Garnet Coleman

Doubling Down: Texas and Casino Gambling

The Alabama-Coushatta want their casino back. The Texas horse tracks say betting on races isn’t enough. Both see expanded gambling in the state as their ticket to solvency.

Bipartisan Bill Filed Creating Hike & Bike Paths From Houston's Utility Easements

People have been talking about it for years, but the idea came one step closer to reality this week when a bipartisan group of legislators filed bills to help create hike-and-bike paths along Houston's utility easements. Those easements -- the property surrounding, say, those large electricity towe ... More >>

Mary Gonzalez: The Lege Gets Its First Out Lesbian

Texas voters, even in the midst of a so-called "conservative uprising," managed to elect the first openly gay woman to the Texas House on Tuesday night. Mary Gonzalez, to be more specific, will be both the first woman to win House District 75 in El Paso and the second openly gay candidate to secure ... More >>

Down the Hatch

The Texas Attorney General's Office says a drugmaker lied in order to push an antipsychotic on foster children. So why are kids as young as three still taking the drug?

Jon Buice: Parole Reversed for Gay Basher

Jon Buice stays in prison.​Jon Buice, who had been awarded a controversial parole after serving time for his role in the gay-bashing death of Paul Broussard, will not be a free man after all. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today reversed its earlier decision granting Buice parole in l ... More >>

GLBT Hate Crime Victims Memorialized on Charles Armstrong's Property

Montrose residents lit a candle for hate crime victims.​Last night, throngs of people bearing candles filled an empty parking lot in Montrose, just off the main gay bar drag of Pacific Street. A block or two from here, Paul Broussard was murdered in 1991. Aaron Scheerhoorn was stabbed to death ... More >>

Our HAUS

Houston gets its first co-op — decades after other cities took the plunge.

UH Holding Out for More Tier One Funds, Blocking Legislative Deal

Coogs pushing hard in Austin.​The University of Houston is the last holdout in a vote to set the funding distribution method out of a voter-backed endowment devoted to ramping up the number of nationally ranked universities in Texas. The University of Texas and Texas A&M University are the st ... More >>

Mental Cases

Philip Grantham counts on his meds and his MHMRA doctor to stay straight. Too bad Texas is slashing funding.

Back To Paper Ballots For Some Of Harris County

Nostalgia, but no consolidation of voting locations​For all those who pine nostalgically for cardboard privacy boxes and paper voting ballots, oh boy is this the year for you.At an emergency meeting of the Harris County Commissioners' Court on Monday, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said paper ballot ... More >>

Third Ward High

The 2010 Yates championship team proved nobody does it better.

Houston's Craziest

In a one-of-a-kind short list, HPD names the 30 most troubled mentally ill in the city.

NPR Visits Houston To Examine Growth, Using A Soothing Voice

​You may have missed it this morning -- but a podcast should be available here (and part two is tomorrow)-- but NPR's Morning Edition came to Houston to look at how we handle growth.The network's Steve Inskeep said Houston represents the latest chapter of the Urban Frontier series because we have ... More >>

That Hyped Program To Fix Broadway Boulevard Apartments Didn't Fix Broadway Boulevard Apartments

Photo courtesy GHCVB​Someone asked us the other day what happened to all that grant money that was supposed to renovate apartment complexes along Broadway Boulevard and give the area a much-needed face lift. He was driving down the street and said it looked like not a single property had been fixe ... More >>

Post-Partum Depression As A Defense For Killing Your Child: Maybe Coming True In Texas?

Photo by normanackIn a surprisingly civilized and advanced move for our great state, local Texas House Democrats Jessica Farrar and Garnet Coleman co-authored and introduced a bill that would make post-partum psychosis a possible legal defense in trials of women who kill their children. Under the te ... More >>

Texas Woman Fights Abuse at the State's Schools for the Mentally Retarded

Her son was beaten up by an angry caregiver at Denton State School

Doctors vs. Parents: Who Decides Right to Life?

Following surgery, Sabrina Martin's condition went south. And then, her family says, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital set about arranging for her demise.

Letters to the Editor

Hand Balls

The highs and lows of a World Cup day and a gay pride evening

Best Democrat

Party of One

Ron Wilson gets down on fellow Democrats

Holy Halibut! It's Fishman and Jordy

Tanks a lot! This dynamic duo delivers the gauche from Gotham City

Bush Envy

When Democrats try to impersonate Republicans, the results ain't pretty

Dream Team or Bad Dream?

Democrats sift pre-election portents for the answer

The Two Faces of Womack

Is his campaign currying gays in Montrose, then bashing them in black areas?

Paying the Price

Hospital district officials wanted a simple one-sentence policy on immigrant health care. What they got instead was a criminal probe and plenty of politics.

Letters

Filling the Gulf, Anime Alert, Harsh on Harsh

Don't Mess with Garnet

Can a top-ranked lawmaker control his inner demons?

Hands On

When the sickest of Harris County's mentally ill break down, an ACT team is there to pick up the pieces and put them back together again

Future Shock

Can the system keep up with the evolution of mental health?

Catch Us If You Can

Steve Chesser went to MHMRA for help. Sent home from its emergency clinic without medicine or therapy, he shot his and killed himself. Diagnosis: A mental health care system in free fall.

Grave Importance

Old cemeteries rarely die. They just get buried under weeds, development and indifference.

Taking Aim

Teenagers and anti-handgun advocates are helping Jaime Barrica keep a promise to his dead son

Board and Care(less)

When it comes to housing the mentally disabled, is better-than-nothing good enough?

Methadone Meltdown

Dr. Amos and Cecilia Ozumba ran Houston Maintenance Clinic for four years. Have they finally run it into the ground?

Atlantis Sinks Again!

Fishy deals for Fire Station No. 1

Pulling the Strings

Politically connected Golden Eagle claws a critical TCADA inspector

The Insider

Raging Bull: Rains in pain becomes bane of the HSA board

The Insider

Rolling the Credits on Council's "B" Movie: The dynamic duo of Yarbrough, Johnson leave a legacy of campaign high jinks

Working Every Angle

The city of Houston is exploiting loopholes in state law to lavish big bucks on private developers

Storming the Ramparts

TSU struggles on as insiders battle detractors both within and outside the school's front gates

All in a Day's Work

Lockheed Martin's welfare-reform efforts have cost taxpayers across the country millions. So naturally, Lockheed Martin has been hired to train and find jobs for the poor in Houston and Harris County.

The Insider

The Johnson Treatment

Council candidate presides over a rather unique substance abuse program

Cozy Ties

In the battle to privatize welfare services in Texas, corporate bidders have enlisted some inside help

Midtown Jamboree

Why let a few conflicts of interest get in the way of a grand redevelopment scheme?

In Denial

As HIV spreads among blacks and Hispanics, agencies that serve those communities say they're being shortchanged

The Insider

Third Ward Rising

One of Houston's most venerable communities is set for redevelopment. Before that happens, though, perhaps one question needs to be answered: Whose community?

Opening Up

A promising young lawmaker goes public with his long battle with mental depression