Tag Archives: Houston

The Houston Chronicle reports: A crew of anti-gay protesters rallied outside the federal courthouse Friday afternoon, announcing they have sued the Houston Public Library over a city-sponsored Drag Queen Story Hour which they say violates their freedom of religion. The group behind the lawsuit identify themselves as “Christ followers,” taxpayers and card-carrying library patrons. One of those bringing the lawsuit …

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle: With eyes clear but certainly not starry, we enthusiastically endorse Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate. The West Texas congressman’s command of issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence and his eagerness to reach out to all Texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Houston City Council on Wednesday updated its rules on sexually oriented businesses, instituting changes that could bar plans for a store that allows customers to try out sex dolls on the premises from opening near the Galleria. Toronto-based KinkySdollS had planned to open a Houston branch where it would sell “adult love dolls” constructed of synthetic …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: A Democratic Party site selection committee will visit Milwaukee next month as the city tries to become the host of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Tuesday he received a call from Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez to notify the city of the visit. The date of the visit has not …

Politico reports: Former President George H.W. Bush has left the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital, where he was admitted over the weekend to treat an infection, and is expected to continue his recovery the next several days from “a regular patient room,” his spokesman said Wednesday. Delivering an update on the 41st president’s health status in a statement, …

The Houston Chronicle reports: The City of Houston and Mayor Sylvester Turner filed a petition Friday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that came down earlier this summer, concluding that states did not have to provide publicly funded benefits to same-sex couples, according to a news release from the city. The decision in Pidgeon v. Parker from …

The Huffington Post reports: Pastor Joel Osteen, who has been under fire for his Houston megachurch’s slow response to helping survivors of Hurricane Harvey, vowed on Sunday that God would “pay back” victims for what they lost. “We’re not going to understand everything that happens, but having a ‘poor old me’ mentality or ‘look what I lost’ or ‘why did …

NBC News reports: A flooded chemical plant near Houston exploded twice early Thursday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and triggering a fire that the firm plans to let “burn itself out.” Arkema Group, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, had warned Wednesday that the plant would catch fire and explode at some point — adding that …

ABC News reports: Pastor Joel Osteen said today that his Lakewood Church has been taking people in “from the very beginning” of Harvey as he pushed back against criticism that the church did not initially welcome evacuees. “We were here for people. We were a shelter,” Osteen said today on “Good Morning America.” “We were taking people as soon as …

Ann Coulter is very upset about this Politico article: Climate change is making rainstorms everywhere worse, but particularly on the Gulf Coast. Since the 1950s, Houston has seen a 167 percent increase in the frequency of the most intense downpours. Climate scientist Kevin Trenberth thinks that as much as 30 percent of the rainfall from Harvey is attributable to human-caused …

The Weather Channel reports: Harvey’s circulation center will crawl northward just offshore from the upper Texas coast before making a final landfall on either side of the Texas and Louisiana border on Wednesday. Later this week, Harvey’s center will then track through central Louisiana as it turns northeast. That places Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and New Orleans, in …

“It’s like Sharknado!” The Hill reports: Fox News host Jesse Watters fell for a fake photo of a shark swimming down a highway that circulated through social media Monday alongside legitimate images of flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. Watters was discussing the extent of the “biblical things” that he saw on social media about the storm on “The Five” Monday …

The Weather Channel reports: Tropical Storm Harvey is drifting back into the Gulf of Mexico and will meander near the upper Texas coast the next few days, bringing more torrential rainfall to the flooded Houston metro area, piling onto record-breaking, catastrophic flooding. Localized storm total rain amounts of up to 50 inches are not out of the question once Harvey’s …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave evacuation advice Friday afternoon that conflicts with the advice of Houston area elected officials and emergency management experts ahead of Hurricane Harvey. “Even if an evacuation order has not been issued by your local official, if you are in areas by Corpus Christi and Houston … you need to strongly consider …

Watch the full hearing below. The CBS affiliate in Dallas reports: The Texas Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case that conservatives hope will provide an opening to challenge the landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. The all-Republican court initially refused to hear the lawsuit, which challenged Houston’s decision to offer same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees. The …

The Houston Chronicle reports: The fallout over Houston gospel star Kim Burrell’s anti-gay comments is showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. A day after Ellen DeGeneres tweeted that Burrell will not be appearing on the talk-show host’s popular daytime show this week, KTRK reported on Wednesday that Texas Southern University has pulled the plug on Burrell’s radio show. …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Several businesses, including design firm Rigsby Hull and Latino activist group Mi Familia Vota, teamed up to make it easy for people to grab a taco while registering. #GuacTheVote and #TacoTruckOnEveryCorner were already trending around the country, after founder of the group “Latinos for Trump” made a public comment about Latino culture that offended a lot …

Houston’s NBC affiliate reports: The gunman who carried out Monday morning’s shooting that wounded nine people was wearing what appeared to be Nazi paraphernalia, two law enforcement sources told Channel 2 Investigates’ Robert Arnold. The shooting was reported just after 6 a.m. near a shopping center on the northwest corner of Weslayan and Bissonnet streets. Interim Houston Police Chief Martha …

Houston resident and JMG reader Dwayne points us to this Facebook post: Effective immediately, Montrose Mining Company, located at 805 Pacific Street, is closed. We sincerely appreciate Houston’s support of The Montrose Mining Company for the past 36 years. The Montrose Mining Company was the first Houston Levi/Leather gay (GLBTQ) cruise bar on Pacific Street with an amazing sound system, …

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle: The Chronicle editorial page does not typically endorse early in an election cycle; we prefer waiting for the campaign to play out and for issues to emerge and be addressed. We make an exception in the 2016 presidential race, because the choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is not merely political. …