food banks and soup kitchens have badly needed resources, and provides for the for the reauthorization of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides monthly food boxes for low-income families. The committee also raised and indexed benefits for the food stamp program, now renamed the Secure Supplemental Nutrition Access Program, for the first time in 30 years. Current benefits average $3 a day, and with 2.6 million Texans receiving food stamps, these improvements will help them afford more nutritious food and encourage savings for college, retirement, and rainy days.
With rising obesity, especially in children, and heart disease the number one killer in America, this legislation takes steps to encourage healthy food choices through expanded research, incentives, grant programs, and the expansion of fruit and vegetable snack programs for schools to all 50 states.
I teamed up with the American Heart Association to introduce an amendment creating the Healthy Oils Incentive Program. This temporary one-time incentive program will encourage the development and commercialization of certain oilseeds with heart-healthy traits, including soy, canola, and sunflower grown in Texas. Encouraging the production of healthy oils to replace the use of trans-fats and partially-hydrogenated oils in food preparation will ensure that demand is met with healthy and affordable supplies as more communities ban or reduce their use, as New York and Seattle have recently done.
Additionally, the Agriculture Committee approved a measure to implement the long-delayed Country of Origin Labeling ("COOL") program established in 2002 to provide labeling of cattle, poultry, pork, seafood, and fruits and vegetables. In a recent report released by Consumer Reports, 92% of Americans expressed their support for COOL, and Congress and industry listened. Recent food safety scares have worn on public confidence, and this important measure will help restore confidence, and allow consumers to make more educated decisions when purchasing food.
I am proud to have contributed to such an important and comprehensive piece of legislation that takes lessons learned from the past to prepare us for the future. Improvements in nutrition programs and bio-energy initiatives will not only uplift our farmers and rural communities, but they will provide additional aid to the neediest at home and abroad, help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and protect our environment. The Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 will continue to ensure our nation's access to the safest, cheapest, most reliable, and most abundant food, fiber, and fuel in the world.
I should note that Rep. Lampson is the first member of Congress from southeast Texas to serve on the Ag Committee in recent years. Texas lost a fair bit of clout on that committee when Charlie Stenholm was put out to pasture by Tom DeLay in 2004.
As the case against Michael Vick goes forward, I think it's important to pause a moment and think about this.
R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback has been vilified by animal rights groups, talk radio and the news media and prematurely punished by his team and corporate sponsors."If Mr. Vick is guilty, he should pay for his crime, but to treat him as he is being treated now is also a crime," White said at a news conference. "Be restrained in your premature judgment until the legal process is completed."
[...]
On Monday, Tony Taylor, a co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty in Virginia to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in a plea agreement with prosecutors. Purnell Peace of Virginia Beach and Quanis Phillips of Atlanta face similar charges and are scheduled for trial Nov. They remain free without bond.
Businesses have been quick to recoil. Nike suspended its lucrative contract with Vick and Reebok stopped sales of his No. 7 jersey. In addition, two trading card companies withdrew Vick items.
[...]
White plans to contact Vick to see what assistance the Atlanta NAACP chapter can offer. White predicted that public opinion may worsen in the wake of Taylor's plea deal.
Until then, he said he would keep an open mind and encouraged others to do the same.
Hard to do sometimes, isn't it? I know I've failed pretty miserably at this many times, especially if the defendant is someone I don't like. If it helps, think about all the stories you've read lately about people being freed from prison after many years, having been convicted of crimes they provably did not commit. Even with the best of intentions, the government can and will sometimes be wrong about who they choose to prosecute, and let's face it - they don't always have the best of intentions.
That said, I have no quarrel with any of Vick's business associates who want to drop him like a bad habit. They don't require reasonable doubt, and if they want to sever all ties - or just put them on ice till things clear up, if they do - over Vick's being indicted, that's fine by me. People have lost marketing deals for far less than this. If Vick succeeds in clearing his name, as he's been saying on Atlanta radio that he wants to do, then the opportunities will come back.
Meanwhile, it'll get a little hotter for Vick as one of his codefendants has taken a plea and agreed to testify for the feds.
As part of a plea agreement, Tony Taylor pledged to fully cooperate with the government in its prosecution of Vick and two other men accused of running an interstate dogfighting enterprise known as "Bad Newz Kennels" on Vick's property in rural Surry County."The 'Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were almost exclusively funded by Vick," a summary of facts supporting the plea agreement and signed by Taylor states.
The plea deal requires Taylor to testify against Vick and his two remaining co-defendants if called upon to do so. Taylor cannot get a stiffer sentence or face any new charges based on any new information he provides, according to terms of the agreement.
Additional charges are possible, however, against Vick and the other two. Federal prosecutors have said a superseding indictment will be issued in August.
[...]
Taylor, 34, of Hampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.
[...]
Taylor, who will be sentenced Dec. 14, said he was not promised any specific sentence in return for his cooperation with the government.
He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although federal sentencing guidelines likely will call for less. The range will be determined by the court's probation office, but the judge can depart from that range if he finds aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
At this point, all I can say is that I'm glad it's not my job to defend Michael Vick. I do not envy his lawyer the task.
Yesterday, Clay Robison wrote about Governor Perry's controversial community college funding veto, and speculated about the possibility of political gain for Democrats as a result:
There is a potentially large, negative political impact -- not for Perry, who won't be on the ballot next year and maybe never again -- but for a few Republican legislators who may find themselves with competitive Democratic challengers in 2008.There are 50 community college districts throughout Texas, and most are still recovering, in one way or another, from state budget cuts imposed by the Legislature to bridge a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall in 2003.
This veto, of course, wasn't the fault of any legislator. Perry struck the money because, he said, the two-year community colleges have been inflating the number of employees entitled to state-paid health benefits.
College officials have denied falsifying budget requests and say they will have to raise tuition, increase local property taxes or cut programs to make up for the vetoed funds, which amount to 8 percent of their state funding for the next two years.
The veto could play into the hands of Texas Democrats, who in recent years have been trying to paint Republicans as anti-education. Democrats already are attacking Republicans over the 2003 budget cuts, a tuition deregulation law that has sharply raised the costs of attending four-year, public universities, and a GOP priority on property tax cuts over increased education spending.
It also could be argued with only limited imagination in a campaign mailout that the veto represents a retreat from lower property taxes because it could force some community colleges to raise their local taxes.
It would have been interesting for Robison to name a few legislators he thinks might have a problem with Perry's action. It's sufficiently early that some of the folks who might potentially need to deal with this don't have anyone lined up against them yet, but for what it's worth I can tell you that Joe Jaworski (running against Sen. Mike Jackson in SD11) and Diane Trautman (going for a rematch against Rep. Joe Crabb in HD127) have been beating the drums over this. I suspect there are more who aren't too happy to be in this position, but if Robison has any in mind, he doesn't let on about it. Alas.
Meanwhile, the Chron took the opportunity to pile on with this editorial.
After supporting full funding for Texas community colleges during the legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry shocked educators and lawmakers by vetoing $154 million earmarked for state-mandated health benefits for college employees. As a result, the institutions that provide the backbone of vocational and four-year university preparatory education face an unnecessary budgetary crisis.Representatives of Houston-area community colleges met with the Chronicle's editorial board and painted a grim picture. The veto will cost the Houston Community College System $11 million. HCCS Chancellor Mary Spangler stated the college will be forced to cut spending this year by $5 million and another $5 million next year. At a time when Texas needs to increase the number of residents pursuing higher education, HCCS and other colleges might be forced to raise taxes, tuition and fees.
[...]
Perry claimed he was vetoing the funding because it violated state law prohibiting state dollars from being used for health benefits for locally paid staff, but the money was approved by the Legislature. Perry also blamed community college leaders for attempting to pad the amount of money they could justifiably claim from the state to cover employee health benefits, an allegation that North Harris Montgomery Community College Chancellor John E. Pickelman denied. Pickelman said that after the governor supported full funding for community colleges, "he vetoed his own message. What changes your mind in four and a half months?"
[...]
In a letter to the governor, 47 Democratic members of the Texas House stated, "Your ill-conceived veto is equivalent to a tax increase on middle-class Texans who are working hard to build better lives by obtaining a community or junior college education."
It is more than strange that an elected official who campaigned on a platform of cutting property taxes would cast a veto that is likely to result in the exact opposite. In an article justifying his veto, Perry noted that if community colleges are short on money, "they are empowered to raise taxes from the population they serve, not unlike a local hospital, school or utility district." Those who wind up shouldering higher tax bills will have no one to blame but the governor.
Think there might be an ad or two in that? We'll see what the LBB does, and what Perry does with his second chance.
As we know, Attorney General Greg Abbott is soliciting briefs from various parties before he makes a ruling of some kind on the Keffer request, which is about the legality of House Speaker Tom Craddick's assertion that he is not required to recognize a motion to vacate the Speaker's chair. Among those who have filed a response to Abbott's call for comment is former Speaker Rayford Price, who took issue (PDF) with Craddick's assertion that the Speaker can only be removed by impeachment (as is the case with statewide officeholders), on the grounds that it would leave matters up to the Senate. Now Pete Laney, who was the last Speaker before Craddick, has joined in as well.
"The 10 years I was speaker I never thought they (elected representatives) couldn't get rid of me," Laney said Thursday during a telephone conversation.[...]
"I don't think it was ever intended for the speaker to have absolute power," Laney said. "That is why we left England in the early days to come to America so we did not have an emperor."
Laney said he interprets the speaker's role as a facilitator.
"In my opinion, the speaker is there as a vehicle so that every representative can have access to the system regardless of where they come from or what their philosophical beliefs are," Laney said.
"They are elected from an area just like the speaker is," the retired legislator said. "The members are benevolent enough to elect an individual to preside over them, and to help with the job of representing their constituents."
When asked if he planned to submit a written statement to the attorney general's office, Laney said he did not.
"I pretty much agree with what Rayford Price wrote," Laney said of an Austin attorney who served one term as speaker in 1971-1973 during the 62nd Legislature.
I love Laney's framing of the issue, and I think it's what the politics of the situation ultimately comes down to. We don't like the idea of absolute power in this state or this country. We like it when people who are in a position of power have to answer to somebody, even if it's not the voters directly. Tom Craddick's position in all this has been "I don't have to listen to you". Call me crazy, but I think any halfway decent politician can run a campaign against that. And I think Greg Abbott knows it. We'll see if he takes Burka's advice and remains above the fray or not.
Christof looks at development projects along the Main Street rail line since 2004:
As in 2004, I can count lots of proposed projects along the line: the two Midtown projects, more Downtown highrises and renovations, air rights development at Wheeler and the TMC Transit Center, a new midrise condo in the Museum Districtm a major Lovett Homes project at Fannin South designed by Andres Duany, and the redevelopment of the Astroworld site.It's tempting to argue whether all this new development was due to the rail line or not. Some is; some isn't. But I think that argument is irrelevant. Rail is a way to move more people in limited right of way. It's helping to absorb the additional travel demand caused by more density. And what's happened along Main should dispell any doubts that rail discourages development or lowers property values.
There are two lessons to be learned from Main. The first is that the most likely places for more density are the places that are dense already. Activity feeds on activity. We can't build rail in vacant places and assume it will make them dense. But rail will support more density in places that are already dense. The second is that the growth we've seen along Main has been organic. Of the post-2004 projects I mentioned, only Houston Pavilions has received city assistance. Government has provided infrastructure, but growth has come from market demand.
He's got a map of the activity as well. There's quite a bit there, mostly within the magic 1/4-mile walkability radius from stations. Check it out.
I see from this article in the Chron that my impression of the whole HOV-to-HOT lanes thing has been mistaken.
If an HOV lane becomes congested under rules requiring at least two people in each vehicle, there is little choice but to bump that requirement to a minimum of three people. That likely would result in some unused lane space. Why not charge solo drivers to use that space, proponents say, raising the tolls as needed to keep traffic moving?"Until a lane becomes quite congested with the two-plus requirement, I feel that it should stay at two-plus," [Mark Burris, an assistant engineering professor and research scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute,] said.
Lanes that already are congested under the two-occupant minimum may need to go to a three-plus minimum to remain effective as HOV lanes -- regardless of whether they charge a toll, Burris said.
Any available space then could be used by toll-paying drivers without negating the lane's HOV function, he said.
"On the Northwest Freeway in the afternoon, it's getting to the point where they will have to raise the requirement." Burris said. "There's really no choice if you don't want the lane to slow down."
TxDOT traffic operations director Carlos Lopez said the toll option really could reduce HOV lane traffic, because "It's a lot harder to form a three-plus carpool than a two-plus carpool."
See, I thought the idea was that there weren't enough two-person carpools using the HOV lanes, and that the toll-for-single-occupant-vehicle proposal was to get more people to use them, thus alleviating traffic on the main highway by some small amount. I mean, when I hear Carlos Lopez with TxDOT say things like "The premise is to try to get every bit of capacity out of the HOV lanes", that suggests to me that they're currently underutilized. These paragraphs aren't saying that at all - quite the reverse, in fact. The idea here is to alleviate congestion in the HOV lanes; the effect on the main highway is not taken into consideration.
This feels bass-ackwards to me. Why do we care about whether the HOV lane is moving smoothly as opposed to whether it plus the highway it's attached to is operating at peak efficiency? If a switch from two-passenger HOV lanes to three-passenger HOV plus single-occupancy for a toll makes the HOV lane go faster but the main freeway go slower, is that a good thing? I don't think so.
Basically, I say the focus should be on improving throughput on each corridor as a whole, not on any one piece of it, and especially not on one piece of it to the potential detriment of another. Is anyone talking about that?
Burris said so few HOV lanes across the country have been converted to HOT lanes that it is hard to generalize about the results. But there usually is opposition to overcome, he said.
"Minneapolis took about 12 years to get theirs running" because of a perception that they were "Lexus lanes" designed to favor the wealthy, he said."In Maryland, the governor said he didn't want to hear the words 'HOT lanes' anymore," Burris said. The main headache there, Burris said, was coordinating the toll rules on roads that passed through multiple states and the District of Columbia in a short distance.
So we don't really have any idea what effect this policy might have, though I think we can take a few good guesses. Is it so much to ask that in the event we do some kind of HOT pilot, we do a study to see if it makes things better, worse, or about the same for both the former HOV lane and the main highway? You know, like we're supposed to get for the accident rates at red light camera-enabled intersections, only maybe a bit more timely.
Burris said the easiest transition probably was in Houston when Metro began its QuickRide program on the Katy and Northwest freeways. The program allows two-occupant vehicles to use the HOV lane for a $2 fee during peak hours, when the three-plus requirement is in effect.The move probably was accepted easily because "it wasn't seen as selling rides to single-occupant vehicles," he said.
This at least sounds like a reasonable place to start, though again it'd be nice to know what the effect is if you try it. What do you say, TxDOT and Metro?
And now for something a little lighter: I present to you Fifteen Unfortunately Placed Ads. I may never get the image of the second one out of my head. Thanks to Mark Evanier for the link.
You know the drill. As with the last time, Vince is the roundup master. Click on for the highlights.
It's Monday, and that means it is time for another Texas Progressive Alliance Texas Blog Round-Up. This week's round-up is brought to you by Capitol Annex.
Diarist Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos has had enough, and she shares the letter she wrote Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn in Tell Me That Our Elected U.S. Lawmakers Do Not Embrace a W.
Monarchy.
Could Be True ponders the often asked question (by the Right), "Why Post Election Information in Spanish" at South Texas Chisme.
Vince at Capitol Annex reveals a letter House Speaker Tom Craddick sent to former Parliamentarian Denise Davis telling her to keep her mouth shut about her time as Parliamentarian.
Texas Education just took another hit thanks to Governor Perry, according to a post by TXSharon at Bluedaze. Rick Perry appointed Dr. Don McLeroy as the Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education. McLeroy is known for his radical fundamentalist views. This is especially bad because textbooks are up for review this year.
Hal at Half Empty ponders early endorsements in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate in An Endorsement Is Worth Watt Price?
Matt at Stop Cornyn lets us know that John Kerry has announced a contest to Remove Republican Roadblocks (like John Cornyn).
Karl-Thomas at Burnt Orange Report tells us about Town Lake being named after Lady Bird Johnson.
Muse at Musings has the invite to LTC Rick Noriega's change of command ceremony at the Alamo on August 4th. Noriega will take command of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, which can trace its history back to the Republic of Texas. The event is open to the public.
Thought we were done with Accenture and HHSC privatization? Charles at Off the Kuff says think again.
Stace at Dos Centavos tells us about a Pew study which finds Latino political participation is not matching up to Latino
population growth. Will demographic changes be enough to put Democrats over the top?
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News points to a peer reviewed study that shows illegal immigrants are not criminals--they go to jail at an amazing low one-fifth rate of current citizens. Perhaps we should promote immigration to reduce the crime rate in the United States?
Dembones at Eye On Williamson County posts on the similarities between the new "right-wing" talking points on Iraq and the change in rhetoric by Rep. John Carter (R-Round Rock) on bringing troops home from Iraq in John Carter Heeds Grover Norquist Talking Points.
John C. at Bay Area Houston, in Raising Campaign Cash 2007 from Bob Perry tells us that, during the first part of 2007, Bob Perry didn't get close to his record contributions of 2006 of $4.5 Million. In 2007 he only donated $471,000 with $250,000 doing to Texans for Lawsuit Reform. HillCo PAC, another fine anti-consumer organization received $50,000 and Lt. Governor Dewhurst received $25,000.
Texas Toad at North Texas Liberal tells us that Carrollton attorney Karen Guerra is set to run as a Democrat for the 16th District Court in 2008.
Steve at Who's Playin'? tell us about three North Texas men calling for impeachment with a freeway banner over I-35 in Lewisville during rush hour.
Mayor McSleaze at McBlogger takes on recent changes in the dress code for visitors at the White House.
I suppose this shouldn't surprise me, but it still kinda does.
While the rest of his former teammates were on the field with their wives and children as part of the Astros' annual family day, third baseman Morgan Ensberg was seeking them out for goodbye handshakes and hugs.Ensberg's mercurial tenure with the Astros came to an end Sunday morning when the club designated him for assignment, giving it 10 days to trade or release him. The Astros don't plan to send him to the minor leagues.
Ensberg, who was hitting .232 with eight homers and 31 RBIs and never could recapture his All-Star form from 2005, became expendable when the Astros acquired third baseman Ty Wigginton in a trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Saturday.
"I was kind of expecting something," Ensberg said. "My mind is little bit more at ease because I know what's going on. It's a function of opportunity here. Other guys played really well that happened to play third base, and that means my opportunity shrank."
Tom, who's unimpressed with the deal and the related deal that acquired Wiggington for Dan Wheeler, disputes Ensberg's assertion about others playing well at third for the Stros this year. I've got to say, while it's certainly possible that Ensberg is washed up at 32, it's also possible that his injury last year just hasn't fully healed, and that he's got a bounce-back in him. While it's certainly justifiable to dump a guy like Ensberg if the club is headed in a youth/rebuilding direction, it's hard to see how replacing him with the 30-year-old Wiggington, whose lifetime stats are nothing to write home about, moves them in that direction. Plus, DFAing Ensberg undercuts whatever trade value he might have had, since in a bit more than a week he'll be available for the waiver wire price. (On the other hand, he may not have all that much trade value to begin with - as Will Carroll writes, "I could only find one team that's made any inquiry".)
Whatever. Maybe Tim Purpura has something else up his sleeve. All I know is, this doesn't look like it'll get the Stros anywhere they want to be.
Former House Appropriations Chairman Talmadge Heflin of Houston is the new executive director of the Texas Republican Party, state GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser announced today.Heflin served in the Legislature from 1983-2004, when he was narrowly unseated by Democrat Hubert Vo.
In his new post, Heflin succeeds Jeff Fisher, who will continue as an advisor to the Texas Republican Party. Heflin will continue to serve as a visiting research fellow on fiscal policy for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
I've got their press release beneath the fold. May he have the same success with the state party as he did in HD149. And if the GOP doesn't snap up his webpage designer too, they're really missing out. And while they're at it, BOR has a few more suggestions.
Today, the Republican Party of Texas announced Talmadge Heflin has been hired as the new executive director. Heflin, a former state representative from Houston, will begin his new position immediately."Talmadge Heflin has over twenty five years of conservative leadership and experience as both a leader in the Texas Legislature and a businessman. This background will be invaluable in helping lead the team of political professionals we have assembled who will lead Republicans to victory in 2008 at the Republican Party of Texas," said Tina Benkiser, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.
Heflin served in the Texas Legislature from 1983 to 2004, including a stint as the Chairman of the powerful Texas House of Representatives Appropriations Committee during a period where his leadership helped close a 10 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes. He served as the Chairman of the Texas Conservative Coalition from 1989-92. Heflin will continue to serve as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Fiscal Policy Studies at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Heflin will take over for Jeff Fisher who will continue as an advisor to the Republican Party of Texas.
"This is an important transition for the RPT. Jeff Fisher has helped lead the Party with great expertise through two very challenging election cycles; I am glad he will continue with my team as a trusted and valued advisor," Benkiser concluded.
Marvin Zindler, Channel 13's iconic crusading news reporter, has died from cancer at the age of 85.
Marvin Zindler, a Houston institution for more than three decades and a pioneer of consumer reporting, died Sunday at M.D. Anderson Hospital after a fight with cancer.The irascible, flamboyant 85-year-old television personality had been diagnosed in July with inoperable pancreatic cancer that spread to his liver.
Even in his last days, Zindler continued to work, filing reports from his hospital bed. In his last report, broadcast Saturday, in which he helped a 45-year-old U.S. citizen secure a Social Security card necessary for employment, Zindler appeared thin and his voice was weak. Still, he signed off with a hearty "MAARVIN ZINDLER, eyewitness news" -- his trademark for 34 years with KTRK Channel 13.
"Marvin Zindler was unique," said Dave Ward, the station's longtime anchor and one of the people responsible for Zindler being on the air. "There's never been anyone who lived life more than this man or who wanted to do more than this man. This is a personal loss to me and to everyone at this station -- and to every man, woman and child, really, who lives in Southeast Texas."
Channel 13 interrupted its regular lineup Sunday at 8 p.m. to announce Zindler's death, with Ward calling him "a legend in Houston television who will never be forgotten."
The station had extended tributes during its 10 p.m. newscast.
Serbino Sandier-Walker, a journalism professor at Texas Southern University, called Zindler "irreplaceable."
"Marvin Zindler was a man for the people," Sandier-Walker said. "He fought for the little person. He made consumer reporting what it is today."
To youthful viewers, Zindler is perhaps best known as the kind-hearted, grandfatherly figure in white wig and blue shades who delivered the weekly "rat and roach reports" based on health department restaurant inspections. After his idiosyncratic sign-off, his most famous catch phrase comes from the frequent health inspector findings of, "all together now, SLIIIME in the ice machine."
But to generations of low-income Houstonians, Zindler was the champion of last resort, the man to whom you turned when bureaucracies seemed indifferent and businesses tried to take advantage. The station said that for many years Zindler received 100,000 appeals for help.
I'll never forget the first time I saw Marvin Zindler on TV. It was the spring of 1987, and I was still a student at Trinity. I was in Houston for a school function, and stayed the night at my uncle Ken's house. I was doing a little channel surfing and came across a KTRK newscast while Marvin was in mid-rant. I stopped to watch, mesmerized. After a few seconds, I'd decided I must have stumbled across an oddly-timed episode of "Saturday Night Live", even though it wasn't Saturday, it was the 6 PM news, and "SNL" was broadcast on NBC, not ABC, because there was just no way this was for real. But then Marvin handed things back to Dave Ward or whoever was in the anchor's chair that night, and I realized, no, that really was for real. Later on, after I came to live in Houston, I understood.
People have often asked me if I experienced any culture shock in moving from New York to Texas. The truth of the matter is that for the most part, I really haven't. Three things stand out to me as "I'm not in New York any more" moments, two of which I experienced as a freshman in college: Learning the hard way that there are streets with no sidewalks; discovering the joy of being able to wear T-shirts and shorts year-round; and seeing Marvin Zindler on TV for the first time.
As corny and bombastic and over-the-top and whatever else you want to say Marvin Zindler was, he truly was one of a kind, and as you can read in that Chron article, he did a lot more good for more people than most of us will ever be able to claim. The city of Houston is a little quieter, a little duller, and a little less colorful without him. Ken Hoffman, Mike McGuff, and Laurence Simon have more. KTRK has a tribute page to Marvin here.
MAAAAAARVIN ZINDLER, may you rest in peace.
Judge Susan Criss, the "blogging judge" who's also a candidate for the State Supreme Court, has revamped her website in preparation for her planned statewide run. Sure seems like there's a lot of Democrats out there who are already pretty far along in their candidacies for some office next year. For which, as you might imagine, I'm pretty darned happy to see. Anyway, take a look and get to know Judge Criss, who's a cool person as well as a fine candidate.
I'm reading this AusChron article (link via PinkDome) about more reaction to the community college funding veto (see here and here for more, and I'm reading Burka's post on why we shouldn't count out Rick Perry after all this time, and I'm thinking that the veto both counts as an admittedly rare error in political judgment by Perry, as well as another source of opposition to him that (in Burka's words) he's conjured out of thin air. It makes me wonder if Perry's desire to prove that he's no lame duck may lead him to be more likely to make errors in political judgment, since he's basically in a position where he's got to swing for the fences. Hard to say, and barring a dreaded special session, there may not be another opportunity for him to strike out till 2009. It's just a thought, so take it for what it's worth, and file it away for future reference.
Oh, and if the GOP base is so desperate for someone with "real" conservative credentials that they'd seriously consider adding Rick Perry to the ticket as Vice President, all I can say is that I hope the Democrats realize this would make Texas more winnable for them, not less. Not that they would, of course, but someone needs to say it.
I just have one question regarding this article about the cancer research bill that passed the Lege and will appear as a referendum on the November ballot.
The rhetoric was befitting a $3 billion assault on the nation's No. 1 killer of people under 85.State Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, called it "an answer to our prayers." Colleague Senfronia Thompson, also D-Houston, said she'd "like to sit back and tell my grandchildren I had something to do with the cure."
And seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong told Texas legislators that "if we get this done, I can honestly say that it'll be the greatest thing I've ever done with my work within cancer, which makes it one of the greatest things I've done in my life."
Thanks to such support, the bill to establish a cancer research center in Texas sailed through the Legislature in May and was signed by Gov. Rick Perry in June. All that remains is for Texas voters in November to approve the center's funding, a constitutional amendment allowing the state to issue up to $300 million a year in bonds over the next decade.
There's just one problem: A lot of health care experts think the initiative is a bad idea.
"The issue is whether it makes sense for a state to front the money for research whose benefits presumably will be spread around the nation," said Seth Chandler, a law professor with the University of Houston's Health Law and Policy Institute. "It's nice and altruistic, but is it sound fiscal policy? I'm skeptical."
Wouldn't it have made more sense to write this article while the Lege was in session and debating the bill in question? I mean, this is good to know and all, and perhaps it should be brought up again later, when people are thinking about voting in November, but what good is it to discuss now? I'm just asking.
Good article in yesterday's Chron about the issue of homelessness in Houston's suburbs, where the problem is often invisible.
Although homelessness in the suburbs has not yet reached a critical level, service providers say they are nearly stretched to the limits, because the suburbs have fewer resources compared to urban areas. More affordable housing, public transportation and other support services are needed to help the homeless become self-sufficient again, but local and federal funding for programs is tight and competitive, they said.In Montgomery and Fort Bend counties, providers are seeing an increase in homeless families. Some people can't pay their rent or mortgages because they lost their jobs and have had a difficult time finding one with decent wages. Others have lost their homes because of divorce or domestic violence.
[...]
People often assume that homelessness does not exist in the suburbs and rural areas because they do not see it, said Ken Martin, executive director of the Texas Homeless Network, which provides information services to service providers. The reality is hundreds of homeless people like Hernandez survive in the woods, in their cars or on the couches of family and friends, Martin said. Some suburban homeless drift into urban areas, where more services and jobs are available, but the vast majority stay in their community, he said.
It's difficult to get an accurate homeless count because of migration and the hidden homeless. Whatever number service providers come up with during annual sight counts can easily be doubled to include those they do not see, Martin said.
[...]
Efforts are under way to raise community awareness and to attract funding for additional services. The Montgomery County Homeless Coalition, an organization made up of social service agencies, is leading the charge for the county.
''In a lot of ways, Montgomery County is still a rural community," said Kristin Lue King, a coalition board member and director of community impact for the Montgomery County United Way. "Services haven't caught up with the growth and the community doesn't recognize the need."
The group is launching a computer database to keep track of homeless people and the services they receive from local agencies. The information will give the group a better snapshot of the population and help identify service gaps.
The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County has had such a system in place for four years, said Anthony Love, the coalition's president and chief executive officer. Fort Bend and Brazoria counties also are struggling to help the homeless. Fort Bend has between 460 to 1,300 homeless people at any one time but no emergency shelter to serve them. Fort Bend Family Promise, a nonprofit group, provides the only shelter in the community for families.
"We refer single people to Houston," said executive director Lyn Storm. ''There's nothing for them here."
Several of these points were raised in a Houston Press cover story from February, which profiled some homeless teenagers in Fort Bend. The attitude of elected officials there still ticks me off:
Three-term Katy mayor Doyle Callender compares his city to the sleepy TV town of Mayberry, a place where residents know their neighbors and look out for them. "We take care of our own," Callender says. "There is no homelessness in Katy -- none whatsoever."Two-term Sugar Land mayor David Wallace says his city, the county's largest, does not need a homeless shelter. The same goes for public transit, he says. "Why create something that nobody would use?" he asks.
Social workers in Fort Bend tell a different story, of extended families crammed into trailers with no running water. And school social workers say they are overwhelmed by rising numbers of teenagers from even the most upscale communities camping out on sidewalks, park benches and school campuses.
So often the kids get sent on to Houston, where there's generally a waiting list and no room.
You can deny it all you want, fellas. But wishing it away won't make it so.
It's done: I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Our copy arrived from Amazon UK yesterday, and after Tiffany announced that she didn't intend to start reading it till Monday, I pounced. I'm happy to have finally caught up with everyone else, and to be able to freely read what's out there without worry about being spoiled. I won't say any more about it here.
I do have a few spoilery thoughts to add, which are in the extended entry. DO NOT CLICK ON unless you've finished reading.
1. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Luna and Dean hooked up?
2. After some of the stuff that went on at Hogwarts, I was beginning to think that Draco and Harry would end up in a Biff Tannen/George McFly relationship in the future. One wonders how Draco dealt with all that happened.
3. Apparently, Neville is also a true son of Gryffindor. Good on him, he deserves it.
4. Despite the repeated denials of JK Rowling, I still think she will some day write more about the world of Harry Potter. And if not her, I think she'll eventually let somebody else explore some previously untilled part of that universe. It may take a few years, but I think the pressure to give more will be unbearable.
This ought to be interesting.
Costco will open a new store in the Greenway Plaza area next year in a 24-acre retail and apartment development planned on Richmond at Weslayan.Trammell Crow Co. said Thursday that the warehouse club operator and an LA Fitness health club will anchor the project, which will break ground this year on the former site of the Houston Independent School District administration building.
The retailers will be stacked, with Costco taking 164,000 square feet on the first floor and the fitness club occupying 45,000 square feet on the second level.
The two-story project, which will be called Greenway Commons, will have 256,700 square feet altogether, including two pad sites and another two-story building with 39,000 square feet.
Parking for Costco shoppers will be served by a surface lot and the first floor of a planned four-story garage. LA Fitness customers will park on the garage's top floor and on a portion of Costco's roof.
I wonder how much parking it will have compared to its more standard locations, like the one on I-10 and Bunker Hill. Is this kind of location a departure for them, or a variation that they've done before somewhere else?
One thing that intrigues me about this is that the new Costco will be potentially very close to a couple of Universities line light rail stations. For obvious reasons, one doesn't normally think of big box retailers catering to rail passengers. But you have to think that with thousands of people zipping by every day on the train, it would be in Costco's interest to try to entice some of them to hop off and come in for something. Convenience foods - good for lunch at your desk, or a quick and easy dinner at home - come to mind as a possibility, though I'm sure the folks at Costco can think of plenty more, if they care to. It'll be worth looking for, if the rail line does eventually go that way. Houstonist has more.
Like thousands of other ballplayers across Texas, the young T-ball players at the YMCA have been plagued by rained-out practices and games, muddy fields and the hordes of fire ants that thrive in the wet weather."It's the worst season I've ever seen. We had a lot of rain," said Charlie Fox, who has been administrator of Little League baseball's District 16 since 1981.
"At one time or another, we had from 15 to 20 games postponed throughout our playoff tournament. But we got them all in, finally."
Dealing with rainouts was one of the less fun aspects of Little League coaching when I did it. Having to deal with the biblical levels of rainfall we've had this July would well and truly suck. Charlie Fox, I salute you.
One thing to remember as we talk about the Northwest Corridor project is that it's about more than just widening US290. Commuter rail, using the tracks along Hempstead Highway, is a part of it as well. Christof takes a look at the characteristics of successful commuter rail systems, and evaluates the Northwest Corridor and its potential. Check it out.
The scenic lake that is one of the capital city's treasures will be named after the former first lady who helped make it beautiful.Austin's City Council voted unanimously Thursday to change Town Lake's name to Lady Bird Lake, two weeks and a day after Lady Bird Johnson died on July 11 at age 94. The change is effective Aug. 6.
"Town Lake has always been a placeholder name," council member Lee Leffingwell said, adding that at least four former Austin mayors attempted to bestow Lady Bird's name on what's been called the "crown jewel of Austin" only to be politely, but firmly, rebuffed by her.
Current Mayor Will Wynn noted this is "an item from City Council that's been in the works roughly 36 years."
Five former mayors attended the meeting. Also there were members of Johnson's family, including daughter Luci Baines Johnson, who told the council her mother would have accepted the posthumous renaming of the lake, but that she wanted its hike and bike trail to be made fully wheelchair accessible.
Former state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who was mayor from 1977 to 1983, approached Johnson with the idea of a name change during her administration and was told, " 'Oh my dear, not while I am here. I wouldn't feel right doing that.' "
Johnson initiated and worked on the beautification project that transformed the lake area "from a garbage-strewn eyesore," according to former Mayor Roy Butler, into the city's most popular park and a tourist attraction.
[...]
The meeting wasn't all smiles and backslapping. Luci Johnson noted that after Lady Bird Johnson suffered a stroke that left her using a wheelchair, being taken on the lake trail was "one of my mother's final pleasures."
"We discovered it was wheelchair accessible -- although not quite enough," she said, directing the remark toward Wynn.
Council member Mike Martinez took up the charge, saying that the trail is not compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. He also made a veiled reference to hotly disputed plans to sell areas around Town Lake to developers.
"I think it would dishonor Lady Bird and her family if we name Town Lake after her and don't continue to protect and improve the area," Martinez said. "Mrs. Johnson's original goal when she started Town Lake was for the hike and bike trail to completely encircle Town Lake."
*applause* Well done, everyone.
Although Johnson was famously shy, her daughter said she was gratified that so many enjoyed the river trail.When Luci Johnson was wheeling her mother along Town Lake, she said joggers sometimes would "turn around with a screech like in the Road Runner cartoons to tip their hat and say, 'Thank you, Lady Bird,' and then continue their run."
Wish I could have seen that.
The switch is on, but not all newly Comcasted users are happy about the experience.
Tony Speller, Comcast senior vice president, said less than 1 percent of the 750,000 Comcast customers in the Houston area have experienced problems during the technical switchover to Comcast's network in recent weeks. As of Thursday morning, all Internet and digital phone customers had been switched to the Comcast network, Speller said."What has happened to date has exceeded our expectations in terms of our success rate of over 99 percent of our customers' devices have come over with no challenges at all," he said. "When you do a transition of this magnitude, obviously you're going to have some fallout. We don't want to see any fallout, but for those customers who have, we've definitely been very active to get someone out there as quickly as we possibly can to get those resolved."
Dozens of customers have told the Houston Chronicle about problems with Comcast in past weeks. These have included failing Internet or phone service, hourslong waits for technicians who never showed up, holding more than 30 minutes for a customer service representative, a modem that would not work with Comcast's network, or being unable to send or receive e-mail since being switched to Comcast.
Hard to say how good or bad this is. Time-Warner had a lot of customers, and some of them are going to have a bumpy ride no matter how competent Comcast is. And obviously, the folks calling in to complain are a self-selected lot. You can't judge from that. The only way to know what the overall experience has been is to do a customer-satisfaction survey. Which I'm sure Comcast will do, though they may or may not make it public.
As I said in the previous entry, the switch seemed pretty smooth for us, and as far as I can tell the Internet service is about what it was before. For what it's worth.
Following the earlier reports of systemwide problems of abuse and neglect at state facilities for the mentally retarded, the agency in charge has responded by saying it's not as bad as it sounds.
State officials said Friday there was no widespread pattern of abuse at Texas' schools for the mentally retarded, despite documents released earlier this week that revealed hundreds of instances of abuse and neglect systemwide over a seven-year period."I would say widespread is wrong," Addie Horn, commissioner for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, told reporters.
She said her agency, through training, background checks, drug tests and screening, does as much as possible to rid itself of abusive and negligent caregivers. But it is, in a sense, a roll of the dice.
"You can't judge how a person will react based on a situation they're faced with nor can you weed out people who ... take advantage of others," Horn said.
Starting off with weasel words isn't a particularly good sign. I agree that in any system this size, there are always going to be some problems and some bad apples, but that's not the issue. This issue is whether or not the system had enough safeguards in place to prevent abuse, and sufficient processes to deal with abuse when it did happen. The jury is very much still out on both counts.
The agency later confirmed 600 cases of abuse and neglect at all of its schools over the past two years and said it would release more documents soon.Seeking to contain a potentially damaging public relations crisis, Horn and Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins attempted to put the abuse reports in context, explaining that the incidents occurred over a seven-year period at facilities that provide 24-hour care every day of the year for nearly 5,000 residents.
They outlined steps the agency was taking to deal with abuse and neglect cases.
Horn said the agency last year began terminating all employees who inflict any physical harm on a resident, whether that harm is severe or not.
Agency documents reviewed by the Chronicle revealed instances in which abusive employees were merely demoted or reprimanded, and left to continue working with the state's most fragile population.
