Monthly Archives: January 2007

RIP, Molly Ivins

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Molly Ivins has passed away. Molly Ivins, the irreverent nationally syndicated columnist from Texas who rankled conservatives and delighted liberals, died late this afternoon after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. She was 62. A self-described leftist agitator, she infused … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

NASA chief rebuked for DeLay endorsement

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall back in March that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin stirred up some trouble when he gave a public address that included an exhortation to the audience to keep Tom DeLay in office. This is because of the Hatch … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2006 | Comments Off on NASA chief rebuked for DeLay endorsement

Metro’s HOV crackdown

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I see that Metro is cracking down on HOV violators. Metro police officer Scott Ashmore parked his motorcycle at the top of the T-shaped ramp of the Northwest Freeway HOV lane at Dacoma and waited. But not for long. A … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 9 Comments

Campaign kickoff event for Melissa Noriega

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Time to gear up for the May special election. Click the More link for an invitation to Melissa Noriega’s campaign kickoff event, to which all are welcome. Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Campaign kickoff event for Melissa Noriega

“For Better or For Worse”, but not for much longer

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The pile of comic strip retirements is about to get bigger. Well, sort of. First, the bad news: Lynn Johnston needs a break. The cartoonist has, after all, written and drawn the popular comic strip For Better or for Worse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on “For Better or For Worse”, but not for much longer

Sprint says “Switch”

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Switch away from Sprint, that is. State Comptroller Susan Combs on Monday asked Sprint to quit charging customers a fee reflecting Texas’ expanded business tax, but a spokesman for the wireless phone company said the surcharge will stay. Sprint in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 2 Comments

Danno makes his choice

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

It seems that Sen. Patrick has made his choice: The constitutional spending cap outweighs property tax cuts. Patrick said the folks in his district told him over the weekend not to break the cap. “The people I talked to fully … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Resolution to vote on bills early fails

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The vote on HR4, the resolution to suspend the constitutional rule against bringing bills to the floor in the first 60 days of a legislative session, has been conducted, and the resolution has failed, with 34 votes against, more than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

From the “Things I Wish Were True But Aren’t” Department

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Miya Shay posted something this morning that got my heart racing: What’s former Congressman, Mayoral and Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Bell up to these days? It appears that he’s ready for his next political adventure. Several sources say that Bell is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on From the “Things I Wish Were True But Aren’t” Department

You can sort of still smoke ’em in Bellaire

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Two weeks ago, the city of Bellaire declined to join Houston in banning smoking in restaurants. Turns out that it may not matter much, because one of the few places inside Bellaire that allows smoking (I could swear I read … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

In which I vent about Old Spanish Trail

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’m only blogging about this Rad Sallee column today because it took me all day yesterday to quit being so PO’ed about it. “The OST segment between Texas 288 and Fannin may be one of the slowest projects I’ve ever … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Teacherblogging

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I already know some bloggers who are or have been teachers, so this is no surprise to me. After long days of grading papers and disciplining rowdy children, a growing number of tech-savvy teachers are creating online journals to vent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Teacherblogging

“Bohemians, attorneys, and hippies”

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve blogged before about the impending development in the Rice Village that would close off a block of Bolsover and replace the little strip center there now with a high-rise mixed-use thing. The picture above gives a brief view of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on “Bohemians, attorneys, and hippies”

Just say “No” to Tom Craddick

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, the Lege will be back in Austin tomorrow for what would normally be a pro forma vote to suspend the Constitutional rule against bringing non-emergency legislation to the floor in the first 60 days of the session. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

Rebate this!

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The budget surplus isn’t as big as we thought it might have been. Thanks to our obsessive desire to feed the property tax cut beast, we’ve got $2.5 billion in unallocated money … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Rebate this!

