Month: December 2005

Just today, a coworker was telling me that she’s thinking about donating her old junk heap to a charity since she’s bought a new car. Then I read this.

Houston charity gives more than it receives
— reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11(¹)

[snip]

Car donations used to be among the popular ones until this year when the IRS changed the rules. They’re more strict now and fewer people are willing to give up vehicles to charities. Except for one.

[snip]

Like many similar ones, Giving Heart gets people to donate old cars. But unlike many charities, it rarely sells them “as is” at auto auctions.

Instead, the Houston based organization gets them repaired, detailed, and then top dollar at a car dealer.

“We want to raise as much money as we possibly can for charity. That’s what it’s all about,” said George McLure, Giving Heart of America’s president. “And in addition to that give our donors a maximum tax deduction because for a lot of people that’s an important consideration.”

For example, the charity was given a maroon 1998 Ford Taurus in November. It was hardly perfect. The car had front end damage apparently from a wreck. A local body shops gave Giving Heart a discount to fix the car. A detail shop did the same thing to make it shine. Now it’s going up for sale.

“There’s no way it would have gone for more than $500 or $600 max,” McLure said. “We do expect now to get $5,295. I would be surprised it it goes for less than that.”

[snip]

About fifty vehicles are either under repair or up for sale by Giving Heart of America right now.

5 new campuses are opening here
Stepping Stones, KIPP, Harmony Science hope to build on success
— reported by the Houston Chronicle(¹)

Students may begin registering next month to attend three new charter
schools operated by the much-touted Knowledge is Power Program, a
college-preparatory school known for its extended class hours and
strict discipline policies.

The new campuses, scheduled to open in the summer, should help relieve a waiting list that’s more than 1,000 families deep.

[snip]

KIPP will open the schools with one of 13 new charters granted in the
fall by the State Board of Education, putting Texas just six charters
shy of the state-mandated cap of 215. Harmony Science Academy and
Stepping Stones Elementary were also given permission to open new
campuses in Houston.

[snip]

About 1,200 students attend Harmony’s four Texas campuses. The new
charters will increase enrollment statewide to 2,900 by the end of next
year and to 5,600 by 2010.

[snip]

1. Houston Chronicle links expire after a few days because they’re archived. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.

McAllen cashes in as a shopping Mecca for affluent Mexicans
— reported by the Houston Chronicle(¹)

The Texas-Mexico border is hardly a place where fashion designers would stake a claim.

There are no celebrities or upscale shopping districts. Yet, La Plaza Mall, which is half the size of Houston’s Galleria, is experiencing a fashion retail boom mostly by drawing Mexican shoppers across the U.S. border.

[snip]

Located along a busy commercial street, La Plaza Mall is anchored by
heavyweights Foley’s, Dillard’s and JCPenney and includes nearly 150
stores from upscale retailers such as Deutsch & Deutsch jewelers
and the Laredo-based Joe Brand to the Gap and Victoria’s Secret.

Fifty-five percent of the mall’s customers live in Mexico, Soto
said, and visit the mall regularly to buy clothes for themselves, as
well as friends and family. Unlike traditional shoppers who may
purchase one or two items in one visit, she says, they are snapping up
hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise in a single trip.

[snip]

1. Houston Chronicle links expire after a few days because they’re archived. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.

City adds fuel truck fleet on the cheap
— reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11

Remember all the gas shortages when millions of people left Houston before Hurricane Rita hit?

 

Houston officials worried about their own emergency vehicles.

 

Now, city officials are looking ahead to the next big storm and have cut a money-saving deal after learning the lessons of Rita.

The traffic during the days before Hurricane Rita taught everybody a lesson.

 

While evacuees worried about getting out of town, city government officials worried about getting gas to all its police cars, fire engines and city vehicles.

 

[snip]

 

“All we paid was the $500 administrative fee,” said Bowker, which as $500. “They [normally] run around, these trucks run $89,000 to $90,000 a piece. Those trailers are around $20,000 to $25,000 a piece.”

 

So Houston got more than a half-million dollars worth of gasoline tankers for about $7,500.

 

The city figures it’ll spend about $2,000 each getting them ready for the next disaster.

1. KHOU CBS Channel 11 requires a free registration.