EMME

I agree. Do you know there were people who wanted to cut most of our trees down after because "they" caused so much damage? Short sighted.

The neighbors across the street from me have a 100+ year old oak tree. I watched it throughout the storm and it barely moved. Of course, they keep it properly maintained and had just had it trimmed and thinned a month or so prior. My new maples were swinging in the wind!

I like the lead time to prepare as well and the chance that very little could happen, depending on what area of town one is in. I think Houston is pretty lucky in that regard. Sure, we had no power for a month because the trees in our area did so much damage, but they also broke up the straight-line winds. I'd rather have no power than no roof.

I agree. Do you know there were people who wanted to cut most of our trees down after because "they" caused so much damage? Short sighted.

Not a sarcastic question: is there ANYPLACE really safe in the U.S. to live weatherwise? My nephew's wife grew up in Nashville, and she almost faints anytime she hears the word "tornado". When they lived near San Francisco, she was afraid of earthquakes. My in-laws in California fear mudslides and wildfires. Gulf Coast has hurricanes. My friend in Omaha has tornado threats, tons of snow some winters, then a flood threat during the spring thaw. My friend in Wisconsin deals with killer winters. Is there any magical region where Mother Nature isn't out to get you?

There was a time that I was so freaked out by tsunamis, hurricanes and avalanches that I was trying to think of the place. I couldn't come up with one. I think the lesson is that there is risk everywhere. Assess what kind you want. I like hurricanes because you have lots of warning when they are coming.

http://www.sss-steel.com/

Red, I didn't know you had a stutter.

I don't know what Rick James' problem was, then. I guess he was just playing the race card. In the early days of MTV when I watched it they played videos by black musicians all the time. Much of it was Motown stuff, but in the early days that's most of what was available. Sometimes it seemed like half the videos on MTV were old black-and-white Motown films.

I guess Rick James was yet another person making money from the race baiting industry. Too bad, I really like some of his music.

There were very very few black artists being played on MTV in its early years. I remember when Rick James started making noise about it. Shortly after, Michael Jackson came out with his album and MTV was pressured to run it. This was pre-Prince.

I know it would be bad, but would it really be THAT devistating? How many times has Miami been hit really hard by a huge one?

Hurricane Andrew, Category 5, completely devastated Homestead which is just south of Miami. Miami did not take a direct hit. I went to MIami shortly after Andrew hit, and had been just before. The Everglades were GONE. All the houses in Homestead were GONE. Miami had a lot of damage but nothing like it would have had had it taken a direct hit.

No kidding. A direct hit from a Category 5? Worse than New Orleans after Katrina. Well, minus the 9ft bathtub ring from the levee failure, but it would only take a couple of feet of water to make whole sections of the city uninhabitable. Flooding much worse than Allison, over a much wider area. Wind damage 2, 3 times worse than Ike. Weeks without electricity. Compromised water suppply. The JSC, Medical Center, petro chem plants, mostly out of commission. Thousands upon thousands of desperately poor people displaced. Countless businesses would never return. Losses so high that insurers would stop writing policies, in turn depressing the housing market.

What if, right after a monster storm, we got extreme heat like we have now? Talk about misery.

Actually, not too long before landfall, Hurricane Rita was a five and her eastern wall was expected to go right over my house in the Heights. Had that happened, yes Houston would been devastated. The wind in a category 5 is devastating regardless of rainfall amounts.

I had one come by my house last year or so and tell me that he was sent and recommended by my neighbor and said her name. When I told him no anyway, he got really testy with me. THey ran a thing of the news about that same time and confronted them. They do indeed work for some company, but they are not necessarily licensed or anything. Just scamming.

Actually his name was Herb Edwards and he was a great guy. We were pretty good friends back then.

Did he go by Herman, because this guy was definitely Herman. Young (then) black (still) guy (assume still).

Thanks for posting that Emme!

I noted earlier in this thread, but it may have gotten lost in the bike vs. driver feuding... I also heard from Peter Brown's office, who forwarded the information to both HPD and the Houston Bikeways cooridnator. HPD also followed up. All around a very nice response. It should be appreciated!

Goes to show, we have a voice, we just need to remember to use it.

End of June update on the 1600 block Vermont St lot lines: nothing's happened to the unfinished exteriors. Builder Brogan claims they are going to go bankrupt if they can't finish and sell. Court denied builder a TRO. Judge apparently is not buying builder's claims.

The two units are no longer on HAR.com and sale signs are gone.

Stay tuned.

Good news! I am so tired of, well it's built so it stays! Too bad Brogan, you should have thought of that before impingeing on your neighbor.

More problems at BARC:

Citing a vastly "flawed" system, BARC Senior Community Liaison Kim Grieff has tendered her resignation.

In a June 18 e-mail to Health and Human Services Director Stephen Williams, Assistant Director Michael Terraso and Bureau Chief Ray Sim, Grieff wrote that, "After working over 60 hours per week every week at the facility, and many more outside with little or no support staff, I believe this position was set up for failure. Creating a management position to implement several new programs...simultaneously without a support system, then being berated in meetings regarding the lack of achievements is not only counter-productive, but unprofessional."

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20..._kim_grieff.php

The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners has fined BARC Chief Veterinarian Eunice Ohashiegbula and former BARC vet David Rundell for violating U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Texas Veterinary Licensing Act requirements.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...rd_discipli.php

The Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control vaccinated only eight percent of animals on entry between July 2008 and January 2009, according to a BARC supplement asking for additional funding from the city.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...eport_vacci.php

All of these great artilces are by Craig Malisow of the Houston Press. Our city owes him a huge thanks for all of his work.

