Good morning, Houston. Time to flex your democratic muscle again: Early voting begins today for the Nov. 6 election. You can check out a map of early voting locations here and get more information on where and how to vote from the Harris County elections website — so now, you can't say you haven't been informed. See you at the polls! >> For some, a flood of bad news: If you're a property owner......

Yup, Tropical Depression 9 has formed and is tracking North. What was once an area of low pressure could be a Tropical Storm by landfall as conditions are ripe. Projected ETA to the Houston/Galveston area is 7:00 p.m. and rainfalls of 6"-10" are possible with up to 15" in some areas. The projected flood watch area stretches from Houston/Galveston to Lake Charles. T.D. 9 is plodding along at about 8-10 mph and may slooooowly mosey......

After an extraordinarily embarrassing event wherein Houstonist unwittingly drove the wrong way down a portion of South Braeswood Boulevard, we decided to thoroughly investigate the nature, goals, and idiosyncrasies of the Braeswood Boulevards. Our results have been quite astonishing and maddening, as these braided hydra-like streets weave, change course, change names, and sometimes suddenly disappear for a portion of their overall path as though it were not no thang at all. Our ultimate aim......

This week's output on Missed Connections was much better than last week. But, Houstonist isn't naive enough to think that our bitching about the lack of quality had anything to do with the flood of MCs this week, but it kinda makes feel all warm and fuzzy like when you leave a peach in your glove compartment. Anyway, we're glad that you guys suck at meeting folks; it's entertaining. Some jock wants to suck......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. How much are you supposed to tip a pizza delivery driver? Assuming you’re ordering only one or two pizzas (and pizza is ALL you’re ordering), $3 to $5 is probably a good estimate. If you ordered out because Houston is experiencing one of its “flood events” and you didn’t want to risk floating down the street in your car, you might consider hooking......

The unpopular proposal to double tolls on the Westpark Tollway during rush hour is officially dead: Harris County commissioners officially scrapped the plan Tuesday, meaning the price of the county's toll roads will remain the same — or won't, actually, given that a 25-cent increase on all toll transactions will still take effect on Sept. 3. The Westpark proposal, as we're sure you remember, called for toll transactions to double for inbound traffic between 6......

We really wish Gomez was performing a headlining show here, but we have to settle with them just being an opening act for The Fray (along with Eisley) this Friday night in The Woodlands. However, Gomez is playing a stand-alone show Saturday night in Austin, if you're lucky enough to find tickets for it. Some veteran Houston acts play around town this week. Beaumont's Clay Walker will perform after the races at Sam Houston......

Good morning, Houston. We're regular NPR listeners, and we enjoy it as much as the next guy when legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg gives us another thrilling reading of a Supreme Court transcript. Even so, we were a little surprised to hear an ad the other day for NPR's newest piece of merchandise, the limited-edition Nina Totin' Bag. Yes, it's what you'd think it is: a tote bag with Totenberg's mug on it (in,......

So it rained a lot yesterday, and it looks like we're not going to get much of a break today. Or tomorrow. Or — well, actually, it's looking like the rail will continue for at least the next seven days. The bright spot in all this is that the rain may hold off for the big fireworks show Wednesday night: "We have seen, the last four or five days, rain in the morning and rain......

From the Rita Sure Was a Headache Department comes this news story: a plan that could reduce the number of stranded motorists - and traffic - during a hurricane evacuation. Pre-Rita, fuel supply was not covered in the state's evacuation plan, which weighed in at a hefty 200+ pages. But now, state leaders and oil execs have teamed up - this time for something good - to come up with a plan that will help......

Good morning, Houston. Have you heard the one about the bees that took over a neighborhood? Three years ago, a family (tribe?) of bees moved into a vacant home in Ruth Gray's neighborhood. Over time, they grew in number and ferocity, and when calls to the city were fruitless, Gray contacted a pest control company which said the situation was "instant, instant death." After destroying the hive, the bees attacked and three children were......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Can you please explain to me the thinking behind headlights that stay on AFTER you've turned the car off? Unless your car is pointed exactly the direction you’re walking in, the lights don’t do you much good. What’s the deal? Picture this. You’re standing outside at night - perhaps you’ve just finished dinner and are waiting for the valet to retrieve your car......

Good morning, Houston. Remember Radar, the adorable Channel 2 weather dog? If you're a Ken Hoffman reader, we can't imagine how you'd forget. It turns out someone in Tyler was a big fan of the idea: a TV station there has their own weather dog, Stormy. Stormy serves a function similar to Radar's and also wears an American flag bandana and takes ridiculous pictures. Just another reason to be glad you don't live in......

Let the good times roll! Tomorrow, from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. as the Museum of Natural Science premieres "Hurricane on the Bayou". Food will be available for purchase from Good Ole Boys Cajun Food Catering. Plus, you can shake your groove thing to the tunes of Willie T and the Zydeco Posse, and Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band - who are featured in the IMAX film. Radio station 104 KRBE will be......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Since hurricane season begins Friday, Dilettante thought it might be time to share the tips that have seen her through various weather “events” over the years. Print this up and tape it to the inside of your bathroom cabinet in case of emergency. - If you are faced with an imminent flood, tornado, hurricane or other natural disaster, the first thing you must......

We'll admit that we're not exactly business-savvy, and we'd rather read the comics, or even Ken Hoffman, than the business section. But today, Mary Flood's column about car crash lawyers and advertising caught our eye. We were surprised to learn that Jim Adler, also known as "The Texas Hammer," has even established a presence on Myspace. And what an elaborate Myspace it is! Mary Flood's column said that his page played the theme from Rocky,......

Good morning, Houston. Have a roach problem? How about turning it into a windfall? The Houston Museum of Natural Science is offering 25 cents per roach for the first 1,000 live, healthy American cockroaches people bring in. No kidding: a whole quarter for trapping and transporting a roach! The roaches will be used for a museum display on insect sanitary engineers — seems the critters, which are often associated with filth, are actually known......

The Chronicle reports this morning that Mayor Bill White has decided to delay the addition of two City Council seats until the 2010 Census, saying none of the recent population estimates are accurate enough to trigger the potentially messy redistricting process. The question of whether to add the new districts has been kicked around since late 2005, when people began wondering whether the flood of hurricane evacuees had pushed the city of Houston's population over......

One of the big topics around Houston last year — among people who care about such things, anyway — was that the flood of hurricane evacuees who came here in late 2005 would push the city's population over 2.1 million, which would trigger a provision in the city charter calling for the addition of two City Council districts. Officials were waiting on the results of a Census Bureau estimate released during the summer before they......

The Children's Hospital begins with driving rain and with a mediocre medical student named Jemma Claflin attending the birth of a baby so hideously deformed that she is “her very own syndrome.” The rain, as it turns out, is no accident – it is a planned apocalypse, the beginning of a flood that will drown everything but Jemma's hospital, left floating above miles of water, carrying humanity’s last remnants. What follows is a tremendously creative......

The rain that's been passing through the area since late last night has made things a mess out there: On the East Freeway near Wayside Drive, most lanes flooded just before 6 a.m., causing a big traffic jam, and at least one person died in a car accident that police say was likely caused by the rain. On the plus side, though, this weather should move out of our area by lunchtime, paving the......

We tallied up all of the Houstonist staff writers’ favorite albums of the year, and were surprised to find out that we actually agreed on nine of them! Here are the CD’s that we couldn’t get enough of in 2006: The Decemberists: The Crane Wife When The Decemberists made the move to a major label a year ago, we were worried that they would sell out and release a crappy album of radio-friendly tracks. Luckily,......

After Tropical Storm Allison flooded neighborhoods that had never flooded before, officials decided it might not be a bad idea to redraw Harris County flood plain maps — and now, after three years of work, the new maps are out. Sure, big deal, right? Well, yeah, if you live in or own one of the 10,000 structures that have been added to the flood plain, it could be a pretty big thing. People in......

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author. Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Dilettante, One of my coworkers insists on pouncing on me first thing Monday morning, before I’ve had a chance to grab some coffee or even sit at my desk, to ask me how my weekend was. I think she just wants me......

Remember Patricia Gutierrez and Melissa Rojas, the two women who were killed when they drove into a flooded underpass during the flooding a couple of weeks ago? Finally, the spot where they died is getting some markers that could keep more people from getting stuck in high water there — though it's not clear to us exactly how effective they'll be. TxDOT announced this weekend that the underpass at the Gulf Freeway and Tellepsen......

The bad news: It's another rainy morning, and it looks like we may be in for isolated strong storms tonight. The good news: When all this moves through the area, we'll have a beautiful weekend. As long as the city doesn't flood, we're OK with that. According to the Chronicle, more than two inches of rain have already fallen in parts of northern Harris County and Montgomery County this morning, and another inch or......

With all the national media attention focused on Houston during the flood Monday, it's no surprise that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee popped up to call for a meeting to discuss the state of Houston's bayous and the installation of warning lights at flood-prone intersections around the city. After all, Jackson Lee comes running every time there's a chance to get her name in the papers serve her constituents. No, what surprised us — but......

Wow, it sure rained a lot overnight. We mean a lot — more than seven inches fell downtown, more than six in southern Brazoria County, just as much in east Harris County and part of Liberty County. The good news is that most of the heavy rain has moved north of the Beltway, but the bad news is that it's now sitting over Katy, northwest Harris County, Montgomery County, Bryan-College Station, Huntsville ... yeah, you......

Late last year, we discussed how routine population growth plus the flood of hurricane evacuees who have settled in Houston might mean the city has to redraw its City Council districts because of a provision in the city charter requiring two new council districts when Houston's population reaches 2.1 million. That process could begin soon, Mayor Bill White told councilmembers yesterday, depending on a population estimate expected to be released by the Census Bureau next......

Did we say it was going to rain a lot yesterday? Well, depending on where you live, it did: It was just wet and icky inside the Loop, but things got pretty crazy on the west side, we hear. And it may not be over yet: Harris County and southeast Texas remain under a flood watch this morning, and if storms move slowly through the area, isolated areas could get another 6 to 8 inches.......