Hawkins said the agency also was reviewing the grievance process which allows state school employees who are disciplined or terminated by the agency to appeal the decision to an administrative law judge. That judge can reverse the agency's decision and the agency now cannot appeal that decision. Employees who appeal their cases prevail 38 percent of the time, according to records.
Hawkins said he regrets that state school employees are not considered at-will employees, and thus may only be terminated for "good cause" and only after they are given notice.
Terminating employees who do harm is a good start. I find Commissioner Hawkins' regrets about the grievance system to be misguided, since having a good, working grievance system in place is a way to keep workers from becoming disgruntled, which in turn seems like a good way to keep frustrations from being displaced onto residents. These folks don't make much money to begin with. Why make conditions worse for them?
All in all, I see a few glimmers of hope, but plenty of reasons to be skeptical. For all the light that was shone on the TYC in the wake of its scandals, there's still plenty going on that we don't know about, so there's a long way to go before we can feel comfortable about what's happening with the state schools.
Remember the Boise State running back who scored the game-winning two-pointer in overtime against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, then proposed to his girlfriend? (Here's YouTube video of the play and the proposal if you don't.) Today is their wedding day. Unfortunately, they will have things other than their first dance on their minds, thanks to some random lowlifes.
Ian Johnson, who is black, and his fiance, Chrissy Popadics, who is white, are due to be married Saturday in Boise.A report on the letters and phone calls that Johnson has received was carried in an Idaho Statesman sports column.
Johnson, 21, from San Dimas, Calif., ran into the end zone on a so-called "Statue of Liberty" play to score the winning two-point conversion as underdog BSU beat the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in overtime on Jan. 1. The Broncos ended their season 13-0 and wound up ranked No. 5 in the final AP poll.
Johnson, who will be a junior this fall, proposed to Popadics, at the time a Broncos cheerleader, on the field after time expired in the game in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Since then, Johnson said he's received phone calls, 30 letters and, in some instances, personal threats from people who objected to his plans to marry Popadics.
"You take it for what it is -- the less educated, the less willing to change," Johnson told the Statesman. "But we're not acting like we're naive to all the stuff that's going on. We know what's been said. We're going to make sure we're safe at all times. It's an amazing day for us, and we'd hate to have it ruined by someone."
It's times like this that I find a belief in hell to be comforting. Congratulations to the Johnson and Popadics families on your happy day. Don't let the bastards get you down. Link via Oliver Willis.
Now that the possibility of a funding veto reversal has been floated, community college leaders hope that the state hurries up and acts, because they have budgets to plan.
[Lt. Gov. David] Dewhurst has indicated that legislative budget leaders could meet as soon as September, but the delay may force many community colleges to make tough financial decisions, such as increases in tuition and property taxes and enrollment cutbacks.Texas law requires the state's 50 community colleges to submit their annual budgets by Sept. 1.
"We can't wait," said A. Rodney Allbright, president of Alvin Community College. "Our budgets need to be done."
Dewhurst spokesman Rich Parsons said community colleges can be assured of the money, and no immediate action is needed.
But some college leaders are skeptical after Gov. Rick Perry pulled the funding last month, saying the two-year schools overestimated how many employees were entitled to state-paid health benefits. College officials and many lawmakers have said they were blindsided by the veto, which represented 8 percent of the schools' state funds for the next two years.
Hard to blame them for being a bit skittish, isn't it? I wouldn't count any money until the check cleared, either.
And what will happen when these community colleges don't get the money they desperately need? Three guesses:
"The smaller the school, the smaller the tax base, the tougher it is to recover that money," said Myles Shelton, president of Galveston College. "Any institution with less than 6,000 students needs to look at this over two years."Perry's veto will result in a loss of nearly $1 million for the 2,200-student college. Amid an enrollment slump, Shelton said he is reluctant to increase tuition and fees, leaving a property tax rate increase as the most likely remedy.
Meanwhile, Alvin Community College will open a $20 million health science building without new academic programs, such as physical and occupational therapy. The governor's veto represents a $1.6 million cut, which leaves no money to hire faculty members for the programs, Allbright said.
To close the gap, he said, the college would need to raise tuition by as much as 80 percent, to $54 per semester credit hour, or the tax rate by up to 18 percent.
So the Governor's shortsighted veto may result in higher property taxes for you. Isn't that nice? Remember, we already had the money to pay for this - as the Waco Trib notes, the comptroller had already certified the budget as being balanced. You won't get any of that $154 million that Perry red-lined back - it'll go into a pot of unallocated fund for the next biennium. But you'll pay for it with higher property taxes. Well done, Governor. Trib link via EOW.
Vince has a copy of a letter (PDF) written by House Speaker Tom Craddick to his former parliamentarian, Denise Davis, in which he tells her that she can never speak about anything she did in that job because she's a lawyer and he was her client. Vince explains why this is baloney:
Denise Davis served not only as Parliamentarian but as Special Counsel to the House. In her capacity as Parliamentarian, she no doubt advised not only Speaker Craddick--who appointed her--but also other members of the Legislature, committee staff, and more. Although Davis is an attorney and special counsel, her duties as Parliamentarian are not necessarily governed by the same requirements as her service as Special Counsel.Does attorney-client privilege apply to parliamentary advice given to the Speaker or other members merely because Davis is an attorney and also Special Counsel? Probably not. Her ruling papers are public record (and we've published some on Capitol Annex before).
Craddick, by sending this letter, is doing his best to attempt to muddy the waters between the positions of Special Counsel and Parliamentarian.
Why?
The answer should be obvious: Craddick clearly does not want Davis to ever say publicly how she advised him on rulings on motions to vacate the chair. Again, one may ask, "why?"
While Davis has never publicly acknowledged that she likely advised Craddick he had to recognize those who moved to vacate the chair, it is clearly obvious that she was in such disagreement with his decision not to recognize House members for such motions that she resigned.
Obviously, Craddick doesn't want the public at large hearing from his former Parliamentarian that he disregarded her professional advice and instead turned to lackeys Terry Keel and Ron Wilson to bail him out of a political jam.
Also, given it was pretty clear from the outset that the matter would either end up in Court or before the Texas Attorney General's Office, Craddick clearly didn't want Davis submitting a reply brief to the Keffer/Cook Opinion Request. Why? Because she would likely "tell it like it is," and hammer nails all over Craddick's already lined political coffin.
Craddick appears to be trying to use attorney-client privilege to paint, with a very broad brush, everything Denise Davis did as parliamentarian as legal advice to him personally rather than what it was: serving out the duties of the appointed office of Parliamentarian.
The sad thing is that AG Greg Abbott may be buying into Craddick's logic, since he has not solicited a brief from her to help him make his ruling on the Keffer request.
One person Abbott did solicit was former Speaker Rayford Price, who took issue with the assertion made in Craddick's brief that the Speaker could only be removed by impeachment. As Price points out (PDF), that means the House has to depend on the Senate to complete that process.
The AG is now accepting briefs from "any interested parties", so perhaps Ms. Davis will directly challenge Craddick's interpretation of their relationship. And who knows, there may be other input that's worth reading. We'll see. In the meantime, Burka reviewed Craddick's arguments about what he calls "the divine right of Speakers", and declares "I do not believe that the Craddick brief makes a persuasive case that the speaker can be removed only by impeachment".
Back in June, I noted that a ruling in a lawsuit against the city of Hazelton, PA over anti-immigrant ordinances was expected this summer. That ruling came down yesterday, and it's a win for the plaintiffs and a loss for places like Farmers Branch.
A federal judge's decision Thursday to rule unconstitutional a landmark municipal law that cracks down on illegal immigrants could set a precedent for similar ordinances proposed in dozens of cities throughout the country.Advocates for illegal immigrants hailed the ruling against a law in Hazleton, Pa., as a victory and powerful reminder that immigration is a federal issue Congress must ultimately deal with by passing comprehensive reform. But supporters of stricter immigration enforcement said the local ordinances have not been defeated and will eventually make their way to the Supreme Court.
Both sides have said the ruling highlights the federal government's inaction on immigration.
"I think this ruling is a win for common sense," said Jose Luis Jimenez Jr., Houston district director for the League of United Latin American Citizens. "Hopefully, other elected officials and other city councils and boards heed the warning not to try to do something that is not their responsibility."
In a strongly worded ruling, U.S. District Judge James Munley said the ordinance was pre-empted by federal law and violated due process protections in the Constitution.
Munley wrote in his opinion that "in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable," Hazleton violated the rights of those people and others.
"Whatever frustrations ... the city of Hazleton may feel about the current state of federal immigration enforcement, the nature of the political system in the United States prohibits the city from enacting ordinances that disrupt a carefully drawn federal statutory scheme.
"Even if federal law did not conflict with Hazleton's measures, the city could not enact an ordinance that violates rights the Constitution guarantees to every person in the United States, whether legal or not," the judge added.
Good. And keep that phrase "the city could not enact an ordinance that violates rights the Constitution guarantees to every person in the United States, whether legal or not" in mind when you hear folks from Farmers Branch talk about "the will of the people". If a law does something illegal or unconstitutional, it will be thrown out, no matter how it was enacted in the first place.
Under the law, passed last summer, landlords would be fined for renting to illegal immigrants and businesses would be denied permits for hiring them. Tenants would have been required to prove they are legal residents and pay for a rental permit. Hazleton is expected to appeal the ruling.
Fine by me. Let's settle this once and for all.
Back in June, I noted that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) was gearing up to hire a replacement for Accenture to do basically what Accenture had been doing so well before we terminated their contract. Judging from this Texas State Employees' Union release, one has to wonder if we've really learned anything from our prior experience.
The Health and Human Services Commission in May issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from vendors about how to resurrect its failed attempt to provide health and human services through call centers. In June, HHSC held a vendor conference to provide more information about the RFI and its call center plans.HHSC's presentation at the vendor conference made it clear that it has learned little from its disastrous experiment last year to create a privately operated call center-based health and human services eligibility system. In January 2006 HHSC and its contractor Accenture implemented a call center-based eligibility system in Travis and Hays counties.
People applying for food stamps, Medicaid, and public assistance in the Travis and Hays service area were required to do so through the so-called "modernized" call center-based eligibility system. But call centers made access to services more difficult.
[...]
[T]hree months into the experiment HHSC pulled the plug, returned most of the eligibility work being done by Accenture and its subcontractors back to state employees, and postponed further rollout of the call center-based eligibility system.
At the time, HHSC indicated that Accenture needed to work out some technical problems and provide better training to its call center staff. HHSC indicated that when Accenture fixed these problems rollout of the call center eligibility system would resume.
But Accenture never fixed the problems, and there is every reason to believe that the problems are not fixable.
HHSC in March 2007 canceled the Accenture contract, but it appears that HHSC has learned little from last year's experiment. At the vendor conference, an HHSC spokesperson told the gathering that "the [call center] concept is sound."
HHSC assertion that the call center concept "is sound" is based on a number of faulty assumptions including the following:
- Call centers will modernize and improve service delivery
- Call centers will be more convenient for customers
- Customers are clamoring for call centers
- New (Old) business processes will improve access to service
- Applying for health and human services is easy and most of the initial work can be done by unskilled, low paid data entry clerks
- A new contractor can make call centers work
The release goes on to challenge all of these assumptions. It's good reading, and well worth keeping in mind as we re-fight this battle. Check it out.
Plentiful rains throughout Texas the past year led weather officials today to declare an end to drought conditions across the state for the first time in at least a decade."We've gotten so much rain this year we've pretty much made up for the past few years' drought conditions in several areas of the state," said John Nielsen-Gammon, the state's climatologist and a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.
Only isolated areas in the northern Panhandle, far West Texas and along the eastern margins of the state are still below normal, he said.
Bad news:
"If there's enough rain to say we're drought-free, that means there's enough water around to cause other problems," Nielsen-Gammon said.Flooding persists in some areas, and many farmers are struggling to salvage crops that remain under water, he said.
Heavy rains have caused major flooding in several parts of the state since mid-June. At least 16 people have died, and property damage has been widespread. Numerous rivers remain at or above flood level.
Good news:
The same pattern that brought rain has provided cooler temperatures throughout the state this summer, a trend that Nielsen-Gammon said is likely to continue for several weeks.
Bad news: Well, as I said before, all this rain we've had means that if any kind of tropical storm were to come through in the near future, I fear that flooding would be way worse than usual. So keep your fingers crossed.
You might have noticed that it's been a quiet hurricane season so far this year. There are good reasons for that, but don't go drinking all that bottled water just yet.
First, the good news. Scientists had worried about La Nina, unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific, developing by now. This pattern, which hasn't yet appeared, has historically augured a fierce Atlantic season.Additionally, sea surface temperatures remain near average across much of the Atlantic tropics, providing less fuel for hurricanes. That's partly because of large African dust clouds that have blocked the sunlight and kept a lid on ocean warming. This dust, largely from the Sahara desert, also inhibits storm formation.
"But this year probably isn't going to be like 2006. I don't think we're going to luck out like that," [Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist with The Weather Underground,] said.
Compared with last year, the disruptive force of wind shear in the atmosphere is lower. Of still greater concern, in the northwest Caribbean Sea as well as parts of the Gulf of Mexico, the warm waters run deeper than even in 2005.
"This means that a storm moving into the western Caribbean and/or the Gulf of Mexico over the next few months may have a good chance of becoming a major hurricane, as long as wind shear is low in the region," said Chris Hebert, lead hurricane forecaster for the private, Houston-based service ImpactWeather.
Here are some charts from SciGuy, which show how Gulf water temps compare to 2005. If we get one heading this way, it could really intensify. Remember, it's August when things start to get busy most years.
What worries me isn't all that stuff as much as it is all the rain we've already had. How bad do you think the flooding would be if even a Cat 1 storm hit us right now? Maybe if we have a few dry weeks, I'll fret less. Until then, that's what's bothering me. Let's hope our lucky streak continues for another year.
There was this article in the Chron business section earlier this week about how more women with children are saying they want to work part-time these days. I don't know a whole lot about that, but it seems to me we could short-circuit a lot of the discussion that's sure to follow this if we take note of one fairly significant fact that went otherwise unremarked upon:
For Erica Rubach, a 32-year-old mother of two, the findings weren't a surprise. A year ago she felt she couldn't keep her head above water, though to others her life might have seemed ideal: two young kids and a job she loved as director of marketing and business development at a television station."But I knew there just wasn't room for both in my life," she says. "It was killing me."
So she left her job, with its 60-70 hour weeks, and with fellow mother Joani Reisen founded MomSpace, a networking site devoted to matching mothers with services in their communities. The two now work on their own schedules.
Well, there's your problem right there! Sixty to seventy hours a week isn't a fulltime job, it's a fulltime job plus a parttime job. You cannot work 60-70 hours a week and be a primary caretaker for a child, at least not without being under enormous pressure, the kind of pressure that makes most people break. I couldn't have done that - I'd never see my kids if I worked those kinds of hours. Maybe if her job had entailed only 40 hours a week of work - which, let's be honest, is all they were paying her for; people with titles like "director of marketing" don't get overtime - she could have handled this.
The irony is that she's probably working about 40 hours a week at MomSpace now. And that probably feels like a part time job to her. I'd say that's a pretty significant part of the problem here, wouldn't you?
You never know sometimes what will turn into a big political issue. In the wake of the 80th Lege, one of the bigger controversies has turned out to be Governor Perry's veto of $154 million in health benefits for community college employees. It's generated enough heat that he felt the need to publicly defend his actions with an op-ed piece. Well, nearly two weeks after that, it appears the stars may be aligning for a reversal of Perry's cut.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Wednesday he wants a quick meeting of legislative budget leaders to restore cut funding for community colleges and a shortage in student financial aid.Specifically, he wants to find a way to restore $154 million Gov. Rick Perry vetoed from the state budget in June to cover health insurance benefits at community colleges.
"I want to see the $154 million go back to the community colleges," Dewhurst told reporters, saying he was tired of "bickering" over the issue.
"I'm very supportive of our fine community colleges. In my heart, I believe Gov. Perry is, too," he said. "I don't want to see tuition increases, local tax increases or restricting enrollments."
It's impossible to interpret anything David Dewhurst does these days without thinking in terms of a 2010 GOP primary for Governor. In this case, at least, it appears Dewhurst may have done some behind-the-scenes work first, to get everyone on board, before going public with this.
Dewhurst said his office has been working with the governor's office and Speaker Tom Craddick's office to reach agreement on calling a meeting of the Legislative Budget Board, the budget office for state government, as early as September.Both Craddick and Perry's offices issued statements favoring such a meeting.
"I agree that the issue of funding for community college health insurance is one that needs to be addressed in the near term," Craddick said in a prepared statement.
"My office has been looking at a number of options to do so, and budget execution is, indeed, one way it may be handled."
Perry still stands by his veto on grounds that the two-year schools were using state money for health benefits for non-state employees, said the governor's spokeswoman Krista Moody. But he also believes community colleges are underfunded.
"The governor certainly welcomes input of legislators and is happy to work with the LBB towards meeting the needs of community colleges," she said.
My earlier link to a Burkablog post deconstructs Perry's reasoning. Be that as it may, it's the result that matters, and if the Governor is willing to play ball, then that's a very good thing. It's early days, and I guarantee that the big three will be furiously calculating the politics of this before they commit themselves to anything, but at least we're acknowledging the problem. That's progress. South Texas Chisme has more.
TxDOT and Metro are getting together today to talk about the possibility of making HOV lanes available to single-occupancy vehicles for a toll.
The agenda includes discussion of a Metropolitan Transit Authority proposal to convert High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on five freeways to High Occupancy-Toll (HOT) lanes, and the possibility of similar changes statewide."We will lay it out in our discussion that it (net revenue) be split 50-50," said Carlos Lopez, director of traffic operations for TxDOT.
But he said that is just "a starting point for negotiations." No vote is scheduled on the matter.
Delvin Dennis, deputy district engineer for TxDOT in Houston, said TxDOT has been talking with Metro for about a year about the conversion, but has not discussed how the proceeds would be handled.
There's a Metro meeting at 1 PM at its usual place, and the TxDOT meeting is at 9 PM in Sugar Land. Drop by if you want to know what's going on with this proposal.
Rick Noriega was down in the Rio Grande Valley, and had a few sharp words for John Cornyn while he was there.
Noriega joked that he ought to come down more often to the Valley, so that the region gets more attention from Cornyn. He said it was quite remarkable that Cornyn would announce a bill for a VA hospital in the Valley within days of confirming his decision to set up an exploratory committee."I need to come back more often so the Valley can, maybe, get their levees fixed, get their interstate built, get better health care," Noriega said. "I'll keep coming back so that the Valley can finally be paid attention, after six years of the junior Senator not knowing where the Valley was on the map. If it holds people's feet to the fire, I am coming down here more often."
Noriega said his intention was to "speak truth to power" over the coming months on behalf of millions of Texans who have not had proper representation in the U.S. Senate for the past six years. "This senator decided early on to represent one Texan - the President of the United States. He has carried George Bush's brief case. He has not represented the 22 million people that live in the state of Texas," Noriega said.
Noriega offered an example of what he believes is inadequate representation. "You have a united border leadership saying that a border wall will not work. Not to listen to that advice is not to represent the people of South Texas," Noriega said. "The question is will Texas voters hold him (Cornyn) accountable for voting for the border wall on two occasions? No one is holding his feet to the fire."
[...]
Noriega was just as critical of Cornyn over his help for Valley veterans. Last week, Cornyn announced he was filing legislation that would require the VA to report on the inpatient care needs of Valley veterans.
`The veterans have been screaming for a VA hospital for years. It has taken Mr. Cornyn six years and the threat of opposition to finally speak up on the issue," Noriega said. "A veterans' hospital would have been my issue the first year, not the sixth year. Not when it is election time."
Noriega said his duties in the National Guard in the Valley have included "putting people on buses, either to Kingsville, to El Paso, or to Sam Houston, so some poor guy can get an appointment he made four months ago." He said more people need to realize that Texas does not end in San Antonio.
"This is one of the most patriotic parts of the state. You look at the number of people who serve from the Valley, it is quite impressive. It's powerful and it's moving. The people should have a voice," Noriega said.
I don't know about you, but that's the sort of thing I really like to hear. If you like it too, please consider hopping aboard the Noriega bandwagon.
(Cross-posted to Draft Rick Noriega and Stop Cornyn.)
After an instant-replay review, it turns out the city of Houston has more green space than you might have thought. Or that it might have thought, for that matter.
A report released Monday by the Trust for Public Land shows that Houston has 27.2 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, ranking third behind Raleigh, N.C., and San Diego among 19 cities of comparable density studied.The same group's survey a year ago showed Houston had 16.5 acres per 1,000 residents, below what was then the national average, 20.6 acres, for major cities of low to moderate density.
The difference is mostly the result of a more thorough accounting of parks and green space owned by governmental agencies in Houston, said Peter Harnik, the trust's director.
"Joe Turner pushed very hard to get that land counted," Harnik said, referring to Houston's parks and recreation director. "You're dealing with a parks department that's very, very aggressive in counting everything."
[...]
In this year's study, [Harnik] said, the trust discovered that several agencies that own public parkland in Houston hadn't been counted previously. These included the Harris County Public Infrastructure Department, which owns 2,175 acres of green space along bayous in Houston, and the Fort Bend County Parks Department, which owns 2,023 acres in the city.
But the biggest difference, Harnik said, was that Houston's parks department reported owning 38,934 acres of parkland, almost twice the 19,800 acres it reported a year previously.
Turner was traveling Tuesday and couldn't be reached. Frank Michel, a spokesman for Mayor Bill White, said this increase was partly the result of some successful negotiations with the Trust for Public Land over what constitutes a park.
For example, Michel said, the city argued successfully that the surface area of Lake Houston -- almost 12,000 acres -- should be counted as parkland. Harnik said the trust agreed that bodies of water should be counted if they were associated with a park owned by a government agency. Houston acquired the 5,000-acre Lake Houston Park in August 2006 from the state parks department.
The report is here. While some of this may be accounting mojo, I don't think anyone would seriously argue that the city has focused on stuff like this lately, and that's all to the good.
Vince gives us a three-part interview with Senate District 11 candidate (and strong fundraiser) Joe Jaworski. This race represents a not-too-common opportunity for a pickup in the Senate, which would give the Democrats a little breathing room.
Part I: Joe Jaworski: A 12th Man For The Texas Senate
Part II: SD 11: Joe Jaworski On Clean Air, Energy
Part III: SD 11's Joe Jaworski: Fund Raising, The District, And More
Check them all out.
It almost makes me feel sorry for John Mackey to see people use his name to describe other CEOs acting as sock puppets. Not quite, but almost. Thanks to Tom for the link.
We know this is coming for I-10, and now Metro is talking about converting HOV lanes to HOT in other corridors.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority is proposing to convert its High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to High Occupancy-Toll lanes, where buses and carpools ride for free alongside toll-paying solo drivers.Under a proposal from Metro to the Texas Department of Transportation, tolls would be collected electronically and increase with congestion to keep traffic moving, said Carlos Lopez, TxDOT director of traffic operations.
Metro spokesman George Smalley said agency officials were not available for comment Tuesday.
"The premise is to try to get every bit of capacity out of the HOV lanes," Lopez said. He said Metro proposed the idea to TxDOT several months ago "because they wanted to make sure that the HOV lanes kept their good travel time.
"When the two-plus lanes become crowded, you go to three-plus, and then you have this huge drop in volume, and the lane's capacity is not being used," he said.
[...]
Lopez said it would require public input, as well as approval by the Metro board, the Texas Transportation Commission, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, which helped fund the HOV system.
Should those approvals be granted, a changeover could come in 2009 or 2010, he said.
The item is on the agenda -- for discussion only -- of the transportation commission, which meets at 9 a.m. Thursday at Sugar Land City Council chambers, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North.
I don't have any particular problem with this (though Stace does). It does make sense to get the most out of the existing capacity. I'm not sure how this will work in practice, but in theory this sounds like a reasonable idea to me.
I'm a little puzzled by this, however:
Under legislation enacted this year, the Harris County Toll Road Authority gets the right of first refusal to operate any toll projects in Harris County, but county infrastructure director Art Storey said he would be wary of seeking to run the proposed HOT lanes."I have considerable scars on my back regarding variable pricing," Storey said, referring to an unpopular -- and short-lived -- proposal to reduce congestion on the Westpark Tollway through a sharp rush-hour toll increase.
Dude. This is totally different from the Westpark situation. There, you were screwing with something folks already had and were dependent on. Here, you're adding an option, which folks can choose to use, or they can stick with what they've already got. The proper analogy isn't the stoopid variable pricing scheme that y'all cooked up last month, it's the creation of the Westpark Tollway in the first place. It's adding something new, not taking something that already existed and making it less palatable. Big difference.
Publisher American Media Inc. said on Tuesday it will stop printing the Weekly World News, which for 28 years gleefully chronicled the exploits of alien babies, animal-human hybrids and dead celebrities.The company said in a brief statement it would end the print version of the tabloid newspaper next month but would maintain the online version (www.weeklyworldnews.com).
"Due to the challenges in the retail and wholesale magazine marketplace that have impacted the newsstand, American Media, Inc. today announced it will close the print version of the Weekly World News, effective with the August 27 issue. Weekly World News was AMI's smallest weekly publication," the company said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.
You realize what this means, don't you? Now college students who want to festoon their dorm room doors with WWN headlines and photos of Bat Boy will have to use their own paper. Oh, the humanity! Thanks to the equally traumatized 'stina for the heads up.
Yesterday, I posted about the brewing battle over S-CHIP funding between Congress and the President. I suggested that maybe just this once, it might be a good idea to try to lobby our two Senators about this, since CHIP has broad, bipartisan support, and they might be willing to put the public interest ahead of President Bush's for a change. I wasn't too gung-ho about this, because Republicans in Congress have shown time and again that while they may sometimes talk a good game, in the end they'll do what their master says. This is what I mean.
In an unexpected turn of events, the top two Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Trent Lott of Mississippi, said they opposed a bipartisan bill that the Senate Finance Committee approved last week and would offer an alternative on the Senate floor. ...
Top House Republicans objected to the House Democrats' plan to finance their proposals, with increases in tobacco taxes and cuts in subsidies for private health plans serving older Americans on Medicare. Republicans say public coverage would in some cases replace private insurance."Dragging people out of private health insurance to put them into a government-run program is 'Hillary care' come back," Mr. Boehner said, referring to the Clinton administration plan for universal coverage.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. They just can't help themselves, right down to the stuck-in-the-90s rhetoric. How terribly pathetic. Link via TAPPED.
This is a shame.
Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Houston's foremost avant-garde theater company, has ceased operations because of "insurmountable financial difficulties."The news was made public late Tuesday in an e-mail released by IBP board president Chet Farmer. The company's own phone line was disconnected.
Tamarie Cooper, a founding company member and IBP's acting artistic director, could not be reached for comment.
Founded in 1993, IBP specialized in Houston premieres of bold works by such cutting-edge playwrights as Richard Foreman, Maria Irene Fornes, Sarah Kane, Heiner Müller and Wallace Shawn, mixed with avant-garde classics by such masters as Samuel Becket, Bertolt Brecht, Jean Genet and Eugene Ionesco.
For its often rough-hewn yet usually potent renditions of daring fare -- as well as its troupe of original and idiosyncratic writer-performers -- IBP attracted a loyal following locally and, in recent years, increasing national attention.
[...]
Reached Tuesday afternoon, Farmer declined to share any details of the "financial difficulties" that killed IBP.
"I can't comment," he said, noting his occupation is "software guy" but that as board president, it had fallen to him to make the unhappy announcement.
"The decision was made by the organization, unanimously." Farmer added that key players like Cooper and Schulze would not discuss the details, either. "Nobody can comment on it. It's just a hard environment out there," he said, presumably meaning the financial climate for arts groups.
[...]
It's hard to believe that, if IBP's financial crisis were known, one or more of the city's arts benefactors would not have come to the company's rescue.
Though relatively small in size, IBP was large in content and impact. With its intriguing programming and flair for the unexpected, it filled a unique niche in a city whose theaters rarely stray from convention and predictability.
It had the vibe and the aesthetic of a troupe you'd fine in a funkier, more free-wheeling town -- say, Austin, or pre-Katrina New Orleans. Even with the occasional misfire, and there were a few, IBP was always interesting.
If it's really true that there's no way for the IBP gang to regroup and resurrect the company, then Houston has lost a crucial component of its cultural scene.
I have to agree with both aspects of that assessment. It's just about impossible for me to believe that someone wouldn't have been willing - eager, even - to set up a foundation of some kind to keep IBP rolling. In fact, I'll be more than a little surprised if people don't come forward now to make the offer. Maybe then we'll get a better idea of what the financial issues were. I hope - and I hate to say this, but reading between the lines, I've got a small nagging feeling - that it isn't the result of malfeasance of some kind. But whatever the case, if that's all she wrote for IBP, then this is a bad day for Houston. As with more tangible icons like the River Oaks Theater, once it's gone we'll never see its like again, and that's a big loss. Thanks to blogHouston for the link.
Here's today's Chron story about the horrible abuse of mentally retarded residents of the state schools. Just one observation for today:
Texas spends about $110,000 annually on each of the mentally retarded residents of its state schools, but entry-level workers who care for them make less than $20,000 a year and start with only two weeks of training.Critics say low salaries, compounded by inadequate training and poor working conditions, make it hard to attract and keep qualified workers, fostering the type of abuse and neglect that came to light this week.
"If you want quality care ... it's something you have to pay for," said Amy Mizcles, director of governmental affairs for The ARC of Texas, an advocacy group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As the tales of horrific abuse and neglect by employees surfaced, critics compared conditions at the institutions for the mentally retarded with the state's juvenile jail system, which was rocked this year by its own abuse scandal.
In some ways, the state schools fare worse.
Entry-level correctional officers at the Texas Youth Commission earned as much as $5,000 more last year than entry-level direct care workers do now caring for the mentally retarded. TYC correctional staff received the same 80 hours of training, but that was so widely attacked as being inadequate, it was increased to 300 hours.
"We can't keep enough people who are willing to work for those salaries or find people who are really prepared to do the work," said Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees' Union, which represents 2,500 employees at the state's schools.
The turnover rate at the Austin State School, he said, has reached 50 percent a year.
Gross said poor working conditions help explain the hundreds of confirmed cases of abuse and neglect that have occurred at the state's schools over the past seven years.
When we talk about "shrinking government", or "cutting government", or whatever the catchphrase that gets tossed around in times of budget crunches or election campaigns is, this is what it really means. We're not talking about the mythical elimination of "waste", or of throwing bureaucrats onto the street. We're talking about employees of places like the Lubbock State School, or the TYC facility in Pyote. We pay them stingy wages for their demanding jobs, we don't spend money to train them, we don't retain them long enough for them to earn raises and promotions, and every few years, we get to be shocked at the terrible conditions at those places. The only mystery is why this is ever a surprise.
I'm not going to belabor this. I'm too depressed just thinking about it. More later when I feel up to it.
Astros legend Craig Biggio announced his retirement for the end of the season before yesterday's game with the Dodgers, then added a little flourish during the game.
They stood throughout Minute Maid Park in the sixth inning Tuesday night, focused on Craig Biggio at the plate. In the home dugout and in the stands, they craved one of those storybook moments that rarely materialize the way fans and players envision.Only six hours after Biggio had shown gratitude for being able to write his own retirement script and announcing this will be his last season as a major league player, the Astros icon added the perfect ending to his monumental day.
The bases were loaded, and the score was tied. The crowd of 38,247 was on its feet and sending a raucous echo through Minute Maid Park. Biggio rewarded his fans with a grand slam into the Crawford Boxes.
With that homer off righthander Rudy Seanez, Biggio pushed the Astros to a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers that tied their three-game series heading into tonight's finale.
"I didn't even feel like I was touching the bases at times," said Biggio, 41, who will retire after his 20th season, all in Houston. "It was just a magical, magical day.
"I topped it off with an unbelievable ending."
Now that's how you announce a retirement! If you've never seen Biggio play before, better get a move on while you still can. If not, well, at least you'll get to see him again in another five or so years when he gets inducted into Cooperstown. Richard Justice and John Lopez have more.
Here's an important message from the CPPP:
Take Action: Texas' CHIP Funding in Jeopardy at the Federal Level
The 2007 Texas legislative session saw important health care victories for Texas children through the Children's Health Insurance Program. Now it's up to Washington to reauthorize enough money so that Texas children can receive the quality coverage they deserve.
This week will see a full Senate vote on SCHIP and important decisions about the House bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Ultimately, this legislation will fund Texas' CHIP program for the next 5 years.
More than any other state, Texas needs a strong CHIP reauthorization to allow our program, which has dropped by more than 200,000 children (over 40% of enrollment) to recover, and then to grow with the population. CHIP is effective and saves the state money, yet the President is threatening to veto the developing legislation, claiming that it would expand the program dramatically, reduce private coverage of low-income children, and pave the way for "government-run health care."
Here's what you can do to make sure all children get health insurance:
1. Contact your Senators and Congresspersons by calling 1-800-965-4298 or sending an e-mail. Find your legislator at http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/.
2. Send a letter to the editor of your local paper.
3. Tell your family, co-workers, and friends to do the same.
Here's what you should say:
1. Support full funding of SCHIP (pronounced ESS-CHIP), as promised in the budget. SCHIP must ensure that all eligible kids get the health care they deserve and don't fall through the cracks into the ranks of the uninsured.
2. EVERY child in America deserves health care!
3. Thank you for supporting full funding of SCHIP for America's kids.
For the real facts about SCHIP and more information, visit http://www.cppp.org/research.php?aid=694.
I usually don't bother with call-your-Senators action items like this, because with the Senators we have in this state, it's usually not worth the effort. This is one of those times where it might be, since as Martha's blog entry noted, S-CHIP has fairly broad bipartisan support. A veto-proof majority would be an awesome statement. And who knows, with an election coming up, even John Cornyn might be tempted to put doing the right thing ahead of cleaving to the President. If not, we can at least get him on the record. So give it a try and we'll see what happens.
Getting back to the veto threat, here's some more on that from State Rep. Garnet Coleman:
This past week I was honored to have been named one of Children at Risk's Legislators of the Year for work my office has done on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Dr. Jeffrey Starke, chair of the board at Children at Risk and Chief of Pediatrics at Ben Taub Hospital, was kind enough to recognize me as "the father of CHIP in the state of Texas." It's because of the vigorous advocacy of groups like Children at Risk (whose website you can visit by clicking here) that we were able to partially restore CHIP in the legislature this past session. But we still have a long way to go to insuring every child in Texas, and right now the cause of children's health care faces a grave threat in Washington D.C.That's because President Bush has threatened to veto a bipartisan reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program currently before Congress. Since 1997, SCHIP has provided health insurance for millions of children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid yet can't afford their own private coverage.
My office has spent the last few weeks sending letters to members of Congress about why it's so important they reauthorize and expand SCHIP. President Bush and members of Congress need to hear from you that any nation that places war over the health of our children has some seriously flawed priorities. Your telephone calls can make the difference in ensuring that millions of children have the health insurance they deserve.
- Call President Bush today (White House Comments Line: 202-456-1111) and tell him to support children's health care and to sign an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
- Find your member of Congress by clicking here, and tell him/her to vote for an expansion of the States Children's Health Insurance Program and to override any presidential veto.
The health of millions of children in this country depends on it.
Speaking of Children At Risk, here's their report (PDF) on what bills they tracked in the 80th Lege, and here's their report card (PDF) for the Houston-area delegation. Note that in addition to Rep. Coleman, Rick Noriega also got an A from them. Here's what they said about Rep. Noriega at their press conference (Word doc) announcing their report:
Rep. Rick Noriega has been a true champion for children during his eight years of service in the Texas State House of Representatives. His commitment to making children's issues a legislative priority during the 80th Session were exemplified by his authorship of key education reform legislation on which C@R worked with Rep. Noriega, infant care program for incarcerated mothers, and efforts to improve Houston's air quality. We are particularly pleased that Representative Noriega is able to give a strong voice to the importance of children's issues in the Appropriations Committee. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Rep. Noriega.
I'm kind of hoping he gets a promotion instead. I'm sure C@R will understand.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'll bet the kids in Lancaster are rooting for this.
The Lancaster school district has asked the Texas Education Agency for clearance to implement a four-day schedule for the upcoming school year.The superintendent for the 6,000-student district, which is located south of Dallas, argues the plan would boost academics and could save as much as $1.9 million, helping to close a funding deficit in this year's budget.
But some parents have protested the idea over concerns about the cost of child care on Fridays and unsupervised students getting into trouble.
The Lancaster school board voted 5-1 last week to allow Superintendent Larry Lewis to seek a waiver exempting the district from the required 180-day school calendar.
The district filed the waiver request with the state on Friday and is expected to make its case to the TEA within a week.
Let's put aside the issue of childcare, which is pretty much intractable and a more than sufficient reason for the state to say No to this. (There's also a deadline that the school district might not have met, but that's boring.) The question I have is how do you fit a 180-day curriculum into 144 days? Answer: Longer school days.
The proposal calls for school days that some might consider epic. Elementary students would be in class from 7:45 a.m. to 4:25 p.m. High school classes would stretch from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., longer than many adults' workdays.
Those are pretty long days for schoolkids. I know I didn't have that kind of attention span when I was that age. It's not at all clear to me that this would serve the students well, as much as they might like the three-day weekends.
Four-day school weeks are uncommon. The first school to adopt one did so to cut costs during the energy crisis in 1972. A 2003 survey by the National Association of School Boards found that only about 100 of the roughly 15,000 school districts nationwide had four-day weeks.They exist almost entirely in rural areas, mostly in Colorado and New Mexico. That's because a four-day week means one fewer day of bus service - a major expense in districts that cover large swaths of territory. Children often work on the family farm or ranch on their extra day off.
"It worries me how it would work in an urban context," said Bob Richburg, a professor emeritus of education at Colorado State. He started studying four-day weeks more than 20 years ago.
[...]
In a presentation to board members Monday, Dr. Lewis said four-day weeks brought a "documented increase in student achievement." But Dr. Richburg says that's not true. His own study comparing four- and five-day districts in Colorado found no gains.
"I just think they're trying to find something to justify a position they want to take for other reasons," he said.
The actual proposal is here, and there's a lot more background on this here. One more piece of the puzzle is here.
