The DCCC has some fun with Pete Sessions' strip club fundraiser.
A March 2007 evening at a Las Vegas strip club is creating a great deal of controversy throughout the country, including in Minnesota. The event raised money for the leadership PAC of Republican U.S. Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. Sessions was joined by casino executives and payday lenders at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce nightclub, located in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.According to Sessions, the club is a harmless burlesque. Kane, the club's owner, shared his definition of a burlesque to NPR: "The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off."
Sessions' leadership PAC, People for Enterprise, Trade and Economic Growth picked up the tab for the event. NPR noted in a report that "just days before the party at Forty Deuce, casino interests donated $5,000 to his PAC. Payday lenders threw in another $2,500."
The PAC has contributed $5,000 to the congressional campaign of Erik Paulsen and $2,500 to Rep. Michele Bachmann's reelection campaign.
"Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen have spent their entire careers pushing an extreme right-wing agenda that has been out-of-touch with the views of everyday Minnesotans. Yet at the same time as they say they are pro-family, they take money raised from Casino owners partying at a strip club," said Carrie James, regional press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The hypocrisy of this is astounding- a do as I say, not as I do approach to leadership."
Boy, sex and gambling all rolled together. I'll bet it was fun, in that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" kind of way. And given some of the attendees, it's almost as if he's an extra Congressman from Nevada, as Wick Allison put it.
Chris Bell easily reached his goal of $10k raised online in considerably less than 10 days, and now he's shooting for $20k, to offset one of Bob Perry's donations. The boys at BOR are on strike till they raise $1000 for him - they're almost halfway there already.
You've heard of John McCain's $500 shoes? That wouldn't even be enough to buy one of John Davis' boots.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 sailed through the House today. See a brief video on it here.
Diane Trautman having a volunteer appreciation breakfast on Saturday morning at 9 AM in the King's Crossing Apartments clubhouse up in Kingwood. Click that link for a map. And don't forget White Linen Nights in the Heights later in the day.
Finally, Rick Noriega will be hosting a live virtual town hall tomorrow at 1:30 PM. Just go to his website and submit your questions. Noriega was in College Station today for a more old-fashioned town hall. You can read some blog coverage of it here and here.
Anheuser-Busch, the top U.S. beer seller, said today it will begin using landfill gas to help power its massive Houston brewery in a move designed to lower its soaring energy costs and keep beer prices from climbing higher.The St. Louis-based brewer will use the landfill gas to help run boilers that today are fueled by natural gas.
When the landfill gas begins flowing into the plant later this year, about 70 percent of the brewery's energy needs will be met by renewable fuels, Anheuser-Busch officials said today during a Houston news conference announcing the initiative.
"It's going to help us keep beer affordable," said Doug Muhleman, group vice president of brewing operations and technology at Anheuser-Busch.
The beer maker will purchase the gas from Framingham, Mass-based energy firm Ameresco, which has a partnership with Houston landfill operator Allied Waste Services.
The Houston brewery, the company's second-largest behind its flagship plant in St. Louis, will receive the gas via a six-mile pipeline into the plant from Allied's McCarty Road landfill in east Houston. Still under construction, the pipeline will be completed later this year, the companies said.
Other landfill operators, including Houston's Waste Management, have launched similar efforts to harvest and sell methane gas created by decomposing organic material in trash dumps. In addition to providing alternative energy, the practice reduces emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas.
Well, it's good to know that our predeliction for landfills has a positive side to it. Kudos to Anheuser-Busch and to the landfill operators for taking advantage of this opportunity.
On Tuesday, I asked the question how many eligible voters there were in Harris County, so we could put the number of registered voters into some perspective. Yesterday, I got an answer to that question. The folks at Houston Votes sent me an analysis they had done by Dr. Richard Murray, which gives a pretty good estimate. I'll go through the elements of Dr. Murray's math. First, how many people are there?
Based on the Jan 1, 2007 US Census number, Harris County had, as of that date, approximately 3,935,000 residents. If the annual population increase for this decade holds true for 2007 and 2008, which is around 75,000 people per year, then as of November 2008 the population will be probably around 4,080,000 (3,935,000 + 75,000{2007} + 62,500{2008 - 2 months}= ~4,080,000).1) Under 18 years old: -1,179,120 (28.9% under 18, US Census 2006 for Harris) of 4,080,000).
2 ) Non-Citizens: -300,000 (22% of the general population are foreign born according to the US Census for 2000 . Dr. Murray estimates that of that population in Harris County (897,000), about 300,000 are non-citizen adults).
3) Felons on probation/parole: -100,000 (High estimate of 100,000, according to Dr Murray).
Put all that together, and you wind up with about 2.5 million people who are eligible to vote in Harris County. That answers my first question, as it suggests we're at around 75% registration. But there's more to this, as Dr. Murray elaborates:
1) Projected fully registered voters: 1,900,000. As of 3/4/2008, 1,809,000 were people were registered to vote in Harris County. We are awaiting latest numbers from Paul Bettencourt, which are likely to be around 1.9 million.2) Current suspended voters: -307,000. These voters were on the suspense list as of 3/4/08, meaning they have left, died, or moved. (Voters who have moved must go to their new precinct and file an affidavit and are therefore not classified as fully registered in this count.)
3) Projected new suspended voters: -100,000. Approximately 150,000 additional otherwise eligible people will die, move etc and are added to the suspended voter list each calendar year. (The estimate of 100,000 new suspended voters takes into account the fact that there are only seven months between the last count, 3/4/2008, and the voter registration deadline of 10/6/2008.)
So, if you subtract the names that are or will be on the suspense list, you'll be at about 1.5 million fully registered voters by the registration deadline, as your baseline. That means there's room to add a million more people to the rolls.
Now, as I understand it, the folks on the suspense list who have moved can still vote, even if they don't do the affidavit; I'm told about 100,000 to 150,000 of them will correct their registrations on their own. Generally speaking, if they vote early, the discrepancy between their current and registered addresses will be caught and fixed. If they vote on Election Day and they're in a different precinct, they'll be sent to the new precinct to vote. That of course may be problematic for some of them, depending on when they arrive at the polling place, and one assumes that some of them will wind up not casting a ballot. I have no idea what the numbers there may be.
So, depending on how you look at it, there's between 600,000 and one million people who are not correctly registered to vote. Looked at in that context, you can see why there will be so much effort put into registration drives. You can also see why Diane Trautman has made this issue part of her campaign. Maybe if Bettencourt's office made registering voters as much a priority as they did scrubbing them, we'd have a higher ratio of eligible adults on the rolls.
One last thing: Using Dr. Murray's numbers, I estimate the total eligible population in Harris County in 2004 was a bit more than 2.3 million. If as the earlier story said 1.94 million of them were registered to vote, then we would need to have almost 2.1 registered voters this year just to have the same percentage as we did in 2004. That means another 200,000 registrations between now and October 6. I'd say we have our work cut out for us.
And it's not going to get better any time soon.
School districts across Texas are likely to face extreme fiscal hardships over the next two years as transportation costs spiral out of control, enrollments continue to grow and the transition from textbooks to technology progresses.That was the word from a panel of educators and advocates at the Texas Education Agency's school finance summit Tuesday. They and Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott began laying the groundwork for what they would seek from lawmakers when the 81st Legislature convenes in January.
"We just don't have enough money, basically, to provide a quality education experience to our students," said Sharon Shields, superintendent of the tiny La Vega school district near Waco.
Like several of her counterparts who participated in the six-hour discussion, Shields said her district needs more financial aid from the state and greater flexibility to raise and spend the money it receives from local taxpayers.
Most of the educators agreed that the school finance overhaul enacted by lawmakers two years ago -- an attempt to settle the ongoing dispute between rich and poor school districts -- is already falling short on generating the funds needed to sustain public schools.
"We always pull up with a penny-wise, pound-foolish solution," said Richard Kouri, who represents the Texas State Teachers Association.
The crux of the problem is that the funding for school districts didn't include any room for cost-of-living increases. Which might not have been a big deal in some years, but when things like gas and food prices skyrocketed, it put a huge hole in their budgets. Their operating expenses have gone up while their financial resources have not. As you might expect, that has been disastrous for them.
Now, the Legislature could choose to do something about this in 2009. Perhaps with a new Speaker, some help could be on the way for the schools. But thanks in part to the maneuvering that separated the property tax cuts from the rest of the budget in 2007, and in part to the slavish devotion to property tax cuts uber alles, it's hard to picture anything other than more penny-wise "solutions" coming forth.
Harvey Kronberg reported on this as well.
The informal consensus of the group appeared to hinge on the fact that a significant new infusion of money was not expected for education next session. Indeed, the business margins tax already is showing a lower-than-expected return. That means that lawmakers might have to dig even further into the anticipated $10.7 billion surplus in order to bridge the 50-cent reduction in property taxes.With all these factors in play, the minimum the group appeared ready to accept was a three-pronged approach to the problem: First, that some type of floor be set on target revenue so that every district hits a minimum target revenue of around $5,000 per student. That amount would be adjusted by various weights.
The second measure would be some type of funding put in place to address the inflation that is eating up school district budgets. If the revenue targets were increased by 1 percent a year, the cost would be about $630 million. If the revenue target were increased 1 percent in the first year and an additional 1 percent in the second year, for a total of 2 percent, the total cost would be about $950 million.
Then it would be the fervent hope of those who have dealt with the school finance system the longest - and especially [Lynn] Moak and Bill Grusendorf of the Texas Association of Rural Schools - that lawmakers start to move the system back to one driven by formulas and not the various past hold harmlesses.
The "hold harmlesses," added each time the school finance system is revised, is funding intended to make sure no school district is worse off going into a new school finance system than they were going out of the old system. The system has been changed so many times in Texas that the amount of the past three hold harmlesses - or "hold harmli," as Scott calls it -- is now $2 billion, an amount that means the hold harmlesses have more impact on the system now than any aspect of the school finance formula.
What needs to be done is to close the gap between the basic school allotment and the target revenue amount. Either aspects of the funding formula can be adjusted or, as Grusendorf suggested, the guaranteed yield on tax effort can be increased. Right now, in an effort to equalize funding between poor and wealthy school districts, the state guarantees about $43 per penny of tax effort. By raising that yield to $50 per penny, about $1.8 billion can be shifted into the basic allotment, Grusendorf said.
Good luck with all that, that's all I can say. I just hope everyone can hang on till 2011. Eye on Williamson has more.
Been awhile since there was an Enron-related story that interested me.
A former top Enron executive who sold nearly $300 million in Enron stock before the company cratered has agreed to pay regulators $31.5 million to settle civil allegations of insider trading.The amount Lou Pai, 60, agreed to pay is the highest Enron-related settlement reached between an individual and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the agency said it is one of the highest individual settlements in its history.
Other SEC fines gained in numerous Enron settlements since 2002 range from $30,000 to almost $2 million for individuals, though some higher amounts were split between the SEC and the Justice Department.
But Pai's settlement is a fraction of the $270 million or more that shareholders who sued him and other executives say he gained from stock sales.
"I'm just shaking my head. That makes me sick to my stomach," said Diana Peters, one of the thousands of employees left jobless when Enron collapsed in December 2001, months after Pai quit the company.
"He'll just move down the road and it won't even be a drop in the bucket for him," she said. "But if you've got that kind of money, I guess you can afford to buy yourself out of anything."
[...]
Pai, who was chairman and chief executive of Enron's retail energy division, Enron Energy Services, was among the more colorful yet elusive figures at Enron.
He was known to frequent strip clubs as part of enjoying the great wealth he gained from the company's generous bonuses and stock options, a former employee told the Chronicle for a story in 2003. Yet he avoided the spotlight while at Enron, and has done so since he resigned from the company in May 2001.
Yes, the movie "The Smartest Guys In The Room" talked a bit about Pai and his stripperphilia. He himself did not appear in the film, but there is an image of a jet plane taking off as whoever was speaking talked about how Pai cashed out and headed off to Hawaii with one of the girls from (I think) Rick's Cabaret.
The bulk of Pai's stock sales occurred as part of a divorce settlement more than a year before Enron crumbled. Pai has never been charged with crimes, and earlier this year was dropped as a defendant from a massive shareholder lawsuit in Houston.[...]
The stock sales at the heart of the SEC complaint that Pai settled on Tuesday took place from May 18 to June 7, 2001. The SEC said he sold nearly 573,000 shares at $53.78 based on insider information that a division he once ran had financial troubles unknown to investors.
Specifically, the SEC complaint said Pai knew that Enron Energy Services faced substantial losses in the first quarter of 2001. The complaint notes that Enron's CEO and senior accounting personnel, along with Enron Energy Services management, "secretly revised" division reporting to avoid disclosing those losses. That revision came about by moving the retail division's trading arm into Enron's larger trading franchise, Enron Wholesale Services.
That action received much focus in the 2006 fraud and conspiracy trial of Skilling and Chairman Ken Lay. Skilling testified that the retail trading arm was moved into the larger division to combine like functions for efficiency's sake.
But David Delainey, Pai's successor as the head of Enron Energy Services, testified that the move was intended to hide millions of dollars in losses, the disclosure of which could threaten Enron's stock price and credit rating.
Reading this story reminds me why I was bothered less than folks like Tom were about the criminal cases that were brought against the likes of Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and so on. Pai was (eventually) punished through the civil process, but the punishment he received doesn't come close to balancing the scales, in my view. He's still a millionaire many times over - assuming he hasn't blown it all, of course - while so many other people, employees and shareholders, got wiped out. I think the only way the civil justice system could really make these guys pay for their wrongdoings is if it left them in the same shape as the people who were affected by their actions - namely, in a situation where they'd have to work for the rest of their lives because they no longer had any accumulated wealth. Here's a bit I wrote from my review of "The Smartest Guys In The Room":
There's a really poignant scene in which Portland General Electric lineman Al Kaseweter matter-of-factly states that he sold his entire retirement portfolio, which was worth $348,000 at its peak, for $1200.
PGE had been bought by Enron before the crash; like most Enron employees were encouraged to do, Kaseweter put the bulk of his retirement funds into Enron stock. Put Lou Pai in Al Kaseweter's shoes, and I'd agree that justice had been served. Same with Skilling and the rest of that crowd. But that's not how it works, so despite the problems associated with the Enron prosecutions, I think they were necessary.
Some of the live oak trees that lined Kirby Drive were removed [Monday] night as part of a controversial reconstruction project between Westheimer and Richmond.The oaks, as well as crape myrtles, were taken down on the west side of Kirby from Richmond to Kipling. Trash bins placed along that stretch were full of the destroyed trees early today.
"We knew it would be done at night," Barry Ward, executive director of the nonprofit group Trees for Houston, said [Tuesday] morning.
"That is fairly typical," he said. "There is some justification when you do that, so it doesn't disrupt as much traffic. But, you'd also be naive to think it wasn't done so they wouldn't get so much public scrutiny."
[...]
"You don't want to do it during peak traffic times, and you don't want to interfere with retail businesses during the non-peak times during the day," said Travis Younkin, the district's capital projects director. "This just makes the most sense."
Overnight on Tuesday, contractors removed the oak trees and crape myrtles on the west side of Kirby from Richmond to Kipling. Trash bins placed along that stretch were full of the destroyed trees. The trees likely will be turned into mulch.
I took Kirby to get to work Tuesday, partly because I was curious to see if any removal work had been done. I saw a bunch of trees with orange construction mesh around them, but didn't spot the empty spaces where the cuttings had taken place. It's probably more obvious today. It's sad to see it happen, and I do think this could have been done a different way, but what's done is done. I just hope that Upper Kirby is right about what it will all look like afterward.
It's stuff like this that reminds me why I love the campaign season.
We had never heard of a member of Congress holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas burlesque nightclub... until now.And the culprit is card-carrying conservative Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.). The same Pete Sessions who scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing "their liberal values upon the rest of the country" after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime striptease.
But that was then.
Now we learn that Sessions held a racy (for Washington) fundraiser for his leadership political action committee last year at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce nightclub in Sin City. A description of the club on its web site, which features a scantily clad dancer, reads: "A blue light silhouettes the sax man as one of the sexy, sensual dancers slowly slinks down the stairs to the stage and leans out over the crowd, holding on with only a handful of the world-famous curtain of pearls! Jaws drop and drinks are ignored as the tempo picks up and the dancer steps up, shedding boa, gown and gloves towards the electrifying finale."
I really don't think I can add anything to that. Link via TPM.
Meanwhile, Texas on the Potomac reports on a campaign contribution from an unexpected source.
One of President Bush's first cousins has gone way against the grain.In February, Alexander "Hap" Ellis III donated $4,300 to Michael Skelly's congressional campaign, according to Federal Electoin Commission records.
Skelly is a Democrat. He is running against Republican incumbent John Culberson of Houston. The seat was once held by former President George H.W. Bush, Ellis' uncle. And the former president still lives in the district on Houston's west side.
As the post notes, Ellis works in renewable energy, so this isn't that great a stretch, even if it's his only donation to a Democrat this year. What's even better is that Ellis isn't the only member of the extended Bush clan to cross the aisle in 2008. Take a look at the detailed report (PDF) for Sherrie Matula, and scroll down to page ten. You'll see that none other than Neil Bush kicked in $25 to her effort. So the next time someone asks you how bad a year this is for the Republicans, you can say "Bad enough that even Bushes are giving to Democrats".
Elsewhere, State Rep. Ellen Cohen may have an unserious opponent, but she's not taking anything for granted. Some campaign-related events coming up for her include a "Young Professionals Supporting State Representative Ellen Cohen" party at the Rice Lofts downtown next Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 8:00 - if you're Facebook-enabled, you can see the details here, and a "BBQ, Birthday Bash and Yard Sign Blitz" at her campaign headquarters (4950 Bissonnet, same place as 2006) on Sunday, August 24. Contact the campaign for more info.
And finally, if you find yourself asking "What can I do to help turn Texas blue in the next 100 days", since there's now less than that till the election, you can find some simple yet concrete suggestions here. Surely there's something there that will appeal to you.
I guess that recent run of positive press for Houston couldn't last forever.
The city's shimmering skyline may wear the label of the world's energy capital, but deep in Houston's Dumpsters lies a less glamorous superlative: It is the worst recycler among the United States' 30 largest cities.Houston recycles just 2.6 percent of its total waste, according to a study this year by Waste News, a trade magazine. By comparison, San Francisco and New York recycle 69 percent and 34 percent of their waste respectively. Moreover, 25,000 Houston residents have been waiting as long as 10 years to get recycling bins from the city.
Environmental advocates are pleading for municipal intervention. And some small improvements -- an organic waste program, for one -- are expected soon.
But city officials say real progress will be hard to come by. Landfill costs here are cheap. The city's sprawling, no-zoning layout makes collection expensive, and there is little public support for the kind of effort it takes to sort glass, paper and plastics. And there appears to be even less for placing fees on excess trash.
"We have an independent streak that rebels against mandates or anything that seems trendy or hyped up," said Mayor Bill White, who favors expanding the city's recycling efforts. "Houstonians are skeptical of anything that appears to be oversold or exaggerated. But Houstonians can change, and change fast."
[...]
Private businesses, like office towers, apartment complexes, and restaurants, are responsible for their own garbage, although advocates of recycling are pleading with the city to regulate them. Commercial recyclers say that despite a recent increase in public interest, their services remain a tough sell.
Mayor White, a Democrat who has consistently crusaded for environmental initiatives, said that a lack of progress on recycling was among his biggest disappointments and that the situation merited "radical changes," like the organic yard waste program that he says will increase the city's recycling rate to 20 percent by 2010. The national average is 32 percent.
Mayor White, who served as deputy secretary of energy under President Bill Clinton, stopped short, however, of calling for mandated recycling or charging citizens for excess garbage.
Highlighting the sensitivity to such taxes, last year the City Council considered imposing a mandatory $3.50 monthly environment fee for every single-family home. It was negotiated to a voluntary $2.25 charge and eventually dropped entirely because of fierce opposition, city officials said.
Well, I supported that $3.50 fee, but indeed there was plenty of whining about it. I share Mayor White's disappointment in the lack of progress on the recycling front, but it's got to be said: The responsibility for that lack of progress is his. He gets the credit, and deservedly so, for other successes on the environmental front, and he gets the blame for this failure. Mayors who get re-elected with 90% of the vote can take a little heat over a trash removal fee if the end result is a net positive. Surely SafeClear was a bigger fight than this would have been, so why the quick fold? "Disappointment" is a fitting term here.
There is still time in his tenure for Mayor White to move the ball a little bit farther forward, and build on the modest gains we have seen on recycling. But I don't think anything significant will happen until after the next Mayor is sworn in. I sincerely hope this is a big part of the 2009 campaign.
One of the things I had intended to do while at Netroots Nation this year was interviews with candidates and other folks. Unfortunately, in the rush to pack and leave, I managed to leave my digital voice recorder at home. That kind of put a damper on those plans, but as I had already scheduled an interview with Diana Maldonado, I needed to figure something out. Thankfully, Eileen Smith came to my rescue by letting me borrow her little video recorder, which she used to great effect on Poll Dancing, so I was able to salvage that. And I quickly learned why folks like RG Ratcliffe, who have done a lot more video interviews than I have, invest in a tripod. It's harder than you think to hold that camera still for ten minutes. I don't think I shook it too much, but I'll apologize in advance for any vertigo this causes.
Anyway. Diana Maldonado is a great candidate, representing one of the top pickup opportunities for Texas Democrats in the House. She was also the first candidate endorsed by the TexBlog PAC. Here she is, in my first and possibly last video interview:
As always, please let me know what you think.
At a press event held by Hillary Clinton about FEMA trailers out on Long Island today, I asked her about the campaigning she planned to do for Barack Obama between now and Election Day.She said, "During the month of August, they've asked me to go to several states. But I'm going to leave it to them to announce. I don't want to in any way get ahead of them. But, you know, I'm doing whatever I'm asked and whatever I can."
Send her to Texas! And bring Bill with her! If Obama and the DNC are going to spend $20 million on a 50 state Latino outreach effort, one lousy visit to Texas by the Clintons isn't too much to ask, is it?
Houtopia has an interesting report about a local campaign development.
We have been particularly interested to learn in recent days that at least a few Harris County incumbent Republican judges have been actively seeking the endorsement of the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Political Caucus -- HGLBT for short.This development is eye-opening to say the least. Perhaps more than any other group, the GLBT community has been the recipient of venom from religious conservatives. And the idea that any incumbent Republican official here would actively seek the Caucus' endorsement, much less accept it if offered, would have seemed laughable just a few months ago. Apparently, fear of losing can be a powerful motivator.
Don't get us wrong. We are glad to see some of these judges now acknowledge what many of us have known for a long time, that the GLBT community matters, just like everybody else, and that its votes count too, much as that may bother certain people.
So, it's good that some of these Republican judges have decided to screen with the HGLBT Caucus and seek its endorsement. But what will the neighbors say?
Very interesting. The Caucus, which has already endorsed a slew of candidates for November - though no judicial candidates as yet - has definitely established itself as a force to be reckoned with locally. Their endorsement matters. That some incumbent Republicans now think so is a pretty amazing statement about where Harris County is these days.
You know, I was just thinking that it had been way too long since we had a story about the availability of public toilets in downtown Houston. Thankfully, our wait is over.
Unlike some other U.S. cities, Houston does not have public pay toilets, even in high-pedestrian areas such as the Texas Medical Center and downtown. Free public restrooms are available in parks, government buildings, grocery stores and most fast-food restaurants.But unless you are a paying customer, or at least a shopping customer, chances are your eager bladder will not be welcome at many establishments. At least not in downtown. Outside the city center, it can be a different story if you look hard enough, or just ask.
[...]
Main Street Market Square Redevelopment Authority officials floated the idea in 2004, shortly after Main Street was redeveloped with the light rail as the centerpiece. Plumbing for five toilets was installed along Main, but the restrooms themselves were never put in place.
"I would love to see them downtown as we invite people to come downtown and to be a part of the things that are going on," said Vicki Rivers, the authority's executive director.
Rivers said even if the the authority, the business arm of a tax increment reinvestment zone, could pay for the toilets, it would be expensive to maintain them. She said she would need financial help from public entities as well as the private sector.
Ms. Rivers has been saying this for four years now. Yes, I follow this sort of thing very closely. Hey, somebody has to.
Some cities, in the United States and abroad, use high-tech, coin-operated restrooms that feature self-flushing, self-cleaning toilets. Users are given a certain period of time before a buzzer sounds and the door opens automatically.The city of San Francisco -- despite having problems with one that attracts illegal activities such as drug use and prostitution -- has enjoyed some success with its 25 high-tech toilets, the first of which was installed in 1994. The facilities cost 25 cents to use, but free tokens are provided for those who cannot afford a quarter.
Seattle got into the public toilet business in 2004, but put its five high-tech units up for sale on eBay earlier this month, for $89,000 apiece. The auctions, which were slated to end Saturday, had attracted no bidders as of Friday.
Andy Ryan, a spokesman for Seattle Public Utilities, said it has cost the city $1 million a year for each unit on the lease-purchase agreement and the maintenance.
I just quoted that section because I love the idea of buying high-tech toilets on eBay. Truly, we live in wondrous times.
I feel compelled, as I have done before, to point out that there are in fact free public restrooms in downtown Houston. It's just that they're in the tunnel system, not on the street. Here's a nice, easy map (PDF) of the system; once you're in, you can use the maps there to figure out where the nearest potty is. Discovery Green has public restrooms, too, if you're in that area. Believe me, as the father of two preschoolers, I need to know stuff like this.,
Harold Cook gets into an argument with one of Rep. Mike McCaul's flacks over McCaul's phony madrassa story, in the enviable position of having the facts on his side. Mean Rachel joins in.
Michael Skelly has a second ad out, which you can see here; that and his prior ad can also be found here. I actually saw the first ad last night while watching "The Closer", but since it was TiVoed, and since I'd already seen it, I zipped past it. Nonetheless, that counts as the first general election ad I've seen for this year.
Harris County judicial candidate Mike Engelhart has his first campaign video up, which you can see here. It's a warm fuzzy family spot, which is always a nice way to kick things off. Figure there'll be a ton more local videos between now and November.
And finally, Joe Jaworski received the endorsement of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, which you can read about here. Given that his opponent is known as "Toxic Mike" Jackson, you've got to figure that was an easy call for them.
I don't know what the practical effects of this are going to be, but it sure sounds like a big deal.
A federal judge's ruling that Texas is not living up to its obligation to properly educate students who struggle with the English language gives hope to many of those children with dismal academic achievement, a civil rights lawyer said Monday.The state of Texas is not complying with the federal Equal Education Opportunity Act, in that public schools are failing their obligation to overcome language barriers, Senior U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice said in a 95-page ruling on Friday.
"The failure of secondary (limited English proficient) students under every metric clearly and convincingly demonstrates student failure, and accordingly, the failure of the (English as a Second Language) secondary program in Texas," Justice wrote in the opinion, which reversed his 2007 ruling in the case.
Justice's ruling disappointed Texas Education Agency officials. "We're continuing to study this latest ruling, but it is likely that we will ask the attorney general to appeal it," agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said.
Attorneys for Attorney General Greg Abbott also are studying the ruling, "and we are weighing the prospects of an appeal," said Abbott spokesman Tom Kelley.
I don't see any mention in the story as to a remedy, legislative or otherwise, that is being mandated, and I also don't see the name of the lawsuit, so I'm not sure how to find a copy of the ruling. Be that as it may, it seems likely to me that this is something the Lege will have to address in some fashion, along with so many other school-related issues. Whether it's in 2009 or later, I couldn't say. Can anyone help me fill in the gaps here? Thanks.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority will host a neighborhood meeting Wednesday to update residents on construction of the East End light rail line.The route runs mostly on Harrisburg, and plans call for two items that have brought opposition from some residents: a bridge over freight tracks near 65th and a service and inspection facility nearby for light rail trains.
The meeting will be 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Ripley House Community Center gym, 4100 Navigation.
I guess it hadn't occurred to me that there were any class of public offices left for which campaign finance reports were not available online, but apparently there are.
Taxpayers can find out with the click of a mouse who has donated to the campaigns of Houston City Council members, the mayor, Harris County officials and state officers.Getting the same data on school trustees and candidates is not so easy.
Unlike the city, county and state, the Houston area's 10 largest school districts and many smaller ones do not post campaign finance reports on their Web sites.
Instead, taxpayers generally must trek to district headquarters during business hours to view paper copies of the reports, which detail the money that school board candidates raised and spent.
[...]
In interviews this week, several trustees said they had not thought about posting their campaign reports online.
Sonal Bhuchar, president of the Fort Bend school board, said she does not see the need for online reports because anyone can request paper copies.
"I think it's best that if someone's interested, an open-records request can be made," she said. "I don't think it necessarily has to be on the district Web site."
Katy board president Eric Duhon said the issue of going digital boils down to cost.
"Someone must prepare the data, catalog the data, present it in an Internet form, and we must maintain that data," he said. "With that said, I'm still not opposed to the concept of making public data easier accessed. The decision is, 'What is the best use of public money at this time?' "
For copies of paper documents, districts can charge 10 cents a page.
Board presidents for Houston, Cypress-Fairbanks and Aldine school districts said they would not have a problem posting the campaign reports online but said the decision rests with the full board.
"It's already an open record," said Cy-Fair board president Don Ryan.
HISD board president Harvin Moore said he would raise the idea at the next board meeting.
"I think it's something that the board can consider and we can act on right away," he said. "It seems like a good idea to me."
HISD trustee Carol Mims Galloway, who previously served on City Council, said she is not opposed to online reports but noted that trustees are unique politicians because they do not get salaries.
"If the body wants to do this, I don't have any problems with it," she said. "But we are different than other elected officials. We're in another category because we are volunteers."
Sorry, but every one of these excuses - and that's what they are - for not making campaign finance reports available online is lame. Requiring an open-records request for a paper copy is a significant burden to anyone who might be interested in this information. It won't cost that much, and if it came down to it there could be some funding allocated by the Lege for this purpose. And the fact that trustees are unpaid is irrelevant. It's the donor, not the recipient, that really matters here. Voters have a right to know if people and firms that do business with the school districts are funding the trustees' campaigns. This should not be contentious. I don't know if it will take legislative action to make this happen, but if so I'll say up front that I will support such a bill. This is the 21st century. Let's act like we're living in it.
We should have over two million registered voters for the election this fall, which would be a record high for Harris County. The question is whether that figure should be even higher.
For starters, 2 million citizens older than 17, in a county of roughly 4 million people, would represent only meager growth from the last presidential election here. The 2004 roll fell only 60,000 shy of 2 million.On the other hand, the roll dropped to 1.8 million a year ago, due in part to Bettencourt's groundbreaking efforts under state and federal law to remove outmoded or improper registrations.
Now, consider what the voter roll shows about the record-shattering voter turnout for the county's March 4 presidential primaries. Those elections were preceded by several voter registration drives as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton fought for the Democratic nomination and John McCain emerged as the GOP favorite.
But of the 407,102 voters in the Democratic contest, only 9,850 had never registered to vote in Harris County before this year, according to statistics developed for the Houston Chronicle by Bettencourt's staff. And of the 169,448 people who voted in the Republican primary, a mere 2,454 had never registered here.
The figures indicate that the stimulated local electorate was overwhelmingly people who had been registered without regularly having voted in primaries, according to Bettencourt and other election observers. Or it means that many people re-registered this year after letting their voter status lapse. Or both.
One of the challenges facing the county registrar's office is the Houston area population's apparent wanderlust. Half of the residents here rent their dwellings, according to the U.S. Census. Many switch locations every few months or years.
If those voters fail to update their registrations with new addresses, under federal law they are purged from the voter roll after two federal elections. In the meantime, they may be told at the voting place in their new neighborhood that they must return to their old neighborhood to vote.
Bettencourt voluntarily pursues voters to update their registrations after they move from one Harris County location to another. Using driver's license address changes and other government records in a pioneering project, his staff sends letters to such voters -- about 100,000 every summer -- encouraging them to update their voter registrations.
[...]
Clearly, Harris County takes a lead role in the state for cross-checking government records to remove from the rolls voters who leave the county, are convicted of felonies, are discovered to be noncitizens (80 of those since January 2006) or die. Bettencourt said that, following state law and interpretations by the Texas Secretary of State's Office, his staff also is ahead of most of the state in using government records to challenge whether voters or registration applicants have claimed a real residential address.
Inevitably, a few challenges are misguided. Running six months behind on property records, the county mistakenly has rejected applications from voters who live in new dwellings. They are allowed to register eventually.
Bettencourt's employees also have been sticklers about following state law on other portions of the voter application. They have rejected applications on which residents without Texas driver's licenses provided Social Security numbers in lieu of license numbers -- but failed to check the box that says they lack a license.
There's no question that Bettencourt is aggressive about purging voters he believes to be ineligible from the rolls. He's one of the more vocal claimants of the "voter fraud" myth, so that's entirely in keeping with his philosophy. Bettencourt denies that he emphasizes purging over enrolling, and that may be, but I don't think he can deny that his office doesn't prioritize enrolling new voters. It's just not what they do. And I hope we're all clear on the reasons why Democrats are highly suspicious of aggressive voter-roll-purging by Republicans like Bettencourt.
What I'd like to know is what percentage of people in Harris County who are eligible to vote are actually registered to vote. I couldn't find that information on the voter registration page. For comparison, in Travis County 94.4% of eligible voters were actually registered for the 2004 election. How many people could be enrolled in Harris County but aren't?
Paul Burka goes to Washington and confirms - as much as one can, anyway - that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison really really really will resign the Senate and run for Governor in 2010.
No, I didn't hear it directly from her. I got it indirectly from a Texas Republican congressman who is a strong suppporter of hers. He got it from her. She has been having regular meetings with Republican members of the Texas delegation (19 R's, 13 D's), telling them that she will run and seeking their support. She has received affirmative answers from all but two. One of the holdouts is Sam Johnson. I did not learn the identity of the other, but my guess is Ron Paul. It certainly isn't Kay Granger, who wants to run for the seat herself. Hutchison will resign from the Senate about a year from now, my source told me, after the legislative session.
Two things: One, as always with this neverending story, I'll believe it when I see it. Until KBH takes a tangible step towards running for Governor - like, say, announcing her resignation from the Senate - it's all speculation and rumor and can be proven false at any time. It's not that I think she doesn't want to be Governor, it's that we've seen this movie before, and I'm not convinced she wants to fight for it. And as long as Rick Perry is around, that's what she'll have to do. How willing is she to get dirty?
And two, I hope that if she does run, the Democrats don't decide that no one can beat her, so they may as well focus on other things. The KBH that emerges from a nasty primary fight with Rick Perry is going to look very different that the warm, fuzzy, moderate-of-reputation KBH of today. If Burka's report that Phil Gramm is involved in her putative campaign is accurate, then there will be plenty of material to use in a race against her. Let's not give up without trying, okay? If the Democrats are ever going to be a statewide party, we can't afford to be shy.
The All-Star Break is over, the Olympics are on the horizon, NFL training camp has begun, and through it all the Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundups keep on going. Click on for this week's highlights.
TXsharon challenges you to view these pictures of Domestic Drilling Armageddon in the Barnett Shale and still support the Drill and Burn Domestic Drilling agenda.
U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez' Republican challenger for the 23rd Congressional seat is taken to task by Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm for shirking his responsiblity on a critical hospital expansion vote before the Bexar County Commissioner's Court.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the GOP's "latest" energy plan in Carter, Oil, & Hair Of The Dog.
Neil at Texas Liberal asks what would be the impact if Polar Bears could vote.
Off the Kuff looks at a Texas Monthly overview of the effects of the Presidential race on downballot elections in Texas and offers his criticism of it.
Guest Columnist JR Behrman at Texas Kaos has a few strong words about Energy Policy: Democrats Routed. He also has a Texas Plan.
Julie Pippert of the MOMocrats asks the Obama campaign to explain its absence in Texas after they announced the roll-out of their Spanish-Language ads as an outreach to Hispanic voters, then discusses a Senate proposal that would require 50% of US cars to have a flexible fuel system by 2012, and finally the MOMocrats share the draft of their position paper to be submitted to the Democratic National Committee for inclusion in the party platform.
McBlogger had a great time in the subprime panel at Netroots Nation. So good in fact that he decided to offer some of his own solutions since the panelists, including the dimwitted Rep. Brad Miller, decided to offer nothing of substance.
XicanoPwr reports on the latest poll by the Pew Hispanic Center on the Latino vote. Latino polling shows that 66% of Latino registered voters will support Obama.
Burnt Orange Report points out that Ag Commissioner Todd Staples finally comes around to what Democrat (and future Ag Commissioner) Hank Gilbert has been saying all along- Texan's are being overcharged at the gas pump due to lack of state inspections.
BossKitty at TruthHugger dreams about the "Count Down To Accountability - Bush, Cheney Indictments"
refinish69 from Doing My Part For The Left invites everyone to meet Annette Taddeo- A True Progressive Democrat.
jobsanger writes about how after years of the Bush Presidency even our cloest traditional ally no longer trusts us in Brits Don't Trust Bush On Torture.
Obama and the down-ballot races in Texas are the focus of two articles by R.G. Ratcliffe of the Houston Chronicle. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs summarizes, and finds some to agree with and some not.
Mean Rachel writes an open letter to Rep. Elliot Naishtat, encouraging him to consider joining the technology age and starting an inexpensive, easy-to-use website tailor-made for state legislators with Wired for Change's DLCCWeb, a Netroots exhibitor.
nytexan at BlueBloggin keeps an eye on Mitch McConnell, the GOP king of distortion and extortion. McConnell plans to block legislation that can impact Americans now and push for a bill whose product will not be seen for 10 years; McConnell Extorts Senate For Off Shore Drilling. McConnell never fails to please Bush and his corporate buddies.
WhosPlayin looks at a new USGS petroleum estimate for the Arctic Circle, and notes that only a small portion of ANWR is estimated to be productive, and that the study doesn't address economic feasibility. (Includes Map)
Vince from Capitol Annex tells us that, while indicted former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) won't accept a presidential pardon, he'd love one from Texas Governor Rick Perry.
CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme gets upset with a crappy newspaper article.
Chris Bell, noting that there's now 99 days left till Election Day, has sent out a fundraising email hoping to raise $10K in 10 days on ActBlue. The link is here if you want to pitch in. I've been harping on fundraising for this race ever since it hit the radar screen, so the least I can do is point this out. Ten grand isn't much for a State Senate race, but perhaps a little show of grassroots support might help convince the people who can write the bigger checks to get involved here. We know that the big guns are coming out for at least one SD17 Republican, Joan Huffman, so Bell's going to need all the help he can get to keep pace.
Meanwhile, Michael Skelly is looking to do a similar grassroots push for contributions to counter an attack by John Culberson that Skelly is financing his own campaign. That's an odd claim to make, given that in the last filing report, Skelly had 617 individual contributors, who totaled $1.2 million for him, while Culberson had 454 individual donors for about half that much, but whatever. They want to do a one-day burst on Friday, August 1, and are asking people to create their own fundraising page to help out.
And finally, Mean Rachel finds CD10 Rep. Mike McCaul making a very strange and apparently false claim about a couple of kids from Atlanta who spent time in a school in Pakistan. Just watch the embedded CNN video (it's 8:31 in length) and be amazed.
If there's going to be any action taken by City Council on a new ordinance to deal with the Ahsby highrise and its ilk, it won't happen any time soon, probably not until after Mayor White's successor has been sworn in.
Last week, however, the official who has been the public face of White's administration during the controversy recommended that the city stop its work on a high-density development ordinance.Instead, the city should continue to rely on a 60-year-old law governing where driveways connect to public streets, with additional guidelines on how the city will apply the measure to ensure that projects do not cause severe traffic congestion, said Andy Icken, a deputy public works director.
An advisory committee of developers, neighborhood leaders and experts had spent hundreds of hours trying to devise regulations that would apply only to large, dense projects near single-family residential neighborhoods.
