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MikeRichardson

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  1. MikeRichardson
    County Clerk wrote me back. Here is a sample ballot from the 1983 bond election. https://hctra.co/elections/Sample Ballot-September 13, 1983 Harris County Bond Election.pdf I also asked about the voter turnout: votes for and against, that sort of thing. The information isn't readily available but they said they would research it. What I would love to get my hands on: TV news reports from September 1983.
  2. MikeRichardson
    I don't know why but I can't edit posts. I just wanted to add this. The point of my site is to provide these documents and provoke discussion, and I can already see that happening. That is great! A lot of the documents you can access easily, such as recent HCTRA financials. My goal is to have a complete archive of their financials. HCTRA seems to only provide a few years. I still have dozens more documents to upload. I also want to start collecting information about Linebarger. I hope this thread has some real and healthy debate, unlike the other thread...
  3. MikeRichardson
    I live off Westheimer and the Beltway. Actually before I go into that, let me clarify real quick the names and ownership of the roads, for people that don't know. The actual toll lanes, are called Sam Houston Tollway. "HCTRA" owns these roads, except HCTRA is not an actual separate entity, it is really just a brand name and an "enterprise fund". So, Harris County owns these roads. It is important to note that these toll lanes are NOT one continuous road! Immediately before I-45 heading East, until somewhere after the airport, is a free road owned by the state. Also, several of the stacks are actually owned by the state, which is why where is a free entrance right before the ramps. The free lanes (the feeders), are called Sam Houston Parkway. They are owned by the State of Texas, and because of this, they have a numeric designation from the state: Beltway 8. If you look at the address for any business on the Beltway - let's look at the West Road Kroger, that address is 9125 W Sam Houston Pkwy N. You will never see an address for a business on the Tollway directly. I will also clarify here that no private entity has any ownership interest in any HCTRA toll road. This is one of the few "right/correct/good" things about the HCTRA system. If you want to see an example of what happens when a private entity is involved look at the Chicago Skyway. Their tolls are atrocious, some of the highest in the country. Now, like I said I live off Westheimer and the Beltway. About every weekend I drive up to see my mom, she lives off 249 and Grant Road. I used to take the tollway, and now I don't. On the weekend, the parkway/Beltway 8 is not that much slower. It costs $4.50 in tolls one way. Compared to the free lanes, and the way I drive, I would be surprised if the toll lanes save 9 minutes. One way to look at that is that I'd need to earn at least $30 an hour just to break even. Also, after I-10 was rebuilt, they very thoughtfully installed an overpass for Beltway 8, saving at least 5 minutes. Sadly, they did not do this at 290. My experience says nothing of a Monday-Friday commuter though, unfortunately that is the type of person who is proably getting soaked in monthly tolls.
  4. MikeRichardson
    Here is what I would like my signature to be. It meets all the requirements. However, I get a stupid error. The error is, "This image is larger than the maximum allowed dimensions of x 100". The image is referring to the smiley. Clearly the smiley is smaller than 100px in width or height.
  5. MikeRichardson
    https://hctra.co The primary purpose of this site right now is an information dump. I put some of my opinons on the front page, but I may remove them. The information about Texas Tag is important though - more proof that HCTRA is being run as if it were a profit seeking entity, rather than in service to the residents of Harris County. I am open to rational debate. I also accept submissions for the site. I am not opposed to the basic idea of toll roads either, but I think HCTRA has been actively abusive to their customers, and privately, I believe that one or more of these documents will reveal malfeasance. They are posted for public review as I don't have the time myself to go through them all. I know that this site is already receiving some traffic from people mistyping "hctra.com", so I have mentioned how an existing EZ TAG holder would need to go to hctra.org to service their account.
  6. MikeRichardson
    Your is on a static site. Mine is on a Google Sheet and so it could be collaborative. Also I did start mine several years ago but just didn't share it until now. The informaton is public domain; use it on your site if you like. For some reason I don't see any edit, also, you should only be able to comment unless I add you as an editor. Is Deauville Theatre related to Deauville Malls at all? Also, here are pics I took of store #35 when it was closing. http://www.mikerichardson.name/tidbits/randalls/ I also have some pics of store #22 before the partial remodel. This is an interesting store because it's in a sort of poor neighborhood but does good business.
  7. MikeRichardson
    I just remembered this fascinating Texas Monthly article about the dawn of Cable Television in Houston. https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/invasion-of-the-cable-snatchers/ Really awesome long form reporting.
  8. MikeRichardson
    Is this user some kind of bot or something? That has nothing to do with old analog cable television. Was that really on channel 1? That would be pretty rare. For some reason cable systems never used channel 1. Converter boxes would sometimes put something on channel 1 but it was not really on the actual "channel 1", by which I mean the channel with a center frequency of 75 MHz - channel 1 when you plugged the cable directly into the TV. On cable systems channel 1 is actually between channels 4 and 5. Channels 95-99 are actually right after channel 6! After channel 99, is really channel 14! I don't really know why it's done like this.
  9. MikeRichardson
    Here is an Excel spreadsheet I started several years ago and last updated in 2013, now uploaded to Google Sheets. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17uR-1xMjZAEQ6tTHY_M0olNGik0fzP3wweplL-KmPnM/edit?usp=sharing Randalls Store History (Houston Metro Area) I'd like to add editors to this sheet, anyone else interested in this sort of stuff. Looks like we could really fill in 1-10 with the information on this thread. Also, anyone can comment on the sheet without being an editor. That way one of the editors could incorporate that information. Please PM me if you want to be added as an editor, I will need your Google username (usually a gmail.com address).
