HORNS
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UT earns third seed in
college football playoff.
PAGE B6
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Attorney, judge rebuked by court
Failure to file appeal as promised by lawyer,
now a top Ogg staffer, is called ‘deficient’
By Neena Satija
STA F F WRIT E R
The Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals rarely overturns deci-
sions made by other state judges
or questions the conduct of law-
yers. But the state’s highest
criminal court did both those
things last week in an extraordi-
nary rebuke of two of the Hous-
PICKING OFF ANOTHER WIN
Head coach DeMeco Ryans, center, celebrates with safety Jimmie Ward after Ward’s interception in the end zone
with nine seconds left in the game sealed the Texans’ 22-17 win over Denver on Sunday at NRG Stadium. The win
boosted the Texans to 7-5 on the season and kept them in the race for the AFC South title. Coverage starts on B1.
HISD’s dual-language programs see mixed results
By Sam González Kelly
STA F F WRIT E R
While Houston ISD experi-
ences continuing declines in
student enrollment, one group
appears to be on the rise: emer-
gent bilingual students.
The population, which in-
cludes students whose native
language is not English, now
makes up nearly 40% of HISD’s
183,884 students, and has been
a subject of concern since state-
appointed Superintendent
Mike Miles announced in June
that he would overhaul a signif-
icant portion of Houston ISD
schools during his first year
over the district. The plans im-
mediately set off alarm bells
among parents and teachers
who wondered how the new
Advice .........A11 Comics........A11 Editorials ...A9
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ton area’s most powerful players
in the courts: Vivian King, a top
lieutenant of Harris County Dis-
trict Attorney Kim Ogg, and Ra-
mona Franklin, a Harris County
district judge.
At issue is a serious error
King made as a defense lawyer
in 2015, before she joined Ogg’s
staff. King promised in writing
that she would file an appeal for
ELIZABETH CONLEY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
administration would serve
students not fluent in English.
Rather than eliminate Span-
ish-language instruction, Miles
responded, dozens of schools in
the so-called “New Education
System” would replace their
“transitional bilingual” pro-
grams with the more effective
“dual-language” model.
Questions, however, persist-
ed. Most pressingly, where ex-
actly would Spanish-language
instruction fit at the 85 schools
in or aligned with the rigidly
structured New Education Sys-
tem where teachers must use
timed lesson plans and admin-
ister daily quizzes to separate
students based on ability?
Three months into the school
year, a clearer picture is begin-
Language continues on A6
Obituaries..B11
Puzzles ......A12
‘NO PLACE IS SAFE,’
PALESTINIANS SAY
Israel expands its ground offensive to all
areas of Gaza, ordering more evacuations.
PAGE A4
• MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 • VOL. 123, NO. 52
judge presiding over the case,
then denied the man’s request to
file a late appeal earlier this year.
The Court of Criminal Ap-
peals overturned that denial last
week and ruled that the man,
Juan Carlos Barrera-Magana,
Ramona Franklin, left, is a should be able to submit the ap-
state district judge; Vivian peal after all. Its three-page
King is chief of staff in the opinion said in typically dry lan-
Harris County DA’s Office. guage that King’s conduct was
“deficient” and that “relief is
a client but never did and did not granted.”
respond to his subsequent inqui- But one of the court’s nine Re-
ries for years. Franklin, the publican judges, Michelle
Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
A dual-language prekindergarten teacher instructs in Spanish
at Patterson Elementary, which runs a two-way dual-language
program and has full autonomy to set its own schedule.
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Slaughter, was so incensed by
what happened that she penned
a nine-page concurring opinion
with much harsher words.
“While the errors that oc-
curred in this case are particu-
larly egregious, and are hopeful-
ly rare among attorneys across
the state, this case serves as yet
another reminder for all appel-
late attorneys of the effect of fail-
ing to stay on top of their respon-
sibilities,” Slaughter wrote.
She added that she was “very
Appeal continues on A6
State’s
artisanal
cheese
industry
growing
Houston Dairymaids
helped drive interest
By Erica Grieder
STAF F WRI TER
Lindsey Schechter says she
was met with some skepticism
when she began talking about
opening an artisanal cheese
shop in Houston, nearly 20
years ago. One prominent Hous-
ton chef, she recalled, offered a
blunt assessment of her busi-
ness idea at a friendly dinner
party: It would fail.
“I didn’t listen,” said Schech-
ter, 46.
After graduating from Rice
University in 1999, Schechter be-
gan cooking professionally in
New York City, work that took
her to Maine, where she opened
a farm-to-table restaurant and
worked closely with local
cheesemakers in that state: “All
the signs seemed to keep point-
ing to cheese.”
When she launched Houston
Dairymaids in 2006, the city had
no specialty cheesemongers.
The best artisanal cheese selec-
tions in the nation’s fourth-larg-
est city were probably to be
found at Whole Foods or Cen-
tral Market. But local foodies re-
sponded immediately and en-
thusiastically, Schechter said.
Today, Houston Dairymaids
has four full-time employees, as
well as about a half-dozen part-
time employees. The store
brings in between 5,000 to 6,000
pounds of cheese and charcu-
terie each week from makers in
the state and around the world.
It wholesales to about 300 res-
taurants, most of them in the
Houston area, and serves sever-
al hundred shoppers at its store
on Airline Boulevard, in Hous-
ton’s Independence Heights,
each Saturday for cheese tast-
ings. (The building, Schechter
noted, was once a Sicilian gro-
cery: “It’s hard to find a building
with history in Houston. I feel
Cheese continues on A5
A2 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

Assistant Managing Editor, Local News Baird Helgeson: Baird.Helgeson@houstonchronicle.com • 713-362-6426

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Houston to add more ride-share vehicles

By Elizabeth Sander
STA F F W RIT E R
More free electric ride-
share vehicles will appear
in Houston’s Second
Ward, after City Council
approved additional
funding for RYDE Hous-
ton because of a success-
ful pilot program in Dis-
trict D this summer.
Council approved
$281,000 out of the general
fund from Dec. 1 to July 31
to continue the program
that already has two vehi-
cles roaming Houston’s
Third Ward. It will also
provide an additional two
vehicles to begin the pro-
gram in Houston’s Second
Ward in District H, Casey
Brown, executive director
of Evolve Houston, said
Wednesday.
Houston first received
the free shuttles after
RYDE won an Emobility
microgrant from Evolve
Houston to launch the
program, Brown said.
Evolve is a nonprofit aim-
ing to increase clean
transportation in Hous-
ton. Its founding partners
include the city, Universi-
ty of Houston, Shell Oil,
NRG and CenterPoint En-
ergy. It began as a re-
sponse to the city’s Cli-
mate Action Plan.
RYDE’s shuttles are
fully electric Polaris-gem
vehicles, fit five people
and hit a top speed of 25
mph. They must avoid
road use where speed lim-
its are higher than 35
mph.
“They have been a tre-
mendous success in the
Third Ward for people be-
ing able to get to the gro-
cery store, and to the doc-
tor and to various areas,”
District D Councilmem-
ber Carolyn Evans-Sha-
bazz said Wednesday.
“It’s not just for seniors.
It’s been a tremendous
help to the students of
Texas Southern and Uni-
versity of Houston, as
well. The beauty of it is
that it serves all of the
community.”
The program saw
around 1,200 rides taken
by Third Ward residents
every month during the
12-week pilot, Brown said.
Residents took free rides
to area H-E-Bs, libraries,
schools, medical facilities
and even to Metro bus
stops, which was a specif-
ic highlight, Brown said.
“In some cases, it’s a
first and last mile solu-
tion,” Brown said. “In
other cases ... the intent of
the program is to get you
to critical community lo-
cations.”
The RYDE program
was first created to help
provide a solution to
transportation for se-
niors, Brown said. The
program will run parallel
with the Mayor’s Office of
Complete Communities,
which consists of 10 un-
derserved areas of Hous-
ton. The goal is for RYDE
electric shuttles to be
available in all 10 of the
communities. In Third
Ward, 29% of households
are without a car and 16%
in the Second Ward are
without one.
Shuttles can be called
through the Ride Circuit
app and operate from
Monday to Friday from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m.

New library in Texon Solar

workers finish
infrastructure
Baytown
Fort Bend County placement last
week ahead of
employee
will open Dec. 18
the installation
of 1,220 solar who stole
By Juhi Varma Library staff recently
panels at Grace
Crossing
Church in
is given
STA F F W RIT E R gained access to the build-
ing and have been “work-
Conroe.
two years
Fort Bend County Li- ing feverishly” to make Jason Fochtman/
braries’ newly construct- the library ready for the Staff photographer By John Wayne
ed Fulshear Branch Li- “soft opening” this month, Ferguson
brary will welcome its
first readers Dec. 18.
Located at 6350 GM Li-
Russell said.
Occupying four times
the area of the library it is
Payments help church STAF F WRI TER

A judge has sentenced a

brary Road off Texas Her-
itage Parkway, the new li-
brary is replacing the per-
manently closed Bob
Lutts Fulshear/Simonton
Branch Library, which
had outgrown its space.
“It’s been a long time
coming, but we’re very ex-
cited to finally open the
doors, welcome everyone
in, and show off this won-
derful new building, even
if everything is not com-
pletely set up yet,” library
director Clara Russell
said in a statement.
The construction of the
new building started in
summer 2021 and was
originally expected to
conclude by this summer.
However unforeseen chal-
lenges arose, resulting in
delays to the opening date.
“It is considerably larg-
er than the old building so
we have much more space
to work with, and we look
forward to unveiling the
full extent of the wonder-
ful offerings we have in
store for the public when
we have the grand open-
ing in January,” Russell
said.
replacing, the Fulshear
Branch Library features
more open spaces, natural
lighting, an outdoor patio,
study rooms and a com-
puter lab with 176 comput-
ers, according to the li-
brary system.
There will be an area
for young people featur-
ing interactive gaming ta-
bles and musical instru-
ments.
“We’ll be opening in
December with the most
basic essentials for a li-
brary, so we ask for every-
one’s patience while we
work to complete the
transformation over the
next few weeks in prepa-
ration for the grand open-
ing celebration,” Russell
said. “Even with the
rough patches, I think
we’re going to be in good
shape when we open
those doors.”
The $13.4 million Ful-
shear Branch Library is
part of a $19.8 million
bond referendum ap-
proved by voters in No-
vember 2015. The land for
the library was donated
by the Ginter family.
in area get solar panels
By Catherine
Dominguez
STA F F W R I T ER
A Conroe church is go-
ing green thanks to a fed-
eral program that allows
nonprofit organizations
direct payments from the
IRS for solar systems.
Houston-based Texon
Solar is working on the $1
million-plus project at
Grace Crossing Church at
105 FM 1488.
Steven Khan, CEO of
Texon, said the Inflation
Reduction Act of 2022 is a
game changer for non-
profits such as churches.
“One of the biggest ad-
vantages for going solar is
that the government is of-
fering tax credits for indi-
viduals and businesses,”
Khan said. “They have
been doing this since 2005.
However, it’s tax credits, so
churches have never qual-
ified because they don’t
pay taxes.”
According to the De-
partment of Energy, the
program gives tax-exempt
entities equal access to
clean energy incentives by
introducing the direct pay
option in lieu of a tax credit
that for-profit businesses
receive.
Jerry Riggs, an elder at
the church, said the new
legislation jump-started
the project.
“The IRA was a big im-
petus for why we pulled
the trigger on it,” Riggs
said. “If it wasn’t for that,
we would not have done it.
Itwasabigincentivewhen
nonprofits were added to
the legislation.”
Khan said nonprofits
can get between 30% and
50% of the project’s cost
paid through direct pay-
ments.
“This is the first of
many,” Khan said of the
project with the church.
“We have several others in
the contracting stage
now.”
Khan said using a year
of electric bills, his compa-
ny can determine the
number of panels needed
for the building. The proj-
ect for Grace Crossing in-
cludes the installation of
1,220 panels. If the usage
stays about the same, he
added, the system will off-
set the church’s electric
bills for up to 30 years.
Riggs said the system
will reduce the church’s
electrical costs and help
reduce its carbon foot-
print.
Khanlaunchedhisfam-
ily-run business about
three years ago. Texon So-
lar focuses on commercial
solar projects.
“I started looking into
solar about eight years ago
and was working for an-
other solar company,”
Khan said. “I realized I
wanted to do more. I knew
(solar) was going to be big
in the amount of money
businesses, primarily
nonprofits, could get back.
It’s a great time to be in the
solar business because it
saves people a tremen-
dous amount of money.”
Baytown woman who em-
bezzled more than $3 mil-
lion from the roofing com-
pany that employed her to
two years in federal pris-
on.
Judy Green, 55, pleaded
guilty in April to wire
fraud in connection with
the yearlong scheme.
Green used her position in
the accounting depart-
ment of Liqua Tech, a roof-
ing and weatherproofing
company headquartered
in Houston’s East End, to
make fraudulent entries in
the company’s records to
send money to herself and
her children, according to
the U.S. Department of
Justice.
Also on Tuesday, U.S.
District Judge Alfred Ben-
nett ordered Green to
serve three years of proba-
tion and pay back $3.4 mil-
lion, according to court re-
cords. She was required to
pay back $10,000 immedi-
ately.
According to a news re-
lease, Green’s theft caused
Liqua Tech to lay off em-
ployees and put off bonus-
es.
Liqua Tech opened in
1983 and produced annual

Dallas Zoo releases whooping crane hatched there
By Shakari Briggs
STA F F WRIT E R
The Dallas Zoo’s mis-
sion includes a focus on
saving whooping cranes,
an endeavor it recently
pushed forward by re-
leasing into its natural
habitat the first-ever
whooping crane chick
hatched at its Whooping
Crane Center of Texas.
“This momentous
achievement is a major
win for whooping crane
conservation and brings
us one step closer to a sus-
tainable population of
these majestic birds,” the
Dallas Zoo said in a state-
ment. “Since 2018, our off-
site breeding facility, the
Whooping Crane Center
of Texas, has been work-
ing tirelessly towards this
goal.”
With the help of the
Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries-
Whooping Cranes, the
Audubon Nature Institute
and the Louisiana Wild-
life and Fisheries Founda-
tion, the Dallas Zoo re-
leased its juvenile whoop-
ing crane plus three more
from the Audubon Insti-
tute on Nov. 12. Officials
released the endangered
species at the White Lake
Wetlands Conservation
Area in Louisiana.
“With this release, the
whooping crane popula-
tion in Louisiana now
stands at 85 cranes,” ac-
cording to a statement
from the Dallas Zoo.
“We’re so proud to be a
part of the ongoing effort
to save this iconic species
from extinction.”
Back in June, the zoo
announced the whooping
crane hatched. It received
the egg from a breeding
pair at the International
Courtesy of KAC Productions
The whooping crane is
one of the rarest birds
in North America.
Crane Foundation. Ini-
tially, it was placed with
foster parents — Huckle-
berry and Juniper. At the
time, the Dallas Zoo said
that to “ensure successful
reintroduction,” the
whooping crane’s interac-
tions with humans would
be minimal, but that its
team of bird zoologists
would be helping.
To date, whooping
cranes remain one of the
rarest bird species in
North America. In fact,
it’s been on the endan-
gered species list for near-
ly six decades. According
to the Cornell Lab of Orni-
thology, the bird faced
near extinction in the
1940s.
The whooping crane
population suffered from
not only habitat loss but
also from being hunted
for its eggs and feathers
based on research from
the Outdoor Illinois Jour-
nal. Reliant on wetland
habitats such as marshes,
they’re not easily able to
adapt to human land-
scapes like sandhill
cranes. But thanks to con-
servation efforts similar
to that of the Dallas Zoo,
the number of whooping
cranes in the wild contin-
ues to rebound.
“Due to extensive con-
servation efforts of feder-
al, state and private land-
owners, whooping crane
populations have in-
creased significantly,” the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service said in a state-
ment. “When the bird was
listed under the Endan-
gered Species Act in 1967,
only 50 of the birds exist-
ed — with 43 wintering at
Aransas National Wild-
life Refuge and seven in
captivity. The long-term
annual population
growth rate for whooping
cranes has averaged 4.34
percent.”
The last survey from
the 2021-22 winter season
estimated about 543
whooping cranes, per the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. They went on to
say that the number indi-
cated the population’s sta-
bility over the last two
years at least.
revenues of more than $10
million, according to
charging documents.
Green was hired in 1994
and was often the only
manager of Liqua Tech’s
accounts payable, accord-
ing to charging docu-
ments.
Green’s theft was dis-
covered by the business’
owner, who noticed a
large payment to an un-
known credit card compa-
ny in summer 2022, ac-
cording to prosecutors.
Green was fired in July
that year.
An audit revealed that
the thefts had been hap-
pening since 2012, accord-
ing to prosecutors.
The thefts were report-
ed to the FBI. Green was
charged in February. Af-
ter initially pleading not
guilty in March, she en-
tered a guilty plea in April.
Green will surrender at
a federal prison in the
near future, according to
the Justice Department.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A3

Mayoral candidates face off on city issues

By Yilun Cheng
STA F F W RIT E R
State Sen. John Whit-
mire and U.S. Rep. Sheila
Jackson Lee pledged to
protect Houston’s margin-
alized communities from
gentrification, environ-
mental hazards and traffic
deaths during a mayoral
forum Sunday afternoon.
The forum, organized by
Harris County Precinct 2
Commissioner Adrian
Garcia, focused on quality-
of-life issues facing local
neighborhoods, from
housing affordability to en-
vironmental justice. Jack-
son Lee and Whitmire
both recognized the com-
plexity of these problems,
noting that resolving them
will have to involve collab-
oration with government
agencies beyond the city.
The mayoral race ad-
vanced to a runoff next
Saturday between the two
candidates after their vote
shares of 42.5% for Whit-
mire and 35.6% for Jackson
Lee in the November gen-
eral election.
As the finish line nears,
both candidates continue
to secure support from a
broad array of elected offi-
cials and groups. This past
Saturday, former Mayor
Kathy Whitmire, who was
married to John Whit-
mire’s late brother, en-
dorsed Jackson Lee, who
served as an at-large coun-
cil member during Kathy
Whitmire’s mayoral tenure
in the 1990s.
Garcia has not endorsed
either candidate. He said
he hoped the forum would
help assess which contend-
er could be a better partner
in serving neighborhoods
in Precinct 2, which cur-
rently lags behind other
areas in income, health
care, homeownership and
educational attainment.
Housing affordability
Several of Sunday’s
questions concerned hous-
ing challenges. The latest
census data shows that a
quarter of Houston renters
spend over half their in-
come on housing, which
places them in the “severe-
ly rent burdened” category.
Rising housing costs have
also disproportionately af-
fected Hispanic communi-
ties, according to research
by Rice University’s Kind-
er Institute for Urban Re-
search.
On Sunday, Whitmire
highlighted the need for
new leadership and point-
ed out inefficiencies in out-
going Mayor Sylvester
Turner’s administration.
He criticized the city’s
move in September to end
a $60 million affordable
housing program, funded
by Hurricane Harvey relief
funds, after a missed dead-
line.
“You’ve got to have a
housing director that un-
derstands the affordability
issue. You’ve got to have
Public Works that does not
make the permitting pro-
cess so long and expen-
sive,” Whitmire said.
“You’ve also got to have a
mayor — and I’m uniquely
qualified — to reach across
the aisle.”
Jackson Lee also empha-
sized the need to stream-
line the permitting process
and highlighted her previ-
ous efforts as a member of
Congress in securing fed-
eral funds for Houston’s
housing improvements.
“Obviously, as the may-
or of the city of Houston,
I’ll have a more effective
pathway of using those
dollars which got entan-
gled in red tape, I admit it,”
Jackson Lee said.
She added that even
though Houston lacks zon-
ing laws, developers
should not have unrestrict-
ed freedom to build in
neighborhoods. “Let’s
work together with our
neighborhoods and create
restraints that are demo-
cratic and respectful,” she
said.
Environmental issues
The candidates also pro-
posed ways to rectify envi-
ronmental concerns in
neighborhoods, including
the concentration of batch
plants in communities of
color and a public housing
project built near what ac-
tivists have said are con-
taminated industrial sites.
Jackson Lee emphasized
her involvement in study-
ing the cancer cluster in
Fifth Ward and advocating
for the affected families. If
elected, she said, she
would draft a comprehen-
sive environmental plan
and appoint a designated
staff member to communi-
cate with federal and state
agencies to deal with these
issues.
“We can’t do this alone,”
she said.
Whitmire said tackling
neighborhood issues such
as illegal dumping was a
key motivator for his can-
didacy. He stressed the im-
portance of increased
transparency and holding
city leaders accountable,
especially when residents’
well-being is at stake.
“We’ve got to get away
from just the splash and
the press conference and
have real people solu-
tions,” he said.
Road safety
A recent Department of
Transportation report
shows that Harris County
has one of the highest
number of car crashes in
the state — more than
115,000 in the past year.
During the forum,
Whitmire and Jackson Lee
both agreed that, if elected,
they would push for stric-
ter enforcement of traffic
laws to enhance road safe-
ty.
Residents of Houston’s
Eastwood area have re-
peatedly raised concerns
about traffic congestion
and safety risks because of
delays at railroad cross-
ings. The candidates ac-
knowledged the complexi-
ty of this issue, especially
because railroads are regu-
lated by federal authorities.

CHUCK ROSENTHAL 1946-2023

Longtime prosecutor served as county DA for 8 years

By Nicole Hensley
STA F F WRIT E R
Chuck Rosenthal, a ca-
reer Harris County prose-
cutor whose tenure as dis-
trict attorney ended in
scandal, died recently after
spending weeks in hospice
care. He was 77.
Voters elected the prose-
cutor in 2000 to lead the
Harris County District At-
torney’s Office following
the retirement of Johnny
Holmes, who stepped
aside after a crime-fighting
legacy that spanned two
decades. Rosenthal served
in that role until 2008,
when he resigned over the
public disclosure of inap-
propriate emails.
At the time of his death,
Rosenthal was not actively
practicing law but retained
his license, Texas Bar re-
cords show. Fellow attor-
neys said Rosenthal con-
tinued infrequent legal
work ranging from re-
search to juvenile law in
the years after his resigna-
tion. Rosenthal’s family
could not be reached for
comment.
Rosenthal, an Alice na-
tive, joined the district at-
torney’s office in 1977 after
earning a law degree from
the South Texas College of
Law. He planned to switch
to criminal defense work
within a few years to make
more money, according to
news accounts. He tried a
few trials and changed his
mind.
Hal Kennedy, a retired
Houston police detective,
trusted Rosenthal to pros-
ecute several of his homi-
cide cases.
“He could have been an-
other DeGeurin,” said
Kennedy, referring to at-
torney brothers Dick and
Mike DeGeurin. “He could
have been anyone. He
chose not to.”
It was not unusual for
Rosenthal to take 2 a.m.
calls from Kennedy or oth-
er law enforcement offi-
cials with questions about
search warrants and other
advice that could shape the
future of a case.
As a prosecutor, Rosen-
thal went on to try more
than a dozen death penalty
cases — a punishment that
he deemed sanctioned by
biblical law.
As district attorney, his
office sent 36 convicted
killers to death row. Rosen-
thal made the decision to
pursue the death penalty
on cases and famously ex-
ercised that discretion
with Andrea Yates, the
mother who drowned her
five children. Jurors ulti-
mately opted for a life sen-
tence before her verdict
was overturned. In a later
trial, jurors found her not
guilty by reason of insanity
and sent her to a mental
hospital.
A committee of senior
Chuck Rosenthal celebrates winning the district
attorney runoff with daughter Ellie Rosenthal on
April 11, 2000. He served in the role until 2008.
prosecutors now decide
whether to seek the ulti-
mate punishment on a cap-
ital murder defendant.
Former prosecutors
lauded Rosenthal’s stretch
of leadership for being free
of politics.
“People never knew
whether someone was a
Democrat or Republican,”
said Bert Graham, who
worked as a first assistant
district attorney under Ro-
senthal and Holmes. “It
was just harped upon to do
justice.”
Rosenthal had no qualm
about dismissing criminal
cases in instances in which
he thought the defendant
was innocent, Graham
said.
He avoided small talk or
conventional conversation
norms, former colleagues
Staff file photo
said. Some considered him
“an odd duck.”
“I was always aware
that Chuck’s brain worked
a little differently than ev-
erybody else,” former
prosecutor Shirley Corne-
lius said. “But that made
him a good trial lawyer. He
had an encyclopedia
knowledge of cases.”
When the courts closed,
Rosenthal often hosted in-
formal office parties that
attracted a who’s who of
guests — sometimes the
occasional HPD officer or
FBI agent, Cornelius said.
“You never knew who
was floating in,” she said.
“There was wild music go-
ing and alcohol flowing,
and Chuck Rosenthal
would be reciting an affida-
vit for a search warrant for
capital murder. He’d be re-
citing it off the top of his
head.”
Defense attorney Mur-
ray Newman perceived lit-
tle change as a fledgling
prosecutor when Rosen-
thal took over as district at-
torney. He ran the office
like “a well-oiled ma-
chine,” he said.
“He trusted his people
to do their jobs and he left
us alone to do them,” New-
man wrote in a “Life at the
Harris County Criminal
Justice Center” blog post
paying tribute to Rosen-
thal’s legacy.
Rosenthal’s departure
in 2008 signified the end of
“old-school prosecuting”
in Harris County, Newman
continued.
The status quo at the of-
fice was upended when a
federal suit alleging a
wrongful arrest exposed
love notes that Rosenthal
sent an employee. Other e-
mails that Rosenthal sent
and received on his county
account surfaced. Some
were sexually explicit, rac-
ist and campaign-related.
Political opponents,
Democrats and Republi-
cans, seized the moment to
scrutinize Rosenthal’s ca-
reer as the emails jeopar-
dized his bid for a third
term. GOP leaders pres-
sured him to stop his cam-
paign, which he did, and
immediately threw their
support behind former
prosecutor Kelly Siegler.
As calls for his resigna-
tion increased, several
lawyers, including re-
nowned Houston attorney
Richard “Racehorse”
Haynes, encouraged him
to not give in to mounting
pressure. Cornelius en-
countered Haynes, whose
work inspired the 1976 true
crime novel “Blood and
Money,” in a waiting room
outside Rosenthal’s office
and recalled his mission as
his resignation neared.
Haynes had words for
Rosenthal: “I don’t want
him to resign. I don’t want
him to lose his dreams.”
Weeks into the snow-
balling scandal, Rosenthal
resigned and blamed pre-
scription medication for
his poor judgment. His
resignation ended 31 years
of service to the district at-
torney’s office.
Graham expressed dis-
appointment in Rosen-
thal’s decision to step
down — which followed
threats by state leaders to
investigate him. He re-
mains proud of having
worked for Rosenthal be-
fore and during the down-
fall of his tenure.
“I’d hate for people to
think that what happened
in federal court was indica-
tive of the life he had,” Gra-
ham said. “He made some
mistakes toward the end.
Overall, I think he did a
good service to the coun-
ty.”