Such an ordinance "would give people a warm feeling that this is the way the city does things," Icken told a City Council committee on Monday. "The disadvantage is ... as we explicitly define these development standards, we often find ourselves skirting the Z-word."
Fear that a new ordinance might resemble zoning is a poor reason for the city to throw up its hands on such a vital public issue, neighborhood leaders said.
"This do-nothing approach that the city is taking will not protect existing residential neighborhoods," said Jane Cahill, a neighborhood activist who served on the advisory committee that worked on the ordinance. "All parcels of land are not appropriate for all types of development."
I'm not surprised by this. As you know, I've long thought that the best approach is to admit that they're powerless to change the Ashby project, and to focus instead on a sensible ordinance, perhaps one that incorporates updating the city's form-based codes, in order to be prepared for future Ashbys. I agree with Jane Cahill that all parcels of land are not appropriate for all types of development. But if a solution that does something about Ashby is too elusive and is hindering the pursuit of something that would otherwise be workable, then I think it's clear that it's time to try a different approach. Especially given that the Ashby developers are one step away from being able to move forward.
One more thing:
A Web site devoted to the issue is updated regularly, and includes a link that neighbors can use to check online for the status of the permit application, which last was returned to the developers June 25.
I presume that's a reference to StopAshbyHighRise.org. Why they didn't just give the URL is a mystery to me, but whatever. I don't know that I'd call four updates since April 17 "updated regularly", but it is still there.
The Chron looks at a gray area of political contributions.
For the contractors and lobbyists whose public business rides on the trust and goodwill of politicians, it is no secret that campaign giving is a high-stakes game.At Harris County Commissioners Court, campaign donations of $5,000 or more come along as often as hot days in a Texas summer. So, donors looking to stand apart from the throngs of high-dollar givers have found another way to make their generosity known: charity.
Over the years, county commissioners have helped local charities raise millions, at times tapping the same donors who fuel their political campaigns. But whereas campaign contributions are public record, donations to most charities are not.
Donors have said they open their wallets to worthwhile causes no matter who runs them. But campaign watchdogs argue that contributing to politicians' pet charities shelters donors from public scrutiny -- an attractive benefit for those who want to earn political favor without having their largesse exposed to watchdogs and competitors.
[...]
All four commissioners -- El Franco Lee, Sylvia Garcia, Steve Radack and Jerry Eversole -- have close ties to area charities, in some cases running their own using county staff.
[...]
Tommy Kuykendall Jr., president of the Houston branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said a desire to give back to the community is the sole motivation behind the vast majority of charitable gifts from engineering firms. He questioned how donating to a national organization, such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, would benefit an officeholder, but acknowledged that lines between charities and politics can become blurred.
"I don't know if I can give a good answer -- OK, this is the exact line, once you cross it, you're done," he said. "Because there are a lot of good things that need to be supported."
Well, here's one place for that line to be drawn. There's nothing in this story remotely as egregious as that, but it does show what the possibilities are, and why some folks have these concerns. I guess if it were up to me, I'd say if 1) an elected official or a member of an elected official's immediate family - spouse, child, parent, or sibling - serves on the board of a charity; 2) if as noted in the story, a charity was founded by an elected official and/or is run by that official's staff, or; 3) a fundraiser for a charity was organized or hosted by an elected official, then any contributions to that charity must be disclosed in the same manner as a political contribution. Actually, I think it would be perfectly reasonable to only require such disclosure for contributions above a certain amount, say $1000. Of course, all this would require the charities to do more paperwork, and it's unclear what the best course of action for enforcing these rules would be in the event of a screwup with said paperwork - do you fine the charity? Would the TEC even have the authority to do that? Would you fine the elected official, even if the screwup was by the charity? So maybe this is only a good idea in theory. But I do think it's worth talking about, because the potential for abuse by the truly unscrupulous is there. What do you think?
I suppose the remarkable thing about this story is that it's newsworthy at all.
COLLEGE STATION -- This rural college town is more boots than Birkenstocks, more gravy than granola. It's a place where conservative values and traditions run deep, and those who disagree with the way things are done in Aggieland are told if they don't like it, "Highway 6 runs both ways."But this year, city leaders not usually associated with liberal causes pledged to fight global warming by slashing their energy consumption and reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide.
The decision has placed College Station on the front lines of a green revolution that now includes hundreds of cities, counties and towns nationwide. Though the stated goal is to save the environment, the reasons for confronting climate change are economic as well.
The logic behind College Station's decision starts with saving taxpayer dollars, building the local economy and creating jobs. Without changes to business as usual, the city faces a future with a deficient tax base, inadequate water supplies, traffic problems and a lower quality of life, according to a city report that prompted the City Council to pursue progressive policies.
"This is a critical growth period for us," said Jennifer Nations, who is overseeing the Green College Station campaign. "We're asking, 'What will it cost to get new water sources? What will it cost to buy additional power?' Sustainability is looking more attractive."
I realize that conservation is just a personal virtue, but really, any municipal government that isn't aggressively pursuing energy-saving opportunities should be voted out immediately for extreme fiscal irresponsibility. This is the height of no-brainers - cutting costs without cutting services. Failure to do so means just the reverse. Who wouldn't want to do that? I find the whole "look! conservatives doing liberal things!" angle to be annoying and distracting, but in the end it doesn't matter. What matters is they're doing the sensible and responsible thing. We'll get over that silly story line sooner or later.
Credit where it's due: After his solution-free criticism of the Pickens Plan, Chron columnist Loren Steffy has come up with a plan of his own for energy.
My plan begins with the idea that energy is really about economics. The solutions, therefore, must make economic sense. That doesn't mean consumers won't have to pay more -- we will. And providers must be able to make reasonable returns.Subsidies are fine to develop technology, but we can't sustain businesses that aren't profitable without them, which is why I'm skeptical of wind power.
Just as the federal enthusiasm for ethanol led to a wave of subsidies that helped feed higher food prices, we must be careful about picking winners before we understand the rules of the game.
Here, then, are the five broad elements of my plan:
1) Enact meaningful conservation programs from the home to the highways. [...]
2) Invest in infrastructure. [...]
3) Develop what works. [...]
4) Continue researching alternative fuels that show economic promise and fund it through federal grant programs and modest tax incentives for promising technology. [...]
5) Be prepared to pay for it.
All in all, not a bad effort. I don't share Steffy's skepticism of wind energy, which I believe will be a key component to any solution going forward, but I strongly agree with his emphases on conservation and investment in mass transit, both of which will show immediate and long-term gains. And I appreciate the continuation of the conversation. If the focus has shifted from "why do we need to do anything?" to "what's the best way to deal with this?" then we've made progress. Let's keep that going.
By the way, the Chron got some letters to the editor regarding Steffy's previous column, including one from the executive director of the American Wind Energy Association Washington. I'm reprinting that beneath the fold. I won't bother with the subsequent letter, which says little more than "AL GORE IS FAT!!111!!!", but I will say that if that's the best folks like that can do, it's easy to see who'll eventually win this battle. Click on for the AWEA response.
Going with the windThe recent column by Loren Steffy criticizing the Texas Public Utility Commission's decision to expand the state's electric transmission system relies on unfounded assertions, outdated data and overblown rhetoric. (Please see "Wind might have a big impact on our wallets," Business cover, July 20.) The decision is in fact clearly in the public interest, and the members of the Public Utility Commission, the governor and the Legislature should be commended for adopting forward-looking transmission policies.
Among facts Steffy neglected to mention:
- Based on a study by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, a transmission investment of $1 billion a year is expected to lower overall payments by customers to generators by more than $3 billion per year. The transmission can serve other power plants besides wind.
- Due to the current lack of transmission, wholesale electricity prices in Houston were 163 percent higher than those in West Texas in May.
- Every energy technology receives government support in a variety of forms and has for many decades. A report late last year from the Government Accountability Office shows that renewables such as wind still get only a small share of the overall subsidies awarded to the energy sector.
- Recent studies show power generated from new wind projects to be in a range that is competitive with other newly built sources.
- Reliability is a system issue. When a power plant drops its output maintenance or there is a failure at a nuclear or fossil plant, or the wind dies down, other power plants compensate.
Finally, given the high priority of stabilizing energy prices in Texas and elsewhere, the federal production tax credit for wind and other renewables is a wise investment.RANDALL SWISHER
executive director, American Wind Energy Association Washington, DC
The title to this post makes me think I should start out singing - "You better watch out, you better not cry"...you get the idea. In any event, Vince reports that Karl Rove is coming to Houston for a big-dollar joint fundraiser for four Republican State House candidates: Rep. John Davis (HD129, opposed by TexBlog PAC-endorsed candidate Sherrie Matula), Rep. Jim Murphy (HD133, opposed by Kristi Thibaut), Rep. Gary Elkins (HD135, opposed by Trey Fleming), and Ken Legler (HD144, opposed by Joel Redmond). He's also coming to El Paso for a fundraiser for John Cornyn. I don't really know why anyone would want to get assistance from Karl Rove these days, since he embodies the failures of the Bush administration as well as anyone, but maybe they can explain it to their constituents. Maybe he'll get handed a subpoena at one of these events - that would sure liven things up.
Here's another story about the campaign Barack Obama will be running in Texas, which is more about getting downballot Democratic candidates elected than it is about Obama carrying the state. It doesn't break any new ground, but it does give an interesting insight into the Republican view of the strategy.
A lot of the strategy is about voter excitement. Consultants from both parties admit that Democrats are generally more excited about the presidential race than Republicans. And, they said, down-ballot races may actually help boost turnout in the presidential contest.Democrats in Texas "are very much energized, pretty much across the state," said Democratic political consultant Dan McClung of Houston. "It's not just national politics. It's state politics and county politics that have Democrats energized."
Texas Republican Party Political Director Hans Klingler said fights over partisan control of Harris and Dallas counties are as exciting for party activists as the presidential contest.
"As important as to what happens at the presidential races at the top of the ticket is what the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are going to do at the bottom-of-the-ticket races at the courthouse level," Klingler said.
Republican pollster Mike Baselice believes Obama's plans to put 15 people in Texas -- a state with 19 expensive media markets -- is a waste of money for his campaign.
"There's dumb and real dumb and invading Russia," Baselice said. "If you're a Democrat, you don't want to get caught in a land war in Texas, when you've got all those states in the Midwest to win."
Baselice said the problem for Republicans is not what Obama is going to do but a belief by GOP voters that the nation is on the wrong track.
"Half, if not more than half, the Republicans think the country is off-track. That is more concern to me than Obama sending 15 people to the state," Baselice said.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think Baselice is protesting a wee bit too much? Obama himself is a big part of the reason for the enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans. It's not just that Democrats see a great chance to take back the White House, not to mention the Texas House and all the offices in Harris County, it's that they see it happening with a candidate that's broadly acceptable to them, unlike the Republicans and John McCain. The contrast between the two, the forward-looking nature of Obama's candidacy versus the stuck-in-the-past McCain, it all contributes to that higher level of excitement. And the best way to build on that is for Obama himself to make it clear that Texas matters, to him and to Democrats everywhere. That's why those staffers matter, whatever it is they wind up doing. It's a tangible sign that Texas is being taken seriously, and I believe it will have a payoff at the end.
Now of course, there's plenty more that can be done. It would be nice if Obama himself made a trip here for a real campaign event or two, and not just for money-sucking fundraisers. Going overseas was great, and lent a ton of stature to the man and his campaign, but we have more voters here than they do there. If that's too much to ask, then send some high-profile surrogates, like Henry Cisneros, or the Clintons. The publicity alone will be worth the investment in time and effort. How about it?
On a tangential note, the most interesting thing to me in the sidebar piece about what races are hot is the omission of any mention of HD134, where State Rep. Ellen Cohen will run for re-election for the first time against a fellow named Joe Agris. There was a time when some experts thought this would be a top-tier battle. Look at what Paul Burka wrote back in January:
Agris was a close friend of the late Marvin Zindler and wrote an authorized biography of the flamboyant Houston newsman best known for closing down the La Grange "chicken ranch". In 2004, after Saddam Hussein had imprisoned a group of Iraqi businessmen for trading in dollars and then had their right hands amputated, Agris and Zindler arranged for seven of the victims to come to Houston and receive prosthetic hands. This is a real race.
Not so much, it would seem. So far, Agris has raised almost no money, with Cohen having nearly 100 times as much cash on hand. There's no buzz about this race, no indication that Agris is doing anything resembling the massive door-to-door campaign Cohen ran in 2006 when she ousted Martha Wong. I hesitate to say that the Republicans have written this one off, since Agris could still drop a chunk of his own money on TV ads if he wanted to. But not including it in a list of Republican opportunity districts is very telling, and more than a little amazing given that most Republicans on the ballot in 2006 won a majority of the votes there.
Carolyn Feibel consults her crystal ball to see what City Council might look like after the 2009 election.
The mayor's Deputy Chief of Staff, Terence Fontaine, has expressed interest in the At-Large 4 seat. That's the seat occupied by Ron Green, who has his eyes on the Controller's office, and is term-limited anyway.Fontaine is a nuts-and-bolts guy who analyzes city processes, looking for ways to save money. He's analyzed the fleet vehicles and created a plan for replacement. He knows the ins and outs of fuel usage and tire disposal.
"Six years is not enough time to get it all done," Fontaine said, referring to his time on White's team. "I want to continue to find ways of saving taxpayers money."
[...]
Also sending out trial balloons: Deputy Fire Chief Fernando Herrera, for At-Large Seat 1, and two lawyers for At-Large 4: Brian P. Cweren and George Hittner.
Cweren and Hittner previously faced off during a race for the District C seat in 2005, but Anne Clutterbuck prevailed in a crowded field.
Cweren circulated an email about his potential interest in At Large #4 a week or so ago. He finished fifth in that crowded 2005 election with 14% of the vote; Clutterbuck led the first go-round with 20%. I don't think he was very well known, almost certainly not as well as some of his opponents, so that wasn't a bad showing. Still, it's a long way to go from 3500 votes in a district race to an At Large position, especially when there's going to be a big-dollar Mayoral race at the top of the ticket. He'll need to do some heavy fundraising, for which I'd give folks like Fontaine and Hittner the early edge. On the other hand, anyone currently thinking about running for At Large #4 had better register all their relevant domain names now, as Clutterbuck can testify.
I don't know much about Fontaine, but anyone from Mayor White's staff is going to be a contender in a citywide race. As for Hittner, he tried to outflank Clutterbuck on the right in the 2005 runoff, and lost by a wide margin. I think it will be difficult for anyone running as a conservative Republican to get elected in an At Large race. Perhaps he'll try a different tack this time around.
Two things I can add to this story: One, since someone in the comments on that post asked about District H, which I hope will be vacant after Adrian Garcia gets elected Sheriff, I am aware of a person who has been making the rounds as a potential candidate for that seat. I don't know if that person is ready to speak about it publicly yet, so I'll leave it at that. If I get any feedback from that person, I'll say so.
Two, on a slightly different note, there have been rumblings for awhile now about a challenge to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in CD18 because of her steadfast support of Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Primary. Vince had reported on a rumor of a write-in opponent for her this year. I doubt that will happen, but apparently District B City Council Member Jarvis Johnson is putting pieces in place for a primary challenge in 2010. I kind of think that any lingering emotion over the Clinto/Obama primary and who supported who will dissipate after the election in the likely event Obama wins. It's not like Rep. Jackson Lee is a puma, after all. With all due respect to CM Johnson, I like the way Rep. Jackson Lee votes and will be happy to vote for her in March of 2010.
So that's what I've been hearing. Anyone else have something to add to this?
neoHouston wades into the debate over Kirby Drive and its doomed trees and suggests a different approach to improving mobility in the affected area.
The problem with Kirby Drive is that it is the only North/South connector through what has become a very dense, mixed-use area. Unsurprisingly, it's a bit of a monster. The street is packed all the time. However, the bottleneck zone is pretty small, just the most intensely developed area along Upper Kirby, roughly from Westheimer down to Bissonnet. So, while the road is busy all day, it never really stops moving.The problem with this particular stretch of road is that you have tons of users from the nearby neighborhoods who need to get to and from their shopping, dining etc who have no choice but to use Kirby, and they clash with the many office workers who come in from 59, and also motorists from that neck of the woods who would like to use Kirby -> Allen Parkway as an alternate route into Downtown.
If you could remove just one small portion of these trips, you'd significantly improve the flow of the road. So how do you do that?
The answer is the network. Kirby is only so packed because it is the ONLY through street. But, incredibly, there are three parallel streets that almost make the connection.
Rather than spending all that money to tear up and rebuild Kirby, causing an absolute traffic nightmare that will undoubtedly put many of the smaller local shops that make that strip so unique under extreme stress, if not out of business all together, the City and the TIRZ should be investing in completing the network of local streets to support Kirby first.
I think there's a lot of merit to this, though I don't know if there's any way to get any of it done. Basically, by extending Lake, Argonne, and Revere Streets, you allow for back-door access to businesses and residences along Kirby, and take some of the short-hop driving pressure off the main road. Looking at the maps of the area provided, this makes a lot of sense. Take a look and see what you think.
The main objection is likely to come from the folks who live along these streets and who I'd venture to guess consider their lack of continuity to be a feature and not a bug. It's the same reason why Morningside, which not too long ago was a viable alternate route to Shepherd/Greenbriar in the Rice area, is now littered with speed bumps. The residents of that neghborhood didn't want the cut-through traffic, and I won't be surprised if the residents of Upper Kirby feel the same way. But it can't hurt to broach the subject, so here we are.
Even if this were to happen, it's still not a complete solution for the area, since none of those side roads goes through 59, meaning that the stretch of Kirby between 59 and Bissonnet (which has its own unique problems these days, thanks to some faulty surveying work) would still be on its own. But it would be an improvement on what we've got. What do you think?
Race officials with the 2009 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon have officially uninvited walkers from participating next year.
For years, they have more or less looked the other way when hundreds of walkers -- most of them registered participants -- showed up as early as 5 a.m. to get under way before the official 7 a.m. start so they could finish the event before the course closed six hours later.No more.
"The marathon is going in a new direction to formally ask that walkers who cannot complete our race in the stated time limits -- or cannot start at 7 a.m. -- seek a race with more lenient time standards," managing director Steven Karpas said.
Karpas said safety was the primary reason the marathon decided to "step up its management" of the situation.
"We have become increasingly concerned at the hundreds of walkers who choose to risk their lives and the lives of others by crossing the viaduct at 5 a.m., unchaperoned, with no security."
"Our leaders have had to dodge packs of walkers who do not stay to the side of the road," he said. "That's embarrassing. With our growth (18,000 participants) we simply cannot allow for packs of walkers to impede the flow of thousands of runners.
"Ultimately, it's a recipe for disaster."
[...]
The event had a five-hour cutoff from its first year in 1972 through 1996. In 1997, it increased to 5½ hours, then became six hours in 2003.
But even with a six-hour limit, many of USA Fit's 600 walkers in the area would be unable to finish the events in the specified times -- which require a pace of 13:45 minutes per mile -- said Houston Fit organizer Patty Chesnick.
"Since our inception 19 years ago, USA FIT/Houston Fit has consistently pushed for longer official finish times and is willing to work with any race organizers to accomplish this objective," she said
"While this presents challenges, not the least of which is safety and additional expense, we feel that it is important to work together to overcome these challenges in order to allow participation by as many athletes as possible."
Said Karpas: "It's a bigger picture than just extending the time limit. The bigger picture is Metro's light rail being closed, homeowners enduring the inconvenience, as well as church groups and businesses. It's emergency groups and city services that are being impacted.
"We are unable to compromise. Everything is designed to accommodate the runners."
I sympathize with the Marathon here. Their audience is the runners, and they have to do this race without causing too much disruption in the city. The walkers do have other options. Maybe going forward, for future races, one of those options can be for them to pay extra fees to help cover the cost of street closures and race security for two more hours. Doing so up front would still be preferable, as it would minimize the outages for the general population. Finding people willing to be there for a 5 AM start, that's their problem.
(You could turn this into a nice little math problem, too. "John starts the marathon at 5 AM, walking at a speed of 3.5 MPH. Dave starts the marathon at 7 AM, running at a speed of 12 MPH. At what point in the race will Dave pass John? You must show all work to receive full marks. Partial credit will be awarded as deemed appropriate.")
The links, they keep coming...
Report from BlogHer, part one.
Yes, I find the whole "purity ball" thing to be unbelievably creepy. What I expect of my daughters is that they will make responsible, informed decisions about their sex lives when the time is right for them to do so. What I expect of myself and of Tiffany is that we will give them the tools and guidance they'll need to be able to make those decisions for themselves.
I know Netroots Nation is, like, so last week and all but Racymind's liveblog of a panel on rebuilding New Orleans is worth your time.
I actually do remember when we landed on the moon. Seeing pictures of it on the TV when I was 3 years old is my first conscious memory. I hope we have a huge celebration next year to mark the 40th anniversary.
Sometimes, it's just as well that some people don't vote.
The distinguished gentleman. And how that scene should have played out.
Pete debuts on Hair Balls.
The Worst Movie Scenes of All Time (via).
The Nirvana Nevermind baby, 17 years later. 17 years? Gads, I'm old. Via jimthompson on Twitter.
Four mistakes that killed the record industry before file sharing.
An open letter to John McCain from the rest of the world.
Three words: Cow poop power. No, seriously. Via HMNS.
Yet another national poll shows Barack Obama doing very well among Latino voters compared to John McCain.
The poll of 2,015 Latino voters conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center found that Democrat Barack Obama, who lost the Hispanic vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 2-to-1 in the Democratic primary, holds a commanding 66 percent to 23 percent lead over Republican presidential candidate John McCain.The Democratic tide in the Latino community is so strong that Obama leads among every nationality group, including the historically Republican Cuban-American population, where Obama now leads, 53 percent to 29 percent.
The Illinois Democrat is running far ahead among Mexican-Americans, who cast about 40 percent of their ballots for George W. Bush in 2004. Among voters of Mexican ancestry, Obama leads McCain, 70 percent to 21 percent.
Obama is running so far ahead that he has the support of 25 percent of Hispanics who identify themselves as Republicans and holds an edge of about 5-to-1 among Latinos who consider themselves political independents.
President Bush's approval rating among Latinos has plummeted to 27 percent. More than three-fourths of Hispanic voters have a favorable impression of Obama, while McCain -- who has regularly won majority support among Mexican-Americans in his home state of Arizona -- is viewed favorably by just 44 percent of Latinos nationally.
Unless McCain can reverse the GOP slide, the Hispanic vote could prove pivotal to Obama in traditionally Republican states such as Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, and could help him close what has been a significant gap in Florida. It also could help the Democrat in three states that went Republican in 2004 but have small but rapidly increasing Hispanic populations: Iowa, Virginia and North Carolina.
Well, that partly explains Obama's Latino outreach strategy, though it also shows he's not thinking big enough with it right now. There are opportunities beyond the agreed-upon swing states, that's the point I'm trying to make.
The full poll report is here (PDF), and it's pretty much good news down the line for Obama. I wish it had broken out the results by state, as the previous poll by Latino Decisions had done, but I think it's safe to draw the conclusion that Obama is doing about as well in Texas as he is elsewhere among Latinos. If he ever were to do some real campaigning here, who knows what his ceiling might be. I'll note again the contrast here with the Baselice poll from May, back when Hillary Clinton was still in the race. It sure would be nice to see a newer version of that, wouldn't it? MyDD has more.
One more thing, from the report:
The 2008 National Survey of Latinos focuses on Hispanic registered voters' views on the presidential candidates, the presidential campaign and Hispanic political participation. The survey was conducted from June 9 through July 13, 2008 among a randomly selected, nationally representative sample of 2,015 Hispanic adults, 892 of whom report that they are U.S. citizens and registered to vote. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points; for registered voters, 4.4 percentage points.
Emphasis mine. I bring that up because earlier this month Sergio Bendixen was quoted casting doubt on the earlier surveys that showed Obama with a commanding lead among Latinos on the grounds that they had only been done in English. Perhaps this will put his mind at ease.
So there's an interesting feature of Pat Lykos' campaign finance report (PDF), which the HCDP has pointed out in a press release. She has just under $32,000 on hand, after raising $114,000, but a total of $50,000 of the cames from the Robet Eckels Committee - see page 25 of the report for that. And $40,000 of that was originally a loan, which was forgiven and thus converted into a donation on June 30 - see page 34. Without former County Judge Eckels, in other words, her campaign would be in the red.
You can make a big deal about that or not as you see fit. Lykos did raise over $60K from other sources - Eckels is obviously a big supporter of his former employee, but we're still a ways away from Macias/Leininger territory. But it's almost like Eckels never left his old job as County Judge, isn't it? He's certainly still a player in county affairs. Only now he gets paid a lot more, and he isn't accountable to the voters. Pretty sweet deal, actually.
Next Saturday, August 2, will be the third annual White Linen Night in the Heights. It's basically an outdoor art-and-music festival, spread over several areas in the Heights - you can read more about it here. The event is an import from New Orleans, and the name refers to the tradition of wearing white linen clothing as a way to beat the heat. We went to last year's and had a lot of fun, and we'll be going again this year. If you're looking to get involved, the Greater Heights Democratic Club needs a few volunteers during the event. Regardless, come out and meet some neighbors and enjoy a fun evening in the Heights.
Harris County's sheriff's deputy unions are expected today to endorse a challenger in the sheriff's race -- an unprecedented move that union leaders say reflects a long-standing dissatisfaction with incumbent Tommy Thomas.The three unions, which together represent the majority of deputies, plan to endorse Houston Councilman Adrian Garcia over Thomas in the November election.
The announcement is the latest blow against the beleaguered Republican sheriff, whose policies have come under fire by his own deputies and whose jail is under scrutiny by federal investigators.
"It's basically the lack of the current administration's willingness to work with us, inconsistency in policies and fair treatment of personnel," said Richard Newby, head of the largest of the three unions. "This is something that's been building for a while."
Deputies have complained about understaffing that has stretched patrols thin and required them to work overtime. They've said the department's contract deputy program -- which allows civic associations and municipal utility districts to subsidize deputy salaries in exchange for increased patrols -- has created bare spots in patrol coverage and left dozens of unsubsidized patrol positions unfilled.
[...]
The sheriff defended his tenure, saying he was unfazed by the unions' endorsement of his opponent.
"It appears they're across the board endorsing Democrats in the races," he said.
The sheriff said he did not believe the contract deputy issue influenced the unions' decision.
"Bear in mind that the decision to endorse in these races is made by a handful of people," he said. "It's not made by all the members of the union."
This is the first time the unions have come together to support a challenger for the sheriff's post, Newby said. When polled, union members said they favored Garcia 3-to-1, he said.
How many different ways can you say "The Sheriff is out of touch"? This is a big deal, as it undercuts any claim Thomas might make about his experience versus Garcia's. He's lost the trust of the people who work for him, and they want to see a change at the top. What more can you say? Now if we can get Garcia's fundraising in gear - one hopes stories like this will help it tick up a bit - then we'll really be on our way. There's a press conference for today on this, so look for more info later.
UPDATE: I have press releases from the Garcia campaign and from the three unions beneath the fold.
Adrian Garcia Accepts the Endorsement of Harris County Deputies Unions Speaking across the ship channel from the building site of the first new U.S. oil refinery in a generation, Garcia recalled, "Back when I was working the streets, law enforcement was all about busting criminals, and making arrests. Today, there is a whole new world of complex challenges that Law Enforcement has to face. Public safety in Harris County is also about protecting our vital infrastructure. We are the energy capitol of the world. One third of our nation's economy flows through this region and it is the Harris County Sheriff's deputies that are the first line of defense against a major disruption." "I am honored to accept these endorsements. They represent the will of the rank and file officers in the department. The unity expressed here today is what we will need to face the challenges of reforming this office. Our hardworking deputies have my commitment that we will work together to make this organization a 21st century law enforcement agency," said Garcia upon accepting the groups' endorsements. The announcement was made in front of major area businesses located along the Houston Ship Channel and Port of Houston to underscore Garcia's commitment to protecting vital economic infrastructure. The Garcia campaign has raised issues regarding county-wide Homeland Security and emergency preparedness. "Any major occurrence could potentially cripple businesses throughout the United States. We need a Sheriff who appreciates that fact and is out in front leading on security issues". The Mayor Pro-Tem and Chair of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee also went on to add, "People often forget just how important the Sheriff's Office and its deputies are to Harris County. They are the ones who protect our lives, our homes and our livelihoods. We need the strength and support of all our law enforcement officers to keep our communities safe." Garcia served as a Houston Police Officer for 23 years before joining the Houston City Council in 2003.
Harris County Deputy Organizations Endorse Adrian Garcia for SheriffIn a historic announcement, the leadership of the Harris County Deputies Organization, Mexican American Sheriff's Organization, and the African-American Sheriff's Deputy League acknowledged that this is the first time they have unanimously supported a challenger over the incumbent. The occasion also marked the first the time that such significant groups have coalesced around a single figure. All three major organizations announced their endorsements of Houston City Council Member Adrian Garcia to become the next Sheriff of Harris County.
"For the first time in the History of our organization we have parted from the tradition of supporting the incumbent Sheriff. The men and women of the Harris County Deputies' Organization have spoken and they desire a new brand of leadership. We are repudiating the policy failures of the current administration" stated Richard Newby, President of the Harris County Deputies Organization. "As the highest elected law enforcement official in the region, the next Sheriff will have a huge task ahead of him. We believe Adrian can re-establish this Office as the finest law enforcement agency in Texas."
Newby went on to say Adrian Garcia will take the lead in ensuring Sheriff's Deputies are prepared to protect the County's citizens and critical infrastructure, such as the chemical plants and oil refineries located along Houston's Ship Channel.
President of the Mexican American Sheriff's Organization (MASO), Alberto Rivera echoed Newby's remarks, adding that Garcia's 23 years of law enforcement experience make him an ideal candidate for Sheriff.
"Adrian Garcia understands our urgent need for change in the Harris County Sheriff's office. The members desire leadership that is visible, transparent, fair and effective. Adrian Garcia has made a commitment to formulate a comprehensive public safety model which the members feel is a positive step in the right direction," Rivera said.
J.M. "Smokie" Phillips, Jr., President of the African-American Sheriff's Deputy League said his group's endorsement comes in the wake of turbulent times and continued disparate treatment of personnel within the Sheriff's Office.
"We've decided to endorse Adrian Garcia because we need a Sheriff who can bring good law enforcement to all communities and work together to keep Harris County safe and make our members proud to serve alongside him," said Phillips." Adrian would be an inclusive and open-door Sheriff for Harris County. We need a Sheriff who will serve all. Adrian Garcia can help break the barriers the League has consistently chronicled."
Phillips went on to add, "We believe Mr. Garcia has adopted a law enforcement platform which will expand, unify, direct and inspire the Sheriff's Office and fulfill the law enforcement mission in all communities throughout Harris County and bring change to the Sheriff's Office the people of Harris County can believe in."
Lee Bumper, Vice President of the African American Sheriff's Deputy League was very impressed with Adrian's long range plan and his keen insight into the challenges the department faces. "I have seen our Office go thru many changes in my 18 years and Adrian has a great plan for the future of the Sheriff's Office. This joint endorsement is historical because this is the first time the three groups have stood together for one candidate. We are very excited and pleased to be a part of this historical event.
The Harris County Deputies Organization is dedicated to providing support services for its members and improving the safety and welfare of the citizens of Harris County Texas.
The African American Sheriff's Deputy League is dedicated to affording members with legal assistance in Sheriff's Office policies and ethics, grievances and standard operating procedures. The AASDL affords members a way to establish positive relations with all communities. It is one of the largest African American employee groups in Harris County, providing 25 years of service to its members.
One more change for the route of the Universities Line.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board voted Thursday to reroute the planned University light rail line away from a half-mile stretch of Wheeler Avenue following months of entreaties by residents and elected officials.The audience responded with a rare burst of applause after the unanimous vote. Earlier, speakers who had raked the agency at the City Council and neighborhood meetings were generous with praise.
"The proposed route is good because now we won't have a train that passes through a historic neighborhood," said Cheryl Armitige, who grew up in the Third Ward.
[...]
The original route went east on Wheeler from Main, north on Ennis and east on Alabama to Scott at the University of Houston. Metro says it intends, if possible, to extend it north to Elgin and east across the Gulf Freeway to the Eastwood Transit Center.
The new route would turn north from Wheeler on Hutchins, east on Cleburne, north on Dowling and continue east on Alabama to Scott as before.
The difference in length is negligible, but the change likely will boost the cost for the segment east of Main from $185 million to $200 million because it would require new design and engineering work, environmental impact studies and public meetings, Metro officials said.
Having the line on Alabama, which is less residential than Wheeler, would have less impact on residents and be more likely to attract development, [Metro board member Gerald] Smith said.
He attributed the opposition on Wheeler largely to quality-of-life concerns about loss of land in front of homes and the noise and vibration from the trains. But [Council Member Jolanda] Jones said she was also concerned that large-scale development and gentrification would follow, changing the character of the historically black neighborhood.
So the residents of the Third Ward got what they wanted, just as the residents of Afton Oaks on the west end of the route did. Good for them, and good for Metro for doing what it can to accommodate them. Looking at the before-and-after maps (see the sidebar in the story, or these three maps provided by Metro), this means the train will not directly approach TSU, or run along its western border. It will have the same station location, so the service TSU gets from the line will be the same. Metro's press release on the change says that the ridership projections are the same, which makes sense if none of the stations move. More on the residents' concerns here and here.
Unclear from this is how it will affect the FTA approval/funding process. At this point, the other lines are farther along in securing funds. The U-line is the linchpin of the expanded system, and it's already behind, plus it still has the Scarbrough lawsuit to deal with. I just hope this change doesn't set things back any more.
Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards was in town this week to promote his anti-poverty agenda.
Edwards, from North Carolina, said he would "fight with every fiber of my being" to help low-income Americans.The former Democratic vice-presidential candidate and one-time presidential hopeful joined local community and political leaders in a private roundtable discussion on poverty, the foreclosure crisis and similar issues hosted by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
[...]
The effort, dubbed Half in Ten, hopes to encourage state and national legislators to enact measures that will help reduce the number of impoverished citizens by 50 percent in the next 10 years.
Edwards said as the campaign's chairman he can bring national attention to the need to raise people out of poverty.
"I've got a soapbox," he said, "and I intend to use that soapbox with every fiber of my being to speak for those who have no voice."
He said that some of the measures that could help the poor and people in financial crisis would be to raise the minimum wage, expand the earned-income tax credit and make child care more affordable.
These are all worthy goals, though I suspect Edwards will have more luck with Congress than he will with the Texas Legislature, even with Sen. Rodney Ellis' stated support. I just don't see a minimum-wage increase as being a priority in Austin next year. That said, there are some things that might have a chance, such as better protections for mortgage-seekers, and easier access to banking for low-income folks, which is something City Controller Annise Parker has been championing here. With a careful selection of targets, you might have some success.
Obligatory Questions Department:
When asked if he would accept an invitation from Sen. Barack Obama to be his running mate, Edwards said he is not lobbying for the job but he would seriously consider it.
I'd be fine with an Obama-Edwards ticket, though that wouldn't be my first choice - I'd call Kathleen Sebelius and Hillary Clinton my top two at this point. If President Obama wants to tap him as Attorney General, now that would excite me. Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing, John. You do have that soapbox, and this is a good use of it.
UPDATE: Houtopia was at this event. neoHouston has a somewhat different take.
I suppose an increase in the number of motorcycles was inevitable.
Though data on new motorcycle registrations are not yet available, there are already nearly 400,000 of them on Texas roads."We're seeing an increased number of motorcycles, no doubt about it," said Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Cross.
With the increase comes added concern about accidents and injuries. Both riders and authorities fear the larger number of inexperienced riders will lead to an uptick in operator fatalities.
July has been an especially deadly month for motorcyclists in unincorporated Harris County with five reported motorcyclist fatalities so far.
"You hear people all the time talking about buying a motorcycle or scooter due to rising fuel cost, so we should anticipate a rise in the future number of motorcycle operators on the roads. With this we have to consider that a large number of these new motorcycle operators will be amateurs," said Lt. Darryl Coleman, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Traffic Enforcement Section.
[...]
"We're seeing different types of people walk through the door, people who wouldn't be buying if gas weren't so high," said Joe Cantu, who has seen a dramatic increase in business at Houston Motorcycle Exchange in the Heights.
"We can't keep up with the demand. It's never been like this before. Two months ago we had 80 bikes on the floor. Now we have less than 20," said Cantu, who has been in the business for more than 25 years.
The sales manager estimated that motorcycles get anywhere between 40 and 80 miles per gallon of gas, "depending on the bike and the driver."
[...]
Jean Hudgins,Houston area vice president of the Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association, said inexperienced riders are also to blame for many accidents.
Christopher Ramon Shaw was killed July 17 when he was "probably speeding" and lost control of a 2008 Yamaha R1 sport bike, Baytown Police Lt. Eric Freed said.
Shaw, a 34-year-old La Porte resident, Shaw, wasn't licensed to operate a motorcycle on his Texas driver's license, a state requirement for anyone who operates a motorcycle.
"The first thing people need to do when they get a motorcycle, any motorcycle, is take a safety course, especially if they've never ridden before," said Hudgins.
Is taking the safety class a requirement for getting a Class M license? I've browsed through the Transportation Codes but couldn't determine the answer to that. I also couldn't tell if it is possible to buy a motorcycle without having a Class M license and/or proof of a motorcycle safety class. Seems to me that if the answer to either of these questions is "no", then this would be a good time for the Lege to address the matter. If we are going to have more motorcycles on the streets, we should do our best to ensure that their operators are as well-equipped for it as possible. Making sure the automobile drivers are less clueless about them is unfortunately a different problem.
Before Houston elects a new Mayor next November, San Antonio will do the same in May. Ken Rodriguez takes a look at what is shaping up to be a historic race.
"So," my friend wanted to know, "what do you think of the mayor's race?"Could be historic, I said: "Right now we've got an all-Latino field. That's never happened before."
"Never?" my friend asked in disbelief.
"Not in modern times," I replied.
Though no one has officially announced, we've got three Hispanics raising money to succeed Phil Hardberger: Julián Castro. Diane Cibrian. Fernando Reyes.
Think about that. In modern San Antonio history, only two Latinos have served as mayor -- Henry Cisneros and Ed Garza -- but no current Anglo powerbroker has filed a campaign finance report to signify a run.
Cisneros, of course, served in the 80s. He was Mayor while I was in college. Garza was the predecessor to current Mayor Phil Hardberger.
Gordon Hartman would be viable. A philanthropist and former homebuilder, he's got name ID, writes big checks to local charities and has weighed an '09 run since at least '05.But he's a North Side mystery. He hasn't filed a campaign finance report. And he couldn't be reached for comment regarding his mayoral intentions.
If Hartman were to run, he could be a minority candidate. The lone Anglo in a field of Latinos.
Remarkable.
The city may have turned a historic corner. One Anglo pillar in the business community puts it this way: "I think the perception is you are not going to have another Anglo mayor in San Antonio for a long, long time."
The observation is based partly on the city's growing Hispanic majority and partly on the shrinking power of the Anglo business community.
It's an interesting contrast to Houston, where the three known Mayoral candidates so far are all Anglo. Everyone agrees that at least one non-white candidate will jump in at some point, but it's not clear who they might be.
As for San Antonio, Castro is probably the frontrunner. He lost in a runoff to Hardberger in 2005, and as Rodriguez notes, he's been running pretty much continuously since then. He was perceived as more style than substance back then, so I daresay he'll work to address that this time around. Having open seat Mayoral races in two of the big cities here is going to make next year very interesting. Link via BOR.
