Results tagged “cityhall”

Allegations of racism in the Houston Fire Department continue to smolder as the nation casts an eye on the Gates/Crowley arrest situation. In May, African-American firefighters sued alleging "'systemic discrimination' [on promotion exams]." A few weeks ago, racist and sexist graffiti in the women's dorm was the latest in a string of incidents at Station 54. Now the embattled department is dealing with a noose at Station 41. Per Chron.com, "an NAACP vice president, said he talked to virtually everyone at Station 41 in east Houston and concluded that the noose was an unconscious mistake, albeit hurtful to the black firefighter who reported it..." However, some citizens are not satisfied with that assessment or the captain's apology. They will be demonstrating at noon today outside city hall at the "Rally Against Hate." Let us know what you think Houston. Is the training knot incident being blown out of proportion or is this just another indicator that HFD has a serious issue? Sound off in the comments or show up at city hall.

Almost 1,000 Houstonians showed up to City Hall this past Saturday afternoon to protest the passage of California's Proposition 8. And although we didn't have any popular comediennes come out at our protest, we still had a strong turnout befitting Houston's status as the largest LGBT community in Texas (nearly 62,000 people in Houston identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) and the sixth largest in the nation.

You might have noticed a couple of changes to Houstonist — and we're here to explain what they mean. Tags Instead of being classified by categories, all our posts are now tagged with content-specific keywords. Not only will they help you find broad subjects (like sports or music), but also specific kinds of posts (like posts about the Museum District, babies, City Hall and, oddly enough, snow). Soon, all our categories will be converted to...

The Dynamo are in a quandry. On the heels of winning their second consecutive MLS Cup, they're at the center of a dispute with the MLS. The Orange are owned by AEG, an entertainment conglomerate owned by Phil Anschutz. AEG used to own close to half of the teams in MLS, but are now down to just our all-conquering hometown boys, and the pretty boy-signing LA Galaxy. The MLS is ready for AEG to shed...

Filled up on turkey and dressing? Here's some event stuffing fer youse. add event to your Google Calendar view all events on the Houstonist Google Calendar [26 MONDAY]Double Feature: Monday Movies at MFA and Domy BooksMemories of Irving Berlin (last Monday)Bayou City Concert Musicals | doors at 7pm, ensemble Theatre ($20) [27 TUESDAY]Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison: book signing and discussion | 3pm, Barnes & Noble Town & Country (free)Rice Humanities Lecture: An Ordinary, Everyday...

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Indra Vishnampet: Local Entrepeneur Indra Vishnampet who was recently named "Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur of the Year" by The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce Greater Houston sat down with Purva Patel of The Houston Chronicle and answered a few questions about her local multi-million dollar software integration business which has offices in Houston, Canada and India. Missouri City Not Experiencing "Comcastic" Service Hats off to a group of...

::Houston Dynamo MLS Championship Rally at City Hall:: Help welcome our team home today as they return from DC after defeating the New England Revolution for the second year in a row. Yikes, Reis, let another one slip past ya?! By defeating the Revs, the Dynamo become only the second team in the history of Major League Soccer to conquer back-to-back championships. Glenn Davis will serve as the event's Master of Ceremonies. Other speakers include...

Ok, ok. We listened to you. We DO do that sometimes. And you've said that even though you can't live without really enjoy the Daily-ist everyday, a feature that picks out one kick arse event each day from the thousands, um, ok, lots and lots of things going on in the city, you are busy people. And you would like to plan ahead. Ok, we hear ya. So it's back: The Weekly-ist List. We'll...

The Houston Dynamo came from behind against the New England Revoloution to claim their second MLS Cup Title in as many years and becoming the first back-to-back MLS champions in 10-years. After being down 1-0 at halftime, Houston made the necessary adjustments to attack New England's defense. In the 61st minute, Joseph Ngwenya tied the game at 1-1 when he jetted a five-yard goal past New England goal keeper Matt Reis. In the 74th...

We've been seeing Christmas decorations going up around town earlier and earlier every year. This was the first time we could remember seeing green and red before Halloween. Still, retailers must remind people that it's almost time to go into debt in celebration of the birth of Jesus, so that's their right. The Galleria is celebrating the lighting of their huge Christmas tree (and the attendant shopping rush) with a performance by former Olympic skater...

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist...

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor sanctamonius who gives us this classic, retro view of City Hall. City Hall was built during 1938-1939 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Did you know that City Hall was one of the first air conditioned buildings in the city? If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 420 of Houston's...

Bayou City Arts Festival - Downtown Need tickets to this weekend's Bayou City Arts Festival? We gotcha covered. We scored a few pairs, so drop us an email at monica (@) houstonist dot com and we'll hook you up. (And not like the time we tried to hook you up with our boyfriend's 3rd cousin. Sorry about that.) This all can be yours, for the low, low price of free (aka send an email to...

Good morning, Houston. How many of you knew what Monday was? Anyone? Anyone? That's right: It was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. To mark the anniversary, the nation had a little holiday, Constitution Day — but how many people actually knew about it? Not many, apparently: Though federal law says students at public high schools should be taught about Constitution Day, a recent survey of students found that...

Good morning, Houston. Nothing to lol at here: the Houston SPCA is rolling out a new policy for pet owners who drop off their pets. From now on, there will be a fifteen minute "counseling session," during which the owners will know if the pet is going to be a candidate for adoption or if it's going to the big litterbox in the sky. The policy is meant to make it harder for owners...

Bayou City Arts Festival: Call for Entries The Bayou City Art Festival Downtown (not to be confused with the Sping Festival in Memorial Park) has announced the call for entries for its third annual “Art on Water” floating art competition on the City Hall Reflection Pool at Hermann Square. This year’s theme is “Water in Motion.” "We’re asking local artists to express movement through artwork either stationary or through kinetic nature of sculpture or installation,”...

Tuesday, August 7 at 2pm is the last chance for the public to speak about the pending historic landmark status of the River Oaks Shopping Center, River Oaks Theater, Alabama Shopping Center, and Alabama Theater in front of City Council. Members of the public must sign up to speak by 12pm Tuesday by calling the City Secretary Anna Russell (713-247-1840), and people who have already spoken to City Council on this issue may not do...

We love getting the dirt on City Hall by reading the Chronicle's NewsWatch: City Hall blog. But it's usually not quite as titillating as something Matt Stiles put up yesterday: the story of a pink sex toy found in a men's room at the City Hall Annex. Stiles found out about the discovery when he got to his office yesterday: a police officer, a janitor and two security guards were huddled around a trash can...

In Wallis, a sign in front of an ice house is getting a lot of attention for the messages it's carrying, KTRK reports. "Welfare started as a hand up, not a generational lifestyle!!!!!" the sign read recently. Other messages have included "If you can't feed them, don't breed them," and "America proud, one language: English." And those haven't sat well with some Willisites, who claim the messages are inappropriate and racist — or nationalist....

Good morning, Houston. If you happened to be in the Medical Center yesterday afternoon, we're pretty sure you noticed the natural gas leak. Even if you didn't see it, chances are you got caught in the massive traffic snarls it created after Main Street was closed between University and Sunset. Officials with The Methodist Hospital said a construction crew accidentally broke the gas line around noon, and it took most of the day to...

Good morning, Houston. Let's take a trip to the United Kingdom for a bit to learn how they celebrate Orangemen's Day. July 12 means "Orange marches" in this area to commemorate Prince William of Orange's victory over King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 (remember your world history?). This day has sometimes been the cause of sectarian clashes between Protestants and Catholics, although most of the parades are very peaceful,...

The Chronicle's Mike Snyder reports on the City Hall blog that the City Planning Commission yesterday approved the creation of a protected historic district for the Old Sixth Ward — a move unprecedented in Houston that would exclude historic homes in the near-downtown neighborhood from the city's 90-day demolition waiting period. (That measure means that, if they city denies the owner of a historic building a permit for demolition or inappropriate alteration, the owner may...

It looks like there's some Texas pride lacking over at 901 Bagby. Vending machines at City Hall will soon be taken over by Dr. Pepper, which originated in Waco, and some council members are not too pleased that their precious Coke and Pepsi will be difficult to come by. They did tactfully refrain from comparing Dr. Pepper to liquid manure though. But how can they complain at all? Two years ago, the council approved a...

Over at the Chronicle's City Hall blog, Mike Snyder notes that veteran television newswoman Linda Ellerbee has taken a stand in the controversy over proposed special protections for the Old Sixth Ward. Ellerbee grew up in Houston and is planning to move back here from New York City; she's scouting out houses in the Sixth Ward and said she's been keeping up with discussions about protecting the neighborhood. Among the proposals from Mayor Bill White...

And could there be anything more exciting? Good news: the new budget will allow for increased funding for the police and fire departments. Some of these funds will pay for new police cadet classes for the understaffed department and for the firefighters' recent raise. Health care costs are also expected to go up, while the entire budget will go up less than 4%. Overall, it is likely that there will be little for most people...

We noticed a news story yesterday about the city of Piney Point Village's plan to move its city hall to a $1.5 million, 7,000-square-foot mansion — a plan that isn't sitting well with some of the neighbors. KPRC had more on the story yesterday, and it looks like Piney Pointers aren't getting any happier. The basic idea is this: The city wants to move its offices to the six bedroom, six and a half bath...

Save our Landmarks, one of the groups trying to save the River Oaks Shopping Center and Theater and the Alabama Theater/Bookstop, sent out an e-mail update about the River Oaks situation yesterday. Here's a overview of what's going on. Weingarten Realty Investors, which owns all three properties, on Monday began the process to get approval to demolish the curved section of the River Oaks center on the north side of West Gray — the portion...

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...

We learned from former ABC 13 weatherman Ed Brandon's guest post on the mike mcguff blog this week that Tuesday was Ed Brandon Day. How did you celebrate? At City Hall on Tuesday, Brandon was presented with a fancy plaque and there were all sorts of festivities. Brandon himself seemed more than a little excited to commemorate his holiday, and he has big plans for next year. Included: an Ed Brandon Day Parade (or parades!)....