Cut to Social Security benefits plausible, not guaranteed

By Louis Jacobson
P O L I T I FACT
The claim: President
Joe Biden said Repub-
licans intend to chop
Social Security.
“I thought (Repub-
licans) agreed not to do
this a couple times,” Bi-
den said Nov. 27 during a
White House event. “But
they’re back at it. Average
benefit cut would be 13%.”
Almost 67 million
Americans this year will
receive Social Security
payments, totaling about
$1 trillion. Many older
Americans rely on the
benefits to pay their basic
living expenses.
People can start receiv-
ing Social Security retire-
ment benefits at age 62,
but full benefits kick in
when they reach full
retirement age, which is
67 for anyone born 1960
or later.
Social Security is fund-
ed through the payroll
tax; that revenue is put
into trust funds to pay for
current beneficiaries.
These trust funds could
be depleted as early as
2032 if further action is
not taken. That could
mean that in about a
decade, monthly checks
could be reduced by
POLITIFACT
ABOUT
POLITIFACT
PolitiFact is a
fact-checking project to
help you sort out fact from
fiction in politics.
Truth-O-Meter ratings are
determined by a panel of
three editors. The burden
of proof is on the speaker,
and PolitiFact rates
statements based on the
information known at the
time the statement is
about 23%.
But because of its wide-
spread support among
older Americans — who
usually have the highest
voter turnout — Social
Security has long been
known as the “third rail
of politics.” Many poli-
ticians in both parties are
reluctant to broach major
structural changes.
PolitiFact ruling:
Mostly False. A Repub-
lican Study Committee
proposal from June would
result in cuts to beneficia-
ries from a combination
of a higher retirement age
and formula changes,
though the proposal said
current retirees and those
nearing retirement age
would be exempted. Ex-
perts found the 13% cut
Biden cited to be spec-
ulative, but plausible —
but there isn’t enough
detail to really know.
Also, this is one Re-
publican faction’s plan,
not something universally
adopted by the party, and
it’s far from guaranteed to
be passed in the House,
let alone in the Senate.
And Biden’s framing also
ignores that his own
policy, which is essential-
ly to continue the status
quo, threatens even big-
ger across-the-board
reductions by the early
2030s.
Discussion
In its 167-page fiscal
year 2024 budget propos-
al, the Republican Study
Committee backed some
changes to Social Securi-
ty’s structure that it said
would preserve the pro-
gram’s fiscal health.
The group said it
would “make modest
changes” in the benefit
formula for “individuals
who are not near retire-
ment” and are on the
income scale’s higher end.
It also said it would make
“modest adjustments” to
the retirement age for full
benefits “to account for
increases in life expec-
tancy.” And the budget
said it would phase out
“auxiliary benefits” for
high earners.
The proposal would
cut benefits, at least for
some people.
In its proposed budget,
the Republican Study
Committee emphasized
that its proposal “does not
cut or delay retirement
benefits for any senior in
or near retirement,” and
Biden did not repeat this
caveat.
However, the flip side
of the group’s pledge is
that younger Americans
would see reductions
under the group’s plan.
In an analysis of the
proposal for PolitiFact,
the Committee for a Re-
sponsible Federal Budget
— a fiscally hawkish
group that tracks budget
matters — said it is “gen-
erally true that an in-
crease in the full retire-
ment age is roughly
equivalent to an across-
the-board cut in benefits.”
For instance, if people
want to retire at 67, but
the age for receiving full
benefits is raised to 69,
they can still choose to
retire at 67, but if they do,
they will have to accept a
lower monthly payment
than before the age was
raised.
Future beneficiaries’
payments could be cut
further depending on
their income and other
factors.
The White House told
PolitiFact that the 13%
figure originated in a
table the liberal Center for
Budget and Policy Priori-
ties published.
In the table, raising the
retirement age from 67 to
69 would reduce an “il-
lustrative monthly bene-
fit” from $1,000 to $867,
which is a 13.3% cut.
The paper was last
updated in 2020, but Paul
Van de Water, a senior
fellow at the Center for
Budget and Policy Priori-
ties, said the math it uses
is “still applicable.”
However, the Commit-
tee for a Responsible
Federal Budget urged
caution.
“There both isn’t
enough detail to say what
the full (Republican
Study Committee) plan is,
and there also isn’t a
comprehensive assess-
ment of the full plan to
say what the average cut
would or wouldn’t be,”
the group told PolitiFact.
The Republican Study
Committee did not an-
swer an inquiry for this
article.
The Republican Study
Committee’s membership
includes about 80% of the
House Republican Con-
ference, which holds a
narrow majority in the
chamber. But this doesn’t
mean the Republican
Study Committee’s plan is
an official plan for all
Republicans — nor would
it be a slam dunk to pass.
It’s one proposal from
one faction, albeit a siz-
able one, within the
House Republican Con-
ference. Given the politi-
cal sensitivity of Social
Security and that one-
fifth of House Repub-
licans aren’t bound by the
Republican Study Com-
mittee’s plan, it could face
trouble on the floor, if it
gets that far.
Also, Democrats con-
trol the Senate narrowly,
and it’s not clear that the
Republican minority in
the chamber would close
ranks behind such a plan.
A4 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
Israel expands offensive to all areas of Gaza
By Najib Jobain
and Kareem Chehayeb
A S S OC IAT E D PRE SS
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip
— The Israeli military said Sun-
day its ground offensive had ex-
panded to every part of Gaza,
and it ordered more evacuations
in the crowded south while vow-
ing that operations there against
Hamas would be “no less
strength” than its shattering
ones in the north.
Heavy bombardment followed
evacuation orders, and Palestini-
ans said they were running out
of places to go in the sealed-off
territory bordering Israel and
Egypt. Many of Gaza’s 2.3 million
people are crammed into the
south after Israel ordered civil-
ians to leave the north in the ear-
ly days of the war, which was
sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led
attack in Israel that killed about
1,200, mostly civilians.
The United Nations estimates
that 1.8 million Palestinians in
Gaza have been displaced. Near-
ly 958,000 of them are in 99 U.N.
facilities in the south, said Ju-
liette Toma, director of commu-
nications at the U.N. agency for
Palestinian refugees.
After dark, gunfire and shell-
ing were heard in the central
town of Deir al-Balah as flares lit
the sky. In Gaza’s second-largest
city of Khan Younis, Israeli
drones buzzed overhead. U.N.
human rights chief Volker Türk
urged an end to the war, saying
civilian suffering was “too much
to bear.”
The Health Ministry in
Hamas-run Gaza said the death
toll there since Oct. 7 has sur-
passed 15,500, with more than
41,000 wounded. The ministry
does not differentiate between ci-
vilian and combatant deaths, but
said 70% of the dead were wom-
en and children.
A Health Ministry spokesman
asserted that hundreds had been
killed or wounded since a week-
long cease-fire ended Friday.
“The majority of victims are still
under the rubble,” Ashraf al-Qi-
dra said.
Hopes for another temporary
truce in Gaza were fading. The
cease-fire facilitated the release
of dozens of the roughly 240 Ga-
za-held Israeli and foreign hos-
Ships in Red Sea come under attack tied to Mideast war
By Jon Gambrell
AS S OC IAT E D PRE SS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
— Three commercial ships in the
Red Sea were struck by ballistic
missiles fired from Houthi-con-
trolled Yemen on Sunday and a
U.S. warship shot down three
drones in self-defense during the
hourslong assault, the U.S. mili-
tary said. Responsibility for the
attack was claimed by the Houthi
rebels, who are backed by Iran.
The attacks marked an escala-
tion in a series of maritime attacks
in the Mideast linked to the Israel-
Hamas war, as multiple vessels
found themselves in the cross-
hairs of a single Houthi assault for
QUAKE LEAVES PHILIPPINES DAMAGED
A motorcycle passes a partially damaged grocery store in Bayugan City, Philippines, on
Sunday, a day after a powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck.
At least one villager was killed and several others injured as thousands fled their
homes in panic after authorities issued a tsunami warning, which was later dropped.
NATION & WORLD
Palestinians look for survivors of the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah on Sunday.
tages in exchange for Palestini-
ans imprisoned by Israel. But Is-
rael has called its negotiators
home, and Prime Minister Benja-
min Netanyahu says the war will
continue until “all its goals” are
achieved. One is to remove
Hamas from power in Gaza.
Senior Hamas official Osama
Hamdan said resuming talks
with Israel on further exchanges
must be tied to a permanent
cease-fire.
White House National Securi-
ty Council spokesman John Kir-
by told NBC’s “Meet the Press”
the U.S. was working “really
hard” for a resumption of negoti-
ations.
Israel’s military widened evac-
uation orders in and around
Khan Younis in the south, telling
residents of at least five more
areas to leave. Residents said the
military dropped leaflets calling
Khan Younis “a dangerous com-
bat zone” and ordering them to
the first time in the conflict.
In a statement, U.S. Central
Command said the attacks “rep-
resent a direct threat to interna-
tional commerce and maritime
security. They have jeopardized
the lives of international crews re-
presenting multiple countries
around the world.” It said the
three commercial ships and their
crews are connected to 14 coun-
tries.
According to Central Com-
mand, the USS Carney, a Navy de-
stroyer, detected a ballistic missile
fired from Houthi-controlled
areas of Yemen at the Bahamas-
flagged bulk carrier Unity Ex-
plorer. The missile hit near the
ship. Shortly afterward, the Car-
Ivy Marie Mangadlao/Associated Press
move to the border city of Rafah
or a coastal area in the south-
west.
But Halima Abdel-Rahman, a
widow and mother of four, said
she won’t heed such orders any-
more. She fled her home in Octo-
ber to an area outside Khan You-
nis, where she stays with rela-
tives.
“The occupation tells you to go
to this area, then they bomb it,”
she said by phone. “The reality is
that no place is safe in Gaza. They
kill people in the north. They kill
people in the south.”
The United States, Israel’s
closest ally, has urged Israel to
avoid significant new mass dis-
placement and do more to pro-
tect civilians. U.S. Vice President
Kamala Harris told Egypt’s pres-
ident that “under no circum-
stances” would the U.S. permit
the forced relocation of Palestini-
ans from Gaza or the West Bank,
an ongoing siege of Gaza or the
ney shot down a drone headed its
way, although it’s not clear if the
destroyer was the target. The
drone was also launched from Ye-
men.
About 30 minutes later, the
Unity Explorer was hit by a mis-
sile, and while responding to the
distress call, the Carney shot
down another incoming drone.
Central Command said the Unity
Explorer reported minor damage
from the missile.
Two other commercial ships,
the Panamanian-flagged bulk
carriers Number 9 and Sophie II,
were both struck by missiles. The
Number 9 reported some damage
but no casualties, and the Sophie
II reported no significant damage.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
redrawing of its borders.
On the ground in Gaza, there
was fear and mourning. Outside
a Gaza City hospital, a dust-cov-
ered boy named Saaed Khalid
Shehta dropped to his knees be-
side the bloodied body of his little
brother Mohammad, one of sev-
eral bodies laid out after people
said their street was hit by air-
strikes. He kissed him.
“You bury me with him!” the
boy cried. A health worker at Al-
Ahli Baptist Hospital said more
than 15 children were killed.
Israel’s military said its fighter
jets and helicopters struck tar-
gets in Gaza including “tunnel
shafts, command centers and
weapons storage facilities.” It ac-
knowledged “extensive aerial at-
tacks in the Khan Younis area.”
The bodies of 31 people killed
in bombardment of central Gaza
were taken to the Al-Aqsa hospi-
tal in Deir al-Balah, said Omar
al-Darawi, a hospital administra-
While sailing to assist the So-
phie II, the Carney shot down an-
other drone.
“We also have every reason to
believe that these attacks, while
launched by the Houthis in Ye-
men, are fully enabled by Iran,”
Central Command said, adding
that the U.S. will consider “all ap-
propriate responses.”
The Carney, an Arleigh Burke-
class guided-missile destroyer,
has already shot down multiple
rockets the Houthis have fired to-
ward Israel so far in the war. It
hasn’t been damaged in any of the
incidents and no injuries have
been reported on board.
Houthi military spokesman
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed
AROUND THE NATION AND WORLD
MICHIGAN
Swing state Muslims
pledge to ditch Biden
Muslim community leaders
from several swing states
pledged to withdraw support
for President Joe Biden on Sat-
urday at a conference in sub-
urban Detroit, citing his refusal
to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Democrats in Michigan have
warned the White House that
Biden’s handling of the Israel-
Hamas war could cost him
enough support within the
Arab American community to
sway the outcome of the 2024
presidential election.
Leaders from Michigan, Min-
nesota, Arizona, Wisconsin,
Florida, Georgia, Nevada and
Pennsylvania gathered behind a
lectern that read “Abandon
Biden, ceasefire now” in Dear-
born, Mich., the city with the
largest concentration of Arab
Americans in the United States.
Biden’s unwillingness to call
for a cease-fire has damaged his
relationship with the American
Muslim community beyond
repair, according to Minneapo-
lis-based Jaylani Hussein, who
helped organize the conference.
Hatem Ali/Associated Press
tive employee. One woman wept,
cradling a child’s body. Another
carried the body of a baby. Later,
hospital workers reported 11
more dead after another air-
strike. Bloodied survivors in-
cluded a child carried in on a
mattress.
Outside a hospital morgue in
Khan Younis, resident Samy al-
Najeila carried the body of a
child. He said his sons had been
preparing to evacuate their
home, “but the occupation didn’t
give us any time. The three-floor
building was destroyed com-
pletely, the whole block was to-
tally destroyed.” He said six of
the bodies were his relatives.
“Five people are still under the
rubble,” he said. “God help us.”
In a video from the same
crowded al-Nasser hospital,
UNICEF spokesperson James
Elder said: “I feel like I’m almost
failing in my ability to convey the
endless killing of children here.”
Sunday’s attacks, saying the first
vessel was hit by a missile and the
second by a drone while in the
Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which
links the Red Sea to the Gulf of
Aden. Saree did not mention any
U.S. warship being involved in the
attack.
“The Yemeni armed forces con-
tinue to prevent Israeli ships from
navigating the Red Sea (and Gulf
of Aden) until the Israeli aggres-
sion against our steadfast broth-
ers in the Gaza Strip stops,” Saree
said. “The Yemeni armed forces
renew their warning to all Israeli
ships or those associated with Is-
raelis that they will become a le-
gitimate target if they violate what
is stated in this statement.”
“Families and children are
being wiped out with our tax
dollars,” Hussein said.
UKRAINE
Probe: Russian forces
shot captured troops
Ukrainian officials on Sun-
day launched an investigation
into allegations that Russian
forces killed surrendering
Ukrainian soldiers — a war
crime if confirmed — after
grainy footage on social media
appeared to show two uni-
formed men being shot at close
range after emerging from a
dugout.
The video shows the service-
men, one of them with his
hands up, walking out at gun-
point and lying down on the
ground before a group of Rus-
sian troops appears to open fire.
It was not immediately possible
to verify the video’s authen-
ticity.
The Ukrainian General Pros-
ecutor’s office Sunday launched
a criminal investigation.
The Russian defense ministry
did not respond to a request for
comment.
From wire reports
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
CHEESE
From page A1
very lucky.”)
Houston Dairymaids
has even gone interplane-
tary, twice partnering with
NASA to have a hunk of
Old Farmdal, a Belgian
gouda, delivered to the In-
ternational Space Station
at the request of astronaut
Shannon Walker.
The skeptical chef,
Schechter added, ended
up becoming one of Hous-
ton Dairymaids’ first and
best customers.
Texas is one of the na-
tion’s largest dairy-pro-
ducing states, ranking
among the top five for milk
production, according to
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. But it histor-
ically has had a relatively
subdued presence on the
nation’s cheese scene. If we
had an official state
cheese, it would probably
be queso, the dip that tra-
ditionally takes a block of
melted Velveeta as its base.
But that may be chang-
ing, thanks to cheesemak-
ers and cheesemongers
such as Houston Dairy-
maids and Antonelli’s,
which opened in Austin in
2010 and is featured in a
national credit card com-
mercial.
In addition to selling
imports, Houston Dairy-
maids partners with nine
Texas cheesemakers, in-
cluding Dallas’s Mozzarel-
la Co., Dublin’s Veldhui-
zen Family Farm and Pure
Luck Dairy in Dripping
Springs, west of Austin.
The latter has achieved na-
tional renown, claiming
several awards at the
American Cheese Soci-
ety’s annual competition
in July.
Cheesemaker Andrea
Cudin, founder of Lira
Rossa, recalls struggling
after he began selling his
Italian-style cheeses in
Victoria in 2016.
“I thought the world
was waiting for me and my
cheese, and it turned out
they weren’t,” said Cudin,
a native of the Friuli region
When Lindsey Schechter launched Houston Dairymaids in 2006, the city had no specialty cheesemongers.
But local foodies responded immediately and enthusiastically, Schechter said.
In addition to selling imports, Houston Dairymaids
partners with nine Texas cheesemakers.
of northeast Italy.
But he heard from
Houston Dairymaids
within months of opening
Lira Rossa’s, he said.
“They have been the first
people coming to the
creamery. “They’ve been
the first to come and en-
courage us and buy the
cheese.”
Lira Rossa has found its
footing since then, and
now sells about 600
pounds of cheese a week to
restaurants, at farmers
markets and at specialty
“Cheese is an activity as well as a
sustenance. We try to be educators as
well as cheesemongers. Educating is
part of cheesemongering, I guess.”
Lindsey Schechter
stores. Houston Dairy-
maids plays a crucial role
in supporting artisanal
cheesemakers, Cudin
reckons.
“In Houston, basically,
they’re the only one,” he
said. “If you want to be in
Photos by Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer
Despite some tough years, Schechter sees a bright
future for artisanal cheese in the Houston area.
the Houston market, if you
want to reach restaurants
— I can tell you that if
Lindsey goes around and
says you need to try the
cheese, they try it and they
buy it.”
Recent years have been
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A5
tumultuous ones for many
restaurants, grocers and
other food-related busi-
nesses, thanks to the one-
two-three punch of the
COVID-19 pandemic fol-
lowed by supply chain dis-
ruptions and then roaring
inflation. The pandemic
took a toll on the Dairy-
maids’ wholesaling busi-
ness, as restaurants closed
or scaled back, Schechter
recalled. The company
did, however, see an up-
tick in direct-to-consumer
sales, which it encouraged
by sending shoppers
home with informational
sheets as well as packages
of cheese.
“Cheese is an activity as
well as a sustenance,” she
observed. “We try to be ed-
ucators as well as cheese-
mongers. Educating is
part of cheesemongering, I
guess.”
Post-pandemic, supply
chain disruptions caused
Houston Dairymaids to
reconsider its inventory.
For some time, the store
stopped stocking French
soft cheeses, or any other
cheese that can’t safely sit
on a boat for several
months. More recently, in-
flation has forced some
cheesemakers to raise
prices even as restaurants
have scaled back their
cheese programs.
Still, Schechter sees a
bright future for artisanal
cheese in the Houston area
— part of a broader trend
among consumers toward
knowing where cheese,
wine, produce, coffee and
other goods are made. In-
deed, Montrose Cheese
and Wine joined the scene
in 2019 at 1618 Westheimer,
where it offers raclette
parties and wine tastings
in addition to a menu of
small plates and boards.
In the run-up to
Thanksgiving, Schechter
said, Dairymaids’ sales
were so good they were
“almost frightening,” she
said. And she recently re-
ceived an inquiry about ca-
tering an 8-year-old’s
birthday party, a sign that
younger eaters are taking
an interest in cheese be-
yond American slices.
For her part, Schechter
says, it’s hard to pick a fa-
vorite cheese, adding that
it’s a bit like picking a fa-
vorite child. But she al-
ways encourages custom-
ers to explore their pal-
ates; there might be a blue
cheese out there that you’ll
like, for example, even if
you haven’t found it yet.
And if you also like to
dabble in queso, well,
that’s fine.
“I support cheese eat-
ing,” Schechter said.
A6 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
LANGUAGE
From page A1
ning to emerge about how dual-
language instruction is being im-
plemented at Houston ISD.
School visits, along with inter-
views with HISD leaders, par-
ents and teachers, indicate that
students in dual-language pro-
grams are receiving instruction
both in English and Spanish,
though not without hiccups and
not, perhaps, to the satisfaction of
all.
At Gregg Elementary School,
an NES-aligned school in south-
east Houston, students returned
from Thanksgiving break Mon-
day a bit quiet and bleary-eyed,
but seemingly ready to learn. Stu-
dents’ decorated handprint tur-
keys remained pasted onto
school windows, and artificial
Christmas trees in the lobby
served as a reminder of the holi-
day season still to come.
Like the majority of the 80 du-
al-language campuses at HISD,
Gregg offers a “one-way” model
which only serves native Spanish
speakers, rather than a “two-
way” model that places roughly
the same number of native En-
glish and Spanish speakers in the
same classroom. About half of
students at Gregg are “emergent
bilingual” students, meaning that
English is not their first language.
Though student enrollment
across HISD fell by about 6,000
students to 183,884 this year, the
number of emergent bilingual
students appears to have in-
creased by about 1,300 students
to 71,533 this year, according to
preliminary district data.
HISD has roughly doubled the
number of dual-language pro-
grams since last year by install-
ing them at NES and NES-
aligned schools in place of transi-
tional bilingual programs, in
which students are taught in
their native language with En-
glish-language instruction
phased in over time. District data
shows that emergent bilingual
students in HISD’s dual-lan-
guage programs learn English
more quickly and perform better
on end-of-year assessments than
their counterparts in other multi-
lingual models.
For NES and NES-A schools
that previously offered transi-
tional bilingual programs, the
dual-language model only serves
students in pre-kindergarten
through second grade, according
to HISD Multilingual Director
Sonya Monreal. Generally speak-
ing, those campuses are sup-
posed to offer language arts and
reading classes in both English
and Spanish, along with math in
Spanish and science in English,
APPEAL
From page A1
disappointed” in Franklin’s de-
cision, calling it “unsupported”
and “erroneous.”
Franklin declined to com-
ment. She was first elected to the
bench in 2016 and is up for re-
election next year.
King is also running for a
judgeship in Harris County. In
an email to the Houston Chron-
icle, she wrote that her original
promise to Barrera-Magana was
the result of a typo, “an unfortu-
nate error that I tried to correct.”
She said she’d represented crim-
inal defendants in more than 100
trials and written more than 50
appeals during her 22-year ca-
reer as a defense attorney.
“I care about all the clients
that I represented,” King said.
She added that she is “glad” Bar-
rera-Magana will be able to file
his appeal, though prosecutors
in her office had argued in legal
briefs to Franklin that he should
not have been able to do so.
Ogg’s office did not respond
to questions about the matter.
Mandy Miller, a criminal de-
fense attorney based in Houston
who specializes in post-convic-
tion work, said it’s not uncom-
mon for attorneys to miss dead-
lines. But she called the se-
quence of events in Barrera-Ma-
gana’s case “mind-blowing.”
“Things happen, and you
miss deadlines, and that’s OK,”
Miller said. “The problem is not
facing it. This could have been
resolved ages ago.”
The episode is emblematic of
a lack of accountability in the
courts. As the Chronicle recent-
ly reported, an attorney who re-
peatedly missed deadlines for
clients on death row is still one
of the busiest and highest-earn-
ing court-appointed lawyers in
the county.
The Harris County District
Clerk’s Office recently discov-
At Patterson Elementary, near Houston’s border with Pasadena, artwork in both English and
Spanish in the hallways helps express the values the school hopes to instill in its students.
though adjustments can be made
school-by-school for staffing or
other purposes, Monreal said.
At Gregg, which has offered a
dual-language program for sev-
eral years, preschool students sat
Monday morning sketching rep-
resentations on their white-
boards of Spanish phrases like
“haciendo ejercicio” (excercising)
or “bañandome” (taking a bath).
Hand-drawn posters on the wall
indicated how the same letter, “J,”
for example, could make differ-
ent sounds in English and Span-
ish — “juice,” as opposed to “ju-
go,” and so on.
Third-graders, meanwhile,
had their reading lesson in En-
glish — in the upper grades stu-
dents may have only one teacher
per subject, and that teacher will
alternate the language of instruc-
tion by units, which last a couple
of weeks each. A teacher’s ap-
prentice was filling in for a teach-
er who was absent, and taught
from district curriculum that in-
cluded translations for certain
keywords. Monday’s lesson in-
volved identifying homonyms in
sentences, and some students re-
sponded to the teacher’s prompts
in both Spanish and English.
Reports from other schools
across the district present a
mixed bag of experiences and
opinions, even on the same cam-
pus. At Pugh Elementary, an
NES school with a two-way dual-
language program, parent Melis-
sa Yarborough says she heard
from teachers earlier this year
that curriculum materials
weren’t consistently provided in
Spanish, and that she hasn’t seen
evidence that her children are re-
ceiving as much Spanish-lan-
guage instruction as English.
ered dozens of “lost” appeals
that the court system had failed
to address. One such appeal,
which was filed in 1994 and for-
gotten for decades afterward, fi-
nally led to the overturning of a
man’s death sentence last
month. The issue was first re-
ported by the Houston Landing.
Seven years of delay
On Nov. 15, 2004, officers with
the Baytown Police Department
found 19-year-old Santiago Gar-
cia shot to death near a park in
Old Baytown. A decade would
pass before Juan Carlos Barrera-
Magana was convicted of mur-
dering him and sentenced to life
in prison. Both men had been in-
volved in a smuggling business,
and witnesses testified at the tri-
al that Barrera-Magana killed
Garcia because he believed he
was “going to snitch about
something,” court records show.
Barrera-Magana insisted he
was innocent but couldn’t afford
a lawyer. So King, then a promi-
nent Houston defense attorney,
was assigned to handle his ap-
peal.
In August 2015, King filed a
28-page appellate brief for her
client that was rejected by an ap-
peals court a few months later.
But Barrera-Magana still had
options, as King told him in a
letter that December. For one, he
could submit another appeal,
known as a “Petition for Discre-
tionary Review,” to the Court of
Criminal Appeals within 30
days.
“I will file this petition for
you,” King wrote to Barrera-Ma-
gana.
She never did. A year later,
King left her job as a defense at-
torney to work as chief of staff
for Ogg, who was newly elected.
Meanwhile, Barrera-Magana
waited in a state prison for news
of the appeal. In 2019, a court
clerk informed him that no ap-
peal had been filed.
The next year, Barrera-Maga-
Photos by Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
A dual-language program pre-K teacher helps a student with
his work at Gregg Elementary School in southeast Houston.
Elizabeth De Leon, another
parent at Pugh, said her fourth-
grader does report learning
slightly more in English than in
Spanish, but that her prekinder-
gartener appears to be learning
equally in both. The younger
child is picking up both English
and Spanish remarkably quickly,
De Leon notes, considering that
only the latter is spoken in their
household.
“Her teacher tells me she can
be a really smart girl, that she can
be an outstanding student,” De
Leon said in Spanish.
Ainhoa Donat Mas, a third
grade dual-language teacher at
Burbank Elementary School, a
non-NES school, said she’s still
able to teach about half her clas-
ses in English and the other half
in Spanish, but that friends at
other campuses tell her that’s not
always the case for them.
“We are in a safe place, where
we can teach the way we’ve been
teaching,” Donat Mas said.
CHRONICLE BRINGS SCRUTINY
TO HARRIS COUNTY INDIGENT DEFENSE
Harris County leaders have pledged to improve legal representation
for indigent people accused of crimes after a Houston Chronicle
investigation revealed that court-appointed attorneys are swamped
with hundreds of cases a year, raising doubts about the quality of
their work.
One attorney made $1 million in 2022 with a caseload of hundreds of
felonies and misdemeanors — far exceeding state-recommended
caseload limits for defense lawyers.
But the county will need buy-in from felony judges who assign
attorneys to indigent defendants in their courtrooms.
na filed a grievance against King
with the State Bar of Texas,
which licenses attorneys and
has the power to discipline them
for misconduct. Only then did
King respond to him.
“It appears that my assistant
made a typo that I did not
catch,” she wrote to him in an-
other letter, referring to her 2015
correspondence. “The last sen-
tence in Paragraph 1) should
have read I will not file this peti-
tion for you; but instead, it read I
will file this petition for you.”
In her statement to the
Chronicle, King added that she
had signed the original letter
without catching the typo after
being “exhausted from a day in
trial.” The State Bar did not dis-
cipline her.
At judge’s mercy
By this point, Barrera-Maga-
na had decided to avail himself
of one other option he had: An
application for a “writ of habeus
corpus,” a broader legal request
for a hearing in front of a judge
that technically has no deadline.
Without the help of an attorney,
Barrera-Magana submitted a 33-
page application in September
2019. He argued that he had the
right to file a late appeal and that
King had provided him with in-
effective counsel, a violation of
his Sixth Amendment rights.
Now Barrera-Magana was at
the mercy of the judge in Harris
County who had jurisdiction
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
At Patterson Elementary, a
non-NES school near Houston’s
border with Pasadena, the Span-
ish language feels embedded into
the school, literally. Artwork
painted onto the building hall-
ways communicate values the
school hopes to instill in their stu-
dents, in both languages — “Risk
taker: I try new things” and “Au-
daces: Intento cosas nuevas.”
On a morning in October, third
graders at Patterson were learn-
ing multiplication in English
while fourth-graders down the
hall learned place values in Span-
ish. Like at Gregg, Patterson’s
students take classes in both lan-
guages, in different subjects
across different grade levels. Un-
like Gregg, Patterson runs a two-
way dual-language program and
has full autonomy to set its own
schedule, since it’s not an NES
school.
Teachers and administrators
at Patterson appear to go to great
lengths to incorporate both lan-
over his case and the writ appli-
cation: Ramona Franklin. It
would turn out to be a long wait.
In January 2022, more than
two years after Barrera-Magana
sent his application, and six
months after the Court of Crimi-
nal Appeals ordered her to take
action on it, Franklin issued her
own ruling stating that “the is-
sue of ineffective assistance of
counsel needs to be resolved.”
King would have to submit an
affidavit answering questions
about what happened.
King’s affidavit was due in a
month. But the due date came
and went.
“You’re the chief of staff of the
DA’s office! And a judge has or-
dered you to do something!”
said Maggie Kiely, a Harris
County public defender who
was eventually appointed to
represent Barrera-Magana, dur-
ing the proceedings. After she
took up the case, Kiely said she
attempted to contact King on the
phone for months, with no re-
sponse.
The Court of Criminal Ap-
peals was getting impatient, too,
sending Franklin two reminder
letters about the case over a peri-
od of several months. Finally, in
June 2023, Franklin signed a
“motion to compel,” a more seri-
ous order that demanded King
to either produce her affidavit or
appear in court to explain why
she hadn’t done so yet.
A month later, King respond-
guages into daily life at on their
campus. Wall hangings and in-
structions are written in blue ink
for English and red ink for Span-
ish. Children who are dominant
in one language are partnered
with peers who are stronger in
the other during “pair and
shares,” in which two students
discuss the lesson and share their
findings with the class.
But dual-language programs
aren’t immune to the changes
that have swept through HISD
since Miles was appointed super-
intendent on June 1.
Anne Garcia, a Patterson par-
ent who ran a mayoral campaign
aimed at raising awareness about
the state’s takeover of Houston’s
public schools, said her fifth-
grade son, who used to be a
straight-A student, is struggling
to keep up given the pacing of his
lessons, the prevalence of assess-
ments and high teacher turnover,
common complaints in the first
few months of Miles’ tenure.
Miles has said the district is im-
plementing the new instructional
directives with the goal of provid-
ing students with a “high-quality
instruction.”
Garcia was initially worried
about the amount of Spanish-lan-
guage instruction her son was re-
ceiving, after he reported he was
learning mostly in English. Now
she’s looking for homes in Mary-
land, in a district with a healthy
dual-language network.
“My idea of the worst-case sce-
nario has now been adjusted,”
Garcia said. “There’s just so
much coming at us at once, that
Spanish just seems like a luxury,
to think that my kids are truly
getting a dual-language educa-
tion when they’re not getting an
education at all anymore.”
Monreal said the multilingual
department closely monitors du-
al-language programs at schools
across the district, and that par-
ents who have doubts or con-
cerns should contact her office.
“Our parents who are con-
cerned are more than welcome to
reach out to our department and
we can definitely provide them
answers,” Monreal said. “I’m
more than happy to visit a cam-
pus with them to see what their
concerns are about their stu-
dent’s progress.”
It’s too early to see whether the
expansion of dual-language pro-
grams have made an impact on
student achievement, Monreal
said, but she noticed that begin-
ning-of-the-year benchmark
tests showed that English profi-
ciency was “very low” coming in-
to the school year.
“I definitely do plan to see
growth, based on what we had to
what we’re doing now,” Monreal
said.
ed — 17 months past the original
deadline.
King wrote in her affidavit
that she had never intended to
file an appeal for Barrera-Maga-
na because she “did not feel it
was meritorious.” She recount-
ed her “typo” in her original let-
ter to him and said all she had
done was given him “instruc-
tions” on how to submit the ap-
peal rather than promise to file it
for him — a claim directly con-
tradicted by the letter itself.
“If you compare the letter to
her affidavit, it doesn’t match
up,” Kiely said. “There are parts
of it that are blatantly false.”
Still, Ogg’s office asked
Franklin to accept the affidavit
as credible and to deny Barrera-
Magana’s request to file a late
appeal. And Franklin agreed. In
September 2023 — four years af-
ter his request was submitted —
she denied it.
Ben Wolff, director of a state
office that provides additional
legal representation for many
people facing death sentences in
Texas, said the delay in the rul-
ing might be understandable,
but not the substance of it.
“I have a lot of empathy for
busy judges with busy trial
dockets,” Wolff said. “But what
we all should hope is that judges
act as judges and not blindly
rubber-stamp the state’s argu-
ment.”
Soon after Franklin’s denial,
Kiely filed an appeal. By Novem-
ber, there was a new ruling from
the Court of Criminal Appeals
reversing Franklin’s decision
along with the concurring opin-
ion by Judge Slaughter.
“Given the egregious behav-
ior of counsel in this case,”
Slaughter wrote, referring to
King, “and the surprising find-
ings of the habeas court (refer-
ring to Franklin), I write sepa-
rately to advise others on how to
avoid needless, inefficient,
wasteful, and unjust post-con-
viction litigation.”
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A7
A8 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
F o u n d e d 1 9 0 1 • A H e a r s t N e w s pa p e r
Nancy A. Meyer
Justice’s trailblazing role came naturally
We can surmise with some
confidence that Sandra Day
O’Connor, who died Friday at
age 93, is the only U.S. Su-
preme Court justice in Amer-
ican history ever to have a
brace of pet javelinas as a child.
The sturdy, tusked creatures —
named Sandra and Ann after
the future jurist and her sister
— enjoyed hopping into laps
and being petted.
O’Connor recalled Sandra
and Ann in her bestselling
memoir, “Lazy B: Growing Up
on a Cattle Ranch in the South-
west,” written with her brother
H. Allen Day and published in
2002. Describing the remote
spread straddling the Arizona-
New Mexico border along the
Gila River, she not only
brought to life for her readers a
menagerie of pets she and her
siblings kept — including dogs,
cats and horses, as well as deer,
horned toads, a sparrow hawk,
a raccoon, a desert tortoise, a
goat or two and a bobcat
named Bob — but also provid-
ed revealing insights into how
her childhood influenced her
work as the first woman to
serve on the U.S. Supreme
Court.
It seemed to imbue her with
grit, for starters. After graduat-
ing near the top of her class at
Stanford Law School (third
among 102) she was passed
over for jobs because she was a
woman; the only offer she
could score was for a legal
secretary. She eventually per-
suaded a reluctant San Mateo
County attorney to hire her,
even offering to work for free if
he couldn’t fund the deputy
position.
She went on to be appointed
and reelected as an Arizona
state senator, later becoming
the first woman of any state to
serve as a majority leader. She
traded politics for a judgeship
on the Arizona Court of Ap-
peals and was nominated to
the high court by President
Ronald Reagan. She took the
oath of office Sept. 25, 1981, and
served until her retirement in
2006. Throughout her life, the
Why Arab Americans don’t want to reelect Biden
By Shadi Hamid
Even before the Israel-Gaza
war began, Arab and Muslim
Americans were losing faith in
the Democratic Party — for
reasons that had little to do
with foreign policy. They had
become increasingly skeptical
of the party’s leftward turn on
cultural and social issues;
lessons with LGBTQ+ themes
in public schools had become a
particular flash point. Those
debates now seem small and
fleeting.
In times of actual war, mere
culture war is a luxury. Over
the Thanksgiving break, dis-
illusion about the Biden ad-
ministration’s embrace of Isra-
el during its bombardment of
Gaza was the mood music for
my dinner-table conversations
with friends and family mem-
bers, four of whom are Arab
Americans. All four said they
would not vote for President
Joe Biden in 2024, after having
done so in 2020.
Four people are just four
people, of course, but these
vote-or-don’t-vote conversa-
tions are widespread. Accord-
ing to an October survey of
Arab Americans, only 17% plan
to vote for Biden, down from
35% in April and 59% in 2020.
And for the first time since
polling firm Zogby Strategies
started tracking them in 1996,
more Arab Americans now
identify as Republicans (32%)
than Democrats (20%). Sixty-
seven percent of respondents
rate Biden’s response to the
Israel-Gaza war negatively.
When I shared about my
Thanksgiving conversations on
X, the post garnered 7 million
views. Hundreds of outraged
replies came from liberals and
• PUBLIS H ER & PR E SI D EN T
Lazy B ranch was her touch-
stone.
From first grade through
high school, O’Connor spent
the school year with her grand-
parents in El Paso. “I was al-
ways homesick when away
from the ranch,” she wrote.
“My grandmother was loving
and caring, but the ranch was
where I wanted to be.”
What works? What makes
sense? She learned to ask those
and similar practical questions
as a child of the desert South-
west. For her ranching parents
and the cowboys who worked
for them on the 198,000-acre
ranch, those were the ques-
tions at hand as they respond-
ed to the exigencies of frontier
life, where water was scarce,
the wind blew constantly and
the harsh land and climate
were unforgiving.
“The value system we
learned was simple and unso-
phisticated and the product of
necessity,” O’Connor wrote.
“What counted was compe-
tence and the ability to do
whatever was required to
maintain the ranch operation
in good working order — the
livestock, the equipment, the
buildings, wells, fences, and
vehicles. Verbal skills were less
important than the ability to
know and understand how
things work in the physical
world. Personal qualities of
honesty, dependability, compe-
tence, and good humor were
valued most.”
As Chief Justice John Rob-
erts noted in a statement after
her death, O’Connor also was
“fiercely independent.” That
too was a trait she no doubt
learned on the Lazy B.
And, of course, she was a
trailblazer. The role came natu-
rally to her. “I cannot remem-
ber a time when I did not ride,”
she recalled. “Before I rode
occasionally on the roundup, it
was an all-male domain.
Changing it to accommodate a
female was probably my first
initiation into joining an all-
men’s club, something I did
more than once in my life.
other Trump opponents, many
pointing out that Donald
Trump wants to deport us. I
suspect that patronizing argu-
ments asking Arab Americans
to suck it up and vote Biden
regardless of his actual policies
are unlikely to be effective.
Their votes must be fought for.
Trump’s unique danger doesn’t
absolve Democrats of their
responsibility to make an affir-
mative case for their candidate.
Casting a vote is an intense-
ly personal act, and not just for
Arab Americans, who are too
often assumed to be emotional-
ly blinded by the Palestinian
cause. To expect anyone at the
ballot box to calmly calculate a
straightforward cost-benefit
analysis ignores much of what
is known about voter behavior.
Political scientists Christopher
Achen and Larry Bartels have
found that the “most important
factor in voters’ judgments (is)
their social and psychological
attachments to groups.” In
other words, all politics is
identity politics.
Everyone has a personal
threshold beyond which they
cannot, as a matter of con-
science, vote for a particular
candidate, even if they agree
with that candidate on most
other issues. If Biden woke up
one day to say he thought
women shouldn’t have a right
to abortion, it wouldn’t be
surprising if some liberals felt
unable to lend him their un-
qualified support.
For better and worse, I have
a contrarian instinct, so I re-
minded my sample of Arab
Americans that Trump would
be less sympathetic to Palestin-
ians than Biden is. They said
they understood the risk but
needed some way to register
OPINION
Jack Sweeney
C H A I R MA N
Chris Fusco
MA NAG I N G ED I T O R
EDITORIAL
Associated Press file photo
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
often was a conservative vote
on the Supreme Court, but
she was never an ideologue.
After the cowboys understood
that a girl could hold up her
end, it was much easier for my
sister, my niece, and the other
girls and young women who
followed to be accepted in that
rough-and-tumble world.” (A
record four women now serve
on the Supreme Court.)
More often than not, O’Con-
nor was a conservative vote on
the court — not surprising for
a fiercely independent West-
erner — but, unlike her suc-
cessor, Samuel Alito, she was
never an ideologue. As a mod-
erate Republican with experi-
ence in the give-and-take of
electoral politics, she consid-
ered herself a pragmatist who
relied more on common sense
than hard-edged legal philoso-
phy. We would argue that the
nation was better served by her
inclination to seek consensus
on the court and, as in the
Arizona Senate, to compro-
mise.
“Eternally a ranch girl, she
wanted solutions that really
worked and had little patience
for esoteric theory that had no
grounding in reality,” a former
O’Connor clerk, RonNell An-
dersen Jones, wrote on the
website SCOTUSblog in 2012
(as reported by the Washington
Post).
Seeking common ground on
a ferociously difficult issue, for
example, she voted with the
majority in Planned Parent-
hood v. Casey, the 1992 decision
that reaffirmed the constitu-
tional right to an abortion es-
their disgust. They mentioned
Biden’s now-infamous remarks
in which he questioned wheth-
er dead Palestinians were, in
fact, dead. “I have no notion
that the Palestinians are telling
the truth about how many
people are killed,” the presi-
dent said. “I’m sure innocents
have been killed, and it’s the
price of waging a war.”
Stripped of dignity in this
life, Palestinians would be
denied it in death. It was rhet-
oric, perhaps, but it captured a
decades-long frustration:
American politicians on all
sides seem either unwilling or
unable to view Palestinians as
full-fledged human beings. As
former Obama administration
official Barnett Rubin put it
recently, “Sometimes self-
respect outweighs self-interest.
It would be humiliating to vote
for Biden after he cheered on,
funded, and armed people who
slaughtered 15,000 of their
fellow Arabs.”
In every presidential elec-
tion, millions of Americans
decide on principle not to vote
for either of the two main can-
didates. That’s democracy.
If the 2024 election is close,
Arab and Muslim Americans
could be numerous enough to
make a difference. Political
scientist Youssef Chouhoud
estimates that for every 10% of
Middle Eastern and Muslim
voters in Michigan who ab-
stain, Biden will experience a
net loss of about 11,000 votes,
although in an interview
Chouhoud reminded me that
doing quantitative analysis on
these communities is “so
tough.” If Arab and Muslim
voters abstain in unusually
large numbers, others might
follow suit. Note that 70% of
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A9
Kelly Ann Scott
SVP/ EDI TO R-I N-C HI EF
Jennifer Chang
M ANAGI N G E D I TO R
tablished by Roe v. Wade in
1973. Overruling Roe “under
fire in the absence of the most
compelling reason to re-exam-
ine a watershed decision,” she
wrote in a joint opinion with
Justices David Souter and An-
thony Kennedy, “would subvert
the court’s legitimacy beyond
any serious question.” In the
roiling wake of last year’s
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s
Health Organization, the deci-
sion to overturn Roe, she has
been proved prescient.
In 2003, she wrote that a
Texas law banning sodomy
was “directed toward gay per-
sons as a class” and in Law-
rence v. Texas voted to over-
turn it. A law based on “moral
disapproval of that class …
runs contrary to the values” of
the Constitution, she wrote.
The ruling laid the ground-
work for the court’s 2015 deci-
sion legalizing same-sex mar-
riage. That ruling holds, de-
spite rumblings from Justice
Clarence Thomas about over-
turning it.
O’Connor also was an au-
thor, along with Souter, of a
major campaign finance ruling,
McConnell v. Federal Election
Commission, in 2003. The
compromise decision upheld
major portions of a 2002 law
co-sponsored by her fellow
Arizonan, U.S. Sen. John
McCain, that sought to limit
how money was raised and
spent on political campaigns.
In its 2010 ruling in the notori-
ous Citizens United case, the
court by a vote of 5-4 gutted the
law. Alito, of course, voted with
the majority; the untoward
influence of the billions we
spend on campaigns every
election season since speaks
for itself.
Michael Waldman, president
of the Brennan Center for Jus-
tice at NYU and author of a
recently published book on the
Supreme Court, finds it signif-
icant that O’Connor was the
last elected official to serve on
the high court, an experience
that gave her a sense of the
possible, as well as an appreci-
young voters of all ethnicities
disapprove of Biden’s handling
of the war.
In the months ahead, a crit-
ical factor will be whether
fallout from the war — and the
devaluing of Palestinian lives
— will continue to spill into
everyday American life. In
what is being investigated as a
hate crime, three Palestinian
Americans were shot in Ver-
mont. Many of the Arab Amer-
icans who say they won’t vote
for Biden also report discrim-
ination and growing fears for
BIBLE VERSE
Remember this — a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a
small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous
crop.
SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Viewpoints c/o Houston Chronicle, 4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, Texas, 77027 or
viewpoints@chron.com.
We welcome and encourage letters and emails from readers. Letters must include name,
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and telephone numbers for verification purposes only. All letters are subject to editing.
Lisa Falkenberg
V P/ E D I TO R O F O P I N I O N
Raj Mankad
D E P U TY O P I N I O N E D I TO R
ation for judicial restraint in
light of real-world realities.
“She understood the proper
role of the Court,” Waldman
posted on X. “She forged con-
sensus on issues including
affirmative action and abortion
rights that allowed society to
develop without ideological
interference from the Supreme
Court.”
Linda Greenhouse, writing
the O’Connor obituary in the
New York Times, noted that
she was the most powerful
woman in America during
much of her tenure. “Very little
could happen without Justice
O’Connor’s support,” Green-
house wrote, “when it came to
the polarizing issues on the
court’s docket, and the law
regarding affirmative action,
abortion, voting rights, reli-
gion, federalism, sex discrim-
ination and other hot-button
subjects was basically what
Sandra Day O’Connor thought
it should be.
“That the middle ground she
looked for tended to be the
public’s preferred place as well
was no coincidence,” Green-
house added, “given the close
attention Justice O’Connor paid
to current events and the pub-
lic mood.”
Her successor and his rad-
ical cohorts have dismantled a
number of her important deci-
sions. They seem not only
oblivious to “current events
and the public mood” but driv-
en by ideology while claiming
to follow history and tradition.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence
that two decades after O’Con-
nor’s departure from the court,
the nation is in a fractious,
angry mood, and the high
court itself faces a crisis of
legitimacy. Even those of us
who at times disagreed with
her opinions are likely to con-
cede that the court and the
nation would be in much better
condition if the cowgirl from
the Lazy B were still riding
herd. We miss Justice Sandra
Day O’Connor, and the wisdom
she imparted to a once-revered
court.
their personal safety. Fortu-
nately, for Democrats, the
election isn’t being held today.
In politics, a year is a long
time. But memories are long,
too.
Shadi Hamid is a Washington
Post columnist and member of its
Editorial Board. He is also a
research professor of Islamic
studies at Fuller Seminary and
the author of several books, in-
cluding “The Problem of Democ-
racy” and “Islamic Exceptional-
ism.”
2 Corinthians 9:6
 STAR
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 • PAGE A10

Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer

Manuel Gonzalez with Ignite Christmas Lighting staples lights on a crape myrtle at a home in the Memorial Villages.

Lighting up the night

By Sarah Smith
STA FF WRIT E R
In the world of Emerson got her start in the world of holiday lighting
— first in the Dallas area — when she was seven
Houston’s luxury months pregnant with her oldest child and scrambling

T
here’s a little game Melissa Emerson likes to play
with the guys that work for her. If they drive her
down any street glittering with Christmas lights
and she can recognize the one they installed, she’ll give
them $500.
“If they did it the right way, the way I taught them to,
I can see a difference,” said Emerson, 46, who has been
in the Christmas tree light business since 1999. “I can
pick them out.”
The devil — or the $500 — is in the details. Equal
and competition
spacing between lights, stick-straight peak lights, no
visible clips or cords, trees wrapped with strands exact-
ly four fingers apart.
to make rent. A neighbor paid her $400 to put up lights
Christmas light on a mobile home. The next year, everyone started ask-
ing. Now, Emerson runs in the luxury lights circles,
installers, where customers pay thousands of dollars to get elab-
orate light fixtures and start their design planning as
standards are early as March.
extremely high Even the installation components are intricate in and
of themselves. Emerson’s Christmas Wonder Lights
offers 33 colors (“People are like, ‘I want red.’ And I’m
like, ‘What color of red? We’ve got four.’”) And the
can be fierce same wreaths they use at Disney World on Cinderella’s
castle (The wreaths took her several years to track
Lights continues on A13

Mytiburger owner says customers saved restaurant

By Bao Ong
STA F F WRIT E R
At Mytiburger, there’s no
marbled Japanese wagyu
in the beef patties sizzling
atop a decades-old flat-top
grill. The tomatoes and let-
tuce don’t come from a local
garden. There’s Coca-Cola
on tap and sweet tea sold by
the gallon.
There’s one ingredient,
however, that owner
Shawn Salyers can claim
that few restaurants in
Houston possess in abun-
dance: nostalgia.
When Salyers, 47, posted
on Facebook over the sum-
mer that his restaurant was
struggling to stay in busi-
ness, Houstonians showed
up in droves to show their
support for the 56-year-old
burger joint in Oak Forest.
Mytiburger would have
closed without the swell in
business at the 11th hour, he
said.
Customers placed or-
ders faster than employees
could write them on their
small paper notebooks.
Business was up 600% for
the restaurant immediately
following the viral social
media moment, compared
to the year before, Salyers
said. This allowed him to
pay overdue bills to his
landlord, vendors and em-
ployees.
“Part of going viral is
that you never know how
it’s going to take off,” Sa-
lyers said.
What’s also unknown is
what happens when the
wave of attention wanes
over time and whether an
iconic restaurant like Myti-
burger can remain a profit-
able business. The lifeline
Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Salyers received through
Mytiburger owner Shawn Salyers added a fence mural outside his restaurant social media, however, is al-
that he calls “a love letter to the people of Houston for all their support.” Burger continues on A13
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A11

BIZARRO
ROYAL STARS
Today’s Birthday (Dec. 4). You’re a risk-
taker. You have strong views and sometimes
appear eccentric, perhaps even stubborn.
Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to
shopping or important decisions today. The
Moon is in Virgo.
Aries (March 21-April 19) HHH Today has
mixed messages — good and bad. The
good news is that you feel upbeat at work
or with any task that you set for yourself. In
fact, working with groups will be particularly
helpful and effective. Tonight: Get organized.
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM Taurus (April 20-May 20) HHHH It’s Mon-
day, and you’re in the mood to party! Play
hooky if you can. At least have a fun lunch
or meet the gang for coffee or happy hour.
Tonight: Play!
Gemini (May 21-June 20) HHH You get
mixed messages today. It’s a great day to
entertain at home. Alternatively, you might
want to relax at home and read or explore
new ideas through film and television. To-
night: Cocoon at home.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) HHHH Today is a
happy, upbeat day for you! You’ll enjoy short
trips. In fact, you will enjoy travel of any kind,
as well as schmoozing with clubs, groups
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE and organizations. Tonight: Listen to others.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) HHH This is a good
money day. Explore your moneymaking
ideas as well as financial dealings with oth-
ers, especially bosses and people in author-
ity. Tonight: Check your belongings.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) HHHH Today the
Moon is in your sign dancing with Jupiter,
which makes you feel happy and optimistic.
BLONDIE
“This is my kinda day!” Tonight: You win!
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) HHH Although
you’re inspired by philosophical ideas today
and have feelings of compassion and gen-
erosity for those who are less fortunate, you
might get into an argument with someone.
Perhaps you’re trying to proselytize or con-
vince others to agree with you. It won’t work.
Tonight: Solitude.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) HHH This is a
great day to schmooze with friends. You will
also enjoy interactions with clubs, organiza-
tions and conferences, because people are
friendly and upbeat. However, you might
argue with someone about finances or
something that you own. Demonstrate
grace under pressure. Tonight: Be friendly.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) HHH You’re
high-viz today. People notice you. Fortu-
nately, you make an excellent impression on
bosses and VIPs. You can use this to your
advantage. Tonight: Show respect.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) HHHH This is a
tricky day for you. For starters, you might be
excited about getting out of town or making
travel plans. Tonight: Explore!
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) HHH In one way,
this is a good day to ask for a loan or mort-
gage or to borrow something from some-
one. People are inclined to be generous to
you. Tonight: Check your finances.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) HHH Relations
with partners and close friends are a bit of a
mixed bag today. In one way, people are up-
beat, friendly and happy to see you. Tonight:
Cooperate.
King Features Syndicate

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!

BEETLE BAILEY

GARFIELD

CURTIS

SHERMAN’S LAGOON

B.C.

Dear Abby: My boyfriend,
“Rick,” and I broke up 10
years ago and reunited
two years ago. I’m in good
health, own my own
home, and am financially
independent. Rick is nine
years older. He owns his
own home and is retired.
We have been seeing each
other every week for the last two years.
He has spent many hours painting and
doing repairs to my house. I cook for him
and give him massages, and we have a
fantastic sex life.
So, what is the problem? Rick is emo-
tionally involved with another woman.
He claims they aren’t in any way sexu-
ally involved. Should I tell her about his
involvement with me? I have her name,
address and phone number. Rick refuses
to tell her about me because he says it will
“upset her.” I think she ought to know.
What do you think I should do? I love him
dearly and don’t want to lose him.
Being Played In New Jersey?
Dear Being Played?: Listen to your intu-
ition. The first thing you should do (if you
haven’t) is ask Rick WHY that woman’s
knowing about you would “upset” her.
(Does she think his relationship with her
is exclusive?) The second would be to tell
him you would like him to introduce the
two of you. If he refuses, call her.
Dear Abby: My friend “Chris” and I
decided to go on a weekend trip together.
The tickets had to be purchased before
they sold out. I told Chris I’d put them on
my credit card, and Chris agreed to pay
me back. Our original plan was to stay
with a group of people, but at the last min-
ute, Chris admitted to being upset that we
weren’t going alone.
Not wanting to upset Chris, I canceled
plans with the other group. Chris offered
to pay for the food, which I thought was
great and would replace some of what
was owed me. But when we got to the REX MORGAN, M.D.
register, Chris stepped back so I would
pay. Almost as soon as we got to the hotel,
Chris and Chris’ partner got in an argu-
ment on the phone and spent most of the
trip arguing via text.
The night before we were supposed to
leave, Chris and I got into an argument.
I lost Chris in a crowd, and when I got
back to the hotel, they were packing their
bag and leaving. We sat down, talked and
agreed tensions were high, but Chris still
wanted to end the trip early.
The trip was three months ago. Since PHANTOM
then, I have texted Chris multiple times
asking to be repaid and have received no
response. I thought maybe Chris is mad at
me, but they still send me our traditional
daily meme. Abby, they offered to pay me
back a few times before the trip but never
followed through. At this point, I don’t
know what to do.
Tripping Out In Indiana
Dear Tripping Out: At this point, you
should write off the money you are due
from Chris. ARGYLE SWEATER HOCUS FOCUS
www.DearAbby.com
Andrews McMeel Syndication

Dear Readers: Have ground up. This creates a wonderful scent

expired spices in your spice
rack? Here are some uses
for them:
1 Make some potpourri.
Boil water on your stove;
then add cinnamon sticks,
ginger and citrus peels to
freshen your home.
1 Make spice sachets.
In a square piece of cheese
cloth, add bay leaves, thyme, ginger and
oregano. Tie up the sachet and let it soak
up any musty smells.
1 Make candles. Just melt some soy
wax and add things such as coconut oil,
cinnamon, cloves and vanilla beans all
when the candle is lit.
Heloise
Dear Heloise: Every year, it seems I had
to buy new wrapping paper to wrap gifts
for birthdays, weddings and the holidays.
I came up with a simple solution:
First, I buy about four or five rolls of
wrapping paper in solid colors. These
solid colors can be used for just about
any occasion. Store them in a cheap, tall
wastebasket from a dollar store so that the
paper stays neat.
Jason B., Bettendorf, Iowa
Heloise@heloise.com
King Features Syndicate
A12 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

WORD SLEUTH JUMBLE DAILY CROSSWORD

Find the listed words in the diagram. They run in all directions — forward, backward,
up, down and diagonally. ©2023 King Features Syndicate Inc.
ACROSS 54 Knee injury initials 15 Fashion designer
1 Court sport, for 55 Sty fare Geoffrey
Saturday’s unlisted COUNTRIES WITH MORE THAN ONE short 56 Seize illegally 17 Sweetheart
clue: TOES. OCEAN COAST 6 Pen tip 57 Inflatable river 21 Hunk of turf
Monday’s unlisted 9 Building manager, float, or what the 23 Quaint suffix with
clue hint: CAPITAL IS casually answers to 16-, 23-, school
REYKJAVIK. 13 Nest on a crest 35-, and 46-Across 24 Barn topper
14 Ostrichlike bird have 26 Players who have
Argentina 15 Country between mastered the art
59 Looks for
Australia Togo and Nigeria of the deal?
60 Shar-__: wrinkly
Canada 16 TikTok posts by 28 NorCal airport
Chile
dog
some pet owners 61 Dine at home 29 Suffix with Dickens
Colombia
18 Went astray 62 Fades to black or Orwell
Costa Rica
19 __ upon a time ... 63 Curved piece 30 Signs off on
Egypt
20 College URL part 64 Small songbirds 32 Wind instrument
Greenland
21 Actor Danny in that might have a
Israel
Jersey Mike’s ads DOWN curved head
Mexico
Norway
22 Neither’s partner 33 French pronoun
1 Turkey__: breakfast
Panama
23 Tart sprinkle for fish 34 Director Ang
meat that’s both
Russia and chips 36 Over
halal and kosher
Thailand 25 Words of 37 Naan relative
2 Game of chance
U.S.A. compassion 38 Narcissistic
similar to bingo
27 Say confidently 43 Encrypted URL
28 Indian lute 3 Writer who visits a
starter
30 Singer Yoko lot of galleries 44 Dine outside
31 Autumn 4 Word in many 45 Part in a film
35 Appraiser’s concert album 46 “It’s pointless”
SUDOKU CRYPTOQUIP names
determination 47 Playwright Henrik
39 Like most 5 Floral wreath 48 Used Elmer’s
Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for
numbers 1 to 9. software, once 6 Pine leaf 49 More levelheaded
another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the
puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give 40 Mass. MLB team 7 “See ya” 51 “Good Morning
you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error. 41 Ziff who’s 8 Mass transit option America” co-
©2023 King Features Syndicate, Inc. infatuated with 9 Facility with a anchor Roberts
Marge Simpson supercomputer 52 Unseals
42 Tequila order array 55 Celebrity
44 Beyond compare 10 Strip of gear, as a 57 Hoppy beverage
46 Ability to see in low ship with New England
light 11 Michelangelo and West Coast
50 To and __ sculpture in St. varieties
53 Flattened at the Peter’s 58 “Go back” button:
poles, as Earth 12 Ewoks’ home Abbr.

a bendable long-tubed pipe: Captain Hookah.

©2023 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ANSWER: “Peter Pan” villain famous for smoking tobacco via

SATURDAY’S ANSWERS FROZEN --

By Brian Callahan ©2023 Tribune Content Agency 12/4/23

What
ACES ON BRIDGE
‘Kitchen Nightmares’ By Bobby Wolff

This week, our deals revolve

to watch
around preventing a ruff as
declarer.
Oftentimes you see an impend-
ing ruff, and there is nothing
you can do about it except may-

MONDAY be try to camouflage the posi-

tion by dropping a high card as
a false-card, trying to scramble
the defenders’ signals. Here,
December 4, 2023 we will be examining how to
mitigate ruffs without resorting
to deception.
All times Central. Start times can vary based In our first deal, East passes as
on cable/satellite provider. Confirm times on dealer and then comes in with
two spades after North’s wide-
your on-screen guide. ranging raise. South drives to
game and receives the lead of
Midsomer Murders the spade nine. It seems right
to take the spade ace and start
Acorn TV  Season Premiere on trumps to try to minimize
The British mystery series returns for Sea- the chance of conceding a
son 24, with new episodes available weekly spade ruff; West might hold a
singleton trump, after all, or
through Dec. 25. the heart ace and a singleton
spade. to lead after winning the first
NFL Football: However, the bidding has told
declarer everything he needs
trump.
Declarer should play low from
Cincinnati at Jacksonville to know. East did not open a
weak two spades as dealer, yet
dummy instead. East wins the
spade king and returns the suit,
ABC & ESPN, 7 p.m. Live we know his suit is reasonably but now, when declarer starts
strong. on trumps, West takes his ace
The Cincinnati Bengals head to TIAA Bank and has no quick entry to the
His initial pass was presumably
Field in Jacksonville for a Monday Night Foot- because he holds only East hand to score a spade ruff.
ball showdown with Trevor Lawrence and the KHAREN HILL, FOX five spades. Accordingly, there Declarer regains the lead and
is no rush to grab the spade draws the last trump, eventu-
Jaguars.
Kitchen Nightmares special holiday-themed episodes beginning
tonight with “Office Holiday Party.” The cel-
ace. If declarer were to win
with the ace at trick one, West
ally losing a club trick to make
his contract on the nose.
The Voice FOX, 7 p.m.  Season Finale ebration continues with “Singles Blind Holi- would have a second spade
NBC, 7 p.m. Live Gordon Ramsay steps in to help the owners date” Dec. 7 and “College Students Home for
The top 12 artists perform live for the first of failing restaurants in the two-hour season the Holidays” Dec. 8. LEAD WITH THE ACES ANSWER: Lead the heart three.
time in front of coaches Niall Horan, John finale tonight. East has a strong hand, and you
Legend, Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani for Murder in Boston: would prefer to find a passive
their chance at a spot in the live semifinal. The Price Is Right at Night Roots, Rampage
lead so as to avoid giving away
a trick, but you do not have one
Viewers will have the chance to vote for their CBS, 7 p.m. available. You should therefore
favorite artist overnight. Drew Carey hosts a week of the game show’s and Reckoning lead one of your long suits, and a
HBO, 8 p.m.  New Series heart is much safer than a club in
that a heart should cost nothing
This three-part documentary revisits the unless your partner is both short
CATCH A 1989 case of a man who placed a frantic 911
call reporting that he and his pregnant wife
and weak in hearts.

CLASSIC were shot by a Black man in Boston’s Mission

Hill neighborhood, igniting decades-old ra-
cial tensions.
Lena Horne: ©2023 Dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication for UFS

Goddess Reclaimed Blake Shelton’s Holiday LOOKING BACK BIRTHDAYS

TCM, beginning at 7 p.m. MGM Bartacular Featuring Ice T 1956: Elvis Presley, Game show host Wink
To coincide with Donald Bogle’s new biog- which follows the relationship between NBC, 9 p.m.
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis Martindale is 90. Pop
raphy of Hollywood’s first African Ameri- an aspiring dancer (Bill Robinson) and a In this special episode of Blake Shelton and Carl Perkins gathered singer Freddy Cannon is
can movie goddess, Lena Horne, TCM will songstress. Next is the Western drama and Carson Daly’s celebrity game show for the first and only time 87. Actor-producer Max
air some of her most noted films tonight, Death of a Gunfighter (1969), about a Barmageddon (which normally airs on USA for a jam session at Sun Baer Jr. is 86. Actor Gemma
starting with 1943’s Cabin in the Sky (pic- marshal (Richard Widmark) whose town Records in Memphis. Jones is 81. Rock musician
Network), Blake invites Ice T to his winter
tured), a fantasy comedy about a gambler turns against him in turn-of-the-century 1918: President Woodrow Bob Mosley (Moby Grape)
(Eddie “Rochester” Anderson) who dies wonderland, where they will compete in larg-
Texas. Finishing the lineup, early into the er-than-life bar games with a holiday twist, Wilson left Washington on is 81. Country musician
during a shooting but gets a second chance following morning, are the musicals The a trip to France to attend Brian Prout (Diamond Rio)
to reform himself and make up with his including Merry Axe-Mas, Doodle All the
Duke Is Tops (1938) and Till the Clouds the Versailles Peace is 68. Rock singer Vinnie
wife. Next up is Stormy Weather (1943), Way, Little Drummer Boy (and Girl), Reindeer Conference. Dombroski (Sponge) is
Roll By (1946).
Games and Christmas Carol-okie. 1965: the United States 61. Actor Marisa Tomei is
launched Gemini 7 with Air 59. Actor Chelsea Noble is
Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman 59. Actor-comedian Fred
and Navy Cmdr. James A. Armisen is 57. Rapper Jay-Z
Lovell aboard on a two- is 54. Actor-model Tyra
week mission. Banks is 50.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 A13

Features Editor Melissa Aguilar: features@chron.com

Stars line up for Woodlands Pavilion concerts

By Joey Guerra ALANIS
STA F F W RIT E R MORISSETTE
THE TRIPLE MOON
Houston’s 2024 concert TOUR
schedule is already filling
When: June 16
up.
A trio of major stars Where: Woodlands
have announced shows at Pavilion, 2005 Lake
the Woodlands Pavilion, Robbins, The Woodlands
including a ’90s icon and Tickets: On sale through
an Oscar winner. Live Nation
Here are the details.
Stay hydrated out there, THIRTY SECONDS
y’all.
TO MARS
SEASONS WORLD
HOZIER TOUR
UNREAL UNEARTH When: Aug. 29
TOUR
Where: Woodlands
When: May 2 Pavilion, 2005 Lake
Where: Woodlands Robbins, The Woodlands
Pavilion, 2005 Lake Tickets: On sale through
Robbins, The Woodlands Live Nation
Tickets: On sale through Courtesy photo Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Live Nation Hozier Alanis Morissette Jared Leto of Thirty Seconds to Mars

LIGHTS look like students in the ritzy

From page A10
down, but they were worth it.)
Matt Ellisor, president of sales
at Bright Lights (famous for
both their residential work
and with the Houston Zoo),
said they have to go overseas
to meet with vendors. It’s not,
he said, like you can just go
get their products at a trade
show.
The luxury installers know
they’re pricey (Their work can
range from four to five figures
on a single house.) They know
not everyone wants to drop
that kind of money on a sea-
sonal frivolity. But, they say,
they offer guaranteed results
— and are a safer bet than the
“fly by night” guys with no
experience, no insurance and
no guarantee that they’ll come
take your lights down when
Dec. 26 rolls around.
When they started Ignite
Christmas Lighting, Josh
Hitchcock and his business
partner, Andrew DeBarbieris,
passed out black-and-white
Xerox flyers, sometimes stra-
tegically wearing backpacks to
neighborhoods to ease the
suspicions of any overeager
neighborhood security guards.
Now, Ignitie Christmas Lights
works with customers who
stay loyal for years, letting
them build out more and
more elaborate designs each
holiday season.
They earn their keep by
responding to customers’ calls
and texts, no matter the day
or hour. A strand out on
Christmas Day? Someone will
come to fix it the same day, no
questions asked. (“The squir-
rels think the lights are ber-
ries,” Hitchcock said. “They’re
so ignorant they don’t — they
can see their friend dying
right in front of them, and
they’ll still chew to the wire.”)
One day in mid-November,
Ignite workers dressed in
neon shirts went out to a well-
manicured home in Bunker
Hill Village to complete their
yearly installation: wrapping
crepe myrtle trees in tiny
yellow-white lights to create a
sparkly tunnel so beautiful
that, once, a couple stopped
by to take their engagement
pictures under the branches.
Workers with Ignite Christmas Lighting wraps lights around a
tree at a home in the Memorial Villages.
The homeowner, 81-year-old
Linda Kimball, wandered
back from a walk with her
dog, Brandi, and surveyed the
work-in-progress.
Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer
“I wanna make sure they’re
feathering it out so it’s skinny
looking like owl feathers or
something,” she said. “You
listening, Josh?”
“Oh yes, ma’am, always,”
said Hitchcock, who comple-
mented his bright shirt with a
baseball cap that looked like it
had been knitted from a
Christmas sweater.
“Uh-huh, always.”
This year marks Ignite’s
third at Kimball’s home. They
snagged her business from
another installer who just
wasn’t quite up to snuff.
“It’s very competitive,”
Hitchcock said. “And it gets
more competitive every day. I
feel like every year there’s
another dozen companies.”
Last season, Emerson said,
she was out in River Oaks by
one of her installations. An-
other installer walked over to
her car and tried to give her a
quote for the home she’d done
the lights for, thinking she
was the homeowner. She
called the installer’s employer,
who promised it wouldn’t
happen again.
Mostly, she said, she gets
along with everyone. Except
one guy, whom she won’t
name. Maybe he’s just not
very friendly as a rule.
Or maybe, she mused, he’s
just a grinch.

new white fence includes nods to

MYTIBURGER
From page A10
so pushing the owner of the be-
loved Houston spot to evolve to
stay alive for years to come.
“We can’t survive on nostalgia
alone,” Salyers said.
Business has slowed down
compared to the initial rush Myti-
burger experienced in August,
but overall, there’s been a steady
20% increase in business com-
pared to the same months last
year, Salyers said.
Still, some days are slow. In
early October, there was one
Monday where the restaurant
had $300 in sales the first two
hours but $15 for the same stretch
of time the following day.
In those moments, Salyers said
he can only wonder: “Is this the fi-
nal drop-off?”
The Corpus Christi native
knows the unpredictability and
challenges of the restaurant in-
dustry. His first job was at a Wha-
taburger, and Salyers said he
worked various jobs waiting ta-
bles and bartending before he
served in the Army.
After graduating from the Uni-
versity of Texas with a degree in
advertising, he moved to Houston
in 2005, where his jobs included
stints in advertising sales and the
oil industry.
Salyers ended up buying a Bas-
kin Robbins, which was located
down the street from Mytiburger,
because he wanted to be his own
boss.
Customers line up outside Mytiburger in August as they wait for their orders. People came from
all over the area to help support the business in Oak Forest.
Eleven years ago, Salyers
bought Mytiburger, a mainstay in
the neighborhood, which was
about to close. He rescued the res-
taurant from closing permanent-
ly and reopened it on Aug.18, 2012
— his birthday.
Business was steady until the
pandemic, Salyers said, when the
rising cost of labor, food and the
increased restaurant competition
in the area contributed to Myti-
burger’s financial struggles.
Whether it was in the more
profitable days or more recent
times, Salyers’ friend Harry Mil-
lirons said Mytiburger always
contributed to the community.
From donating food to Little
League teams to helping out a se-
nior citizen center, Millirons has
seen Salyers volunteer his time
and money. He’s certain that’s why
people in the community came out
to support Mytiburger when it
was on the brink of shuttering.
“He was always giving back,”
Millirons said. “People are always
rushing to the fads and latest
trends. I hope they keep showing
up for Shawn.”
Millirons, who is a curbside
Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer
painter and former resident in the
area, recalls how Salyers would
pay him to repaint the address on
his curb for years, even when it
didn’t need a retouch.
Recently, the two worked with
graphic designer Steven Sims, an-
other longtime customer, to create
a mural as a thank-you to Housto-
nians for helping the restaurant
survive its latest challenge over
the summer.
Similar to the interior of Myti-
burger with its old-time photos of
Houston landmarks like the As-
trodome, the mural painted on a
NASA, part of the downtown
skyline and the famous “Be
Someone” slogan.
To keep the focus on Houston,
there’s no mention of Mytiburger
on the mural, Sims and Millirons
said.
The red, white and blue colors
complement Mytiburger’s theme,
but they are also colors that Sa-
lyers, an Army veteran, wanted
to use.
“I just hope that people enjoy
having their picture taken in
front of it,” said Sims, an art di-
rector at a sign company. “This is
Shawn’s way of always giving
back to the community.”
No matter how much support
Mytiburger is shown in the com-
ing months, typically the slowest
time of the year, Salyers is trying
to avoid being back where he was
on Aug. 16. He was sitting in his
white Nissan truck and compos-
ing the Facebook message that
went viral: “We hate to have to
swallow our pride and post this,
but here it is. We need help. This
summer has been tough. Busi-
ness is way down and we’re bare-
ly making it. We’re on our last
leg.”
The flood of support within
hours showed how much Myti-
burger meant to people, he said. It
confirmed that the diner-like
space “is a Houston landmark.”
“It’s always been a family busi-
ness,” Salyers said. “Can I just
walk away? You don’t want to
give it up.”

MONDAY
Barbara and Lily
Kingsolver: Authors will
appear in conversation with
Eliot Schrefer to discuss
“Coyote’s Wild Home” virtually.
7 p.m., tickets $18.99 include
link to the event and a hard-
cover copy of the book; blue-
willowbookshop.com
TUESDAY
Alice Walker: The novelist,
short story writer, poet and
social activist will be in con-
versation with Kiese Laymon
virtually to discuss her latest
books. 7:30 p.m.; kindred-
Barbara Kingsolver Alice Walker
storieshtx.com
WEDNESDAY
Jess Armstrong and
Celeste Connally: Authors
will discuss “The Curse of
Penryth Hall” and “Act Like a
BOOK EVENTS
Jess Armstrong
Lady, Think Like a Lord.” 6:30
p.m., Murder By The Book,
2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597;
murderbooks.com
THURSDAY
Nita Prose: The author of
“The Maid,” a New York Times
Nita Prose
bestseller and a Good Morning
America Book Club Pick, will
be in conversation with Kristen
Bird to discuss “The Mystery
Guest.” 6:30 p.m., Murder By
The Book, 2342 Bissonnet;
713-524-8597; murderbooks-
.com
Andrey Kurkov
SATURDAY
Storytime with Black
Santa: At this group story-
time session, participants will
enjoy a holiday book reading
and will have the opportunity
to take a personal photo with
Santa. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Kindred
Stories Reading Garden, 2304
Stuart; kindredstorieshtx.com
Andrey Kurkov: The
Ukrainian author will read
“Grey Bees,” followed by an
onstage conversation with
Rice University professor and
noted Italian novelist Andrea
Bajani. The evening will
conclude with a book sale
and signing. The event is
presented as part of Inprint’s
Margarett Root Brown Read-
ing Series in collaboration
with the Menil Collection and
Deep Vellum. 7 p.m., Menil
Collection, 1533 Sul Ross;
inprinthouston.org
A14 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

FAMILY CIRCUS ZIGGY ZITS

MUTTS

WALLACE THE BRAVE

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

BABY BLUES

PEANUTS

LUANN
BREAKING CAT NEWS

HEART OF THE CITY RHYMES WITH ORANGE

HI & LOIS WUMO

BALDO CRANKSHAFT

RED & ROVER CANDORVILLE

SALLY FORTH F MINUS

DYNAMO UH TEXAS OTHER BOWLS

BRIGHT IT’S HEADED STAYING

FUTURE FRITZ TO CFP IN STATE
Reinvigorated fran- The Cougars have No. 3 Horns join Texas A&M is headed
chise defied outside hired Willie Fritz as Michigan, Washing- to Houston, while
expectations. their football coach. ton and Alabama. Rice will go to Dallas.
PAGE B5 PAGE B5 PAGE B6 PAGES B6-7

ONLINE AT TXSPORTSNATION.COM

TEXANS EXTRA HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 • SECTION B

HOUSTON TEXANS DENVER BRONCOS

Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Jimmie Ward intercepted Russell Wilson in the game’s final minute Sunday to seal the Texans’ seventh win of the year in their eighth consecutive one-score game.

Never a doubt
Confident Texans show their playoff mettle with another late-game escape
First pumps. Leaps. Hugs. Screams. This is how the The Denver Broncos, having moved 72 yards in 14
Houston Texans celebrate after a huge play delivers a plays, faced third and-goal from the Texans’ 8-yard line
victory. Repeatedly. with just 16 seconds left.
Week after week, game after game, the Texans keep A touchdown, and the Broncos win. A stop, and the
finding themselves in tense battles. Games in which one Texans would improve to 7-5 and improve their playoff
late play could make the difference between a win or a chances tremendously.
loss. The Texans had no doubt someone would make a
Houston has won its share of those, going 5-3 in eight play. They have learned how to do this.
consecutive one-score games over the last two months. Up stepped safety Jimmie Ward, a 10-year veteran
JEROME SOLOMON
Sunday, they were back at it again, in need of a game- who is in his first season with Houston. Ward, who
C O MMEN TA RY
winning play. Solomon continues on B3

ROOKIE DELL OUT FOR REST OF SEASON. B2 • PICKY DEFENSE PAVES THE WAY. B2 • COLLINS STEPS UP WITH CAREER-BEST DAY. B3
B2 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

TEXANS EXTRA
TEXANS 22, BRONCOS 17

Broken leg ends Dell’s season

Rookie wide receiver fractures fibula
while blocking on TD run by Pierce
By Jonathan M.
Alexander
STA F F W RIT E R
Texans quarterback
C.J. Stroud paused for a
few seconds as he
searched for the right
words when asked about
teammate and friend
Tank Dell.
Dell suffered a frac-
tured fibula in the first
quarter of Sunday’s game
against the Broncos. The
injury happened on an or-
dinary play.
While blocking on a 3-
yard touchdown run by
Dameon Pierce, Dell had a
pile of defenders fell onto
the back of his leg. He
stayed on the ground for
some time. The cheering
stopped at a dead-silent
NRG Stadium.
The rookie receiver,
whom Stroud met at the
NFL combine and became
quick friends with before
they were drafted togeth-
er, was starting to become
a league star. A source fa-
miliar with his injury said
Dell will miss the remain-
der of the season.
“I’m at a loss of words,”
Stroud said, his tone
hushed. “I honestly don’t
know what to say.”
Wide receiver Nico Col-
lins, who was blocking on
the play, said he saw Dell
yelling on the ground and
knew it was bad. Tight
end Brevin Jordan heard
it, too.
Stroud gathered his
teammates in a huddle
and led them in prayer.
They prayed Dell would
get through this injury.
“It was tough losing a
guy like that,” Jordan
said.
Dell had meant so
much to this Texans team.
The 5-8, 165-pound receiv-
er was second in receiving
yards (709), second in re-
ceptions (47) and first in
receiving touchdowns
(seven). He was well on
his way to a 1,000-yard
season in his first year.
Having watched each
other’s film in college,
Stroud and Dell respected
each other’s games before
the combine. Stroud told
Dell he would love to play
with him one day, and that
wish came to fruition in
April.
The Texans drafted
Stroud second overall and
Dell 69th overall in the
third round. Their friend-
ship grew deeper, and
they were seen together at
events off the field. When
Stroud took the first free-
throw shot at a Rockets
game last month, Dell was
right there with him cele-
brating.
They aren’t just
friends. They consider
themselves brothers.
“Playing football is
tough,” Stroud said. “We
put our bodies on the line,
time and time again, so to
see that happen is cold.
I’ve got to be there for
him.
“More than football,
Tank is a person. It’s
tough. I’m hurt. I can’t
sugarcoat it.”
Stroud said it felt simi-
lar to when rookie center
Jarrett Patterson was
carted off in Week 8
against the Panthers.
Without Dell, the Tex-
ans managed to beat the
Broncos 22-17, but it
wasn’t easy. They were
missing one of their best
deep-play threats and
most clutch players. In
Week 9 against the Bucca-
neers, Dell had the game-
winning touchdown catch
in the final seconds.
So Stroud leaned heavi-
ly on Collins Sunday
against the Broncos. Col-
lins had nine catches for a
career-high 191 yards and
a touchdown. Jordan,
who finished with 64 re-
ceiving yards, was the on-
ly other player with more
than 15 receiving yards.
It’s going to be incum-
bent upon those players
and others to step up.
“We know how much
he meant to this group,
but it can’t stop us,” Col-
lins said. “He’s going to at-
tack this rehab and get
better. We’ve got to keep
going and do it for him.”

Will and a way:

Rookie Anderson
breaks through
By Jon Poorman
STAF F WRI TER
“Roll Tide, roll!”
Will Anderson Jr. was a
happy camper in the Tex-
ans’ locker room after the
team’s 22-17 victory over the
Denver Broncos on Sunday
afternoon.
Not just because his col-
lege team, Alabama, was
selected to the College Foot-
ball Playoff less than an
hour before kickoff. But al-
so because of his own con-
tributions in helping Hous-
ton secure one of its biggest
triumphs of the season in
the race for the AFC play-
offs.
When the Texans need-
ed a momentum-shifting
Brett Coomer/Staff photographer play in the second half, An-
Texans safety Jimmie Ward intercepts a pass in the end zone intended for Broncos tight end Lucas derson delivered.
Krull with 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Derek Stingley Jr. had the other two interceptions. With Houston leading
16-10 near the end of the
hard, and he wants to see
the fruits of his labor. I
know he’s been frustrated
this year. The sacks haven’t
always been there. But I’ve
always told him that’s just
the way the league works.
They’ll come. You just keep
going through your pro-
cess, trusting the way you
work, trusting your own
abilities, and don’t shy
away from the moments,
and you’ll have your oppor-
tunities to really make an
impact as a rusher.”
Anderson’s third-down
sack in the opening period
thwarted the Broncos’ sec-
ond possession. His second
sack in the third quarter
and helped force another
Denver punt. It marked the
first multi-sack game of his
career and gave him five
sacks for the season.
The Texans’ defense

Defense picks apart

third quarter, Anderson got made several big plays that
his hands up and tipped a contributed to the win, and
pass from Broncos quarter- Anderson was constantly
back Russell Wilson. The near the forefront of the ac-

Wilson in second half

Russell Wilson couldn’t catch
a break.
Every time the Broncos quar-
terback had an opening, a poten-
tial touchdown or big play late in
Sunday’s game, it appeared a
Texans defender was there.
That’s probably because it was
true.
The Texans had three second-
half interceptions in their 22-17
win over the Broncos, including
a game-sealing pick by Jimmie
Ward with nine seconds left.
The win was the Texans’ sev-
enth, as many as they totaled in
the previous two seasons com-
bined. At 7-5, they remain in
eighth place in the AFC stand-
ings.
But their path to the post-
season is a lot easier than it
would have been had they lost.
“I don’t worry about what
happened in the past,” Texans
coach DeMeco Ryans said. “This
is 2023. This is our team. This is
our brand of football. Our guys
are resilient.”
“Resilient” is probably the
best word to describe the Tex-
ans’ effort Sunday.
The Broncos had plenty of
openings to take the lead in the
second half.
Trailing 16-10 late in the third
quarter, Denver got the ball at its
20-yard line. Wilson dropped
back, but edge rusher Will An-
derson Jr. tipped a pass attempt
at the line of scrimmage. It was
intercepted by Derek Stingley Jr.
The Texans turned that in-
terception into six points four
plays and 21 yards later when
C.J. Stroud connected with wide
receiver Nico Collins on a 3-yard
touchdown pass.
Collins finished with nine
catches for a career-high 191
yards. Stroud completed 16 of 27
passes for 274 yards and the
touchdown to Collins, which put
the Texans up 22-10.
Then there was the drive that
began with just
over 10 minutes
left in the game.
The Broncos were
trailing 22-17.
Wilson thought
Jonathan he had a deep
M. shot to Courtland
Alexander Sutton up the
middle, but Stin-
ON TH E
TEXANS gley accelerated
from the right
side of the field
and made an acrobatic intercep-
tion.
“It was a double move by Sut-
ton, and I seen the ball thrown,
so I went to get it,” Stingley said.
His second interception of the
game was Stingley’s fourth in
the past three games.
Stingley missed six games this
season with a pulled hamstring.
He went on injured reserve in
Week 3 and missed the next six
games. Through his first season
and a half, injuries had been the
story of his career.
But since returning, he has
made plays.
“He’s a lone warrior,” Ward
said of Stingley. “He’s a beast.”
This was the player the Tex-
ans envisioned when they draft-
ed Stingley No. 3 overall in 2022,
a player who could shut down
the opposing team’s best receiver
and make plays when needed.
“He’s an impact player for our
defense, and it shows each and
every week,” Ryans said.
Sunday’s game wasn’t always
pretty. The Texans gave up two
40-plus-yard plays, allowed the
Broncos to convert on all three
of their fourth-down attempts,
and were one throw away from
losing to the Broncos.
But they didn’t.
The defense came up big
when needed. Aside from win-
ning the turnover battle, which
was the goal entering Sunday’s
game, the Texans’ defense was
dominant on third down. The
Broncos were 0-for-11 on third-
down attempts.
A big reason was the pressure
the Texans were able to get on
Wilson. After not recording a
sack in their 24-21 loss to the
Jaguars last week, the Texans
brought Wilson down three
times.
Two of those sacks came from
Anderson, who also nearly
blocked a punt.
“Will wreaked havoc today,”
Ryans said. “That’s what we
envisioned when we selected
Will. Happy for Will. He had a
big-time game for us.”
Edge rusher Jonathan Gree-
nard also got to Wilson, picking
up his eighth sack of the season.
He and Anderson combined for
six pressures Sunday.
But it was Greenard’s pres-
sure on the last defensive play
that was perhaps most impor-
tant.
It was third-and-goal from the
Houston 8-yard line with 16
seconds left. A touchdown
would have won the game for
the Broncos. But Greenard used
a swim move to get past Broncos
left tackle Garett Bolles, flushing
Wilson out of the pocket.
As Greenard chased Wilson,
nearly bringing him down, the
Broncos quarterback threw a
prayer to the end zone to tight
end Lucas Krull. Ward was
there, waiting to pick it off.
Wilson finished 15-of-26 for
186 yards, a touchdown and
three interceptions.
It was the Texans’ eighth con-
secutive one-score game. They
are 5-3 in those games and have
won three of their last four.
“It builds confidence,” Ward
said. “All these games are going
to come down to the last two
minutes. I’ve been in this situa-
tion a lot. Nobody panicked.
Everybody played great team
ball, and we played as one.
That’s why we won.”
ball fluttered through the
air and landed in the hands
of Houston cornerback De-
rek Stingley Jr., who se-
cured the interception.
That turnover set the
Texans up at the Broncos’
21-yard line, and just a few
plays later, C.J. Stroud con-
nected with Nico Collins on
a 3-yard touchdown pass.
Just like that, it was 22-10.
Anderson, drafted third
overall this year after the
Texans traded up to make
the pick, played one of the
best games of his young ca-
reer, harassing Wilson all
afternoon. Wilson, who
had led Denver to its first
five-game winning streak
since 2015, has been playing
well against pressure all
season. But Anderson’s im-
pact was apparent.
He finished the game
with five tackles, two sacks
and four quarterback hits.
If that weren’t enough, he
also contributed on special
teams, partially blocking a
punt in the first quarter.
“Will’s my guy,” Texans
defensive tackle Sheldon
Rankins said. “That’s my
rook. From day one since I
got here, me and him have
been locked in. He’s a guy
who does everything 100
miles an hour. He works so
Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer
Rookie Will Anderson Jr. (51) had five tackles, two
sacks and four quarterback hits Sunday.
tion.
“It just goes back to
Coach (DeMeco Ryans)
putting us in those situa-
tions in practice,” Ander-
son said. “I think we had a
really great week of prac-
tice. Everybody was locked
in, dialed in, and he just
talked about uncontrolla-
ble strength. Everybody
just go out there, reach deep
down in your gut, and just
leave it all on the field.”
Anderson has been a
steady producer for the
Texans all season. He en-
tered the game with 37 tack-
les, 39 total pressures and
26 quarterback hurries. Ac-
cording to Pro Football Fo-
cus, he had 23 stops, a tack-
le that constitutes as a fail-
ure for the offense. All of
those totals were boosted
Sunday.
Anderson credited his
fellow defensive linemen
and the Texans’ coaching
staff with helping him de-
velop.
“I’ve just got to give a big
shout-out to them because
it’s been a relentless grind
this whole season, up and
down, up and down, and
just kind of finding that
momentum of just getting
better at rushing,” Ander-
son said.

Sports Editor: reid.laymance@houstonchronicle.com • 713-362-2734 • sptletters@chron.com

HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 B3

TEXANS EXTRA
TEXANS 22, BRONCOS 17

DEN 0 3 7 7 17
HOU 10 3 3 6 22

FIRST QUARTER
Hou—FG Ammendola 29, 10:11. Drive: 5
plays, 36 yards, 2:03. Key Play: Stroud 27
pass to Jordan. Texans 3, Broncos 0.
Hou—Pierce 3 run (Ammendola kick),
3:49. Drive: 10 plays, 78 yards, 4:22. Key
Plays: Stroud 52 pass to N.Collins; Ogun-
bowale 1 run on 3rd-and-2; Stroud 2 run
on 4th-and-1. Texans 10, Broncos 0.

SECOND QUARTER
Hou—FG Ammendola 38, 12:54. Drive: 7
plays, 69 yards, 3:12. Key Plays: Stroud
59 pass to N.Collins on 3rd-and-6; Sin-
gletary 10 run; Stroud 2 run on 3rd-
and-6. Texans 13, Broncos 0.
Den—FG Lutz 34, 1:24. Drive: 13 plays, 56
yards, 5:09. Key Plays: Wilson 15 pass to
J.Williams; Wilson 11 run; Wilson 5 pass
to Perine on 3rd-and-6; Wilson 3 run on
4th-and-1. Texans 13, Broncos 3.

THIRD QUARTER
Hou—FG Ammendola 38, 8:51. Drive: 7
plays, 40 yards, 4:02. Key Plays: Stroud
39 pass to N.Collins on 3rd-and-11;
Stroud 5 pass to N.Collins on 3rd-and-13.
Texans 16, Broncos 3.
Den—Sutton 45 pass from Wilson (Lutz
kick), 4:47. Drive: 3 plays, 53 yards, 1:20.
Texans 16, Broncos 10.

FOURTH QUARTER
Hou—N.Collins 3 pass from Stroud (pass
failed), 14:16. Drive: 4 plays, 21 yards,
1:43. Key Plays: Stingley 3 interception
return to Denver 21; Stroud13 pass to Jor-
dan. Texans 22, Broncos 10.
Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Den—Wilson 1 run (Lutz kick), 12:04.
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, right, hauled in nine passes for a career-best 191 yards in Sunday’s 22-17 win over the Broncos. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 2:12. Key Play:
Wilson 41 pass to Jeudy. Texans 22,
Broncos 17.

Collins stabilizes offense Team statistics

First downs
Rushing
Passing
Den
16
9
5
Hou
14
5
8

Receiver’s career day buoyed injured unit in a victory key for playoff hopes
By Dennis Silva II
STA F F WRIT E R
Third-year Texans receiver
Nico Collins has a quote from
Kobe Bryant hanging promi-
nently in his locker.
“Where your focus goes, your
energy flows.”
With Houston’s receiving
corps depleted in Sunday’s 22-17
win over the Broncos, Collins’
focus and energy flowed.
With two of the Texans’ top
three pass-catchers sidelined —
tight end Dalton Schultz missed
the game with a hamstring inju-
ry and receiver Tank Dell was
carted off the field with 3:49 re-
maining in the first quarter with
a fractured fibula — Collins sta-
bilized Houston’s passing game
in a pivotal win.
Collins had a career-best 191
receiving yards and a touch-
down on nine catches, continu-
ing what has been a breakout
campaign for the former Michi-
gan standout. He was targeted 12
times.
Penalty
Third down eff.
2
0-11
1
4-16
Fourth down eff. 3-3 1-1
Total net yards 282 353
Collins bested his previous ca- Collins averaged 21.2 yards per it. Hate to see one of our brothers
Total plays 59 63
reer high of 168 yards against the catch against the Broncos. His go down like that. He will be Avg. gain 4.8 5.6
Steelers on Oct. 1. He took the ac- longest gain was a 59-yarder. He missed, most definitely. So now Net yards rushing 118 89
complishment in stride. also had catches of 52 and 39 it’s time to step up, everybody. Rushes 30 30
“Continue to be myself,” Col- yards. We can’t skip a beat. Avg. per rush 3.933 2.967
lins said. “Life will throw obsta- Against the Broncos’ switch- “When one goes down, we all Net yards passing 164 264
cles, and that’s part of it. Can’t let ups in defensive coverage, Col- need to step up and continue to Sacked-yards lost 3-22 5-28
Gross-yards passing 186 292
that distract you from your per- lins said he and quarterback C.J. be us. Hate to see my dawg go
Completed-att. 15-26 17-28
sonal goals. I’ve just been keep- Stroud kept their composure down like that, but we’ve got to Had intercepted 3 0
ing my head high with a positive and stayed calm. keep going.” Yards-pass play 5.655 8.0
mindset and continued to be my- “Trusting the process,” said Houston boosted its playoff Kickoffs-Endzone-TB 4-4-3 6-5-4
self game by game.” Collins, whose 3-yard touch- chances to 54% with the win, per Punts-avg. 6-44.333 7-50.571
The 6-4, 215-pound Collins down catch in the fourth quarter Pro Football Focus. A loss would Punts blocked 0 0
registered his second straight put the Texans up 22-10. “Trust- have dwindled its chances to FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0
Total return yardage 51 33
100-yard receiving game and ing our play-calling. Trusting 18%.
Punt returns 1-7 1-7
fourth of the season. each other. That’s what it all The opportunity to play Kickoff returns 2-44 1-23
He leads the Texans with 59 comes down to. I know he’s go- meaningful football in Decem- Interceptions 0-0 3-3
catches for 991 yards and six ing to put the ball where it needs ber is not lost on Collins, who Penalties-yards 2-8 8-81
touchdowns. to be.” suffered through 26 losses and a Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
“It’s high,” Collins said of his Collins said he was conscious tie in 34 games in 2021 and 2022. Time of possession 26:56 33:04
confidence. “But I can’t get com- that he, and others, would need “Keep winning. Keep going.
Individual statistics
fortable. Anything can happen to step up without the electric It’s there. It’s knocking on the
in this league, so I’ve got to con- Dell, who had his left leg rolled door,” Collins said of the post- Rushing: Denver, J.Williams 13-46, Wil-
tinue to chase my goals. I’m not up on while blocking on a 3-yard season odds. “Continue to be son 10-44, McLaughlin 4-15, Mims 1-8,
Burton 1-4, Perine 1-1. Houston, Pierce
there yet. I’m just going to con- touchdown run by Dameon ourself, grind and put the extra 15-41, Singletary 8-36, Stroud 6-11,
tinue to attack what I need to im- Pierce. work in. Around this time, that’s Ogunbowale 1-1.
prove on and keep making plays “You see the hard work he put all that matters. Offseason, camp Passing: Denver, Wilson 15-26-3-186.
whenever my number’s called. in every single day, and to come … it was for situations like this. Houston, Stroud 16-27-0-274, Mills 1-1-
Just keep going, one foot in front out like that, it hurt,” Collins Learn from it, grow and get 0-18.
of the other, brick by brick.” said. “I can’t really say much on ready for the Jets next week.” Receiving: Denver, Jeudy 3-51, J.Wil-
liams 3-24, Sutton 2-77, McLaughlin
2-6, Perine 2-5, Humphrey 1-12, Traut-
man 1-6, Mims 1-5. Houston, N.Collins 9-
191, Jordan 3-64, Ogunbowale 1-14,

SOLOMON
From page B1
recently missed three games
because of a hamstring injury,
came down with a leaping in-
terception of a Russell Wilson
pass in the back of the end zone.
“This is the NFL every week,”
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans
said. “That’s why they have that
Red Zone channel. It comes
down to the last moment every
single week. Every game, it
seems like it’s within a score.
“How you operate in that
moment — not blinking, not
panicking — it’s everybody
being under control, calm, in the
moment, and just executing.
And that’s what our team is
continuing to show each and
every week.”
In Sunday’s 22-17 win, the
Texans showed something
against Wilson, a quarterback
who has led 35 fourth-quarter
comebacks in his career. He had
not thrown an interception in
his previous five games, all
Broncos wins.
Ryans challenged his squad to
be tougher than the Broncos.
The first thing he listed on the
board last week as a key to vic-
tory was physicality.
The Texans didn’t allow Den-
ver to convert a third down
during the game (0-for-11), and
three of Denver’s last four pos-
sessions ended with intercep-
tions as Houston defensive coor-
dinator Matt Burke’s unit closed
out the win.
It is difficult not to compare
these Texans to recent previous
entries. Coaches cracked under
pressure, and their teams often
folded when tested.
“For me, I don’t worry about
what happened in the past here
with the Texans,” Ryans said.
“This is 2023. This is our team.
This is our brand of football.
“Our guys are a resilient
group of men who show up
every single week. They put the
work in every week and show
up on Sundays, execute, and
play for each other. That’s all I
ask for: our guys to continue to
get better.”
Good teams seem to make
their own luck, or at least take
advantage of their good fortune.
Houston did that Sunday.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud had
another turnover-free day but
did have a couple close calls.
In the second quarter, Stroud
was hit by Jonathon Cooper and
lost the ball at the Houston 24.
Offensive tackle George Fant
recovered that one for the Tex-
ans.
Later in the game, Stroud was
hit from behind by Ja’Quan
McMillan as he tried to break
free of the pocket and lost con-
trol of the ball.
Several white jerseys closed
in. Miraculously, none of the
Broncos fell on the ball. Dare
Ogunbowale of the Texans came
away with it.Instead of turning
the ball over at their 30-yard
line, the Texans were able to
punt.
On Denver’s next play, corner-
back Derek Stingley Jr. picked
off a Wilson pass, setting the
Texans up at the Broncos’ 20.
Houston took advantage,
scoring a touchdown on the
ensuing drive, with Stroud con-
necting with Nico Collins on a
3-yard pass.
That was the last time the
Texans scored. Twenty-two
points were enough, as for the
sixth time this season the Tex-
ans held a foe to 17 points or
less.
While spots in the NFL play-
offs will be determined by what
happens on the field, not in
some committee meeting, the
Texans are passing the eye test.
They had Wilson on the run
for much of the game, with Will
Anderson Jr., the rookie line-
backer the Texans drafted with
the No. 3 overall pick, wreaking
havoc all afternoon. Anderson
was a terror, finishing with two
sacks, four quarterback hits and
a pass defended that led to a
Stingley interception.
As for the competition for
wild cards, the Texans have
wins over potential competitors
in Denver (6-6) and Pittsburgh
(7-5), and they still have India-
napolis (7-5) and Cleveland (7-5)
left to play.
Houston needs Jacksonville
(8-3) to lose a couple games to
get back into the AFC South
race.
“It’s a long season, but it’s all
about playing great ball in No-
vember and December,” Ward
said. “Right now, we’re playing
meaningful games. These are
playoff games, right here.
“Everybody is trying to fight
to get into the big dance. I feel
like each week we’re getting
better.”
Eight straight one-score
games have toughened their
hides. They proved that again
Sunday.
Metchie 1-9, Beck 1-5, Saubert 1-5, Sin-
gletary 1-4.
Punt returns: Denver, Mims 1-7. Hous-
ton, King 1-7.
Kickoff returns: Denver, Mims 2-44.
Houston, King 1-23.
Tackles-assists-sacks: Denver, Sin-
gleton 8-4-1, Locke 6-2-1, Surtain 5-0-0,
Cooper 4-3-0, Jones 3-2-0, Harris 3-0-1,
Allen 2-4-.5, Jewell 2-4-0, Moreau 2-1-0,
McMillian 1-1-1, Browning 1-1-.5, Hen-
ningsen 1-1-0, Purcell 1-1-0, Simmons 1-
1-0, Bonitto 1-0-0, Mathis 0-1-0. Hous-
ton, Pitre 6-0-0, King 5-4-0, C.Harris 4-
2-0, Ward 4-2-0, Perryman 3-3-0, Ander-
son 3-2-2, Greenard 3-1-1, Rankins 2-
2-0, Hansen 2-0-0, Nelson 2-0-0, Cash-
man 1-5-0, M.Collins 1-1-0, Hughes 1-
0-0, Stingley 1-0-0, Houston-Carson 0-
1-0.
Interceptions: Denver, None. Houston,
Stingley 2-3, Ward 1-0.
Missed field goals: None.
Officials: Referee Shawn Smith, Ump
Bryan Neale, HL Jay Bilbo, LJ Jeff See-
man, FJ Dyrol Prioleau, SJ Clay Reynard,
BJ Dino Paganelli, Replay Mark Wimmer.
Attendance: 71,670.
ONLINE
More Texans coverage at
txsportsnation.com
TEXANS UPDATES
For our
latest game
coverage,
scan this
code.

SCHEDULE

SEPT. 10 SEPT. 17 SEPT. 24 OCT. 1 OCT. 8 OCT. 15 OCT. 29 NOV. 5 NOV. 12 NOV. 19 NOV. 26 DEC. 3 DEC. 10 DEC. 17 DEC. 24 DEC. 31 TBD
AT VS. AT VS. AT VS. AT VS. AT VS. VS. VS. AT AT VS. VS. AT
BAL IND JAX PIT ATL NO CAR TB CIN ARI JAX DEN NYJ TEN CLE TEN IND
L, 25-9 L, 31-20 W, 37-17 W, 30-6 L, 21-19 W, 20-13 L, 15-13 W, 39-37 W, 30-27 W, 21-16 L, 24-21 W, 22-17 NOON NOON NOON NOON TBD
(CBS) (CBS) (CBS) (FOX) (TBD)
B4 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HHHH HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

NFL
SUNDAY’S GAMES

Minshew, Colts outlast Titans in OT

W IR E R E P ORT S up 26-25. The Rams have won
three straight for the first
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — 49ERS 42, EAGLES 19 time since winning the
The Indianapolis Colts Brock Purdy threw for Super Bowl after the 2021
may start slow. 314 yards and four touch- season.
They sure know how to downs, Deebo Samuel
finish. scored three TDs and CHARGERS 6, PATRIOTS 0
Gardner Minshew Philadelphia’s quarter- Justin Herbert threw
threw a 4-yard touch- back Jalen Hurts briefly for 212 yards and set up a
down pass to Michael exited to get checked for a pair of Cameron Dicker
Pittman with 2:31 left in concussion in visiting San field goals that were all
overtime as the Colts beat Francisco’s lopsided win. Los Angeles needed on a
the Tennessee Titans 31-28 The fiery NFC champi- cold and rainy day for
for their fourth straight onship game rematch also their first shutout in six
victory to keep pace in the featured the 49ers scoring years and a victory over
playoff race in the AFC. touchdowns on six host New England and its
“It’s awesome to see our straight drives and a pair latest hapless quarter-
guys fight every single of ejections that showed back, Bailey Zappe.
week and just keep find- this year’s title game
ing ways to win,” first- might not run again CARDINALS 24
year Colts coach Shane through Philly, after all. STEELERS 10
Steichen said. The 49ers (9-3) left James Conner ran for
The Colts (7-5) had to Philly 10 months ago bat- 105 yards and a pair of
score a touchdown after tered in the NFC champi- touchdowns against his
Nick Folk made a 46-yard onship game behind in- old team as visiting Arizo-
field goal with 4:19 left in juries to Purdy and his na earned the franchise’s
overtime to put Tennessee backup, and they never George Walker IV/Associated Press first win in Pittsburgh
up 28-25. stood a chance in that 31-7 Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr., left, corralled a 4-yard touchdown in overtime since 1969.
Indianapolis came in loss. as Indianapolis kept its hold on the final AFC wild-card spot by beating the Titans.
holding the seventh and The Eagles (10-2) suf- BUCCANEEERS 21
last spot in the AFC. The fered a scare when Hurts, never trailed, with their crucial first-down snag in time since 2001. PANTHERS 18
Colts left town having a Houston native and defense making two big the final minutes, as De- Tua Tagovailoa was Tampa Bay’s Mike
swept their AFC South former Channelview High stops in the last 5 1⁄2 min- troit defeated host New 18-of-24 passing for 280 Evans scored on a 75-yard
rival for the first time School star, jogged off the utes. Green Bay knocked Orleans to post its best yards, including TD pass- reception and joined Jerry
since 2018. field in the fourth and down Mahomes’ pass into record through 12 games es of 78 and 60 yards to Rice as the only players in
“It really feels good to went straight to the locker the end zone on the since 1962. Hill, the NFL’s leading NFL history to string
beat them back to back room. He was cleared to game’s final play. Jared Goff passed for receiver who was left together 10 consecutive
because they beat us back play and returned to ac- The Packers (6-6) im- 213 yards and two TDs for wide open on his 11th and seasons with 1,000-plus
to back, and we’ve been tion with about 10 min- proved their December the Lions (9-3), who raced 12th trips to the end zone yards receiving while
trading off,” Pittman said utes left. record to 16-0 under coach to a three-touchdown lead this season. helping his team to a
of sweeping the Titans. Matt LaFleur. The only and then held off a valiant home win over struggling
“So it feels good to give it PACKERS 27, CHIEFS 19 team ever to win more comeback bid by the RAMS 36, BROWNS 19 Carolina.
back to them.” Jordan Love connected consecutive December Saints. Matthew Stafford
Tennessee (4-8) lost its with Christian Watson on games was the San Diego threw three touchdown FALCONS 13, JETS 8
first true home game this two of his three touch- Chargers with 18 straight DOLPHINS 45 passes and Puka Nacua Desmond Ridder threw
season and has yet to win down passes as resurgent from 2006-09, before their COMMANDERS 15 became the first rookie a 20-yard touchdown pass
consecutive games overall. Green Bay won its third move to Los Angeles. Tyreek Hill had two wide receiver to reach to MyCole Pruitt as vis-
The Titans not only straight game, taking touchdowns among his 1,000 yards in a season for iting Atlanta took over
blew a 17-7 lead, but Folk down Patrick Mahomes LIONS 33, SAINTS 28 157 yards receiving as Los Angeles as the team sole possession of first
missed his first extra and visiting Kansas City. Sam LaPorta had ca- visiting Miami routed extended its winning place in the NFC South by
point this season with The Packers scored reer highs of nine catches Washington to pad its streak to three in a row slogging its way to an ugly
5:26 left in regulation that touchdowns on three of for 140 yards, including an lead atop the AFC East with a victory over vis- victory over punchless
could have put Tennessee their first four drives and early touchdown and a and get to 9-3 for the first iting Cleveland. New York.

