Mike Snyder

Texts from John Whitmire reveal how he shaped bike lane removals, road projects Text messages from Mayor John Whitmire reveal he has strategically shaped the narrative around key road projects and bike lane removals across the city.

Excellent reporting, clear writing and (often overlooked) good editing in this Houston Chronicle story by Ryan Nickerson; www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

They misspelled Sugar Land

Sorry, no

Bill Mintz, the leader of this fine organization, was a Chronicle reporter in a previous life. He was my partner on the City Hall beat in the ‘80s.

The @houstonlanding.bsky.social is going out with a bang, dropping ambitious reports on the impact of Houston’s Vietnamese community and the impending area garbage crisis. houstonlanding.org

This never gets old

Once in a while a newspaper story enters the realm of literature.

Anything by Alan Furst. “The Foreign Correspondent” might be a good start for a journalist.

“Isaac’s Storm” by Erik Larson is the definitive text on this

When I saw the deadline I thought the piece was about this excellent writer en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_R._...

After decades of growth, the population is falling in some of Houston's largest suburbs. Here's why. Since 2019, Sugar Land's population has dropped by nearly 10,000 residents, a loss of more than 8% of its population.

Excellent analysis of how the brakes have been applied in booming suburbs such as Sugar Land and Pearland, by SamGonzalez-Kelly www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

Will taxpayers have to cover Texas’ leaking oil gas and wells? As Texas takes on more high-cost leaking wells, the oil and gas well plugging program is outgrowing the traditional funding model, budget documents show.

More Texas oil and gas wells are leaking. Will taxpayers have to cover the $100M cost to plug them?

www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...

Buyouts?

I agree, but: Never use exclamation points

I’ve been encouraged to leap into the Substack pool but I’m hesitant. It seems to me it’s just an email version of blogging, a platform I sort of miss.

(1/2) Two friends and former colleagues, Alan Bernstein (houstonalanbernstein.substack.com) and Ronnie Crocker, (allmytexas.substack.com) have recently started Substack newsletters. Both are fine writers worthy of your attention.

Nicely done as always, Ken

Remember the scene in “All the President’s Men” where Bernstein phones John Mitchell late at night and writes frantically, the phone falling from his ear, to get the “tit in a wringer” quote down? That’s me, except for the toppling a corrupt president part.

I recorded few interviews, mainly just those with public officials on super sensitive topics. I relied on my notes, mostly, and over time used far fewer direct quotes.

There’s an office lunch dropoff table? What other cool stuff has been added since I left? Is the Starbucks machine free now?

Trains put Houstonians in danger. Here's what we need to do. Houston grew up around locomotives. Milby High School student death crossing train tracks is a reminder we need to upgrade our rail system.

This byline signals an automatic read for me. Chistof Spieler @christofspieler.bsky.social is one of Houston’s most original thinkers. Also, he knows a lot about trains. www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...

Janis Scott, Houston's 'bus lady' and public transit advocate, dies at 73 A fixture in Houston, Scott was a near-lifetime bus rider, though there was that time in the 80s when she bought a car. It didn't last.

Janis Scott, a fixture of community meetings and public lectures who was lovingly called “the bus lady” by four generations of Houstonians, died Monday. She was 73. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Harris’ outgoing district attorney recommends ‘unprecedented’ plea in capital murder cases Critics said the ‘blanket recommendation’ of life without parole could be inappropriate in certain cases and confuse victims’ families.

Quite a scoop here by @amari-clare.bsky.social in @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/harris-outgo...

Just joined up here after deactivating the account linked to the space/electric car/destroy government dude. We'll see what happens, as someone likes to say.