In November 2005, Panther Creek ISD, a rural district in Central Texas with fewer than 200 students, requested a waiver so it could switch to a four-day school week.Then-commissioner Shirley Neeley rejected the proposal because she felt she didn't have enough time to rule on it and feared that launching a four-day week in the middle of the school year would be disruptive, TEA spokeswoman Suzanne Marchman said.
Four-day schedules are rare, but they are more common in small, rural districts, such as Panther Creek, than larger districts such as Lancaster.
Panther Creek, which is 70 miles east of San Angelo, covers 563 square miles and had just 194 students during the 2005-06 school year. Lancaster ISD, in a suburb south of Dallas, had 6,068 students last school year.
No precedent, lots of legitimate concerns, no evidence this would be good for students - I think I agree with the DMN editorial board when they say to flush this idea. There may be a place for this kind of thing, but I don't think it's in Lancaster ISD.
Last week, a fellow named Quico Canseco, who hopes to be the Republican candidate in CD23 against Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, sent out a press release saying he'd raised the eye-popping total of $566,000 for the last quarter (see The Walker Report for details; the release was also picked up by the DMN). That's not just impressive, it's mind-boggling; think Lampson-versus DeLay for the perspective. And given the NRCC's fundraising woes, it would be a huge shot in the arm for their attempt to win back control of Congress.
Unfortunately for them, it turns out Canseco's claim was not exactly accurate.
San Antonio lawyer Francisco "Quico" Canseco claimed last week that he had raised more than $550,000 in the last three months in his bid to oust Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio.But a federal campaign report filed Monday showed that nearly all of that money came from Mr. Canseco himself, bringing the amount he has lent his campaign to $1.03 million.
Just 22 other donors have pitched in, yielding $30,400 - a far cry from the boast the Republican's aides issued last week, which read: "Fundraising will not be a problem for Canseco, due mainly to the supporters who have rallied around his campaign."
Oops. Turns out as well that even with all that self-loaned cash, Canseco still trails incumbent Rodriguez in cash on hand, $550K to $315K. And as BOR notes, both Democratic challengers in the Republican-held CD10 raised quite a bit more from actual donors last quarter than Canseco did. It's much less impressive when you put it that way, isn't it?
It's amusing to me that Canseco bothered to tout this "accomplishment". Maybe it never occurred to him that these filings are public record and can be looked up. On the other hand, perhaps he banked on any news organization that ran his press release not bothering with such follow up. I can't say that was necessarily a bad bet, but if so he lost, and lost badly - the followup story was much bigger than the original notice. Oh, well, them's the breaks.
There's nothing wrong with being a self-funded candidate. Plenty of people have won office that way, and I doubt the national GOP committees really care where his money is coming from as long as it's there. But if you're going to be a self-funded candidate, it's best to be up front about it, lest you risk looking silly. Nicely done, Quico.
Whether you made it to any of the public comment meetings for the US290 widening or not, you can always go to Intermodality to see Christof's analysis of the project.
If you thought the Katy Freeway expansion was big, wait until you see 290. That's a proposed cross section above, of 610 just south of 290. From left to right: a reserved transitway, 3 frontage road lanes, 1 ramp, a 4-lane direct connect ramp from 290 to I-10, an HOV/toll lane, 8 mainlanes, HOV/toll, 4-lane I-10 connector, ramp, frontage road, and 2 more HOV/toll lanes. That's 30 lanes at this spot, up from 18 today. Between 610 and Beltway 8, there will be 24 lanes, up from 19. And the project will stretch 40 miles, 1 1/2 times as long as the I-10 project.
Yowza. Here's more:
There are some smart things in this project. Setting aside room for transit is a good move, something that should have been done on I-10. The new I-10 direct connector ramps promise to eliminate the merging mess that now prevails on 610 north of I-10. 290, antiquated more or less since it was built, needs help.
Yes! Getting from 290 to I-10 without going through 610 will be a major win. One can only imagine what a huge spaghetti bowl of on- and off-ramps that will entail, but still. This is a fine idea.
The big problem, though -- the reason why maybe 300 filled a room last Monday night for the first of 3 public hearings -- is land. There's no room to widen 290 without taking more of it. In this case, that means displacing 100 houses, 300 apartment units, 2 churches, and 100 businesses. That may be an acceptable price to pay for more traffic capacity. But it is without a doubt a high price.
Much, much higher than that of, say, the Universities rail line. Just a little perspective here.
And, speaking of price: TxDOT estimates the project cost at $1.5 billion. That's a lot of money, but it seems like a low estimate. The 290 project is bigger than the I-10 project, and I-10's price tag is now at $2.6 billion. Of course, the original estimate for I-10 was $1.1, estimated by the same agency that's designing this project. With that cost overrun factor, 290 would be a $3.5 billion project. Time estimates: about 10 years of construction.
You can throw that $1.5 billion estimate in the trash right now. No way this costs less than I-10, given how much bigger this project is and how much more land will need to be bought. I won't be surprised if $3.5 billion is an underbid, too.
Construction is slated to begin in 2011, so there will be plenty of time for much of this to change. But again, if you live in the affected area, be sure to take advantage of the public comment events. I can tell you from my experience with I-45 that TxDOT will listen, but only to loud, sustained, unified voices. Don't count on anyone else to represent your interests in something like this. Once TxDOT is set on a course, it's nigh impossible to get them to veer from it.
Just received this link from my cousin Lori about her son (my first cousin once removed) Eric Wuensch. It's a video clip from the local Fox news in Austin, about how Eric and two of his buddies pulled a drowning teenager out of the Guadalupe River. You have to sit through a 15-second commercial to see the story, and they managed to misspell his name, but that's okay. Needless to say, I'm very proud of him.
Here's the story in the local paper.
Three local boys caught more than they were expecting during an afternoon of fishing last Saturday.Eric Wuensch, Will Martin and Daniel Martinez, all aged 15, were fishing from the banks of the Guadalupe River near Camp Huaco Springs at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard a man yell "Save him!" from across the river, said Wuensch, a dishwasher at the nearby Slumber Falls Camp.
Emergency services personnel from Canyon Lake repsonded to the scene but didn't have to give treatment.
Wuensch said Monday that he and his two fishing buddies then turned around and saw a boy's arm sticking out of the water. The teens immediately threw their fishing gear on the ground and jumped into the Guadalupe River to save a teenage boy whom Martinez described as 14 to 16 years old. The teen has not been identified.
Martinez said he and his friends swam about 50 yards to the boy. Wuensch was the first to reach the boy, and after he pulled the boy out of the water Martinez carried the boy's legs, Martin carried his head and Wuensch carried his mid-section, Martinez said.
"It was one of the most intense things I've ever been a part of," Wuensch said. "I was feeling so many emotions, I couldn't even think straight."
Wuensch said the boy was going down the rapids on a tube he purchased from the camp.
"Since the river was so high he flipped, but he didn't have the strength to keep himself above the water," he said. According to Wuensch, the boy and his family were camping at Huaco Springs.
Once the boy was brought to shore, an onlooker came forward to perform CPR on the boy, Wuensch said. The boy was blue in color and looked unconscious, Martinez said.
Lt. Jeff Schultz said Canyon Lake EMS responded to the call, but when they arrived the rescued boy refused care.
"He wouldn't even let us check him out," Schultz said. "He was just shaken up."
After saving the boy, Martinez said he and Martin didn't stop shaking until about midnight.
"I couldn't sleep that night," Martinez said. "I didn't know if he was all right or not."
Martinez said he was in shock after the incident.
"I couldn't believe it. I felt like I was in a movie," he said.
When contacted Monday, no one at Rockin' R, which owns the camp, was able to comment on the incident.
Well done, fellas!
(And since I'm sure you're wondering, his surname is pronounced "winch".)
The switch is going on, and they say it's going smoothly. Which I suppose they would, but that doesn't mean they're wrong.
About 75 percent of Comcast's Internet and e-mail customers in the Houston area have been switched from the Time Warner Road Runner system to Comcast, and remaining customers will be there by Friday, the cable company said Monday.[...]
Some customers may have noticed temporary outages during the transition in recent weeks, but spokesman Ray Purser said the problems have been minimal.
"It's all gone very smoothly," Purser said. "I think it's been a lot easier than people thought it was going to be."
I think we got switched last night. I know I had to reboot our cable modem this morning, and I did get a call from Comcast yesterday saying we were about to be switched. That call also told me to look for an email with more information, which I have not gotten, so I'm just guessing. I also got a second call from Comcast yesterday, but my cellphone battery died right after I picked it up, so who knows what that was about.
Customers get the faster Web-surfing speeds without having to do anything, but those who used Road Runner e-mail -- houston.rr.com -- need to register comcast.net addresses.Comcast is sending e-mail users a message telling them they will need to change their addresses and providing a link to do so.
[...]
Comcast has been sending customers an e-mail giving them 60 days to pick a new e-mail address.
That email I haven't gotten, though perhaps I'm assuming incorrectly that it will go to the email address associated with my billing account, and not to the actual houston.rr.com address we have; that address belongs to Tiffany, so maybe it's been sent and I just don't know it. She hated the rr.com webmail interface, and switched to gmail pretty quickly, so there won't be too much hassle with that. We do have an old rr.com web page, though. I've downloaded everything from it, and may or may not resurrect it as a Comcast page. I may host it on this site instead, we'll have to see.
How has your Comcast switch experience gone?
The Humane Society is applying pressure to the Justice Department in an effort to get them to prosecute Dan Duncan.
Duncan testified before a grand jury in Houston last week about the hunting trip in which he killed a moose and a sheep while flying with a Russian guide. He said he wasn't aware hunting from the air was illegal in Russia, as it is in the U.S."The Humane Society of the United States urges prosecution to the full extent of the law and we thank the Department of Justice for giving this case the attention it deserves," the group said in a statement today.
Duncan's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said he "respects everyone's right to have an opinion" but would not comment further on the group's statement.
Hardin said last week that the government might prosecute Duncan under the Lacey Act, a law designed to prevent the interstate and international trafficking of rare plants and animals, although the animals he shot were not endangered.
As distasteful as I find Duncan's actions to be, I don't want this decision to be made in the media. I support there being an investigation to determine if any laws were broken, and if so, then I support a vigorous prosecution. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Remember the Lubbock State School, and the extreme problems there that eventually led to a Justice Department investigation? Sadly, those problems are far more widespread than just one troublesome facility.
Abuse, neglect and humiliation are a stark reality for hundreds of mentally retarded children and adults living in Texas' state schools, employee disciplinary records show.With disturbing regularity, employees pushed, hit, kicked, knocked down and dragged residents. One of the worst cases occurred in December 2005, when a caretaker at Brenham State School hit or kicked a resident hard enough to cause three cracked ribs and a lacerated liver.
Workers also frequently neglected their frail charges, in some cases allowing them to eat cigarette butts, scald themselves or be sexually abused by other residents.
The Houston Chronicle reviewed hundreds of pages of documents showing how employees were disciplined for abuse and neglect at nine different facilities. The Texas Attorney General ordered the records released under the state public information laws.
The records show instances in which abusive employees were allowed to remain on the job, working with the same vulnerable population.
Excerpting doesn't do this justice - you have to read the whole thing. The Dallas Morning News is also on this story.
I just want to highlight a couple of things here. One:
Officials with the Department of Aging and Disability Services say outside state investigators confirmed nearly 300 cases of abuse and neglect during each of the past two fiscal years. But they maintain that the majority of direct care workers do a good job."Most of the people who work in these state schools are there because they truly enjoy serving the population that we serve, and they are dedicated to a good life for the residents who live in our state schools," said Cecilia Fedorov, a spokeswoman for the department. "In any direct care environment, whether it's a hospital, a nursing home, a state school, you're going to have people who just take advantage of more vulnerable people."
I'm sure that's true. The question is, what is the response when it happens? The evidence here suggests that response has been systematically inadequate.
Evidence also suggests that the response from the Governor's office is inadequate:
A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, meanwhile, decried the abuses but defended the agency's handling of them."There's no excuse for the reports but these events have been dealt with swiftly and decisively," said spokeswoman Krista Moody. "The governor believes Commissioner (Addie) Horn has taken proactive action."
Horn told lawmakers earlier this year she is boosting training for employees. The Legislature responded to problems by appropriating an additional $50 million to hire more than 1,600 employees and move some residents into community group homes.
Ms. Horn has been Commissioner since Feb. 1, 2006, so most of what this report details happened before she was in charge. However, as her bio notes, she was deputy commissioner before then, and she was "director of long-term care services for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission from 2000-2004". As a reminder:
The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) was established in September 2004 as a result of House Bill 2292 (78th Texas Legislature), which consolidated:
- mental retardation services and state school programs of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
- community care, nursing facility, and long-term care regulatory services of the Department of Human Services, and
- aging services and programs of the Department on Aging.
In other words, she's an insider. It's good that she's addressing this now, but what has she done before now? What did she know before now?
And finally, from the Chron story in my original blog post on the Lubbock State School, a reminder of how this all came to be:
Michael Jones, a spokesman for the state agency that oversees the state school, said he could not comment on the report's contents because "it's still a potential legal matter." But he would say the facility has a new management team that has worked hard to improve training and hire more medical professionals.Many of the problems stemmed from severe staffing shortages and training issues, the report said.
[...]
State Rep. Delwin Jones of Lubbock, who helped get the school built in the 1960s, said he saw some of the report Friday and said state budget cuts put the school in a difficult position.
"A shortage of personnel put them in a tough spot in trying to deliver the quality of care people deserve," he said, adding he would support efforts to upgrade the quality of care.
It's nice that DADS got an additional $50 million this biennium for more employees and whatnot. The question is, did that even restore what was cut in 2003 to these services? Or, like CHIP, did we fill ten feet of dirt into the 20-foot-deep hole we dug back then?
I expect we'll hear more about this. At least, I sure hope we do. As with the TYC, this sort of thing needs a long, thorough airing out to make sure we at least try to fix what was broken. Vince, diarying at dKos, has more.
Why is it so important to stop John Cornyn? Among many other reasons, it's the company he keeps.
HARLINGEN -- The first to arrive was a woman delivering a flower arrangement about 2 p.m. Friday.About a half hour later, a truck pulled up and four or five caterers emerged to deliver tables and trays of covered food through the garage door.
Then around 3 p.m., two cars showed up driven by men in dark suits.They were seen coming and going through the garage.
But there was no sign of Karl Rove, presidential adviser to President Bush.
Rove was expected at a political campaign reception for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is seeking re-election in 2008.
On Thursday, Cornyn said Rove would be attending the event hosted at the Treasure Hills home of James G. Springfield, president and CEO of Valley Baptist Health System.
Guests began arriving shortly before 5:30 p.m. They were in suits and dresses.
Valet attendants parked the cars along the street outside the home as the attendees arrived in front of the house.
It became apparent that the party was over around 7:45 p.m.
That's when a dark blue Chevrolet Tahoe, which had been seen around the home earlier, backed into the garage and left a few minutes later.
Guests began trickling out.
Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos was at the event and said when he arrived at the Springfield home Rove was already at the reception.
"He gave a really nice speech," Cascos said.
We get to be rid of George Bush in 2009. But we won't really be able to start to undo the damage he's done until we get rid of the people who enabled him as well. You can help escort our junior Senator back to the private sector where he belongs.
I haven't written before about the first-ever-in-Texas needle exchange program that was authorized for San Antonio. It made it through the Lege via a back door, after a bipartisan bill was blocked in the House. I'll leave you to read Grits and Lone Star Times for the background and the sausagemaking of it, but if you want to know why this is a big deal, just read this.
Perhaps half of new HIV infections in the United States are among intravenous drug users, their sex partners and their kids. Such drug users account for 60 percent of new hepatitis C infections. Many are uninsured, and the public cost of treating them is huge."The amount of money that you spend with (a syringe exchange) program is so small compared with the cost of treatment for hepatitis and HIV," said [Rep. Ruth Jones] McClendon, D-San Antonio.
[...]
Studies have drawn mixed conclusions about how effectively syringe exchange programs reduce disease. While most have shown benefit, some have shown no effect, and a few have even suggested HIV infection increases after exchange programs are launched -- although some critics say those negative results have been in cities where addicts have legal access to clean needles through multiple sources such as pharmacies, skewing the data.
A 2001 overview of the studies, conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that when those cities with multiple sources were excluded, 28 of 29 remaining studies showed exchange programs reduced the spread of HIV and/or needle sharing. And another 2003 study of 99 cities worldwide found that HIV prevalence decreased 19 percent a year in cities with exchange programs and rose 8 percent a year in cities without them.
Also, a National Institutes of Health consensus panel on HIV prevention estimated that exchange programs reduce needle sharing up to 80 percent and can reduce HIV infection among drug users by almost a third.
"It's hard to prove something didn't happen and exactly why it didn't happen. But in Europe and Australia and New Zealand particularly, where they have these programs, they report unanimously that the spread of diseases go down," said William Martin, a senior fellow in religion and public policy at Rice University's Baker Institute who has studied and written about exchange programs and testified in favor of them during the past two legislative sessions.
The program saves lives, and saves money. That's the bottom line. Now that this worthwhile program has its foot in the door in San Antonio, maybe it can find its way elsewhere in the state. Soon would be nice.
According to State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, the odds are one-in-ten that the answer is Yes. Surprised? Wait till you see why so many people are on the lam:
A couple of weeks ago, the local paper printed names of El Pasoans with outstanding arrest warrants. 78,000 El Pasoans made the paper! What's going on here?Here are the facts. Of the 78,000 almost all are for moving violations. In fact, most are violations of the Texas Driver Responsibility Act of 2003.
Shapleigh has a table listing the violations that led to the warrants, for utterly ordinary things like "Motor Vehicle Inspections" (10,299 warrants) and "Safety Belt" (2,976 warrants). There are over 140,000 such warrants, for over 59,000 people, which in and of itself is more than 10% of El Paso County (population 563,000). He goes on:
When we compared Austin, same story: 11% of Austin has outstanding arrest warrants. How did that happen?In 2003, on the House floor, Rep. Diane Delisi told Texans that the "Driver Responsibility" bill was needed "to improve driver's behavior." Everyone in Austin knew that the real story was money. After 9/11, Texans quit buying. Sales tax revenues dropped so much that Texas now had a $10 billion budget deficit. Rather than raise taxes, Republicans cut taxes on the wealthiest Texans, cut programs like CHIP, then shifted fees, tuition and tickets to low and middle income Texans.
During debate, a study of the bill based on New Jersey's Act showed exactly who would pay the freight--low-income citizens. To make the bill more popular, ticket revenue was tied to trauma care.
At the time, Senator John Whitmire and others said, "Watch out--here comes the 'chain gang.'" For the first time, fees, tickets and tuition paid for sizable chunk of the Texas budget. Under the bill, fees escalate dramatically. Theoretically, after three tickets, a driver can owe $3,000 and more, depending on the offense.
And if you can't pay, you go to jail.
And that is exactly what happened. Nearly one in ten Texans can't pay: students, single mothers, working families, essentially low and even middle income Texans whose income can't keep up with gas, insurance, taxes and tickets too.
[...]
Today, I wrote Senator Carona and asked his Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security to hear Texans on this issue. During the early years of Texas, thousands came here from England and the East Coast to escape debt (and debtor's prisons). Today, our own tax system uses the threat of prison to collect trauma care money.
Working on the chain gang makes it awfully hard to pay for a ticket.
So let's think about this for a minute. We're using moneys generated from traffic tickets to help fund the budget. When people can't pay the often-exorbitant fines and fees, we put out a warrant for their arrest, so we can throw them in jail, where it will cost the state money to house and feed them while we try to squeeze them for what they owe. (Being in jail at the time, of course, makes it hard for them to earn money to pay their way out of jail.) Taken to its logical end, if other counties are like El Paso and Travis, we might have to lock up some two million people. (Anybody know how many empty prison beds Louisiana currently has?)
And they say red light cameras are a "revenue grab". Where's Michael Kubosh when you really need him?
Let's be succinct here: This ain't right. This needs to be a top issue in the 81st Lege. And I sincerely hope Sen. Carona heeds Sen. Shapleigh's call for some public hearings on this, so it can get the attention it deserves. Thanks to Grits for the link.
If you want to give some feedback on the planned US290 expansion that's looming on the horizon, this is your last chance for this stage of the project.
The last of three public comment sessions on plans to expand traffic capacity in the city's Northwest Corridor will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress in Cypress.The Federal Highway Administration and Texas Department of Transportation are soliciting comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which includes widening of U.S. 290 and construction of toll lanes adjacent to Hempstead Highway.
From 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. there will be an open-house format with displays and people on hand from the two agencies to answer questions about the expansion. The hearing begins at 7 p.m.
You also can mail comments to TxDOT Houston District, P.O. Box 1386, Houston, TX 77251-1386, attention Project Development Director. Or go to www.dot.state.tx.us/contact_us/?id=hou-email and send an e-mail using the link.
You know how much fun the I-10 widening has been? Those of you out northwest will soon have the opportunity to share in that fun. Stay informed so you'll know what to expect. An excerpt from a CTC email about this is beneath the fold.
TxDOT, HCTRA, and their consultants have spent the last 21 months or so revising the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the US 290/Hempstead corridor expansion project. Now it's time for members of the public to assess the project planning TxDOT has done so far, and provide feedback at public hearings and in writing.Federal law requires TxDOT and other agencies to conduct formal public hearings regarding the environmental impacts of each federally-funded project. Unlike the "open houses" you may have attended in Oct 2005, this public hearing is our formal opportunity to speak publicly to the agency -- at an open microphone -- and hear and learn from our neighbors.
The 290/Hempstead project definitely includes the expansion and conversion of Hempstead Rd. into elevated "managed (tolled) lanes" with frontage lanes. It also includes the expansion of US 290. See a map of the project area for reference.
But CTC members are raising many other questions:
- Will the project include complete grade separations at the railroad tracks, or will traffic on local roads continue to wait as freight trains pass?
- Will the project replace the current HOV lanes with comparable high-quality transit, including free access to carpools and vanpools, and direct connector ramps to all existing and planned park-and-ride lots?
- Will the project include commuter rail in the near future, or only years from now after all the new highway lanes are built?
- Will the project allow for safe bicycle and pedestrian access, including both pedestrian access from one side of the highway to the other, and also hike-and-bike access parallel to the highway?
- Will the 290 project include 90-foot tall ramps like the ones recently built for the IH-10/IH-610 interchange?
- Will the project include noise mitigation, landscaped buffers, detention basins that double as park space, etc.?
- If the 23-mile Katy Freeway expansion has cost more than $3 billion, how likely is it that the 40-mile 290 expansion will cost just $1.5 billion?
Your participation will make this project better for neighborhoods. You can ask questions about the project, review the schematics and project documents, and present your comments at any one of three public hearings in the next two weeks:Mon July 16 - Sheraton Brookhollow (map)
3000 North Loop West Houston, Texas 77092
Tues July 17 - Dean Middle School (map)
14104 Reo St. Houston, Texas 77040
Tues July 24 - Berry Education Center (map)
8877 Barker Cypress Rd, Cypress Texas 77433TxDOT must receive public comments by Wed Aug 8, 2007. You can submit your comments in writing:
by email to TxDOT's Pat Henry: phenry@dot.state.tx.us,
via TxDOT's online form (send to "Houston district"), or
by mail to PO Box 1386, Houston, TX 77251-1386 (Attn: Director of Project Development).
You can download and review the 290 DEIS executive summary (64 kb PDF).
You can also download the PDFs for each section, appendix, and exhibit in the full 290 DEIS report from TxDOT's 290 EIS webpage.Preliminary engineering is scheduled to begin in Sept 2007 and right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to begin in 2008. Construction is slated to begin in 2011. In the meantime, please share your questions and comments in CTC's online forum!
Time for another Teaxs progressive blog roundup. Vince did the honors this week, and he's got quite a collection of good reading for you. Click the More link to see the selections, and check them out.
John C. at Bay Area Houston Blog once again looks at the Houston City Council's Own Chickenhawk and explores how he was once again punk'd on his own radio show.
Muse at Musings brings us some photos from State Rep. Rick Noriega's announcement that he'll form an exploratory committee to run against U.S. Senator John Cornyn in 2008.
TxSharon At BlueDaze revals that the government paid $400,000 for a new marketing plan that will fool us into believing that Endless, Forever War in Iraq is a good thing.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson tells us about the Texas Department of Transportation's efforts to continue justify its existence in TxDOT's Sunset Review Kick-Off Party and Media Blitz.
Texas Toad at North Texas Liberal tells us that the U.S. Senate Majority Leader has finally decided to call out the GOP in Iraq in Senator Reid's Jujitsu On Iraq.
Hal at Half Empty explores Governor Perry's choice of Don McLeroy to head the State Board of Education in Governor Perry Names ‘Academically Unacceptable' To Head Texas School Board.
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News reminds everyone to see Michael Moore's SiCKO and reminds us to call senators and congressmen about the healthcare crisis, while telling us why he won't be bothering to call Senator John Cornyn.
McBlogger at McBlogger wants to know why Stonewall Democrats President Shannon Bailey hasn't resigned yet.
Krazypuppy at Texas Kaos is celebrating his own recovery from minor surgery this week by commiserating in his own inimitable way with the President's latest colorectal adventure.
What is the Texas GOP doing to get ready for 2008? Charles Kuffner at Off the Kuff takes a look.
Do you want a red border fence or a green one? Will it make Texas look fat? CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme blogs about how the Republicans are all about PR and imagery. Chertoff opened his mouth and proved it once again.
MexicoBob at Who's Playin'? explores some issues related to some outdated marijuana references in the City of Highland Village's smoking ordinance in Texas Town To Allow Public Smoking Of Weed.
PMBryant at B and B explores journalists downplaying the effects of gender bias during an article on women and their career choice.
PDiddie at Brains and Eggs quotes Dave McNeely's column regarding the potential 18th Texan to serve in the US Senate.
Vince at Capitol Annex discusses how Governor Perry may use Iranian divestment as a vehicle for a Special Session of the Legislature on Voter ID.
I love the fact that I live in a country where this sort of thing is considered to be worthy of space in a major news weekly.
Election season is taking over the front page, the evening news, and--sticker by sticker--the nation's bumpers. Like any ad, the logos of the '08 contenders are designed to sell a brand and subliminally play up a candidate's winning image. PERISCOPE sat with Michael Bierut, a partner at design firm Pentagram, to parse the good, the bad and the sans serifs.
His comments are actually pretty interesting, if a bit over my aesthetically-challenged head. I kind of wish he'd gone past the conventional frontrunners and explored the fringier candidates (assuming they've actually got bumper sticker designs), for the fun of it if nothing else. You just know that there'll be a deeper meaning to a Ron Paul sticker, for example. Alas. Link via MyDD.
Heather Burcham, who was a leader in the effort to make the HPV vaccine mandatory this past spring, has died of cervical cancer. She was 31 years old.
Burcham was misdiagnosed by a half dozen doctors over a five year period, before learning she suffered from the disease.She said she wanted her battle with cancer told so she could save the lives of others.
Burcham was named Person of the Week by ABC News in February.
"I don't want to have lived in vain. I don't want my life to have no purpose whatsoever. And if I can help spread the word about cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine, then I haven't lived in vain. ... I think that they didn't want to tell someone so young and in such good health that they had cancer ... let alone, they were going to die," says Burcham.Burcham understands there are real questions about the vaccine. People have worries and concerns, and she just wants to make sure people educate themselves about cervical cancer, a cancer that kills 3,700 American women every year. And she does that by telling her own story.
"It can happen to women as early as 18 or 21. Cancer knows no age, knows no race, it knows no gender. It can happen to anyone, and I just beg mothers out there to please research. Please find out all you can about the vaccination before you make up your mind," Burcham says, weeping.
She went to Austin to testify before the Lege about HB1098, the bill that ultimately overturned Governor Perry's executive order mandating the HPV vaccine. Perry cited her in his speech of May 8, after HB1098 passed. Burcham was too weak to be in Austin that day, but she delivered a message via video for that press conference. She fought till the end.
Rest in peace, Heather Burcham.
One from the weekend I didn't get to, another entry in the "Let's play with the new searchable online campaign finance disclosure forms for city candidates" files.
About one in 10 campaign contributions to elected city officials this year came from corporate political action committees, law firms and other groups, some with business interests at City Hall, according to a review of campaign data.Since February, when local candidates began fundraising for the November election, groups have given more than 400 contributions, totaling at least $630,000, to Mayor Bill White, council members and Controller Annise Parker.
The donations represent more than 15 percent of the nearly $4 million raised during the first required reporting period this year, which ended June 30, according to the campaign records.
The top donors from this group include the Houston Council of Engineering Companies PAC, which represents firms seeking municipal work; Locke, Liddell & Sapp, LLP, a law firm that provides professional services to the city but also lobbies on behalf of its $2 billion municipal pension fund; and Continental Airlines, which pays millions annually to the city in terminal fees and depends on publicly financed infrastructure at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Elected officials, donors and political observers offered different reasons for why such groups contribute.
None of those interviewed suggested municipal contracts were given based on campaign donations. Some said the groups simply were participating in politics and supporting like-minded candidates, much like individual donors. But others see a coordinated investment by the groups to protect their interests and maintain access to elected officials.
"It's not any burning desire for good government," said Richard Murray, a political science professor at the University of Houston, of the motivation to donate. "It's the grease that makes the governmental gears keep churning along."
Donations from PACs and law firms aren't new, but their scale is more obvious after the city this election cycle began requiring candidates to file their donation and expenditure reports electronically, allowing searching and sorting that isn't possible with paper reports.
I'm glad this is more transparent. That's one reason why this stuff should have been easily accessible online well before now. More information is always better. In this case, I don't think it tells us much of anything we didn't already know - who else would you have thought would be the big givers to city officials, if you didn't have the data in front of you? Now that we do know this much, the next questions to ask are "why are you guys giving all that money in the first place?" (one answer is here), and "is there any connection between a donor/recipient combination and a vote/contract/whatnot that might not have happened had someone who wasn't a recipient of that donor's largesse been elected?" That's a much tougher nut to crack, of course, and it's entirely possible there's nothing there to find. But it's worth pursuing, if for no better reason than to make sure everyone knows it will be pursued.
And if any of this leads to a conversation about how we can put more integrity into the system, that's a good thing, too. Contribution limits on PACs? More detailed reporting on donations and expenditures by candidates? Stricter rules about conflict-of-interest and the like? I'm more than happy to take part in that kind of talk. Bring it on.
Every once in awhile, I see a spike in search engine referrals to this site for the same thing. Sometimes it just means that Google has reindexed, and I've become the #1 result for a particular search ("Diane Zamora" is the usual suspect for this one), and sometimes it means that someone or something I've written about before is in the news again.
Today, I'm seeing a bunch of referrals for "Walton and Johnson", who are a couple of troglodyte wacky-morning-DJs in Houston. I did a little Googling myself and found this vague message on their own site, but came away unsure of what was happening. Thankfully, I eventually came to Mike McGuff's blog, where all became clear. Apparently, soon-to-be-former City Council Member/current radio mogul Michael Berry is fixing to shake things up at one of the talk radio stations here. Which apparently has some folks up in arms.
Not that I care. You couldn't pay me enough to listen to any of that junk, W&J most definitely included. I'm just glad to know what all the Googling is about.
This story gives some idea of how far the idea of historic preservation has come in Houston over the last decade or so.
A year ago, Houston's small but passionate preservation community was galvanized by warnings that the River Oaks Theatre, the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Alabama Theater building could face demolition within two years.By that time, Mayor Bill White had begun his administration's gradual effort to strengthen the city's preservation law, long regarded as among the weakest in the country. White and the City Council created a new "protected landmarks" category allowing owners to protect certain buildings in perpetuity and provided tax incentives for doing so.
White's efforts are expected to culminate Aug. 1, when the council considers a protected historic district for the Old Sixth Ward that would include the first unqualified ban on demolition of historic buildings ever enacted in Houston.
[...]
The mayor's incremental approach to the issue has been more successful than a bolder, more controversial effort that died in a City Council committee led by then-Councilwoman Annise Parker five years ago.
Parker, now the city controller, said Houston's preservation climate has improved since then for a number of reasons: White and several City Council members are more interested than their predecessors were in preservation. Stakeholders trust White to be an "honest broker" of their diverse interests. And business leaders increasingly recognize the importance of quality-of-life issues such as historic preservation.
Though preservation groups' leaders don't always get along, Parker said, they concluded that even small victories are better than none. "People see so much of our history being lost," Parker said. "They're willing to take a compromise that they wouldn't before, because they're so desperate for something to happen."
[...]
Serious efforts to curb destruction of the spaces holding Houston's collective memories began in the 1990s when preservationists lobbied then-Mayor Bob Lanier for an ordinance imposing some controls on demolition or alteration of historic buildings.
It was a tough sell in a relatively young city with a culture that revered individual property rights and the prosperity fueled by new development. But Lanier agreed to consider the idea.
The result was Houston's first preservation ordinance, adopted by the City Council in 1995. It created an Archaeological and Historical Commission to review applications for demolition or alteration of certain historic buildings; denial would require owners to wait 90 days before proceeding.
The ordinance was helpful, preservationists said, but its shortcomings soon became apparent as one property owner after another waited the required 90 days and then proceeded with demolition. Some particularly beloved buildings were destroyed in the dead of night to avoid protests.
I did a little trekking through the archives of the Houston Press, which I know ran an article on such a midnight demolition years ago, but couldn't find what I was remembering. I did find these two articles, from 2001 and 1998, respectively, which will give you a pretty good feel for where we once were, so you can really see how far we've come since then. I think in the end, the White Administration will do more for this effort than anyone else has before. But we'll have to check back in another ten years to see where we are then as compared to now to know for sure.
The effect of the dollar-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax has been more or less as expected, but it's still early to say what trends may exist.
The state sold about 484,000 tax stamps, which must be affixed to every pack, during the first half of 2007. During the same period last year, about 620,000 stamps were sold.As expected, revenue from the tobacco tax has nearly tripled. It brought $727.3 million into state coffers compared with $242.8 million in the first half of 2006.
"Everything we predicted would happen is happening. Consumption has gone down as expected, and, just as importantly, significant new revenue has been generated to fund property tax relief," said James Gray with the Austin office of the American Cancer Society.
Gray said the key benefit to making it more expensive to smoke won't show up in the current numbers.
"This is all about stopping kids from ever starting to smoke," he said. "Based on that dollar increase, we will stop 280,000 kids alive today from ever starting."
But tax revenue, which grew at a greater pace in the second quarter, shows that some smokers could be adjusting to the sticker shock.
"The price isn't scaring people away the way they thought it might," said Dick Lavine, a tax analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities. "It shows how addictive cigarettes are."
Doug DuBois with the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association said a survey of member stores showed cigarette sales down about 15 percent.
[...]
Tax analysts say it's difficult to measure the initial effect of tax hikes on people's habits because so many smokers stock up in advance of an increase. Sales were up 27 percent in the last quarter of 2006, said Dale Craymer, chief economist with Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a business group that tracks state tax policy.
"It's really hard to get a handle on what the hit on consumption is going to be immediately after the tax hike takes effect precisely because folks tend to have stockpiled," Craymer said. "Over a longer period of time, we'll tend to see fewer smokers or smokers smoking less."
Here's how things looked three months ago. No question people stocked up, but surely that effect didn't last beyond the first quarter. The real question is how much of the decline is attributable to people quitting or cutting back, and how much is due to non-Texas sales.
Other explanations for the lower sales could be smokers crossing state or even national borders or turning to the Internet to buy cheaper cigarettes. Convenience stores in Louisiana, where the tax is only 36 cents a pack, have done a brisk business since January, and DuBois said stores in the Rio Grande Valley have seen the biggest declines in sales.[...]
Legislative fiscal analysis of the tax hike showed that revenue would grow through fiscal 2009 and then start to slowly decline.
Inspectors with the comptroller's office are watching for sales moving underground.
"We haven't seen much of an increase in illegal cigarette or cigarette stamp sales during our inspections since Jan. 1," said R.J. DeSilva, a spokesman for Comptroller Susan Combs. "But it's something that we continue to keep a close eye on."
Internet sellers are supposed to obtain tax stamps and affix them before shipping cigarettes. The federal Jenkins Act requires the sellers to report to taxing authorities the names and addresses of customers who buy untaxed cigarettes.
Again, no real surprises. The question is what will the Lege do when the tax revenue starts to decline and there's that much more pressure on the funding for the property tax cuts. Hiking the tax again is unlikely to be well received. We'll see.
I figure by now that about half the US population has read the last Harry Potter book. As we like the British editions, we're waiting on our copy's arrival from Amazon UK (according to an email I got yesterday, it has been dispatched and is estimated to arrive via international mail on or about July 30). In the meantime, I'm doing whatever I can to remain spoiler-free. I've stopped reading newspaper stories about the book, even stories about midnight madness events at bookstores, just in case. That may sound excessive to you, but one of the Chron stories from Thursday quoted from early reviews of the book, and what they excerpted from Michiko Kakutani's review in the NYT talked about how the saga ended, and that's already more than I wanted to know, even if it was one of the scenarios I figured JK Rowling had to use.
So, I'm trying to maintain complete radio silence on all things Potter for the next week or so. I'm also going to have to wait till Tiffany reads the book first once it gets here, but at least she reads fast. If you've already read it, feel free to gloat about it in the comments, but please please please don't say anything more about it than "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". Thanks.
I had a wonderful time last night at a house party for Nick Lampson in Clear Lake. He looks great and is clearly back at full energy, working hard in Congress and meeting with constituents around the district. He's received compliments from Republican electeds - in Fort Bend! - for his smarts on policy. Maybe it's because he's doing what he promised to do when he was on the campaign trail - he's representing everyone in the district and working on issues that are important to TX-22 (for example, increasing NASA's 2008 budget). Maybe it's because everyone is relieved that Tom DeLay is finally, really and truly irrelevant.
From the talk and question and answer part of the evening:
There will be some resolution on the war in Iraq soon, but we'll be fighting terror for a very long time$$ to veterans programs including health care has been increased by a dramatic amount
This Congress looks ready to have the budget passed by the end of September, unlike the mess they inherited from the Republican Congress who couldn't/wouldn't approve an 07 budget, resulting in a continuing budget resolution in February, keeping 07 funding at 06 levels
He talked about the politicizing of government. He's not too happy with Karl Rove who not only has put Lampson as his number one House target, but has sent his minions to government agencies to make presentations about who is being targeted- can you say Hatch Act? Illegal activity?
