Houston Chronicle

chron.com — The first-ever commercial spacecraft bound for the International Space Station blasted into orbit early Tuesday, marking a historic step in opening space to private enterprise. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to fly at least 12 unmanned resupply missions to the station, and Tuesday's launch was part of a plan to test the rocket and spacecraft for safety and reliability.

chron.com — United Airlines has revised a long-standing policy that gave all passengers with young children a head start on boarding. Passengers who aren't elite members of the carrier's frequent-flier programs now board with other members of boarding groups numbered 5 and higher, based on seat locations, regardless of whether they have kids in tow.

chron.com — The other options included leaving the dome alone, demolishing it and building an outdoor plaza, or building a massive and expensive "renaissance" complex anchored by a luxury hotel. In a presentation to Harris County's sports and convention agency, the consultants said the multipurpose option could turn Houston into a popular destination for special events and national trade shows.

chron.com — Houston makeup artist Kim Roxie was just 21 when she opened LAMIK Beauty at Sharpstown Mall in 2004. Roxie concocted her own "green" formulas in her kitchen and tried them out on clients. Through the years, she has found the answer to many beauty woes, including overplucked eyebrows; her Celebrity Brow Kit ($55) is designed to solve the problem.

blog.chron.com — A search is on for three men accused of posing as Comcast cable workers and attacking a woman inside her home, reports say. Fort Bend's Monica Runnels tells KHOU-Channel 11 that she found three men wearing polo shirts with "Comcast" written on them in her backyard when she lost power on Tuesday.

blog.chron.com — During its fiscal year 2011, the City of Houston apparently lost more population than it had gained in the previous 10 years. That's according to a couple of numbers on page 227 of the City's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for that year. The City begins the year with 2,257,926 people and ends it with 2,107,208.

blog.chron.com — The Texas presidential primary has been all but forgotten amid the state's U.S. Senate free-for-all and some attention-grabbing congressional and legislative races. But the May 29 primary remains a test for Republican nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney. If the former Massachusetts governor performs well enough in Texas he could formally clinch the Republican presidential nomination in Texas.

chron.com — DALLAS (AP) â The judge who presided over the trial of a Texas woman convicted in an infant's death believes the guilty verdict should be vacated, noting that a key trial expert now says his information about the child's injuries was inaccurate.

chron.com — Four members of a top Eritrean club soccer team who defected last summer during a tournament in Tanzania were admitted to the U.S. as refugees and resettled in Houston this week. The team joined a long legacy of Eritrean soccer players who have used international soccer tournaments as an opportunity to escape from the East African country, which has a checkered human rights record.