Past Articles by Laurie Johnson
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Governor Perry Proposes Tax Relief and Infrastructure Funding for Texas Governor Rick Perry says Texas is stronger than ever. The governor gave his State of the State address — outlining plans for a tax rebate initiative — major infrastructure upgrades and higher education reforms. |
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Campaign Season Continues In State Senate District 6 Residents of state Senate District 6 have another election to look forward to. Saturday's special election to fill the seat left vacant by the late Mario Gallegos resulted in a run-off between the two top candidates. |
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Houston Officials Tout Positive Crime Statistics Houston's crime rate is flat — according to Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston Police Department. The city released numbers comparing the past six years of crime statistics and they show an overall decline in crime. |
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Counter-Terrorism Analyst Speaks On Algerian Hostage Crisis Two of the three Americans killed in Algeria at a natural gas plant were from the Houston area. One security expert says when contractors take these kinds of assignments — they are informed of the risks — but it's difficult to imagine anything serious actually happening. |
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Houston Councilmember Protests 'Fear Mongering' Over Flu Vaccine In an unusual turn of events at city hall today — one Houston councilmember voted against accepting a grant to fund childhood immunizations. The lone doctor on the council used his "no" vote to protest flu vaccines. |
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Former President George Bush Continues Recovery at Home Former president George H-W Bush is home again after spending nearly two months in the hospital. |
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More Flu Patients Means More Work For Medical Professionals With an active and busy flu season under way — medical clinics are seeing a greater volume of patients. Some clinics are making adjustments to meet the demand. |
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Houston's Bike Share Program Takes A $750,000 Ride Houston will expand its small but popular bike share program to more parts of the city. A major donation will provide bicycles for rent in some of Houston’s busiest neighborhoods. |
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Texas Supreme Court Considers Houston Firefighter Compensation The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from the City of Houston and Houston firefighters tomorrow. The case will determine how much the city has to pay to retiring firefighters. |
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Texas Is In Top 5 For Highest Influenza Rates Flu season is off to an aggressive start both here in Houston and across the country. It's the earliest flu season on record since 2003 and includes a particularly severe strain of influenza. |
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Workplace Food Theft: A Tale of Woe Have you ever had your food stolen out of the office refrigerator? A lot of people report it as a common occurrence — but there's very little research to back up their claims. |
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The 83rd Texas Legislative Session Begins on January 8th As lawmakers in Washington continue to look for ways to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff", lawmakers here in Texas say no resolution could be painful for the Lone Star State. Federal dollars make up a big part of the state's economy. |
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President Bush Still Hospitalized
Although former President George Bush has been in the hospital for nearly a month — his spokesman says his condition continues to improve. Doctors are still saying the 88-year-old Mr. Bush will be home by Christmas.
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Houston Tried To Shut Down Gun Shows Next week the George R. Brown Convention Center will host the high caliber gun and knife show. Gun shows rotate through Houston's expo centers on an almost monthly basis. But at one time the city tried to prohibit or restrict such shows. |
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November Housing Market Sizzles Houston realtors are calling November a sizzling month for home sales. November was the eighteenth month in a row of positive sales. |
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The 2013 Houston Mayoral Race Begins ... In 2012 Although the mayoral election is nearly a year away — the campaigning is about to begin. Former city attorney Ben Hall is likely to run against incumbent Annise Parker. |
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Similar Candidates Try To Be Different In Senate District 6 Today is the deadline for candidates in the Senate District 6 race to submit their campaign finance reports. Now that the governor has called a special election to fill the seat that was left vacant when State Senator Mario Gallegos passed away — the campaign for the seat can get under way in earnest. The two front runners in the race are very similar candidates on the surface. |
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Rice Researchers Develop Plant-Based Battery Scientists at Rice University are developing a "green" battery that uses plant matter to hold a charge. |
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Houston Adds New Convention Center Hotel Houston will get another large hotel downtown — now that City Council authorized tax incentives for a new convention center development. The planned thousand-room Marriott is intended to draw larger conventions and trade shows to Houston. |
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Are Domestic Partner Benefits Legal In Texas? This coming Thursday Pflugerville ISD will vote on a policy plan to provide health benefits for domestic partners. If the board of trustees approves the plan — Pflugerville could become the first school district in Texas to offer such benefits. But some groups say the policy violates the Texas Constitution. |
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Former President Bush Remains Hospitalized, But Improving Former President George H. W. Bush remains in Methodist hospital as he recovers from bronchitis. |
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Number Of Texas Children In Poverty Rises The number of Texas children who live in poverty has nearly quadrupled since 2007 — according to a new report by the Washington, D.C. based child advocacy group first focus. The child poverty rate in Texas is worse than the national average. |
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Houston To Add Paid Parking Along Washington Avenue The City of Houston is piloting a program to test a paid parking district in the Washington corridor. City Council will vote later this week on the plan to install metered parking along Washington Avenue. |
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Texas End Of Course Exam Won't Affect Student Grades The Texas STAAR test which is used to evaluate college-readiness will not automatically count toward a student's final grade this year. Instead local school boards will decide how much weight to give the exam. |
