Houston Landing
Commentary is looking forward to the launch of Houston Landing. Maybe I will call it H-Town Landing. It is going to be a non-profit news outfit for H-Town. Kind of like Texas Tribune local. Why not?
There is certainly plenty of stuff in the H-Town region that needs covering and sometimes investigating.
Mizanur Rahman who was a big shot in the Chron newsroom is the Editor-in-chief and he put this out today:
More than a year ago, researchers studying local news in the Houston metro area learned something critical to the launch of the Houston Landing.
“The community often times feels left out of the news,” said a nonprofit director in east Harris County, who was one of hundreds of residents who participated in the study. “I think there’s a lot of feelings of being forgotten, being left out, and the light not being shined on the community since [Hurricane] Harvey.”
It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to make our communities feel heard, seen and valued.
It just takes a vision that is as big and bold as Houston.
This is why we are announcing today the launch of Houston Landing, an independent nonprofit news organization devoted to public service journalism that will be digital-only and nonpartisan.
Our mission is to strengthen democracy and improve the lives of all Houstonians one story at a time. Because we want to serve as many people as possible, our content will always be free, with no paywalls or subscription fees. It will also be available for other media organizations to publish.
The American Journalism Project, which helps build nonprofit newsrooms, conducted surveys, interviews and focus groups with residents of Greater Houston. The message was clear: People do not feel they have access to the trustworthy, local and deeply reported stories they need for their daily lives.
We’re trying to fix that.
The Houston Landing will provide trusted reporting about local issues important to our region, stories that offer solutions to pressing problems and investigative journalism that keeps the powerful accountable.
The Landing (we’ll get to the story behind our name shortly) will focus on watchdog coverage of governments and institutions in Harris County and our suburbs. We will tell stories that reflect the region’s dynamic diversity.
We will offer stories and information that help residents make decisions about their daily lives — from accessing public services to participating in democracy — empowering them to engage in their communities and city.
Good luck and welcome.
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EPA is now investigating TCEQ. It is about time. Here is from the front page of the Chron today:
WASHINGTON — Federal environmental regulators are probing wide-ranging complaints that Texas is not doing enough to safeguard against water and air pollution.
The Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter this month that it is looking into a slew of allegations that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality allows developers to skirt environmental rules, cuts the public out of permitting processes, and more. The inquiry comes after dozens of environmental groups have filed two separate petitions asking the agency to step in and take over permitting in the state.
“If proven to be true, the allegations outlined in the petition are concerning,” Charles Maguire, the EPA’s acting deputy regional administrator, wrote in the letter.
The inquiry comes as the state’s environmental agency has been under increased scrutiny. A review of the agency by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission last year deemed TCEQ to be “reluctant regulators” and recommended lawmakers increase fines on polluters, add time for the public to weigh in on proposed permits and improve online transparency, among other things.
The TCEQ declined to comment on the EPA letter, but said the federal agency reviewed the state permitting process in 2020 and found it to meet all federal requirements.
Here is the entire read: EPA investigates claims Texas fails to protect water, air quality (houstonchronicle.com).
Oh, yeah. We know who was running the EPA in 2020.
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Today is National Dark Chocolate Day.
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My Beatles wall calendar for February has the four on a stage jumping up and down with their guitars, except for Ringo.
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Tom Brady is retiring – for good – he says.
The Texans have a head coach. DeMeco Ryans better get this team in shape.
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Starting times have been assigned to all Astros games this season. Opening Day at The Yard is a 6 pm start as we host the White Sox on Thursday, March 30. We have two Sunday night games in April at The Yard that will be on ESPN. On April 16 we host the Rangers. On April 30 we host our World Series opponent, the Phillies. Both are 6 pm starts.
There will seven afternoon games on weekdays at The Yard this season that don’t include holidays. All seven are 1 pm starts that will include the Tigers, Giants, Mets, Rockies, Guardians, Red Sox, and B’More. On Memorial Day, May 29, we host the Twins at 3 pm. On July 4, that falls on a Tuesday, we host the Rockies – also a 3 pm start. Got it?
