A brief catchup edition after missing last weekend’s (because life has become busy again after a year of pandemic lockdown)…
[WB1] After the (alleged) grotesque mismanagement of various vice operations in the Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, it appears highly unlikely that Constable Alan Rosen will be appointed to fill out Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s term if Gonzalez is confirmed as ICE chief.
[WB2] In April, Mayor Turner and HPD Chief Finner promised to release footage of office-involved shootings moving forward. What about all the shootings that have happened already this year?
[WB3] George P. Bush’s damage control effort to blame HUD for his office effectively zeroing out the Houston-area on flood relief really doesn’t *ahem* hold water. P announced this week he will be running in the Republican primary for Texas attorney general. Whatever one thinks of Ken Paxton, how does P win that primary without support from Republicans on the west side (which was pounded by Harvey)?
[WB4] Neither the City of Houston nor Harris County will be able to use pandemics as an excuse to raise taxes again, thanks to legislation moved forward by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt.
[WB5] The City of Houston passed a $5.1 billion budget that will give firefighters a boost in pay (although it’s not clear if it should be regarded as a bonus or a raise). The firefighters responded with a new petition drive.
[WB6] At METRO, bad ideas never die (and the bill always gets bigger).
[WB7] Audio of a shootout in my neighborhood made KPRC-2 News recently, but this could really be any neighborhood in an increasingly lawless city.
[WB8] Kudos to Chuck Lindell, a longtime member of the Texas political media, for inadvertently conceding that he and his colleagues really don’t know much about electric markets (or, we might add, about any number of similarly complicated subjects). Also see WB8.
[WB9] Nobody does the Glowing Profile of New Institutional Source genre like the Houston Chronicle.
[WB10] Former HPD chief Art Acevedo is not a fan of Rodney Ellis’s criminal justice policies, although we can’t recall him ever calling out Ellis (the effective Boss of Harris County) when he worked in Houston.
[WB11] The story of the tiger roaming in west Houston gets a writeup that would have made for a great cover story in the print alt-weekly, back when Houston had such a thing.
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