U.S. Department of Justice

Jeffrey Skilling's Appeals Are Over: He & Feds Agree to a Maximum Sentence of 17 Years

Still fighting his lonely battle seven years after his fraud conviction, former Enron honcho Jeffrey Skilling has reached an agreement with the feds on his sentence and will drop all his appeals, the two sides announced today. Skilling, who has been in federal custody since December 2006, has agre ... More >>

North Forest ISD's Hopes To Avoid HISD Merger Vanishing Quickly

The likelihood of North Forest Independent School District being annexed into Houston Independent School District seems imminently probable, even though North Forest promises at least one more appeal of the decision. North Forest, which has been in disarray for almost two decades now, threw a Hail ... More >>

Woman Uses Three-Year-Old For Porn

Misty Reneedawn Wofford: Forced Three-Year-Old To Perform For British Skype Perv, Police Say

Working together, Interpol, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Webster police have busted a 24-year-old Hitchcock woman allegedly responsible for creating live child porn and transmitting it to a British man via Skype. According to court documents, after a raid on the home of a man named Paul ... More >>

Jason Gandy, Houstonian Busted for Taking Teen Rent Boy to London for Olympics

Take it from someone who knows: British customs and immigration officials are a suspicious lot. Sometimes it's a major pain, like when they tear your bags apart for an hour in a fruitless search for drugs because you've arrived from Amsterdam looking scruffy and fatigued. Other times, it's damned i ... More >>

Crossing the Line: Welcome Back, Jim Crow

New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall.

Crossing the Line: Bordering on Revolution

A hostile Supreme Court. A feckless Obama administration. America's war on Mexicans has gone too far.

Texas Joins Suit Against Apple, Publishers for E-Book Price-Fixing

Texas joined 15 other states and the feds today in suing Apple and three publishing companies for alleged price-fixing e-books. "Colluding to fix prices violates antitrust laws and raises costs for customers," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. "In this case, three of the nation's largest pub ... More >>

HISD Won't Be Merging With North Forest ISD, For Now

The Texas Education Agency's plan to have the Houston school district absorb the chronically troubled North Forest district has been shelved, for now at least. TEA commissioner Robert Scott informed HISD by letter today that merging with NFISD "is no longer an option," HISD spokesman Jason Spencer ... More >>

John O'Shea: Energy Exec Acquitted on Mexican Bribery Charges

Someone bribed, but it wasn't John O'Shea.​The executive of a Sugar Land-based company who's been accused of paying bribes to Mexican officials was acquitted without the defense even putting on a case. John O'Shea, the former general manager of ABB Industries, was acquitted by U.S. District J ... More >>

The Astros Lead the "Crazy Sounding Job Title" Standings; Six More to Consider

Most of you have probably been paying attention to the Houston Texans, what with them actually making the playoffs for the first time in team history. But there are other professional sports teams in this city, and one of those teams made some front-office moves last week, moves that will hopefully ... More >>

The Year In Astros Baseball: Thank God That's Over

​So let's continue our look back at the sporting year that was 2011 by taking a look at the Top 25 events to happen to the Houston Astros. 1. They finished with the worst record in team history, which was quite the accomplishment seeing as how the Astros were pretty damn bad for most of the ... More >>

"Project Delirium": Big Nationwide Drug Round-Up Results in Texas Arrests

The hammer comes down.​No, "Project Delirium" isn't the latest Anthrax album; It's a nationwide crackdown targeting alleged members of the La Familia Michoacana Drug Cartel. It's been a 20-month operation, and in the latest wave of arrests beginning this month, 221 suspects have been taken in ... More >>

Prison Pays

Despite a history of abuse and bad conditions, private prison corporation GEO keeps getting contracts from the state.

King Street "Patriots": Voter Intimidation Continues At Polling Stations Around Houston

Photo by Chasen MarshallIf the signs don't sway you, the poll watchers might.​Polling stations around Houston have turned into bastions of controversy this week: Fourteen reported incidents Monday and another that Hair Balls heard about on Wednesday in south Houston near Gulfgate. There are few d ... More >>

HPD Scores Big On Federal Grant To Hire Cops

HPD: 50 new cops can wear this hat​Houston is the only major Texas city to get funding in the current round of a federal police-hiring grant program, Mayor Annise Parker announced today.A $10 million grant will allow the city to hire 50 officers over the next three years, she said.Houston is one o ... More >>

Mental Cases

Philip Grantham counts on his meds and his MHMRA doctor to stay straight. Too bad Texas is slashing funding.

