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Coming near you: The Big “S” for Sequestration

There are a number of reasons to fear “Sequestration,” the automatic delete switch that flips on U.S. government finances come March 1. Sequestration sounds kind of like “castration.” Perhaps it will not be as painful as castration, but if it happens it surely will bring on some real hurt of its own.

The majority of the public doesn’t seem to give a rat’s ass whether these painful cuts hit the federal government itself or its workforce. Among the possibilities are 22 days of furloughs set over a particular period for federal employees. That won’t happen immediately and it will not happen consecutively. Still, being deprived of almost three-quarters of a month’s salary is not a pleasant prospect, particularly for those whose general schedule (GS) are toward the end of the scales and especially for those in that situation who work part-time. Let’s just say “I know a little ’bout it,” as I always like to bring up some song lyrics from the good ol’ days such as that one from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Happy memories from a rockin’ tune sometimes makes the hurt go away for 3 minutes or so.

I don’t ask anyone to feel my potential pain but here are a few points to ponder if we get s**t-slapped by the “Big S:”

Watch as it hurts fiscal oversight. What oversight you say that is, boys?

¡Buenos dias, la migra! What’s a few million more illegal immigrants?

Cuts to training for 80% of American Army ground forces. Over hill, over dale, we will just sit on our tail …

And not just the Army. The wolf is at the door of the U.S. Armed Forces, says deputy SECDEF

Oh this is just folks with a vested interest crying wolf, you say. Well, read on …

It’s happening, says GOP senator Coburn!

Yes, I agree with Coburn. At least with his saying: “It’s a stupid way to govern … ”

Screw the poor, again, right? Right. And whomever else happens to be in the Republicans’ way.

 

 

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Destruction marks new paths in the SE Texas retail wars

Sometimes you have to admire destruction. Certainly not the kind meant for harm such as a terrorist act or actions by combatants. Take a look at the below photo that I took today, for example:

The wrecking ball makes its early strikes on the old Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas. A new H-E-B grocery store will be built here. Foto x damn x eight feet deep
The wrecking ball makes a strike on the former Baptist Hospital in Beaumont.

This could easily pass for a hole from a cruise missile at a site of hostilities such as Syria.

But alas, this a demolition job taking place at the old Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas, located on the corner of Eleventh and College streets in Beaumont. What many call an eyesore now since the hospital moved its site down College to the east is being torn down to build a large H-E-B grocery store. When the new store is built the company will shut down its two smaller stores, one a couple of blocks south on Eleventh and another in North Beaumont on Lucas Drive, according to the Beaumont Enterprise.

Though I wouldn’t call this demolition job a beauty the destruction does help one appreciate what it takes to build a relatively large building. I say relatively, it being (for now) a six-story building. The pictured building was completed in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I would imagine it took quite a few folks to build it with likely much more difficulty than it would to construct a similar building today.

The story about the new store says that company officials indicated it will be slightly more than half the size of the H-E-B Plus located on the more affluent West End of Beaumont in the midst of the “Shopping District.”  The “Plus” is a pretty big grocery outlet and anchors a small strip shopping center. Company information indicates that the large store itself is about 124,000 square feet so perhaps the new store might end up at 75,000 square feet mas o menos. Plus many of its larger stores have areas for other retail outlets for lease so who knows how large a shopping center will be developed?

One of the biggest shopping centers in the “Golden Triangle” (Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange) which was built before the area’s first mall, Parkdale Mall, was finished in 1973 is Gateway. It is only a couple of blocks north on Eleventh Street from where the new store will stand. Gateway seems to be holding its own with Beall’s and Conn’s still going strong, plus the remodeled Jason’s Deli, which is the site of the growing chain’s very first restaurant. But a few other stores have gone hither over the years at Gateway.

How successful the new H-E-B will turn out will be interesting to watch. It will have mostly inner city patrons although it not far from either of the city’s two largest hospitals, Memorial Hermann Baptist (which was the previous Baptist Hospital) and Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital (which was previously just St. Elizabeth Hospital.)

Oh, Gateway’s outlasted the Gaylynn Shopping Center, which was a little ways up North Eleventh Street. The Gaylynn pretty much was swallowed up by St. Elizabeth. The other big shopping center on the other end of the county, in Port Arthur, remains, after Central Mall came along although that older strip center is a shadow of its past. I still remember the TV jingle for the old shopping center still hanging in there on Twin City Highway:

“Come to Jeff-Jeff-Jefferson City, where there’s everything under the sun.”

Also, it shall be a rather instructive lesson in mid-20th century-to-early 21st century retailing how Gateway Shopping Center continues in the future along with perhaps a new retail center located around the new H-E-B. I’ll try to keep an eye on how long it takes to raze the old hospital should anyone care, or not!

 

 

 

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American comes to SE Texas: Will its new paint job & updated eagle follow?

Commercial air service returns to our local airport next month when American Eagle begins flights between Jack Brooks Regional Airport (BPT) and Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW). Whether this will bring American’s “new look” or its oldest, I suppose we shall have to wait and see.

American has just unveiled its new look with a new logo. Perhaps it is because the airline has taken a new order of Boeing 777-300ERs for delivery so they figured it might be a good time to repaint its old fleet as well. As the airline’s chief commercial officer explains:

AMERICAN AIRLINES NEW LOOK
“Just drop me off at that next mountain top, Cap’n!” A new paint job and logo for American Airlines. Could there be new fares to match?

