OutfieldDan

We don't know how short the season is going to be. Thursday it's supposed to rain again, and it's looking like another mosquito muster. Our quality of life is diminished and Harris County is being obstinate about taking action. What good is the County anyway if they don't even answer the phone by taking it off the hook? Why isn't our Mayor or City Councilman speaking out to get action?

According to the Chronicle, Harris County has no plans whatsoever to spray. The excuse is that they never spray unless West Nile breaks out. Other surrounding counties are spraying aggressively. I ask everyone to call the county and complain about their policy. 713-440-4800. Calling may be impossible though. I've tried five times yesterday and today and it seems they've taken the phone off the hook. There's no provision for voice mail. Harris County Precinct 1 Office 713-755-6111.

It's nice you love prohibition, but you live close enough to White Oak to participate in all that it offers. White Oak has developed nicely where it's wet and new investment has seriously improved the neighborhood. Not so with 19th St or 20th St. There's some investment but nowhere near what it needs to be attractive to patrons unless you prefer rundown antique stores, run down discount stores, etc. A case in point is the Krogers on 20th. The store is a dump and badly needs upgrading, but you can forget that because Krogers can invest their dollars elsewhere in a new store that sells all their products including beer and wine for a higher profit. Becks won't last long. I've been there several times and the parking lot is mostly empty and so are the tables inside. I doubt they'll last a year and you can look forward to another abandoned business. They would do much better with their normal venue. Isn't it hypocritical to promote BYOB,and also want to maintain prohibition? Most of the time I sit near a group that does this, they're obnoxiously loud and drunk. Their booze is too cheap and they drink it all - also because they're so cheap and the establishment cannot control their consumption. This causes them to NEVER LEAVE until every drop is gone. Then they get in their cars and swerve away too drunk to drive.

Because of the law, Kroger's will probably let the store decline until it's basically a homeless shelter for food. It's almost that bad already. Also, the new Becks Prime will probably close down because they can't sell beer and wine like all the other Becks in Houston, resulting in poor sales. I don't think that BYOB is much of an advantage to the neighborhood. There aren't many that do that, and most of them get obnoxiously loud and drunk because their booze is cheap. Many don't leave until all the booze/wine/beer is gone making it problematic for the restaurant and other patrons. Restaurants are starting to add fees, as they should.

Walking the dog this morning was terrible because of the mosquitoes. They're swarming and the breeze is gone so they attack relentlessly. They must be breeding in the sewer. Everyone, call 311 (M-F 6am-8pm) and get the city to spray. We haven't had any mosquito control in at least a year.

What's the point of this rule anyway? Prohibition in the Heights dates back to 1918 and it's time to end it. I'm not sure if City Council has the authority to repeal the law or if a special election is necessary. Either way, the Heights would benefit without the law. Several restaurants circumvent the law with "club" rules, so it's ineffectual for them. The prohibition area is small, so all it does is inconvenience those of us who live here. Grocery stores such as Krogers on 20th suffer by not being able to sell beer and wine. Without this law, it's a sure bet that Krogers will remodel the old store with a nice upgrade, and we all know how badly we need this.

If disobeying the rules means that your right of way allows you to run over a human being with impunity, then you are the problem. I guess running joggers down will teach them a lesson. Maybe this is what happened to the dead runner at 11th St.

You know what? I think you're driviing recklessly on Heights. If you had to brake twice to avoid joggers in a single evening, you're probably driving too fast and pedestrians don't see you comming. My experience on Heights doesn't come close to yours, and maybe it's because I drive carefully, expecting that neighborhood hazards might present themselves to me.

The Gonzalez reply by Thorpe is typical ho hum, let's just do nothing for Heights residents. His office has demonstrated a complete lack of interest in the welfare of our neighborhood, and all he cares about is his political career. The idea of joggers crossing three streets at 11th is simply stupid and reflects on his office. Gonzalez could care less about the Heights. He never represented us and was promised a sweet Hispanic re-district to not stand up for us on city council on ALL major issues. I hope so bad he loses in November.

Getting back on topic, why isn't there a blinking 4-way stop for 20th, 14th, 11th, and 6th Streets at Heights? Heights has too much local, pedestrian traffic (including wheelchairs, middle school students, etc.) and the risk to the neighborhood should trump speeding E-W on these streets across Heights. 11th Street is the worst because of the wideness and new pavement. Houston traffic engineers are trying to make 11th St a major thoroughfare directly through the heart of our neighborhood. I don't think it would be too much of an inconvenience for traffic to stop and look before blasting across Heights and running over someone else. Another incident was a huge fatal accident at 20th and Heights about a year ago, right in front of Hamilton Middle School caused by a speeding motorist on 20th. I'm not convinced that the driver that ran over and killed the woman jogger isn't at fault, despite stopping after the accident. A good driver watches out for bad situations and takes precautions. If traffic were forced to stop, then the accident would probably not have happened.

The city is probably looking for historically accurate lights. Or, maybe being dark is more historical because back in 1916 street lighting was poor. Possiblty the HAHC hasn't met yet to approve the lighting.

How about simply putting a stop sign on 11th at Heights? Take down the traffic light and make every car on 11th stop at Heights. Blasting through the intersection at 35-40 mph is dangerous considering all the local stuff on Heights - Dogs, pedestrians, bicycles, runners, busses, cars, squirrels, skaters, funerals, - you name it. Besides, the left turn lane at 11th St. is unnecessary. It takes space away from the bike lane and parking, and worse, it forces most cars to change lanes - dangerous in itself. Putting up pedestrian barriers, walk signs, etc. will be simply ignored by most joggers. I always run across streets that I see have no traffic, just like most other runners. Ditto for bicycles (despite it being illegal).

This is exactly what I mean about overreacting. Lots of pedestrians do stupid things. It doesn't mean that we should build barriers that affect everyone. This is one incident, yes tragic, but very rare. You put barriers up on the trail at every intersection making runners cross off Heights, cross at a side street crosswalk, then cross back to Heights, you're inconveniencing everyone. Besides making joggers cross three streets instead of one makes it three times as risky and three times as much a bother for cars too.

Good solution. Certainly it's tragic that she was killed, but we have to be careful to not overreact. Have there been any other incidents like this? Anyone else been run over when jogging on Heights Boulevard? I run often on the Heights trail while listening to my iPod. I've never had even a near miss despite listening to an audible book. It's hard for me to understand how someone could be so distracted to not notice a car bearing down on them when crossing an intersection, but it obviously happened. Accidents happen - that doesn't mean that we have to impose any silly regulations on joggers or cars for that matter. On a related matter, when is the city going to fill in the hole at Heights and I10? Bicycling under I10 is very hazardous with the lane constriction and the big deep hole. It's dangerous to cars too.

Tread carefully? He wasn't in jail and he wasn't arrested or charged for anything. You can check that yourself. Do an Internet records check if you don't believe me. You seem to be the expert on baseless accusations. The fact is that you refused to pay him his tip income for the time he worked. I believe it amounts to a few hundred dollars. In my book that's unethical, and stealing. Low turnover? That's not what I hear. How about letting your employees have a little macaroni on the house so that they know what you're selling and also feel good about who they work for? The problem you're faced with now is that you treated an employee unfairly and expected to not have any repercussions. Well, guess what? You're busted.

Lets hope that they start treating their employees better. I have first hand knowledge that Jus' Mac doesn't provide any food to servers and distributes tip revenue unfairly. There's at least one case of a former employee who quit and they confisicated his tip revenue. They claimed that all he was due was the below minimum wage they pay. I personally will not patronize them.

The Heights is fine, but be careful to stay out of a historic district or you'll be sorry. Norhill is completely regulated. Fortunately not all of the Heights is under total government control (yet).

Aha! That's why the police helicopter was flying around last night. It woke me up.

