Houston News Archives

Since 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the director of information technology for Harris County has been on the stand, facing detailed questions about the disappearance and reappearance of roughly 3,500 e-mails. Gary Zallar ...

An autopsy is under way on an infant found thrown in the grass near the Galveston Seawall.Ever since a 3-month-old baby was found dead along an isolated road in Galveston, police have wanted to talk to Travis Mullis.

A woman accused of leaving eight children with little food and no money while she traveled to Africa to marry a man she met on the Internet has been arrested. via El Paso Times

The Texas Department of Public Safety hired the former DNA supervisor at Houston's crime lab despite knowing she was under investigation for cheating on a proficiency exam in Houston.

GALVESTON — Galveston police have identified a 21-year-old man as the biological father of missing baby boy that matches the description of an infant found dead near the Galveston Seawall Tuesday morning. Investigators said they consider Travis Mullis, 21, a person of interest in the case. .

Two Hempstead police officers shot and killed a man late Tuesday night. Around 11:45 p.m., officers were called to a home for a disturbance in the Legendary Oaks subdivision off of Highway 290. When they got there, no one would answer the front door, so they went around to the back. .

It's tax time, and for thousands of income taxpayers in Houston, that means a refund.

“They give you more lettuce, too.”

Triple bypass burger: $8.50 Ahi tuna salad: $9.50 Migas: $7.25 Lox and bagel: $8 Meat loaf: $9 Subject : Dry Creek Cafe The medium-rare slices of fish on the grilled ahi tuna salad at Dry Creek Caf were a juicy ... via Houston Press

Police have launched an investigation to identify and determine what killed an infant found dumped at Cherry Hill on the far east end.

A man was killed during an armed robbery attempt at a North Houston apartment complex parking lot Monday night.

In many ways, Marilyn Gates lived a charmed life. She was a devoted wife and mother who loved her job as an American Airlines flight attendant.

An infamous murder case from Houston will take center stage on "48 Hours Mystery" Tuesday.

A mother accused of abandoning her children to live in filth while she went to Nigeria to get married was arrested Monday.

“Not really, but they're going to find out.”

Democratic senatorial hopeful Rick Noriega introduced himself to South Texas on Monday by telling audiences that the region has not had representation in the U.S. Senate since Lloyd Bentsen left office in 1993. via MySA.com

“No one involved in this knew anyone's last names - strictly their street names”

A man accused of accidentally shooting a fellow gang member to death during a drive-by last year spent about four months on the run before Houston police captured him Monday at a local motel. via Houston Chronicle

A man was arrested in connection with a teenager's 1997 death after an investigator discovered he was recently issued a driver's license, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday. via Click2Houston.com

“Officers had to assist her in standing and walking over to the patrol unit. That's how intoxicated she was.”

A local woman drove drunk with her 11-year-old daughter in the passenger seat on Wednesday, hitting a police cruiser in the process, Van Buren police said. via KHOG-TV Fort Smith

A PASSENGER was treated at Morris Hospital following an accident at Division and Roosevelt streets about 6:25 p.m. Tuesday. via Morris Daily Herald

Investigation of a wreck in the 300 block of Dexter Street led to the arrest of a 14-year-old Hillsboro boy. via Hillsboro Reporter

A woman fell out of a moving sport utility vehicle on a freeway and was hit by several other vehicles, KPRC Local 2 reported. via Click2Houston.com

Ex-minister guilty in sex case A former minister of education at Great Hills Baptist Church has been sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted sexual assault of a child. via Austin American Statesman

Defense attorneys called their first witnesses this morning in a man's trial in the April 2007 death of a Beaumont police officer. via The Beaumont Enterprise

Frozen The "Arctic frozen sea" of a pedophile's mind lies at the chilly center of Bryony Lavery's smart, mesmerizing Frozen. via Houston Press

Evading arrest, 2000 block of Banita Street. Police attempted to stop a man for a pedestrian violation, but the man refused to stop when commanded by the police to do so. via Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

