Pasadena

Openings & Closings: Welcome Montrose's Midtown Bar & Grill

La Guadalupana is one of Montrose's most beloved Mexican restaurants, a charming family-run bakery that also happens to turn out top-notch Mexican breakfasts every day of the week. And soon, it could become one of Pasadena's most beloved restaurants too. Owner Trancito Diaz told our own Francisco M ... More >>

Hotel ZaZa's Hidden Dungeon

You have to ask for this cell.

Thrash Supergroup Pasadena Napalm Division Musters Debut Album

Hold on to your flip-brim hats: New music by Pasadena Napalm Division, the local thrash-metal supergroup featuring members of D.R.I. and deadhorse, is on the way. The band announced last week that it has signed a deal with San Francisco-based Minus Head records to release its debut album this year. ... More >>

(Updated With Semi-NSFW Text) LaShawn Simmons: Pasadena Teacher Had Sex With Four Students, Cops Say

LaShawn Simmons, a 41-year-old former middle-school math teacher in Pasadena, is facing a slew of charges in connection with her having sex with four students, police say. Simmons, who has resigned her position at the Pasadena district's Beverly Hills Intermediate School, is charged with sexual ass ... More >>

Is Gilley's Coming Back to Pasadena?

One way you know it must be rodeo season is when strange things like this start happening. Mickey Gilley, the country singer and businessman who made Pasadena world-famous when his Gilley's nightclub was featured in the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy, announced on Facebook about 30 minutes ago that he is ... More >>

This Week in Food Blogs: Spicy Nuts and Tennessee-Style Barbecue

From the Gutt: Does every wine drinker's palate matter? That's the question posed this week by local wine blogger Tom Gutting, who writes that it's "silly to think that an 'expert' taster's opinion, such as that of Robert Parker or James Laube or James Suckling, should be given dictatorial deference ... More >>

Armando Liceaga's Triple Play: 1) Steals Copper. 2) FROM A CHURCH. 3) Leaves Kid in Hot Car While Doing It

People steal copper all the time, from businesses to construction sites. It's not an especially noble criminal enterprise, but few of them are. Armando Liceaga found a way to pump the heinousness, though. According to court documents, Liceaga, 31, decided to hit a Pasadena church for its copper. B ... More >>

The Comeback Cowboy

After taking a tumble, Mickey Gilley is back onstage.

The Little Town of Christmas

Gifts Galore

Wrapping up Houston's holiday shows.

Pasadena, Home to Some Sickos, Is Also a Nifty Place to Retire

Retire to this in Pasadena.​The economy blows, especially for old folks, who aren't as able to kick it with an umbrella drink at some beachside hang like in the old days. No worries, according to Tom Corley, author of The Top 100 Cheapest Places to Retire in the U.S. in 2012. Instead of sink ... More >>

Light Up the Sky

Wanda Trombley, 56, Bayou Body Count No. 149

Remains found September 22 in Pasadena have been identified as Wanda Trombley, 56, who had been missing since July. Trombley was last seen in the 200 block of Harris Road. The remains were found in the 6100 block of Red Bluff. No other information was available. The investigation is being handled ... More >>

ACL: Batman's Bale At Bingham, Nick 13 is a 10 On Sunday Afternoon

Marco Torresoh hai Batman!​The widget on our phone says it's only 91 degrees here at Zilker Park but we don't believe that voodoo. The humidity and heat pounding the park reminds us of Houston. We smell Pasadena and our fair city's taco trucks all the way from Austin. Our day started by walk ... More >>

Thomas Fortenberry: Former Youth Pastor, 30, Admits to Girlfriend He Video'd Her and Other Girls Taking Showers Four Years Ago When They Were Teens

Uncomfortable conversation leads to charges.​You think you've met the man of your dreams, a man you first knew when he was the cool and hip youth pastor at your church. Things seem to be moving towards marriage, and then -- well, a conversation that allegedly goes like this: Him: "Remember ... More >>

What Dead Passenger?

Driver caught with corpse in front seat.

Health Department Roundup

"WTF is a churro?"​Last week we couldn't bring you the roundup because the city slacked on updating its inspection records. The most logical explanation is the Memorial Day holiday threw off the schedules of those responsible for updating the site. But we're more inclined to believe that god i ... More >>

The Pasadena Strawberry Festival in Photos

Photos by Adrienne Byard​The 38th annual Pasadena Strawberry Festival drew an estimated 50,000 attendees this year, but it also drew our new photographer Adrienne Byard, whose photos from the event capture a slice of Houston so sweetly and unintentionally nostalgic that they could have been ta ... More >>

85 MPH on Texas Highways: Why the Hell Not? (Five Houston-Area Spots That Should Be Considered)

We can all indulge our inner Racer X​The Dallas Morning News (behind a paywall but AP report is here) noted a small clause in a transportation bill passed by the House in Austin this week -- if approved by the Senate, it allows speed limits to be raised on some Texas highways to 85 mph, the hi ... More >>

Benjamin Childress: High School Orchestra Director Busted for Soliciting Underage Boy

Manvel PDBenjamin Childress: Says he answered a Craigslist ad.​The orchestra director at Pasadena's Dobie High School has been arrested for online solicitation of a 15-year-old boy, police in Pearland say. Benjamin Clark Childress, 26, met the boy through a Craigslist ad and was found drunk i ... More >>

What's Closed: Your One-Stop List, Updated Throughout the Day

​The announcements of closings due to the anticipated winter storm are beginning to roll in, the most significant so far being HISD closing all its schools and offices tomorrow. We'll be keeping a list of what's closed and updating it throughout the day, so check back frequently for news. Our ... More >>

First Look at Jimmy Changas

My regular camera is in the shop. You'll have to bear with me until then.​At 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night, the wait time at Jimmy Changas was already 45 minutes for a two-top. We tried waiting in the bar, but it, too, was jammed full of people. The smart ones had hovered near the stools, waiti ... More >>

You Get Promised Thousands Of Wild Hogs To Kill, You Get Tame Pigs Instead

​It may be difficult to believe that some internet advertising claims are exaggerated, but Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott insists such is the case in an action filed today. Worse, the victims of the alleged false claims are Texas hunters. It's almost sacreligious.All the hunters wanted to do w ... More >>

Stuck On You: Farmville Fanatic Arrested In String Of Bizarre Summertime Adhesive Attacks

​One of the more bizarre Houston-area crimes of the past year has apparently been solved.Back in July, Pasadena police were seeking a man described as an "older teenager" who they believed attacked random women in retail outlets. His assaults took a peculiar form: he would squirt a tube of what w ... More >>

In the Little Stalls Behind Canino's: Tejocote

​Mexican hawthorn is the English name of the fruit called tejocote in Mexico. I had never seen them before I ran across a bunch in the stalls behind Canino's. When I picked one up and tried to eat it, the owner of the produce stall looked horrified. You don't eat them raw, she told me, you use ... More >>

Game Time: Longhorns, All I Ask Is That You Take Your Ass-Kicking Like Men

​First and foremost, I want to congratulate the University of Texas football team, their fans, their alumni. Regardless of how it got done, on Saturday night you scored 13 points, Nebraska scored 12, and by virtue of 13 being greater than 12, you now find yourselves making reservations for Pasad ... More >>

The Rocky Horror Show

No, no, the other Rocky - the one with the gaudy friends

Things to Do This Weekend If You're (Almost) Broke

Friday​Twice the Classic Numbers this week. Free admission Saturday with Friday's ticket stub. Dallas electronica-rockers Ishi gets bodies moving at Walter's with DJs Cuba Gooding Jr., Fredster and Stiletto Chrome. Ride your bike and get in free. The Urbane Guerilla Sound System spins vintage soul ... More >>

Is He Cyber Playing You For a Fool?

​He's the cutest thing since a sweet-cheeked tabby soulfully cozied up to the ivories on a piano.  He makes you laugh harder than that time an errant seagull dropped a big ol' load in your sister's ice cream at the Pasadena Strawberry Festival in 1984.  He looks good on paper...and ... More >>

Wal-Mart Goes Tex-Mex

Photos by Robb WalshWal-Mart has entered the highly competitive Hispanic grocery store category with a prototype on Long Point at Wirt. Supermercado de Wal-Mart opened its doors a month ago. The nation's biggest retailer is going up against the well-established Fiesta supermarket chain and HEB's Mi ... More >>

MP3 Monday: Music from Dominique, Fiskadoro, Chocolate Crucifix and Dave Wrangler

Welcome back to MP3 Monday. We've been away for a bit due to SXSW, but we're back now and dedicated to bringing you tantalizing tidbits of local music from all over the spectrum. If you think you've got what it takes, email your MP3s to chris.gray@houstonpress.com or hprocksoff@gmail.com. We'll ... More >>

Houston Blows Up Real Good

Photo by foxtongueThe awesomely morbid folks at Carlos Labs have created a "Ground Zero" nightmare generator for every city on Earth. Using Java Script and some Google Map magic, anyone can pinpoint a location in the world, AND BLOW IT THE HELL UP. You can choose your own weapon of mass destruction ... More >>

Caught in a Mosh at The Pitt

Teen metal aggression finds an outlet in Pasadena

Plague Of The Nicknamed Bandits

Hey Truants -- They're Coming After You

The Hates: 30 Years of Hate 1978-2008

Houston's Very Best Songs Ever

...otherwise known as the H-Town 20

Muchos Luchadores

Mexican wrestlers take the ring in Angel Rodriguez-Diaz's new exhibit

Trailer Treasure

Tired of galleries? Head to "Trailer Park"

Pasadena Air Force

Indie rockers *mytwilightpilot* chart a moody, mystery-shrouded course out of the chemical burbs

PISD Plans to Quit CEP

The district will follow Dallas in preparing to end contract alternative education

Trading Places

Who wants to be interim city controller?

Cracking the Club

Latinos find little sympathy from Commissioners Court

Will the Real Texas Musician Please Stand Up

The land of gee-tars and fiddles

Blowing Smoke

Government and civic boosters know the way to clean up the air in polluted southeast communities: add another chemical plant

The Special Needs of Frank Gonzales Jr.

The Texas parole board let him out to die; instead, he got involved in a killing.

Letters

Sherwood's Rules

Sherwood Cryer lost his redneck empire the same way he built it: in a tangle of lawyers, women and country music

Press Picks

Blood Feud

The head of the ME's DNA lab says prosecutors are trying to discredit her for failing to be a "team player"