Monthly Archives: December 2012

Happy birthday, Lady Bird

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Lady Bird Johnson would be celebrating her 100th birthday today if she were still with us. Catherine Robb’s eyes blurred with tears and she paused, overcome by the emotion of trying to find the right words to express how much … Continue reading →

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Are two courts better than one?

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Why exactly do we need two top courts in Texas? A proposal for the upcoming legislative session is resuscitating a debate that goes back to the writing of the Texas Constitution in 1876. The bill, authored by state Rep. Richard … Continue reading →

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Greanias officially resigns, interim Metro CEO named

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

George Greanias may have stepped down as CEO of Metro, but he’ll still be around for awhile, as Metro searches for his successor. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members on Thursday accepted Greanias’ resignation, named an interim replacement and approved a … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: The annual Christmas list

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The staff of Popdose has their fifty favorite holiday songs for your consideration. Those of you familiar with the Mellowmas tradition will note with amusement a few crossovers, but theirs is a pretty solid collection. As is my tradition, here … Continue reading →

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One year of Helena

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer‘s Emily dePrang takes a look at CM Helena Brown, one year after her upset win in District A. When she took office, Brown made waves for her nearly satirical level of budget hawkery. She made simplistic government-bad, free-market-good … Continue reading →

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

Former HPD lab supervisor files sues Lykos, county

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a nice little going away present for District Attorney Pat Lykos. Two former Houston Police Department crime lab supervisors have filed a federal lawsuit against Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos, saying the county’s top prosecutor retaliated against them … Continue reading →

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City-county cooperation

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? At 9:27 p.m. on Election Day, when it was clear a Metro referendum crucial to both of their road-building budgets had passed, Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack’s phone buzzed with a text message from … Continue reading →

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Craft versus crafty

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Just because that beer you’re drinking has a quirky name and a whimsical label on the bottle doesn’t mean it came from a microbrewery. In a biting opening salvo, a trade group for the nation’s craft brewers on Thursday accused … Continue reading →

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Not just vouchers, corporate-sponsored vouchers

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t make this stuff up. Speaking in a Catholic school classroom in Austin, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick gave the first details of what they promised would be a wide-ranging set of proposals for public … Continue reading →

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Responding the only way they know how

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s our Legislature. In response to last week’s Connecticut school shooting, state Rep.-elect Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, says he will file legislation to allow public school teachers to carry concealed weapons while on campus. The bill, which Villalba is calling the … Continue reading →

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Transition, schmansition

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Don Sumners, ladies and gentlemen. “There is no transition,” said lame-duck Tax Assessor-Collector Don Sumners. The occasionally cantankerous 73-year-old anti-tax taxman said he and his two predecessors came in cold, and [Tax Assessor-elect Mike] Sullivan will have to do the … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of December 17

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance sends its deepest condolences to the people of Newtown as it brings you this week’s roundup. Off the Kuff says that the voters have done a pretty good job of imposing term limits on the Legislature. … Continue reading →

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A personal view of judicial elections

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned in this space before that my father Charles A. Kuffner, Jr. was a Supreme Court justice in New York. (Note: The Supreme Court in New York is basically the equivalent of a District Court in Texas. The top … Continue reading →

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Chapter 42 is back

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be fun. Sprawling, boomtown Houston may be in for another battle over land use and development, this time driven by the most significant changes proposed to the city’s building rules in 13 years. The rewrite would … Continue reading →

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Student RFID case in federal court

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck sorting it all out, Your Honor. Because she has a religious objection to Northside Independent School District’s new student tracking system, Andrea Hernandez and her father testified in federal court Monday, she should not be transferred to another … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS voter ID update

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The matter is officially with the Supreme Court now. A federal court deferred further proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Texas over the state’s voter identification law until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on whether part of the Voting Rights … Continue reading →

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Where redistricting stands with SCOTUS

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: What happens now in the Supreme Court? With the filing of motions to affirm or dismiss last week by the Justice Department and intervenors, Texas’ appeal of the preclearance ruling is now ready for review by the … Continue reading →

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Rodeo buys part of old Astroworld site

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Unclear what this means. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is acquiring half of the old Six Flags AstroWorld property for $42.8 million. The organization’s board of directors on Thursday authorized show officials to acquire 48 acres of the former … Continue reading →

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Dude, I’m serious!

