Tag Archives: Houston

Historic Houston closing its salvage warehouse

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What a shame. LOCAL NONPROFIT Historic Houston is no longer accepting donations of building materials, and is closing its salvage warehouse and ending its salvage program, reports the organization’s founder and executive director, Lynn Edmundson. The organization stored and sold … Continue reading →

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Hamilton Middle School still designated as magnet

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Mostly of interest to folks in my neck of the woods, but worth noting that after receiving a lot of feedback from parents in the community, HISD has announced that it will keep Hamilton Middle School as a Vanguard program … Continue reading →

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Get your economic projection brackets ready

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Final Four will be played in Houston this year, and you know what that means. The NCAA’s estimate for economic activity in Houston puts the total to be spent during the Final Four at $60 million, while the Greater … Continue reading →

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HISD starts cutting

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD’s board of trustees began the budget cutting process on Thursday in anticipation of cuts to public education funding in the Legislature. Barring some really good news from the Lege, there will be much more of this to come. The … Continue reading →

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The EaDo decade

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Things are looking good for a wave of development in East Downtown, a/k/a EaDo. Discussions are under way for a six-block-long linear park in EaDo, and there is talk, still in the early stages, of a 1,000-room convention hotel. The … Continue reading →

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Population growth in the Houston suburbs

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Newswatch blog had a post the other day showing population changes in different ethnic groups for a number of Houston suburbs between 2000 and 2010. It was done as a chart, and while it was a very nice … Continue reading →

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You using that building?

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s this building that Harris County owns that is supposed to revert to the city if the county isn’t using it. Which it isn’t, so the city would like to know what the county’s intentions are, as they have plans … Continue reading →

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It’s official – Council will expand

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Very good news. Council voted today to declare that the city’s population is 2.1 million. The number was a trigger point that mandates the city add a 15th and 16th council seat by the city charter. […] After much debate … Continue reading →

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Infill growth

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone who’s been watching Washington Avenue has seen this. From downtown through midtown and along Washington Avenue, a population growth spurt has taken off since 2000. One buzz word to describe what’s going on is “infill,” said Jerry Wood, previously … Continue reading →

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More Council redistricting drama

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Greg liveblogs today’s special City Council meeting on the Census population report and Council redistricting. Read it for a blow-by-blow account of where individual Council members are standing, or which way they’re leaning, on the question. This could be a … Continue reading →

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So will we have a Mayor’s race or not?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We’re now more than a month into the city election fundraising season, and as of this week the only person to file a declaration of Treasurer for the office of Mayor is the incumbent, Annise Parker. As of this time … Continue reading →

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The missing people of San Marcos

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston isn’t the only city that got unexpectedly bad news from the Census. Just how many people live in San Marcos? Lately, that depends on whom you ask. For the past three years, city officials have estimated the population to … Continue reading →

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Does this make an inner Loop location more likely?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One of the two Alamo Drafthouse theaters way out west will be closing down soon. The arrival of an Edwards multiplex at West Oaks Mall will mean the closure of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the regional shopping center, leaving … Continue reading →

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Is it finally time to do something with the Dome?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A few days ago, a woman named Cynthia Neely took to CultureMap to demand that we Do Something about the Astrodome. Regardless of whether you love or hate the Astrodome, the building is owned by the county and in effect … Continue reading →

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HISD’s budget and magnet meeting

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A whole lot happened on Thursday evening with HISD. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier proposed a major shake-up Thursday night to the district’s popular magnet program, calling for 25 schools to lose the special status and for funding increases or … Continue reading →

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“Brutal” budget cuts proposed

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This looks really bad. Mayor Annise Parker began to outline budget cuts on Thursday that could result in layoffs of more than 2,300 city employees, telling department heads that erasing an estimated $130 million gap will require “extremely tough, if … Continue reading →

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Harmony Academy

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about another large charter school network in Texas. With little fanfare, the Harmony Academy system has become the powerhouse of the Texas charter school scene — easily surpassing KIPP and Yes Prep as the largest charter network in … Continue reading →

