Tag Archives: Houston

People who live in crime-filled houses should not throw stones

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Local idiot megachurch pastor Ed Young recently said some typically ignorant and politically-charged things, which has people justifiably upset. Not the first time for him, either. I have better things to do than think about Ed Young, so let me … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

White Oak bike trail extension: Getting close to done

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been a bit more than a month since the last update, and as you can see a lot has gotten done. As you can see, the trail itself is about 90% done, with only the far west end still … Continue reading →

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Yes, let’s build more bike trail bridges

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about connectivity. Stopping for a water break on the normal blistering-hot Houston day, bicyclist Reagan Smithers, 33, can see the tops of the trees along her street from the White Oak Bayou Trail. As the grackle flies – … Continue reading →

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The 24th plaintiff

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, 23 of the 24 women who had filed lawsuits against Deshaun Watson for sexual harassment and assault have settled those cases. The one who has not settled now tells us why. Deshaun Watson and the NFL agreed to … Continue reading →

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Watson’s suspension increased to 11 games

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This was the result of an agreement between the NFL and Deshaun Watson as represented by the NFLPA. Deshaun Watson’s suspension has been increased from six to 11 games, the league announced Thursday. Watson and NFL reached a settlement where … Continue reading →

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Houston will have a bond on the ballot

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

First I’d heard of this, but it should be pretty routine. Houston will ask voters in November to approve a $478 million bond program to buy fire and police vehicles, renovate or replace city facilities and give the city’s animal … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vote No and take the credit anyway

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a tale as old as time. Republicans in Texas are proud to stand and announce local grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The problem is they all voted against it. All of them. For the second time in two … Continue reading →

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The proposed HISD charter partnership policy change

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have a lot of time to dig into this, but there are a couple of things I wanted to touch on. Parents, education advocates and a group of Houston elected officials including three Houston ISD trustees on Monday … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Metro gets electric bus money

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Metro’s plan to gradually get rid of gasoline-powered buses took a step forward this week, when federal officials awarded the transit agency nearly $21.6 million to replace 20 diesel buses with electric ones, and the equipment needed to keep … Continue reading →

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Deshaun Watson “apologizes”

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

As you may infer, I’m not impressed. Deshaun Watson’s best play in his preseason debut with the Cleveland Browns came long before he took the field in Jacksonville. Watson apologized Friday “to all the women I have impacted” after being … Continue reading →

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HISD buys stuff for its police

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Okay, but I hope the plan to deal with an active shooter has more than this in it. Houston ISD trustees Thursday evening approved a measure to buy 200 rifles, ammunition and 200 ballistic shields for the district’s police department, … Continue reading →

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Goodell thinks Watson should get a year’s suspension

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Well, it’s in the hands of someone he picked to hear the appeal, so. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is seeking a tougher penalty for Deshaun Watson because the quarterback’s actions were “egregious” and “predatory behavior.” Last week, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

It’s not a teacher shortage yet

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But you can see one on the horizon. School districts across the Houston region are trying to fill thousands of teacher vacancies before most will be welcoming students back to classrooms in the coming weeks. A review of about 18 area school districts’ job … Continue reading →

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On resign to run

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The TL;dr version of this is “No one ever said the Elections Code was fair”. John Whitmire’s plans have been clear since November: He is running for re-election to the state Senate, and he also is running for mayor. If all … Continue reading →

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Multiple cities sue streaming services over franchise fees

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This has been coming for awhile, it seems. A lawsuit filed Thursday by 25 Texas cities claims that Disney, Hulu and Netflix have for years stiffed the cities out of dollars the streaming giants are required to pay under state … Continue reading →

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How would HISD’s police respond to an active shooter incident?

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a question we would all rather not have to think about, but this is the world we live in. And at this time, the answer that Superintendent Millard House gave to that question was not reassuring. Houston ISD’s police … Continue reading →

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Houston will monitor for monkeypox in the wastewater

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a good idea. Houston will begin monitoring its wastewater for monkeypox in late August as cases of the blister-causing contagion continue to climb, health officials said. Scientists will begin testing for the monkeypox virus in city sewage samples “starting in about three … Continue reading →

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

William-Paul Thomas

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is bad. The question is how much worse might it be. William-Paul Thomas, the mayor’s council liaison, was offered more than $13,000 by a local bar owner to help him pass a building inspection and fast-track a new permit … Continue reading →

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The latest COVID wave may be peaking in Houston

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully… Texas Medical Center data released Tuesday suggests the latest wave of COVID-19 might have reached its peak in the Houston area, though several key metrics used to track the virus remain high. The medical center’s weekly data report shows that … Continue reading →

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Yes, it’s been an especially hot summer

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Record-breaking, in fact. Average high temperatures in Houston so far this summer have outpaced previous historically hot summers on record, according to the National Weather Service. In the months of May, June and July, temperatures in the city averaged 95.1 … Continue reading →

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NFL to appeal Watson suspension

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. I did not expect that. The NFL on Wednesday appealed the six-game suspension for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, seeking a tougher penalty for violating the league’s personal conduct policy in the wake of disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson’s … Continue reading →

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Elevating I-10

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

My antennae are up about this. A state proposal to elevate Interstate 10 near White Oak Bayou is raising concerns among neighbors, who worry about the effects a higher freeway would have on noise and drainage. The $347 million project, … Continue reading →

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Dallas joins the abortion decriminalization queue

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Dallas City Council could consider a resolution in August aimed at blunting the impact of the Texas Legislature’s trigger law that will go into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade. Dallas’ … Continue reading →

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Deshaun Watson suspended for six games

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Feels light to me. And not just to me. Months after trading six draft picks and committing a fully guaranteed $230 million to land Deshaun Watson from the Texans, the Browns have lost their star quarterback for the first six … Continue reading →

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San Antonio will make its statement for abortion rights

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

More symbolic than anything, but it still has meaning. Five San Antonio City Council members and the mayor stood in support of a largely symbolic measure Wednesday that would attempt to “decriminalize” abortion locally. Council is expected to approve a resolution during a … Continue reading →

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More on the planning for the University BRT line

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, Metro has to make some predictions about where transit will be needed. Building a line that goes through some of the densest parts of town probably helps with that. Metropolitan Transit Authority officials told voters in 2019 “we have … Continue reading →

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If the only choices are “take it or leave it”, well…

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Leave it doesn’t sound so bad given the alternative. One year ago, opponents of the state’s plan to rebuild Interstate 45 in Houston criticized the “take it or leave it” option state officials offered regarding amending plans for the mega-project. Tuesday, as … Continue reading →

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We need more monkeypox vaccines

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We have a chance to get on top of this. Let’s try to take it. Houston-area leaders on Monday evening called for more vaccines to combat the small but growing number of local monkeypox infections. There are 57 reported cases … Continue reading →

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July 2022 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still more than a year out from the 2023 election, but we are now up to three serious conteners for Mayor, plus two others in the wild, so the finance reports are beginning to generate some real interest. The … Continue reading →

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Offshore wind farm proposed

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s do it. The Gulf of Mexico’s first offshore wind farms will be developed off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, and together they’re projected to produce enough energy to power around 3 million homes. … Continue reading →

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DOJ investigating discrimination claims against Houston for response to illegal dumping

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I look forward to seeing what this finds. Huey German-Wilson and her Trinity Gardens and Houston Gardens neighbors kept finding tires, medical waste and other trash in their streets. So they took charge. They sought to log each instance with the city’s 311 … Continue reading →

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The current state of the hospitals

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Worse than before, but not nearly as bad as before that. A small but growing share of Houston healthcare workers are calling in sick with COVID, exacerbating long-running staffing issues at some hospitals amid the virus’s resurgence. But despite spreading … Continue reading →

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White Oak Bike Trail extension: Look! Concrete!

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A few days after the Fourth of July, I saw this on the White Oak Bike Trail extension: See here for the previous update. That’s the view from where the current trail had ended. I actually saw this bit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

There’s no cheap housing in Houston any more

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What are we going to do about that? In the sprawling Houston region, those who could not afford homeownership in the city’s urban core always had options. They could trade proximity for affordability. But as rising home prices and mortgage … Continue reading →

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