Monthly Archives: November 2009

Runoff EV report, Day One

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve updated my early vote spreadsheet from the first round to include the early vote totals for the runoff. Note that this is almost entirely City of Houston – there are a few Bellaire voters in there, and maybe a … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Me in the Trib

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

You might have noticed, when you opened your metaphorical copy of the Texas Tribune this morning, that they’re hosting a discussion between myself and David Benzion on the merits of Houston Mayor and (by God we sure hope he’s a) … Continue reading →

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Early voting starts today

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Today marks the start of early voting for all of the runoff elections, which include Houston, Bellaire, and HISD. Early voting schedule and locations can be found here; remember that EV locations outside of Houston city limits are mostly closed, … Continue reading →

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Gattis drops out, Ogden to run for re-election

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this is a surprise. State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, confirmed today that he is dropping out of the race to succeed Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. Ogden, who announced earlier this year that he was retiring from the Legislature, has … Continue reading →

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Turkey of the Year 2009

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Among other things, the Thanksgiving season signals the arrival of year end lists – Top Ten this and that, Best Of, Worst Of, you name it. The local highlight is the Houston Press’ annual Turkey of the Year award, which … Continue reading →

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In case you needed another reason to vote against Rick Perry

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just in case the fact that he’s Rick Perry isn’t enough, how about the fact that he’s objectively anti-microbrewery? Texas Gov. Rick Perry, running for re-election in 2010, just got the endorsement of the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas. Therefore, … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for November 29

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas sales… The real trick is to not be an idiot about things you don’t understand. How To Teach Physics To Your Dog is now available. Why don’t I ever go to estate … Continue reading →

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Hotze endorses Locke

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s what we’ve all been waiting for, and now it’s on its way to a mailbox near you, as local hatemeister Steven Hotze has endorsed candidates in all six City of Houston runoffs and sent a mail piece out touting … Continue reading →

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Lovell v. Burks

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

And here’s the Chron story on the At Large #2 runoff, featuring Council Member Sue Lovell and Andrew Burks. Unlike Jones v. Christie, my opinion that CM Lovell will retain her seat is much more common. Burks does have a … Continue reading →

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The Bill White factor

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The thought that struck me as I read this story about Bill White’s expected switch to the Governor’s race is that maybe he was right to have taken this particular route to where he is now. I mean, he’s generated … Continue reading →

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We’re not the only state with food stamp issues

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We all know by now that Texas has had many problems with its administration of food stamps. Apparently, so have other states, according to a letter, signed by Kevin Concannon, the department’s undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, sent … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Mama mia, let me go

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via pretty much everyone on the internets, the Muppets perform Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds. What can one say? For comparison purposes, stina has a video of the original as well.

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Jones v. Christie

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

And here’s the Chron overview of the At Large #5 runoff between Council Member Jolanda Jones and former SBOE member Jack Christie. I’ve said before that I like CM Jones, and I plan to vote for her in the runoff. … Continue reading →

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Get well soon, Rep. McClendon!

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I was shocked to read that State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon was diagnosed a few months ago with stage 4 lung cancer, but I am very glad to see that she has responded well to treatment of it. “It just … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

BAE Systems

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this story, concerning Sealy-based SAE Systems and the $2.6 billion contract with the Defense Department to build Army trucks that it’s on the verge of losing after 17 years. We first heard about … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

No check for you!

