Plans were recently announced to transform the old Greenspoint Mall into a warehouse and distribution hub. I've watched this mall rapidly decay during my time in Houston. I delved deeper into the plan and learned that one big anchor store won't be demolished along with the rest of the building. And it's currently in the worst shape. My photographer and I went to the mall site without much of a plan. We found a "character" for the story selling barbecue in the parking lot and also got an "official" to talk more about the pending project.
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Friday, July 10, 2026
When Checking Out Scanner Traffic Becomes A Story
One of our assignment managers has a saying: "go put your eyes on it." It's something she says when she asks a photographer or news crew to go check out something based on scanner traffic or other information. It often turns out to be nothing. But, in this case, traffic about a person in body armor shooting at a house turned out to be legit. In fact, I found out on the scene that it was the second such shooting in as many weeks. We ended up getting interviews with neighbors and the homeowners shared surveillance with us. It became a good exclusive story by just "putting our eyes on it."
Asleep At The Wheel
This story was the result of a digital manager spotting a post on Facebook. Someone shared the story of a driver who appeared to be asleep behind the wheel while traveling on the Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land. He even shot some video of the driver and how several other drivers kind of corralled him before the slow-moving SUV ended up on the shoulder. We sent a message to the person who posted on Facebook and I connected with him, did an interview, and turned this story which did well on our digital platforms.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Out Of Control Truck Strikes Preschool Buses
This is a good example of a story that started on social media. Someone Facebook messaged me about a fundraiser set up for a Houston area preschool. I thought, "okay." Then I read about the reason the preschool needed money. Turns out, an out of control pickup truck slammed into two of its buses. I thought to call and see if any surveillance video existed. Fortunately, the preschool shared video as did a driver who happened to be passing by at the time of the crash. His dashboard camera caught it. Having multiple angles showing the incident definitely made the difference in whether this got coverage. Thankfully, no one was injured.
Monday, January 19, 2026
Four Days, Three Exclusive Stories.. Including This One Regarding A Double Murder
A double murder near the Houston suburb of Katy got a ton of attention partly because a couple in their 50s were fatally shot while two adult children and a seven-year-old child were also in the home at the time. I tracked down the two adult children through a family friend who started a GoFundMe page. The adult children agreed to speak with me over the phone. We shot it showing me on the phone with them rather than a slate with a phone graphic or something similar. I turned this story in the middle of covering another, unrelated story and breaking news. This was my third exclusive or "only on" story in four days. All were interviews other stations were also interested in getting. Each one took a bit of social media sleuthing and other skills.
NRG Stadium Custodial Worker Charged With Child Sex Crime
This is a story we found out about after a lawsuit was filed by the parents of an eight-year-old boy who claims the child was molested inside a men's room at NRG Stadium during a Texans game. Turns out, the custodial worker named in the lawsuit had been criminally charged as well. HPD announced it was looking for more potential witnesses the day this story aired. In this case, a law firm representing the child's parents coordinated an interview with them. Getting access like this makes any story much more compelling. Understandably, we agreed to keep their identities private in order to protect the child.
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Catching Up With A Houston Christmas Tradition: "Pancho Claus"
I didn't post this back on December 25th.. But I caught with "Pancho Claus" again after a number of years. Despite health and other struggles, Richard Reyes's alter-ego has spread cheer for more than four decades. He and his caravan once again delivered gifts and joy through the streets of the East End. This is one of those stories you'll know will always be there on Christmas morning. It's kind of its own gift for news crews looking for something to cover on what could be a slow news day.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Police Officer Rescues Suicidal 11-Year-Old Along Freeway
This story got the most engagement of any other I've done in quite some time. It originated with a Facebook post by the Shenandoah Police Department (a suburb north of Houston). It detailed an officer's actions when he and others got a call about an 11-year-old girl on the freeway. She sat atop a barrier on an overpass and threatened to jump. We requested an interview with the officer and also got his body camera video. It helped me tell a very compelling story that resonated with thousands on social media and elsewhere.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
One-On-One With A Future NASA Astronaut
My latest assignment at NASA's Johnson Space Center was for an introduction of the latest astronaut candidate class. It's the first to have six women on a team of 10. One of them is a Houston native with whom I got to do a one-on-one interview. Like other astronauts (or future astronauts) I've interviewed, Anna Menon had no reservations about potentially going into space. In fact, she told she would love to be the first woman to step foot on the Moon and, perhaps, the first human on Mars. She will likely be part of future Artemis program missions. This story was one of several over the course of three days at JSC focused on the upcoming Artemis II mission.
Monday, September 8, 2025
Demolition Looms For Landmark Houston Theater
This is a story that I was particularly interested in given my love of architecture and history. It concerns the fate of the 1949 Granada Theater in the Eastex-Jensen neighborhood of North Houston. The long-vacant building sits on a larger site that's set to become a large-scale Catholic Charities family service center. The organization claims that saving the theater is not feasible. But that isn't stopping community members and others who held a protest the day I turned this story. I used the event as a backdrop for my live shot.
