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Chinese Radio Targets Expats And Those Learning Mandarin The airwaves in Houston are filled with ethnic programming — and not just in Spanish. There are radio shows for the Expat Indian community, as well as Vietnamese programs and Chinese broadcasts — all targeting specific audiences. For example, the Chinese community is served on radio and television with programs in Mandarin and English. |
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A trusted indicator of how the Texas economy is doing shows continued robust activity, a trend that resumed last September. |
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Hurricane Irene Acts As Warning For Houston The nation's eyes are fixed on Hurricane Irene as it swirls toward the East Coast. Although it poses no threat to Houston — emergency officials say it should serve as a reminder to always be prepared. |
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When a motor vehicle accident happens in Texas, there's a good chance that a motorist involved in the wreck is not insured. That's the continuing challenge for the state's program to reduce the number of uninsured drivers. |
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Local Companies Lends Help To East Coast As people on the East Coast brace for Hurricane Irene, one local company that provides power generators is vowing to do whatever it can to help. Houston based Worldwide Power Products says it will make a number of large generators available if needed. |
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Grand Parkway Hits Another Segment E Road Block The Grand Parkway is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — again! This time it's because there’s a lawsuit filed against Segment E only weeks after a permit was issued giving this segment the go ahead. |
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Online School Promises Easier Transfer Of Credits To Four-Year Colleges Colleges across Texas welcomed students back to campus this week. Even though classes have begun, it's not too late for would-be students who didn't get enrolled in time. This online program offers greater flexibility and a guarantee that courses will transfer to a four-year school. |
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KUHF CONVERSATIONS: Houston Mayor Annise Parker Mayor Parker talks about the challenges facing Houston as it copes with record drought, heat, and hundreds of water main breaks. The mayor spoke with David Pitman on Friday's Morning Edition. |
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Bauer Business Focus: Dean Warga's Life and Legacy The University of Houston's Bauer College of Business is holding a memorial service this afternoon for Dean Arthur Warga, who died August 7. Warga joined the Bauer College as a professor in 1997 and served as dean from 2001 through early 2011. Interim Dean Latha Ramchand and Marketing & Entrepreneurship Department Chair Edward Blair join Andrew Schneider on today's Bauer Business Focus to discuss Warga's life and legacy. |
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UTMB To Build New Hospital Building By 2015 The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will build a new 13-story hospital on its main campus on the island. The storm-proof structure will have 246 beds. KUHF Health Science and Technology reporter Carrie Feibel explains that in the post-Ike era, UTMB is actually growing. |
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Study Examines Defined Benefit Plans A new study finds that so-called defined benefit plans, including the one for city employees here in Houston, are much more cost-effective for local taxpayers than plans that include 401k's. |
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New Report Says Shuttle Decision Was Made Properly The office of the Inspector General for NASA has released an official report detailing the process for selecting which cities will receive one of four retired Space Shuttles. The report states what NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told KUHF last spring during a trip to Houston: the decision was his and it was not political. |
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A Sonic Cherry Limeade Was His Downfall The search for Oklahoma fugitive Charles Dyer ended this morning in Fort Bend County. Authorities say the ex-marine was hungry and tired when he surrendered peacefully. |
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Study Shows Kids Walking To School Works Houston traffic can be tough at the best of times. With kids are back to school, there are a lot more traffic jams. One local college may just have a solution to keep everyone moving. |
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NASA Investigation Says Politics Did Not Taint Shuttle City Selection When NASA announced earlier this year that Houston would not get one of the retired space shuttles — a lot of people cried foul. They believed that politics were involved in the decision to leave the Johnson Space Center without one of the orbiters, despite JSC's key role in every shuttle mission. But NASA's watchdog says the agency played by the book when it came to choosing where the shuttles would be parked for good. |
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KUHF Conversations: Harry Johnson Sr. This Sunday, a new memorial honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be dedicated on the National Mall in Washington D.C.. It's the culmination of years of planning and work to honor the nation's best known civil rights leader. Harry Johnson Sr. is the president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. National memorial project foundation and has been involved in the effort from the start. He's also a native Houstonian. Pat Hernandez sat down with Harry Johnson Sr. for a chat. |
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Nonprofit Gives Students Supplies And A Future   A local nonprofit group is accepting donations of schools supplies it plans to give to some of Houston's most disadvantaged students. But the group has a much larger goal in mind — they'd also like to give the students a brighter future. |
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Houston Job Growth Surges to Post-Recession High Mayor Annise Parker says the Houston metro area enjoyed a surge of new employment between July 2010 and July 2011. |
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The number of people who bought new homes fell in July, the fourth drop in as many months. Sales this year are on track to finish as the worst on records dating back more than half a century. |
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Houston Puts The Red Light On Red Light Cameras Houston's red light cameras are off for good. In a thirteen to one decision — Houston Council Members voted to do away with the program and break the contract with American Traffic Solutions. The lawsuit will continue — but the cameras are off. |
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Congressional Hearing On Port Security A congressional committee on homeland security holds a hearing at the Port of Houston. Testimony focused on securing the port from a terrorist attack. |
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Texas Attorney General Reaches Multimillion Dollar Settlement in Medicaid Fraud Case Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has reached a multimillion dollar settlement in a Medicaid fraud suit against Par Pharmaceutical. From the KUHF Business Desk, Andrew Schneider has more. |
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Houston Mayor Has Harsh Warning For Water Scofflaws Mayor Annise Parker had some sharp words today for utility customers who have continued to water lawns too much, in violation of the mandatory restrictions. She says the city will start fining people soon if the demand for water doesn't ease off. |
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Rice University and the Houston Independent School District are teaming up to help close socioeconomic achievement gaps in Houston schools. The woman leading the group believes her own story is proof that students can climb hurdles, despite personal backgrounds. |
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Harris County Kicks Off Crisis Intervention Pilot Program It's about treating the mentally ill — not jailing them. Harris County Commissioners approve a joint agreement between the city and county to operate Crisis Intervention Response Teams. |
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Historic Courthouse Reopens After Extensive Renovation Harris County's historic courthouse has reopened after an extensive renovation. The building now looks much as it did when it was first built in 1910. Additions made in the 1950's have been stripped away, revealing architectural details like a sweeping marble staircase and a sky-lit rotunda. |
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United-Continental is clearing some of the clutter from the flight decks of its planes. The carrier says it's giving every pilot an iPad — complete with all the manuals and other information the pilots would need to cope with any situation in the air. This change is expected to save United a significant amount of paper and fuel. |
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Part Two: After Gaddafi, Libya's Oil Industry Faces Political Challenges With rebel forces controlling much of Tripoli, much of the world is focusing on what a post-Gaddafi Libya will look like. That's a question of particular importance to the oil and natural gas industry. |
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Stimulus Dollars For The East End It's been more than a year since the federal stimulus plan, and now after a long process, some of that money is about to be put to use in the East End. |
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Former President Of India Visits Houston The former president of India comes to Houston with a simple message to give back. He spoke to students at the University of Houston during his whirlwind tour of the Bayou City. |
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After Gaddafi, Libya's Oil Industry Faces Political Challenges Oil prices have fallen as end of fighting in Libya appears imminent. It could, however, be a long while before Libyan crude supplies return to prewar levels. |
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HISD Faces Challenges In New School Year HISD's superintendent is reporting few problms as thousands of Houston students head back to school. He's feeling positive about the new academic year despite the fact many teachers are having to do more with less. |
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North Forest ISD Fights Closure As the new school year gets underway — one small district in the Northeast Houston area is still uncertain about its future. Officials in the North Forest Independent School District say they'll continue to appeal the state's proposal to shut the district down. |
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KUHF Conversations: HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier The leader of the HISD says his mood going into this first day of school is upbeat, despite the district facing the most difficult budget challenges it has had to deal with in decades. Superintendent Terry Grier admits there is a bit of anxiety among the principals of the district's 281 schools as they figure out ways to teach more students with less money. David Pitman visited the superintendent at his office on Friday, where Dr. Grier said he believes the state formula to fund schools is broken. |
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Houston's Stake In Pending Congressional Free Trade Votes President Obama plans to send the Bush-era Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress for ratification next month. From the KUHF Business Desk, Andrew Schneider reports on how much Houston has at stake in the FTAs' passage. |
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Hot Houston Roads Littered with Dangerous Debris 2011 may go on record as the hottest summer Houston has ever seen. August is already on par to break record temperatures set in the 1980's. But that's not the only thing that's breaking around the city. You may have seen one or two of these on your commute today. |
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Poland's Shale Gas: Bonanza or Boondoggle? U.S. energy companies are are looking at Poland as a possible source of shale gas to supply European markets. But extracting that gas may prove far more challenging than are similar operations in the Barnett or Eagle Ford Shales. |
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No Winners Yet In Red Light Camera Battle Houston's red light cameras remain on for a little longer. The city held a special meeting today to consider turning them off — but a vote on the issue was delayed until next week. |
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Houston Jobless Rate Down, But Still Mixed News It was a mixed bag last month for employment in Houston. The latest numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission show a slight dip in unemployment, but more job losses in Houston. |
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Optimizing Health And Productivity The Healthcare Reform Act that is set to take effect in three years is making Houston companies and organizations assess their system of insuring their employees without impacting the bottom line. It is also the challenge of insurers. |
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City Says Mandatory Water Conservation Appears To Be Working It's been a few days since Houston implemented mandatory water restrictions and the city says so far, so good as it looks for ways to relieve a stressed distribution system. |
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Missouri City Finally Gets Second Park and Ride Today Missouri City finally gets its second park and ride facility. The service doesn't officially start until Monday but it's a welcome addition to the area. |
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Houston Lacking In Transit For No Car Households While local transit authorities focus on making Houston more commuter friendly. A recent survey shows they're not doing enough. |
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Petroleum Wholesale, Sun Development Charged with Defrauding Customers at the Pump Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged The Woodlands-based Petroleum Wholesale and Sun Development with fraud for unlawfully diluting gasoline. |
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Vendor Says City Bound By Contract Houston Mayor Annise Parker is defending her decision to ask City Council to decide whether to turn the city's red light cameras off for good. But the camera vendor says Houston must abide by the contract it signed a few years ago, or pay up. A resolution could come after the parties meet over the weekend for mediation. |
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Polluter To Pay $3 Million And Closes The Door On Business Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan announced today that a three-year-long lawsuit against a major polluter has ended with the firm closing down and agreeing to pay over $3 million in penalties and attorney's fees. |
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Red Light Camera Opponent Says They Should Stay On For Now One of the leaders in the campaign against red light cameras in Houston says he's afraid a well-intentioned city council amendment to take the cameras down immediately could actually backfire on the city. |
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At least seventeen city inspectors are being laid off by the City of Houston as Mayor Parker continues to try and balance the city's budget. Today the union that represents those workers rallied and voiced their opposition to the cuts. |
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Tax Holiday Expected to Boost Retailers This weekend Texas shoppers will hit the stores for the annual sales tax holiday which is underway now through Sunday. The state comptroller estimates consumers will save 62-million dollars in sales tax over the course of the weekend. |
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Kids With Skin Problems Are Safe From Scrutiny At Camp Dermadillo When it comes to summer camp, it seems there’s one for practically every type of kid. Camps for athletes, for glee clubbers, and even camps for the science nerds. But when it comes to children who are sick, the camp often chooses them. That's the case at Camp Dermadillo, where children with chronic skin diseases spend a week together, safe from the sun or the stares of strangers. The children gather at Camp For All, a retreat facility near Brenham. KUHF Health Science and Technology reporter Carrie Feibel stopped by for a visit. |
