Hempstead (New York)

Blackberries: Where to Find Them, How to Pick Them & What to Make with Them

Blackberry-picking season is right around the corner. In fact, in the next several weeks, blackberries will be ready for picking at several local farmers' markets. Don't be fooled by the early berries growing on the side of the road because those are dewberries, not blackberries. Tommy Neal from Ne ... More >>

Mr. Record Man: Willie Nelson

In the Houston of 1959 and 1960, Willie Nelson was just another unknown musician. But not for long.

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.

Amber Lynn Garcia: A Glamour Girl's Summertime Alleged Mugging Spree

For the second time since July, a Hempstead Highway exotic dancer is facing felony aggravated robbery charges. According to a complaint filed September 20, 24-year-old Amber Lynn Garcia menaced a woman with a tire tool on September 4 and took an untold amount of valuables from her. Garcia, who rep ... More >>

Troy Sesler, Anime Film Critic Who Murdered His Family, Gets Life Without Parole

Trey Sesler, the 23-year-old YouTube anime critic who had been charged with killing three family members in rural Texas, has entered a guilty plea and been given life without parole, Waller County prosecutors say. Sesler gunned down his parents and a brother in their Houston home and then led cops ... More >>

Thump, Thump: If It's July, It's the Heart of Watermelon Season

Growing up, the best part of having a birthday in July was instead of a cake, I got to go to my grandfather's watermelon patch and pick my own watermelon instead. He had a patch in Big Sandy, Texas, and it was our tradition that I could run up and down the rows searching for the perfect birthday mel ... More >>

A Feisty Texas Radio Road Trip with the Mike Stinson Band

Lonesome Onry and Mean hasn't been out on the road with his son, Mike Stinson Band guitarist Lance Smith, in quite a while. But due to a propitious routing that took us to my father's place in Gatesville for a couple of days, LOM hit the highway with the band last weekend. It is worth noting that L ... More >>

Barry Walter Bujol Jr. Gets 20 Years For Trying To Help Al Qaeda

A Hempstead man got 20 years in prison today for trying to smuggle GPS devices and pre-paid phone cards to Al Qaeda. Former Prairie View A&M Barry student Walter Bujol Jr, 30, had been convicted in November after defending himself in the trial, which featured a boatload of incriminating evidence, ... More >>

Carlos Fernandez, Three Other Teens Killed Homeless Man for a Dollar

Houston police say four teenagers have confessed to taking part in the murder of a homeless man from whom they stole a dollar. Pedro Ramos, 32, was shot and killed April 4 in the 11700 block of Hempstead Highway. Four teens, including a 16-year-old female, have confessed to taking part in the kill ... More >>

Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, Homeless Man Shot for His Bike & Food, Bayou Body Count No. 41

Houston police say a homeless man was shot to death for his bicycle and some food he'd been given. Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, was shot in the chest Wednesday night in the 11700 block of Hempstead Highway and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ramos was heard arguing in a parking lot about 10:3 ... More >>

Karbach Brewing's Grand Opening Brings a Big Crowd

Karbach's banana-flavored wheat beer is already a hit.​At last night's grand opening for Karbach Brewing, Rich Arnold walked over to me with a glass of Karbach's Weisse Versa wheat in hand. "Have you ever had a beer that tastes so much like..." "Banana!" we both finished at the same time. The ... More >>

Wildfire Evacuees Pause for a Breath at Lake Conroe KOA

Margaret DowningScott Ross had to flee his house​Scott Ross had held out past the wildfire evacuation order. The father of six didn't want to leave his place off at Southall Drive and FM 1486 to looters and in his case, it wasn't idle speculation. He'd already had a guy run out from under his ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

The end of the Age of Aquarius ​In honor of the NCAA Tournament ending, we're going to highlight some health inspection Cinderella stories. These are the little guys that lack citywide recognition but still have to conform to the same tough sanitation standards as the big-name restaurants. For ... More >>

Tonight Is No-Refusal Night: Behind The Scenes of a DWI

Tonight is no-refusal night.​Happy Friday! It's the joyous start to the weekend, that grateful lapse between the freshly dead work week and the one that looms next. It's also the kickoff to no-refusal weekend, HPD's drunk driving initiatve. If you're pulled over on suspicion of being drunk and ... More >>

Houston's Six Best Archeological Sites

Where's Indy when you need him?​We were intrigued by Brittanie Shey's visit to the Camp Logan ruins in Memorial Park last month, so we wondered: Where are the best spots in the Houston area to do some archeological exploring? We asked Louis Aulbach, one of the best Houston historians, for som ... More >>

Conroe Man Could Have Bought Willie Nelson's "Crazy" For $10

larrybutlertexas.comWillie Nelson and Larry Butler at Willie's Place, May 2009​One day in 1960, Larry Butler was rehearsing his band at the Esquire Ballroom on Hempstead Highway when the manager approached and said a man at the front door wanted to talk to him. "So I told her to just show th ... More >>

The 10 Worst Burglary Neighborhoods In Houston (For The Moment)

​What are the best neighborhoods to live in if you want to get burglarized? We've gathered 10 of the finest. We looked at the most recent crime stats for HPD beats, which means the month of October. HPD generally doesn't like "raw data comparisons between police beats" because the info can be ... More >>

Our Mother of Mercy

How far did cardinal go in tearing down Ike-ravaged church?

