Category: Houston

Discussion of things related to Houston

Archstone Memorial Heights vs. The City of Houston

Editor's Note: This is the second of three parts outlining the beginning of the redevelopment of the Archstone Memorial Heights Apartment Complex, the first part is posted here, and the final part will be posted in the near future. At the May 30, 2007 city council meeting, a request to abandon three fire hydrant easements …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/archstone-memorial-heights-vs-the-city-of-houston/

Archstone Memorial Heights: The Trashy Problem?

Editor's Note:  This is the first of three parts outlining the beginning of the redevelopment of the Archstone Memorial Heights Apartment Complex, the remaining two parts will be posted in the coming days, time permitting. As reported recently on Off the Kuff and SwampLot Archstone Memorial Heights is on the verge of a complete redevelopment …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/archstone-memorial-heights-the-trashy-problem/

Somebody Tell the Cops to Stop Watching 'Inspector Gadget'

Isiah Carey at FOX 26 tonight gives us the Insite on a report that the Houston Police Department is wanting to invest in handheld metal detectors and bulletproof partitions for patrol cars. In my line of work (Information Technology), I frequently get requests from someone who wants technology to do a 'big-brother' type control over an …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/somebody-tell-the-cops-to-stop-watching-inspector-gadget/

Why They Want us to See Red (Light Cameras)

Alexis Grant over at the Chronicle's new City Hall Blog (A nice blog by the way) reported last week that The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a new report last week on the improvement of intersection safety with the installation of red light cameras. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an organization …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/why-they-want-us-to-see-red-light-cameras/

Jamming Houston Police

This week, a man was arrested on the charge of interfering with police communications here in Houston. As someone who spent seven years around the newspaper business, I spent time in the newsrooms of a couple of newspapers in Kansas. The one thing that was always present in those newsrooms was a police scanner, usually …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/jamming-houston-police/

Legislature to pull the plug on Tasers?

More news coming out of the Austin. Legislator Coleman introduced House Bill 1304, which institutes a moratorium on Taser purchases and use during calendar year 2008. With the currentĀ number of Taser related incidents that have happened around the state, it might sound like a good idea. In fact, it, like the Houston Police Department’s chase …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/legislature-to-pull-the-plug-on-tasers/

Could The Wrecker Races Soon Be Over?

We’ve all seen them, along a freeway or on a street. Four or five tow trucks lined up to try and get a piece of the business at a scene of an accident. We’ve seen the drivers of those trucks snake their way down the emergency lane past the backed up traffic just to get …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/could-the-wrecker-races-soon-be-over/

Would Houston Slow Down for Cameras?

Phoenix suburb Scottsdale, Arizona recently conducted a 9 month test of a "Photo Radar" system on loop 101 (Phoenix's version of 610).  The city has now passed a resolution to turn the cameras back on full time, considering the system a success. In the ZDNet and Arizona Republic stories, it says that the cameras activate when …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/would-houston-slow-down-for-cameras/

Texas Legislature to Make Cameras see RED? (Continued)

My RSS feed blinked across yet another bill being floated around Austin: House Bill 1052: Relating to requiring warning signs before intersections at which a municipality uses a photographic traffic monitoring system to enforce compliance with a traffic-control signal. Add this bill to the six others that I mentioned in an earlier post. This one …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/texas-legislature-to-make-cameras-see-red-continued/

HPD Not As Shocking With Taser Training

I was reading the story about Pearland Police Officers receiving their Taser training when a important note about Houston’s Taser Training came to light: Being shocked is not required in every department. Houston Police Department officers do not get shocked during Taser training, but deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department have the option during …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://onthespotblog.com/hpd-not-as-shocking-with-taser-training/

Bad Behavior has blocked 392 access attempts in the last 7 days.