I figure everyone reading this blog is sufficiently engaged with the political process to be already registered to vote. But you never know, and I'm sure most if not all of us know people who should be registered but aren't yet. So please be aware that Monday, October 6, is the deadline to register, and if you miss that date you're out of luck for this election. If for some reason you are unsure of your status, you can go to one of these locations to check:
https://voterinfo.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionVoter.jsp
http://www.tax.co.harris.tx.us/voter/voter.asp#NSearch
The latter assumes you live in Harris County; if not, click the List of County Registrars link on the SOS page. If you are not registered and want to be, go here:
http://www.tax.co.harris.tx.us/voter/voterapp/acquirevoterapp.asp
https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/vrapp/index.asp
http://www.votexas.org/
If you need to request a ballot by mail, perhaps because you are currently living outside your home county due to Hurricane Ike, you can do so here:
http://w03web.sos.state.tx.us/vrrequest/bbm.asp
Finally, if you'd like to help other people register to vote, Houston Votes is looking for assistance. Here's a message from them:
It is now or never to register people to vote. The deadline for this November's election is Monday, October 6. People easily can volunteer to register people at large stores across the area from October 1-6 by going online to www.houstonvotes.org and clicking the volunteer button. It takes volunteers to new software (VolunteerSpot) that allows volunteers to chose their day, time, and site. Houston Votes has hundreds of shifts. People can also volunteer by contacting Dee Young at dee@houstonvotes.org and 281-702-7864.
Thanks for your assistance. Now go get ready to vote!
Mayor Bill White takes his fight against nearby chemical plants over the pollution they send our way to the next level.
In an unusual request by the city, White asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which is responsible for the state's air quality, to grant a hearing before a judge on the latest permit application for Lyondell Chemical Co.'s refinery along the Houston Ship Channel.The refinery is in the city's cross hairs because it's one of the nation's largest emitters of benzene, according to the most recent industry-provided estimates. What's more, it yields more emissions of the toxic chemical per barrel of product than other refineries across the nation and thus poses an unreasonable risk to Houstonians, city officials said.
"If the company believes that it's just fine to put tons and tons of benzene in the air," White said in an interview, "then we would like to hear what scientific evidence they have that benzene is good for you."
[...]
The hearing, if granted, would allow the city and the refinery's operators to submit evidence and question officials and experts before a state-appointed judge. Afterward the judge would propose a decision to the TCEQ, which has the final word over permits.
White said he is hopeful that the hearing would lead state regulators to establish an acceptable limit for benzene. Texas doesn't have one, but other states have set such standards.
Fine by me. Let's either establish that there is a standard worthy of being enforced by a state agency, or admit that the whole thing is a sham and nothing we do matters. Either way, it's an outcome we can work with. What say you, TCEQ?
Julie talks about what life is like after Ike in her hometown of Seabrook, and tells of a little way in which we can help:
Kids are helping kids with Operation CRAYON. This is assistance for kids from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.CONTACT INFORMATION:
Operation CRAYON
McWhirter Elementary
300 Pennsylvania Avenue
Webster, TX 77598They will accept items and will hand them out to schools who are working directly with families, or to teachers to help specific children or to replace lost classroom items.
Wish need list is:
New (preferable) or gently, gently used clothing and shoes
New undergarments
Standardized dress attire
Backpacks
School suppliesThey've set up portable units where the items are arranged "store style" and they let the children come in and "shop."
If you prefer to deal with me I will email you a mail location and I will personally take the items to either specific families, the donation centers, or to the schools. Multiple schools are accepting items for children enrolled who are in need or were displaced.
If you prefer to send gift cards such as to Target, a grocery store, or a prepaid card, I assure you I will get these to appropriate people. In our area we have: Target, Wal*Mart, Kroger and HEB.
You can contact her for more information - send email to j pippert at g mail dot com. Thank you very much.
And if you're in the helping mood, the Chronicle has another way to assist:
The Houston Arts Alliance has created an "artist recovery blog" to facilitate communication between the city's estimated 500 arts organizations and 14,000 working artists in the wake of Hurricane Ike.Jonathon Glus, the alliance's CEO, announced the launch of haahelps.com Friday at a town hall meeting held to assess the storm's impact on the arts community.
Glus and Jerome Vielman, assistant director of grants and services, presented early findings of a survey that requested information about facility and studio damage, program cancellations and postponements, suspension of fundraising activities and interruption of artists' work.
Of the 92 arts organizations that had responded by Friday, nearly 60 percent reported wind, water or tree damage and "continued loss of power," while 80 percent said they postponed or canceled events, and 42 percent reported lost ticket sales.
It may not seem like much, but Houston has a diverse and vibrant arts community, one that helps make Houston be what it is. Any help there is greatly appreciated.
Down in Galveston, they're dealing with mold.
Residents and business owners who were finally allowed last week to inspect their properties may have been relieved to find that the structures survived floodwaters and high winds. But many discovered the damage done by various species of mold left to breed wildly in the nurturing environs of damp, hot buildings whose doors and windows were sealed for nearly two weeks.At Maya's Grocery and Food Products on Avenue L, the grown children of 80-year-old Enrique Ochoa and his wife, 78-year-old Alicia, donned respirator masks, rubber boots and gloves and plastic jumpsuits several days last week to combat the mold, mildew, flies and fumes that have overtaken the flooded Mexican food store their parents had operated for half a century.
"None of us have training what to do with mold," said daughter Elizabeth Ochoa, a 52-year-old San Antonio nurse. "We just know it's nasty and you need masks."
I helped tear out moldy drywall in a couple of houses after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as what's described in that story. I can't even conceive what a horrible task this must be.
Power to the people update: As of Monday night, 114,000 CenterPoint customers were still in the dark. That's 5 percent of their total. Unfortunately, some places that have had power restored have lost it again, as temporary fixes fail and more tree branches fall. Also, no further progress that I can see on traffic light outages - every light that was non-functioning last week is still non-functioning this week. The ones I'm used to are at some pretty busy intersections, like Greenbriar and Holcombe. They'll get fixed eventually, I guess.
There has been some tension in the relationship between HISD and its superintendent, Abe Saavedra. Yesterday, that nearly came to a head.
Supporters of Houston ISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra rallied Monday amid fears that the school board planned to sever ties with the chief.The board, however, took no action on Saavedra's job contract Monday after meeting behind closed doors for more than two hours.
A decision to oust Saavedra could come at today's board meeting, but board President Harvin Moore and Vice President Paula Harris both said such a move is unlikely.
The board must notify Saavedra by Wednesday if it does not want to extend his contract another year. If the board takes no action, the pact automatically extends.
On Monday afternoon, members of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and several Hispanic politicians, including state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, gathered to show support for Saavedra. They said they were worried about his job security.
"The timing of the board could not be worse," Laura Murillo, president of the Hispanic Chamber, said at a news conference. "Dr. Saavedra is leading the school district's recovery for Hurricane Ike."
[...]
Saavedra is on a one-year job contract, although his attorney and the board's have clashed over what exactly that means.
The board's counsel, David Thompson, has said Saavedra would be out of a job in December if the board gave him notice in October. Saavedra's attorney, Vidal Martinez, has countered that the board would be on the hook for more than a year of pay.
Messy. I was sent a long string of emails from Saavedra supporters in advance of yesterday's rally. Their concerns are summarized as follows, in an email from Martinez:
Here are the top five questions anyone should have for HISD:1) How can the board be focused on the continued employment of a superintendent with 20 months left on his contract during this time of crisis after a hurricane has devastated our region, the financial markets are in crisis (which affects the interest rate HISD pays on its bonds), and we are trying to reopen schools for 202,000 children?
2) Why did the HISD board hide their intent to deliberate on Dr. Saavedra's contract with a veiled posting containing boiler-plate language that did not inform the public what was going on and give a chance to be heard under the Texas Open Meetings Act?
3) Why is the HISD board scared to have a public hearing on Dr. Saavedra's performance under the accountability standards set by the board itself?
4) Why did the HISD board vote down Dr. Saavedra's reorganization plan in June? Are they micro-managing the district?
5) If there is to be a termination or buy-out of Dr. Saavedra's contract, how much will it cost the taxpayers after they just voted in a $672 Million dollar bond issue in a very contested bond election last year? How will this affect HISD's legislative agenda when they go to Austin next spring where public school financing is already one of the biggest unresolved problems this state faces going forward?
I confess that I haven't paid close enough attention to the machinations at HISD lately to have a good feel for the ins and outs of this power struggle. I will say that I think the questions raised are good ones, and that I think this would be a lousy time to go down the road of trying to oust a superintendent. Let's stay focused on getting the schools running normally again after Ike. We can always convene a circular firing squad later. Stace has more.
UPDATE: And he stays. School Zone has more.
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
Leslie C. Taylor for Justice, First Court of Appeals, Place 5.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
Criminal and civil appeals from a 10-county area. Basically, anybody unhappy with what happens in a district court or county court has one shot at having three appellate justices "grade the papers" of the trial court judge. If the panel finds reversible error, the case may be sent back for a new trial or the judgment altered in some way. The counties are: Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Chambers, Waller, Washington, Austin, Grimes and Colorado.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
The incumbent ran unopposed in the Republican Primary and unopposed in the general election with no apparent experience in appellate law. I thought the voters would appreciate a choice this year.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
I have written many appellate briefs in many types of civil cases. I have researched and studied Texas law extensively to write the first edition of a very popular book for Texas litigators, O'Connor's Texas Causes of Action. I have been certified in civil appellate law since 1990 by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I have worked for a court of appeals as a briefing attorney and research attorney. I have represented many types of people, both rich and poor, and businesses, large and small.
5. Why is this race important?
For most litigants and criminal defendants, the only appeal they will get is to the court of appeals. At the next level, the highest courts get to pick and choose which cases they take (except that the Court of Criminal Appeals hears all death penalty cases).
6. Why should people vote for you in November?
When I worked with W. James Kronzer, a legend in Texas appellate law, he had one complaint about my lawyering: "Leslie, you're too objective. You should be on the bench." That objectivity is important to me -- so important that I have decided not to solicit or accept large campaign contributions from attorneys, law firms or PACs. I do not and will not use judicial campaign contributions to sponsor advocacy groups.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Mike Miller, 11th Civil Judicial District Court.
Andres Pereira, 190th Civil Judicial District Court.
Steven Kirkland, 215th Civil Judicial District Court.
Martin Siegel, Court of Appeals, 14th District, Place 7.
Randy Roll, 179th District Criminal Court.
Farmers Branch officials are backing away from vows to go as far as the U.S. Supreme Court to defend a voter-approved ban on apartment rentals to illegal immigrants.The city instead is relying on a replacement ordinance designed to prevent rentals of houses, as well as apartments, to anyone who is in the country unlawfully.
"Basically," City Manager Gary Greer said, "I looked at as much information as I possibly could -- at the way the ordinance has been seen by the court, the fact that it was voted on by the people and passed, the things I've heard from our policymakers.
"And I looked at where we were financially in regards to all these court battles."
Amazing what a little cold economic reality can accomplish, isn't it? Apparently some things aren't such a matter of principle after all.
"I've been saying since the very first day that it was unconstitutional, that it would be expensive, divisive and would never go into effect," resident Christopher McGuire said. "I haven't changed my tune for more than two years."Mayor Tim O'Hare, who as a council member instigated the efforts to rid the city of illegal immigrants, said he hasn't changed his tune, either.
"We still think it's a constitutional ordinance," said Mr. O'Hare, who had said both before and after the measure's overwhelming approval in a May 2007 election that officials would defend it to the high court if necessary. "But economic times have changed with the economy the way it is. We still feel like we're carrying out the will of the people of our city, pursuing 2952."
In some sense that's true, given the election result from last year. It's just that now there's a limit on how far they'll go to carry out that will, which presumably weakened as the legal bills mounted. Speaking of which:
On Friday, attorneys for Bickel & Brewer Storefront, which represented one group of plaintiffs in the case, submitted a bill for $480,000. Later the same day, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which represented other plaintiffs, submitted a request for $444,406 in attorney fees and court costs.That brings the total in legal costs being billed to the city from the groups that filed the lawsuit to $924,406, though Mr. Greer said the city would challenge the amounts.
"I can tell you their requests are ridiculous," he said. "Absolutely, we will challenge every dollar they have presented. And we won't quit until we get a fair determination of the costs."
The amounts requested by the plaintiffs' attorneys are in addition to more than $924,000 the city has spent to defend its series of three rental ban ordinances -- a version approved by the council in 2006 but repealed in early 2007, Ordinance 2903 and, now, Ordinance 2952.
My heart bleeds for you, fellas. While you're pursuing your claim against the plaintiffs' attorneys, the ones who have kicked your butts in court so far, I'll be thinking up better ways for you to have spent the money. Not that this is a hard task, given that putting it all into WaMu stock would have been a superior idea.
At least the next round of lawsuits should take less time and therefore be less expensive, according to a story from last week.
U.S. District Court Judge Jane Boyle on Monday agreed to a proposal from the city and the attorneys for one group of plaintiffs that will see the case come to trial, if necessary, by December.With the judge's approval of that schedule, a temporary restraining order issued 10 days ago has been converted to a preliminary injunction - meaning the city will not enforce its ordinance until the trial is completed.
Another group of plaintiffs opposed the agreement. Nina Perales, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said her organization is involved in similar court actions across the country and needs more time to prepare.
But Judge Boyle, who consolidated the two suits, said that if the city is willing to delay enforcing the ordinance to move things along, she is agreeable to the expedited schedule. She encouraged the attorneys to work together to speed up the trial process.
The deadline for motions is October 29, with both sides agreeing to get it on in court no later than December 8. And hopefully not too long after that, we'll finally have an end to this travesty.
Congratulations to Rice's Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard, the most prolific scoring combination in NCAA history.
Rice senior receiver Jarett Dillard nearly remained stoic until the moment of truth. From the day he began fielding questions regarding the record he and classmate Chase Clement seemed destined to break, Dillard maintained a cavalier attitude toward the accomplishment that seemed unfathomable on the surface.He flinched last week. As Rice began preparations for its penultimate non-conference game against North Texas, Dillard allowed himself a moment to discus the place in history he and Clement would share.
"For the first time Chase and I talked about the record in practice, maybe on Monday or Tuesday," Dillard said. "And we said we want this record to be over with because we want down the line (where people) can't ask any more questions about this record. It can be over with and we can get on with the football game."
No matter how hard they tried, Clement and Dillard could not make the game primary. On Saturday at Rice Stadium, they set a new NCAA standard for touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver tandem, punctuating the Owls' 77-20 demolition of North Texas with yet another remarkable display of collective brilliance.
Clement and Dillard combined for three touchdowns against the Mean Green (0-4), playing the central role in an offensive onslaught that produced a Conference USA single-game record for points. Their scoring exploits snapped the NCAA mark for combined touchdowns of 39 set by Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards (Louisiana Tech) in 1998 and matched by Colt Brennan and Davone Best (Hawaii) last season.
"I really didn't recognize it until our equipment manager Kelly (Riccardi) came to me and said, 'I'm going to send the ball to the College (Football) Hall of Fame,'" Dillard said. "I was just like, 'Wow!' Chase and I are from San Antonio, two guys under recruited who had one (scholarship) offer and we chose to come to Rice, and we have a football in the College (Football) Hall of Fame. That brought my jaw down. I was really in a state of shock."
They have at least seven more games to build on their record-breaking 41 touchdown passes, eight if Rice makes it to a bowl. Their accomplishment is even more impressive when you realize that they spent their freshman year in Ken Hatfield's pass-phobic triple option offense, and Clement missed a bunch of games to injury in 2006 when Dillard caught a total of 21 TD passes. I figure barring anything catastrophic, they'll easily surpass 50. However long they remain the standard, it's a heck of an accomplishment. Well done, guys.
Still mulling over the Presidential debate? Let the Texas Progressive Alliance tell you about what you missed while you were wondering whether or not it was going to happen. Click on for this week's highlights.
The Texas Cloverleaf has the new Palin plan for foreign experience: sitting pretty with puppets.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme says welcome to the United States of Corporate Greed.
Dembones at Eye On Williamson posts on the Texas Association of Realtors (TAR) and their status quo endorsements for the November election, TAR needs to be tarred and feathered.
The past week has been one filled with brilliant people trying desperately to accomplish what is extremely difficult (namely, keeping the US out of a depression) and some exceptionally (some might say BREATHTAKINGLY) stupid people who are narrowly focused on the last shreds of a failed ideology. And their own egos. We at McBlogger have done our best to keep up with all the ups. And downs. First up are the always cretinous folks from the American Enterprise Institute who decided to blame the wrong people for the failures of their own plans. Then there was Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R -unfortunately from Texas) who decided his supercharged ego and underpowered little rat-brain had something useful to add. He found out pretty quickly that wasn't the case.
Off the Kuff projects what the Houston Chronicle endorsements for November will look like.
A majority of voters thought Obama won the first debate, but all the media pundits could talk about was what a great job McCain did. jobsanger wonders what debate the "Talking Heads" were watching.
North Texas Liberal led an interesting discussion on John McCain's brief campaign suspension.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has refused to answer whether or not the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts should be subject to the Texas Public Information Act and discusses why that was a really stupid move.
Neil at Texas Liberal did not allow the dent in his car to be fixed by the guy who solicited him for the work in a parking lot. That's just the type of post-hurricane scam people are being warned about.
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News does not like Bush and McCain's response to the Wall Street crisis. He has some items he wants included in a bailout bill and not bags of money thrown at the problem.
BossKitty at TruthHugger notes: This is where you and I must take a crash course in the money structure of this country and how to avoid loosing everything down to our underpants, because Bush Sold US Another PONZI Scheme.
nytexan at BlueBloggin worries that McCain's Health Could Mean President Palin.
The perils of premature credit-taking.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition - hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.The rush to claim he had engineered a victory now looks like a strategic blunder that will prolong the McCain's campaign's difficulty in finding a winning message on the economy.
Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.
"I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now," McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. "Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation."
McCain, grinning, flashed a sarcastic thumbs-up.
"That's not leadership. That's watching from the sidelines," he added to cheers and applause.
[...]
After the vote, commentators were harsh. MSNBC's Chris Matthews said: "He's like a cavalry commander who said 'Charge!' and the Republicans went into retreat."
Oops. Guess there's only one thing for him to do now: Suspend the campaign again, and refuse to let Sarah Palin debate until a bill gets passed. It's the only hope!
For those keeping score at home, this is how the vote went. Here's the Texas delegation:
FOR:Brady - R
Edwards - D
Gonzalez - D
Granger - R
Hinojosa - D
Johnson, E. B. - D
Reyes - D
Sessions - R
Smith - RAGAINST:
Barton - R
Burgess - R
Carter - R
Conaway - R
Cuellar - D
Culberson - R
Doggett - D
Gohmert - R
Green, Al - D
Green, Gene - D
Hall - R
Hensarling - R
Jackson Lee - D
Johnson, Sam - R
Lampson - D
Marchant - R
McCaul - R
Neugebauer - R
Ortiz - D
Paul - R
Poe - R
Rodriguez - D
Thornberry - R
Take a good look, because a stranger set of bedfellows you're unlikely to see anytime soon. Just a guess, but when this comes up again, I expect the split to be more traditionally partisan. For now, look and marvel at the unconventionality of it all.
UPDATE: Rick Noriega, who did win the Blue America Senate contest last week, is talking about the bailout and other matters at C&L.
One of the many things I enjoy about the process of interviewing candidates is getting to meet and learn a little about some interesting people. The election season draws a lot of newcomers into the system, and it's cool to have a ground-floor view of the ones who take on leadership roles. Running for office, especially a basically unpaid office like State Representative, is a thankless task, and meeting a bunch of bright and energetic people who are doing it because they think they have something to give that will help make the state a better place is refreshing and energizing for me. So with all that said, let me introduce one of these new guys on the scene, Trey Fleming, who is running for House District 135 out in northwest Harris County, currently held by Gary Elkins. You can listen to my conversation with Fleming here. Let me know what you think.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Joel Redmond, HD144
Laura Ewing, SBOE district 7
Virginia McDavid, HD138
State Rep. Ellen Cohen, HD134
Adrian Garcia, Sheriff
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
The Chron takes a look at the Sheriff's race, and I think we all agree on the matter of what it's all about.
Both candidates for Harris County sheriff focus on the current sheriff's record.A challenge for Republican incumbent Tommy Thomas may be that this has been the most troublesome year for the sheriff's department under his watch. While the presidential campaign centers on change and reform, Thomas is asking to add four more years to his tenure of 14 years.
Democrat Adrian Garcia, a Houston councilman and former police officer, said sheriff's department controversies -- including a spate of jail inmate deaths that triggered a pending U.S. Department of Justice investigation -- show Thomas has performed poorly. Garcia also touts his record as mayor pro tem and chairman of the council's public safety committee as well as being a former lawman.
But even when Democrats did well on the Harris County ballot more than a decade ago, Democratic Houston council members had a tough time in countywide elections as they sought support from hundreds of thousands of voters who live outside the city limits, where neighborhoods trend politically conservative.
Regardless, Thomas said, the Nov. 4 contest is about which candidate has the best experience for running a sprawling law enforcement agency that employs 4,000 people and spends an average of $1 million a day. Garcia, he said, can't come close to the qualification.
"My tenure speaks for itself," the sheriff said. "It's not something you can just walk into."
I must say, I agree here with Sheriff Thomas. His tenure really does speak for itself. It's just a matter of what you think is being said. Or at least what you think is being emphasized. So I found this bit at the end to be fascinating.
Thomas has raised much more campaign money than Garcia and plans to plow much of it into TV ads and billboards in the next few weeks. But, he said, the fate of his campaign may lie in the turnout for the Obama and McCain tickets."I think we will be a victim to the top of the ticket," he said.
Garcia, who would be the county's first Hispanic sheriff, said otherwise. "The sheriff's race is in the forefront of the public's mind by virtue of the sheriff's performance," he said. "I think they are completely disappointed."
I've assumed all along that Thomas' sizable amount of campaign cash meant he would take to the airwaves. I've just never been sure what those ads would say. My guess is that he'll tout whatever accomplishments he thinks he can claim, and as I suggested before, will focus on his department's work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If nothing else, that ought to rally the base for him. He may run attack ads, but I'd bet that gets done via direct mail, more likely by third parties. I believe Garcia will have the resources to run some TV ads as well, though clearly not as much. As long as he's not completely drowned out, he should be able to counter most of what Thomas does. Get ready to start seeing it all soon.
Among the many questions being asked post-Ike are those about whether CenterPoint met its requirements for maintaining trees near power lines.
Hugh Rice Kelly, a former chairman of Trees for Houston and former general counsel for CenterPoint's predecessor, Houston Light & Power, has long criticized the company as overzealous in trimming along transmission and distribution lines. He said workers sometimes damage trees or remove ones that don't threaten pole-top power lines.But whether the utility cuts too much or too little doesn't have much to do with the lingering outages, Kelly said.
"The trees that really damaged the lines were big trees that, for the most part, were well beyond the reach of CenterPoint tree trimmers," said Kelly. "Unless you gave them the authority to cut things beyond that, there's not much more they could have done."
CenterPoint budgets about $21 million per year for tree trimming along power lines, with about $18 million set aside for distribution lines like those that run behind businesses or in backyards, said Terry Finley, CenterPoint's vice president of distribution engineering and services.
The company sets a goal of trimming trees back from lines every four years for 12 kilovolt lines and every three years for 35 kilovolt lines, both of which can run through residential neighborhoods.
That means the company's contract tree trimmers cover about 9,000 miles of distribution lines per year.
But those three- and four-year cycles are only goals and are not mandated by federal, state or local laws, according to industry officials.
There's evidence that CenterPoint hasn't done as much as it should have in this department. Having said that, I tend to agree with Kelly in saying that that's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't think that more trimming would have lessened the impact of Ike that much, but I do think it would have been less than optimal for the trees themselves. Having a lot of trees in Houston is generally a good thing. I don't want them to be thought of as a nuisance.
CenterPoint tries to warn customers about trees on their property that appear to be potential threats to power lines, but Kelly said it's difficult to identify which trees will go down in a storm."Many of those that came down in this storm were very healthy," Kelly said.
And in a hurricane, a branch may fly at 100 mph into a power line hundreds of feet away.
"People just have to be realistic," Kelly said. "We can't have the kind of shade trees we want in Houston and still protect the power lines 100 percent. We'd become the Lubbock of the Gulf Coast if we took that approach."
There is another option, and that's to take steps like burying power lines to make them less vulnerable to trees in a hurricane. That would cost a bunch of money, so it's not a general solution. But it probably does make sense in some areas outside downtown, and there may be some other places where residents would be willing to pay more to make this happen. As I've said before, we should at least have the conversation and see what's feasible. If not now, then when?
And on the power restoration front, CenterPoint is down to 167,000 customers without power, or 7% of their total, down from 247,000 as of 7 AM Sunday and 449,000 on Friday. Big steps forward, though not much consolation if you're in that seven percent.
Spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said CenterPoint missed its goal of completing all repairs to major lines, but expects to finish that work early this week and begin repairs to transformers and lines serving individual customers.
More here. No new target dates at this point.
Olivia and I had the opportunity to attend an opening night event for the Dinosaur Mummy exhibit at the Houston Musuem of Natural Science, which was rescheduled after Hurricane Ike. That's her in the kids' "Dig for Dinosaur Bones" area, with a life-size model of Leonardo behind her. This was her favorite part of the evening, though she also loved looking at the various dino skeletons, and of course Leonardo himself. I'm going to have to go back on my own so I can read all the displays and watch the videos - four-year-olds are not much for standing still. Even with that, it was a lot of fun for both of us.
I did not get the chance to go back on Saturday for a special event they set up for bloggers. Had I been able to, I'd have gotten to see The Bloggess with a chicken on her shoulder. How often does one get to say that? Anyway, more about the exhibit is here. Check it out.
These links were not brought to you by FEMA...
Lamentations of the Father. A classic from The Atlantic. I know this is a linkpost, but I'm going to quote a little anyway:
For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.
Now click the link and read it all.
Just For The Record, by Dwight Meredith. In late 2002, Dwight Meredith wrote a series of post on his weblog, P.L.A., comparing Democrats and Republicans in those areas in which Republicans claim to excel over Democrats - budgets, size of government, and so on. Because his weblog is on Blogspot and therefore not always reliable for finding archived material, Avedon Carol did us all the favor of collecting them and publishing it all on her site.
How The Bloggess deals with spammers.
An important Abe Vigoda update (thanks, Patrick!).
McCain: Only Failed CEOs Who Work For Me Should Get Golden Parachutes
How Alaska's AG defied the public's interest to cover for Palin in Troopergate.
The Twelve Lies of Sarah Palin.
Whither Jessica Simpson? Yeah, I can't believe I just wrote that, either.
OMG. Houston's messiest apartment. That may be the grossest thing I've ever seen - do NOT click that link if you've just eaten or are about to eat. I think even Kim and Aggie would run away screaming. Via Swamplot.
We've heard of the possibility that thousands of people may be missing after Hurricane Ike, with some unknown number of them perhaps having been swept out to sea, never to be found. The good news is that far fewer people than that appear to be actually missing as of today. The bad news is that it doesn't look like there's much hope for those whose whereabouts are not now known.
Two weeks after Hurricane Ike swept through the Texas coast, 400 people remain missing, mostly from Galveston County, according to an analysis of calls logged to a hot line set up by the nonprofit Laura Recovery Center to assist local authorities.[...]
About 60 of the missing lived on the Bolivar Peninsula, stripped bare by the storm surge that felled beach houses like a bomb. More than 200 were listed as missing on Galveston Island itself, according to a city-by-city analysis of the data conducted for the Houston Chronicle by Bob Walcutt, executive director of the recovery center in Friendswood.
Hot line and rescue workers hope that many people, especially on Galveston Island, will be reunited with family and friends as hurricane recovery efforts continue. More than 145 already have been located through blogs, media Web sites, Red Cross shelter lists, endless phone calls, welfare checks and sometimes dramatic rescues led by the Galveston County Sheriff's Office and other agencies.
Yet disturbing tales told by survivors from Bolivar communities like Gilchrist, Crystal Beach and Port Bolivar suggest some may never return.
"There's still lots of people who are not accounted for," said Capt. Rod Ousley, of the State Parks & Wildlife Service, which is helping to search for survivors or bodies in remote corners of several coastal counties. "We don't know if they got washed out to sea, or buried in the sand or in debris piles. We just keep looking until they come up ... we're just going to keep trying."
I don't even know what to say. I'm not sure how we went from speculating about thousands to 200, but the latter is certainly less horrible. It's still an enormous tragedy, and reading some of the individual stories as told by the people who are looking for them doesn't make it feel any less horrible. All you can do is hope, and celebrate any miracles that do occur.
I think one of the least things we can do for folks who were displaced by Hurricane Ike is ensure that they are able to vote in this election if they are eligible to to do so. That should include extending the deadline to register to vote.
Fred Lewis of Houston Votes, which has been registering people in Harris County, said hurricane victims dealing with the loss of their homes, lack of power and other problems are not thinking about registering to vote."It would be a horrible thing if people ended up not being able to vote for president, for senator, for their county officials because of the hurricane," he said.
Lewis said he believes Perry has the authority to extend the deadline although he could not find any language in Texas laws or Constitution addressing the issue.
"I think the governor has inherent constitutional authority to protect the franchise, and I also think he has statutory authority under the emergency powers to suspend laws if necessary to protect the public," Lewis said.
Houston Votes and several other groups, including the League of Women Voters of Texas and Common Cause, are joining in the effort to extend the deadline. They also want the governor to appropriate emergency funds to assist county registrars in processing applications.
Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Perry, said the governor would not consider a request to extend the deadline unless it came from a county official or the secretary of state.
"We've not been asked by any county officials to extend the deadline," she said. "We're working with the secretary of state, and they've not given any indication there's a problem."
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor, so if the Governor doesn't think there's a problem, why should the SOS? Consider that a reason for wanting to make the SOS an elected office instead.
Be that as it may, there's nothing sacred about the existing voter registration deadline. We picked a date, we can pick another one if we want. Whether the Governor has the power to do it unilaterally in the event of an "emergency" is a different question, one that I'm sure would lead to litigation if it were to happen. My guess is that whoever filed a suit to stop it would succeed in getting a temporary restraining order forbidding the change until the suit could be adjudicated, so in that sense it's all a moot point anyway. But it might be nice to get the matter settled, in case the question arises again some day. Given the record-setting pace of voter registrations this year, it would have been nice to already have this answer. That's the way it goes.
And for those in the comments to the Chron story who grump that people should have already registered by now, I'll just note that for some people, that wasn't an option. And wherever you are, if you haven't registered to vote yet, or aren't sure if you're registered, or just need more information, go to Vote for Change this week and get it done. Don't be left out of this election.
While we wait for a resolution to the Kim Brimer/Wendy Davis ballot access lawsuit, take a look at Texas Watchdog's report on Brimer's interesting financial history.
A struggling bank makes loans to a prominent businessman who offers flimsy excuses on why he can't pay back his debt. The gentleman than begs a federal agency for a helping hand, claiming he can't come up with the money.No, it's not a scene ripped from today's headlines -- this was in 1993, and the prominent, wealthy man asking for a government bailout was Republican state legislator Kim Brimer, now proclaimed by business groups as a "champion for free enterprise."
At least some of this has been reported elsewhere, but this is the best and most comprehensive overview of the whole thing I've seen. Check it out.
This just sounds ugly.
U.S. Rep. Al Green asked a federal judge Friday to find that he never discriminated against an ex-employee he claims is trying to shake him down for $1.8 million.The employee's lawyer countered that Green forced the woman to have sex and filed the lawsuit because he doesn't want to pay for his misdeeds.
Although Green and the former employee had a "romantic encounter'' at her home in May 2007, Bill Miller, a spokesman for the congressman, said the claim of sexual assault, coming 18 months after the fact, is desperate and totally false.
Green's lawsuit alleges that Lucinda Daniels, the former director of Green's Houston office, has threatened to sue him for workplace discrimination if he doesn't pay up. Green says the woman voluntarily resigned three months ago. Green also alleges the woman is a drug user who accidentally taped a conversation onto his voicemail while buying cocaine.
"He was being extorted. A deadline was given of today,'' said Ben Hall, attorney for Green, a Democrat elected to Congress in 2004. "It's a pure shakedown. If she has a case, the place to do it is at the courthouse.''
Lawyer Chip Lewis, who represents Daniels, said she had been hoping to spare herself the embarrassment of going public and going to the police about the May 2007 incident. But Lewis said she will now make a sexual assault complaint and file a civil lawsuit against Green.
Lewis said it was Green's lawyer, Hall, who asked to negotiate a settlement. But Hall denies that and, through political consultant Miller, says he can prove it was Daniels who approached Green for money.
Obviously, I have no idea who's telling the truth, or more of the truth, here. I don't envy the judge or judges who'll be tasked with sorting it all out. Either Rep. Green is vigorously defending himself against a scurrilous accusation, or he's about to make an already bad situation for himself a lot worse, in the fashion of Roger Clemens against Brian McNamee. If there's sufficient merit to the sexual assault charge to bring an indictment against him, he should give serious thought to resigning. I hope that's not the case.
Sunday is the new magic target date for those who still don't have power. As long as you understand that it's just a day, and setting it as a magic target date doesn't actually mean anything.
CenterPoint finished work Friday in neighborhoods where most power is restored, and prepared to swarm harder-hit areas this weekend with the goal of bringing light to hundreds of thousands of customers by Sunday night.Company officials have said they expect most customers will get power back when crews complete repairs to major lines -- removing trees from wires, restringing wires on poles when necessary and energizing the lines.
"We expect to see a huge improvement in outage count by the end of the weekend," CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said Friday when about 377,000 customers of 2.3 million still were without power because of Hurricane Ike.
Even if CenterPoint accomplishes this, it doesn't mean every customer will have power. The company expects that transformer issues and problems with individual line drops to homes and businesses will linger for at least another week.
Call me crazy, but I'm thinking the folks who are in that 377,000 number are getting a little tired of hearing this refrain. I know CenterPoint can't say when an individual customer will get power back, and they can't say for sure when they'll be done. But it just feels to me like they've done a poor job of managing expectations, in part precisely because they have pushed back the date of when they say they'll be well and truly finished. I don't think that ZIP code map helped all that much, either. It's a nasty problem for them, and honestly I don't know how they could have done much better, but I still think they needed to. The upcoming legislative review is going to be a minefield for them.
On a side note, business has been good for the restaurants that were able to overcome various Ike-related problems, like power outages of their own, staffers who couldn't make it in, and a broken supply chain.
Hurricane-weary Houstonians -- already known for frequently dining out -- increasingly turned to area restaurants for hot meals in the days and weeks post-Ike. To feed the long lines of hungry and often powerless Houstonians, restaurateurs overcame obstacles of their own, such as displaced staff, inconsistent supplies, damage or loss of utilities.Two weeks after Ike, restaurants are starting to return to normal, although some still can't find ingredients and service still can be spotty.
But not as spotty as they were in the first days after Ike.
"As we would run out of things, I would come up with other things to serve," said [Jack] Gregory, [whose restaurant The Daily Grind] operates out of a renovated 90-year-old general store. "It was chaotic. People had to wait a long time, but they were appreciative."
After operating the restaurant in the wake of Hurricane Rita, Gregory knew what to expect. He stocked up on eggs, produce and disposable plates in the hours before the storm.
Although restaurateurs had to pay more for paper products or invest in a generator, those that could open reported an increase in business in the aftermath.
The atmosphere at Berryhill's that first time we visited after returning to town was as festive as it was crowded. I think people were just happy to get out of the house and forget about everything else for awhile. Given how hard a storm like Ike can be on small businesses, I'm glad to hear so many of these places managed to do well despite it all.
Hollywood's star is a little dimmer today.
Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as the anti-hero of such films as Hud, Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money -- and as an activist, race car driver and popcorn impresario -- has died. He was 83.Newman died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.
In May, Newman had dropped plans to direct a fall production of Of Mice and Men, citing unspecified health issues.
He got his start in theater and on television during the 1950s, and went on to become one of the world's most enduring and popular film stars, a legend held in awe by his peers. He was nominated for Oscars 10 times, winning one regular award and two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, including Exodus, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Sting and Absence of Malice.
Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in Butch Cassidy and The Sting.
He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood's rare long-term marriages. "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?" Newman told Playboy magazine when asked if he was tempted to stray. They wed in 1958, around the same time they both appeared in The Long Hot Summer, and Newman directed her in several films, including Rachel, Rachel and The Glass Menagerie.
With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. "I was always a character actor," he once said. "I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood."
It's been years since I've last seen it, but The Sting was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I also loved Newman in The Hudsucker Proxy; he wasn't a regular in Coen Brothers films, but from his performance in that one, he could have been. Rest in peace, Paul Newman.
UPDATE: Good grief, I can't believe I forgot to mention Slap Shot. Shame on me.
With much less drama than the Presidentials, the two candidates for Harris County District Attorney got together for a debate on Thursday.
The two candidates for Harris County district attorney disagreed Thursday about recruiting grand jurors, establishing a public defender's office, handling drug possession cases and other issues.Democrat C.O. "Brad" Bradford, the former Houston police chief, said the county should think about adopting the federal court policy of selecting grand jurors at random to ensure that the panels represent a cross-section of the community. Republican Pat Lykos, a former felony court judge, said judges should continue to screen grand jury members to make sure the panels, which have "the authority to destroy lives," are made up of people with integrity.
From the article, it sounds like it was pretty substantive, which I think is great. Was anyone here in attendance at this? Please leave a comment with your impressions if you were. Thanks.
As for that other debate, we'll have a better idea of the outcome in a day or two when the tracking polls give results that have been affected by those who watched. Early returns seem to favor Obama. I don't watch Presidential debates - they just don't interest me, and I think too much emphasis is placed on "gotcha" moments - but clearly a lot of other people were watching. What was your opinion of it?
UPDATE: Here's Greg with a good roundup of reactions to the Presidential debate.
The lengths the McCain campaign is going to in order to shield Sarah Palin from questioning are reaching truly comic dimensions.Check out this nugget from the pool report, via Jonathan Martin, on John McCain and Palin's meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko:
McCain then looked around the room and gestured as if to welcome questions. The AP reporter shouted a question at Gov. Palin ("Governor, what have you learned from your meetings?") but McCain aide Brooke Buchanan intervened and shepherded everybody out of the room.Palin looked surprised, leaned over to McCain and asked him a question, to which your pooler thinks he shook his head as if to say "No."
Palin can't even be allowed to answer a question as basic as this?
As you know, over the past couple of years I've interviewed dozens of candidates for office. I'm not a pit bull (with or without the lipstick) about it, but I think I generally ask substantive questions about relevant issues. Nobody I've ever asked to speak to has refused to sit down with me and go on the record. Many of them are running for downballot offices and are happy to get the opportunity to let voters know who they are and what they have to say. I think the contrast between them and the Republican nominee for Vice President is pretty stark, don't you? I'm just saying.
On the other hand, well, maybe the less said really is the better.
You recall that Brennan's Restaurant burned down during Hurricane Ike. The fire severely injured Brennan's of Houston Manager James Koonce and his young daughter Katherine, who had sheltered in the restaurant during the storm. I'm pleased to note that there will be a benefit for them to help them cover their medical expenses:
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House to Host Wine Tasting and Fundraiser Benefiting:Brennan's of Houston Manager James Koonce, daughter Katherine Koonce
WHAT: On Sunday, September 28th from 6 - 9 p.m., the award-winning Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, known for its prime steak, luxurious decor, and Southern hospitality, will host a post Hurricane Ike fundraiser and wine tasting event, from which 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit Brennan's of Houston Manager James Koonce and his four-year-old daughter Katherine Koonce.
Del Frisco's, located in the Galleria, welcomes the community to join them in support of this special occasion to raise funds for the Koonces' medical expenses after injuries were incurred from the fire that destroyed Brennan's as Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast early on Saturday, September 14, 2008. Brennan's was the Houston culinary landmark known for its Turtle Soup and Bananas Foster for the past 40 years near Downtown Houston.
The fundraiser will be held in the wine cellar and feature a variety of donated libations from renowned wineries such as Silver Oak, Cakebread, Duckhorn as well as Pommery Champagne. The selection of wine will be complimented by savory light bites, including andouille stuffed goat cheese mushrooms, BBQ shrimp skewers, sliced tenderloin, and mini crab cakes, all provided by Del Frisco's.
