Archive for June, 2008
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Gov. Rick Perry is expressing “disappointment in lapses” at the Department of Public Safety that allowed an unknown arsonist to torch the Governor’s Mansion earlier this month. But the spark that set the building ablaze in the early hours of June 8 was set in the offices of the ...
Posted in News | 11 Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Iraq. Katrina. Pain at the pump. Unsafe food. Record debt. Real incomes falling for the first time since the Great Depression. A long list of failures trails the Bush administration as it limps through its final days.
But the saddest legacy of the saddest presidency may turn out to be the ...
Posted in Follow-Up, Growth, City Council, News | 2 Comments »
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
June 19, 2008:
Asked whether he’s interested in becoming John McCain’s runningmate, Texas
Gov. Rick Perry tells reporters on a conference call: “Not for me. I’m
going to stay right here and keep the Texas economy cranking along.”
June 20, 2008:
The Associated Press reports: "Texas unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent last ...
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
Austin’s City Council approved a watered-down measure whose draconian original version, pushed by a segment of the disabled community, could have dramatically hiked the cost of the city’s dwindling supply of affordable housing. The amended ordinance, sponsored by retiring council member Betty Dunkerley in her last meeting, passed unanimously.
The ...
Posted in News | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
A new poll purports to have predicted the vote in Austin’s Place 4 city council runoff five days before the election even though the firm didn’t release the results until this week, days after the actual voting took place.
Further undermining the pollster’s case is his misstatement of the margin of ...
Posted in Follow-Up, 2008 Elections, City Council, News, Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
A proposal by outgoing council member Betty Dunkerley that could force Austin homeowners to make expensive modifications to their houses in order to accommodate the disabled is scheduled to be heard during her last official council meeting tomorrow.
It seems to us, that at the very least the name of the ...
Posted in Follow-Up, City Council | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
Phil Wilson, the former Phil Gramm aide appointed Texas Secretary of State by Gov. Rick Perry less than one year ago, will step down as of July 6 to join the new incarnation of energy giant TXU, now known as Energy Futures Holdings Inc.
The StartleGram now has the story...
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Ten thousand Austinites (plus all those undocumented immigrants who keep flooding the polls) cast their ballots during early vote, and now it’s all over but the smearing of each candidate by the other between now and Saturday’s final round.
Galindo is a Republican — or at least that’s what Morrison claims ...
Posted in Follow-Up, 2008 Elections, City Council | 17 Comments »
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
A Virginia company that books high-dollar hunting expeditions is on trial for violating federal laws by allegedly bribing Russian government on behalf of a group of Texas big gamesman, including one of Texas’s top GOP donors, according to a story in this morning’s Houston Chronicle.
Houston energy czar Dan Duncan ...
Posted in State | No Comments »
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Several sources report that former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell is telling Houston lawmakers that he will run in the special November 4 election to replace retiring state senator Kyle Janek.
Republicans in the SD 17 race are expected to include Austen Furse, a Houston financial services adviser, and Gary ...
Posted in 2008 Elections | 3 Comments »
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
We got more bile in the mail today in the form of negative campaigning by Laura Morrison. This one even hits Cid Galindo's dad for giving money to Bush.
We wouldn't vote for his dad either. Too bad Cid didn't hire an opposition researcher to look into Laura's parents' past.
The funniest ...
Posted in Follow-Up, 2008 Elections, City Council | 7 Comments »
Friday, June 6th, 2008
Known as the oddest man in state government (emphasis on odd), Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is also frequently the odd man out among the three top Texas leaders. The other two, Gov,. Rick Perry and Speaker Tom Craddick, have been able to dominate the agenda and make the Houston ...
Posted in 2008 Elections, State | 3 Comments »
Friday, June 6th, 2008
Will Austin’s first woman mayor try to become Austin’s second woman mayor? Speculation on next year’s candidates has centered on current council members Brewster McCracken, Lee Leffingwell, and, increasingly, Mike Martinez. Some are suggesting the longtime Austin fixture who calls herself Grandma may also be eyeing a bid.
Strayhorn, ...
Posted in 2008 Elections | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
The City Council this morning decided to postpone a public hearing, originally scheduled for this evening, on a controversial ordinance pushed by council member Betty Dunkerley that would mandate price hikes on new homes in the city by thousands of dollars.
Word is the public hearing will be rescheduled for June ...
Posted in City Council | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
We couldn't make this stuff up...
Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott today played host to his Virginia counterpart, Bob McDonnell, during a fundraising reception at the Austin Club, where the two dragged the sack for McDonnell’s long-shot gubernatorial bid.
Lobbyists around town had been receiving phone calls from Abbott’s 20-something chief of ...
Posted in 2008 Elections | 1 Comment »
