Monthly Archives: November 2011

Early voting for city runoffs begins today

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You remember that we have runoff elections for four Houston City Council positions, right? Well, early voting starts today and runs through next Tuesday, December 6. Here are the early voting locations that will be open for the runoff. Early … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court upholds margins tax

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The days of the much-unloved business margins tax may be numbered, but it won’t be the Supreme Court that is responsible for its demise. The Texas Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the state’s primary business tax, saying it … Continue reading →

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Two more points about redistricting

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

First, go read what Greg has to say about the San Antonio federal court’s logic in drawing the districts that it did. I tried to get at some of this in this post, but he digs in and says it … Continue reading →

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The Bellaire “urban transit village”

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Nearly a year in the drafting, a sweeping change to Bellaire’s zoning laws creating an “urban transit village” where there is now a collection of nondescript warehouses will soon be before City Council. On Nov. 1, the city’s … Continue reading →

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A little perspective about redistricting

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So now we wait for the full Supreme Court’s ruling on AG Abbott’s requests to stay the 2012 elections, which by the way would only apply to the elections affected by the disputed redistricting maps. Other primary elections for things … Continue reading →

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Metro signs Full Funding Grant Agreement

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Full speed ahead. The head of the Federal Transit Administration on Monday signed $900 million in grant agreements to help pay for two Houston light-rail lines under construction by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The grants, the first federal funds ever … Continue reading →

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Teacher evaluations

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD is gearing up to implement a new teacher evaluation system, but not without a fight first. The Houston Federation of Teachers has launched what is expected to be a protracted battle to void the new evaluation. It starts with … Continue reading →

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Division I wannabes are popping up all over

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re all interested in the same conference. The Southland Conference likely holds the key to Incarnate Word’s dreams of moving its athletic program into NCAA Division I. […] UIW students participating in a survey would support by nearly a … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS asks for briefs in stay request

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We still have a few more days at least before we get some kind of resolution over the maps we will be using for this election. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop … Continue reading →

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A look ahead to SBOE races

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Regardless of what happens with the other maps, the one map that was precleared and is set for the next decade is the SBOE. With all 15 members up for re-election (like the Senate, everyone has to run in the … Continue reading →

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Filing season opens today

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s supposed to open today, anyway. It may get pushed back a day or two until the remaining legal actions get sorted out. As we know, after being turned down by the San Antonio federal Court, AG Greg Abbott is … Continue reading →

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HBU adds football, joins Southland Conference

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Add another Division I football program to the city. The holidays came early for Houston Baptist University and the Southland Conference as both crossed an item off their wish lists. HBU joined a conference offering nearby members and a home … Continue reading →

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From the “Things I will not be spending my money on” department

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This arrived in the mail last week: I have no idea from which mailing list they bought my name. Suffice it to say it was not money well spent on their part. I got a good laugh out of it, … Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Weekend link dump for November 27

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

OK, now I’m ready to acknowledge Christmas season. But just barely. On the plus side, I may not have to worry about it any more. So, do these results mean that warp drives are still in play? Doing nothing is … Continue reading →

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NBA lockout to end

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to hear it. The NBA will be back on Christmas Day, pending approval of a tentative settlement of a lengthy, combustible lockout that came closer than ever before in league history to swallowing an entire season. A 66-game schedule … Continue reading →

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Galveston County redistricting plan blocked by federal judge

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Seems to be a lot of stories like this these days. A U.S. District Court judge has blocked the county’s redistricting plan for this election cycle because it has not received preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice. In an … Continue reading →

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It’s a long way to Damascus

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a good story about Williamson County DA John Bradley, whom you may recall as Rick Perry’s chief hatchet man on the Forensic Science Commission, and his apparent conversion to open-mindedness in the wake of the DNA exoneration … Continue reading →

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Yale Street Bridge load limit reduced by TxDOT

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This hit my inbox on Wednesday afternoon: Yale Street Bridge Load Limit Reduced by TxDOT A recent assessment of the Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou performed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) has resulted in a reduction … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Got The Time

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Song #91 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Got The Time”, originally by Joe Jackson, and covered by Anthrax. Yeah, I think these two are gonna sound a little different. Here’s the original: Nice. I like Joe Jackson, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez to retire

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As the story says, it’s the end of an era. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez said Friday he will not seek re-election, a decision that will end the congressional tenure of a Democratic family whose name has been synonymous with the city … Continue reading →

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Going for the stay

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Late Wednesday, AG Greg Abbott requested that the San Antonio court stay its order implementing new maps for Congress, the State House, and the State Senate, exhibiting his usual grace and class in doing so. Not unexpectedly, the San Antonio … Continue reading →

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Pena steps down

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bye-bye, Aaron. State Rep. Aaron Peña will retire at the end of this term rather than seek re-election under interim political maps for the Texas House of Representatives that stripped him of a district offering the best opportunity for a … Continue reading →

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There’s congestion on I-10: Film at 11

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you will be completely unsurprised to hear that I-10 has bad traffic congestion. You may be surprised to hear where the worst of it is, however. Just in time for Thanksgiving travel, a new study has found that … Continue reading →

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

Friday random ten: Black Friday edition

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today is Black Friday, the traditional start-of-the-Christmas-season holiday in which crazy people get up before the crack of dawn to have first dibs at discounted merchandise. I understand our neighborhood Target took things to the logical extreme and opened at … Continue reading →

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Minor tweaks to interim county map approved

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Barring anything strange, we should have a final county map for the 2012 election. A federal judge has granted several small changes Harris County requested to an interim redistricting map produced as part of a lawsuit Latino activists filed against … Continue reading →

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Sports Authority will not impede Astros move to AL

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One of the odd side stories that came out after MLB officially approved the sale of the Astros to Jim Crane was this contention by attorney Kevin W. Yankowsky of Fulbright & Jaworski that the Astros’ lease at Minute Maid … Continue reading →

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Runoff overview: District A

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t remember there being a Chron overview story for the District A regular election, but now that it’s in overtime we get an overview story about the race between CM Brenda Stardig and challenger Helen Brown. Better late than … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Still more evidence that tort “reform” is a scam

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Recently, I blogged about a Public Citizen report that documented the ways in which tort “reform”, specifically medical malpractice damage caps, are a scam that has done none of the things its backers promised. You might have read that and … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Modified House and Senate maps are out

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The federal court in San Antonio has now issued orders that slightly tweaked the State House and State Senate maps; the new plans are H302 and S164, respectively. The modifications are minor and mostly affect a few districts in Harris … Continue reading →

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Beyond turducken

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve had turducken. You’ve had turbaconducken. Where do you go from there? How about the Quaducant, with Creole sausage? That’s just one of several options presented to you at that link. I may have to ask for that next year. … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of November 21

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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First thoughts on the new Congressional map

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

OK, down to business. Here’s a map of the new plan, which was unanimously approved by the three judges, the 2008 election data, and here’s 2010 election data. Going by the 2012 data, I break it down as follows: Strong … Continue reading →

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Interim Congressional map is out

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a Thanksgiving miracle! Plan C220, which you can find here, is the Court’s proposed interim map for Congress. I will be looking at this, and will have my thoughts plus electoral data later.

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Apartment boom coming

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have many things to say about this. High occupancies and rising rents for apartments are driving a new wave of development in Houston’s high-end urban neighborhoods. More than 3,500 units in a dozen complexes are under construction primarily inside … Continue reading →

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