AT A GLANCE SUNDAY’S SUMMARIES

AMERICAN CONFERENCE Colts 31, Titans 28 (OT) GB—FG Carlson 48, 1:09.
KC GB
Individual statistics Interceptions Ret.
Comp-Att-Int
0-0
13-23-0
0-0
18-27-0
East W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Indianapolis 7 6 9 3 6 — 31 First downs 25 24 RUSHING—Miami, Achane17-73, Mostert11-43, J.Wilson Sacked-Yards Lost 2-13 0-0
Tennessee 10 7 2 6 3 — 28 Total Net Yards 337 382 4-11, T.Hill 2-(minus 4). Washington, Robinson 7-53, Gib- Punts 5-50.4 4-44.75
Miami 9 3 0 .750 384 266 5-0-0 4-3-0 6-2-0 3-1-0 3-1-0 son 10-35, Rodriguez 7-29, Howell 4-21. Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-1
First quarter Rushes-yards 25-148 25-129
Buffalo 6 6 0 .500 328 227 5-2-0 1-4-0 3-5-0 3-1-0 2-2-0 Ten—Henry 22 run (Folk kick), 13:20. Passing 189 253 PASSING—Miami, Tagovailoa18-24-0-280, White1-1-0-3. Penalties-Yards 6-51 9-77
Punt Returns 0-0 1-1 Washington, Howell 12-23-1-127. Time of Possession 29:17 30:43
N.Y. Jets 4 8 0 .333 171 251 2-5-0 2-3-0 2-6-0 2-2-0 1-3-0 Ind—Pierce 36 pass from Minshew (Gay kick), 12:05.
RECEIVING—Miami, T.Hill 5-157, Waddle 5-52, Achane 3-
Ten—FG Folk 24, :13. Kickoff Returns 2-53 2-60 Individual statistics
New England 2 10 0 .167 148 254 1-6-0 1-4-0 2-5-0 0-5-0 2-2-0 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-2 30, J.Hill 2-23, Cracraft 2-16, Mostert1-8, Ingold1-(minus
Second quarter 3). Washington, Samuel 4-65, Gibson 4-37, Dotson 2-23, RUSHING—Arizona, Conner 25-105, Carter 4-25, Murray
Ten—Henry 5 run (Folk kick), 10:22. Comp-Att-Int 21-33-1 25-36-0
South W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Ind—FG Gay 23, 7:39. Sacked-Yards Lost 3-21 2-14 Turner 1-2, Brown 1-0. 9-20. Pittsburgh, Harris16-63, Warren 9-59, Trubisky 3-5,
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Washington, Slye 53. Pickett 3-3.
Jacksonville 8 3 0 .727 254 225 3-3-0 5-0-0 6-2-0 2-1-0 4-1-0 Ind—FG Gay 46, :04. Punts 1-57.0 2-38.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 PASSING—Arizona, Murray 13-23-0-145. Pittsburgh, Tru-
Houston 7 5 0 .583 281 249 5-2-0 2-3-0 4-3-0 3-2-0 1-2-0
Third quarter
Ind—FG Gay 23, 4:57. Penalties-Yards 5-50 7-63 Chargers 6, Patriots 0 bisky 11-17-0-117, Pickett 7-10-0-70.
Time of Possession 29:28 30:32 L.A. Chargers 0 6 0 0 — 6 RECEIVING—Arizona, McBride 8-89, Swaim 2-10, Higgins
Indianapolis 7 5 0 .583 300 296 2-4-0 5-1-0 5-3-0 2-2-0 3-2-0 Ind—Stuard 18 blocked punt return (Hooker return), :19. 1-21, Dortch 1-19, Moore 1-6. Pittsburgh, Pickens 4-86,
Fourth quarter Individual statistics New England 0 0 0 0 — 0 D.Johnson 4-33, Freiermuth 3-29, A.Robinson 3-19, Har-
Tennessee 4 8 0 .333 213 255 4-2-0 0-6-0 2-6-0 2-2-0 0-3-0 Ind—FG Gay 28, 11:34. ris 2-14, Austin 1-10, Warren 1-(minus 4).
Second quarter
Ten—Hopkins 3 pass from Levis (kick failed), 5:26. RUSHING—Kansas City, Pacheco 18-110, Mahomes 4-26,
North W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div LAC—FG Dicker 38, 9:09. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Pittsburgh, Boswell 45.
Overtime Toney 1-6, Edwards-Helaire 2-6. Green Bay, Dillon 18-73,
Taylor 2-29, Watson 2-15, Love 2-10, Robinson 1-2. LAC—FG Dicker 38, :44.
Baltimore 9 3 0 .750 324 187 4-2-0 5-1-0 6-3-0 3-0-0 3-2-0 Ten—FG Folk 46, 4:19. PASSING—Kansas City, Mahomes 21-33-1-210. Green A—64,628. Rams 36, Browns 19
Cleveland 7 5 0 .583 258 245 5-1-0 2-4-0 5-3-0 2-2-0 3-2-0 Ind—Pittman 4 pass from Minshew, 2:31. Bay, Love 25-36-0-267. LAC NE
Ind Ten Cleveland 7 3 3 6 — 19
RECEIVING—Kansas City, Rice 8-64, Kelce 4-81, Pacheco First downs 13 13
Pittsburgh 7 5 0 .583 192 229 4-3-0 3-2-0 5-3-0 2-2-0 3-1-0 First downs 19 25 3-13, Valdes-Scantling 2-25, James1-12, Edwards-Helaire Total Net Yards 241 257 L.A. Rams 10 3 7 16 — 36
Cincinnati 5 6 0 .455 212 242 3-3-0 2-3-0 1-6-0 4-0-0 0-4-0 Total Net Yards 355 392 1-8, Moore 1-5, Gray 1-2. Green Bay, Watson 7-71, Doubs Rushes-yards 24-29 32-148 First quarter
Rushes-yards 23-55 41-187 4-72, Reed 4-16, Wicks 3-43, Kraft 3-37, Heath 1-15, Dil- Passing 212 109 Cle—J.Ford 24 pass from Flacco (D.Hopkins kick), 10:18.
West W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Passing 300 205 lon 1-14, Sims 1-1, Robinson 1-(minus 2). Punt Returns 3-55 2-0 LAR—FG Havrisik 44, 6:28.
Punt Returns 3-25 4-36 MISSED FIELD GOALS—None. Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-2 LAR—Nacua 70 pass from Stafford (Havrisik kick), 3:59.
Kansas City 8 4 0 .667 275 208 4-2-0 4-2-0 6-1-0 2-3-0 3-1-0 Kickoff Returns 1-36 2-40 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Second quarter
Denver 6 6 0 .500 263 302 4-3-0 2-3-0 3-5-0 3-1-0 1-2-0 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Lions 33, Saints 28 Comp-Att-Int 22-37-0 13-25-0 Cle—FG D.Hopkins 40, 2:06.
Comp-Att-Int 26-42-0 16-33-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 5-32 LAR—FG Havrisik 28, :00.
L.A. Chargers 5 7 0 .417 275 258 2-4-0 3-3-0 3-4-0 2-3-0 1-1-0 Detroit 21 3 3 6 — 33
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-12 6-19 Punts 8-45.875 7-45.857
New Orleans 0 7 14 7 — 28 Third quarter
Las Vegas 5 7 0 .417 202 256 4-2-0 1-5-0 3-5-0 2-2-0 1-2-0 Punts 5-51.2 8-37.375 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1 First quarter Cle—FG D.Hopkins 24, 4:58.
Penalties-Yards 4-20 3-14
LAR—Robinson 7 pass from Stafford (Havrisik kick), :39.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE Penalties-Yards
Time of Possession
4-29
29:03
9-74
38:26
Det—Montgomery 2 run (Patterson kick), 11:15.
Det—LaPorta 13 pass from Goff (Patterson kick), 10:24.
Time of Possession 28:50 31:10
Fourth quarter
East W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Det—St. Brown 25 pass from Goff (Patterson kick), 8:15. Individual statistics Cle—Bryant 8 pass from Flacco (kick failed), 8:49.
Individual statistics Second quarter LAR—Kupp 3 pass from Stafford (Havrisik kick), 3:48.
Philadelphia 10 2 0 .833 329 288 5-1-0 5-1-0 4-1-0 6-1-0 3-0-0 RUSHING—L.A. Chargers, Ekeler 14-18, Kelley 6-16, Her-
LAR—K.Williams 1 run (Havrisik kick), 1:56.
RUSHING—Indianapolis, Moss 19-51, Granson 1-2, Min- NO—Graham 6 pass from Carr (Grupe kick), 9:08. bert 4-(minus 5). New England, Elliott 17-52, Thornton
Dallas 9 3 0 .750 388 220 6-0-0 3-3-0 3-0-0 6-3-0 3-1-0 Det—FG Patterson 26, :08. LAR—safety, :36.
shew 3-2. Tennessee, Henry 21-102, Spears 16-74, Levis 1-39, Stevenson 9-39, Zappe 4-16, Montgomery 1-2.
2-5, Hopkins 1-4, Okonkwo 1-2. Third quarter PASSING—L.A. Chargers, Herbert 22-37-0-212. New En- Cle LAR
N.Y. Giants 4 8 0 .333 159 292 2-3-0 2-5-0 1-4-0 3-4-0 2-2-0 PASSING—Indianapolis, Minshew 26-42-0-312. Tennes- First downs 20 20
NO—Kamara 2 run (Grupe kick), 10:04. gland, Zappe 13-25-0-141.
Washington 4 9 0 .308 261 395 1-5-0 3-4-0 2-2-0 2-7-0 0-5-0 see, Levis 16-33-0-224. NO—Hill 1 run (Grupe kick), 4:34. RECEIVING—L.A. Chargers, K.Allen 5-58, Johnston 5-52, Total Net Yards 327 399
RECEIVING—Indianapolis, Pittman 11-105, Pierce 3-100, Det—FG Patterson 32, :00. Everett 4-44, Parham 2-12, Ekeler 2-9, Kelley 2-9, Erick- Rushes-yards 23-87 25-120
South W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Downs 3-14, Granson 2-71, Goodson 2-11, Moss 2-6, Mal- Fourth quarter son 1-23, Guyton 1-5. New England, Parker 4-64, Elliott Passing 240 279
lory 2-4. Tennessee, Hopkins 5-75, Spears 4-13, Okonkwo Det—Jame.Williams 19 run (pass failed), 14:07. 4-40, Henry 2-15, Reagor 1-11, Smith-Schuster 1-11, Ste- Punt Returns 2-30 2-15
Atlanta 6 6 0 .500 226 240 4-2-0 2-4-0 2-2-0 4-4-0 3-0-0 3-62, Westbrook-Ikhine 1-28, Henry 1-18, Whyle 1-16, NO—Kamara 1 run (Grupe kick), 7:30. venson 1-0. Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-8
New Orleans 5 7 0 .417 257 255 2-3-0 3-4-0 3-2-0 2-5-0 1-2-0 Moore 1-12. Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-42
Det NO MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
First downs 18 23 Comp-Att-Int 23-44-1 22-37-0
Tampa Bay 5 7 0 .417 233 245 3-3-0 2-4-0 1-3-0 4-4-0 2-1-0
49ers 42, Eagles 19 Total Net Yards 347 362 Falcons 13, Jets 8 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-14 0-0
Carolina 1 11 0 .083 191 313 1-4-0 0-7-0 1-3-0 0-8-0 0-3-0 Rushes-yards 30-142 36-113 Atlanta 0 10 3 0 — 13 Punts 5-47.2 5-58.6
San Francisco 0 14 14 14 — 42 Passing 205 249 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
North W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div N.Y. Jets 2 3 3 0 — 8
Philadelphia 6 0 7 6 — 19 Punt Returns 2-13 5-30 Penalties-Yards 7-86 7-45
First quarter Time of Possession 34:03 25:57
Detroit 9 3 0 .750 327 286 4-2-0 5-1-0 3-1-0 6-2-0 2-1-0 First quarter Kickoff Returns 3-58 1-18
Interceptions Ret. 1-13 0-0 NYJ—safety, 1:36.
Green Bay 6 6 0 .500 258 243 4-2-0 2-4-0 2-3-0 4-3-0 2-2-0 Phi—FG Elliott 26, 9:51. Individual statistics
Phi—FG Elliott 39, 2:01. Comp-Att-Int 16-25-0 19-29-1 Second quarter
Minnesota 6 6 0 .500 263 242 2-4-0 4-2-0 0-3-0 6-3-0 2-1-0 Second quarter Sacked-Yards Lost 1-8 2-18 Atl—Pruitt 20 pass from Ridder (Koo kick), 10:04. RUSHING—Cleveland, Hunt 12-48, Strong 2-20, J.Ford 9-
Punts 5-50.8 4-45.0 NYJ—FG Zuerlein 27, 3:56. 19. L.A. Rams, K.Williams 21-88, Nacua 2-34, Freeman
Chicago 4 8 0 .333 242 296 2-3-0 2-5-0 1-3-0 3-5-0 1-3-0 SF—Aiyuk 2 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 7:10.
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1 Atl—FG Koo 22, :00. 1-0, Stafford 1-(minus 2).
SF—McCaffrey 2 run (Moody kick), :38.
Penalties-Yards 6-45 6-50 Third quarter PASSING—Cleveland, Flacco 23-44-1-254. L.A. Rams,
West W L T Pct PF PA Home Away AFC NFC Div Third quarter
Time of Possession 27:50 32:10 NYJ—FG Zuerlein 46, 10:32. Stafford 22-37-0-279.
SF—Samuel 12 run (Moody kick), 11:49.
San Francisco 9 3 0 .750 352 189 4-1-0 5-2-0 2-2-0 7-1-0 3-0-0 Phi—Hurts 1 run (Elliott kick), 6:51. Individual statistics Atl—FG Koo 42, 3:38. RECEIVING—Cleveland, Bryant 5-49, Moore 4-83, Cooper
Atl NYJ 3-34, J.Ford 3-33, Tillman 2-20, Njoku 2-17, Da.Bell 2-12,
L.A. Rams 6 6 0 .500 268 253 3-3-0 3-3-0 2-2-0 4-4-0 4-1-0 SF—Samuel 48 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 3:54.
RUSHING—Detroit, Gibbs 8-60, Montgomery 18-56, Wil- First downs 15 14 Akins1-6, Hunt1-0. L.A. Rams, Kupp 6-39, Nacua 4-105,
Fourth quarter Robinson 4-55, K.Williams 3-24, Higbee 2-35, Skowronek
Seattle 6 6 0 .500 264 290 4-2-0 2-4-0 1-2-0 5-4-0 1-3-0 SF—Jennings 18 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 10:50.
liams1-19, Raymond1-9, Goff 2-(minus 2). New Orleans, Total Net Yards 194 257
2-12, Atwell 1-9.
Hill13-59, Kamara14-51, Williams 5-10, Carr 2-(minus1), Rushes-yards 34-90 25-62
Arizona 3 10 0 .231 230 331 2-4-0 1-6-0 1-4-0 2-6-0 0-4-0 Phi—D.Smith 2 pass from Hurts (pass failed), 5:33. Bowden 2-(minus 6). MISSED FIELD GOALS—L.A. Rams, Havrisik 43.
SF—Samuel 46 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 5:27. Passing 104 195
PASSING—Detroit, Goff 16-25-0-213. New Orleans, Carr
Week 13 results/schedule
A—69,879.
SF Phi
17-22-1-226, Winston 2-5-0-41, Hill 0-2-0-0.
Punt Returns
Kickoff Returns
4-35
0-0
4-45
1-25 Buccaneers 21
RECEIVING—Detroit, LaPorta 9-140, St. Brown 2-49,
Thursday’s result Indianapolis 31, Tennessee 28 (OT) First downs 24 23 J.Reynolds 1-12, Williams 1-11, Wright 1-8, Montgomery Interceptions Ret.
Comp-Att-Int
1-0
12-27-0
0-0
19-38-1
Panthers 18
Dallas 41, Seattle 35 Arizona 24, Pittsburgh 10 Total Net Yards 456 333 1-(minus 1), Gibbs 1-(minus 6). New Orleans, Kamara 6-
Rushes-yards 28-146 18-46 58, Olave 5-119, Moreau 2-28, Hill 2-15, Perry 1-30, Gra- Sacked-Yards Lost 3-17 4-19 Carolina 0 3 7 8 — 18
Sunday’s results Tampa Bay 21, Carolina 18 Punts 9-48.111 7-48.429 Tampa Bay 7 0 7 7 — 21
Passing 310 287 ham 1-6, Williams 1-6, Bowden 1-5.
Houston 22, Denver 17 L.A. Rams 36, Cleveland 19 Punt Returns 2-3 1-0 MISSED FIELD GOALS—None. Fumbles-Lost 3-0 4-2 First quarter
Miami 45, Washington 15 San Francisco 42, Philadelphia 19 Kickoff Returns 2-60 3-66 Penalties-Yards 6-55 11-71 TB—R.White 1 run (McLaughlin kick), 6:08.
Atlanta 13, N.Y. Jets 8 Green Bay 27, Kansas City 19 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Dolphins 45 Time of Possession 29:34 30:26
Second quarter
Detroit 33, New Orleans 28 Monday’s game Comp-Att-Int 19-27-0 28-48-0
Commanders 15 Individual statistics Car—FG Pineiro 23, 13:30.
L.A. Chargers 6, New England 0 Cincinnati at Jacksonville, 7:15 p.m. Sacked-Yards Lost 2-4 3-27
Punts 2-47.5 3-50.667 RUSHING—Atlanta, Robinson 18-53, Allgeier 8-26, Pat- Third quarter
Miami 17 14 7 7 — 45
Week 14 schedule Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0 Washington 0 7 8 0 — 15
terson 5-11, Ridder 3-0. N.Y. Jets, Cook 9-35, Bre.Hall13-
16, Siemian 1-8, Boyle 1-2, Gipson 1-1.
Car—Hubbard 1 run (Pineiro kick), 5:04.
TB—Evans 75 pass from Mayfield (McLaughlin kick), 4:54.
Penalties-Yards 5-47 7-47
Thursday’s game Time of Possession 28:21 31:39
First quarter PASSING—Atlanta, Ridder 12-27-0-121. N.Y. Jets, Boyle Fourth Quarter
Teams Time Open Current O/U TV Mia—T.Hill 78 pass from Tagovailoa (J.Sanders kick), 14-25-1-148, Siemian 5-13-0-66. TB—Godwin 19 run (McLaughlin kick), 11:36.
Individual statistics 9:40. RECEIVING—Atlanta, Pitts 4-51, Robinson 3-26, J.Smith
New England at Pittsburgh 7:15 p.m. Pit. 6 Pit. 6 32 1⁄2 Prime Car—Hubbard 1 run (Young run), 5:02.
Mia—FG J.Sanders 49, 3:39. 2-10, Pruitt 1-20, D.London 1-8, Patterson 1-6. N.Y. Jets, A—62,432.
RUSHING—San Francisco, McCaffrey17-93, Samuel 3-22, Mia—Van Ginkel 33 interception return (J.Sanders kick),
Sunday’s games Mitchell 3-13, Mason 2-10, Purdy 2-9, Darnold 1-(minus :55.
Bre.Hall 6-29, Gipson 5-77, G.Wilson 3-50, Conklin 3-35, Car TB
1). Philadelphia, Hurts 7-20, Swift 6-13, Mariota 2-6, Ruckert 1-12, Cook 1-11. First downs 15 15
Teams Time Open Current O/U TV Second quarter MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
Gainwell 2-5, B.Scott 1-2. Total Net Yards 282 322
Houston at N.Y. Jets Noon Hou. 6 Hou. 6 36 1⁄2 CBS PASSING—San Francisco, Purdy 19-27-0-314. Philadel- Was—Howell 1 run (Slye kick), 11:18.
Rushes-yards 34-133 28-128
Carolina at New Orleans Noon N.O. 5 1⁄2 N.O. 5 1⁄2 38 phia, Hurts 26-45-0-298, Mariota 2-3-0-16. Mia—T.Hill 60 pass from Tagovailoa (J.Sanders kick),
9:23.
Cardinals 24, Steelers 10 Passing 149 194
RECEIVING—San Francisco, Aiyuk 5-46, Samuel 4-116, Punt Returns 4-30 3-21
Detroit at Chicago Noon Det. 4 Det. 4 45 Kittle 4-68, Jennings 3-44, McCaffrey 3-40. Philadelphia, Mia—Mostert 1 run (J.Sanders kick), :24. Arizona 3 7 7 7 — 24
Third quarter Kickoff Returns 0-0 0-0
Indianapolis at Cincinnati Noon Ind. 3 Det. 4 40 1⁄2 D.Smith 9-96, A.Brown 8-114, Gainwell 5-42, Watkins 3- Pittsburgh 3 0 0 7 — 10
Mia—Achane 4 run (J.Sanders kick), 9:36. Interceptions Ret. 1--3 1-0
28, Swift 2-7, B.Scott 1-27. First quarter
Jacksonville at Cleveland Noon Jax. 3 Jax. 3 38 MISSED FIELD GOALS—None. Was—Howell 13 run (Thomas pass from Howell), 4:31. Comp-Att-Int 15-31-1 14-29-1
Pit—FG Boswell 29, 12:01. Sacked-Yards Lost 4-29 1-8
L.A. Rams at Baltimore Noon Bal. 7 1⁄2 Bal. 7 1⁄2 44 1⁄2 Fourth quarter
Tampa Bay at Atlanta Noon Atl. 2 1⁄2 N.O. 5 1⁄2 39 Packers 27, Chiefs 19 Mia—Achane 2 run (J.Sanders kick), 2:00.
Ari—FG Prater 51, 5:44.
Second quarter
Punts
Fumbles-Lost
8-45.875 8-46.125
2-0 0-0
A—63,459.
Minnesota at Las Vegas 3:05 p.m. Min. 1 1⁄2 Min. 1 1⁄2 40 1⁄2 Kansas City 3 3 6 7 — 19 Ari—McBride 5 pass from Murray (Prater kick), :15. Penalties-Yards 7-62 5-36
Mia Was
Green Bay 7 7 7 6 — 27 Third quarter Time of Possession 33:42 26:18
Seattle at San Francisco 3:05 p.m. S.F. 12 1⁄2 S.F. 12 1⁄2 45 1⁄2 Fox First downs 20 11
First quarter Total Net Yards 406 245 Ari—Conner 1 run (Prater kick), 7:18. Individual statistics
Buffalo at Kansas City 3:25 p.m. K.C. 3 K.C. 3 47 1⁄2 CBS GB—Sims 1 pass from Love (Carlson kick), 7:13. Rushes-yards 34-123 28-138 Fourth quarter RUSHING—Carolina, Hubbard 25-104, Sanders 8-23,
Denver at L.A. Chargers 3:25 p.m. LA 3 LA 3 44 1⁄2 KC—FG Butker 34, :00. Passing 283 107 Ari—Conner 9 run (Prater kick), 8:28. Blackshear1-6. Tampa Bay, R.White 20-84, Godwin1-19,
Philadelphia at Dallas 7:20 p.m. Dal. 3 Dal. 3 51 1⁄2 NBC Second quarter Punt Returns 2-7 1-11 Pit—D.Johnson 2 pass from Trubisky (Boswell kick), 4:25. Palmer 1-13, Edmonds 2-7, Thompkins 2-7, Mayfield 2-
GB—C.Watson 9 pass from Love (Carlson kick), 10:39. Kickoff Returns 0-0 0-0 Ari Pit (minus 2).
Monday’s games KC—FG Butker 34, 2:19. Interceptions Ret. 1-33 0-0 First downs 18 18 PASSING—Carolina, Young15-31-1-178. Tampa Bay, May-
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants 7:15 p.m. G.B. 5 1⁄2 G.B. 5 1⁄2 37 ABC Third quarter Comp-Att-Int 19-25-0 12-23-1 Total Net Yards 282 317 field 14-29-1-202.
KC—Pacheco 1 run (run failed), 9:39. Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 3-20 Rushes-yards 38-150 31-130 RECEIVING—Carolina, Mingo 6-69, Chark 3-56, Thielen 3-
ESPN+ Punts 3-42.333 5-42.8
GB—C.Watson 12 pass from Love (Carlson kick), 5:23. Passing 132 187 25, Sullivan1-16, Sanders1-6, I.Thomas1-6. Tampa Bay,
Tennessee at Miami 7:15 p.m. Mia. 13 Mia. 13 46 1⁄2 ESPN Fourth quarter Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0 Punt Returns 3-24 1-11 Evans 7-162, R.White 3-22, Palmer 2-12, Thompkins 1-4,
KC—Gray 2 pass from Mahomes (Butker kick), 14:51. Penalties-Yards 2-15 3-31 Kickoff Returns 1-24 1-26 Edmonds 1-2.
Open: Arizona, Washington Time of Possession 32:16 27:44 MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
GB—FG Carlson 40, 6:03.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
UH FOOTBALL
Cougars hire Tulane’s Fritz
Well-traveled coach has won at every level, including an AAC title last year with Green Wave
By Joseph Duarte
STA F F W RIT E R
Willie Fritz was hired
Sunday as head football
coach at the University of
Houston, bringing a de-
cades-long reputation as a
proven winner and pro-
gram builder at a time the
Cougars need both.
The announcement by
the university ended a
week-long search to re-
place Dana Holgorsen,
who was fired after three
losing seasons in five
years, including a 4-8
mark in UH’s inaugural
Big 12 season.
Fritz, who spent the past
eight seasons at Tulane,
signed a five-year deal. Fi-
nancial terms were not im-
mediately available.
“There is no ceiling for
success, with the incredi-
ble fan support, excellent
facilities, talented young
men and a collective desire
to compete for champion-
ships,” Fritz said in a state-
ment. “We will build a pro-
gram that all Coogs can be
proud of, and I cannot wait
to see the results.”
Fritz met with the team
shortly after arriving in
DYNAMO
Olsen, players reflect on a season of revival
By Danielle Lerner
STA F F WRIT E R
LOS ANGELES — After
the Dynamo spent the last
year fighting to revive the
team’s once-proud reputa-
tion and regain visibility in
the soccer world, the begin-
ning of Saturday night’s
MLS Western Conference
final against LAFC seemed
like a cruel joke.
Smoke from fireworks
during the national anthem
obscured the field at BMO
Stadium, delaying kickoff
and heightening apprehen-
sion for the biggest match
the Dynamo have played in
the last decade.
When the smoke
cleared, the Dynamo were
challenged from kickoff to
contain LAFC’s transition
attack in front of a raucous
and at times hostile crowd.
Ninety minutes later, fol-
lowing a devastatingly
timed first-half Los Ange-
les goal and a second-half
Dynamo own goal, the
smoke in the air was re-
placed by confetti showers
that anointed LAFC as
Western Conference cham-
pions.
Houston, which defied
outside preseason expecta-
tions by winning the U.S.
Open Cup and finishing
among the top four teams
in the Western Conference
to make the playoffs for the
first time since 2017, fell one
win short of making it to
the franchise’s first champi-
onship game since 2012.
In the visiting locker
room, disappointment
about what could have been
clashed with pride over
what had already trans-
pired. For the most part, the
latter feeling prevailed.
“I think in general, the
atmosphere in the locker
room was like uplifting. It
was with heads high,” said
Dynamo defender Erik
Sviatchenko. “Of course we
are disappointed, but you
can be disappointed in a
different kind of way. …
This group is special, and
we’ve done something on a
short period that has been
remarkable and something
that needs to resonate
around MLS for what we
have done and achieved —
being one of the best teams
in the league, won an Open
Cup — and that’s why
there’s kind of a resonance
in there instead of being
sad. And I think that’s go-
ing to fuel us into the com-
ing season.”
Dynamo coach Ben Ol-
sen’s first season with the
Houston late Sunday
night. He will be formally
introduced at a noon press
conference Monday at the
Cougar Club at TDECU
Stadium.
Fritz inherits a UH pro-
gram that made the transi-
tion to the Big 12 this sea-
son and recently broke
ground on the $140 million
Memorial Hermann Foot-
ball Operations Center. On
the field, UH has not won a
conference championship
since 2015 and only three
since College Football Hall
of Famer Bill Yeoman re-
tired after the 1986 season.
“No one in the country
has been better at leading
and developing student-
athletes than Willie Fritz,”
UH athletic director Chris
Pezman said in a state-
ment. “Over his more than
three decades of head
coaching experience, he
has guided several football
programs to historic suc-
cess. We look forward to
putting our full support
behind Coach Fritz as we
look to take the next steps
in the Big 12 Conference.”
At Tulane, Fritz presid-
ed over a turnaround from
2-10 in 2021 to an American
Defender Franco Escobar, below left, went from the hero of the Dynamo’s win over Sporting KC to
deflecting in an own goal in a season-ending loss to LAFC.
club ended without an MLS
Cup, but he led Houston to
a14-11-9 record and 51stand-
ings points, its most points
and best record since the
team last made the playoffs.
Perspective about what
that meant was not lost on
Olsen immediately after the
loss, though he was eager to
turn the page.
“We can lick our
wounds, but we want to
start working on next year
right now and how we get
better and how we sustain
this type of momentum that
we’ve built with this fran-
chise this year,” he said. “So
it hurts, but there’s so many
positives. Reigniting a fran-
chise has been a lot of fun.
This team in there has done
so much as far as three
home playoff games, get-
ting in the postseason,
bringing a trophy back to
Houston. These are not
easy things, and this team
did all of that. So again, it’s
going to hurt tonight, but I
think when we digest this,
we’ll look back on the sea-
son as hopefully a spring-
board to more seasons like
this.”
Olsen, Dynamo majority
owner Ted Segal, general
manager Pat Onstad, and
captain Héctor Herrera
each addressed the team in
the locker room.
“I just thanked them,”
Onstad said. “These guys
put a lot into this season.
You know, they all support-
ed one another. It was a
really tight-knit group, and
they had some success. We
won an Open Cup trophy,
we made it to the semifinal
of the MLS Cup, but we
didn’t get to, ultimately,
Willie Fritz signed a five-year deal to become UH’s newest coach, taking over a
program that has seen three losing seasons over the past five years.
Athletic Conference cham-
pionship and New Year’s
Six bowl win the following
season. It was the Green
Wave’s first major bowl ap-
pearance in 83 years.
Tulane went 11-2 this
season, losing to SMU on
Saturday to fall short of a
second straight conference
title. Fritz was named the
where we wanted to go,
which was to hoist an MLS
Cup. But I thanked them
because I think in Houston
it’s been a tough run the last
eight years or so, and I
think they finally put some-
thing on the line where peo-
ple can believe in us again
and be proud of the team
that we’re putting on the
field.”
Throughout the season,
Olsen has often deflected
credit for the team’s success
to Onstad and Dynamo
technical director Asher
Mendelsohn, who were in-
strumental in helping over-
haul the roster. They in
turn have deflected credit
back to Olsen, who imple-
mented a free-flowing style
of play and elevated numer-
ous bench players into
starting roles throughout
the season.
As much as Olsen helped
rejuvenate the Dynamo, the
coach said the team helped
rejuvenate him. Olsen
coached for 10 years at D.C.
United, but when he was
fired partway through a
dismal 2020 season, he
took some time away from
the sport. Restarting his ca-
reer with the Dynamo, he
said, allowed him to find joy
in the game again.
“They taught me to enjoy
the ride a little bit more
than I had previously done
in my last job,” Olsen said.
“The enthusiasm that they
brought every day was just
so fun to be around. And I
think if anything, that’s the
takeaway of the year: that
we won, but we won in an
enjoyable way and in a way
that was pleasing to the eye.
And I also learned that
AAC’s coach of the year for
the second straight season.
What the Cougars are
getting in the 63-year-old
Fritz is an experienced
coach who has been a
proven winner at every
stop during a 31-year
coaching career. He won
two junior college national
titles at Blinn College, had
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
there’s real moxie in there.
There’s winners. There’s
guys that are not afraid of
the big moment. And that’s
a nice thing to have.”
Smooth sailing did not
begin right away. It took a
few weeks “for everything
to settle,” Mendelsohn said,
and for the Dynamo to fig-
ure out what was their
strongest starting lineup
and how the coaching staff
worked together. Every-
thing started to click in Au-
gust, when the Dynamo
made it to the Round of16 in
the Leagues Cup.
After that, in 18 games
played from Aug. 20
through Saturday’s season-
ending loss, Houston post-
ed a 10-2-6 record and out-
scored opponents 35-14.
Steve Clark, the veteran
goalkeeper who won con-
ference championships
with Columbus in 2015 and
Portland in 2021 before he
signed with Houston prior
to the 2022 season, said this
season was uniquely grati-
fying for him because he
and the Dynamo were able
to prove naysayers wrong.
“When I got here, a lot of
people asked me why I
came to Houston from
Portland, and now you can
see why,” Clark said. “We
won the Open Cup, we got
to the Western Conference
final, and you know, we’re
in the CONCACAF Cham-
pions League next year.
We’re not a one-off. We’re
going to be back better. And
that for me is a very gratify-
ing part of my career.”
Onstad and Mendelsohn
gave a detailed Zoom pre-
sentation to each of the 17
players they signed last off-
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 B5
Sam Hodde/Associated Press
11 winning seasons in 13
years at Division II Central
Missouri, took Sam Hous-
ton to two straight FCS
championship games and
led Georgia Southern’s
transition to FBS, winning
the Sun Belt title the first
season.
After two losing seasons
to begin his tenure at Tu-
season. The plan they laid
out is progressing ahead of
schedule, Mendelsohn
said, but the thesis state-
ment of their pitch will re-
main the same this winter.
“We start with our val-
ues and what we believe in,
who we are and a vision of
where we want to go and
the strength of the city,”
Mendelsohn said. “Hous-
ton’s a desirable place
around the country and
around the world to come
and live. So those things
don’t change from the origi-
nal presentation. I think
what changes now is the
immediate challenges of,
last year we were talking to
people about, ‘Come here
and help the team get to the
playoffs and get back into
the postseason conversa-
tion.’ And now it’s about,
how do you come in and
add to a group that’s had
some success and push this
group to do even a little bit
more?”
The Dynamo were not
without their opportunities
to advance in their quest of
another on Saturday. Corey
Baird’s blocked shot from
the edge of the six-yard box
in the seventh minute end-
ed up being their best
chance to score in a physi-
cal game.
Clark, the Dynamo’s
emotional engine, was in-
volved in some collisions
with LAFC players within
the first 30 minutes and
then booed mercilessly
whenever he touched the
ball. The goalkeeper later
said it didn’t faze him; he
preferred to have fans’ neg-
ative attention on him to
give his teammates time to
lane, Fritz has led the
Green Wave to five bowl
appearances. The school
has become one of the top
Group of Five programs in
recent years, going a com-
bined 23-4 the last two sea-
sons.
His career record as a
head coach is 247-121-1.
Fritz was regarded as
the Cougars’ top choice in
a search that also included
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor
and UNLV coach Barry
Odom.
“From the outset of our
search, Coach Willie Fritz
stood out for his track re-
cord of championship-lev-
el success across all levels
of college football,” UH
board of regents chairman
Tilman Fertitta said in a
statement. “His achieve-
ments and reputation
stand toe-to-toe with the
best and brightest in the
game. Our mission is to be
a leader in the Big 12 Con-
ference and provide our
fans and donors a product
they can be proud of. We’re
excited to welcome Coach
Fritz and his family to
Houston and look forward
to bright days together for
Houston football.”
Saturday’s game
Los Angeles FC 2
Dynamo 0
Houston 0 0 — 0
Los Angeles 1 1 — 2
First Half—1, Los Angeles, Hollingshead, 5, 44th minute.
Second Half—2, Los Angeles, .Escobar own goal, 80th
minute.
Goalies—Houston, Steve Clark, Andrew Tarbell; Los Ange-
les, Maxime Crépeau, John McCarthy.
Yellow Cards—Escobar, Houston, 45th plus 3, Herrera,
Houston, 71st.
Referee—Victor Rivas. Assistant Referees—Logan Brown,
Michael Barwegan. 4th Official—Ismail Elfath.
A—22,221.
Lineups
Houston—Steve Clark; Micael (Teenage Hadebe, 61st),
Erik Sviatchenko, Franco Escobar, Griffin Dorsey; Héctor
Herrera, Artur; Amine Bassi (Thorleifur Ulfarsson, 77th),
Nelson Quiñones (Brad Smith, 77th), Adalberto Carras-
quilla (Sebastian Kowalczyk, 86th); Corey Baird (Ibrahim
Aliyu, 57th).
Los Angeles—Maxime Crépeau; Giorgio Chiellini, Jesús Mu-
rillo, Diego Palacios, Ryan Hollingshead; Ilie Sánchez,
Kellyn Acosta (Natahn Ordaz, 84th), Timothy Tillman
(Sergi Palencia, XXth); Carlos Vela (Mateusz Bogusz,
77th), Dénis Bouanga, Cristian Olivera (Aaron Long,
90th).
regain their composure.
LAFC further threatened it
by scoring on a rebound
shot one minute before
halftime after Clark
blocked the initial shot at-
tempt from a corner kick.
The Dynamo stuck to
their game plan and domi-
nated possession. In the
second half, they made tac-
tical adjustments, and Ol-
sen made attack-minded
substitutions designed to
“throw the kitchen sink” at
LAFC. They fired multiple
shots, most from outside
the box. But a break-
through never arrived.
Heartbreak did.
Defender Franco Esco-
bar, who scored the lone
goal in the Dynamo’s 1-0
conference semifinal victo-
ry over Sporting KC, went
from hero to tragic figure
when his attempt to block
an LAFC cross instead re-
sulted in an own goal.
Belief, Olsen and
Sviatchenko maintained,
was never an issue. Al-
though the Dynamo did not
feel that they played well
enough to win, they did not
give up. That attitude is
something they hope to
continue.
“What I take away from
the season is that we have
built something that is very
sustainable,” Sviatchenko
said. “Of course, we will be
facing teams that now re-
spect us even more, and
that’s going to be a new
kind of role that we have
that we might be the favor-
ites next season for some of
the games. So I would say
that’s one of the things that I
take away — that we have
done something that is
amazing and something we
need to work toward to see
if we can repeat, because
the first season is tough and
we succeeded, but it’s al-
ways the second season.
That’s where we need to
show our character.”
B6 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
ROSE BOWL
NO. 4 ALABAMA (12-1)
When/where: 4 p.m. Jan. 1; Pasadena, Calif. TV: ESPN
NO. 1 MICHIGAN (13-0)
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Texas gets invited to the party
Big 12 champions are slotted third and will play No. 2 Washington in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1
By Joseph Duarte
STA F F W RIT E R
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian
had trouble going to sleep Sat-
urday night, hours after claim-
ing the Big 12 title, as the Long-
horns awaited their fate in the
College Football Playoff.
Sarkisian presumably slept
like a baby Sunday.
However, there was plenty of
tossing and turning in the Flori-
da panhandle as Florida State
became the first unbeaten Pow-
er Five conference champion to
be excluded from the four-team
field in its 10-year history.
The Longhorns (12-1) were
tabbed the No. 3 seed and will
play No. 2 seed Washington
(13-0), the Pac-12 champion, in
the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
Big Ten champion Michigan
(13-0) received the No. 1 seed and
will play No. 4 Alabama (12-1),
the SEC champion, in the Rose
Bowl on the same date.
The semifinal winners will
meet for the national champi-
onship on Jan. 8 at NRG Stadi-
um.
“The cherry on top is to go
play for a national champion-
ship,” Sarkisian said.
The Sunday Shakeup left one
conference (the ACC) fuming,
another (the SEC) breathing a
sigh of relief, and another (the
Pac-12) not quite ready to be
pronounced dead. And in the
case of the Longhorns, it
marked the completion of a re-
markable turnaround from 5-7
just two seasons ago to a debut
playoff appearance.
“Put us in the playoff, and
you’ll see why,” UT wide receiv-
er Jordan Whittington said af-
ter the Longhorns dismantled
Oklahoma State 49-21 in the Big
12 championship game.
Heading into Sunday’s an-
nouncement, Michigan and
Washington were considered
shoo-ins for the playoff field.
That left the committee with a
tough decision for the remain-
ing two spots: Take unbeaten
Florida State, which lost star
quarterback Jordan Travis to
injury late in the season, and ei-
ther Texas or Alabama; or in-
clude both of those one-loss
conference champions.
Florida State was No. 4 in the
TEXAS A&M
Texas Bowl to host Aggies’ postseason return
Program will renew
rivalry with ex-Big 12
rival Oklahoma St.
By Brent Zwerneman
STA F F WRIT E R
COLLEGE STATION — Texas
A&M hoped to end its season in
Houston. The Aggies will indeed,
but not as they hoped.
A&M (7-5) of the Southeastern
Conference will face No. 20 Okla-
homa State (9-4) of the Big 12 in
the TaxAct Texas Bowl in NRG
Stadium on Dec. 27.
“We are happy for another
chance to come together as a team
of brothers to compete for Texas
A&M and the 12th Man,” said
A&M quarterback Jaylen Hen-
derson, the Aggies’ third-string
QB who’s starting after injuries to
Conner Weigman and backup
Max Johnson. “We are excited to
play in an NFL stadium, and we
know Oklahoma State will be a
great challenge.”
The College Football Playoff ti-
tle game will also be played at
NRG Stadium on Jan. 8, and rival
Texas has a chance to end its sea-
son in Houston after earning the
No. 3 seed in the CFP on Sunday.
The Longhorns will face No. 2
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
[ ]
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian raises the trophy after the Longhorns won the Big 12
Conference championship over Oklahoma State at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday.
penultimate rankings and ap-
peared on the way to a second
playoff appearance after relying
on a strong defensive effort to
beat Louisville 16-6 in the ACC
championship game.
The committee decided Flori-
da State, without Travis, was
not among the best four teams.
“Florida State is a different
team than it was the first 11
weeks,” CFP selection commit-
tee chairman Boo Corrigan told
ESPN. “As you look at who they
are as a team right now, without
Jordan Travis, without the of-
fensive dynamic he brings, they
are a different team, and the
Washington in the Sugar Bowl on
Jan. 1 in the semifinals, and the
national title game is a week later
in the home of the Texans.
A&M is led by interim coach
Elijah Robinson following the fir-
ing of Jimbo Fisher on Nov. 12 af-
ter six seasons.
“I am so proud of these young
men for their effort and commit-
ment to me, our staff, Texas A&M
and to each other,” Robinson
said. “Any transition is difficult,
but this Aggie team is a brother-
hood. I know they will give great
effort and we look forward to the
TaxAct Texas Bowl and we have
great respect for the Oklahoma
State Cowboys.”
The Aggies hired former A&M
defensive coordinator Mike Elko
from Duke to replace Fisher, who
was 11-11 in the past two seasons,
and Elko is busy hiring a staff and
trying to retain players from a tal-
ented roster.
The Aggies, who will play in
their first bowl game in three
years after backing out of the Ga-
tor Bowl in 2021 for a handful of
reasons, last played in the Texas
Bowl in 2019, when they defeated
Oklahoma State and coach Mike
Gundy 24-21. The Cowboys are
coming off a 49-21 loss to UT in
the Big 12 title game in Arlington.
“We’ll give these guys a week
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
When/where: 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8;
NRG Stadium. TV: ESPN
committee voted Alabama four
and Florida State five.”
Texas — which beat the
Crimson Tide 34-24 on the road
in September — had been stuck
at seventh in the rankings for
the previous five weeks. No
team ranked outside the top six
in the next-to-last rankings had
ever made the playoffs. Ala-
bama,which had been eighth in
the rankings, upset two-time
defending champion Georgia in
the SEC championship game to
grab the final spot and ensure
what has been rated as the na-
tion’s toughest conference
would not be left out of the play-
Jaylen Henderson will likely be at quarterback when Texas A&M
plays its first postseason game in three years at the Texas Bowl.
off,” Gundy said following the
four-touchdown loss to the Long-
horns. “I’ve never given a team
seven days. I’ll probably give
them eight days off. Normally, it’s
four or five and then we’re right
back at it. This team, they need a
break. They’re tired.”
All tickets for the game are dig-
ital and available at12thMan.com/
tickets. The Aggies will play in
the Texas Bowl for the fourth
time. They are 2-1 in their previ-
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
When/where: 7:45 p.m. Jan. 1; New Orleans. TV: ESPN
NO. 2 WASHINGTON (13-0)
Sara Diggins/Associated Press
off for the first time.
Michigan is making a third
straight playoff appearance but
has yet to win a game. Wolver-
ines coach Jim Harbaugh
served a pair of three-game sus-
pensions this season, the first
for recruiting violations and the
second as punishment for a
sign-stealing scandal allegedly
orchestrated by a former staffer.
Washington snapped a six-year
drought for the Pac-12, which
will have only two remaining
members (Oregon State and
Washington State) after this
season due to mass exoduses to
the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. Al-
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
ous trips, with wins over Oklaho-
ma State and Northwestern and a
loss to Kansas State. A&M is 3-2
in Houston bowls (including a
win over TCU in the GalleryFur-
niture.com Bowl and a loss to
Southern Cal in the Bluebonnet
Bowl) and 3-1 all-time in the home
of the Texans.
“A postseason bowl game is a
reward to the players, coaches,
staff and the 12th Man,” A&M
athletic director Ross Bjork said.
SUGAR BOWL
NO. 3 TEXAS (12-1)
abama has three national cham-
pionships and reached the title
game three other times during
the playoff era.
Florida State athletic director
Michael Alford called the deci-
sion to leave out the Seminoles
“unforgivable.” Coach Mike
Norvell said he was “disgusted
and infuriated.”
“The consequences of giving
in to a narrative of the moment
are destructive, far reaching,
and permanent. Not just for
Florida State, but college foot-
ball as a whole,” Alford said in a
statement. “The argument of
whether a team is the ‘most de-
serving OR best’ is a false equiv-
alence. It renders the season up
to yesterday irrelevant and sig-
nificantly damages the legitima-
cy of the College Football Play-
off. The committee failed col-
lege football today.”
Texas, which is set to join the
SEC next year, will be playing
the program’s biggest game
since reaching the Bowl Cham-
pionship Series title game in
2009.
And the Longhorns won’t
have to travel far. Beat Washing-
ton in New Orleans, and UT
will effectively play a home
game, with its Austin campus a
21⁄2-hour drive from NRG Stadi-
um.
“I think in the back of our
heads we always knew that if
we were going to win the Big 12
championship that other acco-
lades would probably come
with it,” UT quarterback Quinn
Ewers said. “So I mean, our
bull’s-eye now is on a national
championship for sure.”
The UT-UW game is a re-
match of last December’s Ala-
mo Bowl, won by the Huskies
27-20. It again pits Sarkisian
against his former school; he
went 34-29 at Washington from
2009-13.
“Washington still holds a
special place to me,” Sarkisian
said. “I got my first head coach-
ing opportunity there and just
had five tremendous years in
trying to rebuild that program.”
After an eventful few days,
Ewers said, the Longhorns and
their coach would get some
much-needed sleep.
“I’ll definitely be able to get
some rest,” Ewers said.
TAXACT TEXAS BOWL
TEXAS A&M VS.
NO. 20 OKLAHOMA STATE
When/where: 8 p.m. Dec. 27 at
NRG Stadium.
TV/radio: ESPN; 92.5 FM, 97.5
FM.
“The opportunity for this group
of Aggies to come together and
compete one more time in an
NFL stadium in our backyard is
exciting.
“We look forward to facing
Oklahoma State in the TaxAct
Texas Bowl and the opportunity
to play in front of the 12th Man.”
A&M senior receiver Ainias
Smith helped key the Aggies’ vic-
tory over the Cowboys four years
ago in the Texas Bowl while play-
ing running back when needed,
but Smith will not play in this
Texas Bowl because of an injured
finger.
In addition, Johnson, receiver
Raymond Cottrell and offensive
linemen Remington Strickland
and Jordan Spasojevic-Moko all
have entered the transfer portal
and will not play for the Aggies,
unless they change their mind.
Johnson already has pledged to
play for North Carolina and
coach Mack Brown.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COMHHHH MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 B7

RICE
‘Worst game’ NBA AT A GLANCE

WESTERN CONFERENCE

leaves team
W L Pct GB
Minnesota 15 4 .789 —
Oklahoma City 13 6 .684 2
Denver 14 7 .667 2

below .500
Sacramento 11 7 .611 3½
Phoenix 12 8 .600 3½
Dallas 11 8 .579 4
L.A. Lakers 12 9 .571 4
Mistakes, effort UP NEXT New Orleans 11 10 .524 5
L.A. Clippers 9 10 .474 6
cited as factors ROCKETS VS. Houston 8 9 .471 6
THUNDER
in loss to Lakers When/where: 7 p.m.
Golden State
Utah
9
7
11
13
.450
.350
6½
8½
Wednesday at Toyota Portland 6 13 .316 9
LOS ANGELES — The Center. Memphis 5 14 .263 10
Rockets have lost on the TV/radio: SCHN; 740 AM, San Antonio 3 16 .158 12
road. They have done 93.3 FM (Spanish), 1010 EASTERN CONFERENCE
nothing but lose on the AM (Spanish). W L Pct GB
road. They have lost Boston 15 4 .789 —
excruciatingly close Orlando 14 6 .700 1½
games. They have lost a “That’s LeBron,” Ea- Milwaukee 14 6 .700 1½
couple son said of the move that Philadelphia 12 7 .632 3
when began with a spin around New York 12 7 .632 3
fatigued him in the post. “It’s a Indiana 10 8 .556 4½
or short- tough move. That’s a Miami 11 9 .550 4½
handed or tough move by anybody. Cleveland 11 9 .550 4½
Karen Warren/Staff photographer both. Just got to tip your hat at Brooklyn 10 9 .526 5
Braylen Walker, center, and the Owls won their final two games of the regular This the end of the day.” Atlanta 9 10 .474 6
season to earn a trip to a bowl game for the second straight year. Jonathan was The Rockets’ issue was Toronto 9 11 .450 6½
Feigen worse. not that James was sensa- Charlotte 6 12 .333 8½

Owls will head to Dallas ON THE

RO C K ET S were
They

pushed
tional. He scored just 16
points, 21 fewer than his
season high set in the
Chicago
Washington
Detroit
7 14 .333
3 16 .158
2 18 .100 13 ½
9
12

for First Responder Bowl around.

They were shut down for
a game-changing stretch.
previous meeting.
Beginning with that
dominant second-quarter
Saturday’s results
L.A. Clippers 113, Golden State 112
Minnesota 123, Charlotte 117
Cleveland 110, Detroit 101
By Richard Dean BOWL LINEUP They were sent home run, the Lakers were Brooklyn 129, Orlando 101
C O R R E S P ONDE NT with an 0-8 road record, tougher. Their defense Milwaukee 132, Atlanta 121
Chicago 124, New Orleans 118
Date/Time Bowl/Site TV Matchup Line run off the floor by the shut down Houston in a Indiana 144, Miami 129
Last year, Rice got its Dec. 16 Myrtle Beach Bowl ESPN Ohio vs. NL Lakers 107-97 on Satur- game the Rockets began Oklahoma City 126, Dallas 120
first bowl experience under 10 a.m. Conway, S.C. Georgia Southern day night with a perfor- by making seven of their Phoenix 116, Memphis 109
Dec. 16 Celebration Bowl ABC Howard vs. NL Utah 118, Portland 113 (OT)
coach Mike Bloomgren. 11 a.m. Atlanta Florida A&M
mance that Rockets coach first nine shots. Los An- Sacramento 123, Denver 117
Now, the Owls want to get a Dec. 16 New Orleans Bowl ESPN Louisiana vs. NL Ime Udoka described as geles swarmed inside, L.A. Lakers 107, Houston 97
win in their extended 2023 1:15 p.m. New Orleans Jacksonville St. the worst of the season. with the Rockets making Sunday’s results
season. Dec. 16 Cure Bowl ABC Miami (Ohio) vs. NL “Probably our worst just 17 of 43 shots in the No games scheduled.
2:30 p.m. Orlando, Fla. Appalachian St. Monday’s games
On Sunday, Rice accept- overall game as far as paint. Boston at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.
Dec. 16 New Mexico Bowl ESPN New Mexico St. vs. NL
ed an invitation to play Tex- 4:45 p.m. Albuquerque, N.M. Fresno St. effort and attention to “They got the best of New Orleans at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
as State in the First Re- detail, and that’s what we us,” Green said. “They Tuesday’s games
Dec. 16 L.A. Bowl ABC UCLA vs. NL
New York at Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m.
sponder Bowl on Dec. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Inglewood, Calif. Boise St. haven’t done this year: brought the aggressive Phoenix at L.A. Lakers, 9 p.m.
Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dec. 16 Independence Bowl ESPN Cal vs. NL play with the proper nature to us. They had us
8:15 p.m. Shreveport, La. Texas Tech
Dallas. It will be the Owls’ Dec. 18 Famous Toastery Bowl ESPN Western Kentucky vs. NL
effort or physicality,” on our heels, and we
14th bowl appearance and 1:30 p.m. Charlotte, N.C. Old Dominion Udoka said. couldn’t respond.”
second in as many years Dec. 19 Frisco Bowl ESPN UTSA vs. NL “Since we achieved By the end of the third NBA NOTEBOOK
under their sixth-year head 8 p.m. Frisco Marshall some success, it looks quarter and start of the
coach. Dec. 21 Boca Raton Bowl ESPN Syracuse vs. NL like it’s gone to some fourth, beginning with IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
7 p.m. Boca Raton, Fla. South Florida QUARTERFINALS SET
“Our kids got a taste of Dec. 22 Gasparilla Bowl ESPN Georgia Tech vs. NL people’s heads, and we the Rockets within 10, the
bowl life, and they wanted a 5:30 p.m. Tampa, Fla. Central Florida have to do what we did to Lakers twice got the It’s four regular-season
bigger piece,” Bloomgren Dec. 23 Birmingham Bowl ABC Troy vs. NL get us there.” rebound of their own games in early December.
said. “That’s what they 11 a.m. Birmingham, Ala. Duke The difference between missed free throw to have Ordinarily, they’d be for-
worked for this offseason Dec. 23 Camellia Bowl ESPN Arkansas St. vs. NL
the Rockets’ home wins consecutive four-point gotten shortly after the
11 a.m. Montgomery, Ala. Northern Illinois final buzzer.
and earned the right to go.” Dec. 23 Armed Forces Bowl ABC James Madison vs. NL and road woes has never possessions and push the
The Owls won their final 2:30 p.m. Fort Worth Air Force been more striking. They lead to 18 in a span of 28 That likely won’t hap-
two games of the regular Dec. 23 Potato Bowl ESPN Georgia St. vs. NL fell to 8-9, below .500 for seconds. pen this time.
season to become bowl eli- 2:30 p.m. Boise, Idaho Utah St.
the first time in a month, “To kind of get punked The NBA’s inaugural
gible. The Owls reached 6-6
Dec. 23 68 Ventures Bowl ESPN South Alabama vs. NL
or since they were 2-3 by a team that’s not In-Season Tournament
6 p.m. Mobile, Ala. Eastern Michigan
following their 24-21victory before blowing out the known for physicality or has reached the knockout
Dec. 23 Las Vegas Bowl ABC Utah vs. NL
over Florida Atlantic inside 6:30 p.m. Las Vegas Northwestern Lakers in the sixth game punking people is not a stage — with quarterfinal
Rice Stadium on Nov. 25. Dec. 23 Hawai’i Bowl ESPN Coastal Carolina vs. NL of the season. good sign,” Udoka said. games on Monday and
It is the second straight
9:30 p.m. Honolulu San Jose State
They also were beaten Udoka was not around Tuesday to decide which
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl ESPN Bowling Green vs. NL four teams go to Las Vegas
year the Owls will play in a 1 p.m. Detroit Minnesota the way they had won to see the end of the
bowl. Last year, Rice re- Dec. 26 First Responder Bowl ESPN Texas St. vs. NL three consecutive bench- game. With 8:35 left, he later this week to play for
turned to postseason play 4:30 p.m. Dallas Rice clearing routs back then. and James exchanged the NBA Cup and the bulk
for the first time since 2014, Dec. 26 Guaranteed Rate Bowl ESPN Kansas vs. NL The Lakers hit them with words. Official J.T. Orr of a prize pool that will
losing to Southern Miss 38-
8 p.m. Phoenix UNLV
a seven-minute first-half gave both technical fouls. total about $18 million.
Dec. 27 Military Bowl ESPN Virginia Tech vs. NL Monday’s games have
24 in the LendingTree Bowl 1 p.m. Annapolis, Md. Tulane surge during which the It was Udoka’s second,
in Mobile, Ala. The Owls Dec. 27 Duke’s Mayo Bowl ESPN North Carolina vs. NL Rockets were shut down earning an ejection, and Boston visiting Indiana
were 5-7 in the 2022 regular 4:30 p.m. Charlotte, N.C. West Virginia and frustrated and the his fifth of the season, the and New Orleans going to
season, making the bowl Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl Fox No. 15 Louisville vs. NL
Lakers began celebrating most for any coach. Sacramento. On Tuesday,
7 p.m. San Diego Southern Cal it’ll be New York at Mil-
due to a shortage of six-win Dec. 27 Texas Bowl ESPN Texas A&M vs. NL early. “We had some con-
teams and their being the 8 p.m. Houston No. 20 Oklahoma St. “Missed assignments, versation, and they didn’t waukee and Phoenix at
top five-win team in Aca- Dec. 28 Fenway Bowl ESPN No. 24 SMU vs. NL turnovers,” Udoka said. like what they heard, the the Los Angeles Lakers.
demic Progress Rate. 10 a.m. Boston Boston College
“We had a great first refs,” Udoka said. “Me Winners go to the semifi-
The timing of the First
Dec. 28 Pinstripe Bowl ESPN Miami vs. NL
quarter. Obviously, for a and the player.” nals while losers are out
1:15 p.m. New York Rutgers
Responder Bowl is benefi- team (to score) 35 in that That came after anoth- and will play a regular-
Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl ESPN No. 18 N.C. State vs. NL
cial for the Owls. 4:45 p.m. Orlando, Fla. No. 25 Kansas St. (second) quarter — we er exchange that saw the season game later this
“It’s awesome that (fans) Dec. 28 Alamo Bowl ESPN No. 14 Arizona vs. NL didn’t score, but it was Lakers’ Cam Reddish week against another
can drive up the day after
8:15 p.m. San Antonio No. 12 Oklahoma
still a three-point game, earn a technical after team that lost in the quar-
Dec. 29 Gator Bowl ESPN No. 22 Clemson vs. NL terfinals.
Christmas,” Bloomgren 11 a.m. Jacksonville, Fla. Kentucky five-point game. And fouling Eason. Reddish
said. “We understand how Dec. 29 Sun Bowl CBS No. 19 Oregon St. vs. NL then multiple turnovers appeared to bump into “I just want to make
excited the Texas State fan 1 p.m. El Paso No. 16 Notre Dame and missed assignments Eason as Eason went to every appeal I can to our
base is going to be and that Dec. 29 Liberty Bowl ESPN Memphis vs. NL on defense. the line, incensing Eason fans that we need the
they’re going to be there.
2:30 p.m. Memphis, Tenn. Iowa St.
“Didn’t love our phys- as Alperen ށengün, Fred loudest building possible,”
Dec. 29 Cotton Bowl Classic ESPN No. 9 Missouri vs. NL Pacers coach Rick Carlisle
We need our fans to be 7 p.m. Arlington No. 7 Ohio State icality, especially in that VanVleet and Jalen Green
there in force.” Dec. 30 Peach Bowl ESPN No. 11 Mississippi vs. NL quarter.” took turns trying to calm said. “To show you that no
The First Responder 11 a.m. Atlanta No. 10 Penn St. The Rockets made one him. good deed goes unpun-
Bowl will be Rice’s 10th Dec. 30 Music City Bowl ABC Auburn vs. NL
of 10 shots and commit- “I was about to shoot a ished, we draw the team
1 p.m. Nashville, Tenn. Maryland with the best record in
game this season in the Dec. 30 Orange Bowl ESPN No. 6 Georgia vs. NL ted four turnovers in the free throw,” Eason said.
state of Texas. 3 p.m. Miami Gardens, Fla. No. 5 Florida State final seven minutes of the “He’s got the whole court basketball. But we do get
“Any time we’re playing Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl The CW Toledo vs. NL first half as the Lakers there, and he just kind of to play them at home. So,
a team in Texas, it’s a big 3:30 p.m. Tuscon, Ariz. Wyoming
outscored them 26-8. walked into me, said that’s something impor-
deal to our kids,” Bloom-
Jan. 1 ReliaQuest Bowl ESPN2 Wisconsin vs. NL
“A lot of just little mis- something I didn’t like. I tant. We need our build-
11 a.m. Tampa, Fla. No. 13 LSU
gren said. “I can’t wait for takes led to transition, just wanted him to stand ing to be as loud and rau-
Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl ESPN No. 23 Liberty vs. NL
them to see all Dallas has to Noon Glendale, Ariz. No. 8 Oregon led to open 3-pointers,” on it. That’s all. cous as it possibly can and
offer. We’ve heard great Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl ABC No. 17 Iowa vs. NL Rockets forward Tari “You know, I’m a bas- we need to throw a game
things about this bowl
Noon Orlando, Fla. No. 21 Tennessee
Eason said. “That’s not ketball player, above out there that's exception-
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl ESPN No. 1 Michigan vs. NL al.”
game. 4 p.m. CFP Semifinal No. 4 Alabama being locked in on de- anything else, not a
“We’re about to shift our Pasadena, Calif. fense, silly turnovers. tough guy or anything The Lakers, Kings,
focus to a Texas State foot- Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl ESPN No. 2 Washington NL Those things will hurt like that. That’s all I’ve Pelicans, Bucks, Pacers
ball team that had a good 7:45 p.m. CFP Semifinal vs. No. 3 Texas
you with a good team, got to say.” and Celtics got to the
New Orleans quarterfinals by winning
season. I know they will be Jan. 8 National Championsip ESPN Semifinal winners NL especially at home.” The Rockets were
excited, but I’m not sure 6:30 p.m. Houston The run was capped down 16 at the time. The their groups in the tourna-
they can match the excite- by a spectacular LeBron damage was done much ment's opening round.
ment of the Rice Owls.” FIRST RESPONDER BOWL James move to finish earlier. The Knicks and Suns got
Texas State, which will between Eason and Jeff “It was like a whirl- in as wild cards, one from
be playing in its first bowl, RICE VS. TEXAS STATE Green. James started wind there,” VanVleet each conference.
finished 7-5 in the regular When/where: 4:30 p.m. Dec. 26; Dallas. TV: ESPN. with a spin around Ea- said. “I do feel like they PORZINGIS RULED OUT
season, 4-4 in the Sun Belt. son, the sort of move he did a good job of getting Celtics forward Kris-
The matchup will be the will be able to do five the ball in the paint, taps Porzingis was ruled
fifth meeting between the they put on a great show, a a team that absolutely loves years after he retires, or getting to the rim, and out for Monday’s game
teams and first since 1987. high-flying offense and a football. Every opportunity on his 55th birthday, getting to the free-throw against the Pacers with a
They split the first four defense that is hard to deal we get to be on the grass is assuming those are not line, slowing the game calf strain.
meetings, all at Rice. with.” special.” the same. down for us. Offensively, Porzingis has missed
This year’s seven victo- Rice has a 7-6 record in Quarterback JT Daniels Once in the air, James I felt we got some good Boston’s past three games
ries under first-year coach bowls. medically retired from went from routine to looks that we missed and since suffering the injury
G.J. Kinne matched the Since concluding its reg- football after missing the spectacular, effective to kind of lost our juice a in a Nov. 24 game against
Bobcats’ school record as ular season, Rice has held Owls’ final three games incredible with an aerial little bit. the Magic.
an FBS program. The wins three practices. The Owls’ with a concussion. In his 360, putting in his layup “Kind of sapped our Porzingis, acquired in
include a 42-31 decision at first practice involving a lone season at Rice, consist- and then reveling in the energy. Very uncharac- an offseason trade from
Baylor. scouting report of Texas ing of nine games, he threw ovation that came from teristic for us. Definitely Washington, has had a
“In year one of that pro- State is Thursday. They are for 2,443 yards and 21 the amazed crowd at not proud of our compet- strong start to his first
gram, they did a great job,” scheduled to report to Dal- touchdowns. Redshirt Crypto.com Arena. itive spirit.” season in Boston, averag-
Bloomgren said. “They at- las on Dec. 22. freshman AJ Padgett has “He’s one of the all- For all the previous ing 18.9 points per game in
tacked the portal, they de- “The kids are jacked,” taken over the position as time greats. He makes road losses, the Rockets 15 games.
veloped guys within, and Bloomgren said. “We’ve got the starter. great plays,” Green said. never had to admit that. Wire reports
B8 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Texas women earn their
first win against UConn
W IR E R E P ORT S
AUSTIN — Rori Har-
mon scored points 27 and
had 13 assists, and No. 10
Texas earned the pro-
gram’s first ever win over
No. 11 UConn 80-68 on
Sunday, sending the strug-
gling Huskies to their
third loss of the early
season.
Freshman Madison
Booker added 20 points
and four assists for Texas
(9-0) which had been 0-10
against Connecticut (4-3).
Sunday was the eighth
time in the series both
teams had been ranked in
the top 15.
Aaliyah Edwards led
UConn with 22 points.
Huskies star Paige Bueck-
ers scored 13 points but
only five came in the first
half while blanketed de-
fensively by Harmon. She
was 4-of-11 shooting and
did not score in the second
quarter.
NO. 13 BAYLOR 71
OREGON 51
Darianna Littlepage-
Buggs scored 18 points,
Aijha Blackwell had a
double-double and the
Bears beat the Ducks in
Waco.
Dre'una Edwards added
14 points for Baylor (7-0),
which was held under 80
points for the first time
this season.
HOUSTON 79
FLORIDA A&M 59
Peyton McFarland
scored a season-high 21
points off the bench, and
Laila Blair added 15 as the
Cougars raced past the
Rattlers at Fertitta Center.
Houston (5-1) dominated
on the boards, outre-
bounding Florida A&M
51-30 in bouncing back
from its first loss.
TEXAS A&M 63, KANSAS 52
Janiah Barker led the
Aggies with a game-high
18 points and 13 rebounds,
and Enyia Rogers shot
3-of-4 from 3 for 17 points
in a victory over the Jay-
hawks in College Station.
Texas A&M (7-1) won
for the fifth straight time
and improved to 4-0 at
home.
AROUND SPORTS
Scheffler finishes strong for
Hero World Challenge title
W IR E R EP ORT S
NASSAU, Bahamas —
Scottie Scheffler closed
with a 4-under 68 for a
three-shot victory in the
Hero World Challenge on
Sunday.
Scheffler, a University
of Texas product, played
bogey-free at Albany and
didn’t let anyone get clos-
er than two shots on the
back nine for the win.
The week wasn’t a total
loss for Tiger Woods, the
tournament host playing
for the first time since
surgery to fuse his right
ankle in April.
Woods finished 72
holes for only the third
time in the last two years.
He closed with a 72 and
finished 18th.
Niemann survives
Australian playoff:
Joaquin Niemann of
Chile beat Japan’s Rikuya
Hoshino on the second
playoff hole to win the
Australian Open men’s
title in the final day.
Earlier, Ashleigh Bu-
hai held off Minjee Lee
by a single stroke to be-
come the first woman to
win back-to-back Austra-
lian Open titles since 2011.
Burmester wins
South African Open:
Dean Burmester secured
back-to-back wins at
home after shooting a
HHHH
Aaron E. Martinez/Associated Press
Texas guard Rori Harmon’s 27 points helped lead
the Longhorns to a win over struggling Connecticut.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 77
DUKE 61
Kamilla Cardoso had 15
points and 14 rebounds,
her fifth double-double of
the season, to help the
Gamecocks beat the Blue
Devils in Durham, N.C.
NO. 2 UCLA 81
ARKANSAS 66
Lauren Betts scored 20
points to lead four players
in double figures for the
bruising Bruins, who
outrebounded the Razor-
backs 56-26 in a win in
Fayetteville, Ark.
GONZAGA 96
NO. 3 STANFORD 78
Brynna Maxwell scored
a season-high 27 points,
Yvonne Ejim added 25
points and 12 rebounds,
and the Bulldogs handed
the previously unbeaten
Cardinal their worst loss
in nearly four years in
Spokane, Wash.
NO. 5 N.C. STATE 79
ILLINOIS STATE 61
Aziaha James scored 16
points and River Baldwin
had 10 of her 14 points in
the first nine minutes as
the Wolfpack kept their
undefeated season rolling
by beating the Redbirds in
Raleigh, N.C.
4-under 68 in the final
round of the South Afri-
can Open Championship
at Johannesburg.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Danielson named
coach at Boise St.
Boise State promoted
interim head coach Spen-
cer Danielson to the
full-time job Sunday after
the Broncos won the final
two games of the regular
season and the Mountain
West championship with
him in charge.
Danielson took over on
an interim basis after
Andy Avalos was fired
on Nov. 12, just 36 games
into his tenure as the head
coach in Boise and with
the Broncos sitting at 5-5.
The team responded with
wins over Utah State and
Air Force to qualify for
the Mountain West title
game.
MLB
Leyland elected
to Hall of Fame
Jim Leyland, who led
the Florida Marlins to a
World Series title in 1997
and won 1,769 regular-
season games over 22
seasons as an entertaining
and at-times crusty big
league manager, was
elected to baseball’s Hall
FOR THE RECORD
NO. 6 USC 89, SAN DIEGO 58
Juju Watkins poured in
30 points to go along with
eight rebounds and five
assists in a rout by the
Trojans at home.
Men
NO. 15 CREIGHTON 89
NEBRASKA 60
Baylor Scheierman
scored 20 of his 24 points
in the first half as the Blue-
jays built a 15-point half-
time lead on their way to a
win over the rival Corn-
huskers in Lincoln, Neb.
Creighton (7-1) trailed
only twice, the last time
with 10 minutes remaining
in the first half.
SOUTHERN 60
NO. 21 MISSISSIPPI ST. 59
Tai’Reon Joseph scored
27 points and blocked the
Bulldogs’ final shot as the
Jaguars closed on a 12-0
run for a stunning win in
Starkville, Miss.
NO. 22 JAMES MADISON 130
KEYSTONE COLLEGE 59
Michael Green III
scored 21 points and added
four assists as the unbeat-
en Dukes ran past the
Division III Giants in
Harrisonburg, Va.
of Fame on Sunday.
Now 78, Leyland re-
ceived 15 of 16 votes by the
contemporary era com-
mittee for managers, exec-
utives and umpires. He
becomes the 23rd manag-
er in the hall.
Seattle deals Kelenic
to Atlanta: The Braves
acquired outfielder
Jarred Kelenic, pitcher
Marco Gonzales and
infielder Evan White
from the Mariners on
Sunday for righthanders
Cole Phillips and Jack-
son Kowar.
MISCELLANEOUS
Brignone grabs
World Cup win
Federica Brignone of
Italy won a second con-
secutive women’s World
Cup giant slalom at Trem-
blant, Quebec, that left
her ahead of Lara Gut-
Behrami of Switzerland
and American Mikaela
Shiffrin.
Hamby leads U.S. to
3x3 gold: Tournament
MVP Dearica Hamby
made an off-balance, fall-
ing-down shot off a lob
from Kelsey Mitchell as
time expired, lifting the
U.S. to a 21-20 win over
Brazil in the women’s gold
medal game at the FIBA
3x3 AmeriCup in San
Juan, Puerto Rico.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
SCOREBOARD ON THE AIR
Odds
Home team capitalized
NFL
Television
Col. basketball
Col. basketball
Iowa at Purdue
Arkansas St. at Alabama
Big Ten
SEC
6 p.m.
7 p.m.
Monday
FAVORITE LINE O/U UNDERDOG
Col. soccer NCAA (final): ESPNU 5 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE 10 39 1⁄2 Cincinnati Florida St. vs. Stanford (w)
NBA NBA Boston at Indiana TNT, truTV 6:30 p.m.
Monday NBA New Orleans at Sacramento TNT, truTV 9 p.m.
FAVORITE LINE O/U UNDERDOG NFL Cincinnati at Jacksonville ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 7:15 p.m.
Boston 5 239 INDIANA
NHL Dallas at Tampa Bay BSSW 6 p.m.
SACRAMENTO 4 234 New Orleans
College basketball
Radio
Monday
NFL Cincinnati at Jacksonville 610 AM 7:15 p.m.
FAVORITE
EAST CAROLINA
LINE
16
UNDERDOG
Maryland-Eastern
Shore Manhattan 68, UMBC 52
Maryland 86, George Mason 77
David Horsey, England ............66b-70a-73b-72b—281
Matt Jones, Australia...............69b-68a-68b-76b—281
-4
-4
PURDUE 13 ½ Iowa
ARKANSAS 12 Furman Merrimack 84, Yale 73 Joel Moscatel, Spain.................71a-69b-68b-73b—281 -4
Pittsburgh 73, Binghamton 62 Conor Purcell, Ireland ...............68a-71b-69b-73b—281 -4
San Jose State 1 NORTH DAKOTA
STATE
Rhode Island 60, Princeton 58 Matias Sanchez, Australia........71a-67b-71b-72b—281 -4
ALABAMA 23 Arkansas State
Robert Morris 65, Youngstown St. 63
Vermont 46, Holy Cross 44
Lars Van Meijel, Netherlands ..70b-66a-75b-70b—281
Jak Carter, Australia.................69a-70b-71b-72b—282
-4
-3
OREGON STATE 13 Cal Poly Virginia 94, La Salle 73 Cameron Davis, Australia........63a-74b-70b-75b—282 -3
NHL William & Mary 81, Navy 53 Oliver Farr, Wales.....................73b-66a-75b-68b—282 -3
SOUTH Frank Kennedy, England .........70b-71a-69b-72b—282 -3
Monday
FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG LINE Alcorn St. 78, Arkansas Baptist 45
Soren Kjeldsen, Denmark ........70b-71a-70b-71b—282
Mark Power, Ireland ................67a-73b-69b-73b—282
-3
-3
Auburn 72, UAB 62
Pittsburgh
TAMPA BAY
-134
OFF
at PHILADELPHIA
Dallas
+112
OFF Belmont 71, Middle Tennessee 57
A. Garcia-Heredia, Spain.........69b-69a-75b-70b—283
S. Jones, New Zealand ...........69a-67b-69b-78b—283
-2
-2
Carolina -128 at WINNIPEG +106 Chattanooga 59, Mississippi St. 53
ETSU 56, Morehead St. 52
Connor McKinney, Australia....70a-70b-71b-72b—283 -2
Steven Brown, England...........72b-69a-75b-68b—284 -1
Seattle
ARIZONA
-152
-120
at MONTREAL
Washington
+126
+100
FIU 54, Bethune-Cookman 51 Andrew Dodt, Australia ...........72b-68a-73b-71b—284 -1
Florida St. 76, Kent St. 49
VEGAS -194 St. Louis +160 Georgia 85, Furman 55
Calum Hill, Scotland ................70b-70a-68b-76b—284
T. McKibbin, N. Ireland ...........72b-69a-69b-74b—284
-1
-1
James Madison 55, Wake Forest 53
Kentucky 73, Tennessee Tech 67
Kyle Michel, Australia ..............70a-68b-74b-72b—284 -1
Travis Smyth, Australia ............71a-70b-67b-76b—284 -1
Colleges Louisville 80, NC A&T 40 Shae Wools Cobb, Australia ...68b-72a-75b-69b—284 -1
Miami 87, NJIT 43
Football NC State 79, Illinois St. 61 European Tour — Investec South
Results/schedule
(Subject to change)
Northwestern St. 46, Southern U. 35
Ohio St. 78, Tennessee 58
African Open Championship
Sunday’s final round
Saturday’s results Old Dominion 55, Florida Gulf Coast 42
At Johannesburg
Queens (NC) 64, Winthrop 61
SOUTH Richmond 69, Le Moyne 40 Yardage: 8,233; Par: 72
Troy 49, Appalachian St. 23 Dean Burmester, $233,728 ...................70-74-65-68—277
Alabama 27, Georgia 24
Samford 65, Jacksonville St. 51
South Carolina 77, Duke 61 Renato Paratore, $102,199 ....................69-71-70-70—280
SMU 26, Tulane 14
Florida A&M 35, Prairie View 14
UCF 42, Campbell 41
Vanderbilt 71, Louisiana Tech 63
Jesper Svensson, $102,199.....................68-67-74-71—280
Ryan Van Velzen, $102,199 ...................72-65-70-73—280
Florida St. 16, Louisville 6
MIDWEST
Louis De Jager, $42,566..........................67-71-70-73—281
Alejandro Del Rey, $42,566 ...................70-74-69-68—281
MIDWEST Akron 55, Tennessee St. 49 Frederic Lacroix, $42,566 .......................69-68-75-69—281
Miami (Ohio) 23, Toledo 14 Ball St. 71, Saint Louis 64
Michigan 26, Iowa 0 Butler 59, Wisconsin 51
Matteo Manassero, $42,566..................68-68-73-72—281
Jayden Trey Schaper, $42,566 ..............70-70-67-74—281
SOUTHWEST Creighton 115, N. Iowa 62
Detroit 66, Oakland 55
Francesco Laporta, $26,398 ..................69-71-69-73—282
Thriston Lawrence, $26,398 ..................70-71-74-67—282
Texas 49, Oklahoma St. 21
Fort Wayne 71, Wright St. 60 Martin Couvra, $21,283..........................74-68-73-68—283
WEST Georgetown 82, Northwestern 58
Boise St. 44, UNLV 20 Indiana 72, Stetson 34
Gavin Green, $21,283..............................72-70-71-70—283
Zander Lombard, $21,283......................71-73-69-70—283
AP Top 25
Iowa St. 85, UNC-Wilmington 58
Marquette 87, Penn 52
Wilco Nienaber, $21,283 ........................72-70-71-70—283
Marco Penge, $21,283............................75-68-71-69—283
The Top 25 Teams In The Associated Press College Michigan St. 89, Miami (Ohio) 44
Football Poll, With First-Place Votes In Parentheses, Milwaukee 70, IUPUI 59
Records Through Dec. 2, Total Points Based On 25
Points For A First-Place Vote Through One Point For A
N. Dakota St. 91, Mayville St. 68
North Dakota 64, E. Michigan 56 Hockey
25Th-Place Vote, And Previous Ranking: Purdue 83, Valparaiso 56 NHL
Record Pts Prv SIU-Edwardsville 89, N. Illinois 79
1. Michigan (51) 13-0 1539 2 SOUTHWEST
EASTERN CONFERENCE
2. Washington (11) 13-0 1499 3 Atlantic GP W L OT Pts GF GA
3. Texas 12-1 1375 7
Baylor 71, Oregon 51
Houston 79, Florida A&M 59 Boston 24 17 4 3 37 81 59
4. Florida St. 13-0 1358 4 Oklahoma St. 78, Wyoming 62 Florida 24 14 8 2 30 72 62
5. Alabama 12-1 1329 8 Texas 80, UConn 68 Detroit 23 13 7 3 29 86 68
6. Georgia 12-1 1256 1 Texas A&M 63, Kansas 52 Toronto 22 12 6 4 28 76 74
7. Ohio St.
8. Oregon
11-1 1185 6
11-2 1119 5
Texas St. 79, North Texas at Dallas 41
UCLA 81, Arkansas 66
Tampa Bay
Montreal
25
24
10
10
10
11
5
3
25 83 93
23 68 87
UTSA 90, UTEP 66 Buffalo 25 10 13 2 22 71 85
9. Missouri
10. Penn St.
10-2 1014 9
10-2 960 10 WEST Ottawa 19 9 10 0 18 64 63
11. Mississippi 10-2 944 11 E. Washington 64, Boise St. 43 Metropolitan GP W L OT Pts GF GA
12. Oklahoma 10-2 867 12
13. LSU 9-3 823 13
Gonzaga 96, Stanford 78
Hawaii 73, San Jose St. 47
N.Y. Rangers
Carolina
23
23
18
14
4 1 37 80 60
8 1 29 81 75
14. Arizona 9-3 740 14 N. Colorado 96, Northern New Mexico 37 Washington 21 12 7 2 26 52 59
15. Notre Dame 9-3 634 16 South Dakota 78, Loyola Marymount 73, OT N.Y. Islanders 23 10 7 6 26 65 74
16. Louisville 10-3 584 15 Southern Cal 89, San Diego 58 Philadelphia 24 12 10 2 26 72 69
17. SMU
18. Liberty
11-2
13-0
432 25
424 20
Pittsburgh 23 11 10 2 24 72 61
New Jersey 22 11 10 1 23 79 83
19. NC State 9-3 377 21 High schools Columbus 26 8 14 4 20 74 88
20. Iowa 10-3 356 18
21. Oregon St. 8-4 309 21
Football playoffs WESTERN CONFERENCE
UIL state semifinals
22. Oklahoma St. 9-4 256 19 Central GP W L OT Pts GF GA
23. Tulane 11-2 201 17 Class 6A Division I Colorado 24 15 7 2 32 87 71
24. James Madison 11-1 177 24 Duncanville (12-1) vs. North Crowley (14-0) Dallas 22 14 5 3 31 79 62
25. Tennessee 8-4 98 - 3 p.m. Saturday, Mesquite Memorial Stadium
North Shore (14-0) vs. Austin Westlake (14-0)
Winnipeg 23 13 8 2 28 75 65
Others receiving votes: Clemson 87, Troy 65, Utah 39, Arizona 23 12 9 2 26 76 68
Kansas St. 38, Miami (Ohio) 31, Toledo 22, Kansas 8, 3 p.m. Saturday, Pflugerville’s The Pfield St. Louis 23 12 10 1 25 68 73
Kentucky 4. Class 6A Division II Nashville
Minnesota
24
22
12
8
12
10
0
4
24 76 77
20 70 80
FCS playoffs Southlake Carroll (13-1) vs. DeSoto (13-0)
2 p.m. Saturday, Allen’s Eagle Stadium Chicago 23 7 16 0 14 56 85
Second round
Saturday’s results
Summer Creek (13-1) vs. Cibolo Steele (13-1)
5 p.m. Saturday, McLane Stadium
Pacific GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Vegas 25 16 5 4 36 82 59
Albany (NY) 41, Richmond 13 Class 5A Division I Vancouver 25 16 8 1 33 96 64
Villanova 45, Youngstown St. 28
Furman 26, Chattanooga 7
Forney (13-1) vs. Aledo (14-0) Los Angeles
Calgary
21 14 4 3 31 81 50
24 10 11 3 23 71 82
7:30 p.m. Friday, Midlothian ISD Stadium
S. Dakota St. 41, Mercer 0
South Dakota 34, Sacramento St. 24
Brownsville Veterans Memorial (12-2) Seattle 25 8 11 6 22 68 88
Anaheim 24 10 14 0 20 67 84
N. Dakota St. 35, Montana St. 34 (OT)
vs. Smithson Valley (13-1)
7 p.m. Friday, Corpus Christi’s Buccaneer Stadium Edmonton 22 9 12 1 19 74 79
Montana 49, Delaware 19
Idaho 20, S. Illinois 17 (OT) Class 5A Division II San Jose 25 6 17 2 14 47 102
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Semifinals Frisco Emerson (12-2) vs. South Oak Cliff (12-2)
7 p.m. Friday, Ford Center Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per
Friday’s game Port Neches-Groves (13-1) conference advance to playoffs.
Saturday’s results
Furman vs. Montana, 8 p.m. vs. Liberty Hill (10-4)
Saturday’s games 7 p.m. Friday, Cy-Fair FCU Stadium Dallas 8, Tampa Bay 1
Winnipeg 3, Chicago 1
South Dakota St. vs. Villanova, 11 a.m.
South Dakota vs. North Dakota St., 1:30 p.m.
Class 4A Division I N.Y. Rangers 4, Nashville 3
Albany vs. Idaho, 9 p.m. Anna (13-1) vs. Decatur (10-4)
7 p.m. Friday, Denton’s C.H. Collins Stadium
N.Y. Islanders 4, Florida 3
Carolina 6, Buffalo 2
Men’s basketball Tyler Chapel Hill (12-2) vs. Davenport (11-3) Ottawa 2, Seattle 0
Top 25 schedule 7 p.m. Friday, McLane Stadium Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 3 (SO)
Saturday’s results Class 4A Division II Detroit 5, Montreal 4 (OT)
No. 2 Arizona 82, Colgate 55 Gilmer (11-3) vs. Glen Rose (10-4)
Boston 4, Toronto 3 (OT)
Arizona 4, St. Louis 1
Wisconsin 75, No. 3 Marquette 64
Georgia Tech 72, No. 7 Duke 68
7 p.m. Friday, Prosper’s Children’s Health Stadium
Bellville (14-0) vs. Wimberly (14-0)
Vegas 4, Washington 1
Vancouver 4, Calgary 3
No. 8 Miami 62, Notre Dame 49
No. 9 Baylor 91, Northwestern St. 40
7:30 p.m. Friday, Pflugerville’s The Pfield Anaheim 4, Colorado 3 (SO)
Class 3A Division I Sunday’s results
No. 11 Gonzaga 89, Southern Cal 76
UNC-Wilmington 80, No. 12 Kentucky 73 Malakoff (14-0) vs. Brock (11-3) Minnesota 4, Chicago 1
No. 13 FAU 90, Coll. of Charleston 74 7 p.m. Thursday, Ford Center N.Y. Rangers 6, San Jose 5
Boston 3, Columbus 1
No. 17 North Carolina 78, Florida St. 70 Franklin (13-1) vs. Edna (11-2-1)
Drexel 57, No. 18 Villanova 55 7 p.m. Thursday, Cy-Fair FCU Stadium Nashville 2, Buffalo 1
No. 20 Colorado St. 86, Washington 81 Los Angeles 4, Colorado 1
Class 3A Division II Monday’s games
No. 24 Illinois 76, Rutgers 58
Sunday’s games
Gunter (14-0) vs. Canadian (14-0)
6 p.m. Friday, Abilene Christian University
Dallas at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.
No. 15 Creighton 89, Nebraska 60
Daingerfield (11-3) vs. Tidehaven (13-0) Carolina at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m.
Southern U. 60, No. 21 Mississippi St. 59
7 p.m. Thursday, Randall Reed Stadium Seattle at Montreal, 6:30 p.m.
No. 22 James Madison 130, Keystone 59
Monday’s games Class 2A Division I Washington at Arizona, 8 p.m.
No. 1 Purdue vs. Iowa, 6 p.m. St. Louis at Vegas, 9 p.m.
Stratford (14-0) vs. Tolar (13-1)
No. 23 Alabama vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m. 5 p.m. Thursday, Vernon’s Lion Stadium
Sunday’s results Timpson (14-0) vs. Ganado (12-2)
EAST
7 p.m. Thursday, Woodforest Bank Stadium Soccer
Class 2A Division II MLS playoffs
Clemson 79, Pittsburgh 70
Fairfield 88, Rider 81 Sunray (12-2) vs. Albany (14-0) Conference finals
Longwood 88, Morgan St. 54 6 p.m. Thursday, Lubbock’s Lowrey Field
Chilton (13-1) vs. Mart (14-0) Eastern Conference
Maine 60, Brown 49
Marist 70, Manhattan 56 7 p.m. Friday, UMHB Crusader Stadium Saturday’s result
Mount St. Mary’s 80, Siena 48 Columbus 3, Cincinnati 2 (extra time)
Western Conference
Navy 75, Coppin St. 52
New Hampshire 80, Columbia 71 Golf Saturday’s result
Quinnipiac 75, Niagara 68, OT
St. Peter’s 54, Canisius 52
PGA Tour — Hero World Challenge Los Angeles FC 2, Houston 0
At Nassau, Bahamas MLS Cup Final
Tulane 89, Fordham 81
Yardage: 7,449; Par: 72
SOUTH Saturday’s game
Alabama St. 80, Mississippi Univ. for Women 60
Sunday’s final round
Los Angeles FC at Columbus, 3 p.m.
Appalachian St. 69, Auburn 64
ETSU 61, Jacksonville St. 59
Scottie Scheffler, $1,000,000................69-66-65-68—268
Sepp Straka, $450,000...........................72-67-68-64—271
Hampton 121, Va.-Lynchburg 66
Justin Thomas, $300,000 ......................70-67-68-67—272
Tony Finau, $212,500 .............................67-71-68-67—273 Tennis
James Madison 130, Keystone 59
Morehead St. 87, Chattanooga 80
Matt Fitzpatrick, $212,500 ....................70-68-65-70—273 WTA Argentina Open
Jordan Spieth, $190,000 ........................68-67-71-68—274
Radford 82, Elon 72 Collin Morikawa, $185,000.....................69-69-70-68—276 Sunday’s results
At Buenos Aires
Samford 128, LaGrange 82
Southern U. 60, Mississippi St. 59
Brian Harman, $177,500 ........................67-69-71-70—277
Justin Rose, $177,500.............................72-71-68-66—277 Women’s singles
Tennessee Tech 108, Alice Lloyd 82
Virginia Tech 75, Louisville 68
Viktor Hovland, $170,000 ......................73-73-70-63—279
Jason Day, $165,000...............................71-69-66-74—280
Championship
W. Kentucky 79, E. Kentucky 69 Lucas Glover, $160,000 ...........................71-71-69-70—281
Laura Pigossi (5), Brazil, def. Maria Carle (8), Argentina,
6-3, 6-2.
Keegan Bradley, $152,500.....................72-74-68-68—282
MIDWEST
Max Homa, $152,500 .............................69-73-71-69—282 WTA Credit Andorra Open
Cincinnati 99, Florida Gulf Coast 62
Creighton 89, Nebraska 60 Cameron Young, $145,000.....................69-71-69-74—283
Sam Burns, $140,000 .............................71-76-68-69—284
Sunday’s results
At Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Illinois St. 76, Murray St. 72
Missouri 82, Wichita St. 72 Rickie Fowler, $135,000 .........................74-70-73-69—286
Women’s singles
Tiger Woods, $130,000...........................75-70-71-72—288
Ohio St. 84, Minnesota 74
SE Missouri 84, Missouri Baptist 56 Wyndham Clark, $125,000.....................76-73-71-70—290 Championship
South Dakota 70, W. Illinois 68 Will Zalatoris, $120,000 ..........................81-68-79-71—299 Marina Bassols Ribera (6), Spain, def. Erika Andreeva,
SOUTHWEST European Tour Russia, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
SMU 90, Texas A&M Commerce 47 SPS HANDA Australian Open
Sam Houston St. 90, Lamar 70 Sunday’s final round
Transactions
WEST At Sydney
Note: Tournament was played on two courses with differ- HOCKEY
Air Force 80, Portland 58
Arizona St. 72, San Francisco 61 ent pars; a—The Lakes course, 6,899 yards, par 72; b—The NHL
Cal St.-Fullerton 102, Fighting Elks 52 Australian Golf Club, 7,228 yards, par 71. X—won on sec-
ond playoff hole.
BOSTON BRUINS: Reassigned D Ian Mitchell to Provi-
Chicago St. 77, Stetson 54 dence (AHL).
Colorado 91, Pepperdine 66 x-Joaquin Niemann, Chile ......66b-69a-70b-66b—271 -14
CALGARY FLAMES: Loaned D Mark Pysyk to Calgary
Rikuya Hoshino, Japan...........68a-68b-65b-70b—271 -14
Stanford 88, San Diego 64
UC Riverside 68, North Dakota 62 Min Woo Lee, Australia .........67a-64b-70b-72b—273 -12
(AHL).
FLORIDA PANTHERS: Recalled D Uvis Balinskis from
Women’s basketball
Laurie Canter, England ..........70b-67a-69b-68b—274 -11
Grant Forrest, Scotland..........65b-71a-70b-68b—274 -11
Charlotte (AHL).
NASVILLE PREDATORS: Recalled C Mark Jankowski from
Top 25 schedule Adam Scott, Australia............71b-68a-67b-68b—274 -11
Lucas Herbert, Australia........68b-69a-66b-72b—275 -10
Milwaukee (AHL) loan.
Saturday’s results
No. 4 Iowa 99, Bowling Green 65 Sam Brazel, Australia ..............70a-65b-70b-71b—276 -9
OTTAWA SENATORS: Reassigned C Matthew Highmore
to Belleville (AHL).
Alex Fitzpatrick, England ........68b-68a-66b-74b—276 -9
No. 7 Colorado 74, Air Force 58
No. 12 Utah 87, BYU 68 Ryo Hisatsune, Japan ..............69a-67b-71b-69b—276 -9
SAN JOSE SHARKS: Reassigned G Georgi Romanov to
San Jose (AHL) from Wichita (ECHL).
Southern Miss. 61, No. 19 Mississippi 59 Yuto Katsuragawa, Japan.......67a-70b-70b-69b—276 -9
Alexander Levy, France............66a-71b-72b-67b—276 -9
WASHINGTON CAPITALS: Reassigned G Mitch Gibson
Sunday’s results
No. 1 South Carolina 77, Duke 61 Adrian Meronk, Poland ...........73b-68a-69b-66b—276 -9
from Hershey (AHL) to South Carolina (ECHL). Recalled G
Hunter Shepard from Hershey loan.
Jason Scrivener, Australia .......72a-64b-69b-71b—276 -9
No. 2 UCLA 81, Arkansas 66
Gonzaga 96, No. 3 Stanford 78 Julian Suri, United States........71b-69a-70b-66b—276 -9 Minor League Hockey
No. 5 N.C. State 79, Illinois St. 61
No. 6 Southern Cal 89, San Diego 58
P. Rodgers, United States ......64a-70b-68b-75b—277 -8
Philipp Katich, Germany ..........68b-71a-71b-68b—278 -7
American Hockey League
SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS: Recalled D Austin Os-
No. 10 Texas 80, No. 11 Connecticut 68 Cameron Smith, Australia.......71a-68b-69b-70b—278 -7 manski from Maine (ECHL) loan.
ECHL
No. 13 Baylor 71, Oregon 51 Connor Syme, Scotland ..........64b-70a-72b-72b—278 -7
No. 15 Florida St. 76, Kent St. 49 J. Vegas, Venezuela .................66b-69a-72b-71b—278 -7 ATLANTA GLADIATORS: Activated F Evan Dougherty
from reserve. Placed F Mitch Walinski on reserve.
No. 16 Ohio St. 78, No. 20 Tennessee 58
No. 17 Indiana 72, Stetson 34
A. Ayora Fanegas, Spain.........69a-72b-73b-65b—279 -6
Aaron Baddeley, Australia......67b-72a-70b-70b—279 -6 KALAMAZOO WINGS: Activated F Ted Nichol from in-
Chattanooga 59, No. 21 Mississippi St. 53 Jeffrey Guan, Australia............70b-66a-70b-73b—279 -6 jured reserve. Activated D Jacob Nordqvist and F Drake
Pilon from reserve.
No. 22 Louisville 80, NC A&T 40 Richard Mansell, England........71b-68a-68b-72b—279 -6
No. 23 Marquette 87, Penn 52 Jake McLeod, Australia............71b-69a-72b-67b—279 -6 ORLANDO SOLAR BEARS: Activated F Alex Frye from
reserve. Placed F Bennett MacArthur on reserve.
Rhode Island 60, No. 25 Princeton 58 Jasper Stubbs, Australia..........69a-70b-71b-69b—279 -6
Adam Bland, Australia............69a-72b-65b-74b—280 -5 SAVANNAH GHOST PIRATES: Released D Adam Eby.
Sunday’s results
EAST
M. Block, United States ..........71a-70b-69b-70b—280 -5
N. Galletti, United States .......66a-73b-75b-66b—280 -5
SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS: Activated D Michael
Kim from bereavement/family leave.
Boston College 91, Mass.-Lowell 53 Marc Leishman, Australia........71a-67b-69b-73b—280 -5 TOLEDO WALLEYE: Activated D Thomas Farrell from re-
Kade McBride, Australia..........72b-68a-67b-73b—280 -5 serve. Placed F Riley Sawchuk on reserve.
Brown 90, Johnson & Wales (RI) 35
Columbia 77, Villanova 75 Elvis Smylie, Australia ..............68a-71b-70b-71b—280 -5 WHEELING NAILERS: Activated G Taylor Gauthier from
Delaware 74, Duquesne 57 Darcy Brereton, Australia.........68b-72a-71b-70b—281 -4
John Catlin, United States.......67a-73b-71b-70b—281 -4
reserve. Placed FG Michael McNiven on reserve.
WICHITA THUNDER: Added G Ky Nixon as emergency
Lehigh 68, Hofstra 56
Hayden Hopewell, Australia....65a-72b-73b-71b—281 -4 backup goalie (EBUG).

