Good morning, Houston. Looks like our freewheeling land-use policies have gotten some national attention: The Wall Street Journal has a story focusing on the proposed residential tower at Bissonnet and Ashby. "The condo-tower dustup is just the latest in a string of odd situations allowed by Houston's lenient land-use rules," the article explains. "Rowdy cantinas, rock-crushing operations and commercial dumps sometimes pop up in residential neighborhoods. Condo towers sprout next to schools. A pay-by-the-hour...
1
Results tagged “arson”
Good morning, Houston. Today's the last day of August, and you know what that means: Yes! Tomorrow, it'll be September! And why is that exciting, you ask? Well, as it happens, there are a few (relatively) interesting thing about the ninth month: For example, when the British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, Sept. 2 was immediately followed by Sept. 14 — which, legend has it, led to riots by people who thought...
More today on Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Katy junior high student who was shipped off to alternative school for writing a love message in marker on a gymnasium wall: The Katy ISD is now reconsidering its punishment. "I am looking at what happened and what options we have per state law and local policy," Katy Superintendent Alton Frailey told the Chronicle. "It is always my practice to follow the law and policy while looking out...
So there's a lot for school officials to worry about these days: drugs, gangs, arson, sexual assault — and writing stupid graffiti on gym walls. Don't believe those are all in the same category? Just ask Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Mayde Creek Junior High student who was sent to an alternative campus through Dec. 31 for writing "I love Alex" in blue marker on a gymnasium wall. You hear that, Alex? She's willing to...
Misty Ann Weaver, the woman charged with three counts of felony murder and one case of arson in connection with the March 28 office building fire she confessed to setting, pleaded not guilty yesterday. Weaver, 33, told investigators in April that she set the fire in the office of her boss, plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Capriotti, to cover up the fact that she hadn't finished paperwork related to an accreditation audit for the doctor. After...
Ah, it's almost July 4, and that means one thing, year after year: People are buying fireworks like crazy, and officials are working like crazy to keep them from setting the fireworks off inside the city limits. And it's kind of a tough battle, the Chronicle reports: Getting people to save their fireworks until they get out of town can be a hard sell, "especially with weather like this," fireworks stand owner Tommy Hua said....
Good morning, Houston. We know you've heard already, but there's no bigger story out of Houston today than Craig Biggio's 3000th hit. It's times like these that remind you why you put up with the frustration of following your hometown team season after disappointing season, and we're proud of Biggio. To top things off, we even won the game. Astros, you're spoiling us. Houstonist will have a full story on hit number 3000 for...
Good morning, Houston. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Kay's last night for the happy hour — and those of you who missed it, we expect to see you next time. Now, go read some news, Our head hurts. >> Turns out it wasn't a foolproof plan after all: Police are on the lookout for Continental Express flight attendant Vivian Fragoza and her husband after Fragoza allegedly used Continental "buddy miles" to fly...
The cause of a fire at an electrical substation at 59 and Kirby that knocked out power and caused thick black smoke around 1pm today is unknown, according to officials. Power was affected in a large area surrounding the site, but is currently being restored. Investigations are underway to determine if the fire was arson or the result of some kind of malfunction. As if that weren't enough, a fire has broken out at...
A 16-year-old student who has admitted to setting the fire that destroyed part of Needville High School on April 13 is expected to turn himself in to authorities today — and it looks like we're already getting a taste of what his defense will be. The teen, whose name has not been released, spent a couple of hours yesterday talking with Fort Bend County investigators about his role in the fire, which destroyed the school's...
A judge yesterday nearly halved the bail for Misty Ann Weaver, the nurse who confessed to setting the March 28 fire that killed three people at a northeast Houston office building. Weaver's bail had been set at $330,000, but state District Judge Michael McSpadden reduced it to $180,000 based on Harris County bail guidelines: $50,000 for each first-degree felony charge, such as felony murder, plus $30,000 for an arson charge. Weaver must post 10 percent...
Good morning, Houston. Or should we say happy National Zucchini Bread Day? Yep, April 25 is the day to celebrate the delicious Southern tradition — so why not hit the kitchen and whip up a batch based on Emeril's recipe? And don't forget to send your friends a National Zucchini Bread Day e-card. No, seriously. >> Appeals court: Bible fight moot: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the legal battle...
