The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
For this week’s edition of Cut In, featuring new releases from Texas artists, writer Lyndsay Knecht introduces us to the band Young Mammals. They’ve been a mainstay in Houston for 12 years – but the “young” still fits:
“Carlos Sanchez has been after the perfectly tossed-off, crowd-pleasing hook since he was 17,” Knecht says. “He’s now 29 and he plays with the same guys he did then – his brother Jose, who plays bass – drummer Justin Terrell and guitarist Cley Miller. Young Mammals have chased that elusive pop sound together, through all the changes of their late teens and 20s.”
Knecht says the song “I’m Sleeping” from their new record is “fizzy, catchy guitar-pop that never gets bored with itself.”
“This is the band’s sixth release with collaborating producer Steve Christensen,” she says. “[They are] a tight-knit crew who’s always ready with something to teach about their city, throwing reference to Houston-based experimental punk band Culturcide in the album art for the record, called ‘Jaguar.’”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out two initiatives for law enforcement on Wednesday – and he made his priorities clear.
“We have to obviously improve policing in every way we can so we have a great relationship with all the communities we serve, but first and foremost, we have to protect the lives of police officers,” he said.
To that end, he’s asking the Texas Senate for up to $20 million to buy new bulletproof vests for all patrol officers in the state – the vests would be able to block high-powered rifle rounds. Patrick also wants the spouses of officers who died in the line of duty to be exempt from property taxes unless they remarry.
Dayton, Texas, has seen two massive gators in two months. In September, a hunter killed a 13-foot, 8-and-a-half-inch alligator on Day Lake. On Wednesday, the co-owners of an alligator and reptile rescue facility in Beaumont called Gator Country caught a 13-foot, 8-inch gator in Champion Lake.
Gary Saurage and Arlie Hammonds had been asked to come to the lake in Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge to fish out some gators. The critters were getting a little too close to people for comfort.
Local NBC reporter Troy Kless was there right after they captured the gator, who was tied up and laying on an 18-foot trailer.
The gator is thought to be the biggest ever captured alive in Texas. Saurage wrote on Facebook that he sought a gator this big his entire career, saying: “Y’all might not get it but this is the pinnacle for me.”
