The Rolling Stones return and anger over HPD shootings highlight Houston in November 1989

Scenes inside and outside the Astrodome for the Rolling Stones concert, Nov. 8, 1989. Scenes inside and outside the Astrodome for the Rolling Stones concert, Nov. 8, 1989. Photo: John Davenport, Houston Chronicle Photo: John Davenport, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 93 Caption Close The Rolling Stones return and anger over HPD shootings highlight Houston in November 1989 1 / 93 Back to Gallery

The Stones rolled into Houston, a new weekly publication hit the streets and a pair of controversial police-involved slayings inflamed the community. It was a busy November 1989 in Houston, news-wise. Here’s a bit of a breakdown of what happened.

* Who knew these fortysomethings still had it? Eight years since the band last swung through Houston, the Rolling Stones took their stadium rock act to a packed crowd at the Astrodome. When all was said and done, Chronicle music critic Rick Mitchell said 1989 will go down in history as the year when the rock ‘n’ roll world realized life began at 40. According to his article:

“At a time when so many rock dinosaurs hungrily roam the land -- the Who, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Neil Young -- the biggest, baddest aging reptile of them all feasted on a sold-out crowd in the Astrodome Wednesday.

[...]

“The set was tight enough that the energy never lagged, an impressive feat for a band of middle-aged rockers. The communal spirit in the Dome was such that in the press box, jaded yuppies danced uninhibitedly with ushers and janitors. It’s still only rock ‘n’ roll but we still like it.”

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* On the morning of Oct. 31, Ida Lee Delaney was en route to her job as a custodian at the Houston Post when she got into an altercation with three off-duty Houston police officers on the Gulf Freeway. The officers, who were riding in a private vehicle and had been out drinking heavily that night, pursued Delaney on a 13-mile chase through the city.

It ended when Delaney pulled over on the Southwest Freeway at Newcastle. A gunfight ensued and Delaney shot and wounded one of the officers, Alex Gonzales. He returned fire, killing Delaney. Gonzales was eventually convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years probation.

About two weeks after Delaney was slain, Byron Gillum, a security guard, was off-duty when HPD officer Scott Tschirhart stopped him for a traffic violation near Texas Southern University. At some point, the officer believed Gillum was reaching for a weapon and fired multiple times at him, with most shots striking Gillum in the back. An unfired weapon was found in the front seat. Tschirhart was never charged with a crime but was fired for using excessive force.

Both victims were African-American. Over the course of November and beyond, protesters would fill City Council meetings and take to the streets to urge the city to establish a civilian review panel that could investigate and discipline officers. Photos from one of those protests can be seen above.

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* Joining the Public News, the Greensheet and a myriad other free publications that could usually be found at your local Stop ‘n’ Go or Sound Warehouse was the 48-page Houston Press. The Chronicle noted its arrival on the local print journalism scene in a Nov. 10 article by Steven Long.

“Like the handful of successful alternative weeklies around the country, the Press hopes to attract readers with colorful, lively and frank stories that can’t be found in the daily competition. Publisher Chris Hearne says he has raised more than $1 million to get the new Press off the ground. He has rounded up a professional staff, rented a suite of contemporary offices on Bering Avenue and is out to disprove the dictum that Houston secondary publications rarely make money, and don’t survive."

Click through the above gallery to see more photos from November 1989.

J.R. Gonzales, a third-generation Houstonian, covers local history with an eye toward the people and events that have mostly been forgotten to time. Follow him through Bayou City History on Facebook and Twitter. He can be reached at 713-362-6163 or john.gonzales@chron.com.