Tag Archives: Galveston

Interview with Chula Ross-Sanchez

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have one more interview for the Galveston city elections on May 8, that being with Chula Ross-Sanchez, who is running for Council District 6. She is a former member of the Planning Council whose non-reappointment caused a bit of … Continue reading →

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Interview with Joe Jaworski

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the start of early voting for the May 8 uniform election date in Texas. There’s not a whole lot happening in Harris County, but down in Galveston they will be electing a new Mayor to succeed the term-limited … Continue reading →

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Galveston County transportation district

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Well, at least somebody is moving forward with rail plans. The creation of a Galveston County urban and rural transit district would potentially pull together all 13 municipalities in the county, providing a single voice to negotiate with Houston Metro, … Continue reading →

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Galveston bans texting while driving

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Consider yourself warned. Galveston City Council members banned [texting while driving] Thursday, making the city the first in Galveston County to forbid motorists from using cell phones and other hand-held devices to view, send or compose electronic messages while driving. … Continue reading →

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Thinking small on commuter rail

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Christof says that the Houston-Galveston commuter rail study that’s currently in progress has a rather limited vision. Commuter Rail Alternative provides service along the Galveston Houston & Henderson (GH&H) Railroad between Galveston and Houston. The GH&H is a freight rail … Continue reading →

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Better days ahead for UTMB

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is not only coming back, it’s growing. Although the UT Board of Regents authorized 3,800 layoffs, UTMB officials announced that about 3,000 jobs would be cut. The actual number turned out to … Continue reading →

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Galveston Shriners Hospital now open

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Galveston Shriners Hospital, which was closed down after Hurricane Ike and was set to reopen on Monday after a long battle to bring it back, has opened its doors a few days early. Kudos to all involved for getting … Continue reading →

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Shriners Hospital reopens next month

Posted on October 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Back in July, delegates at the national Shriners convention voted to reopen the burn hospital for children in Galveston. The date to reopen has now been set for November. The hospital, a world leader in burn research and source of … Continue reading →

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Don’t let politics get in the way of commuter rail

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

For once, we have a broad consensus about the need to build rail lines. Let’s please not let turf war pissing matches be an even bigger obstacle to getting them built than old-fashioned opposition ever was. Three agencies are actively … Continue reading →

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UTMB’s comeback

Posted on September 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is great to see. A bigger and better University of Texas Medical Branch is rising from the debris of Hurricane Ike, with more than $1 billion in repair, refurbishing and new construction under way or being planned. The UT … Continue reading →

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A year after Ike

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One year after Hurricane Ike made landfall over Galveston, the news is surprisingly positive for the island, though many challenges still remain. The Lege helped Galveston in a number of ways for this year, such as requiring UT to reopen … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike update

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As the first Atlantic tropical storms of the year make their appearance, we get an update on the proposed Ike Dike. One of Hurricane Ike’s legacies may be the hardening of the upper Texas coast against hurricane storm surges. Within … Continue reading →

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Brought to you by…

Posted on August 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

People don’t like it when you mess with their icons. Public fury over a proposal to rename an iconic seawall park after a snack chip led Frito-Lay to ask Galveston County commissioners to halt the renaming process, a Frito-Lay spokeswoman … Continue reading →

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Galveston goes smoke-free

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Galveston City Council adopted a comprehensive smoking ban Thursday, forbidding people from lighting up in bars, restaurants, private clubs and tobacco stores. Council members Karen Mahoney, Elizabeth Beeton and Tarris Woods joined Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, … Continue reading →

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Federal court bench moving out of Galveston

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Disgraced former judge Sam Kent may be the last federal judge to serve in Galveston, at least for the foreseeable future. The state’s oldest federal bench, which remains vacant after the resignation of U.S. District Court Judge Samuel B. Kent, … Continue reading →

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Shriners Hospital in Galveston to reopen

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Delegates at the national Shriners convention meeting in San Antonio voted Monday to reopen a world-renowned burn hospital for children in Galveston, closed since it was damaged by Hurricane Ike in September. Convention delegates voted to keep open … Continue reading →

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Planting vegetation against the tide

