Morning Roundup: Full/empty edition

Good morning, Houston. Can Texas gas prices get any higher? Well, sure — they increased for the 15th straight week last week, and now they're edging toward the previous record high. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in Texas last week was $2.952, just 1.2 cents short of the previous record, $2.964, which we hit after Hurricane Rita in September 2005. Houston's average price is $2.92, still lower than most major cities in the state and well below the national average price of $3.11. Electric car, anyone?

>> Guaranteed city parks?: An ordinance requiring developers to set aside land for public parks and open space or to contribute to a fund for purchasing park land is expected to be ready for review by City Council in a few weeks — a measure that would mark a major turning point for our zoning-free city. Under the proposal, developers of residential projects would be required to set aside a prescribed amount of open space for every residential unit, some in the form of public parks and some in the form of easements or community gardens. Developers who don't want to do that would be able to pay a fee that would be used to acquire city park land elsewhere. The proposal has found support among developers, neighborhood groups and park advocates, who say it's necessary to ensure that the city has enough green space as it grows: "There is high-density development going on all around us," Lorraine Cherry, who's trying to preserve a park in her neighborhood, said. "Most of these developments have no place for kids to get out and play, no place to walk the dog, no place to get some fresh air. More than ever before, we need green space."

>> SUV tragedy: A 5-year-old boy died Friday after being run over by his mother's SUV — while the mother wasn't even around. Officials say Hilda Gonzalez left the vehicle running while she went into Young Elementary School in Pasadena to pick up a couple of her children; four other kids were left in the SUV. Somehow, the vehicle got shifted into reverse and the 5-year-old apparently tried to stick his foot out the door to stop the car, but he ended up falling out and was run over. Though everyone agreed that the incident was tragic, some said the mother was to blame for leaving her children unattended: "Any circumstance, any mother who leaves a child in the car unattended, at any point, I don't think that is right," fellow parent Jeri Wester told KTRK. Child Protective Services is investigating.

>> Good times for Houston employment: The unemployment rate in Houston dropped to 3.8 percent in April, the lowest in seven years, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. And it's due to the area's old friend, the oil and gas business: "We didn't have the job growth in our area in the late 1990s and early 2000s like Dallas and San Antonio and the rest of the country because Houston didn't have the high-tech manufacturing boom," Joel Wagher, a labor market analyst for The WorkSource, told the Chronicle. "But now with the oil and gas industry putting on so many jobs, our unemployment rate is dropping." Though Houston's job growth seems to have peaked in October, Wagher said he thinks actual growth is better than estimates indicate — giving what he believes is an annual growth rate of about 3.9 percent, down from the peak of 4.7 percent. "That's a slowdown but it's not something to panic about," UH economic forecaster Barton Smith said. "The labor market continues to be very tight."

>> This week's weather: Ah, looks like our run of beautiful days is coming to an end: There's a fair chance of rain all week, with storms likely today and tomorrow. Look for a high around 81 today, with a 50 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms, followed by a clear night with a low near 70. There's a 50 percent chance of rain again Tuesday, followed by a lower chance through Friday. Expect temperatures to remain around 70 at night all week, but they'll climb into the mid-80s by Friday afternoon.

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