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Articles by Sam Kelly
Ken Paxton warns supporters at Cypress rally U.S. Senate race with James Talarico is ‘razor thin'
Ken Paxton held a campaign rally in Cypress Monday afternoon with Sen. Ted Cruz as they attempt to turn out reliable Republican voters for Paxton in his heated U.S. Senate race against Democrat James Talarico. Several hundred people filed into Glorious Way Church on Champion Forest Drive to hear Paxton's pitch for the state's second senate seat, which centered around his tax plan and track record as Texas Attorney General.
Houston's ICE controversies put Mayor John Whitmire's political balancing act to the test
For the second time in four months, Mayor John Whitmire is facing intense criticism over his handling of federal immigration enforcement, an issue he has spent much of his first term trying to keep out of city politics. The latest test came this month after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Magnolia Park.
Sylvia Garcia visits detained witnesses who dispute ICE's account of deadly Houston shooting
Sam González Kelly, Julián Aguilar U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia traveled to an immigrant detention facility in Conroe on Saturday to interview the men who witnessed the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo earlier this week by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
How will the feds investigate the ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo - and can they be trusted?
As calls have grown louder for an independent investigation into the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent earlier this week, Democrats and immigration advocates have questioned whether federal investigators can be trusted to carry it out faithfully. In the aftermath of the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security announced that its Office of Inspector General is investigating the incident.
Protesters demand Houston leaders take action after ICE agent fatally shoots Mexican man
Protesters took to the streets Tuesday night in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a Mexican citizen who allegedly drove into an ICE vehicle. Around 6:50 a.m., federal officers attempted to arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when he allegedly refused multiple commands and tried to run over an immigration agent, according to an ICE spokesperson.
Donald Trump-endorsed Alex Mealer wins Republican primary for Texas' redrawn 9th District
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump praised Alex Mealer's service in the U.S. Army's bomb squad in Afghanistan, and said she had his "complete and total endorsement." (Staff graphic) Alex Mealer won the Republican nomination for Texas' newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, according to unofficial returns, beating state Rep. Briscoe Cain in Tuesday's primary runoff election. Mealer's win puts her in pole position to replace U.S. Rep. Al Green in Congress.
ICE plans, hotel bookings and Main Street opening: Latest on Houston's World Cup preparations
An official World Cup 2026 ball is seen during a news conference in Houston, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement won't be present at 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in Houston, according to Tommy Calabro, chief safety and security officer for Houston's World Cup host committee. Agencies involved in security talks agreed that they wanted all visitors to the games to feel welcome, Calabro said at a Monday media briefing.
New poll finds broad opposition to ICE, police cooperation in the Houston area.
People gather to protest the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, in Houston, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle) Most Houstonians disapprove of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's aggressive tactics and oppose local cooperation with the federal agency, according to a new survey from the University of Houston. Roughly 70% of residents in the greater Houston area said they disapproved of how ICE is doing its job, according to the survey.
Houston residents worry development threatens a Black cemetery. They're fighting to protect it.
Roscoe Bluitt, a lifelong resident of northeast Houston, describes his memories of a now abandoned Black cemetery where developers are clearing a nearby property. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle) As a kid growing up in northeast Houston, Roscoe Bluitt could hop over his backyard fence and turn a piece of Texas history into his personal playground.
Why the Houston economy is making residents anxious about the future
Sam González Kelly Houstonians are feeling a financial strain as confidence in the economy drops the most in a single year since the oil bust of the 1980s, according to a new survey by Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
Texas demographics map shows which counties had the most population growth in 2025
A map of Texas counties organized by population change between 2024 and 2025, with counties that experienced growth shaded in blue and those that experienced decline shaded in red, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2025 Vintage Population Estimates. (Sam González Kelly/Houston Chronicle) Texas led the nation in population growth last year largely due to gains in the state's suburban counties, according to population estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau.
It's Texas primary election day. Here are the key Houston and statewide races to watch.
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Benjamin Wermund, James Osborne, Taylor Goldenstein, Claire Goodman, Ryan Nickerson, Sam González Kelly, Isaac Yu, John C. Moritz, John Lomax V A rare mix of competitive races up and down the ballot has voters turning up to the polls in droves ahead of Tuesday's primary election, which will set match-ups in the high-stakes midterms in November. Voters will decide if U.S. Sen.
By Taylor Goldenstein Verified, Isaac Yu Verified, Sam Kelly, Ryan Nickerson Verified, Benjamin Wermund Verified, James Osborne, Claire Goodman, John Moritz
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MSN
Verified
How will Donald Trump's endorsement affect Texas' redrawn District 9 primary?
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump praised Alex Mealer's service in the U.S. Army's bomb squad in Afghanistan, and said she had his "complete and total endorsement." (Staff graphic) Republican voters have a crowded field to choose from in Congressional District 9 as conservatives aim to flip a longtime Democratic seat that was redrawn last year to bolster Republicans' advantage in the House. The district, which is currently held by Democratic Rep.
It's Texas primary election day. Here are the key Houston and statewide races to watch.
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Gabriella Boschma of Houston votes on Election Day at West Gray Multi-Service Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Houston, TX. (Sharon Steinmann) A rare mix of competitive races up and down the ballot has voters turning up to the polls in droves ahead of Tuesday's primary election, which will set match-ups in the high-stakes midterms in November. Voters will decide if U.S. Sen.
By Benjamin Wermund Verified, James Osborne, Taylor Goldenstein Verified, Claire Goodman, Ryan Nickerson Verified, Sam Kelly, Isaac Yu Verified, John Moritz, John Lomax V Verified
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Yahoo
Verified
Carlos Eduardo Espina is one of TikTok's biggest Latino stars. Texas Democrats have taken notice.
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia prepares to pose for a photo with Carlos Espina during a creator event hosted by the PAC BOLD DEMOCRATS in Houston on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. The PAC supports Hispanic candidates. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle) It's the first day of early voting, and Carlos Espina is about to record his fourth TikTok video in five minutes.
Houston Mayor Whitmire says state law requires ICE cooperation. Some Texas police agencies disagree.
Mounted Houston police officers stand near protestors at City Hall for the "No Kings" nationwide protest against President Donald Trump, ICE and the military parade on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Critics have called for Mayor John Whitmire to stop cooperating with ICE.
Can ICE agents enter homes without a judicial warrant? New memo alarms Houston immigration advocates
Legal experts and advocates are urging Houston immigrants to continue asserting their constitutional rights in light of reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is instructing agents to enter homes without warrants signed by a judge. ICE agents have been told to use administrative warrants to enter people's homes by force, if necessary, and make arrests, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
Deconstructing the Modern Status Symbol
It's Never Just a Doll You've seen the videos. Queues snaking around city blocks. TikToks of frantic, joyful "blind box" openings . eBay listings with prices that make your eyes water. All for... a little figure with floppy ears and a mischievous grin called a Labubu. But this isn't just about one trendy toy. Think of the recent frenzies for Stanley Cups, the schoolyard obsession with Prime Hydration drinks, or the chaos over a simple Trader Joe's mini tote bag. What's really going on here?
The Counterintuitive Strategy Behind Our Favourite Brands
There's a curious feeling you get when buying certain bits of modern tech, a sense of a bargain that feels just a little too good to be true. It's the jolt of satisfaction seeing a PlayStation 5, a marvel of engineering, for just £450. You see the same trick with that impossibly cheap printer, or the sleek coffee pod machine that barely costs more than a few bags of high-end beans. But then, inevitably, the other shoe drops. It's the £70 price tag on a new game.
The Morning After
How to Survive the Inevitable Crash In the last article, we saw how the Hype Machine works - an accelerating feedback loop of cheap money, seductive stories, and our own psychological biases. But that machine has a fatal flaw: it has no brakes. And in March 2000, it slammed head-first into a wall. The sound of the dot-com bust wasn't a loud explosion. It was the sound of silence.
The Architecture of Belief
It Starts With A Whisper In the last article, we saw how Atari's dream was buried under a layer of New Mexico concrete. It's a spectacular story, but it leaves us with an unsettling question: why do we keep falling for it? We often put these market manias down to simple greed or collective stupidity, but the truth is more systematic. A boom doesn't start with a bang; it starts with a compelling whisper, and it grows according to a predictable blueprint. It's not magic, it's a machine.
Echoes in the Valley: What Atari’s Buried Treasure Teaches Us About Hype
Echoes in the Valley: What Atari’s Buried Treasure Teaches Us About Hype In the dead of a New Mexico night in September 1983, the crunch of tyres on desert gravel was the only sound for miles. A convoy of 14 lorries snaked its way to the city landfill in Alamogordo, a place usually reserved for household rubbish and forgotten things. But their cargo was different.
How FPL Can Conquer the World for the Premier League
How FPL Can Conquer the World for the Premier League In Part 1, we traced the parallel origins of English football’s global gloss and the nerdy, data-driven world of fantasy sports. In Part 2, we dissected the psychological engine that makes Fantasy Premier League a masterclass in user engagement. Now, we arrive at the crucial, billion-dollar question. What if the Premier League stopped treating FPL as a successful marketing tool and started wielding it as its single most powerful strategic weapon?
The Behavioural Science Behind Your FPL Addiction
Press enter or click to view image in full size It’s 10:59 AM on a Saturday. The deadline is one minute away. You’ve spent the last hour agonising over one decision: Captain Salah, the safe choice, or take a wild punt on the in-form striker from a mid-table club? Your thumb hovers over the ‘Confirm’ button. Your heart rate quickens. The deadline passes. There’s no going back. Why does a free-to-play online game provoke a physical, emotional response worthy of a high-stakes financial trade?
From Muddy Pitches to Global Domination: The Unlikely Marriage of Football and Fantasy - The Fantasy Blueprint - Part 1 of 3
Picture a Tuesday night in Stoke, November. The air is cold enough to see your breath under the weak glow of the floodlights. The pitch is less a carpet and more a mud bath, churned up by the studs of 22 men engaged in what looks like a 90-minute agricultural dispute. The tackles are fierce, the play is frantic. This is English football: a game of raw, physical fight, steeped in local history but with a reputation damaged by years of underinvestment and hooliganism.
Putin’s forces strike Kharkiv with ‘most powerful’ attack since start of war
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Houston Chronicle: Federal Judge Prevents League of Women Voters from Naturalization Ceremony
Hundreds of newly naturalized American citizens left an Aldine community center this week with huge smiles on their faces and little American flags in their hands, hugging relatives and taking pictures with certificates affirming their U.S. citizenship and all the rights it imparts. It’s a scene that plays out regularly at naturalization ceremonies, but there was one difference this time around: The League of Women Voters wasn’t on hand to collect voter registration cards from the new citizens.
1.21 Gigawatts: The History of Time Travel in Cinema
In some ways, the cinema is the closest thing we can experience to travelling through time – certainly the closest of any art form. In the dark room of a movie theatre, an audience can be transported to the distant past or spectacular visions of the future, and even in watching films from the 30’s and 40’s we can look at the lives and faces of people who died many years ago.
SELMA: A Glorious Performance
[the_ad id="141422"] John Legend and Common‘s powerful performance of Best Original Song nominee, “Glory,” and brave acceptance speech was one of the highlights of the Oscar ceremony last week. That song was a resonant soul/hip-hop combo that captured the atmosphere of its source film well: Ava DuVernay‘s Selma, a historical drama about Martin Luther King and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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