Travis County

AG Greg Abbott Bans Same-Sex Benefits In Cities, Counties & School Districts, Sorta

Attorney General Greg Abbott, in an ironic twist of timing, has struck down the ability of cities, counties and school districts to offer domestic partner benefits. By almost any measure, today was a landmark day for the GLBT community, with all eyes focused on basketball player Jason Collins, the ... More >>

Lesley Pehrigo: Prison For Indeceny With Four-Year-Old Boy In 1999; Gets Out & Violates Parole By Having Contact With Him

Lesley Pehrigo's career as a sex offender seems odd and details are sketchy. But if online records are correct, she went to prison for indecency with a child -- a four-year-old child. The incident, of which there aren't many details handy, happened in 1999. She did her time and got out. On Friday ... More >>

Shriya Patel: Husband She Was Accused of Torching in April Has Died

Bimal Patel, the Austin man whose wife allegedly doused him in gasoline and set him on fire after promising him a romantic massage back in, has died. Ever since the April 17 incident, Patel, 29, had been in a burns unit at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Doctors there confirmed that he passed a ... More >>

Torina Ann Gutierrez: Busted After First-Grade Daughter Eats Angel Dust Sandwich at School

Teachers and staff at Popham Elementary in Del Valle had rarely seen one of their pupils acting so strangely and alarmingly. According to the Austin American-Statesman, on May 4, the six-year-old first grader was babbling to phantoms and complaining of "banging in her head." When the mother, 34- ... More >>

Shelley Linder & Holly Lopez: Two More Teachers Accused of Sexing Up Students

And your two Texas teachers of the day accused of having sex with students are: Shelley Linder from Brazosport High and Holly Lopez from central Texas. Both have been arrested and face charges, of different types. Lopez, 32, is accused of having sex with boys aged 14 and 13, but it is not clear if ... More >>

Ricardo Luna: Tries to Pay for Lap Dance with Crack; Assaults Cops on Way to Jail (Allegedly)

Ricardo Luna had to wonder what this world is coming to. Not only did the stripper he attempted to pay with crack cocaine refuse that form of payment, but she also turned him in to management at Austin's XTC Men's Club. And now, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, his night was coming to a premature ... More >>

WWJD? Hit and Run

Driver gives religion, not help.

Three Meals a Day for Texas Prisoners: The Petition Campaign

More sir, please.​The daughter of a Texas inmate is getting thousands of people to sign a petition demanding the state resume feeding its prisoners three times a day seven days a week. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced this fall that budget constraints were forcing them to fe ... More >>

HISD Joins the Lawsuit Against State's Educational Funding Plan

Taking it to the courthouse.​The Houston school board voted unanimously this morning (with four absentees) to join the burgeoning lawsuit against Rick Perry's latest funding scheme for public education, which cuts $5 billion over the next two years. HISD's state funding was cut $78 million th ... More >>

BestFest Finalizes Lineup, Releases Schedule

​As much as Rocks Off has been talking about it, planning it, and writing about it these past two months or so, it doesn't seem possible that our first-ever Best of Houston® BestFest is only 10 short days away. By the time we finish coughing up all the dust from our trip to the no-smoking Aus ... More >>

Cover Story: Austin Strikes Back? Travis County Hunts Me Down For 3 Bad Checks From 22 Years Ago

The story that (possibly) launched a witchhunt.​When my ex-wife called about a month ago to tell me that Travis County had sent me a hot check warrant to my old address here in Houston, I thought there had to be some kind of mistake. Maybe my identity had been stolen -- at South By Southwest ... More >>

Police: Thomas Involved In 3 "Altercations" Day Before Death

satxmusic.com​Since his body was identified Tuesday morning, Austin police have been investigating the final hours of rockabilly singer and bandleader Chadd Thomas, trying to fill in the blanks between Thomas' show with his band the Crazy Kings last Saturday night and the discovery of his body ... More >>

Broken System: Levels of Care

An Arlington-based company called Youth For Tomorrow labels kids but rarely comes into contact with them.

I-45 in Harris County: Most Teen Car Crashes in Texas

Road trip...to higher insurance rates.​There's nothing like being a teen behind the wheel in summer. You've got your music blasting, you at least imagine the top's down, and the world is yours. Plus, if you're in Harris County, you have the added excitement of crashing at almost any moment. ... More >>

BREAKING SXSW NEWS: Camera Boom At Stubbs Injures Fans Before OMD Gig

via @aliix on Twitter​Rocks Off is still working on the details, but according to massive Twitter reporting by fans at Stubb's off Red River, a camera boom injured about four fans on Saturday night before a set by Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark. Updated: According to a Rocks Off follower w ... More >>

Third Ward Heat

Mayor, police grilled on HPD beating.

Tommy Joe Kelley: Slasher Nabbed, and, Um, Tired Austinites Breathe Sigh of Relief

Travis County SOTommy Joe Kelley, the slasher​Tommy Joe Kelley's reign of terror appears to be at an end. The 56-year-old drifter was quietly nabbed by Austin cops last month on a trespassing charge and booked into Travis County Jail under what police say is one of his 44 aliases. Earlier this ... More >>

Airport Full Body Scanners: Austin GOP Takes a Bold Stand Against Them

Rosemary Edwards is appalled​If you're a Republican living in Travis County, modesty comes naturally. We just never knew it extended to body issues. Apparently plagued by self-doubt about having their nekkid bodies ogled by airport staffers, the Travis County Republican Party, such as it is, ... More >>

In The Jailhouse Now: Tom DeLay's Prison Soundtrack

​Tom DeLay is, in Lonesome, Onry and Mean's opinion, one of the lowest, vilest, most divisive, scum-sucking snake oil salesmen ever to enter politics. Now DeLay is heading to the pokey to serve time for his money laundering activities (pending his appeal, of course). We don't recall another H ... More >>

Don't Kill the Messengers

How bike couriers plan to survive the internet age.

Cal-Maine Egg Farm: Don't Look At This Video While Eating Breakfast

You don't wanna know​If it's been too long since your last undercover-video-of-ghastly-animal-abuse fix, then check out the footage cited in this lawsuit concerning the Cal-Maine egg farm in Travis County. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is suing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, ... More >>

Rocks Off Has Officially Reached ACL Fest

Craig Hlavaty​Well, we were afraid of this. While Rocks Off Sr. remains at Mission Control here in Houston (appropriate, don't you think?), Craig Hlavaty and Brittanie Shey have sallied forth to the Live Music Capital of Travis County to cover this year's Austin City Limits music festival in Z ... More >>

Heights-Area Walmart Poised For Vote Today: Let's Look At Three Recent Stop-Walmart! Fights

The City Council could vote today to bring a Heights Walmart one step closer. ​This morning, the Houston City Council is set to vote on a proposed "380 agreement" with developer Michael Ainbinder that would help him build a Walmart-anchored retail center near the Heights. The agreement, posted on ... More >>

Five Memorable Artist-Audience Altercations

Chris GrayWilco's Jeff Tweedy in a much better mood, March 2008There may be a very good reason Van Morrison said practically nothing from the stage Saturday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Judging from the plentiful comments here, here and over at the Chronicle's review, it would have ... More >>

The Ultimate Menu For Your Texas-Alabama Viewing Party

​The BCS Championship is tonight. Have you made all your viewing-party plans?Any good viewing party needs a menu that supports the local team. If you're a fan of good college football, it's understandable that you might not be too familiar with the University of Texas Longhorns.Not to worry!! We'v ... More >>

Through Being Cool

Harris County Becomes Democratic

The College Football Preview, Week Four: Longhorns in Jail and Cougars with Excuses

Freshman UT Running Back James Henry Arrested. Sounds Like the Horns Are Gonna Have One Helluva Prison Gang.

Maker Faire Is Coming to Texas. And No, It Has Nothing to Do with Ren Fest, Although That Extra "E" Did Throw Us for a Sec.

Tom DeLay Wins the Day (Well, Pretty Much)

The White Coat Club

Women complain that doctors get away with pretty much anything

Chris Bell Is In Your Extended Network (?)

A Fallen Star Is Born

Tom DeLay's scandals are a gold mine for two Texas filmmakers

A Mighty Wind

A mountain of garbage in northeast Houston is looking to get bigger. Neighbors cry foul.

Time Out, Mack

Rewarding bad behavior by underachievers

A South By Southwest How-To

Let's do like the Texans and punk Dallas

Sloppy Joes

For Austin's Weary Boys, energy and exuberance trump technique

Lott of Trouble

Appellate delays kept the client out of jail -- but not his lawyer

The Devil & Mr. Riordan

For author Rick Riordan, "research" was riding along with cops and drinking

Bet You Can't Vote for Just One!

Why did so many Houston Hispanics punch twice for president?

Will the Real Texas Musician Please Stand Up

The land of gee-tars and fiddles

The Insider

Strange Association. The ties that bind former mayor Whitmire with a sex offender

GOP Sweeps Week

Republicans complete Texas political reconstruction

DNA Delivers the Verdict

Rogue Elephant

Log Cabin Republicans want to be part of the GOP, which wants no part of them

Happy Trails

After their little dustup, artist Robert Rauschenberg and art dealer Alfred Kren decide to do business together

The Last Safety Net

In 1992, Harris County changed the way it cares for those who can't manage their own lives. Four and a half years later, social workers are swamped, and people like Miss Natalie suffer.

The Case Against Kay

Last year, a grand jury was told tales about Texas' junior senator. Here's what they heard.

A Fine Mess

Texas nursing homes do an end-run around the state's penalty system -- again y D.J. Wilson