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PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- "American Idol" fans in the Houston area should keep their eyes peeled for Nick Connors, a Pasadena native looking to punch his ticket to Hollywood.

A true homegrown talent, Connors told ABC13 he went to Fisher Elementary, Park View Intermediate and Pasadena Memorial High School.

He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, now, but because of his voice, he has a reach that extends far beyond Music City.

On TikTok alone, he has nearly 650,000 followers and more than 3 million likes on his content, which includes Connors sharing his original music and performing covers.

But anyone who's been in Houston for at least the last decade or so might recognize him from a viral moment in 2015.

That moment is also what made former Texans star J.J. Watt one of his early followers.

Connors wowed Watt after he sang the national anthem at a Rockets game when he was 12.

"J.J. Watt was there, and he ran across the court when they were escorting me off of it, and he tapped my shoulder, and I turned around, and I had what they call a 'priceless reaction,'" Connors told ABC13. "He had tweeted about me, 'Where can I find Nick?' and I wanted to, if he ever sees this, thank him."

Could y'all help me get in contact with Nicholas? He dominated the national anthem last night. https://t.co/bcu48d4kJA

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) April 22, 2015

Connors had tonsillitis and laryngitis at the time, but that didn't stop him from receiving a high-five from Watt on the court.

WATCH: JJ Watt gives young singer surprise of his life

That wasn't Connors' first time in the spotlight as a child.

He told ABC13 that he sang the national anthem at many sporting events, including for the Texans and the Astros.

Now the young man who says he used to get in trouble for singing and dancing in pre-K is all grown up, and this Sunday, we'll see his audition in front of the "American Idol" judges.

"I just felt like whatever happened it would at least be cool to perform in front of the judges, that they would get to see who I am, especially since I've grown up listening to their music. I felt like I had a good chance of getting a golden ticket. You'll just have to see if that actually happened," Connors said.

Connors cites vocal powerhouses like Whitney Houston and Adele as inspiration. He went with the latter artist's "Easy On Me" as his audition song.

Find out if the golden ticket is his when "American Idol" airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC13.

Harris County’s Community Services Department has announced plans for its first mixed-income subdivision in an effort to replace affordable housing stock destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.

Named Orchard Place, the 54-home subdivision, off of Vista Road at Westside Drive in Pasadena, is one of the county’s four planned subdivisions in which at least half of the roughly 200 homes planned will be affordable for prospective homeowners with low and moderate incomes.

Last year, Houston announced it was developing mixed-income subdivisions to replace affordable housing lost to Harvey. In August, however, Houston city officials ended the $60 million program to develop affordable single-family housing communities using Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery money, saying they did not believe they could meet the program’s February 2025 deadline. The decision meant laying off 40 employees, ending plans to build 700 homes and ceding control over the money, which will still be spent in Houston, back to the state.

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CITY SUBDIVISIONS SCRAPPED: Unable to meet deadline, Houston ends $60M affordable housing program using Harvey funds, lays off 40

Officials note that the county’s and city’s similar Harvey recovery strategies are no coincidence. Disaster recovery money is channeled from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Texas General Land Office to counties and municipalities, and for the Harvey recovery funds, HUD issued guidelines that allowed for the new construction of single-family housing for low- and moderate-income homeowners.

Unlike Houston, Harris County officials say they are on track to meet their deadline set for December 2024. Orchard Place’s street is already in place; its stormwater detention pond and sidewalks are underway. The department is readying to request bids for builders.

The Houston area lost a lot of affordable housing to a series of floods that culminated with Hurricane Harvey, pointed out David Chang, director of single-family housing for Harris County’s Community Services Department. “We have not been able to replenish that stock — so anything the government lets us do to increase the affordable housing stock is a benefit to the people here in Houston,” he said.

At the same time, he said, “Real estate development is a unique skill,” he said. “It’s not usually one that is resident within the government.”

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Chang started his position earlier this year. He previously worked in the county treasurer’s office and was transferred to the Community Services Department because his résumé included developing affordable housing and a medical office complex.

Harris County, faced with the task of developing entire subdivisions of single-family houses and townhomes, took some time to get its program rolling. Chang said that when he arrived in January, the county had acquired land and built some of the needed infrastructure but had not yet sold a single home.

