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Exclusive: Melanie Lawson to retire from ABC13 after 43 years

Melanie Lawson at the Heart Association's annual Heart Ball at the Hilton Americas Houston on Feb. 15, 2020. In 2024, ABC 13 anchor Melanie Lawson...

27.11.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Texas A&M’s crackdown on race, gender discussions is anti-American. Here's why

A man holds a LED candle and an American flag at a Texas A&M University campus vigil. As the Texas A&M University System — with its 12 universities...

20.11.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Why Greg Abbott’s TSU investigation looks like an anti-DEI power play

Students walk across campus at Texas Southern University on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 in Houston. Looking at Texas Southern University's recent...

14.11.2025 20

Joy Sewing

When floods come, Houston rallies. But when elections come, we vanish

A voter leaves a polling place at West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston in 2024. If the fate of the world relied on voting, there would still be...

06.11.2025 2

Joy Sewing

SNAP cuts hit Texas foster kids: ‘We can’t rely on the government’

Katie Pham works while a free kids menu is displayed for SNAP recipients at Wizards Sports Cafe in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, Thursday,...

05.11.2025 8

Joy Sewing

UTHealth professor’s slur shows racism still infects medical training

It doesn't require much effort to find out how to pronounce a word correctly — a quick internet search will do. Take Aspergillus niger, for...

31.10.2025 6

Joy Sewing

With 24 bodies found in Houston bayous this year, who’s in charge of safety?

A view along Buffalo Bayou of I-69 and downtown is shown during a boat tour with Art & Environmental Architecture in Houston Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025....

30.10.2025 10

Joy Sewing

NY Times' Whitmire article misses much about Houston

It feels good when Houston is in the national spotlight for all the right reasons. Our city isn't perfect, but there's a lot of good here. So...

25.10.2025 4

Joy Sewing

Spring Branch ISD lawsuit shows the harm of a gutted Voting Rights Act

Virginia Elizondo is photographed in her home on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Houston. As early voting begins for the Nov. 4 elections, I want to speak...

22.10.2025 3

Joy Sewing

For state Rep. Gene Wu, the hardest part of public service is missing his kids

At right, state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, rests his eyes during a debate about congressional redistricting in August. At left, Wu and his wife, Miya...

19.10.2025 3

Joy Sewing

Emancipation Park lacks family appeal, and an $18.5M renovation won’t help

Faye Reese, 7, enjoys a swing at Emancipation Park in Houston on Monday, May 31, 2021. An Emancipation Park sign seen on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in...

16.10.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Marianne Williamson brings a message back to Houston: Love must get louder

Then-Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson speaks at the Faith, Politics and the Common Good Forum at Franklin Jr. High School, Jan....

12.10.2025 4

Joy Sewing

30,000 workers sidelined — and Houston does what Washington D.C. won’t

Furloughed and unpaid federal employees rally outside Senator Ted Cruz’s office to protest the government shutdown on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, in...

09.10.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Houston deserves immediate answers after multiple bodies are found in bayous

Onlookers watch as the Houston Police Department recovers a vehicle and the body of a teenaged girl from Brays Bayou in 2022. The car, carrying three...

02.10.2025 4

Joy Sewing

To Houston, with Joy: A newsletter for a city that’s never simple

Houston Chronicle columnist Joy Sewing poses for a portrait in the Chronicle studio in Houston, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. This is an excerpt from...

28.09.2025 8

Joy Sewing

Columbia Tap Trail's $7.5 million 'safety' improvements include no stop signs

A cyclist rides along the historic Columbia Tap Trail on Wednesday, June 5, 2024 in Houston. The Columbia Tap Bike Trail, which travels through...

25.09.2025 5

Joy Sewing

Delayed pension checks have some ex-Houston employees on food stamps

Javier Medina, seated next to his father Julian Medina, tried to get help from the Texas Workforce Commission, but was ineligible. Other ex-city...

17.09.2025 4

Joy Sewing

Gutted Houston Latino Learning Center falls victim to cutthroat Texas politics

Ceiling damage is visible in a classroom and kitchen at the Latino Learning Center in Houston, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. If you want to know what it's...

11.09.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Hundreds of Houston retirees still wait for checks as pension delays drag on

Houston Mayor John Whitmire is photographed during a July 2025 city council meeting. Two weeks ago, I reported that some Houston city employees who...

29.08.2025 3

Joy Sewing

Hurricane Katrina still haunts Houston, 20 years later

Approximately 18,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees packed into the Reliant Astrodome for their third day in the stadium on September 3, 2005 in Houston.....

27.08.2025 2

Joy Sewing

Houston’s ‘civility’ rules push homelessness from downtown to our doorsteps

A woman sleeps on a Houston homeowner's walkway in August. Since Mayor Whitmire enacted a 24-hour civility ordinance for downtown, Riverside Terrace...

22.08.2025 3

Joy Sewing

Exclusive: City employees who took Whitmire's early retirement haven't been paid

Houston city administrators and elected officials stand with Mayor John Whitmire as he discusses details of his balanced budget in Houston in May,...

15.08.2025 10

Joy Sewing

300,000 Black women out of work should be a signal to all Texans

Carolina Wilson, with the United States Postal Service, left, talks with prospective job applicants at a 2024 job fair in Sunrise, Fla. The news...

07.08.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Trump’s blatant gerrymandering is a call to action on racist Texas politics

My kids have gone with me to enough community meetings to know that we show up because our voices matter. I've told them so a thousand times. In this...

02.08.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Donald Trump's Medicaid cuts could be a death sentence for HIV-positive Texans

Juan Michael Porter spent nearly three months this year without his HIV medication because of an insurance snag. It costs $4,216 a month. Marc Cohen...

14.07.2025 10

Joy Sewing

How Washington Ave. residents are leading the fight against nightclub mayhem

Editor's Note: This is the third column in a three-part series reporting on problems with bar and club activity in Houston's neighborhoods. Read Part...

03.07.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Third Ward is fed up with ‘turn-ups’ and street takeovers. Houston needs a plan.

Residents say they are doing their part. Still, it's not enough to quell the effects of the wild partying along Emancipation Avenue in Third Ward that...

02.07.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Houston's Third Ward residents fight nightlife noise, trash and chaos

Lizette Cobb wasn't sure how to kill the stench of boiled crawfish shells that someone dumped in front of her house. She tried cat litter. It helped a...

01.07.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Why this Juneteenth feels different from all other Juneteenth celebrations

A visitor takes a photograph of the Absolute Equality Mural, which was unveiled on Juneteenth in 2021 in Galveston, Texas. The mood of the nation...

16.06.2025 5

Joy Sewing

Casa Ramirez Folk Gallery introduced Houston to Mexico in an unforgettable way

Chrissie Dickerson Ramirez lights a candle on an ofrenda honoring her late husband, Macario Ramirez, at their Casa Ramirez gallery and shop in the...

09.06.2025 10

Joy Sewing

In a divided nation, I found good at Houston National Cemetery

Scout Isaiah Griggs, left, Brownie Scout Nova Sewing, Tiger Cub Ke'Moni Benjamin and Eagle Scout Osahar Rikondja, far right, were among thousands...

31.05.2025 30

Joy Sewing

If the Houston City Council really wants public feedback, meetings must be later

Houston City Councilmember Mario Castillo talks to residents at a forum when he was a candidate for office in 2023, at the Proctor Plaza Park...

29.05.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Black and biracial girls in Texas foster care need access to proper hair care

Hair stylists Monica Okolo, left, and Tammy Tuck work on braids while styling hair for a girl in foster care at Guardian Angels Residential Treatment...

26.05.2025 10

Joy Sewing

How Trump's SNAP cuts would take food off 700,000 Texans' tables

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "People I love depend on SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid" during a sit-in protest against a Republican budget plan on the...

22.05.2025 4

Joy Sewing

Why I didn't want to write about George Floyd on the anniversary of his death

Debra Baines shouts George Floyd's name from the median of Cullen Road, as she watched the remains of George Floyd brought to Silverlake Community...

21.05.2025 3

Joy Sewing

China tariff clash unnerves Houston's cottage fashion industry 'like Covid 2.0'

Houston fashion designer Christy Lynn in her Memorial Villages atelier and showroom. A dress zipper seems like a small thing to stress over. But if...

16.05.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Turkey Leg Hut showed Third Ward pride that’s not erased by its downfall

Former site of Turkey Leg Hut with it’s sign painted over at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. I doubt if many are surprised...

08.05.2025 4

Joy Sewing

Clint Smith shows how America’s growth requires facing its past

A visitor takes a photograph of the Absolute Equality Mural, which was unvailed last Juneteenth, with his cellphone, Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in...

05.05.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Scott Gertner was the rock of Houston's R&B scene

Scott Gertner died on Thursday, his family said in a statement. He was the rock of Houston's live-music R&B scene. It's been years since I thought...

04.05.2025 20

Joy Sewing

Trump order for stricter school discipline will hit students of color hardest

Alejandra Rodriguez, 9, of Key Largo, Fla., watches as college students protest in support of the Department of Education outside the department in...

03.05.2025 30

Joy Sewing

You may need to fight for your child in Texas special education. Here's how.

Javier Celaya uses an interactive board to spell with sound pictures during a dyslexia therapy exercise Monday, Feb. 11, 2025 at Dyslexia School of...

28.04.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles opens up about her family's past in a new memoir

The tiny, wood-frame house in Galveston where Tina Knowles was born and raised still stands. Knowles grew up in the 800-square-foot home as the...

24.04.2025 4

Joy Sewing

National SAVE Act threatens voting rights of millions of women. All for what?

A woman with two children leaves after she said she voted at the Cleveland ISD Annex in Liberty County on Election Day in 2024. Annie Johnson...