Brennan's of Houston Executive Chef Randy Evans will be in attendance for the fundraising event.
The cost for the event is $50 per person but additional cash/check contributions can be made at the available donation table.
WHO: Host: Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House
Benefiting: Brennan's of Houston Manager James Koonce and daughter, Katherine Koonce
WHEN: Sunday, September 28, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.WHERE: Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House
5061 Westheimer Road, located in the former Lord and Taylor building
Houston, TX 77056
713-355-2600Cost: $50 per person
Additional cash/check contributions can be made at donation table.
Thanks to Andrea for sending this to me.
So like much of the free world, I've now got the version of iTunes that has the new "Genius" feature that suggests a playlist based on a song you choose. Results may vary, but the concept seems simple and intriguing enough. So I went ahead and picked a song - "The Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brown", by Eddie from Ohio - and let it rip me a 100-tune list. First question: Is this supposed to be like a 21st-century mix tape where the order is crucial, or is it supposed to be just a bunch of great tastes that taste great together regardless? In other words, shuffle or no shuffle? I tried it both ways, to see if it mattered. Here are the results:
In the order listed:
1. "The Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brown" - Eddie from Ohio
2. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
3. "Puff the Magic Dragon" - Peter, Paul, and Mary
4. "April Come She Will" - Simon and Garfunkel
5. "Girl in the War" - Josh Ritter
6. "Regretting What I Said" - Christine Lavin
7. "Useless Desires" - Patty Griffin
8. "Reasonland" - Solas
9. "Another Saturday Night" - Cat Stevens
10. "Whole Heap of Little Horses" - The Chieftains
Shuffled:
1. "The Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brown" - Eddie from Ohio
2. "Digga Digga Doo - Asylum Street Spankers
3. "What Was I Thinking?" - Christine Lavin
4. "Wake Up and Dream" - Four Bitchin' Babes
5. "Going To The Zoo" - Peter, Paul, and Mary
6. "Useless Desires" - Patty Griffin
7. "April Come She Will" - Simon and Garfunkel
8. "Whole Heap of Little Horses" - The Chieftains
9. "Another Saturday Night" - Cat Stevens
10. "The Old Black Rum" - Great Big Sea
Some overlap there, but what do you want from a 100 song playlist? I think the original-order list has a bit more variety, but the random list ends with a bang, so either one will do. Obviously, this was all heavy on the folk/acoustic stuff, with a slightly odd preference for all things Christine Lavin and Peter, Paul, and Mary's children's album "Peter, Paul, and Mommy". No clue what that says about me and/or the Genius. Maybe Genius 2.0 can figure out what types of music from other genres go well with a particular song. That would be awesome. In any event, this was an interesting exercise, and I think I'll try it again with some other "seed" songs. Anyone else out there give this a shot yet?
CenterPoint is feeling the heat from the 449,000 customers who are still without power, nearly two weeks after Ike.
Tom Standish, CenterPoint Energy's group president of regional operations, said in a conference call with Chronicle reporters that crews will be concentrated more tightly as the utility works to meet its goal of completing major repairs by the end of Sunday.Even that will leave plenty of transformers and lines to individual customers for crews to fix next week.
Thursday evening, almost two weeks after Hurricane Ike knocked out power to millions of electric customers, 449,000 still were in the dark -- 20 percent of CenterPoint's customers.
Standish said that in recent days, workers have been dispersed from 200 neighborhood substations to sortie out for repairs. That system is being collapsed to 70 substations in the hardest-hit areas.
Most neighborhoods with persisting electric outages can expect a tripling of personnel in the coming days, Standish said.
Does that mean the areas in the worst shape were put at the back of the line? Not exactly.
Areas with huge problems also require more lengthy assessments, Standish said. Crews that could make repairs were deployed to fix easy problems that restore large groups of customers, while other personnel assessed damage in harder-hit areas.
"That's the trade-off you make," he said.
I don't really know how to judge CenterPoint's performance. I'm sure they'll do an after-action review to see how they could have done better. And they won't be the only ones.
Houston state Sen. John Whitmire said he has asked state leaders to let him lead a special legislative review of the recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ike.Whitmire said he has talked to Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst about looking at how the state and private industry handled the restoration of Houston and surrounding areas when it came to electricity, food, water and fuel.
Whitmire, whose daughter Whitney, 26, works as a City Hall lobbyist for CenterPoint Energy, said he believes the discussion should include questions of whether to require CenterPoint to harden its electrical system against future storms.
Areas of the city with underground electrical lines weathered the storm the best, Whitmire said. But he said any such requirements would be at a cost to electrical customers.
"It's about money. We do anything we want if we're willing to pay for it. We can require it of CenterPoint if we as consumers are willing to pay for it," Whitmire said.
And so far, a lot of people have expressed an opinion as to whether or not customers would be willing to pay for such measures, but as far as I can tell no one has really asked the customers for their opinion. Maybe some public hearings are in order. Let's have the conversation and find out once and for all what people would prefer.
And finally, speaking of paying for things:
Hurricane Ike's punishing winds and driving rains damaged numerous Houston and Harris County buildings, officials said Thursday, estimating it will cost $21 million just to repair facilities at Reliant Park.Reliant Stadium and its five damaged roof panels account for a little more than half of that $21 million estimate, said Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation.
Roof damage allowed rain to soak carpets and walls at Reliant Center and Reliant Arena, he added, causing an estimated $6.2 million and $3.8 million in damage respectively.
The figures are preliminary and the actual cost could be significantly higher or lower, Loston said.
But since the county is eligible for a 70 percent reimbursement from FEMA for its $10.3 million deductible, the county likely only will be responsible for $3 million in repairs, he said.
It's not clear to me who's paying for that. The Texans? The Sports and Convention Corporation? Harris County general revenues? Some of each? Help me out here.
The man is consistent, I'll say that much for him.
Some Galveston officials aren't too pleased with their Congressional representative, Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, for voting against the $22.8 billion disaster recovery aid package on Wednesday."That's sad. That's bad," said City manager Steve LeBlanc.
"I find it very distressing," said Councilwoman Karen Mahoney, who represents the West End of the island, where damage was extreme. "He's voting against aid for the region that he represents? I don't find that very representative."
Depends on who you think he's representing. Or, more accurately, what he's representing. I don't think there's any question about that.
Thought experiment: Would Paul have voted No if he had a general election opponent who had the wherewithal to bash him for the next month in TV ads over it? I think he probably would have regardless. But it would have been fun to watch him defend himself for it. Maybe next cycle.
By the way, to go off on a tangent for a minute, I got a press release in my Inbox saying that the Log Cabin Republicans are endorsing Ron Paul for re-election in CD14. He's the only Texan to get an endorsement from them; they recommended a total of only 33 candidates for Congress and Senate nationwide. The release is reproduced beneath the fold.
UPDATE: The story in the paper reminds me of this:
"In several disasters that have befallen my Gulf Coast district, my constituents have told me many times that they prefer to rebuild and recover without the help of federal agencies like FEMA, which so often impose their own bureaucratic solutions on the owners of private property," Paul wrote in a 2005 column.Paul voted against government assistance for victims of Hurricane Katrina and later told the Washington Post he had no regrets.
"Is bailing out people that chose to live on the coastline a proper function of the federal government?" Paul said. "Why do people in Arizona have to be robbed in order to support the people on the coast?"
Like I said, consistent. Wrong, in my opinion, but consistent.
Log Cabin Republicans has endorsed 33 candidates for the U.S. House & Senate. The list includes 27 incumbent House members running for re-election, 3 challengers running for House seats, and 3 Senators up for re-election."Log Cabin is proud to stand with these candidates as we work to build an inclusive Republican Party and a better America," said Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon.
"These candidates represent the future of our Party," said Sammon. "There's a growing number of Republican members of Congress who are standing up for basic fairness for gay and lesbian families. These Republican political leaders share the inclusive vision that is necessary to restore our Congressional majorities."
Log Cabin's National Board approved these endorsements this week. There may be additional endorsements announced before the election. Log Cabin endorsed the following candidates:
U.S. House of Representatives
Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)*
John Campbell (R-CA)
David Cappiello (R-CT) - challenger
Mike Castle (R-DE)
Charles Dent (R-PA)
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
David Dreier (R-CA)
Phil English (R-PA)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) - challenger
Mark Kirk (R-IL)*
Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
John McHugh (R-NY)
Candice Miller (R-MI)
Ron Paul (R-TX)
Todd Platts (R-PA)
Jon Porter (R-NV)
David Reichert (R-WA)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)*
Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Christopher Shays (R-CT)*
Steve Stivers (R-OH) - open
Pat Tiberi (R-OH)
Greg Walden (R-OR)
U.S. Senate
Susan Collins (R-ME)*
John Sununu (R-NH)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)*
An asterisk (*) indicates that Log Cabin already endorsed the candidate in May.
Time to make sure your Irony-o-Meter is fully calibrated.
Hurricane Ike's destruction is sparking one of the largest rebuilding efforts the state has seen in decades, but at the same time is highlighting a thorny facet of the region's labor force: A lot of the recovery work will be done by illegal immigrants.Homeowners have already turned to day laborers -- many of whom are undocumented -- to help clear brush, tent roofs and repair other storm damage. Contractors have hired them to rebuild or restore businesses and the city's infrastructure.
And the major work of rebuilding small towns along the Gulf Coast or big homes in Galveston will likely be aided by undocumented workers.
But this tug and pull of the labor force highlights an uneasy dilemma: The region needs the muscle of undocumented immigrants, but simultaneously is a cog in a broader crackdown of illegal immigrants at worksites.
"There's just no mechanism in place right now to provide those important laborers work authorization," said Leigh Ganchan, a Houston immigration attorney with Haynes and Boone. "It's a shame that employers can't tap into a whole segment of society that's willing and capable to provide those services. Our nation is more vulnerable than it would like to admit, I think. Vulnerable, meaning we need people to help us rebuild our infrastructure after major disasters like this."
Carlos Gonzalez, Mexico's consul general in Houston, expects the area's existing immigrant population will do the rebuilding work, a key difference with what happened post-Katrina. New Orleans experienced an influx of Hispanic immigrants because it did not have as large of an immigrant population as Houston.
"You will find the immigrant community -- as they always have -- will play a very big role," said Laura Murillo, president of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
And the anti-immigrant community will bitch and moan about it. The comment that follows from the anti-immigration activist about giving citizens first crack at rebuilding jobs sounds nice in theory, until you realize that the process of checking everyone's status before hiring them to clear debris or whatever would mean huge delays to the task at hand, and in the end there wouldn't be nearly enough workers to do everything that needs doing. I mean, that was the way of the world before Ike, so why should it be any different now?
As things slowly get back to normal after Hurricane Ike, here's a message from the Brazoria Democrats.
OPENING RESCHEDULED AGAIN TO SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 DUE TO HURRICANE IKENorth Brazoria Democrats announce the opening of Pearland Democratic campaign headquarters for the fall 2008 campaign. The headquarters is located at 5040 West Broadway, Suite 5074, Pearland, TX 77581 next to the Pearland Cinema 6. The phone number is 281-412-9475.
The Grand Opening will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pearland mayor Tom Reid will attend the opening along with State House of Representatives candidate Kevin Murphy and Brazoria County Sheriff candidate Robert Pruett. Candidates and representatives from other campaigns will also be in attendance.
Refreshments will be served and campaign material and information will be available. There will be plenty of opportunity to volunteer for several campaigns, including the effort to turn out Brazoria County's vote for Senator Obama this November.
Also, the county party is asking people to use this occasion as an opportunity to help the Pearland Neighborhood Center which was devastated by Hurricane Ike. Bring canned goods or other non-perishable items or a cash donation so we can help this valuable community resource continue serving Pearland residents.
If you're in the area, please stop by and help them out. Thanks very much.
It all started nearly five years ago, and now it has finally come to an end: Slacktivist has reached the end of the first "Left Behind" book. How do you wrap up something like this? Here's a taste:
Left Behind, ultimately, is just nonsense. It makes up its own rules and then breaks them. And then it makes up more rules that require its other rules to be broken. Left Behind refutes itself.The premise of the book is clear and clearly stated. The Rapture and all the other events foretold by premillennial dispensationalist "bible prophecy scholars" are all real and are all really going to happen. Soon. The book wants to show us the events of this cosmic drama acted out before our very eyes in a story that takes its plot from the authors' End Times check list.
Yet the more we watch, the more we read, the less convinced we become that such a series of events could ever occur. Not because they're too outlandish, but because they contradict and preclude one another. We cannot accept the authors' assertion that A will be followed by B and then by C, because A renders B impossible and C could never take place in a world in which B had already happened.
This is the great and insurmountable failure of Left Behind. It set out to be a work of propaganda, a teaching tool meant to demonstrate -- the authors would say to prove -- that the events it describes could and indeed will really happen. Yet their attempt to present a narrative of such events instead demonstrates -- I would say proves -- that these events could not and indeed will not ever happen. It proves that the weird and contradictory events of their check list could never happen in a world anything like the world we live in, or in any other imaginable world. It proves that their supposed prophecies will never, and can never, be fulfilled.
Left Behind fails as a novel for many, many reasons, but all of its other faults -- the odious lack of empathy it holds up as a moral example, its blasphemous celebration of self-centeredness masquerading as Christianity, its perverse misogyny, its plodding pace, its wooden dialogue, it fetishistic obsession with telephones, its nonexistent characterization, its use and misuse of cliches, its irrelevant tangents, deplorable politics, confused theology, unintentional hilarities, hideous sentences, contempt for craft, factual mistakes, continuity errors ... its squandering of every interesting premise and its overwhelming, relentless and mind-numbing dullness -- all of these seem to be failures of the sort that one might encounter in any other Very, Very Bad book hastily foisted off onto the public without a second glance.**
Any one of those faults, on its own, would have been enough to earn Left Behind a place on the Worst Books of 1995 list. The presence of all of those faults -- in a single book and in such concentrated form -- is more than enough to secure its place on a list of the Worst Books of All Time.
If you've not been reading this outstanding series, which I'll say again is some of the best contemporary writing anywhere, all I can say is you've been missing out. Read The Visitation Preacher, with a box of Kleenex handy, for a singular example. You can plow through those archives, or you can hope someone takes up Chad's suggestion and gets the whole series published as a book, but either way, go read. And wait as I am with bated breath for the (hopefully less than five years length) series on the "Left Behind" movie, and the first of the book sequels.
For your perusal. Note, as Alan Bernstein did, that the special election for SD17 is the first thing people in that district will see, before the straight-ticket and Presidential races. If the other counties do the same thing, there should be very little dropoff in that race.
Also of interest: the locations and schedule (PDF) for early voting in Harris County. Note that there are now 36 locations, three more than in 2004 and one more than in March, and that four of those locations are at new addresses. Carl Whitmarsh sent out an email earlier, forwarded from HCDP Chair Gerry Birnberg, that thanks to the efforts of Council Member Sue Lovell, the super busy West Gray Multi Service Center location will have additional space allocated for early voting, so it may not have such crazy long lines as before. I'd still advise getting there, or to any EV location, as early in the day as you can. I also think there needs to be another non-downtown, west of I-45, inside the Loop EV location to help alleviate the traffic there and at the Astrodome site. That will be a battle for another day.
Finally, for more information about the EV locations and voting rights, check out the nifty Google map on the HCDP08 page.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), which is the state legislative version of the DCCC/DSCC, has been promoting 40 essential candidates to support this year. So far, two of them are TexBlog PAC endorsees - Diana Maldonado and Chris Turner. That's great news, but it can be even better. Take a minute and go to their essential races page and nominate Sherrie Matula for inclusion. Or pick your own favorite candidate if you prefer. Let's get the national folks paying attention to us for a change.
Philip Martin documents the "No Good, Very Bad Week" that HD32 GOP challenger Todd Hunter had in his effort to unseat State Rep. Juan Garcia.
And speaking of Hunter, an ad that was being run for him against Rep. Garcia by the Nueces County GOP has been pulled by local TV stations because it was false.
I'm not going to say that Bill Dingus has a shot at knocking off Speaker Tom Craddick in HD82. As Greg suggests, topping 30% would be a pretty strong result in that district. But that doesn't mean Dingus isn't giving it the old college try. Check out the ads he's running and see for yourself.
Tony Goolsby ducks a debate in HD102. This was after shopping a phony story about a push poll. He does have a history of running nasty campaigns, after all.
There are some new tea leaves to read in the continuing saga of whether or not Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will run for Governor in 2010.
Hutchison, R-Texas, said earlier this year that she did not plan to seek re-election to her Senate seat in 2012. Since then, she has hinted about a race for governor, regardless of whether Republican Gov. Rick Perry seeks re-election.In a further indication of her intentions, Hutchison said Thursday, "In order explore new opportunities that many Texans have asked me to consider, I informed my colleagues in the Senate today that I would not seek re-election as chair of the Republican Policy Committee."
While Hutchison has not formally announced her intention to run for governor or create an exploratory committee, a Senate source said she is forming such a committee, and her decision not to seek the leadership post again next year was a major step toward that end.
Texas law doesn't include a provision for establishing an exploratory committee, as federal law does. But Texas requires individuals who announce for state elective office to designate a campaign treasurer. Hutchison has not yet done so, said Tim Sorrells, deputy general counsel for the Texas Ethics Commission.
Skeptical as I've been of KBH's gubernatorial plans, I must admit this seems like a real step forward. It's still not a commitment - when she resigns from the Senate, that will be a commitment - but it is clearing the path a bit towards a commitment. I'm still not convinced that she won't just decide to call it a career as an elected official so she can
The TexBlog PAC is pleased to announce its fifth endorsed candidate, Robert Miklos, running for HD101 in Dallas County. Here's our press release:
TexBlog PAC today announced its endorsement of Robert Miklos in Texas House District 101, a Dallas County district that includes Mesquite, Sunnyvale, and Balch Springs."We are especially excited about Robert's campaign," said Matt Glazer, Director of TexBlog PAC. "This is a district that is primed to turn blue. The district is realigning politically, as evidenced by the bloody GOP primary and the exasperation of Republican's long-standing ties to special interests. Meanwhile, Robert is going to knock on 10,000 doors before election day. The people of the district know who is on their side, and they will vote for Miklos on Election Day," Glazer said.
Robert Miklos, an attorney, was raised in Dallas, graduated from Skyline High School, and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from the University of Houston Law School. After four years working as a prosecutor in Houston where he took violent criminals and sex offenders off the streets, Miklos and his wife Kathy moved back home to Dallas County. In his ten years as an attorney for the City of Dallas, he rose through the ranks and served as Chief Prosecutor for the city for six years, during which time he earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor and an effective leader.
With the PAC's endorsement comes a check for $5,000 to Miklos' campaign.
"It is our hope that, by showing that the Texas Netroots sees the value in Robert's campaign, others across Texas will open their wallets and support a fine candidate in a very winnable district," Glazer said.
I did an interview with Miklos during the state Dem convention (MP3 file is here). You can support Miklos and the rest of our candidate slate if you are so inclined on ActBlue.
As we know, the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) is up for review by the Sunset Committee in the House, which has made an initial recommendation that it be scrapped. The agency got to defend itself at a public hearing yesterday.
The [report] said the construction commission is harming consumers by making them go through a lengthy inspection and negotiation process before they can file a lawsuit against a builder."You're better off just letting (the construction commission) go because it's unfixable," said Joey Longley, executive director of the sunset commission.
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, a member of the Sunset Commission, said she thinks the agency can be revamped to protect consumers.
The San Antonio Democrat proposed making the inspection and remediation process optional and not a prerequisite for civil litigation.
"It is much too early in this agency's history to suggest that no matter what the Legislature does, the TRCC cannot be granted the legislative powers it needs to help homeowners with building disputes," said McClendon.
If I had any reason to believe that the TRCC served a purpose other than to prevent homeowners from taking negligent builders to court, I might be inclined to sympathize with Rep. Jones McClendon's perspective. But there isn't any reason to believe that, so I see no reason to waste energy trying to fix something that is already working as intended. Admit it was a bad idea and move on. The Observer and John Coby, who extensively liveblogged the proceedings, have more.
The following comes from Evan Smith, the head honcho at Texas Monthly:
Join KLRU for an interview with Rick Noriega
Rick Noriega, the Democratic challenger for John Cornyn's U.S. Senate seat, sits down with Texas Monthly Talks host Evan Smith for an in-depth interview. As a five-term member of the Texas House, Noriega has represented his southeast Houston district since 1999. He's also been deeply and often personally involved with some of the decade's hottest political issues. Noriega served as a Lieutenant Colonel in Afghanistan with the Texas Army National Guard and oversaw relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina at Houston's convention center. He also spent time commanding the Laredo Sector for Operation Jump Start, as the National Guard worked alongside the Border Patrol.Taping Details: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 4:00 p.m.
(Please arrive by 3:30 p.m.)
KLRU Studio A
(Austin City Limits Studio)
2504-B Whitis
I would have thought that something "bad" was, by definition, not an asset. Clearly, I am naive in the ways of the financial markets. Fortunately, I have sites like this to help me figure it all out.
With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help!Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets.
When you explain it that way, it makes much more sense. And I can assure you, my bad assets will cost a lot less than Wall Street's. Link via Yglesias.
We may finally get a resolution to this neverending case.
Attorneys are set to make oral arguments before the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas on Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. on whether former Fort Worth Councilwoman Wendy Davis is ineligible to run against Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer.Oral arguments had been scheduled here in Fort Worth last week until the Supreme Court of Texas moved the case to the Dallas appeals court last week after 2nd Court of Appeals Chief Justice John Cayce asked that it be moved to Dallas.
When interviewed last week, Chief Justice Cayce did not give a reason for moving the case.
I feel pretty confident that this is the last hearing, not just because we're running out of time, but because the State Supreme Court has already declined to hear an appeal. Maybe they'd reconsider after the Fifth Court rules, I don't know. I'll admit now that if Brimer finally scores a win, I'll want them to take a crack at it. I just hope it doesn't come to that.
Last week, Burka noted how odd it was for the case to be moved to another court. There's an interesting discussion in the comments about how frequent such case transfers are, and what might have been the cause, which I suggest you read. There may be nothing untoward about this, but given some of the shenanigans that Appeals Court justices have pulled lately, it's easy to be suspicious.
So the Houston Press has its annual Best of Houston issue out, and it comes as a very pleasant surprise to see that they've picked me as the best local blog. That's the third time they've seen fit to bestow this honor on me, which is actually pretty humbling. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
And my congratulations to Swamplot for its well-deserved Best Place To Read About Naked Greed award, and to Discoery Green and its programming director Susanne Theis for winning Best Contribution to Downtown Development and Best Bureaucrat. Nicely done, y'all.
This list of endorsements from the Texas Association of Realtors may be the lamest thing I've ever seen. Basically, in every single race, from US Senate and Congress on down to the State House, they either endorsed the incumbent, or if it was an open seat, the candidate from the same party as the outgoing incumbent. (One exception: SD17, where they endorsed no one.) Apparently, someone didn't get the memo about this being a change election. What I want to know is whether they actually had a meeting and a vote on all of these races, or if they just hired a script kiddie to cobble together a list based on the above criteria. Way to stick your necks out, folks.
If you're a CenterPoint customer and you're still without power, the utility says don't rely on their ZIP code map to tell when you'll get it back.
Last week CenterPoint issued a map and timetable projecting that 80 percent of power in 69 ZIP codes would be restored by Monday night. But Tuesday morning the company's Web site showed CenterPoint hit that target in only 25 of those ZIPs.Tuesday afternoon the company issued a new map that appeared to push back restoration to Sunday for a wide swath of Houston.
But late Tuesday, company spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said the company was backing off that map and trying to refine it for today. The company also said it was pulling the map off its Web site.
"The problem is people are taking our projections, which are the best we can give with the knowledge we have, and taking them as expectations. If we say 80 percent restored, that means 20 percent not restored but everybody assumes they'll be in that 80 percent," LeBlanc said.
"What's getting forgotten is that we told people it would take two to three weeks to get everybody back on and that's still true. In fact, it looks like we'll get most people back on Sunday which is the two-week mark."
[...]
[Tom Standish, CenterPoint's group president of regional operations], when pressed about why CenterPoint had not met Monday's ZIP code goals, said some areas had more damage than originally thought.
"Some areas had less and they came on quicker. We hope we didn't mislead anybody, but that was our best estimate at the time.
"Those people who have suffered damage on their property at the very end of the line will have to wait to get it picked up," he said.
I suppose I have some sympathy for CenterPoint. They have reached the broader goal of "50 to 75 percent restorations" as of Monday, and in fact are at 74% now. Our friend Andrea finally got her power back yesterday, much to her relief. I can believe that some areas are harder for them to deal with than others. It's just that, as anyone who's worked customer service knows, if you set an expectation, people won't like it if you fall short of it. Either that ZIP code map was a bad idea, or they should have given themselves more slack with it. In any event, they're now saying most of the remaining people will be back on by Sunday. Good luck with that.
This is a more alarming problem.
A quarter of a million people in the Houston region were without running water Tuesday, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which regulates more than 2,500 public water systems in the 10-county region hammered by Hurricane Ike.Commission officials did not know about another 600,000 people because they have been unable to communicate with those utilities in the wake of the storm.
The result is hundreds of thousands of people who cannot bathe, use the bathroom, or even cook nearly two weeks after they lost access to running water.
Restoring it may prove complicated. The problem has myriad causes, including power outages and severe infrastructure damage in coastal areas. Some public water systems, which Texas regulators require to continue pumping in spite of power outages, have failed to do so, according to residents they serve and state officials.
Geez. I confess, I hadn't given this much thought since the city of Houston lifted its boil order. This isn't just an inconvenience, it's a public health issue, and I daresay there aren't thousands of workers coming in from other states to help deal with it. I don't know what to say about this.
Here's a traffic light update.
Traffic signals at about 1,200 Houston area intersections were not yet working Tuesday but should all have at least a flashing red light by the end of next week, said Mike Marcotte, the city's director of public works and engineering."I've been amazed with the courtesy our drivers have been showing," Marcotte said. "Our biggest issue at this point is going out and making repairs on the signals as well as waiting for power to be restored."
Getting all the city's traffic lights functioning at pre-Hurricane Ike levels could take until November, Marcotte said.
In some cases, it is not just a matter of getting the power restored, but also repairing equipment pummeled by Ike's winds and rain, he said.
At least 90 percent of the city's 2,500 intersections with traffic lights sustained damage from the storm, according to the city.
There are some intersections I've seen where the lights are working, but there's damage that will need to be fixed. At Studewood and White Oak, in the northbound direction on Studewood, for instance, the green light on one of the signals has broken off. It's not causing any problems, since the green on the other signal facing that direction still works, but it will eventually have to be fixed.
All across Houston, informal rules seem to take hold at various intersections where the power is out.Generally, the first car to stop is the first one to proceed, but in other instances, it seemed to be the biggest vehicle went first, or the motorist most willing to risk a dent.
Um, aren't there supposed to be actual, formal rules for this situation. As in, if you don't follow those rules you get ticketed for causing the accident that results? Where I come from, the first vehicle to stop has the right of way. If vehicles approaching at perpendicular directions arrive at the same time, the vehicle on the right has the right of way. This was in the manual and was on the test. Do they do it differently in Texas, or was this just sloppily written?
Here's the updated list of HISD schools that will open Thursday, which includes Travis Elementary. Heights mommies rejoice.
And finally, in the good news department, more HOV lanes will be open today, and SciGuy says the historical odds are in our favor for no more tropical storm activity this year. Whew!
When we talk about the Harris County races on a macro level, one of the main factors in that conversation is corruption. Given that Chuck Rosenthal has resigned in shame, and that Jerry Eversole is not up for election this cycle, the focal point of the corruption issue is Sheriff Tommy Thomas, whose rap sheet is longer than that of some of the inmates in the county pen. Thankfully, the Democrats have a strong candidate to run against him in current City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Garcia. Garcia has a good record in Council, a law enforcement background as a retired HPD officer, and the unprecedented backing of all three deputies' organizations. This is a change year, and the people who work in the Sheriff's office not only clearly recognize it, they're counting on it. I believe they'll get the change they're seeking, which will be good for the whole county. Have a listen to my interview with Garcia, as always in MP3 format, and see what we'll hopefully be getting next year.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Joel Redmond, HD144
Laura Ewing, SBOE district 7
Virginia McDavid, HD138
State Rep. Ellen Cohen, HD134
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
The lawsuit by Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr to knock Barack Obama and John McCain off the ballot in Texas has been denied.
The Texas Supreme Court has denied Libertarian presidential candidate's Bob Barr attempt to keep the names John McCain and Barack Obama off the state's November ballot.The court did not explain the reason for its decision Tuesday.
The ruling, in its entirity, reads:
THE FOLLOWING PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS IS DENIED:08‑0761 IN RE BOB BARR, WAYNE ALLYN ROOT AND THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF TEXAS
So yeah, you could say they didn't explain themselves.
Mr. Barr, a former GOP congressman from Georgia, had argued in legal briefs that both major parties had failed to meet the state's Aug. 26 deadline for certifying their presidential candidates as they would appear on the Texas ballot.[...]
Mr. Barr and his party had asked the Supreme Court to order the secretary of state to remove the Republican and Democratic ticket from the general election ballot, saying the language of the law was clear and unambiguous. He also contended both major parties had ample opportunity to seek remedy from the Legislature or the courts to change the deadline after knowing when the national conventions would be held.
The attorney general, representing the secretary of state, had argued that the request by the Libertarians was without merit because the secretary of state already had determined that the party's certification of their nominees for the ballot was sufficient.
Wes Benedict, executive director of the Texas Libertarian Party, said he interprets the Supreme Court decision as the judiciary saying "they're not going to enforce the law."
"Third parties, including the Libertarian Party around the country, have bee held to a higher standard. When we miss a deadline, we've been disqualified from the ballot," Mr. Benedict said.
But at least Barr got his name in the papers, which may be the last time that happens until the results start coming in. I won't be surprised to see the Lege address this ambiguity next session - that seems to be one of their primary functions these days. Sorry, Libertarians. Maybe next time.
As I said before, the top priority for now is to help get everyone back on their feet after Hurricane Ike. Towards that end, I encourage everyone to donate to the American Red Cross or participate in some other relief effort. And if you have the capacity after that to make a campaign contribution as Early Voting draws near, here's an event to consider for tomorrow evening in Houston:
You are invited to a dinner to supportRick Noriega
Democratic Nominee for U.S. SenateThursday, September 25th
6:00 - 9:00 p.m.The Downtown Aquarium
410 Bagby Street
Houston, Texas 77002
To RSVP or more information contact Kathryn McCarter 713-621-7425 or kathryn@ricknoriega.com.
If you can't make it but would still like to help, you can always show your support for Rick in the Blue America Senate contest, which runs through Saturday. Just make a donation of any size here to put him in the running to get a check from the Blue America PAC. Thanks very much.
This Charlie Cook column, via Swing State Project, came out last week, so it's a tad bit dated, but I think his analysis is spot on:
[John] McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave the GOP ticket a shot of excitement. So, even though McCain's vetting of Palin was cursory, and journalists or Democratic opponents could still uncover something horribly damaging, Palin counts as an asset, at least for now.But what does that mean for races down the ballot? In part the answer depends on whether you believed that Republicans had a turnout problem before Palin was chosen. There are two schools of thought. The first is that although many Republicans were not excited about McCain, a longtime maverick and, yes, irritant to the GOP establishment, the party's voters would have supported him anyway. They might not have run to the polls, but they would have voted. This theory posits that these voters simply feel better now about a vote they would have cast anyway.
The second theory is that if McCain had not added Palin or someone else capable of revving up the GOP base, quite a few Republicans wouldn't have voted. A moderate case of sniffles, an unusually busy first-Tuesday-after-the-first-Monday-in-November, or any number of other excuses might well have been seized upon. And these Republicans would simply not have felt strongly enough about their support for McCain to persevere and vote. Under this theory, Palin really helps unless her standing is damaged.
Where Palin may not be able to help is among what some Bush campaign strategists in 2004 called "unreliable Republicans," those who would vote Republican but have a history of not showing up on Election Day. These are people who have to be identified and hounded with phone calls and visits to their homes to remind them that, yes, this is Election Day and they are expected to vote. McCain has neither the money nor the organizational ability to match the get-out-the-vote efforts of President Bush's 2004 campaign or Obama's current effort.
So perhaps Palin is an asset but not quite a savior. For down-ballot GOP candidates who need all of the turnout assistance they can get, she will help some -- but probably not enough unless they were already within shouting distance of victory. Republicans won't have the masterful vote-generating machine they've grown accustomed to, but they are better off with Palin near the top of their ticket.
I think there's been plenty of damaging stuff uncovered, and Palin is less of an asset than ever, as her sinking favorability ratings show. Be that as it may, she certainly has fired up the base. The question remains, would any of those folks not have voted without her being on the ticket? I'll just say that at least as far as Texas goes, McCain had already secured the vast majority of Republican voters' support. Maybe we'll see a bump for McCain, though I can't really see where it would come from. There should be a Rasmussen poll for September out soon (August result McCain 54-44), which may help us figure it out. For now, this is how I see it as well.
Texas will need $20 billion to $40 billion in federal relief assistance to overcome uninsured damage inflicted by Hurricane Ike, Houston Mayor Bill White said today.The mayor, speaking to the Houston Chronicle before his congressional testimony, said Houston needs $2.5 billion in immediate assistance to reconstruct housing, reimburse debris removal costs and rebuild damaged fire stations and police stations.
Additional money will be needed to repair or rebuild the estimated 100,000 homes statewide that are uninhabitable, White said.
That's a lot of money, quite a bit more than the $2.3 billion Galveston is requesting. Of course, the city of Houston has 40 times the population of Galveston, so relatively speaking, it's a bargain. However you want to look at it, it gives some perspective on the size of the task the city has in front of it.
And I like the way the Mayor framed the discussion:
He acknowledged that it will be harder to persuade Congress to provide the hurricane relief assistance amid the proposed $700 billion federal bailout for the financial markets.White said that lawmakers ''shouldn't forget the size of the storm and the damage in an area where 10 million people reside,'' and that they shouldn't withhold assistance ''simply because we handled the evacuation and the relief efficiently.''
White added that some of the Wall Street firms now seeking the federal bailout ''didn't take care of business'' as efficiently as Houston and Texas handled the hurricane evacuation.
Yeah, $40 billion's a lot of money until you compare it to $700 billion. And I think we all know where we'll get the better bang for the buck. Nicely done, Mister Mayor.
One of the easily visible effects of Hurricane Ike is a lot of torn-down billboards. Looks like many of them may not go back up.
For billboards, the city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign, the billboard comes down. For business signs grandfathered at sizes larger or taller than what is now allowed, the rule is similar -- those signs must be rebuilt smaller and conforming if the damage repair would cost more than 60 percent of the cost of building a new sign.[Holly Eaton, program director of Scenic Houston,] said documenting weather damage is critical because "it's one of the few ways we can get these things down." Showing the city the damage avoids "sneaky, stealth-of-darkness repairs on signs that really should be coming down."
She'd collected photos or notice of at least 20 billboards with significant problems by Monday afternoon.
Susan Luycx, Houston's division manager for sign administration, said she had a dozen inspectors out on the streets this week "red tagging" hundreds of signs and billboards that are damaged enough to be a safety hazard. She said the city will take a look at other signs that citizens report.
Luycx said the city puts a reddish orange ticket or placard on the sign or billboard to identify it as storm-damaged so the owner and public know that a permit may be required if it is to be repaired or replaced.
But she and Alvin Wright, spokesman for Houston's Public Works and Engineering Department, said the billboards and on-premises signs are handled on a "case-by-case" basis.
Fine by me. I just know I'm seeing a whole lot more sky and scenery these days, and I like it like that.
It's Day 10 after Ike, and about one third of CenterPoint's affected customers are still without power.
[Spokesman Floyd] LeBlanc said CenterPoint's crews are working to restore line fuses, which serve 100 to 300 customers. Until those are back up, the crews can't identify failures in transformers -- the cylindrical devices on poles that typically affect fewer than 10 customers.And when crews finish working on one fuse, they move to the next one -- not to the failed transformers -- in hopes of bringing a larger group of customers online.
LeBlanc said 8,200 line fuses went down in the storm and almost half are still out.
CenterPoint is not yet saying when transformer repairs will start.
The company says 11,000 workers -- including 8,000 who came from out-of-state utilities under cooperative agreements -- are working on the problem.
But some customers who want to know when power crews will arrive on their block say they aren't getting answers.
[...]
As of Monday night, CenterPoint said 713,000 customers, 32 percent, were still without power, down from nearly all of its 2.3 million customers immediately following the hurricane's landfall early Sept. 13.
Man, that's gotta suck. Our friend Andrea, who says her house is an island of darkness in a sea of restored power, is still with us because she's in that unlucky one-third. It's really frustrating for her.
I can understand CenterPoint's approach, but I'm a little amazed at how many traffic lights are still out. One of the dozen nonfunctioning lights on my commute was back up yesterday - it's the intersection of Greenbriar and Old Spanish Trail, which needed to be working for the Main Street rail line to operate. There were police officers directing traffic at some other intersections, which helps but is going to cost a bundle in overtime. Looks like this situation will continue into next week.
Out of the 2,500 signaled intersections in the city limits, the Department of Public Works and Engineering has repaired 1,300 and prioritized the repair of thoroughfares all over Houston.City officials said they hope to have completed emergency repairs to signals within the next nine days.
And finally, possibly the least important story of Hurricane Ike:
Some salty language from a frustrated Mayor Bill White to emergency workers last week at Reliant Park has kicked up dust from Austin to Georgia.After receiving a complaint Friday from Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Gov. Rick Perry yesterday asked his staff to investigate comments White made to two Georgia Forestry Commission employees who came to Houston to help manage the distribution of federal and state supplies to area residents hit hard by Hurricane Ike. Perdue said in a letter to Perry that White had "verbally and profanely abused" the women.
A witness said White told the women, "You need to be getting these (expletive) trucks out of here."
The mayor then began arguing with a Harris County sheriff's deputy over whether trucks full of Federal Emergency Management Agency supplies had been delivered to a distribution site, the witness said. White told the deputy he had just been to the site and about 3,000 people were waiting for supplies.
White went on to say that if nothing was delivered soon, they were ''about to be in a (expletive) riot," the witness said.
In a written response to the two Republican governors, White said that he grew frustrated last Tuesday when he visited the distribution sites and found they had nothing to hand out to the thousands of people waiting in line.
"I did use words that I have never used in the Sunday school class I teach, but which were closer to the vocabulary General Patton used when he was trying to keep his army moving," White wrote. "I apologize to anyone who believed my anger was directed at them."
White was unavailable for comment Monday because he was on his way to Washington to ask Congress for federal aid, a spokesman said.
Oh, for crying out loud. Here, as a public service, is the apology I would have offered to Governor Perdue:
"I'm really [expletive] sorry that some people were offended by my harsh language. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more important [expletive] things to do."
There. Happy now, Governor Perdue?
We have talked before about the possible creation of a public defender's office for Harris County. Commissioners Court approved a study of whether the county should adopt such a thing back in April. Now the report is ready to be presented.
Public defenders also would be assigned to some defendants with mental retardation or significant mental illnesses in the four district courts and all 15 county criminal courts under the plan crafted by the county's budget and management services office.The plan, submitted as part of the court's annual mid-year budget review, offers a long-awaited but early look at the kind of system Harris County could adopt. A final vote is not expected until shortly before the court adopts the 2009-10 budget in March.
It remains unclear if supporters of the proposal could muster enough support on the five-member board to prevail.
The only step court members are expected to take today is authorizing further studies by a team of representatives from county and district courts, the county attorney's office, each Commissioners Court member's office, the criminal defense bar, the Texas Fair Defense Project and the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense.
The team would evaluate how the office should be structured and what it would cost. It also would review proposals from outside groups interested in running all or part of the office for the county.
Commissioners Court would have to approve any of the team's recommendations.
So to begin with, we shouldn't expect much. That's good, because so far it doesn't sound like much.
Criminal defense lawyer Tate Williams said the plan does not go far enough to eliminate the appearance of impropriety."If the judges get to control who gets what case, you're always going to have the allegations of bias and favoritism," Williams said.
He said he would oppose any public defender plan unless the legislature capped the number of cases each attorney could handle and required counties to provide those offices with the same money and access to resources given to prosecutors.
