Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston at 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville at 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community Media. On this show, we discuss local, state, national, and international stories that may have slipped under your radar.

1. This episode of Thinkwing Radio will be a little different. I’ll still be reading and analyzing political stories, but I’ll be leaning more than usual into education- and energy-related aspects of those stories.
2. The next election is scheduled for May 3, 2025, with early voting beginning on April 22, 2025, which is only about 4 weeks from now. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is April 22, which is also only about 4 weeks.
   1. Voter registration applications or registration updates must be filled out and RECEIVED by the County or State at least 30 days before the election date, which is before April 3^rd, and is less than 2 weeks from now. I suggest allowing at least 3-7 days for first class mail to arrive. You have been warned.
   2. You can download forms to register or update your voting information at HARRISVOTES DOT COM if you live in Harris County, or at VOTETEXAS DOT GOV for anywhere in Texas
3. The Woodlands Township eyes reforestation challenges amid loss of over 7K trees; By Jessica Shorten | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:12 PM Mar 21, 2025 CDT/Updated 3:12 PM Mar 21, 2025 CDT. TAGS: The Woodlands Township, Reforestation, Deforestation, Climate Change,
   1. The Woodlands Township board of directors discussed some new difficulties being faced in annual reforestation efforts on March 20, eyeing potential outsourcing initiatives and community partnerships to aid in reforesting.
   2. … Township Chief Operating Officer Chris Nunes and Parks and Recreation Director John McGowan said in the last year of reforestation efforts there were 7,098 trees removed due to multiple environmental factors including: Extreme weather conditions; Invasive vines; [and] Pine Beetle infestations.
   3. [McGowan said,] “Just to put that in perspective, before the droughts and the freezes in 2023 and such, … the average was about 800 trees a year that we would take down.” [He added that] Hurricane Beryl was only responsible for destroying 860 of the trees across the township [and,] “This one storm was equal to what our averages were. Obviously, now that [average] has gone up because of the storms, freezes and such.”
   4. Several board members, including Brad Bailey and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs also shared concerns regarding roughly 233 acres of county-owned medians in Harris and Montgomery counties which do not have any trees within them. According to documents provided by the township, the estimated cost to reforest 11 areas within the medians would be roughly $571,206 to purchase and install 2,294 trees. However, the township would likely have to cover additional irrigation costs on top of the installation cost.
   5. [Nunes said,] “You really have two issues. … Chairman Bailey’s concern about the strangulation of vines, and areas that actually have no trees like the area south of Flintridge [Drive].”
   6. Nunes also said the township is wrapping up its first official update of the Integrated Forest Management Plan since 2013, and is looking to present the results of the plan to board members at a future meeting. The update will provide additional insights regarding how the township manages its forested areas.
   7. … [Sekula-Gibbs said,] “This is a step in the right direction, because these are nude areas that have no trees, and we know that people come into The Woodlands and they deserve to see trees, and they’re not there, so it doesn’t look like The Woodlands.” …
   8. [Board member Cindy Heiser said,] “Possibly, we need to go back to the drawing board, and maybe we did not give enough funding for this reforestation effort, considering what the community has been through over the last few years.” …
   9. MIKE: It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I was attracted to a story about needing reforestation in The Woodlands.
   10. MIKE: But another reason that it caught my attention is that I have lost so many trees and plantings to weather over the last 3 or 4 years between freezes, heat stress, and drought. The Woodlands is dealing with similar problems, but obviously on a vaster scale.
   11. MIKE: In my case, I’m trying to find things I can plant that are more freeze tolerant and heat tolerant, and maybe a bit more drought tolerant. That’s a tough bill to fill.
   12. MIKE: Going forward. climate change is going to mean more variability in our weather extremes. Maybe The Woodlands should seek advice from the Agricultural Extension Bureaus of Montgomery and Harris Counties on what trees to plant to be best adapted to these coming changes. Maybe I should, too.
4. In an update on a story we discussed in a previous show — Bellaire, Newcastle intersection no longer required to have ‘no right turn on red’ signage; By Kevin Vu | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:59 PM Mar 18, 2025 CDT/Updated 2:59 PM Mar 18, 2025 CDT. TAGS: Bellaire City Council, Bellaire Boulevard and Newcastle Drive intersection, Yield To A Pedestrians, No Turn On Red, Traffic Signage, Traffic Rules,
   1. Bellaire City Council approved an ordinance removing the intersection of Bellaire Boulevard and Newcastle Drive on the “no turn on red” section of the city’s code of ordinances during a March 17 City Council meeting.
   2. … Colby Wright, a traffic engineering manager at Quiddity Engineering, said the firm conducted a traffic study on the intersection Feb. 1 and found that: A total of 26 vehicle collisions occurred between 2020 and 2024, with two of the collisions due to vehicles failing to yield to a pedestrian; More than 168 pedestrian crossings occurred every hour between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with a peak of 448 pedestrian crossings on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m.; [and] Pedestrian volumes on Thursdays and Fridays were much less, with a low of six to a high of 47 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
   3. The study also found that restricting turning right on red has minimal impact at the intersection since the right turn vehicle volumes for all four directions are relatively low.
      Based on these findings, Wright said the intersection is considered a “safe signalized intersection” and that “turning vehicles yield to pedestrians” signs should be installed instead.
   4. … The intersection was a subject of disapproval from residents when City Council originally voted unanimously Oct. 7 to install the signs near Evelyn’s Conservancy Park to increase pedestrian safety, and reduce the likelihood of conflicts between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians in crosswalks.
   5. However, residents voiced concerns during a Dec. 2 public comment session and said these newly implemented signs would likely increase traffic and questioned their effectiveness. Resident Jennifer Cannon told council that she believed these signs would cause more congestion, especially in the mornings. …
   6. … City Attorney Alan Petrov said during the meeting that city staff will install “turning vehicles yield to pedestrians” signs at the intersection at a later date.
