Email Author Margaret Downing

Awards

• 2012 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published December 22, 2011

  "Mistaken Identities"

• 2011 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published December 23, 2010

  "Children of God"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published December 23, 2010

  "Children of God"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published December 30, 2010

  "The Whipping Boy"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published June 3, 2010

  "Homeless High"

• 2010 - Lone Star Awards, published June 4, 2009

  "Let the Record Reflect"

• 2009 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published April 10, 2008

  "Exit Exams"

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published May 8, 2008

  "Mental Anguish"

• 2009 - Lone Star Awards, published November 13, 2008

  "Bad Faith"

• 2008 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published May 31, 2007

  "Killing Fences"

• 2008 - First Amendment Awards/The Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, published October 25, 2007

  "Death in a Box"

• 2008 - Lone Star Awards, published October 25, 2007

  "Death in a Box"

• 2008 - Lone Star Awards, published August 23, 2007

  "Judging Books and Their Covers"

• 2007 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published October 5, 2006

  "Opt In, Opt Out'

• 2007 - Lone Star Awards, published October 5, 2006

  "Opt In, Opt Out"

• 2007 - Lone Star Awards, published May 11, 2006

  "Diary of a Mad Man"

• 2006 - Lone Star Awards, published August 11, 2005

  "Who Cares?"

• 2006 - Lone Star Awards, published February 17, 2005

  "Mind Reading"

More

2009 Stories by Margaret Downing

• Let the Record Reflect

  published June 4, 2009

  Dr. Cathryn White came to T.H. Rogers two years ago, and whatever good will she initially generated, what with being the new principal and then... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  One Day Only: Buy a Potbelly Sandwich and Get Free Zapp's Chips This Wednesday

  published Jun 02, 2009

  Potbelly Sandwich Works, with 10 stores in the Houston area, is handing out free Zapp's potato chips with the purchase of a sandwich this Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Carl Segal, senior vic... More >>

• Topol Likes It Hot: Fiddler On The Roof Puts On The Sizzle For Two Weeks In Houston

  published May 29, 2009

  The most amazing thing in seeing the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof now at the Hobby Center is when 73-year-old Topol comes out on the stage at the start to huge applause and somehow keeps going... More >>

• Houston's Fun With the Hamptons Continues: Stages Extends Its Run Of Grey Gardens

  published May 28, 2009

  Stages Repertory Theatre has just announced it has extended the Houston premiere of the Broadway Musical Grey Gardens, the musical account of Jackie Kennedy Onassis's nutty relatives, "Big Edith" Bouv... More >>

• School's Out For Summer: Travis Elementary Closes For Rest of School Year

  published May 22, 2009

  Travis Elementary, the school where one kid after another was coming down with or thinking he was coming down with swine flu, was supposed to open next Tuesday to finish out the year in some sort of s... More >>

• Customized Cupcakes

  published May 22, 2009

  Apparently one new way to show your business has really arrived is to have its logo, or a symbol of the type of work it does (think oil derrick), made into a roller image that can then be ironed into ... More >>

• Talk About a Fundraiser

  published May 20, 2009

  Chez Roux, the very fancy, very upscale top restaurant at La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa on Lake Conroe, is putting on a six-course wine dinner Saturday, June 6. It will cost $500++ per couple, or ... More >>

• A Stout Dinner at Hotel Icon

  published May 19, 2009

  If you like good food but elaborate wine pairings just give you a headache, then consider this upcoming meal put together by Voice Executive Chef Michael Kramer, in which he pairs good food with craft... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Backstage Royalty: Crews From National Broadway Tours Travel With All Their Stuff, Down To The Last Cable, Glass And Stage Bra

  published May 18, 2009

  There's an old joke. The stagehand has a son. One day the son tells his father that when he grows up, he wants to be a stagehand, too. "Son, it's going to be one or the other. You can't do bo... More >>

• A Singing, Dancing Fonz Hits Houston

  published May 15, 2009

  The Fonz never seemed much of a song-and-dance man on the TV show that ran for 11 seasons and ended about a quarter century ago. But Broadway has seen some mega successes by adding music to successful... More >>

• Sunday's Walk for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength

  published May 11, 2009

  Betty Trobaugh was there in a wheelchair. She enlisted the help of her three daughters to push her through the three-mile course. The first half of the non-competitive walk which started at Sam Housto... More >>

• Spec's Wine & Cheese Festival Goes Cheese-Only, For Some Reason

  published May 08, 2009

  Spec's downtown on Smith is always busy on a Friday afternoon with patrons arming themselves with enough adult drinks to make it through the weekend.Today was extra special. Booths were lined up ... More >>

• Spec's Wine & Cheese Festival Goes Cheese-Only, For Some Reason

  published May 08, 2009

  Spec's downtown on Smith is always busy on a Friday afternoon with patrons arming themselves with enough adult drinks to make it through the weekend.Today was extra special. Booths were lined up ... More >>

• Pitching A Tent For Mother's Day: And Never You Mind About Those Snakes

  published May 08, 2009

  One hour's drive north of Houston, Lake Conroe awaits this weekend -- or more precisely, the Kampgrounds of America there offering a special deal for Mother's Day weekend. Pay for Friday night and you... More >>

• The Houston Press Wants Interns

  published May 06, 2009

  The Houston Press is now accepting applications for interns for the summer. Applicants should have a solid grounding in journalism principles, be self-starters with a good command of the English langu... More >>

• Jane Ely: Political Junkie Of The Highest Order

  published May 05, 2009

  The old guard of Houston journalism will be gathering this week to mark the passing of one of their own - and one of a kind. Jane Ely, the longtime political columnist for the Houston Chronicle and th... More >>

• One Little Tornado Warning in Northwest Houston and the Russians Say Nyet

  published Apr 17, 2009

  There won't be any Russian riders getting on those specialty circus horses out at Sam Houston Race Park tonight.In town for several days and parked under expansive white tents, the show Artania got c... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Peli Peli: Take a Right at Louetta Off Highway 249 to Get to South Africa

  published Apr 16, 2009

  The bongo drums, violin and guitar trio is going at it joyfully, continuously and well, a little too loudly (something that never faded) as we walked into Peli Peli, a restaurant whose interior is a d... More >>

• White-Washing Those Black Rodeo Gala Tickets

  published Apr 16, 2009

  Well, Warner Ervin, superintendent of the Houston Independent School District's south region, must be feeling pretty good today. He's the administrator being reluctantly investigated by the Texas Educ... More >>

• Rent:Back With Its Stars, And Still Relevant

  published Apr 13, 2009

  When Broadway performer Gwen Stewart heard they were closing down Rent last September, she was sad for a lot of reasons. She'd rejoined the Tony- and Pulitzer-Prize-winning show as Mrs. J... More >>

• If You're Going to Smoke, Stay Away From Siamese Cats

  published Apr 09, 2009

  Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine has tackled the question of whether second hand smoke can give heart disease or cancer to your pets - and comes up with a profound maybe. "Laboratory studie... More >>

• Austin ISD Decides Not to Get On Board The CEP Gravy Train -- At Least For Now

  published Mar 31, 2009

  Last night the Austin school board squelched, at least for now, any consideration of a partnership with Community Education Partners, the Nashville-based, for-profit operator of alternative schools th... More >>

• Austin School District Plans To Board The CEP Train To Nowhere

  published Mar 30, 2009

  It looks like Austin ISD is ready to take the Houston ISD route and dump some of its troubled kids into the hands of Community Education Partners, the for-profit operator of alternative schools throug... More >>

• Les Misérables

  published March 19, 2009

  In its new production of Les Misérables, Theatre Under The Stars has ditched the turntable stage of the original and... More >>

• The Texas Fitnessgram Idea May Not Be As Awe-Inspiring As Our Governor Would Have Us Think

  published Mar 13, 2009

  Earlier this week, Governor Rick Perry called a press conference to announce the results of last spring's statewide Fitnessgram assessment of Texas public-school students. According to a press release... More >>