Houston Chronicle Publishing Company

January 2013 in Openings & Closings: The Heights Heats Up

The eerily silent Shepherd Plaza near Highway 59 is now even dimmer this week after longtime tenant Le Peep closed up shop and vacated its space next to Amy's Ice Cream. Branches of the brunch spot are still open in Rice Village and the Galleria, according to a sign out front. Amy's and its other ne ... More >>

Classic Downtown Macy's Shutting Its Doors

According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, the store those of us who grew up in Houston knew as Foley's downtown since it opened in 1947 will be shutting its doors as part of a move by Macy's to close underperforming stores. It will begin a clearance sale on January 7 that will run for about ... More >>

Nine Dead in Fatal Car Accidents Over the Weekend

The roads in Houston aren't exactly beyond Thunderdome, but they can be dangerous, particularly when the are wet and slick with rain, as was the case this weekend when nine people lost their lives in six separate accidents on the streets and freeways of Houston, according to multiple reports. One b ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Chron's Journatic Mistake Criticized

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula i ... More >>

Trey Eric Sesler: YouTube Film Critic "Mr. Anime" Accused Of Killing Three Family Members

Trey Eric Sesler, a 22-year-old who styles himself "Mr. Anime" for his YouTube movie reviews, is in jail, accused of using a high-powered rifle to kill his parents and his brother. The murders were discovered Tuesday in the small town of Magnolia. Police found the bodies of parents Lawton Ray Sesle ... More >>

Houston's Underground Reservoir: Five Potential Uses to Fear

The Houston Chronicle has a terrific story on an empty underground reservoir near Buffalo Bayou. The large space -- about one and a half football fields -- features 25-foot ceilings supported by slender columns, with entry and exit limited to a trap-door at the surface. The Buffalo Bayou Partnersh ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

Another Wine Blog: Love born in the blogosphere. It's a beautiful thing. A few weeks ago, when I shared a glass of stinky, delicious Cortese (from Piedmont) with tandem wine bloggers Amy and Joe Power, authors of Another Wine Blog, they told me the story of how they met in the "pre-blog" era, in a ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Food Trucks and Football-Shaped Bars

As we reported earlier this week, Houston is getting three new out-of-town chains soon. Will you be patronizing any of them? Austin-based Torchy's Tacos will be opening on December 7 in the old Gratefull Taco spot. Burger House is moving down from Dallas into a space in Rice Village in 2012. And El ... More >>

Tarell Waller, 24, and Javon Shantrice Williams, 22, Bayou Body Count Nos. 145 & 146

HPDChavon Frank faces two counts of intoxication manslaughter​Police say a drunk woman ran a red light and plowed into two pedestrians, and she has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in their deaths. Chavon Latowya Frank, 30, was driving westbound on West Fuqua about 9:15 p.m. Wednes ... More >>

China Sends Cops to HPD, HPD Sends Them to Hospital

Two Houston police cars at the agency's driving range had "a timing issue" with a maneuver this morning, and crashed. Among the passengers: Cops from Houston's sister city in China, who were being shown just how great HPD drivers are. The Houston Chronicle reports "five Chinese law enforcement dig ... More >>

Kevin Gonterman: Spent Two Snake-Ridden Days At Bottom Of 30-Foot Manhole

"Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine"​A League City man who has been missing since Saturday was found at the bottom of a 30-foot manhole, apparetnly lucid but suffering from a number of snake bites. Kevin Gonterman, 25, was found b ... More >>

Ira Jones, 33, Bayou Body Count No. 94

Keira Jones's charge may be upgraded to murder.​A man whose girlfriend threw scalding water on him during an argument has died from the injuries, police say. Ira Jones, 33, was arguing with his 17-year-old girlfriend Keira Jones June 18 in the home they shared in the 1000 block of East 32nd ... More >>

Montrose's Creepiest Adult Bookstore Burns Down, Man Killed

Google mapsA Montrose landmark of sorts, gone.​For years, the Talk of the Town adult bookstore on Richmond just west of Montrose has been a creepy oddity -- from the outside, it looked like a shabby, about-to-fall-down barn, its fading red paint, lack of windows and seeming claustrophobic cond ... More >>

Sonya Wells, 37, Bayou Body Count No. 85

Mother of three dead over a sports bet​A Houston woman was killed on the south side of town Friday night when she was hit by a stray bullet. Sonya Wells, 37, was hit by a bullet at her home in the 5400 block of Chenault about 10 p.m. Friday during a dispute over a bet on the NBA Finals, the H ... More >>

The Ima Hogg Competition

Unidentified Male, Bayou Body Count No. 18

Dead for days?​A man was found stabbed to death in an Ella Boulevard apartment this morning, and reports indicate a) the woman he was living with said she had done it, and b) she then left the body in the apartment for days. Police were called to an apartment in the 2100 block of Ella Bouleva ... More >>

