U.S. Federal Trade Commission

Jerking Our Chain

Cover Story: Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose

Paying the Price

Major gas companies are driving away independent station operators, all in the name of greed

Dying for Dollars

As the death-care industry booms and consolidates, Houston's Service Corporation International is leading the way

Dying on the Cheap

As the death-care industry booms and consolidates, Houston's Service Corporation International is leading the way

The Wendy Card

Wendy Gramm's all-American success story is a centerpiece of her husband's fledgling presidential bid. But there's more to the story than what's being packaged and sold by the Phil Gramm campaign.

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 >>

Death Be Not Pricey

In which good Ken Lambert fights the high cost of dying

Will the Real Texas Musician Please Stand Up

The land of gee-tars and fiddles

What Mainstream Publishers Don't Want You to Know About Door-to-Door Magazine Sales

That kid at your door with a magazine order form will tell you a story -- part sad, part hopeful. The truth will be infinitely worse than you can imagine.

Live-Action Role-Players Get Boffed in Amtgard

Amid flailing swords and flying shields, these modern-day knights fight on

Telemarketing Offers

MGR promises help with federal grants and racks up hundreds of consumer complaints

Gaps in Coverage

GlobalTec employees apparently aren't all they make themselves out to be

Texas coin companies target elderly investors

Heads you lose, tails you lose

In the Sub-Prime of Life

Homeowners complain that Litton Loan is quicker to foreclose than it needs to be

Millionaire Mindsetters

No skeptics need apply to this get-rich-quick proposition

Fool's Gold

Desperate clients hand over thousands of dollars for a chance at a job

Doctor Nice

Steven Hotze uses a warm, easygoing manner to peddle natural hormones to women, at thousands of dollars a pop. So who cares about credentials or documented results?

Dem Blues

The left, turning right, was plain wrong to attack pop culture

Put Down That Fish!

According to the Williamsons, the Scottish salmon you're holding may be bogus

It Happens

Ohmigod! Five seasons in, South Park's the funniest show on TV.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Activists push for a law to keep homebuyers from getting squeezed

Letters

Shell Game, Desperately Seeking Susan, Hungary for Tex-Mex

Pumped Dry

Gas station dealers find big oil blocking the way in their struggles against extinction

Autentica!

A movie star's claim of a cancer cure spreads Cat's Claw fever through the city

ID Theft

Someone gets your social, ruins your credit, upends your life. And gets away free and clear.

Cover Me

Kathern Cathey thought she had an insurance policy that would save her life. Not exactly.

While You Weren't Tweeting: What, No More ACL?!

​Whether you helped rip Zilker Park to shreds or you simply groaned inwardly (and rolled your eyes outwardly) every time someone gushed about Them Crooked Vultures, everyone's got their own brand of ACL war story to propagate. But since we know that you suckers actually ruined your Ferragamos ... More >>

Credit Repair

Overwhelmed by debt? Hey, pay a company to get rid of it by saying it never really happened in the first place.

How Not To Repair Your Credit

​You might think that a business couldn't squeeze much money out people who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but where there's a will, and perhaps a paucity of ethics, there's a way.This week's Houston Press cover story takes a look at a rift between two "debt invalidation" companies, in ... More >>

Hewlett-Packard Pays $16.25 Million To Settle HISD Bribe Case

Invent new ways to get contracts​Hewlett Packard has agreed to pay a $16.25 million fine to settle a case that involved improprer gift-giving to school-district employees in Houston and Dallas, the Associated Press is reporting. The allegations came in connection with the federal government's ... More >>

The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Weighs Ethics Against Charity

​Texas is ablaze today, wildfires ravaging Bastrop and threatening small towns outside of Austin. Fifty-seven fires are burning across 100,000 acres of Central Texas, and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed since this latest rash of fires broke out on Monday. And in Austin, local blogger ... More >>