Monthly Archives: April 2005

On the market again

Posted on April 8, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve tried and failed to come up with a snarky-but-not-tasteless way to describe this story, so I’m just going to present it without comment. I’m not sure it needs comment anyway. Newly divorced Russell Yates said in a newspaper interview … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 5 Comments

Budget news

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I confess, I haven’t been paying nearly close enough attention to the budget debates going on in both chambers right now. Inside the Texas Capitol and The Red State have some excellent analyses that I urge you to read. Eddie … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 4 Comments

Chron writeup on I-45 town hall

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story on Saturday’s I-45 town hall meeting. It’s got a lot more detail about the presentations, so be sure to check it out. One thing I want to highlight from the article that I didn’t mention in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Just implant the chip in my head now and be done with it

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Scott is right – you just can’t make this stuff up. Rep. Larry Phillips has proposed HB2893, which would put RFID tags in vehicle registration stickers. I can think of many reasons why this is a bad idea, but you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 5 Comments

KIOL on the move

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

New Houston rock station KIOL is fixing to move to a new spot on the dial. Moving trucks have been spotted in the vicinity of Cumulus Rocker KIOL/Houston, which is poised to annex the 103.7 signal of currently silent sister … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 6 Comments

Is the tap turning off for Tom?

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

DeLay defense fund donations slow Donations to Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s defense fund have slowed considerably in the last few months. Some of his critics hope to cut the money flow even more with a new line of attack launched … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on Is the tap turning off for Tom?

How many supporters does a bill need to pass?

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

House Bill 1348, the Smith-Eiland bill to tighten campaign finance laws, now has eighty-four coauthors. That’s more than enough votes to pass out of the House right now. So why hasn’t it already done so? This might be a clue: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Cornyn: Still clueless

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Obviously, I gave John Cornyn too much credit when I said he’d “apologized” for his stupid and offensive remarks about threats to judges, since he clearly doesn’t understand what he did wrong. “The lesson I learned is that Washington is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

A big fat nothing

Posted on April 7, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I know that there’s now bipartisan opposition to increased gambling this session, but we all know that it’s going to raise its ugly head again one of these days. There’s just too much money pushing for it, and too much … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

Team Bell

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via the Quorum Report, the exploratory campaign committee for Chris Bell has been fleshed out. The name most likely to turn heads is Joe Trippi. Click the More link for the full story. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

The dueling propositions

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for future reference: arguments made in the lawsuit over whether the city of Houston is required to adopt last year’s Proposition 2 in addition to Prop 1, even though Prop 1’s language barred that from happening. I assume Mayor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Talking with Richard Morrison

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

As you’ve probably read elsewhere in the Texas progressive ‘sphere today, Richard Morrison spent some time last night talking to a bunch of us bloggers. From the very beginning of his campaign last year, Morrison has been a friend of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 7 Comments

Do you care what Clayton Williams wants?

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I’m kind of amused that ol’ Clayton Williams is dispensing wisdom to Republicans about next year’s Governor’s race. Maybe we should be asking Garry Mauro what he thinks Chris Bell ought to be doing while we’re at it. Be that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 3 Comments

Why WiFi

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

This LAT article gives a good overview of why cities around the country are looking at installing WiFi networks. In addition to the usual perks of making their cities more attractive to businesses and residents, they have discovered new ways … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 2 Comments

PLOB watch – HB2881

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Got an email yesterday (reproduced below the fold) about another PLOB: House Bill 2881, which would create a new government agency designed to keep people from suing polluters. I think we’ve finally stumbled onto the master plan to limit activist … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on PLOB watch – HB2881

Cornyn backs away

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

So Senator Cornyn has now revised and extended his original remarks. Cornyn tried Tuesday to stop what he called the misrepresentation of a speech about the judiciary that he made on the Senate floor a day earlier. With the criticism … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 6 Comments

A song for Tom

Posted on April 6, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not just a DeLay drumbeat out there, it’s an entire marching band. Yet another lobbyist-paid junket (of which DeLay knew nothing! nothing!) along with Jack Abramoff and a nice fat paycheck for his wife to do…something, I guess. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 3 Comments

More thoughts on CD22

Posted on April 5, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Greg comments on the contested primary in CD22 story. He’s a bit rough on Bob Stein, and he makes a point about this district and how it was drawn I want to expand on: It was drawn to be a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 1 Comment

The more, the merrier?

