Category Archives: Local politics

Here’s today’s version of the story from last night that named assistant U.S. attorney in Houston Kenneth Magidson as the acting DA till a replacement is elected. I’m mostly interested in people’s reactions to him: Bert Graham, who has helmed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Looks like we may finally get a replacement DA soon. Gov. Rick Perry hopes to name an interim Harris County district attorney as early as this week, his office confirmed Tuesday, and the man now running the office says he’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember the story of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department sudden (and curiously-timed) implementation of a policy to purge all emails older than 14 days from their system? See here, here, here, and here for background. There’s now been a hearing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A bit of non-primary news for right now while I’m crunching numbers, courtesy of HOPE: We are pleased to announce that the City of Houston and the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) have reached a tentative agreement in contract … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not sure why Chron.com still has the same story from yesterday about the settlement of the Ibarra lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff’s office when there’s a different and fuller story, with quotes from jurors, in the print edition. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is an unexpected but not terribly unsurprising development. Harris County commissioners voted unanimously this morning to pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit that led to the resignation of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. After an emergency, closed-door meeting, commissioners … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember Michael Wolfe, the Harris County Department of Education trustee who was publicly taken to the woodshed by the County School Supervisor last year? Yesterday wasn’t such a good day for him, with two articles in the Chron about his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chuck Rosenthal took the stand yesterday during the Sheriff’s lawsuit, and nothing too terribly exciting happened. Attorney Lloyd Kelley, who represents the Ibarras, tried to establish that the district attorney’s office passed the brothers’ claims to the Harris County Sheriff’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chuck Rosenthal may be gone, but his memory lingers ever still. Chuck Rosenthal resigned 10 days ago as Harris County district attorney amid a scandal over e-mail, accused of sending and receiving racist, sexist and political messages and deleting others … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The wrongful arrest lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff’s office has gotten off to a good start for the plaintiffs. Former Harris County prosecutor Jennifer Cook, one of two assistant district attorneys who prosecuted the Ibarras six years ago, told … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff’s office that led to the discovery of Chuck Rosenthal’s email collection (and its missing pieces), which had been delayed due to a motion to recuse the presiding judge, is underway. Two brothers who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yes, please. Amid renewed attention to ethics in Harris County government, some elected officials appear open to closing a loophole that keeps secret senior employees’ outside income, real estate holdings or business connections. State law requires county judges, commissioners and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has more about Chuck Rosenthal’s overdue departure from the DA’s office, which happened when he resigned on Friday after admitting to problems with prescription drugs. Chuck Rosenthal’s resignation last week came in response to a straightforward offer from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting. A coalition of Houston plant operators filed a lawsuit Friday against the city of Houston, alleging an air quality ordinance adopted by the city last summer violates state law. “We filed to get the court’s review because we believe … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s today’s Chron story on Chuck Rosenthal’s decision to finally walk away from the job as Harris County DA. Rosenthal’s decision marked a change of heart from his previous vows to finish out the remainder of his term even though … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After all this time, I figured he’d hang around till the bitter end. But apparently not, and what better time to announce one’s resignation than the Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend? Chuck Rosenthal resigned as Harris County district attorney … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we know, the lawsuit against Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas has been delayed while the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on a motion from the defense to recuse presiding Judge Kenneth Hoyt. Here’s some more information on that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Looks like we may have to wait awhile for any further action in the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s office that launched Chuck Rosenthal and his infamous emails into the public consciousness. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may recall the recent story about Sheriff Tommy Thomas’ abrupt change in email retention policy, which came about during the recent unpleasantness for DA Chuck Rosenthal. Thomas’ email admin Willie Mata wrote a letter to the editor disputing some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So Chuck Rosenthal’s testimony came to an abrupt halt yesterday after his attorney requested and was granted a recess. It would appear that Rosenthal and his attorney have a few things to discuss before Chuck goes back under oath. Rosenthal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Time out! The federal judge hearing testimony in Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal’s contempt hearing abruptly postponed the case this afternoon at the request of the DA’s lawyer. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt did not give a reason for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, we didn’t get Chuck Rosenthal’s testimony yesterday, but we are getting it today. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal took the stand this morning to defend the deletion of thousands of e-mails after they were subpoenaed in a federal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Retired political consultant George Strong offers his view of late former Mayor Louie Welch. It was the fall of 1985 and I was working as a political consultant for the Louie Welch for Mayor campaign against my old dear friend … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the longer obituary for former Houston Mayor Louie Welch, who passed away yesterday at the age of 89. I’m going to highlight the bits that deal with his his infamous remarks of 1985. “He was one of Houston’s finest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Former Houston Mayor Louie Welch has passed away. Louie Welch, five-term mayor of Houston and longtime president of what is now the Greater Houston Partnership, died on Sunday. He was 89. Family members said Welch, who served four terms on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here is Mayor White’s State of the City address for 2008, which was delivered yesterday to the Greater Houston Partnership, and here is a brief summary of it in the Chron. The Mayor covered a lot of ground, and I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As you may recall, one of the arguments against the expanded smoking ban that the city of Houston passed last year was that watering holes out near unincorporated areas would be put at a disadvantage. Well, it looks like the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s funny, isn’t it, how so many of our government agencies have decided that retaining email is a liability for themselves? When he turned on his computer at the Harris County Jail this week, Sgt. Richard Newby was greeted with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’ll see where this leads. Grand jury subpoenas released Wednesday appear to signal the expansion of a years-long federal corruption probe to major construction projects from former Mayor Lee Brown’s administration and the well-connected players who stood to benefit from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I support this effort. Harris County has sued a homebuilder over advertising signs placed along public rights of way, the first time the county has tried to enforce the state’s new bandit sign law. Espree Homes and Royce Builders, owned … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lovely. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a complaint that state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, made threats and brandished a gun at a holiday party last month. According to witnesses, Miles entered a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, the good news for the local GOP is that there don’t seem to be any new bombshells in L’Affaire Rosenthal today, just a routine request for a leave of absence by Kelly Siegler so she can campaign. The bad … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Be very, very wary of this. Former Mayor Bob Lanier has joined prominent home builders and developers campaigning to limit new development regulations they believe could threaten Houston’s growth. Lanier’s comments are part of a nascent effort to respond to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

2008-2009 Committee assignments have been made by the Mayor. Here are the Chairs: Budget and Fiscal Affairs: Anne Clutterbuck Ethics: Anne Clutterbuck Flooding and Drainage: M.J. Khan Housing and Community Development: Jolanda Jones Human Services and Technology Access: Jarvis Johnson … Continue reading → Continue reading →