Sharpstown

Harris County Attorney Sues Sharpstown Hotel Over Drugs, Prostitution, Violence

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, in conjunction with the Sharpstown Management District, filed suit against the Plainfield Inn off Interstate 59 and Bissonnet on Wednesday. The hotel is known around the country -- it must be because they mentioned that TWICE in the press release -- for its prostit ... More >>

Beyond Chili-Cheeseburgers at The Chili Shak

If Pvt. Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue had been into chili instead of shrimp, I imagine that The Chili Shak is just the sort of place he and Forrest Gump would have opened. The list of menu items that come topped with owner Bernard Montgomery's chili -- based on a secret family recipe passed down fro ... More >>

Welcome to Your Dad's STDs: Syphilis on the Rise In Houston

Hey soldier!! Wrap that rascal!! Loose lips sink ships!! Careless talk costs lives!!! Loose women may also be LOADED with disease!! The WWII vibe is heavy these days in Houston, as health officials have announced a comeback of the Greatest Generation's STD, syphilis. The Houston Department of Heal ... More >>

HISD Wants $1.89 Billion To Rebuild, Renovate Schools

The Houston Independent School District's Board of Trustees is considering asking voters for a $1.89 billion bond issue that would rebuild or renovate 42 schools. The board must decide by August whether to place the item on the November 6 ballot. If voters approve the bond package, HISD would "most ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Check Out These Schools

We haven't eaten in a school cafeteria in a long time. Our high school had open lunches and we usually went elsewhere. We worked as an HISD substitute teacher for a while and usually spent lunches in a classroom with a sandwich, wondering if Mama Cass suffered much or if it was quick. (Subbing is no ... More >>

The Weather Outside Is Frightful (with Photos)

You wanted rain, you're getting it. You're also getting a reported tornado touchdown in Fort Bend County and flooded service roads and intersections. Power is out in some areas of the city; others have lost internet service. Reports coming in from TxDOT and various tweeters indicated impassable c ... More >>

Guess Where This Is (Was) In Houston

We downloaded this picture a while back, and now, sadly, we can't figure out where we saw it first. We thought it was from the highly entertaining website/e-book Houston Freeways, which we encourage everyone to explore, but a quick scan doesn't seem to show it there. (If we're wrong, or you recogn ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Remembering Hurricanes Alicia and Claudette

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Robert Earl Keen

10 Worst Robbery Neighborhoods In Houston

​Last week we gave you the 10 worst neighborhoods in Houston for burglaries. This week, just in time for Christmas shopping, it's the worst neighborhoods for robbery. As we cautioned before, HPD doesn't suggest comparing this raw data from neighborhood to neighborhood. Some beats are more den ... More >>

The 10 Worst Burglary Neighborhoods In Houston (For The Moment)

​What are the best neighborhoods to live in if you want to get burglarized? We've gathered 10 of the finest. We looked at the most recent crime stats for HPD beats, which means the month of October. HPD generally doesn't like "raw data comparisons between police beats" because the info can be ... More >>

Umami at Umai

Photos by Troy FieldsThe clean and modern interior at Umai. Check out our slideshow for more photos.​Umai Japanese Restaurant (8400 Bellaire) may be located along Bellaire Boulevard, but the restaurant is mostly removed from the hurly-burly tumble and flow of Chinatown, being closer to Sharpst ... More >>

Fall Enrollment is Down at Nine Apollo 20 Schools in HISD

NASA's Apollo 20 never got off the gorund​This year, there are fewer kids enrolled at the nine middle and high schools in the Apollo 20 schools than there were at this time last year -- 810 fewer to be exact -- according to numbers provided to Hair Balls by the Houston ISD.This number doesn't come ... More >>

UPDATED: More Than 4,000 Students Leave the Tougher Apollo 20 Schools

Apollo 20: Not everyone's on board​What's not to like about a longer school year, longer school day, more rigor in the classroom and having your parents more involved in your education?Well, it may be coincidence or it may not be everyone's idea of heaven because more than 4,000 students hav ... More >>

Unidentified Male, 30, Bayou Body Count No. 205

Shot in his apartment​A 30-year-old man was shot in his Sharpstown-area apartment and made it to the hospital before dying early Wednesday, Houston police say. The victim, whose identity was not released, was in his apartment in the 7600 block of Gulfton when an unknown assailant shot him several ... More >>

HISD Kicks Off Its Apollo 20 Program For Troubled Schools

Photos by Christopher Patronella, Jr.HISD's Terry Grier with a student at an Apollo 20 school​As if surrendering your long, lazy summer to the start of another tedious school year is not hard enough, students from five HISD middle schools and four high schools are making that plunge an entire week ... More >>

Newsweek Picks Officially Troubled HISD High School As One Of Nation's Best

It's failing, but it's great!​Newsweek has come out with its latest ranking of the nation's best high schools, and the Houston school district is crowing that a record number of HISD highs made it.The usual suspects are there -- DeBakey, Carnegie, Bellaire and Lamar -- but joining the list this ye ... More >>

Paddling Kids Won't Whip HISD Into Shape, Grier Says

​The leaders of Temple, Texas may have decided that restoring paddling to their bag of tricks was a good idea for schools there, but Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier doesn't agree. At a Wednesday media roundtable, Grier talked about the discussions district personnel are having with pa ... More >>

Ka'ak Sandwich?

​Recently, we found ourselves starving during a tedious day of used-car shopping. Unwilling to make such a big decision on an empty stomach, we were pleased to find ourselves within walking distance of Droubi's Bakery and Deli on Hillcroft in Sharpstown. After devouring a plate of Middle Eas ... More >>

Robert Earl Keen

All Of Sharpstown Mall's Problems To Be Solved With Name Change

​You know what's been holding the Sharpstown Mall back? Its name.Which actually is "Sharpstown Center," but no one we know calls it that. The almost-50-year-old mall has long hit hard times, with people convinced it's not safe, or has any shops worth visiting.That will all change soon, when its ow ... More >>

TEA Releases Further Details On School Rankings

​The Texas Education Agency has released the 2009 school rankings -- let the talk of how schools are gaming the system begin!!Results are searchable by district, by category, by all kinds of things.The 12 HISd schools that have been ranked "unacceptable":High Schools -- Jones, Kashmere, Lee, Sterl ... More >>

The Future of Houston’s Former Suburbs: A View from Sharpstown — Infrastructure, Education, and Quality of Life

Web exclusive!

The Census Bureau Is Counting On You -- To Apply For A Job

Logo courtesy Census BureauLooking for a job? The US Census Bureau is looking for you. And it's not waiting for any lousy stimulus funds. It's hiring now.There are 3,000 slots in the Houston area for work connected to the 2010 Census, which is ramping up as we speak.Much of the work involves walking ... More >>

Santa Round-Up Part Five: The Crying Game

This and every Christmas season the most important person is the baby Jesus, with a bearded, white-haired toy factory owner coming in a close second. Every year we flock to the malls to sit in our kids down on Santa's lap. Sometimes they run off screaming, while others take to the old guy just like ... More >>

Teacher Of The Year And Hero To Drunk Drivers

Not So Great News from the Health Department, Asian Edition

That Crap On Your Sidewalk Will Likely Remain There For A Long Time

Sharpstown Residents Fight Nightclub Resurrection

Sole of Houston: Bissonnet, from Synott Road to Montrose

Get in the Zone: The Houston Hip-Hop Marketing Zone, That Is

Report Card for All HISD Schools

I am a Pedestrian Report: Bellaire

That's Cool, That's Trash

Baller's Ball

Where to party this All-Star Weekend

Career Opportunities

HISD's ideas on advancement

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

African Hideaway

Addisaba has an air of foreign intrigue — and awesome kifto and yedoro wot

Pop Quiz

Think you know local music? Take the Bayou City Music Mindbender and find out.

Tee Time

Lee High School dropped football, deciding golf was a better sport for its kids, no matter how poor or new to this country they might be

You Gotta Want It

And other lessons for the Sharpstown All-Stars

Press Picks

Golfin' Fools

Another dubious deal for private operators raises the question: Who's serving the public here?

In the Rough

The golf course giveaway is falling apart, but some city workers are paying the price

The Executive Course

Fore!

Privatization of Houston's municipal golf courses has been a bad deal for everybody but the operators. But golfers and taxpayers had best look out: the city's on the verge of giving away two more of it courses.

Korean Adventure

Camellia Korean leads you to take chances -- and make discoveries

Press Picks

Press Picks