Good morning, Houston. If you were an HPD cadet, you'd think you'd want to keep your nose clean — but apparently no one sent that memo to a cadet who was busted this weekend for allegedly buying and selling crack in southeast Houston. The man was caught off Scott and Nagle in the Third Ward; according to KHOU, he told police he had been smoking crack all weekend with at least two other HPD......

::Movie Monday - Double Feature:: Two series we love return tonight: Monday Night Movies at Domy Books, and Movies Houstonians Love at the MFA. Liquid Sky, 1983, 112 min Domy Books | 1709 Westheimer 8:30 - 10:30pm FREE Drugs, 80s Art Punks, and Aliens translated through director Slava Tsukerman would be the easy way to describe Liquid Sky. The hard way would include the endless amount of unlikable characters (including the two leads played by......

No, not that Pelosi, but her daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, will stop through Houston tomorrow as part of theThe Texas Freedom Network 2007 Faith & Freedom Speaker Series. At Downtown's Christ Church Cathedral [1117 Texas Ave.], the producer will screen her award-winning film Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi followed by a conversation with Pelosi as she gives a firsthand account of her memorable encounters with prominent leaders of the religious right. The......

The latest in urban plight: copper theft. HPD Captain Caesar Moore, who oversees the burglary and theft division, told KUHF that they see about 250 metal-related thefts a month. Oftentimes, the copper is stolen from air conditioning units at churches, and Moore explained how this typically goes down: Usually it's drug related. They'll steal an air conditioning unit, the metal out of it and they may get $40 up to $80 for the copper parts......

In hopes to discourage the use of performance enhancing drugs among high schoolers, a local campaign featuring four prominent local athletes kicked off today. The campaign, called “Be Smart. Stay Drug Free” was spearheaded by Dynamo president and general manager Oliver Luck, and features Dynamo midfielder Brian Ching, Astros left fielder Carlos Lee, Rockets forward Tracy McGrady, and Texans tackle Eric Winston. The campaign arrives on the heels of the recently passed Senate Bill 8,......

A UT study says that obese girls are only half as likely to go to college as young women who are not obese, reports the Chronicle. The study, which also tracked boys (in whom no correlation between educational choices and weight was found), studied over ten thousand kids over the course of several years. Statistics were adjusted for other factors known to affect college attendance in previous studies, such as income level and ethnicity.......

Good morning, Houston. You might want to grab a drink before you get started on this morning's news: According to KHOU, a shift toward growing corn in Mexico could lead to a spike in the price of tequila. It seems a lot of Mexican farmers are getting rid of their blue agave fields to make way for corn, which is in demand thanks to the growing popularity of ethanol — and as the amount......

Two local pharmacies were burglarized last night. The first was Cunningham pharmacy on Airline near near Ellena Road were investigators say at least 3 people pryed the doors open. The bandits took off with codeine syrup and cash. Their next target was Champions pharmacy just down Airline, where the burglars broke into the vacant space next door to the pharmacy and then broke through the wall. A logical move when you are high on codeine......

By now, you might have already seen the video floating around the Internet that seems to show a toddler who has been given ecstasy. If not, you can check it out here — just be prepared to see a lot of stupidity. In short, it's a video that first appeared on YouTube (it's since been removed); it shows the child sitting on the floor of a van, eyes rolling, as she's tapped, squeezed and slapped......

So there's a lot for school officials to worry about these days: drugs, gangs, arson, sexual assault — and writing stupid graffiti on gym walls. Don't believe those are all in the same category? Just ask Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Mayde Creek Junior High student who was sent to an alternative campus through Dec. 31 for writing "I love Alex" in blue marker on a gymnasium wall. You hear that, Alex? She's willing to......

Seems like everyone has a video on YouTube these days — even gang members in the Fifth Ward. KHOU found the video made by self-professed gang members, who talk about crime, life on the streets and grills (which cost $1,500 cash, apparently). As you might expect, city leaders aren't too happy about the video: "They can't be the voice of the Fifth Ward," City Councilman Jarvis Johnson, whose district includes the neighborhood, said. "I'm......

Good morning, Houston. It's June 5 — does that date mean anything to you? It should: Six years ago today, Tropical Storm Allison made landfall on the upper Texas coast, bringing with it more than 40 inches of rain in some areas (and all the flooding that went with it). When all was said and done, the damages totaled $5.5 billion, making Allison the most costly tropical storm in U.S. history. Have any memories......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

"A World of Walls Series: Do Fences Make Good Neighbors?" Rothko Chapel Lecture, by Dr. Tony Payan Walls—visible and invisible—are going up in communities, cities, and countries around the world. Tonight, the Rothko Chapel presents A World of Walls, a series exploring the cultural, political, and human rights ramifications of these human barriers. An adviser to political groups on both sides of the border, Dr. Tony Payan is an assistant professor specializing in international......

Good morning, Houston. Ever been to Podunk, Texas? You have if you've ever visited the east Houston neighborhood of Denver Harbor, which was affectionately called Podunk during the Great Depression because it was then far enough east to seem semi-rural. And as of yesterday, thanks to a state House resolution, Podunk is the Official Mythical Town of Texas. Grady got the resolution passed by gathering 700 signatures on a petition and persuading the area's......

When we saw that KTRK had done a Crime Tracker report on Houston movie theaters, our first thought was "Tinseltown Westchase." And it turns out we weren't too far off: the Tinseltown theater located at 3300 West Sam Houston Parkway saw the most violent crime last year, including one rape and five robberies. However, the AMC Studio 30 at 2949 Dunvale reported the most crime overall, but none of them were violent. Infractions included possession......

Today's Houstonist hint: If you get stopped by the police while carrying crack, don't hide the drugs by swallowing them. It's bad enough to get arrested for possession, but somehow it's worse if the officer who arrests you has to save your life first — which is what happened early Wednesday morning in Hitchcock. Around 2:30 a.m., HItchcock police officer Chad Powers made a routine traffic stop. While he was taking to the driver of......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. The former global AIDS coordinator had to resign from his position this week because it came to light that he hired “escorts.” How do people in power expect any of us to take them seriously when it seems like every week another “leader” is outed for not practicing what they preach? Since when do people in power think they get to live beyond......

Good morning, Houston. We're sure you've heard about the tornadoes that devastated the border city of Eagle Pass on Tuesday night, destroying buildings and killing at least 10 people. And now there's information on ways to help the people of Eagle Pass: State Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) has set up a page on his website with a list of places you can send donations, including banks and the San Antonio chapter of the Red......

So here's a unique way to try to avoid being arrested: Early this morning, police say a woman pretended to have a seizure so she wouldn't be taken into custody after leading cops on a chase in north Houston. The incident began around 1 a.m. when an officer tried to stop the driver of a pickup truck at the corner of Werner Street and Witcher Lane, near the North Freeway and Tidwell. The driver fled......

A five-hour SWAT team standoff in Montrose early this morning finally ended just after 6 a.m. when the suspect, who had been holed up in a building at Montrose and Kipling, finally turned himself in. Police say the situation began just before midnight, when the suspect — 28-year-old Anthony Kroger — shot a woman in the cheek near the jawline; she drove herself to her home on West Gray and called the cops. When officers......

There was an unusual twist to the story of a potentially drug-related shooting in southeast Houston last night: As a man lay dying in an apartment complex parking lot, bystanders apparently stole a bunch of marijuana from the crime scene. The incident occurred at about 8:40 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 5600 block of Selinsky, just off MLK Boulevard; a witness told police she heard gunfire and looked out her window to see......

Good morning, Houston. If you have an outstanding municipal warrant, it's time to start watching out: More than 150 law enforcement agencies, including HPD, are gearing up to arrest you next week. It's part of the Great Texas Warrant Roundup, which runs for a week beginning Friday; if you don't take care of your warrant, KHOU warns, you risk "being arrested and embarrassed in front of family, friends or even co-workers." No, not co-workers!......

An update in the court battle over custody of Anna Nicole Smith's remains: Judge Larry Seidlin ruled today that Richard Milstein, the guardian of Smith's infant daughter, should get the body. It's now up to Milstein what to do with the body — Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, wanted her buried in Texas, but her boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, said she should be buried with her son in the Bahamas. (Smith apparently told Arthur several years......

Last week we told you about the elementary school kid who got in trouble for bringing a grenade to school — but it turns out he wasn't the week's only pint-sized miscreant: At another Houston elementary school Friday, an 8-year-old was found carrying cocaine. Seems life is tough in Houston's third-grade hallways. Authorities believe the Scott Elementary student brought the cocaine from his house, where police arrested two people: Eladio Moreno, the kid's father, who......

So here we are in the first full day of a World Without Anna Nicole — and though she's gone, the news isn't likely to stop anytime soon. Today, the medical examiner's office in Broward County, Fla., will conduct an autopsy on Smith to see if it can determine how she died, and closer to home, experts say her legal battles will probably stay in the courts for quite some time. First, what we know......

Back when Houstonist was in junior high, the worst thing kids did was sneaking a cigarette behind the gym (or occasionally sniffing formaldehyde). But today's youth are much more stupid daring — case in point, the 11 students at Spring Woods Middle School who were taken to the hospital yesterday after popping pills a classmate was handing out. Ah, youth. "Somebody showed up with some, a lot, and just started handing them out like candy,"......

Update on the story of Isiah Ramirez, the 2-month-old whose mother misplaced him en route from Houston to San Antonio this weekend: A couple in Buena Park, Calif., turned the baby in to authorities today, according to the Chronicle. "He's safe and unharmed," said Houston FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap. The child's mother, Veronica Ramirez, told investigators she handed Isiah to a couple on Sunday at a truck stop somewhere between San Antonio and Houston. "Their......

Talk about parents who shouldn't be parents: Houston FBI agents and San Antonio police are working to find a 2-month-old boy whose mother apparently misplaced him while she was on drugs. We only wish we were kidding. The mother, Veronica Francine Ramirez of San Antonio, reportedly visited Houston on Saturday night. When she got back home early Sunday morning, she didn't have her infant son, Isiah, and couldn't remember what she had done with him......

Police have arrested five men in connection with the theft of dozens of pieces of luggage from Bush Intercontinental Airport — and they say it was all an inside job. The five men worked for Menzies Aviation Group, a British company that provides luggage handling and ground services for Bush and several other U.S. airports, so they were in an ideal position to pick off a few bags here and there. "These were not stolen......