Monthly Archives: April 2008

Medina grand jury reconvenes, indicts wife

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This was sudden. For the second time, a Harris County grand jury indicted the wife of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina, alleging she burned down the couple’s Spring home and damaged two neighbors’ homes in a fire last year. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on Medina grand jury reconvenes, indicts wife

Kelley to get $1.4 million

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a lot less than what he asked for, but Lloyd Kelley will still get a lot of money out of the Ibarra case. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Harris County to pay more than $1.4 million in legal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Kelley to get $1.4 million

Metro changes contractors

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure how big a deal this is. Metropolitan Transit Authority officials announced Tuesday they have ended talks with Washington Group International to be prime contractor on four planned light rail lines, saying the two sides were “hundreds of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

The appeals courts

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Looking at an email I received inviting me to a fundraiser for one of the candidates for the 14th Court of Appeals got me to thinking about those races yesterday. The Appeals Courts – the 1st and 14th Courts of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on The appeals courts

If you don’t have the cash, don’t get the disease

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This WSJ article is really scary. Hospitals are adopting a policy to improve their finances: making medical care contingent on upfront payments. Typically, hospitals have billed people after they receive care. But now, pointing to their burgeoning bad-debt and charity-care … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 4 Comments

Build green

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I like the sound of this. Houston builders will have to incorporate “green” design techniques such as heat-trapping vestibules and “cool roofs” that deflect sunlight under a proposed new energy code for commercial buildings. The City Council could pass the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on Build green

The small county effect in the RRC runoff

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

A reader named Kay sent me a link to this Google spreadsheet, which shows how counties that had more than 10% turnout in the Democratic primary runoff voted in the Railroad Commissioner race. Short answer: Mark Thompson did pretty well … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on The small county effect in the RRC runoff

Where the voter ID battle goes from here

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

After yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, voter ID was the hot topic among legislators. “That’s very encouraging for those of us who worked so long and hard on that,” said state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, lead author of a voter ID … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on Where the voter ID battle goes from here

As the Rocket turns

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We have now officially reached the point at which I feel dirty for ever having paid any attention to the circus that is Roger Clemens and his Mitchell Report saga. On a day when his attorney disputed allegations Roger Clemens … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on As the Rocket turns

A message from Diana Maldonado to TexBlog PAC

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Diana Maldonado, the first endorsed candidate of TexBlog PAC, sent us the following email: Dear Texas BlogPAC and Friends, I want to thank you and your donors for your generous contribution to my campaign. We will use your contribution to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on A message from Diana Maldonado to TexBlog PAC

Rev. Lawson responds to the Chron

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

In my overview of the DA race, I noted that the Chron took former HPD Chief Bradford to task for the 2002 K-Mart raid. That prompted a response from the Rev. William Lawson, who saw a double standard in how … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 5 Comments

Ree-C has her say

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s what my co-blogger Ree-C Murphy had to say (corssposted here) about the Houston Have Your Say event that I blogged about last week. I’m very much in sync with her about what we experienced, and what we hope everyone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Ree-C has her say

Can anyone stop the TTC?

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

So I’m reading this article about opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor by folks who are living on or near the proposed path for I-69, and a question strikes me. Although TxDOT has heard a nearly unanimous negative verdict from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Can anyone stop the TTC?

Texas blog roundup for the week of April 28

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not feeling the clever intro thing this week, so let’s just get right to the business of highlighting the Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly roundup. Click on for the good stuff. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Texas blog roundup for the week of April 28

Supreme Court upholds Indiana voter ID law

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This is a disappointment, but not a surprise. The Supreme Court ruled today that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws. In a splintered 6-3 ruling, the court upheld … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 4 Comments

HGLBT’s Jenifer Pool achieves a milestone

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This is cool. From a press release from the HGLBT Political Caucus. The Houston GLBT Political Caucus is pleased to announce the appointment of Jenifer Pool, President of the Caucus, to the City of Houston’s Building and Standards Commission. Jenifer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Comments Off on HGLBT’s Jenifer Pool achieves a milestone

The rise of Hispanic voting power

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty good article today on the growth of Latino voting power in Houston and Harris County. As the babies born then turn old enough to vote in this year’s November election, politics in the Houston area has a much deeper … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Comments Off on The rise of Hispanic voting power

Early overview of the County Judge race

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The race for Harris County Judge is a little hard to get your arms around, because there hasn’t been anything like it in so long. Never mind a competitive race, there hasn’t even been a contested race in November for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Early overview of the County Judge race

Skelly, Doherty among leaders in cash-on-hand ratio

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

James L. at the Swing State Project takes a look at the “top 75 non-open seat House races this cycle in terms of each challenger’s cash-on-hand competitiveness”, which is defined as the ratio of the challenger’s cash-on-hand to that of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Skelly, Doherty among leaders in cash-on-hand ratio

Workers Memorial Day

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The following is an op-ed by Becky Moeller, the President of the Texas AFL-CIO, which I was asked to run as a guest column by Ed Sills. I thought it was interesting and timely, so here it is for your … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Workers Memorial Day

Single-serving sites

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

It seems weird in this day and age to register a domain and create a webpage that does exactly one thing, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped anyone from doing it. And I have to admit, some of them … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Single-serving sites

You may say it’s not about tort reform, but it is

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This front page story about the longstanding battle between a group of homeowners who bought defective houses and the builders who built them largely boils down to this: The homeowners took photos of tell-tale brown stains under leaky balconies. They … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Prairie View voting problems, the continuing story

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Quelle surprise. Nearly a year and half has passed since Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott launched an investigation into allegations of voting rights violations of Prairie View A&M students in Waller County. The lengthy investigation has left some students at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment

Baseball for Sugar Land?

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Is there baseball in Sugar Land’s future? Maybe. “That was one of the ones that was really at the top of the list of things our community would like to see,” said Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace. Wallace says it’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Comments Off on Baseball for Sugar Land?

The middle name game

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I generally don’t watch the national news on TV if I can avoid it; since Tiffany does like to watch, I often can’t. The other night during one of the broadcasts, there was a bit on how Republicans in North … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Comments Off on The middle name game

Recycle or lose it

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If your neighborhood is lax about curbside recycling, it might lose that service. The city has compiled a naughty-and-nice list of neighborhoods that get curbside recycling pickup, and those with poor participation rates may get booted from the program, officials … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

TSU talks to Dynamo about sharing the stadium

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This makes a lot of sense. Texas Southern would like its football team to play in the downtown stadium being proposed by the Dynamo, but the extent of the university’s interest has been limited to talks with the team. Incoming … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment

Austin to try again for light rail

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck, y’all. A consultant hired by the city is recommending a 14-mile light-rail system for Central Austin, not streetcars as proposed by Capital Metro. The system would run from the airport to downtown, through the University of Texas and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Kirby Drive pain to be prolonged

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Miya brings the bad news. The Kirby re-construction is a four-phase process. Phases one through three are basically going according to schedule. But phase four is a problem. Though work on the final phase isn’t scheduled for a while, we’ve … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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New digs for the Profs

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Every now and then, procrastination pays off. I’d not gotten around to unsubscribing the Professors R-Squared feed from Bloglines because I’m lazy about things like that, and then I looked the other day and lo, they had a new post. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on New digs for the Profs

TexBlog PAC endorses Diana Maldonado

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’m very pleased to make this announcement. Last night, TexBlog PAC made our first endorsement of the 2008 general election cycle- Democrat Diana Maldonado, who is running in House District 52 (Round Rock). The unanimous endorsement is the result of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on TexBlog PAC endorses Diana Maldonado

Thoughts on “Houston Have Your Say”

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If you tuned in to Houston Have Your Say last night expecting to see me on the TV, you would have been either annoyed or relieved to learn that I was on the sidelines with a laptop, liveblogging it instead. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on Thoughts on “Houston Have Your Say”

Macias’ date in court

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Nathan Macias, who was knocked off in a ridiculously close Republican primary last month and who has filed suit alleging various frauds and misdeeds did him in, has a date set for his lawsuit. The first hearing on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Macias’ date in court

“Vote by mail, go to jail”

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This Texas Observer story about Attorney General Greg Abbott’s crusade to prosecute mostly minority Democrats on flimsy charges of vote fraud is a pretty good overview of the saga, and builds to some extent on the work that the Lone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | 1 Comment