Matt Zdun

3 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Marissa Luck |Matt Zdun

The bright lights of Bahama Mama’s flagship store along Lower Westheimer turned on a year ago, welcoming passersby into a hemp shop unlike anything else in Houston. A red carpet rolled into a mirrored showroom stocked with nearly every type of legal hemp product and accessory imaginable. A Las Vegas-like mix of color, chrome and cannabis culture gave the 5,000-square-foot boutique an Instagram-ready vibe. The bold design reflected Bahama Mama’s even bolder real estate strategy.

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Megan Kimble |Matt Zdun

Putting the TAA’s contributions into contextNearly 300 state lawmakers or those seeking those offices received about $2.7 million from TAA and its affiliates over the past decade. To put that number in perspective, Hearst identified what other state political committees have given sizable sums to these same lawmakers and office seekers. TAA and its affiliates have not given the most.

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Matt Zdun

CreditsReporting and data by Matt Zdun. Editing by Allie Morris. Originally published on April 17, 2025Powered by the Hearst Newspapers DevHub.

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Matt Zdun |Evan MacDonald

We're also tracking counties with the highest nonmedical vaccine exemption rates among school-aged children, which experts say increases the risk for an outbreak. The epicenter of the current measles outbreak, Gaines County, also has the highest share of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who received vaccine exemptions for religious and other nonmedical reasons over the past four school years.

2 months ago | houstonchronicle.com | Rebecca Schuetz |Yilun Cheng |Matt Zdun

The public agency says it accomplished this monumental task by exempting apartment complexes from property taxes in exchange for making some units affordable. In Houston, there are over a hundred of these deals, all created under a state program called Public Facility Corporations. The program allows apartment developers to receive 100% property tax breaks in exchange for marking some units as "affordable."But are these good deals, and for whom?