ICYMI: 5 Things That Mattered In Local News Last Week

HOUSTON, TX — There's never a shortage of news in the Bayou City, and last week was no exception. Things almost came to a standstill Tuesday when ice blanketed the region, forcing postponements and cancellations all over town. Though the ice storm and freakishly cold weather dominated the headlines, there were other items of interest.

Here were the top stories in Houston that mattered last week.

1. The ice storm that pelted Houston on Tuesday created power outages to tens of thousands customers, crippled the flight system with more than 1,000 cancellations out of Bush Intercontinental and cancelled schools for two days. There was also one death to hypothermia.

2. USA Gymnastics terminated its contract with the Karolyi Ranch north of Houston as its National Training Center. This comes as hundreds of gymnasts claim sexual abuse cases at the famed ranch These include recent gold medalists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.

3. Jeanette Epps was set to become the first African-American to visit the International Space Station this summer, but NASA pulled her from the mission and assigned her to the Johnson Space Center until further instruction.

4. Rice University faced backlash from a satirical ad in the student newspaper. The ad poked fun of white people and their day off for MLK Day. The paper defended its position while the university defended the paper's freedom of speech. Here's the story.

5. The City of Houston opened three new Hurricane Harvey assistance centers, bringing the total number to 12 in the city — this was to more effectively reach neighborhoods instead of one centralized place in the city.

Top image: Juvenal Perez uses a credit card to scrape ice off his windshield as the temperature continues to fall below freezing, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in Houston. Hundreds of flights have been canceled in Texas, where frigid temperatures have left runways and roads dangerously icy. Sleet and freezing rain are forecast for parts of the state. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)