Nolan Ryan, Astros franchise icon and co-owner of two of the team's minor league franchises, today exited his personal services contract a year early to assume the team president position offered by the Texas Rangers. Ryan will oversee the daily operations of the floundering Arlington-based team, working with mercurial owner Tom Hicks. The fate of his owner's stake in the minor league affiliates is up for debate, but the assumption is that they will remain......

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits... • Two men were rescued from the Gulf of Mexico 130 miles southeast of Galveston when their helicopter crashed. • Deer Park resident and former Astros pitcher, Andy Pettitte, admitted to using a human growth hormone during his recovery from an elbow injury in 2002. • During future evacuations and before boarding public transportation criminal background checks will be standard operating procedure to......

With the Astros 2007 campaign safely (thankfully) mothballed, it's time to sort through the wreckage and find the bright spots that give us hope for next year. The 'stros' apparently horrendous minor league system delivered a handful of September surprises in the form of several players who have a decent chance of making the Opening Day roster for 2008. So before their names become famous (or infamous), let's meet them and discuss where you'll......

Four convicted sex offenders in Houston are among seven statewide who have been arrested in the past two weeks for using MySpace in violation of their parole or probation — but it's still unclear exactly what they used the online networking service for. "That will be information that our ongoing investigation will determine," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, whose office led the crackdown, said. "We wanted to arrest these people as quickly as possible. And......

After Friday night's 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Houston Astros have decided to purchase the contract of Triple A Round Rock star, Hunter Pence. Pence, who exploded onto the scene in Spring Training with a .571 batting average in 19 games, has continued his dominance at Round Rock and is currently batting .341 with three home runs with 19 RBI through 22 games. Pence will make his MLB debut Saturday night as......

The Houston Astros won for the ninth time in 11 games as Craig Biggio crushed the hearts of Milwaukee Brewers fans with a grand slam in the ninth inning, which gave the Astros their third consecutive come from behind win. The stage was set as Chris Burke led off the ninth with a bunt that was seemingly caught for the first out, but pitcher Matt Wise couldn't hold on. Adam Everett then walked and......

OK, we may be one of the the fattest, most polluted cities. We'll give you that. But finally, reports KHOU, a list we can be proud of: Houston is ranked only #47 on the list of most dangerous cities despite last year's rising crime stats. The study, published by Morgan Quitno Press, looks at more than just crime rate--also taken into account are individual crimes, such as rape and burglary, and their prevalence in various......

Fresh from painful interleague series defeats, capped off by an AL victory in last night's All Star Game, the National League may be hurting somewhat on the good news front, but here in H-town, our Astros have reason to celebrate. Today, in the first big trade before the July 31st trading deadline, the 'stros picked up Tampa Bay Devil Ray's slugger Aubrey Huff. A power hitting outfielder, Huff joins the elite company of players like......

Timothy Randle, one of five people charged in connection with a crime spree that left four people dead, said he is innocent today in an interview with KPRC from his jail cell During the second day of her retrial for drowning her five children, Andrea Yates sobbed this morning as she watched a police video showing her kids' bodies Harris County Republicans nominated Orlando Sanchez, a former city councilman and mayoral candidate, as their candidate......

The two teens accused of beating and sodomozing a Hispanic teen in April pleaded not guilty during a court hearing today Gov. Rick Perry announced a plan today to put surveillance cameras on ranches along the Texas-Mexico border to watch for illegal immigrants A jury convicted Juan Solis today of raping a woman in a Galleria-area parking garage three years ago Fire crews fought a naphtha tank fire in Pasadena today; the tank caught fire......

Houston, we have liftoff! The Astros and ESPN are reporting that Roger Clemens' retirement will be officially put on hold — again — much to the dismay of batters and Yankee, Ranger and Red Sox fans. Clemens will be paid a pro-rated salary of $22 million, so when he returns to the Astros around June 22, he'll get just under $13 million for the rest of year — approximately $3.25 million each month of......

Anyone smell bacon? No, we're not talking about the police this time: According to Citizens Against Government Waste, Texas ranks fourth in the nation in terms of congressional pork with $403 million in earmarks for 262 projects last year. It's the fourth-highest total amount, but Texas ranks 47th in the country in terms of pork per capita, receiving an average of $17.65 per person. (For the record, Houstonist hasn't seen our share yet, but we'll......

Next time you're thinking about a trip to Dallas, don't just pack your Neiman's card — pack some heat. City Crime Rankings ranks Dallas as the fifth most dangerous city in the U.S. with a population over 500,000. Houston ranks ninth. On the overall list, not considering population, Dallas comes in 22nd most dangerous; Houston doesn't make the top 25. Of course, Dallas can explain away any difference between it and Houston by waving......