There were questions about Congressional oversight on abuse of executive powers. There are a lot of committee hearings on this that I was not aware of, but Lampson admitted that while that effort is very serious and aggressive, it may be going slower than people can tolerate. Special prosecutor? Guests were supportive of that tactic.
Lampson's office tracks every letter, email and phone call and you can find all of his contact info here.
Also at the gathering was one of my very favorite candidates, Joe Jaworski, who is taking on Mike Jackson for State Senator in District 11. Always great to see Joe, who is becoming a rock star due to his fundraising prowess.
And, I met Manisha Mehta who is about to announce for Houston City Council District E. Watch for her.
Despite earlier reports about construction beginning by September, the Texas portion of the border fence will not get underway until 2008.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle this week, said he expects some work to begin in Texas before the 2007 fiscal year ends Sept. 30. But department officials have encountered stiff opposition from towns and cities along the border and don't plan to begin the Texas segment until 2008.The Army Corps of Engineers, working under the supervision of Homeland Security, plans to complete 70 miles of fencing this fiscal year in New Mexico, Arizona and California, department spokeswoman Laura Keehner said Friday. An additional 225 miles, including 153 miles in Texas, would be erected in 2008 under current plans, Keehner said.
The Texas portion has been embroiled in angry protests by local leaders and property owners, who say the fencing would create economic, cultural and environmental chaos along the Rio Grande, which separates Texas from Mexico.
"There is no place where we are initiating construction without an agreement of the local landowner," Keehner said.
Keehner said Homeland Security officials have been in contact with "Texas landowners who are willing to move forward on the construction process." But border-city mayors Chad Foster of Eagle Pass and Raul G. Salinas of Laredo said Friday that they are unaware of any agreements that would clear the way for construction.
"The mayors along the border in Texas, Democrats and Republican, are in agreement that we don't need a fence," Salinas said. "When all the mayors along the border are in agreement, that really says something."
It's a pretty good bet that this is more BS from Homeland Security. It's certainly possible that there are "Texas landowners who are willing to move forward on the construction process", but it's mighty convenient of DHS to claim such people exist when no local officials are aware of them. I would take anything they say here very skeptically.
Which brings me back to the question I raised previously: What, if anything, will John Cornyn do if DHS proceeds without local input? He's on record saying he'll fight such a situation, but he hasn't said how far he'll go. Will Cornyn follow up his words with actions, or is this all just so much hot air?
We also have to consider what "local input" actually means.
[Local officials] expressed outrage on newly released reports by Secretary Michael Chertoff that he would talk to local communities on the fence design, but would give them no veto power."Well then what the heck are they going to talk to us about? Are they going to ask us what color do we want the fence. Do we want brick and mortar," said Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos, who met with federal lawmakers last week to discuss the issue.
Will Chertoff come away saying "Well, we talked to these people, and we told them what we were going to do. What more do you want?" And if he does, will Cornyn accept that? Stay tuned.
If you read the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, you were probably already pretty sure of this, but here's the confirmation anyway: The character of Lisa Moore is going to die of her breast cancer.
Despite e-mails from readers asking him to save her, "Funky Winkerbean" creator Tom Batiuk says the comic strip character Lisa Moore will succumb to breast cancer.Batiuk, 60, himself a cancer survivor, said the miracle some readers are hoping for won't happen.
"I honestly don't think readers know what they want," he said. "They think they know what they want. But what they really want is for me to give them a surprise every now and then."
The King Features strip, which is published in about 400 newspapers, will chronicle Lisa's experience through October. It is written and drawn by Batiuk in his workshop above his home's garage in this Cleveland suburb.
[...]
Last year, Batiuk completed the Lisa saga now running in the papers. He has moved on to a different story arc, one that shows what happens to the "Funky Winkerbean" characters a decade after Lisa's death.
He laughed at what he knows is coming in the lives of his characters.
"I have a real leg up on people, because I know how cool the work is going to be and how much fun it is to see these characters as parents," he said. "I'm having a ball with it."
First, though, Lisa must die, leaving behind her husband, Les, and a daughter.
"To me, there is a miracle in Lisa's story," Batiuk said. "It's not that much of a downer. It's a hopeful story, because it shows how a loving couple treats each other under all circumstances."
I guess this means we'll see all of the remaining characters suddenly leap forward in age, as we did when Batiuk moved the strip from Funky and friends in high school to Funky and friends as young adults. (They've aged gradually since then - Funky's cousin Wally and his now-wife Becky were high schoolers when that first happened.) I have a theory as to how this story line will wrap up, which will presumably be one of the foci when the strip resumes ten years later. I'll put it in the extended entry, just in case.
This week in the strip, Darin (the son Lisa gave up for adoption after her teenage pregnancy) and his girlfriend Jessica finally had sex for the first time. I'm going to bet that Jessica gets pregnant as a result of this (you may recall that Lisa got pregnant after her first time). Despite the bad timing of Darin deciding to stop checking his PO box to see if he's heard from the adoption agency just before a response appeared, I believe he and Lisa will realize the true nature of their relationship before she dies. I also believe Lisa will learn that she is to become a grandmother. Unlike Lisa, I believe Jessica will keep her baby; whether she and Darin stay together or not, I don't know.
We'll find out if I'm right in October. What do you think?
You may recall that last month, House Speaker wannabee Rep. Jim Keffer asked AG Greg Abbott for an opinion on the matter of whether or not House Speaker Tom Craddick has absolute power to recognize or not a motion from a member; in particular, whether he must recognize a motion to vacate the Speakership. Via Brandi Grissom, Craddick and his team have filed briefs in support of his position. Both Rep. Warren Chisum and former Rep-now Parliamentarian Terry Keel weighed in on this. Paul Burka has this to say:
My ability to comment on this is somewhat limited, since I am in New Orleans using a motel computer and a printer that does not wish to print the forty-two page document, in defiance of my instruction that it do so. From what I have read so far, however, I agree completely with Craddick's initial assertion in the brief that the resolution of this issue is none of the attorney general's business.[...]
I believe that the Texas Constitution intends for issues between the Speaker and the membership of the House to be resolved by that body, not a member of the executive branch. (Even if Abbott should, unwisely, rule on the request, his ruling is advisory rather than mandatory and cannot be binding on the speaker or the House.)
This is an issue that properly belongs to the membership. The elected representatives in the 81st Legislature will write and adopt their own rules. This is the proper forum for resolving the issue. If they want a speaker who is beyond challenge, or one who can be removed at any time, that should be their decision.
I respect Burka's logic, but I have two qualms. It's not clear to me that Craddick didn't violate the rules of the 80th Lege when he made his infamous ruling. There's a reason his former Parliamentarian resigned, after all. It's also not clear to me that Craddick and his minions won't engage in some sort of gamesmanship to rig the rulemaking process so that this issue can't get resolved. (Assuming, God forbid, that Craddick is elected Speaker again.) So perhaps the question should more properly be "What recourse (if any) does the House have for dealing with a Speaker who won't play by the rules?" Given the assertions of uncheckable executive privilege being made in Washington these days, I think we need to get this settled here in Texas as soon as possible. Who's really in charge here?
On a related note, Craddick minion Rep. Will Hartnett filed a similar request with the AG's office inquiring about how the Senate could go about unseating the Lieutenant Governor. QR has the details.
Hartnett formally asked the Attorney General to rule on whether or not the Senate can remove its presiding officer. He has also asked for an Attorney General's opinion as to whether or not the Constitution and Senate rules permit the president of the Senate to refuse recognition to a member for the purpose of vacating the chair.In a footnote to his request (Word doc) for an AG opinion, Harnett notes, "It is my opinion that all of the questions presented in (Keffer and Cook's) Opinion Request and in this letter are political questions reserved exclusively to the legislature by the separation of powers clause in Section 1, Article II. In case you do not agree, I submit this letter to obtain a complete picture regarding the standing of the presiding officers of both houses of the legislature vis-a-vis their respective members, and to avoid a future patchwork of rulings."
I forget now where I first saw this, but someone has pointed out that the obvious difference between the Speaker and the Lite Guv is that the latter is elected by the people of Texas. One presumes that it would take some form of high crimes and misdemeanors for him to be deposed by the Senate. But we'll see what the AG has to say.
Speaking of Michael Vick, the folks in town for the 30th annual Reliant Park World Series of Dog Shows let him have it.
Former University of Houston football player Chris Tucker, a longtime dog trainer, called Vick "an idiot.""What was he thinking?" Tucker asked. "The man had the world in the palm of his hand, and he gets involved in an activity like dogfighting?"
"The cruelty issue turns my stomach. I just can't believe it. There's no excuse, no possible rationale," said Steve Fincher, who was behind the counter at the Invisible Fence Co.
Kim Lawrence -- holding a leash attached to her boxer, Frankie -- called the charges against Vick "disgusting." Lawrence was in charge of the Citizens for Animal Protection area.
"Putting two animals together and making one of them try to kill the other -- that's not sport," she said. "And, because of who he is, it's multiplied times 10. It's like he's lending his name to animal cruelty (by saying), 'Oh, look, you can grow up and be a professional sports star and kill animals, too.' It's gross."
Susan Vroom of Dallas, the American Kennel Club's top representative at the show and a trainer of dogs for 36 years, prefaced her comments by conceding, "Yes, Michael Vick is innocent until proven guilty."
She added without hesitation, however, that if he's convicted, he should be treated "like it was second-degree murder."
"Bear in mind you're talking to a dog person here. But I could not have been more devastated if I'd been told he was involved in trafficking in young children," she said. "No, I'm not nuts. I'm able to differentiate between humans and animals, but I still equate the two. I really see no difference. If you would electrocute a dog (one of the allegations against Vick), what would stop you from beating a child?"
The dogs' subservient status makes the fights heinous, said Tom Pincus, the Houston Kennel Club's president.
"The animal can't defend itself," Pincus said. "It can't quit or leave home. It can't pick up the phone and call the police or dial 911. I think it's worse than the Pacman Jones situation. If he's found guilty, he should suffer similar, if not greater, consequences."
If that attitude is at all prevalent, then the NFL is going to be in a really tough spot. Right now, they're holding off on taking action until the legal system goes through its motions, but as more information comes to light - especially if some of the other folks charged in this atrocity agree to plea deals and start talking to the press - there's going to be a lot of pressure to act swiftly. I certainly wouldn't bet on Vick finishing the season on the Falcons' active roster, and at this point I'd need some odds before I'd take a bet on him starting the season.
This is the closest anyone came to defending Vick:
J.T. Thomas -- representing the event's sponsor, pet food maker Eukanuba -- offered a tempered viewpoint. It's because of Vick's own background -- suggested Thomas, a younger brother of the 1960s-era Oilers cornerback W.K. Hicks -- that people should attempt to understand how the former Virginia Tech star could have become involved."Once upon a time dogfighting, just like cockfighting, used to be a part of the fabric of America," said Thomas, of Pasadena. "Just like with a lot of other things, loopholes have been closed. It sometimes takes people awhile to understand what you used to do and what you can do now aren't always one in the same. Sometimes you have to learn this the hard way, and that's happening with him. This was not murder. This was not a capital crime. This was, possibly, a bad error in judgment. We can make a federal case out of it if we want to, but whatever happened, we have to let justice take its course. (Vick's) argument is that he was not knowledgeable about what was going on.
"I myself am a man of color. But, if a man is wrong, he's wrong. I'm not going to jump on his bandwagon because he's Michael Vick. It's unfortunate people in America tend to worship success and don't always realize that just because someone is successful financially they may not be successful morally, socially or spiritually."
It'll be interesting to see if any there's any organized constituency that comes out in defense of Vick. I'm not talking about his lawyers, or his teammates, or random fans like the guy in the photo for this story. I mean a public figure, someone with a following - a politician, a civil rights leader, a businessperson - who stands by Vick and goes on the record supporting him and attacking the charges against him. For the time being at least, Vick shouldn't count on the companies with whom he has endorsement deals for much.
Nike has told retailers it will not release a fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V, this summer. Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said the four shoe products and three shirts that currently bear Vick's name will remain in stores.[...]
Stoyer said Nike still has a standing contract with Vick, but declined to speculate on his future with the company.
A statement released by Nike Inc. said the company "is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen; therefore, we have not terminated our relationship."
Stoyer, who declined to discuss terms of Vick's contract, indicated the company has no commercials or documentaries planned with the three-time NFL Pro Bowl selection.
In previous years, Nike has run footage and interviews with Vick on its Web site, but none of the video promotions are currently posted.
"Some of that was shown on a limited run based on rights and usage," Stoyer said. "There's nothing new planned."
That answers John Lopez's question, at least. That also may be the last we see of Vick on TV, outside of a Falcons game and maybe CNN, for awhile.
Unlike our helicopter-borne moose-shooter, there's no question about the value of the feds pursuing a case against Michael Vick. But as with that, I hope that at the very least, Vick comes away from this with a heaping helping of shame, both self-induced and imposed on him by the public. Whether he is ever convicted of any of these charges or not, he's going to have to do a hell of a lot if he ever hopes to rehabilitate his public image.
And here I was thinking I'd only see Jordy Tollett again on some kind of Houston: Where Are They Now? special, preaching the benefits of the three-martini lunch. Perhaps not. According to Kristen Mack, Tollett is hot to get his old job back:
The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau has not been able to fill Jordy Tollett's spectator shoes after six months of searching.It extended an offer to Stephen Perry, the president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, last Friday. He turned it down.
Now the search committee must regroup.
There's at least one person who is interested -- Tollett.
"You don't know what that would mean to me, to be able to return and sell the city," Tollett said. "It was my life. I lived and breathed it every day for 35 years. It's all I've ever known."
Mayor Bill White made it clear it was time for Tollett to move on by insisting the board search for new blood when Tollett's contract expired. Rather than reapply for his job, Tollett stepped down from the position in January.
Tollett, ever the dealmaker, views this week's events as an opening. And even though he has "no knowledge that they are even interested in me," he wants back in.
"Jordy wants the job back. Of course he does. He doesn't like the way everything went down when he lost his job," said Don Henderson, chairman emeritus of the board, who along with the current chairman Doug Horn, has been running the bureau's daily operations until a replacement is chosen.
Mayor White didn't really go one way or the other on this (although we already know how he feels), but it seems like Jordy's having trouble taking a not-so-subtle hint. All the language being used ("new blood," "fresh approach") indicates that they want someone, well, new and fresh. The Chron article also points out that he's bound by an agreement not to apply for the job, so even though he does have big friends on the council and on the board, I don't really see this happening. I'm sure there's a guest-who-won't-leave-the-party metaphor to be made.
On the other hand, if not Jordy, then who? Stephen Perry was something of a pipe dream, since he's pretty heavily involved in rebuilding New Orleans. The original goal was to have someone in by April, but now the word is fall. I guess, like Jordy, we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm not a hunter. Compared to me, even Mitt Romney looks like Daniel Boone. I have nothing against hunting, it's just not my idea of a good time. But I can at least understand the allure, on some level, of matching wits with your prey on even terms, on their turf.
This, however, I don't understand at all.
Dan Duncan may not have known it was against the law to hunt from a helicopter in Russia, but some say the Houston billionaire should have.Duncan, 74, appeared before a grand jury in Houston this week to answer questions about a 2002 hunting trip he took in Russia where he shot a moose and a sheep from a helicopter.
Duncan told the Chronicle he believed he was within the law because his Russian guide instructed him to take the shots.
It wasn't until he was recently contacted by U.S. investigators that he learned the practice was illegal in Russia and that by bringing the trophy heads back to the U.S., he violated a law here known as the Lacey Act.
But some believe the executive with pipeline giant Enterprise Products Partners shouldn't have used the assistance of the aircraft when making the shot anyhow.
"Hunting from aircraft has long been prohibited in the U.S. So I'd think any experienced hunter from the U.S. would know it's illegal elsewhere," said Michael Bean, an attorney and chairman of the wildlife program for Environmental Defense in Washington, D.C.
I'm sorry, but taking a potshot at a moose from a helicopter, I don't know what you call it, but I don't call it hunting. It's not a fair fight. I feel the same way about the "canned" hunts on private ranches, where the game is basically trapped in an enclosed area, and every two-bit Kit Carson who pays for the privilege is guaranteed to kill something. To me, this has more in common with Michael Vick than it does with anything that can reasonably be called a sport. I have no opinion on whether or not the feds should pursue a case against this guy - maybe he really didn't know it was illegal, and for sure they have better things to be doing - and to some extent, I don't really care. I'll settle for him feeling shame for taking part in this. If he's not ashamed of himself, he should be.
Remember the concept of extreme commuting? There's not that much of it here in Texas, at least compared to some other places, but that may change.
"Extreme commutes" -- those of an hour or more -- are much rarer in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth than in the metro areas of the East Coast.That could change, a transportation researcher said Thursday, unless Texas cities can keep pace with expected growth in the coming years.
Currently, researcher Alan Pisarski said, 9.7 percent of Houston-area residents and 7.2 percent of Dallas-Fort Worth-area residents have commutes of more than an hour, compared with 18.4 percent of New Yorkers and double-digit shares in some other metro areas.
However, Texas will have a much greater population growth, accounting for 15 percent of the U.S. total, through 2030, he said.
I presume the implication of that is that more people in Texas will be living farther away from where they work. It doesn't have to be that way, of course - we could do things that encourage mixed-use and transportation-oriented development, thus encouraging more of an urban lifestyle. Since I can't even type that with a straight face, much less imagine it happening, figure we'll hear more about folks with 50-mile-plus commutes in the coming years. Eye on Williamson has more on related matters.
Haven't heard Rick Noriega speak? Those of you who are up early on Saturday, hop in the car and go to the West Houston Democrats meeting. Rick is the speaker and you are sure to be inspired by his vision for Texas and our country!
When: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, July 21st
Where: Tracy Gee Community Center
3599 Westcenter Dr.
Houston, Texas 77042
(one block east of Beltway 8 between Richmond & Westpark)
Welcome to our world, Senator Cornyn.
Frustrated by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's decision to start construction of a controversial border fence in Texas this year, Sen. John Cornyn pledged today to fight any effort that proceeds without community input."I assure you there will be local consultation," the Texas Republican said in a call with state reporters. "There will not be ... unilateral actions on the part of the Department of Homeland Security without local input."
With border communities up in arms about the fencing, Cornyn is ramping up his criticism, saying he's very frustrated by what he termed the department's "ham-fisted" handling of a highly controversial matter.
"This could not be mishandled any worse, as far as I'm concerned," said Cornyn, who voted last year for legislation mandating the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing at the Southwest border but insisted that local leaders be consulted.
Apparently, our junior Senator hadn't yet noticed that the Bush Administration turns everything it touches into mud. I mean seriously, who would have guessed that they'd screw this up while being "ham-fisted" and arrogant about it? What were the odds?
It's nice, even a bit touching, to see Senator Cornyn, however belatedly, stand up for the border communities whose interests he supposedly represents. It would have been even nicer if he had actually advocated for them (or hell, just listened to them) while the fence was being debated and voted on. Since we can't go back in time, the question I have now is what does it mean when he says he will "fight any effort that proceeds without community input"? Does that mean he'll take specific actions to stop Homeland Security if it tries to do something unilateral, or is this just another example of wavering in name only? Talk is cheap, Senator. What are you actually going to do about this mess you created?
(I know what I'm going to do about it, but I rather doubt Cornyn will endorse that approach.)
Welcome back, Stevie Franchise.
Free to go anywhere, Steve Francis came home to the team and city he never wanted to leave.Once celebrated as the Rockets' Franchise, the point guard will come back to Houston seeking a return to more than just his adopted hometown, where he began his NBA career.
Three seasons and three teams since the Rockets traded him, Francis signed a two-year deal Thursday. He was a three-time All-Star with the Rockets before getting traded to Orlando after the 2003-04 season.
"I think he sees this as a rebirth," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said, "as a restart of his career."
Francis, the cornerstone of the Rockets' post-Hakeem Olajuwon rebuilding plans, passed on more lucrative offers from the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers.
[...]
"Steve has a sense we're real close," Morey said. "We think he can be a big part of getting us there. I always thought it was a long shot. Credit to Steve, he chose what he thought was the best chance to win over options that were better financially.
"There was always a chance that Steve would choose Houston. Until Steve told me himself he was coming, it felt like a long shot. Jeff Fried was doing a great job as an agent creating options. It came down to Steve focusing on what was the most important to him, and that was winning."
[...]
Francis had been recruited by [Rockets' head coach Rick] Adelman, Morey, former Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson, Yao Ming and McGrady. He had considered offers to reunite with Mobley, a friend and former teammate, and Sam Cassell, a friend and business partner, with the Clippers, and to play with each of the 2006 NBA Finals teams, the Mavericks and Heat.
"It's a chance to win," Morey said. "Both Yao and Tracy really helped with the recruiting process and are excited about our chance to win with the additions in the offseason. We're feeling good we've addressed a lot of our goals.
"When you have a chance to add a talent like Steve who really fits what coach is trying to do, you do it."
As exciting as this sounds, I have some concerns.
On the one hand...
I was a big fan of Francis' while he was here. On that level at least, I'm very happy about this.
Accepting a lesser deal because he thinks he has a better chance of winning in Houston says a lot about Francis' priorities as a player, and it's all good. If he feels Houston is where he belongs, so much the better.
With no disrespect to Rafer Alston or Luther Head, Francis is an upgrade at the point. If last season proved anything, it's that the Rockets need more talent around Yao and T-Mac if they hope to break through in the Western Conference. This is a step in that direction.
If the coach and the team's two stars want you here, that's a very positive side.
On the other hand...
Francis brings some baggage with him from his first tour here. He had a reputation for being a ball hog, for not playing smart, and for having attitude issues. Obviously, the Rockets feel that he has overcome these things. That remains to be seen.
It's not a trivial matter for a guy who was once The Franchise to accept a more limited role as a member of the supporting cast. I believe Francis wants to win. But will he understand that the best way to achieve that goal is to do whatever it takes to let Yao and T-Mac do their thing, or will he still think of himself as "the guy"?
Along those same lines, the Rockets had big problems with turnovers last year, and at times with team defense. Neither of these are Francis' strengths. How much can he and will he change his game to fit what the team needs?
Overall, I like this deal (and from what I see in the story's comments, so do the fans). There's risk, but there's also a big upside. The Rockets aren't going to beat the Spurs by standing pat, or by putting ordinary role players around their stars. This is the kind of move they have to make, and kudos to them for making it. We'll have to see how it plays out, but I like the odds.
The Texas Blue asked me a few questions about life, the universe, and blogging. I think I managed to give some halfway coherent answers, but I'll let you be the judge of that.
There have been many reasons floated for Governor Perry to call a special session. I of course don't agree with any of them, but most of them are easy enough to understand. This is not one that I was expecting.
He did it repeatedly for redistricting and school finance, and now Gov. Rick Perry says he just might call a special legislative session, if necessary, to require state pension funds to divest any holdings in companies that do business with Iran.Perry first is looking at avenues to spur divestment without legislation, as reported Tuesday by the Houston Chronicle. The Teacher Retirement System and Employees Retirement System are run by board members appointed by himself and other officials.
"If legal minds say you can't do it (without legislation), then you can't do it, but I want to put 'em on notice that we can either do it this way, or we'll look at other ways to do it," Perry said Wednesday.
Asked if he would call a special session if that effort falls short, an avenue held out as an option, Perry said, "I don't know. Might."
"This is a country that has a clear terrorist focus," Perry said. "I think it's an important statement from Texas."
It's unclear how much money the $108.3 billion Teacher Retirement System and $24.9 billion Employees Retirement System have invested in companies with ties to Iran. Neither fund had an immediate estimate. But Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson earlier said officials think the total is "hundreds of millions of dollars."
I see from Vince that this sort of thing has already been done in a couple of other states, and is a followup to a fairly widespread effort to disinvest in companies that do business in the Sudan. (Governor Perry, to his credit, signed a bill for such divestments last month.) It would be nice to know how we intend to define "doing business in Iran", but given the number SOS Wilson is mentioning, it's probably pretty narrow.
At the risk of sounding non-liberal, there is a cost to this kind of action.
CalPERS estimates the Iran divestment ban could affect about $2 billion invested in 19 foreign energy companies. Pension fund officials said the bill could cost the fund $20 million in fees as well as a $66 million loss in asset value. The teachers' fund has not completed an analysis.Both pension boards oppose Anderson's measure, saying they have policies dealing with investments in countries plagued by political and social risks.
Moreover, trustees fear lawmakers will pass divestment mandates for other causes in the future and threaten future investment returns. CalPERS estimates the South Africa pullout to protest apartheid in the 1980s cost it $590 million.
Originally, CalPERS said the Anderson bill could affect $8.5 billion invested in 50 international companies. The investments generated $725 million in returns over the past five years.
Anyone know what Rick Perry thought of South Africa divestment when it was the hot topic back in the day? I recall that one breaking down pretty neatly along ideological lines, while the Sudan/Iran push appears to be fairly broad. I'm just curious.
In any event, I'm happy to support Governor Perry's efforts to get the pension boards on board with this. I'm much less happy to support a call for a special session if they resist, because we all know what else will be on the agenda once such a call is made. Regardless, I have to admit, if we do wind up back in session, this was not the issue I'd have thought would put us there.
Take a look at your future, Texas. Do you like what you see?
Texas needs more toll roads, and drivers should pay more to use them, an external audit of the Texas Department of Transportation suggested Wednesday.Sharply increased highway construction costs and cars that use less gas are two factors among several that mean the traditional means of paying for roads - the 20-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax - is no longer sufficient, the auditors said.
Therefore, more toll roads with higher fees have become the state's best hope for keeping up with demand for new or improved roads, said consultant Peter Mills of Washington state-based Dye Management Group Inc.
"Right now, toll rates are set at the lowest possible level, just enough to capture the costs of the roads themselves," Mr. Mills said. "We believe they should be priced to reflect the value - including the time saved - they bring to the drivers who use them."
Those recommendations and others were revealed Wednesday during a special meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission.
I like that "priced to reflect the value - including the time saved" line. Because, of course, if you keep your toll roads expensive enough to guarantee that they're never crowded, then it's a self-perpetuating justification. Better yet, if you ensure that the remaining non-toll roads are sufficiently decrepit and jammed up, you'll also have a built-in reason to keep raising tolls in the future. What more could a local toll road authority want?
Unfortunately, as long as the Lege lacks the spine to bring the gas tax in line with current pricing reality and revenue needs, we're going to hear more and more of this. If you don't like the sound of this, you might consider letting your Rep and Senator know - I can't see there being much chance of slowing this sort of thing down if there isn't action taken on the gas tax by the next session. And if you do like it, well, party on, Garth. You'll be getting what you want soon enough. Eye on Williamson has more.
You know, there's been an awful lot of attention paid lately to all the wackiness in CD22, thanks in no small part to one of the wannabees for that office. As entertaining as that has been, some of us in other Congressional districts are beginning to feel a little left out. Thankfully, via Greg, it appears that those of us in CD18 may just be able to give those CD22ers a run for their money in candidate craziness this year. Better stock up on the popcorn now, while prices are still low.
The $628 million contract that the panel quietly approved devotes a third of the city's energy purchases to wind-generated sources. [Mayor] White hopes the idea will give the city more stability in its roughly $150 million annual electricity budget, after costs rose recently with natural gas prices. The deal would make Houston a leader among governments nationwide for using wind sources to get power.
I liked this when I first heard about it, and I'm glad it's official now. Kudos all around.
Today, July 19, has come to be known as "Blogosphere Day" on the progressive side of things. It dates back to 2004, when the confluence of a suddenly open Republican-held Congressional seat in Pennsylvania that had voted for Al Gore in 2000, a little-known Democratic candidate who had refused to let him go unopposed but was not taken seriously by the national organizations when this opportunity presented itself, a netroots community that wanted to Do Something about that, and a brand new fundraising tool called ActBlue that made Doing Something a piece of cake. I'll let Boadicea give the detailed history, but basically each year on this date another otherwise overlooked candidate has been highlighted for support, with dramatic results.
This year, the focus is on ActBlue itself. I'll let Matt Stoller explain why ActBlue is worthy of such a sustained effort:
So what is ActBlue? They dub themselves the online clearninghouse for Democratic action. The way I think about it is that ActBlue is a new type of unofficial party committee, designed around tools and neutral third party handling of data rather than a specific set of politicians to support. While the DSCC looks at the Senate, or the DCCC at the House, ActBlue works to find the people at any level in the party who want to work, and gives them the tools to raise money for whatever they need.It's a perfect hybrid approach to the Federal/State model of America. Unlike parties in parliamentary systems, political parties in America are cross-cutting amorphous networks of people, with no consistent standard for who is and isn't powerful. Every state has different laws and a different political culture. In New Jersey, the county party leaders raise money and pick state Senators, but in other states party officials at the municipal committee level are the ones who glue the party together. ActBlue, when they enter a state, doesn't care who uses their tools, they just want to find the people who need them. And what they are finding is, in essence, the Democratic Party. They have taken the the internet, which doesn't care what state you are in but just serves web sites and data in a neutral manner, and made the Democratic Party look a lot more like it.
This has had a number of significant effects. One is that it's changed who is in office and how they see their base. One line I love from Ben Rahn is that what ActBlue does is 'make the invisible visible'. People with powerful address books have always channeled money to candidates, but only if you can raise $2000 checks do you get credit in the system. Now, however, the woman who promises to give you her awesome brownie recipe if you give $10 to her favorite candidates has real influence. It's no longer the lobbyists and cautious insiders that politicians see as reliable sources of support. Someone like Pat Murphy, who recruited his volunteers at Drinking Liberally and raised money from ActBlue, is extremely brave in politics because he knows lots of us can contribute to him. He didn't have to get his start self-financing or from the well-capitalized, though that is traditionally where politicians come from. And I just got some stats from Karl at ActBlue that showed that of the congressional campaigns that use ActBlue for their online fundraising and received at least $5000 from ActBlue, the average percentage of their fund raised online for Q2 was 22%. The change is real, it is palpable, and it is changing who politicians respond to. And as ActBlue expands to more states (they are at 22), where they can work with state candidates as well as Federal, more politicians will have more tools at their disposal.
The second big effect ActBlue has in the political process is to empower loose networks, such as the blogosphere. I don't believe that Americans are apathetic; from what I've seen, when a system is horribly complicated, people stay away from it. And the political system is incredibly complicated, to keep the public away from it. ActBlue is directly striking back at the trend towards elitism by demystifying how power works, and how your $20 and list of friends can make an impact. The left-wing blogs, and our various institutions, are powerful because we have found ways to engage in the system, and the single most significant tool that forces our politicians to deal with us is ActBlue.
The simplest way to think about this is that ActBlue makes it possible for you to support a candidate that you like. You don't have to go to the fundraisers, you don't have to be on anyone's speed-dial list. Just click a link, or if you really want to support someone, create your own ActBlue page for that candidate and get your friends and family to click on it. All the hard stuff - FEC and state regulations, credit card processing, where to actually send the money - is taken care of, behind the scenes. One click does it all.
And it's impossible to overstate how big an impact ActBlue has had on federal, state, and now even local politics. In just three years, they've collected $25 million, mostly from small donors, and distributed it to Democratic candidates all across America. They do it cheaply and efficiently, and they do it for tips. You just can't beat that.
But you can support it, because a great idea like this shouldn't have to live on tips alone. Today, in honor of all the work ActBlue has done to help you support the candidates you like, please consider giving them a donation, so they can keep doing what they're doing and keep making it better. Just click on any of the ActBlue links in this post, and give them a few bucks. It doesn't have to be much - the whole genius of ActBlue is the recognition that a lot of small donations adds up to one really big donation - but the act of giving means a lot. I thank you, and ActBlue thanks you, for your consideration.
(And while you're there, please feel free to donate to Rick Noriega, too. Besides giving to ActBlue, what better way to honor it than to use it for another truly deserving candidate?)
If you read that Texas Lawyer article I linked to earlier, you know that there's a lot of action already by both parties here in Harris County for the 2008 elections. You also got to meet one of the Democrats who hopes to win a spot on the bench next year, Mike Engelhart, who has been one of the more active and visible candidates so far. If you haven't had a chance to meet Mike yet, you can do so next week, at his first fundraiser. It's set for Wednesday the 25th at the home of Barbara Radnofsky, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Here's a flyer (PDF) for the event - you can send your RSVPs to katie.floyd@radnofsky.com. It's not too early to get into the spirit of 2008.
I just have one thing to say about this story.
Acme Brick took on a heavy task for its 116th birthday celebration: the creation of a 6,400-pound brick nicknamed "Clay."
Is it just me, or is anybody else having visions of Wile E. Coyote and the edge of a cliff right about now? I can't be the only person who's thought of this, can I?
The good news for fans of red light cameras: The city of Amarillo says they're effective at reducing the number of accidents.
The city of Amarillo released its study of red-light cameras Tuesday, giving city commissioners some facts and findings to ponder.The 17-page report detailed recent legislation on the issue.
"From a staff standpoint, we've been analyzing red-light cameras for 18 months," said City Manager Alan Taylor.
"At the start of the legislative session, we knew there was going to be a big fight over red-light cameras. The staff waited to see what the Legislature was going to do before moving forward."
Vicki Covey, director of Community Services, said the analysis found red-light cameras have been effective in some cities.
"The very positive thing in red-light cameras is that cities that have done this have seen a marked difference in accidents," she said.
The bad news is that that's all the information the story has about the report. It doesn't have a link to the report, and so far my Google muse has failed me - I can't find it anywhere else. The City of Amarillo web page is equally useless. I'll keep trying, since I'd really love to see some hard data on these things, but for now that little tease in the story is all we've got.
In other red light camera news, here's one city that's bucking the trend.
LOS FRESNOS -- At Tuesday's city council meeting, a motion to solicit proposals for red light cameras was unanimously rejected. Mayor Pro Tem Dwight Chaffin motioned to reject, and Place One Alderwoman Yolanda Cruz seconded.Chaffin believes there is no need for red light cameras, which photograph people running red lights. He has never heard of problems at the city's two stoplights, he said.
"There are other issues we need to take care of," he said.
So far, Harlingen is the only city in Cameron County to implement a red light camera system.
Those of you with a hankering to do a little red-light running, now you know where to go. Thanks to the Texas Politics blog for the links.
In the "It was bound to happen sooner or later" department, renegade CEO blogger/sock puppet John Mackey has apologized for his actions. Sort of.
John Mackey, chief executive and co-founder of Whole Foods Market, apologised on Tuesday for anonymously posting comments about the natural and organic food retailer and its main rival on an internet message board."I sincerely apologise to all Whole Foods Market stakeholders for my error in judgment in anonymously participating on online financial message boards," Mr Mackey said in a statement on the company's website. "I am very sorry and I ask our stakeholders to please forgive me."
The statement came as the retailer confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission was conducting an inquiry into Mr Mackey's comments on a Yahoo message board, in which he discussed both Whole Foods and its smaller rival Wild Oats Markets.
[...]
Mr Mackey's tone was a change from his initial more defiant response, when he suggested that the FTC's lawyers had deliberately sought to embarrass him over the postings.
He also argued that he participated in the online forum "because I had fun doing it" and that the views expressed had never been meant to represent those of the company. He also said he had never revealed proprietary information on his company's operations that had not previously been made public.
The problem that I have with this is that he doesn't really acknowledge what it is he's apologizing for. It's not a completely vacant apology - he isn't blaming anybody else (the "I'm sorry if my words were misinterpreted" dodge) for what he did - but "error in judgment" covers an awfully wide range without admitting to anything specific. How can I know that his judgment has improved if I can't tell what he thinks he had judged incorrectly?
What I'm looking for is a simple admission that praising oneself and disparaging others while pretending to be somebody else - in short, being a sock puppet - is wrong. You'd think that would be a small enough thing, but obviously not everybody gets it. I'm not a Whole Foods stockholder, so John Mackey doesn't owe me anything, but if I were, I wouldn't be satisfied with this. It just feels to me like there's no assurance that he really understands what he did was wrong.
I may not hold stock in Whole Foods, but a fellow named James Stewart does, and though he's more generous to Mackey than I am, he too sees the problem with Mackey's apology.
I use the word "misbehave" with some deliberation. Mr. Mackey has staunchly defended his right to assume a fictitious identity and say whatever he wants in cyberspace. I'm not disputing that, and I'll leave it to regulators to decide if any laws were broken.The evident thrill of assuming a false identity, online or otherwise, eludes me. But I'm not so naive as to pretend it isn't there. Think of all the literature in which masquerade balls figure prominently. No one suggests that dressing up, donning masks and assuming another identity is wrong. On the contrary, it's fun. The problem is when a false identity and the accompanying lack of accountability leads to unacceptable behavior, sometimes with tragic consequences.
With the advent of the Internet, assuming fictitious identities has become rampant and the online alter ego even has a warm and fuzzy name: sock puppet.
Still, the premise of Mr. Mackey's comments -- that he was a nonpaid fan of Whole Foods and critic of Wild Oats -- was false, even if the sentiments themselves were genuine. (They weren't, at least not all the time. Mr. Mackey has said he sometimes played "devil's advocate," saying things he didn't believe.) No one would have given his views much credence if he'd used his real name and title. More to the point, if he had used his real name, he most likely wouldn't have said these things.
No, he wouldn't have, and that's the problem with sock puppetry. It's creating the impression that there really does exist some unconnected third party who agrees with you and will stand up for you. It's "the lurkers support me in email" taken to the next dishonest step. It's astroturfing on a smaller, more personal scale. However you slice it, it's wrong, and it should be acknowledged by John Mackey as such. I really don't think that's so much to ask.
You know, I hadn't really followed the story of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and the investigation of a dogfighting operation on his property very closely. Having now read the gruesome details of the charges against him, I wish I were still ignorant about it. He's innocent until proven guilty, but if he is proven guilty, I hope he's punished severely. And I agree with 'stina - his former backup QB had better not be involved.
Some analysis of the legal woes awaiting Vick is here. I need to stop reading this now, before I get ill.
As promised, Matt Stiles has started digging into campaing finance reports for city officeholders and seekers. This installment has to do with expenditures a couple of Council members have made on legal fees.
Since January, council members Carol Alvarado and Michael Berry have paid lawyers $70,000 and $45,000, respectively, according to campaign filings made public Monday.Berry and Alvarado, both of whom declined comment Tuesday, have been subjects of a broad inquiry into city officials and practices launched by District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's office last year.
Rosenthal also declined comment, referring calls to a prosecutor in charge of the probe who was out of town Tuesday.
