Following up on yesterday's announcement that the Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo had come out against the Astrodome Redevelopment plan, here's today's Chron story, with more details.

Scott Hanson, president of Astrodome Redevelopment, held out hope that the project would not die.

Astrodome Redevelopment may be willing to compromise with the rodeo on current sticking points, he said, adding that the developer may be willing to curtail food and merchandise sales during the annual event.

"Frankly, we are quite shocked by the Rodeo's position," Hanson said in an e-mail. "We have been working with the Rodeo organization for quite some time and were hopeful that our proposed redevelopment would only enhance their month-long event."

Members of Commissioners Court have been reluctant to order the razing of the dome because of the sentimental value it holds for those who attended their first sporting events there or took in a major game.

In a poll commissioned by County Judge Ed Emmett's office earlier this year, 84 percent of county residents opposed the razing of the dome, Emmett said.

"Clearly, we have to do something with the Astrodome," he said. "The choices are: Do we tear it down and absorb the loss? Or do we redevelop it, and what do we redevelop it as? The worst thing would be for the dome to be redeveloped and have it fail."

[Jamey Rootes, president of the Houston Texans,] said the Texans are worried that traffic to and from the hotel would worsen congestion on the South Loop and Kirby Drive on game days.

Astrodome Redevelopment would build a 2,100-space parking garage around two-thirds of the dome. The Texans would like to use the garage on game days and keep the revenue, Rootes said.

The Texans also share the rodeo's concerns over sponsorship and deals for exclusive sales rights, he said.

But Rootes said the Texans may be willing to reopen negotiations if Astrodome Redevelopment can meet its demands.

Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., said the county attorney's office is researching whether the county could approve the project over the objections of the Texans and the rodeo if the sports corporation determined the development would not hurt their operations.

If Commissioners Court were to go forward with the project under those circumstances, its members would have to be willing to be at odds with members of the rodeo's board, among the city's biggest movers and shakers.

The Drum Major Institute hosted an event on Monday called "Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Exonerating the Innocent", which featured Dallas County DA Craig Watkins as its headline speaker. Here's a comprehensive liveblog of the panel discussion, which gets into all kinds of issues, from the cost of incarceration to the need to change attitudes and more. For those of you who have been following the HPD crime lab saga, with its bad science of serology, here's a preview of the next crime lab scandal to come, which could happen anywhere. The speaker here is Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project.

Barry says that if you look at all felony arrests and compare exoneration rates it's an "infinitely small number." The point is, "what do we learn from all this," he says. He mentions using laptop computers and other "best practices" -- like videotaping interrogations -- that reduce wrongful convictions.

He says there is an upcoming Washington Post series about "composite analysis of lead bullets." Expert witnesses testified using bullet analysis for 30 years and used this practice to convict, and then three years ago the National Academy of Science said that was nonsense, that evidence just doesn't stand. "This is laying dormant now," he says, and all these cases are now in question. He says there are thousands of cases haven't been looked at, all from people that were convicted from questionable evidence.

"The truth is that...in this whole area of forensic science where frankly DNA has changed everything" I think we are seeing a huge change in all of these areas.

Happy Halloween, everyone! We're going to be up to our clavicles in Trick or Treaters this evening - I'll post some pictures like I did last year to give you a feel for how busy it gets. But before that, take a moment to read and remember the story of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, also known as the Candy Man, who murdered his son by poisoning his Halloween candy in 1974, thus also effectively killing the Trick or Treat tradition in Houston for a generation. May we never know his like again.

I've mentioned before that Council Member Peter Brown has been living on $92.12 this week ($23.03 a day for four days), which is what the wages of city health department worker Belinda Rodriguez allows. He's blogging about his experience here, with pictures and video, and hopefully the recipe for the stew he's going to make today. See how it goes for him, and how it goes every day for Belinda, at Blog My Wage.

Great moments in headline writing: State report says Texas has too many reports. You can live a long time before getting a meatball like that.

Now, it's very easy to note a story like this and go into full-on snark mode, but before you get your Dave Barry on, the Report Of All Reports actually makes a pretty salient point:

In the past, the state regularly compiled a list of about 400 reports that agencies were required by the Legislature to produce. But the commission found more than 1,600, and state records administrator Michael Heskett is pretty sure his team hasn't found them all.

Heskett's initial findings indicate more than 400 report requirements are obsolete, duplicative or not needed as frequently as currently required.

"At first, we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of reporting requirements," Heskett said. "We haven't begun our evaluation yet. But I think we can reach our goal of eliminating the deadwood without compromising the need for accountability in our state agencies."

Agencies stand to save thousands of staff hours and tons of paper, although the commission hasn't estimated yet exactly how much of either, Heskett said.

In a typical legislative session, lawmakers call for about a dozen new reports to meet the requirements for a new law. Another 20 or so reports are attached to appropriations bills as a way of making sure allocated money is properly spent.

Unless these reports are repealed by the Legislature, agencies are required to prepare them, even if the need for the report -- or the agency -- no longer exists.

Is one of your timekeeping gadgets off by an hour this week? If so, you're not alone.

It might be silly to talk about the duplicitous hands of time or tick-tock treachery. But the fact remains that at least some folks, who trusted their alarm clocks to wake them up on time this week, found themselves running an hour behind.

Blame it on daylight saving time, whose slippery "spring forward -- fall back" formula is enough to confound all but the most mathematically astute. This week's problem arose when daylight saving time, which traditionally ends on the last Sunday in October, was extended to the first Sunday in November.

[...]

Unless PC owners installed patches provided by Microsoft or Apple, their machines, like the clueless clocks, would have registered the wrong time.

Some Houston computer stores e-mailed their customers to remind them of the delay in the resumption of Standard Time.

The change in the time switch came this year as part of the Energy Conservation Act designed to give Americans a bit more daylight -- and energy savings.

President Bush signed the law in 2005.

The law also affected the beginning of daylight saving time, moving it to the second Sunday in March from the first Sunday in April.

As it happens, I'm using a spiffy new alarm clock these days that has a DST auto-adjust feature built in. Since it did not fall back this weekend, I assume it was already hip to the new DST endpoints. I'm putting my BlackBerry on my nightstand this Saturday anyway, just in case. We'll see what happens.

Hey, Sugar Land! Are you ready for those red light cameras you've been expecting? Well, ready or not, here they are.

Sugar Land's three cameras will start snapping pictures Monday, but violators will receive warnings for the first 30 days of the program. The city will start issuing real citations when the grace period ends. The owner of a vehicle photographed running a red light will be subject to a $75 fine.

The cameras are going up at three of Sugar Land's most congested and busiest intersections: U.S. 59 at Texas 6, U.S. 59 at Williams Trace and Texas 6 at Lexington. Workers have spent the past few days making last-minute adjustments on the cameras.

A fourth camera, to be installed at the intersection of West Airport and Eldridge Parkway, will be delayed while road reconstruction is being done there.

"Because of that it doesn't make sense to interfere with their construction," Sugar Land Police Chief Steve Griffith said Monday. He said that camera probably will be working early next year.

City officials hope the red-light cameras will reduce the number of traffic accidents by about 25 percent at the intersections where they city experiences the most.

Vince has collected a sizable amount of blog and media links with information and recommendations for bonds, propositions, and various local election issues. If you're still not sure how to vote on some of these things, it should be useful to you. I'm reproducing it beneath the fold. Click on for more.

On November 6, voters all across Texas will have the opportunity to go to the polls to vote on a variety of issues. First and foremost, voters across Texas will vote on 16 amendments to the Texas Constitution including Proposition 15, the much-touted amendment to fund cancer research in the state.

In addition, voters in some municipalities, most prominently Houston, will be casting votes for city officials including mayors and city council members. College districts, independent school districts, and special districts across the state will also hold elections for their members. A number of cities and school districts will also hold bond elections to fund everything from jail construction to parks and recreation and additional school facilities. Some school districts will also hold tax rate elections to authorize tax rates higher than those allowed by the tax reform plan passed by the Texas Legislature in special session back in 2006.

Texas bloggers have dedicated a considerable amount of coverage to election issues across the state, from the statewide constitutional amendment election to local issues. Much of this coverage is highlighted below.

Local Elections, Bonds, & Referendums

Charles Kuffner at Off The Kuff has exhaustive coverage of local elections in Houston from city council elections to college district elections and city bonds. There are a large number of posts, but mosts can be found in two categories, here and here.

Bill Howell in Stoutdemblog comes out for a vote Yes on the Dallas referendum on the Trinity River at River Don't You Weep.

Texas Cloverleaf has a round up of campaign spending on the Trinity River campaign.

Grits for Breakfast has a round-up of jail-related propositions on the ballot across the state, including in Smith County (Tyler).

Bill Howell in Stoutdemblog comes out for a vote Yes on the Dallas referendum on the Trinity River at River Don't You Weep.

North Texas Liberal explores the pros and cons of the Trinity River referendum in Dallas.

Other Key Local Election Coverage:

Homophobia Rears Its Nasty Head in Fort Worth City Council Race (Doing My Part For The Left)

Endorsements & Voter's Guides: Statewide Amendments & Local Races

Non-partisan voter's guides on the 16 statewide Constitutional Amendments: Texas League of Women Voters, Texas Legislative Council (full version), Texas Legislative Council (condensed version--warning, this is a .doc file), Texas House Research Organization

Newspaper Endorsements For Constitutional Amendments: Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, Waco Tribune-Herald (split editorials: here, here, here, here, here), El Paso Times (Prop. 4) Lufkin Daily News, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, San Antonio Express-News.

Bill Howell at Stoutdemblog provides links to analyses of the amendments, then compares different stands taken on them by some other bloggers and Republicans and Libertarians, then gives his own personal stands on each at Web Resources On The Endless Amendments.

Muse at Musings urges voters to vote the opposite of the Harris County Republican Party's endorsements.

Capitol Annex has endorsements of the 16 Constitutional Amendments with detailed information behind the reasons for their picks in their four endorsement posts.

Gary at Easter Lemming News in Harris County finally has his thoughts straight on all the propositions, amendments and bonds to follow his election page.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson has Early Voting in formation for Williamson County along with several guides and couple of opinions on the amendments .

Off the Kuff gives his recommendations for the state and local bonds and propositions.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme points at some resources to decipher the proposed Texas constitutional amendments.

Other Notable Statewide Amendment Coverage:

Proposition 4 (Off The Kuff)

Proposition 15 Ramps Up (Off The Kuff)

Riffing on my previous post about early voting turnout, Houtopia provides a little context.

As of yesterday, 15,792 folks had voted in person in Harris County. Compare that total with 2005, when 24,132 in-person votes had been cast. So far, 2007 is running at 65% of the 2005 pace. Two years ago, about 332,000 ballots were cast in Harris County, 192,000 of those in the City of Houston. If the current trend holds, we'll see more like 216K votes countywide, and 125K in the City in 2007. That would put turnout in the neighborhood of 10% -- pretty low.

While Mayor White is running a few commercials, he faces no serious opposition. A high-profile mayor's race is the driver of turnout in odd-year elections in Houston, and the absence of a meaningful mayoral campaign has dampened interest in voting, to be sure. The only real mystery is whether or not White can best his 91% share of the vote from 2005. (We predict he'll fall a little short, but not by much.)

There's not that much money out there, either, at least not in the contested races.

"Incumbency has some advantages," said Councilman M.J. Khan, who has nearly $300,000 on hand and no opponent. "One of the advantages is that they can raise more funds."

Khan, who faced a challenger in 2005, said he collected money just in case.

White raised just $46,000 since September 27, but he had more than $2.2 million in cash available from previous events. The mayor's totals by far outpaced his opponents: meat packing plant worker Amanda Ulman and engineer and wrestling promoter Outlaw Josey Wales IV. Neither filed campaign reports online Monday.

Councilman Peter Brown, who some speculate has ambitions to succeed White, has more than $500,000 on hand, more than any of his colleagues. His opponent, write-in candidate Leatrice Watson, has not filed a report this election cycle.

Council members Anne Clutterbuck, Sue Lovell and Melissa Noriega all headed into the election with more money left to spend than their opponents.

Councilman Jarvis Johnson, who faces police sergeant Kenneth Perkins, did not file his report by 5 p.m. Monday, as required.

At least 19 candidates failed to file their reports on time, making fundraising comparisons in several races impossible.

In the District I race to replace term-limited Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, candidates John Marron and James Rodriguez both spent more than $40,000 during the reporting period. Marron had a $20,000 on-hand cash advantage for the remainder of the campaign, according to the filings.

Buoyed by contributions from homebuilders Bob Perry, and Richard and David Weekley, District E candidate Mike Sullivan held a financial lead over opponents Manisha Mehta and Annette Dwyer. A fourth candidate, William R. Williams, did not file a report by 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, a political action committee opposing the Houston Independent School District's controversial $805 million bond package, Concerned Citizens for School Equality, reported raising $42,220 in October, including a $15,000 donation from the campaign fund of state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. The group spent about $36,580, mostly on radio advertising. The report for a pro-bond PAC was not available.

In the District II HISD trustee race, former board member Carol Mims Galloway topped most of her competitors by raising $9,604 for the October filing period. Charles McCloud, the last of the five candidates to enter the race, filed a report that covered most of September and October, and showed a total of $22,555 raised.

District IV candidate Paula Harris raised $13,618 in October, including $4,000 from state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, and $1,000 from the Houston Federation of Teachers. Her opponent, Davetta Mills Daniels, raised $14,822.

And here this is, because I feel like it:

Here's an obstacle that the Astrodome Redevelopment folks may not be able to clear:

The Texans and Houston rodeo officials came out today in opposition of plans to turn the iconic Reliant Astrodome into an upscale hotel and convention center saying the proposal could jeopardize their own organizations.

"The proposed redevelopment poses serious operational hurdles, threatens each organization's financial well-being, and violates their lease agreement rights with Harris County," the organizations said today in a written statement.

The Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation has proposed turning the dome into a convention hotel that would employ 1,550 and generate nearly $23 million a year in state and local taxes. The corporation hasn't revealed details of its plans to finance the $450 million renovation.

The complex would have as many as 1,300 hotel rooms, ballrooms, convention meeting rooms, multiple restaurants, upscale shopping and one or more music venues. Swaths of Astroturf would be replaced with a series of ponds, fountains and tall trees.

A parking garage would be built around the Dome. Plans for a cineplex have been scrapped.

But in opposing that plan today, the Rodeo said the plan would have a "negative impact on the Rodeo's future success, including its many youth and educational program."

UPDATE: The updated version of the story has the bad news for Astrodome Redevelopment:

"Not until we saw their plans recently did we realize that this project has the ability to cannibalize our operations," said Leroy Shafer, the rodeo's chief operating officer. "Every dollar spent that is spent there is one that might not be spent at the rodeo."

Jamey Rootes, a Texans' official, said the Texans were worried that the hotel would hamper the flow of fans in and out of games on the Texans' 10 game days.

[...]

Astrodome Redevelopment announced in early September that it had cleared a major hurdle by gaining preliminary approval from Deutsche Bank, a major commercial lender, to finance the deal.

In addition, the Texas Historical Commission approved the company's renovation plans, qualifying it for a federal historic rehabilitation tax credit.

The tax credit was integral to Astrodome Redevelopment's financing application. As much as $350 million of the work on the $450 million project may qualify for the tax credit, which could be worth $70 million to Astrodome Redevelopment, John Clanton, the firm's chief executive, has said.

Shafer said restaurants that pay to operate at the rodeo could stop leasing if business was siphoned off by the hotel's food court.

And Shafer said he was concerned that the hotel would decrease the value of exclusivity rights at the rodeo. Coca-Cola, for instance, buys the right to sell its products exclusively at the rodeo.

"It became obvious to us that a tremendous amount of our revenue will be lost at our show," he said.

Matt Stiles notes that Mayor White hasn't taken a position on the HISD bond referendum yet. He prints the following statement from the Mayor:

HISD and other regional school districts do important work. I have seen with my own eyes that many HISD schools need maintenance and repairs.

Bond authorizations allow schools to borrow money to make capital expenditures. Without debt authority, school districts would have to raise taxes in order to pay for needed current improvements without debt. For this reason, I routinely support school bond issues.

I generally support HISD and its Superintendent.

Several weeks ago I requested information about the bond issue on two topics: whether HISD could support a bond issue of this amount without raising the tax rate; and, financial information about the economics of school closures and consolidations.

I am still waiting to receive the requested information from HISD on the second topic.

Good news from the Senate 2008 Guru:

You may notice in the upper left hand corner of the website that we have a new addition to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page: State Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Noriega. Representative/Lt. Col. Noriega has ignited the grassroots and netroots and achieved broad support among the establishment. Noriega is a terrific candidate and understands the meaning of words like "duty" and "service." Further, incumbent Republican and Bush rubber stamp John Cornyn is extremely vulnerable. To recognize State Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Noriega's addition to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page, I would love to see readers of the Guru's blog put up a half dozen contributions to Noriega today. Just six contributions - you can do it! Whether you can contribute $100 or $10, please contribute if you can! Many thanks!

I should note that the other two people on the Guru's list - Andrew Rice of Oklahoma, running against Sen. James "Global warming is a myth!" Inhofe; and Larry LaRocca of Idaho, running to replace (as if anyone could) Sen. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig - are both also well worth your support, if your interests expand beyond the borders of our fair state. Check 'em all out.

If you enjoyed that amazing video of Trinity's improbable last-play touchdown to beat Millsaps this past Saturday, you can express your appreciation of it in a tangible fashion, according to this email I got from the ol' bountiful mother:

In a play that brought back memories of the 1982 California-Stanford game, the Division III Trinity Tigers delivered one of the most unbelievable plays of the 2007 NCAA college football season. With two seconds remaining in the game and the ball on their own 39-yard line, Trinity needed an incredible 15 laterals before Riley Curry scored the winning touchdown over the Majors of Millsaps for an improbable 28-24 win and a Pontiac Game Changing Performance nomination.

Now it is up to Trinity fans to determine if the Tigers earned the "Pontiac Game Changing Performance" for the ninth week of the 2007 NCAA Football Season. TU fans can go to pontiac.com/ncaa, where they can view video clips of the four finalists and vote for their favorite play. Voting begins on Sunday morning and ends at midnight on Wednesday. ESPN will announce this week's "Pontiac Game Changing Performance" winner, on Thursday night, during the Pontiac Performance Halftime Report.

The winning university earns a $5,000 contribution from Pontiac to their general scholarship fund. Additionally, the winning play will be nominated for the "Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Year" and the chance to win a $100,000 General Scholarship from Pontiac.

"Awarding more than $1 million since its inception, the Pontiac Game Changing Performance program continues to be a great example of how passionate fans can have a positive impact academically and athletically by generating scholarship dollars for university-wide programs," said Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN GameDay Analyst.

In addition, each week one lucky individual who visits pontiac.com/ncaa will also win a $5,000 scholarship for them self or their family. In total, Pontiac will provide $300,000 worth of scholarships to universities and individuals throughout the season.

For full program details, visit www.pontiac.com/ncaa.

Turns out, by the way, that the kid who scored the winning touchdown for the Tigers is a local boy.

Exhausted, Riley Curry found an opening, and with it, instant celebrity status en route to one of the most jaw-dropping plays in college football history.

The former Fort Bend Clements wide receiver took part in Trinity University's miraculous 28-24 win over Millsaps College last Saturday afternoon, scoring the game-winning touchdown after a 61-yard, 15-lateral Hail Mary that has become the talk of the nation.

"All I remember is that I was exhausted, but when I saw the opening (at around the 15-yard line), I was in disbelief," said Curry, who touched the ball four times during the 60 seconds it took to complete the play. "As I got into the end zone, I remember looking up and seeing the official raise his hands up," Curry added.

"I looked up and the first thing I looked for was a flag. By then, I had about 15 teammates on top of me celebrating."

With the touchdown, Curry has been on a whirlwind of interviews and phone calls from media, fans and old classmates. One of the biggest surprises for him came Monday morning, when he turned on ESPN's First Take to see Skip Bayless and Patrick McEnroe debate whether his play was better than the California-Stanford play of 1982.

Riley is no stranger to last-second miracles, having scored a game-winning touchdown on a Hail Mary to help Clements defeat Fort Bend Austin on his final high school play in 2004.

"He made everything work every time he touched the ball," said Tigers head coach Steve Mohr. "He found the opening and had the presence to take off and find the end zone."

The Houston Organization of Public Employees, a/k/a HOPE, has been making its case for better wages for the city's public employees.

The event was the latest public-relations move taken by the union, which also has sent dozens of members to City Council in recent weeks to complain about low wages and benefit costs. Several members also are featured in a Web site, www.houstonwehaveaproblem.com, that derides their "second-class pay." And more events are planned for this week, including a downtown rally Thursday night and a blog by Councilman Peter Brown, who will live on $92.12 for four days, the same budget as a city health department clerk.

The discussion led White to send an e-mail recently to all 13,000 civilian employees. He asked them to use "good judgment" in weighing claims by the union, which is a marriage of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union.

"This Administration is listening to your concerns," White's e-mail read. "Again, I thank both the employee representatives and the management representatives who have worked hard during this negotiation. We are attempting to bring this negotiation to a conclusion soon."

At issue are the ongoing meet-and-confer contract negotiations -- the first ever between civilian municipal workers in Texas. The talks began in May, and it is possible a deal could be reached within weeks.

The city has offered a four-year, 16-percent increase in the size of its civilian payroll budget, but so far only has guaranteed 2-percent across-the-board raises each year. White prefers to set aside some money and let supervisors give larger raises to the best employees.

"One of the issues from the very beginning was that the mayor wanted to make certain that part of the compensation made available in the budget would be performance-based," said Anthony Hall, the city's chief administrative officer.

Hall and other city officials say there's only so much they can offer, without threatening to force layoffs or privatization of services on future mayors and councils who might face leaner budget circumstances.

The average municipal employee in Houston is paid about $37,000 annually, according to the city, a figure that increases to $59,000 with benefits such as vacation time, pension contributions and health insurance.

But the union last week focused on the lowest-paid workers, the laborers, data entry clerks and other entry-level positions that are paid less then $10 per hour. The union also praised the police department's recent effort to pay all civilian employees a $20,000 annual salary.

HOUSTON -- City Council Member Peter Brown shared a homemade lunch Monday at noon with a Houston city employee as he began a four-day challenge to live on her wage. From Monday, October 29 to Thursday, November 1, Brown will be living on the budget of Belinda Rodriguez, an intake receptionist at Houston's Nueva Casa de Amigos Health Center.

Rodriguez, a single mother with three children, spends $23.03 a day on the essentials--food, gas and clothing--for her family. From Monday through Thursday, Brown will be living on $92.12 in cash, Rodriguez's base budget for four days.

Brown and Rodriguez will be holding a series of events during the week to highlight the challenges facing many Houston city employees, whose median pay is 21 percent below municipal workers in other Texas and U.S. cities, according to a City of Houston study. Though Rodriguez works full-time for Houston's health department, she can't afford the city's health plan for her three children, who receive their health care through Medicaid.

Brown will be blogging about his week at HoustonWeHaveAProblem.com, a website of the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE), which is seeking a contract with the city that can provide a living wage for every Houston worker.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

DAY 1 - Brown's Bag Lunch - Brown and Rodriguez bring bag lunches to Nueva Casa de Amigos and discuss the challenges in store for the week.

Monday, October 29, Noon, Nueva Casa de Amigos Health Center, 1809 N. Main, Houston

DAY 2 - Food Fight - Struggling to buy groceries on a limited budget.

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 11:00 a.m., Kroger's, 1938 W. Gray, Houston

DAY 3 - Fright Night - Will there be money left for last-minute Halloween shopping?

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 4:30 p.m., CVS Pharmacy, 4702 Irvington Blvd., Houston

DAY 4 - The Week on My Wage - Brown and Rodriguez report back to the HOPE Rally for Quality Public Services at City Hall.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 6:00 p.m., City Hall, 901 Bagby, Houston

Here's your Halloween eve blog roundup. Nothing scary about it, so go ahead and click on for more.

Refinish69 from Doing My Part For The Left is outraged with certain politicians in Fort Worth,Texas. Homophobia Rears Its Nasty Head in Fort Worth City Council Race tells who is being a jerk and how to contact one of them.

Muse was at Armando Walle's campaign kick-off and reports why it's time for a change in Texas House District 140. Kevin Bailey (Craddick D) has been serving Craddick and not the district. Walle, who is from the district and has a proven track record of service and leadership, already has a large group of supporters lined up to help him take back 140 for the people.

Phillip Martin of Burnt Orange Report provides a detailed chart and analysis updating what's going on with the Craddick D's. The post brought forward an interesting reader response as well.

TXsharon at Bluedaze gives the Texas Railroad Commission Protection Money Breakdown. and makes it easy for you to take action. So, please take that action before you become the next victim of RRC Malpractice.

Hal at Half Empty wonders whether FEMA has finally taken a page out of George Orwell's book when they held a 'news conference' this past week without a single journalist in attendance.

WhosPlayin notes that he would gladly pay the $13.30 per year per person to pay for SCHIP.

McBlogger takes a look at the strange world of Focus on the Family and the very odd people that attended their Values Voters conference.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes that Perry appointed a public corruption figure to the UT System Board of Regents.

Johncoby at Bay Area Houston finds the highest and lowest costs for electricity in the Houston area. Power Watch: Highest and lowest electricity rates for November.

Stace at DosCentavos features the trailer to the upcoming Jesse Salmeron film, This Is America. "This is America" is the story of a family torn apart by deportation.

NatWu at Three Wise Men exposes the truth about why we need Net Neutrality, especially with all the recent Telecom shenanigans.

North Texas Liberal's Texas Toad gives a breakdown on the factions of the "Trinity Vote" in Dallas Weighs Pros and Cons of Trinity Toll Road.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson wonders What Will John Carter's Excuse Be This Time For Voting Against Health Care For Children?

Off the Kuff gives his recommendations for the state and local bonds and propositions.

NYTexan at BlueBloggin asks how many wars and how many enemies can Bush have?

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Tom Craddick has borrowed a page from Warren Chisum in announcing that trial lawyers were behind efforts to remove him during the 8oth Legislative Session and wonders why, since he reported it some months ago, it is suddenly "news" to the mainstream media.

In the wake of the Houston Chronicle's announcement of a "position-elimination program", PDiddie at Brains and Eggs recounts his personal experience with Hearst newspapers, budgets, and staff cutbacks in The Trouble with the Newspaper Bidness.

The Texas Cloverleaf looks at who is fueling the push for a toll road in the banks of the Trinity River in Dallas. You guessed it, Big Business!

In the most recent installment of The Texas Blue's podcast interview series Who's Blue, we talk to State Representative Jim Dunnam. We discuss how he got started in politics, what Kirk England's party switch means to Texas, and the restoration of community college funding vetoed by Governor Perry.

I am pleased to report that our Houston TexBlog PAC fundraiser, at the lovely home of David Mincberg and Lainie Gordon, was a big success. By my count, we had about fifty people, and a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm for next year's election. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the next Speaker of the Texas House, addressed the crowd and spoke about all the reasons why it's important to change the direction of our government - from CHIP to proper funding for the schools to inclusiveness and good stewardship of our state's resources, she made the case clearly.

I was more than a bit nervous about this, having never attempted to organize anything like it, but the event exceeded my expectations. We raised some money, but as importantly we raised some hope. We'll need as much of the latter as the former next year. You can still help with each by making a contribution to help us take back the House, and by getting involved early and often with the campaigns that will do it.

Some pictures from the event are here. Since Tiffany says there's never a picture of me on this site, here's one for her (which she took, I might add):

Among the many people who were there to lend their moral and financial support were State Sen. Mario Gallegos; State Reps. Thompson, Garnet Coleman, Hubert Vo, and Ellen Cohen; Judge Susan Criss; Judge Ruben Guerrero; Council Member Melissa Noriega; the Hon. Chris Bell; the Hon. Sue Schechter; champion debate teacher and former Congressional candidate Jim Henley; former State Rep. and current candidate for Travis County Tax Assessor Glen Maxey; candidates for State Rep. Armando Walle, Kristi Thibaut, and Ginny McDavid; judicial candidates Leslie Taylor, Larry Weiman, Mike Engelhart, David Melasky, and Fred Cook; District Clerk candidate Loren Jackson; and Harris County Department of Education candidate Debbie Kerner. I've probably overlooked someone, and if so I sincerely apologize for the lapse in my memory.

My thanks to everyone who attended. When we have the next one, be sure you don't miss out.

UPDATE: Stace has more.

The Chron makes its recommendations for the two contested HCCS Trustee races.

District 1, Kevin J. Hoffman -- In this position representing northside constituents, the best choice is Hoffman, a longtime civic activist and energy industry analyst who is president of the Near Northside Super Neighborhood Council No. 51. In advance of the extension of Metro light rail to HCCS's Northeast College at Northline Mall, Hoffman wants to expand the range of courses offered to students there. In order to combat high dropout rates in northside high schools, he advocates creating more on-site, dual enrollment programs to allow students to take college courses before they graduate.

His opponent is HCCS Vice Chair Yolanda Navarro Flores. An Asian-American college employee complained that the trustee made discriminatory comments about her ability to supervise the district's program in Mexico because of her ethnicity. Although Flores denied making such statements, the district settled the matter by promoting the employee and paying her $40,000.

District 7, Neeta Sane -- In this open seat representing southern zones of HCCS, the superior candidate is Neeta Sane, operator of a software consulting company. Sane wants to use her background as an entrepreneur to build stronger partnerships between the community college and local businesses, while tailoring course offerings to the growing needs of a diverse student population.

Sane promises to work for consensus on a board often fractured in the recent past by infighting and a tendency to meddle inappropriately in personnel and other administrative affairs.

"With all the squabbling that I've heard from newspapers," Sane said, "I think we need to build positive relationships and work as a team."

The HISD bond opponents get a big story in today's Chron.

African-American political and religious leaders have been on the front lines opposing HISD's proposed bond package, which, if approved, would build 24 new campuses and renovate 134 others. It also would consolidate several historically black campuses.

While churches and other nonprofit organizations are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of politicians, they are allowed to take stances on issues and bond referendums, said Robert Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Pastors at the churches on Sunday's route said they were happy to pause from prayer and song to let members of Concerned Citizens For School Equality, the political action committee opposing the bond, speak to their congregations.

''They're on a bus. They're doing it old-school style," said the Rev. Dewayne Cook, pastor of the Greater Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.

At Windsor Village United Methodist Church, hundreds of parishioners stood and applauded when the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell spoke against the bond. It is not a race issue or a class issue, just a matter of what is best for children, he said.

Caldwell told parishioners to ignore HISD's argument that voting down the bond would delay construction and much-needed repairs by years.

"It can come back next year, y'all. We can vote again on this in May '08," he said. "Don't let anyone tell you anything different."

HISD trustee Larry Marshall, an avid supporter of the bond, said he was not worried by the opponents' Sunday effort.

"That's the beauty of this country. You have the right to disagree," he said. "I think there will be more folks from the pews voting for this issue than voting against it. I'm optimistic."

So have you voted yet? Early voting totals so far (PDF) aren't very impressive, though I haven't attempted a comparison to previous years so I can't really say for certain how we're doing. I can say, as I did yesterday, that it wasn't very busy at the Multi Service Center on West Gray on Friday. So have you voted yet? If not, what are you waiting for? If it's more recommendations on how to vote on all the ballot propositions, Gary Denton has a nice roundup, while Muse has a straightforward recommendation. Perhaps those will help.

If it's inspiration you need, here you go:

The following is from an email sent out by State Rep. Jessica Farrar:

Halloween is right around the corner. That means kids of all ages will be dressing up and looking to have fun with family and friends this Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, it is not always safe for our children to be out knocking on doors and trick-or-treating, so we have to come up with alternatives that still allow them to take part in this great holiday.

That is why I am happy to announce that I, along with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and Latinas on the Rise, will be hosting the 6th Annual Monster Mash at Moody Park (3725 Fulton) and the 1st Annual Fall Festival at Proctor Plaza Park (803 W. Temple). Both parties are scheduled from 6:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 31, 2007. These two simultaneous events are meant to serve as SAFE, FUN, and FREE options for the children and families in our community on Halloween night. We'll have music, games, food, candy, a haunted house, facepainting, and costume contests for everyone that comes out.

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. We need more community volunteers to help us with the Monster Mash and the Fall Festival. We could use your help at either of our events at the following times, even if it's just for an hour or two:

* Tuesday, October 30th, 5:00 P.M.-9:00P.M. (Initial haunted house set-up)
* Wednesday, October 31st, 10:00 A.M.-5:30 P.M. (Finish haunted houses and set-up for rest of parties)
* Wednesday, October 31st, 5:30 P.M.-9:00 P.M. (Volunteer during parties)
* Wednesday, October 31st, 9:00 P.M.-10:30 P.M. (Clean-up)

If you are interested in helping out, please contact Lillian Ortiz in my office at [email protected] or at 713-691-6912.

Meet former San Antonio City Council member Art Hall, who is planning to run for Railroad Commissioner against incumbent Michael Williams.

Hall, born in Hempstead, Texas, and raised in Lubbock, represented San Antonio's District 8 for two terms. He was the youngest person to represent the district and the first African-American council member elected outside of the city's East Side. Hall said he was an advocate for environmental issues as a city councilman and does not plan to shift his priorities.

"I've been an advocate for water quality issues and energy conservation issues in San Antonio," he said. "It was a natural fit for me."

Hall said the district he represented is a Republican-majority district, proving he has the ability to work with people of different political ideologies to serve his constituents.

"The experience of having...been elected in a Republican district and the potential to work with either a woman, a Hispanic or an African-American on the Railroad Commission is something that I would embrace," Hall said.

Hall acknowledges running as an African-American Democrat in a statewide election may be an uphill battle, but he is confident his experience and his platform will draw voters toward his side.

"For some people it will be something that they will support," he said. "In my district, I've had people slam the door in my face, so you're going to expect some reaction from both sides...I think for the most part, you'll have some open-minded folks that will like what they see. I'm a realist. I know that people are going to be scared and vote against that possibility. Our goal is to make sure that we focus on the issues and we encourage people that are like-minded, whether it be partisan or otherwise, to go out and vote."

Hall cites the fact that 30 percent of Texas Republicans do not vote straight ticket as proof it is possible to bring his progressive ideology to the commission. He acknowledges that he has worked hard to obtain his success, but said he still holds the same values that helped him achieve it.

"Values are something that are deep within a person," he said. "I'd like to continue to be down to earth and focus in on the grassroots issues and values. I don't think I'll ever lose that."

Here's your slate of transit-friendly candidates, according to RichmondRail.org:

The RichmondRail political action committee (RRail GPAC) has endorsed the following candidates for Houston City Council and Controller. These candidates have told the committee that

* they will support the Richmond-to-Cummins alignment for the University light rail line if chosen by the METRO board, and
* they have pledged to work with the City and METRO to make the resulting street as attractive and pedestrian-friendly as possible.

Candidate endorsements for 2007 City of Houston elections
City Controller: Annise Parker
City Council, At-Large Position 1: Peter Brown
City Council, At-Large Position 2: Sue Lovell
City Council, At-Large Position 3: Melissa Noriega
City Council, At-Large Position 4: no endorsement
City Council, At-Large Position 5: Jolanda Jones
City Council, At-Large Position 5: Joe Trevino
City Council, District A: no endorsement
City Council, District B: Kenneth Perkins
City Council, District C: Anne Clutterbuck
City Council, District C: Alfred Molison
City Council, District D: Wanda Adams
City Council, District D: Keith Caldwell
City Council, District E: William Williams
City Council, District F: M.J. Khan
City Council, District G: no endorsement
City Council, District H: Adrian Garcia
City Council, District I: no endorsement

Background
Surveys were sent to all candidates running in the November 6 City of Houston elections. Candidates were asked the following questions:

* Do you support Rail on Richmond from Main to Cummins?
* Will you vote to approve the franchise agreements necessary to allow for the construction of rail on Richmond from Main to Cummins?
* Will you work for, and vote to fund, such improvements along Richmond Avenue in order to make our new light rail system truly neighborhood and pedestrian friendly?
* Will you partner with Metro and the Community to develop meaningful programs to mitigate the negative impacts of the light rail projects?

RRail GPAC supports all candidates whose responses were in alignment with the committee.

Via Swamplot, I learn about two big construction projects going on near where I work. First, at OST and Kirby, a short walk from my office:

On Old Spanish Trail at Kirby, where Target and Garden Ridge used to be, Simmons Vedder is ready to go with this exciting version of a retail-and-residences mix. They company is leasing the land back from the Texas General Land Office.

Yes, that's three stories of apartments above a brand new strip center facing O.S.T. No need for fake towers at the corners on this one!

Swamplot also links to this Houston Business Journal story, which answers a question I've had about another large project farther east on OST.

[Simmons Vedder] broke ground in the first quarter of 2007 on Equinox, an 8.4-acre, upscale apartment complex at Old Spanish Trail at Almeda, also near the Medical Center. The project's 304-unit first phase will be ready by mid-year 2008. Phase 2, with about 300 units, will likely start in summer 2008.

The total development cost for Equinox is about $67 million, [Simmons Vedder partner Rick] Craig says.

Simmons Vedder wanted to build near the Texas Medical Center because the considerable amount of commercial construction under way in the area is expected to generate a substantial number of additional jobs.

"It's just a huge amount of activity, just massive," Craig says. "We think we'll have a lot of people associated with the medical profession who will want to live there to be close to work."

This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen on a football field, and I'm not just saying it because it involved my alma mater.

The Trinity Tigers executed a 15-lateral, "Mississippi Miracle" on the last play Saturday afternoon to score the winning touchdown, stunning the Millsaps Majors 28-24 on the road to stay alive in the chase for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title.

The play that covered 60 yards was recorded in official statistics as a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Barmore to wide receiver Riley Curry.

But the Tigers, battling the defending conference champions in Jackson, Miss., will always remember it as more than that.

"It was the most remarkable play I've ever seen in college football," Trinity coach Steve Mohr said in a telephone interview.

[...]

Junior receiver Shawn Thompson caught a pass over the middle from Barmore at the Millsaps 44 and started a series of laterals.

It ended with Curry picking up the final lateral off the turf and running for the score, denying what would have been a conference-title clinching victory for the Majors.

"As soon as I saw (Curry) in the end zone, I fell down and started crying," Barmore said. "I'm kind of a big baby."

[...]

What made the victory so sweet for Trinity players was that it unfolded at Harper Davis Field, where they lost 34-12 last year and were forced to watch the Majors celebrate an SCAC title.

This time, Trinity (7-1, 4-1) did the celebrating, with players piling on Curry in the end zone. The victory gave the Tigers an opportunity to control their own destiny for the SCAC championship. Millsaps (6-2, 5-1) can only hope that Trinity loses one of its final two games.

If both win out, the Tigers would hold the tiebreaker for the SCAC's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs.

The Chron comes out in favor of the HISD bond referendum.

This bond issue has drawn heated criticism over the manner in which district officials presented the package. Instead of soliciting community input regarding needed school improvements, the board of trustees approved the package and Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra presented it to the public as a finished product.

Since then, Saavedra has worked hard to persuade various factions that the construction projects, which were selected after a facilities assessment by an independent firm, are necessary for safety, worthwhile and fairly distributed throughout the district. Many major stakeholders, including the Greater Houston Partnership, have endorsed the bonds. Other groups, discounting the crying need for building repair and replacement, continue to oppose them.

Having given little consideration to public opinion beforehand, the superintendent found he had some mistakes to correct: He abandoned a poorly thought-out plan for prekindergarten through eighth grade campuses in the Fifth Ward and cut the number of schools to be consolidated. To his credit, Saavedra said he would spend more time talking with the community about ways to improve individual schools' academic programs.

All the controversy has placed approval of the bonds at risk, particularly if turnout is low. Surely, district officials now better understand the importance of fostering trust among all the district's constituents before going to taxpayers for bonding authority. District administrators, education professionals, the business community, parents and community leaders have a duty to work together to provide students a solid educational foundation and to solve some of HISD's academic failures, including its high dropout rate.

Many who disagree with the bond proposal are justifiably upset that their schools have been given short shrift. This bond issue, legally limited to capital improvements, is necessary to ensure that HISD children have safe, functional classrooms equipped with up-to-date technology.

Voting down this bond issue will not give any student a better education. The plan, which includes building 24 schools and renovating 134 others, is needed to produce graduates prepared for a 21st century economy.

Much as I like the decision by Metro to go all light rail all the time, it doesn't come without risk. Federal funding is not guaranteed, so we may be back where we started, when the BRT decision was first made.

Changes in federal rules for evaluating transit projects have improved the cost-effectiveness scores for Metro's planned North and Southeast lines above the minimum levels for funding, Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson announced last week.

As a result, he said, Metro no longer will need to resort to the less expensive alternative of Bus Rapid Transit and can build the light rail that voters approved and were promised.

But because the rule changes affect all applicants, the competitive position of Metro's projects might not improve. If there were not enough federal dollars for so-called New Starts projects to fund them all, some would not make the cut.

Ron Fisher, director of project planning at the Federal Transit Administration, said the annual sum for New Starts has held steady at near $1.5 billion for several years.

"We can't say what will happen in the future," Fisher said. "The history is that once you have an acceptable rating, you are very likely to get funding."

[...]

Federal funding is not an issue for the Uptown and East End lines, which Metro plans to pay for itself, backed by booming sales tax revenue. The University line always had the kind of ridership and cost projections to qualify for federal dollars, Metro says.

Among the FTA rule changes, Metro says, is a willingness to consider "rail bias" -- that some people will ride rail and not buses even if cost and travel times are identical.

A second change, according to Slaughter, is that Metro may now forecast ridership in light of local transportation projects planned through 2035, vastly extending the previous planning horizon of 2011.

That means that the two lines would be evaluated as parts of a coordinated system that would include five light rail lines and several planned commuter rail lines, Slaughter said.

The third change was not an FTA rule, she said.

"We were able to show the Houston-Galveston Area Council that there were zones along corridors where population and employment will be greater than what they had estimated," Slaughter said.

Slaughter said the FTA will get updated proposals Nov. 9.

On a side note, it would be nice to hear more about what projects Metro is kicking around for 2035. One thing I hope they're looking at is all the dense development going up along and near Washington Avenue. I think that would make an excellent corridor for a rail line, connecting to Main Street on the east, the Uptown line on the west, and perhaps providing access to Memorial Park in between. I'm sure it'd be 20 years off if it's even a twinkle in Frank Wilson's eye now, but I have hope anyway.

Just a pair of recent articles on Rick Noriega since the announcement that Mikal Watts was dropping out of the Senate race.

Team Noriega, from the DMN.

Rick Noriega, the sole Democratic contender to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, is more than committed to politics. He's married to it.

The Army lieutenant colonel and state representative from Houston's East End was set to fight San Antonio plaintiffs lawyer Mikal Watts in the March primary, in what would have been an expensive and close fight.

That changed this week when Mr. Watts stepped out of the contest, saying that the campaign was taking a toll on his family. No other candidates have announced that they're interested in the Democratic primary, though the filing deadline isn't until January.

Family is a familiar reason given by politicos to step down from the campaign stump, but politics has characterized the Noriega family's lives together for more than 20 years.

While he readies the jets for his campaign, his wife, Melissa Noriega, is gearing up for re-election in a couple of weeks to the at-large Houston City Council seat she won in July.

"We're just doing what we believe we're supposed to be doing," Mr. Noriega said.

With his-and-hers campaign signs on their cars and an overflowing schedule of politicking interrupting family dinner time with their two sons, the Noriegas are ready for a crazy and trying year.

"We like this," Ms. Noriega said. "It's what we do."

There are any number of issues that next year's Senate candidates should speak to: The war in Iraq and against Islamic extremists; paying for medical service in general and for children in particular; immigration and border walls; what, if anything, to do about global warming; expiring tax cuts and federal spending; and more.

And the Democratic candidate likely will want to argue this point: With Democrats likely to retain their Senate majority, and perhaps capture the White House, wouldn't Texas benefit from having a Democratic senator? It's safe to assume that some Texas business leaders will ponder that question, too.

[...]

Noriega is a serious candidate: He's 49 years old, has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University; has served as a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard and is a veteran of service in Afghanistan; and has been a state representative since 1998. He's married and has two sons.

And there's this: At a time when feelings about immigration - legal or otherwise, for and against - are running hot, Noriega, a native of Houston, is a proud Hispanic Texan. That could work for him by bringing to the ballot box Hispanic voters who might otherwise ignore the election, and against him by motivating some voters to oppose him because they think he would be soft on illegal immigration.

[...]

Cornyn, supposedly, is weaker than one might expect because of his close identification with President Bush. And he's been working hard in recent weeks to explain that his vote against the State Children's Health Insurance Program was not a vote against health care for kids. Making that point stick wasn't helped by the fact that his fellow Texas Republican senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, voted for the bill, which was vetoed by Bush.

Couple of Democratic campaigns got kicked off this week, both of which might have a positive impact on the House Speakership next year. First, on Wednesday, Armando Walle officially began his campaign to oust Craddick D Kevin Bailey in HD140. Muse attended and filed a report, with pictures. And read this Observer blog post on the race if you haven't already.

And on Saturday, Roland Gutierrez made his bid for HD119, now occupied by retiring Craddick D Robert Puente, official.

Gutierrez, 37, is the only announced candidate in next March's Democratic Party primary for the District 119 slot that Puente -- the dean of the Bexar County legislative delegation -- has held for 16 years. The district covers a vast stretch of south and east Bexar County and is considered overwhelmingly Democratic.

Because of San Antonio's term limits, Gutierrez would have to leave the council at the end of his second two-year term in 2009. But he will depart earlier -- in mid-December -- because of a state law that will require him to resign from his South Side council seat when he files for the House race.

Gutierrez said Puente's decision not to run again "crystallized things for me, but I had been heavily leaning towards running for about two months before" Puente announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election.

In a sense, this is surprising, and in a sense, it's not.

Mayor Bill White's administration has proposed an ordinance that could require developers to reduce the size of a planned high-rise building that's ignited a bitter dispute over what's appropriate to develop in Houston.

The ordinance, distributed to City Council members Tuesday, could be on the council's agenda next week -- an unusually fast timetable for a new regulatory law in Houston. Such measures typically take months to work their way through the city bureaucracy.

White acknowledged that the ordinance was drafted in response to a controversial high-rise planned near Rice University that has not yet received a building permit. Residents of the adjoining Southampton and Boulevard Oaks neighborhoods hired a prominent attorney and staged a street protest against the project.

The ordinance would require traffic impact studies of projects on two-lane, two-way streets that include at least 100 dwelling units and increase density 100 percent or more. This description fits the 23-story building that developers Kevin Kirton and Matthew Morgan of Houston-based Buckhead Investment Partners want to build at 1717 Bissonnet.

The measure would give the public works director broad discretion to require steps to ease traffic problems involved. In the case of the Bissonnet project, White said, reducing the building's size would be the most logical solution.

"The development on Bissonnet that will dump more than 2,000 (daily) trips onto a two-lane, two-way street exposed a loophole" in city regulations, White said, explaining why he put the ordinance on such a fast track.

[...]

The ordinance would authorize the public works director to use the traffic impact analysis as well as his "independent judgment" to determine whether the project would cause excessive impact on traffic. It would be the first time the city has required traffic impact studies of new developments.

If the director finds that the project would worsen traffic congestion, he could require any corrective action he deemed appropriate. The developers could appeal to the city Planning Commission.

Neighborhood leaders and the district councilwoman, Anne Clutterbuck, praised the ordinance Friday. Clutterbuck said it was a first step toward a broader traffic impact ordinance that would apply to other types of developments.

As I've said before, if this leads to a more comprehensive review of city ordinances on development, then it's a worthwhile exercise regardless of the outcome in this particular case. I just hope we don't limit the scope to just traffic flow, which I think in this case may be overstated anyway. Things like parking, sewage and drainage are important, too - more so, in many cases. Rethinking our implementation of form-based planning, so that projects are more appropriate for the neighborhoods they're in, would be a big step forward. I'll be very interested to see how this plays out. Tory has some related commentary.

You may recall that passions got so enflamed during the debate over the token tax cut that County Judge Ed Emmett threatened to file a lawsuit against Charles Bacarisse for wantonly misrepresenting his position, or something like that. It would now appear that cooler heads may be prevailing.

"I have not filed," Emmett said this week. "We'll wait and see what his minions continue to say."

Emmett earlier this month threatened to sue Bacarisse because the former district clerk's campaign mailed a flier that said Emmett "has not once publicly called for property tax relief."

"You can put up with a lot in politics," Emmett said then, "but he can't get away with falsely stating my position. It's not a question of being thin-skinned. You cannot let somebody constantly misstate your position."

This week, Emmett said that his problem was with Bacarisse's "minions," referring to political consultants Jim McGrath and Chris Begala, who are helping run Bacarisse's campaign.

My guess here is that Emmett has since had a chance to talk to his attorney, who told him the idea of suing was ridiculous. I'll bet this is the last we ever hear of it. Too bad for those of us in the wiseass business, but probably better for the county's business.

What to do, what to do...

Red light cameras installed at 50 intersections throughout the city have generated more than $6 million for the city since the program was launched last fall, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Thursday.

HPD officials are now deciding how to spend some of the money.

About $25,000 will be spent on an evaluation of the camera program by Rice University and the Texas Transportation Institute.

"They are going to be looking at everything, including where (the cameras) are placed," said Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo, who supervises the program.

The evaluation will examine accidents at intersections where cameras have been mounted, compared with surrounding areas, officials said.

The results from the review of the first 20 intersections are expected by the end of January, Montalvo said.

Almost $1 million will go toward equipment upgrades and safety programs aimed at troubled youth, and $635,000 to replace aging video cameras in patrol cars.

Hurtt also wants to buy three vehicles -- at $80,000 each -- that can be used to test a driver's blood-alcohol level at the scene.

Another item on the list is $229,000 to send extra officers to patrol school zones and areas where HPD has received complaints about speeders.

It was reported earlier that there was no organized opposition to Proposition 15. Now it appears that some has emerged.

A well-known social conservative is urging Texans to oppose a $3 billion bond proposal for cancer research, warning the money could be used for controversial embryonic stem cell testing.

Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, cautioned fellow Republicans in an e-mail this week that the borrowed money -- $300 million annually over 10 years -- might not stay in Texas and could be used for research on human embryos.

"And because legislators failed to pass a prohibition to embryonic stem cell research ... the money could be used to take lives, rather than to save lives," she wrote.

Backers of Proposition 15 on the Nov. 6 ballot said they think Adams' fears are politically unfounded, although some agree that Texas law does not explicitly forbid using state money for embryonic stem cell research.

[...]

Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody pointed out that the governor is a strong advocate of Proposition 15 but "staunchly opposes" embryonic stem cell research.

Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Tom Craddick will each appoint three voting members to an oversight committee and a scientific research and prevention committee in charge of granting cancer research funds, she said, noting these powers will serve as checks and balances regarding the use of Proposition 15 funds.

"Although there is no statutory language that prohibits dedicating state funds, there's also no statutory language that allows embryonic stem cell research," she said, concluding there could be "serious liability" in a civil court for a scientist conducting embryonic stem cell research with Texas tax dollars.

Be that as it may, here's a question for you. What happens if a few years down the line embryonic stem cells are definitively shown to have cancer-curing properties? The research is going on, here and elsewhere, whether the Eagle Forum likes it or not, after all. It's one thing to oppose a theoretical benefit, or a bond measure, it's another thing to look at a cancer victim and say that a bunch of stem cells have more value than they do. I think the opposition falls apart at that point, and that will be fine by me. We'll see.

Border crackdown leads to more drug smuggling. Quelle irony, no?

As tighter security makes crossing the border trickier and more hazardous, the traditional mom-and-pop operations in Mexico that used to ferry people across have been replaced by larger, more-professional criminal gangs, often with ties to the illegal-drug trade.

U.S. officials are reporting increased violence along the border, including gunfights between rival smuggling gangs, gangs hijacking each others' customers en route to U.S. destinations and the rape or assault of migrants.

Special Agent Alonzo Pena, chief investigator for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona, says as the border gets harder to cross, fees to smugglers have increased from next to nothing to as much as $6,000 a head, making the smuggling business an attractive new market for drug gangs.

"It's one of the unintended consequences of sealing the border," Mr. Pena says.

Border Patrol agents have noticed that smaller-scale smugglers on the Mexican side are being replaced by more-sophisticated ones who appear to have ties to Mexico's cocaine cartels. Smugglers are carrying higher-caliber weapons and sometimes dress in camouflage uniforms and use military tactics to evade capture.

"Drug cartels have more resources," explains Border Patrol agent Martin Hernandez, now in his fifth year monitoring the busy corridor between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

[...]

The crackdown, together with a slower U.S. economy, has helped stanch the flow of illegal crossers in several ways. The higher risk of getting caught and higher cost of crossing has prompted many illegal workers in the U.S. to stay put rather than return home every year to do things like celebrate Christmas with their families. For those who still want to cross, the higher risk means putting their lives in the hands of more-organized criminal groups with the means to get them through.

Here's a crazy idea. Why don't we, instead of foolishly trying to "seal the border", make it easier to enter the country legally, both for short term visits and long term path-to-citizenship residencies? Seems to me that would greatly reduce the number of illegal crossings for any reason, would satisfy the need for labor while reducing the ability to mistreat immigrant workers (since far fewer of them would be undocumented), and might just restore a teeny bit of our reputation as a shining beacon for the yearning-to-breathe-free masses. Doesn't this make, like, a whole lot more sense than trying to build a useless fence that will do way more harm than good? I'm just saying. Thanks to Grits for the link and its accompanying graphic.

Speaking of the stupid fence, it seems the government can't even pay landowners for access to their property so they can do surveying for it.

Opponents of the fence refused federal workers access to their land last month in South Texas. About the same time, the government offered to pay some property owners $3,000 in exchange for permission to conduct surveys. Congress has authorized $1.2 billion to build 700 miles of fencing.

After many of them balked at the money on principle, the government abandoned the plan.

"I think it's blood money, bribery," said Brownsville Mayor Patricio M. Ahumada Jr.

The proposal to build 370 miles of steel fence is widely opposed in the Rio Grande Valley, the most heavily populated part of the Texas-Mexico border and a region with an economy and culture wed to cross-border traffic.

The payments were being offered in a region where the median family income is about $30,000. But instead of welcoming the windfall, many residents were outraged when federal officials described the plan.

Ahumada, whose border city has already denied fence-planners access to city property, said the payments were insulting and disingenuous.

"The federal government is doing all it can to get access," Ahumada said.

[...]

Noel Benavides, a city councilman and business owner in Roma, said the payments would cloud the issue.

"If this was really something that was going to be beneficial to the whole community and the whole nation, I would be the first person to say, 'My friend, you can go in there and do what you need to do,' " Benavides said. "It's going to be a waste of time. It's not going to stop illegal immigrants."

[...]

Ahumada said the issue was also a matter of historical and patriotic pride.

"You are talking about land that Texans and Americans shed blood for to keep," he said. "And now they are trying to move the border further north (of the river) than established by treaty."

One more endorsement for the HISD bond referencum.

The Houston Area Urban League, an advocacy group for blacks, announced today its endorsement of the Houston school district's $805 million bond proposal.

The league's support -- which comes two weeks before Election Day -- contrasts with the position of the city's other large civil-rights group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"The Houston Area Urban League strongly believes in bettering our children's future through education," Sylvia Brooks, the urban league's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "In order to do this, we must ensure that our children have the appropriate educational facilities."

The other day, Tiffany said to me "How are you voting on all these amendments and referendums? I don't know enough about them to know what's what. I'm depending on you to help me figure it out." Which means I'd better figure it out for myself. I'm going to use Scott Hochberg's list of state Constitutional amendments, plus Vince's four part series as my guide for those, and the League of Women Voters - Houston (PDF, scroll to page 12) for the local bonds. Here we go...

Proposition 1:
Correcting the Constitution to list Angelo State University as part of the Texas Tech system to match a change made by the Legislature.

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 2:
Authorizing $500 million in additional state bonds for college student loans.

My vote: Yes. See here for earlier bloggage on this.

Proposition 3:
Clarifying that the appraised value of a homestead for property taxes cannot increase by more than 10% in any year, even if more than a year has passed since the home was last appraised.

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 4:
Authorizing $1 billion in additional state bonds for prisons, DPS, mental health facilities and other state projects.

My vote: No. It pains me greatly to say no to parks funding, and funding for the Battleship Texas, but I cannot in good conscience vote for money to build more prisons in Texas. It just makes no sense. I am not swayed by arguments that there are too many propositions, so we should just roll all this together into one big package. Harris County did the right thing on this, and the state of Texas should have as well.

Proposition 5:
Allowing small towns to grant tax breaks for downtown development if approved by local voters.

My vote: No. I'm persuaded by Vince's argument.

Proposition 6:
Exempting motor vehicles used in business from property tax if they are also used for personal purposes.

My vote: Yes. This one is a big priority of realtors, and it's apparently a clarification of legislation passed in 2005.

Proposition 7:
Allowing property that was sold to the government through eminent domain to be bought back by the seller at the original sales price if the government does not use the property.

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 8:
Changing the consumer protections for home equity loans.

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 9:
Exempting totally disabled veterans from property taxes.

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 10:
Abolishing the office of inspector of hides and animals

My vote: Yes.

Proposition 11:
Requiring how each legislator voted on the final vote on most legislative bills to be recorded and posted on the Internet

My vote: Yes. Props 10 and 11 are total no-brainers. Now we need to require recording earlier votes as well.

Proposition 12:
Authorizing $5 billion in additional state bonds for highways.

My vote: Yes, with reservations.

Proposition 13:
Allowing judges to deny bail to defendents in family violence cases who violate certain conditions of their initial release on bail.

My vote: No. I can see the argument for this, but I can't support more reasons to lock up people who haven't yet been convicted of a crime. Ask me again after we've solved the prison overcrowding issue and maybe I'll reconsider. For an alternate view, see Dig Deeper Texas.

Proposition 14:
Allowing judges to serve their entire term of office even if they reach the mandatory retirement age while serving.

My vote: Yes. Although I'd prefer doing away with mandatory retirement ages. We don't make other elected officials step down when they turn 75, why should we force judges to do so?

Proposition 15:
Authorizing $3 billion in bonds for a new program to fund cancer research.

My vote: Yes. And I still think Lance Armstrong should have done a bike tour in support of this instead of a bus tour.

Proposition 16:
Authorizing $250 million in additional state bonds for water and sewers in existing subdivisions that were developed with inadequate facilities.

My vote: No. Credit to McBlogger for changing my mind on this one. See his writeup, plus that of the libertarian Liberty Yes, Anarchy No for other perspectives on these 16 propositions (thanks to EoW for the LYAN link).

Now for the Harris County bond issues. Here they are:

HARRIS COUNTY, PROPOSITION NO. ONE

The issuance of $190,000,000 Harris County road bonds and the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

HARRIS COUNTY, PROPOSITION NO. TWO

The issuance of $95,000,000 Harris County park bonds and the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

HARRIS COUNTY, PROPOSITION NO. THRE

The issuance of $195,000,000 Harris County bonds for a central procesing and adult detention
center and the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

HARRIS COUNTY, PROPOSITION NO. FOUR

The issuance of $80,000,000 Harris County bonds for a medical examiner's forensic center and
the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

HARRIS COUNTY, PROPOSITION NO. FIVE

The issuance of $70,000,000 Harris County bonds for a family law center and the levying of
the tax in payment thereof.

Port of Houston Authority, PROPOSITION NO. SIX

The issuance of $250,000,000 Port of Housto n Authority bonds for Port improvements (including related transportatio n facilities , security facilities and environmental enhancements) to provide economic development and the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

My vote: No on Prop 3, Yes on the others. I am assuming (and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that it's Prop 3 that is actually allocating money to build a new jail. As with State Prop 4, I cannot support that. The others are (if my assumption is correct) acceptable to me, and I'm glad I don't have to vote against park and road bonds in order to vote against new jail construction.

Last but certainly not least:

HOUSTON I.S.D., PROPOSITION

The issuance by Houston Independent Schol District of $805,000,000 schoolhouse bonds for the construction, acquisition and equipment of school buildings in the district (including the rehabilitation, renovation, expansion and improvement thereof) and the purchase of the necessary sites for school buildings, and the levying of the tax in payment thereof.

My vote: Yes.

Whew. Hope that is useful to you. However you vote on these things, I hope you'll seek out whatever resources you need to feel fully informed about them.

This is the best comment I've seen on the Bissonnet high rise situation:

In other news, I've heard that a disconnect permit for 1717 Bissonnet has been granted, so there may be some work starting soon. Stop Ashby High Rise has a letter from Council Member Clutterbuck with an update on the situation. And last week's West U Examiner responds to the response to their story about the Southampton Civic Club knowing about this in 2005, and provides further information about who knew what when.

An application for storm drainage use at the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet streets was received Nov. 21, 2006 by the city of Houston, pertaining to a project that would include 210 apartments, 10,000 feet of office space and a full-service restaurant.

Records obtained by the Examiner through an Open Records request contained a letter from the Public Works Department -- dated Dec. 9, 2006 -- responding to the request by Maryland Manor Associates and addressed to the attention of developer Matthew Morgan.

[...]

In an e-mail Friday, the Southampton Civic Club reminded its members that a September 2005 newsletter had alerted them to the possibility of a high-rise replacing Maryland Manor apartments, but said an investigation of reported survey work at the site "yielded nothing."

It went on to say "the issue did not surface again until the early March of 2007 when another survey crew was observed at the site, although it is unclear if their presence was related to the Maryland Manor site or another neighboring property."

The full text can be seen at www.southamptoncivicclub.org/newsletters by clicking on Late Summer 2005 and scrolling to Page 5.

The article said the Civic Club had made "preliminary contact" with the city about the possibility of a high-rise at the site. "We will keep you posted," it concluded.

UPDATE: See also this Q&A with the developers, and this editorial response by the Examiner, which Michael Reed emailed to me:

Still, what appeared on Page 5 of a Civic Club newsletter more than two years ago has very little to do with why the Examiner story was written or -- more importantly -- who it was addressing.

For at least a couple of weeks prior to the article's appearance, television news viewers and readers of larger newspapers than our own have been treated to -- in their minds -- the antics of very rich people throwing hissy fits in an elementary school gymnasium and marching hippie-style along Bissonnet Street.

Most of these viewers/readers have seen or read comments on more than one occasion from someone who lives in the immediate area of the project.

Comments that contained words like "caught off guard," "shocked" or "dumbstruck" when referring to how they felt after hearing of the proposed high-rise only recently.

This has been the rule, rather than the exception.

Veteran journalist Michael Reed was handed some e-mails sent among members of the Southampton Civic Club legal committee back in 2005 that plainly pointed out that not everyone should have been all that "dumbstruck."

("Handed" as in "placed in his hand" is the correct terminology here. The Civic Club's preferred usage of "leaked" in its description implies the source gave the Examiner something that was not his/hers to give.)

The Examiner story implies nothing. It states some residents of Southampton knew of the threat of a high-rise at the Maryland Manor site in 2005. And, the ones that we know for certain were aware of that threat were "ranking members of the Southampton Civic Club."

The good news.

After three years of hard work by members of the Avondale Historic Committee, Houston City Council has approved Avondale West as the city's ninth historic district.

It is the second historic for Montrose. The Avondale East Historic District -- bounded by Avondale, Baldwin, Pacific and Helena plus about eight lots on Stratford west of Helena -- was approved in November 1999.

Platted in 1908 -- about a decade before River Oaks or Broadacres -- Avondale was one of Houston's first premier addresses.

"We want to save these houses. The houses are what makes the neighborhood the neighborhood and if someone doesn't step up to save them they'll all be gone," said Sylvia Drew who lives in a 1925 house in the 2600 block of Stanford.

A big chunk of Avondale West is for sale! Adjacent lots 600, 606, 610, and 614 Avondale are in the new district; 520, 524, and 528 Westheimer aren't. Together, they make "a total of 52,400 square feet in the heart of Montrose with frontage on Westheimer, Avondale and Stanford."

[...]

Asking price: $5 million. Being able to tell your new neighbors that you can tear down whatever history you want in their new district after 90 days: priceless.

Interesting article from CNet on the current state of citywide WiFi projects.

Despite the recent onslaught of bad press, citywide and regional Wi-Fi networks are not dead.

In fact, cities, such as Corpus Christi, Texas; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Philadelphia, are actually seeing early signs of success. And lessons learned from these deployments if applied properly could help save bigger and more, ambitious projects such as Silicon Valley's regional wireless network.

Two of the biggest lessons that other cities can take away from projects currently under way are having a clear mission and use case for building these networks and also defining a business model for building and sustaining the network.

"Cities that have seen early success have been able to articulate very clearly to politicians and citizens how the network will be used and how it will benefit people," said Craig Settles, an independent wireless consultant. "And they've also had clear business plans for paying for the networks."

In the very earliest days of citywide Wi-Fi, this appeared to be the case. Cities, such as Corpus Christi, looked into Wi-Fi to solve a particular problem. The city wanted to allow its utility workers to read water and gas meters remotely. Wi-Fi seemed like a perfect solution.

The city soon expanded the scope of its network to also enable building inspectors, code enforcers, police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to communicate wirelessly with each other. And now Wi-Fi is also used to keep tabs on city property such as vehicles and provide remote surveillance in certain parts of the city. Earlier this year, Corpus Christi sold its network to EarthLink, which will not only provide the wireless service to several city agencies, but also sell consumer broadband services to residents for $20 a month.

[...]

Philadelphia, which started building its network more than a year ago, took a different tack. The city saw Wi-Fi as a way to bridge the gap between rich and poor by providing low-cost broadband service to disadvantaged citizens.

EarthLink, which saw citywide Wi-Fi as an opportunity to own its own network infrastructure, won the contract to build and run the network. In addition to paying for the network, EarthLink also committed to providing some funding for the city's nonprofit group Wireless Philadelphia, which subsidizes Internet service for Philadelphia's low-income households and helps provide training and equipment.

Subscriber numbers in Philadelphia have not been released, but Greg Goldman, CEO of the nonprofit group Wireless Philadelphia, said that thousands of retail customers and dozens of nonprofit groups have already begun using the network, which is still not fully deployed. One of the biggest boosts in usage came when Drexel University, which owns and operates one of the largest wireless networks in the country, added the Wireless Philadelphia service to its array of services that it offers to students and faculty.

"There's no question the ground is shifting," Goldman said. "But wireless technology isn't going away. And it provides a much needed service for low-income people. We've been very clear from the beginning of that focus. And we believe it creates an enormous market for broadband."

Christof takes a look at the state of the Metro 2012 Plan now that we know they'll be pursuing light rail on all routes instead of BRT.

METRO needs to re-examine how the Southeast and Harrisburg lines get into Downtown. The BRT plan called for reserved lanes with rail already in the ground and light rail style stations -- with one exception. Downtown, the BRT vehicles were to run in existing "diamond lanes," with no reconstruction of the streets and fairly minimal station platforms. That plan made service slower and less reliable, but it avoided significant construction Downtown. The diamond lanes also allowed METRO to devise an awkward but cheap arrangement of right angle turns to get from Scott to Capitol and Rusk.

Now METRO can go back to the rail plan shown in the DEIS -- two tracks in the center of Capitol Street -- or devise an alternative. One idea I've heard from METRO staff is to take the Southeast and Harrisburg lines to the Intermodal Center instead of Downtown. That may be cheaper, and construction would be less disruptive. But it would lead to longer trips for most riders (which means it's a bad idea). In either case, a smoother connection to Scott is required, and that will take additional property.

Of course, the Capitol plan has its own flaw -- a ridiculous 3 to 4 block walk to transfer to the Main Street Line. As BRT, once could at least reason that the plan was temporary. As light rail, this is a permanent fixture. The good news: this can be fixed fairly easily.

The Intermodal Center may matter less -- or it may matter more. If the Southeast, Harrisburg, and North lines run directly into Downtown, the Intermodal Center becomes less important. It's still the Downtown commuter rail terminal, and it's still served by some local bus lines, but it's merely an intermediate stop -- not a transfer point -- on the light rail system. Of course, if the Center is the transfer point between the Southeast, Harrisburg, and Main Street lines, it's more significant than it was before.

Meanwhile, the following comment was left on my previous post:

Any idea when the first line will open? They say all lines will be open by the end of 2012. So are they going to build one line at a time, or all at once? I was hoping maybe at least one of the new lines would open before 2012.

Chad Orzel asks:

If you're a fan of a team in a sport with a championship playoff, who do you root for when your team is out?

In baseball, it's essentially a tribal thing for me. I'm a lifelong Yankees fan, ergo I hate the Mets and Red Sox. Thus, when the Yankees are not involved, I root for whoever is playing those teams. If none of them are involved, I root for my backup team the Astros. If they're not involved, I have a slight American League preference, but about the only time it comes up is the All Star Game, which I haven't watched in years anyway.

You may ask: What did I do during the 1986 World Series? Answer: Prayed for the world to end before the first pitch. I eventually decided to root for the visiting team in each game, on the theory that at least then the home fans would get no satisfaction. I know, I know, it's pathetic. But it's how it is.

All this is to say that for someone who claims to be a diehard Yankees fan - and whatever else I may think of Rudy Giuliani, I recognized him as a true fan up till now - it should be genetically impossible to root for the Red Sox. I think First Read nailed it when they said "Seriously, this is why some are so cynical about politicians." I admit, there are things about the Rockies that make me less than full-throated in their support. But still: we're talking the Red Sox here. There is no choice. And frankly, were the roles reversed, I'd expect nothing less from Red Sox fans. This is just How Things Were Meant To Be.

For other sports, I'm less didactic. If the Giants aren't involved, I'll root against the Cowboys, root for the Jets (as if that would help) or just be neutral. I'm finally starting to warm a bit to the Texans, but I figure it'll still be awhile before this question has any relevance. If the Houston Rockets aren't involved, I'll root against the Lakers, or just be neutral. In college sports, for those rare occasions when Rice is not playing in the postseason (hah!), I'll root for a team from my conference (which this week is C-USA) or against a team from the Big 12; if all else fails, I root for the underdog and/or non-BCS conference school.

All right then. What's your algorithm for this situation?

The Woodlands non-annexation deal has been approved by City Council.

Houston will not annex The Woodlands under a deal approved unanimously by City Council on Wednesday.

Woodlands residents still have three propositions related to the agreement on the Nov. 6 ballot. But Wednesday's council vote was a critical step toward ensuring the future political independence of the master-planned community of 85,000.

''It's a landmark deal," Woodlands resident Barry Millenson said. ''This has never been done before."

State Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said the deal would become a blueprint for other cities looking for alternatives to annexation.

"It's a win-win for both communities," Williams said. "The Woodlands gets to decide what its future governance looks like."

[...]

Woodlands residents have begun early voting on three ballot propositions related to the area's future. If approved, two of the propositions would expand the boundaries of the existing Town Center Improvement District to include all of the Woodlands and would change the membership of the district's current board from 11 elected and appointed members to seven elected members.

Both propositions must pass for the regional participation agreement to be carried out.

The third proposition, if approved, would enable the special district to levy a property tax. The proposition is optional and is not required to pass for the agreement to take effect.

The issue has brought early voters out in high numbers. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the second day of early voting, a little more than 1,000 people in The Woodlands had voted on the community propositions, said Carol Gaultney, Montgomery County's election administrator.

Woodlands resident Hartley Mackintosh,who had just voted, could hardly contain his enthusiasm Wednesday afternoon when told the agreement had been approved.

''Oh, that's wonderful," he said. ''I've been waiting and waiting and waiting. We have had very competent community leaders working on this for years. There are doers and doubters and the doers made this happen."

James Hale, who was leaving the same polling site, was more subdued, but pleased both parties approved the agreement. ''I think it is the right decision but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that are in the details," Hale said. The 10-year resident said he voted for the propositions because he did not want The Woodlands to go through a bitter annexation battle similar to Kingwood.

Resident Joe Merrill, who opposes the propositions, said he still is not convinced the agreement is the path the community should take to incorporation.

''On Nov. 6 The Woodlands should get what they wanted during the Governance Steering Committee forums, a vote to become The City of The Woodlands, nothing more, nothing less," he said. "I will be voting no, no, no."

From the Why Didn't We Think Of This Before department:

A petition signed by 309 Texas lawyers -- including two former state Supreme Court justices -- was filed Wednesday asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to accept electronic filings to avoid a repeat of the controversial events leading to the execution of Michael Richard.

Richard was executed Sept. 25 after Presiding Judge Sharon Keller told the court clerk's office to close promptly at 5 p.m., cutting off Richard's appeals for a stay of execution.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier in the day had agreed to consider whether the chemicals used in lethal injection constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

If Richard's stay request had made it through legal channels, his execution likely would have been halted until the case was decided. Another Texas inmate had his execution stayed by the Supreme Court on the same grounds as Richard was requesting.

"To help avoid a recurrence of such a tragic, unnecessary execution, petitioners ask the court to adopt a rule to permit e-filing, to facilitate and expedite the filing of papers in death penalty cases," said the petition by the Texas lawyers.

Such filings, they noted, are allowed in all the federal courts in Texas as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.

Because the Court of Criminal Appeals was meeting in Beaumont on Wednesday, the court's spokesman, Judge Tom Price, was unavailable for comment.

Among those signing the petition were former state Supreme Court Justices Rose Spector, a Democrat, and Deborah Hankinson, a Republican. The Supreme Court handles civil matters.

Others on the petition included Houston attorneys Dick DeGuerin and Mark Lanier.

The first Houston fundraiser for the TexBlog PAC will be this Monday, October 29, at 5:30 PM at the home of David Mincberg. Details are here. If you're reading this, you're invited. I've sent email, and I've created a Facebook event, and I'm hoping that this is as successful as the Austin event was.

If you have any questions about this, or want to know why I never sent you an email about this, please send me an email, to kuff - at - offthekuff - dot - com, and I'll be happy to forward you an invitation. If you can't attend but would like to help, you can always do so on ActBlue. For more information about the TexBlog PAC, read About the PAC, Our Purpose, and About Us. Thanks very much.

Miya reports that HPD Chief Harold Hurtt is going to launch his own blog soon. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that calls for a Name That Blog contest. My (lame) suggestion: Hurtts So Good. I know you can do better than that, so please leave your vastly superior idea for a Chief Hurtt blog name in the comments. Thanks.

The local GOP speaks about the bonds.

They haven't grabbed the publicity of the politicians and preachers opposing the Houston school district's bond proposal, but critics of the school bonds in nearby Cypress-Fairbanks and Spring Branch promise to keep plugging their message until the Nov. 6 elections.

In Cy-Fair, opponents are arguing that the district's $807 million plan is too extravagant. Spring Branch critics say their district's $597 million proposal would put their 32,000-student district in too much debt.

Both received major support this week with the Harris County Republican Party's recommendation that its members vote down the two proposals.

The party couldn't reach a consensus on the Houston district's $805 million plan, however, opting to take a neutral stance on the tax-neutral measure.

GOP members say they think their message is coming across loudly in the Cy-Fair district, where they expect to have a good chance of defeating the measure. Approval of the bond plan would raise the property tax rate by up to 6.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.

"Spring Branch is likely to pass. HISD is too close to call. Cy-Fair, of all of them, is the most likely to fail," party Chairman Jared Woodfill said Tuesday. "In Cy-Fair, there's a very conservative majority. That's one of our strongholds."

Meanwhile, over in Waller County, a bond fight there could spill over into HISD.

A legal battle in Waller County over a $49.3 million school bond continues to threaten construction projects and has left some wondering whether the case will have a chilling effect on neighboring districts that also have contested bond elections.

Despite voters approving the Waller Independent School District measure this spring and a judge declaring the election legal earlier this month, the Texas Attorney General's Office says the money won't be distributed until the plaintiffs exhaust their appeals -- illustrating how a small group of critics can jeopardize school construction.

"I would suspect that school districts know now that this danger lurks and will be more aggressive in defending future bond elections," said Pat Mizell, an attorney for the school district.

Critics of Waller's bond are upset that a black neighborhood school would receive only $270,000 for repairs, less than 1 percent of the bond. They also say they will help lobby against the controversial $805 million bond that the Houston Independent School District is asking voters to approve Nov. 6.

None of the vocal opponents to the Houston bond has committed to filing a lawsuit, but they're not ruling it out either.

"It's definitely an option we would look into," said the Rev. D.Z. Cofield, the pastor of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Houston.

Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said under the Texas Administrative Code the agency cannot approve bonds that are directly disputed in court, including lawsuits that directly challenge their validity.

The great community college funding fiasco has finally come to a resolution.

Texas community colleges will get $154 million in vetoed money after all under a deal struck by top state leaders including Gov. Rick Perry, who had deleted the money from the state budget in a funding dispute with the schools.

The GOP leaders -- Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick -- called on the colleges in light of Tuesday's agreement to rescind any approved or planned tuition, fee or tax increases tied to the veto.

Dewhurst, calling community colleges the "backbone" of higher education, said it was crucial "that we restore the vetoed funds and ensure higher education in Texas remains affordable and accessible to anyone who wants it, without putting any extra financial burden on students or taxpayers."

Under the deal, the funding would be transferred to colleges from unspecified areas of the $151.9 billion, two-year state budget. Any money removed from another appropriation would be restored when the Legislature next meets in regular session in January 2009.

Community colleges applauded the decision but said the larger issue of sufficient overall funding still must be addressed.

The deal mediates a dispute between Perry and the colleges on how much the state should pay for health benefits for community college employees.

Perry, who in vetoing the money contended community colleges submitted false appropriation requests, said the state only should pay such benefits for employees whose salaries also are state-paid.

Community colleges, which denied Perry's charge, sought state benefit funding for employees who were eligible for state salaries even if they were paid from other sources.

Millicent Valek, board chair of the Texas Association of Community Colleges and president of Brazosport College, said restoration of the funding "means community colleges in Texas can continue to offer opportunities and access to thousands of Texans each day."

Valek also said, however, that the compromise is "a Band-Aid fix." She said, "We still have a lot of work ahead" to fix the larger issues of funding for community colleges.

When I read this story, I had to check to make sure I wasn't reading The Onion.

Many mobile phone addicts and BlackBerry junkies report feeling vibrations when there are none, or feeling as if they're wearing a cell phone when they're not.

The first time it happened to Jonathan Zaback, a manager at the public relations company Burson-Marsteller, he was out with friends and showing off his new BlackBerry Curve.

"While they were looking at it, I felt this vibration on my side. I reached down to grab it and realized there was no BlackBerry there."

Zaback, who said he keeps his BlackBerry by his bed while he sleeps, checks it if he gets up in the night and wakes to an alarm on the BlackBerry each day, said this didn't worry him.

"As long as it doesn't mean a tumor is growing on my leg because of my BlackBerry, I'm fine with it," he said. "Some people have biological clocks. I might have a biological BlackBerry."

[...]

"Even when I don't have the BlackBerry physically on my person, I do find myself adjusting my posture when I sit to accommodate it," said Dawn Mena, an independent technology consultant based in Thousand oaks, Calif. "I also laugh at myself as I reach to unclip it -- I swear it's there -- and find out I don't even have it on."

Theories abound about the phenomenon, termed "ringxiety" or "fauxcellarm."

Anecdotal evidence suggests "people feel the phone is part of them" and "they're not whole" without their phones, since the phones connect them to the world, said B.J. Fogg, director of research and design at Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab.

"We'd rather make a mistake than miss a call," he said. "Our brain is going to be scanning and scanning and scanning to see if we have to respond socially to someone."

In certain circles, phantom vibrations are a point of pride.

"Of course I get them," said Fred Wilson, a managing partner of Union Square Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York. "I've been getting them for over 10 years since I started with the pager-style BlackBerry."

On the Council agenda today: the deal to not annex the Woodlands.

Woodlands residents have begun early voting on three ballot propositions related to the area's future. Although unable to vote on the agreement themselves, the residents will decide whether to give a special district the authority to tax and negotiate with the city of Houston.

The agreement releases The Woodlands from Houston's extra-territorial jurisdiction, giving the area time to incorporate itself as a city. In exchange, The Woodlands will turn over

1/16 of 1 percent in sales tax revenue, to be used for regional improvement projects.

City Council members on Tuesday seemed to favor the agreement.

"We went through a very tough experience when we annexed Kingwood," Councilman M.J. Khan said. "I don't want anyone else to go through that."

The era of sweeping annexation is over, said Councilwoman Sue Lovell.

"Our tax base is growing within," Lovell said. "We're going dense, we're going vertical, we don't need to reach out horizontally. We have to take care of what we have here before we reach out and gobble up something else."

That attitude may relieve some Woodlands residents, but the fine print of the agreement bothers Cheryl Crandall Tangen, director of the Woodlands Community Association.

The agreement creates a governing body that will not be fully elected until 2010, even though it will have new taxation powers, Tangen said. The members will be elected from The Woodlands as a whole, with no geographical representation from the individual villages that make up The Woodlands. The agreement also does not require the new governing body to hold a referendum on incorporation as a city. Tangen said.

"An unelected board will be in control of the entire Woodlands for 2 1/2 years with ad valorem taxing authority," Tangen said.

Harris County Commissioners Court has approved the token tax cut that was proposed last week. Here's all you need to know:

The cut will save the average homeowner whose home is worth about $161,000 about $12 annually.

Corporations with large holdings will save more -- Exxon Mobil will pay about $460,000 a year less in property taxes, said Dick Raycraft, director of management services and county budget officer.

Raycraft opposed the 1-cent cut. The $180 million in new revenue is needed because the county's population is increasing and inflation means salaries and the cost of delivering services are rising, he said.

The county must have money on hand in case a hurricane or another catastrophic event were to happen, Raycraft said.

While the budget officials fought against the rate cut, [Charles] Bacarisse and [Paul] Bettencourt said a penny cut was not enough.

Bettencourt sought a cut of 3.41 cents, which would have saved the average homeowner about $40 annually. Bacarisse's 5-cent cut would have saved the average homeowner about $58.

Here's today's Chron story about the state of the Senate race, now that it's just Rick Noriega pursuing the Democratic nomination.

Noriega said he is not worried as much about how to run the campaign as to make sure it stays focused on "the junior senator," as he refers to Cornyn.

"I've got buddies dying. There are folks in Iraq who are on their third tour. I wish we could keep our eye on the ball," Noriega said Tuesday.

"My personal experiences and having walked the walk in a lot of these venues brings it home for regular Texans. Money is not the end-all," Noriega said. "We will have what we need to tell our story and tell regular Texans that the junior senator has done a poor job."

Noriega said Watts called Tuesday morning and said he had decided to withdraw from the race because of the strain it was putting on his family.

[...]

On Tuesday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's spokesman was hesitant to rush a voice of financial support to Noriega.

"Why would we want to tip our hand to John Cornyn?" said Matthew Miller.

Noriega said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York recently told him he thought any Democratic nominee would have a good chance of defeating Cornyn. DSCC polling this year showed a third of Texans polled could not identify Cornyn and his re-election numbers were below 50 percent.

[...]

Texas Democratic consultant Harold Cook said it is difficult for the national party leaders to make a financial commitment in Texas because the state is so large and has so many media markets. He said Texas has two votes in the Senate just like smaller states where seats can be won for a lot less money.

"I don't think there's a state in the nation where there's a smaller bang for your buck than Texas," Cook said.

To attract national money, he said, Noriega will have to prove between now and September 2008 that he has a decent chance of defeating Cornyn.

"The only thing you have to do to get on the DSCC's radar screen is to make yourself viable," Cook said.

While Noriega currently is unopposed, the filing deadline is not until Jan. 2. Some Democrats have mentioned former Comptroller John Sharp and former Ambassador to Sweden Lyndon Olson, of Waco, as possible candidates. Noriega said he plans to continue campaigning as if he has an opponent.

Elsewhere in Noriega news, he was here in Houston speaking on behalf of HOPE, the city's public employees union - you can see video of it here. He also spoke to the Chron's Matt Stiles about HOPE and the status of his campaign - you can get the audio for that here (MP3). And finally, he was in La Porte speaking in favor of State Proposition 4, which would allocate money to repair and preserve the USS Texas (among other not as desirable things). I suspect his schedule won't be any less busy in the coming months.

I thought I was done with candidate interviews for this election cycle, but after I posted that I heard from Paula Harris, who is running for HISD Trustee in District 4, and made an arrangement to talk to her. Harris is an engineer and businesswoman, and has a 7-year-old daughter in HISD. My conversation with her is here, and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3
Jolanda Jones - At Large #5 - MP3
Annette Dwyer - District E - MP3
Reginald Adams - HISD District 2 - MP3
Will Williams - District E - MP3
Kevin Hoffman - HCCS District 1 - MP3

Today is the day that the Texas Observer tries once again to get the Department of Public Safety to hand over some security tapes so it can see if GOP sugar daddy James Leininger was illegally lobbying the Lege inside the Capitol back in 2005. See here for background. The case is on the docket of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin - details are here. Not much else to say other than this is your tax dollars at work, thanks to DPS' mulishness. We'll see how it goes.

The panel appointed by the district court judges to review and take action on the remaining cases affected by the HPD Crime Lab problems has gotten underway.

Harris County judges Monday began re-examining 180 criminal convictions involving problematic Houston crime lab evidence, asking inmates via video hearings if they wanted their cases included in the review process.

Of the 19 inmates questioned Monday, 18 said yes.

Because of a question of competency of the inmate who declined, it was decided to include his case, said Bob Wicoff, one of three defense attorneys who will be reviewing the convictions.

Wicoff said that the hearings took less time than expected, adding that the process of formally contacting each of the 180 inmates could end before Nov. 1, the originally scheduled completion date.

Wicoff said the details of the cases were not discussed.

"I just told (the inmates) that we weren't going to get into the facts of their case ... and that we just needed a yes or no, and then we'll get back in touch with them," Wicoff said.

[...]

The morning hearings also included retired state District Judge Mary Bacon, who has agreed to oversee the review, and Harris County Assistant District Attorney Marie Munier, who has been involved in the HPD crime lab review since the scandal first surfaced almost five years ago. Two defense attorneys assigned to assist Wicoff this week also participated. The search for two more defense attorneys to work full-time with the review continues, Wicoff said.

Oh my God. This story of the incredibly messy, vicious, and tawdry divorce fight between right-wing sugar daddy Richard Mellon Scaife and his second wife Margaret Ritchie Scaife, is the guiltiest pleasure I've had in awhile. Just read this bit, in which Ritchie tries to reclaim the dog that was swiped from her yard:

On the afternoon of April 6, 2006, Ritchie stopped her car when she spotted a housekeeper of Richard's walking Beauregard in the neighborhood. Game on. The cops later said that Ritchie punched 51-year-old Sue Patterson, then tried to grab the dog. A secretary of Richard's, 77-year-old Genevieve Still, saw Ritchie and Patterson on the ground, with Ritchie on top, pulling Patterson's hair. When she tried to intervene, Still wound up with "a swift kick to the lower back," she told police. Then a security guard named Dennis Bradshaw got in on the action and took a slap to the head, which reportedly broke his glasses.

Ritchie did not win this one-on-three suburban cage match, nor did she manage to grab Beauregard. She did, however, get arrested, again, this time for assault. All three of Richard Scaife's employees went to the hospital, where they were treated for scratches and bruises, then released, the Post-Gazette reported. A judge eventually dismissed the assault case, though personal-injury lawsuits by the employees are still pending.

Beauregard, by the way, still lives with Richard.

I've expressed my ambivalence about state-sanctioned gambling before. On the one hand, I've got enough civil libertarian in me to be wary of outlawing clearly popular activities like gambling. On the other hand, the gambling industry, especially the state lottery industry is such a sleazy combination of oligopoly and influence peddling that it's hard to see anything good in its expansion.

Over the last three decades, Gtech and Scientific Games have jointly generated several billion dollars in revenue as vendors to lotteries -- a business that flourishes at the crossroads of capitalism and public policy. In the process, the companies have steadily -- and often controversially -- evolved from minor suppliers into an influential oligopoly with a hammerlock on lottery operations.

Every business has its titans, of course. But according to analysts, lottery officials and public documents, Gtech and Scientific Games have done more than just ride the gambling boom -- they have strong-armed their way to the top of a publicly sponsored industry that they now dominate. And with the domestic lottery market plateauing, both companies are focused on securing new footholds overseas.

Gtech, in particular, has been heavy-handed at times. According to court papers and regulatory filings, the company's representatives have drawn persistent allegations of bribing their way into contracts. Gtech officials acknowledge questionable practices by some employees, but say the problems are a thing of the past.

[...]

To protect and expand their turf, Gtech and Scientific Games have tightly woven their interests into the nation's political fabric. Through the years, both companies have spent millions of dollars lobbying legislators and bankrolling lottery referendum proposals that have led to the establishment of lotteries. For example, Scientific Games spent about $1 million in 1984 supporting Proposition 37, which authorized the creation of a state lottery in California.

Often, the companies have also helped draft the very language used in lottery legislation. Some rivals complain that Gtech and Scientific Games have leveraged their political ties not only to win lottery bids, but also to ensure that contracts themselves are written in ways that discourage competition.

Here's a press release from the Lance Armstrong Foundation:

President George H. W. Bush today announced his support for Proposition 15, a measure championed by the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) that will establish the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute of Texas.

"Texans have a historic opportunity this fall to save countless lives and make our state a global leader in the fight against cancer," said President Bush. "That is why today, I am adding my voice to the bipartisan chorus urging Texans to vote for Proposition 15. Texas already has the some of the finest medical institutions in the world, like MD Anderson, and some of the greatest medical minds are already at work in this state. With the investment Proposition 15 will allow us to make, we can build upon their success and save more lives," concluded the President.

"We are honored to have Texas' most respected and beloved leader lending his support to the campaign for Proposition 15," said cancer survivor and LAF founder and chairman Lance Armstrong. "With his help, we are communicating with more Texans about the importance of voting for Prop 15 and aiding the fight against cancer. In an off-year election, we are very grateful for his help in reminding Texans to head to the polls and vote for Prop 15."

This year alone, more than 95,000 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 37,000 Texans will lose their lives to the disease. Nationally, cancer claims nearly 600,000 American lives every year.

Prop 15 is a constitutional amendment to establish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to:

* Conduct research to prevent or cure cancer
* Support existing cancer research efforts in Texas
* Implement the Texas Cancer Plan, a statewide blueprint for cancer prevention and control.

If passed, Proposition 15 will authorize up to $3 billion in state general obligation bonds to fund cancer research, prevention, early detection and control programs.

Early voting began on October 22 and continues through November 2. Election day is Tuesday, November 6.

To learn more about Proposition 15 please visit the following links:
www.livestrong.org
www.texanstocurecancer.com

In related news, my colleague Vince is doing his analysis of the various amendments on the ballots. Here's his take on amendments one through four, five through nine, ten through thirteen, and fourteen through sixteen, which includes a Yes vote on Prop 15. Take a look and see what you think.

I guess I better stop saying things like "this is the last campaign overview story for this cycle", because I keep being wrong about that, as today's piece on the HISD District 2 trustee race demonstrates.

Northeast Houston is home to several schools whose enrollment has declined sharply over the past decade as students transfer to other campuses and families move out of the area.

The pool of candidates for the District II seat who hope to reverse that trend includes two political veterans: Michael Yarbrough, who served on the City Council from 1994 to 1999, and Carol Mims Galloway, who held the District II seat for most of the 1990s and then served six years on the City Council.

Also in the Nov. 6 race are Larry Williams, a pastor who lost prior bids for the school board and City Council, and two political neophytes: Reginald Adams, who runs a nonprofit community arts organization, and Charles McCloud, marketing director for Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, a Shell company.

The winner will replace Kevin Hoffman, who is not seeking re-election after eight years on the board.

Much of the criticism of the district's $805 million bond proposal, which also will be on the November ballot, has come from northeast Houston. The proposal would merge several schools in District II, and most of the candidates have blasted Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra and the board for not seeking community input before the plan was unveiled.

Only Adams, 35, has said he supports the bond plan, and he worries that this might be his downfall. Yarbrough did not return phone calls seeking comment, but he has spoken publicly against the proposal.

With a son in first grade at Cornelius Elementary, Adams said he particularly likes the $90 million slated for security upgrades across the city.

"Why are we waiting for that -- because you didn't ask me for permission?" he asked. "OK, I'm upset. But I'm over that. The bigger issue at hand is, 'Do we really need this bond?' Absolutely."

Anyway. Whether it's the last such article or not, it's a decent review of HISD #2, so give it a look. We'll see if there's any more races I've forgotten about that will get covered tomorrow.

The Chron takes a look at State Proposition 4, to my mind one the genuinely contentious issues on the ballot.

Texans who want nicer state parks or who support funding to preserve historic courthouses will have to read between the lines to find their favorite causes on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

Up to $1 billion in general obligation-bonding authority will allow construction of three state prisons, state park improvements, historic preservation and new Texas Youth Commission facilities if voters approve Proposition 4 in the constitutional amendment election.

But voters will have to do their homework to understand the ballot.

The Proposition 4 language simply asks approval for up to $1 billion in bonds "for maintenance, improvement, repair and construction projects and for the purchase of needed equipment." No mention of state parks, county courthouse preservation and the like.

Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said legislators couldn't specifically break out bonding propositions for parks, historical preservation and prisons because to do so would clutter up the ballot, which already contains 16 amendment proposals.

"What we're asking the voters of Texas to do is to look at the big picture," Ogden said Monday, the first day of early voting for the election. "Putting more propositions on the ballot would be counterproductive."

"It's hard enough now to get the voters' attention on 16 propositions," he said.

But critics contend the number of proposals shouldn't matter.

"What matters is the ability for the voter to really know what they're going to be spending their money on," said Ana Yanez-Correa, executive director for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.

The group opposes Proposition 4 because it wants time for Texans to assess the effectiveness of alternatives to incarceration, which the Legislature adopted earlier this year. Spending $273.4 million for three more prisons doesn't make sense, Yanez-Correa said, considering the prison system does not have enough prison guards to staff current prisons adequately.

"They just merged all these needs together into one (proposition), and people are not going to know exactly what their money is going to go towards," she said.

For more information on the constitutional amendments, see Rep. Scott Hochberg's page.

Whoa.

San Antonio-based attorney Mikal Watts will announce this morning that he is pulling out of the race for U.S. Senate, the Guardian has learned.

Watts, a Democrat, made calls to close supporters early this morning to explain his decision. He cited family reasons.

One of those Watts called was state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, one of the first lawmakers to endorse him.

"Mikal called this morning, around 7 a.m., and told me he was pulling out of the race. He cited family reasons," Hinojosa said. "Mikal is very close to his kids and he has never held public office before. It can take a lot out of you."

Watts is married to his wife of 14 years, Tammy, and they have three children, Taylor, age 13; Hailey, age 11; and Brandon, age 9.

"While I think Mikal would have beaten Senator Cornyn, I respect his decision to put family first," Hinojosa added.

Watts is to make a formal announcement later today. I'll have more at that time. In the meantime, best of luck to Mikal Watts in the future.

UPDATE: That was quick. Here's Watts' statement on his decision to withdraw:

"For the last five months I have been exploring a race for the United States Senate because I believe that our junior senator, John Cornyn, has let Texas down and is more concerned with his cronies and friends in Washington than with what's best for Texas.

"After spending the last several months putting everything into this campaign, I have seen the toll this effort has taken on my young children. For these reasons, my wife and I have made the decision that I will not be seeking the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 2008. I was brought up to believe that public service is a noble endeavor and I will continue to be involved at some level in the future. However, I realize that my time now should be devoted to serving my children so they may grow up in a healthy environment with both parents at home to meet their needs.

"The reasons for creating my exploratory committee still exist. As I have criss-crossed the state and met and talked with tens of thousands of good Texans, it is evident how much the people of Texas want and need a Senator who will fight every day for their interests and not the special interests. We need to elect a new Senator in Texas and I will personally do everything possible to support the Democratic nominee.

"It is hard to express the gratitude I feel for all the support my family and I have received as we have pursued this effort. I know that our vision for the future of Texas is one that all of our friends and supporters share. It's been one of the greatest blessings of my life for their faith in me, and for all of their hard work over the past months. While the decision not to seek the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate has been a difficult one, I know that it is the right one for my family at this time."

UPDATE: And here's a statement from Rick Noriega:

I received a call from Mikal Watts this morning informing me that he has decided to withdraw from the Democratic Primary race for the United States Senate.

As Teddy Roosevelt once said, the credit goes to the man in the arena. And Mikal Watts will always have my utmost respect for standing in the arena and highlighting how John Cornyn has let Texas down, placing political extremists and his financial contributors ahead of the people of Texas.

Of course, this is not the first time Mikal has been in the arena -- he's been a true friend to Democrats in Texas and throughout the nation, and has always had the courage to stand up for his convictions.

Today, Mikal made a very difficult and personal decision to put his family first. That's a reflection of a strong character and a truly grounded leader.

Mikal and I made plans to sit down together in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll continue the campaign that we started together and fight for the vision for a better Texas that we continue to share.

UPDATE: Two more statements, then I'm done with those. First, from Rep. Nick Lampson, who at one time was considering a run for the Senate:

"I wish Mikal the very best in his future endeavors. Rick Noriega is a dedicated public servant, a leader, and a soldier who has made enormous sacrifices for our nation. Rick is going to do great things in Washington for Texas."

"The Texas Democratic Party appreciates Mikal Watts' dedication to our state and the value of public service. In the time he campaigned for the U.S. Senate, Mikal made a significant contribution, raising a number of important issues on behalf of the vast majority of Texans who would be better served by a Senator who works for us rather than the special interests. I respect Mikal's commitment to his family and look forward to working with him in the future to make Texas a better place for all our families."

UPDATE: OK, I lied. One more statement, from Barbara Radnofsky:

Congratulations are in order to Mr. Watts, to Representative Noriega, and to the people of Texas.

I respect Mr. Watts for his decision and effort to step forward and explore, and understand his family-oriented choice announced today.

I support Lt. Colonel Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate. Texas needs his leadership and service. His efforts will also lead the way for those of us who desire to serve the public in elective office.

The announcements today bode remarkably well for Democrats winning in November 2008, and beyond. This will help fundraising and merge the interests and needs of the diverse and expanding Texas Democratic Party. Folks are re-joining the Democrats. I've seen interest and support from Republicans and Independents attending the last eight fundraisers we've hosted this summer and fall. The Republican and Independent support for Democrats is increasing in intensity and generosity. And that is great.

If you don't like (or can't read) the PDF map of early voting locations as put out by the County Clerk's office, try Matt Stiles' Google map instead. Click on the pins to get street addresses and directions. There's a roundup of the Chron campaign coverage there as well, so check it out. Meanwhile, Stace reports on some political comments being made by poll workers at the Kingwood Library location. That's a no-no, and should be reported to the County Clerk and/or Secretary of State. He's got the phone numbers for that, if you encounter something inappropriate at your EV location.

Phillip Martin has a useful chart listing the 15 Craddick Democrats from last session and giving an update as to their current status. The bottom line:

Of the 15, there are definitely 5 fewer supporters for Craddick, two "maybes" (three, if you include Rep. Turner), three Craddick D's facing primary challenges, and maybe a few more who would no longer call themselves Craddick D's.

Remember the kids from Pearland who got an anti-smoking referendum on their city's ballot after failing to get a measure passed by the city council? Well, now they're campaiging to get it passed next month.

Voters will decide Nov. 6 if members of a sixth-grade science class had a good idea when they proposed a ban on smoking in most public places.

The issue has been quiet since last spring, when members of the Sablatura Middle School class presented their proposed smoking ban ordinance to City Council. They also handed in petitions with enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.

The students are seventh-graders now and in junior high, but they haven't forgotten.

"We're thinking about having a car wash or something to raise money to make signs," said Mitchell Hoffman. Last spring he was upset because the council didn't adopt the ordinance without putting it before voters first. "That means I'll have to breathe smoke for seven more months," he said.

Savannah Owens said she plans to meet with other students to make signs for yards and polling places.

The campaign has gotten her interested in politics, she said. "I'm planning to go to Harvard Law School," she said.

She's persuaded at least her mom and dad to vote for the smoking ban.

Her father, Seth Owens, said he wouldn't be surprised to find his daughter's name on a ballot in the future.

"She said she wants to become a lawyer and fix some of the things she thinks is wrong," he said. "I warned her that sometimes we wouldn't see the same way on some issues, but I agree with her on this one."

The ordinance would ban smoking in restaurants, businesses and other public places, including outdoor stadiums and within 25 feet of entrances to such facilities.

As we know with last week's announcement, Metro is about to begin construction on five new light rail lines. The Metro blog talks a bit more about how they will go about doing it.

We've said we would deliver all that by the end of 2012 - along with an Intermodal Terminal.

So how do we plan to do that?

Through a strategy called design/build. "Design/build, also called a hybrid delivery system, allows us to engineer and design a project while we're beginning construction," said Russ Frank, director of government affairs.

METRO worked very hard to change state law to allow us to use this hybrid delivery system - and in 2005, the state Legislature passed House Bill 2300.

"We can start the utility work and preliminary work," Frank explained. "We already have the preliminary engineering, we just don't have the final design. This allows us to use a contracting method that allows the design and construction phases to overlap."

It's the Early Voting Has Begun edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup. Click on to read the highlights.

PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has an advance of the Max Cleland-Karl Rove debate, coming up this Friday, October 26.

Diarist Scott Cobbat Texas Kaos updates us on the growing movement to hold rogue Judge Sharon Keller accountable for her callous disregard for the responsibility of the Appeals court while she displays her intoxication with its power.

State Senator Craig Estes, Senate District 30, was given numerous examples of Texas Railroad Commission malpractice, negligence, incompetence and cronyism at his recent Town Hall Meeting in Wise County. TXsharon at Bluedaze asks: Will Senator Estes Investigate the RRC's Malpractice?

Adam at Three Wise Men looks into the future to give us his expert opinion on the 2010 Texas Gubernatorial race.

McBlogger has been keeping a watchful eye on what's happening in Congress with FISA expansion.

At Half Empty, Hal ponders the question: which Republican candidate can the evangelicals support for President?

Muse vs. State Senator Eltife. A whole lotta safe sex going on or should the the State of Texas get involved in adults getting free condoms on campus?

Todd Hill at Burnt Orange Report interviews Dan Barrett, the only Democrat in the special election race for HD 97 in Fort Worth.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson reports on some unbelievable statements made by County Commissioner Cynthia Long on the children that are being detained at the T. Don Hutto facility in Taylor, Texas.

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at a State Representative, Fred Brown (R-Bryan), who has scheduled an oversight hearing of an agency that is investigating his business partner.

Bradley at North Texas Liberal celebrates one of the first and only times Sen. John Cornyn has been on the right side of the issue: securing H-2B visas for seasonal workers and joining with Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland to help save small business... at least for another year.

Are government emails covered by open record laws? Off the Kuff takes a look.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme wonders if a Dallas minister will lose his church's tax exempt status by slamming Mitt Romney because 'he's not a Christian.'

Nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders why Homeland Security purchases products from China when Americans industry is disappearing and jobs are declining.

The Texas Cloverleaf looks into the pending libel and slander lawsuit against Dallas Republicans, including State Rep. Tony Goolsby.

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News updated on political news and gossip in the Pasadena area. Like most gossip one item was wrong.

Think arbitration is fair? Think again. John Coby at Bay Area Houston notes that the bottom line from the data is clear. In the nearly 20,000 cases where NAF [National Arbitration Forum] reached a decision, First USA prevailed in an astonishing 99.6 percent of cases.

Refinish69 at Doing My Part For The Left thinks Texas State Senator Kevin Eltife Needs Some Education.

Paul Burka says yes.

All signs point to Earle's retirement as district attorney. The first indication I received was an e-mail from a prospective candidate:

Paul, I am writing to inform you of my decision to commence an exploratory campaign to become the next District Attorney of Travis County. If, as I expect, Ronnie decides to retire at the end of his current term, I intend to do everything humanly possible to succeed him ....

In the event that I do become a candidate for District Attorney - and I have good reason to believe that I will soon have that opportunity - I hope that we will be able to count on your support.

The e-mail came from Rick Reed, an attorney who I got to know through Tom DeLay's successful challenge to his indictment for conspiracy. Reed fashioned a winning argument but he had a losing court (of Criminal Appeals).

OK, I suppose technically this story about Mayor White's political future and not the HCC trustee story will be the last campaign overview article in the Chron for this election cycle. It only barely qualifies as a campaign overview story in that it managed to give a couple of paragraphs to Mayor White's opponents, which must go down as the best comic relief of the season:

White faces meat-packing plant worker Amanda Ulman and contract engineer and professional wrestling promoter Outlaw Josey Wales IV in the Nov. 6 election.

Ulman is running on behalf of the Socialist Workers Party. Her platform includes calls for amnesty for all illegal immigrants, the immediate end to the Iraq war and a massive public works project to give jobs to the unemployed at union wages.

"Workers are a majority of Houston, and we need our own voice. We need someone to stand up and raise demands that are in our own interest," said Ulman, an Indiana native who was a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006. "We join in the struggles of working people."

White's other opponent, who legally changed his name to Outlaw Josey Wales in 1998 to create a persona for his wrestling events, ran unsuccessfully against former Mayor Lee Brown a year later. He said he wants to pay Houston police officers more and ensure the long-term viability of their pension system.

He wants to make it illegal to drive while holding a cell phone and to require at least four motorists in a car to allow access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes. He also wants to extend rail lines along major freeways from downtown to the city limits.

"You've got to get people out of their cars," he said. "There's no reason someone in Kingwood, Humble, Katy, (U.S.) 290 north, Clear Lake, anywhere out past the Beltway on Interstate 10 either way, should be driving into work."

HISD Superintendant Abelardo Saavedra speaks to the Chron about the bumpy ride the bond referendum has had. I just want to highlight one piece of this, which to my mind explains why the ride has been bumpy better than anything else I've seen so far:

With just over two weeks left until the Nov. 6 election, Saavedra is sticking to his guns. He told the Houston Chronicle in an extended interview that he won't bend to the political pressure by adding money to critics' pet projects.

"I won't identify people, but I have been told that, 'Unless you do this or that, whether it be add more dollars to my project or leave this school alone or don't consolidate this school, I will fight you to the very end. I will bring this bond issue down,' " he said.

[...]

Saavedra believes he has tackled the most serious concerns in the original bond proposal, leaving critics to latch onto the only major complaint left: the lack of public involvement in developing the plan.

While he readily admits he could have done a better job at that, he said 12 solid months wouldn't have been enough to win over some of the loudest critics, who wanted him to sign off on their deals.

"People can throw the lack of community input out there as the issue, and we certainly can improve on that," Saavedra said. "But the real issue is that we were trying to be fair with all schools, all communities, and not just listen to the people screaming the loudest."

Early voting begins today for the November 6 election.

Early voting begins today in the Nov. 6 general election, which includes 16 constitutional amendments proposed by Texas lawmakers, the city of Houston's mayoral and council elections, $805 million in bonds proposed by the Houston Independent School District, and $893 million Harris County and Port of Houston bonds.

Voters in 28 other area cities, school districts and other political entities also start going to the polls today. Some area ballots will have as many as 34 items for voters to consider, Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said last week.

There are 33 early voting locations across Harris County, which can be found at Kaufman's Web site, www.harrisvotes.org.

There are some changes to the early voting locations, Kaufman said. Voters should note that the Hobby area early voting location has returned to the IBEW Hall #66, at 4345 Allen Genoa.

Voting in Kingwood will be at the Harris County Library's Kingwood Branch at 4102 Rustic Woods and voting in far west Houston will be at the Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum, located at 901 Yorkchester.

From today through Friday the early voting schedule is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday; and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Kaufman encouraged voters to bring voter registration cards and another form of identification, such as a driver's license, to the early vote locations.

Anyway. There are many fine candidates on the ballot that are worthy of your consideration. I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you about this one:

UPDATE: From Julie Keller in the comments:

As odious as Voter ID laws are, you should encourage your readers to bring both voter card and another ID, because newly registered, first-time voters are required to show ID the first time they vote.

This is, I think, a new law, and could be part of HAVA. I worked as a Texas elections judge in the 2004 primary. Newly enrolled voters appear on the voter rolls with a "ID REQUIRED" or "NEW VOTER" or some such designation next to their names. When they check in, and the elections judge notices they're a first time voter, they are required to ask to see some ID before allowing first time voters to vote.

I don't like it either, it impresses me as the Texas GOP's response to motor voter drives. But it's the law.

One more bit of shock and outrage about Sharon Keller, from someone who once worked for the Court of Criminal Appeals:

All the Texas judges had to have been available by phone for this vote. At least that's what they are supposed to do at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, most especially in the hours before an execution. At least that's what they did in 1983, when I worked there as a briefing attorney. In the weeks and days and, most especially, on the day and in the hours leading up to a midnight execution, everyone knew about it -- the lawyers, the court clerk, the clerical staff, even the nightly cleaning crew.

The air was thick with tension on "those days," especially in "the bullpen," the nickname of the large room where four of us worked, side by side, because the court had run out of space for our offices. It was the unofficial headquarters, the office water cooler -- for all the new briefing attorneys to exchange gossip, pitch legal strategy or chat about some nuance of case law.

No one went out for lunch on the day of or a few days before an execution; some high-strung briefing attorneys could barely keep breakfast down.

It's hard for me to understand exactly what happened on Sept. 25. By the time I had left the court in 1984, only three men had been executed in Texas. The number is now 405. Has the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals become so desensitized to executions that it can't stop the killing machine for an extra 20 minutes?

Even on a day when there is an 11th-hour and very unexpected announcement from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will review a crucial death penalty issue, everyone knows it takes hours for the defendant's appellate lawyers to review stacks of appellate briefs to see if the "out of left field" the cruel and unusual punishment/lethal injection claim was raised earlier. Then there is a quick strategy session and a race to the computer to crank out a 108-page application to stop the execution based on the U.S. Supreme Court's order. I can't imagine the pandemonium in that law office when, out of the blue, their computer crashed, making a 5 p.m. deadline of 11 hard copies absolutely impossible. All of this was taking place one hour before the execution.

[...]

On Sept. 25, the eyes of the United States and the world, were on Texas, and still are. On Sept. 30, members of the European Parliament called for an immediate moratorium on executions, and overwhelmingly voted in favor, 504-45, to mark Oct. 10 as the official European Day against the Death Penalty.

But I still would like to know: Did Keller close the office at 5 p.m. because she's dumb or just mean?

In other transportation news from last week, the I-45 Coalition spoke before City Council last week to urge support for the I-45 Parkway concept. Here's a KTRH report of their appearance:

It's a whole new way of thinking about your ride on I-45. Imagine traveling several miles-- underground in a tunnel-- as you commute from North Houston to the downtown area.

The I-45 Coalition's plan is a stark contrast with what the Texas Department of Transportation envisions for improving the freeway. And while you might think constructing such a long underground roadway might be prohibitively expensive, I-45 Coalition President Jim Weston doesn't see it that way.

"The Freeway would cost $297 million a mile, the tunnel would be $317 million per mile, it's a five percent difference in the end," Weston said before the group took its plan to Houston's City Council Tuesday.

And, Weston said, the plan could be completed in half the the time it would take TexDot to complete it's tunnel-less improvements, while adding more lanes for express traffic, and cutting down on both environmental and noise pollution.

As for flooding, Weston said there's no need for concern. "A tunnel can be easily engineered not to flood. The reason 45 floods is it's an open pit where all the water goes in. A tunnel is not designed that way."

Well, this is a surprise.

J. K. Rowling, author of the worldwide best-selling Harry Potter series, met some of her American fans Friday night and provided some surprising revelations about the fictional characters who a generation of children have come to regard as close friends.

In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne, read from her seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. "Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling as the audience erupted in surprise. She added that, in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonished fans, Rowling added. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

I think this will be the last of the campaign overview stories.

Five candidates are vying for two spots on [Houston Community College]'s governing board in the Nov. 6 election, and all but the one incumbent are taking issue with the leadership of the current trustees.

Yolanda Navarro Flores is fighting to keep her seat, while trustee Jay Aiyer, who pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a governmental record, decided not to run for re-election.

Kevin J. Hoffman, a real estate and contract analyst for energy companies, is challenging Flores, a lawyer, in their north Houston district.

[...]

In the district that covers southwest Houston and Fort Bend County, there are three contenders -- Manuel "Meme" Barrera, Lois Davis and Neeta Sane -- for the seat vacated by Aiyer.

The Chron endorses Mayor White. Well, what were you expecting, a plug for Outlaw Josey Wales? Sometimes these things are very, very easy.

Much more enlightening in a way is the airing of grievances by the Chron's new lightweight conservative columnist, whose case against the Mayor basically boils down to "he's done things I don't like, and hasn't done things that I do like". To say the least, he really reaches:

White's scared off any serious competition once again, just as in 2005, when 91 percent of those voting chose him. Or, you might note, when 9 percent of voters said they'd rather have one of the perennial or also-ran candidates who clutter up the ballot each election cycle than Houston's much-lauded mayor.

And the Chron wraps up their series of Council race overviews with a look at the District I contest, which may be the closest one going. They also talk to some people who aren't the candidates themselves, which adds something to this story that the others didn't have:

Residents who attended the recent forum seemed to favor Rodriguez because of Alvarado's tutelage.

"Carol is very good and we think he's the experienced candidate," said Dixie Picha, a member of the Great Magnolia/Pineview Place Civic Club.

"He's familiar with what we go through and what we need in that area," said Maria Villarreal, 76, a retired school custodian.

But Marron supporters say District I needs a change.

"We need some different leadership out here," said Frank Black, 54, a homeowner on Clay. He said Alvarado's office has done nothing about clogged drainage ditches on his street. He also complained about train horns blowing in District I and streets in disrepair.

"If we vote for him (Rodriguez), we get more of the same, which is absolutely nothing," Black said, adding he thought Marron would be more responsive.

Via South Texas Chisme, the Public Utilities Commission has denied a request to halt construction of the Kenedy Ranch wind farm.

The Coastal Habitat Alliance, which includes King Ranch, Frontera Audubon Society and several other organizations, had petitioned for "intervenor" status in the construction of a transmission line that will connect two proposed wind farms to the electric grid.

The two wind farms -- one being developed by PPM Energy and the other by Australia-based Babcock & Brown -- both are located on privately owned Kenedy Ranch, and so the alliance saw the PUC's public hearing as its only opportunity to stop the wind farms, representatives have said.

At its hearing Wednesday, the PUC denied the alliance's request 2-1.

Alliance members said they had hoped to obtain intervenor status so they could request an environmental study be conducted, assessing the wind farms' possible impact on migrating birds and habitat. The alliance earlier this week announced the preliminary results of an assessment it commissioned, which suggested the wind farms could prove harmful to migrating birds.

Representatives from PPM Energy and Babcock & Brown said this week that the companies have conducted bird-migration studies at the proposed wind-farm sites and have concluded that few birds would be in danger from wind turbines placed there.

In a statement, the alliance expressed "extreme disappointment" in the commission's decision to deny intervenor status.

"By refusing the participation of experts who have come to the table to offer their experience and assistance, the PUC is denying itself and our state the benefit of their knowledge and insight," said Jim Blackburn, an Austin attorney and the alliance's founder, in a statement.

The alliance might pursue legal action next, alliance spokeswoman Elyse Yates said Wednesday.

Now that there are no more appeals pending for Tom DeLay, and Travis County DA Ronnie Earle says he's ready to go to trial, when shall we see The Erstwhile Hammer in court? Not just yet, says the presiding judge.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has denied rehearing of the State's appeal. Still pending in the Austin Court of Appeals are appeals taken by Messrs Colyandro and Ellis on rulings by Judge Perkins before I got in the case on Applications for Pretrial Habeas relief based on alleged Unconstitutionality of certain of the statutes on which the prosecutions are based. Prudence may dictate awaiting the outcome of those appeals before proceeding.

Want to be a deputy vote registrar and help get people registered to vote? Here's how you can do that:

Houston Votes Kick-off Voter Registration Training

Monday October 22nd
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Upper Kirby Management Building
3015 Richmond
Houston, TX 77098

RSVP to [email protected]

Top 5 Reasons to Attend

Make a difference in our democracy
Get Deputized to become a Voter Regisrtar
Volunteer for registration opportunities in your community
Have fun meeting fellow Houston activists
Free Pizza

Houston Votes is a non-profit/ non-partisan collaborative partnership project working to empower individuals and organizations to strengthen civic participation through voter registration in Houston's traditionally disenfranchised modest income and youthful communities. Together, we will build a dynamic grassroots movement to register, educate, organize, and turnout Houston voters.

More fun in the At Large #5 race:

City Council candidate Zaf Tahir has exaggerated his civic experience, according to opponents and city officials.

Tahir, who is running for the At-Large 5 seat, served as chairman of the Mayor's Task Force on Convenience Store Security. But in stump speeches and in campaign literature, he has called it the "Task Force on Safety and Security" or the "Task Force on Safety and Security for small retail establishments."

"I think he's trying to make it something more than what it actually is," opponent Tom Nixon said. "If you work with elected officials, you need to be honest about the work you actually do."

Mayor Bill White's chief of staff, Michael Moore, called Tahir on Thursday and told him to correct a campaign postcard that called it "Task force on safety and security."

"We're going to reprint it with the whole phrase," said Tahir's media consultant Spencer Neumann.

Asked about Tahir's claims, opponent Jolanda Jones remarked, "Everything on my stuff is accurate. That's one thing you'll get with Jolanda is honesty."

Not so fast, countered Tahir. Jones claims to be endorsed by the Jewish Herald Voice and Congressman Ted Poe, but those are not official endorsements, Tahir said.

Editors for the Jewish Herald Voice said Thursday they would not publish their official endorsement until Nov. 1, but they were going with Jones.

Poe's position is more complicated. Poe's press secretary said Thursday she was unaware of any official endorsements. But Jones said Poe has given her his support, and told her to go ahead and use his name on her campaign literature. Poe himself could not be reached Thursday.

"There is a difference between an endorsement and somebody saying good luck," Tahir said.

Keep it up, I say.

Joining a swelling tide of criticism, 130 attorneys from Harris County have filed a judicial conduct complaint condemning the actions of Judge Sharon Keller, who presides over the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The latest complaint against Keller, filed late Wednesday by the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, also was signed by state District Judge Susan Criss of Galveston, retired state District Judge Jay W. Burnett and six regular citizens.

[...]

The Harris County defense bar is calling for all other state bar agencies to complain about Keller as well.

"Every bar group should be incensed at this conduct and this callousness," said Patrick McCann, president of the Harris County group. "This judge knew what the effect of shutting that door was."

Here's an update to the billboard ordinance lawsuit, from earlier this week.

A federal judge on Tuesday clarified her recent order enjoining the city's sign ordinance, allowing inspectors to again enforce most provisions in the code.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, however, maintained her objection to the city's threatened enforcement against billboards in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, a five-mile band just outside Houston's limits.

Here's the Chron overview of the District 4 HISD Trustee race. Since I've complained about how dull some of these other stories have been, let me say that this one was nicely done, focusing on the contrasts between the two candidates.

The two women competing to represent south central Houston on the school board don't agree on much, but they do agree on how they differ.

"It's a clear-cut distinction," Davetta Mills Daniels said of her opponent, Paula Harris. "She's a business person and I'm a career educator."

The question for voters in District 4 is which type they prefer to replace Arthur Gaines Jr., who is stepping down after holding the seat for 16 years.

[...]

Harris and Daniels said they want to improve the academic and vocational offerings in District 4, which has no open-enrollment schools with the state's highest "exemplary" rating.

But they differ on some major issues. Harris supports HISD's $805 million bond proposal; Daniels opposes it. Harris supports performance pay for teachers. Daniels does not.

Harris said she agrees that Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra and the board didn't seek enough community input about the bond proposal and haven't marketed it well.

But, she said, "As a parent, the millions they're going to spend on security is very, very important to me."

Daniels said HISD officials have lost the community's trust and she's unsure the district is spending taxpayer money well. The former educator called the performance pay plan divisive and said all teachers should be paid more -- and equally.

"We should hire well, and if they don't perform, we should terminate," she said.

Harris countered: ''I really feel as though there should be no job or career where the worst and the best get paid the same."

It probably helped in the writing of this story that the two candidates differed rather starkly on some key points - it can't be very exciting when you have to start by saying that all of the candidates mostly agreed on most of the issues. But still, well done is well done, so kudos to Ericka Mellon for an article worth reading.

After yesterday's confusion, I think I finally understand where the Universities line will go on the east end. Today's Chron story clarifies it for me:

The University route approved by the board was a last-minute hybrid.

West of Main it will go, as expected, on Richmond, Cummins and Westpark. For the leg east of Main, Metro staff and consultants had recommended taking the line on Wheeler and Ennis to Alabama and ending it at Scott, beside the University of Houston.

That was a disappointment to several speakers who urged the board to adopt a route continuing north on Ennis to Elgin, then across the Gulf Freeway to the Eastwood Transit Center.

Going to the transit center, they said, would allow easy access to the rail for Park & Ride passengers from the Clear Lake area and bus riders from the East End.

Board chairman David Wolff said Metro wanted to do that but does not have enough money. Continuing the line to the Eastwood Transit Center would add $60 million to the price, he said.

The board also decided not to end the line at Scott and UH. Instead, it will piggyback on the planned Southeast line to Elgin and turn east to the transit center.

Building all the lines as light rail, Wolfe said, will allow Metro routes to overlap in other segments. For example, he said, riders on the west end of the University line will be able to go directly to the Galleria because some of the trains will run on the Uptown line tracks on Post Oak.

Didn't get to this story from Wednesday about another endorsement for the HISD bond referendum, which also has some details about what the opposition is up to.

Leaders of ACORN, a grass-roots organization for low-income Houston families, endorsed the bond plan, saying they are willing to look beyond the district's strategic mistakes.

But a coalition of Baptist ministers said they can't support a measure that would close campuses and provide what they consider inadequate funds for schools in predominantly black neighborhoods.

Both sides agree that the proposal is drawing unprecedented attention from parents and politicians who overwhelming supported the district's 2002 and 1998 bond issues.

"It should be debated. It should be talked about in the community," said ACORN member Alana Hill, whose daughter graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 2005. "If it opened the door of communication, that's a plus right there."

ACORN members said they'll volunteer at phone banks and go door-to-door to garner support for the issue.

The Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity announced plans to take voters from the "pews to the polls" during early voting Oct. A group of more than 40 religious leaders chanted "Vote no" as they concluded a news conference Tuesday.

"Let's pool our resources -- our buses, our secretary, our phones. We want to have this thing defeated by the time (Nov. 6) comes," said the Rev. J.J. Roberson, president of the organization, which represents about 200 churches.

On Monday night, Concerned Citizens for School Equality, a political action committee opposing the bonds, distributed hundreds of green yard signs and door hangers. Leaders of the group are calling for HISD to develop a long-term plan, create a task force to study inequities among neighborhood schools and establish a policy on consolidating campuses.

Most of all, they want the district to redevelop this plan with community input and bring it back to voters in May.

Meanwhile, there were two letters to the editor yesterday responding to the Lisa Falkenberg column about the union endorsement of the bond. I'm reprinting them beneath the fold for posterity. Click on to read them.

Opinion offends Saavedra

Lisa Falkenberg's Oct. 16 column, "Saavedra deal debated," was very disappointing and offensive. I resent her implication of "backroom deal-making." She was flat wrong. No deal has been made with the union or with any other group. It was this administration's refusal to cut political deals on this bond issue that caused a few special interest groups to oppose it from the start. I refuse to make deals or to bargain away the needs of our children.

I've said that the district doesn't have the market cornered on good ideas: If the community comes up with something that is good for children, we will take that idea to the school board.

And that is why, weeks after announcing the bond issue and after six town hall meetings, I recommended modifications to the original proposal. The same thing happened in discussions with union leaders.

The district has not updated its prevailing wage scale in more than seven years. With the success of the proposed bond issue and a resulting construction program, it would be timely to update it. A series of business meetings was held with representatives of labor to discuss updating the wage scale and the apprenticeship programs. The discussions were productive, and I agreed it would be prudent to make recommendations to the board for apprenticeship programs associated with the district's construction contracts and to raise the wage scale to be more in line with what other public entities in Harris County are paying for construction. Falkenberg was wrong to suggest any other motive for my recommendation.

I appreciate that columnists are supposed to have opinions to spur discussions and to sell newspapers. In this case, though, her comments were hurtful.

ABELARDO SAAVEDRA
superintendent, Houston Independent School District, Houston

Win for community

Lisa Falkenberg's Oct. 16 column just infuriated me.

Trying to make something dirty that is so good in so many ways is just reprehensible.

If Falkenberg cannot see this is a win-win for everyone, she must not be able to see the forest for the trees.

• Houston Independent School District students who live in the community will be trained in a skilled construction trade. Most important of all, they will receive a livable wage and receive insurance for themselves and their family.

  They won't be a burden on society.

  They will receive a pension so that they will be able to have a comfortable retirement in the later years.

• The new prevailing wage will increase the standard of living for union and non-union workers on HISD projects, thereby increasing the middle class of America. This will be a win for all workers.
• HISD schools will be built by a skilled work force made up from its own graduates.

Superintendent Saavedra and his staff have worked with diligence and fortitude on this bond proposal and I thank them for all their hard work.

This is really all about the students, teachers and communities helping to create a better environment without cost to taxpayers.

BILLY KENYON
marketing representative, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #54, Houston

Posted by Charles Kuffner

The following is via email from Leigh Hollins of the Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association:

The Old Sixth Ward's Annual Victorian Houston Home Tour is THIS SUNDAY, Oct 21, from 12:30 - 5:30 pm.

Tickets are available the day of the tour, in front of Dow School (MECA) at 1900 Kane Street, $15 each.

Come back in time with us, as you enjoy 'life in the late 19th century', in Houston's first and only protected Historic District.

There will be 6 lovely homes to tour, plus a "bonus" workshop full of antique/vintage working tools and machines, used daily by its owner to craft lovelies for family and friends. Also, enjoy ice cream & lemonade in a backyard garden, ride in a horse drawn carriage, enjoy the antics of "The Wheelmen" on their antique bicycles, and enjoy live period piano music (part of each hour) from the resident of one of the homes on the tour!

Come to the Old Sixth Ward, truly "Home to Houston's History"-- the oldest intact neighborhood in the City of Houston, and the largest concentration of Victorian structures in the region, outside of Galveston.

Allow me to take a moment to wholeheartedly endorse what Joe Posnanski says about the terribly offensive mascot of the Cleveland Indians, Chief Wahoo:

[I]t is not just time to get rid of Wahoo, it is way, way past time. I don't think this is the biggest problem facing the world, or even the 54,993,287th biggest problem facing the world. I don't care about political correctness either. No. It's just wrong. Very wrong. Get rid of it. The fewer wrong things in the world, better.

And it brings me all the way back to this ... why can't we just go back to calling the team the Spiders. That's a great name, and it's not taken by anybody in major sports. There's history there. It actually fits Cleveland (believe me, there are more spiders in Cleveland than Native Americans -- especially those creepy Daddy Long Legs that are like walking paperclips). And there are a million incredible logo and mascot possibilities.

Even if they don't get rid of the Indians nickname (I think you might as well go all the way) it's definitely time to bury Wahoo. This would be a good year to make it happen. The Indians are a game away from the World Series. There is some real joy happening. There is some real exciement. The Indians have a real chance to end the longest citywide sports drought in American sports. There are a lot of good feelings in the Cleveland air. It would be a good time to bury a logo that should never have been born to begin with.

Here's some more info about the Kirby widening compromise that was reached recently.

Trees for Houston, the city of Houston and two Upper Kirby District groups outlined a plan leaders from each group said would save as many trees and create as much "pedestrian space" as possible within the parameters of what would meet with city approval.

Construction on that segment will begin on the west side of the street in April -- about three months later than previously scheduled.

"If you're going to have six lanes, that's as well as we can do," Bill Coats, president of Trees for Houston, said of the agreement. "It ought to save most of the trees."

[...]

Coats said, as it turned out, the TIRZ had proposed a four-lane Kirby "a couple of years back," but the proposal was rejected by the city. As a result, the follow-up plan was "by-the-books" for a 100-foot right of way.

He described what would have resulted without the compromise as "somebody with a manual saying 'cut 'em all down.'"

Public Works Director Mike Marcotte said for safety reasons the city would not have allowed anything less than the agreed on 10-foot wide inside lanes, and 11-foot outside lanes to accommodate buses.

He said Kirby had to remain six lanes, because that is required by the city's Freeway and Thoroughfare Plan and is the Houston's only major continuous north-south roadway.

From the Things That Surely Sound Worse Than They Are department:

In order to protect trees during construction, a process called "water sawing" will be used to trim roots away from the construction area.

Twenty years ago, a little girl from Midland named Jessica McClure was rescued from a well as the whole world watched.

There was no fanfare here Tuesday to mark the day in 1987 when 18-month-old Jessica McClure was lifted to safety after falling into the open backyard well.

The young wife and mother is living quietly in this West Texas oil patch city.

"Jessica's just been a wonderful, wonderful mother," said her father, Chip McClure. "That's always been Jessica's dream, to be a stay-at-home mom."

In 3½ years, however, her quiet existence might change when all the tributes that were sent to her while the nation waited anxiously for her safe rescue matures into a payment of $1 million or more.

Many of the sympathetic strangers worldwide who remained glued to television coverage until Jessica was freed from 22 feet below the ground showered the family with teddy bears, homemade gifts, cards and cash.

The cash sits in a trust fund waiting for the 21-year-old to turn 25. Her father says Jessica is a happy and active woman, and doing "all the normal stuff" with her year-old son, Simon.

[...]

In 1987, Chip and Cissy McClure were poor teenagers struggling to make ends meet during the depths of the oil bust.

Cissy McClure left Jessica in her sister's yard while she went to answer the phone.

Moments later, Jessica happened upon an 8-inch hole and innocently touched off a global event.

When rescuers brought her to the surface 2½ days later, her head was bandaged, she was covered with dirt and bruises, and her right palm was immobilized to her face, an image ingrained in millions of people's memories and one that won a Pulitzer Prize for Odessa American photographer Scott Shaw.

Chip McClure remembers being "absolutely floored" by the media coverage once the family got to the hospital with Jessica.

Vice President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, former Midland residents, visited. President Ronald Reagan called.

"It's a little surreal," Chip McClure said about the passage of so many years.

"It's difficult to comprehend."

About three years after the TV cameras left Midland, Chip and Cissy divorced. Each has remarried.

But throughout Jessica's childhood, both worked to give her a normal life.

"At the end of the day, she went through a lot and was loved by millions and millions," said Chip McClure, 38, who sells real estate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In 1995, paramedic and rescuer Robert O'Donnell, who wriggled into the passageway and slathered a frightened Jessica in petroleum jelly before sliding her out into the bright television lights, shot and killed himself at his parents' ranch outside Midland.

His brother, Rick, has said O'Donnell's life "fell apart" because of the stress of the rescue, the attention it created and the anticlimactic return to everyday life.

In 2004, William Andrew Glasscock Jr., a former Midland police officer who helped in the rescue, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and improper storage of explosives. A year later, he was sentenced to 20 years on two state charges of sexual assault.

Back to the norm for the District B overview story. I can't really think of anything to say about it, so read it or don't as you see fit.

I have three things to say about this story concerning the candidates for City Council and HISD Board of Trustees who have delinquent property tax bills:

1. While this is certainly a valid issue, I wonder if it's really worthy of a front page above-the-fold headline, given that none of the three Council candidates named is likely to come close to getting even 10% of the vote. None of them had reported any campaign contributions by the October 6 filing date. It just feels a little like overkill to me. Frankly, I'd have led with the HISD candidates, since they're the stronger contenders in their races.

2. Once again, as with the residency story, Paul Bettencourt is prominently quoted. He's the tax assessor as well as the voter registrar, so these things are certainly within his bailiwick. I suppose I'm just amused that he's been popping up so regularly this fall as the unofficial arbiter of Houston's municipal elections. Which leads me to...

3. Do we just have an unusual crop of candidates this time around, or is this the first time the Chron has devoted so many resources to determining which candidates do or do not meet residency requirements, have criminal records, and owe back taxes? Offhand, I don't remember this being such a big deal in 2005 or 2003, though I might just be forgetting. A quick search of my 2005 and 2003 archives yielded nothing interesting, though of course I may just have not blogged any such stories. Did I miss something in those years, or is this year different?

Hot dog! Miya is the first to report it:

2:35 Adopted! Going West: Richmond, Cummins, Westpark to Hillcroft Transit Center. Going East: Wheeler, along Ennis, North to Scott, along Elgin, and ending at the Eastwood Transit Center.

UPDATE: Here's the updated Chron story, which (as noted by Mase in the comments) contradicts Miya's report slightly:

The Metropolitan Transit Authority board voted today on a Richmond-Wheeler route for its controversial University light rail line. But that was almost an anticlimax: It also voted to put light rail -- not Bus Rapid Transit -- on all five planned lines.

"We now feel we can pass federal muster (to obtain 50 percent funding) by going to light rail on all five lines at once," board chairman David Wolff said. "We can't help but believe that people will be thrilled by it."

In 2005, residents and elected officials along the planned North, East End, Southeast and Uptown lines were dismayed to learn that Metro analysis showed cost and ridership on them would be too low to justify federal funding for rail.

The board pledged to build "Bus Rapid Transit convertible" -- train-like buses running in a guideway similar to that of rail, with rails in the ground -- and add the rail cars and power system when ridership grew enough to warrant the cost.

Like the Main Street line, the University line always had been intended to use light rail.

Now, Wolff said, "we have gone through the preliminary scoring and the numbers look really good."

Metro president and CEO Frank Wilson said the change could add about $600 million to the five lines' cost, which was the estimated cost of converting from BRT.

But the total would remain at the $2 billion previously cited, which was based on the rail assumption, he said. Wilson said the construction timeline, to have all five carrying passengers by late 2012, should not change.

The expansion would increase the number of rail cars from 18 now to about 100, and it will take about three years to have them delivered, Wilson said.

The route approved for the University line, as expected, runs west from Main on Richmond Avenue, crosses south over the Southwest Freeway at Cummins and continues west on Westpark to the Hillcroft Transit Center.

The eastern leg would go east on Wheeler and turn north on Ennis, but then -- instead of continuing on Elgin to the Eastside Transit Center -- would turn east on Alabama and end at Scott and the University of Houston. From there, it would piggyback north on the Southeast line tracks along Scott, and turn east on Elgin, cross the Gulf Freeway and into the Eastwood Transit Center.

Metro officials said they would have liked to continue to Eastwood Transit Center, as several speakers today urged them to do. Wolff said Metro hopes to eventually complete that link, which would pick up Park & Ride bus riders from the Clear Lake area and Pearland, and East End residents.

"We don't think we quite have the money now," Wolff said. The added length, including a Gulf Freeway underpass, would have raised the cost by $60 million and generated about 2,600 more daily riders, he said.

Wilson said bus routes would be designed to carry passengers between the transit center and the University Line, as part of a systemwide revamping of bus routes to coordinate with rail.

Although I would have liked METRO to run more of the University Corridor alignment east of Main Street along Elgin to the Eastwood Transit Center, I want to express my support for this University Corridor alignment that has a part of its segment on Elgin because it is a viable compromise that serves my constituents both west and east of Main Street including the faculty, staff and students of the city's universities as well as those workers traveling to our major employment centers. I am extremely pleased with the fact that the Southeast Line from downtown along Scott Street to Palm Center will be light rail from the beginning instead of the "rail on rubber wheels" alternative. I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents to ensure that the University Corridor alignment is the least disruptive to the residents in my district throughout this rail initiative.

No surprise at all. Thankfully, this won't be the last we hear of this. Which means there will be more opportunities for the holdout Republicans to show how utterly out of touch they are. I'd be gleeful if it weren't for the millions of still-uninsured children that this all means. But at least we're all clear on who's insisting they stay that way.

It's coming this morning.

Metro officials have said they were leaning toward routes on Richmond and Wheeler avenues that have drawn sharp opposition and enthusiastic support.

Today's planned vote, in a 9 a.m. meeting at 1900 Main, follows a request Tuesday by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, asking the board to postpone the vote and consider other options.

Earlier this week, opponents released a 2006 study by a city of Houston consultant that warned against building rail over a 66-inch water line that runs beneath Richmond and Wheeler for several miles.

Culberson's letter suggested Metro take another look at an elevated rail route on the north side of the Southwest Freeway, crossing over to Westpark at Kirby.

Museum District residents have objected to that idea. An analysis by Metro consultants and staff shows the freeway option as the most costly and least likely to attract riders among the three options on the transit agency's short list.

Metro's response, from board chair David Wolff, said Metro already considered several Southwest Freeway options "at considerable time, effort and expense -- because of your specific request that we do so."

Metro's Draft Environmental Impact Statement shows the best ridership and cost for a route that would run west from Main on Richmond, cross over the Southwest Freeway at Cummins and continue on Westpark to the Hillcroft Transit Center.

On the east side of Main, the route likely would continue east on Wheeler, north on Ennis and east on Elgin to the Eastwood Transit Center.

Metro must complete a final environmental statement and win funding approval from the Federal Transit Administration, which could come next summer.

Metro spokesman George Smalley said the board will choose both a route and a technology. Metro officials say they intend to proceed with light rail, but there are rumors the agency may opt for a cheaper mode, Bus Rapid Transit, if it doubts it can obtain the federal dollars for rail.

The 2003 referendum called for light rail on all five planned lines, but Metro said in 2005 it probably will substitute BRT, which uses trainlike buses on a fixed guideway, on the North, Southeast, East End and Uptown lines until ridership grows enough to justify the cost of rail.

More when the decision is announced. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: OK, the meeting started at 9, but the vote isn't till later. From a press release by RichmondRail.org asking its members to attend the Metro meeting:

The meeting starts at 9:00 am. There will be a staff report on the University Line options (presumably with a staff recommendation) and possibly some other business. Public Comments start at 9:30 or so. There will be dozens of speakers. After public comments, the board will recess and go into private session to deal with some legal and personnel issues, then break for lunch. The Board will reconvene at 2:00 pm to discuss the University Line alignments and vote to pick the route.

UPDATE: Miya Shay is liveblogging the meeting. She says the Metro staff recommended the Cummins option (woo hoo!), and counted 21 commenters in favor of it against 15 opposed. The vote is still at least an hour away.

Two things to say about this story and other news concerning Congressional fundraising in Texas.

Sekula-Gibbs, a former Houston city councilwoman elected to fill in for DeLay until the next full House term started, topped all candidates for fundraising in the third quarter with $415,088 -- but only because of the $240,000 she loaned her campaign.

Olson, the former chief of staff for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, raised $217,825 in the 40 days since he entered the race, less than half the time other candidates had to raise money. Olson, whose high-profile backers include Cornyn and former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, narrowly trailed Sekula-Gibbs in individual contributions, with $166,825 to her $173,353. Olson also loaned his campaign $50,000.

Lampson raised $325,319 in the three-month period, almost half of which came from political action committees and Democratic House colleagues. With $679,418 in the bank, Lampson has a commanding lead over his Republican rivals in cash on hand.

[...]

Among other Republican contenders in the March 4 primary, former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek attracted $159,195, with the help of a $50,000 loan to his campaign. Trailing far behind were state Rep. Robert Talton with $34,700 and family court Judge Jim Squier with $13,400. The FEC had no record of a financial report from contender John Manlove, the former mayor of Pasadena who launched his campaign this month.

2. Looking at Vince's roundup of third-quarter numbers, CDs22 and 10 look to be the only interesting races next year, as things stand now. Yeah, I know, the GOP will make a run at CD23, but Ciro Rodriguez is in pretty good shape, and neither of his announced opponents looks particularly impressive. I may change my mind about this one, but right now I can't say I'm terribly worried.

I am disappointed that there's little real action going on in other places where Democrats had credible candidates last time, in particular CDs 31 and 32, which I believe are winnable with the right candidates and sufficient funds. There's still time, and at least CD31 has an active candidate, but it's not looking too good overall. I know, we'll be plenty busy with the Senate race, the Supreme Court, the House races, and all the action in Harris County, but still. It feels like a step backwards to me.

Via BOR, Quorum Report breaks the news that State Rep. Robert Puente (D, San Antonio) will retire rather than run for another term. Puente was a major Craddick D, so this - even more than the Kirk England party switch - brings us one step closer to the last days of Speaker Craddick. Says QR:

When asked about whether or not Democratic anger over his support of Speaker Tom Craddick had any role in his decision, Puente said, "I have over $300,000 in the bank along with an impeccable voting record on the issues important to my district. I have already done four events in the district in October and have been warmly received. Let people think what they will."

Puente chuckled that his retirement will allow him to focus on his "underutilized law degree."

Asked if he had any other political aspirations, Puente said he might look at local politics but any such endeavor was down the road.

Puente's retirement further reduces the ranks of the Democratic supporters critical to Speaker Tom Craddick's re-election last January. During the session just passed, Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs), Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) and Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont) all announced they would no longer support the Speaker. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg), Kevin Bailey (D-Houston) and Kino Flores (D-Palmview) are all facing primary challenges at least partially based on their endorsement of the Mr. Craddick

Meanwhile, the first name to emerge in the soon to be open seat is southside city council member Roland Gutierrez. Fero Hewitt will be working with Guiterrez in the election.

Elsewhere in Craddick D news, the Observer blog writes up the impending primary between the aformentioned Kevin Bailey and Armando Walle. Here's a story I'd not heard before:

Walle accused Bailey of representing the district poorly. Walle most recently served as a staff member for Congressman Gene Green (D-Houston). Offering an example of Bailey's shortcomings, Walle said one time Congressman Green "had to get Kevin Bailey out of bed to go vote in Austin."

Bailey says that's not true.

"I don't know what he's talking about," Bailey told me. "A number of people have been making up a lot of things."

After a hectic day of votes in Washington this week, however, Congressman Green told me an interesting story. Green said in 2003, during one of the special sessions on redistricting, he got a call from Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston).

Thompson said a critical vote on redistricting was planned for the next day and asked Green where Kevin Bailey was, since he had been excused from the day's session for being ill and wasn't answering his phone. Green said he would call Bailey, but couldn't get an answer either, he said, so he told Thompson he would go by Bailey's home the next morning.

"I went by his house early," Green says, noting that Bailey's wife answered the door and said Bailey was still in bed. "Just tell him he needs to be in Austin," Green said.

"How you vote is very important," Green told me. "That kind of bothered me."

For the record, Bailey noted in our conversation that he did vote against redistricting, and he joined the Democrats in the quorum-breaking exodus to Ardmore.

Well, this ought to be interesting. The Lone Star Project reports as follows:

A 2006 cynical smear campaign and voter suppression scheme orchestrated by Republican State House Representative Tony Goolsby (HD102, Dallas), along with Dallas County Republican Party Chair Kenn George and a Dallas GOP consultant, may have backfired. Monday, former challenger Harriet Miller, with support from the Lone Star Project, filed a lawsuit in the 192nd State District Court showing that their attack "constitutes slander" and was committed with "actual malice."

The Goolsby/George scheme entailed the blatant misrepresentation of election returns in order to file a false voter fraud complaint against Goolsby's Democratic challenger, Harriet Miller, with the Dallas County District Attorney. The false complaint was then used as a political prop to libel and attack Ms. Miller, while also suppressing African American voter turnout in House District 102.

In addition to being U-Line Day, today is also S-CHIP day, as the House and Senate vote to override President Bush's veto. In anticipation of that, the CPPP has some reading for you.

On October 18, Congress will vote on whether to override the President's veto of the bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. Anticipating the vote, America is engaged in a major public debate about children's health insurance. The Texas Congressional Delegation is split. Senator Hutchison and 12 Texas representatives voted for the bipartisan bill. Senator Cornyn and 18 Texas representatives voted against the bipartisan bill. Senator Cornyn is a co-sponsor of an alternative called McConnell-Lott. This paper analyzes how the bipartisan bill would help our state and how the alternative would hurt. Based upon this analysis, CPPP urges our Texas congressional delegation to vote to override the President's veto.

Congressional challenger Dan Grant today said his his opponent, incumbent Rep. Mike McCaul, has a critical choice to make this week as the U.S. House prepares to take up a bi-partisan measure that will provide health coverage to 1.5 million uninsured Texas children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

"Will Mr. McCaul stand with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on the side of Texas kids or with Sen. John Cornyn on the side of Washington politicians?" Grant asked.

Sen. Hutchison has said she will vote to override President George W. Bush's veto of the children's health bill, which passed the U.S. Senate with an overwhelming bi-partisan majority last month. Sen. Cornyn has struggled to explain why he sided with the insurance industry and voted in the minority against the original bill.

A vote to override the President's veto is scheduled for Thursday in the U.S. House, where McCaul also voted against the measure.

Grant said the SCHIP bill will provide health insurance to eligible children of working parents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance, which costs Texas families an average of $11,000 per year.

Damn shame. Fort Bend Now is a terrific publication, a go-to source for all things CD22, and a unique resource for local news junkies. Plus, Bob Dunn is a peach of a guy. Nonetheless, as another old dad (though not as old as Bob) with young kids, I totally understand his decision. Good luck with whatever comes next, dude. You've earned it.

Finally, here's a Council campaign story that's got something in it you couldn't easily learn from candidate webpages.

The four candidates in the race to replace term-limited District E City Councilwoman Addie Wiseman are running largely on perennial priorities in Houston -- improving public safety, flooding and drainage and mobility.

Lurking more subtly is Wiseman's tenure representing the oddly configured district, which includes both Kingwood and Clear Lake, but also precincts near Hobby Airport.

The candidates say they believe Wiseman, among Mayor Bill White's most vocal critics on the council, is popular with constituents still smarting from long-ago annexations. But they say they do not intend to emulate her sometimes confrontational style and well-known delay tactics, if elected.

"I would say that Addie Wiseman has been an obstructionist in the past. I do not intend to be the world-record holder for 'tags' on City Council," candidate William R. "Wil" Williams, a Kingwood corporate lawyer, said, referring to a parliamentary move the councilwoman often uses to delay agenda items. "If you're going to be a part of the team, you need to play like a team player."

The others, in varying degrees, agreed:

- Small-business owner Mike Sullivan said he would seek to build consensus.

- Manisha Mehta, an insurance company owner from Clear Lake, said she would work more closely with the mayor, who holds most of the power in Houston's system.

- Annette Dwyer, a former Harris County economic development official who advises Wiseman on Clear Lake issues, stressed the councilwoman's popularity, but said, "There are some of us that realize that we could probably have gotten some more for our district if things were approached a little bit differently."

It's Emmett v. Bacarisse in a battle about whose tax cut is less puny.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and opponent Charles Bacarisse waged a spirited and sometimes testy debate Tuesday over how much the county's property tax rate should be cut.

At one point, Emmett accused Bacarisse of so mischaracterizing his stance that he may file a defamation suit this week.

Emmett said he could ask a court to order Bacarisse, the former Harris County district clerk, to retract a flier mailed out last week by Bacarisse's campaign saying Emmett "has not once publicly called for property tax relief."

Bacarisse later called the judge's comments "laughable"

"He's on the defensive because the tax cut he's advocating is five times smaller than the one I'm seeking," Bacarisse said. "Because he's less bold in his proposal, he's coming up with distractions to take away from our proposal."

[...]

Both Bacarisse and Emmett have proposed cuts in the county's property tax rate. The overall county tax rate of 63.99 cents per $100 of assessed value is composed of four levies, including one each for the Port of Houston Authority, the Harris County Hospital District and the Harris County Flood Control District.

One could buy lunch with the 1-cent rate cut suggested by Emmett -- a $12 annual savings for the average homeowner slated to pay $754 in property taxes this year. An entire family could have lunch on the 5-cent cut put forward by Bacarisse -- a $58 yearly savings for the average homeowner.

The cut being pushed by Bacarisse would trim county revenues by about $125 million. Emmett's would decrease revenues by $25 million.

[...]

During Tuesday's public hearing at Commissioners Court, Emmett grilled Bacarisse about which programs would be cut if revenues were reduced by $125 million. He said the county could not continue to provide needed services if Bacarisse's cut went through.

He added that the county's bond ratings would suffer if that much revenue was lost.

Bacarisse said the bond ratings could decline slightly, and the county would survive.

"Sir, I think we've been too focused on Wall Street and not Main Street," he said.

Emmett replied, "I think that's a great line. Mark White used it back in his gubernatorial race."

The Chron has a look at some of Sharon Keller's greatest hits.

A fellow judge once accused her of turning the court into a "national laughingstock" after Keller said DNA tests clearing a convicted rapist were not conclusive because the man could have worn a condom.

And now 20 lawyers have filed a grievance against her with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct because on Sept. 25 she ordered the court clerk's office to close promptly at 5 p.m., denying death row inmate Michael Richard an opportunity to get a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. He was executed a little more than three hours later.

"This isn't a liberal or conservative matter. No matter what your opinion is on the death penalty, you've got to have due process," said Jim Harrington, a civil rights lawyer who filed the complaint on behalf of the other attorneys. "She's out of control. It's frightening to think of the arbitrary power she wields."

But former Presiding Judge Mike McCormick, who led the court in a conservative direction in the 1990s with Keller's help, said Keller has worked hard to preserve the idea that once convicted, the burden is on the defendant to prove they got a bad trial or that they are innocent.

"Sharon Keller is one of the brightest individuals I have ever known," McCormick said.

Fellow appeals court Judge Tom Price told Texas Lawyer that Keller had turned the court into a "national laughingstock." Price ran against Keller in 2000 and 2006, losing both times. He did not respond to a request for an interview.

State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, this week filed the latest complaint against Keller with the judicial review commission. He said her actions in the Richard case cast doubts on the impartiality of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

"I urge you to take prompt and appropriate disciplinary action against Judge Keller, which should include serious consideration of removal from office," Burnam wrote.

Elise Hu writes about Texas' email retention policy and how it relates to open record laws. She cites a controversy in Missouri as an example of what can happen.

Gov. Matt Blunt acknowledged Tuesday that "e-mails often are a public record" while also defending his staff's routine purging of many of its e-mails from the state computer systems.

At a news conference in midtown, the governor said his office had no written policy stipulating which electronic communications should be saved, and which ones could be deleted. State law specifically lays out what records the governor's office needs to keep and for how long.

Blunt referred questions about any e-mail preservation to his staff, which refused to comment on the matter.

Blunt's comments were in response to the controversy stirred by his aides' statements last week that e-mail generally is not kept "for very long, if at all."

Critics, including Attorney General Jay Nixon, say that approach violates at least two state laws: the state's record-preservation law and the Sunshine Law. The latter lays out public access to government records and meetings.

At a separate news conference Tuesday in northern St. Louis, Nixon asserted that actions of the governor's staff appeared to be "an anathema to openness in government."

"This is public business, these are public records, this is what we do," declared Nixon, a Democrat who is challenging Blunt for governor in 2008.

Blunt, in explaining his staff's intentions, said with a chuckle, "I think people are trying to have a clear and manageable in-box. That's what they're trying to do."

Overall, Blunt offered conflicting views of how e-mails should be treated under the state's Sunshine Law. He said the law is directed more at agencies and institutions, than at individuals.

In the case of e-mails, he said, "Once requested (under the Sunshine Law), and if they exist, they're definitely a public record."

Some took his statement as implying that e-mails are not a public record if they're purged before they're requested.

Later Tuesday, the governor's office e-mailed a statement that said, "There is no statute or case that requires the state to retain all e-mails as a public record. E-mails can be a public record if they meet the other criteria of a public record."

[...]

In general, the preservation requirements mandate that all state communications or memos dealing with management, policy or financial matters need to be preserved for three years, or 90 days after the release of a state audit on that office. The law defines communications broadly, including those on paper or electronic.

Nixon noted Tuesday that most other statewide officials appear to share his views regarding e-mails. A Post-Dispatch survey of other statewide offices found that most say they have detailed policies governing which e-mails are to be preserved, and which can be purged.

Those offices include Republican state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, and two Democrats, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and state Auditor Susan Montee.

All said they also have systems in place for long-term storage of e-mails, either electronically or on paper.

Montee said in an interview that her office must retain all e-mails pertaining to audits for at least 11 years. Steelman's staff said they had a special information technology section to preserve records for the office, including e-mails.

Somehow, I'm not terribly surprised to see that Governor Perry's office is parroting the same meaningless line as Governor Blunt's:

"Our emails get automatically deleted every 7 days," said Governor Perry's spokesman Robert Black. "We kept the same policy and schedule as Governor Bush."

This isn't illegal. I've learned from conversations with various attorneys that Texas doesn't have a records preservation law that speaks to this specifically -- and the TPIA doesn't forbid the purging of emails. Emails are considered a public record; but only if requested before they're deleted into the cyber-abyss.

So this opens up questions about whether emails ought to be kept -- not just for the sunshine reason, but for historical purposes. (I mean, those LBJ phone calls are interesting!) Is it good policy to routinely delete official communication in public offices, when email is the way most of us communicate?

I put the question to State Senator Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, this afternoon. He's the Chairman of the Senate Jurisprudence committee, which oversees public information legislation.

"This is case of first impression with me, but it sounds like something that we oughta have hearings about, what the practice is government-wide... Arguments for keeping the emails for a certain period of time and arguments against it, for whatever reason," Wentworth said.

We know that an injunction has been issued against the city of Farmers Branch, which prevents them from enforcing their ordinance requiring landlords to verify renters' immigration status. There were other lawsuits filed against that city related to that law, and last week the plaintiffs in one of those suits won a round in court.

A state appeals court has refused to throw out a lawsuit against Farmers Branch that says city officials violated open meetings laws by deciding behind closed doors the first version of an ordinance banning apartment landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.

The ruling issued late Friday by 5th District Court of Appeals Judge Molly Francis could pave the way for attorneys to start evidence discovery, which could force the city to divulge what was said in those closed-door discussions, said attorney William A. Brewer III. Mr. Brewer, of the Bickel & Brewer Storefront, represents the plaintiff in the lawsuit, Farmers Branch resident Guillermo Ramos.

[...]

Mr. Brewer said notes, transcripts and other documents from those executive sessions will reveal city officials were not only violating open meetings laws, but were "hostile toward Hispanics."

"This was all done in back channel and back room because the reasons for the decisions they were making is so outside the bounds of what I find appropriate," Mr. Brewer said.

In November, the City Council adopted Ordinance 2892. Shortly after, Mr. Ramos sued, alleging the council had violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by failing to properly notify residents about the planned ordinance, and deliberated and agreed on it in executive session.

The lawsuit also alleges the city did the same with an ordinance that set stricter property maintenance codes.

The council later repealed Ordinance 2982, then adopted Ordinance 2903. That ordinance largely mirrored the original one, essentially banning apartments from renting to most illegal immigrants.

Before Ordinance 2892 was approved, residents had no chance to view the text of the law and discuss it before the Council voted. Ordinance 2903 was posted on the city's Web site days in advance of the Council vote.

The city had asked the 116th District Court to toss out the lawsuit, primarily because Ordinance 2892 no longer existed. Judge Bruce Priddy declined, and the city filed an appeal. The city claimed the Mr. Ramos's suit failed to show sufficient facts to support its allegations and that the claims were moot because Ordinance 2892 had been repealed.

But in her ruling, Judge Francis rejected the city's arguments.

"If a governmental body illegally deliberates and decides an issue in a closed session, repealing the action so that it can be retaken in a later setting does not vindicate the very right protected by TOMA (Texas Open Meetings Act)," Judge Francis wrote.

As noted before, we are rapidly approaching U-Line Day, when Metro announces where the Universities Line will go. While the vast majority of the attention to this has been paid to the alignment west of Main Street, Christof reminds us that the whole thing matters.

The alignment matters because Elgin serves the Third Ward better, Elgin serves UH better, and Ennis-Elgin serves TSU better.

It matters even more because the Alabama options would likely be a permanent dead end. Elgin goes under the Gulf Freeway to the Eastwood Transit Center and Lockwood; Alabama stops at the UH campus. Thus, a line on Elgin can connect to the East End, to commuter bus service from Clear Lake, and to proposed commuter rail to Pearland and Alvin. It can also be extended eastward to meet the East End Line and to connect to commuter rail service to Galveston. And that means all those places get connected to UH and TSU and the Texas Medical Center and Greenway and Uptown without having to detour through Downtown. Alabama doesn't get you to any of those places.

We're building a transit system to last 50 years or more. Every place on a system benefits if it has efficient connections to other parts of the system. It makes no sense to build a gap into that system, but that's what we would be doing by dead ending the University Line on Alabama.

Here's an interesting theory:

The five broadcast networks have launched a good many of their series, and ratings have been lackluster and buzz virtually nonexistent. Where's the excitement for the fall TV season? What's the matter with you people?

Oh, it's the shows. It's always the shows.

The quality has either leveled off into mediocrity or taken a fateful dip, and the buzz that was barely there to begin with has all but vanished.

This has made it easier for viewers to skip the new network shows because there is nothing of exceptional merit in there, save for a handful of series that have been spotty in their ability to earn across-the-board praise and ratings.

Conventional wisdom suggests that this has been and continues to be a weak slate of freshman series. Ratings are down for a lot of shows, even some that are returning with faithful audiences. Why? Nobody truly knows.

But here's a theory: Better cable series that raise the proverbial bar are multiplying -- and that bar raising leaves viewers less than enthralled, not only with freshman series, but sophomores, juniors and seniors as well.

Here's what hurts broadcast networks the most: People have a magic number of shows they love and watch loyally. Nobody really knows what that magic number is, but people who make television for a living suggest that it's less than 10, probably closer to six. What if those six are on cable? That leaves fewer slots for the networks to fill.

It's a fascinating concept. Because it's based on quality. And guess what cable is best at? Yep.

Here's the Chron's overview of At Large #5 story. It's about what you'd expect for a race with a large field and no clearcut frontrunner, with a bit of biography and quotes from most of the candidates. The one thing that struck me as odd was this:

Also in the race is John Gibbs, a Baptist pastor who runs a community development corporation in north Houston. Gibbs says struggling neighborhoods need more mixed-income housing developments. He says the city needed to work harder to clear out drains to prevent flooding.

Jose Trevino is working as a charter school consultant after retiring from the HISD system, where he was a principal and administrator for 27 years. He says he is recognized as an advocate for Hispanic children and a community leader.

Anyway, according to Matt Stiles, there's three more of these stories in the queue, one each for Districts B, E, and I. Look for them shortly.

I plan to vote for the HISD bond referendum. Like everyone else, I've got some problems with the way it was presented, but in the end I've come to believe it's better to have than not have. I was also glad to hear about the AFL-CIO's endorsement of the plan, and the deal that was worked out between HISD and the unions regarding apprenticeship and prevailing wages. As such, reading Lisa Falkenberg's column today makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

"What we were told by Saavedra and Lindsay is that they would recommend it to the board and it would happen," said Richard Shaw, secretary/treasurer for Harris County AFL-CIO Council. "On our part it's a leap of faith. We're basically taking Abe Saavedra's word for it."

But this so-called agreement raises ethical questions about how far district officials are willing to go to get what they want.

Several school board members say they weren't consulted beforehand about any union deal and they said the board has historically fought attempts to raise the prevailing wage rate.

"It can't be a done deal. It's not up to the superintendent to approve things like that," said Harvin C. Moore, first vice president of the board. Besides, he said, "I don't think it has the votes to pass."

[...]

District spokesman Terry Abbott adamantly rejected claims that Saavedra did anything wrong to get the union's support, or that he promised his support for beefing up wages and benefits knowing the board wouldn't support it.

"Dr. Saavedra doesn't work that way," Abbott said.

Abbott said there was never a formal agreement with union officials. He said Saavedra agreed to recommend the union proposal to the board, before he had even calculated the cost to the district, but didn't promise he could get it passed.

When I asked whether Saavedra was motivated by getting the union's support for the bond, Abbott couldn't answer that question.

I can't answer, either. I wasn't in the room when the deal was being made. But the whole ordeal casts more shadows on a bond issue that's been lacking in transparency from the start.

Saavedra claimed he hired private consultants to assess the district's needs early on to keep politics out of the process, but his recent dealings with the labor unions seem intensely political. Saavedra may have thought that he was getting an easy endorsement, but once again, he failed to vet the idea. Like the bond issue itself, it surfaced publicly and unexpectedly only to face harsh public scrutiny.

I agree.

The events of Sept. 25 have put a stain on Texas justice that can only be cleansed by the removal of Chief Justice Sharon Keller from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

On that day, Judge Keller let her personal bias in favor of the death penalty trample the right of now-executed prisoner Michael Richard to access the courts and have due process. In doing so, she abdicated her role as the state's chief criminal justice to become its chief executioner.

As laid out in a complaint to Texas' State Commission on Judicial Conduct signed by 20 distinguished Texas attorneys, including Houston's Dick DeGuerin and University of Houston Law Center professor Michael Olivas, Judge Keller's actions were legally inexcusable. The plot line could be straight from a Law and Order episode, with the twist that in this case it was the justice who committed the injustice.

After the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider a challenge to the constitutionality of lethal injection, attorneys for Richard, a convicted murderer, had less than a day to craft an appeal for a stay of execution pending resolution of the issue before the high court. A ruling by the Texas court was necessary before the U.S. Supreme Court could consider his appeal.

Because of computer problems, Richard's lawyers requested that the Court of Criminal Appeals remain open past 5 p.m. to take the last-minute appeal. The judge assigned to the case, Cheryl Johnson, and two other judges had stayed late, anticipating that an appeal might be forthcoming before the execution scheduled later that evening. Without informing them of her decision, Judge Keller refused to allow the appeal to be filed after 5 p.m. Richard was executed hours later.

The irresponsibility of Keller's behavior was highlighted by subsequent legal developments. Two days after the Richard execution, the Supreme Court stayed the execution of another Texas prisoner, Carlton Turner. Although his appeal had been denied by the Texas court, the fact that it was heard allowed the high court to act.

Then the Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Heliberto Chi, effectively signaling a halt to death by injection in the state until the high court rules on its constitutionality.

Just as Turner and Chi were spared pending the resolution of the issue, so Michael Richard should be alive today. Since she will not face the voters until 2012, the miscarriage of justice perpetrated by Chief Justice Keller can only be remedied by a recommendation by the Judicial Conduct Commission to the Texas Supreme Court that she be removed from office.

I don't think this is going to go down in the annals of press releases.

It may have world cycling champ Lance Armstrong, Republican Gov. Rick Perry and former Democratic Comptroller John Sharp as cheerleaders, but a $3-billion bond proposal for cancer research hasn't won the hearts and minds of Harris County Republicans.

The executive committee of the Harris County Republican Party recently voted unanimously in opposition to Proposition 15, despite the cancer initiative's bipartisan support in Austin.

"By this stance, we in no way are implying or should it be construed that we are against solving cancer,'' said Ron Brunner, precinct chairman for the Greenway Plaza area, who raised the motion.

Here's a statement from State Rep. Ellen Cohen about this:

Today's announcement by the Harris County Republican Party in opposition to Proposition 15 is shocking and upsetting, especially coming during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bipartisan team that worked on this legislation included prominent Republicans such as Ways and Means Chairman Jim Keffer, Health and Human Services Chair Jane Nelson, and Governor Rick Perry, who I stood with today while visiting M.D. Anderson and urging support of this measure. As a cancer survivor, and the widow of a man who battled valiantly against this disease, and the representative of District 134, I will continue to campaign strongly for this measure. I will proudly stand with Lance Armstrong tomorrow in support of Prop. 15 and will campaign for passage on November 6th. I plan on celebrating with Democrats, Republicans, and independents who realize what this investment means to cancer prevention, treatment, and the hope for a cure. I urge people of all political persuasions to support Prop. 15.

Turns out, when I'd blogged about Supreme Court candidate Sam Houston that he was not, in fact, the first Democrat to declare for the Place 7 seat on the Texas Supreme Court. I have since received an email from Baltazar Cruz informing me that he has been running for this seat for awhile now. My sincere apologies to Mr. Cruz for the oversight. As I said before, it's nice to see people lining up for these races. Now if we could only extend some of that mojo to the Court of Criminal Appeals, we'd really be in business.

And speaking of both the Supreme Court and the CCA, Judge Susan Criss has a BOR diary up called "They've taken the courthouse away from folks", which is about Judge Sharon Keller and her nine-to-five style. Judge Criss had previously commented to Scott Henson about the Keller situation:

I happened to speak on Friday with Galveston District Judge Susan Criss, who's running for the Texas Supreme Court, about this incident, and she told me she's interrupted "after hours" all the time, mostly by police and prosecutors. Particularly for search warrants, Criss said, district judges routinely make themselves available day or night to officers of the court on the prosecution side, and she couldn't believe an experienced judge wouldn't extend the same courtesy to the defense, particularly in a capital case, wondering with astonishment, "Wasn't she ever a trial judge?"

There will be one other statewide non-judicial race on the ballot in Texas next year, for one of the three Railroad Commissioner slots. Clay Robison looks at the matchup between incumbent/Governor wannabe Michael Williams and his potential challengers.

In preparation for his re-election race, Michael Williams, the only commissioner and one of only a handful of state officials on the ballot next year, raised $322,045 during the last 11 days in June, his first opportunity following the ban on raising money during last spring's legislative session.

More than 70 percent of the money came from oil and gas executives, employees or political action committees or from law firms representing oil and gas interests.

And you can bet that in the upcoming 12 months before the 2008 general election, the foxes will shower Williams' share of the regulatory henhouse with much more moola.

"I make my decisions based on the record (of each case)," Williams said.

That may be, but the perception of a monied, insider coziness at the commission will remain as long as the industry's generosity continues and there aren't any legal limits on donations.

The last commissioner to spring into a higher, elected office was Carole Keeton Strayhorn (she was known as Rylander then), who was elected comptroller in the middle of a Railroad Commission term in 1998.

Williams, who succeeded Strayhorn in 1999, already is eyeing 2010. That's when Gov. Rick Perry's anticipated departure -- depending on who runs to succeed him -- could open up a U.S. Senate seat, the lieutenant governor's office or the attorney general's post.

Williams could run for any of the above without having to resign his commission seat, if he wins a new six-year term next year.

The Republican lock on statewide offices and his strong financial support from the oil and gas industry favor Williams' re-election, although his race could be affected by the presidential and U.S. Senate races at the top of the ballot.

Two Democrats -- former San Antonio City Councilman Art Hall and retired petroleum engineer Dale Henry of Lampasas -- already are running for the post.

Henry has lost two previous, underfunded Railroad Commission races.

Hall has enlisted former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro as honorary campaign co-chairmen and apparently has some ambitious fundraising plans.

It will be his first statewide campaign.

Although not unprecedented, a Williams-Hall race would be a rarity in Texas politics -- a statewide race between two black candidates.

"I am heartened by the fact that a young brother is interested in presenting himself to the people of Texas. If he wins the nomination, it could make for an interesting conversation among Texans," said Williams, 54. Hall is 36.

Remember how the Texas Observer won a court ruling last November to compel the Department of Public Safety to turn over security videos from the Capitol hallways in order to see if GOP sugar daddy James Leininger was there to personally lobby for a voucher bill? And remember how DPS drew a line in the sand and proceeded to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to get off the hook for that? Well, here's another update to that story.

Over the past two years, the Department of Public Safety has sent more than $165,000 of taxpayer money on attorney's fees to keep videotapes recorded by security cameras in a back hall of the Capitol secret. The case could go to the Texas Supreme Court -- despite rulings by the attorney general and a state district judge that the tapes should be made public.

The agency has insisted from the start that it will not give the tapes to the Texas Observer, a small-circulation, nonprofit investigative newspaper, because they reveal details that would compromise security at the Capitol. Attorney General Greg Abbott and District Judge Stephen Yelenosky have ruled that argument baseless.

Undaunted, the DPS is pressing on. Its attorneys are scheduled to make their case again Oct. 24 before a panel of three judges at the 3rd Court of Appeals.

The department's persistence in the matter has infuriated the chairman of the state Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. Sen. John Carona has promised his committee will find out how the case has been allowed to go on this long. The committee is expected to meet in November.

"The DPS is simply wrong on this issue," said Carona, R-Dallas. "This has nothing to do with security. I can think of no conceivable reason why DPS should be using taxpayer funds to hire private attorneys. This is simply an agency giving political cover for the Legislature. This is a misuse of public funds."

[...]

The saga began on May 26, 2005, when the Austin-based Texas Observer made a formal request to the DPS, which oversees Capitol security, under the Texas Public Information Act, for tapes recorded on May 23, 2005.

Jake Bernstein, executive editor of the biweekly newspaper, was trying to verify rumors that on that day James Leininger, one of the state's wealthiest Republican campaign donors, was in the hall behind the House chamber lobbying lawmakers to pass a pilot school voucher program. Such lobbying just outside the chamber is against House rules.

An amendment to launch the pilot program failed in the House, and the DPS denied the Observer's request, citing the Texas Homeland Security Act.

The videotapes "contain critical, sensitive information that relates to many specifications, operating procedures and locations of the Capitol security system, of which they are an integral part," according to a DPS brief filed with the appellate court. A terrorist could capitalize on such information, compromising the ability of the department to protect people who work in or visit the Capitol.

After reviewing the tapes, Assistant Attorney General Ramsey Abarca wrote to DPS staff counsel on Aug. 26, 2005, that their contents had nothing to do with security.

"The department has not adequately shown how the submitted video taken from Capitol security cameras relates to the specifications, operating procedures, or location of a security system used to protect public property from an act of terrorism," Abarca wrote in a letter to DPS counsel. The department, Abarca said, must release the video to the Observer.

The department responded by asking the attorney general for permission to hire private lawyers to get the opinion of a district judge. On April 12, Yelenosky ruled that the DPS had five days to turn over the tapes. DPS attorneys immediately filed an appeal.

Bernstein said he thinks that speculation by Carona and others that the DPS is perpetrating some kind of political cover-up is off-base. Bernstein said he believes the department is convinced that giving up the tapes will set a precedent that will leave security vulnerable to increasingly intrusive open records requests.

The case for the Observer has become far less about Leininger's whereabouts and much more about the DPS abusing homeland security law at considerable expense to taxpayers, Bernstein said. When the Observer made an open records request to obtain invoices for its legal fees, the DPS complied, and the newspaper posted them on its Web site in late September.

