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Establishing a Base on the Moon is Going to Take a Little More Time

By Dianna Wray

Oct 27, 2021

It’s official—NASA has once again delayed plans to launch the Space Launch System rocket, a move that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise if you’ve been paying attention. But there is a date within sight: the towering rocket stack that marks the first moon rocket NASA has constructed since...

Soon maybe we'll all be on whirlwind rail trips.

President Biden Rode Trains for 30 Years, Maybe More Texans Will Too

By Dianna Wray

Oct 8, 2021

Although it increasingly looks like the Houston-to-Dallas highspeed rail line may actually become a reality—Texas Central, the company behind the multimillion-dollar project actually brokered a deal with a construction company back in June—there’s still plenty of room for improvement in our state’s transportation setup where people only take Amtrak if...

Surely Houston would be able to convince Elon Musk to move his base of operations up to here from South Texas?

What SpaceX’s Civilian Crew Launch Means to Houston

By Dianna Wray

Sep 16, 2021

Wednesday night, SpaceX launched what is being hailed as “the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit” on Wednesday evening from Cape Canaveral, Florida). Inspiration4, crewed by two men and two women, will become another flashy bit of advertising for the new wonderful world of space tourism. Admittedly this flight, which...

How far into the surf do you have to get to find someplace without COVID?

Diary of a Pandemic Holiday

By Jef Rouner

Sep 1, 2021

May People are getting vaccinated, restrictions are being lifted, and deaths are going down. For one brief month or so it looks like there might finally be some hope. I very hesitantly book the safest vacation I possibly can just in case things go south. What could be lower key...

We thought a quick plane change wouldn't be so bad. Oh, how wrong we were.

How Our One Hour Chicago Layover Became A Thirty Hour Travel Nightmare

By Schaefer Edwards

Aug 23, 2021

On Sunday, August 15, my fiancée and I were flying home from a trip to visit some loved ones up in Minneapolis. Weeks prior, we decided to book a return path home that had one plane change, a cute little one hour layover at Chicago’s Midway Airport we figured wouldn’t...

Gov. Greg Abbott said "not so fast" to Carnival's plan to ask Galveston cruise-goers to prove they've been vaccinated.

Abbott To Sign Law Banning Vaccine Passports After Carnival Says It'll Ask For COVID Vaccine Proof

By Schaefer Edwards

Jun 7, 2021

Gov. Greg Abbott declared via Twitter Monday that he was about to sign a new law forbidding state businesses from asking customers to prove they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, just a few hours after Carnival Cruise Lines announced that two of its cruise ships would set sail from Galveston in July...

Hundreds of Thousands of Potentially Killer Airbags Still On Texas Roads

By Schaefer Edwards

May 13, 2021

Takata-brand airbags were recalled all the way back in 2008 after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered life-threatening malfunctions that could shoot dangerous metal shrapnel at car passengers when the airbags deployed. But even though 19 people have been killed by these defective airbags and hundreds more have been...

Breakfast Taco Full Of Crystal Meth Found By Hobby Airport TSA Agents

By Schaefer Edwards

Apr 16, 2021

In one of the more absurd news alerts the Houston Press has received in recent history, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that its security officers at Hobby Airport discovered a breakfast taco full of eggs, cheese, what appears to be brisket and a bag of crystal meth earlier...

TSA agents at Hobby Airport helped travelers through security ahead of the holidays.

TSA Airport Security Workers Don't Undergo Mandatory COVID-19 Testing

By Schaefer Edwards

Dec 29, 2020

This post-Christmas Sunday, over 1.28 million people flew out of U.S. airports. It was the highest single-day airport volume since the pandemic began, beating out the more than 1.19 million passengers on December 23 and the 1.17 million-plus people who flew on November 29, the Sunday following Thanksgiving. While we...

Oh, sure, it looks all calm and peaceful from a distance, but get a little closer to the tracks and all hell breaks loose.

Canoe Chronicles: Knee Deep in Buffalo Bayou

By Jeff Balke

Oct 19, 2020

This is part four of an ongoing series of posts about my purchase of a canoe during the pandemic. It was a beautiful, if warm, late Saturday morning and I was standing knee deep in Buffalo Bayou. Above me, cars were whizzing by on the West Loop with no idea...