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose there’s more than one way to try to save your beachfront property. In Texas, a thin green line in the sand separates private property from public beach. And that line of vegetation is drawn by Mother Nature. Some … Continue reading →

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And here are the vetoes

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the full list, with links to statements about individual bills, here’s his press release, and here’s his budget statement. A few points of interest: – Perry wimped out and allowed HB770, the Wayne Christian Homestead Bill, to become law … Continue reading →

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UTMB to open emergency room

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. The University of Texas Medical Branch is scheduled to open a full-service emergency room Aug. 1 for the first time since Hurricane Ike inundated its campus more than eight months ago, relieving pressure on overburdened emergency rooms throughout the … Continue reading →

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Editorialists urge veto of HB770

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

HB770, the originally obscure bill to grant homestead exemptions to folks who lost their house in Hurricane Ike that has generated a big stink thanks to the self-serving provision inserted on behalf of State Rep. Wayne Christian, is getting panned … Continue reading →

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Still bitching about the beach

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Who would have thought that an otherwise-obscure bill about granting homestead exemptions to people who lost houses in Galveston to Hurricane Ike would become the most controversial bill of the first week post-sine die? Open beaches advocacy groups sent out … Continue reading →

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More Tier One schools

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s some genuine good news from Sunday night’s chaos. Legislation intended to lift some of the state’s public universities to top-tier status has passed the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to sign … Continue reading →

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Joe for Galveston

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

From my inbox, some good news from Joe Jaworski: Galveston matters, and the Island’s next Mayor must ensure this message is clearly understood: Galveston is more than a storm ravaged Island with a history; it is an iconic Texas coastal … Continue reading →

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Windstorm insurance changes

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If you live near the coast, get ready to pay more for windstorm insurance. Coastal residents insured by the state windstorm fund could see increases of 5 percent per year for the next three years under a bill passed Thursday … Continue reading →

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More on the SUPERTRAIN

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Are the stars really aligning to bring a SUPERTRAIN to Texas? Maybe so! Current plans for a Texas system envision a “T-bone” track shape connecting Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston and other towns. But much remains vague: where exactly the … Continue reading →

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Here comes the SUPERTRAIN

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. President Barack Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network, compared … Continue reading →

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Settlement in UTMB lawsuit

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Hot off the presses. University of Texas regents today settled an open records lawsuit, agreeing to give hiring priority to 2,400 employees laid off at UTMB in December, one of the plaintiffs said. In return for dropping the lawsuit, the … Continue reading →

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Measuring hurricanes

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The venerable Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricane strength is so simple to use, it’s not really adequate for the task of assessing risk and estimating damage. “If I could wave a wand and make it go away, I would,” said … Continue reading →

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The Ike Dike

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This certainly sounds like a promising idea. Protecting the region from a hurricane’s storm surge, says William Merrell of Texas A&M University at Galveston, is simple: Extend Galveston’s seawall to the island’s West End, build a similar structure along Bolivar … Continue reading →

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UTMB versus Shriners

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this might help keep Shiners Galveston Hospital open. The University of Texas Medical Branch on Friday asked a judge to stop Shriners Hospital for Children Galveston from locking its doors and imperiling millions of dollars in shared burn research. … Continue reading →

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A setback for Shriners

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. Local Shriners vowed Wednesday to take their case for reopening the storm-damaged Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston to convention delegates after the national leadership again decided to keep it closed. Officials of the 1,000-member Galveston-based El Mina Shrine … Continue reading →

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If UTMB, why not Shriners?

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The recent news that the UTMB Hospital will remain in Galveston and is now rehiring laid off workers was great to hear not just for Galveston but for the larger region, which really needed the facilities. Now that this one … Continue reading →

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UTMB rehiring

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is good news, though it does make you wonder what the point of all the initial layoffs was. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which laid off more than 2,400 employees last fall because of damage caused … Continue reading →

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UTMB hopsital to stay in Galveston

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is a pleasant surprise. The University of Texas Medical Branch hospital, still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ike, will remain on Galveston Island under a plan approved today. The decision by the University of Texas Board of Regents … Continue reading →

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