   7. MIKE: This is an important intersection that I think many of our listeners experience on a regular basis.
   8. MIKE: It has always been the law that pedestrians in crosswalks have the right of way over vehicles making turns, whether they are left or right turns.
   9. MIKE: On the other hand, signs saying, “No Right Turn on Red” are exceptions to city traffic laws. That exception can create driver confusion and might actually contribute to vehicle-pedestrian accidents, because pedestrians would not be expecting a vehicle to make a right turn and therefore might not be alert to the possibility.
   10. MIKE: I’m a strong believer that regardless of laws regulating right-of-way, both drivers and pedestrians have a responsibility to be alert to violators and to take measures to protect themselves and avoid accidents, regardless of right-of-way rules.
   11. MIKE: As an example, people walking in parking lots with zero awareness of cars that may not see them while backing out of spaces. The legal responsibility for a vehicle-pedestrian accident in a parking lot is on the driver, but out of self-preservation, the potential of accident avoidance is also on the pedestrian. Being in the right might be legally and maybe financially gratifying, but staying out of the hospital — or worse — should be a higher priority in the first place.
   12. MIKE: For the safety of both drivers AND pedestrians, I think the new signage to yield to pedestrians makes more legal and logical sense than a “No Right Turn On Red” sign.
5. Houston Community College enrollment soars in the suburbs, shrinks in the city; by Miranda Dunlap | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | March 18, 2025 @ 4:00 am/ TAGS: Houston Community College (HCC), College Enrollment, Higher Education,
   1. [MIKE: This article discusses enrollment shifts for the HCC region and not just in Houston. I’ve chosen to edit it in such a way that the focus is more on the City of Houston and the circumstances where enrollment is more challenging.]
   2. … Over the past five years, enrollment at HCC’s Katy campus and other parts of Houston’s sprawling suburbs has swelled, with a couple thousand additional students signing up for classes. …
   3. In the city’s urban core, however, enrollment has fallen by several thousands of students during the same period. The losses are most severe in lower- and middle-income neighborhoods on the west side — such as Alief, Eldridge, Gulfton and Westchase — where residents were already less likely to earn a college degree.
   4. The enrollment trends mark a stark shift for HCC, a 51,500-student college that historically educated large shares of inner-city students but now relies on more students from the outer edges of its service boundaries, a Houston Landing analysis shows. While the booming suburbs have helped HCC bounce back from a pandemic-era decline and stabilize its budget, the inner-city losses risk exacerbating education disparities in Greater Houston.
   5. For HCC leaders, much of the shift is a natural consequence of population and development trends, as well as the nationwide decline in college enrollment after the pandemic. 
   6. Greater Houston’s suburbs continue to grow, as families flock to areas with larger, more affordable homes in developing communities with higher-rated K-12 school districts. HCC leaders have responded by marketing to the booming areas and opening a new facility in Katy in 2022. …
   7. Meanwhile, in the heart of Houston, the college is having a harder time reclaiming students. Population growth in the city and the Alief area are relatively stagnant. HCC, like many community colleges and universities, also has struggled to enroll lower-income students hit particularly hard by the pandemic.
   8. As a result, enrollment is down compared in 2020 in nearly all ZIP codes inside the city, as well as many in Alief and Missouri City. College leaders say the slower post-pandemic recovery highlights the need for more aggressive outreach and advising services for potential students. …
   9. COVID-19 caused a steep tumble in higher education enrollment across the country — and HCC was no exception. In the first two years of the pandemic, the college lost roughly 9,000 of its 56,000 students.
   10. In the years since, HCC has clawed back about 6,500 of the students it lost, a point of pride for college leaders who have touted the gains at public meetings and events.
   11. The recovery, however, has been geographically uneven.
   12. The Katy and northeast Fort Bend County areas have driven the most growth, even though students in those areas pay out-of-district tuition and fees ($180 per credit hour) that are more than double in-district costs ($85 per credit hour). Residents of Katy ISD live within HCC’s district, but they’re charged out-of-district tuition and fees because residents don’t pay property taxes to the college.
   13. HCC has also seen a small but notable influx of students from areas as far away as 55 miles from downtown Houston, including Richmond, Iowa Colony and Spring. …
   14. HCC Northwest College President Zachary Hodges said much of the growth in Katy and neighboring areas is stoked by population shifts, though college leaders are working to attract more students from the region. …
   15. While HCC’s enrollment is rebounding, college leaders are still struggling to boost numbers across much of its territory.
   16. The biggest concentration of losses, totaling about 5,500 students between 2020 and 2024, comes from a cluster of about 10 ZIP codes spanning west Houston, Alief, Mission Bend and Stafford. Across the rest of the city of Houston, most ZIP codes reported 50 to 200 fewer students enrolled at HCC during that period.
   17. HCC college presidents and board members point to multiple factors keeping students from enrolling. The pandemic’s impact on student finances are stubbornly lingering in lower-income communities, they say. Many students are now drawn to online classes, with a growing pool of options available to them. And some students no longer see the value of spending money on college at all. …
   18. At HCC, Trustee Sean Cheben also noted the college cut down on night and weekend courses under former chancellor Cesar Maldonado’s “Transformation: HCC” initiative in 2015. HCC Chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher, who replaced Maldonado in 2023, ramped back up those offerings last year.
   19. [Cheben said,] “If you’re working, you’ve got a crazy work schedule, it’s very difficult for you to step away from your job to go take a class in the middle of the week. So nights and weekends are really the only time that you can engage in your education. We are seeing the gain, especially in that over-25 cohort, that need that flexibility in order to dive back into their education.”
   20. In a January board meeting, administrators described HCC’s approach to enrollment gains this academic year as “all hands on deck.” 
   21. [Cheben said,] “It means we’ve got to make it work in the inner-city, we’ve gotta make it work in the suburbs, we’ve got to make it work in probably parts of town where we don’t have a footprint right now. Because the city needs it, the city needs us.”
   22. The task for HCC leaders is two-fold: continue investing in the surging population outside the city and revive interest inside of it. 
