Thumbs up, down

We didn’t hit the Powerball, but Katy built a $70 million high school stadium.

So much for planning. Like you, we were going to hit the Powerball and ride out Harvey at our second home in Hawaii or maybe at the Ritz in Paris. Instead, like you, we’re hunkering down in the swamp. Stay safe. Stay dry. Keep that flashlight handy. And if the power is on, write your congressman about the importance of coastal and flood protection.

This week’s eclipse was magnificent even hundreds of miles south of the path of totality. Remember to put those odd-looking glasses in a place you won’t forget. We’ll be close to the blackout zone in seven years. This week’s last-minute scramble to buy eyeshade reminds us that we humans put things off until the last possible moment. So with apologies for a large leap here, why do we cut voter registration off 30 days before an election?

We’re delighted that members of the bomb squad have all their thumbs intact after detonating explosives at a home in Southampton, a normally sleepy neighborhood bordering Rice University. A man who lived in the house allegedly planned to blow up the Hermann Park statue of Lt. Dick Dowling, a Confederate war hero and downtown bartender. The defendant had recently finished probation for possessing explosives. Nonetheless, our recommendation is to let the mayor deal with the future of these statues.

It’s hard to believe it’s 2017 and we’re still writing about the Confederacy. This page, though, for years has opposed honoring Confederate leaders. Their names shouldn’t appear on schools or streets, and statues of their likenesses should move to museums. But you can’t change history, so we’re disappointed that amusement park Six Flags Over Texas announced it would only be flying the stars and stripes at facilities in San Antonio and Arlington. Its overreaction was exceeded only by ESPN. The sports network reassigned play-by-play man Robert Lee (he’s Asian-American) who originally was scheduled to call a University of Virginia game in Charlottesville.

There were no arrests or serious spats as a few hundred protesters squared off over a Confederate statue in Sam Houston Park last weekend. There were, however, reports of several of those in attendance getting ill from the heat. It might have been a better idea to protest global warming.

Speaking of global warming, severe heat in California is to blame for a nationwide avocado shortage. The price of guacamole is about to, literally, triple. And it could hit caviar levels if NAFTA negotiations fall apart considering the other major supplier of the fruit is Mexico.

“We may have the most expensive stadium for a little bit but another one will come.” Those are the words of Katy ISD superintendent Lance Hindt to Chronicle reporter Mike Glenn as he prepared to cut the ribbon on America’s priciest high school coliseum. Legacy Stadium was built for $70.3 million (a mere $12 million more than voters approved) and will seat 12,000.

Rice’s football team opens the season tonight in, of all places, Australia. It’ll be on ESPN if your generator works. It’s the Owls vs. 14th-ranked Stanford. We’d like Rice’s chances better if this were Australian Rules Football.