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December 18, 2023

Mawmaw's Christmas pie, with a meringue as high as her hair 

PLUS: Houston's mayor lost some power. That's a good thing.

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Good morning.

Don't miss reading our Sunday essay by Jamie Brickhouse. Somehow the piece manages to pack in hilarious insights on holiday tradition, COVID lockdowns, sexuality, the craft of writing and keeping memories of a loved one alive, and all within a single chocolate meringue pie crust. Tell us what's on your mind as Christmas and New Year's approach. How do the traditions you carry forward bridge the past, present and future?

Reporting from our colleagues at the San Antonio Express-News on a court case involving a gun-smuggling gospel singer reminded us that the ATF considers Texas, and Houston in particular, as "ground zero" for the acquisition of powerful firearms by Mexican cartels. At least Congressman Joaquin Castro has put forward some commonsense measures to stem the flow of weapons that are destabilizing our neighbors to the south and, in turn, fueling the migration crisis at our border.

And for some good news, let's talk about Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth. Typically, we only hear about election administration when something goes wrong, which is to say quite often in Harris County. The problems in previous years, such as delays in reporting results, lost ballots and shortages of paper at some polling locations, have eroded trust at a time when we need it most to counter false claims of stolen elections. With only a few weeks as the official manager of the sprawling and complex election operations in Harris County, Hudspeth appears to have pulled off a smooth and wonderfully uneventful vote. Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt is even taken credit for the Democrat's success.

Remember to send us your thoughts on the news, and your holiday tradition stories, to viewspoints@houstonchronicle.com.

- The Editorial Board 


Our picks

Mawmaw's chocolate meringue pie, as baked by writer Jamie Brickhouse.

Photo by: Jamie Brickhouse

Mawmaw's Christmas pie, with a meringue as high as her hair (Opinion)

Decades after Jamie Brickhouse's Mawmaw died, her chocolate meringue pie saved him.

FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2017, file photo, an ATF agent poses with homemade rifles, or 'ghost guns,' at an ATF field office in Glendale, Calif. A gun control group founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords asked two web hosting companies on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, to shut down websites selling parts and machines that help make untraceable homemade firearms known as �ghost guns.� The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence asked the providers that host GhostGunner.net and GhostGuns.com to disable the websites for violating the hosting companies� terms of service. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Photo by: Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

Mexican cartels provide the drugs, we provide the weapons (Editorial)

Not only are cartel drug smugglers armed with weapons they acquired from us, but the violence and chaos they ignite are fueling the migration crisis.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio checks tomato plants growing inside the International Space Station for the XROOTS space botany study on Oct. 14, 2022. Credit: Koichi Wakata/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Photo by: Koichi Wakata/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Tomatoes in space, shrooms in Congress, Musk U is coming to Texas (Thumbs)

Also: Musk U is coming to Texas; Mike Miles' musical set HISD back more than $200,000.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner listens to Houston Police Dept. Chief Troy Finner as he addresses the Houston City Council on the latest HPD statistics on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 in Houston.

Photo by: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

Houston's mayor lost some power. That's a good thing. (Opinion)

In November, voters gave Houston city council members a little more power. The difference already shows.

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth shows off her

Photo by: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

Teneshia Hudspeth just saved Harris County elections. For now. (Editorial)

Thank the Democrat who oversaw the first smooth voting in Harris County in a long time — and the Republican who put her at the helm.

State Sen. John Whitmire speaks to supporters after defeating U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee to become Houston's 63rd mayor at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Houston.

Photo by: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

Whitmire vows to fix Houston and be nice. Oh the audacity! (Editorial)

John Whitmire won the mayoral race on a bread-and-butter campaign but the city's challenges will require him to take bold action. 

This image provided by Kate Cox shows Kate Cox. A Texas judge has given the pregnant woman whose fetus had a fatal diagnosis permission to get an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to the state's ban that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. It was unclear Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 how quickly or whether Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, will be able to obtain an abortion. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble says she will grant a temporary restraining order that will allow Cox to have an abortion. (Kate Cox via AP)

Photo by: Associated Press

Texas Supreme Court can't make sense of abortion law (Editorial)

Confusion is the point of Texas' brutal law. The court punted on saving women's lives in the case of Kate Cox, whose life and future fertility were endangered. 


Political cartoon by John Branch.

From our readers

Student Lucia Fernandez joins over a hundred people and the 'Students for Justice in Palestine' to protest the Baker Institute's 30th Anniversary Gala at Rice University on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Spring.

Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer

Criticism of Israel's government is not antisemitism (Opinion)

Ruth Skaff, Houston: "Many of us in Houston and around the world are grieving at multiple levels for Palestinians and Israelis and indeed for all humanity."

Edward Brown, 17, is guarded by Kelvaughn Dorsey, 15, as they play basketball with friends at MacGregor Park, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The teenagers had the day off from Northside High School, and they came to the park to play basketball on the shaded court.

Photo by: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer

So glad MacGregor Park is getting an upgrade (Opinion)

Linda Rehm, Houston: "I applaud the city of Houston and the Kinder Foundation for turning their attention and money to this historic jewel in our city."

People walk on the campus of Rice University near the statue of the school's namesake, William Marsh Rice, Thursday, April 1, 2021 in Houston. Rice University has announced an expansion of its student body and its campus. The physical expansion on the college's 300 acres, will include a 12th residential college, a new engineering building, a building for the visual and dramatic arts, and a new student center that will largely replace the Rice Memorial Center.

Photo by: Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Houstonians must oppose a return to our white supremacist past (Opinion)

Rand Nolen, Houston: "The whitewash of our history in public schools ensures that many of our citizens are largely ignorant of our past and that, as some of our citizens and politicians hope, the past is never really past."


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We want to hear from you! Have an opinion or a response to one of our stories? Learn how to submit your op-eds or letters here or shoot us an email at .

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