Peter Brown

Dj Vaughan

Benjamin Hall Drops Out Of The Mayor's Race

Benjamin Hall, one of the two black-ex-city attorneys rumored to be running for mayor, is not running for mayor.Hall announced he's supporting his doppelganger, Gene Locke, the Houston Chronicle reports.The deal was apparently brokered by Congressman Al Green, who obviously enough wasn't looking fon ... More >>

What That Fireball Really Was

Photo by StarmanMikeThe fireball over Texas -- the one that is earning breathless reports in papers all over the world -- was either a piece of debris from that satellite collision or it wasn't, depending on who's answering the question.We already have established that the satellite collision can li ... More >>

Councilman Peter Brown, Astronaut Mike Fincke, Old Coach Jeff Van Gundy and New Coach Rick Adelman

Four days of hell for a councilman

Movie House Madness

Houston's Megaplex Theaters are building up for the ultimate battle-Overbuilding, in fact

Sports talk radio stations fight for listeners in Houston

Jock Talk

This Blows!

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

Cyber Sunday

It's not just for geeks anymore. Fantasy football's gone mainstream.

Political Identity Crisis

Ronald Green's the only black Democrat left on the city ballot. Or is he?

Dubious Deal

Special tax zones are already stimulating growth-a thriving cottage industry of attorneys, lobbyists, high paid consultants, developers and questionable financial projections

Mayoral-Race Forum: The Beef Stroganoff Was More Filling

Much like the beef stroganoff on the buffet table, yesterday's mayoral forum was safe and unassuming.   It was a packed banquet room of business attire for the luncheon, which the Rotary Club of Houston hosted at the Junior League. Candidates sat side-to-side at a table on stage.   Roy Mor ... More >>

It's Trae Day... and Everybody's Celebratin'

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the City of Houston's proclamation of "Trae Day," the chairman and CEO of Houston's Assholes by Nature is throwing a giant block party from 3-9 p.m. in the parking lot of TSU Stadium at Cleburne and Tierwester in the Third Ward (or, appropriately enough, t ... More >>

The TSU Shootings in Twitterese: "Stay Classy, Houston"

Video by nosvideocrew Looks like things in the Trae Day shootings are about where they were last night. The Houston Police Department's homicide unit is involved - although no one was killed - but letting TSU detectives handle the investigation. Rocks Off's Shea Serrano spoke with an official at TS ... More >>

The TSU Shootings in Twitterese: "Stay Classy, Houston"

Video by nosvideocrew Looks like things in the Trae Day shootings are about where they were last night. The Houston Police Department's homicide unit is involved -- although no one was killed -- but letting TSU detectives handle the investigation. Hair Ball's Shea Serrano spoke with an official at ... More >>

Slide Show: Trae Day at TSU Stadium

Shea Serrano  Once upon a time, before it was a shooting gallery, national news and the talk of Twitter, the first annual Trae Day celebration was just a rap concert and family festival. Bun B, Rick Ross, a newly shorn Slim Thug and Houston mayoral candidate Peter Brown all came out to salute t ... More >>

Aftermath: Trae Day (Pre-Shooting) at TSU Stadium

[Note: These are the notes from Trae Day prior to that whole pesky "six people getting shot" thing. For more info on that, check out our reports here and here.]Photos by Henry Rizoh/ Click here for a slideshow  Aftermath and hip-hop blogger Rizoh from The Rap Up arrived nearly two hours after T ... More >>

A Three-Hour Council Meeting On BARC Achieves...About What You'd Expect, Unfortunately

Photo by dunkv​The biggest surprise during yesterday's City Council Committee on Human Services and Technology meeting on BARC was not that it was three hours of meaningless bureaucratic babble -- Hair Balls had $50 on that -- but that the ghost of Dante Alighieri showed up. "Aband ... More >>

Houston Wellness Association's Mayoral Candidate Forum

Web exclusive!

Mayoral Candidates Are Disappointed With The Ashby High Rise Decision

Photo courtesy GHCVB​The massive battle over the proposed Ashby high-rise is one that leaves us not very interested.On the one side, you have a developer trying to force a 23-story complex onto the shady streets near Rice; on the other, you have the well-heeled residents of that neighborhood marsh ... More >>

The First Mayoral Ad: A Review

We have our first ad in the mayoral race!! Peter Brown is up with a 30-second spot that will be running on local and cable channels. What we take away from this ad:1. Where's George Clinton? You are the only mayoral candidate in Houston history to be endorsed by P-Funk's George Clinton (actually ... More >>

Hey Texans -- You Can't Disappoint Us If We Don't Have High Hopes

​In our cover story this week, we take a look at the Houston Texans' brief-but-tangled history of breaking our hearts. A franchise that seems to begin each year riding on seemingly reasonable hopes of improvement consistently ends it with waves of disappointment.We also rounded up some predictions ... More >>

City Council Once Again Considers BARC; Once Again Does Little To Nothing

Photo by abcrumley​City Council delayed voting again on extending the contract for Gerry Fusco, the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care's interim chief. Council members Ronald Green and Pam Holm asked that the vote be tabled. (Green told Hair Balls earlier this week that he hadn't read the contra ... More >>

HEAA Slings Some Loaded Questions at Four Mayoral Candidates

photo by frankh​ The Houston Electric Auto Association recently cornered the four biggest mayoral candidates and grilled them on environmental issues, most (unsurprisingly) having to do with the unmitigated wonderfulness of the electric car. They were also quizzed on their support of proposed ... More >>

Houston: You Have No Idea Who You Want As Your Next Mayor

Photo courtesy GHCVB​A little more than two months remain before Election Day, and fully two-thirds of voters have no idea who they'll end up supporting, according to the first major poll on the race.KHOU and KUHF's poll, done by Rice's Bob Stein, fully backs up the feeling that the 2009 race has ... More >>

What Was And Wasn't In The Candidate Biographies Of that Latest Mayor's-Race Poll

​As we noted yesterday, most Houstonians have no idea who they want for their next mayor. A poll shows more than two-thirds don't favor any of the candidates, partly as a result of financially crimped campaigns that haven't been able to advertise much yet.Houstonians who were called for the poll a ... More >>

"Topiary Text Lead"

Web exclusive

Vote Delayed, Entertainingly, On BARC Chief's Contract

Photo by abcrumley​City Council once again delayed the vote on extending BARC Interim Chief Gerry Fusco's contract today, possibly killing any chance to revive the vote in the future. Fusco's initial agreement with the city, made possible via a $49,500 purchase order, expires Friday.Health a ... More >>

Here's Your Chance To Ask The Next Mayor A Question

​Whether you like it or not -- and it seems most people couldn't care less -- there will be a mayoral election in two months.Your next mayor will either be the city controller (in which case Houston will be the largest city in the U.S. to elect an open gay or lesbian as mayor), a city council memb ... More >>

Adios Bookstop and "Poll" Dancing

​Whether you like it or not -- and it seems most people couldn't care less -- there will be a mayoral election in two months.Your next mayor will either be the city controller (in which case Houston will be the largest city in the U.S. to elect an open gay or lesbian as mayor), a city council memb ... More >>

Don't Believe The Hype! The Press Mayoral Debate Is Not Only Still On, It's Already Been Broughten!!

​Anti-trust lawyers began searching collusion law last night as word began to emerge that Houston's field of mayoral candidates had agreed to drastically cut back on the number of forums/debates they'd attend.Then they put the law books away, because even they agreed there were far too many mayor' ... More >>

The Last Of The Mayoral-Ad Premieres: A Review

Finally, Gene Locke has got a TV ad. The last of the three major candidates to hit the air in these tough-to-raise-cash times, he will be up soon with this 30-second piece of art. (Although, as with the other candidates, there's no telling just how often he'll buy time to run it.)As we have done ... More >>

Ghost Riders

In Houston, bicycling is known as a killer sport.

