Christmas on the Island

Moody Gardens lights up its pyramids and more for Festival of Lights which shines through Jan. 8.

By Carol Rust
Updated: 11.30.09
Galveston Island will be the host of Christmas Past and Christmas Futuristic with twin annual attractions – the 36th annual Dickens on the Strand – back in full festive force after Hurricane Ike – and the Moody Gardens Festival of Lights, transforming the Gardens’ glass pyramids into spectacular, sparkling mountains of incandescence. Both offer an array of entertainment for all ages.

Christmas carols and cockney accents alike will fill the air in Galveston’s historic district this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5-6, when the 19th-century characters from the world of Charles Dickens come alive, sauntering along a 10-block area crowded with Victorian-era costumes, entertainment, wares, choirs and boutiques and featuring artifacts from London’s Charles Dickens Museum.

New this year is the Dickens Victorian Bed Races, in which costumed contestants pull and push their mattress-topped chariots, complete with pajama-clad passengers, along a two-block route toward the finish line. Halfway through, members of each team must switch places – and costumes – with members who have been riding in the beds, Chinese Fire Drill-style.

The fun-filled festivities will represent a boisterous comeback from last year, when event sponsor and attendees valiantly kept the spirit of Dickens on the Strand alive in half the usual festival area in the wake of Hurricane Ike, aka Scrooge, which flooded many buildings in the district with 8 to 13 feet of corrosive water, shuttering numerous shops whose owners typically participate in Galveston Island’s unique Christmas holiday. Some sold their merchandise from the second floors of their businesses and others erected outdoor booths.

“There is no better place in Texas to be than on the historic streets of Galveston during the first weekend in December,” said Dwayne Jones, executive director of Galveston Historical Foundation, which has turned its annual Dickens on the Strand into one of the premier holiday festivals in the nation. “This year’s festival is very special to Galveston. Hurricane Ike forced us to scale back last year’s Dickens on the Strand. This year, we have even added to all the wonderful features that have made attending the festival a tradition for thousands of Texas families over the years.”

The Dickens Emporium, another new feature this year, highlights the famous painting “Dickens’s Dream,” never before been seen in the United States. In the painting, the beloved author dozes in his office chair as images of the characters he made famous in his novels float in the air around his head. The exhibit also includes artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum, including the author’s chair, where festival patrons may sit to pose for Victorian Christmas portraits. Retail items depicting the “Dickens’ Dream” image will be on sale.

Advance tickets may be purchased only at www.galvestonhistory.org. for $9 for adults and $4 for children ages seven to 12. At the gate, tickets will be $12 and $6 for children ages seven to 12. Attendees dressed in period costume get in free.

Across the island, holiday visitors get a different kind of treat with the Moody Gardens’ Festival of Lights, with more than 100 sound-enhanced light displays and nightly entertainment. Even on this Gulf Coast island, visitors can don a pair of ice skates and glide around the specially made outdoor skating rink — a first this year — along the scenic Offatts Bayou.

The multiple-week event, which attracts some 85,000 visitors each year and runs through Jan. 8, also features an array of holiday-themed films at the IMAX Theater. Movie-goers can experience “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey, in three-dimensional delight. Polar Express 4D offers special effects such as falling snow, the sensation of blowing wind and the smell of hot chocolate to appeal to all the senses.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. daily. Admission to Festival of Lights is $5.95. Tickets for additional attractions, including the Aquarium Pyramid, the holiday IMAX film, holiday Ridefilm, the Discovery Museum and the Colonel Paddle Boat, are $5 each.

Moody Gardens also offers a savory alternative to the pressures of holiday meal preparation with its Holiday Dinner Buffet at the Garden Restaurant or at the “Gift of Christmas Live” Show and Dinner, combining a fine-dining experience with a lively performance of some of the state’s tall talents. Tickets to this event are $43

Wreaths Across America

Honoring those fallen during holiday season
Wreaths Across America Houston will host ceremony honoring fallen heroes on Dec. 12 at Houston National Cemetery.
By KIMBERLY POORE
Updated: 12.01.09
The Northwest Houston community is gathering to honor fallen veterans with a ceremony of wreaths across their graves.

On Dec. 12 Wreaths Across America Houston, Houston Cy-Fair Lions along with several other organizations will gather at the Houston National Cemetery located at 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, at 11 a.m. to lay wreaths across veterans graves to honor those who served their country.

The Houston Cy-Fair Lions have spent the last few months collecting donations to purchase wreaths to be placed on the graves.

“We have been out selling wreaths and collecting donations to place the wreaths on the soldier’s graves,” said Houston Cy-Fair Lion Spokesperson, Theresa Casey. “Some of our group had participated last year, so this year we wanted to make sure everyone participated. We look for needs in the community and we try to help with that need. It is part of giving back to the community. We have raised more than $1500 for this cause.”

Casey said the community was more than willing to rally in support of this cause.

“The people are wonderful,” Casey said. “They are more than willing to help honor our soldiers. Several people bought several wreaths. We took names of specific soldiers buried in the cemetery and assured them that the solider receives a wreath. People even offered to help lay the wreaths and have three boy scouts troops coming out to help.”

The Wreaths Across America started fifteen years ago. The Worcester Wreath Company from Harrington, MA began a tradition of placing wreaths on the headstones of the Nation’s fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery.

