🌱 Need For Speed + World Championship BBQ Winners

Hello, Houston. I'm here in your inbox as per usual to tell you everything you need to know about what's going on in town, including news about...

• "Takeover" car meetups.
• Houston Rodeo World Championship B-B-Q Contest winners.
• Taxpayers footing the bill for potentially poor indigent defendant representation.

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But first, today's weather:

A passing morning shower. High: 83 Low: 60.

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Here are the top stories today in Houston:

1. Three people were arrested at a pop-up car meetup involving over 200 vehicles this past Saturday. The meetup was another instance of an increasingly common event that police are calling "takeovers". A takeover entails drivers gathering together and blocking off a parking lot or section of road so that they can perform car stunts like doughnuts as well as get involved in races. Due to the increasing popularity of these takeovers, the state launched a task force for dealing with these events this past Thursday. A 13-year-old child was found in the car with one of the three people apprehended Saturday. The driver is now being charged with child endangerment. (Houston Chronicle)
2. Over 250 BBQ teams competed for the 2023 World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest at the Houston Rodeo this past Saturday. Ultimately, the Grand Champion title was awarded to Jasper County Go Texan. McLennan County Go Texan came in second place as Reserve Grand Champion. However, top three prize winners were also recognized in different categories including best ribs, best chicken, best brisket, and best dutch oven dessert. Additionally, there was an open contest category that awarded surf and turf dishes as well as a Jr. Cookoff. Specialty awards included best facade, best overall theme, and best skit. (KHOU.com)
3. A new study by Lawnstarter ranked Houston as the 5th best city for crafting. The study looked at 200 of the biggest cities in the country and ranked them based on access to crafts, the local crafting community, and the number of active workshops. Surprisingly enough, Houston has the most national craft chain locations in the country. We also came in at 10th for the size of our local crafting community and 4th for the largest amount of craft-related events. Austin followed Houston in the rankings by coming in at number 6, but no other Texas cities made the top of the list. (FOX 26 Houston)
4. Harris County taxpayers are seeing loads of their money go towards providing legal representation for the less fortunate. Last year, taxpayers spent $60 million to pay lawyers who took up court appointments. Nearly 100 of the attorneys taking these cases made over $200,000 while eight in particular made over $400,000. There was also one attorney who was paid over $1 million to represent hundreds of indigent defendants. Furthermore, dozens of these attorneys handled many more cases than state guidelines recommend. Many believe it's highly unlikely that indigent defendants are receiving proper counsel from lawyers taking on such back-breaking caseloads. (Houston Chronicle)
5. The Parma Pizza at the 6900 block of Richmond Avenue near Fountain View was the site of a gunfight that left an innocent bystander injured early Sunday morning. Two groups of people got into an argument inside of the restaurant before the place closed up for the night at 2 a.m. Deputies responding to the disturbance attempted to separate the groups, eventually taking one man into custody. As additional HPD officers arrived, gunfire broke out in the parking lot. The bystander was seated in the back of a truck when a bullet hit her in the mouth. Thankfully, she is expected to be okay. Police detained multiple individuals and confiscated two guns and a rifle from the scene. (KPRC Click2Houston)

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Headlines you need to see:

• Houston crime: Florida man, Teddy Geer, sentenced to 40 years in prison for stomping man to death near Greyhound Bus station (KTRK-TV)
• Wayfair scraps plans for huge Houston distribution center (Chron)
• Houston high temperatures will be in low 80s this week (Houston Chronicle)
• This $5.2 million River Oaks mansion has a turntable for your car (Chron)
• Houston serial killer's cellmate dead, investigated as a homicide (Houston Chronicle)

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Today in Houston:

• Roller Skating at Discovery Green (5 p.m.)
• Dungeons & Dragons with Circle of Barhaven at Brass Tap (6 p.m.)
• The Glenn Miller Orchestra: Greatest Hits Show at the Wortham Center (7 p.m.)
• Comedy: The Corral Open Mic with Jesse James at the Secret Group (10 p.m.)

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From my notebook:

• Pappas restaurants including Pappasitos, Pappas BBQ, and Pappadeux may leave Hobby airport soon due to a new concessions contract. Restaurants slated to replace them include Killen's BBQ, Pinks Pizza, and Clutch City Coffee. (KHOU 11 News via Facebook)
• Rodeo opener Parker McCollum will work a shift at his hometown Conroe Raising Cane's today. He'll be at 2127 West Davis st. from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and also give away 30 tickets to his show tomorrow. (KHOU 11 News via Facebook)
• Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta submitted a $5.5 billion bid to purchase the NFL Washington Commanders. However, sources say his bid is not among those being seriously considered. (Houston Chronicle via Facebook)

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You're officially in the loop for today. Hope you started this week off on the right foot. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!