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Washington Avenue lite

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what someone thinks White Oak Drive is becoming. Is White Oak Drive becoming a cozier, more walkable version of nearby Washington Avenue as a restaurant-entertainment hub? One local real estate agent thinks so. White Oak is more concentrated with … Continue reading →

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Council redistricting will be messier than it needs to be

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston City Council is set to start their discussion about redistricting, but some people want them to stop. Councilman Mike Sullivan views expansion as a function of mayor-council politics, and he opposes it. Houston’s residents, Sullivan said in an impromptu … Continue reading →

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TPC delays vote on TIP

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow: The Houston-Galveston Area Council’sTransportation Policy Council (TPC) unanimously voted on Friday morning to delay by thirty days its vote on a full $79.8 million allocation of unprogrammed federal transportation funds toward Mobility – roadway and freight rail – … Continue reading →

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Speed trap city

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, we’re number one. The number one speed trap city in America, that is. Houston, TX Speed traps: 373 And the winning city is from … Texas! Seriously, the speed traps in Texas are so bad, Dornsife said, “any place … Continue reading →

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HISD meeting to discuss budget

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Mark your calendars for this Thursday, March 3, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 West 18th Street, at 6PM for an HISD board meeting that will include a discussion of the 2011-2012 budget as well as a … Continue reading →

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Fantasy Map 2.0

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Greg’s most recent attempt at drawing new City Council lines. We’ll get an idea of what the Planning Department has in mind shortly – speaking of which, here are the demographics of the current districts, taken from their data … Continue reading →

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Council’s code of conduct

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure what to make of this. City Council is considering imposing a code of conduct on itself that would give it the power to reprimand or censure members. It already has the ultimate enforcement tool – impeachment – … Continue reading →

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San Antonio moves past Dallas

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They’re #2! Not that it really matters. [San Antonio’s] 1.3 million residents put it at the No. 2 spot for Texas’ largest cities and had the office of Mayor Julián Castro declaring San Antonio’s “rising prominence as one of America’s … Continue reading →

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Metro settles with Higgins

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And the last bit of “old Metro” business gets put to rest. The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board [Thursday] agreed to settle a lawsuit by the agency’s former chief counsel in which she accused Metro of firing her for trying to … Continue reading →

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More charter school stuff

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that you’ve listened to my interview with Chris Barbic, here are a couple more charter school-related articles of interest. First, from the Trib, a story about charter schools getting help for facilities from the Permanent School Fund. Fledgling charter … Continue reading →

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City to ask Census for a do-over

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. The city of Houston will ask the U.S. Census Bureau to change its official count, raising questions about whether some apartment complexes or even entire neighborhoods were missed. Houston’s population is 2,099,451, according to Census data released last … Continue reading →

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More on Metro’s rail to Fort Bend plan

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a story from the first of the public meetings Metro is holding on the proposed US90A rail line to Fort Bend. Planners of a proposed project to extend light rail service from Houston to Missouri City are hopeful about … Continue reading →

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The Census and Central Texas

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

While much of the focus post-Census will be on redistricting, the data it contains is fascinating and illuminating in its own right, absent any political context. This story about explosive growth in former small towns around Austin that now serve … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye, intermodal center

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In the process of writing off some bad assets in what one hopes is the last ritual cleansing of the Frank Wilson era, Metro says good-bye to something we hadn’t heard of in awhile. Metro has given up on what … Continue reading →

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Why aren’t we investing more in non-road transportation?

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow has some disturbing news. A proposal to limit bike, pedestrian, and livability funding in the 2011 Transportation Improvement Program will come before the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council (TPC) this Friday, February 25, at a public meeting in the … Continue reading →

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The state of HISD

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD SUperintendent Terry Grier gave his state of the school district speech this week. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier announced plans Thursday to toughen the district’s curriculum and to expand access to college-caliber courses despite tight financial times. Grier, in … Continue reading →

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Interview with Chris Barbic

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Most of what we’ve talked about regarding the budget and the cuts that would result from it has to do with the public schools. But in the background of all this is charter schools, which will also be affected by … Continue reading →

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