I'm just going to reiterate the title of this post, and then urge you to follow the link to understand what it's about and maybe take action to help: Money should NEVER stand in the way of health care. Just ask yourself a question: Would you rather we as a society spent our money helping this woman treat her cancer, or would you rather we spent it raising her two orphaned kids later on? I think that's a pretty easy call to make, but then I'm just a soft-hearted liberal who doesn't like the idea of two more motherless children in the world. Thanks to The Bloggess on Twitter for the link.
This is a step in the right direction.
Lawmakers on Wednesday took one step closer to anointing a third public flagship by inviting leaders of Texas' seven "emerging" research institutions to pitch a case for why they should become the state's next tier one research university, and how much it would cost the state."We think we can do it, but we have to be really strategic," said Renu Khator, chancellor of the University of Houston System. "It's all about vision. Nobody invests in whining."
"Why do we deserve to be the next one? Because we have momentum," UTSA president Ricardo Romo told a Senate subcommittee led by Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.
Adding just one tier one university would cost the state about $70 million annually, $140 million for two and $210 million for three, said David Daniel, president of the University of Texas at Dallas. And it would have to be stable from year to year, like the oil profit endowment that feeds UT-Austin and Texas A&M.
[...]
Bill Powers, president of UT-Austin, warned lawmakers not to spread the money too thin. "Could it be two? Probably. I think there won't be funding for more than that," Powers said. "These are very hard decisions, but someone has to make them."
Back in May, the Legislative Study Group came out with a report (PDF) that said we could add four flagships for $188 million, which is considerably less than what UTD's Daniel says. It suggests we could make all seven of these schools flagships for $405 million. On a per-population basis, we really should have at least six such schools - California has ten Tier Ones, New York has eight. Getting two more, to bring the total to four, is certainly an improvement over what we have now. But it's not enough, and we really need to think bigger. This should be a priority. BOR has more.
Julia Pippert was on a conference call yesterday with the Obama campaign, which had to do with their Latino outreach strategy. The good news is that they have one:
Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) [hosted the call and] unveiled the new Spanish language radio ad entitled Bootstraps.The ad will be rolled out in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada, key battleground states with Hispanic populations.
The bad news, as you can tell from that list, is that neither Texas nor California, the two states with the largest numbers of Latinos in them, will not be part of the initial ad buy. Julie wanted to know what was up with that:
I called the Obama campaign to ask about it.Shannon Gilson, who is in charge of communication and coordination for the Southwest states in the Obama 50 state reach out program, immediately replied to me with information about the Obama campaign strategy for Hispanic voters, "The Spanish-language ad is currently running in key battleground states. Our advertising buy will evolve in the coming weeks as we continue to aggressively reach out to Hispanic communities across the country."
That sounds promising.
Mmm. I'll feel better when they actually make the buy. Now I'm concerned that we're just going to get more of the same hands-off "strategy" we've gotten in recent years. I hope all that talk about understanding the importance of Texas isn't just smoke. And I hope we get real campaigning, by real people, and not just media buys. Our votes matter too, you know.
I'm not one who cares much about the National Popular Vote reform. I can take or leave the Electoral College idea, but there's maybe a hundred things I want to see done before that becomes a priority to me. On the other hand, if "winning" Texas were no longer a necessity, I bet we'd start to see some actual Presidential campaigns here every four years. It was great to have them in March. It'd be even better to have them in November. I hope I don't have to take on another cause to see that happen.
Haven't seen this in the papers, but according to Metro, they have received final federal approval for the Southeast line.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) granted its final approval of the Southeast Corridor Supplemental Final Environmental Statement (SFEIS) through a document known as a Record of Decision (ROD).The FTA made its decision in part because the project would be a permanent investment, and therefore "this new transit system has the potential to positively influence economic development in the Southeast Corridor consistent with community plans."
Earlier this month the FTA granted a ROD for the North Corridor light-rail project. The RODs are a key step toward obtaining federal funding, as they establish that these two projects satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and other legal requirements. The RODs also documents the many opportunities afforded to the community to voice their concerns.
METRO is seeking federal funds for three of the five light-rail expansion lines. In addition to the North and Southeast Corridors, the agency will seek federal funds for the University Corridor. The University Corridor light-rail project is still in the environmental process.
These three lines, together with the Uptown and East End lines, are scheduled to be completed in 2012. Construction is already underway in the East End. Now that METRO has obtained the two RODs, METRO can resume the purchase of property for the right-of-way. Groundbreaking for the North and Southeast lines is expected this Fall.
Ground has already been broken on the East End/Harrisburg line. The Uptown line, which will be paid for entirely by Metro, is dependent on the Universities line, so we won't hear anything more about it till the U-line has its funding secured. As Tory and Christof have both observed, the new Commuter Rail proposal will be heavily dependent on the light rail network if it's to be done right. So, lots of rail action going on right now, with even more to come soon.
Check out the new look at the West U Examiner, which debuted this past week. It's much slicker, with user comments in stories, and apparently will have more frequent updates - see, for example, this story about the ongoing Kirby trees saga. Their opinion page is now the home for the print stylings of KTRK reporter/blogger Miya Shay, who'll be filling in for Chris Bell while he runs for State Senate. Here's Miya's take on CD07 challenger Michael Skelly. Nice to see that her voice for blogging carries over to the more traditional format.
(By the way, if you haven't seen the video Miya got of President Bush's speech at the Pete Olson fundraiser, I don't know how you've managed to miss it. Go check it out, it's for stuff like this that the word "flabbergasted" was coined.)
Here's a long, detailed article that summarizes the current research on crime and imprisonment and the costs of the latter on society. There's way to much to try to encapsulate here, but I do want to highlight these three paragraphs, since I think they're at the heart of the debate here in Harris County and Texas:
Skeptics may concede that mass incarceration injured social justice, but surely, they would contend, it contributed to the tremendous decline in crime through the 1990s. Indeed, the crime decline of the '90s produced a great improvement in public safety. From 1993 to 2001, the violent crime rate fell considerably, murder rates in big cities like New York and Los Angeles dropped by half or more, and this progress in social wellbeing was recorded by rich and poor alike. Yet, when I analyzed crime rates in this period, I found that rising prison populations did not reduce crime by much. The growth in state imprisonment accounted for 2-5 percent of the decline in serious crime--one-tenth of the crime drop from 1993 to 2001. The remaining nine-tenths was due to factors like the increasing size of local police forces, the pacification of the drug trade following the crack epidemic of the early 1990s, and the role of local circumstances that resist a general explanation.So a modest decline in serious crime over an eight year period was purchased for $53 billion in additional correctional spending and half a million new prison inmates: a large price to pay for a small reduction. If we add the lost earnings of prisoners to the family disruption and community instability produced by mass incarceration, we cannot but acknowledge that a steep price was paid for a small improvement in public safety. Several examples further demonstrate that the boom may have been a waste because crime can be controlled without large increases in imprisonment. Violent crime in Canada, for example, also declined greatly through the 1990s, but Canadian incarceration rates actually fell from 1991 to 1999. New York maintained particularly low crime rates through the 2000s, but has been one of the few states to cut its prison population in recent years.
More importantly, perhaps, the reduction in crime was accompanied by an array of new problems associated with mass incarceration. Those states that have sought reduced crime through mass incarceration find themselves faced with an array of problems associated with overreliance on imprisonment. How can poor communities with few resources absorb the return of 700,000 prisoners each year? How can states pay for their prisons while responding to the competing demands of higher education, Medicaid, and K-12 schools? How can we address the social costs--the broken homes, unemployment, and crime--that can follow from imprisonment? Questions such as these lead us to a more fundamental concern: how can mass imprisonment be reversed and American citizenship repaired?
Here again, this is why I refuse to vote for jail bonds. We're spending tons of money to incarcerate people who don't need to be locked up, and not only is that having a negligible effect on the crime rate, it costs us in many other ways and prevents us from spending money on other urgent needs. Yet people who would call themselves "fiscally conservative" are perfectly happy to spend these ever-increasing sums, without any honest accounting of the results we get for them. It's tragic and wasteful and I want to see it stopped.
As I said, there's much more in this article, including a look at what a saner alternative approach might be, and how some of those approaches are working in the real world. Take a look in particular at what Brooklyn District Attorney Charles "Joe" Hynes is doing. Link via Crooked Timber.
I guess State Sen. Kim Brimer hasn't lost in court often enough yet, because he wants to try again with the appeals court.
"We are in the process of both: campaigning for the fall election and appealing the district court's decision on our opponent's eligibility," according to a statement from Brimer's campaign.Davis' office said Brimer's attitude and response are why she chose to challenge him for the office.
"Mr. Brimer still doesn't get it," said Matt Latham, Davis' campaign manager, in a statement. "After his second failed attempt to deny the voters of Senate District 10 a voice in their choice for state senator, he continues to hide behind his lawyers or even to face his opponent in a public debate of the issues important to the good people of District 10."
Brimer's office said in the statement that he would debate Davis if an appeals court rules she is eligible -- and if she repays the salary she earned as a city councilwoman from May 2007 to January 2008.
Any other conditions you want to impose there, big guy? Soft lighting, pre-arranged questions, no brown M&Ms? I know how hard this sort of thing can be, so I'm sure we can accommodate you. Sheesh.
Last week, when Rep. John Culberson criticized NASA by saying it had "failed us miserably" and "wastes a vast amount of money", I wrote that I expected Culberson would wind up walking back his remarks. Looks like I was right.
"Every agency wastes money but NASA itself is not a waste," the Republican lawmaker said during a video conference with constituents. "These fine people, the scientists and engineers there at NASA, I certainly owe these folks an apology because that is not what I meant to say."Culberson, whose statements last week were met with criticism from NASA supporters and political opponents, blamed his temper for his statements but also said his remarks had been taken out of context by people trying to embarass him as he seeks re-election.
In last week's electronic town hall meeting, Culberson explained Tuesday night, "somebody was asking me about waste in government and a guy was aggravating me and I let my temper get a little bit away with me and I said something I shouldn't have, which was ... that NASA is a waste of money."
But the congressman, who is seeking re-election against Democrat Michael Skelly and Libertarian Drew Parks in the 7th Congressional District, also said his statements from last week were "taken out of context by somebody out there looking to try to embarrass me in a political campaign, which is unfortunate in this business."
When a Chronicle reporter contacted Culberson last week about his initial statements, however, the congressman affirmed them and went further, saying he was considering introducing legislation to overhaul the space agency as well as expose it to more competition from the private sector.
He made no remarks Tuesday night about the fate of any such legislation.
Color me unsurprised about any of this. Culberson has never been into subtlety, and that sort of thing always gets you into trouble sooner or later. He can claim he was taken out of context, but this is completely consistent with his style. And please spare me the whining about people trying to "embarrass" him in a political campaign. If you can't stand having a light shine on what you're saying, you don't belong on the campaign trail. Culberson isn't used to this kind of scrutiny, being a longtime denizen of uncompetitive districts. Welcome to 2008, John. Things are a little different this year. Houston Politics has more.
I've referred to the 2008 elections here as being very different from what we're used to seeing. One simple reason for that is that there will be ample funding available for local Democratic campaign efforts.
Disclosures on a complicated web of Republican and Democratic fundraising by federal and state committees indicate that Democrats have an edge, so far, in the total amount of money they can spend in Harris County. How much either party has decided to spend in Harris County remains secret.The biggest donors to the Texas Democratic Trust are Dallas personal injury lawyer Fred Baron ($1.54 million), Houston personal injury lawyer John Eddie Williams ($450,000) and Dallas-area Container Store retail chain founder Garrett Boone and family ($400,000).
The trust put staffer Mike Malaise to work in Houston after he managed U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson's 2006 campaign. The group also has paid for consulting, polling and related campaign tools.
The Lone Star Fund, which relies heavily on $5,000 and $10,000 gifts from national labor unions, paid for such things as a Web site featuring "dossiers" on the scandals that have enveloped county Republican officials.
Both groups specialize in tuning and coordinating Democrats' campaign themes and giving candidates resources, such as voter lists.
The main message is that GOP incumbents are ethically corrupt while letting quality-of-life issues slip.
Republicans say they have cleaned their own house of scandals, such as the ones that led to District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's resignation, and have provided efficient government services.
Working to harmonize Democratic candidates "is a coordinated (local) effort we haven't seen in quite some time," said Amber Moon, who was dispatched this year by Texas Democratic Party headquarters in Austin to the Houston area to coordinate news media contacts for Democratic contenders for county judge, district attorney, sheriff and other jobs.
County campaigns here have been a total hand-to-mouth experience in recent years. This year, there's paid staff, there's a coordinated media effort, and there will be TV and radio advertising. When was the last time you saw that for countywide races? I can't remember.
At least, it hasn't been that way on the Democratic side in recent years. The Republicans have a more extensive history of being flush for campaigns. I'm sure they'll have money this year as well, it's just that they'll also have company. From where I sit, it's about time for that.
Due to the untimely death of Harris County Probate Judge Russell Austin last month, there will be one more race on the ballot this fall. As of yesterday, the Harris County GOP has chosen its nominee for that bench.
About 300 Republican precinct chairs anointed Georgia Akers, an associate judge in another probate court, to be on the Nov. 4 ballot for the job rather than Ruth Ann Stiles, Austin's associate judge.County commissioners are scheduled to vote today on who will serve in Austin's place until voters make their selection. The commissioners can pick someone other than Akers. Stiles, however, said that without the nomination, "it would not be best" for her to take the interim job.
Democrats are scheduled to pick their nominee Aug. 14.
The word that everyone has heard is that former Harris County District Court Judge Kathy Stone, who served two terms on the 55th Court before losing in 1998, will be the Democratic nominee. Stone ran for the 334th District Civil Court in 2004 and was the top Democratic vote-getter in Harris County, drawing almost 48% of the total. She'll make a strong candidate for this race. Far as I've heard, no one else is making a serious effort to challenge her for this.
UPDATE: Commissioners Court has chosen Akers to fill out the remainder of Austin's term.
Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman says she will ask District Attorney Ken Magidson to look into the fact that former District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal apparently hasn't filed his semi-annual campaign finance report. The deadline was July 15.Rosenthal resigned as district attorney and is not on this year's ballot. But, with $198,204 in contributions in his campaign account as of Dec. 31, he is required to make a public accounting of his finances at least every half-year, officials said.
Late filers may be subject to a $500 fine under state law, Kaufman said. She said she does not police the filing of reports but does make prosecutors aware of violations when they are brought to her attention. Our phone call to ask about the missing report is what made her aware of this instance.
I'm sure Rosenthal has been busy lately, and this must have slipped his mind. If he's lucky, interim DA Ken Magidson will take this sort of complaint as lightly as Rosenthal himself did, back when it was his job to conduct such investigations. I rather suspect he won't be so lucky. Not that he's at any real risk - it's a $500 fine, for goodness' sake - but there's a nontrivial amount of irony here. It's just fitting, somehow.
Given the previous story about the problem of dealing with mentally ill homeless folks that the jails have, this article about a proposed shelter for them is quite timely.
The list of those who support Magnolia Glen, a project that would provide permanent rooms for 220 homeless, is daunting: Houston Mayor Bill White, all five members of Harris County Commissioners Court, area mental health advocates, top city housing officials.Commissioners Court in March awarded $1.67 million in federal grant money for the project, expecting the city to approve its share, $4 million, a short time later. But the project is teetering and may not happen because one official has said the project's bevy of influential supporters are wrong.
"I understand the facility, and I understand what it does. If it were going in another district, I could support it. But I will not support it in District I," Councilman James Rodriguez. "My district already has enough (such housing for the homeless) and soup kitchens. I feel we need to spread new facilities around."
White has taken the position that he will not force the district councilman to accept a facility that he opposes.
But White said he hasn't given up on the project. He urged Rodriguez and the Eastwood Civic Association to meet with Magnolia Glen's developer, the nonprofit Housing Corporation of Greater Houston, and supporters of the project to try to reach common ground.
[...]
The 220 units of housing would be the biggest project undertaken since the commission in 2006 launched a 10-year effort to find homes for the estimated 10,000 homeless in Harris County. The group concluded that 7,000 rooms and apartments are needed. About 200 such units have been created since 2006.
"The city was looking for a dramatic way to move towards meeting its 10-year homeless plan," said Tom Lord, president of the nonprofit that has proposed buying Magnolia Glen for $5.85 million and then turning it into permanent housing for the homeless.
Case managers, including supervisors of the mentally ill and those with substance abuse problems, would be on duty at all times. Residents would pay about $425 a month in rent for a single room that includes a small refrigerator and a microwave.
The federal government awards grants for such housing because it has proven to help get the homeless off the street and help prevent them from cycling through jails and emergency psychiatric wards, where they often land when they stop taking prescribed psychotropic medications.
[...]
White said he supports Magnolia Glen in part because it would be a bargain. Building similar new rooms for the homeless would cost about $75,000 a unit. The cost will be $26,000 a unit at Magnolia Glen, White said.
White said he understands that most facilities for the homeless should not be located in the same areas.
Former Councilman Gordon Quan, a member of the blue-ribbon commission, said he keeps that policy in mind, but money helps determine where sites can be found.
"People say, 'Why don't you put this in River Oaks or Memorial?' We couldn't afford the land in River Oaks. But we are cognizant that these need to be spread around," he said.
I have a lot of sympathy for CM Rodriguez's position. As a commenter on that story notes, Eastwood is already the home of several such facilities. They do need to be distributed around the city more. On the other hand, given the low cost of the Magnolia and the fact that the neighborhood is not uniformly opposed to it, perhaps there's some kind of accommodation that can be reached. It would be a shame to lose out on this kind of opportunity, given the great need for more of these homes.
I mentioned before that I had the chance to meet Markos Moulitsas Zuniga from Daily Kos. He mentioned to me as we chatted that he'd be back in Texas soon, Houston in particular, as part of his book tour. Turns out he'll be giving a lecture as part of The Progressive Forum's speaker series. The event will be Monday, September 22 at 7:30 at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater. More details will be forthcoming in August, but for now you can find everything there is to know at that Progressive Forum link.
Democrat Wendy Davis is eligible to run against state Sen. KimBrimer, R-Fort Worth, in November, according to a civil court ruling.When asked if Brimer planned to appeal the ruling, his lawyer, Nick Acuff, said "I think so."
Outside the courtroom, Davis said she was confident the ruling will stand through appeals.
"I'm very very confident in the law and I'm very confident, that regardless of the appellate level that hears this case, we are legally on the ballot," she said.
[...]
Judge Tom Lowe ruled in favor of Davis' eligibility based on two different criteria. He said that Davis' second filing for the Texas Senate (done on Jan. 2) was completely free of conflict because Joel Burns had been sworn in as city councilman the day before. This ruling is the first concrete declaration of whether Burns' unscheduled swearing-in at home was official. Fort Worth city attorneys have declined to say.
Lowe then said that even if Burns' first swearing-in wasn't official, meaning that Davis held her city council seat for a week following her filing to run for a higher office, it didn't matter.
"Davis's holding office for those additional seven days was de minimus and does not render her ineligible to seek election," Lowe wrote.
Brimer had filed suit earlier this month, in what I thought was a fairly risky move. I think he's got to appeal, but to my non-lawyerly eyes, this doesn't look good for him. Here's more on the hearing itself. I hope we can put this behind us now and get on with the business oif the election.
We first heard about this last month, and now it seems certain: The new business tax will fall well short or revenue projections.
"It's almost certain we're going to come in about a billion dollars below what we estimated," Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, told the Houston Chronicle after a meeting of the Business Tax Advisory Committee, which he serves. "Because other taxes are running ahead of projections, we're still OK. ... We're not flush, but we'll be OK, I think."The new business tax was pushed by Gov. Rick Perry and approved by lawmakers in 2006 as part of a package that also lowered local school property tax rates when the state faced a court order to change the public education tax system. The expanded business tax, due this year for the first time based on last year's business activity, will help subsidize the cost of lower school property tax rates.
Ogden's assessment came after the comptroller's office reported that through June, the new tax brought in $4.29 billion. It has been projected to yield $5.9 billion this fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31. Figures won't be final until November because of businesses that filed for extensions.
Dale Craymer, chief economist for the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association and a tax advisory committee member, also has said he thinks it's unlikely the tax will hit its first-year target.
Craymer said better-than-expected yields from other taxes, including oil and natural gas production, could more than make up the difference.
He emphasized Monday that the business tax performance so far "is probably not indicative of how much revenue the tax is ultimately going to generate, just because of first-year transitional issues."
I'm not as sanguine about the future prospects of this tax as Craymer is. For one thing, I fully expect it to be tinkered with to some extent in 2009, possibly quite a bit, as there is a lot of pressure from unhappy small business owners and from legislators on both sides of the aisle. For another, to be off by more than 15% just doesn't inspire confidence. I'll grant that there was probably a learning curve here, but come on. If it was reasonable to expect the possibility of a billion dollars being lost to "first year transitional issues", that should have been made a lot more clear when the thing was being written and debated. I mean hell, would John Sharp agree with that assessment? This was his baby, after all.
Here's a Texas Monthly article by Paul Burka that takes a look at how the Presidential race might affect various key downballot races in Texas. It's pretty comprehensive, and very Burka-esque, with all the good and bang-your-head-against-a-wall-ness that implies. One point that I want to highlight, which illuminates some of my frustration with this kind of analysis:
The East Texas WD-40's"WD-40" is Capitol-speak for white Democrats of middle age who generally represent Republican-leaning districts. In a normal year, Mark Homer, Jim McReynolds, and Chuck Hopson would be favored, but Obama may be a load to carry in East Texas.
Is there anyone reading this who can't visualize this exact same paragraph being written with "Hillary" being substituted for "Obama"? I mean, for a good six months or more, we were subjected to one Republican operative after another gleefully rubbing his hands at the prospect of Hillary Clinton at the top of the Democratic ticket, where her supposedly divisive presence would save them all by giving the legions of grumpy, apathetic Republican voters a reason to drag themselves to the polls. But wait! They were head-faking us all along! It's really Obama they wanted to run against! He'll inspire them in a way that John McCain only dreams he could!
Yeah, I think you see my problem. It's one part lazy thinking, with an equal measure of Republican talking points. And to this day, after all this time, no one has ever satisfactorily explained to me why guys like Homer, Hopson, and McReynolds have anything more to fear now than they did in 2004 when an at-his-zenith George W. Bush was leading the way for the state GOP. For crying out loud, Burka acknowledges this up front:
Finally, the R's have run out of Bushes. The 2008 election will not be a replay of 2000, or even 2004. The Democrats have a candidate who energizes the party's electorate, while the GOP nominee would not have been the first choice of most Texas Republicans.
And yet we get the same tired conventional wisdom about the WD-40s. Why is that?
Well, there is one more thing, which Burka doesn't mention but which must be at the root of his thinking here, and that of course is race. Maybe the fact that Obama is black will help generate Republican turnout in East Texas. Only problem with that is, there's no evidence that Obama will do any worse in such areas than some other Democrat would have done.
So does Barack Obama have a problem with white voters? The answer is a resounding "yes." And so has every other Democratic presidential candidate in the past forty years. The last Democratic candidate for president to win a majority of the white vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Al Gore lost the white vote by 12 points in 2000. John Kerry lost the white vote by 17 points in 2004.Based on five national polls that have been conducted this month--Gallup, Newsweek, Quinnipiac, CBS/New York Times, and ABC/Washington Post--Barack Obama is currently trailing John McCain by an average of nine points among white voters. So Obama is doing much better than John Kerry and a little better than Al Gore. In fact, the only Democratic presidential candidates in the past four decades who have done better among white voters were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Not coincidentally, they were also the only successful Democratic presidential candidates in the past four decades. Based on his current showing in the polls, Barack Obama may well be the next one. With whites expected to comprise less than 80 percent of the 2008 electorate, and with a 20-1 margin among black voters and a 2-1 margin among Hispanic voters, Obama's current nine point deficit among white voters would translate into a decisive victory in November.
So the democratic nominee may change, but the question remains the same: Why would any of these guys be in more danger in 2008 than they were in 2004? Note that I'm not saying any of them can't lose, just that as far as I can see, they've faced worse conditions than this. So why the hand-wringing? Anybody? I'm still willing to change my mind about this, if someone can show me tangible evidence to contradict my hypothesis. I'm still waiting to see such evidence. PoliSci@UST has more.
This recent article about a new high-end 236-unit apartment at Richmond and Dunlavy in Montrose contains a point that I wish would get mentioned more often.
David Robinson, president of the Neartown Association, said his group realizes change, specifically higher density, is coming to central Houston, and members are fine with it as long as it is done right."Density is something we need and are encouraging inside the city limits, especially in the urban core," Robinson said. "Neartown's official opinion is that increased density is OK as long as it is marked by wise investment and prudent decision making. I think we could overbuild the area easily if we weren't smart about it.
"Our city is so diverse and the character of the neighborhoods is so important to maintain and preserve," he added. "As a leader of Neartown, we love our neighborhood and we're not looking for wholesale change. We're looking at building on the existing infrastructure."
Robinson said he believes the location of the Fairmont Museum District is appropriate, and is ideally located to make use of the University Corridor line.
"Along the Richmond Avenue corridor is the perfect place for higher density to occur," Robinson said.
It will help, "get cars off the street and allow people living there to take mass transit," he added. "When you talk about our carbon footprint these days, getting out of the car and onto the rail is a good idea."
Claude Wynn, president of the Museum District Business Alliance, said he is aware of increased density and how it can favor businesses.
"I think this is what we're looking at along the thoroughfares," Wynn said. "Rail is going to bring this kind of density, which is not incorrect. It's about how it's done. There are some concerns by some in the neighborhood, but I personally don't know of any business complaints.
"We know we are facing increasing density and that's part of what gives a spark to the businesses. Density is what feeds the walkable Montrose idea, that's what rail is about - the ability to walk for several blocks. Businesses are not as sensitive to things like that as the neighborhoods."
Basically, density without transit is just worse traffic. Density with transit is something desirable for residents and businesses, and will attract people to it from elsewhere. Many of the concerns about some of the new highrise projects would largely go away if people didn't see them as just adding hundreds more cars to their neighborhoods. It's pretty simple, really. And since the density is coming to all over central Houston, we need to start thinking aggressively about bringing more transit there as well. I have some thoughts on this that I will develop more fully in the coming weeks.
I would have had respect for Loren Steffy's dissenting opinion on wind energy had he acknowledged any of the following: The externalities imposed by coal- and gas-powered plants cost us a boatload of money, too; factoring in those externalities makes wind power a heck of a lot more competitive; the intermittance of wind is a technical problem that can be solved or at least mitigated by various storage solutions. But he did none of that, nor did he offer any solutions of his own, so I'm not particularly impressed. At least T. Boone Pickens put forth a concrete proposal for people to study and pick apart.
On the plus side, reading Steffy's column alerted me to the fact that the Public Utility Commission cast a vote in favor of expanding the infrastructure for delivering wind energy in Texas.
A divided commission selected a plan that will eventually transmit 18,456 megawatts of wind power from West Texas and the Panhandle. That would be enough to power 3.7 million homes on a hot summer day, and more than 11 million in milder weather."It's a big bite," said Public Utility Commissioner Paul Hudson. "The transmission plan is nothing short of extraordinary in terms of scope and magnitude."
The commission expects the new lines will be in service within four to five years. As the lines begin transmitting power, residential consumers will pay higher rates that are expected to total about $4 per month when the $4.93 billion in construction is complete.
[...]
The plan, which is expected to be finalized later this month, represents a middle ground among five scenarios ranging from $3 billion to $6.4 billion.
The Legislature in 2005 directed the PUC to select the most productive wind zones and devise a plan to move power from those zones to populated areas.
[...]
The wind industry is supported by rural lawmakers for the jobs and growth it will bring, and by urban legislators who say that wind will reduce pollution and global warming.
"This puts us on the path toward diversification of our energy sources so that by 2015 we should be reliant on wind for 25 percent," said Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.
Critics said that because the wind blows less in the summer when demand is highest, additional natural gas and coal-fired plants will need to be built to meet peak demand.
Wind generators had supported even higher levels of transmission, but were pleased by Thursday's vote.
"With the eyes of the nation watching Texas, we have developed a process that will serve as a model for the country as we look to diversify our energy fuel mix," said Paul Sadler, executive director of The Wind Coalition, in a statement.
So they picked ERCOT scenario 2, not scenario 3. It's still a step forward, despite what Loren Steffy thinks.
Finally, on a related note, Glenn Smith adds his critique of the Pickens Plan.
We're back from Netroots Nation, and we've got a lot to talk about. There'll be a special roundup of NN coverage at another time, but for now, here are the Texas Progressive Alliance blog highlights from last week. Read on...
The Texas Cloverleaf asks if John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison want more HIV in the global pandemic? Our TX Senators were 2 of the 16 votes against the latest HIV/AIDS bill in the Senate this week that passed overwhelmingly.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on Diana Maldonado's great fundraising numbers in Diana Maldonado Has Almost 4 to 1 COH Advantage In HD-52.
WhosPlayin at WhosPlayin steped outside of his comfort zone a bit and commented on the Fannie and Freddie situation.
jobsanger blasts Republican attempts to allow offshore and ANWR drilling in Drilling Won't Make Us Energy Independent and in Bush Playing Politics With Oil.
The bar may be open, says TXSharon at Texas Kaos in Fire Water: With Compliments from EnCana, but if Encana's serving up the cocktails, it might be better to abstain.
McBlogger's own Harry Balczak has a new recurring feature, Harry Balczak's Reminder To You People. In this edition, he'd like to remind Those Of You Who Just Couldn't Vote For Kerry that your decision was, well, pretty stupid. He is nice about it, though.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that poultry kingpin Bo Pilgrim paid to jet around Texas Governor Rick Perry's staff to promote the ethanol waver he bought and paid for with a $100,000 contribution to the Republican Governor's Association.
Mean Rachel contemplates whether Fannie and Freddie have anything to do with being raised in 78704, but living through young-adulthood in 78749 in Crashes.
The final word, for now, on the Webb County Sheriff's race says Martin Cuellar wins by 41 votes. Since the various 'official' totals for Cuellar have been +37, -133, +39 and finally +41, CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders what the h*ll happened!
Off the Kuff looks at the Harris County campaign finance reports and finds good news and not-so-good news for Democratic campaigns.
The Texas Observer's Melissa Del Bosque had an observation about one of the panels at Netroots Nation this past weekend, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had some observations about what she observed.
BossKitty at BlueBloggin shows us smuggling humans into the US is no problem at all; From Africa to Mexico to US, Any Way They Can Immigrate.
BossKitty at TruthHugger points out the continued struggle by our soldiers suffering from PTSD and the inadequate response by the incapable VA, in But, When They Come Home ....
Tough story to read in the Chron today about mentally ill folks and the role the county jails have played as de facto health care provider for them.
At the Harris County Jail, deputies and health care workers have a name for them -- frequent fliers.They are mentally ill homeless people who return to jail so often, sometimes on minor charges, that they become familiar to the psychiatric staff.
During a recent survey, county officials found that more than 400 of the jail's 11,000 inmates were homeless and suffered from a major mental illness: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or a chronic depressive-psychotic disorder. They were among 1,900 inmates on psychotropic medications.
When the mentally ill homeless leave jail -- and leave behind its mental health care staff -- many stop taking medication and end up on the street again. Treatment resumes only when they commit a crime and return to jail or their dementia overwhelms them and they are brought to an emergency psychiatric center.
Treating the mentally ill as they cycle through jail and emergency psychiatric wards is expensive. A county budget analyst estimates that it costs $80,000 a year, per person.
At the jail, spending on mental health care has risen to $24 million annually, and the combined cost of incarcerating and treating the mentally ill is $87 million annually.
"The jails have become the psychiatric hospitals of the United States," said Clarissa Stephens, an assistant director of the county's budget and management services office who has been studying the jail's mental health costs.
The Commissioners Court is so concerned about the rising costs that it has retained a consultant -- psychiatrist Avrim Fishkind -- to study whether providing outpatient services and supervised housing would reduce the numbers of mentally ill revolving through the jail.
"The costs of reincarcerating and court costs far outweigh what the costs would be if you housed, clothed and supervised the mentally ill," Fishkind said.
[...]
Some of the mentally ill -- many of whom also are substance abusers -- keep committing crimes and getting rearrested, in part, because few are properly supervised when they are released, said David Buck, a Baylor College of Medicine associate professor and president of Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston.
Houston isn't alone in facing this issue. After many mental hospitals were closed in the 1970s and 1980s, countless patients were released in cities that were ill-equipped to house those who needed such care.
"What happens here happens in many communities. We are criminalizing mental illness," said Betsy Schwartz, president of Mental Health of America of Greater Houston, a nonprofit that promotes effective treatment for the mentally ill.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I'm going to do it anyway. We spend all this money to lock people up, when it would be more humane, more cost-effective, and more in keeping with the principles of justice if we'd look for alternatives for many of them. I have some questions about how outpatient sevices and supervised housing would work, and how successful the county would be at overcoming the inevitable (and, let's face it, understandable) NIMBYism that would be the response to them, but the idea is solid.
Chief Deputy Mike Smith of the Sheriff's Office said the jail's mental health operation is comparable to the biggest non-jail mental health hospitals in the state.Smith, as head of the jail, is among those credited with upgrading its mental health services.
"I've had people say I better watch what I say or I'll come across as a liberal," he said. "We shouldn't be treating our mentally ill in the jails. We should be treating them in the free world."
See, this is the sort of thing that shouldn't be a "liberal" idea or a "conservative" idea but simply a sensible and humane idea. What we're doing right now doesn't work on many levels. There's no compelling reason not to try something else. Let's make it happen.
Though there's been some recent good news on the recycling front, the city of Houston still has a long way to go to bring its program up to an acceptable level, which has been having problems for years now.
"Everything that comes out of your home or office is really a material stream that can be recycled or composted or even re-used," says Darryl Lambert, who manages the AbitibiBowater sorting center where Houston sends its recyclables. "There's very little true, true waste."That may be, but that does not mean Houston recycles as much as it could. Some residents blame the city's modestly scaled curbside program, which offers residents no financial incentive to recycle and serves only 47 percent of the 342,000 homes that get public trash service. But the city says that more recycling companies need to come to Houston, build processing centers, and ramp up the market for used goods.
"Houston is a virtual gold mine of recyclable materials; it's just a matter of companies mining that material," said Harry Hayes, solid waste director.
"You need to build it, and I think the material will flow," Hayes added.
Recycling surveys are notoriously fuzzy, relying on self-reports based on inconsistent measures. But one estimate puts Houston's rate at a dismal 2 percent of all municipal solid waste -- the nonindustrial and nonconstruction waste generated by homes, schools and businesses. The city claims it is slightly higher, if you count efforts in more than 50 city buildings, but officials acknowledge that recycling is the city's "growth opportunity."
"I think our current levels of recycling are unacceptable, and we need to do more," Mayor Bill White said recently.
The city is on track to push its recycling rate toward 20 percent, White said.
[...]
Major sectors of the city -- the Medical Center, downtown skyscrapers and apartment buildings -- manage their own waste and aren't mandated by the city. Other cities, like New York and Portland, Ore., require businesses and private haulers to do some recycling, but Houston leaves it up to them.
"Nobody is prevented from doing any of this," White says.
Critics say that approach, based on volunteerism and education, is not enough.
"You are not going to educate the majority of people into recycling," says Leo Gold, a financial adviser who also hosts a talk show on KPFT-FM (90.1). "The others have to be induced."
"It took $4-a-gallon gasoline for people to get fuel-efficient automobiles, and it's going to take creative pricing to get people to do recycling," Gold added.
Gold recently presented a petition with specific suggestions for Houston to adopt regarding waste management and recycling. While I strongly agree with his list of proposals, I disagree on the matter of educating people about recycling. I think a lot of people don't give the matter much thought, and have no idea about the costs of landfills or the real need to recycle more. I've advocated for this before and I'll say it again: I think a big PR campaign, modeled along the lines of the classic "Don't Mess With Texas" anti-littering program, would go a long way towards changing attitudes and raising participation rates. That should be done in concert with a campaign to get business centers to promote recycling on their properties. This is low-hanging fruit, and will help to get people into the habit and mindset that things like aluminum cans and plastic bottles do not belong in the trash can. I truly believe this is a necessary first step, and that it can be achieved relatively easily.
Now there's no reason you can't also do things like "pay to throw", where trash fees are based in part on the size of your receptacle. Multiple approaches should be taken, and modified as needed if something isn't working. This is a big opportunity for Houston to save money and be a little greener. I hope someone with a little ambition steps up and takes the lead on this.
And it's official: Chris Bell has his formal campaign kickoff yesterday.
In a rally held in a sweltering tent outside his new campaign headquarters just blocks from his southwest Houston home, Bell said he sees the seat as "a golden opportunity to make progress toward the same goals I've worked for my entire career."Bolstering public education and fighting vouchers, health care reform and ethics enforcement were the main issues cited by the former U.S. congressman and city councilman.
After losing the Texas governor's race, Bell --an attorney by professional -- joined the Washington, D.C., based firm of Patton Boggs as a lobbyist, and penned a weekly political column for the Examiner Newspaper Group. (That column has been put in hiatus.)
"Running for office this year was not in my plans," he told about 200 well-wishers. "But real leadership demands that you welcome opportunities to serve the public good even when it's not convenient or according to some schedule you set for yourself."
That's a pretty good turnout for an event like this. This race is now one of the high-profile ones for Harris County - really, for the whole state - and assuming Bell can get the fundraising support he needs, it's a great opportunity for a Democratic pickup.
The bypass giveth, and the bypass taketh away.
If motorists on a new branch of Texas 249 glance out their windows as they zip past Tomball, they'll see a blur of restaurants and shops that soon will be framed in their rear-view mirrors.The bypass road, which local leaders prefer to call the "Tomball Expressway," is helping commuters reach homes to the north and workplaces to the south more quickly. But some merchants along the road now known as "Business 249" say sales have dwindled as motorists pass them by.
"It's definitely affected us. Our revenues are down 15 percent," said Valery Norton, the assistant manager of a Starbucks on Business 249.
The effect of the new road on this northwest Harris County town of 10,000 illustrates the dilemma facing many Houston area communities adapting to the growth surrounding them.
As developers create new subdivisions and business centers on pastures and fields, towns such as Tomball increasingly become just a set of traffic lights motorists would prefer to avoid on their way to something else.
"These rural areas aren't rural any more," said Pat Waskowiak, a program manager in the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
"There's an inherent conflict between trying to accommodate the commuter traffic and the smaller communities that are trying to retain their business and their character."
Tomball City Manager Jan Belcher, however, said the town's decision to support construction of the bypass was intended to benefit local residents as well as commuters. The Texas Department of Transportation opened the southbound lanes in January and northbound lanes in May.
The town and its chamber of commerce lobbied for the road, Belcher said, because Texas 249 was becoming choked with traffic. This created problems for local residents trying to get to businesses on the highway as well as for motorists headed somewhere else, Belcher said.
"It's working exactly as it was intended," Belcher said. "It allows the (commuter) traffic to get through, and it allows people on Business 249 to get in and out of the businesses."
I don't drive out that way, so I haven't seen the changes this has brought. But I've been driving to Austin along 290 for 20 years, and the same kind of thing happened years ago to a lot of the small towns between here and there, like Prairie View and Hempstead. There's a McDonald's in Hempstead, just south of the Lawrence Marshall dealership and the junction with State Highway 6, that used to be a regular stop for me. I've no idea if it's still there - the modern 290 so thoroughly bypasses Hempstead you hardly realize you're passing through a town at all. It makes for a faster and more fuel-efficient drive to Austin, so I'm not complaining. But I do wonder what effect it's had on the place.
You still get to see some of the towns along 290 as you drive through. Brenham is bypassed in the sense that there's a "Business 290" that takes you on the slow drive through the old town center, but the stretch just north of the junction with State Highway 36 and the two miles or so south where the two roads are concurrent has places to stop and eat or sleep and even a few businesses that aren't travel-dependent. Farther west in Giddings, 290 is pretty much as it was when I first started making that drive, with the road serving as the main local drag. It's the only remaining locale where you have to slow down as much as 35 MPH, and there's both traffic lights and an active railroad crossing to keep you slowed down, but I don't mind. I like being reminded about places like that. It also has a lot of good choices to stop and deal with hungry or bathroom-needing kids, which I appreciate even more.
