The Legislative Train

As the Legislative Session approaches critical deadlines, the emotions are running deeper. Most Legislators, with few exceptions, are not happy with the reduced budget they must balance and everyone has something important they do not want to see cut. Over the weekend, emotions in the State House rose to such a level that the Speaker […]

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Is It Raining Out There?

Texas needs rain! We are in a terrible drought and it is causing all kinds of problems for us. Wildfires are breaking out across the state and farmers are losing an entire season of crops. While in the urban areas we worry about our yards and green grass, the farmers are suffering serious setbacks that […]

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Live in Houston, Love Houston – 90% Agree

Dr. Stephen Klineberg of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University released the results of the 30th Annual Kinder Houston Area Survey last week. Dr. Klineberg and his team have been conducting this systematic research for over 30 years. “It has measured this region’s remarkable economic and demographic transformation and recorded the way […]

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Latinos Linking Together

Houston area Latinos pulled their disparate organizations together and presented a revised redistricting plan to the Houston City Council yesterday. Most of you probably think this makes good sense and see nothing unusual about it. However, I must tell you that it is significant. There are many forces that work for varying aspects of improvement […]

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State of the City

On Friday, April 15, the Mayor delivered her State of the City address to the Greater Houston Partnership. This annual event is one of the largest of the year and I have been attending it through several Mayors. Approximately 1500 leading Houstonians from the business sector and elected leadership gathered to listen to the Mayor’s […]

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Fly, Fly Away

I am heart broken that the retiring Space Shuttles are flying away elsewhere. I am an admitted space junkie. Due to my age, I still hold “the last frontier” in complete awe. Astronauts were the heroes of my generation. I remember watching the landing on the moon as a child – even to the pajamas […]

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Bone Dry and Dead Broke

This past weekend, my family took our annual trek to the see the Bluebonnets. This is one of our treasured, annual expeditions and we have captured our son with the state flower most every year of his life. However, this was a most alarming experience. My urban nature knew the state was in a drought […]

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City Redistricting Redux

As you may recall from previous posts, the City of Houston is adding two additional Council seats due to population increases. Yesterday, the first draft of a map was presented at City Council along with animated discussion of the proposed plan. I am, admittedly, a bit of a demographic junkie and enjoy studying numbers. The […]

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