Good morning, Houston. Do you remember the May issue of Texas Monthly? Many people are finding it hard to forget. The magazine featured a cover story about nutty astronautess Lisa Nowak and the headline "Astronaut Sex!" Many people were upset by the prominence of the word "sex" on the cover, and that made for the second-worst newsstand seller in the magazine's more than 34-year history. TM Editor Evan Smith said he initially thought the cover was "appropriately restrained."
>> No thrill rides here: Some residents of Kemah are upset about a roller coaster that is under construction very near their homes. The coaster, called the Boardwalk Bullet, is only about 200 feet from some houses, and the residents are not too excited about thundering roller coaster cars, dangerous vibrations, and screaming riders when the coaster opens in a couple weeks. They were not expecting the ride to be so large - one resident said, "It's so huge. It's a monster." The families affected decided not to pursue legal action because they are not prepared to fight Goliath-esque Tilman Fertitta in court.
>>Keeping Houston moving: The city's new Mobility Response Team hit the roads this week. Team members, who ride on mopeds, are supposed to keep traffic moving on major thoroughfares throughout the city of Houston despite traffic accidents or intersection lights not working properly. Quite the undertaking. The team does not only respond to incidents, they are also proactive as they patrol the streets looking for trouble spots. An example of the Mobility Response Team's duties was given by team member Jason Rodriguez, who said that this week he directed traffic at an intersection where the power was out because of the rain. The city had planned to hire 24 members for the team, but three spots are still open. The team is part of HPD and has the same hiring standards.
>> This weekend's weather: Take a wild guess - that's right, scattered thunderstorms. Scattered thunderstorms today, scattered thunderstorms tomorrow, scattered thunderstorms forever, as George Wallace might say. Temperatures will hover between 75 and 85, and we'll continue to develop Seasonal Affective Disorder during the summer.
More news than you know what to do with behind the jump...
- KTRK's Marvin Zindler, a veritable Houston legend, announced yesterday that he is suffering from pancreatic cancer.
- The Essence Music Festival is returning to New Orleans after a brief stint in Houston post-Katrina.
- A tornado hit Galveston very suddenly on Thursday afternoon, marking a continuation of our long bout of bad weather.
- Rain has put TXDoT behind on a construction project at the 610-45 interchange. Excuses, excuses.
- The woman responsible for the office fire that killed several people in March pled not guilty this week on three counts of murder and one count of arson.
- A study done at UT shows that men talk just as much - or more - than women. Imagine that.
- The father of a baby who was badly burned in a fireworks accident spoke to the media about the accident.
- A high speed police chase in north Houston ended in the lawn of a home, barely missing the house.
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