Illustration by Tim Dorsey Why are local leaders condoning an assault on our public transit? By Amanda Wolfe When you go to the polls, you’ll vote on a ballot item that allows “the continued dedication of up to 25% of METRO’s sales and use tax revenues for street improvements and related projects” through December 31, 2025. If you don’t know the facts, you’ll probably vote “for,” since – statistically – you’re with the majority of Houstonians in wanting more and better public transit options (as indicated in Rice University’s 2025 Kinder Houston Area Survey). You’ll walk out of your polling ... Read More »

Peep Shelby Hohl’s killer animation on the Noise Ordinance with music by Future Blondes and our interview with Montrose legend Merlyn! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLpGeHS83xk[/youtube] Read More »

The good thing about video is it is harder to mis-spell shit. Free Press TV has arrived and brought friends. Join us as we interview Mayor Annise Parker, go to the gun show, visit with Arthur Bates, and enjoy some Lightning Bolt. Watch now, tell a friend, and prepare yourself for tons more to come. Expect an episode every 2 weeks and tricklings of goodness in between. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX3L59ORIFw[/youtube] Read More »

A few practical ways for the City of Houston to increase revenue, decrease the budget shortfall, and make everyone’s lives a whole lot easier by adapting to 15-year-old technology. By Omar Afra Illustration by Tim Dorsey Despite Houston’s relative resilience to the recession and actual job growth, our municipal government is pretty much up shit’s creek when it comes to fiscal responsibility. With an accumulated deficit of 2.5 billion dollars and an annual budget deficit of 130 million dollars, it is critical that the city both finds efficiencies and raises revenue. Mayor Parker has launched a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’-type ... Read More »

By: Erin Dyer Houston Mobile Food Unit (MFU) Collective has announced new mobile food ordinance changes that will be proposed to Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston City Council on September 26. These changes are to be presented in hopes that they will aid food trucks and small businesses, benefit Houston’s reputation for entrepreneurship, and increase tourist flow into Houston as a destination city. Currently, seating outside of the food trucks is not permitted and no downtown food trucks serve hot food because they are not allowed to use propane in downtown locations. Among the proposed modifications are the elimination of the ... Read More »

By: Erin Dyer Wade Michael Page has been identified as a suspect in Sunday’s shootings at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. The 40-year-old Army veteran arrived into the temple briefly preceding Sunday services on August 5 and opened fire with a 9mm pistol, killing six worshippers and wounding four. The dead include: Suveg Singh Khattra, 84; Prakash Singh, 39; Ranjit Singh, 49; Paramjit Kaur, 41; Sita Singh, 41; and temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65. The temple President was shot as he tried to strike back at Page with a butter knife. Page was ... Read More »

WORST OF HOUSTON 2025 ” The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.” - Friedrich Nietzsche They say sunlight is the best antiseptic. They also say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  Why those are relevant, I don’t know. But we are proud to offer up our annual Worst of Houston list this year in our continuing efforts to make Houston a better place by exposing some of it’s worst components. We can’t vouch for factual accuracy, positive motivation, or anything else for that ... Read More »

By Alex Wukman Headline writing in the age of the internet isn’t easy, sometimes it seems like those of us in the news mill are trying to combine Zen Koans and Simpsons’ references in an attempt to get bored office drones to click on a link. Then of course there are the times when the headlines write themselves. Sometimes friend of the Free Press and all-the-time City Council Candidate Eric Dick sent out a press release to complain about a statement that Mayor Parker made at today’s press conference about trying to get political campaigns to obey the City’s sign ... Read More »