Morning Roundup: Master planning? We don't need no master planning! edition

Good morning, Houston. If you, like Houstonist, are looking forward to the day when Buffalo Bayou will be redeveloped as parkway from the East End through downtown to Shepherd Drive, you might be interested in this: The county is planning to build a massive new jail smack dab in the middle of that park system. The proposed 2,500-bed jail, which would be located next to the county jail on Baker Street, would apparently take in land that was going to be excavated to widen the bayou's channel — a step that was going to lessen the risk of flooding downtown — and would limit access to the bayou and probably create a gap in the series of trails planned for the north bank. And so it goes. Now the question seems to be whether the bayou trail can be built alongside the jail: County public infrastructure director Art Storey said officials will consider leaving a 30-foot-wide strip of land between the jail and bayou to accommodate a trail, but he (and others) wondered whether that's smart. "Personally, I think when people go for a walk, they want to look at hummingbirds, not jailbirds," County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia told the Chronicle. "We have to do what's best for the sheriff and what allows him to do his job." A county bond proposal on the Nov. 6 election will include $195 million for the new jail; if approved, the rest of the $245 million project cost will be raised by the city and county.

>> Emmett calls for penny tax cut: Harris County Judge Ed Emmett on Tuesday proposed a 1-cent property tax rate cut, noting that the average property appraisal in the county rose by 12 percent this year. The rate decrease would save the average homeowner about $12 a year — not too much, but enough to potentially concern some other county officials. Commissioner El Franco Lee, for example, said he might support Emmett's tax rollback if it doesn't affect the delivery of basic services; he said the decrease is Emmett's way of trying to impress voters. "All of this is demagoguery," he told the Chronicle. "We're in that business. That's a given." Charles Bacarisse, who will be Emmett's opponent in the Republican primary for county judge in the spring, has proposed a 5-cent tax cut that would save the average Harris County homeowner around $58 a year.

>> Supreme Court turns down A&M bonfire appeal: The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it won't consider a lower court ruling that Texas A&M officials can't be held responsible for the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. That means the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' finding that "state-created danger" — the principle that would have applied — wasn't established law before the collapse, which killed 12 people and injured 27. "While we're disappointed the court did not take the case, we do believe that the 5th Circuit was wrong," Robert S. Peck, an attorney who represented the victims and their relatives, told the AP. "It's simply a decision that they are not going to take up this case and they expressed no view on the merits." A&M officials had no comment.

>> Today's weather: Let the fall-ish weather begin! Clouds will give way to clear skies today as drier air moves into the area; look for a high this afternoon around 86 and an overnight low of 62. By the end of the week, we should be seeing highs in the low 80s. Is it sad that we're so excited?

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