   23. To do the latter, Webster said they’re investing in more student support resources. Southwest College leaders have added two food pantries to campuses and expanded counseling services, and this school year they hired 42 more advisers. They’ve also been more aggressive about marketing financial aid opportunities to students through repeated email and text “nudges” throughout the semester.
   24. Ford Fisher’s administration is working on creating a “strategic enrollment plan” based on which recruitment efforts have worked best across the HCC system. …
   25. In recent months, some trustees have also supported lowering tuition costs for students who live outside of the college’s service area — a move that could help attract even more suburban students but could hurt the college’s budget. …
   26. MIKE: As fate would have it, on my March 9^th show two weeks ago, I covered an earlier story from HOUSTON LANDING by the same reporter about HCC in North Forest. In that story, HCC joined with the North Forest community to keep a quarter of the campus from being used as a detention pond by the Harris County Flood Control District.
   27. MIKE: But also in that story, the North Forest residents complained that HCC had not fully lived up to its promises to develop that campus when the community agreed to pay higher property taxes in order to be part of the HCC taxing district and to obtain lower tuitions for neighborhood students.
   28. MIKE: As I’ve mentioned before, I have about 2 years of college credits. That was at a time when the phrase “some college” could be very helpful in the job market. Not so much anymore.
   29. MIKE: Even without a degree, I consider that time to be very important to my intellectual life, and I wish more people had that opportunity.
   30. MIKE: HCC’s charge of $85/credit hour is actually really cheap and affordable for a large fraction of Houston’s population. At that cost, a full load of 16 credits per semester is about $1400 plus books and supplies. Make it, under $2000 per semester including books and supplies.
   31. MIKE: HCC has a website for registration and course information. I’m including a links to those sites below this story in the show post.
   32. MIKE: HCC also has financial aid available. I’m including a reference link below this story to HCC’s estimate of financial cost of attendance that also includes information on available financial aid. That calculator estimates that including tuition, books supplies, transportation, and other living expenses, a semester could cost up to $5300, but I think that’s at the high end. You can judge for yourself.
   33. MIKE: In my opinion, one way to attract potential students of modest means is to emphasize the affordability of HCC for earning an Associate’s Degree and various job certifications, while also providing a gateway for matriculating into University of Houston or other universities.
   34. MIKE: There are so many horror stories of people going tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt for college that many young people and adults may think that any sort of higher education is financially beyond them. HCC could appeal to those people by letting them know that doesn’t have to be the case.
   35. MIKE: Student Loans can be debt traps, and I certainly would want to avoid them, if at all possible, but an affordable 2-year community college education combined with educational grants and perhaps modest student loans could be an important doorway to a better financial and professional future than many people think is within their reach.
   36. REFERENCE: Registration is Open! Tuition Calculator — HCCS.EDU
   37. REFERENCE: HCC Financial Aid [and] Cost of Attendance — HCCS.EDU
6. In the last HCC-related story for today — Interest in HCC’s most popular degree is plummeting — and that’s by design; by Miranda Dunlap | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | February 19, 2025 @ 4:00 am. TAGS: Houston Community College (HCC), Generalized Associate’s Degree, General Arts And Sciences, Liberal Arts,
   1. Demarion Keys hopes one day to attend the University of Houston or Texas A&M University to study architectural design. But first, he’s checking off introductory classes at Houston Community College, where he’s pursuing the college’s most popular path: a generalized associate’s degree.
   2. [Keys said,] “I feel like it’s preparing me for my next step. It’s given me a lot of fundamental lessons about life, about society, about how the world operates.”
   3. But the number of students choosing Keys’ path is rapidly declining. In recent years, thousands fewer HCC students have pursued general arts and sciences degrees, given to graduates who complete courses in a broad range of subjects. Instead, many of those students — at the urging of HCC advisors — are earning degrees more tailored to specific careers and fields, such as business, engineering and health sciences.
   4. During a five-year stretch ending in 2022-23, the share of HCC graduates earning an associate degree in generalized studies fell from 61 to 33 percent, federal records show. The change represents 2,000 fewer students than the 3,800 who received the degree in 2017-18.     
   5. The shift follows HCC officials recognizing they needed to introduce more admissions advisors and become more deliberate about helping students choose programs aligned with their career goals.
   6. Betty Fortune, HCC’s interim associate vice chancellor for student retention and completion, said many general studies students were “swirling around,” taking classes that didn’t count toward their degree or changing programs. Many graduates finished with dozens of extra credits, which can translate to thousands of dollars.
   7. While a generalized degree can be useful for students transferring to a four-year university, education leaders and researchers have found graduates with only a generalized degree have a much harder time finding good-paying jobs when they enter the workforce.
   8. Now, many HCC students who arrive without much direction meet with a college advisor to talk about options — and often choose a more specialized program. 
   9. “(It was) absolutely a concerted effort on our part,” Fortune said. “We became much more proactive.”
   10. Conversations with advisors led HCC international student Zayed Sohail to change the focus of his studies after several semesters. Sohail began on a generalized degree path, with plans to transfer and get a bachelor’s degree. After speaking with his advisor, he moved into the civil engineering associate program and now plans to pursue a construction management job after he graduates from HCC next semester. 
   11. “I was not decided — do I want to transfer to a university, or do I want to get an associate’s and then move on?” Sohail said. “(Now) I just want to dive into the world of jobs and other opportunities. … I’m excited for the graduation day. I’m impatiently waiting for it.”
   12. National, state pressures
   13. In recent years, particularly in Texas, community colleges have worked to help students clarify their academic and career goals. Many colleges have adopted a framework known as “pathways,” which gives students a road map of courses and ensures they stay on the path to graduation, rather than leaving students to figure it out themselves. 
   14. A decade ago, HCC joined a Texas Association of Community Colleges institute that taught them to implement pathways, hired over 40 admissions advisors for the first time and ramped up its academic advising process.
