December 4, 2023
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 | Cat DeLaura, Audience producer |
Best of the Bayou
Today we're talking about evictions...
If you read one thing: People moved out of homelessness often face eviction, a Houston Chronicle examination of housing court records has found. Most evictions are not for major behavioral issues such as crime but for other problems, such as paperwork or the conditions of their apartments, which lead housing authorities to stop voucher payments.
How does this happen?
Lawyers, property owners and tenants say it's common for people housed with vouchers to fall through the cracks.
They say that the steps to remain in the program often become snarled. Recertification is a yearly income verification process that determines how much rent a tenant pays and how much the housing authority covers using federal funds.
Kim Myles Brown, litigation director with the nonprofit Lone Star Legal Aid, said it was not uncommon for people sending their paperwork to housing authorities to be met with a delay or no response. Renters can be evicted if the apartment does not receive the full rent sum while things are sorted out.
Their stories:
The Chronicle's housing reporter spoke with a number of newly housed people about problems with the voucher covering the majority of their rent.
One got monthly demands to pay rent posted on his door. His caseworker said that it was just a kink with voucher payments that would get worked out and eventually, it did. Another was not able to resolve his voucher problems. He was getting evicted from his permanent housing but did not understand why. His friend and neighbor had already been evicted, he said. That friend died shortly afterward while living on the street.
- Read more of their stories here.
Stay in the Loop
Photo by: Susan Barber
📰 Need to Know
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- Food insecurity surveys getting inaccurate data regarding Latino families, report finds. Texas State University and other colleges found some Latino parents respond inaccurately to the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture survey used to measure food insecurity.
- Houston-Australia team to use Antarctica's climate for space research. The Center for Space Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine is planning an Antarctic testbed as NASA prepares to return humans to the moon.
- Fact check: Would GOP plan cut Social Security benefits by 13%? Experts found the 13% cut Biden cited to be speculative, though plausible — but there isn't enough detail to really know.
- Party shooting on the far north side leaves 3 teens in the hospital. As the three teenagers, ages 16, 17 and 19, were leaving the party, a fight broke out, and someone began shooting randomly into the crowd, striking the teens, the Harris County Sheriff said.
💼 Business
- New Greater Houston Partnership head focused on opportunity and unity. Steve Kean on Friday became president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, taking the reins from Bob Harvey. Read Erica Grieder's interview with Kean.
- Want Android Auto in your CarPlay-only vehicle? This adapter makes it possible. I've been testing the Ottocast U2-X Pro, which provides wireless CarPlay and wireless Android Aut with a catch, writes tech columnist Dwight Silverman.
- Buick Encore GX crossover SUV bridges the generational divide. The Buick Encore's reasonable price and attractive styling make it a suitable luxury-type compact crossover, writes auto columnist Jesus R. Garcia.
🚗 Outside the Loop
- Pearland's new charter school ILTexas taking applications for 2024-25. Here's what to know about the new International Leadership of Texas' K-8 free public charter school opening in Pearland.
- MKT Distillery in Katy hosted its final tree lighting this weekend. Katy's beloved MKT Distillery closed its doors Saturday after five years in business, but not before hosting its iconic Christmas tree lighting one last time.
Point of View
Photo by: Annie Mulligan, Contributor
How can Cornyn deny gun violence is a public health crisis?
The issue is having a senator such as Cornyn who refuses to acknowledge that we daily experience the tragedy of an un-addressed public health crisis of gun trauma, writes one reader in a letter to the Editor.
- Abbott, let the Lege go home! Special sessions on vouchers are un-Texan. What happened to the Republican party's allegiance to small government? Gov. Abbott is trying to circumvent the limits of the Texas Constitution of 1876, writes the Editorial Board.
Houston vs. All Y'all
Photo by: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer
A Will and a way: Texans' Anderson wreaks havoc against Broncos.
In his best game to date, this year's No. 3 overall draftee totaled five tackles, two sacks and four quarterback hits in Sunday's win.
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- Texas headed to College Football Playoff with Alabama, Michigan, Washington. The Big 12 champions were slotted as the No. 3 team and will play No. 2 Washington in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
Get Out
Photo by: Bao Ong / Staff
Former buzzy Railway Heights Market evicts remaining food vendors.
Railway Heights Market, which attracted large crowds when it first opened about two years ago as an incubator for small businesses, will be home to no food vendors.
- Nita Prose among the authors at Houston book events this week. "The Maid" author, a New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick, will discuss her latest book at Murder By The Book.
My goal for this week is to get into the holiday spirit by visiting as many of these neighborhood Christmas light displays as possible. Let me know if you have a favorite lit-up neighborhood, block or house in Houston?
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