More Hispanics, tacos and beer = Stripes' growth

From CSPnet.com
The Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser is near doubling the number of new-builds it plans for 2012, ramping up to a target range of 25 to 30 new stores versus 15 in 2009, 14 in 2010 and 19 last year, according to Mary Sullivan, the chain's CFO.

Part of the success of inside sales over cigarettes or fuel is the company's Laredo Taco Co. foodservice concept. Started in 2001, the foodservice offer features authentic Mexican items, with fresh ingredients including tortillas made from scratch every morning. Sullivan called the program the chain's loyalty offer because 72% of people who buy Laredo Taco products buy another item. And if that customer visits the Laredo Taco counter, then he or she visits the location 40% more than the average consumer.

Also, their success is stemming from the healthy Texas economy and the drilling boom in and around the Permian Basin area, which bring population growth to West Texas. Many of the chain's newer stores are located there.

The growing population and, in particular, the demographics of the area are playing into Susser's success, as well. Growth in the Hispanic population in the chain's core markets is expected to hit 37% versus the national average of 16%. In addition, the 18-to-35-year-old male demographic is higher in south Texas than the national average, 60% versus 50%.

With younger, male customers, Sullivan said, "We're in the path of future beer drinkers" CFO Mary Sullivan offered.

Lady dentist "extracts" revenge on ex-beau

"Muahhh ha ha ha!!" (Not Anna Mackowiak)

I guess the moral of this particular story is: never go to a dentist you've dated. At first, I thought it was a news story straight out of The Onion or other such parody but it turns out to be true. No wonder the brits get a bum rap for having less than perfect teeth.

From The Huffington Post

Breaking up is never easy -- having 32 teeth ripped out is even worse. A scorned dentist is facing jail time after surgically removing all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after he dumped her, authorities in London said.

Marek Olszewski, 45, made the mistake of scheduling an appointment this week with his ex -- 34-year-old Anna Mackowiak -- for a toothache, according to the Daily Mail. So Mackowiak allegedly did what any burned beau with a set of pliers and some anesthetic would do: she doped him up, pulled out all his teeth, and wrapped his head with bandages so he wouldn't notice until he left her office.

"I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions," she told the news site. "But when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a b-----d.'"

Olszewski could tell something was wrong when he awoke and couldn't feel any teeth in his mouth. But he said Mackowiak assured him that he'd be fine once the numbness wore off, NDTV reported.
"I didn't have any reason to doubt her -- I mean I thought she was a professional," he said.
He was wrong.

"But when I got home I looked in the mirror and I couldn't f--king believe it," he said. "The b--ch had emptied my mouth."

Worse, Olszewski's new girlfriend dumped him because, well, she couldn't date a man without any teeth, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mackowiak is under investigation for medical malpractice and abusing the trust of a patient. She could face three years in jail for the alleged stunt. Olszewski plans on saving money to get "indents or something."

Water for fracking but not for farmers

Oh well, as long as we're on the subject of how bad fracking is impacting our land and water, let's take a look at this video. It sounds like Mexico is getting first crack at the Rio Grande's water at least for this year.

Taxpayers "pave" the way for more pollution

It's official: we're living in Bizarro world where just about everything is topsy-turvy and almost nothing makes sense. Take for example, this article explaining how the state of Texas (taxpayers) is moving fast on paving many of the busiest roads in the Eagle Ford Shale. Too bad paving is never as important when it's mostly for the benefit of regular Texans.

No wonder the Oil and Gas companies  love Texas politicians especially during this dynasty of Republican control.

From The Corpus Christi Caller Times

CORPUS CHRISTI —The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday approved $40 million for road repairs and improvements in some of the state's most active oil and gas drilling regions, including $10.3 million in the Eagle Ford Shale. The work is expected to begin this summer.

Cities and counties in the region face staggering costs — many times the amount approved Thursday — and serious safety problems as energy production ramps up.

A drilling method called hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of fluid per well, which usually has to be trucked to the site. Over time, roads crumble and narrow.

"This funding is a down payment to try and address part of the issue now," Phil Wilson, director of the Texas Department of Transportation, said in a news release. "Even as we begin this first phase of work, we will continue partnering with industry and government leaders to build a longer term sustainable strategy."

The department recently formed a task force to study the issue, including the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Railroad Commission, the Commission on Environmental Quality, counties, and the energy and trucking sectors.

Shopping for a "green car"? Not in Laredo!



Sube la ventana!!

I don't know if the pollsters who compiled this survey took into acount the many pollution-free yonkas in the Gateway City but perhaps they should have.  Without yonkeros such as Keyrose being counted towards Laredo's greenness, we were bound to make the top (bottom) ten again.

 This time Laredo is ranked towards the bottom when it comes to green-friendly car buyers. Obviously, the pollsters also forgot to count the many homeless who opt for the greenest of green: the old, discarded shopping cart. Now that's recycling and reducing air emissions both in one.

From Redding.com

The Chico-Redding area has some of the most eco-friendly car shoppers in the country, Cars.com reported this month. Chico-Redding placed ninth on the Cars.com green car shopping list.

Topping the list of green scar shoppers was San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose.
The San Francisco Bay Area was followed by Madison, Wis.; Monterey-Salinas; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Green Bay-Appleton, Wis.; Santa Maria-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo; Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto; Chico-Redding; and Zanesville, Ohio.

Cars.com tapped into its search data from its visitors. Based on their searches on vehicles that get more than 40 mpg, the results were tabulated.

The 10 communities with the fewest green car shoppers were Odessa-Midland, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Fairbanks, Alaska; Albany, G.; Bluefield-Beckley-Oakhill, Va.-W.V.; Glendive, Mont.; and Helena, Montana.

More on Kaleb Canales

I might be risking a harsh reprimand from BOLAS (Bloggers of Laredo Association's Scruples) but I figured we had to sort of jump on the Canales bandwagon at least for today. Interestingly, this article is by Humberto Cervera who used to be the Pro8News sportscaster a couple of years ago.

From The Spurs Project.com

The story sounds like one that you'd see in a movie. Going from a 5'11" power forward in Laredo to the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers by the age of 33 is almost stranger than fiction, but it's all too true.

Blazers head coach Kaleb Canales, the first ever Mexican-American head coach in the NBA, made it there through hard work and perseverance. After graduating from UT-Arlington and spending time as an assistant coach at a few Laredo high schools and at Virginia Commonwealth University, Canales caught a break and picked an internship in the video department with the Blazers.

"Caleb Fever" is in full effect in Laredo. He was bombarded with calls and text messages for tickets and was able to get his hands on around 100 tickets for his homecoming. There were also an impressive amount of fans that showed up on their own. It would appear slowly, but surely, a concentrated Spurs market might be softening for one of their most famous sons.

"I know Laredo is a big Spurs country," Canales joked. "At my camps (in Laredo) I say I'm going to try and turn every Spurs fan into a Blazers fan one-by-one."

Even the most fanatical of Spurs supporters can't completely hate on Canales. Everyone loves the story of the underdog that achieves and you can't deny we could have a much worse role model for the youth of South Texas to look up to.
As the first, and only, Mexican-American head coach in the league, he understands what goes along with the title.

"It's an honor, its a privilege and it's a responsibility that I take very seriously," Canales said. "I also hope it's a message to the kids out there that they can't be afraid to dream. Through faith and hard work is the reason why I'm here and I hope that's a strong message to them."

So maybe Spurs fandom won't all jump on the Blazers bandwagon, but here's to all of us having a new second favorite team.

What to do with "No man's Land" created by overpasses?

Keyrose, the main author of La Sanbe, today offered his readers a photo of the Chihuaha-Guadalupe overpasses under construction. Does this means Laredo's homeless now have another home? What happens to areas of Laredo (or any other city) over which such overpasses are built. Do they suddenly become  forgotten, residual scraps of the city?

The image below is appropriately entitled "No Man's Land" by Rudolph Boogerman. With overpasses scheduled to go up throughout Loop 20, is there a plan on how to deal with the various "underpasses"?



No Man's Land by Rudolph Boogerman

I know that in some cases, such as during the WBCA activities, some of Laredo's underpasses under IH35 are transformed into temporary parking areas. In San Antonio, I remember going to UTSA and parking under some overpass. The only difference is that the UTSA area was paved and marked and had a security guard on duty.

Who knows, maybe the mayor will appoint an Underpass Committee and add another photo-op to his already vast repetoire.