June 11, 2010

Lessons on governmental decision-making

This blog started in February 2004 and the first post about what to do with the Astrodome was in September 2004.

Over the intervening six years, there have been a couple of dozen posts about the various boondoggles that have been proposed for the Dome. To date, no one has put up a penny to redevelop the Dome.

Despite this dismal track record, Harris County officials are still dithering over what to do with the Dome.

At least the current proposals are similar to the one that I made a couple of years ago. That is really the only one that makes much sense for the facility. Typical to Harris County�s handling of this situation, there is no mention in the Chronicle article that Harris County officials have had any discussions with Texas Medical Center officials about development and financing of such a venture. Thus, at this point, it would appear that the only financing for such a project would be on the County's dole.

And in an amazing display of blindness, County officials are planning not to convert the land that the Dome sits on into badly needed additional parking for the Reliant Park area if the decision is made to raze the facility. Why not generate some revenue from the land to help pay off the $35 million in bond debt that still exists on the Dome?

Oh well. There are many lessons to be drawn from this experience, but two in particular:

1. If you can�t figure out what to do with something in six years, then it�s probably time to get rid of it; and

2. Don�t ever rely on governmental officials to make sound decisions.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

June 8, 2010

So, what have you done for me lately?

What on earth is University of Houston Athletic Director Mack Rhoades thinking?

With UH already being an afterthought in the ongoing negotiations over the reorganization of big-time college athletics, Rhoades this past Friday fired the best coach that UH has had over the past 20 years, baseball coach Rayner Noble.

Not exactly the way to inspire confidence in the alumni base, Mr. Rhoades. 

Only in his late-40's, Noble is already an institution at the University of Houston, where he has spent most of the past 30 years.

Noble initially came to UH in 1980 as an exceptional player from Houston's Spring Woods High School, where he was the ace of a pitching staff than included Roger Clemens. He became the first freshman in Southwest Conference history to start as a pitcher and in centerfield. In 1983, he won 12 games and posted a 1.32 ERA while becoming the first UH pitcher to be named a consensus All-American and the first UH player to win Southwest Conference Player of the Year honors.

Noble was drafted by the Astros in the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft and quickly moved up the Astros farm system. But after developing chronic tendonitis in his pitching elbow at the Triple-A level, Noble decided to go into coaching, initially as an assistant for long-time UH baseball coach Bragg Stockton and then helping Rice coach Wayne Graham in the early 1990's lay the foundation of the ultra-successful Rice program. During an era in which UH administrators were not making very good decisions, UH unexpectedly made the good decision to hire Noble as head baseball coach in 1994.

UH has been richly rewarded for that decision. Over the past 16 seasons, Noble guided the UH baseball program to three NCAA Super Regional berths over a four year period from 1999-2003, eight NCAA Regional appearances, three Conference USA regular-season titles and three C-USA Tournament championships. In so doing, he chalked up a 551-420 record, including a record-breaking 48 wins in both the 2000 and 2002 seasons.

With the exception of Leroy Burrell's elite UH track program, no other UH coach comes even close to Noble's accomplishments during that period.

But what made Rayner Noble truly special at UH was that he loved and understood his alma mater. Playing in an inferior conference and without comparable financial resources, UH could rarely compete with programs such as Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor or local powerhouse Rice for elite players coming out of high school. Consequently, Noble specialized in recruiting players who he could develop into solid college players.

In so doing, he developed a large number of excellent players, such as pitchers Ryan Wagner and Brad Sullivan, who in 2003 were the first UH players selected in the first-round of the MLB Draft.

Moreover, given his experience as a professional player, Noble understood the vagaries of fashioning a successful college career into a spot on an MLB roster. Thus, Noble always emphasized to his players the importance of completing their college education. Noble's players were true student-athletes - if a player didn't attend class, he didn't play for Rayner Noble. Several UH professors confided to me over the years that Noble was by for the easiest coach that they ever worked with in regard to an academic problem of a student-athlete. Not surprisingly, Noble was highly-respected and well-liked by most UH faculty members and administrators.

So, what was that performance, integrity, loyalty and wisdom worth when Noble's teams suffered back-to-back losing seasons over the past two seasons?

Apparently, not much.

Make no mistake about it, the firing of Rayner Noble is a sad commentary on the state of intercollegiate athletics. Rather than looking at the big picture and the enormous contributions that Noble has made to student-athletes and the school, AD Rhoades and UH made a decision based narrowly on short-term results at a time when UH athletics desperately needs to be thinking for the long term.

Without the financial resources of the other major Texas universities, the University of Houston used to stand for unusual commitment to its coaches. Bill Yeoman, Guy V. Lewis, and the late Dave Williams were examples of the long-term excellence that UH used to achieve in intercollegiate athletics as a result of that commitment.

The firing of Rayner Noble reminds us that UH dispensed with that wise policy long ago.

As a result, the University of Houston has just lost much more than a baseball coach. The university lost a part of its soul.

UH will find another baseball coach.

But that lost part of UH's soul will be much harder to replace.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) |

June 2, 2010

Obfuscation is government’s secret weapon

Over the past couple of years, Bill King has done a great job (and see generally here) of explaining how Houston�s unfunded public pension obligation represents a horrific burden on the city government�s financial condition.

Given that such obligations are clearly unsustainable, why does the city government continue to provide them?

Edward L. Glaeser provides the following particularly lucid explanation of the dynamic that leads to such profligacy:

On Friday, The New York Times ran a front-page article about pensions that took note of a 44-year-old retired police officer who receives an annual pension of $101,333 despite never having earned more than $74,000 a year in base pay. The article reported that in Yonkers alone �more than 100 retired police officers and firefighters are collecting pensions greater than their pay when they were working� and that �about 3,700 retired public workers in New York are now getting pensions of more than $100,000 a year, exempt from state and local taxes.�

The emotional response of many people is to vilify the retirees, but that�s a mistake. The individual police officers and firefighters were following the rules. They have jobs that require them to risk their lives in service of their communities, and large pensions are one payoff for accepting those risks and accepting relatively lower wages up front. I�m sure many of them are no less impatient than the rest of us and would have preferred to get more money in their 20s and less in their 50s.

The fault lies in the political process that makes their negotiating partners � state and local governments � more impatient than their employees. State and local governments don�t want to face the short-term consequences of paying higher wages, so they structure compensation in ways that defer the costs of each new deal for years.

Politics doesn�t just favor delayed compensation; it also favors forms of compensation that are particularly hard for people to evaluate. Governments almost always love obfuscation. The appeal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was that they could subsidize homeownership without appearing to cost the taxpayers anything. Of course, they ended costing us plenty, just like hard-to-evaluate pension promises.

The rest of Glaeser�s post is here.

Sort of reminds one of this, this and this, eh?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

May 25, 2010

Is the wild ride of Landry’s investors finally over?

Owning an interest in Houston-based Landry�s Restaurants, Inc. over the past several years has not been for the faint-hearted.

But maybe � just maybe � the patience of long-term holders of Landry�s stock is finally going to be rewarded.

This story began back in July of 2007 when Landry�s announced that it was delinquent in its regulatory filings with the SEC and that it was in need of refinancing over $400 million in debt in a rapidly deteriorating debt market. Shortly thereafter, the company sued some of its bondholders for declaring the company in technical default under their bonds, but the company quickly settled that litigation on not particularly good terms.

A few months later, Landry's announced in January 2008 that its CEO and major shareholder (39%), Tilman Fertitta, had made an offer to take the company private by buying the other 61% of the company's stock for $23.50 share, which worked to be a $1.3 billion deal, including debt.

Given the circumstances, that offer sounded pretty good, particularly given that the proposed purchase price was a 40% premium over the $16.67 share price at the time of the offer.

Unfortunately, a flurry of shareholder lawsuits followed Fertitta's bid. By early March, 2008, it was apparent that Fertitta's bid was so speculative that he hadn't even lined up financing for it.

So, in April of 2008, Fertitta lowered his offer to $21 per share because of "tighter credit markets", and Landry's board announced in June of that year that it had accepted that price.

But by the fall of 2008, the financial crisis on Wall Street had roiled credit markets even further and Hurricane Ike caused considerable damage to several Landry's properties.

So, in October of 2008, Fertitta lowered his offer to $13.50 per share.

Then, in mid January of 2009, Landry's announced that it was terminating the proposed deal with Fertitta. The reason was a bit convoluted, but the gist of it was that Landry's contended that the SEC was requiring the company to issue a proxy statement disclosing information about a confidential commitment letter from the lead lenders on the buyout deal.

Amidst all this, Landry's stock was tanking, closing at under $5 per share.

Meanwhile, while the take-private bids languished and the company's stock plummeted to historic lows, Fertitta continued to buy more Landry's stock so that he now controls somewhere in the neighborhood of 55% of the company's shares.

Yes, that's right. Despite Fertitta�s series of unsuccessful take-private offers over the previous couple of years, Landry's board failed to obtain a standstill agreement from Fertitta that would have prevented him from taking a majority equity position while Landry's stock price was tanking.

So, given all that, could Fertitta and the Landry's directors screw things up any worse?

How about proposing yet another deal in which Fertitta would buyout Landry's other shareholders in return for giving them an equity stake in a publicly-owned spin-off (Saltgrass Steakhouse) in a brutally competitive niche of the restaurant market?

After shareholders and the markets widely panned that spinoff proposal, Landry's board tentatively approved an offer from Fertitta to buy the balance of Landry's shares for $14.75 per share. Compared to the spinoff proposal, Fertitta's cash offer looked relatively good.

There was just one small problem with Fertitta's proposal. Under Delaware corporate law, Fertitta had to agree that his proposal was subject to a requirement that a majority of the Landry's shares that Fertitta did not control have to approve the deal.

Enter William Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund. Pershing Square bought up a bunch of Landry's shares and announced that it opposed Fertitta's buyout offer.

So, assuming your head isn�t still spinning from all that, what�s the latest with Landry�s?

Yesterday, the Landry�s board accepted a $24-a-share takeover offer by Fertitta ($.50 more than his January 2008 offer back when he owned only 39% of the company), which makes for about $1.4 billion deal.

In addition, Landry�s has the right to shop Fertitta�s offer for 45-days in an effort to obtain a higher offer and doesn�t have to pay Fertitta a break-up fee if such a higher offer is obtained. Of course, no one other than Fertitta has shown any interest in acquiring Landry�s, but that�s a nice touch, anyway.

The deal has a couple of contingencies, including court approval of a partial settlement of Delaware class action litigation against Fertitta and certain company directors.

Likewise, the deal must be approved by a majority of shareholders not affiliated with Fertitta, namely Ackman and Pershing Capital. But given the pricing of the deal � and the profit that Pershing Capital looks to make on its investment � such approval would appear to have been lined up already. So, Landry�s investors may finally receive a decent payoff for their wild ride over the past three years.

As the past three years have shown, Landry�s investors shouldn�t count their chickens before this deal hatches. But if it does, you can count on one thing about Landry�s.

The days of Landry�s as a publicly-owned company are over. For good.

Update: Steve Davidoff doesn't think that Pershing Capital will necessarily play ball with Fertitta's bid. With the paucity of bidders for Landry's, it seems unlikely to me that Pershing Capital would take the risk of opposing the deal. But you never know in the wild world of Landry's.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 27, 2010

The Chronicle and the NFL Draft go in opposite directions

Although I continue not to understand the attraction, the National Football League's annual draft of players over this past weekend garnered record television ratings.

Meanwhile, Kevin Whited notes that the Houston Chronicle continues to bleed badly in terms of circulation. The local daily posted a staggering 13.77% decline in daily circulation, and a 9.76% decline in Sunday circulation in the latest numbers.

Frankly, the Chronicle's coverage of the NFL draft is a good case study on why it is losing readers rapidly.

Despite the growing popularity of the draft, the Chronicle's main sportswriters -- John McClain and Richard Justice -- serve up cheerleading glop about the Texans' draft each year even though the local club has been arguably the least successful expansion franchise in NFL history. But for Chron bloggers such as Steph Stradley and Lance Zierlein, there really wouldn't be anything of substance about the draft to read in the Chronicle. Heck, this breathless Justice column from the other day piece is practically the same as his equally fatuous article about the Texans' 2007 draft at the time.

As the always-insightful Alan Burge points out, it is silly to evaluate an NFL team's draft until at least three seasons later because of the nebulous nature of selecting prospects who will turn out to be productive NFL players. And as I noted at the time -- the Texans' 2007 draft was not as impressive as Justice's flowery evaluation at the time. While Burge is charitable in giving the Texans' effort a C-minus grade, Justice has yet to realize that his glowing report of Texans management's performance in the 2007 draft was flat wrong.

Thus, while the Chron continues to run the mailed-in work on popular events, bloggers such as Burge are filling the void with substantive analysis. Consumers eventually notice and gravitate toward the substance and away from the blather.

I wonder whether Chronicle management will notice before it's too late?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 20, 2010

Houston Metro in a few years

Houston�s Metropolitan Transit Authority has been on the receiving end of well-deserved criticism lately regarding its dubious finances (see here, here and here).

But it�s always nice to realize that things could be worse. For example, we could be dealing with the San Francisco Bay Area�s Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which actually is one of the models that Metro has used in establishing its absurdly inefficient light rail system. Check this out:

The 2009 annual report from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is a bombshell, a wake up call, a Klaxon - choose whatever metaphor you like - if you care about public transit in the Bay Area, this report is probably going to affect your life.

It shows, more clearly than any of the reports of budget woes coming from the individual transit agencies, that the entire system is unsustainable.

Think the fare hikes and service cuts are bad now? Just wait. The MTC added up the projected budgets of the agencies and found that operating costs would exceed revenues by $8 billion over the next 25 years (emphasis supplied), while planned improvements (like new buses, and the Warm Springs BART station) will require someone to dig up an additional $17 billion in spare change from under the couch.

And that�s not even the worst of it:

In the last decade [Bay Area residents] almost doubled the amount of money [they] put toward transit, while increasing service only 16 percent and ridership only 7 percent.

Meanwhile, Houston Metro is currently proposing to sell $866 in general obligation bonds, yet it does not have non-tax revenue that is even close to covering debt service on that level of debt. Metro has not even floated what credit enhancement it proposes to provide in order to sell those bonds.

Hopefully, Houston�s leaders will nip this type of lunacy in the bud. If they need any incentive, then the Bay Area MTC is a useful reminder of the even bigger mess that Metro could be.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

March 29, 2010

It’s Shell Houston Open week

The PGA Tour makes its annual trek to Texas this week for the Shell Houston Open at the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club. It�s always a fun event and well worth attending.

After a rocky divorce from The Woodlands and its popular TPC Course, as well as a difficult transition period in which most of the best PGA Tour players avoided the event, the 2009 tournament attracted the best field in the history of the event. The 2010 tournament has followed that up with an arguably an even stronger field as six of the the top 10 players in the World Rankings are playing. As a result, the field is as good as any of the non-major, non-World Golf Championship events on the Tour.

Phil Mickelson (3), Lee Westwood (4), defending SHO champ Paul Casey (5), Martin Kaymer (8), Ernie Els (9) and Padraig Harrington (10) lead the field, while Rory McIlroy (12), Geoff Ogilvy (14), Luke Donald (20), Hunter Mahan (21), Lucas Glover (25), Charl Schwartzel (26), Anthony Kim (27), PGA champ Y.E. Yang (29), Masters champ Angel Cabrera (32) and Vijay Singh (34) are other well-known Tour members in the field. In addition, local fan favorites such as past SHO winners Fred Couples, Adam Scott and Stuart Appleby are playing.

The first Houston Open was in 1922 and the tournament is tied with the Texas Open as the third oldest non-major championship on the PGA Tour behind only only the Western Open (1899) and the Canadian Open (1904). This is the fifth Houston Open to be played on the Tournament Course and the eighth event overall at Redstone, which hosted its first three Houston Opens on the club's Jacobson-Hardy Course while the Tournament Course was being built.

This is the SHO's fourth year of being played the week before The Masters and the strong field is further confirmation that the tournament�s move to the week-before-The Masters-date was the right one. The Houston Golf Association continues to do a good job of promoting the tournament with Tour players by grooming the Tournament Course in a manner similar to Augusta National. However, the course is actually a flat-land course that bears little resemblance to the hilly venues of Augusta.

Even with its superior conditioning, the Tournament Course is a not a favorite of either players or spectators. Although is has a decent variety of interesting holes, the routing of the course is an unmitigated disaster, with 16 of the holes separated by a long walk and a drainage ditch from the 1st and 18th holes, the driving range and the clubhouse.

Unfortunately, there is not much the Houston Golf Association can do about that routing problem, so let's just hope that the course's superior conditioning and the SHO's attractive tune-up date for The Masters keeps prompting the top players to overlook the routing problem. Here are a few tips on watching the tournament at Redstone.

Although I've had my doubts that the HGA would be able to turnaround the SHO at Redstone, I'm happy to be wrong on that score. Houston has a rich golfing tradition and the HGA is a fine charitable organization. It's going to be another great week at Redstone, so sit back and enjoy the SHO!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

March 22, 2010

The bad Metro bet

Following on this post from last week, there were a couple of good pieces from over weekend on the cascading boondoggle that is Houston�s Metropolitan Transit Authority.

In this post, the always-insightful Tory Gattis comments on Randal O�Toole�s Wall Street Journal op-ed from over the weekend in which O�Toole focuses on the short-sighted nature of huge investment in light rail systems. At a time of fast technological innovation, why should a community place a substantial amount of its chips on an increasingly obsolescent form of mass transit such as light rail?

Meanwhile, Bill King followed his fine blog post from last week with this devastating Sunday Chronicle op-ed in which he disassembles each of the primary myths that Metro supporters use when defending the light rail system. In particular, King explains why the 2003 referendum is not a reasonable justification for what Metro is proposing now with regard to its light rail system:

The 2003 referendum had three elements: (1) a $1.2 billion LRT system; (2) a roughly 50 percent increase in bus service; and (3) initiating a plan for commuter rail.

Metro has completely abandoned the bus expansion: We have fewer buses and bus riders today than we did in 2003. It also has done absolutely nothing to further the development of any commuter rail lines and has instead gotten in the way of other groups like Harris County when they have tried to initiate some action. The voters in 2003 did not approve just a light rail plan; they approved a comprehensive, multimodal system. Metro, for its own reasons, has abandoned what the voters approved in favor of its own grandiose vision.

Additionally, it should be noted that the voters specifically restricted Metro to borrowing $640 million to build the light rail system. Metro now plans to subvert that limitation by entering into a sale/lease-back arrangement with a separate subsidiary and actually borrow more than four times what the voters approved. Metro is always quick to invoke the moral authority of the 2003 referendum but casually ignores its inconvenient restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Chronicle editorial board continues to live in a rather odd state of denial with regard to Metro. In this vacuous op-ed, the Chron attempts to put a cheery face on Mayor Parker�s appointment of several new members to the Metro board (one is actually �a regular Metro rider� � how about that?!) and her negotiations with federal officials regarding funding of further light rail lines.

Without any financial analysis whatsoever, the Chron asserts that Mayor Parker is moving forward with a �full build-out of light rail in a fiscally responsible manner.� But even a cursory review of the data proves just the opposite.

As Peter Gordon has long maintained, citizens should require their leaders to answer the following basic questions before allowing them to obligate citizens to funding boondoggles such as light rail: 1) At what cost?, 2) Compared to what? and 3) How do you know?

The Chronicle editorial board is taking a pass on asking Metro�s leaders those questions. Thankfully, Bill King and Tory Gattis are not.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

March 19, 2010

Who’s better? Kobe or Clyde the Glide?

Clear Thinkers� favorite basketball stathead Dave Berri knows. The answer may surprise you:

Drexler�s career averages top Kobe�s marks with respect to shooting efficiency, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, and assists.  And yet Kobe is considered by many to be the better player.

There appear to be three explanations for why Kobe is thought to be the better player.  First .  .  . Kobe is the more prolific scorer.  Of course, this is because Kobe leads Drexler in field goal attempts.

Another issue is that Kobe spent his career with the Lakers while Drexler played for Portland and Houston.  In general, players for teams located in LA and New York tend to get more media exposure and therefore are thought of as better players.

And then there is the issue of championships won.  People tend to think players on championship teams are better than those who toil for teams that tend to lose in the playoffs.  It�s easy to point out the absurdity of such logic.  Teams win championships and one can pick up a ring just because you happen to have the right teammates.  After all, does anyone think Luc Longley (three titles) was a better center than Patrick Ewing (0 titles)? Or that Robert Horry (seven titles) was a better forward than Dominique Wilkins or Karl Malone (0 titles)?  Despite such obvious arguments, people will note that Kobe�s four titles must mean he�s a better guard than Drexler (1 title).

Berri goes on to provide a fascinating analysis of the Olajuwon-Drexler-Barkley Rockets team of the mid-1990�s and explains how close that team came to being really good.

I attended the first game that Clyde the Glide played at the University of Houston as a freshman in the early 1980�s. I was amazed at his all-around talent from that first game and that was well before Drexler developed an outside shot, which he learned to do after he entered the NBA.

Drexler was an outstanding in all phases of the game. It�s pleasing that smart folks such as Berri are teaching us that such a well-rounded player is more valuable than the narrow scorers that NBA teams and their fans have traditionally coveted.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

March 17, 2010

The Metro Train Wreck

The Metropolitan Transit Authority has been in the news recently mostly because of a good, old-fashioned document-shredding scandal and yet another spectacular crash.

But the more important issue facing Houstonians is that Metro is preparing to force large swaths of the community � including the key Uptown area near the Galleria -- to incur the enormous cost of enduring construction of its inefficient and impractical rail lines.

Bill King has spent a considerable amount of his time over the past several years studying Metro and Houston�s transit problems. In this devastating post, King finds that Metro is close to barreling completely out of any semblance of fiscal control:

There could hardly be a more fitting image for the close of the current Metro administration than the recent photographs for a wrecked Metro buses in front of Metro's headquarters after having been broad-sided by Metro's Main Street light rail. The last six years are likely to be remembered as the most ruinous time for public transportation in Houston's history as Metro has pursued a single-minded obsession to build its version of an at-grade rail system regardless of the cost, both in financial terms and in the degradation of the bus system on which over 100,000 Houstonians rely daily. Fortunately, Mayor Parker has ordered top-to-bottom review of the agency. Here is what that review is likely to find.

Decline in Ridership. Since 2004, Houston population has grown by over 10% from just over 2 million to 2.25 million. At the same time gas prices rose 47% from $1.81 per gallon to $2.67 per gallon. These two factors should have virtually guaranteed an increase in transit. However, exactly the opposite has occurred as bus boardings dropped almost 24% from 88 million in 2004 to 67 million in 2009. Instead of increasing bus service by 50% as it promised the voters in the 2003 referendum, Metro has slashed bus routes and increased fares by over 50%. Today Metro actually operates 225 fewer buses than it did in 2003. An outside performance audit in 2008 found that on-time performance fell by 29% from 2004 to 2008.

Financial Disaster. Since 2003, Metro's sales tax revenues have increased by 43%, rising from $357 million to $512 million. At the same time, its fare revenue increased by 41% from $42 million to $60 million by charging an ever dwindling ridership more. Yet, Metro is in the worst financial shape in recent history. At year end 2003 Metro's current assets exceeded its current liabilities by $125 million. The budget just adopted by the Metro board projects that it will have current accounts deficit of $165 million by the end of this fiscal year, a stunning loss of nearly $300 million in just five years. Over the same period, Metro's debt has swelled by nearly 50% from $546 million to $816 million. [.  .  .]

In the meantime, the cost of the [Metro�s Light Rail Transit lines] has risen from the $1.2 billion originally estimated to something well in excess of $3 billion. Metro is seeking to borrow $2.6 billion to build the LRT, over four times what it promised the voters would be the limit in the 2003 referendum. Originally, Metro assured voters that it could build the LRT without tapping the mobility payments that are so critical to the Houston and the other member cities. Metro's projections now show that it can only afford the LRT if those payments are terminated in 2014. [.  .  .]

In 2003, after a spirited public debate, this community approved, by a narrow margin, a consensus plan to enhance public transportation with a multi-modal approach. Part of that bargain was a limited experiment with a light rail system. The voters specifically limited the resources that Metro could devote to the light rail for fear that the cost might undermine the solid, dependable bus service that existed at that time. Metro's leadership has shredded that contract with the voters in favor of its own grandiose vision of transit that has little to do actually solving Houston's mobility problems. In the meantime, traffic congestion continues to get worse and working families that rely on public transportation to get their jobs everyday find riding Metro a more difficult and more expensive proposition.

Read King�s entire post. Metro�s defenders typically rely on the 2003 referendum as the primary basis for their continued support of such wasteful spending. But the problem with such referendums is that they ask voters to approve large public ventures such as Metro in a vacuum while ignoring Peter Gordon's three elegantly simple questions regarding economic choices:

1) At what cost?

2) Compared to what? and

3) How do you know?

For example, assume for a moment that voters were informed of the fact that the average urban freeway lane costs about $10 million per mile and that the average light rail line costs over $50 million per mile while carrying less than one-fifth as many people as the freeway lane. And these are only average figures.

Moreover, let's assume that voters were informed that the expenditure of a billion or so of public money on expanding a lightly-used light rail system has real consequences, such as leaving inadequate funds to make improvements to Houston's infrastructure that would dramatically decrease the risk of death and property damage from flooding. Or whether the billion or so being flushed down the light rail drain would be better used to fix various area traffic "hotspots" where accidents or bottlenecks occur with high frequency.

No one knows for sure, but my bet is that voting results would be dramatically different if the foregoing costs and alternatives were included as a part of the referendum.

Unfortunately, the relatively small groups that benefit from these urban boondoggles have a vested interest in keeping that threshold issue from ever being re-examined. The economic benefit of light rail is highly concentrated in only a few interest groups, such as political representatives of minority communities who tout the political accomplishment of shiny toy rail lines while ignoring their constituents need for more effective mass transit; environmental groups striving for political influence; construction-related firms that feed at the trough of Metro's poor investment decisions; and private real estate developers who enrich themselves through the increase in their property values along the rail line. As Professor Gordon wryly-noted in another post: "It adds up to a winning coalition."

Unfortunately, once such coalitions are successful in establishing a governmental policy subsidizing such boondoggles, it is much more difficult to end the public subsidy of the boondoggle than to start it in the first place.

None of these above-stated reasons for mass transit appeal to the vast majority of the electorate, so this amalgamation of interest groups continues to disguise their true interests behind amorphous claims that the uneconomic rail lines reduce traffic congestion (they do not), curb air pollution (they do not), or improve the quality of life (at least debatable).

How do these interest groups get away with this? The costs of such systems are widely dispersed among the local population of an area such as Houston, so the many who stand to lose will lose only a little while the few who stand to gain will gain a lot. As a result, these small interest groups recognize that it is usually not worth the relatively small cost per taxpayer for most citizens to spend any substantial amount of time or money lobbying or simply taking the time to vote against an uneconomic rail system.

Metro's rail system is a bad virus that has infected Houston. The cost of treating this civic virus is growing larger each month. Without immediate re-examination of Metro's light rail plan, the increasing costs of this plan risk turning this currently manageable problem into a major civic fiscal crisis that could negatively affect the Houston area's growth and prosperity.

As Bill King exhibits, real leadership involves recognizing that risk and addressing it, not indulging it.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

March 8, 2010

Making good on Baylor Med’s bad bet

The Chronicle�s Todd Ackerman and Loren Steffy did a good job in this weekend article of chronicling the series of bad bets that Baylor College of Medicine�s Board of Trustee�s made in the wake of the school�s unfortunate 2004 divorce from The Methodist Hospital. Baylor Med�s travails have been a regular topic on this blog, most recently here.

The elephant in the parlor of Baylor' Med�s financial problems is the $600 million in bond debt that Baylor Med incurred in connection with its currently mothballed hospital project. Indeed, the difference between the total bond debt and the value of the underlying collateral would gobble up a large chunk of Baylor�s endowment, which is currently a tad under a billion dollars. That was enough to scare off Rice University, although I question whether that was the right long-term decision for Rice.

So, the future is bit cloudy for Baylor. But what I�m wondering is whether there is a local partnership that could bail Baylor out of most of current problems while providing an essential benefit for the Houston community?

The last time I look into the issue, estimates in the Houston metro area has one of the largest percentages of uninsured residents in the U.S. (over 30% versus a national average of about 16%). The Harris County Hospital District ultimately ends up with the issues involved with financing indigent care as well as ensuring that adequate medical facilities exist for local citizens.

Given the HCHD�s projected need for facilities to keep up with the growth of the Houston area, it makes sense for the HCHD to engage Baylor in discussions over a partnership in which HCHD would make an investment in the hospital in return for Baylor�s agreement to staff the institution as its primary teaching facility.

Baylor and the HCHD already work closely in connection with the staffing of the Ben Taub Hospital trauma unit in the Texas Medical Center. A pure teaching hospital for Baylor would provide a quasi-public, low-cost alternative to the Med Center�s impressive but expensive array of private hospitals.

Sure, the details would have to be worked out, such as management of the facility. But doesn�t such an investment by the county make sense, particularly when compared to ones such as this?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

February 25, 2010

The future of the death penalty

University of Houston Law Professor David Dow�s book -- The Autobiography of an Execution (Twelve 2010) � prompted Time to ask Dow several questions about the death penalty. A couple of his answers are particularly interesting:

.  .  . I tell people that if you're going to commit murder, you want to be white, and you want to be wealthy � so that you can hire a first-class lawyer � and you want to kill a black person. And if [you are], the odds of your being sentenced to death are basically zero. It's one thing to say that rich people should be able to drive Ferraris and poor people should have to take the bus. It's very different to say that rich people should get treated one way by the state's criminal-justice system and poor people should get treated another way. But that is the system that we have.

And what about the future of the death penalty?

My prediction is that we're going to get rid of it for economic reasons. We spend at least a million dollars more on a death penalty case than on a non-death-penalty case. In the U.S., where we've executed 1,200 people since the death penalty [was reinstated in 1976], that's $1.2 billion. I just think, gosh, with $1.2 billion, you could hire a lot of policemen. You could have a lot of educational programs inside of prisons so that when people come out of prison they know how to do something besides rob convenience stores and sell drugs. There are already counties in Texas, of all places, that have said, this is just not worth it: let's fix the schools and fill the potholes in the streets instead of squandering this money on a death-penalty case. You don't need to be a bleeding heart to make that argument.

Supporters of the death penalty reason that there is nothing morally wrong about the state killing a person as punishment for murder where that person was lawfully convicted in a fair and accurate criminal justice process. But in making that moral justification the central tenet of their support, death penalty supporters are ignoring the glaring defects in the process that undermine their moral justification.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) |

January 24, 2010

Winter Golf in The Woodlands

The following are recent photos of the Tournament Course at The Woodlands that I recently took during a brilliant Texas morning in January with my buddies, Jerry Sagehorn and John Stevenson.

The Tournament Course is still known to most Houstonians as "the TPC" from the days when the course was known as the Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands. Opened as The Woodlands East Course in 1978, the TPC is a wonderful design from the collaboration of Robert Von Hagge and Bruce Devlin from their time together in the late 70's and early 80's.

In the mid-1980's, the Houston Golf Association and the PGA Tour arranged a licensing arrangement with The Woodlands Corporation and The Woodlands Country Club in which the East Course was transformed into a Tournament Players Course with the typical spectator mounds found on such courses. After that, the HGA moved the Houston Open golf tournament to the TPC and, for the following 18 years, the tournament enjoyed its most successful run in its long history. As a result, Shell Oil Corporation decided to become the tournament's title sponsor, which solidified the Houston Open as one of the top second-tier tournaments on the PGA Tour.

When the HGA decided to move the Houston Open to Redstone in 2002, the license deal with the PGA Tour was terminated and the TPC reverted to The Woodlands Country Club, where it is now one of that club's three courses and one of the seven courses in The Woodlands (two others are here and here). A couple of years ago, the Champions Tour moved its Houston tournament to the TPC, a move that has catapulted that tournament into one of the top Champions Tour events because of the popularity of the TPC among the senior players.

The TPC is a joy to play and one of the best courses in the Houston area. From the men's tees, it's a pleasant 6600 yards (131 slope rating; 7000 yards and 138 slope from the tips) and is a great course to walk.  It has a wonderful variety of holes, punctuated by the final two holes -- 17 (nicknamed "the Devil's Bathtub") and 18 - a long par 4 over water - are two of the two finest finishing holes that you will find anywhere.

The photos below are presented in two formats, the first of which is a video with musical accompaniment from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant and the second of which is a Google Picasa slideshow with my comments on each photo. You can download a high resolution copy of the video playable on Quicktime Player here.

I love the contrast in the photos between the light brown of the dormant Bermuda grass with the various shades of greens of the trees, winter rye-seeded tee areas and the lightly overseeded greens. Enjoy!

Update: Another slideshow of the course, this time on a cool Autumn morning with the course in full bloom, is here..

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

January 19, 2010

Did Rice blow it?

So, Rice University last week finally decided to pass on the proposed merger with Baylor College of Medicine.

In theory, the deal makes sense. Both are top-notch academic institutions with campuses within a stone�s throw of each other. Each institution would have given the other something that it needs. Baylor would have gotten the financial support of Rice�s multi-billion dollar endowment, while Rice would have landed a strong scientific research and clinical care center in one of the nation�s leading medical institutions, the Texas Medical Center.

Although Rice President David Leebron supported the merger, large segments of the Rice faculty and alumni opposed the deal, primarily on financial and cultural grounds. Indeed, my sense is that Leebron quit pushing the Rice Board of Trustees to approve the deal when it became apparent that a consensus of Rice constituencies were opposed to the marriage.

And Baylor clearly finds itself in precarious financial condition, not completely of its own doing. After its 54-year teaching hospital relationship with Methodist Hospital soured in 2004, and a subsequent deal with St. Luke�s Episcopal Hospital did not work out, BCM decided on a plan to go it alone and build its own teaching hospital.

However, the ambitious deal has been pretty much a disaster from the start. After floating almost $900 million in bonds to finance construction of the hospital, Baylor announced last year that it was temporarily suspending construction of the hospital�s interior as it works through its financial problems.

Meanwhile, BCM has lost over $300 million since the split with Methodist. Inasmuch as Baylor�s endowment is less than a billion, those kinds of losses have placed BCM�s financial condition at risk. Already in in technical default on multiple bond covenants, BCM is now facing the prospect of hiring a bondholder-required �chief implementation officer� to oversee an overall financial reorganization. That would have been avoided if the Rice merger had succeeded.

Thus, Rice certainly had understandable reasons for passing on the deal.

Nevertheless, I wonder � did Rice make the right decision?

Despite its financial woes, BCM remains one of the elite medical and research institutions in the U.S. The merger would have undoubtedly brought a substantial increase in research funds in such fields as bioengineering, neurobiology, nano-biotechnology, stem cell biology and gene therapy. Although Rice would have been subsidizing BCM�s financial problems in the short term, my sense is that the increase in research resources flowing to Rice over the years would ultimately make that bailout well worth it.

But even more importantly, Rice passed on an opportunity to take a calculated risk that could well have elevated Rice, BCM, the Texas Medical Center and Houston to the forefront of medical and scientific research in the world.

Despite the risks, that kind of upside doesn�t come around very often. Failing to realize that is one of the key reasons why Texas has lagged badly behind states such as California and New York in the development of Tier 1 research institutions and all the benefits that such institutions provide to the state and its communities.

Thus, Rice is keeping its chips and betting that it can develop its scientific research just fine without BCM. But if I were to place a bet on which institution is closer to the cutting edge of such research after the next 25 years, I�m still putting my chips on Baylor.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (4) |

January 14, 2010

Why bother?

After enduring another holiday season of mostly bad college football bowl games, I�ve been thinking about Houston�s own Texas Bowl.

Frankly, why bother with it?

As this recent University of Missouri release notes, Mizzou not only got its collective ass kicked by a feisty Navy team in the game, but the university also lost money in participating in the game even after cutting corners.

That Missouri lost money is not surprising given that the Texas Bowl�s payout is among the most paltry of any of college football�s post-season bowl games.

The Texas Bowl pays out a total of $1.250 million, which puts the bowl game in the bottom third among the 34 bowl games in terms of payout (�Tier 3� in bowl genre). That compares to the $2.2 million and $3 million payouts that Tier 2 bowls such as the Alamo and Cotton Bowls pay to its participants and the $17 million that each of the BCS Bowl games pays to its participants.

Due to its limited payout, the Texas Bowl has no negotiating leverage in attempting to persuade conferences to send one of their better teams. Accordingly, they usually get the sixth or seventh best team from one of the major conferences.

Houston�s bowl game has always struggled for funding. Even back during the days of the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in the Astrodome, the folks running the bowl game have never been able to snare the big-fish title sponsor necessary to elevate the bowl�s stature. The Houston Open golf tournament found itself in a similar position for years until it persuaded Shell to become the tournament�s title sponsor. Despite a few blips, the Shell Houston Open has become a solid second tier tournament on the PGA Tour schedule.

What�s too bad about the Texas Bowl�s problems is that it really could be a good bowl experience, at least on par with San Antonio�s Alamo Bowl or Dallas� Cotton Bowl.

My old friend Dan McCarney, who currently is one of Urban Meyer�s top assistants at Florida, coached Iowa State in the Texas Bowl several years ago. He said that the Reliant Park facilities were as good as any bowl game that he had ever seen � the teams used one locker room the entire week for their practices and the game. The teams loved not having to practice at a different site and then move to the stadium on gameday.

Moreover, the Houston business community routinely buys large blocks of tickets to the game (even if most of those tickets go unused). Finally, with the Johnson Space Center, the Medical Center, the Museum District, the Theater District and many fine restaurants and clubs, Houston certainly fits the bill of a place that would be a fun destination for a bowl game.

But what�s the purpose of promoting a bowl game that has mostly second-rate participants who view the game as a booby prize?

If the Texas Bowl can�t find a title sponsor that would elevate the game at least to the second tier of bowl games, then it�s time to pack it in.

There is nothing wrong with declining to waste time on being an afterthought. 

Update: Kevin Whited passes along this Chronicle article from several years ago on Houston�s bowl history.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

January 13, 2010

Game, Set, Match -- Houston

O.K., so the Cowboys are doing alright so far in this season�s NFL playoffs and the Texans, as usual, are in their annual �wait until next season� mode.

But there are other areas in which Houston simply throttles Dallas, hands down.

For example, in connection with its mandate to promote Houston, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor�s Bureau released the video below late last year. Featuring the edgy local band The TonTons, the video does a very nice job of providing an attractive introduction to Houston:

But I didn�t realize just how good the GHCVB�s video was until I came across the abominable video below that the City of Dallas recently produced for the Professional Convention Management Association:

Key tip to Dallas � you are trying way too hard.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

December 20, 2009

That wild Landry's ride continues

Owning shares of stock in Houston-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc. has never been for the faint-hearted.

First, Landry's board of directors failed to obtain a standstill agreement from Landry's chairman and CEO, Tilman Fertitta, as his failed take-private offers over the past couple of years that would have prevented Fertitta from acquiring majority stock ownership in the company while its stock tanked.

Then, the Pershing Square Capital hedge fund entered the picture, bought up a bunch of Landry's shares and announced that it opposed Fertitta's most recent buyout offer.

Now, as Steve Davidoff explains, it appears that Fertitta has not been complying with his board's instructions in making public disclosures about his buyout offers.

At least partly as a result, counsel for a special committee of Landry's board that was created to negotiate Fertitta's buyout offers resigned, apparently in protest.

As a result of this disclosure and other developments, don't be surprised if the Securities and Exchange Commission comes knocking on Landry's door to look into these developments.

And Tilman Fertitta's firm grip on Landry's from its inception may be slowly slipping away.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

December 18, 2009

They got how much? For doing what?

Just when it looked as if progress was being made, the harsh reality of the severe trial penalty and the absurd severity of punishment parameters in white collar criminal cases reared its ugly head.

This time its the harsh sentences that U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon handed down on Thursday to three former El Paso Natural Gas Company natural gas traders -- 14 years to one defendant and 11 years and 3 months to the other two. They were convicted of multiple counts fraud and false reporting in connection with what has become known in Houston as "the trader cases."

The severity of the sentences is mind-boggling when compared with the nature of the alleged "crime."

The government alleged that the three traders provided false information to natural gas industry publications such as the Inside FERC Gas Market Report, which use data from traders to calculate an index price of natural gas.

Inasmuch as movement in index prices can theoretically affect the level of profits that traders can generate, the government's theory was that the defendants provided false information so that they and El Paso could reap higher profits on their trades.

However, the government never proved that the magazines actually used the false information that the defendants provided to them or that the information actually affected the natural gas markets at all. Indeed, a myriad of market factors affect natural gas prices, as with the price of any commodity.

That was no problem for prosecutors, though. The government contended that the market effect of providing the false information was irrelevant and that the prosecution needed only to prove that false information was reported to the magazines in order to make a gain a conviction of the defendants. And they got away with it.

So, key point to all businesspeople -- don't ever provide any information to a publication about your business that could be construed to be false. It really doesn't make any difference whether the false information affects your company. The government contends that the mere transmittal of the false information is the crime.

Meanwhile, three relatively young men (the oldest is 49) with families and promising careers are now facing over a decade of imprisonment for the "crime" of reporting false price information to a magazine.

Just what is the purpose of this?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

November 28, 2009

Noticing injustice

Following on a point made in these earlier posts, the Chron's Mary Flood reports on the indefensible conditions that the federal government has imposed on R. Allen Stanford as he awaits trial on criminal fraud charges arising from the demise of Stanford Financial Group.

Sort of reminds you of the way in which certain other countries handle the prosecution of business executives, doesn't it?

Ironically, while rightfully questioning whether Stanford is being given a fair shake, the Chron continues to avoid examining its equally dubious record in creating a presumption of community prejudice against Jeff Skilling.

Witch hunts do not reflect well on the participants.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

November 17, 2009

Fertitta gets squeezed this time

Looks as if Tilman Fertitta is about to endure a bit of his own medicine.

As this post from a couple of months ago explains in detail, Landry's Restaurants, Inc. shareholders have had a wild -- and mostly bad -- ride over the past several years as Fertitta (who is the company's founder, CEO and chairman) tried to figure out a way to finance taking the company private.

Because Landry's board failed to obtain a standstill agreement from Fertitta while he put shareholders through a series of failed buyout offers, Fertitta increased his ownership stake in Landry's from approximately 39% to 55% as the company's stock fell as low as $5 per share. As you might expect, Fertitta and the Landry's board are defendants in a shareholder lawsuit in connection with that oversight.

Finally, after shareholders and the markets widely panned Fertitta's Saltgrass Steakhouse spinoff proposal in September, the Landry's board tentatively approved an offer from Fertitta to buy the balance of Landry's shares for $14.75 per share. Compared to the spinoff proposal, Fertitta's cash offer looked relatively good.

There is just one small problem with Fertitta's proposal this time -- under Delaware corporate law, Fertitta had to agree that his proposal is subject to a requirement that a majority of the Landry's shares that Fertitta does not control have to approve the deal.

Enter William Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund.

In an Schedule 13D filed with the SEC this past Friday, Pershing and its partner William McGuire (the Borders Group chairman) announced that they had purchased just under 10% of Landry's outstanding shares and that they hold derivatives contracts that could hike the share to almost 14% of the oustanding shares.

And while they were at it, Pershing and McGuire announced that they opposed Fertitta's $14.75 per share buyout offer.

So, Fertitta would appear to have only two choices. Either pull his proposal off the table -- and risk a wholesale shareholder revolt of his actions that have depressed the company's stock price over the past several years-- or raise his offer to satisfy Pershing.

And even if he decides to meet Pershing's asking price, where is Fertitta going to find the financing for his proposal? It's not as if the financing markets have been particularly bullish on the company over the past couple of years.

Hold on tight, Landry's shareholders. Your wild ride is not over yet.

The NY Times Steve Davidoff has more.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

October 30, 2009

John O'Quinn, R.I.P.

The Houston legal community remains in shock over the death yesterday in a car accident of famed trial lawyer, John O'Quinn. He was 68 years old at the time of his death.

O'Quinn was a remarkably talented plaintiff's lawyer and became one of the wealthiest attorneys in the country as a result. And a controversial one at times, too (also see here).

But those who only knew John through news reports never knew the man. John had a heart as big as Texas, as reflected by his generous donations over the years to the University of Houston, Texas Medical Center institutions and numerous other charitable organizations.

Moreover, John's big heart extended into legal cases, too. Most recently, John took on the case of former mid-level Dynegy executive Jamie Olis, whose criminal case epitomizes the brutal nature of the government's criminalization of business in the aftermath of Enron's demise.

After taking on the case, John told me that his review of many of my blog posts on the Olis case was one of the reasons that he decided to take on the case. He never received a dime for the work he did on the case, but he didn't care a lick. He simply was appalled by what the government had done to a decent young man and his family, and he was intent on doing something about it.

My most recent contact with John was at University of Houston Law Foundation board meetings, which he attended faithfully for many years (he was the law school's largest benefactor). John was a delight to work with at such meetings, intensely interested in what was going on at the law school, but always wonderfully good-natured about the inherent limitations of such boards to do much more than raise money and encourage the Dean to hire good people.

My lasting memory of John will be leaving our last such meeting together, talking about the Olis case as we walked to our cars. We observed to each other on just how difficult it had become to be a wealthy businessperson in America. He cracked that it was almost enough to turn him into a criminal defense attorney.

Make no doubt about it, John O'Quinn was one of the most talented trial lawyers of his time. His preparation regimen for trial was legendary, and his ability to connect with jurors was the best that I have ever seen in the courtroom.

I will miss John very much.

Funeral arrangements for John O'Quinn:

Viewing Tuesday, November 3, 4:00pm to 8:00pm
George H. Lewis Funeral Home
1010 Bering Drive
Houston, Texas 77057
(713) 789-3005

Funeral Wednesday, November 4, 11:00am
Second Baptist Church
6400 Woodway
Houston, Texas 77057
(713) 465-3408

Update: Links on Q'Quinn's life and death:

John Council and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

Rick Casey

Observations of colleagues

O'Quinn and the medical community (see also here)

Q'Quinn's environmental legacy

Q'Quinn's real estate investments

O'Quinn's car collection with Tim Spell's anecdotes

O'Quinn's obituary

Mary Flood on O'Quinn's funeral

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (5) |

September 30, 2009

Fearless Critic 2010 is here

The best local restaurant evaluation guide -- Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 -- is now available. The brutally honest restaurant guide is put together by a group of undercover local critics who "dine incognito, don't accept freebies, and don't pull punches" in rating a cross-section of 450 restaurants in the Houston metropolitan area.

Da Marco, Tony's and Catalan take the top three spots this time around (the guide is published every other year), but one of the aspects about Fearless Critic that I most enjoy is that it rates restaurants based upon the quality of the food relative to cost, so many not-so-high-priced restaurants rate far better than many expensive restaurants. For example, Huynh, a relatively inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant in downtown, comes in at 7th in the rankings.

You won't always agree with their evaluations, but the Fearless Critics make their case well. It's definitely worth the eleven buck cost currently on Amazon. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

September 10, 2009

The Landry's debacle

There are bad stock plays and there are horrible stock plays. And then there is Houston-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc.

This story began back in July of 2007 when the company announced that it was delinquent in its regulatory filings with the SEC and that it was in need of refinancing over $400 million in debt in a rapidly deteriorating debt market. Shortly thereafter, the company sued some of its bondholders for declaring the company in technical default under their bonds, but the company quickly settled that litigation on not particularly good terms.

