Good morning, Houston. Remember Radar, the adorable Channel 2 weather dog? If you're a Ken Hoffman reader, we can't imagine how you'd forget. It turns out someone in Tyler was a big fan of the idea: a TV station there has their own weather dog, Stormy. Stormy serves a function similar to Radar's and also wears an American flag bandana and takes ridiculous pictures. Just another reason to be glad you don't live in Tyler, we guess.
>> The best of both worlds: Texas Monthly announced their loves and love-to-hates of the 2007 Texas legislative session yesterday afternoon, and it was a mixed bag as far as Houston goes. Reps. Scott Hochberg and Sylvester Turner, both Democrats from Houston, made the top ten, as did Woodlands Republican Sen. Tommy Williams. We fared just as well on the worst list, though. Houston-area lowlights: Rep. Charlie Howard (R - Sugar Land), Sen. Dan Patrick (R - Houston), and Rep. Debbie Riddle (R - Tomball). Also included on the bottom ten were Rick Perry, David Dewhurst, and Tom Craddick. Ouch. Congratulations and condolences to all of you.
>> Texas flood: With rainfall topping 3 inches in some areas this week, some Houston neighborhoods experienced flooding and power outages. Northwest Houston received the most rain, but conditions were also bad in Bellaire, Channelview, Baytown, and CenterPoint worked diligently last night to resotore power to over 13,000 of their customers. The National Weather Service said that Houstonians may experience more of the same over the weekend. Which brings us to our next order of business:
>> Weekend weather: There's a chance of scattered thunderstorms from tonight into next week, so this weekend could be pretty wet. Temperatures will be slightly lower than they have been, though, with highs of 87 and lows of 74 all weekend.
We've got Stormy headlines on the Radar:
- A candlelight vigil was held for the 4 teens who died in an accident involving a stolen SUV and a train yesterday.
- Three men came to the aid of a woman who was being mugged at a River Oaks Starbucks yesterday.
- A man shot his stepson to death at their apartment in southwest Houston when the stepson threatened his mother with a knife.
- A man in Dallas who tried to jump off a moving train was run over and lost his legs yesterday.
- Two Cuban soccer players have apparently gone missing in Houston and were last seen at the Galleria.
- Rep. Kevin Bailey, a Houston Democrat, is calling for outside review of Houston's crime lab.
- The Houston housing market is cooling overall, although it is still thriving in more upscale areas.
- Lightning is the probable cause of a church fire in Crosby last night.
- There is only one day left to take advantage of cheaper flood insurance due to the recently redrawn flood maps.
- Gas prices have fallen in Texas for the third straight week, though probably not as much as you'd like.
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