MSNBC recently asked the question "Could you pass the latest citizenship test?" Naturally, I had to find out. Here's the answer:
I thought it was pretty easy, and I think most people reading this will find it easy as well, but I'd bet there's an awful lot of folks who would have a hard time getting the 80% passing score. How'd you do? Link via Mike Falick, who did as well as I did, and Texas Weekly.
We departed Austin yesterday at 2 PM. That's earlier than we'd originally planned, but when the kids announce they're ready to go home, the couple of extra hours you'd thought you'd stay start to look optional. So we're back, and we're back in the routine, and all is more or less right with the universe. Here are a few random thoughts from the trip:
- Next time, if there are multiple panel sessions planned for the same time, just pick one and stick with it instead of splitting time between them. The amount you miss between the two is greater than the amount you get.
- I was underwhelmed by the exhibitors floor at NN. When I go to the annual BlackBerry conference, I spend quite a bit of time on the exhibitors floor talking to vendors, even ones whose product I know we're never going to buy. There's almost always something of interest to me, almost always something I can learn. I walked through the exhibitors floor twice at NN and never felt the need to stop and chat with any of them. I never even paused long enough for one of them to try to catch my eye. That was about the only thing at NN I didn't find useful.
- Write this down: You can never ask a four-year-old too many times if she needs to use the potty before embarking on a highway trip. Trust me on this.
- Unexpected pleasant surprise #1: Finding that the parking lot next to the Convention Center, which was too full to use during the state Democratic convention, allowed three in-and-outs for the $7 fee. That was very cool.
- I got to chat for a few minutes with Netroots favorite Darcy Burner on Thursday night. I can totally see why our crowd loves her. Put simply, she's a geek, and I mean that as high praise.
- Austin has a radio station (103.5) called Bob, which is a lot like Houston's Jack - in fact, some of their intro/outro clips are identical - but with two differences: One is that Bob has a DJ, though not a very talkative one, and two is that Bob has a wider and deeper playlist. It strayed farther out of the classic rock/80s music comfort zone that Jack largely inhabits, and played some deeper cuts from within that zone as well. I wish Jack were a little more like Bob.
- Unexpected pleasant surprise #2: Seeing and getting to spend some time with my college buddy Jay, who was also in attendance at NN. I knew he was a reader of mine, and I knew he lived in Austin, but I hadn't expected to see him at the conference. But he was, and it was great to catch up with him. I'll be seeing him again in October for our 20-year reunion.
- It was nice to hear an ad on the radio for the Oasis restaurant, which has clearly recovered from its devastating fire in 2005. Next time I'm in Austin, I want to have dinner there. Even if the food isn't any better than before, the view makes up for it.
- The difference between Netroots Nation and that other conference going on in Austin, in a nutshell: We had Al Gore to talk about energy policy. They had some guy named Tim Phillips there to tell them that global warming was all a nefarious plot by the eeevil libruls designed to raise their taxes.
- Netroots Nation 2009 will be in Pittsburgh. Make your reservations early.
Had a good time at Netroots Nation. Happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. Dumping links for your weekend amusement. Yes, I meant to do this yesterday.
Lawn zombies. I need to get one of them. Via the comments at The Bloggess.
Gmail to no longer auto-add contacts. I kinda liked it the old way. Via Dwight.
Ed Wade hates fire sales. So he may trade prospects for veterans, instead of the other way around. At least, he would if the Astros had any worth trading.
The Ten Worst Sports Logos. It's scary how much that Islanders guy looks like the Gorton fisherman.
The spirit of '78. I knew a lot of those events described happened that year, but it's stunning to see it all laid out like that.
Hey, by this definition, I'm a vegetarian, too. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get a double bacon cheeseburger. (via)
You think the folks at SMU who pushed to get the George W. Bush Presidential Library there are feeling a wee bit embarrassed these days? If not, they should be.
Running for office, xkcd-style.
Commissioners Court could vote Tuesday on whether to take another shot at asking voters to approve a bond proposal for a new jail.County administrators scaled back plans for the downtown facility after the electorate rejected a $245-million proposal by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin last November. The plan would have relied on $195 million in bonds.
While officials suggested the court find other ways to pay for the downsized facility, Commissioner Steve Radack said he would oppose any plan not approved by the people.
The plan unveiled last month cut the facility's capacity from 2,500 beds to about 1,000. The five-story jail would house sick inmates and those expected to be released within three days.
That plan would cost $171 million, with about $110 million funded by bonds.
The court also could consider adding 600 beds for sick inmates, which would add as much as $76 million to the bond proposal.
It's possible this is a sensible plan. I'm willing to be convinced by someone I can trust that it is. But until such time, my position remains that I will not vote for any bonds to fund new jail construction until I am satisfied that we have taken concrete steps to deal with the underlying reasons for our overcrowded jails. Otherwise, this is like dealing with a leaky sink by installing a larger bucket.
Do you have a teenager at home? If so, he or she probably isn't exercising enough.
One of the largest studies of its kind shows just how sluggish American children become once they hit the teen years: While 90 percent of 9-year-olds get a couple of hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3 percent of 15-year-olds do.What's more, the study suggests that fewer than a third of teens that age get even the minimum recommended by the government -- an hour of moderate-to-vigorous exercise, like cycling, brisk walking, swimming or jogging.
The sharp drop raises concerns about inactivity continuing into adulthood, which could endanger kids' health throughout their lives, the study authors said.
"People don't recognize this as the crisis that it is," said lead author Dr. Philip Nader, a pediatrician and professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego.
[...]
The study, appearing in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, tracked about 1,000 U.S. children, from 2000 until 2006.
Special gadgets were used to record their activity. Average levels of moderate-to-vigorous activity fell from three hours a day at age 9 to less than an hour at age 15.
Nader said he was "surprised by how dramatic the decline was," and cited schools dropping recess and gym classes and kids' increasing use of video games and computers as possible reasons.
Well, there isn't a standardized test for gym classes, so what do schools need it for? Focus on the necessities, people.
Two personal anecdotes: We didn't have computers and the Internets when I was a kid, back when the earth's crust was cooling, but I can assure you that any kid who wanted to avoid activity and exercise had plenty of options for doing so. My preferred method for staying inside and sitting on my butt was Strat-O-Matic sports games. I wasn't a fan of that newfangled thing called Dungeons and Dragons, but I knew people who were into it. I did actually play a lot of pickup sports back then, but believe me, if I wanted to be sedentary, I had ways of doing it.
And by the time I was 15, my main form of exercise was commuting to and from high school. That meant taking a bus, the ferry, and the subway every day; it also meant a lot of walking, including a fair amount of stair-climbing, thanks to the subway stations. You want a good workout, try hauling yourself and a backpack full of books from the South Ferry station (three stories underground) onto a ferry boat (one more flight of stairs in the terminal) at full speed so you don't miss the boat and have to wait around with nothing to do for another 30 minutes. I realize that's a unique experience, one that I was lucky to have, though I doubt I would have seen it that way at the time. But I do wonder: How many kids today are being driven to and from school now, compared to when this study started? Maybe that's an option for getting some of these kids more exercise that needs further exploration.
In a bad economy, fun is often the first casualty.For James Hedrick, that means it's a busy time in his line of work. He's one of those dreaded repo men.
He spends his days scanning megayachts, sailboats and fishing skiffs as he steers his dinghy through a marina west of the city's skyscrapers, looking for a piece of the American dream.
This particular piece is a gleaming white, 65-foot Hatteras with two master bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a full galley kitchen with glossy teak cabinets. The owner is $35,000 past due on his $1.5 million boat loan.
Hedrick is an agent with National Liquidators, considered by industry experts to be the world's largest marine repo company. The Fort Lauderdale-based company has tripled its business in the past three years, and now takes possession of about 200 boats a month in Florida, Ohio and California. The company's competitors also say they've seen similar increases in business.
"They're going to hang on to the car, they're going to hang on to the house. But they're going to give up on the boat," said Hedrick, whose employer has doubled its staff in two years to 85 repo agents so they can meet demand from the banks and lenders.
It's not just boats: Repo agents say banks and lenders have been asking them to reclaim all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, small planes, snowmobiles, semi-trucks and, of, course, cars. Vehicle repossessions were up 10 percent in 2007 over the previous year, said Tom Webb, an analyst for Atlanta-based Manheim, the largest car auction company in the nation.
And I'll bet they all whined about it, too. Because that's what we as a nation would do.
The main thing I got out of this article was a reminder that it's been way too long since I've seen the movie. "Put it on a plate, son, you'll enjoy it more." Yeah, I need to see it again.
One more thing:
Rising gas prices have also made it harder for owners to make room in their budgets for boat trips. Marine diesel fuel is over $5 a gallon in some places, which means a five-hour jaunt on the water can easily cost $250 for some gas-guzzling yachts. Last year's marine diesel cost about $3.40 a gallon.
If fuel consumption in the United States drops even a teeny tiny bit because yacht owners are unwilling to pay higher diesel costs for their weekend jaunts, I don't think I'll be grieving that.
The official campaign kickoff for Chris Bell is tomorrow at his new campaign headquarters. The details:
WHO: Chris Bell and friends open Texas Senate campaign HQ
WHEN: Sunday, July 20th, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: 4019 S. Braeswood Blvd @ Stella Link, Houston, TX, 77025
RSVP: (713) 978-7701 or chris@chrisbell.com
I've mentioned the matter of Bell getting adequate funding for this race. Here's one reason why that's important:
In the special election to replace state Sen. Kyle Janek, former judge Joan Huffman leads other contenders in fundraising thanks mostly to a $500,000 bank loan she secured and a $100,000 contribution from West Texas music impresario Herbert Graham.
Bell starts out with a big lead in name ID, but Huffman has taken a big step towards closing that gap. I hope he's got a lot of commitments lined up.
...Al Gore. Or so I'm told. But first, Rep. Lloyd Doggett is giving Speaker Pelosi a rousing introduction. The question is when Gore will appear and whether it will be spontaneous or introduced. Will report back when it happens.
UPDATE: And here he is. The crowd went nuts - big, long standing ovation. He's speaking now about the need for an informed citizenry, and also about the environment, speicifcally the potential melting of the north polar ice cap and its effects on the world.
UPDATE: Four standing ovations later, he's done. He touted his new website, WeCanSolveIt.org as he wrapped up. Time for more questions, with a warning to the crowd that "soliloquies" will be cut off - that got applause, too.
First question: Would Gore accept a position with the Obama administration? Answer: "I am honored by the suggestion, I want to convey my respect for the idea as I explain why I think it's not the best thing for me to do." Basically, he's gonna keep doing what he's doing. I think that's a good call.
UPDATE: For more on this session, check out The Texas Blue and Three Wise Men.
I thought our panel went pretty well yesterday. It was well attended given its local appeal, and we got a number of good questions from the audience. We panelists - Vince, Matt, Boadicea and I - hardly let our poor moderator, Brian Hamon of Eye on Williamson get a word in edgewise. We talked a lot about the politics of the Legislature, and how a lot of the bad policy choices the Republicans have made in recent sessions have left them on the brink of losing control of a chamber they once dominated. All these panels have been video recorded, so I assume it's online somewhere; if I can find the linkage, I'll post it.
Much as I've enjoyed attending and participating in these panels, I think I've enjoyed meeting and talking to people in the halls and after panels even more. I've met quite a few bloggers that I've read for a long time - Atrios, Ezra Klein, Jesse Taylor, Digby, and Kos himself, to name several - and a number of people who read my blog. It's a cliche to say that it's nice to put faces to names, or to disembodied pixels as the case may be, but it's also true. Meeting the folks who make up the community makes the experience better, and I have really enjoy the opportunity to do it.
The presence of the RightOnline conference going on nearby has generated some interest among the reporters here. The Chron's RG Ratcliffe did a little video interview with some participants in NN and RO, including Rick Noriega, Peggy Venable, Matt Bramanti, and me. Note how Bramanti identifies the same reason why progressives are out in front of online organizing as I did. Whoever said the left and the right couldn't agree on stuff? And Forrest Wilder of the Texas Observer catches an awkward question during a panel on media bashing "Understanding and Critiquing the Old Media". You never do know who's listening in, do you?
I promised some photos from the kickoff party Thursday night. They were taken at night with a flash from about fifteen feet away, so most of them aren't worth publishing. About the only one worth showing is Gen. Clark introducing Rick Noriega:
Here's a much better photo, of something a little different. When I arrived back at our friends' house last night, after an enthusiastic greeting from the girls, Olivia informed me that she and Audrey had been working on an art project that day. She led me over to the table where they were, and showed me their labors:
And that would be why I didn't go to any parties Friday night. As much fun as NN has been, that was better.
Oh, and in case anyone is curious: I managed to not oversleep this morning. So, I should be there at 8:30 to find out who the "special guest" is that people have been hyping. I'll update when I learn the identity.
Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee revved up their money machine in June, outpacing their Republican rivals by almost $25 million, the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign said Thursday.Obama and the party have also all but caught up to Republican standard-bearer John McCain and the Republican National Committee in the amount they have available to spend.
McCain and the RNC had about $95 million in the bank at the end of June, while Obama and the DNC had about $92 million.
Reports that detail the numbers are scheduled to be released Sunday, when the campaigns must file their monthly disclosures with the Federal Election Commission.
In a preview of the full report, Obama disclosed Thursday that his fundraising increased to $52 million in June, after a down month in May when he raised $22 million. Obama nearly matched his all-time high of $55 million, which he raised in February.
By contrast, McCain raised $22 million in June, an uptick from the $21.2 million he raised in May, his campaign had reported earlier.
[...]
The June report suggests Obama and his party will be able to raise the hundreds of millions that they plan to spend on the general election campaign.
"The sky is the limit," said political scientist Bruce Cain, head of the University of California Washington Center. "Whatever the other guy raises, you want to raise more. It's an arms race. It will be a record amount."
Since clinching the nomination, Obama has shifted his focus to emphasize views that appeal to centrist independent voters, raising speculation that he risked losing his all-important small-donor base.
But according to his campaign, Obama's average donation in June was $68. The modest amount suggests Obama's small-donor base remains enthusiastic, Cain said, adding: "That makes it an even more positive signal."
As you might imagine, Barack Obama is a frequent conversation topic here; his campaign is a fairly pervasive presence as well. There was definitely some muttering about how in particular his change on FISA might hurt his fundraising. Guess that's not the case, though perhaps next month will tell yet another story. In any event, they're clearly on track, and it's good to see.
Could LeBron James or Shaquille O'Neal catch on in the Hindi heartland?The NBA certainly hopes so as it plans a major push to introduce basketball to India and expand its already formidable global reach into a country with a soaring economy, a growing appetite for Western tastes, and, most importantly, 1.1 billion potential fans.
The NBA has had tremendous success selling basketball overseas, most notably in China, where the league estimates 300 million people play the sport and Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is a national icon.
India, a relatively untapped territory, looms as the NBA's next great challenge.
But it could be a tough sell. The few public basketball courts attract little attention, and words like "slam-dunk" and "alley-oop" are met with blank stares.
To help counter that, the NBA held its first-ever event in India last week, a "Basketball Without Borders" camp that featured charity events and basketball clinics in which NBA players instructed young Asians.
League executives say they're considering a wide range of plans to spread the game, including building courts in remote villages, seeking endorsements from Bollywood stars, and bringing NBA players to India for exhibitions.
"We see tremendous growth potential for basketball in India," said Heidi Ueberroth, the NBA's chief of global marketing. "The interest in sports is by no means saturated."
[...]
Basketball is most popular among cosmopolitan Indians, for whom the game carries a whiff of Western sophistication. America's ultimate gritty playground game has, in India, largely become a game for the children of the elite.
"My students, they go to U.S., Europe, and there they have so much of a basketball culture," said Deepak Shukla, who coaches a basketball team at an exclusive New Delhi school. "They have Shaquille O'Neal shoes they get from U.S. ... My students are from (wealthy) families."
"The poor people will play cricket," he said. Basketball "requires great infrastructure and money."
Fascinating. Given their success in China - aided, of course, by Yao Ming - the NBA should be in a good position to make inroads in India. I have wonder, though, given the huge popularity of cricket there, what Major League Baseball is doing. You'd think baseball would be more of a natural fit with cricket fans. Anyway, it's a good read, so check it out. Link via AOL Fanhouse.
This ought to be fun to watch.
Two days after telling an online town hall meeting that NASA had "failed us miserably" and "wastes a vast amount of money," Houston Rep. John Culberson said Thursday he was weighing legislation to overhaul the structure of the space agency, responsible for about 20,000 jobs in the Houston area.Culberson, a blunt-spoken conservative from a heavily Republican westside district, said his proposal would slash NASA headquarters' bureaucracy and enable scientists and engineers to rekindle visionary space exploration.
"We need revolutionary change, a complete restructuring," Culberson told the Houston Chronicle. "NASA needs complete freedom to hire and fire based on performance; it needs to be driven by the scientists and the engineers, and it needs to be free of politics as much as possible."
The fourth-term lawmaker said he was "kicking around" a proposal designed to make NASA more like the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency led by a director and a 24-member board appointed by the president.
[...]
Citing an essay by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently published in Aviation Week, the congressman said Gingrich is "quite right that NASA has failed us miserably."
"There's a lot of wonderful people working there," said Culberson, "but NASA wastes a vast amount of money."
Culberson's criticisms of NASA provoked angry responses both from Houston-area Democrats and NASA defenders.
"It's outrageous to suggest that the agency that put a man on the moon has somehow failed us," said Culberson's Democratic challenger, Michael Skelly. "I will always be a strong supporter of NASA."
Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, whose congressional district includes NASA's Johnson Space Center, declared that "now is not the time to take away the tools NASA will use to continue to carry out their mission."
"Johnson Space Center is a jewel of Texas," said Lampson. "It's times like these when I'm relieved -- and I know my constituents are relieved -- that I'm the representative of JSC."
Jeffrey E. Carr, spokesman for United Space Alliance, a Houston-based aerospace firm, said that NASA's technology advances "have created countless industries, including a growing commercial space industry, spawned millions of jobs and generated billions of dollars into the economy, an immeasurable return on America's investment."
John M. Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, challenged Culberson's claim that the nation had little to show for NASA's efforts over the past 50 years, adding that NASA had fulfilled what the White House and Congress requested and financed for decades.
"It's easy to beat up on them because they're at the end of the shuttle program, and they've been given inadequate funding by the administration and Congress to move forward with the new program for manned spaceflight," Logsdon said.
I don't have a whole lot of time to analyze this right now. NASA certainly isn't above criticism, but I'll bet Culberson winds up walking back on what he said. He's going to get a lot of pushback on it, and I don't think this is going to be a winning campaign issue for him. He may dig his heels in, which will make this even more fun, but I think he'll be making some clarifications, if nothing else. Enjoy the spectacle in any event.
While Netroots Nation is going on here in Austin, there is another gathering - not as large, not as well known - also happening: RightOnline, which bills itself as "a meeting place for the free enterprise movement, focusing on how we can more effectively leverage the power of the internet and work together to achieve our common goals." It's kind of amusing watching our friends on the right try to play catchup in this arena. They of course haven't needed to be a force in online activism, as their longstanding infrastructure of talk radio, compliant media such as Fox News, the Washington Times and Wall Street Journal, and the entire lovable gang at outlets like NewsMax and Townhall - not to mention being in control of the entire federal government for most of the past 7.5 years - has served them pretty well. Frankly, the best thing that could happen to their efforts is for a Barack Obama victory and unified Democratic control. It's not a coincidence that progressives made all their gains in this sphere between 2003 and 2007 - there's nothing like being an embattled minority to focus the attention and impose a unified sense of purpose. I can't say I wish these guys luck, because I don't, but I do expect that some time in the next few years, we'll look at some things they're doing and say "why aren't we doing that?"
By the way, one of the RightOnline speakers is former State Rep. Ron Wilson, the uber Craddick Democrat who came in to the last legislative session as an enforcer after the parliamentarian and assistant parliamentarian were forced out for not agreeing with Craddick on the question of whether or not he had to recognize a privileged motion to call for a vote to oust him. He'll fit fit in real well.
Oh, and one guy who has decided that he'd rather be here than there: David "Buck Smith" Beckwith. The dude just won't leave us alone.
Also going on this weekend out in San Francisco is BlogHer, the community for women who blog. Local folks Julie and Jenny are out there, where it's got to be a wee bit less hot. There's supposed to be a video-linkup co-panel of some kind between the two today, but I can't find the info for it offhand. Hopefully next year, BlogHer and NN can be on different weekends, so folks who might like to attend both can do so.
Day 2 of Netroots Nation got off to a slightly weird start for me, when I woke up and thought "my, it's awfully bright". I use my BlackBerry as my travel alarm clock, and as with yesterday, I had it set for 6:15 AM. Turns out it was almost 8 - not only had I slept through the alarm, but my backup system - that is, Audrey - was still asleep as well. I can't tell you the last time I got to sleep in this late, though had I been given the choice, I'd have picked a different day for it. Oh, well. On the plus side, nothing makes you feel AWAKE like eight solid hours' sleep.
I was at the Rick Noriega/Turn Texas Blue/TDP/Texans for Obama/TexBlog PAC party last night, which was well-attended. Noriega was the guest of honor, of course, and he got a raucous introduction from Gen. Wes Clark, who was in turn was introduced by Rep. Lloyd Doggett. I got a few photos of that, but thanks to my slovenliness this morning, I haven't had the time to upload them yet. The buzz at the event last night was the big fundraiser Noriega had had in Dallas the night before.
Comparing his battle for the Senate to David's rumble against Goliath, Democrat Rick Noriega held a fundraiser in Dallas on Wednesday night that attracted nearly 700 people.Retired Gen. Wesley Clark gave a keynote speech for Democrat Rick Noriega in Dallas. Before the event, he explained remarks he made about John McCain. "We recognize that it's an uphill fight," Mr. Noriega said of his race against Sen. John Cornyn. As of June 30, Mr. Noriega had just $916,000 in cash, compared with the Republican's $9.4 million.
"If it has to be all about money, then we shouldn't have elections," he said.
The fundraiser featured retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former presidential candidate who was criticized this month for saying John McCain's service in Vietnam didn't qualify him to be president.
Before Wednesday's event, Gen. Clark explained that remark. He said military service is "a wonderful test of your character and what it means about your willingness to sacrifice for the country." But, he said, judgment is also important.
In his speech, Mr. Noriega took a shot at his rival, saying, "John Cornyn's record in the Senate has made it hard to be hopeful. This nation, this state, is on the wrong course."
I'm told the event raised well over $100,000, which is welcome news. As we know by Noriega's success on ActBlue, the grassroots folks have strongly supported him. He's also gotten quite a bit of support from national Democrats such as Clark, and other Senators like Jim Webb, Jon Tester, Barbara Boxer, and Ken Salazar, not to mention Harry Reid. It's been the traditional Texas Democratic donors, as documented in that John Spong article from Texas Monthly, who have lagged behind. Maybe now this is finally starting to change. It'll be about time if so.
I'm sitting in the Lone Star Candidates 08 session, which is one of three going on at 9 AM that I'd like to see - Noriega is speaking as I type this. I'll probably sneak out at some point to visit the Different Tones and Wider Nets panel, but that's as much multi-tasking for now. My panel is at 3. At least I can feel confident I won't be nodding off midway through it.
UPDATE: Vince Leibowitz, who is emceeing this panel, has just observed that the interloper in our midst is here in the audience for this panel. I think that's him sitting about ten feet away from me, with a really sweet video camera, no doubt hoping for a "macaca moment". On behalf of the Texas Progressive Alliance, may I say "welcome to Netroots Nation". Have fun, and be sure to attend the Pub Quiz this evening.
The recent spate of favorable stories about Houston continues with this Bloomberg entry.
Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, hasn't had a new downtown luxury apartment tower in four decades.That will change next year, when One Park Place opens. The $125 million, 37-story building will have 346 units, charging monthly rents as high as $7,000. The $170 million Houston Pavilions, opening in October, will have offices, shops, a bowling alley and a restaurant owned by the family of Houston Rockets basketball player Yao Ming.
Developers of the two projects are taking on the challenge of boosting the city center's population of 4,000 and enticing commuters to stay for activities after the business day ends. About 200,000 people work, shop or run errands each weekday in downtown Houston, a landscape of vacant storefronts on Main Street and acres of parking lots interspersed with skyscrapers.
"I think it's going to all happen, and it's going to happen in a hurry," said Kathleen Hayes, 58, a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch & Co. who plans to move into One Park Place with her husband in March. "It's almost like popcorn."
[...]
The timing is right for Houston, said Mayor Bill White.
"People are wanting to live closer to where they work," White said. "To build street-level retail, you need residences. To attract residences, you need street-level retail."
Three downtown projects with residential space are being discussed, he said. More offices are on the way: Houston-based Hines is developing the 46-story MainPlace, which will house offices of KPMG LLP, and Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. is building the 30-story Discovery Tower, near the new Discovery Green park.
The advantage of living closer to his job is obvious to Cody Austin, an application consultant for Aveva Inc., a developer of software for the energy industry. He plans to move to One Park Place to reduce the $600-a-month cost of gasoline and tolls to reach his office in the western part of the city from Clear Lake, about 45 miles southeast.
"Why not put the money that I'm spending toward gas toward living in a nicer place?" said Austin, 22. "And I've always wanted to live downtown."
Skeptics say it will take years to reverse decades of neglecting downtown development in Houston, which sprawls over twice the area of New York.
"For 30 years, we've built just the opposite -- we've built away from the urban core," said Michael Shine, president of Texas Food Group, who has invested in downtown restaurants. "I think it's going to take us 20 or 30 years."
I think Hayes is more right than Shine, mostly because there's still a lot of space near downtown that is ripe for redevelopment - east of 59, farther out in Midtown, between Houston Avenue and Sawyer north of the Old Sixth Ward, to name three such places. I think we've come a long way on this already, as anyone who remembers what "Midtown" looked like circa 20 years ago can attest. And I think it will be very good for Houston, though it will require some different thinking to make it all work in this urban context. I like where we're going from here. Link via Ryan Avent.
The Texas Bloggers Caucus was a success - we had about 70 people in attendance, including some media types and other more traditional activists. Joe Jaworski spoke about his campaign. Melissa Noriega (who probably wasn't expecting to be called on, but who did a very nice job anyway) talked about how she first came to discover and interact the blogosphere; she had a couple of good stories about having a DPS trooper knock on her door in the middle of the night shortly after the Ardmore exodus, and about using blogs to help track various plots and subplots in the Lege in 2005. Nate Wilcox said a few words about his book and his experiences with Richard Morrison and Tony Sanchez. I spoke about the TexBlog PAC. Good conversation, lots of energy from the crowd - all in all, a fine way to start.
Afterwards, I answered a few questions from a reporter with the Daily Texan and KUT. And beforehand, Eileen Smith caught me on video:
Eileen has several more videos at Poll Dancing, so check it out.
And finally, I got quoted by Karen Brooks, who outed an infiltrator in our midst. Right place, right time.
The Statesman writes about Netroots Nation and has the good taste to quote me.
"As politics has embraced the notion of blogging ... it's also the case that what I say and what I do does have an impact on the political process and the legislative process," said Charles Kuffner, who started his liberal blog Off the Kuff in 2002.
There's also this DMN article by Karen Brooks, who is here in the Texas Bloggers Caucus room; Austin TV stations KXAN, which is blogging, videoing, and Twittering; and Poll Dancing, which should have lots of videos as well. Also check out BOR, which didn't much care for the accompanying editorial.
I'm sitting here on the floor of the Austin Convention, connected to their WiFI network (called "internets") and getting ready for a full day of networking and schmoozing. First event is the Texas Blogger Caucus at 10:30. I'll check back in during the day with updates of what's going on - you can also follow me on Twitter for quick-hit stuff. It's going to be a fun and busy weekend. Who else reading this is here? Leave a comment to let me know, and by all means come to my panel tomorrow.
UPDATE: At the Texas Blogger Caucus. Lots of new faces, so hopefully I'll find out about some good new-to-me blogs. Vince is emceeing, and I'm up front on a panel with Karl-Thomas, Martha, and Anna. I'm ready for my closeup...
Following up on the recent good news that the city will now accept more types of plastic for curbside and dropoff recycling, City Controller Annise Parker announces on her website that more expansions are coming:
Recycler AbitibiBowater has committed $3 million to upgrade its Houston facility to process single-stream recyclables and has announced plans for further investments to "strengthen the recycling partnership with the city...to allow the city ... to proceed aggressively with a strategic plan for a sustainable recycling program.""With a single-stream processing facility in town, we will be able to provide more Houstonians with curbside recycling," Solid Waste Management Department Director Harry Hayes said.
I'm sure the neighborhoods that don't yet have curbside recycling but have been clamoring for it will be very glad to hear that. Now if we could just get participation rates up a bit, that would be excellent.
Meanwhile, a group of folks led by KPFT's Leo Gold were at last week's City Council meeting to present this petition (PDF) to Mayor White and a request for the following:
A. Formal adoption of "waste diversion rate" as the primary metric for measuring success of the Program, with regular tabulation and public release thereof. Waste diversion rate shall be defined as the sum of recycled volume, composted volume, and source volume reduced divided by total waste volume.B. Integration of the Program with the City's "regular" waste disposal program so that the overall waste management system is considered and budgeted in a comprehensive manner.
C. To encourage greater public participation in the Program, implementation of variable user fees for "regular" waste collection, the central features being implementation of variable size collection bins, with (1) price increasing proportional to bin size, and (2) a no-fee baseline small bin.
D. Expanded acceptance of materials currently refused by the Program, such as glass and building materials.
E. Expanded coverage of the Program to include currently neglected communities, including apartment/condo dwellers and commercial businesses.
F. Implementation of regulatory mandates where applicable, including (a)a requirement that locally permitted commercial businesses additionally submit for approval and subsequently follow comprehensive waste disposal and recycling plans, and (b) regulation of other waste disposal businesses such that they too must be in compliance with City Program-related regulations.
G. Implementation of industry best practices, including such Program initiatives as food waste recycling/composting from local restaurants and food stores, and recycling/re-use of demolished building materials by construction developers.
I. Creation of plans to gradually and appropriately bring about mandatory public participation in the Program.
J. Creation of formal and ongoing contacts, visitations, and study of comparable city programs for the express purpose of implementing ongoing improvements to the Program.
According to a posting on our neighbohood chat line, from which I got those links, they were favorably received.
The Texas Freedom Network, which does an admirable job of watching and chronicling the religious right in Texas, has started a blog called the TFN Insider. Among other things, they'll be focusing on the State Board of Education and its recent shenanigans concerning the language arts and reading curriculum and the new Bible-as-literature class. This should be a good resource, so check it out.
Dwight expresses his loathing of voice mail, then admits it's not going anywhere:
In companies where technology is a means rather than the end, voice mail is alive and well. People reach for a phone when they want to have a quick conversation, and if they don't get a human, they'll leave a message. It happens millions of times a day.Or, look at it this way: When was the last time you talked to any serious business person who didn't have voice mail? Yeah, I didn't think so.
No, voice mail isn't dead, and people won't stop using it. It's a tool, and it has its place. It's just no longer in first place, thankfully.
At work, which do you prefer to receive: Voice or e-mail? And, when reaching out instead of receiving, which do you prefer?
I'm more or less indifferent. A big part of my job is troubleshooting end-user problems, and in many cases there's just no substitute for the phone for that task. I can't always use it - some of my customers are in Asia, and we're never in the office at the same time - but it's not optional for me. I also deal with a lot of mobile users, and as often as not the phone is their only option to reach me. Given that, a certain amount of voice mail is inevitable, and that's fine by me. It gets the job done.
For some things, however, email is definitely better. I get a lot of requests for routine tasks involving the server, all of which I can do on my BlackBerry. Your odds of getting me to do those things in a timely fashion is much greater if you shoot me an email, especially if I'm away from my desk, because I check my email way more frequently than I check my voice mail. Plus, seeing in print the name of someone I need to perform some task on solves the "how do I spell that?" problem.
Bottom line, some things require a conversation, and for those things I prefer the phone. Leave me a voice mail, I'll call you back. For more routine stuff, send me an email. There's a reason we have different tools for different jobs. Why force a choice when you can do what makes the most sense?
I'll now ask the same question Dwight did: What do you prefer, voice mail or email? Leave a comment and let me know.
Okay.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office has named a department employee to head the newly created post of inspector general to investigate abuses at the county jail.The appointment comes as federal authorities review the downtown lockups and a local congressional leader plans an inquiry into county judicial matters, including jail conditions, later this week.
[...]
Traditionally, jail supervisors investigated complaints against staff, officials said. However, the sheriff's new investigative arm will relieve supervisors of the time-consuming investigations and allow them to focus on supervisory duties.
Investigators with the oversight office, which was created about six weeks ago, will regularly tour county jails to ensure that proper operations and procedures are followed.
The sheriff's internal affairs unit as well the homicide division will continue to investigate in-custody deaths, officials said.
[...]
Sheriff's officials said the new investigative office had been planned for months and is unrelated to recent public criticism of Sheriff Tommy Thomas and federal inquiries at the jail.
Yeah, just like the new email retention policy was unrelated to the Ibarra litigation. Sure it is. I don't know if this setup will be any better than the previous one. I do know that there will be a distinct lack of faith in any internal process for as long as the current leadership is in place.
In related news:
[Rep. Sheila] Jackson Lee, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, is scheduled to host an informal hearing at City Hall from 10 a.m. to noon Friday to examine county judicial issues, including jail conditions.
This will likely be sound and fury, but a little more scrutiny of the issue is a good thing.
It occurs to me that I haven't pimped my participation in Netroots Nation yet. I will be there, trying to attend as many concurrently-scheduled events as I can (where's Hermione's time-travel charm when you really need it?), and sitting on a panel along with some of my Texas blogging colleagues - that's Friday, 3 PM, Ballroom F, be there or be square. Oh, and I'll be at this party tomorrow night. I don't really know what else to expect, other than the certainty of getting lost inside the labyrinthine Austin Convention Center, but I'm looking forward to it, and I'll do my best to tell you about the stuff I see and hear. And for those of you who can't be in Austin physically for this event, you can be there virtually. So, one way or the other, I hope to see you there.
And for those of you who can't wait till tomorrow to get the festivities started, here's an appetizer from the Texas Politics Today radio show and its hosts, Deece Eckstein and David Kobierowski:
This week on TEXAS POLITICS TODAY, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga is our guest for a lively discussion of Internet activism and the 2008 elections. TEXAS POLITICS TODAY airs from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT every Wednesday on KOOP, Austin's community radio station. KOOP is located at 91.7 on the FM dial and also streams live over the Internet at www.koop.org.KOOP, "the little station that could," is Austin's only community-owned radio station. It shares the FM 91.7 radio frequency with KVRX, the University of Texas student radio. It also streams live over the Web at www.koop.org. KOOP is on the air on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
I figure you know who Markos is, so I skipped the brief bio. Tune in later today for this unofficial kickoff to Netroots Nation, and I'll see you there tomorrow.
The Chron's Alan Bernstein rounds up the finance reports for the countywide candidates, and there's some good news and some not-so-good news for both sides.
Democrat Adrian Garcia, the Houston councilman, easily outraised incumbent Tommy Thomas in the race for sheriff in the last few months. But thanks to leftovers from previous campaigns, Thomas ended June with $609,000 in the bank, compared to $112,000 for Garcia.(Of Thomas' $28,000 raised since February, $20,000 came from lawyer Mark Lanier, homebuilder Bob Perry and wife Doylene Perry. Thomas spent $29,000 on legal fees since late February and made a $5,000 contribution to the University of Houston).
District Clerk Theresa Chang reported $51,000 in her campaign treasury, compared to $9,000 for Democratic challenger Loren Jackson, according to county records.
I'm not too concerned about the District Clerk race. It's always nice to have more money, but as I said before, I don't really expect the candidates in this race to have much effect on the outcome beyond the pull of Presidential turnout. A little something at the margins never hurts, of course.
As for the Sheriff's race, I'd seen an earlier version of this post last night that showed a much smaller total for Adrian Garcia. The updated amount is way better, but we're talking about a two-term City Council incumbent who's running against a guy with a bigger bulls-eye on his back than the Grace Church mega-cross. The ceiling is a lot higher than this, and I hope Garcia picks up the pace. It's hard to imagine him losing, and it's hard (but certainly not impossible) to imagine Thomas running an effective campaign given all his baggage, but let's please not take anything for granted, OK? Thanks.
On the flip side:
Pat Lykos, after her smackdown with Kelly Siegler in the April GOP runoff, has $32,000 in the bank, well behind Democrat C.O. Bradford, with $115,000. (Although, much his take this year was actually the worth of donated services, from campaign accounting to sign placement on private property to office carpet cleaning). Contributions to Bradford included $5,000 from Lee Brown, who was mayor part of the time Bradford was police chief and whose consulting company employs Bradford now.[...]
County Judge Ed Emmett, after a bruising Republican primary against Charles Bacarisse, continues to trail Democratic challenger David Mincberg in the money column. Emmett reported $569,000 on hand, to $713,000 for Mincberg.
Good to see Mincberg continue to do well. Thanks to his expensive primary race, Ed Emmett has less cash on hand now than he did in January. Of course, he spent that money on voter contact and TV ads, so it's not like it was frittered away. I figure we'll start seeing these two on TV soon after Labor Day.
I need to look at the actual report before I can judge Bradford's efforts. He didn't get to run against the bogeyman Chuck Rosenthal, which probably had a dampening effect, but he did announce awhile ago, well before Rosenthal's flameout, so he did have some time to use that to his advantage. I want to know how much actual cash he has, and how much of his total is based on in-kind donations. I'll check it when I can and do an update later.
No word yet on the County Attorney candidates, or for HCDE Trustees. I know Vince Ryan has had at least one fundraiser, but that's about all I know. If he's been working the phones, he could crack $100K. I'll be very pleasantly surprised if that's the case - I expect him to have less than that, probably less than $50K. But he has run for office before, including countywide, so who knows? As for Mike Stafford, I assume he's got some money stashed away from 2004, when he ran unopposed. It could be a big number - $250K or more - if he's been busy and frugal. Or maybe he's been coasting, I don't know. And I've no clue about the HCDE Trustee race. I'll be looking for all this data later today.
UPDATE: To clarify, Bradford raised $250K, including in-kind donations, and has $110K on hand. The report is here (PDF). All things considered, not too bad. For the County Attorney race, Stafford has $50K, Ryan $10K, much less than I thought in each case.
Get ready to see Michael Skelly and his family on TV.
Democratic congressional challenger Michael Skelly brought an unusually early and extensive start Tuesday night to the next season of political TV advertising in the Houston area.Skelly, who has raised significantly more campaign money than his Republican opponent, Rep. John Culberson, said he will run campaign ads on TV until the Nov. 4 election.
Few candidates for the U.S. House have had the luxury of running TV ads non-stop for 3.5 months. Skelly, an executive of a wind power company, called it a necessity.
"I'm new to the political world. I come from the business world. So I need to work extra hard," he said. "It's as simple as that."
Here's the ad:
Nice, positive spot, and the kids come across well, which is a tricky thing to do. What do you think?
This is the best part of the story:
Culberson noted that he was heavily outspent by an opponent in his first Republican primary for Congress "and I have run against millionaires before, but never against one who raised so much money from outside of Texas."Skelly has raised less than 25 percent of his money from outside the state, however, while 31 percent of Culberson's donations came from Washington-based political action committees.
Culberson also wrote that he is "completely focused on doing my job representing District 7, and I am confident that as long as I continue to do the right things for the right reasons, the politics will follow."
