Monthly Archives: May 2009

Pity and loathing

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still working through my feelings about this Newsweek piece regarding George W. Bush’s not-exactly-triumphant return to Texas. I don’t know if the author realized he was basically writing about Norma Desmond, but that’s the main impression I got from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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And so the chubbing comes to an end

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So, as far as I know at this point, SB362 is dead, other bills may or may not be dead, and some semblance of normality will return to the House for the remaining days of the session. After seeing so … Continue reading →

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Dems say they can block McLeroy

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. San Antonio Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus, said all 12 Democrats in the Senate plan to vote against the nomination [of Don McLeroy as Chair of the State Board of Education]. … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

City Council redistricting lawsuit dismissed

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Marc Campos mentions this in passing: This past Friday, a federal judge threw out Lopez v. City of Houston. That is the lawsuit filed by Vidal Martinez to force the City of H-Town to draw two more district council seats … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Berman says he’s in for Governor

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Finally, the Republican primary for Governor becomes interesting. With plans to join the GOP primary with Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said today he wil announce as a candidate for governor … Continue reading →

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A look at the District H runoff

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Professor Murray takes a look at the upcoming runoff in District H, taking into consideration the 1992 Congressional election in which Rep. Gene Green won a runoff against Ben Reyes and the early and absentee voting patterns from this election. … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of May 25

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a special Memorial Day edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance weekly blog roundup. Click on for the highlights. Continue reading →

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The last day of chubbing

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So tomorrow night at midnight is the deadline for the House to approve Senate bills on second reading, which means that as long as the Democrats can keep the chubfest going, SB362 will die. Modulo any attempt to graft it … Continue reading →

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The last day of chubbing

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So tomorrow night at midnight is the deadline for the House to approve Senate bills on second reading, which means that as long as the Democrats can keep the chubfest going, SB362 will die. Modulo any attempt to graft it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Perry’s salvage job

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

How can you tell that sine die is approaching? Governor Perry starts getting involved in the legislative process. Perhaps state lawmakers are fatigued by Gov. Rick Perry’s long tenure or maybe they’re just balking at his leadership, but the Republican-led … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Anti-Metro amendment removed

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m pleased to report that the anti-Metro amendment that was in SB1263 has been removed. I am told that Rep. Ellen Cohen discussed the matter with Rep. Pickett, who agreed to remove the Houston-specific language. This is great news, not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Green and Gonzalez get plaudits for climate change bill

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

After all the haranging I did on this, the least I can do is to note this. The Obama administration joined environmentalists Friday in heaping praise on Texas Democratic Reps. Charlie Gonzalez and Gene Green for helping climate change legislation … Continue reading →

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“Near normal” hurricane season

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Better than a highly active season, I guess. With the Atlantic hurricane season drawing near, the last of a growing number of storm prognosticators, Uncle Sam, chimed in Thursday with its predictions. Federal forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for May 24

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Hope you’re enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. Yet another reason to disbelieve Selena Roberts. David Dewhurst: Not the hardest working man in the Capitol. A little nuance on that Gallup poll that claims more people are now “pro-life”. If it … Continue reading →

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Westpark zealots try to pull a fast one

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just yesterday, the Chron wrote an editorial about how everything was coming up roses and daffodils for Metro lately, thanks to some federal funding (with more in the pipeline) for the light rail expansion and a generally favorable political climate. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

City takes aim at more SOBs

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Eight months ago, the city of Houston succeeded in closing down a strip club, its first such victory after finally getting a favorable verdict in the lawsuit to overturn the 1997 ordinance that more strictly regulated sexually-oriented businesses. They’re now … Continue reading →

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Graduation rates

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

According to one study, a little more than half of HISD’s high school freshmen ultimately graduate. Despite dozens of commencement ceremonies planned for the next two weeks, only 58.5 percent of Houston-area students who should be graduating will be earning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Just do the test”

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Grits points to this NYT article about the next phase of the battle between prosecutors and inmates over innocence claims and DNA testing. I agree with Grits – if some defendants are embarking on fishing expeditions, I say let them … Continue reading →

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Where things stand in the House

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So after yesterday’s chubathon, which lasted till one AM, there are still a bunch of local and consent bills to be dealt with. After that, there are still more bills to go before the House could get to today’s calendar, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The zombie nominee

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the Senate confirmation of Don McLeroy as Chair of the State Board of Education, which we all thought had been scuttled back in April, got new life earlier this week when Senate Nominations Committee chair Mike Jackson, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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RIP, Debutant

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m very sorry to say that Deborah Greer-Costello, better known as Debutant, passed away earlier this week from the leukemia that she had been fighting since 2005. I never met Deb in person, I only knew her through her writing … Continue reading →

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The power of burritos

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Mmm…burritos… The hamburger is safe. Pizza probably doesn’t have to worry. Nevertheless, on the menu of perennially popular food, one offering has been gaining steam against competitors: the burrito. Thanks to favorable demographics in the U.S. and consumers’ growing demand … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Chubbing

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the word of the day, as the Democrats use up most of the ten-minute allotment for discussion of bills on the Local and Consent calendar in order to delay, hopefully to death, the voter ID bill SB362. It’s not … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: The state you’re in

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna switch gears here for a couple of Fridays and do some themed lists. I was inspired to put a few of these together back when I did the spring songs and good songs lists, and I’m finally getting around … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Gallery Furniture fire

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Like most people in Houston, I was shocked and saddened to hear about this. As flames ripped through one of Houston’s most notable retail icons Thursday night, Gallery Furniture founder Jim McIngvale vowed to rebuild. But McIngvale, who earned fame … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Skinning a cat: Alternate methods

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, the TxDOT sunset bill HB300 included among its many House amendments a couple that were aimed at killing off red light cameras in Texas’ cities, by putting them under the authority of DPS and by forbidding the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Parker on education

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, I noted that Mayoral candidates Peter Brown and Gene Locke expressed very different opinions at a candidate forum about the Mayor’s role in public education, with Brown advocating an urban school district with Mayoral appointees for its board, … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Three Senators for Locke

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from the Gene Locke campaign, the three Democratic State Senators who serve in Houston have all endorsed Locke’s candidacy for Mayor. “At a time when Houston needs a strong, accomplished leader at City Hall, the right candidate has … Continue reading →

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Intermodal Transit Center update

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot has a spiffy picture of the proposed Intermodal Transit Center on North Main, which last we checked may or may not actually get built. But we’ll always have the pretty pictures, whatever else may happen. Check it out.

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Budget yes, UI not yet

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The conference committee on the budget finished its work yesterday. While final details are still emerging, the 10 conferees worked out a last minute plan for spending $700 million of federal stimulus money for state fiscal stabilization. They hope that … Continue reading →

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Roy takes my advice

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

When I blogged about a recent story in the Chron about some resume-stretching by Roy Morales, I suggested that he should turn his firing by the Houston Emergency Center as a positive. Well, he’s now written a letter to the … Continue reading →

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Windstorm insurance bill passes House committee

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned the prospect of a special session several times lately. One of the issues that could be the cause of a special session is windstorm insurance, as the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association took it on the chin last year … Continue reading →

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Mattress Mack is watching you

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Be sure to smile for the cameras if you visit the Westchase District. A West Houston nonprofit group on Tuesday applied for city permission to install the first of a dozen security cameras it plans to purchase to reduce crime … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Credit card reform

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Landmark credit card legislation, poised to reach President Obama’s desk as early as Memorial Day, will force the card industry to reinvent itself and consumers to rethink the way they use plastic. The Senate Tuesday took a critical step … Continue reading →

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