Tassel Rassle

H-E-B and Maren Morris bring pomp to pandemic with virtual graduation for Texas seniors

Maren Morris is here to help new grads celebrate.

Update: On May 18, H-E-B confirmed that Maren Morris will be Wednesday's special musical guest.

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Once again proving that everything really is bigger and better in the Lone Star State, H-E-B will host a "Texas-sized" virtual graduation for the state's high school and college seniors.

On Wednesday, May 20, the beloved Texas grocer will host H-E-B Live on YouTube, a special celebration for the students whose graduations have been canceled due to COVID-19. The program kicks off at 7 pm and includes messages from famous Texans and features a musical performance from a surprise artist.

The program also serves as a sweepstakes for new grads to take part in #HEBGraduation, a social media contest to win one of 200 H-E-B gift cards worth $500 each.

To enter, a high school or college senior should share a photo or video on Twitter or Instagram about how they are celebrating graduation along with the hashtag #HEBGraduation. H-E-B will then feature some of entries during the H-E-B Live graduation celebration and also enter those who use the hashtag in the contest to win a gift card.

The sweepstakes will end on Thursday, May 21, at 11:59 pm. H-E-B Live will be streamed on YouTube beginning at 7 pm on May 20.

The graduation ceremony is just the latest way the grocery giant has engaged with customers throughout the current global health crisis. Over the past two months, H-E-B has found innovative ways to engage consumers, such as offering two-hour grocery delivery through the Favor app, a delivery service it purchased in 2018.

Its almost prescient reaction to the crisis was even the subject of a Texas Monthly article that had some calling for H-E-B to run the government. (Bummer the Dallas-Fort Worth area has so few H-E-B stores.)

It hasn't been a seamless experience, however. In early May, H-E-B was named among other supermarkets chains in a lawsuit alleging price gouging during the pandemic. In a statement to USA Today, H-E-B dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless."

colleges supermarkets

Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates pilfer nearly $2B worth of Texas packages, study shows

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

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’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

holidays porch pirates crime

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Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates pilfer nearly $2B worth of Texas packages, study shows