But since then, the department brought on more people with corporate real estate experience, he said. The group is working not only on building subdivisions from scratch but also on purchasing new construction homes to sell at affordable prices. So far, it has purchased 40 homes and has plans to purchase 60 more, which interested homebuyers can learn about at harrisrecovery.org. The department has already sold 15 homes, and it plans to increase its rate of home closings as construction of its new subdivisions gets underway.

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Orchard Place sits on 8.4 acres in Pasadena, and between 50 and 75 percent of its single-family houses and townhomes will be affordable for households earning 80 percent of the Houston area’s median income or below. The median income is adjusted by size, so a one-person household earning up to $49,600 would qualify, while a four-person household could make as much as $70,850.

Prices for the homes will be under $300,000, said Lori Coulter, program manager for acreage development and single-family new construction for the department. The homes will be made affordable for households earning less than 80 percent of the area’s median income through a series of tools: The sales price can be reduced by up to 45 percent, up to $35,000 in down payment assistance can be provided, interest rates can be bought down and closing costs can be covered. The affordability tools are supported by $18 million in Harvey disaster recovery funds.

Once a homebuyer purchases an affordable home, they’re expected to stay there for at least 10 years for their homebuying assistance to be fully forgiven. Those who sell before a decade will repay some of their assistance from the sale proceeds. For example, if a person who received $50,000 in assistance for their down payment, closing costs and in sales price reductions sells after five years, $25,000 of that assistance will be returned from the proceeds to the department.

Homebuyers can go to harrisrecovery.org to prequalify for a home, which will begin preselling by the end of the year as homes start construction. At that point, there will be a sales office in the subdivision, where people can stop by on weekends or make an appointment. Move-ins are projected to start in the first quarter.

Orchard Homes will offer five designs of three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom homes with garages designed by Sullivan, Henry, Oggero & Associates. The homes will all be between 1,500 and 1,900 square feet. The general contractor, Icon, has been installing infrastructure in partnership with the engineering firm EHRA. The county will soon request proposals for builders to construct the houses.

Other planned developments include a 60-home subdivision on Ella Boulevard near Westfield High School, a 47-home subdivision on Connorvale Road near Maya Park, and a 44-home subdivision in Humble on Kenswick Boulevard just north of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The Ella Boulevard and Connorvale Road subdivisions both use Harvey funds, while a portion of the Connorvale Road subdivision and the Kenswick Boulevard subdivision will use other types of HUD funding.

Chang says that while Harvey funds created this model for affordable homeownership in the county, it will continue using other funding, including money from the American Rescue Plan Act and HUD’s Entitlement Program. Going forward, the county will likely partner with groups specializing in developing affordable housing.

Coulter said she was excited to see the program come to life. “We’re trying to build generational wealth,” she said.

The lights are bright, the music is loud and the floors are pristine at the former Pasadena Town Square. But few are there to see it.

Feb 26, 2024

On the Apple Maps app, the Macroplaza Mall — formerly Pasadena Town Square and then Plaza Paseo Mall — is marked as permanently closed. That’s not entirely accurate. A few stores are still open in the otherwise empty yet eerily immaculately maintained space.

In the ’90s, I used to cut high school to hang out at this then retail hot spot, which opened in 1982. I would grab the latest Stephen King novel from Waldenbooks and look at adult novelties in Spencer’s Gifts. It wasn’t ever as glitzy as the San Jacinto Mall to its north, but it had its own charm.

As I pulled into the parking lot and headed toward the food court — surely the soul of any mall —- I saw a few cars driving leisurely through the area. They looked like fish lost after a storm surge.

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Some of the windows are boarded up, but the doors are open. I was warned by a friend, who had recently visited, to only come during the day. It is hard to believe that this place once housed Dillard's, Macy's and Sears.

The first thing to notice inside was the blaring Tejano music, whose rhythms bounced off empty storefronts like pinballs. I wondered why it was so loud in an otherwise empty mall. Walk more than 40 feet from either of the two stores providing music and you’ll see why. The intense buzzing of the light fixtures in the cavernous space is maddening. Better to cover it up with horns and love songs in Spanish.

If you want the zombie apocalypse but without those annoying zombies, Macroplaza is your jam.

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There were three stores open on a recent visit and a salon that was by appointment only. One was a random collection of gifts and snacks near the entrance that looked like a miniature flea market, and another catered to Mexican wedding dresses. Both shops were bright, vibrant and pristine, but also devoid of customers.