Back To Paper Ballots For Some Of Harris County

Nostalgia, but no consolidation of voting locations​For all those who pine nostalgically for cardboard privacy boxes and paper voting ballots, oh boy is this the year for you.At an emergency meeting of the Harris County Commissioners' Court on Monday, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said paper ballot ... More >>

BP Defending Itself On Yet Another Pollution Front

Still playing defense​During this economic recovery, we bet one place is hiring: the BP legal department.Not only is the company struggling to defend a crush of lawsuits connected to the oil spill in the Gulf, but now it has to deal with a $10 billion lawsuit for allegedly making thousands of peop ... More >>

The T Visa Program And A Fatal Crash

​In this week's feature, a man named Steve Morrison was hit in his car and killed by Rosa Villegas-Vatres, a legal immigrant from El Salvador. Villegas-Vatres was allowed to stay here through the T visa program, which was founded about nine years ago by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft as a too ... More >>

Despite Impending Merger, Live Nation Shows No Longer Available Through Ticketmaster

​ Last week, shareholders of both Ticketmaster and Live Nation voted to approve the companies' impending merger, which was first announced last February. The stock price of both companies rose sharply after the announcement, and the Dow Jones Newswire reported that the U.S. Justice Department coul ... More >>

He's Not a Gentleman: Willie D Pleads Guilty In Wire Fraud Case

​ The Willie D iPhone international fraud case is over, and the rapper has plead guilty. This morning the Geto Boys MC and Dirty South pioneer went before District Court Judge Gray Miller at a hearing and confessed to posing as an electronics salesman and using eBay to establish his credibility w ... More >>

Do Yo Time: Willie D Pleads Guilty to Wire-Fraud Charges

​The Willie D iPhone international fraud case is over, and the rapper has pled guilty. This morning the Geto Boys MC and Dirty South pioneer went before District Court Judge Gray Miller at a hearing and confessed to posing as an electronics salesman and using eBay to establish his credibility with ... More >>

The Awful Truth

Attn: Wall Street. Michael Moore is a Marxist (but he's still selling the same old shtick).

Don't Like the Conditions in Jail?

Then don't end up there, say readers.

Houston Is Epicenter Of Big Medicare-Fraud Sweep

​Houston is at the center of a big sweep against Medicare fraud announced today by the feds. A grand jury here issued indictments involving more than $16 million in fraud, and agents went out today and arrested 32 people in Houston, New York, Boston and Louisiana.Sayeth the feds: The Strike Force ... More >>

You're In Harris County Jail? You Ain't Getting Your Health Records

Matthew Collazo, an inmate at the Harris County jail, has a series of bumps under his skin that are troubling him. He wants to see an outside doctor to make sure he is healthy, and needs his medical records from the jail. He asked for them in writing, but officials wouldn't give 'em up. Collazo's mo ... More >>

Methodist Hospital Gets Hit For Medicaid Fraud

Seal courtesy DOJUsually when the Justice Department announces the settlement of a Medicaid-fraud case, it's a small-time operation dealing with wheelchairs or even adult diapers.Not today.Today they've nabbed a nearly-$10 million settlement out of Methodist Hospital here for defrauding the federal ... More >>

It's Official: Live Nation and Ticketmaster Merge

The boards of directors of concert-industry giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster have approved a merger agreement, CNNmoney.com reported today, a deal expected to take effect later this year. The deal is a stock swap that awards Ticketmaster shareholders 1,374 shares in Live Nation per ... More >>

NASA Has To Deal With Crummy Contractors, Just Like The Rest Of Us

Gone to Hell: Mental Illness and Harris County Jail

Even though Alexander Hatcher is bipolar and schizophrenic, he wasn't given his meds for his first three months in jail. He got in fights with the guards. Now he's sentenced to prison for a long, long time.

The Annotated Alberto Gonzales

A look at Gonzo's job hunt

Steroids and Miguel Tejada: Sucks To Be Ed Wade Right Now

Port Arthur Residents Sue Premcor Refining

The Best at Being the Worst: Alberto Gonzales and Other Texans Top the List of Bad Prosecutors

Bayou Blow

Coke is the new weed

U.S. informants take part in murder and drug running in Mexico

Letters

Do the Math

The music industry says online piracy's killing the biz. A UTD prof says it ain't.

Preaching to the Choir

Plus: Feudal Follies, Life in the Slow Lane, Facts and Fantasy

Streamlining the Hit-Making Process

Clear Channel wants to cut the indies out of the deal

Payback Time?

Dick DeGuerin beat the IRS. Now there's a bigger war over basic rights.

Spring Time for Ben and Betti?

Time's running out on commutation efforts

Shaping the Council to Come

Time to pull out those election wish lists

Letters

Letters

Press Picks

The Insider

The Insider

Tell Them the Dog Did It!

Brace yourself --the FBI says the Tracker is a fraud