Music video remake gives missing girl's mom hope for new leads

https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/i-have-to-have-hope-mother-still-searching-for-daughter-9-years-after-teen-went-missing/285-d262968e-50b2-4fd8-b1e3-78ae7922831c?jwsource=cl

Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" was one of my favorite songs back in the day.  The original video featured missing children.  Some of them were found as a result of the exposure.  A new video has been produced for the song's 25th anniversary.  A Houston area missing teen is featured in the new video.  Her mother was elated about the new exposure.  She hopes thousands, if not millions, of views on YouTube and other platforms will help drum up new leads.  I interviewed the mother in her daughter's bedroom.. Which she's left unchanged for nearly a decade.

Missing Houston girl gets national attention

https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/new-photos-released-of-car-maleah-davis-stepfather-was-driving-before-alleged-abduction/285-d3b314d5-cc37-44a7-a9b3-63e7916782fa?jwsource=cl

This is a story that touched a nerve in the Houston area and beyond.  It concerns four year-old Maleah Davis.  Her step-father claimed she was kidnapped during an attack after a flat tire.  It's a bizarre story and detectives said it didn't add up.  Several volunteer search groups stepped up in the days after an Amber Alert was issued.  I covered the story from multiple angles.  This is one of my reports.  Maleah was still missing and no charges had been filed at the time of this posting.

Democratic presidential candidates descend on Houston

https://www.khou.com/video/news/politics/national-politics/eight-democratic-presidential-hopefuls-speak-at-tsu/285-7a916f61-77fc-4228-bc83-89eff2c13e03?jwsource=cl

Houston became the center of the early presidential campaign on this day.  Eight Democratic contenders participated in a forum at Texas Southern University.  Bernie Sanders also held a big rally in a downtown park.  I "fronted" my story from the Sanders rally and focused on those attending the forum.  It was meant, primarily, for minority women.  Many of them and others were excited about the opportunity to hear from so many candidates.

James Bond wannabe uses device to avoid paying tolls

https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/mom-speaks-out-after-son-accused-of-using-device-to-deceive-tolls/285-9e3e06da-e001-4ebe-bc67-36f79513eddf?jwsource=cl

This story got a lot of traction on our social media platforms.  A Houston-area guy was caught with a "license plate flipper" on his car.  He was charged with using it to avoid paying tolls.  It looks like the one used in at least one old James Bond movie.  In this case, investigators say the guy covered the tag when he approached toll plazas.  I went by his house to get his side of the story.  He wasn't home.  But his mother was.  Luckily, she agreed to speak with me. 

Petrochemical fire prompts health concerns

https://www.khou.com/video/news/health/hundreds-seek-health-screenings-in-deer-park-again-after-itc-fire-reignites/285-95dd16bb-be16-4b71-b373-9b5f16cb975b?jwsource=cl

A fire at a petrochemical storage facility near Houston kept us busy for a full week.  It's smoke cloud billowed for days.. Then flared up two more times.  Meanwhile, a benzene leak prompted shelter-in-place orders in two neighboring towns.  I was at or near the site a number of times.  At several points, KHOU management suggested we relocate because of the potential health concerns.  This story failed to make air because of breaking coverage of the last flare-up (which my photographer first spotted from our location five miles away).  The story was posted to the web and shared on social media.  It primarily features people in the Deer Park, TX area taking advantage of free health screenings.

Anchoring again (and doing webcasts)

https://www.facebook.com/KHOU11/videos/1489873231147999/

I'm glad I'm a go-to guy when the main anchors are off.  In this case, I held down the fort on the weekend again.  Our 6:00p newscast was preempted by basketball.  But we still did a webcast for digital platforms, including Facebook.  Increasingly, we're being judged on our digital contributions.  Doing special things for the website, app, and social media platforms is more important every day.

Sitting down with the U.S. Secretary of State

https://www.khou.com/article/news/us-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-discusses-global-concerns-border-wall-and-more/285-a81f8176-8111-4ccd-b27e-636ae7e68d61

Houston is America's energy capital.  And the world's largest energy industry conference takes place here this time every year.  It's called CERAWeek.  One of the speakers this year was U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  The State Department gave media outlets the opportunity to conduct sit down interviews with him.  My managers chose me to do it.  At first, we thought there would be parameters on what we could discuss.  However, there was no mention of that before we sat down.  I only got five minutes.  But we covered a variety of topics.. Including energy, Venezuela, global politics, and the 2020 election.