I'm a little confused by the last two paragraphs. As we saw last September, Council Member Alvarado appeared to be finished with the DA's office. Here's a quote from the Chron story that ran on September 29:
The grand jury issued a total of nine indictments against Rosita Hernandez, Florence Watkins, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta, all of whom were fired after the investigation began earlier this year.Each is charged with theft by a public servant of more than $200,000 and tampering with a public record. Watkins is named in two tampering indictments.
The indictment alleges that unauthorized bonuses totaled $143,500 and unauthorized raises brought the total to at least $200,000, said Assistant District Attorney Don Smyth.
The grand jury did not indict Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who was mayor pro tem when the employees got the payments.
[...]
The indictments conclude the investigation in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem, Smyth said, but the investigation now will look into all other city departments to ensure that no more improper payments have been made.
So I'm not sure what else is going on at this time that might involve Alvarado. The story is a little vague, which is more the nature of this kind of inquiry than anything else:
The broader probe has included scrutiny of campaign records, bonuses and other matters involving several council members' offices, but prosecutors have not said much about their inquiries.A grand jury last fall indicted four of Alvarado's former pro tem office employees, accusing them of illegally taking bonuses and raises totaling more than $200,000.
Alvarado and employees in her District I office were not implicated in any wrongdoing related to the payments, but prosecutors' investigation into other matters continues.
Who knows what that means? We haven't heard much about it in recent months.
Council Member Berry had a different issue:
Prosecutors have not disclosed the nature of the Berry investigation. Last year he amended his campaign and personal financial disclosure forms going back several years, adding previously unreported details. He voluntarily submitted the documents to prosecutors.
All I know is that with Chuck Rosenthal, you just never know. Maybe we'll have more information by the time next January's reports are due.
While Rick Noriega was making his announcement yesterday, the Republicans were not sitting idle. The Austin Chronicle describes the kickoff of their "Victory 2008" campaign in Austin.
It was scarcely an ebullient exercise. In one of the smaller conference rooms in the Omni, to a crowd that was mostly party operatives, Perry announced that his former secretary of state Roger Williams will head up the fundraising and grass-roots campaign (everyone had been wondering why he'd quit in June, and the rumors that he was seeking office seemed a bit premature.) They'd be targeting traditional conservative values and traditional conservative voters and make a traditional conservative grassroots campaign. So, no shockers there.But there was a tacit admission this will be a hard campaign: Three million new voters, many from out of state, who may not be hardcore Republicans and would need winning over. Hispanic voters who might not be very interested in backing the Republican immigration policy. Of course, no-one was churlish enough to mention Iraq, but even [John] Cornyn was commenting that the GOP had never really treated Texas as a state that needed a big investment of time and money - an implicit statement that now it may be "in play".
Then there's the lack of pizzazz. It's always said by campaign gurus that a good candidate needs a little bit of Elvis, and it seemed fairly missing today. (More than one hack noted that it had all the woo-hoo factor of Chris Bell's abortive campaign for governor last year.) And then there was the thought of who wasn't there - not just the state officials were AWOL, but the heavy hitters that had shaped so many Republican campaigns in recent years. No Rove, no DeLay, the heavy-hitters that put real fire in the fundraising belly. Fair enough - Williams is no noob, having been a cash-gatherer and grassroots planter for every major Texas campaign in a decade and a half, but there's a question of where the big motivators and big visionaries may be. Plus the bad news that, in the presidential primary race, the GOP is currently trailing the Democrats by $30 million.
Link via Eye on Williamson. They're not sitting still in Harris County, either, as this Texas Lawyer article details. There's a little anxiety showing through here as well:
If U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., "is at the top of the ticket for Democrats," says [Harris County GOP Chair Jared] Woodfill, "Republicans are going to be driving around looking for places to vote. There is no greater motivator for our base than Hillary Clinton.""With Hillary the nominee and if Bush's poll numbers are no longer imploding and the Republicans nominate a candidate their base can get excited about, the worst case is that we lose four to five benches in Harris County," figures former Harris County Republican Party Chairman [Gary] Polland. "Best case for us is a Republican courthouse sweep. Of course right now, the Republicans are not overly excited about anyone" running for president.
Yes, it's the Hillary Factor again. The Republicans sure are pinning their hopes on her to make sure that their disgruntled base has some reason to drag itself to the polls, aren't they? And look at all those qualifiers Gary Polland threw in there. Sure, if President Bush's polling numbers ever get out of the toilet, and if the Republicans can find a nominee they can stomach, then maybe they'll do okay. And maybe they'll all get ponies, too.
So from this we Democrats can take comfort from the fact that the Republicans have come to realize that simply having an R next to their names just may not be enough next year. But not so much comfort that we forget we haven't won anything yet. The ground on which we'll be fighting is more level than it's been in awhile. It's still going to be a hell of a fight. You can take the first step in that fight by making a donation to Rick Noriega. There will be plenty more opportunities to take action, but that's a nice place to start.
For the good of baseball, I wholeheartedly endorse this possibility.
Add Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to the list of potential Chicago Cubs buyers."I submitted an app," Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
I love Mark Cuban as a franchise owner because he cares about putting together a winning team more than anything else. That makes him the exact antithesis of the Cubs' ownership, where the quality of the product takes a backseat to the bottom line. The Cubs have never needed to put a good team out on the field, because their long-cultivated reputation as America's Most Lovable Losers has made them into a perennial moneymaker. You may say that as a business, that's all they need to care about. I say as a lifelong sports fan that the diehards deserve better.
It's a bit of a paradox, isn't it? Fans that demand a winner, and who show their displeasure with poor results by not going to the games, get a reputation for being "fair weather" supporters, and are looked on with disdain. Yet the true diehards, who show up every year regardless of how crappy the team is, are often rewarded with indifferent management, since the nut is guaranteed to be covered. You have to wonder what the team's fortunes would have been like had the Cubs faithful been a bit more willing to say "We're not gonna take this any more!"
Cubs manager Lou Piniella seemed impressed with Cuban's credentials."I don't know him, but the guy basically, he's a winner. He's a character. He has obviously got the resources," Piniella said Friday.
"I do know that he's got a lot of charisma. He likes the competition and he likes to win. So he's certainly a very viable candidate to buy the club. But there are going to be a lot of people that want the club."
[...]
Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, whose negotiations for a multiyear extension were shelved after it was announced the team would be sold, said he would welcome Cuban buying the team.
"I think he would bring whatever it takes to win the World Series," Zambrano said. "Plus, I can be signed by him. You know, I know he has the money for me. Hopefully he can buy the Cubs."
That's exactly right. He'd do what it takes to win. Isn't that what the fans deserve? Link via Joe Sheehan, who sees it the same way.
I'm still not sure what I think about this story from Friday, which proposes Seven Wonders of Houston. I guess I don't necessarily object to any of them, though I feel like the Astrodome is a Wonder of Ancient Houston, rather than a Wonder of Modern Houston. But while I like many individual choices, I somehow don't feel terribly excited about them as a group. I haven't figured out yet why I feel that way. I'm torn between thinking this collection should be things you'd want to show off to a visitor (which in my mind at least excludes the I-10/Beltway 8 interchange), or things that somehow define the character of Houston on some meta-level (which definitely includes the interchange). Maybe what we needed was a better definition of what a Wonder should be.
There's also this vague feeling that the true wonders of Houston exist not just in locations, but also in events. That manifests itself in the belief that the Art Car Parade should have been included somehow. I'm still working that one out, too.
Finally, I definitely think that this list needs a little David Adickes. I realize that the Giant Presidential Heads are eventually destined for another city, but in some sense the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of their existence just makes them all the more Houston-ish. If it were up to me, I'd bump the Dome and replace it with the Presidential Heads.
So that's where I am with this. I drafted this a couple of days ago and never got around to publishing it, but after reading Ken Hoffman's take on it, I figured I may as well go ahead. What did you think about this story?
Sometimes, these things just write themselves.
Farmers Branch is suffering an identity crisis.So say city leaders who are on a mission to come up with a brand, an identity or an event - something that people will come to associate with the name Farmers Branch.
Besides "xenophobic immigrant bashers' paradise", that is.
"I think we're just kind of struggling to find something new and different that would make us stand out and hopefully entice some people to come to our city and live and work," City Council member Ben Robinson said.
"As long as they're not immigrants or look like immigrants," he did not add.
"They seem to be looking at communities like Highland Park and University Park and trying to remake Farmers Branch into something it's not," said Kathleen Matsumura, who has spoken out against some of the city's revitalization efforts. "It seems like they've got an inferiority complex."With its extensively landscaped medians, historical park, numerous athletic fields and 28 other parks, Farmers Branch sometimes bills itself as the "City in a Park."
Ms. Matsumura said it's a slogan that's used occasionally, but should be capitalized on.
But Mr. Robinson said it's not catchy enough.
And this city of 28,000 already is known for one thing that has put it in the national spotlight over the last year - the movement to drive illegal immigrants out of the city.
"It seems like they're linked ... this and immigration," Ms. Matsumura said.
"The revitalization plan seemed to have started first and focused on redoing some of the areas of town, and it just so happens a lot of the areas they are targeting are areas where the low-income people live, and a lot of those are of Hispanic background."
Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
You get the idea. I'd wish them luck, but not until they undo the cranial-anal inversion from which they currently suffer. Josh Berthume, from whom I got the link, has more, as does Southpaw on a related matter.
Happy 50th birthday to an American icon.
In the beginning, there was a metal popcorn can lid. Walter "Fred" Morrison and his future wife, Lucile Nay, tossed one at a Thanksgiving Day family gathering in 1937 and thought it was good. They tried pie tins and cake pans next. They even sold some. Then World War II broke out. Morrison served as a fighter pilot. After the war, he used his newfound knowledge of aerodynamics to build a better disc. Essential to Morrison's creation, American research and development during the war had refined the manufacturing process of a durable and lightweight material: plastic.At the suggestion of a stranger who spotted him flipping his disc in a Los Angeles parking lot, Walter 'Fred' Morrison took his 'Pluto Platter' to Wham-O Manufacturing Inc. On Jan. 23, 1957, Morrison and his wife signed over all rights to the toy in exchange for quarterly royalty checks. Six months later, Wham-O began marketing the discs under a new name: Frisbee.
According to the timeline at the end of the story, Wham-O submitted the patent application for the Frisbee's design on July 22, 1957. The world has been a better place ever since.
Here's a fuller version of yesterday's story about campaign finance reports for City of Houston electoral offices finally being available online. Today's story also has data about fundraising totals for current city officeholders and a few candidates, plus a brief review of the new system:
Among the first-day glitches: Some candidates' reports did not show up as having been filed on the search page, even though they had been electronically transmitted by the 5 p.m. deadline.Andrew Wheat, research director for Texans For Public Justice, a nonprofit that tracks money and politics, gave the new format mixed reviews. The search functions look limited and may be onerous for the average citizen, he said.
"They are taking the first step toward disclosure, and that's a good thing," he said. "But this should be easy to slice and dice for users, and I'm not seeing that at first glance. There's a lot more that could be done to allow the search sophistication to be more user-friendly."
City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, one of the first candidates to file her report, said it was easy to fill out. But she said the question remains whether the reports are easy for the public to search.
"The jury is still out on that," she said. "The format is something I'm still concerned about. For some people who aren't as savvy, it may be confusing. We need easy access and lots of transparency for people to see where our money comes from."
I haven't played with it yet myself, so I can't tell you what I think about it. I can tell you that neither the Texas Ethics Commission nor the FEC are all that user friendly, so the hurdle to clear isn't too terribly high. I'll get back to you on that.
Someone who has kicked the tires on this thing is Matt Stiles, who gives a few illustrations of the results he got, and a promise for the future:
This system, of course, is still very helpful to us reporters. We're in the process now of placing all these records into a database management program, which will allow us to slice and dice the information for trends. Looks for more reporting on this -- stories that wouldn't really have been possible under the old system without massive data entry -- in the coming days.
Sounds good to me.
Yesterday was the day Rick Noriega made his official announcement that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for Senate. Here's a roundup of news coverage and related links.
News coverage:
Texas Politics blog
Texas Politics blog again (both with podcasts)
Texas Observer blog, Texas Observer blog again, and again
Postcards from the Lege
Houston Chronicle
Austin American Statesman
Star Telegram
Brownsville Herald
KVUE Austin (with video)
KHOU Houston
KRIV Houston
Pictures:
Blog coverage:
Bay Area Houston
Dos Centavos
Texas Kaos
Half Empty
Bloggers on board with the donor drive:
Eye on Williamson
BOR
McBlogger
South Texas Chisme
The Muse
Brains and Eggs
Refinish69
Draft Rick Noriega
Texas Kaos
Boadicea
Capitol Annex
Dos Centavos
You too can be a donor.
Our new Secretary of State is taking a crack at fixing the state's messed up election management system.
[New SOS Phil] Wilson's office wants to simulate the load that the Texas Election Administration Management system, or TEAM, will handle during a presidential election cycle. He's asking counties to use the system to log voter records at the same volume they would during the real thing."We need all 254 counties entering voter applications, calling and stressing the system at the same time, so we can see what will happen during a presidential election," said Galveston County Tax Assessor-Collector Cheryl Johnson. "We could have 110,000 or 120,000 people vote (in the county), which is twice what you had" in the last midterm election.
Johnson was among a group of county officials around the state who were vocal critics of TEAM beginning soon after its January launch. Counties hired extra workers and had employees work odd and longer shifts to log voter records ahead of the May election -- and there were still reports of delays at the polls.
In voter registration offices, transactions involving just a few records at a time that would normally take seconds to process were taking up to half an hour.
[...]
John Keel, the state auditor, now has his staff examining TEAM. He said the audit was scheduled as part of routine procedure before anyone was aware of the scope of the problems. But reports of those problems may result in different testing approaches by his staff, he said.
It's not clear how much the problems have cost the state financially. Keel said his office hasn't arrived at a figure, and he won't discuss details of the audit until a conclusive report comes out, probably in October.
That ought to be a report worth reading. I just hope it leaves enough time for some real fixing to get done before the March primary elections.
How bad is TEAM? This bad:
One of the problems that affects even offline counties stems from TEAM's street indexing program. [Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul] Bettencourt said Harris County officials were shocked when they realized it had never occurred to TEAM's designers that a place like Houston was adding new streets all the time."That was a programming function that they had not thought of at all," Bettencourt said.
As a result, he and Johnson said, the system was unable to assign some voters to the proper precincts.
She said no one has been able to agree whether the problem is inherent in the system, or is the fault of county workers who input the data.
"From our standpoint, it's at their end; from their standpoint, it's at our end," she said.
Boy, that sure enhances my faith in this thing. What an utter disaster. More from me here and from my blogging colleague Racy Mind here. Thanks to South Texas Chisme for the link.
I just can't get enough of this, can I? The NY Times writes about Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and his sock puppet tendencies. There's not a whole lot new, but I found this segment to be amusing:
In November, New Republic magazine suspended its culture critic Lee Siegel after it determined that he had been energetically defending himself in the discussion forums of his New Republic blog, under the name "sprezzatura" (Italian for "making the difficult look easy").In an interview, Mr. Siegel said that it is only human to engage with critics, particularly in a medium like the Web that encourages self-expression. He still defends his actions, saying that he was having fun, playfully praising himself while combating some critics whom he saw as fierce and puerile. He thinks that much of the inflection of his online writing got lost on the computer screen.
"As for Mackey boosting his company and putting down his rivals, entrepreneurs will be entrepreneurs, and technology is an amplification of human nature, not a cure for it," Mr. Siegel said.
Looks like someone didn't learn his lesson while he was in time-out. I suppose it's good to know that there's a person out there the media can call on when they need a quote in defense of praising oneself while pretending to be somebody else. I'm not sure why they'd ever need such a quote - some things just don't deserve to be defended - but Siegel (and, no doubt, his alter ego) are standing by the phone just in case.
OK, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on Siegel. As Atrios notes, even sock puppets can have second acts. You can draw your own conclusions about that. Thanks to Dwight for the link.
I'm never sure how much weight to give to John Lopez columns, but he does raise an interesting point here regarding Drayton McLane and the ongoing efforts to build a stadium for the Houston Dynamo.
You have to wonder how much McLane is rethinking just how much he wants to support a new downtown sports venue that would sit on property currently operated by his Astros enterprise.After all, if McLane knows nothing else, he knows how to corner markets.
[...]
[W]ith the Astros so bad and the Dynamo so good, could supporting a 22,000- to 24,000-seat stadium that has all the amenities of Minute Maid Park be high on McLane's to-do list?
For the record, he has been in full support of the soccer stadium. Dynamo management has indicated the same and publicly has thanked the Astros owner.
[...]
If you don't think the thought has crossed McLane's mind that a top-notch soccer stadium with all the latest bells and whistles, luxury suites and assorted amenities would cut into his profit, you're wrong.
Put the stadium in a suburb or outside of downtown, and McLane likely would don a Dynamo jersey and do commercials for the endeavor.
But downtown? Where sports fans, even those just curious about the new facility or the growing game, could walk right past Minute Maid Park and into the Dynamo's new playground?
Already it appears some sort of fancy politicking is going on. Whether McLane is behind it, we'll probably never know.
But when the Dynamo and the city of Houston originally reached an agreement to negotiate the stadium deal, all signs pointed to a downtown location.
[...]
The Dynamo know how lucrative and successful the downtown site would be. It must be the first, second and third options for the organization.
Yet when Tim Leiweke of AEG, the Dynamo's ownership group, spoke of extending the negotiating window Saturday, he and club president Oliver Luck mentioned that some of the proposed sites now being negotiated are outside the downtown area.
I noticed that in the Sunday story but didn't give it any thought at the time. It would neither be unreasonable nor surprising if McLane has been busy calculating the effect of having the Dynamo as next-door neighbors on his bottom line. It's not clear to me what the answer to that would be - I could make a case for either good or bad if I had to. Point is, McLane may very well have legitimate concerns, and if so he may choose to take action on them. He hasn't made all that money by not sweating the small stuff. I think there are any number of ways that the Astros could turn having the Dynamo nearby into a positive, but it's certainly not a no-risk proposition.
Obviously, this is all speculation. We don't know if McLane has exerted any influence in this matter. I think if he does, at least if he does enough to affect the outcome, we'll hear about it. In the meantime, it's just water cooler chatter.
On a side note, I see that Lopez did not refer to his earlier thesis about Dynamo fans "getting theirs". Since he specifically mentioned a "backlash" against McLane by the Dynamo's predominantly Hispanic fans if McLane didn't play along, and since he made a (hotly disputed) claim in that earlier column about McLane's allegedly "less than stellar reputation" with minority groups, you'd think that might have been a worthwhile angle to pursue. But for whatever the reason, he didn't.
Burnt Orange Report started doing a weekly Texas progressive blog roundup last week, and they're back this week with another edition. This is going to be a regular feature on BOR, and I'll join in with my colleagues in crossposting it here. Click the More link to see what good stuff you might have missed in the past seven days.
Lady Bird Was Ours
Among many Texas blogs authoring poignant posts about the passing of Lady Bird Johnson was Fort Bend-based Musings. In Lady Bird Was Ours, Muse offers personal reflections about the former first lady and reminds us that, though Lady Bird now belongs to the ages, she still belongs to us.
Deja Vu All Over Again
Can you see any progress in Iraq? Chances are you can't, but Texas Senator John Cornyn can (evidently through rose-colored glasses). In Cornyn Sees Progress In Iraq, Texas Toad of Denton County-based North Texas Liberal explores how Rubberstamping Republican Cornyn's recent votes fail to support our troops.
Who Is For Whom?
Though we're months away from the Democratic primary, the race to determine which Democrat will take on Cornyn is already heating up on the blogs. In Watts v. Noriega In The Blogosphere, Hal at Fort Bend-based Half Empty explores the various blogs to determine which ones are supporting Rep. Rick Noriega's exploration and which are in support of attorney Mikal Watts. And he asks the important question: "where are all the pro-Watts bloggers?"
Need Birth Control? Better Have Cash.
Could Be True at SouthTexas Chisme explores difficulties Houston-area female college students (and others around the state) may be having when it comes to obtaining birth control from their college health services department, thanks to changes in Medicaid reimbursement policies in Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. College Health Centers To Charge More For Birth Control.
Craddick Stands By His Man
Austin-based McBlogger tells us that House Speaker Tom Craddick is standing by his man and keeping former state representative Terry Keel (R-Austin) on as House Parliamentarian... all the while trying to find a challenger for Travis County Constable Richard McCain, who defeated Keel's brother for that post in 2004. Check it out in Speaking of People We Don't Like.
Even Right Wingers Know When To Pull Out
Bay Area Houston explores the fact that, according to a recent poll, even the listeners of one of the most right-wing radio stations in Houston are in favor of pulling out from war-torn Iraq in Right-Wing Radio Listeners Want Out of Iraq.
What Can You Buy With $900 Million?
Though Harris County is proposing a $900 million bond package for various courthouse and jail projects, Charles Kuffner at Houston-based Off The Kuff has serious concerns about whether the bond package will do anything to alleviate a serious guard shortage at the county jail. Though it is now being discussed in the media, Charles says he's still not satisfied the issue is being addressed in County Bonds and Staffing Issues.
A Closer Look At Terry Keel
Matt Glazer of Burnt Orange Report takes a closer look at some ethical issues facing new House parliamentarian Terry Keel, such as potential conflicts of interest concerning Keel's future rulings as well as maintaining a private law practice while working for the state. Matt also closely examines the timing of Keel's Capitol ID card inKeel's Conflict Of Interest.
Rick Perry v. Community Colleges
Few of Rick Perry's recent vetoes have garnered more attention than the one of community college employee health insurance appropriations. Marc G. at Marc's Miscellany explores the issue further, and takes issue with Perry's accusation that community colleges have essentially falsified their appropriations requests in More On Perry's Battle With Community Colleges.
Perry's Defiant Response To Congress
WCNews at Eye On Williamson takes a closer look at a letter Texas Governor Rick Perry recently sent to Congressional leaders who criticized public-private partnerships to build transportation projects such as the Trans-Texas Corridor in Governor Perry Uses Fuzzy Math In Letter To Congress.
TYC Still Plagued With Difficulties
Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex takes a look at the fact that the Texas Youth Commission remains plagued with difficulties concerning a recent incident in which violent juveniles were set for release with little or no review in Texas Youth Commission Can't Seem To Get Its Act Together.
'I Couldn't Make It' Is No Excuse
Matt Glazer at Stop Cornyn reveals the excuse the junior senator from Texas offered for missing the funeral of Lady Bird Johnson in Cornyn Refuses To Honor Lady Bird.
And lastly, women's health services are under perennial assault here in Texas -- but it's not just Dan Patrick, Warren Chisum, and the odd mad bomber who want to control women's health choices. Texas Kaos' Moiv is keeping an eye on them, and in Operation Rescue's Back--Not a Secret Anymore she covers just how widespread is this open conspiracy against women -- involving politicians, fringe religious figures, and Ricky Skagg's "shofar."
You all remember this picture, right?
When last we checked on my favorite proposed real estate project, it was still all about marketing and area residents' concerns. Now, thanks to Carolyn Feibel, we have some data to chew on as well:
The city sells ("abandons" is the government term) a handful of public streets and parcels every year, for prices ranging from $8,000 to more than $340,000.But the Bolsover sale would dwarf those. Bowing to pressure from the Chronicle and residents, the city has released two appraisal figures for the street: $913,171 and $1,460,340.
That's a lot of money. The actual appraisals, along with a draft plan for the site, are also available at that link. I'm not sure when this gets to be voted on by City Council (it's not on tomorrow's agenda, as far as I can tell), but given that a Lamesa spokesperson was quoted back in April hoping for a September start date for construction, I'd say it's coming up soon. We'll see how it goes.
City of Houston campaign finance reports are due this afternoon and for the first time candidates will be required to file them electronically.Users can search filings by several criteria, including candidate name, contributor name and expenditure payee.
But navigating the database requires some technical skill. Typing in a candidate's name does not immediately reveal his or her contributions and expenditures. Rather, it allows users to view an entire filing as either a searchable PDF file or as XML -- a common format in Web development and database programming that requires some skill to process.
If users search for an "original filing," however, the information can be downloaded in spreadsheet format. Also, searching for a particular contributor yields a grid showing specifics about each donation.
I'm not sure why you'd return XML code and not do the courtesy of an XSL transform to make it into nice, readable HTML code, but whatever. At least it's online now, which is a huge improvement over what we had before. Took about a year to get to this point - better late than never. Reports for the first six months of 2007 are due today at 5 PM, so check back tomorrow to see who gave what to whom.
I love a story about a former Rice stalwart getting a real shot with the local pro team, as is the case with Michael Harris and the Rockets.
[Harris] completed the Rockets' summer league on Sunday as one of the top players on their team and with a non-guaranteed, two-year contract to bring him back for training camp."He just outworked everybody," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "He wanted it more than other guys did. Being around gives him some experience, but his attitude is such he's going to keep playing hard. That's going to really help him."
In five games, Harris made 21 of 31 shots, averaging 13.4 points and seven rebounds. It turned out that all that time working on his interior game did anything but hold him back.
"I used to think it did," said Harris, 24. "I thought that would always be the knock on me when given an opportunity. But now, I look at it as everything I did at Rice was a positive. If they need me to play the 3 (small forward), I can use my rebounding to my advantage, which a lot of guys don't do. I use that as a positive.
"With the offense Coach Adelman likes to run, there's more posting up with the 3s. So I think the post-up thing helps a lot, too. And at the 4 (power forward), I can do that too. It's working out for me."
Beyond all that, his most obvious quality -- an unusually high-revving engine -- has served him well. He offers a work ethic and intensity Adelman wants around.
"Especially for guys trying to make the team, you want in camp a guy that will compete with the other guys," Adelman said. "He's also a multi-position player. He's a little undersized for 4, but his attitude is crucial, the way he plays and the way he competes. He's probably better right now, because of all the people we have, to play him there (at power forward). He actually matched up with the kid with the Clippers, (Al) Thornton, and did a real nice job on him.
"He's very physical. As a 3 that's physical, he'll really compete with those people."
Harris was just a joy to watch at Rice. He was a hard worker, and he was always a threat to do something spectacular. He may get caught in a numbers game with the Rockets, but if he doesn't catch on here I think we'll see him someplace in the NBA. The Rice fan forum has more.
Today, Rick Noriega will make the official announcement of his forming an exploratory committee for US Senate. The time and place are the same as they had been for Thursday, for those of you in or near Austin who want to attend.
Obviously, those of us who have been encouraging Noriega to throw his hat into the ring are very happy to see this day arrive. We believe - I believe - that Noriega is a great candidate to take on John Cornyn, and that his candidacy will generate the kind of excitement for a Democratic office seeker that we haven't seen in a long time in this state. That excitement gets its official beginning today in Austin.
On a more pragmatic note, what this also means is that Noriega can start fundraising. We all know that both Cornyn and Mikal Watts have a ton of money at their disposal. While I believe that Rick Noriega will ultimately have the resources he needs to compete against Cornyn, he doesn't start out with millions already in the bank. He may never truly catch up to either of his opponents in raw cash.
But what I believe Rick Noriega will have is broad support that comes from all over Texas, from people who are already heavily involved in politics and from people who have never really gotten involved before. There's one sure way to demonstrate that, and that's by getting donations from a broad swath of the population. He may not be able to build a pile of cash as high as the others can, but he can beat them in sheer numbers of donors. All things considered, I'd rather have that.
You can help with this effort. As of today, the Rick Noriega ActBlue page is active. We supporters of Rick Noriega for Senate would like to kick things off by finding 800 people to click that link and make a donation to Rick's efforts. It doesn't have to be a lot - we appreciate anything you feel comfortable giving - just being on board with the campaign makes a difference. If you're ready for a new generation of leadership in this state - if you're ready for a Senator who will owe his allegiance to you rather than to the big money PACs - then please stand up and say so by making a donation to Rick Noriega. Every little bit, every single donation, really does help.
Thank you for your consideration. As you may imagine, I'll have plenty more to say about this as we go along.
Back in June, when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the lower courts' dismissal of the conspiracy to violate the election code indictment, Travis County DA Ronnie Earle said he would ask the court to reconsider its ruling. He made that request official on Friday.
Earle said the court is creating a schism between blue collar and white collar crimes."The effect of this decision is to create a separate class of felonies that are indeed 'puny, half-pint' felonies, somewhat different, perhaps less serious and less worthy of diligent enforcement, than the felonies defined in the penal code," Earle said. "Do these other felonies inherently possess a lesser status ... such that a separate -- but not necessarily equal -- system of justice must be created for them?"
DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, said Earle's argument was "outrageous."
DeGuerin said violations of the election code are regulatory and are crimes only because the law says they are.
"They are not inherently evil in themselves such as crimes against another person or theft or robbery or fraud," DeGuerin said. "It really is an effort to draw attention away from the fact they got it so wrong that they were embarrassed."
Two charges -- money laundering and conspiring to launder money -- remain against the former Republican congressman and the two consultants. Lawyers are arguing about those charges in an appeals court, and no trial date has been set.
Earle's full statement is here. As I said before, I don't really know what this means in practical terms. It feels to me a little like Phil Garner asking Bruce Froemming to reconsider whether he really meant to call Craig Biggio out. Maybe I'm wrong about that - if you know better than me, please fill me in. Who knows, it was a 5-4 decision, maybe one of the CCA judges has come down with a case of buyer's remorse since then. We'll see.
The State of Texas plans to look towards the private sector for relief when the next big hurricane hits.
"If FEMA shows up, good," said Jack Colley, chief of the Governor's Division of Emergency Management. ''But we're not waiting."Call it one more example of the lingering Hurricane Katrina effect, but Colley and his team are looking past the traditional go-through-FEMA-to-get-ice kind of emergency management model.
This new strategy, borne during 2005's Hurricane Rita and fine-tuned in the two years since by the state's emergency agency, has retailers conducting mock drills alongside government officials.
"FEMA was an old contact point for ice, water, etc," Colley explained from his agency's state operations center in the basement of Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters in Austin. "The private sector is willing and able to do this for us."
For the past two years, Colley and Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw have cultivated direct relationships with retailers after watching Louisiana and Mississippi officials dial FEMA in vain for food, water and other aid.
"FEMA can't compete with the private sector," Colley said. "They do it quicker, smarter, faster every day."
The problem with this line of thinking, of course, is that it conveniently forgets just how good FEMA was during the Clinton Administration, and how completely the Bush Administration's leave-no-crony-behind philosophy undid all of that. (Here's a couple of reminders, in case you've forgotten.) I don't doubt that HEB and Wal-Mart can do a better job than the current incarnation of FEMA. But let's face it, that's a mighty low bar to clear. And the point is that it didn't have to be this way.
It's really simple. When FEMA was run by a competent administrator and was given a mandate to succeed, it did. When it's run by a crony with no experience or interest in disaster recovery, it becomes a joke that needs to be worked around. Given the right kind of Presidential administration in place, there's no reason to believe FEMA can't be effective again. One can hardly blame the state of Texas for feeling compelled to deal with the current reality. But faith in the private sector has nothing to do with it.
Back in May, when it was announced that the city was officially negotiating with the Houston Dynamo about a stadium for the team, a mid-July deadline was set for the talks. Seeing as how today is July 16, you might be wondering what happened to that deadline. As is often the case in these matters, it got pushed back.
While much of the recent attention on Anschutz Entertainment Group's Major League Soccer operations has focused on the Los Angeles Galaxy and their newest player, David Beckham, AEG president Tim Leiweke also is keeping tabs on the AEG-owned Dynamo and their plans for a new stadium in the Houston area."We're trying to work through it," Leiweke said Friday during a news conference at the Home Depot Center following Beckham's introduction. "I'm hoping we are at a point in September to make an announcement."
Oliver Luck, the Dynamo's president and general manager, said the team and the city have agreed to extend an exclusive negotiating period that was to have expired today.
"We believe we have made some substantial progress, and we're going to continue talking," Luck said Saturday.
Luck said the Dynamo and the city are considering several potential sites, including several in downtown Houston to the east of Minute Maid Park and other sites elsewhere in the city. AEG would contribute an undisclosed amount toward construction of the proposed $70 million stadium.
I don't see any other deadline mentioned in there - "a point in September" is a wish, not a cutoff date - so I presume this means they've decided to keep talking until they either come to an agreement, or determine that they'll never be able to do so. Maybe it'll be easier now that the pressure is off. Stay tuned.
Apparently, Bush has not seen SICKO. And, no surprise here, he doesn't give a damn about uninsured children. He plans to veto any expansion of CHIP. His excuses are mind numbing. Someone remind me of the cost per day of that senseless war in Iraq?
The White House said on Saturday that President Bush would veto a bipartisan plan to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program, drafted over the last six months by senior members of the Senate Finance Committee.The vow puts Mr. Bush at odds with the Democratic majority in Congress, with a substantial number of Republican lawmakers and with many governors of both parties, who want to expand the popular program to cover some of the nation's eight million uninsured children.
Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said: "The president's senior advisers will certainly recommend a veto of this proposal. And there is no question that the president would veto it."
The program, which insured 7.4 million people at some time in the last year, is set to expire Sept. 30.
The Finance Committee is expected to approve the Senate plan next week, sending it to the full Senate for action later this month.
Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said he would move ahead despite the veto threat.
"The Senate will not be deterred from helping more kids in need," Mr. Baucus said. "The president should stop playing politics and start working with Congress to help kids, through renewal of this program."
The proposal would increase current levels of spending by $35 billion over the next five years, bringing the total to $60 billion. The Congressional Budget Office says the plan would reduce the number of uninsured children by 4.1 million.
The new spending would be financed by an increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco products. The tax on cigarettes would rise to $1 a pack, from the current 39 cents.
Here's the "it will increase taxes" reason:
Mr. Fratto, the White House spokesman, said, "Tax increases are neither necessary nor advisable to fund the program appropriately."Democrats in the House would go much further than the bipartisan Senate plan. They would add $50 billion to the program over five years, bringing the total to $75 billion. By contrast, in his latest budget request, Mr. Bush proposed an increase of $5 billion over five years, which would bring the total to $30 billion.
White House officials said the president had several other reasons to veto the bipartisan Senate plan.
Here's the privatization of health care reason:
"The proposal would dramatically expand the Children's Health Insurance Program, adding nonpoor children to the program, and more than doubling the level of spending," Mr. Fratto said. "This will have the effect of encouraging many to drop private coverage, to go on the government-subsidized program."
Here's the "waaaaah! It's not Bush's plan!" reason:
In addition, Mr. Fratto said, the Senate plan does not include any of Mr. Bush's proposals to change the tax treatment of health insurance, in an effort to make it more affordable for millions of Americans.Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, said he would like to consider such tax proposals. But, he said, "it's not realistic -- given the lack of bipartisan support for the president's plan -- to think that can be accomplished before the current children's health care program runs out in September."
The President is playing politics with children's healthcare. "Lack of bipartisan support for the president's plan" - that would apply to any and all of Bush's proposals at this point.
Our own Legislature has a history of playing around with CHIP to the detriment of children in our state.
It feels like it's time for a change in Washington and in Austin.
Do you read the Texas Register? It's the weekly notice bulletin for all state agency rulemaking published by the Secretary of State. Apparently, the Texas Youth Commission has decided that it's the ideal place for public announcement of policy changes, since hey, it's on the Internets and all that. If you had been reading the Texas Register, as I'm sure so many of us do every week, you might have noticed this little tidbit that Grits caught last week.
[D]id anybody know TYC has already issued and closed an RFP to use contract care for kids aged 10-13? I sure didn't see that reported. But the Register revealed the following RFP with deadline of June 4:
RFP#2007-31 To Provide for a Residential Program for Younger Offenders.The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) is seeking proposals for a safe residential setting for male or female younger juvenile offenders who are between the ages of 10 through 13. The program should reflect as nearly as possible an environment that is developmentally appropriate to this age group. The program should be conducive to promoting positive behavioral changes in young juveniles. The program can be 48 beds or smaller located within the State of Texas.
Eligible applicants include corporations, private non-profit agencies, private for-profit agencies, or individuals. The TYC encourages historically underutilized businesses (HUBs) to respond to this request for proposal. Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time on June 4, 2007.
Proposals will be evaluated and selected based on the description of services, applicant's qualifications and past experience, reasonableness and competitiveness of cost and resources, and applicant's demonstrated ability to commence services on or after July 1, 2007 and before October 31, 2007.
More than one contract may be awarded.
[...]
The closing date for receipt of proposals is 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time on June 4, 2007.
That's a pretty big deal, don't you think, to get no more public notice than a Texas Register item? The contracts haven't been let as of this morning, and the TYC employee in charge of the RFP said he needed to ask the attorneys before he could tell me who and how many applicants gave proposals. I requested that information and a copy of the RFP, so I'll let you know more when I get it.
Grits has a followup here. Apparently, whoever wins this contract is supposed to start providing services by October 31 of this year. How such a thing could happen without any real public input or notice is mind-boggling. But here we are, with over a dozen vendors vying for these contracts (more than one may be awarded). Let's hope a little sunlight gets shone on this process before it's too late.
I heard this story on KUHF on Friday evening, and it piqued my curiosity.
Donna Freeman knows this area. She's lived here for most of her life and is proud of a small creek and patch of woods just off of busy Bunker Hill Road, near the intersection of the Katy Freeway and the West Belt. It's the site of an old German homestead."The birds are still there, but they're farther back now just where it's a little quieter. You'll see the herons. There's just tons of birds because there's water."
Freeman and other residents in the Long Point Woods neighborhood say those trees and birds might not be there for very long. The planned expansion of Bunker Hill Road between I-10 and Long Point from two lanes to three and four lanes is expected to begin early next year. Now neighbors are in a battle with the local Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone board and the city to re-think the project.
"They promise that there's only going to be a certain amount of trees that are going to be lost. We think there's going to be a great many trees lost and some of the big, oldest trees. I think it's going to devastate parts of this area and we all feel that way."
Freeman and others also say students at nearby Wood View Elementary could be at risk from the increased traffic on a busier road. Robert Fiederlein helps oversee the city's 22 Tax Increment Redevelopment Zones and has been a part of the Bunker Hill Road expansion process. He says the city has done what it can to balance the needs for mobility and those of the neighborhood.
