Monthly Archives: December 2005

Abramoff pleading, DeLay still waiting

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Jack Abramoff is one step closer to a plea deal for both the Miami and DC cases against him. Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under indictment for fraud in South Florida, is expected to complete a plea agreement in the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Abramoff pleading, DeLay still waiting

Filing news: There’s more than one race?

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Well, what do you know? The Chron actually printed a story about a Congressional race that affects a segment of its readership and has nothing to do with Tom DeLay. Who’da thunk it? Lanier Middle School teacher Jim Henley gave … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 4 Comments

City Council redistricting

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Ooh, I hadn’t realized this: A flood of new residents could make it necessary to create new City Council districts and re-draw all the boundaries. Houston’s growing pains are everywhere from housing to driving to voting. “When the population of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 4 Comments

Have your people call my people

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Is it just me, or does this seem more like blog fodder than a real news story? A top aide to Republican gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn called Democratic candidate Chris Bell’s wife last week and suggested that Bell drop … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 8 Comments

Filing news: Hammer Time

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Tom DeLay has officially filed for reelection in CD22. Not exactly stop-the-presses stuff, as it would have been had he not filed, but it’s news when DeLay sneezes, so this is on the Metro section front page. The only interesting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments

Hot Putt Tom

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s good to be the king. As Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants _ all courtesy of donors who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 1 Comment

Closing out the quarter with Radnofsky

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

One reason why you’re seeing BlogAds for Barbara Radnofsky these days (a list of sites which are featuring it can be found in the comments here) is that she’s not resting on her laurels during the holiday season. She’s still … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

Filing news: Armbrister to retire

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Democratic State Senator Ken Armbrister has announced that he will not run for reelection. “After 38 years of public service, it’s time for new challenges,” said Armbrister, in a news release issued late Monday afternoon. The senator said he has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Kinky strategy

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via Political Wire, here’s a pretty good story assessing Kinky Friedman’s chances of winning the Governorship by aping the Jesse Ventura strategy from 1998. There are some major differences: Friedman’s campaign, leaning on two Ventura stalwarts, hopes to repeat Ventura’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Yates moving to state mental hospital

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Andrea Yates is about to get a change of scenery, which is a result of her conviction being overturned. Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who drowned her five children in the family’s bathtub, will soon move from an East Texas … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 1 Comment

Filing news: SD7 and more

Posted on December 19, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

A gentleman named Michael Kubosh has filed to run as a Democrat in the open Senate District 7. Don’t know much about him right now (I understand that a campaign website is forthcoming), but I hope to hear where he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

I spy with my little eye

Posted on December 19, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I don’t normally do much blogging on national news, since there’s so many other good sources for that sort of thing. But I do have to ask a question about this: President Bush, brushing aside bipartisan criticism … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 6 Comments

Leveraging podcasts for your band

Posted on December 19, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Having talked about ways that a campaign can leverage blogs and blogging to its advantage, I want to point out this post by the Dark Star Gazette on a related matter. Here’s a question to consider: with peer-to-peer file sharing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 3 Comments

The Grapevine Dome hotel

Posted on December 19, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s another story about another possible model for a possibly profitable Astrodome hotel/convention center. Grapevine, a small city on Dallas’ outskirts, is home to one of the Dome’s distant spawn, the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. And this hotel … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 5 Comments

On communicating with and via blogs

Posted on December 18, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Larry Stallings, Democratic candidate in HD122, has his campaign site up. I’m one of several people who’ve sung the praises of the Stallings campaign blog in the past. What I like about it is that it’s clearly written by people … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

Houston city data

Posted on December 18, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Metroblogging Houston has a trove of interesting factoids about our fair city, all taken from City-Data.com. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

The soccer stadium shuffle

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston To-Be-Determineds of MLS have a new, temporary home for next season. [Franchise owner] AEG also announced the team will play at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium when the 2006 MLS season begins April 1. UH athletic director … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 4 Comments

Still more delays for DeLay

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Poor Tom. U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay’s hopes for a trial early next year were dealt a severe blow today when the judge put the case on hold pending an appeal by the state of the dismissal of one charge. DeLay … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Still more delays for DeLay

SEIU fallout

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Both Kristin Mack and Houtopia write about the City Council At Large #2 race and its future implications. Says Houtopia: We will likely never know why SEIU chose to invest so heavily in one candidate in one race, so we … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2005 | 1 Comment

Filing news: Brownout

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The on-again, off-again saga of Andy Brown in the HD48 special election has apparently ended: He’s out. Democrat Andy Brown has not lived in state House District 48 long enough to run in a Jan. 17 special election, a federal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

Barton suffers heart attack

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Joe Barton has been hospitalized after an apparent heart attack. “The congressman is currently negotiating his release date with the doctor,” said spokeswoman Karen Modlin. She expects Barton will be able to go home within a few days, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The dominoes, they keep falling

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Another plea deal in L’Affaire Abramoff. Adam Kidan’s plea bargain is likely to require that he cooperate in the case against Abramoff involving the SunCruz Casinos deal and perhaps even testify against his old partner. Kidan pleaded guilty to conspiracy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on The dominoes, they keep falling

The Earthquakes are coming

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official: the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS are coming to Houston. Major League Soccer announced Thursday that the Anschutz Entertainment Group will relocate its Earthquakes franchise from San Jose, Calif., to Houston, less than four months before the start … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

Nomination time for the 2005 Koufax Awards

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s December, and that means it’s time to make your nominations for the annual Koufax Awards, which the fine folks at Wampum do every year to recognize the best and the brightest in the progressive blogging community. They’ve expanded the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Eye on the Texas Tax Reform Commission

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

You remember the Texas Tax Reform Commission, right? They’ve been going around the state holding meetings to get public input on how we should do taxes in this state. Eye on Williamson has been following their progress. Haven’t seen much … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

Filing news: Heflin chooses, Gammage files

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Big news today. First, Bob Gammage has officially filed for the Democratic nomination for Governor. Gammage, 67, a former legislator and congressman who left the state’s high court in 1995 and is now in private law practice, said his campaign … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Filing news: Heflin chooses, Gammage files

Who watches the watches?

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Those crazy kids, disdaining traditional timekeeping methods for newfangled technology. OF the eight twentysomethings chatting at a table at Luby’s, half don’t wear watches. “I can get the time from my cell phone,” was the main reason cited by the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 21 Comments

Abramoff’s charity scam

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. There’s some real potential blockbusters in this story. Capital Athletic Foundation, a charity run by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff now at the center of an influence-peddling investigation on Capitol Hill, told the IRS it gave away more than $330,000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 3 Comments

Thanks for asking

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I recently remarked that I thought the Pat Robertson/James Dobson types often get a free pass on questions of reconciling their stated religious beliefs with social justice. Turns out the Washington Post has an article on this very topic. When … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 3 Comments

SD7 notes

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Couple notes on the one open seat State Senate race, SD7 here in Harris County. First, Anne Linehan has made some progress in determining where the four Republican contenders stand on the issue of the Grand Parkway extension that would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Kenny Boy previews his defense

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Kenny Boy Lay gives full embrace to the Idiot Defense in a speech to the Houston Forum. Just a month before his Jan. 17 federal trial on seven conspiracy and fraud charges, the former Enron chairman drew polite applause with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Filing news: Richard Raymond drops CD28 bid

Posted on December 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Well, everyone else is already on top of this story, in which State Rep. Richard Raymond has dropped his bid to unseat US Rep. Henry Cuellar in CD28. He will instead refile for his State House seat in HD42. “Although … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Filing news: Richard Raymond drops CD28 bid

West U Wi-Fi

Posted on December 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via Houstonist, the city-within-the-city of West University Place is following in Houston’s footsteps by doing a study to see if a municipal Wi-Fi network would be a good idea for them. Council members asked [City Manager Michael] Ross to negotiate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Strayhorn says she’s not an Independent

Posted on December 14, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

PerryVsWorld has been all over the Strayhorn as independent rumors, going so far as to get a comment out of the CKS campaign, which was “Carole Keeton Strayhorn is a Republican candidate for Governor.” The Star Telegram made the same … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment