Subject: Galveston

• More Boots On The Ground In Galveston

  October 23, 2008

• Kentucky Newspaper Says R.I.P, Galveston

  October 29, 2008

• Ike Also Did Damage Underwater

  October 30, 2008

• More Ike-Debris Stats For Your Amazement

  November 7, 2008

• Galveston's O'Connell High May Close

  November 7, 2008

• Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe Making Progress

  Daniel Kramer Some very good news out of Galveston, via the Hands Up Houston message board (thanks, Ron). As John Nova Lomax reported back in September, Galveston roots/singer-songwriter venue the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe was ravaged by Hurricane Ike, and owner Wrecks Bell said at the time he thought the damage was so extensive the Old Quarter may well be out of commission for good. Now, though, thanks to the efforts of friends such as those who participated in last Sunday's benefit at Dan

  November 18, 2008

• A Modest Proposal for the Rehabilitation of Galveston

  We've seen the devastation first-hand, read the gloom and doom reports. Bolivar has been erased. UTMB's cutbacks threaten terminal meltdown for the Galveston economy. The schools are in peril. The beaches are ravaged.What is to be done?Predictably, there is a call for casino gambling on the island. In an October 24 letter to Galveston city officials, Allen Flores, a bigwig Strand merchant had this to say: "Casino gambling would provide jobs, middle-income housing needs, increased tax base and a

  November 26, 2008

• Catholic Churches On Galveston May Be Closing

  Catholics in Galveston, already reeling from the news that O'Connell High might have to close, are facing another post-Ike crisis: most of the Catholic churches on the island might be gone too.The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is mulling plans to merge all the Galveston parishes into one island-wide parish at St. Patrick's, KHOU reported.All the churches in Galveston suffered damage from Ike, and attendance -- and the related collections -- have been down ever since the storm.Here's the weekl

  December 15, 2008

• 23rd Annual American Institute of Architects-Houston Sandcastle Competition

  June 4, 2009

• If You're Paying Four Bucks For A Brownie And You're Not In A Starbucks, Watch Out

  Four bucks for a brownie? Unless you're getting a mocha cappacrappachino with soy and no foam, chances are there might be something suspicious going on.Five students from Ball High in Galveston found that out when they got sick after buying pot-laced brownies from another student yesterday.Three of the students went to the nurse's office, with at least one complaining of a panic attack and a desire to actually listen to an entire Phish song.Call us cynical, but we're thinking the students' compl

  January 16, 2009

• Galveston's Di Bella's Restaurant Survives Ike, Gets Hit By Fire

  Di Bella's, a cozy little Italian place (we guess we should call it a "joint") in Galveston, got hit by Ike but opened its doors a month or so after the storm.So it really sucked that the place was knocked out by a big fire early Monday morning.No one was injured seriously in the -- as they say in the news business -- "pre-dawn" blaze, but there was plenty of damage.The second story was "almost completely lost, [but] the downstairs dining area appears to have suffered mainly water damage," the G

  January 27, 2009

• Final Arguments Expected In Trial Of Galveston Girl Mistaken For Hooker

  Final arguments are expected to begin today in the criminal trail of Dymond Milburn, the 12-year-old Galveston resident who is accused of assaulting cops who tried to arrest her outside her home after mistaking her for a hooker.We first wrote about her here, in a story that rocketed around the web. Galveston police got a call that three white prostitutes were working Milburn's  neighborhood; the girl was outside her home dealing with a tripped breaker. Saying she was wearing provocative clo

  February 9, 2009

• Is Houston-to-Galveston Rail Actually a Real Possibility?

  Photo by hsjfender A couple of weeks ago Hair Balls was on the Island, quaffing a few pints at O'Malley's Stage Door Pub with several of the Islander By Choice bloggers -members of Galveston's small but increasingly feisty and vocal thirtysomething-age middle class. "We're all drooling over rail," said IBC blogger Adrienne Culpepper. "There were people for and against it before the storm, but now nobody can think of a reason not to do it." We agreed wholeheartedly with her sentiment, but as

  February 18, 2009

• Taking Stock of Galveston's Restaurants

  Photos by Katharine Shilcutt Casey's giant fiberglass shrimp looks out from the restaurant onto the Gulf of Mexico.Driving along Broadway on your way into the heart of Galveston, it would appear that the island has finally sprung back to life five months after Hurricane Ike passed directly over it.  Stores and restaurants are open, medians are planted with fat clumps of flowers, traffic -- even on a Thursday -- is robust.  But leaving Broadway in either direction -- t

  February 22, 2009

• How To Save Galveston, Part One

  Photo by Beau BThis week's cover story (coming online later today) is about the drive to bring legal casino gambling to Galveston. With the Island's economy in shambles after the one-two punches of Hurricane Ike and the global financial meltdown, a vocal contingent of Galvestonians think the best way to jump-start the economy is to bring on the gambling palaces. Others think that casinos would in the long run be more disastrous than any hurricane.But casinos are just one of several ideas for Gal

  March 4, 2009

• How To Save Galveston, Part 2: Throw the Bums Out

  This week, Hair Balls is examining the many and varied roads Galveston could take to recover from Hurricane Ike. This week's cover story explores the possibility of casino gambling, while an earlier post here discusses Galveston relying on its existing, tried-and-true economic drivers.But those are far from the only ideas drifting around town. Island financial analyst and blogger David Stanowski's dream idea is to turn Galveston into a haven for small business, or the Hong Kong of Texas. To do s

  March 4, 2009

• The Traffic Fun Lasts All Weekend On The Gulf Freeway

  Photo by Anderson ManciniThis weekend begins a traffic nightmare on the Gulf Freeway.Actually, it sorta began last night, when they closed down NASA Road 1 and FM 529 for a couple of months. But tomorrow night the real fun begins, as the highway itself is closed so that workers can destroy the overpass that is being replaced.From 9 pm Friday until 5 am Monday, the freeway is closed at the Nasa Road 1 intersection.It's the frontage roads for you if you're hoping to get to Galveston. Combine that

  March 5, 2009

• How To Save Galveston, Part 3: Gettin' Its Savannah On

  This week, Hair Balls is examining the many and varied roads Galveston could take to recover from Hurricane Ike. This week's cover story explores the possibility of casino gambling, while an earlier post here discusses Galveston relying on its existing, tried-and-true economic drivers. A third envisions Galveston as the Hong Kong of the Gulf of Mexico, and one from a few weeks back casts Galveston as a commuter rail suburb of Houston. This one looks away to Dixieland -- Savannah, Ga. to be exact

  March 5, 2009

• Houston Sells Galveston Some Old School Buses, Cheap

  Photo by wheanyAn item on the upcoming HISD board agenda calls for the district to sell 50 school buses to Galveston ISD to replace those lost in Ike.The cost: $682 each.HISD says that figure is "the average sale price of a school bus that HISD has received from past auctions." To which we asked: Really? A couple hundred bucks gets you a school bus?The answer, apparently, is yes.HISD sent us the spreadsheets of the last two bus auctions, in February and October of last year. Looking at it, the p

  March 10, 2009

• Brandon Backe's Hard-Ass Cops Disciplined, Kind Of

  We've raised some questions about the fact that Astros semi-pitcher Brendon Backe is opening a bar in the wake of his participation in a drunken wedding brawl in Galveston last year. Now the report on that brawl -- called a "riot" initially -- has come out, and thirteen Galevston police officers have been disciplined. Vindication for Backe? Maybe. The cops were punished not for whaling away on innocent partyers celebrating wedded bliss, but for paperwork violations. According to the Galvest

  March 19, 2009

• Life On The Rodeo Road: From The Dirt To The Skies

  Photo by Paul KnightName: Bud MunnsAge: 24Hometown: Hansel Valley, UtahEvent: BarebackI got into rodeo because I grew up on a ranch, and that's kind of the way it was. My dad did it and so did my brother. We lived too damn far from town to do anything else, so we'd just ride. If I didn't rodeo, I'd be flying planes. I'm about to graduate with a degree in aviation science. Rodeo ain't life-long, my body is breaking down too damn fast. I start flight instruction in a couple months, then I'll be fl

  March 20, 2009

• Now Bolivar Wants In On The Whole Gambling Thing

  We've already noted that some Galveston residents are hoping that legalized gambling is the island's ticket for a post-Ike comeback; now it's Bolivar Peninsula getting in on the action.Galveston County Commissioner Patrick Doyle who represents the devastated area, tells KHOU the devastation is a big selling point."The slate is clean to do as they please," Doyle said. "There are no constraints, because the whole peninsula north of (state) Highway 87 is completely clear and ready."Thanks, Ike!Doyl

  April 6, 2009

• Bill Engvall

  April 9, 2009

• Thanks, Ike: From Five Parishes To One On Galveston & Bolivar

  Five Catholic parishes serving the Galveston area will be consolidated into one, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston announced today.Gone are the parishes of St. Patrick, Holy Rosary, Sacred Heart, St. Peter the Apostle and Our Mother of Mercy. In their place will be a single parish, yet unnamed. (Probably not a front-runner for the new name: St. Isaac Jogues, a/k/a "St. Ike's."Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said in a press release that the consolidation was the best way to serve the 3,000 homes that

  April 14, 2009

• Is Casino Gambling in the Cards for Galveston?

  March 5, 2009

• Star Party

  Web exclusive!

  February 19, 2009

• Ike, hooters, Snack Wrap and Budge and Bistro

  January 22, 2009

• Hurricane Ike's Wake

  Forgotten and overlooked, Galveston and the Texas Gulf Coast struggle on in the storm's aftermath

  January 8, 2009

• The Stars of HISD

  January 1, 2009

• Bayousphere

  December 18, 2008

• Dickens on the Strand

  Ike who? Galveston Island’s ode to merry old England is alive and well

  December 4, 2008

• Pirate Proposal and Dogfighting Outrage

  December 4, 2008

• Beaumont TV Station Warns Of Pirate Attacks: We Investigate!!!

  Back in November, Hair Balls indulged itself in some utterly sub-Swiftian satire on the possibility of Ike-wracked Galveston reconstructing itself as a haven for pirates. We suggested that Galveston apply for a Federal License to Plunder, citing advantages such as ease of access to all the booty the Ship Channel had to offer and the boons to the local economy nouveau riche buccaneers would bring to the town. We also noted that as the one-time home-port of Jean Lafitte, Galveston had historic

  April 17, 2009

• The Strand's Historic Buildings Get A Boost

  Photo courtesy Galveston Historical FoundationThe Strand, downtown Galveston's most historic district, is getting a little help today in its efforts to preserve itself.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named "The Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston" as one of its 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.Even before Ike there were worries about the buildings which had been constructed back when Galveston was Texas's main port. But the storm did some major damage,  a Trust V-P report

  April 28, 2009

• Back To The Leggy Future For Galveston, And John Nova Lomax

  This was the hotttness back in the day in GalvestonFrom 1920 to 1932, Galveston hosted an annual "pageant of pulchritude" on the beach in front of the Seawall. At its Roaring `20s peak, the bathing-suit contest that was officially known as the Galveston Island Beach Revue would entice some 200,000 people (a preponderance of them male, we would imagine) per year, tripling the population of the Island for the weekend. After a dormancy of 76 years, it is coming back on May 16. The event is being re

  April 30, 2009

• Bring Back the Babes and Bitches

  May 7, 2009

• Openings and Closings

  Galveston Island continues its revivalRecent restaurant openings around Houston indicate that seafood and the seashore are the buzzwords of the day. Several new restaurants have cropped up in Galveston, among them Boudreaux's on the Bayou (6310 Heards Lane), Chopin Mon Ami Restaurant (1508 39th Street) and Gumbo Bar (2105 Post Office).  Down the street from Gumbo Bar, 901 Postoffice continues the island's culinary revitalization as an old house has been transformed into a c

  May 15, 2009

• Re-Birth-Day Celebration

  May 28, 2009

• Texas Traveler: Juneteenth Celebrations

  Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the United States, first began in Galveston, and as such, the area around Houston is home to some of the biggest and most lavish Juneteenth celebrations in the world. The June 19 holiday, also sometimes called Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, marks the day in 1865 when federal soldiers arrived in Galveston to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, signed in September 1862. The proclamation was set to go into effect on January 1 o

