Monthly Archives: September 2007

The progressive blogosphere cares about the Jena 6

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Tiffany Tyler

But why aren’t we writing about them? I had a post almost ready to go about this post by Chris Kromm on Facing South that says the progressive blogosphere has been silent about the Jena 6 and why that might … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on The progressive blogosphere cares about the Jena 6

Airport concessions contract extended

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, the contract was extended without an open bid process. But it appears that may never happen again. Even as he pushed through a controversial contract extension for an airport concessionaire, Mayor Bill White told City Council on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Airport concessions contract extended

Interview with Manisha Mehta

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Breaking out of my Monday/Wednesday pattern, as I have a lot of interviews lined up and don’t want to fall behind, today I bring you a conversation with Manisha Mehta, who is running in District E. She is a Clear … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Interview with Manisha Mehta

Why recorded interviews?

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

In the comments to my John Marron interview post, Burt Levine says “I wish you wrote these so that people could read them.” I can certainly understand that sentiment, and Burt is not the first person to express it, so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

Saint Arnold’s location search update

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I managed to miss this Q&A with Brock Wagner, the head honcho at the Saint Arnold brewery, but thankfully PDiddie was on the case. You may recall that at last report, the venerable (and fast-growing) brewery was seeking new digs. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Twenty-five years of smileys

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

So I’m reading this story about the origin of the smiley – you know, 🙂 – which was first suggested as a way to compensate for the fact that you don’t get cues like tone of voice and facial expressions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Comments Off on Twenty-five years of smileys

Fly the WiFi-enabled skies

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Surf while you fly. You know you’ll want to. Alaska Airlines said Tuesday it will be the first U.S. carrier to test a satellite-based in-flight wireless Internet service next year and may equip its entire fleet. There have been several … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Fly the WiFi-enabled skies

Of bonds and taxes

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this story concerning the various bonds proposals that will be on the ballot this fall. 1. Boy, the anti position sure was well-represented, wasn’t it? From Bruce Hotze to Greg Meyers to Paul … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | 3 Comments

State Rep. Kirk England switches to Democratic Party

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. State Rep. Kirk England, R-Grand Prairie, has scheduled a news conference at 10 a.m. Thursday to announce he’s switching to the Democratic Party. “In December of 2005, when I filed to run for office, I made a promise to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on State Rep. Kirk England switches to Democratic Party

Traffic congestion increases. Film at 11.

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, your commute is getting worse. No, this isn’t a surprise. The latest Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University says Houston drivers averaged 56 hours of delay due to freeway traffic jams in 2005, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Interview with John Marron

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Next up in the City Council interview series is John Marron, who is running in District I. Marron is retired from AT&T after 30 years and is now a legislative aide to State Rep. Alma Allen; he has also been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | 1 Comment

Democracy For Texas announces Senate endorsement poll

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Action alert time. DFT Announces Senate Endorsement Poll John Cornyn has been on the wrong side of countless issues that are critical to Texans in general and DFT supporters in particular. Beyond that, well, he’s just an embarrassment. But we’re … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Democracy For Texas announces Senate endorsement poll

Bradford makes his announcement

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I had the opportunity to attend C.O. Bradford’s announcement event for his campaign to be Harris County District Attorney last night. I’ve said before you can’t know how a person will perform as a candidate until you see that person … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Patrick v Van Arsdale

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

This has the potential to be popcorn-worthy. Republican Sen. Dan Patrick says criticism he has leveled against one of the House members from his district is based on the Republican’s votes, but it also appears to have an element of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Patrick v Van Arsdale

Billboard battle

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting approach being taken here by the city regarding billboards. Last month, [Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel] told Nooky’s and dozens of other companies that their billboards were illegal — not because of the content, but because of the location … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Billboard battle

Food fight upcoming

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has another article on the upcoming City Council food fight over airport concessions. Mayor Bill White called the food service at Bush Intercontinental Airport’s Terminal C inferior to that of other airports and said the fastest way to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Food fight upcoming

HISD bond proposal changes: Too little, too late?

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

HISD has announced it will make changes to its bond proposal in response to community feedback. The question is, will that be enough? The concessions include renovating, rather than replacing, a few campuses and abandoning plans to create prekindergarten- through … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on HISD bond proposal changes: Too little, too late?

State Rep. Fred Hill will not seek re-election

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

This is a surprise – State Rep. Fred Hill, who a few months ago had announced his candidacy for House Speaker, has decided to retire instead. This is bad news on a couple of levels: Hill had developed into a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Preservation: It isn’t just for Houston

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Bad preservation news, I’m sad to say, is everywhere: The town of Denison is about to raze one of the grandest old buildings in North Texas reportedly to clear the way for a Walgreens. It doesn’t take a history geek … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on Preservation: It isn’t just for Houston

S-CHIP is back

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Congress will try again to pass an S-CHIP bill that can make it past the President, one way or another. Senate and House negotiators said Sunday that they had agreed on a framework for a compromise bill that would provide … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on S-CHIP is back

Rail on Westheimer?

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Rad Sallee points me to this interesting website that makes the case for the Universities line to be built on Westheimer instead of Richmond or Westpark. I’m not sure what the point is of bringing out such a website this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Miya steps on toes

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Miya Shay connects a few dots in the airport concessions food fight, and calls out one of the principles for calling her out: Seems like Jason Yoo is not too happy with the recent coverage by the Chronicle and this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Texas blog roundup for the week of September 17

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Another week, another roundup. You know the drill, so click on for more. Continue reading →

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One last shot at delaying the Kenedy wind farms

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Express News has a followup to the earlier story about the Coastal Habitat Alliance’s efforts to halt the construction of power transmission lines that will be used for wind turbines at the Kenedy Ranch. The Coastal Habitat Alliance, a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Comments Off on One last shot at delaying the Kenedy wind farms

Interview with Lawrence Allen

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing on with the City Council candidate interviews, today we move into the district races with Lawrence Allen, who is running in District D. Allen is another educator, having been a teacher and principal before serving on the State Board … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Interview with Lawrence Allen

Eight hundred

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday, Rick Noriega reached the 800 donor mark on ActBlue. Since yesterday was the two month anniversary of when we first started asking people to donate to Rick via ActBlue, I think that’s pretty awesome. As there’s still two weeks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Eight hundred

Are you ready for some football in San Antonio?

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The students at UT-San Antonio has approved a fee increase that would enable them to add a football program at the school. The results of this week’s vote, announced Thursday, mean student athletic fees may incrementally increase from a maximum … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on Are you ready for some football in San Antonio?

The Rick Perry Road Show

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t hurry home, Rick! For a governor who maynever run again for anything, Rick Perry of Texas appears ready to hit the campaign trail next year — for any Republican anywhere. “I may not be on the ballot,” Perry said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

Not good enough for me!

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Is it just me, or did anyone else read this Whitney Casey column about “first date deal-breakers” and say to themselves “No wonder these guys are all still single!” I mean, of course there are some traits that should be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | 1 Comment

OJ busted for stealing his own memorabilia

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I am required by the Mandatory Blogging Act of 2003 to post about this. O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday and faces multiple felony charges in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football great’s sports memorabilia, authorities said. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 2 Comments

TYC retrospective

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Grits says: With a new lawsuit to overturn its pepper spray policy, the Blue Ribbon Panel releasing its report [Thursday], plus a lot of other related information on the Texas Youth Commission coming out recently, I thought I’d update this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on TYC retrospective

Report from the Upper Kirby meeting

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron reports from the Upper Kirby public meeting on the storm sewer project north of US59 and its ancillary effects. Nearly 300 people have signed an online petition against the project at the Web site of Trees for Houston. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Report from the Upper Kirby meeting

Land shark!

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

On Studemont, just north of Arnie’s and south of I-10 is an old warehouse. A little more than a week ago, demolition equipment arrived on the property and started work tearing it down. Shortly thereafter, this guy appeared: I presume … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 2 Comments

Christie departs, Tahir stays

Posted on September 16, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

We already knew that the luckless Jack Christie had dropped out of the race for City Council At Large #5. As things stand right now, he’ll be the only one to depart. Christie’s departure could create an opening for candidate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | 2 Comments