White House targets methane leaks
Regulation a bid to halt release of potent
greenhouse gas from oil wells, equipment
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
B L OOM BE RG
The Biden administration
moved Saturday to crack down
on methane emissions from the
oil and gas sector by finalizing
newly strengthened mandates
forcing companies to replace
leaky equipment and regularly
Exxon Mobil’s
CEO makes his
debut at COP28
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
B L O O M B E RG
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren
Woods cuts a strange figure at
the COP28 climate summit —
an oil executive moving among
thousands of government offi-
cials, business leaders and ac-
tivists gathered in Dubai to lim-
it global temperature rise.
After all, he’s the head of the
largest American oil and gas
company — villainized by some
environmentalists for decades
denying the fossil fuel’s contri-
bution to climate change.
But at this U.N. climate con-
ference, hosted by the United
Arab Emirates and led by an-
other industry executive — the
head of the Abu Dhabi National
Oil Co. — Woods said he is
finding open doors.
“The complexity of the chal-
lenge of transitioning the ener-
gy system is coming more into
focus,” with “a much more di-
verse group of people recogniz-
ing this is a hard problem to
solve” and “we need big compa-
nies to help with that,” Woods
said in an interview at the UN
conference.
There’s a greater recognition
that the energy transition will
require a breadth of technolo-
gies, including hydrogen pro-
duction and carbon capture,
Woods said. “That opens the
door for us.”
Exxon’s balance sheet and
technical know-how means the
oil giant can contribute to the
UN climate talks and a global
energy transition that must in-
volve a range of solutions,
Woods said.
“We have to continue to meet
the needs of society and reduce
emissions — and frankly, we
have the skills, the capabilities
to actually do that, the balance
sheet to actually fund it,”
Woods said. “There’s an oppor-
tunity and a willingness now
for people to engage in those
discussions.”
Woods is the first Exxon
chief executive to ever attend
one of the UN Conference of
Buick Encore GX crossover SUV bridges the generations
The top-tier Buick Encore GX Avenir has all the goodies,
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BUSINESS
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 • PAGE B9
search for escaping gas.
The final regulation an-
nounced by Vice President Ka-
mala Harris and the Environ-
mental Protection Agency at
the COP28 climate summit in
Dubai comes amid intensifying
global focus on methane, an es-
pecially potent greenhouse gas
that’s at least 80 times more
Parties on climate change since
the summits began in the early
1990s. But at this year’s meet-
ing, he’s not alone. Other oil
bosses, including Shell’s Wael
Sawan, turned up to sign a pact
among 50 oil companies to re-
duce emissions from their own
operations.
Sultan Al Jaber, the presi-
dent of COP28, has argued that
even as the world develops
more carbon-free power, oil
and gas will remain part of the
energy system for decades to
come — and making them as
clean as possible is essential to
avert warming.
Many environmentalists
strenuously disagree. Months
before the conference opened,
activists called for Al Jaber’s
ouster as president and said
having oil executives at the
summit was tantamount to
welcoming foxes inside the
henhouse.
Days before the conference
opened, there were reports Al
Jaber sought to advance oil and
gas deals during meetings with
foreign governments ahead of
COP28 based on leaked memos
released by the British Broad-
casting Corp. in collaboration
with the Center for Climate Re-
porting. Al Jaber has denied
the allegations.
Oil executives have no busi-
ness at a climate conference,
said Collin Rees, US program
co-manager at Oil Change In-
ternational.
“Treating them as legitimate
partners in the energy transi-
tion is dangerous,” especially
given the industry’s “long his-
tory of nothing but delay and
doubling down on their core
business model of expanding
fossil fuels,” he said. Even so,
their presence is “a sign of how
the conversation has pro-
gressed,” and “now they are be-
ing forced to defend them-
selves in public.”
For Exxon, joining the Oil
and Gas Decarbonization
Charter is consistent with
work the company is already
Woods continues on B11
Jesus R. Garcia/Contributor
powerful than carbon dioxide
in warming the atmosphere
during the first two decades af-
ter its release. The rule is the
culmination of a three-year
EPA quest to stifle methane re-
leases from existing oil wells
and equipment — coming
roughly a decade after the first
initial steps to indirectly regu-
late that pollution.
Oil and gas operations are
the largest industrial source of
methane pollution in the Unit-
Steve Kean, former CEO of Kinder Morgan, takes over as leader of the Greater Houston
Partnership from Bob Harvey, who had been in the role since 2012.
GHP’s new leader
focuses on unity
Kean comes to the Greater Houston Partnership
after stepping down as CEO at Kinder Morgan
By Erica Grieder
STA F F W R I T ER
When Steve Kean stepped
down as CEO of Kinder Mor-
gan in August, he wasn’t look-
ing to hit the golf course or
beaches of Maui or whatever
else it is people do after leav-
ing the C-suite.
“I wanted to retire as CEO
and still have the energy and
ability to do a second chapter,”
said Kean, 62, in an interview
last week.
That chapter starts now:
Kean on Friday became presi-
dent and CEO of the Greater
Houston Partnership, taking
the reins from Bob Harvey,
who had been in the role since
I’ve always had a fondness
for the Buick brand, even
though my generation only saw
them as vessels
for AARP card-
holders. The
cliché of
“Grandma’s
Buick” was
burned into the
Jesus mind of anyone
Garcia born during the
1990s. The
BEH I N D T H E
W H EEL brand neverthe-
less has sur-
vived economic
recessions and a Werther’s
Original hard candy reputation
without losing sight of why
people like Buicks.
The 2024 Encore GX, the
smallest in the Buick lineup,
serves as the gate greeter to
attract and introduce young car
buyers to the brand.
With a reasonable price and
attractive styling, the Buick
ed States. While methane is the
prime component of natural gas
— and valued as a source of en-
ergy — the gas can leak errantly
from pipelines and processing
equipment or be vented and
flared at oil wells that lack in-
frastructure to carry away the
fossil fuel.
EPA Administrator Michael
Regan said the plan represent-
ed “historic action to reduce cli-
mate pollution.”
“We’ve crafted these technol-
“The unity we have here is really unusual
for major metropolitan areas in our
country, and maybe the world.”
Steve Kean, new CEO and president of GHP
2012, leading the nonprofit or-
ganization through a period in
which the region experienced
tremendous growth.
After Harvey announced he
would step down, the GHP’s
board considered 70 candi-
dates, said chairman Dr. Marc
Boom, who also is president
and CEO of Houston Method-
ist. Kean, who has worked in
the energy industry since 1985
and joined Kinder Morgan in
2024 BUICK ENCORE
GX AVENIR
Engine: Turbocharged 1.3L
four-cylinder
Transmission: 9-speed
automatic
0 to 60: 8.8 seconds
Starting price: $25,600
Price as shown: $35,740
Encore is a suitable option for
people looking for a luxury-
type compact crossover. More-
over, Buick did not make the
mistake of trying to “look
young” to attract a younger
audience. Instead, they built a
sincerely comfortable SUV
with practical features while
focusing on the one key luxury
aspect: space! Anyone with
memories of riding in the
marshmallowy seats of a Buick
sedan can agree that this brand
ogy standards to advance
American innovation and ac-
count for the industry’s leader-
ship in accelerating methane
technology,” he said in a news
release.
The federal government esti-
mates the requirements would
prevent some 58 million tons of
methane from being released
into the atmosphere from 2024
to 2038. And because of meth-
ane’s potency, that’s roughly
Methane continues on B11
Kirk Sides/Staff photographer
2006, said that he hadn’t been
eyeing a role at the partner-
ship, but the stars aligned.
“It seemed like something
that I could do that would give
back to the community that
gave me opportunity, but also
be something that I could un-
derstand,” Kean said. “I’m
very happy and honored and
grateful that it came along and
that I was picked to do it.”
GHP continues on B11
understands comfort.
For 2024, Buick tweaked the
styling on the Encore with a
sleek, narrow set of headlights
sporting the brand’s updated
Tri-Shield logo that could stare
down Clint Eastwood. It’s a
rather handsome crossover
SUV with sculpted bodylines
that add some definition to an
otherwise bland profile.
This top tier Encore GX
Avenir hosts all the goodies. A
leather interior, heated front
seats, an auto-dimming rear-
view mirror and adjustable
lumbar support. Its combina-
tion of Ocean Blue metallic
with Whisper Beige upholstery
was a refreshing visual in to-
day’s modern sea of gray, white
and silver-painted traffic. The
Avenir trim level also sets itself
apart with 19-inch Pearl Nickel
aluminum wheels and a Holly-
wood smile front grille.
Garcia continues on B12
B10 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023
UAW is looking
to South to grow
its membership
By J. Scott Trubey,
Michael E. Kanell
and Zachary Hansen
ATL AN TA
J OU R NA L - C ON ST IT U T ION
The United Auto Work-
ers said last week that em-
ployees at nonunion auto
manufacturers across the
United States have
launched coordinated
campaigns to organize
their plants and join the
union. Some of the biggest
targets stretch across the
South.
The campaign to orga-
nize workers at 13 non-
union automakers follows
the UAW’s successful ne-
gotiations for new con-
tracts with Detroit’s Big
Three that came after a six-
week strike. The simulta-
neous action targets facto-
ries of automakers includ-
ing BMW, Honda, Lucid,
Mazda, Mercedes-Benz,
Rivian, Subaru, Tesla and
Toyota.
The organizing push
would cover almost
150,000 employees at non-
union plants, the UAW
said, many of them across
the Sun Belt. The push in-
cludes Hyundai Motor
Group, which has a Hyun-
dai factory in Alabama
and a Kia plant in Georgia.
Hyundai also is building a
$7.6 billion electric vehicle
factory near Savannah,
Ga.
California-based Ri-
vian, meanwhile, operates
a nonunion plant in Illi-
nois and plans a $5 billion
factory near Social Circle
east of Atlanta.
“CEOs are raking in bil-
lions while autoworkers’
real wages are falling,”
UAW President Shawn
Fain said in a video. “Car
prices are through the
roof, but workers can’t af-
ford to buy the vehicles
they make. Wall Street is
making a killing, but com-
munities are being left be-
hind.”
“To all the autoworkers
out there working without
the benefits of a union:
Now it’s your turn,” Fain
said.
The UAW is riding high
off its recent contracts
with the Big Three of Gen-
eral Motors, Ford and Stel-
lantis, the owner of Dodge,
Chrysler and Jeep. Since
those contracts were
reached, several nonunion
automakers including
Hyundai and Toyota have
hiked pay in the U.S. in a
bid to tamp down poten-
tial union pushes.
In a statement, Hyundai
said the company “pro-
vides excellent wages and
benefits and maintains a
strong culture of safety,
quality and continuous
improvement in all our op-
erations.”
“We are proud to em-
ploy directly or indirectly
more than 114,000 Ameri-
cans today — a number
that will increase signifi-
cantly as we invest more
than $12 billion in Ala-
bama and Georgia to ex-
pand our U.S. manufac-
turing presence,” the
statement said. “During
Hyundai Motor Manufac-
turing Alabama’s 18-year
manufacturing history in
the U.S., our team mem-
bers have not shown an in-
terest in union representa-
tion.”
The UAW represents
more than 400,000 work-
ers in numerous sectors,
including 146,000 at the
Detroit-based automak-
ers. But UAW member-
ship at auto plants has
waned as the U.S. auto in-
dustry saw growth in non-
union factories operated
by foreign brands and Tes-
la in the Sun Belt. As U.S.
and foreign brands have
announced multibillion-
dollar EV factories in
Georgia and other South-
ern states, the UAW’s ur-
gency to penetrate non-
union factories has only
Business Editor Jonathan Diamond: Jonathan.Diamond@houstonchronicle.com • 713-362-1513
increased.
In September, a coali-
tion of union groups
launched an effort to
unionize workers at the fu-
ture Hyundai Metaplant
in Georgia’s Bryan County,
where the Korean con-
glomerate has pledged to
hire 8,500 workers by 2031.
Just 5.4% of Georgia’s
workforce is represented
by unions, compared with
11.3% nationally. Georgia
labor laws also discourage
organizing, meaning the
union push faces long
odds in succeeding. But
the nation and Georgia
have seen an increase in
organizing activity, and
the Teamsters recently
reached a landmark five-
year deal for its 340,000
organized workers at UPS,
which is based in Sandy
Springs, Ga.
The UAW efforts were
bolstered when President
Joe Biden joined picketing
workers amid the strike.
In a post on its website,
the union said one of its
biggest targets is Toyota’s
factory in Georgetown,
Ky., where the automaker
makes its popular Camry,
RAV 4 and Lexus ES mod-
els. Another target is
Hyundai’s factory in
Montgomery, Ala.
Hyundai is racing to
complete its Metaplant
and plans to begin produc-
tion in early 2025, though
officials have said it could
open late next year. Hyun-
dai has said it expects to
produce 300,000 Hyun-
dai, Genesis and Kia mod-
els per year at full produc-
tion and will build batter-
ies at the plant in a joint
venture with LG Energy
Solution. Hyundai also
has a partnership with SK
On for a battery plant in
Georgia’s Bartow County.
Rivian is expected to
break ground on its facto-
ry in southern Walton and
Morgan counties in Geor-
gia early next year, though
site work has been under-
way for some time. Rivian
declined to comment. Cox
Enterprises, owner of the
Atlanta Journal-Constitu-
tion, owns about a 4%
stake in Rivian.
For decades, the pres-
ence of unions has been on
the wane in the U.S., espe-
cially in the South.
However, the last few
years have seen a flurry of
organizing activity touch-
ing a spectrum of workers
in Georgia, from baristas
to beermaking, from deliv-
ery drivers to doctoral stu-
dents, some successful,
some decidedly not.
Just Tuesday, doctoral
candidates at Emory Uni-
versity, the state’s largest
private college, voted over-
whelmingly to join Work-
ers United, which is part of
the Service Employees In-
ternational Union. Earlier
in November, two Star-
bucks stores in metro At-
lanta voted to join a union.
Georgia, like most
Southern states, has his-
torically had a lower share
of the workforce repre-
sented by unions. The
state also has laws that let
employees in union shops
skip paying union dues,
while requiring the union
to represent their interests
in any dispute.
And even when work-
ers vote for a union, they
are not guaranteed a
smooth path to a contract.
In Georgia this autumn,
the International Brother-
hood of Teamsters won a
union vote at Quest Diag-
nostics in Tucker, then lost
a similar campaign at Cor-
sair, a gaming equipment
maker in Duluth.
Reasons for the recent
surge range from the tight
labor market, in which
some employers struggle
to fill positions, to the gen-
erational, with young peo-
ple less tainted by anti-
union sentiments of de-
cades past.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Drew Kann/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In September, a coalition of union groups launched an effort to unionize workers at the future Hyundai
Metaplant near Savannah, Ga. Hyundai has pledged to hire 8,500 workers for the plant by 2031.
HoustonChronicle.com/Place-Legals legals@chron.com 713.362.6868
LEGAL NOTICE
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION NOTICE OF PROPOSED
TOWER CONSTRUCTION
FOR TPDES PERMIT FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER
RENEWAL Owner: Vertical Bridge
PERMIT NO. WQ0010495095 File #: 23-T-0761
APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION. City of Houston, 10500 Bellaire Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77072, has applied to the Site Location: 23705 2/3 Fairlake Lane
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a renewal of Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Huffman, TX 77336
Legal Desc: LOTS 1, 2, 39, AND 30,
Permit No. WQ0010495095, which authorizes the discharge of treated domestic wastewater at an annual average flow not to
BLOCK 1 G.A. TROTT’S SUBDIVISION
exceed 7,200,000 gallons per day. TCEQ received this application on March 2, 2023.
The facility is located at 10601 Huntington Point Drive, in the City of Houston, Harris County, Texas 77099. The treated effluent is Use: Cellular
Height: 220’
discharged to Keegans Bayou, thence to Brays Bayou, thence to Houston Ship Channel (Buffalo Bayou Tidal) in Segment No. 1007
of the San Jacinto River Basin. The unclassified receiving water use is limited aquatic life use for Keegans Bayou. The designated Tower Applicant:
Ryan Shahan
uses for Segment No. 1007 are navigation and industrial water supply. This link to an electronic map of the site or facility’s general
281-726-9831
location is provided as a public courtesy and is not part of the application or notice. For the exact location, refer to the application.
https://gisweb.tceq.texas.gov/LocationMapper/?marker=-95.608333,29.666388&level=18 SH 26 Lake Cherokee
Henderson, TX 75652
The TCEQ Executive Director has completed the technical review of the application and prepared a draft permit. The draft permit, if
approved, would establish the conditions under which the facility must operate. The Executive Director has made a preliminary City of Houston:
decision that this permit, if issued, meets all statutory and regulatory requirements. The permit application, Executive Director’s Planning & Development Dept
preliminary decision, and draft permit are available for viewing and copying at the City of Houston, Public Works, Wastewater 832-393-6600
Operations Building, 10500 Bellaire Boulevard, Houston, Texas. PO Box 1562 Houston
TX 77251-1562
ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE NOTICE. Alternative language notice in Spanish is available at
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/wastewater/plain-language-summaries-and-public-notices. El aviso de idioma alternativo
en español está disponible en https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/wastewater/plain-language-summaries-and-public-notices.
PUBLIC COMMENT / PUBLIC MEETING. You may submit public comments or request a public meeting about this application. The
purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comments or to ask questions about the application. TCEQ CASE NUMBER: 2023-32826
holds a public meeting if the Executive Director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or Plaintiff(s): KENDREN EAGLIN AND
if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing. ARIEL EAGLIN (INDIVIDUALLY ANS AS
OPPORTUNITY FOR A CONTESTED CASE HEARING. After the deadline for submitting public comments, the Executive Director will NEXT FRIEND OF I,S AND I,S)
consider all timely comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. Unless the (MINORS)
application is directly referred for a contested case hearing, the response to comments will be mailed to everyone who submitted vs.
public comments and to those persons who are on the mailing list for this application. If comments are received, the mailing will Defendant(s): WILLIAM GERALD
also provide instructions for requesting a contested case hearing or reconsideration of the Executive Director’s decision. A CARRANZA AND WILLIAM SIMMONS
contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in a state district court. JR
TO REQUEST A CONTESTED CASE HEARING, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IN YOUR REQUEST: your name, IN THE 190TH JUDICIAL
address, phone number; applicant’s name and proposed permit number; the location and distance of your property/activities DISTRICT COURT OF HARRIS COUNTY,
relative to the proposed facility; a specific description of how you would be adversely affected by the facility in a way not common TEXAS
to the general public; a list of all disputed issues of fact that you submit during the comment period; and the statement "[I/we]
request a contested case hearing." If the request for contested case hearing is filed on behalf of a group or association, the request
CITATION BY PUBLICATION
THE STATE OF TEXAS
must designate the group’s representative for receiving future correspondence; identify by name and physical address an individual County Of Harris
member of the group who would be adversely affected by the proposed facility or activity; provide the information discussed above To: WILLIAM GERALD CARRANZA
regarding the affected member’s location and distance from the facility or activity; explain how and why the member would be WHOSE RESIDENCE AND WHERE-
affected; and explain how the interests the group seeks to protect are relevant to the group’s purpose. ABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN
Following the close of all applicable comment and request periods, the Executive Director will forward the application and any YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to be
requests for reconsideration or for a contested case hearing to the TCEQ Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled and appear before the 190TH Judicial
Commission meeting. District Court of Harris County, Texas in
The Commission may only grant a request for a contested case hearing on issues the requestor submitted in their timely comments the courthouse in the city of Houston,
that were not subsequently withdrawn. If a hearing is granted, the subject of a hearing will be limited to disputed issues of fact or Texas at or before 10:00 o’clock A.M.
mixed questions of fact and law relating to relevant and material water quality concerns submitted during the comment period. Monday, the 8TH day of JANUARY,
TCEQ may act on an application to renew a permit for discharge of wastewater without providing an opportunity for a contested 2024, being the Monday next after the
case hearing if certain criteria are met.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTION. The Executive Director may issue final approval of the application unless a timely contested case
expiration date of forty-two days after the
citation is issued, and you are hereby
hearing request or request for reconsideration is filed. If a timely hearing request or request for reconsideration is filed, the commanded and required then and there
Executive Director will not issue final approval of the permit and will forward the application and request to the TCEQ to appear and file written answer to the
Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled Commission meeting. PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL PETITION, filed
MAILING LIST. If you submit public comments, a request for a contested case hearing or a reconsideration of the Executive in said Court on the 26TH day of MAY
Director’s decision, you will be added to the mailing list for this specific application to receive future public notices mailed by the 2023, in a suit numbered 2023-32826
Office of the Chief Clerk. In addition, you may request to be placed on: (1) the permanent mailing list for a specific applicant name docket of said court, wherein KENDREN
and permit number; and/or (2) the mailing list for a specific county. If you wish to be placed on the permanent and/or the county
mailing list, clearly specify which list(s) and send your request to TCEQ Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below.
EAGLIN AND ARIEL EAGLIN (INDIVIDU-
ALLY ANS AS NEXT FRIEND OF I, S
All written public comments and public meeting requests must be submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 105, Texas AND I, S) (MINORS) the Plaintiff’s, WIL-
Commission on Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087 or electronically at LIAM GERALD CARRANZA AND WIL-
www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/comment within 30 days from the date of newspaper publication of this notice. LIAM SIMMONS JR the Defendant(s), the
INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE. For details about the status of the application, visit the Commissioners’ Integrated Database nature of plaintiff’s demand and the said
at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid. Search the database using the permit number for this application, which is provided at the top of petition alleging: MOTOR VEHICLE
this notice. ACCIDENT
AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION. Public comments and requests must be submitted either electronically at SUMMARY
www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/comment, or in writing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Clerk, MC THE FIRST COLLISION OCCURRED ON
105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Any personal information you submit to the TCEQ will become part of the agency’s OR ABOUT OCTOBER 15, 2021, ON
record; this includes email addresses. For more information about this permit application or the permitting process, please call the THAT DAY, DEFENDANT CARRANZA
TCEQ Public Education Program, Toll Free, at 1-800-687-4040 or visit their website at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/pep. Si desea WAS TRAVELING WESTBOUND IN THE
información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040.
Further information may also be obtained from City of Houston at the address stated above or by calling Ms. Carol La Breche, P.E.,
6200 BLOCK OF FIRNAT ST. PLAIN-
TIFFS KENDRIN EAGLIN, ARIEL EAGLIN
at 832-395-5813. AND I,S WERE TRAVELING NORTH-
Issuance Date: November 21, 2023 BOUND IN THE 9400 BLOCK OF
CAMAY ST. WHEN DEFENDANT
CARRANZA SUDDENLY, VIOLENTLY,
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS WILL BE RECEIVED BY MCGRIFF INSURANCE SERV- AND WITHOUT WARNING, FAILED TO
ICES, UNTIL 11:00 A.M., ON JANUARY 10, 2024, FOR THE FOLLOWING: YIELD THE RIGHT-OF-WAY AT THE IN-
Arbor E&T, LLC, d/b/a Equus Workforce TERSECTION AND CRASHED INTO THE
RFP-3031 PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE ANNUAL RENEWAL PROGRAM- Solutions is soliciting proposals in the PLAINGIFFS; VEHICLE, CAUSEINT IT
2024-25 Houston area for office furniture design TO ROLL, THE RESPONDING OFFICER
and install services. ISSUED A CITATION TO DEFENDANT
NO PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD FOR THIS PROCUREMENT. The Request for Proposals can be found: CARRANZA FOR AILING OT YIELD THE
RESPONDENTS MUST SUBMIT THEIR RESPONSES TO: https://www.rfpdb.com/view/document RIGHT-OF-WAY AT THE INTERSEC-
Bid Receipt with be handled via Broker of Record: /name/Equus-Workforce-Solutions-_- TION. AS PROXIMATE RESULT OF THE
McGriff Office-Furniture-and-Related-Design- COLLISION, PLAINTIFFS SUSTAINED
Services-RFP PERSONAL INJURIES AND DAMAGES
5080 Spectrum Drive., #900E
All Proposal questions should be submit- MORE FULLY DESCRIBED BELOW.
Addison, TX 7500
469-232-2140 ted to Jeanette Ark at jeanette.ark@equus NOTHING PLAINTIFF DID TO FAILED
works.com by Monday 11/27/23. TO DO CAUSE OR CONTRIBUTED TO
SOLICITATION PACKAGE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM PORT HOUSTON’S Final documents due to the email listed THE COLLISION MADE BASIS OF THIS
ePROCUREMENT WEBSITE https://buyspeed.porthouston.com. above by Monday 12/4/23 3p EST SUIT OR PLAINTIFFS’ RESULTING IN-
JURIES AND DAMAGES.
Notice hereof shall be given by publishing
this Citation once a week for four consec-
utive weeks previous to the 8TH day of
Notice to Proposers
JANUARY, 2024, in some newspaper
published in the County of Harris, if there
Request for Proposal will be received by Lone Star College for: NOTICE TO CREDITORS
be a newspaper published therein, but if
· RFP #931 – Student Appointment Scheduling Tool. Electronic submittals due by not, then the nearest county where a
3:00PM, Wednesday, December 10, 2023. Notice is hereby given that original newspaper is published , and this Citation
· WebEx pre-proposal meeting: Wednesday, December 13 @ 2:00PM; call-in number 1- Letters Testamentary for the Estate of shall be returned on DECEMBER 22nd
408-792-6300, Meeting #2630 514 1485 BLAINE ALLEN MARSH, Deceased, 2023 which is forty two days after the
· Contact: pamela.johnson@lonestar.edu or (832)813-6782. were issued on November 30, 2023, in date it is Issued, and the first publication
· Must Register to Bid: http://wwwappsdstc.lonestar.edu/istar/supplier.htm Cause No. PR44072, pending in the
. If registered, please ensure your registration is up to date. For assistance with the County Court-At-Law No: 1 And Probate
shall be at least twenty-eight days before
said return day.
on-line registration process, contact MC-vendors@lonestar.edu. Court, Brazoria County, Texas, to:
BRENDA SUE MARSH.
HEREIN FAIL NOT, but have before said
court on said return day this Writ with
Request for Proposal addressed to Spring Branch Independent School District, will be your return thereon, showing how you
All persons having claims against this
received in the SBISD Purchasing Office at 1031 Witte RD, BLDG T-1A, Houston, TX Estate which is currently being
have executed same.
WITNESS: Marilyn Burgess, District
77055-6016 until: administered are required to present Clerk, Harris County Texas
them to the undersigned within the
DECEMBER 18, 2023 @ 2:00 PM FOR: time and in the manner prescribed by
GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND THE
SEAL OF SAID COURT, at Houston,
Autism Life Skills Consultant Services (16102) law.
c/o: A.G. CROUCH
Texas this 10TH day of NOVEMBER,
2023.
PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE ON Attorney at Law Newspaper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 6, 2023 @ 10:00 AM via ZOOM. 235 W. Sealy Street
Alvin, Texas 77511
(SEAL)
Issued at request of:
For information contact the SBISD
Purchasing Department at (713) 251-1100 DATED the 30th day of November
JOSHUA R. LEAL
Address: 9850 KATY FREEWAY SUITE
2023. 850
Proposers should register on Ion Wave website /s/ A.G. Crouch
https://springbranchisd.ionwave.net/Login.aspx A.G. CROUCH
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77024
Bar Number: 24048609
Attorney for BRENDA SUE MARSH Marilyn Burgess, District Clerk
State Bar No.: 05148000
Notice of Tax Rate Hearing Notice of Tax Rate Hearing 235 W. Sealy Street
Harris County, Texas
201 Caroline, Houston, Texas 77002
Alvin, Texas 77511
Telephone: (281) 331-5288
P.O. Box 4651, Houston, Texas 77210
By: /s/ Cynthia Clausell
Harris County Community Services Department Facsimile: (281) 331-9346 Cynthia Clausell - Deputy Clerk
Program Year 2022 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report E-mail: agcrouch@crouchlawoffice.com
(CAPER)
Public Notice
December 4, 2023
PUBLIC COMMENT & HEARING
Notice is given that Harris County is seeking input on its PY2022 Consolidated Annu-
al Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). The PY2022 CAPER includes an an-
nual assessment of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Invest-
Notice To
ment Partnerships Program (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds,
and describes the County’s assessment of its annual performance in meeting its
PY2019-2023 Consolidated Plan priorities and objectives. Furthermore, the CAPER
discusses the actions or changes the County contemplates as a result of its annual
performance.
Creditors
Public comments for the DRAFT PY2022 CAPER may be taken from December 4,
2023 through December 20, 2023 and can be found at our website: https://csd.harri
scountytx.gov/Pages/CAPER.aspx. Comments can be submitted at the Harris Coun-
ty Community Services Department (HCCSD) office (8410 Lantern Point Drive, Hous-
Ad
ton, Texas 77054), by calling (832) 927-4795, email plancomments@csd.hctx.net, or
at the Harris County CAPER Public Hearing scheduled:
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
$74.00*
6:00 P.M. (Virtual Teams Meeting) details are also located on the CDS website at
https://csd.harriscountytx.gov/Pages/CAPER.aspx
Call the Legals Team
Teams Meeting Link
713-224-6868
Click here to join the meeting
Ext. 6435 or 4204
Phone Conference ID: 594 878 408 #
+1 281-985-1862, 594878408# US (Houston) *$74.00 includes first 36 lines
Comments can also be made at the Harris County Commissioners Court on Decem- and 1 Affidavit of Publication
ber 19, 2023, at 10:00 A.M. located at the Harris County Commissioners Court, 1001
Preston, Houston, Texas 77002. *$1.92 per line over 36 lines
All comments will be incorporated into the PY2022 Consolidated Annual Perform-
ance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). The public hearing will be conducted in Eng-
lish, however; Spanish and sign language interpreters can be available upon request.
HCCSD will provide reasonable accommodations for persons needing special accom-
modations. Requests should be received by HCCSD staff 3 business days before the
public hearing. For more information on the CAPER or requesting special accommo-
dations, please contact Walter Peacock, Planning Assistant Director, at HoustonChronicle.com/Obits
Walter.peacock@csd.hctx.net or (832) 927-4700 for assistance.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Limits set on Chinese content for EV tax credit
By Joe Deaux, Gabrielle
Coppola and Ari Natter
B L OOM BE RG
The Biden administration re-
leased long-awaited rules de-
signed to block electric-vehicle
manufacturers from sourcing
battery materials from China
and other foreign adversaries,
while giving automakers some
flexibility to comply with the new
mandates.
The guidelines, which were
required as part of a deal to ex-
tend the $7,500 tax credit
through Biden’s signature cli-
mate law, establish a 25% owner-
ship threshold for a company or
group to be classified as a foreign
entity of concern, government
speak for businesses or groups
owned or controlled by US geo-
political foes. The restrictions
will apply to battery components
next year, then include suppliers
of key battery raw materials,
such as nickel and lithium, in
2025.
The definition has wide-
reaching implications because
starting in 2024, vehicles con-
taining any battery components
manufactured or assembled by
FEOCs will no longer qualify for
the tax credit. In writing the
highly-anticipated rules, the Bi-
den administration has tried to
balance two competing agendas
METHANE
From page B9
equivalent to all the car-
bon dioxide emitted by
the power sector in 2021.
The requirements are
set to be the strongest in
the world — providing in-
spiration to other coun-
tries now “zeroing in on
methane as a key climate
risk,” said Fred Krupp,
president of the Environ-
mental Defense Fund.
The measure was tight-
ened from earlier propos-
als to include a phased-in
requirement to eliminate
routine flaring of natural
gas from newly con-
structed oil wells. Envi-
ronmental activists
panned earlier iterations
of the plan for not doing
enough to go after the
practice because burning
methane generates car-
bon dioxide at best, and,
when flares burn incon-
sistently, results in meth-
ane discharges instead.
WOODS
From page B9
doing to pare methane
emissions, Woods said.
But the venture — which
brings in 29 national oil
companies — is seen as
important to driving
broad progress, even
among firms that don’t
face the same regulatory
GHP
From page B9
This interview has been
edited and length and
clarity.
Q: How does the
Greater Houston Part-
nership create opportu-
nity for Houstonians?
A: It starts with eco-
nomic development. At-
tracting investment here,
attracting employers and
jobs here, and once people
are here, growing their
presence here — that cre-
ates opportunity for peo-
ple. The other thing that
GHP does, with its Upskill
initiative, is look for ways
to take the existing work-
force that we have and
help people who are may-
be low-skilled today find a
way to mid-skill and then
ultimately high-skill.
Q: In your career in
the private sector,
you’ve traveled the na-
tion and the world.
Have you seen other or-
ganizations doing
things like GHP, or at
the same scale?
A: Not really at the
same scale. There are a lot
of other similar organiza-
tions around the country,
but the GHP pulls togeth-
er a lot of things. It’s not
A worker looks over car batteries in a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co. Ltd in
Nanjing in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.
— weaning US industry off of
low-cost Chinese materials that
dominate today’s supply chains,
while still incentivizing EV adop-
tion to combat climate change.
Delays in spelling out the re-
quirements have left the mining,
auto and battery industries in
limbo, with just weeks until the
new rules kick in. Outlining
Routine flaring at some
lower-emission existing
wells would be grandfa-
thered.
But the EPA also gave
companies more time to
replace some leak-prone
devices after industry of-
ficials warned that long
supply chain delays
would make it impossible
to procure new equip-
ment in time.
The EPA held firm on
its plan to empower pri-
vate citizens and groups
to help police the indus-
try by requiring oil and
gas companies to investi-
gate incidents when noti-
fied by the agency that
third parties had detected
large emissions events at
their sites. The planned
super emitters program
would effectively elevate
the role and importance
of methane surveillance
— whether done by activ-
ists wielding infrared
cameras or satellites cir-
cling the globe. Support-
ers say the initiative could
and investor pressure to
clean up.
“It’s important that we
get as much of the indus-
try committed to raising
the bar,” Woods said.
Exxon is pursuing an
array of ventures that
stand to benefit from the
Inflation Reduction Act,
the sweeping climate law
enacted in the US last
year, including a Gulf
just the Chamber of Com-
merce; it also is the the
economic development
arm for the region. Now,
there are numerous eco-
nomic development orga-
nizations at the sub-re-
gional level around us, but
the GHP helps pull all that
together, and then of
course participates in the
public policy process.
There are a lot of organiza-
tions that do one or two of
those things, but I’m not
aware of any that does all
the things that GHP does.
Q: Does GHP’s work
feel uniquely Housto-
nian, to you?
A: It does. The other
key thing, along with op-
portunity: The unity we
have here is really unusu-
al for major metropolitan
areas in our country, and
maybe the world. People
tend to come together
here. That’s unique, that’s
rare and that’s powerful.
That’s something that we
have to build on. It’s a
great advantage for our
community.
Q: How do you see
Houston’s role in the
energy transition?
A: A lot of the energy
companies — most of the
large, if not all of the large
ones — have been focus-
ing on the energy transi-
them now will give automakers
and their suppliers some certain-
ty in project planning.
John Bozzella, president and
chief executive officer of the ma-
jor auto lobbying group Alliance
for Automotive Innovation,
praised the Treasury Depart-
ment for finally providing clarity
about the rules. He also lauded
push oil companies to re-
spond more swiftly to
leaks that otherwise
could go unreported.
However, in response
to industry criticism, the
EPA altered its earlier
proposal to ensure the
agency first vets those
third-party reports and
limit when they can be
filed.
The EPA projects that
the requirements could
add an extra 25 cents to
the cost of a barrel of oil in
2038 — though the agency
forecasts total net bene-
fits of at least $7.3 billion a
year from averted harm to
the climate and human
health tied to ozone expo-
sure.
The American Petro-
leum Institute said it was
still reviewing the regula-
tion.
“We share the adminis-
tration’s goal of reducing
methane emissions, and
smart federal regulation
can help build on indus-
try’s progress to date,”
Coast hy-
drogen-
produc-
tion proj-
ect that has
secured as
much as
Woods $1.2 billion
in govern-
ment support.
And though President
Joe Biden has had sharp
words for oil producers,
tion for some time and
they’re been finding those
investments that make
sense for their sharehold-
ers and investing in the
new developments as we
make that transition over
time. It will be one that
takes place over a long pe-
riod of time. What’s a bit
new is that many of the
startup organizations that
are working in the energy
transition have started to
look to Houston as the
place for them to build
their business, because
this is where their cus-
tomers are, this is where
their potential investors
are.
Q: As you embark on
this new chapter, what
do you see as some of
the top-of-mind chal-
lenges?
A: I’ll be spending a lot
of my effort on economic
development activity and
the Upskill initiative. I
think that’s really what
the partnership contrib-
utes. We are a group of
businesses, primarily, but
businesses and communi-
ty leaders and educational
institutions. It’s about
economic development
and attracting opportuni-
ty here. By having a work-
force that is attractive to
the people we’re trying to
the agency for exempting re-
quirements for trace materials
for two years, a reprieve he called
“significant and well-advised.”
“Otherwise the EV tax credit
may have only existed on paper,”
Bozzella wrote.
Autos Drive America, which
represents foreign automakers
operating in the US like Hyundai
said Dustin Meyer, a se-
nior vice president of pol-
icy for the API. “To be
truly effective, this rule
must balance emissions
reductions with the need
to continue meeting ris-
ing energy demand.”
Oil industry leaders
have emphasized that
many companies already
are moving more aggres-
sively to stem methane
pollution — especially be-
cause it undermines the
green bonafides of natu-
ral gas being pitched as a
cleaner alternative to
coal.
But environmentalists
said the mandates will
spur laggards to clean up,
too.
“Leaders in the indus-
try are already doing
what these rules will re-
quire,” said Manish Bap-
na, president of the Natu-
ral Resources Defense
Council. “With these
standards, the rest will
need to cut their harmful
pollution as well.”
Woods said he sees signs
of a balanced approach.
“There’s a genuine ef-
fort by the Biden admin-
istration to strike the
right balance, to focus
and drive emission reduc-
tions and improve green-
house gas emissions, but,
at the same time, a recog-
nition of the important
role oil and gas plays,” he
said.
get here, that also creates
opportunity for the people
who are already here.
That’s the big body of
work for a business orga-
nization to pursue.
Q: Do you think
Houston’s growth over
the past 10 years has
strained the sense of
unity you mention?
A: You know, not that I
see. There will always be
some controversy about
whether development
takes place here or there,
but generally, particularly
compared to other me-
tros, this is a place that is
open to growth and to de-
velopment and opportu-
nity. I think it’s largely
what people come here
for. It’s what I came here
for.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 B11
Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co.,
also welcomed the clarity, but
urged the U.S. to grandfather in
more countries to provide critical
minerals through free-trade
agreements.
Indonesia has been lobbying
US officials for a free-trade pact
that would make its products
IRA-compliant. The US has al-
ready struck such a deal with Ja-
pan.
Passed into law last year, the
Inflation Reduction Act has at-
tracted more than $100 billion of
investment in the North Ameri-
can battery and EV supply
chains as part of efforts to reduce
reliance on China. However, the
Asian nation’s dominance of the
global industry for now means
that only a limited number of
models would be currently eligi-
ble for the IRA tax credit.
There will be a public com-
AFP via Getty Images/TNS ment period before the rules are
finalized to take effect Jan. 1.
“We are reviewing the new
Treasury guidance now,” Gener-
al Motors Co. spokeswoman
Jeannine Ginivan said in a state-
ment. “Due to GM’s historic in-
vestments in the US and efforts
to build more secure and resil-
ient supply chains we believe GM
is well positioned to maintain the
consumer purchase incentive for
many of our EVs in 2024 and be-
yond.”
Crisp, Doris Threadgold, Ian
Montalbano, Joseph
DORIS CRISP
10/14/1931 - 11/22/2023
Doris Lynn Crisp of Port
Arthur and Groves, Texas,
passed away in her home No-
vember 22, 2023. She lived a
life of fierce independence to
the end. She was sharp and
witty and very observant of
the world around her. She
was “interesting and inter-
ested” as she might describe
other people; someone who
was both a person filled with
knowledge and conversation,
and also someone curious
about other people. Doris topics including science and
Crisp grew up as an only child politics was infectious. In
in Oak Cliff, a Dallas suburb. later life, she remarked upon
Her father was a “railroad the extraordinary kindness of
man,” and her mother was a strangers in Port Arthur. She
homemaker until she took loved good conversation and
a job at a downtown Dallas laughter. She was a devout
department store to earn Democrat. After retiring,
extra money to send Doris to Doris traveled extensively, to
college. Doris attended Texas Europe, Russia, and Austra-
Women’s University in north lia, among other places, and
Texas, earning her bachelor’s enjoyed the tours planned by
degree and a master’s degree Margie Moore and Mildred
in English. Doris came to Gernantz. Doris was preceded
Port Arthur at a time when oil in death by her dear friends
refinery executives wanted the Martha Butler, TJ biol-
best school system for their
children, and Port Arthur’s
ogy teacher and rancher in
Karnes City; Kathryn Minter,
starting salary was one of operating room head nurse
the two highest in the state. at St. Mary Hospital of Port
PAISD was a top-flight public Arthur; Jane Smith and
school district - many gradu- Muriel Stubbs, extraordinary
ates went on to prestigious English teachers; and many,
universities and were well many, other dear friends.
prepared after graduating She is survived by many
from Thomas Jefferson High friends and former students
School. “Miss Crisp” was a across the country and the
well-known English teacher world, including Rory Minter
and head of the English Fontenla of Rockwall, TX,;
Department at TJ from the William Butler of Canyon
1950s into the 1980s. She was Lake, TX; Marialice Grimes
a “hard” grader and also an of Houston, TX; and Sandra
inspiration to generations of Hall of Denver, Colorado.
students. She touched many
lives in many ways, and many
Doris did not want a service
or memorial gathering.
people have expressed that Melancon Levingston Funeral
Miss Crisp had a big impact Home, 39th Street, Groves, is
on their lives. Her lifelong arranging her desired crema-
pleasure in reading, passion tion. Doris did not want an
for learning, and delight obituary written about her.
in discussing a myriad of
JOSEPH MONTALBANO
07/03/1947 - 11/26/2023
Joseph C. Montalbano, and Alex Ross; sister, Mary
76, passed away Sunday, Bippert, and mother-in-law,
November 26, 2023. He is Julene Dulaney. A memorial
survived by his wife, Carlene mass will be on Wednesday,
Montalbano; daughters, December 6, 2023 at
Reneau Elsworth and hus- 12:00pm.
band, Earl Myrick and Tracy St Matthias the Apostle
Ross; grandchildren, Jacob 302 S Magnolia Blvd
Elsworth, Morgan Elsworth, Magnolia, Tx 77355
IAN MICHAEL THREADGOLD
03/26/1952 - 11/25/2023
Ian Michael Threadgold
was born on March 26,
1952, in Halifax, England
to Thomas Leslie and Grace
Mildred Threadgold. He mar-
ried Nancy Dean on February
15,1975 in Nutley, New Jersey.
He passed away on Saturday,
November 25, 2023, at the
age of 71 years.
The family will receive
friends from 9:30 a.m. to
10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, De-
cember 5, 2023, in Schmidt
Funeral Home Grand Park- reception to follow.
way Chapel where a funeral For a full obituary and to
service will be held at 10:30 express condolences, visit
a.m. with Rev. C. McAllister www.SchmidtFuneralHome.
“Mac” Vaughn officiating. A net.
B12 MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

