Daily Archives: September 12, 2006

On the effect of smoking bans

Last month, when talk of a wider smoking ban in Houston surfaced, I asked if the controversial no-smoking law that was passed in Austin last year by referendum had had the negative effect on bars that its detractors had predicted. … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 3 Comments

RIP, Glenda Dawson

State Rep. Glenda Dawson of Pearland has died at the age of 65. Dawson, 65, a Republican, served on three House committees: Higher Education, Administration and Public Health. Speaker of the House Tom Craddick also expressed condolences. “She was a … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

Roll out the write-ins

Oh, good grief. Shelley’s singing. At a campaign stop last week, congressional candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs asked a group of women who own businesses to vote for her twice in November: once in a special election to fill the unexpired term … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2006 | 2 Comments

Zogby and Rasmussen in the news

The poll results that I blogged about yesterday are reported in today’s Chron, with the usual carping from the Perry and Strayhorn camps about methodologies. The one point to highlight is here: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Zogby and Rasmussen in the news

Interview with Sherrie Matula

Next on my interview list is Sherrie Matula, one of two former teachers running for State House here in Harris County (the other being Diane Trautman). If there was ever a time to be a teacher running for office in … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on Interview with Sherrie Matula

Lawrence v. SBISD

OK, here’s the story, as best I understand it from a reader named Roberta and my own trawling through the Chron’s archives. A couple of years ago, the city of Houston went forward with a plan to widen a street … Continue reading Continue reading

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The Southeast rail loop

This story about how there are three possible routes for the east end of the Universities line, all of which have pros and cons, contains the following fascinating suggestion from State Rep. Garnet Coleman, who represents the area: Coleman offered … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 6 Comments

A novel definition of “separate property”

Have you heard the one about the five Republican legislators who have been paying their spouses rent money out of their campaign funds? Which is a no-no, though they all claim that it was separate property and thus technically okay … Continue reading Continue reading

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