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Got this e-mail from ------------------------------------ OFFICES OF COUNCIL MEMBERS SUE LOVELL EDWARD GONZALEZ ANOTHER STEP IN PRESERVING HOUSTON HISTORY Immanuel Lutheran Church in the Heights chooses to save historic sanctuary building February 11, 2010 - Council Member Sue Lovell, chair of the City of Houston historic preservation committee, and District H City Council Member Edward Gonzalez congratulate the Immanuel Lutheran Church congregation upon its February 10 vote to preserve its historic (dedicated 1932) church sanctuary at 15th and Cortlandt in the Heights. The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a wonderful example of early 20th century Gothic Revival architecture and is a landmark in the neighborhood. The decision by the congregation to preserve the sanctuary building and turn it into a museum of Lutheran history is a perfect example of preservation and economic development, Council Member Lovell said. Council Member Lovell and Council Member Gonzalez want to thank the members of the committee that worked on this preservation issue and the neighbors that got involved. "We especially thank the people from the neighborhood for caring about preserving the character of their neighborhood," Council Member Lovell said. "The preservation of the Immanuel sanctuary is an answer to our prayers, and now the work begins." "This was a great collaborative effort by many," Council Member Gonzalez said. "A special thanks goes to the Immanuel Lutheran community for their willingness to embrace historic preservation."

HARRIS COUNTY JUDGE ED EMMETT MEASURES STATE OF COUNTY "IN HUMAN TERMS" Emmett Calls For Greater Attention to Infrastructure, Increased Cooperation Among County, State and Local Officials Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Thursday afternoon that Harris County remains among the nation's strongest and most stable local economies despite numerous financial challenges resulting from a global economic slowdown. But Emmett called on those gathered at his third annual State of the County Address to reject complacency and to help focus the county's attention on growing social and infrastructure needs. "Yes, Harris County is in better shape than almost anywhere else in the country, if not the world," said Emmett. "But more and more in the coming years, the final analysis will be that the state of the county is measured in human terms. If we are shortsighted now, future costs associated with health care, criminal justice and other issues will spiral out of control, leaving us unable to meet either social or infrastructure needs." Emmett asked the approximately 600 attendees at the Greater Houston Partnership's annual "State of the County Address" to envision the state of Harris County from the viewpoint of many of their neighbors - the mentally ill, the poor, those coping with daily traffic congestion or those still struggling to recover from Hurricane Ike. "That is why it is so important today to recognize the state of the county from so many different viewpoints," Emmett said. "For my state of the county is a snapshot. Others provide the lens that allows us to look into the future. We are well-positioned to bring that future into focus. It will take all of us in the public, private and non-profit sectors working together to do it, but we have a strong foundation from which to start." In thanking Houston Mayor Annise Parker for agreeing to provide his introduction, Emmett pointed out that the current economic challenges also provide the city, county and state an opportunity for greater cooperation. "Our constituents rightly expect Harris County and the City of Houston to work together whenever possible to eliminate duplication and to provide higher levels of efficiency," Emmett said. "For Harris County, that spirit of cooperation goes beyond the City of Houston. It extends to the other 33 incorporated municipalities and even to surrounding counties, because so many of the needs and issues transcend city limits and county boundaries."

Sadly, it's not your pop-up blocker. It's a flaw in Google. It's a hijack attempt that affects thousands of web sites. Google is aware of the problem, and is presumably working on a solution. However, this has been going on for years and to date no one at Google will speak about it publicly.

The Central Square , originally uploaded by Secret5468. The paint continues to peel. Thanks, Secret. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

Update from Metro: ------------------ METRO is sufficiently far enough along in its investigation of Monday’s light-rail accident to determine that the operator of the METRO bus involved in the accident was at fault for running a red light. The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of St. Joseph Parkway and Main Street. The operator, Reginald Rideout, remains suspended without pay pending the completion of METRO’s investigation. A METRO operator for 10 years, Rideout, 50, has been involved in three accidents during his employment, two of which were minor, but deemed preventable. ----------------- And let's try to keep this thread on topic.

Oh, thanks for that! I just laughed out loud at Starbucks and people are looking at me like I'm a lunatic. I ride the bus pretty much every day, and at least here in Chicago the drivers are constantly running lights. I blame a combination of inertia caused by the laws of physics acting on a massive vehicle and the fact that the buses are all tracked by GPS now and if the driver is more than a couple of minutes behind (or ahead!) or schedule something in the driver area start beeping horribly. I presume this is accompanied by something being silently recorded back at the bus barn or transit headquarters. It's not like Metro wouldn't spend the money on a subway if it could. You know as well as I do that few in Houston want to pay for grade separation. The voters had a choice and they decided that they value human lives is less than the impact it would have on their personal taxes. You can solve any problem with enough tax money.

Flagship Hotel Galveston, Texas, originally uploaded by I-SEEN-IT. I-Seen-It got this pic of the damaged Flagship Hotel. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

METRO has begun single-tracking northbound rail travel between the Downtown transit center and the UH-DT station. The bus bridge remains in place for patrons traveling the stretch between the Downtown transit center and the UH-Downtown station. METRO buses are picking up patrons on Travis for northbound travel and Fannin for southbound travel. METRORail is also single-tracking southbound between the Downtown transit center and Fannin South. Preliminary evidence indicates the bus operator ran a red light, hitting the train on Main Street at St. Joseph Parkway this afternoon. Four persons have been transported to St. Joseph Hospital, four others have been transported to Ben Taub Hospital and one person has been taken to Hermann Hospital – all with non-life threatening injuries.

It would be nice if every tolled highway built would have a strong law attached to it so that the tolls are removed after the road has paid for itself. I only know of this ever happening once -- I-95 in Connecticut used to be the Connecticut Turnpike. In the 90's (IIRC) the tolls were removed because the road paid for itself. Never seen that since. I agree that governmental accountability is important, but it's also important to realize that it's OK for certain portions of the government to subsidize other portions that are less profitable. Like the way Microsoft used Windows and Office revenue for years to prop up the Xbox (and might still, for all I know). We shouldn't cut back on filling potholes on city streets because doing so isn't profitable. It's a necessary service. We shouldn't shortchange transit for the same reasons. That said, there are many ways for the private sector to fill portions of the transit gap. For example, many of the larger office towers in Chicago operate their own (really nice) bus service to ferry people between their buildings and the train stations. It's one of the ways the better buildings seek to differentiate themselves from each other. There's no reason the JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston couldn't operate a shuttle bus service out to a park-and-ride or two. Or even a bunch of neighboring buildings could do it in Houston, like all the Allen Center buildings. Forgive my ignorance if this is already going on. I didn't see it in the time I lived in Houston.

Just found this chart showing the recovery rates for various American transit systems: It looks like the larger and more developed a city's transit system is, the higher the recovery rate. Though that's not always true, as you can see Houston, Tampa, and Detroit are ahead of Dallas. It's my understanding that Dallas has better transit than those three.

In some cities (Seattle is the only one I can think of right now, though) public transit is free within the downtown core, and then costs when you go to the outlying areas of the city. In Houston the equivalent would be within 610 plus the Galleria area. This achieves one of the main goals of mass transit -- it takes people out of their cars and puts them in higher capacity vehicles. Having taken buses all over Seattle, including the downtown free zone, the neighborhoods, and into the suburbs, it appears to work. People hop on and off the buses as casually as if they were moving sidewalks at the airport since they don't have to worry about exact change or if their fare card is topped off, etc... A lot of people get all sweaty when they hear a mass transit agency is losing money. Take a deep breath and try to understand that mass transit agencies aren't supposed to make money. That's not their function. Their function is to reduce congestion and also to move people. You wouldn't get all hot and bothered if someone told you that the library doesn't make a profit. Neither does the sanitation department. Or the street repair crews. They're not supposed to. Mass transit is a public service as much as those items are. I was at a transit meeting a few weeks ago and learned that one way that transit systems measure themselves is through the "recovery rate." That is the percentage of the cost of a ride that is recouped through fares. For example, if it costs an average of $2 to move someone, and the average fare is $1, then the recovery rate is 50%. At this meeting we learned that a recovery rate above about 30% is considered amazing, and most agencies in America are below 30%. In Europe the rate is usually in the single digits. A quick Google turned up a study by Booz Allen Hamilton showing Houston Metro's recovery rate is was 16.5% in 2008. Is that good? Maybe. Is it good enough? I'm not qualified to say. I'd wager there isn't anyone else on HAIF qualified to make that judgement, either. If lowering fares on Metro brings convinces more people to use it, then great. Maybe it should be free within the 610 Loop. Maybe Metro should run free trollies like the state of California does to reduce congestion in downtown Los Angeles. You shouldn't fear Metro losing money any more than you should fear the library is losing money, as long as funding from other sources (gas tax?) makes up the difference. --edit-- I just remembered -- Pittsburgh is another city with free transit downtown, though it might only apply to the subway. I didn't take many buses when I was in Pittsburgh, so I'm not sure if they're included.

Goodbye Montrose. Hello..., originally uploaded by bill barfield. Great contrast of color and darkness by Bill Barfield. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

I've edited the original post to remove the period.

