Politically Connected Men Charged In Bribery Scheme

When I first heard about this story, it was like reliving the City of New Orleans' nightmare all over again. Well, New Orleans' nightmare goes like this: Politically connected businessman, Stan "Pampy" Barre admits to bribing New Orleans Council President, Oliver Thomas, in order to hold on to parking contracts he held under former New Orleans' Mayor Marc Morial's administration. Now we have these two wheeler dealers taking a page out of Stan "Pampy" Barre's notebook:

Federal agents arrested two of Houston's most politically connected developers in a bribery scandal. Until last month, one of them was the head of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, the group in charge of redeveloping the Astrodome. However, on Friday, Michael Surface and his business partner Andrew Schatte went before a federal judge.

He and Schatte were indicted on three counts of conspiracy and wire fraud. Surface is also accused of making false statements to authorities. The charges allege that the two coordinated payments to a city of Houston employee, including trips, football tickets and thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the awarding of the contract to build the Houston Emergency Center and a downtown fire station.


Pure greed and a desperate need for power always lead to ones demise. I hope it was worth it gentlemen..or whatever you may call yourselves.
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Ministers Want Harris County Sheriff To Resign

Remember when the Sheriff's Department announced that they would be deleting their emails? Well, this may be the reason why:

Members of a black ministers group on Thursday called on Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas to resign for sending e-mails depicting national civil rights figures Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton getting zapped and reduced to a puff of smoke.

The e-mail, obtained by Channel 13 and aired on a recent news segment, includes a copy of an editorial cartoon that shows Jackson and Sharpton looking up at a star in the sky. A bubble over their heads reads: "Oh, wishing star, we wish for an end to racial strife and bigotry."

I guess they wanted to destroy this little gem after Chuck Rosenthal's emails were made public. I wonder what other types of emails they have. It is really pathetic that these adult do not have anything else better to do.

Former Grand Jurors Want to Offer Evidence

Those former grand jurors refuse to back down:

A day after finding out they didn't have the legal authority to indict Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife in an arson case, former grand jurors said Wednesday they plan to present their opinions to a new grand jury as ordinary citizens.

They won't be allowed, however, to talk about what they heard during most of their time behind closed doors.

Keeping silent on what they heard previously will probably thwart their efforts to present a concrete argument as to why a new grand jury should proceed.

Chuck Knoblauch Subpoenaed In Steroid Case

Houston resident Chuck Knoblauch, who was accused of doping in a federal agent's affidavit, was subpoenaed Tuesday by the congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball after he failed to respond to an invitation to give a deposition.

Knoblauch, who played at Bellaire High School and Texas A&M, was asked to appear Thursday for the first of five depositions scheduled by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in advance of its Feb. 13 hearing.

Mary Kay conference to be held in Houston

This week's Mary Kay Inc. conference in Houston will pump $8.5 million into the city's economy, according to the company. The Dallas-based, direct-sell cosmetics company is hosting its annual leadership convention in Houston from Jan. 23 to 30 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

As part of the festivities, Mary Kay will make a $20,000 donation to The Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association in honor of its founder, Mary Kay Ash, who grew up in the neighborhood. The company also is making a $20,000 donation to the Houston Area Women's Center to aid in the prevention of domestic violence against women.

Grand Jurors jab at lawyer

The long weekend failed to quell the rhetoric as a lawyer for state Supreme Court Justice David Medina and two of the grand jurors who voted to indict the jurist continued to jab at each other.

Attorney Terry Yates continued to accuse the two grand jurors, foreman Bob Ryan and assistant foreman Jeffrey Dorrell, of breaking the law by publicly discussing the case outside the grand jury. Among the accusations was the suggestion by Yates that Dorrell was a gay activist and may have been trying to use the case to embarrass conservatives like Medina and Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.

Cyber Crime Task Force - What Can We Do?

I was reading the Houston Chronicle, this morning, and I came across a Q&A with Randall Clark, an FBI special agent on the Houston Area Cyber Crimes Task Force. I found it very interesting and I tend to agree with him that parents have to know what their children are doing online. Myspace, however, has become the playground for criminal predators that has not been fully addressed:

Take for example this predator; Stan "Pampy" Barre, III has been using the social networking site to groom young women, who are not legally old enough to drink into engaging in drinking. He has also used the site to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims in order to victimize them later. Myspace did not appropriately address that issue. They only decided to delete his page when he used it to impersonate a famous rapper. If Myspace would have dealt with Stan "Pampy" Barre, III sooner, he would not have been able to carry out his reign of terror.

Two Grand Jury Members On The 'Hot Seat'

If you speak out against the actions of prosecutor, Chuck Rosenthal, you may find yourself in a whole lot of trouble:

The lawyer for Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina asked a judge Friday to sanction two grand jurors for discussing their secret proceedings, saying the two men brought about the indictment of Medina and his wife to embarrass District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.

Medina's attorney, Terry Yates, said grand jury foreman Robert Ryan and assistant foreman Jeffrey Dorrell acted illegally when they told reporters Thursday that Rosenthal's unwillingness to prosecute was politically motivated. Ryan said the two broke no laws and were careful not to mention anything discussed in secrecy.

What power does Chuck Rosenthal hold here in Houston? There seems to be more to this story than we will ever know.

It Is Time For Chuck Rosenthal To Go

How much longer will we have to put up with Chuck Rosenthal? It is time for him to step down. I thought he would be gone after his scandalous emails but now he is dismissing the case against Medina.

What will it take to finally get rid of him?

Federal Probe of Brown Officials Widens

The federal corruption probe of former Mayor Lee Brown's administration has taken on a new twist. Federal prosecutors have now turned their attention to the deals to construct the $53 million Houston Emergency Center and two Fire Department facilities:

Prosecutors are seeking records on the involvement of several people, including Mike Surface, who resigned his Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. post three days after the subpoenas were served; his business partner, Andrew Schatte; and the former boyfriend of a former Brown administration official who worked as a consultant for them, Garland Hardeman.

Something smells rotten here in Houston; let's hope the feds can weed out the corruption. Jim Letten is trying to weed it out in New Orleans if Stan "Pampy" Barre continues to inform on those he bribed.