This explains Gonzales' vote for historic districts. Most of the historic districts are now NOT in District H. This must have been a deal that Parker made with Gonzales some time ago to get Gonzales to support the new historic district ordinance. He now is assured of being re-elected, despite his failure to represent the constituents he has now. We who live in the Heights have had NO representation on City Council, thanks to Parker and Gonzalez. I want to get rid of both of them. I don't care if Gonzalez is no longer going to be my councilman, he doesn't deserve a future in city government because he is an opportunist who took advantage of the neighborhoods he is supposed to represent.

Just speculating here.... Because the city is redistricting, maybe Gonzalez will not be representing the Heights after redistricting. He may have already made a deal with MAP to remove him from the oppositon and anger that he has created by his support for the ordinance. Maybe district H will become a district with mostly Hispanic residents and one that is not designated historic. If this is true, we really do not have any representation on Council except for the at-large seats. Gonzalez may be voting for Parker's plan with impunity.

How did the vote break down? I assume Gonzalez was on the Mayor's side?

Not me! I agree it's hysterical and I hope it makes it around the Internet so we can get rid of Gonzalez. The date Gonzalez introduced MAP as "my boss" was September 25, 2010. I was at Halbert Park enjoying the Sunset Heights Centennial celebration and I was surprised to see Mayor Parker there. John Ridgway started the stage festivities and introduced Gonzalez. Gonzalez made a short speech and introduced Parker by saying "and now I'd like to introduce my boss, Mayor Annise Parker." Parker took the stage and immediately corrected Gonzalez by saying that she is not his boss, but that Gonzalez is an independently elected councilman. I personally met Gonzalez a couple of times at a few of the public meetings about historic districts that occurred last fall. I asked him where he was on the issue and all he would say was "I'm very concerned." It's obvious he isn't representing his constituents. He has not sent anything to me by email or mail asking about my position on the issue. His District H email newsletters have avoided the issue completely, as if he purposefully sought to not solicit his district's support or lack thereof for the ordinance.

I will actively campaign against Gonzalez in the next election. He has not replied to my email complaints about the Historic District Ordinance. I think he is weak, and a complete wimp. We don't need a weakling representing us in City Council. The mayor has him as her pet. He even introduced Parker at the Sunset Heights centennial in Halbert Park as "my boss." Actually, this embarassed Parker who immediately corrected him on the stage as being independently elected.

I'm looking for a second home bungalow to buy. We will probably rent it out for a while and then after a year my wife's parent's will move in. We are reluctant to consider anything in a Historic district. I don't care that the HAHC is being nice now. The ordinance prevents a reasonable second story addition that looks nice, and the HAHC's track record is not good with for instance many denials being for use of hardiplank. Ask Allison on Courtland about her experience with "too many fenestrations" for her remodel. We've been in the market for this home for about two months. It's very refreshing to see new construction in Sunset Heights, and NE of Main St. I had no idea that these neighborhoods were progressing so much. There are many instances of dilapidated bungalos being replaced with very nice new construction and the neighborhoods are improving significantly. FWIW, we are fascinated by the creativity of the new construction regarding materials, floor plans, etc. It's fun to go to open houses and the McMansions are the most interesting. Smaller well maintained, and updated bungalows near the new construction are attractive to us because the neighborhood is starting to look very nice. E of Main St and N of Cavalcade is where there seems to be the most recent improvement. Unfortunately, there is nothing going on in most of Houston Heights. It's already stagnating. There's a bungalow in rough shape (particularly inside) on Courtland near 18th that is listed for $279,000. No central AC, only one bathroom, 1970's kitchen, etc. I doubt they will get more than $200,000 for it. It's been on the market for a while - not sure how long. Before the ordinance, it would probably have sold easlily at $279K for lot value alone. We looked at a few camelbacks in the Heights, but they're all cramped in the camelback second story adddition. Upstairs ceilings are low, floor space is limited and the bedroom closets are very small. The camelback additiion is a design failure, in my opinion. Most camelbacks look stupid from the street too.

What idiots removed the cut-throughs in the first place? What could possibly be the logic of doing that? I see no impact of a u-turn to a quiet zone. Now that the uturn is back, I've already used it - to avoid a long wait for the train to pass. I used it dispite not hearing a train horn.