Tag Archives: Houston

Text to 911 option coming locally

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Ever wonder why you can’t text 911? Well, in Harris and Fort Bend Counties, you will soon be able to. By the end of the year, millions of Houston-area residents are expected to have a silent alternative: the Text-to-911 option … Continue reading →

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On Gene Green and representing Latino districts

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been meaning to blog about this story about Rep. Gene Green and CD29 and how the Houston area has never sent a Latino to Congress, but I kept getting stuck and I finally decided I was overthinking it. Two … Continue reading →

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HISD approves its redistricting plan

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, HISD now includes all of the former North Forest ISD, and with that new territory came the need to reapportion its Trustee districts. They completed that task last week with a minimum of fuss. The Houston school … Continue reading →

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Rearranging the traffic

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure how much of an effect this will have. Among the 200,000 motorists who traverse Interstate 45 just south of downtown every day, a fair number find themselves weaving frantically from lane to lane as they approach the connection … Continue reading →

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UberASSIST and UberACCESS

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As I’m sure you recall, access for the disabled was a major point of debate in the vehicles for hire saga. There was a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Texas disability advocates against Uber and Lyft over their lack … Continue reading →

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HISD’s volunteer reading army

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

HISD’s number one priority is, or at least needs to be, improving reading performance. I really hope this will help. Leaders of the Houston Independent School District turned to the community on Thursday, launching the district’s largest volunteer recruitment effort … Continue reading →

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Art Car Parade to move to April

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Adjust your calendars accordingly. The 28th annual Houston Art Car Parade is now set for April 11, 2015, The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, producers of the annual Houston Art Car Parade Weekend, announced today. This year’s past parade … Continue reading →

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Davis’ internal poll

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I had been wondering if Wendy Davis was going to release one of these. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis is trailing Republican opponent Greg Abbott by single digits for the first time this year in her campaign’s internal polling, according … Continue reading →

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The revenue cap has already hit

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lovely. Houstonians will see their first property tax rate cut in five years as the city runs up against a revenue cap imposed by voters a decade ago. The modest rollback works out to $12.27 a year for the owner … Continue reading →

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Revising the historic preservation ordinance

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Gird your loins. Houston officials are preparing to revise the city’s historic preservation ordinance, a signature issue for Mayor Annise Parker that spurred a prolonged and divisive fight over property rights in her first term. That contentiousness has never fully … Continue reading →

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The trouble with the Southwest Freeway

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I think the problem is easy enough to identify. The solution is another matter. Houston-area transportation planners are considering some novel strategies – at least for Texas – for managing traffic to ease congestion on U.S. 59 between downtown Houston … Continue reading →

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Two data points on e-cigarettes

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The World Health Organization wants them to be regulated more strongly. Governments should ban the use of electronic cigarettes indoors and in public places and outlaw tactics to lure young users, the World Health Organization said in a report released … Continue reading →

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The Third Ward

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good story about a great historic neighborhood. In 1872, four influential African-American ministers and businessmen pooled $800 to buy 10 acres of land along Dowling Street. That was the birth of Emancipation Park, a safe place to celebrate Juneteenth and … Continue reading →

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A bike lane to connect to bike trails

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Makes sense. Houston may get its first protected on-street bike route as early as October, as city officials prepare to convert a lane of Lamar Street downtown into a two-way cycling path connecting the popular Buffalo Bayou trails west of … Continue reading →

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Body cameras for HPD

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be very interested to see how this goes. Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland is asking City Hall for $8 million to equip 3,500 police officers over three years with small body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement and … Continue reading →

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All married city employees may continue to receive spousal benefits for now

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Married same-sex couples will continue to receive health and life insurance benefits from the city of Houston, a federal judge ruled Friday, pending the outcome of an appeal in a separate lawsuit. […] [Mayor Annise] Parker’s policy change … Continue reading →

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It’s a great time to be a construction worker

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For most people, anyway. On a conference call earlier this month, the president of Houston-based developer Camden Property Trust described what it’s like building apartments in markets where construction is booming and skilled workers are in short supply. “It’s a … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over same sex benefits for city employees moved back to state court