Posted on April 5, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via The Stakeholder, there are now rumors of a contested Democratic primary in CD22 for next year. Houston city council member Gordon Quan has confirmed for that he’s talked with national Democratic Party leaders about running against DeLay. Democratic activists … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | 16 Comments

Baseball at the MFAH

Posted on April 5, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

According to Stina, the Museum of Fine Arts will have several interesting baseball-themed exhibits over the next few weeks. Check out the panoramic view of the Astrodome from Jim Dow’s showcase of stadium photos, on display from May thru August. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment

They’re asking for it

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Via Josh Marshall, the following words were spoken on the floor of the Senate by the junior Senator from Texas, John Cornyn: I don’t know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 15 Comments

Who has the jurisdiction?

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman takes a look at the question of jurisdiction over Tom DeLay, a question that I’ve ruminated about a few times. State law generally prohibits spending corporate money on campaigns. But [Travis County DA Ronnie] Earle always has faced … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

RIP, Laurence Laurenzano

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

My dad emailed me yesterday to give me the sad news that my middle school band director, Laurence Laurenzano, had passed away. If there’s one person responsible for instilling in me a love of making music, it’s Larry Laurenzano. I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 13 Comments

DeLay: Is not!

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The official Tom DeLay response to the poll that shows voters in his district don’t like him so much is sticking his fingers in his ears and chanting “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!” A DeLay aide pointed out … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | Comments Off on DeLay: Is not!

I live for this

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Opening Day. Yankees over Red Sox. Life is good. It was a little strange seeing the Yankees in the first game of the season (I for one kinda liked the tradition of the Reds kicking things off), and on a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 4 Comments

Just say No to drug task forces

Posted on April 4, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Looking for a nice easy-to-understand bullet point list of reason why drug task forces are a bad idea? Grits is the place. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on Just say No to drug task forces

Peace reigns in Dallas

Posted on April 3, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

The Dallas County Democratic Party seems to have restored peace and order within its ranks. Byron and StoutDem have the scoop. Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Peace reigns in Dallas

The I-45 town hall

Posted on April 3, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

I attended the town hall hosted by Rep. Jessica Farrar on the I-45 expansion yesterday. Here are a few highlights: – The opening presentation by Rice architecture prof Stephen Fox and preservationist David Bush was okay, but marred somewhat by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

As the voters turn

Posted on April 3, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Lo! there were chickens. And they did come home to roost. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s footing among his constituents has slipped drastically during the past year and a majority of his district disapproves of how he handled the Terri … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 8 Comments

Aquifer update

Posted on April 2, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

B and B gives some background on the Edwards Aquifer and the groups that aim to protect it from excessive development, while PinkDome notes HB2832, which appears to be the House version of the noxious Armbrister bill. I’m sure there … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on Aquifer update

Saturday scandal scorecard

Posted on April 2, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Catching up on a few things… Bill Hammond and the Texas Association of Business have been added as defendants to an existing lawsuit filed in 2002. The suit alleges the group and Hammond conspired with Texans for a Republican Majority, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized! | 2 Comments

Bringing back the asterisk

Posted on April 2, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not just the boyos in Washington that can grandstand about baseball: The North Dakota Senate has unanimously passed a resolution calling on Bud Selig to Roger Maris the single-season home run king again. “In North Dakota when we think … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment

Rumormongering

Posted on April 2, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Greg has a long list of rumors of candidates jumping into and out of this race and that in the Houston area. I don’t have anything to add to it at this time, though I’ll join with the commenter who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Rumormongering

Never do by 2010 that which you can postpone until later

Posted on April 1, 2005 by Charles Kuffner

Why do they call you Smokey Joe, Congressman Barton? U.S. Rep. Joe Barton wants to include a provision in upcoming energy legislation allowing Dallas-Fort Worth and other smoggy regions of the country to miss deadlines mandating compliance with federal ozone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Never do by 2010 that which you can postpone until later