Monthly Archives: May 2010

One Metro lawsuit pulled from court docket

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Looks promising. Metro expects to reach a settlement soon in an open-records lawsuit that triggered a series of accusations and investigations that gripped the transit agency for months, board chairman Gilbert Garcia said. The trial of the lawsuit by attorney … Continue reading →

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Here come the bingo interests

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In the discussion of expanded gambling so far, I’ve spoken of two potentially competing interests, casinos and racetracks. Turns out there’s a third player in the game, and they’re not about to be left behind: Bingo interests. Steve Bresnen, who … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Worker’s Comp Commissioner fires back

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

How can you tell when whistleblowers are having an effect? When the entitiy they blew the whistle on attacks them. As the Division of Workers’ Compensation heads into a public hearing at the Sunset Advisory Commission next week, Commissioner Rod … Continue reading →

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The 290 FEIS

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The prep work for the expansion/overhaul of US290 is entering its final stages. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed transportation improvements on the US 290/Hempstead Corridor is now available for review. The proposed US 290 Program Corridor … Continue reading →

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Special Sunday video break: What cats have to say about “Lost”

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

“Lost” re-enacted by cats in one minute: There are some actual spoilery bits in there, so if you’re not prepared to watch the finale, click at your own peril.

Posted in TV and movies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Weekend link dump for May 23

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Still psyching myself up for the “Lost” finale tonight. Give me a minute, I’m getting all verklempt over here… You can now get married by a robot. In Japan, naturally. Is “freedom from pr0n” really a selling point? Sometimes, “polarization” … Continue reading →

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More Enterprise Fund failures

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There sure are a lot of them. Gov. Rick Perry’s office has rewritten three more contracts for companies that are struggling to create the promised number of jobs after getting millions of taxpayer dollars from the Texas Enterprise Fund. The … Continue reading →

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(A little bit of) job growth returns to Houston

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. From small hand-lettered signs on shop windows to Fortune 500 heavyweights hosting job fairs, Houston companies are once again starting to look for workers. The influx of new jobs helped push the Houston area’s unemployment rate down … Continue reading →

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Obstacles to expanded gambling

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Burka lays out the reasons why expanded gambling will have a tough road ahead in the Lege next year, even as budget writers openly speculate about it, and concludes it won’t happen. I think the situation is more fluid than … Continue reading →

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What will climate change legislation cost?

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

My friend Robert Nagle surveys the literature on climate change, specifically analyses of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, and finds estimates for how much it will cost the average … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: The accordion is God’s great gift to humanity

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

You know what you need today? I’ll tell you what you need today: A Ukrainian folk version of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”, that’s what. Seriously, if the Internet didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it just for stuff like this. … Continue reading →

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The clown show finally calls it a wrap

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some other state to be the national laughingstock again. The Court of Criminal Appeals gives it a good run for its money, but you just can’t out-embarrass the SBOE, and every … Continue reading →

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Demolition Day

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready to say goodbye to a bunch of abandoned buildings. “Demolition Day,” which Mayor Annise Parker announced in her state of the city speech last month, is the culmination of months of effort by the Houston Police Department’s Neighborhood … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land gets its stadium

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve been working on it for over two years now, and at long last, the city of Sugar Land has struck a deal to build a minor league baseball stadium. The project promises to create 120 jobs, generate $7.7 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Targeting Frito-Lay

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve talked about sporting events like the 2011 MLB All Star Game that are currently scheduled to be held in Arizona and of various ways that people who have some involvement with them have spoken out about Arizona’s “Show me … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten – All my exes live in Texas

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Surely you didn’t expect me to have ten songs that start with the letter X, did you? Well, I do happen to have ten songs that start with “EX”, and that will have to do. 1. Exactly Like You – … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

HISD to keep CEP

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has been pushing for months to get HISD out of its contract with Community Education Partners (CEP), its provider for the disciplinary alternate education program. He ran into opposition from HFT President Gayle Fallon, who has … Continue reading →

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Streetcars on Washington Avenue?

