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Axios Houston
How to handle the rampant mosquito season
Are you itching and covered in bites, too? You're not alone β it's peak mosquito season in Houston. And the constant rain isn't giving us a break.What they're saying: When there's heat and rain, there are mosquitoes, Max Vigilant, head of Harris County's mosquito control division, tells Axios.The peak season for disease risk from mosquitoes is mid-May through mid-June.Threat level: There are nearly 60 mosquitoes species in Houston, including Culex mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus. Every year the county finds mosquitoes that test positive for the virus, including this year in parts of Harris and Fort Bend counties.Plus:...
Cancer-causing pollutants found in Houston Shipping Channel sediment
Sediment from the bottom of the Houston Ship Channel has concerning levels of cancer-causing chemicals, according to test results collected by a coalition of Houston-area environmental organizations.Why it matters: Project 11, the latest expansion effort that aims to widen and deepen the channel, is entering the next phase of dredging.Sludge from the bottom of the ship channel has long been dumped in nearby port communities like Galena Park and Pleasantville.State of play: Residents, advocates and researchers are demanding officials with the Port of Houston and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who are partnering on Project 11, thoroughly test the...
Mysterious stop signs appear in Houston's Museum District
No one knows who installed a pair of stop signs at a busy Museum District intersection last weekend, and the City of Houston acted quickly to remove them.Why it matters: The nature of the signs' unauthorized installation looks like undercover tactical urbanism in a car-centric city grappling with the future of its transportation ideology.Driving the news: Witnesses tell Axios that "official-looking" crews showed up around 4pm Saturday and began installing stop signs on Binz Street at its intersection with Chenevert Street.There are stop signs currently for drivers on Chenevert approaching Binz but not on Binz approaching Chenevert.The signs both baffled...
Cruise eases back into Houston
Cruise plans to once again operate a small fleet of driver-monitored autonomous vehicles on Houston streets in the coming weeks.Why it matters: Houston is one of three testing grounds nationwide for the embattled ride-hailing service to calibrate its "elevated" autonomous operations and whet the public's appetite for sharing the road with a robot.Dallas and Phoenix are the only other cities with active Cruise operations.Meanwhile, the General Motors subsidiary remains under federal investigation over how it handled an October incident in San Francisco in which a woman was dragged 20 feet underneath one of its robotaxis.Catch up quick: Cruise briefly offered...
HBO's "Ren Faire" is the tale of Houston's royal drama
HBO's "Ren Faire" is the story of Southeast Texas royal drama.Why it matters: The three-part docuseries is a wild but very real look into the Houston-area Texas Renaissance Festival's recent succession crisis.What it's about: The series follows 86-year-old festival owner and playboy hopeful George Coulam, lovingly called King George by his subordinates, who in 2021 decided it was time to pass the scepter.The series follows three frontrunners: Jeff Baldwin, who rose through the ranks from entertainer to general manager; Louie Migliaccio, the festival's renowned kettle corn hawker with deep pockets; and Darla Smith, a vendor coordinator who thinks she can...
Houston shines in Netflix's "Hit Man" and "Perfect Match"
Richard Linklater's latest offering is based on the real-life tale of an undercover Houston cop posing as a hit man.The big picture: "Hit Man" showcases Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a former Houston police officer who in the 1980s and 1990s thwarted murder-for-hire plots like it was his job.Yes, but: While the story is based on an article about a real-life Bayou City cop (specifically, this Texas Monthly article about that cop), it's set around a New Orleans professor.π Texas Bureau Chief Bob Gee's thought bubble: "Hit Man" isn't as quirky as "Bernie," Linklater's 2011 East Texas true-crime comedy also...
Restaurants are recycling oyster shells to reestablish reefs
Tons of oyster shells are diverted from the landfill and used to build reefs in Galveston and reestablish habitats.Why it matters: The oyster population has been declining for more than a decade. And since Hurricane Ike, there's been a more than 60% reduction in oyster habitats in Galveston, per the Galveston Bay Foundation.Oysters help improve water quality, and oyster reefs can prevent erosion and serve as barriers to storms and tides.How it works: The Galveston Bay Foundation works with more than 30 restaurants to collect used oyster shells. Roughly 200 tons of shells are collected yearly, per Sally Clark, the...
New report: Nature-based solutions key to Galveston's climate-resiliency
Galveston Island is vulnerable to sea level rise, and a new report emphasizes the need for more nature-based solutions.Why it matters: Galveston has already experienced 8 inches of sea level rise in 14 years, according to an analysis by the Washington Post. And some models by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration project future rises of 3 to 8 feet by 2100, depending on ocean warming and ice melt rates.The big picture: The Climate Resilient Galveston report released this week by conservation groups National Wildlife Federation and Texas Living Waters identifies how solutions that restore and strengthen Galveston's natural...
Homebuying power shrinks in Houston
The change in buying power, calculated by our data viz team, is a percentage change for the 1970 house-price/annual-income ratio to the present. Data: RealtyHop; Chart: Axios VisualsHoustonians' homebuying power has seen the second-largest decline among major Texas cities in the past 50 years, according to an Axios analysis of a RealtyHop study.Why it matters: While housing inventory is finally starting to increase in Houston after years of fewer buying options, buying a house is far less accessible today than it was for previous generations.State of play: In February 2022, there were slightly fewer than 11,000 active listings in the...
Houston becomes top built-to-rent market
Data: RentCafe; Note: Includes homes in professionally managed communities with at least 50 rental units; Chart: Axios VisualsWith homebuying less and less accessible, Houston has become a top built-to-rent market.State of play: Houston ranks No. 4 among U.S. cities for new built-to-rent single-family homes completed in the past five years, with 2,402, trailing only Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta, according to a recent RentCafe report.Why it matters: With mortgage rates perched near record highs for the year, there has been a proliferation of those communities, which offer amenities, property management perks and no mortgages.By the numbers: Another 4,836 built-to-rent units are...
The 2024 Houston rodeo generated nearly as much as the 2017 Super Bowl
The economic impact of the 2024 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo nearly rivaled the 2017 Super Bowl at NRG Stadium.By the numbers: The rodeo's total economic impact β measuring the money generated by visitors, including lodging, food and transportation β was $326.4 million, up 44% from 2019, the last time an economic impact analysis was conducted.The increase was partly due to inflation, but there were also more attendees this year β 2.6 million β and more general spending.The main drivers of RodeoHouston's economic impact in 2024 were lodging, accounting for $95.8 million, and food and beverage, totaling $96.6 million.Economic activity...
The low-down on Pride Month in Houston
Houston is full of pride this month.The big picture: From sporting events to dueling parades and festivals downtown, Houston has plenty of ways to celebrate Pride.Catch up quick: Houston's strong and vibrant LGBTQ+ community has roots in the 1950s, when the Houston-based Diana Foundation held its first of many award ceremonies celebrating the gay community.In the following decades, Houston's LGBTQ+ community continued to fight for equality and shone through the politics and attitudes that kept it suppressed.Now, Houston is brimming with events and outings to celebrate Pride month.Here's what we're looking forward to the most:Pride Night with the Astros: The...
HISD reveals potential $4.4B bond
Tomorrow is the last day of school for Houston ISD students, marking the end of a year of change under a new, state-appointed superintendent. And now, a $4.4 billion bond proposal is on the table.Why it matters: HISD is presenting the bond β which would be the largest in the state's history β after a tumultuous school year that has many community members skeptical of the district's future and calling for more transparency, especially after the recent firings of principals and teachers that led to a mass student walkout in May.Driving the news: HISD officials have appointed a new, 28-person...
