Monthly Archives: July 2009

Hutchison announces her intent to announce

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Actually, what Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison wanted to tell us was that she had a lot of money available to her for her yet-to-be-announced gubernatorial bid (which, for what it’s worth, some people outside of Texas think she may yet … Continue reading →

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Interview with Karen Derr

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Today we start my series of interviews for the November 2009 elections. I hope interview as many candidates for City Council, City Controller, and Mayor as possible, as well as candidates for HISD Trustee. First up is Karen Derr, who … Continue reading →

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Pity the poor HCRP

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

My heart is breaking for them. The Harris County Republican Party is in arrears amid a dour fundraising climate and an internecine struggle over its chairman, Jared Woodfill, whose leadership numerous local GOP stalwarts have begun to question publicly. The … Continue reading →

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The western SUPERTRAIN

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve heard of the Texas T-Bone SUPERTRAIN proposal that would link up Houston. San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. That’s already been designated as one of the high-speed rail corridors that are in line for federal funding. There’s another such corridor … Continue reading →

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On the future of Democrats in Texas

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

By now you’ve probably read Mike Lux’s HuffPo piece (crossposted at BOR) about the future of the Democratic Party in Texas. The main thrust of Mike’s piece is about turnout, and where there’s numbers there’s my curiosity getting piqued. Let’s … Continue reading →

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

Garcia’s agenda

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia lays out his agenda on the op-ed pages. This is an opportunity for me to work with every stakeholder in the Harris County justice system — including, first of all, you — to make sure … Continue reading →

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

Weekend link dump for July 12

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Time for the All Star break… Remember when GOP governors were the future of their party? Boy, those were the days. Teabaggers turn on Cornyn. So is the Washington Times now a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP, or has … Continue reading →

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Watch for the loophole

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So today Olivia and I went to the Astros game, which they won by a score of 5-0, and there was a situation that occurred that could have been a lot more interesting that it turned out to be. With … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mr. Goldberg goes to Iraq

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Former Houston City Council Member Mark Goldberg has a new gig. [Goldberg] will work as a local governance adviser for RTI International, a North Carolina nonprofit research and development organization that works in Iraq and other countries. RTI employs 79 … Continue reading →

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Chron makes the case for beautification

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorializes in favor of the new sign ordinance passed by Council this week. The tone is off-putting, and as has been the case all along is long on assertion and short on empirical evidence, but it’s a pretty … Continue reading →

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Baytown gets the red light camera blues

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. A Texas motorist caught the city of Baytown using short yellows to trap motorists at a photo enforced intersection and of failing to protect sensitive private information. At a press conference yesterday, Byron Schirmbeck and his attorney, Randall Kallinen, … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Saturday video break: Buffy versus Twilight

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Need I say who wins? I found this here. You can read more about the creator’s intent here.

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HISD trustee Dianne Johnson not running for re-election

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

There’s plenty of action in the City of Houston elections this fall, but they are not the only races on the ballot, as HISD and HCC will be electing Trustees as well. At least one of the five HISD Trustee … Continue reading →

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Texas Congressional races on the radar

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Hill lists its Top 10 dark-horse Congressional races to keep an eye on for 2010. Two of them are in Texas. 1. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) McCaul was technically a lower-tier Democratic target in 2008, but that was really … Continue reading →

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Chicken farming in the suburbs

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

You can file this under “Things That Happen In Hard Times That Might Continue When Things Get Better”. A pastime once limited to the occasional overachieving gardener, backyard chicken farming has caught fire among suburbanites craving a slice of the … Continue reading →

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

Perry appoints Lowe chair of SBOE

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The good news is, he didn’t pick Cynthia Dunbar. The bad news is, it’s not clear how much better new State Board of Education Chair Gail Lowe will be. Lowe, co-publisher of the Lampasas Dispatch Record, was first elected to … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Friday random ten: Too damn hot

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

My brain is too sunburned to think of anything clever to say about this particularly timely Friday Random Ten list. I think the theme will be clear to you. 1. Hot Cha – They Might Be Giants 2. Hot House … Continue reading →

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Saturday reminders

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder about a couple of things happening tomorrow that are of interest. One is the Central City Co-op garage sale, going on from 8 AM till noon at Fixers Automotive on 11th and Harvard in the Heights. Here’s … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to City Council redistricting

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Prof. Murray and Greg take a look at the upcoming redistricting of Houston City Council, with the latter offering a possible map of the to-be-11 districts. I have two things to add to their efforts. One is to wonder just … Continue reading →

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Federal court bench moving out of Galveston

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Disgraced former judge Sam Kent may be the last federal judge to serve in Galveston, at least for the foreseeable future. The state’s oldest federal bench, which remains vacant after the resignation of U.S. District Court Judge Samuel B. Kent, … Continue reading →

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Shriners Hospital in Galveston to reopen

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Delegates at the national Shriners convention meeting in San Antonio voted Monday to reopen a world-renowned burn hospital for children in Galveston, closed since it was damaged by Hurricane Ike in September. Convention delegates voted to keep open … Continue reading →

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HFD’s shame

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I really don’t know what there is to say about the recent ugliness within the Houston Fire Department. It’s a shame and an outrage, and I sincerely hope the steps Mayor White is taking go a long way towards making … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rep. Walle opening district office

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One of the things that follows the end of a legislative session is the opening of a district office by new House members. State Rep. Armando Walle will have an open house to celebrate his on Saturday. From his press … Continue reading →

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Perry’s haul

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry does what Rick Perry does best. Gov. Rick Perry has raised $4.2 million in the final nine days of June, giving him $9.3 million to begin his expected GOP primary campaign against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Hutchison transferred … Continue reading →

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Design guide versus transit corridors ordinance

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure what to make of this just yet. Fallout from the long-dormant Ashby high-rise development emerged Wednesday as a potential obstacle to the city’s effort to promote walkable, urban-style development along Metro’s planned light-rail lines. Neighborhood opposition to the … Continue reading →

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Murray on the Census and redistricting

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Professor Murray follows up an earlier post on the recent Supreme Court decision that narrowly upheld the Voting Right Act and considers the redistricting implications for Texas in 2011. The most interesting bit was this: Had the Supreme Court thrown … Continue reading →

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Metro to break ground on North and Southeast lines

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Woo hoo! The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County will be breaking ground July 13 on the next phase of the MetroRail. Metro will begin construction on the North rail corridor which will connect to the Red Line at the … Continue reading →

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Can we call this a bipartisan agreement?

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

From last week. As Democrats in Congress push harder for a government-run health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers in some reform bills, Sen. John Cornyn said it remains a “deal-breaker” with Republicans. From this week, via Kos. … Continue reading →

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The down side to a good economy

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Traffic congestion hasn’t gotten any better. Rising gasoline prices in the last half of 2007 produced less traffic, according to an annual study by researchers at Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute. The typical urban commuter spent one less hour … Continue reading →

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Council passes new sign ordinance

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Still not sure about the wisdom of this, but it’s a done deal now. With one dissenting vote, City Council on Wednesday passed a major revision to the city’s decades-old sign ordinance that supporters hope will improve what they see … Continue reading →

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The SBOE’s assault on history

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In my earlier post about the virtues of a pro-science PAC, I mentioned that the State Board of Education had turned its attention towards doing to social studies what it had done to science. Vince gives a great rundown of … Continue reading →

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Harris County Jury Assembly Room now has WiFi

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Jury service in Harris County just got a little more pleasant. The following is a press release from District Clerk Loren Jackson: Today’s universal tech boom has given way to ‘digital dependence.’ Harris County citizens are no different when it … Continue reading →

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Reminder: Central City Co-op garage sale this Saturday

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder about the Central City Co-op garage sale this Saturday, from 8 AM till noon at the Fixers Automotive on Harvard at 11th in the Heights. This is part of their capital campaign, which I blogged about last … Continue reading →

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SciencePAC

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Chad Orzel mentions an idea by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum from their book Unscientific America. Why not form a nonpartisan science political action committee, or PAC, devoted to funding candidates who are either scientists themselves or who make science … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments