A north Houston man charged with capital murder in the death of a 27-year-old woman last week is in custody, Houston police said Tuesday. More >

Houston star receiver Andre Johnson will play against Tennessee on Sunday after missing the last three games because of a strained left hamstring.

Coach Gary Kubiak said Johnson will be on a play count, but wasn’t sure how many. Johnson has played only six games this season after missing six straight with a right hamstring injury that required surgery.

“It was all depending on how the week went and everything went fine this past week, so I’ll be able to go out and play a little bit on Sunday,” Johnson said.

Peter Houston praised his Dundee United side and their hosts St Mirren for serving up “a brilliant match” in their 2-2 Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League draw – but still thought the game could easily have been postponed due to the stormy conditions.

The two teams exchanged a flurry of four goals in eight minutes in the wind and rain in Paisley, with Steven Thompson and, spectacularly, Graham Carey twice putting the home side in front, only to be pulled back by rapid goals from Jon Daly and Stuart Armstrong.

In the eight years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may not criminalize private homosexual conduct, courts and legislatures across the country have struggled to define gay rights.

The debate changed for both sides after a watershed 2003 Supreme Court ruling in a case that originated in Houston. The court voted 6-3 to guarantee privacy rights for gay men and lesbians – reversing a 1986 decision that permitted states to outlaw homosexual acts, even in homes.

Tony Levine will be hired as Houston’s full-time coach on Thursday, athletic director Mack Rhoades said.

Levine will replace Kevin Sumlin, who accepted an offer to coach Texas A&M. More >

Think your city of Houston drainage fee has to be a mistake? Try the county’s bill for Reliant Park. The city assessed the county more than $400,000 a year with the fee — not a tax — that’s supposed to improve streets and drainage in Houston, something opponents argued is already part of what property taxes are supposed to go toward.

Adding insult to assessments, the city apparently thinks Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center are part of the county’s sports complex. That’s an additional $37,000.

The most recent robbery happened Friday at Capital One Bank, 3037 F.M. 1960 East in Houston. The woman was walked into the bank around 2:40pm and slid a threatening note to the teller, demanded money. More >

A military contractor has filed a lawsuit claiming negligence over 14 bomb-sniffing dogs found dead inside an unventilated truck last year as they awaited shipment to assist U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The suit filed in state district court in Houston by the dogs’ owner, American K-9 Detection Services of Lake County, Fla., seeks unspecified damages against Indian Creek Enterprises Inc. and Live Animal Transportation Services, the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/vUGgEf) reported. The contractor had previously sought compensation exceeding $1 million in trying to work out a settlement.

The Coast Guard reports receiving a call at 8:08 am Tuesday morning to report the collision of a tanker and a cargo ship in the Houston Ship Channel.

The 630-foot tanker, known as the CHARLESTON, and the 623-foot cargo ship, HARVEST MOON, collided just north of Texas City Dike. No injuries were reported and both vessels managed to anchor off the dike after the incident, sustaining only minor damage.

The Coast Guard has closed a portion of the channel, from light #28 to light #40 to investigate the incident.