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June 2008
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March 2008 Archivesby Lee McGuire / 11News -- Inside the City Council chamber Following a rash of violent robberies and shootings, the Houston City Council has passed a series of ordinances aimed at cutting convenience store crime. The City has been working with convenience store owners for nearly a year and a half to come up with the requirements. Among them, convenience store owners will need to register with the Houston Police Department and post a registration decal inside the store. Here are some of the other new rules: by Lee McGuire / 11News -- Inside the City Council Chamber After months of sometimes tense negotiations, 13,000 City of Houston employees have won a new contract -- and a pay raise. The new terms include a three percent across-the-board pay raise beginning in the next full pay period. Another raise comes in 2010, and again in 2011. The contract also calls for 25% "performance pay pools" to reward high-performing employees. In addition, the contract increases the base pay of the city's lowest-paid workers to $9.50 an hour in the next pay period, then $10.00 an hour beginning in Septe... I just recieved this from the Obama campaign. It is the text of Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race delivered in Philadelphia this morning. "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union." Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through ... by Lee McGuire / 11News (note: This updated blog entry corrects errors in the data sent to us this morning by HAR) Just-in housing figures from the Houston Association of Realtors show that housing sales in the greater Houston area continue to slide. In February, sales of single-family homes fell to the lowest level since January 2008, according to HAR. Property sales for February, 2008 fell 13.1 percent compared to the same period last year. That said, the average price for a single-family home rose 5.6 percent in February, 2008 compared to February, 2007. That's t...
by Lee McGuire / 11News Hours after Governor Rick Perry appointed a new Harris County District Attorney, former DA Chuck Rosenthal filed a sworn statement with a federal court explaining discrepancies in previous sworn testimony. Read Rosenthal's two-page sworn declaration here: Judge Kenneth Hoyt set a 4:30pm deadline today for Rosenthal and his physician... by Lee McGuire / 11News No details yet beyond what's in this news release, but the city of Houston and the HOPE employees union have reached a tentative deal after a tough few months of contract negotiations. Employees had been pushing for a guarantee that all would make a minimum of $10 an hour, and it appears they're going to get it. The joint news release just issued from the union and the Mayor's office is after the jump. ...by Lee McGuire / 11News The City of Houston has completed the purchase of a six-block, $15.9 million welcome mat for the Houston Dynamo. Three council members voted "no," but a majority approved the plan to dedicate up to $20 million from an economic development fund to pay for land the Mayor hopes will become the site of a new MLS soccer stadium. The land, a series of adjacent parcels owned by former City Council member Louis Macey, is located just east of downtown Houston, a few blocks east of Minute Maid Park. ...By Lee McGuire / 11News The Houston City Council on Tuesday strengthened its fledgling ordinance designed to crack down on crime-ridden 'game rooms.' Council member Toni Lawrence, who helped author the original rules, presented a new set of additions Tuesday morning. ...It took until 2:29 a.m., but all of the votes have been counted in the Harris County Republican primary. That's 7 1/2 hours after the polls closed. Folks waiting to participate in the Democratic primary at the Nimitz High School polling location had to call out sheriff's deputies early Wednesday morning, when a frustrated election/precinct judge apparently couldn't handle the huge crowds and just walked off the job. With his wife and his young children at his side Charles Bacarisse has officially conceded the race to Ed Emmett for the Republican nomination for County Judge. ...11:10 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium By: Shern-Min Chow Among the crowds at Hillary's Houston Watch Party is a group of 10 or so older ladies. They have flown in from all over the country to knock on doors, work polls and phones. Their loyalty to the former first lady spans 50 years. These are the veteran members of Hillary's childhood brigade.
Charles Bacarisse is waiting for the next round of numbers from Harris County before he makes a public statement about his run for the Republican County Judge nomination. He's left the victory party temporarily while he waits for those numbers. One of his campaign staff, however, took the podium a few moments ago and said "mathematically he's not eliminated so at this point mathematically he's not going to concede." Kevin Reece ...With 44 percent of the votes in in the Republican race for Harris County Judge, Charles Bacarisse is still waiting for better news. The absentee and early vote totals were going 58 to 42 percent in Ed Emmett's favor. He was hoping for a better election day total. And he got it. But with an election day split of 53 to 46 percent, still in favor of Emmett, it doesn't appear to be enough to turn the tide. Here at the campaign party in West Houston, however, there is no concession speech at this point. The faithful are still here waiting for that change in numbers - with more than half of the vote s... Watching on TV I see too much whining from voters. If you want to participate then participate. Are you telling me that you expected this to move as fast as a Taco Bell drive through? Before you complain remember the stories that have come out of Iraq where people had to walk miles in some areas to vote. Some carried their grand parents on their backs because the grandparents wanted to vote that bad and out of love, they were carried to the polls. They ignored the threats, snipers the heat and God only knows what else. It wasn't easy to win this freedom, it's not easy to keep this freedom so please,... 