PODCAST: WHAT WAS THAT PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE?

Early Monday, while I was walking my dog, I saw a giant plume of black smoke on the horizon – a sight that is depressingly familiar to Houstonians. It means that something has gone wrong at a refinery, and God-knows-what toxins are billowing into the air we breathe. Yesterday, there was another one — a plume of smoke you could see clear across town.

What exactly are these “flare events”? Why are there so many? And what can we do about them? On today's City Cast Houston episode, I talk with Jennifer Hadayia, the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, and Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas.

💰 The under-the-radar group discussing taxes for the Ike Dike: The “Ike Dike” system to protect the Houston area’s stretch of the coast from hurricane storm surges is estimated at a whopping $29 billion. About $10 billion of that would be local money, likely paid by taxpayers in a five-county area. Harris County estimates that could mean a 20% tax hike. Where’s the group making decisions about all that dough? And how can the public keep an eye on them? It’s been hard to find out. (Houston Chronicle) 🏭

⚖️ Harris Co. prosecutors aim to be judges: For years Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg has criticized judges she considers soft on crime. Now 14 lawyers from her office, plus one investigator, are running for criminal-court judgeships: eight as Democrats, seven as Republicans. If they win, it’ll be bad news for the bail reforms backed by Lina Hidalgo and other county Democrats. (Texas Monthly)

🦠️ Texas' COVID death toll tops 80K. New infections are dropping, but deaths – which lag infections – rose slightly last week. (Houston Chronicle, Texas Tribune)

👩🏿‍🌾 A farm approved by Beyoncé: In August 2020, Ivy Lawrence-Walls left her job as an infection preventionist at Memorial Hermann Hospital and started Ivy Leaf Farms, a five-acre community farm and vegetable garden in Sunnyside. A $10K grant from Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD helped launch the farm, and another $15K has come from GoFundMe. Now Lawrence-Walls is expanding to a second farm and plans to open a small fresh-foods grocery store. (Houston Chronicle)

FIRE UP YOUR CALENDAR APP

🧬️ Friday night is the world premier of Amerikin at the Alley Theatre. David Matranga — easily one of Houston’s most accomplished and versatile actors — plays a man whose efforts to join a white supremacist group are complicated by the results of his ancestry tests. Chisa Hutchinson’s play eloquently challenges the ideas of race and identity. A must-see. 

🥃 On Saturday, celebrate whiskey, bourbon, scotch, and more at the 7th Annual Houston Whiskey Festival at downtown’s Bayou Place. Along with tastings, you can enjoy seminars, a cigar lounge, and live music by Aaron Copeland, Alex Isley, and Dean James.

❤️️ The Ensemble Theatre mounts the musical The Lawsons: A Civil Rights Love Story, through Feb. 27. With a book by Melda Beaty, music and lyrics by Charrise Barron, The Lawsons tells the real-life story of Houston’s Rev. Bill Lawson and his wife, Audrey. The pair, both staunch civil rights activists, met and fell in love amid a backdrop of racial strife, sit-ins, and the launch of their Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church.

💘 On Monday, vocalist Raquel Cepeda performs her annual “Jazz on Valentine’s” concert at MATCH. Backed by a septet of monster musicians (Ernesto Vega and Thomas Helton among them), Cepeda will sing jazz standards and her own compositions.

Kelsey Low, a naturalist at the Houston Arboretum, writes:

Plants need sunlight, but not too much – leaves can burn and photosynthesis can go into overdrive, creating toxic byproducts. Some plants like this dewberry solve the problem by producing their own sunscreen. Leaves that are exposed to too much sunshine turn purple due to pigments called anthocyanins (the same purple pigments in red cabbage). The pigments help absorb excess light and also act as antioxidants.

You may have noticed that the young leaves of many plants are red: This color helps protect the young and tender leaves from sunburn until they are bigger and tougher.

Kasia Sucholdolska sent us a photo of her gripe: “The guy who asked why it bothers me so much that he’s parked ‘only three inches over the sidewalk.’”

Got a Houston gripe? Or a recommendation? Send it our way: houston@citycast.fm.

In yesterday’s podcast, environmental contributor Jaime González took me time-traveling, showing me old aerial photos of Houston using Google Earth. (The Galleria area before there was a Galleria! Houston without freeways!)

Eric Henao wrote that I should also check out historicaerials.com, which he notes is also good for seeing old plot maps. I spent a fun 15 minutes taking my house’s address back in time.