There is a huge groundswell of support for cleaning up the mess that is BARC. Please, please, please, call your council members, both district and at large, and the mayor and register your desire to see change in the way we treat our animals. No Kill would of course be ideal, but no inflicting of unnecessary suffering is the least they can do.

I emailed your post to districth@cityofhouston.net

And Ed Gonzalez's office took action:

(letter attached)

Thanks to everyone that attended last night

2DistrictEmailBikeLanes.doc

History? My late mother grew up here, met my dad when they both rented rooms in a house on Pecore during the 40's. I thought it was a dump when I was growing up but as I got older (and more open-minded) I started seeing the charm. I was a semi-early adopter moving to the area around 1987 and bought my current home in Norhill in the '90's for a bargain basement price of $65K. I've toyed with the idea of moving since (I love mods) but it's just such a cool place for many of the reasons already mentioned:location, proximity to work, walking/biking ability, and a degree of eccentricity. Every night when I'm out walking my dog, I am inspired by just how cool my area is, how diverse and friendly are the neighbors. It is the "anti-suburb" to me and I like it for that.

There was a time when it was a dump. The last of the 50+ year resident (not their age but length of residency) tell stories of moving to their back bedrooms for fear of driveby shootings because of all the gang and drug dealer activities. Many still have their homes encased in burglar bars. Good people get trapped in neighborhoods and apartment complexes all the time when crime takes over. Many would be surprised to know that there was a time that West U was a dump.

I was talking about the "non-public" policy... Only non-profit builders.

Me, too!

A house on N. Main is newly painted a pastel shade of sherbet orange.

My attempt at sarcasm has failed

How about this? "I flew over the Heights and I fail to see the appeal"

Sorry, got it. Good one!

Thats just dumb.

I like it! Great idea.

Not me. I thought Michael J. Fox was going to be the third. I guess I got the "Michael J." part right.

Heard a local entertainment reporter say something odd this morning. He said that Michael Jackson was the first person to break through the all-white racial barrier on MTV. I was like, "Whaaa? MTV had a racial barrier? Someone better let Prince know."

Rick James called MTV out for not letting his videos on their network. They inferred he belonged on soul tv not rock and roll tv.

Yes, I've driven by the Heights on I-10 and I fail to see the appeal...

Which is precisely why you should not buy or build in the Heights. And that is precisely why I will not buy or build in Kingwood. There, we can all get along.

This is one heck of a trifeca. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. I wonder who had that on their dead pool ?

I think MJ's doctor is to blame for his early demise. I bet they find a potent little cocktail in his autopsy.

Liza Minnelli, a close friend of MJ's, said that when the autopsy report is released, all Hell will break loose. Definitely another Elvis and Anna Nicole Smith.

There is NOTHING bleeding heart or Liberal about charity towards a senior citizen. Any act of kindness towards them by a young person is proof we are still a truly a civil society.

Thanks for the story, but why mention his race? Is it because you thought it unlikely that an elderly Black man would have as much success charming a free ice cream from the young lady as much as an elderly White man perhaps would have? I'm not attempting to call you out as a racist or anything like that - I'm just merely asking out of curiosity.

I suggest we keep this a nice story negative feedback free zone. My suggestion would be that if you question motives, politics etc. of these nice stories, you do so by PM so that these stories stay nice and don't deteriorate into backbiting. Just my opinion.

I keep hearing people talk about the Heights so I finally got around to driving through last weekend. For reference, we drove up Heights Blvd from I-10 to 20th, took 20th to Rutland, went north on Rutland almost to 610, cut over to Yale and drove Yale all the way back to I10. I saw some nicely restored homes, but also many run down places and small apt complexes. There were a couple of coffee shops, a couple of antique stores and a few bars but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary for other neighborhoods of similar age and location. We stopped at the Kroger on 20th and it was fairly shabby.

I don't intend this to be a put down of the Heights, but we didn't see anything particularly special about the area. Can someone enlighten me? Did we drive down the wrong streets? Why does the Heights seem to be so popular vs other inner loop neighborhoods?

Your tour was of the still transitioning part of the Heights. The firmly established part is between Yale and Houston Ave., I-10 and 20th Street. Once you drive that and see what it is, you can drive the rest and see what it can and should be.

Here's mine from tonight;

This might make me look like a big goober, but I am nothing if not a bleeding heart liberal. Sometimes it's the smallest things that can make a huge impression. So... my mother hasn't been feeling well as of late. The only thing she seems to be able to eat is ice cream. So I went to Baskin Robbins to get her a scoop of mint chocolate chip tonight. While I was ordering, an elderly black man walked in with a cane and whispered something to the young clerk in the store. The clerk was an EMO-ish looking Hispanic girl probably in her late teens. I watched the two whisper back and forth for a minute and then I noticed that she returned with a cup of ice cream. He said thank you and walked out of the store. He didn't pay nor did she ask him to. When I was done with my order, I made sure to tell her how I thought she just did a really nice thing and I put a couple of bucks in the tip jar. She smiled and quietly said that she thought all people deserved to be treated with dignity.

I found this interaction very moving and it reminded me on an otherwise crappy day that good does exist.

Thank you kinkaid. These are the things that warm my heart. I will post a nice story too.

I have wondered at why I can feel sad for Michael Jackson and not for any other accused pedophile (he was not convicted). I figured it out. We saw him as a child. we saw him as sweet and innocent and we watched him grow up. We saw him as a teenager vulnerable in the awkwardness of that. It makes me sad for him. It makes me sad for all children who are abused to the point of turning into the perpetrator to avoid ever being victimized again.

God bless you Michael Jackson, may you rest in peace. May all your burdens be lifted and your spirit be healed and set free.