Monthly Archives: September 2008

Texas Monthly talks to Rick Noriega

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The following comes from Evan Smith, the head honcho at Texas Monthly: Join KLRU for an interview with Rick Noriega Rick Noriega, the Democratic challenger for John Cornyn’s U.S. Senate seat, sits down with Texas Monthly Talks host Evan Smith … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I got those bad asset blues

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I would have thought that something “bad” was, by definition, not an asset. Clearly, I am naive in the ways of the financial markets. Fortunately, I have sites like this to help me figure it all out. With our economy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Last Davis-Brimer hearing to be held next week

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We may finally get a resolution to this neverending case. Attorneys are set to make oral arguments before the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas on Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. on whether former Fort Worth Councilwoman Wendy Davis is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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“Best of Houston” 2008

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

So the Houston Press has its annual Best of Houston issue out, and it comes as a very pleasant surprise to see that they’ve picked me as the best local blog. That’s the third time they’ve seen fit to bestow … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 1 Comment

Endorsement watch: Don’t change a thing!

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This list of endorsements from the Texas Association of Realtors may be the lamest thing I’ve ever seen. Basically, in every single race, from US Senate and Congress on down to the State House, they either endorsed the incumbent, or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Power and water to the people update

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If you’re a CenterPoint customer and you’re still without power, the utility says don’t rely on their ZIP code map to tell when you’ll get it back. Last week CenterPoint issued a map and timetable projecting that 80 percent of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

Interview with Adrian Garcia

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

When we talk about the Harris County races on a macro level, one of the main factors in that conversation is corruption. Given that Chuck Rosenthal has resigned in shame, and that Jerry Eversole is not up for election this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Supreme Court denies Barr lawsuit

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The lawsuit by Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr to knock Barack Obama and John McCain off the ballot in Texas has been denied. The Texas Supreme Court has denied Libertarian presidential candidate’s Bob Barr attempt to keep the names John … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | 1 Comment

Dinner fundraiser for Rick Noriega

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

As I said before, the top priority for now is to help get everyone back on their feet after Hurricane Ike. Towards that end, I encourage everyone to donate to the American Red Cross or participate in some other relief … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Cook on the Palin Effect downballot

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This Charlie Cook column, via Swing State Project, came out last week, so it’s a tad bit dated, but I think his analysis is spot on: [John] McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave the GOP ticket a shot … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 2 Comments

Billions and billions

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Texas will need $20 billion to $40 billion in federal relief assistance to overcome uninsured damage inflicted by Hurricane Ike, Houston Mayor Bill White said today. The mayor, speaking to the Houston Chronicle before his congressional testimony, said Houston … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Will Ike mean fewer billboards?

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

One of the easily visible effects of Hurricane Ike is a lot of torn-down billboards. Looks like many of them may not go back up. For billboards, the city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Public defender plan to be reviewed

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We have talked before about the possible creation of a public defender’s office for Harris County. Commissioners Court approved a study of whether the county should adopt such a thing back in April. Now the report is ready to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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It’s “Guess the endorsement” time again

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We’re past Labor Day, the conventions are over, and as we head into the last few weeks of the campaign season, it’s time once again to ponder the eternal mysteries of the Houston Chronicle’s endorsement processes. As I’ve done for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Blue America Senate contest

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

For obvious reasons, most campaign-related activity was shut down around here last week. Though there is still much to do to clean up and recover from Hurricane Ike, campaigns have begun to resume. Like it or not, Early Voting starts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The dinosaur mummy rescheduled

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Musuem of Natural Science was scheduled to open its Dinosaur Mummy exhibit last Friday. For obvious reasons, that didn’t happen. Now it’s been rescheduled for this Friday, September 26, and it still sounds really cool. I’ll be taking … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 22

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Neither rain nor sleet nor hurricane can stop the Texas Progressive Alliance from doing its weekly blog roundup. Click on for the highlights. Continue reading →

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Election Procedures and Information Following Hurricane Ike

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The following was received via email from the Joe Jaworski campaign: Hope Andrade Secretary of State MEMORANDUM TO: Voter Registrars, County Clerks, and Elections Administrators FROM: Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections RE: Election Procedures and Information Following Hurricane Ike The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Ike changes local campaigns

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think the premise of this story is surprising or in doubt, but I do have one question about it. When Ike redesigned the coastline, it also rearranged the political landscape in Harris County for the Nov. 4 elections. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | 1 Comment

Interview with Rep. Ellen Cohen

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

One of my favorite results from the 2006 election was seeing now-State Rep. Ellen Cohen knock off Martha Wong in HD134. Wong had been a loyal foot soldier to Tom Craddick and was a terrible fit for the district. Cohen’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Are you ready for higher electric bills?

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

So yesterday, the Chron had a front-page story that raised the point that since Hurricane Rita, Texas has done nothing to require utility companies to improve their infrastructure, as Florida did after Hurricane Wilma. Doing so might have mitigated some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 5 Comments

MLB to Astros: Sorry about that

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig expresses his regrets to the Astros for the unscheduled road trip to Milwaukee last week. The players, manager Cecil Cooper and some officials in the Houston area have faulted Selig over the move, saying it was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment

The Odd Fellow resurgence

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Meant to link to this Lisa Gray column about the Odd Fellows lodge in the Heights and its recent growth in membership last week, but since I didn’t do it then I figure now is as good a time as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 1 Comment

The bailout

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t follow the national stories that much around here, as you know. And I certainly don’t claim to have any deep understanding of the crisis in the financial markets, or what should be done from here to make sure … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 5 Comments

Weekend link dump for September 21

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

A little distraction (I hope) while Ike-related cleanup and recovery goes on. Flying the unfriendly skies. The original Wonder Woman doesn’t like Sarah Palin. And may I just say, I still have a crush on Lynda Carter. Live long and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I said, power to the people!

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Somebody here is unclear on the concept. Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas coast three years ago this week, crumpling transmission towers, toppling utility poles and leaving consumers in the dark for up to three weeks. State regulators responded to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

Can we please wave bye-bye?

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I think the only rational response to this is “AAAAAAAAAAUGH!” The Caribbean tropical wave has improved its organization this morning and it now seems somewhat more likely the system may eventually become Tropical Storm Kyle, the season’s 11th named storm. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

Are you ready for some football with Barack Obama?

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

From the “Things That Should’t Matter But Probably Do Anyway” department, more people would rather watch football with Barack Obama than John McCain. One can only presume that this would also involve beer drinking, since as we know that is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Family photos

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

While we were up in Portland, we asked my talented and indefatigable sister-in-law Cathy to take some family photos of us. She has professional equipment for the task, and a great eye. You can see a sample of the results … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Comments Off on Family photos

Wind insurance

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve talked before about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, and the possible calamitous effects that a storm like Ike could have on its finances. Looks like we’ll be still talking about it for some time. Rates for the thousands of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

Power to the people

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the latest map (PDF), via the Chron, of CenterPoint’s estimated restoration dates for various locations in Harris County. About half their area is still without power, and it looks like a nontrivial number of folks will still be without … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | 1 Comment

UH Downtown renaming update

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the University of Houston-Downtown wants a new name. They put out a call for suggestions. Via ConFrijoles, I see that before Ike came to town, they published an “informal list” of such suggestions so far. Personally, my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | 2 Comments

Get to know your State Board of Education

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Monthly: The folks who decide what Texas schoolchildren will learn are the fifteen members of the State Board of Education. Don’t worry if you can’t name a single one. Almost nobody can! Members of this obscure panel are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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RIP, Cary Winscott

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

As a supporter of The Catastrophic Theater, I’m sad to hear of this. Cary Winscott, a popular Houston actor and musician, passed away from skin cancer Tuesday at Ben Taub Hospital, his longtime friend Jason Nodler, former director of Infernal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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