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

House Speaker Joe Straus is ready to have a “serious” legislative session. You know, totally unlike the last one. Despite organized efforts to unseat him, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said Wednesday he is confident his colleagues will re-elect him … Continue reading →

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You can have a say on how the Railroad Commission conducts its business

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Sharon: STEPS TO CHANGE THE RRC. The Sunset Advisory Commission is the agency that regulates all Texas agencies.ONCE EVERY 12 YEARS, they examine the agencies and decide what needs to be changed and if the agencies should continue. This year … Continue reading →

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Once more to the judicial elections well

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I swear, I thought I was done talking about judicial elections, at least for now until one or more of the bills that would affect them comes up in the Lege, but then there was this op-ed in the Chron, … Continue reading →

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Early extension for Grier

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This was a surprise. The Houston school board gave Superintendent Terry Grier a big but not unanimous vote of confidence Thursday, extending his contract through 2016 and awarding him $115,000 in bonuses for the last year. The board voted 6-2 … Continue reading →

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The Controller’s travels

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is me shaking my head. Houston controller Ron Green, the city’s top elected financial watchdog, has flown first class and frequented high-end hotels in New York and Chicago at taxpayer expense for more than two dozen publicly funded excursions, … Continue reading →

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The Municipal Equality Index

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: A new report on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality in America’s cities by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, in partnership with the Equality Federation Institute and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute,  rated … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for December 16

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Happy birthday, Aunt Judy! More apps = less television. I don’t think this is what all those people with the “Kill Your TV” bumper stickers had in mind, though. Less whining about Christmas is a good idea in general. Ten … Continue reading →

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On school shootings

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. In the national collective grief rising from Friday’s mass shooting in Connecticut, one apparent trust seems to have completely shattered: that an elementary school was sacred and safe ground. Left in the … Continue reading →

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Greanias to step down from Metro

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. George Greanias, appointed to lead the Metropolitan Transit Authority in September 2010 after political squabbling and inefficiencies led to widespread criticism of the bus and train system, is resigning, a Metro spokeswoman confirmed Friday. Greanias has stated his intent … Continue reading →

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Two minus five is still less than zero

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s nice that Speaker Joe Straus wants to restore public education funding, but let’s be clear about what that means. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said Friday he’s committed to pumping billions of dollars back into the state’s public schools, … Continue reading →

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Craft beer is good for Texas

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Because it can’t be said too often, am I right? Here’s a brief Q&A with Charles Valhonrat, the executive director of the Texas Craft Brewer’s Guild. Q: What are your goals for the 2013 legislative session, and how do you … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Without You

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Song #39 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Without You” by Badfinger, and covered by Harry Nilsson. Here’s the original: Another song I didn’t recognize by the title, but once it started playing I knew what it was. … Continue reading →

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The Big East is imploding

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I never really believed that the reconstituted Big East was going to be viable in the long term, but I didn’t see its demise happening in this fashion, nor this quickly. The Big East is headed for another break up. … Continue reading →

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Council approves Washington Avenue parking benefit district

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how this works. The Houston City Council on Wednesday formed a special parking district along Washington Avenue, intended to ease the woes associated with the bustling corridor’s mix of bars, restaurants and residential streets. The plan will add … Continue reading →

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TAB yields on testing

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Retreat! Some of the strongest advocates for high-stakes testing, Texas business leaders now want to cut the number of exams students must pass to finish high school, the latest attempt to ease tougher graduation requirements that went into effect last … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Did the Mayans predict the fiscal cliff?

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One more week till the end of the world, which one must admit would be a neat solution to the so-called fiscal cliff. Here’s a Friday random ten that combines the two: 1. Close To The Edge – Yes 2. … Continue reading →

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