Thank You for Your Donation:) only $1

Eraldo

March 30, 2026

How can Dems miss Hidalgo if she doesn’t go away?

And, how do you feel about your House representatives?

 ͏  ͏  ͏
SaysHou
Title Sponsor

SPRING SALE! Only 25¢

Step into the new season with digital access to essential news.

Act Now

Sale Ends April 12

Good morning.

The best decision Judge Lina Hidalgo has made lately was joining the Greater Houston Partnership for a junket trip to Europe earlier this month. All the drama of Rodeogate seemed to disappear when the county judge crossed the pond. Why not build on this success by staying overseas? Certainly there are plenty of excuses for the county judge to travel abroad between now and when she leaves office at the end of the year.

As Commissioners Court meets this week to vote on yet another nonbinding resolution to condemn Hidalgo, I wrote a brief column encouraging the county judge to stay out of the limelight and lean into her strengths as an international ambassador of goodwill. Go visit our sister cities. Help land us some new ones. Please stop getting into unnecessary fights.

Read the full piece here: How can Democrats miss Lina Hidalgo if she doesn't go away?

And speaking of elected officials, we want to know how you feel about the people you voted into the House.

Photo of Bayliss Wagner

Evan Mintz, Editor of Opinion and Community Engagement

evan.mintz@houstonchronicle.com

Display Advertisement

Our picks

Frustrated and hot, Debra Watts wipes sweat from her face after another disappointing call looking for a new apartment July 7. Most apartments with openings do not accept housing vouchers, which Watts relies on. Watts's air conditioning hasn't worked in weeks and as temperatures stay in the triple digits she worries about her underlying health conditions and the wellbeing of her dog, Baby. Watts lives in the Seven Oaks apartment complex and like most residents in the complex, she has received a notice to vacate. Watts has become an active member of the tenants union she and other residents started with the help of Texas Organizing Project.

Photo by: Jess Phelps

Houston has another chance to make apartments safer. San Antonio already did it.

Mayor John Whitmire said an ordinance needed to be done right. Here's his chance.

Read More

Portrait of labor activist Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers group, with a union flag that reads 'Viva La Causa', ca.1970s. (Photo by Cathy Murphy/Getty Images)

Photo by: Cathy Murphy, Getty Images

Let's rename Houston's Chavez High School after Dolores Huerta | Opinion

My activist mom would approve.

Read More

Mikel and Jason Russell-Nelson at the No Kings protest in Kingwood on March 28, 2026

Photo by: Lisa Gray

No Kings in Kingwood — 'I'm here for the Constitution' | Opinion

In one of the reddest parts of Harris County, in one of the reddest states of the union, protesters against President Donald Trump spoke up for their rights.

Read More

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, at left, and city councilmember Edward Pollard have different takes on the delayed payments.

Photo by: Houston Chronicle

Whitmire picks a fight with a community policing program | Editorial

A community patrol initiative in District J is being dismantled for political reasons rather than sound policing strategy.

Read More

Joe Panzarella, a 31-year-old community organizer, speaks during a panel screening for Houston City Council District C with the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board on March 9, 2026. Residents in Houston's Montrose, Meyerland, the Heights and surrounding neighborhoods will elect a new city council member for District C on April 4, 2026. Seven candidates have lined up for a chance to take Abbie Kamin's place.

Photo by: Sharon Steinmann, Houston Chronicle

Stay loud, District C: Vote for your City Council rep this weekend | Editorial

District C is one of the most engaged populations in Houston. Take that energy to the ballot box this weekend and vote in the City Council special election, writes the Chronicle editorial board.

Read More

I heard ICE agents were lazing at IAH. That's not what I saw. | Opinion

I heard ICE agents were lazing at IAH. That's not what I saw. | Opinion

Immigration agents can't replace TSA workers but they helped direct passengers. If ICE can be so human at the airport, why can't they be that way in the field?

Read More

Houston City Councilman Julian Ramirez speaks outside City Hall about anti-Islam sentiment on Tuesday, March 24.

Photo by: Haajrah Gilani, Houston Chronicle

Heroes, homers and meteorites in Islamophobic times | Thumbs

Also: Coogs lose, Yordan Alvarez denied by roof and Congress smacks IAH after interplanetary rock misses

Read More

Kelly Huynh of Houston and her dog Luna wait in line with other air travelers as they progress to the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal E at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Houston, TX.

Photo by: Sharon Steinmann, Houston Chronicle

Airport chaos couldn't have come at a worse time for Houston | Editorial

During a week of tourism, TSA lines turned us into Hotel Houston. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. 

Read More

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 25: The ExxonMobil company logo is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on March 25, 2026 in New York City. Stocks rose at the opening with reports of the U.S. giving Iran a plan to bring the conflict to an end that sent crude prices tumbling, with the Dow Jones leading the way opening with a gain of over 500 points. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Photo by: Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images

Forget Delaware. Here's why companies are incorporating in Texas now. | Opinion

ExxonMobil's board wants to move the company's state of incorporation to Texas — joining other Fortune 500 companies that made the same move recently.

