Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

RIP, CityCast Houston

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sad to see them go. Hey, there! I can’t believe I’m writing these words. After over 800 newsletters, today is my last one to you. Hey Houston and City Cast Houston officially shut down on Oct. 24 😢 I truly enjoyed … Continue reading →

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Ismaili Center to open in November

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Been a long time coming. The decades-long quest to bring the first-ever U.S. location of a massive religious center to Houston is almost complete. Ismaili Center Houston, a five-story, 11-acre religious center for Ismaili Muslims, is poised for a grand … Continue reading →

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There may be a lawsuit over the rainbow crosswalk

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A legion of Houston’s elected officials gathered at the Taft and Westheimer rainbow crosswalk Tuesday as a show of force against Gov. Greg Abbott’s call to remove it or risk the loss of state transportation funding, and some even … Continue reading →

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Still more on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I once again call your attention to an episode of CityCast Houston, in which host Raheel Ramzanali chats with the host of the CityCast Las Vegas podcast about the experience they’ve had with Elon Musk and the Boring Company and … Continue reading →

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More on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Insecure man makes defensive response to fair questions about his wild idea. Film at 11. Billionaire Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investigation by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel … Continue reading →

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Less funding for homelessness means more homeless

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just math. An annual survey of the homeless population in the Houston area suggested that the region — which has attracted international attention for its ability to reduce homelessness — is at an inflection point. As the emergency funding … Continue reading →

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Please don’t lie about the amount of poop in Houston’s waterways

Posted on September 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Two former employees of a wastewater testing lab in Conroe are facing federal conspiracy charges after authorities alleged they falsified test results to conceal high levels of feces and other contaminants released … Continue reading →

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Do we still want flood tunnels if Elon is building them?

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating stuff. The devastating flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 killed dozens of people, inundated hundreds of thousands of homes and left the community desperate for a solution. Since then, local flood experts have extensively studied the … Continue reading →

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Leave the “Be Someone” artists alone

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

How is this a good use of HPD’s time? Investigators are searching for the people who repainted Houston’s popular “Be Someone” graffiti mural in June after a video of the act was posted on Instagram. Three people participated in repainting the … Continue reading →

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Mayor’s anti-bike obsession claims another victim

Posted on August 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Telephone Road. You should have thought about the possibility of the next Mayor being a bike hater when you began this work five years ago. The Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority has tapped the brakes on approving a scaled-back $12 million … Continue reading →

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The Astrodome at 60

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We still don’t know what we’re going to do with it. In the winter of 2018, Ed Emmett thought he found the perfect plan to save the Astrodome and make it useful for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo — … Continue reading →

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The Montrose texts

Posted on June 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A look behind the curtain at what was happening with the Montrose TIRZ as the original plan for redoing Montrose Blvd got significantly changed by Mayor Whitmire. For over a year, Montrose residents have fiercely debated redesign plans for their namesake boulevard, … Continue reading →

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LurkingHouston

Posted on June 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t be too mad at this. The Astrodome hasn’t seen a crowd in over a decade—but it got some unexpected visitors this week when three 18-year-old urban explorers slipped inside the iconic, long-shuttered stadium, exposing the eerily dilapidated “Eighth … Continue reading →

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Rice seeks naming deal for Rice Stadium

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno about this. Rice Stadium opened in 1950, once held a maximum capacity of 70,000, and has played host to a Super Bowl and presidential speech. It’s also one of the most direct and to the point names for any venue out there. … Continue reading →

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We really should be composting more

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not too late to start. Alex Cantoran parks his truck at the final house on the block, jumps out and grabs the five-gallon white bucket sitting near the edge of the property. He unscrews the lid quickly. Inside are … Continue reading →

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We’re sinking

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I think at some level we all knew this was true. Groundwater and oil extraction are causing the ground beneath Houston to sink faster than any other major city in the U.S., according to a new study in Nature Cities. … Continue reading →

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The CenterPoint weather stations

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good, I guess. CenterPoint Energy plans to install a network of 100 weather stations across its 12-county service territory in the Greater Houston area before hurricane season kicks off on June 1, the company announced Monday. The weather stations are … Continue reading →

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Houston’s bridges are not falling down

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

But an assessment to see how they’d do in the event a ship crashed into them would be a good idea. Some Houston area bridges are among those that a new report says should be evaluated to determine whether they’re … Continue reading →

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Let’s hear it for the pro-11th Street people

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Get out of your bubble, Mr. Mayor. Small business owners, community advocates and residents are rallying together to fight against Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s proposal to reverse 11th Street’s 2023 redesign. The coalition sent a letter last week—authored by Gerald Fuentes, an organizer of the … Continue reading →

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Just make up your damn mind about West 11th already

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I swear, I am so sick of this. After Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s administration removed cyclist protections along Heights Boulevard and Austin Street in March, advocates for a contentious safety project on 11th Street in the Heights neighborhood are worried it could be next on … Continue reading →

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More on Austin Street, Whitmire, and bike lanes

Posted on April 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna do this as a link roundup so I can get this out of my system. See here for the starting point. Whitmire stresses maintaining public safety as fears grow over future of Houston’s bike lanes. Emphasizing his priority toward … Continue reading →

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The Astrodome Conservancy keeps plugging away

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I respect the hustle. It’s time to move forward with Vision: Astrodome, the recently unveiled proposal from the Astrodome Conservancy. It activates the power of this historic monument to serve the public, now and long into the future. Since its … Continue reading →

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Modified Montrose construction to begin on Monday

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. Workers will break ground Monday on the first phase of a hotly debated plan to revamp Montrose Boulevard from Allen Parkway to West Clay Street. The final roadmap retains the original intent to include an expansive … Continue reading →

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Some good news for UST

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Situation update. The University of St. Thomas in Houston seems to have turned a corner with its finances in 2024, though its position remains precarious as the school posted a deficit in its operating budget for the seventh consecutive year, … Continue reading →

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Let’s renegotiate that lease

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

How sweet it is, for the Texans. As county leaders and officials with Bob McNair’s nascent football team were closing in on a deal for a new football stadium in the early 2000s, the Texans landed a late concession that … Continue reading →

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It’s always the highrises

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We have such a weird history of them in this town. A proposal to build a mixed-use tower in Montrose has hit a roadblock after the Houston Planning Commission rejected a variance request needed for the project, sending developers back … Continue reading →

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Repair Cafés

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is very cool. The Harris County’s Katherine Tyra Branch Library [was] crowded with toolboxes, sewing machines and piles of spare parts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m on Saturday, as volunteer fixers help area residents mend everything from broken appliances to … Continue reading →

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We’ve got tourists

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Yes we do. Houston continues to attract more visitors, setting records in 2024 for number of visitors, air passengers and hotel revenue. More than 54 million people visited the city last year, 6% more than the estimated 51 million in … Continue reading →

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The GRB gets bigger

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Houston First head Michael Heckman on Thursday unveiled plans for a $2 billion overhaul of the George R. Brown Convention Center, a project they said would “transform” the city’s downtown and east side while … Continue reading →

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Shrinking Sugar Land

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. For years, Sugar Land has been a model for how a healthy suburb can develop alongside a booming metropolis in modern America. Situated just 20 miles southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land has grown from a small town of … Continue reading →

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UST responds to re-accreditation concerns

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. University of St. Thomas administrators announced that they are planning a faculty and staff town hall “to share important updates and discuss our plans” following widespread concerns about the Houston Catholic school’s re-accreditation. Interim President Fr. … Continue reading →

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What’s going on at the University of St. Thomas?

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A whole lot of drama, it appears. The University of St. Thomas’ institutional accreditation is up for renewal as the school grapples with a shakeup in its administrative ranks and six consecutive years of financial losses. The evaluation is a test of … Continue reading →

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Remembering Audio Video Plus

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Ah, memories. Until 2012, Houston was home to Audio Video Plus, the Library of Alexandria of VHS. The empty shell of the store is still there at 1225 Waugh in Montrose, mocking any Gen Xer who passes by and dreams … Continue reading →

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It’s been a rough flu season

Posted on March 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Turning our attention to a different infectious disease. The flu is inflicting more fever-coughing-aching misery across Houston and much of the U.S. than it has in years. While most people will recover, thousands have already died during the 2024-2025 flu … Continue reading →

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