Thumbs up, down

Population growth slows, Farenthold’s hiring was irregular and the NFL drops the ball.

Here’s a movie recommendation for anybody avoiding the Memorial Day weekend crowds going to the new “Star Wars” movie: Check out the latest production from the Chemical Safety Board. Seriously. The CSB this week released a written analysis of what went wrong in the Arkema plant disaster during Hurricane Harvey, recommending that chemical plants and refineries do more to incorporate flood preparation in their emergency planning. Driving home that point, the board produced a dramatic 13-minute animated short that’s as compelling as an action movie. This riveting video is taxpayer money well spent. The CSB’s reports are used as training materials in the petrochemical industry, and you can bet a lot of executives and employees who would never read a dull government document will watch this gripping animated short. Even Siskel and Ebert would have joined us in giving the CSB thumbs up. Well, at least there will be fewer people on the freeway at rush hour. Turns out Houston’s history of break-neck growth slowed to a crawl last year, adding only an estimated 8,235 people, according to population estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau. Blame it on the tail effects of the oil downturn or growth in the suburbs. Or maybe everyone just moved to San Antonio, which claimed the mantle as fastest-growing city in the United States. The Alamolopolis added 24,208 to top 1.5 million people. It’s unbelievable that Blake Farenthold has tried to revive himself so quickly as a lobbyist after being forced to resign from Congress over a sexual harassment scandal. And it’s even worse that officials with the Calhoun Port Authority (also known as the Port of Port Lavaca-Point Comfort), which hired the Republican ex-lawmaker, apparently violated Texas Open Meetings law in making that decision. Thumbs up to the Victoria Advocate, which already has filed a lawsuit against the port for allegedly violating that crucial state law. The Advocate’s investigative reporter Jessica Priest first exposed the irregularity in Farenthold’s hiring. “Where is the agenda and the minutes of any meeting where (a port official) was given the authority to hire a lobbyist for $160,000 like Farenthold? Either way, the public had no notice,” said Attorney John Griffin in her story. In other politicians-behaving-badly news, Democratic state Rep. Ron Reynolds might spend the next legislative session behind bars. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to review his conviction for illegally soliciting clients for his personal injury law practice. Now the four-term Missouri City representative is facing up to a year in jail. If the charge had been a felony, then he’d be barred from serving in the Lege. But because it’s only a misdemeanor, that’s a call Reynolds will have to make himself. Rep. Reynolds, do yourself (and your constituents) a favor: Resign. Sure, our politics ain’t perfect, but there’s no better way to embody the values and ideals of the American system than to mandate public performances of jingoistic submission and fealty to the state. That must be true, because its the only way to explain why the NFL is adopting a policy that punishes teams whose players take a knee during the national anthem. In a practice made famous by free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, players would take a knee to draw attention to matters of racial injustice in America, notably the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Here’s to the land of the free (except when your boss says otherwise) and the home of the brave (unless you’re sharing criticism of the police). Not even the cheerleaders can give a sis-boom-bah for the NFL. Three former Texans cheerleaders are suing the team and its cheerleading supervisor. They allege that the team failed to pay them minimum wage and overtime and failed to act on complaints that fans had physically assaulted them. When even the cheerleaders can’t crack a smile, you know things are going off the rails. Watch Game 6 tonight, but it probably won’t be pretty. Chris Paul is out with a hamstring strain. Oof. At least things are going well for the Rockets. A nail-biter win over the Warriors on Thursday has the team up 3-2 in the contest for Western Conference champion.