Internal Revenue Service

Yevette Walton & Lakisha Rogers: They Interview Tax Preparers Until They Find One Willing To File 53 Fake Returns

We don't know who first came up with the phrase "you can't get good help nowadays," but whoever did likely realized the importance of having a staffer interview someone before hiring. It's a valuable personnel lesson ingrained in Yevette Lauren Walton and Lakisha Lashell Rogers, but for all their p ... More >>

Five Ways the DPS Could Improve Their Drivers License Mega Centers

If you need your drivers license renewed -- or have a kid getting his for the first time, God help us all -- you know what you are in for. The lines, the angry people, the smell, MY GOD THE SMELL! Ok, not all DPS offices smell bad (I'm looking at you Dacoma location!), but they all are God awful sev ... More >>

Joe B. Phillips Goes For "Despicable Lawyer Of The Year" Award: Rips Off Mentally Incompetent Vets

Just before his trial was set to start in federal court yesterday, Houstonian Joe B. Phillips, 73, faced up to the truth: He's a pretty despicable guy. How despicable? He entered a guilty plea to ripping off mentally incompetent veterans to the tune of more than $2 million. That's right: Phillips ... More >>

Chris Tucker

Austin Beer Fest Turns Into Houston Beer Fest Disaster, Redux

This past June, the inaugural Houston Beer Fest at Hermann Square Park outsold the space by 8,000 tickets, infuriating attendees. But that was just the first of many problems for the event. Lines to get in stretched for blocks as many guests suffered heat exhaustion. Lines inside the event were equ ... More >>

10 Rock Stars the GOP Should Nominate for President

As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the GOP is serious about wresti ... More >>

Bowling for Chumps

How insiders use the college bowl system to loot American universities.

Obama's War on Weed

In a strange about-face, the president tries to hack medical marijuana off at the knees.

Christian Lopez, Overtaxed Yankee Fan, The Sequel (Where He Becomes A Charity)

Christian Lopez: Now sponsored by the champagne of bottled beers​That's it, you win, Christian Lopez. I give up. You all remember, Christian Lopez, right? (It's only been like 24 hours since I last wrote about him. Please tell me you remember.) Just in case, Lopez was the ample Yankee fan wh ... More >>

Sanctus Bellum: Nothing Certain But Metal And Taxes

Photos courtesy of Sanctus BellumSanctus Bellum at Denton's 35 Conferette in March​What fuels heavy metal music? Some might say the Armageddon that is flirting with our world; others, watching the machinations of craven political and religious leaders. We, however, can testify that some of the ... More >>

Legislative Victory for Texas Beer

kMatherlyCheers indeed. Local breweries celebrate a win in the House of Representatives.Just as we were bemoaning the huge, wet bite the IRS took out of our savings account, along comes an example of tax dollars being put to good use. On April 21 the office of State Representative Jessica Farrar (D, ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

For some reason, this picture of the wine festival at Brenner's makes us very excited about the commencement of filming on The Hobbit.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where our constant tinkering in God's domain is about to pay off with the imminent discovery of a ... More >>

Playing Favorites

HISD partners with the Chronicle on magnet report

SPECIAL HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATION EDITION

Down on the Farm

The Humane Society and big agriculture slug it out over animal rights.

All Quiet On The Post Office Front

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttDaniel Dover finishes his Form 1040EZ.​Daniel Dover didn't wait until the last minute to file his taxes. He simply picked up the wrong set of information the first time around."I already had my stuff filled out for the most part, but I picked up the wrong booklet when I ... More >>

Turning The Screw: All the Way, Z-Ro, Devin, Lil' O, UGK, Nicki Minaj, Ras Kass, Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Dre, Aziz Ansari, Wu-Massacre and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Bring The Kush Back Freestyle," ATW Attn: Houston's Underground Rappers: You are on notice. These two ... More >>

He Said She Said: Fire In The Earhole!

thestarceleb.com​He Said began his week by watching a Houston landmark and one of his favorite restaurants of all-time go up in flames. We covered the Mai's fire most of Monday morning for Hair Balls, taking pictures of the smoke and flames as they got progressively worse and began engulfing the s ... More >>

The 2010 Census Launches the Latino Underground Into the Mainstream; Other Bold Predictions for the Coming Decade

Will Lil Young be one of this decade's breakout Latino rap stars?​ Can Latino hip-hop in Houston continue to thrive as a black-market force, of sorts, whose sales are invisible to the IRS, and evolve into a powerful underground economy without the acknowledgement or praise of mainstream music medi ... More >>

If You're Running A Huge Ecstasy Operation, Please Report It To The Feds

​A man with the unlikely name of Dong Dang Huynh got some bad news this morning: He was sentenced to 22 years in a federal prison. Oh, and he also has to forfeit $24 million in ill-gotten gains.Why? He didn't file the proper paperwork for all the money he was moving around to finance an ecstasy-im ... More >>

A Chat with Mike Sammons of 13 Celsius

Photo by Sarah Rufka​To some, a bartender is just a server with something to lean on. But Mike Sammons is an example of how, with passion and creativity, the job can be so much more. "I started doing this to make money, but I was really good at it because I liked it," he says. "I don't think p ... More >>

David Allan Coe

The Tango Blast Houstone Gang Takes A Hit

Local and federal agents in an anti-gang task force charged with waging the much-debated "War on Drugs" have nabbed another round of bad guys, this time more than a dozen members of Texas' largest prison gang, Tango Blast Houstone. Acting Houston U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson announced today that 14 mem ... More >>

ABC to Premier Dancing With The Guards

Finally, Someone Who Wasn't Bitching About The High Price Of Gas

County Attorney Candidate Vince Ryan Sues Linebarger Goggan

Saying he deserves a bigger piece of the pie, the former city councilman serves up cherry information to his current political opponent

Steroids and Roger Clemens: Justice Department to Investigate Rocket

Steroids and Roger Clemens: Long Road Ahead

Clemens Press Conference Primer

Anchor man?

Playing against type, Will Ferrell can't quite ground this artificially whimsical romantic comedy.

Letters to the Editor

Sweet Charity

For years Tom DeLay has used nonprofits to help himself. Now the heat is on.

Computer Error

When it comes to local facts, don't rely on Allmusic.com

A Hard-on for Numbers

The Chron tries to stay, uh, abreast of circulation counts

Opera à la Enron?

For HGO, another local tragedy might be looming offstage

Split Ticket

District C's ex file: Then it got personal…

Follow the Money

Some familiar faces get subpoenaed in the investigation of an alleged kickback scheme

We Are Terrific!

Houston's latest image-boosting campaign gets a big hand from the Chron

Taking Credit

A lawyer gets charged up -- really -- over a convict's financial plight

Going to the Dogs

Advocates are working to unleash a plan for a public park where pooches can play

God Only Knows

Dismembered bodies. Gold booty and an ex-con's grudge. A trial rips into the mysteries of the disappearance of atheist icon Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

Out in the Street

Westheimer Street Festival and the TABC

Waldhauser Watch

A story about the new life and old ways of a notorious killer spurs indictments and national coverage

Bishop's Endgame

An early GOP force could be savoring party triumphs -- from prison

News of the Weird

Letters

The Great Land Grab

A nonprofit "charity" is pursuing millions in taxpayers' money to redevelop the Fourth Ward. The question for Houston Renaissance is, charity for whom?

Unembraceable You

When it comes to AIDS funding, process takes precedence over children in Harris County

The Time of Their Lives

Teresa's In-Crowd

As the House of Rodriguez crumbled, some insiders managed to get a payback... or part of one