Looking for a convenient yet chic place to crash during the Final Four in Houston? Or just planning a getaway in the heart of one of the most diverse cities in the country? There are plenty of hotels in downtown Houston to suit your needs. The average cost of a downtown Houston hotel room is about $225 per night. Some stays, such as the Four Seasons, will run approximately twice that, but there are deals to be found, too. Prices hinge upon factors including the day of the week and popular events that drive up demand. From boutique historic charmers and peak modern luxury purveyors, to the home of that famous Texas-shaped lazy river overlooking H-Town's iconic skyline, here are 10 of the best downtown Houston hotels worth booking. The Four Seasons hotel is the height of luxury in downtown Houston. Hotel ICON has many amenities including a happy hour-friendly bar. The Lancaster Hotel is a Texas Historical Landmark. (Photos by … [Read more...] about Downtown Houston hotels near the NCAA Final Four for every type of traveler
Why Joe Biden’s Honeymoon With Progressives Is Coming to an End
One of the most historically unusual aspects of the Biden administration has been the harmonious relations between the president and progressive activists. Historically , progressives generally spend most of their time complaining about Democratic presidents, both because they are temperamentally prone to negativity and because they believe in the tactical value of holding presidents’ feet to the fire. President Biden has enjoyed unusually warm support from the left. But that may be coming to an end. Reporters have detected a pattern in three of the administration’s recent moves. Biden is declining to block a bill in Congress overriding a liberalization of the D.C. criminal code, angering both advocates of D.C. sovereignty and anti-police activists. He approved a plan to allow ConocoPhillips to drill oil in Alaska. And he is signaling an intent to reinstate family detention along the southern border in order to deter migrants. Another perhaps even more significant sign comes … [Read more...] about Why Joe Biden’s Honeymoon With Progressives Is Coming to an End
My Backpacks, My Boyfriends
Photo: The Strategist; Photo: Laura Fitzelle Instead of paying rent, I use a backpack . I mean, I pay rent too, but it’s $1,000 a month to live with three roommates. In 2019 I tweeted, “Please G*d, Please don’t let me be a 30-year-old with roommates.” I am 30 and a half years old, and I hear sex noises that aren’t my own when I go to sleep at night, and I think about this tweet all of the time. I don’t have my own bathroom. I tell some of the boys I’m seeing that I do, but I do not. I am never honest with the people I am seeing about my living situation. Recently, after I finished seeing a guy who had 3 other girlfriends, I started seeing another guy. This one just had one girlfriend. I thought: must be love. The thing about being a mistress, especially a mistress who lives with three roommates, is that it helps to have all of your belongings with you at all times. This period — my mistressing hour — is when I started my resurgence back into backpack territory. The first … [Read more...] about My Backpacks, My Boyfriends
School library book bans are seen as targeting LGBTQ content
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 11 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material. Sara Hayden Parris says that whatever you want to call it, it's wrong for some parents to think a book shouldn't be readily available to any child if it isn’t right for their own child. The viewpoints of the two mothers from suburban Des Moines underscore a divide over LGBTQ content in books as Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds pushes an especially sweeping crackdown on content in Iowa school libraries. The bill she's backing could result in the removal of books from school libraries in all of the state's 327 districts if they're successfully challenged in any one of them. School boards and legislatures nationwide also are facing questions about books … [Read more...] about School library book bans are seen as targeting LGBTQ content
Wall Street opens mostly higher with banks still in focus
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is opening mostly higher after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% shortly after the opening bell Monday. The Dow added 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%. Much of the attention was still on banks, which may be cracking under the pressure of the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Swiss banking giant UBS is buying rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion in a deal quickly put together by regulators. U.S. bank First Republic fell again after another credit rating downgrade. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes. Hong Kong's main index slid 2.7%. London, Frankfurt and … [Read more...] about Wall Street opens mostly higher with banks still in focus
‘Our Checkbook Is Declining’: Burr Ridge Official
0 Politics & Government Village trustees talk about a drop in the police pension account. David Giuliani , Patch Staff Posted | Updated Reply BURR RIDGE, IL – A couple of Burr Ridge trustees expressed concerns last week about the decrease in the money on hand in the village's police pension account. According to village numbers, the account is expected to drop by more than $2.5 million from 2021 to the next budget year, which starts May 1. That would leave the fund at $21 million. Speaking about the pension fund, Trustee Russell Smith noted the gap between next year's projected $1.3 million in income and the $1.5 million in spending. That is happening even though the village is adding $84,000 more in village money to the account more than what state law requires, officials said. "That tells me that we're not doing that great of a job," Smith said at a Village Board meeting. Pointing to what's in … [Read more...] about ‘Our Checkbook Is Declining’: Burr Ridge Official