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April 30, 2008
The Rockets put a beat down on the Jazz to stay alive last night as the ridiculously long first round of the NBA play offs drag on The Urban Land Institute's study on metropolitan infrastructure suggests that Houston decision makers should focus on planning. Wow. We never saw that coming. Some folks think the plan should be turning The Astrodome into sound stage to bolster the film industry in Houston and Texas Yes! A...
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| April 29, 2008
Speaking of ice cream today is Ben & Jerry's Global Free Cone Day. From 12pm-8pm on Tuesday April 29 (hey that's today!) you can get a free cone as Long Island's Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield celebrate their 30th anniversary (no, not like that! This isn't Massachusetts!). Hurry out to your neighborhood Ben & Jerry's right now and get yourself an Oatmeal Cookie Chunk cone (just trust us on this one) Photo: flickr user...
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Over the weekend the National Football League held its annual draft, allowing its franchises to replenish their rosters with budding collegiate stars. The hometown Texans entered the proceedings with the 18th pick in the first round, yet elected to trade down to the 26th spot with the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for extra third and sixth round selections. With a bevy of choices in hand (seven to be exact), Houston General Manager Rick Smith...
Continue Reading "2008 NFL Draft - Houston Texans Recap"Juan Leonardo Quintero, the man accused of shooting HPD Officer Rodney Johnson to death in September 2006, says he's not guilty by reason of insanity Ex-Houston Oilers linebacker Lamar Lathon has been charged with assault for an incident involving his former girlfriend earlier this month Fort Bend County police are looking to question a middle school teacher caught with a 16-year-old boy who she called her boyfriend Hispanics are the Houston area's fastest-growing voting group,...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 28, 2008
Astros first baseman, Lance Berkman was named National League Player of the Week, presented by Bank of America, for April 20-27. The Texas native continued his torrid 2008 start by putting up massive numbers. Berkman hit .455 (10-for-22) with four homers and 12 RBI, which lead the league. Berkman also hit safely in six of the seven games he played in. While in Cincinnati this past week, Berkman torched the Reds on April 24...
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April 28, 2008
Houstonist knows a thing or two about Baytown — enough to understand that, if a UFO was going to be spotted somewhere, we wouldn't be surprised if it happened in the skies over the Big B. And no, that's not as random a thought as it might seem: Baytonians Lisa Fojt and Kathy Boyd told KHOU that they saw a strange flying object over the city as they crossed the Fred Hartman Bridge on Saturday...
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By now, you've probably heard the news that Houston-based Continental Airlines has decided not to merge with another carrier right away — but, of course, that doesn't mean Continental won't look into a deal down the road. "We have significant cultural, operational and financial strengths compared to the rest of the industry, and we want to protect and enhance those strengths — which we believe would be placed at risk in a merger with another carrier...
Continue Reading "Continental: No mergers for now"A Livingston police officer was shot to death by her husband Saturday in what seems to have been a murder-suicide In west Houston, police are on the lookout for the people behind a Sunday morning crime spree that left one man dead Some Prairie View A&M students are wondering why a state attorney general's probe into alleged voting rights violations isn't finished A dozen Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests were discovered last week on the...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 27, 2008
The day was April 27, 1983. The location was Olympic Stadium in Montreal. 25 years ago today, Nolan Ryan struck out Expos pinch-hitter Brad Mills for his 3,509th of his career to break Walter Johnson's all-time strike out record. 1983 was an interesting year for the coveted mark. Phillies legend Steve Carlton wasn't too far behind Ryan for the race to the mark. Ryan would reach it first, but Carlton would pass Ryan on...
Continue Reading "Houstonist Legends: Nolan Ryan"April 25, 2008
National news, sports and social debate mashed-up collided in Salt Lake City last night as protesters used the NBA play-off game between our Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz as a forum for debate on the fate of the children seized in the raid of the polygamist compound in Eldorado. The protest contingent, 50 plus participants strong, waived banners and signs outside the game. According to The Chronicle, the signs were painted with anti-Texas slogans...
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Rookie power forward Carl Landry took a flying leap into the collective hearts of Houston sports fans last night with a gritty performance that helped the Rockets eek out a 94-92 victory against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. On a night when every Houstonian who ordered a Heineken actually received his or her beer of choice, guard Tracy McGrady led the charge to give the Rockets a...
