Lucinda Loya and Sue Smith, named to the list for the third time, join the Hall of Fame this year. Mary Tere Perusquia, Paige Fertitta,Kelli Cohen Fein and Phyllis Williams are being honored for the second time.

The inaugural Houston Fine Art Fair found a ready audience in Texas over the weekend. The gate topped 10,500 with 3,000 attending the opening night of this new 80-dealer show. Sales of artwork were reported to be about $6 million total, according to the fair organizers.

Exhibitors from across the U.S. as well as 13 European and Latin American countries were carefully chosen to fit the Houston market. An emphasis on mid-century Latin American art, 20th century American art, and younger contemporary artists appealed to the crowds who filled the George R. Brown Convention Center from Sept. 15 to 18.

“This year’s fair established a powerful foundation on which to build,” said Fran Kaufman, Director, Houston Fine Art Fair. ”It is our goal to develop this event into one of the most respected fine art fairs in America.”

Works by such artists as Fernando Botero, Jasper Johns, Sarah Frost, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Sultan were among the many sales.

Haunch of Venison director Robert Goff reported selling an important 1963 drawing by Argentine conceptual artist León Ferrari, along with other major works.

“We succeeded in our goal in identifying and attracting new tiers of art lovers,” said Rick Friedman, President of the Hamptons Expo Group, the organizer of the Houston Fine Art. “Many were inspired by what they saw, and many will eventually become passionate art collectors.”

Hamptons Expo Group also organizes ArtAspen, ArtHamptons, and the San Francisco Fine Art Fair. According to a company website, a new Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, dedicated to postwar and contemporary art, is in the planning stage with a debut date of February 17 to 19, 2012, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

A total of 5,543 single-family homes were sold in August, up 30.2 percent from the 4,257 houses sold in August 2010, the association said. 

Part of the reason for the unusually large increase is the fact that August of last year was incredibly horrible for housing. Last summer, home sales plummeted after the expiration of the home buyer tax credit.

“The Houston real estate market’s vital signs appear to be quite healthy as we move from the summer buying season into the fall, but we must remain mindful that we are still comparing 2011 home sales to that period last year when transactions slowed dramatically after the tax credit expired,” said Carlos Bujosa, HAR chairman and vice president at Transwestern.

When the market was peaking in 2007 and 2007, Houston had over 7,000 single-family home sales in the months of August.

But the summer of 2011 has been impressive with notable increases in June, July and August.

And in the starter-home market, the sales increase was phenomenal. August sales of homes priced below $80,000 skyrocketed 45.4 percent, the association reported. Sales of homes that make up the luxury market—priced from $500,000 and up—jumped 22.4 percent for the month, compared to August of last year.

“We are feeling really positive,” said Cheri Fama, executive vice president of John Daugherty Realtors. “Our company has exceeded our goals and our sales are up 27 percent above last year.”

Corporate relocations have brought thousands of jobs to Houston, providing a boost to the housing market, Fama said. Houston has gained over 60,000 new jobs in the last year.

Exceptionally low interest rates – with 30-year-home loans below 5 percent – have also encouraged buying, Fama said.

The number of properties listed for sale dropped to 48,752 sales, an 11.5 percent decrease from August of last year, the Houston realty group reported.

The median price of a home sold in August was $159,000, up slightly from the $158,500 median in August of 2010. The median is the midpoint with half the homes selling for more and half for less.

It happened around 12:30 a.m. in the 9800 block of Meadowglen Lane on July 21.

Police said a 27-year-old woman was walking into her apartment when she was attacked from behind by a masked man.

The victim said the man sexually assaulted her in her home, then forced her into her vehicle.

She said they drove around for several hours before he walked her into a field near South Sam Houston Parkway West and FM 521, shot her in the shoulder and fled in her car.

Investigators released a composite sketch of the suspect Monday and were asking for the public’s help identifying him.

Police said he’s somewhere between 25 and 30 years old with a medium build. He stands 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

The suspect wore his hair in cornrows that were tied in a ponytail with beads at the back of his neck.

At the time of the assault, he was wearing a burgundy shirt and blue jeans with red and yellow letters on the leg, possibly spelling the word “love.” He was also wearing Air Jordan tennis shoes with black tops and white soles.