I can't speak for New York, but here in Chicago there are no new buildings going up. The last two commercial skyscrapers went up last year and there's enough vacant office and retail space to last a very long while. Residential is even worse off. A few big towers finished last year, and there are a few others that are coasting on their own momentum toward completion this year, but I'd be surprised to see any new ground broken on a skyscraper in Chicago in 2010. Heck, residential is so bad that some of the brand new condo towers are auctioning off the units just to get them sold. Three years ago, $600k got you a very small townhouse in a dodgy neighborhood. Today, $600k gets you two bedrooms on the 70th floor downtown. There are at least six residential towers on hold that i know of. Probably more that I don't know about.

Yes. It looks like you're trying to stir up trouble. It's enough to acknowledge that not everyone appreciates the environment where everyone else lives. It's just part of life. This discussion has been brought up over and over again on HAIF. It's not unique to Houston. It happens everywhere. The solution, assuming it is even a problem, will not be found on HAIF.

IMG_0392, originally uploaded by rvill.rm. rvill.rm shot this picture of pastries in downtown Houston. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

Bethel Baptist Church , originally uploaded by Secret5468. Secret5468 gives us a close-up view inside the wreckage of Bethel Baptist church. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

Houston TranStar introduces iPhone-optimized Website New site provides travelers with current traffic and weather information Houston TranStar, eager to keep drivers informed about the latest traffic delays and weather in town, now offers an enhanced version of its mobile Website that allows iPhone users to view Houston area traffic and weather conditions in an environment optimized for their iPhones. TranStar's new iPhone-optimized Website takes advantage of the advanced functionality of the iPhone platform, enabling users to view speed maps, weather radar, estimated travel times, roadway cameras, incidents, road and construction closures and message signs. The site provides constantly-updated notices concerning incidents and delays on the freeway system. "Travelers can easily observe current traffic and weather conditions on roads they frequent in the region," said Jack Whaley, Director of Houston TranStar. "They will save valuable time during peak traffic hours simply by glancing at their mobile devices before beginning their drive." Houston TranStar is the first traffic management center in Texas to offer this service to its iPhone users. While the Website was designed for Apple's iPhone, Houston TranStar also offers a similar service for other web-enabled mobile devices. To view the site on your iPhone, just use the Safari browser to visit this link: http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/mobile Houston TranStar is a collaboration between four government agencies that coordinate and enhance transportation and emergency management services, responding to incidents and emergency in Harris County and beyond. Sharing their resources to serve area residents their agencies are the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Harris County, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) and the City of Houston.

Downtown from Columbia Tap HDR, originally uploaded by J-a-x. Jax nailed some great colors as the city's skyscrapers rise out of the shrubbery. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

Kitchen Works, originally uploaded by blue_sharpie. Blue Sharpie shot this scene inside the kitchen of a Buddhist retreat center. This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

This one is legendary from the nerds at Slashdot on October 23, 2001: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/1816257&tid=107 The review was short: "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." Other comments that day: "Do you want revolutionary? Ask yourself, what chip is this running? Ask yourself, what is the OS on this thing? This is v0.8 of Apple's PDA folks. They're just waiting for the hardware and the economy to get a little better. " "If Apple is now selling its own MP3 player, does that mean it's going to stop selling 3rd party players? Right now on their website [apple.com], when you try to buy one of their computers, you're given the option to buy a Creative Nomad or a Rio 600. Are they gonna stop that, and demand that buyers buy only the Apple MP3 device?" "You can get a Toshiba palmtop/subnote for about $400 with a 10gb drive, and it'll be much more useful." "It's not cool at all. It's just another Mac attempt to have the coolest looking, hippest sounding gadget on the market. It adds nothing serious to the current options. For instance, no Ogg Vorbis support (and yes, I realize it probably decodes mp3 in hardware, but...) and it doesn't appear to be cross-platform. I guess this falls into the Dilbert principle of 'the best target market is stupid rich people.' Since they'll fall for anything and have the money to burn on it."

Land Mark Chevrolet , originally uploaded by Secret5468. Who knew Sam's Club members were such a rowdy crowd? This photo is part of the HAIF photo pool on Flickr. You are welcome to add your photos to the pool for the entire group to see. Visit the pool: HAIF Houston Photo Pool on Flickr

Excellent article. This is my favorite part: It states something I haven't been quite able to put my thumb on before -- that the internet thugs, the Gizmodos, the Engadgets, the Slashdotters, the Linux nerds and hard-core Windows zealots who all consider themselves the intelligentsia of the information age, are actually the marginalized ones. They've fenced themselves off from a world of opportunity and turned their technoscape into a "get off my lawn" environment, even if they're only 19. I say good riddance to them. Let them puff out their chests and claim superiority over the world. Meanwhile, I'll actually get things done with my iPad and enjoy the media it provides while they're cobbling together yet another Linux driver or staring at yet another Windows crash and swearing up and down that their experience is the better one. As has been said before -- Apple is like a professional hockey player. It doesn't aim for where the puck is, it aims for where the puck will be.

Someone just posted this information on the Chicago blog about these helicopters: