Flophouse fire Texas’ deadliest hotel blaze

By Bartee Hailie   Minutes after midnight on Sep. 7, 1943, a fire broke out in a fleabag hotel a couple of blocks from the bus station in downtown Houston.

Return on Investment

Most authors I know have a like-dislike relationship with marketing events like book signings. Authors like to meet readers, and sign and sell a lot of books.  It’s always fun when a stranger approaches the table and says, “Hey, I’ve read one of your books.

AG Paxton pleads not guilty to charges

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Aug. 27 entered a plea of not guilty on felony charges of securities fraud at his arraignment in Fort Worth. Tarrant County 396th State District Court Judge George Gallagher gave Paxton until Sept. 30 to answer to the charges.

No Trophy for You

By Rich Lowry NFL quarterbacks fear Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison. So should participation trophies, the ubiquitous trinkets given to children for merely showing up and rounding out the rosters of local sports leagues.

Old Blue

By Renae Brumbaugh The kids and I spent a week this summer in Mayberry, RFD a small, shore town in New Jersey. It’s a place where families relax on the beach. Where kids bicycle downtown for an ice cream cone. Where porches are actually used and everyone knows their neighbors.

Energy agency chief rails against federal plan

By Ed Sterling Texas Railroad Commission Chair David Porter on Aug. 19 spoke against America’s Clean Power Plan, a regulatory framework rolled out by the White House on Aug. 3. Texas is one of at least a dozen states lining up in opposition.

University of Houston ‘saved’ lots of us working folks

By Willis Webb Hundreds, probably thousands, of people have been able to gain a college  degree by taking advantage of the Houston job market  and attending the University of Houston  in pursuit of that diploma.

Donald the whiner

Donald Trump is given to superlatives, so let’s do him the honor ofpronouncing him the  most fabulous whiner  in all of American politics.

Louis t. Wigfall, hottest of the Red-hot rebs

With his inheritance squandered and his reputation in ruins, Louis Trezevant Wigfall left his native South Carolina on Aug. 22, 1846 to start a new life in Texas.

University president says Davis statue to be moved

A bronze statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, will be moved from the Main Mall of the University of Texas at Austin campus to UT’s Center for American History for interior display, in accordance with a decision made last week by UT President Gregory Fenves.