ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, OCTOBER 14 – 20

CITY SMOKING BAN EXTENDED TO BARS
Houston Chronicle 10/19/06
The City Council voted Wednesday to extend Houston’s indoor smoking ban to bars, with several members acknowledging they went along reluctantly to forge a compromise on an issue that had divided the panel.

STORMS SPARE HOUSTON BUT CAUSE FLOODS ELSEWHERE
Houston Chronicle 10/19/06
A cold front zipped through Houston this morning, sparing the metro area heavy rain and additional flooding but causing more problems in Liberty, Polk, and Montgomery counties where four to seven inches of rain fell.

FLOODING SPOTLIGHTS HOUSTON DRAINAGE ISSUES

MAYOR, COUNCILMAN SIGN HOUSING DEAL FOR NEAR NORTHSIDE
Houston Chronicle 10/17/06
To the cheers of hundreds of Near Northside residents, Mayor Bill White and Councilman Adrian Garcia signed off on a three-part plan to bring affordable housing to a long-neglected neighborhood.

‘DISCOVERY GREEN’ TAKES PARK NAMING CONTEST PRIZE
Houston Chronicle 10/18/06
As he flipped through family photo albums, Houston accountant Kim Borja marveled at the moments of discovery his two sons had enjoyed during his family’s frequent visits to neighborhood parks.

CITIES, COMMUNITIES BAND TOGETHER FOR HISTORIC PROJECT
Pasadena Citizen 10/16/06
Last week, Commissioner Sylvia Garcia unveiled Project Stars to a group of her supporters and friends at a banquet in Houston. With that unveiling came a financial commitment from them of more than $450,000 in matching funds to jumpstart a historical project that has captured the eye of state and national leaders.

THREE CONTRACT WEST NILE VIRUS
Galveston County Daily News 10/18/06
Three county residents have been diagnosed as infected with the West Nile virus in the past month, officials confirmed.

OPENING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION
Galveston County Daily News 10/18/06
TEXAS CITY — If a community group aimed at opening the lines of communication between local industry and the residents who live here is to survive, two things must happen, its organizers said.

A RED MENACE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
Beaumont Enterprise 10/15/06
SMITH POINT – Puttering along in his aluminum skiff on Trinity Bay, Ben Nelson watches birds along the breakwater that protects the channel leading to his dry dock.

BEWARE OF STUDIES BY ‘NONPROFITS’
Houston Chronicle 10/18/06
As Houston cleans up from scattered floods that reminded us that weather kills, we can take comfort in one thing.

THE VEGETABLE-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
New York Times 10/15/06
By Michael Pollan
Contaminated spinach that the government will only make worse.