Category — Houston, Texas

HOUSTON — Several weeks ago, Saving Cents reported about how you might risk wasting your money by trying to revive your freeze-dried landscaping too soon. We were deep into winter then. But Saturday, March 20, will be the first day of spring, so the time is nearly perfect for reviving your dead-looking yard. To begin, you need to find out when spring has truly sprung, and you cannot rely on the …

      HOUSTON - For the past 55 years, Shellie Townsend has cleaned yards for a living. His business is about to change.  “It all depends on who’s going to buy the bags,” Townsend said. Starting April 5, the City of Houston will require compostable yard trimming bags, which are identified by a green “city approved” logo. If residents don’t use them, their leaves won’t leave their curb.     City …

HOUSTON—In Harris County, parents who discipline their children in public are being taken to court on criminal charges. But one recent case raises the question’ What would you do if you saw a parent getting rough with their child? “You always hear about this sort of thing but you never think you’ll witness it,” a woman testified in Harris County District Court last week. The woman had attended a …

HOUSTON—Months before 11 News uncovered Metro’s document-shredding scandal, the transit authority’s embattled CEO and president applied for a new job outside of Houston. RTD, the transit authority in Denver, has confirmed that Frank Wilson applied for a job as the head of the transit authority there late last year. His application was presented to a board of directors in Denver but it was …

HOUSTON — A manhunt was under way late Monday in a northwest Harris County neighborhood. A family in the 9500 block of Pearsall told deputies five suspects stormed their home and tied three of them up. A daughter upstairs was able to bolt her bedroom door shut and call 911. The suspects escaped out the back door and K9 units were brought in to search for them.  At least three of them were armed …

HOUSTON—A 23-year-old Texas woman is facing felony charges after police say she convinced a teenager to prostitute herself in Harris County. Morgan Elaine Riffe is charged with compelling prostitution and promotion of child pornography. According to court documents, Riffe promised a Harris County teenager money to prostitute herself and then took a photograph of the teen engaged in sexual …

HOUSTON – State Rep. Al Edwards is calling for a recount of the primary election votes. Edwards lost to long-time rival Borris Miles by only 10 votes. On Monday morning, Edwards filed the paperwork and paid the $4,400 deposit for the recount.

MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Crime Stoppers and homicide investigators are hoping the public can help solve the murder of Herman Roberts. Roberts was shot to death by a masked home invader in the 7800 block of Saintes Circle in Missouri City on March 4. Investigators said Herman was sitting on the couch with his girlfriend when the intruder came in through a window and opened fire. The suspect is …

      HOUSTON – Residents of a neighborhood north of downtown Houston are fed up with piles of dead dogs. They‘ve even nicknamed the area near Fulton and Airline “dog cemetery.” Rick, a business owner who didn’t want his last name used, said the area has been an illegal dog dumpsite for more than two decades. “The property is going down, the crime is going up,” Rick said. “You know the criminals …

HOUSTON — HISD is one of the only school districts in the country that ties teacher evaluations to student performance. What that means is when students perform poorly, teachers can lose their jobs. Superintendant Terry Grier pushed hard for the idea when he took the helm at HISD. Dr. Grier believes the key to improving public education is to hire good teachers. “I can tell you this, the Texans …

HOUSTON — A federal agent is publicly discussing for the first time his standoff a decade ago with a drug kingpin who once headed one of Mexico’s most violent cartels. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle published Sunday, Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joe DuBois described how he and FBI agent Daniel Fuentes were surrounded by Osiel Cardenas-Guillen and his men while driving …

HOUSTON—A Metro bus and a light rail train collided Monday afternoon near the St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston. It happened around 2′30 p.m. at St. Joseph Parkway and Main Street. Officials said at least 18 people were taken to the hospital after the crash. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, but at least one person was taken away from the scene on a stretcher by …

HOUSTON—Murder charges are pending against suspect in a deadly traffic accident on Bellaire, police said Monday. The crash occurred around 12′50 a.m. Sunday in the 7100 block of Bellaire at Larkwood. Police said patrol officers were called to the scene of a possible vehicle burglary when they saw Norberto Antunes, 23, fleeing in a Cadillac Escalade. Officers followed, and they said Antunes …

HOUSTON—A 21-year-old Houston man is facing charges after a fatal crash that killed a man and a woman. It happened in the 200 block of Broadway around 3′30 a.m. Sunday. Police said the victims were hit head-on by a pickup truck driven by Jose Rios-Posadas. Police said Rios-Posadas’ truck jumped the median into oncoming traffic. Rios-Posadas was not injured. Police said he’s been charged with two …

HOUSTON—A 22-year-old man has been charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault after a crash that killed one person and injured another. Around 10′15 p.m. on Saturday, police said Michael Anthony Reyna was sitting at a red light on the Hempstead Highway, waiting to take a left turn onto Bingle when he struck a Honda Civic as it traveled westbound through the intersection …

