Hello everyone! A Missouri City resident is now $2 million richer after getting the top prize on a Texas Lottery scratch ticket game: bit.ly/4uwEyVL Here's more for your reading this evening: 🚫 Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas will stop observing Cesar Chavez Day after abuse allegations surfaced against Chavez. Houston’s annual Cesar Chavez march is also canceled this year: bit.ly/4bnC3fC 💵 Chronicle investigative reporters Neena Satija and Eric Dexheimer identified the companies and entities in Texas that are financially benefiting from the Trump administration’s immigration policies: bit.ly/3NH9bY5 🤠: And as we wind down on the Houston rodeo this week, here's a list of the priciest purchases made, from from $100K belt buckles to $4K hats: bit.ly/3PkCksw

Good evening, y'all! Houston officially has soft serve margaritas. Get you one: bit.ly/4lAzr2H 🐴 The Houston rodeo just dropped a new dress code after provocative rodeo outfits drew online backlash this year. Attendees can now be denied entry or kicked out for wearing anything deemed ‘inappropriate’: bit.ly/4bujuXb 🗑️ City Columnist Joy Sewing writes about how Houston is drowning in trash. After months of waiting on the city’s heavy trash pick up, she finally had to take matters into her own hands. An experience many of y’all may be quite familiar with: bit.ly/3NwTlz3 🌡️ Finally, meteorologist Justin Ballard breaks down what a rare ‘Super El Niño' could mean for the Atlantic hurricane season and Texas winter weather: bit.ly/41af4zY

Good evening everyone! Our guide to the best barbecue in Houston is up, check it out if you're making plans for this weekend: bit.ly/4rE5obR In other news tonight: 🏥 Houston’s Ben Taub Hospital got county approval to use nine acres of Hermann Park land for a major expansion project. Ben Taub is a subsidized public hospital that serves many uninsured and extremely low-income patients: bit.ly/40Igwtj ⛪ As a group of longtime members sues Second Baptist Church, those challengers face a choice: stay members as the litigation plays out in court, or leave and find a new place of worship: bit.ly/41hF5xm 🏫 Texas' private school voucher program admitted several Islamic schools this week after a federal judge ordered the state to invite previously-excluded schools to apply and extend the application deadline for families: bit.ly/4rIha5e

Hello everyone! It looks like the Houston rodeo is increasing security for its last week after fights broke out on Saturday: bit.ly/4rKSXeE. Here's more news to read this Monday: 💰A secretive Australian gambler known as "The Joker" broke his silence about his role in the 2023 $95 million Texas lottery scheme in which professional gamblers engineered a guaranteed jackpot win: bit.ly/4rKTjlu 🎨 Pasadena ISD student Joshua Washington's grand champion artwork raised a record-breaking $525,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Sunday. See it here: bit.ly/4sS3IwD 🍴 At least eight Houston-area restaurants — and one bar — closed in February, from well-known brands to newer players in the food scene: bit.ly/4scPtlQ

Good evening, Houston! We're now tracking gas prices across the state, which have risen by nearly $1 in the past month: bit.ly/4lI8ASA Now, some more headlines from today: 🏫 Greg Abbott held a pro-voucher rally at a top-rated Houston-area private school. But the school hasn't joined the state's new $1 billion voucher program. It's just one of dozens of top-rated private schools that are not participating: bit.ly/4bVzq6e ⚖️ A jury found Fort Bend County Judge KP George guilty of money laundering after he funneled campaign funds into personal accounts and used the money to cover his personal expenses, including a down payment on a house: bit.ly/4uIBAh8 🚨 A U.S. Army reservist's wife has been in the U.S. since 2021, when she fled Venezuela and sought asylum. She has no criminal history and was doing what her attorney said she was supposed to: show up at scheduled appointments required as part of her asylum application. Then in December, she was detained: bit.ly/4rLeHqu