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.

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.

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?

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.

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.