Good morning, Houston. In case you didn't hear yesterday, we'll soon see the end of an era in air travel: Beginning Oct. 2, Southwest Airlines will assign passengers a place in line based on the order in which they check in. That means no more of the airline's (in)famous "cattle call" boarding process, which means there's no longer any point in arriving at the airport 16 hours early to get in the A group......

We're not sure if you've noticed, but it's rained a lot lately. No, really. And the persistent showers are hurting more than our mood: They're also taking a bite out of local businesses. Across the area, people aren't getting concrete poured, they're not getting their lawns mowed, they're not buying plants or playing golf or getting their roofs repaired — and for business owners, that means a tough few weeks. "This weather is killing us,"......

So this is kinda cool: Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports are the first airports in the world to have mobile threat containment units — basically, bomb-proof trash cans — that can be used to get suspicious carry-on baggage safely away from passengers without shutting down the airport terminal. The units, which in all fairness bear little resemblance to actual trash cans, are manufactured by the British company Aigis Blast Protection. The circular containers weigh around......

A controversy over a new requirement for cab drivers picking up passengers at Houston airports led cabbies to protest at City Hall yesterday, calling for "justice" and claiming that their constitutional rights have been abridged. At issue is a requirement from the city's Aviation Department that cabbies wear photo identification badges when picking people up at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports — a measure airport authorities say is necessary to ensure security. "Whether you work......

Hello, Houston! This week we saw two very exciting, and very different, local blogs hit the ground running. The first is the Woodside Village Blog, the aim of which is to discuss the goings-on in Woodside Village, which includes several southwest Houston neighborhoods. Read the introductory post to learn more. We find ourselves wondering why this blog isn't called Woodside Village-ist (WVist?), but it's interesting, especially if you're familiar with the area. The other new......

Another night, another series of strong storms: This time, we had isolated reports of 50 mph winds and hail, with a possible tornado reported near Bush Intercontinental Airport. Otherwise, though, things weren't nearly as bad as they could have been except for a couple of incidents: In north Harris County, several cars were stalled on a North Freeway feeder road around 10 p.m. when as much as four inches of rain fell in a short......

Yep, it sure is cold this morning — at least for Houston, and frankly, that's enough for us. The temperature hit 28 degrees downtown overnight, tying the record set in 1951, but other spots broke the record: Bush Intercontinental Airport with a low of 27, Conroe and Sugar Land with lows of 23 and Brenham with a low of 19. We heard about one traffic accident this morning that was blamed on ice, but we're......

We've heard a lot about opposition to Metro's planned University light rail line, but it's not the only one that's generating controversy: Yesterday, a group of northside residents marched on City Hall, following the route of the proposed northside GRT line, to oppose what they say is Metro deviating from ballot language and condemning property like crazy. Sound familiar? "They misled the community by having North Hardy on the ballot," protester Mario Umanzo told......

Houston is having one hell of an Arbor Day and you too can be a part of it (you just have to get your hands a little on the dirty side). Arbor Day was established in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Nebraska. It seems that the Nebraska Territory was not readily settled, due to the lack of trees on the tallgrass prairie (the better to build and heat cabins - log cabins,......

What's up with Continental this week? Yesterday we heard about the pilot pilot who had a heart attack at the controls, and then there was the Continental flight that was delayed because of a bomb threat. The threat, which was delivered by voice mail, was against a twin turboprop plane bond from Tyler to Bush Intercontinental. Tyler Regional Airport manager David Dickson said his staff heard the message Monday morning; the plane landed at Bush......

From the "It's probably better you don't know what's going on in the cockpit" file comes the story of a Continental Airlines pilot who collapsed in flight Saturday aboard a flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta. Fortunately, it didn't turn into a situation like one you'd see in a bad suspense movie — in fact, officials say the 210 people on board the flight were never in any danger. The flight took off from Bush......

Police have arrested five men in connection with the theft of dozens of pieces of luggage from Bush Intercontinental Airport — and they say it was all an inside job. The five men worked for Menzies Aviation Group, a British company that provides luggage handling and ground services for Bush and several other U.S. airports, so they were in an ideal position to pick off a few bags here and there. "These were not stolen......

So it was pretty foggy around here this morning — so much so, in fact, that a lot of flights into and out of Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airports were delayed or canceled. At Hobby, delays were running about 40 minutes the last we heard, and planes weren't allowed to leave Bush at all until 10 a.m. The cool morning temperatures were partly to blame for the fog: "We have sea fog that is moving......

Can it really have been a year since Victoria Osteen's airplane tantrum? How time flies! Fortunately, we won't have to go through the 2006 holiday season without more wacky on-board antics. Unfortunately, Mrs. Osteen isn't involved this time — instead, it's a guy names Nboru Akao, who is expected to appear in federal court today after making a jackass of himself on a flight yesterday. According to KTRK, Akao became unruly during the last two......

The beef is at Wendy's, duh. More specifically, a dollar's worth of free beef is at Wendy's Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airport locations. Wendy's "Stuck in the Middle" promo offers $1 gift cards to middle seat fliers at nine airport locations until 6 PM today. Middle seat travelers need only to show their boarding cards to get the free buck. Not sure if you're qualified? Middle seats are typically B and E on most aircraft......

We're going to share something a little embarrassing about ourselves: We have trouble backing a vehicle up. We can hardly make it out of a driveway without veering off onto the grass — and when it comes to backing out of a garage, forget it. So we can sympathize with the person who accidentally backed a Boeing 737 into another 737 at Bush Intercontinental yesterday. "The airplane that was moving backed up and the right......

Thousands of Katrina evacuees have had their power cut off — and the reason, they claim, is that no one ever told them they have to pay electric bills A 21-year-old Pennsylvania college student was taken into custody today after part of a stick of dynamite was found in his luggage aboard a Continental flight at Bush Intercontinental Three cops and two suspected drug dealers were injured Thursday afternoon when gunfire broke out during a......

With all the controversy over the University light rail line, it's easy to forget about all the controversy over the rapid transit line planned for the north side — unless, of course, you happen to live near it. But ">we could have word on a North Corridor alignment as early as this afternoon. Maybe. The North Corridor route would involve, at its southern end, a northward extension of the existing Red Line to the......

We don't know if you've noticed lately, but some of the landscape you see as you're cruising down Houston's freeways is, ah, unappealing. It's something you hear people complain about every once in a while — particularly the collection of car lots, furniture stores, run-down strip malls and adult bookstores along the North Freeway, which provide a quick overview of Houston's attractions to people driving into town from Bush Intercontinental Airport. (We find the......

Local security personnel at Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airports will be trained to screen passengers by watching their behavior and facial expressions, the Chronicle reports — though the program may already be in place at one of the airports. The screening is part of a federal program called Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques (that's a bland name, sure, but the acronym is SPOT, which must have pleazed dozens of people in Washington), which was......

If Houstonist hasn't done anything else to change your life, at least you can admit that we've given you a lot of things to worry about: out-of-control cars, demonic Metro buses, unpredictable roller coasters and people who don't eat meat. And if that wasn't enough, here's one more: random piece of metal falling from the sky. KTRK has the story: Lynn Moore was parked at a convenience store at the intersection of US 90 and......

KTRK is reporting that three Continental Airlines employees are being treated after being exposed to fumes coming from the cargo hold of an airplane at Bush Intercontinental Airport's Terminal C. Here's the story: The Continental employees were on a ramp to a plane shortly before 9:00am Friday when they suffered eye irritation from vapors coming out of a bag or box. The three workers were taken to a local clinic for medical treatment. HFD HazMat......

We figure the next couple of days might be among the safest for air travel, considering all the security regulations that went into effect yesterday after British authorities foiled a terror plot involving transatlantic jets. But they may also be your best chance to be on TV or in the paper if you're in the right place: Local media has descended on airports to check up on travelers and see how they're coping with life......

If you've been anywhere around a news outlet this morning, we're sure you've heard about the foiled plot to blow up several U.S.-bound jets And if you haven't, go ahead and take a few minutes to check the story out — we have the feeling air travel is about to get more complicated again. In short, the national aviation threat level has jumped to red, meaning people traveling by plane anytime soon will need to......

If you were wondering where all that much-hyped heavy rain was yesterday, just wait: It could get here today. On Tuesday, the band of tropical moisture expected to come on shore and drench us stayed offshore, for the most part, meaning parts of Galveston County and far southeast Harris County got some substantial rain — more than 3 inches — while the rest of us were fairly high and dry. (Speaking of which, did anyone......

Travelers between Houston and New York will have another airline choice later this year: JetBlue, the low-price carrier that boasts leather seats and satellite TV on its planes, will begin service between Hobby and JFK on Sept. 7. Service will begin with three flights a day, the airline said. It's a busy summer for JetBlue, which has plans to add Aruba, Charlotte, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham to its list of cities served between now and......

All the people on the north, west and southwest sides of town who thought they'd dodged a bullet earlier this week when heavy rain missed them had another thing coming yesterday afternoon as lines of slow-moving, strong storms moved through north Houston and the Richmond area, causing temporary street flooding, delayed flights at Bush Intercontinental and the requisite traffic snarls. Rainfall of nearly 4 inches an hour occurred in the storm up north, flooding......

Passengers at Bush Intercontinental Airport had a scare overnight when a fire broke out near a Taco Bell and filled Terminal C with smoke. The fire started around 3:30 a.m. and the building was evacuaed; though most of the people in the building were employees, a few passengers were forced to stand around outside while crews took care of the fire. "We thought it would be a good idea to get here early," Terry......

Houstonist didn't know whether to be scandalized or titillated when we read that passengers at Bush Intercontinental Airport will start getting puffed soon. But it turns out it's not that exciting at all: The airport is installing machines that will "puff" passengers with air to screen for explosives. Darn. The machines look sort of like larger versions of the metal detectors we're used to seeing at the airport. When a passenger steps inside, they're hit......

We all learned from Patrick Dempsey that you Can't Buy Me Love, well that also applies to the love of your four legged friends. Even so, local multi-millionaire Bernard Aptaker has thrown caution to the wind and is donating 60 acres near George Bush Intercontinental Airport for creation of the Freedom Farm refuge to the Houston SPCA. The refuge will releave overcrowding at the current Portway St. 5 acre shelter that has been home......