The Chronicle reports today that lawyers for Misty Ann Weaver, the nurse who has confessed to setting the March 28 office building fire that killed three people, plan to have their own inspectors look at the building's sprinkler system. Though he didn't give any specifics about the plans, attorney Todd Dupont also told the Chronicle that the defense team wants to figure out how long it took firefighters to respond to the fire. Dupont talked...
It didn't take all that long for investigators to find the cause of the March 28 fire that destroyed two floors of a northeast Houston office building: Misty Ann Weaver, a 33-year-old nurse in a plastic surgeon's office, has confessed to setting the fire in an attempt to keep her job. According to investigators, Weaver hadn't finished paperwork related to an accreditation audit for her boss, Dr. Robert Capriotti, so she set what she thought...
Fire officials worked through the weekend to stabilize a burned-out east Houston office building in hopes of being able to begin an investigation of the cause of the fire. If the six-story structure at 9343 North Loop East is deemed safe enough, investigators could go in as early as Tuesday, nearly a week since the fire that killed three people and injured six more. Among the tasks in making the building safer this weekend was...
Ben Browning and Nik Edgell were lucky to escape from their bookstore when an arsonist set it on fire Feb. 26 — but they weren't fortunate enough to avoid what they say was harassment from arson investigators who showed up to look into the blaze. The issue, apparently, is that the bookstore — Sedition Books, at 4420 Washington Ave. — offered literature on anarchism, Communism, gay rights, radical feminism, socialism and other "viewpoints outside the...
Good morning, Houston. Here's one of our favorite news stories this week: During an arson trial downtown yesterday, Hunter, a chocolate lab, took the stand and demonstrated how he investigated the fire in question. The Harris County Fire Marshal's office uses Hunter to sniff out accelerants; he has investigated more than 400 fires and has testified in at least a half-dozen cases. >> Watch that truck: If you pay any attention to HPD's lists...
To Samuel White, it must have seemed like the perfect setup: Deface your house with racial slurs, burn it down and claim you had been the victim of a hate crime — then collect the insurance money and live happily ever after. And sure, it might have worked if White had just been a little more sneaky. As it was, though, he made just about every mistake you can imagine in carrying out the crime,...
One of those Houston institutions Houstonist never got around to visiting burned this weekend: The Great Caruso, the 32-year-old westside dinner theater, was pretty much destroyed by flames Sunday morning. It happened when the restaurant was empty, which raised the suspicions of HFD investigators: The source of Sunday morning's fire is still unclear. The building was empty, which clearly raises more than a few red flags for the Houston Fire Department's arson unit. "When you...
So 17-year-old Jonathan Davis who is under arrest for making prank calls to 911 — one of which resulted in an accident that injured four firefighters in August. Yeah, looks like someone's gonna be in big trouble. Scott Clements, an arson investigator, said investigators let Davis listen to the recordings of nine prank calls; he said he made seven of them and a friend of his might have made the other two. The Aug. 31...
We're not sure how we missed yesterday's news of the Harris County arson investigator's car that got torched in his driveway over the weekend — that's the kind of twist of fate that usually catches our eye immediately. It happened at the inspector's house in the 3200 block of Barkers Forest early Sunday morning. The arsonists reportedly broke into the 2005 Ford Crown Victoria and stole several things, including the investigator's badge, a county-owned handheld...
So your mail won't get delivered and your trash won't get picked up today, but you'll still have Houstonist — sorta. We're making it a light day so we can get after those great American pursuits: barbecueing, watching baseball and listening to that damn Neil Diamond song. (We mean this damn Neil Diamond song, of course, not this one or this one.) But to our point: After you've bought fireworks for your own private pyrotechnics...
Ah, summer. Houstonist remembers the days when we actually got three months off from school to do whatever we wanted — usually watching a lot of TV, sleeping till 1 p.m., bumming around Galveston and pretending it had nice beaches. But we never remember setting fires like three teens in Katy are accused of doing. Police arrested the trio early Sunday morning as they left a nearly completed home in the 2100 block of Castle...
Mmm, more stupid criminals. Unfortunately, this time they tried to burn down a woman's house. It happened April 19 at Lillian Butler's home in northwest Houston, when people broke in and stole jewelry, personal papers and computers and then decided to set the house on fire: “They poured lighter fluid and charcoal fluid throughout the home and the intent was to burn the house to the ground,” said Jerrel Dawkins, Harris County Arson investigator. “Well,...
« Previous
1
Next »