Irving

Ex-NFLer Scott Turner, Now A State Rep, Wants Tougher Penalities For First-Time DWI Offenders

New Rep. Scott Turner, R-Rockwall, lent a certain amount of star power to a bill Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Katy, continues to push each session: mandatory interlock devices for first-time driving while intoxicated offenders. Turner, who played nine years as a defensive back in the National Football Le ... More >>

Gays In The Boy Scouts: Texas Elected Officials Are Signing On To Say Hell No

A conservative group called "Texas Values" is taking a new approach in the battle to make sure that no Lone Star boy scout ever, ever gets cooties from being near a gay person -- the group is circulating a letter urging the Boy Scouts of America to reject gay scouts, it's getting elected officials t ... More >>

Dallas Baseball Fans Suck, Former Ranger Star Josh Hamilton Says

Josh Hamilton is no longer a Texas Ranger, meaning the Dallas-Fort Worth area is deprived of its chance to spot the recovering alcoholic in bars and be subjected yet again to his Jesus-centric quotes. Maybe he should stick to proselytizing, because all he's doing now is pissing off Dallas fans. Ha ... More >>

NBA All-Star Game: Your Prop Bets For This Weekend

Michael Jordan turns 50 this weekend, I'm not sure if you've heard. In case you missed the incessant career retrospective pieces that ran on Sportscenter or the story of MJ's renting the Museum of Fine Arts here in Houston for his birthday shindig this weekend, the most iconic team sport athlete o ... More >>

A Very Pawny Christmas: What Pawn Shops Buy and Sell Around the Holidays

So you've got a million Christmas gifts to buy for family, friends, acquaintances, acquaintances' cousins, the mailman, Roger Clemens (we're not the only ones to send the Rocket a gift each year, are we?) and various and sundry pets. You have a limited budget and a limited amount of time. It's best ... More >>

Atheism Rising

Those folks across Texas who don't believe in God are getting organized and going public.

Ten Houston Men Named (So Far) In Boy Scouts "Perversion Files"

Since 1919 the Boy Scouts of America has maintained a database of "ineligible volunteers." Known informally as "the perversion files," the database contains the name of 5,000 men and a few women who have been expelled from the BSA because of allegations of sexual abuse of children. Last week a grou ... More >>

Yes, The Rice Owls Will Play Basketball This Season

Ben Braun's tone is weary. His expression is resigned. His body language is tired. He's aware of the questions that he's about to face in the long day ahead of him, and he knows that if he's ever going to get a chance to talk about the future, he's going to have to first talk about the past. Braun, ... More >>

iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. Although iFest's performers come from all over the world, all around the main stages will be the sig ... More >>

Marc Benno Remembers Badass Doyle Bramhall

The unexpected passing of Doyle Bramhall of heart failure November 12 has caused Lonesome, Onry and Mean to revisit the man's career. And while Bramhall is probably best known for his association with Stevie Ray Vaughan, who cut several of Bramhall's compositions and copped his singing style, Bramha ... More >>

Hands-On Experience

Dozens of teenage Explorers have been sexually abused by police officers. Critics say the Boy Scouts, who oversee the program, should share the blame.

RIP Doyle Bramhall, Austin Blues Legend

Courtesy of Miler Outdoor Theatre Advisory BoardDoyle Bramhall​Doyle Bramhall, one of the legendary Austin drummers and a noted songwriter, passed this morning. He was 62. Unconfirmed reports on Facebook noted that Bramhall had been under the weather for some time. He had recently had pneumon ... More >>

The Red-Light Camera Circus

Step right up, folks: Passion, deceit, money, lots of money, double dealing and a mayor with more flip-flops in her than a Cirque du Soleil acrobat!

Is Houston's Handsome Bank Robber a Dallas Dude?

FBIThe Houston robbery​Recently we told you of the FBI's search for a man they dubbed the "handsome bank robber," who was described as being "older, well-dressed and accessorized." Those accessories included a black semiautomatic pistol, but that's just how he rolls. The item rang a bell wit ... More >>

Odd Pair: Cheeseburger and Barbaresco

​My friend and blogging colleague Franco Ziliani -- Italy's top wine blogger and veteran enojournalist -- is always astonished at how Americans "apply" the great wines of Italy. In Europe, the food and wine canon guides the "user" in ensuring that the wine will be enjoyed to the fullest by pa ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

​Eats Blog: Texas has a new top sommelier, and his name is Bill Elsey (right), winner of the "best sommelier in Texas" competition held each year at the Texas Sommelier Conference. The title was conferred late yesterday afternoon in Irving, Texas on the last day of the event, and the news spre ... More >>

Despite Blue Laws, Texas Sommelier Conference Opens on Schedule

​"You'll note that there are pastries in the foyer," said Master Sommelier James Tidwell, as he and Houston's own Master Sommelier, Drew Hendricks, opened the Texas Sommelier Conference promptly at 9 a.m. yesterday morning at the Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort in Irving, Texas. The two co-fou ... More >>

2011 NBA Draft -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Tough night for Dick Vitale​My fingers are still recovering from the lengthy (eight printed pages!) live blog I did last night here on Hair Balls, but the day after the draft necessitates some post-draft analysis. I've now had a day to sleep on it, and without further ado, a few post-draft tho ... More >>

The Final Play

After traumatic knee injury, Case Keenum has one more season to prove his talents.

Steeldrivers Continue Bluegrass Supremacy On Reckless

Steeldrivers on Facebook​Expatriate Texas fiddler Tammy Rogers describes the formation of the Steeldrivers as a "dream come true." "I always wanted to be in a killer bluegrass band," says Rogers from her home in Nashville, where the band recently recorded their sophomore release Reckless. "S ... More >>

Cathy Comic Ending, Creating Crisis In Refrigerator-Magnet Industry

Oh no, bikini season is around the corner!!​Cathy Guisewite has announced she will no longer be doing the comic strip Cathy. Yes, the comic strip Cathy was still around. There are several horrifying ramifications from this announcement: 1. Refrigerator doors of certain types of single women acro ... More >>

ExxonMobil Not Moving To Houston, Chief Says

We prefer Irving to Houston, thank you very much​ExxonMobil, which has a large downtown Houston presence (right near the Houston Press; we heartily recommend the cafeteria), but rumors that it will be building and moving into a large campus on the city's north side are apparently untrue.ExxonMobil ... More >>

Jacqueline LeBaron, Daughter Of Infamous Murdering Cult Leader, Is Back In Houston

Photo courtesy FBICaptured after two decades on the run​The FBI has announced that they have captured Jacqueline LeBaron, who has been on the run for 22 years after a notorious series of killings ordered by her father, a bigamist cult leader.The FBI received a tip LeBaron, daughter of Ervil LeBaro ... More >>

Hot-Button Immigration Issue Gets Little Discussion Among County Commissioners

Photo by Liana LopezA packed room hears about 287(g)​It only took 15 seconds for the Commissioners Court of Harris County to approve three additional years of participation in 287(g) after hours of public testimony, mostly in opposition, to the program.The two Houston Garcias, who, by the way, wer ... More >>

Houston Companies Don't Do Too Badly In Survey Of Gay-Friendly Workplaces

​The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has issued its latest rankings of how businesses treat their gay and lesbian employees, and things look a little better than last year.The report gave 305 businesses a top score of 100 this year; that's an increase from last year's 260. Eleven of the top 20 Fo ... More >>

Aggies Finally Get Around To Caring About Their Athletes' Safety As Much As UT Does

​A dozen people were injured when a freakishly strong spring storm slammed into the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Irving earlier this year. It turns out Texas A&M 's $35 million new athletic center was built by the same company and has the same basic steel-and-fabric design.Now the Agg ... More >>

Cover Me

Kathern Cathey thought she had an insurance policy that would save her life. Not exactly.

And The MasterMind Winners Are.....

Last fall the Houston Press asked readers to send in nominations of people who were breaking new ground in the arts around here.The lucky winners have been named and will be getting a $2,000 check at a dinner Saturday and -- perhaps more importantly -- they are profiled in the Press today. (Well, ma ... More >>

One Plus For Red-Light Cameras: Entertaining Crash Videos

Yeah, everyone pretty much hates red-light cameras, except city bureaucrats who collect the money from them.On the other hand, they can be somewhat entertaining.American Traffic Solutions, the company that runs red-light cameras in 180 cities including Houston, ushered in the new year by releasing v ... More >>

The Busiest New Airline Route Is In Houston

Disney Channel fits Texan Demi Lovato for a glass slipper

Wishing Upon a Star

Spring Training: Milo Hamilton, Harry Caray, Drayton McLane, Roger Clemens and Ria Cortesio

Prince Fielder Sued in Houston Federal Court for Allegedly Helping Pops Hide Assets

What, Me Worry?

Life is good for Eli Young

Letters to the Editor

Cranked

Meth users are really proDuctive, sExy, hAppy anD slim

"I Raq and Roll" vs. "We Can't Make It Here"

Two Houston-connected musicians offer up different takes on the war. One veteran tells Racket which he thinks is better and why.

Got a Light?

All kidding aside, why smoking may be good for Houston

Hallmark Theater

Morning Star is like a made-for-TV movie

Stone Soup

Austin's Davíd Garza shuns talk and comparisons and lets his muse do the cooking

Prose and Cons

Crusading convicts turned the docile Echo newspaper into a voice for prison reform. Fellow inmates cheered, but alarmed TDCJ officials preferred silence.

Injecting Fun into Death Row

If your condemned convicts survive, you thrive in this game

Oil Giant's Policy Fuels Gays' Protest

Activists rally ExxonMobil for recognition of same-sex-partner benefits

News of the Weird

Learning Curves

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a hard lesson -- one the state should have known fouryears and $77 million ago

Sexual Healing

Played Out

The secrets of radio success Repetition. Caution. Repetition. Caution. Repetition.

Lounge Act

Cyberdreams

A ragtag group of Houston filmmakers eye the future, and make a hit in Dallas