Opening Day
On the KPRC Channel 2 News this morning, one of the lead stories was about a busted water main near Yale and Washington that is causing major street flooding and forced the closure of Yale Street in both directions. One business, the nearby Schlotzsky’s, was reportedly taking in water. I know the area well.
H-Town Mayor John Whitmire certainly had a lot on his plate 15 months ago when he took office. Dealing with aging and neglected infrastructure was at the top for sure. You can’t get around the fact that previous administrations kicked the can down the road when dealing with maintaining our infrastructure. Mayor Whitmire is now having to deal with this mess.
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I posted this yesterday:
Commentary thinks Cong. Jasmine Crockett calling Gov. Greg Abbott, “Gov. Hot Wheels” was insensitive and stupid.
Cong. Crockett isn’t backing down. It looks like she is taking a page from the MAGA playbook and not taking back insensitive statements. I can’t fault her for mimicking the MAGA playbook. Maybe it will work.
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For the second day in a row, State Sen. Carol Alvarado is featured in the lead editorial column of today’s Chron hard copy. Yesterday, Sen. Alvarado penned an Op-Ed on protecting our most vulnerable senior citizens in long-term care facilities. Today, the Chron E-Board writes about Carol’s resolution honoring Sergio Rodriguez. Here is how today’s E-Board take begins:
Sen. Carol Alvarado stood on the Texas Senate floor Tuesday to introduce her resolution urging Houston City Council to build a memorial pedestrian bridge when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick interrupted.
“Members, if we could have some quiet,” he chided his chattering colleagues. “This is a very important resolution, dealing with the death of a young man.”
They were talking about Sergio Rodriguez, struck and killed by a train in December as he walked to school. The proposed pedestrian bridge would give other students a safe route over the tracks on their way to Milby High School.
Far from the Capitol, Rodriguez’s family did not need to be shushed. Several of his family members were gathered in Alvarado’s district office off Harrisburg Blvd., following along on two computer monitors.
His mother, Cecilia Rodriguez, sat with her hair pulled back, listening intently. She nodded when Alvarado said that change doesn’t usually happen this quickly. She nodded again when Alvarado addressed the family in Spanish, wishing them “consuelo y paz,” comfort and peace. And again, when Alvarado warned the rail company, Union Pacific, that it is not off the hook.
She wiped away tears quickly. But when the lieutenant governor called for everyone to stand in Sergio’s memory, it was too much. Sergio’s older brother, Oscar, stood beside her while she stayed seated. With one arm, he held his daughter, a bubbly baby just shy of one year old. With the other, he held his mother, who buried her head into him, tears coming faster now. She used a napkin to dry her face.
Here is the entire E-Board take: A bridge at Milby at last. Houston needs far more safe train crossings.
Nice job, Carol.
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It is Opening Day. The KPRC Channel 2 News folks, anchors Sofia Ojeda – in the featured photo – and Cathy Hernandez, were live from Daikin Park this morning talking about all things Opening Day. The Chron has a good Opening Day article today. See this:
Major League Baseball’s opening day takes place Thursday, marking a celebration of a new season kicking off around the nation. For the Houston Astros, the day will be filled with festivities remembering years past while also embarking on a new era.
The Astros open the regular season at 3:10 p.m. Thursday at Daikin Park against the New York Mets. It comes as their first regular-season game at the rebranded venue after it changed its naming rights sponsor from Minute Maid over the offseason. While the team will be celebrating the new partnership, it will also be celebrating 25 years of the ballpark.
Part of those celebrations will be much anticipated. During pregame ceremonies, the team will reveal a new-look Phillips 66 Home Run Train that rests on the tracks above left field. The update will “honor 25 years of the ballpark where the Astros call home,” per the team.
The train has been a part of the ballpark since its debut in 2000 as an ode to the history of adjoining Union Station, the main terminal for Houston passengers for over 70 years. Conducted by Bobby “Dynamite” Vasquez, the train drives down the tracks after every Astros home run. It carried logs as cargo in its inception before switching to oranges after Minute Maid took over naming rights in 2002. With the beverage company no longer a partner, the train will feature different freight for 2025 and beyond.
The Astros’ celebration of 25 years at the ballpark also will include a ceremonial first pitch thrown out by franchise legend Larry Dierker, who managed the inaugural team to call the park home in 2000. The “Play Ball” call will then be made by José Cruz, another team icon who was also a member of the coaching staff in 2000.
The national anthem will be sung by The Wilder Blue, and the nation’s colors will be presented by Joint Services Color Guard. The game will be televised on Space City Home Network with radio broadcasts on 790 AM and 93.3 FM (in Spanish).
Commentary has said it before. This will be the 26th season of MLB at the Downtown stadium now called Daikin Park. We have come a long way since the move to Downtown H-Town. Five World Series appearances and two World Series Championships. The Hall of Fame greats Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, and Billy Wagner were in Astros uniforms when the first game was played Downtown in 2000.
I will be at Daikin Park this afternoon for another Opening Day. Schedule magnets will be handed out to all fans who attend. We will also see the train’s new look. I will have a Saint Arnold, peanuts, and maybe a hot dog.
Let’s Play Ball!
