Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Number 31
Friday, December 19, 2008
Number 29
Number 28
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Number 27
Corpus Christi is sacrificing more funds, this time it's much needed transportation dollars. When the city was eligible to receive additional federal funding for a road widening project at FM624 and US77, they couldn't agree on which municipality should pay the measly remaining project costs, the city or the county. The project was tabled until a decision was reached and by the time the city and county had settled their differences, our local road widening project had fallen to the bottom of the list.
If you think this is a petty reason to lose much needed transportation dollars (especially since the city is projecting major infrastructure deficits over the next four years), then you're right. But, the pettiness goes deeper. The reason for the squabble is the County, who had allocated the funding for the project, pulled their funding at a crucial juncture. The County pulled the funding because County Commissioners voted to remodel Judge Banales office to the tune of $118,000. Of course, one of those County Commissioners was the Judge's own wife, Peggy Banales who lost her Commissioner's seat to Mike Pusley in large part because of the re-direction of these road dollars to the Judge's office.
If that name sounds familiar it's because he's the same judge that hit a highway worker this summer with no repercussions, and the same judge that suspended the District Attorney who'd indicted VP Cheney. So, the same corrupt judge who gets away with reckless endangerment and the same judge who derailed a case to stop federal prison abuse and is in the Veep's pocket, is now the same corrupt judge who's sabotaging our infrastructure projects to renovate his office.
Corrupt District Judge Manuel Banales, reason number 27 why Corpus Christi Sucks.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Number 26
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Number 25
"the play area...it's a smorgasboard for rats." Kid's place at Cole Park, the city's downtown park, is a notorious rat haven. The park has again been shut down for public health and safety to address the rat problem after 13 rats were caught. On one of the previous occasions when the park was closed for rats, 65 rats were caught. This past March, the park was closed for rats but families continued to take their children to the play area because signs were only posted in English. This is a classic example of the city not following through to provide real services. They build a park, but don't keep it safe. They build roads, but don't repair them. They buy ships and leave them to rot on land. A parent writes of Cole Park: Cole Park is not a place where I would ever take my children. The children's play area has been recently vandalized, not to mention people actually relieving themselves on the children's play area (ie, swings/slides). The ants are unbearable so there is no sitting in what little grass they have. Living in Corpus Christi is like being babysat by your stepbrother.
Number 24
Chip sealed roads. Corpus is a giant parking lot and that parking lot is covered in chip seal. Chip seal is a cheap alternative to good asphalt which is a cheap alternative to concrete. Chip seal is a process of covering a road in rocks and then gluing them down with an oily binder in order to prolong the life of the road. The surface is loud, damages tires, is unstable for motor and bicyclists, washes off to clog drains and damage windshields and is harmful to the environment. It's lousy, cheap and temporary--the ethos of Corpus' City Council. Of course, cheap is relative. This fall the city spent over $66,000 on emulsion oil, $36,000 on pavement markings and $454,000 on the actual asphalt and aggregate. And their recent road projects include covering the good Island road to the National Seashore with chip seal to use up end of fiscal year money and also to resurface ocean drive, simply transforming it from one kind of lousy to another.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Number 23
Number 22
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Number 21
Number 20
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Number 19
It seems reckless to propose new construction such as the Trans Texas Corridor and new Harbor Bridge. The new Harbor Bridge alone would equal more than 10 years of what it would cost to raise our roads to the State average. The new bridge represents stepping back a decade for Corpus Christi's roads. These Quixotic plans will be an exponentially increasing burden on our transportation infrastructure.
Additionally, the marginal attention given to pedestrian and cyclist access is a concern. Why would the city ask the question "How can we improve hike and bike trails?" when the MPO commissioned and the City Council in 2005 approved a Bicycle Pedestrian Plan? Not only has this plan been ignored, but recent work along Ocean drive is in direct conflict with the suggestions made in the plan.
