This Week's Hot Headlines

Houston's new water park and where to eat now make a splash as this week's top stories

Grand Texas Big Rivers waterpark large rendering

Grand Texas Big Rivers water park opens this summer.

Rendering courtesy of ABC13

Editor's note: It's time to recap the top stories on CultureMap from this past week.

1. Get ready to dive into a new Houston-area water park this summer. It's been a long time coming, but the Big Rivers Waterpark and Gator Bayou Adventure Park attractions at Grand Texas will finally open in June.

2. Where to eat in Houston right now: 10 new restaurants spring to top of April's must-try list. Feges BBQ, Fig & Olive, and Rodeo Goat lead our picks of this month's best new restaurants.

3. Hot Houston spots serve up seconds in the suburbs, plus more restaurant news. This dining news roundup includes new locations for two popular restaurants and an intriguing new concept coming to downtown this summer.

4. Wealthy Texas family throws another epic $4 million birthday bash. The details of San Antonio attorney Thomas J. Henry's lavish 56th birthday party in Miami read like a Stefon bit.

5. New Zealand nonstop flight launches Houstonians on an unforgettable journey. Ken Hoffman offers travel trips from his recent excursion to the land of Lord of the Rings.

hot-headlines

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”