Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

The Houston Chronicle bought out the Houston Post in 1995 in order to acquire its better printing facilities. The Post was shut down, with barely a chance to say goodbye, and Houston has been a one-daily town ever since. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What could be sillier than affixing a fig leaf to Michaelangelo’s David and removing paintings from a men’s restroom in a restaurant because they have nekkid people in them? Why, getting into a lather over the slogan on a high … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Imperial Sugar refinery, from which the Houston suburb of Sugar Land gets its name, is closing its doors, a victim of high costs and slim profit margins. Company headquarters will still be there, but over 300 people are out … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The town of Anahuac, in nearby Chambers County, is overrun with wild pigs whose elusiveness, appetite, and sheer numbers are causing havoc for all. By day, these hogs usually keep out of sight in the Houston area’s backwoods and bayous. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Houston Art Car Parade, the granddaddy of all Art Car Parades and one of the best reasons to be in Houston in the springtime, is severing its ties with the Houston International Festival, thus allowing it more freedom in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s Perfectly Normal and It’s So Amazing, two books that had been temporarily removed from the shelves of the public libraries in Montgomery County have been returned after a newly expanded panel that reviews children’s books which have been challenged … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Thanks in part to more favorable weather, Houston finished third in the Smoggiest City sweepstakes behind Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley. Take that, LA! Does this mean the air is cleaner? Don’t hold your breath, the experts say. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last week I wrote about the demise of KIKK, which suddenly switched from its longstanding country music format to a “smooth jazz” playlist. That entry drew several comments from locals, so I thought I’d do a followup. First, to answer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The 55 MPH speed limit is officially dead, to the point where even Miracle Max couldn’t revive it. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go and put the lead weights back in my shoes. Woo hoo! Continue reading →

In 2001, Houston Press writer Richard Connelly and his family were flooded out by Tropical Storm Allison. More than a year later, his house was torn down after they got a FEMA buyout. Allison has had a huge effect on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the people who was killed by the terrorist bomb in Bali was a lawyer and family man originally from Houston named Jake Young. He was an All-America center for Nebraska in the late 1980s, and was the brother-in-law … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice article today on Beans Barton, local artist/musician/eccentric who’s currently busy painting a bigass dinosaur mural on the walls of our neighborhood elementary school. You can see a picture of the artist at work here. If you’re a fan of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rob has the latest on the censorship battle in Montgomery County (TX). Check it out. Continue reading →

A nice article in today’s Chron about local brewery and success story St. Arnold’s. If you’re a local and you haven’t done one of the Saturday afternoon brewery tours, you’re missing out on a fun experience as well as some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The homeowners in Northwest Houston who are fighting to prevent a 24-hour Wal-Mart from opening up nearby have gotten some help from their county commissioner, who has looked into the possibility of buying the land and turning it into a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The kids at Pearland High School, a bit south of Houston, thought they had a novel way to raise some cash for scholarships: Raffle off a house. They got a house from a builder at cost and were aiming to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I see that the Mainstream Montgomery County folks have discovered yours truly, as well as my fellow Axis of Left-Leaning Bloggers member Rob Humenik. They’ve got a decent collection of news stories linked, including this one, which contains a few … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having decided that they don’t want to be mistaken for the publicity-hungry wackos of the Republican Leadership Council, a group of Montgomery County citizens have formed a group called Mainstream Montgomery County to oppose censorship and general nutbaggery. Anne Bayerkohler, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Letter writers have harsh words for the class-conscious Wal-Mart protesters and the Montgomery County Decency Squad. I just love being at the forefront of public opinion. Continue reading →

I totally don’t know what to make of this story about a group of folks in a northwest Houston subdivision who are trying to halt the construction of a 24-hour Wal-Mart in their vicinity. On the one hand, looking at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Those wacky Republican Leadership Council members up in Montgomery County have claimed another victory when an Oshman’s store placed a fig leaf on a statue of David and moved it atop the store. Although the recent decision by managers of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m just going to give in to the fact that I’m in a whimsical mood today and keep posting silly stuff… The noted academic journal Seventeen magazine recently released its list of the Top 100 Coolest Colleges, “where girls can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The book-banning patrol is at it again in Montgomery County (north of Houston). Having discovered one book that they don’t like, they’ve gone searching for more: A crowd of about 200 people spilled into the hallways at Commissioners Court on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jack Cluth braves mud, fire ants, and the possible wrath of his wife to bring you photos of the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fay. As noted, it wasn’t bad, and we are thankful for that. Thanks, Jack! UPDATE: Oops. It’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A nice feature in the “This Week” section of the Chron on Kaldi Cafe owner Stephanie DuBroff and her attempt to get a private members-only liquor license. Looks like she’ll get it. Good! Continue reading →

Earlier I pointed to a Chron article about widespread abuse of disability parking hangtags, which showed that some 40% of cars that have them shouldn’t. Now it turns out that there’s almost zero enforcement of hangtag abuse laws here in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Unlike Ginger, I’m sorry to see that Houston has been dropped from consideration by the US Olympic Committee as a potential host city for the 2012 Olympics. I didn’t see Houston’s bid as a “wallflower girl throwing herself at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some small-town yahoos have their panties in a bunch because they discovered a book in the libraries called It’s Perfectly Normal that doesn’t condemn homosexuality as a crime against nature. They’re trying to get the book removed from the shelves … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some sad news: Dr. Marnie Rose, a 28-year-old medical resident at Memorial Hermann Hospital who was featured on the show Houston Medical, has lost her battle with brain cancer. She died on Friday afternoon at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting story about an increase in the rate of low birth-weight babies being born in Houston suburbs. There seem to be a number of factors driving this – more multiple births due to older mothers and in vitro fertilization and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The University of Houston has agreed to give unrestricted access to its main plaza next month to an anti-abortion group. I’m as pro-choice as they come, but UH was wrong to restrict these guys to a quieter corner of campus. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For all the gritching I do about Houston’s Trailing Information Source, the least I can do is single them out when they tell me something useful. Today’s front page contains a story about how people abuse the privilege of temporary … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In other news regarding Houston development, this article attempts to quantify the economic impact of the Texans NFL franchise on Houston. It’s a good picture of what money is really new to Houston and what is just being transferred from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice article in today’s Chron about the success of Asian immigrants in Houston. While there is an established Asian enclave on the south end of downtown, the booming area for new arrivals and their second-generation children is out west and … Continue reading → Continue reading →