Canoe Chronicles: Seven Tips for Safer, Happier Boating

By Jeff Balke

Sep 9, 2020

This is part three of an ongoing series of posts about my purchase of a canoe during the pandemic. In case you missed them, part one of this series was about locating a canoe during the pandemic, something that was easier said than done. Part two was about managing to...

This only required one trip to the home improvement store and no trips to the hospital.

Canoe Chronicles: A Permanent Home

By Jeff Balke

Aug 17, 2020

This is part two of an ongoing series of posts about my purchase of a canoe during the pandemic. In my first installment, I left off with a new-used canoe strapped to the roof of my SUV in north Texas. What came next was a certain level of disappointment, the...

Filomena and Frank Pepe in the kitchen of their New Haven, Connecticut restaurant.

A Pièce de Résistance About Pizza...New Haven Style!

By Bob Ruggiero

Aug 11, 2020

Pizza. It’s probably the most beloved – and often simplest to make – food on the planet. You’ve probably had a slice or several in the past week. Or you’re thinking about it now. And for you kids, according to analytics it’s the “Most Instagrammed Food,” beating out burgers 10-to-1...

I drove to Denton to buy a canoe in the middle of a pandemic.

Canoe Chronicles: The Obsession and the Search

By Jeff Balke

Aug 10, 2020

In the height of a raging pandemic, I drove to north Texas to buy a canoe. Let me explain. My brother-in-law is an outdoorsy guy. Eric and his family live in Austin in a beautiful house that backs up to the city's green belt. My wife and I would visit...

The 2019 Houston Heights Holiday Home Tour.

Deck the Halls With Historic and Bright Holiday Home Tours

By Susie Tommaney

Dec 3, 2019

Gingerbread takes on new meaning this time of year. Sure, we're fans of the sweet and spicy cookies iced with buttons and smiles, but this season also includes open houses for Victorian era stunners. With holiday home tours in Houston, Galveston, Round Top, Chappell Hill, Bastrop and Woodville, 'tis the...

A musical family: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with his sister and father.

Best Bets This Weekend: Music From a Long Time Ago and a Galaxy Far, Far Away

By Susie Tommaney

Nov 7, 2019

There's a theory that the universe in which the Star Wars franchise exists coincides with our 18th and 19th centuries here on Earth, so this weekend in Houston we're celebrating the music from both galaxies — two from a long time ago and another far, far away. From the Houston...

Nearly 10,000 residents were killed in the Great Storm of 1900.

Galveston Island: Where Things Go Bump in the Night

By Susie Tommaney

Oct 14, 2019

When Johnny Kowalski moved to Galveston he expected to find a sleepy party town. But what he found instead was a rich cultural history and whispers of the paranormal, so he decided to dig deeper. With an encyclopedic brain and a thirst for facts, Kowalski started looking at all of the...

5 Reasons the Houston-Dallas High-Speed Rail Project Makes Sense

By Jeff Balke

Oct 3, 2019

The Central Texas High-Speed Railway (aka, the Texas bullet train) proposed to run between Houston and Dallas continues gradually clearing hurdles, its officials hoping to begin construction in 2020 with an eye on the first trips in 2026. It has hired a builder, was granted an important petition from the...

Miss the Mayan Mindbender? Ride Revenge of the Mummy

By Jef Rouner

Aug 22, 2019

Do you remember the Mayan Mindbender at AstroWorld? I certainly do. It was the park’s first indoor rollercoaster, which was a wonder even back before climate change turned Houston pavements into egg griddles. Installed in 1995 after a stint as Nightmare at Boblo Island, it was a 1,148 ft coaster...

Jacob's Well Natural Area is in Wimberley.

Kick Back and Chill Out at These Water Holes, Lakes and Pools Near Houston in Summer 2019

By Susie Tommaney

Jun 17, 2019

There's more to life than work and executive time, and one solution to summer's oppressive heat is by taking a road trip to some of the pools, water holes, lakes and state parks around Texas. We can't think of anything more opposite of Houston's concrete jungle — with all that...

Travel

Texas Bullet Train Challenged Over Property Taxes

Federal Funds to Jumpstart the Texas Bullet Train?

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