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Some big things may be coming to Washington Avenue. Super Neighborhood 22 — a council of civic clubs in the Washington Ave. corridor — will hold a meeting May 24 to discuss its proposed master plan for transportation in the … Continue reading →

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Some cows are more sacred than others

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

To quote Mel Brooks, it’s good to be the king. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will not be denied his steroid testing money. The Texas Education Agency had included the $1 million cost of the steroid program among its $135.5 million … Continue reading →

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More on worker’s comp fraud

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu has a followup to her story from last week about worker’s comp fraud and the lack of investigation of same. It seems she attracted the attention of the Lege. “My primary concern is patients getting improper treatment — … Continue reading →

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Back to the clown show

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So here’s a bunch of coverage from yesterday’s SBOE hearings: from the Chron, the DMN, the Statesman, the Trib, TFN, and BOR. Very short summary: Many people testified. Some said crazy things. Others begged the SBOE to not enshrine crazy … Continue reading →

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More on city term limits

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about the 2010 term limits survey and recommendations by the Term Limits Commission. Of interest is what the immediate prospects are for action by City Council. [Dr. Robert] Stein, a commission member who has polled voters … Continue reading →

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Dallas has it worse than we do

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Houston has its budget proposal for this year, and while it’s no thing of beauty, it’s not got any layoffs, furloughs, or truly drastic cuts in it. The city of Dallas is still working on their budget, and they’re in … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More on our Hispanic future

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not looking as good as it should. Data from a variety of state and federal sources show the Hispanic population in Texas is economically stagnating and may be falling behind Latinos in other parts of the United States: • … Continue reading →

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Business tax falls short again

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Same story, next verse. The state business tax again comes due Monday, and no one is suggesting it will yield near the approximately $6 billion originally forecast. The tax is expected to bring in $4.3 billion this year. “I think … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of May 17

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is somewhat distracted this week by the upcoming series finale of “Lost”, but managed to stay on task long enough to bring you the blog roundup.

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AFL-CIO offers Perry cheaper housing

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s some first-class snark in this press release I got from the Texas AFL-CIO today. The speaker is Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller. In light of the state’s historically huge budget shortfall and new cuts that will place hundreds if … Continue reading →

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And the clown show gets underway again

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN liveblogging of today’s SBOE social studies hearings. Brian Thevenot of The Trib is also there, and he reports that an interesting character has asked the Board to slow down. Former U.S. Secretary of Education and Houston Superintendent … Continue reading →

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2010 Houston term limits survey

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last month, I posted several links with information and research relating to term limits, including the results of a 2004 City of Houston survey about them and the proposed wording for an updated survey. That updated survey has been done, … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The 287(g) committee

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Sheriff Adrian Garcia has formed a citizens advisory panel on how to screen for undocumented immigrants in the jails. The advisory committee will not debate whether to continue the screening program, Garcia said. It will suggest ways he can improve … Continue reading →

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Putting all that unpleasantness behind her

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s like she never intended to leave. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison still lives out of a hotel here and calls herself a “commuter” from Dallas. But she has otherwise cemented her return to the Senate since losing the Republican primary … Continue reading →

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Our Hispanic schools

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Take a look at the future. If you want to see how profoundly the state’s population is changing, look at the faces of the children in Texas public school classrooms. In all but rural areas, Hispanic enrollment is rapidly surpassing … Continue reading →

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Body scanners

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, they’re coming to Hobby Airport. Full-body scanners for airline passengers, the devices that have stirred controversy over personal privacy, are being deployed at Houston’s Hobby Airport this summer, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday. […] The … Continue reading →

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Briefly noted

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting things from today that I wanted to note… There are plenty of people who want to be on the Appropriations Committee, so putting some who doesn’t want to be there, like State Rep. Joe Driver of Dallas, doesn’t … Continue reading →

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