   15. With this in mind several of Texas’ large urban community colleges have decreased the share of students graduating with generalized degrees, instead emphasizing more workforce-aligned credentials. 
   16. [Said Davis Jenkins, a researcher at Columbia University’s Community College Research Center,] “We are seeing movement away from these generalized degrees for a number of reasons. One of which is … students come to college, they have interests, and taking this sort of grab-bag or smorgasbord of courses doesn’t enable students to pursue their interests. More and more, there’s research showing that students who take a course in a field of interest early on are better off, more likely to graduate. Because it’s important to see, ‘Do I like this field?’ And very importantly, ‘Am I good at it?’”
   17. In 2023, Texas lawmakers stressed the importance of pathways when they redesigned the community college funding model, providing schools with money based on student outcomes instead of enrollment. 
   18. Colleges are incentivized to help students complete workforce certificates — such as cosmetology, barbering or pharmacy technician certificates — and degrees the state considers more valuable. Graduates with general arts and science associate degrees, on average, are less likely to follow a strong career trajectory, improve their earning opportunities and go into high-demand jobs, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has found.
   19. … At HCC, advisors have been largely tasked with putting the pathways model into action and getting more students on a career-specific track.
   20. Admissions advisors now connect with students as they’re registering, before they enroll in classes. They talk to students about what programs match their interests. They suggest undecided students take a 60-question career exam and review the results with them. And when students still plan to complete basic transfer credits, they advertise topics they can specialize in while doing so, like communications or social science. 
   21. [Fortune said,] “Having those conversations with them showed us that this is the way to go. Students are saving money. It’s much more strategic, and not to discount the (general) degree, not to do that at all, but to advise students of what you can expect to be able to do with this degree and where you can do it at.”
   22. Students are then assigned a pathways advisor who checks in with them, making multiple contacts in the first semester and holding follow-up talks as needed. If a student is on the fence about their course of study, they’re directed to a career placement officer, who can help them locate internships or jobs for real-world experience. 
   23. The goal, Fortune said, is for students to understand by the end of their first semester whether they want to pursue the program. If not, they can pivot without having wasted too much time or money. 
   24. Data shows the proactive measures are shaping students’ choices. [At] the same time that HCC has cut down on the number of students studying for general degrees, thousands more students are completing awards in career-aligned subjects. That’s encouraging to HCC leaders. After all, students “may not be able to transfer immediately, but they may need a job immediately,” Fortune said.
   25. … Although HCC has made outsized progress compared to other colleges, leaders say they still need to get more students on clear pathways to jobs and universities.
   26. College leaders hope to ramp up their marketing of programs and hire more advisors in the coming years, particularly as the school’s enrollment bounces back from declines during the pandemic. HCC’s student-to-advisor ratio is roughly 460-to-1, worse than the average ratio of 320-to-1 across several other large urban community colleges in Texas, according to records requested and obtained by the Houston Landing from the schools.
   27. Fortune said HCC leaders are also looking to other local and state colleges for inspiration.
   28. At San Jacinto College, all first-time college and transfer students with fewer than 12 credit hours must take a course that covers career and transfer pathways, as well as job salaries and openings in the region. If a student reaches the 15-credit mark and is still a general studies major, advisors contact them to discuss potentially choosing a different major. 
   29. Generalized degrees remain the most popular track for HCC students, with many finding the breadth of classes useful for exploring different subjects. The path also helps potential transfer students who are interested in eventually getting a bachelor’s degree in a major that community colleges don’t offer.
   30. Keys, the aspiring architect, loves the variety of courses he’s able to take, including the humanities and history.
   31. [Keys said,] “I got a lot of classes that I was actually genuinely interested in this semester. I like to learn about different cultures. I like to learn about different regions. When you get into the professional world, you have to have a skill of communication, and you have to have a skill of being able to connect with people. … I think (this program) will allow me to understand people a lot easier.”
   32. MIKE: I first want to say that a varied breadth of learning makes one a better and more discerning citizen. I found my brief time in college to be intellectually and experientially very enriching.
   33. MIKE: I understand that one path is not right for everyone. In this story, I find some of what HCC is doing to be commendable and I endorse it. On the other hand, I’m concerned about some other aspects of HCC’s counseling policies and the motivations behind them.
   34. MIKE: I don’t doubt that students graduating with a generalized two-year Associate’s Degree will have a harder time finding high-paying jobs in today’s work force than if they had a 4-year degree. But for students who have no interest, intention, or desire in taking that Associate’s Degree and matriculating into a 4-year university, using their time in HCC to get a degree and certification for a career path makes sense.
   35. MIKE: I have concerns that HCC advisors have been tasked with getting more students on a career-specific track.
   36. MIKE: I approve of having students take a 60-question career exam and reviewing the results with them. Then, advising students to take electives that give them exposure and training for potential career paths can be good.
   37. MIKE: In my opinion, especially for unfocused students, using the first one or two semesters for both prerequisite courses and elective exploration courses is a good idea. As the story points out, they can then pivot to an area of specific interest, if necessary.
   38. MIKE: And it is true that some students may not have the luxury of time and money to commit to a 4-year degree at first, and may need a pathway to a good paying career in the immediate future.
   39. MIKE: I also favor the policy of requiring a “career and pathways” course for new students before their courses have taken them too far down an academic road.
   40. MIKE: One of the things that bothers me greatly is the part about urging students toward “degrees the state considers more valuable.”
   41. MIKE: That sounds vaguely like a Soviet policy of steering young people to careers that the State finds more valuable and useful, with little regard for what the students may want or need. If HCC is being politically or financially coerced into steering students onto career paths based on State guidance, I find that extremely troubling.
   42. MIKE: As you may guess from the time I’ve spent on these two stories, I have a great interest in quality education, and especially for quality higher education.
   43. MIKE: I applaud the HCC policy and investment in counseling students in their course choices and career paths. In the over 2 years I spent at Brooklyn College in the City University of New York, I don’t think I once spoke to a student counselor, let alone a career counselor. I think it might have done me some good. Maybe I would have even completed a degree. But that was over 50 year ago, and things were very different back then.
   44. MIKE: But I’m troubled about HCC counselors possibly steering students away from what might be called “liberal arts” courses.
   45. MIKE: Of course, for students committed to a 2-year school program, choices must be made. But young people can be very impressionable, and I’m concerned that some of them may be steered into “State-approved” career paths mainly because they trust their counselors, and not necessarily because it’s what they think they want or need.
   46. MIKE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average U.S. adult holds 12.4 jobs between the ages of 18 and 54. It’s my experience and reading that most adults will have between 3 and 5 careers by the time they retire.
   47. MIKE: Our bodies change with age, and a high-paying career like welding or HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) service may become too physically taxing by the time someone hits their 40s or 50s. Also, interests change. Family circumstances change. And perhaps most importantly, technology changes.
   48. MIKE: When I was in school in the 1960s and ‘70s, drafting was a great career. Drafters took an architect’s drawings and converted them into usable blueprints. But a couple of decades later, Computer-Aided Design began taking those jobs away from most draftsmen, and they were out of work.
   49. MIKE: This is where “general” or “liberal arts” courses come into play. A person with diverse knowledge is more adaptable and easier to retrain, if necessary.
   50. MIKE: Let me give you a personal example. I was working for a photo processing company in 1973. I was 22. My position had been displaced, but they were trying to retain me. I was interviewed by the production manager, and he asked me if had learned any chemistry.
   51. MIKE: In high school and college, I’d had some basic chemistry courses, and while I hadn’t excelled in them, I still remembered quite a bit of what I’d learned.
   52. MIKE: Well, that was enough to get me a job in photo process quality control that I had for over 2 years and in which I had some notable successes, which I still remember fondly. I remained in the field for another couple of years. Around that time, digital photography was being introduced, and you know what happened to film photography after that.
   53. MIKE: But if anyone had told me at 16 that my high school chemistry courses would one day get me a job that was almost a career, I’d have told them they were nuts.
   54. MIKE: The point I’m making here is that you never really know what courses you may take or what things you may learn that get you a job and career. Be careful what kinds of learning you dismiss out of hand.
7. Now some news from around the country — Miami Beach’s Mayor’s Fight to Control a Movie Theater Isn’t Over Yet; By Juan Barquin | VULTURE.COM | 21-Mar-2025. Tags: Movies, O Cinema, Censorship, Miami Beach, Free Speech, First Amendment,
   1. Mayor Steve Meiner looked almost apologetic on Wednesday at Miami Beach’s City Hall as he declared he would withdraw his own proposal, which threatened to terminate the arthouse theater O Cinema’s current lease and grant funding because it had screened the Oscar-winning Palestinian-Israeli documentary No Other Land. At times he seemed to contradict himself, admitting his resolution should have been “more open to discussion” while claiming it also wasn’t “healthy to debate.” With tears welling up, he told the packed chambers, “But I just want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, even though some of you said things that were hurtful: I love you all, I really, really do.”
   2. The proposal had been announced in an email newsletter sent on March 11, in which Meiner accused the film — which shows harrowing on-the-ground footage of the destruction of a West Bank village by Israeli soldiers between 2019 and 2023 — of being “egregiously antisemitic.” He claimed that his proposed legislation was intended for the city, which currently rents space to the theater at South Beach’s Historic City Hall, to “move on from O Cinema, as permitted by our contract, and seek a cultural partner that better aligns with our community values.”
   3. Meiner’s threat received national attention; over 700 filmmakers and creatives (including Barry Jenkins, Phil Lord, Laura Poitras) signed an open letter of support for the single-screen nonprofit cinema, calling the proposal an “act of censorship.”
   4. The same tenor of indignation dominated the room during Wednesday’s city-commissioner meeting, in which nearly a hundred constituents and defenders of O Cinema let loose on Meiner — both for the threat to the theater and for the fact that Meiner had chosen not to take questions at a virtual town hall held the night before — one minute at a time.
   5. … [Some] against Meiner’s proposal identified as Zionists and disagreed with his claim that he was “speaking for 90 percent of the Jewish community.”
   6. [MIKE: I will note here the old joke that 90% of statistics are made up. Continuing …]
   7. Local filmmakers and members of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Miami DSA [aka, Democratic Socialists of America] also spoke. Mountains filmmaker Monica Sorelle took her allotted minute to quote a statement from No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham, and referenced a recent hate crime in which a Jewish Miami Beach resident shot two Israeli tourists because he believed they were Palestinians — an example of how hatred spreads blindly.
   8. The mayor’s defense was limited from the audience; less than a dozen spoke in favor of the proposal. One man compared No Other Land to D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. Two other supporters were fellow South Florida mayors, Hialeah’s Esteban Bovo Jr. and Miami’s Francis Suarez, along with the consul general of Israel in Miami, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky. Meiner allowed all three to speak for longer than a minute, though that overtime was eventually drowned out by constituents chanting “one minute’s up!” (Elbaz-Starinsky responded by calling the constituents “antisemites.”) Elsewhere, the audience objected to the mayor claiming that O Cinema has never screened a film that shows “the Israeli perspective.” (“It’s co-produced and directed by Israelis!” someone shouted.)
   9. That Meiner (who claims he has, in fact, seen the film) dropped his proposal was perhaps not surprising, considering that the majority of the city’s six commissioners had encouraged him to do so. But he also deferred a vote on a second resolution, which would “encourage” the theater to show films that “highlight a fair and balanced viewpoint of the current war.” An email from O Cinema went out Friday afternoon, addressed to friends and supporters, vowing to “remain in conversation with the city until it is resolved.” …
   10. Still, O Cinema co-founders Vivian Marthell and Kareem Tabsch — who remained stoic during the entire proceedings — are relieved with the outcome. “I think we’re all overwhelmed by the positive support that we received from the community and encouraged by seeing democracy at work and hearing opposing viewpoints,” Tabsch told Vulture after the meeting. “I think the commission did the right thing today and that we came out victorious at the same time.”
   11. [Said theater co-founder Marthell,] “I totally feel hopeful. We’ve been within the city of Miami Beach for ten years. Our programming speaks for itself. It’s varied, it’s diverse, it speaks to our communities, it speaks to our issues, and it speaks to having dialogue.”
   12. O Cinema was the first theater in South Florida to screen No Other Land. When Meiner caught wind of this, he sent the theater a letter, asking them to remove screenings of the film and claiming it was “a one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people.” Marthell and Tabsch declined, to which Meiner responded with the proposed threat to their lease and funding. The theater owners nevertheless continued offering more screenings of the film (which despite its Oscar win for Best Documentary, remains without an American distributor). “Should we have capitulated to the mayor’s demands it would have been a betrayal of our mission and of our audience,” Tabsch said. “We couldn’t allow our first amendment right to free speech be trampled on because if we had, where would it stop? It wouldn’t just end at O Cinema, and we could not allow that to happen to us and to our community.” …
   13. MIKE: There’s quite a bit more in the article about other attempts by government entities in South Florida to suppress unpopular speech relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You can read it for yourself by going to this show post at Thinkwing Radio Dot Com and clicking on the story link.
   14. MIKE: So why am I going to spend some time on this story and how would I analyze what’s going on here? I’ll get to that.
   15. MIKE: Let’s start with Steven Meiner, who was a registered Democrat until 2007. He subsequently switched parties and was a registered Republican until 2018. He currently has no registered party affiliation. This may have been a strategic decision, since Miami Beach has non-partisan city elections. In 2019, Meiner ran for and won a seat as a Miami Beach City Commissioner. Miami Beach’s city commission is the equivalent of Houston’s city council. In 2023, Meiner was elected mayor with about a 14% voter turnout, which is pathetic and hardly represents a mandate.
   16. MIKE: So why, you may ask, am I dwelling on Steve Meiner’s past party affiliations? Because I feel it smacks of political opportunism. As Meiner’s political ambitions took shape and evolved, I see his party affiliations evolving to suit his political needs, and I believe that should be relevant when voters evaluate him for political office.
   17. MIKE: Also, it again brings up my basic opposition to non-partisan elections. I believe that non-partisan local elections are supposed to be based on the belief that national party affiliations should have no bearing on local needs and wants.
   18. MIKE: I, on the other hand, consider non-partisan elections to encourage false and deceptive political advertising.
   19. MIKE: In my opinion, a person’s party affiliation is a fast way to learn a lot about a person’s beliefs, biases, and leanings. If a community leans either left or right, a non-partisan election lends itself to obfuscating political philosophies that should, and probably would, have a bearing on voters’ choices. Thus, a non-partisan election lends itself to hiding relevant facts from the electorate.
   20. MIKE: Now, I get to the crux of how I see this story.
   21. MIKE: We are living in a time when rightwing extremists in our federal government — extremists who tend to be Republicans — are acting to centralize power in what is often considered a fringe theory called a unitary executive. This political theory grants enormous power to the president, and enables him or her to exercise almost dictatorial authority over the executive branch. If you want an example of this theory in action, you just have to read up on current events.
   22. MIKE: At the federal level, we’re seeing a Republican president wielding almost authoritarian power, flouting laws and disparaging the judiciary with the apparent cooperation — or at least the indifference — of Republicans in Congress.
   23. MIKE: Getting back to Miami Beach in Florida, we see a clear government attempt from Mayor Meiner to interfere in public speech in violation of the First Amendment.
   24. MIKE: I have not seen the movie that’s in question at the O Cinema, but that’s irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion.
   25. MIKE: To me, it’s just another example of why party affiliations matter. Meiner may not be a registered Republican, but his apparent indifference to, or ignorance of, the First Amendment and its meanings is clearly modern Republican.
   26. MIKE: Republicans are always claiming and complaining that their rights to free speech are being trampled. Yet there’s plenty of evidence that they are at least as likely as leftists to try to stifle free speech, except that Republicans are more likely to try to stifle it with the power of government while leftists are more likely to try to stifle it through public disapproval.
   27. MIKE: You may feel that one or both are bad, but one is patently un-Constitutional and illegal, while the other may or may not simply be deplorable. This is not a trivial distinction.
   28. MIKE: Miami Beach Mayor Meiner was trying to use government power in a naked attempt to put a theater out of business because he disapproved of the film it showed. This should clearly violate the First Amendment prohibition against government interference in public discourse, but that seems never to have entered Mayor Meiner’s mind until the public called him on it.
   29. MIKE: This is why political labels and party affiliation matter. I pose this question: Would you have been more or less surprised if a Democratic mayor had pulled this stunt? You can let me know by adding a comment to this show’s Facebook page at Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig or by leaving a comment at this show post at Thinkwing Radio Dot Com.
8. Judge strikes down Washington’s natural gas initiative, citing constitutional violation; by KOMO News Staff | KOMONEWS.COM | Sat, March 22nd 2025 at 10:45 AM. TAGS: Initiative, Washington, Judge, Constitution, Puget Sound Energy, Ruling, Fossil fuel, Natural Gas,
   1. A King County judge has invalidated a voter-approved initiative on natural gas, ruling it violates the state constitution.
   2. Initiative 2066, which passed in November, aimed to repeal or ban laws and regulations that discourage the use of natural gas. The initiative would have allowed electric utility companies, such as Puget Sound Energy, to promote natural gas usage.
   3. As a result of the ruling, Puget Sound Energy and other utility services will need to offer gas power to customers who request it but will not be able to provide rebates. They will also be required to inform customers about incentives for installing electric appliances.
   4. Christina Wong from Washington Conservation Action hailed the decision as a victory, [saying,] “This is an incredible win for the people in Washington. In no way was this challenging for disrupting the initiative process, but validated what we’ve been saying all along: that people were misled in voting for this initiative.”