"It's essentially a two-lane country road that connects the Katy Freeway with Long Point, which is a city major thoroughfare and there's an awful lot of traffic right now and with the development that's occurring along the Katy Freeway, there's a tremendous need for the expansion of this road over the vast majority of the project and through the residential area. We're not acquiring any right-of-way. The city set this right-of-way aside just for this purpose."
I blogged about this last September, here and here. I'm a little confused by KUHF's story, because as you can see from that second link, the widening between I-10 and Long Point was the one uncontroversial part of this project, since it's basically a commercial area - the main exit from the Costco parking lot is onto Bunker Hill, and it's a mess. It's north of Long Point where the residential area is, and where the pushback from homeowners has come. I'm not sure if that distinction got lost in the editing process, or if things have changed since last September. Can anyone from that area clear this up? Leave a comment if you can. Thanks.
Apparently, a CEO posting information on message boards under a pseudonym that may affect the stock price of his company or that of a rival company that his firm hopes to acquire is something that regulators frown on. Who knew?
Recent revelations about the conduct of Whole Foods chief executive John Mackey on an Internet message board are raising a question once unthinkable: Has the founder of the organic food grocery damaged his ability to lead the company?Antitrust expert Darren Bush, a University of Houston professor, said Mackey is now his "own worst enemy," and that his Internet message board comments under the name of "rahodeb" could undercut the proposed $565 million takeover of rival grocer Wild Oats Markets Inc."CEOs of public companies should not post on message boards, through aliases or otherwise," said John R. Fahy, a securities law expert with Whitaker Chalk of Fort Worth and a former SEC enforcement attorney. "Beyond the business concerns, there are a host of securities law issues" involving disclosure of information.
Yes, I believe I said that.
Late Friday, The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said that the Securities and Exchange Commission has started an informal inquiry into Mackey's conduct, asking for more information to determine whether any laws were violated. Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Lowery said the company had not been contacted by the SEC.An inquiry would likely center on the timing of Mackey's financial comments on the message board, and whether they contradicted what the company previously said or were overly optimistic about the company's performance.
The full Mackey is here, in case you have way too much free time on your hands (as apparently Mackey himself did - more on that in a sec). I'm guessing the SEC (and the FTC, with whom Mackey has been battling over Whole Foods' proposed takeover of rival Wild Oats) will find plenty of grist for their mill.
This tidbit is rather astonishing to me:
Last week, the FTC filed a longer version of its initial complaint, accusing Mackey of trying to eliminate Wild Oats store by store and eventually deciding to buy the company.In a footnote to the document, the FTC revealed that Mackey sometimes used the name rahodeb on Internet message boards. The information was provided to the FTC by Whole Foods as part of a request for documents relating to the proposed acquisition.
The documents, released Tuesday, led to revelations that Mackey spent eight years participating in the Yahoo finance message boards, posting more than a 1,300 comments over eight years, sometimes as many as 17 times a day.
Emphasis mine. Remember how when Internet access became the norm at workplaces there were so many handwringing articles about how much time employees were sure to be wasting online, and how companies needed to have stringent policies in place about misuse of corporate assets and whatnot? One wonders if anyone at Whole Foods ever bothered to monitor Mackey's Internet usage, because it sure seems to me that he was spending a hell of a lot of time as "rahodeb" when he should have been CEO-ing. (I'm not unique in making this observation.) How much trouble might have been avoided if someone at Whole Foods had told Mackey to quit screwing around and get back to work? They wouldn't have even had to know what he was doing, just that he was doing a lot of it.
Anyways. I suspect we're a long way from hearing the end of this. Virginia DeBolt has more.
There's a course being taught this summer on Texas State and Local Government at Austin Community College that requires students to set up and write a blog as part of their grade.
Establishing a Texas-oriented political blog counts for 16.6% of your final grade. You'll display your knowledge and ability to think critically about Texas government during this process.
The instructor gives a list of Texas political blogs to use as suggested sources, one of which is mine (thanks, Professor!). That makes it fairly easy for me to track the progress of the students with Technorati, since most of them seem to have adopted that list as their blogroll. Here are the ones I've found so far:
The Heart of Texas
Big States Deserve Big Opinions
By Jingo!, who has the most interesting post I've read among these blogs so far.
Texas Government - Summer Session 2, who has the most literal titles.
Suspicious Minds
And finally, here's the professor's demo blog.
I've actually been mentioned in a syllabus or two before, but this is the first time that I can recall seeing a class where one's own blogging was part of the grade. It's a cool idea. Good luck with the class, y'all, and I hope some of you will consider maintaining your blogs beyond the point where they're being graded.
We know Rep. Nick Lampson is one of the top targets for the GOP in 2008. The good news is that Lampson is off to a good start in fundraising.
U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson has raised twice as much as his only official competitor for the congressional District 22 seat, according to campaign finance reports due Friday.Lampson raised $288,000 during the second quarter of the year. He has $441,000 cash on hand.
Lampson, D-Stafford, will be up for re-election in 2008. His campaign said his contributions exceeded expectations, especially because Lampson spent half of the last quarter recovering from quadruple-bypass heart surgery.
"Nick has been a strong and independent voice for the people of TX-22," his campaign spokesman Steven Snodgrass said. "Given the campaign's solid progress and his bipartisan voting record, Congressman Lampson is in great shape for 2008."
[...]
Former Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is the only one who has declared her candidacy and raised a significant amount of money.
Sekula-Gibbs won last fall's special election to fill the remaining two months of DeLay's term. She fell short, however, in her write-in candidacy against Lampson for the full term.
She raised $137,000 during the last quarter and has more than $180,000 in her campaign account.
"Our fundraising is just starting and will continue to grow," Sekula-Gibbs said in a written statement, noting contributions from Houston home builder Bob Perry, among others.
"Supporters are starting to line up behind our race to take back TX-22 because they realize it will take a team effort to beat Nick Lampson in 2008."
Well, some supporters may be lining up behind Shelley, but there's another group lining up as well: primary challengers.
Family Court Judge James Squier said Friday he planned to run. Squier, who turns 61 next week and has been a judge for more than 20 years, said he was looking for a new opportunity to serve. He does not live in the district, but did for nearly 30 years.Former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek formed an exploratory committee last month and said Friday he will make an announcement about his intentions in August.
State Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena also is looking at the seat, as is Pete Olson, the former chief of staff for U.S. Sen John Cornyn.
Juanita reported on Judge Squier yesterday. I don't know a thing about him, but I'm pretty sure this didn't come out of a vacuum. If the Republicans were happy with Shelley, she'd have the field more or less to herself.
Meanwhile, over on the Senate side of things, John Cornyn has been busy raising money, too.
Cornyn, a Republican, reported that he raised $2 million in the second quarter of this year and had $5.3 million cash on hand.One of his potential Democratic opponents -- attorney Mikal Watts of San Antonio -- launched his campaign by putting $3.8 million of his own money into his campaign account to match Cornyn's cash on hand at the end of the first quarter.
Cornyn's aides declined to comment, saying the report spoke for itself.
During June, Watts raised another $1.1 million. Watts ended the quarter with $4.8 million in cash on hand.
If he wins the Democratic nomination, Watts has pledged to spend another $6.8 million of his own money against Cornyn.
[...]
While on the surface it might look like Cornyn raised more money than Watts, Cornyn's fundraising occurred between April 1 and June 30. Watts' fundraising for his Senate race exploratory committee was just in the month of June.
State Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, is expected on Monday to formally create an exploratory committee for the race. He had been going to do it on Thursday but delayed because of the death of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson. Noriega will not have to report any financial activity until September.
I have no doubt that Cornyn will raise whatever he wants. I also believe that the money will be there for Watts or Noriega to run a competitive race against him. It's not 2006 any more. Cornyn's going to need every penny he can get his hands on.
Remember the expanded smoking ban that the city passed in October of 2006, which forbade smoking in bars? The ordinance contained a few exceptions, including one for "bars that promote cigar smoking and derive significant revenue from tobacco sales". Unfortunately, with enforcement of the new ordinance scheduled to begin in September, it seems that no one really knows what that means.
At his family-run bar in downtown Houston, Mike Shapiro relies on a strong base of cigar smoking customers. So ever since the city passed the no-smoking ordinance, he's been trying to apply for the cigar bar exemption."I tried going down there to find out when I can apply, and all you get is a run-around," he said "They're not ready. Well, we're in the middle of July and they're still not ready."
Even though the ordinance passed last fall, the health department still hasn't come up with a permitting process.
"Is this a little late?" we asked Kathy Barton with the Houston Health Department.
"I'm a little disappointed this didn't happen quicker, but it is a small staff over there that works on such an operation," she said.
Barton says staffers are working on a preliminary list of eight possible cigar bars they found from an article on the Internet, including Bossa, Downing Street and Crofts. But we found the list not very reliable. One of these so called cigar bars even isn't in operation. Paesanos shut down more than a year ago. It's now called Shadow Bar.
"They need to get busy on that," said Houston Councilmember Carol Alvarado. "I had hoped they would have had that worked out."
Alvarado says she thought only five bars were going to be exempted. But since no standard has actually been set, Shapiro hopes it's not too late for his bar.
"There shouldn't be a list," he said "Anyone who wants it should be allowed to apply for it."
This is ridiculous. I don't know what the exact wording of the ordinance is, but even that rather vague description given above should be definable in a way that bars who think they meet the standard can apply for the exemption. (I agree with Shapiro - there shouldn't be a list.) What exactly is the Health Department doing? I don't know what staffing issues they may have, but how hard can this be? Come up with a formula, post a form on the Health Department website, and be done with it. I'm mystified why it's taken so long. Hopefully, the story will spur some action, but it really shouldn't have come to this. Link via Houstonist and Miya, who did the reporting.
I like the sound of this.
Hoping to stabilize a $150 million annual electricity bill, Houston officials have negotiated a contract to ensure that a third of the city's power is generated by wind.If approved, the contract would make Houston a leader among local governments across the country using renewable energy.
The mandate for wind as part of the annual 1.3 billion kilowatt hours needed to power city buildings, street lights and water plants comes from Mayor Bill White, who has made energy conservation a theme of his tenure.
"It puts us in a definite leadership position," said White, a former chief operating officer at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton administration. "We are ahead of the curve."
City Council could consider the contract as soon as next week.
The mayor sought the changes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted the production and delivery of natural gas -- a common fuel at Texas power plants -- prompting electricity prices to soar.
The city spent roughly $150 million during the last fiscal year on electricity, paying a rate of roughly $91 per 1,000 kilowatt hours. Wind rates generally are cheaper, experts say.
City officials, who have seen Houston's electricity bills nearly double since 2004, hope the new source will help control those costs over the five-year deal, starting next summer.
"Since Katrina and Rita, we have been on a mission -- a mission to have diversity in our electricity portfolio," said Issa Dadoush, the city's building services director who helped develop the plan. "We can no longer do business the way we've been doing business."
[...]
The council is expected to consider an amendment to the current contract with the Texas General Land Office, which supplies the city's electricity under the State Power Program. Reliant Energy and the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs also were involved in the deal.
Once the contract is approved, the city can lock in a five-year fixed price for its wind power, depending on when market conditions are most favorable, officials said.
Goldman Sachs would offer the city electricity -- about a third of the average demand -- generated by a Shackelford County wind farm operated by Horizon Wind Energy.
Makes a lot of sense fiscally, and it's environmentally responsible, too. I like this a lot.
On a related note, here's a story about offshore wind farms, coming to Galveston Bay.
Right now there is a single modified oil platform supporting a new wind test station. Over the next year it'll tell engineers where, how high, and in what direction to place turbines much as you would see on land in west Texas or off-shore as it is in Denmark -- a country that gets a third of its energy from wind.Eventually, over an stretch of 18,000 acres of water nine miles off the coast of Galveston, there could be 100 of those platforms out here. Each of them will be helping to generate wind energy. And the group believes there's enough here to power Galveston twice over.
Patrick Warren with Wind Energy Systems Technology said, "I think this is an integral part of energy production -- electrical production in the United States and the world."
It could fund Texas schools with millions of dollars. Right now the Texas permanent school fund gets a lot of money from off-shore oil and gas leases.
"Oil and gas are depletable resources," said Jim Suydam with the Texas General Land Office. "Whether it runs out in 10 years or 100 years, the state has to find a way to put money into that fund."
This lease is for 25 years and a percentage of any energy profits goes directly to the state. Texas could be uniquely positioned to benefit from a lot of leases, given that the state owns the land 10.3 miles off-shore. That's more than three times as far as any other state.
Suydam said, "We see a real future in this."
I do, too. I'm rooting for this to succeed.
The Chron editorializes about the great outsourcing of inmates to Louisiana.
A number of factors put Harris County jail managers in the position of having to ship prisoners out of state to lower the inmate population. Some district judges continue to sentence convicted felons to serve their time in the county system, which as of Wednesday held nearly 10,000 prisoners, almost 1,000 over capacity. More than 1,200 of them could be serving their sentences in state prison.State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, has criticized the frequency with which jurists are sending convicts back to jail for minor parole violations. Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a bill passed by the Texas Legislature to allow such prisoners to make bail. Had it become law, about 500 jail inmates could have been released, making the planned transfer to Louisiana unnecessary and saving the county millions of dollars.
Sending Texas prisoners out of state also makes family visits more difficult and places at risk the inmates' eventual reintegration into society. A round trip from Houston to Epps can take up to 14 hours.
Warehousing Texas inmates in other states is not the way to ease jail overcrowding. Convicted felons should serve their time in state prisons, and minor parole violators should be released. Making better use of pretrial release programs for nonviolent offenders and new county facilities would provide a permanent solution.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Tommy Thomas writes a letter to the editor complaining about the recent story about the county bond proposal for new facilities.
[Reporter Steve] McVicker asserted that "Harris County officials have been criticized for failing to hire enough guards" and declares the alleged failure to be "a problem that has led to ... reprimands by state authorities."McVicker failed to mention that law enforcement agencies nationwide are experiencing staffing shortages.
[...]
The Harris County sheriff's office is making significant improvements in its jail staffing. So far this calendar year, the sheriff's office has hired more new employees than in all of 2006.
Although the office has experienced some separations from employment recently, since last July, there has been a net gain of more than 160 new employees.
Further, while McVicker maintained that approximately 180 detention officers and deputies will become eligible for retirement in the next two years, employees do not always retire when they become eligible.
There are many employees who are eligible to retire who have no immediate plans to retire. What's more, the sheriff's office has no mandatory retirement age.
In short, the issue of retirement eligibility fails to provide evidence of the "looming" staffing crisis that McVicker suggests.
Grits responds to that, while also addressing the Chron editorial. I'll just note here that Thomas never actually says that there will be sufficient staff for the planned new facilities - in fact, he never really says that there's enough staff now. He simply says that there's more employees now and that there may not be as many retirements as you might think. Neither is particularly compelling, if you ask me.
Stace attended last night's Tejano Democrats endorsement meeting and has a report on what happened, along with pictures.
Although there were several contested races for the coveted endorsement, the most competitive turned out to be, as expected, the Houston City Council District I race between James Rodriguez and John Marron. Each candidate brought out their core supporters, but in the end, it was James Rodriguez that received the majority of the votes and the Tejano Democrats endorsement. (Full disclosure: DosCentavos was an early endorser of James Rodriguez). Both candidates spoke to the membership and guests, but candidate Rodriguez split his time allowing term-limited District I Council Member Carol Alvarado to give him a rousing endorsement.In the At-Large #5 race, the competition for the endorsement was between Zaf Tahir and Jolanda Jones. Tahir gave a great presentation on his ideas for the future of Houston, stating that Houston's diversity must be addressed at the Council level through representation. Ms. Jones, on the other hand, spoke about her own Latino experiences and her commitment to serving all constituents--a strong presentation. Jones got the nod. (Full disclosure: Since I met John C. Gibbs when he came out to Kingwood for the 4th of July parade, I became a fan of his. As a CD-02 Democrat who works his a** off to put Ted Poe in his place, I have a huge problem with Ted Poe being on Jolanda Jones' steering committee, and I'll be stubborn as a donkey about that. Tahir, on the other hand, is quite impressive with his ideas.).
The District D race is another one of those that has some good people running. Michael P. Williams, who serves on the HCC board and community activist and City of Houston employee Wanda Adams both gave great presentations. The HCTD gave the nod to Ms. Adams.
Others endorsed: Mayor-Bill White; Controller-Annise Parker; At-Large 1-Peter Brown; At-Large 2-Sue Lovell; At-Large 3-Melissa Noriega; At-Large 4-Ronald Green; District H-Adrian Garcia.
Douglas Britt has more on this. As I understand it, in all three cases the HCTD steering committee recommended one candidate, but the membership voted to endorse the other. Obviously, these were some close calls. It'll be interesting to see how other influential groups make their choices.
Remember John Mackey of Whole Foods, the renegade CEO blogger? Turns out he's been a presence on the Internet for awhile, and some of it is coming back to bite him.
Whole Foods Market Chief Executive Officer John Mackey criticized Wild Oats Markets in anonymous messages on the Internet in the years before his company agreed to take over the smaller rival.The comments were posted at online financial chat boards hosted by Yahoo under the user name "rahodeb" from 1999 to mid-2006, Mackey said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement.
One posting, from January 2005, questioned why anyone would buy shares of Wild Oats at their price then of about $8 each, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Would Whole Foods buy (Wild Oats)? Almost surely not at current prices," rahodeb wrote. "What would they gain? (Their) locations are too small."
Rahodeb said Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats' management "clearly doesn't know what it is doing." The company, he wrote, "has no value and no future."
Wild Oats "has lost their way and no longer has a sense of mission or even a well thought out theory of the business," rahodeb wrote in a post on Yahoo's Whole Foods message board dated March 28, 2006. "They are floundering around hoping to find a viable strategy that may stop their erosion."
Rahodeb, an anagram of Deborah, the name of Mackey's wife, even defended Mackey's haircut when another user poked fun at a photo in the annual report, the Journal reported. "I like Mackey's haircut," rahodeb said. "I think he looks cute!"
[...]
For an executive to use a pseudonym to praise his company and stock "isn't per se unlawful, but it's dicey," Harvey Pitt, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, told The Wall Street Journal.
Told of the Mackey posts, "It's clear that he is trying to influence people's views and the stock price, and if anything is inaccurate or selectively disclosed he would indeed be violating the law.
"At a minimum, it's bizarre and ill-advised, even if it isn't illegal," Pitt told the Journal.
It's called being a sock puppet, and it's never pretty. I mean, look. It's still possible to be anonymous on the Internet, but the more you're out there making self-serving statements, especially ones that are harmful to others, the more likely that someone is going to be motivated enough to try and put a real name to whatever handle you're using. And if you're an insider of some kind, posting stuff that only an insider could know, I guarantee that someone will figure out who you are. It's really not that hard.
But honestly, someone in a position of prominence should never make public statements under any name other than his or her own. Either speak officially or listen to your lawyers and shut the hell up. All other ways eventually end in sorrow. As I'm sure John Mackey will now realize.
Mikal Watts isn't the only Democratic hopeful for 2008 who has announced good fundraising numbers for the second quarter of 2007. Here's Dan Grant, one of the contenders for CD10:
Foreign policy expert Dan Grant today announced that he will report raising more than $72,700 in campaign contributions during the first five weeks of his campaign, saying that he is gratified by the strong support in his race for a fresh start and a new direction."Together, we have begun to raise the seed money we need to build a grassroots network," Grant said. "This is the kind of momentum that will help us strengthen national security, provide access to health care, and ensure a level playing field for middle-class families who work hard and play by the rules."
The filing deadline is Monday for the latest fundraising period, which ended June 30, 2007. Grant began raising money in late May and will report a total of $72,765.08 in contributions from 173 individuals, expenditures of $5,523.82, and $67,241.26 cash on hand.
More than $15,000 of Grant's resources came from men and women who are serving and have served in Iraq.
"It's time to go to the source to change the course," Grant said. "Those who are on the front lines or have been there know that sending someone to Washington who has actually been on the ground in Iraq is best way to bring an end to our involvement there."
A total of $54,000 in donations came from 127 online donors who support his campaign to restore balance, integrity, and mainstream values for the families and small businesses of Congressional District 10.
Grant raised a chunk of money on ActBlue, which puts him in a position to be one of the netroots stars next year. He has to make it past the primary first, but he starts out in good shape.
And we also have Joe Jaworski, running in Senate District 11:
n an unprecedented show of strength nine months before next year's primary elections, Joe Jaworski announced today that he will report raising more than a quarter-million dollars in contributions for his Texas Senate race, saying that voters are investing their money and hopes in his campaign to bring independent leadership for a new direction to Austin."I am deeply gratified by this widespread support," Jaworski said. "But I'm frankly not surprised that so many want positive change instead of more of the same."
The filing deadline is Monday for the latest fundraising period from January 1, 2007, to June 30, 2007. Jaworski will report a total of $214,495 raised from 348 individuals for the period. His campaign had $209,508.50 cash on hand at the deadline and has raised $37,000 in online contributions.
Jaworski is running for Senate District 11, which includes portions of Harris, Brazoria and Galveston Counties. He has raised more than $250,000 since entering the race last fall.
Senate races are about as expensive as Congressional races, so this is a heck of a start for Jaworski, who's running against Mike "Furniture" Jackson. He has a ways to go, however - as of January, Jackson had almost $950K on hand; this is what happens when you go unchallenged for re-election for a couple of cycles. Still, it's a good start, and there's a lot of time to make up ground. Keep an eye on this one.
I suppose this makes sense, even if it is something I'd rather have remained ignorant about.
Listen to an iPod during a storm and you may get more than electrifying tunes.A Canadian jogger suffered wishbone-shaped chest and neck burns, ruptured eardrums and a broken jaw when lightning traveled through his music player's wires.
Last summer, a Colorado teen ended up with similar injuries when lightning struck nearby as he was listening to his iPod while mowing the lawn.
Emergency physicians report treating other patients with burns from freak accidents while using personal electronic devices such as beepers, Walkman players and laptop computers outdoors during storms.
Michael Utley, a former stockbroker from West Yarmouth, Mass., who survived being struck by lightning while golfing, has tracked 13 cases since 2004 of people hit while talking on cell phones. They are described on his Web site, www.struckbylightning.org.
Contrary to some urban legends and media reports, electronic devices don't attract lightning the way a tall tree or a lightning rod does.
"It's going to hit where it's going to hit, but once it contacts metal, the metal conducts the electricity," said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper of the American College of Emergency Physicians and an ER doctor at University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago.
When lightning jumps from a nearby object to a person, it often flashes over the skin. But metal in electronic devices -- or metal jewelry or coins in a pocket -- can cause contact burns and exacerbate the damage.
Yet another means by which modern technology will kill us all. Ah, well, it still beats listening to the radio.
One curious thing: in the comments to the story (yeah, I know, it would be more a productive use of my time to stick forks in my eyes), someone complained that the headline "Experts warn against wearing iPods during electrical storms" is "trashy" and "sensationalistic". Headlines of the "Experts warn about some particular behavior" variety seem pretty mundane to me. I admit, the stories themselves are often excessively lurid, but I don't see how that's the case here. Maybe I'm just inured to it by now, I don't know. But I'm not seeing any foul here.
What happens when our jails get too full? We ship inmates to Louisiana.
Harris County on Friday will begin shipping the first of as many as 400 of its prisoners to a private jail in northeast Louisiana, costing taxpayers up to $4 million over the next six months.An official with the Harris County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday described the transfer to West Carroll Detention Center in Epps, La., as an "emergency concept" aimed at dealing with a recent seasonal "surge" in the inmate population.
As we know, and as the story mentions, this is a longstanding problem, "surges" notwithstanding.
On July 5, the sheriff's office notified the Texas Commission on Jail Standards that it would need to transfer up to several hundred prisoners in order to maintain compliance.In a July 9 letter to the sheriff's office, commission executive director Adan Munoz approved of the plan.
[...]
As of Wednesday, the Harris County Jail prisoner population was 9,974, according to [Harris County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike] Smith.
While the county system's inmate capacity is 9,042, the commission has granted the department, which operates the jail, temporary permission to house up to 1,050 inmates in so-called "variance beds" -- nonstandard metal frame bunks on the floor.
"We didn't want to send 20 here, five here, 10 there, and 13 over there," Smith. "That (becomes) problematic to get them there, and to get them back, and (to know) where they are, and what the rules are there."
"That's what made it an emergency, and that's why (Emerald) was selected," he added.
Emerald was also the lowest-priced facility, according to Smith, who said the county will be charged $38 per day, per inmate for the first 300 prisoners. Smith also anticipates that the entire $4 million approved by the commissioners will be spent.
Smith said the price parallels what it would have cost the county to pay jailers in overtime that would have been necessary for the prisoners to remain in the Harris County Jail.
[...]
Smith said all the inmates who will be transferred to Louisiana have been convicted of state jail felonies. He also placed part of the blame for the jail overcrowding on a law that allows judges to sentence state jail felons to a county lockup rather that state-run facilities. Currently more than 1,200 inmates convicted of state jail felonies are housed in the county jail, according to Smith.
Smith also said the jail population could have decreased had Texas Gov. Rick Perry not vetoed a bill that would have allowed bail for technical parole violators. Nearly 500 technical violators -- people who have not committed other crimes -- are housed in the county lockup, Smith said.
The notion that Harris County is housing extra inmates does not please Harris County Pct. 3 Commissioner Steve Radack.
"The state dumps on Harris County like we're running a little Alcatraz down here," Radack said. "They pass these laws. Then take people that should be in state facilities and expect the county to take care of it."
While it's true that these are contributing factors, it's also true that the local judiciary deserves a good deal of blame. We really could have a smaller inmate population without any significant risk to the general public, with the bonus of not having to throw away $4 million on stuff like this. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to change until we have some new blood on the bench around here. At least we'll have a chance to make that happen next year.
Well, so much for being designated as landmarks.
Contractors removed a line of trees, including several large oaks, from the edge of the River Oaks Shopping Center Wednesday as Weingarten Realty Investors continued its preparations to demolish part of the 70-year-old center.The action came less than three weeks after the city Planning Commission recommended that the shopping center be designated as a landmark, making it eligible for tax breaks intended to discourage demolition. The City Council has yet to act on the designation, which would not prevent Weingarten from demolishing the center.
[...]
The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance sent a petition with more than 25,000 signatures to the chairman and CEO of Barnes & Noble, urging the chain to reconsider leasing space in the Weingarten project.
Weingarten said in a statement Wednesday that it intends to proceed with its plans.
"Weingarten has invested a great deal of time and financial resources consulting with top architects to ensure that certain design elements, such as the curved facade and other modern and Art Deco treatments, are included in the new structure," the statement said.
I'm sure the new center will be pretty. It just won't mean anything. It'll be like Disney's Main Street USA - all historical-like and authentic-looking without any actual history or authenticity. On the plus side, when the time comes for Shopping Center 2.0 to make way for the next big thing, there will be that much less to be lost. Such is life.
Well, somebody thinks we're gonna have ourselves a real Senate race next year.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's political money-raising operation has wasted no time in playing the trial lawyer card against potential Democratic opponent Mikal Watts, an attorney from San Antonio.Cornyn has scheduled a series of fundraisers for the weekend of July 20, featuring presidential adviser Karl Rove as the main attraction. But an invitation letter for the Harlingen event also plays off Republican reactions to trial lawyers.
"We will also have the opportunity to help the senator begin preparing for what appears to be a wealthy, self-financed personal injury lawyer opponent," said a Cornyn campaign committee letter signed by James G. Springfield, CEO of Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen.
A Cornyn fundraising letter sent out last month by John Nau of Houston noted: "Unfortunately, John appears to have drawn a very wealthy personal injury lawyer Mikal Watts as a potential opponent." Cornyn's aides declined to discuss the specifics of his letters.
I'm not sure if this means Cornyn fears Mikal Watts more than he fears Rick Noriega, if it means he thinks he's more likely to face Watts than Noriega next year, or if he just thinks Watts is an easier target. Certainly, "trial lawyer" is a nice, comforting piece of shorthand that a Republican in need of a boogeyman can use to whip up the faithful. It does make one wonder what he'll do if he doesn't get Watts as his ballotmate, though. Maybe he needs a little more time to think about it.
Here's a question to ponder: Who do you think would poll worse nowadays, trial lawyers or Karl Rove? Let's just say that I hope Cornyn and Rove remain BFFs throughout the campaign.
Cornyn's trip with Rove might seem surprising because the senator recently began distancing himself from the president on the issue of immigration. But from his 2002 election until recently, Cornyn has been a staunch Bush supporter.Rove helped Cornyn win election to the Texas Supreme Court in 1996, recruited Cornyn to run for state attorney general in 1998 and again to run for the U.S. Senate in 2002.
That in a nutshell is why I believe the 2008 Senate race will be different from the recent ones that preceded it. Cornyn and Bush are two peas in a pod, no matter how pathetically our junior Senator tries to "distance" himself these days. And Bush hasn't been popular in Texas in a long time. He's less popular than Cornyn himself, which won't help. All Cornyn had to do in 2002 was be Bush's buddy, which was something he could easily do better than Ron Kirk. Now he's got to run as his own man, but with all that Bush baggage attached to him. It won't be easy for him. BOR, Eye on Williamson, and Stace have more.
Christof has an interesting announcement.
We've all seen freight trains. Many of us have them in our neighborhoods. But where are they coming from? Where are they going? And why do they spend so much time sitting still? These are important questions, since the state and local governments are getting ready to spend a lot of money on freight rail. And the best way to understand the answers is to see them in person.So we're doing a field trip. On Saturday morning, July 21, we're chartering a bus and taking it to places like Tower 26 (one of the busiest rail junctions in Houston, above) and Settegast Yard and the East End. We're bringing along Joe Adams of Union Pacific Railroad, Tom Kornegay of the Port of Houston, and Houston City Council Member Adrian Garcia to tell us about what we see from the perspective of the railroads, the shippers, and the neighborhoods around them.
Interested? The tour is open to CTC members only, but you're welcome to join if you aren't a member yet. Tour tickets are $10; memberships are $20. Email railtour@ctchouston.org to RSVP. But be quick -- we announced this tour by email (if you're not on our mailing list but want to be, email chair@ctchouston.org) on Thursday and the bus is already nearly full. If we do fill up, we'll start a waiting list, and we may schedule a second tour, likely in the fall.
I don't think I can make this, but if you have any interest in trains (or if you'd like to ask someone why they derail), I hope you'll check it out. And I hope someone blogs about it.
As someone who's spent a few hours in the past couple of years photographing the demolition of various local landmarks, I can totally relate to this guy.
Every March for almost 30 years, David Purdie waited in the same line at the same supermarket on West Gray to buy an AstroWorld season pass.In 1978, the laminated tickets promising limitless fun from March through October cost just $20. Purdie, then 13, and his best friend mowed lawns in the Houston heat, sold Kool-Aid and comic books, and spent their profits on the passes. Prices rose steadily, but the two friends continued to go back year after year, finally paying $52 in 2005.
Then Purdie heard the unimaginable - AstroWorld would close forever.
With the stomach-churning suddenness of a Texas Cyclone plunge, Purdie decided he had to preserve the memory of his favorite getaway. He purchased a home-video camera and started shooting. Two years later, he's ready to share the results with likely thousands of Houstonians who fondly recall the old South Loop amusement park
"I knew that if it was true, that in the end AstroWorld was gone, I was going to want to have footage for myself to keep and cherish forever," said Purdie.
He returned to the park every weekend in October 2005, filming everything -- the drive down Kirby, the footbridge hike over the Loop and the entire walk around the park.
[...]
A week after the park closed for good, Purdie persuaded a friend to go back with him.
"I get there and I can see clearly that they started disassembling the Dungeon Drop. You could tell from the freeway, so I got out and started filming, and I got all excited and sad at the same time," he said. "I went back later that day. I went back the next day and the next day and the next day."
Purdie, a waiter at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen, went back almost every day for seven months. He filmed mostly from the sidewalk and in a given day would stand outside the gates for 30 minutes or eight hours.
[...]
Purdie has now pared some of his favorite AstroWorld footage into a three-minute short, AstroWhirled. He offered it to a Houston short-film festival.
"It was a good opportunity for me to play with my footage, and it might be a good way to get my feet wet," he said.
But Purdie's film didn't make the festival's cut, so he's trying to get the River Oaks Theatre to run it Saturday, before the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (At press time, theater officials were not sure they would use it.)
In the short film, Purdie falls asleep dreaming of going to AstroWorld. But when he gets there, it's being torn up.
"And I wake up and it's jut a dream, but of course it wasn't," he said.
The film shows a blur of children running through the park. It features the unmistakable clank of a roller-coaster car making its way up the wooden track. Then it cuts dramatically to a shot of the coaster being smashed by a giant backhoe.
The story link has the video as well. The described scene, cutting from the roller coaster to its demolition, was easily the strongest bit. The rest of it was okay but unfocused. I figure given all the footage he shot, a good editor could probably tease a nice short documentary out of it. I hope someone steps up to help him with it, because I think it would make for a worthwhile preservation project. Take a look at the clip and see what you think.
A major event in the 2007 campaign season occurs tonight as the Harris County Tejano Democrats get together to make their endorsements for November. One race in particular stands out, that for the open District I seat being vacated by Council Member Carol Alvarado.
"The fact is, we've got two very strong candidates this year," said Armando Walle, the group's chairman, referring to James Rodriguez, Alvarado's former chief of staff, and John Marron, a union activist and legislative aide to state Rep. Alma Allen, D-District 131.Walle said the vote could be a squeaker, since both candidates enjoy strong backing within the Tejano Democrats' membership.
"It's just going to come down to who can rally their supporters to the meeting," he said.
The Tejano Democrats' endorsement meeting for the November general election will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Harris County Democratic Party office, 1415 North Loop West.
Both candidates participated in the group's screening process last month, answering a range of questions of interest to the Hispanic community, Walle said.
"I would say they agree on a lot of the policy issues," he said. "I didn't see any difference in their (answers) as far as police protection, after-school programs and preventative health care. From my understanding, they both support a lot of those issues that we have an interest in."
The Tejano Democrats' executive committee decided on its recommendation June 30 and will announce it at Thursday's meeting prior to members casting their ballots.
However, which candidate gets the nod is up to the rank-and-file membership, which has been known to buck the committee's recommendations in the past, Walle said.
"The endorsement process is not a rubber stamp," he said.
"If (members) don't approve of our recommendation, they'll make it known."
Whichever candidate wins a simple majority of members' votes will get the full support of Tejano Democrats' infrastructural support, including mass mailings, phone banking and block walking, Walle said.
A full statement from the Harris County Tejano Democrats is beneath the fold. The race in District I has been set for months now, and was characterized as a proxy battle between County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and Council Member Alvarado in a story that drew some strong reactions. I'll be very interested to see who emerges as the endorsed candidate. Both Rodriguez and Marron are well qualified, and it could go either way. Stay tuned.
The Harris County Tejano Democrats (HCTD) will hold its annual Endorsement Meeting for the November 2007 City of Houston municipal elections on July 12, 2007. HCTD for the last two decades has been at the forefront of Hispanic politics and we look forward to endorsing candidates that have the best interest of the Hispanic community. Although City of Houston elections are traditionally non-partisan we need to hold our mayor, city controller, and council members accountable to our community. Fortunately, our mayor - who HCTD endorsed along with many of our endorsed candidates - has had good working relationships for the benefit of our city. However, issues such immigration are being used to divide communities by portraying immigrant communities in a negative light. We being the sons and daughters of immigrant mothers, fathers, and grandparents are proud to be Americans.Issues such police & fire protection, on time capital improvement projects, better access to preventative health care, and air quality, are just a few issues that we would like to see addressed by candidates that we endorse. These issues are not just Hispanic issues but issues that we as a community must help to find solutions to. Qualified Hispanic representation at all city departments and streamlining of Affirmative Action processes are also issues that needs immediate attention.
As the states largest Latino political organization it give us great pride to be able to contribute to the democratic process and look forward to working with all the candidates and elected officials to make the City of Houston the best city in America. We invite all to attend this event. Our success lies in the fact that we have endorsed many winning candidates and endorse quality candidates. Many elected officials and numerous candidates are confirmed to attend.
Who: Harris County Tejano Democrats
What: Annual Endorsement Meeting
When: July 12, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Where: Harris County Democratic Party Office
1445 North Loop West, Suite 110
Houston, TX 77008
State Rep. Rick Noriega has issued the following statement on the passing on Lady Bird Johnson:
"Melissa and I were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lady Bird Johnson this afternoon. She represented the best of Texas - larger-than-life, open-hearted, confident, idealistic. Millions of her fellow Americans were touched by her kindness and her warmth. In her calm, positive way, she worked to beautify America and to improve the lives of all its citizens, especially children. Her legacy will survive and enrich Texas and this nation through the ages."Out of respect for her passing, Representative Noriega has postponed the announcement of the formation of his U.S. Senate exploratory committee until Monday morning, July 16, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. CDT. The announcement is still scheduled for the Heroes of the Alamo monument near the south steps of the Texas Capitol Building.
I'll pass on any further updates as needed.
Former First Lady and all around national treasure Lady Bird Johnson has passed away at the age of 94.
In recent years, the widow of Lyndon Baines Johnson was virtually silenced by a stroke. She was nearly blinded by macular degeneration. Still, she lived her life with enthusiasm, dividing her time between the family ranch in Stonewall and an Austin home near the presidential library dedicated to her late husband. She thrived on visits with friends and family and inhaled mystery books on tape.Johnson's daughters, Luci Johnson and Lynda Robb, visited her almost continoually during her last months.
Johnson was equally comfortable counseling her daughters and the 36th president of the United States. During an era when political wives confined themselves to half a dozen safe subjects, she was a fierce soldier in Lyndon's wars against poverty and racial injustice in the early '60s. Before that she was an invaluable asset to the ambitious politician from Texas who progressed from the U.S. House of Representatives, to the Senate, to the vice presidency and finally, the White House.
Perhaps Johnson's crowning achievement, however, was alerting Americans that clean air and water are resources that have to be protected.
"The environment wasn't a matter of serious concern until the Johnson administration, and Lady Bird was responsible for that," said Harry Middleton, who worked for the president and the first lady during the Johnson White House years and served as director of the LBJ Library for three decades. "She will be remembered for those (conservation) efforts forever."
As first lady, Johnson started modestly, supervising the cleaning of monuments and the planting of flowers across the capital city. Next she targeted America's highways. She pushed for the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which regulated construction of highway billboards and required screening fences to block the view of ugly junkyards.
