Thumbs up, down
Holocaust Museum expansion, Prairie View snags a gem, and a councilman’s challenge.
We wish we knew her name. All we know is that an anonymous organ donor, a 31-year-old woman who died in a traffic accident, saved the life of Lester Smith. He’s the Houston philanthropist who told his emotional story to a Museum District crowd Tuesday evening. Tears streaming down his cheeks, Smith remembered lying in a hospital bed recovering from double lung transplant surgery. He asked himself how he could justify a second chance at life. The wildcat oilman decided to donate $15 million to kick-start a massive expansion of the Holocaust Museum Houston, proving that whoever saves one life can save an entire world.
Mother Nature did us a solid. She vectored blustery Tropical Storm Cindy to the east. That spared us rain, downed trees and flooding but not hyperbole from local television meteorologists who breathlessly painted apocalyptic scenarios. The good news is that thousands of new Houstonians are now aware that these storms can come up quickly. If you’ve lived through Carla, Alicia, Allison or Ike, you know it’s a good idea to stock up now on canned goods, batteries and bottled water.
Ruth Simmons could have just enjoyed the retirement life: late breakfast, long walks in the park, the all-inclusive cruise to Alaska. But in a true act of public service, she agreed this week to become the interim president of Prairie View A&M. A graduate of Wheatley before earning her Ph.D. at Harvard, Simmons went on to become the first black president of an Ivy League school at Brown. No one knows how long she’ll be up 290, but there couldn’t be a better role model or academic visionary for our area.
Another woman who cracked a few ceilings was Jan Coggeshall, the first female mayor in Galveston. She passed away this week at 81 but not before changing the island for the better. She was one of a cadre of women at the time who led Texas cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. No one today blinks an eye when a woman is elected but that’s thanks to the trail blazed by Coggeshall in Galveston.
We always knew that Gov. Goodhair wasn’t the sharpest drill bit at the fracking site, but he’s a homie and in a weak governor state he couldn’t do catastrophic damage. But now he’s secretary of energy, and the stakes include screwing up the planet called Earth. Disregarding hundreds of peerreviewed scientists and even geologists at the world’s big oil companies, Perry this week pooh-poohed climate change. “The idea the science is somehow settled, and if you don’t believe it’s settled you’re somehow or another a Neanderthal, that is inappropriate from my perspective.” He’s right about one thing — he shouldn’t be called a Neanderthal. Instead, he and others who deny the impact of carbon dioxide emissions should have to attend mandatory classes in environmental science at a high school.
Speaking of Neanderthal attitudes, Houston City Councilman Jack Christie challenged an editorial board member to a duel and debate because this page was critical of his antivaccination — and ultimately anti-children’s health — positions. As pacifists, we’ll pass on the duel. As for the debate, we’ll yield our spot to the parent of a child with polio or to a pediatric vaccine expert like Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine. How about next week at 4747 Southwest Freeway, Jack? If you’re one of Christie’s supporters who slough it off with a “there goes Uncle Jack again,” pardon us if we don’t see it that way. Antivaxxers ultimately shift the debate to unsubstantiated nonsense. The losers are children and families who need protection, treatment and support but can’t get it because the lies detract from the true problem. Christie’s rant came moments after he was the lone council vote against a city Health Department request for funds to study drug-resistant bacteria in hospitals. He also disappeared (we won’t call it being spineless) for an important vote on the city joining litigation against the onerous SB4.
These things come in threes, so we need an extra Thumb this week to turn down to Harris County Democrats and Republican state Rep. Gary Elkins of Jersey Village. Elkins was one of four from our area to make Texas Monthly’s annual worst legislators list. We pause 10 seconds to name four locals who make the best list: Reps. Sarah Davis, Dan Huberty and Senfronia Thompson and Sen. Joan Huffman. As TM wrote, “Gary Elkins is a walking oxymoron: he is chair of the Government Transparency and Operations Committee who spent the session killing transparency legislation.” In the past, he’s pushed bills making life better for payday lenders. Oh, he owns a payday lending business. The question for both Ds an Rs is: How can Elkins survive 22 years without a serious challenge? Where are their candidates who can run a real campaign?