   5. The initiative impacts building efficiency standards within the Washington Energy Code, balancing access to natural gas with efforts to reduce fossil fuel use.
   6. In response to the ruling, the Building Industry Association of Washington expressed its intent to continue fighting the decision. “We will continue to use every avenue available, including appealing to the state Supreme Court, to protect energy choice for the people of Washington. Today’s decision was based solely on the policy preference of the judge and had no legal basis whatsoever,” the association said.
   7. MIKE: As far as the story goes, people need to realize that almost none of the current and new regulations curtailing use of natural gas in new homes impacts existing homes going forward. Occasionally, there are some safety regulations that come into play. One example relates to built-in gas ovens.
   8. MIKE: It’s almost impossible to replace an old built-in gas oven with a new one. You‘re required to replace it with an electric built-in oven, for which a convection built-in would be your best choice. There is actually an excellent reason for this.
   9. MIKE: It was found that when a built-in gas oven has a gas leak, it’s usually trapped inside the wall, making it hard to notice or detect. This creates a significant explosion hazard.
   10. MIKE: When we rebuilt our house after it burned down during Hurricane Ike in 2008, I was confronted with the choice of re-installing my gas appliances and furnace, or switching it all over to electric while retaining gas connections as an option.
   11. MIKE: Gas cooktops are far superior to electric resistance cooktops. You can change cooking temperature instantly with gas, giving finer control for some things. Electric induction cooktops are equal or superior to gas cooktops in that way and are safer, but were still very expensive in 2009. Nonetheless, I have a 220-volt connection behind my current range for a future switch to induction, and I’ve made sure that any new cookware is induction-ready. The same is true for my gas dryer: I have a 220-volt connection in case I want to switch over.
   12. MIKE: I used to have a very low regard for electric ovens, but electric convection ovens give very good results, comparable to gas. This is because gas ovens naturally convect the hot air in the oven, giving more even baking. Standard electric ovens have stagnant, stratified air which gives uneven results.
   13. MIKE: On the other hand, electric convection ovens use an internal fan to accomplish the air mixing that used to be naturally accomplished only in gas ovens. This allows electric convection ovens to give very comparable or even superior results to what one might get from a gas oven.
   14. MIKE: Then for home heating, there’s the question of gas furnaces versus electric resistance furnaces versus heat pumps. I’ve had all three.
   15. MIKE: The worst and most expensive way to heat a house is with an electric resistance furnace. It wastes an enormous amount of energy, and the air that blows is extremely hot, putting the house in a cycle of very warm or slightly chilly, depending on whether the furnace is on or not.
   16. MIKE: Natural gas is a primary form of energy. It’s less efficient to use gas for generating electricity which is then used for electric resistance heating. Using gas directly in a furnace is much more efficient and hence, cheaper.
   17. MIKE: If at all possible, using a heat pump for both cooling and heating is the most energy efficient and — in the long run — the most cost-effective way to go.
   18. MIKE: Heat pumps also provide a far more pleasant heating experience. The air coming out of the vents is much cooler than from a furnace; more like 90 degrees rather than 120 or 130 degrees. For this reason, heat pumps run much longer during the day, and it doesn’t make sense to turn them off or change temp settings when you’re going to work. You just set a comfortable temperature and mostly leave it there. In return, the house temperature is more stable and constant, and generally much more comfortable. And because heat pumps use cooler heat, the air in the home doesn’t get as dry in cold weather.
   19. MIKE: But the upfront cost of a heat pump system can be a deterrent. Also, replacing a heat pump is almost as costly as replacing an AC system and furnace at the same time. When we were rebuilding, I wanted a heat pump, but we were running out of insurance money at that point.
   20. MIKE: We did, however, get an on-demand gas water heater, so we’re still pretty energy-efficient.
   21. MIKE: There is one thing about using natural gas that requires mention; that’s carbon monoxide. We paid a lot of attention to venting combustion by-products outside. When I use the gas oven or stove, I always use our externally-vented exhaust fan that’s over the range. Many homes and pretty much all apartments have recirculating over-the-range vent fans, and these are useless when it comes to carbon monoxide concerns.
   22. MIKE: I’d be happy to answer comments or questions about the information I’ve given here. It would be best to leave comments or questions at the show post at ThinkwingRadio Dot Com so that all readers could benefit from any discussion.
9. In international news, on a possibly more positive note, this is from December, but you may not have heard of it. I think they’re just starting to kick in — Tariffs: EU hits Trump-voting US states; By Peggy Corlin | EURONEWS.COM | Published on 12/03/2025 – 16:07 GMT+1. TAGS: Steel, Aluminium, EU Policy, Trade, European Commission, Donald Trump, Tariffs, Red States,
   1. In its response to the US tariffs on steel and [aluminum], the EU is aiming to be ‘smart’ and hit US Republican-leaning states.
   2. The EU made good on its threat to retaliate when retaliating to the US’ introduction of 25% tariffs on [aluminum] and steel imports by imposing tariffs that could affect up to €26 billion worth of US products, but it also tried to tailor them to hit Trump in his heartland.
   3. At the heart of EU’s retaliation measures are products from the American states that elected Donald Trump: [soy] bean from Louisiana, which is the state of the speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson — [and] beef and poultry from Nebraska and Arkansas. EU tariffs on wood will also impact Georgia and Virginia.
   4. [Said a senior EU official,] “In our response we try to be smart. That means we have a list of products that have high iconic value, high symbolical value, that do not cost us much.”
   5. In the list of countermeasures presented on Wednesday, the EU plans also to hit industrial products such as steel and [aluminum] products, textiles, leather goods, home appliances, house tools, plastics and wood products.
   6. The countermeasures will come into force in mid-April after a consultation of EU industries and EU member states. In trade matters, Commission decisions are binding on the 27 member states unless a qualified majority object.
   7. Wednesday’s list of products comes in addition to the products targeted in 2018 during the trade war launched by the first Trump administration. These measures were suspended after a truce reached under the Biden administration, but will now automatically re-apply as of 1 April to imports of American products such as Harley Davidson motorbikes and Bourbon whiskey.
