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Chron •

This $15 purchase got me through Beryl power outages in Texas heat

I've lived much of my adult life in places—East Asia, northern Europe—where central AC is uncommon. While living in rural South Korea in the mid-2000s, I took to carrying around a small folding fan for times when I needed a little breeze—sitting outside at a cafe, riding on the subway, waiting in line somewhere. It's a habit that stuck, even once I returned to Houston, where climate control is ubiquitous.

I've lived much of my adult life in places—East Asia, northern Europe—where central AC is...
Chron •

'CenterPointle$$': Graffiti captures Houston's anger over Beryl outages

The mural, which is under I-10 West between Taylor and Studewood streets, reads, simply, "Centerpointle$$." Though Chron hasn't yet confirmed who painted the tag, above it are two names, including Rowdy, the city's prolific tagger and street artist.

The mural, which is under I-10 West between Taylor and Studewood streets, reads, simply, "Centerpointle$$." Though Chron hasn't yet confirmed who painted the tag, above it are two names, including Rowdy, the city's prolific tagger and street artist....
Chron •

Beryl destroys iconic A-frame beach houses in Surfside

A set of four A-frame rental homes that were a landmark for the Surfside beach community south of Houston have been destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.

A set of four A-frame rental homes that were a landmark for the Surfside beach community south of Houston have been destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.

The homes, known collectively as "See The Sea," have withstood numerous hurricanes since they were first constructed in the 1960s. Their over-water location on the pedestrian beach where cars are prohibited...
Chron •

Houston anchors continue to report through Beryl power outage

Take ABC13 for example. At around 8 a.m. on July 8, as Hurricane Beryl was churning over Houston, the station building lost both power and its television signal. Knowing that Houstonians depend on the station, including chief meteorologist Travis Hertzog, for up-to-the-minute weather reporting, the newscasters were undaunted. They quickly pivoted to live-streaming updates on both Facebook and Instagram, even while the newsroom was shrouded in darkness. Miraculously, the station's digital weather...
Chron •

Pornhub vs. Ken Paxton will head to Supreme Court

The highest court in the nation announced on Tuesday that it will hear oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which challenges the constitutionality of HB 1811, or Texas' age-verification law for online sites with adult content. The case will be heard during the court's next term, which runs from October through June 2025.

The announcement comes two months after SCOTUS denied a request filed by the Free Speech Coalition to block the law in late April. The Free Speech Coalition is a
Chron •

At least 1 injured in crowd surge at UT's SEC celebration

A concert in Austin celebrating the University of Texas' return to the Southeastern Athletic Conference ended in a crowd surge that sent one person to the hospital and had others comparing the event to the deadly Astroworld tragedy.

The incident happened after 9 p.m. June 30, as the day-long festival was wrapping up, according to KVUE in Austin. The crowd surge apparently began as rapper and singer Pitbull took the stage for a free public concert.

Posts on the UT Austin subreddit describe a ha
Chron •

Kinky Friedman, Texas' quixotic gubernatorial candidate, has died

The news of his death was confirmed by his official X account this morning. "Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends," the post read. "Kinkster endured tremendous pain and unthinkable loss in recent years but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung." He was 79 years old.

Friedman, whose full name was Richard Samet Friedman, was perhaps best known for his colorful and quix
Chron •

Houston's first of two Pride parades draws thousands amid controversy

About 20,000 people attended the festival and parade in Downtown on June 22, according to NFOP organizers. And even though that number is lower than what organizers expected, "we consider (the event) a tremendous success," said Andrea Simonton, communications manager for NFOP.

The group was formed in 2023 as an alternative to the longstanding organization, Pride Houston 365, which has organized the city's primary Pride parade and celebration for the last four decades. Pride Houston 365 has stru
Chron •

Is the Houston Zoo really that expensive?

Whitmire thinks admission at the zoo costs too much. He's also questioning the salary of zoo CEO Lee Ehmke, who made more than $605,700 in 2022, according to the Houston Chronicle, who first reported on the story.

One thing that sets the zoo apart from the other institutions is the use of dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing. The zoo began implementing timed entry during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to better manage capacity and instituted dynamic pricing shortly after.

On any given
Chron •

Texas megachurch pastor resigns after admitting to molesting a child

Robert Morris, who founded the Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 1999 and had been the senior pastor since then, stepped down earlier this week. A statement from the church's Board of Elders, released on Tuesday, said the church had hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the abuse, according to the New York Times. The alleged assaults were first made public in a report released last week by the Wartburg Watch, a site that focuses on exposing stories of a
Chron •

Judge rules Food Not Bombs can definitely sue city of Houston

On June 6, Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas denied the city's request to dismiss the suit. The city had argued in its motion, filed on February 22, that governments have an obligation to ensure safe and healthy food distribution for all citizens, that the city's law was "content-neutral," and that Food Not Bombs has failed to demonstrate that its members' civil and constitutional rights had been violated.

In a short and sometimes terse order, Hanen wrote that the court had a
Chron •

Texas A&M won't bring Bonfire back for UT rivalry game

Texas A&M University will not reinstate the university's annual bonfire tradition after all, according to an email from university President Mark A. Welsh. The move comes after reports that university leaders were considering bringing back the celebration, which ended in 1999 after 12 people were killed when the student-built bonfire structure collapsed in the early hours of the morning.

"I have decided it is not in the best interest of Texas A&M and the Aggie Family to bring Bonfire back to ca
Chron •

X is now allowing adult content. Will that fly in Texas?

