Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Trib and the Chron get together

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

A peek at what to expect in the Sunday Chron: Coming Sunday: A Houston Chronicle and Texas Tribune investigation finds children living in residential treatment centers have been provoked to fight, been punched and choked, forced to strip down to … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: It’s not me, it’s you

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have 57 songs that start with the word “You”, plus another 25 that begin with a “You” contraction – you’d, you’ll, you’re, you’ve. It’s all about you, isn’t it? Well, these ten songs are, anyway. 1. You & Me … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

CEP gets a good grade

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As reported by Hair Balls, the Texas A&M consultant that was brought in by HISD and Superintendent Terry Grier to evaluate Community Education Partners (CEP), its provider for the disciplinary alternate education program, has now issued his long-awaited report. You … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Some people want the EPA to do more

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Sierra Club is taking legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it has dragged its feet in Texas. The group said EPA officials have missed legal deadlines for action on limiting Texas pollution’s effects on neighboring states; reducing … Continue reading →

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One more thing about polling

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

When I wrote about the Rasmussen problem, I said that they were the only outfit polling on a lot of “issue” questions. That’s not totally true, though nobody does nearly as much of that as Rasmussen does. The UT/Trib poll … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

So how about that instant replay?

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I presume you’ve heard about the perfect game that wasn’t, thanks to the blown call by the umpire with two outs in the ninth inning. If not, see here, here, and here for the details. All I have to say … Continue reading →

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More on Renew Houston

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The effort to create a dedicated fund for flooding and drainage is moving along at a good clip. Renew Houston, the non-profit committee formed to seek at least 22,000 ballot signatures in a bid to put the matter to voters … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The TCEQ has no one to blame but itself

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

What the DMN says: For more than a year, the Obama administration has been beating the same drum, telling the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that its permitting system falls short of federal standards. Yet some Texas leaders and regulators … Continue reading →

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The Rasmussen problem

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Jonathan Chait discusses the “Rasmussen problem”, which basically boils down to the fact that Rasmussen’s polls have become rather extreme outliers, and they all seem to serve a narrative about the country taking a sharp pro-conservative, anti-Obama turn. As Nate … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Inducing demand: Not just for misguided highway projects in the exurbs

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This article about the construction of the North Line demonstrates that development follows transit projects, too. One of the biggest real estate projects in the area is the former FedEx site on Irvington. It was conceived in 2002 to address … Continue reading →

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The Metro settlement agreement

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I presume we’ll get some more details in the morning, but for now I wanted to highlight one aspect of the story of Metro’s settlement agreement with Lloyd Kelley. The suit accused Metro and several of its top officials, including … Continue reading →

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Here come the Greens

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As Perry noted the other day, the Green Party of Texas submitted petitions to the Secretary of State to get on the ballot in certain races in Texas. They failed to do so in 2006, so this will be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council may vote today to strengthen preservation ordinance

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, we heard that Houston City Council was considering a change to the historic preservation ordinance that would actually prevent structures from being torn down or moved if the Houston Archeological and Historic Commission denied the request to do … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike gets a study

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The “Ike Dike”, a network of dikes and gates off the coast of Galveston that was first proposed last year by William Merrell as protection against storm surges from future hurricanes, is being discussed more seriously by the Gulf Coast … Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The entitlement argument against removing a sales tax exemption

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by State Rep. Rene Oliveira, continues to examine tax expenditures such as sales tax exemptions, and the whining coming from some of the potentially targeted businesses is really starting to annoy me. The … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of May 31

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend as it brings you this week’s blog roundup.

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What’s going on with US 290?

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, I wrote about the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that TxDOT has filed for its proposed expansion of US 290. This is a huge proposal, with a price tag of $4.6 billion if all of it gets done, … Continue reading →

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

What people who (mostly) don’t have kids in the schools think about the schools

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to their horse race survey, the UT/Texas Trib poll asked some questions about the state of public education in Texas. There’s a lot in the poll, ranging from confidence levels in the public schools (not so good) to … Continue reading →

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

Active hurricane season predicted

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Hurricane season officially begins today, and it looks like it will be a busy one. As we have previously discussed, there’s ample reason to expect a very active hurricane season this year. And so it wasn’t too surprising this morning … Continue reading →

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Perry appoints Lehrmann

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise at all. Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Judge Debra Lehrmann to the Place 3 seat that Harriet O’Neill will soon vacate on the Texas Supreme Court. Lehrmann, a Fort Worth District Court judge, won the Republican nomination for … Continue reading →

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