Mom Gets Emotional Over Daughter's After-School Attack
This is a story that was the result of someone contacting us via our "newstips" email. We often get story ideas through this method. In this case, a mom was concerned after her 13-year-old daughter was attacked on her walk home from school. Video of the incident was shared online. That's something that upset the mother even further. We had to consult our station attorney regarding usage of the video since we didn't know the original source other than it likely being another student. I had to make sure I carefully worded the script to be transparent about the video. We also blurred it since juveniles were involved. The mom had a particular dramatic message for other parents.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
When a sad story becomes even more tragic
So, this is my first post in a while.. But I wanted to include this powerful story from last Summer in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Many in the Houston area dealt with power outages and we covered issues across the region. I was dispatched to a condo complex in Houston where I interviewed several people who had contacted us about a lack of AC. We noticed a Houston Fire Department crew pull up in the middle of one of my interviews. Sadly, a neighbor was found unresponsive inside her apartment. My photographer and I quickly followed the first responders and captured dramatic reactions from neighbors as the woman was pronounced deceased. It was a very emotional scene as we did our jobs while showing compassion.
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Stepping back into Texas history
I haven't been able to update my blog in a while because of technical issues. But here's a story from the not so distant past. I got to escape every day news and crime and take a short trip to Washington on the Brazos. It's an historic site in the midst of a major renovation. It's a nice change of pace to get out and cover something related to history which is a passion of mine.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Inside a NASA habitat meant to mimic Mars
It's always fun to get to visit Johnson Space Center. There are so many interesting stories. This is is about a program designed to measure the psychological, physiological and other impacts of isolation and confinement similar to what future astronauts might experience on Mars. Four astronaut-like volunteers will soon spend a year inside the habitat which includes a "sandbox" filled with red-colored sand that looks a little like Mars's surface. I did a stand-up in the middle of the story standing in the sand.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Meeting the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon
We're lucky enough to have Johnson Space Center in our back yard. That means big NASA news usually makes the news. In this case, Houston hosted the reveal of NASA's Artemis II crew.. Three American astronauts and one from the Canadian Space Agency. I covered the event in a hangar at NASA's Ellington Airport facilities before heading over to JSC in order to interview one of the crew. I sat down with Artemis II pilot Victor Glover who will man the controls as the Orion spacecraft travels around the moon in order to demonstrate the its capabilities. Future missions include landing on the moon again and eventually setting sights on Mars.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
NCAA Men's Final Four "Legacy Project" Reveal
Houston is hosting the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four and KHOU is carrying the action. We've been in March Madness mode for a while. I've done a couple of previous stories on the historic Blue Triangle Community Center being selected as this year's host city "Legacy Project." This story is from the day a basketball court renovation was revealed. I even did my look-live intro and outro (me at the beginning and end of main story) dribbling and MAKING a basket (on my first take haha).
Friday, March 24, 2023
Father accused of killing own daughter during pursuit
Covering unbelievable things people to do to others is part of what we do as reporters. This story is among those that boggle the mind. A Harris County father in a dispute with his toddler's mother is accused of killing the 2 year-old during a pursuit with deputies. The little girl's mother says he even Facetimed himself harming the child. It's always difficult and delicate approaching families after tragic incidents. In this case, the girl's mother and grandfather shared their thoughts with me about the crime and the toddler whose life was cut so short.
1998 "wig shop murder" victim's family fighting to keep killer locked up
1998. It was my first full year working in post-college broadcast news. I was in Georgia. Meanwhile, one of Houston's most infamous murders occurred on Black Friday that same year. It became known as the "wig shop murder." 52 year-old Manuela Silverio was killed after a then 19 year-old entered Wigs By Andre' in a brazen daytime attack with no clear motive other than to inflict pain. Silverio's throat was slashed after she was stabbed. The shop's owner was also stabbed 14 times and her husband injured as well. The now 44 year-old convict, Dror Golberg, has his first opportunity at parole later this year, nearly 25 years after the crime. I interviewed Silverio's daughters and a former police officer about their quest to keep him in prison.
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Battleship Texas makes another journey 110 years after its first launch
This was a neat story for a History buff like me (and History major) to cover. The historic Battleship Texas was towed from La Porte (where it's been on display since 1948) to Galveston for much needed repairs in a dry dock. It's the only surviving ship of its kind to have served in both WWI and WWII. I was assigned to do a piece on the ship's history. Fortunately, a 100 year-old WWII veteran who actually served aboard the Texas from 1940 to 1942 showed up to see her off.
Family speaks about deputy constable fatally shot while off-duty
We encounter a lot of sadness in the news business. And seeking out family or loved ones of homicide victims is a necessary evil. In this case, an off-duty Harris County Pct. 3 deputy constable was shot and killed while driving home from getting dinner. Investigators did not rule out road rage. They were still looking for a possible suspect when I filed this report with the victim's family. Fortunately, they were welcoming when I made a cold call on their home.
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