A few months later, Landry's announced in January 2008 that its CEO and major shareholder (39%), Tilman Fertitta, had made an offer to take the company private by buying the other 61% of the company's stock for $23.50 share, which worked to be a $1.3 billion deal, including debt.

Given the circumstances, that offer sounded pretty good, particularly given that the proposed purchase price was a 40% premium over the $16.67 share price at the time of the offer.

Unfortunately, a spate of shareholder lawsuits followed Fertitta's bid. By early March, 2008, it was apparent that Fertitta's bid was so speculative that he hadn't even lined up financing for it.

So, in April of 2008, Fertitta lowered his offer to $21 per share because of "tighter credit markets", and Landry's announced that it had accepted that price in June.

But by the fall of 2008, the financial crisis on Wall Street had roiled credit markets even further and Hurricane Ike caused considerable damage to several Landry's properties.

So, in October of 2008, Fertitta lowered his offer to $13.50 per share.

Then, in mid January of 2009, Landry's announced that it was terminating the proposed deal with Fertitta. The reason was a bit convoluted, but here is the gist of it.

Landry's contended that the SEC was requiring the company to issue a proxy statement disclosing information about a confidential commitment letter from the lead lenders on the buyout deal. However, Landry's was negotiating with those same lenders to refinance the bond indebtedness that the company promised to refinance in connection with October, 2007 litigation settlement with its bondholders noted above. Inasmuch as the lenders' commitment for financing Fertitta's buyout required that the terms of the commitment remain confidential, the company elected to terminate the buyout rather than risk that the lenders would declare a default for breach of confidentiality and back out of the financing commitment as well as the negotiations on refinancing the bond indebtedness.

Amidst all this, Landry's stock was tanking, closing at under $5 per share.

Meanwhile, while the take-private bids languished and the company's stock plummeted to historic lows, Fertitta continued to buy more Landry's stock so that he now controls somewhere in the neighborhood of 55% of the company's shares.

Yes, that's right. Despite a series of unsuccessful take-private offers over a year and a half, Landry's board failed to obtain a standstill agreement from Fertitta that would have prevented him from taking a majority equity position while Landry's stock price was tanking.

So, given all of that, how could Fertitta and the Landry's directors screw things up any worse?

How about proposing yet another deal in which Fertitta would buyout Landry's other shareholders in return for giving them an equity stake in a publicly-owned spin-off (Saltgrass Steakhouse) in a brutally competitive niche of the restaurant market?

Prediction: This is not going to turn out well.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

August 28, 2009

A real head scratcher

The Stanford Financial Group scandal has been anything but typical, but yesterday's developments may have been the most bizarre yet.

The big news, other than the hospitalization of R. Allen Stanford, was the guilty plea that Stanford's right-hand man and long-time friend, James Davis, entered in connection with a plea bargain that he worked out with federal prosecutors.

The background section of the plea deal makes for some entertaining reading (bribes to, and a blood oath with, an Antiguan bank regulator?). But the more interesting aspect is that Davis' plea is the latest chapter in a most curious defense strategy.

From almost the outset of the Stanford Financial scandal, Davis' attorney -- Dallas-based attorney David Finn -- has been telling any media outlet that was willing to quote him that his client was guilty of a huge fraud on Stanford investors and that Davis was going to plead guilty to charges as soon as he could work out details of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Even the most rabid prosecutors would never risk making such public statements, so effectively Finn has been doing much of the prosecutors' public relations work for them.

And now we finally know the terms of the plea deal between the prosecutors and Davis.

On one hand, David pled guilty “in exchange for” a Level 43 under the Sentencing Guidelines (reduced from a Level 46 -- do the Sentencing Guidelines even go up that high?!) “with acceptance” deal. Based on my understanding, that means that Davis has agreed to a prison sentence of 30 years to life. Davis is 60, so assuming that he gets the full benefit of the the traditional 1/3rd off under the guidelines for being a good snitch (no cinch bet in Judge Hittner's court), Davis will do 20 years and be 80 by the time he shuffles out of prison.

On the other hand, the prosecution "gets” Davis as their primary witness, who -- according to the prosecution's own theory of the case -- was one of the key participants in a six billion dollar scam from the beginning. If, as prosecutors alleged during the hearing, Stanford Financial was a “giant house of cards," then why cut a “deal” with the guy who was one of the lead architects of the scam?

Well, we now have the answer to that question. The plea deal is not a "deal" at all. It's total surrender.

Davis is reportedly working as a day laborer at $10 per hour to pay his legal fees. From the looks of it, he is getting the quality of representation that he is currently capable of paying for.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

August 25, 2009

Amazingly bad decision-making

One fringe benefit of economic downturns is that local public officials generally defer their financial decisions, which tend to be uniformly bad even during good economic times.

Except apparently in Houston.

Over the past few days, Houstonians have been bombarded with a flurry of bad decisions by their public officials, who seem undeterred by the growing consensus that the nation is going through the worst economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

First, as Kevin Whited notes, the City of Houston publicly announced this past Friday that it had removed the final local regulatory roadblocks to the construction of the long-delayed Ashby high-rise condominium project in a tony residential subdivision near the Texas Medical Center. In so doing, the City forgot to tell the news to the most interested people, namely the owners of the property where the project is to be built.

At any rate, the City's announcement ended an egregious example of local governmental interference with productive development of private property. Of course, in the present climate for financing high-rise condos, the chances of the owners being able to revive the project any time soon are about as good as the Stros' chances of leaping into World Series contention.

Thus, rather than having dozens of wealthy condo owners paying substantial amounts of property taxes and for other City services, the City continues to enjoy the "benefit" of a run-down apartment complex on the property where the Ashby high-rise was to be built.

So, not only did the City fail to take advantage of the opportunity to increase its tax base through re-development of the Ashby high-rise site, it benefited the owners of the site by deterring them from taking the financial risk that would have generated that financial boon to the City.

Now, that type of government mismanagement really takes some effort.

Meanwhile, as if trying to one-up the City's bungling of the Ashby high-rise deal, local governmental officials were reported on Monday to be on the "home stretch" of putting together a financing package for construction of a new downtown soccer stadium, a new jail facility and the redevelopment of the Astrodome.

I mean, really. Where to start?

As noted many times, the City has already paid millions at a top-of-the-market price for the site of the proposed soccer stadium while at least maintaining that it's up to the owners of the Dynamo soccer club to put together the private financing for the construction of the stadium itself.

Now, the City is going to finance the construction of the soccer stadium itself through selling TIRZ bonds? When did the prior approach change? Did I miss something?

Similarly, there's not much left to say about the City and the County governments' reprehensible handing of the Harris County and City jails, both of which have both been condemned by the Department of Justice because of their horrific condition and mismanagement (the latest on the City jail conditions is here).

It's clear that the true problem of the existing jails is a combination of underfunding and needless overcrowding from sloppy processing of prisoners who do not need to be incarcerated pending their trial. So, what do local governmental officials do? Wait until the conditions become so barbaric that all they can do is throw tens of millions of dollars (perhaps illegally?) at constructing yet another jail facility in an attempt to placate federal officials.

But both the proposed soccer stadium and jail facility pale in comparison to the potential boondoggle that is the Astrodome redevelopment project.

After years of assuring local citizens that they would not be called upon to pick up the financing of redeveloping the Dome, local governmental officials are now proposing that the citizens do just that.

And as if to make that change of policy even more galling, the governmental officials who leaked the information on the financing plans to the Chronicle did not even bother to spell out what the Dome is to be turned into as a result of the redevelopment.

So much for transparency, eh?

In the meantime, as City and County officials dither over the details of these proposed boondoggles, City officials continue to ignore this ticking financial time bomb (see also here) while wasting billions on yet another boondoggle, the spending on which swamps even the quarter of a billion proposed for the current round of boondoggles.

Frankly, it's difficult to imagine how even the traditionally resilient Houston economy is going to withstand the dead weight of such pervasive financial mismanagement.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

July 3, 2009

Albert Collins

I saw Albert Collins perform at a Houston jazz club back in the late 1970's when he opened for a well-known local jazz musician. Suffice it to say that Albert stole the show. The headliner decided to have Collins and his band come out and play with him during his part of the show. It was a very smart move.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

June 23, 2009

Houston's connection to the new U.S. Open champion

Houston is synonymous with golf, so it's appropriate that new U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover's former teacher and mentor was the late Dick Harmon (see also here), who was one of Houston's most respected golf instructors for decades before his sudden death in 2006. Glover was one of Dick's pallbearers, delivered one of the eulogies at the funeral and had to fight back tears when he was asked about his relationship with Dick during his post-U.S. Open interview session. What a fitting tribute for a student to give to a wonderful teacher whose spirit still permeates Houston's golf community.

The 29 year-old Glover has long been considered a likely star by other professional golfers and appeared to be ready to fulfill that promise in the 2005-2006 seasons when he won his first tournament (the 2005 Walt Disney Classic), recorded 16 top-10 finishes and just missed earning a spot on the 2006 Ryder Cup team.

However, Glover struggled after Harmon's death in late 2006 and fell all the way to 178th in the World Golf Rankings after last season. Things got so bad that Glover put his clubs away for two months after last season to refresh himself from the grind of PGA Tour golf. Before the U.S. Open, he had already shown signs of regaining his form this season with a tie for 3rd at the Buick Invitational, a tie for 2nd at Quail Hollow and a jump to 71st in the World Golf Rankings. But Glover now appears ready to vault into the top echelons of golf with his U.S. Open championship at Bethpage. He has a superb all-around game.

Finally, as satisfying as Glover's victory was, it may not have been as gratifying as David Duval contending for the title and finishing in a tie for second. As noted here almost five years ago, it's been a long, strange trip back to the top tier of professional golf for Duval. Here's hoping that he stays this time.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

June 14, 2009

Lucy and Ethel in Iowa City

While reminiscing about my late mother with family members and friends at her recent funeral, it occurred to me that her remarkable life would be a great subject for a Larry McMurtry novel.

Along those lines, Sarah Swisher, an old family friend and a columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, penned this column regarding an hilarious caper from the early 1960's involving my mother and Sarah's mother, who were dear friends. What started out as an attempt to create a plot for an Alfred Hitchcock movie quickly transformed into an episode of I Love Lucy with a touch of The  Honeymooners.

You really can't make this stuff up.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

June 10, 2009

A continuing civic shame

My first blog post on the chronically shameful condition of the Harris County Jail was four years ago. There have been quite a few others since then.

Still, nothing has changed.

Despite my libertarian leanings, it's way past time for the federal government to intervene and correct the inhumane conditions of the Harris County Jail.

The Harris County Commissioners have proven themselves to be incapable of administering the jail properly, reflected by County Judge Ed Emmett's most recent suspension of belief over the scathing report: "Actually, if you read the report, it is fairly positive. It has some episodic events but it does not show a pattern of problems.� Moreover, many years of over-sentencing by local criminal district judges hasn't helped the situation, either. On a day in which most of the civilized world is decrying North Korea's imprisonment of two American reporters in one of that country's horrific labor camps, it's worth reminding ourselves that we do not have to travel any further than our local jail to witness barbaric prison conditions.

Houston possesses many things of which to be proud. Sadly, the Harris County Jail is not one of them.

Update: Scott Henson agrees with me.

Update II: Chris Bradford recounts his experience on the in capability of Harris County administrators to operate the jail humanely.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

June 8, 2009

A productive idea for the Dome

Over the weekend, the Chronicle ran this story about Harris County officials considering an idea to convert the Astrodome into a planetarium and a medical and science education facility. It's actually a good idea and one that was suggested here months ago. Given the Dome's proximity to the Texas Medical Center, a county/med center partnership to turn the Dome into the premiere medical/science educational facility in the world makes a lot of sense.

On the other hand, the financing of such a project is not going to be easy, particularly in this economic climate. Nevertheless, given the potential benefit to Houston of becoming a leader in medical/science education, hopefully county officials will give this proposal a fair shake. It certainly makes far more sense than the alternative proposal.

Common sense aside, everyone needs to realize that this new proposal could effectively be scuttled by the financial commitments that have already been made in connection with Houston's previous poor public financing choices. That risk reminds us that such poor utilization of resources ultimately has consequences. It could a harsh irony if Houston's most well-known landmark is a victim of those bad choices.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 29, 2009

Remembering a special mother

My mother, Margaret Allen Kirkendall, died yesterday evening at Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa after a lengthy illness. She was 86 years old.

The following is an obituary for Margaret that my brother Matt wrote with contributions from many of my siblings. It conveys well the special nature of this remarkable woman and her considerable contribution to making Houston a better place to live.

Margaret Allen Kirkendall died on Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 9:22 P.M at Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa after a lengthy illness. She was 86 years old. Funeral arrangements are pending with Egelhof, Siegert, & Casper Funeral Homes in Dubuque, Iowa making the arrangements.  The Funeral Mass and burial will be in Texas.

Margaret Jane Allen was born on March 24, 1923 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the first child of Grace (Payne) and William Allen. She grew up in Cedar Rapids and graduated from Franklin High School in 1940. At an early age, Margaret decided to become a nurse and eventually put herself through the nursing program at the University of Iowa in nearby Iowa City, graduating with an RN degree in 1946. 

Margaret planned to pursue a career in academic nursing, but met a new medical resident, Dr. Walter M. Kirkendall, who had come to the University of Iowa following his military service in Italy during World War II. In their own version of “Pride and Prejudice,” initial mutual irritation turned into fascination, and subsequently, love. They were married at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Iowa City on March 30, 1948 with Father McElhaney officiating.

Throughout their life together, Walter and Margaret had a close relationship and truly seemed to complete one another. As Walter pursued his academic career in medicine at the University of Iowa Medical School, Margaret supported his efforts and always worked to provide a stable home life for him, providing the venerable “safe port in stormy weather”.

Margaret and Walter were the proud parents of 10 children. During the 1960's, their home at 430 Brown Street in Iowa City was known as a busy and often boisterous place. There was always an open door for the frequent visitors and Margaret was well known for her energy, hospitality, and plentiful food (industrial cooking she termed it). To the amazement and consternation of her children, she developed a system of friends and community contacts through which she seemed to know the names and activities of every child in the Iowa City/Coralville area. The result of this was that her children found that they could never get anything by her (not that they didn’t try on occasion).

In 1971, Walter accepted an opportunity to help establish a new medical school at the Texas Medical Center and moved the family to Houston. Margaret admitted to some trepidation at leaving Iowa and her many friends, but she lived by her often-quoted adage that “you bloom where you are planted.”  With this attitude, it was not long before she brought many new friends and Texas traditions into her life that was centered around the vibrant home she established for her family at the corner of Sage Road and Del Monte Drive in Houston. Margaret transferred her open door policy from Iowa to her family's new home in Houston and, over the ensuing 20 years, literally hundreds of medical students, colleagues, and other friends were attracted to the dynamic household that Margaret lovingly maintained.     

Throughout this time, Walter and Margaret continued to work as a team to help establish the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Their efforts helped set the foundation for the medical school and its subsequent development into a premier teaching institution.

At Walter’s death in 1991, Margaret admitted that a large part of her died with him. Despite her loss, she remained busy with her family and friends and participated in a wide variety of community service, often as what she termed as "the old nurse." In retirement, she lived in New Braunfels and then Austin, Texas until she finally returned to Iowa, to live in Dubuque.

While her later years were hampered by illness and disability, she has been supported throughout this time by her many friends, especially Nora Lee Balmer, Jean Eckstein, and Virginia Grady of Iowa City, Dr. Jack Tausend of Houston, Texas, and her oldest and dearest friend, “Auntie Ruth” Pichette, of Highland, Michigan.

She is survived by her sister, Francis Allen Rassenfoss of Park Ridge, Illinois and her 10 children: W.C. (Alice) of Seguin, Texas; James (Kathleen) of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Matthew (Isabelle) of Dubuque, Iowa; Thomas (Susan) of the Woodlands, Texas; David (Ann) of Tomball, Texas; Nancy (Robert) Cook of Austin, Texas; Mary of San Antonio, Texas; Kathryn (Gene) Acuna of Austin, Texas; Joseph of Los Angeles, California; Michael of Austin, Texas; her 32 grandchildren and five great grandchildren, (with another on the way).

Memorial gifts may be sent to the endowment for the Walter M. Kirkendall, M.D. Lecture Series in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School, 6431 Fannin, MSB. 1.122, Houston, TX, 77030, in care of Philip C. Johnson, M.D, F.A.C.P.

The family would like to acknowledge and thank the following: Father Dwayne Thoman, Deacon Dave McGhee, and Sister Damian O'Brien for their strong spiritual support; Dr. Ronald Iverson, Dr. Darryl Mozena, Dr. Roger Shafer, the administration, nurses, and staff of Stonehill Nursing Home, and the nurses and staff of the 5th floor at the Finley Hospital for their expert and compassionate care of Margaret.  Finally, the family extends our most heartfelt thanks to Joan Reimer, who provided Margaret with selfless, dedicated, and loving attention as her caregiver over the final years of her life.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Tres Hewell Mortuary,165 Tor Dr. Seguin, TX (830) 549-5912 (www.treshewell.com). The family will greet friends at the funeral home on Tuesday, June 2nd from 5-7 p.m., and a Rosary will follow at 7 p.m.

The funeral will be on Wednesday, June 3rd at 10 a.m. at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 386 N. Castell St, New Braunfels, TX. The family will have a reception for friends at the church immediately following the funeral.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (6) |

May 21, 2009

Advantage Cartwright

Texas Monthly's Gary Cartwright caught my eye recently with this op-ed in which he bemoans the decline of sports writing in Texas.

I mean really. Can anyone who regularly reads the sports pages of Texas newspapers make a good faith argument against the notion that the current slate of Texas newspaper sportswriters cannot hold a candle to Dan Jenkins and his contemporaries?

Enter the Chronicle's lead sports columnist, Richard Justice.

Justice -- whose shoddy reporting, vapid analysis and bizarre blog comment attacks have been a frequent topic here for years -- essentially proves Cartwright's point about the demise of Texas sportswriting with this snarling and petty reply to Cartwright's op-ed.

An old saying in India is that "sarcasm is the last weapon of the defeated wit."

Justice is living proof of the truth of that adage.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

May 12, 2009

How did it come to this?

That's the question I kept asking myself as I watched former U.S. District Judge Sam Kent be sentenced to 33 months in federal prison yesterday (previous posts here).

I had an early-morning hearing in federal court yesterday and another one in the mid-afternoon. So, instead of returning to my office between hearings, I decided to attend the sentencing hearing for Judge Kent. It's not every day that a federal judge is sentenced to prison.

The first hour or so of the hearing was stupefying as prosecutors and Kent defense attorney Dick DeGuerin argued over objections to the government's pre-sentencing report. The main reason for the boredom was that, for the most part, no one except the lawyers in involved in the case and U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson knew what they were talking about. That vacuum of information was a direct result of Judge Vinson's dubious decision to keep a substantial amount of the information about the charges against Kent under seal and away from public scrutiny.

Judge Vinson's decision in that regard might have been somewhat defensible had the two victims of Kent's sexual assaults requested secrecy to preserve what little privacy they could salvage from this ordeal. But neither of the victims requested such treatment, and my sense is that Kent didn't want it, either.

So, Judge Vinson decided to conduct this case largely outside the public eye for his own reasons. In my 30 years of practicing law, I have never seen the volume of information in a case placed under seal as was done in this case.

In sentencing Kent, Judge Vinson claimed that he was upholding the justice system by showing that even a powerful judge is not above the law. Unfortunately, he undermined that same system by preventing the public from learning the details of the accusations against Kent and Kent's responses to those allegations.

Although the first part of the hearing could have induced a snooze, the pace picked up dramatically when the two victims of Kent's assaults made their way to the podium to make their victim statements to the court (one of the victim's statements is here, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle). Both victims were extremely impressive in their presentations, describing the emotional and family carnage that Kent's assaults and abuse of power caused. We also learned tidbits of information that likely would have been already been revealed had Judge Vinson not maintained such tight control over information:

The case manager reported Kent's assaults to her supervisor, who did not take appropriate steps to report it to higher authorities out of fear for her job;

A "culture of fear" existed among employees at the Galveston federal courthouse as a result of Kent's manipulative behavior and frequent drunkenness; and

Kent is estranged from much of his family.

There was a good bit of discussion from the victims and the lawyers regarding Kent's alcoholism and his "serious" psychological issues, for which Judge Vinson ordered him to continue treatment. Also, Kent has been rendered virtually insolvent from his funding of the cost of defense of the case.

For his part, Kent did a good job in his statement to the court, apologizing to his accusers, his staff, his family, other judges and "the system." He promised Judge Vinson that he would continue to rehabilitate himself regardless of the sentence. My sense was that Kent was sincere.

I do not know Kent personally. I handled several hearings in his court over the years and never had a problem with him.

However, I know plenty of lawyers who found Kent insufferable and rude (see also here), and I heard the rumors about his alleged favoritism of certain Galveston lawyers, particularly in admiralty cases. In 2001, the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Texas took the unprecedented step of reassigning 85 cases away from Kent that were being handled by one of Kent's best friends.

And now it appears that Kent was drinking heavily for much of the past decade and that he was frequently intoxicated while at the courthouse. You have to wonder whether concerns about Kent's behavior impacted out-of-town parties' decisions in cases such as this one?

So, I circle back to the question I asked at the beginning of this post -- how did the judicial career of Sam Kent come to this sordid and sad ending?

Where were Kent's "friends" who knew about his excessive drinking and other personal problems, and were in a position to intervene and help him before it was too late?

What are we to make of the federal government's human resources apparatus that an entire federal courthouse could have been placed under a culture of fear by the abusive behavior of one man?

And doesn't the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council have some explaining to do on why it issued its agreed order of public reprimand of Kent without interviewing either of the victims during the council's investigation?

Finally what are we to conclude about our justice system that the Houston Chronicle -- which, along with its coverage of Hurricane Ike, should have been won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the Kent case -- provides much more information to the public about the crimes of an abusive judge than the prosecution of that judge?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) |

May 11, 2009

Is the case against Sir Allen getting more complicated?

On first blush, the criminal case against Sir Allen Stanford, the mercurial chairman of Stanford Financial Group, would appear to be pretty straightforward.

On the other hand, why was the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently falling over itself for years to avoid closing down Stanford Capital, even in the face of credible, inside information provided to the agency regarding Stanford's scam nature?

Could Sir Allen have been keeping the regulators at bay by playing several agencies of the federal government off against one another?:

A Panorama (BBC) investigation has suggested that Sir Allen was shielded from an earlier inquiry into his activities because he co-operated with a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) attempt to track money laundering by Latin American drug cartels. [. . .]

Panorama claimed some US officials were aware of Sir Allen's cartel links as long ago as 1990. It reported that Sir Allen, paid a $3.1 million (£2.05 million) cheque to the DEA in 1999 after that sum was invested in his bank by another Mexican drug gang, the Juarez cartel of Amada Carillo Fuentes.

According to Panorama, whose investigation will air on Monday, Sir Allen was initially investigated by the SEC over suspicions he was running a Ponzi scheme in the summer of 2006, but the inquiry was over by the winter of that year.

The BBC claims the decision to close the investigation followed a request by another government agency.

Panorama says it is aware of "strong evidence" that Sir Allen was a "confidential agent" for the DEA as far back as 1999 and turned over details of money laundering by clients from Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador.

Rodney Gallagher, a British financial investigator, who knew Sir Allen in the 1980s said it was clear to him that the Texan had "a very close relationship with the DEA" and occasionally hired former agency staff to work for him.

The DEA declined to comment to the BBC on its allegations.  .   .  .

If Sir Allen bought time for a scam by playing nice with the DEA, the federal government's dubious prohibition policy toward certain drugs will have added an entirely new layer of costs.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 9, 2009

Cruising the Houston Ship Channel

The oil and gas industry is synonymous with Houston, but many folks do not know that health care and the Port of Houston are huge economic drivers in the local economy, too. Check out this time lapse video by Lou Vest on a ship leaving the Port of Houston along the Houston Ship Channel. Here is a similar video that Vest did last year during the daytime. Enjoy.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 26, 2009

Hayes Carll "Beaumont"

From The Woodlands, Texas, Hayes Carll.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 25, 2009

Sisters Morales "You Wanna Love Me"

Another talented group that came of age in the Houston club scene, the Sisters Morales.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 16, 2009

A Houston Original

One of Houston's many treasures is Jack Burke (earlier posts here), the 86 year-old co-founder and owner of Champions Golf Club. The energetic Burke was recently slowed by a "mild" stroke (my late father used to say that the only mild strokes were those that happened to someone else), but that didn't stop Jack from taking his family to Augusta National Golf Club last week for the Masters, where Burke is a former champion (1956). John Garrity provides this fine article on Burke's Augusta National visit (H/T Geoff Shackelford), which includes the following hilarious and typically Burkean anecdote that former Masters champion Bob Goalby tells fellow PGA Tour member, Miller Barber:

"You know Miller?" Goalby arches an eyebrow. "He's got about 14 curlicues in his backswing, and then he sticks the club straight up in the air with no wrist cock. Anyway, he asked Jackie for a lesson."

"They went out on the range, dumped the balls out. Miller said, 'I'm mixed up on my backswing. Watch me hit some.' So he hit about a dozen balls before Jackie turned and started walking away."

"Miller's got this squeaky voice. He shouted, 'Jackie! Jackie! Where are you going?' And Jackie said, 'Back to the clubhouse. I'm not going to live long enough to figure out that backswing.'"

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 14, 2009

The Chronicle's Enron myopia

Even when it is on the right side of an issue, the Chronicle reminds us of its failings.

As noted earlier here, it has become fashionable among the Old Media to support the recent decision of the Justice Department to request dismissal of the criminal case against former Alaska senator Ted Stevens because of the DOJ's misconduct in handling the prosecution. The Chronicle chimed in last week with this self-righteous editorial.

Of course, for anyone paying attention, prosecutorial misconduct by the DOJ is not unusual. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sanctioned the DOJ by dismissing indictments against 13 former KPMG partners. Federal prosecutors in Miami are in hot water with a federal judge there over abusive tactics in a criminal drug case against a local doctor. There even appears to be a connection between the prosecutorial misconduct in the Steven case and the dubious case against former Vice-Presidential aide, Scooter Libby.

As the always-insightful Larry Ribstein points out, could it be that there are agency costs in managing corporate criminal prosecutions just as there are in managing corporations? Along the same lines, Doug Berman suggests that an insidious culture within the DOJ has produced the abuse of power.

But the most galling aspect of the Chronicle's emergent awareness of abusive state power is that it has virtually ignored the egregious examples of prosecutorial misconduct in its own hometown, particularly in the case against Jeff Skilling that resulted in a barbaric and indefensible 24-year prison sentence.

As conflicted publications such as the Wall Street Journal promoted Enron myths and the demonization of Enron executives, the Chronicle could have provided a valuable public service by providing balanced reporting and analysis of what really caused Enron's demise and how such a company can be better-structured to survive in even the most adverse market conditions. When clear evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged early in the Enron-related criminal cases, the Chronicle could have provided an even greater public service by taking a strong stand against such dangerous abuse of state power. It's certainly not hard to find historical reminders of the injustice that results from such abuse.

So, what did the Chronicle do instead? It embraced the Enron Myth and led the mob in demonizing Enron executives. From the beginning of the Enron-related criminal cases, the Chronicle editorial staff simply elected to ignore mounting evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in favor of the easier approach of leading the angry mob. The Chronicle's coverage of the Skilling prosecution was so inflammatory and biased that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals made the highly unusual finding that the Chronicle created a presumption of community prejudice against Skilling (see pp. 41-45 of the Fifth Circuit decision).

Even now, despite the legacy of prosecutorial misconduct in the Enron-related criminal cases and the fact that what happened to Enron has now happened to many big Wall Street firms, the Chronicle stubbornly clings to the Enron Myth and refuses even to acknowledge that the evidence of prosecutorial abuse in the Enron-related cases is worse than what caused the dismissal of the Stevens case.

As with most Old Media newspapers these days, the Chronicle is struggling to survive. Winning that first Pulitzer Prize sure would sure provide a boost to the Chronicle's flagging spirits.

Wouldn't it be the ultimate irony if the decision to lead the angry mob against Enron distracted the Chronicle from a truly enthralling story of prosecutorial misconduct that could have won the newspaper that elusive Pulitzer?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 7, 2009

Is this really the best that the Chronicle can do for its lead sports columnist?

Remember awhile back when Chronicle lead sports columnist Richard Justice defamed Stephanie Stradley, a very good local blogger on the Texans and the NFL who now blogs at the Chronicle?

Well, ol' Richard is at it again.

This time the subject of Justice's venom is Alan Burge, who pens a very good blog on the Texans for the Houston Examiner.

Burge recently made a comment on one of Justice's blog posts regarding Texans GM Rick Smith, who Justice has been belittling for months because Smith fired Justice's friend, former Texans strength coach, Dan Riley.

At any rate, after Burge commented (he goes by "AJ" in the comments) on Justice's blog post, Justice responded by belittling Burge's comment. Burge responded by again challenging Justice's statements regarding NFL contract provisions. Justice responded by continuing to belittle Burge and concluded by accusing Burge of stealing "from others and calling it research."

Inasmuch as Justice has previously removed some of his defamatory statements from his blog site after publishing them, I copied four of Burge's comments and Justice's replies to them before Justice could remove or edit them (he has, in fact, done so now). Burge's comments and Justice's replies are set forth in the document below. Also included in the document is a comment from another commenter who was appalled by Justice's comments toward Burge and Justice's reply to that comment.

With "top" talent such as this, is there any hope for the Chronicle?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (4) |

March 23, 2009

Houston golf is a bargain

As I've noted several times over the years, the value of Houston-area golf courses is often under-appreciated by golfers in other parts of the country. In this Golf.com Press Tent blog post , Gary VanSickle indirectly highlights one of the major reasons that Houston golf is under-appreciated:

You tell me what's wrong with this picture. I flew into Miami International Airport .  .  .  and thought I'd stop in at the Melreese Golf Course, a municipal track operated by the city of Miami. It's basically just down the street from the rental car lots in an area that is not well-off -- most of the neighborhood's homes have bars over the windows.

It's noon. It's a Monday. It's beautiful -- 82 degrees, light wind. The course looks to be in outstanding condition, especially for a muni. When I ask if I can play a few holes, I'm told, sure, the course is wide open. In fact, it is all but deserted.

The girl working the register asks if I'm a Florida resident. Nope. She rings up my greens fee. That'll be $158. What, I say? State residents play for $78, non-residents are $158. Do you have a nine-hole rate, I ask? No. I totally understand trying to keep a public course available for use by local golfers. They should get a big discount. It's their course. But this isn't a local discount, it's statewide? What good does that do? You think anybody is going to fly down from Jacksonville to golf Melreese when there are 1,200 other courses in the state? City residents should get the golf discount.

So I settle on hitting a bag of 60 range balls (that's what the sign in the shop says) for $6. When I dump the bag out on the practice range, it doesn't look like 60 balls. I count them. There are 47. I'm 13 short. That's more than 20 percent I've been shortchanged. And while many of the balls looked white and shiny, too many of them just didn't get up in the air and go, no matter how well I hit them. Mushy range balls are a fact of life in golf. Getting 20 percent less product than I was promised, that's something else.

After I hit balls, I chipped and putted on the practice green (which was in very nice shape) for more than an hour. A couple of German guys who'd been hitting on the range did the same. They eventually left. So did I. I spent less than $10 at the course -- I bought range balls, plus a drink and crackers. I gladly would have paid $80 to play, but not $158. So due to excessive pricing, the course got zero.

Melreese used to be an example of how to run a muni. Improved conditions usually brings more play, more golfers. I was there for 90 minutes and saw no one tee off. I saw a couple of twosomes, a threesome and a single already on the course. The old parking lot was closed due to construction of a new clubhouse and, I presume, a new cart barn.

Somebody has to pay for that. But it's not going to be my $158.

What's wrong with golf? Gee, I can't imagine.

VanSickle could have hit the same number of range balls and played 18 holes at Houston's venerable muni, Memorial Golf Course (which is a better course than Miami's Melreese) for $42 if he took a cart, $31 if he walked. $15 more if he called ahead to reserve a tee time.

Posted by Tom at 4:54 PM | Comments (0) |

March 8, 2009

Lyle Lovett Time Again

Another song from one of Houston's treasures.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

March 4, 2009

The Chron's last gasp?

With traditional newspapers folding left and right, it's no surprise that the newspaper business is no bowl of cherries these days. According to this WSJ Digits blog post, that uncertainty is prompting Houston's main daily newspaper -- the Houston Chronicle -- to consider some big changes:

Hearst said its newspapers plan to hold back at least some content from their free Web sites, launching the publisher onto the vanguard of print media companies to begin charging for their digital news and information.

A top executive at Hearst, which publishes 16 newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said the company is mulling how much of its online offerings to keep free, while reserving some content exclusively for people who pay.

“Exactly how much paid content to hold back from our free sites will be a judgment call made daily by our management, whose mission should be to run the best free Web sites in our markets without compromising our ability to get a fair price from consumers for the expensive, unique reporting and writing that we produce each day,” Steven Swartz, the president of Hearst newspapers, said in a staff memo.

The text of the staff memo is included at the end of the blog post.

Meanwhile, financial blogger Felix Salmon, who has been following the newspaper website subscription issue for the past couple of years, thinks that the Wall Street Journal's website subscription model -- which is the business model that the Chron hopes to mirror -- is doomed to failure:

My feeling is that [WSJ editor Robert] Thomson was entirely right when he said that [news] commentary had become commoditized, and that therefore you couldn't charge for it; he also said the same thing about most news. But what he calls "specialized content" is to a large degree just taking commoditized news, and adding the kind of value that comes from informed commentators.

Yes, there are things which Dow Jones the WSJ can do and no one else can do in quite the same way -- Thomson was interesting when he started talking about selling content on the subject of India to Japan, for instance. And in a world where Dow Jones is looking to individual subscriptions to make up the losses from corporate subscriptions, it's going to be very difficult for them to start slashing those individual subscription rates to zero.

But I suspect that eventually the WSJ will do the math and work out that the best way to monetize and grow its large number of unique visitors is to maximize the time they spend on the site. And the best way to do that is to go free.

Give the Chronicle credit for taking risks in a battle for survival rather than simply fading away as many other newspapers are doing. However, I am not convinced that the Chron's pay-for-some-content approach has much of a chance of succeeding.

Frankly, the Chronicle simply does not appear capable of producing the type of specialized content that is necessary even to have a chance of generating the level of individual subscriptions that will be necessary for success.

For example, the Chron was inexplicably behind other major newspapers and blogs in its coverage of the recent Stanford Financial Group scandal. Its follow-up coverage really has not provided any meaningful content that cannot be found elsewhere from free news sources and blogs.

Moreover, even where the Chron indisputably takes the lead in regard to a local story of national interest -- such as the newspaper's excellent coverage of the various legal cases involving former U.S. District Judge Sam Kent or its amazing coverage of Hurricane Ike -- the information generated is still not sufficiently distinguishable from other free news sources so that readers will be likely to pay for the content.

Don't get me wrong. The Chronicle is not without talent. Tech columnist Dwight Silverman is one of the most-respected writers in his field. Science reporter Eric Berger does a fine job, and Todd Ackerman has done a first-rate job of covering the Medical Center for years. Ditto for Nancy Sarnoff in regard to local real estate. The Chron sports bloggers Stephanie Stradley, Lance Zierlein and Zac Levine provide better content and analysis than the Chron's sportswriters. I'm leaving others out who also do a fine job.

But is the specialized product that such talent generates sufficient to induce enough online readers to pay for content so that the Chronicle can transform itself into a profitable web-based news provider?

When even longtime Chronicle subscribers are seriously thinking about giving up their subscriptions, I have my doubts.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (7) |

March 2, 2009

Fiddling while Rome burns

My wife and I attended the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Barbeque Cook-off at Reliant Park over the weekend, so we again were reminded of the wasteful land use represented by the Astrodome.

With the rodeo and related activities cramped for space and Reliant Park desperately in need of more convenient parking, why do our local leaders persist in chasing rainbows over an obsolescent stadium that is expensive to mothball and has no alternative use absent a massive and risky governmental subsidy?

Meanwhile, with our local governments already locked into tens of millions of dollars of subsidies in regard to a proposed stadium for Houston's minor league soccer club, perhaps a few of our local leaders should review this AZCentral.com article about the bath that Glendale, Arizona is taking in regard to bailing out the Phoenix Coyotes National Hockey League team, which is the primary tenant of the Glendale's local arena. The Coyotes have lost over $200 million since moving to Glendale five years ago.

Thus, on one hand, Houston governmental leaders waste millions annually while they dither over what should be an easy decision regarding valuable government-owned property. On the other hand, local leaders have committed tens of millions of dollars in subsidies to a venture that is far more speculative than even a National Hockey League team.

In short, our leaders are fiddling while Rome burns. And, as Leo Strauss once observed, what makes matters worse is that those leaders not only fail to realize that they are fiddling, they don't even appear to understand that Rome is burning.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (5) |

February 24, 2009

Judge Kent cops a plea

As most local lawyers expected, U.S. District Judge Sam Kent entered into a plea bargain on the courthouse steps today. The deal derailed what would have been an extremely ugly trial on sexual abuse and obstruction of justice charges, and ended Judge Kent's 18-year career as a federal judge. Here is the factual basis for the plea deal and also the plea agreement. Earlier posts on the case against Judge Kent are here.

As noted, Judge Kent's plea deal was not a surprise, although the courthouse steps nature of it was. It looks as if defense attorney Dick DeGuerin -- one of Houston's best criminal defense attorneys for this type of case -- pushed the case to the brink in an attempt to gain the best possible deal, which it appears he did.

In the factual basis for the plea, Judge Kent admitted only to lying to the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council about unwanted sexual advances that he made toward a subordinate. That leaves out any admissions regarding the serious sexual abuse charges that the prosecution dismissed as a part of the plea deal. Those non-admissions have to be considered a victory for the defense in a case such as this.

Moreover, Judge Kent's retirement will likely avoid impeachment. If so, then Judge Kent he will be able to collect his federal pension.

However, those victories probably won't prevent Judge Kent from being sentenced to do some serious prison time. The prosecution agreed only not to recommend any more than a three-year sentence in regard to the maximum 20-year sentence that Judge Kent could receive on the obstruction charge, and visiting U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has a reputation of handing down relatively harsh sentences. I'm no expert on sentencing, but my initial sense is that Judge Kent is looking at between a 3-5 year sentence.

That's probably lighter than the sentence that Judge Kent would have assessed to a defendant convicted of the same charge in a similar case in his court.

But it's not going to be a picnic, either.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (4) |

February 19, 2009

Hope in the battle against the fire ants!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

February 9, 2009

A couple of questions regarding the proposed soccer stadium

The always-entertaining Houston real estate blog, Swamplot, provided this post last week with typically pretty pictures from a KHOU-TV video of the long-proposed soccer stadium for the Houston Dynamo MLS soccer team.

Have we really been talking about this for almost two years now?

At any rate, now that the City of Houston and Harris County have committed a total of $25-30 million to the deal, and the City is on the hook for millions more in infrastructure improvements, Dynamo management is publicly representing that it is prepared to contribute another $80 million to build the stadium.

Now, I'm never seen the Dynamo's financial statement, but my guess is that it generates between $10-15 million in revenues. Maybe that increases by 30-40% if the club gets its own stadium. A nice small business, but .  .  .

In these lean economic times, what bank is going to take the lead in loaning $80 million to a business that would have to dedicate a substantial amount of its revenue base just to pay debt service on the loan?

Is this a bankable deal? Or just pie-in-the-sky absent the local governments coughing up substantially more dough?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

January 25, 2009

Can Mayor White pull off another "win-win" deal?

Although the developers of the proposed Ashby high-rise condominium project didn't know it at the time, Houston Mayor Bill White did the developers a huge favor by putting up roadblocks to that project.

Can you imagine trying to peddle those condos in the current real estate market? Mayor White's blocking of the condos ended being a classic "win-win" deal.

Accordingly, I wonder if Mayor White might be inclined to do the same thing in regard to Houston's proposed soccer stadium?

Things aren't looking too rosy for MLS soccer these days:

Major League Soccer is not quite ready to carry its own night on TV.

After two years of anemic ratings that started low and finished lower, ESPN executives decided to cancel the league’s regular Thursday night telecast on ESPN2 this season.  .  .  .

“We didn’t see the kind of ratings climb we’d like to, so we’re trying something different,” said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN vice president of programming.

The decision to cancel the regular Thursday night game marks a stunning turnaround for a league that two years ago believed it was creating destination programming that would increase interest in MLS. But even the 2007 arrival of David Beckham couldn’t boost MLS ratings.

MLS games averaged a 0.2 rating and 289,000 viewers on ESPN2 in 2007. Those numbers dropped to 0.2/253,000 viewers the following year. Its highest rating during that period was Beckham’s second regular-season game in August 2007 that earned a 0.6/658,000 households.

Canceling “MLS Primetime Thursday” is a tacit admission that MLS is not strong enough to anchor a regular prime-time slot on its own. ESPN is entering the third year of an eight-year rights deal that pays MLS $8 million annually.

So, MLS franchises are being downgraded by the most important sports programming network in the nation, which can't be good for the value of those teams. The attendance at MLS games is poor, at least outside Houston and a couple of other cities. And the perception in sophisticated soccer circles is that the MLS is decidedly minor-league.

Meanwhile, Mayor White has already had Houstonians invest $20 million or so in buying downtown property at a premium price for the proposed soccer stadium, despite the fact that the city already owned nearby property that would have been perfectly fine for such a stadium. Moreover, the city will be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars more in infrastructure improvements if the Dynamo owners somehow cobble together their private financing for the stadium.

Now, it's looking as if the Dynamo may not even have a viable league to play in by the time the proposed soccer stadium is completed in a couple of years.

Pull the plug on the soccer stadium, Mayor. It will be another "win-win" deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (8) |

January 19, 2009

An entertaining upcoming week in Houston

No one in Houston this week can complain about lack of opportunity for intellectual stimulation.

First, well-known legal blogger and Clear Thinkers favorite Larry Ribstein will be lecturing on Thursday afternoon from noon to 2 p.m. at the University of Houston Law Center as the first speaker of the semester in UH Law Professor Lonny Hoffman's “Colloquium” course that brings noted legal scholars from around the country to UH each year to give presentations on the scholar's work in progress.

Great teachers are a popular topic on this blog (see here and here), so I'm particularly pleased that Professor Ribstein is taking the time out of his busy schedule to visit Houston. As regular HCT readers know, Professor Ribstein is one of the premier business law scholars in the country.

The holder of the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair at the University of Illinois College of Law, Professor Ribstein's widely-read Ideoblog has been at the forefront of the blawgosphere's enormous impact on legal analysis and education, literally pushing legal scholarship from what had been mostly closed conversations between fellow academics into a hugely valuable resource that is now readily available to anyone over the Web. Already the leading expert in the U.S. in the area of unincorporated business associations, Professor Ribstein is also one of the blawgosphere's most insightful thinkers on corporate governance issues and the effects of regulation on markets and business. His blog has contributed as much to the understanding and appreciation of business law issues over the past five years as any resource of which I am aware.

Professor Ribstein's talk on Thursday will be on this paper that he co-authored with George Mason University law professor Bruce Kobiyashi that examines the empirical factors that influence limited liability companies' choice of where to organize. Seating for the talk is limited, so contact Professor Hoffman at Lhoffman@central.uh.edu or 713.743.5206 as soon as possible to reserve a seat. The lecture will be held in the Heritage Room of the UH Law Center.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday from 11:30-1:30 p.m., popular author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell will be giving a talk on his new book, Outliers, at the Hilton-Americas Houston hotel (Chron article here). Tickets are $75 and include a copy of the book and the luncheon, which is co-sponsored by Inprint, the Greater Houston Partnership and Brazos Bookstore. Contact Jill Reese at 713.844.3682 or jreese@houston.org to make reservations, the deadline for which is noon on Tuesday.

Finally, author and former Houstonian Larry McMurtry -- the pre-eminent Texas writer of the past 30 years -- will be giving the lecture on Wednesday evening from 7-8:00 p.m. in Rice University's Distinguished Lecture series. The lecture will be held in the Grand Hall of Rice's Ley Student Center and is open to the public.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

January 17, 2009

Hayes Carll on the Battle of Crystal Beach

Clear Thinkers favorite Hayes Carll sings "I Got a Gig" and tells the humorous story about about his first gigs in Crystal Beach, Texas.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

January 16, 2009

Marathon madness

The annual running of the Houston Marathon is this weekend, so the Houston Chronicle is running its typical series of supposedly inspiring stories about various participants.

A couple of days ago, the story was about a couple of folks who had lost huge amounts of weight while training for marathons. Richard Justice wrote this column about some fellow who is so obsessive about running that he has run in "82 marathons across 26 years, four continents and 29 states."

Yesterday's Chronicle article, however, takes the cake. Check out the headline:

Sunday’s race will be extra special for Stacie Rubin, who will be competing five months after suffering a heart attack

The story goes on to describe a Kingwood mother of four children who has run long distances daily for years. She had a heart attack while training one day and didn't even go to the doctor's office for several days because she was so convinced that someone as "healthy" as her could not have anything seriously wrong with her. Even after the heart attack, she was so obsessed about her long-distance training that she was back running again within a couple of weeks of the heart attack and is now planning on running in the marathon this weekend.

The Chronicle article presents all of this as heroic and the epitome of physical fitness.

Frankly, I think these stories are grossly misleading and the people telling them are badly misguided.

In my younger days, I used to run long-distances, too. I even ran a 37 minute flat 10K -- 6.2 miles -- once. As with most folks in my generation, I bought into the myth that long-distance running was excellent aerobic exercise that allowed me to maintain good health while eating most anything I wanted.

However, about 15 years ago, after falling out of shape during a busy time in my practice, I decided to do some extensive research into exercise protocols and nutrition to put myself back on track. After about six months of research, I concluded that most of my pre-conceived notions about exercise and nutrition were flat-out wrong.

For example, I discovered that long-distance running is neither a particularly healthy form of exercise nor an effective method of weight control.

Note, for example, this abstract from the a study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences:

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1977;301:593-619. Related Articles, Links

Coronary heart disease in marathon runners.

Noakes T, Opie L, Beck W, McKechnie J, Benchimol A, Desser K.

Six highly trained marathon runners developed myocardial infarction. One of the two cases of clinically diagnosed myocardial infarction was fatal, and there were four cases of angiographically-proven infarction. Two athletes had significant arterial disease of two major coronary arteries, a third had stenosis of the anterior descending and the fourth of the right coronary artery. All these athletes had warning symptoms. Three of them completed marathon races despite symptoms, one athlete running more than 20 miles after the onset of exertional discomfort to complete the 56 mile Comrades Marathon. In spite of developing chest pain, another athlete who died had continued training for three weeks, including a 40 mile run. Two other athletes also continued to train with chest pain. We conclude that the marathon runners studied were not immune to coronary heart disease, nor to coronary atherosclerosis and that high levels of physical fitness did not guarantee the absence of significant cardiovascular disease. In addition, the relationship of exercise and myocardial infarction was complex because two athletes developed myocardial infarction during marathon running in the absence of complete coronary artery occlusion. We stress that marathon runners, like other sportsmen, should be warned of the serious significance of the development of exertional symptoms. Our conclusions do not reflect on the possible value of exercise in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Rather we refute exaggerated claims that marathon running provides complete immunity from coronary heart disease.

