Author: Houston Stringer

A federal judge in Illinois ruled against McDonald's employees today, upholding McDonald's no-poaching policy. The case, started back in 2017 when Leinani Deslandes filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald's claiming that she lost out on higher wages when another McDonald's franchise offered her a job but she was restricted by the fast-food giant from doing so because of a no-poaching policy. According to the Summary Judgment, each franchisee signed a franchise agreement that reads: "Franchisee shall not employ or seek to employ any person who is at the time employed by McDonald’s, any of its subsidiaries, or by any person who is at the time operating a McDonald’s restaurant or otherwise induce, directly or indirectly, such person to leave such employment. This paragraph [] ...

In a press release issued on June 28, 2022, the Harris County Fire Marshall's Office (HCFMO) announced that the Harris County Commissioners Court approved a burn ban throughout Harris County just before the 4th of July and this has a lot of people asking if they can still light up fireworks on the 4th of July. in their backyards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNiHJVznBYA&ab_channel=houstonstringer According to the HCFMO, fireworks can still be bought and sold since the burn ban was issued based on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) numbers that were issued on June 15, 2022. While you can buy fireworks and launch them into the air from the comfort of your own home, HCFMO strongly recommends that residents attend professional displays only, since these are highly regulate...

A man in his late twenties was fatally shot outside a Valero gas station Tuesday evening       According to Sgt. Jason Brown with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that at about 7:30 p.m. Harris County Sheriff Units were dispatched to a Valero in the 5800 block of Barker Cypress in Harris County to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found a Hispanic male in his late twenties who was deceased from the gunshot wounds. According to witnesses, the man was seen talking to some individuals in a gold-colored SUV. While he was talking to the individuals, on the driver's side of the SUV, someone inside decided to start shooting and killed the victim in the parking lot. Police are not sure at this point what led up to cause the shooting and there does not ...

Sysco Corporation (SYY), a food service distributor that was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Houston, filed a lawsuit in the Houston Federal Court on Friday, June 24, 2022. The complaint accuses some of the world’s largest meat companies of conspiring to inflate the price of wholesale beef in the United States as early as 2015. The defendants include Cargill, Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation (A/K/A Cargill Protein A/K/A Cargill Protein - North America), JBS S.A., JBS USA Food Company, Swift Beef Company, JBS Packerland, Inc., National Beef Packing Company, Tyson Foods, Inc., Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., which according to the lawsuit, the defendants “sold approximately 80 percent of the more than 25 billion pounds of fresh and frozen beef supplied to the U.S. market. Col...

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced in a series of Tweets that he has officially "withdrew from consideration for the post of Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement" after informing President Biden's administration on Sunday, June 26, 2022. In the series of tweets, thanking President Biden for the opportunity, Sheriff Gonzalez contributed his withdrawal in large part due to the "paralyzing political gridlock that threatens far more than our nation's border" as he pointed out that it has been more than a year since Biden nominated him and this position has not been confirmed by the Senate since President Obama was in office. During the nomination process, both Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and his wife, Melissa Gonzalez had to push back against unsubstituted claims of domest...

Executive Assistant Chief James Jones with the Houston Police Department said in a press statement that at about 7:24 p.m. on June 26, 2022, a suspect walked into a Walmart in the 4400 Block of the North Freeway where he confronted a random person in the checkout line. As he exited the store, the victim was struck once with a punch and then hit with a bat or table leg. The suspect walked out of the store and a police officer working an extra job at the store was flagged down, saw the suspect, and engaged with the suspect. The suspect ignored the officer and the officer caught up to him at the Panda Express in the same shopping center where a struggle ensued. The officer, who has seven years of experience with the Houston Police Department, discharged his taser at least twice at which point...

According to Assistant Chief Ben Tien of the Houston Police Department, first responders responded to a shooting that broke out between two groups of males at a home in the 4200 Block of Madden in Southeast Houston at about 1:35 a.m. on June 25, 2022. When first responders arrived on scene, they found four males shot, two of which were deceased. The other two were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Texas Original, a medical cannabis company in Texas has opened up its first brick-and-mortar location in Houston located at 1714 Houston Ave. Patients can have their prescriptions from their physicians for certain ailments filled, or get a prescription from a doctor that the company helps facilitate.

The iconic train bridge over I-45 that used to read ‘Be Someone’ and became an iconic Houston Landmark as drivers enter Downtown Houston on I-45 south has now changed from ‘No War, Know Peace’ to ‘Be the R(evolution)’ as of June 22, 2022. Here are some past photos of the bridge:

A man was shot and killed by an employee at Carter's Country, a gun and ammo shop in Southwest Houston located at 11886 Wilcrest Dr just off of 59, the southwest freeway & Murphy Rd in the SugarPark Plaza shopping center Police say around 3 p.m. on June 21, 2022, the man robbed a clothing store (SuitMart) next door when he was chased off by employees and entered the gun store next door where he went behind the counter and rifled through a cash register. An employee confronted him and fired a single shot. The man later died after he was taken to the hospital after leaving the store and collapsing outside from the gunshot wound.