ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, AUGUST 12 – 18
FOR LEGISLATURE, RAIDING EARMARKED FUNDS ROUTINE
Houston Chronicle 8/13/06
AUSTIN – Hundreds of millions in taxes and fees that were earmarked for specific purposes such as state parks, emergency medical services, and even dogs and cats have been moved around by lawmakers to meet other needs.
CULBERSON WANTS RAIL ALONG SOUTHWEST FREEWAY
Houston Chronicle 8/13/06
US Rep. John Culberson may have put the Metropolitan Transit Authority in a box by announcing his opposition to light rail on Richmond Avenue – Metro’s favored route for a crucial part of its planned University line.
HOUSTON’S NEW UTILITY CENTER TO ASSIST NEEDY WITH ELECTRIC BILLS
Houston Chronicle 8/17/06
With Houston’s daily heat index topping 100 degrees, Mayor Bill White and officials of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now have opened an affordable utility center to assist elderly, disabled and low-income residents resolve problems with electricity bills.
TXU SAYS HEAT WAVE PUSHING ELECTRICITY DEMAND TO BREAKING POINT
GREENLAND’S THAWING ICE ALARMS UT SCIENTISTS
Houston Chronicle 8/15/06
Greenland’s massive ice sheet is melting rapidly, losing the equivalent of Lake Houston every six hours.
PRESERVATIONISTS, REIT TUSSLE OVER FATE OF HOUSTON LANDMARK
Wall Street Journal 8/16/06
HOUSTON — In a backlash to the go-go growth that has long persisted in this sprawling city, a fight to preserve three 1930s-era landmarks is gaining support.
FIGHTING THE WRECKING BALL TO SAVE HOUSTON LANDMARKS
New York Times 8/12/06
HOUSTON, Aug. 11 – This fast-spreading metropolis of see-through skyscrapers, clogged freeways and antipathy to zoning has long worn its boomtown history lightly, freely consigning cherished landmarks to the wrecking ball.
WHAT IF THEY BUILD IT AND NOBODY COMES?
Houston Chronicle 8/12/06
The mood was festive. The music lively. The videos and power-point presentations brimming with superlatives. The theme: “Simply the best.
WATER BIRD VENTURES INTO THE VALLEY
Houston Chronicle 8/11/06
MISSION – Birders from across the US have been coming to the Rio Grande Valley to catch sight of a Northern Jacana far north of its normal range.
GROUP NETS GRANT FOR THE BIRDS
WORKERS LOOKING TO TRAP BATS
Brazosport Facts 8/16/06
Preparations are under way for the removal and relocation of thousands of bats from the Casa Del Lago apartments.
SAN ANTONIO HUSTLES TO FLUSH BACTERIA FROM RIVER WALK
Houston Chronicle 8/14/06
SAN ANTONIO – At first the city was outraged over the disparaging remarks Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made about the “nasty” San Antonio River that loops through downtown.
DROUGHT IN TEXAS STAGGERS FARMERS
Houston Chronicle 8/12/06
Direct economic losses from the current drought are estimated to have eclipsed the $4 billion mark in Texas, far surpassing the damage done when it stopped raining in 1998 and reminiscent of the infamous 1950s dry spell, Texas Cooperative Extension economists said Friday.
ORGANIC FARMERS HIT BY WORKER SHORTAGE
Houston Chronicle 8/14/06
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — For every fragrant bunch of parsley that foreman Eber Diaz picked, he stopped to rip out handfuls of thick-stemmed weeds crowding the crop.
ONE MAN’S TRASH, ANOTHER MAN’S HOUSE
Houston Chronicle 8/12/06
LEXINGTON, MASS. – It’s over budget, Paul Pedini said of his Big Dig house, but at least “it doesn’t leak.”