“Our new logo and livery are designed to reflect the passion for progress and the soaring spirit, which is uniquely American,” said Virasb Vahidi, American’s CCO. “Our core colors — red, white and blue — have been updated to reflect a more vibrant and welcoming spirit. The new tail, with stripes flying proudly, is a bold reflection of American’s origin and name. And our new flight symbol, an updated eagle, incorporates the many icons that people have come to associate with American, including the ‘A’ and the star.”

There is nothing like an updated eagle to get your motors running. Just ask the Philadelphia Eagles and the wonders the updated eagles have done the team in recent years.

But seriously it is nice that we are finally getting an airline to our little airport even if one has to fly to D-FW first, no matter where they are going. It would have been nice to have an airline that flies to Hobby or G.H.W. Bush in Houston, a 20-30-minute flight from Brooks. Continental, under the guise of Colgan Air, did that. But Colgan quit the friendly skies as part of its parent firm’s, Pinnacle Airlines, restructuring plan.

I am not sure but I would think the public relations folks for the Jack Brooks airport, owned by Jefferson County, Texas, did not write this little factoid in BPT’s Wikipedia page:

“Jack Brooks Regional Airport has the distinction of being the only destination that Southwest Airlines has ended scheduled daily service to (1980), and has never returned.”

Ouch. And I don’t know if that is a fact, Jack. I don’t know why anyone would lie about such a matter. Then again, in Wikipedia, anything’s possible.

One attraction of the new airline is that with the initial flights, at least, it doesn’t seem as if they’ll clean out the old bank account. Since I don’t talk regularly to American, or any other airline for that matter, I have no idea what they are up to with what seem to be reasonable fares (certain March and April round-trip, no extras, flight from Beaumont to El Paso via Dallas, for $223 plus tax (and check bags, and seating INSIDE the plane rather than on the wing … ) Check it out yourself if you are interested. Surely there’s a catch. After all you have to find someway to pay for a new paint job and an updated eagle. Of course, with my bank account at the present time, a bag of Munchos would wipe me out.

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We’re faaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllling off the cliffffffffff …

The whole “fiscal cliff” bullshit just about makes me too disgusted to write anything. So, I will share some articles with you, my friends. Weed ’em and reap!

This talks about political blame! Whoo-hoo!

What falling off the fiscal cliff means. It means we are f**ked!

Undermining our national unity even. The government will get your puppies!

I am just lying about your puppies. But you might have to choose between the expensive dog food for your puppy or potted meat and bread for you.

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Lege will confront casino gambling in Texas again in 2013

Will Texas see casinos anytime soon?

Ten years ago I would have said that kind of talk is crazy. But during a time when more and more money is needed for the state to piss away, well, let’s just say desperate times call for desperate measures.

Houston Democrat Rodney Ellis has authored Senate Joint Resolution 6, which would propose a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling and slot machines by a limited number of licensed operators and Indian tribes. Video lottery would also be authorized at licensed horse and dog tracks as well as on Indian reservations.

The law would establish a Texas Gaming Commission to oversee the gambling. Eight horse and dog tracks would be allowed a certain number of slot machines. Six licensed “casino-anchored destination attraction development projects” would be authorized in different Texas urban areas. Hmm, sounds like Disney World meets the one-arm bandit! Two Gulf of Mexico island-based casinos could likewise operate on Galveston and Padre Island.

I have as of yet not found a specific revenue estimate all of this might bring although funds generated from such a proposal would specifically help provide property tax relief and money for higher education.

This is not, trying to be trite, the first rodeo for Texas when it comes to attempts at establishing casino gambling. I have covered efforts in both Texas at allowing parimutuel horse racing and in establishing slots at race tracks in Louisiana. I can tell you that trying to establish gaming of any kind in both states is an uphill battle. Yes, some of the opposition is based on moral and religious concerns. But the “do-gooders” aren’t those who sponsor gambling measures should worry about. It’s those in gambling who are the biggest foes.

I remember writing about the first attempt in the mid-1990s to add slot machines to the Delta Downs race track in Vinton, La. Louisiana had and still has limited casino gambling and one of the hotspots was and is Lake Charles, about 30 miles west of the Texas border off Interstate 10. Vinton is closer to Texas than that. Delta Downs is slightly more than two miles from the border, not far off of I-10. Lake Charles has long attracted customers from the Houston area and beyond, so one may only imagine how adding slots just across the Sabine River from Texas might cut into the gambling pie of the multiple Lake Charles-area spots.

The first attempt failed. But try try again and now you have Delta Downs Racetrack Casino. There are slots, off-track betting and horse racing in season. Supply and demand won.

Established casinos in Lake Charles fought like hell to keep casinos from Delta Downs. We’re talking the biggest of the bigs at the time. I think LC now has even more gambling spots after rebuilding from two hurricanes. Texas is surrounded by gambling either in commercial or Indian casinos. One can imagine that the casinos in Bossier City, Lake Charles, and those on the Oklahoma and New Mexico reservations will all have their lobbyists in Austin this spring.

It is a little too early to worry about casino gambling in Texas at this point though. Sen. Ellis only calls for a constitutional amendment. If the gambling interests from out-of-state do not take down SJR 6, then it will be up to Texas voters how such an amendment will go. If I were a betting man, I would not take a bet on whether a law allowing casinos in Texas would pass.

Only time will tell whether the special interests from the gambling industry push lawmakers away from the measure and, if passed, if Texans vote the amendment in come November a year from now. Then, it will likely end up a local-option issue. There is a lot of voting ahead before we see a Harrah’s in the Lone Star State.