blogHOUSTON - The Stream

Area residents bring The Stupid. Hard.

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:49:10 -0500

Most often, the blog points out examples of local journalistic and/or governmental stupidity. Today, we interrupt the blog "slowdown" to share three examples of general stupidity. Be sure to click over for the full stories/posts. Package prompts ...

Let's translate "limited public participation"

_@_ (Anne Linehan) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:09:49 -0500

Just remember, if you keep it between $10 and $20 million, Houston's in: "At first blush, I am pleased with the response to our RFQ, but we have a lot of due diligence to do before we are ready to make any recommendation for going forward," Ric Ca...

Chron scrutinizes bogus Dome demolition numbers; Bureaucrats start to back away from same

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:29:19 -0500

Experts say Astrodome demolition price tag seems high - Mike Morris, Houston Chronicle Willie Loston, executive director of the Sports Corp., said the estimated cost of [Astrodome] demolition is lower than that produced by a similar study two year...

SLOW blogging ahead for a while...

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:46:22 -0500

We're putting the blog in official slowdown mode for a little while. There's nothing "bad" going on. But we've been doing the blog pretty much continuously for quite a few years now, and Anne Linehan and I are both just kind of wrapped up in other...

North Forest ISD will stay open for another year

_@_ (Anne Linehan) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:44:22 -0500

Students hardest hit: the Texas Education Commissioner said North Forest is being given another year to try to improve its status. Because after years of promising to improve (and failing), district officials now have a winning plan?

An expensive repository of crumpled Astroturf and trash

_@_ (Anne Linehan) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:18:40 -0500

A Swamplot reader recently took a detour while at the Rodeo and ventured into the Astrodome. Follow the link to see the pics.

Bazan: Revenue Reality vs Consultants on the Hilton Americas

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:20:24 -0500

Tom Bazan passes along this interesting chart he put together detailing the projections made by one of the city's favorite consultants to justify its deep involvement in the convention center hotel versus actual revenue performance over time:

How to skirt Mayor Parker's proposed "charitable food service ordinance"

_@_ (Anne Linehan) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:55:08 -0500

While Mayor Parker wants to criminalize giving food to the needy, she is moving to de-criminalize tailgating at Houston sports venues: Houston�s mayor and city council will consider amending city ordinances to essentially allow tailgating outside...

News and views roundup (19 March 2012 edition)

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:19:26 -0500

The last week or so sort of got away from us, so here's a quick link post to catch up: Housing authority paid thousands to employees' friends, relatives, records show - Mike Morris and Susan Carroll, Houston Chronicle Harris County Housing Au...

KTRK: Housing Authority under scrutiny over truck, checks

_@_ (Kevin Whited) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:45:22 -0500

The county attorney looked into all of it and decided in the letter that nothing was illegal, but said it probably wasn't the best way to handle this. [snip] By the way, there is no sign that any policy has changed at the Housing Authority since ...