little frau

Telwink, RDG and Backstreet Cafe were on the "CBS Sunday Morning" show today.

We need to fight for a place at the counting table, especially since a card not returned counts as a vote for the District. I'm not saying anyone at the City is dishonest, but I can see someone forgetting a stack of vote cards while transfering them from one area to another. We need to make sure that every vote card is counted, and that every returned card is accounted for. If someone has a questions as to whether their card was counted the City should be able to say "Yes, a card was recieved from XXX Arlington St and that vote was For/Against the Ordinance". It would be easym cheap and fair, but it's going to take a fight to get it so we should start making noise about it soon.

I do not live in any of the current historic districts but I have been following this discussion

with keen interest. I suspect that my little neighborhood is on miz mayor's list for future nominations.

When the matter of returning these cards in order to vote first came up here, my initial thought was "who will do the counting?"

I know my opinion doesn't count in this but I believe SCD is right, there should be someone to protect your interests or maybe even a completely neutral third party should be counting the votes. At this point I would not be inclined to trust anyone at city level who is connected to the historic districts.

We had a phone in the mid 50's but I have absolutely no memory of those earliest covers. Maybe I just didn't notice things like that then, I certainly had no reason to use the yellow pages either.

But, as to the Norman Baxter covers, I do remember those and there is another more recent thread around here about his artwork. I posted to that thread and I'll also post here that recently I attended a function in a community called High Hill which is near Schulenburg TX. The shindig was held at the church hall next door to the beautiful St. Mary's Catholic Church which is one of the Painted Churches of Fayette County.

Anyway, as I was standing in line to use the "facilities", right there on the wall next to me was a huge black and white (pen and ink?) drawing. It was about 48" tall and 36" wide and looked as if it was done with a black marker, the lines were that broad. There was no date that I could find but it was signed Norm Baxter in the lower right corner. In the lower left corner was written, or printed, "Salt Grass Trail" (or something like that). Then under that was "Addicks Camp". It was clearly a cowboy camp with horses, campfires and everything. I thought perhaps it was done in connection with the Houston Livestock Show.

The big question I had was, how in the world did it get to this small Catholic Community? The other items on the walls are mostly historic photos of past priests, the original church, etc.

Don't worry. The new Walmart development will be filled with "chef driven" restaurants.

Must you do this to every thread?

AW....

This may not reach you but wanted to add that this past weekend I was attending a function near Schulenburg Tx, a little community called High Hill. There is a beautiful old Catholic church there which is one of the "painted churches of Fayette County" and next door is the church reception hall. It was in that hall that I saw a Norm Baxter. It is huge, about 36"w x 48"h and looked as if it was done with a black marker. The title was "Salt Grass Trail" and underneath that "Addicks Camp". I would think it had something to do with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the trail rides. I did search for a date but was unable to find one. The signature was on the right side of the drawing and the title was on the left.

It seems a bit strange that it would be in a church reception hall which is full of old photos of past Priests, church icons and other pictures that pertain to that area and the people in the community. It is an old mostly German settlement which recently celebrated it's 150th anniversary.

I HATE this location. Carnegie Vanguard is an excellent school and its current location is terrible but this thing should have been built in either midtown or downtown adjacent (near the Dynamo Stadium?) to take advantage of better transit access to ALL kids. Additionally, the area where this is going up is zoned to Lamar High School which is already one of the best public schools in the area (not just within HISD).

Quickly looking at the CV website, it calls itself the only ALL gifted/talented high school in Houston. That puts it in the same category as HSHP and HSPVA which I believe are classified as magnets. They have no zoned students so public transit does not matter. All those students are eligible for HISD bus transportation. Entrance exams must be taken by the students, it's not just a matter of standardized tests as both Health Professions and PVA have their own requirements and according to the CV site, they will have an entrance exam too. Students accepted will also have bus transportation furnished.

Of course, things may have changed since I last dealt with HISD and their magnet programs.

Does anyone know what was on that block of land before HISD acquired it?

I lived 2 or 3 blocks off of Gray back in the early 70's but I have no idea what used to be in this location.

And most of the 8-10 comments I read were calling the author out on all the inaccuracies.

I don't read the Press either. Is this the same paper from back in the 60's, resurrected?

(...American Board of Ophthalmology? Aborigines? Me no understand.)

Yeah, what you said. Glad you asked that one.

Sorry, I can't help with your quest but absolutely loved those phone book covers. It was such fun searching for all the landmarks, cats, dogs and space ships. No one wanted to draw a circle around each "find" because we didn't want to destroy the artwork so it became a never ending game.

Looking up a phone number often took much longer than necessary simply because of those covers!!

Good luck with your search.

Yes, it was so many words without really saying much.

At least he did read your email, or more likely a part of it. And, he does note that a lot of people have concerns about the issue.

The District I member, James Rodriguez, didn't even do that.

I wrote to every single council member and received only one response, which was a canned response in favor of the ordinance. I did get several automated, thanks for writing emails....but I got only one real response, and that one response did not attempt to address the issues I raised, it only said that the issue was being studied.

I wrote to mine, no answer. Waited 2 weeks and sent a follow up. That was over a week ago. Still no answer. I will be calling his office next.

I didn't even get a thanks for writing response.

I completely agree - hell, I live on the SE side in a "depressed" neighborhood compared to much of the greater Heights and I'm right there with the opposition..

I'm probably in your same neighborhood and I'm in favor.......so yes, all walks of life.

Of course, I'm retired and on a fixed income. HEB simply does not carry all the things I like in groceries. Walmart doesn't either, but they do have more of those items than HEB. Plus, Walmart will match any other grocery store ad price for the same product. Steaks, grapes or bread, etc.

Big problem with many grocery chains now is that they seem to carry more and more house brands and less national brands.

Although the Heights has been at the center of this debate, what concerns me most is that tyrannical NIMBY minorities throughout the City that will have been empowered by this ordinance will be able to effectively block out the entire inner city, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Think the North Side is still going to be an alternate for investment? Think again. Until there is some sort of limit as to the geographic influence of HAHC, I'd be hesitant to invest anywhere in the inner city that might be regarded by anybody as potentially 'historic'.

Having lived in the East End for 25+ years, this is exactly my concern.

There's a precedent for that.

Is that the one that was behind Almeda Mall? A real strange building, at least on the outside.

Yes there was. In the same strip as Hungry Farmer. I don't recall Shakey's though. That Alfie's location lasted up until the early 90's.

That Shakey's on Crosstimbers was there in the very late 60's. Don't know how long it lasted.

There was a guy who worked there who was also a professional clown. I think he was asst. manager. My roommates and I were going to a costume party one Halloween and since we always flirted with him when we ate there, he volunteered to do one of the gals' makeup for the party. She rented the clown outfit at Houston Costume Co. when it was on the lower end of Main Street in a walkup over a shop. I rented a purple, flimsy almost diaphanous Greek gown sort of thing. Fun party.

The development of Sawyer Heights required changes to the street grid. Nobody complained then.

I wondered about that. And, did Target get any tax breaks?

Early on here, the pro folks were talking about the blight left in the wake of a Walmart closing one of their stores. Target has done the same thing. Consider the location at 610 & S. Wayside. There was a nice large Target there which always seemed to be very busy. It was much closer than driving to Almeda Target and I never cared too much for the nearby KMart.

The 610 Target seemed to close abruptly. There were no blogs back then and store closings didn't make the news. Besides, it was only one store, not the entire chain.

That location remained vacant for what felt like years but in reality probably wasn't. I don't want to take the time to look up the year but enter Auchan and their massive remodel. Oops, they didn't last either. Of course, it was a good place to have for the staging area for FEMA following Katrina and the influx of evacuees from coastal Louisiana.

There are other "blights" dotting all of Houston as a result of store closings. All kinds of stores. Not just WalMart.

It's difficult for me to feel sorry for the folks in the Heights if they do get this Walmart built. That location might be a little closer for me than having to drive to Almeda to get the dairy items that I like (which HEB and Fiesta don't carry) but most likely, I'll not be shopping at the Yale Walmart.

Doubtless, the link to this poll has been crossposted on the anti-Walmart-in-the-Heights Facebook fan club page. All this righteous indignation coming to HAIF to express itself will be good for editor. Hopefully anybody who has something burning within themselves that needs to be said on the subject will read the 600+ posts already written on the topic first before posting.

You are correct, someone has crossposted this site with the stop walmart FB site. They think this site "needs facts" and one person asked if someone can post their "fact sheets on their site" (HAIF).

Also, in reading some of the posts, they don't appreciate anyone showing any opposition to their opposition but then, it is their FB page and they are the antis so I guess they can pick and choose their playmates.

The possibility that anyone posting over there would take the time to read 13 pages of ANYTHING is, in my opinion, remote.

I would ask why that small bungalow next to you was left to decay. Was it because the owners could not afford to make repairs that would satisfy the HAHC?

I remember the one on Westheimer. We lived in a little garage apartment at Fairview and Park. Very late 60's.

It's funny how some things are remembered and other things are easily forgotten.

I have no idea if they were good or not. File that under the 'forgotten' heading.

Jack in the Box was popular with my crowd back then. We'd go there most of the time. Cheap burgers with secret sauce!!

There is a homeowner in my neighborhood who is having an outbuilding built, like a little cottage behind the house. There is no permit for it, according to the COH permits web site.

Would one of these 20 inspectors be interested in this?? The homeowner is well aware of the requirements, having run into problems in the past with putting up a new structure. This particular home has an unusually large lot for the neighborhood.

Or, are certain sized buildings exempt from permitting?

Also, in my original question, I was talking about changing the outside paint color. Is there a permit required for this?

So what happens if someone in one of these districts does NOT get the certificate and instead, just goes ahead and paints their house whatever color they want?

If it's not an approved color, and the HAHC does not like it, then who pays to have it repainted??

Actually, according to the Houston Heights web site, boundaries are:

I-10/610/N.Main-Studewood/N.Shepherd

Also, the area "along Heights Blvd. that extends to Washington"

The small Pearland WalMart, on Hwy 35, took over the newer, larger failed K-Mart location right across the street from them.

Then, the Pearland ISD acquired the old small WalMart location.

No scars there, just a reuse of the building.

Ouch! The very first apartment I ever lived in was at 219 W. Alabama. I don't think they were called Skylane at that time but might have been. At any rate, I had a little efficiency with twin 'daybeds' which served as living room during the day and bedroom at night. Small kitchen, under counter fridge and two burner stove. Bathroom and closet. Still, the apartments were about 10 years old then (about 1966) and rented for $99 month furnished and all bills paid. I worked at Gulf Oil downtown and could almost roll out of bed and to the bus stop.

Of course, there was no Spur 527 then and if memory serves me, Travis ended about there and fed onto 59 south.

They were actually pretty nice back then and suited me.