This recent University of Maryland Medical Center study examines another health risk of long-distance running.

Art DeVany -- who has been studying physiology and exercise protocols for years -- has written a series of blog posts over the years regarding the unhealthy nature and outright dangers of long-distance running. DeVany points out that many endurance runners in fact are not particularly healthy people, often suffering from lack of muscle mass, overuse injuries, dangerous inflammation and dubious nutrition.

Similarly, in this timely article, Mark Sisson lucidly explains why endurance training is hazardous to one's health. Here is a snippet:

The problem with many, if not most, age group endurance athletes is that the low-level training gets out of hand. They overtrain in their exuberance to excel at racing, and they over consume carbohydrates in an effort to stay fueled. The result is that over the years, their muscle mass, immune function, and testosterone decrease, while their cortisol, insulin and oxidative output increase (unless you work so hard that you actually exhaust the adrenals, introducing an even more disconcerting scenario). Any anti-aging doc will tell you that if you do this long enough, you will hasten, rather than retard, the aging process. Studies have shown an increase in mortality when weekly caloric expenditure exceeds 4,000. [. . .]

Now, what does all this mean for the generation of us who bought into Ken Cooper’s "more aerobics is better" philosophy? Is it too late to get on the anti-aging train? Hey, we're still probably a lot better off than our college classmates who gained 60 pounds and can't walk up a flight of stairs. Sure, we may look a little older and move a little slower than we'd like, but there's still time to readjust the training to fit our DNA blueprint. Maybe just move a little slower, lift some weights, do some yoga and eat right and there's a good chance you'll maximize the quality of your remaining years… and look good doing whatever you do.

In this recent post, Sisson describes a weekly method of aerobic exercise that provides most of the health benefit derived from long-distance running at a fraction of the time expenditure and at far less risk of injury. Add in a couple of short (about 20-25 minutes sessions) weight-training sessions per week to maintain your lead body mass, lead an active recreational lifestyle and observe balanced nutrition, and you are likely to be far healthier than the folks who are spending untold hours beating themselves up running long-distances.

If you are interested in developing such a plan, check out both DeVany and Sisson's blogs. They provide a wealth of information on how to tailor an efficient exercise and nutrition plan.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

January 15, 2009

Fertitta calls off bid to take Landry's private, but takes it private, anyway

Suffice it to say that it's been an interesting past year and a half for Houston-based Landry's Restaurants Inc., which owns restaurants such as Landry's, Rainforest Cafe, Charley's Crab, The Chart House, and Saltgrass Steak House, as well as the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev.

The saga started in late July of 2007 when the company announced that it was delinquent in its regulatory filings with the SEC and that it was in need of refinancing over $400 million in debt in a rapidly deteriorating debt market.

Shortly thereafter, the company sued some of its bondholders for declaring the company in technical default under their bonds, but the company quickly settled that litigation on not particularly good terms.

A few months later, Landry's announced in January 2008 that its CEO and major shareholder (39%), Tilman Fertitta, had made an offer to take the company private by buying the other 61% of the company's stock for $23.50 share, which worked to be a $1.3 billion deal, including debt.

That offer seemed all well and good, particularly given that the proposed purchase price was a 40% premium over the $16.67 share price at the time of the offer.

Unfortunately, a spate of shareholder lawsuits followed Fertitta's bid. By early March, 2008, it was apparent that Fertitta's bid was so speculative that he hadn't even lined up financing for it.

So, the following month, Fertitta lowered his offer to $21 per share because of "tighter credit markets", and Landry's announced that it had accepted that price in June.

But by the fall, the financial crisis on Wall Street had roiled credit markets even further and Hurricane Ike caused considerable damage to several Landry's properties. So, in October, Fertitta lowered his offer to $13.50 per share.

Then, on Monday of this week, the company announced that it was terminating the proposed deal with Fertitta. The company contended that the SEC was requiring the company to issue a proxy statement disclosing information about a confidential commitment letter from the lead lenders on the buyout deal. The company is negotiating with those same lenders to refinance the bond indebtedness that the company promised to refinance in connection with October, 2007 litigation settlement noted above. Inasmuch as the lenders' commitment for financing Fertitta's buyout required that the terms of the commitment remain confidential, the company elected to terminate the buyout deal rather than risk that the lenders would declare a default for breach of confidentiality and back out of the financing commitment for the buyout, as well as the negotiations on the refinancing of the bond indebtedness.

Oh yeah, amidst all this, Landry's stock closed at $6.54 per share today.

Meanwhile, what has Fertitta been doing while his take-private bids have languished and the company's stock has plummeted to historic lows?

He has been buying more Landry's stock. So much so that he now controls 56.7% of the company's shares.

That's right. Landry's board failed to obtain a standstill agreement from Fertitta while his buyout offers were pending over the past year.

As Steve Davidoff notes, this is "truly worthy of Deal From Hell status." Loren Steffy has the same take.

While Landry's directors are checking on the amount of the company's D&O policy, I wonder whether Landry's lenders will follow through on the refinancing negotiations for the bond indebtedness in light of the market's hammering of Landry's share price?

If that refinancing doesn't happen, then those bondholders who Landry's sued back in August of 2007 will likely not be easy for the company to deal with.

In that case, maybe Fertitta's additional purchases of Landry's stock won't look so smart after all.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

January 9, 2009

Can Judge Kent receive a fair trial in Houston?

By now, most folks have heard that the government has filed a superceding indictment against U.S. District Judge Sam Kent alleging sexual abuse against a second federal employee and also obstruction of justice in connection with the Fifth Circuit's previous investigation into the allegations. The previous posts on Judge Kent's case are here.

As this Mary Flood/Chronicle article notes, Judge Kent faces an enormously difficult fight for his life in the upcoming trial. Given the latest allegations, my sense is that his chances are remote of finding a Houston jury that is not tainted by the lurid local news reports on the case.

As of this date, Judge Kent's formidable defense attorney -- Dick DeGuerin -- has still not requested a change of venue. Should he now?

Although Racehorse Haynes is still trying cases well into his 70's, DeGuerin is now widely regarded as having accepted the baton from Haynes as being the dean of Houston's outstanding criminal defense bar. Given the difficulty of the case against Judge Kent, could this case be DeGuerin's equivalent of Hayes' career-defining T. Cullen Davis case?

Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

January 6, 2009

As the Rockets' World Turns

With the football season winding down in these parts, folks are finally noticing that the Houston Rockets are approaching the halfway point of the NBA season and again look like an also-ran in the playoff race. It's now been a dozen years since the one-time back-to-back NBA champions have won a mere playoff series.

What happened this time? Dave Berri thinks that Ron Artest has not been the answer.

Meanwhile, Rockets owner Les Alexander has been getting hammered in areas other than basketball, too:

Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has seen his 20% stake in First Marblehead Corp., once valued at nearly $1 billion, plunge to about $15 million. The company, which packages student loans and sells them to investors, saw its business evaporate in 2008. Its shares fell more than 90% last year to about $1.

Thankfully for Alexander, his original investment in the company was only $4 million and -- before the 2008 meltdown -- he sold a portion of his company stock for $250 million, a substantial portion of which was probably used to pay a $150 million divorce settlement.

What I can't figure out is whether all of that makes it harder ("We're paying him what?!") or easier ("It's only money!") for Alexander to pay Tracy McGrady a total of $40 million over this and next season?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

December 26, 2008

Hayes Carll is back

The Woodlands native Hayes Carll (earlier post here) is back in town for the holiday season, playing tonight in downtown Houston at Warehouse Live and on Tuesday the 30th at Dosey Doe in The Woodlands. If you have not had the pleasure of enjoying a live performance of this latest in a long-line of talented Texas singer-songwriters, then check out one of his shows this week. You will not be disappointed.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

November 4, 2008

Tom Alexander, R.I.P.

I lost an old friend and Houston lost one of its most colorful characters on this past Sunday morning -- legendary trial attorney Tom Alexander died of a heart attack at the age of 78 (the Chronicle story on Alexander's death is here and Richard Connelly of the Houston Press chimes in here). The memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 5501 Fannin in the Museum District of Houston.

Alexander was one of Houston's most accomplished trial lawyers, the kind of rare quick-read who could prepare for a trial by reading the case file on his way to the courthouse. Inasmuch as he had such an engaging personality, articulate delivery and quick wit, judges and jurors naturally gravitated toward him.

But Alexander was one of those larger-than-life characters who was much more than just a fine trial lawyer. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He was a true sportsman who loved and supported intercollegiate and professional sports of all kinds. He loved to golf and was an original member of Champions Golf Club, where he owned a weekend cottage that allowed him to keep up with his good friend, Champions owner Jack Burke. Born and raised in Kentucky, Alexander was also an avid horseman who could handicap thoroughbreds with the best of them.

Moreover, it wasn't all trial tactics and sports with Alexander. Whether the subject was opera, politics, philosophy, poker, theology (he gave a lay sermon at church once entitled "Can You Fistfight and Still Be a Christian?") or simply the latest gossip in Houston's professional community, Tom Alexander would engage and stimulate you. Perhaps not always the way you wanted, but always in a way that would make you think about the basis of your beliefs.

Alexander's vivacious wit and personality is perhaps best summed up by one of the funniest Houston courthouse stories that I've ever heard.

Years ago, Alexander was hired by the rich husband in an ugly divorce. The vengeful wife hired another veteran of the Houston legal community, the late Robert Scardino, Sr., the father of noted Houston criminal defense attorney, Robert Scardino, Jr.

Inasmuch as there were no children of the marriage and the value of the community estate was well-established, there was really nothing for Alexander and Scardino to fight about in the divorce. However, the husband and wife hated each other, so they directed Alexander and Scardino to be nasty with each other for as long as possible. And these two old warhorses were happy to oblige.

After about a year or so of bickering, the Family Court finally set the case for trial. Realizing that there was really no reason to use precious court time to split a well-defined community estate, the Family Court Judge called Alexander and Scardino into his chambers before the trial was scheduled to begin and hammered out a property settlement in an acrimonious two-hour session.

Exhausted from dealing with the squabbling between Alexander and Scardino, the Family Court Judge addressed the final issue in the case at the conclusion of the session:

"Mr. Alexander and Mr. Scardino, thank you for working with me in settling this case and saving the court time for other cases."

"Now, the final issue is the amount of Mr. Scardino's fee for representing the wife in this case. Mr. Scardino, what do you think is fair?"

"Well, Judge," replied Scardino. "This has been a hard-fought case and I don't want the amount of my fee to be the final problem in the case. So, I tell you what I'm willing to do."

"I don't know what the amount of Mr. Alexander's fee has been for representing the husband in this case," Scardino observed. "But I trust Mr. Alexander."

"So, to put this all behind us," concluded Scardino. "Whatever Mr. Alexander's fee has been for representing the husband in this case, I'm willing to take the same amount for representing the wife. Whatever amount Mr. Alexander has accepted as a fee is acceptable to me."

"Why, Mr. Scardino," gushed the judge. "Thank you for that creative and statesmanlike approach to resolving this final issue. I really appreciate that."

Turning toward Alexander, the judge asked: "Mr. Alexander, what do you think about Mr. Scardino's eminently reasonable proposal?"

Alexander sat in deep thought for a moment. Then, he leaned toward Scardino, got right up in his face and -- undoubtedly with a twinkle in his eye -- declared:

"You greedy sonuvabitch!"

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

November 2, 2008

Phillip G. Hoffman, R.I.P.

Phil Hoffman, inarguably one of the most important university presidents in the history of the University of Houston, died Wednesday at the age of 93. The Chron's Lynwood Abram penned a nice article on Dr. Hoffman here.

When Dr. Hoffman took over the presidency of the University of Houston in 1961, UH was a sleepy, segregated city college of about 12,000 students. By the time Dr. Hoffman retired 16 years later, UH had become a fully-integrated university system of four campuses with an enrollment of over 30,000 students. Two years after taking over at UH, Dr. Hoffman led the legislative effort to have the university accepted into the Texas state university system.

Although the Chron's article on Dr. Hoffman's death notes the foregoing, the fact that UH is a far younger institution than the other two main Texas university systems -- the University of Texas and Texas A&M University -- is largely ignored by the Chronicle and the rest of the mainstream media. Given the far inferior resources that UH receives from the state relative to UT and A&M, UH is currently providing the best bang-for-the-higher-education-buck of the three systems. That is an impressive part of Dr. Hoffman's formidable legacy.

A memorial service is scheduled for Dr. Hoffman at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the First Presbyterian Church in the Museum District, 5300 Main.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

October 30, 2008

A good idea, but . . .

The Chron's top-notch Medical Center reporter Todd Ackerman reported yesterday that two venerable Houston academic -- Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University -- are in preliminary discussions regarding a possible merger (the Chron's excellent Science reporter Eric Berger also comments here).

This makes sense on many levels. Baylor and Rice are located near each other in the Medical Center area, so sharing faculty members between the two institutions would be a snap from a logistics standpoint. Indeed, the attraction of being able to teach and research at both institutions would be a valuable perk for both schools to attract talented teachers and students. Both schools have excellent academic reputations, so it's a good match from that standpoint, too.

But Ackerman zeroes in on the main problem with the merger. As usual, it involves money:

Rice is the more affluent of the two institutions. As of June 30, its endowment was $4.6 billion. As of Sept. 30, Baylor's was $954 million. [.  .  .]

One Rice professor said the key issue from the university's perspective will be making sure there's a firewall between Rice's endowment and Baylor's.

A "firewall" between the two institutions endowments? Come on, one of the main reasons why the merger makes sense is that Baylor would have access to Rice's superior capital. The benefit from Rice's standpoint is the association with a fine medical school that, with access to a better-capitalized endowment, may well propel itself into the best medical school in the country. That is precisely the type of academic excellence that Rice should be pursuing.

Which reminds me of a conversation that I had years ago with a member of the University of Houston Board of Regents. Given the need of Houston and Texas for more Tier 1 research institutions, I observed to this UH regent that I thought it was a good idea for the UH system to merge with the Texas A&M University System.

One one hand, the merger makes sense from UH's standpoint because it would provide the chronically-undercapitalized UH (endowment about $750 million or so) with access to capital (A&M's endowment is between $6-7 billion) that is the biggest obstacle in UH's path to Tier 1 status.

On the other hand, the merger makes sense from A&M's standpoint because UH would provide A&M with the urban presence that it has always lacked and UH's central campus in Houston that A&M could use as a carrot for attracting better teachers and students. Moreover, A&M for years has desired a law school and UH would deliver a very good one.

So, I asked the UH regent, such a merger makes sense, doesn't it?

The UH regent proceeded to give me a half-dozen reasons why the proposed merger would never work, most of which were tied to the fact that he would no longer be a member of an independent university system board if such a merger were consummated.

That is precisely the attitude that has placed Texas behind states such as California and New York in the development of Tier 1 research institutions and all the benefits that such universities provide to the state and its communities. Here's hoping that similar attitudes don't scuttle what appears to be a very good idea for Rice, Baylor and Houston.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

October 10, 2008

Almost a month after Hurricane Ike

A friend of mine who is a homebuilder in The Woodlands passes along the following regarding his experience in overseeing a crew rebuilding the neighborhood of his weekend home in Hurricane Ike-ravaged Galveston:

Just back from Galveston after 3 weeks.  We suffered ancillary damage, but nothing structurally damaging. I went down with 80 rds of .40 cal and came back with a clip and a half. 

Snakes have taken over the dunes for now. Devastation is everywhere and we are helping some 61 homes get their lives back together. I have simply never seen such damage.

When you drive over the Galveston Causeway Bridge, you are confronted with hundreds of boats of all sizes lining the road, the median and the bay. Most homes inside the seawall suffered 10 feet of flooding, especially in the historic Strand District.  Downtown Beirut in the 1980’s looked better.

Moving to the seawall, the historic Balinese Room is gone. The Flagship Hotel lost its entry way and appears to be a total loss. Power and water are spotty -- I went 2 weeks without either. Traveling to our West End home is like driving through the Northeast after a winter storm -- sand is piled 10 feet high along both lanes and you sense you are in a fantasy winter wonderland.

Many properties immediately off the seawall are totally destroyed, sitting in the Gulf. You can literally walk under their foundations.  Stench and foul orders are everywhere -- even the stoutest are easily overcome. It will be years, if ever, before Galveston will be restored or hopefully rebuilt to a higher standard. The homes built in the last 5 years according to the 160 mph wind standard suffered little damage, but most others were severely damaged or lost completely. Our crews have worked 16 hrs./day for 3 weeks to restore our neighborhood and are moving to help others at this time. The bright spot is that I have come to know my fellow homeowners in our neighborhood quite well.

The old site of the SeaArama Marineworld is now a landfill with three mounds that could easily fill the Astrodome. I have no idea what they will do with this matter as cranes are working 60’ above street level at this time. We have brought in heavy equipment and crews from The Woodlands to Junction, Texas.  The cowboys from Junction say they have never seen rattlers so big.

We completely lost our dunes, which were over 15’ high. It now looks like we are seaside in Malibu.

Reporting from an R and R encampment, I remain .  .  . 

And as bad as the damage is in Galveston, the devastation in Bolivar Peninsula to the northeast is even worse.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

September 27, 2008

The Rothko Chapel

It was the 105th anniversary of Mark Rothko's birth earlier this week, so it's a good time to learn a bit more about the artist whose paintings hang in one of Houston's most remarkable places, the Rothko Chapel on the campus of the University of St. Thomas (earlier post here).

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

September 25, 2008

Tough day at the office

Clear Thinkers reader Charles Satterfield passes along these pictures of a trading office on the sixth floor of JP Morgan Chase Center, looking out toward the blown-out windows on the east side of JP Morgan Chase Tower (the tallest building in downtown Houston), taken shortly after Hurricane Ike blew out dozens of windows on the building's east side during the early morning of Saturday, Sept 13th. Going on two weeks after the storm, over half a million Houston area residents remain without power and about 250,000 have no running water.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) |

September 18, 2008

Progress in the aftermath of Ike

Wednesday was a good day. Large areas of Houston -- including the area that includes my family's home -- had power restored. Our land phone lines were also restored on Wednesday after they had survived Hurricane Ike only to be knocked out during the severe thunderstorms that swept through Houston the night after the hurricane hammered the area. So, we're celebrating a bit tonight.

There are still large parts of Houston that have not had power restored, but my sense is that most areas other than the devastated coastal communities will have power restored by the end of the weekend. That will go a long ways toward getting life back to a semblance of normalcy in this neck of the woods.

Which leads to a point about the difference between hurricanes in Houston, on one hand, and areas such as New Orleans and Galveston, on the other. Most of Houston is at least 50 miles inland from the coast, so except for the southeast side of Houston that is close to Galveston Bay, the main risk of damage from hurricanes for most of Houston is from the wind.

In contrast, communities such as New Orleans and Galveston have to deal not only with damage from hurricane winds, but the even more devastating effects of flooding from the hurricane's storm surge.

Believe me, it's not pleasant living without power for the better part of a week. But my family and I had a livable home, natural gas for cooking, cell phones for communication, plenty of food and water, and autos for mobility and powering laptops and other equipment. I was able to work with little disruption between my home office and my "car office" whenever I needed Web access (because of spotty cell network coverage, I couldn't get Web access on my laptop air card from my home office -- I had to travel to a nearby part of town where the cell network signal was strong).

In the big scheme of things, that's not much inconvenience. And it's nothing compared to what many residents of the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast are still facing after Hurricane Katrina or what residents of Galveston and the other Houston coastal communities are facing for the foreseeable future.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

September 17, 2008

A day in a life after Ike

Just jotting down a few observations throughout the day of living in an area that just experienced a major natural disaster.

FEMA, take note

Although The Woodlands did not suffer as much damage as many other parts of the Houston metropolitan area, it's interesting in my travels around town over the past several days that I have seen no evidence whatsoever of any federal relief.

For example, it seems to me that there are a couple of basic things that the federal government could do to facilitate recovery efforts. First, move as many portable generators to selected service stations throughout the region so that citizens can become somewhat mobile again. The primary problem at this point is not lack of gasoline. Rather, it's lack of power to operate the pumps to get the available gas into cars.

Even though large swaths of Houston remain without power, many areas are getting power back by the hour. Folks in areas without power can be much more productive if they can travel to areas that have it and work. Unfortunately, as it stands, there is no gas to get to those areas and then return home.

Another irritation is that no one in an official capacity attempts to do anything to facilitate communications for the citizens directly affected by a natural disaster such as Ike. Ever since the storm, cell phone usage has been spotty in most residential areas, and serviceable in only a few commercial areas. Perhaps damage to the cell network equipment is the cause of the poor service, but I haven't heard anyone contend that such is the case.

Galveston

Just as the deadly hurricane of 1900 changed the nature of Galveston, my sense is that Hurricane Ike has done the same thing in 2008.

Prior to the 1900 hurricane, Galveston was Texas' largest city, port and commercial center. The devastation from that storm put into the motion the changes in Texas' development that resulted in Houston becoming the major port and cities such as Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth becoming the major commercial centers. As Houston grew into this region's major center of commerce, Galveston evolved into a tourist center and a weekend beach getaway for folks in Houston.

Despite that tourism development, the City of Galveston has been slowly dying for years. Jobs and commercial activity largely revolve around the tourism industry (even the port is now owned by the Port of Houston Authority). Most young people now move away from the city after high school, so older folks constitute an unusually high percentage of the "town folk."

My sense is that Galveston will come back as a weekender community and a modest tourist vista, but that commerce not related to the tourism industry will continue to decline at an accelerated rate. My sense is that what we might see in 20 years is a community comprised of a few high-rise condos and resorts along the seawall, the ubiquitous weekender homes on the West Beach and not much else.

It will certainly be easier to evacuate such a community.

Radio anchor people

As a general rule, I do not listen to much radio. Maybe an occasional traffic report or Charlie Pallilo's sports talk show in the rare event that I am driving somewhere during it.

But I've been shocked at how bad the radio anchor reporters have been on KTRH, the main station providing disaster information to the public. Although a number of the KTRH field reporters are OK, the anchors often sound as if they are blithering idiots. It seems as if they aren't asking inane and non-challenging questions to "experts" or public officials, they laughing and making bad jokes at inappropriate times or in regard to serious issues.

Walter Cronkite, where are you when we need you?

Houston sports teams

I noted in this earlier post in the run-up to Hurricane Ike that the high number of variables that become involved in reacting to hurricanes often generates some abysmal decisions in reaction to the storm. That observation was certainly validated by a couple of decisions that were made with regard to Houston sports teams.

From University of Houston Athletic Director Dave Maggard's absurd decision to have the University's football team play in Dallas while the storm was still hammering Houston (!) to Major League Commissioner Bud Selig's equally preposterous decision to haul the Houston Astros players and coaches away from their families (to Milwaukee of all places) the day after a terrible natural disaster left the players and coaches' families without power in a devastated city, it's hard to imagine the fractured thought process that went into either of those boneheaded decisions.

Sports competition at the major-college and professional level requires a high level of concentration. Given the circumstances under which these games were played, it is not surprising in the least that the Houston teams lost each one of them. How could the players and coaches be concentrating on a damn game?

It's only God's grace to both Maggard and Selig that no family member of either a UH or Stros player or coach was hurt or killed in the aftermath of the storm. Why do either of these fellows still have their respective jobs?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (7) |

September 15, 2008

The aftermath of Ike

An estimated 5 million customers along the upper Texas Gulf Coast lost power as a resuit of Hurricane Ike. Only about 5% of those have been restored as I write this post. Current estimates are that it will be 2-3 weeks before even most of those customers will have their power restored.

To give you an idea of the enormity of this damage, the last hurricane to make a direct hit on the Houston metro area -- Hurricane Alicia in 1983 -- left 750,000 customers without power.  Two-thirds of those customers had their power restored within five days, and it took between 2-4 weeks to restore the rest.

Although The Woodlands (where my family lives, 30 miles north of downtown Houston) did not suffer catastrophic damage from Ike, the part of the grid from which it receives power did. Entergy, the power company here, estimates that it will be between 2-3 weeks before The Woodlands power is restored. No one in The Woodlands currently has any power (I am writing this from my battery-powered laptop with an air card).

With that backdrop, i was curious to discover this notice from the local public school system:

Conroe Independent School District announced schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday and the Tuesday board meeting is cancelled. Residents are asked to check the Web site or call after 4 p.m. Monday for updates on the rest of the week.

Uh, one question there, school district: how are residents with no power supposed to check a Web site for updates?

Better re-think that approach, folks.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

September 14, 2008

Surviving Ike

Yes, although you haven't heard from me for awhile, I'm still here.

My family and I survived Hurricane Ike just fine. Although not an intense hurricane (it came ashore as a category 2), the enormity of the storm was something to behold. In The Woodlands, which is about 30 miles north of downtown Houston, we were buffeted by hurricane and tropical storm winds and torrential rain for over 12 hours. Such a lengthy period of high winds and heavy rain is extremely unusual for even a strong hurricane.

The damage in The Woodlands is not as bad as most of the rest of the Houston area -- mostly just downed trees, some of which damaged houses. However, as many of you outside of the Houston area have seen on television (virtually no one in the Houston area has power, so no television here), the devastation around the Houston area -- particularly those areas close to the coast -- is devastating. My sense is that at least a quarter million people in the metro area do not have a livable home to return to.

Almost every area of Houston has no power. Cell phone networks are overloaded, so cell phone access via either telephone or computer is spotty, at best. No one has a clue of when power will be restored, but the initial estimates are not particularly encouraging.

Inasmuch as I have quite a few arrangements to make over the next several days for my family members and clients, blogging will probably be light or non-existent until some sense of normalcy returns. I very much appreciate everyone who has emailed and phoned to check in on me today. Please understand if it takes awhile for me to get back to you.

Houstonians reacted remarkably in the face of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Now, it is time for a re-run of that effort. For all of you around country and the world who check in from time to time on this little corner of the blogosphere, any help and prayer that you can provide will be much appreciated.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) |

September 13, 2008

The Galveston Seawall

You probably have heard much over the past couple of days about the Galveston Seawall. It was constructed in the early 20th century after Galveston was destroyed by the storm surge of the Hurricane of 1900. The purpose of the seawall is to protect the east side of Galveston Island from similar storm surges. Here is a picture of the seawall:

As you can see, the ocean usually laps up on the beach 75 yards or so away from the seawall. On most days, the ocean rarely gets close to the seawall, even during high tide.

The picture below shows the seawall on Friday morning as Hurricane Ike was still over 100 miles from Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico:

(picture by David J. Phillip/Associated Press)

As you can see, the storm surge from Ike was beginning to breach the seawall over 12 hours before the eye of Ike was scheduled to make landfall.

Weather analysts estimate the the highest point of the surge will occur around midnight on Friday as the Ike's eye makes landfall just west of the seawall during high tide. By that time, the seawall will be little more than a concrete sandbar under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico that are inundating Galveston.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

September 12, 2008

A developing disaster

The extreme storm surge of Hurricane Ike is causing a disaster in Galveston, Texas, which is about 50 miles southeast of Houston. The Coast Guard announced earlier today that the authorities believe that Galveston Island will be completely submerged for at least 12 hours.

The Galveston City Manager and Mayor were just interviewed on local television at 3 p.m. They estimated that between 25-40% of Galveston's residents (10-20,000 people) did not heed the mandatory evacuation order and have remained on the now-almost completely flooded island. It is now too late to evacuate the island.

Ball High School and the San Luis high-rise resort facility on Seawall Blvd have been opened as relief centers for Galveston residents who stayed. However, widespread flooding on the island makes getting to the centers risky, to say the least.

It is currently estimated that over 1 million residents of the Houston metropolitan area near the coast evacuated over the past several days. Many of those residents will likely have neither a livable home nor power when they return.

This is looking very, very bad.

Posted by Tom at 3:58 PM | Comments (0) |

September 9, 2008

Not a good start

The Chronicle's Mary Flood reports that visiting U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of Pensacola, Florida is not off to an auspicious start in handling the criminal prosecution of U.S. District Judge Sam Kent:

The Florida judge who will oversee the criminal trial of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent issued a gag order in the case to prevent public discussion by parties or court personnel that could interfere with the trial.

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of Pensacola late Friday issued the order that also allows him to hold arguments and hearings in chambers and outside of the presence of the public and forbids courthouse personnel from relating information from those hearings to the public.

Vinson said he found it necessary to gag the attorneys and courthouse personnel on his own, without a request from prosecutors or Kent, "to preserve a fair trial by an impartial jury by shielding jurors and potential jurors from prejudicial statements." He said he found a "substantial likelihood" that comments made outside court would "taint the jury pool and will undermine a fair trial to which both the accused and the public are entitled." [.  .  .]

The order specifically forbids "divulgence of information concerning arguments and hearings held in chambers or otherwise outside the presence of the public."

A copy of the order is here.

The Fifth Circuit Judicial Council's confidential investigation and resulting sanction of Judge Kent has already been the subject of substantial criticism. Now, in his first action in the case, Judge Vinson enters a dubious gag order and raises the specter that he will conduct frequent non-public hearings. This is not the way to instill confidence that Judge Kent's case will be handled in a manner similar to other criminal cases of prominent defendants. Like these.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

September 3, 2008

Assessing priorities at TSU

This Jeannie Kever/Chronicle article follows up on new Texas Southern University President John Rudley's efforts to find a place for the institution within Houston's changing marketplace for university education (prior posts on TSU are here).

Beyond academic programs that remain on probation and terrible financial problems, TSU's core problem is that its former role as Houston's open admissions university has been superseded by the University of Houston-Downtown, which is a far superior to TSU at this point in time. Rudley has brought over a team of administrators from the University of Houston to straighten out TSU's thorny administrative and financial issues. But the even greater problem is that Houston may simply not need two open admissions universities, particularly in light of the growth of Houston Community College and various suburban community college systems over the past decade or so.

Although Rudley appears to be the type of administrator that TSU needs if it is going to survive, the following portion of this Ronnie Turner Chronicle blog interview with new TSU Athletic Director Charles McClelland reflects the entrenched mindset that Rudley will have to overcome if he is going to redefine TSU's place in the local education marketplace:

RT: At what stage are you in negotiations with the Dynamo on a partnership for a football stadium?

CM: Well, we're still in the same stage with the Dynamo. We have all of our talking points. We've brought in a consultant to help us close the deal with the Dynamo to ensure that we have all of our t's crossed and i's dotted. Once that's done, we'll have to get it to our board for approval. My understanding is that the Dynamo have moved forward on their end to help get the funding that's needed, and we're still extremely optimistic that the stadium will generate the type of notoriety, revenue and resources (needed) for us to take our football program to the next level. We're extremely excited about the opportunity with the Dynamo.

As noted earlier here, unless the terms of TSU's proposed deal for use of the soccer stadium are changed radically in TSU's favor, no responsible TSU administrator or trustee would ever approve the deal. However, rather than pursuing such a dubious deal, shouldn't TSU administrators and trustees really be asking themselves why a financially-strapped institution such as TSU is continuing to support notoriously unprofitable intercollegiate athletic programs at all?

Good luck, President Rudley. You're going to need it.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

September 2, 2008

Richard Justice crosses the line

As regular readers of this blog know, I have often wondered why Chronicle sports columnist Richard Justice is writing about sports. He is highly subjective in his views, does not back them up with objective facts and doesn't reason well. Beyond that, he does just fine.

As a result of the foregoing, Justice is a controversial fellow among Houston sports fans. His blog is a rollicking place where mostly anonymous readers who comment on Justice's blog posts regularly engage in competing insults with Justice. Not my cup of tea, but different strokes for different folks.

At any rate, after the Texans' meaningless pre-season loss against Dallas a couple of weeks ago, Justice published this post in which he harshly criticized Texans offensive line coach Alex Gibbs -- who is widely-regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL -- for yelling at his players. The post was odd, but nothing out of the ordinary for Justice, who had applauded the hiring of Gibbs this past January. Inasmuch as Justice noted that Gibbs has a policy of not talking to the media, many readers commenting on the post speculated that Justice's criticism of Gibbs was simply sour grapes for Gibbs' refusal to talk with Justice.

However, one particular reader who commented on Justice's post was not interested in engaging in the usual name-calling that is common on Justice's blog. Stephanie Stradley, who previously blogged on the Texans for the Chronicle and who now blogs on the Texans over at AOL Sports Fanhouse, posted a comment to Justice's post in which she challenged the factual basis of Justice's assertion that Gibbs' players were tuning him out because of his yelling. Stradley is a first-class blogger who analyzes the Texans much more objectively and effectively than Justice does.

In response to Stradley's comment, Justice responded with shrill comment (since deleted) in which he reiterated his point about yelling and then insulted Stradley. Despite Justice's insult, Stradley inquired in a subsequent comment about the basis of Justice's contention that Gibbs' players did not respond to him, to which Justice responded with another condescending comment. Tasteless, but again nothing out of the ordinary for the often childish nature of Justice's blog.

But what Justice did next may very well have crossed the line. Inasmuch as Justice's criticism of Gibbs was so poorly-reasoned, readers continued to mock Justice in the comments to his blog post, prompting Justice to post a follow-up post to defend his position. But in so doing, Justice made the following comment (scroll down to comment at 9:49 AM) in response to a reader who suggested that he owed Stradley an apology for his earlier tasteless comment:

I don't know what Stephanie's real name is, but she creeps me out. She writes a little too often, wants to discuss and debate. She has her own blog, so why is she so interested in mine? Ask yourself that question. Maybe I've watched Fatal Attraction too many times. If something happens to one of my rabbits, she's going to be in big trouble.--Richard

Incredibly, if that weren't bad enough, Justice followed up that libelous comment with this one in responding to another reader's comment (scroll down to comment at 10:13 PM):

Oh so you only use English when you feel like it? Be sure and put that on your resume. Listen, Cronkite, don't get into an insult contest with me. You'll end up in a fetal position whimpering and begging me to ease up. Find something you're good at and dedicate yourself to that. I don't know what that would be, but this ain't it. Go hang out with that Glenn Close woman. She'd probably find you fascinating. Speaking of Stephanie Stradley, I woke up this morning and saw our rabbit cage was empty. ''Stephanie!'' I screamed. Turns out, the little feller was sleeping beneath a chair.--Richard

In a patient and classy manner, Stradley recounts the entire bizarre episode here.

But beyond their utter tastelessness, both of Justice's comments associating Stradley with a homicidal maniac appear to meet the requirements of defamation per se. As a result, Stradley has viable damage claims against both Justice personally and the Chronicle.

Ironically, Justice's Monday blog post asserts that many Stros fans owe GM Ed Wade an apology. Absent the Chronicle and Justice heeding his advice and issuing an immediate public apology to Stradley, I hope she tees off on both of them.

The Chronicle has some very good reporters. But in these challenging times for newspapers, can the Chronicle survive the likes of Richard Justice?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (5) |

August 29, 2008

The shoe drops on Judge Kent

Here is the Chronicle article on the unusual federal aggravated sexual harassment abuse and contact indictment against U.S. District Judge Sam Kent. The previous posts on this matter are here. Here are the public statements of Judge Kent and his main accuser, and a related article (see also here) on Judge Kent.

Judge Kent will apparently defend himself by what amounts to confession and avoidance -- that is, conceding that sexual advances were made, but that they were consensual in nature. In my view, that will be an extremely difficult defense for a defendant-judge to sustain in front of a jury.

This one has the potential to be very ugly indeed.

Update: Serious questions (see also here) are already being raised about the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council's handling of the investigation and sanctioning of Judge Kent.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

August 18, 2008

Richard Justice's Kumbaya Weekend

Allow me to ask the following question again: Why is Richard Justice allowed to write about sports for a major metropolitan newspaper?

This weekend's Justice missives were particularly banal, which is saying something when it comes to his writings.

First, he led with this fawning blog post about Vince Young and the University of Texas. I guess one has to have attended UT to understand.

That one was followed by this one about Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps being some sort of cultural unifier. Yes, he's a really good swimmer, but .  .  .

Finally, Justice finished the weekend by heaping more hero worship on former Stros star, Craig Biggio, who is deserving of praise, but come on.

Frankly, it does not reflect well on the Chronicle that it dedicates more resources to accommodating Justice's blather than it provides in informing the public about one of Houston's true heroes of the past 30 years.  

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

August 16, 2008

Dr. Ralph Feigen, R.I.P.

In this recent post on the death of Michael DeBakey, I noted that a substantial part of Dr. DeBakey's legacy was his involvement in the massive importation of talented medical professionals to Houston over the past 60 years. That talent transformed the Texas Medical Center from a sleepy regional medical center into one of the largest and most dynamic medical centers in the world.

Dr. Ralph Feigen, who died at the age of 70 on Thursday,epitomizes the doctors who have been at the center of that transformation.

Drawn to Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine at the age of 40 in 1977, Dr. Feigen spent the rest of his life in Houston cultivating a culture of excellence in research and patient care that turned Texas Children's into one of the largest and best pediatric hospitals in the world. Dr. Feigen was an excellent teacher, superb clinician and a highly-regarded researcher, but his personal warmth for his patients is what thousands of parents and their children will remember most about this fine man. A large part of Dr. Feigen's legacy is that Texas Children's -- despite its enormous growth over the past 30 years -- still reflects the comfortable warmth of its long-time leader.

Todd Ackerman, the Chronicle's fine medical reporter, summarizes Dr. Feigen's enormous impact well (the NY Times obituary is here):

Feigin, considered by many the most important pediatrician of the past 25 years, died Thursday. [.  .  .]

Feigin transformed Baylor pediatrics from a small, poorly funded department into the nation's biggest, made Texas Children's Hospital one of the nation's elite children's hospitals and trained an amazing roster of doctors, including almost half of Harris County's current population of pediatricians and many academic leaders nationally.

He also was known for research that contributed to the better understanding and treatment of pediatric disease, as the author of textbooks that changed the care of children worldwide and as a tireless advocate who never missed a chance to take up the cause of children's health.

Colleagues described him as unfailingly cheerful and energetic, even after the lung cancer struck. Diagnosed with the disease in late 2007, he continued as Baylor's chairman of pediatrics and Texas Children's physician-in-chief while in treatment. In May, he announced he would step down but attributed the decision to a plan he had made at 65 to stop his administrative duties at 70. [.  .  .]

In all, Feigin trained more than 2,000 pediatricians and pediatric specialists. Of those, two went on to become medical school deans, 22 became associate medical school deans, 10 became pediatric department chairmen and 180 became section heads of pediatrics.

Feigin came to Houston in 1977, a time when neither Baylor pediatrics nor Texas Children's were players of any significance. In 30 years, Baylor's pediatric faculty grew from less than 40 to more than 500, and pediatric's federal research funding became the most in the country, nearly $100 million. Texas Children's created and developed several of the nation's most respected clinical centers, and its patient load skyrocketed.

In addition to his pediatric administrative and clinical duties, Feigin served as president of Baylor from 1996 to 2003 and as interim CEO of Texas Children's from 1987 to 1989.

Despite the administrative roles, Feigin remained focused on children's health. He pushed for the state to extend the Children's Health Insurance Program to the maximum number of children and Medicaid to the maximum number of indigent mothers. He and his colleagues were at the forefront whenever there was an infectious disease outbreak, giving shots to kids and urging people to exercise caution.

He was considered such a great diagnostician that twice a week residents would gather to seek his help on their most baffling cases at "stump Feigin" sessions.

Without books or computers, Feigin would reel off myriad possible causes, then describe what he'd do to arrive at a diagnosis as quickly as possible. The performance left the residents awed.

We often get sidetracked as to what bells and whistles will supposedly make Houston better, but it's people such as Ralph Feigen who truly make Houston such a special place to live.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

August 10, 2008

Elegant Elk

Clear Thinkers favorite and longtime Houstonian Steve Elkington (PGA Tour page here) is now 45 years old and past his prime on the PGA Tour, where he has won a major (the 1995 PGA at Riviera), is a ten time winner (the most recent was in 1999 at Doral). Nevertheless, Elk continues to have one of most elegant golf swings on the Tour and remains quite competitive, reflected by his tie for eighth place through two rounds of this week's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills outside Detroit.

Mirroring his swing, Elk has also established himself as one of the most fashionable dressers on the Tour. During this first round of the PGA Championship, Elk was resplendent in a white shirt with pink dots and a hard collar, high-rise brown trousers with a windowpane check and long pleats, and green, white and red patent-leather Foot Joy shoes. Elk is continuing the tradition of fellow Houstonians Doug Sanders and the late Jimmy Demaret, both of whom were the fashion plates on the Tour during their respective eras.

As he winds down his PGA Tour career and prepares for the Champions Tour, Elk has established his own website -- elksworld.com -- where he is displaying and selling the shirts and caps he wears and designs. Elk also provides this slick deck that summarizes the marketing opportunities that businesses can derive by associating with Elk. Rather than selling advertising space on himself or his golf bag, Elk is using his artistic talent and entrepreneurial spirit to start an interesting business. Here's hoping that he is as successful in that endeavor as he has been during his PGA Tour career.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

August 7, 2008

A bad idea that just won't die

Isn't it amazing how long bad ideas will remain festering so long as local governmental officials have something to do with it?

After four years of dithering, this Bill Murphy/Chronicle article breathlessly reports that there may be hope for the Astrodome hotel project after all:

Despite their previous staunch opposition to the project, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Texans signaled that they may be able to coexist with a convention hotel that would be built in the Astrodome.

Their more conciliatory attitude toward the 1,300-room project was evident in recently submitted reviews of the proposed convention hotel lease.  .  . 

And since the promoters of the project already have a financing commitment lined up, this deal is about ready to take off, right? Uh, well, maybe not:

Even if the Texans and the rodeo drop opposition to the project, Astrodome Redevelopment Co. still needs to obtain financing for the ambitious, $450 million effort to transform the building once known as the Eighth Wonder of the World into a convention hotel.

Astrodome Redevelopment president Scott Hanson said the company's efforts to obtain financing have been hampered by an inability to strike a lease with the sports corporation, which oversees Reliant Park operations, including the Astrodome.

"The (commercial lending) market is much tougher now. Quite frankly, we have been waiting on getting an approved lease before we go back out into the marketplace," he said.

So, what happened to that financing commitment for the project about which the Chronicle previously reported? What the heck, even in a tough lending market, half-a-billion or so in financing shouldn't be all that difficult to line up for a project that almost certainly will be a financial success, now could it? Well maybe, except that the parent company that owns the model for the Astrodome hotel project -- The Gaylord Texan -- is not exactly doing all that well:

The Star-Telegram has a story today about the Gaylord Texan’s parent company, Gaylord Entertainment, reporting a second quarter revenue increase of 36 percent over last year—but a net income drop of 91 percent. The company reported a net income of $106.8 million in Q2 ‘07; for Q2 ‘08, they’re looking at a net income of $8.78 million. That’s right, eight. They blame it on decreased attendance at conventions. Does this bode well for the convention center hotel business?

So, let's get this straight. After not being able to arrange financing for this boondoggle during the robust equity and credit markets that existed up to 2007, the promoters think they are going to be able to line up financing in the current tight financing market for a business that is not even doing particularly well?

Give it up folks.

Update: Kevin Whited suggests that the promoters' PF staff should retain the Chron's Murphy.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

July 26, 2008

Remembering Sam Kinison

The late Sam Kinison is a comedy legend who was part of a group of comedians nicknamed the Comedy Outlaws (Ron Shock and Bill Hicks were two other prominent members) that got their start in Houston during the early 1980's, most often at the LaughStop on West Gray. Here is a hilarious video of Kinison on the Tonight Show, which includes Kinison's under-appreciated singing voice and a lively discussion between Kinison and Johnny Carson on the subject of divorce. Enjoy!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

July 25, 2008

Houston-based God, Inc.

Karl Taro Greenfeld of Portfolio.com examines the money-making machine that is Houston's Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church (prior posts here):

Last year, Lakewood generated $76 million in revenue, which amounts to just over $1,600 for every member of its congregation. Its take includes $44 million donated directly by congregants, who are asked to give 10 percent of their gross income; $10 million in product sales and sermon tapes; and $13 million brought in through direct-mail solicitations, up from about $6 million two years ago. The church’s greatest expense is the TV airtime it buys: $22 million last year to broadcast the show in more than 100 markets, a 10 percent annual increase in spending that is easy to justify. “Cutting back on airtime would be like saying we won’t be sending any trucks to deliver our product,” [Osteen brother-in-law Kevin] Comes says [Comes is Lakewood's chief operating officer]. An additional $13 million goes to administrative costs and salaries, and $9 million a year is spent on facilities and maintenance. [.  .  .]

Being backstage at a Joel Osteen worship event is remarkably similar to being at an N.B.A. game or a rock concert. Beefy security guards tell you where you can and can’t go. Crew members chow down on a buffet laid out by a local caterer and bark into walkie-talkies between bites. At some point, black Town Cars head down the long, curving driveway into the belly of the arena and drop off the pastors and performers, who retreat into private suites.

The night is a celebration of music, state-of-the-art visual effects, and, of course, Christ. Lakewood spends a great deal of money attracting top gospel and Christian talent, and music minister Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff leads a team of Grammy Award winners, including gospel singer Israel Houghton. It’s a thumping occasion, with people dancing in the aisles and even the security guards singing along to “Come Just as You Are” and “We Have Overcome.” Osteen’s entire family is in the act. His mother, wife, and children often play parts in the service.

But it’s Osteen himself we have come to see. He wins the crowd over with wholesome jokes and inspires with his sweet-voiced message. The sermon today is based on the notion of “hitting the DELETE button when you have those negative thoughts.” He urges us to banish that voice telling us, “I’ll never get that great job. I’ll never meet that special someone. I’ll never get married.” Hit the delete button, he urges, and reprogram your mind. “Just one inferior thought can keep you off balance and away from your God-given destiny.”

Read the entire article here. But hit the DELETE button to rid yourself of any negative thoughts first.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

July 21, 2008

Update on the Judge Kent investigation

It looks as if the heat is being turned up again on embattled U.S. District Judge Sam Kent. Here is the latest by Chron reporter Lise Olsen:

Justice Department broadening investigation of Kent
Sale of home and gift reporting being examined

A Justice Department investigation into the sexual conduct of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent has expanded to include allegations that he accepted but failed to report gifts and also sold his home in a deal arranged by a lawyer with dozens of cases in his court, Kent's own attorney and other lawyers have confirmed.

The ongoing investigation was launched last year after Kent's former case manager complained that the judge sexually molested her. Since then, several prominent attorneys have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors to appear before a Houston grand jury involving other allegations of judicial misconduct, according to documents and interviews obtained by the Chronicle.

Months ago, investigators began asking about parties, a 2001 trip to London and meals attorneys had bought for Kent at Galveston restaurants — often on days they did business in his court, lawyers and former co-workers said.

According to Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, they also requested records about a real estate deal in which one of those attorneys, Kurt Arnold, helped persuade his mother to buy Kent's home in the city of Galveston.

[.  .  .]

The 2006 sale price was $339,500 for the 64-year-old house in the Denver Court neighborhood a few blocks inland from the seawall. The property is valued at $224,090 by the Galveston County Appraisal District. However, appraisals obtained by the buyer and seller were closer to the sale price,  .   .  .

Arnold is a former law clerk of Judge Kent who had cases pending in Judge Kent's court, so the implication of the article is that Arnold arranged for his mother to make a favorable purchase of Judge Kent's house. Nevertheless, it appears that the sale was for fair market value, although Judge Kent was able to negotiate a reduced commission on the deal because Arnold's mother didn't use a realtor. The article suggests that the reduced commission was an effective gift to Judge Kent from Arnold, which is a stretch.