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and the efforts to put a repeal referendum on the ballot have been one of the big local stories this year, but you may recall that before we were all talking about … Continue reading →

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AirBnB in Houston

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

When people talk about “the sharing economy” for good or ill, the main players that get named tend to be Uber, Lyft, and AirBnB. We’ve heard a lot about the first two in Houston lately, but prior to this Chron … Continue reading →

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More on the Emmett Astrodome Park plan

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good to know that an architect thinks its feasible, but it will need more than that to become reality. Kinder Baumgardner, president of SWA Architects, the firm behind several public projects in Houston involving parks, said plenty of big-idea architectural … Continue reading →

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HERO repealers try their luck with the Supreme Court

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Because sure, why not? Opponents of Houston’s equal rights ordinance have asked the Texas Supreme Court to force the city secretary to certify the signatures on a petition they submitted seeking to trigger a repeal referendum on the law. Houston’s … Continue reading →

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Teachers are doing it for themselves

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I know this is intended to be an upbeat story, but I can’t help but find it a little depressing. Some tech-savvy teachers turned to the Web this summer to try to offset the nearly $500 typically spent to ready … Continue reading →

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How about Astrodome Indoor Park?

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

County Judge Ed Emmett gives his vision for the Astrodome. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett on Tuesday proposed turning the Astrodome into “the world’s largest indoor park” and recreation area, a concept he said would honor the reason his predecessor … Continue reading →

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Trying again with pre-K

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Different approach, hopefully a different result will follow. On the first day of school for most Houston-area children, a coalition called “Early Matters” organized by the Greater Houston Partnership announced Monday it would release a 10-year “game plan” at a … Continue reading →

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No one gets to dictate that the Uptown line must be BRT forever

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

So as we know, the Uptown line is moving ahead as BRT. It will be paid for with a variety of funds, coming from the city, from an Uptown/Memorial TIRZ, from grants, and so forth. A key component of this … Continue reading →

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“Environmental tort reform”

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. After failing in their attempt to limit cities and counties’ ability to take industrial polluters to court, some Houston businesses and statewide lobbyists now want to limit how much local governments can collect in penalties, a sort … Continue reading →

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The limits of lobbying

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They do exist, as Houston’s cab companies recently discovered. More than a year of intense lobbying by established cab companies and tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to City Council members were not enough to hold off a … Continue reading →

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Astrodome Park proponents tout a survey showing people like the idea of Astrodome Park

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

How can you argue with that? The NRG Astrodome should be turned into a green space similar to Discovery Green downtown, said a majority of people recently surveyed about the future of the former sports arena. The survey, ordered by … Continue reading →

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The downside to downtown’s boom

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

More traffic, less parking, and lots of construction. Where have we heard those complaints before? Construction crews are clearing city blocks once dedicated to surface parking, readying the sites for multistory office buildings, hotels and residential towers. Adjacent sidewalks and … Continue reading →

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Some Republicans really want to make Uber a partisan thing

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A little adorable, and a little desperate. Uber hired political strategist David Plouffe this week to run what amounts to a national political campaign against the taxi industry. Ostensibly, this is a fight between large taxi medallion investors and a … Continue reading →

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Parker proposes new firefighter pension plan

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see about this. With the city of Houston facing huge and rising pension costs, Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday unveiled a proposal to put new firefighters in a separate, less generous plan that would do away with expensive automatic … Continue reading →

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Bringing commuter rail into downtown

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From The Highwayman: As has been reported, the Gulf Coast Rail District is studying the best possible routes for commuter rail in the Houston area, and one of the biggest challenges is bringing the trains into downtown. From the looks … Continue reading →

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RIP, Randy Ertman

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve lived in Houston long enough, this story will bring back a flood of memories and emotions. Randy Ertman, a house painter who became a blunt-spoken, combative advocate for crime victims’ rights after his daughter and another teen were … Continue reading →

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And we (finally) circle back to food trucks

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve done HERO, we’ve done vehicles for hire, what other high profile issues are there out there? Oh yeah, food trucks. I’d almost forgotten they were still an agenda item, but they’re back and they should be getting a vote … Continue reading →

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