With Election Day just around the corner on Tuesday, November 5, Houston’s bars and restaurants are eager to celebrate the power of the vote. Check out the local spots rolling out specials and complimentary treats for Houstonians who cast their ballots, from free coffee and pizza to happy hour deals and half-priced burgers.
Backstreet Cafe, 1103 South Shepherd All five concepts in H Town Restaurant Group – Backstreet Cafe, Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi and URBE – will treat voters who wear their “I VOTED!” sticker to the restaurant with a Hugorita, a hand-shaken marg made with fresh lime juice, tequila and triple sec.
Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, 4500 Montrose, 2101 Washington From now until the election, the pizza and cocktail bar will be offering happy hour prices anytime of day to anyone who brings in an “I Voted” sticker. That includes $8 choice cocktails, $7 32-ounce milk jugs full of any beer on tap, or $6 glasses of wine.
Caracol, 2200 Post Oak Wear your “I VOTED!” sticker to the restaurant and enjoy a free Hugorita, a hand-shaken marg made with fresh lime juice, tequila and triple sec.
Home Slice, 3701 Travis Now through Election Day, Texas voters who cast their ballots for the 2024 Presidential Election can head to Home Slice to trade their “I voted” sticker for a free slice of pizza.
Hugo’s,1600 Westheimer Wear your “I VOTED!” sticker to the restaurant and enjoy a free Hugorita, a hand-shaken marg made with fresh lime juice, tequila and triple sec.
Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge, 95 Tuam Show your “I voted” sticker and get half-priced smash burgers all-day on Election Day.
Kazzan Ramen, 191 Heights Swing by the new ramen spot in the Heights on November 5 to show your “I Voted” sticker and enjoy a free mochi ice cream.
Lazy Dog Restaurants, multiple locations Guests who show their “I Voted” sticker will receive a free handcrafted nonalcoholic beverage with any entrée purchase. Options include lemonades, twisted sodas, sparkling refreshers and pick-me-ups, including the Huckleberry Lemonade, Cucumber Lemon Sparkling Refresher and Twisted Orange Fanta with Vanilla Bean Cream.
MAVEN Coffee & Cocktails, 1717 Allen, 1501 Silver Get voting and enjoy a free cup of drip coffee by showing your “I Voted” sticker. The offer is available now through November 5 at the MAVEN at Thompson location, as well as the brand’s new, full-service neighborhood restaurant, MAVEN at Sawyer Yards.
Piola, 3201 Louisiana, 1415 South Voss On Tuesday, November 5, Piola will be dishing out free margherita pizzas at both Houston locations to customers able to show they voted through an “I Voted” sticker or other proof. The giveaway applies to dine-in customers only.
Roma, 2347 University This Election Day, Roma is offering a complimentary glass of prosecco to guests who show their “I Voted” sticker.
Star Sailor, 1710 West 18th ENjoy a free Smashburger when you show your “I Voted” sticker at the bar from now through Election Day.
URBE, 1101 Uptown Park Wear your “I VOTED!” sticker to the restaurant and enjoy a free Hugorita, a hand-shaken marg made with fresh lime juice, tequila and triple sec.
Xochi, 1777 Walker Wear your “I VOTED!” sticker to the restaurant and enjoy a free Hugorita, a hand-shaken marg made with fresh lime juice, tequila and triple sec.
“It’s time to sing a new song, a song that began 248 years ago,” she continued later. “The old notes—of downfall, discord, despair—no longer resonate. Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment right now—it’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity.”
As usual, Harris entered the stage to the sound of Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” This time, she was greeted by Queen Bey herself along with her blaring song. Harris hugged Rowland and then Beyoncé, then took the podium to stump in a state with some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws.
Until Friday, Beyoncé herself had kept mum on her choice of candidate. Rumors of a performance by Queen Bey on the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention back in August turned out to be greatly exaggerated, but, months later, in the final days before voters head to the polls, it came to fruition in Bey’s hometown.
The singer endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket back in the 2020 election, and in 2016, headlined a performance with her husband, Jay-Z, in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Audiences have long waited for Beyoncé to speak out officially, though she’s signaled her support in other ways.
The singer’s endorsement is more than just symbolic—her stamp of approval could actually sway voters. A recent poll conducted by Newsweek found that some 40% of surveyed Gen Z voters said that they were “more likely” or “significantly more likely” to vote for a candidate who had earned Beyoncé’s endorsement.
Night owls can hit the dance floor at Musaafer as it celebrates Diwali with its late-night immersive cultural experience, “Bollywood Burnout.” Guests can indulge in a tasty spread of traditional Diwali delicacies and drinks. Tickets are $42.
The downtown destination is celebrating Filipino American History Month with an all-day Filipino Festival, immerseing folks in the rich culture and traditions of the Philippines. Highlight include traditional Philippine Dance Performances by the Tropical Rhythms Hula Dance Troupe, a bustling Asian Pop-up Market on the North Docks, rocking food vendors, merchants and cultural experiences, and a Kamayan Dinner experience by James Beard-award-winning chef Paul Qui (dinner tickets start at $65).
Saturday, 3 to 6 p.m.
8217 Long Point
Families are invited to dress up for some Halloween fun at Feges BBQ Spring Branch’s annual Halloween Spooktacular as the smokehouse transforms into a spooky spectacle complete with ‘Cupcake’s Haunted House’, a ‘Dragon’s Nest’ play area, themed bounce house, tarot card readings, pumpkin decorating ($5 per pumpkin), Hocus Pocus playing on the projection screen, costume contests and more. Guests can enjoy Feges’ classic Texas bbq menu alongside drink specials. Entry is free.
93’ Til is hosting a Halloween Sunday block party, inviting folks to dress in costume and enjoy festivities including live DJs, vendors, cocktail features and special bites prepared by 93’ Til and guest chef Joseph Manglicmot from MasterChef Season 11. Manglicmot will serve a Caviar Fish Filet Sandwich featuring a cod filet, American cheese, crème fraîche tartare sauce and Imperia caviar on a a brioche bun.
50th Anniversary Texas Renaissance Festival
Saturday–Sunday
Back for its 50th anniversary, the Texas Renaissance Festival brings folks a medieval celebration of food and drink, shopping and entertainment, and enchanted fun. This weekend is one of the festival’s most popular, rocking an All Hallows Eve theme eerie decorations, intricate pumpkin displays, trick-or-treating for the kids, a Kettle Corn Eating Contest at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and more fun, including festival eats from turkey legs and mead to a two-hour dinner theatre King’s Feast, plus special beer collabs with Saint Arnold Brewing Company and Karbach Brewing Co.
Post Malone F-1 Trillion Tour The Woodlands, Texas October 22, 2024
Since the beginning of his career, Post Malone has been a mystery. The skinny white kid who started rapping on Soundcloud with “White Iverson” is now an almost 30-year-old father releasing country albums. He lives somewhere in between the genres of rap, rock, pop, and country, and does a damn fine job of combining all of those sounds into a fun, loud, and exciting live show.
A few years back, Post delivered the following on X (formally Twitter):
“When I turn 30 I’m becoming a country/folk singer“
His predictions came true a little early, delivering his F-1 Trillion country album to the world in August of this year. He has always performed covers of country and country-adjacent songs throughout his career, my favorite being his cover of Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her” which he posted on YouTube in 2021.
Post’s set in The Woodland began with the songs “Wrong Ones” and “Finer Things’” the two opening tracks of his latest album. The stage was lit with a wall of lights behind the band, and two large spotlights on each end resembling prison guard towers. It was clear that Malone wanted a more down to earth vibe for this tour, ditching the LEDs and lasers for one large platform that supported his band while he walked around barefoot in jeans and a Bud Light T-shirt.
Post Malone lives somewhere in between the genres of rap, rock, pop, and country, and does a fine job combining those sounds into an exciting live show.
Photo by Cody Barclay
“Its so wonderful to be back in Texas!” declared Post as he waved to his fans, holding a blue Solo cup of Bud Light in his hand. “Cheers motherfuckers!”
He spend most of the first half of the night showcasing the new music from his country album, but he would pepper the evening with pop hits such as “Circles” and “Chemical,” each sounding extra cool with the slide guitar adding some country twang to the background of each song.
Malone took a break to intro his band, which included a fiddle player and a slide guitarist, which kept the show mostly grounded in the country genre. He also covered Toby Keith’s “Wish I Didn’t Know” and shouted out his friends Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs.
Mid-show, Post invited a young fan named Courtney to play acoustic guitar on stage with him for the song “Stay.” She was visibly nervous, but Malone calmed her down with a genuine smile and encouraging words of support.
Post Malone delivered several motivational messages to his fans.
Photo by Cody Barclay
“I hate to keep beating you guys up with sad songs, but I need to sing this one!” he said as the notes to “I Fall Apart” rang out. It was super emotional and a powerful performance, which he did while kneeling down, almost in a prayer position while singing. This mini emotional set ended with “Better Now” and “Psycho”.
Post then had these words for his fans:
“Before I leave I just want to say…. You are loved, don’t give up! If you think that you are a loser, well that makes two of us! Keep going!”
The evening came to a close with a now shirtless Postie performing his hits “Rockstar,” “Congratulations” and “Sunflower.”
“Do whatever you want to do in life,” he told the crowd. “Because no one can fucking stop you!”
Post Malone ladies and gentlemen: Rapper, Country Singer, and Motivational Speaker.
A helicopter crashed into a radio tower near downtown Houston Sunday night, killing four people on board, including a child, fire officials said.
Houston authorities said the aircraft, a privately-owned R44 helicopter, went down just before 8 p.m. after taking off from Ellington Field, about 15 miles away. Its destination wasn’t immediately known.
A nearby security camera caught the crash as it happened:
CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reported that the tower’s lights weren’t working, and the Federal Aviation Administration had put out a notification about it:
Local media outlets reported a large amount of emergency personnel responding to the scene.
Police and fire officials urged residents near the crash site to call 911 if they find anything on their property that could help in their investigation.
Los Temerarios “Hasta Siempre” Farewell Tour Toyota Center October 10, 2024
Mexican music is normally categorized as lively, jovial, and loud, with brass horns and drums that practically force you to dance. But beyond the cumbias and rancheras that we adore, there will always be ballads that bring us down to Earth. Songs about love, lust, and heartbreak uplift our spirits when we are in love, and console us when that love has been shattered into a million little pieces.
The absolute masters of the romantic ballad are Los Temerarios, a band from Zacatecas, Mexico that was formed in the late 1970s, and enjoyed four decades of heart-wrenching hits. They are in the middle of their farewell tour across the US, Mexico, and Latin America at the moment, and will finalize this long goodbye in Mexico City later this year.
The music of Los Temerarios was never at the top of my list of records I purchased or music that I played around the house, but somehow it has always been part of my life. This was music that my tias listened to while they were cooking, and it would be blasting from the radio when my tios were on the grill. I remember my mother singing along to their songs as she listened to Spanish language radio station La Tremenda 1010AM as she cleaned the house and got ready for work.
Brothers Adolfo Angel and Gustavo Angel are masters of the romantic ballad, pulling on heart strings and providing the soundtrack of love for their adoring fans.
Photo by Marco Torres
Thursday evening was the band’s first for three sold-out concerts at Toyota Center, which is really impressive for any performer, let alone a Mexican act. As the audience filled into the arena, you could feel the anticipation in the air. Once the Angel brothers took to the stage, they were met with a grand applause, leading into the first song of the night, “Enamorado De Ti.”
Most of the band’s tracks are slow to medium in tempo, full of melodic notes from the keyboards, soft guitar chords, and driven drum breaks between the verses. I must admit, I haven’t listened to a Temerarios song for a very long time, but somehow those lyrics and melodies that were buried deep in my memory found their way to my mouth. I caught myself singing songs that I haven’t heard in 20-plus years, and enjoying every moment.
The audience was equally mesmerized, also singing along loudly to each track while they held their dates close and danced in their seats. The opening set continued with “Tu Infame Engaño,” “Una Tarde Fue” and “Como Te Recuerdo.”
The word “temerario” translates as “a reckless person” as well as “fearless” and “daredevil.” Their band logo and some of their album covers prominently feature a wolf, which is a symbol of both masculinity and beauty. Machismo will always be part of the Latin American male ego, but there’s no shame in being in love and sharing your feelings. Los Temerarios have provided the soundtrack of love for their adoring fans for as long as I can remember.
Gustavo Angel’s distinct voice and guitar has accompanied generations of fans through love and heartbreak.
Photo by Marco Torres
The brothers explained to the audience that this show was particularly special because their mother, wives, and other close friends and family were in attendance near the front row. They each blew kisses towards their mom, and took turns serenading her and mouthing the words “Te Quiero Mucho” throughout the evening (I love you!).
The set list included 30 songs and the show went on until around 11pm. One of my favorite moments of the evening was when they sang a cover of “Qué De Raro Tiene” by Vicente Fernandez. The crowd sang most of the night fairly loudly, but they pushed those vocal chords to the max during this song.
Adolfo Angel is the force behind the melodies and lyrics for the innumerable hits by Mexican band Los Temerarios.
Photo by Marco Torres
The encore included the hits “Te Quiero,” “Mi Vida Eres Tú,” and “La Mujer De Los Dos.” A sea of cell phone lights illuminated the arena during this time, and everyone swayed back and forth, shining their light brightly as a “Thank You” to this amazing band for the litany of hits and years of love and support through our highs and lows.
A peek at videos on social media of the Austin City Limits Festival last weekend can quickly demonstrate the power of this new generation of female pop singers. Chappell Roan played to a massive sea of people who all seemed to know the words to her songs.
Remi Wolf may not have the massive stage show, backup dancers and costumes of Roan or Sabrina Carpenter or Renee Rapp, but man, does she have the pipes to stand toe-to-toe with any of them. And the energy. She brought both to White Oak Music Hall Thursday night in front of an absolutely jam packed crowd (mostly women) who knew Wolf’s material like the ACL crowd knew Roan’s “Hot to Go!”
Originally, the show was scheduled for the lawn and with temperatures in the 70s, that seemed like a great plan. But, for reasons unknown, we all crammed inside instead. In truth, everyone was better for it. The intimacy it provided seemed almost tailor made for Wolf’s entire vibe.
I first encountered Wolf, 28, the way most people find music now: on TikTok. It was a raucous, insanely energetic live version of her song “Quiet on Set” from her debut full-length album, Juno released in 2021. Her music is a quirky mix of modern pop, funk and indie rock, and her voice ranges from an almost cloying affected Betty Boop cuteness (she wore a Boop T-shirt this night) to upper register wailing worthy of Janis Joplin or Freddie Mercury. On record, all of her music education (she attended the USC Thornton School of Music) shines with modern production and tight musicianship (think indie rock Lizzo with a side of Prince). On stage, she is a tiny blur of loud, frenetic energy, a rock star with pop songs that everyone wants to dance to.
In a near constant haze of fog machine smoke, Wolf twirled and gyrated her way through an electric set of songs heavily weighted towards her July release Big Ideas. Standing on the edge of the stage, she said that this recent album was very personal, written in a short time after a long stretch of touring. “Alone in Miami,” she explained, was written about a week she spent with “crypto bros” in Florida, partying and “wearing Gucci head to toe.”
Lyrically, she is incredibly frank, wildly clever, and pretty damn funny. Performing, she is a dynamo, constantly bouncing and dancing across the stage yet not once having that exertion compromise her jaw dropping vocals. Several songs in, she asked the crowd to perform a series of exercises with her designed to connect her and the audience. I wondered if maybe she just needed to warm up because the stamina one would need to get through this performance was remarkable.
Backed up by a relatively simple setup of drums, percussion, bass, keys and a pair of guitars, it felt positively pedestrian compared to other artists of her genre. But, it was that simplicity that made it so refreshing. Sans huge light shows and carefully choreographed dance moves, the band just dug in and rocked complete with (shock) extended guitar solos and the occasional funny pre-planned moments — at one point bassist Maddie Jay joined Wolf at the front of the stage to shake their booties in unison directly in the faces of breathlessly screaming fans.
The energetic peak of the show was “Sexy Villain” followed by a delightful cover of Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway.” Then came an improvisational moment for the band when Wolf asked the audience for a word they could use to create a song on the spot. She recently was forced to sing a song about “Poo” in Atlanta, apparently.
Well, if only H-Town had chosen poo. At first, someone shouted “Houston” to which the audience rightfully booed. The next request, however, nailed it: foreskin. So, Wolf and bandmates put together a song roughly called “Foreskin in Houston” featuring Wolf singing the lyric “it is nasty and it’s your fault” while pointing at the offending party who gave her the idea. After her foray into foreskin, Wolf probably wishes she could go back to poo.
By the time she reached some of her more well-known tunes like crowd favorite “Disco Man” and pop anthem “Soup,” the audience was in a full dance party frenzy. The singing and cheers were deafening, easily as loud as the band, and Wolf was enthralled.
So often, pop singers are so carefully crafted that the fun can be missing. Not for Wolf. If there was one defining feature of her performance, it was the smiling, from her band to her crowd to her own face. It was a goddamn party and, for one night, we were all invited.
Her next stop is Austin for ACL this weekend and a date with an outdoor stage (this time for real). Roan, Carpenter and others found massive followings after seminal performances at festivals like Austin’s annual Zilker Park extravaganza. This could be Wolf’s moment. She certainly deserves it. If you are going, do yourself a favor and pile in front of the stage for Wolf’s slot, Saturday night before Rapp, Houston’s own Khruangbin, and headliner Dua Lipa.
Chemical release at a Houston-area refinery leaves 1 dead, several injured, officials say
Updated: 9:15 PM EDT Oct 10, 2024
One person is dead and several others were injured after a “chemical release” at a plant in Deer Park, Texas, on Thursday, officials said.“I’m aware of the chemical leak at the Pemex plant in Deer Park,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement. “At the time there are reports of at least one fatality and multiple injuries at the plant.”Residents of Deer Park are urged to shelter in place as emergency crews respond to the scene.“Please stay indoors, close all windows, doors, turn off the air-conditioner, and wait until an all-clear has been released,” the city’s Office of Emergency Management advised residents.Preliminary information points to an “unknown chemical release,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.This is a developing story and will be updated.
One person is dead and several others were injured after a “chemical release” at a plant in Deer Park, Texas, on Thursday, officials said.
“I’m aware of the chemical leak at the Pemex plant in Deer Park,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement. “At the time there are reports of at least one fatality and multiple injuries at the plant.”
Residents of Deer Park are urged to shelter in place as emergency crews respond to the scene.
“Please stay indoors, close all windows, doors, turn off the air-conditioner, and wait until an all-clear has been released,” the city’s Office of Emergency Management advised residents.
Preliminary information points to an “unknown chemical release,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
Just west of downtown, the old neighborhood of Memorial is rapidly gaining momentum as a dining destination. Case in point, Aaron Bludorn, one of Houston’s buzziest chefs and restaurateurs, made the super hood home to his latest concept, a sophisticated tavern with mod takes on American bistro food with a Third Coast touch. Along with delightful dishes like country ham beignets, cornmeal-crusted snapper with potlikker broth, and hanger steak frites au poivre comes Bludorn’s world-class service, with staff that warms and welcomes guests, a thoughtfully curated beverage menu, and flawless attention to detail.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s tasty food and drink happenings:
The Original Greek Festival at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Friday–Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
3511 Yoakum
Souvlaki. Spankopita. Pastitsio. Baklava. It’s all up for the grabs at this 58th annual Greek festival, a family-friendly celebration of Greek culture featuring authentic eats, live music and dancing, cathedral tours, an inflatable play zone for the kids, crafts and a Greek merchant market. Tickets are $8 and free for children 12 and under.
Those wanting to continue the Greek Fest party can hit the afterparty at Echoes, rocking Greek Greek soundtracks by Mikis Theodorakis, food specials from souvlaki plate to fried zucchini and potato croquettes, and drink specials on Greek spirits like Mastiha and Ouzo.
Saturday, doors open at 11 a.m.
1433 North Shepherd
Celebrate the spirit of Oktoberfest with a day full of music, tasty food, flowing beers and a little friendly competition. Oktoberfest games from stein hoisting to beer chugging will go down from 3 to 6 p.m., and The Monicas will take the stage with live music from 6 to 10.
Southern Smoke Festival at Discovery Green
Saturday, 4 to 8 p.m. (3 p.m. VIP)
1500 McKinney
This year’s Southern Smoke Festival and fundraiser is set to be as epic as ever. Held at Discovery Green, guests can enjoy bites from 70+ chefs from around the nation, including crispy duck wings agrodolce from Coltivare’s Ryan Pera, XO Shrimp Yaki from Top Chef contestant and B’tween Sandich Co. owner Michelle Wallace, and more; plus wine and cocktail experiences and cooking demos from chefs including Suerte executive chef Fermín Núñez and Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi. Tickets are $225 for general admission.
A Taste of Cy-Fair at Bridgeland Lakeland Village Center
Saturday, 5 to 8 p.m. (4 p.m. VIP)
10615 Fry
Organized by local restaurants and businesses, and volunteers and with all proceeds benefiting Cy-Hope to help kids in the Cy-Fair community, the sixth annual A Taste of Cy-Fair festival is a fun-filled outdoor event featuring bites from top local restaurants, cherryicked wines and craft beers, live music, an artisan market, silent auction and more. Tickets are $50 GA ($20 for kids 11 and under) and $90 VIP.
Cuco White Oak Music Hall – Lawn September 27, 2024
The first time I heard a song by Cuco was around 2018. The track was “Amor de Siempre – Mariachi Version” which popped up on one of those recommended playlists that Spotify releases. The song begins super slow and chill, but then shifts mid-track to fun and lively. The cover art, which depicts a red rose on a sky blue background also caught my eye.
That same year I saw him live for the first time at the Neon Desert Music Festival in El Paso. It was an early afternoon set that attracted a decently large crowd of mostly Latino and Chicano music nerds who sometimes like to jam to music alone in their bedroom, myself included. Then he played his trumpet and we all left his set with a little sad vibes but happy at the same time.
So I was beyond excited to see him on the lawn at White Oak Music Hall. I missed his last two shows in Houston, but was determined to catch him on Friday night. And man, was it ever a perfect evening for a show. It was a super rare night in H-Town: no mosquitos, no rain, not too hot, As the sun set behind the skyline in the distance, you could feel the energy of all the Cuco fans in the crowd.
It was a lovely evening for a lawn concert at White Oak Music Hall, and the venue was full of adoring fans of Cuco and his sad boi, bedroom pop/rock music.
Photo by Marco Torres
Cuco and his band took to the stage around 8:30 p.m., his sleeveless cutoff T-shirt showing off his tattoos. He began the set with “Ego Death In Thailand” — a super moody track that was met with praise from his fans. After starting the second song “Junkies and Rarities,” Cuco stopped the show to call attention to a fan near the front row who was almost passing out. He requested security and the medical team for assistance, and the young fan was escorted to the medical tent.
“We are all a big community here, so I just want to make sure you all are good and having a good time,” he said before starting the song again. Sadly, this was only the first of several times that night he would stop the show for similar circumstances, but it was refreshing to see how much he cares for the wellbeing of his audience. We all deserve to attend a show, be safe, and have a great time.
“I’m so happy to be back in Houston, Texas” he declared. “Houston was the first show we ever played in Texas back in 2017!” He also apologies for “sounding crazy” as he has been suffering from congestion.
Cuco shifted fluidly between English and Spanish throughout his set list, and incorporated elements of pop, rock, mariachi, and hip-hop into his music.
Photo by Marco Torres
“I just finished my new album, y’all wanna hear some of it” he asked us, receiving an emphatic cheer from the crowd. Cuco then began to play “My 45” and the crowd swayed back and forth to the beat. He followed that up with his popular cover of “Piel Canela” which caused a massive sing along.
A few lucky individuals received an autograph from Cuco, and the variety of items was humorous and interesting: a shoe, a vinyl record, some photos. Someone even threw a stuffed Bucee’s beaver at him. “Am I supposed to sign this or keep this? Y’all are wild!”
As the night came to an end, he thanked his fans for the support. “All I want to do is inspire y’all, either through my sobriety or my music, I just want y’all to keep growing and keep moving forward! Now let’s get psychedelic!”
The night ended with “Amor De Siempre,” “Sunnyside” and “Lo Que Siento.” Cuco waved and smiled, admiring the chill, relaxed lovely evening and audience before exiting the stage waiving a large Mexican flag.
And then the song “Amigo Bronco” by the popular Mexican group Bronco played over the speakers and I was like “WTF?” and “Oh that makes sense I guess” at the same time, so I just galloped back to my car singing “Se fueeeeeee!” the entire walk.
Thanks for an awesome show Cuco, come back anytime homie!
During closing arguments in Gerald Goines’ murder trial on Tuesday, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Keaton Forcht urged jurors to hold the former Houston narcotics officer responsible for the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, who were killed in a 2019 drug raid that Goines instigated by describing a heroin purchase that never happened. “Just because you have a badge doesn’t mean you’re above the law,” Forcht said.
Goines targeted Tuttle and Nicholas based on 911 calls from a neighbor, Patricia Garcia, who described them as armed and dangerous drug dealers who had sold her daughter heroin. Garcia, who did not even have a daughter, later admitted she had made the whole thing up, pleading guilty to federal charges related to her false reports.
In the affidavit that Goines filed to support the no-knock warrant that authorized him and his colleagues to break into the middle-aged couple’s home on the evening of January 28, 2019, he claimed a confidential informant had bought heroin from a man at 7815 Harding Street, where Tuttle and Nicholas lived. Goines later confessed he had invented that transaction, although he claimed he personally had bought heroin at the house the evening before the raid. Prosecutors showed that was not true either, presenting evidence that Goines was 20 miles away from the house at the time of the alleged drug purchase and had not visited the location that day.
Goines planned to present two bags of heroin he had obtained elsewhere as evidence of the purported purchase. But that plan went awry after he and his colleagues broke down the door of the house and immediately shot the owners’ dog. Tuttle, who according to prosecutors was napping in a bedroom at the time, responded to the tumult and gunfire by grabbing a revolver and shooting at the intruders, striking four of them, including Goines. The cops responded with a hail of at least 40 bullets, killing Tuttle and Nicholas, who was unarmed but allegedly looked like she was about to grab a gun from an injured officer.
Because of that disaster, the two bags of heroin remained in Goines’ car. “Once you get past tragedy and you get past the disgust, I think you land on irony,” Forcht told the jury. “I think it’s ironic that the only person who possessed heroin in this case was Gerald Goines. He had it in his car for a week.”
In his opening statement, Forcht argued that Tuttle responded to the home invasion as “any normal person” would, defending himself and his wife against assailants he did not realize were police officers. “Evidence will show Gerald Goines was legally responsible for every shot in that house, whether it was from officers or Dennis Tuttle,” he said.
The defense disputed that account. Although the officers were not wearing uniforms, Goines’ lawyers argued that the word police on their tactical gear would have made it clear who they were. The defense also claimed the cops verbally identified themselves as police officers, although the existing audio record does not reflect that.
According to the account that Art Acevedo, then Houston’s police chief, gave at a press conference the night of the raid, the cops “announced themselves as Houston police officers while simultaneously breaching the front door.” Within seconds, they had killed the dog. It would not be surprising if Nicholas and Tuttle missed any announcement amid the chaos and confusion.
Goines’ lawyers, who conceded that he lied to obtain the search warrant, nevertheless argued that Nicholas and Tuttle were responsible for their own deaths. “Had they complied with the officers’ directions,” defense attorney George Secrest told the jury on Tuesday, they would still be alive.
The two murder charges against Goines are based on a statute that applies when someone “commits or attempts to commit a felony” and “in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt…commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual.” That charge was inappropriate in this case, the defense argued, because Goines’ underlying felony—producing the fraudulent search warrant affidavit—did not cause the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas, which they brought on themselves.
While the prosecution emphasized that the cops fired first, Secrest emphasized that Tuttle fired “the first shot at a human being” (as opposed to the dog). “These officers didn’t fire upon anyone until they were fired upon themselves,” he said. “Nobody shot at Dennis Tuttle until he started putting bullets into peoples’ faces and necks.”
Goines’ lawyers also repeatedly noted the personal-use quantities of marijuana and cocaine found in the house, suggesting that Tuttle and Nicholas were involved with drugs after all. Forcht rejected the implication that the couple’s drug use was relevant to Goines’ defense. “The time to investigate those two individuals,” he said, was “before they were murdered, not now.”
In addition to the murder charges, which are each punishable by five years to life in prison, Goines faces a charge of tampering with a governmental record, a felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. The case is now in the hands of the jury, which began deliberations on Tuesday afternoon.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s tasty food and drink happenings:
Viet Cultural Fest 2024 at NRG Center
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Viet Cultural Fest invites the Houston community to tap into the rich tapestry of Vietnamese heritage for a day of cultural entertainment, traditional games, exciting competitions and tasty Vietnamese fare. Hungry locals can also sign up to partake in Pho Eating and Banh Mi Eating Contests in advance online.
Saturday, 11 a.m. to sold out
5172 Buffalo Speedway
Chef Rafael Nasr of Craft Pita (as seen on Alex Vs. America) and chef Michelle Wallace of B’tween Sandwich Co. (a star of the latest season of Top Chef) have teamed up to host an exciting one-day-only Arayes collaboration, available at the Craft Pita West University location until sold out. The two chefs will create Lebanese and Asian Arayes specials — classic Lebanese Arayes with ground beef, onions and parsley stuffed in pita pockets and grilled; and Asian Arayes featuring pork, shrimp, cilantro, chili crisp and fish sauce stuffed in pita pockets and grilled, served with red cabbage and spicy aioli. Both options are served with red cabbage and spicy aioli and will be priced at $10.
URBE honors Fiestas Patrias – Mexican Independence Day – with a special ticketed fiesta. Guests can enjoy Mexican street food with interactive food and dessert stations, custom cocktails, folkloric dancers, mariachis, a DJ, festive decorations a photo booth and more. Tickets are $85 per person plus tax and gratuity.
The stylish Post Oak Italian restaurant has introduced a new Brunch in Capri series, transporting guests to the Bay of Naples with an array of Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Dine on prosciutto eggs benedict, pancakes with homemade ricotta, dolce vita toast and Nutella crepes, and a vibrant selection of Italian spritzes from the spritz cart. DJ Bjorn Larsen will bring the vibes with Italian electronica and remixes of Italian classics. Brunch in Capri will be offered every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.
Rock & Roll Picnic at Last Concert Cafe
Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.
1403 Nance
I’ll Have What She’s Having brings back its Rock & Roll Picnic for a day of community, great food and cocktails, rockin’ live music, cocktails and art. The third annual event raises funds to provide preventative, reproductive and mental healthcare for folks in the food and beverage community. Guests can add the picnic upgrade to enjoy goodies from top chefs including Dawn Burrell, Evelyn Garcia, Nick Wong, Josh Deleon, Dominick Lee and Mary Cuclis (with more TBA), alongside creative sips, live concerts and new experience from lawn games to a champagne sabering demo. Tickets are $45 GA or $95 for the Picnic Upgrade (including chef’s bites and two drink tickets), with VIP tables available as well.
I can’t say for certain that Something Wonderful is the best of all Paul Hope Cabarets, but I know it is one of the best sung.
What music they make!
It’s not too difficult when your performers know how to put across a song, how to dive deeply into the lyrics and express what the song needs, or just make the tune sound ravishing. All this is accomplished with an improv attitude that’s relaxing and comfortable for the audience, as well as for the singers. The atmosphere at Ovations Night Club is clubby, chummy, and very down home. It’s like your own private little supper club, only without the beef steak.
What they’re singing doesn’t hurt, either. We’re treated to a sparkling medley from the late musicals from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Jr., subtitled “The Last Ten Years,” and the catalog on display – some of the songs are from shows rare and forgotten – ranks among that dynamic duo’s best output.
After the phenomenal successes of Oklahoma (1943), Carousel (1945), and State Fair (1945), their only original film work, which won them an Oscar for the number “It Might As Well Be Spring,” the tepid critical response to the experimental Allegro (1947) re-invigorated the team to out-do themselves with their masterpiece South Pacific (1949).
Then came the last ten years…The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Cinderella (1957), created for television, Flower Drum Song (1958), and their unquenchable juggernaut, The Sound of Music (1959).
These two masters of the Broadway musical would be in the songwriter’s Hall of Fame for just these last six shows, although I hear you saying, What’s Me and Juliet and Pipe Dream? You’ll have to attend the cabaret to find out about these rarities from our gracious and snappy host Paul Hope, whose wit and charm and a little snark is just what Broadway needs. Our emcee fills in the spaces with backstage sass and diss and makes us want to hear more. The exceptional performers supply all the magic needed to send us over the moon.
From The King and I: listen in wonder as Lauren Salazar and Kellen Schrimper wrap their ethereal soprano and luscious baritone around “We Kiss in the Shadows.” Amanda Passanante channels both the iconic stage star Gertrude Lawrence and the behind-the-screen dubbing master Marni Nixon as Anna in Hello Young Lovers. Tamara Siler envelops the First Wife’s paean and lament to her unrequited love, the King, wrapping the song in her rich mahogany in “Something Wonderful.” The capstone of this section is Salazar’s achingly lovely rendition of “My Lord and Master,” in which slave Tuptim reveals that while the King may possess her, her heart belongs to someone else. The song is short, but Salazar imbues it with fierce passion, heartache, and radiant tone. Perfect.
From the forgotten Me and Juliet, a backstage comedy, Pantelis Karastamatis sets his ringing tenor to the stirring “No Other Love,” adapted by Rodgers from the theme of his television documentary series, Victory at Sea. The more-forgotten musical Pipe Dream, based on John Steinbeck’s sequel to Cannery Row, ironically called Sweet Thursday, about a prostitute on the waterfront, received its only positive notices for Rodgers’ score. We can see why when Schrimper pours out his plangent baritone in “All At Once You Love Her.” A gem later recorded by Perry Como. Schrimper easily makes us forget Como. Cinderella begets comedy from Siler, Laura Kaldris, and Salazar in “When You’re Driving Through the Moonlight,” as the stepsisters wonder how Cinderella knows everything about the ball when she, apparently, wasn’t there. Hope adds his own theater know-how to the waltzy “Ten Minutes Ago,” and Schrimper stuns again with the haunting love ballad, “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful.”
Flower Drum Song gives us a most tender rendition of “Love Look Away” from Kaldis, Salazar’s bouncy “I Enjoy Being a Girl,” and Passanante’s wistful “A Hundred Million Miracles.”
Who doesn’t know The Sound of Music? Love it or hate it, everybody knows the songs. But wait until you hear Siler’s blues rendition, a la Helen Morgan, of “My Favorite Things,” or Karastamatis’ emotional take on the title number, Kellen’s soft and affecting “Eidelweiss,” or the ensemble’s romp through “Do Re Mi” for the finale.
Always filled with some kind of wonder, Hope’s cabarets carry you away on the wings of the Great American Songbook. Our musical past comes alive. The shows are entertaining, educational, breezy, and bright. It’s in the gossip, the backstage lore, of course, but most importantly, it’s in the music. This septet, abetted ably on the piano by music director Robert Lewis, sings out magnificently. Rodgers and Hammerstein never had it so good.
