In the end, it wasn’t close. City Council approved a plan Wednesday that will give Houston two international commercial airports, settling a public policy debate that raged for months over whether flights from Hobby Airport to Latin America would boost the local economy with new passengers or divide the city against itself and trigger layoffs, [...]
Posts from ‘May, 2012’
More reactions to the election results
Enough about me. What are some other people saying about Tuesday’s results? Here’s a sample: Greg Juanita PDiddie Campos Mark Bennett EoW Neil Harold Stace Lion Star Texas Trib TM Daily Post TFN Insider There’s a certain amount of bitterness and disgust expressed in some of those posts about the more ridiculous results from Tuesday. [...]
Skeeter season
Not the minor league baseball team, the kind we all hate. Despite dire predictions of an even worse-than-usual mosquito invasion this spring, the swarm of activity actually thinned out in May, after two out-of-control months buoyed by rain and unseasonably high temperatures. “There has been a dramatic decline,” said Mike McMahan, who oversees mosquito control [...]
Texas blog roundup for the week of May 28
The Texas Progressive Alliance says “on to the runoffs!” as it brings you this holiday week roundup.
Democratic results, Harris County
The good: – Lane Lewis won a full term as HCDP Chair by a 55-45 margin. If you heard a whizzing noise this evening, it was the bullet we all dodged in this race. – Sheriff Adrian Garcia easily won renomination with over 70% of the vote. – State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Borris Miles [...]
GOP results, statewide
Full, though not necessarily the most up to date, results, are here. The Trib and the Observer have good roundups as well. – Mitt. Yawn. He was at just under 70% statewide, with Ron Paul getting 11% and Rick Santorum 8%. You have to wonder what might have been if Santorum had held on through [...]
GOP results, Harris County
Bullet points for all these result posts, I was up way too late last night. See the numbers here and the chat transcript from last night here. – You could have sold me on any result in the GOP DA primary going into yesterday, but I definitely did not expect such a wide margin. Mike [...]
Races I’ll be watching for tonight
As noted this morning, I will be participating in a live chat tonight beginning at 7 PM at the Chron election blog. I hope you’ll come by and ask some questions about what happened today. There are many races to keep track of. Here’s a brief guide to some of the one’s I’ll be watching [...]
Hobby jobs claims
There’s been a lot of discussion about how many jobs the proposal to expand Hobby Airport and allow Southwest Airlines to begin flying internationally from there may or may not create. This story gets to the heart of what really matters. Expanding Hobby Airport so Southwest Airlines can begin flying to Latin America will create [...]
Vote centers in Travis County
This will be interesting to observe. Come Nov. 6, Travis County residents can vote at any polling place in the presidential election, county commissioners decided Tuesday. County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir recommended the switch to the “vote center” system, which allows people to vote at any pollng place in the county on Election Day rather than [...]
More replay for MLB, please
They’re thinking about it, but don’t rush them. Major League Baseball currently is exploring the expansion of instant replay with the World Umpires Association, and no timetable has been specified for any adjustments to the current policy. The owners and the MLB Players Association agreed in collective bargaining last year for a new Basic Agreement [...]
The Chron’s final endorsement list
Here it is, in all its pathetically incomplete glory. Compare to what they had done by the start of Early Voting and you can see that they never developed anything resembling a sense of urgency about this. It’s a pity and a puzzle, but there you have it. I’d love to know if they started [...]
Four Congressional stories
CD27: It’s a relatively unknown field of hopefuls trying to unseat incumbent Republican Blake Farenthold in the newly configured U.S. House District 27, an area that stretches from Bastrop County south to Nueces County. The field includes former Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald — well-known in Central Texas but not in the most populous part [...]
Don’t talk about 2014!
Greg Abbott continues to not talk about his burning desire to be Governor. When it comes to his political ambitions, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is playing coy. During a campaign stop Tuesday in Helotes, where he endorsed Republican state Rep. John Garza, Abbott again refused to offer any details about his next step — [...]
Weekend link dump for May 27
Summertime, and the living is easy… Why newspapers insist on printing what liars say is a mystery to me. This is the best argument I’ve seen against restaurants automatically adding a tip to the check. You can find life just about everywhere on this planet. How will driverless cars affect parking? Giant prehistoric turtles. Do [...]
Three primary stories
TX Trib: 4 Democrats Vying to Replace Hochberg in HD-137 Observers say the winner of the contest for HD-137 is likely to be decided in the Democratic primary, whose four candidates are former Capitol staffers Joseph Carlos Madden and Jamaal Smith, Harris County prosecutor Gene Wu and Alief Independent School District board member Sarah Winkler. [...]
Abbott gives on legislative privilege
About time. In an effort to move to trial more quickly, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has quietly dropped his opposition to the Department of Justice’s request to take depositions from state lawmakers in the voter identification case. In March, Abbott asked a federal court in Washington to shield 12 state lawmakers from giving depositions [...]
Skilling asks for new trial
Good luck with that. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s appellate battle apparently will continue with what his attorney says is “newly discovered evidence.” In a motion for a time extension filed last week, Daniel Petrocelli asked to have until August 17 to submit Skilling’s latest brief. The two-page motion refers to Skilling’s intent to ask [...]
Final early vote totals
The pattern remained consistent till the end. Nearly 116,000 Harris County residents have made their selections in next week’s primaries through early voting and returns from a record batch of mail-in ballots. In all, 90,489 people voted in person at select polling stations open May 14 through Friday and 25,469 mail ballots were returned. Possibly [...]
Saturday video break: You Really Got A Hold On Me
Song #66 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “You Really Got A Hold On Me”, by The Miracles and covered by The Beatles. Here’s the original: You pretty much can’t go wrong with Smokey Robinson. And here’s the Fab Four version: The Beatles did quite a few of these Motown songs – the [...]
For shame, Keryl Douglas
Take a look at what was being handed out at an early voting location yesterday: So much for all those denials about that “Ministers for Keryl” email. You’d think that President Obama’s recent embrace of marriage equality might have made her reconsider this course of action. I mean, it’s likely that the national platform will [...]
More reactions to the new Astrodome report
Texans owner Bob McNair says “Sure, that’s nice and all, but don’t you forget about me.” “Our first concern is Reliant Stadium,” McNair said Thursday. “We want to make sure we’ve got adequate funds there for repairs, replacement and improvements, and right now we don’t have ade-quate funds. I’d like to see that taken care [...]
Friday random ten: What I am is what I am
I know what I am. 1. I’m A Bear In A Ladies Boudoir – Asylum Street Spankers 2. I’m A Believer – The Monkees 3. I’m A Rocker – Bruce Springsteen 4. I’m An Old Cowhand – Mutual Admiration Society 5. I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper 6. I’m Free – The Soup Dragons 7. I’m [...]
Meet the new “What To Do With The Astrodome” report
Not that much different than the old “What To Do With The Astrodome” report. The Astrodome, a now-empty showplace that has hosted everyone from Elvis Presley to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, should be turned into a multipurpose facility that could spark fresh interest in the city of Houston, a group of consultants recommended Wednesday. The $270 [...]
Petition drive to overturn the homeless feeding ordinance
It’s underway. The petitioners have until July 1 to gather their signatures because that’s when the ordinance goes into effect. City Attorney David Feldman just informed me that petitioners have the longer of either 30 days following an ordinance’s passage or until the ordinance’s effective date to gather signatures. In this case, it’s the latter. [...]
Endorsement watch: For Rep. Alma Allen
There are three contested Democratic primaries involving an incumbent State Representative in Harris County, and six such primaries involving Republicans. The Chron has now made an endorsement in one of those races. In the Democratic primary race for Texas House District 131, Houston City Councilmember Wanda Adams is challenging longtime incumbent Dr. Alma Allen. It [...]
More details on the Southwest deal
Here’s the memo of understanding between Southwest and the city, via Houston Politics. Some highlights: Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-to-late 2013 with an opening of the five international gates and customs facility in late 2015. Other aspects of the deal: Southwest will design and build the project. Southwest will comply with city goals [...]
The deal with Southwest
It’s official. In a news conference at Hobby Airport, Mayor Annise Parker announced Wednesday that Southwest Airlines will pay the estimated $100 million cost for a five-gate expansion at Hobby that would provide international flights. “This is one of those deals where I don’t have to spend the next 20 minutes explaining what’s in the [...]
Fifth Circuit sends open beaches lawsuit back to district court
Unfortunately, the headline makes it sound like better news than it is. A federal appeals court Monday ruled that the Texas Open Beaches Act is unconstitutional in the case of a Galveston Island property, a ruling that puts the fate of Texas public beaches in doubt. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the [...]
Endorsement watch: One more down, still many more to do
After a three-day hiatus, the Chron gets back on the endorsement track by recommending Cindy Vara-Leija for Constable in Precinct 1. We believe Cindy Vara-Leija, who retired last October from a 32-year career in law enforcement, is the strongest candidate to clean up the mess in Precinct 1. [...] Vara-Leija’s lengthy experience in the mental [...]
Texas blog roundup for the week of May 21
The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that early voting for the 2012 primaries continues through Friday as it brings you this week’s roundup.