Maria Hernandez, 59, Bayou Body Count No. 153

Killed while sweeping​All Maria Hernandez wanted was to keep the front of her home on Crosstimbers clean. Instead she ended up dead.Hernandez, 57, 59, was slammed by a hit-and-run driver in the 400 block of Crosstimbers a little before 9 a.m. Sunday morning, and was pronounced dead at the scene.Wi ... More >>

Molto Italiano at Sabetta Cafe & Wine Bar

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​A new restaurant has stepped up to the plate at 2411 S. Shepherd, the former location of Crostini and -- more recently -- the ill-fated Cafe Zol. Sabetta Cafe & Wine Bar, the creation of Chef Riccardo Palazzo-Giorgio and wife Donna, opened this week. Sabetta was th ... More >>

iFest Aftermath: After The Rain, A Downpour Of Gulf Coast Soul

Photos by Eggs/ breakfastontour.comThe Hustlers Brass Band was popular with our writers and photographers.​ As Sunday morning came down in sheets of rain and the crackle of thunder, prospects looked cloudy for Day 2 of the Houston International Festival. Intrepid music fans who dragged out of bed ... More >>

The Chronicle Bids Adieu To The Free Weekly TV Section

​Houston, you only have a few weeks left to enjoy your free weekly TV section in the Sunday paper. This announcement applies only to the few dozen people who still do so, most of them looking for Matlock reruns.The Houston Chronicle announced this weekend it is joining the hosts of dailies who are ... More >>

David Adickes' Random Big Head Lady Gone From Main Street

​Sculptor David Adickes is having a rough April. The spry, 83-year-old monumentalist hewer of concrete -- famous for his president heads, gargantuan mustachioed telephones, giant Beatles, and enormous Texas heroes -- first saw the six presidential busts he had places in a busted Pearland real esta ... More >>

Great Moments With Mr. Rockefeller: Billy Harper, Garth Brooks and Sonny Rollins

[Ed. Note: To help spread the word about next Friday's benefit for the Houston International Festival's education programs at Rockefeller Hall, featuring Texas Johnny Brown and Marcia Ball, Rocks Off asked iFest director of performing arts and former Houston Chronicle music critic Rick Mitchell to r ... More >>

New Thai Joint Opens on Bangkokheimer

​Thai Bistro, the popular Houston Thai restaurant located at 3241 Southwest Freeway, recently opened a new location at 11660 Westheimer, the former location of Thyme Table Café. The Houston Chronicle's Alison Cook loved Thyme Table for reasons I never understood. I tried it and found it too b ... More >>

Election Night Parties So Far Are As Scintillating As The Campaign

Photo by Mike Giglio​Things are very quiet at the vote-watch "parties" tonight, as the candidates and their supporters settle in for what's likely to be a long night of seeing who ends up being the odd person out.This description, of the Annise Parker bash, is pretty much true of the others. Excep ... More >>

Aftermath: The Pogues Destroy House of Blues, and Rocks Off Is Ready to Move On

Photos by Daniel KramerThis is about how we feel this morning.​Attention budding music writers, assuming there are still a few of you left who think getting into shows for free is a fair trade for your health, well-being, a decent paycheck and reasonably normal social life: It's not. It's pretty m ... More >>

"The $29.95 Polyphonic Art Score"

Sketchy Artists draw upon their experiences with music

Layoffs at the Houston Chronicle

The Black-and-White Blues

American Idol Returns Tonight... Yawn

Come back Kelly Clarkson, all is forgiven... If you've been lucky enough to spend the past several months in a media-deprivation tank - or maybe you just don't read the Houston Chronicle - then you no doubt know Fox's shrill-singing flagship series American Idol returns tonight at 7 p.m. (As ... More >>

We Try To Help HISD's Druggie Teachers, But Get Rebuffed

HISD teachers, you have been warned: the drug-sniffing dog is coming for you. Superintendent Abe Saavedra told reporters the dog will be visiting every campus to check the employee parking lots.Of course, publicity about the string of teacher-drug arrests hasn't stopped teachers from bringing drugs ... More >>

This Blows!

Houston has a national rep for taking down buildings. So why are these eyesores still standing?

Stocking Stuffers

Homeless pols, rail guardian angels and drugs for City Council

Tale of Two Cities

Kid-Care's former leader says the attorney general is playing favorites

Criminals Beware

KPRC has an FBI man to state the obvious

Golden Oldies

How many times can the Chronicle write the "How to be a Texan" story?

This Modern World

The marriage of local TV news and the World Wide Web is rocky

KPRC Tops Itself

Dr. Freud, breast obsession on Line 2

Starry, Starry Night

The Chronicle gets honored at a downtown bash

Holier Than Thou

Channel 13 and the Chronicle squabble over a pothole story

Energy Rules

The Chronicle performs a boosterism triple play

Booster Shot

A proposed Medical Center project gets big, big play

No Contest

KPRC uses the IRS for this month's sweeps giveaway

Playing Games

The Olympic vote is hush-hush at the Chronicle

Best 15 Minutes of Fame

A.J. McClure, Kaufman County

Best Sports Columnist

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle

News Hostage

News Hostage

News Hostage

Letters

What the Chronicle Correction Left Out

Death in the Morning