Monthly Archives: February 2007

Davis supports easing CHIP requirements

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Well, well, well…look who favors making CHIP more accessible now. “I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Rep. John Davis of Houston, who on Tuesday filed legislation to lengthen the CHIP enrollment period from six months to one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Davis supports easing CHIP requirements

Meet Houston Pavilions

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

As promised, the groundbreaking of Houston Pavilions took place yesterday amid much fanfare. Here’s what we have to expect: The developers of the Houston Pavilions say it will open in October of 2008. The $170 million project will have 360,000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Meet Houston Pavilions

A quick plug for donating blood

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday was Debutant‘s first re-birthday; it was on February 27, 2006, that she received a stem cell transplant courtesy of a donation from her brother. I’m very happy to see that she’s doing well. May there be many more re-birthdays … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 2 Comments

La Nina is not our amiga

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Argh. “Forecasters warned today that a La Nina weather pattern — the nasty flip side of El Nino — is brewing, bringing with it the threat of more hurricanes for the Atlantic. Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

Prevention First

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Today is Planned Parenthood Lobby Day in Austin. The timing is propitious, as a couple of bills were filed yesterday to implement what is being called the Texas Prevention First Act of 2007. From the website: The Texas Prevention First … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 6 Comments

Matthews gets three years

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Rightwing former radio talkshow host Jon Matthews was sentenced to three years in prison for probation violations that he was arrested for in August. Matthews, 61, left the courtroom of state District Judge Brady Elliott after agreeing to a three-year … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 1 Comment

Salvaging my lost music

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I still have a fair number of old-fashioned record albums. None of them have been played in at least ten years, which is approximately when I last had a working turntable. Some of these albums have CD equivalents in my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 11 Comments

Cooler lovers fight back in New Braunfels

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like there’s some blowback in the Great New Braunfels Cooler Crackdown: Via PinkDome, the city councilman who’s been the driving force behind all of the recent spate of river regulations, including the beer bong and Jell-O shot bans, is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 3 Comments

More on Woodfill and Eckels

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know who Houston Consigliere is, but he has an interesting take on the Woodfill/Eckels affair, if you can get past the white text on a bright red background. Thanks to PDiddie for finding that. I have an image … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Hold that demolition, for now

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Following up on his announcement to bring out stronger preservation protections for the Old Sixth Ward, Mayor White wants to enact a temporary ban on demolitions in that neighborhood until the details can be worked out. The City Council on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Hold that demolition, for now

On using funds as they were dedicated

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like there’s a point that needs to be made in this story about using dedicated funds as they were intended but which is lacking. From electric-bill help for the needy to parks funding to abolishing a telephone fee, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on On using funds as they were dedicated

Woodfill wants to pick Eckels’ successor

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I noted before that the local GOP is making demands about who Robert Eckels’ successor as County Judge should be. I see now that they are fully prepared to hold their breath till they turn purple if Eckels and company … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 3 Comments

Houston Pavilions groundbreaking today

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

According to Miya Shay, the Houston Pavilions project, which secured its financing last October, will have its official groundbreaking today, along with the announcement of two new “anchor” tenants. Here’s who they have so far: Tenants that have already been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 3 Comments

King versus Kenedy over wind farms

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Sad to see the two big iconic Texas ranches locked in such combat over wind turbines, but that’s the 21st century for you, I suppose. Based on what I now know, I’d have to award the debate so far to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

WiFi for all

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Some details on the plan to make the citywide WiFi project available to lower income folks. Under a contract with EarthLink, the company chosen last week to build the network, about 40,000 discount Internet accounts would be available for low-income … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Fifty years of “The Cat In The Hat”

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

TMI brings word of the golden anniversary of “The Cat In the Hat”, which was first published in March of 1957, and links to The Annotated Cat, a book about the two Cat books. One “did you know” fact they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Help for the bungalows?

