Monthly Archives: January 2009

We have a contender. Now what?

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So as we know, we have a designated champion to take out House Speaker Tom Craddick, San Antonio Rep. Joe Straus. Early reaction from people whose support he’ll need is positive. Here’s a roundup of that. Chron: Straus emerged as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Rep.-elect Walle to hold town hall meetings

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep.-elect Armando Walle, who will be sworn in to represent HD140 in ten days, is holding a few town hall meetings in the district before he heads off to Austin. Here are the details: Monday, January 5th – 6:00 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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A pardon for Clemens?

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Seems unlikely to me, too. Two Houstonians — former Enron executive Jeff Skilling and former Astros pitcher Roger Clemens — are on a watch list kept by P.S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor in Illinois who writes a blog … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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RIP, Sharon Levine

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sharon Levine, who was a Houston defense attorney that played a key role in the ultimate downfall of former Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal, has died at the far too young age of 38, from Hodgkins’ disease. Defense attorney Paul … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Comments Off on RIP, Sharon Levine

Straus for Speaker?

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, today is the day of the ABC meeting, in which a consensus candidate for Speaker is supposed to emerge. According to Harvey Kronberg, we have ourselves a Speaker alternative: ANTI-CRADDICK REPUBLICANS PICK JOE STRAUS AS UNIFIED SPEAKER … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Friday random ten: My sister’s list

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

My sister sent me the following Christmas-themed Friday Random Ten list after reading my list from last week. Since I really didn’t get a chance to do much iPod listening this week, I figured I’d use her tunes today instead. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Speaker strategizing

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for pretty much everyone in the Lege. On Friday evening, a group of Republicans informally known as the ABCs — Anybody But Craddick — are planning to huddle at an undisclosed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | 1 Comment

Was the red light camera study flawed?

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know the answer to that question, but it’s certainly the case that the long-awaited study of Houston’s red light cameras didn’t give any clear answers about what effect they might have had on the accident rate at intersections … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 1 Comment

The border fence versus nature

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Dear President-elect Obama, When you take office (in 20 days, not that I’m counting or anything), please make sure that one of the first things you do is to order that lawsuits filed by Homeland Security to take land to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Sharp makes it official

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As expected, former Comptroller and two-time candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Sharp has officially filed the paperwork for a run at Kay Bailey Hutchison’s presumably-to-be-open-eventually Senate seat. In a news release, Sharp announced that he had filed his campaign papers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged | 2 Comments

Meet the new bosses

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Today and through the weekend, the newly-elected county officials and judges who haven’t already been sworn into office will take their oaths. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett will administer the oath of office to Adrian Garcia, who becomes sheriff after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 2 Comments

More on e-waste recycling

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

My post on e-waste recycling drew an interesting comment from Zac Trahan, Houston Program Director for Texas Campaign for the Environment that I thought was worth sharing on the front page: You are correct — municipal governments throughout Texas do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | 1 Comment

RIP, Penthouse Club

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Back in September, the city won a temporary injunction against The Penthouse Club, as part of a wider effort to sue a bunch of strip clubs out of business on the grounds that they represent public nuisances. That injunction has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | 3 Comments