Email Author Bob Burtman

1999 Stories by Bob Burtman

• We're No. 1!

  published December 30, 1999

  Image-conscious Houston has finally achieved world-class status as the millennium draws to a close. As of October 7, when ozone levels in Deer... More >>

• Raw Deal

  published December 9, 1999

  As the harsh smell of raw crude oil grows overpowering, Joe Nelson peers over the bow of his aluminum skiff. "There it is," he says, pointing to a... More >>

• Stadia Watch

  published December 2, 1999

  Rockets fans don't come much more avid than Mike Foulard. The oil trader bought season tickets when the Rockets moved to Houston in 1971, and he... More >>

• Promises, Promises

  published October 28, 1999

  Morgan's Point resident George Paulissen remembers when the Port of Houston took over the town. In exchange for condemning half of Morgan Point's... More >>

• Ad Nauseam

  published October 21, 1999

  "What do we pay?" asks the stilted, reading-from-a-script female voice. "Us? Nothing," coos a second voice. "No new sales or property taxes.... More >>

• Adrift

  published September 30, 1999

  A packed Pasadena Convention Center crowd listened intently to a stream of speakers on the evening of August 17, Linda Shead took her turn at the... More >>

• Cash Box

  published September 9, 1999

  The Port of Houston Authority wants to end the confusion about the contents of those thousands of cargo containers that come to town via ship and... More >>

• Down the Drain

  published August 26, 1999

  On March 27, 1998, the chlorine gas cylinder at the Northeast water plant on Staple Street needed to be changed. Although a common... More >>

• Down the Drain

  published August 26, 1999

  On March 27, 1998, the chlorine gas cylinder at the Northeast water plant on Staple Street needed to be changed. Although a common... More >>

• Conspiracy Theory

  published July 15, 1999

  In his smoky, cramped office filled with vintage rifle posters, books on warfare and military bric-a-brac, Al Johnson tells his favorite story.... More >>

• Troubled Waters

  published June 17, 1999

  The nondescript box of a building at the corner of Hillcroft and Westpark hardly merits a second glance, even with the giant blue tank perched... More >>

• Playing the Games

  published May 27, 1999

  Houston Olympic advocates are fond of the word billion. Several of them, they say, will be spent and respent in the city if we manage to convince... More >>

• Let the Games Begin

  published May 27, 1999

  The flock of downtown boosters seemed politely agreeable, at least judging from the show of hands. "How many of you," auto dealer George... More >>

• The Killer-est B

  published May 6, 1999

  Houston has had its fair share of sports luminaries since the Press first hit the streets. Well, maybe not all that many relative to such hotbeds... More >>

• Digging Up the Dirt

  published April 29, 1999

  One can imagine Bob Lanier testifying before the grand jury about the excesses of the Department of Public Works during his administration. As far... More >>

• Marriage Contract

  published April 22, 1999

  When deputy director Richard Scott left the Houston Department of Public Works last September, good things started happening to TSC Engineering... More >>

• Disconnected

  published April 1, 1999

  They called it the Fire Sale. For weeks, the members of the skeleton crew that survived the mass layoff in November had been trudging to work,... More >>

• Bad Cash Investments

  published April 1, 1999

  Like a Fortune 500 company searching for new ways to boost profits, Brittan Communications International saw a world of opportunity at its... More >>

• Buffalo Bill

  published February 25, 1999

  The Enhanced Public Participation Coalition wants to make life better for the average Texan. This collection of industry trade groups that... More >>

• Great Escapes

  published February 18, 1999

  Last August 28, an orange cloud of toxic trimethylacetyl chloride escaped from the Hoyer chemical plant in Bayport and drifted into nearby... More >>

• Blowing Smoke

  published February 18, 1999

  Since Michelle Martinez moved to El Jardin with her family in 1997, ill health has stalked her daughters. Five-year-old Melanie has contracted a... More >>

• On Back Order

  published January 28, 1999

  On December 8, Public Works Department director Jerry King met with senior secretary Plachette Williams, who had filed discrimination complaints... More >>

• Up To Date on '98

  published January 7, 1999

  In real life, stories don't end with "happily ever after." They roll forward with no regard for narrative neatness: The prince becomes king; he... More >>