In an electronic text message to a network of people, however, Culberson said on Sunday, "Big day tomorrow; must keep raising $$ since my multimillionaire opponent has infinite $$$."
Oops. Hold still, Congressman, I think you've got something in your eye. Nice to see the Chron following Culberson on Twitter, by the way. It really is a useful resource, isn't it?
And here we have another push to make a currently-appointed statewide office an elected office instead. It's almost as if legislators want to send a message to Governor Rick "39%" Perry or something.
Lawmakers should look at allowing voters rather than the governor choose the overseer of the Texas Department of Transportation, a member of a legislative body studying the controversy-stirring agency said today."I think that we ought to have everything on the table," said Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, a member of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, at a hearing on possible changes at TxDOT. "We ought to look at leaving it like it is. We also ought to seriously look at an elected commissioner."
McClendon asked Sunset staff -- who earlier issued a report urging other major changes at the agency, citing an atmosphere of frustration and distrust -- to study the pros and cons of an elected commissioner.
Critics of TxDOT and the commission that oversees it applauded the idea, and one man said, "Amen!"
The idea was seconded by Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, who said the proposal would make a "bold statement" that the agency must rebuild trust and address the state's transportation needs. She said 76 percent of people who have commented during the review process want an elected commissioner.
"I think that if we did not look at that, we would be as guilty as TxDOT is of not listening to the public," Harper-Brown said.
The idea met with resistance from Gov. Rick Perry's office. His spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said that TxDOT "is part of the executive branch of government, and the governor believes that's where it should stay."
We're familiar with the argument. I think the fact that a GOP foot soldier such as Linda Harper-Brown is on board with this idea is something that should have the Governor worried. It'd be one thing if this were only being pushed by Democrats. Having it be bipartisan, as with the Insurance Commissioner, means it's something that could get real traction. I'm assuming this would require a Constitutional amendment, which may limit Perry's veto options, especially if it gets passed early enough before sine die. I'm still not sure what I think in the abstract of this plan - obviously, I like seeing Perry's wings clipped, but we will someday have a different Governor - but I'd welcome the debate next spring. Hey, Burka, what do you think about this?
So I'm reading this article about the National Park Service and its attempts to reach out to minority communities, who represent a disproportionately small fraction of their attendees, and I came across this curious paragraph:
The Park Service is prohibited from buying advertising, forcing it to rely on word of mouth, media coverage, outreach through schools and advertising done by concessionaires within or near the parks.
And I asked myself: Why would the Park Service be prohibited from buying advertising? Is it a money thing, or is there some sort of reasoning behind it? Because if it's the latter, I must confess I'm stumped for what it might be. What harm could there be in allowing NPS to run TV or radio spots? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.
I don't often write about this kind of stuff, but I find myself particularly annoyed by it, and that's what having a blog is all about.
The Bush administration wants to require all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control.Under the draft of a proposed rule, hospitals, clinics, researchers and medical schools would have to sign "written certifications" as a prerequisite to getting money under any program run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Such certification would also be required of state and local governments, forbidden to discriminate, in areas like grant-making, against hospitals and other institutions that have policies against providing abortion.
The proposal, which circulated in the department on Monday, says the new requirement is needed to ensure that federal money does not "support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law." The administration said Congress had passed a number of laws to ensure that doctors, hospitals and health plans would not be forced to perform abortions.
In the proposal, obtained by The New York Times, the administration says it could cut off federal aid to individuals or entities that discriminate against people who object to abortion on the basis of "religious beliefs or moral convictions."
The proposal defines abortion as follows: "any of the various procedures -- including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action -- that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation."
Mary Jane Gallagher, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents providers, said, "The proposed definition of abortion is so broad that it would cover many types of birth control, including oral contraceptives and emergency contraception."
"We worry that under the proposal, contraceptive services would become less available to low-income and uninsured women," Ms. Gallagher said.
Indeed, among other things the proposal expresses concern about state laws that require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims who request it.
Can we please put the needs of the patients above the needs of the providers? Between this and all those incidents of pharmacists who won't sell birth control, it's as if we've forgotten who it is that the health care industry is supposed to be serving. I understand that some people may have moral issues regarding certain procedures and medications. I don't want to force people to do stuff they don't want to do, but at some point, if you can't do the job, maybe you should find a different line of work. Sorry, but I'll put my sympathy with the women who are seeking medical assistance before I'll put it with those whose job it is to give it. And even though I feel confident that a President Obama would reverse this stupid directive shortly after being sworn in, the thought that a lame-duck President that nobody likes could just do this as a parting gift makes me ill. RH Reality Check has more.
On a side note, I'm wondering when we'll see the first instance of a pharmacist or nurse refusing to dispense Viagra to a male patient. Mention of which gives me an excuse to run this now-classic video of John McCain:
Straight talk, baby.
Back in April, I blogged about a proposal to connect the wind farms in West Texas to the rest of the state. On Thursday, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will hold a hearing to examine that report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and to make a recommendation for which scenario to adopt. A birpartisan group of eight legislators from the D/FW are is urging them to adopt the most aggressive plan. From their press release:
"This week, Texas has a historic opportunity to establish itself as a global leader in renewable energy," said State Representative Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth). "We can say 'yes' to new technologies offering clean, cheap, and limitless power for decades to come, or we can continue to pay exorbitant prices and breathe dirty air from fuel sources of the past," Burnam added.According to ERCOT, an annual investment of $1 billion to build and maintain transmission lines from West Texas will be more than offset by the $3 billion in savings from cheaper fuel sources. Replacing heavy polluting coal and natural gas-fired plants with clean wind and solar generation could yield up to a 13% reduction in NOx emissions and a 16% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions around the state.
"Texans want access to clean, affordable energy. In the face of rising energy costs and increasing concern over climate change, we need greater access to wind in the state," says State Representative Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas). "Now is the time for bold action. We can't afford to make short-sighted decisions on this issue any longer."
The letter calls on the PUC to adopt Scenario 3 when it meets on Thursday to continue its discussions regarding which scenario will offer the greatest benefits to Texans for moving electricity from the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in West Texas and the Panhandle.
You can see the different ERCOT scenarios here - Scenario 3 is the most far-reaching - and the legislators' letter here (PDF); there's a link to the full 29 MB ERCOT report at the first link. The Chron has an AP story about the effort. In addition to Burnam and Anchia, the letter was signed by State Reps. Marc Veasey, Paula Pierson, Allen Vaught, Dan Barrett (all Ds), Brian McCall, and Jim Pitts (both Rs). If you want to add your support to this effort, you can sign this petition on the website of State Rep. Mike Villarreal of San Antonio.
A sample of fundraising numbers for the second quarter, based on press releases received:
- From Larry Joe Doherty in CD10:
Larry Joe Doherty, Democratic nominee in the 10th Congressional District, will report receiving over $247,000 in campaign contributions from 520 individuals since March 31st, more than doubling his cash-on-hand from the previous reporting period to $259,792."During these tough economic times of skyrocketing gas, diesel and food prices, the strong support our campaign is finding shows that the people are determined to hold Washington accountable," stated Doherty.
Highlighting Republican incumbent Michael McCaul's vulnerability, The Cook Political Report, an independent and non-partisan analysis group, recently upgraded the competitiveness of TX-10 from "safe Republican" to "likely Republican." The Southern Political Report also identifies Doherty's challenge as one of only 12 Republican-held Congressional seats being competitively challenged in the South, and the only race in Texas.
Cook upgraded TX-07 as well, which is great. That one I expect is more about Michael Skelly's fundraising prowess, with this one being more about a purpler district. Either way, it's great to see two Texas races get that treatment.
- From Joe Jaworski in SD11:
With the intensity continuing to grow behind his campaign and internal poll numbers showing a dead-even race against the 20-year incumbent, Texas Senate candidate Joe Jaworski today said that he will report raising more than $801,000 from 1,267 individual contributors in his race thus far, capping another successful fundraising period."More and more Texans are eager to invest in a new day and a new direction," Jaworski said. "Too many challenges are going unmet, and voters know that more of the same isn't good enough."
Jaworski will report a total of $801,218 raised to date, including $345,209.50 during the first six months of this year. His latest report shows more than $410,390 cash on hand after winning his primary race in March.
Jaworski's internal polling reveals that his opponent is in a vulnerable position with just 16 weeks to go until the November 4 election. Fewer than one-third of voters in SD 11 approve of the incumbent's job performance, citing among other reasons his multiple votes for term limits for everyone but himself. With insurance rates, utility costs, air pollution, and college tuition all on the rise, the momentum for positive change is mounting. As a result, the race is statistically tied -- 48 percent to 44 percent -- with Jaworski commanding a margin of more than 20 percent among independent voters, a critical component of the electorate this year.
He has a better case for the "statistically tied" statement than some other pollsters in some other races I could name, but I'd still call Mike Jackson in the lead. A small lead, and Jaworski is in a good position to overtake him, but he's in front by a little bit. For now, anyway.
- From the TexBlog PAC-endorsed Chris Turner in HD96:
When we file our campaign finance report with the Texas Ethics Commission tomorrow, we will report having raised over $200,000 in the first six months of this year!
Very nice for a State House race. Lots of action in Tarrant County this year.
- From Sandr VuLe, running for HD112 up in Richardson:
A veteran family advocate and community lawyer whose personal story includes fleeing from Vietnam as a young girl and obtaining a quality education in American public schools, VuLe's financial report for the first six months of the year will show an approximate total of $53,426 in regular and in-kind contributions, including a $10,000 loan from herself. She has marshaled her resources with an efficient campaign, as evidenced by her $76,847.71 cash on hand. She has raised around $95,400 since her campaign began, including in-kind contributions and $20,000 in personal loans.
Not bad for a race that isn't on the radar as much as some others. Democrats didn't field a candidate in this district in 2006 against the retiring Rep. Fred Hill; in the two previous elections, the best showing was 35% in 2004. But as with the rest of Dallas County, it's trending blue, though it has farther to go than some other areas - Bill Moody got 41.8% in 2006. With Hill being an anti-Craddickite, this is a seat both parties would really like to have.
And what may be my favorite paragraph in any press release I've received lately:
In addition to VuLe [who is a native of Vietnam], the other candidates in the race include Angie Chen Button, a native of China, and Philip White, who was born in the Ukraine.
Ain't that America?
- No press release, but I'm told via email that Rep. Hubert Vo will report raising around $100,000 for the six-month period. That email came with a pointer to the finance report (PDF) of his opponent, Greg Meyers, who raised $57,000 and has about $27,000 on hand. Meyers spent over $26,000 of his cash on The Patriot Group, a newish outfit that's a who's who of connected Republicans. I figure Meyers will get a fair amount of cash later in the game for attack mailers, so don't rely too much on the current state of the money figures.
- From Diane Trautman, running for Harris County Tax Assessor:
In a clear signal that Harris County residents are ready for a change at the Tax office, Diane Trautman has raised $150,081 in her race for Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and has $94,420 cash on hand as of the end of the reporting period on June 30, 2008."I am overwhelmed by the commitment from Harris County citizens to bring ethical leadership to county government, by giving so generously to my campaign. Each week more supporters join the fight to bring accountable, accessible and authentic leadership to Harris County," said Trautman.
From February 24, 2008 to June 30, 2008, Trautman raised a total of $68,732. When he was up for reelection in 2004, her opponent, Paul Bettencourt, raised a total of $1,000 in the first 6 months of that year.
That's a slightly unfair comparison, since Bettencourt was running against a marginal candidate in a clearly Republican year. But as neither of those things are the case this year, he's under pressure in a way he's not had to deal with before. Let's see how he responds.
(UPDATE: Houston Politics has the answer: Bettencourt raised $66K, about half of Trautman's haul.)
And finally, this Chron story talks about the cash-on-hand gap between Rick Noriega and Sen. John Cornyn. The most important bit is this:
The most immediate need for Noriega's campaign is to raise several million dollars in the next two months."Clearly, he's got to raise some money," said 2002 Democratic Senate nominee Ron Kirk, who is hosting a fundraiser this week with Dallas financier Jess Hay. "This, at least, is our effort to get him in front of an audience and a pretty good-size audience of people that we believe -- if they can see him, hear him -- they'll get a sense of the excitement we feel, and maybe that will loosen up the purse strings."
Noriega has been very successful raising money online; he's pulled in over a million dollars on ActBlue, making him the top non-Presidential recipient in ActBlue's history. The grassroots folks have done what they said they would. The traditional donors and fundraisers, not so much. If anything is going to change about the dynamic of this race, that's where it's got to happen.
UPDATE: A followup release from Chris Turner puts his exact figure at $240K, and says it's far more than his opponent, Rep. Bill Zedler, has ever raised. And State Rep. Juan Garcia puts in his bid for top fundraiser:
State Rep. Juan Garcia's campaign said it has $520,000 on hand with four months to go until the general election and Todd Hunter's campaign manager said Hunter has raised $307,000. The campaign manager did not say how much cash the campaign has on hand, but said Hunter has contributed about $70,000 to himself, in addition to the $307,000.Garcia's campaign did not immediately disclose what it has raised for the campaign finance period covering Jan. 1 to June 30,
Those figures, while not immediately comparable, likely will shatter estimates of what the campaign will cost. Political observers had previously estimated that the race would cost $1 million.
That's a lot of money for one legislative race.
Clay Robison floats the possibility of another elected office for state government.
For the first time in years, the Texas Department of Insurance will be up for sunset review, thus assuring that proposals for strengthening Texas' weak regulatory system will be heard, rather than quietly buried by the insurance lobby.The most radical proposal to emerge so far (and one with a lot of public appeal) is to replace the current insurance commissioner, an appointee of the governor, with an elected commissioner.
Initially proposed by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, a member of the Sunset Advisory Commission, the elected commissioner idea is a long shot. But it is picking up some bipartisan support, including that of Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, longtime chairman of the House Insurance Committee.
"In Texas, I think it would work. I kind of view it now as the lesser of evils," Smithee said, predicting an uphill fight against the insurance industry, which routinely showers state officeholders with political contributions.
[...]
Eleven states, including California, Louisiana and Oklahoma, have elected commissioners. Hinojosa said people in states with elected commissioners pay, on average, 43 percent less for homeowners insurance and 12 percent less for health coverage.
"I want someone (a commissioner) who is more accountable (to the public)," Hinojosa said.
I've discussed the concept of making certain appojnted offices - Secretary of State, TxDOT Commissioner, and HHSC Commissioner, in particular - elected ones instead. The idea has merit, and would probably lead to some of the benefits that Rep. Smithee and Sen. Hinojosa have in mind, though of course it would still be subject to direct influence from the insurance lobby. The main objection, as I see it, is that this would take away one of the few powers that are explicitly granted to the Governor in the state constitution.That's by no means an insurmountable obstacle, but it is something we should weigh carefully before we act.
On the other hand, the best reason to push for this sort of change is given by Robison later on in the column:
The governor's office says there is no "short list" yet for a potential successor to former Secretary of State Phil Wilson, who recently resigned.But if Perry remains true to form, two of the leading contenders are likely to be Brian Newby, the governor's chief of staff, and Luis Saenz, a former deputy secretary of state who was director of Perry's political committee during the 2006 election cycle.
Perry has a habit of promoting people close and loyal to him. Wilson was the governor's deputy chief of staff before being named secretary of state.
And Perry recently appointed his former chief of staff, Deirdre Delisi, to chair the Texas Transportation Commission.
Promotions based on loyalty rather than competence and experience are never a good thing (three words: "Heckuva job, Brownie!"). Not every Governor will be as callow as this one, of course, but that doesn't mean we should depend on it. I look forward to a vigorous debate in the Lege next year over this.
I only just now got around to reading this article on some issues folks in the Sabine Street Lofts are having with the kidz at the new Jamail Skate Park, but all I really needed to read was this bit:
"I just think when they build something as large as that, that has such a huge impact on the community, there should be a public hearing process, but there wasn't one," said Dee Carpenter, who has lived in the lofts for four years. "No one ever checked to see if parking was going to be an issue, and it has been."
Yeah. See, that's not how we do things here in Houston. We let developers build pretty much whatever they want wherever they want, and when neighborhoods complain about it, they get drowned out in shouts about the free market, why a lack of planning is good, and zoning is bad. Those of us who've lived here for a longer time tend to find a certain amount of comfort in the ritual, no matter how often it plays out. The more things change, and all that. But thanks for playing.
Snark aside, I generally like that we have the Jamail Skate Park, and I didn't see anything in the story to suggest to me that this was an insurmountable issue, or even a particularly difficult one. I sympathize with the Sabine Street folks, and I hope they get this resolved quickly and satisfactorily. But man, did that quote amuse me.
It's Netroots Nation week! Whether you'll be there in Austin or just looking for liveblogs and video feeds, you can get in the mood for the event by catching up with the Texas Progressive Alliance and its blog highlights for the week. Click on for more.
South Texas Chisme got what they were asking for - a spotlight on the Webb County Sheriff's race. BlackBox Voting's Bev Harris has asked for relevant auditable materials. CouldBeTrue can hardly wait to find out what happened.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the "rail-rage" that's hitting Central Texas, Rail, Rail, Rail - Do It Right, Not Fast.
President Bush hasn't seen Russian President Medvedev since his 'election' to the Russian Presidency. Last week, he had his first opportunity to look into his eyes. Check out McBlogger to see what he saw.
Lightseeker at Texas Kaos tells the chilling tale of Goodhair and the Fire at the Governor's Mansion. Governor Rick Perry didn't light the match, but decisions laid at his door certainly made things a lot easier for the arsonist who did.
The Texas Cloverleaf examines T. Boone Picken's Plan to save us from evil oil men and move forward with greener energy.
Texas Senators Cornfed and Bailey scored a perfect ten in synchronized flip-flopping on the Medicare bill last week, shortly after they and the rest of their Republicans exhibited mirror-image coordination on FISA. PDiddie at Brains and
Eggs has the details.
BlueBloggin sees Maliki making the same mistakes as King George Iraq Hands Out Stimulus Money As Us Shifts Occupation.
BossKitty worries about the consequences of revaluing human life in AmericaDollar Value of American Life drops - Now What.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Senate Democrats have taken a strong stance on calling for reform of the Texas Department of Insurance, with one senator even calling for the Insurance Commissioner to be an elected official.
MeanRachel wonders when politics became unpatriotic on July 4th.
Off the Kuff had a guest post from Rep. Pete Gallego about the HDCC and its efforts to reclaim the State House for the Democrats.
WhosPlayin was impressed that Ken Leach, candidate for U.S. Congress in CD 26 got good coverage in the Gainesville Register, even though his totally honest quote didn't pass the "smell" test.
jobsangertook a look at the lies being told in a McCain campaign ad in this post.
Nat-Wu of Three Wise Men ponders whether long-suffering American Indians could Bay Area Houston details the record $52,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission against State Senator Craig Estes.
We knew it was coming, and now via QR (and BOR and Greg), here it is: Chris Bell will make his formal announcement of candidacy for SD17 on Sunday. You can view a PDF of his announcement here, which highlights things we're familiar with such as his good name ID and the general grumpiness of SD17's voters, for which they are blaming Republicans. You know that I think Bell is a fine candidate for this office, and that I think he's got an excellent shot at it. What I'll be looking for, especially now that Republican Joan Huffman has touted her initial fundraising efforts, including donations from GOP bigshots Bob Perry and John Nau, is some sign of Bell's financial capabilities in the race. I hope some of the money people who stiffed Bell in 2006 step up to the plate this time around. It's the least they can do.
The Houston Press cover story this week is about how indie bands are avoiding Houston after the 2006 incident at Walter's on Washington. I'm not really into the indie music scene, and probably wouldn't be even if I weren't a boring married-with-kids guy, but it's a worthwhile read for anyone who cares about Houston's image. It also contains an interesting assertion that I think needs a closer look:
In bottom-line terms, why does a lively indie scene matter?It's hard to quantify. One who has tried is Dr. Richard Florida, an author and urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto. Florida has studied the economic value of music scenes in 31 North American cities (Houston not among them), and concluded they are a major component in attracting and keeping creative young people in town, and that often those people go on to create lucrative businesses.
"Music combines with technology and business trends to put these places on the map," Florida writes in his study's conclusion. "It reflects their openness to new ideas, new people and new sounds. If you really want to see entrepreneurs in action, go talk to local musicians."
Florida's study further contends that successful music scenes signal "the rise of regional ecosystems that are not only open to new sounds and new ideas, but have the size, scale and commercial oomph to retain key talent and turn their ideas into global commercial successes. Once music scenes of this scale get going, they produce a logic and momentum of their own and signal that more entrepreneurship is on the way."
While Florida's data, methodology and conclusions are debatable, and his focus somewhat blindered in that it was focused on indie rock, the exodus of a certain type of creative person from Houston is not. For decades, Houston has exported musicians to cities with livelier scenes at a depressingly steady clip, with almost none moving here from elsewhere in return.
As Florida points out in one of his studies, Win Butler founded the Arcade Fire in Montreal after moving from Houston. We also lost Greg Ashley and Jolie Holland to San Francisco, where their recordings have won attention from fans and critical notice all over the world. We lost Mando Saenz to Nashville and Hayes Carll to Austin, and each of their latest recordings made at least a dent in the national psyche this year. And those are just some of the more famous ones -- every band in Austin seems to have a couple of exiled Houstonians in it.
And then there are the people who are simply music fans. How many one-time fixtures at places like Rudyard's, Mary Jane's or the Proletariat have now decamped to Austin, San Francisco and New York? Maybe most of them were just slackers, but surely at least a few have gone on to prosper.
On the flip side, how many recent college grads from other parts of the country turn up their noses at even the prospect of coming to Houston sight unseen? In many of their minds, Houston is a cousin city to Coketown in Charles Dickens's Hard Times, a town populated by and solely for Gradgrind-like engineers and scientists where facts and statistics must always trump fancy and the spirit of bohemia. Given a choice of moving to, say, Seattle, or Houston at the same salary adjusted to local cost of living, how many would choose Houston? The question answers itself.
Music matters, and, like it or not, the music that matters most to a great many young, educated new entrants into the workforce is indie rock. And that scene in Houston is definitely ailing.
Is it really the case that Houston attracts fewer college grads from other parts of the country per capita than other cities of its size, or is that just author John Nova Lomax's impression? I don't know, but it seems to me there ought to be some data somewhere that can help answer that question. That would seem to fall into Tory Gattis' wheelhouse, so let me formally ask: Tory, what do you think? Got any numbers to shed a little light on this? Thanks.
The fight over Kirby Drive's trees is over, and like it or not, the project is going forward.
Work will begin Monday on the contentious Kirby Drive reconstruction project between Westheimer and Richmond with a design that retains none of the 135 trees lining the thoroughfare, leaders of the project said Friday.The trees, most of which were planted 20 years ago by the nonprofit group Trees for Houston, will be replaced by at least 148 smaller trees, said leaders of the Upper Kirby District, the tax-supported group overseeing the project.
The project will provide improved drainage and better mobility as well as safe and attractive spaces for pedestrians in an area attracting dense, high-rise development with a pedestrian focus, said Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, who represents the area.
But William Coats, an attorney who founded Trees for Houston and has worked for months to persuade district and city officials to save at least some of the trees, said the design was disappointing.
"They could have saved $2 million worth of mature trees," Coats said. "Instead, we're going to spend $1.2 million for trees that won't provide shade for 15 years. That's not good government."
[...]
Clutterbuck said it's important to remember that the street is being rebuilt to accommodate a new drainage system.
"First and foremost, this is a drainage project," she said. "If you've ever been stuck on Richmond during a thunderstorm, you probably had to wait a while" for the water to subside.
A key feature of the design for the six-lane thoroughfare is a central, landscaped esplanade that will provide a safe harbor for pedestrians crossing the busy roadway, said Rob Axelson, chairman of the Upper Kirby Improvement District.
Clutterbuck said district officials were able to persuade city officials to design the street with narrower lanes than is typical, leaving more room for pedestrians.
The sidewalks will be at least 5 feet wide while the entire "pedestrian way," a space that includes trees, benches and other features, will range from 13 to 13 1/2 feet, said Travis Younkin, the Upper Kirby District's projects coordinator.
Coats, however, said the design continues to be focused on the needs of motorists rather than pedestrians.
"We don't seem to have enough understanding of the need in the modern city to develop elegance in the pedestrian realm," he said.
I believe more could have been done to accommodate pedestrians, whose numbers I expect to grow in the coming years, but that ship has sailed. Let's make sure the promises we did get to plant new trees and optimize the redesigned space for walkers will be delivered.
By the way, the drainage project on Kirby south of 59 has now progressed as far as Sunset, and is heading into the really heavily trafficked part of that street. These are not good days to be driving on Kirby.
Virginia Senator John Warner's proposal to reinstate a national speed limit is back in the news.
[Sen. Warner] says it's time to start the conversation about an energy-saving national speed limit to help spare Americans from usurious fuel costs.The 55-mph limit was imposed by federal law during the energy crisis of the mid-1970s, remained in effect for 20 years and ultimately was booted off the roadways by Congress in 1995 amid near-universal contempt among motorists.
Warner hasn't specified what a new limit should be, but he points out that Americans saved 167,000 barrels of petroleum a day when the 55-mph speed limit was in effect. He told fellow senators this week that he'll probably proceed with legislation after the Energy Department determines the most fuel-efficient speed limit for the nation's highways.
[...]
In Congress, the idea of reinstituting a national speed limit was below the radar for most lawmakers until Warner began endorsing it. Many lawmakers are likely to be unwilling to resurrect any variation of a highway rule widely condemned and ultimately ignored.
"It's not a real solution," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said the 55-mph limit "didn't work so well the last time," though he acknowledged that it would save fuel.
Well, if the goal is to use less oil, then it clearly is a real solution and it did work pretty well last time. The fact that many people routinely ignored it is certainly a concern, and I for one would have far more qualms about creating more opportunities for traffic stops now than I would have had 35 years ago, but the plain fact is that we as a nation consumed less oil with a 55 MPH speed limit. Just about every other scheme you can think of, from "Drill here, drill now" to the Pickens plan, would take years to have any effect. Lowering the speed limit would reap benefits almost immediately - basically, as soon as you could get the signs up - and it would be a boost to the environment and public safety as well as being dirt cheap. I don't believe for a minute this would actually pass - the Republicans clearly aren't interested in anything that involves conservation, and the Democrats are way too chicken to push something like this through; even if they did, Bush would veto it in a heartbeat - but let's not pretend that it wouldn't do any good.
From last week, another loss in court for local anti-tax gadfly Bruce Hotze.
Hotze has filed four lawsuits about Prop 2, which sought a revenue cap on all city funds. Any revenues that exceeded the yearly cap would have to be returned to taxpayers. Voters did approve this plan in 2004, but more voters approved Prop. 1, which created a less restrictive revenue cap offered by Mayor Bill White. Hizzoner has argued that the cap with the most votes -- his -- should be the one implemented. Since then, Hotze has been in the courts, trying to force the city to enforce Prop. 2.Let's recap:
Today the 14th Court of Appeals threw out his lawsuit #4, saying Hotze had no legal standing to bring it. This was the same reason that the same court threw out his 2nd lawsuit # 2 in April (Chron.com story).
As far as the other lawsuits: #1 was Hotze's victory, in which he forced the city to
certify the Prop. 2 election results with the Secretary of State. However, the certification had no effect on whether Prop. 2 actually went into effect. The city didn't even both to appeal.And, #3 was also thrown out, but Hotze is appealing. That one has to do with the wording on the ballot and whether the election process was fair.
Poor Bruce. Maybe he should find a new hobby.
This came out last month, a little before some of the recent angst about the business margins tax hit the news. It's not something we haven't heard before, but it's definitely something we need to hear again.
The quality of life in Texas depends on our producing a well-educated workforce that can meet the demands of a global economy. A strong and vibrant public education for all Texas children is an essential precondition for a prepared workforce and a prosperous, competitive economy. In fact, providing public education is one of the constitutionally mandated charges of the state legislature. However, the state's current revenue system is not providing adequate funding to fulfill this charge. Adding a personal state income tax to our tax mix is the best way to meet our needs.
The details are all in this handy PDF. The bottom line is simple:
Only a personal income tax can significantly reduce reliance on property taxes - cutting the school operations tax from $1.00 to 10 cents per $100 of property value - while providing adequately for education - $7 billion in new revenue annually. Alternative tax proposals are not able to reduce property taxes as much or fund public education as well. An income tax would reduce taxes on most Texans, including the middle class, and benefit the economy.
So this would do a better job of achieving the goals that Sen. Dan "I Want To Raise Your Taxes!" Patrick says he wants to achieve, while being more equitable and better for education. He'll never support it, of course, but that's to be expected. Just remember this the next time he or someone like him brings up the idea of swapping property taxes for sales taxes. There's a better way, and this is it.
This can't be good.
State social services officials now plan to switch 1 million or more needy people in the next year to a different application process for benefits, including Medicaid and food stamps.The state says it intends to shift 953,000 elderly and disabled Medicaid patients into its problem-plagued "integrated eligibility" system by September 2009 - on top of its previously stated goal of moving in 288,000 more food stamp recipients by August 2009.
The state's decision, tucked into an advance copy of Health and Human Services Commission chief Albert Hawkins' planned testimony to a legislative panel next week, caught advocates for the poor, state employee groups, and a veteran Democratic lawmaker by surprise Friday.
They expressed alarm that Mr. Hawkins would so greatly accelerate the rollout of TIERS - the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System - to aid recipients statewide.
"I'm concerned that the commission is going to take one of the most vulnerable populations, the elderly and disabled, and convert these extremely complicated cases into TIERS so quickly," said Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin. He said the Medicaid recipients are "most likely to have problems" and there could be "dire consequences."
The Texas State Employees Union, which has said an old mainframe-based system works much better than TIERS, denounced the plan.
"It borders on irresponsible behavior," said union spokesman Will Rogers. "They haven't worked out all the bugs with TIERS. You're playing with people's lives by doing that."
Mr. Hawkins has said the mainframe computer used for Texas benefit applications is one of only seven of its type left in existence. The old approach is outmoded and costly, while TIERS is being improved, he has said.
My archives are still in a state of transition or I'd point you to a bunch of past postings on this subject. Suffice it to say that TIERS has been screwed up from the beginning - just read this Observer piece for the flavor of it - and that the more it gets used, the more pain it will cause. It's also not a surprise to me that this was sprung on people, since had more folks known it was coming, there would have been a huge fuss kicked up. This is about the only way you can do a bigger TIERS rollout, by stealth and subterfuge.
As it happens, for those of you who'll be in Austin tomorrow, there will be a Legislative Oversight Committee hearing on TIERS. See HHSC Employee for the details.
The Chron has a curious article about former HPD Chief Clarence Bradford, who is now running for District Attorney as the Democratic candidate. I say "curious" because I can't tell if it's a special one-time-only story about one candidate, or if it's the first in a series. I don't think it's the latter, since there's no indicator of such, and since it's awfully early for the Chron to begin its notoriously meager coverage of local races, so one wonders what brought this story on. That's a question I can't answer.
The story focuses on Bradford's tenure as HPD Chief, and it's not particularly flattering, though Bradford does a decent job defending himself.
On the crime lab mess, with its flawed testing of DNA and other evidence leading to overturned convictions, Bradford accepts limited blame."What I should have done -- which I didn't see until this all blew up -- I should have at least annually gotten independent audits of the crime lab, as opposed to relying on, like the two previous chiefs had done, this particular supervisor ... stating the crime lab met all the federal standards," he said. "So, yes, that's when I dropped the ball. I relied too heavily on the people with the science and biology degrees."
Bradford, with degrees in criminal justice, public administration and law as well as training by the FBI National Academy and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, considers the lab failures a plus for him now: "I am able to learn from those and move forward. ... That makes me more prepared to go in and deal with organizational issues such as these."
The former chief, however, said he had no intention of reading all of the reports on the two-year, $5.3 million investigation of the crime lab by a team led by Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector.
Asked why, Bradford replied: "Because I was part of the process (of the investigation). I am familiar with the reports; I have read the summary of all of them."
The reports repeatedly fault HPD's "chain of command" for lax oversight. Bradford said he disagrees with some of the conclusions.
I'd like to know if we'll see as much ink spilled on what Bradford and his opponent Pat Lykos hope to do with the DA's office going forward as we've seen here on Bradford's past. For instance, Bradford now advocates removing the crime lab from the purview of HPD and the DA's office and making it completely independent; the story doesn't mention that, or what Lykos would do with it, at all. I realize that everyone's happy to see Chuck Rosenthal hit the road, but the issues in that office didn't magically solve themselves upon his departure, and as both Bradford and Lykos have different visions about where the District Attorney should go from here, it'd be nice to have some attention paid to that. And if we are going to spend time talking about the candidates' past experiences - certainly a reasonable and valid approach - then bring on the companion piece about Lykos, and every other candidate for countywide office. If that's what we're going to get, then let's get going. Election Day will be on us before you know it.
UPDATE: Alan Bernstein emails to remind me of this Lykos profile from the primaries. He also says we will indeed be seeing more like this, and more about campaign issues, which warms the cockles of my heart.
The longtime director of DPS is retiring.
"After 43 years and 9 months with the Texas Department of Public Safety, I am retiring on Aug. 31, 2008," Col. Thomas A. Davis Jr. said in a brief statement.Davis, 67, who has headed the agency since November 1999, declined to be interviewed.
The DPS has been under harsh criticism for the past two months over agency structure and management.
A legislative review panel found that the department's structure hampers communications and crime analysis; that it has outdated computer systems; that driver's licensing should be handled as a business service; and that the agency lacks the tools to prevent and respond to terrorism.
Less than a month after that report was issued, an intruder in June set the Governor's Mansion on fire with a Molotov cocktail. Despite warnings from the governor's protective detail and state preservation officials that at least three officers needed to be on duty at all times during the mansion's renovation, only one officer was assigned on the night of the fire. And that trooper already had finished a guard shift at a nearby state museum.
Davis told a legislative committee that he didn't receive any request for additional troopers to help guard the mansion, and it wasn't immediately clear how far up the chain of command the request went.
Davis defended the agency, saying it now performs "better than anytime I have seen it" during his 43 years with DPS.
The chairman of the board that oversees the DPS has promised a major restructuring of the agency and last month hinted that it would be done with or without Davis' help. But Chairman Allan Polunsky said Davis was not forced to retire.
"Only Col. Davis could explain what motivated him to retire at this point," Polunsky said.
He added, "Most definitely the agency is headed in a new direction. This began prior to today's announcement from Colonel Davis."
I don't really know enough about the politics surrounding DPS to have a substantive opinion about this. But I note with some interest a big difference in the opinions of Col. Davis expressed by Paul Burka and Jake Bernstein. Here's Burka:
It's about time. It seems to me that the political leadership has been inexplicably complacent about the shortcomings of security at the Governor's Mansion -- despite the fact that Governor Perry is the most security-conscious chief executive in my memory. Clearly, he has been working behind the scenes to get rid of Davis. We still need to know what Perry knew about the security problems at the Mansion and when he knew it. Did DPS inform him about its lack of personnel and its malfunctioning alarm and surveillance equipment? I bet not. If Perry had known, given his concern about security, he would have done something about them.
And here's Bernstein:
If the mansion fire was a DPS error, the fault likely did not reside with Davis. Yes the DPS did not have sufficient staff at the mansion. But one has to wonder if troopers were pulled off the mansion detail to accompany the governor as he gallivanted around Europe on the taxpayer's dime. We will never know since DPS does not comment on the governor's security. Another, perhaps more likely, reason why there was only one trooper at the mansion has to do with Operation Border Star, Perry's get-tough on the border initiative. It is now apparently standard practice to send troopers down in squads to patrol the border area, stretching an already undermanned agency.The Sunset Review found all manner of problems at the DPS, including the aforementioned shortage of officers. This is less Davis' fault than the demographics of an aging population and a very young one without much in between. It also doesn't help that there is fierce competition for officers from the border patrol and the military. The feds pay more. The review also found fault with DPS' handling of driver's licenses. The logical solution to this would be to spin off this non-law enforcement responsibility as a stand alone or move it to another agency, say TXDOT. DPS Commission Chairman Alan Polunsky made it clear that he would never agree to such a move.
I can't break the tie, so I'll leave it to you. Bernstein goes into a lot more under-the-hood stuff, including some internal tensions within DPS' leadership and the agency's new focus on intelligence, specifically the TDEX database, all of which is worth reading. Anybody out there want to pick a side on this one?
This is ridiculous.
"I don't believe in locking people up for dirty urines," said Bill Fitzgerald, the Chief Probation Officer during an interview in his office with the Trouble Shooters.He says that he expected a spike in positive test results.
That's because back in February they stopped doing the drug tests themselves and hired a company that does drug testing called Treatment Associates.
They use a small, thin, rectangular-shaped, one-time-use device that is dipped in the urine.
It's called a rapid test.
The manufacturer says it's used as a preliminary test.
If a single line appears in one of the boxes on the face of the device, you are positive for that class of drug, but not necessarily an illegal drug.
"There's one issue there on my part that the test is more sensitive. So I anticipated we would end up with more people showing up positive for urinalysis. This test is more sensitive than the ones we used previously," said Fitzgerald.
In fact, it's sensitive enough that many prescription, and even some over-the counter, drugs will test positive.
Something as common as cold medicine could land a person back in jail.
And knowing all that, the county is still using this single test to determine someone's future.
Fitzgerald says the probationers have the right to ask for a confirmation test, yet he admits they're not told they have that option.
So a poorly-designed urinalysis test, whose sensitivity to a broad range of non-illegal drugs causes it to give a large number of false positives, is causing probationers in Bexar County who have done nothing wrong and have been following the rules to get locked up. It's even worse than that, because there are confirmation tests available to the county at no extra charge, but they're not being used because hey, who cares? I've got to agree with Grits here: Doesn't that border on willful negligence? There's a whistleblower lawsuit in the mix as well, and all I can say is I hope he socks it to them. I'm just speechless.
As the economy sags and food prices rise along with gas prices, stories about hunger and the ability of food banks to keep up with demand have been in the news lately. There's now a blog that is following this topic, called Texans Against Hunger. Normally, when an interesting new blog comes along, I wish for it to have a long life and much material to write about. In this case, I'm going to make an exception, and hope that conditions change enough to make them feel like they can safely retire. Since that sadly won't happen any time soon, use Texans Against Hunger as your one-stop shop for news on the topic.
Former Yankees center fielder and broadcaster Bobby Murcer has died at the age of 62.
The Yankees said Murcer died Saturday due to complications from brain cancer. He was surrounded by family at Mercy Hospital in his hometown of Oklahoma City, the team said."Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a true friend of mine," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said. "I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Kay, their children and grandchildren. I will really miss the guy."
Murcer was diagnosed with a brain tumor on Christmas Eve 2006 after having headaches. He had surgery that week in Houston and doctors later determined the tumor was malignant.
The only person to play with Mickey Mantle and Don Mattingly, the popular Murcer hit .277 with 252 home runs and 1,043 RBIs in 17 seasons with the Yankees, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs. He made the All-Star team in both leagues and won a Gold Glove.
"All of Major League Baseball is saddened today by the passing of Bobby Murcer, particularly on the eve of this historic All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, a place he called home for so many years," commissioner Bud Selig said. "Bobby was a gentleman, a great ambassador for baseball, and a true leader both on and off the field. He was a man of great heart and compassion."
Always a fan favorite in New York and known for his folksy manner as a broadcaster, Murcer won three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage. His most dramatic words came on one of the saddest days in Yankees history.
Murcer delivered one of the eulogies in Ohio after captain Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in August 1979. The team flew home after the funeral and, that night, Murcer hit a three-run homer and then a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to beat Baltimore 5-4.
A tearful Murcer fell into the arms of teammate Lou Piniella after the game and gave his bat to Munson's wife.
"There is no way to explain what happened," Murcer said. "We used every ounce of strength to go out and play that game. We won it for Thurman."
I watched that game on TV, and I remember it like it was yesterday. There was, as you might imagine, a lot of emotion in that game. Seeing Murcer, who had only recently rejoined the team and who was one of Munson's best friends, win the game like that, well, I can't adequately describe how that felt. It's a moment that will live forever in Yankee history. Rest in peace, Bobby Murcer.
Time for some more interesting links for the weekend...
Can Guitar Hero save the music industry (via)?
Tony Soprano is dead (via). If so, that probably means there is no Sopranos movie in the works.
However, the guy who did "The Wire" is apparently now aiming at Major League Baseball. I say he need to figure out a way to give Jim Bouton a role in that.
It doesn't really matter what The Bloggess writes about. Whatever it is, it cracks me up.
"Innumeracy", 20 years later.
Joss Whedon! Neil Patrick Harris! Nathan Filion! Fanboys everywhere give thanks.
Fiorina's fuzzy math. She's also a bit confused about where her preferred Presidential candidate stands on the issue of birth control.
The Top Ten Awesomely Bad Moments of the Perry Administration. Well, plus some honorable mentions. I couldn't limit it to just ten, either.
Dahlia Lithwick talks about the Supreme Court as a voting issue for Democrats.
A prenatal curriculum? I don't think so.
Obama does NASCAR. There's a Mark Penn joke in there somewhere, I just know it.
Houston icon Dr. Michael DeBakey has died at the age of 99.
Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey, internationally acclaimed as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery -- and considered by many to be the greatest surgeon ever -- died Friday night at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was 99.Methodist officials said DeBakey died of natural causes. Dr. Marc Boom, executive vice president of Methodist, said DeBakey was taken to the hospital on Friday night after the surgeon's wife called 911. He was prounounced dead shortly after arriving.
Medical statesman, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, and a surgeon at The Methodist Hospital since 1949, DeBakey trained thousands of surgeons over several generations, achieving legendary status decades before his death. During his career, he estimated he had performed more than 60,000 operations. His patients included the famous -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin and movie actress Marlene Dietrich among them -- and the uncelebrated.
"He was a great contributor to medicine and surgery, of course," said Dr. Denton Cooley, president and surgeon-in-chief at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston and a longtime DeBakey rival.
"But he left a real legacy in the Texas Medical Center and at Baylor College of Medicine, where he's brought so much attention. Together we were able to establish Houston as a world leader in cardiovascular medicine.''
Cooley had known DeBakey since 1945. "In the first half of the 20th century, very little went on in this field," he said of cardiovascular surgery. "So when he and I began our careers, we pretty much had an open field."
"Dr. DeBakey singlehandedly raised the standard of medical care, teaching and research around the world," said Dr. George Noon, a cardiovascular surgeon and longtime partner of DeBakey's. "He was the greatest surgeon of the 20th century, and physicians everywhere are indebted to him for his contributions to medicine."
Indeed they are, as are we all. SciGuy has more, including a podcast interview with DeBakey from 2005. Rest in peace, Dr. Michael DeBakey.
Loren Steffy adds his two cents to the discussion of the Pickens Plan.
It's hard to grasp, though, how parts of the plan would be implemented. Assuming all the rights to millions of acres could be acquired and the wind farms built, there's still the problem of wind itself. It doesn't always blow.A recent study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates found that wind power is least available between June and September, the peak months for electricity consumption.
When the turbines are becalmed, we'll need other power plants -- primarily gas-fired ones, which can be started more quickly than other types of generation -- to meet demand.
What's more, someone has to pay for building transmission lines to carry the power from the prairies. Guess who? In Texas, the cost of new transmission lines is born by consumers, not the generators.
Pickens argued that wind technology will improve as more farms are built, and as commodity prices rise, it will become a cost-effective power source.
"As it moves in, the natural gas will move out," he said. "The price of natural gas will still be better for vehicles and still be cheaper than foreign oil."
Pickens has championed natural gas vehicles since he converted his Cadillac and drove around Dallas in the early 1990s, but it's unlikely average drivers would do the same.
The point about infrastructure is valid, though that's part of what Pickens wants to spend all that money on. I don't see why "average drivers" wouldn't convert to natural gas vehicles if they were demonstrably cheaper to use and there were enough places to go for fillups. People are switching to hybrids, after all.
That's just a quibble, because I agree with Steffy's larger point, also made here, that it would be much more efficient to encourage plug-in hybrids instead, as the infrastructure is already there. I suspect that will be the consensus criticism, so hopefully it will have an effect on Pickens and his plan. As before, Pickens deserves credit for pushing this into the forefront. If he makes some adjustments, this could really go somewhere.
And since Steffy brought up the fact that consumers wind up paying for new transmission lines, I'll note that there's a new poll out suggesting that most Texans would be willing to pay a few bucks extra a month for just such a thing to carry wind energy.
The survey, commissioned by a group of wind generation companies, is being released in advance of state utility regulators' debate over how much new transmission to require for wind-generated electricity. The Public Utility Commission is considering several plans, at costs ranging from about $3 billion to $6 billion.The commission staff estimates the plans could cost average household electric consumers from $2.50 to $5 extra a month.
"This is a clear picture of strong support for wind energy and a public willing to help pay for the transmission lines needed to access Texas wind farms," said Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for a wind power group.
The poll of 804 registered voters was conducted July 1-2 by Baselice & Associates. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.
When asked about a new charge of $4 each month for power line construction to carry electricity generated by wind farms, 55 percent said they would favor paying the new fee and 42 percent said they would be opposed, with 4 percent unsure.
However, there was less support for a similar question about whether they would be willing to pay "a few dollars more each month." That scenario drew a favorable response from 49 percent with 46 percent opposed and 6 percent unsure.
That's still good enough to go with. I mean, who's going to lead the opposition on this, and on what basis? This strikes me as a scenario where the more people hear about the concept, the more they'll approve of it. Let's make this happen.
UPDATE: Patrick in the comments asked what CD07 candidate and wind-power executive Michael Skelly thought of the Pickens plan. I sent an email to the campaign to inquire, and got this response:
Michael Skelly has spent over a decade working in the renewable energy business. He applauds T. Boone Pickens for his call to action and for his intriguing proposal to increase renewable energy production.
So there you go.
I'm always happy to see action being taken on behalf of cleaner air.
Mayor Bill White on Thursday challenged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methods for calculating emissions from large refineries and chemical plants, saying that the approach significantly underreports the amount of pollution in Houston's skies.White said studies show that actual emissions can be 100 times greater than EPA estimates, which are based on industry-provided data.
To produce more reliable information, the federal agency should require refineries and chemical plants to verify the accuracy of their emissions with emerging laser technology and fence-line monitors, among other steps, White said.
"Up until now, the EPA has relied on rough estimates, and the companies themselves have done the estimates," he said. "It's a simple request, but it's a very bold request. It's a request that will allow the people of Houston to know what's in their air."
The mayor said federal, state and local governments must have reliable data to make decisions regarding public health. The push comes as state regulators work on a new pollution-fighting plan for the eight-county Houston region, one of the nation's smoggiest.
It's also White's latest attempt to confront regulators in his fight over toxic chemical emissions. In May, the city challenged the permits from a nearby plant to force the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to limit the levels of the carcinogen benzene in the air.
Challenging the agencies that are tasked with enforcing standards to do a better job of it is a good tactic. Someone needs to hold them accountable, and as things stand right now such pressure isn't going to come from the federal or state level. So we may as well do it ourselves.
White said the EPA uses formulas, equations and assumptions to determine pollution levels from refineries and chemical plants that the agency itself described as flawed 12 years ago.The formulas, for example, assume that equipment is operating as designed under normal conditions, and do not account for environmental variables, such as wind speed.
"The factors should be based on reality instead of idealism," said Elena Marks, the mayor's director of health and environmental policy.
EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said the agency would review the mayor's request and respond accordingly.
Hector Rivero, president of the Texas Chemical Council, said he had not had a chance to study White's request. Even so, he said, "Houston's air quality is the most accurately measured in the nation, thanks to a combination of Houston's extensive air monitoring network, industry's voluntary use of infrared technologies to detect and report emissions, and industry's efforts to strictly comply with EPA's reporting requirements."
Those efforts have helped to improve the region's air during the last 30 years despite population growth, he said.
Well, if these other methods are accurate, then getting the EPA to use more accurate tools should simply serve to confirm what we already know. And if the EPA's findings turn out to be different, then maybe what we've been doing wasn't so hot and could stand some improvement. Either way, what's the problem? Let's make sure we're doing this right across the board so we can feel confident in the results we get.
I couldn't tell you the last time I drove through the FM1960 area in northwest Harris County, so I couldn't have told you that it isn't aging well. But I can't say I'm surprised.
The problems affecting Houston's aging suburban communities drew the attention of a panel of national experts from the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit real estate organization, who studied the Houston region's unique growth patterns earlier this year.In a report being presented today, the experts call on local leaders to use transportation funds to guide growth into compact, interconnected urban centers, rather than isolated subdivisions sprawling across the region's dwindling open spaces.
The Houston-Galveston Area Council, which allocates billions of dollars in federal transportation funds, should support projects that reflect the vision supported by almost all local leaders the authors interviewed during their Houston visit in February, the report says.
This vision includes connecting growth centers through roads, rails and trail; promoting walkable neighborhoods where people live close to where they work and shop; and encouraging voluntary, market-based standards for high-quality developments.
The FM 1960 corridor, in contrast, reflects what happens when developers throw up subdivisions wherever they can make a deal to buy land served by a county road, said Roger Galatas, the chief executive of a real estate consulting business. Galatas is also a board member of the nonprofit Center for Houston's Future, which commissioned the Urban Land Institute report.
The area's design, common to many American suburbs, is characterized by residential neighborhoods full of dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs to discourage cut-through traffic, forcing residents to use the adjacent thoroughfare even for short trips to a shop or a restaurant.
"At one time, that was the place to move to," Galatas said. "But as more developments occurred that were not connected to each other, they built rather ugly retail centers that took advantage of the traffic and created more traffic. People started moving away, and you've got declining home values, empty retail centers and a declining tax base. The only thing still functioning is a very wide strip of concrete called FM 1960."
The traffic issue should have been obvious from the beginning, but I guess the idea that you had to take the main road to get anywhere was appealing at one time. The main problem with the solution being offered is that it seems unlikely to do anything to help the 1960 area. I don't see how you can undo its disconnectedness and unfriendliness to transit and pedestrians. If we had to do it all over again, sure, this is a much better blueprint. I just don't think you can get there from here. Tory has more on the report.
By the way, it's amusing to see some people in the comments blame the arrival of Metro bus service on 1960 for the area's crime problem. Because Lord knows, unlike everyone else in Houston, criminals don't have cars and thus must rely on buses and light rail to get to the better neighborhoods.
The Urban Land Institute report is not the first to call for a new approach to suburban growth management in the Houston area. A program sponsored by H-GAC in 2005 known as Envision Houston Region reached similar conclusions about the need to guide growth into interconnected activity centers.The new report, however, goes further than others in urging local leaders to award or withhold federal transportation funds based on how closely the projects adhere to these principles. This approach, the report says, has been used successfully in other areas where metropolitan planning organizations, such as the H-GAC, expand their roles from research into policy development and implementation.
[...]
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said he sees some merit in the idea of using transportation funding to guide growth. But some decisions will always have to be reactive rather than proactive, since people decide where to live based on school quality and other factors besides just transportation, Emmett said.
Joshua Sanders, executive director of Houstonians for Responsible Growth, a real estate group formed last year to limit local regulations on development, said the Houston region's traditional approach has worked well.
"We believe that the market should determine growth with government supporting consumer demand -- not the other way around," Sanders said.
Way to keep an open mind there, dude. Judge Emmett is certainly correct to note that factors other than how long it takes to get somewhere go into people's homebuying decisions. The point here is that we've spent plenty of money over the years on projects that encouraged growth and helped create demand in empty, isolated areas (two words: Grand Parkway). Why not do a little of the same in areas that will scale better?
UPDATE: Jay Crossley has more.
Speaker Pelosi speaks about the great Congressional Twitter battle. I'm going to quote her entire letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner, because it's worth reading.
Dear Leader Boehner:Thank you for your letter on the recommendations by Franking Chair Capuano to the Committee on House Administration regarding posting web video external to the House.gov domain. We share the goal of modernizing the antiquated franking regulations to address the rapidly changing realities of communications in the internet age. Like many other Members, I have a blog, use YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Digg, and other new media to communicate with constituents, and I believe they are vital tools toward increasing transparency and accountability.
Mr. Capuano's initial recommendations are an effort to establish standards that permit Members to publish web videos on external web sites, a broadening of the rules that currently prohibit posting videos on external sites. I can assure you that it is not the intention, nor will it be the result, of the final regulations to stifle, censor, or deprive Members of communicating effectively and in real-time with their constituents. I am confident that the Committee on House Administration will develop these final rules on a bipartisan basis, recognizing that we have a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used for political or commercial purposes.
While I am delighted to see the attention of internet users and citizens toward our much needed movement to update the franking regulations, there has been a large amount of misinformation regarding these efforts. We all have a responsibility to ensure that Members and the public understand the need to prevent the misuse of public funds, while at the same time ensuring access to emerging online means of communication.
Unfortunately, inaccurate rumors have been circulated asserting that the suggested standards allowing for web video outside of the House.gov domain would affect Member blogging or use of sites such as Twitter. Dissemination of this false information does a disservice to the vital dialogue on using technology to increase citizen involvement, education, and transparency in the House.
Thank you again for your letter and your commitment to work on a bipartisan basis to develop standards that are agreeable to both Parties and most importantly, serve the public interest.
best regards,
NANCY PELOSI
Speaker of the House
You should also read that Shelbinator post, which contains yet another "no really! they're out to censor me!" comment from Culberson. One would hope that this would be the end of it, but as this fight was never about the facts, I wouldn't count on it. Link via techPresident.
And finally, on a lighter note, Scott Floyd imagines what a future Senate Tweet debate might look like:
Senator 1: @Senator2 We've got to consider the fact that schools are only able to handle so many unfunded mandates. At some point funding is required.Senator 2: @Senator1 They've enough money already. Why give more when they just waste it? They buy all the best software, computers, etc. To what rslt?
Senator 1: @Senator2 You mean like the equipment in your office EACH of your staff members use EVERY day? Like the iPhone you are Twittering from?...
Senator 1: @Senator2 All of which is paid for by PUBLIC tax dollars with staff taught in PUBLIC schools to do the work for the PUBLIC?
Senator 3: @Senator2 Burn!
Senator 2: @Senator3 Shut-up! You're in my party. I'm blocking you!
It's funny 'cause it's true.
So one of the things I wondered about regarding the "nation of whiners" thing was whether or not Pete Olson, the CD22 challenger who once worked for Phil Gramm, would be asked to comment on Gramm's remarks now that John McCain has decisively defenestrated him. (Of course, McCain said that Gramm "didn't speak for him" on the same day that Gramm was visiting the Wall Street Journal to do exactly that. But that's another post.) Apparently, Rep. Nick Lampson wondered the same thing. From a press release:
Pete Olson, candidate for Texas's 22nd congressional district, continues to remain silent as the furor continues over his mentor and campaign advisor Phil Gramm's comments that America is "a nation of whiners" in a "mental recession." Even John McCain has now stepped forward to strongly denounce Gramm's comments. Yet, Olson's silence signals approval of these comments."The fact is, Pete Olson is a Washington insider who carried Phil Gramm's water as the former Senator did more than any other lobbyist to slow our economy," said Anthony Gutierrez, campaign manager for Congressman Nick Lampson. "Maybe the fact that Pete Olson has been working with Gramm to create economic catastrophes such as the recent mortgage meltdown explains why he is hesitant to distance himself from Gramm's comments. I imagine he does not want to draw attention to this fact or disclose what happened at his meetings with his former boss and current lobbyist Phil Gramm surrounding economic policy decisions that put millions of Americans in risk of foreclosure."
Yeah, I'm thinking Olson won't be in any rush to talk about it. I wouldn't if I were him. 'Course, I wouldn't have had anything to do with Phil Gramm, either, but that's the way it goes.
In other Congressional news, we have fundraising numbers for CD07.
Congressman John Culberson, R-Houston, was first out of the gate today with the statement that he had raised "a stellar $390,000" for his Nov. 4 election contest against Democratic newcomer Michael Skelly.But Skelly, a wind power exec, may have eclipsed the star. His campaign reported $412,000 raised for the same period, plus a $200,000 donation from Skelly himself.
Culberson reported $550,000 in the bank at the end of June. Skelly reported more than $1 million, continuing his unusual and nationally noted advantage over an incumbent.
Another nice showing by Michael Skelly, outraising Culberson for a second straight quarter. The DCCC isn't targeting CD07 yet, but at the rate Skelly is going, he won't need them to be able to blanket the TV airwaves.
The following is a guest post from State Rep. Pete Gallego, who is one of the leaders of the House Democratic Caucus.
On March 4, 2008, over 2.8 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary. As one of the 2.8 million, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride knowing that I was able to play a part in making history. Together, we showed the nation that Texas Democrats are energized and ready for change.It is hard to believe that we have less than four months remaining until the general election. Our nominees have been selected, we have a united Democratic Party, and we are poised to make history yet again on November 4th. Never in my lifetime have Democrats been so motivated and energized. Much of the momentum we enjoy today is a direct result of the Netroots activism that has helped fuel the progressive movement. That is certainly evident right here in Texas.
A few weeks ago, the Republican presidential nominee admitted to not knowing how to use a computer, let alone the Internet. One of his advisors tried to justify his apparent Internet ignorance by suggesting that he doesn't need to know how to use a computer because he has people who do that for him. Reading this, I was completely awestruck. In this day and age, the Internet is neither a passing fad nor a toy to be ignored and dismissed. The Internet is arguably the most important resource voters and elected officials have to stay informed and connected with the world they live in and the people they serve.
In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised. The fact is many politicians on the far right have simply lost touch with voters and hard-working Texas families. Just look at the wayward legislative priorities the far right has pursued since taking over the Texas House six years ago.
In 2003, the Republican controlled Texas Legislature took away health care from hundreds of thousands of children by slashing the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They passed a disastrous "tuition deregulation" bill which has caused college costs to skyrocket, making a higher education degree too expensive for thousands of Texas kids. The far right continues their assault on our public education system by trying to force a risky private voucher scheme into our public schools. As Texans are getting squeezed by soaring energy bills and $4 a gallon gas, the far right ignores these pocketbook issues that affect the daily lives of Texans choosing instead to prioritize and pursue the politically-motivated and partisan agenda of non-existent voter fraud. The legislative priorities of the far right are no longer consistent with mainstream Texas values, which is one of the reasons Republicans are so nervous about November.
Since 2003, Democrats have regained nine seats in the Texas House of Representatives, and today we are only 5 seats away from taking back the majority. This dramatic swing of the pendulum is the result of countless hours of dedication, education, and hard work by both Netroots activists and organizations like the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee (HDCC).
The HDCC is organized and lead by Democratic leaders in the Texas House. The HDCC is the only organization in the state dedicated solely to electing a Democratic majority in the Texas House. The HDCC raises money, trains staff and works hand-in-hand with House candidates from across the State to ensure they have every advantage possible during the general election season. Best of all, these services do not cost House Democratic candidates a penny. While the HDCC has been very successful in working toward our goal of taking back the House, we cannot elect a Democratic majority without your help. Click here to invest in the HDCC today.
Texans need Democratic leaders who will take on real issues and develop real solutions for Texas families. United, Democrats will take back the Texas House in November, and return real democracy and leadership to our state.
State Representative Pete Gallego (D-Alpine)
Co-Chair, Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee
The leaders of the HDCC have all written guest posts for various Texas Progressive Alliance blogs this week to introduce themselves and their mission. You can read State Rep. Jim Dunnam's article at BOR, and State Rep. Garnet Coleman's piece at Texas Kaos. My thanks to all three gentlemen for their efforts.
The Federal Transit Administration has approved the Metropolitan Transit Authority's revised environmental studies for its planned North light rail line, opening the door for possible federal funding.The FTA "record of decision," granted last week, enables the project to compete with others around the nation for 50 percent federal funding, but makes no guarantees.
It notes that the proposed line is rated "medium" under FTA criteria for transit "new starts," based on cost and ridership projections.
Pretty much every time you read a caveat in a story about the Metro 2012 Solutions plan that the agency still has "a long way to go" or "a lot of hurdles to be cleared", what that really means is that nothing is certain until federal funding has been secured. Every step closer to that is that much less uncertainty.
Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson said the agency is awaiting an FTA decision on its planned Southeast line, for which Metro also wants federal funding and has filed a supplementary environmental study.In November, the FTA halted its evaluation of both projects and ordered Metro to revise its environmental studies and conduct new public outreach. FTA officials said that was necessary because Metro had changed its proposed mode of transit from Bus Rapid Transit, which uses special buses running on a guideway, to the more costly light rail.
Metro contended at the time that it had already evaluated light rail and should not have to duplicate that work. Metro also noted that BRT and light rail would follow identical routes and that Metro even planned to lay rails in the BRT guideway, to be converted for light rail as ridership increased.
The current record of decision acknowledges those points.
It says that "no new or changed significant impacts that were not previously evaluated ... were found."
So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed.
In related news, Miya reports that the eastern end of the Universities line might get the change that some residents have been asking for.
Right now, if you go East bound along Richmond, the proposed line would take you from Richmond to Wheeler until it hits TSU. The alternative (told to me by people who were at the meeting) would go from Richmond to Wheeler, jog north along Cleburne/Hutchins/Dowling, until it his W. Alabama, which will then continue on to TSU.
That's a little different than what we've seen before, so presumably there will be more environmental impact statements and other paperwork to go through before anything happens. This isn't official yet, so who knows what we'll end up with.
For years doctors and many other health professionals showered contributions Republicans, who favored less government regulation of health care and helped scuttle Hillarycare, But no more, as doctors court Democrats now in control of Congress and had lately been fighting with Republicans, including Texas' two GOP senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, over Medicare payments to physicians.In the current election cycle the American Medical Association political action committee has contributed $274,000 to Democrats and $245,450 to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
A decade ago, when the GOP controlled both houses of Congress, the AMA PAC gave $1.6 million to Republicans and $654,000 to Democrats.
The Texas Medical Association's political action committee has split its contributions this election cycle giving $13,000 each to Democrats and Republicans, including $2,500 to Cornyn. However, the PAC abruptly yanked its endorsement of Cornyn recently because of his vote before the July 4 break against a measure that would have halted a cut in Medicare payments to doctors. The Senate passed the Medicare measure Wednesday with both Cornyn and Hutchison changing their mind and voting for it.
Cornyn is apparently smarting a bit from that TMA unendorsement, because in the end, he flipflopped, along with his senior colleague.
Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison joined 67 of their Senate colleagues in approving the measure that would halt a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments.
Rick Noriega characterized it thusly:
For the second time in a month, John Cornyn has switched his vote on an issue crucial to Texas families after criticism from U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega. Yesterday, after outcry from the Noriega campaign and medical groups such as the American Medical Association, Cornyn switched his vote on a key Medicare bill for politically expedient reasons. Cornyn's vote to support the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 came just weeks after originally voting to block the bill and on the heels of a similar vote switch on the GI Bill. Though Cornyn's eventual vote is a welcome development, the political expediency for his final votes are all-too-typical of his time in Washington.
Unlike Cornyn, US Senate candidate Rick Noriega (D-TX) has pledged to serve as a Senator whose votes always place Texas families first. Noriega has remained consistent in his support for both the Medicare and the GI Bill and does not determine how he votes by scanning the political tea leaves. Cornyn, whose original opposition to the Medicare legislation led to the Texas Medical Association stripping their support for his candidacy, had recently told the Washington DC newspaper Roll Call that he did not plan to change his vote.
"Though we're flattered that John Cornyn adopted our position on the Medicare bill, Texas families deserve a U.S. Senator who will vote the right way because it's the right thing to do -- not because of shifting political winds," said Holly Shulman, spokeswoman for Rick Noriega for Senate. "I guess it's an election year, because after six long years in Washington, John Cornyn is finally realizing the political dangers of ignoring Texas families at the expense of his special interest friends and is trying to make amends."
Nothing like a serious challenge to one's re-election to focus the mind, is there? Hal and EoW have more.
This is a good start: Former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros is out campaigning for Barack Obama.
"I'll be traveling to a dozen to 15 states to carry the Obama message to the Latino community," Cisneros said after his TV appearance. "I, along with others, want to dispel the sense that Latinos, out of a sense of disappointment by Hillary's failure to secure the nomination, will sit out the election."Cisneros' appearance Tuesday was the first time he has publicly spoken on Obama's behalf, "and we welcome and are thrilled with his support," said Obama spokeswoman Shannon Gilson.
Cisneros represents a critical part of the Illinois senator's effort to court and convert Hispanic voters, many of whom were diehard Clinton supporters who turned out with a fervor not seen since the Viva Kennedy rallies of the early 1960s.
"Cisneros, like (Los Angeles Mayor Antonio) Villaraigosa and California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress, are both known nationally and are heroes in the Latino community," said Juan Sepulveda, a local Obama adviser.
"Having them act as Sen. Obama's top-level surrogates and carry his message into the Latino community will be an enormous boost for the campaign."
As we know, Latino voters are already strongly in Obama's camp, but as with so many other constituencies this year, pumping up turnout is a big part of the strategy. It's great to see folks like Cisneros taking on this task.
Of course, there is one thing he could do that would make this even better:
Sepulveda, an Obama backer from the time he announced his candidacy, said the campaign is focusing unprecedented efforts on Latinos."There are four key states -- Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida -- where Latinos will play a major role," he said. "But apart from the 'usual suspect states,' we will focus on Missouri, Iowa and Illinois that we believe will be a critical part of the equation for an Obama victory."
[...]
Cisneros said he warned Obama about taking Hispanics for granted.
"That would be a mistake," Cisneros said. "And Obama committed to a significant allocation of resources, staffers and field offices in areas of the country with high Latino populations, even Texas," a GOP stronghold.
"He gets it."
If he really gets it, he'll make sure Cisneros spends some time in his home state, ensuring maximal turnout here where it will also do Rick Noriega some good. John Cornyn is worried about his re-election chances, and I guarantee that the Obama factor is one of the reasons why. Obama says he understands the importance of a Democratic resurgence in Texas. This is one way he can demonstrate that.
Consider this to be another warmup for the next Legislative session.
Tuition at Texas universities rose 58 percent between 2003, when schools were first allowed to set their own rates, and 2007. Student fees have gone up, too."With tuition and gas, it's hard to make ends meet,"said Charlotte Atkinson, 26, a senior at the University of Houston, where tuition rose 67 percent.
If legislators can't offer tuition relief, Atkinson suggests students be given more leeway on fees -- all UH students pay the recreation fee, for example, whether they use the recreation center or not.
Average course fees at UH went up 107 percent between 2003 and 2007, from $298 per semester to $616, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Legislators are tired of taking the blame for the escalating price of a college education, and some -- mainly Democrats -- say they want to resume setting tuition themselves. University leaders argue that the additional money is crucial for attracting and retaining top faculty.
Gov. Rick Perry, for the record, continues to support deregulation and thinks Texas universities "are still a bargain," spokeswoman Allison Castle said. "The market is setting (tuition), instead of an artificial cap from the state Legislature."
Funny, but the old way worked pretty well for a long time, like back when Rick Perry was attending Texas A&M. The question is how many Republican legislators running for re-election will climb out on that limb with Perry as he promotes this unpopular scheme. Not a lot would be my guess.
Grace Community Church is raising money to build two enormous crosses that its pastor says will mark the entrances to Houston on Interstate 45. The crosses will likely rank among the largest in the world.Counting their bases, the crosses would reach up to 200 feet. Each would dwarf I-45's current symbol of Texas largeness. "Big Sam" Houston, the colossal statue in Huntsville, stands 77 feet tall with its base.
The symbols of Christianity would tower over Grace's freeway-hugging campuses: the south campus at Dixie Farm Road, and the new north campus just south of The Woodlands. Combined, they serve 12,000 members.
Part building, part sculpture, each cross would include a "prayer center" about 40 feet off the ground -- a "Space Needle-type place," Pastor Steve Riggle said -- where Christians from all over Houston could come to pray for the city's well-being.
An openwork globe 60 feet in diameter, with latitude and longitude lines crisscrossing the continents, would top the prayer center. The bottom of the cross would be visible through the globe.
Riggle sees the crosses as a symbolic stand against moral decay. "The freeways are littered with sexually oriented businesses," he said. "I'd rather see something that stands for hope, life and faith."
To each his own, I guess. It's their money, and if they think this is a good use of it - we don't know how much money, since Riggle won't say what his fundraising goal is - then go for it. At least it's not in any part of town I drive through much, so it'll be easy for me to ignore. John has more.
UPDATE: The artist's rendering is here. You do have to see it to believe it.
Here's your quote of the day, courtesy of John McCain's good buddy, Phil Gramm.
"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet.""We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.
I wonder if any of those whiners would describe themselves as being bitter? Maybe we could have a week-long media feeding frenzy to find out. Of course, Gramm was just taking a cue from McCain, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
TPM Election Central and Texas on the Potomac have more. And I love this quote on TPM:
I'm not even sure I know what it means to say you don't agree with your chief economic advisor's comments about the economy. If he is McCain's chief economic advisor, what good is he?Yeah, I know McCain isn't obliged to take all of his advice but on something as critical as the state of the US economy wouldn't you think he's advising McCain on what the problems and solutions are?
So if he hasn't told McCain he thinks the economic problems are all in our head what has he told him? If a candidates chief adviser differs so much from the candidate what value is he to McCain?
Yes, well, that's what you get for having a charlatan like Phil Gramm on your team in the first place.
Rep. Mike Capuano, chair of the Committee on House Administration, who has come under steady assault from Rep. John Culberson and a growing number of Republican activists for his recent letter (PDF) on modifications to House rules concerning standards for official communications, fires back at his critics.
First, the ONLY item we seek to address is LOOSENING existing rules to allow Members to post videos as a first step toward making the rules meet our constituents' expectations regarding how they communicate with us in the 21st century. This was completely ignored during the years that Republicans controlled Congress while the internet grew exponentially. It is currently against House rules to post video on any site with commercial or political advertising or to use taxpayer-funded resources to post outside of the House.gov domain.We are not currently seeking to address anything other than video - not blog postings, online chats or any other written form of communication anywhere on the internet. Any assertion to the contrary is a lie. Perhaps the people spreading those lies should take some time to actually read the letter I wrote, which is attached below.
Our only concern is commercialization - not imposing limits on free speech. It is amazing to me that Republicans think they can obscure the issue with this completely false assertion.
[...]
NO ONE is suggesting changes to the rules regarding content of messages or what Members can post and any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate. My letter specifically and clearly states that in the fourth paragraph.
It should be noted that the Franking Commission began reviewing this specific issue when a Republican Member requested the rules be updated so that videos could be posted on outside sites. This Member originally applauded our efforts as "a step in the right direction". I believe it is a step in the right direction; the first in what I hope will be an ongoing process to make the House rules meet the communications needs of the 21st century while balancing our responsibility for the appropriate use of government resources.
[...]
I hope this clarifies the issue for anyone following this temper tantrum by some of my colleagues. Thank you for reading this and for caring about the House of Representatives and how every American can be best engaged in our deliberations.
So there. From what I can see, Culberson isn't backing down. Game on, y'all.
Very good news: The City of Houston's recycling program will now accept more types of plastic for both curbside pickup and recycling-center dropoff.
Up until now the plastic you could recycle was limited to mostly water bottles and plastic milk jugs, but now a whole range of things can be placed in the green box.Whether you toss recyclables in the green bin for curbside pick-up or drop them off at City of Houston recycling centers, you can now recycle even more plastics than ever before - just take a look at the small triangle on your plastic containers. In the past, only plastics with a #1 or a #2 could be recycled. Now, if you see a #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, or #7, it can be recycled.
[...]
The City of Houston is already accepting the extra recycling material -- for those who get curbside collection, simply place the plastics in the box.
"They are now allowing us to take those types of material, so we are excited to be able to take those materials and divert it from landfills," City of Houston representative Marina Joseph said.
While the program is expanding, there are still a few things you cannot recycle.
If an item has a #6 in the middle of its triangular recycling symbol, do not put it in a green bin or bring it to a collection center.This ban extends to a few other specific items as well.
"We will not accept furniture, toys or packaging material, and #6 plastics are like Styrofoam, so we are not accepting that material," Joseph said.
Excellent. We buy a brand of apple juice for the girls that comes in a one gallon container made of #5 plastic, and it just kills me every time I put it in the garbage. I'm so glad I won't have to do that again. Kudos to the city and its recycling program for making this happen.
By the way, if you want to know what the participation rate is for curbside recycling pickup where you live, you can find that information here. I'm happy to see that my neighborhood is above the citywide average, though there's definitely room for both to grow.
Following up on yesterday's post about the battle over Twitter (*) and other uses of social networking software from the floor of Congress, TechPresident's Daily Digest tries to inject a little calm to counteract some of Rep. John Culberson's fulminations.
We've been over the Capuano letter (pdf) with a fine-toothed comb, and it takes a great deal of extrapolation to see it as an assault on members' use of tools like Twitter and Qik.
Well, such is the nature of politics. The thing is, Culberson is right to point out the shortcomings of Rep. Capuano's proposals, which at least attempt to deal with the far greater shortcomings of the current House rules - rules that were adopted, as some people have noted, when the Republicans were in the majority - but he's so desperate to spin this as a partisan attack on freedom and the Internets that he can't seem to see that he's needlessly arguing with people who'd be right there next to him if he'd just dial it back a bit. Go down into the comments of that TechDirt post, where Culberson gets into it with author Mike Masnick, who tries unsuccessfully to tell Culberson they're "talking at cross purposes", to see what I mean. For those of us more familiar with Rep. Culberson, all I can say is "welcome to our world, Mike". Greg has more, as does that TechPresident link, which has a few other links that provide a GOP-friendly perspective.
(*) I can't say "Twitter" and "battle" in the same sentence without thinking of Tweetle Beetles. This is what happens when you read a lot of bedtime stories to young children.
Robert Boyd writes about T. Boone Pickens and his plan for wind and natural gas.
The plan, in a nutshell, is this. The U.S. should convert as much of its automobile fleet as possible from gasoline to compressed natural gas (CNG) as quickly as it can. The benefit is that we produce most of our natural gas domestically, whereas we import 70% of our oil--sending American dollars out of the country, into the grubby fists of various thugs, kleptocrats, fanatics, and all-around assholes. (There is also an environmental benefit, as natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline.)But wait a minute? Don't we already use every btu of gas that we produce already? Yep--about 22% of America's electricity is generated with natural gas (not to mention homes that are heated with and cook with gas). So if we switch all that electricity-producing gas to vehicle-powering gas, where do we get the electricity from?
Boone's answer is windmills. He believes that vast quantities of windmills, built north-to-south in the Great Plains, where wind blows down unimpeded from Canada, can produce that 22% of America's electricity currently being produced by gas.
As a fan of wind energy, I mostly like the sound of this. There are certainly issues: Pickens is focused a bit too much on the fact that oil is mostly imported - one gets the impression that if we were still consuming mostly domestic oil, he wouldn't care about this - and not on the environmental effects of oil consumption. Indeed, as we see in this YouTube clip, he's perfectly happy to include things like coal - which wind energy should be replacing - in the equation to reduce oil imports, and he'd push for more offshore drilling of natural gas. Gas is also pretty much a peak product, so the swap from oil to CNG may be just replacing one problem with another. And finally, though it's not directly on point, one cannot escape the fact that Boone is, to put it bluntly, a real sumbitch. One embraces someone like him with great hesitation.
Still, he's right about the problem with oil, and it's a good thing to see a genuine oilman like him baldly refute the moronic "Drill here, drill now" nonsense that some Republicans are pushing, as this more thorough critique points out. As I said, I've got some issues with his solution, but he's correctly identified the problem, and I love seeing wind energy get a big boost. I think this sums it all up as well as anything:
Seriously, though, it's great that gazillionaire TBP is talking up peak oil and joining the wind power bandwagon (see "Wind Power -- A core climate solution"). And it's great he plans to spend tens of millions of dollars pushing this idea and delivering the message that $15 billion dollars for the wind production tax credit is peanuts compared to the $700 billion this country is going to spend on foreign oil this year.But if you want to displace oil, the obvious thing to do is [to use] wind power to charge plug-in hybrids (see "Plug-in hybrids and electric cars -- a core climate solution"), multiple models of which will be introduced into the US car market in two years. Indeed, with electric utilities controlling the charging of the plug-ins, they can make optimum use of variable windpower, which is mostly available at night time. That would be win-win-win.
The Pickens Plan, however, is based on the utterly impractical idea that "Harnessing the power of wind to generate electricity will give us the flexibility to shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel."
Uhh, never gonna happen, T. Boone. Never. The most obvious reason is the gross inefficiency of the entire plan.
[...]
A 2002 analysis of why natural gas vehicles (NGVs) didn't catch on was published in Energy Policy, "Commercializing an Alternate Vehicle Fuel: Lessons Learned From Natural Gas For Vehicles," (subs. req'd). The study concluded, the environmental benefits of NGVs were oversold, as were the early cost estimates for both the vehicles and the refueling stations: "Early promoters often believe that 'prices just have to drop' and cited what turned out to be unachievable price levels." The study concluded, "Exaggerated claims have damaged the credibility of alternate transportation fuels, and have retarded acceptance, especially by large commercial purchasers."
So a large-scale switch to NGVs by consumers is not going to happen no matter what T. Boone does. But he could help accelerate windpower into the marketplace and for that alone he deserves some kudos.
Indeed. Let's hope he takes the feedback to heart and runs with the best parts of his plan. He could make a big difference.
Outgoing State Rep. Mike Krusee, one of the biggest boosters of the Trans Texas Corridor in the Lege, is now an advocate for rail in and around Austin.
We should schedule an election now for a rail system based on three elements:A downtown circulator: Wynn's initiative to densify downtown has been successful, but could crumble unless people can move around downtown without cars.
The commuter rail stops at the Convention Center. For only $100 million (a lot of money but nonetheless a bargain for transportation infrastructure), an electric streetcar could move people to downtown work and entertainment destinations, the state office complex and the University of Texas.
Use existing rail Lines to Connect More Suburbs: Capital Metro owns track from the Convention Center east to Manor and Elgin. For less than $100 million, and in less than one year, we could provide rail service to desired development zones and to the developments springing up around Texas 130.
Any city in America would love to have such an opportunity: the existing track cuts the cost to a fraction and cuts the schedule by years.
Get to the airport: Capital Metro Chairman Lee Walker had the foresight to insist that our airport terminal be built to accommodate rail. Two routes are possible: a 2½ mile path across the Colorado River to downtown and Council Member Brewster McCracken's proposed route along Riverside Drive.
Both are expensive, costing more than $200 million and $500 million, respectively. But compare that to building new roads; the Central Texas Turnpike cost over $3 billion.
Speaking to the National Conference of Mayors, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said, "Other governments are aggressively pursuing strategies to unlock the potential of their metro areas. To compete and win in our global economy, we have to show the same kind of leadership. Now is not the time for small plans."
Nor is it the time for no plan at all.
That's a pretty good vision, I think. Lord knows, anyone who tried to park during the Democratic Convention would have appreciated a non-car way to get to the Convention Center last month. Krusee's proposal hits the obvious places, gets the suburbs involved, and uses existing resources, all of which should help build support. The mention of streetcars will probably make Mike Dahmus grind his teeth, but in context I think it makes some sense. I hope people get on board with what Krusee suggests.
By the way, the mention of Obama's support for rail projects is instructive. Obama has been pushing transit support in a way that we just haven't seen lately. It'll be nice to have a President that's from an urban area and is actually interested in urban policy matters as a priority, won't it? Krusee link via EoW.
