An H-Town Favorite
The Chron came out with the following yesterday afternoon:
Pappas Restaurants officials sued the city Tuesday, alleging a former mayoral aide who resigned amid federal corruption charges called CEO Chris Pappas about a Hobby Airport contract while the deal still was in its first round of proposals, violating a city rule that prohibits such discussions.
William-Paul Thomas, then the mayor’s liaison to City Council, called Pappas on Nov. 25, 2019, according to the lawsuit. Pappas did not answer nor return his call. Thomas retired last year after admitting to federal prosecutors that he accepted bribes in an unrelated case.
“Oh, Mr. Pappas, this is William-Paul Thomas, Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Office. I wanted to visit with you regarding the upcoming airport concession at Hobby Airport,” Thomas said in a voicemail message to Pappas, according to the lawsuit. “Um, I had a great meeting with a couple of folks and I’m going to share with you some of the thoughts that we had going forward. Please give me a call at your convenience.”
Company representatives are not allowed to discuss pending contracts with city officials or workers, except for the city’s designated employee overseeing the procurement. Thomas’ call was made while the city was evaluating the first round of proposals for the Hobby contract, which it later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I want to know why the Pappas folks didn’t play this card before the city council vote a few weeks ago.
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This is also from the Chron that I saw yesterday:
Orlando Sanchez, the former Harris County treasurer, City Council member and mayoral candidate, is running for city controller, his second consecutive run for the office.
Sanchez received 47.8 percent of the vote in 2019, losing to incumbent Chris Brown, who now faces term limits.
I am sure H-Town Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin and CM Michael Kubosh aren’t happy about Orlando getting into the race. Oh, well.
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This is interesting from an online sports news site:
Major League Baseball’s new rules are speeding up games to a tremendous degree. Through the first week-plus of the season, games are coming in at about two hours and forty minutes, a huge drop from three hours and three minutes in 2022. The league’s owners have to be happy about the changes they implemented. Unfortunately, as an unintended consequence, their pocketbooks are taking a hit.
With shorter games has come fewer concession sales. It’s been such a dramatic drop-off, that MLB teams are now extending beer sales beyond the seventh inning into the eighth. It’s only a matter of time before they keep selling beer — and all concessions — through the end of games.
I have not noticed if they are selling Saint Arnold into the eighth inning at The Yard.
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On of H-Town’s favorites is 38 today. Happy Birthday, Julia Morales!