This year's WorldFest - Houston, an international film and video festival begins tonight at AMC Studio 30 (@ Westheimer and Dunvale). The festival will premiere 58 new international independent feature films and 68 new international independent short films, from over 500 international directors. This year honors Italy, with 3 new Italian films and 3 classic retrospects. Tonight the festival begins with the world premiere of One Long Night, directed by David Siqueiros. The film is......

With a Mexican food restaurant on nearly every corner of our fair city, it can be difficult to find any standouts among the crowd. Houstonist recently visited Sylvia’s enchilada kitchen for lunch and can safely say this is a hidden gem for Mexican food. Located at 12637 Westheimer (between Eldridge and Dairy Ashford) the lunch rush comes from the Westchase District and Energy Corridor crowds (think liquid lunch meets power lunch). As the name suggests......

Good morning, Houston. In case you were wondering, the threat of a "sickout" by HISD teachers upset over the district's new merit pay program ended up not happening after all. "It never crossed my mind [to call in sick]," Anderson Elementary teacher Linda Burks told the Chronicle. "I had a job to do." She added that all her colleagues showed up for work Tuesday, too — but then again, most of them got bonuses.......

Sculptor Luis Jiménez, known for his grand works of art, left this world on Tuesday because of an accident in his Hondo, New Mexico studio. He was working on a commissioned fiberglass piece for the Denver airport. Houstonians may know him best for Vaquero, which is a tribute to cowboys that welcomes visitors to Moody Park. He was also a professor of painting and sculpture at the University of Houston. Born in El Paso, TX,......

A month before his federal trial on conspiracy and fraud charges, former Enron head Ken Lay accused prosecutors of riding a "wave of terror" in a speech today ConocoPhilips, Houston's largest company, will become even larger when it pays $35.6 billion to acquire Burlington Resources; the deal will make Conoco one of the biggest natural gas producers in the country Catcher Brad Ausmus signed a two-year, $7.5-million contract with the Astros A Continental flight from......