gonzo1976

As of about noon today, the perimeter construction fencing was about halfway constructed.

Wednesday is apparently the day that they can officially demolish, and it also happens to be the same day city council meets to vote on the landmark status of the properties.

I suppose Weingarten can begin demolition at 12:01 a.m., right? The idea that City Council can vote on landmark status for a structure that's undergoing demolition just boggles my mind.

Didn't Channel 2 show a program called Videocity? Wasn't it from a dance club at Astroworld in the 1980s?

I liked Record Rack but there was a better record store down on Westhiemer near where that "antiques" ghetto is, the name of which escapes me.

That was Sound Exchange. It moved to 1846 Richmond. I spent a lot of money there as a teen!

Nice picture!

Here's an ad for the Rancheros at La Terraza in 1959:

Shot at 2007-07-31

That's an excellent find. Thanks!

A couple of things I'll remember about Marvin (and I'm sure I've mentioned this before):

1. I don't know for how long he had it, but he had a pretty funny business card. It was a photo business card of him and Mickey Mouse sitting at the Channel 13 anchor desk. (KTRK is owned by Disney).

2. You can't imagine the amount of buzz created when your middle school ends up on Marvin's rat and roach report. For weeks, the students were like, "Don't eat in the cafeteria. That was on Marvin's report!"

Alonzo y sus Rancheros were pretty big in this area, no doubt. They also made some records for labels like Alameda, Rio, Falcon, and Ideal.

La Terraza was actually just a revised version of the old Autotel Blue Room, which had been a live music hotspot since at least the early 1940s.

Are their records still available? I'm not sure where I could find one.

In the 1940s, there was an airport on the site of what is now Aldine High and Stovall Middle School.

That would be Gulf Coast Airport, according to my Humble Oil map from 1953.

The closest one to me was Collier Airport, off Alabonson, just north of Little York. I never visited the place, but I always wondered about it. I guess it existed up until the 1980s?

Can someone shed some light on Beeline Airport and Humble Airport? My 1964 Texaco map shows the two air strips right on the edge of what would later be IAH. I take it they didn't last very long once IAH opened?

Just wanted to add my two cents in here:

I took a tour of the 1940 terminal over at Hobby earlier this week. Pretty cool place, but it's a work in progress. I still recommend it.

Anyway, the guy giving me a tour of the place made the first landing at IAH! Great guy with probably a million stories.

I remember watching the KPRC reporter doing a live shot from Record Rack that day. Someone started acting up behind her, and as she tossed it back to the anchors, she looked back at the guy in disgust.

My great-great aunt was Ventura Alonzo, also known as also known as "la reina de la acorde

So I started building the base.

Hold it right there. Did you obtain the proper permits before beginning construction?

The first rule about Marfreless is -- you do not talk about Marfreless.

Wasn't the Petroleum Club at the top? What occupies those floors today?

is right. Letting the buildings be demolished sends an even stronger message, Peter.

I drove by the area earlier tonight (Saturday, June 30) and noticed a work trailer and some plastic construction fencing behind Black Eyed Pea. No heavy equipment yet.

actually, it's not THAT expensive to put in a CCTV system in your home. for under a grand, you can set up a couple of good and discrete cameras to a DVR that can be hidden somewhere to a home.

This is true. Heck, I think Sam's Club sells some decent cameras.

Did you leave the TV on and the lights on? This keeps burglars away.

No, though it sounds like a good idea.

Get this...these people made off with my TV dinners! TV dinners!

sorry to hear this. Sounds like you have a positive attiude though. that would sure be hard for me.

Yeah, well, it's just stuff, I suppose. Nothing broken, no one hurt. It definitely makes you rethink home security, though.

Well, the topic description says it all. Came home from work at 11:15 p.m. Friday to find out my place had been burglarized.

I figure it happened sometime between 2:45 and 8 p.m. (when my duplex neighbor arrived home). HPD figures it was at least two teens involved because they opened a window wide enough for only teens to enter.

The little dudes must have done this before. They knew what to look for. DVD players, a digital camera, DVDs, VCRs are gone. Computer equipment, my local history items and some antiques weren't stolen, though.

Anyway, just wanted this to serve as a warning for other Woodland Heights, Heights-area residents. Keep your eyes peeled!

Yes Benton was 16, I did not say she was 13.

I thought the boy she stabbed, Gabriel Granillo, was 14. I guess I wrote 13 by mistake after seeing MS-13 or something. Houstonist reported that he was 14 and so did the Chronicle.

I just looked it up:

This article says he was 14: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/4918727.html

This article says he was 15: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/4911075.html

So how old was he?

15. Earlier reports were incorrect.

Where did the FBI comment from from? That sounds strange to me seeing how Mr. Hughes was in bed with the CIA on the Glomar Explorer project to raise the sunken Russian submarine.

Hughes seemingly had been tracked by the FBI since 1943. According to "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story," the military wanted to know how Hughes was spending the money he was making off his military contracts. The book mentions that Hoover was reluctant to investigate Hughes because they both "were superpatriots, who respected each other and shared the same fear of the communist menance." But, under pressure from the Army, Hoover relented.

It looks like some of the papers are available to the public, too.

http://www.paperlessarchives.com/howard_hughes.html

Does anyone know where some photos from his funeral are available? I've already looked.

I've seen some in the Chronicle archives. If there's a big enough demand for them, I'll put them up on my blog sometime next month.

First off, I was surprised photogrpahers got so close to the burial ceremony. Second, from what I could tell, the burial ceremony was no different than any other. It didn't seem like a big crowd was present. Sitting in the front row, closest to the casket, were some cousins, an aunt and such.

Yeah. Every so often a few of these will be painted up.

It just seems that our city would have done something outstanding to commemorate his contributions to the Airline industry.

The city did throw a massive parade for Hughes in 1938 after he set the record for circling the globe. They even renamed Houston Municipal Airport after him (it didn't last, obviously).

I'm not sure how many times Hughes visited his hometown once he hit it big in Hollywood. According to "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story," he was unconscious when the decision was made to take him to Methodist Hospital for treatment in 1976.

Here's his grave.

The gate was added in recent years. But if you were to get close to it, you could tell which one is his and which graves belong to his parents.

Funny this topic popped up now. I plan to have a write-up on Hughes' 1938 visit posted by Thursday.

Northline Mall, Houston, Texas (opened 1965, closed 1987; 160,000 sq. ft. )

I don't believe this Joske's made the transition to Dillard's. IIRC, it sat vacant until it became a Magic Johnson theater.