ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, AUGUST 25 – 31
RULING KEEPS HOUSTON’S SMOKING BAN ON TRACK
Houston Chronicle 8/28/07
A federal judge on Monday rejected bar owners’ complaints about Houston’s comprehensive smoking ban, allowing the new restrictions to take effect Saturday.
TXDOT PLANS TO CONVERT SOME INTERSTATES TO TOLL ROADS
Houston Chronicle 8/31/07
The Texas Department of Transportation is pushing Congress to pass a federal law allowing the state to “buy back” parts of existing interstate highways and turn them into toll roads.
NEW INTERIM CHIEF FOR TXDOT NAMED
CARGO GROWTH MEANS PORT MAY NEED TO PICK UP PACE
Houston Chronicle 8/27/07
The amount of cargo moving through the new Bayport container terminal is higher than expected and likely will speed construction of the massive project.
CITY HIRES LAWYER TO FIGHT BARGE TERMINAL
Baytown Sun 8/24/07
Councilman: ‘We all know how bad that would be for Baytown’
LOCAL WEATHER GURU TO HEAD HURRICANE CENTER
Galveston County Daily News 8/28/07
Bill Read, head of the Houston-Galveston National Weather Service, was named the acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
HOUSTON FORECASTER GETS HURRICANE CENTER POST
GROUPS CALL FOR HIGHER EPA STANDARDS
Galveston County Daily News 8/26/07
Health experts say delaying the deadline to meet clean air standards will take a toll on the public’s health.
CAN BUFFALO BAYOU BE A DOWNTOWN PLAYGROUND?
Houston Chronicle 8/27/07
Some Houstonians shun it as polluted. Many see it as an eyesore. Or a big ditch that floods.
HOUSTON’S HISTORY: LOOK CLOSELY OR YOU’LL MISS IT
MAYOR, HISD CELEBRATE CITY’S FIRST PETRO ACADEMY Houston Business Journal 8/24/07
Houston Mayor Bill White will lead a team of officials in dedicating the Academy of Petroleum Exploration & Production Technology at Milby High School today, a joint venture between Houston Independent School District and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
HIGH-END RETAIL PLANS: CAN ALL THE PROJECTS DELIVER?
Houston Chronicle 8/31/07
A variety of proposed mixed-use developments soon will be offering well-to-do Houstonians a different lifestyle.
ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE FIGHTS WIND FARM
Houston Chronicle 8/28/07
In a bid to block two large wind energy projects on the South Texas coast, an alliance of environmental groups and landowners is taking aim at the high-voltage transmission line required for the project.
WORLDWATCH PERSPECTIVE: NOTHING IS SIMPLE, NOT EVEN BIOFUELS
Environmental News Network 8/27/07
If you want to do something right, then it’s not going to be simple. Unfortunately, this is a general rule of life. It’s true not only for cooking, relationships, and work, but also for understanding what “sustainable”? biofuels really are.
GOT ARACHNOPHOBIA? HERE’S YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE
New York Times 8/31/07
The discovery of a vast web crawling with millions of spiders spreading across several acres of a North Texas park is causing a stir.