"Beyond this being a frivolous lawsuit, what I find a little depressing is the DPS is proceeding like there is this bottomless bag of money from which to draw," Bernstein said. "It just never occurred to us that they would carry this as far as they have."

To the mats once again with the blog roundup. Click on for more.

Barney Frank responds to GLBT activists: "Now, this is the issue: Does a political party say to its most militant, committed, ideologically driven believers in purity that they have a veto over what the party does?" Evan at The Caucus Blog responds.

BossKitty at Bluebloggin asks why are so many Texans still illiterate?

The Texas Cloverleaf endorses Karen Guerra for 16th District Court Judge in Denton County.

Burnt Orange Report highlights the hard work being done across the nation. A broad coalition has launched a campaign to override President Bush's SCHIP veto and Kay Granger is public enemy number 1 in Texas. Ads, analysis, polls, and outrage... BOR has it all.

North Texas Liberal asks, "Could Congress override Bush's veto?" Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Kennedy seem to think that SCHIP is worth fighting for. So do we.

Vince from Capitol Annex notes that Kay Granger should have known better when it comes to her recent "no" vote on the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP.

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News cannot stop writing about conservative bloggers repeatedly attacking a family who were in a terrible automobile accident and received government health care and liked it. Maybe next time your kids are in the hospitable you'll be attacked by right-wing idiots and more slime in the right-wing noise machine.

McBlogger has a story up about a State Representative you should know.

A supervisor for CPS Energy in San Antonio has a hangman's noose displayed in his cubicle. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posts the details, including a photo.

Muse notes that Kay Bailey Hutchinson is trying out harder helmet hair styles so that the words of mean bloggers will bounce right off her in her imaginary (or not) run for governor in 2010.

Warning from TXsharon: Calibrate your outrage meter before visiting Bluedaze to read how Bush policies have weakened the Clean Water Act so Texas water is no longer fit for drinking, swimming or fishing.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme notes that Presidential Candidate Tom Tancredo wants to build that d*mn fence north of Brownsville. Either you're with the fence or he'll move the boundaries so your town's part of Mexico.

Unsurprised at Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize, nor at his acceptance speech, Hal at Half Empty surprises everyone with the Moonwalking Mannequin Bird.

Rattlebrain Randy prefers a little bit of disaster - sure it may hurt his constituents, but it helps his friends in the insurance industry, notes Blue 19th.

At Texas Kaos, diarist persiancowboy invites members of the general public to sign on to the complaint against rogue Judge Sharon Keller for her callous use of judicial power.

Off the Kuff reports that State Rep. Garnet Coleman is urging AG Greg Abbott to sue to block a recent Center for Medicaid and State Operations directive that will result in the loss of CHIP coverage for thousands of children.

Stop Cornyn is fuming about Cornyn's vote against children. After voting against Texas children twice, now Junior John wants a watered down version to save face. It is time to fully fund children's health insurance.

Having complained about the way Rick Noriega's third-quarter fundraising total was reported, I'd like to take a minute and enjoy this headline: Noriega bests Watts in individual donations.

Democratic state Rep. Rick Noriega raised more from individuals over three months than his possible rival for the party's U.S. Senate nomination, campaign reports filed Monday show.
But Noriega lags far behind San Antonio attorney Mikal Watts in the money chase because Watts has loaned and given his campaign $7.5 million of his own money.

Noriega raised about $508,000 from individuals, not including refunded contributions, for next year's elections. Watts pulled in about $443,000, Federal Election Commission reports showed.

Both hope to challenge Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who will seek a second six-year term. He collected $1.3 million from individual contributors.

Of course, John Cornyn did raise more than the two of them together, so there's still a long way to go. But we're in the game, and we're in the ballpark. It's been awhile since that's been the case. I feel good going forward.

I've blogged quite a bit about CHIP, and I've blogged about the new public employees union in Houston. Here's a video clip that combines the two:

There really are a lot of bonds on the ballot this November, aren't there?

The Port of Houston Authority will ask voters next month to approve $250 million in tax-supported bonds to build new docks and enhance security.

But, first, port officials may have to explain why the authority, which frequently touts its success in bringing container traffic and jobs through the Houston Ship Channel, should not pay for the improvements itself.

The proposed bond package could face another hurdle: The Nov. 6 ballot includes more than $11 billion in state and local bonds, a scenario that has some voters nervous about future tax bills.

"The port is such a success," Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said last week. "I don't think they need a property tax subsidy. It would be great if they could get off this dole."

Authority officials say the bonds are needed to ensure Houston can continue to compete as a major national port.

Chairman Jim Edmonds said two more docks are needed at the agency's new Bayport facility because container traffic is growing rapidly.

"We have to have good facilities and good tariffs," he said. "We compete with Savannah (Ga.), Charleston (S.C.) and Long Beach (Calif.)."

The port authority initially asked Commissioners Court to put a $550 million bond package before voters. The court balked at the amount, worried it could contribute to an increase in the property tax rate and, perhaps, endanger the county's plan to issue $630 million in bonds for its own projects.

The port authority decided to seek the $550 million in two elections. It will ask for $250 million in November and seek $300 million more in three years, Edmonds said.

The $250 million would go toward two more docks, 160 acres of container yards and security enhancements, Edmonds said. Four more docks would be added if voters approve a $300 million package in 2010, he said.

The $250 million bond package will not require a property tax rate increase, said Dick Raycraft, head of the county budget office and management services.

[...]

During the summer, Commissioner Steve Radack asked port authority officials why they do not rely on docking fees to pay for expansion and improvements. Then, he said, the authority could take out revenue bonds -- notes that are paid off with port fees rather than property taxes.

Last week, Radack said his questions were legitimate, but that he supports the port authority's November bond package.

"The port is vital to the Houston economy," he said. "It's vital to the entire region."

We've spent a lot of time talking about the HISD bond referendum, but there are numerous other bond proposals on the ballot this fall. The Chron takes a look at some of them.

On Nov. 6, voters will be asked to approve $9.7 billion in debt, including $6.75 billion in the four bond proposals. The other $3 billion in a separate proposal would fund a new foray into cancer research.

Bond advocates say the proposals serve the greater good and it makes sense to use bonds, with many going to infrastructure improvements that are traditionally funded by borrowing.

But some fiscal conservative groups are wary or outright opposed, including Americans For Prosperity-Texas, which is fighting every bond proposal on the ballot.

"Every government bond is a delayed tax increase. Every dollar spent by government and every bond issued by government equates to a job lost or a paycheck cut in the private sector," said Peggy Venable, director of the group.

In contrast to one-issue propositions, there's something for almost everyone in Proposition 4, which would authorize up to $1 billion in bonds for construction and repairs for state facilities including a new Texas Youth Commission unit, repairs for state parks and the Battleship Texas, courthouse renovations and a new driver training facility for state troopers.

"It gives us an opportunity to long-term finance our capital investment," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, chairman of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee.

Venable, however, gave a thumbs down: "Though many of these projects appear deserving of some funding, with a state budget surplus, we should not be obligating bonds/future taxpayers to fund them."

Michael Quinn Sullivan of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility said voters should carefully consider whether borrowing is appropriate when they look at each of the bond proposals.

"Bonds are tax increases on our children," he said. " ... The question we have to ask ourselves is this: Is what I'm getting for this bond purchase ... going to have a sustained value and a public good that is greater than the final cost?"

For more information about all of the state ballot proposals, see Rep. Scott Hochberg's resource page.

Add Irving, TX to the cities that are hellbent on following the Farmers Branch path to obsolescence.

The bottom dropped out of Mike Granger's snack business almost immediately after the Mexican consul general in Dallas warned people to avoid this sprawling suburb.

"I'm picking up stales," Granger said last week as he plucked Bimbo snack cakes aimed at Hispanic customers from the shelves of a convenience store in the less affluent southern part of town. "My customers have disappeared."

Since late last month, illegal immigrants have retreated into the shadows and Hispanic activists have organized protests over an Irving program that checks the immigration status of everyone arrested by city police.

From September 2006 through last week, 1,638 people have been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, city officials said.

Complaints about the initiative began building over the summer, when arrests picked up to about 300 a month.

Opposition boiled over last month after police arrested more than a dozen men who were barbecuing outside their apartment. They were jailed on misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and turned over to federal custody when it was shown they were in the country illegally.

Latino leaders say they initially supported the city's 24/7 Criminal Alien Program as an alternative to more drastic approaches being advocated by anti-illegal immigration activists in the city.

"When they talked about deporting criminals, we didn't think they meant mothers taking their children to school," said the Rev. Ismael Castro, pastor of the House of God Church. "Nobody realized it was going to hurt a lot of innocent people."

Castro, an El Salvador native who sneaked into the U.S. with his family at age 12 and received amnesty in 1986, said fear that they are being targeted by city police for arrest and deportation has spread among Latinos in Irving.

Eduardo Rea, spokesman for the Mexican consul general in Dallas, said Mexicans arrested in Irving and their families have complained that police have stopped people on the street and in vehicles to ask them about their immigration status.

"We think that is racial profiling," Rea said. "If you're Anglo, you are not going to be asked for your immigration status."

Rea said Mexican Consul Enrique Hubbard Urrea met with Irving officials in late July.

"We had a meeting in which we told them about the complaints we were getting," he said. "In two months, nothing has happened so we have issued a recommendation that people don't go to Irving."

By [20]23 or [20]24, we're talking about three out of every four Texas workers being non-Anglo. I like to say, well, if I, as an aging Anglo, forget that the quality of services I'm going to have--fire, police, and other services--depend on how well primarily the working-age population is doing, I really do so to my own detriment. Our fates are intertwined and related. How well our non-Anglo citizens do in Texas is how well Texas will do.

A lot of people owe a lot of money to DPS.

More than 750,000 Texans are driving without valid licenses because they haven't paid stiff annual penalties -- as much as $2,000 for three years -- added to various traffic violations in 2004.

The state has nearly $620 million in uncollected surcharges on convictions that include driving while intoxicated, failure to provide insurance and having an invalid license, according to figures compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety and provided to the Dallas Morning News.

The surcharges are part of the Texas Driver Responsibility Program, which was approved by the Legislature and implemented in September 2004 by DPS. The money is earmarked for trauma care.

The biggest fees are for DWI: $1,000 a year for three years for the first conviction, $1,500 a year for the second and $2,000 a year for any conviction with a blood-alcohol content at least twice the legal limit (0.16 or greater). Those caught without insurance or with an invalid license are supposed to pay $250 per year for three years.

The idea was to levy hefty fines for certain violations to discourage those types of offenses and raise funding for pressing needs. But just 32 percent of the surcharges have been collected.

"There are a number of reasons why people don't comply with the law, but personal finances is probably the main reason," DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. "Many drivers just don't have the money. Paying $1,000 a year for three years is a lot of money for some people."

Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, who sponsored the legislation, and other lawmakers wonder whether the penalties are so high that they actually provide an incentive for people not to pay. But the Legislature didn't reduce the fees in its latest session, leaving it to DPS to devise ways to improve the collection rate.

"If we could only collect all the fines and fees the state is owed, we could cut taxes because we would have a lot more money than we have now," said Ogden, also noting that the unpaid surcharges haven't been a problem for the state budget because collections of sales taxes and other state taxes are higher.

RichmondRail.org brings the news:

Since April 2006, RichmondRail.org volunteers have worked ceaselessly to make sure METRO does what we need them to do: build neighborhood-friendly rail on Richmond Avenue.

The biggest decision we've been waiting for -- and working towards -- is nearly here. The METRO board is expected to vote at their October 18th meeting. They will choose an alignment for the University line, and we're counting on them to choose the Cummins option west of Main Street.

Once again, we will come together to show the decision makers our strength in numbers. We're planning to attend the METRO board meeting downtown and speak up for rail on Richmond. Will you plan to join us?

Candidates were asked the following questions (pdf):

* Do you support Rail on Richmond from Main to Cummins?
* Will you vote to approve the franchise agreements necessary to allow for the construction of rail on Richmond from Main to Cummins?
* Will you work for, and vote to fund, such improvements along Richmond Avenue in order to make our new light rail system truly neighborhood and pedestrian friendly?
* Will you partner with Metro and the Community to develop meaningful programs to mitigate the negative impacts of the light rail projects?

Please plan to join us at Maria Selma Restaurant on Tuesday, October 16, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm as we come together to find out which candidates support our issue and will work hard on our behalf. Enjoy a festive beverage, meet the candidates, and stay for dinner!

This is fascinating on many levels: Bill Watterson, the reclusive genius behind "Calvin and Hobbes", makes a rare public appearance to write a review of a new biography of Charles Schulz, the genius behind "Peanuts" who inspired him to be a comics artist. Check it out. Thanks to Mark Evanier for the link.

Turns out (also via Evanier) that Schulz's son dislikes the result; apparently, he "expected vanilla and got Rocky Road". All I can say is that this makes me want to read it even more. More specifically, over here, Monte Schulz says "Honestly, the quote I've really wanted to give the press, after reading both the early of the manuscript and the final book, is this: 'The book is stupid, and David Michaelis is an idiot.'" Yowza. It doesn't appear that Monte's message is getting through, however. You'll have to judge for yourself. And those were two more links from Mark Evanier.

The Chron takes a look at the current state of historic Wheatley High School.

State Rep. Harold Dutton attended Wheatley High School. So did his mom, his brothers and sisters and "everyone I ever cared about or respected."

The Houston Democrat and Kashmere Gardens resident, however, couldn't convince even one of his seven children to attend the historic Fifth Ward campus.

Over the past 15 years, his children broke the family tradition by graduating from Yates, Lamar, DeBakey and Booker T. Washington high schools.

"I tried to get my kids to go to Wheatley, but my kids wouldn't do it," Dutton said. "One of my sons said, 'Daddy, the Wheatley today is not the Wheatley you went to.' "

Not even a $35 million rebuild of the campus -- financed by the Houston school district's 2002 bond program -- has convinced students that they should attend their neighborhood campus. Nearly half of the 2,134 teens zoned to attend Wheatley this year transferred to other schools, including Furr, Davis, Reagan and Barbara Jordan high schools, according to Houston Independent School District data.

It's cases like Wheatley that fuel opposition in some neighborhoods to HISD's $805 million bond referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot. Years of neglect, black community leaders argue, have left their schools academically inferior, putting a bull's-eye for closure on some of their most cherished schools and making residents increasingly distrustful of HISD's motives.

If HISD made an effort to hire better educators and create stronger academic programs, children would stay at their neighborhood schools and the campuses would thrive, they say.

"New buildings and new facilities alone will not address the issues," said Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, one of the bond's loudest critics. "You have to rebuild the instructional programming or parents are still going to walk."

In other HISD news, they picked up the endorsement of the Harris County Tejano Democrats over the weekend:

In August 2007, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Trustees voted to place an $805 million bond proposal on the Tuesday, November 6th General Election ballot for voter approval. Today the Harris County Tejano Democrats (HCTD) announced that the organization unanimously voted to support HISD's bond proposal. The organization feels that Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra and the HISD board failed to properly engage the community in the decision-making process with regard to its plans for neighborhood schools. However, Harris County Tejano Democrats understand the need to build 24 new schools and make badly needed renovations, repairs and extensions to 138 schools in all areas of the district. As part of the bond proposal, every campus will receive security upgrades and every secondary school will receive new science labs. For these reasons, the Harris County Tejano Democrats endorse the $805 million bond proposal with the confidence that Dr. Saavedra and HISD will work with all communities to remedy any ongoing concerns as they relate to the bond proposal.

The Chron makes its choices for the remaining contested Council races.

At Large Position 2, Sue Lovell -- After decades of community involvement, this longtime Montrose resident was elected to her first term on council two years ago and has shown both independence and the ability to build consensus. Lovell is a strong advocate for providing more after-school programs and park space in densely developed parts of the city.

At Large Position 3, Melissa Noriega -- Having won a special election to replace Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, this retired HISD administrator has shown herself to be an effective advocate for infrastructure and security issues. When her husband, reservist and state Rep. Rick Noriega, was sent to Afghanistan, she temporarily assumed his seat and won praise as a hard worker and good organizer.

At Large Position 5, Jolanda Jones -- A former track and field star at the University of Houston, Jones has made a major contribution as a community-oriented lawyer who helped raise the first red flags about the botched handling of evidence at the Houston Police Department's crime lab. She serves on the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority board, which converts abandoned properties into affordable housing.

District D, Wanda Adams -- Although this is her first bid for elective office, Adams is experienced at serving Houston residents. She has worked for the city for seven years and is coordinator of the Solid Waste Department's Go Green Initiative. The initiative aims to increase awareness of the need to recycle and better utilize existing services.

District E, William Williams -- District E consists mostly of Kingwood in the far north and Clear Lake in the southeast. Williams, an in-house attorney with an oil services firm who resides in Kingwood with his family, pledges to represent all the district's constituents. If elected, Williams promises to focus on quality of life issues, including increasing the number of police officers, bringing the city into compliance with EPA pollution standards and improving mass transit.

After being all mean and cynical yesterday, let me now say something nice about Senator Hutchison: She is absolutely doing the right thing regarding S-CHIP. If only some of her fellow Republicans would follow her lead.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Friday she "of course" will vote to override President Bush's veto of a children's insurance program expansion that she supported.

But Hutchison said she isn't trying to coax members of the Texas delegation in the U.S. House who opposed that version of a Children's Health Insurance Program expansion to do the same, although an override is expected to be more difficult in that chamber.

"I know that many in the House delegation have different constituencies. I was obviously looking at all of Texas," Hutchison said in response to questions.

"And they have concerns that I think are legitimate in many ways that the program expanding too much would cause people to leave their private health insurance, which is not what we want.

"That would weaken our health care system,"Hutchison said.

[...]

"I will, of course, vote to override, because I think that from my standpoint, I did the right thing," Hutchison said, adding that the measure included proper limits, protection for Texas' funding and a way to reach children who still don't have health care.

And just in case you think it's only us cranky Democrats who are urging an override of this veto, get a load of this:

Catholics United will launch a radio advertising campaign targeting ten members of Congress whose opposition to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have compromised their pro-life voting records.

The ads, which feature a mother urging her Congressional Representative to support SCHIP, will primarily air on Christian and talk radio stations from Monday Oct. 15 to Wednesday, Oct. 17 as Congress approaches a critical Oct. 18 vote to override President Bush's veto of bipartisan SCHIP legislation.

"Building a true culture of life requires public policies that promote the welfare of the most vulnerable," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. "At the heart of the Christian faith is a deep and abiding concern for the need of others. Pro-life Christians who serve in Congress should honor this commitment by supporting health care for poor children."

[...]

The script for the radio commercial reads: "I'm the mother of three children, and I'm pro-life. I believe that protecting the lives our children must be our nation's number one moral priority. That's why I'm concerned that Congressman X says he's pro-life but votes against health care for poor children. That's not pro-life. That's not pro-family. Tell Congressman X to vote for health care for children. Call him today at XXXX, that's XXXXX."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, and the Catholic Health Association have all urged Congress and President Bush to support SCHIP.

This was sent to me by my friend Laura:

In celebration of their 25th Anniversary and in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness month during October, the Bayou City Performing Arts will partner in collaboration with the Houston Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for a once in lifetime event. The Gay Men's Chorus and the Bayou City Women's Chorus will come together as Bayou City Chorale to present Sing for the Cure ®. Th is is a 70-minute, 11-movement choral song cycle for full chorus, soloists, narrator and chamber orchestra. Based on written journal entries of women and their journey with breast cancer, librettist Pamela Martin weaves a tapestry of humanity struggling with cancer. Crafted by 10 different composers in a variety of styles, SING FOR THE CURE ® is a powerful story to be told.

20% of all ticket sales will be donated to the Houston Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

For more details see http://bayoucityperformingarts.org

I figure the 2010 GOP primary for Governor will be about as crowded, and will feature as wide a range of talent and likeliness-to-win as a casting call for "American Idol", and that's even before factoring in what Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison may do. So sure, why not throw Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings into the mix? Whether she has an actual base of support or the ability to raise a few million bucks or not I couldn't say. But I suppose she's no less ridiculous a candidate than Roger Williams or Don Evans. Jump on in, Margaret, the water's fine.

UPDATE: According to Evan Smith, this is "not idle chatter". I can't say I understand it, but then I suppose there are many things I can't say I understand.

Bummer.

The messages in fortune cookies are typically vague, banal and optimistic. But some cookies are now serving up some surprisingly downbeat advice.

"Today is a disastrous day. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," reads one fortune showing up around the country.

"It's over your head now. Time to get some professional help," advises another.

As the messages, contained in cookies made by Wonton Food in Queens, have spread across the country, some diners have registered their reactions online. As a result, the company has a marketing challenge on its hands.

One blogger, who got the "professional help" fortune, wrote: "I shot the audacious baked item a dirty look and proceeded to eat it. And I hope it hurt."

Bernard Chow, marketing coordinator at Wonton Food, says he had not set out to insult anybody when he asked his team of freelance writers to come up with some new messages.

"We wanted our fortune cookies to be a little bit more value-added," Mr. Chow said. "We wanted to get some different perspective, to write something that is more contemporary."

The following comment was left in this entry about a West U Examiner story claiming that the Bissonnet high rise was about by members of the Southampton Civic Club in 2005:

Contrary to claims by a neighborhood paper, the Southampton Civic Club fully disclosed--two years ago, in the September 2005 Southampton Newsletter--the threat of possible high rise development of the Maryland Manor site. The Oct. 10 edition of the West U Examiner quoted leaked "emails to members of the Civic Club legal committee -- dating back as far as Sept. 7, 2005" as the source of its inside "scoop." In fact, the supposed covert information trumpeted in the story's lead paragraphs was fully discussed in the newsletter, which goes to all residents. The same message was published in the Boulevard Oaks September 2005 Newsletter. (The full text of the September 2005 newsletter item is reproduced below).

All Southampton residents, not just "ranking members" of the Civic Club, were provided this information. The insinuation that the information was hidden in emails to insiders is simply false. The Examiner's reporter could easily have learned this had he asked, but he didn't bother. Apparently the reporter's eagerness to deliver a "Lesson in Civics" led him into this gross journalistic blunder.

The facts are that, following the September report, investigation yielded nothing, nor were the Dallas owners forthcoming with information. Meanwhile, similar residential properties in the area were being developed as low- to mid-rise. The issue did not surface again until early March of 2007 when another survey crew was observed at the site, although it is unclear if their presence was related to the Maryland Manor site or another neighboring property.

In March 2007, renewed activity near the site led Southampton to investigate whether any development plans were afoot. We eventually learned that Maryland Manor had been acquired by developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton. Morgan, who grew up in the Southampton area, has been active in local civic organizations, and was well known to many Southampton and BOCA residents.

Morgan assured the Southampton Civic Club Executive Director that he had no current plans to redevelop the site, merely that he was looking at options due to a collapsed sewer line that was causing foundation problems with one of the existing structures on the site. He also stated that he was considering town homes and possibly a mid-rise. In the same time frame, the developers' representative informed Council Member Anne Clutterbuck that a townhouse development was planned.

Morgan and Kirton did not disclose their true intentions until late August of this year, when they approached Council Member Clutterbuck, who immediately notified the neighborhoods of the imminent threat of a high-rise.

In other high rise news, this story is the first one I've seen to contain extensive remarks from the tower developers.

"We will be interested in considering all of the available remedies provided to us and it may be there are none," said task force representative Chris Amandes. However, "(Buckhead) may ultimately conclude this project as proposed is going to be difficult to get permitted and get built.

"We don't want to go to war with them," Amandes said. "If they're willing to consider something that we think is consistent with the neighborhood we would love to see if we could work that out."

For now, Buckhead CEO Kevin M. Kirton and President Matthew J. Morgan say no deal.

"We stand sort of in the same place we always have," Morgan said. "We have a project here we believe is good for the neighborhood or we wouldn't have come this far with it.

"We have invested a tremendous amount of time and money bringing it to this point. In that process we have done everything we have needed to do to the letter of the law to comply with the rules, regulations and ordinances the city stipulates for development of that sort.

"We followed the publicly subscribed process," Morgan said. "We actually built a sewer at our own expense," as required by the city at a cost of approximately $500,000.

"We built an oversized sewer," Morgan said. "The sewer we built will handle far more capacity than what we are planning to use it for. It is sized to accommodate future capacity needs in that area."

Said Kirton of residents' reaction, "We think this is a natural reaction to change in the neighborhood. We live in a dynamic, changing city and this is to be expected."

Amandes says the task force and Hardin are looking for any legal means to stop the development.

"There are legal avenues that can be pursued," Amandes said. "We are looking and will be looking very closely at all of the applications they filed for permits and what not."

One theory they are looking into is whether the development could be legally considered a nuisance.

Whether it could, "I don't know, but it certainly is perceived in the neighborhood as a nuisance," Amandes said.

UPDATE: Miya has more.

Evan Smith reports the true feelings of our senior Senator:

The mood of the country right now is pretty frustrated. People don't like the partisanship -- there's kind of a toxic atmosphere about politics -- I think the blogs, interestingly, feed on that. The intemperate nature of blogs, and the lack of accountability, have had an overall toxic influence on our elections. These blogs are cynical and mean -- on all sides. I don't think that's good. Even if you disagree with the mainstream media, there's a sense of integrity and honesty and standards. There are journalistic standards, which blogs don't have.

There's also some stuff there about whether she'll ever quit teasing and run for Governor already, which at this point is a story line that's as long-lived and increasingly tedious as a subplot on "Desperate Housewives". Oh, I guess that was cynical and mean of me. I'll go sit in a corner now. Carry on.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman sends a letter to Attorney General Greg Abbott:

I am writing you today to ask you to file or join a lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services to block a recent Center for Medicaid and State Operations directive that will result in thousands of children losing their health insurance nationwide and handcuff Texas from continuing to reduce the number of uninsured children in our state.

On August 17, the Bush administration issued a directive from the Center for Medicaid and State Operations effectively prohibiting states from covering children in their respective State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) at or above 250% of the federal poverty level. I believe the directive violates federal law, which requires a published notice in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public comment on new administrative rules. The Attorneys General of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland and Washington have filed or joined lawsuits to block enforcement of the directive; according to media reports, the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, New Hampshire and New Mexico have announced they will do the same.

Texas made progress this past legislative session partially restoring cuts made to Texas' CHIP program in 2003, but the Legislature still has a long way to go to fully restoring CHIP and providing access to health coverage for the 1.3 million children in our state who currently do not have health insurance. In addition to violating federal law, the directive from the Bush administration will ultimately handcuff legislators from reducing the number of uninsured children in Texas.

State officials said Thursday that the state has sufficient funding from existing federal grants to continue the program for at least a year.

Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, said there is enough money to cover an expected enrollment increase of 135,000 children. The boost in enrollment was authorized by the Legislature this year in a bill designed to reverse cuts made in 2003 when the state faced a budget crisis.

Goodman said eligibility workers are reassuring families that they won't lose CHIP. The situation is different in some other states that have spent all of their federal funds.

The federal government provides more than $2 in matching funds for every dollar the state spends on CHIP, which is designed for children of families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. Texas covers children living in families who earn up to 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, or $41,300 for a family of four.

About 327,000 Texas children are enrolled now, down from 529,000 in 2002.

Advocates for low-income families said a congressional deadlock could hurt future efforts to cover more uninsured children in Texas by expanding income limits. Such changes would have to be made by the Legislature.

Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, said if Texas wants to reach the more than 300,000 children eligible for the program but not enrolled and continue covering pregnant women, it will need to rely on more federal funds in coming years. She said the bill that President Bush vetoed last week would have provided those funds.

Elsewhere in CHIP news, Coleman and a group of his House colleagues held a press conference to urge an override of the Bush veto, Bill Kelly wrote about the politics of CHIP in football terms, and CD10 candidate Dan Grant continued his assault on Rep. Mike McCaul for his unwavering refusal to support CHIP. Click on for Grant's press release.

Democratic challenger Dan Grant today asked his opponent, incumbent GOP Congressman Mike McCaul, to explain why he voted against a bi-partisan bill to extend the successful State Children's Health Insurance Program to more than 1.4 million uninsured Texas children and to tell the working parents of those children whether he plans to vote for the measure when it comes up again next week.

The bill, which passed the House with a strong majority despite McCaul's "no" vote, was subsequently vetoed by President George W. Bush. The House is expected to debate a possible override of the presidential veto beginning October 18.

"Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation," Grant said. "Mr. McCaul's vote against this bipartisan legislation -- and the President's veto of it when it passed anyway -- harmed millions of working parents of uninsured children."

Grant said private health insurance costs Texas families an average of $11,000 per year.

"There's no mystery about what is causing the health care crisis -- ordinary working people don't earn enough to pay for skyrocketing insurance premiums and prescription drugs," Grant said.

Grant has proposed reforms to guarantee affordable health care by requiring open disclosure of all health-related prices and a single national risk pool to leverage down insurance costs.

Rep. Brian McCall, one of the main challengers to Tom Craddick last session, gave a talk at UT on Thursday. Michael Hurta was there, and he has a report on the many interesting things McCall said. Check it out.

In other Speaker-related program activities, the Observer looks at a couple of sure-to-be-hot Democratic primaries in South Texas:

Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) represents District 40. Rep. Kino Flores (D-Hidalgo) represents District 36. Both have been repeatedly rewarded by Craddick for their loyalty. Flores chairs the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee, while Peña chairs the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

Pena is facing a rematch against Eddie Saenz. Saenz is an engineer that ran against Peña in 2004 in a race that featured plenty of mud, money, and bad blood. Pena trounced Saenz in that race, winning 63.45 percent of the vote. At the time, Saenz ran at Pena from the right. This time, Pena has a record that can be attacked from the left. It remains to be seen whether Saenz can make the transition and do the shoeleather campaigning necessary to win. Saenz has already garnered the endorsement of the mayor of Edinburg, according to his blog. Pena also has a blog. This one will be fun to follow. Watch as both candidates blog maddeningly right up until the Texas Democratic primary on March 4.

Former teacher and probation officer Sandra Rodriguez has announced her intent to challenge Kino Flores. Rodriguez has the benefit of being endorsed by the well-funded Annie's List. Her husband, Fernando Macias, is a former state district judge. Here's a good preview of the race from the McAllen Monitor. Rodriguez' best asset is her opponent. Flores has made plenty of enemies in his solidly Democratic district with his heavy handed approach, including a public feud with local power broker Billy Leo. Rodriguez has already attacked Flores for skipping votes on important Democratic issues such as voter ID and helping to enable a leadership that has actively tried to kick children off of CHIP.

Finally, getting back to McCall, Karen Brooks reports on a push poll being done against him.

A volunteer for Plano GOP Rep. Brian McCall got an odd and what must have been hilarious phone call from a "pollster," I'm guessing over the weekend or maybe late last week.

The guy wanted to know if she'd ever heard of "Tommy Craddick," and what was her impression of him?

That, in itself, is pretty funny - given that nobody outside of Segway really knows the House Speaker's son. Wild guess is that the caller actually meant the speaker.

Tommy. It's just, you know, more folksy-like. And a lot more likeable than his other nickname, Absolute Powers.

Then the caller asked if she'd ever heard of "Brian McCall" and what was her impression of him?

The plot thickens.

A little bit later, the caller asked the volunteer if she would still be favorable if she knew that Brian McCall had voted against property-tax reductions - or something like that - and McCall says he voted for them.

At any rate, the real interesting part here is that the company making the calls is Promark Research, Inc., out of Conroe, Tx. - a company known in several states (Colorado, Montana, West Virgina, to name a few) for doing push polls. In political races, they always side with Republicans. I can't, in fact, find any documentation of them siding with a Dem in a race.

This is important only that it stands to reason that whoever's paying them to push poll against McCall is not doing so in the name of a Democrat. The Craddick mention was another tip-off which then, my dear Watson, lead me to guess that they're Craddick fans.

McCall hasn't even filed for speaker. Which must mean they're polling for a primary opponent, a Craddick-friendly one.

I'm a trained observer, and vaguely brilliant, granted. But could they be any less discreet?

How about something like ....

"Don't you, like, totally think Brian McCall is a punk-*ss chump? And isn't the speaker, like, a really cool guy? Right? Totally."

This looks like progress to me.

Days after the release of a man wrongfully convicted on faulty forensics, Harris County criminal district judges are poised to appoint a panel to review 180 cases with problematic Houston crime lab evidence, ending a dispute about how to scrutinize those cases.

[...]

They plan to assign three defense attorneys to determine the importance of crime lab evidence to the 180 convictions and act accordingly. Those three likely will report to retired Judge Mary Bacon. Bacon will conduct teleconferences beginning Oct. 22 with 160 of the defendants in those cases, inform them of the issues with their cases and determine whether the defendants want their cases reviewed.

State District Judge Olen Underwood, the presiding judge over the judicial region that includes Harris County, must approve the project. It will be paid for with county funds.

State District Judge Mike Anderson said the judges felt the responsibility had fallen to them to develop a plan for reviewing the cases.

"Everyone is in agreement that we need to get the right thing done, do it as quickly as possible, and have competent people do it," Anderson said.

[...]

The judges' action comes after months of debate over how best to review the serology cases identified as part of a 26-month crime lab probe. Investigators found the serology division was among the most troubled in the lab, turning out unreliable evidence at an alarming rate.

The chief investigator, former U.S. Justice Department official Michael Bromwich, called for a "special master" to review 180 of the most problematic cases from the serology division. Bromwich Thursday said he was pleased with the judges' progress.

"We have always thought it crucial that the cases be reviewed through a process that combines expertise with independence," Bromwich said.

Opponents of the "special master" Thursday said they had no problem with the plan.

"I don't think I ought to have any hand in picking my opponent or in picking my forum," Rosenthal said. "Whatever they want to do is fine by me."

White echoed those sentiments: "I am glad to see the judges taking the leadership on this. That is what should occur in the criminal justice system."

The plan to appoint a review panel stands in contrast to the method used to scrutinize more than 400 cases with potentially problematic DNA evidence. For those cases, local judges appointed various attorneys and those attorneys reported to the judge in whichever court heard each case.

That decentralized plan led to little action on many cases, the Houston Chronicle reported in September. In fact, nearly two-thirds of defendants convicted with faulty DNA evidence received little legal help, according to a review of those cases.

Patrick McCann, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, said he hopes this will work better.

"This would provide a single point of accountability," he said, "which is essential to making sure that people in need get representation."

More support for the HISD bond referendum.

Houston's 200,000 students desperately need the 24 new schools and $90 million in security upgrades proposed by the bond, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said.

"We believe it's a fair plan, and it's time to move forward," said Ellis, whose alma mater, Worthing High School, would receive a $17 million facelift if voters approve the bond next month.

"We would prefer to have a new school. So would everybody. You get as much as the voters are willing to give you."

The bond has drawn adamant opposition from other black politicians, who say the measure doesn't do enough to improve education in their neighborhoods.

The NAACP and The Metropolitan Organization have come out against the bond. LULAC, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Houston Partnership are endorsing the proposal.

[...]

Voters shouldn't punish students because HISD leaders didn't put together the perfect plan or seek community input, Ellis said.

"People who run our schools are human. Sometimes they make mistakes," Ellis said. "I'm suggesting we look beyond these minor things that divide us. It's a good package. It's a fair package."

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said he thinks many voters don't realize the recent slew of concessions that HISD made to win community support. For instance, the district abandoned its plan to open pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade campuses in the Fifth Ward, he said.

"The plan is a better plan than the original plan," said Coleman.

Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, also endorsed the bond package. Miles said voters need to be informed before they head to the polls.

"This is a very emotional time for our community," he said. "It's unfortunate things got off to a bad start, but you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater."

State Sen. Mario Gallegos on Friday acknowledged the controversy over the Houston Independent School District's $805 million bond request but urged voters to put aside "political squabbles" and any disappointments they might have about specific projects and vote for the package in the Nov. 6 election.

"Did I get everything my community wants? No," said Gallegos, D-Houston, speaking at a press conference outside the Houston East End Chamber of Commerce offices, 550 Gulfgate Center.

Specifically, Gallegos said he had hoped Jackson Middle School would get a new building but had to settle for the $16 million renovation that the bond would cover.

Nevertheless, he said his discussions with HISD officials and participation in public forums had convinced him that "every child under the HISD umbrella is covered, whether they're black, brown, white, Asian. Whatever race, color or creed, it covers that student, and I think for that, I can live with it."

The bond issue has drawn endorsements from the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but black community leaders have criticized it, saying it doesn't do enough to repair predominantly black schools in the Third and Fifth Wards.

Acknowledging that divide, Gallegos said while the Hispanic and black communities might clash politically, "at five o'clock, we're friends. We might disagree on some of the issues. That's politics, but as friends, (Hispanics) and the black community could not be stronger than we are today."

Some black leaders have said the bond's architects should focus more attention on improving academics, but Gallegos said that issue is separate from the infrastructural needs the bond is designed to address.

"Programs (such as magnet schools and efforts to help students with special needs) can be worked out with the school board and the president and us in the Legislature during the interval," he said. "Those kinds of programs are not about this bond. The bond is (about) a healthy environment for our kids. They deserve that when they go to school in the morning."

Harris County Republican Party chairman Jared Woodfillannounced this week that "emergency committees" have been formed by GOP leaders to make recommendations about party endorsements in several area upcoming bond elections.

The bond issues under review include HISD's $805 million bond program; as well as bond issues in the Spring Branch and Cypress-Fairbanks school districts. Harris County's $880 million bond program, which includes $250 million for Port of Houston improvements, also is being assessed, Woodfill said.

The panel researching the HISD bonds has heard from HISD officials, bond
opponents and bond supporters, Woodfill said. All of the committees will make their recommendations to the local GOP's advisory board, and party officials will announce endorsements by next week, Woodfill said.

The endorsements will be announced, and then e-mailed directly to about 7,000 GOP faithful, who are automatically linked by e-mail to an estimated 25,000 other party stalwarts, Woodfill said.

Still no surprises in the Chron endorsements so far, as they give a thumbs-up to Prop 15.

Proposition 15 has an appropriate champion in Austinite and bicycle racer Lance Armstrong, who not only survived testicular cancer but went on to win his seven Tour de France titles after diagnosis and treatment. Armstrong, whose foundation is dedicated to helping cancer patients, serves on the executive committee of the Texans to Cure Cancer campaign.

In a meeting with the Chronicle editorial board, Armstrong made a persuasive appeal for state support for a broad-based war on cancer. He argues that Texas is the logical place for such an effort, with institutions such as the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Houston's Texas Medical Center already leaders in cancer research and treatment.

"When you are asking people to vote something like this," Armstrong said, "you also have to be open and honest and realistic with them. As a cancer survivor, I can tell you we just have to keep plugging away, because it's one disease at a time. I don't think anyone's going to come along and get the silver bullet that cures [all] cancer."

[...]

An initiative in California to raise and spend billions of dollars on embryonic stem cell research encountered difficulties in effectively disbursing the money to researchers. Dr. John Mendelsohn, M.D. Anderson president, expects the noncontroversial nature of cancer research to make the process in Texas much smoother. He expects the first grants to be awarded next year if the proposition is approved.

Money to fight cancer and boost the state's technology is money well-spent. The Chronicle recommends that voters help themselves and all Texans by casting a ballot for Proposition 15.

Gotta love the idea of having this name on the ballot next year: According to Harvey Kronberg, a Houston attorney named Sam Houston will run for the State Supreme Court:

For most, the name Sam Houston conjures up vision of the hero of San Jacinto and the first president of Texas prior to its joining the union.

In the civil litigation community however, Sam Houston is a well respected medical malpractice defense attorney.

Houston is filing the treasurer papers today for his campaign to challenge Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright in the general election next year.

Houston breaks stereotype by running for the Court as a Democrat. He will announce a prestigious list of attorneys who will be on his steering committee and other organizational efforts. Included in his list of defense counsel that will be helping the effort are Craig Lewis, Lewis Law Firm; Sam Cruse of Cruse, Scott, Henderson, LLP; Dave Matthiesen of Dave Matthiesen & Associates, Enrique Moreno of El Paso; Steve McConnico of Austin; Nancy J. Locke of Fulbright, Jaworski, Curry Cooksey of Orgain, Bell and Tucker, LLP; John Beckworth of Watt, Beckworth, Thompson and Henneman, LLP; and Michael Solar of Solar & Fernandez.

State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) is on board as is plaintiffs attorney Hartley Hampson.

It's from last Friday, but Rio Grande Valley Politics had some interesting scuttlebutt.

Here's the rumor du jour. Two other Republicans are considering the switch to the Democratic side. If England wins re-election as a D, and the two rumored Republicans switch sides and win as Ds, that brings up the count to 72.

Will this hurt Craddick's chance at a fourth term as Speaker? Let's do some math. I'll be hopeful and start with 72 Democrats, but unfortunately I must remove the 12 Craddick D's that supported him this past session - It was 14 total but at the end of session Rep. Eddie Lucio, III and Rep. Patrick Rose removed their support of Craddick. That leaves us with 60 Democrats, and with hopes and prayers that they stay together as a voting bloc could spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E for Craddick if they align themselves with a good set of R's for the coup de etat. For now, the key is to find at a minimum 16 Republicans to join the 60 Democrats and support one candidate for speaker. It's my own pipe dream, but it could happen.

As for the Craddick arithmetic, the primaries will be as much a factor as the general election will. We know some Craddick Ds - Pena and Bailey, to name two - will have challengers, while some non-Craddick Rs will also face (likely well-funded) opposition. Last year, this broke favorably for the anti-Craddick forces, with Al Edwards losing to Borris Miles, then Vilma Luna stepping down and Solomon Ortiz Jr coming in. The Republican primaries were more about vouchers than Speaker politics, even though folks like Tommy Merritt and Delwin Jones were targeted. That will likely be different this time. Point is, the math may be very different one way or the other after March than it is now. We'll see how it goes.

From the Things I Don't Quite Understand Department: Asking Daddy's permission to marry his daughter.

Before Bob Hunt dropped to bended knee on the famed Cliff Walk in Newport, R.I., and asked his high school sweetheart to marry him, he'd taken her father to dinner at a Chili's restaurant and sought his permission.

''Because I have such a great relationship with her family,'' Hunt says, ''it makes it that much more important that I ask for permission.''

Reviving a tradition that seemingly went the way of the flapper and Prohibition, young men like Hunt these days are talking to their intendeds' parents before popping the question. While there are no numbers to track the trend, call a bridal store or wedding venue or otherwise inquire among the betrothed and the newlywed and their parents and it is easy to find examples. Jenna Bush's fiancé, Henry Hager, reportedly had a private tête-à-tête with her father, the president, before he proposed one summer morning at sunrise atop Cadillac Mountain in Maine. What these young men embrace as a gesture of courtesy and respect has roots in an era when women had few rights and little opportunity.

