Morning Roundup: Danger is everywhere edition

Good morning, Houston. In these days of strange diseases, air and water pollution, global warming and assorted health warnings, we sometimes begin to wonder if anything's safe anymore. And the answer? No, nothing. Example: Today, nearly a million Easy-Bake Ovens are being recalled because one can get one's fingers or hand stuck inside — and slowly nuked. Of course, Houstonist understands the need for safety, but now we're afraid to make dessert tonight. Life sucks.

>> Perry to call for more prisons, reorganized DPS: In his State of the State address today, Gov. Rick Perry will propose the construction of two new prisons, the conversion of a youth facility into another, and a plan to put more state troopers on the roads. The new prisons would add 1,600 cells, which would be coupled with a $14.4 million increase in treatment and rehab programs for prisoners; the DPS reorganization would move driver's licensing to TxDOT and the DPS's investigatory divisions to the Texas Rangers, allowing 301 DPS officers to be shifted to the field. The reorganization would make the DPS "more nimble and more lethal to those who would seek to do Texans harm," Perry's spokesman, Robert Black, said.

>> Home sweet (cough): The city has proposed mandatory inspections of the interiors of Houston apartment complexes; there's currently no city oversight of apartment interiors, and some residents say conditions are substandard and that they get evicted when they complain about them. "We don't want to wait until there is a loss of life, and we don't want to wait until people are forced to more from project to project," David Mincberg, head of the mayor's housing committee, said.

>> Runaway jurors: In Fort Bend County, there's a problem with people called for jury duty: A lot of them don't show up. According to KTRK, only 387 of 1,200 potential jurors summoned for the Bart Whitaker murder trial actually reported to the courthouse — that's just 32 percent, which is low, but still better than Fort Bend County's 2006 average turnout of 29 percent. Twice in the last year and a half, turnout has been so low that judges had to nab people from off the street to serve as jurors. The bright spot for Fort Bend? At least its numbers are better than Harris County, where only 21 percent of potential jurors answer their summons.

>> Today's weather: If you liked yesterday's weather, wait until you get a load of today's: We're looking at mostly clear skies with an afternoon high of 68 — in other words, very, very nice. Tomorrow, expect more of the same, with clear skies again and a high of 71. (Overnight lows will stay in the low- to mid-50s.) If you're looking for a reason to call in sick, this is it — and you can always use an Easy-Bake Oven injury as your excuse.

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