Hurricane Ike

10 Hurricane Season Postcards: Wish You Were Here Instead Of Me

Yesterday brought the opening of what will no doubt be a tense hurricane season. Memories of Ike and Allison are still vivid, and the wild weather in the U.S. so far this year seems to promise plenty of drama. As in all things, however, it always makes sense to turn lemons into lemonade, assuming y ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Remembering Hurricanes Alicia and Claudette

​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, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Ice Storm Hooky: Why Aren't You Spending Your Ice Day in the Bar, Houston?

No one knows how to spend a snow day anymore​It was a happy moment when Hair Balls' editor gave us permission to leave the office and cover the ice scare in a bar. Specifically, we were asked if we would go out and see where the biggest Friday early afternoon party is, presumably comprised of ... More >>

Our Mother of Mercy

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

10 by 10

Local playwrights show off their short works

10 by 10

Local playwrights show off their short works

Hurricanes: Rice Says Ike Was Nothing

Just a fresh seabreeze compared to what could have been​Just in time for hurricane season, a group created in the wake of Ike has issued a report that should be entitled "The Bejesus, And Scaring It Out Of You."Remember Ike and how much that sucked? Destruction in Galveston, no electricity in Hous ... More >>

Bureaucracy: Galveston May Resort To Video To Determine How Bad It Is

To be clear, this is not the judge's wife​You know things are bad in the bureaucratic red-tape department when you're thinking of resorting to videotaping events just to see how bad it is.That's what Galveston is thinking of doing, since getting hit with a ton of complaints that people tryin ... More >>

Houston Symphony: Forces of Nature

Listen to Mozart's and Beethoven's versions of the natural world

Extreme Makeover: Kemah Edition

Photos by Lee Riner / Click here for a slideshow​The Kemah Boardwalk has been hopping more than usual lately -- and in a weird way, some of it's because of Hurricane Ike ("You Bastard!")It's not gawkers hoping to see debris everywhere, 16 months later. Although we did see a large, phallic-shaped e ... More >>

"Flotsam and Jetsam: Artists Respond to Hurricane Ike"

Web exclusive

Life, Post-Ike: A Full Recovery

Just when it looked like UTMB might leave Galveston forever, local legislators saved it.

"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 toge ... More >>

If Who's On First, What's On Second: A Post-Ike Diary Documenting One Family's Attempt To Get Past First Base With The Houston Housing Authority

​Ike's anniversary is coming up, an event which will be well-covered locally. We're doing out part with the September 10 issue; until then we'll be posting some Ike-related items to whet the appetite.In the 1950s the famous comedy team of Abbott and Costello developed what is probably their most ... More >>

Houston: It's Worth Hurricane Ike

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt HIWI: Ike, the exhibition at the Galveston Arts Center​Nearly five years ago, Houston became home to one of the most unusual and subversive tourism campaigns in recent memory. The Houston: It's Worth It (HIWI) campaign began with a simple website and a list ... More >>

The Baby Boom That Wasn't and Allen Stanford Deserves a Break, Right?

Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

Openings and Closings

This week features not only restaurant closings and openings, but reopenings as well. The first of those, as expected, was Cafe Le Jadeite (1952 West Gray), which reopened this past Monday. Despite the fact that the name and decor have remained the same, the owners and the menu have changed. B4 ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Bolivar Peninsula

Photos by Brittanie SheyCrystal Beach, TexasSometimes vacations don't always go as planned. Texas Traveler hadn't been to the Texas Coast since last summer, a month or two before Ike hit. We'd seen the footage and heard the stories -- it was just too depressing to imagine our favorite beaches cover ... More >>

June 1: And So It Begins......

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!! (MUST CREDIT HAIR BALLS!!!!!) Today is the beginning of the hurricane season.While the rest of the so-called mainstream media will ignore this important milestone simply because writing or airing stuff about hurricanes in Houston results in cheap increases in ratings and clic ... More >>

Did Video Games Really Kill Generator-Using Ike Victims?

For a few hours yesterday, the lead story at Chron.com gravely warned Houstonians on the dangers of mixing generators and video games. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston evidently found that this happened often in the blacked-out weeks in the wake of Hurricane Ik ... More >>

Galveston's Hendley Market Finally Reopens (Kinda) After Ike

Hendley Market, Galveston's destination shopping place on The Strand for knick-knacks, sweets and other things you never knew you needed, is finally reopening after fixing its Ike damage."We are back in business after getting rid of that bad old Ike hangover," their announcement says.They also note ... More >>

That Pavilion No One Uses At Galveston's Seawolf Park To Be Replaced

Pretty much no one ever goes to visit the modernistic white pavilion at Galveston's Seawolf Park.Now they never will.The building, which is mostly a kind of visual landmark seen by people cruising on the ferry, was heavily damaged by Ike. Since it was a bit of a white elephant, the city's Parks Boar ... More >>

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 Hi ... More >>

Trouble With Trees On Galveston Island

Photo by Jennifer Reynolds This Galveston County Daily News photo shows the shape the trees are inGalveston needed more bad Ike news like it needed more Ike. But more bad news is being reported: The leafy trees that provided a distinctive canopy over many of the island's most charming street ... More >>

Ed Emmett Is Officially Pretty Pleased With The Ike Response

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett's official and final scorecard on local-government response to Hurricane Ike: "Pretty good."At a press conference Monday he addressed what worked and what didn't, and announced that most things worked out well."A state has the primary responsibility, if you will, and if ... More >>

The Kids At Valley West Elementary Finally Recover From Ike

Photo by Chris VogelLike a drunk wandering a pub that has run out of beer, so fourth-grader Andrew Jok roams his school's library looking for interesting books to read. He devours nearly a dozen books a month, you see, and he needs his fix. Jok's problem, however, along with the rest of the students ... More >>

The Top Hurricane Ike Myths

The Bay Area Houston Chamber of Commerce Convention & Visitors Bureau says there are a lot of myths going around about Hurricane Ike damage, and they're determined to stop them.So they've issued a release listing the Top Five Myths Following Hurricane Ike, and they address each with no-nonse ... More >>

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 direc ... More >>

Finally, Some Good News For The Bolivar Peninsula

Good news has been in short supply on the Bolivar Peninsula since Ike hit, but something that could pass -- these days, anyway -- as good news was announced this week.Crenshaw, a pre-K-8 elementary and middle school on the peninsula, will reopen February 4, GISD announced to the applause of resident ... More >>

Hurricane Ike's Wake

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

Trying to Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again in Galveston

Got a historic photo that shows what Galveston looked like before Hurricane Ike came through town? How about any documents pertaining to commercial or residential properties on the island? The Galveston Historical Foundation is putting out the word that anyone in possession of either of these thing ... More >>

Galveston's Grand Opera House Is Back, Baby

The 1894 Grand Opera House, socked with eight feet of water by that bastard Ike, is back.The facility officially reopens tomorrow with a free party featuring tours, sing-alongs and people reading from the best Ike survival stories. Then Jerry Jeff Walker will bring the place back for paying customer ... More >>

Top Ten Houston Sports Moments of 2008

10. I never really followed the Houston Comets, who folded several weeks ago. By the time they came on the scene I was getting pretty sick of professional basketball. So I never became invested in the team, and I can't feel any real loss behind their demise. Still, unlike the Rockets and Astros ... More >>

Top Ten Houston Sports Moments of 2008

10. I never really followed the Houston Comets, who folded several weeks ago. By the time they came on the scene I was getting pretty sick of professional basketball. So I never became invested in the team, and I can't feel any real loss behind their demise. Still, unlike the Rockets and Astros ... More >>

Rice Wins The Mayor's "What Do We Do With All This Ike Crap" Contest

The results are in for the contest to see just what the hell Houston should do with the millions of  cubic yards of Ike debris, and the big winner is Rice University.A team from Rice will get $10,000 for its plan to convert all the fallen limbs, brush and other wood crap into something called " ... More >>

Don't Let The Doorknob Hit You In The Ass On The Way Out, 2008 Hurricane Season

As of 12:01 a.m. today, the 2008 hurricane season is over. That doesn't mean there won't be any more hurricanes, it just means when they occur we'll be told what a surprise they are.As a practical matter, of course, Texas is largely free of hurricanes once you get into late September.But now we're r ... More >>

Turkeys of the Year

DA Chuck Rosenthal flies off with top honors

Slideshow -- Ike's Still Here

Hair Balls made a tour of downtown and some inner-city neighborhoods and found that evidence of Hurricane Ike's destruction is still very much evident. It's nothing like what Galveston and other beach-front communities are facing, of course, but plenty of Houston  businesses and homes are stil ... More >>

Book Review: A Collection Of Female Noir

MasterMinds -- Deadline Approacheth

Galveston Releases A Damage-Assessment Map

Chefs Pitch In for Brennan’s Fire Victims

Ike's Fuzzy Animals

All kinds of cuties are showing up

Public Storage Inc. -- Protecting You From Your Belongings

AG Says Two Motels Gouged Ike Victims

The Safest House In The World

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Ike

There's No Roof, But The Cock-Ring Sale Goes On!!

Rice Shuts Down Valhalla, Panic To Ensue Among Cheap-Beer Drinkers

RIP, Some of Our Best Of Houston® Winners

Hardly Knew Ye