Something Wonderful. 7:30 p.m. Mondays through September 23. Ovations Night Club, 2536 Times Boulevard. For more information, visit . $32.50.
Charley Crockett $10 Cowboy Tour 713 Music Hall September 3, 2024
Have you ever met a stranger and been completely amazed by their entire demeanor? The kids these days would call it “swag” or “vibes,” which is something magical and intangible about the person’s attitude. That’s exactly how I feel about Charley Crockett. His chiseled jawline and piercing green eyes attract your attention, and then BOOM!… His voice and southern twang grabs a hold of your soul and doesn’t let go.
Crockett began his set at 713 Music Hall with $10 Cowboy, where he sings “people always ask me, if I’m a rodeo star / doubt if I got 8 seconds / but I can sing you a song!” He definitely fits the casting call for a vintage cowboy film: leather jacket, Stetson on his crown, wranglers and boots. He carries his guitar around the stage like dancing partner, flashing his pearly-white smile with the precision of a heart surgeon.
The singer-songwriter is a native of San Benito, Texas – the same hometown as Freddy Fender of Texas Tornados fame. He later moved to Dallas and also spent time with family in New Orleans, no doubt absorbing every character and experience he encountered into his repertoire of inspiration.
Crockett is a native of San Benito, Texas – the same hometown as Freddy Fender of Texas Tornados fame.
Photo by Violeta Alvarez
The amber colored accent lights that flanked him and his band on stage added to the warm feel of the show. This wasn’t a modern country set with pyro, lasers, and songs about your dog dying in your truck down by the river. This was more subdued, classic country music with heavy blues influence. “I used to think I was a folk singer” he told the audience. “But then I realized this ain’t nothing but The Blues!”
Crockett mostly sings in a low baritone voice, almost like Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson. But peppered in between verses and jam sessions with his band The Blue Drifters, he sometimes allows a yelp and a yee-haw ring out, shifting from serious to rowdy in a split second. In that regard, he reminds me more of Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr.
“Some publication once called me a stylistic man” Crockett told the crowd. “The way I see it, I’m always just myself… and I’m the only person that can do that!” A lady named Juliet, who was enjoying the show next to me, said “He definitely looks like a character from the movie Giant (1956) starring Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Elizabeth Taylor. I quickly added the film to my “must watch” list.
Crockett mostly sings in a low baritone voice, like Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson, but his stage presence is that of Waylon Jennings or Hank Williams Jr.
Photo by Violeta Alvarez
By the time the set list arrived at “The Man From Waco,” Crockett was in total control. There were couples two-stepping around the venue, friend groups drinking beer and singing along to the tracks, and girlfriends holding their boyfriends tight around the waist. I go to a lot of shows, but outside of Rodeo season, this was the most Houston show I’ve seen in a very long time.
There were 2 large, old school neon letters on the stage behind the band, and they read “CC.” It was so cool to see them glow behind Crockett throughout the performance, and they added to the western theme of the tour. As the evening came to a close, the crowd chanted “Charley! Charley! Charley!”
Outside of Rodeo season, this Charley Crockett concert was the most Houston show I’ve seen in a very long time.
Photo by Violeta Alvarez
Of course Charley and his band returned for an encore, offering Jamestown Ferry before bringing out opening act Vincent Neil Emerson for an awesome cover of Good Hearted Woman by Waylon and Willie.
“But she never complains of the bad times Or the bad things he’s done, Lord / She just talks about the good times they’ve had And all the good times to come“
Here’s a look at this weekend’s tasty food and drink happenings:
The Galveston Island Wine Festival at Moody Gardens
Friday–Sunday
The Galveston Island Wine Festival returns to Moody Gardens this holiday weekend, bringing with it signature events like the Seven on Seven Seafood Extravaganza, Penguins & Pinot: Grand Tasting at the Aquarium Pyramid, Luxury Wine Tasting, elegant seated Bourbon Dinner experience at Shearn’s Seafood & Prime Steaks, and more. Pricing varies by package.
Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (or until sold out)
420 East 20th
JŪN will welcome Donkeeboy + Friends for an art show and pastry pop-up, ass guests enjoy local art curated by Donkeeboy alongside handmade treats crafted by JŪN — Pumpkin Spice Cupcake with Salvadoran coffee frosting; Chorizo & Egg Danish with housemade chorizo and pico de gallo; Burger Bao with charred onions and Oaxaca cheese; and Ube & Taro Concha with brioche and ube capricho. Doors open at 11 a.m. and will stay open to 2:30 p.m. or until sold out.
Saturday, 5 p.m.
113 6th
Pier 6 invites guests to don their finest whites for an End of Summer White Linen Party on the waterfront patio. The 21+ event will take over the lower marina with a DJ, live entertainment and festive decor. Tickets are free via Resy, and each includes a complimentary glass of champagne from Telmont, along with raw oysters and hors d’oeuvres from executive chef Joe Cervantez. Additionally, there will be a full cash bar. Guests are encouraged to make separate dinner reservations for seated dining.
Sunday, noon
95 Tuam
Montrose cocktail lounge Jethro’s, 95 Tuam, is hosting a special, fancy fish filet with caviar pop-up with Masterchef star Joseph Manglicmont (Mo City). The sandwiches will be available starting at noon until sold out.
Houston Restaurant Weeks
All weekend long (and daily through September 30)
Citywide Houston Food Bank fundraiser Houston Restaurant Weeks has announced the extension of its 2024 run in an effort to champion restaurants around the city still bouncing back from the devastating impacts of the Derecho Storm and Hurricane Beryr. Now running through September 30, over 250 restaurants participated this year, offering multi-course, prix fixe menus for brunch ($25), lunch ($25) and dinner ($39 or $55), available for dine-in and take-out; so make your reservations now to dine out for a great cause and support old favorites and newcomers across Houston.
Here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings:
Monday, September 2
Labor Day Dining Deals
From Monday brunches to all-day happy hour specials, plus oysters, Korean bbq, margaritas and more, check out our 2024 Houston Labor Day Dining Guide to find the best dining deals in Houston this Labor Day.
Tuesday, September 3
Tour de France at Brasserie 19
Brasserie 19, 1962 West Gray, invites guests to explore the flavors of France with a limited menu series by chef Michael Hoffman. The first regional menu is a tribute to the vibrant coastal cities of Marseille and Nice, debuting on Tuesday, September 3 and offerd through October 31. Highlights of the four-course, prix-fixe menu ($65 per person with optional wine pairings available upon request) include grilled leg of lamb with baby eggplant and romesco; and bouillabaisse in saffron tomato broth with grilled baguette and rouille.
Thursday, September 5
Highballs & Hand Rolls Night at Roka Akor
Roka Akor, 2929 Weslayan, will host a Highballs & Hand Rolls Night at 6:30 p.m., featuring a selection of handrolls like Salmon Avocado, Crunchy Spicy Tuna, Hamachi Serrano while guests sip highballs for $49 per person.
Saturday, September 7
First Saturday “Back to School” Market at Hope Farms
Hope Farms, 10401 Scott, invites families to its “Back to School” Market, featuring family-friendly activities, local goods from small-batch makers, community engagement, spring gardening tips, ice cream making classes and more. The market will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fall Farmers Market at Market Square Park
The Market Square Park Farmers Market is back, offering a free and family-friendly event every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through November 16. To celebrate the fall season, the market is hosting a series of fun and educational programming, including vendor demonstrations, DIY projects, live music and more.
All month long
Houston Restaurant Weeks (extended)
For the third time ever, citywide Houston Food Bank fundraiser Houston Restaurant Weeks has announced it will extend its run through September 30 in an effort to further champion the restaurants still bouncing back from the Derecho Storm and Hurricane Beryl. Over 250 restaurants participated this year, offering multi-course, prix fixe menus for brunch ($25), lunch ($25) and dinner ($39 or $55), available for dine-in and take-out; so make your reservations now to dine out for a great cause and support old favorites and newcomers across Houston.
Bourbon Heritage Month
In honor of Bourbon Heritage Month, Garrison Brothers Distillery is bringing back its Hye Fashioned Takeover this September, raising funds for Boot Campaign to support veterans and military families while showcasing Garrison’s award-winning bourbon in Old Fashioned cocktails. Nearly 400 establishments are participating across the country this year, with Houston participants including Bosscat Kitchen & Libations, Brennan’s Houston, Ducky McShweeney’s Pub, La Reserve Whiskey Lounge, Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar and more.
Chiles en Nogada at Caracol, Hugo’s and Xochi
Chef Hugo Ortega is featuring one of Mexico’s most iconic dishes, Chiles en Nogada at three of his restaurants: Hugo’s, 1600 Westheimer, Caracol, 2200 Post Oak, and Xochi, 1777 Walker, for this September in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
New and ongoing specials
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Specials at Betelgeuse Betelgeuse
Pizza and cocktail dive Betelgeuse Betelgeuse is celebrating the release of the highly anticipated film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with two weeks of special events, from themed parties and fun runs to costume contests and more, from September 4 to September 15. Cocktails like the “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian (the unmade sequel)” and “Beetle Juice” (THC Spirit, Blackberry Smash with ginger beer or gin) will be available at both the Washington and Montrose locations; and on September 6 and September 13, fans are invited to don their best Beetlejuice-themed ghoulish garb for two separate costume contests at the Washington location.
Ah, the bliss of youthful ignorance, a totally misplaced sense of confidence and an unswerving conviction that “it will be fine.” This thought crossed my mind when I read about an amusement park ride at Six Flags Mexico that ceased operation for ten minutes during a storm this past weekend, leaving stranded passenger hanging about 250 feet in the air. For the record, the name of the ride is “The Sky Screamer.” I’ll bet!
I’m pretty sure that none of the kids on the ride worried for an instant about such an incident prior to boarding the ride. When it comes to rides, kids don’t think twice before jumping on the Nausea Whirl in a shopping center parking lot, unconcerned by the fact that the ride was assembled by a bunch of toothless carny tweakers just hours before. But I was one of those kids in the early days of Astroworld. The only thing I ever really worried about was some yahoo next to me in the Barrel of Fun throwing up and, thanks to centrifugal force, having the effluvia hit me in the face. For more cheap thrills, please see below.
Ticket Alert
The Rev. Horton Heat, a true Texas treasure, will play at Main Street Crossing on Wednesday, January 8. Tickets are on sale now, so snag them quickly if you are looking for a serious psychobilly fix.
Iconic metal band Judas Priest will be on tour this fall, performing in support of its latest album, Invincible Shield. Incredible as it seems, lead vocalist Rob Halford (“The Metal God”) can still hit all of the high notes, or at least most of them. The Houston show is on Tuesday, October 22, at the Smart Financial Centre, and good seats are still available.
Concerts This Week
It has been said that most rock stars would like to be actors (e.g. Mick Jagger in Freejack) and most actors would like to be rock stars (e.g. Corey Feldman opening for Limp Bizkit on the band’s current tour). Add to the latter category Jared Leto, who will perform with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars on Thursday at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
To be fair, Leto and his crew have been at it for over 20 years, releasing their debut album, produced by industry legend Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd), in 2001. Considering that Leto’s mega-bummer film Requiem for a Dream was released just before work on the album began, it makes sense that Leto would have been looking for a rock and roll distraction at that point.
The early ‘80s music scene will be represented on Thursday at the 713 Music Hall by beloved British band Squeeze (“Tempted,” “Black Coffee in Bed’) and Boy George, formerly of Culture Club (“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” “Karma Chameleon”). Both acts were leaders of the new wave movement and seen often in the early days of MTV, so the billing makes sense. Squeeze and Boy George are alternating opening and closing the evening on this tour, so if you have a particular favorite of the two, get there early and don’t miss out.
America doesn’t usually get mentioned in the first breath when “bands of the ‘70s” are discussed, but that isn’t necessarily fair. Sure, the group’s first single, “Horse with No Name,” was viewed by some as a crass Neil Young rip off. Even Young’s father thought that America was Neil and called to complement his son when he heard the song on the radio.
Nevertheless, a hit-filled career followed, helped in no small part by the fact that Beatles producer George Martin was behind the board for singles like “Tin Man,” “Sister Golden Hair” and “Lonely People.” America will perform at the Smart Financial Centre on Sunday, with Al Stewart (“Year of the Cat”) opening. Gotta love a guy like Stewart, who name checks Peter Lorre in a pop song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC81z_tZ-E8
Charley Crockett could be viewed as a savior of country music. These days, few artists are able to capture the sound and the heart of classic country better than Crockett. For an example, check out the performance of the title track from his latest album, $10 Cowboy. But Crockett is more than a latter-day Ernest Tubb. He’s one hell of a bluesman, making him a favorite of those who dig a rootsy sound. Crockett performs on Tuesday at the 713 Music Hall.
HOUSTON — Two people are dead in an apparent murder-suicide at Rice University in Houston.
University police say a female student was found shot dead Monday in her dorm room and a man, who was not a student was also found dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
University President Reginald DesRoches identified the student as Andrea Rodriguez Avila.
“This is a speech that no president ever wants to make,” said DesRoches. “As president of Rice University I’m heartbroken to share the loss of one of our students, Andrea Rodriguez Avila. Rice University Police responded to a welfare check this afternoon at around 4:30 p.m. and found Andrea deceased in her room along with an unidentified male with a self-inflicted gunshot wound who was not a member of the Rice community.”
Clemente Rodriguez, the Rice University Police Chief, said a family member had not heard from Avila and asked the police to check on her and make sure she was ok.
Rodriguez said officers checked to see if Avila had been in class and found that she had not gone to class. It was around 4:30 p.m. when officers went to check her dorm room and see if she needed anything.
“So we made entry to the room and that’s when we discovered her,” said Rodriguez.
Police say there was no sign of forced entry to the dorm room and Rodriguez said the man found in Avila’s room was not a registered visitor.
Students and staff were locked down for roughly two hours before a shelter-in-place order was lifted around 7 p.m.
“As a parent of a past Rice student, I can only imagine how devastating this must be,” DesRoches said. “We are communicating with Andrea’s parents and are flying them out early tomorrow morning. We ask the community to keep us in your prayers as we comfort each other this evening.”
Monday was the first day of class. All remaining classes and activities were canceled for the day.
S.E. Jenkins is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. She has also been a Digital Content Producer in Tallahassee and Myrtle Beach. S.E. graduated with journalism degrees from Texas State University, Aarhus Universitet and City, University of London.
HOUSTON, Tex.—When the news crew showed up outside a waste-handling business that’s failed three fire safety inspections and has yet to gain state approval to store plastic, workers quickly closed a gate displaying a “no trespassing” sign.
Behind the gate, deliveries of hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic waste from residents’ homes have piled up over the last year and a half next to strewn cardboard and tall stacks of wooden pallets.
The expanding open-air pile at Wright Waste Management, 20 miles northwest of downtown Houston, awaits what the city of Houston and corporate partners including ExxonMobil call a new frontier in recycling — and critics describe as a sham.
The Houston Recycling Collaboration was formed as a response to low recycling rates in the city, a global problem. Hardly any of the plastic products meant to be used once and tossed can be recycled mechanically, the shredding, melting and remolding used for collection programs across the country.
The Houston effort adds a new option alongside the city’s curbside pickup: Partners say people can bring any plastic waste to dropoff locations — even styrofoam, bubble wrap and bags — and if it can’t be mechanically recycled, it will be superheated and chemically processed into new plastic, fuels or other products.
Brandy Deason, a climate justice coordinator for Air Alliance Houston concerned about pollution from chemical recycling of plastic waste, prepares a bag of plastic waste packed with an electronic tracker to see if it’s being recycled.
Dwaine Scott/CBS News
Exxon and the petrochemical industry call this “advanced” or “chemical” recycling and heavily promote it as a solution to runaway plastic waste, even as environmental advocates warn that some of these processes pump out highly toxic air pollution, contribute to global warming and shouldn’t qualify as recycling at all.
But the Houston effort illustrates a different problem: Twenty months into collection, ongoing tracking by environmental groups indicates the household plastic waste people have dropped off still isn’t getting chemically recycled.
A massive plastics sorting plant planned by one member of the collaboration, Cyclyx International, isn’t on track to open until the middle of next year. And the plastic mounting at Wright in the meantime could build up even faster because city officials and their partners expanded their collection program in April from one original dropoff center to eight.
An investigation by Inside Climate News and CBS News that uncovered Wright’s failed fire safety inspections and missing fire permits also unearthed a fracture in the public-private collaboration.
A pile of plastic waste are seen in May at Wright Waste Management in Houston.
CBS News
One of the city’s industry partners, FCC Environmental Services, which operates a large sorting facility for the city’s curbside recycling program, has opted out of the dropoff collection. In a July 2023 letter, the company raised concerns about the safety of storing plastic waste at a facility that lacks required permits.
“As a member of the [Houston Recycling Collaboration], FCC does not want its reputation and image involved in such irregular and risky practices,” Inigo Sanz, chief executive officer of FCC at the time, wrote in the letter to partners without mentioning the Wright site by name. FCC also complained about the focus on storing waste for future chemical recycling while missing opportunities to recycle some of the plastic mechanically.
On one visit earlier this year, a Harris County, Texas, fire inspector found the company lacking fire safety permits and observed “no fire lanes or means of controlling a fire,” documents obtained by Inside Climate News and CBS News found. The site had already failed fire inspections twice before, beginning in 2023.
CBS News
“Five acres of paper and plastic piled up with little or no fire suppression: What could go wrong?” said Richard Meier, a private fire investigator in Florida who reviewed the inspection reports and Google Earth images of the business at the request of Inside Climate News and CBS News. “You have piles and piles and piles of all this fuel,” Meier said. The fire risk only grows with intense summer heat, he said.
Owner Stratton Wright referred reporters to Cyclyx.
Wright Waste Management has been on file with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as a cardboard recycler since 2016, but on Sept. 26, 2023, Wright submitted a “notice of intent” to operate a municipal solid waste recycling facility. That application to the TCEQ revealed a plan to store as much as 2.2 million pounds of plastic waste and a request for permission to exceed time limits for plastic waste storage.
“The application has not been approved and is under review,” said TCEQ spokesman Ricky Richter.
Plastic waste collected from Houston residents is stored indefinitely at Wright Waste Management, as seen in July.
CBS News
In an interview, Ryan Tebbetts, a Cyclyx vice president, declined to discuss the Wright site’s failing fire marshal inspections or its still-pending application with the TCEQ, referring questions back to Wright Waste Management.
“Wright Waste Management doesn’t represent us, and they are currently a temporary solution before we can get [our] facility operational,” Tebbetts said.
FCC declined requests to be interviewed for this story.
The Houston Recycling Collaboration is part of the petrochemical industry’s push for chemical recycling of plastic waste amid growing awareness of the environmental and health risks associated with plastic.
More than 170 nations are trying to draft a global plastics treaty by the end of this year aimed at addressing what the United Nations has called a crisis. In the U.S., lawsuits over plastic pollution are multiplying. So are the calls to reduce production. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating Exxon and the oil and gas industry’s role in alleged deceptive public messaging about plastic pollution and recycling.
Aerial view of the ExxonMobil Baytown petrochemical complex near Houston, where the company has added a chemical recycling facility for waste plastic.
Carlos Chavez/CBS News
In a written statement this week, Bonta said his investigation was nearing completion. The fossil fuel industry has perpetuated “a myth that recycling can solve the plastics crisis,” Bonta said. “That deception is ongoing today with the industry’s promotion of ‘advanced recycling.’”
An Exxon official said he could not comment on any potential litigation.
But Ray Mastroleo, Exxon’s global market development manager for advanced recycling, said Exxon has “already processed 60 million pounds of plastic waste through our facility. We have ambitions to go even further to 1 billion pounds. And so to say that’s a myth, when we’re actually doing it, I’m not sure I’m aligned with that.”
Ray Mastroleo, ExxonMobil’s global market development manager for advanced recycling, is seen at the company’s chemical recycling facility inside the Baytown petrochemical complex near Houston.
Dwaine Scott/CBS News
During a tour of Exxon’s chemical recycling facility at its Baytown plant outside of Houston, Mastroleo said that the company’s technology turns “a significant amount” of plastic waste it processes into fuels.
In its 2023 draft national strategy to prevent plastic pollution, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that converting “solid waste to fuels, fuel ingredients, or energy” should not be considered a recycling practice.
Last fall, a report by two environmental groups, Beyond Plastics, and the International Pollutants Elimination Network, argued that chemical recycling technology has failed by showing how companies have largely been unable to make it work commercially. And the 2023 annual sustainability report for the global oil giant Shell revealed it was backing away from its corporate goal to significantly ramp up the chemical recycling of plastic, citing lack of plastic waste feedstock, slow technology development and regulatory uncertainty.
Critics argue that chemical recycling is more of an unproven marketing play so plastic production can keep growing rather than a real fix for a global crisis. They cite, for example, harm across the plastics lifecycle from oil and gas drilling to plastic production to plastic waste in rivers and oceans to micro- and nano-plastics in blood vessels.
“Recycling may be a very, very small portion of the solution, but it is not going to solve this monumental plastic pollution problem that we have,” said Veena Singla, an adjunct assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. She called recycling an “end-of-pipe solution that does not require industry to cut down its production or its profits and its plans for expansion.”