Carolyn Barta of Dallasblog has been busy doing overviews of various races of interest in the Dallas area. Here she is on the race for HD112:
Two Asian-American women are competing to succeed State Rep. Fred Hill in District 112. Whichever candidate wins will claim the distinction of being the only Asian-American woman in the Texas Legislature. The candidates are Republican Angie Chen Button, 54, and Democrat Sandra VuLe, 39. Both women say they've had the opportunity to live the American dream. The contest should be a good test of the current partisan makeup of the district after longtime Republican dominance.
Here's her take on HD102:
Longtime Republican State Rep. Tony Goolsby faces a challenge in November from Richardson School Board member Carol Kent in one of the more closely watched legislative districts in the state. Democrats need five seats to take the state House back from the GOP, and strategists regard District 102 in North Dallas as a possible pick-off seat. Goolsby had to fight off a feisty opponent in 2006 and 2004, and the Democrat candidate this time is more firmly rooted in the district, in addition to running in a more Democrat-friendly election year. She says education will be her big issue.
And on CD32.
Who better to challenge longtime GOP congressman Pete Sessions than a former Republican? At least that's the rationale of Eric Roberson, a Dallas plaintiff's and briefing attorney who lives in Plano, where he used to be a member of the Collin County Republican Men's Club and was a state convention delegate. "I was Mr. Republican," he said -- even built an elephant float in his garage for an area parade. Two years ago, he switched parties and is running as a middle-of-the road Democrat who hopes to reach out to both sides of the aisle.
Check 'em out.
Those of you who are fans of the Houston Press' Rich Connelly, take note:
As of July 14, 2008, Hair Balls becomes Web-based.On the Web, it will be expanded, it will be updated constantly, it will become a destination for all who point and click and want to experience the sweat-drenched mystery that is Houston.
We won't completely abandon our print roots for pixels. The hard-copy edition of the Houston Press each week will include a roundup of items from the blog. But you, as a savvy user of -cutting-edge technology, will have already seen what those poor, benighted readers who stick to print have been anxiously awaiting every Thursday.[...]
If you are a dedicated follower of some subspecies of Houstoniana -- whether it's politics, education, the local arts scene or whatever -- and you think you might have what it takes to be a regular contributor, let us know.
Yes, they're looking for a few good co-bloggers. If you're at all familiar with Connelly's Hair Balls column, you probably have a good idea if you might be a decent fit. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're probably not. Those of you in the first group, follow that link if you think you've got what it takes.
I have two questions regarding this front page story that says "Understaffing costs Houston taxpayers $150 million in overtime".
Local governmental agencies spent large sums on overtime last year, in part to compensate for their understaffed police forces, according to interviews and an analysis of payroll data.Combined, the agencies spent about $150 million on overtime in 2007, or about 5 percent of their payrolls, according to a database of payroll records from the city, county and Houston schools, among other agencies.
The spending kept more police officers and sheriff's deputies patrolling streets and guarding jails, officials say, but it also has raised concerns about employee fatigue and morale.
[...]
The Houston Chronicle compiled detailed electronic payroll data on 81,000 employees at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, city of Houston, Harris County, Port of Houston Authority, Harris County Department of Education, Houston Community College and Houston Independent School District.
The records detail overtime, car allowances, bonuses and total annual pay. The data were collected under the Texas Public Information Act from the agencies, all of which receive property tax revenue from Harris County homeowners.
The Sheriff's Office, for example, spent more than $31 million on overtime, second only to the Houston Police Department, which has dealt with its own staffing shortages.
Dozens of deputies earned more than $50,000 in overtime last year, often doubling their salaries. Two who were paid $92,000 and $87,000 in overtime, respectively, worked 16-hour shifts five days a week. One got paid for a few 24-hour shifts, records show.
The HPD, which has placed a heavy focus on recruiting to increase the ranks, spent about $45 million on overtime, records show. Officials there plan to spend about $51 million over the next 12 months.
Much of the department's spending is funded by state and federal grants. The grants also boost traffic enforcement and extra policing in high-crime areas, police say.
"Unlike the private sector, the public sector has to leverage its limited work force by extending it through the use of overtime," said Joe Fenninger, HPD's deputy director for finance.
The Houston Fire Department and Houston ISD trailed the HPD and Sheriff's Office in overtime spending, with about $19 million and $10 million, respectively.
Reporter Matt Stiles also blogged about this story here. My first question is this: How much would these agencies be spending on overtime costs if they were all staffed at ideal levels? To say that overtime "costs Houston taxpayers $150 million" suggests to me that the "right" amount to spend on overtime is nothing, and I don't think that's realistic. Even at full staff, there will be circumstances that will require certain public employees to work extra hours. Is there a basis for comparison - say, a time in the past when staffing levels were higher across the board, or some other cities in America that are fully staffed - that can give us some idea what this baseline overtime budget might be? It would be nice to have a more realistic expecation of what we "should" be spending on this.
Point two is that if we were fully staffed across the board, and thus spending the minimum anount on overtime, we'd have higher payroll costs. How much more would the Sheriff, HPD, HFD, HISD, and so on be spending on salaries, benefits, and whatnot if they all had as many employees as they think they need and thus could cut overtime down as much as possible? It's quite possible that if we staffed up to drive down overtime costs, we might wind up spending more overall. If that's the case, then wbich would you prefer: Full staffing with minimal overtime, or less staff but more overtime? Is the goal to minimize costs no matter what, or just to minimize overtime? I'm not sure which is the right answer, but it's something we ought to think about. The right course of action to take from here isn't clear.
It's inspection time for the Harris County jails.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday launched what is expected to be a five-day inspection of the Harris County Jail facilities downtown, part of a federal probe to determine whether the jail is operating under lawful conditions.While federal authorities have declined to say what specifically prompted their investigation, the Harris County Jail has come under scrutiny in recent months for inmate deaths.
The facility has also been criticized for overcrowding, poor sanitation and questionable access to medical treatment and prescription drugs.
Though the state inspects the county jail each April, this marks the first time federal authorities have toured the facilities, said Chief Deputy Mike Smith, who supervises detention operations for the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
"To my knowledge, they've never done an inspection of us," Smith said Tuesday.
No, but we knew back in March that they'd be coming, thanks to the continued high level of inmate deaths at the jails. The jails passed the state inspection back in April, though the jails have failed to meet state standards because of prisoner crowding several times in recent years. (I'm pointing to the Google cache of my posts on these topics because my archives are currently in a state of transition.)
Federal authorities conducted a similar investigation and inspection of the Dallas County Jail, which exposed deficiencies in that facility's environmental conditions and its medical and mental health care.The inspection team, consisting of around nine people, told the Harris County Sheriff's Office they would be on site through Saturday, Smith said.
They will inspect all facets of detention operations, including the jails at 1200 Baker, 1307 Baker, 701 San Jacinto, 711 San Jacinto, and the booking-processing center at 1201 Commerce.
[...]
If the investigation finds violations, federal officials will suggest ways to improve jail conditions.
If those recommendations are not met, however, federal law allows the attorney general to sue the county.
And that's where things would get very interesting. As I said before, it's hard to imagine we could have had this problem for so long without there being some kind of code violations. I just hope that whatever improvements that need to be made are already in progress, and that we don't have to be forced, kicking and screaming, into doing the right thing.
Yes, even in Texas, people are using less gas as the price has skyrocketed.
State gasoline tax collections reported in June indicated taxes fell for two months in a row after a streak of gains earlier this year even as prices inched toward $4 a gallon, according to data from the Texas Comptroller's office.While state officials and others note that a number of factors figure in gasoline demand, the recent downturn suggests higher fuel prices are beginning to weigh more heavily on Texas drivers.
"It definitely seems like people are very aware now about the price of gasoline," said John Heleman, the state's chief revenue estimator.
[...]
State officials caution against reading too much into gas tax figures. They said the downturn could be a sign that Texans are driving less but may also reflect a gradual shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.
"I would like to see a couple more months," Heleman said. "Let's get through the summer, see how those months play out and see if we don't start to see some sort of trend."
If gasoline prices remain high, Texas could see gas tax collections stay flat or decline slightly for the state's 2008 fiscal year, he said. The last time that happened was 2006, when prices rose above $3 for an extended period.
There are obvious budgetary implications to this. Gas tax revenues contribute to education funding, for one thing, so a decline here will result in yet more pressure on school financing, which in turn would likely be another arrow in the quiver of those who favor expanded gambling. This will also be cited by toll-road proponents who insist that the gas tax is inadequate for Texas' growing transportation needs. That argument would be a lot more convincing to me if we didn't have the same tax rate as we did in 1992, something the tollers never seem to mention, but I guarantee this point will be raised. If this trend continues, keep an eye on the gamesmanship that will follow. There will be a lot riding in the next Lege on it.
Among the many signs of Democratic resurgence this year is the increase in Democratic fundraising. Groups like Blue Texas and TexBlog PAC have emerged on the scene to help Democratic challengers gain ground in the Legislature and elsewhere. One person who has done a lot this year to help out Democratic candidates for all kinds of offices, from Congress to State Senate to State House to the judiciary, is Barbara Radnofsky, who's been tirelessly hosting events at her house. There's now an ActBlue page for her Believe Texas PAC, so if you've been receiving her email invitations for these events and want to help out even when you can't attend in person, now you can do so. Every little bit helps, especially when there are so many opportunities to move forward. Stace has more.
Those of you who regularly stop for a bagel at the Hot Bagel Shop on Shepherd might have noticed that some of the other tenants in that little strip center where it resides have been moving out. There's a reason for that - the place is going to be demolished and rebuilt. But don't worry, the Hot Bagel Shop isn't going away. It's just moving down the street a bit:
That picture was taken a little more than week ago and it's already out of date. Here's a new view from a couple of days later:
I hadn't realized it was going to encompass the Shoe Hospital until I saw that. The location, in case you can't tell, is just south of Fairview, on the west side of the street, next to the Arby's. That's a wee bit north of the current location, and much more convenient for me, as it means I no longer have to make left turns during rush hour traffic for my morning bagel fix as I drive to work. My understanding, from talking to the proprietors, is that they'll be moving in September or so. I just hope no one crashes any cars into the new building.
Missed this when it first appeared: The Texas Blue has a nice interview with Harris Count Tax Assessor candidate Diane Trautman. They've got a player embedded in the post so you can listen there, or you can download the MP3 if you prefer.
Various techies gave US Rep. John Culberson a round of applause last month when they noticed his use of Twitter to post updates from the floor of Congress. But a recent tweet that says Congressional Democrats "want to require prior approval of all posts to any public social media/internet/www site by any member of Congress!!!", which he says is "outrageous and I will fight them". Turns out it's a little more complex than that.
The actual issue is one that we discussed a few months back. Existing House rules actually forbid members of Congress from posting "official communications" on other sites. This was first noticed by a first-term Congressman who was worried that posting videos on YouTube violated this rule. Other Congressional Reps told him to not worry about it as everyone ignored that rule, and no one would get in trouble for using various social media sites such as YouTube. However, that Congressman pushed forward, and eventually got Congress to act. Of course, rather than fixing the real problem (preventing Reps from posting on social media sites), they simply asked YouTube to allow Reps to post videos in a "non-commercial manner." YouTube agreed, and that was that.However, the existing rules still stood. Culberson's complaint stems for a letter (pdf) sent by Democratic Rep. Michael Capuano, suggesting that the rules actually be changed to be loosened to deal with this situation and make it easier to post content on various social media sites. Culberson, however, bizarrely claims that this is the Democrats trying to limit what he can say on Twitter. But that's actually not at all what the letter states. The problem isn't this letter, but the existing rules that are already in place. In fact, based on the letter, it would appear that this would make it possible for Congressional Reps to Twitter, so long as their bio made it clear they were Reps.
A bunch of people tried to understand this, and even I asked him to clarify why the problem was with this new letter, as opposed to the existing rules. His response did not address the question at all -- but rather was the identical response he sent to dozens of people who questioned his claims. He notes that based on the letter, each Twitter message must meet "existing content rules and regulations." Indeed, but the problem is that's already true based on those existing content rules and regulations. The problem isn't this new effort, but those existing rules and regulations, which mean that his existing Twitter messages violated the rules.
It's really disappointing to see someone who had embraced the technology use it to try to whip up Twitter users into a frenzy, while misleading them to do so -- and then not using the tools to respond to actual criticisms. The problem here is that the existing rules for Reps is problematic. It's not this new effort to loosen the rules, other than in the fact that the loosening of the rules might not go far enough. That's not, as Culberson claims, an attempt to censor him on Twitter, but simply an attempt to loosen the rules with a focus on YouTube and (most likely) with an ignorance of the fact that Twitter even exists.
More here. This should be a fairly straightforward thing to resolve, if Culberson's partisan rhetoric doesn't get in the way. Maybe he'll take the criticism from the techies that once praised him to heart. Link via Dwight on Twitter.
The Chris Bell for SD17 train gets ready to leave the station.
Democrat Chris Bell, a former Houston congressman who made an unsuccessful bid for governor two years ago, is expected to take a big step today toward a run for a Texas Senate seat now in Republican hands.Bell will file official paperwork to set up a campaign committee and appoint a campaign treasurer for a possible run for the District 17 seat recently vacated by Kyle Janek, said Jason Stanford, Bell's political consultant.
"Yes, he's leaning toward it and is probably going to make an announcement later this month," Stanford said. "It's not often that a Democrat gets a chance like this."
[...]
News of Bell's potential interest in the seat has been reported for nearly two months, but invitations sent out last week for a July 24 reception for Democrat Joe Jaworski, a former Galveston City Council member running against GOP state Sen. Mike Jackson of La Porte, mentioned that Bell might also soon be a state Senate candidate.
That was reported last week by Alan Bernstein (link via PDiddie, and may I say happy birthday, dude). At this point, it's hard to imagine Bell not running. It's just a question of when he announces, and how much financial support he shows early on. I can't wait.
On a side note, Wendy Davis and a group of supporters held a rally outside State Sen. Kim Brimer's office today to urge him to request a speedy judgment in his suit to boot her off the ballot. I've reproduced the press release beneath the fold.
UPDATE: PoliTex has more from Wendy Davis' press conference, including audio.
Today, voters from across Tarrant County joined Wendy Davis on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse to call on Kim Brimer to end the political gimmicks and request that the court immediately call a hearing to resolve Brimer's baseless lawsuit. Last Friday, Brimer dusted off the same old lawsuit that was rejected by the courts in January. "This is the latest example of Kim Brimer's brand of loophole leadership that has left voters frustrated and hungry for positive change," said Davis. In recent weeks, Brimer has offered no explanation for the ethical and the leadership failures that continue to plague his campaign and instead resorts to legal maneuvers to avoid being held accountable. His actions demonstrate his concern about a recent Davis campaign poll which confirms a trend reported early by two independent polls. Brimer is relatively unknown, his job performance is rated as poor, and voters are prepared for a change. "Senator Brimer, I stand here with the very people you ignore while in Austin and now seek to silence at the ballot box. We are ready!" said Davis, "We ask you to stop hiding behind lawyers and political consultants and step forward to demand that this lawsuit is handled immediately so that we can address the issues important to Tarrant County families." "It is no wonder that so few voters know Kim Brimer and those that do, do not like what they know. He continues to hide behind the veil of baseless lawsuits and cowers behind political consultants and lawyers instead of working to resolve the everyday problems that Texas families face," said Matt Latham, Davis's campaign manager.
I confess, I didn't know men's fast-pitch softball leagues existed in Houston.
The Lone Star State was a men's fastpitch mecca in those days. And Houston was one of its epicenters."Going back 20 to 30 years, Texas was definitely a hotbed," said Ken Hackmeister, executive director of the International Softball Congress. "We have numerous Texans in our Hall of Fame."
[George] Perez, 61, remembers a time when each park in Houston had its own fastpitch league. Church, industrial, company and town leagues would play each other in 80 to 100 games from the middle of March until the end of August.
"It was a lot like how you describe high school football is now in Texas," Perez said. "Everybody goes to watch the high school teams play.
"Back then, everyone went to watch the fastpitch teams play. ... The pitching was so dominant that most games were 1-0, and they were very intense."
Thirty-eight years later, things have changed.
Local participation in men's fastpitch is at an all-time low. Perez can count on one hand the number of teams in the private league he organizes with pitcher Henry Munoz. Including his own squad -- Geo-Per Fastpitch, named for the welding and welding inspection business he owns -- that number stands at four.
Munoz, who has been with the team for two years and works for Perez as an operations manager, has helped organize the league since the Houston Parks and Recreation Department decided not to fund it this summer because of escalating costs and the dwindling number of teams interested.
[...]
Benjie Hedgecock, executive director of the North American Fastpitch Association, says the instant-gratification attitude of today's society has increased interest in slowpitch at the expense of fastpitch.
"The key draw of slowpitch is you can have a 3-for-4 night every night," Hedgecock said. "Going 3-for-4 is a heck of a lot better than going 0-for-3 -- that's fastpitch. That contrast is a definite draw."
Some would argue more skill is required of fastpitch players.
"I think that's a measure of the game," said fastpitchwest.com editor Jim Flanagan, an attorney in California. "Slowpitch, just about anybody could play.
"Fastpitch is just a smaller pool of talent."
I agree with Flanagan. I've played in a couple of slow-pitch leagues in the past. What they have in common is that they're accessible for large, slow, out-of-shape people, exactly the kind of person who would be unable to get the bat off their shoulder in time to take a swing at a fast-pitch offering. Fast-pitch is for serious athletes; slow-pitch is for the more casual types. Nothing wrong with this, of course - it takes all kinds, after all - but there's no doubt in my mind that fast-pitch draws from a smaller talent pool.
Just a guess, by the way, but I'd theorize that the recent popularity of women's fast-pitch softball has made it seem more like a women's sport. Again, nothing wrong with that - I enjoy watching the NCAA softball tournament on TV - but I'd bet if you asked people what their impression was of fast-pitch softball, those that had opinions would mention names like Kat Osterman and Jennie Finch. They wouldn't think in terms of men playing the game.
Finally, the article doesn't mention a third option for softball, which is medium-pitch; my dad played on a medium-pitch league for years when I was a kid. It's similar to fast-pitch in terms of being more conducive to a higher level of athleticism and competitiveness, with the main difference being in restrictions on the pitcher. Basically, at least in that league, the pitcher is not allowed to raise his arm above his shoulder on either the windup or the delivery; in other words, no big windmill-style windups. That still allows you to bring some heat, just not Eddie Feigner-type heat. It strikes a balance between the free-scoring slow-pitch game and the pitcher-dominated fast-pitch, and was a lot of fun for participate in. Maybe that's a direction these guys should consider.
This is my neighborhood church, where Olivia and Audrey got baptized.
In a shady grotto filled with plants, lilacs and daffodils, parishioners at All Saints Catholic Church would sometimes stop to pray and reflect before an Our Lady of Lourdes statue.It was a tranquil scene -- until Palm Sunday when the statue was knocked down and broken. Two replacement statues, both of Our Lady of Guadalupe, have since been defaced or destroyed.
The latest incident happened outside the church on East 10th in the Heights late Friday or early Saturday.
A spray-painted message left on a church sidewalk in March during the second incident -- "You have been warned. Don't worship idols." -- has parish officials worried that they are being subjected to anti-Catholic hate crimes, not mere vandalism.
"It sounds like that," said Dan Schwieterman, All Saints director of religious education. "It may have deeper roots than vandalism. It may be a fanatic."
Houston police view the first two incidents as hate crimes. Investigators will decide whether the latest attack was a hate crime after completing their probe, said HPD spokesman Victor Senties. Investigators, he said, don't have any suspects.
That just makes me sad. All Saints is both a lovely historic church - it celebrated its centennial last year - and a good community resource. Even if this just turns out to be kids doing the damage, the church doesn't need the expense of fixing repeated damages. I hope the cops catch the offenders quickly.
I'll recommend this Nation article about the resurgence of the Democratic Party in Texas. It's cool to see people you know get quoted in a story like that, which is a good if somewhat rah-rah overview of the state of things. I will say that I agree with Evan Smith that this section stood out, and not in the good way:
[The Republican] party looks to be skidding toward a bloodbath in 2010, when insiders expect both Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, a hellfire-and-brimstone Christian conservative, and Senator Hutchison, who embodies the politer, Chamber of Commerce wing of the party (and says she's tired of Washington and wants to come home), to challenge Perry in the Republican primary.
I don't know which insiders they spoke to for this, but I agree with Evan on his first two objections: I doubt Dewhurst gets into a three-way race with Perry and KBH - he can always stay put, or run for KBH's open Senate seat - and I've no idea where the "hellfire and brimstone Christian" thing came from; maybe they confused him for Dan Patrick, which would surely be the first time that's ever happened. As for Evan's third objection, I'm not at all convinced Perry won't run in 2010. He says he is, and until he says he isn't, I plan to take him at his word.
And as long as you're reading that, you may as well also read this 2006 story about Fred Baron and the Texas Democratic Trust, who laid much of the groundwork for the resurgence of today. You probably know most of this stuff, but it's a good review if you don't. Link via Frontburner.
The development group that bought the shuttered Days Inn hotel on the southern end of downtown said it will spend up to $50 million converting the dilapidated structure into another hotel.New Era Hospitality, a group of doctors and entrepreneurs that bought the building in May, is negotiating with three hotel companies to brand the property.
But demolition has already started on the interiors, which are being gutted and will be replaced with 340 modern suites, 60 standard guest rooms, 32,000 square feet of meeting space and a swimming pool and bar on top of the attached garage.
"It's relieving a huge negative," said commercial real estate broker David Cook of Cushman & Wakefield. "The Days Inn has been the pariah of that part of downtown."
[...]
The hotel opened in the 1970s and was a Days Inn before it was taken over by the group, led by late spiritual adviser Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in the late 1990s.
The partners in New Era said they will know within the next couple of months if the hotel will operate as a Holiday Inn, Sheraton or Marriott.
The group is seeking tax abatements from the city for the project, which will "eliminate an eyesore on the Houston skyline and convert it to a productive asset for the city," said Manzoor Hasan, a partner.
Not only has the building been a blot on downtown's landscape, but it also rises up near the heavily traveled Pierce Elevated.
If all goes as planned, the hotel will be open by January 2010.
Link via Mike McGuff. You can read more about this building's weird history in this old Press article.
Gotta love people like this.
Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch succeeded Saturday in his third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.Couch kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart.
Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a crowd of spectators.
"If I had the time and money and people, I'd do this every weekend," Couch said before getting into the chair. "Things just look different from up there. You've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.
"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."
Said his wife, Susan: "He's crazy. It's never been a dull moment since I married him."
Couch, 48, rode the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east, and traveled at about 20 mph.
[...]
Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
I hope Couch's life story has a happier ending than Larry Walters' did.
Couch, a veteran of hang gliding and sky diving, estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
Well so much for this being an alternative to the airlines. How's the zeppelin business doing these days?
So did you have a good holiday weekend? Nothing like a day off on Friday to make Saturday feel like Sunday. Here's the latest roundup from the Texas Progressive Alliance to get you back on track with your calendar. Click on for the highlights.
According to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, if Chris Bell -- in his current inclination toward making a run for the Texas Senate in District 17 -- were to stand next to Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa, it would appear to be at a 90-degree angle compared to him.
It was a week for new contributors at WhosPlayin. Kit asks a million tough questions about America's interventionism and the illusion of national security, and txdemjen expresses the frustration a lot of us have with Obama's sudden right-ward bend.
CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme is appalled that special prosecutor, Terry McDonald, gives former Sheriff, Michale Ratcliff, a sweet plea deal for the sexual assault of a minor supposedly under his protection.
Bay Area Houston says Governor Perry is calling for an investigation into the insurance industry.
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News now sees his Pasadena neighbor Joe Horn saying he is no hero. Will he be subject to the same attacks those who have been saying that all along have experienced? Gary has been on vacation, mostly, but remains ticked off over the stupid.
Lovelie99 at McBlogger takes some time out of her busy schedule to inform us about the plight of supermodels. Apparently, there is a shortage of H-1B work visas since far too many math nerds are being imported to, you know, make stuff and stuff and program computers and stuff. And make other stuff, such as cellphones, such as. Which means there are too few supermodels who are allowed to work in the US. Well, at least the kind who are emaciated, gaunt and angular. We at McBlogger wondered if possibly there are math nerds who could do double duty. Then we laughed and laughed and laughed.
The Texas Cloverleaf wonders which is the better place to live...Collin County or New Jersey?. Forbes has the answer.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts the latest toll scam we'll be paying for soon, Going "Cashless" Will Cost Us All.
Off the Kuff notes a recent CNN Presidential poll and says it's not a dead heat if someone is leading.
Last week was a great one for evolutionary biology, but sucked if you happen to be a Conservapedia believer. Over at Texas Kaos Boadicea shares the tale of Conservapedia Ignoramous Schooled by Evolutionary Biologist and then discovered a sequel in which Lenski Meets the Naked Scientists.
refinish69 ponders the American Dream on the 4th of July at Doing My Part For The Left.
North Texas Liberal reports on Kim Brimer's cowardly move to keep worthy opponent Wendy Davis off the ballot in Fort Worth's SD 10.
Vince at Capitol Annex tells us about State Rep. Warren Chisum's announcement that he'll be trying again to pass legislation creating a two-year waiting period before couples can divorce.
Tory and Christof attended those public meetings on the proposed new commuter rail lines, and have some excellent suggestions for how we can - fairly quickly and at a reasonable price - implement two such lines, both of which would be useful. I think Christof sums it all up succinctly:
If a quick commuter rail implementation is ineffective -- if it results in long, inconvenient trips, if it carries low ridership - it might cause riders and voters to give up on commuter rail altogether. So while it's nice to be quick, it's equally important to be good. Whatever the first line is, it must be effective.
Go read what they have to say, and do what you can to keep the vision of these lines on track.
Well, this ought to be interesting.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Sunday called for congressional hearings to investigate what she calls ''the many downfalls" of the Harris County judicial system.Recent incidents, including a grand jury's decision not to indict a Pasadena man who shot and killed two men suspected of burglarizing his neighbor, have brought into question whether the system is fair and unbiased, she said.
The Democrat, who represents District 18, said she is also concerned and frustrated about derogatory e-mails circulated in the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the handling of DNA evidence by the Houston Police Department crime lab and the number of deaths in the Harris County Jail during the past 10 years.
She also criticized former Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal for explicit e-mails he sent on his county computer.
''With the many misgivings surrounding the Harris County judicial system, it is fair to say that this local judicial system has been tarnished," Jackson Lee said during a news conference at the Mickey Leland Federal Building. "It is time for all officials to be held accountable and true justice and democracy restored."
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Legg said Sheriff Tommy Thomas was unaware of Jackson Lee's news conference and declined to comment.
Jackson Lee said she plans to bring the congressional hearings to Houston in the next couple of weeks.
On the one hand, I think the more scrutiny of the criminal justice system here in Harris County, the better. It's not like there aren't a bunch of things to probe, after all, and while we know that the DA is investigating the Sheriff and the Attorney General is investigating the DA, how can it hurt to have some outside eyes looking in on things? The odds of butt-covering would seem to be smaller, in any event, especially with things being done in public.
On the other hand, I think Marc Campos has a point.
[I don't] think this is a good idea. Congress is the least popular institution in the U.S. of A. Bringing in a Congressional Committee comprised of "Northeastern Liberals" to look into our business would only make local voters feel sorry for the county. The local media has done a pretty good job of letting us know what is wrong with our legal system. Plus, Harris County government, the DA's office, and the Sheriff's office do a pretty good job of shooting themselves in the foot on a regular basis. The last thing we need is an injection of a sympathy factor that a Congressional inquiry would create.
Hard to argue with that. I still think there's value in this idea, but it has to be done with focus and even-handedness, or the value will be lost.
Nobody is shocked by this, right?
For decades, the Harris County Sheriff's Office has justified its controversial contract deputy program by saying it puts more officers on the streets to keep everyone safer, not just those who can afford to pay for extra protection.But a Houston Chronicle analysis of Sheriff's Office records shows contract deputy positions are filled immediately while dozens of normal patrol jobs remain vacant. In some cases, deputies who were pulled from the traditional patrols to fill contract spots have not been replaced.
Under the department's contract deputy program, civic associations, school districts and municipal utility districts pay the county to have deputies assigned to specific areas or neighborhoods rather than larger patrol districts that may include dozens of subdivisions.
With nearly half of the department's 530 patrol deputies assigned to the predominantly middle- and upper-income communities that can afford to sign contracts, lawmen say they are struggling to provide basic services to the rest of unincorporated Harris County.
One 193-square-mile district in northwest Harris County was so strapped for manpower in June that only five non-contract deputies were on duty on Friday evenings and only four worked Friday overnights. At the same time, 21 deputies were patrolling 18 subdivisions and municipal utility districts in the area. Contract deputies outnumbered regular deputies by a 2-to-1 margin on several shifts in another 216-square-mile district in west Harris County.
That's supply and demand for you. Really, is there anything about this that you wouldn't have expected?
Larry Cronin, the president of the homeowners' association for the Thicket at Cypresswood subdivision in northwest Harris County, said he and his neighbors feel much safer knowing one of their three contract deputies always is on patrol. The community used to have a problem with car break-ins, but that went away after the contract was signed around 1995, he said."I can have a deputy at my house in two or three minutes," Cronin said. "They're very efficient."
[...]
Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox issued opinions calling the contract deputy program unconstitutional twice in the 1980s, once before legislators adopted a law authorizing such programs and once after that law took effect. His opinions were upheld in the 1990s by former Attorney General Dan Morales.
But Attorney General Greg Abbott reversed course last year and declared the programs constitutional, as long as county commissioners are sure a contract's main purpose is to benefit the public, not a private group.
County Attorney Mike Stafford said the public benefits from the additional manpower, even if contract deputies spend most of their time in lower crime subdivisions.
I'm genuinely curious as to how Attorney Stafford arrived at his conclusion. How exactly does, say, Denver Harbor or Acres Homes benefit from the drop in car break-ins up in Cypresswood? Indeed, one could argue that the former Cypresswood car burglars, having been thwarted in their original hunting grounds, migrated elsewhere to places that have lighter or no patrols. Can we show that the decline in car burglaries in Cypresswood was not accompanied by increases elsewhere? If we can, then what Stafford says makes some sense, though I'd probably modify it to "patrols one place didn't hurt other places". Without seeing such statistics, however, I'm calling that claim bogus.
Pretty good story on the recent campaign clash between Rick Noriega and Sen. John Cornyn over veterans' issues.
The brewing dispute between Cornyn and Noriega over veterans issues escalated amid debate over an expanded GI Bill. Congress passed the measure, and President Bush signed it last Monday, doubling college aid for recent military members and allowing their education benefits to be transferred to a spouse or children.Noriega chastised Cornyn for not initially supporting the bill, and Noriega's supporters delivered petitions to Cornyn's Texas offices demanding that he get behind it. Cornyn later voted for a different version of the bill. He said he wanted a version that allowed the transfer of education benefits, something he said would help with retention in the all-volunteer military.
"The saying is that you recruit a service member, you recruit a soldier, but you retain a family," Cornyn said. "It's an important recognition of their contribution as well."
Cornyn's father went to college on the original GI Bill after World War II.
Cornyn's first vote against the new bill didn't sit well with some in the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, whose members talked about it at their state convention last week. The organization's political committee hasn't endorsed in the Senate race yet and is weighing whether to withhold support from Cornyn because of his position on the GI Bill, said Roy Grona, adjutant quartermaster for the Texas VFW.
"This one was a big one," Grona said, cautioning that he was expressing only his own views, not those of the whole organization. He wondered why Cornyn didn't vote for the GI Bill expansion right away, then work later to get it into the final shape he wanted. "To me, it was just an excuse to put a 'no' vote on it because the president wasn't happy with it."
May they follow in the path of the Texas Medical Association in deciding they have better things to do than support our junior Senator. Speaking of which, remember the AMA's ad campaign to criticize the anti-Medicare vote that Cornyn (and Hutchison) made? This was on the front page of chron.com on Sunday:
Nice. Keep it up, y'all.
Dan Cook, the longtime San Antonio Express News sportswriter who made the phrase "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" famous, has passed away at the age of 81.
The San Antonio Express-News, for whom Cook worked for 51 years, reported that he died Thursday night after a long illness. Cook was also the sports anchor at San Antonio television station KENS for 44 years, from 1956 to 2000. Most of those years, the station was owned by the Express-News.It was Cook who first popularized the phrase, "the Opera ain't over till the fat lady sings," while discussing an NBA playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets on a 1978 newscast. The Yale Book of Quotations later concluded it was first quoted in print in 1976, attributed to Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, and was a variation on an old Southern saying.
In few American cities did one person dominate sports media as did Cook in San Antonio.
Cook worked for the Express-News from 1952 through his retirement in 2003. Between his newspaper and television duties, Cook wrote six columns a week and delivered two sports telecasts and two radio commentaries each day. That's on top of his duties as Express-News executive sports editor, which he was from 1960 to 1975.
Barry Robinson, former Express-News sports editor and now its director of administration and recruitment, was hired by Cook in 1969. He recalled that Cook once turned down an offer to move to Chicago and become a syndicated columnist to remain in San Antonio.
I read Cook's columns when I was in college. I don't always enjoy the old-timers on the sports pages, since they have a tendency to be reactionary about too many things, but I generally liked Cook. He was certainly influential, and his presence is missed. Rest in peace, Dan Cook. Stace and The Walker Report have more.
I've long thought that the Ashby highrise would eventually get built, on the grounds that there really isn't anything the city can do to stop it. Via Swamplot, I see that the developers are now almost through the permitting process.
Having cleared six of seven departmental reviews, dating back [to] July 30, the project only lacks clearance from Public Works and Engineering's traffic section.Developer Matthew Morgan, of Buckhead Investment Partners, said Thursday the four remaining traffic-related concerns will be addressed, and plans will likely be sent back to the city within a week to 10 days.
At which point, the only unresolved issue would be whether or not someone files a lawsuit to stop the project. Which I believe they'd lose, but it could certainly drag things out for a few years.
Morgan said the acceptance of the structural plans meant, in part, "The city is holding true to its promise that it's not going to regulate building height."
And I continue to believe that the city needs to address this issue for the future. Whether you believe the Ashby development is a good one or an abomination, a comprehensive review of the city's form-based codes is long overdue.
Still doing maintenance. Regular posting will resume later, probably tomorrow. Some old post links may not work during this interval, but all should be well soon. There's still a new look to come, but as the back-end part of the process turned into a bigger chore than we thought, that may be delayed a bit. Thank you for your patience in the interim.
I just can't get too worked up about this sort of thing.
Most young people know the basics of landing a job: Prepare a résumé, compile references and dress up for the interview.But a handful of 20-somethings got a staunch reminder last month of a subtler job-hunting lesson -- that they need to polish their online profiles before entering the work force. A Houston TV station searched their Facebook pages, broadcasting some questionable photos and content.
A Lee High School teacher, for example, was photographed holding a sex toy. A Fonville Middle School teacher posted a photo album titled "TAKS Sucks Drinking Does NOT." A teacher at South Houston High School in the Pasadena district joked about his mostly Hispanic class's pronunciation of "mister."
The Pasadena teacher, who could not be reached for comment, resigned after the broadcast.
"He did this rather quickly, out of concern for his students," said Candace Ahlfinger, spokeswoman for the district. "That says a lot about the quality of the young man, a lot of positives."
Houston school district spokesman Terry Abbott said that, in most of these cases, the items were posted while the individuals were in college, before they became public school teachers. Still, he said, the teachers were upset and mortified that their online profiles were aired in public.
As a record number of Americans register on social networking sites like Facebook, these are issues that both employees and employers must increasingly handle.
Most companies acknowledge that employees have the right to express themselves -- and sometimes even encourage them to network online -- but also want them to avoid doing anything that might come back to haunt them.
Okay, look. There are plenty of photographs from 20-some years ago that show my college self doing stupid things, most of which involve beer. It's called being young and foolish, something which most of us are during those years. Maybe, just maybe, as these 20-something Facebookers become bosses and hiring managers and whatnot over time, there will be less of a stigma associated with having one's young-and-foolishness being noticed on the web, since by then we'll all live in glass houses and the standard response will be to shrug and say "hey, I was young once, too". I think the world will be a better place when that happens.
I'm having some maintenance done on the site this evening, hopefully including an upgrade to Movable Type 4.12 and a new look with a few new features. As such, you may not be able to see much on this page overnight and into the morning. All should be up and running before noon tomorrow. Check back tomorrow and see what you think.
Some links to get you through the weekend...
A look back at a time when the US knew how to make the US look good.
Don't cut your kid's hair. Pay for a real haircut, save yourself the angst.
Look out, Gay Talese! Screen shot here if needed.
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers", by the Ukelele Orchestra of Britain (via).
Conservapedia versus science. Science wins.
From the IOKIYAR files.
A good time was had by all at the Houston Votes event.
What do Congressional candidates think about science? I'm glad someone is asking.
Is voting behavior inherited? I don't know, but I love studies done on twins.
Help Darcy Burner. And as long as you're in that frame of mind, please consider helping Brian Beutler.
I'm not sure if the country is emotionally ready to discuss this in a rational manner, but like it or not, it's out there.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.
[...]
Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.
"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.
Warner asked the department to determine at what speeds vehicles would be most fuel efficient, how much fuel savings would be achieved, and whether it would be reasonable to assume there would be a reduction in prices at the pump if the speed limit were lowered.
There's no question that lower speed limits would conserve oil; whether that would lead to a reduction in the price of gasoline is less certain, since unlike 1974, the problem here is global demand, not supply. But it would assuredly make for sound public policy on many levels. Will anyone who has a re-election in their future get on board with Sen. Warner? My guess is he'll be a loner on this, but maybe I'll be surprised.
And for you kids who don't remember the 55 MPH era, here is what was its national anthem:
There's just so much awesomeness packed into that video, I can barely stand it. I must concede that lowering the speed limit would directly correlate with more Hagar-like driving, but that can be dealt with as needed. What's your opinion of Sen. Warner's proposal?
Former Senator Jesse Helms is dead.
Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July.He was 86.
[...]
In 1993, when then-President Clinton sought confirmation for an openly homosexual assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Helms registered his disgust. "I'm not going to put a lesbian in a position like that," he said in a newspaper interview at the time. "If you want to call me a bigot, fine."
[...]
He defeated former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt in 1990 and 1996 in racially tinged campaigns. In the first race, a Helms commercial showed a white fist crumbling up a job application, these words underneath: "You needed that job ... but they had to give it to a minority."
"The tension that he creates, the fear he creates in people, is how he's won campaigns," Gantt said several years later.
If you have nothing nice to say about someone, you shouldn't say anything. That's all I have to say.
I'd never heard of this before, but it's very cool.
t was probably the most ingenious student prank of all time.In June 1958, Cambridge awoke to see a car perched at the apex of an inaccessible rooftop, looking as if it were driving across the skyline.
The spectacle made headlines around the world and left police, firefighters and civil defence units battling for nearly a week to hoist the vehicle back down before giving in and taking it to pieces with blowtorches.
The shadowy group of engineering students who executed the stunt were never identified and the mystery of how they did it has baffled successive undergraduates and provided fodder for countless tourist guides.
Now, 50 years on, the group have reunited to disclose their identities and reveal how they winched an Austin Seven to the top of the university's 70ft-high Senate House.
The photo of the car on the roof is so bizarre, it's like a Magritte painting. The schematic of how the pranksters got it up there are truly impressive. Check it out, and ask yourself why you never did anything that cool in college. Thanks to Dwight on Twitter for the link.
I like the sound of this.
While towing companies are regulated, booting companies are not. They may soon be, as officials craft an ordinance to regulate the practice."We've seen an increase in this kind of complaint since last summer," said Liliana Rambo, the city's director of parking management. "The booting operators came to Houston and found a wide-open market."
