Arivechi

Lack of rain and record high temperatures have made it necessary for the City of Houston to institute Stage One Water Conservation Measures, as outlined in Chapter 47 in the Code of Ordinances.

The City requests residents limit lawn watering to the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. and NO more than two days per week.

Residents are asked to abide by the following schedule:

Sundays and Thursdays for customers with even-numbered street addresses

Saturdays and Wednesdays for customers with odd-numbered street addresses

The City will also be contacting large commercial water customers to request voluntary reductions in water consumption.

As required by the ordinance, City departments are instituting a water use reduction program which includes but is not limited to:

• Reducing water use by 10 percent
• Implementing corrective measures to eliminate water waste

While the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department has adequate water capacity to meet the demands of its customers, the following tips can also help our customers be good water stewards during one of the most severe droughts in Texas history:

. Keep showers under five minutes

. Remember to turn water off while brushing your teeth

. Wash only full loads of dishes or clothes

. Replace older model showerheads and older faucet aerators with new low-flow ones, and install water conservative toilets

. Inspect toilets for silent leaks by putting food coloring in the toilet tank. If colored water leaks into the toilet bowl before it is flushed, water is being lost due to a worn flapper.

For more information please contact Alvin Wright at Alvin.Wright@houstontx.gov or call 832.395.2455.

Make him swim in the contaminated water.

I second the motion.

Houston residents are encouraged to drop off and recycle any brand of electronic products or computers between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday, March 26, 2011 at the Houston Reliant Stadium (blue lot), home of the 2011 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Men's Final Four, April 2-4, 2011. This eCycling is free and the eCycling group will be on hand to take items from your trunk.

The City of Houston and the Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee are working with Official NCAA Corporate Partner, LG Electronics USA and Official Sustainability Partner of The Big Dance Concert Series and Bracket Town, Waste Management Recycle America to sponsor this eCycling drive.

Reliant Park is located within the Inner Loop of the southern portion of Interstate Loop 610 between Kirby Street and Fannin Street; follow signs to the eCycling drop-off site. For more information visit www.greenhoustontx.gov/ecycling20110326.html and www.greenhoustontx.gov.

No new updates but here are a few recent articles on the expansion.

Work on 290 to start by next summer

TxDOT: U.S. 290 work would cost $4.6 billion

From that first link: "Funding, however, has only been identified for half of the project. Proposition 12, approved by voters in 2007, will provide for inbound improvements. The agency is currently looking for sources of funding to cover outbound improvements."

wow. that sounds awkward.

The City of Houston's Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD)

cordially invites you to attend

For additional information, contact Sarah Mason at sarah.mason@houstontx.gov or call her at 713.837.9205. Also please visit www.houstonsolidwaste.org and www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/reuse.html.

The best guy to ask about the bikeways is Dan Raine, the city's Bicycle Coordinator. I asked him and he says

He quoted the same completion time for the Heights MUP being completed into downtown (currently it terminates just short of UHD a few hundred yards).

Thanks for the update! appreciate it.

I often ride up the White Oak Bayou bikepath. The other day when I did my usual U-turn on the grass at the north end of the dead-end (after the bridge to nowhere), I noticed a bunch of wooden stakes lined up in the grass possibly showing the planning of a northward extension of the trail. Anyone have more info on this bike path extension?

I did see the article in the Chronicle yesterday about the general idea of expanding the city's bike trails but it didn't mention any trail specifically.

http://www.chron.com...iz/7114095.html

ok, so we've had our SmartMeter for a couple months now. I recently signed up to view our usage information on-line. But it's a little disappointing that the data that you can view is not at all real-time. You can't view data more recent than 2 days old. Sure, it's great that I can see the 15-minute increments for last week or even the past weekend but I was under the impression that this SmartMeter was going to have more real-time data.

Yes, I am capable of going outside and reading the meter, but that's no different than with the old less-smart meters.

anyone know of plans to make the power usage data less delayed?

Some of you are asking what projects have been accomplished along Buffalo Bayou recently. Please refer to the following link to Buffalo Bayou Partnership's (BBP) most recent newsletter to update you on some projects taking place along the West Sector, from Sabine Street to Shepherd Drive.

http://www.buffaloba...ummer2010-m.pdf

Also, please continue to check-in on our website at buffalobayou.org (under Visionary Plans - Shepherd to Sabine Project) for updates of plans along this stretch of the bayou.

In addition to this stretch of Buffalo Bayou, several projects in the East End are taking place - 4-miles of new hike and bike trails, 50 acres of land acquire, development of a 10-acre park - Buffalo Bend Nature Park, planning for a boat launch at North York.

