Tag Archives: San Antonio

The Mayor and the smoking ban

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who did not campaign on expanding that city’s smoking ban but is now the leading proponent of it. He’s likely to get it passed on Thursday with a 6-5 vote, though a … Continue reading →

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San Antonio smoking ordinance heads for a vote

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The revised San Antonio smoking ordinance has made it out of Council committee and will be voted on, in some form, next week. The proposal originally sought to ban indoor smoking, ending the exemptions for bars, pool halls, comedy clubs, … Continue reading →

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Social media guidelines in San Antonio

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. There’s no standard policy or set of procedures governing how public entities or their employees should use social networking sites. Agencies are in various stages of evaluating what constitutes proper online conduct. Bexar County is writing a social media … Continue reading →

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Still more on the San Antonio smoking ordinance

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an Express News article from last Sunday about the effect that municipal ordinances that have banned smoking in bars and restaurants have had on those establishments. Interestingly, the main place it goes for anecdotal evidence is Houston. Lizzard’s Pub, … Continue reading →

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San Antonio smoking ban protests

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The proposal to strengthen the smoking ban in San Antonio has drawn protest from a previously silent constituency. LULAC, the San Antonio Mixed Beverage Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the San Antonio Restaurant Association … Continue reading →

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Defining downtown San Antonio

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The city of San Antonio is going to take a closer look at what it’s doing with its downtown. How to change the locals’ experience of downtown, and why it even matters, has become Topic A for many — in … Continue reading →

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Smoke-Free San Antonio update

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the city of San Antonio is working on updating its ordinance that restricts smoking. The first draft of that has emerged from committee, and it’s got some teeth to it. The strengthened recommendations, which will be considered … Continue reading →

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BRT for San Antonio?

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, San Antonio is seeking federal funds to build a streetcar line emanating from downtown. That’s not their only big transit plan in the works. As the On the Move blog reports, VIA has proposed changing one of … Continue reading →

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2010 Houston term limits survey

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last month, I posted several links with information and research relating to term limits, including the results of a 2004 City of Houston survey about them and the proposed wording for an updated survey. That updated survey has been done, … Continue reading →

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Still smoking in San Antonio

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

But maybe not for much longer. San Antonio City Councilman Justin Rodriguez announced [last] Friday that he is sponsoring an ordinance to outlaw smoking in most public places, including all bars, restaurants and workplaces. Rodriguez said San Antonio is one … Continue reading →

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TAMU-SA groundbreaking

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that UTSA is growing rapidly, but they’re not the only state school in San Antonio any more, as ground was broken for the Texas A&M-San Antonio campus this past Friday. Born in May 2009 after a drawn-out political … Continue reading →

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UTSA’s growing pains

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This story about UTSA and the issues it faces as it tries to accommodate its mostly non-residential student population as it grows is so reminiscent of Houston I had to keep reminding myself as I read it that it wasn’t … Continue reading →

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VIA thinks bigger on streetcars

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

They may be scaling back in Dallas, but San Antonio’s transit agency will apply for more federal funds to build a more extensive streetcar network. VIA Metropolitan Transit’s board of trustees voted Tuesday to spike a federal grant application for … Continue reading →

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San Antonio proposes texting-while-driving ban

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It may wind up being a bit more than that. The days of eating double-bacon cheeseburgers, putting on makeup and sending text messages from behind the wheel could be numbered in the Alamo City. Police Chief William McManus on Wednesday … Continue reading →

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What’s in a diploma?

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

My alma mater doesn’t make the news very often, so when it does, I take notice. A group of students at Trinity University is lobbying trustees to drop a reference to “Our Lord” on their diplomas, arguing it does not … Continue reading →

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San Antonio to introduce tiered water rates

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The San Antonio Water System presented a proposed rate structure to the City Council on Wednesday that would penalize high-volume users while rewarding those who use less. “This is designed to change behavior,” said Doug Evanson, SAWS … Continue reading →

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UTSA football update

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a nice story about the state of UTSA’s fledgling football program. Next fall, UTSA will spend millions to field a football team it hopes will someday compete with cross-state rivals like the University of Texas, Texas Tech … Continue reading →

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“Drop by drop”

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve talked a lot about flooding and drainage issues, and about the possibility of water rate increases in Houston, but something that has not gotten a lot of attention is water conservation. I want to call your attention to a … Continue reading →

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More on streetcars in Fort Worth

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The TCU Daily Skiff writes about Fort Worth’s plans for streetcars. The city of Fort Worth plans to move forward with bringing in a nationally recognized consultant to finalize aspects of a modern streetcar system that would consist of an … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Cisneros for Bell-Metereau

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve written about the GOP primary in SBOE District 5 a couple of times, as there’s a sensible Republican (Tim Tuggey) running against incumbent wingnut Ken Mercer there. SBOE 5 also has a competitive Democratic primary, and by all indications … Continue reading →

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San Antonio to seek federal funds for streetcar system

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Another step forward for San Antonio’s quest to lose its title as the most populous city in America without rail transit. VIA Metropolitan Transit’s trustees on Tuesday approved the routes for a streetcar system and directed agency staff to seek … Continue reading →

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Houston’s hotel occupany tax lawsuit tossed

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in 2006, the city of San Antonio filed a lawsuit against online hotel room bookers such as Expedia and Travelocity on the grounds that they were largely avoiding their hotel occupancy tax. The city of Houston did the same … Continue reading →

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Panel to review term limits appointed

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Back in October, Houston City Council agreed to create a commission to study Houston’s term limits law with an eye to possibly placing a resolution on the ballot next year with some changes. Yesterday, that commission was named. Mayor Bill … Continue reading →

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TAMU-SA update

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on the Texas A&M campus in San Antonio, which is now searching for a full-time president of the school. Regents for the Texas A&M University System have appointed an advisory committee made up of regents, administrators, faculty, … Continue reading →

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WiFi on buses

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds interesting. Beginning today, VIA Metropolitan Transit bus riders who power up their portable electronic devices — such as laptop computers or Wi-Fi-enabled cell phones — might notice an Internet signal coming from within the bus. VIA has started … Continue reading →

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Lone Star Rail

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve talked a number of times in this space about the possibility of building a commuter rail line between Houston and Galveston, possibly connecting to another line that would run out Highway 290 to College Station. That effort is just … Continue reading →

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UTSA-UT Health Science Center merger moves forward

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I noted last month that the University of Texas-San Antonio and the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio were discussing the possibility of a merger as a way for UTSA to become a Tier 1 university. That idea has … Continue reading →

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SNCF proposes high-speed rail route for Texas

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not the Texas T-Bone, but it’s a start. Last December, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Representative John Mica (R-FL) announced that the Federal Railroad Administration would begin accepting Expressions of Interest for the development of high-speed lines in … Continue reading →

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San Antonio moves forward on streetcars

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Last month, the city of San Antonio announced it would form a citizens advisory committee to help guide the creation of a starter streetcar system. It has now done so. The commission’s prime task will be to advise VIA’s board … Continue reading →

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Another way to become Tier One

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

There’s more than one way to achieve Tier One status, at least for some universities. When Ricardo Romo became president of the University of Texas at San Antonio a decade ago, he resolved to transform the sleepy commuter campus into … Continue reading →

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Brown’s energy plan

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Completing our trifecta of Mayoral policy examinations, we come now to Peter Brown’s energy plan. As with other policy matters, Brown goes into more detail than the others – David Ortez recently wrote that Brown is “winning the policy campaign”, … Continue reading →

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Mayor White wants to consider term limits review

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor White wants to reconsider term limits. In a City Council meeting Wednesday, White said he is not advocating an end to the policy, but rather a commission that would study the possibility of changing or eliminating the rule. Voters … Continue reading →

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Streetcars in San Antonio

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

San Antonio is looking to Portland for inspiration as it contemplates a streetcar system. In the 1990s, driven by a plan to infuse the inner city with new residents, transit advocates drew up plans to link several districts by streetcar … Continue reading →

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More money for SUPERTRAINS

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. [Thursday], the U.S. House passed its housing and transportation bill, which will provide funds for fiscal year 2010. Approved mostly by members of the majority Democratic party, the bill would allocate $4 billion to high-speed rail programs — if … Continue reading →

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