Monthly Archives: November 2007

Hostages taken at Clinton NH headquarters

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

This does not sound good. A man claiming to have a bomb walked into Hillary Rodham Clinton’s storefront campaign office today and took at least two hostages, police and witnesses said. One woman was later released. ”We are in close … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment

Statement from Lawrence Allen on District D runoff

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(I have asked the candidates involved in next Saturday’s runoff to send me a brief statement saying why people should vote for them in that runoff. I will run the responses for candidates for each race concurrently. This statement is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Statement from Lawrence Allen on District D runoff

Statement from Wanda Adams on District D runoff

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

(I have asked the candidates involved in next Saturday’s runoff to send me a brief statement saying why people should vote for them in that runoff. I will run the responses for candidates for each race concurrently. This statement is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | 1 Comment

Help send Rick Noriega off to Austin to file for Senate

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Monday is the official opening of Filing Season for 2008. Rick Noriega will be heading to Austin that morning to do the paperwork for his Senate campaign. You can help send him on his way: Come join Rick Noriega Monday, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Help send Rick Noriega off to Austin to file for Senate

Cornyn defends his anti-CHIP votes

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Nice try. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, predicting voters will see through Democrats’ bid to turn health coverage for working-poor children into a “political football,” on Tuesday defended his August and September votes against a proposed expansion of the Children’s Health … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Cornyn defends his anti-CHIP votes

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling…again and again

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

My inner math geek was amused by this story about the annual onslaught of Christmas music from one of the local radio stations. Chestnuts roast, sleigh bells ring, drummers drum and angels are heard on high in 700 combinations for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Just hear those sleigh bells jingling…again and again

How to do a college football playoff

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve got to agree with King Kaufman here. This is such a sensible plan for a college football playoff that I can’t quite envision an argument against it. Oh, all right, I suppose it means that as many as four … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

Will the Pig Stand ride again?

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve said before that one of my great regrets as a Houstonian is that in all the times I drove past the venerable Pig Stand on Washington Avenue, I never paid heed to that little voice in my head saying … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on Will the Pig Stand ride again?

Gmail forwarding problems

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve used the kuff – at – offthekuff – dot – com address for as long as I’ve had the offthekuff.com domain. I still use it today, though I’ve had it forwarded to Gmail for some months now. Unfortunately, it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Administrivia | 2 Comments

HISD Trustee runoff overview

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

One HISD Trustee race, in District II, has gone to a runoff. Here’s the overview story for that. Both candidates in the runoff for the District II seat, Carol Mims Galloway and Michael Yarbrough, say they have serious concerns about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on HISD Trustee runoff overview

Do we name too many storms?

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Even though we just had a second consecutive relatively quiet hurricane season, some people think this one should have been quieter still. With another hurricane season set to end this Friday, a controversy is brewing over decisions of the National … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

The 2007 hurricane season: Hot or not?

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

On the one hand, as the 2007 hurricane season officially ends, it wasn’t that bad. Despite alarming predictions, the U.S. came through a second straight hurricane season virtually unscathed, raising fears among emergency planners that they will be fighting public … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Comments Off on The 2007 hurricane season: Hot or not?

Red light tickets jump in October

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. The number of motorists nabbed by the city’s red-light cameras spiked dramatically last month after the Houston Police Department added 20 locations and began citing illegal turns, records show. The department noted about 27,000 violations last month, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment

Houston. It’s Worth It: The Book

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Houston. It’s Worth It. is now in book form. Houstonist has a conversation with its authors, Randy Twaddle and Dave Thompson. There’s also info in there about a couple of “big blowout parties” related to the book, one of which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Comments Off on Houston. It’s Worth It: The Book

Truitt to run as an independent in CD07

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

John Truitt, the fellow who had told a couple of us bloggers last week that he was going to run as a Democrat in CD07, has now decided to run as an independent instead. PDiddie has the press release. Like … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Truitt to run as an independent in CD07

An invitation from RichmondRail.org

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Metro has made its decision about the Universities line, but there’s still work to do to make sure it’s done right. The folks at RichmondRail.org want your help with that. We are only at the beginning of the neighborhood friendly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on An invitation from RichmondRail.org

Briles goes to Baylor

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not quite sure I understand this. Art Briles on Wednesday accepted the position as head coach at Baylor, accepting a seven-year deal worth approximately $1.8 million per year. “It looks like my tenure here at the University of Houston … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 2 Comments

