A Fort Bend District Attorney official was recently honored by the state of Texas with an award recognizing his hard work on the job. Ibrahim Elias Khawaja, Texas’ first Arab-American First Assistant, received the award as part of Arab American Heritage Month and...
Houston
back to archiveUPDATED: Houston mayor’s race may see another Democrat in the ring, per unconfirmed reports
Update: The web site, included below, that announced a Boykins campaign for mayor was yanked down. Local TV news reports have Boykins “considering” a mayoral run. On Sunday, twitter users, including the Houston Chronicle’s Jasper Scherer, circulated what appears to be...
Houston mayor releases first ad of re-election campaign
The Sylvester Turner campaign unveiled on Wednesday its first campaign ad, titled "Soul of a City.” The ad positions Turner as an effective crisis manager during Hurricane Harvey. “This ad shows how Mayor Turner stepped up at a time of crisis and showed the world that...
Post-Prop B, smoother sailing for Houston mayor’s re-election
What had been politically damaging for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for months may have been resolved last week with the swipe of a judge’s pen. Last week, a district court ruled that Proposition B, the ballot measure last November that granted firefighters and...
The total mess that is the Turner v. firefighters, explained
If you live in the City of Houston, you’ve likely noticed protracted political, public relations and legal battles between Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341 over the issue of “pay parity” and something known as...
Harris County sets aside up to $3.9 million for 2020 Census outreach
On Tuesday, the Harris County Commissioner’s Court unanimously approved a budget of up to $3.9 million for the county’s 2020 U.S. Census outreach. The court also authorized county officials to start contract negotiations with nonprofit organizations who could help...
Houston’s environmental nightmare scenario: storm surge hitting chemical plants
The greatest economic threat to the Houston area is surge flooding, given its potential for widespread destruction. This is the conclusion of a new report by Jim Blackburn of Rice University’s Baker Institute and co-director the university's Severe Storm Prediction,...
The drama queens of Houston City Council
For the second straight week, Houston City Council today debated a modest contract with a local communications firm, Lopez Negrete, to help the City boost its participation in the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census. The agenda item, first introduced on May 1, was delayed for a...
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg introduces himself to Houston
The new battleground state of Texas continues to be a favorite stomping ground of Democratic presidential candidates. On Saturday morning, Beto O’Rourke gave the commencement address at a historically black college in Dallas. In the afternoon, Pete Buttigieg, the...