Since the beginning the Worcester Wreath Company has donated over 75,000 wreaths which have been placed by volunteers in a wreath laying ceremony each December.

Houston did not have a Wreaths Across America program until 2007.

Scott DeMasi and his son wanted to attend the Houston ceremony when they were told there wasn’t one. At this time Houston National Cemetery only received seven large wreaths, representing each of the seven branches of services and the MIA/POW’s.

Wreaths Across America Houston began its challenge to honor fallen soldiers, raise funds, recruit volunteers and place a wreath on all 53,000+ grave sites at the Houston National Cemetery last year.

They were unable to reach there goal, but did place wreaths on more than 14,000 graves.

For more information on Wreaths Across America Houston program visit www.waahouston.com.

For more information on the Houston Cy-Fair Lyons visit houstoncy-fairlions.org.

LINK

Michael Jackson's doctor returns to work in Houston

Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray, who is the subject of an investigation into the death of the singer, has returned to work.

The cardiologist has resumed work at his medical clinic in Houston for the first time since the late singer's death on June 25.

"He has not been able to earn a living since the death of Michael Jackson," his lawyer Ed Chernoff told the Associated Press. "His legal fees are enormous and his debts have mounted to the point where it is unclear whether he will be able to keep his house or support his family.

"His intentions are to attend to these patients who have continued to support him, despite the attention and despite the threats."

Man 18 charged with murder.

An 18-year-old man is in custody and charged with capital murder in the slaying last weekend of a 79-year-old woman as she unloaded groceries from her car at a northwest Harris County apartment complex.

Frank Anthony Benitez, 18, made his initial magistrate court appearance early this morning. He is accused of fatally shooting Muriel Kirkpatrick around 3:40 p.m. Saturday at the Landmark Apartments in the 2900 block of Barker Cypress Road.

A capital murder conviction carries the possibility of either life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.

READ MORE AT THE CHRON

Pregnant Woman Kills Teen Breaking into Car

HPD is still investigating the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man at the Pinemont Forest Apartments in Northwest Houston. A female tenant, who is eight months pregnant, told police she killed the teen after watching him break into her car from inside her home.

But was deadly force necessary? Residents had mixed reaction.

"Her life really wasn't threatened, so she could have easily called police," said tenant Vivian Cullivan.

"She had every right to take matters into her own hands. If she would have called police, they would have already been gone. If there were more people, they would have attacked her and the baby because she's pregnant," said tenant Rosana Cherrill.

"Maybe he made a mistake, the economy is bad. But I don't think we should be killing each other," said tenant Dennis Boyett.

Neighbors say the woman lives in an upstairs apartment. When she saw the suspect allegedly breaking into her car, she took out her shotgun and shot him in the head.

Police have confiscated the weapon, which they say is actually a 20-gauge shotgun, and they say the woman fired it from her balcony.

Some neighbors, who are questioning the woman's story, told 39 News off-camera--They believe the woman is covering up for someone else. Police say they're looking into those allegations. She was questioned and released without any charges.

"It's going to be referred to a Grand Jury at this point. Unless the case reveals something out of the ordinary. For now, it's being referred to a Grand Jury," said Sgt. C. D. Howard, with HPD Homicide.
Copyright © 2009, KIAH-TV

Alleged Car Race Ends in Crash

Updated: Wednesday, 28 Oct 2009, 7:36 AM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 28 Oct 2009, 7:36 AM CDT

HOUSTON - A driver is removed from a car that is almost broken into two sections after crashing into a tree in northwest Houston.

Investigators say that at approximately 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, two drivers were racing their cars southbound on West T.C. Jester Boulevard at very high rates of speed when the Cadillac bumped a curb and crashed into a utility pole causing the driver to lose control of the car. The Cadillac slid into a grassy area and moved in circles until crashing into a tree while in reverse.

The driver was stuck in the Cadillac and had to be rescued, but was taken by ambulance to a hospital in stable condition.

Investigators say the driver of the other car involved in the race refused to stop.

READ MORE HERE

Local experimental aircraft group: Balloon boy details didn't add up

07:59 AM CDT on Monday, October 19, 2009
By Hayley Kappes / The Daily News
GALVESTON, Texas—As news spread Thursday of the 6-year-old Colorado boy who authorities believed was carried away by an uncontrollable Mylar helium balloon, George Gould thought details about the incident didn’t add up.

Gould, president of Galveston County’s Experimental Aircraft Association chapter, has operated helium balloons similar to the one involved in last week’s incident and said they can only carry 20 pounds at most.

Sheriff’s officials in Larimer County, Colo., said Sunday that last week’s incident was a hoax carried out by the boy’s parents in order to gain exposure for a television show, according to The Associated Press.

“I was pretty skeptical that anyone could be in that balloon,” Gould said. “That balloon wouldn’t have been able to pick him up off the ground.”

Gould worked in a weather observation office at Scholes International Airport in Galveston, where he would launch weather balloons 3 feet in diameter to determine wind speed and direction.

Altimeters, barometers and GPS devices can be placed in the balloons to transmit atmospheric information, Gould said. Mylar, a strong polyester film as thick as a trash bag, is reflective enough that radars can detect it, Gould said.

Mylar helium balloons also are commonly used by “amateur scientists as more or less a play balloon,” Gould said.