Updated: Houston Area 4th of July Fireworks Events

HOUSTON—The 4th of July means fireworks across the U.S. and Houston is no exception.

There are dozens of celebrations in our area, but the largest is the Freedom over Texas festival this weekend. It is presented by Shell.

The free event is at Eleanor Tinsley Park. This year, organizers are honoring Houston’s military heroes and the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Country singer, Texas native Clay Walker will be the main act. He will take the stage at 8 p.m. Right after that at 9:30, fireworks will light the sky.

If you’re thinking about heading there you should know about some road that will be closed.

On Thursday, a couple of lanes along Allen Parkway were closed. They include roads between Taft Street and downtown.

Also, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Allen Parkway will be completely closed to traffic.

If you’re in The Woodlands, there are several events where you can celebrate.

First there is the Star-Spangled Salute which is being held Friday night at the Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavilion.

You’ll hear patriotic music presented by the Houston Symphony.

Friday at 9 a.m. you can see the South Montgomery Parade which runs through The Woodlands Town Center and Market Street.

Finally, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. you can head to the Red, Hot and Blue Festival and Fireworks Extravaganza at Town Green Park and Waterway Square.

There’s also a lot to celebrate in Fort Bend County Saturday, July 4 th.

In Sugar Land, the festivities include The Red White and Blue Fest at Oyster Creek Park. Those events begin Saturday and run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The city of Stafford and the Fort Bend Symphony will celebrate by treating the public to a free patriotic concert.

Freedom Rings 2009 will be held at the Stafford Centre and starts at 5 p.m.

In Missouri City, the public is being treated to a July 4 celebration at Buffalo Run Park.

The fun begins at 5:30 p.m. and the fireworks blare into the night sky at 9.

Chevy Freedom Over Texas Fireworks
Location: Eleanor Tinsley Park
website: www.chevysfreedomovertexas.com
This is by far the largest celebration in the city of Houston, and the fireworks display is one of the biggest in the state. Montgomery Gentry will headline. The festival starts at 4 p.m. with performances by local acts. If you don't feel like braving the crowds, you don't have to miss our on the fun; just tune in to ABC13 from the solitude of your couch.

The Houston Symphony 4th of July Celebration
Location: Miller Outdoor Theatre, Herman Park
Led by principal pops conductor Michael Krajewski. Enjoy an All-American salute to commemorate Independence Day, and end the evening with fireworks presented by the Miller Theatre Advisory Board.

Sam Houston Race Park
website: www.shrp.com
The park celebrates Independence Day with special family-friendly activities and a spectacular fireworks display.

Firecracker Hotbox
Location: Gulf Greyhound Park
website: www.gulfgreyhound.com
Come see some of the nation's hottest greyhounds compete.

Kemah Boardwalk
website: www.kemahboardwalk.com
The 4th of July fireworks launch at 9:30 p.m.

SplashTown Fireworks Spectacular
website: www.splashtownpark.com
The park sends up the explosives after dusk.

How our area is growing

According to a story in Wednesday, June 17th's Houston Chronicle,
East Montgomery County is doing well in housing growth and in fact exceeds virtually all of the greater Houston region. The East Montgomery County, area 40 or Southeast area on their map, ranked third overall in the geographic areas covered by their story.

Leading the way in home sales percentage change from May, 2008 to May, 2009 was Grimes County with a 25.0% increase, followed by Bellaire West with 14.3% increase. Our area shows a 10.8% increase for this time period. The only other positive areas were the South Katy Area at 9.5% and the Central downtown Houston area at 3.1%. All other areas showed negative results with the highest being Central downtown West at negative 54.7%. Other areas in Montgomery County, all with negative numbers, were Northeast -30.5%, Southwest -23.1% (which includes The Woodlands), and Northwest -12.9%. The area defined as Far Northeast (which covers Kingwood) showed a negative 23.6% change. The area referred to as Northeast (which would include Humble and areas south of there) showed a negative 26.5% change.

Our area shows a 18.2% positive increase in the price of homes with a median home price in May, 2009 of $152,500. These are indeed good indicators of the many positive things happening in our area.

Sex molester contacts victims from prison

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A family is demanding changes to the system after a man convicted of sexually assaulting children managed to reach out to his victims and reach out to others online.

The family worked for years to put this horror behind them and now they are devastated to learn the man they helped to lock up is free to communicate with his young victims.

The New Caney mother who we'll refer to as, "Kimberly," didn't want to identified in order to conceal her son's identity.

"You just feel like your child's not safe anywhere," she said.

Fire destroys Galveston seawall condos

By Chris Paschenko
The Daily News

Published June 4, 2009
GALVESTON — At least 60 units of a Galveston resort were gutted Wednesday by fire, which was started accidentally by welding contractors who were renovating the complex damaged by Hurricane Ike, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called at 2:19 p.m. to Maravilla Resort Condominiums, 9520 Seawall Blvd., and found fire spreading between the second and third floor.

“It was the workers out there doing welding and cutting,” Fire Chief Mike Varela Sr. said of Fire Marshal Gilbert Robinson’s determination. The contractors had a city permit for renovations and were employing a fire watch, Varela said.

Galveston firefighter Gary Vasquez suffered from heat exhaustion and was taken by ground ambulance to Mainland Medical Center in Texas City and released, Varela said.

A medical crew treated some of the contractors at the scene, but they weren’t taken to a hospital, Varela said.

The blaze began in the rear of the complex, working its way toward the seawall side of the structure. About 120 firefighters, including those from Jamaica Beach, Santa Fe, Hitchcock, La Marque and Texas City were called to the island and helped evacuate about 30 or 40 people from the building. They also fought the blaze and manned fire stations here. There were no further injuries, Varela said.

Firefighters focused their attack at the center of the complex, where Varela said a fire break helped them control the blaze about 5:30 p.m.

Much of the upper units of the three-story complex were gutted, and many more sustained smoke and water damage, Varela said.

Lloyd W. Rinderer, an assistant city manager for Galveston, said he lost his condo of six years to the blaze. Rinderer, who is also treasurer of the condo’s homeowner’s association, said he would reside on his boat at The Galveston Yacht Club, just as he did not long after the storm.

“We were a month from completing Hurricane Ike repairs,” Rinderer said of the Sept. 13 storm’s damaging effects. “There were 164 units and there were about 10 people who were actually living there.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

RH Donnelley goes for Bankruptcy

RH Donnelley, the publisher of nearly 600 directories, including the several phone directories in the Houston area, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company sited losses from operations due to declines in advertising because of economy, new competition from local directories, and the competition from the web.

READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE.