Commentary Archives - Page 9 of 673

METRO rail update: July 2015 – on the new rail lines and bus network

July 15, 2015 Neal Meyer

This past Friday, 10 July 2015, the Houston Chronicle‘s current transportation beat writer, Dug Begley, posted what was the second story on the ridership numbers for the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s newly opened rail lines, and

Texas Supreme Court smacks down Parker/Costello rain tax

June 14, 2015 Kevin Whited

On Friday, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston got some very bad news from the Texas Supreme Court. In an unambiguous, 14-page, 8-0 decision, Justice John Devine (writing for the Court) ruled

High speed rail between Dallas and Houston is high speed bull****

May 30, 2015 Neal Meyer

On 15 May 2015, the Houston Property Rights Association welcomed Kyle Workman, President of Texas Against High Speed Rail, to speak at its weekly group luncheon. Mr. Workman introduced himself, as one can read from

Noteware: Houston has a spending problem, not a revenue problem

January 12, 2015 Kevin Whited

As a city budget crisis looms, some current city leaders (and a few aspiring ones) have suggested that a shortage of revenue is to blame. In reality, as local businessman Jim Noteware points out, the

Dysfunctional METRO celebrates late delivery of handful of rail cars (rah!)

January 11, 2015 Kevin Whited

With the sort of touch that the dysfunctional area transit organization has mastered, METRO held a celebration(!) this past week of the fact that their unproven rail car manufacturer (chosen as a result of what

Cory Crow looks into 2015

January 11, 2015 Kevin Whited

Cory Crow took an entertaining look into Houston’s future to start the year, and we’ve been slow to call attention to it. Here’s an excerpt: The Astrodome: 2014 was an odd year for the Dome

Shutter the Chron’s irrelevant editorial board (part whatever)

January 4, 2015 Kevin Whited

Cory Crow finds it odd that the Houston Chronicle editorial board, which is frequently distracted by trinket governance and side issues, has suddenly decided that citizens deserve a debate over serious issues in the city

Unca Darrell damns Bill King with faint praise

January 3, 2015 Kevin Whited

Area blogger Unca Darrell notes that “unapologetically moderate” mayoral candidate and former Chronicle columnist Bill King, who has been spectacularly wrong on some of his assessments, nonetheless gets a few things right: What is important

Why isn’t the City of Houston balancing its budget?

January 2, 2015 Kevin Whited

We all “know” that the City of Houston must balance its budget every year under state law. Correct? Technically, that’s true, and under the cash method of accounting, the City of Houston has been fulfilling

Houston is #1 (rah RAH!) — or is it?

January 2, 2015 Kevin Whited

In 2014, the Houston area began to receive any number of overdue accolades for our quality of life, amenities, diversity, food culture, etc. Over any given week, it seems that some publication or organization was