Tag Archives: Plano

A few questions about Swyft Cities and the Whoosh project

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

In my earlier post about the Whoosh elevated autonomous cable car project in North Texas, I got a comment from Leonard Lee addressing some of the concerns I had raised. He invited me to contact him if I had any … Continue reading →

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Whoosh!

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Okay, this is a new one. Transportation planners have a new idea about how to take on congestion as Dallas-Fort Worth’s population grows: elevated autonomous cable cars that riders can hail on demand. Five North Texas cities — Dallas, Arlington, … Continue reading →

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Multiple cities sue streaming services over franchise fees

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This has been coming for awhile, it seems. A lawsuit filed Thursday by 25 Texas cities claims that Disney, Hulu and Netflix have for years stiffed the cities out of dollars the streaming giants are required to pay under state … Continue reading →

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Why North Texas?

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reprints a WaPo story about a cluster of Capitol insurrectionists in the Dallas suburbs, and it’s something. Hope for Trump’s return is fervent in Frisco and across the northern Dallas suburbs, an area of rapid growth and rapidly increasing diversity. … Continue reading →

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Whistling past the ICU

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Clap louder! Gov. Greg Abbott and top Texas health officials on Tuesday responded to growing alarm over hospitals now swelling with coronavirus patients, assuring there is still plenty of space available even as some facilities have neared or surpassed capacity. … Continue reading →

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Where the anti-vaxxers are

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of them are right here. Four Texas cities, including Houston, rank among the 15 metropolitan “hotspots” of vaccine exemptions, more than any other state, according to a new study. The study found Austin, Fort Worth and Plano also … Continue reading →

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Mayors to Abbott: Don’t mess with our cities

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck getting through. Less than 24 hours after Gov. Greg Abbott blasted local government restrictions like tree ordinances as a threat to the “Texas brand,” city government leaders statewide are seeking a meeting with the Republican leader. “We would … Continue reading →

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How the Legislature is raising your property taxes

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

RG Ratcliffe explains it all to you: Just how much money does the increased appraisal on property in your school district and elsewhere save the state budget writers? The projection is $1.5 billion for the next two-year budget. And where … Continue reading →

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Plano for high speed rail

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

More support for Texas Central. The Plano City Council has lent it support to a 240-mile high-speed rail project that would run from Dallas to Houston. The council voted 7-1 Monday night to adopt a resolution supporting the project, with … Continue reading →

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How many crimes does your police department solve?

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Fewer than you think, unfortunately. Violent crime in America has been falling for two decades. That’s the good news. The bad news is, when crimes occur, they mostly go unpunished. In fact, for most major crimes, police don’t even make … Continue reading →

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Plano ERO repeal petitions ruled invalid

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. The City of Plano has determined that a recently circulated Equal Rights petition is invalid and will not move forward. Plano’s City Secretary was unable to certify the petition because it failed to meet State and local requirements for … Continue reading →

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The situation in Plano is complicated

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I had not realized this. The nation’s largest LGBT political advocacy group indicated this week it is unlikely to help defend a nondiscrimination ordinance in Plano due to exemptions affecting the transgender community. The announcement from the Washington, D.C.-based Human … Continue reading →

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HERO petition repeal trial starts

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It could actually be over before it really starts, though I would not expect that. For the next three to four weeks, the Harris County Civil Courthouse will be the stage for the trial over Houston’s controversial equal rights ordinance. … Continue reading →

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Plano equality opponents turn in their petitions

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday was the deadline for the opponents of Plano’s equal rights ordinance to turn in petitions to force a repeal referendum, and the haters of Plano duly did so. Opponents of Plano’s Equal Rights Ordinance say they’ve met the deadline … Continue reading →

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The bigger threat than the Plano petitions

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This could be a big problem. Four Republican lawmakers from the Plano area plan to introduce legislation that would bar cities and counties from adopting ordinances prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people, the Observer has learned. The proposed legislation also threatens … Continue reading →

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The haters are gathering petitions in Plano

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

God help us all. Opponents of Plano’s new ordinance banning discrimination against gays and transgendered people have drawn support from Pastor Rafael Cruz, father of Sen. Ted Cruz. “This is an attack on Judeo-Christian beliefs in America,” Cruz told a … Continue reading →

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On playing small ball

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Campos reacts to Mayor Parker’s future statewide plans. And here again is my small ball take from a few weeks ago: It is time for small ball instead of the big inning. In baseball, small ball is a strategy where … Continue reading →

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Working for progress on LGBT issues

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always a little wary when I see a phrase like “chipping away” in a story about LGBT issues, but in this case it refers to obstacles, not hard-won victories, so it’s OK. The rights and interests of homosexual Texans … Continue reading →

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Republicans will push pro-discrimination bills

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Two days after the Plano City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people, a Texas legislator filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the ability of cities to enforce … Continue reading →

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Houston pastors to fight against the Plano equal rights ordinance

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Of course they will. When Houston passed its Equal Rights Ordinance earlier this year, the Texas Pastor Council came out strongly in opposition of the law. Now the Houston-based group is challenging the nondiscrimination ordinance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and … Continue reading →

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Plano passes equal rights ordinance

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

How about that? In a split vote Monday, the Plano City Council passed the controversial Equal Rights Policy over the objections of many residents in the standing-room-only crowd. The amendment to the city’s 1989 anti-discrimination policy extends protections from housing, … Continue reading →

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Once again, where are the jobs Rick Perry was trying to poach?

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Politico revisits a familiar subject. Since as early as February of last year and as recently as April of this one, Perry has made eight trips to six different states, all of which have one very particular thing in common: … Continue reading →

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Video-enabled radar guns

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m just curious what people think of this: Plano could soon become one of the nation’s first cities to equip police with laser speed guns that also capture video. Police say the handheld equipment would provide courts with indisputable evidence … Continue reading →

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This ain’t your daddy’s Plano any more

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Demographic change comes to Texas’ iconic suburb. Recent controversy over whether and where to build a large homeless housing complex is the latest evidence of Plano’s two faces. The nonprofit Samaritan Inn of McKinney last week withdrew a zoning request … Continue reading →

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