"Lady Bird Johnson was a trailblazer," said Liz Carpenter, Johnson's former press secretary and friend. "In her quiet determined way, she put the environment on every public official's agenda."
Added Larry Temple, who served as special counsel to the president during the LBJ years and still is president of the LBJ Foundation in Austin, "Not only was she genuine and as pure as anyone I ever knew, but she had this talent for making everybody better when they were around her. ... It's the rarest of talents and one she didn't even know she had."
Claudia Alta Taylor was born Dec. 22, 1912, near Karnack in deep East Texas. She was just a baby when a nurse decided she was as pretty as a lady bird (a type of beetle most commonly known as a ladybug), and the nickname stuck.
[...]
After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin in public places, she organized a railroad trip through the South that covered eight states in four days.
She knew Lyndon needed Southern support to win that November's election. With the whistle-stop tour, she dealt directly with those opposed to her husband's prized legislation.
"I know the Civil Rights Act was right, and I don't mind saying so," she told crowds along the route.
At times hecklers met her train, dubbed the Lady Bird Special, and tried to shout her down. She listened quietly, then told them, "You've had your say. ... If you're finished, I would like to talk."
That Election Day, the Johnsons enjoyed a landslide victory.
In addition to championing civil rights legislation, the first lady was an advocate for the new Head Start program for disadvantaged preschool children. She paid personal visits to many of those programs, meeting with the teachers and students.
[...]
The former president died at the ranch in 1973, leaving Lady Bird in charge of the family and their beloved projects. She filled her time with her children, seven grandchildren and her six-year term on the UT board of regents. In 1982, her lifelong environmental work culminated in the National Wildflower Research Center, soon renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, then on the outskirts of Austin. She and actress Helen Hayes founded it to protect the native vegetation and landscape of North America.
"The wildflower center is really an embodiment of Mrs. Johnson's vision to protect and preserve the natural beauty of our country," said Robert Breunig, former executive director of the wildflower center. "Her favorite thing to do was to just go and look at beautiful flowers, and the joy that they give her was palpable and contagious."
Even at the very end of her life, Johnson loved to drop by the center. With great care the staff helped her move from her wheelchair to a golf cart so she could tour the facility. Director Susan Reiff said they would pick some of the flowers so Johnson could touch them, smell them and try to see them.
"Her legacy really goes far beyond wild flowers," Reiff said. "She was talking about taking care of nature and people in communities and integrating the two --really she was talking about sustainability -- 40 years before anybody else. She was ahead of her time."
Indeed she was. Rest in peace, Lady Bird Johnson.
UPDATE: BOR has more, with pictures.
Michael Chertoff's "gut" is telling him we are facing a heightened terrorist threat this summer. Has his gut turned red? Orange? Has he made a Home Depot run for duct tape?
I'm confused by his remarks as they sound awfully dire, but he's not cranking up the official threat level.
"I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk," Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board in an unusually blunt and frank assessment of America's terror threat level."Summertime seems to be appealing to them," he said of al-Qaida. "We do worry that they are rebuilding their activities."
Still, Chertoff said there are not enough indications of an imminent plot to raise the current threat levels nationwide. And he indicated his remarks were based on "a gut feeling" formed by past seasonal patterns of terrorist attacks, recent al-Qaida statements, and intelligence he did not disclose.
There is an assessment "not of a specific threat, but of increased vulnerability," he added.
There have been reports already that suggest intelligence warnings at a similar level to the summer before Sept. 11, 2001 and that al-Qaida may be mobilizing.
In recent days, ABC news reported that a secret law enforcement report prepared for homeland security warns that al-Qaida is preparing a "spectacular" summer attack. On Tuesday, ABC News also reported that "new intelligence suggests a small al-Qaida cell is on its way to the United States, or may already be here."
"We could easily be attacked," Chertoff added. "The intent to attack us remains as strong as it was on Sept. 10, 2001."
I think we all know that we could be attacked again and that there is ongoing intelligence received about that. These comments sound like they are supposed to induce fear instead of confidence that the Bush administration has taken forceful steps to prevent terrorism at home. Isn't that what Bush ran on in 2004?
I've read this story on Kent Robertson, the new boss of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC), and it occurs to me that I just hadn't realized how bad things had been there.
"We hear it all the time. They say we're not going down to that nasty place but it's not nasty anymore," Robertson said. "We need to get the word out that this is not a bad place to come."[...]
The department has had a reputation for low adoption rates, poor animal treatment and killing too many animals. Animal welfare workers criticized the agency for being understaffed and underfunded. A measure to get six additional animal control officers in the new budget beginning July 1 was not funded. The department enforces animal licensing and vaccination ordinances, investigates animal bites and operates the city animal shelter.
Using a folded sheet of paper with scribbled notes as a guide, Robertson recites a list of the department's accomplishments:
Animal adoptions are up, euthanasias are down. BARC's volunteer base is growing. City ordinance changes he promoted have been approved. The staff -- he calls them team members -- is more responsive to the public.
[...]
Stephen Williams, the city's Health and Human Services director who recruited Robertson, credits him with bringing stability to BARC.
Williams cited one indicator of improvement -- far fewer public complaints about loose dogs and poor treatment of animals. And at a recent meeting with BARC volunteers at the shelter, he had a difficult time finding a parking space because of the number attending.
"He's been able to bring some structure to it. We're doing a lot of stuff," Williams said. "We're in a process of establishing a foundation. He's doing what I want him to do."
Some news stories you follow obsessively, some just sort of float past without really getting noticed. Having read this article, I now recall seeing some stuff before about bad stuff at BARC, like this and this. Can't say why I didn't pay more attention to this before, but I hope what we're seeing now represents the kind of real progress that we've been promised before. We'll see. Meanwhile, since it was the Houston Press that broke those earlier stories I linked to, I'll be curious to see if HouStoned has any comment. What say you, fellas?
Rick Noriega will officially announce the creation of the "Rick Noriega for Texas Exploratory Committee" for the U.S. Senate tomorrow morning in Austin. Miya Shay has the press release. Details are as follows:
Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:00 a.m. CDTHeroes of the Alamo Monument on the Great Walk
South Side of the Texas Capitol Bldg
1200 N. Congress Ave
Austin
I'm not travelling much these days, but I know many of my blogging colleagues will be there to report and take pictures. Look for plenty more tomorrow.
Via Muse comes this article in The Hill on the emerging and exciting Democratic primary for Senate between Mikal Watts and Rick Noriega. I'll leave it to Muse to highlight the best parts, I just want to note that for the first time since at least 2002, a statewide race in Texas is making national news. The change in attitude, not just here but on the outside looking in, is amazing. I mean, it was just a month ago that some knuckleheaded Democratic "strategist" told Paul Burka that we ought to sit this year out like we were told we should have done last year.
A Democratic strategist I spoke with, who did not want his name to be used, expressed considerable admiration for Watts but still remained skeptical that Cornyn could be defeated. Yes, Cornyn is vulnerable, he said, but that doesn't mean he can be defeated. He questioned whether the Democrats would be repeating their mistake of 2002, putting forth a major effort when they don't yet have the numbers to win. His view is that the Democrats have to keep their priorities straight, that the Senate seat in 08 doesn't matter in the big picture, and the big picture is that the 2010 election will be make or break for any Democratic resurgence. He thinks Watts would be a great candidate for attorney general. If he runs for the Senate and loses, he could hurt Democrats downballot and cost his party some of the momentum it gained in the 06 elections.
That link may not work - the Burkablog archives appear to be screwed up - so click here and search for "Watts Up?" if need be. I'm not saying that beating John Cornyn will be easy, or that there are no possible bad outcomes to trying to beat him. I am saying that at this point in time, that kind of attitude would properly be labeled as defeatist and out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party, and not just by us true believers. I say that's a big deal, and something we should keep in mind as we go forward. There's bound to be setbacks and disappointments, so let's not forget that we've already come a long way.
Tory relates a story of a quick but expensive cab ride from the airport to his hotel in Boston versus a cheap but slower trip back via mass transit, and asks:
What do you think Metro's trip times to IAH and Hobby will be when the system gets built out? That's a heck of a lot more than 3 miles. That said, it was obviously a popular route. But I'll bet a lot of people on that bus were thinking, "Why didn't I just ask a friend to drive me?..."
Let me turn that question around: How long does it take you to drive to IAH today? On a good day, if I'm simply dropping off or picking up, it takes me about 25 minutes. If I'm driving myself, and parking at the airport lot, add in about ten more minutes to find a parking spot, and another ten to walk to the security checkin. (It's about the same amount of time if I park in a satellite lot, since I'm dependent on their shuttles to get me to the terminal; that also adds in an extra random luck factor, which mostly manifests itself on the trip home.)
Now, I don't know what the eventual Metro train to the airport experience will be like. If has limited stops, and drops you off right at the terminal, it will probably be a reasonably short ride. From my perspective, it doesn't actually have to be faster than driving and parking to be worth taking - if it's a fairly predictable duration, then I'll gladly trade a little extra time for losing the frustration that comes with the randomness of parking and shuttling. And needless to say, it'll be a heck of a lot cheaper.
(By the way, a cab ride between my house and IAH is about $45, tip included. It's very much a last resort.)
As for the "why didn't I ask a friend to drive me?" question, all I can say is that going to and from IAH is a big enough PITA that I generally don't ask that particular favor of others. I figure, however, that when taking the train to the plane is a reality, bumming a ride to the station will be a much smaller burden. Let's just say that I look forward to the day when it's an option.
Back in April, a settlement was reached in the Frew v. Hawkins lawsuit, which had to do with the state of Texas failing to meet its Medicaid obligations. Yesterday, that settlement was approved by the judge, which brings this long saga to a close.
"The court concludes the proposed corrective action plan is fair, reasonable and adequate," said [U.S. District Judge William Wayne] Justice. He's expected to sign a formal order later.Lawmakers budgeted a boost of nearly $1.8 billion over two years -- $706.7 million in state general revenue and the rest in federal matching funds -- for improvements including higher rates for doctors and dentists who treat youngsters under the Medicaid program.
The rate hike is meant to increase the number of health care providers who treat children under Medicaid.
[...]
The Legislature approved enough money for a 25 percent rate increase for doctors and 50 percent for dentists. But those working on the plan intend to target the funds at key services instead of giving a flat, across-the-board increase. That would mean bigger hikes for basic dental services such as X-rays and fillings and key physician services such as checkups and immunizations.
The plan also addresses services including outreach; case management; timely answering of toll-free hot lines; ensuring needed prescriptions aren't held up just because the medicine isn't on the state's preferred drug list; and provision of transportation.
"These children have been waiting for relief for years now," said San Antonio lawyer Susan Zinn, representing the children served by Medicaid, in urging Justice to approve the settlement. "They need it now."
Justice acknowledged the long road taken by the case, which started in 1993 with a lawsuit by mothers who said their children weren't getting the care they needed under Medicaid.
The state and lawyers for the children in 1995 agreed to a settlement that Justice approved as a consent decree, but legal squabbles ensued over whether the decree should remain in place and whether state officials were living up to their part of the bargain.
"I'm glad this litigation has been settled," Justice said. "I was 73 years of age when this case began. Now I'm 87."
I'm glad this was settled, too, and for a lot less money than originally predicted. Let's hope we never have to travel down this path again.
I've said before that I don't have any theoretical objections to the concept of congestion pricing for the various toll roads and HOT lanes that cross or will cross our metro area. But the more I read about the "thinking" behind HCTRA's recent botched attempt at it, the more I think that the powers that be here don't have a clue about how to implement it.
Congestion pricing is not widely used in the United States and often has been derided as "Lexus lanes," where those who can afford higher tolls cruise freely past slow-moving vehicles in regular lanes.It got an icy response in Houston last month when drivers roared disapproval at a proposed increase from $1 to $2.50 on the Westpark Tollway during three hours of the morning and the evening. The plan has been shelved -- for now.
[County Commissioner Steve] Radack, whose Precinct 3 includes the Westpark Tollway and will include future high-occupancy toll lanes on the Katy and Northwest freeways, said the increase recommended by consultant Wilbur Smith Associates was too much for too long.
A smaller increase for just an hour in each direction could have made a difference and been acceptable to users, he said.
Remember, this is Steve "Let them
No decision has been made on whether congestion pricing will be used on toll lanes planned for the Katy and Northwest freeways, [County Judge Ed] Emmett said.He said he does not expect the county to float the idea on the Westpark again before the Katy Freeway widening project is completed in March 2009. The freeway runs parallel to the Westpark Tollway about two miles to the north and is expected to relieve some of the Westpark pressure.
"Congestion pricing doesn't work unless there is an alternative," Emmett said. Unless drivers get some advantage by paying a toll, he said, "it becomes just a way to gouge the public."
Once again, the grasp of the obvious here is breathtaking in its scope. Really, what can one say to this?
We'll close with a slightly more subtle point here:
[T]he average speed for westbound drivers in the evening rush plummets from the 70s to below 10 mph in less than a mile, shortly before Fondren. They stay mostly under 30 mph until motorists pass Beltway 8, then shoot upward.Radack said such slowdowns eventually will persuade drivers to accept congestion pricing.
"If you have a commute that should take 18 minutes, and it takes 48, think of the wear and tear on your car, and you may use up half a gallon of gasoline. It reaches a point where it becomes revenue-neutral," he said.
"You pay Exxon or you pay the toll."
Or you could - I know this is going to sound crazy, but stay with me here - live closer to where you work. Having a two-mile commute as opposed to a twenty-mile commute would do a lot to insulate one from the vicissitudes of traffic, tolls, and gas prices. Yes, this isn't an option for everyone, but it is an option. And if one reason for moving to the burbs is cheaper housing, then at some point one needs to factor in transportation costs as well. I'm just saying.
My friend Stephanie forwarded me this AOL Fanhouse blog post about the relationship between sports bloggers and the media. I think the main thing I got out of it is that those of us in the political 'sphere appear to have it a lot better. At least in this state, the political reporters - many of whom are also bloggers themselves (and that's not counting various local folks) - know who we are, and interact with us fairly regularly. I certainly can't think of anything remotely like Colin Cowherd's plagiarism in our neck of the Internets. I'm not sure why it's so different for the sports bloggers, but there you have it. Check it out.
I've blogged before about a proposed $900 million county bond package that would go towards various courthouse/jail/family law projects. One of my concerns has been that the underlying issue of a serious guard shortage at the county jail needs to be addressed for this to make any sense at all. So I'm glad to see that the issue is being discussed, though I'm still not sure it's being addressed.
For years, Harris County officials have been criticized for failing to hire enough guards to keep their jails adequately staffed -- a problem that has led to crowding and reprimands by state authorities that monitor jail conditions.Those same problems were noted in a report in May by the county's Public Infrastructure Department in preparation for a $900 million bond proposal -- the largest in the county's history -- that is expected to be placed before voters in November.
More than $250 million of it would be earmarked for the construction of a new inmate-processing center and a minimum-security jail. The report states that, after construction, unused space would be available for possible use by other law enforcement agencies.
"To achieve leased-capacity benefits, the HCSO must be able to staff the positions needed to operate any leasable capacity," the report states, referring to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Current staffing shortages highlight the importance of this assumption."
For years, Sgt. Richard Newby, president of the Harris County Deputies Organization, has been critical of the staffing shortage. And he said the sheriff's office, which operates the jails, is still relying on massive amounts of overtime to staff the detention space it has now.
"The reality is that it's hard to hire a lot of people for this type of job, and we have a lot of vacancies," Newby said.
So, will any of this bond money go towards hiring and/or retaining jail staff? Or, since that's not really an appropriate funding vehicle, is Commissioners Court going to do anything about it? I still can't tell. Hell, I still can't tell if the end result of all this will be more jail space. More details would be very nice.
What I can tell is that we're still not having a serious discussion about the many ways that our county jail population can be reduced, which would not only be largely free to do but would also reduce our long-term costs and obviate the need for at least some of this bond debt. Why we're not having that discussion, well, that I can't tell.
Some fun facts about how we're dealing with the guard shortage:
The county spent about $18 million in overtime pay for jailers during the past fiscal year to reach that staffing goal. Last year, the county dedicated $22 million for hiring of 160 new guards, and raising starting annual pay for jailers by 15 percent to $32,200. Currently, 563 civilian detention officers and 680 deputies are assigned to the jail, according the HCSO.Nevertheless, the sheriff's office continues to hemorrhage money through overtime payments. According to Newby, most jail guards are working at least two double shifts a week. In the first four months of the county's current fiscal year, the sheriff's office has already spent more than $6 million on overtime at the jail -- more than two-thirds of its dedicated overtime budget. If the overtime-spending trend continues, it would top last year's amount.
Other staffing problems are also looming. This week, the jail will lose 80 civilian guards. They are becoming part of the sheriff's office's next cadet academy class.
Many of the new hires have been offset by retirement, which may continue to hit the HCSO over the next two years, with approximately 180 guards and deputies soon becoming eligible for retirement, according to Newby.
I hear an awful lot about the staffing and overtime issues at HPD. For some reason, the same problems within the Harris County Sheriff's Department doesn't get nearly the same level of attention. One wonders why that might be.
Newby said that even if the bond proposal passes, the new jail space would not be available immediately -- which he says is "a good thing.""Because if they did just pop up overnight," he said, "there's no way we could staff them with our current problems."
I don't see that changing any time soon.
We knew Mikal Watts would have a lot of money available to him for his Senate race, both his own and money that he raised. According to RG Ratcliffe, that total is a pretty impressive $1.1 million for this quarter. According to his press release (which I've reproduced beneath the fold), Watts received support from "over 800 supporters who contributed to his exploratory committee, including almost $400,000 in Internet contributions through www.wattsforsenate.com." I'll say again, Watts isn't my guy, but I'm happy to have the bar set high. The more challenging the primary, the better shape the winner will be in for the general.
San Antonio, TX - The Mikal Watts for US Senate Exploratory Committee will report collecting $1,142,445.20 in contributions in its first 30 days. The deadline for the second quarter campaign finance filing was June 30, 2007 and the report is due on July 15, 2007. The campaign has a total of $4,898, 188.31 cash on hand in the same filing.Watts formed his exploratory committee on June 1, 2007 and has kept an aggressive schedule since, crisscrossing the state several times and meeting hundreds and hundreds of Texans - a schedule that he will keep as he continues exploring a bid against John Cornyn.
"I'm honored that so many Texans have heard my message and agree with me that we need better leadership in Washington," said Watts, "Everywhere I visit across the state, more and more good Texans tell me that they are dissatisfied with the Republicans in Washington, and specifically with our junior senator, John Cornyn.
"People are investing in our campaign because they are demanding change and they know that I am someone who will fight for our interests here in Texas and not the special interests in Washington."
After attending 39 events in just 30 days, Watts' message of change in Washington resonated, resulting in over 800 supporters who contributed to his exploratory committee, including almost $400,000 in Internet contributions through www.wattsforsenate.com.
"Mikal Watts has been to South Texas fifteen times during the month of June and there is no one who works harder. He talks about issues that we care about and we trust him and know that when we send him to Washington he will fight for us here in Texas," said Juan Maldonado, Democratic Party Chairman of Hidalgo County.
"Mikal Watts is hardworking, likable, smart and has spent his entire career fighting for average Texas families," said Kim Devlin, Watts for Senate Exploratory Committee communications director. "People are excited about Mikal because he is a fresh face in Texas Democratic politics, which is vitally important to defeating John Cornyn."
"Mikal's incredible feat of raising over a million dollars in just 30 days and the strong support it represents from around the state, is one more indicator that Texans are demanding a change in Washington and they believe that Mikal Watts is the best person to have all the resources necessary to run a competitive, successful campaign against Cornyn," continued Devlin.
The latest USA Survey poll, released June 19, 2007, showed that only 42% of Texans approve of the way Cornyn is handling his job, with 43% disapproving. The poll demonstrates that Cornyn is the least popular US Senator standing for re-election in 2008.
Via BOR, I see that there's a fourth potential contender for the Democratic nomination for Senate next year.
With Rick Noriega and Mikal Watts in the race for the U.S. Senate the Gossips hear that former State Senator and Head of Texas Tech John Montford is also looking at the race in the Democratic primary. Montford has been an executive with ATT (formerly Southwestern Bell) and is well respected in the business community. He is also well know in West Texas and would have support from Tech alumni. Before leaving the State Senate Montford looked at running for Lt. Governor but decided to take the Tech job instead. He will be well funded if he decides to go for the Senate.
(The third contender, in case you weren't aware, is a Dallas attorney named Emil Reichstadt. I've not paid any attention to him because I think there's a zero percent chance he'll be the nominee.)
I know almost nothing about John Montford (see here and here if you're like me), but from what I can see he's got a strong resume. I strongly suspect he's too conservative for my taste, and I think I'd have a hard time seeing him as something other than a throwback to Texas' Democratic past - the contrast with Rick Noriega, or for that matter Mikal Watts, is pretty sharp. Nonetheless, if he's serious about this then I welcome him to the race. Having this much interest in taking on John Cornyn is an unqualified boon, and having someone from West Texas in the mix should make the debate that much more lively. As with many rumors this may turn out to be nothing, but just the fact that stuff like this is being talked about is good. Stay tuned.
Here's a life lesson for you: Don't try to steal stuff from State Rep. Borris Miles.
Houston State Rep. Borris Miles, D-District 146, used a pistol to wound one of two men he told police were trying to steal materials from a house the lawmaker is building, police said.Miles was at the construction site at 3742 MacGregor Way at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when he heard a noise and spotted the two men, Houston police spokeswoman Johanna Abad said this morning.
"The man suffered a non-life threatening wound," said Abad, adding that Miles is licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
The man who was shot was in Ben Taub Hospital this morning and police still were trying to identify the other suspect, Abad said.
I'm just glad Rep. Miles is okay, and I hope they catch the other guy. Miya, Houstonist, and Greg have more.
So a little more than two weeks ago, I came down with a fever. It was nasty - I spent an entire weekend alternating between freezing cold and boiling hot, and I had no energy at all. I also had a cough, couldn't breathe deeply, and had no appetite. On Monday, exactly two weeks ago, I saw my doctor, who said there wasn't much to be done about the fever except to ride it out, and who gave me prescriptions for prednisone and codeine cough medicine for the respiratory issues. Later that day, the fever broke and my energy came back, which made me feel much better. I was still coughing and not breathing optimally, but I figured that would get fixed as I took the meds.
Except that it didn't. By later in the week, I was coughing more than before. I still functioned normally through the week, but by the weekend things had taken a definite turn for the worse. I should have called my doctor on Saturday, but for reasons unclear to me, I didn't. After one of the worst nights of my life on Saturday, where I couldn't sleep because I couldn't lie down - it felt like there was a weight on my chest when I tried - I called my doctor on Sunday morning. He listened to my labored breathing on the phone for maybe thirty seconds, then ordered me to the emergency room.
After my in-laws arrived to watch the kids, Tiffany and I headed to St. Joseph's Hospital downtown. I didn't have to wait long before a nurse saw me - I guess "difficulty breathing" as a symptom moves you up the triage list. They gave me oxygen and albuterol to help me breathe, and took a chest x-ray, which showed pneumonia in my right lung. They admitted me shortly thereafter.
I stayed on an oxygen mask till Tuesday morning, while they gave me more albuterol and started me on antibiotics - vancomycin and levaquin, to be exact. This was my first IV, as well as my first overnight stay in a hospital. I was basically out of it all day Monday, but by Tuesday was starting to feel a little better. I switched from the oxygen mask to the little oxygen tube that hooks into your nose, which at least gave me a little more mobility in bed. By Wednesday, my doctor had me get up and move around some, checking my oxygen levels afterwards to ensure they stayed above 90%. (Normal is about 95%, though anything above 90 is okay - I was at about 85 when I first checked in.) I had a followup chest x-ray on Tuesday night, which confirmed that I was doing better, and which allowed me to be discharged on Thursday. I was sent home with scrips for levaquin, a twice-a-day inhaler, and more codeine, plus orders to rest.
Since Thursday, I've steadily gotten better. I can walk up the stairs in my house now, and yesterday for the first time in over a week I took my dog around the block. I'll be working from home this week, and I'll have a followup appointment with my doctor on Thursday. I'm still taking it easy - I really really really don't want to have a relapse - but after over two weeks of feeling bad, I'm finally starting to feel good. I can't tell you how nice that is.
I don't know what brought on the pneumonia. Maybe I tried to do too much too quickly after my fever broke. Maybe I was always going to come down with it. Whatever the case, I have been maintaining a pretty busy pace here on the blog, and whether that had anything to do with my recent health woes or not, I'm going to try to cut back a bit. There's no point in taking any chances. I've been very pleased with the guest blogging efforts of Martha, Alex, and Greg, and I've asked them to consider staying on as regular contributors for the long term. We'll see how that goes.
So that's my story. They took good care of me at St. Joe's, but it's really not an experience that I'd recommend to anybody. If nothing else, I've learned how much my presence at home means to Olivia, who's clearly a lot happier that I'm back and her usual routine is returning to normal. Though she did apparently enjoy visiting me at the hospital - my bed had buttons to push, after all, and that was a huge attraction for her. But we're all glad I'm not there any more.
Interesting article on the ongoing city-versus-SOB battle, which is still pending in the courts after the latest reprieve for the SOBs. I think these paragraphs get at one of the main things that bugs me about this.
For a decade, however, City Hall has been at war with businesses catering to sexual desires, be it upscale businesses such as the Men's Club or seedy storefront massage parlors. Houston has spent more than $1 million in legal bills defending its sexually oriented business ordinance.A recent court-ordered stay has stalled enforcement pending an appeal, to be heard later this summer, but Mayor Bill White has shown no inclination to compromise. More than once he has said he would not mind seeing them all close, regardless of the cost in lost tax revenue and jobs.
"We're not eliminating somebody's ability to have a bar or restaurant," White said. "There are plenty of places that make money without a sexual orientation."
As for [dancer Ivy] Taylor's particular situation, White suggested that she find a new line of work.
"There's bound to be a better way to address the challenges of a young mother trying to take care of a child and make ends meet than by having businesses that have her take off all her clothes and dance in front of strangers," White said.
That just strikes me as excessively paternalistic. Ivy Taylor is an adult, and topless dancing is a legal activity. Far as I'm concerned, that should be the end of the discussion. I can understand the neighborhood protection arguments for the stricter SOB laws, even if I don't agree with them, but why should it be the city of Houston's concern what this woman does for a living? And what happens if we succeed in driving all the topless clubs out of town? Will we go after the Hooters girls next? What other ways of making a living will meet with official disapproval?
To many, the mayor's disapproving tone seems at odds with Houston's character, business climate and unzoned cityscape, not to mention its reputation as a flesh-friendly destination. Adult cabarets, as they prefer to be known, may not be to everyone's taste, but they are well-established and widely known. When major conventions or sporting events come to town, the clubs' business booms. Convention recruiters won't talk about the ordinance on the record, but privately they acknowledge that it does them no favors."Everything in a major city is of interest to someone," one of them said. "Or a lot of someones."
[...]
"It's at odds with public attitudes, in fact," said Rice University sociology professor Stephen Klineberg, who has tracked local opinions in his annual Houston Area Survey for 25 years. "When you ask people about individual freedoms, they are very strongly in favor of allowing people to do things that they would not necessarily do themselves. That's what makes it a modern and progressive city instead of a traditionalist city."
The whole thing is weird, isn't it? Even though there isn't going to be any real pro-SOB faction, I'd still like to see some polling on this issue. My belief, which I have no way of knowing is right or not, is that there just isn't that much public fervor behind this push. Folks may not care for the SOBs (or at least, they may not admit to it - I mean, someone must be going to them now, and it ain't just out-of-towners), but I don't think they really want to see them wiped out. Maybe I'm wrong about that, I just don't know.
Of course, there is an important difference between public opinion and what Klineberg calls "politically effective" opinion. In the mid-1990s, when City Council members Helen Huey and Jew Don Boney pushed for a revision of the existing ordinance, there was pressure from neighborhood associations alarmed by the growing number of smaller sexually oriented businesses, especially the massage parlors, spas and nude "tanning" salons."Folks out here in the neighborhoods were concerned about the proliferation of businesses," said Huey, who left the council at the end of 1997. "They were sprouting up here, there and everywhere. It wasn't just one type of business."
The majority of the topless clubs were located on major commercial thoroughfares. The Men's Club, perhaps the city's best-known and most upscale, was just a block away from the Galleria. The smaller businesses moved in anywhere their owners sniffed an opportunity, which sometimes put them in converted houses or small commercial settings much closer to residences.
David Fairchild, president of the Men's Club of Houston's parent company, is still angry that his business was lumped in with seamier ones that do not employ many people or contribute millions of dollars in tax revenue. An economist at Georgia State University in Atlanta, a city which has a comparable number of strip clubs, several years ago estimated the overall local impact at $200 million to $240 million, well over what he estimated was the impact of the city's three major professional sports teams.
"These tanning salons and modeling studios that set up shop overnight in a strip center with no investment and sometimes with no permit -- the city has chosen not to make any distinction between adult cabarets and these kinds of businesses," Fairchild said. "The city should acknowledge the fact that the adult cabarets are different and license them separately."
I have to say, I agree with Fairchild. I think this matter would have been settled back in 1997 had that approach been taken in the first place. It's still not too late, but given the Mayor's attitude, I don't see any chance of that happening. It's up to the courts. We'll see what the final say is.
I know that I will have to be very careful about seeing spoilers online for the last Harry Potter book when it comes out. But I had no idea people had experienced this sort of thing when the previous one came out.
Lisa Miller arrived later than she should have for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 16, 2005 -- a slip-up she rues to this day.It took about 20 minutes for Miller, 26, to get inside the London bookstore where she bought the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's juggernaut fantasy series. But before she had the novel in hand, a crucial plot point was ruined for her.
"Some 'lovely' person drove past where we were queuing and shouted the spoiler of who died in HBP," Miller wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press. "It was so horrible to think of it being true that even when I read the book, I still held out hope that they were making it up!"
Pranksters pulled similar stunts worldwide. In Dallas, a driveby spoilsport yelled "[spoiler spoiler spoiler]" to fans gathered outside a Barnes & Noble. A blurry, shaky video of the verbal assault can be found on YouTube.
Now, as the July 21 release of the seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, approaches, fans who have waited the better part of a decade to find out the ultimate fate of Harry, his friends and his nemeses are taking no chances.
But how far do they have to go? Must they close their eyes, cover their ears and scream, "LALALALA?"
[...]
Many fans don't want to give up the excitement and camaraderie of a midnight release party, but they know they're putting themselves at risk.
"We advise people -- I know this is terrible -- to bring headphones to the book release and put them on as they leave the store so they're not subject to the idiot across the street screaming the end to them," said Melissa Anelli, a webmaster of the Leaky Cauldron, a prominent Harry Potter fan site.
Good Lord, I had no idea. As with all previous installments, our copy of Book Seven is on order from Amazon UK, so I won't have the idiot-at-the-bookstore problem to worry about. But man, I can't believe there are people like that out there. To me, this is the equivalent of defacing a painting. Why in the world would anyone do that?
Anyway. What evasive measures will you be taking to avoid having the book's end spoiled for you?
As expected, here's the Chron's meet-Rick-Noriega story. Not a whole lot new for those of us who have been following this closely, but a good intro for those who haven't.
Fresh off his wife's victory onto the Houston City Council, state Rep. Rick Noriega is poised to launch a race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.Early in his term, Cornyn gained political strength by serving as one of the leading voices in the Senate for President Bush's administration. But Texas Democrats now see Cornyn, 55, as vulnerable because his personal popularity has sunk along with that of the president.
Noriega, 49, began looking at a challenge during this year's legislative session, but he put off any direct action until after his wife, Melissa, won her City Council runoff election last month.
That gave San Antonio trial lawyer Mikal Watts, 39, an opportunity to plunge in first, forming an exploratory committee last month. Watts also pledged to give his campaign $3.8 million to win the Democratic nomination and another $6.1 million for the general election against Cornyn.
But now Melissa Noriega's race is over, and a dozen of the state's most influential left-leaning blogs have begun an Internet "Draft Rick Noriega" movement. Noriega called it "flattering."
Noriega has neither statewide name identification nor personal wealth to match Watts' potential campaign. But that does not dissuade him from running.
"Mikal's a friend of mine. I appreciate that he's given financial support to candidates and the party, but Texans don't judge candidates by the size of their wallet," Noriega said.
Noriega plans to create his own exploratory committee for the Senate race this week.
I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of reading references to the Draft Rick Noriega movement. I don't really have anything to add to this, so let me point you to my blog brethren and sistren who've weighed in: Stace, Perry, South Texas Chisme, and of course Draft Rick Noriega. On a related note, Hal has a followup to the Mikal Watts for Judge concept. Check 'em out.
I'm equal parts amused and confused by this story.
Running for re-election, Gov. Rick Perry repeatedly praised border-county sheriffs and their deputies for being "on the front lines" of a violent battle to keep criminals out of Texas.But a year later, those on the front line feel as if they're on the back burner.
Only a small portion of about $110 million approved by lawmakers this year - as a cornerstone of the governor's legislative agenda - will go directly to border counties for day-to-day operations.
Instead, about $93 million is going to state police and state-run operations, the big winners being the Texas Department of Public Safety and the governor's Department of Emergency Management - with no guarantees that the additional 50-plus troopers, dozens of auto-theft and narcotics investigators, state surge operations and handful of Texas Rangers will wind up on the border.
Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores said he places the blame squarely at the feet of lawmakers who "played politics" with the governor over the issue.
And lawmakers are unapologetic, saying the money is better spent at the state level. But the final product looks almost nothing like what the sheriffs envisioned when they accompanied Mr. Perry on campaign stops, in TV ads and at news conferences to boost his support in the Democratic border counties.
"Three times more troopers means three times more ticket writers," said frustrated Zapata County Sheriff Sigi Gonzalez, a Democrat who appeared in two campaign ads for Mr. Perry, a Republican. "The DPS can do all they can, but it's not border security."
I'm amused, of course, because the natural reaction is to say "That's what you get for trusting Governor Perry". You knew what he was when you got into bed with him. I can't say I feel any sympathy.
I'm confused because as far as I could tell during the fight over HB13, it looked like the border sheriffs were going to wind up in fat city once this money was allocated. Remember the concerns of the border police chiefs? And how an amendment to explicitly put all homeland security activities under DPS was tabled? I'm not exactly sure how we got here from there.
Aides to Mr. Perry assured that the border would see a majority of the money, whether it's directly controlled by the locals or not. Most of the $63 million earmarked for "surge operations" and overtime under the Texas Department of Emergency Management would be largely for the sheriffs and police to use, not just the portion specifically earmarked for the local agencies, spokesman Robert Black said."I would venture to guess that the border region is going to see a lot more than $17 million," he said.
Some of the money will be spent in other regions of the state, he said, to combat crime that comes "as a result of the porous border" - such as drug gangs in big cities or trafficking along the highways.
"But the governor, of all people, is well aware that it's best to stop it at the river," Mr. Black said. "Border security starts at the border."
House and Senate budget writers said Mr. Perry pushed for more money to go to the locals. They acknowledged that the sheriffs had been led to expect a lot more than $17 million - divided who knows how many ways.
But several said they felt better about funneling the money to the DPS and other operations run by the state because they have more control over those dollars - and because state agencies can more easily absorb the loss if the programs aren't funded anew in the next two-year state budget.
"It's an enormous amount of money, and we need to be cautious about how we go forward with it," said Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham. "Let's see what we can accomplish in the next 18 months, and then in the [next] session we may say we need to look more to the locals and tip our hat to them."
[...]
In May, lawmakers created the Border Security Council to advise the governor on how to disburse those funds, along with federal money being pushed for sheriffs at the congressional level. But they did not specify when it would be created, how many people would be on it and what the criteria for grants would be.
The only guideline is that one-third of the council must be from the border region. A Perry spokeswoman said there is no set timeline for creating the council or doling out the funds, which aren't available until September.
[...]
As for the remaining $93 million, no one's specified exactly how that will translate into border security either. DPS officials haven't released a plan, and the governor's office has yet to be specific on the emergency management division's ideas beyond funding a central border intelligence center.
DPS officials said this week that the 106 commissioned officers and 14 noncommissioned officers hired with the new money would be "all stationed along the border and in the contiguous counties to the border."
"We really are going to do it," spokeswoman Tela Mange said. "We just, at this point, don't know where exactly and what types of personnel."
Maybe the confusion is to be expected in a situation like this. Maybe the border sheriffs will wind up getting most of what they wanted in the end, and maybe their public carping will have something to do with that. I guess I'm just surprised that it had to come to that for them, given Governor Perry's clear preferences and how this bill (which wound up being shoveled into SB11 after HB13 died a long and drawn-out death) enacted just about everything Perry wanted. I'm certainly not unhappy that DPS will get the lion's share of this dough, I just didn't expect it to play out this way.
Apparently, the site of the former AstroWorld has become an overgrown eyesore that has attracted the city's attention.
This week, the city gave the owners 30 days to clean up the former AstroWorld location or possibly face fines up to $1,500 as well as a cleanup bill.Angel-McIver Interests, a Conroe-based land development company, bought the site for $77 million in 2005 from Six Flags Inc. when the property value rose and attendance began declining.
"It's been too wet to mow," said Michael McIver, president of Angel-McIver. "As soon as the weather clears up, we will mow it." He added that the property has been mowed twice since his company bought it.
This week, an inspector from the Houston Police Department's Neighborhood Protection Corps left a notice on the north entrance fence that said the owners are in violation of the "neighborhood nuisances" article in the city's Code of Ordinances.
The code exists to keep up appearances but, most importantly, to keep pests away, according to Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman for the corps.
"When you have high weeds, you are making a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and snakes can live in there, and rats," she said. "It's just a potential health hazard."
I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: The nuisance value from letting a piece of land become a breeding ground for vermin is very high. I'm in favor of just about any reasonable measures to fix such a situation.
A good question: How long should we expect that lot to sit empty?
Dismantling of the park rides began in early January 2006, with selected pieces of nostalgia later offered for bid. Richard and Nancy Foisner, of Kingwood, paid $500 for a railroad crossbuck sign.[...]
McIver said the company thought about leasing the property for parking, but the costs of paving it outweighed the gains. "The short-term use was not economically feasible," he said.
