Thumbs up, down
City Councilman Larry Green is fondly remembered, and spring break arrives.
Houston lost a true public servant this week when Larry Green was found dead at his home. The 52-year-old city councilman represented District K in southwest Houston when it was created after the 2010 Census. Green was a true shoeleather politician who rarely missed civic club meetings and built deep, personal relationships — friendships, even — with his constituents. Mayor Sylvester Turner put it well: “A hard worker. Not a grandstander. He shared in the economic advances and public safety strides of the district without taking the credit for himself.” Green will be deeply missed.
The election to replace Green on City Council has already been scheduled: Candidates have from Tuesday, March 20 to Monday, March 26 to sign up. Election Day is May 5. And then get ready to vote again on May 22 in the party primary runoffs. Apparently Texas mandates two different dates for these elections. Look forward to turnout that may skyrocket into the literal dozens.
Grab your inner-tube, boogie board and, given the chilly weather, maybe a sweater — it’s spring break! Galveston’s beach parks officially open today, so feel free to hit the waves. We’re pretty sure everyone at the Houston Independent School District could use a vacation.
So maybe don’t hit the waves right away. Several beaches tested positive for high fecal bacteria — gross. Watch out before dipping a toe — or thumb — at O’Neil Road or Port BolivarRettilon Road. Enough about splashing around in fetid, waste-filled water — today is the 46th annual Buffalo Bayou Partnership Regatta. Texas’ largest canoe and kayak race starts this morning, rain or shine, at Allen’s Landing downtown.
Don’t forget to spring forward! Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, so skip your clocks up an hour. If you find this annual tradition annoying, don’t blame farmers. The golf, barbecue and automobile lobbies are the ones who keep pushing for the government to maintain our national practice of time-switchery, according to Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.” More daylight means more golf games, grilling and driving around. Want it to stop? Go to Arizona, which never implemented Daylight Saving. Want more of it? Go to Florida, where lawmakers voted to make it Daylight Saving Time all year.
If this whole Senate thing doesn’t work out for Ted Cruz, he could take a job as an assistant to “Weird” Al Yankovic. The Cruz campaign released its first attack ad against Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke — a parody song to the tune of “If you're gonna play in Texas,” by Alabama. The earworm bops Beto for not being Texan enough and going by a nickname instead of his formal name: Robert Francis. O’Rourke responded by tweeting a picture of himself as a toddler wearing a shirt that says “Beto.” And the nation responded by doing a stage cough and pointing to the fact that Sen. Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz was born in Canada.