EMME

Yep, we walk down to that Kroger all the time, so I'm sure we will. Even in this heat I'll walk for a snoball, assuming I was already hot and sweaty from being outside. I won't decide to get hot and sweaty just for a snoball, maybe it can be a new post-yard-watering treat.

Did they move already? It's not like it takes long to set all of that up, the biggest task is the tow.

They have to cart it home each night anyway per the health dept., so they just drove to a different spot this morning.

There is no lawsuit there. The guy has only the prick factor as a weapon. Fiesta is entitled to use their property as they see fit. That includes leasing to sno-cone vendors. Fiesta miscalculated that the a-hole neighbor's opinion was more popular than the sno-cone stand. They screwed up, weathered the bad publicity, and will move on. The a-hole neighbor will feel smug in his victory over thirsty kids, kick his dog, and move on to the next perceived threat to the neighborhood, probably moms with double wide strollers hogging the sidewalk. Meanwhile, the Heights moves one step further away from eclecticism, and one step closer to Bellaiiria.

Clearly (hopefully), the guy would not win a lawsuit, but I have to wonder if they factored in even if he lost, the time and expenditures involved if he chose to sue, baseless though it may be.

Speaking of Heights turning Bellaireish...Go to HAR.com and click on newly listed. Type in zip 77009. It is absolutely frightening what you will see.

I think they'll get as much or more traffic at the new location. I can't wait until they finally do something with that Kroger shopping center or abandoned corner lot across the street.

Are they in walking distance from you now? I think they are closer to me, but not walking distance. Is anything within walking distance in this heat?

fiesta made a completely different statement to andy cerota.

Fiesta says it broke the contract with MAM's when its owner failed to respond to Fiesta's request to relocate the trailer to a corner on the west parking lot it deemed safer.

A Fiesta spokesman told Eyewitness News, "Fiesta tried to provide an alternate location to MAM after determining that the initial location was not appropriate. MAM chose to move their business elsewhere."

normally when i go to a business i park near the door. less people park to the back of the parking lot by their back fence - where all the cars are parking per their facebook page.

Fiesta's statement should have said, owners failed to "agree to" relocate their trailer, they did respond. Fiesta is doing spin. To be expected, all corporations do it for damage control. Fiesta on Studewood parking lots is very small. People cut across and pretty much the entire parking lot is in use during most of the operational day. When I go there to shop and park in that parking lot, I am always extra careful. It is in poor condition so you also have people swerving around to avoid potholes etc. Not a good parking lot.

The new location will be better all around. They have grass and the adjoining lots have trees that will offer shade at various times of day. MAM's benefitted all around from Fiesta's choosing to terminate the lease. Good for them. I am pretty much indifferent to the effect on MAM's at this point. They are going to be just fine and do well. And probably, if Fiesta weren't looking at the likelihood of losing their lease in 2 years, they would have pursued it so that this guy couldn't dictate their actions. If you aren't staying longterm, then why hassle with it? The litigation alone, were he to choose to sue, would outlast their stay at that location. In the end, I can't blame them.

Fought the fight and accepted the outcome. Moving on.

so fiesta asks them to move to a different part of the parking lot and they get no response from their tenant???

If you are able to view their facebook page, you will find this statement:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/MA...58659770?ref=ts

"They offered to move us behind the Fiesta building to the back of the parking lot by their back fence - where all the cars are parking and we did not feel it was 1. safe at all or 2. we signed the lease to be in front on Studewood where their were no cars ever in that lot AND people can see us - we would have never signed a lease for the back of the building -we even had the front lot as our space on the lease - we would have zero visability."

i am very touched by the support of this forum...won't get too gushy or i might start to cry & lord knows i've done enough of that lately...but i did want to let y'all know that your appreciation of the house & its future means a lot to me.

robyn

Looks like a perfect house for lots of loving dogs.

I have an old post card of the Safari that shows the elephant. The building was a nice mid-century modern. It still stands but has been remodeled out of recognition.

Cool, can you scan and post it?

They were on Great Day Houston yesterday and on the front page of the Heights section of the Chronicle yesterday. I think Fiesta's booting them is the best advertising they could have had. Fiesta of course has the right to terminate the contract and that man of course has the right to complain. But I can't help but feel terribly let down by Fiesta's management on this one. What next is this man going to complain about? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't soon see a Fiesta run snocone booth in Mams' place.

If they did build where permits are required without permits, what would be their consequence if caught? Would the city/county make them tear down the structure? just inspect the structure and make them buy a permit? Or would there be a fine of some sort?

Happy Juneteenth everybody...we should all be celebrating.

Oddly, when I was a kid, the Houston Country Club held a huge celebration every year. It was one of the highlights of the summer. Of course, they only allowed white gentile membership at the time and all the wait staff members were black and serving us on Juneteenth. But good for them for celebrating it. It is a day to be happy for.

I'm not saying it's a huge inconvenience to me but when you multiply the slow down in traffic bikes cause by the number of cars on the road it makes a difference.

You can't possibly make the argument that a bicycle going 10 miles an hour on a road where the traffic is going 35 doesn't slow down traffic. Wouldn't a car going 10 miles an hour slow it down? Ride your bikes on the streets if you want but don't try act all high and mighty and tell us your not inconveniencing other people.

One could argue that cars unnecessarily speed up traffic.

I refinanced in March or April. I live in the Heights and they sent an appraiser from Conroe. Fortunately, I still got the appraisal that I needed.

Sorry, this bad location story was just too gross to keep.

I love this house.

Trust me, this is not photoshopped. I took it about two weeks ago and this mailbox is in my neighborhood. I'm not sure where the shadow is though...maybe it's just outside the view of the photo?

Anyway, those who guessed 10 months got it right!

The stick has been there since Hurricane Ike when a tree in their yard fell that part stuck into the mailbox. They sawed off the rest of the tree of course and left that remaining.

My dad and I kind of have a bet going as to when or how we think it will finally be removed. My guess is that the next hurricane is going to take it away.

We can't figure out why they haven't taken it out.

They do get the mail every day. They have kids too. I would think one of their kids would take it out just b/c that's what kids do, mess with stuff. Because of this, I've concluded that the head of household has told all not to touch or remove the stick. Maybe he wants it to remind them of Ike??

My dad has joked that he's going to make a business card and leave it for them advertising that he's a "Stick Remover" or something.

Anyway, we're passed the point that it bothers us. I'm sure there's some logical reason for leaving it there, I just wish I knew!

I wouldn't remove it. It's a story.

Yes, call them and give them the address, make and model of the cars. They'll come out and file a report. You may be helping to solve two stolen cars.

Remember amnesia girl? That's how they found out who she was when someone reported that her car had not been moved (for a certain number of days/weeks).

Agree with RSB.

Keep us posted on what HPD says.

Perhaps, but with the number of one story homes in your neighborhood, coupled with the pawnability of ladders, that would not be my first guess. You'd be amazed at the number of ladders stolen and pawned. Especially aluminum ones for scrap value. And nighttime thieves tend to go for the easy stuff...items in the yard, unlocked cars, and the occasional unlocked or open garage. Burglars are overwhelmingly daytime operators, due to the fact that a large number of homes are unoccupied. These people are not looking for confrontation, just a few bucks for their crack.

Even armed robbers are opportunists. They see someone walking near a major thoroughfare (escape route), no one around, and jump them. The whole thing is over in less than a minute. Home invasions tend to be people who are known by the robbers. The robbers believe that there is a large amount of money, jewels or drugs in the house, making it worth the added danger of getting caught or shot. An unknown residence is easier to hit when it is unoccupied.

The odd thing is he was in a sparklingly clean, not very old black Suburban which is how we identified him with his license plate. Dressed well and clean, though in black tshirt and shorts with black and white athletic shoes.

My guess would be a longtime drug user and thief. A petty theft with 2 prior convictions for theft bumps the charge up to a felony. Prior felony convictions can bumpt the felony into higher classes of felony...all the way up to 25-99 years in some cases. It is not uncommon at all to see a longtime drug addict with numerous felony drug possession convictions, as well as numerous theft, forgery or burglary convictions. Given that the only way to get this small theft up to felony level is with other thefts, it would not surprise me if that is the case. That, and the fact that an overwhelming percentage of these thefts and burglaries are committed by drug addicts in search of $20 (or less) for a crack rock.

In the neighborhood next to mine, somebody used a found ladder to gain access to the house. So it was probably not about the ladder at all, was going to use it for other reasons. We have lots of gang members in the area as well.

Good! I'm sure they aren't just a "one-hit wonder." People who are that brazen with their illegal activity ususally aren't new to it.

Just heard back from the investigator. This is evidently a really bad guy and he could go away for a long time for this petty theft. He wouldn't go into details with me but suggested it would be in the community's best interest for my neighbor to press charges.

Here's how my evening went last night...

[

8:30 PM

I was in my back yard, when I saw my neighbor's (across the alley in back of my house) ladder moving away from his garage. Since I have a 6 foot privacy fence, at first I thought it was falling but then realized someone had it. I picked up my little six pound foster Chihuahua and ran to the back fence where I can see over. I still could not see who was carrying the ladder, but felt certain that my neighbor would not be carrying it up the alley, so I said very deeply, "Drop It," and he did. At the same time, the girls that live across the street from the alley entrance had seen the SUV park caddywampus to the alley, a Hispanic, 6 foot guy wearing black tshirt and black shorts and black&white atlhletic shoes got out and went up the alley. A blond white girl in the car moved to the drivers seat. The girls went to their neighbor across the street from them who also backs up to the alley and told him someone was going up the alley, so about the same time I said, "drop it" the male neighbor was walking toward the guy. The girls got the license plate number. It was a black Suburban or Yukon, license plate number 89G YZ9 . It was a very tall ladder. One theory is that he was going to use it to break into the back of a new garage apartment that backs up to the alley. Keep an eye out.

12:00 MIDNIGHT

So Officer Nutt and Officer Alvarado just left. Officer Alvarado pretty much told me that there was nothing they could do since it wasn't my ladder, the guy didn't take the ladder, etc.

So let me get this straight. There were four witnesses to this man going into the alley, into somebody's yard and stealing from them, and because we stopped him, there is nothing they can do? Ok, let me get this straight, there were four witnesses, two that wrote down the description and license plate of the vehicle, one that came face to face with the thief and got a description to include height, clothing and even the color of the man's tennis shoes, and even spoke to him, and there is NOTHING they can do?

And further, we called this in at 8:30pm and the police came at 11:45pm? You know at that point, let me sleep if there is NOTHING you can do.

Let me say, that the police in my area have done a bang up good job in the past. But something is slipping. A few Saturdays back I called 911 about a gang faceoff in the middle of E. 25^th street with several young men and trucks were about to fight (with their trucks). I told the dispatcher that they needed to get over here fast because something really bad was about to happen. It was well over 30 minutes before they arrived.

No wonder crime is increasing. Well, at least we stopped the thief tonight. Me and my 6 pound Chihuahua seem to be, in this case, more effective than Officer Alvarado.

An HPD investigator called me today and is actually investigating this. YEA! And seems to be being pretty thorough about it. He thinks they are probably linked to other criminal activity. My thought exactly!

On the East side of the Post Oak and Richmond intersection was a great steak house called The Safari. It had a model elephant outside the entrance and had an Indian motif inside. This was during the early 60s to mid 70s. Many fond memories of the Windsor Cinerama and the divided line format for How The West Was Won.

Yep, I remember that. I was a kid and just loved the elephant. We ate there a few times, but I was too young to remember anything other than thinking I was in the coolest place EVER.

I remember that where the empty parking lot that you talk about there was a "bus station" to take a bus to Intercontinental Airport. You could drop people off there I think.

Yep, airport terminal. They had a few around town. Very convenient.

Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States has an abundance of problems. From the dated city streets (potholes), to the huge littering problem and the unattractiveness of many of the city's main corridors, many issues exist. So what do you want the next mayor and other city leaders to focus on?

BARC

I love love love the look of an Audi. Beautiful car. But everyone I know that has one, has an awful lot of problems with them. On the other hand, the Lexus can go a lifetime without a single need for service other than standard maintenance. Not as flashy but smooth smooth ride.

If money were no issue and I had a second car, for me, Audi. If reliability and ride were an issue, Lexus.

So if you got one bicyclist on a street and he's slowing down 50 vehicles for two minutes each which one is selfish? Is that a good use of resources? Making 50 cars spend two more minutes each on the road using fuel and polluting the air so a few people can save a little gas?

The selfish one would be whoever is the one griping about the other. Neither size, nor dollar, nor status has any credence. Each has the right to be there. Safety hierarchy = cars yield to pedestrian and cycles. Therefore cars are really the ones that are supposed to be the most inconvenienced. Get over it. Breathe, sing a song, make silly faces. All you are doing is raising your own blood pressure.

First, that area is dry....second making any area dry only hurts business...restaurants do not come to the heights as it is because they cannot serve alcohol....there are ways around this obviously, but still making areas dry is just a bad idea for any area.

Also, I can see being upset about a car in the bike lane, but as a driver, it is more than annoying when the bikers are in the normal traffic lanes causing huge backups...especially when the biker is breaking the law and riding against traffic in the oncoming lanes (see this all the time in the washington area) There may not be many places that road bikers have to bike, but through the city disrupting everyday traffic should not be one of them. I always think how incredibly selfish a biker is being when he backs up traffic so that he can get some exercise. Not saying bikers should not ride...there just ought to be better places. Car lanes are bad places for bikers...its just an accident waiting to happen.

Cyclists pay for road construction too.