When the company acquired the property, officials said a mixed-use transit-oriented development was planned. It would include residential housing, offices, shops and a hotel, with the light rail being rerouted through the property. The company expects to release specific plans Aug. 1.
So after more than a year and a half of lying fallow, we'll get some idea of what the timeline might be. I know this sort of thing is not uncommon (it's also been since January of 2006 that the old Ed Sacks Waste Paper site was demolished, with no signs of any action since then), but it still feels weird to me. What was the rush to demolish in the first place?
Anyway. There's a nifty sidebar on the now-unused bridge over the South Loop, which was the first ever privately-owned overpass over a highway in the US. And on a side note, does anyone else find all of the Six Flags ads that have been running on local teevee to be a bit disconcerting? You'd think they'd be a bit more clear about the fact that you have to go to Dallas or San Antonio to use those Six Flags tickets they're pushing.
I see that some people are just full of advice for Rick Noriega now that he's a statewide candidate.
Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chairman Juan Maldonado told the Guardian that the minds of many party leaders in the Rio Grande Valley had already been made up. Maldonado confirmed he had held a gathering for Watts in Pharr, that former Cameron County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa had held one for Watts in Brownsville, and that Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas had held one for Watts in Corpus Christi."It's a difficult one because I have always been one that has always promoted Hispanic/Latino candidates. I think Noriega is a tremendous candidate. I like him and I am going to try very hard to encourage him to run for another position statewide," Maldonado said.
"Those of us in South Texas are committed to Mikal Watts. Rick Noriega is a fine gentleman, a good leader, Latino, we want him. But let's see if we can do maybe Railroad Commission or maybe he might want to step in when Mario Gallegos steps aside. Those are the kinds of things we want to recommend to him."
Boy, if only the powers that be had cared this much about downballot offices like the Railroad Commission last year. We might have actually had a stronger ticket, top to bottom, instead of a few serious candidates mixed in among the Fred Heads and Dale Henrys. (Dale Henry? Why, he was our candidate for Railroad Commissioner last year, and rumor has it he wants to run again next year. No, I don't know anything about him, either. On that score, at least, I can see where Chairman Maldonado is coming from.) What I find curious about this is how Maldonado and his colleagues are so committed to the candidate who has never run for public office before. Now I personally don't think one has to run entry-level campaigns before taking a crack at a higher office. But I confess I'm a little surprised that some of these county chairs are so willing to toss aside experience as a factor in deciding who to support. We all know ($$$) the reason ($$$) why they love ($$$) Mikal Watts. Which is fine - nobody wins this kind of race without serious money. As long as we all remember that money alone only gets you so far.
I guess the main reaction I have to this is why would you want Rick Noriega to run for Railroad Commissioner? I know that the various Commissioner posts are generally stepping stones to higher offices - does anyone think that Todd Staples woke up one day and said to himself "What I really want to be is Agriculture Commissioner"? - but how is the job a good fit for Rick Noriega and his talents and experiences? Obviously, I'd like to get a strong candidate to run for that office next year, but being a great candidate for one statewide office doesn't mean you can or should be able to slot in for any other. Maldonado's "advice" is meaningless; it's a step above simply telling Noriega not to run at all, which I suppose represents progress, but it's no favor to him. It is, however, an indicator to me that Maldonado and his crew are worried that Watts might not be able to beat Noriega in a primary. You'd think they'd have more faith in their guy than that. I think I speak for most if not all of Noriega's supporters that we don't fear a competitive primary. Why should they?
Finally, if we're going to get into the business of suggesting alternate races for our opponents to consider, Hal has a suggestion for Mikal Watts. I see no reason why that's any worse an idea than Noriega for RR Commish; it has quite a bit of merit, in fact. But hey, it's a free country, and as I say, we welcome Watts' presence in this race.
As far as Maldonado's other recommendation for Rep. Noriega, that was not well received.
Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said he took great exception to comments Maldonado made to a reporter that state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, should forsake a possible bid for the U.S. Senate and instead announce for the Texas Senate when Gallegos retires."I think Juan Maldonado is full of the Christmas turkey," Gallegos said. "For him to tell Rick to step aside and where to run, and for him to talk about what should happen in Harris County politics, that is strange. I do not tell Maldonado what to do in South Texas."
[...]
Gallegos said he found it "strange" that Maldonado would call on Noriega to stand aside in favor of Watts before either potential candidate had presented their platform or given Democratic primary voters across the state the opportunity of getting to know them.
"I do not know Mikal Watts. I have nothing against him. I believe he is well-qualified. But for Maldonado to tell Rick to stand aside, I find that pretty strange," Gallegos said.
Gallegos said he was backing Noriega for U.S. Senate. An announcement that Noriega is setting up an exploratory committee could come next week.
"I think you are looking at the next U.S. senator from Texas in Rick Noriega," Gallegos said. "Rick has already talked to his colleagues in the House and a lot of people have called him and encouraged him to run. I think he will beat Mikal Watts and anybody else in the Democratic primary and then we will see what goes happens further down the road."
Gallegos said if Maldonado were to look at previous statewide primaries in Texas he would see that Hispanic Democrats do really well. He pointed to the 1996 U.S. Senate primary, when the relatively unknown Crandall schoolteacher Victor Morales scored a stunning upset win over three seasoned politicians, including two congressmen.
Gallegos said that having served in Afghanistan with the National Guard, and with ten years behind him in the Texas House, Noriega had a lot more public service experience than Morales.
"Juan Maldonado ought to look at what Victor Morales did with his pick-up truck and no money. I respect Maldonado but he needs to look at the overall picture and see what Morales did to John Bryant in the Democratic primary. He needs to take another look at what is going on and support Rick," Gallegos said.
Can't really add anything to that except "you tell 'em, Mario". That's pretty much all there is to say.
UPDATE: McBlogger has more.
From the Examiner News via Carl Whitmarsh. Janek is my state Senator and I heard some buzz that there was a Democrat considering running for this seat if Janek vacated it. This article does not definitively answer the question, "will Janek run again for his senate seat in 2008?", but it does put to rest any rumors that he will run for Congress in TX-22 or for Lt. Gov. in 2010.
He's still District 17's State Senator, but Kyle Janek isn't living in the "neighborhood" anymore, so to speak.Recently, the Examiner came across a garage sale listing of a "moving sale" from May at his West University Place address.
We also observed what appeared to be a vacant house and heard from neighbors on Cason Street how the senator and his family had left after school was out.
Janek confirmed that he had, indeed, moved to a bayside home in Galveston for the summer.
"The yard was just too small for three growing boys," Janek said with a laugh. "My wife said it was time to move on."
Before school resumes, he said they'll make a choice among staying in Galveston County or moving to Fort Bend or Brazoria counties.
The reason? "More space in those neighborhoods," said Janek.
All those locales also fall into Congressional District 22, Tom DeLay's old stronghold, now occupied by Nick Lampson. Janek admits "there were people who were asking" him to seek the seat.
"Once upon a time, I would have thought about running, but now I'm definitely not running for Congress," he said. "That requires commuting that I'm not even willing to consider with a young family."
Earlier talk of a run for a statewide office -- most notably, lieutenant governor -- is dying down, he said: "There's a long line of Republican millionaires waiting to run."
This spring's legislative session in Austin caused him to miss "about 90 percent of my sons' Little League games," he said ruefully.
For now, Janek explained, he's catching up with district business after the legislative session and still practicing medicine with a Houston-area group of anesthesiologists.
His wife, Shannon, has given up the successful maternity wear stores she founded and ran with a friend in Rice Village and Austin, he said.
They'll figure out housing soon, he said. Politically -- "I love serving the district. I've got one of the best jobs in the state."
He turns 61 today. I read that he had his party on Wednesday with family and friends in attendance, along with golfers who were in town for the AT&T National. One of them gave him a golf bag with the presidential seal. I got flashbacks to those crocs the President wore with the presidential seal socks. Yuk. (Gossip: I saw one of my favorite local politicians in crocs recently. I suggest he ditch those before his next statewide run! Not a good fashion statement.)
Anyway, you can send a birthday "greeting" to Bush here. Of course, the RNC wants you to donate, but you can have a big time with those birthday messages without spending a dime.
Have at it!
I'm fairly certain this story didn't make it into the Chron since it's nowhere to be found on the site, but my own copy was drenched by the time I got to it. I'm sure it will get more coverage as it moves through City Council though. For now, though, a City Hall blog post by Mike Snyder is what we've got to go on:
Houston's first loophole-free ban on demolishing historic buildings moved a step closer to becoming official policy today as the City Planning Commission approved the creation of a protected historic district in the Old Sixth Ward neighborhood west of downtown.The measure, proposed in April by Mayor Bill White, would exclude historic homes within the protected district from the "90-day waiver" provision in Houston's 1995 preservation law. The waiver, long criticized by preservationists, allows owners to proceed with demolition or inappropriate alteration of historic buildings by waiting three months after a city panel denies them a permit to do so.
The 90-day waiver is really one of the most useless things I've ever heard of. A 90-day waiting period is not going to stop developers from demolishing historic buildings - like Weingarten and the north wing of the River Oaks Shopping Center, whose 90 days are up in August. While this measure would only apply to the Old Sixth Ward, it would set a precedent for other neighborhoods that are just as old and just as historically significant. Now, it just has to make it through City Council:
Some preservationists believed the Planning Commission was the toughest hurdle for the proposal, which will be considered later this month by the City Council's quality of life committee before it moves to the full council for final approval. Councilwoman Sue Lovell, one of the council's most outspoken preservationists, predicted before today's vote that the measure would gain approval by the committee and the full council if it survived the Planning Commission vote.Although today's vote was unanimous, Commissioner Jeff Ross urged the City Council to carefully consider the precedent if might be setting if it enacts the measure. White and his staff have emphasized that the Old Sixth Ward is unique because of its heavy concentration of 100-year-old houses, but they haven't convinced Ross.
"Cherryhurst will be 100 years old in 15 years," Ross said, referring to a Montrose area neighborhood, "and we'd better get ready for the Cherryhursts of Houston."
This is hardly a dangerous precedent to set. Cities all over the country have stricter preservation laws and better protection for historic districts, and people deal with them just fine. There is really no alternative to this measure if we want to ensure that Houston's historic neighborhoods are adequately protected, since most buildings in Houston, even those that are Historic Landmarks or listed in the National Register, are vulnerable.
One late pinch-hitting assignment for Kuff here as regains his strength. Greg Wythe here, reporting from the greater Sharpstown-Gulfton community.
I've got a few more pointed thoughts penned over at my own blog, but it strikes me that this bit of news is worth echoing, even if to just stand on it's own:
That's from the local ABC affiliate. On my own site, I note how odd it seems that this station reports the good news, while the local CBS affiliate seems to only run with the bad news.
But it's also worth noting that when the bad news comes out, the cameras head straight to the Mayor or the police chief. The good news, though? It's time to go straight to Shawnna for that!
As anyone who's paid attention to Houston crime fairly and accurately will note, we're pushing a good solid year of crime going down if you look at 12-month periods. While the entire 2006 report was by no means favorable, it was also noted that stats improved dramatically over the last quarter of the year. Given this first-half comparison in 2007, and you've got a far different picture than has been painted by partisans trying to break the 10% threshold against a mayor they can't find a way to get out of office.
Now that Rep. Rick Noriega has officially announced his intent to form an exploratory committee to run for Senate, expect to see a lot of stories about who he is and why he's running. Here's one from the Star Telegram:
"As Americans, it is our duty to stand up and speak when things have gone off the rails," Noriega, 49, said in an Independence Day posting on several Democratic-leaning Internet blogs. "It is in our very fabric, our soul; it is God's requirement of us as heirs to the legacy of this country, to exercise the right to speak out as our forefathers taught us."On Monday, Noriega is expected to file the paperwork that will allow him to raise money for the Senate bid. He made no mention of first-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is expected to seek re-election next year. Nor did he mention potential Democratic rivals Mikal Watts, a San Antonio lawyer who has pledged to use millions of dollars from his personal fortune to finance his own Senate bid, or Dallas lawyer Emil Reichstadt.
The primary will be March 11.
A lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, Noriega has been touted as a Senate candidate ever since his unit was deployed to Afghanistan in January 2005. His unit was later part of a border security detail assigned to Laredo.
He cited a litany of errors that he said have caused worldwide esteem for the United States to fall in recent years, including "mismanagement of the war on terror, the acrimony of the national debate on immigration issues, the squandering of the environment, [and] the inability to provide reasonable health care."
"We are losing our global moral leadership," Noriega said.
[...]
Although no Texas Democrat has won a statewide election since 1994, some in the party insist that Cornyn, a former state attorney general, is vulnerable. The most recent SurveyUSA poll found him with a 42 percent approval rating and 43 percent disapproval.
"We in the progressive blogging community believe that Rick Noriega will not only be a great candidate, we also believe he is exactly the right candidate to take on someone like John Cornyn," said Charles Kuffner, who publishes OfftheKuff.com and has been promoting Noriega's candidacy for several months.
Yes, I'm quoting from a story that quotes me. I spoke to reporter John Moritz yesterday afternoon from home; he'd sent me an inquiry via email earlier in the day. I'm just glad that our efforts on behalf of the Draft Rick Noriega movement are getting noticed.
Anyway. I understand the Chron has one of these in the works for this weekend. Check 'em out.
Just wanted to let everybody know that I was discharged from the hospital today, and am back home resting up. I'll tell the full story later, but for now I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the well-wishes, and to Alex and Martha for their superb guest-blogging, which will continue for a little while longer while I get back on my feet. This ordeal has been hard on my family, but they came through like champions and I couldn't have done it without them. To our friends Pat and Andrea for the babysitting and dog-walking, to my in-laws Tim and Sharon for all they did, and especially to Tiffany, Olivia, and Audrey: Thank you. I love you all.
Because Smoltz is out.
Astros ace righthander Roy Oswalt is heading to the All-Star Game to replace Atlanta Braves righthander John Smoltz, who must skip the game because of right shoulder discomfort. Oswalt will join teammate Carlos Lee at the All-Star Game, which will be held next Tuesday at San Francisco's AT&T Park.This will be Oswalt's third consecutive trip to the All-Star game, and second as a replacement for an injured player.
"It is fantastic," he said via phone. "I just got off the phone with (San Diego Padres All-Star righthander) Jake Peavy and talked to him. I'm going to get to see him down there and see some friends that I've met over the past few years and I'm going to be on the same team with."
I can't imagine a better guy for the job. Oswalt's consistently been one of my favorite Astros. As the mayor put it on Tuesday (I'm paraphrasing), he shows up and does what he's supposed to do. Congratulations, Roy!
Unfortunately, I'm sure this story will be met with another uproar about irresponsible parenting:
Weeks after his daughter, niece and two of their friends crashed into a train and died, Doug Moyers is readying himself for a mission: upgrading safety measures at rail crossings."I'm going to become an expert in this, and we're going out to save some lives," he said.
He could find himself rather busy.
Roughly half of the nearly 1,800 at-grade, or street-level, crossings in the Houston area, like the East Archer location where the teens died June 14, have only "passive" safety devices that are not train-activated. These include "stop," "yield" or "crossing ahead" signs, pavement markings and street lighting.
There are 25 crossings in the Texas Department of Transportation's six-county Houston District that federal officials have approved for "active" signalization -- flashing lights and crossing arms.
I think the Chron made a mistake in linking this too closely to last month's story about the SUV-train crash. That story was met with too little sympathy and too much blame placed on the parents. Looking at some of the comments on the story, it looks like that same discussion was started up again.
Railroads consider at-grade crossings "an opportunity for something bad to happen" and applaud their elimination, Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Joe Arbona said.TxDOT recommends about 15 crossings a year for improvements in the Houston district, ranking them with a formula that considers vehicle and train traffic, maximum train speed, types of warning devices in place and the crossing's five-year crash history.
Arbona noted that installing flashing signals at an at-grade crossing cannot guarantee safety as long as some drivers ignore the warnings.
"More than half of accidents happen at places where you have signal lights," he said.
However, a driver has to go to some trouble to crash through a crossing arm or deliberately go around it. All 25 of the approved upgrades call for gate arms.
[TxDOT spokeswoman Janelle] Gbur said the number of crossings equipped annually with flashers or gate arms depends largely on the federal money available. The combined state and federal funds for Texas total about $35 million a year, and it costs about $170,000 per crossing to add the lights and arms, she said.
The crux of this story is that railroad crossings are going to be safer - something that happens every year, according to the Chron. I don't think anybody disagrees with improving safety at street-level crossings, but that point is obscured by the controversy over the teens who stole the SUV. That story really shouldn't have raised all the hype it did in the first place, but that's a month ago.
Sounds like not so many Republicans want to be a contender this time around.
Bob Dunn at Fort Bend Now rates the Rs commitment to running in the Republican primary for 22 this way:
Shelley In Pink: 100%
Dean Hrbacek: 99%
Robert "Cookies" Talton: eh. Iffy.
Who is Dean Hrbacek? Former mayor of Sugar Land, ousted by Dave Wallace (who is not running for Congress this time around.)
It's all very confusing on the Republican side, but it's clear Nick Lampson is running again. Now, if it ends up being Shelley running against him, will we be victimized by a new campaign song? Free tip to her: use Aerosmith's Pink.
I saw it yesterday. Seeing it on the Fourth of July didn't exactly make me want to wave the flag. I cried during it and I cried afterwards. Our health care system is a mess and I left the movie with the feeling that it will fail me at some point in the near or distant future.
I didn't know whether to be appalled at all of the people who are falling through the cracks now, or be worried sick that it could happen very, very easily to me.
When I got home last night, I was depressed to think that the only people who don't have to worry about this are the people in political power like Bush and various Congress folks who do the bidding of the health care industry.
I'm not sure what's more shocking in the movie, the stories of people we have thrown in the garbage over their poor health, or the news of all of the nations that take care of their citizens health for free (and focus on preventive care! Imagine that!) - Cuba, France, England and Canada are featured.
I recommend everyone go see this and then ask yourself why, in our democracy, we are so callous to our fellow Americans.
The tragic David Ritcheson story has been unfolding for a few days now, and as mentioned on PinkDome and Houstonist in the last couple days, Ritcheson's recent death has brought a federal hate crime bill into the spotlight. From the Chron:
Supporters of hate crimes legislation mourned the death of Spring teenager David Ritcheson on Monday and vowed to push the bill he championed through the U.S. Senate despite President Bush's threat to veto it.U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, credited the 18-year-old's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee for softening opposition to the hate crimes bill, which passed the House 237-180 in May. The bill is now awaiting a hearing in the Senate.
PD pointed out that the bill, the Matthew Shepard Act, has been co-sponsored by 43 senators - not including Cornyn or Hutchison.
The document said Bush's advisers would recommend that he veto the bill if it reaches his desk because the administration believes local and state hate crimes laws are adequate, and that the bill would give protected status to certain groups of victims, but not to others, such as the elderly, military personnel or the police.The legislation would make it a federal hate crime to attack someone if the crime is motivated by prejudice based on the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
The current federal hate crimes law applies only to violence against victims based on race, religion, color or national origin, and only when the victim is attacked while carrying out a federally protected act, such as voting.
The bill also would make it easier for federal law enforcement personnel to assist local and state police in investigating hate crimes and would provide $10 million over the next two years to help cover the cost of hate crimes prosecutions.
You can contact Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison online to let them know how you feel about the bill. Violent hate crimes, e.g. David Ritcheson's, make for some of the most harrowing stories I've ever heard. The Matthew Shepard website calls hate crimes in America an "unrelenting and under-addressed problem," and any measure that will help to prevent or prosecute hate crimes deserves our attention.
Texas State Representative and Lt. Col. Rick Noriega speaks today about the Fourth of July and his intent to form an exploratory committee for U.S. Senate:
On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by delegates to the Second Continental Congress. The Declaration states that all people are creatures equal under God, with rights and liberties that cannot be violated. This signing was an act of treason under British law, carrying the threat of execution and utter ruin for entire families. We recognize this day as a celebration of patriotism and of the courage it takes to stand up to the sitting government when it is wrong.This day I share with you my intent. My intent that, in the days to come, our family forms an exploratory committee and joins with me in my choice to run for the United States Senate. Why?
Why, on the first Independence Day I have spent at home in four years, would I risk a safe legislative seat, take a leave of absence from my job, sell property to lend money to a campaign. Why would I ask my family to allow me to be gone again?
Why? Because as Americans, it is our duty to stand up and speak when things have gone off the rails. It is in our very fabric, our soul; it is God's requirement of us as heirs to the legacy of this country, to exercise the right to speak out as our forefathers taught us.
Our nation is headed in the wrong direction. It is lead by those whose choice is to divide Americans to maintain power. It is the vision of the powerful that are either unwilling or unable to unite people, to foster common ground for the common good.
We as a nation have been the envy of the world when we have maintained our moral compass. I believe we have begun to let that slip away.
Our mismanagement of the war on terror, the acrimony of the national debate on immigration issues, the squandering of the environment, the inability to provide reasonable health care, the decay of our respect for human rights, the refusal to improve education, the willingness to sacrifice the many for the few....we are losing our global moral leadership.
This day reminds us of our legacy as Americans to stand up when things have gone wrong. This call to duty runs in our veins lives in our very bones, as both Texans and Americans. The thing that has always pushed my button is bullies. I have always been compelled to step in when wrongs are being perpetrated, when a group is headed in the wrong direction.
The draft effort asking me to run for the United States Senate has been an astounding honor. I and my entire family are humbled by it. We have prayed about this call. We have asked God every day that if we undertake this immense and necessary task, that it is for the right reasons. That I meet this challenge for God, for Texas and for the country we share and love, not for myself.
This is a daunting endeavor in a multitude of ways. When someone exhibits leadership, they invite attention. No one is perfect, certainly not any of us. We are a regular family that has grown into leadership and responsibility through a commitment to public service. I see it like being a soldier. My wife sees it as a calling, like the ministry.
We are a regular family. We aren't perfect and we don't want to hold ourselves up as perfect. It remains to be seen if a regular family can offer themselves up for service to their country without being overwhelmed by money or criticism.
In Texas, we tell our children that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can do anything. We are about to find out if that is true. We are regular Texans like you, answering a call to service, and hopefully, we have prepared as a family for the inevitable onslaught. As Americans the greater good is more important.
Today is the right time for all of us to stand up and say that there has got to be a better way. When our forefathers created this country, they risked their lives, their families, their property and their futures. This is going to take all of us, all of you--our time, our treasure, our patience, our faith. I am answering your call, and that of my Maker, and I am asking you to come with me.
As we jump in, it is because we know that we have the support and prayers of all of you. God bless each of you this July 4th, bless the United States of America, and God bless Texas.
Happy Fourth of July on behalf of myself and I'm sure Kuff as well. This week, my feed reader has been full of calls for impeachment and a general lack of patriotism. I know a lot of us have a difficult time being proud of what's going on in Washington (or Austin, or downtown), but this post by Rick Overton at Huffington Post caught my eye because it offered a slightly different perspective:
I love my little Honda Civic. If out of nowhere a psycho steals my car and rams an outdoor café, killing innocent people, I'll be devastated to have been in any way connected to such a horrible thing. But of the many emotions I will feel, one of them won't be a sudden hatred of my car. Someone evil took it and did harm.
I'm not sure that I really agree with Rick, but it's food for thought while you eat hot dogs and watch fireworks. Have a delightful, safe (and hopefully dry) holiday, everyone!
And, Sugar Land waves back at Houston, joining in on the red light camera craze.
Red-light cameras, already a fixture in Houston and other Texas cities, will be going up at busy Sugar Land intersections.By a 5-0 vote Tuesday, the City Council approved the ordinance allowing the cameras to spot red-light runners in this Fort Bend County city. Council members Russell Jones and Thomas Abraham were absent.
----
Sugar Land Police Chief Steve Griffith said a probable spot for the cameras would be at U.S. 59 and Texas 6, in the heart of the city's business district.Griffith said as many as 75,000 vehicles go through the intersection each day. Monitors have been collecting data on red-light violations at intersections, but the figures are not expected to be available until later this week, he said.
Police officers will review the photos, Griffith said. If they think a violation occurred, a civil citation will be issued by mail. He said the city hopes to have system operational by September.
Motorists can pay the $75 fine or request a hearing.
Griffith said officials will probably choose four or five locations in the city.
"They will be our heaviest traveled intersections where we find the most number of violations of red lights," he said Tuesday.
He stressed the red-light cameras are being used to improve traffic safety and not as a revenue generator. A state law provides that cities can use fines only to pay for program expenses.
All other money collected must be paid into programs that provide for trauma care for accident victims and for traffic-safety improvements.
---
Now, I drive through that 59 and Hwy 6 intersection a lot. Or used to. It's become so congested that it's best avoided. They are installing a new traffic light right in the middle of all of the problems, but for now, you might as well plan on getting caught running a red light there or being stuck in the middle of an intersection when a light changes to red.
I know Kuff has written about the red light cameras pretty extensively. I don't know how I feel about them. I don't want me or my family hit by someone running a red light, so if this makes the roads safer for the people I care about, then great. I'll be eager to see the data to find out if this is so.
The controversy over Houston's day labor center has been squelched, for now. The center will stay open completely on donated funds, not taxpayer money.
''The funding has been raised, and the center will stay open for at least this next year," said Marc Levinson, director of agency development for Neighborhood Centers Inc., the Houston nonprofit that has operated the facility since 2005. ''It's all private money. No tax dollars are being used."Levinson credited the donations to a fundraising effort by Mayor Bill White, who last month pledged to find funding to operate the center after the contract expired. Levinson said the donors wish to remain anonymous.
In confirming the fundraising effort, White noted that Houston, and other cities, have long funded day labor centers. At one time, there were two such centers operating with city funds.
''It was only relatively recently it was cast as an issue that had to do with immigration," White said.
Supporters of day labor sites say they are safer and more sanitary than informal hiring centers on street corners, since workers don't wait in the streets or private property to find jobs and can use bathrooms facilities in the center.
White said the centers also help ensure that immigrant workers are not exploited. "On occasion people have refused to pay them after a day of hard work," he said.
However, groups that favor tighter immigration control say the centers should be banned.
''I hope they would close it," Louise Whiteford, president of Texans for Immigration Reform, has said. "Having a day work center aids, abets and encourages more illegal immigration."
The Chron was pretty heavy on quoting from supporters of the center, but I think that only indicates how most people feel. The fact of the matter is that if these people are in our city, the best thing we can do is help them find work. Immigration is a separate issue from the day labor center, and the people we've put into office, as Kuff pointed out when he wrote about this, believe the federal government should deal with immigration.
Oh, poor HMO's, is Michael Moore picking on you? Don't worry - Google is here to help:
The healthcare industry is no stranger to negative press. A drug may be a blockbuster one day and tolled as a public health concern the next. News reporters may focus on Pharma's annual sales and its executives' salaries while failing to share R&D costs. Or, as is often common, the media may use an isolated, heartbreaking, or sensationalist story to paint a picture of healthcare as a whole. With all the coverage, it's a shame no one focuses on the industry's numerous prescription programs, charity services, and philanthropy efforts.Many of our clients face these issues; companies come to us hoping we can help them better manage their reputations through "Get the Facts" or issue management campaigns. Your brand or corporate site may already have these informational assets, but can users easily find them?
We can place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding content network. Whatever the problem, Google can act as a platform for educating the public and promoting your message. We help you connect your company's assets while helping users find the information they seek.
I saw Moore's Sicko last weekend. It was as much of a tearjerker as you would imagine, and the healthcare industry really does take quite a beating. But is it Google's job to defend these companies? I would say probably not, and it's turned out to be a very unwise move anyways. Bloggers are calling for Lauren Turner, the author of the post, to be fired, for Moore to target Google in his next documentary, etc. I enjoyed the film, and I think it has the potential to make a difference (especially in 2008) in America, as long as people use it as a the beginning of a discussion and not as an answer to our healthcare problems. The issue is more complex than, "Let's be just like France."
Rep. Pete Gallego, who represents Texas House District 74, one of the border districts, released a statement yesterday explaining why he supports Representative and LTC Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate. This is especially meaningful as there was buzz this spring about Gallego entering this race:
This past weekend, 47 members of the House of Representatives joined me in asking our friend and colleague, Lt. Col. Rick Noriega, to run for U.S. Senate. We asked our friend to run because now, more than ever, we need his strength and leadership to get Texas and our great nation back on the right path.While certain politicians were talking about the "war on terror", Lt. Col. Noriega was actually fighting it by serving a 14-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. While certain politicians were failing the test of leadership in response to Hurricane Katrina, Lt. Col. Noriega was brought in to serve as Incident Commander and direct logistics at the George Brown Convention Center, helping thousands of Katrina evacuees. While certain politicians were talking about the need for immigration reform and border security, Lt. Col. Noriega was actually securing the border as the Commander for the Laredo Border Sector. Texas needs leadership by example, the type of leadership Rick Noriega has given his state and country.
For more than a decade, Rick has also been on the front lines fighting for a better Texas. He and I have stood side by side to protect and defend our children by providing children's health insurance. We have worked together to give teachers a necessary and needed pay raise, and put more resources into public education. We have worked together to protect our environment and clean up our air, especially in places like Houston.
At this crucial time in the history of our state and nation, Texas needs Rick Noriega's leadership in the U.S. Senate. I am grateful to my 47 colleagues in the Texas House who joined me in asking our friend and colleague to run for U.S. Senate. I have every reason to believe Lt. Col. Noriega will once again answer when duty calls.
(To read the letter from the Texas Legislators drafting Rick Noriega for Senator, click here.)
After much deliberation and two "tags" it looks like enriched water won't be sold at Houston City Hall after all. For now. Prices for drinks at City Hall are going to go up no matter what, so Council Members and staffers, load up those refrigerators in your offices with Coke, Diet Coke and bottled water! Melissa Noriega, our newest Council Member is all about the Diet Dr. Pepper, so she's going to be good to go no matter what.
Here's Matt Stiles:
Turns out all that City Council debate during the last two weeks about amending a soft-drink contract might not have been necessary.The proposed contract changes, which are on this week's agenda, would allow Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Houston to deliver Glacéau's "Vitamin Water" brand to hundreds of vending machines, including those at parks, airports and even City Hall.
Here's where it gets tricky.
The controversy has centered on the fact that, once Dr Pepper takes over delivery to City Hall and the City Hall Annex, where council members have offices, employees in those buildings would no longer see Coca-Cola and Pepsi products.
Last week, though, members complained that 1) Glacéau had recently been purchased by Coca-Cola, raising a question about whether Vitamin Water could even been delivered by Dr Pepper, and 2) whether it was appropriate for the city to offer the drink, because it's been promoted by rapper 50 Cent. Some members objected to his lyrics.
City officials answered the first question this morning, rendering the second moot: Dr Pepper won't be delivering the water now or in the future. But the contract changes, which allow for higher prices, are still necessary, they say, because the company plans to debut a new "enriched" water sometime soon.
This billboard is located just off 59 between Fountain View and Chimney Rock. It isn't the first time Dallas PD has tried recruiting in Houston, but this is the first time I've noticed the $10,000 bonus. Embarrassing, to say the least, but hopefully the $1 billion+ allocated for public safety next year will do something about our own recruiting woes.
A side-by-side comparison of salaries and benefits for police officers in Houston and Dallas showed why they think they can get away with this. In Dallas, the base pay for police trainees is $41,690 (plus the $10,000 bonus). In Houston, the same trainee would make just $29,164.59. Things even out a little more after that, but being a cop in Dallas doesn't sound too bad - except, of course, the Dallas part.
Edit: Be sure to read the comments for Matt Stiles' explanation of the disparity in salaries. It's not as dismal for Houston as you'd think. Thanks, Matt.
I'll also be guest blogging while Kuff is laid up. I usually blog over at Houstonist, and I'm thrilled to be called up (to continue the baseball metaphor) to Off the Kuff. I can't promise the magic of Hunter Pence, but I'll do my best.
You might remember all the buzz a few weeks ago about trash collection days changing. If you're anything like me, you saw July 1 and thought, "Oh, that's ages from now," and put the notice away. But July is upon us and so are new garbage days. As Matt Stiles noted in a blog entry on the subject, trash collection is something that we'd really rather not have disrupted, but the city has made efforts to notify everyone of the change through mailouts, radio ads, and signage. I'm sure that won't stop some people from getting riled up about it, but change isn't easy. The new routes come as the CoH takes over trash pickup at 85,000 homes on the northeast side of town from Republic Waste and reconfigures its old routes for the sake of efficiency and money-saving.
To complicate things further, trash pickup schedules will also be altered to accommodate the July 4th holiday this week. My own ZIP, 77036, had one of the highest numbers of homes affected by the change, and my trash day has been moved from Thursday to Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how things go in this first week or two, but I'm sure that people will adjust quickly. If you're not sure about the new pickup schedule, the city's website has all the info you need.
Roy Oswalt is in the final vote for the MLB All-Star team. Help send Roy O to San Francisco for the big game by voting for him here (click on Vote Oswalt) by 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Surely the gazillion offthekuff readers can put Oswalt on the All-Star team, no problem.
(I've been wondering why Kuff hadn't jumped all over this. Now I know it is because of the affliction. Cross posted from musings.)
Looks like the Mid-Cities Democrats got the scoop from State Representative and LTC Rick Noriega that he is one week out from announcing his Senate Exploratory Committee.
This good news is on top of the letter from forty-nine of his Legislative colleagues drafting him to run against Cornyn.
And, don't forget that Texas bloggers were the first to draft Rick for Senate.
The Austin American Statesman has a great article up where he talks about his colleagues drafting him:
"These are folks in the trenches with you," he said. "You laugh, you cry, you fight, you bite. At the end, you know that people are about what's best for Texas. That's a huge statement from my colleagues."
The headline quote from Noriega:
Noriega said that if he runs, he'll talk up the idea of Americans committing to public service: "The question becomes: What do we do individually to ensure that we as a nation are on the right path?"
Others blogging on the latest news about Rick Noriega: Hal, John, CouldBeTrue and wcnews.
Kuff is the second person I know with pneumonia. Maybe not an epidemic, but definitely not good. I was all set to be a guest blogger when he goes out of town soon and now I find myself brought up from the farm team a bit early.
I'm going to cross post some stuff from my own blog, musings, this morning.
Well, it looks like the vile enemy pneumonia has sidetracked this blog's namesake. He'll be on injured reserve for a few days. Guest bloggers have been given the bat signal, so blogging will resume in however much of an OnTheKuff type of form during that time.
I'm told that, due to a power struggle at home, Kuff will not have a laptop with him. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd be blogging up a storm. But if there's any well-wishers that want to leave some kind words, a couple of printouts might be smuggled into his hospital room.
The following was on the marquee at Jimmy's Ice House near White Oak and Studewood this week. Which would you rather be?
Yes, yes, ignore the spelling error. I'm thinking that since the job of a lightning rod is to get hit by lightning, whereas a seismograph in Houston can measure an earthquake in Tokyo, I'd rather be the latter. But maybe this is about wanting to be a part of the action. You know the old joke about a plate of ham and eggs (the chicken was involved, but the pig was committed); maybe this is a statement about the lightning rod's level of commitment. Maybe. All the same, I'll still be the seismograph. What do you think?
Former State Rep. Terry Keel, who came in as a late-session replacement parliamentarian/rules enforcer for House Speaker Tom Craddick, will return to that post next session.
Terry Keel, whose work as stand-in parliamentarian was key to Tom Craddick's survival as speaker last month, received the job on a full-time basis Friday.Keel, a former state representative, and former lawmaker Ron Wilson stepped in on May 25 after the regular parliamentarian, Denise Davis, and her assistant, Chris Griesel, abruptly resigned. Davis and Griesel left in the middle of a heated debate after Craddick refused to recognize members who wanted to call for a vote on removing him as speaker.
Keel supported Craddick's interpretation of House rules that the only way to unseat a speaker would be through impeachment. That ruling precipitated a tumultuous scene on the House floor, replete with jeers and an attempt by some members to take over the podium after Craddick called a recess.
The ill will continued during the remaining days of the legislative session.
For some reason, the song The Cat Came Back is going through my head about now. I suppose the fact that it's not a twofer with Ron Wilson belongs in the blessings-to-be-counted pile. Better to hope for a new Speaker and a clean slate, if you ask me. Postcards from the Lege and Capitol Letters have more.
Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority's longstanding desire to someday squeeze a rail line onto the widened Katy Freeway may not be realized as soon as agency officials had hoped.A new draft agreement among Metro, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation for operation of the freeway's future toll lanes does not mention rail, an absence that has Metro officials concerned.
A March letter to TxDOT from Metro's capital projects director, Vincent Obregon, noted the omission: "We believe this is a fundamental issue that should be coordinated prior to action by our board."
TxDOT's Transportation Planning Director Gabriel Johnson responded that, "If, and when, light rail transit is provided by Metro within the corridor, the Operations Agreement will be amended accordingly."
The question is, where could Metro put its rails once the toll lanes are in place? There is no room in the freeway's current design without removing some traffic lanes, TxDOT spokeswoman Janelle Gbur and Metro board chairman David Wolff agreed.
Running rail down the middle of the freeway would displace two or more of the four toll lanes, which are to replace Metro's current High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and serve the same role for transit and carpools while generating revenue from other vehicles.
Nonetheless, Metro vice president Bryan Pennington told the agency board Friday it was "very realistic" to believe Metro could be operating rail in the Katy Freeway corridor within five to seven years.
I like the optimism, but I don't know how you can think that. I can't see HCTRA giving up its managed toll lanes. If there was ever a way to make this work, it was at the beginning, before things started getting torn up. I have a hard time seeing any retrofitting happening.
There are other issues as well, which H-GAC's Alan Clark touches on:
Clark said the toll lanes were not Metro's only option for rail. Besides, he said, those lanes would pose problems getting passengers to and from the trains in the middle of a busy freeway.There are road shoulders and transition areas as well as main lanes and frontage road lanes that could be used instead, Clark said.
As with the Universities line and US59, putting rail lines in the middle of a freeway doesn't really make sense. Moving them out towards the frontage roads makes more sense, but they still don't seem like places that train passengers would want to walk to or from. It's much more sensible to look for a nearby parallel road with dense development and pedestrian destinations. Like, say, Washington Avenue. That doesn't get you out west of Loop 610, but maybe keeping this all inside the Loop is a better idea anyway. I'd want to consider this before I tried to squeeze an unwanted rail path into the middle of the Katy Freeway at this point. Back when that was in the planning stage, it was different. Now it's time to rethink that.