Monthly Archives: December 2008

End of the year Speaker race update

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve already had an exciting and eventful 2009 legislative session, and it’s still 2008. The release of the Democratic list of 64 has moved things forward, starting with an admission by Team Craddick that they really aren’t in such good … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Texan of the Year 2008

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Press release from my colleague Vince Leibowitz, the chair of the Texas Progressive Alliance: The Texas Progressive Alliance Tuesday announced that the Harris County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign had been named its “Texan of the Year” for 2008. Also earning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 1 Comment

Will the Lege go green?

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Short answer, probably not. But they may at least not take any backward steps, and they may take some grudging action to head off future federal requirements. That counts as progress around here. Continue reading →

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McLane: Please regulate me!

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, Drayton. You must think we’re all a bunch of idiots. Astros owner Drayton McLane is one of the wealthiest men in the country and is accustomed to hearing about multimillion-dollar deals being made in any of his numerous business … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment

Texas Voices gets an ally

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Remember Texas Voices, the fledgling advocacy group that seeks to ease some of the registration requirements for sex offenders? They now have a champion in the Legislature. “Some offenses don’t rise to the level” of needing registration, Rep. Roberto Alonzo, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 6 Comments

School finance: Sorta kinda important to the Lege

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Just not so important that it will get anything more than another Band-Aid, but you take what you can get, I guess. “Are we going to start school finance from the ground up? I don’t think so,” said Rep. Rob … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | 2 Comments

Houston’s red light camera numbers

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Houston has now released its own red light camera study, and to say the least the numbers are interesting. The number of crashes at Houston intersections with red-light cameras doubled in the first year after their installation, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

More on the Dems’ anti-Craddick list

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about the list of 64 Democratic House members who say they won’t vote for Tom Craddick for Speaker under any conditions. “We need a new direction in the Texas House because the status quo means gridlock, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

End of the year Texas blog roundup

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

2008 was a heck of a year for Texas Progressives. The Presidential Primary came to Texas (for real), we caucused, conventioned, challenged, credentialed, voted, elected, counted, re-counted, brought Netroots Nation to Texas, watched Tom Craddick fight for his life, said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The sixty-four member question

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The House Democratic Caucus has promised a list of 64 members who will not vote for Tom Craddick for Speaker. Via PoliTex and BOR, who lists the ten Dems not among them, here it is (PDF). As there are 12 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Comments Off on The sixty-four member question

Seeking iTunes help again

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Last year, I asked for help buying music from the iTunes store, as I’d been given a gift card for Christmas. I scored some more gift cards this year, so I’m back asking for more help. You’ve got a decent … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Voter registration separation

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The idea of separating the function of voter registrar from the office of Harris County Tax Assessor has come up before in the wake of Paul Bettencourt’s departure, and it is still being discussed. State law allows Commissioners Court to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 1 Comment

One for a million

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

By this time next week, City Council Member James Rodriguez in District I will be the only Latino member on Council. “For many people, I will be the only Latino voice on the City Council, and that’s something I take … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Dude, where’s my train?

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Christof notes that according to its original schedules, Metro should be a lot farther along its 2003 rail expansion plan than it currently is. The North and Southeast Lines, for which a public design process had already been completed by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Comments Off on Dude, where’s my train?

Weekend link dump for December 28

Posted on December 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Hope Santa was good to you this year. Like Yglesias, I’m happy that the mainstream position in the Democratic Party has moved away from gun control. That said, the NRA is still full of douchebags. My sis-in-law suffers through a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Weekend link dump for December 28

Another day, another Speaker candidate

Posted on December 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s entrant: Dan Gattis. The Georgetown Republican is the twelfth candidate challenging Speaker Tom Craddick, a Midland Republican seeking a fourth term as House leader. Gattis was one of Craddick’s lieutenants during the 2007 session but has been uncommitted since … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Is high-speed rail in Texas’ future?

Posted on December 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Could be. A number of signs point to possible success for rail advocates, who for years have been talking up the merits of so-called multimodal transportation planning, but to a mostly unreceptive audience among Texas transportation policymakers. This month, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 6 Comments

Pancho Claus

Posted on December 28, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I love the story of Pancho Claus. Santa has a cousin named Pancho. He loves kids. He passes out gifts. And he’s a barrio folk hero with as many faces as there are guys across Texas willing to pull on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Make your check payable to

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

A letter to the editor yesterday from Terry Beiswanger makes an interesting point. In response to Wednesday’s City and State cover article “Vasquez takes charge of county tax office / Commissioners vote 4-1 to fill recent vacancy”: With a new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 3 Comments

Lawsuit filed over red light camera study

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The red light camera study is less than a month old, and already it’s the subject of a lawsuit by a couple of longtime camera critics. Houston lawyers Paul Kubosh and Randall Kallinen, who have fought the program in courts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 3 Comments

E-waste recycling

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been aware of the issue for some time now, but it seems to me that this Chron story about electronic waste recycling fails to explore a pretty basic question. It’s Christmas morning, and there beneath the tree was your … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

City and county lobbying

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

As the start of the legislative session draws near, various entities gird for battle. Much like corporations, Texas cities and counties plan to spend millions on lobbyists to push their agendas and protect their interests during the next legislative session. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 2 Comments

Friday random ten: Sleigh bells ring

Posted on December 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have a whole lot of Christmas music in my collection, but I do have enough for a Friday Random Ten, and if this isn’t the time for a Christmas random ten list, then when would it ever be? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Statewide smoking ban proposed

Posted on December 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been saying that a statewide smoking ban would be on the legislative agenda next spring. Well, here it comes. State Sen. Rodney Ellis , D-Houston , and state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, said they plan to file a bill … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 5 Comments

The Madoff scandal and the Innocence Project

Posted on December 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

This hurts, but it could have been worse. Panic ensued at the Innocence Project of Texas when a powerful Wall Street investor was arrested this month and accused of swindling investors out of $50 billion. One of the organizations that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | 2 Comments

Another Mayor for Senate?

Posted on December 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Bill White, meet Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who is issuing non-denial denials about his potential interest, along with everybody else in the state, in Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate seat. Leppert’s a Republican, so the field would be even more crowded … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged | 1 Comment

UTSA football

Posted on December 26, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

The University of Texas-San Antonio will be getting itself a football team. The University of Texas System Board of Regents today approved UTSA’s plan to add a football program. The plan calls for UTSA to develop an $84 million athletic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 3 Comments

And may all your Christmases be white

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Not gonna happen here in Houston, but no matter. Merry Christmas to all anyway. Thanks to Mark Evanier for the link. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on And may all your Christmases be white

A little Christmas spirit in Grapevine

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

If this story, which is the best example of Jesus’ commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself I’ve seen in a long time, doesn’t make you tear up a bit, especially today, I don’t know what would. God bless you, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

How “Twas The Night Before Christmas” should be read: Like the title says, happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night. Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night

As always, Merry Christmas, Mel Torme

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

It’s time again for a link to my favorite Christmas story, involving Mel Torme and his classic tune “The Christmas Song”. Whether you’ve read it before or not, go read it now. It’s always worth the time. Merry Christmas, Mel … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Websurfing | Comments Off on As always, Merry Christmas, Mel Torme

Commissioners agree to Dynamo Stadium funding

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Merry Christmas, Dynamo fans. Harris County Commissioners El Franco Lee and Sylvia Garcia have tentatively agreed to contribute $10 million in public money to the Dynamo stadium project, provided the team and the city agree to certain conditions, city and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Moving to Texas

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of people keep migrating to Texas, from all over. Between July 2007 and July 1, 2008, nearly 141,000 people moved to Texas from other states, compared with about 92,000 international migrants, the bureau said. The data provide a fresh … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 3 Comments

Walker withdraws election contest

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

That didn’t last long. Losing HD11 candidate Brian Walker has withdrawn his election challenge to State Rep. Chuck Hopson. State Rep. Chuck Hopson says he’s home free. Hopson, D-Jacksonville, says he was notified by Speaker Tom Craddick’s office [Monday] afternoon … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2008 | Comments Off on Walker withdraws election contest