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Now, news to Houston at 6, where local news comes first.
And good evening, everyone. We begin tonight with breaking news.
Some strong storms have moved into the Houston area. Let's go straight to the AccuWeather Storm Center
and Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley for the latest.
All right, Linda, there's a severe thunderstorm warning until 6 15 for Harris County.
For this storm that you see live on Doppler 2000, this developed about an hour ago,
especially this part of the storm. So it's been sitting there over the Memorial Area for a good hour,
dropping anywhere between two and four inches of rain. I want to zoom in here a little bit.
It's almost weird the way it just really traveled right up to 90 all the way through Jersey Village.
It's moving very slowly. In fact, this part hasn't moved at all.
This section of the storm is drifting to the north, but not very fast.
It will probably rain itself out, more or less, where it is.
But that's going to take another 30 to 45 minutes, I think.
Let's go up top. Zoom camera chopper 2. An amazing shot there of these storms.
Very dark sky. As I said, this storm developed about 5 o'clock as the sea breeze came in.
It made a lot of that warm air for the day's sunshine, and that's what blew this storm up.
As we go to a city cam over the Galleria area, another shot there of those dark clouds.
And you can see they're just not moving. They're just sitting there, and that's what they're going to do.
Spring Branch Science Center, one of our WeatherNet sites, we're connected to live via the internet.
Forty-two hundredths of an inch of rain so far, but those totals continue to come up.
And we have more storms that could develop overnight. We'll talk about those coming up in weather.
Well, News 2 Houston's Kim Alvarado is out in the middle of all of this.
Kim, what's the situation where you are now?
It's raining down very hard. We are near downtown.
We're watching the outbound traffic on I-10 move relatively pretty good,
considering the rain that's coming down at this hour.
We're going to swing over and show you the White Oaks bio filling up pretty good.
And we know this is an area where it traditionally floods.
Also, we have some video from downtown.
We were watching as the commuters trying to beat these heavy rains,
get in their cars and scoot out of there before it gets too hard.
Hopefully they did that early on. You see lots of folks with umbrellas.
Hopefully they were prepared this morning and took their rain gear and their umbrellas
because it is a wet, wet rush hour commute.
And now a live mobile city cam of traffic getting out of downtown once again
in these slick, slick conditions.
But I think at this point we're getting the heaviest rain a little bit east,
excuse me, west of downtown.
And also we have some traffic jams on the pier elevated.
This is again from our mobile city cam.
This is a mobile camera as we're scooching inbound on 45 downtown on the pier elevated.
You can see the backup.
And of course, as it gets closer to I-10, the rain gets harder.
And that's exactly where we are.
And it is coming down.
We have thunder and lightning.
Please take precautions.
We're live from near downtown.
I'm Kim Alvarado.
All right, Kim, thank you.
Our other big story tonight, a city employee traumatized
after police say she struck and killed a three-year-old child driving down the street.
It happened at Anita and Scott in southeast Houston.
That is when News to Houston's Trezana Halstead joins us live with that story.
Trezana?
Bill, it was just afternoon when the driver of that City of Houston solid waste management truck
turned the corner from Scott right here onto Anita
and accidentally took the life of two-year-old Taylor Hudson.
Now his grandfather is wondering how he's going to get on without the grandson
he was planning to adopt.
And the next thing I heard was a bump.
The next thing I found, my grandson in the street, he died in my arms.
James McPeters is still in shock over the loss of his grandson.
And so is the woman behind the wheel of the truck that hit and killed two-year-old Taylor Hudson.
Overcome by what just happened, the driver tells police,
I didn't see him. It couldn't have been avoided. It couldn't have been avoided.
The driver of this City of Houston solid waste management truck hit the little boy as he was
crossing the street. Police say she had no time to stop.
The child being very small in stature in a vehicle, a driver's vision,
cannot see that load of the ground.
As the grief-stricken driver is led away, Taylor Hudson's family is left wondering
how they'll fill the empty space he leaves behind.
So everybody loves him like that. He was everybody's baby.
Now the Department of Solid Waste Management says this driver has been with them since 1994
with no problem, and we should say she has not been charged with any crime in this accident.
We are live in Southeast Houston. I'm Trezana Halstead.
Very sad story. Now to update you on breaking news.
We told you about at five o'clock three children injured in a bizarre wreck in Northwest Houston
in good condition tonight.
It happened on Darling near Araby.
News chopper two was over the scene. Police say two children had been sitting on the trunk
of a parked car when that car was put into reverse.
The children fell off and the car hit a 16-year-old walking nearby.
And a major step towards recovery tonight for one of the little girls attacked by Rottweilers.
Three-year-old Selena Sanchez has been released from the hospital.
Her 22-month-old sister Tina Marie remains hospitalized in fair condition this evening.
Investigators say they were bitten by two dogs yesterday behind their Northwest Houston home.
Animal control has the dogs until a judge decides what to do with them.
The dog's owner has been ticketed for letting them run loose.
Tonight, immigration officials are debating whether to deport a soccer player who had been accused of assault.
20-year-old Oscar Peralta is an illegal immigrant.
Today, Harris County prosecutors dismissed charges that he assaulted a West University
placed player during a game.
The INS is now taking over custody of this case and could decide what will happen to Peralta
in the next couple of weeks.
A suspected car thief is still on the run tonight.
A Harris County deputy constable was just beginning to pursue a stolen car when his cruiser hit a Jeep Cherokee at 288 and Beltway 8.
The deputy and the driver of the Jeep were both treated for injuries.
The stolen car was later found abandoned a few walks away.
The Supreme Court will not hear his case, so now Gary Graham is speaking out in a death row interview.
He's been behind bars since 1981 when he was convicted of killing a man here in Houston.
He and his supporters claim he wasn't even at the scene of the crime.
News to Houston's Bill Archer joins us live from the prison where Graham is talking about what's next for him.
Bill?
Well, his appeals have run out, so he waits on death row for a new execution date.
Prosecutors say it could come as early as next month.
I'm not going to be dead by any means necessary.
Shaka Sankofa, also known as Gary Graham, has faced dates with the death chamber five times in the last six months.
The last time he urged supporters to arm themselves to halt his execution.
He stopped short of saying that today.
We will stop this execution by any means necessary. It's going to be stopped.
And he made it clear he will not go willingly into the Texas death chamber.
If you put your hands on me, that's going to be physical resistance. I've made that very clear to everybody.
Along with the Supreme Court...
His attorneys and supporters insist new witnesses could clear him.
If only the courts would hear them. But after more than 36 reviews of the case, appeals courts have found those witnesses aren't credible.
I think that's the most important thing. To continue to be concerned, to continue to express that concern in every possible way.
And to do everything they can to stop this assassination, mention that assassination.
Sankofa was convicted of killing Bobby Lambert in 1981. It happened during a two-week long crime spree in which four other people were killed.
I did not hear about the name of that. It's a marketing of evidence. It's compelling and overwhelming evidence. They clearly demonstrate that.
Sankofa contends he's a victim of the system, while prosecutors say he's manipulated the system to delay his death sentence for almost two decades.
Sankofa's last legal avenue of appeal is to petition the governor to commute his sentence. His attorneys say they will do that.
We're live at the Terrell unit near Livingston. I'm Phil Archer.
Patients evacuated from a Houston hospital today after the oxygen system there malfunctioned.
It happened at Riverside General Hospital on Ennis and Elgin in southeast Houston.
Hospital officials say a valve released more pressure than usual, causing the backup system to kick in.
No one was injured and everybody is back inside tonight.
It could change the way life-threatening heart conditions are treated. A life-saving device developed right here in Houston that's already making a difference.
Houston Health reporter Sylvia Custaneda with the story. I couldn't breathe.
His latest life was in jeopardy.
In so much jeopardy, Dr. Saloa Spiller may not have lived another month, but she was the perfect candidate to be the first in a study to get a new heart assist implant, the Jarvik 2000.
It slides right inside the heart and provides a continuous flow of blood, something her sick heart couldn't do.
Unlike artificial hearts, this device leaves most of the work for the patient's heart to do.
We want to make a device that's small, that's simple, that's silent, and that's safe.
Something that people can wear and can live with and proceed with normal lives.
These before and after images show Spiller's enlarged heart has shrunk to a more normal size since the implant.
Her recovery gives doctors hope.
I think it will correct heart failure in the majority of patients dying of heart failure.
Plus, this device could one day be used as an alternative to heart transplants.
Thousands die every year because there simply aren't enough donor hearts.
As for Spiller, she's thrilled to be alive, to give hope to other patients like her.
I have a mission, you know, and I want to get on it as soon as I can.
And I want them to tell them about me, you know what I'm saying, and how I have been blessed.
Sylvia Bestañeda, News 2 Houston.
And we have breaking news right now from Northwest Houston.
We want to go right now to Captain Rod Hooks and News Chopper 2 over the scene of a tree on top of a house because of this weather, Rod.
Linda Bill, if it couldn't have been for any bad luck, these folks wouldn't have any luck at all.
This tree was blown over onto the house and as a result there's a gas leak and of course water inside the house.
We're located at Bicol Wood near Danbury in the Spring Branch area. What a mess they have.
Microbursts sometimes occur, as Frank can tell you, when these storms start moving through real fast.
And that's possibly what happened here. They just kind of come out of the clouds, go straight down and cause damage as we are seeing down below.
Obviously they have a mess. Fire departments down here trying to help them clear it.
That's what it looks like live from News Chopper 2. This is Captain Rod.
Thank you Captain Rod. HISD announcing some record numbers for student testing.
We'll take a look at how 10th graders fared in this year's toss tests.
Rodents, roaches and insects all not on the menu this week.
And a new tool to keep us safe this hurricane season.
That severe thunderstorm warning continues for Harris County until 615 and now an urban and small stream flood warning until 730.
We're expecting minor flooding at Hillshire Village, Hunters Creek Village, Jersey Village and Spring Valley. More coming up in weather.
Here's your Millionaire May contest number. We'll show you the next winning number tomorrow on News 2 Houston First and Fourth.
Erotica and sexual obsession once found only on back streets is just a mouse click away now.
Creating a dangerous new addiction that could affect your family. Houston Cyber Sex on News 2 Houston Nightbeat tonight at 10.
Palm Harbor Home.
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Where's the camera when I need it? Right here from Southwestern Camera.
Like the Nikon N60 and N70. See the difference a Nikon makes.
The N60 and N70 both offer the new Nikon high performance autofocus built in TTC flash and Nikon 3D matrix metering.
You can see them at all three Southwestern Camera locations. 500 North Shepherd, 133 West Bay Area Boulevard and Westheimer at Yorktown.
Or visit us online at Cameramax.com.
He really is a genius.
I used to think of Ward's as a place you'd go to buy socks or underwear or maybe something nice for your grandma.
But now I've got a whole new opinion.
In fact, we've got whole new wardrobes.
Come see what's new at Ward's during the season's best two day sale this Friday and Saturday.
You'll find savings on apparel, jewelry and almost everything else in the store.
I was blown away. The quality was fantastic. Lots of great outfits.
You can't shop smarter than Lord.
You've heard about silicone breast implants. Now they're saying saline is dangerous too.
In fact, some women may be dying.
Then why are all these young women still going for bigger breasts?
On News 2 Houston Nightbeat tomorrow at 10.
You're watching Bill Baezza, Linda Laurel, meteorologist Frank Billingsley's AccuWeather and Craig Roberts with sports on News 2 Houston at 6 o'clock where local news comes first.
Hundreds of pounds of food meant for customers ended up in the trash.
Sent there by a Houston health inspector, consumer investigator Emily Akin joining us now with more of the good and the bad and the ugly.
That's a lot of food. Over 200 pounds. Trashed.
Oh boy. Good reason too. Food at the wrong temperature. Roaches, rats and slime. It was all found this week, not on the menu.
The North China restaurant on Frostwood had a bunch of problems. April 13th, live roaches in the dish washing area.
The refrigerator was quarantined and there was pink and black slime in that ice machine.
Rodents, roaches and fruit flies were seen at Miami subs at 10803 Westheimer.
Inspectors found food under a refrigerator leak at Liz's sandwich shop on Frostwood.
They also found rodent droppings and black slime in the ice machine.
And Subway sandwiches at 7505 Westheimer had to get rid of 214 pounds of lunch meat because it had been stored at the wrong temperature April 18th.
Just one clean restaurant gets our green clean check this week. Whataburger at 6705 Fondren was serving real food, real fresh and really clean April 13th.
So what happens after a restaurant gets a bad inspection? Well the health department is a follow up and usually the problems have all been corrected.
I'm Emily Akin. I'm on your side.
How can you find a lost friend or maybe background about your doctor or dentist? You'd be surprised how much information you can find online.