''It was a fairly common practice based on the notion of making alliances between families and passing the daughter who was legally the property of the father onto the husband,'' says Temple University historian Beth Bailey. ''What we're seeing right now is an odd combination of young people with progressive sentiments and a real desire for conventional gender roles and arrangements''

Likewise, it would never occur to me to expect that a future son-in-law would seek my "permission" before proposing to Olivia or Audrey. Should that ever happen, I'll have two questions for him: Why aren't you asking her, and what would you do if my answer was "No, you may not marry her, I absolutely forbid it"? I understand the desire to ask for a blessing, and if it's couched in those terms (and if both Tiffany and I are approached together), then I won't give him a hard time. But my daughters are not my property. They are their own people, and they will make their own decisions. Maybe some people think this tradition is respectful to the father. Speaking as a father, I think it's disrespectful to the daughter. Link via Feministing.

Mark Bennett says the following regarding the complaint against Sharon Keller for her appalling misconduct in the Michael Richard case:

If you're like me, your response to [the news] that 20 Texas lawyers had filed a grievance against Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller was, "I wish I'd had a chance to sign that."

Well, now you have a chance. The Harris County Criminal Lawyers' Association is going to be filing a complaint against Judge Keller with the Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday. Tomorrow from about 10:30 a.m. to about noon I will be in the ready room on the 7th floor of the Harris County Criminal Courthouse, 1201 Franklin Street at San Jacinto, with a copy of the complaint for you to sign.

I haven't commented before now on the matter of Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller and her refusal to allow a motion to stay an execution pending a Supreme Court ruling. The basic background of the story is here:

The Chi ruling came as new details emerged about the Texas court's refusal to stay open past 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 so lawyers could file an appeal on behalf of death row inmate Michael Richard. The Supreme Court had accepted the lethal injection case earlier that day, and Richard's lawyers argued that the extra time was needed to respond to the new circumstances and to address computer problems that delayed the printing of Richard's motion.

Richard was executed later than night, and news of the court's refusal appeared in newspapers, and critical editorials, around the world.

Last week, court personnel declined to say who made the decision to close at 5 p.m.

It was revealed Tuesday that the decision was made by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller without consulting any of the court's eight other judges or later informing them about the decision -- including Judge Cheryl Johnson, who was assigned to handle any late motions in Richard's case.

Johnson, who learned about the request to stay open past 5 p.m. in an Austin American-Statesman story, said her first reaction to the news was "utter dismay."

"And I was angry," she said. "If I'm in charge of the execution, I ought to have known about those things, and I ought to have been asked whether I was willing to stay late and accept those filings."

Johnson said she would have accepted the brief for consideration by the court. "Sure," she said. "I mean, this is a death case."

Judge Cathy Cochran said the Richard case raised troubling questions.

"First off, was justice done in the Richard case? And secondly, will the public perceive that justice was done and agree that justice was done?" Cochran said. "Our courts should be open to always redress a true wrong, and as speedily as possible. That's what courts exist for."

At least three judges were working late in the courthouse that evening, and others were available by phone if needed, court personnel said.

None of the judges was informed of Richard's request by Keller or by the court's general counsel, Edward Marty, who had consulted with Keller on the request.

Keller defended her actions, saying she was relating the court's longstanding practice to close on time.

"I got a phone call shortly before 5 and was told that the defendant had asked us to stay open. I asked why, and no reason was given," Keller said. "And I know that that is not what other people have said, but that's the truth. They did not tell us they had computer failure.

"And given the late request, and with no reason given, I just said, 'We close at 5.' I didn't really think of it as a decision as much as a statement," Keller said.

Keilen, whose organization also handled Richard's appeal, said court clerks were informed about the computer problems.

[H]onestly, what's the hurry? Why rush to execute someone under a cloud when you can do it next year (when the Court is likely to rule again) free and clear of constitutional questions, or when you can do it in a more appropriate way? Wouldn't we rather be right than fast? This kind of image-ignorant thinking validates the stereotype that we kill 'em first and ask questions later.

Twenty lawyers from across Texas filed a formal judicial conduct complaint Wednesday against Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, accusing her of violating the constitutional due process of a condemned man.

The complaint to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct says Keller improperly cut off appeals that preceded the execution of Michael Richard on Sept. 25, even though just hours earlier the U.S. Supreme Court had accepted two Kentucky cases on the constitutionality of chemicals used for lethal injection.

Meanwhile, two of his predecessors raised questions about whether Attorney General Greg Abbott should have intervened to stop Richard's execution. The attorney general represents the state in death penalty appeals. Abbott's office declined requests for comment.

The lethal injection issue before the Supreme Court had direct implications for Richard's execution because Texas uses the same chemicals as Kentucky. The Supreme Court has since stayed one Texas execution because of the Kentucky cases. The state appeals court halted the next one.

"Judge Keller's actions denied Michael Richard two constitutional rights, access to the courts and due process, which led to his execution," the complaint states. "Her actions also brought the integrity of the Texas judiciary and of her court into disrepute ... "

Lawyers signing the complaint include former State Bar President Broadus Spivey, Houston criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, University of Houston law professor Mike Olivas, former appellate Judge Michol O'Connor, state Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, and former Nueces County Attorney Mike Westergren.

The lawyers are being represented in the complaint by Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Harrington said before filing the complaint that it was "shameful" for Keller to "short-circuit" Richard's rights by ordering the courthouse door locked at 5 p.m. even though fellow appellate judges said they were prepared to stay late to consider defense arguments.

"I think it's probably reflective of her own personal bias in this case about capital punishment and her lack of respect for the rights of defendants, the rights they have under the constitution," he said.

The Texas Moratorium Network has the full text of the complaint. There's lots more out there, from PDiddie, Grits and Grits again, Rick Casey, Vince, State of Mine, and McBlogger.

I approve of this, with one reservation.

The Houston City Council decided Wednesday that residential developers must share the costs of ensuring that future generations of Houstonians enjoy access to parks and green space as their city grows.

The council voted unanimously to require developers to provide land or pay fees for acquiring new parks, effective Nov. 1. Until now, money to acquire land for parks in Houston has come mainly from private donations.

Mayor Bill White hailed the vote as a historic signal that city officials are attuned to quality of life issues as well as to the needs of business and industry.

"Citizens should know that no special interest pulls the strings at City Hall," White said.

Developers gained some concessions Wednesday when the council agreed to reduce the park fees for all residential development from $800 to $700 per housing unit and to reduce the amount of land required for single-family developments.

The draft recommended by city staff included different formulas to calculate the land required for single- and multi-family developments. A developer who built 100 apartments, for example, would have to provide 1.8 acres, while a 100-house single-family development would require 2.6 acres.

The council agreed Wednesday to apply the 1.8-acre standard to single- and multi-family developments.

Despite the amendments, leaders of development groups said the ordinance could push new development out of the city and add costs that could put home ownership out of reach for some Houstonians.

"This ordinance will have a negative effect on homeownership and housing affordability," Adam Aschmann, governmental affairs director for the Greater Houston Builders Association, said in a letter to White and the council.

Wednesday's vote came after about two hours of discussion on a host of amendments offered by council members, some of which ultimately were withdrawn. The vote to reduce the single-family acreage requirement was unanimous, while Councilwoman Pam Holm cast the only vote against reducing the fee.

Holm said she was worried that a lower fee would encourage developers to pay the fee rather than provide land in or near their developments, which she said would be preferable.

But Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, who offered the amendment lowering the fee, said she was concerned about adding costs that could price low- or moderate-income families out of the house market.

What does concern me is something that was brought up when this proposal was first floated.

The money raised by the fee in Houston would go into a fund that would pay for acquiring parkland or adding new facilities, such as sports fields or playground equipment, to existing parks.

The money could not be used for routine maintenance. Joe Turner, Houston's parks and recreation director, acknowledged that maintaining the new parks the city acquired through the ordinance would require increased maintenance staffing funded by taxpayers.

Don't they have anything better to do in Farmers Branch than this?

Some residents of this Dallas suburb that tried to ban apartment rentals to illegal immigrants now want the city to regulate which colorful hues people can paint their homes.

Although the City Council hasn't decided whether to consider any house paint restrictions, Hispanic leaders say it's yet another effort to target Latinos in the city.

"I believe controlling the color you paint your house is basically profiling the Hispanic community," said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose family owns a Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch. "We all know who paints their homes tropical colors."

[...]

Victorian homes are often painted bright blue or peacock green, buildings in South Beach typically have outside lights in electric purples and yellow and structures in Santa Fe blend into the desert landscape with earthen reds or dark tans.

But most homes in Farmers Branch are brick, with trim or shutters painted in neutral colors. A handful are more brightly colored, such as one wooden home with Kelly green trim or an upscale two-story house with one burnt orange side.

Residents Matt Burton and Robin Bernier proposed the color standards at a city council meeting earlier this month, presenting photos showing homes with shades they found unsightly.

Burton didn't immediately return a message for comment, and a telephone number for Bernier was not available.

But Bernier, who also supported the city's apartment ban, told The Dallas Morning News: "When you paint your house some fluorescent or garish color scheme, you negatively affect my (home) value."

For now, city officials plan no action.

"We're going to look into it and see what the legal ramifications are," said city spokeswoman Nicole Recker.

Very interesting...according to the West U Examiner, the much-derided Bissonnet high rise has been known about (by some people, anyway) since 2005.

The Examiner has obtained e-mails to members of the [Southampton] Civic Club legal committee -- dating back as far as Sept. 7, 2005 -- that discussed the threat of "the potential high-rise that may be proposed on the site of the present Maryland Manor apartments...."

Among those sent the e-mails, which continue through Oct. 27, 2005, were current President Erik Eriksson, then board director Larry Foust and current board director Lyman Paden.

One e-mail, sent by committee Chairman Hugh Rice Kelly on Oct. 27, 2005 told of being notified by a Southampton resident that survey work was being done at the Maryland Manor site "a couple of months ago."

It read in part:

"The surveyor said it was his understanding that the new buyer intended to erect a high-rise development on the property. We then contacted the present owners of Maryland Manor who did not confirm or deny the report. We have heard nothing more -- but we've heard enough to take the matter seriously."

The e-mail ended by saying even a project like the seven-story development then under consideration at the corner of Bolsover and Morningside streets would be objectionable.

"The latter site (at Bolsover) is already thoroughly commercial, but the residential community on the other side of the street will obviously be materially impacted," it read.

[...]

Another e-mail sent Oct. 27, 2005 by Kelly was addressed to Kathie Easterly, manager of the University Place Association. It asked that a committee she was serving on with the city recommend a temporary moratorium on construction of buildings taller than 3½ stories.

He cited safety issues, including access for emergency vehicles in cases involving two-lane streets among his reasons.

That e-mail, also sent to members of the legal committee, referred to "serious threats of inappropriate high-rise construction in areas adjacent to single family residences (that) are pending at this time."

Serving with Easterly at that time as president of the University Place Association was Julie Tysor, who was and continues to be an executive officer of the Appelt Co. and general partner of Lamesa.

Many have asked me about the timeline for this project. This Spring I was told that in February a plat had been drawn for the property at 1717 Bissonnet showing plans for a townhouse development. Buckhead Investments later submitted their application for permits on July 31st for the high rise development. I was not notified in any manner about their applications for permits. Similarly, I was not notified about the sewer upgrades purportedly made by the developers. This has highlighted a deficiency in our city code and I plan to propose public notice for upgrades such as these.

Interestingly, I have learned that part of the confusion over this matter at the city may be because the ownership of the real property never changed. I have been told that Buckhead Investments does not own the property in fee; rather they purchased the stock of the corporation that held the property.

Andy Icken in the Public Works Department first met with Mr. Kirton & Mr. Morgan on August 21st. Mr. Icken called me that morning to inform me that the investors were proposing a high-rise. I immediately called the directors of our local civic clubs and we began efforts to stop the project in any way we could.

I find this story to be more amusing that outraging, but your mileage may vary.

Did you drive on Interstate 35 in early September? Where were you going, and why? How many people were in the car with you? And by the way, how many people live in your house?

The Texas Department of Transportation wants to know, and a company it hired may have videotaped your license plate, then sent you a survey to find out.

The survey is being done in the name of sound transportation planning. Officials say the method has been used before in Texas and elsewhere. But it has some feeling uncomfortable, and others crying, "Big Brother."

Alliance Transportation Group Inc., under a $781,588.53 contract with the state, mailed about 150,000 surveys to homes containing an explanation startling to some: "You are being asked to participate in these efforts because the license plate of a vehicle registered in (your) name was randomly recorded" during a highway trip.

"It almost feels sneaky," said Alison Unger, an Austin communications professional who got the survey after traveling to San Antonio for Rosh Hashana.

Unger has no ill will toward TxDOT but is concerned about whether her personal information will be protected. She said she likely wouldn't answer the survey.

[...]

TxDOT spokeswoman Gaby Garcia said the information won't be shared or sold and will be disposed of in a secure fashion. This is the first time the state has conducted a comprehensive transportation survey on the entire I-35 corridor, and the information is vital to planning, she said.

"With the heavy traffic demand already on I-35, one of the state's busiest interstate corridors, this survey will help us better forecast future demand and needed improvements," Garcia said.

[...]

Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican who has worked to stem TxDOT's drive toward privately run toll roads, said something else caught her eye.

"With TxDOT continuing to spill forth that they have no money to build highways, I find it very interesting they have a lot of money to do mailings to 150,000 people and ad campaigns of $8 (million) and $9 million," she said.

[...]

Garcia said the agency plans to let drivers know of the survey beforehand the next time: "It was by no means meant to be sneaky," Garcia said. "Lesson learned."

Last month, the city was ordered to stop enforcing its billboard ordinance in an injunction granted as part of a lawsuit. Now the city has asked the judge to reconsider, saying the injunction was too broad.

Jim Moriarty, the attorney handling the case for the city, called the current situation a "disaster."

"Somebody could take a 200-foot banner and run it across I-10," he said. "It could say 'Fred's Cleaners,' or 'Out of Iraq Now,' or whatever."

The city's motion suggested that people already are taking advantage of the injunction. Inspectors have noticed banner signs strung casually on roadside poles and electronic signs blinking and scrolling "at a rapid pace," according to an affidavit by Susan Luycx, division manager of sign administration.

Under the ordinance, electronic messages can only change once every five minutes, to prevent driver distraction.

"We believe the court has made an error," Moriarty said. "That doesn't mean that Houston should become the Wild West in regards to signs."

The injunction, by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, is overly broad, the motion said. The plaintiff in the lawsuit, RTM Media, has erected about 54 billboards in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction, a five-mile zone bordering the city.

But the city's sign ordinance regulates about 4,500 billboards and 66,000 "on-premise" signs, Moriarty said.

The city is asking Harmon to stay her previous order, and consider reducing its scope to apply only to the dispute with RTM Media and its clients.

Shouldn't this be a bike tour?

World cycling champion Lance Armstrong on Tuesday urged voters to allow the state to borrow $3 billion for cancer research and prevention, saying Texas is the right place to head up the fight against the disease.

"I think it's the most logical state with the medical institutions in Texas," Armstrong, a testicular cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France winner, told the Houston Chronicle's editorial board. "I view it as an investment in the future lives of all Texans."

Under the proposal, called Proposition 15, the state could issue up to $300 million a year in bonds over the next decade. The money would be distributed to universities and biotechnology research companies through a competitive grant process administered by a state cancer research center.

The Legislature approved the measure in May, and Gov. Rick Perry signed it in June. But the plan won't go forward unless it's approved by voters on Nov. 6.

[...]

Armstrong plans to kick off a statewide bus tour to galvanize voters on Saturday in Austin at his group's signature fundraising event, The Livestrong Challenge run. He's expected back in Houston on Tuesday.

Kos complains about the number of unsolicited catalogs he gets, and shares a solution to the problem:

Enter Catalog Choice, a project endorsed by the NRDC and the National Wildlife Council to help stem this wasteful practice.

You enter your personal information, check off the catalogs you receive from a list, and they contact those merchants and ask that they stop sending you their crap. And the real impact of participating and spreading the word could be huge:

The production and disposal of direct mail alone consumes more energy than 3 million cars.

Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.

Disgusting for a "product" that few people ask for, and even fewer need.

I've blogged before about Bexar County DA Susan Reed's obstinateness regarding the pilot needle exchange program that was passed by the Legislature this past spring. I'm pleased to report that State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R, San Antonio) has asked AG Greg Abbott for an opinion about whether the participants in this program can be prosecuted as Reed has vowed to do. His request is here, and as Grits notes, you can submit comments as well - the request for opinion number is RQ-0630-GA. Check it out.

Not a whole lot of money pouring into the Council races.

Candidates in this fall's city election reported varying success collecting campaign contributions in the past three months, with Councilman M.J. Khan leading the pack at $188,000, according to filings made public Tuesday.

Mayor Bill White, who has raised $1.9 million this election cycle and faces two marginal opponents, came in second, collecting $116,000.

[...]

In the contested races, the campaign filings may offer clues about which candidates have the best chances to win, especially in a low-turnout election with little or no polling.

"It's not a perfect predictor. Sometimes candidates raise a lot of money and lose. But it usually will tell you who the serious candidates are, particularly in these multi-candidate races," said Richard Murray, a political scientist with the University of Houston.

The most hotly contested races include campaigns to replace term-limited council members Ada Edwards (District D), Addie Wiseman (District E), Carol Alvarado (District I), and Michael Berry (At-Large Position 5).

In the race to replace Berry, businessman Zaf Tahir reported raising about $47,000. He now has $161,000 in the bank to fund the last month of this campaign, far more than the other candidates in the race.

Chiropractor Jack Christie, who, like Tahir, has faced questions about residency, came in second with $40,000 in the bank, thanks to a personal loan. He raised $250, the filing showed.

In the District D race, pastor Michael Williams out-raised the other seven candidates, collecting nearly $40,000. He has about $10,000 on hand.

City employee Wanda Adams raised $7,400 but reported only about $4,000 in the bank.

In the District I race, James Rodriguez and John Marron both raised $44,000. Marron, a retired labor leader, had about $50,000 left to spend.

Rodriguez, a marketing director who was Alvarado's chief of staff, had about $18,000. He reported spending $65,000 since July, more than twice Marron's total expenditures.

In the race for Wiseman's seat, former Humble schools trustee Mike Sullivan raised $9,400. Lawyer William Williams reported raising $800.

Political action committees working to help area school districts pass more than $2 billion in bonds also turned in their contribution reports Tuesday.

Parents and Teachers for Our Public Schools reported $164,650 in political contributions to support the Houston Independent School District's $805 million bond proposal.

Among the contributions: Boulevard Partners donated $80,000 in office space; Mir, Fox & Rodriguez, a Houston-based accounting and consulting firm, donated $10,000; and Community Education Partners, a Nashville-based company that HISD pays to educate at-risk students, gave $10,000.

Good stuff here. If all of the Council campaign overview stories that I've been bitching about were instead more like this, with actual in-depth questions about issues and space for full answers from the candidates, I'd have that much less to complain about. (And don't tell me "there isn't the space", or "we don't have the resources". There's plenty of space on the website, and if an unpaid hobbyist can do this, so can a multi-million dollar business.) Anyway, it's all good, so go check it out.

Once more we venture outside the City Council races, this time to HCCS Trustee District 1, where Kevin J. Hoffman is running against incumbent Yolanda Navarro Flores. Hoffman, who is not to be confused with outgoing HISD Trustee Kevin H. Hoffman, is a civic activist who has worked in the energy industry as well as with nonprofits for the arts. He's also a neighbor of mine. My conversation with him is here and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3
Jolanda Jones - At Large #5 - MP3
Annette Dwyer - District E - MP3
Reginald Adams - HISD District 2 - MP3
Will Williams - District E - MP3

Long as we're talking about County Judge stuff, here's some news of note:

Save the Date - Tuesday, October 30 for "The Official Campaign Announcement Party"

David Mincberg for Harris County Judge

at

The Art Studio of Molly Gochman
2445 North Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77098
(map)
5:30 - 7:30 pm

For more information, contact [email protected]

www.mincbergforcountyjudge.com

There are three things in life that are certain: Death, taxes, and Republicans proposing tax cuts.

Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday floated the idea of cutting the county's property tax rate 1 cent -- a decrease that would save the average homeowner about $12 annually.

County Judge Ed Emmett, who will seek election next year to the post to which he was appointed this year, led the push for the tax cut.

[...]

Commissioner El Franco Lee said he may support the cut if it does not harm delivery of needed services. But he called the proposed reduction nothing more than a token gesture.

He said Emmett is pressing for the cut because he is seeking election and thinks there is a sector of the public that will be impressed by even a small cut in the tax rate.

"All of this is demagoguery. We're in that business. That's a given," Lee said.

Emmett, tapped by the four county commissioners to serve as county judge earlier this year, said he knows the savings for the average homeowner will be small.

"That's always one of the arguments -- that for the individual, it doesn't really matter," he said. "But in the aggregate, it does matter."

From 2002-06, County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt and former County Judge Robert Eckels, who resigned in March, lost nearly annual fights with the four county commissioners over whether the property tax rate should be cut.

Bettencourt long has argued that decreases were in order because rising property values have translated into higher tax bills for many property owners.

In 2004, the four commissioners on the five-member Commissioners Court defeated Eckels' attempt to lower the county tax rate a quarter-cent. Commissioner Steve Radack said then, "It's almost insulting for (Eckels and Bettencourt) to say they were saving taxpayers all this money. Why else go there for something so minor except to grab headlines?"

But Radack, who is working to help fellow Republican Emmett get elected, said he likely would support the proposed 1-cent decrease.

Bettencourt said, "Any property tax relief is good. Something is always better than nothing."

Bacarisse has called for a 5-cent cut in the county property tax rate.

Bettencourt has said such a rate reduction would save the average Harris County homeowner about $58 a year.

"We're talking about the appointed county judge's token move as opposed to our decrease that would provide real tax relief," Bacarisse said.

Emmett is calling for the cut while the court will be asking voters to approve $630 million in county bonds and $250 million in Port of Houston Authority bonds in November.

The 1-cent cut in the tax rate would mean a loss of $25 million in county revenue annually, Bettencourt said.

Radack said it was fair for people to ask why the court might seek a tax rate cut while pushing a costly bond package.

Emmett said the bonds voted on in November wouldn't begin to be floated until 2011. The county can afford to give a cut in the tax rate now, he said.

And here's the Chron overview of the crowded District D field.

The candidates are Wanda Adams, a recycling education coordinator for the City of Houston; Lawrence Allen, a special projects director for the Houston Independent School District; Keith Caldwell, an executive assistant manager at Walgreens; Florida "Flo" Cooper, a retired telecommunications consultant; Lana Edwards, principal of HISD's Windsor Village Elementary School; Larry McKinzie, a science teacher at HISD's Cullen Middle School; and Michael P. Williams, pastor of Joy Baptist Tabernacle.

The candidates largely agree on the major issues facing the district, including the need to promote economic development, improve social services for the young and the elderly, and increase police visibility to reduce crime.

Where they say they differ has more to do with individual backgrounds and their ties to the diverse district they seek to serve.

As you know, the impact that wind turbines may have on migratory birds has dominated the conversation about the proposed wind farm on the Kenedy Ranch, which is currently being challenged by a coalition of environmental groups plus the neighboring King Ranch. As much as the issue has been in the news, I can't recall seeing any actual numbers being mentioned in them. Are we talking hundreds, thousands, what? This Brownsville Herald story is the first article I've seen to include such data.

Despite the companies' reassurances, alliance members say they are concerned about the wind projects' impact on endangered and threatened bird species in the region, as well as on the coastal habitat. The tall turbines and their fast-spinning blades could lead to substantial bird kills, the groups say. The needed infrastructure -- including concrete bases for the towers and roads running throughout the site -- will deplete natural habitat, they said.

Wind turbines made today typically have towers from 200 to 260 feet tall, with rotors from 150 to 260 feet in diameter, according to the National Wind Coordinating Committee. At their tips, the blades can turn as fast as 138 to 182 miles per hour.

Bird fatality rates at other wind-turbine sites have varied widely, from less than one bird per turbine at a site in Oregon to 10 per turbine at a site in Tennessee. The average, according to the National Wind Coordinating Committee, is two per turbine per year.

The companies counter that they've conducted assessments of the bird populations in the area, and concluded the turbines would cause minimal bird fatalities.

"Since 2004, we've been doing migrating bird studies, breeding bird studies," said Jan Johnson, spokeswoman for PPM Energy.

According to PPM, these studies have shown, for example, that raptors like the aplomado falcon -- one of the species of concern to the alliance -- fly west of the site and wouldn't be affected.

Babcock & Brown has come to similar conclusions, Shugart said. Also, the company is planning to construct turbines and the connecting roads so as to minimally disturb wetlands, he said.

"We've worked with local environmental agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers on the project, on avoiding the wetlands," Shugart said.

Most of the land will remain undisturbed, he said.

"It's not like a sprawling Wal-Mart parking lot," Shugart said.

However, because the companies have generally funded their own studies, and in some cases haven't made the results public, alliance members are unconvinced.

"It's not the same as having people from environmental agencies, qualified biologists, discuss the studies that need to be done," said David Newstead, president of the Coastal Bend Audubon Society. "It needs to be legitimate, peer-reviewed research. ... In Texas there are essentially no studies like that."

Interestingly, this story does not mention the one place that's been held up as the worst case scenario for migratory birds, the Altamont Pass wind farm. How does it compare? I did some Googling, and found the following:

From the Heartland Institute:

Giant wind turbines at Altamont Pass, California, are illegally killing more than 1,000 birds of prey each year, according to a lawsuit filed January 12 by the Center for Biological Diversity. The suit demands an injunction halting operation of the turbines until and unless protective measures are taken and highlights increasing concerns regarding a power source long hailed as environmentally friendly by environmental activist groups.

Thousands of wind turbines were built in Northern California's Altamont Pass region during the 1980s in response to activist groups' call for greater reliance on renewable energy sources. Construction of the wind turbines, however, has made the region one of the most deadly places in the world for a large variety of birds. Literally thousands of birds are killed by the turbines each year, including roughly 1,000 annual kills of such valued birds of prey as golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, and burrowing owls.

Contra Costa Times.com reports that an Alameda County (CA) Superior Court Judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed against wind-power companies that operate the Altamont Pass Wind Farm may proceed (registration required).

The lawsuit, which was filed last November by a number of environmental organizations including the Center for Biological Diversity, claims that wind turbines at Altamont have killed 880 to 1,330 golden eagles, hawks, owls and other protected raptors each year for the past 20 years, in violation of California Fish and Game Code provisions as well as the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The plaintiffs assert that violations of these regulations and statutes amount to unfair business practices and seek damages in order to purchase and preserve bird habitats.

In 1994, shortly after raptor deaths in the Altamont Pass became a general concern, the wind energy industry joined with other stakeholders (government officials, environmental groups, utilities) to form the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC), a multi-stakeholder collaborative aimed at addressing the wind/avian issue and other issues affecting the industry's future. NWCC has sponsored numerous meetings and academic papers to better understand wind energy's wildlife impacts, including updates to the environmental community about the latest wind-related research; events related to the biological significance of wind's impacts; and a wind project permitting handbook.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) produced a report in 2003 that estimated that somewhat more than 1,000 birds were being killed annually by the wind turbines in the pass. One-half of the birds killed are raptors. This is significantly more than that estimated by studies in the 1990s. However, the study also estimated that only 24 golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are killed annually, about one-half of that estimated earlier. The golden eagle is a protected species. Most of the raptors killed are red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis).

The study also concluded that the mortality rate per turbine is nearly ten times that of the previous estimates. Earlier studies suggested the mortality rate ranged from 0.02 to 0.05 birds killed per turbine per year. The NREL study puts the death rate at 0.19 birds/turbine/year.

A Goverment Accounting Office (GAO) report identified several unique features of the wind resource area at Altamont Pass that contribute to the high number of raptor deaths. First, California was the first area to develop wind power in significant numbers and thus has some of the oldest turbines still in operation in the United States. Older turbines produce less power per turbine, so it took many turbines to produce a certain level of energy; today, newer facilities producing the same amount of energy would have much fewer turbines. For example, Altamont Pass has thousands of wind turbines--many of which are older models--whereas, newer facilities generally have significantly fewer turbines. The sheer number of turbines in Altamont Pass is a major reason for the high number of fatalities in the area.

Secondly, the design of older generation turbines, like those found in Altamont Pass, are more fatal to raptors. Specifically, early turbines were mounted on towers 60 feet to 80 feet in height, while today's turbines are mounted on towers 200 feet to 260 feet in height. The older turbines at Altamont Pass have blades that reach lower to the ground, and thus can be more hazardous to raptors as they swoop down to catch prey. The relative absence of raptor kills at newer facilities with generally taller turbines supports the notion that these turbines are less lethal to raptors. Third, the location of the wind turbine facilities at Altamont Pass may have contributed to the high number of raptor deaths. Studies show that there are a high number of raptors that pass through the area, as well as an abundance of raptor prey at the base of the turbines. In addition, the location of wind turbines on ridge tops and canyons may increase the likelihood that raptors will collide with turbines. One reason why other parts of the country may not be experiencing high levels of raptor mortality is partly because wind developers have used information from Altamont Pass to site new turbines in hopes of avoiding similar situations.

Of course, you can't consider this in a vacuum, either. The choice isn't just about dead birds versus not-dead birds, it's about wind energy versus another coal plant as well. Just keep the bigger picture in mind, that's all I'm asking. Link via South Texas Chisme.

No surprises, the Chron stumps for the incumbents.

District B, Jarvis Johnson -- District B suffers from underdevelopment and a lack of housing stock to attract start-up businesses. Johnson, who began his community involvement as a youth center director in the district, spent his first term on council working to improve infrastructure and encouraging industry to stay and expand. He placed a high priority on assisting local businesses in tapping into commerce generated at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

District C, Anne Clutterbuck -- In District C, the problem is not lack of development but rather how to manage it while maintaining quality of life and improving drainage and public safety. Clutterbuck, who holds a law degree and was a staff member for U.S. Rep. Bill Archer, now retired, has shown a talent for bringing conflicting segments of the district together to solve problems. She recently helped broker a compromise on the reconstruction of Kirby Drive that will expand its traffic capacity and pedestrian walkways while minimizing environmental damage and saving many trees along the route.

Both Johnson and Clutterbuck have demonstrated commitment to their constituents' needs and strong leadership skills in their first two years on council. The Chronicle believes they will be even more effective if district voters return them to office for a second term.

I blogged about the AFL-CIO's endorsement of the HISD bond referendum on Monday. Here's the Chron story about that.

Making more concessions to win support for the Houston Independent School District's $805 million bond proposal, Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced Monday that the district plans to adopt higher wages for many construction workers and to partner with area unions to expand job training programs for students.

While many of the details haven't been finalized and still need school board approval, the deal persuaded previously reluctant union leaders to endorse the bond.

"This is monumental," said Turner Wright, a business development representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. "These workers are going to earn a decent living, finally."

Under the plan, HISD would pay the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wages -- the same rates, fringe benefits and apprenticeship ratios adopted by Harris County. HISD also agreed to use the county's contract compliance office to make sure contractors pay those rates.

Contractors who don't comply, as well as those that don't provide formal training to their employees, will pay fees that will be funneled into the school district's vocational education program. Those career and technology programs will be bolstered to help prepare graduates to enter apprenticeship programs.

The deal comes after weeks of lobbying on the part of union leaders, who initially said they couldn't support a bond that would allow more schools to be built by underpaid and underquallified workers. Saavedra said the union's newfound support shows that many of the concerns surrounding the bond can be resolved.

"A lot of the differences here are adult differences," he said. "These differences can be worked out. I don't believe we're very far apart with any group."

I may be getting close to the end of the Council interviews, but I'm not quite there yet. Today we head back out to District E for a conversation with Will Williams. Williams lives in Kingwood, where he's a practicing attorney. My conversation with him is here and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3
Jolanda Jones - At Large #5 - MP3
Annette Dwyer - District E - MP3
Reginald Adams - HISD District 2 - MP3

As we know, the Texas House now has 70 Democrats in it, thanks to the recent party switch by Rep. Kirk England. The Dems have a chance to close the gap between them and the Republicans even more before next November, as there will be a special election next month to replace retiring Republican Rep. Anna Mowery. That race features a slew of Republicans and one Democrat, Dan Barrett, who ran a pretty decent race against Mowery last year. The Mid-Cities Democrats are trying to raise a little money for Barrett by doing a dollar-for-dollar match on donations made to Barrett via ActBlue, up to $500 total (they're also kicking in $500 up front). BOR's Todd Hill has the details.

So here's the Chron story about the District C race, which features Council Member Anne Clutterbuck and two challengers, Robert Glaser and Alfred Molison, who had also been a candidate in the At Large 3 special election. I know I shouldn't expect too much from this kind of story. I know it's the lowest of common denominators, with precious little beyond what you could learn by peeking at each candidates' web page. I know that even this skimpy effort is better than what we'll get in more wide-open fields like District D and At Large 5. Yet somehow I can't read it and not think "What was the point of this?"

Maybe it's just me, I don't know. All I can say is that I don't see how this sort of thing helps to educate any voter. Perhaps just by having all the candidates' names in the paper, or by reminding people that there is an election coming up, some folks will come away better informed than before they read the story. Maybe some people will go on and do some research of their own. I just think there should be more than this. Does anyone else think this way?

The Wall Street Journal had a story on Friday about a lawsuit by Ticketmaster against a ticket scalper.

IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ticketmaster earlier this year filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against RMG Technologies Inc., a small Pittsburgh-based company that runs TicketBrokerTools.com. According to papers filed with the lawsuit, RMG rents to scalpers software that can inundate Ticketmaster's computers with thousands of requests for seats, "in effect allowing them to cut in line," according to Joe Freeman, a Ticketmaster vice president.

Last month, Ticketmaster filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would prohibit RMG from selling such software; Judge Audrey B. Collins is expected to rule on the motion this month.

[...]

The Internet era has brought speed and convenience to all sorts of consumer transactions. For concertgoers, however, it has also led to ever-faster sellouts for hot events. Ticketmaster deploys technology that is supposed to stop brokers from gaining access to large numbers of seats via online sales. But it says brokers' software circumvents the company's protections.

That has placed large numbers of seats in the hands of brokers who use eBay Inc.'s StubHub, Craigslist and other online venues to resell the tickets at a big mark up.

One situation roiling consumers involves the 54-concert "Best of Both Worlds" tour in which singer-actress Miley Cyrus is performing sets as herself and as her fictional alter ego, Hannah Montana. Parents and children have found finding tickets for the shows difficult and expensive. The issue is drawing the attention of government officials. On Thursday -- in a rare Internet-age example of authorities enforcing antiscalping laws -- the attorneys general of Missouri and Arkansas filed lawsuits against people accused of illegally reselling Hannah Montana tickets.

According to StubHub, tickets for "Best of Both Worlds" are currently selling for an average $237, making them pricier than seats for the Police ($209), Justin Timberlake ($182) and Beyoncé ($212). The highest face value for a ticket on the Hannah Montana tour: $63.

There is a simple way Ticketmaster and entertainers could address this problem -- they could just raise prices. As Silicon Alley points out, if people are willing to pay $200 to watch Miley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana"'s 14-year-old star, why are her concert promoters selling tickets for just $60?

But that solution defeats the scalpers only by adopting their ways -- and the fans would still be stuck with expensive tickets. I propose a better way: Make people take a quiz to get tickets to their favorite acts. I'm serious.

Here's what I mean. When you select "Hannah Montana" on the Ticketmaster site, the system would ask you three or four multiple-choice questions about the show. Only if you get them right will it let you in to buy tickets. It's like a CAPTCHA, but instead of separating robots from humans, it separates true fans from scalpers and occasional enthusiasts.

Ticketmaster could draw its questions from a long list in order to keep the scalpers from learning all of them. To be sure, the scalpers might still find ways to get around the measure -- they could, for instance, hire a "Hannah Montana" expert. Still, it would trip them up, especially if Ticketmaster imposes the plan across all acts. Are the scalpers going to hire Bruce Springsteen expert, a Justin Timberlake expert, and a Genesis expert, too?

That's my suggestion, anyway. Feel free to tell me why it's as stupid or defeatable as all the other failed approaches have been so far.

Time again for another Tour de Blog. Click on for the highlights:

span style="font-weight: bold">TXsharon says, "YOU SUCK AT&T" and she can only say that because she doesn't use AT&T. Over at Bluedaze she tells why, if you use AT&T for your Internets, you can't say they suck.

Stace at Dos Centavos reports on racism and bigotry committed by a corporation and a UT fraternity.

What's really going on in Irving? Xanthippas at Three Wise Men notes there's more going on in the immigration crackdown than possible profiling and arrests.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes that NOW wants to know why U.S. District Judge Judge Samuel Kent was 'punished' with a 4 month vacation after the investigation into sexual harassment charges concluded.

Criticism of Hillary Clinton's laugh is no laughing matter, so says PDiddie at Brains and Eggs in HRC:LOL.

Might be time for a bit of horsetrading on the floor of the Senate, and one of Texas Kaos' regular diarists, Fake Consultant, has a bit of advice on the subject for Majority Leader Harry Reid in On Larry Craig, And Filibusters or Wanna Make a Trade?

Truth, it has been said, is the first casualty of war. The Republican-Media coalition must have declared war on Social Security, and Blue 19th exposes their lies.

Human rights advocates cheered the Williamson County Commission's vote to sever ties with the operator of the T. Don Hutto holding facility for undocumented immigrants, but Eye On Williamson's wcnews wonders if a battle within the Republican party over the county's share of the profits may have driven their decision.

McBlogger at McBlogger speculates as to the reasons Sharon Keller (Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) needed to get out of work at 5 on Sept. 25th.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells us about the Texas Conservative Coalition's new Election Integrity Task Force, its new Chairwoman and its likely recommendations.

Peter at B and B writes about the quixotic attempts by a group of environmentally-conscious Republicans to get their chosen political party to care about conservation and stewardship: Republicans for Environmental Protection, all 70 of them, meet in San Antonio.

Off the Kuff looks at the ongoing dispute between the Harris County Appraisal District and the State Comptroller over how commercial properties are taxed.

In Texas Kaos dairy, Dallas and Denton drinking water at risk by TxDOT's route selection choice for FM299, Faith Chatham's shares a letter from Highland Village Parents Group activist/homeowner Susie Venable to Mayor Tom Leppert of Dallas regarding the City Water Department's failure to monitor possible MTBE contamination issues. Despite cries of running out of money, TxDOT selected the only route (of 8) which would double project costs by requiring bridges to be built across three tributaries to Lake Lewisville (drinking water source for Denton and Dallas Counties) in the area of the lake already contaminated by MTBE.

Gary at Easter Lemming updates the Pasadena Mayor Manlove resignation and his running for Lampson's seat. There are a lot of happy faces at city hall. Easter Lemming broke the story back on the 22nd.

Trinity Trickey strikes again at The Texas Cloverleaf. This time pro toll road literature features the war on trees and the fight against Angela Hunt by the powers that be. Only in Dallas.

This week's installment of GLBTube at the Houston GLBT Political Caucus Blog is a double feature: first, a sampling of clips related to ENDA; then gay republicans are running ads in order to sabotage hypocritical presidential candidates!

WhosPlayin hammers away on GOP Congressman Michael Burgess for dissing Muslims and being one of 30 boneheads to vote for giving mercenary firms like Blackwater a license to kill.

The Texas Blue looks at how the evangelical social movement isn't playing nice-nice with the Republican Party any longer, and why that is good for America.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author, syndicated columnist, political analyst and commentator, who is on a virtual book tour will stop by Para Justicia y Libertad on Oct 11 to discuss his new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African-Americans and Hispanics.

Hal at Half Empty counted a Lucky Seven congressional candidates that want to run against Nick Lampson in Texas CD 22. He ROFLs and LMAOs.

What Grits says.

Statewide, the Legislature wrapped debt to pay for new prisons into a larger, more innocuous set of bond proposals that goes before voters Nov. 6. Reported the Austin Statesman ("State asks voters for $1 billion in bonds for construction, repairs," Oct. 8), "The most costly item in Proposition 4 would be $233 million for three new minimum- to medium-security prisons. Also included is $28 million for one new facility and renovations at the Texas Youth Commission."

While new prisons might have been vulnerable in a stand-alone vote, linking the debt to parks spending and funds aimed at the mentally retarded probably make these bonds a shoo-in. Personally I believe such disparate projects should be put before the voters individually. I shouldn't have to vote for three unnecessary prisons to approve support for parks and the developmentally disabled, but that's the Janus-faced option the Legislature has placed in front of us.

In Harris County, reported the Houston Chronicle last week ("Massive bond could feed Harris' appetite for construction," Oct. 4), voters will decide whether to approve more than a half billion dollars in new debt to expand jail capacity. Bonds would pay for a new central processing center for the jail ($213 million, plus $32 million from the city), to renovate the old jail to become a juvenile detention center ($115 million), to pay for a new morgue and crime lab building ($100 million) and to build a new family law center ($90 million). The combined new cost including staffing will boost jail operations from 16% to 25% of the county budget and require new taxes. (Of course, that assumes it's even possible to find enough guards to staff a new jail.)

God knows, Houston needs a better crime lab, but Harris County officials lumped that critical item in with unnecessary law enforcement pork that voters should reject. Detect a pattern? One up or down vote. If voters want to fix the crime lab, they must also agree to building jail space Harris County can't afford or properly staff.

The headline of this story, which takes place at a candidate forum hosted by The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), is about an incentive pay program for HPD, but the bulk of the actual text is about the HISD bond referendum, which TMO says it cannot support:

More than 20 city and school elected officials and candidates, including Houston ISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, attended the meeting designed to gauge the officials' and candidates' commitment to supporting TMO's agenda.

The group -- composed of congregations, schools and other institutions -- asked candidates a slate of yes-or-no questions. Each candidate was given a very limited time to answer. Candidates were not allowed to campaign, and the audience was not allowed to boo. About 300 people attended the meeting at Trinity United Methodist Church.

City officials and candidates were also asked whether they supported increasing city employees' pay to a "living wage," removing abandoned houses and developing affordable housing.

Despite gaining support on their issues from the seven candidates vying for the two open seats on the HISD school board, TMO leaders said the organization cannot support the district's $805 million bond measure.

"We're just extremely unhappy with the process," TMO member Terri Parris said. "It was a painful and prayerful decision."

While students need new buildings, leaders of the grass-roots groups critical of the bond said HISD leaders should have consulted with the community before unveiling the bond package.

Five of the seven HISD candidates said they are also against the bond. Only District II candidate Reginald Adams and District IV candidate Paula Harris said they will support the proposal to build 24 schools and renovate 134 others.