  June 15, 2009

• Ike Claims Yet One More Victim On Galveston: The Fun Of Bowling

  Oh Galveston, when will your Hurricane Ike suffering ever end?News has come down that the last bowling alley on the island, the imaginatively named Island Bowl, will not reopen. Roof damage during Ike and struggles with insurance money have proven to be too much to over come.No bowling. Are there two sadder words in the English language? Yeah, probably. "President Bush" comes to mind.But now Galveston, which once sported three alleys, lies totally bereft of rentable shoes, greasy food and the jo

  July 7, 2009

• Commuter Rail From Galveston And Hempstead By 2012!! Well, Maybe

  ​The Citizens Transportation Coalition is currently giddy with dreams of 90 MPH commuter trains speeding from Galveston and down 290 into the city...possibly by 2012, which sounds like the far future but is only three years away. There hasn't been much public movement on commuter rail since the HGAC's study was released a year ago. But quietly, gears are meshing, and we may have commuter rail to Galveston and Hempstead as early as 2012.On Thursday, the North Houston Association hosted a high-p

  August 4, 2009

• TxDot Rethinks Its Plan To Close I-45 This Weekend, But Plan B Isn't Much Better

  ​Galveston is breathing a sigh of relief today -- TxDOT has reconsidered its plan to close all southbound lanes on I-45 this weekend during road maintenance.With just a few more days of summer, losing a weekend's worth of business would be a blow to the island's already weekend economy. But this afternoon, TxDOT -- wait for it -- changed its mind.The schedule maintenance has been postponed until after Labor Day, leaving Galveston free to squeeze every bit it can out of the summer season. (More

  August 4, 2009

• Dickens on the Strand Returns To Full Strength This Year

  Photos courtesy of Galveston Island​Last year, after the all-round drenching and destruction that the Strand Historic Landmark District in Galveston took on in Hurricane Ike, the annual presentation of the Dickens on the Strand was a shadow of its former self. Three months wasn't nearly enough time to recover from all the wind and water, but local residents rallied anyhow whether for love of tradition or tourist dollars (or both) and put on a show anyhow to keep the string alive. This ye

  August 27, 2009

• "Galveston's Coming Back -- It Looks Like Home Again"

  Marie Creasy is the manager of the Poop Deck on Galveston's Seawall, so she's been at Ground Zero for the past year's efforts to recover from Ike.As far as she can tell, things are back: "Everybody seems to be putting their lives back together, and those that aren't putting their lives back together are leaving, they're going somewhere else."Take a look at Galveston and its surroundings, one year after Ike the Bastard, in this week's feature story by John Nova Lomax.

  September 9, 2009

• A Disaster Begins

  October 1, 2009

• 38th Annual Galveston Restaurant Association Epicurean Evening

  October 15, 2009

• Texas Traveler: Galveston Ghosts

  Photos by Brittanie SheyDash Beardsley starts the tour.​Dash Beardsley is a legend, both in his own mind, and in real life. The Robert Plant look-alike, owner and operator of Ghost Tours of Galveston, shows up for tours wearing a floor-length black duster, silver rings on every finger, and sunglasses. At 8 o'clock at night. Before the tour starts, he designates someone to be his "lantern-bearer." He carries with him a backpack blaring songs from The Doors, and quotes openly from Jim Morris

  October 19, 2009

• 3rd Annual Galveston Pride Fest

  October 22, 2009

• Haunted Cemetery Tour

  October 29, 2009

• West Galveston Tells Cops: You'll Pry Our Golf Carts From Our Cold, Dead, Lazy Hands

  Photo by da nes​Things have been rough on the West End of Galveston, what with the destruction by Hurricane Ike and all that comes from building McMansions one inch about sea level.But now the gods have gone too far. Now they want to take away residents' golf carts.The Galveston city council meets today to discuss the momentous issue. Residents initially believed a vote to ban the vehicles was on the agenda, but now it looks like the council will just take the easy way out of appointing a comm

  November 5, 2009