Weekend lunches on the rise in Houston
Data: Square; Chart: Jacque Schrag/AxiosHouston's restaurant spending is shifting from weekday lunch hours to the weekends, per new Square data.Why it matters: It's a reflection of pandemic behavior changes β and an important insight for restaurants as they continue adapting to survive and thrive.By the numbers: Houston's share of weekday lunch purchases from food and drink establishments using Square fell from 21.7% in 2019 to 18.7% in 2023.Meanwhile, the weekend's share of lunch purchases from those establishments rose from 30% in 2019 to 32.9% in 2023.Zoom out: Weekday lunch's share of overall restaurant transactions fell nationally from about 21% in 2019 to 18% in 2023, based on data from food and drink establishments using Square.By contrast, the weekend's share grew from about 30% in 2019 to 35% in 2023.How it works: Square, which makes payments processing technology, defines the "weekday lunch" period as 11am-2pm, the "weekend" as all day Saturday and Sunday, and "happy hour" as weekdays from 4-6pm.The bottom line: See you at brunch.Sign up for Axios Houston for free.
Houston's share of unaccompanied migrant children
Data: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services viaΒ New York Times; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/AxiosHouston received the largest share of the 530,000-plus unaccompanied migrant children who arrived in U.S. cities between 2015 and 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Why it matters: Unaccompanied migrant children are an especially vulnerable group as federal, state and city leaders spar over sheltering and supporting foreigners who have crossed the border without permission, with states like Texas seeking to crack down hard on illegal immigration."Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are...
Texas Supreme Court rejects challenge to abortion ban
Pregnant Texans with severe complications likely will continue to seek abortions outside the state after the Texas Supreme Court declined to clarify when a medical emergency justifies an abortion.Why it matters: While the Texas abortion ban includes a few exceptions, the Friday ruling against 22 women who suffered complications during pregnancy did not provide the clarity patients and doctors sought.The ruling places the onus largely on doctors to make decisions and fails to protect women's health as the exceptions intended, Emily Berman, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, tells Axios.The big picture: Under Texas' abortion ban, which...
What you should do now before 2024 hurricane season heats up in Houston
It's that time we all collectively dread: The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season starts tomorrow, and early forecasts say it will be a doozy.Why it matters: Houstonians know better than most that it takes only one bad storm to alter a region forever.A tropical cyclone formation is not expected in the next week, per the National Hurricane Center, but now is the time to prepare, before the tropics heat up.Threat level: More than 2 million residential properties in Houston are at moderate or higher risk of hurricane wind damage, with total possible reconstruction costs exceeding $671 billion, according to a new...
Houston mayor defends comments about Gulfton residents
Mayor John Whitmire defended himself Wednesday after saying Gulfton residents are "largely undocumented immigrants" who may not be welcome in the posh Galleria neighborhood.Context: Whitmire made the comments to a Houston Landing reporter May 7 while questioning the Metropolitan Transit Authority's long-planned bus rapid transit line through Gulfton, one of Houston's most severely underserved neighborhoods.The rapid transit line, if constructed, would provide a connection to Metro's Silver Line, which runs through Uptown and the Galleria.Driving the news: The Landing's story on Whitmire's attitudes towards the project itself and Metro as a whole published Tuesday.In it, Whitmire is quoted as saying,...
Houston's food insecurity rate is rising
Texas has passed California in the percentage of the population that is food insecure, per a new report from Feeding America.Why it matters: Food insecurity has been rising nationwide and in Texas since the Great Recession, but about half of the people who struggle to pay for meals don't qualify for federal assistance like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Zoom in: The 18 counties served by the Houston Food Bank had a collective food insecurity rate of 15.4% in 2022, the latest year for which data is available.That's compared with 13% in 2021.Of those counties, San Jacinto and Trinity had...
Houston's food insecurity rate is rising
Texas has passed California in the percentage of the population that is food insecure, per a new report from Feeding America.Why it matters: Food insecurity has been rising nationwide and in Texas since the Great Recession, but about half of the people who struggle to pay for meals don't qualify for federal assistance like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Zoom in: The 18 counties served by the Houston Food Bank had a collective food insecurity rate of 15.4% in 2022, the latest year for which data is available.That's compared with 13% in 2021.Of those counties, San Jacinto and Trinity had...
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