Winter storm batters the south, leaving stranded drivers and thousands without power

The man believed to be the ISIS terrorist dubbed "Jihadi John" has been identified as a British man named Mohammed Emwazi.

Derrick Rose will have surgery Friday morning to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee, the Chicago Bulls announced Thursday.

Police search for Humble bank robbery suspect

Harris County has won a temporary injunction requiring a notorious nightclub in Houston to take a number of actions to reduce crime at its facility

After a lion cub named Magnus was starved and abused by a circus to keep him small, veterinarians from around the world pulled together to save the cub's life.

News of Houston-based Cyberonics Inc.'s (Nasdaq: CYBX) complicated merger with Italian-based Sorin SpA will likely lead to more growth and business for the medical device company's Houston operations, said Dan Moore, Cyberonics CEO. Cyberonics, which has around 650 employees worldwide, has been looking for a partner for a while. The goal was to find one that would help deliver its products on a global scale, especially its sleep apnea and heart failure products, Moore told the Houston Business Journal. "We?

Houston expenditures have grown explosively over the past 12 years. The per capita cost of city government has risen 46 percent over that time, and the city projects that its expenses will continue to outpace the combined rates of inflation and population growth. The largest drivers of this expense growth are the city's pension programs for municipal employees, and required contributions to those programs are growing at an alarming rate. In absence of substantial reform, spending on the pension?

After being in development since 2013, MacroFab Inc., a company founded by former Alert Logic founder Chris Church, has officially hit the market. Church formerly was with Alert Logic, a security-as-a-service company that has been on the Houston Business Journal Fast 100 List, for nine years as chief architect. MacroFab, his new venture, was founded in October 2013, and in March, it closed an angel round of $700,000 that coincidentally, was funded by other Alert Logic founders, he told the Houston?

The group behind Fannin Innovation Studio has closed a $7.3 million round that will be used to expand its biotechnology company portfolio. Fannin Partners LLC owns and operates Fannin Innovation Studio, which is one of the only for-profit firms that provides funding and management for life science startups in Houston. With the new fund, Fannin expects to co-found 15 more companies within the next five years, and at least seven within the year, Atul Varadhachary, Fannin's managing partner, told?

A-76 Technologies Inc. announced Feb. 23 it closed a $2.5 million series A round to help grow sales and operations. The round was led by Houston-based Southern Funds Group LLC. It also included contributions from Nazmark LLC and two angel investors, James Thompson and Mark Dice, A-76 CEO Lauren Thompson Miller told the Houston Business Journal. The Houston-based energy technology company raked in $550,000 during the 2014 Rice Business Plan Competition. One of its awards, the $100,000 Greater Houston?

Houston has more than 17 million square feet of new office space currently under construction, but the joyride is about to end. Much of it is of single-tenant campuses ? Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Houston-based ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), California-based Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) ? and are often tenant-owned, and it seems as though many firms simultaneously developed an edifice complex. The future occupants of this new construction are vacating a significant amount?

When/where: 7 p.m. Friday/Toyota Center TV/radio: Root Sports/790-AM, 850-AM (Spanish) Nets The Nets have a seven-game losing streak in Houston and just one win in 16 meetings with the Rockets. That win came last season in Brooklyn with the Rockets winning this season?s meeting, 113-99, in Barclays Center. Guard Deron Williams, who did not play against the Rockets last month, is averaging 17.3 points per game and 11.8 assists in his four games against the Rockets with the Nets, with his assists average his most against any team. In 23 career games against the Rockets, he has averaged 15.9 points and 10.2 assists. Williams has averaged 12.7 points and 11 [...]

Rockets guard James Harden, who has played in every game this season, sat out Thursday?s light practice with a sprained right ankle and is listed as questionable to play Friday against the Brooklyn Nets. Harden stepped on Chris Paul?s foot in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, but remained in the game. ?He?s swollen today and he?s sore today,? Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. ?I?ll see how he feels. He didn?t do anything today. He just iced it. We?ll see what 24 hours does.? Rockets guard Pat Beverley, who missed the past two games with flu symptoms, returned to practice on Thursday, but with a light workout did not have much [...]

The Astros? new uniforms unveiled in 2013 drew upon the team?s past looks. (Photo courtesy of the Houston Astros) The Astros are going into their third season with their current uniforms. According to one sports uniform expert, Houston has some work to do with its threads. Paul Lukas, who runs the popular Uniwatch blog, ranked the Astros 23rd in his annual MLB Uni Watch Power Rankings. Here what he had to say about the Astros? look: How did a team with one of baseball?s most dynamic visual histories end up with such a bland, generic-looking visual identity? That?s a shame. The Astros? first order of business should be making the orange [...]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? Although it?s too early to draw any conclusions, Astros manager A.J. Hinch liked what he saw from the first day of live batting practices. Dallas Keuchel, Scott Feldman, Luke Gregerson, Tony Sipp, Dan Straily, Josh Fields and Luis Cruz were among the group that threw to hitters. ?The pitchers certainly look good,? Hinch said. ?Getting them on the mound, getting them without the L-screen in the bullpens and getting them to face live hitters, the swings in these cases don?t really matter whether the hitters choose to swing or not. ?Just inching a little bit more toward game-type situations. It seemed like everybody came out of it [...]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? Top Astros pitching prospect Mark Appel got some positive feedback from catcher Roberto Pena after his first live batting practice of camp. At one point, Pena turned back to rave about Appel?s fastball after Marwin Gonzalez noted the late life on the pitch. ?That was like 97-mph, and his changeup is like 91-mph,? Pena told Gonzalez. There was no radar gun on during Appel?s live batting practice, but he was happy with his two-seam and four-seam fastballs, changeup and slider. ?I have zero clue how hard I was throwing. I?m not too concerned about the velocity,? Appel said. ?I just want to throw the pitches more where [...]

Carlos Correa wasn?t afraid to say good morning to Sunshine the Python. #AstrosST pic.twitter.com/4IT3cC2o6O ? Houston Astros (@astros) February 26, 2015   KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? Astros bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte showcased his hurdling abilities Thursday morning after he saw an Albino Burmese Python in the clubhouse at Osceola County Stadium. Astros manager A.J. Hinch set up the prank by asking Bracamonte to sit by him and serve as his assistant during the team?s pre-practice team building session, but Bracamonte hurdled several players on the way out of the clubhouse after he saw the python named Sunshine from Orlando?s Gatorland. ?He didn?t jump; he flew,? top shortstop prospect Carlos Correa said [...]

Review one lawyer's fight vs. Harris County probation officials.

February 18, 1960: On this day, George Blanda, the versatile veteran quarterback and kicker, was set to leave the Chicago Bears after 10 seasons and sign a two-year contract with the Houston Oilers. When Blanda signed with the Oilers he was already 32 years old, and many thought he?d finish his career in Houston. In his two seasons with your hometown squad, Blanda led the Oilers to AFC championship victories over the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960 and the San Diego Chargers in ?61. Blanda played seven seasons with the Oilers, but at age 39, he wasn?t done yet. Blanda would go on to play NINE more seasons with the [...]

Austin--Central Texas voters on Tuesday chose to send two new Republicans to Austin in a pair of runoffs that gave one of the candidates an opportunity to rebound from a significant first-round deficit. Representing different wings of the Texas GOP, they also sparred over campaign contributions, using them to try to portray one another as political insiders selling out the district's cherished water supply. The race in HD13 failed to produce as many fireworks, with Bilski emphasizing her decades of leadership experience and Schubert highlighting his local roots.

A toddler died at the hospital after she and her twin sister were pulled from the bathtub of the family's Pearland home, authorities confirmed Tuesday. The twin toddlers were flown by Life Flight helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, officials said.

Houston ISD police were notified Tuesday morning when school officials learned the student allegedly threatened to return with a weapon. School officials sent a letter home to parents saying school-related disciplinary actions also are being taken against the student.

Follow along with live coverage of Abbott?s first address to the people of Texas. Video provided by The Texas Tribune.