Local Mayoral Campaigns Use Social Media, and Apparently That's News

​If you don't have eyes, ears, or a television set with that nonsensical converter box, you may not be aware that today kicks off early voting for stuff that's pretty crucial to the Houston political agenda. Not only can you stick your ballot in the box for City Council, City Controller, comm ... More >>

Houston's Choice for Mayor

Black Guy, Rich White Guy, Lesbian or Hispanic Republican

Mid-Week Match-Up: The Mayor's Race, Such As It Is

​Most of Houston seems blissfully unaware that there's a mayor's race going on. This year is supposed to be one of the the years with a hot election -- the incumbent is term-limited, so it's an open seat likely to lead to six years in office -- but, for reasons we lay out in this week's cover stor ... More >>

Midweek Match-Up: My Black Pastors Are Better Than Yours, Punk

​Houston's boring excuse for a mayoral election is now officially ON FIRE!!! It's EN FUEGO!!!!Why? Because there's some dull sparring between Peter Brown and Gene Locke over who has the best-est bunch of black pastors endorsing them. Locke is claiming that Brown, a multi-millionaire who is largely ... More >>

Pop Rocks: For Election Day, The Five Best Corrupt Politicians In The Movies

It's Election Day in Houston, and as the city braces itself for the tsunami of indifference that always comes from knowing the one significant race this time around is going to end up in a runoff, we decided to take a look at some of the shadier movie politicians out there; men whose shenanigans far ... More >>

Election Day In Houston Is As Thrilling As Expected

Photos by Blake WhitakerELECTION FEVER!!!!!! You probably won't catch it.​Outside the East End's Settegast Park Community Center this morning, the situation was getting out of hand. Annise Parker and Gene Locke campaign workers were engaged in a shouting matching over one of the myriad issues that ... 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 >>

We Have A Winner In The Mayor's Race!!!! (For Best Party, That Is)

Peter Brown, who showed he knows how to spend his wife's money running a mayoral campaign, is showing tonight he can spend it on parties, too.While the Annise Parker and Gene Locke events are listless and miserly with the freebies, Brown's party at the Heights Theater is crowded, has an open bar and ... More >>

Final Scenes As Parker And Locke Head To The Runoff

Note to Peter Brown -- if you're going to spend so much money on a campaign, get a microphone that works. His speech to supporters was kinda inaudible on TV, at least on KHOU.Then again, it wasn't like the guy who's now in third place had anything compelling to say: "I'm not here to say anything def ... More >>

Five Reasons Why Peter Brown Barely Beat Roy Morales

​Ah, Peter Brown. You spent more than $3 million of your wife's cash, you put up dazzling ads that showed you jazzercising your way to Houston's future, you led the polls most of the way, as long as "Undecided" wasn't included.Yet you lost. Badly. Instead of making the runoff, you had to struggle ... More >>

The Mayorial Madness Continues... Plus: Memories of Mary's

Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

It's Turkey-Lurkey Time, As Burt Bacharach Would Say

​November brings with it Thanksgiving, which in turn brings with it the annual Houston Press accounting of the Turkeys of the Year here in Houston.Last year was easy, of course: any year that includes the e-mail antics of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal is pretty much a no-brainer. When a year i ... More >>

Our Man On The Parker Scene

"We've got Parker fever tonight in this room!" Gilbert Garcia, the man on stage for Parker HQ, just announced.The only prescription, it seems, is more ... not cowbell, but long-winded thank you's to all the wonderful people who helped make this wonderful event happen, all the way down to Mr. Peter B ... More >>

The Other Winners And Losers Of The 2009 Election

​Every election cycle, there are winners and there are losers. 2009 is no different. Here is a list of winners and losers and brief reason why.WinnersGarnet Coleman -- He was one of the few African-Americans that supported Annise Parker when she began her career. He stuck out his neck once again, ... More >>

King Street Patriots Party Hardy At The Rice Lofts

Finding a watch party in Houston for election night was a bit of a chore. About the only thing in town was Bill White's, and since Hair Balls already had that covered, we had to look elsewhere. Even the New Black Panthers can't stop us​We decided on the King Street Patriots' bash at the Rice Lofts ... More >>

War Zoned

Who knew historic preservation could ignite so much neighborhood drama?