Opposing the bond "is the popular thing to do right now," Adams said. "The facts will prove that this bond is in the best interest of students and the city."

I presume that everyone reading this is a registered voter already, but if for some reason you're not, or if for some reason you haven't updated your registration after moving, tomorrow is the last day to rectify this situation if you want to vote this November.

Tuesday is the last day to register to vote or make changes in voter registration for the Nov. 6 elections.

State law requires that voters must be registered 30 days before the election in which they vote.

Thirty-four jurisdictions, including the Houston Independent School District, the city of Houston and Harris County, are conducting joint elections. The state of Texas has 16 bond issues on the statewide ballot.

Completed registration applications can be delivered to any Harris County Tax Office location by the end of business at 4:45 p.m., or must be postmarked by 11:59 p.m., Harris County Voter Registrar Paul Bettencourt said.

To make changes in voter registration, Bettencourt suggested residents "get online instead of in line," to update that information at www.hcvoter.net. The tax office is linked with the Texas Secretary of State's office, making it easy to update information, such as a new address.

Information regarding the status of registered voters can be checked at www.hcvoter.net. For more information, call 713-368-VOTE.

Missed this on Friday - the Upper Kirby dispute has been resolved with a compromise that appears to be acceptable to everyone involved.

A compromise plan for the Kirby Drive drainage and redevelopment project received a generally positive response from about 50 residents who showed up at a Thursday meeting held by the Upper Kirby Redevelopment Authority.

A local advocacy group, Trees for Houston, protested the original version proposed by the redevelopment authority -- otherwise known as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 19 -- because it would have widened Kirby from Richmond to Westheimer enough to require removal of the majority of the existing live oaks.

The TIRZ board held a public meeting on Sept. 15, after which it met with Trees for Houston representatives, Houston public works director Mike Marcotte, District C Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck and developer E.D. Wulfe, who acted as a mediator.

"With all the input ya'll gave us from that meeting and the e-mails, we've been able to come very quickly to what we think is a good resolution," said TIRZ chairman Sydney Buddy Bailey. "For those of you here on Sept. 15, I heard a lot of passion in the room. Passionate people came together and by that Friday after our meeting reached a compromise."

[...]

The impetus for the project comes from the need for better flood control in the Upper Kirby district. But the TIRZ wanted to take the opportunity to make streetscape improvements.

The Department of Public Works and Engineering initially indicated that meant lanes would need to be widened to the city standard of 11 feet.

The TIRZ also had proposed 14-foot wide medians to give pedestrians a 4-foot-wide landing space. This would have increased the amount of pavement on Kirby curb-to-curb from 66 feet to 80 feet.

Kirby now has three lanes in each direction that average 9 feet, 4 inches in width and a 10-foot continuous left turn lane.

The TIRZ prooposal called for sidewalks to be widened from an average of 4 feet in most areas to 6 feet.

The compromise calls for 73 feet of pavement from curb to curb where there is no left turn lane; 74 feet where the left turn lane is not signalized, and 77 feet at intersections where there is a stoplight to accommodate a pedestrian landing zone in the median.

The curbside lanes would be 11 feet wide; the middle and median side lanes would be 10 feet wide; and the esplanade would be 10 feet wide, expanding to 12 feet for a traffic barrier as needed at turn locations.

The sidewalks would still be expanded to an average of 6 feet, but the buffer zone would be about 3.5 feet wider on each side of the street than in the original plan to protect existing trees and pedestrians.

I've said before that I'm getting close to the end of my interview series with City Council candidates. As such, I'm going to branch out a bit into some other races, like HISD Trustee. That's what I've got for you today, an interview with Reginald Adams, who is running for the open Trustee seat in District 2. Adams is an artist, community activist, executive director of the Museum of Cultural Arts Houston, and father of a six-year-old son who is enrolled in HISD. My conversation with Adams is here and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3
Jolanda Jones - At Large #5 - MP3
Annette Dwyer - District E - MP3

The Houston Press had a great story last year about the business of haunted houses in Houston. Now that the season is in full swing, the Chron has a similar piece.

If there's one thing that spooks Jim Fetterly, it's the cost associated with advertising Scream World, an attraction open only six weeks a year.

The three "haunted" buildings, maze and make-believe cemetery have drawn 30,000 customers a year since opening in 2001 off Beltway 8 in northwest Houston.

And though revenue totaled $618,000 last year, advertising costs ate up almost a fourth of that.

Fetterly said a challenge is that his competition outspends him on advertising.

Among the ideas of Terry Hemeyer, adjunct professor of management at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management: "First off, people need to look at where they're located. Your signage is an excellent form of advertising. So check that first and make sure you've maximized it."

Fetterly said he is considering signs.

"We're looking at getting a nice, lighted sign, but right now we're refinancing the business," he said. "It's definitely something we know we need to work on."

This story sort of answers a question I had with the Press article: What do these guys do during the offseason?

"Once the season ends, we take off a few weeks, but come January we're in here tearing down the sets and thinking of new vignettes," Fetterly said. "We may keep 80 percent for the next year, or only 20 percent. It all depends on what's coming out in animatronics and what we think we'll need."

[...]

Fetterly said he spends between $30,000 and $40,000 on new props each year. The business owns about $250,000 in props and equipment, he said.

"We consider our props diversions. They make you look somewhere else, so then our actors can pop out," Fetterly said.

This year, ticket prices for Scream World rose $2, to $22 for the five attractions.

To offset the increase, Fetterly offers promotions such as Student ID Night and Family Night. He also rents his parking lot to a storage company during the off-season.

Like most people, I've been known to take a casual approach to certain traffic ordinances when it suited me. Some of these are easier to rationalize than others - I was just going with the flow of traffic, honest! One law I've never been tempted to mess with is the one governing handicapped parking spaces. So articles like this always surprise me a bit.

In most states, people with handicapped placards, plates or stickers can park in designated handicapped spaces and often can park for free at a meter.

But it's illegal to borrow someone's placard -- a plastic tag that hangs from the rearview mirror -- and use it without the person being in the vehicle. It's also illegal to use the placard of someone who has died or to park in a handicapped space without a permit.

Governments are getting tougher because more placards are in circulation and the public has become more aware of their abuse, said Tim Gilmer, editor of New Mobility, a Horsham, Pa.-based magazine for wheelchair users with active lifestyles.

Disabled people have become more vocal about their needs, said Terry Moakley, a United Spinal Association spokesman.

"People just don't want to settle for no access or second-rate access," Moakley said.

Massachusetts is urging its police to crack down after a yearlong investigation culminating in August discovered that nearly one-third of the placards found on cars parked in downtown Boston were being used by people who were not disabled.

"It strikes a nerve with people," said Ann Dufresne, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. "They are taking spots away from those people who really need it."

As was the case with the Greater Houston Partnership, the local chapter of the AFL-CIO had initially announced its decision to defer support of the HISD bond proposal until HISD got its act together. And as was the case with the GHP, they eventually decided to make an endorsement. Here's their press release:

The Harris County AFL-CIO Council and the Houston Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council will announce their support of HISD's $805 million bond and the introduction of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (USDOL-BAT) program Monday, October 8, 2007, at 10:00 a.m.

Union leaders and HISD officials were able to reach an agreement that will allow HISD graduates an opportunity to enter the join apprenticeship programs that employs the students though the union and academically trains them through the Houston Community College System (HCCS). Specifically, HISD has agreed to:

* The use of U.S. Department of Labor apprentice wage rates
* Monitoring and enforcement of wages and the use of apprentices conducted by Harris County's contract compliance office
* Encouragement of contractor participation
* Penalties to assist the HISD's Career and Technical Education (C.A.T.E.) program

"We've been working with HISD officials for many years to develop a program that gives the non-college bound student an opportunity and choice to earn a good wage in a respected profession," states Ronnie Raspberry, Executive Secretary of the Building Trades. "HISD's bond money will be spent twice - once for construction and again to train craftpersons that will fill jobs in the trades where shortages exist right now," concluded Richard Shaw, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO Council.

The AFL-CIO and the Building Trades are also very much aware that many of their community friends are on the opposite side of this endorsement and fully respects their reasons for doing so. An inclusive and broad-based outreach process would have been the more prudent way to have approached the community in order to gain their support. We encourage HISD to continue to engage the community in a process that will earn their support of this bond election.

Speaking of Dutton, he laid out the anti-bond case yesterday in the Chron.

Literally thousands of students that HISD zones to schools in northeast Houston walk to a school around the corner near their house to catch a bus to go to another school -- across town. Almost 45 percent of the students zoned to schools in northeast Houston do this every school day.

Along with many parents and students, I have continually complained about HISD's cross-town education practice. HISD explains away arguments against this practice by hiding behind what it refers to as the district's "choice" policy. Theoretically, any child can choose to attend any school in HISD under this policy of "choice." The practical reality is that children and parents in northeast Houston are forced into choosing between an "inferior" school around the corner and a "better" school across town. That's no choice at all. For many students left behind in failing neighborhood schools, that is at best a "sentence." At worst, HISD is stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

[...]

When I spoke recently at the HISD Board meeting, my initial challenge was to make sure HISD knew how upset the community was over the much talked about bond proposal. As I sat listening and watching in that meeting, it occurred to me, however, that the bond proposal -- at least related to students in northeast Houston -- was really the extension of an HISD attitude toward northeast Houston. The proof is everywhere, and you don't need an expert to uncover this fact.

Take, for example, Atherton Elementary School. For more than 12 years, Atherton's principal has been pleading with HISD to improve the program at this school. Place a magnet program at Atherton, or something or anything, but don't just force the students who can to search for a better education across town. A lack of money or other resources, we were told, muted such cries, and Atherton and many other HISD schools in northeast Houston were consistently overlooked.

Now let's turn to HISD' new bond proposal. No one in northeast Houston asked for it, but HISD now wants to jettison the Contemporary Learning Center (CLC) from its address on Cleburne Street in the Third Ward to E.O. Smith Education Center and a Lyons Avenue address in the Fifth Ward. I have nothing against the students who attend CLC, but when my sister was the vice principal at CLC, even the students referred to CLC as an acronym for "Criminals' Last Chance."

The point is, when northeast Houston parents and students beg for better programs in their neighborhood schools, HISD turns a deaf ear. But when it comes to "less than quality" education programs, HISD thinks northeast Houston simply can't get enough. Transferring CLC to E.O. Smith is an insult to everyone in northeast Houston. Sadly -- but truthfully -- it's reflective of HISD's attitude toward northeast Houston.

This is a welcome development.

A lot of pedestrians in Houston no longer have an excuse for holding up traffic.

New countdown signals that flash the seconds left to safely cross Houston streets are now posted at a number of intersections, including in downtown. Others will be up soon at more than 300 intersections in the Texas Medical Center, Midtown and other areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.

City leaders are expecting a big return on the $1.3 million investment, which the City Council approved this summer.

The energy-efficient signals are equipped with LED lights, which are brighter and last longer. New LED-equipped traffic signals also are being installed as the city works to get all traffic signals upgraded with the more efficient bulbs. The upgrade will save the city $10,000 a day in energy costs, said Frank Michel, a spokesman for Mayor Bill White.

My kudos to the headline writer for coming up with "Faulty tower".

Showing appropriate leadership, Mayor Bill White supports opponents of the tower. The mayor recognizes the desire of many Houstonians to move closer to their work, which will add density to the central city. However, White said in a statement to concerned parties that he believed the proposed project would impede traffic on two-lane Bissonnet, already congested during rush hours.

White said he would use "any appropriate power under the law to alter the proposed project as currently planned." The challenge going forward is that city officials have few tools at their disposal. The city asks developers to study how each project will affect traffic, but no law yet requires them to do so.

Influential opponents of the Ashby Tower have won considerable support at City Hall and are represented by prominent litigator Rusty Hardin. Their clout has led some Houstonians to charge favoritism and inequity.

Well, of course. Well-heeled, civically active voters wield more influence than low-income residents who might have less time or inclination to vote and take part in civic affairs. Human nature is not easily repealed, but that's not all bad in a democracy in which politicians are supposed to consider their constituents' concerns.

The Chron continues its series on Constitutional amendments on this year's ballot with a look at Prop 15, the initiative to fund cancer research with $3 billion in bonds.

No organized opposition has emerged to Proposition 15, but detractors say going into debt is an irresponsible way to fund a goal that might prove elusive. Backers counter that the state would share in proceeds from any major patents that could result, and such income would help pay back the bonds.

"The opposition is really voter apathy," said political strategist Bryan Epstein, a consultant for Texans to Cure Cancer, the leading political action committee pushing passage of the measure.

"Proposition 15 safely passes if the turnout is over 1 million," Epstein said last week. "It becomes more challenging if the turnout is less than a million."

High-profile bond initiatives in Houston aimed at public schools, the port authority and criminal justice could attract more voters to the polls, he said, but elections for constitutional amendments often draw lackluster statewide turnouts.

I'll say this: The Prop 15 skeptics can make a pretty persuasive case, one that can be tailored to different voters:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said Proposition 15 sounds like a good idea, but he has serious concerns about the funding mechanism.

"Traditionally, we don't borrow money except to build infrastructure. This is a fairly significant departure from that," he said.

Also, the state is setting aside $6 billion in surplus funds to pay for a promised property tax cut, said Scott McCown, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin think tank that advocates for low-income Texans.

Yet, if it borrows $3 billion for cancer research rather than tapping into the state's general revenue, taxpayers will have to pay an estimated $1.6 billion more in interest.

McCown questioned the logic of that policy, saying, "We're borrowing money because we're keeping money in our wallets to fund tax cuts."

So what do we know about utilities deregulation in Texas? Well, first and foremost, it hasn't delivered on its biggest promise:

"Competition in the electric industry will benefit Texans by reducing monthly rates and offering consumers more choices about the power they use," then-Gov.
George W. Bush said at the time.

Then-state Sen. David Sibley, who was a key author of the bill, put the promise more bluntly:

''If all consumers don't benefit from this, we will have wasted our time and failed our constituency," he said.

Eight years later, many consumers are calling deregulation just that -- a failed waste of time.

From 2000 to June of this year, the average electric rate in Texas rose 56 percent, more than in all but three states, according to the most recent nationwide federal government figures.

"It's like there's a penalty for being a Texan when it comes to your light bill," said Mike Coleman, a Cypress homeowner who also is responsible for the electric bills at an industrial equipment supplier with offices in four states.

[...]

[T]he very structure of Texas' deregulated market exposes customers to the full impact of rising natural gas prices more than in other states, or even in parts of Texas still served by regulated electric companies, municipally owned utilities or electric cooperatives.

The 25 percent of Texans living in those regulated markets generally pay less than rates available in markets that have been opened to competition.

Houston residential consumers use an average of 1,130 kilowatt hours a month. Bills for that much power would range from $125.43 to $163.85 based on rates available in Houston at the end of September for a one-year, fixed-rate plan. The average rate available in Houston would produce a monthly bill of $142.95.

The same amount of electricity would cost $97.41 in San Antonio and $105.32 in Austin, both served by municipally owned utilities.

Deregulation supporters say its success should not be judged just on price, and point to the variety of electricity service options available to customers. But they have been slow to take advantage of the choices.

What we do have is some darned fine rationalizations:

Regardless of the wholesale market structure, however, it's unlikely electric prices would have climbed as they have under deregulation had gas prices remained stable.

If gas stayed below $4 per million BTUs, as it had for most of the 1990s when deregulation was being planned, state politicians' projections of lower electric bills might have been met.

"If we still had $3 gas, they'd be building a statue of me somewhere down there in Houston," says Sibley.

But gas prices climbed into the $6 and $8 range beginning in 2003, and spiked to $15.37 in late 2005 when hurricanes Katrina and Rita cut off much of the production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mark Jacobs, CEO of Reliant Energy, predicts that rates in other states will catch up with Texas.

"Those other markets are still on an uphill climb and haven't passed on all the increases in gas prices we saw from Katrina and Rita," Jacobs said.

Good.

Some providers of sexual abstinence programs in Texas schools are cutting back their operations because $50 million in federal funds for abstinence promotion quietly expired last week.

Despite an 11th-hour extension of funding until Dec. 31, the effect is still "devastating," said Mike Goss, president of the faith-based, nonprofit Abstinence America program that operates in Houston schools. "It's going to wipe out programs far and wide."

However, the impact in Central Texas classrooms will likely be minimal. And statewide, abstinence will still be taught, though some private agencies may no longer offer the curriculum in some school districts. Goss said he has scaled his program back from 16 Houston area schools to four schools.

States were informed this week they could receive the stop-gap funding if they apply quickly to the federal government. Officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services said they haven't decided whether to do so.

Texas receives the largest share of federal abstinence grants, about $4.7 million a year, through a program known as Title V. The money goes to more than 50 instructional programs, most of them offered by a mini-industry of private groups that contract with various school districts. The programs match every $4 in federal funds with $3 of their own, according to state officials.

The Texas Education Agency requires public high schools to teach abstinence as the "preferred choice" to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Each school district decides how and when that instruction will take place, and whether a contractor will provide it.

[...]

Congress enacted the Title V grant program in 1998, but it has recently come under increasing criticism. Eight states, including California, New Jersey and Wisconsin, have rejected the funding, opting instead to put money into comprehensive sex education that allows them to put more emphasis on condoms and other forms of birth control.

If federal abstinence money ends for good in December, supporters may ask the state to step in.

Legislators say it's too soon to tell what will happen. However, it is typically the federal government's job to pay for the programs that it starts, said state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, a member of the House Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services.

Both she and another committee member, Rep. John Zerwas, R-Fulshear, say they need more hard numbers on the programs' effectiveness.

Zerwas said he supports abstinence-based education.

"But at the end of the day, we hold our agencies accountable and unless we can see some evidence that these types of programs are having this impact for what they're intended to do, it becomes difficult for us as a committee to continue funding them," Zerwas said. "If they're not, I'm willing to accept that as much as anybody else."

The NYT had a story on Friday about an increase in the number of doctors in Texas, which is being claimed by tort "reformers" as proof of their success. I've been over this ground plenty of times, so I'm going to cede the floor to the Drum Major Institute and to New York personal injury attorney Eric Turkewitz, both of whom criticize the statistics presented in the story. Check them both out, then consider the logic of S. C. Gwynne, who notes a simple reason for the doc increase:

The population is skyrocketing. So much so that, within the next ten years, fully 6 million new people are going to be living here, the equivalent of downloading the entire state of Kentucky into Texas. The docs are going where the people are.

Last month, Comptroller Susan Combs issued a report saying that the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) had been undervaluing commercial properties, which in turn was shorting HISD of revenue - see here for some background. Now they're saying maybe not.

In a statement Friday, Combs said she was looking into whether a state law passed earlier this year could change how her office conducts annual property value studies in school districts statewide. The statement was issued by Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt and HCAD Chief Appraiser Jim Robinson, suggesting Combs may be coming around to their view on how properties are to be appraised.

[...]

Bettencourt and Robinson contend the Comptroller's Office has failed to take into account commercial and apartment property appraisals that have been lowered through successful tax protests by the owners.

For example, last year HCAD originally appraised downtown's Three Allen Center, 333 Clay, at $170 million. The owners protested and an appraisal review board agreed, lowering the property's value to $123 million. The Comptroller's Office, however, said the property had a value of $128 million.

In another instance, HCAD assessed the Fantome Tower, at 1100 Louisiana, at $190 million last year. An appraisal review board lowered that to $140 million. But the agency put the building's value at $253 million.

[...]

Robinson said the Comptroller's Office may not find that commercial property in HISD is undervalued if it takes into account those properties that had their appraisals lowered through the protest process.

To bolster their case, Bettencourt and Robinson cite a law passed this summer that says the comptroller should factor those protest victories into its calculations when determining whether a school district's property is being properly appraised.

A spokesman for Combs said the Comptroller's Office will ask the attorney general to confirm that the legislative intent of the bill's author, Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, was to require the comptroller to give more weight to the outcome of protest hearings.

Reading Otto's bill in this way "could have statewide impact," spokesman Allen Spelce said.

The change in law made by this Act applies only to the annual study conducted under Section 403.302, Government Code, as amended by this Act, to determine taxable value for a tax year that begins on or after January 1, 2007. The annual study to determine taxable value for a tax year that begins before that date is covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.

The cited examples of disputes between HCAD and the Comptroller confuse me as well. In two of these cases, HCAD's initial assessment was considerably higher than both the ARB-lowered amount and the Comptroller's amount. In the third case, the Comptroller's number is 50% higher than the initial value, and double the ARB value. What this says to me more than anything is not that HCAD is necessarily lowballing things, but that the general methodology being used by both groups is not nearly as accurate as it should be. How can you trust something that so often misses by that much? I say this is another argument in favor of sales price disclosure legislation. Let's take some of the guesswork out, and maybe we won't have these problems.

We'll see what happens. If the Comptroller is waiting for an AG opinion, then we won't know for six months or so. If Bettencourt's argument carries the day, then as the story notes this will have an impact statewide, which will make the fight over school finance in 2009 that much more contentious. Stay tuned.

Most of this story is about fears that opposition to the HISD bond proposal will lead people to also vote against State Proposition 2, which is a subject I covered last week. Other than a quote from Dr. Richard Murray suggesting that Prop 2 supporters probably don't have to worry, there's not much new to add to that. Let me point you again to the FAQ on Prop 2 (PDF), and say again that this is worth voting for.

Of more immediate interest to me is the bit at the end about the apparent morphing of the HISD opposition from "We're not against it, we're just not for it" to a full-fledged "We're against it":

State Rep. Harold Dutton, a Houston Democrat who is opposed to HISD's bond proposal, said he can understand why higher education officials are concerned.

"We've tried to make clear to people that our opposition is only to the HISD bonds," Dutton said. "We initially asked HISD, because of that and other reasons, if they would just take their bond issue off (the Nov. 6 ballot) and come back at a later date. But they were not interested."

In the past couple of weeks, support seemed to be growing for the school district's bond package with endorsements coming from several groups, including the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Greater Houston Partnership.

But on Friday, Dutton and other opponents of the bond upped their organizing efforts. More than 150 mostly black community members, church leaders and local politicians turned out for a strategizing meeting for Concerned Citizens for School Equality, a recently formed political action committee opposing the bond.

"This is about defeating the HISD bond proposal," state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, told the attendees. "The analyzing has been done. This is now about saying, 'We don't want it and we need to work on bringing it down.' "

I've been writing a lot about various demolitions going on around town lately, so here's a change of pace for you. Almost two years ago, in January of 2006, the old Ed Sacks Waste Paper company at 440 Studemont, right next to the Memorial Heights development, was torn down. This week, after all those months of the place lying fallow, I spotted signs of construction activity:

The following is excerpted from an Americans United for Change press release, which is part of a big national effort to put pressure on various Congressional Republicans to vote for an veto override on S-CHIP. They're targeting Rep. Kay Granger here in Texas, which struck me as a bit odd at first as many of the other names on their list are swing-seat holders. I'd have aimed at Mike McCaul, John Carter, or Pete Sessions in the first round if that were the criteria. I'm reminded that Granger is third in the GOP's leadership structure, and she has been mentioned in some circles as a Vice Presidential possibility (I have a hard time seeing that, but stranger things have happened), so as far as that goes, it makes sense. From the release:

On the heels of President Bush's shameful veto this week of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act - meaningful legislation to provide health coverage for nearly 10 million kids - several leading groups including AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change, USAction, TrueMajority announced a major, multi-million dollar "Campaign to Save Children's Healthcare" to convince enough member of Congress to vote to override the President's veto. The effort includes a national television ad campaign, targeted TV ads in key Republican U.S. House districts, and a massive online and grassroots mobilization blitz.

The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for 6.6 million kids and provide coverage to nearly 4 million more low-income children. The bill passed the U.S. House on September 25, by a 265 to 159 vote -- approximately 290 votes are needed to over-ride a veto - and passed in the U.S. Senate on September 27th with a 67-29 veto-proof majority. The President vetoed the legislation on October 3rd, and the U.S. House is expected to hold a vote to override the veto on October 18th. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll reveals 72 percent of Americans support the Democrats' proposed $35 billion for children's health care, including 61% of Republicans.

With support from AFSCME, SEIU and MoveOn.org -- Americans United for Change will launch a significant-six figure national TV ad starting on Monday called "Abby" that will run through the expected October 18th vote. You may view "Abby" here:

http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/blog/entries/abby/

The following is via email from Carl Whitmarsh:

In a surprise move to many, longtime Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, Position 1, Dale Gorczynski seems to have drawn an opponent in the March 2008 primary - his longtime Chief Clerk, Harold Landreneau.

Our sources at the Harris County Courthouse tell us that Landreneau filed a designation of Campaign Treasurer for the anticipated campaign against his boss just today.

Gorczynski is a longtime, popular figure in Houston, Harris County political circles, having been elected to one of the first single member Houston City Council districts in 1979 and serving until his election in a crowded, incumbent free election to his JP seat in November 1992. He has been re-elected every four years since his initial election.

Landreneau is the long time Chief Clerk to Gorczynski who attended law school during his employment and became a licensed attorney and mediator. He recently filed suit in Federal Court against Harris County and Gorczynski. Landreneau is a precinct chair in Heights area precinct 0058.

Looks like the Democrats in Harris County's heaviest populated precinct will be seeing yet more candidates seeking their signatures for a place on the ballot and their support in the March 2008 primary.

Wanda Adams picked up a nice endorsement this week:

Councilwoman Ada Edwards has endorsed Wanda Adams to succeed her as the city's representative of District D.

Edwards, who has served on the council for a maximum three terms, was joined at a news conference this week by Councilwoman Sue Lovett, Harris County Precinct 7 Constable May Walker and leaders of two organizations also endorsing Adams in the Nov. 6 election.

Adams, a recycling education coordinator for the city, is one of seven candidates vying for Edwards' seat in District D. The district runs from Montrose in the north to the Beltway area in the south and west to Missouri City.

Edwards praised Adams' work ethic, integrity and communication skills during her years as a community liaison for the city.

"She has worked with the community, she knows almost every civic club member by name, especially every civic club president," Edwards said.

Also endorsing Adams were Maria Gonzalez, vice president of the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Political Caucus, and Preston Roe, president of the Greater OST/South Union Super Neighborhood.

The endorsement, one of only two offered by the union so far this election cycle, means Sullivan can tout the support of police officers when stumping in Clear Lake, Kingwood and other neighborhoods in the district. It also means he can count on union members to work the polls for him on Election Day.

[...]

The union also has endorsed District I candidate James Rodriguez, but has yet to weigh in publicly on the other open races.

beyond a newspaper headline, do endorsements matter?

Not really, says Kent Tedin, a professor of political science at the University of Houston who co-authored American Public Opinion: Its Origins, Contents and Impact.

In polls, about 60 percent of voters say they are not influenced by endorsements, and those who are influenced generally cancel each other out, Tedin says.

Not even a blessing from Oprah Winfrey, who is backing Sen. Barack Obama for president, would sway many voters, according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

The CPPP has issued the following statement to John Cornyn regarding his SCHIP claims:

In the debate over reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program, Senator Cornyn is talking about plans that did not pass Congress. He is touting the so-called Kids First Act that he supported at $9 billion and he is disparaging the original House plan and the original Senate plan. What Texans need to evaluate is the bipartisan bill for $35 billion that did pass, which the President vetoed. With a vote to override the veto coming up, the bipartisan bill is the plan that is on the table. It would cover almost 4 million more children.

Texas needs the bipartisan bill. The Legislature is trying to add back 200,000 children after the terrible 2003 cuts and provide new prenatal care. Thanks to the hard negotiation of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who voted for the bipartisan bill, it brings Texas more money and we are not penalized in any way.

Senator Cornyn has raised several concerns, but those concerns are addressed in the bipartisan bill. The bill targets only low-income children. The bill's new cap of 300% FPL is just under $62,000 gross pre-tax income (not net income) for a family of 4. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 84% of the children gaining coverage under the bill are either on the program now (but without the new money would have to be cut from the program for lack of funding) or are eligible now but not enrolled. Only 600,000 of the 3.8 million children gaining coverage under the bill are not currently eligible and would become eligible due to expansions.

The bill cuts out adults. The bill prohibits new waivers to cover parents under CHIP. States that have received waivers in the past to cover low-income parents under CHIP will be permitted to transition parents to a separate block grant with a lower federal match. And the bill retains the current law prohibition of waivers to allow coverage for childless adults. States that were given waivers in the past to cover childless adults will have these waivers terminated after a one-year period.

Senator Cornyn persists in saying that the Kids First Act (the McConnell-Lott amendment) would have covered an additional 1.3 million children. This is inaccurate. Senator Cornyn is misreading the Congressional Budget Office tables that scored the amendment. We brought this error to his attention by a letter e-mailed to him on August 1, but he continues to make this inaccurate claim. We are posting both our original letter to him and the original CBO Table. His plan would have barely covered current enrollment.

If the number of uninsured children grows this year at the same rate as last year, nearly 2,000 additional children will become uninsured every day. What we need are solutions, not rhetoric. As the Senator admits, CHIP is a great program for the kids who have it. It would also be great for the kids who don't. We urge Senator Cornyn and the other members of the Texas Congressional delegation who voted against the bipartisan bill to turn around and join the fight for children and for our future.

One more picture, the companion to this one:

As expected, the character Lisa Moore from Funky Winkerbean has died from breast cancer.

[A]s readers mourn Lisa Moore, they may find some comfort in knowing that writer Tom Batiuk promises big changes for the story.

In May, Batiuk returned to a breast-cancer story line he started in 1999. Lisa had a mastectomy, completed treatment, recovered her good health, had a daughter and lived happily with Les.

When Lisa received news in the spring that her cancer had returned, many readers were unhappy. "Don't let Lisa die" was the message they sent.

The messages imploring Batiuk to devise a miracle cure for Lisa tapered off when it became apparent where things were going, he said. Now he's getting e-mails from those who have been touched by cancer.

"They are getting ahold of me and saying they are gratified that somebody is doing this and that somebody is telling the true story, which is very, very nice. And that's the majority."

The response from cancer patients and those who have lost loved ones surprised him a bit.

"Because I certainly could have understood that this could have been coming at the wrong time for certain people," he said. "But I guess it's just human nature. Everyone approaches things differently."

Batiuk is ready to bring some hope to the story line and will make adjustments to the strip, he said. After Lisa's death, the Funky Winkerbean timeline jumps ahead 10 years.

Batiuk said he didn't want to go though a year or more of mourning with Lisa's widower, Les, and he wanted to move the characters forward.

Les will be a single father dealing with Summer, his 15-year-old daughter. Funky will be 46.

"All the core characters are going to have families," said Batiuk, 60. "I think that reflects the readers who followed Funky all along."

Having now been vetoed, the next phase in the fight over S-CHIP is the override attempt.

"Congress will fight hard to override President Bush's heartless veto," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada vowed.

Republican leaders expressed confidence they have enough votes to make the veto stick in the House, and not a single senior Democrat disputed them. A two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto.

UPDATE: Kos has a good roundup, too.

My buddy Matt sent me this NYT editorial about a legal challenge to the way in which New York State elects its judges.

The United States Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a challenge to New York's undemocratic method of electing its Supreme Court judges. A federal appeals court ruled that the process, a relic of the era of clubhouse politics, infringes on the constitutional rights of voters and candidates. The Supreme Court should affirm that well-reasoned decision.

New York's Supreme Court judges -- who are trial-level judges, not members of the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals -- are nominated through an archaic system of judicial conventions. These conventions are dominated by delegates handpicked by party bosses, who vote however the bosses tell them.

Independent candidates for judge have virtually no chance of bucking the system. To win the nomination, a candidate who is not backed by the bosses may need to recruit more than 100 delegate candidates to run in different districts. Those candidates would have to collect thousands of petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. If they did qualify, they would need to do an enormous education campaign, because their names appear on the ballot with no identification, so there is no way for ordinary voters to make an informed choice among them.

The judicial conventions themselves are an empty exercise. More than 96 percent of the nominations are uncontested. Absentee rates range as high as 69 percent. They often take, from beginning to end, as little as 20 minutes. When Margarita López Torres, the Brooklyn-based judge who is challenging the system, asked to attend a convention so she could make her case to the delegates, she was told that candidates were not allowed.

In other words, the whole process is a sham. It has the trappings of democracy, but it is not democratic at all. Candidates who want to be elected to a New York State Supreme Court judgeship have no way, short of being given the nod by the bosses, to compete for the voters' favor. The voters have no real hope of having their votes make a difference in the election.

I read that editorial and said to myself, "What's new"? The issue in my opinion that seems to escape every writer's gaze is, Who makes the appointment and by what means does that appointment get made? From my own experience with the so-called "merit" selection process, it is more cynical than the purported "unconstitutional" judicial convention system. For example, after being denied the cross-endorsement for a 2nd term on the Supreme Court, a very rare political event, I went through the arduous task of applying to the Governor's Committee and the Mayor's Committee. This was after being voted "Highly Qualified" by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; the only sitting trial judge to get that rating. I never made it out of the Governor's committee notwithstanding having had an affirmance rate of at least 98% on the criminal cases tried to verdict. Nor did I even get appointed by the Mayor even though his own committee voted to appoint me to the Criminal Court.

What happened? Politics at the so called merit system. Notwithstanding my qualifications after 14 years, my politics conflicted with the Governor when it came to Judicial Independence and obviously the Mayor fell into step with whom ever had the Governor's ear. Merit had nothing to do with this appointment process, politics ruled and politics in the rarefied atmosphere of one on one whispers in the ear of the appointer.

I have no illusions about the way New York State selects its Supreme Court judges. It is power politics, but at least it is a voting process no matter how watered down. I have known of floor fights within the convention to offset the rubber stamp of the political leader, but concededly they are rare.

Let's be honest, the merit system, so called, isn't the solution for the problem because it is politics of power in another shape. Without the system in New York, I would never have been a Judge. But because of the system in place at that time, a deal had been worked out between the political leaders that those who passed the selection committee would be nominated at the Judicial convention. I will be always grateful for that "unconstitutional" system.

Remember the bullet that was fired into the KPFT studio a few weeks back? If you know anything about who did it, you can collect a reward.

An anonymous donor has enabled Crime Stoppers to double the possible reward for information leading to the solution of the Aug. 13 drive-by shooting at KPFT radio station, officials said today.

The reward now stands at up to $10,000, Crime Stoppers announced.

Someone fired a bullet through a heavy-duty window and narrowly missed a late-night DJ who was playing Zydeco music at the station at 419 Lovett.

Anyone with information about the incident can call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous.

I don't have anything particularly insightful to say about the case of Ronald Taylor, who is on his way to being freed from prison after being unjustly convicted of rape 14 years ago due to an error committed by the HPD Crime Lab. I'm glad that justice is being done, however belatedly, and that since his case hinged on DNA evidence that it was possible for justice to eventually be done. May his experience help to ensure that no one else has to go through what he endured.

I'm also glad to see that there's been some progress being made on how these cases should be handled systematically.

Taylor's is the third conviction to crumble since scrutiny of work from the Houston crime lab began late in 2002 after news reports and an audit exposed poorly trained personnel and inaccurate work in the DNA division. Two other men were released from prison after new DNA tests discredited HPD's analyses.

Josiah Sutton was released from prison in March 2003 when DNA tests challenged the HPD work that helped secure his conviction in a 1998 rape. Sutton received a pardon on the basis of innocence and the state has compensated him with more than $118,000 for the time he served.

George Rodriguez served more than 17 years in prison in the 1987 rape of a 14-year-old girl before new forensic evidence discredited the HPD crime lab work on his case and led prosecutors to dismiss the case against him.

Since HPD's crime lab problems first came to light, errors have been found in several types of analyses, including those of firearms and of controlled substances, casting doubt on thousands of convictions and unsettling the local justice system.

Faulty evidence in the cases against Rodriguez and Taylor included serology, the science of typing body fluids that was a precursor to DNA testing.

Independent investigators who studied the crime lab over 26 months and issued a final report in June have called the work of the HPD serology division among the most troubling and problematic work from the crime lab.

Their scientists identified about 180 cases in which HPD serology work had "major issues" and called for a review of those cases to determine whether the forensic evidence played an essential role in securing convictions. Taylor's case was not among those highlighted in the report.

The serologist who handled Taylor's case worked in the lab from 1993 until 1996.

The investigative team recommended the appointment of an independent "special master" to review those cases. Local officials rejected the proposal. Instead, HPD and the district attorney's office have begun their own reviews of those cases.

Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project, said Taylor's case should highlight the need for a systematic review.

"The Ronald Taylor case ought to be a galvanizing example of what has to be done to correct the historical injustices that have occurred because of the Houston crime lab," Scheck said.

Scheck, other lawyers and local elected officials have begun working on a proposal to form a panel of lawyers to review these cases. Rosenthal was receptive to the idea of such a panel, Scheck said, and the lawyers have contacted the presiding judge over Harris County's courts, state District Judge Debbie Mantooth Stricklin, about how to proceed with the proposal.

"There has got to be an expeditious way to go through these cases and determine whether more testing is possible and appropriate," Scheck said. "That sort of vetting requires expertise, competence and an infrastructure to do that."

It's not a "media event" without the media, so here's Miya's coverage of the neighborhood protest against the Bissonnet high rise. They certainly succeeded in their mission to draw attention to their cause.

They've also succeeded in the more important matter of winning the political battle, at least so far.

Two days after Mayor Bill White pledged support for residents fighting a planned high-rise building near Rice University, city officials withdrew their approval of the developers' traffic impact analysis of the project.

This reversal of the city's position, the mayor's personal involvement and the announcement that prominent attorney Rusty Hardin would represent the opponents have reinforced concerns that affluent, politically connected neighborhoods enjoy an advantage over others in Houston's frequent land-use battles.

"There is a terrible inequity here,'' acknowledged City Councilman Peter Brown, who lives a few blocks from the project site and joined at least 300 of his neighbors standing along both sides of Bissonnet on Wednesday afternoon protesting the developers' plans.

White and other city officials denied that the Southampton and Boulevard Oaks neighborhoods near the site at 1717 Bissonnet had received any special treatment. And neighborhood leaders said they hope the attention focused on their struggle will lead to policies that will benefit all of Houston's neighborhoods.

"Sometimes it takes a project affecting folks who can get things done to actually get things done," said James Reeder, a Southampton resident and a partner in the Vinson & Elkins law firm, who said he was surprised and grateful when the mayor returned his recent call to talk about the high-rise. "We are fortunate that we have residents who do have the ear of influential people."

Reeder said he wasn't familiar with the contradictory letters the city's Public Works and Engineering Department had sent to the firm that performed the traffic study for the developers, Kevin Kirton and Matthew Morgan of Houston-based Buckhead Investment Partners.

The first letter, dated Sept. 4, said the city had reviewed the study and found that the 23-story, mixed-use project would have "no adverse traffic impact on the area street system nor the neighborhood. ... I am granting our approval of the traffic impact analysis of 1717 Bissonnet."

A second letter dated Sept. 28 and signed by the same official, Raymond D. Chong, a deputy public works director, said the previous approval of the traffic study was withdrawn. It cited several potential traffic problems the development could cause.

[...]

Chong's second letter was dated two days after White's letter to neighborhood leaders saying he believed the project would impair mobility on Bissonnet, a two-lane street. In the letter, now posted on the city's Web site, White promised to "use any appropriate power under law to alter the proposed project as currently planned."

Andy Icken, another deputy public works director who has been the administration's spokesman on the project, said the letter withdrawing approval of the traffic study was unrelated to the mayor's statement.

Icken said the second letter was drafted after he reviewed the traffic study and found inconsistencies in the level of activity expected at a restaurant included in the developers' plans for the building. The figures cited in the traffic study were different from those included in a previous request for utility work that was done in preparation for the development, Icken said.

White said he, too, had read the 59-page traffic study and found some of its conclusions questionable. His attention to this project was not unusual, the mayor said, because city officials have closely scrutinized the traffic impact of new, dense development projects in parts of central Houston since early this year.

The mayor said he and other high-level city officials frequently step in to help neighborhoods resolve problems with new development, and that most of these cases involve low-income neighborhoods rather than affluent ones.

But Councilman Jarvis Johnson, who represents District B in northeast Houston, said residents of the poor and working-class neighborhoods he represents had a difficult time getting a sympathetic ear at City Hall when they complained about single-family housing developments with no parks or other amenities.

"The city said there were standards that we set that (the developers) followed," he said. "How can this community (Southampton) push the envelope so much?"

Okay, now I think this thing might be a favorite to pass.

The Houston school district's bond proposal won a much-needed, though not unanimous, endorsement from the city's largest business organization on Wednesday.

The Greater Houston Partnership would not disclose the specific vote, taken during a closed meeting, but the group's president, Jeff Moseley, said some business leaders were troubled that school officials did not solicit opinions from the community while crafting the $805 million bond proposal.

The partnership, which has backed the district's past two bond issues, initially withheld support for the Nov. 6 referendum after black community leaders criticized the proposal.

"Ultimately, it came down to, 'What's the best thing to do for the boys and girls in the district?' " Moseley said. "And we think it's right for the boys and girls and for our regional economy."

The partnership's resolution did, however, ask district officials to reach out to the community.

"We support the bond," Moseley said, "but we are calling on HISD board leadership to be responsive to community leaders and citizens that are having a lot of questions about how this package will be implemented."

The partnership's endorsement comes on the heels of several others in recent days. But one major group, the Houston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, still is not promising support.

"Our position is not based on what the Houston Partnership does," said James Douglas, counsel for the NAACP.

But Douglas applauded the partnership's request for more community discussions.

"Our hope," he said, "is that the superintendent will take the advice and spend some time trying to reach a consensus with the NAACP and its supporters."

A couple of days ago, I blogged about zoning and form-based planning, and said that I knew nothing about the latter. In a comment that I didn't see at the time because it was accidentally flagged as spam by Movable Type, David Crossley mentioned that we already have form-based planning in Houston, we just have a lousy implementation of it. He expanded greatly on that point here, which I recommend you read. Basically, it talks about what it currently means to be defined as "urban" or "suburban" in Houston, and how altering that definition to better fit the way Houston really is would go a long way towards avoiding the kind of problems that the Bissonnet high rise and other similar developments have caused. Check it out.

Step one: If you receive an email claiming to have nekkid pictures of famous women contained within, do not open it, and for God's sake do not click on any links or open any attachments. Just delete it unread.

Step two: Repeat Step One.

There. That wasn't so hard, was it?

Apparently, our official state dinosaur is an impostor.

Bones discovered in the 1990s that spurred the Legislature to declare the pleurocoelus the state's official dinosaur were misidentified and actually came from a different species, according to a student's research.