'I'm desperate now'

Only one store employee would talk to me about the mall. Nazih (he wouldn’t give a last name) is the owner of Caps and More, a boutique specializing in athletic wear and hats. An older man with a long beard and nervous energy, he almost sprinted when he saw me entering. Caps and More is modern, well-stocked and very affordable, but that day it was empty. I asked him why he stayed.

“I keep hoping that the mall will come back to life, back to business,” he said. “I’ve been here for 15 years. Moving is not an easy step for me. I’m worried if I go out then I cannot make it. I’m desperate now. (Mall management) keeps saying that soon something will come and change, so I don’t move. I don’t want to lose the space I have, but I’m not making money. It’s hard, man. Every month I say, ‘next month.'”

Only about a third of the building is accessible to the public. A white wooden wall blocks access to the abandoned part of the mall, with the top of the playground equipment peeking just over the barrier. That’s not to say there’s nothing for kids. The available space probably has more coin-operated children’s rides per square foot of anywhere in the city. The nearby gumballs in the machines look worse than the machines themselves, which are dust free and well-polished.

That was the eeriest thing about the mall. It looked almost brand new. The plants are all thriving, the floor is pristine and the bathrooms sparkle cleanly. Aside from the empty storefronts, you have to look hard for signs of entropy.

Above the food court, the clock stopped at 7:46 one day and no one has bothered to fix it. Through the window of a children’s party hall area, a cardboard cutout of Cinderella is slowly falling apart over scattered and unread mail, but that’s pretty much it when it comes to being decrepit.

Oddly, the mall looks more like it’s getting ready to be born than die. All the restaurants still have their menus up and their trays ready for hot food. Even the Palais Royal department store gleams like a comeback is right around the corner. It’s truly a space out of time.

I talked a bit with my friend Bryan Fuqua, who explored the mall around Black Friday and noticed its emptiness. He collects footage of dying malls, hoping to upload it to YouTube later.

“I unfortunately never did see Pasadena Town Square in its good days,” he told me. “The first time I visited was around 2004, and even then, it was pretty vacant, but nothing like it is now. It at least had all four anchors open. … It’s so fascinating in a sad way to see the remnants of such a large, intricate building that was once teeming with life, but is now gasping for air, if not just waiting for the inevitable. Getting to visit a struggling mall is like seeing a place’s life story before it’s likely erased for good.”

Back to the future?

But the Macroplaza’s story may not be over. Clearly, the owner — John Quinlan, who could not be reached for comment, purchased it around five years ago — is spending money on upkeep, though no one answered the mall office door. Certainly, the pandemic was hard on malls, which were already struggling thanks to online shopping. But, in the before times (2019), there was a plan to market the mall to Latino consumers and be home to as many as 300 stores. Clearly, that never happened.

The city of Pasadena seems at least somewhat optimistic. Christina Womack, president of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, says it has been including the mall in redevelopment plans since 2018, though a new form would likely look far different than a traditional mall.

“There are many other communities that have seen success with reimagined space in their existing malls, and we believe Pasadena is no different,” she said in an emailed statement. “Previous studies have shown that a mixed-use facility that unites business, retail, education, residential and quality of life spaces together in one development project would have the greatest success. We value learning from other communities’ success and are hopeful for action towards redevelopment with the right partners to benefit Pasadena businesses and residents long term.”

Meanwhile, the city government is a little vaguer. Laura Branch Mireles, communications and marketing manager for the city of Pasadena, said in an email that it would be unhelpful to speculate on the mall’s future at this time. There seems to be some conflict between business interests about whether the mall is a good thing or a bad thing in 2024.

“Generally speaking, in an effort to encourage economic development, city staff have and will continue to be open to discussing how we can best work with businesses so they thrive in Pasadena,” said Mireles. “However, this effort must be weighed against the needs and desires of key stakeholders. This balancing test is case specific and usually difficult to determine. Regardless, Mayor Wagner and City Council are prepared and stand committed to making these kinds of challenging decisions.”

As I was walking out, Nazih caught up with me one last time. He told me that he’d made up his mind that if things didn’t look up by the end of January, he was leaving. If he does, the mall will be down to two regularly open stores, and that much closer to death.

When I called him the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, he said that he was actively looking for new space, though he hasn’t found any yet.

“Yes, I’m still here,” he said. “It’s still hard.”

PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- Neighbors in one Pasadena neighborhood say there's a rat infestation.

Videos sent to Eyewitness News show multiple rodents roaming on the home and in the backyard of one neighbor. ABC13 was told by several surrounding neighbors that they've had to buy rat poison to prevent them from coming into their property. Others have said dead rats have been found in their yards.

Some neighbors said an 82-year-old homeowner has made the rats his pets, but he tells ABC13 that's just simply not the case.

So how did the rats get there in the first place, and why are they staying? Well, that seems to be a part of the mystery.

"Come at 9 o'clock at night, and you can watch the rat show," neighbor Brenda King said, telling ABC13 a red, two-story home on Thistledown Drive has a big rat problem. "Never in my life have I seen anything like this."

Several videos show a pack of rats in trees and others roaming on the neighbors' roof. Some neighbors believe the 82-year-old man is providing water and food for the rodents to keep them around.

"I don't feed the rats. My wife doesn't like rats at all. Nobody wants to feed the rats," that homeowner, Vichien Kittiwanich, said.

He said he's lived in his home with his wife for the last 44 years. He insisted he's never had this kind of problem and wishes his neighbors would've helped him instead of calling the health department and the media.

Neighbors said the stench and flies are a problem. According to them, this is an ongoing issue, and they fear this can't be healthy for the homeowners and everyone near them.

Kittiwanich calls himself an animal lover and owns 25 cats. He said he and his wife never had children and the cats are their family. He adds the cats and rats just simply don't mix and is adamant he's not keeping the rats as pets. He doesn't want them there either and wants the removal of the rodents to be humane.

"He said he doesn't want to kill them, but we don't want to live with them," King said.

On Tuesday, the City of Pasadena Health Department told Kittiwanich he must get a pest control inspection and treatment within 72 hours.

"Actually (I) have an agreement that they would come by (Wednesday)," Kittiwanich said.

The City of Pasadena told ABC13 he has until Monday to show significant progress in mitigating the rat infestation. It adds that the city is preparing their next steps if he does not comply.

He's also on the hook for his more than two dozen cats. He was told 21 of them will need to be adopted out and is in talks with animal control to help him.

The City of Pasadena provided this statement

"Representatives from our Health and Animal Control departments had a lengthy meeting this afternoon with the elderly homeowner of 3935 Thistledown. Compliance issues were discussed.

Based on the City code of ordinances, the homeowner has until Monday to show significant progress in mitigating the rat infestation.

In the interim, the city is preparing our next steps for an abatement process, should he not comply by Monday."

Emily Aust admitted to using drugs -- including meth, weed and Xanax -- when the children were injured.

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HOUSTON — A Houston-area woman was sentenced to decades in prison for her role in the abuse of her two children.

Emily Aust, 30, her and boyfriend at the time of her arrest, Austin Reid, 25, were arrested in 2020 when investigators were able to unravel the lies they told about what happened to Aust's two kids.

"Texas laws give the same range of punishment for an abuser and for cases like this where a parent consciously and repeatedly puts a child in harm’s way by leaving them with an abuser," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "This was not a one-time mistake or some awful accident, this was a pattern of intentional abuse. The children in our community deserve better."

Aust pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse last year. Last week, a judge issued her sentence of 40 years for both charges. Reid also pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Toddler beaten to death

Lucas, 2, was taken to Texas Children's Hospital on May 19, 2019, after the child had been left alone with Reid.

Reid told investigators the boy drowned while playing in the tub.

Investigators examined Lucas' body and found multiple injuries, including bruises and cigarette burns, consistent with prolonged child abuse. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Infant beaten

At the time of Lucas' death, Aust was pregnant with Reid's son, who was born in late December.

Five weeks after the child's birth, Reid took him to the hospital with a dislocated elbow. Doctors determined that the newborn also had a brain bleed and other head trauma. They said it was from being violently shaken.

The child was taken away from Aust and Reid.

Drugs

Aust admitted to using drugs -- including meth, weed and Xanax -- when the children were injured. She said her drug use and drinking got even worse after Lucas' death.

"All of this happened because she allowed it to happen by ignoring the constant signs of child abuse, including the death of her first child," Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle said. "If authorities hadn’t taken away the baby, he likely would have suffered the same fate because nothing changed and nothing was going to change."

When they searched the apartment where the abuse took place, investigators found spoons with white powder, lighters and packs of synthetic marijuana.

Prison time

Aust's sentences will run concurrently. She can't appeal the conviction or the punishment and she has to serve at least half the time before she's eligible for parole.