Continue Reading "Carl Landry: True Houston Hero"Good morning, Houston. Our 11 readers told us how they wanted us to handle news, so we're listening: Starting now, we'll begin the day with a few headlines we think you should know about followed by a couple of highlighted news stories throughout the morning. Let us know how you like it, and please drop us a line if there's news you think we should know about. Attorney and ex-Congressman Craig Washington was indicted yesterday...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 24, 2008
Since last week, Miguel Tejada's age jumped to 33 from 31 when he admitted he lied about his age when he was 19 so he could improve his chances of playing big league baseball. But the age change doesn't seem to be affecting him; he's playing like he's a rookie with fire and something to prove. The newest Astro shortstop is punishing the National League with a .360 AVG and 19 RBI and his...
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In case you've managed to miss it, Kirby Drive south of the Southwest Freeway has been sort of a mess for a while — almost three years, in fact. The street has been torn up so crews can install a massive new storm sewer; in the process, super-bumpy stretches of street will get fresh new pavement. So what's not to like? How about this: Because of a measurement error, some of the fourth phase of...
Continue Reading "Kirby reconstruction goes on ... and on"Good morning, Houston. Our 11 readers told us how they wanted us to handle news, so we're listening: Starting now, we'll begin the day with a few headlines we think you should know about followed by a couple of highlighted news stories throughout the morning. Let us know how you like it, and please drop us a line if there's news you think we should know about. Dozens of kids removed from the polygamist compound...
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April 23, 2008
The Brochstein Pavilion, Rice University's newest set of facades on campus, will open tomorrow for a sneak-peak preview for Rice students, faculty and staff. It will be open to the public starting Friday April 25th and promises to offer guests a wide range of tasty (though probably spendy) treats including coffee, snacks and sandwiches. The Broch. Pav. is situated smack in the middle of a central courtyard between the back of the Fondren Library,...
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It’s no secret that we at Houstonist love music, especially of the live variety. We’re also not oblivious to the fact that Houston isn’t necessarily recognized as musical haven, especially not in Texas, which is why our collective ears tend to perk up when we hear about one of the few remaining stalwarts of live music in Houston in the news. On Sunday, KHOU did a piece on Walter’s on Washington and the never-ending...
Continue Reading "Local venue charges complaining neighbors with harrassment"
The Houston Rockets are currently down 0-2 against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. After suffering two consecutive home losses to start the best-of-seven game series, the Rockets find themselves in an opposite scenario as last year at this time. That's right. These two teams have history. Having also faced off against one another in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Rockets and Jazz know...
Continue Reading "Jazz vs. Rockets - What's Going On?"Good morning, Houston. Our 11 readers told us how they wanted us to handle news, so we're listening: Starting now, we'll begin the day with a few headlines we think you should know about followed by a couple of highlighted news stories throughout the morning. Let us know how you like it, and please drop us a line if there's news you think we should know about. The family of Gregory Johnson, an inmate who...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 22, 2008
Just when you think you've heard it all, along comes the story of a The Woodlands pooch who is headed off to the national Chihuahua races. No, really — April Fools' Day was three weeks ago. The canine in question is Piccolo (or is it Piccolo?), a year-and-a-half old brown-and-white Chihuahua who beat out more than 125 competitors at a derby in League City on Saturday. It's all down to training, apparently: "He raced...
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The United States was built on a foundation of freedom. Unfortunately for Houston, foundations are freely put anywhere for any purpose thanks to the lack of public zoning. However, the Houston Area Survey says that change may be on the horizon. Richard Dawson would have been so proud. We've witnessed an acceleration in growth and cannibalization of the city. Town homes, strip center construction/renovations and apartments are exploding as developers try to cash out of...
Continue Reading "Survey Says Houstonians Support Zoning"
What does a property owner do when metal thieves show up and start stealing wire? Build a fence, maybe — or, if you're Magnolia bar owner Kelly Plunkett, hire armed guards ordered to shoot anyone trying to make off with some potential scrap. Ah, Texas justice. Not that we can really blame Plunkett: Earlier this month, a copper thief struck his Montgomery's Club and Grill on FM 1488, stealing about a thousand feet of copper...