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, the This Week/Heights section of the Chron had a big story about some pending changes to the prevailing lot size and setback ordinances, and what effect they may have on historic preservation efforts. The ordinances apply to non-deed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

The TXU deal

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the deal. The proposed $32 billion buyout of Dallas power giant TXU will halt construction of all but three planned Texas coal plants, cut power prices for North Texas customers by 10 percent and put the company on a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on The TXU deal

Kubosh prepares to sue

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

He’s had his day in court for his civil citation for running a red light at a camera-enabled intersection, and now Michael Kubosh is fixing to file that lawsuit he’s been promising to do. Michael Kubosh said Sunday that he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Kubosh prepares to sue

More red light camera legislation

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

While some legislators want to ban red light cameras, others would prefer to regulate them. Cities and the state would share revenues from fines collected as a result of red-light cameras – but those fines also would be capped at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

Interview with Melissa Noriega

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve got my interview with Melissa Noriega, the first of what I hope will be a series of interviews with all of the City Council special election candidates, posted at Kuff’s World. I should have a podcast feed for these … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Interview with Melissa Noriega

Danno versus TAB

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Dan Patrick versus the Texas Association of Business. There’s not enough popcorn in the world, that’s all I can say. Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Danno versus TAB

The Sugar Land option for the Dynamo

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

If the Dynamo don’t come to an agreement with Houston for a stadium location, then one possible landing point for them is Sugar Land. “Sugar Land is very viable for us,” [team president Oliver] Luck said. “The discussions we’ve had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 5 Comments

Toll lanes coming for SH-288

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Via Houstonist, I see that some major changes to SH-288 are in the works. The plans that were introduced have crews building toll road lanes on a 26 mile stretch of Texas 288. Two lanes in each direction will be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Of molehills and mountains

Posted on February 25, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron reviews Rick Perry’s history of executive orders, in comparison to his predecessors, and finds that he really has been doing things that weren’t tried before. I’ll leave it to you to read, but this pretty much sums up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Springing forward sooner

Posted on February 25, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

You do know that Daylight Savings Time will begin three weeks earlier this year, on March 11 instead of April 1, right? I know all about it because I’ve been working feverishly to prevent stuff like this from happening at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

Scratch-off ripoff

Posted on February 25, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

As someone once said, “Of course the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you–if you don’t play, you can’t win.” Except that with scratch-off games, you might not be able to win anyway. anyone spending $5 on a Deal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Jackpot! | 2 Comments

State auditor criticizes Trans Texas Corridor

Posted on February 24, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I think Clay Robison put it well when he said that Rick Perry’s bad week has continued with the release of a critical audit of the Trans Texas Corridor. The State Auditor’s Office issued a sharply critical report on the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on State auditor criticizes Trans Texas Corridor

More reactions to the Culberson town hall meeting

Posted on February 24, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

This HAIF thread (scroll down to post #2532) has some reactions from people who attended the Thursday town hall meeting of Rep. Culberson’s at Rice University. A brief sample, from “Quinlan”: It was a pretty full house and there was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

Estimating the cost of “Jessica’s Law”

Posted on February 24, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Grits notes that the Legislative Budget Board is using a more realistic approach to doing fiscal notes for crime-related bills, and goes from there to analyze their estimate for HB8, also known as “Jessica’s Law”. More background can be found … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 1 Comment

“But it’s the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane”

Posted on February 24, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Okay, so they probably weren’t doing the Time Warp, but still, what else can one think? A troupe of Chippendales dancers won’t face criminal charges for a West Texas performance featuring “pelvic thrusts” that prompted police to shut down the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | 1 Comment

Perry sued over HPV order

Posted on February 23, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

All things considered, this is probably moot, but Governor Perry has been sued over his HPV executive order. Here’s Courthouse News: Parents of three girls have sued Gov. Rick Perry to protect their daughters from inoculation with a vaccine against … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 2 Comments

“Bad housekeeping”

Posted on February 23, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart, who is now also posting on Paul Burka’s blog, takes a whack at the maneuvering done by the Republicans, in particular David Dewhurst, to bust the spending cap. She highlights a point that I had not seen … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 2 Comments

Rowdy rail gathering

Posted on February 23, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

So sorry I was unable to make it to the Culberson town hall meeting last night. Sure looks like it was fun. [The Universities] line was at the center of a raucous gathering Thursday night at Rice University, where supporters … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Rowdy rail gathering