Morning Roundup: The Emmy goes to... edition

Good morning, Houston. Did you watch last night's Emmy Awards show with bated breath? Yeah, neither did we. If you want to check out the winners, the Chron has a nice cheat sheet that will bring you up to speed for today's water cooler conversation. We did get to wondering where the name "Emmy" came from though, and turned to Wikipedia to ease our minds. Turns out it's a feminization of the word "immy," also known as an image orthicon tube. Makes sense?

>> Future of Kirby's trees questionable: A public hearing on Saturday brought an issue that has been simmering for a while into the limelight. A street and sewer renovation project on Kirby which would widen lanes to 11' also proposes to narrow sidewalks and remove 175 mature oaks that line the street. Many question whether the lane widening and new median are necessary, and hundreds of concerned citizens have signed a petition opposing the project. Councilmember Anne Clutterbuck said she hopes the project can be accomplished with as many trees preserved as possible or with new ones planted, and the folks at Trees for Houston say it can be done. Others expressed concerns over narrower sidewalks leading to a less pedestrian-friendly Kirby.

>> Christie pulls out of council race: After the Chronicle ran a story last week that questioned whether some candidates for City Council, specifically Zaf Tahir and Jack Christie, actually reside in the city, some property tax controversy, and a little public health concern thrown in for good measure, Jack Christie has ended his candidacy. The race to fill At-Large 5, which is being vacated by Michael Berry, is still crowded, but the demise of Christie's candidacy could be a good thing for fellow Republican Tom Nixon, who won't have to worry about splitting the conservative vote with Christie anymore. Nixon weighed in harshly against Zaf Tahir after Christie's announcement: "As for Mr. [Zaf] Tahir, the other candidate in this race who has also faced grave doubts about his residency, I call on him to chose the honorable path taken by Mr. Christie. Mr. Tahir should end his campaign and let the people of Houston know he cares about true and honest representation on City Council," but Tahir has said he won't be dropping out of his race.

>> Today's weather: More pleasant, milder weather on tap for today. We'll have sun and some clouds, but temperatures shouldn't be above 90. What a treat.

But that's not all that's going on in the city. Click through for even more news...