“All officers within this state shall continue to perform the duties of their offices until their predecessor shall be duly qualified”

The 10th Court of Appeals in Waco has given clearance to hold a second election to determine a Ward 1 representative on the Huntsville City Council. via The Huntsville Item

“There was a long-standing disagreement between the two of them that goes back several years”

A man has been accused of killing a former neighbor with whom he had a long-standing feud, KPRC Local 2 reported. via Click2Houston.com

“And for that reason I am today announcing a donation of $5,000 not only for the arrest of Graylon Williams' killer but for arrests in any of the cold cases.”

Harrison County District Attorney Joe Black has announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in any of the city's cold case homicides. via Marshall News Messenger

The head of the Houston Police Department's DNA testing lab has resigned and two other crime lab employees suspended following an investigation into cheating by staff members of the embattled crime lab.

Two Texas A&M football players accused of tying up and mugging a drug dealer at gunpoint have been indicted on felony robbery charges, the district attorney's office said.

A Woodlands man is jailed accused of possessing child pornography. Montgomery County Sheriff's Office arrested David Harold Pebernat, 61, after receiving a tip.

George Mitchell has always been a man of vision Not far from the madness of Interstate 45, just off Woodlands Parkway, the scenery suddenly changes.

In 2004, in a remote Mexican village near Acapulco, a 16-year-old girl met a stranger from Houston, a man who encouraged her to leave her family and move to Texas.

A trio of thieves got away with $16,000 during a northwest Houston robbery late Thursday night.

A sketch of a man who told a girl he was a police officer before he attacked her in a park was released Wednesday, KPRC Local 2 reported. via Click2Houston.com

HOUSTON -- Jesus Savara thought the economy might cut into his chances of selling his home. But he never thought his neighbors could make it even harder. In reality, they could. That’s because the house right across the street has been approved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to house parolees and sex offenders. .

Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal recently approved an $11,000-a-year raise for his secretary to whom he had sent a series of romantic e-mails, according to a published report.

HOUSTON -- The Houston Police Truck Enforcement Unit is in action almost daily. But they are outmatched. Of the 250,000 trucks that drive on Houston streets and freeways every day, a third are overweight. And only .001-percent of those trucks is ever pulled over .

The FBI Houston Bank Robbery Task Force needs the public's help identifying a man they call the Bathroom Bandit.

The organizer of one of Houston's Dr. Martin Luther King Day parades is expected to be booked into the Harris County Jail on a four-year-old misdemeanor charge.

Downtown residents and business owners who came to city hall Wednesday to talk about the Lone Star Motorcycle Rally all agreed on one thing -- rally promoter Ron Limbock is his own worst enemy.

“This is going to be the premier historical park in the state of Texas”

A historical park is being planned for this Brazoria County town to honor a hole in the ground. via KRISTV.COM Corpus Christi

A Kingwood woman is facing felony charges for allegedly leaving her 3-year-old in charge of two younger siblings.

A Harris County grand jury Wednesday indicted two police officers for the death of a Pasadena inmate.

Police released a sketch Wednesday of a man who they say pretended to be an officer and tried to assault a teenage girl.

“It has culture, it has beauty. Sherwood tried to explain that to the crowd. "It isn't a sport”

The bleachers were full, the air rich with the aroma of fajitas, the matadors resplendent as the sixth season of corridas, or bullfights, at Texas' only exhibition bullring got under way. via MySA.com

“The current convention center hotel is filling up, and Houston can attract more conventions if it had more hotel rooms in the Central Business District, and specifically, close to the George R. Brown Convention Center”

The city is considering plans to bring a second convention center hotel to downtown, in an effort to take Houston one step closer to becoming a top convention destination. via Houston Chronicle

Deputies are on the look out for a man accused of attempting to abduct an 11-year-old boy Jan 17 .The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said the boy was running to catch the bus around 8:45 a.m. in the Pecan Grove subdivision at Spanish Forest Lane and Old South Road when a silver, two-door convertible pulled up next to him. .

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" led with eight Academy Awards nominations each Tuesday, among them best picture and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem - but whether any ...

Three suspects have been targeting - and shooting - maintenance workers in the Greenspoint area, and police say it's simply a miracle that no one has died.

A Texas City firefighter charged into a burning house without a hose and rescued a blind man who was trapped inside.

A Texas prisoner serving a life sentence for aggravated assault iwas hospitalized Monday after he fell from a fence during a failed escape attempt. via KWTX

The blank faces of the children stared back He wondered if he had wasted their time. Having just completed Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech, having inhabited the character of the civil rights leader, he felt — as he always has in 23 years of delivering the speech — electrified. .

Lone Star, the world's largest four-tusk mastodon skull discovered in a gravel pit in La Grange, sold for $191,200 at auction Sunday.

An inmate is in the hospital after he was injured while trying to escape from a unit in Rosharon. David Luke Davis, authorities say, tried climbing a fence at the String Fellow Unit in Rosharon. It’s reported an officer saw Davis and warned him to come down.

It isn't political at all, but we find the reports of a UFO sighting in Stephenville interesting because of the likely political implications this "event" could have in the 2008 election cycle. via Capitol Annex

A Houston police officer fired a shot at one of four men who led patrolmen on a short chase from Monroe on the Gulf Freeway to the MLK Boulevard area on Loop 610 South early today, officials said. via Houston Chronicle

Driving while intoxicated, 1500 block of East Starr Avenue. Cheyenne Calhoun, 18, of Garrison, was arrested after she was found at the intersection of Starr Avenue and Cardinal Street passed out in a vehicle. via Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

A man was shot to death as he left a southwest Houston apartment on Wednesday, KPRC Local 2 reported. via Click2Houston

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office released the identity of recent homicide victims: * Celio Ivan Carrasco, 33, was found dead Jan. via Houston Chronicle

“We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico”

A Marine suspected of killing a pregnant comrade told friends he would flee to Mexico to avoid being convicted of raping her, and investigators said Wednesday they are working with Mexican authorities to track ... via KHOU-TV Houston

“Given the lack of evidence that David Temple owned a gun that killed Belinda Temple; given the fact that David was 6 miles away when Belinda was killed, the only proper remedy is to grant a new trial”

Judge reads the verdict Belinda Temple's family on the verdict Raw video: Families react to the verdict Prosecution misconduct: That's the main argument defense attorneys made in a motion for a retrial for ... via KHOU-TV Houston

From chartering busloads of supporters into Austin to supplementing their staff's state-paid salaries, Texas state leaders and lawmakers managed to burn through more than $9.5 million in campaign funds while ... via The Dallas Morning News

“There are no required immunizations to enter China, but there are many that are recommended.”

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines Also Included In: Liver Disease / Hepatitis Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Article Date: 17 Jan 2008 If you plan on attending the 2008 Summer Olympic games in ... via MediLexicon

“Immune modulation therapy could provide physicians with a new way of treating large numbers of patients with heart failure”

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines Modifying the immune system of a patient with heart failure reduces the patient's risk of death and the need for ... via MediLexicon

“This will mean better law enforcement, more effective law enforcement.”

Cutting-edge technology is coming to a police cruiser near you. The Houston Police Department is taking new steps to keep you -- and Houston's streets -- safer. via Abc13.com

“Informing the city after the judge ruled that their land is already taken is not the Texan or American way of justice”

Leaders in a small Texas border city felt blindsided Wednesday after learning that a judge had ordered public land turned over temporarily to the federal government as it works on a border fence. via KRISTV.COM Corpus Christi

A one car accident in Beaumont has left a former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers dead. Ernie Holmes died Thursday night following the accident on Highway 69 near Colonia Drive. He was 59. Holmes played football at Texas Southern University. He’s best known for his years with the Steelers. .

Police are trying to catch a couple of restaurant robbers who have been terrorizing customers in the Lower Westheimer area. Vera Wolf and at least a dozen others have been robbed at gunpoint since early December. The suspect demands purses, wallets, cash and cell phones .

Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife are waiting to find out if the DA’s office will accept the charges against them. A grand jury indicted them Thursday following an arson investigation at their home last summer. It is not often that we get to hear from a grand jury foreman and assistant foreman. But Robert Ryan and Jeffrey Dorrell said they had to speak out after District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he would not accept their indictment of Medina. .

The North Freeway is open again Friday morning after a major wrong-way accident. KHOU - TV Police say the driver was drunk and somehow got on to I-45 south going in the wrong direction. The suspect hit at least three cars before he slammed head-on into a car near downtown. .

A two-car crash in northwest Harris County sent four people to area hospitals and caused a major traffic jam. It happened around 11 a.m. near a toll plaza on Beltway 8 at Antoine. A woman who is five-months pregnant and a 2-year-old girl were rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital by a pair of Life Flight helicopters.

Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife have reportedly been indicted in connection with the arson fire that destroyed their Houston-area home last summer.

The state's top criminal appeals court has reduced a death sentence to life imprisonment for a death row inmate condemned for murdering a Houston-area convenience store clerk during a 1995 robbery.

Galveston firefighters douse flames in the wheelhouse of the shrimp boat Master Tony on Wednesday at Pier 7 in Galveston.

A suspect is on the run after backing up his car into a police officer's during a chase. It all started on Scott Street when the HPD unit was trying to pull over the car for a traffic violation. A chase ensued on Scott until the driver made a U-turn and went to Barberry, going east .

Parents may be left with only love and lots of liquid to give their sniffling babies and toddlers now that the government is declaring over-the-counter cough and cold medicines too risky for tots.

“I'd rather have the luxury of the car I want instead of a car that gets good gas mileage but maybe I didn't want that car.”

Everything's big in Texas - big pickup trucks, big SUVs and the state's big carbon footprint, too. via KTXA-TV Fort Worth

Kev After a long journey, from Ohio to Texas and back, the girl known to the world as Baby Grace will be laid to rest Wednesday.

A survivors group is calling on the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to take a tougher stance against a priest accused of sexual abuse.

Dr. Martin Luther King would have been 79 years old on Tuesday. On Monday, Houstonians will have two opportunities to honor the slain civil rights leader.

Three men are in jail after an overnight bust at an eight-liner room in North Houston. Houston police and the Harris County Sheriff's Office got the call about a robbery in progress around 1:45 a.m. .

The family of a man killed in a bus accident earlier this month near Victoria is suing the owner, operator and driver of the bus. via KDBC

Wat A man accused of kidnapping and raping five young men in Baytown during an eight-month spree in 2006 has been convicted of aggravated sexual assault.

Congress began its public examination of the Mitchell Report into baseball's steroids era by calling Tuesday for the Justice Department to look into whether former AL MVP Miguel Tejada lied to committee ...

“We have his nickname and we have his cell phone”

A man who fled when a Conroe Police officer confronted him and two other men for allegedly stealing siding from a Stewart's Forest construction site Tuesday morning was still unidentified and on the loose ... via Houston Community Newspapers

A Minnesota meatpacker has recalled about 188,000 pounds of ground beef patties and some other products because of E. coli bacteria concerns.

A city ordinance designed to keep sex offenders from residing in certain subdivisions needs revising if city officials want their local law to persuade those who would prey on children to live elsewhere.

Nearly two-hundred people at North Shore Senior High School will get tested for TB on Monday morning.

The remains of Riley Ann Sawyers, known as Baby Grace, will be flown back to Ohio on Monday. Some investigators close to the case may also make the trip for her burial service. A private plane carrying a casket containing her urn will leave from Ellington Field at noon. An anonymous donor paid for the plane. .

She died from ovarian cancer 20 years ago. Every year, Wanda Thomas receives a painful reminder in the mail.