12.28.05
Posted in News at 9:48 pm by Paloma Cruz
City adds fuel truck fleet on the cheap
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
Remember all the gas shortages when millions of people left Houston before Hurricane Rita hit?
Houston officials worried about their own emergency vehicles.
Now, city officials are looking ahead to the next big storm and have cut a money-saving deal after learning the lessons of Rita.
The traffic during the days before Hurricane Rita taught everybody a lesson.
While evacuees worried about getting out of town, city government officials worried about getting gas to all its police cars, fire engines and city vehicles.
[snip]
“All we paid was the $500 administrative fee,” said Bowker, which as $500. “They [normally] run around, these trucks run $89,000 to $90,000 a piece. Those trailers are around $20,000 to $25,000 a piece.”
So Houston got more than a half-million dollars worth of gasoline tankers for about $7,500.
The city figures it’ll spend about $2,000 each getting them ready for the next disaster.
* * *Reminders:
- KHOU CBS Channel 11 requires a free registration.
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12.26.05
Posted in News at 7:07 pm by Paloma Cruz
For those of us interested in acquiring a piece of history, here’s an auction to attend:
AstroWorld to hold public auction
– reported by KTRK ABC Channel 13
[snip]
Next month, AstroWorld will begin auctioning off parts of the park including the rides. Greezed Lightnin’, The Viper, and some water slides are all going up for sale. Other pieces of the park, including memorabilia and even signs will be on the auction block, as well.
The sale starts January 6 and runs through January 8. For more information, log on to AstroWorldAuction.com.
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12.25.05
Posted in News at 7:51 pm by Paloma Cruz
Rent shuts many out
Low-income families are losing ground, study says
– reported by the Houston Chronicle(1)
The cost of rental housing has increased faster than wages, making it increasingly difficult for low-income families to afford even modest apartments, an advocacy group said this month.
[snip]
The coalition, which advocates for more affordable housing, issues a report each year tracking rental costs in every state, county and metropolitan area in the country.
It says families should spend no more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing and utilities, a standard recognized by many housing experts. Under that standard, the coalition said it could not find a single county in the United States where a full-time worker making minimum wage could afford a one-bedroom apartment.
In reality, the report found, many low-income families spend a far larger share of their incomes on housing.
[snip]
Nationally, families have to make an average of $15.78 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, while spending no more than 30 percent of their earnings on housing costs. That is up from $15.37 a year ago.
The federal minimum wage, at $5.15 an hour, was last increased in 1997. Fifteen states have minimum wages higher than the federal level.
[snip]
Many low-income people are forced to choose between paying rent, buying medicine or providing books for their children, Bender said.
* * *
Reminders:
- Houston Chronicle links expire after a few days because they’re archived. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in News at 7:40 pm by Paloma Cruz
It’s always nice to hear about a municipal department giving back to the community…
Parents flock to HFD toy giveaway
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11(1)
Houston firefighters will tell you it’s one of the best parts of their job, giving out toys to needy families before Christmas.
Most years, the toy giveaway is a smashing success, but no one could have predicted what happened this year.
This was the Christmas rush in the Fifth Ward.
[snip]
* * *
Reminders:
- KHOU CBS Channel 11 requires a free registration.
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12.22.05
Posted in News at 4:04 pm by Paloma Cruz
Not that I have that much money to spend, anyway…
U.S. Consumer Prices Plunge
– reported by Hispanic Business
Plummeting energy costs caused the U.S. consumer price index to plunge 0.6 per cent in November, the biggest monthly decline since 1949.
Core prices, which exclude food and energy, were up 0.2 per cent for a second straight month, and are rising at a 2.1 per cent annual rate.
[snip]
I guess this qualifies as good news for the Holidays.
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Posted in News at 1:52 pm by Paloma Cruz
A little bit of good news in the holidays…
County sees large jump in hotel occupancy taxes
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said Friday that his office had collected and distributed more than $8.1 million in hotel-occupancy taxes during the third quarter of 2005, an increase of nearly $575,000 over the same period last year.
“Even with our hotels filled for weeks with evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita — most of whom were exempt from hotel taxes — we still saw one of our best quarters in four years,” Bettencourt said. “Just as some of us predicted, the taxes waived for the evacuees produced no losses. That was tax money we never would have collected anyway.”
[snip]
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Posted in News at 1:43 pm by Paloma Cruz
In case you haven’t noticed, gas prices have been increasing. I know that I paid more this week to fill up my tank than I did last week.
Retail gas prices inching up
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
[snip]
Retail gasoline prices throughout the state have increased by nearly a dime in the last two weeks, according to AAA Texas.
[snip]
The statewide average price for a gallon of regular self serve is $2.144 a gallon — a weekly increase of about 7 cents. Houston gasoline prices rose 7.4 cents this week to an average of $2.141 a gallon. Dallas takes the lead this week as the city with the highest average on the list — up 8 cents to $2.165 a gallon. Corpus Christi’s average went up 10 cents, but still remains the lowest priced at $2.065 a gallon.
[snip]
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12.16.05
Posted in News at 2:46 pm by Paloma Cruz
Houston shakes things up, lands MLS team
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11(1)
AEG announced Thursday that Houston will become the new home of the San Jose Earthquakes. The move is effective immediately and all players and coaching staff currently under contract will transfer to Houston as part of the new organization.
The City of San Jose and Major League Soccer have signed a Letter of Intent which provides a wide variety of support elements, including a stadium financing plan, to attract a local investor for an MLS expansion team in San Jose as early as 2007.
[snip]
Soccer-specific stadiums are a critical component of MLS’ strategy to grow professional soccer in the United States. The Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and FC Dallas presently play in soccer-specific stadiums, while the Chicago Fire (2006), Colorado Rapids (2007), MetroStars (2007) and Real Salt Lake (2008) will all play in new soccer venues in the near future. The majority of these stadiums have been financed through public/private partnerships.
[snip]
My brother-in-law is going to be very happy about this.
* * *
Reminders:
- KHOU CBS Channel 11 requires a free registration.
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12.15.05
Posted in General at 5:03 pm by Paloma Cruz
Cultural Arts Council director steps down
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
Maria Munoz-Blanco, the director of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County, has resigned after accepting a new position in Dallas.
Munoz-Blanco has taken a job as director of cultural affairs for the City of Dallas.
Munoz-Blanco joined the CACHH in June 2002 as executive director.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 4:55 pm by Paloma Cruz
Houston scores highest marks on job activity index
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
Online job recruitment activity and related employment opportunities in the Houston metro area rose sharply in November, registering the largest increase among the 28 U.S. markets tracked by the Monster Local Employment Index.
The index is administered through New York-based Monster Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: MAST), the parent company of Monster, which operates an online careers and recruitment site at www.monster.com.
[snip]
During November, online job demand in Houston increased in 16 occupational categories. Only one category — health care practitioners and technical — declined slightly, while demand for legal occupations remained unchanged.
[snip]
Transportation and material moving and production occupations saw the most significant increases during the month. Demand for installation, maintenance and repair; building, grounds cleaning and maintenance; and construction workers also rose, likely spurred by intensifying reconstruction efforts in the Gulf Coast region.
Demand for white-collar workers also was strong, with management; business and financial operations; and office and administrative support all registering substantial increases.
Good news all around.
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