The grand jury is also investigating possible gifts that Judge Kent received from attorneys practicing in his court, including a 2001 trip to London and lunches at various Galveston restaurants. The Chron reports that "at least" 10 attorneys have been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, although several have given sworn statements in lieu of testifying. Judge Kent has already given a statement to the FBI and has offered to cooperate with prosecutors, but has not yet been requested to do so, according to his defense counsel, Dick DeGuerin.

It's still too early to say what all this means for Judge Kent, but the extent of the grand jury investigation is not good news for him. Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

July 17, 2008

Beijing = "People's Republic of Houston"?

"Beijing is flat and sprawling and smoggy and jammed with traffic and nearly all new, which is why an American friend who’s been working there for the last couple of years calls it 'the People’s Republic of Houston.'"

That's the opening of From Mao to Wow! by Kurt Anderson of Vanity Fair. He goes on to say that a more accurate comparison is Beijing now with New York City of a century ago.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

July 13, 2008

Dr. Michael DeBakey, R.I.P.

Dr. Michael DeBakey (previous posts here) died late Friday at the age of 99. One of the most influential men in Houston's history, Dr. DeBakey was the world-famous cardiovascular surgeon who researched, developed and initially implemented not only a variety of devices that help heart patients, but also such now-common surgical procedures as heart-bypass surgery. Two of the Chronicle's finest reporters -- Science reporter Eric Berger and Texas Medical Center reporter Todd Ackerman -- provide this outstanding article on Dr. DeBakey's remarkable life, and Eric provides an audio file of his 2005 interview of Dr. DeBakey here. The New York Times' article on Dr. DeBakey's death is here.

As with my late father, Dr. DeBakey was one of the leaders of a talented generation of post-World War II doctors who embraced the optimistic view of therapeutic intervention in the practice of medicine, which was a fundamental change from the sense of therapeutic powerlessness that was widely taught to doctors by their pre-WWII professors. As noted earlier here and here, that seismic shift in medicine has changed the course of human history.

But the tremendous impact that Dr. DeBakey had on medicine is exceeded by the massive effect that he had on Houston. When Dr. DeBakey accepted the president's position at Baylor College of Medicine a few years after the end of World War II, the Texas Medical Center was a sleepy regional medical center. Over the next two decades, Dr. DeBakey was one of the key leaders who transformed the Medical Center into one of the largest and best medical centers in the world. Dr. DeBakey was the catalyst who established the culture within the Texas Medical Center of cutting-edge research, productive competition but also widespread collaboration, quality care for patients and good, old-fashioned hard work that attracted the best and brightest physicians, teachers and students from around the world to the Medical Center.

This massive importation of intellectual capital over the last 60 years of Dr. DeBakey's life generated enormous wealth and benefits for Houston. Today, the medical facilities of the Texas Medical Center are the largest aggregate provider of jobs in the Houston area, even greater than the local jobs provided by the energy industry.

That's quite a legacy in my book.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

July 10, 2008

Which Starbucks stores are closing?

When Starbucks announced last week that it is closing 600 stores and laying off 12,000 employees, the company did not disclose which stores would be shuttered (got to get those lease buyouts finalized). However, that hasn't stopped word from filtering out into the Web on the location of the shuttered stores. The Seattle Times has already generated this Google map containing a large number of the anticipated store closings.

However, the question that is on most Houstonians' minds has not been answered. Will Lewis Black's "End of the Universe" cease to exist after Starbucks is finished closing stores?

This clip includes video of the two stores as Black comments on the end of the universe on The Daily Show (H/T Life is a Thrill):

Update: Here is the full list of the stores that will be closing.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

July 5, 2008

CNET visits the JSC

CNET's Road Trip 2008 blog visits the Johnson Space Center in the Clear Lake area of Houston (photos here). The article and accompanying photos are a good primer for the always interesting visit to the JSC.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

June 30, 2008

Continuing to suspend reality on financing the soccer stadium

 This earlier post addressed the economic absurdity of having financially-strapped Texas Southern University make an investment in the long-proposed Houston Dynamo downtown soccer stadium.

However, why is it that common sense seems to evaporate into thin air whenever either TSU or the soccer stadium is mentioned? Buried in this Chronicle article about TSU's failure to prepare its students adequately to pass state licensing examinations is the following gem of analysis on TSU's proposed investment in the Dynamo stadium:

TSU President John Rudley and athletic director Charles McClelland also gave an early report on negotiations to share a new stadium with the Dynamo, Houston's professional soccer team.

McClelland said the proposed $105 million stadium would seat 21,000. In exchange for a $2.5 million investment, TSU would get a 20-year lease, a locker room, 50 percent of concession sales and 100 percent of the profit on TSU merchandise sold there, he said.

The deal is preliminary, and regents won't vote for a while. The stadium won't be completed until 2010 or 2011, he said.

McClelland, on the job just a few months, said the deal would be a good investment for the university, whose football team plays mostly at the University of Houston's Robertson Stadium, at a cost of $40,000 a game.

The Tigers occasionally rent Reliant Stadium, which costs $115,000 a game, he said.

Investing in a new stadium would be cheaper in the long term, he said.

TSU has a stadium, but it seats only 4,500 — too small for the competitive football program McClelland has promised to build — and lacks the amenities people expect.

Let's see now. In return for pre-paid rent of $2.5 million (which TSU really doesn't have to throw around right now), TSU gets a 20-year lease, 50% of concession sales (on only its games or on all events of any type?), a locker room, 100% of TSU merchandise sales and a pink slip at the end of the 20-year lease term. I hope that locker room is really nice.

Meanwhile, without paying a dime up front, TSU can continue to lease Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus for about $200,000 per year (5 home games x $40,000) or $4 million over a 20-year term. While playing at Robertson, TSU could invest the $2.5 million that it wouldn't have to pay the Dynamo and easily generate at least another $2.5 million off that investment over the 20-year lease term. At the end of 20 years of playing at Robertson, TSU would have a net surplus of at least $1 million to play with.

So, in view of the foregoing, my question is this: How could any reasonably responsible TSU leader even consider using the scant existing financial resources of that institution to invest in the Dynamo soccer stadium?

Perhaps the answer is revealed in the last paragraph of the Chron article:

Regents cautioned Rudley and McClelland to make sure TSU has good representation in the negotiations. "They're sharks," Javier Loya said of the Dynamo's leadership.

Update: Some folks actually think this is a good deal for TSU!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

June 25, 2008

The Future of Law Firm Advertising?

Clear Lake-area plaintiff's lawyers Ron and Scott Krist use the YouTube video below to explain why helicopter crash victims should hire their firm. Not exactly To Kill A Mockingbird, but pretty darn effective nonetheless. By the way, I wonder who the defense attorney was that Scott got fired?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

June 16, 2008

Bill King's story

As Republican presidential nominee John McCain is doing his best to stoke public prejudice against job-creators and wealth builders, longtime Houston lawyer and businessman Bill King is promoting his new book, Saving Face (Somerset 2008), which is King's personal history of the savings & loan crisis of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Ironically, McCain knows quite a bit about the back story to King's book. McCain was one of the Keating Five, the Congressional supporters of former Lincoln Savings & Loan chairman and CEO Charles Keating, who was convicted of various corporate fraud crimes and served four years in prison as a result of highly-stoked but substantively-thin prosecutions that were ultimately overturned on appeal. Keating eventually pled guilty to a single count of bankruptcy fraud to limit further prison time and insulate a family member from prosecution. For a thorough review of the mendacity of the Keating prosecutions, pick up a copy of Dan Fischel's book, Payback: The Conspiracy to Destroy Michael Milken and his Financial Revolution (HarperCollins 1995).

King's story is the Houston version of Keating's and a precursor of the prosecutorial abuse that the post-Enron criminal prosecutions in Houston generated a decade later. Not only does King do an excellent job of explaining the financial, economic, regulatory and political underpinnings of the S&L crisis, he explores how the government wielded its prosecutorial power indiscriminately to serve up scapegoats to a salivating mainstream media and an ill-informed public. King is thinking about running for Houston mayor in 2009 and, based on the depth and perspective that he exhibits in Saving Face, King would probably be a fine mayor. The following is King's overview of Saving Face, which I recommend highly:

These days I find myself cringing when I hear media accounts that fraudulent and greedy mortgage brokers are responsible for all of the woes of the current housing bubble and the sub-prime defaults. I do so because the recriminations are an all too familiar echo of an earlier debacle. One to which I had a ring-side seat.

Many of you who have known me for some years know that shortly after law school I made the somewhat less-than-fortuitous career decision of joining a law firm that specialized in representing savings and loans. At the time it did not seem like a bad decision. The Houston real estate market was enjoying an unprecedented boom and the savings and loan industry had just been deregulated. Investors were clamoring to get into the business.

Within a few years of joining the law firm, I began investing in savings and loans and related businesses. By 1986, notwithstanding that I had started with barely two nickels to rub together after working my way through law school, I had built a small, but respectable, business empire consisting of savings and loan holdings, title companies, and real estate investments. However, within a couple of years, everything I had built evaporated into thin air.

The Houston market collapsed when the price of oil fell from over $34 per barrel in 1984 to $9 the next year. It did not recover to above $20 until 2002. Manufacturing jobs in the region fell by nearly 50% and for the first time in history Texans' personal income declined.

Bankruptcies in Houston tripled between 1983 and 1987. All but one of Texas' major banking holding companies failed. Harris County's population actually declined from 1985 to 1989. It was the first and only time in Houston's history that it has lost population. If you did not live through these times, the magnitude of melt down is hard to imagine.

It is certainly difficult to lose everything that you have worked for, but the environment that existed in the late 1980s and early 1990s had an even more ominous aspect. As the public became increasingly aware that the savings and loan crisis was going to take a major taxpayer bailout, there were ever more strident cries to hold someone responsible.

The complexity of confluence of interest rates, regulatory policy, oil prices, the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and the collapse of large portions of the real estate market that actually explained the collapse was too great to be reduced to sound bites. Politicians and bureaucrats began pointing the finger at those in the industry, and soon, the "S&L crook" was born. And there were enough egregious cases for the politicians and bureaucrats to hold up as "proof" of their argument that the "S&L crooks" caused the crisis.

The proposition that fraud and insider abuse had sunk the savings and loan industry was eventually discredited. In 1993, a National Commission concluded that fraud had caused less than 15% of the total problem. But in the heat of the moment, there was little interest in cool, scholarly reflection on the problems of the industry.

As the 1980s came to a close I watched as many friends, associates and former clients in the S&L industry were swept up in a maelstrom of civil and criminal litigation. Naively, it never occurred to me that I might be caught up in such a dispute as well. But I was.

Eventually, I prevailed in my battle with the regulators, but as you might imagine, it was an experience that left an indelible mark and from which it took me many years to recover. For some time I have been jotting down notes for a book about these experiences. For a couple of reasons, I recently decided to finalize such a book.

First, as many of you know, I am considering a candidacy for mayor of Houston in 2009. We all know too well that "negative campaigning" has become the standard today. Certainly going bankrupt in the savings and loan business will provide potential opponents ready ammunition. So first and foremost, I want to put the issue squarely on the table. If I decide to become a candidate, there will undoubtedly be some voters who will be troubled by these experiences. Some will believe difficult times such as the ones I went through are a crucible that better prepares a person for leadership. Most, I expect, will simply want to be advised of the facts so that they can be weighed with other issues bearing on their decision.

But beyond the potential political implications, the troubling similarities between what I saw in the S&L collapse of the 1980s and the sub-prime crisis playing out before us now demands some consideration. It is a well worn adage, but nonetheless true, that if we do not learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. Perhaps relating what I saw during the saving and loan industry collapse will provide some perspective on the current financial crises.

So for these reasons I have written Saving Face: An Alternative and Personal Account of the Savings and Loan Debacle. I have attempted in the book to tell the story of what I experienced during these times, but at the same time, to place my experiences in a larger, national context. I believe my story has some relevance to anyone experiencing trying times generally, and certainly to those in the Houston real estate industry, many of whom lived through these times as I did.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

June 14, 2008

The best city for a job

BusinessWeek knows.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

June 2, 2008

Ron Paul, we hardly knew ye

This post from last June noted Houston-area Congressman Ron Paul's deft media touch on Comedy Central's Daily Show. Now, a year later, Jim Henley sums up the utter failure that Paul's presidential campaign became:

This fellow can’t spell "candidate," but by being willing to come out and say that Ron Paul Lost, he’s closer to wisdom than the entire staff of Takimag. The full measure of Paul’s failure isn’t even that he’s not going to be the Republican nominee. It’s that, even since everyone else dropped out of the race but Paul and McCain, he’s still been losing to Mike Huckabee in every state where the Huckster was on the ballot except Pennsyvlania (Paul was born in Pennsylvania.) Idaho is the only other primary state where he broke 10%. (He hit low double-digits in a few caucus states.) He has 35 delegates by CNN’s reckoning. Huckabee has 275 and Romney 255. With his $30 million in donations, he’s barely breaking the million-bucks-a-delegate mark. That’s ten times the much-ridiculed rate of Mitt Romney.

Paul failed to win any states, to move the GOP debate in his direction, to accrue significant delegates or to leverage his fund-raising into a third-party run. And word is he’s staying quiet about endorsing an independent because he doesn’t want the Congressional GOP leadership to strip him of committee assignments come the fall. Paul accomplished the one thing he’s always been good at: using political appeals to get people to send money. I don’t feel freer.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 27, 2008

Checking out Houston on the tour bus

Randal O'Toole went on a bus tours of different parts of Houston while he was in town for the Preserving the American Dream Conference a couple of weeks ago and he chronicles his impressions with observations here (neighborhoods between downtown and the Galleria area) and here (one of the Houston area's several master-planned communities, Sienna Plantation). Upon finishing the tour of Sienna, O'Toole commented on the trip back to his downtown hotel:

After finishing up our tour of Sienna, we took the Fort Bend Parkway, one of the region’s many toll roads, back to Houston. This 6.2-mile, four-lane highway required just over a year to build and opened in 2004 at a cost of $60 million. That’s less than $2.5 million per lane mile, including on- and off-ramps, over- and underpasses, and toll facilities. By comparison, $60 million would barely get you one mile of light rail and less than a mile of heavy rail. The toll for the 6.2 miles was $2, even for our full-sized buses.

And compare that to this!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

May 26, 2008

Dragged into the mud

The collateral damage of Roger Clemens' questionable approach to disputing his use of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs is already extensive. It now appears that the best player in Stros history may get pulled into the public fray. As this post from a couple of years ago noted, the rumors about Bags and other Stros using PED's have been around for years.

Regardless of the foregoing, I can sure think of more productive things to do in regard to understanding the perverse Major League Baseball PED culture than dragging decent men such as Jeff Bagwell through the mud.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 22, 2008

Houston's solid housing market

One of the under-appreciated benefits of living in the Houston metropolitan area is its varied and reasonably priced housing market, which is the subject of this Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas report. The report notes that Houston's housing market has resisted the boom-and-bust syndrome that has been experienced in many other U.S. housing markets recently:

Given that Houstonians had access to the same new types of mortgages as the rest of the country and that Houston has had greater population growth than other large metros, we might expect price appreciation to be stronger in Houston than elsewhere. However, the opposite has been true.

Houston’s large supply of land means that demand growth primarily results in more construction, not higher prices. Construction levels are limited by the availability of two kinds of developable land: the previously undeveloped, generally found on a metro’s outskirts, and the redeveloping, usually in a city’s interior. In both cases, Houston’s policies are relatively permissive, making the metro friendly toward development.

The most fundamental difference between Houston and other cities lies in how they provide (or in Houston’s case, do not provide) water, sewer and drainage to developments on the urban fringe. In Houston, developers can create a municipal utility district, or MUD, to provide these services on their properties and can finance these with tax-free bonds. Houston requires developers to build MUDs in such a way that they eventually could be connected to the city’s corresponding infrastructure, but they begin as self-sufficient enterprises.

In other cities, developments must be connected to the city’s water and sewer lines, confining new projects to nearby or adjacent land since the cost of building lengthy lines is prohibitive. In metro Houston, by contrast, virtually any large parcel of land can become a new suburb, especially given the metro’s expansive highway system. Experience bears out this conceptual framework, with significant Houston suburbs like Katy and Spring developing and prospering before many closer-in areas.

But Houston does not just have a larger supply of available land on its outskirts. Unlike all other large U.S. cities, Houston lacks zoning laws restricting industrial, commercial and residential construction to specific neighborhoods. Many inner-city Houston neighborhoods protect property values through deed restrictions diligently enforced by private neighborhood associations, and the large, planned suburban communities operate similarly. But much of the land in metro Houston is not assigned a specific use.

So much land is available in Houston that the cost of each incremental unit rises slowly and keeps the average cost below that of more restrictive metros. Even in the face of significant population growth, this large supply keeps land prices in Houston stable, which over time contributes to lower home prices.  .  .  .

Indeed, Houston and other metros such as Dallas and Atlanta that have relatively more permissive development policies have lower housing prices than more restrictive places do.

At $155,800, Houston’s median house price is the third lowest among the 12 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and is less than half the average for these cities. Houston’s median price is lower than even the national average, which includes inexpensive rural areas.

By comparison, the median house price in metropolitan San Francisco, where zoning laws and building codes are very strict, is $825,400.

This result—more zoning bringing higher prices—is a robust one. Economists Edward Glaeser and Joseph Gyourko find that house prices across the country are positively related to the degree of zoning and regulation. Even in Houston, there is evidence that houses in deed-restricted neighborhoods or in zoned cities within the metro area are more expensive than comparable ones outside these areas. But with plenty of unzoned neighborhoods remaining, Houston house prices, on the whole, are restrained near construction costs.

In summary, Houston’s low-and-slow home prices have made real estate a relatively accessible and safe investment for the area’s residents even as other cities’ markets have become expensive and volatile. The early phases of the current housing downturn—the boom and bust in prices—were barely felt in Houston.

The article goes on to point out that the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage markets has reduced the pool of available homeowners in the Houston market, which is contributing to a downturn in the local housing market. However, the report also notes that that Houston's housing policies and local economy place it in a strong position to weather the downturn.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 16, 2008

Friday Musings

So, did you know that Taxi Driver is the greatest wealth-creating movie of all-time?

Speaking of movies, actor Mickey Rourke has been down on his luck for the past several years, but he sure had a good run of movies in the 1980's.

Finally, singer-songwriter Hayes Carll, fresh off the release of his new CD, returns home to The Woodlands for a Friday night show at Dosey-Doe. I'll be there, so come by and say hello!

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 15, 2008

Houston's best 19th hole

Although Jack Burke's venerable Champions Cypress Creek Golf Course may arguably be a bit overrated, this Ron Kapriske/Golf Digest article rates the Champions Men's Locker Room Bar as one of the 50 best 19th holes in the country:

Sit back and listen to Jackie Burke tell stories, especially the one about Jimmy Demaret at the bar in his birthday suit; the bar inside the locker room is three-sided to allow for "cross-counter shouting matches"; wood paneling is a "throwback to the country-club days of the 1960s."

I can attest that having the opportunity to listen to a couple of Burke stories is certainly worth a trip to the Champions Men's Locker Room. A close second to the Champions Men's Locker Room Bar among the best of Houston's 19th holes -- Lochinvar Golf Club's Clubhouse.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 14, 2008

The Chron's continuing soccer stadium drumbeat

In this post from last week on the proposed downtown soccer stadium, I observed that the Chronicle should simply declare that it supports the public financing of the stadium and quit attempting to rationalize that such financing makes economic sense.

Well, based on this Glenn Davis/Chronicle column, it looks as if the Chronicle took me up on my suggestion.

Actually, Davis' column is about as good a rationalization for the public financing of the soccer stadium as you will come across. He eschews the economic-benefit ruse and instead contends that it's worth spending public money on the Dynamo because the club represents the city well internationally, particularly in Mexico and Central America. On the other hand, Davis stretches by suggesting that "the team deserves its own stadium [because it] would elevate the sport and city even more in the eyes of the world."

Just to be clear -- there is nothing inherently wrong with public financing of sports stadiums. Davis might even have a valid point that it's worth using public funds to invest in the Dynamo to bolster Houston's image internationally, although it would seem that at least some consideration should be given to alternative investments before coming to the conclusion that financing a soccer stadium is the best way to achieve that goal. But let's at least have truth in advertising during the remaining public discussion on this issue -- the marginal economic benefit of a soccer stadium to the community is simply not a good reason to finance it publicly.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

May 9, 2008

Suspending reality on financing the soccer stadium

Look, I realize that the reasoning in support of public financing for the proposed Houston Dynamo soccer stadium has not been particularly rational. But this Chronicle article takes the cake in terms of suspending reality. Chron reporters Bernando Fallas and Bill Murphy breathlessly suggest that financially-troubled Texas Southern University -- which is currently seeking $40 million in emergency legislative funding simply to keep the lights on -- is a serious player to make up at least a portion of the gap between the private and public financing on the deal:

Forget soccer-specific. The Dynamo would be thrilled to call their proposed stadium football-specific or even fútbol-specific.

Either way would be accurate — soccer is known as football almost everywhere else in the world — if the Dynamo can get Texas Southern University to join negotiations with the city of Houston toward the construction of a $105 million facility just east of downtown that would be home to the two-time defending MLS champions and TSU athletics, primarily the Tigers' football team.

By the looks of things, TSU is prepared to do just that.

Two weeks after he first expressed interest in the project and a couple of meetings and phone conversations later, newly appointed TSU athletic director Charles McClelland said the school is willing to invest in the construction of the 22,000-capacity stadium in exchange for the rights to use it. [.  .  .]

Of course, the article is utterly devoid of details, such as how TSU is going to find any money to throw at this deal, much less make a multi-million dollar investment in it. Heck, the TSU athletic director and the Dynamo's president haven't even met yet, so it doesn't even appear that Dynamo management takes TSU's involvement seriously. Why don't the Chronicle editors just come out and say that they really want the city to finance the downtown soccer stadium and spare us such vapid articles as this one? Gosh, it's gotten so bad that even normally common sense bloggers are giving in to this silliness.

Meanwhile, J.R. Taylor over at PoliSci@UST runs circles around the Chronicle's reporting on the soccer stadium financing with this well-reasoned post that actually addresses facts regarding public financing of stadiums. Yet another example of how the blogosphere is trumping the mainstream media in terms of providing coherent analysis of important issues.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

May 5, 2008

Chron: Sacrifice the local economy for the polar bears

Given the editorial slant of the Houston Chronicle over the past several years, it's not particularly surprising that the editors ran this editorial calling for polar bears to be declared an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Unfortunately, it's also not surprising that the Chron editorial failed to mention that the oil and gas business -- a key source of jobs and wealth for Houston and the nation -- is likely to suffer considerable financial damage as a result of the polar bear listing push, which Hugh Hewitt notes "is not only an abuse of the ESA's original intent but also unsupported by the facts concerning the ice and the polar bears."

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 30, 2008

Examining stadium subsidies

As if on cue for the soccer stadium financing issues currently being discussed on the local scene, Dennis Coates provides this excellent op-ed in The American on the dubious nature of municipal stadium subsidies:

Clearly, stadiums built with public funds have evolved over time. No longer are they built to honor the sacrifices of American soldiers. No longer are they built to be flexible venues capable of hosting a great variety of events. And no longer does the public sector determine the appropriate price to charge private enterprise for use of this publicly supplied resource. Today, sports stadiums are largely the private domain of for-profit businesses that the public sector subsidizes, often with special taxes. [.  .  .]

Over time, both the purpose and the real cost of public support for stadiums and arenas have changed. It may be that the subsidies state and local governments provide for stadium and arena construction and operation are justified by the community benefits those facilities provide. But the evidence says otherwise. [.  .  .]

My own research, conducted with economist Brad Humphreys .  .  . finds that the professional sports environment—which includes the presence of franchises in multiple sports, the arrival or departure of teams, and stadium construction—may actually reduce local incomes. For example, we found that the overall sports environment reduced per capita personal income, a finding that was new in the economic literature at the time we published it (1999). We also found that, in many local economies, wages and employment in the retail and services sectors have dropped because of professional sports. [.  .  .]

Of course, even if the benefits of stadiums and arenas cover the subsidies, the subsidies still may not be sound policy. First, there may be enormous variation in the distribution of the consumption and public-good benefits. It is clear that not all citizens in a community benefit equally from the presence of professional sports franchises in their city. Indeed, because the tax revenues used for the subsidies are often generated from lotteries and sales taxes whose burden falls disproportionately on the poor, while the consumption benefits go mostly to relatively wealthy sports fans, the net benefits are distributed regressively. Second, we should consider the net benefits to the community of alternative uses of the funds spent subsidizing sports facilities. Good policy means using the money where the net benefit is greatest, not simply where the net benefit is positive. That’s something state and local governments should keep in mind before pledging millions of dollars to fund the next new stadium project. And it’s something Congress should remember when evaluating the future of U.S. tax policy.

Are you listening, Mayor White?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

April 26, 2008

Conited Airlines, finally?

The NY Times is reporting that the on-again, off-again merger negotiations between Houston-based Continental Airlines and Chicago-based United Airlines are coming to a conclusion and that a definitive merger deal is likely to be announced by the end of next week.

Continental, the nation's fourth-largest carrier based on traffic, has long been the natural merger partner for United, which is the No. 2 airline. If they strike a deal, the merger would produce the world's largest airline, bigger even than the combined Delta-Northwest and significantly outdistancing American, which is currently No. 1.

Speaking of the Delta-Northwest deal, those partners this week reported an astounding, combined first quarter loss of $10.5 billion, reflecting that the two airlines are now worth far less than when they emerged from bankruptcy a year ago.

Two drunks holding each other up is rarely a good idea. ;^)

Update: The Chron is reporting that Continental's board has decided to reject any merger proposals "at least for now." The NY Times reports that Continental backed off because of United's worse-than-expected first quarter losses.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 24, 2008

UH Law Center gets it right

Ray Nimmer is truly one of Houston's treasures. The Leonard Childs Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, Ray is one of the nation's leading authorities on business and bankruptcy law, computer information licensing, e-commerce, and related intellectual property issues, all of which he has addressed in the 20 or so books and numerous articles that he has written over his superlative 30+ year teaching career.

However, even more importantly, Ray is a gifted teacher who has taught a remarkably broad variety of courses at the UH Law Center over the past 30 years, including Contracts, Contract Drafting, Evidence, Bankruptcy, Corporate Reorganization Law, Internet Law, Electronic Commerce, Secured Financing Law, Negotiable Instruments, Copyright Law, Information Law, Sales, and Licensing Law. Somehow, Ray has even found the time to maintain a blog. 

For the past couple of years, Ray has been serving as the Interim Dean at the law school, where he has done an excellent job of patching things up after the divisive resignation of the previous dean, Nancy Rapaport. As noted in this post from when Ray was appointed Interim Dean, I couldn't think of a better choice for the new permanent dean than Ray. Thus, I was happy to see this UH press release Wednesday confirming Ray's appointment to that position (Mary Flood's Chron article on the announcement is here). Ray released the following statement to friends, alumni and students:

As many of you know, in 2006 I agreed to serve as interim dean of the Law Center while a nationwide search for a permanent dean was conducted. That search has now been completed – and today I have accepted the position of Law Center Dean offered to me by Dr. Donald Foss, the provost of the University of Houston, subject to the approval of the UH Board of Regents.

In many ways, it remains business as usual at our school. Two years ago, this is what I told my team when I stepped in as interim dean:

Here’s what you can expect from me. I am pragmatic, oriented to understanding and explicating the role of law and lawyers in society, and I am committed to leading a team that will distinguish our Law Center as being among the best in academia and a major factor in the practical practice of law. I believe in action and achievement. I applaud people who target goals—and invest the necessary work to achieve them. And I am determined to give our highly skilled faculty, administrators and students the support they need to maneuver and achieve.

That’s been my approach over the past two years as we energized the Law Center and continued the “pursuit of excellence” in everything we do. Our momentum is reflected in our 15-point improvement in national rankings, two “Top 10” specialty programs, and record-high LSAT scores for our newest class.

I took the job of interim dean for a simple reason: because I believed the Law Center was on the cusp of great achievement, and I wanted to help my school reach that goal. Today, I am accepting the position of permanent dean for the same reason, and I am 100% committed to pushing us higher into the top echelon of Tier 1 law schools.

It is an honor following the seven men and women who previously served as permanent dean and contributed to the greatness of our school. With help from the entire Law Center community, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

Congratulations to Ray for the much-deserved appointment and to the UH administration for making the right decision.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

April 22, 2008

Mayor White's management

Help me out here. I'm really trying to understand the basis of the perception among a large number of Houstonians that Mayor Bill White is an effective manager.

For example, this earlier post summarized Mayor White's dubious decision-making in regard to having the city buy expensive and not particularly well-located downtown land for the new Houston Dynamo soccer stadium. Not only did the city already own nearby property that is a better location for the stadium, Mayor White pushed through the land acquisition despite not having a binding commitment from the soccer club owners on the amount of their contribution to the cost of the stadium's construction.

Given the foregoing, who except Mayor White was surprised last week when Major League Soccer (which is really just a minor soccer league) sent a letter to the Dynamo owners that was (again, surprise!) passed along to Mayor White that threatens to relocate the Dynamo if a satisfactory stadium deal isn't reached? For good measure, MLS and Dynamo officials informed the city that the estimated price of the stadium has increased from $90 million to $105 million and that some MLS cities have contributed as much as 90% of the cost of similar stadiums.

So, what was Mayor White's reaction? Tell these minor leaguers to take a hike to Corpus Christi or Beaumont? Apologize to the citizens for having the city lay out $15-20 million for property that it doesn't need? Promise that he won't get taken to the cleaners again in negotiations with minor league sports club owners? No, Mayor White did his best tough guy imitation:

"I've gotten a little bit of a reputation, probably deserved, that I don't respond well to threats," he said. "I smiled."

If Mayor White is smiling, then imagine what the MLS and Dynamo officials are doing after the way in which those minor leaguers have had their way with Mayor Bill in these negotiations?

The only good news about all this is that the $50-75 million that the city will probably end up dropping over this soccer stadium boondoggle represents only about a couple of months of losses of this much larger boondoggle, which -- you guessed it -- Mayor White strongly supports. And those aren't the only questionable management decisions that the Mayor has made during his tenure (for example, see here, here, here and here).

How much longer can Houston afford Bill White?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) |

April 16, 2008

Ripples of the Delta-Northwest deal

The merger agreement between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines (they were meant for each other) announced yesterday not only would create the world’s largest carrier if approved, but it has renewed talk (see this W$J article, too) in Houston over the fate of one of the city's largest employers, Continental Airlines.

Continental's future has been the subject of conjecture over the years. This post from a couple of months ago summed up the current situation in anticipation of the Delta-Northwest merger. Unfortunately, Continental's most likely merger candidates -- United Airlines and American Airlines -- are not particularly attractive partners at this point. As airline consultant Adam Pilarski noted in this Scott McCartney/W$J column, "There's no history of anything good that happens in [airline] mergers. Two drunks holding each other up is not a good idea." The W$J's Holman Jenkins speculates as to why this is the case in the chronically-profitless airline industry, which Richard Anderson and Doug Steenland, CEOs of Delta and Northwest, argue the contrary position.

The proposed Delta-Northwest merger would create a behemoth company with more than $35 billion in annual revenues, a mainline fleet of almost 800 planes and a combined workforce of 75,000 people. Interestingly, the most successful US airline is the polar opposite of that structure.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 9, 2008

Good Travis Street Eats

Look at what street is number two in Good Magazine's seven Tastiest American Streets for good restaurants.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

April 4, 2008

The NY Times discovers that Houston

is a pretty darn diverse place.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) |

March 30, 2008

Icahn on settling Pennzoil-Texaco with Jamail

This blog is mostly about business and law, so Carl Icahn's activities have been a frequent topic. Likewise, this blog also centers on Houston, where the Pennzoil v. Texaco case from the mid-1980's is a part of the city's storied legal lore. Consequently, the video below of Icahn doing his equivalent of a standup comedy routine describing how he settled the Pennzoil-Texaco case with famed Houston plaintiff's lawyer Joe Jamail is an absolute classic for this blog. A very big hat tip to John Carney at Dealbreaker for the link to the Icahn video.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 PM | Comments (2) |

March 29, 2008

Thoughts about basketball at Reliant

My friend John Stevenson graciously hosted a couple of friends and me at last night's NCAA South Regional semi-final basketball games at Reliant Stadium.  Although the company and conversation was a solid A+, my grade for Reliant Stadium's performance in hosting its first big-time basketball tournament is a rather pedestrian C- (the Chronicle's David Barron has a more favorable review here). Here are my observations:

1.  First, the good. The configuration of the stadium into a 43,000 seat basketball arena is not bad, at least for a football stadium hosting basketball games. We sat in the first row of the club section and the sight lines were fine, although we all used our opera binoculars from time to time. I do think that it would be possible to arrange more seats closer to the floor, particularly on the ends, without giving up much from the nose-bleed seats.

2.  But now for the bad. As has been the tradition at Reliant Park since the opening of the Astrodome over 50 years ago, parking was Byzantine. Although Reliant Park is blessed with plenty of on-site parking, the facility's parking areas were originally designed with narrow entry points that funnel autos to relatively few parking ticket agents that take a parking fee from the driver of each auto entering the facility. This has always been a horrible idea and it's incomprehensible that Reliant Park officials have not changed it after decades of fan frustration. With tens of thousands of autos descending upon the facility within an hour or so of a big game, traffic around the facility slows to a crawl as autos line up for miles at the most popular entry points waiting for drivers to stop, pay the parking charge and then move on to park. To make matters worse, the narrow entry points are converted to too-narrow exit points after the game, so traffic also stacks up in the parking lots after the game.

What should be done is simple. All of the entry points should be widened to facilitate traffic flow and, at least for big events, there should be no parking charge taken at the facility (the parking charge should be included in the price of the ticket -- with tickets already priced at $156 for the South Regional, charging an additional $20 to park at Reliant is outrageous). With widened entry points and no stoppage for payment of a parking fee, parking lot attendants could then concentrate on moving drivers quickly into the parking areas. Traffic backups would be greatly reduced.

Being old-timers in attending events at Reliant Park, our group avoided the traffic bottleneck by entering Reliant Park off of  little-used Stadium Drive on the north end. However, when we entered an hour before game time, automobiles were already backed up for miles on Kirby and the other west-side entry points. That bottleneck caused many fans to miss a good part of the first half of the opening game between Texas and Stanford.

3.  How on earth could Reliant Stadium not have sufficient concession workers and supplies available for an event as prestigious as an NCAA Regional? In the club section, there were so few concession areas available that the lines required a half hour wait throughout and after the Texas-Stanford game. There were no individual concession vendors. By the time that the lines had dwindled midway through the second game between Memphis and Michigan State, many of the concession areas had run out of bottled water. Finally, although it's not a big deal with me, isn't it a bit odd that a fan can't buy a beer while attending a basketball event that lasts over five hours?

4.  The Reliant Park overhead video screens were nice, but provided sophomoric information about the players and showed too few replays of exciting and controversial plays. The folks at Reliant Park need to check out how the Toyota Center operates its overhead video screens, which provide much better information and more replays.

5.  Pricing of the tickets is definitely an issue. It's my understanding that Reliant Park and the NCAA priced the tickets for the three South Regional games at a total of $156 on the thought that the basketball configuration would be limited to about 25,000 seats. When hometown favorite Texas was given the second seed in the South Regional and then won a spot in the South Regional semi-finals, Reliant Park and the NCAA modified the configuration to its present 43,000 seat configuration to accommodate the increased demand for tickets from Texas fans (they also sold tickets at $78 for only the two Friday night semi-final games). Although almost 33,000 attended last night's games, my sense is that even more would have done so if the nose-bleed tickets had been priced at more reasonable levels.

By the way, I've got Memphis in my bracket winning the South Regional final tomorrow against Texas. Although the Horns are solid, nothing that I saw in the two Friday night games has changed my opinion that Memphis will prevail.

Posted by Tom at 9:04 AM | Comments (2) |

March 25, 2008

Reliant Stadium, South Regional-style

Check out the Chronicle's nifty rendering of the new basketball configuration that will be used this weekend at Houston's Reliant Stadium for the NCAA Basketball Tournament South Regional. The Reliant Park ticket seating chart for the basketball configuration is here.

This particular configuration provides about 40,000 seats for the South Regional. A different configuration that will seat 72,000 will be used when Reliant Stadium hosts the NCAA Final Four in 2011.

Posted by Tom at 6:17 PM | Comments (0) |

March 20, 2008

The ignorance of costs

I don't particularly like the distraction of talking on a cell phone while driving, so I avoid it as much as possible. It's also not enjoyable avoiding other drivers who are not paying full attention while chatting on the cell phone.

However, I also recognize that cell phone usage while driving has facilitated beneficial communication exponentially. Thus, whenever I see creeping paternalism such as this, it gets my attention:

West U. eyes ban on calls while driving
Cell phones in school zone lead to 'near misses'

Houston-area officials are watching West University Place as elected officials there consider banning cell phones in the school zone near the community's lone elementary campus.

The move would put the affluent suburb on the map as the first Houston-area municipality to take a stand against drivers talking on their phones as children travel to and from school. The community is following in the footsteps of Dallas and several North Texas suburbs that have recently approved bans. [.  .  .]

West University proposed the ban earlier this month after conducting a study to determine how often drivers were spotted chatting on their cell phones in active school zones. Over three weeks in February, police counted 297 drivers on their phones.

Six of the drivers violated traffic laws by creeping into intersections while children and crossing guards were present, West University police Lt. Thad Olive said.

Although neither Olive nor HISD police officials could recount an incident when a child was seriously injured in a school zone because of a driver on a cell phone, they said this type of ordinance could prevent tragedy.

"There's been a lot of near misses," Olive said. "It definitely has distracting effects. If I can take one element of risk away from the children in that school zone, then it's a good thing." [.  .  .]

Kenneth Jones, who oversees HISD's crossing guard department, said he'd love to see the ban enacted citywide.

"If you've got that phone in your hand, I don't think you have your mind 100 percent on driving," he said.

Kelli Durham, an assistant superintendent in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district, was one of several educators to suggest widening the ban to include all drivers, regardless of whether they're in school zones.

"If cell phones shouldn't be used for safety reasons in school zones, should they be used anytime on our streets and highways?" Durham asked.  .  .  .

So, if "one element of risk" can be taken away from children in a school zone, then that's sufficient justification for regulation of a hugely beneficial communication device? Does this mean that the next initiative will be to ban conversation between a driver of a car and a passenger while in a school zone? That's also distracting, perhaps even more distracting than talking on a cell phone. Should we also ban distracting billboards, signs, automobiles and lights while we're at it?

What is most disturbing about all this is the utter ignorance of the bureaucrats proposing these regulations of the cost of the regulation relative to the benefit. Wouldn't it be prudent at least to perform a meaningful cost-benefit analysis of the probable impact of outlawing a valuable improvement in communications before foisting yet another regulation on the public?

Posted by Tom at 7:44 PM | Comments (2) |

March 19, 2008

T-Mac for MVP?

The incongruity of Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice writing about sports has been a frequent topic on this blog, so I don't much bother anymore keeping up with his often baseless observations about the local sporting scene. However, on the heels of the Houston Rockets' recent 22-game winning streak, I did a double-take when Justice jumped on the bandwagon and started promoting the Rockets' Tracy McGrady for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award this season.

As noted in this earlier post, as of December 30, McGrady was barely better than a league-average NBA player. There were dozens of players in the Western Conference alone who were having demonstrably better seasons than McGrady. So, at least as of that date, there was simply no objective basis for McGrady being considered the MVP of the NBA this season.

But perhaps McGrady elevated his performance tremendously during the Rockets' subsequent 22-game winning streak? Maybe that improved performance justifies Justice's advocacy of an MVP award for McGrady?

Sorry. As this Dave Berri post points out, McGrady’s production in the second half of the season is essentially the same as it was in the first half. Thus, McGrady is not the reason the Rockets went on their 22-game winning streak. Rather, the primary reason for the Rockets' transformation was the improved play of Carl Landry, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Luther Head, Luis Scola and Dikembe Mutumbo, not McGrady.

Berri backs up his position with objective statistical analysis. Justice backs his up with subjective blather. Is that what the Chronicle prefers?

Posted by Tom at 8:55 PM | Comments (1) |

March 17, 2008

"America’s booming opportunity city"

Each time local politicians in Houston engage in bad policy initiatives such as the ones noted here, my wish is that they would be required to read this fine Joel Kotkin/The American op-ed entitled Lone Star Rising -- How a combination of ambition, entrepreneurship, trade, and tolerance made Houston America’s booming opportunity city. Kotkin has been studying Houston over the past several years and he provides a perceptive outsider's view on why Houston grew into such a vibrant place:

First appearances—then and even now—often didn’t help. Early visitors were struck by the settlement’s largely shack-like housing. And in those days, long before air conditioning, there was the Houston weather, which often combined scalding temperatures with soupy humidity.  .  .  . Yet the Allen brothers had not really chosen so badly. Houston possessed powerful assets. It sat on an enormous fresh-water aquifer, which today guarantees a water supply in a way that other growing cities, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, can only dream about. The area also abounded in natural resources such as timber and rich soil that was ideal for growing cotton. And when oil drillers hit a gusher in Spindletop, about 90 miles from Houston in East Texas, in 1901, Houston suddenly found itself positioned as the nearest city to some of North America’s richest oil and gas reserves.

None of this, however, adequately explains Houston’s ascendancy. Other cities enjoy better locations for shipping, richer agricultural resources, or similar proximity to oil fields. The answer, I have come to understand as I have worked in Houston as a reporter and consultant, echoes something that the late Soichiro Honda once told me: “More important than gold and diamonds are people.” This critical resource, more than anything, accounts for Houston’s headlong drive toward becoming not only the leading city of Texas and the South, but also a player on the global scene: it is emerging as one of the world’s great cities.

Read the entire op-ed and learn a lot about what makes Houston such a special place to live.

Posted by Tom at 6:46 PM | Comments (1) |

March 2, 2008

Landry's is worth more because of what?

Did I read right what Steve Scheinthal, general counsel of Houston-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc., said in this Chronicle article?:

Landry's is .   .  . facing a handful of shareholder suits seeking class-action status in the wake of CEO Tilman Fertitta's bid to take the company private.

Fertitta made an offer on Jan. 27 to buy out the company at $23.50 for each unowned share. The $1.3 billion deal, including debt, is being reviewed by a special committee of the Landry's board. [.  .  .]

Scheinthal dismissed the shareholder suits as standard in a going-private transaction.

"Absent Mr. Fertitta's offer, the likelihood is that the company's stock would be trading well below the current market price," he said.

Landry's stock closed Friday at $17.73 a share, down 38 cents.

Fertitta's offer for Landry's was made without a financing commitment in a tough credit market. Yet, the company's general counsel is claiming publicly that such a speculative offer is all that is propping up the company's stock price?

I wonder what the boys over at Long or Short Capital will think about that?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

February 27, 2008

The Hollywood Dome?

It is a reflection of how low my expectations have sunk for rational decisions from Harris County officials. I actually felt a sense of relief that officials do not appear to be taking this seriously:

Lights, camera, action: Dome needs a makeover

The Astrodome was a stage for baseball and football prima donnas to strut their stuff, but it could become a forum for Hollywood stars.

At least that's what would happen if the Houston Association of Entertainment Professionals gets its way.

The association, a new, non-profit group representing film industry workers, has heard that not all county officials support the Astrodome convention hotel plan and has come up with an alternate proposal -- turning the Dome into a film production studio.

"It would bring an entire new economy to Houston," said association president Elise Hendrix. "We should make a home for the film-making industry."

Astroturf and stadium seating would give way to studio space where sets could be built, a film-processing operation that could produce dailies, a 100,000-square-foot, underground sound stage and offices.

Hendrix pitched her idea to the Houston Film Commission, an arm of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, last week.

But she and other association members may appear light on the gravitas needed to have their plan taken seriously. Hendrix, 25, is a professional makeup artist who left the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before graduating. She was a fashion design and merchandising major.

The association doesn't have a web site, only a page on MySpace.

But Hendrix said the association is courting investors who would put up the estimated $50 million to $200 million needed to gut the Dome and turn it into Astrodome Production Facilities. She declined to name investment groups that she is courting.

Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, said the association hasn't contacted him about the proposal.

"Great," he said after learning of it. "They got some money?" [.  .  .]

Given the speculative nature of the Astrodome Hotel boondoggle project, and assuming that the County powers have decided that razing the Dome is political suicide, why aren't County and Texas Medical Center officials figuring out a way to renovate the Dome into the premiere medical training and education facility in the world? Just a thought.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

The diversity of Texas

Yes, Texas is a diverse place. It's a part of its charm. But following on this post from yesterday, that diversity does not make it an easy place to get one's arms around.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

February 26, 2008

"Re"-examination?

Kevin Whited over at BlogHouston.net notices a little news you can use from Houston's leading news source:

The Chronicle ran a correction that was notable for its length today:

An article in Feb. 18 editions repeated charges made by Republican candidate for Congress Dean Hrbacek that a law firm, Williams & Jensen, had ties to Jack Abramoff. The article also cited reports that the firm's managing partner, L. Steven Hart, traveled with a group of government officials and lobbyists to Scotland to play golf.

After being contacted by Williams & Jensen concerning the accuracy of the article, the Houston Chronicle's re-examination has revealed that Hart's correct name is J. Steven Hart, that there is no credible evidence that Hart traveled to Scotland with government officials on one of Abramoff's trips or otherwise, and, also, that there is no credible evidence that Williams and Jensen has any "ties" to Abramoff or his lobbying activities.

Gosh, given the results of the Chron's re-examination, where was the research for the original examination performed? Over a beer at the local icehouse?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

February 25, 2008

Re-defining TSU

Leave it to new Texas Southern University President, John Rudley. He's not wasting any time before trying to shake things up at the chronically-troubled public university (previous posts here):

Texas Southern University's new president wants to end the school's long-standing practice of accepting all applicants, no matter their academic background, saying the policy contributes to its alarmingly low graduation rate.

President John Rudley said the change is necessary to remake the state's largest historically black university, which has been on the ropes recently because of management missteps, sliding enrollment and bad press.

As noted in this recent post, Rudley has his worked cut out for him in re-defining TSU's mission. The University of Houston-Downtown Campus has far surpassed TSU as the favored open-enrollment institution in the Houston area. Consequently, TSU must redefine itself or face becoming irrelevant. It's not clear to me Rudley's plan is the best one for TSU, but I admire him for his vision. It's badly needed at TSU.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

February 21, 2008

Hope for a hog solution?

Texas' feral hog problem has stymied many a smart scientist over the years, but it appears that the Aggies may have discovered a possible solution(H/T: Craig Malisow)

If you're a land owner and animals such as coyotes or wild pigs are driving you hog wild, help may soon be on the way to control their numbers in a humane way - in the form of a birth control pill for animals being developed at Texas A and M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The concept would be to get it to wild animals through baited food, researchers say. [. . .]

n Texas, feral hogs have become a severe nuisance to farmers and ranchers, and the state has an estimated 3-4 million feral hogs, by far the most in the country.

Gig'em Ags!

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

February 15, 2008

A solid endorsement

I've been enjoying the new local blog Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, which, along with Mark Bennett's blog, provides an interesting daily glimpse of life around the Harris County criminal courthouse. Given the twists and turns of the recent Le Affaire Rosenthal, both blogs have had interesting observations about the players.

In this recent post, the HCCJC blog makes the following common sense endorsement that I hope all Harris County voters will embrace:

In the 176th [Criminal District Court] Judical Race, there is no issue in picking who I recommend.

The race is between Michele Saterelli Oncken and incumbent Brian Rains.

Judge Rains has been on the bench ever since I've been a lawyer. And ever since I've been a lawyer he has had the reputation of being one of the rudest and most unkind judges on the bench since . . . well, Pat Lykos.

He claims that Michele Oncken is running against him "because I made her husband mad."

If only it was that simple, Judge Rains. The fact is that you've upset everybody.

The rudeness from this bench has gone well beyond the boundaries of being a "tough judge", and into the range of just absurd vindictiveness. The fact that a person is a jerk to both sides of the bar doesn't make that person any less of a jerk.

Throughout the years, Rains has steadfastly refused to put people on probation. When probations were agreed to, he would passive-aggressively agree to the probation, but throw in 180 days in the Harris County Jail as a condition (thus nullifying the point of giving probation). He has sworn he considers the full range of punishment on any PSI hearing, but all attorneys know that it just isn't true.

Rains' refusal to consider the full range of punishment has led to more recusal hearings than any other judge that I'm personally aware of. One hearing even had the unlikely alliance of the District Attorney's Office and Dick DeGuerin.

His questionable bond decisions have led to at least two tragic murders committed by people out on bond in his court. His impatience with the pace of a trial has led to at least one capital murder conviction being reversed.

Michele Oncken was the Chief in his court for a year or two. Normally, the Chief/Judge relationship is one of some sort of fondness (or at least mutual respect). The fact that she is running against a Judge where she was previously a chief says a lot, in and of itself. She's been a Chief prosecutor for at least five years now, including stints in Capital Writs, District Court, and now in Juvenile. She certainly has the background for the job.

Sorry, Judge Rains, but its definitely time for you to go. Nobody deserves to be treated the way that you treat people.

Review this earlier post for more information on Judge Rains' dubious sentencing policies.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Cooling heads over the Ashby high-rise

So, Mayor White has figured out that his ostentatious initial position and statements regarding the proposed Ashby high-rise project weren't such a good idea, after all:

The city risks exposing itself to a "takings lawsuit" if it passes a new restrictive ordinance after the Ashby developers submit permit applications or site plans, Festa explained. The developer could argue that the city changed the rules after the fact, taking away value from their property.

White acknowledged that problem Wednesday.

"There are some legal doctrines that you can't change the rules in the middle of the game, once somebody has filed certain things," he said.

Well, better late than never that Mayor White has realized that it's not a good idea to change the rules in the middle of the game on businesspeople who are risking millions of dollars in developing real estate.

As noted earlier here, the key issue with regard to the Ashby high-rise is not increased traffic generated by the project, which is nominal. Rather, the key issue is the scale of the project in relation to the rest of the surrounding neighborhood. That's what should be the focus of the debate over the new ordinance. Clear Thinkers' favorite Houston urban policy wonk -- Tory Gattis -- agrees.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

February 13, 2008

On the DeGeurin-DeGuerin brothers and Houston's G-man

A couple of interesting stories have popped up over the past several days regarding Houston lawyers.

First, there was Mary Flood's profile of the DeGuerin (or was that DeGeurin?) brothers, Mike and Dick, two of the best in Houston's formidable criminal defense bar. The criminal defense bar in Houston has essentially branched out from two extraordinary criminal defense lawyers, the late Percy Foreman and Richard "Racehorse" Haynes. Mike and Dick are from the Foreman tree, while such excellent Houston criminal defense lawyers as Dan Cogdell and Jack Zimmermann stem from the Haynes tree. A good follow-up story for Flood would be to track the number of first-rate criminal defense lawyers in Houston who have been influenced by Foreman, Haynes and their many acolytes.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone, this ABA Journal article profiles Houston's $1,100-per-hour lawyer, Stephen Susman. As noted earlier here, Susman has long contended that that he charges in excess of a grand per hour "to discourage anyone hiring me" on an hourly basis. As they say in legal circles, Susman prefers cases with a bit more meat on the bone.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

February 10, 2008

Pictures from Houston's neighborhoods

Robert Boyd is a Houston-based blogger who regularly tours Houston neighborhoods and posts interesting pictures and comments on his adventures. His latest tour is the neighborhood just north of downtown, and his dozen or so other tours are here. Check them out and learn a bit more about some of the hidden treasures of this fascinating city.

Posted by Tom at 12:59 AM | Comments (0) |

February 7, 2008

Are they finally getting serious?

The Wall Street Journal ($) reported yesterday afternoon that Houston-based Continental Airlines seemingly perpetual merger negotiations (see also here) with Chicago-based United Airlines are accelerating for a variety of reasons. A Continental-United deal is contingent on Northwest Airlines' ongoing merger negotiations with Delta Airlines because Northwest currently owns the right to block a Continental merger. However, that right evaporates if Northwest merges with Delta.

Whether all of this is the product of rational thought or irrational exuberance remains is another issue. As noted recently here and many other times on this blog, the airline industry is a mess overall and combining two large airlines does not necessarily provide any meaningful competitive benefit. Continental performed in the middle of the airline industry last year, doing reasonably well financially and operationally, but ranking ninth-worst in terms of frequency of bumping customers from flights. Only Delta was worse at bumping customers among the major carriers.

United, on the other hand, has been a basket case for years. In its first full year of operations after emerging from its long bankruptcy case, United's earnings were among the worst in the industry last year (only JetBlue's were worse). Moreover, United struggled with operations, ranking seventh in on-time percentage after a disastrous December that included numerous cancellations and delays. Meanwhile, United's rate of customer complaints was second-worst, ahead of only US Airways, as Professor Bainbridge would attest.

So, what to make of all this? At this point, it's hard to say, other than management of both airlines are probably betting that the biggest airlines have the best chance of survival when the inevitable shakeout of the industry finally is allowed to happen (chronic reorganizations of distressed airlines have delayed that process up to now).

Color me as skeptical.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

February 6, 2008

The First and Last 100 Days?

Over at the University of Houston, the university is celebrating the arrival of its impressive new Chancellor and President, Renu Khator. As a part of that celebration, the university has posted this interesting website entitled Building Our Future: The First 100 Days that solicits ideas from the university and Houston communities on the direction of the city's primary public university. Check it out and participate in an exciting time for UH.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the optimism scale, the desperate state of Texas Southern University continues. Ubu Roi over at blogHouston.net provides this good overview of the daunting challenges facing new TSU President, John Rudley (previous posts on TSU are here). As Roi points out, one of TSU's better schools -- its law school -- is at risk of losing its accreditation, and that news comes on the heels of a regional accrediting body recently placing the entire university on probation. Meanwhile, President Rudley is wrestling with the legislative requirements for obtaining $40 million in emergency funding that the institution desperately needs just to keep the lights on.

As noted earlier here, here, and here, TSU is a once-essential institution that is at serious risk of becoming irrelevant. During the era of segregated education in Texas, TSU was arguably Texas' best university for minority students. The institution educated many of Texas' finest minority leaders, including Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. However, over the past 20 years, TSU has been bypassed by both the University of Houston-Downtown Campus and Houston Community College as the preferred open admissions alternatives for the Houston area's college students.

At this point, a merger of TSU with one of the other university systems probably makes the most sense, but even that alternative is not easy. Merging UH-Downtown and TSU would serve the purpose of largely consolidating Houston's open admissions institutions, but the UH system does not have sufficient endowed capital to absorb TSU, a shameful legacy of Texas' underfunding of UH's endowment in comparison to the other two major public university systems in Texas, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems. Texas A&M already has an open admissions university in its system at Prairie View A&M and UT probably has little interest in increasing its investment in the Houston area given the UT Health Science Center's huge presence in the Texas Medical Center. So, TSU is not a particularly good fit for those far wealthier systems, either.

Thus, at least for the time being, TSU will continue to muddle along. But don't be fooled. TSU is on life support and the emergency measures for keeping it alive are are inadequate to provide the long-term vision that the university needs. It's well past time for state and community leaders to put their parochial interests aside and come up with a long-term plan for TSU that provides the institution with a specific purpose within the framework of college alternatives for Houston area residents. Sadly, dangling $40 million in front of TSU to keep the lights on is not going to accomplish much of anything in defining TSU's purpose.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

February 5, 2008

Pro Dome? Or just anti-Emmett?

I understand that Ed Emmett is not the Chronicle's favored candidate for Harris County Judge. But isn't it a bit odd for the Chron to be fanning criticism of Emmett for showing rare leadership over the pie-in-the-sky Astrodome hotel redevelopment deal (previous posts here)?

Look, this is really very simple. No equity investor or financial institution in their right mind is going to invest upwards of half a billion dollars to redevelop the Dome into a convention hotel. If there were such investors, they would have stepped up in the over three years that this proposal has been floating about town and the financial markets. The fact that the Astrodome hotel would not even have the primary right to use the Reliant Park space that it sits upon for over a month out of the year (roughly 22 days for the Houston Live Stock Show & Rodeo and another dozen or so days for the Texans) only makes the hotel proposal more speculative in nature. That several County Commissioners continue to think that it's a good idea to pursue the Astrodome hotel project does not make it one. Rather, it simply shows why they are County Commissioners and not businesspeople responsible for creating jobs and turning a profit.

And reliance on a poll of Houstonians to keep the Astrodome hotel dream alive is just plain silly. Sure, most Houstonians would like to preserve the Dome. It's a landmark and an architectural treasure. But I doubt that poll revealed to its participants that mothballing the Dome over the past three years has already cost the County $12-15 million that could have been spent on improving roads, flood control or park improvements. Similarly, that poll almost certainly did not disclose to its participants the financial risk that the County would be taking if an Astrodome convention hotel craters, as many such hotels tend to do. If a poll is taken with such information supplied to its participants, then my bet is that the number of Houstonians wanting to preserve this financial black hole would diminish rapidly.

Emmett is showing leadership in moving the decision-making process on the Dome along. The Chronicle is playing politics in criticizing him for it. Set a reasonable deadline for proposals, consider them and then either move forward with one that makes financial sense or raze the Dome and build a parking ramp for Reliant Park that would generate revenue to pay off the bonded indebtedness that remains on the Dome. That may not be the sexist thing alternative, but it's the responsible thing to do.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

February 4, 2008

Can Schiller and Del Grande save Cafe Express?

At one time earlier this decade, the Cafe Express restaurants were among the best "upscale" fast food restaurants in Houston, perhaps anywhere. Then, in 2004, Wendy's International purchased a majority stake in Cafe Express from the original owners, Lonnie Schiller and Robert Del Grande, who also own the popular upscale Houston restaurant, Cafe Annie.

Wendy's promptly operated the Cafe Express restaurants like, well, like Wendy's. No one would confuse their local Wendy's with an upscale fast food restaurant. It became clear quickly that Wendy's did not have a clue of how to manage an upscale fast food restaurant chain. Cafe Express suffered.

Reflecting that hope springs eternal, this David Kaplan/Chronicle article reports that Schiller and Del Grande have purchased Cafe Express from Wendy's (hopefully at a BIG discount). It's a different and more competitive market in the "upscale" fast food industry now than when Schiller and Del Grand sold to Wendy's, so there is no certainly that Schiller and Del Grande will be able to infuse Cafe Express with its lost luster. But I'm pulling for them.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

February 2, 2008

Piling on Rosenthal

It's become fashionable around Houston to be critical of outgoing Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Frankly, much of the criticism is deserved. But given what Rosenthal has been going through in federal court over the past couple of days, one has to wonder whether the media firestorm regarding Rosenthal has reached the point that otherwise rational observers have taken leave of their senses.

Take this latest Chronicle article on the hearing over Rosenthal's destruction of emails that he had been ordered to turn over in connection with a civil lawsuit in federal court. The Chron article, which is representative of the newspaper's vitriolic coverage of Rosenthal's political demise, calls the hearing a "contempt hearing" in which the judge could "hold Rosenthal in contempt, . . .[and] put the DA behind bars for six months."

H'mm. I don't think so.

Although the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit are having a field day excoriating Rosenthal in court and in the media, I can't see how the judge could hold Rosenthal in contempt of court, at least at this stage. The plaintiffs' motion (see here) essentially requests that the judge hold Rosenthal in criminal contempt of court because of Rosenthal's destruction of email evidence and failure to comply with the court-ordered procedure for reviewing the emails. The motion doesn't call for Rosenthal to be held in civil contempt. There is no need for the court to take coercive action and Rosenthal would not be able to take any action to purge the contempt, anyway. The destroyed emails are gone for good and Rosenthal can't do anything about that.

Thus, Rosenthal -- who isn't even a party to the civil lawsuit -- is accused of criminal contempt, but he has been provided none of the protections that due process of law requires for a criminal defendant. Inasmuch as Rosenthal's allegedly contemptuous conduct did not take place in the courtroom, the trial judge does not have the power to hold him in criminal contempt without a full-blown trial on the criminal contempt charges. Indeed, the trial judge cannot even be the judge in Rosenthal's criminal contempt trial because the judge is a potential witness in that trial.

Likewise, the plaintiffs' lawyer in the civil lawsuit cannot prosecute a criminal contempt case against Rosenthal. Rather, the contempt charge must be referred to the U.S. Attorneys' Office, which then decides whether to prosecute Rosenthal based on an evaluation of the evidence and and the charges. If the U.S. Attorney decides to do so, then Rosenthal is entitled to the due process protections that any criminal defendant is entitled to receive, including notification of the specific charges, trial by jury, and confrontation of the adverse witnesses. The circus going on right now over in federal court doesn't come close to fulfilling those Constitutional safeguards.

So, I don't think Judge Hoyt is going to hold Rosenthal in criminal contempt and throw him in jail. Even if Judge Hoyt were to do so, the Fifth Circuit would likely stay the commitment order and eventually overturn it. The Chronicle and Rosenthal's many other detractors can continue to revel in the lame duck DA being filleted in a public court hearing, but at least provide Rosenthal due process of law. We in Houston have already seen what happens to the unpopular public figures of the moment when those protections are ignored.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

February 1, 2008

The never-ending City of Houston corruption probe

It's been a couple of years since I last blogged on it, and it's been over two and a half years since the new defendants were first mentioned as potential targets in the probe, but the feds finally got around last week to indicting Andrew Schatte and Michael Surface, the principals in the Keystone Group who have made a living over the past decade or so managing big construction projects financed by the City of Houston and other municipalities. The press release on the indictment is here and a copy of the indictment is here. For unknown reasons, the U.S. District Clerk's office did not post the indictment publicly until yesterday, which is about as long as it took for the Chronicle's editorial staff to comment on the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Schatte and Surface bribed former City of Houston building services director Monique McGilbra to gain favor on a couple of big City of Housotn building projects for which they were competing. The feds allege that the bribes were both direct (not so big) and indirect (much larger), the latter of which were allegedly funneled through Garland Hardeman, McGilbra's former boyfriend who Schatte and Surface hired to work with them in obtaining the contracts. McGilbra, who copped a plea back in 2005, will be singing like a canary for the prosecution in this case.

Not enough is known about Schatte and Surface's defense strategy at this point to know what will be the most important issues in the case. However, one has to wonder why the U.S. Attorneys' office -- which has been investigating corruption in the City of Houston administration of former Mayor Lee P. Brown now for six years -- waited for over two and a half years after McGilbra had fingered Schatte and Surface to bring the charges against the two? Similarly, when did the feds notify Schatte and Surface that they were targets of a criminal probe? If it was some time ago (as it would appear), then why was Surface serving on the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp board for the past two years while being the target of a federal criminal probe?

The feds need to wrap this matter up.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

January 31, 2008

The stadium ruse

Something to think about in regard to the City of Houston's latest stadium boondoggle.

Skip Sauer over at The Sports Economist notes this Rick Eckstein op-ed on the myth of economic benefits from the public financing of sports stadiums:

. . . [M]y colleagues and I studied media coverage of 23 publicly financed stadium initiatives in 16 different cities, including Philadelphia. We found that the mainstream media in most of these cities is noticeably biased toward supporting publicly financed stadiums, which has a significant impact on the initiatives' success.

This bias usually takes the form of uncritically parroting stadium proponents' economic and social promises, quoting stadium supporters far more frequently than stadium opponents, overlooking the numerous objective academic studies on the topic, and failing to independently examine the multitude of failed stadium-centered promises throughout the country, especially those in oft-cited "success cities" such as Denver and Cleveland.

Meanwhile, Houston is bidding on another Super Bowl (XLVI in 2012). Get those yachts lined up, folks.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

January 29, 2008

What's Fertitta's real plan for Landry's?

Given this experience, Landry's Restaurants CEO Tilman Fertitta's offer to take Landry's private in a deal valued at $1.3 billion is not particularly surprising.

But the question is this: Would Fertitta, who owns just under 40% of Landry's, actually prefer what Jim Crane didn't want?

Posted by Tom at 12:06 AM | Comments (0) |

January 28, 2008

The bus to Houston

Check out this interesting story of how a young woman's bus ride to Houston in the 1960's led to a better life. A redeeming quality of Houston is that it attracts folks who are looking to improve their lot in life. I hope that quality never changes.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (2) |

January 24, 2008

The latest boondoggle?

Anne Linehan, Kevin Whited and Cory Crow note this week's "are you kidding me?" moment from City Hall -- two Nancy Sarnoff/Chronicle articles reporting on the trial balloon that Mayor White floated about building a second large convention hotel in downtown Houston next to the George R. Brown Convention Center and the existing 1,200 room, city-owned Hilton Americas Hotel.

Another large downtown convention center hotel is surprising to anyone who has been following the Harris County government's fits and starts in regard to the proposed Astrodome hotel redevelopment project. However, Mayor White recently engineered the hiring of a new leader (Greg Ortale) for the local convention bureau and it looks as if the prospect of elevating Houston to the small tier of U.S. cities with adequate facilities to handle the largest conventions was part of the pitch in that hire.

Does building another big downtown hotel make sense? In and of itself, the answer is clearly no. Private equity interests have no interest in risking their money on such a project, just as they have no interest in doing the same in regard to the Astrodome hotel redevelopment. Thus, the deal only begins to make sense because of the prospect of public financing, which is how the City financed the first downtown convention center hotel.

Despite the lack of any meaningful analysis in the Sarnoff/Chronicle articles, the first hotel has been anything but an unqualified success. The Mayor suggests that the City spent $300 million on it (that seems way low to me) and that its presently worth "at least $350 million" (yeah, but who's buying?). There are a bunch of less risky investments that the City could have made with that $300 million that would have generated more than the speculative $50 million equity that Mayor White thinks the City has in the Hilton Americas.

But the larger question is whether the City ought to be in the business of building convention center hotels in the first place? As Cory points out, the rationale for the investment is that, with the larger number of convention center hotel rooms, Houston could compete with the small number of cities (Las Vegas, Orlando and San Antonio) for the really big conventions that need the concentrated mass of hotel rooms that only those cities offer. Although transit is an issue in getting from the downtown convention area to Houston's cultural areas and attractions, I can see how Houston would be a viable alternative to those other cities. For example, Houston's restaurants, theater district and museum district are better and more diverse than any of the other three alternatives. And Vegas is not every large convention's cup of tea.

But given the alternatives, is another large investment in a second convention center hotel really a prudent allocation of the City of Houston's financial resources? Here is where I have my doubts. As I've noted many times in regard to Houston's light rail boondoggle, allocating $300-$500 million on another downtown convention center hotel has real consequences, such as leaving inadequate resources to make improvements to Houston's infrastructure (flood control and fixing of traffic hotspots, to name just two) that would dramatically decrease the risk of death and property damage. Stated simply, does it make sense for the City to be investing that kind of money in a downtown convention hotel when convention attendees won't be able to get to it from Hobby Airport? The main drag to the Gulf Freeway and downtown from Hobby Airport -- Broadway Street -- is already virtually impassable during even moderate rainstorms.

Maybe taking a flyer on a second downtown convention center hotel would make more sense but for the billions blown on the light rail system. But the size of that boondoggle leaves a very small margin for error in regard to allocation of the City's remaining resources. At this point, a large investment in a second convention center hotel appears to fall well outside that small margin.

By the way, speaking of the Astrodome hotel project, it appears now that even Harris County officials believe that the deal is dead. However, the proposed alternative is to turn it into a horse barn?:

Meanwhile, there could be three or four groups prepared to present plans to transform the Dome.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo may be one contender, said Leroy Shafer, the rodeo's chief operating officer. The rodeo and partners are looking into whether the Dome could serve as a replacement facility for aging Reliant Arena.

Astroturf and tiered stadium seats would give way to more than 1,000 horse stalls and an arena with a capacity of at least 6,000. The vast open area where former Astros stars Jimmy Wynn and Jeff Bagwell hit towering drives would be turned into a three-story exhibition and stalling space, Shafer said.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

January 18, 2008

On ham sandwiches and Texas Supreme Court Justices

The old saw is that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if asked to do so by the district attorney.

However, in Houston, a grand jury will indict a Texas Supreme Court Justice even if the DA doesn't ask it to do so.

As noted in this earlier post, Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina, his wife and several family members have been in the cross-hairs of an arson investigation since their house and a couple of others in the neighborhood were damaged in a June 28, 2007 fire. A Harris County grand jury today indicted Justice Medina on a tampering charge and his wife on arson charges in connection with the fire.

However, in an unusual development (to say the least), the grand jury brought the indictment against the recommendation of the DA's office. Embattled Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal will request that the indictment be dismissed immediately because the DA's office has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to make a case that would withstand a defense motion for a directed verdict.

That's all well and good, but my question is this: If the DA's office knew going into the grand jury that they did not have sufficient evidence to make a case against Justice Medina, then why on earth did they bring the case before the grand jury at this time? Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (4) |

January 15, 2008

Re-evaluating boondoggles

Let me get this straight. Mayor White started out with a proposal several months ago to allow the local MLS soccer team to build a stadium at their own expense on downtown land that the City of Houston owned but was not using except for extra parking (previous posts here).

So, how did we get to the point where the City is now willing to pony up at least $20 million and exercise its eminent domain power to acquire land for the private owners of the team to build their stadium? Heck, we haven't even started to talk about who's going to pick up the tab for the cost of the necessary infrastructure improvements or how much "Central Planning Chief" Peter Brown's "mixed used development" ideas are going to cost (for the folly of such ventures, see here). By the way, Mr. Brown, what are the names of the other cities that are lining up to provide financing for a soccer stadium that makes you so sure that the Dynamo will leave if Houston doesn't provide it?

And to top it off, the proposed location of the proposed new stadium figures to increase the cost of an even larger boondoggle.

Granted, we're talking about throwing away "only" $20-30 million on this deal at this point. That's peanuts in comparison to what the City wastes annually on the light rail system. But the way this deal has developed leads one to question whether there is any adult supervision whatsoever down at City Hall? If it's acceptable to throw $20-30 million at a minor league soccer team, then what's next? $20-30 million for the Aeros?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (3) |

A real train wreck

This LA Times op-ed by transit experts Jim Moore and Tom Rubin examining the LA area's MTA transit system over the past 20 years. They provide a daunting warning for those who rationalize the massive deficits of Houston's light rail system by contending that the system will become cost-efficient in the long run:

. . . the MTA has spent more than $11 billion since 1986 to build its rail network, and the effect has been to reduce total transit ridership on the system by more than 3 billion boardings. That's a bizarre result.

Shouldn't investments in transit infrastructure encourage, not discourage, transit use? So, why is Houston continuing to barrel down a path that LA has already shown is a poor way to invest in mass transit?

Posted by Tom at 12:07 AM | Comments (1) |

January 11, 2008

I wonder what she thinks about the guys over at the Masonic Temple?

Putting Chuck Rosenthal's troubles aside for a moment, does anyone else think it's time to clean house at the Harris County District Attorneys' Office?:

Republican district attorney candidate Kelly Siegler told a judge last year that members of Houston's Lakewood Church are "screwballs and nuts" and that she works to keep them off of juries.

Siegler made the comment while defending herself from a defense attorney's suggestion that she struck a man from the jury pool in a capital murder case because he is black. It wasn't the man's race that prompted Siegler to eliminate the man from the jury pool, she said. It was the fact that he attends Joel Osteen's megachurch.

"To start with, he's a member of Lakewood Church. And we have had a running agreement, my partner Luci Davidson and I have, since we started, that people who go to Lakewood are screwballs and nuts," Siegler said, according to the court transcript. "I'm very familiar with that church. We try our hardest not to put anybody who goes to Lakewood regularly on any jury, he's a pretty devout member of Lakewood Church. That's one reason that scared me about the man."

Siegler went on to give other reasons why she didn't want him to be on the jury including his membership in the NAACP, a group that opposes the death penalty.

Siegler confirmed today that she complained about Lakewood attendees on the record, but said the comment was taken out of context.

"I was talking to a juror who, in my opinion, was very weak on the death penalty," Siegler said. She said she was obligated to give her reasons for striking the juror, "weak or strong, good or bad," which indicated that he would be weak on the death penalty.

Siegler also said she had never been to Lakewood, and was talking about things she heard about the church. [. . .]

Siegler attends Chapelwood Methodist church. [. . .]

The jury eventually sentenced [the defendant that Siegler was prosecuting] to death.

And that comes from one of this DA's office's "best" prosecutors. Summing up the absurdity of what has been going on in Houston over the past couple of weeks, Slampo provides a multiple choice test to determine how well you have been keeping up on developments.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

January 10, 2008

A cheap sucker punch

During the entire 35 years that I've lived in Houston, the head basketball coaching position at Rice University has been a thankless job. Attempting to recruit good basketball players to Rice is hard enough, given the academic requirements and the greater university support for both the football and baseball programs. But attempting to recruit good basketball players to play at Rice's home of Autry Court -- which is a dump and not nearly as good a facility as most suburban high school gyms in the Houston area -- is nearly an impossible task.

Nevertheless, for the past 16 years, Willis Wilson has toiled gamely as Rice's head basketball coach. Although rarely have his teams been blessed with much talent, they have always competed hard and played to the best of their ability. Against overwhelming odds, Wilson has produced five Rice teams that have won at least 18 wins in a season and three of his Rice teams earned postseason NIT appearances. And through it all, Wilson has represented his institution as an articulate and professional gentleman.

Accordingly, most folks in the Houston community who have followed local college athletics for awhile like me were particularly pleased for Wilson last year when Rice undertook a long-overdue $23 million renovation of Autry Court that supposedly will bring the facility up to reasonably modern standards. During the renovation, which is not scheduled to be completed until until January of next year, the Owls are being forced to play their home games in several locations around town, including one high school facility that is 35 miles from the Rice campus. But as usual, the classy Wilson hasn't complained a lick and is probably simply thrilled with being able to show off the plans of the renovated Autry to his players and recruits.

So, imagine my surprise when I picked the paper yesterday and saw this article from the Chronicle's Rice athletics beat writer:

Perhaps it is cruelly ironic that after spending more than a dozen years spearheading the effort to renovate Autry Court, Rice men's basketball coach Willis Wilson is facing a groundswell of criticism that might influence whether he coaches in the new facility.

In the midst of his 16th season at the helm of the Rice program, Wilson is enduring vitriol that is difficult to dismiss. [. . .]

The current state of affairs combined with past failures, real and perceived, have legitimized the question of whether Wilson, the most accomplished coach in the program's history, will occupy the bench next season when refurbished Autry Court will be unveiled. [. . .]

And what's even more galling is that the comments in the article from Rice Athletic Director Chris Del Conte make it clear that he certainly didn't want to dispel the rumors that Wilson's tenure at Rice may be over after this season:

"Those are always looming concerns," Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte said of the Owls' recent lack of success. "They're looming concerns because of the importance we're placing on men's basketball at Rice.

"We should be in a situation where we have a viably sustainable athletic program. A lot of private institutions understand the value that is placed on men's basketball in terms of a key financial component of an overall athletic program. And I'll take all those things into consideration as we move forward."

If Rice allows Del Conte to can Willis Wilson after 16 faithful years and before he has had an opportunity to recruit players to -- and have his teams compete in -- a reasonably modern facility, then Rice will make the hypocrisy of Todd Graham look benign in comparison.

And with that kind of hyprocrisy wafting from South Main, just wait until the Marching Owl Band has an opportunity to comment.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The irony of what brought Rosenthal down

Isn't it ironic that tough-guy district attorney Chuck Rosenthal was ultimately brought down as a result of his refusal to stand up to the Harris County Sheriff's Department?

As this Peggy O'Hare/Chronicle article reports, Rosenthal made the appalling decision to prosecute two brothers who were wrongfully arrested and roughed up by sheriff deputies for committing the heinous "crime" of unobtrusively videotaping from a neighboring property some questionable conduct of the deputies during a drug raid. What on earth was Rosenthal thinking in allowing such an absurd prosecution to go forward? No wonder he is in the middle of a wrongful arrest civil lawsuit.

By the way, the four deputies who wrongfully arrested the two brothers remain employed by the sheriff's department. And the Attorney General is now looking into Rosenthal's emails.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

January 2, 2008

So Chuck, what did you plan on doing after public service?

About the only question remaining regarding Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal is whether his holiday season was as bad as the Aggies'?

First, there were the revelations in a civil lawsuit that Rosenthal placed his former mistress in a cushy administrative assistant position and used DA office email to send sweet nothings to her, all of which was picked up quickly by such national media outlets as the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal.

But if that were not enough, Rosenthal -- in declining local GOP leaders' requests that he step aside for the 2008 election -- publicly stated that "the local Republican Party had never done much" for him in his 2000 and 2004 election campaigns and "that party leaders have become 'Chicken Littles,' unjustifiably fearful the scandal will damage the entire Republican roster of candidates in the county."

Well, those remarks are certainly an interesting way of engendering loyalty among the party faithful. ;^)

Finally, Rosenthal still has some explaining to do in the civil suit regarding the apparent deletion of 2,000 emails. Was the D.A. involved in destruction of evidence? Sheesh!

I'm no political pundit, but when an elected official seeks to retain a position as hard as Rosenthal is attempting to keep his in light of the above, it's a pretty good indication that it's past time to replace that official.

As usual, Kevin Whited, Slampo and Cory Crow have insightful thoughts on the affair.

Update: Late on Wednesday afternoon, Rosenthal withdrew as a candidate for District Attorney in the Republican primary.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 27, 2007

Stan Binion, R.I.P.

Houston lost one of the true gentlemen of the Houston legal community on Christmas Day.

Longtime Houston trial attorney, Stan Binion, died on Tuesday at the age of 71. Stan was a charming man who was a fixture of the local trial bar over his 40+ year legal career, primarily on the defense side in business cases. I met Stan as a young attorney back in 1982 shortly after I started my original law firm with a couple of other young friends, and he could not have been more gracious and supportive. Over the years, I worked on the same side and against him in several cases, and it's a tribute to Stan's fine character that he was just as cordial and professional to me when he was opposing counsel as he was when we were co-counsel.

Born in Brownwood in West Texas, golf actually brought Stan to Houston. An outstanding high school golfer, Stan was recruited to the University of Houston by the legendary UH golf coach, Dave Williams. Stan sunk a key birdie putt late in the final round of an NCAA Golf Championship in helping the Cougars to one of their record 16 NCAA National Championships that they won under Coach Williams.

After graduating from UH, Stan became one of the finest amateur golfers in the area and one of the best players at Champions Golf Club, which is saying something. Over the years, Stan and stout local amateur John Paul Cain won several Champions Cups, the annual amateur golf tournament at Champions that consistently generates one of the best fields in amateur golf. Stan also qualified to play in the US Senior Open and several US Senior Amateurs.

Stan graduated from UH with a business degree in 1960, obtained his law degree from UH Law Center in 1962 and went on to become a tireless supporter of his alma mater. He was a former president of the UH Alumni Association and a lifetime member of the H Association of former UH letterman -- in fact, I bumped into Stan at most UH football and basketball games that I have attended over the years. Stan also donated his time in helping fellow UH golf alums Jim Nance (the CBS sports announcer) and PGA Tour pros Fred Couples and Blaine McCallister in developing and putting on their successful Three Amigos Charity Golf Tournament, which raised funds for the UH Athletic Scholarship Fund and other charities.

Finally, one anecdote sticks out in my mind in remembering Stan. In the mid-1980's, Stan donated his time in representing the UH in connection with an NCAA Infractions Committee investigation and subsequent hearing. In the 1990's, when Stan found out that I was involved in representing a UH coach in a UH-related NCAA Infractions Committee investigation, he called me and offered to provide any help, insight and background information that I needed. We were able to resolve that investigation favorably for the University, so I didn't need to call on Stan's assistance. But I deeply appreciated his offer -- it says much about the kind of man Stan Binion was.

A Memorial Service for Stan will be conducted this Saturday at 2 p.m. at George Lewis & Sons at 1010 Bering and the family will receive friends at a reception afterward. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made payable to "University of Houston" with "Stan Binion Memorial Fund" on the memo line addressed to the UH Athletic Department, 3100 Cullen Blvd., Houston, Texas 77204-6002.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 26, 2007

Damning with faint praise

As this earlier post noted, Houstonians are currently enduring a glut of sports talk radio stations. With the rare exception of a show such as Charlie Pallilo's, the shows on these stations range from merely unlistenable to truly offensive. To make matters worse, Houston's mainstream professional sports teams are currently horrid, from the Texans' historic mediocrity, to the Rockets' decade of playoff incompetence, to the Stros' downward trend. What on earth is there to talk about?

At any rate, while cruising around doing pre-Christmas errands the other day, one of my sons had a local sports talk radio show on his car radio. One of the talk show hosts made the following observation about the Rockets -- who have lost 14 of their last 21 games -- and the Texans, who had just been thoroughly waxed by the Colts:

"Compared to the Rockets, I am quite optimistic about the Texans."

My son and I cracked up laughing. The host, on the other hand, was dead serious. That pretty well sums up the quality of discourse on Houston sports talk radio these days.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

November 29, 2007

The real issue behind the Ashby high-rise

Don't miss this Christof Spieler post in which he identifies the real issue that needs to be addressed in regard to the controversial Ashby high-rise condominium project -- the issue of the project's scale in relation to the rest of the neighborhood. Thus, enacting a "hurry-up" city ordinance addressing a not-as-important issue (i.e., alleged traffic congestion) is a prescription for making poor public policy. Solid analysis. (H/T Charles Kuffner).

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

November 28, 2007

Hedging the trial penalty

Although some have questioned his business ethics, no one has ever questioned that legendary Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt is good at hedging risk. After Wyatt was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison as a result of his plea deal (previous posts here), my sense is that Wyatt hedged the trial penalty risk (i.e., a life sentence) in an reasonably effective manner.

Meanwhile, in another plea deal, a tenured economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania faces a likely prison sentence of 4 � to seven years for bludgeoning his wife to death. The professor says he "just lost it." What must Jamie Olis think about that as he finishes serving what will almost certainly be a longer sentence than the professor will serve?

And what about Chalana McFarland, a first-time offender who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Ellen Podgor is following that case Or former Enron executive Jeff Skilling, who continues to serve a 24-year sentence for simply availing himself of a forum in which to defend himself against charges that are far more nebulous than murder or mortgage fraud?

Finally, tomorrow afternoon in Houston federal court, the NatWest Three, three former bankers from the U.K. who have been forced to live in Houston apart from their families in the U.K. for the past year and a half, will likely enter into a plea deal in order to hedge the considerable risk of a lengthy prison sentence if they were to defend themselves in a U.S. court from Enron-related charges that U.K. authorities concluded were too weak to merit a prosecution there (see previous posts here and here).

Is the draconian trial penalty in the American criminal justice system really generating the type of results that a truly civil society wants?

Update: The real NatWest Three deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) |

November 26, 2007

Arena wasteland

Anne Linehan over at blogHouston.net has been having fun (as has Tory Gattis) watching Houston city officials try to rationalize how the city is not really going to have to cough up any money to subsidize a portion of the Houston Dynamo's proposed new downtown stadium. Anne's coverage of this issue is particularly timely given this recent San Antonio Express-News article that reports that the San Antonio Spurs are seeking another $164 million from the local government for the ATT Arena that is only five years old!

To make matters worse, San Antonio -- which has its share of infrastructure problems -- has not enjoyed any of the economic growth around the ATT Arena that was predicted by promoters of the arena when it was approved back in 1999:

When Bexar County asked voters in 1999 to approve a $175 million arena for the San Antonio Spurs, officials promised it would spark "economic development opportunities" for the neglected East Side.

Today, few businesses have opened their doors near the arena � even as the Spurs ask for more tax dollars to upgrade the 5-year-old AT&T Center.

A new tattoo parlor on Houston Street appears to be the latest investment in the neighborhood. It opened in a stretch of boarded-up buildings in early 2006, said David Leon, the shop's ornately tattooed owner.

Business is good, Leon said. But no customers stop by after a Spurs game.

"I think they're too scared to even stop, because of how bad the label of the East Side is," Leon said.

Despite a lot of talk and studies, the neighborhood around Leon's shop hasn't changed much since Nov. 2, 1999, when voters overwhelmingly agreed to subsidize the arena with a venue tax on hotel rooms and car rentals.

The team wants to tap into the venue tax again, a move that will be up to voters. The Spurs started with a wish list of $164 million in improvements for the AT&T Center. The county told the team to whittle their proposal to $75 million.

But so far, the arena has failed to accomplish everything voters were once promised by the county. Sluggish growth near the AT&T Center has troubled those who argued against the location.

"It's been disappointing to me that there hasn't been more development in that area," said former Mayor Howard Peak, who tried unsuccessfully to have the arena built downtown. [. . .]

From the Spurs' perspective, spokesman Leo Gomez said the NBA team is proud of its neighbors. But he emphasized the Spurs never promised a new arena would bring them an economic boom.

"We know better than that," Gomez said. "It hasn't worked in any other community in the country. And it's not going to happen here."

Gomez said the real question for voters is simple: Should the AT&T Center continue to be a top-notch facility for San Antonio? If so, he said, it needs more tax dollars to keep it that way.

Within view of the arena last week, a woman stood across from Leon's tattoo parlor, hawking purses to passing motorists. . .

As noted earlier here, the notion that professional sports stadiums promote economic development is a myth. Maybe there is a good reason to provide public financing for a downtown soccer stadium in Houston. But building it to spur economic development is not one of them.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

November 21, 2007

The Chronicle continues to defy reality

As noted in this earlier post on the improbable Astrodome hotel redevelopment project (previous posts here), the Chronicle continues to beat the drum in support of the deal without any meaningful financial or economic analysis. The intro to the editorial reveals the depth of the Chron editorial board's analysis -- "The public favors preserving the world's first indoor stadium; all parties should cooperate to do that."

Here are just a few of the questions that the Chronicle editorial board should be asking:

If the Astrodome were not in Reliant Park, would anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park?

If the answer to the prior question is "no," then why should anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park simply because the decrepit hulk of the Dome is there?

In one of the tightest credit and equity markets in years, and with many economic forecasters predicting a U.S. recession over the next 12-18 months, who realistically is going to fund the half billion dollars that the promoters claim is necessary to convert the Dome into a resort hotel?

If the promoters have not been able to put together a viable plan for redevelopment of the Dome in over three years of trying, then why are we still talking about this?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The red-light camera scam

Anne Linehan over at blogHouston.net has been doing a good job of following the City of Houston's red-light camera scam on its citizens. As Anne's post notes, it's not at all clear that the red light cameras are reducing accidents or that they are even generating enough revenue to justify the cost of the program.

Although red-light cameras sound peachy in theory, my sense is that they are quite likely to cause more accidents, not fewer. As drivers become aware of the cameras, more rear-end collisions will likely result as drivers slam on their brakes at the first sight of yellow to avoid the risk of being photographed running a red-light. The red-light cameras should have been carefully evaluated first and then installed only after it was established that they truly increase safety. That they were installed without such an evaluation reveals that the cameras are nothing more than another local government money grab. And not even a particularly effective one at that.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (3) |

November 19, 2007

Transit survey raises more questions than it answers

Isn't it interesting the different reactions that Anne Linehan, Charles Kuffner and Tory Gattis had to the 2007 Houston Area Survey regarding transit options? The Chronicle and other light rail enthusiasts immediately seized upon the survey as evidence that Houston-area residents want to dump more money into the light rail money pit.

But the problem with such surveys is that they generally ask people questions in a vacuum and do not address Peter Gordon's three elegantly simple questions regarding economic choices:

1) At what cost?

2) Compared to what? and

3) How do you know?

For example, assume for a moment that the persons surveyed were informed of the fact that the average urban freeway lane costs about $10 million per mile and that the average light rail line costs about $50 million per mile while carrying only one-fifth as many people as the freeway lane. And these are only average figures -- as Randal O'Toole recently pointed out, Seattle's recently rejected light rail expansion was projected to cost $250 million per mile, a whopping 125 times more expensive at moving people than a freeway.

Moreover, let's also assume that the persons surveyed are informed that the expenditure of a billion or so of public money on expanding a poorly-used light rail system has real consequences, such as leaving inadequate funds to make improvements to Houston's infrastructure that would dramatically decrease the risk of death and property damage from flooding. Or whether the billion or so being flushed down the light rail drain would be better used to fix various area traffic "hotspots" where accidents or bottlenecks occur with high frequency.

No one knows for sure, but my bet is that the survey results would be dramatically different if the foregoing costs and alternatives were included as a part of the survey. It's a shame that neither the City's current leaders nor the mainstream media are asking the simple questions set forth above that would generate a meaningful cost-benefit analysis and ensuing well-informed debate regarding continued investment in expensive public works projects such as Metro's light rail system.

Instead, we get this:

Metro executive vice president John Sedlak led off [a presentation to the Transportation Policy Council, a group of elected officials and agency staffers that sets priorities for transportation spending in the 13-county Gulf Coast planning region] with a slide show describing the [proposed Metro University light rail line] project and told the panel its approval was needed so Metro could get federal funding and start engineering work.

If there was a short delay, Holm asked, "What would be the consequence?"

Sedlak replied that the project is on "an aggressive schedule" and that a delay "would send a message to Washington that there are issues with our overall program."

Holm asked why Washington would think there were issues and not just loose ends to tie up.

"They watch every activity that takes place very carefully," Sedlak said. "The federal government is aware we are having this meeting today."

Holm asked what the application deadline was. Sedlak said it was "in the month of December."

"If the delay was just a few days, would it jeopardize the funding of the entire program?" Holm asked.

"I truly believe it could," Sedlak replied.

Kemah Mayor Bill King had questions, too.

How many more passengers would the rail carry than the buses on Richmond do now?

Sedlak said he did not know, but Metro could get him the answer.

King asked how the line would impact traffic on Richmond.

Sedlak said there would be some negative effects, but the finished line should "take vehicles off the street." Numerical estimates are in the line's environmental impact document, he said.

Holm spoke again, her voice a little shaky.

"There are cities," she said, "that have never been turned down for a funding request. It's not because they agree on everything they want. It's because they do their due diligence and they do their battles at home.

"We need to still build consensus in this community. We need to be able to walk hand-in-hand in supporting a project," she said.

Update: As usual, Tory Gattis has additional insightful thoughts.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (2) |

November 14, 2007

Jumping to conclusions on Judge Kent

Embattled U.S. District Judge Sam Kent is an easy target these days (all previous posts here). Along those lines, Chronicle legal columnist and blogger Mary Flood makes the following statement in this blog post on the Chronicle's latest story about the allegations against Judge Kent:

The law sees the judge as innocent until proven guilty of these allegations, though so far he faces no criminal or civil lawsuits over the matter anyway. But it is important to note that his fellow judges removed him from work (albeit with pay) for the last four months of the year and reprimanded him for sexual harassment (emphasis added).

Flood's above assertion may be correct, but we do not know that at this time. The Judicial Council's order certainly says no such thing. The order states that a judicial complaint alleging sexual harassment was filed against Judge Kent and that a special investigatory committee reviewed the allegations and expanded the investigation to review other allegations of "inappropriate behavior" toward other federal employees. The order goes on to state that, after completing the investigation, the investigative committee recommended a reprimand and other "remedial courses of action." The Judicial Council accepted the committee's recommendation of reprimanding Judge Kent and concluded the proceeding "because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation ofthe Galveston/Houston docket and other measures." The Judicial Council's order also admonished Judge Kent "that his actions . . . violated the mandates of the Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and are deemed prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts and the administration of justice."

Thus, here's what we know. A judicial complaint alleging sexual harassment was filed against Judge Kent. An investigation ensued and was expanded beyond the allegations contained in the initial complaint to other "inappropriate behavior." Judge Kent presumably defended himself in regard to the allegations, but he is precluded by applicable rules relating to such investigations from discussing the matter publicly. The Judicial Council reprimanded and admonished Judge Kent, but the findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the council based its reprimand have not -- and probably will never will be -- made public.

Thus, at this point, stating that Judge Kent was "reprimanded for sexual harassment" is speculation. He may have been, but the reason could also have been inappropriate behavior not related to sexual harassment, such as a drinking problem or simply acting badly toward subordinates. Further legal proceedings appear to be likely, so I'm inclined to wait to see what information develops in a forum where he can defend himself before jumping to conclusions in the matter of Judge Kent.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Weary's Taser lawsuit

Houston Texans offensive lineman Fred Weary -- who was Tasered under dubious circumstances by a couple of HPD officers on the side of one of Houston's busiest freeways last year around this time -- has filed a civil rights lawsuit in Houston federal court against the City of Houston and the officers involved in the matter.

The misdemeanor criminal charges against Weary that supposedly justified the Tasering were dismissed in short order shortly after the arrest. A copy of Weary's complaint is here and the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gray Miller, who worked as a Houston Police officer while he went to law school at the University of Houston in the late 1970's. Weary is represented by Joseph Walker of the Houston firm of Franklin Mosele & Walker.

As noted in the prior post and as reflected by the summary dismissal of the charges against Weary, the police conduct in stopping and then Tasering Weary doesn't pass the smell test. My bet is that it won't play well in court, either. Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 12, 2007

Why is the Chronicle beating this dead horse?

The Chronicle continues its apparent campaign to breath life into the second largest local urban boondoggle (second only to the Metro light rail system) -- the proposed Astrodome hotel project (previous posts here). Rice professor and local political pundit Bob Stein comments about the apparent dilemma:

"For public officials, it's like being in a maze," Stein said. "You don't know which turn you make is going to help you. You have the rodeo and the Texans � the stakeholders � and then you have the public."

In reality, there is no dilemma at all. As USC economics professor Peter Gordon observes with regard to such issues, three simple questions need to be addressed: 1) At what cost? 2) Compared to what? and 3) How do you know? Despite the public's fondness for the Dome, it is an obsolescent hulk that serves no useful purpose and costs a considerable amount each year just to mothball. The cost of the renovation is enormous and will almost certainly require some type of public contribution, particularly given the currently spooked credit and equity markets. Even if the deal could be financed without a large public contribution (I doubt it can), the county still has to face the prospect that the project will fail (many new hotels do) and that large operating subsidies will be necessary in the future. To make matters worse, there is inadequate demand for the city's existing supply of hotel rooms, much less a supply that is increased by 1,300 rooms that the Astrodome hotel project would contribute. Finally, the current tenants of Reliant Park object to the hotel project.

So, in the face of all of the foregoing, why does the Chronicle continue to beat the drum for the project? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

More on the matter of Judge Kent

The Houston Chronicle continued its investigative series into the matter of Galveston U.S. District Judge Sam Kent with this Lisa Olsen/Sunday edition article that provides the most detailed account to date of courtroom deputy Cathy McBroom's sexual harrassment allegations against Judge Kent (previous posts here). The Chron's account is based primarily on the Chronicle's interviews with a close friend -- Charlene Clark, a San Antonio schoolteacher -- with whom McBroom apparently confided after the alleged incident with Judge Kent, Ms. McBroom's mother and another former courtroom deputy of Judge Kent, Felicia Williams.

Under the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sanctions order relating to the matter, Judge Kent is barred from commenting on the matters relating to the investigation and his attorney -- Maria Wyckoff Boyce of Baker & Botts -- has refused all requests for interviews and referred all questions to the Fifth Circuit. Judge Edith H. Jones, chief judge for the Fifth Circuit, has also refused comment on the investigation.

According to the Chronicle's account of McBroom's friend, the following is what McBroom told her occurred:

McBroom was summoned to the judge's chambers on Friday, March 23, at about 3 p.m.

Her hands were full of legal papers when the judge � a former high school athlete who is more than 6 inches taller and at least 100 pounds heavier � asked for a hug.

She told him she didn't think that was appropriate, but reluctantly approached.

The judge grabbed Mc-Broom, pulled up her blouse and her bra and put his mouth on her breast. Then, Kent forced her head down toward his crotch.

As McBroom struggled, Kent kept telling the married mother of three what he wanted to do to her in words too graphic to publish. The papers fell to the floor. The pet bulldog Kent kept in his chambers began to bark.

The incident was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from another staff member in the corridor, and the judge loosened his grip. As she left, the judge said McBroom was a good case manager and then made suggestions about engaging in a sexual act.

McBroom ran out crying. [. . .]

Between 2003 and 2007, McBroom experienced about 15 to 20 other incidents of alleged harassment, five involving improper touching, according to Clark and another source.

"He talked incredibly crudely when he was under the influence," Clark said. "He described sex acts. . . "

Olsen reports that McBroom, Ms. Williams (the other former case manager) and at least three other women later gave statements to Fifth Circuit investigators regarding Judge Kent's alleged abuse of employees. According to Olsen, women with knowledge of Judge Kent's actions contend that the first incidents of alleged harassment and unwanted physical contacts with female court employees began about ten years ago. Williams, who is now retired, also spoke with Olsen regarding her experience with Judge Kent:

Williams, who had worked for Kent from 1993 to 2002, said her firing came days after she apparently offended the judge with a comment she'd made about his arriving late for a hearing, though she says she was given no official reason at the time.

Williams told the Chronicle that over the years she frequently had seen Kent appear inebriated at work after long lunches with lawyer friends, was regularly asked for "hugs" and subjected to lewd remarks.

The judge said he could "service me when my husband was being treated for prostate cancer," Williams said. "He told me sexual dirty jokes, and (I) was expected to listen to his rude comments regarding other people."

Williams said she never told co-workers or even her husband about most of the comments out of loyalty to the judge � and out of fear that he would retaliate.

"I need to relay how Cathy and I felt threatened due to (Kent's) power and authority and were always concerned about our positions and knew we could be dismissed at a moment's notice," Williams said. "Since (I) no longer work for him, I feel more comfortable talking but will always feel the emotional pain."

Williams later worked at the federal courthouse in Houston until her retirement in 2006 with 33 years of U.S. government service.

McBroom filed an internal judicial conduct complaint against Kent on May 21st. On Sept. 28th, the Judicial Council's formal reprimand was issued and, about a month later, Judge Kent was reassigned to Houston. Judge Kent remains on a leave of absence until January, 2008.

With these latest revelations, my bet is that the matter of Judge Kent is headed to the House Judiciary Committee after the first of the new year.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 10, 2007

Jerome Solomon's real bad Aggie joke

Kevin Whited catches Houston Chronicle sports columnist Jerome Solomon making arguably the worst attempt at an Aggie joke in history:

It is sad that Texas A&M has spent the '00s playing the role of little brother to Texas' big brother.

While the bratty Longhorns constantly rub A&M's nose in national championships � no matter how infrequently they come � the Aggies have to play with matches to get attention. (emphasis added)

Earth to Jerome, Earth to Jerome. The Aggie Bonfire collapse in 1999 was a horrific tragedy for not only Texas A&M University, but the entire state. Making light of it is in extremely poor taste.

My sense is that Mr. Solomon should sit in the corner for awhile after that one.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 2, 2007

Lyle Lovett turns 50

While the subject of the previous post is a new Houstonian, the subject of this Tennessean.com article is one of my favorite native Houstonians, the humble and multi-talented, Lyle Lovett.

Lovett performed and received the "Trailblazer Award" at the Americana Music Awards and Honors in Nashville last night. He also turned 50. As the article notes, Lovett's marvelous talent has generated a remarkably consistent musical product throughout his 21 year recording career:

A back-to-back listen to his self-titled debut album and to new album It's Not Big It's Large offers evidence that Lovett has broadened but not changed his sound or style during his career. His songs have always been layered, intelligent and emotionally precise, written in moments of inspiration and whittled to marrow. Back then, they called his stuff "country." Now it's "Americana." Go figure.

A marvelous songwriter, Lovett passes along arguably his most important songwriting quality:

"I don't feel like [songwriting is] harder as you go along," he said. "I've always felt like it's hard. I'm always blocked as a writer, always. And every time I write something I'm happy with, I have this feeling like, 'That could be the last one.' "

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

November 1, 2007

Look who is hosting another "charity" golf tournament?

So, this Chronicle article reports that former PGA Tour golfer and longtime Houstonian Doug Sanders is hosting another charity golf tournament, this time at the Palmer Course in The Woodlands on November 12th. The article notes that Sanders has signed up 16 foursomes for the event, but would like to have 20.

I wonder if Wayne Dolcefino has put a foursome together yet?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

October 31, 2007

Mayor White's L.A. moment

Houston Mayor Bill White is capriciously manipulating local governmental power to sidetrack development of a condominium project (nicknamed the "Ashby high-rise") in a neighborhood where he raises a substantial political campaign funds. The incident has received some national attention through this Wall Street Journal ($) article, which somehow suggests that Houston's phenomenal growth over the past 50 years has been in spite of -- rather than because of -- the city's lack of zoning and liberal land use policies.

At any rate, it's really a sad reflection of the state of political discourse in Houston that the Mayor has been given a pass on undermining a project for the benefit of his campaign war chest. The property was valued and sold to the present owners on the assumption that a large-scale redevelopment would be built there and the owners followed all the city's rules and regulations in obtaining the necessary permits to proceed with construction. When a few wealthy neighbors of the development pulled Mayor White's chain, he blithely ordered one of the city's approvals to be revised to delay the development and now is attempting to ramrod two ordinances through city council to stop the project altogether.

In short, the developers invested a substantial amount of money in buying the property and followed the laws in preparing the large-scale redevelopment, dozens of which dot Houston's landscape. Mayor White and his friends don't like the development, so White is changing the laws. And this is political leadership?

At any rate, all of this reminded me of this excellent Virginia Postrel/Atlantic.com article that compares the radically different land use policies of Los Angeles, on one hand, and Dallas (which are quite similar to Houston's), on the other. Suffice it to say that the likes of Mayor White favor the Los Angeles approach over that of Dallas and Houston. Think about that the next time you vote for mayor.

Update: The website for the group opposing the project is here. A copy of the proposed "emergency" ordinance is here.

Update 2: A recent West U Examiner article on the project is here.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (7) |

"A rusted-out battleship in a spruced up port"

Amazingly, the silly notion that it might be economically feasible to convert the Astrodome into a Gaylord Texan-type convention hotel has been making the local rounds for over three years now.

Maybe the combination of the Texans and the Rodeo coming out against the proposal will finally put the nonsense to rest. As the Chron article notes, even County Judge Ed Emmett is skeptical about the merits of the proposal:

County Judge Ed Emmett signaled in September that he isn't convinced the project is viable. While attending the Texans' home opener in September, he said the Astrodome struck him as an aging, rusted-out battleship that remains in a spruced-up port.

It occurs to me that the Astrodome hotel promoters decision to obtain a financing commitment for the project before getting the consent of the Reliant Park tenants to the project put a very large cart before the horse. Sort of like Oilers' owner Bud Adams unveiling a model of a proposed new downtown football/basketball stadium back in the mid-1990's without telling Rockets owner Les Alexander and Mayor Bob Lanier about it first. And we all know what happened after that imbroglio.

All of these machinations over what to do with the Dome would be relatively harmless except for the fact that the Dome continues to "eat" -- that is, it costs Harris County a hefty sum (probably at least $3 million or so annually) just to mothball the Dome. Hopefully, the opposition of the main tenants at Reliant Park to the hotel redevelopment plan will finally lead to the Dome property being used for the best land use, which is probably parking. That's not as sexy as a big hotel, but it provides something that is actually needed and will generate some revenue.

By the way, a good sign that a project is almost kaput is that its supporters become delusional. According to the Chron article, that's already happening to certain promoters of the Astrodome hotel project:

Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., said the county attorney's office is researching whether the county could approve the project over the objections of the Texans and the rodeo if the sports corporation determined the development would not hurt their operations.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The booming Texas Triangle

Clear Thinkers favorite Tory Gattis does the calculations and concludes in this post that the Texas Triangle Megalopolis -- the area between Houston on the southeast edge to Dallas-Ft Worth on the northern tip down through Austin and to San Antoinio on the southwest edge -- is the 10th largest economic mega-region in the world (and fifth largest in the U.S.) with $700 billion in GDP (based on 2000 numbers).

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 29, 2007

A special Houstonian

I criticized Craig Biggio for the way in which he ended his playing career with the Stros, but I have never questioned that he and Jeff Bagwell are the best players ever to have played for the Stros.

Bidg is also a wonderful ambassador for Houston, his adopted hometown. Over the weekend, Chevrolet named Bidg the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his tireless work on behalf of the Sunshine Kids.

It is a well-deserved honor for a very special Houstonian. Congratulations on a job well done.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

October 27, 2007

Judge Kent transferred to Houston

In the ongoing saga of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge Sam Kent (previous posts here), the Executive Session of Judges of the Southern District of Texas issued a couple of administrative orders (here and here) transferring the duty station of Judge Kent from Galveston to Houston and delegating the handling of the Galveston docket to other U.S. District Judges of the Southern District. A related Chronicle article is here.

The order transferring Judge Kent's duty station to Houston does not say when, if ever, Kent would be reassigned to Galveston. David Bradley, chief deputy clerk for the Southern District, told the Chronicle that Judge Kent will remain in Houston until a new order is issued to return him to Galveston. One of the above orders does put Judge Kent back into the case assignment rotation as he will receive 20% of the civil cases filed in the Houston Division. However, Judge Kent will not be assigned any criminal cases through Dec. 31, probably because he remains on leave until January, 8, 2008.

Posted by Tom at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) |

October 17, 2007

Dyer dissects Judge Kent's case

Folks are finding it pretty easy these days to pile on Galveston U.S. District Judge Sam Kent over the recent reprimand that he received from the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit (previous posts here). As regular readers of this blog know, I'm wary of the mobs and simple morality plays that tend to form around such matters, so I was pleased to learn that Bill Dyer had decided to pass along some thoughts on Judge Kent's case.

I perceive to have been a serious campaign of distortion in other publicity about Judge Kent by people who do, or at least should, know better. They say Congress ought to commence an impeachment investigation � but they're not telling you something very important that you ought to know in forming your own opinion on that subject.

Check out the entire insightful post.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

October 16, 2007

Anthony Alridge does it all

In several of my weekly local football reports over the past two seasons, I have been regularly touting the feats of Houston Cougar running back, Anthony Alridge. Alridge is the most exciting UH running back since the consensus All-American Chuck Weatherspoon back in the Run 'N Shoot days of the early 1990's.

Alridge is listed as 5'9" tall and 175 lbs, but my bet is that he is closer to 5'7" and 160 lbs wringing wet. After toiling in relative obscurity as a slot receiver for his first couple of years at Houston, Cougars head coach Art Briles began to use Alridge as a RB midway through last season and the results have been astonishing. Combining blinding sprinter's speed, incredible shiftiness and surprising power for a player his size, Alridge quickly became one of the nation's top running backs. During the Cougars 2006 championship season, Alridge rushed for 959 rushing yards on only 95 attempts, resulting in an NCAA Division 1-A leading rushing average of 10.1 yards per attempt.

Alridge has picked up this season where he left off last season. As noted here yesterday, he was extraordinary in Houston's win over Rice last Saturday, scoring 4 touchdowns while rushing for 205 yards on 24 carries, including 111 yards and 2 TD's in the 4th quarter alone. ESPN ranked Alridge's incredible 50-yard TD run that put away Saturday's game as No. 4 on its top-10 Plays of last Saturdey. Here is the Barry Sanders-type run:

Even after that performance, the video below reflects that the effervescent Alridge still had enough energy after the game to do a pretty darn good job of directing the Spirit of Houston Marching Band, much to the delight of the band members:

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

October 13, 2007

Mistrial declared in the Slade case

The criminal trial of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade (previous posts here) ended in a mistrial Friday afternoon after four days of jury deliberations could not break a deadlocked jury that was essentially evenly split. The trial had lasted a little over a month and a half.

The mistrial was a remarkable achievement for Slade defense attorneys Mike DeGeurin and Paul Nugent, who probably concluded that a hung jury was their best shot at avoiding a conviction of their client after they decided not to allow Ms. Slade to testify in her own defense.

The mistrial increases the likelihood that the venue of the retrial will be changed from Harris County. The defense will hoping for a venue change to a location such as Austin or the Rio Grande Valley, but definitely not New Braunfels or San Angelo. Prosecutors and defense counsel are scheduled to appear before District Judge Brock Thomas on Friday to determine details of the retrial.

Meanwhile, the chronic problem of what to do about TSU continues unaddressed. So it goes.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) |

October 11, 2007

Texas' inexhaustible supply of hog

Anyone who has spent any time in rural Texas understands the havoc that the burgeoning feral hog population (previous posts here) has caused in almost every area of Texas. Chronicle outdoors columnist Shannon Tompkins has been studying the problem for quite some time and, in this article from this past weekend, he puts the hog problem in perspective:

Texas is awash in a rising tide of feral hogs. And Texans appear as impotent as King Canute in stopping that tide from climbing up the beach. [. . .]

Texas has about half as many feral hogs as it does white-tailed deer � perhaps 2 million hogs and about 4 million deer. [But] almost all the growth in the hog population has occurred over the past 20 years. Once limited to a few thousand pigs in small pockets of East and South Texas, feral hogs infest all but a half-dozen or so of Texas' 254 counties.

This is an incredible rate of expansion. And with it has come millions of dollars of damage to agriculture, land, water and native wildlife.

What's behind the expansion?

We Texans did this to ourselves. People hauled live-trapped feral hogs all over the state and released them, thinking they would create good hunting opportunities.

Those infections spread.

Also, changing land-use practices � everything from what grows on land, who owns it, average size of tracts, who has access to that land and what they do there � gave feral hogs the conditions they needed to become established and thrive.

Will feral hogs become more populous in Texas than whitetails?

Could happen. Texas' deer population is stable, and deer live on just about every acre that can support them; the herd isn't going to grow.

But the feral hog population continues mushrooming as the animals pioneer into new corners and herds expand to fill the newly infested habitat.

Feral hogs can outcompete and outreproduce deer.

Hogs are omnivores. Deer are browsers. Deer depend on a small suite of plants for food. Hogs can live on almost anything, and in places that will not support deer.

A doe deer doesn't breed until she's a year old, then produces one fawn most years and twins in really good years. On average, half those fawns survive to their first birthday.

A sow feral hog can breed for the first time when she's 8 months old or so, and throw litters of four to eight piglets twice a year, and almost all survive.

Do the math.

It appears impossible to eradicate feral hogs once they have become established at the level we have them in Texas.

Yes, extreme methods � intense trapping, aerial gunning � can clear an area of feral hogs. But it's expensive, time-consuming and only a temporary solution. If intense control is not maintained � constant trapping, brutally efficient gunning over a large area � new hogs migrate to fill the vacuum.

Look; Texas has the most liberal hog-killing regulations in the nation. Feral hogs can be killed by any method other than poisoning. They can be shot from the air or ground. They can be trapped. They can be run down by packs of hounds. Day and night. No limits.

No one has a dependable estimate of how many feral hogs are killed in Texas each year. But it has to be in the neighborhood of a quarter-million or more. Heck, the state's two commercial processing plants that butcher feral hogs for the retail market are annually handling an estimated 100,000 wild swine. Maybe twice that many are taken by recreational hunters and trappers.

Still, the pig population climbs.

Feral hogs are the four-legged equivalent of fire ants, tallow trees, salt cedar, water hyacinth and all the other non-native, invasive species that are damaging Texas' biota. Their only positive qualities are that they provide hunting opportunity, and they are great on the table.

I kill feral hogs whenever I can, even though I understand that assassinating one every now and again from a deer stand or even trapping a dozen or two a year from the deer lease has the same impact as trying to dip out the ocean using a coffee cup.

It's not particularly satisfying work. But I like to think the deer and the quail, squirrel and turkey and every other native creature in the woods appreciates the effort.

Feral hogs have even been seen roaming in parts of Houston's Memorial Park near Buffalo Bayou. And markets are developing for feral hog meat. But the population continues to grow steadily. Any ideas?

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

October 8, 2007

More on the Kent case

Chronicle reporters Lise Olsen and Harvey Rice follow up on their previous coverage of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reprimand of U.S. District Judge Sam Kent with this Sunday Chronicle article, which includes the following tidbits:

The episodes of alleged abuse began a decade ago and involved at least three employees, according to interviews with two women and with attorney Rusty Hardin, who represents the third.

In the most recent incident, the judge was accused of inappropriately touching a female case manager in his chambers in March. [. . .]

As the only federal district judge in Galveston, Kent is the ranking federal official in a small fiefdom. The power of his lifetime appointment is reflected by the fear of attorneys and former court employees, who generally declined comment.

The Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin, who once clerked at the Fifth Circuit and has been following the Kent matter closely, has some interesting observations about the latest Chronicle article.

The Galveston Daily News also provides this special section on the Kent matter, and the Wikipedia site on Judge Kent has also become a good source of information.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 6, 2007

Rosett on the Wyatt trial

Claudia Rosett is a journalist in residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has written extensively about the U.S. Oil-for-Food program and resulting scandal that recently snared the plea bargain conviction of longtime Houston oilman, Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. (previous posts here). Rosett attended Wyatt's trial in New York and this Wall Street Journal op-ed on the aftermath of Wyatt's plea bargain pretty much confirms my earlier speculation that Wyatt cut a good deal for himself under the circumstances:

Star witnesses facing Wyatt from the stand included two former Iraqi officials, Mubdir Al-Khudair and Yacoub Y. Yacoub. They have never before been questioned in a public setting, and were relocated to the U.S. by federal authorities this past year to protect them against retaliation in Iraq for cooperating in this probe.

Messrs. Khudair and Yacoub described a system corrupt to the core. Their duties inside Saddam Hussein's bureaucracy consisted largely, and officially, of handling and keeping track of kickbacks. That included who had paid and how much, and via which front companies. When Saddam's regime systematized its Oil for Food kickback demands across the board in 2000, keeping track of the graft flowing into Saddam's secret coffers became a job so extensive that the marketing arm of Iraq's Ministry of Oil, known as SOMO (State Oil Marketing Organization) developed an electronic database to track the flow of the "surcharges," as they were called.

To show how this worked, prosecutors last week produced a silver laptop onto which Saddam's entire oil kickback database had been downloaded by Mr. Yacoub, from backup copies he made just before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. With the laptop display projected onto a big screen before the jury, Mr. Yacoub booted up the system and into a query box typed "Coastal," the name of Wyatt's former oil company. Up came itemized lists of millions of dollars worth of surcharges he testified that Wyatt's company, or affiliated fronts, had paid to the Iraqi regime. These were broken down not only chronologically, but according to which front companies Mr. Yacoub said had channeled the money.

Read the entire piece. Brett Clanton of the Chronicle adds this report on how the Wyatt case highlights the perils of doing business in foreign hotspots. Interesting stuff.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 5, 2007

Slade elects not to testify

The defense rested Thursday in the criminal trial of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade (previous posts here) without the defendant taking the stand in her own defense. Slade told the Chronicle that she felt "wonderful" about the conclusion of her defense, while defense counsel Mike DeGeurin explained on the courthouse steps that "the defendant never testifies if the state has not proven their case. That's just a given rule."

Maybe so, but as noted here and here in connection with a couple of other high profile cases, the decision not to testify in white collar criminal cases is risky. Juries in white collar cases expect to hear from the defendant, and when they don't, they commonly hold against the defendant. That's not it's supposed to work, but that's the reality. As the late Edward Bennett Williams used to advise his white collar criminal clients, "If you elect not to testify, then you better bring your toothbrush with you to the courthouse."

The prosecution finished its rebuttal portion of its case on Thursday. The jury is off on Friday as the judge and lawyers finalize the jury instructions. Final arguments are scheduled to begin on Monday.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

October 4, 2007

Justice Medina's big problem

Well, you certainly don't see this everyday:

The June fire that destroyed the Spring home of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina was intentionally set, the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ruled Wednesday.

Investigators would not comment on a motive for the arson, which destroyed a neighboring house and damaged a third, chief investigator Dan Given said Wednesday afternoon.

"At this time, we're not going to release any more information," Given said.

Earlier Wednesday, the office issued a statement saying investigators ruled out an accidental cause and no charges were currently pending. [. . .]

Investigators have identified six "people of interest," all family members or friends of the judge. Investigators have also said a canine detected an accelerant in the fire.

The three homes are in Olde Oaks subdivision in northwest Harris County. Damage for all three has been estimated at $900,000.

Officials said Wednesday that Medina family members questioned about the June 28 blaze have been cooperative. The judge's wife, Francisca Medina, and one of their children were home the night of the fire, officials said.

Investigators have subpoenaed cell phone and financial records of family and friends.

If a charge is filed, it would be arson of a habitation, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment ranging from probation to 20 years in prison, lead investigator Nathan Green said Tuesday. [. . .]

While officials would not discuss possible motives, Green has said a "red flag" was a foreclosure filed on the property in June 2006 that apparently was resolved that December.

The Medinas' insurance policy had lapsed because premiums weren't paid, Green has said. Medina was surprised to learn the 5,000-square-foot house in the 3500 block of Highfalls wasn't covered.

The Medina family moved to Austin after the fire, Green said.

They still owe nearly $2,000 in homeowners association fees, according to Pam Bailey, owner of Chaparrel Management, which manages the Olde Oaks Community Improvement Association.

Bailey said the fees are two years past due.

The house wasn't insured and Justice Medina didn't realize it? In an earlier Chronicle article on the fire, Justice Medina, who was appointed to the high court by Govenor Perry in 2004, said he was unaware that investigators had identified six people of interest, including family members and friends.

"I was not aware. ... That's quite startling," Medina said, later adding that he had "no idea" if he knew anyone who might have set the house on fire.

He then said, "I'm not going to comment further."

That latter comment is a very good idea.

October 15, 2007 Update: Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal announces that Justice Medina is not a suspect in the arson investigation:

Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina is not a suspect in a June arson that destroyed his Spring home, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal confirmed Thursday.

The revelation came during a telephone conversation in which Rosenthal alerted the judge that he was being called to testify before the grand jurors as they discuss whether to charge anyone in the June 28 blaze.

"Because in Harris County, we don't sneak up on people. I said: 'You are not considered a suspect,' " Rosenthal said late Thursday.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The genesis of bad regulations

I'm not an advocate of using cell phones indiscrimately while driving. In fact, I try to avoid it as much as possible. But every few months or so, some media outlet passes along another superficial story (see also here) on the latest study or tragic story that supposedly suggests that use of cell phones while driving leads to accidents and, thus, should be outlawed.

Cell phones are a distraction while driving. No question about that. But so are conversations with passengers. Are we going to outlaw those, too? Granted, much cell phone use is trivial and unnecessary, but cell phones have unquestionably been a tremendous improvement in communications. Wouldn't it be prudent at least to perform some cost-benefit analysis of the probable impact of outlawing a valuable improvement in communications before foisting yet another regulation on the public?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 29, 2007

That certainly answers that question

This earlier post wondered what was up with the apparently involuntary four month leave-of-absence of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge, Sam Kent.

Well, now we know.

The Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Friday reprimanding and admonishing Judge Kent in regard to a complaint complaint of judicial misconduct lodged against the judge on in May alleging sexual harassment toward an employee of the federal judicial system. A former case manager for Judge Kent confirmed to the Texas Lawyer and then the Chronicle that she filed the complaint against the judge, but declined further comment. The former case manager now works in the clerk's office in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.

Nevertheless, the prospect of further litigation is definitely possible. The clerk has hired prominent Houston attorney Rusty Hardin, who is always good for a quote or two. "We have been watching, with interest, the investigation," Hardin told the Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Judge Kent appears to be putting up a fight to the charges. He has hired prominent defense attorney Maria Wyckoff Boyce of Baker & Botts to represent him. My sense is that the brevity of the Judicial Council's order indicates that the panel expects further litigation over the allegetions.

Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones, who is not one to take such matters lightly, signed the order and wrote that a Special Investigatory Committee appointed to investigate the complaint expanded the original complaint and investigated other "instances of alleged inappropriate behavior toward other employees of the federal judicial system." The committee recommended a reprimand "along with the accomplishment of other remedial courses of action." The judicial council accepted the recommendations and concluded the proceedings "because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation of the Galveston/Houston docket and other measures." The special investigatory committee's Report, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendations, and Judge Kent's Response to the Report, are confidential and will not be disclosed.

According to the Chronicle account, one of the more interesting allegations apparently investigated by the panel was the following:

"That Kent inappropriately favored former colleagues and other favorites in his decisions and in overseeing settlement negotiations. In 2001, Kent was ordered to transfer all cases from his court that were handled by his best friend."

H'mm. Wonder if that had any impact on this recent settlement (see background here)?

Update: Ilya Somin provides some additional background on Judge Kent.

And this Galveston Daily News article provides some additional information on the case:

The Daily News was told the judge called his case manager to his office, where physical contact occurred.

When she resisted, he told her she owed him because he had interceded in her favor in a dispute among clerk�s office employees, the paper was told.

Since Kent was suspended in August, The Daily News has conducted interviews with more than a dozen members of the legal community � lawyers, their employees and employees of the court. Some claimed first-hand knowledge of allegations of Kent�s misconduct, but none agreed to be identified.

McBroom wasn�t the only female employee Kent, who is more than 6 feet tall and more than 200 pounds, is alleged to have touched inappropriately, The Daily News was told. [. . .]

Those aren�t the only reports that Kent engaged in inappropriate conduct.

Other sources have told The Daily News that, at a party and in the offices of a law firm, a drunken Kent cornered women and grabbed them.

Posted by Tom at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) |

September 27, 2007

Shasta talks about the Duck mugging

We all got a few chuckles over the Oregon Duck mascot's mugging of the Houston Cougar mascot during the football game between the two institutions' teams earlier this season.

Well, the UH student newspaper provides this follow-up article on the student -- Kinesiology major Matt Stolt -- who mans the Cougar mascot costume. Stolt turns out to be a gentleman who handled the incident and the aftermath with admirable maturity and good nature. Bully for him!

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

September 24, 2007

The Times discovers Houston's Hotel ZaZa

The New York Times travel section reviews Houston's Hotel ZaZa (formerly known as "The Warwick" to us oldtimers) and likes what it experiences.

Frankly, given the hotel's excellent location in the Museum District between downtown and the Texas Medical Center near Rice University and Hermann Park, what's not to like?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 20, 2007

Seaside in Texas?

First, the Wall Street Journal discovered the Hamptons of Houston. Now, this Wall Street Journal ($) article reports that the popular Seaside beach community just east of Destin, Florida is the model for several similar projects under construction on the Texas Gulf Coast:

Inspired by Seaside, the Florida-panhandle resort community that relies heavily on traditional architecture and planning, Mr. [Tofigh] Sherazi is overseeing development of a $1 billion, 260-acre beachfront community that seeks to reflect Galveston's past. The first of the project's four phases, 160 lots for single-family homes, is sold out. The development is designed to include a pedestrian-friendly mix of homes, shops and two hotels. "This is going to be a real town," he said.

Beachtown, as Mr. Sherazi's project is called, is part of a wave of New Urbanism on the Texas coast, from Galveston to South Padre Island. A planning movement that advocates walking over driving and borrows heavily from the design of traditional neighborhoods, New Urbanism has been largely overlooked on the Texas coast, even as it has flourished in Florida and beyond. [. . .]

. . . In addition to Beachtown, a 93-acre, $175 million urban village known as Evia is taking shape in Galveston. The work of local developers, the project will include a total of about 350 residential units, with 70% of the 222 lots for single-family homes sold.

Near Corpus Christi, the Sea Oats Group, of Atlanta, is developing a 64-acre, $250 million project called Cinnamon Shore that casts itself as a traditional seaside village, complete with a town center. Sales began in February, and 42 of 82 lots in phase one are sold. And on South Padre Island, a development in excess of $250 million called the Shores of South Padre also portrays itself as New Urbanist, though local developer Richard Franke's plan to include high-rise and midrise condominiums indicates he is no purist. "It's quite different from anything else in our area," said Mr. Franke. [. . .]

James Gaines, an economist at Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center, said beachfront property in Texas costs about a fifth of the price of similar property in California, in part because of its geography. Except for Galveston and a few coastal areas near Houston, none of Texas beachfront property is near a major urban center.

In an effort to market Cinnamon Shore, Sea Oats compared the cost of beachfront lots and beachfront homes in a number of markets. A lot at Seaside costs about $2.98 million, according to the company, but lots at Cinnamon Shore are going for about $625,000. In the same survey, the company said a beachfront home at Cinnamon Shore is valued at no more than $1.5 million, while a similar home could cost as much as $6.9 million across the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota, Fla.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Wisconsin no longer confused with The Woodands

As noted earlier here and here, the University of Wisconsin apparently does not have enough substantive legal work to keep its lawyers busy, so the university has made a cottage industry out of threatening high schools around the country that use a "W" logo that resembles the one used by the university's sports teams.

According to this article, it looks as if UW has proven that it has more money to waste on pursuing one of those frivolous lawsuits than my local high school here in The Woodlands. The Woodlands High School has agreed to change its "W" logo to the one on the left above.

I sincerely hope that the Iowa Hawkeyes kick Wisconsin's ass on the gridiron this Saturday. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

September 11, 2007

A couple of Houston legal legends

If you didn't catch it over the weekend, don't miss Mary Flood's article and related blog post on two legends of the Houston legal community, plaintiff's lawyer Joe Jamail and criminal defense attorney, Richard "Racehorse" Haynes.

I've been blessed to have had the opportunity to watch both of these masters in action over the years. Jamail's special talent is in his ability to talk to and relate with jurors, while Haynes is, bar none, the best craftsman of cross-examination that I have ever seen in a courtroom. Take a moment to learn more about two of the most important Houston lawyers of our time.

Photo of Jamail and Haynes by Johnny Hanson.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

September 10, 2007

What to do with the Dome?

There has been an interesting disparity in media reports about the Astrodome over the past couple of weeks. First, this one from Channel 13 investigative reporter, Wayne Dolcefino:

The county judge warns the aging Houston Astrodome may soon become too dangerous for people to even go inside.

What do you do about an important piece of Houston history? Do you tear it down? The Eighth Wonder of the World has now become a legacy of how not to pay for a sports stadium. Long after the Oilers left and seven seasons after the Astros stopped playing here it sits.

When we went to the dome this week, it was warm inside and didn't smell too pretty. It's home to a few offices but the floor of the Dome floor is now just concrete.

"The dome is old and it's falling apart," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "It's time as they say to fish or cut bait."

"Now we've got a situation where we have what was the Eighth Wonder of the World sitting there effectively unoccupied," said Harris Co Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt.

And you are still paying. They are numbers many public officials probably had a hard time figuring out themselves. You still owe $38 million on the Astrodome. It's property tax money and every year it's costing millions just to keep it operating. In the last five years it cost $18 million. The tax assessor calls it a money hole.

"We've got to decide what to do with the domed stadium," said Emmett. "It's time to put up or shut up frankly."

Hurricanes have nearly doubled insurance on the dome. The bill has been $894,000 just this year. And you think your utility bills are high? Look at this. The bill was $1.1 million. Operating expenses this year alone were $2.75 million.

The biggest money maker at the Dome is The Hideout. That's the bar the Rodeo operates on the floor of the Dome. We get no money for that. The rest of the year the Dome was used just 13 days, making just $100,000.

"Frankly we can't let people use it much longer, it will become a dangerous place," Emmett said.

"The question we have to decide is if we can't find something for the Dome to become, then they have to think seriously about tearing it down," said Bettencourt.

Then, this one on the interminable Astrodome hotel redevelopment project:

Entrepreneurs looking to turn the iconic Astrodome into an upscale convention hotel have scrapped a "best of historic Texas" theme for a more modern, streamlined look.

A faux Texas courthouse and other features that played on the state's past are out. Plans now call for including a section of the Dome's seats, part of the diamond and an overall contemporary design that plays up the building's cutting-edge nature when it opened in 1965.

"We're going to have rides. There could be air rides that take you off the ground and make you say, 'Wow,' " said Scott Hanson, president of Astrodome Redevelopment Co., the firm hoping to transform the Dome. "We're going to have a few of those. They would be easy-going rides that would show off the venue."

Astrodome Redevelopment still has hurdles to clear before it begins work. Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, will update the Commissioners Court on the company's progress in executive session Tuesday.

The court's approval is needed before work could begin. And Astrodome Redevelopment needs to work out revenue sharing and parking deals with the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the major tenants of Reliant Park.

But Hanson and Astrodome Redevelopment's chief executive, John Clanton, said the company is making progress and hopes to begin work on the interior as early as next April.

Hanson previously said the company had obtained financing for the $450 million project. But he and Clanton publicly announced the lender, Deutsche Bank, for the first time Thursday.

The article goes on to claim that the "entreprenuers" of the project have a new Atlanta-based partner who will supposedly add equity to the deal and make it more viable.

Frankly, this silly notion that entreprenuers can arrange private financing for the conversion of the Astrodome into a hotel has been going on for three years. Now, the Chronicle would have us believe Deutsche Bank has approved a $450 million financing commitment on a highly-speculative covention hotel project in during the tightest credit market in years? I'm willing to bet that any such commitment has more outs than the Stros lineup this season.

All of this imagery about the proposed Astrodome hotel would be all fun and games except that it is costing the County real money to maintain the Dome, probably around $10 million just since the dome hotel project was first floated. Given that we are three years into this and the entreprenuers are not even at the stage of cutting deals with the Texans and the Rodeo over use of the Reliant Park property during times of mixed use, just how long is the County going to dawdle over the Dome before moving on to more realistic uses of the property?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 5, 2007

The Wyatt Oil-for-Food Trial

83-year old legendary Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt will be fighting to live the remainder of his life as a free man beginning today in a U.S. District Courtroom in New York City. Wyatt is being tried on criminal charges that he bribed Iraqi officials in a scheme to acquire Iraqi oil in violation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program (previous posts here, here, here and here). The Houston Chronicle ran major stories here and here on the trial over this past weekend, and the NY Times story on the beginning of the trial is here.

The Wyatt trial has the potential to be particularly noteworthy because of a part of the defense strategy -- to paint the prosecution as political payback by two of Wyatt's old oil field rivals, U.S. President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, the former president.

Wyatt is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and trading with a country that supports terrorism. The indictment essentially alleges that he arranged for about $4 million in secret payments to Iraqi officials funneled through shell foreign companies and Swiss intermediaries to the Iraqi government from 2000 through 2002. In response, Wyatt contends that the U.S. government has targeted him for prosecution because he has been an outspoken critic of the two Bush administrations, particularly over the two wars in Iraq. Wyatt is the most prominent U.S. businessman indicted in the affair, althought eight other individuals have been convicted or pleaded guilty to similar charges to those against Wyatt. Likewise, charges are pending against five others.

A 2005 report from a commission led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker alleged widespread corruption in the $64 billion oil-for-food program, which was created to allow Iraq sell oil and use the proceeds to buy humanitarian goods to offset sanctions imposed after the Desert Storm War in 1991. Mr. Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The Volcker commission's report accused 2,200 companies from 40 countries of conspiring with Saddam Hussein's regime to divert $1.8 billion from the supposedly humanitarian campaign.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today and the trial is expected to last four to six weeks. Wyatt and his defense attorney -- noted New York criminal defense attorney Gerald Shargel, who previously represented the late reputed mobster, John Gotti -- have not yet decided whether Wyatt will take the stand in his own defense. This one looks to be worth the price of admission, so stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

A worthy campaign

James Anderson over at AstrosDaily discovers a glaring oversight -- the dean of Houston sportswriters, Mickey Herskowitz, has not been elected to the sportswriting section of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Not only is Herskowitz the finest sportswriter of the past generation in Houston, he was also intimately involved in encouraging the investors who ultimately brought Major League Baseball to Houston in the early 1960's. As Anderson notes, Herskowitz is richly deserving of this honor and all longtime Houstonians who have had the opportunity to enjoy his work over the years should be squarely behind the campaign to award him this honor.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 30, 2007

The NCAA sinks to a new low

As regular readers of this blog know, I maintain that the NCAA's administration of big-time intercollegiate athletics has outlived its usefulness for a long while. On the heels of a shooting incident in Houston over this past weekend that killed one of the area's most promising high school football players, the NCAA once again proved that it has taken over-regulation to new heights of absurdity:

Just hours after Oklahoma football recruit Herman Mitchell was shot to death Friday in Houston, Adam Fineberg started raising money for Mitchell's family.

But after raising $4,500, enough to cover almost half the cost of Mitchell's funeral, Fineberg stopped. An OU compliance officer told him his actions would constitute an NCAA rules violation against the Sooners.

Now, Mitchell's mother likely will never receive that money.

That money is considered illegal financial assistance under NCAA rules because Mitchell's brother is a sophomore fullback at Westfield High School in Spring, Texas, and because Fineberg is an OU fan who attends Sooner football games and solicited donations through an OU fan Web site. [. . .]

OU spokesman Kenny Mossman said the an official with the university's compliance office contacted Fineberg on Monday asking to him halt his fundraising efforts until the OU received a rules interpretation from the NCAA. That interpretation came Tuesday.

"This is not a permissible expense for OU or someone who could be construed as an OU supporter,� said Mossman, an associate athletic director for communications. "We're not trying to be the bad guys, but we have to play by their rules.�

OU could apply for a waiver that would allow Fineberg to resume his fundraising and allow the Mitchell's family to receive the money, an NCAA official said late Tuesday.

"We would consider that if the university chose to go down that avenue,� NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said.

All heart, those NCAA folks, eh?

Update: After a public outcry, the NCAA comes to its senses.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) |

August 27, 2007

Big downtown building deal

The Bank of America Center in downtown Houston -- the distinctive Phillip Johnson and John Burgee-designed building that graces this blog's heading -- is changing hands in a record-setting deal:

Bank of America Center has just sold for about $370 million, a record-setting price for a Houston office building.

Novati Group, a new Dallas-based real estate player, and the General Electric Pension Trust, which was advised by Stamford, Conn.-based GE Asset Management, paid about $295 a square foot for the building at 700 Louisiana, according to sources familiar with the deal. The seller was Houston-based Hines, which developed the 56-story, 1.3 million-square-foot skyscraper in 1983.

. . . the reported total price is record-breaking, as well as the price per square foot. The deal edges out the $286 per square foot record set in December 2005 when the 581,000-square-foot 5 Houston Center was purchased by Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II Inc. for $166 million.

This building, which is at 700 Louisiana in downtown Houston, has always been special to me. My old firm was one of the original tenants in the building and we occupied the 51st and 48th floors for 18 years. Known for its unique architecture, the building has three major setbacks tha tmke it appear to be three adjoining buildings. The exterior is made from deep russet-colored granite, known as Napolean Red, which was quarried in Sweden and finished in Italy. Since it was built, the building has always had the highest occupancy of any building in downtown Houston and is currently 93% leased.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 24, 2007

The Slade trial begins

The criminal trial of former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade on charges of misappropirating TSU property begins today at the county criminal courthouse in downtown Houston (previous posts here). Harris County prosecutors and Mike DeGeurin, Ms. Slade's defense counsel, spent the last several days picking the jury.

Meanwhile, life goes on as usual over at TSU:

Texas Southern University's accrediting agency is taking a deeper � and unscheduled � look into financial accountability and leadership at the state's largest historically black university.

In an extraordinary move, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accrediting body for 780 colleges and universities in 11 Southern states, has ordered TSU to provide audits, rehabilitation plans and other documents by Oct. 1. [. . .]

The worst-case scenario for TSU is the loss of its accreditation. Without it, the federal government would stop providing financial aid to students.

Nearly two-thirds of TSU's 11,000 students receive Pell Grants, which are awarded to low-income students.

There are many sad aspects to this entire affair, but one of the saddest is that Ms. Slade's trial will almost certainly garner far more of the public's attention than the continuing failure of local and state officials to take any meaningful steps to begin solving the chronic problems at TSU.

Posted by Tom at 12:09 AM | Comments (0) |

August 22, 2007

One of downtown Houston's charms

The New York Times discovers one of the literally coolest characteristics of downtown Houston -- the pedestrian tunnel system:

Where is everybody?

Seared by triple-digit heat and drenched by tropical storms, midday downtown Houston appears eerily deserted, the nation�s fourth-largest city passing for a ghost town.

On the street, that is.

But below, there are tunnels at the end of the light � nearly seven color-coded miles of them connecting 77 buildings � aswarm with Houstonians lunching, shopping and power-walking in dry, air-chilled comfort. [. . .]

Other cities, notably Montreal, Toronto and Minneapolis, are renowned for their extensive tunnel and skyway networks. But Houston may be alone in the extent and nature of its pedestrian circulation system of tunnels and skywalks that become particularly popular on days like Aug. 12, 13 and 14 when temperatures hit 102 and 101, or last Thursday, when Tropical Storm Erin flooded many streets.

It was not centrally planned; it just grew, inspired by Rockefeller Center in New York. But it is not connected to a transit network. And, befitting Texans� distrust of government, most of it is private; each segment is controlled by the individual building owner who deigns to allow the public access during business hours � and then locks the doors on nights and weekends. Some parts, like those belonging to the former Enron buildings now leased by Chevron, are closed to outsiders altogether.

Few claim mastery of the labyrinth.

�It�s one of Houston�s best-kept secrets,� said Sandra Lord, widely known as the Tunnel Lady, a Yankee transplant who dispels the mysteries for $10 a head and roams the downtown underworld with proprietary aplomb, sometimes stopping strangers to ask, �And you are?� Corporations pay Ms. Lord to orient new employees below ground, and nearly 45,000 natives and visitors have taken her Discover Houston Tours since 1988. [. . .]

The tunnels are remarkably diverse, lined with restaurants and coffee bars, boutiques, florists, shoe-repair shops, jewelers, dry cleaners, dental clinics, optometrists, pharmacies, beauty salons, barbers, copy and printing services, banks and post offices.

And they are clearly amenities. �It�s extremely difficult to be a Class A building without being on a tunnel,� said Laura Van Ness, business development director of Central Houston Inc., the nonprofit downtown organization. . . .

As the article notes, the tunnel system is largely the product of private enterprise. Sort of makes you wish that the decision on whether to invest in this to private enterprise, as well.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Sports talk radio overload

Why on earth are there now four sports talk radio stations in Houston? Chronicle sports media columnist David Barron reports (related blog post here) on the rather rocky first day of the city's newest sports talk radio station:

KGOW (1560 AM), the city's fourth sports-talk station, launched Monday with the usual shakedown issues that accompany any new venture, plus a new glitch that prevented the station's signal from being heard in parts of metropolitan Houston.

David Gow, the station's president, said equipment called an exciter failed last weekend at the station's 50,000-watt transmitter southwest of Houston. The station signed on Monday at 1,000 watts from a backup transmitter on the city's south side.

"We anticipate the situation being remedied shortly," said Richard Topper, KGOW's general manager. "We hope to be at full strength as soon as possible."

Listeners commenting at the Sports Media blog at www.chron.com reported hearing KGOW's signal in Pearland, Kemah and Cypress, but others reported problems listening in downtown Houston, the Heights, Kingwood, Spring and northwest Harris County. [. . .]

Some hosts struggled with telephone problems. Chronicle columnist Richard Justice, the station's late-morning host, began an interview with a greeting from Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, but Stoops was off the line by the time Justice finished asking his first question.

After a break for a station promotion, Justice returned with a telephone interview with baseball commissioner Bud Selig. [. . .]

After its last local talk show ended at 6 p.m. Monday, the station went to automated music rather than a syndicated sports talk show because it has not received the satellite equipment needed to download the program.

Having Richard Justice talk about sports is bad enough. But does anyone else have the sense that this latest venture in local sports talk radio sounds a bit like a junior high science project?

By the way, in other sports media news, Houston Chronicle sports columnist John Lopez announced yesterday that he is leaving the Chronicle after almost 20 years as a reporter and columnist.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 9, 2007

An easy prediction

Buried in the Chronicle's article on the Metropolitan Transit Authority's latest propaganda release regarding the proposed University light rail line is the following snippet:

The study estimates say the Cummins-Wheeler-Elgin combination is the least expensive of the routes considered, at $715 million, compared with $836 million for the Southwest Freeway-Alabama combination.

Prediction: Both routes will cost substantially more than the estimates and the revenue generated from the ridership will not come close to meeting the operating expenses of the line.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

July 24, 2007

Debt really is cheaper than equity

Dealmaking in Houston is as hot as the downtown pavement these days. Last week it was the Plains-Pogo deal, and this week local offshore drilling firms Transocean Inc. and GlobalSantaFe Corp. are proposing an $18 billion merger deal that will create the largest offshore drilling contractor by a mile. The new company will have a market capitalization of $52 billion and will have a 145-rig fleet, which is more than twice as many rigs as the fleet of the next largest competitor.

The deal comes amidst an unprecedented period for deep sea drilling contractors. With crude-oil and natural gas prices maintaining at historically high levels, exploration and production companies have been willing to pay top dollar to be able to tap reserves that often are often deep under the ocean. As a result, offshore drilling contractors are enjoying intense demand for deepwater rigs, which has increased lease rentals dramatically. Not surprisingly, the stock prices of most of the publicly-owned drilling contractors have been soaring for the past year or so.

Transocean, which is the much larger company (a $32 billion market cap to GlobalSantaFe's $17 billion), is actually the acquiring company in the merger. Transocean shareholders will end up with around 66% in the combined company, while GlobalSantaFe shareholders will end up with the other 34%. But the really interesting aspect of the deal is that the merged company is going to borrow a cool $15 billion (Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are handling that debt vehicle) to spread among the shareholders of the two companies even as debt offerings generally are being downsized in most other markets. The merged company will use its first two years of free cash flow to reduce that debt.

Thus, the bottom line is that the companies are borrowing $15 billion, giving it to their shareholders, and then will take advantage of the hot drilling market to pay the money back quite quickly out of cash flow. Why not just use the cash flow over the next several years and give that to shareholders? Not sure, but I suspect that the structure of the deal will save the merged company a boatload of taxes over the next several years.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 16, 2007

The WSJ discovers The Hamptons of Houston

First it was the New York Times extolling Galveston as "the Hamptons of Houston."

Now, Houstonian's favorite getaway destination is getting the favored treatment from the Wall Street Journal:

Throughout its history, Galveston has been a striking testament to human persistence and ingenuity -- and the power of denial. The island has a stomach-churning history of boom and bust. Its rise as a major Southern port city was cut short by the 1900 hurricane.

Protected by a new 17-foot sea wall, Galveston boomed again as the Sin City of the Gulf until Texas Rangers shut down its illegal gambling trade in the late 1950s. After that, eclipsed by the Port of Houston, Galveston limped through the remainder of the 20th century, struggling to pay the bills.

This century has seen Galveston's fortunes rise again. The island is beloved in Texas as part of the state's colorful past and also for its diverse appeal. Tourists flock to the historic districts and miles of public beaches, while fishermen and birders hang out along the jetties, bayous and surf. Out-of-town investors have revitalized the east end of the island, protected by the sea wall, where the original city and docks were built. Now it is a vibrant tourist spot packed with restaurants and shops against a backdrop of cruise ships and barnacle-covered fishing boats lined up along the docks.

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 4:16 AM | Comments (0) |

July 15, 2007

Katrina evacuees and the enduring nature of poverty

In the summer of 2005, tens of thousands of citizens from the New Orleans area relocated to Houston and other cities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, most of whom never returned to their former home. A substantial number of those evacuees were poor and largely unemployed in the depressed New Orleans-area economy that existed even prior to the destruction of Katrina. Thus, the hope was that those evacuees would be able to improve their living standard by starting anew in economically vibrant areas such as Houston.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case. As this Jacob Vigdor post notes, research on the Katrina evacuees is indicating that the syndrome of poverty is extremely difficult to change:

Should governments help residents of depressed regions move towards more prosperous areas? Evidence from Katrina evacuees suggests that such efforts are likely to fail. The fortunes of long-term evacuees are almost completely unrelated to the characteristics of the cities to which they relocated. [. . .]

What can the world learn from the experiences of Hurricane Katrina evacuees? As indicated in other recent research carefully examining the impact of residential location on employment, moving a poor, undereducated citizen from a declining urban area to the middle of a vibrant economy is not likely to be a quick, cheap way to find him or her a job. While participants in a voluntary relocation programme would almost certainly be exposed to less personal trauma than Katrina evacuees, the survival instinct alone appears to be insufficient to guarantee success. Particularly in nations with social welfare systems more generous than the American model, the result of any such programme seems quite likely to increase, rather than assuage, drains on the public budget in the short-to-intermediate term.

Posted by Tom at 12:41 AM | Comments (3) |

July 10, 2007

John L. Hill, R.I.P.

One of the giants of the Houston legal community, former Texas Attorney General and Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Hill, Jr., died yesterday morning at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston's Texas Medical Center while undergoing heart surgery. The Chronicle article on his death is here, the Chronicle legal blogger Mary Flood has a related post here and the Austin-American Statesman article on Hill's death is here.

John Hill packed several lifetimes of personal and professional achievements into his 83 years. He was the only person in the history of Texas to serve as secretary of state, attorney general and chief justice. He also ran twice for governor, the last time losing narrowly in 1979 to Bill Clements, who became the first Republican governor elected in Texas since Reconstruction.

As chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Hill championed reform of the state�s partisan election of judges, arguing that judges should be selected based on merit similar to the federal system. In a surprise news conference in August 1988, Hill announced his resignation as chief justice with three years remaining on the six-year term, explaining that the partisan election of judges was "creating a perception of impropriety" and that he planned to devote his time to reforming the judicial system. In his resignation letter to then Governor Clements, Hill called on the governor to create a special panel to propose his successor. Hill was replaced as chief justice by Thomas R. Phillips, who continued to support Hill's cause to change the system of judicial selection in Texas.

Born October 9, 1923 in Breckenridge, Texas and raised around the oil patch, Hill was a highly successful debater in high school and junior college, which paved his way to the University of Texas in Austin. After graduating from UT law school in 1947, Hill went to work for a small law firm in Houston that gave him an opportunity to get his feet wet immediately in trial work and, four years later, he founded his own Houston-based firm specializing in plaintiff's trial work.

Governor John Connally appointed Hill as secretary of state in 1966 and he served in that position until 1968. When Connally decided not to run for a fourth term that year, Hill ran for governor in a race that fellow Democrat Preston Smith won. In 1972, Hill ran successfully for attorney general and was re-elected for a full four-year term in 1974. He served as attorney general until 1979, when he resigned to run for governor a second time and was defeated in a close race by Clements. After returning to private practice for a few years, Hill jumped into the 1984 race for chief justice in which he was elected to replace retiring Chief Justice Jack Pope. Then, after the above-described resignation from the Supreme Court, Hill returned to private practice in Austin and Houston, working happily and productively up until the day he died.

But as impressive as these achievements and many awards that Hill received through the years, his large and lively family was what provided the greatest satisfaction in his life. Hill's loving wife of 61 years, Bitsy, was a fixture by his side throughout his career. His son Graham and son-in-law Mike Perrin (husband of John's daughter Melinda) are two of the finest trial attorneys in Houston, and his daughter, Martha Hill Jamison, is the well-regarded judge of the 164th District Court in Houston. Hill is also survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral is 1 p.m. Friday at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Houston, and the family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the George H. Lewis and Sons funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that a donation to St. Luke's, Young Life or the John L. Hill, Jr. Trial Advocacy Center at the University of Texas Law School in Austin be considered.

A charming and genuinely good man, John Luke Hill will be sorely missed by all who knew him. May God bless this special man and his wonderful family.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

July 5, 2007

EZ-Tag, EZ-Increase

So, according to this NY Times article about MIT economist Amy Finkelstein's research, EZ-Tags for electronic payment of tolls along tollroads makes it easier for government to increase the tolls (Tyler Cowen provides further analysis).

Everywhere but Houston, that is.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

June 28, 2007

J. Fred Duckett, R.I.P.

As noted in the update to this earlier post, longtime Rice athletics, Stros, Oilers, UH Track, Texas Relays, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Houston Marathon (and goodness knows what else!) announcer J. Fred Duckett died earlier this week. A visitation for the family will be held from 6-8 p.m. today at George H. Lewis Funeral Home (1010 Bering Drive) and a memorial service will be held at Autry Court on the Rice University Campus at 1:00 on Friday (park in the West Lot #4). The Rice University Athletic Department has also set up this webpage for friends of J. Fred to pass along their remembrances of this fine man, one of the many who make Houston such a special place to live.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 26, 2007

That's some leadership, eh?

It has not been a good week for local leadership. After Harris County Commissioners endorsed perfectly sensible congestion pricing for the overloaded Westpark Tollway -- which is overloaded primarily because the local transit authority undermined the size of the project when it was built -- the Commissioners revoked the sensible policy because some citizens yelled loud who didn't want to pay the higher toll during rush hour or be inconvenienced by traveling the tollway at a time other than rush hour.

My goodness. Why didn't County Commissioners simply call Houston's urban policy wonk, Tory Gattis, to sort all this out in the first place?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 22, 2007

Help for J. Fred

Charles Kuffner passes along the news that J. Fred Duckett -- the longtime public address announcer for Rice University sports teams, the Stros, the Oilers, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Relays and many other events -- is battling leukemia and in need of blood platelet donations. Kuff's post has the information on how to arrange a donation, as does this post from the Rice forum. Please give if you can and pass along the information to anyone who has enjoyed J. Fred's good-natured style over the years (no one who ever heard it will forget J. Fred announcing at Stros games "Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzz!").

Update: Sad news. J. Fred died on Monday, June 25. Charles Kuffner has more.

Posted by Tom at 4:13 AM | Comments (0) |

June 21, 2007

Saving for a boondoggle

Buried in this Chronicle article about increasing tolls on the Harris County toll roads and congestion on the Westpark Tollroad is the following nugget about yet another of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's decisions that is contrary to its purpose of improving mobility in the Houston metro area:

Six months after the four-lane Westpark Tollway opened in 2004, traffic backups began occurring in certain areas, said Peter Key, toll road authority deputy director. Congestion has worsened since then.

The toll road authority would have preferred building a six- or even eight-lane tollway, Key said. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owned the land in the area, was willing to sell only enough for a four-lane tollway, he said. Metro wanted to keep the remaining land in case it builds a commuter rail line along the tollway, Key said.

Metro vice president John Sedlak said Metro has considered using the corridor for rail for several decades and may build a light rail line along parts of the corridor, from the Hillcroft Transit Center to an undetermined distance east of the West Loop.

As noted in this previous post, Metro's bias in favor of inefficient rail lines is a costly bet for Houstonians. Those who are driving the Westpark Tollroad on a daily basis are finding out that such costs far exceed even the formidable expense of building inefficient rail lines.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

June 17, 2007

Father's Day 2007

It's a working Father's Day for me this year, so I am passing along this Father's Day post from a couple of years ago on a very special father. Here's hoping that all fathers out there in the blogosphere have a joyous and fulfilling Father's Day.

Posted by Tom at 4:54 AM | Comments (1) |

June 6, 2007

Elk gets his spikes right

Houstonian and Clear Thinkers favorite Steve Elkington apparently found a U.S. Open qualifier this year that allowed the competitors to wear spikes on their shoes. Elk fired a 36 hole score of 137 (64-73) to earn one of the 16 U.S. Open qualifying spots on Monday at the Colonial Country Club in Memphis, only the second time since 1999 that Elkington has qualified for the Open. 72 players were already exempt for the Open and Elkington nabbed one of the additional 83 spots that were up for grabs in sectional qualifying at 13 courses in the U.S., England and Japan on Monday. The Open will be held for a record eighth time next week at Oakmont, where Geoff Ogilvy will attempt to defend the title that he won last year at Winged Foot.

Speaking of local golf, the venerable Texas State Amateur Championship begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, one of the best tracts in the Houston region. The 144-player field will be cut to the low 54 and ties after Friday's second round. Former winners of the Texas State Am includes such noteworthy PGA Tour pros as Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Lietzke, Scott Verplank, Mark Brooks, Charles Coody and Bob Estes.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

June 1, 2007

Nothing changes at TSU

As bad as Texas Southern University's chronic problems are, they can be resolved through a combination of forceful leadership and common sense. However, intractable local and state political forces prevent TSU's problems from being addressed effectively. Consequently, it is somehow appropriate that the first act of the new board of trustees of TSU to address TSU's financial problems is taken against the folks least capable of resolving those problems -- i.e., the students:

Texas Southern University's regents approved a new round of tuition increases Wednesday, with students paying 8 percent more at the historically black institution this fall. [. . .]

The tuition hike follows a 22 percent increase last year. The university had tried in previous years to hold off increases because of the potential hardship for students, many of whom are working adults or recent high school graduates from low-income families.

Regents said they voted reluctantly for the tuition increase, but the university's financial problems required the additional revenue.

TSU's tuition is now higher than Houston's other open-admissions university, the University of Houston Downtown Campus, which does a better job of educating its students than TSU.

I put the over/under for the next scandal at TSU at three years.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (1) |

May 25, 2007

We have a winner for EGL

After four months of bidding, CEVA Group PLC -- a UK public limited company owned by affiliates of New York City-based Apollo Management LP -- has emerged as the winner for Houston-based logistics company EGL, Inc. over the management led-private equity bid championed by EGL chairman and CEO, Jim Crane (prior posts here). Although his private equity buyout failed, Crane is certainly not a loser on the deal. His 17.4% stake in EGL has increased in value by about 60% over the past four months, which means his EGL stock has increased in value by about $125 million to around $337 million. Not exactly a bitter pill to swallow.

Although the winning bid in this type of competition is always interesting, a fascinating development was revealed yesterday in a Schedule 13D/A that EGL filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Get a load of this:

EXPLANATORY NOTES: This Amendment No. 8 to Schedule 13D (this "Amendment") is being filed by James R. Crane and the other reporting persons (collectively, the "Reporting Persons") signatory hereto as identified in the Schedule 13D filed on January 22, 2007, . . .

The Reporting Persons wish to make clear that Mr. E. Joseph Bento, who was one of the signatories to the Schedule 13D filed on January 22, 2007 and to Amendments No. 1 through 7 thereof as previously filed, was not a signatory to Amendment No. 8 to the Schedule 13D and is not a signatory to this Amendment.

The Reporting Persons have excluded Mr. Bento as a signatory and as a member of the group because they believe, based on reliable information, that Mr. Bento, while purporting to cooperate with the Reporting Persons in their offer to acquire the Issuer, in fact has been secretly and improperly cooperating with Apollo Management VI, L.P. and its portfolio company, CEVA Group Plc (collectively, "Apollo/CEVA") in the competing offer by Apollo/CEVA to acquire the Issuer.

The Reporting Persons further believe, based on reliable information that, while holding himself out to the Reporting Persons as a person cooperating with the Reporting Persons' bid for the Issuer, Mr. Bento in fact has, without the prior knowledge of or permission from the Reporting Persons, improperly shared confidential information relating to the Reporting Persons' bidding strategy and other confidential information regarding the Reporting Persons' offer to acquire the Issuer. The Reporting Persons cannot give any assurance that prior statements of Mr. Bento in the Schedule 13D as to his intentions were in fact truthful and accurate.

The Reporting Persons intend to explore all appropriate remedies, including legal action for damages and other relief, that they may have against Mr. Bento.

Well, you certainly don't read excerpts like that every day while perusing SEC filings!

It's a bit difficult to know at this point what the claim against Berto would be. It would not appear that EGL or its shareholders have been damaged by anything the Berto is alleged to have done. Although Crane's group may have been hurt in its effort to become the winning bid by information that Berto supposedly provided to Apollo/CEVA, it's not as if Crane and his group were prevented from continuing to bid on the company. That Crane and his group might have been the successful bidder at a lower price but for Berto's supposed leaking of confidential information doesn't seem like much of a basis for a lawsuit because that lower bid would have come at the expense of EGL's shareholders to whom Crane and his management team still owed a fiduciary duty. So, we'll just have to stay tuned on that potential litigation front.

At any rate, one has to tip their hat to EGL's Special Committee of the Board of Directors, its counsel (Andrews & Kurth) and its financial advisors (Deutsche Bank) -- they really played these two competing bidders off on each other brilliantly. Although at first CEVA/Apollo appeared to be a tire-kicker, they turned out to be a motivated buyer because EGL represented a special opportunity to acquire a substantial freight forwarding business that could be integrated with CEVA's existing contract logistics business. On the other hand, EGL was Crane's baby, so the board knew that his group would also fight hard to retain control. In the end, Apollo/CEVA paid an extremely favorable price for a company that has not been doing all that well over the past couple of years and certainly was not considered a hot property in the marketplace. EGL shareholders did not quite get their 52-week high stock price of $51.49, but they did end up receiving almost a 60% premium on their $29.78 share price when this all started.

Suffice it to say that such a premium would have been realized had Ben Stein been calling the shots.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

May 23, 2007

Now that's a low blow!

This earlier post regarding the Texas-OU rivalry noted Jay Christensen's clever college football digital billboard contest over at the sporting Wizard of Odds. The likes of Texas and Oklahoma have pretty thick hides, but now the competition has generated this billboard on little Rice University, which is still trying to figure out how to profit from being a sacrificial lamb in the big-time college football wars. I don't think this particular billboard will be the basis of the Owls' advertising campaign for the upcoming football season. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 22, 2007

Passport hell

Question: What do you get when changes are made in the processing of a governmental service that, even in the best of times, doesn't really function all that smoothly?

Answer: According to this Lisa Falkenberg/Chronicle column, a real mess:

The scene at the George Thomas "Mickey" Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston resembled a soup kitchen. Outside, tired-looking people crowded benches and sprawled on grass. Inside, State Department guards kept teeming hordes at bay in the lobby so they wouldn't add to the lines, snaking through hallways outside the fourth floor passport office.

"We started out in a line to get in a line to get to the elevator so that we could get in a line to get a number to wait in another line," Prothro told me.

Applicants, from El Paso to Oklahoma City, waited like cattle in holding areas, clutching suitcases, gripping manila envelopes of itineraries, some frantically calling congressmen for help. Even those with appointments were shooed by guards to the rear of the line.

The nationwide passport backlog � prompted by a federal law that took effect in January requiring U.S. citizens to obtain passports before flying to places such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean � was exacerbated this week in Houston by two days of computer system failures, said Eric Botts, assistant regional director.

The crowd grew so large, it presented a fire hazard.

"I can certainly understand people are frustrated," Botts said.

Botts said his staff has worked overtime, doing "everything humanly possible" for the past two years to meet surging passport demand. Each day, the office may get 500 e-mailed or faxed congressional inquiries about cases, and 800 from the national passport information center. He said his office has a backlog of 90,000 passports.

By midday, passport purgatory quickly deteriorated into passport hell. Around 3 p.m., a worker delivered grim news to an outside line:

"If you're here trying to get a passport today, that's not going to happen," he said. "I don't know why they sent all of you here. As you can see, they sent thousands of people here. There's no way an agency this small can handle all this work."

Inside the stuffy office, more than 250 people, including screaming toddlers, waited in line or in plastic chairs, staring at Fox News, sharing gripes in every language and glaring anxiously at passport agents behind thick glass windows. Many went several hours without eating or drinking, for fear of losing their spots in line. [. . .]

Occasional applause erupted when someone emerged with a passport. These lucky few adopted a distinctive swagger and a wide grin as they coveted their hard-earned treasure.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (3) |

May 21, 2007

"Superstar historian"?

Please excuse three straight posts bashing various Chronicle articles, but this Chronicle/Allan Turner reads like a press release from Rice University regarding the institution's hiring of former Tulane University history professor, Douglas Brinkley:

The man who once took a busload of college students on a madcap tour of the nation's historic and natural wonders, including the Grand Canyon and author Ken Kesey's farm, may be just what Rice University's austere public policy think tank needs to make itself a household name.

That, at least, was the hope on Thursday as university officials explored the possible benefits of their latest faculty hire � New Orleans superstar historian Douglas Brinkley � might bring to Rice and its Baker Institute of Public Policy.

A protege of best-selling historian Stephen Ambrose and a regular commentator for CBS News, Brinkley is renowned for his ability to make complex ideas understandable. He is a prolific author, and his 700-plus page tome chronicling Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will receive the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Book Award later this month.

Brinkley, said Baker founding director Edward Djerejian, could be "a bridge between the world of ideas and action," helping the institute spread its policy recommendations to the general public.

"He's going to bring us a huge amount of visibility," added Rice humanities dean Gary Wihl.

"Superstar historian"? That characterization of Brinkley is certainly not shared by all in the academic community, as noted in this earlier post regarding this William McCrary review of Brinkley's Hurricane Katrina book:

Let me confess that I haven't read all of the writings of Douglas Brinkley. I doubt that anyone -- perhaps not even Mr. Brinkley himself -- has ever done that. He is a veritable ... deluge of literary productivity, with books to his credit on a dizzying array of subjects, ranging from Beat poetry to Jimmy Carter, and from Henry Ford to, most recently, the failed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Indeed, the range of his literary productions is so wide as to seem indiscriminate. But his bestknown writings seem to have three things in common.

First and foremost is their relentless mediocrity. I cannot think of a historian or public intellectual who has managed to make himself so prominent in American public life without having put forward a single memorable idea, a single original analysis, or a single lapidary phrase -- let alone without publishing a book that has had any discernable impact. Mr. Brinkley is, to use Daniel Boorstin's famous words, a historian famous for being well-known.

For what it's worth, I have read both Brinkley's book on Hurricane Katrina and Jed Horne's Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great Ameican City (Random House 2006). Horne's book is a good read and far superior to Brinkley's book, which is borderline unreadable.

Moreover, this skeptical view of Brinkley's academic talent is not new. Back in 1999, Slate's David Platz penned this well-know article about Brinkley taking advantage of his friendship with John F. Kennedy, Jr. to publicize himself after Kennedy's death in a plane crash:

According to the Washington Post, Brinkley cut a $10,000 deal with NBC for a week of exclusive Kennedy commentary, but then agreed to provide it pro bono. Editors at George [Kennedy's magazine] are reportedly so annoyed about Brinkley's death punditry that they have dropped him from the masthead.

Even amid this week's staggering hyperbole, Brinkley's emotional profligacy has distinguished him. He is, as he rarely fails to remind his audience, 38 years old like Kennedy, a vegetarian like Kennedy, and a Sagittarius like Kennedy. That identification with Kennedy accounts in part for Brinkley's tenuous proposition: that Kennedy's death is the signal event of his generation, the moment Gen X lost its innocence. In the opening paragraph of his New York Times op-ed, Brinkley opined: "It's as if suddenly, an entire generation's optimism is deflated, and all that is left is the limp reality of growing old." Kennedy's death may have affected his friend Brinkley this way. I am not sure anyone else outside Kennedy's circle was so moved.[ . . .]

Brinkley's sunniness and ardor are appealing, but his public history has its shortcomings. His idols, Ambrose and Schlesinger, have won the admiration of the academy and the public. Brinkley has won the public but has not wowed the academy. Some of his colleagues' dismay is simply jealousy of his entrepreneurship, but some is more substantive. His books read like good journalism--and that's no insult--but they are not great history. "He has made no analytical contribution at all," says one Ivy League historian who professes to like Brinkley.

I am glad that the Chronicle considers Rice's hiring of a history professor is newsworthy. However, for the Chron article not even to mention the well-known doubts about the academic merit of Brinkley's work is the type of cheerleading usually reserved for the Chronicle sportspage.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Rationalizing the latest boondoggle

Houstonians are currently enduring the rationalizations of a couple of boondoggles, a big one and a relatively small one. The Chronicle is always a good source for these rationalizations, such as this romantic interlude from Chron soccer writer Glenn Davis regarding the proposed downtown soccer stadium:

[A] downtown stadium will be an unparalleled vehicle for promoting soccer. Stadiums out in the hinterlands in MLS are still trying to prove them-selves as a magnet for fans.

Fans migrating to stadiums located in the inner city can become a part of a ritual.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, my father used to take me to sporting events at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York. The ritual began as we left the house.

Take the train from the suburbs to Hoboken, N.J., then jump on the Path train (subway) under the Hudson River. As we exited the Path and scrambled up the steps to the street, a whole new world opened up.

The streets of Manhattan were alive with vendors, scalpers hawking tickets, and fans of the New York Rangers or Knicks. The air crackled with competition and excitement.

For a kid from the suburbs, this was like going into a new world. To this day, these impressions are indelible in my mind. Whether going to Madison Square Garden or to Giants Stadium to watch Pel� and the New York Cosmos, I always felt that sense of anticipation.

[Dynamo CEO Oliver] Luck has told me his ritual with his father was taking public transportation to go to Cleveland Indians games.

Stadiums in the U.S. have in many cases become soulless, with their flight to the suburbs and attempts to woo fans more for the buildings and their amenities than why they were built in the first place.

Stadiums should be a meeting place for like individuals from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds who come together with the common bond of a sport.

I almost broke into a solo of Kumbaya over that one. At least Chronicle sportswriter John Lopez is more realistic, if not more persuasive, of the real basis for public financing of another downtown stadium:

The predominantly white fan base that follows the Astros got theirs. The largely white and black fan base of the Rockets got theirs, too.

What about Dynamo fans? What about the fan base that has been estimated at roughly 45 percent Hispanic, 45 percent white and 10 percent Asian? [. . .]

On paper, yes. It has to make sense. But in the eyes of many, it's also about getting the same things the Astros, Rockets and Texans fans got. Acknowledgment.

Or, as Kevin Whited muses: "So, we need a new soccer stadium downtown so that Houston can be more like Manhattan, and so that fans of what is a minor-league sport in the United States won't cry racism?"

Meanwhile, Dennis Coates, a professor of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, provides the following persuasive analysis of the lack of any economic merit to a similar initiative to build a downtown arena in Baltimore:

Studies like that done by KPMG about a new arena for Baltimore have been thoroughly discredited by independent observers. They are much like the predictions of psychics. While a psychic's predictions of the future are rarely assessed for their accuracy, the predictions of stadium benefits have been thoroughly scrutinized by a wide array of independent researchers. There is almost no support for any of the predictions made by the stadium and arena benefit psychics when those predictions are compared to data on what actually happened. The bottom line is the feasibility studies are more a PR process than a fact finding one. I urge you to not buy into the PR as if it is objective science.

Thus, the local debate regarding another downtown stadium is off to an inauspicious start. If proponents of the stadium deal admit in campaigning for the deal that the economic benefits of the deal are questionable, but that the intangible benefits to the community override the financial risk of the deal, then most reasoned opponents of such deals would at least be satisfied with the debate of the issues. They might not be persuaded to support the deal on that basis, but at least they would have the comfort that the public's assessment of the deal would be based upon an honest presentation of the issues. As it stands now, the presentation of the economic issues in most stadium campaigns is muddled by highly questionable assertions of direct economic benefits derived from such deals. Here's hoping that the Chronicle will at least promote truth in advertising in regard to the debate over the downtown soccer stadium deal.

Posted by Tom at 4:02 AM | Comments (2) |

May 16, 2007

This boondoggle is getting personal

Well, at least the city's proposed financing for this boondoggle is less than this one ($80 million versus $150 million plus who knows how much?).

But really. How many new and well-furnished high school football stadiums are located in the Houston area that would be more than acceptable for what amounts to minor league soccer? Half a dozen? At least the major league football and baseball teams could argue that the city's facilities were no longer adequate when compared to other cities' major league football and baseball stadiums. What is soccer's reasoning? That the local governments financed stadiums for football, basketball and baseball, so it should do the same thing for soccer, too?

However, what really gripes me about all this is the proposed location for the soccer stadium -- it's smack dab in the middle of where I park for Stros games. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) |

May 14, 2007

Rationalizing a boondoggle

Anne Linehan over at BlogHouston.net continues to do a fine job of following the various rationalizations of several local governmental types over how to justify public financing for the proposed the Astrodome hotel project (Charles Kuffner comments, too). The latest proposal being floated is to give the deal $150 million in hotel and sales tax breaks over a ten year term to facilitate about half a billion in private financing for the deal. The rationalization is that the rebates are worth it because the tax revenue wouldn't be there in the first place but for the hotel generating it. Plus, the hotel really is a good thing for Houston, so why worry about a measly $150 million over the long term?

Putting aside that dubious reasoning for the moment, the reason that this project is a boondoggle isn't because of $150 million tax rebates over ten years. On a boongoggle of this potential magnitude, that's peanuts. The real financial risk comes when the hotel falters in paying its private financing. In almost every case, the local government that backed the facility will be placed in the difficult position of either putting up additional funds and security for the project or face the politically untenable position of watching the project fail. Guess what politicians usually vote to do when the alternative is to be embarrassed with a failed deal on their watch?

The problem with boondoggles of this type is that they "eat" -- they must be fed money when the operating losses start mounting. There is a reason that the promoters of this deal can't arrange private financing. That is a reason for the county government to back off the deal, not to embrace it.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

May 8, 2007

Kirby & Westheimer -- high crime area?

Well, it's not every day that one receives an email such as the one below from a young female attorney at a prominent Houston law firm. For those unfamilar with Houston, the intersection of Kirby and Westheimer is a popular commercial area between two of the toniest residential neighborhoods inside the loop in Houston, River Oaks to the north and West University to the south:

From: (Name withheld)
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 9:14 PM
To: (list suppressed)
Subject: Personal experience you don't want happening to you - please share with others if you like

Dear friends,

First of all, I am fine ... but earlier today I had an experience that I'm sharing with you so that you will be careful.

After going for a run with [deleted] today, I went to get cash at the Sterling Bank ATM near the Taco Milagro on the corner of Kirby and Westheimer (Upper Westheimer District, Houston). It's a busy area, and it was still daylight. The ATM fronted on Westheimer. There were lots of people out on the patio at Taco Milagro [a popular local restaurant], just 50 yards or so away.

I got out of my car, locked it, and went to the cash machine. As soon as I had put my card into the machine and entered my PIN, a woman came up and stood right next to me on my left, put a gun in my side and told me that she wouldn't shoot me if I didn't scream and gave her $800. I had only punched in $200, so she grabbed that and told me to get $800 more.

My bank has a $400 daily limit (I have since learned), so after trying $800, $700, $600 and so on, I was able to withdraw $200 more. During this time she repeatedly told me not to scream or she would shoot me, and asked many times for my PIN code. I didn't speak to her and didn't answer her question, and all kinds of things were going through my head - mostly was she going to use the gun, but also would she steal [my boyfriend's] car (which I was driving), my purse (which I was holding), my rings (which I was wearing), the receipt which showed our bank balance.

After withdrawing the second round of cash, she grabbed the money, told me to stay where I was, and took off. After ten seconds or so, I turned around and realized she had run across the little side street just east of the ATM, jumped into a car that took off just as I looked over that way. I tried to see the license plate, but they were just far enough away that I wasn't able to make out the numbers, although I did make a mental note of the kind of car and the way they headed out. I had grabbed my receipts as soon as I was sure she (and the gun) were gone, and got back in my car to get home asap.

HPD came to our house and took down the case. I am pretty sure they will be able to see the woman on the videotape from the ATM because she was standing right next to me the whole time, and I had the receipts that showed the exact times of the two transactions.

All I can say is: be careful about ATM's. The police said that robberies like this are happening all over the city, in broad daylight, in good neighborhoods. They look for easy marks (women by themselves) and they have it down to a science. I am so lucky that I wasn't hurt - and she didn't steal the car, my purse and jewelry, etc. Maybe you will be more careful than ever before and this - or worse - won't happen to you. The entire episode made me realize that every day we are in seemingly harm-free situations that can quickly turn into dangerous situations.

Much love from Ella Lee Lane, NOT Ben Taub Hospital - Be careful!

p.s. If you are reading this, please promise you won't tell my parents or in-laws about this. They worry enough as it is!

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (3) |

May 3, 2007

Rearranging the deck chairs at TSU

So, the regents who Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed to oversee Texas Southern University have now all resigned as a result of the latest edition of the chronic scandals at the institution. Governor Perry now plans on appointing five new regents, although it remains unclear where he is going to find five saints to step into the current TSU mess. Plus, there is no reason to think that Governor Perry's new regents will be any better equipped to deal with TSU's problems than Governor Perry's former regents.

Governor Perry's response is the typical band-aid approach to dealing with TSU's problems that have been the norm for decades. As noted earlier here, TSU's problems are systemic and cannot be resolved without rethinking and redefining the university's purpose. Based on Governor Perry's approach, you can count on that we will be discussing the next scandal at TSU in a few years.

As a matter of fact, it didn't even take that long.

Update: The former TSU chief financial officer who was involved in the most recent TSU scandal was convicted today of misapplication of fiduciary property over $200,000. The jury is now hearing the sentencing phase of the trial.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Changing history

The NY Times' medical reporter, Lawrence Altman, M.D., tells the story of how Houston's famed heart surgeon Michael E. DeBakey changed the course of history by persuading the late Boris Yeltsin that he could survive heart bypass surgery after the Russian president had suffered a heart attack in the fall of 1996. The surgery saved Yeltsin's life and allowed him to live for another decade.

Of course, there are some who would argue that Dr. DeBakey efforts did not change history for the better.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 1, 2007

O'Toole on Houston's urban planning

Cato Institute fellow Randal O'Toole was in town last week as the invitee of a Houston Property Rights Association luncheon and, by Tory Gattis' account, provided an entertaining lecture on the overreaching nature of centralized urban planning and wasteful rail transit systems in various cities around the country. The Chronicle's Rad Sallee caught up with O'Toole while he was in town, and notes the following observation by O'Toole on the impact of Houston's biggest urban boondoggle:

Question: You say that for the most part, Houston gets it right, while Portland (Ore.), where you used to live, is a textbook example of government gone wrong. A lot of people would say it's just the reverse.

Answer: Except for the light rail part, Houston really is a model for how urban planning ought to be done � which is privately.

By the way, O'Toole has a new blog focusing on urban economics called the Antiplanner. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

OTC.07

One of the biggest and most interesting annual Houston conventions is taking place this week at Reliant Park, the 2007 edition of the Offshore Technology Conference (previous posts here). See my previous posts for background on the conference, and the Chronicle's Tom Fowler is blogging this year's conference. Regardless of whether you are involved in the energy industry, the exhibit area of the OTC is fascinating and well worth a few hours if you can score a ticket.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

April 6, 2007

Metro Development Corp.

Kevin Whited over at blogHouston.net picks up on the latest boondoggle of the Metropolitan Transit Authority -- providing kickstart financing for a couple of blocks of commercial property along the Metro light rail line in Midtown.

The entire deal is really preposterous for a transit authority to be getting into. Metro bought the blocks from the developer for $7.2 million with "the expectation" that the developer is going to buy the blocks back and build a bunch of condominiums (in an already overbuilt market) that will supposedly house 1,000 happy light rail riders. According to the developer, everything is really O.K. because -- get this logic -- it could have been worse!:

[Developer Robert H.] Schultz said Metro may join in developing a parking garage on the site that could be used by rail riders but that the agency chose not to invest in other parts of the project.

"They didn't want to extend that kind of money. They wanted to be much more conservative until they could see this thing was going to happen," he said.

[Metro real estate vp Todd] Mason agreed, saying, "Metro does not want to be a developer and take on a lot of risk, but we want to be an enabler of projects like this one."

As noted earlier here, Metro isn't good enough in doing what it was chartered for to be taking flyers on financing speculative real estate deals. Where is that type of activity described in Metro's charter?

Posted by Tom at 4:13 AM | Comments (1) |

April 3, 2007

Who is running this asylum?

Let's get this straight.

First, the local hotel market has been overbuilt for years, partly because the city government financed some deals of questionable merit. Heck, most any weekend, it's easy to obtain a discount rate on a very nice luxury hotel room in downtown Houston.

Then, the private financing market tells us that the redevelopment of the Astrodome into a resort hotel is not financially feasible.

So, given those clear messages, what does the chairman of Harris County Sports & Convention Corp conclude? Explore a financially feasible use for the Dome property, such as demolishing the Dome to save the county the millions it has spent over the past five years mothballing the facility and provide much needed parking for the Reliant Park complex?

No, he would rather do precisely the one thing that will ensure that the county will lose the maximum amount in regard to the Dome property:

The county may consider picking up some costs of transforming the Reliant Astrodome into a luxury hotel or doing the $450 million redevelopment itself if a private effort to carry out the project falls through, a top official said Friday. [. . .]

"From day one, we have always known that it is an option to do this as a publicly developed program," said Mike Surface, chairman of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which manages Reliant Park. "If I'm looking out for Reliant Park's interests, I would say, 'County, you should think about doing this.' "

And just how would the county pay for such a folly?

No property taxes would go toward the project in any case, he said.

If the county paid for part or all of the project, it would use hotel and sales taxes generated by the hotel complex and other Reliant Park revenue, such as concessions.

Except that Houston already has among the highest hotel and sales tax rates in the country. Moreover, the county doesn't even own the rights to receive the proceeds from a substantial amount of the concession sales at Reliant Park, such as those the Texans and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo generate in their events at Reliant.

Surface, bless his soul, sounds delusional:

Surface said he and some other board members are so confident in the project that the board may look for another developer to step in if Astrodome Redevelopment's effort fails.

Thank goodness there appears to be at least one stable attitude among Harris County Commissioners toward the proposed Astrodome hotel:

County Commissioner Steve Radack has said, however, that he does not think the project makes sense and will oppose any county participation.

From my vantage point, it appears that Surface floated a trial balloon that Radack mercifully shot down. Hopefully, Radack's clear statement will put an end to this foolishness. The county needs to move on and consider productive uses of the Dome property rather than chasing rainbows.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

March 29, 2007

Astrodome Hotel deal on the rocks

In an era of tightening credit and equity markets, the Astrodome Hotel idea -- which never gained enough traction to become an official boondoggle -- finally appears to be on the ropes:

The developer endorsed by Harris County to transform the Astrodome into a 1,000-room destination hotel complex has missed two deadlines to show suitable proof of a financial partner for the $450 million project.

An August 2006 letter of intent signed by the county and Astrodome Redevelopment Corp. outlined various milestones to be met in the process.

When proof of funding did not meet the specified December 2006 deadline, the county granted an extension to March 1.

Scott Hanson, president with Astrodome Redevelopment, found a New York bank interested in backing the mammoth development. County officials were not satisfied with the commitment as presented. [. . .]

Says Hanson: "It's happening. It's just a timing issue. Sometimes the wheels don't turn as fast as we'd like them to." [. . .]

The developer wants to enter into a definitive agreement with the county this year on the project, and hopes to begin construction by early 2008.

"I think that's probably aggressive," says Mike Surface, chairman of the Sports & Convention Corp.

"These projects wind up taking a lot more time than you anticipate," he adds. "There are still a lot of approvals that have to take place." [. . .]

"We've come a long way ... but there is a long way between now and getting a deal inked," Surface says. "For people to start booking their rooms today is a bit premature."

Translation: This deal, which always has had earmarks of being a pipe dream, is on life support. The problem with procrastinating about demolishing the Dome and using the land for a better use (i.e., badly needed parking at Reliant Park) is that the Dome continues "to eat" -- that is, Harris County continues to pay between $1.5 and $2.0 million a year just to maintain it on a mothballed basis. That's an expensive price to pay while Harris County Commissioners chase rainbows. The only thing surprising to me about all this is that we've been talking about it for almost three years now!

Update: A very bad idea.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

March 19, 2007

The Hamptons of Houston?

Galveston has been compared with many things, but rarely with the Hamptons. But that's precisely the comparison that this NY Times Sunday article makes as it reports on the throngs of Houstonians who have fueled the beach home building boom on the island over the past decade:

Only 51 miles southeast of Houston, Galveston still has plenty of vacant land, low home prices and miles of wide-open beaches. Over the last four years, the average price of a home has risen 89 percent, to $232,800 in January, according to the Galveston Association of Realtors. Prices for water-view lots are now more than double what the Wisemans paid. A single water-view lot at Beachtown costs $300,000, though other lots without views could be as low as $80,000.

�The world has discovered the Gulf Coast,� said James Gaines, research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. �You want a second home on the East Coast at an affordable price, and you�re not going to find anything. Here, it�s still available and affordable.� [. . .]

�Galveston is experiencing a renaissance it hasn�t seen in 100 years,� said Jeffrey G. Sjostrom, president of the Galveston Economic Development Partnership. �The beauty of the development is that it�s comprehensive and diversified. Our eggs are being spread across many baskets.�

The development seems to fly in the face of Galveston�s geography. As a barrier island, the city can flood during tropical storms. Sometimes, its beaches erode. In September 2005, the city was evacuated when Hurricane Rita threatened the island. But home buyers keep coming because a large-scale hurricane has not damaged the island in more than 20 years.

Developers are putting up condominium towers, resorts and acres of homes from one end of the 32-mile-long island to the other. More than 6,500 residential units are under construction; most of them are condos, according to the development partnership. At the western end of the island, Centex Homes is building one of the largest projects, a 1,000-acre development with 2,300 houses and condos.

Meanwhile, this Harvey Rice/Chronicle article reports that questions are being raised about the rampant develoment:

The first map detailing geological hazards on Galveston Island shows a potential clash between development and the environment.

Several subdivisions already sit in what may be the most dangerous areas of the island � low spots where walls of water bulldozed their way through in previous storms.

More construction is planned in those areas and others despite the threat of storm surges and beach erosion as well as the impact on economically important wetlands, according to findings recently presented to the City Council.

By the way, if you're interested in making an investment in Galveston, I suggest you wait awhile. The island is long overdue for a hurricane and many folks have forgotten the damage that the minimal category 3 Hurricane Alicia caused on the island in 1983. Beach home property values plummeted in Galveston after that storm. They are a good bet to fall after the next one, too.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

March 15, 2007

Boom Town, USA

Maybe it's because I cut my teeth in business law during a prolonged recession in the Houston area in the mid-to-late 1980's that followed a boom cycle earlier in the decade, but these kinds of articles always worry me a bit:

Galvanized by the record profits at energy companies, this city, the center of the country�s energy industry, has shaken off the effects of the Enron implosion six years ago and is enjoying its strongest resurgence in more than 20 years, business officials and real estate developers say.

Some energy companies are expanding and putting up new buildings. Others, like Citgo, Schlumberger and Halliburton, have moved their headquarters to Houston. Oil and natural gas companies have helped reduce office vacancy rates to 15 percent, a five-year low, according to Grubb & Ellis, a real estate company. Job growth is double the national average � 97,400 jobs were created in 2006. The National Association of Realtors says the housing market in Houston is one of the strongest in the country.

�The increase in the oil business has made Houston,� said Randall Davis, a Houston condominium developer. �It feels a touch like the 1980s � everyone is out, the restaurants are full, the bars are full. It�s like New York.�

The good news extends across the city. The port recently opened a $1.4 billion container terminal to tackle soaring traffic. In 2006, it handled 1.6 million 20-foot containers, up 29 percent from 2003. At the Texas Medical Center, hospitals and universities are investing billions in new facilities. Residential and mixed-use developments are going up downtown.

Read the entire article here. Houston in 2007 is a very different place than the Houston of 1985, particularly with regard to the more diversified local economy now than back then. But the energy industry remains the primary driver of the economy, although competition for that industry appears to be the bigger risk now than the price risk that has prompted the local economy's boom and bust cycles through the years. This week's announcement that Halliburton is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai is a definite wakeup call for Houston's leaders. Just as many Midwestern energy companies abandoned Tulsa for Houston over the past couple of decades, the same thing could happen to Houston as big energy concerns leave for greener pastures overseas.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

March 5, 2007

Autry Court anecdotes

Rice University recently announced a $23 million renovation of venerable Autry Court, the longtime home of the Rice basketball and volleyball teams. An $8 million donation by Rice alum Bobby Tudor spearheaded the renovation, which will begin in July 2007 and be completed by January 2009. In the interim, the Owls will play basketball and volleyball games at Reliant Arena, a small arena in Reliant Park that is used primarily for cutting horse competitions during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Autry Court was built in 1950, but to say that it has lagged behind other facilities is somewhat of an understatement. For Houstonians, probably the most incredible reflection of Autry's antiquity is that air-conditioning -- an essential element of life in Houston -- was not added to the facility until 1991. This David Barron/Chronicle article passes along a couple of funny anecdotes about old Autry:

Consider the priorities associated with an institution of higher learning, and then consider the time Roy Williams brought his Kansas Jayhawks to play at Autry in November 1997. The team got off the bus and walked toward Rice's sparking-new Shepherd School of Music before Rice athletic department publicist Bill Cousins intercepted them and said, "Uh, fellows, the gym's over here." . . .

[Autry Court] also [has] been renovated, in piecemeal fashion, to the point that finding the visitors' locker room resembles a scene from the film This is Spinal Tap.

During Kansas' 1997 trip, Mike Ped�, Rice's former marketing director for athletics, had the task of accompanying the Jayhawks to their quarters, a trip that required detours through the track and swim team locker rooms.

"I turn around and see Raef LaFrentz tearing up pieces of paper and dropping them on the floor," Ped� said. "Roy Williams says, 'Raef, what are you doing?' and he says, 'Coach, I've got to figure out a way to get back to the court.' "

My Autry Court anecdote has nothing to do with the facility, but with a brief conversation that I had there with former longtime Houston Rockets general manager Ray Patterson in the early 1980's. A friend who is a Rice basketball fan took me to a game at Autry to see the Owls star of the time, Ricky Pierce. Patterson was at the game and my friend was also a friend of Patterson, so he introduced me and we watched a half of the game together. Pierce proceeded to put on a clinic, scoring over 20 points in the first half and completely dominating the game.

Stating the obvious, I turned to Patterson at the conclusion of the half and remarked: "Think Pierce will be available when the Rockets pick in the upcoming NBA draft?" Patterson, who made some of the worst draft choices in the NBA during his tenure with the Rockets (remember Lee Johnson?), replied:

"Wouldn't touch him. Too short to play forward, not fast enough to play guard. He's a 'tweener.'"

The Rockets proceeded to pick the eminently forgettable Terry Teagle from Baylor rather than Pierce in the 1982 NBA draft. Pierce went on to enjoy a marvelous professional career, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award twice with the Milwaukee Bucks and setting the then-record for consecutive free throws made with 75 in 1991 with the Seattle SuperSonics. He retired after 16 seasons, scoring almost 14,500 points for his career while shooting 50% from the field.

Teagle, on the other hand, lasted only two seasons in Houston before moving on to play with three other teams (Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers) in a journeyman NBA career. He also didn't win any awards from the NBA.

Posted by Tom at 4:23 AM | Comments (0) |

March 3, 2007

The 75th Go Texan!

The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (prior posts here) is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary at Reliant Park, and the Houston Press' Richard Connelly does a great job of capturing the special subculture that defines rodeo time in Houston. I mean, where else can you eat a meal of sausage and fried oreos while viewing some of the most amazing animal specimens in the world, and then catch the rodeo and a quality musical act all in one day and location? Connelly's article also passes along the now legendary story about the 1974 Sonny and Cher rodeo performance that took place just a couple of weeks after the then husband and wife team separated in preparation of their eventual divorce. The abbreviated show ended up generating the highest number of refund demands in the history of the rodeo. As Connelly notes, who would have ever guessed that such a debacle would hatch a political career?

Posted by Tom at 4:49 AM | Comments (0) |

February 23, 2007

Fulbright's tough week

It has not been a week to remember for the venerable Houston law firm, Fulbright & Jaworski.

First, the firm's expected public relations coup in hiring Harris County Judge Robert Eckels as a lobbyist with the firm was met with more than a little grumbling locally, forcing Eckels to address the question of why on earth he didn't resign before last November's election so that the voters could elect his successor? Eckels proceeded to sound oddly out of sorts in his subsequent public attempts to answer that quite reasonable question.

But that letdown was peanuts compared to the potential public relations disaster reported in this AboveTheLaw post:

Breaking: Fulbright & Jaworski Partner Drops the N-Bomb During A Recruiting Interview!

The email reprinted below, from Dean Katharine T. Bartlett, just went out to everyone at Duke Law School. It was forwarded to us by a source at the school.

Yes, we know: the partner who pulled a Michael Richards used "the n word" in the context of telling a story, in which the racial epithet was uttered by a character in the story. He didn't use "the n word" to refer to any student or interviewee.

We don't know the nature of the story being told by the partner. But unless the story was about, say, the partner's pro bono representation, in a civil action for damages, of a hate crime or police brutality victim who was attacked and called "the n word," it was hugely inappropriate for the partner to use a racial slur in this context (or, for that matter, any other context).

The post goes on to quote the Duke Law Dean's entire email about the incident in its humiliating entirety, which is now all over the blogosphere. And the extensive comments to the post are interesting, to say the least.

But wait a minute. It turns out that there is more than a little context to the story. The above post was followed by this explanation from the Fulbright executive committee:

Dear Colleagues:

Because you may hear about or be asked about a recent situation at a law school where attorneys participated in training interviews of students, we want to bring it to your attention. One of our lawyers recounted a story about Leon Jaworski�s defense of an African-American man in a murder trial in Waco, Texas in the 1920s. During the retelling, in an effort to display the depth of racial hostility that Jaworski and his client faced, the attorney used a racial term that characterized what the district attorney in the case said about the defendant. After review of the situation, all involved concluded that such terms, although recounted without ill intentions, are inappropriate for our firm, which values diversity and strives for inclusiveness.

We are addressing the situation, and Steve Pfeiffer and other senior partners are en route to meet with the students. One of the other attorneys who participated in the training session acted immediately when the incident was called to his attention and responded with an electronic letter of explanation and appropriate apology. Any inquiries should be directed to the firm's Hiring Partner, Gerry Lowry.

Executive Committee

And to make matters even more interesting, it appears that some members of the Duke Law School Faculty were stoking the fires. AboveTheLaw.com received the following email from a current law student at Duke:

This partner was relating what another person said in the context of telling a story. Now everyone is piling on him. The student [who voiced the complaint] has been goaded on by some super liberal professors.

H'mm. I wonder if any of those Duke law professors were the same ones who also supported the lynch mob in the Duke lacrosse team case?

My sense is that this all blows over quickly for Fulbright because, in the end, the Duke Law School Dean made a mountain out of molehill. But man, what a way to end a week that I'm sure the firm expected to be a public relations bonanza. Such is life in the big city.

Update: The Texas Lawyer ($) posted this online article on the incident today.

Posted by Tom at 4:38 AM | Comments (0) |

February 19, 2007

More on the outrage that is the Harris County Jail

Even as things change in Harris County government, the chronic problems of the Harris County Jail remain the same.

A Houston Chronicle review of state and county records reveals that from January 2001 through December 2006, at least 101 inmates � an average of about 17 a year � have died while in the custody of the Harris County Jail. In 2006 alone, after three consecutive years of failing to be in compliance with state standards, the jail recorded 22 in-custody deaths.

At the time of their deaths, at least 72 of the inmates � more than 70 percent � were awaiting court hearings and had yet to be convicted of the crimes that led to their incarceration.

Records and interviews show that almost one-third of the deaths involve questions of inadequate responses from guards and staff, failure by jail officials to provide inmates with essential medical and psychiatric care and medications, unsanitary conditions, and two allegations of physical abuse by guards.

In at least 13 cases, relatives or documents raise questions over whether inmates received needed medications prior to their deaths. Additionally, 11 of the deaths involve infections and illnesses suggesting sanitation problems. In 10 other cases, death reports suggest possible neglect, . . . [ . . .]

Prisoners also claim they have been forced to sleep on mattresses on cellblock floors � sometimes next to toilets. They maintain that the crowded living conditions at the jail are ripe for disease and bacteria, particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, a potentially lethal blood infection.

As a result, numerous inmates contend they have contracted staph infections while incarcerated. Jail records show that between January 2001 and April 2005, there were 60 medical quarantines at the jail. The records show at least two of the quarantines were related to staph infections. The causes of 11 other quarantines are not listed.

Apparently with the exception of the Harris County Commissioners, most everyone agrees that something needs to be done about the Harris County Jail. Yet, as has been the case for the almost 30 years now that I've been practicing law in Houston, while most everyone agrees, nothing ever gets done.

Government generally -- and Harris County government in particular -- is responsive to those constituencies that wield political power. Prisoners have no political power and are generally unpopular with those who do. Inasmuch as most voters never set foot in a jail and have no first-hand experience of the abysmal conditions, it is easy to understand why nothing is ever done about this outrage, at least from a political standpoint.

But that doesn't make the condition of the Harris County Jail any easier to stomach. At a time when Governor Perry is bowing to the powerful political forces that want to build even more prisons, it's high time that voters realize the scam that state and local politicians have foisted on them in bowing to the powerful political forces that support the endless cycle of building more and more prisons. The problem with the Harris County Jail is largely the result of too many non-violent or petty criminals being locked up there for too long. Until the politicians do the hard work necessary to reform the barbaric policies that have caused that condition, the jail problem is unlikely to change. Kudos to the Chronicle for keeping this problem on the frontburner. Charles Kuffner and Burnt Orange Report have more.

Posted by Tom at 4:03 AM | Comments (3) |

February 14, 2007

The fading allure of the "Superstar Cities"

Urban economics expert Joel Kotkin (previous posts here) reports on the myth of the "superstar cities" in this WSJ ($) article and he sums up the bullish prospects of cities such as Houston in comparison to supposed superstar cities such as New York, San Francisco and Boston:

Economic and demographic trends suggest that the future of American urbanism lies not in the elite cities but in younger, more affordable and less self-regarding places.

Over the past 15 years, it has been opportunistic newcomers -- Houston, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Riverside -- that have created the most new jobs and gained the most net domestic migration. In contrast there has been virtually negligible long-term net growth in jobs or positive domestic migration to places like New York, Los Angeles, Boston or the San Francisco Bay Area.

What as much as anything distinguishes elite places -- what Wharton real-estate professor Joe Gyourko calls "the superstar cities" -- are their absurdly high real-estate prices. New York, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles have long been more expensive than, say, Dallas, Houston or Phoenix -- but in recent years the difference in price, he calculates, has increased beyond all reason. San Francisco prices since 1950, for example, have grown at twice the national rate for the 50 largest metropolitan areas.[. . .]

This perhaps explains why the largest companies -- with the notable exception of Silicon Valley -- have continued to move toward the more opportunistic cities. New York and its environs, for example, had 140 such firms in 1960; in 2006 the number had dropped to less than half that, some of those running with only skeleton top management. Houston, in contrast, had only one Fortune 500 company in 1960; today it is home to over 20. Houston companies tend to staff heavily locally; this is one reason the city was able to replace New York and other high-cost locales as the nation's unchallenged energy capital. Another example of this trend is Charlotte's rise as the nation's second-ranked banking center in terms of assets, surpassing San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles, indeed all superstar cities except New York.

Houston's own urban policy wonk, Tory Gattis, has more of the Kotkin article and provides his own series of posts on why young cities such as Houston are well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities that are not rich enough for the superstar cities. Not a bad position to be in, folks.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

February 6, 2007

One of the Chron's good guys retires

I don't fish much and hunt even less, but I have enjoyed enjoyed the writing of Houston Chronicle Outdoors columnist Joe Doggett for the past 35 years. Over that time, Doggett has cogently addressed a wide variety of subjects and issues that impact hunting and fishing in a manner that made them equally interesting to the avid and casual outdoorsman alike. This past Sunday, Doggett wrote his final column for the Chronicle before heading toward a retirement for which his occupation prepared him particularly well. He will be missed.

By the way, Doggett's last column gave me an excuse to pass along the specially-made YouTube commercial below with a hilarious hunting theme. Enjoy.

Posted by Tom at 4:02 AM | Comments (1) |

January 26, 2007

Does New Orleans really need this?

A week or so ago, this post noted that the local and state governments of Louisiana have to date failed to do what is necessary to jump-start the revitalization of New Orleans.

So, faced with such a record of failure, what does the local government of New Orleans do?

Hire former Houston mayor Lee P. Brown as a consultant.

As with Anne Linehan, this development left me speechless. But thankfully, Richard Connelly over at the Houston Press was able to pull himself together to place the hiring of Brown in perspective:

If you've ever asked yourself, as you've watched the post-Katrina morass of incompetence and violence that has engulfed New Orleans, whether that city has suffered enough, you have your answer. And that answer is "no."

N'awlins, get ready for...the magical world of Lee P. Brown!

Brown, who was Atlanta's public-safety commissioner during a famously inept serial-murder investigation, who was New York's police commissioner during the ineptly handled Crown Heights riots, who was Houston mayor while the HPD crime lab was run...eptly? Guess again!...has been hired to solve New Orleans' massive violent-crime problem.

If his time here is any indication, Brown will implement a two-pronged attack. He will a) bore everyone to death, using content-less, clich�-filled, charisma-free speeches to put criminals into a stupor; and b) take a lot of taxpayer-funded out-of-town trips. We're sure Rome and London need to be studied closely for tips on how to stop Ninth Ward gangbangers.

Brown told the Louisiana Weekly that "there is no silver bullet that is going to say that this is going to be done tomorrow...Working together, you can get the job done."

We're kind of surprised Brown didn't mention making New Orleans "a world-class city," but it's still early.

Connelly goes on to report that even residents of New Orleans are scratching their heads over what Brown is supposed to do.

Meanwhile, the prescription for government to revive New Orleans remains simple -- ensure law and order, provide basic services, create an environment where entreprenuers will take the risk of starting businesses that will create jobs that will attract residents to the area, and then get out of the way. If Brown passes that advice along to Mayor Nagin, then he actually might be worth whatever New Orleans is paying him.

But don't count on it.

Posted by Tom at 5:24 AM | Comments (0) |

What to do about TSU?

Earlier this week, the discussion in Texas education circles was the University of Houston's proposal to establish a third medical school in the Texas Medical School in conjunction with The Methodist Hospital and Cornell University. Today, the discussion turns toward one of chronic problems of the Texas system of public universities -- what to do about Texas Southern University?

Turns out that former TSU president Priscilla Slade's spending habits are the least of TSU's problems. TSU cannot come close to paying its current and projected liabilities, which include the following:

Deferred maintenance on buildings -- including daily pumping of water out of the school's administration building -- totaling $54 million over the next 10 years;

Missing purchase orders and outstanding payables from past years to vendors of $1.7 million owed without purchase orders and another $900,000 owed with purchase orders that were not budgeted;

Shuttle service and parking garages do not collect enough fees to support debt service on $34 million in construction projects. Who thought that they would?;

The athletics department has a $2 million operating deficit even though it is subsidized primarily with student fees;

The institution's computer and information technology is obsolescent and needs to be overhauled at a short term cost of more than $500,000, which is also not budgeted; and

There is a $1.2 million debt service shortfall on two new dorms that are not even fully occupied.

Governor Perry's office issued the usual strong words about TSU needing to fix its problems immediately. But, really. What the heck is the TSU board of regents to do in the short term? Hold bake sales to raise money?

Texas Southern's financial problems are chronic and are not going away absent a re-evaluation of its place among Texas public universities in general and the Houston area's need for multiple open admission institutions, in particular. Although it provided an important service to Texas in the days of segregation, TSU has been largely overtaken in providing the open admissions service to the Houston area by the University of Houston-Downtown, which does a better job of educating its students and, over the past decade or so, has grown into a larger institution than TSU. Of course, it helps that UH-D has access to the University of Houston system's relatively modest endowment, a distinct advantage that TSU has never enjoyed.

So, what to do with TSU? Well, it's clear that providing minimal emergency funding for its short-term financial problems -- the usual response -- is akin to throwing money on a dormant campfire. TSU needs to be merged into one of the major university systems -- the UH system probably makes the most sense at this point -- and then the legislature needs to provide realistic short-term and long-term funding while UH absorbs TSU, probably into a second UH-D campus. But however TSU is reorganized, one thing is clear -- providing funding for its current financial problems without a long-term plan for reorganizing the institution and redefining its purpose would be a failure of leadership, something that Texans have endured for far too long in the funding and administration of their public universities.

Posted by Tom at 4:16 AM | Comments (0) |

January 25, 2007

Thinking beyond the UH Medical School

BlogHouston.net's Kevin Whited notes this Chronicle/Todd Ackerman article about the University of Houston floating a proposed new Texas Medical Center-based medical school in a collaborative project with The Methodist Hospital and Cornell University's Weill Medical School.

Unfortunately for UH, the proposal has zilch chance of floating for much more than a few minutes amidst the shark-infested waters of Texas educational politics. Heck, the political forces in Texas cannot even agree to provide adequate funding of UH's uncriticizable goal of becoming the state's third tier I research university. The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and Baylor College of Medicine -- Methodist's former longtime partner -- are just a few of the powerful political forces that would almost certainly line up against the UH-Methodist proposal.

Yet, the UH-Methodist proposal has merit, so here's a proposed modification. Rather than start another medical school from scratch, let's merge the University of Houston system with the Texas A&M system and have A&M expand its fledgling medical school into the Texas Medical Center from its current central Texas outpost. From a broader standpoint, the merger makes sense because it gives the A&M system something that it desperately needs -- a major urban presence -- while also giving UH something that it has always lacked -- that is, access to adequate endowed capital. Such a merger would also provide A&M with the law school that it has always coveted and would greatly facilitate UH's elevation into a tier I research institution, which is something that would substantially benefit the Houston area.

While the University of Texas would almost certainly oppose such a merger, perhaps a deal could be struck at the same time to merge the Texas Tech University system into the UT system while organizing the remainder of Texas' non-affiliated public universities into a third university system for funding and administrative purposes. Such a structure would give Texas a similar structure to that of the reasonably successful California model, which has generated far more first rate, tier I research universities (10) than the current dysfunctional Texas system (2). Indeed, almost anything would be a huge improvement over the current Texas system, which allocates a disproportionate amount of endowed capital to the UT and A&M systems while starving the remainder of Texas' public universities.

Make sense? You bet. Chances of happening? Probably not much. But just as UCLA and Cal-Berkeley co-exist productively in the same university system in California, UH and A&M could do the same in Texas. And just as two major university systems work side-by-side together to educate Californians, a similar structure would be a substantial improvement in the educational system of Texas.

Posted by Tom at 4:54 AM | Comments (1) |

January 24, 2007

Where to sit at Cafe Annie

Cafe Annie has been one of Houston's finest restaurants for over a decade, so it tends to attract an interesting mix of local personalities.

This recent Wall Street Journal ($) article presents the restaurant's floor plan and notes who sits where among a number of well-known regulars.

My wife and I prefer a table in the area of tables 54-66, which are away from most of the traffic and provide a decent amount of privacy.

And, yes, that deep-fried quail is quite good.

Posted by Tom at 5:21 AM | Comments (0) |

January 5, 2007

The Houston connection to the Alabama-Saban deal

The college football world is abuzz this week with the lucrative deal that the University of Alabama rolled out to attract Miami Dolphins head coach Nick Saban to Tuscaloosa, which is yet another example of the market distortions that result from the NCAA's excessive regulation of big-time college football. But that's an issue for another day. Turns out that, as usual, there is a Houston business connection to the Saban hiring at Alabama.

You see, Alabama fans were highly interested in the University's behind-the-scenes courtship of Saban, so Houston-based FlightAware.com -- a web-based company that allows users to track flight activity -- became one of the favorite sources of information for Alabama fans following the Saban saga:

Before Nick Saban announced Wednesday that he was leaving the Miami Dolphins to take over at Alabama, fans had flocked to FlightAware.com, a Web site that allows users to track flight activity. Was South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier flying into Tuscaloosa Regional Airport? Was a plane owned by the University of Alabama departing for Norman, Okla., perhaps with university officials on their way to court Sooners Coach Bob Stoops?

�When you set out a vision for how you can help people, you can envision a whole lot of things,� said Daniel Baker, the founder and chief executive of FlightAware.com. �We�d like to claim we had unlimited foresight into how our service would be used, but this certainly is an unusual use for FlightAware.�

Coaching searches at other prominent college programs have also sent fans scurrying to glean information from online flight data. Internet message boards revealed that fans from Michigan State, Cincinnati and North Carolina State turned to the Web site. [. . .]

Baker and his staff could not have anticipated those uses by fans. Neither could Wayne Cameron, manager of the Tuscaloosa airport. He said that after Mike Shula was fired, he fielded dozens of inquiries about activity at the airport.

�Everybody in the country has been tracking the university�s plane and Paul Bryant Jr.�s plane,� Cameron said. Bryant, the son of the renowned Alabama football coach Bear Bryant, is a member of Alabama�s Board of Trustees and the board�s athletics committee.

�They would ask who I�d seen get off planes, or if I�d seen Spurrier, or if I knew where the university plane was going,� Cameron added. �It was kind of like a feeding frenzy there for a few days.�

John Howard, a 25-year-old Crimson Tide fan, created the blog hirebobstoops.blogspot.com after he determined that flight activity he traced on FlightAware.com indicated that Alabama may be interested in hiring Stoops from Oklahoma.

�You have a lot of activity between Norman and Tuscaloosa,� Howard said in an interview in early December. �I have no clue if it�s all connected, and I�m not saying it is.

�I just think it�s real interesting that all these planes and these cities are connecting.�

By this week, however, signals were pointing elsewhere. Flight data turned Alabama fans� attention to Saban when reports emerged that Mal Moore, the athletic director, had flown to Miami.

Doug Walker, the university�s associate athletic director for media relations, said Moore and others involved in the search knew that flights were being tracked.

�We�re aware of it, but it�s not affecting the way we�re conducting our business,� Walker said. �We�re not trying to conduct a world war here, we�re just trying to hire a football coach.�

And Baker is only trying to operate a flight-tracking service. If fans visit his site, so be it.

�If it�s all in good fun and everyone�s happy, it�s always a good thing,� Baker said.

�But I wouldn�t be surprised if people are losing sleep by hitting refresh on the page.�

Posted by Tom at 4:57 AM | Comments (0) |

January 3, 2007

Jim Crane proposes to take EGL private

Last year, the Houston business community saw Kinder Morgan bail out of the increasing headache of operating as a public company. With the coming of the new year, Houston-based EGL announced that it is going private in a $1.2 billion deal led by its CEO, Jim Crane, and private equity firm General Atlantic.

EGL stands for EGL Eagle Global Logistics, which provides services such as supply-chain management, warehousing and freight forwarding for business and government air and marine shipments. The company earned $58.2 million in 2005 and had net income of $45.4 million through the first nine months of 2006. Crane founded EGL about 20 years ago in Houston, took it public over a decade ago, and remains its largest shareholder with 18%. General Atlantic has proposed to pay $36 a share for the rest of the stock, which would generate a 21% premium over the company�s $29.78 closing price as of Dec. 29. Crane and General Atlantic have secured $1.13 billion in financing, and the balance of the proposed purchase price would consist of equity contributed by General Atlantic, Crane and other senior EGL executives. EGL's board has formed a committee to study the offer.

As noted here in regard to the Kinder Morgan deal (also noted here in regard to New York City), the EGL deal is a direct result of the increased cost of public equity resulting from the ill-advised regulatory maze that government has imposed on public companies in the post-Enron era. As Professor Bainbridge says, "legislate in haste, repent at leisure." As is all too common, the governmental solution to business scandals is more harmful to its investor-citizens than the business scandals themselves.

Posted by Tom at 4:22 AM | Comments (0) |

December 19, 2006

Tributes to a marvelous teacher

Today is the birthday of the late Ross M. Lence, one of Houston's finest teachers of the past generation. On Dec. 1st -- the final day of classes for the fall semester at the University of Houston -- I was privileged to be one of the speakers at the University's memorial service for Ross at the A.D. Bruce Religion Center on the University's central campus.

As with most anything that involved the reasonable Dr. Lence, the service was a joyous affair, alternately hilarious and moving. Bill Monroe, one of Ross' colleagues at The Honors College, had one of the best cracks of the day when he passed along another colleague's observation about the notoriously difficult-to-pin-down Dr. Lence:

"A colleague and mutual friend said that, for over a decade, he thought Lence was a liberal Jew from Chicago, only to discover that he was a libertarian Catholic from White Fish, Montana."

After a festive reception at the UH Honors College, many of those who attended the memorial service walked across campus to Robertson Stadium to attend the Conference USA Championship game between the Houston Cougars and the Southern Mississippi, which the Coogs won in stirring style. All in all, a wonderful afternoon paying tribute to a dear friend and then an enjoyable evening of college football on a beautiful fall day in Houston.

The following are pdf's of the tributes to Ross delivered at the memorial service. Take a moment to read a bit about a great teacher and fine man who influenced the lives of thousands of Houstonians over the past 35 years:

The program for the memorial service is here;

Bill Monroe's opening and closing remarks are here;

Susan Collins, one of Ross' colleagues in the UH Political Science Department, gave this tribute and also passed along this tribute to Ross for PS Magazine that Susan wrote with former UH Political Science Professor Donald Lutz, who was instrumental in bringing Ross to the University of Houston;

Ed Willems, a UH Professor Emeritus of Psychology and a longtime teaching partner with Ross, gave this heartfelt tribute entitled "Ross Lence: He taught students and me."

Andy Little, one of Ross' longtime students and a student advisor in The Honors College, read Ross' moving essay On Teaching;"

My tribute to Ross is here, Harris County Treasurer-elect Orlando Sanchez's tribute is here, and the tribute of Jeff Dodd, a partner at Andrews & Kurth who specializes in corporate securities law, is here; and

Finally, Honors College Dean Ted Estess was scheduled to reprise his moving eulogy that he originally delivered in July at Ross' funeral mass, but he chose instead to pass along extemporaneously several anecdotes and observations about Ross, a couple of which brought the house down with laughter.

Inasmuch as Ross often used to help needy and deserving students financially, The Honors College has established a scholarship fund in Ross' name. Donations to that fund may be sent to the Ross Lence Scholarship Fund, The Honors College, University of Houston, 212 M.D. Anderson Library, Houston, TX 77204-2001.

Posted by Tom at 4:49 AM | Comments (0) |

December 17, 2006

The University of Houston Master Plan

The University of Houston has been making some big plans recently, and this Matt Tresaugue/Chronicle article reviews them:

UH leaders intend to transform the campus with more housing, more restaurants, more shops and other places to be outside the classroom.

The goal, campus leaders said, is to create an environment that attracts the best scholars and encourages them to stick around. [. . .]

The plan also calls for doubling the usable square footage of classroom and office space, replacing parking lots with garages and closing part of Cullen to create a tree-lined pedestrian walkway by 2020.

What's more, the campus would meld with the surrounding Third Ward while reducing blight and encouraging more retailers to move in. University officials already are talking with private developers about a "town center" with shops and restaurants on both sides of Scott between Holman and Alabama.

Campus leaders do not know how much everything would cost but estimate the first five-year phase at $300 million, and largely at the university's expense. The redevelopment plan will be a key piece of an upcoming fundraising campaign, officials said.[ . . .]

The new plan would establish five themed precincts on campus, reflecting the "smart growth" trend elsewhere, with dense housing, retail and office space in village configurations.

The interior of the campus would be almost untouched.

To the north, campus leaders envision an arts village with a sculpture garden, outdoor amphitheater, cafes, galleries and housing, including loft apartments, on what are now parking lots.

About 1.6 million square feet of academic buildings and housing for graduate students would be added to the so-called professional precinct, to the east of the campus core.

Another area, the Wheeler precinct, would be devoted to undergraduates, with plans calling for low-rise residence halls to blend with the nearby University Oaks neighborhood.

To the west would be a Robertson Stadium precinct with 1.9 million square feet in new academic buildings, housing and retail near two proposed Metro light rail lines.

The University's summary of its master plan -- with renditions and video -- is here.

Despite the story on the ambitious UH master plan, the Chronicle still ignores the more important story about UH. As noted in this this previous post, UH in many ways is the most remarkable major public university in Texas. Started in 1927 as a junior college, UH grew quickly during its infancy while being endowed entirely with philanthropic contributions from generous Houstonians, which was made all the more remarkable by the fact that, at the same time, Houstonians were also contributing substantial amounts to the Rice University endowment. Inasmuch as bustling UH did not even become a state university until 1963, UH has received only a fraction of the endowed capital that the state has provided to its two older public university systems, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. As a result, UH provides a comparable contribution to Houston and the state as UT and A&M while operating with far less capital than those two institutions, which prompted my earlier observation that UH provides "more bang for the educational buck" than either UT or A&M.

With the recent expansion of the MD Anderson Library into the centerpiece of the central campus, along with the development of innovative programs such as the Honors College, UH has already become an increasingly attractive choice for Texas students. Implementation of the master plan is the next logical step in that evolution. It's good that the local newspaper is noticing that, but it makes one wonder how much more benefit UH could contribute to Houston and the state if its endowed capital were on par with that of UT or A&M? That's a story that needs to be examined, and here's hoping that the Chronicle eventually tackles it.

Posted by Tom at 4:57 AM | Comments (1) |

December 15, 2006

Those darn "four-legged fire ants"

This earlier post reported on the emerging market for the meat of feral hogs, which are a fixture of rural (and, increasingly, suburban) Texas.

The Chronicle's Shannon Tompkins takes the discussion of earlier post several steps further and provides this excellent overview of the feral hog phenomenom in Texas. The battle between humans and hogs is a fascinating story involving a myriad of subjects -- including biology, ecology, farming, hunting and game policy -- and it appears that the hogs are winning that battle!

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Phoenix's light rail boondoggle

The dubious economic nature of Houston's light rail system is a common topic on this blog, so I took interest in this insightful Warren Meyer post that ponders why a light rail system is being built in Warren's hometown of Phoenix, which is one of the few metro U.S. areas that may be even less conducive to such a system than Houston.

Given the inefficiency and inflexibility of such systems, Warren wonders who supports such boondoggles and suspects that a few powerful businesspeople are using the rail line in an effort to jumpstart the misguided goal of establishing a dominant downtown area in the decentralized Phoenix metro area. Add in a few high-minded environmentalists and many others who are simply ignorant of the enormous cost relative to the benefit of such systems and, as Peter Gordon wryly-noted awhile back:

"It adds up to a winning coalition."

Unfortunately, as another Phoenix-area resident -- Nobel Laureate Ed Prescott -- reminded us recently, once such coalitions are successful in establishing a governmental policy subsidizing such boondoggles, it is much more difficult to end the public subsidy of the boondoggle than to start it in the first place.

By the way, Houston Metro's subsidy of its light rail system has other perverse effects, such as the lack of security for one of the transit options that actually makes sense for the Houston area.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (2) |

December 11, 2006

The Houston bowl game that few will see

This NY Sunday Times article does a good job of reporting on Texans' owner Bob McNair's efforts to revive Houston's bowl game, renamed "the Texas Bowl" after being known over the years as the Bluebonnet Bowl, the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl and, most recently, the EV1.net Bowl.

Now, if only McNair could persuade the other NFL owners to let most of us watch the game. Sort of silly to have a bowl game that is supposed to promote the city when most people can't watch it, don't you think?

Posted by Tom at 4:19 AM | Comments (0) |

December 7, 2006

The Poston Congressional hearings?

This previous post reported on the strange case of Houston-based lawyer and former sports agent, Carl Poston, who is currently serving a two-year suspension levied by the National Football League Players' Association from representing any NFL players. I thought the suspension pretty much ended that story, at least until coming across this ESPN.com article:

New York Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington is tentatively scheduled to testify before Congress this week at a hearing involving his former agent. Arrington, a three-time Pro Bowl player; NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen; and a law professor were on a "tentative witness list" e-mailed to The Associated Press on Tuesday by House Judiciary Committee press secretary Terry Shawn. [ . . .]

The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law has scheduled an oversight hearing for Thursday to examine the NFL Players Association's arbitration process. Lawmakers will be looking into the NFLPA's suspension of Arrington's former agent, Carl Poston, stemming from his handling of a contract the linebacker signed with the Washington Redskins near the end of the 2003 season.

Now, I recognize that a post-election Congress is the Washington, D.C.-equivalent of professional golf's "silly season," where members of a lame duck Congress are passing time until the new Congress is sworn in early next year. But still, can't our elected officials find something more noteworthy on which to hold a Congressional hearing than a relatively small, not-very-well handled contractual matter between two private parties?

Posted by Tom at 4:33 AM | Comments (0) |

December 5, 2006

Keep those buses handy

Wendell Cox reports on a little problem that occurred in St. Louis recently that ought (but probably won't) give the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority pause:

Buses Replace Light Rail in St. Louis

A large ice storm hit the St. Louis area last night and power is out to nearly one-half of the area. The area�s light rail line, Metrolink, has suspended service for much of its alignment and is providing substitute bus service.

Meanwhile, there appears to be no instance of light rail providing replacement for buses anywhere in the metropolitan area --- for that matter probably never in history, anywhere. Another demonstration of the flexibility of urban rail.

The enormous cost relative to usage and inflexibility of most rail systems reminds me of something that Peter Gordon observed awhile back about the political forces that support these boondoggles. Some are disingenous promoters seeking to profit from the rail lines, some pose as high-minded environmentalists and many are simply ignorant of the inefficiency and inflexibility of such systems. As Professor Gordon wryly points out:

"It adds up to a winning coalition."

By the way, Anne Linehan over at blogHouston.net continues to follow another cost of the Houston light rail system that Metro doesn't much like talking about.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

November 27, 2006

The UH Memorial Service for Ross M. Lence

In a fitting tribute on the final day of classes for the fall semester, the University of Houston will host a memorial service for its late and beloved Professor, Ross M. Lence, at 1:30 p.m., this Friday, December 1 in the AD Bruce Religion Center on the UH campus. Dr. Lence died this past July after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

UH Honors College Dean Ted Estess and several of Ross' colleagues, former students and friends (including me) will give short remembrances of Ross during the service, which will also include music performed by Honors College students. A reception will follow the service at the Commons of the the Honors College, which is a short walk from the Religion Center. Later that day at 7 p.m., the University of Houston football team will play Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA Championship game at Robertson Stadium on the UH campus, a game that Dr. Lence would not have missed.

Ross Lence was one of the most gifted teachers of our time and a selfless mentor to hundreds of students and colleagues. If you were touched by Ross or simply want to pay tribute to a treasure of our community, then come by the service and reception on Friday afternoon. You will be inspired.

Posted by Tom at 4:45 AM | Comments (0) |

November 22, 2006

A dream golf round

Sounds as if Jack Kendall, who owns a couple of Lexus dealerships in the Houston area, had the round of a lifetime recently at Pebble Beach Golf Club:

Kendall, 63, . . . made Pebble Beach history when he became the first golfer, amateur or professional, to ace two holes in the same round on the first nine holes of the 86-year-old course. His holes-in-one came on the par-3 5th and 7th holes.

To put this accomplishment in perspective, many very good golfers go a lifetime without ever making a hole in one. To it twice in a round is almost unheard of. To do it twice in a round while playing one of the most revered golf courses in the US? Now, that's going to be rather difficult to top.

Posted by Tom at 7:24 AM | Comments (0) |

November 21, 2006

Piling on in the Slade case

This Chronicle article reports that the criminal case of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade does not appear to be moving toward an amicable resolution:

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is investigating suspicions that former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade may have lied to the grand jury.

Prosecutor Donna Goode sought today to unseal Slade's grand jury testimony so that Slade's former assistant could review it for inconsistencies.

If conflicts are found, Slade could be charged with aggravated perjury.

Slade already faces an effective life prison sentence if convicted on felony charges of misapplication of fiduciary property, so why seek an additional ten years on an aggravated perjury charge? Slade attorney Mike DeGeurin suggests that the prosecution wants to use the grand jury testimony in preparing witnesses who would not otherwise have access to the secret testimony.

Meanwhile, Slade faces a possible February 16, 2007 trial date in what is shaping up to be one of the ugliest white collar criminal cases to take place in Harris County District Court in a long while.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (1) |

November 11, 2006

Saves you money!

In this column, Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy profiles Gallery Furniture owner "Mattress Mac" Jim McIngvale, who transformed a run-down location on Houston's near northside over the past 20 years into a furniture sale and distribution center that generates over $100 million in annual revenues.

Everyone in Houston knows Mattress Mac because of the idiosyncratic television commercials in which he frenetically hawks his store's furniture and immediate delivery service, punctuated by his trademark "Gallery Furniture saves you money!" declaration. But under that playful exterior is a savvy businessman who has built an extraordinary business based on simple principles -- a broad selection, easy access, quick service and same-day delivery. In many ways, Mattress Mac's business success reflects why the Houston area is such a good incubator of new business. With low barriers to entry, no zoning, relatively few regulations and a public that prefers low prices and quick service to allegiance to brand name stores, Houston provided the perfect launching pad for Gallery Furniture's success.

Some folks look down their noses at Gallery Furniture, but I've always admired Mac's operation as an utterly unpretentious business that delivers its product and service in a remarkably efficient manner. Here is a case in point. On a Sunday evening late last summer, my wife mentioned to me that she had spent the previous Saturday afternoon trudging around furniture stores near our home with one of our sons unsuccessfully looking for an easy chair for one of our son's college apartment. Inasmuch as wandering around furniture stores is not how most young college-age men prefer to spend their Saturday afternoons, our son was a bit discouraged because they had not found anything within the price range that my wife and I had set.

It was about only 7 p.m., so I suggested that we make the half-hour drive down to Gallery Furniture to check out its selection. We arrived there at 7:45 p.m. and, immediately after we walked into the store, a salesperson was helping us browse through the huge selection of easy chairs. In less than a half hour, we had found a nice chair and it took us less then 10 minutes to pay for it and arrange for delivery of the chair to our home later than evening. We returned home by 9 p.m. and, promptly at 10:15 p.m., a van pulled up to deliver the chair. Thus, by the time our son returned home later that evening from a movie, he found his new chair sitting in our living room. He could not have been more pleased, particularly that he was not going to have to shop any further for a chair.

Although a broad selection and quick service are important components of Gallery Furniture's appeal, my wife and I caught a glimpse of the primary reason for the company's success as we were leaving the store that evening. At 8:30 p.m. on a late August Sunday evening, Jim McIngvale was at his store's front desk, helping customers and directing his sales staff. Regardless of what you think about Mac's style, it's hard not to admire that type of dedication to his company, even well after it has become a business juggernaut. Sometimes success in business is complicated, but Mattress Mac reminds us that, most of the time, it is quite simple.

Posted by Tom at 7:01 AM | Comments (2) |

November 7, 2006

Houston's hot real estate market

While many U.S. real estate markets are cooling off, this Wall Street Journal ($) article reports that the Houston real estate market continues to march forward:

This sprawling city missed the real-estate boom that sent home prices soaring on the East and West coasts. Now, with much of the nation's housing market in retreat, it has yet to feel even a tremor.

In September, local sales of single-family homes and condominiums were up 17.7% from a year earlier, logging their 32nd straight month of increase, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. The median price of an existing single-family home: $143,400, up 3%.

By contrast, nationwide sales of residential real estate fell 14.2% in September, according to the National Association of Realtors. Home prices nationally were down 2.2%, retreating in such former hot spots such as Washington, Boston and San Francisco. The national median sales price for September for existing single-family homes was $219,800, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.

Houston's gains are nothing like those seen in the past decade in the Northeast and California, but that may be the secret to Houston's success and the reason a bubble is unlikely to develop here. Land here is abundant, and the city has some of the least-restrictive land-use and construction rules in the nation. Those factors help supply to keep pace with demand and keep prices within reach of a broad range of potential buyers.

"We haven't had a bad year in the past decade," says Lorraine Abercrombie, chairwoman of the local Realtors group and marketing director for Greenwood King Properties.

Houston's model is in stark contrast to cities such as Boston and San Francisco, which have strict zoning, exacting building codes and laws governing historical preservation. Some economists, including Edward Glaeser of Harvard University, say excessive regulation in such cities has slowed construction to the point where demand has outstripped supply, fueling a run-up in home prices.

In the once-sizzling markets where home prices are falling, housing costs are double, triple or even quadruple those of Houston. The danger, says Dr. Glaeser, is such places have priced out today's highly skilled "knowledge workers," forcing them to live in a more affordable locale where their contribution to the economy might not be as great. "These are places where only the elite can live," Dr. Glaeser says.

Not so Houston. Confined by neither oceans nor mountains, the Houston metropolitan area has plenty of room to spread out. What is more, the city has no zoning, weak historical-preservation rules and few tools to preserve open space.

University of Houston economics professor Bart Smith is Houston's leading expert on the local economy, and he has made the point for years that Houston's energy-based economy has traditionally been countercyclical to the national economy. This characteristic has lessened over the past 20 years or so as the local economy diversified in light of the relatively low energy prices over much of that period. But the the continued strong local real estate market indicates that at least certain Houston markets remain countercyclical to U.S. markets generally even though Houston's overall economy now tends to track the national economy to a much greater extend than in the past.

Posted by Tom at 4:32 AM | Comments (1) |

October 31, 2006

Sugar Land SWAT

After the questionable police conduct during the incident at Walter's, I noticed this ABC-13 news blurb from last week, but have seen no follow-up news report since the incident:

A Sugar Land woman says police went too far when they burst into her home and arrested her boyfriend and son on drug charges. The raid left her dog dead and caused thousands of dollars in damage.

"It was bang, bang, bang, then there was a boom as they broke the door in, threw the fire grenade, and then shot the dog," said homeowner Margot Allen. "This all happened in anywhere from five to fifteen seconds."

That's how Allen's son and boyfriend describe what happened that day. Sugar Land police acted on a tip. They say they found traces of marijuana and cocaine in her trash after a month-long investigation.

"There's no crack done in my house," she said. "There's occasional marijuana in my house. I don't do it because I don't happen to like it."

Based on the evidence in the trash, a regional SWAT team arrived at the home. Police say they knocked, waited 30 seconds, and then broke in with guns and a concussion grenade. The house suffered $5,000 damage and one officer shot and killed Margot's golden lab, Shadow, when police say it charged toward one of the officers. What did officers find inside?

"A joint half the size of my pinky fingernail and then one about this big," she said, showing a length on her finger. "And not anywhere near this big around."

Let's see here. A SWAT team is deployed to a citizen's house because "traces of marijuana and cocaine" were found in the trash after a month-long investigation? Then, the citizen's house is heavily damaged and the citizen's dog is killed in the process of arresting a couple of fellows who enjoy smoking a joint in their home? Although a couple of potheads do not generally evoke a great deal of sympathy, is this what the citizens of Sugar Land truly want from a new police growth industry?

Posted by Tom at 4:58 AM | Comments (2) |

October 27, 2006

More trouble across the border

Following up from this post from a year ago regarding the increased drug-related violence along the Texas-Mexico border, this NY Times article reports on a particularly gruesome uptick in the violence -- beheadings of rival gang members:

An underworld war between drug gangs is raging in Mexico, medieval in its barbarity, its foot soldiers operating with little fear of interference from the police, its scope and brutality unprecedented, even in a country accustomed to high levels of drug violence.

In recent months the violence has included a total of two dozen beheadings, a raid on a local police station by men with grenades and a bazooka, and daytime kidnappings of top law enforcement officials. At least 123 law enforcement officials, among them 2 judges and 3 prosecutors, have been gunned down or tortured to death. Five police officers were among those beheaded.

In all, the violence has claimed more than 1,700 civilian lives this year, and federal officials say the killings are on course to top the estimated 1,800 underworld killings last year. Those death tolls compare with 1,304 in 2004 and 1,080 in 2001, these officials say.

By the way, a fence will not stop this particular problem from spilling over the border.

Posted by Tom at 4:49 AM | Comments (2) |

Marble Slab and the ice cream wars

Houston-based Marble Slab Creamery, a premium ice-cream franchisor, is featured along with a couple of competitors in this NY Times article that describes their battle as the fight to become ice cream's equivalent of Starbucks -- "a ubiquitous chain offering a high-priced, high-quality version of a relatively mundane product."

Marble Slab opened its first store in Houston in 1983 and now has 371 franchises in the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates, and another 220 under development. The company estimates this year�s sales will from $75 to $90 million, with sales at established stores increasing by 3 percent. Its main competitor is Phoenix-based Cold Stone Creamery, which has expanded to 1,400 units over the past five years, but which has suffered sales erosion both of the past two years.

By the way, Marble Slab's ice cream is better than Cold Stone's, too.

Posted by Tom at 4:46 AM | Comments (2) |

October 19, 2006

HPD's Friday Night Lights

Suffice it to say that the video below of the incident first noted here will not be linked to from the Houston Chamber of Commerce website.

What on earth was Officer Rodriguez thinking? The Chronicle has a follow-up article here, focusing on the effect that publicity over the incident may have on the live-music club scene in Houston. Houstoned has more, too.

Posted by Tom at 3:56 AM | Comments (0) |

October 18, 2006

Hanging out at Rice University

Ruth Samuelson, an intern with the Houston Press, and a senior at Rice University, reports on David Jovani Vanegas, a 20-year old fellow who showed up about a year ago at Rice as a student and hung out for a year. However, it turns out that he was never actually enrolled at Rice as a student:

On September 13, Rice police arrested Vanegas for criminal trespass. Turns out he wasn't an actual Rice student but a 20-year-old impersonator. Starting last September, Vanegas began eating in Rice's dining halls, hanging out with students and attending classes. Some nights, he crashed in friends' dorm rooms when he was too tired to go home. [. . .]

. . . Within the next few weeks, campus administrators alleged that Vanegas had taken close to $3,700 worth of food from Rice cafeterias. On September 28, the district attorney's office filed felony charges for aggregate theft. Bail was set at $2,000. [. . .]

So why did Vanegas keep coming day after day for three semesters? He told police officers that he hadn't gotten into Rice, but it would have broken his mother's heart for him not to attend. Attempts to reach Vanegas were unsuccessful.

Read about the entire bizarre episode. There is a Marching Owl Band skit in this story somewhere.

Posted by Tom at 4:41 AM | Comments (2) |

October 15, 2006

Crimefighting in Houston run amok

Now, let me get this straight.

Someone calls police on Friday night and complains about the noise level of the music at a local club that is well-known for featuring live bands. The club's crowd is comprised mostly of college kids.

An officer responds and, when the band doesn't reduce its noise level to the officer's satisfaction, the officer climbs onstage, shines a flashlight in the lead singer's face and yells "Stop!"

What happened next is subject to conflicting accounts. However, it appears to be undisputed that the lead singer said something and then the officer grabbed him by the neck and forced him to the ground. A melee involving the officer and several members of the audience broke out, prompting the officer to Taser the lead singer, a 14-year-old audience member and a University of Houston sociology student doing a "field paper on the music scene." At least four people were arrested, the bass player's guitar got smashed and six HPD squad cars ended up at the scene.

The lead singer, who was not one of those arrested, commented afterward to a Houston Chronicle reporter that the officer was "out of control." "He was extremely violent form the start," said the lead singer. "It was frightening."

On the other hand, a police spokesman told the Chronicle that the officer's approach "was commendable" and that it was "fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon."

"Fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon?" To tone down the music level at a club that is in the business of playing loud music?

Irresponsible use of force by local police is an offshoot of the growing problem that Cato Insitute fellow Radley Balko has chronicled with regard to overuse of local police SWAT units. I guess we're fortunate that HPD didn't send in its SWAT team to deal with this situation, but doesn't HPD have better things to be doing on a Friday night than Tasering a bunch of college kids who enjoy listening to loud music at a club?

Posted by Tom at 5:27 AM | Comments (3) |

October 9, 2006

The talented Mr. Munitz skates free

Almost lost amidst the media firestorm over California Attorney General Bill Lochyer's decision to prosecute former Hewlett Packard board chairperson Patricia Dunn was this news item that Lochyer's office has decided not to sue or prosecute former Getty Trust president and former University of Houston president Barry Munitz (prior posts here).

Lochyer's office had been investigating Munitz over misuse of trust money for his wife�s travel, using employees for personal errands and making improper payments to a graduate student from trust funds. Lochyer's office concluded that no legal action was advisable because Munitz's actions were authorized by the Getty board and that his settlement with the Getty Trust when he resigned exceeded the value of what the state could recover from Munitz in a civil action or a prosecution.

In other words, Lochyer concluded that there was no need to prosecute Munitz because he had done the right thing in settling up with the Getty Trust. That decision in regard to Munitz makes his decision to prosecute Ms. Dunn all the more curious. Perhaps Ms. Dunn should have done lunch with Lochyer?

Posted by Tom at 5:35 AM | Comments (0) |

October 5, 2006

Getting off cheap

The Houston Rockets are off to Austin for pre-season training camp and, although the basketball team hasn't achieved much lately, Rockets owner Les Alexander recently joined for the first time fellow Houston professional sports franchise owners Bob McNair (the Texans) and Drayton McLane (the Stros) on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list. Alexander came in at no. 322 on the list with an estimated net worth of $750 mil.

Thus, some eyebrows were raised recently when this Palm Beach Post article revealed that Alexander had gotten out of his 30-year plus marriage to former wife Nanci in 2003 for a mere $150 million. That information is just now coming to light because Alexander had his attorneys obtain an improper sealing of the court records at the time of the divorce settlement.

Looks as if Alexander has done quite a bit better than the Rockets over the past few years.

Posted by Tom at 4:38 AM | Comments (0) |

October 4, 2006

Part of the problem

From time to time, most recently here, I've noted the abysmal condition and chronically overcrowded nature of the Harris County Jail. It is shameful that we allow the Harris County Commissioners to continue to tolerate this mess.

As Scott Henson has noted on his fine series on the problems with the Harris County Jail, one of the main reasons why the jail is overcrowded is that local judges assess jail time to low-risk persons who have been convicted of victimless or petty crimes.

With that backdrop, this Chronicle article reports that State District Judge Brian Rains of the 176th District Criminal Court was recently recused from the case of a teenager accused of possessing a small amount of cocaine and marijuana because Rains requires jail time for any defendant convicted of a drug offense, no matter how inconsequential. Rains' stance is so far out of kilter that the district attorney's prosecutor did not even bother to oppose the recusal. The vice president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association speculates in the article that the recusal of Rains in this case will prompt many similar recusal motions.

I'm sure Rains' "tough" stance on requiring jail time for all drug offenders plays well on the campaign trail. But it sure stinks as a matter of justice and Harris County jail administration. Here's hoping that the local criminal defense bar continues to recuse him in drug cases and that a political opponent emerges to call him out on the short-sighted nature of his policy.

Posted by Tom at 4:55 AM | Comments (0) |

October 2, 2006

Have we got a bomb shelter for you

This Wall Street Journal article reports on the decision of Continental Airlines and several other local companies to lease as an emergency control center one of the most bizarre sites in the Houston area -- a 38,000 square foot, 70-foot deep bomb shelter designed to house 1,500 people for 90 days in the case of a nuclear attack.

The shelter -- which has been a topic of conversation for years in these parts -- is located adjacent to a four-story office building just up the road on Highway 105 in Montgomery near Conroe on Houston's far north side. The office building and bomb shelter were built during the early 1980s by a Ling-Chieh "Louis" Kung, the nephew of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, the former first lady of Taiwan and the wife of Mao Tse Tung's foremost domestic enemy during the Communist revolution in China. Kung died in Houston in 1996 also claimed to be a direct descendant of Confucius, so he seemed to be pretty well-connected.

The shelter is an absurdly over-the-top facility. It contains a 27-inch concrete roof with rebar for protection and has gun turrets that line its pagoda entrances. When Kung finally lost control of the property, the new owners found information on nuclear weapons and procedures that indicated that Kung suspected China or Russia would bomb the United States in the early 1980s. The bunker contained chemical showers that would ensure a person was not contaminated before being allowed to enter, and was equipped with a full hospital, complete with medical supplies, an X-ray machine, an operating room and a morgue. Not leaving anything to chance, the bunker also contained 14 sound-proofed conjugal rooms.

The bunker had been mostly vacant over the past fifteen years or so until an outfit named Westlin Technology bought it and retrofitted it as a data center. That was a relief to curious local residents, who had to endure constant rumors about various eccentrics buying the property. About ten years or so ago, Republic of Texas separatists -- whose members contend that Texas was never legally annexed by the United States -- reportedly were interested in making it the new Capitol of Texas if they ever achieved their goal of overthrowing the Texas state government.

Here is a bit more information on the bunker, including diagrams of the bunker's layout here and here.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

September 23, 2006

It's not Austin, but . . .

Even when the New York Times provides a generally favorable review of the College Station, Texas -- about 100 miles northwest of downtown Houston and the home of Texas A&M University -- the newspaper cannot resist making a snarky comment about one of A&M's most hallowed institutions -- the magnificent Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. In commenting on the experience of attending a football game in College Station, the Times article makes the following observation:

"Don�t miss halftime; you�d have to go to North Korea to match the choreographed pageantry of A&M�s band and corps of cadets."

Posted by Tom at 5:35 AM | Comments (4) |