Do you have any information or ability to dispute a rumor that a mosque is being built at the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose? — Johnna The site — on the east side of Montrose between Allen Parkway and West Dallas — won't be home to a mosque, per se, but rather an Ismaili center built by the Aga Khan Foundation. According to the Chronicle, the center will include lecture and conference facilities and......

Since Weingarten Realty Investors announced its plans Friday for the redevelopment of part of the River Oaks Shopping Center, Houstonist has gotten several e-mails from readers asking about the future of the other sections of the center. Specifically, we've heard a lot of questions about the fate of the River Oaks Theatre because of media reports including an article in the Houston Business Journal headlined "Theater safe as Weingarten plans $15M redevelopment at River Oaks......

What is the deal with the building off of the east side of 45 in downtown across from the post office (bounded by Franklin and Bagby)? It looks like it was constructed (or renovated) recently and yet it sits there half-finished with broken glass. — Chris Chris, the building you're wondering about is the old Tennison Hotel at the corner of Bagby and Franklin, and you're right: It was renovated in the last few years,......

I have a huge problem. I’m a big Bears fan (and a huge White Sox fan, but I’ll let that slide for the time being as to not open old wounds), but as this weekend approaches, I realized that I have nobody to watch The Game with. For years, I would be watching The Game with a few dozen other sweatpants-wearing, brat-eating, true Chicagoans — and for the first time in my first month as......

Hey, Houstonist readers — we wanted to take the chance to remind you why that Magic 8-Ball is sitting in our left column. It points you to an e-mail address for Ask Houstonist, one of the ways we try to share our incredibly vast pool of knowledge of really obscure things with you. Here's how it works: You think of something Houston-related (even loosely) that you've always wondered about. You e-mail your question to us......

Dear Al Gore & all those people who keep telling us that driving cars causes global warming, An inconvenient truth of a misplaced vehicle led to Houstonist riding the bus to work yesterday instead of driving. Turns out that things were a bit more convenient that our assumptions about the use of mass transit in car-centric Houston. So, we thought we'd share a bit of our experience with you in hopes that other non-mass......

I was wondering if you could do a round up of restaurants that will be open on Thanksgiving for we few freaks who will not be spending time with friends and/or family. You would know this better than a recent transplant like my(sorry)self. Hey, just because you're not able to spend time with friends and family on Thanksgiving doesn't make you a freak — it's what you do while you're away from your loved......

That building going up next to Bayou Place — Phase II — is that going to be more Bayou Place-like things (restaurants, clubs, destinations)? For some reason, I get a non-fun vibe off that building. You're right about the non-fun vibe: Bayou Place II, which was actually built out in the part of the former Albert Thomas Convention Center west of Bagby Street, will house "loft office space" (which, we assume, means large windows, exposed......

A Houstonist reader recently wrote to ask about an art installation along Buffalo Bayou: I heard there was a secret button that caused a bubble in Buffalo Bayou. Where is it? and why? We do know about the bubble, which isn't really a secret — but it is one of the best-hidden pieces of public art in the city. It's called "The Big Bubble," and it's the work of local artist Dean Ruck (half......

I was near the ballpark downtown this week and noticed an old building being torn down. Do you know what it is? Just the other day, Houstonist was talking to a visitor from Atlanta who said Houston should be proud of all its fine old buildings that have potential for redevelopment. As if to prove that we're decidedly not proud, the wrecking ball almost immediately moved in on the old William Penn Hotel at 1423......

I've always heard a rumor that someone is buried on top of the Niels Esperson Building downtown, so the building owners don't have to pay taxes because the building is legally a cemetery. Is that true? This reminds Ask Houstonist of the old joke about who's buried in Grant's Tomb. The answer, of course, is nobody — people are entombed in Grant's Tomb, not buried. It's sort of the same thing with the Niels Esperson......

It seems like only Monday we were bitching about how hot and dry it was. A few days later, and cold and wet weather is knocking on our door. A vigorous Canadian air mass is making its way through Houston today and Thursday, bringing with it cold air and moderate rain. In the city, temperatures will only rise to the upper 30s tomorrow before falling to below freezing Thursday night. There’s little chance for......