Unidentified Male, Bayou Body Count No. 215

Some beer, an argument, death​Things went from sitting around drinking beer to a heated argument to a dead body early Saturday morning on the northwest side.The incident, in which an unnamed victim died of blunt-force trauma after being hit in the head with a rifle, is being referred to a Harris C ... More >>

Celebrate National Farmers' Market Week Through August 7

Houstonian​Why, you ask? "Farmers markets are good for you for health, good for your community, and good for the economy," says Stacy Miller, executive director of the Farmers Market Coalition, a nonprofit supporting farmers' markets across the country. "During Farmers Market Week, we invite e ... More >>

Trae Day Moved To Northwest Mall, Says Trae

​Well, there you have it, hot off of Twitter. Trae Day, which had been searching for a new venue since the International Ballroom backed out a couple of weeks ago, has found a new home at Northwest Mall (9600 Hempstead Hwy., aka U.S. 290) on the same day as originally scheduled, July 22. Trae' ... More >>

Barry Walter Bujol Jr. of Hempstead: His Al-Qaeda Career Gets Nipped In The Bud

He'd received a book entitled 42 Ways of Supporting Jihad​A Hempstead man who told an undercover FBI officer he wanted "to travel overseas to fight in violent jihad for" Al-Qaeda was indicted today on charges of trying to help a terrorist organization.Barry Walter Bujol, Jr., 29, was arrested as h ... More >>

Dive Bar-ology 101: What A Dive Bar Is Not

​These days, there are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes a dive bar. Going by lists on sites like Yelp and Citysearch, and especially this laughable list from the Houston Chronicle, apparently any drinking establishment that does not sport bottle service, valet parking and a velvet r ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Sometimes There's God Edition

​Believe it or not, trolling the Houston Health Department website for tidbits about dirty floors, missing hand-washing signs and spoiled animal parts is not always an invigorating activity. But sometimes, as Blanche Dubois says, there's God. Take a look at page one under Full Service Restaur ... 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 >>

Bayou Body Count: Grandmother Stabbed To Death

Houston police on Monday arrested a man in the stabbing death of his girlfriend. Harold Chester Amburgey, 48, is accused of killing Donna Baeza, 48, who was found dead in her apartment in the 1700 block of Wirt Rd. May 17.She suffered a stab wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, according t ... More >>

Houston's Very Best Songs Ever

...otherwise known as the H-Town 20

Scenes from a Picnic

Willie, Dylan, Kinky and the Ghost of Bob Willis descends on Fort Worth. Wack is there too.

Hellish Houston

A summer selection of the Bayou City's most miserable music and depressing songs

The Canons of Courting

Or, eight simple rules for dating my teenage daughter

Letters

For Whom the Hell Tolls

Heights residents fear the toll road authority's new land acquisition plans

Pop Quiz

Think you know local music? Take the Bayou City Music Mindbender and find out.

Crazy Tony Is Back

Broken Note Records returns from the graveyard of labels

Polished Patsy

Country queen Cline's great music accents an awesome Stages play

Get Some Action

You won't be bored at this art opening

SMOM-my Dearest

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

At What Price?

Plus: So-So What, Right with Wong, Love Lessons

Small Wonder

The Hyde Park Miniature Museum has been dredged out of mothballs, but will it find a permanent home before time runs out?

Swingin' in the New Year

The Gen-X swing craze is dead. Long live swingin', '70s-style.

Dallas Domination

The Metroplex schools Houston when it comes to the indie scene

Best Go-carts

Speedy's Go Cart

Best Used Car Lot

Lawrence Marshall Antique Cars

Best Bike Shop

Shirar's Bicycle Store

The South Will Re-enact Again!

All Good Dogs Go to Heaven

The connection between pets and their owners doesn't necessarily end with death

Homeboy

Stephen Fairfield's restless spiritual journey brought him to the Fifth Ward, where he found true deliverance while helping to rebuild the neighborhoods

Press Picks

Letters

Farm to Mall Court

Fruits and vegetables try to take root in Westwood Mall