HOUSTON—A man was in stable condition after a shooting at Kress and Hillsboro Monday morning. Police were called to the scene around midnight and found a man with a gunshot wound to the hip. Family members told police they had just moved to the area a few months ago and have been in a conflict with an area gang. They said a fight had started in the road before the shooting, and then someone …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Discovery has some leaky valves that could delay its launch next month. NASA discovered the helium leaks over the weekend. The valves are part of a control system used to maneuver the shuttle in orbit and for re-entry. NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said Monday that engineers will conduct additional tests later this week, to see if they can live with the …

BACLIFF, Texas — A registered sex offender was charged with punching his pregnant 14-year-old niece in the stomach Friday night, according to reports from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office. Joseph Eisenring III, 32, the uncle of the girl, is in the county jail, charged with injury to a child, Capt. Ray Benoist, of the sheriff’s office, said. Eisenring was held on a $250,000 bond, Benoist …

ATLANTA — Continental Airlines is ending free hamburgers, barbecue and sandwich rolls for many of its passengers in favor of a food-for-sale program that mirrors what other carriers are already doing. A spokesman said Monday that the airline, based in Houston, expects a $35 million annual benefit, from cost savings and added revenue. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, US Airways and United …

LEAGUE CITY, Texas — As sunlight crept over the horizon Sunday morning, a 140-year-old live oak tree fell across Main Street. Crews cut down the tree, near Helen’s Garden on Main Street and Kansas Avenue, after it was deemed a safety hazard to pedestrians and motorists. Heat from road repaving and scars from possible lightning strikes or pruning caused stress for the tree, leading to internal …

LA MARQUE, Texas — Potential job cuts in the La Marque school district will go deeper than district administrators originally had thought, with as many as 61 jobs cut, Superintendent Ecomet Burley said. Facing a $5 million shortfall next school year, school trustees gave Burley the go ahead to develop a plan to trim jobs from the district’s payroll. Those layoffs would save the district about $2 …

GALVESTON, Texas — Galveston County residents hope the first weekend of spring break was a sign of things to come this tourist season. And all the ingredients were there Saturday. The sun was shining, Saengerfest Park in Galveston was crowded with people listening to live music, The Tremont House Hotel piano player’s tip jar was almost full, it was hard for beachgoers to find a parking spot on …

GALVESTON, Texas — The city has more time to cut down trees killed by Hurricane Ike and to clean out storm drains clogged with silt, sand and trash swept there by the hurricane a year and a half ago. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is picking up 100 percent of the cost to clean Galveston’s storm drains and cut down dead trees, agreed to extend the deadline to allow crews to finish …

HOUSTON—Arson investigators were looking into the cause of a fatal fire in Houston Monday. Around 4 a.m., HFD was called to the scene at Colonial and Redbud. When they arrived, they found a one-story wood home fully engulfed in flames. The fire was so strong, crews were initially forced to go into defensive mode. “The first companies that got here reported fire coming from every window and door …

MAGNOLIA, Texas—AT&T crews were working to restore phone service to about 1,000 people in the Magnolia area Monday morning after deputies say copper thieves cut the phone lines. Around 1 a.m., a deputy said he was headed southbound on FM 149 near State Highway 240 when he spotted some telephone wire that was down. When he went to investigate, the deputy said he saw a group of suspects running …

HOUSTON—Firefighters were called to a Houston Denny’s after a grease fire erupted in the restaurant’s kitchen early Monday morning. HFD arrived at the scene at Southmore and Dowling around 1′30 a.m. Firefighters said they found smoke coming from the kitchen and quickly extinguished the flames. Officials said everyone was evacuated from the restaurant for about an hour, and there was no …

HOUSTON—A security guard was shot to death outside a taqueria in southwest Houston early Monday morning. Police said the guard was confronted by two suspects outside Ruchi’s Taqueria in the 8000 block of Gessner around 4′15 a.m. Witnesses told investigators the men exchanged words, and then shots were fired. The security guard, who was not on duty at the time, died at the scene. Police believe …

GALVESTON, Texas — On Galveston Island, the sun is shining, the beach is crowded, and business on The Strand is good. It is so nice you almost forget what happened here — almost. “I definitely woke up this morning wanting to help,” says Brionne Stewart. She came to Galveston with a group of volunteers from Louisiana State University to help victims of Hurricane Ike. On Sunday, her team was …

HOUSTON — When Juana Moreno goes knocking door-to-door, she sometimes hears hushed whispers from inside people’s homes. “They say, ‘Don’t open the door,’” Moreno said. As a volunteer for Houston Counts, a city-sponsored organization, Moreno is out encouraging her neighbors to fill out their census forms when they arrive this week. But in the heavily-Hispanic Gulfton area, there are deep-seated …

HOUSTON - The Den Campus Pub at the University of Houston is getting ready for a crowd it didn’t anticipate — basketball fans. With a win over UTEP in the Conference USA championship game Saturday, the Cougars secured themselves a spot in the men’s NCAA Tournament. “This will be the party headquarters,” Den Campus Pub manager Stever Barron said. There will be plenty to celebrate. U of H hasn’t …