[WB1] This week, the Houston Chronicle and other local media outlets shared information about the autopsies of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle, the couple who were killed by HPD officers in what appears to have been an unjustified no-knock raid at 7815 Harding Street, orchestrated by possibly dirty (now retired) narcotics cops. Unsurprisingly, neither police chief Art Acevedo nor Joe Gamaldi (both of whom mischaracterized the raid at the time) would comment on the autopsies to the Chronicle.
Art Acevedo did reply to our query on twitter about HPD’s internal investigation (which he once asserted would be completed by mid to late April) with a new target date for HPD’s investigation to be wrapped up: May 15.
[WB2] Mayoral candidate Bill King blasted Mayor Sylvester Turner this week for taking some $50,000 in contributions from Houston strip clubs. King contends the donations are intended to influence a decision on the so-called “Sweet 16” agreement, in which some clubs pay the city an annual fee for what King characterizes as lax enforcement of laws related to sexually oriented businesses.
King was “flanked by anti-trafficking advocates” at his press conference, according to the Chronicle. The campaign blitz prompted yet more campaigning during the workday from mayoral staffers, who surely have more important work to be doing.
[WB3] The Houston Chronicle released an important series on what has effectively been an open-air sex market along Bissonnet for years, and local leaders’ efforts to combat the problem by labeling sex workers as nuisances and going after them legally.
[WB4] A mediator in the ongoing fight over proposition B declared that negotiations over implementation reached an impasse at the end of the week. The mayor’s communications team was quick to argue that the administration had acceded to key HFD conditions, whereas HFD contends that it was effectively being asked to rescind Proposition B and declare it unconstitutional (a non-starter for a host of reasons). Despite Mayor Turner’s occasional utterances about respecting the will of voters, comments during his presser appear to signal that he will continue to pursue legal action to thwart the will of Prop B voters:
The only body that ostensibly possesses the authority to keep Prop B from living at this point would be the courts.
[WB5] This week, KHOU-11’s investigative team caught City of Houston Solid Waste Department employees mixing trash and recyclables in the neighborhood of yours truly. I have personally observed this in our neighborhood on more than just this occasion, but facts never generally get in the way of Turner and staff being nasty to journalists (and citizens):
The mayor says the matter will be investigated, suggesting a few rogue employees are at fault, but subsequent KHOU-11 reporting indicates that supervisors told employees to mix the loads at various times.
[WB6] Thank goodness, with all of this turmoil, that there will be no interruption in the city’s stream of poetry.
[WB7] State Sen. Paul Bettencourt continues to push legislation in Austin that would rewrite rules on re-appraising homes for tax purposes after a natural disaster. Harris County’s taxing entities generally, shamefully, declined immediately to re-appraise homes that were hit hard by Hurricane Harvey flooding. One important correction to the very bad headline (“Bill would grant tax breaks for disaster damages to Texas properties”): It’s not a government “break” or “favor” to re-appraise the value of properties when a natural disaster diminishes their value significantly. That’s just common sense (or should be).
[WB8] The Hearst corporation gave Houston Chronicle interim executive editor Steve Riley the permanent job after conducting a national search.
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