Results tagged “thecity”

Good morning, Houston. Sure, the national economy may be going to hell in a handbasket, but look on the bright side: Houston's housing market is remaining pretty strong, so at least you homeowners have something of value! According to a new report, the median home value in Houston fell just $500 between the end of the third quarter 2007 and the end of the year, to $119,300 from $119,800 — still a gain of more than $4,000 over the 2006 year-end average of $115,700. Oh, one other thing: People from more expensive markets are apparently discovering that things are cheaper here. "Areas in Texas, which we have long characterized as undervalued, are now attracting significant migration at the expense of much higher-cost metros of California or Florida," the report said. Oh, .

Happy bissextile day, Houston. If you're reading this from jail — we're actually not even sure if you can use the Internet in jail — well, don't feel alone: According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, 1 of every 100 American adults are behind bars today. The good news: Texas is one of the states that has tried to slow the growth of its inmate population through community supervision of low-risk offenders and alternative punishments for some former prisoners who violate parole and probation rules. Inmate populations increased in 36 states and the federal prison system last year, the report says.

Good morning, Houston. When it comes to politics, we suppose there's a lot to be said for the shock factor — which is why Brian Klock, a candidate for Congressional District 22, is getting some attention. Klock, one of 10 people vying for the Republican nomination for CD 22, has put up a billboard showing downtown Houston being destroyed by a huge explosion. "The Threat Is Real," the billboard reads. "Ask Brian Klock." And Klock's campaign does seem to center on being prepared to fight terrorism: According to his website, he wants to track foreign cargo entering Houston, keep a fighter squadron at Ellington Field and demand more federal anti-terrorism funding for the city. We can't wait for Shelley Sekula Gibbs' response billboard — except instead of an explosion, it'll be her glorious yellow hair lighting the skies over downtown. Ah, politics.

Good morning, Houston. Remember the city's smoking ban, which went into effect in September? Well, so does KPRC. The station checked around and found something that will shock you to your very core: Houstonians are still smoking in bars and restaurants! No, . One of the bars Channel 2 visited was Henry Hudson's Pub on the west side, where reporters found customers and the bartender smoking — and "we even bought a pack of cigarettes out of a machine inside the pub," according to reports. We're just as surprised as you are — and as City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado is. "To be breaking the law so blatantly, obviously these people have no concern, no care, no sensitivity," she said. And no Nicorette, it would seem. KPRC reports that two city smoking inspectors have followed up on 228 complaints since the ban went into effect, which have resulted in more than 60 warnings and four citations.

>> There are some big changes coming to Memorial Park: Houston's most popular park with a running trail and a burger joint is slated to get more improved features to help you sweat to the oldies. According to ABC13, Mayor Bill White's improvement plan will include a bridge across Memorial Parkway for cyclists and pedestrians, extended running trails, an improved tennis facility and a new shower facility for you dirty folks. Sounds pricey, huh? Yep. The City needs another $10 million bucks to combine with the $4 million currently earmarked for the project. Houstonist is awaiting confirmation of the rumor that EZ Tag stalls will be installed along the running trails to help pay for the project.

>> City offers $15.5M for possible stadium site: The Chronicle reports that the city has said it'll pay more than $15.5 million for five downtown blocks that could become the site of a stadium for the Dynamo. The parcel is bounded by Texas and Walker on the north and south and Dowling and Hutchins on the east and west; it's just east of the Lofts at the Ballpark and immediately south of a vast Minute Maid Park parking lot. The city's offer assumes the land is worth $49 a square foot, which is less than an outside assessor's estimate of $50 to $55 but way, more than Harris County's appraisal of $12.50 a square foot. The offer doesn't mean a stadium on the site is a done deal, though: Andy Icken, the city's deputy director for public works and engineering, said a stadium will only be built if the city can reach an acceptable agreement with the Dynamo owners.

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits...

The article sums up the history of the house and its ownership - how Bob Cohen built his dream home, moved from the home after forty years because of declining health, the subsequent buy out (and saga) from lawyer John O'Quinn, then its demise at the hands of Marvin Granit. Granit did provide some comments for the article, which is more than the usual builder/developer schtick of having the PR department come up with a vague and stale one-liner for the public. He expressed his shock at how commonfolk would care what he did with his newly purchased property and threw in a dig relating it to socialism. According to the article, the home would have been exempt from a flood regulation if renovated:

...because the house sits in a floodplain, city regulations would have required the structure to be elevated, a costly and difficult procedure. Only listed historic properties are exempt from this regulation, but Granit refused to seek landmark designation for the house and went ahead with demolition.

