Refusing To Go Away

Can you believe he's single? Hand Center doc sues ex-wife for being "inhumane" &blames Jeff Bagwell

Dr. Michael Brown at Una Note in Italia in 2009
Photo by Daniel Ortiz
Rachel Brown
Just one of many Brown Hand Center locations
Brown Hand Center

Six months after he was acquitted of assault charges, Brown Hand Center founder Michael Brown is once again going up against his ex-wife Rachel Brown in court.

Brown's company, ProMed Inc., filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against Rachel Brown and her attorney Marshall Davis Brown (no relation) as well as against former ProMed employee Manny Guyot and his attorney Linda Glover, alleging the defendants conspired to "devalue his businesses" in order to gain advantage in their respective pending litigations against him.

The lawsuit specifically alleges that Guyot stole a computer from ProMed and that he worked with the other defendants to "disseminate the trade secrets, proprietary, confidential and privileged information [sic], and intellectual property belonging to Plaintiff for the purpose of destroying or otherwise harming Plaintiff and its assignors." The suit also alleges that the defendants changed the signatories on a bank account and unlawfully removed funds from that bank account.

According to the suit, Rachel Brown is currently looking for a home to share with former Astros star Jeff Bagwell, and the couple plans to marry after both their divorces are final.

“Michael Brown is the victim of a scheme, by his ex-wife and her attorney, to destroy his companies,” Brown’s attorney Mark Tate said in a press release.

According to the suit, Rachel is currently looking for a home to share with former Houston Astros star Jeff Bagwell, and the couple plans to marry after both their divorces are final. But while many would assume this gives her less reason to take action against a violent ex-husband, according to the complaint the relationship is her "motivation" for participating in the conspiracy.

"Rachel Brown profits from the Plaintiffs [sic] devaluation as it would cripple her estranged husband’s ability to contest her inhumane activities," the suit states.

While filing one lawsuit, Brown also petitioned to have another dismissed. Michael Brown responded to the suit against him by an ex-girlfriend in New York for allegedly giving her vaginal and anal herpes and lying about it.

Though the lawsuit was filed under an alias, Brown counters in this press release that there is no merit to her claims and legal basis for his accuser to remain anonymous, adding "plaintiffs apparent concern over the 'sensitive, personal and embarrassing nature' of the allegations involved did not prevent her from filing the Summons and Complaint using defendant's legal name." Then, Brown outs the woman's real name in the press release.

Is it possible that Michael Brown doesn't realize that nothing "devalues" his company more than continued news of his exploits in the press?

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Stretching the budget

A $100,000 salary in 2026 goes further in Houston than it did last year

Photo by Leo Yao on Unsplash

$100,000 stretches a little further in 2026.

A 2026 income study has good news for big earners in Houston: A six-figure salary goes further than it did last year.

A Houston resident's $100,000 salary is worth $84,840 after taxes and adjusted for the local cost of living, according to the new financial analysis from SmartAsset. That's about $1,500 more than Houstonians were bringing home last year.

The 2026 take-home pay is about eight percent higher than it was in 2024, when the same salary had an adjusted value of $78,089.

SmartAsset used its paycheck calculator to apply federal, state and local taxes to an annual salary of $100,000 in 69 of the largest American cities. The figure was then adjusted for the local cost of living (which included average costs for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, and miscellaneous goods and services). Cities were then ranked based on where a six-figure salary is worth the least after applicable taxes and cost of living adjustments.

Houston ranked No. 60 in the overall ranking of U.S. cities where $100,000 is worth the least. If the rankings were flipped and the cities were ranked based on where $100,000 goes the furthest, that places Houston in the No. 10 spot nationwide.

Manhattan, New York remains the No. 1 city where a six-figure salary is worth the least. A Manhattan resident's take-home pay is only worth $29,420 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living, which is 3.10 percent lower than it was in 2025.

SmartAsset determined Manhattan has a 29.7 percent effective tax rate on six-figure salaries. Meanwhile, the effective tax rate on a $100,000 salary in Texas (based on the eight cities examined in the report) is 21.1 percent. It's worth highlighting that New York implements a statewide graduated-rate income tax from 4-10.90 percent, whereas Texas is one of only eight states that don't tax residents' income.

Oklahoma City, No. 69, is the U.S. city in the report where a $100,000 salary stretches the furthest. A six-figure salary is worth $91,868 in 2026, up from $89,989 last year.

This is the post-tax value of a $100,000 salary in other Texas cities, and their ranking in the report:

Plano (No. 27): $72,653
Dallas (No. 47): $80,103
Austin (No. 53): $82,446
Lubbock (No. 59): $84,567
San Antonio (No. 62): $86,419
El Paso (No. 67): $90,276
Corpus Christi (No. 68): $91,110

According to the report, getting some "financial breathing room" by making six-figures really depends on where someone lives and what their lifestyle is. For residents living in the 42 states that levy some amount of income tax, their take-home pay dwindles further.

"And depending on how taxes are filed, reaching a $100,000 income may push a household from the 22 percent to 24 percent marginal tax bracket," the report's author wrote. "Meanwhile, locations with high costs across housing and everyday essentials may be less forgiving to a $100,000 income."

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