And storm clouds have moved in. You're looking at a live city cam shot. Frank Billingsley will have the latest next.
News to Houston at 6 continues for Klein, Kingwood and a very soggy Spring Branch.
News to Houston is everywhere.
More HISD students are making the grade than ever before. Today school district officials in HISD announced that a record level of 10th graders passed the test this year of 5% last year.
73% of the students taking the TAS test passed the reading, writing and math sections. Congratulations sophomores. That's up from 37% in 1995.
Hurricane season is only a month away and now the hurricane watch is on from space.
This morning NASA blasted a $220 million satellite into orbit to track the weather. That new satellite will be ready for action in a couple of weeks.
Now we may not be watching hurricanes just yet but I promise you Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley is watching a lot of rain in our area tonight.
That's right. Some of those sea breeze storms. What happens is that moisture comes in off the gulf and then it just sort of blows up with the heat of the sunshine.
It's very isolated but where it comes down, it comes down hard. And then more storms from North Texas possible overnight.
Let's take a look at the forecast first. Chances of rain tonight 30% and tomorrow morning 50% and 40% by noon.
I'll explain all of that but let's start with Doppler 2000 live. Houston's first real time radar and you can see what we're talking about here in the memorial area.
This good news is this really weakened a lot just in the last 15 minutes. A severe thunderstorm warning expired at 615 and it was not continued. What we do have, especially up around the Jersey Village area in 290, is a small stream and flood advisory.
Especially for minor flooding and feeder flooding and that sort of thing. This storm has been just sort of stretched out along 290 for the last hour.
And as a result, some very heavy rains on the order of 2 to 3 inches and a lot of pea size hail has fallen. But things are improving and will continue to do so in the next half hour.
Let me show you how this developed. This is really interesting. At 6 o'clock this morning we had some action along the coast and that lasted about 2 hours, 3 hours until about 9 o'clock.
And then we really got a sunny, sunny day. But with the sea breeze coming in, look at the storms that formed down in Brazoria County at 4 o'clock.
Not much in Harris County until 5 and then just keep your eye right here and watch how this just blossoms in one hour. Just boom, right over the same area in the memorial area.
But sure enough, where it did find a home, it really made a mess out of rush hour. Now we're watching this system up north. This is still potent.
Last night in Cameron County they had 120 mile an hour winds and hail that broke windshields in cars. Now there's a tornado watch until 11 until 8, a severe thunderstorm watch.
What's going to happen is we're going to see this cool flow in the mid and upper levels meet this warm flow off the Gulf. That creates the thunderstorms.
If it all comes together, we could see some strong storms at 4 o'clock at College Station, 7 in the morning over Houston area, just in time for rush hour and on the coast by 10.
That's why we're going to watch it carefully. Maybe three quarters to an inch and a half of rain, some four inch amounts possible. Large hail, damaging wind, not out of the question.
So far not much going on, but something is going on and that's the point. In this area we could see this continue to develop and really blow up. If it does, it's going to blow up very, very fast.
Most of the action in the Louisiana area. No rainfall at Bush, 78 there right now. Hobbies at 80, Galveston's at 76, strong southeast wind at 18 miles an hour across the rest of the nation.
Not much going on. In fact, that clear weather you see is going to be in our neck of the woods for the weekend. Here's a look outside, Zoom cam and Chopper 2.
And there again is that home that unfortunately took a hit from that tree. Feel factor for us today. No pollen count due to rain, low to moderate ozone in the forecast.
It looks like we will see medium allergy pollens for the next three days, just barely into the medium range, but they're nonetheless slight chop for the bay and offshore.
Fifty percent chance of rain for tomorrow. It does go down though, 20 percent on Friday and then we're clear for the weekend, but we're hot to 90 by Sunday.
Frank, thank you. Ever wondered what happened to somebody you've lost track of over the years? Well, coming up, the Internet might be your key to finding them.
And in sports, the Comets could be headed to the White House.
News 2 Houston Sports is sponsored in part by your Houston area Lexus dealer.
If you're searching for a long lost friend or you want to know more about your doctor or maybe your dentist's background, the Internet is a good place to turn.
News 2 Houston's Brendan Keefe has more in this week's website Wednesday report.
Nobody likes facing a dentist drill or going to the doctor, but how do you know if they're properly licensed or if they've had problems in the past?
Checking professional licenses is just one feature of PacInfo.com.
