Sue Lovell

Eat Spaghetti, Help Houston Gay Leader Tim Brookover Fight Cancer

Tim Brookover: Eat some spaghetti and help​Tim Brookover has been the editor of OutSmart magazine, a key staffer for city councilmember Sue Lovell, and is currently president of the Houston GLBT Community Center. He's also fighting cancer at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and racking up some di ... More >>

CM Jones Review Panel: No Council Action Needed, but OIG Investigation Kinda Lame

The three-member review panel charged with deciding whether Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones violated the city's ethics code found that she showed "extremely poor judgment" by including her council office number on a card advising people of their rights under the U.S. Constitution, and stated ... 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!

Red-Light Cameras in Dilemma Zone Until Next Week

Photo by Mandy OaklanderAndy Taylor, counsel for ATS, tells Houston to pay up if they renege.​In today's special-edition episode of Houston versus (?) Red-Light Cameras, the mayor and city council could have turned off the cameras -- immediately and forever. But no decision was made. Within ... More >>

Council Candidate Allegedly Sends Out E-Mail Ripping Jolanda Jones, Even Though He's Not Running Against Her

Bolivar Fraga could easily prove it wasn't him, but won't.​An anonymous, widely distributed e-mail criticizing Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones appears to have come from the campaign of council candidate Bolivar Fraga. Fraga and Jones represent different districts; however, Fraga was j ... More >>

State Bar To Investigate City Attorney On Jolanda Jones' Complaint

Jolanda Jones gets her investigation​The State Bar of Texas's disciplinary arm will investigate Houston City Attorney David Feldman, based on a complaint filed by embattled City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones. According to the July 22 letter obtained by Hair Balls, "the Office of the Chief Discip ... More >>

Jolanda Jones Fires Back: A Grievance Against the City Attorney, and Big Blasts From Her Spokesperson

Jolanda Jones firing shots of her own​Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, the subject of a city inspector general investigation, has filed a Texas State Bar grievance against City Attorney David Feldman. Jones's spokeswoman, Kelly Cripe, would not provide a copy of the grievance, but she ... More >>

Kristi Thibaut: Former State Rep Announces for At-Large Council Seat

Kristi Thibaut: Running for council.​Kristi Thibaut, the Democrat who rode the 2008 Obama surge into a single term in the state legislature representing Memorial and the west side of town, has announced she is running for the at-large City Council seat being vacated by term-limited Sue Lovell. ... More >>

Up From the Underground

Alex "Pr!mo" Luster got himself a documentary from the street art life.

Jessica Tata: Legislature Acts to Help Increase Daycare Inspections

Jessica Tata spurs lege to act​Blink once and you might have missed state rep Carol Alvarado's bill in the House Urban Affairs last week that offered at least one more stopgap measure to prevent the West Houston daycare fire that took the lives of four small children. Former day care operator ... More >>

Another Graffiti-Removal Effort About to Be Launched by City

A graffiti truck​The city of Houston will be unveiling a big new graffiti-removal program tomorrow, throwing a spotlight on five new "graffiti trucks" that will cruise the city removing instantly the scourge of street art wherever it may be. The Greater East End Management District has receiv ... More >>

Wanda Adams Tearfully Defends Herself To Gays At Council Meeting

Wanda Adams gets angry with critics​There were tears at today's city council meeting when Wanda Adams defended herself against charges she had abandoned her Montrose constituents in a vote on a proposed home for HIV/AIDS.Here's the video: fast-forward to the 16-minute mark. Kris Banks, a former Ad ... More >>

Houston Is Under Attack

Bedbugs threaten our slumber.

