Daily Archives: June 3, 2011

Senate committee approves redistricting map

That was quick. A state Senate panel, voting along strict party lines, approved a Texas Congressional redistricting plan designed to increase Republican strength in the U.S. Congress. The Senate redistricting committee voted 8-4 to send the map to the full … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Feds may prevent some cuts to Planned Parenthood

Good news, at least potentially. Stephanie Goodman of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission confirms that the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a bulletin advising state officials that federal rules do not permit states to ban … Continue reading

Posted in National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Friday random ten: Songs of the Century, part 4

Continuing with songs in my collection from the Songs of the Century as compiled by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. 1. Summertime – The MOB (#74, Sidney Bechet) 2. Theme from “Shaft” – … Continue reading

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Back to school finance

The Lege has started the process of picking up where it left off on school finance. The Trib reminds us how we got here. [T]he earlier failure of SB 1581, which put a behind-closed-doors conference committee in charge of any … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council approves deal to spin off Convention Center

Meet Houston First, which merges the city’s Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department and the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corporation, which runs the Hilton Americas. The corporation will not have to come to the council to get expenses approved. The unionized … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Our young population

From last week, a story about new Census data that shows (among other things) how young Texas’ population is. The state’s median age — meaning half of residents are older, and half younger — is 33.6, substantially lower than the … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ticket to Mars

To boldly go where no one has gone before, and not come back. How would you like to take a trip to Mars? That’s right, only to Mars. There would be no coming back. […] The idea was floated by … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , | 1 Comment