Early voting starts today for city election runoffs

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the City Council and HISD runoff elections begins today and runs through Tuesday. WHAT: The second and final round of voting to fill the four public offices. WHY: No candidate got a majority of the vote in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2007 | Comments Off on Early voting starts today for city election runoffs

Washburn fires back

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

In my previous entry on Governor Perry’s email retention policy, I noted that the strategy for dealing with John Washburn, the activist who’s giving the Governor a pain in the tuchus by making TPIA requests for his office’s emails, is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on Washburn fires back

The Hall of Fame ballot for 2008

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Here are your Hall of Fame hopefuls for 2008. Tim Raines and David Justice head 11 first-time candidates on the baseball writers’ 2008 Hall of Fame ballot, joining Mark McGwire, Rich Gossage, Jim Rice and 11 other holdovers. McGwire, his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 2 Comments

What’s in a headline?

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

More than 49,000 ineligible voters on Texas rolls, the headline blares. Sound scary to you? Consider this: More than 49,000 people on the Texas voter registration rolls in May may not have been eligible to vote, state auditors reported today. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

What about that tower’s traffic?

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Christof takes a look at the Bissonnet Tower controversy, and asks just what it is we’re aiming to do about it. To start with, the residential part of this project isn’t actually a traffic issue. Bissonnet is a major arterial; … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

The Dynamo will not play at the Dome

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Tory reminds me that there were a couple of letters to the editor on Sunday that called for the stadium-seeking Houston Dynamo to be united with the purpose-needing Astrodome. We’ve been over this before, but let me reiterate the key … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

HOPE versus the city over 9-1-1 ads

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

So early this morning I got a press release from HOPE about a radio ad they plan to run that highlights issues with the Houston Emergency Center (HEC). Houston public employees are calling on the city to fix long-standing problems … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on HOPE versus the city over 9-1-1 ads

Krusee to not run for re-election

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Via Eye on Williamson (who is not surprised to hear it), Texas Weekly and now Postcards from the Trail are reporting that State Rep. Mike Krusee (R, Round Rock), who barely cleared 50% running against the underfunded Karen Felthauser last … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Tulsa files complaint against the MOB

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Since I’m sure someone is going to send me this link, I figure I’d better blog it now and get ahead of the curve. Tulsa has filed a formal complaint with Conference USA over the Rice marching band’s performance of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

Do red light cameras work?

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Chron reporter Carolyn Feibel, in response to the badgering of a persistent red light camera critic, did some research into their effectiveness, and blogged about what she found. Bottom line is that most of the studies she located indicated that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment

Texas blog roundup for the week of November 26

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Have we all recovered from the Thanksgiving weekend? Here’s a few non-leftover Texas Progressive Alliance posts from Turkey Day Week to help get you back into the swing of things. Click on for more. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Texas blog roundup for the week of November 26

A little love from the DMN

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Noting the arrival of Netroots Nation in Austin next year, the Morning News surveys the liberal blog scene in Texas, with a little link-love thrown in for me and a few of my colleagues. It’s a good read, but I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on A little love from the DMN

We have met the enemy, and it is us

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Why I support Mayor White’s efforts to crack down on area polluters, in 25 words or less: Some of Texas’ biggest industries have an important ally in trying to keep the Environmental Protection Agency from ordering nationwide smog cuts: the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

They charged for a CD?

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu has a fifth entry in her series called “The Purge”, on how Governor Perry’s office disposes of email, possibly in conflict with Texas’ open records laws. (See here, here, and here for background.) Along the way, Perry has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 2 Comments

A contender in CD07

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned before that there just don’t seem to be as many Democratic Congressional challengers this year as there were last year. Not sure why that is, but it’s definitely noticeable. There’s still time, of course, but it just feels … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on A contender in CD07

Bye-bye, Trent

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Senator Trent Lott has resigned in order to “spend more time with his family”. All I can say is that he lasted longer than Robert Eckels. Enjoy your new life as a lobbyist, Trent. It’s what you’ve been working for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Bye-bye, Trent

The anti-business tax sentiment

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

The new business tax won’t be collected for another six months, but there’s already a media campaign being waged against it. Radio ads in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston draw on tidal waves and scary movies to make a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on The anti-business tax sentiment