January 5B
I saw a State Rep. James Talarico for U.S. Senate campaign ad this morning on KPRC Channel 2. It is on.
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They don’t call us Bayou City for nothing. The main bayous are Buffalo, Brays, White Oak, and Simms. I was watching KPRC Channel 2 News yesterday when a story aired about another body being found in Buffalo Bayou. It is the first body found in a bayou in 2026. It comes on the heels of 34 bodies being found in bayous last year – 2025 – prompting the H-Town Mayor and Police Chief to call a press conference to dispel rumors of a serial killer.
The Chron E-Board today is calling for the mayor to name a bayou safety czar. Here is from the E-Board take:
This czar would have two key responsibilities.
First, they would have the duty of identifying each person found in the bayou and creating a public database stating who they are, and how and when they died. The Chronicle has already begun this work, publishing in December a report on what we know about the 201 victims found dead along Houston’s bayous since 2017.
This reporting paints a complicated picture about bayou safety and shows that no one cause is driving the cascade of bayou corpses.
For example, drowning was the most commonly cited cause of death, accounting for nearly 40% of fatalities. Some of this was homeless people who fell into the treacherous waters when drunk or on drugs. But it also includes a 15-year-old who slipped and fell into Sims Bayou while fishing with a friend.
Another 40% of cases involved suicides, homicides and blunt force injuries, including the tragic death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.
But there are still dozens of cases where the medical examiner hasn’t been able to determine the cause and manner of death.
A czar with the mayor’s backing could cut through the bureaucracy and coordinate resources necessary to answer lingering questions, and also publicize accurate information quickly when new bodies are found.
This work would not only show that City Hall is taking concerns seriously, but also demonstrate that the mayor is dedicated to transparency rather than letting rumors fester, filling the information vacuums that have been allowed to persist.
Second, the czar would assemble and lead a team responsible for identifying ways to reduce the number of deaths around our bayous. After conducting proper research and consulting with other cities, this team would put its findings in a public report. It would also put a list of solutions and other recommendations before City Council for a vote, including building physical infrastructure and educating communities about the dangers looming in the bayou’s muddy waters. This report could also take on broader issues of safety along our hike-and-bike trails and getting to-and-from our bayous’ linear greenways.
This process is similar to steps taken by the city of Austin after a cascade of bodies in Lady Bird Lake drove online speculation about a Rainey Street Ripper, as columnist Joy Sewing wrote last month. In response, Austin installed safety improvements around the central body of water, which included new lighting, fencing, sidewalks, cameras and a first-responders unit.
Here is the entire E-Board take: For 2026, Mayor Whitmire should appoint a bayou safety czar.
I got mixed feelings about this. I don’t know if a bayou safety czar is needed for this. That is why we have a police department and medical examiner. We can pretty much implement what the E-Board is recommending without having to name a czar. Just saying.
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The featured photo was taken yesterday and is three houses down from mine on the same street. A tree fell on the roof last year, either after Beryl or Derecho and had not been repaired. It was sold and yesterday it was demolished. Pretty normal stuff for my neighborhood. It was an old house. I will be on the lookout for construction of a big arse house to begin.
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Yesterday was January 6. We all saw on live TV what happened on January 6, 2021. Many of Donald Trump’s family members, close friends, and allies pleaded for him back on that day to call for an end to the violence at our Capitol. Now most of those same family members, close friends, and allies, claim it was all a government hoax. Don’t be surprised to see Trump issue an order calling for the elimination of future January 6 days just so we don’t commemorate the day. We will go from January 5, followed by January 5B, to January 7, and MAGA will just fall in line. Sad.