Raj Mankad

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Raj Mankad

On its first day of operation in the Heights, Metro's Community Connector shuttle arrived at my home with a whoosh, like a whisper of wind through falling spring blossoms. Somehow boxy and curvy at the same time, the vehicle is what you'd expect if a five-passenger shuttle bus and an electric golf cart had a cartoon baby. It was adorable. Was this the future I've long awaited as a transit rider, the iPhone moment for Houston's flip-phone transit system? Maybe.

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Raj Mankad

I'm embarrassed whenever I experience pleasure over someone else's pain. But sometimes I just can't help it. Germans, of course, have a word for the phenomenon: schadenfreude. And that's exactly what I felt watching as the press interviewed Duke University's wunderkind37-year-old basketball coach, Jon Scheyer, and his top players, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, after they lost to the University of Houston Cougars in the final minutes of their Final Four matchup.

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Raj Mankad

Back in 2003, when I was marching with hundreds of other Houstonians against free trade agreements, I never imagined that in 2025, it would be a Republican president who would champion our cause by enacting tariffs. A Democratic president, Bill Clinton, pushed for the approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1990s, but it took Republicans in Congress to get it ratified. The idea that the corporate-friendly GOP would one day side with unions? Unfathomable.

Dec 1, 2024 | houstonchronicle.com | Raj Mankad

A family walks past homeless people at Bayou Place in downtown Houston on April 13, 2024.Sharon SteinmannPatric Thomas, 45, usually spends several hours in the Central Public Library in downtown Houston on July 3, 2024.Sharon SteinmannAlexa Southwick, 37, visits SEARCH Homeless Services in downtown Houston on August 26, 2024. She was given a list of shelters and completed a housing assessment. Southwick says that she has tried for months to get a bed in a Houston shelter.

Aug 21, 2024 | houstonchronicle.com | Raj Mankad

A handmade sign for Vice President Kamala Harris appears on a lawn, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Washington. She’s already broken barriers, and now Harris could soon become the first Black woman to head a major party's presidential ticket after President Joe Biden’s ended his reelection bid. The 59-year-old Harris was endorsed by Biden on Sunday, after he stepped aside amid widespread concerns about the viability of his candidacy.Jacquelyn Martin/APClockwise from top left: A Dec.