This film from KHOU-TV Channel 11 in Houston contains a series of short news segments that would have aired as highlights to news stories. Many are silent and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast. The titles for each segment are the originals created by KHOU-TV. The clips on this reel all date from April 12 to 18, 1966. This series includes news segments about flooding of Greens Bayou and Cypress Creek and and a fire at the Clear Lake Yacht Basin in El Lago. Also included are interviews with two candidates in the 1966 congressional election: Frank Briscoe and John Wildenthal.
The digital preservation of this collection was made possible by a grant to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and the Houston Public Library from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Called “perhaps the most popular and revered news anchor the city [of Houston] has ever known” by the Houston Chronicle, Ron Stone was born in Hannah, Oklahoma on April 6, 1936. He began his career as a broadcaster in Ada, Oklahoma in the 1950s, working as a radio disc jockey and television news anchor. In 1961, Stone caught the attention of Houston newsman Dan Rather, who hired Stone as an anchor and reporter for KHOU-TV. In 1973, Stone moved to Houston’s KPRC-TV, where he worked as a news anchor for 20 years.
After retiring from television news in 1992, Stone formed his own production company, Stonefilms, Inc., with his son. In 1999, he took over hosting the regional television series The Eyes of Texas, which focused on unique people, places, and events across the state. Stone also authored several books on Texas history, including The Book of Texas Days, Disaster at Texas City, and Houston: Simply Spectacular.
Stone died of cancer on May 13, 2008.