Harris County

Prostitution Sting Johns: The Oddly Haired, The Wife-Fearing & The Guy Who Wants The Party To Keep On Going

The Harris County Sheriff's Office decided to get in the way of working women on their way to a master's in geopolitics by having itself a prostitution sting Tuesday. This time they weren't after the master's students hookers, they were after the johns. The operation focused on suspects soliciting ... More >>

Michael "Propostris" Veytovich: World of Warcraft and Hip-Hop Parodist Accused of Vile Sex Crimes

The front Michael "Propostris" Veytovich presented to the world was a jolly and humorous one, if deeply immature for someone in his mid-30s. A struggling voice actor and part-time rapper who apparently relied heavily on his wife's income, Veytovich looks to have whiled away his days in marathon Worl ... More >>

Jesus Martinez: Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Arrested For Dealing X

A five-year vet of the Harris County Sheriff's Office patrol division has been arrested and charged with possession and delivery of ecstasy. Humble resident Jesus Martinez, 30, surrendered to authorities today, the U.S. Attorney's Office says. This July "deputy Martinez allegedly aided others in th ... More >>

Anal Exceus, Shi'tia Alford: More of the Best Names We've Found In Harris County Records

Every now and then, Hair Balls reports the oddest, funniest, and most puzzling names we come across in Harris County official records -- usually but not always the crime reports. As always, a couple of disclaimers are in order. Not all, indeed not necessarily any, of these people were convicted of ... More >>

The Mass Confusion Over Whether Texas Medical Examiners Are Legit Without an Oath of Office

Some people have to take it twice.​When we saw this story about the Webb County Attorney wondering why the county medical examiner never took an oath of office, thus potentially jeopardizing all her rulings, we wondered if the same thing could ever happen in Harris County, since no medical exa ... More >>

Two Unidentified Males, One Shot by Cop As He Was Stabbing the Other, Bayou Body Count Nos. 98 & 99

Fatal stabbing and shooting in same fight.​Two men died in an early morning altercation today at a gas station near the West Loop and W. 18th Street, one by being stabbed to death and the other, the guy doing the stabbing, by a policeman's gun. No names have been released yet, but Houston pol ... More >>

Gun Charges Dropped Against Two Rice Football Players

Rice football becomes a little less gangsta​In April we noted a surprising run of guns-and-ganja arrests among Rice football players, not a population normally given to resembling the University of Texas, either on or off the field. So, in order to dispel the impression that the campus on Sou ... More >>

Animal Abuse: The Five Worst Houston Examples In 2010

Humans: Will you ever learn?​We like to think that animal abusers will not only get a lump of coal from Santa this time of year, but a pitchfork-in-the-ass from the Other Guy in Red as well. For those of you who like to keep tabs on just how low the human race can sink, here's a roundup of some of ... More >>

Unidentified Male, 22, Bayou Body Count No. 160

No charges filed in deadly shooting​An argument turned fatal in a neighborhood near the Johnson Space Center Sunday morning.An unidentified male went to a home in the 1900 block of Richvale about 9:40 a.m. to "confront" several people "about an earlier disturbance," police say.The man, whose ident ... More >>

Unidentified Couple, Bayou Body Count Nos. 12 and 13

​Harris County medical examiners have two more bodies on their hands.A little before 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, say police, the cops got a call asking them to check on someone at 1926 Spillers Lane, in the Spring Branch West part of town. When the officers got there, they found a man and woman, b ... More >>

Jail, Coffee, Drunk Driving and Insidious Racism?

Houston Press readers weigh in.

Magazine Actually Claims Harris County Can Govern Itself

​Reporter John Mecklin worked a long time in Houston for the old Post; he also served as an editor at the SF Weekly, the San Francisco paper in our very own Village Voice Media chain.He's now editor at a magazine called Miller-McCune, a publication started by a Southern California philanthropist; ... More >>

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 HG ... More >>

Violence And Kidnapping In Nigeria Makes Its Way To Houston Courtrooms

photo courtesy of beckstir01 Kidnappings, pipeline bombings and vigilantism has become a way of life for both offshore oil workers stationed along the coast of Nigeria as well as the oppressed native insurgency groups who carry out the violence. (Check out this week's feature about one Texan's re ... More >>

For Their Own Good: A Chance at Rehabilitation

Teens could go to TYC till they're 19, then have another hearing to determine parole or prison after that.

For Their Own Good

Harris County juveniles certified as adults are jailed in isolation 23 hours a day — without being convicted of a crime.

Maybe I-45 Isn't One Of The Deadliest Stretches Of Highway

Photo by TimDukeCommuters in the Woodlands, UH students, Galveston day trippers, people driving to Dallas for some reason, and any number of other Houston motorists - congratulations on cheating death!According to Fox News, I-45 in Harris County ranks fifth in a list of the 10 most dangerous stretch ... More >>

Con Artists Head To The Red Cross Shelters

The 99-Cent Dog Store

It's low-rent, but legal

The Jail's Mental-Health Issues To Get An Airing

Breaking: Crisis Over?

Harris County librarians and UT Longhorn football players' arrests

Send in the librarians!!

Whose Best Interests?

Margie Hill got sick, became a ward of the county and was moved to a nursing home. Son Marvin wants her back home. But she can't get out.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere...Oh, You Know Where This Is Going

Best Local Girl Gone Bad

Socialite Sanam Soudavar

Reality Check

Houston is scrambling for psychiatric and emergency medical services. But hoping for better state funding is just another psychotic episode.

Dems' New Year Vow: Oust GOP Judges

Candidate recruits include a former Republican jurist

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.

Best Place to Hear the Crack of the Bat (and of the Bones)

Harris County Senior Softball League, Bayland Park

Mid-Summer Daydreams

The Democratic Party chief is full of promises -- and attitude

Picking Up the Bill

This time, a plan to bring drug courts here has real teeth

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

Bet You Can't Vote for Just One!

Why did so many Houston Hispanics punch twice for president?

Tax Lean

Want a subsidy for your corporate expansion? Local governments are ready with millions in property-tax abatements -- and very little oversight.

Approaching Death At The County Morgue

For three years as Harris County's chief medical examiner, Dr. Joye Carter has been haunted by controversy. Can she survive?

Landrush

The city of Houston is being carved into special taxing districts, promising windfalls for some, financial burdens for others

Letters

Up To Date on '98

Balancing the Bench

Will race and bad blood play a part in the Guv's judicial picks?

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 Insider

The Insider

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?

The Gangs Among Us

Asian crime is growing. Asian immigrants are its main target. And the HPD hasn't a clue what to do.

Battle of the Bonds

Bail bondsmen claim no-money bonds are putting criminals on the street

Open Mouths, Closed Hearts

The Feds created a program to feed the hungry. In Harris County, it became a program to feed the greedy.

A Taxing Situation

When the tax assessor raises the value of one house on a block through the roof, the question is: Who's next?

The Color of Money

Harris County JPs complain they're being used to generate cash, not justice

Defending the Indefensible

Do court-appointed attorneys serve their clients or the courts?