Past Articles by Pat Hernandez
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How Students Follow In Astronauts' Footsteps … Literally As part of their summer vacation, 50 area middle school students designed a durable space suit and rubbed elbows with the first African American astronaut to walk in space. The kids from all over Houston got to sharpen their math and science skills at the University of Houston. |
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Grassroots Effort By Heights Residents Not Enough To Save 100 Year Old Tree In a Houston Heights neighborhood, residents are upset that a giant sycamore tree was cut down. The owner of the property says he tried to save the 100 year old tree, but was told by experts that it was unstable. |
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North Forest ISD Continues Fight Even After Judge Dismisses Lawsuit The North Forest School District is running out of legal options as it fights closure. Today, a judge in Austin dismissed the district's lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency. The district's last hope is the Justice department. |
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Carnival Triumph Sets First Sail After 'Cruise From Hell' Four months after an engine fire left it stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, the Carnival Triumph was back in the water with a sold out cruise leaving Galveston. It follows an extensive multi-million dollar repair with upgrades. |
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Texas House Select Committee Holds Redistricting Meeting In Houston The Texas House Select Committee on redistricting held the last of three hearings in Houston yesterday. The panel collected public input after Texas Gov. Rick Perry called a special session to address the constitutional questions surrounding the current redistricting maps. |
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Is The Dome A Historical Landmark? One Houstonian favors saving the Astrodome as a historical landmark. That may bring in funding, but what strings come with a historic designation? |
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Deadline Arrives For Proposals On What To Do With The Astrodome Midnight was the deadline for private interests with viable funding sources to submit plans for the empty Houston Astrodome. The Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation will submit an idea of its own next week. Harris County lawmakers are expected to consider all the plans at the end of June. |
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Tips For Pet Owners To Reduce Tick And Flea Infestations It's not just your imagination. The tiny, blood-sucking pests are causing big problems for some pet owners here in Houston. But there are proven ways to get them off your animal and out of your home. |
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Soaring Temperatures Prompt City And Reliant Energy To Open Cooling Centers With rising temperatures indicating a hot summer, the City of Houston has opened "beat the heat" centers for low income and seniors to cool off. The city's largest energy provider will assist people who may have trouble paying their summer electric bills. |
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Photos: Thousands Attend Tribute And Memorial Service For Houston's Four Fallen Firefighters Thousands attended a memorial service today for the four Houston firefighters killed while battling a motel fire last week. It was a somber ceremony for the three men and one woman who died doing jobs they loved. The service celebrated their lives and legacy within the Houston community. |
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Investigation Continues Into Southwest Fire That Killed Four Houston Firefighters The evidence recovered at the site of last Friday's 5-alarm fire will hopefully give investigators a clearer picture into the cause that killed four Houston Firefighters. |
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Houston Clergy Members Ensure Another Safe End Of School Year The halls of many schools in the area will have familiar faces this week as students count down the final days of class. Hundreds of ministers will join school district police officers as they roam campus hallways in an annual effort to ensure a safe and peaceful end to the school year. |
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Gulf Coast Officials Prep For 2013 Hurricane Season Hurricane season begins tomorrow and lasts through the end of November. Meteorologists are predicting an active year. Officials at TranStar — the emergency operations center in Harris County — will be paying close attention to activity in the Gulf of Mexico. |
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Rep. Kevin Brady And Conroe Company Make Cases For Tax Reform As some lawmakers in Washington look for ways to revamp the nation's tax code, one local company says adjusting the tax system to make things simpler and easier to navigate could actually create more jobs in Houston. They claim a tax code revision might make Texas even more business-friendly than it already is. |
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What Houston Utilities Learned From A 'Category Tree' Hurricane With the start of hurricane season just a few days away, Houston's largest power provider says it's still looking for ways to lessen the effects of a big storm on the city's power grid. |
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Are You Ready For Hurricane Season This Year? It's estimated close to a million new residents have arrived in the Greater Houston area since Hurricane Ike slammed Southeast Texas in 2008. With the start of hurricane season just a few days away, local emergency officials say for the newcomers and everyone else, right now is the time to be putting the finishing touches on a personal hurricane plan. |