9:50pm San Antonio Municipal Auditorium By: Shern-Min Chow Hillary Clinton's local supporters are now filling up her Watch Party as precinct caucuses begin to finish up. We are hearing anywhere from 100 - 500 people showing up at various caucuses. In the past perhaps half a dozen people would attend. McCain supporters here in Dallas just heard from their (presumptive) nominee. We're here at the McCain Victory Party at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. By 9pm he had it in the bag so after Mike Huckabee conceded, Sen. McCain took the stage here. He got the crowd going with a pledge that as President, the U.S. would not leave Iraq before its secure and only "with our honor intact." But the biggest loudest explosion of applause came when he talked about the economy: he said improving it will come with a reduction of restrictions on American business: "lower taxes, and less regulation". ...Every now and then we have trouble convincing people to talk to us on camera... at Precinct 19 and 24... that was not the case. As soon as my photographer and I walked into Dodson Elementary school dozens of voters raised their hands and said, Most voters were upset, tired, but ready to exercise their right to vote and head home. I spoke to some people randomly from Precinct 210 and received some of the following comments: Monica Lamb, former Houston Comet and my friend is here, all 6'5" of her. Monica, an Obama supporter as well, says "I am so very excited. This is my first primary and caucus participation. It's exciting to me for two reasons, (1) I get ... Oh Rebecca Goldstein Harris County Judge Republican candidate Charles Bacarisse made his first appearance at his victory party tonight at 8:20. We're on the second floor of a Cafe Adobe Restaurant on Houston's West Side. The early numbers don't look good: 58 to 42 percent in Ed Emmett's favor. But those are just the numbers from early voting. Mr. Bacarisse is still wearing a smile, shaking hands with his supporters, and hoping the numbers will tighten as predicted in some recent polls. We'll report back from that second floor bar later tonight as the rest of the numbers come in: a bar for drowning sorrows or for t... By: Shern-Min Chow Hillary's Houston Watch Party doesn't officially begin for a few more minutes, but the crowd is thin. Less than 2 dozen supporters sit at a few tables here at the Home Plate restaurant downtown. Where have all the supporters gone? To the precinct caucuses. Everyone seems confused. You have to chuckle to not just get up and leave. They say there's 338 of us here. We now have to divide 338 number by 36, which is the number of delegates for our senatorial district. The room was just split by Lee McGuire / 11News at 8:33pm We've heard from both Kelly Siegler and Pat Lykos, who are poised to face off in a runoff election for Harris County District Attorney. Siegler is here now at the "Ragin Cajun" restauraunt at Westheimer and Gessner, and Lykos is celebrating with friends and supporters in River Oaks. ...Dozens of people waited patiently outside the doors of the Cage Elementary Cafeteria in Southeast Houston. Well, I'm here at my precinct. It's a mess. A pretty sizable number of people have left because it's disorganized. One lady is explaining to the precinct chairs how it's supposed to work. I don't think anyone prepared for the number of people here. The gym is full. Most of the people I've spoken to have never caucused before. A certain person, who shall remain anonymous, just tried to motivate people to stay and not leave. People are frustrated. And, it's hot. Welcome Houston, to the new world of politics! I'm excited. I see everyone with Obama stickers and no Hillary stickers, although I ... Posted by: Jeff McShan from Roberts Elementary More than 300 people are participating in the caucus at Roberts Elementary. ...A game of musical chair...that's right, chair. ...We're in the ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas, waiting for John McCain to arrive and speak, We've been here since noon and watching the campaign transform the room into a "made-for-TV" sound stage. They have a huge billboard with "1191" : the delegates needed to put McCain over the top. Its now draped with a blue cover which apparently will be yanked off if and when the returns warrant it. And since McCain is pounding Huckabee in all four primaries, the "un-veiling" moment may be the height of the suspense.
by Lee McGuire / 11News 7:50pm We're still waiting for the arrival of Kelly Siegler here at the Rajun Cajun, scene of Siegler's campaign watch party. So, the waiting continues -- but the watching is over. Early voting in Harris County has split largely between Siegler and former District Judge Pat Lykos. The two are likely headed to a runoff. ...7:35 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium WOW... That's the word precinct captain Richard Cortez is using to describe voter turnout at his east-end polling place. Compared to the 300 who voted on election day four years ago, more than 800 voted today. Rucks Russell ...Posted at 8:45 p.m. by Wendell Edwards at the Emmett Watch party in the Galleria area. Those were really the daughters of Ed Emmett in one of his campaign commercials. I caught up with the two sisters at the watch party for their father at the Westin Hotel on Alabama in the Galleria. Adrienne Gordon and her sister Patricia Emmett said they shot the commericial in Dallas last month. "We got a phone call saying coome to Dallas to shoot a commercial for your dad," Adrienne said. "So we went." If you haven't seen the commericial, it goes something like this: The sisters come dow... By: Shern-Min Chow Home Plate, the sports bar across the street from Minute Maid Park has seen many a close contest for the Houston Astros. Tonight Clinton supporters will be watching a huge political contest and hoping the Senator from New York comes out ahead. Posted at 7:15 p.m. by Wendell Edwards at the Judge Ed Emmett Watch Party Gwen Emmett is a straight shooter. Ememtt is the wife of incumbent Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who' s trying to keep his job permanently. (He was appointed to the position almost a year ago.) So I seized the moment. There's a tremendous sense of anticipation at one east-end polling place this evening. The precinct captain tells us voters have "caucusing" on their minds. |
