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Car geeks rejoice: Tesla store speeding into the Galleria

Tesla is coming to Houston.
Photo via Tesla Motors
Photo via Tesla Motors

Is there any car company in the world that inspires the feverish enthusiasm of California's Tesla? From the unveiling of the Lotus-based Roadster in 2006 there's been a waitlist to snap up the six-figure sports car. And did we mention it was the first all-electric car on the road?

Soon Texas customers (and wannabes) can check out the Roadster and the just-launched Model S sedan in person, with Tesla preparing to open a showroom inside the Galleria in the Nordstrom wing. Less like a traditional dealership and more like an art gallery or an Apple store, the colorful Tesla shops focus on interaction and display, not inventory. Along with floor models on display, there will be a design studio for customizing and pricing your own version.

"The store is designed to invite everyone — from toddlers to great-grandparents — inside to experience Tesla. You’ll never find a sign that says 'Do Not Touch.' In fact, our goal is just the opposite: we want everyone who enters the store to open the Roadster’s doors and jump right in," Tesla vice president George Blankenship writes on the company's blog.

This will be the first showroom in Texas, and Swamplot says the store will be open in the next 60 days, so holiday shoppers should have an easier time getting husbands to tag along to the mall.

What do you think of Tesla? Are you excited to check out the Houston store?

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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.”