Graffiti -- It Can Be Gorgeous In Houston

Photo by o texanoSide-by-side art by Weah and Ack!​ As we noted recently, city councilmember Sue Lovell has announced a war on graffiti, something that hasn't been declared by a politician in ages, and by "ages" we mean just about everyday, in some city in the country.Lovell says eradicating graff ... More >>

Sue Lovell Says "Enough" to Graffiti Artists in Houston

Photo by unISOnPhotography​City Councilwoman Sue Lovell has identified a cancer in our midst in the ongoing battle to keep Houston fiscally fit during these recessionary times. Graffiti. As she puts it in her latest newsletter, graffiti eradication is costing this city perhaps hundreds of th ... More >>

The Dynamo Stadium, One Step Closer To Reality, Due To Elephant Sex

​Dynamo president Oliver Luck talked to media all morning about a new soccer stadium, what it will mean to the city and county and Dynamo fans, fun stuff like that. But when we spoke with him, he just wanted to talk about elephant sex. "What's the elephant gestation period, 18 months or something ... More >>

The Dynamo Stadium Plan Is Magic

​The greatest plan ever has been unveiled.Using absolutely no public funding, the city, by April 1, 2012, will get a 20,000 seat, $80 million Dynamo soccer/Texas State Southern University football stadium that will create a new section of downtown, which will undoubtedly boom with economic growth, ... More >>

Historic (For Houston) Immanuel Lutheran Church Is Preserved

​Sure, it's younger than Angie Dickinson, but the Immanuel Lutheran Church at 15th and Cortlandt in the Heights is still historic. (So's Angie, to Police Woman and Rat Pack fans.)"The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a wonderful example of early 20th ce ... 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 >>

Born to Runoff: Playlists for Saturday's Mayoral Election-Night Parties

​ Thursday evening Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker, clearly anticipating a weekend of celebration, posted the following message to Twitter asking for playlist suggestions for her election night party. So far the official suggestions are pretty lame, so Rocks Off is coming to the rescue ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Gay Panic in Cowtown: Houston Pride

This city's gay community pushed back hard.

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 >>

Five Great Moments In Houston's Gay History

Gays, lesbians, transgenders, bisexuals, transsexuals and their friends will be marching in the 2009 Houston Pride parade Saturday night (this year's theme is "Out for Justice").To add to the festivities, we thought we'd recap some of the highlights of Houston's GLBT history. 1958: Ray Hill came ou ... More >>

Update: Seeing Graffiti Not Worth A 911 Call

Photo by srboisvertHair Balls was very excited to read this morning's press release from City Councilwoman Sue Lovell about the War on Graffiti.Lovell, who's also vice mayor pro-tem, developed www.houstontx.gov/graffiti in order to educate folks about the different kinds of graffiti (Did you know th ... More >>

Battle of the Big Crosses

Dick-measuring, Christian style

Councilmember Lovell's Neighborhood Feud

Sue Lovell's front door, complete with noticesIt's an odd thing when the front door of a city councilmember's home is festooned with bright, urgent notices from the city's building-permit department. In the case of Councilmember Sue Lovell, that's only where the oddness starts.A loyal Hair Bal ... More >>

Man Still On Search For Elusive Video Of HPD Beating Him

Charles Chukwu is still trying to get his hands on a video tape allegedly taken at the city jail that may or may not show officers assaulting him. He says even though Internal Affairs investigated the matter and decided there wasn’t enough evidence to discipline the officer, Chukwu just wants ... More >>

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Today’s event gives supporters an opportunity to mourn lost friends

City Council Needs An Open-Records Request To View HPD Tape

Man Allegedly Beaten by Jailor and Denied Tape of Incident

Some Relief From Those Booting A-Holes

Letters

Political Identity Crisis

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

Cockeyed Campaign Gambits

A Republican runs on Lee Brown's coattails

Do the City Hall Shuffle!

Term limits and raw ambition send local politicos on holiday shopping sprees

The Kopper Caper

Enron's secret domestic-partner benefits program

The Two Faces of Womack

Is his campaign currying gays in Montrose, then bashing them in black areas?

Dodging Bullets

With a battle looming, gays and their supporters seek high ground

Billie's Last Convention Summer

The queen of Texas liberals hands over her reign

Party Pooper

The Democratic chairman takes a power struggle personally

Letters

Sam Nuchia in Black and White

Houston's top cop has been a pleasant surprise to the city's black community. But in his own department, it's a different story.