Good morning, Houston. If you've ever been driving around in the 'burbs and wondered who names the streets, well, it just might be someone like Susan Vreeland-Wendt, who the Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff interviewed yesterday. Vreeland-Wendt, marketing director for The Woodlands Operating Co., has come up with more than 1,600 names for roads, parks and neighborhoods in The Woodlands in the last 20 years. Turns out she gets inspiration from all kinds of places: paint charts, wine bottles, songs, poetry — even . "Whenever I travel I bring a note pad," she told the Chron. "It's become an obsession. After a while, you never go anywhere without noticing names of things and writing them down." Ms. Vreeland-Wendt, if you're reading, may we humbly suggest a new neighborhood called Houstonist Hills? It does have a certain ring to it ...
Results tagged “harriscountydachuckrosenthal”
Good morning, Houston. There's a new weapon in the battle to make Houston the most beautiful city in America: Beginning next week, commercial property owners will have to hide their Dumpsters behind a building, wall, fence, berm or shrub. Officials said they hope the rule — which City Council approved six months ago — will help increase property values and make properties safer (and, of course, prettier). Anyone who violates the ordinance can be...
Good morning, Houston. The bad news: You've missed your chance to see the International Space Station this morning as it orbits above Texas. (We suppose it's only bad news if you're interested in seeing the space station — if you're not, hey, you won't be disappointed!) The good news: You'll have three more opportunities before the end of the week. The ISS will be visible at 4:08 a.m. Thursday (for nearly four minutes, beginning...
Gilbert Amezquita, a man who spent eight years in prison on what might have been a false rape arrest, has begun the process of getting $200,000 in state compensation for his jail time. Amezquita was arrested in connection with the 1998 rape and beating of Kathy Bingham at her father's publishing company, which left Bingham in a coma for 10 days. When she woke up, she told police that "Gilbert" had attacked her; based primarily...
In an unusual move yesterday, the judge presiding over a hearing for Juan Quintero, the man accused of shooting HPD Officer Rodney Johnson to death during a Sept. 21 traffic stop, cleared the courtroom and let Quintero choose who his court-appointed lawyer will be.
The legal situation regarding Juan Leonardo Quintero, an illegal immigrant accused of shooting a Houston police officer to death after a traffic stop last week, is shaping up: According to the Chronicle, Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal will put on his prosecutor's hat to lead the case against Quintero. Rosenthal hasn't helped prosecute a case in years, but he said he was moved by a meeting with Officer Rodney Johnson's family. Quintero, meanwhile, remains in...
We were sitting around this weekend wondering what happened to everyone's favorite city councilwoman — no, not that one; we're talking about Carol Alvarado, who stepped down as mayor pro-tem after it was discovered staffers in her pro-tem office took $143,000 in unauthorized pay bonuses. It's been quite a while since we heard anything in the pro-tem case, but now, finally, there's some news: The four dismissed pro-tem employees and Alvarado herself will testify before...
In case you missed it between the terror alert and the recovering penguins: Former TSU Priscilla Slade made her first court appearance yesterday morning since being indicted on felony charges of misusing funds, and not much happened. Her hearing was reset for Sept. 14, and that was that.
A judge ruled today that Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl accused of killing a teen last week during a gang ambush at Ervan Chew Park, should remain in custody because of threats against her. The ruling came after Benton's attorney, Rick DeToto, asked that she be kept in custody and away from other gang members so she doesn't get killed. DeToto said it's probably the first time in his career that he's asked authorities...
KPRC is reporting that the DA's investigation into the City Hall payroll scandal has widened to include possible criminal wrongdoing by City Councilwoman and former Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado. Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal told Channel 2 that there are questions about whether Alvarado told employees in the mayor pro tem office to perform "tasks unrelated to city business." Though it isn't clear exactly what the tasks were, KPRC said they would be illegal if they were done while employees were on the clock with their city jobs.
More on the expanding DA probe into City Hall expenses: It seems the investigation will look at travel, particiuarly that of former City Council member and mayoral candidate Orlando Sanchez. KHOU reports Sanchez traveled extensively as an at-large councilmember between 1996 and 2001, taking his creepy eyes to D.C., San Francisco, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, London, Budapest and Ploesti, Romania, and his travel expenses were routed through the mayor pro tem's office.
City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who has found herself at the center of a city employee spending scandal, got a little more defensive Monday, hiring high-profile lawyer Rusty Hardin and a PR firm to help her cope. Though Alvarado has maintained that she didn't have anything to do with the employees in the mayor pro tem office taking extravagant payraises and more than $140,000 in unauthorized bonuses, the question remains how all...