Monthly Archives: October 2010

Reviewing magnet schools

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be lively. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier is starting to tread in the most politically delicate territory he’s tackled since coming to Houston: the beloved magnet program. Starting this week, the district is holding town hall meetings to … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

One election at a time, please

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, some folks are bored with this election and are ready for the next one. Rice University political scientist Mark Jones isn’t ready to stick a fork into Democrat Bill White’s campaign for governor, but he does suggest White start … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Probate court

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The probate courts in Harris County have been messed up for some time. The Chron is ready for some changes. Harris County Probate Court No. 1: Kathy Stone, the Democratic incumbent, is our choice to be returned to this bench. … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for October 17

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

“Who asked for a Family Circus movie? Ida Know. Who wants to see it? Not Me.” Political systems are ill-equipped to deal with problems that are vehemently denied by one major party. Race-baiting for the heck of it. The social … Continue reading →

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“Vote for me, I know nothing”

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

To me, this story about the race in Harris County Precinct 2 between Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and her Republican opponent Jack Morman boils down to this one paragraph: Morman is short on specifics as to how he would cut spending, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Conference realignment isn’t just for the big boys

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Expect to see a lot of smaller fish moving around now that the dust in the big conferences has mostly settled. [Southland Conference] commissioner Tom Burnett told the San Antonio Express News last week that he expected Texas State and … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: ParentPAC

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I haven’t mentioned the Texas ParentPAC lately, as there’s been so much other stuff going on lately, but they are as busy with endorsements as ever. Here’s a list of candidates that they have announced they are backing for the … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: The remaining countywides

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

After making a normal and expected endorsement of County Judge Ed Emmett and an abnormal and unexpected endorsement of Orlando Sanchez, the Chron goes Democratic for the remaining three countywide offices. District Clerk: The duties of this office include summoning … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Happy anniversary

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Tomorrow is my twelfth wedding anniversary. What else could I post but this? No ties or pianos will be given, and no singing police officers will be involved in our celebration, but I feel confident that it will be happy … Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Endorsement watch: County courts

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There are four County Civil Courts At Law and 15 County Criminal Courts At Law, with the Chron endorsements for all of them being spread over three days. Starting with the civil courts, the Democratic nominees received endorsements in two … Continue reading →

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The case for using social media in the schools

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds good to me. A year after seventh grade teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

KTRU deal signed

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just in time for Rice’s homecoming weekend. [Wednesday] afternoon, Friends of KTRU announced they had been informed that Rice and UH have signed an agreement to transfer the station’s ownership, and have retained the law firm of Paul Hastings in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

More on Perry’s self-appropriation of Emerging Tech funds

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman moves the ball forward on the Emerging Technology Fund story and Governor Perry’s self-appropriation of its funds. Two points from the story stand out to me. Gov. Rick Perry and the state’s legislative leaders awarded a $4.5 million … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Gone too soon

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This month marked the 40th anniversary of Janis Joplin’s death, as well as what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday. Both were taken from us far too soon. Here are ten songs by some other people who left this … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Judicial Q&A: Wally Kronzer

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates on the November ballot. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. These Q&As are primarily intended for candidates who were … Continue reading →

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Council passes revised historic preservation ordinance

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m glad to see that City Council finally passed the long-awaited and much-revised historic preservation ordinance, and even more glad to see that the 90-day waiver for demolitions has been excised, so that what we have now is an actual … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Endorsement watch: Kurt Kuhn for 3rd Court of Appeals

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not paying a huge amount of attention to races outside of Harris County, but one that is of interest is for an open seat on the 3rd Court of Appeals, whose district includes Travis County and which has been … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 11

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is imagining a world in which John Lennon lived to see his 70th birthday as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Email counts, too

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have one thing to say about this. City officials involved in negotiating a tax reimbursement deal with the developer of a controversial Walmart-anchored retail project near Washington Avenue made dismissive, and sometimes derisive, references to citizens opposed to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Endorsement watch: DMN for BAR

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have to admit, I was not expecting to see any Democrats for statewide non-judicial offices endorsed other than Bill White and Jeff Weems, but I am delighted to see this. [A]fter eight years of [Attorney General Greg] Abbott, Texas … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Juanita Jackson Barner

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates on the November ballot. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. These Q&As are primarily intended for candidates who were … Continue reading →

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Chisum running for Speaker

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We may have ourselves another Speaker’s race this January. State Rep. Warren Chisum is delivering a letter to colleagues today saying he will run for House speaker next year, challenging Speaker Joe Straus, his fellow Republican. He says the speaker … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Endorsement watch: Sweep

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

A clean sweep of the big five for Jeff Weems. Weems, 52, who has worked in the oil and gas industry onshore and offshore, is bright, aggressive and attentive, with a keen knowledge of the various aspects of the business … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Story on Texas’ “dropout factories”

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last month I blogged about this Washington Monthly story about colleges with extremely low graduation rates. Here’s a Star-Telegram article about that, which contains some reaction from a couple of the Texas schools named in the original piece. One factor … Continue reading →

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Perry appropriates Emerging Tech funds on his own

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Procedures? Advisory boards? Who needs ’em? Gov. Rick Perry approved a $4.5 million award from the state’s technology fund to a company founded by a major campaign donor despite the company’s failure to win the endorsement of a regional screening … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Endorsement watch: Juvenile courts

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Three more endorsements, two of which go to Democrats: 313th Family District Court: Natalie Oakes, the Democrat, is our choice to fill this open bench. 314th Family District Court: David Longoria, the Democratic challenger, would bring a wealth of life … Continue reading →

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Interview with Linda Chavez-Thompson

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Next up is Linda Chavez-Thompson, the dynamic Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Let me quote from her official bio, for those of you who have not heard her story: Linda Chavez-Thompson knows the meaning of sacrifice and the importance of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Forget about generic polls

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has had a few stories lately about legislative horse races. There’s one point in this piece about House Democratic freshmen trying to win re-election that stood out to me and deserves some fleshing out. As in any close … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Endorsement watch: Criminal district courts

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron did its endorsements for the criminal district courts in two parts. In part one, three of the eight recommended candidates are Democrats: 182nd Criminal District Court: The best choice for this court is Brandon Dudley, the Democratic challenger, … Continue reading →

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The long ballot

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, the ballot you will see this November is as long as any has ever been. But let’s not lose perspective. If it seems like that Harris County ballot you got in the mail is long, it is. Veteran election … Continue reading →

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RIP, Mark Stevens

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Mark Stevens, one half of the Stevens and Pruett radio team, has passed away. Stevens spent 40 years in radio but enjoyed his greatest success in partnership with Pruett, first as Hudson and Harrigan at KILT (610 AM) beginning in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Keller gets away with it

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m thoroughly disgusted. A special court of review Monday threw out an ethics rebuke given to Presiding Judge Sharon Keller for closing the Court of Criminal Appeals at 5 p.m. despite knowing that lawyers wanted to file an appeal for … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Judicial Q&A: Priscilla Walters

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates on the November ballot. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. These Q&As are primarily intended for candidates who were … Continue reading →

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Dallas-area cities are watching the red light camera referenda

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

What happens next month in Houston and Baytown may have an effect on our neighbors to the north. North Texas city officials are monitoring a public backlash against lucrative red-light cameras that could signal their end. Citizens in three Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment