Good morning, Houston. When it comes to politics, we suppose there's a lot to be said for the shock factor — which is why Brian Klock, a candidate for Congressional District 22, is getting some attention. Klock, one of 10 people vying for the Republican nomination for CD 22, has put up a billboard showing downtown Houston being destroyed by a huge explosion. "The Threat Is Real," the billboard reads. "Ask Brian Klock." And......

Good morning, Houston. Did you know that we're now in a bold new Fluorescent Age thanks to Mayor Bill White and his colleagues in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and El Paso? The collective His Honors gathered in San Antonio on Friday to name the compact fluorescent bulb the "state bulb of Texas." If that doesn't make you want to switch to CFLs, try this: December is Compact Fluorescent Light Month in Texas. What's so......

Good morning, Houston. So this is what it must be like to live in California, huh? We're looking at a string of fantastic days, with highs in the lower to mid 70s and lows around 50 into the weekend. Today, expect a high of 73 with clear skies. You know what that means? We all have to spend as much time as possible outside. Yep, you have our permission to skip school and work......

Good morning, Houston. How better to end the week than with a little soul searching — and when better to do it than on Evaluate Your Life Day? Yeah, we know, it used to take hours (days, even) to find your true self, but the good news is that you can get things taken care of much more quickly these days: using online quizzes, you can figure out whether you're CEO material, which celebrity's......

Good morning, Houston. We've run into some, uh, active parents of student athletes in our day, but we can't remember remember hearing about one who was actually banned from his kid's sporting events — until now, that is. Meet Joe Dalton, who has been barred from his son's Stafford High home football games because school district officials allege he assaulted a student. It happened at the last home game Dalton attended, where he said......

Good morning, Houston. How many of you knew what Monday was? Anyone? Anyone? That's right: It was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. To mark the anniversary, the nation had a little holiday, Constitution Day — but how many people actually knew about it? Not many, apparently: Though federal law says students at public high schools should be taught about Constitution Day, a recent survey of students found that......

Good morning, Houston. As you might have noticed, we passed the night sans Humberto — but our friends in the Beaumont area weren't so lucky. The sudden hurricane made landfall early this morning and battered Beaumont with winds up to 62 mph and Orange with gusts of up to 85 mph, the Chron's Eric Berger reports. From across Southeast Texas came reports of knee-deep water, downed power lines and damaged buildings, including an apartment......

Good morning, Houston. Imagine that you're driving along one day when a traffic light falls from an overhead line and crashes through your car's windshield. You'd think the city would be responsible for the accident, right? Wrong! Just ask Lei Zheng, who was on a shopping trip with his wife and son last year when a traffic light fell on his Volkswagen. Zheng and his family weren't seriously hurt, but they did ask the......

Good morning, Houston. The Chron's Eric Gerber points out something interesting: a Washington Post story that says people hold onto utterly untrue myths even when they're faced with factual information that disproves them. An example: A University of Michigan psychologist showed people a CDC flyer stating that myths about the flu vaccine aren't true — such as the story that the side effects of the vaccine are worse than the flu itself — and......

Good morning, Houston. Next time you happen to be walking along Northwood Drive in Baytown — and really, we can't imagine why you would be — be sure to use the sidewalk. If you don't, you could end up being slapped with a $150 citation. It happened to Clifton Stewart, a minister who said he moved to the neighborhood to save money; on Aug. 21, Stewart was cited for violating a state law that......

Good morning, Houston. Noticed a sharp increase in the number of mosquitoes this summer? You will, observers say — and now, Harris County's first confirmed 2007 human case of West Nile virus has been reported. Break out the insect repellent, check up on the West Nile symptoms and do your best not to get stung — although, these days, we guess that's about like saying "stay out of the humidity." >>A break in Gearen......

Good morning, Houston. Does all this rain make you feel like crap? There may be a medical reason: It's called non-allergic rhinitis, and it can be triggered by changes in air pressure — you know, the kind that accompany bad weather. Rhinitis symptoms are a lot like those that come with allergies: congestion, sinus pressure and post-nasal drip. Decongestants, saline washes and nasal sprays can help, but the only thing that'll really make you......

Finally, Texas City has something to talk about other than its big dike: A bunch of white squirrels have been spotted in town, and they could be a tourist draw if Texas City plays its cards right. So first of all, you're probably wondering exactly what a white squirrel is, right? Pretty simple, actually: It's a two-toned, light cream-colored variation of the common gray or brown squirrels we see all the time. White squirrels aren't......

Good morning, Houston. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Kay's last night for the happy hour — and those of you who missed it, we expect to see you next time. Now, go read some news, Our head hurts. >> Turns out it wasn't a foolproof plan after all: Police are on the lookout for Continental Express flight attendant Vivian Fragoza and her husband after Fragoza allegedly used Continental "buddy miles" to fly......

Good morning, Houston. Blah blah blah, et cetera. (Yeah, you can tell it's Friday again.) >> BP: Managers to blame for 2005 blast: An internal BP report on the deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery recommends that four top managers be fired for bad judgment and failing to do their jobs. The report — completed in February but kept confidential until it was released under court order Thursday — named Pat Gower,......

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......

Good morning, Houston. We were going to begin the day talking about how American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar finally got voted off the show last night, but then we ran across this item: Wednesday was the 30th birthday of KTRK's Live at Five afternoon newscast. Big deal, you say? Why yes, it is — because, thanks to Channel 13, you can watch the very first episode of the show, from April 18, 1977. Dave......

Good morning, Houston. Are you registered to vote in the May 12 special election? If not, you'd better get on it: Harris County residents must deliver their registration applications to a county tax office by 4:45 p.m. today or have them postmarked before midnight tonight. Remember, if you don't vote, you give up your right to complain. And we will enforce that. >> New organs, a new life: Maria Mendez, a 14-year-old girl, is......

Good morning, Houston. In case you haven't heard, Channel 11 has a new anchor to replace Lisa Foronda: She's Lucy Noland, a native of Saigon who's leaving a job as co-anchor of the WNYW morning show in New York City for the job here. "It's time for me to put down roots, to have a house and home," Noland told the Chronicle. "This nomadic lifestyle has been fun. It's taken me far and wide,......

Good morning, Houston. The Internet has become such a part of our lives that it's hard sometimes to step back and see just how pervasive it really is — but the folks at Domain Name Wire came up with an interesting way to do that: They counted the number of URLs advertised along Highway 71 and I-10 between Austin and Houston. The grand total? More than 68, including the whopper qualityconcreteandswimmingpools.com (which doesn't seem......

Good morning, Houston. If you're a smoker who's not a fan of the citywide smoking ban set to take effect this fall, here's something to be happy about: At least you don't live in Abilene, where a man was arrested on a warrant for smoking in public. Brian Wayne Hendrix was cited for smoking in public, a violation of Abilene's smoking ban, in late February; when he failed to show up in court, a......

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. Looking back, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 18th century poem may have been a bit progressive. As the world rallies around water preservation this month, Houston is doing our part, to make sure our H20 stays safe. Starting tomorrow (Friday) morning, the Dow Chemical Company, in partnership with the Blue Planet Run Foundation are sponsoring a 36-hour, 240-mile, overnight relay event around the Houston area to help raise......

Good morning, Houston. Do you feel more metropolitan? Or bigger, maybe? According to estimates released by the Census Bureau yesterday, the influx of hurricane evacuees has made the Houston metro area the country's sixth largest. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area now has an estimated 5,483,857 residents, which puts it ahead of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach but still behind the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Philadelphia metro areas. Another population fact: Harris County......

Good morning, Houston. Yeah, it's been a while since we had a Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee media moment — but now, thanks to Isiah Carey, we have a classic: a series of photos showing Jackson Lee's skill in getting in front of TV cameras during Sen. Hillary Clinton's visit to Houston last week. The hardest-working woman in Congress? You betcha — don't you know it's tough do to your own blocking? [via HouStoned] >>......

Texas City is taking a different approach to curbing vicious dog attacks: Starting May 6, tying dogs to stationary objects will be against the law. According to officials, restraining dogs makes them aggressive, which in turn can lead to attacks: [Community development director George] Fuller, who authored the ordinance that city commissioners approved Wednesday, said he’s always thought tying up dogs was humane. But it wasn’t until he saw a recent study that linked confined......

Good morning, Houston. If you really love being in your car, you may be in luck: According to former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, traffic in Houston is only going to get worse. His answer? Start planning now for new road construction and encourage people to take public transportation. Our advice: learn to multi-task. >> That ain't pretty: Looks like it could be the end of the line for a notorious Houston beauty school: On......

Here's another of those things that'll make us all proud to be Houstonians: According to an environmental research group, three of the five most-polluting U.S. refineries are in the Houston area. We guess our old line to cover for our pollution problem — "That's the smell of money!" — won't quite cut it anymore. According to the Enrivonmental Integrity Project, BP's Texas City refinery, Exxon Mobil's refinery in Baytown and the Lyondell-Citgo plant in Houston......

A man in Texas City was shot to death, apparently targeted because he had just won an undisclosed sum on a scratch-off lottery ticket. And you thought the only thing you had to worry about was old friends showing up asking for a loan. A local resident heard gunshots and shouting around 2:30 in the morning and called 911. They identified the man as Willie Washington and stated that "they don't know how much money......

Good morning, Houston. You know what the problem is around this town? We'll tell you: mismatched news racks. But never fear — City Council is trying to save us. Under an ordinance presented to council this week, newspaper vendors would have to make their racks relatively the same size, keep them clean and in working order and paint them all the same color: forest green (we had some details back in the summer). The reaction?......

Good morning, Houston! There's some good news: If you graduated from high school, you're already ahead of a third of Texas students. Of course, that means there's also some bad news — namely, that a third of Texas students don't finish high school. And according to statistics, the situation is even worse in the state's big cities: There, more students drop out than finish high school. Elleen Coppola, a Rice University researcher, said dropouts......