Morning Roundup: Staying afloat edition

Good morning, Houston. When we hear the words "concrete canoe," two other words come to mind: "doesn't float." But our instincts are wrong: Concrete canoes can be seaworthy, and one created by University of Houston engineering students floats so well that it's headed for the national concrete canoe competition in Seattle. The national contest is set for mid-June, and it could lead the team to a spot in the international competition in Holland in September. And no, they probably won't row all the way there. We think.

>> Strike ahead for Kroger?: The union that represents 12,700 Houston-area Kroger employees is calling on its members to vote Wednesday to authorize a strike against the grocery chain. Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union — which represents cashiers, stockers and meat cutters — are unhappy with Kroger's most recent offer of health care for its employees, which the union says was a step backward. The union's contract with Kroger, one of the nation's largest grocery store chains, expired March 31. "We're tired of the company playing games with our members," said Amber Sparks, a spokeswoman for UFCW International. "The only way we can get the company to listen is to take a strike vote." Kroger spokesman Gary Huddleston said negotiators have another session scheduled this week, adding that "we believe we can reach a fair settlement on health care."

>> An award for the mayor: Mayor Bill White accepted the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in Boston on Monday for his work in welcoming 150,000 hurricane evacuees to Houston following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "We lived the values of our faiths and responded to Americans as if they were family," White said during the award ceremony. The Profile in Courage awards are given by the JFK Library Foundation and were created in honor of President Kennedy, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage. The awards are presented to two elected public officials each year; this year, the other award went to Doris Voitier, the superintendent of St. Bernard Parish, La., schools.

>> A dangerous toy: An HPD officer shot at two men who threatened him with a gun near downtown early yesterday morning — and though the officers' bullets were real, the suspects' gun turned out to be a toy. It happened around 1:30 a.m. outside a nightclub near Line and Hardy streets, where police were responding to a report of a robbery in a parking lot. When they confronted the suspects, one of them pointed the gun — which looked just like a Glock pistol — at the officers, and the officers fired several shots. "Whenever a suspect raises a weapon toward an officer, it's that officer's duty to protect himself and citizens in the area," HPD Detective Kevin Rivera said. The men dropped the fake gun and ran; it's not known whether they were struck by the officers' fire.

>> Today's weather: If you've paid any attention so far this morning, we suppose we don't need to tell you there's a pretty good chance of rain. The line of storms moving through the area will move on out in a little while, leaving us with a 50 percent chance of storms for the rest of the day. Look for a high around 82, with more rain likely in the early afternoon. Tonight, the rain chance will decrease and we'll see a low around 72.

For now, why not stay inside and curl up with some nice, dry headlines?