U.S. Postal Service

Down Boy: Texas Ranks Third in Most Dog Bites in the U.S.

Being a mail carrier for the postal service must be a bitch, particularly in older neighborhoods where they have to walk up to houses instead of just driving by a mailbox. There's the heat and carrying a big pack full of mail. But, perhaps the worst part is the fear of being attacked by a dog. Any a ... More >>

Google Wallet Takes on PayPal with Send Money Function

Remember checks? Some of us still use them on occasion. They are those paper things we have to fill out by hand and use to pay for stuff, mostly rent and maybe a birthday gift for the nephew. Just like the U.S. Postal Service is rapidly being replaced by e-mail, checks (and, in some cases, cash) are ... More >>

Houston-Born Tejano Icon Lydia Mendoza Honored With New Postage Stamp

Texas music lovers have one more thing to celebrate as of today. The United States Postal Service is issuing a new series of stamps titled Music Icons, and Houston's own Lydia Mendoza is the first honoree. Long before Selena, there was Lydia Mendoza. A master of the twelve-string guitar, Ms. Mendoz ... More >>

Sean Walsh: Feds Send Him Child-Porn Catalog, He Orders, Is Busted

Modern marketing involves aggressively targeting a potential customer and then quickly and efficiently fulfilling his needs. And when you think of the words "efficiently" and "fulfilling his needs," you think of nothing else but the federal government, right? Right? Okay, okay -- maybe the feds do ... More >>

Shakedown: The HCAD Appraisal Game

HCAD fights owners of moderate housing for every single assessment penny. So why is it routinely handing out tax breaks worth several millions to big corporations?

MLK Day: What's Closed on Monday?

Monday is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday and there are quite a few things closed. Here's a rundown of what we know is closed and/or open. If you know of any things we missed, please add them in the comments. Most banks. The United States Post Office -- no mail delivery, except Expr ... More >>

Top 14 Words Used By Cybercriminals

We here at Hair Balls have gotten pretty good at recognizing e-mail scams when we see 'em. For example, we don't give our checking account info to just any Olatunde, Abimbola, or Harry who says he's a Nigerian prince -- we make sure they prove it to us by getting their phone number first. But othe ... More >>

The Biggest Houston Bands of 1992

Researching what the Houston music scene was like 20 years ago has been an eye-opening experience, to put it mildly. In that benighted era, the world was very analog. Musicians could design a gig flyer or type up some lyrics on their computers, maybe fiddle around with some primitive MIDI-type softw ... More >>

Houston Now & Then

Mashing the city's past and present.

Don't Fall for the Mystery Shopper Scam!

Like most of the rest of us, Algernon Morehead of Humble could always use a few extra bucks, so he looked online last month for ways to become a mystery shopper -- people paid by market research firms to evaluate the shopping experience at a variety of companies (usually retailers). He filled out ... More >>

10 Things That Have Happened To Rock Stars' Ashes

Recently, I explored some of the strange things that musicians have been buried with. In the course of researching that article, I came across a lot of tales about the cremated remains of rock stars. Some very odd things have occurred with famous ashes, so being the resident morbid person on staff, ... More >>

Lawndale's Stellar Studio Show

Three resident artists put on a strong group show.

Delmus Scott, Jr.: Army Postmaster Steals $565,000 Worth Of Postal Orders

A man who was the equivalent of a postmaster at an Army base stole 565 $1,000 money orders and manged to convert about $90,000 each to himself and his fiance before getting caught, federal prosecutors say. Delmus Eugene Scott, Jr., 34, of Humble, Texas, was sentenced to almost three years in a fede ... More >>

Harvard, CU-Boulder Design Downtown Houston of Your Dreams, Possibly

That up above, the dreamy rendering of the area that used to house the downtown Post Office? It's "Bayou Commons," which is "strategically designed to be downtown Houston's first residential district celebrating cultural diversity and urban lifestyle." But don't go looking for it yet.

Cool: Old Houston Photos Mashed With Their Present-Day Houston Equivalent

Houston Press staffer Abrahan Garza likes to meld Houston's past and present together. He goes around town matching up old postcards to present-day sites, something he saw on the web a year or so ago. "I'll find a remnant in the old photo I will try to match it up perfectly," he says. "It's defini ... More >>

Valentines for Soldiers: Send Your Love (and Baked Goods) to Our Troops

​Although Christmas and New Year's Eve are right around the corner, we're already thinking of Valentine's Day here at Eating Our Words. And that's because this year's Valentines For Soldiers event on Monday, January 16, is going to be bigger and better than ever. Last year, the turnout for th ... More >>

Top 5 Reasons Cyber Monday Is Better Than Black Friday

To bastardize a line from Groundhog Day, "Well, it's Black Friday...again." It's that oh-so-magical time of year when the strong walk away from predawn shopping trips with armfuls of electronic goodies while the weak get treated by EMS for boot marks left by shoppers stampeding into Best Buy. Since ... More >>

5 Reasons You Should Skip Black Friday for Cyber Monday

Well, it's Black Friday again. I sincerely hope you and your loved ones remain un-trampled and filled with holiday spirit or, if retailers got their wish, with carloads of merchandise. Since 2005, the nerdy cousin to Black Friday has been Cyber Monday. Traditionally, and I hesitate to even use that ... More >>

Daylight Savings Time: Who Needs It?

