Monthly Archives: January 2011

South Padre Island joins the bag banning brigade

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That didn’t take long. Buoyed by a weeks-old law in nearby Brownsville, South Padre Island leaders Wednesday made the vacation hot spot the next Texas town to restrict the use of single-use plastic bags. The unanimously approved prohibition against using … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Senate budget pretty much the same as the House budget

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There had been some talk that the initial Senate budget would be a little less harsh than the initial House budget, on the grounds that the Senate budget would at least use some of the Rainy Day fund, but that … Continue reading →

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Yeah, it is too early to be polling for 2012

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But that won’t stop anyone from doing them. 2012 could be the year Democrats are finally competitive for President in Texas…but only if the Republicans nominate Sarah Palin. There are vast differences in how the various different potential GOP contenders … Continue reading →

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Tax expenditures

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

According to a legislative report prepared by the Ways and Means Committee, Texas is losing over $4 billion per biennium to various tax exemptions and expenditures. One of the largest carve-outs was for the natural gas tax, which totaled about … Continue reading →

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Legislative beer news

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a new player on the beer legislation scene this session. The owner of one of San Antonio’s largest brewpubs, Freetail Brewing Co., is spearheading an effort to change state law to allow it and other brewpubs to distribute their … Continue reading →

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Some day, we will do something about the Astrodome

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. “We on the Commissioners’ Court are going to have to make a decision, and I think it needs to be made this year, as to what we are going to propose to the … Continue reading →

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

Weekend link dump for January 23

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t stop Hammertime. You can only hope to contain it. The Perry Spiral, on the other hand, you can hope to stop. Would you like a nice Chianti with your superconductor? Yahoo! says Flickr is doing fine. I sure … Continue reading →

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Harris County starts firing people

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So it begins. County government layoffs have begun as Harris County seeks to trim its $1.3 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins on March 1. Last week, the Architecture and Engineering Department notified 14 employees that they would … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Amazon sues Texas

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. Four months after Texas officials told Amazon.com Inc. that it owes $269 million in uncollected sales taxes, the online retail giant has filed a lawsuit demanding that the comptroller’s office release the audit information it used in arriving … Continue reading →

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Appeals court upholds UT’s admissions policy

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. In 1996, a federal appeals court effectively banned affirmative action in admissions at the University of Texas in a case known as Hopwood. On Tuesday, the same court reversed course, ruling that the university’s consideration of race and ethnicity … Continue reading →

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County asks about exemption from drainage fee

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez has asked County Attorney Vince Ryan for an opinion on whether the county has to pay the city of Houston’s new drainage fee. Sanchez already has his own opinion. “You’re getting a government, the city of Houston, … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The other day I heard Olivia saying – trying to say, anyway – fourteen-syllable words are quite the mouthful – that fabled construction from “Mary Poppins”, “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, to Audrey. I sang her a verse of the song, and they were … Continue reading →

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What school districts may do to respond to the budget cuts

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They may raise taxes: Some school officials also are considering even more unpopular options – increasing property tax rates or eliminating special tax breaks. In some cases, even those moves aren’t expected to raise enough money to plug the worst-case … Continue reading →

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The Affordable Care Act will help millions of Texans

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says the Texas Department of Insurance. Even as Texas leaders rail against the national health care law and call for its repeal, the state Department of Insurance has issued a report that says the law will make it easier … Continue reading →

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Hey, spread some of that wealth around, willya?

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Some Metroplex cities are seeing more of an economic benefit from hosting the Super Bowl than others. I know, try to control your shock. Some Frisco hotels located an hour’s drive from Cowboys Stadium, the game site, are packed. Lewisville, … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Yes, we do heart Houston

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be ready to take a photo of this after it’s been deployed. SCULPTOR DAVID Adickes is almost ready to plant this giant concrete-on-steel sign on property he owns along Chester St. on the south side of I-10, just east … Continue reading →

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

Another complaint filed against Keller

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. A civil rights group is asking the state to revoke the law license of a judge who has been a lightning rod in debates over the death penalty. The Austin-based Texas Civil Rights Project filed … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: The top 500, part 10

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing on with the songs in my collection from the Rolling Stone Top 500 list. 1. All The Young Dudes – Billy Bragg (#253, orig. Mott The Hoople) 2. I Can See For Miles – The Who (#258) 3. Hallelujah … Continue reading →

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Defining “emergency” down

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Governor Perry finds a few more “emergencies” for the Lege to deal with. Today, Gov. Rick Perry added two more issues, including controversial voter ID legislation, to his list of “emergency items” that legislators can begin deliberating on right away … Continue reading →

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UH gets a boost in its rankings

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for UH: The University of Houston’s quest to become the state’s next top tier university — a designation that would put it alongside Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University — received a … Continue reading →

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Closing loopholes

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, from Rep. Mike Villarreal: Rep. Villarreal announced legislation to close a $20 million corporate tax giveaway, citing it as an example of how the state’s outmoded tax system created the current fiscal crisis. “With the state’s fiscal … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Houston: A nice, cheap place to visit

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

According to CultureMap, our fair city is among the Top 10 Budget Travel Destinations for 2011. What do the folks at Budget Travel have to say about us? Why in 2011: Houston is home to Texas’s biggest shopping mall at … Continue reading →

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Williams will step down from the RRC

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Michael Williams makes it official. Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams says he has sent Gov. Rick Perry a letter telling him he will be leaving the commission on April 2 to concentrate on a race for the U.S. Senate. Williams … Continue reading →

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Senate retains 2/3 rule

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate will mostly operate as it did in 2009, retaining the traditional 2/3 rule and the exception for voter ID legislation. Though there was still some heated discussion around the matter, which will likely continue as long as Sen. … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye, border fence

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Long overdue. The Obama administration on Friday canceled the long-troubled, high-tech invisible fence project along the U.S.-Mexico border, ending a five-year, $1 billion pilot program that President George W. Bush envisioned as stretching along most of the 1,969-mile border. Homeland … Continue reading →

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Insurance exchanges

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This will be worth watching. One of the GOP’s leading healthcare experts in the House – Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton – introduced a bill Thursday to create a health insurance exchange in Texas. The exchanges, which are required in the … Continue reading →

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Dallas Mayor Leppert officially not running for re-election

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Mayor Tom Leppert, a successful business executive who rose from political unknown to become one of Dallas’ most powerful mayors, has confirmed he will not seek re-election in May but will pursue “other ways to add value to … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of January 17

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates the MLK Day holiday as it brings you this week’s blog roundup.

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LSG on the budget

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Legislative Study Group, chaired by Rep. Garnet Coleman, now has an analysis of the Pitts budget outline, which you can read here. The main point to remember: How We Got Here: Built-In Budget Shortfall Comes from the 2006 Tax … Continue reading →

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The Pitts budget

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here it is, and if it is a shock to you, you haven’t been paying attention. The House’s starting-point budget proposal would provide for a total budget of $156.4 billion in state and federal money, a decrease of $31.1 billion, … Continue reading →

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The first fantasy map

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Behold, what Houston City Council districts could possibly look like in a few months. There are, as Greg discusses, plusses and minuses to the approach he took, as well as real-world roadblocks and political considerations that may trump theoretical optimization. … Continue reading →

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The fate of the two-thirds rule

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s the day we find out what rules the Senate will use. A lot of people seem to think that despite Dan Patrick’s best efforts, the two thirds rule will stay mostly, if not entirely, intact. The Statesman editorialized in … Continue reading →

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More on the magnet schools report

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I guess it’s just as well that I never made it all the way through that audit on HISD’s magnet schools, because it seems that neither Superintendent Terry Grier nor the Board of Trustees are all that wedded to it. … Continue reading →

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HFD news

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Couple of big stories relating to the Houston Fire Department in the news this week. First, the EEOC makes a ruling: The Houston Fire Department’s failure to properly address discrimination complaints by a female firefighter and subsequent retaliation subjected her … Continue reading →

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