17.04.2025 6

Joy Sewing

Houston ISD staff labeled my kids with autism. They were wrong.

File folders stuffed with evaluation forms, letters and handwritten notes document a monthslong struggle to make sense of Texas special education...

14.04.2025 40

Joy Sewing

The untold segregation story of Riverside Terrace brings a flood of memories

Texas Southern University students hold a sit-in demonstration in 1960 at Weingarten supermarket near Houston's Riverside Terrace neighborhood. There...

31.03.2025 4

Joy Sewing

How George Foreman went from boxing legend to Houston community hero

Former heavyweight champion boxer and grill entrepreneur George Foreman at his youth center in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. ...

25.03.2025 5

Joy Sewing

5 things to know about Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee answers a question during a press conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at Harris County Administration...

17.03.2025 7

Joy Sewing

Who will be the next shining star to fill Sylvester Turner's seat in Congress?

Then-Mayor Sylvester Turner, Police Chief Art Acevedo and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee lead the March For Our Lives on March 24, 2018, in Houston. ...

17.03.2025 9

Joy Sewing

Political attacks on our jobs and health care are stifling women

Mary Gribbin holds a sign she originally made for Donald Trump’s first term in office as she and others gather for the International Women's Day -...

12.03.2025 10

Joy Sewing

Sylvester Turner showed up for Houston, and he met us where we were

Mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner, center, gets a hug from Agatha Muokebe, left, as he visits a holiday party at Oak Shadows Retirement and Assisted...

06.03.2025 6

Categories

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Popular

Exclusive: Melanie Lawson to retire from ABC13 after 43 years

Joy Sewing

Texas A&M’s crackdown on race, gender discussions is anti-American. Here's why

Joy Sewing

Why Greg Abbott’s TSU investigation looks like an anti-DEI power play

Joy Sewing

When floods come, Houston rallies. But when elections come, we vanish

Joy Sewing

SNAP cuts hit Texas foster kids: ‘We can’t rely on the government’

Joy Sewing

UTHealth professor’s slur shows racism still infects medical training

Joy Sewing

With 24 bodies found in Houston bayous this year, who’s in charge of safety?

Joy Sewing

NY Times' Whitmire article misses much about Houston

Joy Sewing

Spring Branch ISD lawsuit shows the harm of a gutted Voting Rights Act

Joy Sewing

For state Rep. Gene Wu, the hardest part of public service is missing his kids

Joy Sewing

Emancipation Park lacks family appeal, and an $18.5M renovation won’t help

Joy Sewing

Marianne Williamson brings a message back to Houston: Love must get louder

Joy Sewing

30,000 workers sidelined — and Houston does what Washington D.C. won’t

Joy Sewing

Houston deserves immediate answers after multiple bodies are found in bayous

Joy Sewing

To Houston, with Joy: A newsletter for a city that’s never simple

Joy Sewing

Columbia Tap Trail's $7.5 million 'safety' improvements include no stop signs

Joy Sewing

Delayed pension checks have some ex-Houston employees on food stamps

Joy Sewing

Gutted Houston Latino Learning Center falls victim to cutthroat Texas politics

Joy Sewing

Hundreds of Houston retirees still wait for checks as pension delays drag on

Joy Sewing

Hurricane Katrina still haunts Houston, 20 years later

Joy Sewing

Houston’s ‘civility’ rules push homelessness from downtown to our doorsteps

Joy Sewing

Exclusive: City employees who took Whitmire's early retirement haven't been paid

Joy Sewing

300,000 Black women out of work should be a signal to all Texans

Joy Sewing

Trump’s blatant gerrymandering is a call to action on racist Texas politics

Joy Sewing

Donald Trump's Medicaid cuts could be a death sentence for HIV-positive Texans

Joy Sewing

How Washington Ave. residents are leading the fight against nightclub mayhem

Joy Sewing

Third Ward is fed up with ‘turn-ups’ and street takeovers. Houston needs a plan.

Joy Sewing

Houston's Third Ward residents fight nightlife noise, trash and chaos

Joy Sewing

Why this Juneteenth feels different from all other Juneteenth celebrations

Joy Sewing

Casa Ramirez Folk Gallery introduced Houston to Mexico in an unforgettable way

Joy Sewing

In a divided nation, I found good at Houston National Cemetery

Joy Sewing

If the Houston City Council really wants public feedback, meetings must be later

Joy Sewing

Black and biracial girls in Texas foster care need access to proper hair care

Joy Sewing

How Trump's SNAP cuts would take food off 700,000 Texans' tables

Joy Sewing

Why I didn't want to write about George Floyd on the anniversary of his death

Joy Sewing

China tariff clash unnerves Houston's cottage fashion industry 'like Covid 2.0'

Joy Sewing

Turkey Leg Hut showed Third Ward pride that’s not erased by its downfall

Joy Sewing

Clint Smith shows how America’s growth requires facing its past

Joy Sewing

Scott Gertner was the rock of Houston's R&B scene