Remember: Autumn back or something like that​Most of you are probably happy to get that extra hour of sleep Sunday, but at what cost? Think of all those days to come that you'll get up before dawn, plus, the drive home from work will be in the dark, because if you're working at all nowadays, y ... More >>

Say Goodbye To Nine Houston Post Offices

Offices a-closin'​The U.S. Postal Service has announced it's thinking about shutting 3,700 locations across the country, many in small towns. But Houston would not be spared: A list of potential closings -- hilariously labeled the "Expanded Access Study List" -- shows nine sites in the city a ... More >>

Roxann Michelle Thomas: Actually (And Illegally) Got Something From Those "Are You Owed Money?" Lists

Yeah, that's my name, give me my check.​Newspapers and media Web sites regularly publish lists of people who are owed money by public institutions; if anyone bothers to read them, they check their name hoping to see they've forgotten all about that five-digit deposit in some bank they used to ... More >>

Houston Dogs Worst In Country For Attacking Mail Carriers

Probably lives in Houston​It's hard out there for a Houston mail carrier -- if the heat doesn't get you, the dogs probably will. The United States Postal Service has put out its list of the 10 most dangerous cities for dog attacks, and coming in at the top is....us. USPS says 62 Houston lett ... More >>

Neal Uy Lim: Got Millions Through Counterfeit Postage Scheme

Don't mess with Newman​A Houston man has been convicted of running a multi-million scheme where he used counterfeit postage machines to rip off the post office. Neal Uy Lim, 50, owned three large pre-sorting mail businesses in the Houston area, operations that handle bulk mail and get a disco ... More >>

You've Got Mail: Letter Carrier Pleads Guilty to Stealing

When you control the news, you control...information.​Ever mail something to a friend or family member, like some birthday cash, or perhaps a kidney, only to have it go missing? Things like that kept happening along the route of Houston letter carrier Johnnie Harden Jr. (except subst ... More >>

"The Wreck Of The Old 97": Country's First Million-Seller

Before the Edmund Fitzgerald went down with all hands, inspiring Gordon Lightfoot's famous ballad, there was another wreck and another song. In 1903, The Southern Railway had a deal with the United States Postal Service for mail delivery. One of the trains involved in the mail haul was The Fast M ... More >>

Mail Carrier Stole Netflix DVDs, Leaving Spring Without A Chance To Appreciate Paul Blart, Mall Cop

The entertainment this man deprived Spring of, it boggles the mind​If you live in Spring and are wondering whatever happened to your promised Netflix delivery of Jennifer Aniston's The Bounty Hunter, there may be an answer. (And you're probably just as well off not seeing the thing anyway.)Rudolph ... More >>

Turkeys of the Year

In a highly competitive 2009 field, Governor Rick Perry is the biggest gobbler of them all.

The Indictment Comes Down For Willie D

We noted yesterday that Houston's own Willie D had finally gotten out of jail, bonding out under an agreement that limited his travel and internet use.If that was considered good news for the Geto Boys rapper, today brought more bad news -- he has been formally indicted on the iPhone scam charges th ... More >>

Rapper Willie D Arrested Over Alleged iPhone Scam

Rapper Willie D has been arrested and charged with wire fraud, US Attorney Tim Johnson has announced.William James Dennis, as he's more formally known, was arrested last night at Bush Intercontinental after an indictment was unsealed charging him in connection "with his purported sales of iPhones th ... More >>

This Year's Rodeo Scandal: Diversity, Or The Lack Thereof. With Dueling Memos!

This year's rodeo brouhaha -- there usually is one -- surrounds the alleged lack of diversity of the event's staff, vendors and performers.State Sen. Mario Gallegos has filed a bill calling on the rodeo to open its books and get better about being inclusionary; local ctivist ben Mendez has circulate ... More >>

Duck Season. Rabbit Season. Tax Season.

The Seoul of Houston: The Weather Was Not the Strong Point on Long Point

Telemarketing Offers

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

Dirty Money

Best Post Office

Sam Houston Branch

Only 200 Served

Burgers become the best of barbecue at Guy's Meat Market

Letters

Rotten to the Corps, Wife Strife, Sweet and Neat

Letters

Silent Echo, Going Postal, Freedom Fighter

Zoned Out

The biggest Houston postal "improvement" ever has cut 400 jobs -- and snarled mail delivery

Special Delivery

With Cast Away, Robert Zemeckis unearths the part of Tom Hanks we've been hoping to find: His brittle humanity

Best Local Terrorist

Lloyd Kelley

On The Hot Seat

Lester Tyra's short reign as chief of the Houston Fire Department has been filled with controversy. Can he quench the flames fast enough to save his job?

Pushing the Envelope

Sushi via the U.S. mail? Velveeta boxes affixed with stamps? To Beth Jacobs, it's all art.

Officials Probe Refund Collector

Dallas CPA failed to use required disclaimers in collecting a quarter-million dollars

Trash Talk

Condo groups want the mayor to pay up on a campaign promise

Stolen and Forged

The check is in the mail takes on a whole new meaning in West University Place

Return to Sender

With The Postman, Kevin Costner fails to deliver

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