Morning Roundup: We the people edition

Good morning, Houston. How many of you knew what Monday was? Anyone? Anyone? That's right: It was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. To mark the anniversary, the nation had a little holiday, Constitution Day — but how many people actually knew about it? Not many, apparently: Though federal law says students at public high schools should be taught about Constitution Day, a recent survey of students found that less than half had heard about the day. And as the Chronicle notes, even regional Department of Education director Jim Davis wasn't in the loop: "Umm, no," Davis said. "I am not sure there has been an all-points bulletin put out to remind schools of that. ... Let's just hope that schools are doing what we need to be doing on that day." Y'know — like making sure kids learn history. Oh, wait.

>> First BP civil trial ends with settlement: The first trial related to the deadly 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City refinery prompted a settlement, the oil giant announced Tuesday. "It occurred overnight," spokesman Neil Chapman told the AP. "We don't talk about the settlements. All I can say is we've worked since the explosion to settle so people don't have to go to court." The abbreviated trial included testimony from Don Parus, the former Texas City plant manager, who denied that BP's profits trumped the company's interest in safety at the refinery, despite an internal report BP released earlier this year that described a culture at the plant of ignoring risk, accepting incompetence and tolerating noncompliance. More than 1,300 lawsuits related to the explosion have been settled, costing BP at least $2 billion.

>> Tell us something we didn't know: Houston has taken its place on another national top 10 list: This time, our fair city has been ranked No. 7 among the country's most traffic-congested cities by the Texas Transportation Institute at A&M. According to the TTI's 2007 Urban Mobility Report, Houston drivers averaged 56 hours in traffic delays in 2005 — a four-hour increase over the previous year and a significant increase over a decade ago, when we spent an average of 32 hours tied up in traffic. Those 56 hours per driver, by the way, cost Houston $2.2 billion in productivity. Wow.. The most congested city in the U.S., according to the report, is Los Angeles, followed by Atlanta, San Francisco and Washington. At the bottom of the list: Akron, Ohio; Anchorage, Alaska; and Corpus Christi.

>> Putting the 'hot' in hotel: Montgomery County firefighters had a hard time battling a blaze that gutted a nearly completed hotel on Highway 59 between New Caney and Porter yesterday morning — because fire hydrants and the building's sprinkler system weren't turned on when the structure caught fire. Crews eventually arrived to activate the sprinklers and hydrants, but until then, firefighters had to bring in water from up to a mile away, Porter Fire Chief Jody Binton told KTRK. Reports indicated that no one was injured in the blaze, and investigators said they're not sure yet what caused the building to go up in flames. "We don't have any reason to believe that this is anything other than an accidental fire at this time," assistant Montgomery County fire marshal Scott Burlin said. The hotel was scheduled to open in a couple of weeks.

>> Today's weather: The humidity's back and it's still warm, but otherwise we're enjoying a string of pretty nice late-summer days — and it looks like that'll continue until the weekend. Look for a high in the lower 90s this afternoon under partly cloudy skies, leading to an overnight low in the lower 70s.

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