Continue Reading "Thinking of stealing wire in Magnolia? Think again"Good morning, Houston. Our 11 readers told us how they wanted us to handle news, so we're listening: Starting now, we'll begin the day with a few headlines we think you should know about followed by a couple of highlighted news stories throughout the morning. Let us know how you like it, and please drop us a line if there's news you think we should know about. Galena Park High School students will be tested...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 21, 2008
We don't know about you, but Houstonist would do almost anything to get through airport security faster. It's not that we don't value the level of security we're getting — trust us, we'd much prefer taking our shoes off to being aboard an exploding aircraft — but we'll admit that we do get frustrated by other travelers who apparently haven't heard a word about the increased restrictions the rest of us have been dealing with...
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It's no secret that Tom Horan isn't happy about the demolition of the River Oaks Shopping Center: Back in September, when wrecking crews took down the north arc of the historic complex, Horan was there to channel Joni Mitchell. And now that crews have begun construction on the building's replacement — a much larger shopping strip with an adjacent four-story parking garage that'll loom over Horan's back yard — he's back to remind us that...
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April 21, 2008
Good morning, Houston. Our 11 readers told us how they wanted us to handle news, so we're listening: Starting now, we'll begin the day with a few headlines we think you should know about followed by a couple of highlighted news stories throughout the morning. Let us know how you like it, and please drop us a line if there's news you think we should know about. Local teens were all fired up by the...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup"April 16, 2008
Heading out this afternoon for a bit of burglary and a cocktail? Learn from the mistakes of others and leave the alligator in the road. William Johnson couldn't seem to pass up the thought of being the only one on his block to have a real live reptile and a hot wide screen T.V. Actually, Johnson had two reptiles in the car if you count the water moccasin. Houstonist can only wonder how he...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Reptiles ride free edition"April 15, 2008
Good morning, Houston. If you have an extra $350 million and the need for 1,200 bedrooms, we've got news for you: the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel is officially for sale. The Chronicle reports that the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp. will list the property through CB Richard Ellis, a deal that the city hopes will result not only in a sale but also in the construction of a second convention center hotel. Not everyone is...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Checking out edition"April 14, 2008
One Park Place may be billed as "the pinnacle to the adjacent new Houston Downtown Park," but this new kid on the block should not go around beating up on its neighbors. Construction materials fell from the tower (foreground in the accompanying photo) striking 5 Houston Center (background), which sits across the street from the construction site. The objects shattered the outer panes of a lower level window at 5HC. We arrived on the scene...
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Wandy Rodriguez's home dominance continued on a beautiful day at Minute Maid Park on Sunday as he pitched seven strong innings while giving up only one earned run and leading the Astros past the Marlins 5-1. Rodriguez (1-0, 2.33) breezed through the Florida Marlins line-up with his only hiccup being a Josh Willingham home run in the fourth inning. In two home starts at Minute Maid Park this year, Wandy has given up only...
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University of Houston graduate and Miss Texas winner, Crystle Stewart, won the Miss USA pageant this past Friday which was held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino located in Las Vegas. Stewart, who finished as a first runner up in '06 and '07, finally won the judges over after her fifth attempt as a Miss USA candidate. She beat out 50 other women to win the coveted crown and becoming the ninth Texan...
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Spring is springing which means that Festival time in Houston is ramping up, people. This weekend saw the official launch of Discovery Green and the recurrence of the Westheimer Block Party; more on these in a second. Next weekend brings us the International Festival and others. Get out your calendar and start planning. You'll not want to miss a chance to be outside if the spectacular weather continues. >> Discovery Green Park opens downtown:...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Discovering Houston Edition"April 11, 2008
Houstonist drives a mid-sized car, but like many commuters we get crappy MPGs because of our lead feet. The $3.35 per gallon at the pump near our casa sent us reeling today. Unfortunately, prices are jumping in Houston and the rest of the Republic. Prices increased an average of seven cents per gallon bringing the price to $3.28. Try not to cry when you read this, but the average price last year was $2.69....
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Fuel Pump Woes Edition"April 10, 2008
Good morning, Houston. If, like us, you've been wondering whether there are any casual/upscale restaurants and bars left to take up space in West Ave, the new mixed-use development at Westheimer and Kirby, we have your answer: Yes, there are, Swamplot reports. They'll include Crú, a food and wine bar with locations in Dallas, Plano, Austin and The Woodlands; The Social House, a "gastropub" (eew!) that has a location in Dallas; Pie Bar, a...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Gastro-what? edition"