August 2009
Houston Chronicle: Critics question Metro’s... →
The Houston Chronicle’s Carolyn Feibel took a look at how Metro will structure liability associated with four new light-rail lines in Houston.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County…
Texas Watchdog wins national FOI award;... →
We’re thrilled as can be that our very own Jennifer Peebles grabbed yet another award!
This time, it’s a national honor, so we are very happy. Below is the press release we put out about Jennifer and…
Did Kay Bailey Hutchison cross an ethical line by... →
The U.S. senator’s support for a Dallas rail line raises questions because the project padded the coffers of her husband’s law firm. Hutchison failed to identify, as required by law, the recipients…
Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas holding... →
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is holding its 2009 state conference Friday, and Texas Watchdog Deputy Editor Jennifer Peebles will be in attendance. Peebles was named to the board of…
House speaker’s office: Online media eligible for... →
Texas Watchdog, just like other online news outlets, is eligible for a media pass to report from the House floor, a spokeswoman for the House speaker said Tuesday.
“There are numerous reporters who…
New database shows how foreign governments lobby... →
There are some cool sites on the Web that let you look up who’s lobbying who in DC, but here’s something completely fresh and new: It’s a new site that lets you look up which foreign governments,…
Young gun makes big bucks in the Rick Perry... →
Moving to a new house? Like a sweet stipend to ease the financial blow?
Too bad, unless you are working for Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election campaign.
Records show that his finance director, Krystle…
Gaps in Senator Royce West’s reporting of fees... →
Sen. Royce West has amended his personal financial disclosures after Texas Watchdog raised questions about omissions of public clients. The law requires lawmakers to disclose fees received from a…
Video camera company claims WatchGuard Video had... →
A video camera company, which counted among its investors three sitting and former lawmakers, has come under fire by a competing company for what it says were unfair bidding regulations. The…
Metro to keep paying for ‘broadcast media... →
It’s difficult to keep tabs on the dastardly media.
Metro has made sure they’re better able to do so by hiring Video Monitoring Services of America to tape radio and TV segments in which the transit…
La Porte councilman traveled, other council... →
La Porte Councilman Howard Ebow traveled more than any other La Porte council member over the past three years, including a trip to Washington just two months before he left office. Ebow says the…
AP: Gov. Rick Perry gives up homestead exemption... →
Gov. Rick Perry says he’ll give up a homestead tax exemption on a house he rented out in College Station, and he’ll also give back the $183.16 in tax breaks he got in 2008. Perry rents a home in…
DMN Investigates links to our post on House media... →
Thanks to the Dallas Morning News‘ Reese Dunklin for linking from DMN Investigates to our post on the House rule that does not permit online media access to the House floor.
Texas Watchdog hopes the…
News Web sites denied press access →
More people are consuming news online, but at the Texas state House, the rules for media access haven’t kept up with the trend.
Only reporters for print, television and radio outlets, as well as wire…
AP: Gov. Rick Perry claiming homestead tax break... →
Gov. Rick Perry, whose rental tab on an Austin home is running taxpayers $9K per month, has also been catching a break on property taxes on a home in College Station, the Associated Press…
Harris County commissioners’ personal financial... →
Texas Watchdog has published the 2009 personal financial disclosures for the Harris County Commissioners Court via an interactive map.
This map is one of a series of posts aimed at making the…
Metro board chairman: Need time to discuss issue... →
If you missed it, the Houston Chronicle had an update in the paper yesterday on the issue they raised of the lack of public notice of Metro committee workshops. The Chronicle had pointed out that…
Gov. Rick Perry hits the million-dollar milepost →
The Texas legislative session may be over, but Associated Press capitol scribe Jay Root is still on the case.
This time, he examined Gov. Rick Perry’s tax return and found the guv had surpassed the…
Watchguard CEO guards investors’ reputation →
Continued from page 1. Vanman also offers a strident, if somewhat unusual, defense of Paxton and Cook. He says if anything, they deserve praise for supporting his company. After all, WatchGuard helps…
Metro board votes in chorus, just one dissenting... →
The board that runs Houston’s transit agency moves in lopsided lockstep, with only a handful of votes that weren’t unanimous since October 2006. But Metro’s board members say that’s because any…
Texas Watchdog’s August newsletter is hot off the... →
The August Texas Watchdog newsletter — and boy is it ever august! — is out the door this morning.
The newsletter has a message from the Texas Watchdog editor (yours truly) as well as a sneak peek at…
Husband’s bond work poses conflict for Kay Bailey... →
Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is angling to replace Rick Perry (and his Twittering hair) in the governor’s office, has a serious conflict of interest with her husband’s work as a lawyer working on bonds…
Rep. Sylvester Turner, frequent critic of power... →
When people in Houston have problems with electric utilities, the person to whom they often turn is state Rep. Sylvester Turner, who has frequently criticized power providers. But Turner, a lawyer,…
Controller: Airport nonprofit not subject to... →
The HAS Development Corp. is not subject to financial oversight by the city of Houston, the city controller’s office said Friday, but nonprofit spinoff of the Houston Airport System could be using…
City pays Bracewell & Giuliani $15K for airport... →
The city is paying law firm Bracewell & Giuliani $15,000 to conduct a review of the airport-linked nonprofit HAS Development Corp., according to a copy of the city’s contract with the firm.
Texas…
Airport-linked nonprofit not a ‘component unit’ of... →
The Houston city controller’s office has determined that a nonprofit agency linked to the city airport system — and through which the airport builds and runs airports in other countries — is not a…