Premier Parking Enforcement Inc. entered the Houston market about 18 months ago. The Atlanta-based operator would be fine with regulation, said their lobbyist, Darryl Carter.
"It would make the business much easier because we would know what is expected," he said.
Carter said Premier is hired by parking lot owners to patrol their lots to enforce payment.
The lot owners would rather boot than tow because it's less "intrusive" for the customer, Carter said. Booting -- which involves the installation of a bulky metal device on a wheel to prevent an automobile from being driven -- can be resolved on site and results in less potential for damage than hauling a vehicle away. Premier charges $100 to remove its boots and guarantees it will remove a device within an hour of payment.
The proposed ordinance could limit removal fees to a maximum $100 and require boot company employees to wear photo identification.
The city also is considering rules for surface lots that do not use automated gates or issue receipts, Rambo said. Those lots are the ones that generate the most confusion and complaints, she explained.
The new rules still are being developed, but could include a requirement that lot owners post signs telling drivers how to pay for parking, the hours and days that booting is enforced, and the telephone numbers of the booting company and the police department.
One proposal would exempt lots from signage rules if they install receipt equipment and automated gates.
All of this sounds eminently reasonable to me. I occasionally park in self-serve lots, and I always have a twinge of doubt as I shove my bills into that tiny slot that I'll get credit for having paid. Of course, automated gates can be problematic, too. But basically, setting clearly understood rules, and encouraging parking lots to be more user-friendly, is all to the good.
(The following is a guest post from Joe Jaworski.)
This week, we mark 232 years since our nation declared its independence and launched the greatest experiment in democracy the world has ever known.
That experiment continues to illuminate. The Founders were revolutionaries - and we should always think of them so - who designed our government to be an institution answerable to the American people. Our government works because regular men and women stand for election among their peers who, by their vote, grant the ultimate consent to be governed. No matter the great change that has taken place since 1776, our government was designed to survive "politics" because American citizens are able to control their own course.The mood is revolutionary again because - for the first time in over fifty years - whoever is elected President will be "new" to the White House. Not since Eisenhower's 1952 election over Stevenson have we witnessed a campaign without the President or his Vice President seeking the office. And since no incumbent is defending the past four years, the 2008 election cycle is about demanding an honest assessment of our condition and finding a new way forward. We'll find that way forward by voting our conscience.
I take my kids to vote with me because the citizen's act of voting is the trademark American experience. I'm asking you today to take stock of your vital role as a Texan and an American, and reflect on your commitment to making our democracy work. We'll have an opportunity to vote in November 2008 in a life changing election for several offices, and each of us has a duty to cast an informed vote. We'll be voting for office holders who decide matters vital to our family's well being. While the politicians and special interests hope for minimal scrutiny from the public, and they expect most people to be "tuned out" until just before the November 4, cycle, it's July 4 and we have four months until election-day. We have the opportunity to learn who the candidates are, study their issues and ask questions. We can afford to be casually indifferent about a few things in life, but casting an educated vote is a vital civic challenge we ought to accept given what's at stake: the robustness of our economy, the quality of our foreign relations, and - clearly the most important issue - our domestic investment in our next generation's health, education and welfare. Today's vote determines our future. We love our children and grandchildren; let's remember that when we vote.
Amid the many family picnics, fireworks displays, and community parades, let's take a moment to reflect on the enormity of our American experience and consider the heroes and generations whose shoulders we stand upon. Our commitment this Independence Day is to participate and defend the democratic ideal committed to us by the Founders and the Americans who followed.
Joe Jaworski served as Galveston Mayor Pro-tem and is currently running for the Texas Senate in District 11.
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
Remember Chris Comer, the former director of science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) who was forced to resign over a bogus controversy concerning intelligent design? According to the Observer blog, she has now filed a lawsuit against her former employer.
The suit alleges that Comer's termination violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. What's interesting is how the suit reaches that conclusion:1) Creationism is a religious belief
2) The Establishment Clause forbids the teaching of religion (read: creationism) in public schools. [The suit makes liberal reference to Kitzmiller v. Dover, the landmark 2005 case in which a conservative Bush-appointed judge rejected the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.]
3) The Texas Education Agency has a tacit policy of "neutrality" on evolution vs. creationism.
4) The"neutrality" policy is in fact an endorsement of creationism - and religion - and is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.
5) Comer was fired for violating an unconstitutional policy.
Conclusion: "Comer's termination... violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution... because it has the purpose or effect of endorsing religion."
Yeah, that sounds like a big ol' can of worms being opened to me, too. The suit is here (PDF). Of potential interest is that the firm representing Comer is Patton Boggs, among whose attorneys are likely SD17 candidate Chris Bell. I don't think that has anything to do with anything, but I figured I'd mention it since I'm sure someone would have eventually. In any event, I can't wait to see how this one turns out. South Texas Chisme has more.
In late May, the Ibarra brothers and several other people filed a lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff's Office, claiming that its deputies retaliated against people who filed complaints about them. Now one of those plaintiffs has been arrested by Sheriff's deputies.
A part-time Houston municipal court judge and law professor who is one of five citizens alleging intimidation and harassment in a lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff's Office was released from jail overnight after sheriff's deputies arrested her.April Jill Walker is charged with evading arrest in a motor vehicle, a felony, said her attorney, Lloyd Kelley.
Walker posted $2,000 bail and was released from the Harris County Jail, according to court records.
The incident occurred Wednesday evening in her Spring-area neighborhood, culminating with Walker's arrest in her driveway.
"He (a deputy) slammed her to the ground and said 'I know who you are. You're the judge' and he used the 'n' word," said Kelley.
A Sheriff's Office spokesman did not return calls for comment.
Walker's two sons, 15 and 17, initially were detained by deputies along with several other teenagers about 8:30 p.m. in their Olde Oaks neighborhood. The teens were placed in the back of patrol cars. One eventually was released and one charged with trespassing, Kelley said.
At the time the boys were taken into custody, Walker went to the area and was told to leave, Kelley said. She then drove down the street to tell a neighbor that her son also was being detained.
When Walker tried to leave the area of her neighbor's home, a deputy "slammed the hood" of her car with his hand, Kelley said.
The deputy followed Walker as she drove home and arrested her after she pulled into her driveway, he said.
Neighbors reported the deputies were "high-fiving" each other, Kelley said.
That was the story that appeared on the front page of yesterday's Chron; here's the KTRK story as well. Today's version, at the same URL, has the deputies' version of events, and it's very different:
In contrast to allegations by April Jill Walker, sheriff's Capt. John Martin said the arresting deputies were not aware of her office or the fact that she is a plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing members of the Sheriff's Office of intimidation and harassment.[...]
Martin said Thursday that Walker, who also teaches law at Texas Southern University, identified herself only as a lawyer during the incident and that the deputies did not know she is a judge or is suing the Sheriff's Office.
He said the Sheriff's Office will investigate the high-five allegation, but surmised that if it is true, the deputies may have been celebrating the peaceful end of a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood.
The incident began after Walker's sons, ages 15 and 17, were detained about 8:30 p.m. along with several other young people in the Olde Oaks neighborhood where they live.
Martin said a resident who had been asked to keep an eye on a neighbor's house while the neighbor was away reported that people were in the house.
Deputies came to the house and detained the group. Walker, who lives a short distance away, learned of the situation and drove to the house.
Martin said that Walker saw her two sons in the backseat of a patrol car, opened a door to talk with them and was warned by a deputy to step away from the car. The deputy told Walker that she was at the scene of an active investigation and could talk with her sons later, Martin said.
Walker left and returned several times, Martin said, before a deputy approached her car and told her to leave. He also told her that she was not wearing her safety belts, Martin said, but she backed out of the driveway and went through a stop sign at high speed while still in reverse.
After Walker shifted into drive and sped away, Sgt. J. Cook pursued with his emergency lights engaged, Martin said. He said Walker refused to stop and drove home at 50 to 60 mph.
When confronted in her driveway, Walker resisted before being arrested, Martin said.
He added that her sons and the others who were found in the house were charged with trespassing and possession of marijuana.
Walker said that, although no one in the group lives at that address, her sons are friends of the people who live there and frequently visit them.
And just in case that isn't enough, here's KTRK's latest entry, in which Walker disputes the deputies' version. All I can say at this point is good luck to the judge and jurors that get the task of sorting it all out.
UPDATE: And here's the latest Chron story, with more from Judge Walker.
Larry Harmon, who played Bozo the Clown for over 50 years, has died at the age of 83.
Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos."You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.
"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Harmon said.
Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, was the first Bozo the Clown, a character created by writer-producer Alan W. Livingston for a series of children's records in 1946. Livingston said he came up with the name Bozo after polling several people at Capitol Records.
[...]
The business -- combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances -- made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets.
"I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo.
The Chicago version of Bozo ran on WGN-TV in Chicago for 40 years and was seen in many other cities after cable television transformed WGN into a superstation.
Bozo -- portrayed in Chicago for many years by Bob Bell -- was so popular that the waiting list for tickets to a TV show eventually stretched to a decade, prompting the station to stop taking reservations for 10 years. On the day in 1990 when WGN started taking reservations again, it took just five hours to book the show for five more years. The phone company reported more than 27 million phone call attempts had been made.
By the time the show bowed out in Chicago, in 2001, it was the last locally produced version. Harmon said at the time that he hoped to develop a new cable or network show, as well as a Bozo feature film.
I guess that means that the version of Bozo that I recall watching from my childhood featured some other dude as Bozo. Not that it really matters, I suppose, since whoever it was had been trained by the master himself. Rest in peace, Larry Harmon.
I thought we were done with ballot access battles. Looks like I was wrong.
State Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, filed a lawsuit today against Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Steve Maxwell, Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie and his Democratic opponent Wendy Davis.The suit requests the court to "disqualify Davis from the November 2008 general election."
The suit follows the same line of argument as three Fort Worth firefighters charged back in January, when they alleged in a suit that Davis couldn't run for the state senate because she didn't officially step down from her seat on the Fort Worth City Council before filing her candidacy.
"In effect, Davis sought to become a candidate for the Legislature at the same time she continued to hold a 'lucrative office', exercise her duties and enjoy the benefits of office as a member of the City Council," the suit alleges.
State election law prohibits officeholders from running for the Legislature, but state law also requires resigning officeholders to hold their seats until their successors are sworn in, according to city of Fort Worth officials.
A three-judge panel in that case ruled that the firefighters didn't have standing to challenge Davis' eligibility, only a political opponent did.
We asked Brimer back in February whether he would file his own suit. He wouldn't say.
A copy of the suit is here (PDF) if any lawyers want to give it a look-see and offer an opinion; a timeline of events is here. Clearly, based on the original ruling, Brimer has a chance to win that the firefighters didn't, since he has standing. I also think it's pretty clear that the ethically-challenged Brimer is worried about losing this race, and is hoping to take out some insurance. I also think if he loses the court challenge he'll suffer some blowback. But since a win means a guaranteed re-election, it's easy to understand why he's taking this gambit. Over to you, Tarrant County District Court. In the meantime, you can listen to my interview with Davis.
UPDATE: The Texas Blue suggests that the ruling in the Bill Dingus lawsuit bodes well for Davis.
UPDATE: Marc G has more.
I had wondered why the recent ICE raid at a rag plant didn't result in any charges being filed against the employers. Now I see that has happened.
This morning a U.S. magistrate in Houston is scheduled to preside over the initial court appearance of two owners and three managers of Action Rags USA. The eastside company, located in a sweltering factory near the Port of Houston, was the scene of one of Houston's largest immigration raids when 166 undocumented workers were detained June 25.Federal charges were unsealed late Wednesday after agents arrested company owner Mabarik Kahlon, 45, and his partner and uncle, Rasheed Ahmed, 58. Also arrested Wednesday were manager Cirila Barron, 38, resource manager Valerie Rodriguez, 34, and warehouse supervisor Mayra Herrera-Gutierrez, 32. Ahmed, who has health problems, was freed on his own recognizance until today's court appearance. The rest remain in federal custody.
Barron and Herrera-Gutierrez are illegal immigrants from Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston.
The five are charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants, inducing illegal immigrants to come into the country, as well as illegal hiring practices including knowingly accepting false work documents.
''Immigration is a political issue and until it is solved politically, any employer is at risk," said David Gerger, a prominent Houston attorney who is representing the owners. ''But as far as this case goes, we will defend it in court and not in the press." Gerger represented former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow during his criminal case.
The arrests of the company leaders were applauded by those who favor tough enforcement of immigration laws.
''Employers who knowingly hire illegals need to face the consequences, and the consequences are prosecution," said U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble. ''Employers have been getting a pass way too long on hiring illegals and not being held accountable for it."
Well, if that's the approach you've chosen to take, it's better to arrest the employers as well as the employees, who after all wouldn't be there without those who hired them. But again, this is a stupid way of doing it. Make it easier for companies like Action Rags to legally import and hire foreign workers, and ensure those workers have a path to citizenship and the same rights and protections as native born workers, and a whole slew of problems go away. Why is this so hard?
A letter to the editor puts that same sentiment in a slightly different fashion:
Monday's Page One article, "ICE Raids often spare employers" quoted U.S. Reps. Ted Poe and John Culberson calling for the prosecution of employers hiring illegal aliens.I have supported both congressmen in the past and consider them great allies on many different causes, but their comments reveal an alarming hostility to the folks who provide jobs in our city, state and nation. Employers must navigate the minefield of laws that govern the workplace. On one side, Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells them, "Don't hire any illegal aliens, or you might go to jail your-self!" On the other side, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission tells them, "Don't look at that ID too closely or we will sue you for discrimination." People forget that five years before ICE raided the Swift meatpacking plants, Swift had paid out a $200,000 settlement to the Department of Justice for scrutinizing its employment documents too closely.
Employers are caught in a Catch-22 created by our government's failure to solve the immigration problem. Poe and Culberson should spend more time trying to pass sensible immigration reform and less time bashing the folks who put food on the table for millions of people in this city and great state!
NORMAN E. ADAMS, Houston
There's a huge amount of room to make improvements here, and no good reason not to. What's holding things back is a strong and persistent belief among some vocal opponents of immigration that meeting the real needs of the employment market by increasing the number of visas available for both skilled and unskilled labor would be harmful to American culture. They're wrong, and we need to get past that attitude or we'll never solve this problem.
Finally, I recommend Council Member James Rodriguez's words on the initial ICE raid, which are quoted at Marc Campos' site. Well said.
As we know, the Texas Medical Association recently rescinded its endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn after his vote against a Medicare-funding bill, HR6331. Now the American Medical Association is getting into the act.
Reflecting physicians' frustration with a group of senators that blocked action last week on legislation that would stop harsh Medicare physician payment cuts, the AMA began airing new TV and radio ads urging opponents of H.R. 6331 to put patients' access to care before insurance profits. The ads will run through this week's congressional recess, initially in Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. The ads can be viewed online."Congress had six months to effectively address harsh Medicare cuts that will harm seniors' access to care," said AMA President Nancy Nielsen, MD. "Despite broad bipartisan support in the House of Representatives for legislation to stop the Medicare cuts, action was stymied by 39 senators."
Because the Senate failed to act, this year's Medicare cut of 10.6 percent will begin today -- and a full 60 percent of physicians say this cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Over 18 months the cuts will total more than 15 percent, while medical practice costs continue to increase. The AMA is asking the Senate to make good on bipartisan support for legislative action that would replace Medicare physician payment cuts with updates that better reflect increasing medical practice costs. Last week the House passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) by an overwhelming vote of 355 to 59.
The new radio and television ads open with a reference to Independence Day then say: "there's no celebrating for the millions of Medicare patients -- seniors, the disabled and military families -- who will lose their access to health care. A group of U.S. senators voted to protect the powerful insurance companies' huge profits at the expense of Medicare patients' access to doctors."
"The AMA is activating a full-court press -- both advertising and grassroots -- in the states during the Independence Day recess," said Dr. Nielsen. "Over the month of June, more than 41,000 calls by patients and physicians have been made to Congress urging action through the AMA's grassroots hotline alone. Physicians and patients will be holding their senators' feet to the fire."
The ad, or at least the online version of the ad, doesn't mention any Senator by name, though one presumes it would be easy enough to alter the voice-over to tailor it for each particular state; they could also show a graphic with the appropriate Senator's name and phone number if they wanted to. More like this and the campaign funding gap between Cornyn and Rick Noriega will shrink a bit. If this winds up mobilizing doctors against Cornyn - by no means a sure thing, as they have not endorsed Noriega yet - that could cause him some problems. Link via BOR.
Help may be on the way for Houston-area residents driven to wits' end by the relentless attack of crazy Rasberry ants, which have caused damage estimated at $30 million in Harris and six other Southeast Texas counties.Acting on a request by the Texas Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved a crisis exemption for use of fipronil (Termidor SC) on crazy ant infestations. The crisis exemption is in effect until the EPA rules on the state's request for a specific exemption so the pesticide could be used for three years.
Crazy Rasberry ants, called "crazy" because of their zigzag march and named after Tom Rasberry, the Pasadena exterminator who discovered them in 2002, now infest Harris, Brazoria, Galveston, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery and Wharton counties.
[...]
Jason Meyers, a Texas A&M University doctoral candidate who is considered an expert on the ants, said the poison likely will be an effective management tool of the pests but "not an end-all."
"It should be useful for individual homeowners," he said, "but it's not going to eradicate the ants from any area. Not by any means."
Just as well, given that these critters eat fire ants, who are the greater evil in just about any entomological equation.
The Texas Observer has a nice bio of Supreme Court candidate Linda Yanez, who if elected this November would be the first Latina on the Texas Supreme Court. She's got an interesting life story that's worth your time to read, but I think the bit that most caught my eye was this:
A majority of the court has swung so far to the right that even some of its own judges have recoiled at recent rulings. On May 16, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of McAllen Medical Center in a long-running malpractice lawsuit. The hospital was asking the court for a writ of mandamus--a seldom-used judicial maneuver that allows the defendant to do an end run around the appeals process. Rather than wait for a decision in the lower courts before appealing, McAllen Medical Center asked the higher court to dismiss the case.The 13th Court of Appeals, where Yañez sits, had already denied the hospital's request for mandamus. The Supreme Court approved it, saying the problems associated with medical malpractice lawsuits were too costly to be delayed with a trial.
The ruling is an extraordinary departure from precedent. So big, in fact, that it warranted a reply based on a cartoon fantasy. State Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright opened his dissenting opinion with lyrics from the theme song to the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin.
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming ...
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you.The dissent continued: "A whole new world in mandamus practice, hinted by opinions in the last few years, is here. The Court's heavy reliance on costs and delay to support its conclusion that the hospital has no adequate remedy by appeal marks a clear departure from the historical bounds of our mandamus jurisprudence."
Signaling that the decision could make it harder for plaintiffs to make lawsuits stick, the dissent continued: "Such cases should be the exception; they may now have become the rule."
Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson and Justice Harriet O'Neill joined Wainwright in the dissent. Justice [Phil] Johnson signed on with the majority, in favor of the hospital.
Justices Jefferson and Wainwright are on the ballot this fall, along with Justice Johnson, who is Yanez's opponent. It'll be interesting to see if this ruling, and in particular Wainwright's sarcastic dissent, is a part of any campaign coverage we get of the Supreme Court races, or if any newspaper bases endorsement decisions in part on it. It's awfully hard for judicial races to break through into the news, even those at the top and even when there are known issues, but that kind of disagreement among ballotmates is an easy hook for a story line. Anyway, check it out.
I know that every cloud has a silver lining and all that, but somehow that thought isn't enough to cheer me up as I read this.
As fliers like Perez spend more time waiting in airports -- in part because of modern security requirements, and possibly in the future by planned flight cutbacks -- high-end stores are becoming more prevalent, said Steve Johnson of HMSHost, which runs Destinations.The store in Terminal C includes a boutique called Occhaili da Sole that sells $685 Dior sunglasses for those who want ultra-stylish UV protection.
"(Travelers) are spending more time in airports, having more time to shop and more time to eat," Johnson said. "Pre-9/11, people kind of flew through airports."
So to speak.
Idle passengers have created opportunities for businesses like HMSHost, the biggest airport concessions operator in the country and one of nine at Intercontinental.
Retail consultant Jeff Green said that even though carriers are planning to run fewer flights to minimize record fuel costs, the reduced service also should cause more delays.
"People expect to spend longer in airports," Green said. "It is just an opportunity for retailers to catch that customer who has to wait."
[...]
Experts familiar with airport concessions, like Bruce Katz of Retail Focus, said the upscale trend is the future of airport concessions.
"High-end customers going through airports is definitely being reflected in retail," Katz said. "You have more fashion orientation than ever before."
How nice to know that as I am forced to kill time in the airport, at least I can spend more money on higher-end junk. Somehow, I just don't find that particularly comforting.
I know the media loves a horse race and all, but this is pushing it.
With the dust having finally settled after the prolonged Democratic presidential primary, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama locked in a statistical dead heat in the race for the White House.With just over four months remaining until voters weigh in at the polls, the new survey out Tuesday indicates Obama holds a narrow 5-point advantage among registered voters nationwide over the Arizona senator, 50 percent to 45 percent. That represents little change from a similar poll one month ago, when the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee held a 46-43 percent edge over McCain.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland notes Tuesday's survey confirms what a string of national polls released this month have shown: Obama holds a slight advantage over McCain, though not a big enough one to constitute a statistical lead.
"Every standard telephone poll taken in June has shown Obama ahead of McCain, with nearly all of them showing Obama's margin somewhere between three and six points," Holland said. "In most of them, that margin is not enough to give him a lead in a statistical sense, but it appears that June has been a good month for Obama."
[...]
The poll, conducted June 26-29, surveyed 906 registered voters and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Nate Silver points out one obvious problem. From the National Council on Public Polling's "20 Questions A Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results":
12. Who's on first?
Sampling error raises one of the thorniest problems in the presentation of poll results: For a horse-race poll, when is one candidate really ahead of the other?
Certainly, if the gap between the two candidates is less than the sampling error margin, you should not say that one candidate is ahead of the other. You can say the race is "close," the race is "roughly even," or there is "little difference between the candidates." But it should not be called a "dead heat" unless the candidates are tied with the same percentages. And it certainly is not a "statistical tie" unless both candidates have the same exact percentages.
And just as certainly, when the gap between the two candidates is equal to or more than twice the error margin - 6 percentage points in our example - and if there are only two candidates and no undecided voters, you can say with confidence that the poll says Candidate A is clearly leading Candidate B.
When the gap between the two candidates is more than the error margin but less than twice the error margin, you should say that Candidate A "is ahead," "has an advantage" or "holds an edge." The story should mention that there is a small possibility that Candidate B is ahead of Candidate A.
Emphasis added. Certainly makes for a different story that way, does it not? We see this all the time, and in all kinds of races, but given that Obama has held a consistent lead over McCain for several months now - as in, not a single recent national poll has shown McCain with a lead - it's particularly egregious to call this race a "dead heat"
One more point: Way back in 2004, Kevin Drum asked a couple of statisticians a question that really should be asked more frequently in all matters related to polling:
In fact, what we're really interested in is the probability that the difference is greater than zero -- in other words, that one candidate is genuinely ahead of the other. But this probability isn't a cutoff, it's a continuum: the bigger the lead, the more likely that someone is ahead and that the result isn't just a polling fluke. So instead of lazily reporting any result within the MOE as a "tie," which is statistically wrong anyway, it would be more informative to just go ahead and tell us how probable it is that a candidate is really ahead.
He goes on to provide an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to make that exact calculation. And guess what? Based on the CNN poll, the probability that Obama is actually ahead is almost 94%. Like I said, it sure looks different when reported that way, doesn't it?
(I also discussed this at Kuff's World.)
Governor Perry makes like a vending machine: Money goes in, policy comes out.
Gov. Rick Perry's request for a waiver of federal corn-based ethanol production mandates was prompted by a March meeting he had with East Texas poultry producer Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim, who six days later gave $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association chaired by Perry.In the three weeks following that donation, Perry's staff began preparing to submit the renewable fuel standards waiver request to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, according to 596 pages of records obtained from the governor's office by the Houston Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act.
The donation, given March 31, also made it possible for Pilgrim to address nine Republican governors during a closed-door energy conference in Grapevine to explain his belief that ethanol production is driving up feed costs for poultry and livestock producers.
Perry aide Allison Castle said political donors get nothing but "good government" from Perry. She said he asked for the waiver because of ethanol's potential negative impact on livestock and poultry producers. Castle said Perry is scheduled to meet with EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson this month.
You have to admire the initiative, I'll say that much. If he were half as innovative in solving Texas' problems, people might actually be excited at the prospect of four mofo years. He'll make a great lobbyist some day, that's all I know.
Dan Wallach, who is an expert on electronic voting machines and their security, sums it up succinctly:
Texas' [direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines] are simply vulnerable to and undefended against attacks.
That's the last sentence of a long post about his recent testimony (PDF) to the House Elections Committee and the response from the electronic voting machine trade organization, which as you may imagine did not agree with him. Read it for yourself and see what you think.
It's probably not a good idea to do stuff that makes your boss have to answer questions like these on camera.
I agree with Boadicea that Elise Hu asks a good question:
Is this kind of masquerade ethical when it comes to politics, if a paid staffer is anonymously writing about the very campaign for which he's paid?
And I agree with the answer: No. That's what this is about, the misrepresentation by David Beckwith of himself. How many times must people be outed as sock puppets before the message sinks in that this is both lame and stupid?
By the way, I love that the quote of Beckwith/Buck Smith shilling for a raise for himself has gotten prominent play in these stories. Politics aside, that captures the reason why this is a Bad Thing about as well as one can.
The last ballot access battle for 2008 that I am aware of has been resolved.
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, will have a Democratic opponent this fall.State District Judge Margaret Cooper ruled [Monday] afternoon that Bill Dingus, a former Midland City Council member, can appear on the ballot.
Questions had been raised whether Dingus had resigned from the council in time to be on the ballot.
See here for some background. Evan Smith would like you to know that he had nothing whatsoever to do with this.
Now this is what I call an unexpected bonanza.
Thanks to WALL-E, the endearing little robot that could, the political name game may have gotten a little bit easier for Armando Walle, the state representative candidate in District 140.For much of his life, Walle has patiently offered the correct spelling of his family name -- pronounced Wally -- and explained the backstory on how he got his nontraditional, yet still very Hispanic surname.
"When I would get nametags, they would always misspell my name," said the 30-year-old North Houston Democrat, whose name was passed down from his Mexican-born father.
Before Disney came out with its computer-generated mass of metal, Walle used to hold up Mexican president Vincente Fox as an example.
"I'd tell people, 'He doesn't have a traditional Mexican name.' "
"Now," he added, "all I have to say is, 'It's like the movie.' "
[...]
After the March 3 primary, in which Walle defeated incumbent state Rep. Kevin Bailey, a huge billboard boasting WALL-E the movie went up on U.S. 59 north, near the real-life Walle's home.
Now, he said, people recognize the name all the time.
"Lately," he said, "it's been kinda crazy."
But in the good way, obviously. It's a nice thing to happen to a nice guy who will make a fine representative.
Cathy Campbell did a double-take and tapped the brakes when she spotted what appeared to be a pointy-edged box lying in the road just ahead.She got fooled.
It was a fake speed bump, a flat piece of blue, white and orange plastic that is designed to look like a 3-D pyramid from afar when applied to the pavement.
The optical illusion is one of the latest innovations being tested around the country to discourage speeding.
"It cautions you to slow down because you don't know what you are facing," Campbell said.
A smaller experiment two years ago in the Phoenix area found the faux speed bumps slowed traffic, at least temporarily. Now, in a much bigger test that began earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to find out if the markers can also reduce pedestrian accidents.
The fake bumps are being tested on a section of road in a business and residential area in Philadelphia's northeastern corner. But soon they will also be popping up -- or looking that way -- on 60 to 90 more streets where speeding is a problem.
The 3-D markings are appealing because, at $60 to $80 each, they cost a fraction of real speed bumps (which can run $1,000 to $1,500) and require little maintenance, said Richard Simon, deputy regional administrator for the highway safety administration.
On one of three streets tested in the Phoenix trial, the percentage of drivers who obeyed the 25 mph speed limit nearly doubled. But the effect wore off after a few months.
"Initially they were great," said the Phoenix Police traffic coordinator, Officer Terry Sills. "Until people found out what they were."
Well, we know that red light cameras can alter drivers' behavior for the better. The difference, of course, is that you know there's really a camera there. Once you realize the speed bump is just an illusion, why would seeing them make a difference in how you drive?
Learning from the experience in Arizona, authorities are adding a publicity campaign in Philadelphia to let drivers know that the phony speed bumps will be followed by very real police officers, said Richard Blomberg, a contractor in charge of the study.Even after motorists adjust, the fake bumps will act like flashing lights in a school zone, reminding drivers they are in an area where they should not be speeding, he said.
"After awhile the novelty wears off, but not the conspicuous effect," Blomberg said.
You could probably get the same effect from just having the cops there, even only once in awhile. But whatever. If it's cheap enough and it works, I guess I don't see a problem.
Once you've been shown to be a sock puppet, it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that you've always been a sock puppet.
Yesterday, Burnt Orange Report unmasked prolific commenter "Buck Smith" as actually being Dave Beckwith, a Cornyn staffer who evidently splits his time between working in Cornyn's federal Senate office and on the Cornyn campaign. The Cornyn campaign has defended Beckwith, saying he is simply doing the same thing everyone else on blogs is doing, although having a legitimate reason for using a pseudonym is a bit different than using one because you are a paid political operative.Beckwith, however, didn't just comment at one or two blogs (Burnt Orange Report and DailyKOS being two most people are aware of). In fact, he trolled sites belonging to mainstream media outlets, and sockpuppeted across nearly a dozen Texas-based and national blogs.
According to Vince's research, Beckwith/Buck Smith has been visiting blogs since 2005. Old habits die hard, apparently. One of the things he said in that latter thread certainly rings true:
Many political mistakes are blamed on staff error. But sometimes the fault lies with -- staff error.
That's certainly a concept with which he's familiar. I wonder, would shilling for a raise while using one's alter ego count as an error? Gotta admit, that does show initiative, so maybe not. More to come soon, I'm sure.
In 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring high school athletes be randomly tested for steroids. Turns out this isn't much of a problem.
Only two athletes tested positive for steroid use among some 10,000 Texas high school students tested this spring, raising doubts about whether state lawmakers will renew the $3 million-a-year project at current levels.The testing company's preliminary results are based on an estimated 10,407 students who were tested since February, when state officials launched the random steroid-testing program mandated by state lawmakers. National Center for Drug Free Sport is expected to release a formal report later this summer.
Both supporters and critics of the testing program -- the largest among high schools in the country -- said the results validate their positions.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Monday he was pleased with the cursory results.
"I pushed this important legislation through the Legislature because I knew it would deter our young people from wrecking their bodies and putting their lives at risk by using illegal steroids," Dewhurst said. "And these test results clearly show the deterrent is working because young people know they can't use illegal steroids without getting caught."
But Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, one of seven state lawmakers to vote against the steroid-testing program, wants it abolished. There are 181 members in the Texas Legislature.
"This is one of those issues that sounds good but has no real impact except wasting taxpayer dollars," Patrick said. "I don't want to diminish the seriousness of steroids, but you can't take a sledgehammer to kill a gnat. Spending $1.5 million per kid is ludicrous."
I agree with Sen. Patrick. There's no possible way that this is a responsible use of public resources. I didn't pay attention to this issue last session, as there were so many other higher-priority matters, but I'll be watching it this time. Anyone who wants to argue in favor of renewing this program in 2009 is going to have to explain how it could be worth the cost.
As for Lt. Gov. Dewhurst's blithe assertion that the random tests must have served as a deterrent, how do we know anyone was using before this year? Maybe this was never a problem all along. And you have to admire Dewhurst's logic, which no doubt would have applied regardless of the outcome. If we have no steroid problem, the testing program works because it's a deterrent. If we did have a steroid problem, the testing program works because clearly we needed to know what kind of a problem we have. Nifty, isn't it?
Almost as nifty as this:
[Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, House sponsor for the steroid legislation,] did not flinch at the $1.5 million cost per positive test result, noting the price tag would be immaterial "if that's your kid."
And if we'd passed a $3 million bill to help kids pass the TAKS test but only 2 of the 10,000 kids it applied to did actually pass it, would it still be worth the $1.5 million cost per positive test result "if that's your kid"? I'm thinking the answer Rep. Flynn would give in that case would be "no".
State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, agreed that schools should ramp up educational warnings about steroid use. But she voted against the testing program last year and hopes it fizzles out in the next legislative session."I thought the whole concept was absolutely silly," she said. "We should focus on education ... The money needs to be better utilized in preparing our kids for Texas' global economy."
Somebody slap me, I'm agreeing with Dan Patrick and Debbie Riddle in the same blog post. I realize she's being completely insincere about the need to "focus on education", but I'm going to clip and save this quote for next year anyway, because I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point. Grits has more.
Vince has the writeup on TexBlog PAC's endorsement of Sherrie Matula at last Thursday's fundraiser.
Matula's race represents one of those races that a lot of folks in the "bricks and mortar political establishment" may have underestimated in the early part of this year. However, this district is ripe for a flip. Matula laid the groundwork for this year's campaign with a respectable general election showing in 2006 and her "Apple Corps" team of volunteers and on-the-ground activists has worked very hard this year to register new voters, identify Democratic voters in the district, and conducting GOTV.This race, however, is one where the Netroots have consistently seen the potential for defeating incumbent John Davis (a legislator who Texas Monthly appropriately deemed "furniture") and the value in Matula's traditional and online campaign operations.
Click over to read the rest. I've said before that Matula ran a great campaign in 2006 on a shoestring; this year, with much better funding, more experience, and a stronger Democratic trend overall, she is in a good position to win in a district that nobody would have pegged as competitive as recently as 2004, when Rep. Davis ran unopposed. You can help Sherrie and help us help her make that happen.
This is one of many reasons why the current crackdown on undocumented immigrants is such a sham.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are staging dramatic raids across the country that routinely seize hundreds of undocumented workers at their jobs -- and leave their employers free to work another day.The appearance of separate justice that arose during federal authorities' surprise morning raid at Action Rags USA on Houston's east side fits a nationwide pattern.
Many of the 166 workers taken into custody on suspected immigration charges in Houston last week were paraded toward vans to be transported into detention. But immigration authorities spared company officials both immediate arrest and the embarrassing "perp walk" that exposed those arrested to news photographers.
"Once again the federal government has it backwards," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, a former state judge and prosecutor. "It is a waste of time if we don't go after the business owners who are knowingly hiring illegals.
"If we eliminate the illegal job opportunities, we can start to eliminate the problem."
No dount unwittingly, Rep. Poe has correctly identified the problem. Unfortunately, his preferred solution, which is to crack down even harder on places like Action Rags USA while hermetically sealing the southern border, is simultaneously cruel, unworkable, and hideously expensive. That's because this approach completely defies the laws of supply and demand. This is rather ironic, given the fealty that folks like Rep. Poe swear to free-market economic principles in just about every other context. I guess the immigration debate has its own logic, and the power to trump such things as needed. Which is too bad, because in principle, I agree with him: The problem is too many illegal job opportunities. It's just a shame he's incapable of taking the next step towards a solution that might actually work.
Rice University chemistry professor and Nobel Laureate Robert Curl is retiring from the classroom today.
Robert Curl never sought the limelight that accompanied the Nobel Prize in Chemistry he won a dozen years ago.In his quiet way, Curl simply went on teaching, thinking, experimenting and riding his bicycle to Rice University.
Now, after 50 years at Rice, Curl plans to retire Tuesday. With a hint of a smile, Curl, 74, says he doesn't want to turn into "one of these people who hangs on so long that they have become a blithering idiot."
Curl shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Rice's Rick Smalley and a British scientist, Harold Kroto. They discovered a unique form of carbon in which 60 atoms are clustered neatly into a tiny, soccer-shaped ball. They christened their finding a buckyball -- or fullerene -- after Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic designs the molecules resemble.
The discovery heralded the dawn of nanotechnology, the science of building very small materials with unique properties.
[...]
Like many leading scientists of his age, Curl's passion for research dates to a childhood Christmas, when his parents bought him a chemistry set. Soon, the 9-year-old was mixing chemicals, making gunpowder and blowing things up.
In one memorable event, some nitric acid boiled over onto his mother's porcelain stove, eating away the fine finish. His mother never forgave him, he said, but Curl was hooked on chemistry.
"It was not scientific at all," he said, "but it was sure fun."
In case you every wondered what the appeal of shows like "Mythbusters" is, that would be it in a nutshell.
Rice's current president, David Leebron, echoes the sentiment: "On top of all the achievement, Bob is one of the kindest and most generous people I know."Those qualities made Curl a good mentor. He gave brilliant and not-as-brilliant graduate students the same attention and respect, colleagues said.
[...]
Curl and Smalley believed they could approximate the conditions of dying stars, which are rich in carbon, by using lasers to blast a chunk of graphite. At the time, graphite and diamonds were the two known forms of carbon. The scientists hoped to create the long carbon chains seen in interstellar space.
Instead, when they pored over the collected data, they found a blip that turned out to be a spectacular, third form of carbon.
"Our buckyball discovery was a complete piece of serendipity and totally unexpected," Curl said.
"It's kind of embarrassing. Reporters asked us, 'Tell us how you made this great discovery.' Well, it was a stroke of luck. The only credit you can claim is not ignoring your stroke of luck."
I never had Curl as a professor, since I was only a grad student at Rice, in the math department, but I know him through the tournament bridge scene, where he's been a fixture for longer than I have. I figure this means he'll have more time to play the game, which will be good for everyone. Best of luck in retirement, Professor!
It's Fourth of July week, and that means it's time for fireworks, barbecue, and some good blogging from the Texas Progressive Alliance. Click on to get a heaping plateful of the week's highlights.
Maybe PDiddie at Brains and Eggs was wrong about Obama and Texas. Decide for yourself.
Off the Kuff has one last belated interview from the state Dem convention, with CD32 candidate Eric Roberson.
There is a new email scandal in Harris County. XicanoPwr writes about the offensive emails discovered at the Harris County Sheriff's Office by a local media undercover investigation. One email has Osama bin Laden urging folks to vote Democratic. In another email, a top commander suggested that alligators should be put in the Rio Grande to cut down on illegal immigration.
Big Drunk at McBlogger points out, again, the flaws in the R's "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" strategy. Which really isn't hard to do since the R's don't exactly excel at critical thinking, are in love with fantasy and are (to a large extent) willfully ignorant.
refinish69 of Doing My Part For The Left is delighted to announce that the Texas Medical Association Rescinds their endorsement of Box Turtle and shares Rick Noriega's response to Big Bad John.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the cracks forming in the Texas GOP in A Cooling Off Period For The Texas GOP.
Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex takes a look at the Texas Supreme Court's recent opinion declaring, essentially, that if you are injured by a church, you are screwed, which stems from the case of--get this--an exorcism gone horribly wrong.
North Texas Liberal reports on the charge that John McCain and his wife Cindy have defaulted on four years of back taxes for their La Jolla, Calif. residence.
The Texas Cloverleaf helps expose the fact that oil companies are not drilling on 3/4 of the land they already lease, because it will cost them too much. Corporate greed, anyone?
Over at Texas Kaos, it is Kenneth Foster all over again, as it looks like Texas' law of parties is fixing to execute another man, Jeff Wood, who didn't kill anyone.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes John McCain shows his true colors by choosing Phil 'Enron' Gramm as a close associate.
NyTexan at BlueBloggin tell us how the Bush administration has hit the pinnacle of security chaos. We can rest easy now, knowing that we have outsourced the outsource; Department of Homeland Security Outsources National Security
Bay Area Houston writes about State Senator Kim Brimer keeping campaign cash for himself.