The findings of Peter Rose, a former graduate student at Southern Methodist University, were published recently in "Palaeontologia Electronica," an online journal of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Mainstream scientists have been quick to accept Rose's findings, said Louis Jacobs, a professor of geological science at SMU.

"I'm one of those ones who presumed the bones were pleurocoelus, and now I'm convinced he is right," said Jacobs, adding that the new species should be promoted to Official Dinosaur of Texas.

Rose studied the bones for three years as part of his master's thesis. His comparison of the bones with a pleurocoelus (pronounced pluro-SEE-lus) specimen at the Smithsonian Institution revealed that the leg and shoulder bones were significantly different.

He named the previously unknown species the paluxysaurus (pronounced pah-luxy-sah-rus), because the bones were found near the Paluxy River.

"I wasn't going in with any assumptions. I thought that what I was looking at was the pleurocoelus," said Rose, 28, who is now a graduate geology student at the University of Minnesota.

"But in the process of describing the bones, I came to the conclusion that it had to be something really different."

Scientists believe the pleurocoelus was a plant-eater that lived in what is now Central Texas 110 million years ago. They thought the giant creature, which was up to 60 feet long and weighed up to 45 tons, was the only dinosaur of it size in North America during that period.

Rose said the discovery of a new species means there was more diversity among dinosaurs of that period than was previously thought.

Jacobs said the original identification of the bones was based more on assumption than systematic study. The bones were covered in limestone, making them difficult to identify.

"They couldn't see the bones very well, and they assumed that anything of that size and age had to be pleurocoelus," Jacobs said.

The bones are now in the possession of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, where they were on display as the remains of a pleurocoelus. The museum is currently renovating the display, and the bones will be identified as paluxysaurus when it's reopened in 2009, said Charlie Walter, the museum's chief operating officer.

Walter said the museum will petition the Legislature to designate the paluxysaurus as the state's rightful official dinosaur.

Here's one possible reason why State Rep. Joe Heflin is not at the top of the GOP list of vulnerable incumbents: He's been doing a really good job.

State Rep. Joe Heflin of Crosbyton was credited with a $5 million reimbursement to counties for last May's special constitutional amendments election in his 2007 Legislator of the Year Award from the Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association.

Representing Howard and Glasscock counties in the 16-county 85th District, he was lauded at the group's annual convention last week in Galveston.

"Joe fought like a bulldog to make sure counties were reimbursed for the extra expense," said TCJCA general counsel Jim Allison.

Heflin said Monday he and other sponsors initially sought $15 million but were gratified with the final amount.

"That certainly beats nothing," said the Democrat, who has a town hall meeting from 10 to 11 a.m. today at Garden City Community Center.

"Being a representative is a participation sport. You have to get involved and go with it. As an attorney and former Crosby County judge, one of my concerns was if it would be as boring on the House floor as it appeared from the gallery.

"But there is a lot happening when you're moving through 10,000 bills. It was pretty exciting and mostly non-partisan. If you go down to Austin with either side's radical agenda, you're not representing your district, in my view."

He backed a secret ballot in the "test vote" for Speaker of the House Tom Craddick's Jan. 9 re-election. It failed by 80-68 and the Midland Republican won a third two-year term.

However, Heflin indicated Monday he may support the speaker in January 2009. "I think Craddick has been good for West Texas," he said.

"The West Texas coalition sticks together because we have to. With Craddick as speaker, we were able to do some things that might not have been accomplished. Especially in the last days of the session in May, a lot of things were pending and there was no budget."

Heflin said he was impressed when Craddick secured crucial funding for Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Angelo State University in San Angelo.

[...]

Heflin said Houston and Dallas representatives want to replace Craddick as speaker with one of their own, but they are misguided because they "would spend all their time fighting each other and cancel each other out" if one had the speakership.

Noting the late Bill Clayton of Springlake, former Rep. Pete Laney of Hale Center and Craddick have held the powerful post since 1975, Heflin said, "I'm concerned that if we lose the speakership, it will go to Dallas or Houston and they'll hang onto it forever.

"I have had six or seven members come to me since the session and ask for pledge cards for the next speaker's race, but I've said, no, I'm not doing any pledges right now."

I'm not too happy to see that Heflin is considering backing Tom Craddick for Speaker in 2009, though I can at least understand his rationale. At least he's not committed to it yet. Ironically, it was Craddick's support from some mostly-urban Democrats that allowed him to hang on in the first place. All I know is that if we can get a Democratic majority in the House, we can spare Heflin the dilemma.

Another front in the fight against the border fence: Mayors in the affected towns are denying access to city-owned property.

Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied or limited access to some parts of their city property to Department of Homeland Security workers assigned to begin surveys or other preliminary work on the fence Congress has authorized to keep out illegal immigrants.

Eagle Pass has denied a request from federal officials to build a portion of the wall within its city limits.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada said Tuesday that he refused two weeks ago to sign documents granting federal workers permission to begin work if it was to be on city property. Del Rio granted limited access and El Paso allowed workers only on its outskirts, said Monica Weisberg Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition, a group that represents local officials.

"This is exercising our rights. This is our property," Ahumada said. "We are not going to make it easy for them."

In Eagle Pass, Mayor Chad Foster said his city has refused the U.S. Border Patrol's request to build 1 1/4 miles of fencing as part of a project that includes light towers and a new road for border patrols.

[...]

Brownsville, a city in South Texas of about 170,000 people across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico, said the city also was considering a lawsuit against the federal government to prevent the fence's construction on city property. City leaders met with attorneys Tuesday night about that possibility but decided to wait two more weeks before making a decision.

"If we have to we'll take it all the way up to the Supreme Court," Ahumada said about a potential lawsuit.

[...]

David Crump, a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said for now, land owners can keep anybody out of their property for any reason.

"But it's subject to being breached by legislation and either the Texas Legislature or Congress can give power to an agency to do it," said Crump, who specializes in real property law.

I suppose you already knew that term-limited Council Member Carol Alvarado was planning to run for Rick Noriega's to-be-vacated HD145 seat, but in the event you didn't, now you do.

Although District I City Council Member Carol Alvarado stopped just short of saying so, her final "State of the District" breakfast on Saturday may have doubled as an early campaign event for the 2008 race for State Rep. Rick Noriega's seat.

"I'd say within the next 145 days - I kind of like that number, 145 - you'll know what we're doing," Alvarado said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd in the Nautilus Ballroom of the Downtown Aquarium, 410 Bagby.

Noriega, D-Houston, represents District 145 but is "looking for another job," as Alvarado, who is completing her third and final term, quipped. Specifically, he has formed an exploratory committee to run for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's seat.

Alvarado's remarks, while highlighting her accomplishments at City Hall, were peppered with references to her possible future in state government.

As expected.

President Bush, in a confrontation with Congress, today vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance.

It was only the fourth veto of Bush's presidency, and one that some Republicans feared could carry steep risks for their party in next year's elections. The Senate approved the bill with enough votes to override the veto, but the margin in the House fell short of the required number.

The White House sought as little attention as possible, with the president wielding his veto behind closed doors without any fanfare or news coverage.

Eighteen Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate, enough to override Bush's veto. But this was not the case in the House, where despite sizable Republican support, supporters of the bill are about two dozen votes short of a successful override.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats were imploring 15 House Republicans to switch positions but had received no agreements so far.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Congress should be able to reach a compromise with Bush once he vetoes the bill. "We should not allow it to be expanded to higher and higher income levels, and to adults. This is about poor children," he said. "But we can work it out."

The only viable option is an override. Failing that, I hope the Democrats take Chuck Grassley's advice. That's pretty much all there is to it.

UPDATE: Seventy-two percent of people polled support the S-CHIP bill that Bush just vetoed. Burka makes the same point about Bush being ashamed of his veto. BOR points out the near unanimity of Texas Republicans' opposition to S-CHIP.

Forty-two people have already rsvp'd to participate in Jim Dean's Four Steps To Victory Tour stop in Houston on Thursday night. The event also features Houston's newest City Council member, Melissa Noriega. You can rsvp here.

Event details:

Date: Thursday, October 4, 2007
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Kobain's
Address: 33 Waugh Drive
City: Houston
State: TX
Zip Code: 77007
Phone Number: 713-864-8080

Kobain's is behind Chatter's in the Heights.

Should be a fun event with lots of Houston activists. Democracy For America folks are good people, and hearing DFA chair, Jim Dean (Howard Dean's brother), speak is a not to be missed opportunity.

For my next interview, we head out to District E for a conversation with Annette Dwyer. She is a resident of Clear Lake, a member of Council Member Addie Wiseman's Citizens Advisory Committee, and a board member of the Association of Clear Lake Communities (ACLC) and the Northfork Community Association, among other things. The MP3 file of the interview is here and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3
Jolanda Jones - At Large #5 - MP3

How serious are the opponents of the Bissonnet high rise? Serious enough to hire a high-powered attorney.

Residents of Southampton and Boulevard Oaks have hired trial lawyer Rusty Hardin to help them oppose a 23-story high-rise proposed for the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby.

Houston-based Buckhead Investment Partners plans to develop the residential tower at 1717 Bissonnet, a site currently home to the Maryland Manor Apartments.

"We've done everything that the rules, regulations and ordinances have required us to do to bring this project to this point," developer Matthew Morgan said.

Last week, Mayor Bill White wrote in a letter to area civic groups that the city will use "any appropriate power under law" to alter the development, which opponents say would tower over single-family homes and worsen traffic congestion.

Speaking of table-pounding, there will be a protest rally this afternoon by the local residents. It's described as a "media event", so expect to see it on the teevee news tonight. (Aside to the website owner: You might want to consider proofreading the title to this post.) Swamplot has more, including a drawing of what the high rise is supposed to look like.

Whatever may happen with the King-Kenedy Ranch kerfuffle, wind energy in Texas will still move forward.

A Louisiana company was awarded leases to four tracts Tuesday in the state's first open bidding for offshore wind power in the Gulf of Mexico.

Wind Energy Systems Technology, already developing a wind farm eight miles off of Galveston, was nominated by the state and was the only bidder for the tracts. A British company had expressed interest but later indicated it wasn't prepared to make an offer, said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.

Patterson said he expects to hold bidding for more offshore wind power leases in about a year. The Texas General Land Office oversees development of territory up to 10 miles from the state's coastline.

"If you're in the wind business, whether it's onshore or offshore, Texas is the place to be," Patterson said.

Though it's not clear why more companies didn't bid on the offshore tracts Tuesday, it may be that many are busy with wind power projects on land in Texas, said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas is now the nation's top producer of wind power, according to the association. The state had 3,352 megawatts of wind-generating capacity installed by the end of the second quarter this year, ahead of California's 2,376 megawatts.

Patterson dismissed the idea that offshore wind turbines will hurt flocks of migrating birds or be an eyesore for coastal visitors. Birds tend to fly higher than the wind equipment and, at eight miles offshore, the giant turbines can't be seen by tourists on land, he said.

And if they are in view, he said, "I don't think it looks all that bad."

A press release from the Land Office regarding these leases is beneath the fold.

Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, today awarded the first four competitively bid leases for offshore wind power in the nation's history.

"The Texas Wind Rush is on, and the pioneers are staking their claims," Patterson said. "And wherever there are pioneers, the settlers soon follow."

The leases, awarded to Wind Energy Systems Technology (W.E.S.T., LLC), allow work to begin immediately on the construction of meteorological testing towers on each of the four tracts. Wind Energy Systems Technology is based in Louisiana. The company already holds the nation's only offshore lease for wind power, and is collecting data for a wind farm off the coast of Galveston.

Once the wind farms are operational, W.E.S.T. will pay the state's Permanent School Fund a minimum of $132 million over the 30-year life of the leases, discounted for the present value of the leases. The company's actual dollar commitment to the PSF, in today's dollars, is $258 million.

Factor in the Permanent School Fund's minimum gross revenue from the wind farms producing at 250MW to 300MW, and that total rises to more than $231 million, discounted for present value, or $433 million over the 30-years the leases cover.

"Wind energy is not a feel-good fad," Patterson said. "This is real technology, real business, real energy and it's happening right here in Texas."

Four offshore tracts were offered for wind development as part of the regular oil and gas lease sale held today. The offshore wind energy tracts are near Jefferson, Calhoun, Brazoria and Cameron counties. The four tracts total 73,098 acres in size. The tracts range in size from 12,240.02 to 23,040 acres.

The research and development stage will last approximately four years and the production term will be 30 years for each lease.

W.E.S.T. will now begin to pay the state's Permanent School Fund $91,000 a year for the right to develop wind farms on the four tracts of land. Following the research phase of the leases, W.E.S.T. will begin to develop wind farms on each of the four tracts. If winds are favorable, W.E.S.T. plans to build wind farms that will produce a minimum of 250 MW to 300 MW per lease.

W.E.S.T. will then begin paying the state's Permanent School Fund a percentage of the electricity produced on the leases. For the first eight years of each lease, W.E.S.T. will pay the Permanent School Fund from 3.5 to 6.5 percent of all electricity produced from the four tracts of land.

Generally, that royalty will start at 3.5 percent of all electricity produced for the first eight years of the lease. That percentage will grow to 4.5 to 4.75 percent of total production for years nine through 16, and 5.5 to 6.5 percent of total production for years 17 through 30 of the 30-year lease.

"This was the first, but won't be the last," Patterson said. "The future of offshore wind power in the U.S. is right here in Texas, and the Land Office is open for business."

One feature of early October that I think we're all paying more attention to these days is the revised hurricane forecast for the rest of the season.

Hurricane expert William Gray slightly downgraded his forecast today, calling for four named storms in October and November, including two hurricanes, one of them major.

Gray's team at Colorado State University had predicted five named storms in their earlier forecast for the two months.

"We expect October-November to be very active," said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the hurricane forecast.

In April, Gray had predicted a "very active" 2007 season, with 17 named storms, including nine hurricanes, with five of them major hurricanes.

As of Oct. 1, a total of 13 named storms had developed, including four hurricanes. Two of the hurricanes were major.

Gray's team revises the forecast throughout the hurricane season, which lasts from June through November.

"August had somewhat above-average activity -- about 130 percent of average -- while September had about average activity -- about 92 percent of average," Klotzbach said.

Eight named storms formed in September in the Atlantic basin, tying a record set in 2002 for the most in that month.

But measured by the combined strength and duration of those storms, this September was actually the least active in the Atlantic since 1997, the National Hurricane Center said. That is because most of the September storms were weak and short lived.

Got one of those newfangled GPS units in your car? Watch out, it might get stolen.

Valuable stuff has been swiped from cars forever, but the theft of portable satellite-navigation units is dramatically increasing in many places. Crime analysts blame an alignment of economic and technological factors, while victims lament that the units, which cost several hundred dollars, are rarely recovered or replenished by insurance.

In Maryland's Montgomery County, outside Washington, D.C., 620 portable navigation devices were filched from cars through Aug. 31, blowing past the 189 taken in all of 2006. In downtown Philadelphia, GPS thefts jumped to 88 in the first eight months of the year from 33 in the same period of 2006. Police in San Francisco and the Boston area also have cited increases -- as have authorities in Australia and Britain.

Police say the perpetrators are getting more brazen, stealing units in busy places during the day. California Attorney General Jerry Brown's Lincoln Town Car had been parked outside a state building in San Francisco's Civic Center for only about 10 minutes recently when a thief grabbed the GPS device inside.

Even people who take their GPS gadgets off their dashboards when they leave their cars are returning to find windows smashed, as thieves gamble that an empty plastic cradle suction-cupped to the windshield means a GPS unit has been hidden in the car.

It gets worse: Taking the plastic cradle off the windshield might not be enough if the suction cup leaves a ring of film on the glass. That alone can signal a thief.

That's why police in Montgomery County, Md., handed out 1,200 microfiber cloths at a fair this summer and told motorists to clear suction-cup rings. Other cops advise using moist towelettes

Now this would normally be the place where I'd make a quip about the need to equip these devices with their own GPS locators, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to observe that if this trend continues - and it likely will, even as the price for these things inevitably starts to decline - we're likely going to see a call for the Lege to git tuff on car burglaries and start increasing penalties for this kind of crime. Because that sort of thing is a deterrent, you see, one that makes the rational thief weigh the cost of a long sentence against the benefit of boosting a TomTom. There's just one small fly in the ointment: As Grits points out, the odds are that our rational thief will never be caught.

The national "clearance rate" for serious crimes in 2006 - i.e., the percentage of reported crimes solved, by police according to the new Uniform Crime Report - seems awfully low to me:

• Nationwide in 2006, 44.3 percent of violent crimes and 15.8 percent of property crimes were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.


• Of the violent crimes (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), murder had the highest percentage of offenses cleared at 60.7 percent.


• Of the property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft), larceny-theft had the highest percentage of offenses cleared at 17.4 percent.


• Eighteen percent of arson offenses were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.

It's no wonder many in the public don't feel safe if 55% of violent crimes and 84% of property crimes go unsolved! If 82% of arson victims never see the offender held accountable, sure, I'd be unhappy, too. The 60.7% clearance rate for homicides is especially troubling - that means 39.3% of killers literally get away with murder!

Politicians routinely point to UCR crime statistics to argue for longer and more punitive criminal sentences. But to me these numbers imply a different solution: Greater resources and focus on solving crimes and catching criminals in the first place.

If the national clearance rate for burglary is only 12.6% (and in the single digits in some Texas cities), then punishing the few burglars who're caught more harshly makes only a small dent in crime. A better strategy would be to put more investigative resources into solving a great percentage of burglaries.

When punishment is uncertain or even unikely, the economic model of crime (where punishments are considered the "price" of criminal conduct) break down - there's a "free rider problem," to use the economists' jargon, because most offenders don't actually pay the "price," i.e, the legislatively established punishment. That's a big reason the death penalty provides little deterrent. The sentence is imposed on less than 2% of convicted murderers, but nearly 40% of the time a killer will never face punishment at all.

I guess it was too much to ask to hope that the "Noriega may have the resume, but Watts has the money" story line would fade, even for a day, as evidenced by some of the coverage that Noriega's third quarter haul received. It would have been nice to have known at what arbitrary height the bar had been set. Perhaps if Noriega had raised an amount equivalent to what Watts has loaned himself - and remember, that money is going to be used to defeat Rick Noriega, not John Cornyn - that might have done it, I dunno. But if that's how it is, then that's how it is, so let's deal with it and move on.

I'll just say this: As EoW pointed out, the goal was not to match Watts, as that would be impossible, but to show that Noriega could raise some serious money, from a broad-based coalition. Call me crazy, but I think $570K in basically two months' time, from over 1100 donors, for a campaign that was starting from scratch, ain't too shabby. He'll have to build on that, of course, but the basic foundation has been laid. And as long as we're talking about building on foundations, Watts would presumably like to show that his $1.1 million haul from the second quarter isn't a one-time-only event. If he repeated that performance this time around, that's one thing. But if not, then that needs to be taken into consideration as well. Because, as the Observer reminds us, the political graveyards are full of self-funders who failed to establish any broad appeal. Mikal Watts' checkbook is an asset for him, and a factor in the race, and it's perfectly fair to take it into account. But while money is necessary to win a race, it's not sufficient. We'll see how far it can take Mikal Watts.

The Chron has a feature story on the race for City Council At Large #2, and I have to say, I find it a bit puzzling. For a frequent/perennial candidate who as far as I can tell has never actually done any campaigning, Griff Griffin comes across as someone who can actually articulate a reason why he's running for office. Which makes me wonder why he's never taken the job of being a candidate seriously. Who knows, maybe he could win if he put a genuine effort into it. Stranger things have happened, after all.

Not that it matters to me in this case. I like Sue Lovell just fine (and you may recall that I was a Jay Aiyer supporter last time), and will be happy to vote for her in November. But now I feel like I understand Griff and his neverending quest even less. Weird.

I see the methodology being used in this story about a cost/benefit study of building overpasses for streets where freight trains block a lot of traffic, but I'm still not sure I understand it.

A recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University and other consultants identified 55 at-grade crossings -- intersections where the tracks are at the same level as the roadway -- as candidates for overpasses.

The cost of grade-separating all 55 crossings was projected at $808 million. Most of that would come from taxpayers.

But the benefits of building those overpasses would amount to only $730 million, according to a complex series of calculations that assign a cash value to things such as lost productivity because of traffic delays and tailpipe emissions from idling cars. And those benefits would be spread over 20 years.

In fact, only 13 of those crossings would qualify for the improvements strictly on the basis of a benefit-to-cost analysis, according to the TTI study, which was performed for the Texas Department of Transportation.

The study also identified another 63 crossings as candidates for closure.

The total cost of closing those was put at $5.2 million, a fraction of the $98 million in benefits the study says would result.

Joe Leleikis, a consultant with the engineering firm HTNB in Austin, presented the study to the board of the newly formed Gulf Coast Freight Rail District last month.

Leleikis called the study's findings "a start in the conversation" as the local freight rail district seeks ways for rail and road traffic to coexist more safely and conveniently.

[...]

Leleikis said the study focused on motorists using the crossings and the effects of emissions from their vehicles. It did not consider possible noise or neighborhood access problems from closing a crossing or building an overpass.

[...]

To calculate benefits, the study looked at costs an overpass or closure would eliminate. Those costs include delays for motorists waiting for a train to pass, the resulting emissions, the fuel wasted by idling engines and the costs to motorists involved in collisions.

That number then was compared with estimated construction costs of the proposed improvement.

[...]

Those who have waited for a train to pass on Westheimer near the upscale Highland Village shopping area may be interested to learn that crossing ranked only 38th in ratio of benefits to cost from adding an overpass.

The projected benefit -- $18 million over 20 years -- exceeded those for 23 crossings that ranked higher on the list. But the projected cost of $63 million, due largely to the adjacent high-value residential and commercial properties, was among the highest.

It was followed by San Felipe, to the north, on the same Union Pacific tracks. Putting an overpass there would cost $31 million but produce a benefit worth $22 million. That was good enough for a rank of 19 in benefit-to-cost ratio.

The two sites where overpasses would yield the highest benefit, the study said, are Gessner at U.S. 90A and Shepherd-Durham near Washington, at $76 million and $72 million respectively.

The two also ranked third and fourth in benefit-cost ratio, trailing only Quitman at Elysian (7.3 to 1) and Scott at McKinney (4.7 to 1).

To me, it's practically a no-brainer to do this. We're talking less than a billion dollars total, which would be spread over several years. That's less than half the cost of the Katy Freeway expansion, and it'll keep traffic moving all over town. I say we need to find a way to make this happen.

Next up in the interview series is Jolanda Jones, who is running for At Large #5. Jones has one of the more varied and interesting resumes you'll see - All-American athlete at UH, attorney, contestant on "Survivor", community activist. She was also a key player in helping to bring some of the problems with the HPD Crime Lab to light. My conversation with her is here, and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3
Wanda Adams - District D - MP3

New month, new quarter, new Texas blog roundup. Click on for more.

Blue 19th wonders: Can someone ask Randy Neugebauer why he hates college students?

Evan at the Houston GLBT Political Caucus Blog asks where's Human Rights Campaign as leaders in congress are considering leaving transgender works out of ENDA because, unlike other GLBT political organizations, H.R.C. has been silent so far, and that's unacceptable.

In How are these alike? Fort Worth and Wise County TXsharon of Bluedaze warns Fort Worth residents about the dangers of Barnett Shale drilling, conflicts of interest and good old boy politics.

McBlogger goes all medieval on the Texas Transportation Commission's derriere... Like toll roads? Not McBlogger!

Texas Kaos community member Carol Gee gives a primer on terms we're all going to need to become much more familiar with in 50 Ways to Understand the Protect America Act.

Managing diabetes is a real pain, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson analyzes the latest actions regarding HD-52 in Krusee's Influence And Credibility Are Gone, Time For HD-52 To Start Over.

BossKitty at Blue Bloggin notes that Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), representing the 25th District of Texas, hits Bush in the nose again, and this time its on SCHIP. She also tells about some of the antics of Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) on the vote--and how that's all about earmarks.

In a pair of posts, Nat-Wu at Three Wise Men asks if the city of Irving is practicing racist law enforcement.

Off the Kuff takes a look at State Proposition 2, which an education bond issue that should not be confused with the Houston ISD's more controversial referendum.

Over at Stop Cornyn, Matt tells us how John Cornyn has once again voted against Texas Children. Another post at Stop Cornyn notes just how out of touch Cornyn's vote was.

Texas Toad at North Texas Liberal talks about the Project Farm Team meeting, with guest speaker Vince Leibowitz, and how that organization can turn Denton County blue.

The Texas Blue, one of the recent additions to the Texas Progressive Alliance has an audio interview with State Representative Kirk England, who discusses his background and what motivated his recent decision to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells us how Rick Perry's decision to order the state's two largest retirement systems to divest in Iranian-related investments could cause a special session.

Refinish69 at Doing My Part For The Left gives his views about people saying elect any Democrat and why he thinks that is total BS in Rick Noriega, Dan Grant and John Edwards 3 Great Democrats To Get Elected

Half Empty'scoverage of a presentation by Hank Gilbert makes note of what a huge issue the Trans Texas Corridor is. Hal attended Hank Gilbert's informative discussion on Saturday and reports.

B and B says "Stop the border fence!"

Clay Robison provides a great example of why 2003's tort "reform" amendment continues to stand as one of the biggest con jobs ever perpetratred on the state.

Retired orthopedic surgeon Forney Fleming was just what the doctor ordered, or so Texans for Lawsuit Reform thought.

He was eager to bash plaintiffs' lawyers, particularly those who targeted doctors. So TLR, a business group that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars bashing plaintiffs' lawyers and winning restrictions on judgments against physicians and other defendants, signed him up as a volunteer speaker.

Until a few days ago, TLR also featured Fleming's "supporter profile" on its Web site, where he was quoted:

"I was practicing in a 'judicial hellhole' and saw the effect of lawsuit abuse, which was decreasing the accessibility of medical care in Jefferson County."

Fleming, however, left out some details of his professional life, including his reprimand and $7,500 fine by the Texas Medical Board in 2004 for misdiagnosing what turned out to be bone cancer in a 16-year-old girl's leg. The leg later was amputated.

The board also accused Fleming of providing substandard care to six other patients, including an 81-year-old woman with a fractured hip. That formal complaint was still pending when he let his medical license lapse and retired last December.

And, according to state records, Fleming was sued or threatened with suits for malpractice three times. All were settled out of court or resolved through mediation for undisclosed terms.

None of his professional problems was mentioned on the TLR Web site, but his profile was removed last week, within an hour after I informed a TLR spokeswoman about them.

"TLR's support has always come from industries and individuals that don't want to be held accountable for bringing physical and fiscal harm to Texas families," said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group.

From the weekend, an update on the Kenedy wind farm saga.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas has agreed to consider at its Oct. 17 meeting whether a coalition of conservation organizations can fight two wind farms proposed for the Texas Coast.

"We're very pleased that they will listen to our point of view," said Winnie Burkett of the Houston Audubon Society. "We think there should be public input to this kind of decision. We're worried because these wind farms and this transmission line are in the middle of a major migratory corridor."

[...]

The Coastal Habitat Alliance, a combination of the King Ranch and local and national environmental organizations, is fighting the plans. Because permits are not needed to site power generation facilities in Texas, the group is fighting the transmission line that would serve the farms' 241 turbines.

An administrative law judge has already denied the alliance status to protest the project. The alliance asked the PUC to overturn that ruling, which the PUC has now agreed to consider.

"If this hadn't happened, we would be out of luck," said alliance attorney James Blackburn.

Burka talks to a Republican operative and gets a peek at who the Rs are looking to target next year.

I had lunch last week with a Republican friend who is very much involved in the campaign season. No, not Eppstein. Every time I write something like this people say I'm just a conduit for Eppstein. There are other smart guys out there, you know.

Anyway, my RF said a number of interesting things about the House races.

1. The three most vulnerable Ds, in his view, are Juan Garcia (very Republican district), Allen Vaught (also a Republican district and Bill Keffer is working this time), and Robbie Cook (close district, close race last time).
2. After that, he's pretty pessimistic. The other WD-40s? "Can't beat 'em. Homer, Hopson, McReynolds, Farabee."
3. He expects the Ds to field an opponent against every R in Dallas County.
4. He blames Karl Rove for the Republicans' loss of support, nationally and in Texas, and he's furious about it.

I don't know how much editing of his RF's remarks Burka made, but I also find it curious that only two of the Dems who have won seats since 2004 were mentioned. I can understand skipping over Travis County folks like Strama, Howard, and Bolton, but where's Paula Hightower Pierson on their priority list? What about Ellen Cohen, for whom there still isn't even a rumor of opposition, or David Leibowitz? Or Hubert Vo, who's finally running against someone not named Talmadge Heflin? Maybe he's keeping that up his sleeve, maybe it's not his style to give blue-sky scenarios, or maybe he just doesn't think any of these are within reach. Again, considering how all these districts were drawn in 2001 by Republicans for the purpose of electing Republicans, that sure says a lot to me.

One final thought, which I mentioned in a comment to this subsequent Burka post about Hillary Clinton supposedly being a downballot drag for Democrats. It seems to me that if this were really something the Rs believed, they'd back it up by finding and promising to finance a raft of State House candidates, not just against all the Dems I've named above but also against folks like Hubert Vo, Pete Gallego, Jim Dunnam, and most of the South Texas contingent. If having Hillary atop the ticket is going to be such a boon for them, why not take full advantage and challenge everyone who could remotely be considered vulnerable? Yet instead we're talking about the Dems running against every Republican in Dallas County. As someone who thinks the Democrats blew a golden chance to make bigger gains in the favorable environment that 2006 was for them, it's amusing to contemplate that the Republicans might be about to do the same thing. Or maybe it just more evidence that all the "Hillary will save us!" talk is still a load of hot air.

Rick Noriega will report raising over $570,000 for this quarter. Now you know why I nagged so often. Here's the press release:

Rick Noriega announced today contributions of $570,000 for the October 15th FEC financial disclosure report. The report, the first for the State Representative and Lt. Colonel's exploratory campaign, shows growing momentum for his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican John Cornyn.

"Rick Noriega's strength is his story," noted his campaign manager Sue Schechter, referring to his long history of service, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan, playing a leading role in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Houston, commanding troops and serving five terms as a State Representative. "As our very first FEC report makes clear, Rick has the fundraising appeal and a growing network of supporters to ensure we'll have the resources to communicate his story to the voters."

Noriega's fundraising totals put Texas on the map nationally, besting the benchmarks set by 3 out of 5 of the winning Democratic challengers in 2006 Senate races. As the attached chart shows, Noriega's totals put him ahead of the 2006-October 15th filings of John Tester (D-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Jim Webb (D-VA), whose victories last cycle helped secure Democratic control of the US Senate. Noriega's totals are ahead of all winners except Bob Casey (D-PA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), both of whom were already statewide officeholders.

In addition to Noriega's support from a growing list of the state's leading Democratic donors, the campaign also raised $158,860 online from over 1,100 donations via ActBlue, the Democratic clearinghouse for online donations. That made the Noriega campaign the most successful non-incumbent Senate candidate on ActBlue during the 3rd quarter. The report also includes a $5,000 contribution from VoteVets.org PAC, the leading political organization of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, as well as a $50,000 loan Noriega made to his own campaign, and nearly 1,300 unique contributors.

"Our fundraising network includes pro-choice women from Dallas, business leaders from the Valley, Democratic icons from across the state, and small dollar donors from a retired woman in Wichita Falls to over 1,100 contributors on the Internet," Schechter explained.

"We accomplished this milestone in the toughest fundraising quarter, after Col. Noriega served in a grueling legislative session, and lost two weeks of fundraising while he fulfilled his guard duty at Fort Benning, GA," added Schechter. "We continue to run a lean operation, because we know we're in this for the long haul," Schechter continued, referring to aggressive efforts to minimize overhead expenditures. "But one thing is for sure, despite our primary opponent's efforts to portray himself as the next Daddy Warbucks, more and more Texans are showing they prefer to invest in experience, not just a checkbook."

1. I doubt we'll see the "Noriega has a great bio, but Watts has the money" story line completely disappear, but I have hope that this will at least put it on the disabled list. Bear in mind also that Noriega didn't start raising money until mid-July, and spent part of the quarter doing Army National Guard duty. That is to say, he really did all this in two months' time. Any more questions about whether he'll raise the money he needs to be competitive?

2. Speaking of Mikal Watts' money, you do know that the millions he's loaned himself so far are strictly for the primary, right? He hasn't put up a dime of his own money yet to run against John Cornyn, just against Noriega. Which is fine and dandy - we do vote in March before we vote in November, after all - I just want to be clear on that. The reason for this, besides the need to win the primary, is that Watts doesn't want to trigger the millionaire amendment for Cornyn, which would allow him to ask his maxed-out donors for more. Maybe he should worry about triggering it for Noriega, too.

3. On a tangential note, while Noriega has picked up endorsements in Watts' backyard, I am as yet unaware of Watts doing the same on Noriega's turf. Just something to think about.

I've said before and I'll say again that I'll fully support Mikal Watts if he wins the primary. He's not my first choice, but he'd still be loads better than what we've got now. To me, though, the choice between Noriega and Watts is perfectly clear. Why settle for less than the best?

CD22 gets more crowded.

The mayor of Harris County's second largest city has resigned his post today to run for Congressional District 22 seat.

John Manlove, said he would be running as a Republican in the race and said his resignation as Pasadena's mayor is effective today.

Manlove has been mayor for six years. Before becoming mayor, he was elected to the Pasadena City Council in 1993 and served for eight years.

His term as mayor expires in 2009 and a special election will be held to fill the spot. The mayor pro tem Jack Douglass, will serve as mayor until then. Douglass must call an election within 10 days.

A month ago, City Council closed a loophole in its red light camera ordinance that allowed people who failed to stop before making a right turn on the red get away without being cited. As Matt Stiles notes, today is the day that the new ordinance goes into effect, meaning that the standard slow-down-and-roll-through technique may now cost you $75. There are also now twenty more intersections at which the cameras are present - you can see a complete listing of the locations here. So watch out, and watch those turns.

I'm getting close to the end of the City Council interviews that I plan to do. There's still a few more, plus a couple of non-Council races where I'll be talking to people. I really hope this has been useful for everyone.

Continuing on, today's interview is with Wanda Adams, who is running in District D. Adams is a city employee who has worked with super neighborhoods and civic clubs on constituent services, infrastructure and low -income housing, and has led community education workshops on recycling and solid waste procedures. She is now coordinating Houston's Go Green Initiative. Her interview is here and the Kuff's World post is here.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS:

Zaf Tahir - At Large #5 - MP3
Joe Trevino - At Large #5 - MP3
Lawrence Allen - District D - MP3
John Marron - District I - MP3
Manisha Mehta - District E - MP3
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck - District C - MP3
James Rodriguez - District I - MP3
Marlon Barabin - At Large #5 - MP3

OK, the quarter is over and I promise to take a (short) break from asking for donations to Rick Noriega. Instead, I'll tell you about some political support he picked up in El Paso.

At an event at the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Houston Democrat won the backing of state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, state Reps. Paul Moreno, Joe Pickett, and Inocente "Chente" Quintanilla, County Commissioners Veronica Escobar, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, and City Commissioners Steve Ortega, Susie Byrd and Beto O'Rourke.

"I am humbled by the outpouring of support," Noriega said. "The people of El Paso are clearly ready to elect a U.S. senator who cares about having a VA hospital and a children's hospital built, who cares about stopping the border fence, and who cares about the plight of the Tigua Indians. They have not had that."

[...]

Shapleigh dubbed the event, "Noriega en El Chuco," or "Rock Solid with Rick." Shapleigh said the people of El Paso will warm to Noriega as they get to know him during the campaign because of his background and achievements.

He predicted Noriega would especially secure deep support among El Paso veterans, health care workers, educators, and students.

"Rick has a great El Paso campaign theme. His own story is the story of so many from El Paso: brave, veteran, achieved the American dream through education, fought for his country in Afghanistan and his people in Austin," Shapleigh said.

Shapleigh said El Paso voters were ready for a change in the U.S. Senate because of Cornyn's record.

"As Texas Attorney General, Cornyn did more than anyone in state government to end Tigua gaming," Shapleigh said. "Then check his votes in the U.S. Senate on veterans' health, on SCHIP, and on the border wall, which he voted for twice."

Shapleigh predicted health care would be a key issue in the presidential campaign and that would help Noriega in El Paso in a general election match-up against Cornyn. "El Paso is ground zero for that debate," Shapleigh said, pointing out that El Paso and Texas are dead last in health care coverage.

[...]

Noriega said he looked forward to debating Cornyn on his votes on SCHIP, the border wall, and veterans' health care. He also said he would be returning to El Paso many times during the campaign. "Things are going really well here," Noriega said.

And though I've promised to take a (short) break from the fundraising pitch, I do want to point out that while it was our goal to get 800 donors total to Rick Noriega via ActBlue, in the end our push got him over 800 donors just on the Netroots for Noriega page. Now it doesn't really matter where the donors come from, or more specifically where they go to make their donations. Our point has always been that Rick Noriega has broad grassroots support, so the more ActBlue pages that are out there attracting donations to him, the better. But it's still very nice to have achieved this milestone all on our own. It gives us a little something extra to build on for the new quarter.

The Chron has begun a series of articles on the various constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot this November. First up is Prop 11, which will require recorded votes in the Legislature.

Legislators brag about some votes they cast at the state Capitol but try to hide from others.

Hiding would become more difficult, although not impossible, if Texas voters approve Proposition 11 on the Nov. 6 ballot.

This constitutional amendment would require the House and the Senate to take record votes on final passage of all legislation, except some local bills. Each lawmaker's vote would be recorded in the House or Senate journals for later public review and also be available on the Internet for at least two years.

Media organizations and other open-government groups, such as Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, support the amendment as an opportunity to shed more light -- or provide more accountability -- in the lawmaking process. But they admit the proposal is limited.

"It's clearly better than nothing, but it's not as strong as it should be," said Suzy Woodford, spokeswoman for Common Cause of Texas.

For one thing, House and Senate rules already require record votes on final passage of bills. Those rules, however, can be changed from session to session. A constitutional requirement would lock in the practice.

The Senate has been taking record votes on final passage of bills since 2005, and the House, yielding to pressure from open-government advocates, put a similar requirement in its rules for the first time during this year's session.

But the rules and Proposition 11 don't require the recording of thousands of other votes, most notably on preliminary, or second-reading, approval of bills and on amendments that are offered during second-reading debate -- the step when most major decisions on legislation are made.

The speaker and lieutenant governor grant record votes when they are requested by lawmakers. Three members have to make such a request in the Senate and one in the House.

Hundreds of amendments to bills, some of major significance, are approved or killed each session without a permanent record of how legislators voted on them.

"Some of those are the most crucial votes," Woodford said. "I think their (legislators') constituents would be very interested in how they voted on some of these controversial amendments."

I think this kind of conflict between churches and anti-immigration forces is going to become more and more high profile as the debate rages on.

The Most Rev. Raymundo Peña of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville blasted the idea of a border wall at a rally and pachanga in Brownsville on Saturday.

Peña was the keynote speaker at an event sponsored by the No Border Wall group that drew around 400 people to Dean Porter Park. Peña drew an analogy between immigrants and Jesus Christ.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph were migrants," Peña told the crowd. "Jesus, the Son of God himself, became human in a magnificent migration from heaven to earth. Like many migrants today, he was not welcomed."

[...]

Peña said that immigration has been, and continues to be an ongoing pastoral concern of the church, and Christian gospel must be taken into consideration when considering a border wall.

"For us this is not a political issue and I am not making a political statement," said Peña said. "In the ensuing debate following 9/11, the scriptures, our moral principles together with all the bishops of Texas call for an immigration law that is compassionate and fair."

Peña said the Church is not condoning illegal immigration but rather calls for law that respects the laws of those already here, and who have worked within our economy albeit without papers as well as the rights of new immigrants.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling for a comprehensive reform of our nation's immigration legislation. The USCCB is seeking policies that create legal avenues for migration, reduce waiting times, protect "unity of the family" and give special consideration to undocumented immigrants who are working in the U.S.

Immigrants are taxpaying people who complement the American labor force, and contribute to our Social Security System without reaping its benefits, Peña said.

"Homeland security must be an ongoing endeavor of our government, but it must be sought after with justice, creativity, and effectiveness," Peña said. "There is no wall long enough or high enough to fence out or keep out the real economic and human forces driving immigration."

The Cypress Creek Interfaith Coalition for Economic Development plans to go ahead with a center in Spring, despite objections at a town hall meeting Tuesday night that drew about 200 people, many opposed to the idea, said Franklin Moore, associate pastor at Cypress Creek Christian Church. "We're more committed than ever," he said. Moore said religious leaders plan to release more specifics about the proposed center in six to eight weeks.

Organizers with the Spring-based U.S. Border Watch organization vowed to stop the creation of a formal hiring hall, and on Wednesday started circulating petitions in neighborhoods near Steubner-Airline, where day laborers gather each morning in parking lots and on sidewalks, waiting for work.

Curtis Collier, president of U.S. Border Watch, said the petitions call on local businesses to report the day laborers to Harris County for trespassing, since they often stand on private property. He said he was "disappointed" to hear the religious leaders plan to go ahead with the proposal.

"It was made very, very clear that the community did not want it," he said. "I don't understand why people don't understand that the American people have had enough of illegal immigration."

Moore said Collier's plan to shut down the informal hiring site with a no-trespassing ordinance could cause the day laborers to lose work, and leave their families hungry. "It's unconscionable," he said.

Cool.

Researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science, however, that mammoth hair seems to be an excellent source of well-preserved DNA.

"It is important to understand the genetic makeup of an organism before it went extinct," explained lead researcher Stephan C. Schuster of Penn State University.

They try to the understand relationships between different groups of animals, especially ones that are highly endangered, to learn whether those might face a similar fate, said Schuster, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

"We want to use this to sequence, (the DNA from) museum specimens ... to understand the evolution of species by using museum collections that date back several hundred years," Schuster said.

Indeed, the technique could be used to measure the DNA from specimens collected by such naturalists as Charles Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Linnaeus.

The DNA collected from the hair is much cleaner and much less damaged than that from other parts of the mammoths, he said, so it is more economic to sequence it.

Schuster explained that keratin, the hard covering of hair, could protect the DNA. Hair also can more easily be cleaned of contaminants such as bacteria.

"When people thought of sequencing DNA from hair, the usual assumption was that the material must come from the hair root, which contains recognizable cells, because the hair shaft appears to be dead," co-author Webb Miller, also at Penn State, said in a statement.

"However, we now know that a hair shaft consists essentially of DNA encased in a kind of biological plastic," said biology professor Miller.

And since I know you're thinking about it:

Learning the DNA sequence does not mean that the ancient animal can be cloned or somehow resurrected, Schuster said, adding "this is science fiction."