>> Wintry mix blasts Panhandle, North Texas with sleet, snow: They came from the north and helped freeze your tootsies. Yep, those darn north winds are to blame for the uber chill around town today writes Meteorologist Tim Heller on the Houston Weather Blog. The same system that blanketed North Texas with nine inches of snow and caused Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to cancel 200 flights will share its chill with Houston. "This type of......

We wouldn't go quite so far as to say that every day is an anniversary of 9/11, but there are several events happening around the city today to remember 9/11 and its victims. So hit them up, whether you're a firefighter, a civilian, or a troofer. >> Houston Fire Museum dedicates new statue: The Houston Fire Museum will dedicate a new statue titled "In the Line of Fire" to honor firefighters everywhere. The sculpture will......

This morning, Houston City Council designated Old Sixth Ward as the first and only Protected Historic District in the city. This new status will enable the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission to prohibit the demolition of historic structures within Old Sixth Ward's 33.8 acres. There was only one dissenting vote for this measure, which came from council member/real estate broker Michael Berry. As far as actual limitations on properties within the district, the Greater Houston......

Good morning, Houston. Are you sick of hearing about the iPhone? So are we. Some people are wondering if the iPhone will be able to live up to all the hype its been getting, and we can't imagine that any phone could unless it also serves as, say, a teleporting device. Let's just get to the news: >> Missing Polka King: Friends and fans grew concerned when Bobby Jones, billed as Wharton County's "Polka......

Mayor White held a press conference about the city's new skatepark, scheduled to open next summer, yesterday. Apparently, some people at KHOU were very excited about it. In their coverage, they said that the new skatepark will cover 30,00 acres. As one blogger pointed out, this is larger than the entire Reliant Stadium complex. The world's largest skatepark is the size of three football fields - roughly 3 acres, not 30,000. We did a little......

Good morning, Houston. Are you planning on taking a summer vacation? Here's something to consider, if you are: Continental, along with several other airlines, raised their fares in 30% of the top U.S. markets this week. Some one-way fares are up $10, some $5, and some remain the same. This was a relatively small increase, but will still hit the wallets of summer vactioners. With airfare increasing and gas prices so high, how about......

If there's one thing we love, it's an election. And the city has been obliging lately. Melissa Noriega and Roy Morales, the two candidates left standing after last month's special election to fill a vacant at-large city council seat, traded remarks on immigration as early voting began yesterday. Noriega, the clear favorite after garnering 47% of the vote in May, accused Morales of using "fear as a tactic to try to get people worked up."......

If you've noticed a particularly environmentally aware billboard along I-10 between Washington and TC Jester, you're probably not alone. This traffic-y area is a perfect place for the Watershed Public Art Project's anti-smog message, which comes in a particularly aesthetically pleasing form. This billboard is aptly named "Not All Clouds Are" and was created by artist J. Antonio Farfan. Originally from Mexico, Farfan is a University of Houston graduate and has expressed his concern about......

Good morning, Houston. If you're a fan of the Early Show, you probably caught Mayor White's national television appearance Monday morning. He appeared on the show seated between two foxy ladies, Caroline Kennedy and Doris Voitier, to discuss his receipt of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Like we told you before, he and Mrs. Voitier are sharing the award for their outstanding public service during and after Hurricane Katrina. This award......

In the environmentally-friendly department, Houston has some great news. UPS, the world's largest shipping carrier, will introduce big, brown hybrid trucks to four American cities, including Houston. The company said that they have 50 hybrid trucks ready to go in Dallas, Phoenix, and Atlanta (where the company is based), as well as our own fair city. The trucks will reduce UPS' fuel consumption by 44,000 gallons a year. UPS already has 20,000 low-emission and alternative-fuel......

And could there be anything more exciting? Good news: the new budget will allow for increased funding for the police and fire departments. Some of these funds will pay for new police cadet classes for the understaffed department and for the firefighters' recent raise. Health care costs are also expected to go up, while the entire budget will go up less than 4%. Overall, it is likely that there will be little for most people......

If you didn't get a chance to vote in Saturday's election, don't worry. You'll get another one on June 16 - that's when Roy Morales and Melissa Noriega will go head-to-head in a runoff. That's also Mayor White's birthday, so let's make him proud, although he was coy about who he voted for himself. The special election was held on Saturday to fill the vacant at-large seat formerly held by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. The S. S.......

Mayor White, along with the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities Executive Director Michelle Colvard and Connectivity Source Director of Marketing and Development Richard Saler announced yesterday a new program to provide hearing impaired Houstonians with cell phones. The phones use updated technology that provides better sound quality and is less likely to interfere with hearing aids. Connectivity Source has committed to providing people with hearing disabilities with the right technical features compatible with the......

We're sure glad that City Council isn't our mom - they're strict. Yesterday, the council decided in an 11-3 vote that children 16 and under must be off the streets by 11 pm on weeknights. The previous curfew was midnight, which still applies to Fridays and Saturdays. There are a number of exceptions, including children who are accompanied by a parent or participating in school or church-sponsored events. Those delinquents who violate the rule will......

Mayor White traveled to Austin two weeks ago to speak to the state legislature about SB 1317, a bill that would prevent cities from creating ordinances that protect air quality. It was no secret that the bill was targeted at the mayor's recent move to minimize the pollution caused by refineries that lie outside Houston city limits. The bill, authored by State Sen. Mike Jackson (R - LaPorte), was passed by the Senate yesterday, despite......

Yesterday Mayor White announced the city's new "pay or play" proposal, which would help to provide health care to employees working on city contracts. Under this program, contractors can choose to play, which means they agree to offer a minimal level of health care benefits to full-time employees. Or if they opt to pay, they must contribute to efforts to support the local network of medical service providers that form the "safety net" for Houstonians......

A chase that involved three police cars and a suspected vehicle thief led to the death of an innocent 24-year-old woman in a residential area of southeast Houston yesterday. The woman, Rikki Danielle Sanchez, was killed instantly when the car that was being chased crashed into her pickup, sending her "flying" into a brick home. Afterwards, the suspect resisted arrest until a policeman shocked him with a Taser. He was taken to Memorial Hermann with......

Well, they're on the way, at least. The City and the Center have agreed to work towards a final agreement to sell the City’s residual interests in the property for $6 million, to be paid over time with interest. The agreement covers 6.72 acres of property, most of which is covered by existing leases. The agreement would have to be approved by City Council and the Boards of the Center and its Foundation. According to......

As promised, Mayor White and and City Council announced the four winners of the Go Green Houston Recycling Program to promote Houston’s vision of “Making Houston a Model Environmental City.” The program was announced last June in order to promote the mayor's environmental plan and vision to increase recycling initiatives in the areas of participation and tonnage for the neighborhoods that received curbside recycling services. Without further ado, the winners are... Most improved paper recycling......

If you're one of the 470,000 customers on Reliant Energy's "residential service plan," congratulations, you just saved 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. According to the Chronicle, Reliant's new rates will bring the residential service plan in line with the company's 12-month fixed-rate plan. Customers were automatically put on this plan if they didn't switch from "price to beat" before deregulation was completed at the beginning of this year. The plan is not available to new customers.......

Mayor Bill White will be in Austin this afternoon to testify before the State Senate Natural Resources Committee considering a bill that would strip cities of their ability to create ordinances that protect air quality. The bill, SB 1317 was authored by State Sen. Mike Jackson, a Republican from LaPorte (surprised?), and its captions lets us know that it is "relating to prohibiting a municipality from enacting regulations on air pollution that apply outside its......

As most of you have probably heard, The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation is in a battle with the city over their land - which is worth $26 million - on West Dallas. The Center has friends on City Council and has created a Save the Center website, which includes a number of ways citizens can help The Center fight to stay at their location of 44 years. Incidentally, the city intends to help......

The Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) is launching its 2nd Annual Youth Survey to identify the most important issues to Houston’s youth. Young people who reside or attend school in the City of Houston can have their opinions heard by completing the survey online. The survey asks questions about 37 issues in six major categories: Community Out-of-School Opportunities; Crime/Safety; Prejudice/Discrimination; Health Education & Outreach; Traffic/Transportation; and Environment. These issues were identified by the MYC in their......

Last Thursday, city officials including Mayor White and Housing Director Richard Celli along with the Ibn Sina Foundation celebrated the opening of a new medical center at 11226 Wilcrest. The center houses a number of specialty medical clinics for low-income families as well as a pharmacy and dental clinic. The clinic, which takes up 5000 square feet, was funded by contributions from the city of Houston, Houston's Philanthropic Community, and Community Development Block Grant. At......

The newest results of the annual Houston Area Survey are starting to appear, showing Houstonians' increasing wariness of lingering Katrina victims and the influence of immigration in the city, among other concerns. The survey, an annual pet project of Rice University Professor Stephen Klineberg, has been tracking city-wide trends of opinions and demographics since 1982. This year, February's results show that sixty-six percent of respondents deem the influx of Katrina refugees "a bad thing",......

In an official proclamation that probably made the entire world cheer for the courage of our mayor, Bill White has officially declared today the Day of Azerbaijanis. And it's about time, literally, as today March 21st is the traditional Azerbaijani festival of Novruz, commemorating the spring equinox and "the awakening of natural life", in Mayor White's words. As devout members of Bill White's fan club already know, our mayor's fondness for the country on......

What's Governor Perry doing in the Middle East? Lone Star Times has the scoop. His first order of business was to help dedicate a new Texas A&M University campus in Qatar. The campus takes up a sprawling 2,500 acres and is part of a deal between the Qatar Foundation and A&M to provide a full, four-year degree program in mechanical, electrical, chemical and petroleum engineering. We wonder if it'll make Qatar's top party schools list.......

In what the mayor's spokesman has called "an award that recognizes what tens of thousands of Houstonians participated in," Mayor White has been honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his work to help the tens of thousands Katrina and Rita evacuees that fled to Houston. The award is named after JFK's Pulitzer Prize-winning book and annually recognizes Americans who have demonstrated commitment and contribution to public service. It is the......

We told you about last year's World Mayor competition. We know you love Bill White as much as we do, but he still lost out to that upstart John So, Mayor of Melbourne. Fortunately, there's always next year. Or this year. Go here to nominate our favorite mayor and yours, Bill White, for World Mayor 2007. Remember: what you say counts just as much as who you nominate. So what's World Mayor looking for and......

Wherefore art thou, Radar? This week KPRC dumped the lovable weather dog (sending Ken Hoffman into a tizzy, no doubt), and the mikemcguff blog chronicled it for us. Radar is moving on to bigger things though: he'll become the mascot for the John C. Freeman Weather Museum. The best part of this blog post is the speculation about Radar's uncontrollable barking during newscasts and the jealousy stewing in the hearts of KPRC anchors. We'll miss......