Results tagged “southtexas”

Good morning, Houston. If you've been working on a list of things you can do with cow patties, we've got another item for you: You can make pens out of them. Just ask John Lopez of Poteet, who has gotten semi-famous in South Texas by making pens from ground-up cow patties. No, — the ground poop is mixed with a plastic resin, milled into cylinders and fitted with pen parts; the finished product, which the AP describes as "looking almost like wood from a distance," sells for $45. Lopez said he got the idea for the poop pens when he was thinking about making handmade pens, but couldn't find exotic materials in Poteet. So he turned to one of the most abundant natural materials around, and he said he's proud of how the pens reflect his surroundings. "That's where I live, and I'm not a Yankee," he said. "I've been up north once. I've been to Oklahoma, and I didn't care for it."

Remember when you were a little bitty Houstonist and someone would read to you at night and you could just lose yourself in the story, abandoning all other thoughts of the day? Well you can still do it now, you know. In fact, you might be all the more eager to shed your quotidian annoyances now that you're grown. Here are a few places to hear some stellar writers read from their work: Friday...

Good morning, Houston. In the mood for a really, really bad promotional video? It's your lucky day: May we introduce you to "The Metro Report", a quasi-Colbert Report-style production in which a host, Elliot Roberts, "interviews people on the street" about why they love riding public transportation. Which makes us wonder: Where'd Metro find all these people? Oh, right, they're actually actors — and, according to KTRK's Wayne Dolcefino, this bit of self-promotion cost...

A little more information today on the plea deal that Ashley Benton's attorneys turned down this week: According to the Chronicle, the deal would have resulted in no prison time for Benton in exchange for a murder plea: Schaffer said the first offer from prosecutors included 10 years of deferred adjudication for the 17-year-old, a form of probation where defendants avoid conviction if they complete the terms. He said Benton's camp is hoping for a...

Turns out it wasn't really all that hard to capture Andrew Dale Coley, the car thief who escaped from a private jail downtown on Monday evening — all it took was a police chief who happened to be in the right place at the right time. The chief was Rick Boyle, of UH-Downtown, who nabbed Coley while jogging along Buffalo Bayou on Wednesday afternoon.

KHOU is speculating about whether U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could return to his hometown of Houston if he ends up getting the boot in Washington. Gonzales, a graduate of MacArthur High School in Aldine, was a partner with Vinson & Elkins from 1982 to 1997, when he became the Texas secretary of state (from there, he was appointed to the state Supreme Court and then became White House counsel to President George W. Bush;...

Good morning, Houston. Are you registered to vote in the May 12 special election? If not, you'd better get on it: Harris County residents must deliver their registration applications to a county tax office by 4:45 p.m. today or have them postmarked before midnight tonight. Remember, if you don't vote, you give up your right to complain. And we will enforce that. >> New organs, a new life: Maria Mendez, a 14-year-old girl, is...

Today’s Photos of the Day come from flickr users and Houstonist photo contributors (clockwise from top left) darkhairedgirl, deji_01, The Gallery and cybertoad.

So the question of what would happen to astronaut Lisa Nowak when her 30-day leave from NASA was over is answered: Nowak is now a former astronaut. Nowak, who is a Navy captain, will return to the military; NASA said the dismissal has nothing to do with her guilt or innocence on charges of trying to kidnap her romantic rival, but rather with the fact that the agency doesn't have the administrative system needed to...

There are few details about it so far, but a Porter couple was arrested yesterday for helping a convicted robber escape from a Fort Worth lockup. The escapee in question is Eladio Diaz Jr., who was last seen Sunday night at the North Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, a minimum-security compound for parole violators; Jose Chavez and his wife, Jacqueline Diaz Chavez — Eladio Diaz's sister — were arrested for allegedly helping Diaz break out. Diaz...

Earlier this month, we talked about the proposal to build a youth sports complex on the site of the Wortham Park Golf Course, one of three public courses inside the Loop and an East End institution for a hundred years. The complex proposal is part of Houston's push to keep the Dynamo in town — the team is looking for a new stadium and has stipulated that a youth soccer/sports complex be part of the deal, and Houston is keen to keep the men in orange from moving to the suburbs.

Good morning, Houston. We've heard a lot recently about how Galveston's waterfront is suddenly sprouting high-dollar apartments, condos and hotels — but when will developers begin building high-rises overlooking the lovely Houston Ship Channel? Maybe sooner than you'd think: In Alabama and South Texas, the newest bunch of development is occurring along the Intracoastal Waterway, the 1,300-mile manmade shipping channel few had previously considered pretty. But could the development interfere with shipping, the Intracoastal...

So here we are in the first full day of a World Without Anna Nicole — and though she's gone, the news isn't likely to stop anytime soon. Today, the medical examiner's office in Broward County, Fla., will conduct an autopsy on Smith to see if it can determine how she died, and closer to home, experts say her legal battles will probably stay in the courts for quite some time. First, what we know...

We all have certain words that offend us, right? So we go through life not using those words and hoping other people will extend us the same courtesy — but that's not enough for Ken Corley, the mayor of Brazoria, who is leading a charge to outlaw use of the word "nigger" in his city. If Corley's proposal becomes a city ordinance, certain uses of the word within Brazoria's city limits would be punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Did we say it was going to rain a lot yesterday? Well, depending on where you live, it did: It was just wet and icky inside the Loop, but things got pretty crazy on the west side, we hear. And it may not be over yet: Harris County and southeast Texas remain under a flood watch this morning, and if storms move slowly through the area, isolated areas could get another 6 to 8 inches....

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...

All those people who walk around Montrose trying to get us to sign petitions opposing nuclear power must be cringing right now: NRG Energy, which owns and operates most of the power plants around Houston, is planning to add two new units to the South Texas Project, the nuclear plant near Bay City.

Ah, Priscilla Slade — we hadn't heard anything from the soon-to-be-former TSU president in a while, but today there's news that she has decided not to attend the public hearing she requested to try to clear her name and keep her job. Slade, accused of spending nearly $1 million in university funds for unauthorized personal purchases during her seven years as head of TSU, said through her attorney that she won't get a fair hearing, so she's staying home. Anyone want to bet that she complains later that no one listened to her side of the story?

If it's true that celebrity deaths happen in threes, look for another local political figure to keel over at any moment: The first two, Harris County Treasurer Jack Cato and former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, have paved the way. Cato, a former newsman and HPD spokesman, died yesterday of heart failure while undergoing tests on his heart at St. Luke's Hospital. Cato was born in Chicago in 1935 and came to Houston in the 1950s....

And so, at the beginning of the 15th week of the Lay/Skilling trial, testimony finally wrapped up Monday after the prosecution called three rebuttal witnesses, then rested around 11 a.m. Jurors have been dismissed until Monday, when the prosecution will present its closing argument — which leaves the rest of the week for speculation. Woohoo! According to the Chronicle's stable of legal experts, the outcome of the trial will likely turn on the testimony of...

Turns out Houstonist isn't the only one hurting from higher electricity costs — the city of Houston's light bill is expected to increase $30 million this year, up from last year's $100 million (and just a couple thousand dollars more than our monthly bill — damn that air conditioner!). But the city has a plan to help combat its high bills: It's thinking of going into the power generating business itself with a windmill farm....