Please do feel free to contact me with any questions at tsmith@buffalobayou.org. Thank you for your interest in Buffalo Bayou, and as you know, this waterway is historic to Houston, and we strive to accomplish our mission of revitalizing and transforming Houston's most significant natural resource.

Trudi Smith, Director of PR and Events at Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Thanks so much for posting that link. I don't know that I would have stumbled on it on my own. I am really excited to see the in-progress and near-future bike/hike path projects.

Here's a link to the article in last week's The Leader.

I-10 frontage road project

Kroger if you need them - hardware stores are sold out. $.63 per bag. Note sure what to do with items too large for the bags (such as tree branches...).

Small branches may be put in bundles as long as each bundle is less than 4 feet in length, 18 inches in diameter, and not weighing more than 50 pounds.

PDF of CoH "trash facts"

I've read that the overall response rate in Texas is very low, which is unfortunate since the state benefits if everyone is counted.

Texas state participation as of this morning: 48%

Harris County: 43%

City of Houston: 41%

National rate overall: 56%

we're behind

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

You can track state, city and even specific neighborhood participation rates

Here

Looks like we're behind.

Received our big wheeled green recycle bins yesterday! Can't wait to just load it up and close the lid. We also registered the bin so we earn points of some sort. I guess it surprises me that they need an incentive program to get people to recycle.

I think they added the whole Candlelight Estates neighborhood but it's a little curious that the Oak Forest neighborhoods adjacent to us did not receive the new bins.

Our newspapers and junk mail would often blow out of the crates and we'd have a big pick-up session of all the paper blown around the neighborhood. hurray for an enclosed receptacle.

What a fantastic education and prevention campaign. If they are patrolling the area anyway, it's great that they can take the time to let the car owners know whether they have left a big target for thieves.

Thank you for a fantastic post and a fantastic thread!! I was riding regularly, but I ran over a pothole one day and didn't recover in time for a car to come and hit my bike (and grazed my hip as well). That happened a month ago, and I've been too scared to touch my bike ever since. The motorist was driving and texting of course, and barely noticed what happened until they looked up and saw that I was writing down their license plate. THEN they pulled a decisive U-turn to come and see if I was okay. Gotta love irresponsible drivers.

Your story has inspired me to put a pen and folded up paper in my seat bag. Hoping to not need to use them for writing down plate numbers.

Hope you get back on the bike soon!

We received a letter from CoH announcing that our neighborhood (Oak Forest area) will be added to the automated recycle program. So looks like the program is expanding. I hadn't heard anything about it till the mail arrived today. Our collection starts first week of April.

yippie! Can't wait to receive and make good use of the bigger glass-accepting recycle bin.

got on N Loop last night and all the west bound lanes have been moved over onto the newly finished portion. So it looks like the next phase of construction will be the old west-bound lanes. Couldn't see what was going on with the east bound side since it was dark.

Driving on the new pavement is NICE.

2 alarm. yikes. It's been burning for nearly an hour.

mmmm.... Carl's Jr. criss-cut fries.

another delay:

"Houston waste officials have decided to delay again the start of a program requiring the use of compostable bags for city pick up of leaves and yard trimmings because of a supply problem. The new start date is April 5, which is after the last major fall of leaves for the season, said Harry Hayes, the city's solid waste director."

Chron article from today

can they just set a date and be done with it?

reminder that the City ordinance about biodegradable bags starts Jan 1

Chronicle Article today

City press release

I would be in favor of a "no bags" system as mentioned. Designate a can/bin for yard waste collection that doesn't need bags. Leaves/clippings go in can, can is emptied into truck. We have a compost bin in the backyard but it's more than overwhelmed with the amount of leaves from the oak trees right now.

Happy holidays,

What are ideal cafes, diners, or restaurants in Houston or the surrounding area (I live in Pearland) that are excellent first-date locations? somewhere not too casual and not too fancy.

What attractions or parks are ideal for couples on the same day, if her and I were to have a morning brunch?

There is this one girl I know who lives between the Beltway and 610, and I've thought about taking her to the Pearland Town Center for lunch and a matinee. But the distance will be too far for her and there's not a lot to do where I live.

Thanks for your advice

Daytime date? Get sliders at Little Bigs at Hermann Park (plus a glass of wine?). If you are hitting it off get on one of those pedal boats and spend time going around the pond.

I'm considering taking my husband on this date...

New Video animation for 290/Beltway 8 Interchange.

#

http://www.my290.com/

That is a ton `o lanes.

Hey Thanks!

I use Google Earth a lot but I didn't even know about the historical imagery feature.