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What the fuck is wrong with you, Houston?

52-80

By 52-80
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Hank Scorpio
Hank Scorpio

Just saw this thread, I was too busy fighting off a gang of homeless murderers from killing my children in Montrose. Yeah it’s a pain trying to fend off wave after wave of criminal from raping my fami

Doc Reeves
Doc Reeves

Honestly, shit like this is 1/2 the reason I tune into this place  I got a tour similar to one PS is talking about once. There’s some real shit in h-town *csb i had to get gas off I-10

RPM
RPM

Remember in Independence Day when they nuked Houston and everybody cheered?

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DaysOff

DaysOff 7,854

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This! I stopped by Kay's virtually every night I left work at KTRK. Eldon, Annie, and Lois were like family. Dave Ward would come down the hallway all the time to get a head count of who was going to Kay's Lounge that night. Occasionally we go across the street to drink frozen screwdrivers with Rudy T at Under the Volcano, but Kay's was always home.  

I walked in on Dave Ward in the bathroom at Kay's with his tallywacker out. He growled at me through his cigar.
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Brothahorn

Brothahorn 10,085

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South of i10 is not what i consider 5th ward. Its also vastly different than north of i10. Just my opinion

Eh, depends on how far south you go. When I bought the townhouse just blocks from I10, it was definitely 5th ward.

So Berry was right..he ‘guessed’ that these clowns were out on bail right after it happened. The legal folks in Houston/Harris county need to get their shit together. This reforming of the bail eco-system seems to be doing nothing more than getting more people killed. If they can’t use common sense and differentiate between a killer and a harmless crackhead, then GTFO.

Also, this is a prime example of why local elections should always be top priority.
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topochico

topochico 1,049

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 8/27/2021 at 1:35 AM, Spoetzl said:

 

Better question is who remembers Birraporetti’s on West Gray?

 

I waited tables there my last 2 years of college. It was great place with the old dark giant square bar up front. When they did the "upscale" remodel, the place totally lost it's charm. 

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Murfdogg21

Murfdogg21 4,412

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18 hours ago, Zwylde said:

image.thumb.jpeg.cc44d85ef940709a0c2242f16b18e5ec.jpeg
 

drove by a couple of months ago and had a rush of flashbacks.  Man those Midori Teas.

I always thought the sign was funny for specifying it was the Marquis II of West University, as if there was a Marquis I or another Marquis II outside of West U. Killed many a LIIT there. 
 

Also RIP to Kay’s. Who ended up with the Texas table?

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8,349

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11 hours ago, We’reTexas said:

Only the Strong Survive, Texas Monthly 1979

I kinda think that guy made up a whole lot of that story. I really don't believe he stayed overnight in the Nickel for a month running and i even believe he just invented some of those sources. I was talking to Robb Walsh, the food writer, one time and I said something about either this story or some other one by the same writer, and he said something like  "Well it's too bad because he probably made it all up."  And his career came to an abrupt halt at some point...He was kind of among the last of a certain type of old school journalist who thought it was okay to weave in a little fiction if it moved the story along. That kind of stuff is no longer tolerated -- it wasn't really in 1979, either -- but up until the early '60s it was acceptable so long as the writing was top-flight and you weren't getting your bosses sued. 

All of that said, Fifth Ward in 1979 wasn't nothin' nice. Or in 1969 or '59 or '49 either. Back in the late 30s and early 40s, a Lyons Avenue mortician had a unique form of advertising. He had stuffed some pauper at one time and dressed him in a really cheap, trashy suit. He arranged the stuffed wino into a seated position in a chair and every morning he wheel him out in front of a business with a sign around his neck that said something like "Don't be like Willie. Start your prepaid funeral plan -- today!"

 

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8,349

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16 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

That kind of stuff is no longer tolerated -- it wasn't really in 1979, either -- but up until the early '60s it was acceptable so long as the writing was top-flight and you weren't getting your bosses sued. 

Getting back to this point -- Sig Byrd used very fictionalistic technques in his writing about Houston's down and outers and underworld figures in the late '40s through the '50s. His long out of print book Sig Byrd's Houston is amazing but will run you a few hunnit on ebay or whatever today, but his modern-day fans have put a ton of his columns online. You start reading that shit and a saxophone starts wailing in the distance, a cigar appears in your mouth, and if there wasn't a bottle of cheap rye in your desk drawer before you started reading, one will appear there by magic soon enough. And maybe, just maybe, a red-headed dame with a wild look in her eye and a story to tell will come walking through that door...

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11,364

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On 8/26/2021 at 6:54 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

The Gallant Knight was the shit. In my day, it probably peaked in 2009. I believe it closed December 31, 2020. 

Question for the old timers, when was Rice Village safe and cool place to hang out? I work with a guy that spent a lot of his youth bouncing around Rice Village bars. 

GK closed December 31, 2010.* 

I believe the lot is now an Orange Fitness. Oh well, I guess there's still sweaty hot chicks occupying the space. 

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2,551

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All this bar talk of the early aught's is sending me down memory lane.  Judging by the places that have been mentioned we were all probably at these places at the same time and crossed paths at some point.

Lizzard's was always at the top of the list while home from Austin.

Went to the Marquis a few years ago for old time's sake....couldn't even finish one Tea between my wife and I.  It was fucking gross....and couldn't believe we would drink those on the reg.  

Anyone remember Savages, that was across the street from Marquis?

The Village always had something...Baker St., Seńor Ritas, Two Rows, Kelvin Arms, Brian O'Neils, Ginger Man...Bronx Bar was a little later, but that was a staple.  One of the hottest bartenders I've ever seen worked there.

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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On 8/28/2021 at 9:53 AM, Brothahorn said:

So Berry was right..he ‘guessed’ that these clowns were out on bail right after it happened. The legal folks in Houston/Harris county need to get their shit together. This reforming of the bail eco-system seems to be doing nothing more than getting more people killed.

You don’t seem to understand the actual issue at hand in the bail reform debate. The folks trying to kill the cash bail system are NOT saying all defendants should be allowed to walk free until their trial date. They are fine with allowing a judge to refuse bail. They are trying to change the system that keeps poors locked up pending trial just because they are poor. They argue that once the judge decides to allow a defendant to remain free before trial, money shouldn’t be the determining factor in who actually gets released. 

Bernard
 

 

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Brothahorn

Brothahorn 10,085

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You don’t seem to understand the actual issue at hand in the bail reform debate. The folks trying to kill the cash bail system are NOT saying all defendants should be allowed to walk free until their trial date. They are fine with allowing a judge to refuse bail. They are trying to change the system that keeps poors locked up pending trial just because they are poor. They argue that once the judge decides to allow a defendant to remain free before trial, money shouldn’t be the determining factor in who actually gets released. 
Bernard
 
 


No, I understand the intent and reasoning behind bail reform. It's the application and lack of awareness that is the issue.

Letting violent offenders, some with multiple felonies out on bail simply because they are poor is a bad idea. So whatever logic or reasoning these judges are using in the name of bail reform is idiotic and dangerous.
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Bernard

Bernard 879

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3 hours ago, Brothahorn said:


 

 


No, I understand the intent and reasoning behind bail reform. It's the application and lack of awareness that is the issue.

Letting violent offenders, some with multiple felonies out on bail simply because they are poor is a bad idea. So whatever logic or reasoning these judges are using in the name of bail reform is idiotic and dangerous.

 

You clearly do not understand the bail reform issue. You’re confusing the judge’s decision to allow bail AT ALL, with the issue of cash bail reform. They are NOT related.
 

If you disagree with the concept of Innocent Until Proven Guilty and you don’t want defendants released pending trial, you are taking issue with the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution, not cash bail reform. 
 

Sounds like you should be mad at the police and prosecutor’s office. Why does it take them so long to prosecute an aggravated robbery case? If the cops and prosecutors were doing their job, these guys would have been in Huntsville already.
 

And speaking of people doing their jobs, did HPD lift a finger to try to apprehend the guy whose bail had already been revoked in the prior case? I doubt it. Every sped trap in the City is fully manned, but apprehending known bail violators seems to be WAY down on the list of priorities.

Bernard

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Brothahorn

Brothahorn 10,085

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You clearly do not understand the bail reform issue. You’re confusing the judge’s decision to allow bail AT ALL, with the issue of cash bail reform. They are NOT related.
 
If you disagree with the concept of Innocent Until Proven Guilty and you don’t want defendants released pending trial, you are taking issue with the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution, not cash bail reform. 
 
Sounds like you should be mad at the police and prosecutor’s office. Why does it take them so long to prosecute an aggravated robbery case? If the cops and prosecutors were doing their job, these guys would have been in Huntsville already.
 
And speaking of people doing their jobs, did HPD lift a finger to try to apprehend the guy whose bail had already been revoked in the prior case? I doubt it. Every sped trap in the City is fully manned, but apprehending known bail violators seems to be WAY down on the list of priorities.
Bernard


If you think the judges decisions and bail reform are not related you really don't understand what you claim I don't understand. So I guess neither one of us gets it.

The judges either are working with the reformers or being politically pressured by the reformers. So how is that not related?

I'll leave it at that.

I didn't say the accused couldn't have bail, I said they should not be given bail simply for being poor. Other factors should be considered as well.

The whole Harris county criminal system is screwed up. But how do you expect to get convictions and folks sent to Huntsville, when they can't even have a trial? I'm sure you are aware of the huge backlog of cases. So many in fact, they are bringing in extra judges.
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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13,417

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2 hours ago, Bernard said:

You clearly do not understand the bail reform issue. You’re confusing the judge’s decision to allow bail AT ALL, with the issue of cash bail reform. They are NOT related.
 

If you disagree with the concept of Innocent Until Proven Guilty and you don’t want defendants released pending trial, you are taking issue with the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution, not cash bail reform. 
 

Sounds like you should be mad at the police and prosecutor’s office. Why does it take them so long to prosecute an aggravated robbery case? If the cops and prosecutors were doing their job, these guys would have been in Huntsville already.
 

And speaking of people doing their jobs, did HPD lift a finger to try to apprehend the guy whose bail had already been revoked in the prior case? I doubt it. Every sped trap in the City is fully manned, but apprehending known bail violators seems to be WAY down on the list of priorities.

Bernard

Great last point. Do most police spend much/any time tracking down bail violators? I would think this should be the top priority of their day. After all this is someone already identified by police/da as the culprit and they’ve gone on the run. If they truly are a criminal, it would seem likely they’re committing more crimes.

last month Harris county has 97,000 cases in backlog. More than half are felony cases.  The # was 38,000 in 2017. I get it that Harvey disrupted the system with facility issues but come on. 

It’s not justice for anyone if these cases are taking years. 

 

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Lat22

Lat22 3,994

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You would think that as soon as a guy cuts off his ankle monitor, the police would go after him with everything they got.  Instead, they sit parked underneath the Katy Fwy/Beltway underpass looking for seatbelt violators. The guys that killed the NO cop? Jesus Christ.  No way that one guy should have been out.  

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8,349

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Lat22 said:

You would think that as soon as a guy cuts off his ankle monitor, the police would go after him with everything they got.  Instead, they sit parked underneath the Katy Fwy/Beltway underpass looking for seatbelt violators. The guys that killed the NO cop? Jesus Christ.  No way that one guy should have been out.  

Well, we have this third teat police force called the Harris County Constables that were formed to do shit like that, but they'd rather be sexually assaulting their own female deputies in human trafficking whorehouse raids than dangerous work like taking down possibly armed and definitely dangerous fugitives. 

On 8/30/2021 at 11:19 AM, Brothahorn said:


No, I understand the intent and reasoning behind bail reform. It's the application and lack of awareness that is the issue.

Letting violent offenders, some with multiple felonies out on bail simply because they are poor is a bad idea. So whatever logic or reasoning these judges are using in the name of bail reform is idiotic and dangerous.

 

I hate algorithms but I think you could put one together that would take an accused criminal's background into account and it would spit out a percentage likelihood that they would continue fucking up while on bail. You could add to that a human element, like finding out where they would be living, would they have a job, would they be checking in with the authorities weekly, staying off drugs and alcohol, etc., and if they don't, you bust up the Constables making their female officers give them lapdances and have them spare no expense in hauling them in. 

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8,349

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Two adults, two kids, all shot to death, found inside burning house.

 

Police say they don't think it was murder-suicide. I guess maybe they had one more kid who offed the whole family?

it happened on Imogene Street in a neighborhood that's a little scruffy but up and coming between Meyerland and Sharpstown. 

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Brothahorn

Brothahorn 10,085

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Well, I guess Kim Ogg doesn't understand bail reform either.


 

Quote

 

In her letter, Ogg wrote that “’bail reform,’ as presently practiced in some Harris County courts, will continue to be a driving factor in the crime crisis gripping our community.”

 

 

 

Quote

The DA’s analysis also found that the impact of bail reform, while formally limited to misdemeanor cases, bled over to felony cases, and that “felony defendants have also experienced the same outcomes of lower bond amounts and greater use of personal bonds.” The analysis found that there were only 35 felony cases with bail set at $100 or less in 2017, but there were over 2,080 in 2020. In that same period, personal recognizance bonds rose from 3,969 felony cases to 15,756. The independent monitoring group is not analyzing felony cases.

But it's not the same?

Sensible bail reform is fine. But cookie cutter no bond/low bond is stupid and dangerous.

 

Really want to help the poor people? Keep the felons who terrorize them off the streets. 

Quote

 

Recent bail reform efforts in Houston that allow more suspects accused of low-level crimes to get out of jail without posting a cash bond have resulted in increased recidivism and more violent crime, a new Harris County District Attorney’s Office analysis found.

 

In addition, the 64-page report released last Thursday, found that even though bail reform in Harris County has been formally limited to misdemeanors since 2017, felony defendants have also been given reduced bonds or released from jail on their personal recognizance.

 

The report, released by District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat, reaches starkly different conclusions than similar reports released over the last year by the Harris County Justice Administration Department and an independent group of social scientists assigned to monitor bail reform efforts in Houston. Those organizations found that reoffending rates for misdemeanors have not increased since bail reform was implemented, and that there is no evidence that increases in violent crime can be linked to bail reform.

 

In a letter to Harris County commissioners and to a county judge, Ogg wrote that those earlier reports “conflict with the daily experiences of prosecutors, police, and crime victims.” Her office used the same data to conduct its own analysis of bail reform’s impact on crime and safety.

 

“While bail reform has indeed increased pretrial release, there is much evidence that community safety has declined while defendants released on personal recognizance have increasingly failed to appear in court,” the DA’s report said. “Contrary to the sanguine picture of the effects of bail reform in Harris County, bail reform is associated with more crime, higher criminal recidivism rates, and more bond failures.”

 

The DA’s report found that recidivism rates increased slightly after bail reform. But “because there are so many more misdemeanor defendants out on bond, these few percentage point increases in recidivism rate mean that the actual number of recidivists have doubled after bail reform,” according to the report. For example, the number of defendants who reoffended within 365 days increased from 3,438 in 2015 to 6,692 in 2019, a 95 percent increase, the report said. The analysis also found that recidivists are re-offending faster after bail reform.

 

While bail reform has increased the prevalence of pretrial release and the overall number of suspects out on personal recognizance bonds (unsecured bonds that don’t require defendants to pay or deposit money for release), there has been a corresponding 50 percent increase in the overall bond failure rate, the report found.

 

The analysis also found that violent crime in the community has increased since February 2019, when local leaders implemented a rule granting personal bonds for most misdemeanors. After bail reform, homicides began climbing to a new normal of about 26 per month, according to the report. Monthly weapon offenses and property crimes also have increased.

 

In her letter, Ogg wrote that “’bail reform,’ as presently practiced in some Harris County courts, will continue to be a driving factor in the crime crisis gripping our community.”

 

The DA’s report alleges that the independent monitor’s reports on the bail reform efforts have “have included thousands of irrelevant cases” – cases where bond wasn’t applicable – including cases where no defendant was charged with a crime, where a defendant was never apprehended, and where the defendant was already in jail.

 

“Including these defendants severely undermines the monitor report because jailed defendants have a low recidivism rate,” the DA’s report says. “The fact that thousands of jailed defendants did not re-offend does not support the argument for bail reform.”

 

The most recent report by the monitoring group was released Friday. It confirmed its previous reports that found “repeat offending by misdemeanor arrestees has remained largely stable in recent years.” That report did not address the DA’s analysis, since it was not received in time for the group to review.

 

However, in an interview with National Review, Brandon Garrett, the Duke University law professor leading oversight for the independent monitoring group, said that because the DA’s analysis is so narrowly focused on the subset of misdemeanor arrestees released on bond, it fails to look at the repeat offenders who didn’t bond out before bail reform went into effect. Before bail reform, he said, most people arrested on low-level misdemeanor charges didn’t bond out, but were released from jail often by just pleading guilty. By not including those people in their analysis, the DA’s report doesn’t include a full before-and-after comparison, Garrett said.

 

“They’re missing the biggest piece of the public safety problem before bail reform,” Garrett said.

 

The DA’s analysis also found that the impact of bail reform, while formally limited to misdemeanor cases, bled over to felony cases, and that “felony defendants have also experienced the same outcomes of lower bond amounts and greater use of personal bonds.” The analysis found that there were only 35 felony cases with bail set at $100 or less in 2017, but there were over 2,080 in 2020. In that same period, personal recognizance bonds rose from 3,969 felony cases to 15,756. The independent monitoring group is not analyzing felony cases.

 

Andy Kahan, director of victim services and advocacy at Houston Crime Stoppers, called the DA’s report “damning,” and said it validates his organization’s concerns, particularly around felony bail. “We had no issues with misdemeanor bail reform. More power to them. We couldn’t care less, frankly, about it,” Kahan told National Review.

 

Kahan said his concerns are over felony defendants released on bond – either cash bond or personal recognizance bond – who are then charged with additional crimes, and released over and over again on a new bond. He said some felony district court judges have basically applied the misdemeanor court mandates to felony cases.

 

Over the last few years there have been at least 134 murder victims in Harris County killed by defendants who were out on either multiple felony bonds, felony personal recognizance bonds or bond forfeiture (i.e. they we’re fugitives), said Kahan, who maintains a list.

 

“We have no issues with any defendant getting a felony bond,” Kahan said. “Where we draw the line is what we’re seeing in Harris County is defendants who are charged with additional crimes while already on a felony bond who … continue to be released time and time again.”

 

In an email to National Review, the Harris County Justice Administration Department declined to comment on the DA’s report because it was only notified about it on Thursday. “We look forward to collaborating with our colleague and reviewing this report,” the email said.

 

In 2017, a federal judge overturned Harris County’s bail system, deeming it unconstitutional. The county’s policy, he wrote, “is to detain indigent misdemeanor defendants before trial, violating equal protection rights against wealth-based discrimination and violating due process protections against pretrial detention.”

 

Late last month, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 6, a bail reform measure that prohibits defendants charged with violent offenses or charged while already released on bail from being released on a personal recognizance bond. Texas governor Greg Abbott, in a prepared statement, said the legislation “will reform our broken bail system in Texas and keep our communities safe.”

 

Link to DA's letter/report

https://app.dao.hctx.net/sites/default/files/2021-09/HCDAO Bail Crime Public Safety Report 09.02.21_0.pdf

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13,417

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The real problem with the bail issue are cases not being resolved by the courts fast enough. Also maybe we need to look at different bail options if someone is out on multiple personal recognizance bonds or has failed to show up in court for an outstanding case.

when you try something new, it’s very possible that tweaks are necessary and doesn’t indicate failure on the overall program.

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8,349

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On 8/29/2021 at 7:18 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

I'm kind of glad that the night life in Rice Village has cooled off. It's my favorite neighborhood in Houston, and I'd like to live there someday. 

Let all the youngsters go mess up Washington. 

Glad to see the nightlife go, but it needs a real-ass pub like the Gingerman was. You can't replace that history.

 

On 8/30/2021 at 8:32 PM, Hank Scorpio said:

I’m hungover just thinking about those frozen screwdrivers. 

I was more of a rum n coke dude myself....we called it "chasing the Brown Dragon" -- trying to attain that perfect level of alcohol / citrus / sugar high. 

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 76,422

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On 8/31/2021 at 8:06 AM, Lat22 said:

You would think that as soon as a guy cuts off his ankle monitor, the police would go after him with everything they got.  Instead, they sit parked underneath the Katy Fwy/Beltway underpass looking for seatbelt violators. The guys that killed the NO cop? Jesus Christ.  No way that one guy should have been out.  

 

they're also sitting on the tollways shooting radar 

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