Fireworks

How Houston stacks up to the best places to celebrate the Fourth of July

WalletHub released its list of 2017's Best and Worst Places to Celebrate Fourth of July.

WalletHub shines the light on Independence Day celebrations across the U.S., ranking the 100 largest cities as 2017's Best and Worst Places to Celebrate Fourth of July based on how well they balance holiday cost and fun.

Using 18 key metrics, taking into account stats like average beer and wine prices, duration of fireworks shows, and the July 4th weather forecast, the personal finance website’s data team ranks Houstonin the middle of the pack as the 51st best city to fete the star-spangled holiday.

Houston ranks well on Affordability (No. 6) and Celebrations (No. 20), but is dragged down by low rankings in Attractions & Activities (No. 72), Safety & Accessibility (No. 68), and Weather (No. 83).

Dallas ranks tops in the state at No. 41, with relatively high rankings on Affordability (No. 11) and Celebrations (No. 18), while Austin comes in at No. 48, with above average rankings in Celebrations (No. 20), Affordability (No. 39) and Weather (No. 44).

Among Dallas suburbs, Plano comes in at No. 52, Arlington is No. 75, and Irving trails at No. 80.

Other Texas cities include San Antonio at No. 59 and Fort Worth at a measly No. 81. Be especially careful if you're driving in San Antonio or Lubbock, as both cities rank in the bottom 5 in the category of the most DUI-related fatalities per capita.

On average, Americans spend $7.15 billion on Fourth of July activities, with more than $1.6 billion on beer and $800 million on fireworks. A record 44.2 million people are expected to travel 50 plus miles from home over the holiday weekend.

So where should you be when the fireworks go off? According to WalletHub's report, Atlanta is the best city to celebrate our nation's birthday followed by San Francisco and Buffalo, New York, respectively. For the full list, click here.

holidays

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.”