Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
The temporary truce between John O’Quinn and Benton Musslewhite — a truce that helped the pair beat ambulance-chasing charges brought against them by the State Bar — hasn’t lasted long. So much for wartime romances. Musslewhite is taking his former associate to court, having filed a lawsuit February 11 that…
A True Spirit of Giving
It’s nice that the Chronicle — Houston’s self-confessed leading information source among all the daily newspapers in Houston — is willing to lend a helping hand to those who are less well-off. Take the case of Today’s Satellite, Inc., one of those many companies springing up as an alternative to…
Letters
Zeros’ Tolerance HISD never fails to amaze me with the total lack of common sense shown in the administration of student discipline [“Fighting the Power,” by Wendy Grossman, January 28]. On a weekly basis, the Houston Federation of Teachers handles complaints from teachers regarding the fact that their administrators refuse…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories *The Denny’s restaurant chain, which paid $45 million in 1994 to settle a lawsuit by black customers who claimed they were denied service, launched a $2 million corporate antiracism campaign January 12. On the same day, 17 Hispanics sued a Denny’s in San Jose, California, claiming they were…
Councilman Cad?
In his first trial on federal bribery-conspiracy charges last year that ended in a hung jury, Houston City Councilman Michael Yarbrough called upon a former elementary school teacher, now blind and infirm, to vouch for his good character. As the 48-year-old Yarbrough prepares for a second trial, a widow tells…
Dynamic Duo
When Yo-Yo Ma takes the stage with Christoph Eschenbach Friday night for an evening of cello/piano duets, it will mark the first time the two world-class performers have ever publicly played together. But, while not frequent collaborators, the two men are friends. “I really love this guy,” Ma says of…
Night & Day
Thursday February 18 At the age of two, Bryan McGlothin was kidnapped by his father, who moved him from state to state to hide him from his mother. McGlothin found his mom again at the age of 33 — only to learn that a failed suicide attempt shortly after his…
The New American Cowboy
Out in the Deliverance country north of Houston — past signs that read “Convict Clinton Now” and “Concealed Handgun Club” — is the barn where rodeo cowboy Gene Mikulenka keeps his three horses. The kicker, so to speak? This rodeo cowboy is gay. Mikulenka grew up rodeoing in the little…
Hot Plate
Part of the fun at Maxim’s [3755 Richmond Ave., (713)877-8899] is guessing which member of the swankienda set the greens are named after. I’ve figured out Schlumberger Salad and Salad Halbouty on my own, but who, pray tell, inspired the Sassy Southern Veal Salad? Never mind. It’s still one of…
Hungarian Horror
The Last Days is the first film released by the Shoah Foundation, created by Steven Spielberg, among others, to document the lives and stories of Holocaust survivors all over the world. This Oscar-nominated documentary examines the German invasion of Hungary, which came near the end of the war. It takes…
Four-Star Fun
When was the last time you had fun at a four-star restaurant? I don’t mean genteel enjoyment, in a pursed-lip, stiffly overdressed sort of way. I’m talking about upbeat, witty entertainment — you know, fun. Tony Ruppe, formerly executive chef at serious bastions of haute cuisine such as the Four…
Affecting Affliction
In the archetypal dead-end town of Lawford, New Hampshire, cold-eyed men looking for trouble prowl the streets in four-by-fours with chrome spotlights and loaded gun racks. The gloomy barrooms are not gathering places so much as solitary confinement cells, and the most popular local sport is macho posturing. In wintry…
Dish
Dacapo’s School for Success” If you want to be a success in the Houston restaurant business,” Leticia Guzman once said jokingly, “just come work for Dacapo’s.” Of course, her Allen Parkway eatery no longer suffers high turnover: Dacapo’s is now closed, and Guzman and husband, Kirk Graham, have graduated to…
Retro Rocket
The opening scenes of October Sky don’t hold out much promise. They find us back in the extremely familiar territory of the American ’50s, hick-style. Coalwood, West Virginia, in this case, where those boys who are on their way to becoming real men play football, the girls cheerlead and the…
Bop Lite
One of jazz’s most commercially successful trumpeters, Maynard Ferguson has a keen sense of what trend will keep him visible. In the late ’40s and early ’50s, he was playing swing with Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton. In the mid ’50s, he worked in the studio and was on top…
Another Night, Another Song
Sunday night is showtime in Pasadena, the evening when the big club Bayou City Nights opens its doors to the underage. Teenagers pour inside until the place ripples with cowboy hats, until the floor is blotted out and there’s nowhere to go but the karaoke room. The karaoke singers have…
They’re Nationwide
Joe Daniels of Local H remembers feeling queasy about the group’s future when he and his bandmate, Scott Lucas, began recording their second CD, As Good As Dead. The Chicago-area group’s debut CD, Hamfisted, had been released in 1995 but had received little promotion from its label, Island Records. The…
Great Escapes
Last August 28, an orange cloud of toxic trimethylacetyl chloride escaped from the Hoyer chemical plant in Bayport and drifted into nearby communities. The accident occurred at 7:10 a.m., the beginning of the school day. Neither Clear Creek nor La Porte school district was immediately notified. La Porte school officials…
Back to Her Roots
Ruthie Foster’s artistic identity may challenge some mainstream assumptions about race, age, gender and musical tastes. A 35-year-old African-American singer-songwriter who plays guitar and piano (both solo and with her band), she performs mainly original material that resists simple classification. Her style is grounded in country blues and gospel, yet…
Blowing Smoke
Since Michelle Martinez moved to El Jardin with her family in 1997, ill health has stalked her daughters. Five-year-old Melanie has contracted a variety of respiratory ailments including sinus infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. Prior to the move, Melanie had experienced garden-variety allergic reactions; now, she regularly breaks into hives that…
Eh Oh
O PURPLE TELETUBBIES HERE!” read the marquee outside Joe’s Crab Shack, a party-hearty restaurant on I-45 North. It was Thursday, February 11, the day after the Reverend Jerry Falwell outed the children’s television character. In case you don’t have a small child: Tinky Winky is the biggest of the four…