A 15-member Public Defense Board would oversee the whole system, setting those standards, appointing the director and approving the annual budget.
Commissioner Steve Radack said he opposes giving the Public Defense Board authority over a county department. He said the report submitted to the court raised more questions than it answered.
"If it can save the taxpayers money, that's one thing," Radack said. "If it actually provides something better than what we're providing today, we can talk about it."
Well, as we've discussed before, all that is supposed to be the point of this exercise. The question is whether or not this plan can achieve those goals. I'd like to hear from people like State Sen. Rodney Ellis, who's been the biggest local proponent of a public defenders office, and Grits to see what they think about it. Right now, there's not enough information to go on.
UPDATE: Grits weighs in.
We're past Labor Day, the conventions are over, and as we head into the last few weeks of the campaign season, it's time once again to ponder the eternal mysteries of the Houston Chronicle's endorsement processes. As I've done for previous elections, I'm going to take my best guesses as to who they will recommend on the ballot. Please note this is not necessarily who I think they should recommend, but who I think they will recommend.
President/Vice President: John McCain/Sarah Palin. I'm actually quite uncertain about this, despite the Chron's 20-year-plus record of always endorsing the Republican for President and Governor. There's no Bush (all of whom they like) or Clinton (all of whom they dislike) on the ballot. They're aware of the lousy shape the country is in, and actually seem to be aware of whose responsibility that is. If they were to ever endorse a Democrat for President, it would have to be this election, with Barack Obama. And yet I can't quite bring myself to believe that they will. So I'll go with their history and hope to be proven wrong.
Normally, one endorsement does not relate in any way to another. This year, I have a feeling that who they endorse for President might affect who they endorse for some other offices. I think if they do break with their past and go for Obama, it means they're in a mood for sweeping changes, and that challengers, especially Democrats, will get a longer look from them as a result. If they stick with McCain, it means they're no more susceptible to that than usual. I'll note that in a few places. As it happens, I think they generally save this endorsement for last or close to it, so perhaps we'll get some hints about how they're leaning from who else they tout.
US Senate: Rick Noriega. The Chron picked Ron Kirk over John Cornyn in 2002, and I don't thjnk they're likely to have grown any fonder of Cornyn since then. He's too rigidly ideological for their taste, and I think Noriega's experience, especially as incident commander for Katrina evacuees at the Astrodome, will carry the day.
Oddly, I think this is one place where an Obama endorsement may make them more likely to go with a Republican incumbent. They may not want to go with the same party in each of the top races. It's a silly thing, but sillier things have happened.
Congress: Generally, the Chron sticks with incumbents, with exceptions for corruption, a belief that they're not representing Houston's best interests, and newer incumbents who weren't endorsed previously. I therefore expect them to endorse all incumbents, with the exception of Michael Skelly over John Culberson. I can see the (slight) possibility of them going with Pete Olson over Nick Lampson and/or Larry Joe Doherty over Mike McCaul, but I think this is the most likely alignment.
Railroad Commissioner: Michael Williams. They might have chosen Art Hall or Dale Henry had one of them been the nominee, but I cannot imagine them picking Mark Thompson.
State Supreme Court: I think we get a split decision here. I figure they'll stay with Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson over Judge Jim Jordan of Dallas, and I think they'll pick Judge Linda Yanez over Perry-appointed Justice Phil Johnson. The question is who they choose in the Sam Houston/Justice Dale Wainwright race. I'm going to guess this one depends on the Obama/McCain decision - an Obama endorsement means they tout Sam Houston, else they go with Wainwright.
Court of Criminal Appeals: Any respectable Democratic candidate running for the CCA, a/k/a "Texas' Worst Court", should expect to receive an endorsement. Susan Strawn, running for Place 3, easily surpasses that requirement. JR Molina, if he ever bothers to speak to an editorial board, might qualify as well. My guess is that he won't, so the Chron will go for Strawn and the two Republicans.
State Board of Education, District 7: Laura Ewing. The Chron prefers professionals to ideologues, which is exactly what we have here in the matchup between longtime teacher Ewing and evolution denier David Bradley. I'll be very surprised to be wrong about this one.
State Senate: Incumbent Sen. Mario Gallegos (SD06), Chris Bell (SD17) and Joe Jaworski (SD11). Gallegos is obvious. Bell strikes me as a clear choice for them, though I suppose they could get pissy about the fact that he's run for other offices before or something and decide to stump for a Republican, most likely Joan Huffman, instead. I'll be surprised if it's not Bell. Jaworski also seems clear since the Chron is a strong supporter of stricter environmental protections as well as a supporter of Mayor White's efforts to go after chemical plants outside Houston that damage our air quality. Sen. Mike Jackson is a big obstacle to those things, so I don't see the Chron recommending him. I'll be even more surprised if they don't pick Jaworski.
State House: For the open seat races, Carol Alvarado in HD145 is clear. It's a Democratic district, they generally like Alvarado, and her opponent is a nonentity. In HD144, I make Joel Redmond a slight favorite, but I don't know enough about Ken Legler to be confident in this.
For everything else:
HD126 - Rep. Patricia Harless (R). The Chron endorsed Chad Khan in 2006 for the open seat, but Khan has done a disappearing act this year, and Harless didn't do anything too terrible, so I think she gets the incumbent benefit.
HD127 - Joe Montemayor (D). The Chron has never endorsed Rep. Joe Crabb in a contested race that I can recall. I don't think they will start now.
HD129 - Sherrie Matula (D). The Chron went with Rep. John Davis in 2006 and could stick with him, but I think they'll flip to Sherrie this time.
HD133 - Tossup. The Chron endorsed Kristi Thibaut in 2006, highlighting Rep. Jim Murphy's opposition to abortion rights and stem cell research. That hasn't changed, but he hasn't done anything too egregious, so he may get it as the incumbent. I have an odd feeling they won't endorse both Matula and Thibaut, so on that basis I'm going to make Murphy the favorite. But honestly, this one could go either way.
HD134 - Rep. Ellen Cohen (D). Not even close.
HD135 - Rep. Gary Elkins (R). Trey Fleming is a good guy, and Elkins is fairly nondescript, but I don't think he's done anything to get dropped.
HD138 - Virginia McDavid (D). They endorsed Mark McDavid in 2006 (same link as for Thibaut), and Ginny is a better candidate than Mark, so I can't imagine they'd flip to Rep. Dwayne Bohac.
HD141 - Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D).
HD143 - Rep. Ana Hernandez (D).
HD148 - Rep. Jessica Farrar (D).
HD149 - Rep. Hubert Vo (D). This is not a sure thing. They could drop their support for Vo, whom they endorsed as an incumbent against Talmadge Heflin in 2006 but not as a challenger in 2004, over the apartments scandal, or they could stick with him because they found his response to the problems to be sufficiently quick and thorough. I make it a 75% shot for him to keep the endorsement over Greg Meyers, but won't be too shocked if it goes the other way.
HD150 - Brad Neal (D). The Chron picked Dot Nelson-Turnier over Rep. Debbie "Pit of Hell" Riddle in 2006 (see Khan/Harless link). Since I suggested this would be a future test of the Once You've Lost The Chron, It's Gone For Good thesis, I may as well stick to my guns.
County Judge: Ed Emmett. Before the hurricane, I had considered this to be a tossup, with Emmett a slight favorite over Democrat David Mincberg. But sometimes these things come down not to a body of work or a slate of issues but to a specific situation. Basically, Emmett was the man on the spot during Ike, and he did a good job. I believe the Chron will base their decision on that - it would have taken something really big to outweigh this, and there's nothing like that in his record - and that's about all there is to it.
District Attorney: Pat Lykos. The Chron endorsed her in March, and they have signaled that they don't like Brad Bradford.
Sheriff: Adrian Garcia. Easiest call of the bunch.
Tax Assessor: Probably Paul Bettencourt, but not necessarily. Not sure how to quantify this one. Maybe an Obama nod makes them more likely to go with Diane Trautman, maybe not. May depend on if they think Bettencourt has politicized the office.
County Attorney: Vince Ryan. I think they'll ding Mike Stafford for his role in the Ibarra lawsuit.
District Clerk: Tossup. There's not much of a public record on which to evaluate a District Clerk, so unless they go around asking the judges and their court clerks, I suspect this will come down to the interviews, and maybe the Presidential endorsement. Or they may just go with incumbent Theresa Chang because she's the incumbent. Who knows?
HCDE Trustees: Debra Kerner and Jim Henley. Professionals over ideologues.
County Commissioner, Precinct 3: Steve Radack. The incumbent Republican in a Republican district. Too bad Jerry Eversole isn't on the ballot, that would have been more fun.
Constables and Justices of the Peace: All incumbents. In the (Republican) open seat for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 8, Place 1, Republican candidate Holly Williamson.
Judiciary: Not enough info to make a call. They'll do some of each, which they didn't really do in 2006, but I have no idea how much. They may reference the HBA poll in some endorsements, but I don't think it will have much effect one way or the other.
So there are my guesses. Tell me what you think.
For obvious reasons, most campaign-related activity was shut down around here last week. Though there is still much to do to clean up and recover from Hurricane Ike, campaigns have begun to resume. Like it or not, Early Voting starts in less than four weeks (October 20), so the show must go on, and it's as important now as it was before. Maybe even more so.
And campaigns still need money. Clearly, contributing to relief efforts or to the Red Cross is a higher priority. But if you have the room for it, campaigns still need your help, too.
So with that in mind, here's the announcement of the Blue America Senate Contest, which follows on the heels of their very successful effort for the House. One reason why I'm happy to tout this is that any amount you contribute to the Blue America Senate contest page on behalf of one of their candidates counts as a vote for that candidate - yes, even $1 counts. And as before, the candidate who gets the most such votes will receive a $5000 check from the Blue America PAC. Which brings me to another reason why I'm mentioning this - Rick Noriega is one of their candidates. Noriega himself has been kind of busy lately, so something like this would be very welcome. Voting runs through Saturday, so please if you can go visit the Blue America Senate contest page and vote for Rick Noriega. Thanks very much. And for more on Rick Noriega and what he's been up to, check out his statement on the bailout and his video statement about Hurricane Ike.
The Houston Musuem of Natural Science was scheduled to open its Dinosaur Mummy exhibit last Friday. For obvious reasons, that didn't happen. Now it's been rescheduled for this Friday, September 26, and it still sounds really cool. I'll be taking Olivia, who loves dinosaurs, to see it soon. I know she'll love it, and I'm pretty excited about it myself.
Neither rain nor sleet nor hurricane can stop the Texas Progressive Alliance from doing its weekly blog roundup. Click on for the highlights.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notices cronies are number #1 in Texas from insurance companies to power companies
jobsanger points out the blatant racism at the "Values Voters Summit" sponsored by the Family Research Council, and wonders if John McCain's "senior moments" are indicative of a more serious psychological problem.
The Texas Cloverleaf spots State Senator Kim Brimer at a union hall. Unfortunately as they say, you can't put lipstick on a pig.
Off the Kuff takes a look at the lawsuit filed by Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr to force John McCain and Barack Obama off the ballot in Texas.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the real world effects of the TRCC in Williamson County, Builder protection agency "hits home" in Williamson County
Neither the authorities nor the media have found any bodies hanging from the trees in Galveston or on Bolivar Peninsula -- mostly because there aren't any trees high enough to catch one -- but that didn't stop PDiddie from posting the rumors at Brains and Eggs.
Mike Thomas at would fight for San Antonio's share of federal funding based on his latest ad blasting all Congressional earmarks as wasteful "pork".
McBlogger takes a moment to demystify what's going on in financial markets. And call some people really bad names.
North Texas Liberal unveils the second installment of their Sarah Palin series.
nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders how John McCain cleans up Washington and Wall Street of the lobbyist when 177 Lobbyists Work For John McCain "The Reformer"
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News urges all to contact your Congress people now about this bad, very bad $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout of the financial industry. Otherwise, for the next three months, and then an additional six months after that, the Treasury Secretary can do anything "appropriate" with your money without anybody anywhere looking it over.
WhosPlayin took a moment to pin that pesky "redistribution of wealth" meme back on the Republicans, where it originated and operates today.
BossKitty at TruthHugger still expects the Bush Administration to pull a fast one, because the Pakistan Meltdown Offers Bush More Opportunities To Create Crisis, the dogs of war are still salivating ...
Vince at Capitol Annex tells us that State Rep. John Davis is up to his same old tricks down in HD 129. This time, he's holding a fundraiser in Austin while his district is without power, and his constituents are without water. He's clearly addicted to campaign cash. Someone throw this guy a roll of quarters before he has a stroke.
The following was received via email from the Joe Jaworski campaign:
Hope Andrade
Secretary of StateMEMORANDUM
TO: Voter Registrars, County Clerks, and Elections Administrators
FROM: Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections
DATE: September 22, 2008
RE: Election Procedures and Information Following Hurricane Ike
The Secretary of State and her staff would like to extend their sympathy to all Texans affected by Hurricane Ike. As emergency relief efforts continue, we would also like to provide basic information with regards to the upcoming November 4, 2008 election. As we learn more about the situation in all affected areas, we will provide updated information. In the meantime, the following general information may be helpful to you.
Voter Information
We realize that evacuation is a difficult experience and that voters may not be certain of their future living arrangements, neither short nor long term. Voters who have been displaced have several options for voting in the November election.
Voter Registration and Residence. Regarding residence, our advice to people displaced by the storm is the same as to any other person--the voter is the one who decides what the voter considers to be home. If a voter relocated to another county before the storm and has decided to stay in their new county, they may register to vote in their new county. Voters in this situation must submit a new voter registration application in their new county of residence no later than October 6, 2008 in order to vote in the November election. However, if a person has been relocated due to the storm and is unsure when they can return to their home county, but intends to return, then that person can maintain their voter registration in their home county (or apply to register if not already registered).
If a voter is able to return to their home, they will likely vote as usual in their county. The counties hardest hit by the storm are still evaluating the state of their polling places, and there will likely be changes in voting locations, but it appears that all counties will be able to conduct voting during early voting and election day. Adversely impacted counties are still trying to restore power and assess damage, so it may be a few more weeks before final polling places will be ascertained.
A voter away from their county of residence may apply for a ballot by mail from their home county. Voters wishing to vote by mail must submit an application for ballot by mail to their county election office; the application must be received no later than Tuesday, October 28, 2008. On the application, the voter must indicate that they will be out of their home county during early voting and on election day. Voters need to provide a mailing address for the ballot which is outside of their home county.
Our office will continue to work with local election officials to ensure that all Texas voters are able to participate in a fair, credible, and efficient election. Voters with specific questions may contact the Elections Division, toll-free at (800) 252-VOTE (8683) or visit our website for updated information: www.sos.state.tx.us.
Early voting begins exactly four weeks from today, so there's a real tight schedule for getting "all counties" to a point where they can actually conduct an election. Frankly, if I were living outside my home county right now due to Ike, I'd assume that I'd still be there during the vote, and would request a mail-in ballot as soon as possible. I just would not want to count on there being a polling place in my county that I could be sure of getting to. If you know someone in this situation, please make them aware of this. Thanks very much.
I don't think the premise of this story is surprising or in doubt, but I do have one question about it.
When Ike redesigned the coastline, it also rearranged the political landscape in Harris County for the Nov. 4 elections.For one thing, candidates mostly stopped howling at one another by the time the hurricane stopped howling at Houston. And it looks like the campaign trash talk will remain buried for a while.
"Any politician that gets out there right now and starts running negative ads is a damn fool," said Commissioner Steve Radack, a Republican seeking re-election against Democrat Dexter Handy. "They better have something positive to say to help this region rather than just tearing somebody down. There's been enough destruction already."
[...]
In the 7th Congressional District race on the west side, which suffered less damage, Republican incumbent John Culberson has organized a blood drive and implored the public to provide water and food to emergency workers, while Democratic challenger Michael Skelly directed his campaign volunteers to hurricane recovery work and published a list of contacts for various assistance agencies.
But Culberson also has drawn criticism, from fellow Republican Radack in addition to Skelly's campaign, after saying in several venues that the federal government failed to provide sustenance for emergency workers stationed at Tully Stadium in his district.
"It's tricky ground to say the very government you make laws in is not performing well," Radack said. "When you say you are on this committee or that committee and you don't like what's going on, some people are going to say, well, you are on that committee (and should get the government to act)."
[...]
Radack also put Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on his list of alleged grandstranders. He said the congresswoman made several media appearances in the aftermath of Ike and that voters question whether extensive public remarks by elected officials lead to any constructive changes.
Jackson Lee campaign manager Gerald Womack said the congresswoman was part of a bipartisan lineup working hard to make sure constituents get the maximum help available from all levels of government.
Regardless, Radack said Ike was a defining moment for local politics: "This week has pretty much, in my opinion, made up people's minds as to who they want to keep in office."
So when did Steve Radack become such an avuncular expert on electoral politics? Don't get me wrong here, I think he's basically right about what he's saying. It's just a little jarring to see his name all over the place in the story. Maybe he needs to start a blog or something.
One of my favorite results from the 2006 election was seeing now-State Rep. Ellen Cohen knock off Martha Wong in HD134. Wong had been a loyal foot soldier to Tom Craddick and was a terrible fit for the district. Cohen's resounding victory in an otherwise still red district highlighted her strengths as a candidate, which carried over into her time in Austin, where she was a factor in getting several big pieces of legislation passed. I asked her about that and more in this interview, as always in MP3 format. Rep Cohen does have an opponent this fall, though he's been almost completely invisible so far. You can't take anything for granted, though, so Cohen is running as hard as she did in 2006. I for one feel pretty good about her chances.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Joel Redmond, HD144
Laura Ewing, SBOE district 7
Virginia McDavid, HD138
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
So yesterday, the Chron had a front-page story that raised the point that since Hurricane Rita, Texas has done nothing to require utility companies to improve their infrastructure, as Florida did after Hurricane Wilma. Doing so might have mitigated some of the power outages that a large portion of folks are still experiencing. But there would have been a cost to such an action, which naturally would have been passed along to the consumer, which prompted a lot of resistance from the utilities. They expressed their concerns thusly:
"So the decision comes down, for a ratepayer: Do you want to pay a significant amount of extra money to mitigate an outage that might take two or three weeks and that occurs infrequently?" said Entergy Texas Chief Executive Joe Domino.
Now keep that quote in mind as you read this:
If Hurricane Rita is any guide, Houston-area customers could be paying higher electricity bills for years to cover the cost of repairing the battered Gulf Coast power grid in the wake of Hurricane Ike.The reason: Under deregulation, ratepayers are responsible for the expense of maintaining and expanding the power grid in Texas.
In a phone interview Sunday, Entergy Texas CEO Joe Domino said Rita repairs cost his company hundreds of millions of dollars. After the 2005 storm ripped East Texas, the Public Utility Commission of Texas greenlighted a $381 million systemwide rate increase to pay for the fixes in the company's grid, which generally runs to the north and east of Houston.
The increase amounted to $3.85 for the average 1,000-kilowatt customer tacked on to each month's bill over the course of 15 years -- or roughly $700 overall. Many households use much more power, meaning their increase is higher.
"The more you use, the more you pay," Entergy spokesman Dan Daugherty said, adding that industrial users pay far more to fix the grid than residential customers.
[...]
Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the PUC, said any rate increase would be deliberated by the commission, a process that usually takes six months. A quicker result is possible if the companies agree to a lower settlement figure, securitizing their damage costs with bonds that carry reduced interest because they are backed by cash flows from specific assets, such as transmission lines.
In the case of Entergy's rate hike petition to the PUC after Rita, the company had been asking for $561 million worth of increases but the PUC agreed to grant $381 million of them, Hadley said.
"Damage costs from this event should be higher. The PUC will deal with whatever those numbers are when there's a formal application," he said.
So apparently we're all going to be paying anyway (CenterPoint didn't raise rates after Rita, but will be doing so this time around). It'll be mitigated somewhat by the utilities issuing bonds, which will be securitized by their expected greater revenue from that rate increase, but rates will go up nonetheless. So here's my question: If we're gonna be picking up the tab for this anyway, wouldn't it be nice to know that we'd be getting a better infrastructure, one that might be able to handle the next hurricane with a smaller loss of power, out of it? At the very least, wouldn't it be nice to know how much that option might cost us so we could make an informed decision about it? How could we possibly be any worse off with that?
Here's an update on school closings and reopenings in the area; HISD's information is here. That wailing sound you hear is coming from my neighborhood, where the moms have just realized that Travis Elementary is still closed.
Today ought to be an interesting day for commuters, since I figure today is the first day that nearly everyone will actually be commuting as usual. Still a lot of traffic lights out, which will make entering and exiting the freeways in certain locations a heap of joy. Most HOV lanes are still out of service, though at least the I-45 HOV lane will be open, as will the light rail line. But the city curfew is still in place, "until further notice", so don't head out to work too early.
I'm assuming we'll see a lot of trash getting picked up today. Here's what to expect:
Beginning Monday, September 22, 2008, the Solid Waste Management Department will divert all of its normal heavy trash operations to storm debris collections. Therefore, the normal heavy trash schedule has been suspended. "We want to stay out of the way of the contractors who are here to tackle the enormous storm debris work load," said Solid Waste Management Department Director Harry J. Hayes. "Our department will work one of the 16 debris zones to expedite storm clean up," added Hayes. DRC, the City of Houston's private storm debris hauler has 346 trucks deployed to debris zones to assist City of Houston crews with storm debris removal.The Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) will proceed with normal garbage and yard trimmings collection operations on Monday, September 22, 2008. The Curbside Recycling crews are assisting the Yard Trimmings crews with vegetative storm debris collection and, therefore, will not be collecting the recyclable materials from the green bins. Curbside Recycling is suspended until further notice.
That's fine. Getting that debris off the streets is top priority.
The girls go back to school today, so we're returning to what passes for normal around here. What's your status?
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig expresses his regrets to the Astros for the unscheduled road trip to Milwaukee last week.
The players, manager Cecil Cooper and some officials in the Houston area have faulted Selig over the move, saying it was unfair to a team in the race for the National League wild card."I recognized the advantage the Cubs would have in playing in such close proximity to Chicago, and had there been a better option, I would have taken it," Selig wrote in [an ad in the Chron] on page C16 of the Sports section.
"All of us involved in the decision regret the frustration the Astros and their fans felt about playing two games in Milwaukee."
Selig said roofed ballparks in Minneapolis, Phoenix and St. Petersburg, Fla., were not available.
"We did not think it was fair to play games on the West Coast" with the Astros heading to Miami to face the Marlins, the commissioner said.
Selig wrote that he has heard the complaints of Astros fans.
"While it is insignificant in comparison to the havoc that was taking place in southeast Texas, the storm also created a scheduling difficulty for Major League Baseball. ... As commissioner, my job is to balance many competing needs, while also finishing the season on time," Selig wrote.
I'm certainly no Selig fan, but I sympathize here. Unless you were willing to consider minor league or college stadia, I don't really know what else you could have done. At least Milwaukee was in the same time zone. Yeah, it wasn't so much a "home game", but where outside the hurricane zone would there have been a critical mass of Astros fans? I think Lance Berkman has it right:
"You can only use that as an excuse for so long why we are where we are," Berkman said. "We went up there, and there's 90 feet between the bases up there (at Miller Park) just like there was at home. There was a hostile crowd, but we won three games from the Cubs at Wrigley, so it's no excuse."
What's done is done. I see no point in fixating on it.
Meant to link to this Lisa Gray column about the Odd Fellows lodge in the Heights and its recent growth in membership last week, but since I didn't do it then I figure now is as good a time as any.
Find us some new members, the old guys told Ramon Martin, who was by several decades the youngest member of Odd Fellows Lodge 225 in the Houston Heights. That lodge had been around for a century, but like fraternal groups across the country -- the Elks, Jaycees, Shriners -- the Odd Fellows had largely failed to attract new generations. The old guys were afraid Lodge 225 would die with them.Ramon, a musician, tried recruiting history buffs and battle re-enactors. (Such great old costumes and photos at this lodge!) He tried recruiting Goths. (Floating eyeballs! Coffins! Other weird old symbols!) But none of those recruits stuck.
Ramon mentioned the lodge to some art-car people he knew. They thought it was cool, and they brought friends.
But he didn't expect that crowd to stick, either.
"Look!" says Kenny Browning, sticking out his foot. "Skull camo!" When I look closely at his Chuck Taylor sneakers, I see little skulls grinning among the gray blotches. The shoes will look great with one of his art cars.
Seven years after Ramon began his recruitment drive, Kenny is the Heights lodge's Noble Grand -- which is to say, its grand poohbah -- and he's an obvious symbol of the Odd Fellows' odd comeback. The lodge claims 45 members and is growing fast. This year, it's on track to become the largest Odd Fellows lodge in Texas.
I discovered the Odd Fellows lodge two years ago while driving along 14th Street on an errand, and went back to take a few photos of it, because it just looked cool. Now I want to see what it looks like on the inside. I still don't get the whole fraternal-order thing, but these guys at least seem to be able to do it without taking themselves too seriously. I respect that.
I don't follow the national stories that much around here, as you know. And I certainly don't claim to have any deep understanding of the crisis in the financial markets, or what should be done from here to make sure it never happens again. But I do understand that $700 billion is a hell of a lot of money, and that the Bush administration cannot be trusted with anything remotely approaching that amount. And I understand that sadly, the Democrats in Congress can't be relied upon to push back against this kind of folly without some strong and vocal leadership showing them the way. So consider me very glad to see this.
As of now, the Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan. Even if the U.S. Treasury recovers some or most of its investment over time, this initial outlay of up to $700 billion is sobering. And in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency, fairness, and reform.First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.
Second, taxpayers shouldn't be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.
Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.
Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.
Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.
Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I've been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.
And finally, this plan can't just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street. We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs, and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states.
"No blank check". Everything has to flow from that. This is first principles. If the Democrats can't get this right, what can they get right? FDL, Open Left, McBlogger, BOR, and Kevin Drum have more, including this sob story:
"A lot of those people will have to sell their homes, they're going to cut back on the private jets and the vacations. They may even have to take their kids out of private school," said [Robert] Frank. "It's a total reworking of their lifestyle."...."It's going to be very hard psychologically for these people," Frank said. "I talked to one guy who had to give up his private jet recently. And he said of all the trials in his life, giving that up was the hardest thing he's ever done."
We should all be able to say that giving up our private jet is the hardest thing we've ever had to do. I sure wish I could say it.
UPDATE: Even better.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Congress should not write a "blank check" to Wall Street in a bill to allow the U.S. to buy up distressed assets.In a statement issued Sunday evening, Pelosi said a Treasury proposal received by Congress "does not include the necessary safeguards" and that congressional Democrats "will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome."
Members of Congress and Bush administration officials have been engaged in talks over the weekend on an administration proposal that would give the Treasury Department authority to buy up to $700 billion in distressed mortgage assets from financial institutions, which is expected to become the basis for legislation that could pass within days.
Pelosi, in her statement, said that the Democrats would seek to limit executive compensation - a position also floated recently by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass.
"Democrats believe a responsible solution should include independent oversight, protections for homeowners and constraints on excessive executive compensation," Pelosi said in her statement.
You said it, now stick with it. We're all watching.
A little distraction (I hope) while Ike-related cleanup and recovery goes on.
The original Wonder Woman doesn't like Sarah Palin. And may I just say, I still have a crush on Lynda Carter.
Live long and prosper, Mister Sulu.
John McCain's journey from maverick to liar. The headline is a lot harsher than the essay, but it's a start.
Is there a form I need to fill out to join the Patty Judge fan club? Because I will if I need to.
Sarah Palin: As committed to open government as Rick Perry.
John McCain invented the BlackBerry. Among many other things.
The Texas Parent PAC has followed the lead of the TexBlog PAC and endorsed Chris Turner.
Cat versus printer. This is why I have a dog. Link via Amanda on Twitter.
Spinewatch watches the media.
It's good to know that through it all, Pete hasn't lost his sense of perspective.
It must be tough to work at a conservative think tank these days. Poor babies.
Somebody here is unclear on the concept.
Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas coast three years ago this week, crumpling transmission towers, toppling utility poles and leaving consumers in the dark for up to three weeks.State regulators responded to the storm by considering new rules to strengthen Texas' electricity infrastructure in hopes of minimizing outages -- including a measure to require that all new transmission structures be made of steel or concrete.
But the Public Utility Commission of Texas moved slowly amid industry opposition, and the panel decided last month to start over.
[...]
Today, with hundreds of thousands CenterPoint Energy and Entergy Texas customers struggling through a second week without power in the wake of Hurricane Ike, some are beginning to question whether regulators should have moved more aggressively to shore up the state's electric infrastructure.
CenterPoint Energy said that as of 8 a.m. Sunday, there were 819,000 customers, or 36 percent, without power in its service territory. But 1.44 million customers, or 64 percent, in Houston and most of its surrounding suburbs have electricity, CenterPoint Energy officials said.
"We should have, and now need, to develop new standards to prevent the kinds of disruptions that people in Houston are now experiencing," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, with the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen Texas.
But PUC Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman said any upgrade must be weighed against the cost.
"At the end of the day the customers are going to have to pay for all of this," he said.
Dude. Did you miss that bit about 800,000+ people being without power for a week, many of whom will be waiting till at least Thursday for it? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, now would be a propitious time to spell out the costs and benefits of adopting those new rules, because people will never be more receptive to the idea than they are right now? For crying out loud, sometimes paying for is a good and desirable thing. At the very least, give the people the choice. What are we waiting for?
And as long as we're talking regulation, let's talk about coastal development.
Already, one week after the hurricane, some scientists, lawmakers and property owners have wondered whether an area that will likely be ravaged again is worth fixing and further developing."We have to protect people from themselves and certainly from developers," said Jim Blackburn, an environmental attorney and coastal expert based in Houston. "Anyone who wants to buy on the West End of Galveston Island should be shown a picture of the Bolivar Peninsula after Ike."
The reality is, the coastline is changing, and changing fast, geologists say.
While trophy houses, subdivisions and hotels have sprouted along the Gulf of Mexico, rising seas and sinking land have led to the rapid erosion of the state's shoreline. By some estimates, as much as 10 feet of beachfront washes away each year.
[...]
Until recently, Texas has done little to address the erosion problem along its 367 miles of mostly wild shoreline. In April, Jerry Patterson, the state's land commissioner, proposed new restrictions on coastline construction.
The state's Open Beaches Act already prohibits houses seaward of the vegetation line, which crawls steadily landward as the beaches erode.
Patterson is asking local governments in coastal counties to adopt regulations that call for new buildings to be set back 60 times the erosion rate, as measured from the beach's vegetation line. Under the rules, if the shoreline is eroding 6 feet each year, then construction wouldn't be allowed within 360 feet.
The loudest protests have come from Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula.
Property owners and public officials have called the proposed rules a land grab by the state that would adversely affect local economies.
Galveston County, in particular, has seen booming growth of late, especially along the island's fashionable but low-lying West End, just beyond the reach of the protective Seawall.
The county's population is projected to reach nearly 300,000 people by 2030, up from about 200,000 in 1980.
Patterson, who oversees the Texas coastline, said his intent is not to trample on property rights, but to confront what he considers a crucial problem. In addition to the eroding shoreline, he is concerned that the high cost of rebuilding highways and pipelines and restoring beaches on barrier lands will become a perpetual burden on state taxpayers.
I don't know the specifics of Commissioner Patterson's proposal. It's certainly possible I'd object to some or all of it. But I do think he's on the right track here. I have sympathy for coastal communities like Galveston that want to expand their property tax base. But as with wind insurance, I think a greater share of the burden for the risk of such development needs to be on those communities. I don't claim to know how to balance it out. But we need to have the conversation, and if not now, then when?
Now for some better news: First, SciGuy says Tropical Storm Kyle is very unlikely to come this way. Good to hear, but I reserve the right to resume freaking out as the situation warrants.
Two, the citywide curfew is about to be lifted.
The citywide curfew will remain in effect this weekend but will come to an end at 6 a.m. Monday, the Houston Police Department announced Saturday.The curfew hours in Houston are from midnight to 6 a.m. today. Curfew violators can be fined up to $500.
One more step towards normality. And finally, congratulations to Professor Taylor for the birth of his son, Owen - see here for some background. Mazel tov, Prof!
I think the only rational response to this is "AAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
The Caribbean tropical wave has improved its organization this morning and it now seems somewhat more likely the system may eventually become Tropical Storm Kyle, the season's 11th named storm.The computer models are split about whether to bring the system through the northern Caribbean Sea toward the Gulf of Mexico, or turn it northward toward the Bahamas, and then into the Atlantic. The GFDL model favors such a solution, bringing a large hurricane toward Bermuda in five days time.
As reflected by the models it's really way too early to know where this wave will go, and indeed, whether it will develop at all. However the system does still have the potential to reach the Gulf.
*breathes into paper bag* Normally, I would take comfort in the extremely low odds of something like this heading our way this late in the season, but then I remember we were saying that about Ike a few weeks ago. So I think I'll remain nervous and on edge for a few more days, if you don't mind. The good news is that at least Ike made the Gulf waters a lot cooler, so if this thing does enter our neighborhood, it won't become a monster. Not a big monster, anyway. Having said all that, let me reiterate: "AAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
Power companies continued restoring electricity to customers in and around Houston Saturday, yet by the end of the day more than a million homes and businesses remained in the dark.Progress was slow as the companies began the tedious task of renewing power to one block or one house at a time after completing key infrastructure repairs in recent days.
Even so, three of the four major power companies serving the area reported gains, while the other did not release updated figures Saturday.
[...]
CenterPoint Energy, the area's largest transmission company, said 1.04 million customers, or 46 percent, still did not have power as of Saturday night, down from 50 percent Friday.
Lights came on in parts of west Houston and in lesser-impacted neighborhoods circling the city's core inside Beltway 8, CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said.
CenterPoint expects most of metro Houston will see power restored by Thursday, while storm-ravaged areas near the coast and heavily-wooded areas like Cypress northwest of town will take longer.
Entergy Texas, with customers to the north and east of Houston, reported the biggest jump Saturday. As of late afternoon Saturday, it said 29 percent of customers were without power, down from 45 percent the day before.
Joe Domino, CEO of the company, an arm of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., said Saturday the improvement came after a number of transmission lines were repaired and many residents in the Beaumont area received power.
Transmission lines are high-voltage lines that deliver electricity from power plants to communities and form the foundation for lower-voltage distribution lines that serve individual neighborhoods.
Hurricane Ike knocked out power to 99 percent of Entergy Texas' customers.
[...]
Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, with customers in 10 counties east and north of Houston, also reported increases Saturday. As of late morning, roughly 35 percent of its distribution system is still without power, down from 47 percent Friday, company spokeswoman Mary Kate Scott said.
Texas-New Mexico Power Co., with 115,000 customers in Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda counties, did not release updated figures on Saturday. About 24 percent of its customers were without power as of Friday evening.
I'm just waiting to see when all the traffic lights will work again. The four-way stop thing isn't so bad when the roads are empty, but it's a major bottleneck otherwise.
Via email from Council Member Melissa Noriega:
Food StampsA family of four that earns up to $2,915 this month and lives in any of the 29 counties that have been declared disaster areas may qualify for emergency food-stamp assistance. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission sought and received a federal waiver to make this assistance available. Texans can apply by calling 211 or submitting an application at any HHSC office. Those who are eligible will get 2 months of benefits. You will need to show proof of your identity and home address, such as a driver license. If you can give more proof of income and resources, you might get benefits for a longer period. You can find the location of HHSC offices or more information by calling 211 or visiting www.hhsc.state.tx.us.
Disaster-related Unemployment InsuranceThe Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has announced that it is accepting applications for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from individuals whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted due to Hurricane Ike starting September 7, 2008, and continuing. To file, one may log on to http://www.texasworkforce.org. or call the nearest TWC Tele-Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at (800) 939-6631.
A reminder, via Mac, that Ike was a lot bigger than just the Houston/Beaumont area:
When the waves from Hurricane Ike receded, they left behind a mystery - a ragged shipwreck that archeologists say could be a two-masted Civil War schooner that ran aground in 1862 or another ship from some 70 years later.The wreck, about six miles from Fort Morgan, had already been partially uncovered when Hurricane Camille cleared away sand in 1969.
Researchers at the time identified it as the Monticello, a battleship that partially burned when it crashed trying to get past the U.S. Navy and into Mobile Bay during the Civil War.
After examining photos of the wreck post-Ike, Museum of Mobile marine archaeologist Shea McLean agreed it is likely the Monticello, which ran aground in 1862 after sailing from Havana, according to Navy records.
"Based on what we know of ships lost in that area and what I've seen, the Monticello is by far the most likely candidate," McLean said. "You can never be 100 percent certain unless you find the bell with `Monticello' on it, but this definitely fits."
Other clues indicate it could be an early 20th century schooner that ran aground on the Alabama coast in 1933.
That's actually pretty cool. I hope they figure it out.
And finally, we may have gotten Hurricane Ike, but we won't get Hurricane Sarah:
That Sarah Palin campaign fund-raising reception in Houston, which we reported here three blog posts ago, won't take place at its scheduled venue and may have to be postponed or canceled.The Republican VP nominee was set to greet donors at the River Oaks home of Bob and Mica Mosbacher, Bob being a money man for GOP presidential nominees since the age of 8-track tape players.
But the Mosbachers tell friends that trees felled by the storm damaged their dwelling quite seriously. They've moved to temporary digs and won't be able to host the Alaska gov on Oct. 3.
My sympathies to the Mosbachers. Whoever you are, and wherever you live, having that happen to you sucks. Best wishes for a speedy reconstruction.
From the "Things That Should't Matter But Probably Do Anyway" department, more people would rather watch football with Barack Obama than John McCain. One can only presume that this would also involve beer drinking, since as we know that is the real measure of one's presidentiariness.
Obama was the pick over McCain by a narrow 50 percent to 47 percent, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Friday that generally mirrored each presidential candidate's strengths and weaknesses with voters. Women, minorities, younger and unmarried people were likelier to prefer catching a game with Obama while men, whites, older and married people would rather watch with McCain."I think he'd be fun to sit back with and hear his experiences, all his stories," said Kyle Ferguson, 28, a Republican from Santa Rosa, Calif., who picked McCain. But reflecting a sense some voters have of McCain based on the complaints of a few Senate colleagues, he added warily, "I bet he'd probably get pretty angry and lit up if his team was losing."
I guess even a stupid and pointless exercise like this can contain a nugget of truth now and again. Make of it what you will.
UPDATE: Chad finds the deeper meaning.
While we were up in Portland, we asked my talented and indefatigable sister-in-law Cathy to take some family photos of us. She has professional equipment for the task, and a great eye. You can see a sample of the results here. Thanks, Cathy!
We've talked before about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, and the possible calamitous effects that a storm like Ike could have on its finances. Looks like we'll be still talking about it for some time.
Rates for the thousands of property owners who buy coverage from the state's wind pool could soon climb beyond the 10 percent annual cap set by state law.Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin will consider a suspension of the cap at a Friday hearing ``to put all the options on the table,'' said Jerry Hagins, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance.
The department was originally scheduled to consider the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's request to boost rates 10 percent for homeowners and 16 percent for commercial property owners.
The state-created association, which sometimes asks for more than the law allows, requested the higher rates in August, before Hurricane Ike pummeled the coast.
Geeslin wants to discuss a suspension of the limits set on the wind pool's rates because Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Dolly will leave it with substantial losses, Hagins said.
In 2001, state lawmakers capped annual rate increases from TWIA at 10 percent to keep consumers from being hit with large hikes. The pool was formed to sell coverage for wind damage to coastal property owners who can't find it in the private market.
The law gives the commissioner the authority to remove or adjust the cap if necessary.
The windstorm association, which had 224,468 policyholders as of Aug. 31, has long complained that it needed higher rates to build reserves and cover a growing number of potential losses fueled by a Gulf Coast building boom and a drop in private insurers writing policies in hurricane-prone areas.
Lubbock Online has more.
And though it will be days - if not weeks - before government officials and insurers estimate the damage to both areas, for Republican state Reps. John Smithee of Amarillo and Carl Isett of Lubbock this much is certain: In next year's session, the Legislature will have to pass windstorm legislation that would prevent an insurance crisis in the event of another devastating storm."We have lived on borrowed time," said Isett who, as chairman of the Sunset Advisory Commission, the 12-member legislative panel that oversees all state government agencies, could influence the passage of such legislation. Typically, a state agency, board or commission is reviewed every 12 years, and the Texas Department of Insurance is in the current two-year cycle.
"We've got to fix windstorm," Isett said. "Our exposure is too big."
"We have to figure out how to deal with this," added Smithee, chairman of the House Insurance Committee and the author of last year's windstorm bill that was approved overwhelmingly in the lower chamber but was killed by Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte (in the coastal area) in the final hours of the 140-day session.
[...]
"We ought to be the provider of last resort, but a lot of people are not even considering the private sector anymore," said Bill Peacock, director of the Center for Economic Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based think tank that advocates free-market policies.
The number of policy holders insured by the state-funded Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, or TWIA, increased from 68,756 in 2001 to 224,452 at the end of July, and the total exposure in total claims was $66.1 billion, Peacock said.
"It's a burden" for the state, he said.
What this means, Isett, Smithee, Peacock and others have long argued, is that the state subsidizes coastal residents because the insurance rates they pay are pretty much the same all other Texas home and business owners pay, even though they live in a higher-risk area.
I'm generally loathe to side with the TPPF, but I think they're right here. Folks who live on the coast, especially those in newer, high-end development, some of which probably never should have been built, should pay more for this type of insurance. We can argue over how great the differences should be, and how to be sensitive to folks whose land ownership goes back generations, but the economic argument is a strong one. If the end effect is to make new luxury condo development in certain places unaffordable, that's just too damn bad.
[Beaman Floyd, executive director at the Texas Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions,] and others are encouraged that last year, at a forum that the Texas Public Policy Foundation sponsored on the topic, Jackson said that although he killed Smithee's bill with the threat of a filibuster because he considered it unfair to his constituents, the two lawmakers were working to address those concerns. Jackson said he was likely to support Smihtee's bill next session.
Well, of course it would affect Jackson's constituents in a way they wouldn't like, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fair. Be that as it may, I do hope a sensible compromise can be reached, because this situation isn't going to get any better on its own. And while we're at it, perhaps we can also address the matter of requiring windstorm insurers to also cover flood losses.
Meanwhile, Galveston will be open again, sort of, starting on Wednesday.
Galveston residents will be allowed to re-enter the city beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday, officials said today.However, only those who live behind the seawall will be allowed to stay. Residents who live in the West End can check on their property, but must leave.
And for those who do stay, the city plans to strictly enforce its curfew, which is from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., officials said. Violators risk a $2,000 fine.
"We're serious," Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said today. "We're going to have order in this city."
State Rep. Craig Eiland announced that Gov. Rick Perry's office will send 150 state troopers to help with traffic enforcement, since no stoplights are working. Hundreds of stop signs are missing as well, Eiland said, adding that 800 have been brought to the city.
Residents will be stopped at a checkpoint and given information on paper letting them know what to expect, LeBlanc said.
I wish all those who go well. I can't imagine what you'll face.
Meanwhile, via email from City Council Member Sue Lovell, here's another opportunity to help:
Kathy Barton of the Health Department let us know that BARC (the Bureau of Animal Control and Regulation) now has a shortage of cages. If you can donate a cage or cages, please call the BARC phone number, 713.229.7300, to get information.
And finally, I had to go back to the office today to deal with a server issue. I drove home (mostly) the same way as I did Friday, to see if any of the nonworking traffic lights were back in operation. They weren't, which wasn't a big surprise. I did this time continue on Shepherd to West Dallas, and saw that this is a road to avoid for the next few days. Lots of downed trees, mostly around the cemetery, and a couple of severely-leaning telephone/utility poles, which blocked three lanes of traffic - Dallas was basically a one-way eastbound street just west of Dunlavy, which is to say right in front of the Regent Square development. That was being worked on as I drove past, and I would hope it would be fixed by Monday morning. But I wouldn't count on it, so if that's part of your morning commute, I'd suggest an alternate route for the time being.
Here's the latest map (PDF), via the Chron, of CenterPoint's estimated restoration dates for various locations in Harris County. About half their area is still without power, and it looks like a nontrivial number of folks will still be without at the end of next week. That really sucks.
We had dinner last night at the Berryhill's in the Heights. I've never seen it so crowded - clearly, a lot of folks were looking for a reason to get out of the house. There must have been a half-dozen people with laptops, too. Guess they have WiFi available - I can't recall ever seeing it advertised there, but clearly, the word was out. Good to know for the future.
Reliant Park's president said today he has renewed optimism that the Texans may be able to play their home game Oct. 5 at Reliant Stadium with the stadium's damaged roof in the open position.Shea Guinn, president of SMG-Reliant Park, said workmen plan to open the damaged roof in the next few days after they remove the remains of several roof panels damaged by Hurricane Ike's winds last week.
"We are completely focused 100 percent on doing everything we can for (the Texans) to play on the 5th," Guinn said. "I feel a lot better about things today than I did yesterday."
Guinn said repairs to the damaged roof panels can begin once the roof is in the open position. That being the case, he said, the Texans could play the rest of their home schedule at the stadium with the roof open.
"That is a possibility, and a lot of it will be based on what we find out over the next week," he said. "That is a very distinct possibility and likelihood that games could be played with the roof open."
Guinn said workers tested the roof mechanism Thursday night and are confident that the roof can be opened without problems.
"The engineering study has come back, and there is no damage to the roof from a structural or mechanical side," he said. "Things look good."
For what it's worth, driving past Reliant on Kirby as I did yesterday morning, you can't tell anything is wrong. I suppose they could just play with the roof open, as some commenters on the story suggested. That's probably a better option than playing at Minute Maid. But it's good to have choices. Stephanie has more.
As the Capitol Area Food Bank has been overwhelmed lately, so has the Houston Food Bank, as noted by Texans Against Hunger. Here's how you can help.
Had your fill of Ike photos yet? If not, then check out John's post for more. If so, well, then don't.
Good news: here's news from HISD about the schedule to reopen schools.
All non-school HISD facilities will reopen on Monday, September 22, and schools will be reopening in phases beginning Tuesday, September 23.All principals and non-school employees will report back to work on Monday, September 22, with principals reporting either to their school (if it is scheduled to open on Tuesday, September 23) or to their regional office. Teachers and other school-based employees will report to work one work day before their school's opening date (see information in next paragraph and status list).
Each HISD school will reopen only after power and AC have been restored and critical repairs made. A list of all schools and their status is posted below. The list will be updated daily at noon and 5:00 p.m. The status of schools opening Tuesday, September 23, will be finalized at 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 21. Those schools' teachers and staff will report to work on Monday, September 22. The status of schools that will open on Thursday, September 25, will be finalized at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 23. Those schools' teachers and staff will report to work on Wednesday, September 24. At this time, HISD is projecting that all schools will be open by Monday, September 29. The status of schools opening Monday will be finalized at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, September 26, and their teachers and staff will report for work on Friday. Employees at schools added to the list after Thursday, should report to work on Monday.
There's a list of schools there, which will be updated as things change, plus a hotline number to call for more info. The Chron also has a story on this. Enjoy the rest of your vacation while you still can, kids. (Parents, you may start celebrating now.)
Finally, via email from Council Member Adrian Garcia's office, here's some information about legal assistance and roof repairs for those affected by Ike, which I've put beneath the fold. Click on to read it.
Daily LegalLine for Those Affected by Storm Volunteer attorneys from the Houston Bar Association will answer legal questions from the public from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. daily, beginning Tuesday, September 16, 2008 through Wednesday, October 1, 2008. The public may call 713-759-1133 or toll free 1-866-959-1133, to speak to a volunteer attorney, who will assist in answering their legal questions related to the storm.The HBA's regular LegalLine program will be held on Wednesday, October 1, with attorneys answering calls until 9:00 p.m.
BLUE ROOF PROGRAMThe recent hurricanes have left many homeowners with damaged roofs. Repairs to these roofs can take time. In order to mitigate additional damage that could result from rain, homeowners can have plastic sheeting installed over the damaged area by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors, in a program provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The toll-free BLUE ROOF hotline number is 1-888-ROOF-BLU or 1-888-766-3258. - OPTION #4 is for TEXAS CASES
Here are some facts about Operation BLUE ROOF:
* To qualify for BLUE ROOF services, damage to the roof must be less than 50 percent and the area to be covered must be structurally sound for a crew to work on.
* In order to have plastic sheeting placed on their roofs, homeowners must complete a right of entry form to allow government and contractor employees on their property. Right of Entry (ROE) centers for affected counties are manned by Corps of Engineers employees. For the center location in your county call toll free 1-888-766-3258.
* The Corps is covering roofs in the hardest hit counties first. Be patient. The Corps will respond to every person who has completed a ROE as rapidly as possible.
* Homeowners who had plastic sheeting damaged or blown off during Hurricane Jeanne must complete a new ROE form. The damaged or missing plastic sheeting will be reinstalled as rapidly as possible.
* In some instances, there may be a slowdown in installing plastic sheeting because of a national shortage.
* Homeowners can also cover their roof with free tarps provided by FEMA and issued through their local governments. Residents need to monitor the media for information on where to pick up the tarps.
* The plastic covering and the tarps are temporary fixes designed to provide protection from the elements until the homeowner can make permanent repairs with a qualified professional.The BLUE ROOF program is provided by FEMA through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in all counties that have been declared by FEMA for the Individual Assistance program.
As we know, the University of Houston-Downtown wants a new name. They put out a call for suggestions. Via ConFrijoles, I see that before Ike came to town, they published an "informal list" of such suggestions so far. Personally, my favorite among them is Cibolo State University, but I could be persuaded by Gulf Coast State University as well. What do you think?
From Texas Monthly:
The folks who decide what Texas schoolchildren will learn are the fifteen members of the State Board of Education. Don't worry if you can't name a single one. Almost nobody can! Members of this obscure panel are elected in down-ballot races that generate about as much media attention as an appointment to the Funeral Service Commission, but they are the ones who determine the classroom content for every public- or charter-school student in Texas. The board, currently composed of ten Republicans and five Democrats, oversees the process that establishes curriculum standards--known as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills--and adopts or rejects textbooks. Members serve four-year terms and receive no financial compensation. (You heard right: They do this for free.) So how well do you know the powerful volunteers who control your children's education? Take this quiz and see.
The quiz is alternately funny and appalling, more so if this is stuff you haven't heard of before. When you're done, go check out Laura Ewing, who will be the sort of board that won't figure prominently in a quiz like this, which is to say, she's competent, qualified, and perfectly sane. I did an interview with Ewing, which you can listen to here. Let's get a member on the Board that we've heard of for good reasons.
As a supporter of The Catastrophic Theater, I'm sad to hear of this.
Cary Winscott, a popular Houston actor and musician, passed away from skin cancer Tuesday at Ben Taub Hospital, his longtime friend Jason Nodler, former director of Infernal Bridegroom Productions said Friday afternoon. Winscott, 38, originated the role of the Pro-Tester in IBP's first production, 1993's Nodler-penned In the Under Thunderloo, as well as its 2002 revival. He was in "virtually all" of IBP's productions, Nodler says, including originating roles in Suzan-Lori Parks' Fucking A and Brian Jucha's We Have Some Planes.[...]
Winscott is survived by his mother and stepfather, father, brother and girlfriend of two-plus years, Lindsey Hardin. His memorial service is 2 p.m. tomorrow at Pat H. Foley Funeral Home, 1200 W. 34th St. A reception follows at 4 p.m. at DiverseWorks, 1117 East Fwy.
Nodler encourages the public to attend the [service and] DiverseWorks reception and to bring instruments and play all night. The original Houston production of Speeding Motorcycle will be screened (for the first time in public), as will A Soap Opera. "Cary loved music more than anything other than his friends and Lindsey," he says. "Most of all, he loved to hear his friends play. It is the best way we can imagine to celebrate his life."
The Chron has more. There's a video of Winscott singing at the Press link. He was a talented guy, and the Houston arts scene will miss him. Rest in peace, Cary Winscott.
As we know, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr has filed a lawsuit claiming that Barack Obama and John McCain failed to meet a deadline for appearing on the Texas ballot, and thus should be excluded. He has now sought an emergency order from the Texas Supreme Court to stop county clerks from mailing out absentee and overseas ballots, which would contain their names.
The Libertarians claim both national parties missed an Aug. 26 deadline for submitting the name of their presidential candidate to the Texas secretary of state for certification.While neither national party officially had a presidential nominee by that date, both state parties filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office regarding their intent. The office certified McCain and Obama.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week, contends this amounts to an illegal pre-certification. The state's high court has given the state and the state and national parties until 3 p.m. Monday to respond. The motion filed today seeks to stop the mail-out of ballots until after the lawsuit is resolved.
Barr said both state parties have known for years when their national conventions would be held and the date of the certification deadline. He said the parties should have asked the 2007 Legislature to modify the deadline to match the conventions. He described their inaction as "hubris."
Barr said the state law is clear and the Supreme Court should have no problem ruling in the Libertarians' favor.
"It should require no legal contortions whatsoever to stand for the rule of law," Barr said. "The law we have here in Texas is not ambiguous. It is not vague."
Texas Libertarian Chairman Pat Dixon said the party in the past has been denied ballot access for not following the rules. And he noted that independent candidate Ralph Nader has been denied ballot access in Texas for not getting enough voter signatures in a very complex ballot access petition procedure.
Nader sued over his failure to make the ballot, but lost, with the judge saying that the procedures were "reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and constitutional". Maybe that bolsters Barr's case, I don't know. In any event, the State Solicitor General wrote a letter (PDF) to the court calling the mandamus petition "meritless" and saying that the relevant law is only about a "Party candidate's entitlement to be on the ballot", and doesn't say anything about removal. He also states that the timing of this suit, especially given that the problem it seeks to address would have occurred three weeks ago, threatens the rights of military and overseas voters.
I'm not a lawyer, so I can't really address the merits of Barr's claims. I'll simply note that I'd expect about 8 million ballots to be cast this year (there were 7.4 million in 2004, and we've already set a record for voter registrations in Texas, with two weeks to go before the deadline), and if historic patterns hold true, probably at least 7.8 million of those ballots will be cast for McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden. That may be an underestimate, given that the high water mark for a Libertarian Party Presidential candidate in recent years was 0.52% of the vote in 2004 - Ralph Nader (who not unsurprisingly supports Barr's effort) got 2.15% of the vote in 2000, easily the best showing for anyone not named Ross Perot. From my perspective, to deny the perferred choices of 98+% of the electorate from appearing on the ballot is a pretty drastic remedy, and should only be applied in the event of a really atrocious sin. I don't think this comes close to measuring up to that, but we'll know what the Supremes think soon enough.
UPDATE Turns out they don't think the emergency stay was worth granting. On to Monday!
UPDATE: The Statesman and BOR have more.
This is a big problem.
[T]his year's succession of disasters has overwhelmed donors, nonprofit leaders believe. Additionally, people are holding on tighter to their money because of the uncertain economy.Bush asked for contributions to the American Red Cross in remarks he made Tuesday at Ellington Field.
"I hope that the country does not have disaster fatigue," he said.
And this is why we have a federal government for these situations. You shouldn't have to be the victim of the first disaster of the season in order to get a helping hand. Charitable organizations play a vast and vital role in disaster response and relief, but they can't do it all.
On a different note, here was my experience driving to and from work today. In the morning, I gave our friend Andrea, who's been staying at our house while her power is out, a lift to her job near San Felipe and Saint James. It was smooth sailing along I-10 and 610 from the Heights, and then from there to the Astrodome area where I work. Very little traffic for 7:30 AM, though I'm told by my mother-in-law that the Loop was much more crowded a little after that.
Coming home, I took Greenbriar/Shepherd most of the way. I counted 12 non-working traffic lights, three downed power lines, two of which had crews working on them, three hand-lettered signs just south of 59 telling CenterPoint where other downed lines were, one place on Greenbriar where collected branches and other Ike refuse blocked a lane of traffic (there was also a downed tree on Buffalo Speedway south of Holcombe that I saw at lunchtime blocking two lanes of traffic), many hand-lettered signs advertising businesses that were open, one telephone pole near my house on Norhill that was leaning more than the tower of Pisa, and far too many drivers who didn't fully grasp the whole "four-way stop" thing to count. Oh, and Allen Parkway eastbound was closed at Waugh, though I couldn't see why. How was your commute today, if you went to work?
We made it back to Houston last night without incident, and I am going to brave the streets to go to the office for at least a few hours. Technically, I don't have to - it's closed for anyone who isn't required to be there till Monday - but as I deal in BlackBerry and have a lot of customers from outside the Houston area, I've got stuff to catch up on. We'll see how it goes. I hope everyone remembers the old adage about treating intersections with un-powered traffic lights as four-way stops.
One thing I do know is that I won't be competing with school-related traffic, and that will continue to be true for at least the beginning of next week.
Carl Boland, director of the Harris County Department of Education's Center for Safe and Secure Schools, said he is confident the "lion's share" of districts will reopen Monday.Katy, Tomball, Spring Branch and Cy-Fair are among those hoping for a Monday reopening.
The Houston Independent School District, the state's largest district, likely will have to wait, Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. As of Thursday afternoon, only 106 of the district's 300 campuses had power.
About 170 other HISD schools will be ready to open as soon as power is restored. Seventeen schools, including Austin, Furr and Milby high schools, aren't repaired yet, but could be by the weekend, officials said.
"I would hope we could reopen sometime next week," Saavedra said
I figure that will be a very high priority for them. Surely CenterPoint will be on notice about that.
Courtesy of State Rep. Jessica Farrar, here's some Ike resources - POD locations, shelters, other stuff - in English and Spanish.
Some post-Ike photos from my neck of the woods in Houstonist and Texas Monthly.
Not too surprisingly, the Progressive Forum lecture by Markos Moulitsas that was scheduled for Monday, September 22, has been cancelled. If you bought a ticket, you'll get an email advising you that you can transfer it to the October 22 event featuring Eleanor Clift, or get a refund.
And finally, a message from Joe Jaworski:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me and my family, as well as the campaign staff, regarding our safety and well-being. My family and the entire campaign staff safely evacuated and are doing well. However, many of our friends and neighbors were not as fortunate and need our help now, more than ever. That is why we have temporarily suspended our campaign. Myself, our campaign staff and organization will be focused on helping to distribute supplies and clean up neighborhoods throughout Galveston and all the cities and areas affected by Ike. All scheduled events are cancelled until further notice.
Because of the difficulty of going back and forth to Galveston Island, we are relocating our campaign headquarters to the BAND/HCDP Clear Lake office located at 568 El Dorado, Webster, TX (at the corner of Hwy 3 and El Dorado - map), where we will organize our volunteers for the relief effort. Please contact Field Director Brooke Heller at 512-569-0097 or brooke@jaworskifortexas.com for more information on volunteering. (Please note that cell phone service is intermittent, so please be patient and keep trying.) Keep an eye on your email, as we will send out detailed volunteer information in the coming days.
Additionally, we have created a page on our website with assistance information: http://jaworskifortexas.com/home/hurricane-ike-information/
Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this storm. Please contact our campaign at info@jaworskifortexas.com or 409-789-0299 if you need anything or have any questions. We will assist you any way we can.
Take care,
Joe Jaworski
According to Houston Politics, in a post whose permalink is strangely fubared, incumbent Sen. Mike Jackson also suffered flood damage in his house. I wish them both the best in getting everything back in order.
Via Swamplot, it appears that one of the last pieces of business the city of Houston conducted before Ike arrived was to deny a variance request for the Ashby Highrise developers for a loading dock.
In comments for the Public Works and Engineering Department, city engineer Mark Loethen said the at-grade loading dock from Bissonnet Street will not be allowed because its use would obstruct lanes of traffic.In his Sept. 4 comments, Loethen said the variance was rejected for the same reason, citing Sec. 40-86 of the code of ordinances.
"Such a driveway, as proposed, would excessively interfere with the normal use of the Bissonnet Street right of way," he said.
[...]
The project had been rejected for a fifth time June 24 and had only been resubmitted nine days prior to being denied again.
As of early July, the developers had all their other permits in hand. I don't know if this is being strung out by the city or if the developers just haven't gotten it right yet. But I do still think that this will eventually go through.
In the "I wish I had a camera phone" department, last week when I pulled into the Hot Bagel Shop parking lot for a morning fix, I saw a car with a bumper sticker that said "Start Ashby HIgh Rise". That's an under-represented opinion, to say the least. Anyone else seen anything like that?
The following comes from my neighbor Cathy Courtney, who so kindly helped me run the caucus in Precinct 003 after the March primary:
RALLY for Health Care Reform!
Saturday October 4th, 2008, 4pm-6pm Houston City Hall
- Increase awareness about Single Payer health care reform & HR 676
- Unite our different voices & strategies to achieve universal coverage
- Record your health care horror stories and Rx dilemmas, in writing or on videotape and send them to the Texas Legislature
- Urge electoral candidates to side with 62% of the US population who want affordable, accessible choices with insurance coverage for all
- Artistic Expression around "Nobody Out, Everybody In"- music, poetry, theatre, film, voter registration
- Make affordable health care in the USA a right & not a privilege. Human Need. Not Greed
Sign up via Email: info@hcfat.org or the Contact Form at http://www.healthcareforalltexas.org/contact_us.htm, or contact Dr. Peg Nosek 713-661-4678 or Cathy Courtney (ckorrf@earthlink.net) for how to become a Co-sponsor, Endorser or Supporter or further information.
That will be one of the last days to get registered if you haven't done so already. Let me know if you have any questions.
Last month, the Third Court of Appeals ruled against an appeal by John Colyandro and Jim Ellis that would have negated their money laundering indictments in the TRMPAC/Tom DeLay case. In doing so, the court provided validation for the defendants' notorious "checks aren't cash" defense, a move that was strongly disputed by other justices on the court. Now Texans for Public Justice has filed complaints against one of those justices, saying he has violated state campaign finance laws.
Texans for Public Justice filed a pair of complaints with Travis County Attorney David Escamilla and the Texas Ethics Commission today alleging that Third Court of Appeals Chief Justice W. Kenneth Law repeatedly violated the Texas Election Code in the course of his current reelection campaign. The alleged violations include illegally collecting more than $66,000 in political contributions without a duly appointed campaign treasurer and taking $10,000 from GOP Swift-Boat activist Harold Simmons--twice what the state Judicial Campaign Fairness Act permits.Two of the alleged violations are misdemeanors that carry criminal penalties and fall under the jurisdiction of Travis County Attorney David Escamilla. The other four alleged violations are subject to civil penalties levied by the Texas Ethics Commission. If the agency upholds these violations, Judge Law could face civil fines totaling more than $235,000.
The criminal complaint is here and the TEC complaint is here (both PDF). The Statesman has a story on this, but no indication from Escamilla as to a timeline for investigating the complaint. My guess is that it would be after the election, which is pretty standard procedure. BOR has more.
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
Randy Roll, Democratic candidate for Judge of the 179th Criminal District Court.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
1st degree felonies, such as murder, aggravated (means with a weapon) robbery, large drug cases, burglary of a habitation.
2nd degree felonies, such as aggravated assault, sexual assault, arson.
3rd degree felonies, such as tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a felon, injury to a child.
4th degree felonies, less 1 gram drug cases, burglary of a building, credit card abuse.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
The judge of this court needs to work full time. Presently he arrives at 11:00 to 12:00 in the morning. All the other judges get there at 8:30. He is a good man but has been there for 20 years. He is tired. Tired of being on Wayne Dolcefino's broadcast working on his farm feeding his cows while he should be sitting the bench hearing cases. I can do the job better.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
I am from Port Arthur and lived in Houston more than 35 years. I went to South Texas College of Law.
I have 20 years experience in criminal law handling more than 7000 criminal cases. I have extensive trial experience, am fluent in Spanish, Russian, German and French. I am the only attorney in Harris County to be called by the judges to represent people in all 5 languages.
5. Why is this race important?
The Republicans control every judgeship in the county above the level of Justice of the Peace. Their complete power has made them cynical and arrogant and unresponsive to the populace that put them in office. Look at the scandals involving them.
6. Why should people vote for you in November?
Give us Democrats the chance to show we can be responsive and fair and allow us to bring fairness and balance back to the courthouse.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Mike Miller, 11th Civil Judicial District Court.
Andres Pereira, 190th Civil Judicial District Court.
Steven Kirkland, 215th Civil Judicial District Court.
Martin Siegel, Court of Appeals, 14th District, Place 7.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been wondering what happened to all those people who stayed behind in Galveston during Ike.
As the hurricane closed in, authorities estimated that 90,000 people ignored evacuation orders along the Gulf Coast. Post-storm rescuers in Galveston and the peninsula removed about 3,500 people, but another 6,000 refused to leave.Nobody is suggesting that tens of thousands died, but determining what happened to those unaccounted for is a painstaking task that could leave survivors wondering for months or years to come.
Authorities concede that at least some of those who haven't turned up could have been washed out to sea, as at least one woman on the peninsula apparently was, and that other bodies might still be found.
"I'm not Pollyana. I think we will find some," said Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough, the county's highest-ranking elected official.
Let's keep some numbers straight first. "Along the Texas Coast" is very much not the same as "on Galveston Island and/or Bolivar Peninsula". If we're talking about people who may have been "washed out to sea" without a trace, I think we have to limit ourselves to the population of the latter. I would therefore disregard that 90,000 figure, as it's counting far more people than it should be.
Having said that, we believe that at least 10,000 people, maybe as many as 20,000, remained in Galveston for the storm. We know that several thousand have been evacuated post-Ike, and that some folks who rode it out are still there now, in some cases finally being evacuated. We don't have a good enough handle on how many people were there to begin with. That will indeed take awhile to determine, and we'll never have more than a best guess. The death toll is still officially at 23.
Officials ask those who have not heard from family and friends who live in the unincorporated areas of Galveston County to report them missing by calling an emergency hot line at 866-898-5723.Those calling the hot line, set up by Galveston's office of emergency management, should have a description of the missing, address, last time they were in contact with them and plans the person had for the storm.
May God have mercy on them, wherever they are.
UPDATE: Via Houstonist, KTRK has created a message board for those who are searching for people who are missing after Ike.
From the Chron Texas Politics blog:
While Southeast Texans were hunkering down and picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ike over the weekend, Texas quietly broke its own voter registration record, said Randall Dillard, a spokesman for Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade.The previous record of slightly fewer than 3.1 million registered voters, set during the 2004 presidential election year, was eclipsed over the weekend. And that number will continue to grow before voter registration ends Oct. 6.
I assume he meant 13.1 million, since that was the total in 2004. We had 12.75 million in March. It won't surprise me to exceed that by a million. That's pretty impressive.
Less clear is where Harris County will wind up, especially given the huge wrench Hurricane Ike has thrown into the works. For obvious reasons, I'm less optimistic about getting to 2.1 million registrations. We'll know soon enough.
State Sen. Kim Brimer's legal challenge of his opponent's candidacy has been transferred from an appeals court in Fort Worth to one in Dallas for "good cause."That cause was not specified. Chief Deputy Clerk Debra Spisak of the Fort Worth court said that she was not authorized to comment and that the justices also could not comment on the case.
Appeals court Chief Justice John Cayce wrote in a letter to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday that "circumstances have arisen which warrant that the case be transferred to another court."
Oral arguments were planned for [today] but will now have to be rescheduled.
Randall Wood, an attorney for Mr. Brimer's opponent, Wendy Davis, said that transfers for cause are rare.
Nick Acuff, an attorney for Mr. Brimer, said the transfers are uncommon but sometimes happen in political cases.
A copy of the letter from the Second Court of Appeals to the State Supreme Court is here (PDF). No clue what this means. All I know is this has gone on long enough. Time for a final ruling so we can get on with the election. I've got a press release from the Wendy Davis campaign beneath the fold. Vince has more.
Kim Brimer's latest attempt to hide from voters his history of defaulted loans and self-dealing at taxpayers' expense took an unusual turn yesterday, as the 2nd Court of Appeals asked the Texas Supreme Court to reassign the case to the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.In past statements, Brimer's campaign has used his pending litigation against Davis to justify his avoidance of a conversation on the serious issues facing Tarrant County families.
The Davis campaign pointed out that Brimer's interest in avoiding a competitive campaign with close scrutiny of his record is understandable, given his history of ethical lapses that will alienate voters, including a frequently overlooked attempt to stick taxpayers with the tab for his own defaulted campaign loans (see attachment).
When Brimer was a member of the Texas House of Representatives he defaulted on multiple campaign loans. One of the lenders, Commonwealth Bank, failed and the FDIC took over the campaign loan. In a letter to the FDIC, Brimer tried to get the taxpayers to cover his debt, claiming he could not pay back the loan - even though he owned a successful insurance company and was drawing a legislator's salary.
"This change of venue extends a seemingly endless evasion campaign - disguised as a court challenge - waged by Brimer and his surrogates to keep Davis off the ballot. This legal maneuvering is indicative of Brimer's weak political position and his wish to avoid ethical scrutiny. Kim Brimer can't hide from Tarrant County voters forever," Davis' campaign manager Jamie Fontaine said. "Tarrant County families have a hard enough time affording electric bills, homeowner's insurance, and health care - footing the bill for Kim Brimer's defaulted loans is they last thing they should be expected to do."
"I don't have any information about why the 2nd Court of Appeals asked the Texas Supreme Court to reassign our case," Davis said. "Though I respect the Court's decision, I was confident that the panel of judges would deliver a fair and favorable decision."
"I'm also absolutely confident in my eligibility for the Texas State Senate, and I think we will get an equally fair hearing in the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas," Davis said. "Despite the current delay in resolving this case, I hope Kim Brimer will soon join me and the voters in the conversation we've been having about issues, like the financial pressures Texas families are feeling and our public school system that is starving for adequate funding."
Sometimes the electoral season makes you sad. Sometimes it makes you giggle. I'm happy for those times.
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr sued the state of Texas today, claiming that Obama and McCain missed the state's deadline to be certified as candidates. That would leave him as the sole presidential candidate on the ballot. Texas law required parties to submit their nominees 70 days before the Nov. 4 election -- a date the Democratic and Republican parties met with the caveat that their party conventions had not yet concluded. They followed up with amended filings.Barr is saying the Texas secretary of state can't certify the nominees because, well, the law's the law. "The facts of the case are not in dispute," says Russ Verney, Barr's campaign manager.. "Republicans and Democrats missed the deadline, but were still allowed on the ballot. Third parties are not allowed on the ballot for missing deadlines, as was the case for our campaign in West Virginia, yet the Texas secretary of state's office believes Republicans and Democrats to be above the law." Texas case law has long taken the view that filings can be amended, so ballot expert Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, gives Barr "no chance" of winning.
That shouldn't stop us from speculating about the possible effects of such an outcome, of course. I think it's safe to say that John McCain would be in deep doo doo if Texas 34 electoral votes were unavailable to him. Since a 270-vote tally is still needed to win outright, taking those votes from McCain doesn't really help Barack Obama that much. As much fun as it would be to see McCain scramble for a winning scenario in this instance, and given that pretty much every Democrat in Texas is counting on Obama's presence atop the ticket to help generate turnout for the rest of the races, I'll be rooting for the mundane to happen here. Sorry, Bob. Vince has more.
The following photo was taken by Kenneth Fair:
Kenneth writes in his caption: "This view is from the south, showing the southwest and southeast sides of the building. The topmost missing window is on the 47th floor. From about the 30th floor down, all of the windows on the southeast side are missing."
Just stunning. My thanks to Kenneth Fair for taking the photo and sending the link. And if you want to see more photos of Ike's wake, Houstonist has a great collection.
Julie, who lives in a flood surge zone, has a question:
I live by quite a few superfund sites---chemical and manufacturing plants. In fact, my area is home to "the nation's largest concentration of chemical plants and refineries," many of which are not even close to being in compliance with the EPA and other safety standards.Were they inundated too?
What all else has my area been exposed to as a result of breaches from the hurricane?
Good questions. I'd like to know the answers to them myself.
Tom offers some observations from The Woodlands. This one caught my eye:
As a general rule, I do not listen to much radio. Maybe an occasional traffic report or Charlie Pallilo's sports talk show in the rare event that I am driving somewhere during it.But I've been shocked at how bad the radio anchor reporters have been on KTRH, the main station providing disaster information to the public. Although a number of the KTRH field reporters are OK, the anchors often sound as if they are blithering idiots. It seems as if they aren't asking inane and non-challenging questions to "experts" or public officials, they laughing and making bad jokes at inappropriate times or in regard to serious issues.
According to Marc Campos, KTRH is also running an attack ad, presumably sponsored by the NRCC, against Rep. Nick Lampson. Classy. And as BOR has reported, John Cornyn is also on the air, though apparently not in Houston. The election is seven weeks away, and at some point life is going to go on, but I suspect there may be some bad will generated from this.
Along those lines, State Rep. John Davis sent out yesterday an email invitation to a fundraiser in Austin on October 7 - you can see it here (PDF). Again, life goes on and all that, but given that Davis represents Clear Lake and that word is he's been in Austin most of the week, you have to wonder about the timing.
By the way, take a look at Davis' webpage, then compare it to Sherrie Matula's. Quite the difference, no?
Anyway, since I mentioned Rep. Nick Lampson a minute ago, he has opened a mobile congressional office located at American Legion Post 490, across from Ellington Field, starting today and days thereafter from 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM, for people to report claims of hurricane damage with FEMA, request loans from the Small Business Administration, and begin the process of receiving funds to repair damage. The details:
DATE: STARTING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008TIME: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
LOCATION: American Legion Post 490, 11702 Galveston Rd. (State Hwy 3),
Houston, TX 77034 (Across from Ellington Field)PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
- Social Security Number
- Description of losses caused by disaster
- Insurance information
- Directions to the damaged property
- A telephone number where you can be contacted
I'm told that response to this has been overwhelming, and they are looking for volunteers to help out. If you're in the area and can assist, please do so. Thanks.
And finally, since the elections will go on and there are some important ones that cover areas hard hit by Ike, this article, which speculates about the possible impact of all the now-displaced voters, has some relevant information for them:
Randall Dillard, spokesman for Secretary of State Hope Andrade, said displaced voters will be accommodated."It's too early for us to start speculating," said Dillard, suggesting satellite polling places could be set up or displaced residents could vote by mail.
This is definitely something to watch for. I'll keep my eyes on it. If you hear something, please let me know.
Another hot race for a State House seat in Harris County is in HD138, which is north and west of where I live, mostly in Spring Branch and Garden Oaks and the like. Three-term incumbent Rep. Dwayne Bohac won the seat in 2002 after it was redrawn to oust then-Rep. Ken Yarbrough. Like much of Harris County, the district is trending Democratic - you can see some of that in the district election analysis (PDF), where the combined Congressional (R 10,613; D 9,338) and State Senate (R 10,371; D 10,555) votes were close to even. Challenging Bohac this year is Virginia McDavid, who is strongly backed by labor unions and whose professional background as a CPA and a flight attendant makes her one of the more interesting people on the scene. My interview with Virginia McDavid is here, as always in MP3 format.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Joel Redmond, HD144
Laura Ewing, SBOE district 7
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
Paul Burka will be flying over Galveston today. He has a report on the scene via a phone conversation with Galveston's State Rep. Craig Eiland:
Behind the seawall, the worst damage was from flooding north of Broadway. Galveston floods from the bay, not the Gulf. Water in Shearn Moody Plaza, the gleaming white building at the end of The Strand that once served as the Santa Fe depot, stood 14 feet deep-and in The Strand as well. The ground is barely 2 feet above sea level here. Many of the historic buildings suffered water damage. The University of Texas Medical Branch had four feet of water and no electricity. There is a boat marooned on Broadway, and a ship container is high and dry as well. Wind damage was minimal; Eiland did not board up the windows at his law office and no windows were broken. Homes between the seawall and Broadway generally had no water damage. Streets are clear of debris. Some may have seen Geraldo Rivera report that waves breaking over the seawall had gouged chunks of asphalt out of the pavement in front of the San Luis: not true, Craig said. Seawall Boulevard suffered damage at its western end, where the road veers right to link up with FM 3005. On East Beach, where the island is accreting, Craig said that the Beach Town development -- in FRONT of the seawall -- had no damage. New construction in Galveston must meet extremely high building code standards.
There's more, so check it out. Burka also has a report from Mimi Swartz, who has the good news that the area's historic buildings, as well as the tall ship Elissa, collectively suffered little damage. At least that's something.
I also have a release from Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, which is printed beneath the fold.
Matt Glazer reports that the Capitol Area Food Bank has been depleted by Hurricane Ike and is in desperate need of a variety of items:
Items requested:1. bottled water
2. granola bars
3. canned meats (pop-top lids)
4. peanut butter
5. diapers & wipes (adult and baby)
6. personal care items (toothpaste, toothbrush, feminine products, soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc.)Most needed items: Peanut Butter, Larger-size Diapers & Dog Food (many evacuees have dogs).
Donate at the Food Bank through Friday, September 19 and at the H-E-B at Parmer Food Drive on Wednesday, September 17. A drop box is available at the Food Bank for after hours donations.
They also need volunteers - contact Paige DeLeon to help.
Apparently, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff will be in town today.
Chertoff, who first visited Texas on Saturday after Ike made landfall, appears likely to hear some criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett took control late Tuesday of how the agency will distribute supplies to those in need.While they declined to say what caused delays, Harris County's two top officials said they knew something had to be done after thousands of Hurricane Ike victims were turned away empty-handed after waiting all day to receive food, water, ice and tarps to cover damaged rooftops.
Vowing to avoid a repeat of that today, Emmett and White established 26 distribution sites, eliminating and consolidating others to ensure that supplies would make it well before the sites open to waiting people.
[...]
Up to half of the Houstonians currently without electricity may still be in the dark next Tuesday, according to predictive models used by the region's largest utility company, a spokesman announced Tuesday.
Floyd LeBlanc, vice president of communications for CenterPoint Energy, said about 1.46 million people in Houston are still without power
The company has restored power to 690,000 of its 2.2 million customers. By Sept. 23, between 550,000 and 1.1 million will still be without power, he said.
"We still have a lot of work ahead of us,'' he said. "We're working around the clock.''
About 8,500 workers from 25 states and Canada are on overlapping 16-hour shifts to restore electricity. The total number of workers is expected to reach 10,000 today, LeBlanc said.
He asked drivers to yield as much space on the road to utility trucks as possible.
"These are big trucks; they can't turn on a dime,'' he said.
That just boggles my mind. I don't know what to say other than I hope they achieve the high end of their estimated number of reconnections by then.
Finally, Houtopia wonders if anyone outside Texas is paying attention.
We have seen comments on the Chronicle Web site from Houstonians staying in other parts of the country who cannot believe the lack of media attention to this catastrophic event. It is as if we too are victims of the vapid 24-hour news cycle in which our country is trapped. The national press has moved on from Ike; unfortunately, we're stuck with him.Sure, Anderson Cooper and some of the national media were here when the storm actually hit, for the dramatic video, but where are they now? Do they know that over 70% of people in this region are without electricity? Do they know there are serious shortages of ice, water, food and gasoline here? Do they understand that whole communities have been totally wiped out? Do they care?
Well, I can tell you that Ike has been front-page headline news on both of the newspapers my parents receive, the Oregonian (today's header is "'No ice, no water, no electricity, no nothing'") and the Columbian. The local TV news has been running stories, as has the Today show, which my parents watch in the morning. I don't know about CNN and that crowd, but at least here in Portland we've seen quite a bit of coverage. For what it's worth.
The following is a brief overview of all Hurricane Ike-related activities at the Texas General Land Office Tuesday, September 16. This update will be issued daily as Texas continues to recover from Hurricane Ike.The Texas General Land Office is the state agency responsible for overseeing the Texas coast, erosion control and response as well as oil spill prevention and recovery. The Land Office also oversees enforcement of the Texas Open Beaches Act, the Dune Protection Act and works to maintain healthy beaches.
"Our top priority today is simply to observe and evaluate the conditions on the coast, aid in search and rescue operations that are still on-going and to find and respond to any oil spills," Patterson said. "But as we move forward, it's clear that Texas needs to change how it manages its coast."
Patterson pointed to the success of a $2 million project just completed in late August to buffer the Village of Surfside from the Gulf's waves.
"Ike has shown that protecting the coast, where it makes economic sense, saves public infrastructure and private property. The Village of Surfside is proof," Patterson said. "This storm will serve to redouble my efforts to secure a permanent, long-term source of funding for the Texas coast."
Also Tuesday, Patterson decided to delay any actions, or approval of, the proposed beach and dune rules designed to encourage local communities to develop erosion control plans that use construction set-backs to moderate development in the coastal zone.
Other developments Tuesday for the General Land Office are listed below.
Public Heath and Safety:
- Oil Spill personnel operating in Jefferson and Orange Counties will be conducting pollution, sunken vessel and waterway safety assessments in Orange, Bridge City, Cow Bayou and Double Bayou.
- Houston/Galveston response teams will be operating in the Houston Ship Channel, Freeport, Texas City/Galveston and Dickinson performing the same mission.
- An Oil Spill employee is attached to USCG command operations in Katy and another will soon be attached to the joint USEPA, TCEQ, USCG and GLO operations center on Galveston Island at Ball High School.
- Information System GIS support continues at Reliant, La Porte and Port Arthur.
Coastal Stewardship
- On a bright note, the wheelchair ramp the Land Office is building on the Galveston Seawall seems to have weathered the storm with only minimal damage.
- Coastal Resources staff conducted overflights on and documented damage through some 300 still photos and a video.
- Planning for post-storm photographic missions is under way. The missions will require high resolution, georectified, and color infrared to assess debris, damaged structure, shoreline, dune, and vegetation line changes.
- Corpus Christi office is assist in advising customers on how to apply for emergency permitting.
- Land Office Director of Coastal Stewardship Eddie Fisher waded into the Gulf in his khakis to rescue a baby dolphin near Galveston.
- The Coastal and Uplands leasing group is evaluating a recommendation for rebuilding structures (residential, commercial, and industrial) and begin preparing a recommendation for rental adjustments to lease fees.
Energy Resources
- Energy Inspection staff is inspecting Double Bayou and possibly Smith Point with Coast Guard for damage.
- Austin staff coordinating GIS with Well Inventory to identify potential responsible parties for spills if reported.
- Austin staff also working to ascertain the status of all hydrocarbon production on state submerged lands. Most wells at this point have been temporarily shut down.
Is it just me, or is the main business of Farmers Branch these days defending itself against lawsuits?
Latino advocates and a civil liberties group are suing a Dallas suburb whose officials want to oust illegal immigrants by checking the names of some prospective tenants against a federal database.The federal lawsuit by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project filed Friday in Dallas is the third Farmers Branch faces over its most recent rule.
MALDEF and the ACLU contend a plan to ask house and apartment renters to obtain a license from Farmers Branch is unconstitutional.
The city wants to run the names of non-U.S. citizens who seek a rental license through a federal immigration database. Under the ordinance, those who can't prove they live legally in the country could not continue renting in Farmers Branch.
[...]
The lawsuit contends the ordinance is similar to other local government rules around the country that have tried to regulate where immigrants live. Similar housing rules in Hazleton, Penn., and Escondido, Calif., were prevented from being enforced, the lawsuit points out.
As we know, the judge who struck down the prior ordinance has said he'd probably strike down this one, too. Some people just need to learn things the hard way, I guess.
The plaintiffs requested a temporary restraining order last week to prevent this law from being enforced while the suit was being litigated. They were granted that request on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle issued a temporary restraining order today barring the city from implementing its latest ordinance aimed at halting property rentals to illegal immigrants.Under the new measure, which the city had planned to put into effect Monday, apartment and home renters would have to obtain a city occupancy license by stating that they were U.S. citizens or were in the country legally.
The city would then check the information from non-citizens against a federal database to confirm that they were here legally. If not, their license would be revoked and they would be evicted.
The city had planned to start requiring the licenses Monday even though the checks would have had to wait because it has yet to receive permission to use the federal database.
Maybe by the time this suit has been resolved, the people of Farmers Branch will have regained their senses and begun electing officials who will expend their energies on positive things instead of these illegal ordinances. I can't imagine the turmoil and uncertainty have been good for business there. But hey, if that's what they want, then that's what they'll get.
I actually think this is no big deal.
The Virginia Supreme Court declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional today and reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers.The court unanimously agreed with Jeremy Jaynes' argument that the law violates the free-speech protections of the First Amendment because it does not just restrict commercial e-mails. Most other states also have anti-spam laws, and there is a federal CAN-SPAM Act as well.
The Virginia law "is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk e-mails, including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," Justice G. Steven Agee wrote.
I say this because I think this is an antiquated approach to dealing with spam. The problem of spam isn't so much a bulk email problem as it is a fraud problem. Most spam is sent by identity thieves and other criminals. Who cares about how much mail they're sending and the free-speech implications of it if they're breaking existing laws? This strikes me as the right approach to take.
When a new spam attack occurs, the nation's cyberdetectives call Gary Warner.The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) computer forensics researcher, who spends much of his time collecting and analyzing thousands of bogus e-mail messages, is in demand these days. He gets calls from overseas investigators, he speaks at conferences and he's working with federal law-enforcement officials to track down the root of the recent spam attacks pretending to be from CNN and MSNBC.
His goal is not to filter spam better, but to actually catch the criminals sending it.
"Spam is not a technical problem. We've been acting like it's a technical problem. It's a societal problem," Warner said. "Why aren't there more bank robbers? Because if you rob a bank, you go to jail. Why are there so many cybercriminals? Because they don't get caught and go to jail."
That's the ticket. Find the crooks that are sending these phishing emails and stuff like that and bust them for some flavor of fraud or racketeering. Sometimes the old ways are the better ways.
One more thing:
Warner also wants to show the public how big a problem spam and its attachments can be. Because Internet service providers, e-mail programs and companies all provide filters, most of us see only about 10 percent of the spam that comes to us, he said. In reality, about 94 percent of all e-mail sent is spam, malicious or not, Warner said."We've insulated people from the problem so they believe it's not a problem," he said. "But the truth is it was the No. 1 crime last year. Identity theft had more victims than any other crime in the United States."
My Gmail and mostly-fallow Yahoo mail accounts get about a thousand pieces of spam a week combined. That's what I see, and it thankfully gets mostly filed into spam folders. If that only represents about 1/16th of the real total, it really is scary how big the problem is.
Swing State Project reports.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for Michael Skelly (9/7-9, likely voters, 12/5-12/2007 in parens):Michael Skelly (D): 37 (33)
John Culberson (R-inc): 44 (52)
Other: 6 (-)
Undecided: 13 (16)
This was done before Hurricane Ike. It looks like Skelly's ad blitz has helped narrow the gap. Interestingly, as his ads have all been positive, it's more movement away from Culberson than towards him. Maybe that's Culberson's softer supporters, maybe it's just noise. There is a Libertarian Party candidate in CD07, the perennial Drew Parks, who got 2.35% in 2006, 1.23% in 2004 (independent candidate Paul Staton got 1.35%), and 10.75% in 2002 in the old district with no Democrat running. Skelly still needs to get his own numbers up, but this is a pretty good result for this point in the campaign. And remember, Culberson is the Republican firewall for Harris County, with dire results (for them) if he's not over 60%. If they're worried, that would be a big part of the reason why.
Mayor White says we need ice.
One of the biggest problems Houston faces in the wake of Hurricane Ike is a shortage of ice, Mayor Bill White said today, pledging to seek assistance from all possible sources, both private and public."I'm more concerned about getting ice than anything else," White said. "So long as the president is concerned and as long as we get all the resources of the United States .... the people of the United States will know we take this very seriously."
White said stores such as H-E-B, Kroger and Wal-Mart have sent truckloads of ice to the Houston area, and he promised that they will be reimbursed by the federal government.
The mayor's comments came today after he met with President Bush, who made a helicopter visit to the stricken coast and met with Houston, Harris County and Galveston officials.
"We're not just counting on the federal government," the mayor said, "we're counting on everybody."
White said he hoped to obtain ice-making machines to help alleviate the needs of residents desperate to keep perishable food from spoiling.
Presumably, as power gets restored to more people, this will diminish in importance. We've still got a long way to go on that score.
CenterPoint Energy reported 1.49 million customers, or 66 percent of its customers, still were without power as of 10 a.m. today.Texas Public Utilities Commission spokesman Terry Hadley said Entergy, which serves much of the northern and eastern sections of the areas hit, still is assessing damage. By 11:30 a.m., Entergy said 374,462 of 395,000 Texas customers, or 95 percent, still are without power. It actually lost progress from earlier in the day.
The PUC says a total of about 2.2 million Texas power customers were without service this morning in the worst power outage in state history.
Texas-New Mexico Power Co., which serves communities near the hard-hit coastline including Angleton and Texas City, said 62,000 of its customers, or 55 percent, are without electricity.
Before the storm hit, CenterPoint and Entergy touted their mutual assistance program, which allows them to tap into crews from Maryland to California, bringing thousands of linesmen and tree trimmers into the area.
As of Monday, 3,000 had arrived and not all had gone to work. Another 4,000 are expected to be working in the area by Wednesday.
CenterPoint said some were still in transit, and others were ready to work Sunday or Monday but had to await damage assessments so they could receive work orders.
I think CenterPoint's made pretty good progress, all things considered. Hopefully with all the extra workers imported, they'll be able to get most of the remaining outages fixed soon. In the meantime, the city of Houston curfew has been modified to the hours of midnight-6 AM.
More volunteer opportunities are listed beneath the fold, courtesy of Rep. Garnet Coleman and the corporate home office. Please help out where you can, and stay safe.
Red Cross
(713) 526-8300
2700 Southwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77098
Houston Area Urban League
(713) 393-8700
1301 Texas Ave, Houston TX 77002
Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
(713) 667-9400
Central Office: 4500 Bissonnet #200, Houston, TX 77005
United Way of Greater Houston
(713) 685-2300
50 Waugh Drive, Houston, Texas 77007
End Hunger Network
(713) 532-3663
2445 North Freeway , Houston, TX 77009
Shelter - Managed by City of Houston
- Location - George R. Brown Center - Downtown Houston - Exhibit Hall A
- Hours - Operating around the clock - 24 hours - no specific schedule.
- Tasks - operating support to shelter - registering individuals, coordinating food/snacks, set-up of cots, and numerous other activities required to operate a shelter.
- Site Contact - Danielle Joseph White.
- Location - Food Bank - 3811 Eastex Freeway - 713-223-3700
- Hours - Volunteers needed anytime between 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Tasks - sorting and packing food to be distributed to local areas - need to expedite
- Location - TranStar - 6922 Old Katy Road, Houston - (north of I-10 West and Washington St).
- Hours - Operating around the clock - 24 hours
- Tasks - answering phones to respond to community needs
- Site Contact - Missy Gun (If not available, please ask for volunteer coordinator).
Houston Food Bank
TranStar Phone Bank - Managed by Harris County
For those of you who haven't seen this yet:
Pretty funny, but then that's what you'd expect from Fey and Poehler This has to be manna from heaven for them. It's so funny it apparently caused McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina to completely lose her sense of humor.
"The portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin," McCain advisor Carly Fiorina told [MSNBC's Andrea] Mitchell, continuing, "and so in that sense they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive and Sarah Palin as totally superficial. I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme, and yes I would say, sexist in the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean she lacks substance."
Obviously, what we need is more respectful satire. I'll get right on it.
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you and what are you running for?
Martin Siegel, Court of Appeals, 14th District, Place 7
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
All civil and criminal appeals except death penalty cases.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
I'm running for an appellate bench because much of my experience has been in the state and federal appellate courts, and I hope I can put the writing, research and analytical skills honed over years of appellate practice to good use on behalf of the people of the 14th district.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
A longer bio is available on my website, www.SiegelForJustice.com, but briefly: I graduated UT Austin in 1988 with highest honors, and Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1991. I then served as law clerk to a federal appellate judge in New York City. From 1992-1994, I worked as an associate in the Washington office of a national law firm on commercial, environmental and appellate matters. From 1995-2000, I served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York New York City, bringing civil rights lawsuits and defending the United States in constitutional, tort and other cases. I received the Justice Department's Director's Award for Superior Performance as an AUSA in 1999. From 2000-01, I was detailed by DOJ to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where I worked as a staffer on campaign finance, election reform, criminal and immigration issues. Since returning to Houston in late 2001, I have been a civil litigator, working on significant commercial, product liability, and appellate cases and have had my own appellate firm since 2007. I was named a "Texas Super Lawyer" in 2008 for appellate work by Texas Monthly, an award given to approximately 5% of lawyers chosen by their peers, and received the parallel award for lawyers under 40 in 2004 and 2007. I've also frequently published on legal topics, am on the national board of editors of the ABA's magazine Litigation, and have taught an adjunct class at UH Law Center. Further, I've been involved in local community groups including American Jewish Committee, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Houston Urban Debate League.
5. Why is this race important?
The race is important because the Court of Appeals decides thousands of cases during a six year term, and the outcomes of those cases affect tens of thousands of citizens, businesses, victims of crime, employees and employers, families with disputes to settle, people seeking compensation for injuries of various kinds, people alleging their rights have been violated, and others. Voters sometimes overlook the courts or couldn't say who their appellate judges are, but the courts' work represents a very direct way in which government serves people.
6. Why should people vote for you in November?
People should vote for me because I'm qualified for the job. Moreover, I hope my diverse and well-rounded professional background -- having represented large corporations as well as individuals, the United States as well as people who had to sue the government, plaintiffs and defendants at trial and in appeals here and in New York and Washington -- will contribute a fresh perspective and be an asset to the court.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Mike Miller, 11th Civil Judicial District Court.
Andres Pereira, 190th Civil Judicial District Court.
Steven Kirkland, 215th Civil Judicial District Court.
It's really hard reading this story about Galveston's current state.
In this ruined city, reduced to such an unlivable state that its mayor wants all remaining residents gone, searchers made their way through 90 percent of the inundated neighborhoods. So far they have confirmed two dead, with four others undetermined. Thousands of homes have yet to be reached.Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas warned that her city was heading toward a "downward spiral" and is not fit for habitation. Residents who evacuated are not being allowed back.
"There is nothing to come here for right now," Thomas said. "Please leave. I am asking people to leave."
[...]
The scale of devastation pointed to an almost unimaginable cleanup ahead. Several inches of reeking mud caked the trolley lines of The Strand. Shutters and screen doors littered the streets. Some million-dollar beach homes lay in heaps of lumber and concrete, while others stayed aloft on 10-foot pilings. There was no way to get into many of the homes left standing: Their stairs had been washed away.
FM 3005 was closed along the island's western shore, where 4 to 6 inches of hard-packed sand turned the pavement into an extended beach, the asphalt crumbled away into new-formed tidal pools, and loose cattle roamed the roadway. Bulldozers plowed the wet sand into towering banks along the edge.
All of Galveston looks like an empty set from a disaster movie, or perhaps a smelly ghost town. Nearly 150 structures have collapsed across the island from Ike's assault, [city spokeswoman Alicia] Cahill said, and countless more will have to be demolished.
We don't know what the human toll is yet - there are still large areas of the island that have not been searched. I'm amazed at how many of the people who chose to stay have been found alive, given the extremely dire forecast for the storm. That last-minute jog to the east really was critical. But it's way too early to think that we've averted a high body count. All we know is we don't have one yet.
Thinking long term, I really wonder what the island's prospects will be. New Orleans has done an amazing job of getting itself back on track, but it was helped by the fact that its main industry - tourism - was spared some of the worst damage from Katrina. The French Quarter mostly didn't flood. The casinos survived. That at least offered some hope from the beginning. I feel more concerned for Galveston right now. What happens if the Strand is ruined? I'm buoyed a little by seeing that Moody Gardens says it will reopen on the 21st, and that while the Schlitterbahn is less specific, it at least is still advertising 2009 season tickets. Carnival Cruises says they want to get back to a Texas port as soon as possible. Maybe there's more hope than I think. But this is what worries me about Galveston's future. There has to be something to rebuild for.
Anyway. I hope I'm worrying needlessly. We'll know in a few months, I guess. In the meantime, if you want to feel angry instead of vaguely depressed, read this story of how charity does not begin at home. I just hope that if Lori Long and her family are ever in the position that so many coastal Texas families are in now, she gets a warmer reception from wherever she winds up than she's willing to give them. Thanks to Ginger for the heads up on this.
(I drafted this last week, before we left town and before we knew where Ike was going. I figure all bets are off now, but I thought I'd run it anyway, if only to serve as a reference point.)
Time for an update on my favorite construction project in Houston, from Nancy Sarnoff.
The developers of Sonoma, a high-end condo and retail project in the works for Rice Village, are altering their construction plans in hopes of getting a loan to build the project, delayed for several months due to the widespread credit crisis.Randall Davis, the project's fee developer, and Lamesa Corp., the owner, were originally seeking a $100 million construction loan, with 30 percent equity, to build the first phase of the project -- 125 units.
But they were unable come to terms on a deal as lending tightened.
Now they're negotiating for a $70 million loan with 40 percent equity to build the smaller second phase of 85 units.
"Hopefully they'll respond positively since we have so many sales," said Davis.
The sales, however, are for the first phase of the project, which has been 50 percent pre-sold.
Those buyers have 5 percent earnest money in the title company, which will increase to 10 percent once construction starts, and have signed binding contracts, said Lamesa's Julie Tysor.
As we know, it can take more than a year for a project like this to go from demolition to construction under normal circumstances. This site was demolished last October, so they're not behind the curve just yet. At this point, Lord only knows when or even if they'll get back on track. If something happens before the end of the year, they should feel pretty damn lucky. Swamplot has more.
It's Tuesday, and that means it is time for yet another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up.
This week, many bloggers in Houston and in the Gulf Coast region are without power and digging out from Hurricane Ike. We extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery not only to our member bloggers in these regions but to all citizens in the areas hit by Ike. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross to help relief efforts.
Click on for the highlights.
Why does Sarah Palin hate wolves? The Texas Cloverleaf clues us in.
Everybody knows that this year's wedge'em and hate'em issue is Hispanics immigration. CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme says Texas leads the way with banning rents in Farmers Branch, denying passports to citizens in the Valley and threatening document checks during an evacuation.
During the preparations for Hurricane Ike, Off the Kuff noted yet another lawsuit filed against Farmers Branch for its ongoing war against immigrants and apartment renters.
Sen. John Cornyn claims to be voting "Texas values" when he consistently rubber-stamps Bush in the U. S. Senate. Eye On Williamson asks, since when have torture, spying on Americans and misleading the country on matters of war and peace been Texas values?
PDiddie survived Ike almost exactly as he predicted.
BossKitty at TruthHugger wonders if disaster lessons recently learned, will be used as we watch Hurricane Ike Recovery, Texas Style
Colloquialisms are a wonderful rhetorical device to create an instant sense of commonality within the minds of the voting public. However, they can at times be misconstrued (right, Governor Swift?) which is why McBlogger took some time to offer Sen. Obama (The BEST!) a phrase he could use that can't possibly be interpreted as anything other than an attack on John McCain and his worthless ideas, proposals and suggestions.
North Texas Liberal examines in-depth the Palin pick, comparing and contrasting her with Obama's VP pick of Joe Biden, and dissecting the media's coverage of Sarah Palin.
jobsanger writes about how United States interference into Bolivia's internal affairs have gotten American ambassadors kicked out of two countries in South America, and how some politicians can't refuse even a bad photo op.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that State Rep. Phil King (R-Waxahachie), chair of the House Regulated Industries Committee, is having a fund-raiser at the home of a lobbyist for telecom giant AT&T. King's committee just happens to regulate telecommunications in Texas.
Apparently, there's been some confusion over the point-of-distribution (POD) sites and who is supposed to be in charge of them.
A federal official Monday described the Houston-area delay of distribution of food, ice and water in the wake of Hurricane Ike as a "hiccup" caused by weather and an unexpected state decision to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency take over distribution centers in the city."While we're talking hours of delay, that was the hiccup that caused it," FEMA spokesman Marty Bahamonde said of the fact that centers to disperse critical supplies did not open until late Sunday.
Texas Homeland Defense Director Steve McCraw said the state gave operations of the Houston food distribution centers to FEMA because the city was an area of "lesser impact" from the storm and because the federal agency was looking for a way to help. McCraw said the state had the personnel to run the centers if it had wanted.
"They asked if there was a way to help, and we said here's a way," McCraw said. "We're team players. We were glad to let it go."
McCraw said within 72 hours of the storm the state will be running 48 distribution centers in areas with far more destruction than Houston, such as Orange County. McCraw also noted the state is running 284 shelters with 37,000 evacuees.
"We're pushing food, water and ice to other locations," McCraw said. "We're not just doing MREs (meals ready to eat). We're doing canteen services."
Gov. Rick Perry, touring storm damage in Orange, downplayed the delays as anything other than a logistical struggle in the face of a major storm.
"We're working well with our federal counterparts," Perry said.
One gets a somewhat less sunny view of this from these stories, to which Vince and Houtopia pile on. I'm a bit out of the loop on this one, so let me ask: What have you seen or experienced regarding FEMA and the relief distribution efforts? Leave a comment and let me know.
In the extended entry, I've got a list of POD locations that have come to me in email from the Joe Jaworski campaign and City Controller Annise Parker. They cover Harris, Galveston, and Brazoria Counties.
Meanwhile, HISD is out of school till at least next week.
HISD schools likely will not re-open for a week to 10 days because of Hurricane Ike, said Superintendent Abe Saavedra today."The electricity will be the major problem," he said while inspecting damage at the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice at Dickson and Shepherd. "Without the electricity, we can't check the mechanical systems."
[...]
HISD administators have discussed re-opening schools that suffered little or no damage. But they are worried that some students and teachers may be living in areas without electricity and may have trouble maintaining schedules.
As of today, the plan calls for opening all district schools on the same day, he said.
HISD administrators will be discussing with the Texas Education Agency how many days that have been missed because of the hurricane will have to made up. Saavedra said he suspects that the TEA will require some days to be made up and will waive the requirement for others.
We have received word that the preschool Olivia and Audrey attend will reopen on Thursday the 18th, at least for Audrey's class. The building Olivia is in sustained more extensive damage and may not be ready by then. They've also got teachers dealing with damaged houses - some of them are staying at the school for the time being - so as with everything else, it will be a challenge over the next few weeks.
We don't know yet if our return flight will actually get us back yet or not. The Dallas-Houston leg of the trip is scheduled to fly as of right now, but we'll be checking back with the airlines to confirm that. Here's hoping.
Harris County:
Date: September 15, 2008 Contact: Mark Seegers Subject: POD Sites Phone: 713-881-3034 JIC#
Announced POD Locations
The following locations are Points of Distribution (POD's) supplying ice, water and meals (MRE's) for residents.
The POD sites will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the following locations: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE POD SITE FORMERLY LOCATED AT BAKER JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 9700 SPENCER HWY, LA PORTE IS NOW LOCATED AT SAN JACINTO COMMUNITY CENTER. HIGHLIGHTED BELOW. .
Old Kroger Location, FM 2920@HWY 249, Tomball .
Greenspoint Harvest Time Baptist Church, 17770 Imperial Valley .
Community of Faith, 1023 Pinemont .
Fountain of Praise, 13950 Hillcroft .
Texas Southern University, 3600 Rosewood at Scott .
Ripley House, 4410 Navigation .
Zion Lutheran, 3606 Beauchamp .
Jim Fonteno Courthouse Annex 14350 Wallisville, Channelview .
PAL Gym, 2910 E. Southmore, Pasadena .
New Life Fellowship Church, 2104 Underwood, La Porte .
San Jacinto Community Center, 604 Highland Woods, Highlands .
West Town Mall, 4100 Decker, Baytown .
Baytown Courthouse Annex, 701 West Baker, Baytown .
Windsor Village, 6000 Heatherbrook, .
Greater Jerusalem, 8901 Jensen . Raul C. Martinez Annex, 1001 S. Sgt. Macario Garcia .
Football Stadium, Center@San Augustine, Deer Park .
Second Baptist, 6400 Woodway .
Bay Area Community Center, 5002 NASA Road One, Seabrook
Galveston County:
POD (Point of Distribution) Sites:- Hitchcock High School -6625 FM 2004, Hitchcock, Texas 77563
- U. S. Post Office on Palmer Highway (FM 1764)at 11th. Ave. N. Texas
City, Texas 77590 (across from high school)
- McAdams Jr. High, 4007 Video Street, Dickinson, Texas 77539 (Note:
reports are that the trucks had not arrived as of 5 pm on Sunday)
- Centennial Park -220 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas 77546
- Galveston Island Community Center, 4700 Broadway, Galveston, Texas 77551Evacuation Huddle Sites - Buses to come from Gulf Greyhound Park - To
San Antonio:- Bacliff Community Center, 4500 10th Street, Bacliff, Texas 77518
- Dickinson Senior Center, 2714 Highway 3, Dickinson, Texas 77539
- Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 10114 Highway 6, Hitchcock, Texas 77563
- La Marque High School, 300 Vauthier Road, La Marque, Texas 77568
- Ball High School, 4115 Avenue O, Galveston, Texas 77550EMS Staging Locations - Two Units at Each Location:
- La Marque Fire Department, 1109 Bayou Road, La Marque, Texas 77568
409-938-9260
- Dickinson Fire Department, 2716 Main Street, Dickinson, Texas 77539
281-534-3031
- Santa Fe Fire/Rescue, 12506 Highway 6, Santa Fe, Texas 77510 409 925-7333
- Texas City Fire, 1721 25th Street North, Texas City, Texas 77590 409-643-5741
Brazoria County:
Point of Distribution (POD) will be established to serve Clute, Lake Jackson, and Richwood, Monday Morning at 9:00 AM, September 15. This POD will be located at the Kroger Center at the intersection of Dixie and Plantation Drives. Since the water supply for these cities is good, this POD will supply ICE, Water, and MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat). The POD will remain open as long as supplies last.Other PODs are located in Angleton at the Recreation Center behind the Angleton Police Dept., in Freeport at the Freeport Police Dept., and in Brazoria at the Junior High School. These PODs will supply Ice, Water, and/or MREs.
Water, Ice, & Meals Ready to Eat - Are ready for the public at the Alvin ISD Transportation Center, 2780 SH 6 in Alvin until supplies last. Uncertain how late they are open, so you are advised to travel to the Alvin location during daylight hours.
In my previous entry about Debra Kerner's campaign for HCDE Trustee, I said that some people, like me, probably confused the HCDE Board of Trustees with the State Board of Education. They are in fact very different, though they share the characteristic of being races to which I'd paid little to no attention before. This year, once again, is different. Laura Ewing, running for SBOE in District 7, which covers a vast swath of southeast Texas from Brazoria to Jefferson Counties, including a piece of Harris that overlaps Rep. Nick Lampson's, Joe Jaworski's SD11, and Sherrie Matula's HD129. As with the HCDE, this race features an actual educator, one who has received many accolades for her classroom work, against a partisan ideologue: David Bradley, who is one of several evolution deniers on the Board. The SBOE, whose districts are about twice the size of Congressional districts, was not designed to have competitive races, but the changes going on statewide and in Harris County have made this seat winnable for a strong Democratic challenger. Ewing,is running hard and hopes to be that challenger. Listen to my interview (MP3) with her (and please forgive the background noise) and ssee what you think.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Joel Redmond, HD144
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
The good news is that so far there have been very few fatalities from Hurricane Ike. The bad news is just about everything else.
Federal emergency workers today opened six Houston-area distribution sites for food and water, with plans to open 11 more before day's end.Continental and other major airlines resumed flights from Bush Intercontinental and car rental agencies were open. All freeways into downtown again were driveable.
Slowly, haltingly but undeniably, Houston today was coming back to life as unseasonably cool temperatures made the hard recovery a little more bearable.
Just a day after Hurricane Ike humbled America's high-flying energy capital, millions of people across southeast Texas wearily confronted a stunning reality Sunday: Millions of lives have been dismantled indefinitely by the loss of everything from power and water, to property and even people.
The storm seemingly spared no one, with at least seven fatalities in Texas so far, floodwaters, fallen trees, and shortages of power, water and ice affecting every community from Galveston to Beaumont, Houston to Surfside, The Woodlands to Pearland. Ike also destroyed a number of production platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, exasperating a rebuilding effort that is expected to top $10 billion.
The hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated before the hurricane still didn't know the extent of the damage to their homes or even when they could return, and many of those who stayed went through another rainy day Sunday without electricity. Overwhelmed public officials, meanwhile, raised questions about when the federal government would get supplies to the people most in need.
The death toll includes three in the battered barrier island city of Galveston. With the hurricane transforming the popular destination into a debris-covered ghost town, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas warned residents to stay away, possibly for weeks, until the most pressing services are restored.
We still don't really know what will be in store for us when we try to fly home on Thursday. I think our flight will be allowed to actually happen, and at least I know our house is okay. Beyond that? I just don't know.
Some links and other items of interest related to Ike that I've found:
Various photos of Hurricane Ike's handiwork, from inside the loop, Crystal Beach, Yale Street in the Heights, and Seabrook.
Greg reports that Metro is running bus routes again, and gives an update on downtown.
Banjo links to some Ike survivor stories.
Texas Education has a comprehensive list of school district and college closings in the area, including Louisiana.
The Chron has a database of places where power has been restored.
WayneDo versus Governor Perry. Someone needs to sell tickets to that.
Please donate to the Red Cross.
Alison Cook offers a remembrance of Brennan's Restaurant, which burned down while Ike was in town.
I guess I thought Brennan's of Houston would always be there, a timeless bubble of ease and cordiality in a world where such qualities are vanishing. I counted on the welcome that enfolded those who passed beneath the famous burgundy awning at 3300 Smith. Just beyond the heavy, old-fashioned doors, a phalanx of smiling staffers waited to greet you as if you were the most important person in the world, whether you were a restaurant critic or (as I was on my first visit around 1972) an impecunious kid straight out of college, sharing with my younger sister a Thanksgiving dinner we could ill afford.
I can only recall eating at Brennan's once, at a vintner's dinner in 2004 with Tiffany and three friends from Trinity. I can pinpoint the date because it was during the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and the Red Sox - I stole away from the table a couple of times to check the score. That was one of the games the Yankees won, so it made the evening that much better. But the food and the service were really good, and we'd been talking about doing something like that again some day. I hope they do rebuild so we get the opportunity. Houston is a more interesting place with Brennan's in it.
Back in May, a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. discriminates against blind people by printing paper money that makes it impossible for them to distinguish among the bills' varying values. Now a judge on that court has told the Treasury to quit dragging its feet in redesigning the bills to make accommodations.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson said he would not allow the Treasury Department to go at its own pace as it complies with a May ruling that U.S. paper money discriminates against the blind.Treasury officials have hired a contractor to investigate ways to help the blind differentiate between bills, perhaps by printing different sizes or including raised numbers. Government attorneys had urged the judge to let that process play out and not interfere with anti-counterfeiting redesigns that are already in process.
Robertson ordered attorneys for the government to meet with the American Council of the Blind, which brought the lawsuit, and come up with a schedule that requires changes in the next generation of bills.
The next $100 design could be printed as early as this fall, and Robertson said those bills won't be affected. But subsequent designs should be able to solve the problem, he said.
As I said before, I don't think there's anything unreasonable about this, and I think most people would agree with that if they were suddenly unable to tell the difference between a $5 and a $20. While I agree that you can't and shouldn't rush these things, neither should you put them off. Work them into the ongoing redesigns and get on with it.
From the corporate home office:
The City of Houston is in need of volunteers to assist with setting up and supporting two shelters in the Houston community. The shelters will be used to house local individuals that have lost their homes.Set-Up: Sunday - September 14
There are two area shelters that need to be up and running this afternoon that would welcome your help and are open to volunteers arriving as available. If you are available to assist with this effort, and can safely respond to this call for volunteers without putting yourself or your family in harm's way, please select the location closest to your home.
- Third Ward Multi Service Center
3611 Ennis (intersection of Ennis and Alabama)
Houston, TX 77004 - Key Map 533CSite Focal Point - Ricardo and/or Susan, both with City of Houston
- Acres Home Multi Service Center
6719 W Montgomery
Houston, TX 77091 - Key Map Location 412YSite Focal Point - Susan and/or Todd, both with City of Houston
Shelter Support: Sunday & Monday - September 14-15
Two area shelters are open to volunteers arriving as available to provide operational support for running the shelters. If you are available to assist with this effort, and can safely respond to this call for volunteers without putting yourself or your family in harm's way, please select the location closest to your home.
- Third Ward Multi Service Center
3611 Ennis (intersection of Ennis and Alabama)
Houston, TX 77004 - Key Map 533CSite Focal Point - Ricardo and/or Susan, both with City of Houston
- Acres Home Multi Service Center
6719 W Montgomery
Houston, TX 77091 - Key Map Location 412YSite Focal Point - Susan and/or Todd, both with City of Houston
Tasks
Volunteers will assist in setting up, preparing and providing operational support for the shelter to accept individuals ranging from manning the registration desk to setting up cots and handing out food and necessities, etc.
And another via email:
"Channel 2 is looking for volunteers for a disaster phone bank today and tomorrow from 1:00 - 6:00pm. They have lights, air conditioning, TV, water and hot coffee. If you are able to give them some help call Kathy at 713-724-8850."
If you have anything to report along these lines, please drop me a note.
And the links came tumbling down...
100 clues you're not going to a really good college, via MeMo.
Some big-picture thoughts on light rail from Austin Contrarian.
Why the "Dog Whisperer" ain't all that.
Who opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere"? Not you, Sarah.
A Previous Message Repeated, Slightly More Forcefully. Not for those who don't like naughty words.
Headline of the week: "World Doesn't End". Well, as far as we know. Not yet, anyway. Fortunately, all we have to do is ask.
Lipstick on a pig, indeed.
Palin and family warned by a judge to stop "disparaging" the reputation of her ex-brother-in-law.
Texans Chick is back with the Chron.
Reasons 1, 2 and 3 why we need transit.
Libertarians for Obama. And Ed Koch, too
The following is from Houston City Council Member Melissa Noriega:
If you are reading this, you are blessed--you are connected!
Just a few things for your reading audience: There is beginning to be ice and water coming in. Some stores are starting to open. We know the water is low and everyone is out of power. The water is a high priority and the power is working as fast as CenterPoint can...there are folks from other areas helping.
Stay put. Check on your neighbors. 311 is down; 911 works--only use in real emergency, NOT for low water pressure or questions about where to get ice. Watch for Sonics opening--they make their own ice. There is additional flooding and the roads are dangerous.
There are folks in a few of the Council offices--the number is 832-393-3005 here, but I am leaving soon to head to the George R. Brown to help there. If you need something, contact whatever local official you can, or call and we will see what we can do to help. I am certain there will be staff in council offices tomorrow--call numbers until you get an answer on Monday, if you don't get anyone today. (I am not sure how long anyone will be here, so if you don't get someone, don't count on a message.)
George R. Brown has opened as a shelter. HISD is closed tomorrow. Stay out of downtown--it is a mess.
If your burglar alarm system is beeping (the house system, not a smoke alarm!), go find the box in a closet or where ever it is, open it (may need a screwdriver) and disconnect one of the 12V batteries inside. It should stop beeping. Reconnect when your power goes on (be careful) and it will recharge in 24 hours.
Frozen food in a full freezer will last 48 hours; half full--only 24. Cook it if you can and give to your neighbors. Fridge stuff--only 4 hours. Time to throw the mayo away. Mustard and ketchup are probably ok!
It looks like Bolivar is gone--anyone have real info, let me know. We probably lost a house we have had 40 years, and it is a grief. Otherwise, this could be a lot worse. The City and the County did a terrific job! It is easy to lose sight of how grateful we should be to be alive in the misery of no air and spoiled food, but we are very fortunate. All of us, and especially folks reading on the internet--be grateful for every day. Let's help each other.
God bless Houston, and God bless Texas!
I will post more stuff like this as I get them. Thanks very much.
I've received the following email from Galveston native Joe Jaworski:
"Just spent 2 hours on the island with mayor, city manager and city department heads. They are brave heroes for riding this destructive storm out. We had to navigate army convoys, three checkpoints, debris of all kinds and finally the last of Ike's rainbands. Everyone we saw was tired, but happy to be alive. The destruction is widespread, but the debris removal contractor I am working with assures me it could have been much worse - as was the case in Waveland, MS when Katrina's storm surge essentially removed the community. The authorities here include federal, state, local and a noticeable military presence - as in exotic, camouflaged rolling stock with uniformed men with helmets driving. The police will enforce a 6pm to 6 am curfew. There is an ongoing search and rescue effort. I believe there will be deaths reported. I believe electricity won't be restored for at least one month - CenterPoint's main terminal for Galveston was fried. They will let us on to do inspections of our homes but we will have to leave again while the city is cleaned of debris and restored to some level of functionality. More later today."
More when I receive it. I'll say again - please donate to the Red Cross to help them help everyone who needs it. Thanks very much.
Houston Mayor Bill White said this morning ice and fresh water are on the way, although he couldn't give a timetable. He said fuel is being distributed first to those with "critical needs," such as hospitals and emergency facilities. Power restoration is focused on the same buildings as wells water treatment plants."We have stressed to CenterPoint, the private company which owns the wires carrying electricity ... we've emphasized to them that everything humanly possible should be done to get the grid back up as soon as possible.'
This morning's rain is not expected to cause major flooding from bayous, but residents should stay inside their homes, County Judge Ed Emmett said today.
"I cannot stress this enough - transportation arteries are still very, very dangerous,'' Emmett said. ''Please don't venture out unless you absolutely have to.''
Still, the latest deluge complicated the recovery effort after Ike, whose toll and property and life was still coming into focus today. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff could not yet put a dollar amount on damage, except to say that it would likely rival some of the "legendary" damage figures of storms past.
"By any measure, it was a huge storm," Chertoff said.
RMS, a company that estimates insured damage for companies, put the initial estimate in a wide $6 billion-to-$16 billion range. That doesn't count flood damage or uninsured losses, which certainly will amount to billions more.
[...]
In Galveston, ground zero for Ike's assault, the wreckage surpassed that of any storm in recent memory. Ten buildings burned to the ground, another seven collapsed because of wind -- including two apartment buildings -- and huge portions of the island remained underwater and by this morning had not been reached by emergency personnel.
They probably won't be able to get rescue crews onto the island until tomorrow. The known death toll so far is two. That's going to go up by a lot.
Most of the region, encompassing perhaps 5 million people, from Brazoria County into Louisiana, remained without power Saturday, although more pockets were lit, such as along Mason Road south of the Katy Freeway. Neighbors with power ran extension cords across streets to help neighbors without in some places.Full restoration of power to the area was expected to take two to four weeks, according to CenterPoint Energy, the area's primary transmission provider.
We actually have power at our house again, according to Andrea, who stayed there last night. CenterPoint is tracking its progress at restoring power here, but it has a huge task ahead of it.
And the truly amazing thing is, it all could have been worse.
The fact that Galveston Island has a future today can be attributed to a final landfall by Hurricane Ike just east of forecasters' projections.Instead of coming ashore across the island's west end or even Jamaica Beach, Ike came in directly over the east end of Galveston. This brought the storm's maximum surge to bear on Bolivar Peninsula -- completely drowned for a time -- and a long stretch of the upper Texas coast.
It's just scary to think about. And since I've seen some comments wondering about how Reliant Stadium could suffer such damage in a storm with relatively low wind speeds, there's this:
But the alternative was so much grimmer. Forecasters expected Ike to blow up into a major Category 4 hurricane.For whatever reason -- dry air? an ungainly large size? -- Ike did not.
Some parts of Houston still got a taste of what might have been had Ike gained such an intensity. Because of the storm's odd configuration the winds were significantly higher just a few hundred feet off the ground, reaching Category 4 levels.
This explains why Ike ripped half the roof off the $450 million Reliant Stadium, but not the much more modest homes nearby.
Speaking of which:
Damage to Reliant Stadium caused by Hurricane Ike has forced the NFL to move the Texans' game against Baltimore, which had been rescheduled for Monday night, to Nov. 9, which was supposed to be the Ravens' open date.The Texans and Cincinnati Bengals, who were supposed to be off Oct. 26, will play on that date instead of Nov. 9, as they had originally been scheduled to do. The changes mean the Texas will still host the Bengals and Ravens; the question is whether they will be able to play them at Reliant Stadium.
Ike's wrath took five panels out of the stadium roof.
"The facility will not be usable (on Monday)," SMG president Shea Guinn said. "There is some structural damage to the roof. Part of it is off. There's also other damage on the property caused by wind and water. We're in the process of assessing the damage."
[...]
The Texans and the NFL didn't want to comment about the possibility of not being able to play at Reliant Stadium, referring questions about the damage to Guinn. Guinn and other SMG officials are waiting for estimates from experts before commenting.
[...]
When Hurricane Katrina drove the Saints from New Orleans, they relocated to San Antonio and played their games in the Alamodome.
A more viable alternative for the Texans might be Rice Stadium, but it's too early to speculate until an assessment of Reliant is complete.
I cannot imagine them playing at Rice Stadium. It just isn't a suitable facility for NFL games, and parking would be a nightmare. Frankly, the Alamodome would be a far better choice, even three hours away. I presume the Astrodome is out of the question - it can't possibly be event-worthy. My money's on the Alamodome if Reliant can't be fixed in time. The Astros, meanwhile, will play in Milwaukee, while the Comets will close their season in San Marcos.
Finally, I'll say again that if you want to know the best way to help, I recommend donating to the Red Cross. They need every penny you can spare right now.
We've talked about the drinking age recently and whether or not it should be lowered. But what about the minimum age for getting a driver's license? Some folks think it should be raised.
Taking aim at a longstanding rite of passage for 16-year-olds, an influential auto safety group is calling on states to raise the age for getting a driver's license to 17 or even 18.Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group funded by the auto insurance industry, acknowledged the idea is "a tough sell" but noted that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers.
"The bottom line is that when we look at the research, raising the driving age saves lives," Lund said. He plans to present the proposal today at the annual conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Not surprisingly, a lot of teens hate the idea.
"I would really be upset because I've waited so long to drive," said Diamante White, a 16-year-old in Reading, Pa., who got her permit in July. She said learning to drive is a "growing-up experience."
Many parents agree. They also like not having to chauffeur their teens to school, sporting events and any number of other places.
"Do we really want our kids dependent upon parents for virtually everything until they go to college, can vote and serve their country?" asked Margaret Menotti, a mother in Uxbridge, Mass.
Put me down for having a lot of sympathy for Margaret Menotti's position. My parents had the good fortune to live someplace where their four kids could walk or take public transit to school. Only my sister Eileen, whose high school was a few blocks from where my dad was working at the time, got regular rides to and from school. Most parents aren't that lucky - I probably won't be, at least for the most part. I'd favor making driver's license exams tougher - the road test in Staten Island was pretty notorious back in the day - but I don't think it should be taken away altogether. It just isn't fair, and it isn't workable for the way we live.
We are currently scheduled to fly back to Houston on Thursday. Assuming we can get there.
Entergy Texas are without power today at noon. The Texas-New Mexico Power Co., which services communities south of town, from Alvin to West Columbia, is 100 percent offline."We sustained a massive hit," said CenterPoint Energy spokesman Floyd LeBlanc, noting that 2.1 million customers out of 2.26 million are without power.
A CenterPoint customer is not neccessarily one person. For example, one family househould frequently has more.
"We're realizing there's a lot of property damage. Trees hit power lines, some fell on houses, buildings and cars. This storm did a lot of damage," he said.
Service trucks have already started to roll into neighborhoods across Houston now that winds have finally subsided and damage assessors are walking the power lines to check for breaks, according to CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc.
[...]
Power is flowing to downtown Houston, the Texas Medical Center and Bush Intercontinental Airport because those areas have underground power lines, LeBlanc said. Elsewhere, electricity was spotty at best.
I presume the airport will be operational, but beyond that, who knows? First priority would be power to the water pumps, then everything else. I haven't seen any communication from work since last night before landfall, so I don't know what things are like at the office. It's going to be a crazy week, for sure,
I can say that we have spoken to my in-laws, who report all is well with them. One of Tiffany's grandmothers lives in Dickinson by the bayou, and she had feared that house would be lost, but it seems to have made it through with minimal damage. According to my friend Andrea and our next-door neighbor, our house is all right - no power, which is to be expected, but no broken windows or roof damage. That's a huge relief. I hope the news is as good for Galveston and the rest of the coastal areas.
Looks like the Texans' early-season schedule just got a little tougher.
The Houston Texans will not be playing their home opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at Reliant Stadium.The game was supposed to have been played at 7:30 p.m., but Hurricane Ike has caused damage to the stadium that has made it unsuitable for hosting the game.
"The facility will not be usable," said Shey Guinn, president of SMG, the company that manages Reliant Park.
"There's some structural damage to the roof. Part of it is off," Guinn said.
"There's also some other damage on the property caused by wind and water. We're in the process of assessing the damage," he said. "As far as the game being postponed again or played, that will be up to the NFL."
The game had originally been set for 3:15 p.m. Sunday, but because of Ike the NFL moved it to Monday night.
The Texans and Ravens will have no comment until they hear from the league. Conference calls among three are scheduled for later today.
The NFL will determine where and when the Texans play the Ravens. The Texans' bye week (Oct. 26) is a possibility.
The big question is, can Reliant Stadium be repaired in time for the Texans' next home game Oct. 5 against Indianapolis.
Guess it's too late to try to have it someplace else. Do the Ravens have the same bye week? If not, I don't know how this will work out.
On a side note, because I've been meaning to include this with a post but haven't gotten to it yet, here's Deece Eckstein commenting on that Burka post concerning the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. I guess we'll find out if those doomsday predictions will come true.
First word of the day is don't drink the water.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett urged caution as Hurricane Ike continued to pummel the area with wind and rain this morning, asking residents to stay inside and conserve water.As Galveston officials prepared to assess potentially grim scenes in surge-soaked neighborhoods and other local leaders planned door-to-door surveys of Ike's devastation, Emmett said people should wait a while before checking their own properties for damage. Residents who feel unsafe in their own homes should venture no further than a neighbor's house, he added.
"Let's finish riding out the storm, and this afternoon we'll assess the damage and we'll make sure that the assets, resources get to where they need to be," Emmett said, adding tropical storm-force winds could continue through mid-afternoon.
And please stay off the roads.
"There's too many people in their vehicles on the roads,'' said White, who spent the morning inspecting damage with emergency personnel.Too many people are getting stranded in high water because their vehicles can't handle high water.
"Look. You endanger the lives of others if you get stuck in high water require rescue,'' White said. "No matter how brave you feel, we do not need to be rescuing people on the road.''
Emergency responders are trying to focus their efforts getting to those who need real help in their homes or getting to a hospital.
White also told residents in the nation's fourth largest city to begin conserving water, to relieve the low pressure in the city's water supply.
He stressed that the city's water supply is not in danger.
"We have no evidence that the water supply is contaminated,'' White said.
But until the low pressure problem is rectificed, White wants residents to turn to bottled water.
"We want citizens to use bottled water, not tap for their drinking,'' he said. "If you don't need to bathe right now, you don't need to bathe right now.''
SciGuy says the storm surge could have been worse, and the bayous are overtopping their banks. If White Oak Bayou is that high in our area, the folks closest to I-10 are probably flooded.
I don't know yet what our house looks like. I've heard from one friend in the area who is fine, but not yet from our neighbors or my in-laws. The folks I'm following on Twitter seem okay. Given that no one has power it's probably silly of me to ask, but how are you doing? Let me know when you can.
Hurricane Ike made landfall at 2 AM, directly over Galveston. The good news, for what it's worth, is that wind speed forecasts are significantly lower for much of Harris County than they had been. Maybe that means the worst is over, I'm not sure. I can't get to HoustonHideFromTheWind.org right now to see what it says. I suspect that's because of the massive power outages:
CenterPoint Energy said about 90 percent of its roughly 2 million customers were in the dark before daybreak even as the storm continued to pack a 100 mph punch with the eye still near Kingwood as of 6 a.m. That means nearly 4.5 million residents were without power and doesn't include the service area of Entergy Texas, which didn't have updated figures yet.CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said downtown Houston and the Medical Center, both of which have underground power lines, were the only large areas with reliable electricity. He said CenterPoint had braced for more than half its customer base losing service, and full restoration could take "several weeks."
It's really hard to wrap my mind around that. I hope they get it back for most people within the next couple of days. For what it's worth, most of the locals I follow on Twitter have been busy tweeting through the night, so at least cellular service is still operating.
It may seem like a small thing, but at least going by what I've seen on Twitter, a lot of folks will be sad to hear that Brennan's Restaurant, a longtime institution south of downtown, has been destroyed by a fire.
The cause of the fire and whether it is connected to the storm was not yet known.Firefighters struggled in vain for hours to contain the fire, which was whipped by ever gusting winds that blew from all directions. With no hope for the restaurant, fire officials concentrated on keeping the fire from reaching nearby buildings. An old two-story apartment building sits directly across from the restaurant.
The task of containment grew even more daunting as the winds increased. Dangerous debris -- felled trees and limbs, unhinged stoplights, awnings, road signs, shopping carts -- skittered through the streets, with nearby taller buildings funneling gusts directly toward the flames.
The fire was reported around midnight, and at 1 a.m. flames which darting skyward, hardly diminished by a stream of water from a firehose. But by 2:30 a.m., all that could be viewed from a few blocks away -- as a legion of emergency vehicles blocked roads around the restaurant -- was an orange glow.
I hope they can rebuild - Houston is a more interesting place with Brennan's. And I hope this is the worst news we get from this storm. Wherever you are, please stay safe.
Finally, if you're thinking "How can I help?", please donate to the Red Cross. They can definitely use the help.
Everything the Bush administration has touched has been a screwup. Why should the border fence be any different?
The Bush administration needs an extra $400 million to complete its fence along the country's southwestern border, and government investigators say that may not even be enough to finish construction by the end of this year.To complete the 670-mile fence - already half built - the administration has asked Congress to approve the use of $400 million set aside for other programs, mostly surveillance technology projects along the U.S.-Mexico border, Jayson Ahern, the deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said on Tuesday.
Higher costs of fuel, steel and labor have led to the $400 million shortfall, Ahern said.
"If we run out of money, unfortunately the construction will have to stop," Ahern said.
You say that as though it were something bad. If this is what it takes to ashcan this travesty, that's fine by me.
I do not understand this.
About 1,000 prisoners and a full jail staff remained in the Galveston County Jail on Galveston Island this morning, even as the island began to be battered by the onslaught of Hurricane Ike.The reason for not evacuating the prisoners is a security issue and cannot be discussed, sheriff's spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.
"The prisoners and their safety and well-being are paramount and it will be handled," Tuttoilmondo said.
Any decision to move the prisoners would be kept secret for security reasons, as happened before Hurricane Rita in 2005, he said.
"We did this during Rita and no one knew until it was absolutely done," Tuttoilmondo said.
The prisoners were in the jail as of 10 a.m. today, leaving little time to transfer them to the mainland. Hurricane-force winds are expected to strike the island later today, making exit across the causeway to the mainland difficult.
Tuttoilmondo declined to say how many deputies were at the jail, but said a full jail staff and relief shifts remained on duty at the lockup at 57th Street and Broadway.
He also declined to discuss measures the Sheriff's Office would take to make sure the prisoners and jail staff remained safe if a storm surge floods the jail.
The subject came up in today's SciGuy chat. Barring an unlikely sharp turn east, the entire island is going to be under water. Even if the jail can withstand the wind and the storm surge, there will be no power for the foreseeable future, there may be no potable water, and there may be no way to get food and other supplies in for days, if not longer. I understand the security concerns, and I certainly don't envy these guys the task, but how is it possible this is a good idea? I can only say that I hope they did get out while they still could.
Now, according to Tom, some 25-40% of Galveston's residents (10-20,000 people) did not heed the mandatory evacuation order and have remained on the now-almost completely flooded island. If so, that's certainly a bad idea, one I cannot understand, as well. But at least some of those folks likely had a choice in the matter. The inmates did not. I just hope this all works out for them.
I've been trying to stay at least somewhat optimistic about what Ike will do to Texas. That isn't easy, and it's getting harder. Here's SciGuy's latest:
Ike's expected to produce a massive, destructive surge far up the Texas coast and into low-lying areas of Louisiana.A more northward turn, which might spare Houston the worst winds and Galveston Island a catastrophic storm surge, has not yet happened. And with landfall due to occur in less than 18 hours, time is running out.
In fact, if the track comes even 10 miles to the southwest of the forecast location, across the far West End of Galveston, the across the island will be considerably worse than depicted on the maps above.
The National Hurricane Center, which is not prone to hyperbole, had this to say (pardon the ALL CAPS nature of it, that's just how they do it):
SHORELINE OF GALVESTON BAY...15 TO 25 FEETLIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!
ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS
NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY
HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD
AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE.
VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS
WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE
FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY
EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN
MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE
WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. SUCH WAVES WILL
EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF
HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH
EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR.
If that's not scary enough for you, take a look at these pictures the state put out to depict what might happen to Galveston. The official landfall may still be hours away, but Galveston is already starting to flood, and the bayous farther inland are elevated. I hope everyone is prepared for a large number of people to be displaced for a long time, as was the case after Katrina. Galveston may never be the same again.
I have not been following the Charles Dean Hood case, in which the presiding judge and the District Attorney have finally admitted under oath that they had a long-term sexual affair - you can get some background here, or just Google around. But I would like to point out this awesome rant that Evan Smith has on it from a correspondent of Hood's.
Well, good people of Texas, I hope you like having people from the rest of the country laugh at you, because they're going to be whooping it up in the next few days. Yes, it turns out that Judge Verla Sue Holland, who presided over the 1990 capital murder trial of Charles Dean Hood, was indeed sleeping with D.A. Tom O'Connell while the case was going on (and for some time before and after). They admitted it at a court hearing today and yesterday in Collin County; by the end of the day the CCA had stayed Hood's execution (his sixth stay). Ah, Texas justice: adjudication before fornication. Where habeas corpus REALLY means show me the body. The state where it's not only okay for your lawyer to fall asleep on you in a death penalty case, it's okay for your judge and your prosecutor to sleep together! Ha ha ha ha! Apres le petit morte, le grande morte! Here come da judge! Bwa ha ha ha!People around the Collin County courthouse have known about the affair for years -- yet no one, and in particular neither of the two lovers, came forward and did anything about it. Hood's attorneys first found people who talked anonymously about the affair back in 1995, but they couldn't get anything firm enough to attack the conviction with. Salon published a story in 2005 naming a couple of sources for the affair as well as including a couple of anonymous sources. And this past June Hood's attorneys found a former assistant district attorney, who said the affair was "common knowledge" around the courthouse back then. Still, the CCA wouldn't stay Hood's execution, which was set for June 17. He survived that execution only because his lawyers kept badgering the district court, the CCA, and the Supreme Court with these allegations. The CCA bulled past them, getting the okay to execute Hood about 11:05 pm. But the state ran out of time and Hood was spared. Good for him.
I think we all need to contemplate what should happen to O'Connell and Judge Holland now that they have finally come clean about this. I say what they did is such an outrage and an affront to decency and justice that at the very least, they should be held liable for every penny that Collin County and the state of Texas have had to pay defending the appeals in this case. Frankly, I'd like to include everyone who knew about this affair but chose not to blow the whistle on them, but I don't know how to account for them. So, just put it on the two lovebirds. Total up the costs, split them evenly between them, then hand them a judgment and start freezing assets and garnishing wages. Oh, and by all means disbar them as well. Let them flip burgers to pay off this debt if they have to. Maybe that will make future Abelards and Heloises think twice before hopping in the sack like that.
The Dallas Morning News, which has been the early bird of endorsements these past few seasons, makes its recommendations for the State Supreme Court, picking Democrat Sam Houston for Place 7.
Democratic challenger Sam Houston has built solid reputation defending clients against lawsuits and would bring some new ideas to the court. He argues that no one likes lawsuits, but sometimes they are necessary to ensure justice, and that justice is good for business. Mr. Houston, 45, would bring some welcome - and not token - philosophical diversity to the court.The incumbent in this race says all the right things about being fair and balanced, but Republican Dale Wainwright does not adequately answer criticism about his work ethic. In the last full year statistics were available, for example, he wrote just four signed opinions - the second fewest of any justice on the court and the lowest among the three justices seeking re-election this year. Two of his most recent opinions date to cases heard in 2004.
Justice Wainwright, 47, says there are complex reasons for this, but lives are often on hold waiting for these opinions, and such delays are unacceptable. Justice Wainwright, previously a district judge in Harris County, has a sharp resume, but voters should send a message to the court that long backlogs will not be tolerated by electing the respected and fresh-thinking Mr. Houston.
I feel pretty confident that the Democratic slate for Supreme Court will get at least one endorsement from most of the newspapers, with Houston and/or Linda Yanez leading the way. Judge Jim Jordan, for whom the DMN had some nice things to say, probably won't do as well against Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson. But you never know.
This reminds me that it's about time to make predictions about who the Chron will be endorsing when they get around to it. I'll have more on that soon.
Recently, the Statesman analyzed the state of the Legislative races and suggested a reason why the Republicans may retain control in the House:
As Democrats pin their hopes on changing demographics, Republicans are betting that the Democrats will trip over the same hurdle that the GOP did in the 1990s: redistricting.During the 1990s, the Republicans became the state's dominant party, winning statewide elections and a Senate majority, but they struggled to crack the Texas House.
Over that decade the GOP slowly increased its share of House seats from 57 to 72 by four or five seats each election cycle. In 1998, it stalled at 72 seats -- four short of a majority -- for four years because the Democrats had drawn the districts to favor their party.
The closer the GOP got to a majority, the harder it was to find the marginal Democratic districts they could win.
Only in 2002, after Republicans created legislative districts that favored them, did the GOP win control of the House with a net gain of 16 seats. That dramatic increase was rooted in a gamble: A lot of those districts were drawn with thin GOP margins susceptible to changes in population or voters' moods.
"The goal was to maximize the number of seats for Republicans, not to make them safe for Republicans," said Royal Masset, the state GOP political director during the late 1990s.
That, as much as anything, helps explain the fading GOP majority in the House even as Republicans continue to win statewide elections.
"I get the impression that the low-hanging fruit has been taken," Masset said. "There probably aren't many more winnable seats out there" for Democrats.
Martin said he disagrees, saying the right mix of candidates with the right message can make a difference.
"People who are not Democrats necessarily are willing to give us another look or listen," he said.
Two points:
1. It's not clear to me that if the legislative districts were kept the same from 2000 to 2002 that the Republicans would not have gained a majority, which they may have still retained to this day. Looking at the Secretary of State results page for 1998, I see two cases where an incumbent Democrat was knocked off by a Republican challenger, in HDs 46 (Rick Green def. Alec Rhodes) and 68 (Rick Hardcastle def. Charles Finnell), 15 competitive open seat races in which Dems must have won two seats back, and a whole lot of uncontested seats. In other words, perhaps just a bad recruiting year for the GOP, which may have been more focused on running up the score for George W. Bush's re-election than on the downballot campaigns. As for 2000, why run in for a seat drawn to elect a D when in two years' time it'll be re-drawn to elect an R? It's for that reason that I think if the Dems don't win the House this year, the next realistic chance they'll have will be 2012. That assumes they have a seat at the Legislative Redistricting Board's table, of course; without the Speakership, the Dems had better win something statewide or else.
Point being, just because the curve flattened out at the end of the decade, that doesn't mean it would have remained flat. The trend was clear, and the wind was strongly at the Republicans' back in 2002. If there were a way to replay 2002 with the same legislative boundaries as in 2000, I'd still bet money on them winning a majority. Maybe not 88 seats, but definitely more than 76.
2. The definition of "low-hanging fruit" depends to a large degree on the results of the last election. HD52, the focus of that Statesman article, is a top target thanks to it being an open seat won by Mike Krusee with an uninspiring 51% in 2006. But in 2004, Krusee had only a write-in opponent, and that same person, running as the Democratic nominee in 2006, wasn't given a chance by any mainstream pundit. Bill Zedler, who is in deep trouble against Chris Turner, cruised to a 60%+ re-election in 2006, and was on no one's short list of endangered incumbents in 2006. Robert Talton was unopposed in 2004 and lightly challenged in 2006, but his open seat is a top pickup opportunity this year. You get the idea. What makes fruit hang low is its ripeness. Some seats just weren't ripe before, and now they are.
I'm certainly not saying that the Democrats will cash in on any or all of these chances, and I'm not saying they don't have some vulnerable seats of their own, because they surely do. I'm just saying they haven't run out of places to look. Link via South Texas Chisme.
Time for something a little bit lighter as Ike bears down on the coast. This sounds way cool.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science, in association with the Judith River Foundation, will develop and tour a world premiere exhibition featuring Leonardo, the most perfectly fossilized plant-eating dinosaur ever discovered--with almost all of his skin still intact. Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation opens Sept. 19, 2008."Leonardo's discovery was groundbreaking for the world of paleontology because it provided extensive detail regarding what plant-eating dinosaurs actually ate - details that could only be theorized before," said Joel A. Bartsch, president of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. "We're thrilled to present Leonardo to the public for the first time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where they can get up close and personal with the real Leonardo, the best preserved, plant-eating dinosaur mummy fossil ever discovered."
[...]
Leonardo is a 77 million-year-old adult duckbilled dinosaur, known scientifically as Brachylophosaurus canadensis. His remains are 90 percent covered with fossilized skin, on which the pattern of his body scales are evident. The term "mummy" is used in reference to Leonardo to denote the fact that much of the dinosaur's soft tissue, such as its skin and internal organs, appear to have been fossilized as well, along with the bones.
What makes Leonardo even more extraordinary is that he has given scientists a rare peek "inside" a dinosaur. With modern technology, scientists have analyzed Leonardo using a forensic approach to studying this fossil--and the site where it was found--to determine how he may have lived and died. Using this method, the dinosaur is the "victim," and the scientist has to figure out how it was killed, and by whom. Additional discoveries, such as stomach contents, provide a more complete picture of the ecosystem in which the dinosaur lived - as indicated by the type of plants it ate.
You can see some video previews of this here, including clips from a Discovery Channel special set to air on the 14th. Olivia is a big fan of dinosaurs - she has a dinosaur jigsaw puzzle that she loves to do (usually as a stalling tactic before bedtime, but still) and she can name most of your better known dinos. I'm thinking she'll love this. And, you know, I'm pretty sure I will, too.
The Astros have postponed their games tonight and tomorrow night with the Cubs. The Comets have postponed their game tonight with Sacramento - the email they sent to season ticket holder suggested it might be canceled altogether, which is my guess. Various area colleges have rescheduled, relocated, or canceled their football games this weekend. And now the Texans have moved their home opener to Monday night at 7:30.
The game will be televised on local CBS stations in the primary and secondary team markets: Houston, Beaumont-Port Arthur and Bryan.The Monday night game between the Eagles and Cowboys at Texas Stadium will be shown at its regular time on ESPN.
The NFL announced late this afternoon that, in conjunction with the Texans and Ravens, the game should be postponed for a day to help the city deal with the fallout from the hurricane that's expected to make landfall early Saturday morning.
I second what Stephanie says: If the city is in good enough shape to allow this to happen, we should all be grateful.
So the track for Ike has shifted eastward once again, and it's now headed towards Galveston. SciGuy presents two possible scenarios.
1. Hurricane Alicia-redux, with a stronger surge. This scenario is most likely if the official forecast of a 120-mph hurricane hitting Galveston Island holds up.[...]
2. Near-miss to the east. This is the realistic best-case scenario for Houston. Here's why it's possible.
The latter is a lot like the path Hurricane Rita took in 2005. The result would be about the same, both for Houston and for Beaumont/Port Arthur. I'll say it again: It really sucks to realize that rooting for the storm to stay away from you means you're rooting for it to cream someone else. I'm hoping as hard as I can that Ike continues to not intensify any more. Please, Cat 2 or less. It's not so much to ask, is it?
I don't know how accurate this is, but the site HoustonHideFromTheWInd.org has projections of maximum wind speed for different parts of the city. As things stand now, my ZIP code would max out at winds of 79 MPH. The farther east you are, the higher the winds you'll get.
Really, even with a direct Cat 3 hit, given how fast this storm is moving, the worst effect Houston will likely see is power outages and localized flooding. It's the storm surge that will be the real devastator, and that will hit the coastal areas the hardest. Paul Burka has a discussion of this from the standpoint of the insurance industry. Check it out.
Hurricane Ike's turn toward the Houston area spurred emergency officials this morning to call for a mandatory evacuation of residents in areas that will be subject to a massive storm surge.Harris County Judge Ed Emmett called for mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas starting at noon today. Those residents are in evacuation zones A and B, specifically ZIP codes 77058, 77059, 77062, 77520, 77546, 77571, 77586 and 77598.
Emmett asked all other Harris County residents to prepare to shelter in place, saying residents whose homes could be inundated by storm surges needed time and room to get to safety.
"The winds will blow and they'll howl and we'll get a lot of rain, but if you lose power and need to leave, you can do that later,'' he said.
If the hurricane remains on its current track, Emmett said, a 15-foot storm surge could hit areas around Galveston Bay.
"We're not talking about gently rising water," he said. "We're talking about a surge that will come into your homes."
The one piece of maybe-not-so-bad news in all this is that the storm has not intensified as much as it might have. Let's hope that continues.
Looks like we picked a good weekend to be out of town. To those of you who are evacuating today, stay safe on the roads. Please, no Rita repeats. I hope folks who are not in evac zones shelter safely in place, which will help avoid that scenario. And I hope the damage Ike wreaks will be manageable, and that recovery is swift. Hang in there, everyone.
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
I am Judge Steven Kirkland and I am a candidate for the 215th District Court.
I grew up in West Texas. I moved to Houston to attend Rice University where I graduated in 1982. While at school, I got involved in Houston politics and have been involved ever since. I worked my way through law school as a paralegal at Texaco and attended school at night. In 1990, I earned a position litigating environmental cases for the company. In 1998, I left Texaco and represented residents of East Houston and Harris County in their lawsuit against the ship channel industries to clean up our air. I have also worked with Avenue Community Development Corporation to develop affordable housing. In 2001, Mayor Brown appointed me to serve as Municipal Court Judge which is what I do now.
You can learn more at www.kirklandforjudge.com.
While I am legally single, my life partner and I just celebrated 21 years together.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
The 215th District court is a civil court hearing cases involving personal injury, property damages, contract disputes and other civil complaints.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
The Judge on this bench is a republican appointed by W when he was still governor and while I don't have any particular beef with him, I know plenty who do. I do have a problem with a Courthouse dominated by one party that hasn't been challenged for a while. This lack of competition has created an atmosphere where the people get lost in the shuffle and justice falls short. Judges forget that they serve the people and rather than use their powers to make sure cases are heard, they use their powers to shut down the process. The most dramatic example of that is when the Court of Criminal Appeals closed its doors at five o'clock preventing the filing an expected application for stay of execution, but it happens in smaller ways on regular basis in all the courts.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
I have seven years judicial experience, eighteen years legal experience, both as plaintiff and defendant. I've seen the courtroom from all sides which gives me the unique perspective to be a balanced fair and excellent jurist at the start. As Judge I have presided over more than 600 jury trials.
I also have twenty-eight years experience of activism and accomplishments in the community and the party, working on diversity of representation, affordable housing, historic preservation, homelessness and many other issues. This is a solid track record to show where my heart lies and how I will l serve you as a judge.
I have been recognized with the Government Friend of the Homeless Award by the Coalition for the Homeless for my work in creating Houston Homeless Recovery Court. This is a Court where folks who are working their way out of homelessness at a shelter or rehab program come to the Court to convert their outstanding warrants to community service orders. This allows them to continue their progress without being placed in jail to clear up the old warrants. While I will not be able to implement a homeless court as a Civil District Judge, I point out the award as an example of how I think and how I seek to make government and the Courts more accessible and meaningful to everyone.
5. Why is this race important?
Our Democratic Campaign for the Courthouse is critical to Justice in Harris County. The Courthouse has become an echo chamber with partisans trying to out do each other in appealing to the far right base of the Republican Party. It is time to restore balance, and Democrats need to turn out in great numbers to make that happen.
My candidacy itself is important to folks who value diversity as it will be the first opportunity to elect an openly gay man to a county-wide office in Harris County.
6. Why should people vote for you in Novmeber?
I have a passion for justice. This passion directs my politics, career and community choices and activities. All my life I have stood up for what is right and spoke out against and tried to change what is wrong.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Mike Miller, 11th Civil Judicial District Court.
Andres Pereira, 190th Civil Judicial District Court.
BOR and QR report on an internal poll done by the Joan Huffman campaign for SD17. I happen to have the press release about the poll, so let me quote the relevant bits:
The Joan Huffman Campaign released today internal poll results showing that voters prefer Huffman by a 3-to-1 margin over the other Republicans in the race for State Senate District 17 while 2/3 of voters either do not know or have a negative opinion of Chris Bell, the leading Democrat.Four Republicans and two Democrats are campaigning in a Special Election for the vacancy left by Kyle Janek. Joan Huffman leads the Republican pack with 12% of registered voters, while her next closest competitor lags behind with only 4% support. Bell had support from 41% of registered voters. "This poll verifies it's a two-person race," said Huffman Campaign Manager, Jessica Colón. "Although the leading Democrat, Chris Bell's high negatives indicate his support is soft and will become softer once voters are reminded of the specific reason they have a negative impression of him."
[...]
The Texas Polling Group conducted a Senate District 17 survey August 27-29. The overall sample included 500 randomly chosen registered voters throughout Senate District 17 with a margin of error of ±4.5% at a 95% confidence level. 31% percent polled had a Democrat Primary vote history, 24% a Republican Primary Vote history, 8% a mixed Primary vote history, and 37% an exclusive general election vote history. When asked how they would vote in the upcoming special election, voters responded as follows: 41% Bell; 12% Huffman; 4% Furse; 3% Harpold; 41% Undecided. Democratic candidate Stephanie Simmons and Republican candidate Ken Sherman were not included in the poll.
Gotta tell you, it's a little strange to see a candidate tout a poll in which she receives 12% support. It's very close to this recent poll by Cooper & Seacrest, which had Bell at 42% and Huffman at 8%. Twelve is better than eight, but still.
Obviously, there's a lot of undecided voters in these samples. The hope on the Republican side is that a large number of those voters will go GOP, they just haven't figured out for whom yet. Of course, it may be that enough of them don't vote in this race to boost Bell past 50% even if his absolute level of support doesn't increase. One way of looking at this result is to say that among voters who expressed a preference, Bell had nearly 70% of them. If this is an accurate picture, and you assume all of the undecideds do vote, Bell needs a bit more than 20% of them to choose him to win outright. If only three-quarters of them vote, he needs less than 15% support from them. His task is far from insurmountable.
And if it does go to a runoff? I would of course rather it didn't, but I would still feel pretty good about Bell's chances if it did. Runoffs are about getting the folks who voted for you the first time to come back and do it again. Better to start out with a lead than not. No guarantees, of course - look at Al Edwards and Henry Bonilla from 2006 for two such examples - but it's the position you want to be in if you have to be there at all.
Funny how these things work out, isn't it?
Three Republican jurists in Harris County resigned at the end of August, just late enough so that their successors will be chosen by the governor and not the voters.To Gerry Birnberg, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party, this means the Republicans don't respect the voters and fear the Democrats in the county's November election.
"This is a signal they are running scared," Birnberg said Tuesday.
But to the three judges who resigned, this is just the way it played out. All three said they knew about the deadline for their vacant seats to make the November ballot.
Resigning in late August were David Bernal, former judge of the civil Harris County 281st District Court; John Wooldridge, ex-judge of the civil Harris County 269th District Court; and Wanda Fowler, who sat on the Houston-based 14th Court of Appeals, which serves 10 counties including Harris.
According to the secretary of state's office, a judicial vacancy had to be effective by Aug. 22, for the voters to have a chance to fill it in November. Bernal and Fowler resigned the Monday after the deadline, and Wooldridge's was effective Sept. 1. The next judicial election is in 2010, so Gov. Rick Perry's appointees won't stand for election until then.
All three ex-judges have gone into private law practice at higher salaries. They had varying reasons for the timing of their resignation, but said it was not inspired by fear of the Democrats.
Of course they wouldn't say that it was a factor. Nobody would. Maybe this is just one of those things, three times over. The law gave them this opportunity, and they took it, which works out nicely for them. I'm more amused by it than anything else. Greg has more.
Ron Paul says to his followers "Never give up, never surrender".
Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning, Houston-area congressman who waged a feisty Republican primary campaign for president, is expected today to urge supporters to reject the two major party candidates and vote for any of the four minor party contenders on the November ballot."The two parties and their candidates have no real disagreements on foreign policy, monetary policy, privacy issues, or the welfare state," Paul is expected to say at a news conference in Washington, according to an advance copy of his remarks obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
"They both are willing to abuse the Rule of Law and ignore constitutional restraint on executive powers. Neither major party champions free markets and private property ownership."
Yeah, sure. I heard that song back in 2000, and it isn't any better today. I'm sorry, but anyone who claims to be paying attention and can't easily name at least three significant differences between a President Obama and a President McCain is being willfully ignorant. And I have nothing but contempt for that kind of thinking, even if it may work against the Republicans this year as it did with Nader against the Democrats in 2000.
Phillip thinks having Paul on the ballot in Montana will tip that state to Barack Obama. I think Nate is closer to the mark. From a crass political perspective, I think it's better for the Dems than the GOP. But I don't think it's better for having an informed debate.
Finally, Barr/Paul '08? Doesn't seem too likely, but it would shake things up a bit. I'm thinking the Republicans would not like that scenario too much. What do you think?
Tell you what. I promise not to panic yet about Hurricane Ike if you'll be sure to tell me when it's okay for me to start. The good news is that we've already evacuated, as we're visiting family this weekend. The bad news is that it makes me feel even more helpless than watching a massive storm head in one's direction normally would. Here's hoping the UKMET has this one better pegged than the GFDL, for Houston's sake anyway. More importantly, here's hoping it fizzles and everyone stays dry and safe.
As you know, I'm very focused on the Democrats' chances to win a majority in the State House, which would be an end to the dictatorial reign of Tom Craddick as House Speaker. Key to those chances are a handful of races in Harris County, with the race for the open seat in HD144, formerly held by Robert Talton, being one of the hottest. Talton, for all his right-wing craziness, had become an anti-Craddick stalwart last session, so taking over his seat isn't just desireable, it's defense. The Democratic hopeful for that seat is Joel Redmond, who's been a bit of a mystery man to some of us outside his district, but for a good reason: He's been spending all his time in the district, doing all the hard work of knocking on doors and calling potential supporters. As he says in my interview with him (MP3), as of Labor Day he'd visited half of the 40,00 homes with registered voters in them. That's pretty impressive, and if you give the interview a listen, I think you'll find that Redmond himself is as well. I was pleased to finally meet him, as I'd heard plenty of good things about him, and I was more pleased to see that he lived up to what I'd been hearing. Let me know what you think.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Debra Kerner, HCDE Trustee
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
Behold the news machine that is John Sharp.
Sometimes, the political itch just won't go away. Friends of former Comptroller John Sharp, who has lost two races for lieutenant governor and has long eyed the governor's office, say he now is focusing on a U.S. Senate seat.That would be the seat that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to leave sometime next year to prepare for a race for governor in 2010.
[...]
Sharp, a Democrat, has been mostly overlooked in the speculation, and he is shy about talking to reporters about his plans. But friends say he has been making the rounds, shoring up potential political and financial support, etc.
Some fellow Democrats believe Sharp's chance to win another statewide office has come and gone. And they believe he may have hurt himself within his party by helping Perry win passage of a new business tax two years ago, when the Legislature was facing a Texas Supreme Court deadline to make school finance changes.
Sharp gets "mostly overlooked in the speculation"? Since when?
Greg has a good take on this. I'll just add that either the Democrats' bench increases sufficiently so that Sharp-dropping won't be de rigeur any more, or he does something to forever quiet the mumblings, either by running and winning or announcing his official retirement. I think the former is more likely than the latter, but it's no sure thing.
I've mentioned the Amethyst Initiative and its efforts to lower the drinking age, which is something that I think has merit. Let me now present this op-ed by Robert Nash Parker, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies at the University of California, Riverside, which makes the case against. While I appreciate that Professor Parker builds an empirical argument and not an emotional one, I confess to some skepticism about his data. The root of my unease is right here:
On the Web site of Choose Responsibility, the umbrella organization that spearheaded the Amethyst Initiative, the arguments against the drinking age of 21 are particularly flawed. They contend that accidents and deaths dropped simply because the size of the teenage population went down. But they make an error that my undergraduate research-methods students are taught to avoid: They present raw numbers instead of the risk ratio, or the number of negative outcomes divided by the population at risk.Between 1982 and 1991, when most states had raised the drinking age, the number of deaths from alcohol-related traffic crashes among youth went down, as did the population of young people. However, the rate of deaths dropped from 16.9 per 100,000 young people to 11.1 per 100,000, a drop of 34 percent; the population declined only 6.5 percent. Between 1993 and 2004, the population of young people increased, but the number of deaths didn't go up. In fact, the rate dropped from 7.77 deaths per 100,000 to 7.0 per 100,000. The assertion that deaths from alcohol-related crashes are shaped by the number of young people is simply wrong.
So what really has happened since the drinking age was raised? About 26,000 people who would have died when they were 18 to 20 years old are alive because fewer alcohol-related crashes occurred.
The main problem I have with this is that it assumes having a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 is the primary cause of this decline. It doesn't address other possible factors, such as changes in overall societal attitude. As was the case forty years ago with cigarettes, we have seen a large shift in public opinion about drinking and driving. Everybody knows what a "designated driver" is. Beer companies routinely run PSAs on TV and radio touting them. For holidays associated with drinking, like Saint Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve, free rides for anyone who wants them are offered by cabs and public buses in many cities, like Houston. The upshot of all this is that while the total number of traffic fatalities has remained fairly constant since 1982, the number of alcohol-related fatalities has declined by almost half. Needless to say, that cannot be explained by the higher MLDA alone.
So my question for Professor Parker would simply be this: How does the decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities for the under-21 set compare to that for everyone else? I can believe the younger group has seen a steeper drop, and I'll readily concede that the higher MLDA is a part of that. But how much of that is really attributable to under-21s not having legal access to alcohol, and how much is the result of a quarter-century's worth of "if you drink, don't drive" being drilled into the national consciousness? Given that countries in which the MLDA was not raised have also seen (link via Grits) a drop in alcohol-related traffic fatalities during this time, what accounts for that?
As I said, I think the argument in favor of lowering the MLDA is a meritorious one, but I could be persuaded otherwise. Professor Parker makes a decent start, but he still has work to do to have a chance with me.
A Houston strip club shut down Tuesday after a state district judge ruled it violated a 1997 city ordinance regulating "sexually oriented businesses."The Penthouse Club, 2618 Winrock, is the first one the city has shut down after years of wrangling over its ordinance governing so-called SOBs.
State District Judge Mark Davidson issued a temporary injunction Tuesday afternoon and ordered the club to shut down immediately. A trial in which the city will argue for permanent closure is set for Oct. 27.
Davidson's order is a major victory for the city, which has spent more than $1.2 million defending the ordinance against challenges by adult-oriented businesses, said attorney Patrick Zummo, hired by the city to help it enforce the law.
"It means that this ordinance that we fought so hard to pass and prove constitutional, that it will actually work," Zummo said. "We're not through. We're looking at other locations around The Penthouse."
I'm guessing the second such closure won't take eleven years to accomplish. I'm also guessing the clubs are assessing their other options, including relocation and the "bikini bar" gambit, though that apparently didn't work too well for this club. Still, I believe they'll figure out a way to avoid extinction.
So, any guesses as to whether or not the Penthouse Club will have its usual ad in place in the back of the Houston Press this week? Hair Balls, naturally, has more.
Let me just say that I could have lived without hearing this.
The bottom line is that the Houston area could face a near worst-case scenario with Ike, although I'd still peg the chances of this happening at one-in-four, or less.
I'm going to go crawl under my desk and whimper now. The rest of you, please carry on.
UPDATE: Still not reassured.
A realistic worse-case scenario for Texas
There is a significant chance that Ike will be the worst hurricane to hit Texas in over 40 years. The latest run of the HWRF and GFDL models paint a realistic worst-case scenario for Texas. These models bring Ike to the coast as a Category 4 hurricane (which I give a 20% probability of happening). The HWRF predicts a 170-mile stretch of coast will receive hurricane force winds of 74 mph or greater. A 100-mile stretch of coast will receive winds of Category 3 strength and higher, 115 mph. Hurricane force winds will push inland up to 50 miles, along a 50-mile wide region where the eyewall makes landfall. A 100-mile stretch of Texas coast will receive a storm surge of 10-15 feet, with bays just to the right of where the eye makes landfall receiving a 20-25 foot storm surge. This is what Hurricane Carla of 1961 did to Texas. Carla was a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds at landfall, and drove a 10 foot or higher storm surge to a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast. A maximum storm surge of 22 feet was recorded at Port Lavaca, Texas. Despite the fact that the center of Carla hit over 120 miles southwest of Houston, the hurricane drove a 15-foot storm surge into the bays along the south side of the city.If you live in Texas, what are your chances of getting hit?
I recommend Texas residents consult NHC's wind probability product to determine their odds of getting hurricane force winds. At present, NHC is calling for these odds of getting hurricane force winds at various Texas cities:Brownsville: 8%
Corpus Christi: 8%
Freeport: 10%
Galveston: 9%
Houston: 5%I think the odds are roughly double what NHC is advertising for the above cities.
Yeesh.
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
My name is Andres Pereira. I am a Native Houstonian, trial lawyer, committed public citizen, and longtime Democratic activist. I am running for Judge of the 190th District Court (Civil).
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
These courts have plenary, or full, jurisdiction, handling both state and federal matters. Generally, District Courts can hear all matters with certain minimum amounts in controversy unless the jurisdiction for that matter has been placed with another court. Specifically, examples of the types of cases this court might hear include commercial cases, contract disputes, premises liability or "slip and fall" cases, consumer and some class-action litigation, employment disputes, medical malpractice cases, and motor vehicle accidents. This court does not hear family, criminal, probate, or juvenile justice matters or specialized federal cases like bankruptcy.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
I chose to run for the office of judge because I believe in the power of the judiciary and the jury system--the ability of twelve ordinary citizens to resolve conflicts and find the truth in a civil and orderly way. I chose to run for District Court as opposed to Justice or County Court because the nature of the cases and the procedures are slightly more complex and most like the cases with which I have the most experience. The 190th was vacant at the time I decided to run.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
I worked as an attorney for twelve years in a nationally known litigation firm handling complex multi-million dollar trial work for clients around the world. I have represented tens of thousands of plaintiffs against large corporate interests. I recently opened my own practice, primarily handling multi-district product liability litigation. I have represented individuals, businesses, and governments, have argued cases at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts, and have argued cases before the Texas Supreme Court. I was recognized in law school for outstanding legal research and writing, and I clerked for Texas Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Doggett.
I was screened by a committee working with Democratic Party to recruit qualified candidates. I was determined to be a well-qualified candidate, and I have been endorsed by the head of the screening committee.
I am fluent in Spanish, which is an important communication skill in Harris County.
5. Why is this race important?
We are at a crossroads, and these races are critically important. The 2008 elections will determine the direction our courts will take, which will in turn determine how our laws are interpreted and applied for decades. Currently, all Harris County District Court seats and all of the appellate court seats in our district are occupied by Republicans. The result has been a highly politicized judiciary that in many cases favors special interests over the public interest, the erosion of individual rights, and a wholesale attack on the principle of trial by jury. I have spent my entire professional career providing a voice to individuals against large corporate interests, but I am concerned that those voices are becoming increasingly more difficult to hear. We need to change the direction that our entire legal system is headed before many of the rights we once took for granted are no longer available to us as citizens.
6. Why should people vote for you in November?
People should vote for me because I truly care about justice. I have ample litigation experience in the most complex kinds of cases, which has prepared me for the most complicated cases that may come before me.
As a judge, I will always elevate principles above divisive politics and partisanship, because real justice knows no political party. Personally, I am committed to serving every citizen of Harris County who appears in my court with the respect that s/he deserves from a public servant. I am thoughtful, intellectual, passionate about the law, respectful, courteous, and humble. Most importantly, I am genuinely dedicated to finding the best result in each case by carefully synthesizing all of the information provided to me by the counselors and litigants that appear in my courtroom. In short, I will be the kind of judge who will not just listen, but who will actually hear, not just with my ears, but with an open mind and an open heart.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Mike Miller, 11th Civil Judicial District Court.
Opponents of a Dallas suburb's latest effort to drive away illegal immigrants asked a federal judge Monday to restrain Farmers Branch officials from enforcing a ban on rental housing to people who can't prove they are in the country legally.They're are seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Farmers Branch from requiring prospective apartment and house renters to obtain a city license as part of rule set to take effect Saturday. Under the ordinance, the city would forward information from the license application to the federal government so it can verify immigration status.
The request to stop the ordinance continues a nearly two-year battle in Farmers Branch, where city officials have created a handful of measures attempting to keep illegal immigrants from living there. The proposed laws have been met by lawsuits and protests, and a judge found a previous city immigration-related housing rule to be unconstitutional.
Attorney Michael Jung, who represents Farmers Branch, said the city will oppose the request.
This new law is Ordinance 2952. The judge who struck down its predecessor, Ordinance 2903, has already said he's inclined to rule against 2952. I guess some people never learn.
City officials planned to seek an agreement with the federal government for access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database and were working to set up an online method to apply for a rental license, Jung said.Officials with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have said the city must apply for an agreement to access the database. Federal officials would then consider whether it's lawful and appropriate for the city to access the database, which is used to determine if immigration status entitles a person to a state or federal benefit.
So even if they were given the green light tomorrow, they couldn't enforce this law as written today. I suppose the bright side from their perspective is that the bureaucratic process will run concurrent to the legal one, so by the time it's all over they'll really know where they stand.
Don Haskins, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Texas-El Paso, has died at the age of 78.
Haskins' coaching career took him from Enid, Okla. to basketball immortality with an NCAA championship and enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.During his 38-year reign at Texas Western and UTEP, Haskins became one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history with a 719-353 record, 32 winning seasons, seven Western Athletic Conference championships and 21 postseason trips (14 NCAA, seven NIT).
[...]
"The word unique does not begin to describe Don Haskins," former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said. "There is no one who has ever coached that I respected and admired more than Don Haskins. I've had no better friend that I enjoyed more than Don Haskins."
Haskins was an old-time coach who believed in hard work and was known for his gruff demeanor. That attitude was portrayed in the 2006 movie "Glory Road," the Disney film that chronicled Haskins' improbable rise to national fame in the 1966 championship game against Kentucky. The movie, which was preceded by a book of the same title, also sparked renewed interest in Haskins' career.
"The myth that surrounds Don Haskins in the movie 'Glory Road' and what he did for black players is better said that he cared like that for all his players. To me that tells me more about the man than anything," Knight said. "There was never anyone like him before and there will never be one like him again."
[...]
CBS Sportsline.com named him the greatest Division I men's basketball coach of all time in July, 2001.
"UTEP - with no recruiting base, no media attention and substandard budgets - had no business winning much of anything," sports columnist Dan Wetzel said. "No coach did more with less, maximized his talent and made strange parts fit better than 'The Bear.'"
I can't put it any better than that. Rest in peace, Don Haskins.
All righty, the conventions are over, the speeches have been given, the bounces have bounced, and we are now officially supposed to be paying attention. So with that in mind, here is the latest roundup from the Texas Progressive Alliance. Click on for the weekly highlights.
Two Bartonville (or is it Argyle?) Republicans are indicted for voter fraud, a 3rd degree felony. The Texas Cloverleaf follows the story.
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that right-wing Republican, anti-immigrant, 14th Amendment-hating State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) is taking steps to launch a campaign for governor in 2010.
jobsanger points out that McCain may not want to use the "P" word but still wants to privatize social security, and tells us the investigation into Palin's ethics is getting messy (and weird).
Harry Balczak has another Reminder to You People over at McBlogger. In this edition, Joementum Loserman, disrespectful Republicans and their hatred of Veterans.
Off the Kuff looks at some polling data and suggests there isn't much room for a Palin bounce, especially in Texas.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees Republican love/hate over the Hispanic vote. Meanwhile, some Hispanics say a pox on both your houses.
Texas Liberal asks just how is it the government could come and take you gun.
BossKitty at TruthHugger is suspicious, What Is Condeleeza Rice REALLY Doing Over There?, and why the media puts this on the back page.
nytexan at BlueBloggin points out the recent activity with the McCain Palin team in Alaska is the continuation of the Bush administration corruption in McCain Palin Troopergate Stonewall Is Bush Cheney 2.0
dembones at Eye On Williamson posts a synopsis of this week's candidate forum in HD-52, Maldonado and Daniel make their case before Hutto EDC.
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole declares himself a dead man walking, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs notes his pending exit with a heartfelt "so long, and thanks for all the fish".
refinish69 at Doing My Part For The Left tells everyone who is who's fired up.
North Texas Liberal listens in on Republican commentators Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy as they tell us how they really feel about McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin when they think the cameras are off.
Democrat Chris Bell today lost his attempt to remove another Democratic opponent from the ballot in the November special election for the District 17 Texas Senate seat.State District Judge Scott Jenkins said Bell had failed to prove that Missouri City attorney Stephanie Simmons, who filed at the last minute, had not lived in the district for the required year.
I guess the evidence that she voted and caucused in SD13 this March wasn't enough. Not really sure what would meet the burden of proof, but it's not important now. The courts have been pretty consistent about ruling against petitions to remove candidates from the ballot for various eligibility infractions, and as a general rule that's a good thing. I thought Bell's case was better than some others, but if the standard is higher than that, that's okay. Viva democracy!
The main downside to all this for Bell, aside from the usual negatives of taking a swing and missing, is that the suit and the related news coverage, including this remarkable Chron editorial - when was the last time they weighed in on a case like this? - is that it has all done more to raise Stephanie Simmons' name ID than anything she could have done on her own. There's clearly some money behind her - Ron Wilson doesn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart, and Roy Minton doesn't come cheap - and those folks got some bang for their buck here, without having to be public about it. In the end it may not amount to much, but it may not need to, given the need to earn a majority and not just come in first to win. But what's done is done, so onward with the campaign.
UPDATE: An amazing quote from QR:
After hearing testimony from Simmons herself that she voted in the wrong county for 14 years, District Judge Scott Jenkins was the picture of disbelief. She explained that she thought it was OK to vote in her parents' voting precinct in Harris County even though she and her husband lived in Fort Bend County. She said it never crossed her mind that she was doing anything wrong and that no one at a polling place for those 14 years asked her if she resided in the precinct.
"It's straining my credulity," Jenkins said in response. He used even stronger language while denying the other Democrat in the race, Chris Bell, an injunction that would have removed Simmons from the ballot. He marveled that an intelligent woman and an "officer of the court" - Simmons is an attorney - could have believed that what she was doing was legal.
"It saddens me that I do not believe you," Jenkins said.
Can't say I blame him. Too bad he didn't find the evidence sufficient to back up that disbelief.
Simmons claims in this story that she'll run a real campaign. I'll believe it when I see it, and in particular when I see her 30- and 8-days out campaign finance reports.
Remember that board of ethics that County Judge Ed Emmett wanted to form and eventually got around to? It was supposed to have the power to investigate ethics complaints involving county officials and employees, but it turns out it won't be able to do much of that.
The task force envisioned a board that would participate in the investigation and resolution of major ethics cases, in conjunction with the county and district attorneys' offices.But the county attorney's office told Emmett last week that the board could not have authority over the employees of independently elected officials, such as the sheriff and district attorney, or those in departments governed by a separate board, such as the Juvenile Probation Department and the Harris County Hospital District. The office still was studying Friday whether the board would have any power over Commissioners Court members and their staffs.
While the board would have power over some important departments, such as the Harris County Toll Road Authority and the budget office, most of the corruption allegations that have surfaced in recent months have involved elected officials or their employees.
The task force's two other major proposals -- requiring lobbyists to register and making former county employees wait a year before benefiting financially from a county contract -- could not be adopted without legislative changes, according to a letter from the county attorney's office.
I suppose that shouldn't come as a surprise. Generally speaking, counties can't do anything without having the say so of the Legislature. Getting such legislation passed can be tricky, no matter how sensible it may sound, even if it only applies to Harris County. It's doable, and it's desirable, but it's not a sure thing by any stretch.
However, the county immediately could implement a host of the panel's other recommendations, such as posting personal financial disclosures online and expanding ethics training.Emmett, who is facing criticism from his Democratic opponent over his handling of ethics reform, said he would like to adopt all of the recommendations approved by the county attorney and would like to lobby for the legislative changes needed to implement the others. "I'll put it on the agenda at the earliest opportunity," he said.
The issue probably will not be addressed until early October. He said the county attorney's guidance came too late to move forward with the plan at Tuesday's meeting, and the Sept. 23 meeting largely will be devoted to the county's mid-year budget review.
David Mincberg, Emmett's opponent in November, said the reforms are long overdue.
Well, the task force was convened in February, so it's certainly not like this has been rushed to the marketplace. Better late than never, I guess.
This may be the most poignant quote I've ever seen in a story like this:
Commissioner Jerry Eversole, who is facing corruption investigations by the FBI and the district attorney's office, said he would go along with any proposals supported by his colleagues because he believes he will be forced out of office before he would have to follow the new rules.
Sometimes no sarcastic remark seems adequate. This is one of those times.
I've said before that prior to this year, I had never paid any attention to the Harris County Department of Education Trustee races. I think like many people, I'd confused them with either the HISD Trustees or maybe the State Board of Education. That's partly because this year is different and the belief that the county will turn blue is in the air, and partly because there's such a stark difference between the candidates, with the Republicans being a couple of partisan hacks recruited by the infamous Michael Wolfe and the Democrats being a couple of professional educators. One of those educators is Debra Kerner, a speech and language pathologist who is well versed in the various programs that the HCDE provides for the local school districts, since she has been involved with them as part of her job. If you want to know more about what the HCDE does and how someone with a background and experience in education would approach being a part of it, give a listen to my interview with Debra Kerner, as always in MP3 format.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
David Mincberg, Harris County Judge
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
I sure understand where the sentiment comes from.
With Hurricane Ike set to travel nearly the length of Cuba today before heading into the Gulf of Mexico, residents from Texas to Florida face another week of worrying about whether their communities will fall in the storm's path.Some public officials said Sunday they are concerned that the frequency of hurricanes this year may cause coastal residents to ignore orders to evacuate or stock supplies as Ike approaches.
In Houston, a number of residents said they are among those experiencing hurricane warning fatigue.
"There are so many names coming by -- it's Gustav, then Hanna, then Ike," said Andy Berma, a medical office manager who relocated to Houston from Chicago two months ago. "It's like a herd of animals coming at you. It seems like the media needs something to talk about."
At 1 a.m. CDT today, Ike was a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph. It was centered 85 miles east of Camaguey, and moving westward at 14 mph.
Forecasting models predict that it will hit anywhere from northern Mexico to the Florida Panhandle. But several models call for it most likely to strike between Texas' upper coast and eastern Louisiana.
It wouldn't reach Texas until late this week, perhaps Saturday. But if it veers toward Louisiana or other Southeastern states, it could barrel inland as early as midweek.
Ike would be the third storm to threaten Houston this year.
Sure seemed like we were out of the woods once Gustav missed us, didn't it? History and SciGuy told us that. Unfortunately, it appears Ike didn't pay attention in history class. And so we wait once again to see what our fate will be.
Of course, for all our unhappiness about this situation, it could be much worse.
In flooded Haiti, Ike made an already grim situation abysmal.At least 58 people died as Ike's winds and rain swept the impoverished Caribbean nation Sunday -- and officials found three more bodies from a previous storm -- raising Haiti's death toll from four tropical storms in less than a month to 319. A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree.
The coastal town of Cabaret was particularly hard hit -- 21 victims were stacked in a mud-caked pile in a funeral home there, including two pregnant women, one with a dead girl still in her arms.
I'll just say again that now is a good time to donate to the American Red Cross. Whether we eventually need their help or not, many others do right now.
Voter registration in Texas will set an all-time high before the Oct. 6 registration deadline arrives for the November general election.The state had 12.6 million voters registered for the March primary.
"We are confident that number will hit 13 million or higher," Texas elections director Ann McGeehan said Friday morning.
And that was an understatement. By late Friday afternoon, election officials had already tallied more than 13 million registered voters. The voter registration record of 13.1 million was set for the 2004 presidential election.
Mail delivery of voter registration cards over the past few days have come in boxes weighing 20 to 30 pounds.
Can we hit 14 million? That would be amazing. And I have to assume that if we're doing that well statewide we're also doing well in Harris County, but I haven't seen any updates on the local total yet. But perhaps 2.1 million registered voters here is within reach. BOR has more.
I confess, I lose track of these things.
State District Judge Mike Lynch on Wednesday tentatively ordered a trial for the Texas Association of Business on charges that it made illegal corporate contributions to its own political action committee.In effect, the state's largest business organization is accused of paying its officers with corporate dollars while they were politicking for a slate of legislative candidates in 2002.
The defense argued that the group's actions were protected free speech, while prosecutors claim the association violated the state ban on spending corporate money in connection with campaigns.
TAB was indicted along with Tom DeLay and the rest back in 2005. As far as I know, they haven't been involved in any of the myriad of appeals that have taken place, so I'm not exactly sure why it's taken this sucker so long to come to trial. At least they won't have any trouble empaneling a jury that has no prior knowledge of the case, since by now everyone would have forgotten all about this even if they had known something in the first place.
He's grizzled maverick in need of a fresh start! She's a spunky young governor who doesn't play by the rules! Together, they post blog links. A day late, but what the heck.
What's so funny about sexy librarians?
Two explanations of "WootenGate". And where would we be if we didn't have the -Gate appellation to use as a crutch in any shorthand-scandal-description scenarios?
What is the deal with semicolon hatred, anyway?
She gave a rousing speech for the base, but independents didn't like what Sarah Palin had to say. And at least one parent of a "special needs" child feels the same way.
Frak! And, um, brodeo? I'm feeling a "Get off my lawn!" moment coming.
Chad Ocho Cinco? For real? Am I the only one who thinks "Joltin' Joe Cinco" pales in comparison to the original? Admittedly, "Joltin' Joe Johnson" wouldn't have been anything to write home about, either. But still. "Chad Ocho Cinco"? Choose your uniform numbers wisely, kids, that's the lesson we learn here.
Baby soothing techniques. Basic carrying-and-walking-around generally worked pretty well with our girls. Olivia also liked being bounced on my knee, while it did nothing for Audrey.
For no particular reason, I did a little Google searching for my favorite obscure comic strip, "Arnold", which ran in the San Antonio Express News back in the day. I was apparently in college at exactly the right time, because according to Wikipedia, the strip only ran for five years, four of which overlapped my time in school. Here are a few old scanned strips, probably from 1983, the year before I discovered the strip, as I can see that the artwork is different than it was when I was reading. Enjoy!
And that somehow led me to Comics in my Pants. It's not Garfield Minus Garfield, but it's pretty funny.
How The Bloggess deals with trolls. And gets interviewed.
Viking facts. But could they sneeze with their eyes open? That's what I want to know.
Wine Spectator gets pwned.
Dammit. I do not want to have to deal with this. Ike: Please encounter massive amounts of wind shear and dry air, and shrivel up. Thanks very much from all of us along the Gulf Coast.
You already know how I feel about the Texas Residential Construction Commission. So, this story about how they're trying to stave off death by Sunset Committee may seem promising for them, but as far as I can tell they aren't addressing in any fashion the biggest problem with the agency, which is conveniently buried in the last two paragraphs:
The agency sends inspectors to review home complaints but does not have authority to force builders to make repairs or offer compensation. Homeowners must complete the lengthy process before filing a lawsuit."No other regulatory agency has a program with such a potentially devastating effect on consumers' ability to seek their own remedies," the sunset report said.
The whole purpose of the TRCC is to prevent lawsuits against homebuilders. It's tort "reform" by another name. It's no coincidence that the biggest supporters of Texans for Lawsuit Reform are builders - Bob Perry, the Weekleys, Leo Linbeck, and so forth. They have been very successful at getting legislation passed to shield them from liabilities. It's great for their bottom lines, not so good for consumers, as we know from the TRCC experience. Maybe if they gave the TRCC some real enforcement powers, and made the process less burdensome and more geared towards equitable resolutions before a lawsuit could be filed, then there'd be something worth salvaging. But since the whole point of the TRCC is to tilt the playing field in favor of the builders, throwing it out is the only sensible solution. It can't be allowed to exist as it is, and since it doesn't want to change in a meaningful way, I say kill it.
I for one am glad to see Tom DeLay do his best to get back into the public eye.
DeLay -- the most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill four years ago when the party gathered in New York to re-nominate fellow Texan George W. Bush -- is now a private citizen. He's still a devoted Republican and committed conservative, but the once-feared lawmaker is now on the outside looking in."I haven't been found guilty of anything, and yet my first name is 'Discredited' in the media," DeLay said Wednesday.
The former congressman from Sugar Land strongly denies that he did anything wrong and says he has faced "11 years of frivolous charges." But he acknowledges he was blind to wrongdoing by friends and aides who have been convicted of crimes.
"I have regrets that I didn't see it going on," he said.
DeLay aggressively defends the GOP's conservative record during his time at the helm, arguing that "we get no credit for that." But he acknowledges that 2006 "was a disaster, and we started imploding."
Forced to give up his House leadership position after being indicted by an Austin grand jury, DeLay is working his way back into the public spotlight. He's appeared as a TV analyst, newspaper columnist and conservative blogger.
He's building a group known as Coalition for a Conservative Majority, which he describes as an "action tank" (not to be confused with a think tank) dedicated to erasing what he sees as the Left's current edge in political organization.
DeLay warns that the Left, using the Internet and text-messaging tools, has assembled the "most powerful political coalition that has ever been built" over the past seven years. "We have nothing that looks like MoveOn.org."
[...]
For DeLay, the road to redemption leads through St. Paul, where his home-state delegates offer him unqualified support and his former colleagues offer him thanks -- at least for his role in bringing the GOP to power on Capitol Hill.
"People admire and respect all the great things he's done over the past 20 years," said Harris County Republican Chairman Jared R. Woodfill V. "He's one of the architects of the Republican revolution in Texas."
It's like an episode of Behind the Music. The humble beginnings. The meteoric rise. The fall from grace. The dogged comeback attempt. Add in Jim Forbes and some commentary from the likes of Mo Rocca and it's ready to air on VH1. All I can say is that if Tom DeLay wants to become a public face of the GOP again, I say bring it on.
This sounds cool.
Fall should be an exciting time on Houston's food scene, with chef Robert Gadsby's new signature restaurant--named Bedford after his hometown in England--set to open by year's end in the Heights. Bedford will join Scott Tycer's upcoming Textile, located in the 1892 Oriental Textile Mill on West 22nd, in raising the Heights area's dining profile.Gadsby's venture will occupy new construction on Studewood at 10th Street, near chef Lance Fegen's popular Glass Wall.
I'd been wondering what was being built there. The site used to be a nondescript little building. I'm glad to hear something more interesting than that is going up in its place.
I should ask around and see if that location would be affected by the Heights' notorious alcohol restrictions, and if so how it (presumably) plans to get around them, and make the same inquiry at some of these other places. If we want to bring an Alamo Drafthouse to the Heights, we'll need to know what our options are for dealing with stuff like that.
Meant to give Texas Watchdog a shoutout for their nice catch.
Houston city officials have failed for the past two years to post ethics forms online as required by law, Texas Watchdog has learned.The ethics forms are meant to make public any ties city officials may have to a business seeking a government contract.
On Wednesday - and only after Texas Watchdog questioned city officials about the missing ethics forms - the city posted a single conflict-of-interest form that was originally filed in 2006.
We've seen plenty of examples of potential conflicts of interest at the county and state level. The best antidote to this is better disclosure, and since we already have a law mandating that for the city, we ought to be following it. I'm confident that that will happen now that it has been brought to light, so kudos to Texas Watchdog for flagging it.
Congratulations to Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.
The memories, inspired by the occasion, had been flooding back for days.Hakeem Olajuwon thought of his start in Nigeria, playing table tennis, soccer and team handball and discovering basketball. He pictured his dorm room at the University of Houston decorated with the images of basketball legends. He spoke of the nights at Compaq Center when the joys of the Rockets' championships rained down around him.
He laughed easily, and smiled endlessly. When he received his Hall of Fame blazer, he found the faces of his girls, Rahma, 10, and Aisha, 9, in the audience, lowered himself to their eye level and giggled as he waved to them.
He could, however, not recall a time among all those memories, now vivid in thoughts, that he imagined the day he would be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Then Friday, he joined that exclusive club. And he knew he belonged.
"When you write the story, it's like a fairy tale," Olajuwon said. "To actually realize it is unbelievable. To end your career and end up in the Hall of Fame, you actually achieve the highest level of accomplishment in basketball.
"It's like a dream."
Following the Rockets' championship seasons of 1994 and 1995, and watching their victory parade downtown rank as some of my favorite sports memories. Watching him dominate then-MVP David Robinson along the way in '95 was amazing. He's a deserving Hall of Famer and a credit to the University of Houston, the Rockets franchise, and the city of Houston. Congratulations, Hakeem!
I don't usually think of Brazoria County as a hotbed of activity for Democrats - for good reason, given the 68-31 margin there for President Bush in 2004 - but like us here in Harris and elsewhere around the state they're fired up and organized and have plenty of opportunities for folks looking to get involved. Quite a few races of interest, including CD22, SDs 11 and 17, State Board of Education district 7, and the 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals, overlap with Brazoria, so they have a key role to play. They have a couple of HQ grand openings coming up, as Banjo informs us:
South Brazoria County:
South Brazoria Democrats will have the grand opening of their headquarters this Sunday, September 7, 2008 following a Meet the Candidates forum.The Meet the Candidates forum will be held, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Civic Center, 333 Highway 332, Lake Jackson, TX 77566 (map). This is a free event with refreshments provided.
Candidates attending include: a representative from the Rick Noriega U.S. Senate campaign, Court of Appeals candidate Jim Sharp, State Senate candidate Chris Bell, Kay Mudd, Robert Pruett, Laura Ewing, Leslie Taylor, Cheri Pate, Martin Siegel, Bobby Smith and Jack Brown.
The grand opening of headquarter will run from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is located at 528 Gulf Blvd., Freeport, TX 77541 77541. The phone number of the headquarters is 979-230-9540. The Young Democrats of South Brazoria County will also use this headquarters for their organizing efforts.
North Brazoria County:
North Brazoria Democrats announce the opening of Pearland Democratic campaign headquarters for the fall 2008 campaign. The headquarters is located at 5040 West Broadway, Suite. 5074, Pearland, TX 77581 next to the Pearland Cinema 6. The phone number is 281-412-9475.The Grand Opening will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pearland mayor Tom Reid will attend the opening along with State Senate candidate Joe Jaworski, State House of Representatives candidate Kevin Murphy and Brazoria County Sheriff candidate Robert Pruett.
Candidates and representatives from other campaigns will also be in attendance. Refreshments will be served and campaign material and information will be available.
For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth McLane, Visibility Chair
Brazoria County Democratic Party
www.brazoriademocrats.com
832-567-1057
mclane_e@yahoo.com
You can also follow their blog to learn more. If you're out that direction and you've been thinking you're the only Democrat around, now you know you're not alone.
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole says the feds are coming after him and that he expects they'll get him.
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole said Thursday that he expects to be forced from office by an FBI investigation into corruption allegations that appears to be centering on the design of his home by a prominent retired architect.The Precinct 4 commissioner said FBI agents have interviewed many of his friends, some as recently as this week. He said he expects to be called in for questioning soon and would not be surprised to be indicted, though he insists he is innocent.
"I guarantee they can take that information that they've got and the friends that they've talked to and they can make a case on me," said Eversole, who volunteered the update regarding the investigation when asked about recommended ethics changes at the county. "That's why I say my days are numbered. There's no doubt about it."
You could save us all some time and resign now. Or fine, whenever it makes most political sense after Election Day. I'm just saying.
The commissioner's $680,000 house in the Heights was designed by Leroy Hermes, whose former firm has been involved with county projects such as the Reliant Stadium complex and a new jail facility. The Republican commissioner said he had the home built in 2003 so he and his wife, who has cancer, would be closer to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.Eversole said it would be improper for him to divulge how he paid Hermes before he spoke with the FBI.
Hermes, who said he drew up the plans in his spare time at home, said Eversole insisted on paying for the design even though he did not want to charge him anything.
"I would do anything for him because he's a good, good, decent guy," Hermes said Thursday. "That's how I feel about him. I don't feel like he's done a darn thing wrong, nor do I feel like I've done a darn thing wrong."
Hermes said the pair's friendship had nothing to do with any contracts his firm was awarded by the county over the years.
"I have never asked him for a project or his vote, ever. For anything. Never. Never. I have never done that," he said.
See, here's why the phrase "the appearance of impropriety" was coined. I take Leroy Hermes at his word that he and Eversole are friends and that he just wanted to help his friend out. Does he do this sort of thing for all his friends, or for anyone he thinks is "a good, good, decent guy"? Because if he doesn't, if the only "good, good, decent guys" who are the beneficiaries of this largesse also happen to be county officials who make decisions that can directly benefit his bottom line, then it just looks bad even if it isn't specifically a crime. And since Hermes has a bit of a track record of helping out his buddies who happen to be county officials, it makes his protestations a bit weak. The lesson we learn here is to either charge your powerful friends a fair market price and be completely up front about it from the beginning, or don't do work for them while they're in office. PDiddie and Prof. Taylor, who reminds us just how long Eversole has been a bad boy, have more,
Unlike Yglesias, I have sadly not had the opportunity to sample moose. I've eaten venison - the Goode Company Taqueria has an excellent venison sausage on its menu - and thanks to my father-in-law and his Alaskan hunting trips, I've had caribou. (I should have Tiffany, who was living with her parents before we got married, tell the story about returning from a pre-wedding event to see her dad, who was just back from one of those trips, in the kitchen wrestling with a caribou leg and a meat grinder. Good times.) Caribou makes an excellent base for chili, in case you're curious. I haven't tried it in a stew, but I bet it would be yummy. To answer the commenter in Yglesias' thread, game meat like caribou tastes rather like very lean beef. You really have to either marinade caribou meat for the grill, or use it in something like chili, lest it be too dry and tough to enjoy. I presume the same is true for moose, but alas, cannot speak from experience. Done right, it's really tasty. Anyone out there testify to this?
This is probably as good a time as any to talk about moose, by the way, because Sarah Palin is headed back to Alaska for awhile, where she won't be talking to the media except maybe for some appearances on lighter, fluffier television shows. She also won't be talking about TrooperGate, not if her handlers can help it. So moose it is.
Meet the TexBlog PAC's fourth endorsed candidate:
Joseph Moody is the right candidate at the right time in the right district. Joe was born in raised in El Paso and in 2006 ran his father, William "Bill" Moody's, campaign for Texas Supreme Court. Joe received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech University and is a founding member of the Migrant Workers Project.When volunteers were needed, Joe answered the call to help the Red Cross with victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita when they were evacuated to Lubbock.
Most recently, Joe has worked as a prosecutor in the El Paso District Attorney's office. He serves the public in the courtroom, giving a voice to victims by enforcing the laws of Texas.
Joe is a man of character and will be a fine legislator for the entire state of Texas, not just House District 78.
While Joe is the right person for the job, the district is prime for a Democratic victory. In 2006, Democrats across the board won majorities in nearly every race. In fact his father, Bill Moody, won 68.2% of the vote in El Paso. In the same year, Joe's opponent only got 41% of the vote in his loss against Sen. Eliot Shapleigh.
Presidential years are even better for Democrats in El Paso. John Kerry carried El Paso with 56% of the vote and down ballot Democrats like Joe Sullivan, David Van Os, and J.R. Molina all received nearly 60% of the vote.
TexBlog PAC is proud to endorse Joe Moody. Now we are asking you to join us in supporting Joe and the rest of our TexBlog PAC candidates today!
I did an interview with Moody in June during the state Democratic convention - the MP3 file is here. If you'd like to help Joe Moody and his campaign, you can donate to him here via ActBlue. We've got two more candidates to go, for a total of six. Look for those endorsements soon.
Here's the Chron story on Chris Bell's lawsuit to remove the mysterious Stephanie Simmons from the ballot in SD17. The main takewaway is this:
Bell sued the Texas secretary of state and Simmons. He argues that Simmons doesn't meet the Senate's residency requirements. Senators must reside in the districts from which they are elected for at least one year, and he claims she has not met that requirement.He said the secretary of state, a Republican appointee, immediately certified the ballot, cutting off any administrative appeal.
The secretary of state's office declined to comment, and efforts to reach Simmons were unsuccessful.
It's now been a week since the filing deadline, and as far as I can tell nobody has been able to reach Stephanie Simmons for a comment. That just ain't right. I really don't know what else to say about that.
I should note, by the way, that I haven't mentioned the Kim Brimer lawsuits before now because I figured any idiot could see a distinction between an incumbent who filed (or had surrogates file) multiple lawsuits and pursued multiple appeals over the course of several months, and a candidate who's filed one suit because he didn't have the opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal with the Secretary of State because the filing he's challenged came in and was certified right at the deadline. But it seems I misunderestimated about that. Bell is of course taking a risk by filing this suit, and if he loses he'll have to deal with how his action is perceived. I said the same about Brimer when he filed his latest lawsuit, before it got tossed and he kept right on going. If Bell follows that path, he'll look bad, too. Most likely, the clock would run out on him before he could get that far anyway. Texas Politics has more.
Remember Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's too-cute non-disclosure of his trust fund? Well, Texans for Public Justice have filed a complaint with Travis County Attorney David Escamilla over the Dew's lack of forthrightness. From their press release:
Under Texas law public officials with non-blind trusts have certain disclosure obligations. Namely, they must list in their personal financial statement every asset in the trust that earns more than $500 a year. TPJ believes that Dewhurst's trust, which is a non-blind trust earning more than $25,000 per year, likely contains assets that are earning more than the disclosure threshold of $500 per year."The Dewhurst Trust is blind to the public but not to the Lt. Governor," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice. "The Lt. Governor should fulfill his disclosure obligations under the law. One of the most powerful state officials should not be allowed to hide his assets from the public. When you're the Lt. Governor, the public has an absolute right to know how many cattle or other assets you own. It's time for Lt. Governor Dewhurst to drive his cattle out of the shadows and into the sunlight."
The Chron story, with some more detail about Dewhurst's finances and another limp rationalization from him, which as far as I can tell boils down to "I have too much money to be able to keep track of it all", is here. You can read the release here and the complaint here. I usually don't have a lot of faith in these things, but at least it's not the Texas Ethics Commission in charge, so there is at least the chance something may happen.
I thought this article about the electric car taxi/shuttle service called REV Houston was interesting. A couple of things that struck me:
When [Erik] Ibarra and business partner Justin Jones started REV Houston in April, they anticipated a certain clientele."We thought the market was going to be mostly baseball games, taking people from their parking spot to the game or between the Toyota Center and parking," Ibarra said. "But that's probably the smallest segment."
Busiest times are weekdays around lunch and weekend evenings. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., people don't want to move their cars to go to lunch, said Ibarra. At the same time, they don't want to walk from the 1000 block of Louisiana to, say, Kim Son, nearly 2 miles away at 2001 Jefferson. So they take the shuttle.
Actually, Google maps says it's 1.3 miles from 1000 Louisiana to 2001 Jefferson. If you took the light rail line two stops from Main Street Square to the Downtown Transit Center, you'd knock about a half mile off of that. Which is doable, though it'd take maybe 20 minutes, and you'd have to cross under 59. For such a trip, I can certainly see the appeal of a REV car, even if it cost me $10 in tips total. But I wouldn't want to spend that much extra money often.
I point this out to note that while this is a useful addition to the downtown/Midtown scene, it's not really improving mobility much in that its main competition seems to be walking and taking the light rail line. For a trip like this, it'd take a car off the road, but this is a pretty extreme example. For the most part, you can hoof it almost anywhere downtown if you want to.
REV Houston does not have a special license to drive the electric carts. Already, the city has given the company three tickets with numerous citations, including operating a taxi without a license.The city defines a taxi cab as any automobile or motor-propelled vehicle used for the transport of passengers for hire, explained Blanton Daniels, manager of the city's transportation division. Pedicabs don't qualify as taxis because they aren't motor-propelled, he said, but REV Houston's electric carts do.
"They're trying to circumvent the regulation by saying they're working for gratuities," said Daniels, adding that he sees no difference between a taxi for hire and a taxi that works for tips. It's still money changing hands.
In addition, city guidelines say taxis should be midsized sedans.
"We want to encourage green businesses, but there are larger considerations, including safety and the other companies that are playing by the rules," said Frank Michel, spokesman for the Houston mayor's office. "Just because you're green doesn't mean you don't have the play by the same rules as everyone else."
The only way the city could allow the electric carts to operate as taxis is by creating a special ordinance that fits their category of business, Daniels said. Until then, the city will continue to ticket the electric carts.
I don't honestly see any reason why such an ordinance couldn't be considered. I agree REV Houston should play by the rules, but I don't think the rules need to exclude them. I say study the safety issue, and if there are no red flags find a way to let them in.
As noted before, the Progressive Forum will be hosting a lecture by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga on Monday, September 22, at the Wortham Center. You can get discount tickets for this event by going to Progressive Forum and using the promo code KOSINHOUSTON when you order. It'll save you about 20% off the list price. Tickets are still available but they're going fast, so get 'em while you can.
Jack Abramoff, the epicenter of Republican scandals from the Tom DeLay era, got his sentence today.
Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist who orchestrated a wide-ranging scheme to corrupt several members of Congress, was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday afternoon.Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered Abramoff to serve an additional 48 months on top of the two years he has already served for a separate case. She also ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $15 million.
[...]
Abramoff has been cooperating with prosecutors while serving almost two years in jail for his prosecution in another case involving wire fraud and the purchase of Florida casino cruise ships. The Justice Department investigation and prosecution landed former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) in jail and helped end the careers of several other members of Congress, including former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
Huvelle said she is not concerned that Abramoff did not learn his lesson and might turn back to a life of crime. Her 48-month sentence was motivated by a desire to promote "respect for the law."
"This conduct spanned many years, going back to 1997," she said. "There was not just one victim, there were a series of victims. I feel the true victims are members of the public who lost their trust in government."
This has gone on so long that Ney has already served his jail time and been released. On the other hand, DeLay hasn't set foot in a courtroom yet, so I suppose in some sense it hasn't gone on that long.
I have reactions from Michael Skelly and Rep. Nick Lampson beneath the fold. Click on to read them.
From Lampson:
Conspiring to defraud the United States and corrupting public officials sent guilty Jack Abramoff to jail for four more years today and brought Tom "The Hammer" Delay's day in court one step closer.Meanwhile, Pete Olson continues to surround himself with Tom DeLay's closest advisors, working overtime to clone himself after the dean of the culture of corruption. Olson employs several consultants who stood with DeLay through the scandal that ripped through America and has refused to denounce the actions of DeLay or his cronies.
"Pete Olson should immediately cut all ties with Tom Delay's cronies and return every tainted dime he received through that network," said Trevor Kincaid, Lampson spokesman. "It's clear that Pete Olson wants to return pay-to-play corruption to Washington and is will check ethics at the door if that's what it takes."
According to the most recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Olson paid $90,389 to consultants that advised Tom Delay. According to a Fort Bend Now article on July 16, 2008, Olson employed several consultants close to Delay's inner-circle. From April 1 thru June 30, 2008:
- Olson's campaign spent about $15,600 with Dana Benoit of Richmond, for fundraiser consulting services. Benoit served as DeLay's finance director for several years.
- Olson's campaign spent just over $9,000 with Walden & Associates of Houston, also for fundraising consulting. According to Source Watch, the firm is owned by Sue Walden, whom the New York Times described as a "close ally of Tom DeLay" who also served as an adviser to the late Ken Lay, former Enron chief executive.
- Olson's campaign also spent about $9,650 during the quarter with Marathon Strategic Communications, for media and "grassroots" consulting. The firm's address is listed at 3771 Vinecrest Drive in Dallas. Real estate records list the owner of the property at that address as Christopher Homan. Chris Homan was DeLay's former campaign manager.
From Skelly:
Successful wind energy businessman and Congressional candidate
Michael Skelly praised a federal judge's decision to sentence convicted lobbyist Jack
Abramoff to four years in prison. He also criticized John Culberson for voting against
the investigation that brought Abramoff to justice.
"Jack Abramoff was at the center of a culture of corruption that John Culberson enabled,"
said Skelly. "By voting against a Congressional investigation into Jack Abramoff,
Culberson sent a very clear message: business as usual in Washington, no matter how
crooked, is fine by him."
"John Culberson is a classic DC insider, the kind of politician who would stand with a
corrupt lobbyist instead of with the taxpayers he was elected to represent," added Skelly.
In 2006, Culberson voted against an immediate investigation by the House Ethics
Committee into the Jack Abramoff scandal.
Ever since somebody named Stephanie Simmons filed to run in the SD17 special election at the last minute, people have been trying to figure out who she is, because she hasn't spoken to the press and initial searches into voter databases didn't turn anyone up with that name in the district. Not surprisingly, Chris Bell has now filed a suit against Secretary of State Hope Andrade asking that Simmons be removed from the ballot because she is ineligible. From his press release:
"Chris Bell has always stood up when others try to manipulate the political process and not play by the rules. He stood up to Tom DeLay on that front, and won. Unfortunately, Ms. Simmons is far outside the rules of engagement with her illegal candidacy, and her Republican backers know it. Bell has no choice but to act now in filing suit against the Secretary of State before voters are duped by this cynical Republican ploy," said Bell spokesman Jason Stanford.Stephanie Simmons filed for SD 17 at 5 p.m. on Aug. 29, the deadline. She made no public announcement and has thus far not returned press or political calls. The Republican-appointed Secretary of State immediately certified the ballot, not allowing any administrative remedy in this matter. Therefore, the Bell campaign has no choice but to challenge Simmons' residency in court to get her off the ballot.
"Chris Bell is the Democrat in this race. Any attempt to distract from that is clearly a Republican attempt to stop Chris from running over his opponents without a run-off. The Republicans are well-aware of this, and that's why they've introduced a phantom 'Democrat' into the race. I support Chris Bell, and mainstream voters in Senate district 17 will too," said Texas Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
"Stephanie Simmons is probably a nice person, but we cannot know. She filed at the last second, made no public announcement whatsoever, and is not returning anyone's calls as far as I know. I am very concerned that she may well be the Republican pawn we've heard would be coming to force a runoff. This is a desperate attempt to keep Senate District 17 in Republican hands. Chris Bell is the real deal. That's why I'm supporting him and will do everything I can to help him win," said Texas Sen. Rodney Ellis.
You can read Bell's petition here (PDF). It's pretty straightforward, enough so that a non-lawyer like me can get the gist of it. Basically, Bell alleges that Simmons, who claims a residence in Missouri City, not only voted in the March Democratic primary in SD13 in Harris County this year, she even attended her precinct caucus. She only changed her voter registration the day before the filing deadline (August 28), and since you can only vote in your old precinct after a move if you're still in the same county, she can't have resided in SD17 long enough to meet the statutory requirement, which is one year. If the facts are as he alleges, it would seem like a slamdunk to me.
The ironic thing, of course, is that the initial designated Republican candidate for this seat, Spencer Tillman, dropped out of the running because he didn't live in SD17. It'd be pretty funny if two candidates were knocked out in this fashion.
The reason for the lawsuit is that there wasn't time before the deadline to examine Simmons' eligibility. Bell is claiming that SOS Andrade should not have certified her for the ballot. Bell is seeking an immediate temporary restraining order and an expedited trial on the merits for "permanent injunctive relief and declaratory injunctive relief" by September 12.
One last thing: His petition lists Simmons as "Stephanie Elaine Fridia-Simmons" - that may be the reason why no one could find her in VAN.
UPDATE: More from the Bell campaign:
Judge Stephen Yelenosky granted an emergency hearing scheduled Monday, September 8th at 2:00pm. The hearing will be held before a judge who is to be determined at a later date.
That would be in Travis County.
The race for Harris County Judge has lived up to its billing as the highest-profile local campaign this year. David Mincberg has been airing ads on TV for a couple of weeks now, while appointed incumbent Ed Emmett has scored with a hurricane preparedness billboard. The good news is that for the most part, the issues are still at the forefront of this campaign, as I'd hoped they would be. And it's a real pleasure to discuss issues with Mincberg, who has an informed and thoughtful response for each question I asked him in this recent interview, as always in MP3 format. One point to note here is that this interview was conducted two weeks ago, before the formation of Hurricane Gustav; my question about hurricane preparedness was referring to the events leading up to Tropical Storm Eduoard.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Michael Skelly, CD07
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
Paul Burka reports from the Republican convention.
Roger Williams, the former secretary of state who is in charge of the Republican victory effort in Texas, has had a tough year. The lack of enthusiasm of the Republican base for John McCain has hampered fundraising and volunteer efforts and has threatened to depress turnout. But Williams was in a euphoric mood on Monday. The reason is Sarah Palin. "All year long," he said, "people have been mad. Now, having a woman on the ticket has turned the energy level way up. All we have to do is keep this energy level. This is going to help our judges, our legislative candidates. If we get our vote out, we win."As I listened to him, I wondered: Does Barack Obama regret not picking Hillary Clinton?
Here's the thing, though. For all the talk about the enthusiasm gap - and I've certainly been one of the talkers - John McCain has already mostly solidified his support among Republican voters in Texas. Remember that Texas Politics Project poll that I noted last month? Look at those crosstabs: McCain was supported by 90% of "Strong Republicans", versus about 82% support of "Strong Democrats" for Obama, and almost 80% of "Not Very Strong Republicans" compared to about 53% of "Not Very Strong Democrats" for Obama. Who's the one with the room to grow here? That's what the Democratic convention was about, and that's what is now reflected in the national tracking polls.
I know, that's just one poll. But here's Rasmussen's Texas result, published August 25:
This month, McCain is backed by 82% of voters from his own party and 16% of Democrats in Texas. Obama's support comes from 75% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans. Among unaffiliated voters, McCain has a dominant 51% to 35% lead.
Again, where is McCain's bounce going to come from? He's already doing very well among the voters who ought to be happy with his selection of Sarah Palin. I'd say there's a decent chance he could lose support among independent voters as a result of that, if the DNCC helped warm them to Obama, and if Palin's hardline views help to remind the indies that used to be Rs why they're not Rs any more. I can't wait to see Rasmussen's September numbers.
Now having said that, there are other ways to measure Palin's impact on the state races. Williams touched on them - fundraising and volunteer efforts. It's only recently that McCain had a better fundraising month in Texas than Obama did. He had a very good day raising money immediately after the Palin announcement was made, and his best month ever in August. We'll see how that goes from here, as he transitions to raising money for the RNC and not himself. I don't know of an easy way for me to compare volunteer efforts before and after, but I can rely on the good old bumper sticker metric to see if more people are out and proud about McCain. Her speech last night obviously went over well with the base, but will it have any broader appeal? We'll see what the polls say, to see if there's more people identifying as Republican, and more R and I voters picking McCain. This season has confounded us all at every step, so who knows what we'll get.
This is good news.
Houston is poised to dramatically expand its recycling programs through a variety of initiatives aimed at ending the city's reign as the most wasteful major metropolis in the country.The stepped-up effort includes a pilot program using advanced technology that will allow participants to heave all their recyclables -- paper, seven types of plastic, aluminum, even glass -- into a wheeled 90-gallon bin that can be hoisted on a truck and sorted with little human effort.
The City Council is scheduled to vote today on an ordinance that will set aside $1 million of revenue from the sale of recycled commodities as a dedicated annual fund that can be used for the pilot program and a recycling education and outreach effort.
The funding and programs could push Houston's recycling rate above 30 percent in another year, city officials said, a far cry from the 2.6 percent cited in a trade magazine last year that put the city at the bottom of the 30 most populous metropolitan areas in the nation. That kind of improvement would push Houston above other large Texas cities, but still leave it far behind municipalities like Chicago and San Francisco.
"We've set some very ambitious goals," Mayor Bill White said Tuesday, noting that the city aims to reduce the amount of trash it sends to landfills by 20 percent in the next 18 months. "Whenever we use that space in the dump sites, we're creating a time bomb for the future in our city."
It took them long enough to get around to it, and I don't know if it was something that was always in the plans or if the recent coverage about Houston's abysmal record on recycling spurred this, but better late than never. Getting glass back into the curbside recycling program is huge. So many people are amazed to hear that we don't already have curbside pickup for glass recycling.
There's still a lot of room for growth here. I'd still like to see curbside recycling brought to every neighborhood in Houston, with a goal of increasing participation among the low performers. I think a more aggressive education-and-outreach effort, combined with the adoption of a "pay as you throw" program would do that. I'd like to see an effort to encourage more recycling among businesses and restaurants. What's being described here is a great start, and I'm glad to see it, but it's not the end. We still have a long way to go.
Newfound interest in transit options from places like Fort Bend into Houston, coupled with the lack of authority Metro has in those places, make something like this an eventual certainty in my mind.
Although transit needs are regional, the closest thing to a regional provider, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, is limited by statute to Harris County. And large parts of the county are excluded because their residents voted in 1978 to do without Metro's services and its 1-cent sales tax.Asked if Metro should be expanded or a regional agency created, [Fort Bend County Commissioner James] Patterson and other elected officials in the Houston area were doubtful. Even Metro was cool to the idea.
The larger the area that such an agency would cover, Patterson said, the more likely that some residents will not receive the services they pay tax for.
[...]
Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson said the board would need broadening if Metro's scope were expanded. A good model, he said, is Caltrain, in which three San Francisco Bay counties contract with Amtrak for commuter rail.
But a regional approach has advantages, Wilson said, including coordination of transit modes and routes.
"With an integrated system, you wouldn't have competing organizations vying for precious federal funding, and the customer would find it easier and simpler to use," Wilson said. "You wouldn't have to pay five fares. You pay one fare and ride all over the region."
But fares do not cover transit costs, and the issue of paying the rest remains. Metro residents have paid its 1-cent sales tax for 30 years, but many cities outside its boundaries are at the statutory maximum sales tax. And nobody wants to raise property taxes.
Considering all that, Patterson said, a Houston regional transit agency may be an idea whose time has not yet come.
"I'm not saying it isn't needed. I just don't see it happening."
At this time, no, it's not going to happen. But I believe the demand for such a thing will grow. The proposed commuter rail lines, which realistically cannot be done without some kind of regional authority, will be a catalyst, as likely will the continued high price of gasoline. The main hurdles as I see them are how the board is structured - that is, ensuring all stakeholders get a fair representative shake - and figuring out a revenue source, which for some places may mean dedicating a penny of their sales taxes to the regional authority, since they cannot raise that tax. I don't believe either of these things is insurmountable, but I also don't think we're close to being at a point where the will exists to make them happen. Maybe in a few years, maybe when some obstacles get in the way of the commuter rail plan, I don't know. But I do think it will happen eventually, and not too far in the future.
The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee (HDCC) has a nifty new website with news, information about candidates, and a couple of ads that make the case for a Democratic majority in the State House. It still boggles my mind that going into 2006, Dems were staring at an 87-63 deficit, and yet here we are today needing only five seats to win back the House (in districts drawn by Republicans to elect Repubolicans, remember), with a realistic shot at doing just that. Phillip Martin notes that the HDCC is responsible for much of that:
The story about the money contributed and spent by the HDCC is the same story told by winning Democrats across Texas: raise money early, invest in an infrastructure early, use that infrastructure to build support and prove how effective you can be, and use that infrastructure to raise money to donate to campaigns and pay for GOTV efforts of all shapes and sizes.The HDCC infrastructure worked like a "campaign Google" for Texas House candidates. HDCC staffers spent countless hours each and every day on the phones with every candidate and campaign that would take their calls (or that called them).
The HDCC really was a valuable resource in 2006, and it has been equially valuable so far in 2008. Check them out and give them a hand if you can.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Kirk Watson is doing what he can to help House candidates by urging people to adopt them. He's putting his money where his mouth is by matching contributions made to these candidates through that site. I might quibble with a few of his choices, but I love the idea, and I totally salute him for taking direct action like this. We could use a lot more of that from other incumbents in safe seats with large campaign war chests.
And last but certainly not least, Annie's List has added TexBlog PAC-endorsed Sherrie Matula to their list as well. From their email:
With 30 years experience under her belt as a public education advocate (former Clear Creek ISD school board member and teacher, now a statewide education consultant), Matula has successfully highlighted Davis' abysmal education record and forced this solid Republican district to re-evaluate their incumbent state representative, Rep. John Davis (R), on a variety of issues including his questionable ethics. And research shows they don't like what they see and are ready for a change.[...]
As evidence of our commitment to helping Sherrie Matula win on November 4th, we are going to match every dollar she raises - up to $10,000 - in the next 10 days. And EVERY SINGLE dollar we raise will be used directly for a strategic communications plan to highlight John Davis' abysmal record of failed leadership compared to Sherrie's three decade track record of putting what is best for her community first.
Annie's List has done the same thing this cycle for fellow Harris County candidates Kristi Thibaut and Diane Trautman. It's really great to have all that support in the county.
Matula has released a letter thanking the TexBlog PAC for its early support of her candidacy, which helped her earn the Annie's List endorsement she now has. Click on to read it, and click over to help Annie's List help her.
Dear TexBlog PAC board:I want to thank you all for your early belief in my campaign to take back House District 129 from John Davis, an entrenched Republican. Your endorsement earlier this summer, along with a generous $5000 check, kicked off a remarkable period of fundraising and support for my campaign.
As you know, at the June 30th reporting deadline, I was one of only two Democratic challengers that had more cash on hand than the Republican incumbent. Thanks for being a part of that achievement.
We knocked on over 7000 doors this summer, hearing from voters that they are tired of the skyrocketing costs of electricity, homeowners insurance and college tuition. They are tired of the lack of representation. They are tired of being embarrassed by Davis' ethics problems - and thanks to the Netroots for bringing attention to those over the past two years. Clearly, this District deserves better.
Today, I received the endorsement of Annie's List - confirmation that your early endorsement and support was well founded.
I look forward to working with you to close this race out in November with a Democratic pickup in the Texas House.
With much gratitude,
Sherrie Matula
Candidate for House District 129
Note: This entry is part of a series of written Q&As with judicial candidates who will be on the ballot in Harris County. I am also doing recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates.
1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
My name is Mike Miller and I am the Democratic candidate for the 11th Civil District Court in Harris County.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
Civil district courts hear most civil cases except for those involving probate and family law. The general jurisdiction of the civil district courts includes claims involving contracts, torts, property, consumer rights, employment, foreclosures and other collection matters, injunctions, some maritime, civil rights, and federal statutory matters for which there is concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts, partnership dissolutions, name changes, appeals from workers' compensation administrative hearings, insurance disputes, property tax suits, declaratory judgments, and numerous others.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
I am 54 and have been a Texas trial lawyer for 28 years. It is time for me to move from the counsel table to the bench, and I have the experience and temperament to do it. As for this particular bench, I have nothing but positive things to say about the competency and general fairness of my 20 year Republican incumbent opponent, Mark Davidson, except that any lawyer who has spent much time in his court will tell you he has a tendency to be overly impatient with and abusive to lawyers who come before him. Non-lawyers may say: "Good for him, lawyers deserve it," but in my opinion verbal abuse is never appropriate. He also has the reputation of refusing to grant a continuance under nearly any circumstance. As an experienced trial lawyer I know that continuances should sometimes be granted in the interest of justice, and/or to accomodate special circumstances of the parties and their lawyers.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
I have tried more than 150 jury trials to verdicts in nearly 28 years of practicing law in Texas. I have been board certified in personal injury trial law since 1994, and I am AV rated by my peers for competency and ethics. I have worked as both a plaintiff's and defense lawyer in Harris County for both small and large firms. I have handled hundreds of hearings and depositions during my 20 years practicing in Harris County. I graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and Southwestern University. For more detailed information go to my website at www.miller4judge.com.
5. Why is this race important?
We currently have, and have had for way too long, nothing but Republican judges in Harris County. Any experienced trial lawyer will tell you the judge can make a big difference in the outcome of a jury trial. The trial judge must interpret the rules of civil procedure, rules of evidence, statutes and case law. She/he also has discretion in how to conduct various aspects of a jury trial. It is in that interpretation of the applicable law and the exercise of that discretion that a judge's personal sense regarding what is fair has an impact on the outcome of a given case. It is time to let some Democratic judges do that interpretation and exercise that discretion to restore balance to our local civil justice system.
6. Why should people vote for you in November?
In addition to what I have said above, I support the 2008 Texas Democratic platform and oppose the 2008 Texas Republican platform. Most of that should have little or nothing to do with being a civil district judge, but to the extent my personal political and philosophical opinions will unwittingly have an impact on how I interpret the law and exercise discretion as a judge, there you have it.
PREVIOUSLY:
Dion Ramos, 55th Civil Judicial District Court.
Shawna Reagin, 176th District Criminal Court.
Al Bennett, 61st Civil Judicial District Court.
Judge Jim Jordan, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
I'll say it again: The Texas Residential Construction Commission was created at the behest of homebuilders for their protection from consumers, and it deserves ti die.
Nearly two weeks ago, the Sunset Advisory Commission said what TRCC opponents have been wanting to hear: The agency should be abolished because it is "fundamentally flawed."The decision has brought praise from those who contend the TRCC was created to protect home builders instead of homeowners. Those who support the agency, including the bill's sponsor, disagree, saying it provides statewide building standards that did not exist in Texas and prevents unnecessary litigation.
The sunset report also sets up a fight in next year's legislative session between lawmakers who want to abolish the commission and those who want it to remain intact.
With the support of home builders, the TRCC was established to create a system to resolve disputes between builders and homeowners before they headed to court.
The advisory commission's report, however, said only 12 percent of cases in which the state has sent inspectors to review alleged defects have resulted in a "satisfactory offer or repair or compensation over the life of the program."
Duane Waddill, the TRCC's executive director, said the 12 percent figure has increased to about 34 percent in the last six months. He said that if the agency, which averages about 1,000 complaints a year, is abolished, it would clear about 28,000 builders from regulatory oversight.
Well, given that it was the builders who ran the TRCC, it's at best arguable that they're under any regulatory oversight right now. Since going through the TRCC was a requirement before any unhappy homeowner could take a builder to court, removing that barrier would seem to me to be beneficial to the customer. And you know, the Lege could always try again, and maybe this time create an agency with some actual teeth, and require it to include some consumer advocates on its board. I'm just saying.
Seems that the recent appeals court ruling that may have given viability to the infamous "checks aren't cash" defense was a partisan decision.
In a dissent unusual for its critical tone, Justice Diane Henson, a Democrat, wrote that three Republican colleagues first delayed the resolution of the case for years, effectively tying the hands of prosecutors, and then issued an opinion about 10 days ago that went too far when it concluded that the state's money-laundering statute did not cover checks at the time that DeLay is accused of laundering corporate money into campaign donations.That conclusion was included in the panel's opinion, which upheld the constitutionality of the state's money-laundering law. The statute had been challenged by DeLay associates John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Washington.
Henson noted that panel's opinion came three years after the court first got the case and two years after the three Republican justices heard oral arguments in what she said was supposed to be an accelerated pretrial challenge.
She urged that all six justices on the court, not just the Republican panel, rehear the arguments, in what is called an en banc review. The court has four Republicans and two Democrats.
"In a case where the panel has been unable to resolve pretrial proceedings in this accelerated case in even a remotely reasonable period of time, effectively tying the hands of the prosecution for several years and delaying the resolution of charges of public corruption that undermine the very core of our political system, the need for en banc review is evident," she wrote.
The 3rd Court of Appeals released Henson's 14-page dissent on its Web site over the holiday weekend after her Republican colleagues denied her request that the entire appellate court rehear the case. Justice Jan Patterson, the only other Democrat on the court, voted with Henson.
[...]
In her dissent, Henson disagreed with her colleagues' reasoning. She wrote that the panel "oversteps the boundaries of this Court's authority" in deciding a pretrial matter. She said the justices should have decided the constitutionality of the law -- on its face -- and not delved into the check-versus-cash argument that was not before them. She dismissed it as an "advisory opinion."
Henson rebutted the panel's conclusion that the law covered cash but not checks in 2002. The law said that "funds" includes cash, without mentioning checks.
"There is no ambiguity in the legislature's use of 'includes' in the definition of 'funds.' By defining 'funds' to 'include' cash, the legislature plainly did not define 'funds' to mean only cash," Henson wrote.
You can read Justice Henson's dissent here (PDF). When I asked Cris Feldman about this decision in the interview I conducted last week, he was very critical of it. I have a better understand of why he was so harsh about it now.
The Supreme Court of Texas Blog, which as its name implies does not normally examine criminal cases, says the following:
Despite her disagreements with the panel decision, Justice Henson notes that she would have reached the very same judgment as did the panel (affirming the trial court and allowing the case to proceed) but "without issuing an advisory opinion":
While I strongly disagree with the panel's reading of section 34.01(2), their discussion of whether checks are considered "funds" under the statute remains pure dicta, as Ellis and Colyandro have failed to establish that the statute is unconstitutionally vague on its face. I would have affirmed the trial court's order denying habeas corpus relief without issuing an advisory opinion that not only reaches the merits of an issue that is not properly before this Court, but ignores the plain meaning of the statute in doing so.
In that way, this case is much like the tax case I mentioned last week. In both cases, the Third Court decided a novel question of law -- and wrapped that into a judgment that one side cannot appeal and the other has no incentive to.In both cases, the nominal "winner" of the judgment feels that they lost the rule of law announced in the opinion, and vice versa. The effect is an intermediate court of appeals decision announcing a new rule of law for the appellate district that is, in practical terms, unreviewable by a higher court.
I've always wondered what a so-called "activist court" might look like. Now I think I've finally found one. Judge Pat Priest will be left to clean up the mess when the defense attorneys for Colyandro, Ellis, and DeLay submit their inevitbale motions for the cases to be dismissed. Good luck with that, Judge.
UPDATE: Rick Casey talks to the sponsors of the bill that added the clarifying language regarding checks, and a couple of prosecutors about whether they'd ever had an issue with this before. It's pretty revealing.
I know I usually run the Texas Progressive Alliance weekly blog roundup on Tuesdays, but with the Labor Day holiday, this is basically a virtual Tuesday. So enjoy the highlights, and know that they come with the realization that Friday is a day closer than usual.
Is John McCain's vice presidential pick some kind of joke? McBlogger's Mayor McSleaze thinks it's more like a situation comedy.
CouldBeTrue is happy for Webb County! Finally, the long sheriff's primary is over and Martin Cuellar is the official sheriff-to-be. And, yeah, the AG is looking into the hinky first recount.
With Tom DeLay and the TRMPAC indictments back in the news, Off the Kuff conducts an interview with Cris Feldman, one of the attorneys who won a civil judgment against TRMPAC for its violations of campaign finance law in the 2002 elections.
Stace Medellin at DosCentavos is celebrating ten years of living in the Houston area. Read about what brought him to Houston and what has kept him in the big city.
Neil at Texas Liberal is glad to note that the Galveston County Democrats Club http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/galveston-county-democrats-club-is-working-hard-for-victory/ is, as always, working hard for all the people of Galveston County---Both on the mainland and on the island.
The Texas Cloverleaf reminds everyone that McCain is older than fiberglass. His new sidekick leads a state with a population smaller than Collin County. Sitcom indeed.
jobsanger wonders why the Democratic Convention didn't show a little respect for Lyndon Johnson's 100th birthday, and prepares to enjoy the prospect of dueling Republican conventions.
What is the linkage between radioactive waste dumps, smear ad campaigns and HD-52 Republican nominee Bryan Daniel? Dembones at Eye On Williamson follows the money trail back to Swift Boat financer, Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, whose latest smear campaign tries to link Barack Obama to '60s radical William Ayers.
Doing My Part For The Left's refinish69 wonders if Texas Deferred Adjudication is helpful or shameful.
North Texas Liberal has video of Sen. Hillary Clinton condemning John McCain's use of her picture and quotes in his ads.
PDiddie assembled some of the satirical ridicule of John McCain's selection of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld Sarah Palin of Alaska at Brains and Eggs.
BossKitty at TruthHugger observes "
FEMA Gets A Second Chance - NOLA Redux for "Mother Of All Storms"
and what our fearless leaders plan to do about it THIS TIME.Vince at Capitol Annex offers his opinion on Michael L. Williams' manipulation of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. concerning Barack Obama's experience. For added value, one of Williams' campaign staffers decided to comment on the post and attempt to defend his boss.
nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders why PUMAs are exhibiting a high level of disrespect to Hillary and her request for full support and asks PUMA, Was It Ever About Hillary Clinton ?
Mike Thomas at Rhetoric & Rhythm is unhappy with some liberal bloggers who decided to label his Congressman - Ciro Rodriguez - as a so-called "Bush Dog Democrat".
I am sad to say that we are now in a world where Don LaFontaine, the well-known movie trailer voiceover guy, is no longer living.
Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the now loved-catch phrase, "in a world where..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68.LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from complications in the treatment of an ongoing illness, said Vanessa Gilbert, his agent.
LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks.
In a rare on-screen appearance in 2006, he parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for a car insurance company where he played himself telling a customer, "In a world where both of our cars were totally under water ..."
In an interview last year, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind the phrase.
"We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to," he said of his viewers. "That's very easily done by saying, 'In a world where ... violence rules.' 'In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."
You can get a feel for the LaFontaine style from this episode of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" in which he played their "Not My Job" game. Rest in peace, Don LaFontaine.
I'm an infrequent reader of Richard Justice's sports columns because I tend to find him more annoying than insightful. I'm not a reader of his blog because I get all the Richard Justice I need in the paper. As such, I missed the appalling, sexist, and possibly defamatory comments he made towards Stephanie Stradley, who is a friend of mine and a genuinely nice person who knows way more about football than I do. She's far more measured in her response than he deserves. I'm not going to say any more because I don't think I can without getting profane. Just read it and see if you agree. Thanks to Tom for the pointer.
I know this is easy for me to say, but it could have been so much worse.
After spending the past three years rebuilding the levees that stand between it and inundation, this fragile city apparently passed its first significant test Monday when Gustav, which downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical depression in less than 24 hours, passed through with no major breach or significant damage.Although Gustav did what hurricanes do -- uproot trees, knock down power lines and flatten some of the homes directly in its path -- it spared the Crescent City a repeat of Hurricane Katrina. Most of those who fled the storm were concerned not with the damage that would confront them when they got home, but with how quickly they could return.
Gov. Bobby Jindal was not ready to declare victory over nature, as 500,000 residents were without power and much of the state was still bracing for rough weather, but he was sympathetic to the desire of residents to return home as quickly as possible. He said he was eager to get on a military aircraft and assess the damage this morning.
"As soon as things are safe, I'll be on that first flight myself," Jindal said. "It is way too early to determine the extent of damage to our state."
[...]
"It looks like we are not totally out of the woods, but getting close," said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
Re-entry is just days away, but residents shouldn't return Tuesday, he said. A dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in effect as officials evaluate all city services.
"We want the streets clear," Nagin said. "Trees are down all over the city, power lines are down all over the city, and there is a significant number of homes and businesses without energy."
I wish everyone the very best in getting back home and in getting their lives back to normal. For everyone who wants to help, you can always donate to the American Red Cross.
There are still more storms out there - hello, Hurricane Ike - but with any luck the Gulf of Mexico has seen the last of them for the year. Hopefully, Hurricane Hanna will not do too much damage wherever it hits. Keep your fingers crossed.
One of the more exciting campaigns this cycle has been that of Michael Skelly in CD07, as his combination of fundraising prowess and a wind energy background have put that race on the national radar. Among other things, that race and the get-out-the-vote efforts that Skelly will inspire and provide for are seen as key to the Democratic effort to win Harris County this year. The local GOP sees this as a close race, while CD07 incumbent John Culberson has called his re-election effort a "firewall" for the countywide Republicans. Skelly has been on the air with several ads since mid-July, and I think it's safe to say Culberson knows who he is by now.
My interview with Michael Skelly is here, as always in MP3 format. Let me know what you think.
PREVIOUSLY:
Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney
Chris Bell, SD17
Loren Jackson, Harris County District Clerk
Brad Bradford, Harris County District Attorney
Diane Trautman, Harris County Tax Assessor
Diana Maldonado, HD52
Eric Roberson, CD32
State Rep. Juan Garcia, HD32
Ernie Casbeer, HD59
Joe Moody, HD78
Chris Turner, HD96
Robert Miklos, HD101
State Rep. Dan Barrett, HD97
Wendy Davis, SD10
Marc Ambinder tells us what Team McCain didn't know about Sarah Palin before she became his soul mate.
They've bragged that Palin opposed the famous "Bridge to Nowhere," only to learn that Palin supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan that they weren't "nowhere" to her. After the national outcry, she decided to spend the funds allocated to the bridge for something else. Actually, maybe it's more fair to say that coincident with the national outcry, she changed her mind. The story shows her political judgment, but it is not a reformer's credential.Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor of Wassila, she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax cutter.
She denied pressuring the state's chief of public safety to fire her sister-in-law's husband even though there's mounting evidence that the impetus did indeed come from her. Ostensibly to clear her name, Palin asked her attorney general to open an independent investigation--the legislature had already been investigating. (I am told that the campaign was aware of the ethics complaint filed against her but accepts Palin's account.)
McCain's campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls profits tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human contributions to global warming than McCain is.
They did not know that she took trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks.
They did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does.
Perhaps if McCain had spoken to Palin more than twice, some of these facts might have come to light for them before now. McCain, of course, still might have chosen her. But at least then he'd have known what he was actually getting. On the other hand, if you talk to people you risk ruining the surprise.
Howard Opinsky, another McCain veteran, said calling attention to Ms. Palin's possible candidacy during the search process would have undermined the impact of her eventual selection."Had her name been played out in the press for months and months, she wouldn't have been seen as so bold," Mr. Opinsky said. "You either get freshness and you have to live with what you get in your vetting or you lose the freshness."
Lord knows, we wouldn't want to ruin the freshness.
It's funny, but for all the talk about the "judgment" thing, the judgment that really should be questioned is McCain's. As I've said before, I've been in the corporate world for a long time. I've lived through mergers, acquisitions, outsourcings, strategic partnerships, and just about everything else you can think of. And the one thing they all have in common is that they take months, sometimes more than a year, to go through due diligence before anyone signs on the dotted line. As well they should, since billions of dollars and the company's (or companies') reputation is at stake. What would Wall Street say about a Fortune 500 company that decided, after just a couple of phone calls, to merge with a little-known startup, and to make that startup a key part of its brand? In effect, that's what McCain did here. Is anyone surprised by what has happened so far?
Of course, since McCain knew he was losing and couldn't win the conventional way, he decided - not unreasonably - to take a gamble and try to change the game. It's just that taking such a risk is, well, risky.
Another week, another Frank Luntz/AARP focus group of undecided voters--this one in Minneapolis and with some bad news for John McCain: they don't like the choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. Only one person said Palin made him more likely to vote for McCain; about half the 25-member group raised their hands when asked if Palin made them less likely to vote for McCain. They had a negative impression of Palin by a 2-1 margin...a fact that was reinforced when they were given hand-dials and asked to react to Palin's speech at her first appearance with McCain on Friday---the dials remained totally neutral as Palin went through her heart-warming(?) biography, and only blipped upwards when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere--which wasn't quite the truth, as we now know.
Link via Kevin Drum. I'll skip the bit about the Hillary delegate who is apparently only just now realizing McCain isn't a moderate because it's bad to grind my teeth so soon after visiting the dentist, but again, is anyone surprised by this?
Anyway. I've started to see some speculation that Palin will not be the nominee when November finally rolls around - the name "Thomas Eagleton" is being tossed around. The stuff that's now coming out about Palin's association with the Alaska Independence Party certainly has the potential to be devastating. Still, given the reasons why McCain chose Palin in the first place, I think he sinks or swims with her, but once again, this season has completely defied expectations, so who knows?
To wrap this up, check out James Fallows for why the task ahead for Sarah Palin is so tough, and the MOMocrats for their series examining where Palin stands on the issues, called Palin In Comparison.
In at least this respect, Alaska Governor/Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin is a typical Republican officeholder.
E-mails from the Palin administration are being withheld from the public and the governor is citing executive privilege.With subject lines like "Fagan," "Andrew Halcro" and even "Alaska Ear," it makes some wonder how those topics could possibly be policy related; especially since those same e-mails were copied to the governor's husband.
[...]
"Part of the reason for not releasing e-mail messages is that there is a privileged recognized by the Alaska Supreme Court and courts across the country that is designed to encourage advisers to the governor to be frank and candid," Assistant Attorney General Dave Jones said.
Radio talk show host Dan Fagan is a Palin critic.
He says this isn't about policy. It's about not letting the public see what people in the administration have to say about Palin critics.
"If this is about executive privilege and confidential information then Todd should not be privy to them," Fagan said. "He's a regular citizen he does not get to be co-governor. We did not slash Todd on the ballot box."
Fagan is referring to Todd Palin, the governor's husband who also got copies of many of the e-mails.
Jones says the privilege applies in this case.
"That privilege applies to internal memoranda within state government but also to communications that are solicited from people outside state government," he said. "Sometimes the governor will want to solicit advice from people who are not state employees or federal Of course one of the closest advisers to a governor is likely to be that governor's spouse."
I have to admit, it's a clever ploy, one I wouldn't have thought of. So what do you think is the over/under on when Rick Perry starts cc'ing Anita on anything he doesn't want to make public? Any day now, I figure.
So long, Crawford. It was nice using you.
This tiny dot on the Central Texas prairie has hosted world-leader summits and massive anti-war protests. Its residents have been profiled and photographed and have learned about life in the spotlight.Eight years after President Bush bought 1,600 acres here and began extolling the wonders of Crawford to the world, this little town's presidential heyday is nearing its end. After his last extended August trip as president, which concluded this past week, Bush and his entourage are largely moving on.
"I think our town has gotten to experience things that few other towns in America ever get," said Marilyn Judy, a special education teacher and head of the Crawford Chamber of Commerce. "We have had the whole world at our doorstep."
Bush wrapped up nearly two weeks at his ranch last Wednesday. He'll likely return to vote in November and spend the odd weekend and holiday before the end of the year. But the president and first lady Laura Bush are buying a house in Dallas, where Bush is expected to focus on his presidential library and a pro-democracy foundation on the campus of Southern Methodist University. They are keeping the ranch, but it's no secret that the first lady wants to move to the city. The Crawford days are ending.
"We will probably always have some tourists," Judy said. "I don't think we will become the hotspot vacation place you have to go visit."
Yeah, I don't think so, either. I suspect in a few years Crawford will be the subject of one of those "Whatever happened to..." pieces you see in the Sunday paper or maybe in Texas Monthly. Both parties involved got what they wanted - Bush successfully gulled the national press into buying his faux-rancher act, while Crawford got some exposure and made a few bucks selling souvenirs - and now everyone hopes to get back to normal now that it's about to be over. Much like the rest of the country for that latter part. I wish them as much luck as the rest of us at attaining that.
This is definitely good news.
Army Corps of Engineers chiefs say they anticipate no storm surge flooding due to Hurricane Gustav, which is turning out to be far less than what was previously forecast by the National Weather Service.But they do anticipate localized flooding due to heavy rainfall. That water will have to be handled by local drainage and pumping systems in each parish, they say.
"The dewatering of the internal city due to rainfall will be up to these non-federal pumping stations,'' said Brigadier Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, the corps' chief of engineers.
Via SciGuy, of course, who has more hopeful news for New Orleans. Stay safe, y'all.
I pass the following along with amusement but no comment. In that email exchange between Jack Rains and Joan Huffman that I highlighted yesterday, among the things that Rains flung against the wall was this:
A great deal of pressure is being applied to this race behind the scenes. I am advised by several sources that State Senator John Whitmire, Democrat Houston, is soliciting support for Joan Huffman, who is running as a Republican. Senator Whitmire has reportedly received a large donation, some say $10,000, from Joan Huffman's husband Keith lawyer, Mr. Lawyer who is heavily funding his wife's campaign, some say to the tune of half million dollars, has an extensive number of bars , which presumably serve alcoholic beverages. John Nau is the Budweiser distributor for Harris and several other surrounding counties. Incidentally the event was organized by Joan Huffman's consultants, Sue and Dave Walden, who were consultant to Lee P. Brown, a democrat partisan and clearly Houston's all time worst mayor.
You already know that I think he's making up that allegation about Sen. Whitmire, who I'm told is not happy about being dragged into this little spat. Turns out some other feathers were ruffled as well. Here's an email exchange that resulted from this, which was passed along to me:
From: David Walden
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 10:02 AM
To: jack@jackrains.com
Cc: Sue Walden
Subject: Joan Huffman Campaign
Jack, once again you must not have been sober when sending out your email claiming that I am a consultant to Joan's campaign. I am not involved in her campaign. My wife is. Just her. Not me. I don't work at Walden and Associates. I expect you to send a correction asap to the poor souls on your email list or I truly will deal with you like the dog you are. Understood fat boy.
Dave Walden
[here's the reply:]From: Jack Rains
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 3:43 PM
To: Jack Rains
Subject: Dave Walden attack and request for clarification
Importance: High
Dear Dave,
In response to your message below, I of course apologize for and deeply regret any angst I caused you, or Sue, by mistakenly assuming you guys were a team. I assure you both I intended no offense.
Pursuant to your request I will make everyone aware of the facts by attaching your email below. Since I have received no clarification from Sue, are we to assume you speak for her in this matter?
On the subject of your personal remarks and threats; first I assume you speak, as usual, only for yourself. To properly address the matter may I suggest the two of us schedule a time when we may enjoy a quiet stroll together in Memorial Park so that you may personally express your feelings. If you were serious, and not merely popping off and exhibiting your famous humor and keen political skills, I must warn you, as an attorney, that physical attacks against poor old elderly, physically infirmed folks constitute a felony under Texas law. You should also consider that if attacked such actions in turn permit us to defend ourselves...... even from apparently deranged Chihuahuas.
Chill and stay out of the rain, I look forward to seeing you soon and personally resolving this unfortunate matter.
jack
I believe it was Molly Ivins who said that politics was the finest form of free entertainment ever devised. I think we can all see why she thought that.
Kinky Friedman. Again.
Kinky Friedman, who helped make the 2006 Texas governor's race an entertaining "must-see," is on the road again -- as a performer. In Washington Thursday on a four-city East Coast swing, Friedman and his two long-time sidekicks, Little Jewford and Ratso, filled the Birchmere in nearby Alexandria, Va. Friedman got to use "my two favorite words in the English language 'sold out.'"Friedman performed the night that Barack Obama was giving his boffo speech in Denver, which wasn't a problem for the Texan, even though the singer-songwriter-humorist -novelist-candidate now declares himself to be a Democrat. "I'm not supporting Barack Obama," he said before the show. He likes McCain but stops short of saying he'll back him. Mainly, he's weighing his own options for governor in 2010. "I ran as an independent. I don't think Texans vote for independents. I'll go back to my roots as an old-style Democrat like Ann Richards and JFK. If we can get the rednecks back into the Democratic Party, we can win." He's not committed to running, but he sure sounds close.
*takes deep breath* I have two things to say about this.
1. I'll say it once again: Kinky Friedman will not be the Democratic nominee for Governor in Texas in 2010 unless every other possible candidate, including Gene Kelly and Rhett Smith, decline to run. Having said that, he could perhaps incrementally improve his odds of winning - from "snowball's chance in hell" to "snowball's chance in Death Valley" - by doing something that might identify him as a Democrat to Democratic primary voters. You know, like maybe supporting the Democratic nominee for President. I'm not asking him to phone bank or donate money or sign up to receive text messages on his cellphone, assuming he has one. A simple, declarative "I support and will vote for Barack Obama for President" would do nicely.
2. This is becoming as tedious as the neverending flow of "Kay Bailey Hutchison says she's going to run for Governor in 2010, and this time she means it" stories. For crying out loud, the fact that Friedman is talking about running for Governor again and has been talking about it for a year now doesn't mean it's worthy of mention in a newspaper, or even in a newspaper's blog, every time he farts in the general direction of a political beat reporter. We get it. He wants to run. He'll tell anyone in earshot that he wants to run. Oh, and as long as you're listening, he's also got a CD/a new book/some cigars/some amazing soap and laundry products to sell you. Please, for the love of God, give it a rest already.
R.G. Ratcliffe takes a cue from me.
One politician whose name is floated for almost every statewide office is former Comptroller John Sharp, who lost runs for lieutenant governor in 1998 and 2002. Former Party chairs Bob Slagle and Molly Beth Malcolm said Sharp is an unlikely path for the Democrats' future."I doubt that he can raise the money for a major statewide race. You lose too many times and it makes it hard to raise statewide money," Slagle said.
"John Sharp had his time," said Malcolm, 53. "It's time for new blood. That's not to say you won't see people my age running, but this is really a generational change."
Whatever will we do when we don't have John Sharp's name to float any more? I can't even begin to imagine.