People have been talking about it for years, but the idea came one step closer to reality this week when a bipartisan group of legislators filed bills to help create hike-and-bike paths along Houston's utility easements. Those easements -- the property surrounding, say, those large electricity towe ... More >>
A state district judge ruled today the method Texas uses to fund its schools is unconstitutional and unfair and must be overhauled. Ruling in a suit brought by the Houston school district and other districts, Judge John Dietz said the state has not met the basic requirements of fairness in funding ... More >>
Amid the increasing uproar over the state of Texas purging its voter rolls and notifying people that their names will be expunged from the rolls because they are dead -- who aren't -- State Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) asks a good question. Why now? Why is House Bill 174 calling for a check of ... More >>
For the second time this week, federal judges have dealt setbacks to grand plans by Texas Republicans to suppress the minority vote protect the sanctity of the ballot. Tuesday a federal panel found the state's new redistricting maps to be biased; today another panel has ruled that the new voter ID ... More >>
The Texas GOP's lengthy effort to create redistricting maps that federal judges say don't discriminate against minorities hit another snag today when a three-judge panel in D.C. threw out the latest plan. The judges said the proposed maps failed to meet fairness standards using various tests and an ... More >>
Texas's strict new voter ID law, put in place by this past session's Tea Party legislature to stem the tidal wave of voter fraud that is actually not happening at all, has been blocked by the U.S. Department of Justice. The new law unfairly targets Hispanic voters, the feds said. "[T]he state has ... More >>
Mario Gallegos gets on Rodney Ellis's fighting side.An attempt to move the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center into Sen. Mario Gallegos's senate district caused a minor skirmish between Gallegos and his longtime Democratic colleague Sen. Rodney Ellis. Emotions during redistricting al ... More >>
Coogs pushing hard in Austin.The University of Houston is the last holdout in a vote to set the funding distribution method out of a voter-backed endowment devoted to ramping up the number of nationally ranked universities in Texas. The University of Texas and Texas A&M University are the st ... More >>
Senator Rodney EllisUnder a bill proposed by Texas Senator Rodney Ellis, the Houston ISD could open up its Apollo 20 program for low-performing schools to some 60 campuses or about 20 percent of all the district's schools, extending school days and school years beyond what's called for by the ... More >>
pamlaneSunday Funday indeed.Such times as these - the economy in recession, federal and state governments mired in debt, and more than 8 percent unemployment - are leading state lawmakers around the country to question the financial logistics of blue laws restricting any business from operati ... More >>
Joe Camel is in the other 30 percentIf you want to ban smoking in all indoor work and public places in Texas, then you agree with 70 percent of residents here, according to a new poll by the Smoke-Free Texas Coalition. Such a ban is supported by 67 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of Indep ... More >>
On your mark, Madam Mayor
​Good news if you were wrongfully imprisoned by the state of Texas for a long, long time, but you then died before you could be pardoned -- and face it, in those circumstances you could use some good news -- state attorney general Greg Abbott ruled today that you can be pardoned posthumously!!Yay? ... More >>
Places all over Houston want Trevor Falk and pitch the wonders of community life. He is 24 and has Down syndrome, which makes him a hot commodity for private group homes.
Photo by NoiseCollusionThe people who are trying to sell hard liquor to hard Texans are upset.They're petitioning the legislature, hoping to push Senate Bill 1216 (sponsored by Houston's Rodney Ellis), which would allow liquor-store owners to have more than five stores.Right now, the only people who ... More >>
Web deck: See the city from the seat of your bike
Photo by Daniel KramerIt's been tried before, but this time there may be some possibility of a statewide smoking ban in Texas.Two bills address the subject, (one by Houston's Rodney Ellis) and the Texas Restaurant Association has announced it can support a ban.Although the TRA says it has "som ... More >>
Bill Miller
Can the Texas Ten "MoveOn" without him?
Potential partners face a steep ante
Minorities' suit against the Rockets revs up, with a mayoral hopeful caught in the fray
The NAACP rattles sabers in the arena vendor disputes
A state senator moonlights as arena point guard
If you pay them, they will come
Bob Lee
A state law can't break up a juvenile courtroom gang
Carroll Robinson has been running for something ever since he arrived in Houston. Now he may be nearly out of track.
Excavations for plantation artifacts - and the real truth - are unraveling the genteel gloss covering Texans' old notions about the slave era here
Despite its increasing importance, DNA evidence routinely gets destroyed here
After a career serving kingmakers, can Jim Edmonds really be his own leader?
Abrasive encounters with some Hispanics, cash-and-carry court appointments coupled with hefty campaign contributions. Critics wonder if Pat Shelton's speedy dockets are outrunning justice.
William July wrote about achieving great relationships. Then he had one.
A proposed facility for troubledyouth raises hackles, and ire, in Riverside Terrace
Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?