   8. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on [aluminum]. This time both products are hit by 25% custom duties. The list of European products targeted is even broader than during the first trade war, since steel and [aluminum] derivatives are also targeted.
   9. There is no exception either for specific categories of steel or [aluminum]. In 2018, US companies were able to seek certain exemptions. But this time that is not the case. The EU official predicted that “critical supply chains” will be affected in the US.
   10. [He said,] “We don’t think the US tariffs are very smart. It doesn’t take into account what the US economy needs to produce goods, for example cars, that rely on specific steel products.”
   11. The US tariffs which came into force last night will affect all imports of steel and [aluminum] into the US, not just those from Europe. While the EU has not coordinated its response with allies such as Canada and the UK, officials said that discussions are ongoing behind the scenes.
   12. But Europe will also now brace for imports from third countries diverted from the US. The EU already faces oversupply of steel, particularly from China, for which safeguard measures will continue to run until June 2026. The Commission is considering new measures to cover any new surplus.
   13. MIKE: This EU trade retaliation at least puts the hurt where it belongs. Namely, the states that put this tyrannical madman in the White House.
   14. MIKE: I hope that any new retaliatory tariffs from Europe and elsewhere will do the same.
10. In ideology-driven news — NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake; By Carolyn Y. Johnson and Joel Achenbach | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | March 10, 2025 at 4:51 p.m. EDT. TAGS: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Vaccines, Vaccine Hesitancy,
    1. The National Institutes of Health will cancel or cut back dozens of grants for research on why some people are reluctant to be vaccinated and how to increase acceptance of vaccines, according to an internal email obtained by the Post on Monday.
    2. The email, titled “required terminations – 3/10/25,” shows that on [last] Monday morning, the agency “received a new list … of awards that need to be terminated, today. It has been determined they do not align with NIH funding priorities related to vaccine hesitancy and/or uptake.”
    3. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of NIH’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], has disparaged vaccines for years. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], another part of HHS, was asked by the Trump administration to launch a study into a possible connection between vaccines and autism, despite repeated research that shows no link between the two.
    4. Monday’s email was sent by Michelle Bulls, director of the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration. It instructed NIH officials who dispense money to researchers around the country to send termination letters by the close of business Monday. It does not specify where the order originated.
    5. For some studies that are only partly about vaccine hesitancy and uptake, officials can offer the option of defunding only those activities, the email shows.
    6. The termination notice should include the following language, according to the email: “It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment…Therefore, the award is terminated.”
    7. The email flagged more than 40 grants, according to two people familiar with the matter, [and] who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the new order.
    8. Spokespeople at NIH and HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    9. NIH, the world’s largest sponsor of biomedical research, has already terminated more than a dozen grants related to China and transgender research, according to social media posts by the U.S. DOGE Service.
    10. Documents obtained by The Post showed that last week, grants management staff were given guidance on how to terminate grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion. That guidance included “Language provided to NIH by HHS providing examples for research activities that NIH no longer supports.”
    11. Those topics included funding to Chinese universities; for diversity, equity and inclusion; and for transgender issues. The language used in the notices created anguish within NIH, according to several people familiar with the notices.
    12. There are two active grants to Chinese universities listed in an NIH database.
    13. MIKE: I don’t have much to add to this except a crushing feeling that we are returning to the Dark Ages in this country. Maybe start hanging garlic from doors and windows, too.
11. What I’m going to read next is actually a summary of an interesting article that I found on LinkedIn. This February article is actual much longer. I’ve linked to both the LinkedIn post and the full article in this show’s blog post. The summary is derived from … — Norway turning away from electricity interconnection | WATT-LOGIC.COM | 21 February 2025 | Summary By Kathryn Porter, Energy Consultant at Watt-Logic, TAGS: Interconnectors, Renewables, Netzero, Networks, Norway, UK, Germany, Coal, Nuclear,
    1. At the end of January, the Norwegian governing coalition collapsed, leaving the Labour Party to govern alone until the September parliamentary elections. Most parties in the Storting [which is the supreme legislature of Norway] now oppose new interconnectors and a good proportion would like to renegotiate the deals with Britain and Germany, which are seen as importing renewables-based volatility into the Norwegian market.
    2. Prices in the south of Norway have been higher and more volatile since these interconnectors opened, which has become politically sensitive, as is the subject of implementation of the fourth EU energy package. The Labour Party has said it will not implement the market-related elements of the package; only minor elements relating to the energy performance of buildings and renewable energy targets, which Norway already exceeds.
    3. Norway is exposing the hypocrisy of the UK and EU’s approach to cross-border co-operation which can be summed up as, “I will act in my best interests, and I expect everyone else to also act in my best interests!”
    4. Norway is particularly irritated by decisions in the UK and Germany to close dispatchable generation early and rely on imports instead — coal in the case of [the UK] and nuclear in Germany. Norway was not consulted on these decisions, yet it is expected to accept the resulting impact on its domestic power prices.
    5. The Norwegians have had enough, and [the author] don’t blame them. After the September elections we may see a new, more robust approach to cross-border co-operation from Norway. The rest of Europe is on notice.
    6. MIKE: I like that summary of the co-operation approach. It reminds of an adage with various attributions describing how the USSR (and presumably also now Russia) negotiated: “What’s ours is ours. What’s your is negotiable.”
    7. MIKE: This is an interesting angle on the challenges of renewable energy, and how domestic and international markets are being tested and are trying to adapt.
    8. MIKE: These days, of course, international electricity interconnections can have major geopolitical consequences.
    9. MIKE: I’m betting we’ll be seeing more of this sort of dispute until an equitable mechanism is devised to protect both the interconnection providers and consumers of renewable energy, ultimately resulting in some sort of standardized contract language.
    10. If you go to the original LinkedIn article, there are lots of comments from knowledgeable people that expand on the nuances of the issues described in the summary.