Happy Friday, Houston! It looks like we’re in for a beautiful weekend of weather, which is great news for the Bayou City Art Festival. The 50th anniversary event is held today through Sunday in Memorial Park, just ahead of the opening of the first set of tunnels on Memorial Drive.
This weekend’s weather also is a welcome change after severe storms tore through Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma earlier this week. KHOU 11 has more info about relief efforts underway.
Here are five more things to know today.
• Congrats to the University of Houston for moving on in the NCAA tournament. The Cougars beat the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats 72-60 in last night’s Sweet 16 game. To make things even sweeter for UH, Gallery Furniture owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale purchased 100 tickets so students from Houston could attend last night’s game in San Antonio, Click2Houston.com reports. Last year, McIngvale chartered a plane to Indianapolis for UH students, and he plans to do so again (possibly by bus rather than plane) if the Cougars make it to the Final Four in New Orleans. Before that, however, UH will face No. 2 Villanova in the Elite Eight round tomorrow just after 5 p.m. In other sports news, the Associated Press reports WNBA star and Houston native Brittney Griner is in “good condition,” according to U.S. officials who were granted access to her while she remains detained in Russia. Her detention reportedly has been extended through mid-May. She was detained in mid-February at a Moscow airport, where officials accused her of possessing vape cartridges that allegedly contained oil from cannabis. She could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if found guilty, per the AP report posted by KHOU.
• There’s been a lot of news in the aviation world recently. A former Boeing Co. pilot was found not guilty in a criminal case related to the 737 Max flight-control system that was eventually blamed for two fatal crashes, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pilot declined to comment to the WSJ, but a juror in Fort Worth told the paper Wednesday that the jury “saw it as more a corporate and regulatory failure of communication” than the pilot intentionally deceiving the FAA. Closer to home, Texas Southern University aims to help address the national pilot shortage. Earlier this month, TSU’s Aviation Science and Technology program and United Airlines announced a partnership, which includes a scholarship and mentorship opportunities.
• Also this month, American Airlines said it will resume alcohol sales on April 18, making it the last major carrier to do so. That also marks the day the current federal mask mandate expires. Industry group Airlines for America’s board of directors sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday urging the lifting of the mandate as well as predeparture Covid-19 testing requirements for international travelers. But even if you can once again enjoy alcohol on flights and soon go mask-free, there’s still airfare sticker shock to deal with. A recent Business Journals analysis examines the factors behind the soaring prices, including fluctuating supply and demand as well as surging gas prices.
• When it comes to space flight, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX get a lot of attention for their private missions, but Houston-based Axiom Space is gearing up for one as well. The Orlando Business Journal reports that Axiom organized an all-private crew mission to the International Space Station that will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, no earlier than April 3. The four-person crew will spend eight days on the International Space Station, doing research for hospitals and tech firms. Spots on the first mission reportedly cost $55 million each. It’s the first of four private missions Axiom Space has pledged to fly to the space station through 2023. The missions will use Dragon spacecraft developed by SpaceX.
• Speaking of Elon Musk, Tesla Inc. received approval March 22 from Travis County commissioners for a permit to host an April 7 grand opening at its electric vehicle factory, the Austin Business Journal reports. The event is expected to include “interactive tours accompanied by food and various live entertainment to celebrate the newly built and operational Giga factory,” according to Travis County documents. Tesla has not released many details, but the event could welcome up to 15,000 people — if they have a ticket or invite.
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