Elon Musk's X may have made some enemies in Texas. Recent changes to X's terms of service appear to put the social media network in violation of a new Texas law that requires websites hosting adult content to verify the age of its users.

The changes were made to X's terms and conditions in late May, according to TechCrunch. While the site formerly known as Twitter has never outright banned explicit content, the new rules definitively allow it.

According to X's new adult content policy, users "
Chron •

Family of child killed at Astroworld Festival settles lawsuit

The final wrongful death lawsuit in the Astroworld Festival tragedy has been settled out of court, according to a lawyer for the family of Ezra Blount. Blount, 9, was attending the concert with his father and was sitting on his father's shoulders when the fatal crowd crush began. Blount fell and later died from his injuries. He was the youngest of 10 victims killed during the 2021 concert.

The Blount settlement comes about two weeks after settlements were announced in the nine other lawsuits, w
Chron •

Houston Pride parade to get extra security this year after alerts

"We want to reassure our community that your safety is our utmost priority," Pride Houston 365 said in a statement released earlier this week. "Pride has always been an event to celebrate despite hate and fear. We are taking every measure possible to ensure that our festival and parade remains a safe space for everyone to come together in celebration and solidarity."

The move comes after a series of warnings issued by the FBI, the U.S. State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security w
Chron •

Trial set in Astroworld lawsuit involving 9-year-old victim

Despite settlements in nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed after the deadly Astroworld festival in 2021, legal woes still aren't over for organizers of the concert.

In a conference on May 14, 11th District Court Judge Kristine Hawkins set a Sept. 10 start date for the final wrongful death lawsuit, according to the Associated Press. That lawsuit was filed by the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, the youngest of 10 victims in the fatal crowd crush.

The move comes less than a week after
Chron •

Longtime Houston weatherman Frank Billingsley leaving KPRC 2

Frank Billingsley, the beloved ginger-haired meteorologist who has been bringing weather reports to Houstonians for more than three decades, will depart KPRC 2 on June 28, according to a new interview with Culturemap.

Billingsley, who joined Channel 2 as chief meteorologist in 1995, is the longest-running TV weather person in Houston, according to the publication. He previously spent six years as the weekend weather anchor at KTRK.

"I'm going to take a break and see what it's like not to wear
Chron •

Live Nation announces settlements in 9 Astroworld lawsuits

Representatives for Live Nation Entertainment told the court during a pretrial hearing on May 8 that settlements have been reached in nine of the 10 lawsuits filed by families of the victims. Several of the lawsuits had been lumped together for pretrial hearings due to the huge nature of the proceedings, which included defendants Apple, Live Nation, rapper Travis Scott, and numerous subcontractors.

The terms of the settlements in the cases are confidential. Only one lawsuit, filed by the family
Chron •

Houstonians will finally hear testimony on Astroworld tragedy

The first civil lawsuit in the 2021 Astroworld Festival disaster, in which 10 people were killed during a crowd crush, is set to begin as soon as May 6. The suit marks the first time a public jury will hear testimony in the case, brought to the court by the family of 23-year-old victim Madison Dubiski. Hundreds of suits have been brought against dozens of plaintiffs involved in planning the festival, including rapper Travis Scott, entertainment company Live Nation, tech giant Apple, and numerous
Chron •

Appeals court blocks Texas' controversial book rating law

An appeals court has yet again dealt a blow to a controversial book-rating law that would have required Texas booksellers to individually rate books they sell based on whether the works contain depictions or references to sex.

The move came on April 16, when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 9-8 not to rehear the case after a three-judge panel ruled that the law, known as the Reader Act, was unconstitutional.

The law, previously known as HB 900, was passed during the 2023 Texas legis
Chron •

Houston’s temporary tattoo shop lasted less time than its ink

Ephemeral, the company which opened a storefront in the bustling Montrose shopping district in September 2022, has already closed up shop. In true Houston fashion, it's in the process of being replaced by Bahama Mama, a popular local smoke shop chain. It's unclear exactly when the ink shop closed, but the storefront, at 1665 Westheimer Road, has been vacant for the past few months.

Ephemeral rose to fame in 2021 by offering "commitment free" tattoos—made with real ink and applied using a real t
Chron •

Texas Eclipse Fest was canceled for weather—it was worse inside

The festival hosted at the sprawling Reveille Peak Ranch began on Friday, April 6, and was supposed to close on Tuesday, April 9. Instead, organizers announced around 10 a.m. on April 8 that the festival was shutting down early due to severe weather. At the time, many festival attendees were eagerly awaiting the start of the eclipse, set to begin around noon that same day, with totality occurring around 1:30 p.m.

"We regret to inform you of the severe weather forecast, including risks of high w
Chron •

Drake dropped from huge Astroworld lawsuit

Drake has been dropped from at least one class action lawsuit filed in the wake of the 2021 Astroworld Festival crowd crush incident that left 10 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Thousands of lawsuits were filed in the aftermath of the concert. The Toronto-born rapper, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, was listed as one of dozens of defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed in Harris County alleging negligence in the planning and execution of the event. Other defendants include Travis Sc
Chron •

Federal judge blocks Houston from ticketing Food Not Bombs volunteers

The order was handed down late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Houston Food Not Bombs was set to commence its regular food-sharing service at Downtown's Central Library. Wednesday marked the first time in nearly a year that FNB volunteers were not ticketed for violating the law.

The loosely affiliated volunteer group sued the city in January, arguing that the decade-old anti-feeding ordinance was a violation of the group's First Amendment rights. The lawsuit claimed that FNB's four-times
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