WEATHER
HOUSTON’S SEVEN-DAY FORECAST | Go to AccuWeather.com COASTAL FORECAST
GALVESTON BAY: Wind from
71 70 69 72 77 74 66 the north at 6-12 knots today.
46 46 48 60 65 47 41 Seas 2 feet or less. Visibility
clear to the horizon. Tonight:
TODAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Wind from the northeast at 4-8
Pleasant with clouds Partly sunny and Plenty of sun Beautiful with partial Pleasantly warm with A morning shower in Less humid with plenty knots. Seas 2 feet or less. Partly
and sun beautiful sunshine clouds and sun spots; breezy of sunshine cloudy.
MATAGORDA SHIP CHAN-
METRO AREA NORTH AMERICA TODAY INTERNATIONAL NEL TO HIGH ISLAND OUT
20 TO 50 MILES: Wind from
OUTLOOK Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Today Tue.
the north-northeast at 6-12
TODAY: Pleasant with times 110s Calgary Saskatoon Africa
Vancouver Cairo 80/60/pc 77/59/pc knots today. Seas 2 feet or less.
of clouds and sun. High 68 100s Regina Visibility clear to the horizon.
to 73. Winds north-northeast Winnipeg
Cape Town 74/60/pc 77/59/pc
90s Seattle Casablanca 69/51/s 73/61/c Tonight: Wind from the
6-12 mph. TONIGHT: Partly 80s Thunder Bay Dakar 85/74/s 85/74/c northeast at 6-12 knots. Seas 2
Montreal
cloudy. Low 43 to 48. Winds Portland Ottawa Johannesburg 88/63/s 88/59/pc feet or less. Patchy clouds.
70s
east-northeast 3-6 mph. Lagos 93/77/s 93/77/pc
60s
Minneapolis Toronto Boston Asia/Pacific
50s Beijing 49/21/pc 47/31/pc
40s Detroit Ho Chi Minh City 92/77/t 92/78/t
AIR QUALITY 30s Chicago Hong Kong 74/66/c 75/68/pc
Salt Lake City New York Islamabad 72/45/s 73/44/s
Today’s forecast for the entire
20s San Francisco Jakarta 87/76/t 91/77/t
metro area by the TCEQ:
10s Denver Washington Karachi 84/57/s 84/57/s GALVESTON TIDES
0s
Kuala Lumpur 93/76/t 90/76/t Highs Feet Lows Feet
Manila 91/78/s 91/78/t
-0s New Delhi 74/53/pc 74/53/pc 11:44 p.m. 1.2 2:49 p.m. 0.2
Ozone watch -10s Los Angeles Seoul 47/32/s 53/36/pc --- --- --- ---
Phoenix Little Rock Shanghai 60/38/c 66/43/pc
Good Unhealthy Atlanta Singapore 88/77/t 87/77/t
T-storms
Sydney 74/64/s 83/70/pc
RIVERS, CREEKS AND
Moderate Very unhealthy Rain Dallas
Unhealthy Hazardous Showers
El Paso Taipei 70/63/r 70/63/r BAYOUS through 7 a.m. Sunday
Tokyo 58/44/s 56/48/c Flood Latest 24-hr.
for sensitive Snow New Orleans
Hermosillo Houston Canada Location stage stage chg.
groups Chihuahua Calgary 45/35/c 56/34/pc
Flurries
Edmonton 41/28/pc 42/27/c Brays Bayou South Main 54 16.95 -0.14
Ice Miami Brazos River Bryan 43 7.27 +0.01
POLLEN AND MOLD Jet stream
Montreal
Toronto
33/21/sn
38/27/sn
25/8/s
36/27/c Hempstead 50 9.72 +0.01
Yesterday’s readings by the Monterrey Vancouver 49/47/r 52/41/r Richmond 48 8.51 -0.04
Houston Health Department: Havana Winnipeg 28/14/pc 29/25/pc Buffalo Bayou Piney Point 50 48.33 +0.01
Countpercubicmeterofair Europe Shepherd Dr. 23 1.57 -0.64
None 0 Anchorage Mérida Cancún Amsterdam 37/35/r 41/37/c
Tree pollen
Guadalajara Athens 64/52/sh 63/55/pc
Clear Creek Friendswood 12 0.73 -1.42
Weed pollen None 0 Berlin 31/27/c 33/30/sn Colorado R. Austin 29 11.11 -0.12
Mexico City
Grass pollen None 0 Veracruz Copenhagen 35/32/pc 36/33/c Bastrop 25 2.30 +0.02
Mold spores Medium 6615
Villahermosa Forecasts and
Dublin 41/34/r 43/37/r La Grange 32 2.76 none
Honolulu Acapulco Belmopan Frankfurt 33/31/sn 40/37/r Columbus 34 9.08 +0.05
graphics provided by Geneva 41/38/r 43/35/r
Low Heavy Cold Warm Stationary Wharton 39 7.83 -0.01
front front front AccuWeather, Inc. Istanbul 53/47/r 55/51/pc
Medium Extremely heavy ©2023 London 46/41/r 45/31/c Bay City 44 2.53 -0.33
Madrid 53/34/pc 47/32/c Greens Bayou Eastex Fwy. 61 39.49 -0.01
Note: No measurements on weekends; Moscow 20/7/c 13/3/c
charts in Sunday and Monday papers reflect
Guadalupe R. Hunt 12 7.77 +0.01
forecast ratings from the previous Friday. FOR THE RECORD TEXAS NATIONAL cont. Paris
Prague
48/42/r
21/16/c
46/38/c
30/25/sn
Comfort 26 3.29 -0.01
George Bush Intercontinental Today Tue. Today Tue. Rome 57/50/c 58/41/r Spring Branch 36 1.45 -0.01
Airport through 3 p.m. Sun. Abilene 65/41/s 68/43/s Cleveland 41/34/sh 38/35/sn Stockholm 17/-3/pc 12/1/c New Braunfels 13 9.38 none
COMFORT INDEX
The comfort index takes into
Temperature Degrees F Amarillo
Austin
59/29/s
69/44/pc
61/35/s Columbus
71/41/s Denver
43/32/c
58/32/c
39/32/sn Vienna
61/36/s Warsaw
33/23/pc 32/27/c Gonzales 31 11.17 none
28/19/sn 28/19/pc Cuero 20 6.96 -0.02
account how the weather will High 72 Beaumont 71/45/pc 70/44/pc Des Moines 45/30/pc 41/26/pc Zurich 31/28/c 41/34/pc
Low 49 Brownsville 78/64/pc 78/64/c Detroit 40/31/c 37/31/sn Latin America Victoria 21 4.75 -0.04
feel based on a combination of
Dupont 20 8.45 +0.10
factors. A rating of 10 feels very Normal high 68 Bryan/College St. 69/43/pc 71/43/pc Duluth 36/26/c 32/23/c Bogota 71/42/pc 72/44/pc
comfortable while a rating of 0
Corpus Christi 76/53/pc 75/57/c Fairbanks -2/-7/s 0/-3/c Buenos Aires 71/62/s 72/66/pc Little River Little River 30 1.12 -0.03
Normal low 48 Dallas/Ft. Worth 62/39/s 67/41/s Great Falls 49/43/pc 58/44/c Caracas Cameron 30 0.90 +0.02
feels very uncomfortable. 92/75/pc 92/74/t
Record high 85 in 1995 El Paso 66/40/s 68/41/s Hartford 51/35/pc 43/28/c Havana 86/69/s 84/66/pc Navasota R. Easterly 19 3.34 -0.11
Today Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Record low 25 in 1929 Galveston 67/58/pc 66/53/pc Honolulu 82/72/pc 84/71/sh Kingston 90/77/s 90/77/s Neches River Evadale 19 6.31 +0.02
10 10 10 10 10 10 Kingsville 78/54/pc 78/58/c Indianapolis 44/34/r 46/32/c Lima 73/65/pc 73/64/pc
Precipitation Inches Laredo 77/54/pc 75/60/c Jackson, MS 64/37/pc 67/39/pc Rio de Janeiro Pine Island B. Sour Lake 25 15.51 -1.99
84/76/t 83/77/t
24-hour total 0.00 Longview 63/36/pc 67/36/s Juneau 41/37/r 43/37/r San Juan 88/77/pc 87/76/pc Sabine River Bon Wier 30 12.23 +0.15
UV TODAY Month to date 0.45 Lubbock 61/32/s 64/36/s Kansas City 48/36/s 45/30/s San Salvador 89/68/r 91/68/s Deweyville 24 13.76 +0.04
McAllen 79/61/pc 78/62/c Las Vegas 67/48/s 68/47/s Santiago
Values indicate the exposure to Normal month to date 0.41 Midland/Odessa 64/39/s 67/40/s Little Rock 59/36/s 62/37/s Sao Paulo
85/49/s 78/47/s Orange 4 1.05 -0.19
the sun’s Ultraviolet rays. 87/68/s 83/69/r Burkeville 43 11.63 +0.49
Year to date 39.63 San Angelo 68/39/s 72/39/s Los Angeles 75/55/pc 81/56/s St. Thomas 87/78/s 86/77/sh
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. Normal year to date 48.22 San Antonio 70/44/pc 73/46/s Memphis 54/38/s 59/37/s San Bernard R. E. Bernard 17 5.91 -0.01
Texarkana 61/38/s 64/39/s Miami 86/70/c 83/62/c Mexico E. San. Jac. R. Cleveland 19 4.60 +0.12
1 3 3 3 1 0 Other readings Victoria 73/46/pc 75/44/pc Milwaukee 42/34/c 43/32/sn Acapulco 89/71/pc 90/73/pc
W. San. Jac. R. Conroe 116 94.06 -0.32
Top wind speed 9 mph Waco 65/35/pc 71/37/s Minneapolis 40/27/c 38/27/c Cancun 87/75/pc 86/74/sh
0-2, Low 8-10, Very high Nashville 56/37/pc 59/40/s Guadalajara 67/50/t 75/50/c San Jacinto R. Sheldon 10 0.51 -0.27
3-5, Moderate 11+, Extreme High barometer 30.11 in. 65/49/pc Guanajuato 63/49/c 67/50/c Sims Bayou Telephone Rd. 30 0.54 -0.45
29.98 in. NATIONAL
New Orleans 69/49/pc
6-7, High
Low barometer New York City 52/40/pc 46/37/pc Mazatlan 87/62/s 88/63/s Trinity River Goodrich 36 4.62 none
High dewpoint 53° Today Tue. Oklahoma City 57/35/s 59/35/s Merida 84/72/pc 85/73/pc
Liberty 26 6.79 -0.03
Low dewpoint 33° Albany, NY 48/32/r 40/27/c Orlando 80/58/pc 73/54/pc Mexico City 69/50/sh 69/50/c
Village Creek Kountze 20 2.42 +0.07
SUN AND MOON Albuquerque 52/30/s 54/32/s Philadelphia 52/36/pc 47/34/pc Puerto Vallarta 86/66/sh 88/66/pc
Average dewpoint 45° Anchorage 25/21/pc 28/19/c Phoenix 72/51/s 81/53/s Tampico 72/64/r 77/67/pc White Oak B. Heights Blvd. 48 8.12 -0.25
Last New First Full
quarter moon quarter moon High humidity 96% Atlanta 65/41/pc 60/42/pc Pittsburgh 43/34/pc 40/33/r Veracruz 77/70/sh 79/70/c
Low humidity 23% Baltimore 53/34/pc 49/34/pc Portland, OR 59/55/r 58/48/r Middle East TEXAS LAKES
Billings 49/39/pc 54/45/c Sacramento 62/44/pc 63/46/pc Baghdad 76/44/s 78/49/pc
Birmingham 62/34/pc 63/39/pc St. Louis 49/37/pc 47/33/s Beirut 80/66/pc 76/63/pc Full Latest Release
50/32/c Dubai 87/73/pc 88/71/s through 7 a.m. Sunday pool level cfs
Dec 4 Dec 12 Dec 19 Dec 26 KEY TO CONDITIONS Boise Boston
50/35/c
50/36/pc
51/38/pc Salt Lake City
42/29/c San Diego
51/33/c
70/47/pc 73/49/s Jerusalem 75/53/pc 70/53/pc Canyon Dam 909 888.46 67
s - sunny r - rain Buffalo 39/30/sn 38/29/c San Francisco 65/53/pc 65/53/pc Kabul 57/34/s 60/35/s Conroe 201 200.29 0
Sunset tonight 5:21 p.m. pc - partly cloudy sf - snow flurries Charleston, SC 73/45/pc 65/45/pc Santa Fe 46/26/s 51/27/s Mecca 94/73/pc 93/72/pc
Sunrise Tuesday 7:02 a.m. c - cloudy sn - snow Charlotte 67/38/pc 60/37/s Seattle 57/53/r 56/44/r Riyadh 80/55/s 79/52/s Houston 41.73 42.53 N.A.
Moonrise today none sh - showers i - ice Chicago 40/32/c 40/32/c Tucson 73/49/s 79/52/s Tehran 63/45/s 64/45/s Lake Travis 681 631.56 219
Moonset today 12:38 p.m. t - thunderstorms Cincinnati 45/34/r 46/33/c Washington, DC 55/37/pc 51/39/pc Tel Aviv 78/63/pc 74/63/pc Livingston 131 130.95

For 2024, Buick tweaked the styling with a sleek, narrow set of
headlights sporting the brand’s updated Tri-Shield logo.

GARCIA
From page B9

The interior features a 19-

inch curved digital dashboard
housing the infotainment
screen and instrument gauges.
Stepping inside the spacious Photos by Jesus R. Garcia/Contributor
and minimalist interior gave The Encore GX Avenir’s combination of Ocean Blue metallic with Whisper Beige upholstery is a
me a nostalgic feeling for the refreshing visual in today’s modern sea of gray, white and silver-painted traffic.
bench seat lounges of 20th-
century sedans. Interior cargo Models feature a turbocharged
space is further amplified by 1.2L three-cylinder or 1.3L
the rear and passenger seats four-cylinder engine.
folding flat, providing the nec-
essary room to haul the bounty engine developing 137 horse-
from your local visit to Costco power and managed by a con-
or IKEA. The available 7- tinuously variable automatic
speaker Bose audio system fills transmission (CVT). Higher
the air with whatever ambient trim Encores and all-wheel
noise you desire, unless you drive variants receive a tur-
prefer to travel in silence. In bocharged 1.3L four-cylinder
that case, the Encore’s cabin engine making 155 hp and 174
cancels out the noises of the pounds-feet of torque with a
outside world. nine-speed automatic trans-
Driving impressions are mission. Both engines won’t
what you’d expect from a vehi- launch off the line when you
cle like this. It won’t make your feed it a boot full of throttle but
hair stand on end or provoke a they are plentiful enough to
surge of adrenaline. But it will surf through city traffic while
cradle you in its soft seats and averaging 31 mpg.
numb but effortless steering. The 2024 Buick Encore price
Its small size makes navigating starts at the $25,000 bench-
urban congestion a breeze with mark, and the Avenir trim with
modern tech to aid you, like options stays well under
blind spot detection, forward $40,000. While its German
collision alerts, automatic competitors may offer a more
emergency braking and a safe- premium aesthetic, they can’t
ty setting for teen drivers. match the Encore’s attractively
Surprisingly, the Buick En- low price point. With good fuel
core has two engine options, economy, a plush ride and
depending on trim level. Entry ample interior room, the Buick
level models feature a tur- Encore hits the right marks for The interior features a 19-inch curved digital dashboard with infotainment screen and instrument
bocharged 1.2L three-cylinder relevancy. gauges. A seven-speaker Bose audio system fills the air with whatever ambient noise you desire.