Pitching Injuries
In case folks forgot, the City of H-Town has the strongest mayor form of government in the country. Mayor John Whitmire knows this and wants to use part of his time as mayor to review projects. He did that with the Shepherd Durham project and folks reacted as though he pulled out a bazooka and just started blasting away. The Shepherd Durham project impacts me a ton, so I was glad he conducted the review and now see this from the Chron:
A Heights road project paused after Mayor John Whitmire raised concerns about the loss of lanes for drivers is back on pace, after what officials called a compromise to some design changes.
Whitmire’s office said in a statement that the compromise “preserves the standard widths of general-purpose lanes on Shepherd and Durham, and the number and width of these lanes for two blocks of 11th Street.”
The compromise reduces the number of lanes on Shepherd and Durham from four to three, but preserves some left turn lanes “strategically included,” where a review of traffic data shows they can improve movement in the area.
Here is the entire read: Mayor says agreed changes can let Shepherd-Durham redesign proceed (houstonchronicle.com).
Chill folks. I am letting the mayor do his job. Oh, well.
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This is an embarrassment. Local Democrats ought to be disgusted with this. See this from the Chron:
Harris County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to pay four women $1.5 million, settling a civil lawsuit that alleged an array of sexual misconduct and exploitation during so-called “bachelor party” stings while working as rookie Precinct 1 constable deputies.
The 2021 federal lawsuit took aim at Constable Alan Rosen and two of his top-ranking superiors, all of whom were dismissed from the case, based on complaints that female deputies were picked for undercover vice assignments and then sexually abused.
The settlement includes Liz Gomez, Marissa Sanchez, Felicia McKinney and Jassmine Huff, who alleged the sting operations would devolve into “a booze-fueled playground for sexual exploitation.”
Gomez accused the department of subjecting her to sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, sexual ridicule and molestation during two undercover operations she participated in. The operations, described in the lawsuit as “bachelor party” stings, took place in a hotel room where undercover deputies posed as party goers and sex workers. Sex workers who tried to sell services for cash would be arrested and pressured to provide information about their traffickers or pimps, according to court documents.
She asked to be removed from the human trafficking unit.
Sanchez said in the suit that she was instructed “to wear revealing clothing, simulate sexual activity, and allow (her superior) to kiss, touch, and fondle her.”
The settlement was discussed Tuesday during an executive session at the request of Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones and then approved in a vote. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she abstained from voting since one of the lawyers, Cordt Akers, who represented the women, also works for her.
And this:
Rosen defended his deputies and his department as the case proceeded through the courts.
A review of the settlement agreement by the Chronicle shows Rosen and his lawyer disagreed with the monetary reward last month while signing the agreement. The agreement prohibits the parties and their lawyers from disparaging or defaming each other.
If this had happened to a GOP constable’s office, local Dems would be outraged. This is like sweeping it under the rug. Dems are better than this. Tsk, tsk, tsk to Dems. Sad.
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Commentary was at the Astros game yesterday evening when I learned that pitcher Christian Javier would be having major surgery that will end his season. See the featured photo. Ditto pitcher José Urquidy. Joining Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers, Jr. Then last night’s starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti took a line drive to his calf that knocked him off his feet. Oh, no. He left the game the next inning. It turns out it is just a bruise, and he will be ok. Still.
We won last night and finish the series with San Luis this afternoon. It is going to be tough now that we have four starting pitchers out for a while.
We have 100 games remaining on the regular season schedule.