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New Leader Of Houston's Crime Stoppers Has Tips On How To Prevent Crime Crime Stoppers Houston has a new leader at the helm. It follows a unanimous decision by the search committee and board of directors. The new executive director succeeds Katherine Cabaniss, who is now a district court judge. |
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Another Ryan Joins The Houston Astros The Houston Astros introduce Reid Ryan as president of business operations. He is the son of hall-of-fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. |
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The HMNS Soon-To-Be Open Ancient Egypt Exhibit Gets A New Addition The Houston Museum of Natural Science has welcomed the newest addition to the hall of ancient Egypt. It's a giant sarcophagus, or coffin that served as the final resting place for a priest. |
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City Blames State Of Texas For Inequities In Commercial Property Taxing Houston homeowners are calling on Houston City Council to fix what they call a broken tax appraisal system that gives huge tax cuts to big commercial buildings. The council admits the property tax loopholes are a problem, but that lawmakers in Austin are the only ones who can fix it. |
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How The Leland Woods Community Project Was Reborn A northeast affordable housing project is back on track and near completion. First time home buyers can benefit from a neighborhood that seemed abandoned after the recession. |
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Expect Another Round Of Inclement Weather Before Mother's Day The sun may be out now, but weather forecasters tell us we're not out of the woods when it comes to drenching thunderstorms. They expect one more round of heavy rain before it clears in time for Mother's Day. |
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Law Enforcement Across Texas Is Saying 'Click It Or Ticket' The state of Texas has made seat belt safety a major priority, and is one of the most buckled up states in the country. TxDOT launched its 12th annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign to ensure the safety of motorists here in Houston and across the state. |
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Found Ohio Women Renews Hope For Ali Lowitzer's Parents The case of three Ohio women kidnapped for more than ten years gives families of missing people hope that their loved ones may still be alive. |
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Governors Of The Gulf Coast Want State Control Of Offshore Drilling Permits Texas Gov. Rick Perry says the federal government can do more to help stimulate offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. At the Offshore Technology Conference here in Houston, Perry along with other Gulf state governors, says offshore drilling is still slower than it used to be before the Deepwater Horizon accident. |
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Gov Perry And Sen Cruz Fueled The Crowd At This Year's NRA Convention Texas Gov. Rick Perry and freshman U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz both drew thunderous applause for their defense of the rights of law-abiding gun owners. |
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New East Harris County Task Force Produces Results, Adds Additional Officers It began as a pilot program earlier this year, targeting all types of crime in East Harris County. And with the quick success of the joint task force, more officers are being added. |
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Charter School Bill Means More Options For Parents And Students Charter schools will soon expand in Texas. A Texas House education panel approved raising the cap on charter school licenses over the next six years. |
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New Harris County Gambling Task Force Hits Ground Running With Successful Busts Last week two illegal game rooms in Southwest Houston were shut down. Two people were arrested and authorities seized gambling devices, cash, drugs and weapons. A Harris County task force formed just last month has been busy putting these operations out of business. |
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In State of City Address, Mayor Unveils Two Programs Aimed At Growth Houston Mayor Annise Parker says the city continues to lead in the country in job creation and the place more people are moving to. In the annual State of the City address, Parker says Houston can only get better. |
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George W. Bush's Presidential Library Asks: What Would You Have Done? A crowd of 10,000 was on hand for the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The heavily guarded event in Dallas was attended by the five living presidents and their wives. |
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New Initiative Hopes To Reduce Houston Homeless Population A report on houston's homeless finds more than 8,700 people without a permanent home. Efforts are underway to reduce that number. |
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Astrodome Proposals Must Include A Way To Fund It Proposals concerning the future of the Astrodome are now being submitted to the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation. County Judge Ed Emmett says they must include a funding source, or they won't be considered. |
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What Some Students Did To Reduce The 'Concrete Jungle' On Earth Day In honor of Earth Day, Trees for Houston helps students plant trees on the campus of Texas Southern University. The ceremony not only reduces the campus' concrete jungle, but helps to beautify the earth by cleaning the air and producing oxygen. |
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Report Looks At Why Texas Convicts More People Of Prostitution Than Other States A new report finds that reducing penalties for prostitution and sending defendants to diversion programs would decrease the illegal practice and save the state money. The report aims to bolster efforts to pass legislation that eliminates part of state law that makes repeated prostitution a state felony. |
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Texas Lawmaker: 'Any Major Metropolitan Area Is Subject To Terrorism' One Houston lawmaker says the events happening this week in Boston show that we need to be prepared for anything, at any time. |
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Astrodome Proposals Deadline Set For June 10th The fate of the Houston Astrodome could finally be decided as a deadline for proposals was set. Voters will then determine the future of the aging structure. |
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Are Houston Streets Safe? 'Walkability Audit' To Determine Sidewalk Safety Freeways have allowed exponential growth in Houston. But one group continues to push urban planners to make areas like the Museum District more walkable. AARP conducted a recent survey and found that big improvements could still be made. |
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United Airlines Celebrates New And Improved Terminal At IAH At four times larger than the previous facility, United Airlines' new terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport certainly qualifies as a Texas-size terminal. |
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What Does The Future In Space Look Like? Experts Discuss At Rice University Noted space scientists from around the country gathered at Rice University to discuss the impact of space exploration and what the future holds. |
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HPD: Bomb Hoax Is A Serious Offense, A Terroristic Threat There was another campus security scare today after two bomb threats emptied the University of St. Thomas campus in the Montrose area. The threats appear to be a hoax, and authorities aren't happy about it. |
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According To The Accused, Mass Stabbing Was Premeditated Harris County Sheriff's Department investigators are compiling information on the man accused in Tuesday's stabbing spree on the campus of Lone Star College Cy-Fair campus which left 14 people injured. Twenty-year-old Dylan Andrew Quick told them he had been planning the attack for some time. |
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Houston Home Values In Key Areas On The Rise, But Overall Flat Harris County property tax appraisals are either in the mail or already in the mailbox for most Houston-area homeowners. While most home values haven't gone up much this year, some have and it's mostly because of the area's robust real estate market. The housing demand in certain parts of the city is driving home prices up. |
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Nonprofit Invests Millions In Affordable Housing For Seniors It's about providing affordable housing for seniors on fixed incomes. A national nonprofit has pumped millions of dollars into an apartment complex facing foreclosure on the city's northwest side. |
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8,000 Catholic Educators Convene In Houston For The First Time Cardinal Dinardo welcomes 8,000 Catholic educators to Houston. It's the largest private education association gathering in the country. |
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Kaufman County Murders Lead To Extra Security For Houston-Area Prosecutors Law enforcement is beefing up security for prosecutors in Texas following the weekend killings of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife. Their deaths came two months after an assistant district attorney was gunned down in a parking lot near his courthouse office. |
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Houston City Council Candidates Line Up For At-Large Position 3 Houston's municipal elections are eight months away and candidates are out campaigning. One political analyst says it's not too early to get the word out, especially in some races where the field is getting crowded. |
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Governor Turns To TXDOT To Fund Air Traffic Control For 13 Airports The Federal Aviation Administration has slashed funding for 149 control towers across the country, due to sequestration. TXDOT will step in to keep control towers open at 13 small airports, including Sugar Land Regional, when those facilities lose federal funding next month. |
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Digging Through Public Trash Cans Could Become Legal Soon A portion of a rummaging ordinance could be revised after a homeless veteran was ticketed for going through a trash can at a city park earlier this month, trying to find something to eat. |
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Decisions, Decisions ... What To Do About The Houston Astrodome? Harris County Judge Ed Emmett says the future of the Houston Astrodome will be initially decided by county commissioners, and if that involves money, then residents would have to approve it in a referendum. |