Get your doctor's stats, stat. PacInfo.com allows you to search doctors and dentist's background.
If your doc isn't here, he or she might be a quack. The data includes any disciplinary actions taken and your doctor's specialty.
PacInfo also offers links to Texas courts and county databases.
The sex offender search is very helpful, telling you every convicted sex offender in your zip code.
The main page features public records for every state in the nation and even Canadian data.
The web itself is a great place to find information on people.
Using a full name in quotes, search engines like Google.com and AltaVista.com will tell you everything published on the Internet with that person's name.
Without the quotes, Brendan Keefe will get you every Brendan and every Keefe.
But putting the name in quotes, you'll get only the info on the person you're looking for.
Another good idea is to do a search on your own name in quotes every few weeks. The results can be fun and interesting.
Tonight on the 9th, Peter 10, we'll wrap up all of the website Wednesday picks.
In the Web Center, I'm Brendan Keefe.
Now if you'd like to find out more about these websites, you'll find links to them on our website right here at kprc.com.
And just click on the website Wednesday icon when you get there.
Sports is next with Craig Roberts. We'll be right back.
She's given me a precious gift. So for all those sleepless nights, here's a gift from the heart for someone who will always be precious to me.
Happy Mother's Day, sweetheart.
No place but service merchandise.
Like a mom.
News 2 Houston Sports is sponsored in part by Toyota.
You are looking at a live picture of I-10 at Silver. You can see the flooding in the area there.
Commuters trying to get home, having to deal with all of this. As you know, rain moved into the area late this afternoon.
And look at that mess right there. Some folks are going to be a little late getting home this evening. Again, that's Silver and I-10.
Bad news. There's a good doughnut shop right there.
We could have used some rain in Chicago today last Friday. Chris Holt gave the Brewers one hit and today he matched that with the Cubs leadoff hitter.
Third pitch to Eric Young. You know what happens these days. Just about everything thrown gets knocked out.
Home run. Chris gave up three more in the first inning. That's all the Cubs got. That's all they needed.
The key hit after that. Damon Buford's base knock, getting two more home with two out.
Cornet inning. Richard Hidalgo jumped on John Lieber's pitch. It was his seventh of the year to make it 4-1. Astros got two more in the fifth to make it close.
If not interesting, the Cubs will win this three game series. Lieber the winner three and two. Holt the loser one and four, four, three. The final.
Rockets still can't give Louisville a firm date that Rockets brass visiting Louisville sometime this month, supposedly a week from this weekend.
When Less than Company arrived, they'll meet with the governor of Kentucky, the mayor and the county judge. They will show the Rockets a marketing study proving Louisville could support the Cubs.
The Rockets visit will excite the state of Kentucky, but more importantly it should speed the Houston Sports Authority to get another referendum set.
By the way, Louisville marketing plan is said to be only 40% complete.
Time once again to comments and the women's NBA opening training camps today. The only chance the league has ever had will go after a four in a row.
Ah, new outfits, more teams to deal with. Miami, Indiana, and Portland this year. These women still the top club again and they finally get to visit the White House as well.
It's a great honor to go to the White House anytime you go and the whole hoopla behind that is great. Wonderful. Perfect. It's about three years too late.
Conference go to the big house on the 15th, probably more importantly to Cynthia. First exhibition game will be the day before also in Washington.
Freddy's going to be between the pipes again tonight in Utah. Game five with the arrows up three games to one. His teammates love him because he's the best.
Alright, forget about all those home runs gang. This is what baseball is all about. Good eats and plenty of sunshine. Go get that ice cream.
Okay, thank you Craig. And coming up tonight on News 2 Houston Nightbeat, they're often labeled dangerous. Pit bulls and rockwilers.
Tonight Wyatt may not be the breed, but the breeder. That's tonight at 10 on the Nightbeat.
And that's our news for now. Thank you very much for watching. Stay dry. We'll see you back here at 10. See you then.
You've been watching News 2 Houston at 6. Join us tonight at 10 when we take you inside the world of cyber sex. From the addicts to the people who profit from it on the Nightbeat at 10 on 2.
Lightning the financial load of student loans and tips on counting calories at the food court. Hi, I'm Don Armstrong. Join us tomorrow.
News 2 Houston Daybreak. Tomorrow morning 5 to 7 followed by the Today Show.
Some people think of Houston cellular.