  10. MikeRichardson
    My PO Box is out that way, and I always drive back past the old building. It's currently half torn down. Someone here had offered to fly a drone and get some video that way whenever it was being torn down, I don't have their info though. The laundry room still had rented laundry machines in it. Bet they're super happy about that. Also, what the hell is "2220 1/2 Westcreek Ln."? The building's address is 2220 Westcreek Lane. Always has been. Even the new buildng isn't going to be at some "1/2" address. I'd guess either 2220 or 2222. Good job letting the building rot there for, what, over 2 friggin years? You got no rent from me or anyone else. How much did all those guards cost, to protect an empty fricking building? I do not miss the traffic. You don't have a snowball's chance in hell of going anywhere at 5 PM. One Swain & Houck building remains. http://www.thegeorgianapts.com That's because they still own it. (or, their estate, or whatever, they're both dead I'm sure) Owner Name & Mailing Address: SWAIN & HOUCK 8811 WESTHEIMER RD STE 208 HOUSTON TX 77063-3617 Submit all flames to /dev/null.
  11. MikeRichardson
    Please share your booze with us, so that your posts might make a modicum of sense. I am still trying to figure out what the hell is "WB 14".
  12. MikeRichardson
    Ever since the Safeway/Albertson's merger closed there have been some really good Randalls card sales. Right now you can get 12 packs of Coke, Pepsi, DrPepper, 7 Up etc, cans, $2 each pack as long as you get 5. So $10 for 60 cans of name brand soda. That's cheaper than the damn store brand literally anywhere. It's cheaper than "Always Low Prices Walmart". And you can mix or match. They also have some "Monopoly" promotion kind of like McDonalds now? I don't know if it's any good or not but you get a bonus Monopoly ticket for every case of soda, and a lot of other stuff as well. Some of the tickets are instant win for free products. Anyway there's some good deals to be had depending on what you buy, but on any given week I am likely to hit all 3: Randalls, Kroger, and HEB.
  13. MikeRichardson
    Everyone?
  14. MikeRichardson
    Yes. There was a Kmart at FM 1960 @ Kuykendahl (later a Hobby Lobby, now it's empty/?????) that had these air vents. We didn't go there a lot, and it closed down after Kmart bought the Venture stores. But I remember it was definitely an old style Kmart, dating to the 80's or earlier. Also, there was another old style one I remember. It was off I-45 near Fry Rd. We only went there a couple of times, when Kmart was shutting down in Houston. Not sure what it is now.
  15. MikeRichardson
    The BofA on the southwest corner was originally a Citibank. I don't know how far back that goes though. That same corner was also home to an original (non-Venture) Kmart store. I would say the store dated back to at least the 80's. On the northwest corner, I know that brake or muffler shop or whatever it is, has been there since almost forever. 80's or even older.
  16. MikeRichardson
    Yeah, WTF? Why was the thread locked?
  17. MikeRichardson
    I'm just curious - where do you guys all currently live? By you guys, I mean, anyone who is excited for any of these new towers on Westcreek.
  18. MikeRichardson
    That will come in handy when it's 5 PM and you want to eat food or purchase handbags. Even eating handbags would be preferable to dealing with that shit again at 5 PM. The extra street that they (have already) put in might help to a limited degree - instead of coming off the loop and trying to make a left turn from Westheimer onto Westcreek, you could just drive down a bit more, turn right and you're home.
  19. MikeRichardson
    And of course, following the autopsy, is the estate sale. Offers are due March 25th. http://arausa.listinglab.com//Westcreek610LandSite/index.cfm
  20. MikeRichardson
    So what would you rather have? Some kind of affordable apartment in the loop, or this comparatively marginal, downright boring "redevelopment"? I'll admit there are some exciting developments on Westcreek, but it's extremely difficult to call this project - an increase from 3 to 4 stories anything other than "tepid".
  21. MikeRichardson
    They used mostly Komatsu equipment to take down Westcreek which consisted of similar 3 story buildings. This is the first time I have seen Volvo equipment in the area.
  22. MikeRichardson
    Directly west of the ROD is a convenience store (built and still owned by the same developers, Swain & Houck, as the old apartments that once lined Westcreek Lane). The store sits in the corner of a large parking lot which is used by some adjacent restaurants. Swain & Houck own the parking lot, and the restaurant land. All put together, it's at least 2 acres. ROD acquired some or all of this land, but exactly which land or how much was never really disclosed. All I can go by is the press releases and HCAD - and HCAD sometimes has downright fictitious information listed (such as the Highland Terrace land being "Vacant" while I was still living there).
  23. MikeRichardson
    http://www.houstoneb5.com/project_Westcreek.cfm The title and logo of the page say "Houston EB5". The content is basically "Westcreek". The group's past project is a downtown multifamily building. Therefore, it is a stretch to assume that the "Westcreek" project is also some type of multifamily building. It's not exactly "marketing" - perhaps that is the wrong term. But that site, along with other sites and articles I have read, seem to demonstrate some type of relationship between "EB-5" and condo towers.
  24. MikeRichardson
    Are you drunk?
  25. MikeRichardson
    Then why are these condos being marketed this way - using the term "EB-5", if they do not fit somehow into the scheme? It seems to me that the EB-5 investors could live anywhere they please as long as they met the primary requirements of the program: An investor seeking an EB-5 immigrant visa through a designated Regional Center must generally make a qualifying investment of $1,000,000 USD... Additionally, the foreign investor must demonstrate that the investment created at least 10 U.S. jobs through direct, indirect, and induced effects. I am not sure how my previous remarks constitute a "pity party", but I do admit to misunderstanding the program.
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