Bastrop

College Football: National Signing Day 2013, A Decade Of Cautionary Tales

Beginning bright and early Wednesday morning, 18-year-old football players far and wide will finalize in writing their plans on where they will ply their trade for the next three to five years, causing high blood pressure in adults three times their age coast to coast and dragging the fax machine in ... More >>

SXSW Releases First Batch of 2013 Performers

Here go hell come, SXSW has just released the first batch of names for the 2013 festival. I know, only a week after Fun Fun Fun Fest and a month since ACL. Did you see the FPSF blog from earlier today? Yeah, time is moving too fast. The big names on the list so far include the Zombies, Alt-J, Akro ... More >>

Bastrop State Park, One Year After The Wildfire: Almost Ready For Its Close-Up

Just about one year after a devastating wildfire that torched much of its 6,000 acres, Bastrop State Park is getting ready to show visitors its made a comeback. Symbolizing the recovery is "a shade shelter originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Bastrop State Park during the 1930s," ... More >>

HPMA 2012 Showcase

One night. 11 venues. 55 minutes.

Meet the 2012 HPMA Showcase Nominees: Grievous Angels

Rocks Off reached out to the artists playing this year's Houston Press Music Awards showcase Sunday, August 5, and asked them to introduce themselves. Here's what they sent back. Catch up with the other showcase nominees and see our the rest of our HPMA coverage Rocks Off: When and where was your ... More >>

Longhorn Panic: Sealy WR Ricky Seals-Jones Decommits

It wouldn't be June if we didn't have some sort of off the field drama to worry about with our college football. And since the realignment talk this summer is at a dull roar at best, and since the resolution of a college football playoff is still several weeks away, how about a little recruiting ang ... More >>

Dynamo Tailgating: There Are Limits

A lot of fans rejoiced when the city eased off on anti-tailgating restrictions that would have barred the practice at the Dynamo's new downtown BBVA Compass Stadium. After opening the season with four straight road games, the Dynamo will finally open up their new park May 12, and they have announce ... More >>

Houston's Long Hot Dry Year: 2011 Year in Weather

There's an old saying, "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait." In 2011, that statement was on full display as we suffered some of the wildest weather changes the state has ever seen. In Houston, there was at least some consistency. Unfortunately, that consistency came in the form of a bruta ... More >>

Houston's Food Community Steps Up to Help Wildfire Victims

Photo by Chris ShepherdHouston's food trucks headed north to feed the victims of and responders to the Texas wildfires.​Although the wildfires in Bastrop have been getting the lion's share of media attention, fires are burning all over Texas right now -- including in our own backyard. And Hou ... More >>

Yes, That's Wildfire Smoke You're Seeing and Smelling (UPDATE: HISD Cancels/Re-Schedules Some Games)

Photo by GalgenTXThis is the Bastrop fire, but smoke is smoke.​The weather here is pretty perfect right now, in terms of heat and humidity. But in terms of dryness, it's still a bitch. You probably noticed a smoky smell this morning and even some haze. And yes, the source is probably what you ... More >>

Wildfire Relief: The 8 Best Firefighter Movies

​This wildfire stuff is getting ridiculous. The entire state of Texas is experiencing drought, categorized as "extreme" or "exceptional" in 95 percent of the state. Severe lack of rain high winds and high pressure = the fires currently ravaging Bastrop and Montgomery counties. Firefighters ... More >>

Texas Wildfires, Via Facebook and Twitter

LinneainTX​Recently we wondered what 9/11 would have been like with today's social media. We're getting some slight taste of it with the wildfires raging through Central Texas and Magnolia. People are tweeting updates, pleas for help rescuing livestock and horses, putting up photos and setti ... More >>

The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Weighs Ethics Against Charity

​Texas is ablaze today, wildfires ravaging Bastrop and threatening small towns outside of Austin. Fifty-seven fires are burning across 100,000 acres of Central Texas, and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed since this latest rash of fires broke out on Monday. And in Austin, local blogger ... More >>

