Lisa Falkenberg

If Sarah Davis goes, Texas may not be far behind. A bit dramatic, perhaps. But the thought has crossed my mind a few times as I follow the shenanigans in a primary bid to challenge Davis, a moderate old-school Republican, one of the last of her kind in the Texas House. Many Texas political observers were in despair when fellow moderate House Speaker Joe Straus announced his exit after doing the Lord’s work in blistering sessions of culture war politics, headlined by the bathroom bill. Many wonde…

Turns out, Alfred Dewayne Brown has a lot more time than previously reported to apply for state compensation for the wrongly convicted. Earlier this week, I wrote that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg appointed a special prosecutor to determine whether or not the former death row inmate was actually innocent in the 2003 murder of veteran Houston Police Officer Charles R. Clark. I also reported that the special prosecutor, John Raley, would be up against a tight deadline to make a decision…

EDITOR’S NOTE: This column has been edited throughout to reflect that Brown does not face a June 8 deadline to apply for state compensation. The columnist had previously reported, based on statements from Brown’s attorneys, that the statute of limitations on the petition began running nearly three years ago when Brown was released. But the state comptroller’s office has since confirmed that, under current law, the clock would only start for Brown if and when he meets requirements including a dec…

Among the kind words I’ve received in recent days, one simple sentence posted by a reader on Facebook stays on my mind: “You are part of my life,” she wrote. And readers, you are a part of mine. I was a reporter in my late 20s when I was asked to write this metro column. Frankly, the idea of having my picture in the paper and using personal pronouns scared me to death. Besides that, I’d never lived in Houston. Why in the world would Chronicle readers care what I had to say? But you gave a young,…

Moments after Dr. Shafeeq Sheikh’s trial ended with him convicted and sentenced in the 2013 rape of an incapacitated female patient at Ben Taub county hospital, he was seen enjoying lunch with this family on a sunny courthouse patio in downtown Houston. Sheikh got 10 years’ probation, the maximum allowed, and he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. But the fact that he escaped jail time and had a $10,000 fine waived by a Harris County jury outraged people across the nation.…

He was 11. He was three blocks from home. He was stabbed 20 times in broad daylight. For three years, nobody knew who did it. For three years, Josue Flores’ family went without justice. For three years, the community of near Northside lived in fear and frustration. “There wasn’t a day that people did not speak about it,” said activist Stella Mireles, who was inspired by Josue’s death to start the Safe Walk Home program for the neighborhood’s schoolchildren. “You saw the children walking home and…

There’s no stronger signal, save closing the schools, that we’re in uncharted...

Surreal is one of those great misused and abused clichés of convenience. But maybe for good reason. Right now, I can’t think of any other word to describe the feeling of trying to process another day of discordant messages and disparate responses to this pandemic. Each hour of coronavirus mayhem and social distancing, reality seems to shift and warp. One talking head says the spread of a deadly virus is hastening and we should stay hunkered down. Another points to a $17 million tent hospital sit…

Gov. Greg Abbott is trying to cast blame on others for Dallas salon owner’s jailing,...

I celebrate the Fourth of July even as I mourn the loss of independence for Texas women,...