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Nice little bit of holiday cheer for Texas’ retired public employees this week. Retired public employees discovered yesterday that they would not receive additional $500 checks this year. According to Senator Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, they shouldn’t hold their breath for … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bob Sheppard officially retires

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The legendary Bob Sheppard, the amazing longtime PA announcer at Yankee Stadium, has called it a career. Bob Sheppard has no intentions of returning to his longtime job as the public-address announcer at Yankee Stadium, MLB.com reported yesterday. Sheppard, 99, … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Friday random ten: Thanks for giving

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In honor of the holiday weekend, ten songs about thanking and giving. 1. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) – Sly and the Family Stone 2. Thank You Girl – John Hiatt 3. Thank You Friends – Big Star … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Special Friday video break: As God is my witness…

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I give you the 1970s precursor to “The Office”, the wonderful and underrated “WKRP In Cincinnati” and their all-time classic Thanksgiving episode. Seriously, if you’ve never seen this, you really need to watch it all the way through. If you … Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

District A runoff overview

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Now that we’re into the runoff season, it looks like the Chron will finally do a bit more in depth coverage of the races that are still unresolved. Yesterday, they ran this overview of District A and the remaining candidates … Continue reading →

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Locke releases his tax returns

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

On Wednesday, Mayoral candidate Gene Locke released his tax returns, about two weeks after Annise Parker released hers. I’m not sure what took him so long, since apparently there’s nothing particularly remarkable about them, but that’s neither here nor there … Continue reading →

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School districts feeling the crunch

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The state’s budget problems, which are caused to some degree by the economic slowdown, aren’t just problems for the state. They’re local problems as well, and the entities that have been hardest hit are those that had been given short … Continue reading →

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The ideal candidate

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Former State Rep. Rick Green is running for the State Supreme Court. While in the House from 1998 to 2002, Green drew fire for using his Capitol office as the backdrop for a health supplement infomercial. He also came under … Continue reading →

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Special Thursday video break: You can get anything you want

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not the name of the restaurant, it’s the name of the song: I was hoping to find a video based on the original recording, but failed. Since I always manage to forget to turn on the radio in time … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

For those of you who think turducken is too wimpy…

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

…I give you Turbaconducken. Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. If you click the link, you will either rush right out to buy several pounds of bacon, or you will become a vegetarian. If you’re already a vegetarian, … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Where’d you get those numbers, Richard?

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Have we all recovered from the trauma of this week’s Monday Night Football game? Good. Let’s take a minute and look at this Richard Justice column, whose basic thesis that Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith should be hearing the clock … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

UH-Downtown may drop open admissions

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This could have some broad implications. After less than four months on the job, the new president of the University of Houston-Downtown has launched an agenda to reshape the school’s future. First up: creating admission standards for a school that … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving travel

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If you’re traveling this weekend, you’ll find the roads a bit more crowded than last year, but down from the norm. Americans shaken by last year’s economic crash may be regaining enough confidence to hit the roads in higher numbers … Continue reading →

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Council turnover

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One underappreciated aspect of this year’s election is that we may wind up with more than two new At Large City Council members. We started with two open seats, and with incumbents Sue Lovell and Jolanda Jones in runoffs, the … Continue reading →

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The budget mess that awaits the next Governor

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We already know that the next Legislative session will be a whole lot of no fun thanks to declining revenue estimates and our structural deficits. Here’s a further illustration of the problem. The current state budget is financed with $12 … Continue reading →

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More back and forth on the latest jail proposal

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Grits argues that the latest proposal to build a new processing center for the jail would result in a tax increase because of the need to hire more staff, which is not accounted for in the bonds. The Chron wonders … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Get well soon, Pancho Claus!

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

See you at the parade! The Houston actor best known locally as Pancho Claus still plans to make his annual holiday appearance in the Thanksgiving Day parade despite suffering a heart attack last week. Richard Reyes, who has portrayed the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Roundup and reaction to White’s announcement

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Bill White isn’t officially a candidate for Governor yet, but he’s already picked up endorsements from State Sens. Kirk Watson and Eliot Shapleigh. I feel confident that many more such endorsements will follow, perhaps even before he commits to the … Continue reading →

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Trustee Marshall endorsed by former opponents

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In the runoff for HISD Trustee in District IX, incumbent Trustee Larry Marshall received the endorsement of the third and fourth-place finishers, George Davis and Michael Williams. I find that a little odd, since one presumes when they ran to … Continue reading →

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