Tag Archives: John Culberson

Culberson says he’s killed the University Line

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And maybe he has, though it wasn’t going anywhere at this time anyway. Residents and business owners along Richmond Avenue are breathing a sigh of relief — at least for now — as U.S. Rep. John Culberson has had his … Continue reading →

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What can we do to get the Universities Line going?

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This story is about the opening of the North Line, but it’s also about where Metro goes from here. The opening of the lines won’t spell the end of the construction. To complete the final mile of the East Line, … Continue reading →

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More on Rep. Poe and the University line

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story on Rep. Ted Poe’s surprising-to-me support of building the University Line. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, whose district shifted earlier this year to include portions of the area where the planned University Line would run along Richmond … Continue reading →

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Rep. Poe supports rail on Richmond

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

He supports something, anyway, and that’s a step forward. After seeking input from Houstonians, Congressman Ted Poe has spoken out in favor of building “something” in the University transit corridor. A statement outlining his position was released on Facebook yesterday: … Continue reading →

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If only it were that easy to get our act together

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has some blunt words for Houston about light rail. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood likes Houston’s light rail that’s up and running but warns that regional transit officials have squandered opportunities the past decade by … Continue reading →

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News flash: Ted Cruz is not KBH

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I’m as shocked as you are. For nearly two decades, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison delivered thousands of federal projects to Texas that added billions of dollars to the state’s economy. The leader of a bipartisan approach known as … Continue reading →

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Tell Rep. Culberson how you feel about rail on Richmond

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From RichmondRail.org: We’ve learned recently that US Congressman John Culberson is soliciting input regarding the planned METRO rail line on Richmond Avenue. While the Congressman has directed his request to property owners and occupants on Richmond Ave., rail transit on … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Congressional overs and unders

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

To wrap up my look at 2012 versus 2008 results for all the new districts, here’s how the 36 Congressional districts compared. Dist McCain Pct Obama08 Pct Romney Pct Obama12 Pct RIdx DIdx ============================================================================== 01 178,520 68.85% 78,918 30.44% 181,833 … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The range of possibility

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at selected districts in Harris County that shows the range of votes and vote percentages achieved by Democratic candidates. I’ve thrown in the Obama and Sam Houston results from 2008 for each to provide a comparison between … Continue reading →

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Whither the University Line?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Is the University Line in doubt? Some people think so. Over the last decade, METRO spent $71 million of your dollars to build a rail line. But the agency recently took that project off the table for at least another … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: An opponent for Culberson

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron gets around to another race it ignored in May, the Democratic primary in CD07. The winner of the Democratic primary runoff for Texas’ U.S. House 7th District will face quite a battle against incumbent Rep. John Culberson on … Continue reading →

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Culberson’s Univesity Line attack makes it through the House

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Great. Advocates of federally subsidized expansion of the Houston Metro light rail system lost a crucial round to Houston Congressman John Culberson on Friday, leaving dwindling opportunities to overturn spending restrictions on the Richmond Avenue project. The House adopted a … Continue reading →

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Culberson up to his old tricks

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You almost have to admire the single minded focus on doing something only he and a few other people really want to do. For the first time in his long-running dispute with Houston Metro, Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, has managed … Continue reading →

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March fundraising reports for Congressional candidates

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a roundup of campaign finance reports for Congressional races and candidates of interest. I’ve been collecting links to the reports for contested Democratic races on my 2012 primary pages. Area races Nick Lampson had a typically strong fundraising report, … Continue reading →

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Football season is over, but political football season never ends

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It never even reaches the two minute warning. The committee chairman described it as a “food fight,” an after-midnight bout as Republican Congressman Blake Farenthold tried to jimmy legislation to block federal money for Metro to build or extend the … Continue reading →

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FTA gives preliminary engineering approval to University line

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Hot dog! The Federal Transit Administration notified Metro on Monday that the line has been approved to move into the Preliminary Engineering phase of the Transit Administration’s matching-funds program. Two other light rail lines, the North and Southeast corridors, are … Continue reading →

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Chron slaps Culberson again for Metro meddling

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an old story. Metro gets some good news relating to the University line. Rep. John Culberson tries again to halt the project. The Chronicle calls him out on it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that last part. It’s … Continue reading →

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Culberson sticks his nose in

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, when we heard that the Federal Transit Authority had notified Metro that they would be cleared to begin preliminary engineering of the University Line project if no member of the local Congressional delegation objected by today, I figured … Continue reading →

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University Line takes a step forward on funding

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Finally! The light rail route known as the “University Line” is close to clearing the first major hurdle for obtaining federal funding. The Federal Transit Authority notified Metro this week that the project has entered a 10-day congressional notification period. … Continue reading →

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Your Texas Republican delegation in action

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

David Weigel tells us what some of our Republican Congressfolk have been up to. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.), who has introduced a bill that would require future presidential candidates to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, has collected four more co-sponsors — Reps. … Continue reading →

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Presidential results by Congressional district

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Swing State Project has compiled a list of Presidential results by Congressional district, for all 435 DCs around the country. I’ve pulled out the Texas numbers and put them in a Google spreadsheet for ease of viewing. Here are a … Continue reading →

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Which Republicans do you have in mind for that?

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Republican attorney Jacob Monty calls on his party to tackle the problem of immigration reform in a serious and rational way. I think he makes some good points about the toxic relations the GOP currently has with Hispanics nationally, and … Continue reading →

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For the money, I sure hope so

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: Travel times on the newly-expanded Katy Freeway have improved. The expansion of 23 miles of roadway along the Katy was completed in October. The $2.8 billion project took five years to complete and added 18 lanes between the … Continue reading →

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