Houston Chronicle

chron.com — An intern at Cruz's Austin office told investigators that a man called the office on June 5, saying that Cruz "owed him money or a bomb would explode," according to an arrest warrant filed in the case. In a June 10 interview at his Houston apartment with an agent with the Federal Protective Services, Gates admitted to making the phone calls, prosecutors said.

chron.com — The teenager stayed glued to her mother's side, following her around the Star of Hope shelter like a toddler. What else can you do when you're just a kid - scared and sleepy and hungry?

blog.chron.com — Houston-area home sales hit a record last month as more properties sold during May than any month in history. Buyers closed on 7,794 single-family homes, a 28 percent increase compared to last May, according to the latest monthly report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

blog.chron.com — NOAA has released its seasonal forecast for the Gulf of Mexico dead zone -- the area of low-oxygen waters off the Louisiana and Texas coasts where marine life has difficulty surviving. The scientists predict the Gulf's dead zone will be between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles. The high estimate

blog.chron.com — Today's story on House members accepting a $150 taxpayer-funded per diem even while the lower chamber was in a two-week recess during the special session highlighted the savings from a group of 26 Republicans who declined to take at least a portion of the daily stipend.

blog.chron.com — The Texas Senate's start was delayed Tuesday while lawmakers huddled, apparently over a math problem of sorts. GOP leaders want to pass both a proposed constitutional amendment for transportation funding and stricter abortion regulations. But a "hard" two-thirds vote - 21 of the 31 senators - is needed to approve a proposed constitutional amendment.

blog.chron.com — Life Flight paramedics last week used the new JETT device to save the life of a civilian patient in Houston for the first time. The Houston Chronicle published a story last week about the JETT, a specialized tourniquet that is able to reach and fit around the groin area-where a traditional tourniquet can't be applied-to stop the blood flow.

blog.chron.com — Johnny Manziel lashed out, mildly.

blog.chron.com — As Rep. Ted Poe choked on a piece of popcorn last Thursday at the Capitol Hill Club, several bystanders performed the Heimlich maneuver to save his life. Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon and an unnamed lobbyist rushed to help the Republican from Humble, but both individuals failed to dislodge the food.

blog.chron.com — The Senate voted this afternoon on four of the five pending amendments to the immigration reform bill penned by the Gang of Eight, rejecting two Republican border security measures. Amendments needed 60 votes to pass. Both Texas senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, supported each of the four amendments that were up for vote.

blog.chron.com — It wasn't like the day Prohibition ended, but the afternoon tour crowd let out a cheer when Saint Arnold Brewing made its first sale directly to a customer at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The sales are now legal under legislation signed into law Friday . The beer - Bishop's Barrel No.

blog.chron.com — Texas Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, said Monday that he remains opposed to abortion because fetuses are alive, noting that he has observed 15-week-old male fetuses masturbate in the womb. "Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful," Burgess argued. "They stroke their face.

blog.chron.com — It's no surprising that the federal budget dysfunction extends to the National Weather Service. Let's review: Saturday, May 26, 2012: An internal investigation concludes that the NWS had been secretly moving about $30M/yr in money budgeted for technological improvements to maintain staffing at local offices, contravening the official budgets approved by Congress.

blog.chron.com — Forbes just published a Larry Bell column consisting of a debate between me and Fred Singer on recent temperature trends. You can read it here. Many thanks to Larry for facilitating. The subject was not the past 15 years of flat temperatures, which would make for an interesting scientific debate.

chron.com — With President Barack Obama away in Europe, Biden held a White House event to announce progress on executive orders to reduce gun violence while stressing the need for congressional action that has eluded them.