I've got the black lung, Pa

Hazed and confused? Houston gets first-ever realtime smog map

In 2004, a Rice University visual arts student lined a treadmill belt with cigarette packs and attached a frightening fact in his artistic statement: "According to environmental activists, running the outer loop surrounding Rice University [a nearly three-mile path that includes a congested section of Main Street] at rush hour measured in inhaled carcinogenic particles is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes."

I don't know if that's true anymore — or if it ever was — but it certainly quantified, in a way that a hazy sunset and ozone alerts can't, Houston's very real and very dangerous problem with smog and air quality.

Based on one day's observation, the numbers are depressing but not surprising.

Now Houstonians can measure ozone levels in real-time with the Houston Clean Air Network. A collaboration between the University of Houston, Air Alliance Houston and the American Lung Association, the new website includes several sites from Lake Jackson to The Woodlands and their most recently measured ozone levels.

Users can check ozone levels before working out to help decide whether to run in the park versus at the gym, or pessimists can ruin their day by watching the sensors all go from green ("good," 0-60 ozone parts per billion) in the morning to yellow ("moderate," 60-76) orange ("warning," 76-96) and red ("unhealthy," 96-116).

Based on one day's observation, the numbers are depressing but not surprising. The outlying areas tend to have lower ozone levels than the inner city sensors, with the petrochemical-heavy Clear Lake area consistently showing the worst air quality by a small but significant margin.

It's the first real-time information about smog levels. There's also information about what ozone is, how it's created and how to limit exposure.

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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.”