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......

Houston rapper Lil' Flip is in some trouble, the Chronicle reports: Lil' Flip (whose real name is Wesley Eric Weston Jr.) turned himself in to police on a charge of credit card abuse this weekend, and he's due in court today. Weston, known as the "freestyle king" for his ability to improvise, is accused of buying a $671 Southwest Airlines ticket to Baltimore from Houston on June 8 with an American Express card held by......

Good morning, Houston. Did you happen to be in the West U. area last night? If so, maybe you noticed the train derailment in the area, which prompted the evacuation of a handful of houses and the closure of a section of Bissonnet Street. The derailment, which involved seven cars, happened on the Union Pacific line near the corner of Community and Judson; four of the cars were carrying wheat and lumber, and another......

Good morning, Houston. Are you running around on your wife/husband/significant other? Better look out: Valentine's Day is prime time for catching cheaters. The reason? If you have two or three (or six or seven) boy/girlfriends, you're likely going to need to see all of 'em on the 14th — so be careful. Or, y'know, just stick with the monogamy thing. >> The doctor is ... in?: Eric Scheffey, one of the most-sued doctors in......

This week Houstonist is trying something new to keep you updated on the city's growing internet scene. Every weekend, we'll feature some of our favorite posts from local blogs the past week. So, without further ado, here's what Houstonians have been up to: Nothing's better than food in Houston - uh, Food in Houston. This week featured a post about what could be the death of Houston's Vietnamtown. A shopping center at 2800 Milam, the......

A man was arrested today after a six-hour standoff at a southwest Houston convenience store The average price of a gallon of gas in Houston dropped to $2.02 this week, marking the 11th straight week of price drops Ronald Williams, a 19-year-old cadet at A&M, claims he's been the victim of racial harassment from fellow cadets Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California called on the Justice Department to appeal the decision to overturn ex-Enron Chairman Ken......

A news story we forgot to pick up earlier this week: Southwest Airlines will begin testing an assigned-seating reservation system next month. The test, which will involve about 200 flights out of San Diego, will begin July 10 and last for several weeks. The purpose: The airline wants to know if assigning seats will slow Southwest's ability to unload incoming planes and board passengers for the next flight. It takes Southwest about 25 minutes on......

Southwest Airlines, everyone's favorite luxury air carrier, is taking aim at online companies that help travelers get better seats by handling their check-in and trying to get them into Southwest's "A" seating group. Southwest said it started noticing the online services in September, and more and more have shown up since then; the airline has contacted more than a dozen websites and asked them to stop issuing boarding passes, and now it's suing BoardFirst, one......

So if you fly out of Hobby Airport often, you might want to take note of the $3 fee on each ticket you might have to start paying later this year. It's a charge City Council approved yesterday to put the burden of extreme budget overruns off on the traveling public. Yep, that's right: You, too, will have the privilege of helping finance the Hobby renovation and expansion project. Southwest Airlines, the major carrier......