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Texas And Houston Lawmakers Consider Payday Lending Regulations Houston could be the latest large Texas city to try to regulate payday and auto title loans. City officials are waiting to see if statewide changes are made first. |
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Mayor Parker Opposes State Takeover Of Houston Port Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she opposes the Sunset Commission's plan to put the Port of Houston Authority under the control of the governor. |
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'Giving Tuesday' Provides Alternative To Holiday Spending Hundreds of corporate and nonprofit groups are banding together to designate the Tuesday after Thanksgiving as a day of giving back. They're calling it "Giving Tuesday" and hope it will gain the same kind of momentum as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. |
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Houston Adds 1,000 Apartments For The Homeless Houston will soon have an additional 1,000 apartment units for homeless individuals and families. |
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Giving Thanks For Black Friday By now it has become routine for people to line up outside of stores to be the first to get all the deals on Black Friday. But how long is too long to wait in those lines? Some people are already camping out for the sales. |
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Can Voters Get A Fair Trial In Victor Trevino Case? One of Harris County’s most popular and well-known lawmen was indicted last week. So what are the challenges of getting a fair trial for both sides with such a high-profile defendant? |
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Rig Explosion Poses Little Environmental Threat As the Coast Guard responds to the oil platform explosion off the coast of Louisiana — they've noticed a sheen on the surface of the water. Officials say there's not much cause for concern about a possible oil spill. |
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Coast Guard Searches For 2 Missing After Oil Rig Explosion An oil platform off the coast of Louisiana has exploded, leaving at least 11 people injured and two missing. New Orleans Coast Guard helicopters and boats are on the scene. |
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BP To Pay Largest Criminal Settlement In US History The Justice Department and BP have agreed to $4.5 billion dollar settlement over the oil company's 2010 oil rig explosion. The federal government has also charged two BP managers with manslaughter. The deal is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the massive oil spill. |
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Senator John Cornyn Named As Minority Whip In the span of one week — Texas has gone from having two senior U.S. senators to electing a freshman senator and naming another senator as the Senate's second highest-ranking Republican. Senator John Cornyn was selected to serve as the Senate minority whip. |
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How Private Is Your Personal Email? Just how private is your email and how much access to it does the federal government have? The laws offer fewer protections than you might think. |
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How Early Voting Changes Elections With more and more people choosing to vote early instead of on Election Day — it raises Some philosophical questions about how we vote. Do people who vote early have the same set of facts as those who vote on Election Day? And will the boost to early voting change the way politicians campaign for votes? |
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Houston Mayor Celebrates Passage Of $410 Million Bonds Now that houston voters have authorized the city to take out more than $400 million dollars in bonds for various improvements — Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she's ready to get to work on various city-wide improvements to parks — libraries — public safety and affordable housing. |
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METRO Referendum Could Confuse Voters One of the closest local races on the ballot tomorrow isn't between two candidates. It's the METRO referendum — which asks voters to decide whether the transit agency should reauthorize a revenue-sharing plan with area municipalities. |
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Texas Early Voting Ends Tonight It's the last day of early voting in Texas. Harris County has 37 early voting locations that will be open until 7 p.m. tonight. |
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Hurricane Sandy Brings Gasoline Prices Down The after effects of Hurricane Sandy are driving down gasoline prices. |
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City Of Houston Pays Millions Over Budget On Health Costs The City of Houston is spending millions more than was budgeted for the city's self-funded health plan. |
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Things To Know About Binge Drinking Eleven Rice University students were hospitalized over the weekend for alcohol poisoning. Binge drinking among college students is still a widespread problem. |
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Governor Perry Wants More Stem Cell Research In Texas Governor Rick Perry is urging the expansion of stem cell research in Texas. The governor invited a stem cell summit to Houston to discuss regenerative medicine. |
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The Future Of Mario Gallegos' Senate Seat The passing of State Senator Mario Gallegos leaves a lot of questions about who will represent Senate District 6 in the future. Gallegos is expected to win re-election because it's too late to remove his name from the ballot |
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Broad Foundation Prize Could Come to Houston HISD is a finalist for the broad prize — an award for overall performance and improvements in urban school districts. |
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Houston Could Host 2017 Super Bowl After yesterday's announcement that Houston is in the running for the 2017 Super Bowl, Mayor Annise Parker says the city will put in an aggressive bid to get the game. |
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HISD Officials Show Off Crumbling Schools Houston Independent School District officials are trying to drum up support for their bond proposal by taking people on tours of aging schools in the district. |
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Strip Club Owners Sue City of Houston Over 'Pole Tax' Houston strip clubs are suing the City of Houston over a new fee set to go into effect next week. |
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Why Voters Need To Read The Whole Ballot Today in our ongoing election coverage, we look at a problem that could come up if people vote straight party ticket on the ballot. Voters might miss a number of important elections. |
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Houston Restaurant Weeks Makes $1.2 Million For Food Bank A local fundraising event known as Houston restaurant weeks raised a surprising amount of money this year. This year's donation to the Houston Food Bank is 53 percent higher than last year. |