Read More

Podcaster Pablo Torres speaks with death-row inmate Charles Flores at the supermax Polunsky Unit in Livingston.

Photo by: Courtesy, Pablo Torres Finds Out

Will Texas really execute the man in the 'hypnotized witness' case? | Opinion

Charles Flores' murder conviction hinged on a kind of testimony that Texas now classifies as "junk science," and another man has pleaded guilty to the crime. But Flores remains on death row.

Read More

Gasoline prices are seen at a Chevron gas station in Houston, Texas, on March 16, 2026. Oil prices retreated and equities rose Monday as investors remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz, with US allies pushing back against President Donald Trump's demands to help reopen the key waterway to oil and natural gas tankers. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

Photo by: RONALDO SCHEMIDT, AFP Via Getty Images

Here's why Venezuela's oil won't save Americans at the pump | Opinion

Unfortunately, Venezuela's oil won't save Americans at the pump anytime soon, writes former Exxon Mobil vice president Jack Balagia. 

Read More

Oil and gas prices have soared since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

Photo by: Jackyenjoyphotography, Getty Images

Oil is over $100 a barrel. Where's 'drill, baby, drill'? | Opinion

When the energy energy gathered in Houston last week, oil and gas executives weren't promising to open loads of new fields. 

Read More

Pumpjacks operate next to large wind turbines Friday, July 8, 2022, near Midland.

Photo by: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

The world should be optimistic about our fossil fuel future | Opinion

For decades, experts warned of catastrophic warming, rising seas and resource collapse. In reality, we should be optimistic about our fossil fuel future, writes Robert L. Bradley Jr.

Read More

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, second from right, speaks during a news conference to announce Google's $40 billion investment in Texas on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, in Midlothian. U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey, from left, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of data center energy at Google, listen.

Photo by: Chitose Suzuki, Staff Photographer

What Texas AI developers can learn from the fracking boom | Opinion

The AI industry is encountering the same community concerns that defined the early years of the fracking revolution, write Marilu Hastings and Michael E. Webber.

Read More

Caroline Barrow, seen here at age 3, was adopted from Russia by a family in the United States. She arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport in 1994. 

Photo by: Caroline Barrow

I was once a 3-year-old alien at Houston's airport | Opinion

The case of Liam Conejo Ramos made me realize that I was once a 3-year-old alien, too, writes Caroline Barrow. 

Read More

A federal immigration agent stands amid air travelers to assist with security across the lines of people waiting to progress through the TSA checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston.

Photo by: Michael Wyke, AP

Blame Trump for TSA lines at Houston airports stretching to 4 hours | Editorial

As President Trump rejects a deal to fund TSA and fix airport lines, Republican lawmakers should simply pass a bill and force him to veto it. 

Read More


Political cartoon by Lisa Benson
Display Advertisement

From our readers

Gasoline prices are shown on station pump signs as drivers purchase gas in Houston, Monday, March 9, 2026.

Photo by: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

Houstonians are cutting back to buy groceries | Opinion

"Rising gas costs have led us to ration out our usage and not make any unnecessary trips," writes Rio Coronado. 

Read More

The sun sets over Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

Photo by: Sam Owens, San Antonio Express-News

My heart is in the Texas Hill Country. Camp Mystic should reopen. | Opinion

"Returning to Camp Mystic will be healing, restorative and therapeutic for many of us. Parents have the fundamental right of deciding what is best for their own children," writes Wendy Tannehill.

Read More

A TSA standard screening line spilled outside at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Thursday, March 26, 2026.

Photo by: Michael Garcia / Houston Chronicle

I missed my flight. When will Washington listen to us? | Opinion

"I  sympathize with the TSA agents — they are just pawns in this perverse funding battle going on. They all eventually get their money. I will not," writes Dick Williams.

Read More

Gasoline prices are shown on station signs as drivers purchase gas in Houston, Monday, March 9, 2026.

Photo by: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

Stop holding hope that gas prices will go back to normal | Opinion

"Refineries aren't riding to the rescue. America's system is aging, stretched and already running near capacity. Summer fuel blends tighten it further," writes Ronald B. Smith. 

Read More


Send us your letters and op-eds

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 viewpoints@chron.com.

Display Advertisement

Recommended Reading

Discover something new with the Property Taxes newsletter

Get alerts on key dates and important information about property taxes and appraisal protests.

Add as a preferred source on Google
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedInTikTok

Privacy Notice  |  Terms of Use

Unsubscribe  |  Manage Preferences

Houston Chronicle - Footer Logo

Houston Chronicle
4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77027

© 2026 Hearst Newspapers, LLC

No comments:

Post a Comment