Scary Wildfire Video Of Bastrop State Park

All but about 100 acres of the 6,000-acre Bastrop State Park have been blackened by fire, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department says, and they've posted this video to show why. With surprising alacrity, a fire creeps across the land, with nothing to stop it and wind to push it along. And that is w ... More >>

Centro-Matic

Chef Chat, Part 1: Federico Cavatore and Chef Raul Garcia of Cavatore's

Federico Cavatore and Chef Raul Garcia.​If you're reading this, most likely you're interested in all things digestible. You are not only aware of the difference between organic and biodynamic, but you have the solstices etched out on your calendar. You know where all the latest and greatest pl ... More >>

Rocks Off Explains Austin City Limits' "Survival Guide"

Mark C. AustinOne day Austin City Limits will live down last year's "Dillo Dirt" debacle. That day is not today.​This year marks the fourth year that Craig's Hlist will be covering the Austin City Limits Music Festival for the Houston Press and Rocks Off. Each year we get more acclimated to th ... More >>

Bomb That Mosque!

KTRH host hopes for violence.

Joe Chavez: Former TABC Agent Accused Of Sexually Assaulting His Decoy In Underage Drinking Sting

"I thought she was 18!" won't work​Last May, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission decided that some minors in Bastrop County might have been having a little too much fun. They apparently decided it was high time to conduct a sting operation.One of the TABC's tried-and-true methods is to s ... More >>

Social Distortion: Getting Off the Grid in Texas, Sorta Kinda

​You've probably heard the expression "getting off the grid" more times than you can shake a BlackBerry at.  These days, completely eliminating yourself from civilization (temporarily, mind you; for other self-removals, please see here immediately) is a task almost exclusively reserved ... More >>

Clyde's Wyldwood B-B-Q Shack, Casino & Freakshow

photo by Robb Walsh After talking about Texas barbecue and the health benefits of brisket all day, I was ready for a serious barbecue sandwich on the way back to Houston. So I stopped at Clyde's Wyldwood B-B-Q Shack and Casino. There I asked for a sliced brisket sandwich--a decision I regretted as ... More >>

The Gourds land a real Haymaker!

Dead to Rights

What Happens When Chronically Ill Kids Grow Up

Physically disabled young adults who weren't supposed to live this long find themselves hemmed in by an unprepared heath care system

Houstoned Theatre Presents: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Like You've Never Read Them Before

SXSW: Fourteen Bands in Eight Hours

A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

Texas Albums

2007's best Texas albums, from Houston, Austin and beyond

A Hell of a Weekend

Mike Spear, Jordy Tollett, Texas Monthly and Metro

He's in prison but his name lives on

Cold Case

Woman found dead 17 years ago in Manvel remains unidentified

Bored with Apathy

Houston's old-school punks reunite to aid a stricken legend

Motorcycle Madness

Two-wheeled tours of H-town, East Texas and the Hill Country

SMOM-my Dearest

Sound Exchange's David Wilcox hopes to plant a Montrosian colony in the Second Ward

History in the Unmaking

Drexler's has finally outgrown its 50-year-old barbecue pit

Preservation Hall

Project Row Houses will revive Houston's first home of black music

Political Splashes and Splats

The triumph of Bob and Sheila; the tragicomedy of Craig and Lloyd

Killer Weed

The life-suffocating Salvinia molesta has entered Texas waterways. It's green, fast and deadly.

Spun From the Underground

How an ex-con, a would-be physicist and a kindergarten teacher helped shape Houston's DJ subculture

Three from Texas

With a spate of independent movies, the state once again leaves its mark on film

Bad Deal

John Ballis was a crook. But he expected the federal government to keep its end of a bargain.

In The Rough

In its quest for a Municipal golf course, Lake jackson learned a valuable lesson: Never buy land without checking it out first. Unfortunately, the lesson came six years too late.

Murky Water

State Senator Buster Brown wants to make Lake Jackson safe for development. Guess who's one of the developers.