Monthly Archives: February 2008

Commissioners criticize Emmett over Dome hotel plan

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The week before last, County Judge Ed Emmett asked the Harris County Sports and Convention Corps’ board not to give an extension to Astrodome Redevelopment to negotiate a lease (which they eventually finished anyway). He was critical of their ability … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

Candidate interview: David Mincberg

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Note: This entry is part of a series of recorded interviews with non-judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. I am also doing written Q&As with judicial candidates. I know you’ve been reading a lot about the Republican primary for County … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Candidate interview: David Mincberg

Last day to register is today

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the deadline to register to vote in the March 4 primary. I think it goes without saying that this is the biggest and most important primary we’ve seen in a generation in Texas, and that’s regardless of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Last day to register is today

Super Tuesday watch party

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

For those of you who like to watch election returns among friends, here’s an event to attend tomorrow night, courtesy of the Michael Skelly campaign: Join Us! Super Tuesday Watch Party February 5th 7 – 9pm Cafe Adobe – 2111 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Super Tuesday watch party

The Irish bag tax

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve talked about recycling and voluntary reduction as a way of dealing with the plastic bag problem. Here’s another approach, taken by Ireland, which has been very successful. There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Around the world | Comments Off on The Irish bag tax

Post-Super Bowl blogging

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! May I never hear another word about how freaking great the Patriots, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick are. UPDATE: Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 8 Comments

Endorsement watch: Constables

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the March 4 primaries begins in 16 days, and so the Chron has kicked off its endorsements with recommendations in the Constable primaries, for which there are six contested races. They went with incumbents across the board, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: Constables

Chron overview of GOP County Judge candidates

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron today has candidate profiles of GOP County Judge hopefuls Ed Emmett and Charles Bacarisse. They had a similar set of stories last Sunday for the GOP candidates for DA. I certainly hope this means that at the very … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Chron overview of GOP County Judge candidates

Construction begins – for real! – at the Ed Sacks site

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Back in October, I observed that there was some ground-leveling going on at the old Ed Sacks Waste Paper site on Montrose/Studemont just north of Allen Parkway/Memorial. I thought it meant construction would start real soon. I suppose that’s true, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 4 Comments

One degree makes a big difference

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If you want to get an idea for how busy the hurricane season is going to be, check the water temperature. When the water in the hurricane breeding grounds of the Atlantic warms one degree in the dead of summer, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Comments Off on One degree makes a big difference

The Sheriff’s emails

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall the recent story about Sheriff Tommy Thomas’ abrupt change in email retention policy, which came about during the recent unpleasantness for DA Chuck Rosenthal. Thomas’ email admin Willie Mata wrote a letter to the editor disputing some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

Rosenthal’s recess

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

So Chuck Rosenthal’s testimony came to an abrupt halt yesterday after his attorney requested and was granted a recess. It would appear that Rosenthal and his attorney have a few things to discuss before Chuck goes back under oath. Rosenthal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

Registration deadline Monday

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Monday is the deadline to register to vote in the March 4 primary. I think it goes without saying that this is the biggest and most important primary we’ve seen in a generation in Texas, and that’s regardless of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 2 Comments

New home for the Newswatch blog

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Newswatch: City Hall blog is moving to a new location, where it will now be called Houston Politics. Carolyn Feibel explains: You’ll also see some new contributors joining me there: Alan Bernstein, our local political writer, and some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on New home for the Newswatch blog

Term limits in San Antonio

Posted on February 2, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I think Houston’s term limits law, which restricts municipal officeholders to three two-year terms, is a bad idea. But it’s still better than what they’ve got in San Antonio, which is two two-year terms. San Antonio’s popular … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Judge calls a halt to the Rosenthal hearings

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Time out! The federal judge hearing testimony in Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal’s contempt hearing abruptly postponed the case this afternoon at the request of the DA’s lawyer. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt did not give a reason for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

Friday random ten: Actual randomness!

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

And after my four-week foray into covers and pseudo-covers, it’s time again to talk about songs that came up on the iPod shuffle. Let’s roll… 1. “Silent E” – Tom Lehrer. “Who can turn a can into a cane? Who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 3 Comments

Don’t delete those emails!

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Well, we didn’t get Chuck Rosenthal’s testimony yesterday, but we are getting it today. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal took the stand this morning to defend the deletion of thousands of e-mails after they were subpoenaed in a federal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

Noriega talks border issues at FDL

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Talking about border wall stuff is as good a segue as any to Rick Noriega‘s latest liveblog session at Firedoglake, which is all about border issues. Go see what he’s got to say, and if you like what you see, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Noriega talks border issues at FDL

A change of direction for the border wall?

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds encouraging. WOAI news radio has learned that U.S Customs and Border Protection will likely combine their fencing plan with a levee improvement project. There would be fencing in some areas, and in other, the levee’s would be built … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on A change of direction for the border wall?

One small piece of good news on voter ID

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

There was one bit of news, from this Texas Politics blog post, about last week’s VoterIDPalooza hearings that offers a small ray of hope: A Texas legislative subcommittee will look for solutions intended to reduce fraud involving mail-in, or absentee … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on One small piece of good news on voter ID