🌱 Bail Reform + Houston's Gender Pay Gap + Space City Traffic

Hello, Houston! It's me, your host of the Patch newsletter. Here's what you need to know about what's happening these days in town, including:

• Proposed bail reform for violent offenders
• An account of Houston traffic from an outsider
• Houston's gender pay gap

But first, today's weather: Clouds giving way to some sun. High: 85 Low: 67.

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Here are the top stories in Houston today:

1. State senators are pushing for bail reform that would allow judges to refuse bail to offenders of violent crimes and human trafficking. Joan Huffman, (R-Houston), who is one of the senators that co-authored the bill said that it serves as a check against the continual release of habitual offenders. Andrew Wright, a lieutenant with the Houston Police Department, weighed in that, "I think in Houston, we don’t have more criminals, we have the same criminals let out time and time again for us to catch, and it is not a good situation." Meanwhile, civil rights group advocates say that if the bill passes it would unfairly affect people of color as well as those from poorer communities. They also claim that it's unjust to lock people away in jail without having officially convicted them of a crime. If the resolution passes the House and Senate, Texas voters will have the chance to cast their own decisions on the reform as early as this November. (Houston Public Media)
2. A new staff writer for the Houston Chronicle shared her personal journey of coping with the terror of Houston traffic. Andrea Ball is an investigative reporter formerly from Austin who claims, "If Houston is an F1 racetrack, Austin’s I-35 is a parking deck." She wrote that driving in Houston is nothing short of chaos and shared her own "newbie" rules on how to navigate Houston's death trap highways safely. Her first rule is gentle aggression. Use your blinkers and begin to nose your car into other lanes to notify other drivers that you are indeed getting over. Her second rule is aggression, which consists of making multiple lane changes while glancing backwards and forwards to ensure you don't hit anything. While this is a dangerous move, it's a necessary one to get from point A to point B here in Bayou City. Thirdly, she says that rage repression is key if you want to avoid getting shot by another driver who's lost their head to road rage. Last of all, she subscribes to the mentality of car karma whereby doing nice things for other drivers will ultimately come back around to help you. (Subscription: Houston Chronicle)
3. In honor of International Women's Day, the Houston Chronicle took a look at the recent history of the gender pay gap in Houston. Studies from the Pew Research Center show that women over the age of 16 in Houston earn 81 percent of what men their age earn on average. This data comes very close to a 2019 national survey that saw women earning 82 percent of what men earn. Additionally, Pew research found that the gender pay gap increases as women grow older. For example, women over the age of 50 see a larger pay gap of 71 percent of what men earn. In contrast, younger women, aged 16-29, earn 95 percent of what men their age earn. Data from the University of Houston also showed that the gender pay gap in Houston had increased in recent years from 17 percent in 2017 to 20 percent in 2019. (Subscription: Houston Chronicle)
4. The Houston/Galveston National Weather Service shared tips and reminders on how to properly hide from tornadoes during a tornado warning. The best places to seek shelter from a tornado include basements and interior rooms without windows such as bathrooms. Furthermore, the weather service reminds citizens that bridges and overpasses are not safe storm shelters as these places put you at greater risk from being killed by flying debris. You should always seek shelter immediately if your area receives a tornado warning. If caught in a tornado while driving, you should turn and drive to the nearest sturdy building if possible. If the tornado threat is immediate, seek cover in a ditch or low spot. Otherwise, keep your seatbelt on and duck your head beneath your windshield to protect yourself from flying debris. (FOX 26 Houston)
5. Expect Houston traffic to be worse than usual next week as spring breakers flock from out of state to visit our great city. After all, with the Houston Rodeo going on, there's no better time to visit than now. If you happen to have plans to visit the Rodeo yourself next week, I highly recommend taking the METRO from downtown in order to avoid the worst of the traffic. There's ample parking in the downtown area, and it's only a short ride from one of the Main st. station stops to NRG. If you do end up caught in severe traffic next week, don't forget to breathe. It will all be okay. (Chron)

Headlines you need to see:

• Cars and Coffee at POST every first Saturday of the month (Visit Houston)
• Gas prices going up in Houston area (Houston Public Media)
• HAR: Houston's housing prices fall in February 2023 for first time since spring 2020 (The Business Journals)
• Singer/pianist brings songs of Cole Porter to Jones Hall (KHOU.com)
• Man arrested after using stolen shotgun to shoot woman he was dating, police say (KHOU.com)

Today in Houston:

• Happy Hour Thursdays at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (5 p.m.)
• Concert: Free Live Music Featuring Dan Dehart at Betsy's at Evelyn's Park (6 p.m.)
• Theater: "Drunk Shakespeare" at the Emerald Theater (7:30 p.m.)
• The Houston Ballet presents "Summer & Smoke" at the Wortham Theater Center (7:30 p.m.)
• Concert: Ashley McBryde at the Houston Rodeo (9 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Hershey Co. will release their first plant-based chocolates later this month. The vegan chocolates come in the form of plant-based peanut butter Reese's cups made with oats instead of milk. (FOX 26 Houston via Facebook)
• Archaeologists in central England believe they've found an ancient Roman shrine beneath the graveyard of an old cathedral. Prior to the excavation, a local folk tale spoke to the former existence of the Roman place of worship. (KPRC2 / Click2Houston via Facebook)
• Houston Astros player Jose Altuve will be in the opposing team's dugout for the time in his career after becoming a member of Team Venezuela. Altuve says it's been a dream of his since he was a child to play for a national team and represent his country. (Houston Chronicle via Facebook)

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Enjoy your Thursday everyone. We're nearly to the weekend once more. Summer is coming quick, so get your butt to the gym if you've been slacking!