Morning Roundup: The breakfast of chaos edition

Good morning, Houston. We enjoy a good, quick breakfast as much as anyone, but seriously, there are limits — just ask the four people who were hurt Monday when a driver who was eating oatmeal at the wheel crashed into a Metro bus near downtown. Witnesses told KPRC that the driver ran a red light at Pierce and St. Charles and hit the front of the bus, which caused the driver's vehicle to spin around and hit the back of the bus. The aftermath: "Metro police said oatmeal was found all over the inside of the driver's sport utility vehicle, the bus and the road." That sounds like a lot of oatmeal. The driver had to be cut out of the SUV and was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital; three passengers on the bus were taken to St. Joseph's to be treated for neck and back pain. It's not clear yet whether the driver will face charges.

>> Wyatt pleads guilty: Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. brought his trial to an early end yesterday by pleading guilty to paying millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to win contracts connected to the U.N.'s oil-for-food program, the AP reported. Though there was a program rule barring direct payments to Iraq, Wyatt said that he agreed in December 2001 to tell other people to pay a surcharge to an Iraqi account in Jordan. "I didn't want to waste any more time at 83 years old fooling with this operation," Wyatt told reporters. "The quicker I get it over with, the better." The terms of the plea deal call for Wyatt to be sentenced to 24 months in prison on Nov. 27 unless the judge in the case decides otherwise. Wyatt will also forfeit $11 million as part of the deal.

>> Hardin enters Bissonnet high-rise flap: Opponents of a proposed 23-story mixed-use tower at Bissonnet and Ashby have hired high-powered attorney Rusty Hardin, the Chronicle reports. Residents of Southampton and Boulevard Oaks, the upscale neighborhoods that abut the development site, say the tower would cause traffic problems on the two-lane Bissonnet and nearby streets; it's not clear whether there's any legal way to prevent the project from being built, but opponents hope that if there is, Hardin will find it. "Rusty has been engaged by our community to pursue all of the legal options that our neighborhoods can use to stop the proposed development," Chris Amandes, a spokesman for the anti-tower group, said in a statement.

>> Today's weather: Well, uh, so much for our prediction of a sunny few days: There's a slight chance of scattered showers today, with decreasing cloudiness tonight leading to a clear Wednesday — and then, more rain for the rest of the week. Ah well. Look for a high around 90 this afternoon, with a low of 70 overnight.

Coincidentally, there's also a 10 percent chance of scattered headlines ...