Astrodome

We will know later this morning who will be the U.S. Senate Majority Leader for 2025. We will also know if MAGA world will get its picked named. You know, the Sen. Rick Scott fella from Florida.

Cancun Cruz won’t be backing his colleague from his own state, Sen. John Cornyn. Cancun is backing Sen. Scott. I am guessing Cancun wants to further endear himself to MAGA world and looking at 2028.

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Drum roll, please. See this from the Chron:

The Astrodome became the world’s first domed stadium upon opening its doors in 1965. Financed and developed primarily by then-mayor Roy Hofheinz, the Astrodome served as the home of the Astros, Oilers and, for a short time, the Rockets.

Its design was inspired by the Colosseum in Rome. It could seat 50,000 — though a record 68,266 fans packed in for a George Strait performance in 2002. Its inaugural use of artificial grass coined the term AstroTurf. It boasted the first-ever LED scoreboard. It was the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s primary venue from 1966 to 2002. And it earned the nickname of the Eighth Wonder of the World.

On Wednesday, the Astrodome Conservancy unveiled its ambitious $1 billion plan, Vision: Astrodome, with a mission to answer the decades-long question of what to do with the landmark. Gensler Houston design firm created the redevelopment concept.

“The Astrodome has since 2009 struggled with a public relations issue,” Beth Wiedower Jackson, executive director of the Astrodome Conservancy, told the Chronicle.

The conservancy’s chairman, Phoebe Tudor, who established the non-profit organization in 2016 by issuing a $100,000 investment grant, says the building is structurally sound, has undergone remediation for asbestos and is debt-free. “It’s over-engineered, solid and strong,” she said. “It’s in really good shape and just needs some TLC.”

Gensler’s design proposes 450,000-square feet of new, revenue-generating space. It conceptualizes four state-of-the-art buildings under the Astrodome’s iconic roof. Inspired by the Highline in New York, a boulevard would cut through the Astrodome to connect existing buildings within NRG Park. There would be room for 1,500 additional parking spots and animal handling facilities could be located under a new ground floor.

Around the perimeter, Vision: Astrodome has conceptualized a retail village for year-round restaurants, hospitality, exhibitions and shopping. An idea has been put forth to lease out real estate within the Dome’s concrete walls for data storage.

The Astrodome Conservancy aims to address the needs of Harris County, which owns and operates the Astrodome as part of NRG Park, and its two primary tenants, the RodeoHouston and the Texans.

“The rodeo has not had formal conversations with the Astrodome Conservancy in more than a year. The rodeo does not support the previously presented concepts as they conflict with our organization’s strategic vision and operational needs,” said Chris Boleman, president and CEO of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in an email statement to the Chronicle Tuesday.

“We have voiced our concerns on several occasions with the conservancy,” he said. “There is no proposed or official plan that our organization has agreed to or been made aware of regarding the future of the Astrodome. However, the rodeo, Texans and Harris County Sports & Convention Corp. have been working on plans for NRG Park’s future. Our goal remains to focus on the functioning buildings, enhancing our experience, and growing our event.”

Here is the entire read: Astrodome Conservancy’s $1 billion plan could save landmark stadium.

One would think that the Conservancy would be in constant communication with the Rodeo throughout this endeavor. Nothing will move forward on the Astrodome without approval from the Rodeo. Same thing with the Texans.

Oh, well. The featured photo is from a giveaway at The Yard several years ago.

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How does this happen. How hard is it to pay the bills on time over at the County? See this from ABC Channel 13 News:

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — After hitting taxpayers with higher property taxes, a new report shows Harris County isn’t paying a number of its bills on time, and it’s costing more money.

During commissioners’ court on Tuesday, County Administrator Diana Ramirez showed commissioners how often the county isn’t paying its bills within a month. After seeing the report, commissioners called the system broken, and are demanding immediate change.

They’re upset because each time a bill isn’t paid on time, the county has to pay interest, costing taxpayers more money. ABC13 asked the administrator’s office how much has been spent over the last two years in interest on late payments but has yet to receive the data.

Numbers show two years ago, a number of bills weren’t being paid on time. They’ve implemented a new system, but it’s still not good enough for commissioners.

The county administrator met with commissioners on Tuesday to talk about the issue. Diana Ramirez said after discovering many bills weren’t being paid, they’ve made changes.

Two years ago, about 25% of invoices weren’t paid within a month. In fact, nearly 7% of bills weren’t paid within three months.

It’s better, but there are still a lot of bills not being paid on time. The number of bills not paid within a month for the current year is down to about 14 percent. The number of bills waiting to be paid within three months is down to 3%.

However, commissioners say it’s still not good enough, and they want immediate accountability.

“The fact we’re not even tracking interest we owe,” Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones said. “The fact that simultaneously invoices aren’t being sent to the auditor and the department that we’re watching the clock. I mean, this is fundamentals, I would argue.”

“You’ve got a lot of problems,” Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey said. “We’ve got to treat it like we’ve got a lot of problems, and it’s a data time. Tomorrow’s going to be better than today. We can’t walk out of this meeting thinking, ‘Well, we’ve got a plan.”

County leaders say they plan to come back early next year to give an update. That’s too long for some commissioners.

They want an update by the next commissioners’ court meeting later this month.

Come on. Pay the bills on time.

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Congrats are in order. See this from the Chron:

For the seventh time in his career, Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was named the American League winner of the Silver Slugger award at second base.

Altuve’s seven Silver Slugger awards match Ryne Sandberg for the most won by a second baseman. Louisville Slugger introduced the awards in 1980.

Nice job, Tuves.