Good morning, Houston. We freely admit that we don't like bugs, so we've tried quite a few home extermination methods — but we've never blown the roof off our house while doing it like Patricia Espiricueta of Galveston did. It seems Espiricueta was fed up with her home's roach problem, so she set off five bug bombs and left the house. While she was gone, the fumes hit a pilot light and exploded, lifting the roof off the house and separating a rear addition from the main part of the home. "It sounded like an explosion, or like a car had crashed into the building," neighbor Corinna Carubba told KTRK. The damages totaled about $15,000; there's no word on whether Espiricueta solved her bug problem, but she said she would try a different approach next time. "I'm not going to use [bug bombs] no more," she said.

Good morning, Houston. Remember the plans for the Dynamo stadium on the east side of downtown? And remember Metro's plans for two new light rail lines heading out from the east side of downtown? Turns out there's a question about whether the stadium will be in the way of the rail lines — and it's not clear yet whether the proposed stadium will have an effect on the rail alignments. "We are evaluating a number of options. Any proposed solutions will be part of the ongoing process with the FTA. We do not expect this to affect the timetable for construction," Metro spokeswoman Sandra Salazar told the Chronicle. Metro maps — which Salazar said are being revised — show the East End and Southeast rail lines routed along Capitol Avenue, which runs through a site the Chronicle reported that the city and Dynamo are looking to buy for the stadium.

The Rockets kicked a truckload of ass last week before getting a wake-up call against the Hornets. Amazing that they did all of this without Tracy McGrady. Kinda makes you wonder if GM Daryl Morey should listen to all those trade rumors. The T-Mac rumors and more in this week's run-through of what the sports blogs are saying:

Upscale Barbecue. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? BBQ, the real sport that precedes major sporting events, the Five Elements (Brisket, Link, Beans, Tater Salad, Sauce), the food group that evolved out of the simple necessity of cattle drives: surely it can't be froofy without ceasing to be bbq. Monica Pope, proprietor and mastermind behind the beloved t'afia, decided to see if she could make the two words fit together in a converted icehouse in the Sixth Ward. The result was Beaver's. But does Beaver's live up to its founder's reputation and its own surprising goal?

Texas A&M University Press

Good morning, Houston. We're sure you're as excited as we are to get right into this year's news, so without further ado ...

While you're sitting around nursing your hangovers watching football today, how about taking a minute to give some love to our friends over at Austinist? Our sister-ist is in the running for austin360.com's "A-List," in which people vote for the best stuff in the city — and oddly enough, austin360 itself is on the list, which we think is just a little tacky. All the more reason to vote -ist!

Turns out it might not be such a bad thing that the old Warwick Hotel is no more: According to government documents recently released to the UK National Archives, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher spent some time locked in her bathroom at the hotel during a visit to Houston in 1977. Details of the trip, which took place two years before Thatcher became prime minister, were released under a law that allows top-secret government papers to be made public after 30 years. Though the file contains assorted other goodies, the bathroom problem is what's been making headlines across Britain. To quote from the papers:

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits...

Houstonist normally throws all of our trash out of the car window during our daily commute into town. It is so much easier than having to put the trash can on the street.

Good morning, Houston. One thing about the holiday season: You hear Christmas music (and if you haven't been hearing it, just tune in to Sunny 99.1 — you'll catch up quickly). With that in mind, we were interested to check out ASCAP's list of the most-played holiday songs this year. It was released on Dec. 4, but by that time, the group reported that 1,562 different holiday songs had already been played 2.37 million times since Oct. 1. The No. 1 song was "Sleigh Ride," which Leroy Anderson wrote during a 1946 heat wave; at No. 2 was the 1934 classic "Winter Wonderland"; and at No. 3 was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which was originally quite a morose little ditty.

Good morning, Houston. So you say you're a Dynamo fan, eh? Well, here's your chance to prove it: The back-to-back MLS champs are auctioning off a chance to get close to the team's two MLS cups — literally. If you win the auction, the cups will be dropped off at your house on Christmas Eve and picked up Dec. 26; in between, you can do whatever you want with 'em (within reason, of course). Best of all, the money raised will benefit Casa de Esperanza, an organization that helps kids in crisis. Break out your checkbooks and bid — the auction ends at 5 p.m. today.

Good morning, Houston. As we were sitting around Monday morning contemplating using a witch's extremity to keep warm, we started to wonder exactly how cold it's gotten in the city before — and, thanks to the Internet, we know! According to the National Weather Service, the record low temperature for Houston was 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which we hit on Jan. 23, 1940. Maybe more interesting, though, is the Houston snowfall record: Turns out we haven't had any appreciable snowfall since Dec. 22, 1989, when 1.7 inches fell. That's nothing compared with the blizzard of Feb. 14-15, 1895, when a whopping 20 inches of snow fell in the city. We couldn't find any photos from that storm, but we did turn up a few Bob Bailey pictures from a snowfall on Jan. 30, 1949. Enjoy!

Perspectives 159: Superconscious, Automatisms Now December 14, 2007 – March 9, 2008 Opening reception December 13, 2007, 6:30-9:00 p.m. Sigh. This is Houston's last hurrah with Senior CAMH Curator Paola Morsiani, and we are sad. Having been with the CAMH for over eight years, Morsiani is heading north to become Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, an internationally renowned encyclopedic museum in the midst of a $258 million renovation and expansion....

Good morning, Houston. Remember Mayor Bill's agreement with Clear Channel that would result in the removal of nearly 900 billboards across the city? Well, it's not necessarily a done deal after all: On Wednesday, six City Council members voted to delay the plan, saying they still had questions about its ramifications. The problem, they said, was that the deal would allow Clear Channel to move remaining billboards: "We're allowing new billboard locations to pop up, and they will pop up in disadvantaged neighborhoods," Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said. Most billboards in the city are scheduled to come down in 2013, deal or no deal; White said his proposal is the best hope for cleaning things up before then. Council will consider the plan again next week.

What would be the obvious career path for someone who went to Harvard for undergrad and Yale for law school? Well, write and publish restaurant guides, of course. Duh. Houstonist had the opportunity to sit with author/entrepreneur/foodie/publisher/world-traveller Robin Goldstein and his managing editor/foodie/marketer/public-relations-exec/S.O. Alexis Herschkowitsch. Robin has just released his Houston restaurant guide – Fearless Critic, Houston Restaurant Guide (one of the very first complete printed guides in Houston - and no, Zagat doesn't count)....

Good morning, Houston. Hey, guess who's having a birthday today? Well, OK, it's technically not Houstonist — our second birthday was back on Nov. 20, but we figured that if the queen can have two birthdays, so can we. And so we're throwing ourselves a little birthday party tonight, and you're all invited. It starts at 6 p.m. at Monsoon Wok, Lamar at San Jacinto (yes, street parking is free downtown after 6). Six...

Update: Yesterday's news of Pimp C's dead shot across the city of Houston via blogs, message boards, and shocked emails. Rumors of foul play, even a mention of fellow rapper Spice 1 also being involved in a shooting, buzzed around town. The two incidents are not thought to be related. Capt. Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Butler had apparently died in bed. "At this time there's no signs of foul...

::New Drink Tasting at Alden Hotel Lounge:: We're suckers for hotel bars. There's just something about being surrounded by out-of-towners and those foreign to the city, that makes us wanna swoop in to the fresh meat. Plus, it doesn't hurt that a bed is steps away. If in fact, the situation arises that you would need one. Join a+ lounge at the Alden Hotel today from 5-6pm as they let you test out the...

Good morning, Houston. We remember our days as student drivers — not bad overall, though we did have a pregnant in-car instructor who had a nasty habit of slamming on the brakes every time we passed a doughnut shop. Still, we didn't have it anywhere near as bad as the kid who passed his driver's test Monday, then crashed his car into the side of a Houston DPS office. The driver was parking his...

We realize that we're almost a week late on this, but as the only media outlet in the city unafraid to actually directly quote the incident in question, we felt it was our duty to follow up on the story of the Rice MOB's halftime show against Tulsa this past Saturday. For both of you who follow Rice athletics (Houstonist fun fact! Rice has sports teams besides baseball!), you know that after making a bowl...