If the City of Corpus Christi would invest more in public transportation and provide more for pedestrians and cyclists, we could reduce our impact on our roads. And if we focused on maintaining our current infrastructure instead of adding to it, we could hope to stretch our transportation dollars further and one day catch up to where we need to be.
Number 18
We should ask ourselves what we want that role to be. How crucial do we want the SPID to be to our city? You can see from satellite maps that we've already answered that question. Businesses have been drawn to the frontage roads in response to the increasing number of trips that incorporate the SPID. The only way to get anywhere here is to drive and the only way to drive anywhere is on the SPID.
What does that mean for Corpus citizens? It means that our local neighborhood roads get less attention as the constant construction and deconstruction on 358 continues. It means our grocery stores will get bigger and farther away. It means you are increasingly less likely to work anywhere near where you live.
The SPID, though, isn't an isolated event. It's symptomatic of a larger culture of convenience and immediacy, a culture reactive to marketing, a culture without identity, ignorant of its future.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Enduro Unit
Monday, November 17, 2008
Number 17
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Number 15
local federal officials: We couldn't get any local federal officials to really confirm that anything was spotted in the sky, but...
legally blind: He wasn't the only person to see the ufo, we got plenty of emails and phone calls from people like dennis limon...He suffered a stroke four years ago. It left him unable to drive and legally blind. But, he says, he could see the UFO well enough on Saturday night.
Number 14
Friday, November 14, 2008
Number 13
A local judge's car hit a transportation department worker crouching near his truck about to fix a sign Thursday afternoon, sending the worker to the hospital in critical condition, police said...A Texas Department of Transportation heavy-duty pickup with a cherry-picker lift was parked near a ramp connecting Padre Island Drive to southbound Interstate 37 when J. Manuel Bañales, 105th District Court judge and presiding judge of the Fifth Judicial Administrative District, entered the ramp. His gold Cadillac Deville slid off the pavement and struck the truck parked a few feet away on the grass.
And in today's news:
It was an accident. That's what police officers said during a Thursday hearing: They found nothing criminal in the car wreck in which 105th District Judge J. Manuel Bañales critically injured a highway department worker.
Really? It was an accident. You mean the judge wasn't gunning for the TXDOT worker? Of course it was an accident, but he still sent the worker to the hospital "injured head to toe." And even though the judge was initially cited with a class C misdemeanor traffic offense, in court "Capt. Mike McKinney, one of two officers who testified, said there was no evidence that Bañales should face criminal charges."
Number 12
As if the awful presence of these refineries and plants weren't enough, they don't even have to meet modern emissions standards. According to Texas PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) the plants, built in the early part of last century, have been converted from "light industrial production to large polluting facilities" and hazardous waste management facilities. The facilities continue to expand and violate environmental regulations even in the face of sanctions.
Number 11
Number 10
Number 9
Monday, November 10, 2008
Number 8
Le Paris Cafe & Windy City Eatery, the only "restaurant" at the airport that isn't Hangtime or Game Time, features on its menu: "taquitos, warm cinnamon rolls, juicy hamburgers and hot dogs." Where should we begin? With calling the same food kiosk both Le Paris Cafe and also Windy City Eatery? Or with calling Corpus Christi the Windy City seeing as how another city claims that title and Corpus Christi already has its own incredibly misleading moniker, the Shining City by the Sea? Or with serving taquitos and hot dogs at a self-proclaimed Parisian cafe? For reason number eight why Corpus Christi sucks, perhaps we can settle on the second featured passenger service heralded by the Corpus Christi International Airport, an ATM machine (pictured).
Number 7
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Number 6
Corpus Christi's "Go Green Tip of the Month" for April, the month of Earth Day is "Don't Dump Pesticides." What would be considered unconscionable or criminal in non-suck cities is considered a helpful tip in Corpus Christi. To help citizens identify harmful pesticides, the city's website shows pictures of a gas can and a scull-and-crossbones labeled bottle that looks like it's filled with blood.