The business tax needs to be fixed already

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like the new business tax may need to be fixed even before it gets put into effect. The law dramatically expands the number of business taxpayers. But it’s also riddled with errors and in some cases created new loopholes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on The business tax needs to be fixed already

Point/not-quite-counterpoint on rail

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know for sure, but I presume that when the Sunday Chron runs two op-eds on more or less the same subject from opposing perspectives it was planned, as in they invited the two point/counterpointers to submit the pieces … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

Talking about taking the train to Galveston

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Texas’ oldest rail line may ride again soon. The group of consultants, engineers and planners envisions a train running from an as-yet-undecided station in Houston at 59 mph along the 140-year-old Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad, said consultant Barry Goodman, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

Means and ends

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Two, four, six, eight, welfare reform wasn’t so great. When Texas became one of the first states in the nation to overhaul welfare by insisting the poor work, the governor made a bold prediction. “I believe this bill will make … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 1 Comment

New frontiers in caffeine

Posted on January 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Two words: Caffeinated doughnuts. Dr. Robert Bohannon, a molecular scientist, says he has developed a way to add caffeine to baked goods, without the bitter taste. Each piece of pastry is the equivalent of about two cups of coffee. You … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on New frontiers in caffeine

What is HCTRA up to?

Posted on January 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Tory recently had the opportunity to meet with the management of the Harris County Toll Road Authority and ask them a bunch of questions. The notes he took make for some very interesting reading. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on What is HCTRA up to?

Would you like fries with that, K-Fed?

Posted on January 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

In the immortal words of Dogbert, sometimes no sarcastic remark seems adequate. A restaurant trade group says it is insulted by an insurance company’s planned Super Bowl ad that stars Kevin Federline as a fast-food worker. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Comments Off on Would you like fries with that, K-Fed?

You may or may not already be late

Posted on January 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Are you one of those people who always runs a little late? Do you set your clock ahead a few minutes in an effort to be on time, only to be thwarted because you mentally adjust for the fact that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

Molly Ivins back in the hospital

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Get well soon, Molly! Nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins has been hospitalized in her recurring battle with breast cancer. “I think she’s tough as a metal boot,” her brother, Andy Ivins, said Friday after a visit with her at Seton … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 2 Comments

WNBA to approve Comets sale

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

According to the Houston Roundball Review, the Houston Comets are going to have a press conference on Wednesday, January 31, to announce that the proposed sale of the franchise to Hilton Koch has been approved and will go through. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Residents want West Alabama put back the way it was

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

According to the Examiner, folks living near West Alabama want their old street back. You may recall that back in 2003 when Spur 527 was taken offline for construction, changes were made to Alabama to help it serve as an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Residents want West Alabama put back the way it was

GLBT Caucus view of the Council candidates

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston GLBT Political Caucus takes a look at the five-so-far declared candidates for the open City Council seat, and adds some details that I had forgotten or hadn’t know. Despite some low profiles, this is an interesting and diverse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on GLBT Caucus view of the Council candidates

Committee assignments are out

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

This just arrived in my Inbox. Gotta love late Friday afternoon news. Hot off the presses, here are the committee assignments for the 80th Lege (PDF). Read and enjoy, commentary will follow later. UPDATE: Jim Pitts fires back. Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

System overview and downtown BRT

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Christof has a couple of Metro rail-related posts up, about how the overall system is shaping up, and how the Southeast BRT line will interact with the Main Street line. He’s about to start doing a lot of posts related … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on System overview and downtown BRT

And more red light cameras have been installed

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Via Houstonist, there are now ten more red light cameras around the town. Here they are, so you’ll know where to behave yourself: West Loop at San Felipe (east frontage road) Southwest Freeway at Bellaire (west frontage road) Bissonnet westbound … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 5 Comments

No committees yet

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Well, we were promised committee assignments for the House by yesterday, but we didn’t get them. The Statesman blog has the best summary of the situation. “The speaker promised too much to too many people,” said Waco Rep. Jim Dunnam … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on No committees yet

How much do you like beer?

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Wanna be a tour guide at the Saint Arnold brewery? Houstonist tells you how and why: Brewery tours are held each Saturday at one o’clock in the PM. Volunteer duties include handing out those nifty wooden beer tokens, pouring brews … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on How much do you like beer?

Abbott says no death penalty for illegal abortions

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Well, that’s a relief. The death penalty cannot be used against doctors who perform abortions without parental approval or during the third trimester, according to an opinion released Wednesday by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. A state lawmaker asked Abbott … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on Abbott says no death penalty for illegal abortions

Austin citizenship drive

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition: State Representative Eddie Rodriguez in collaboration with the University Leadership Initiative, will conduct Austin’s Citizenship Drive on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 starting at 8:00 am at the LBJ School of Public Affairs located 2315 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Austin citizenship drive