Houston Press Newspaper

[CraigM]

OK, we're getting way off the subject (buildings!) and am just going to put my last two cents in.

I'm a big fan of JFK assassination conspiracy theories. I've read a lot about them, and it's fascinating to see all the different ideas people have come up with over the years. The article cited here is of the "multiple Oswald" school, which has various versions of Oswald running around all over the place; buying a car with cash, talking smack at a rifle range, etc.

I think the debate about the assassination is wonderful. After all, I'm the business of asking questions, too, and I think it's especially important in such a historical matter. However, I would never use any theorist literature as a primary source. Even if 20 conspiracy theorists put Oswald at the Savoy, I would not rely on that alone. There is simply too much shaky, questionable research in this arena, and it would be irresponsible as a journalist to rely on that stuff alone.

Thanks,

Craig

On Saturday, October 5, around 7 am, a motorist, Stanley Moczygemba, reportedly picked up Lee Oswald hitchhiking along Loop 281 in southern San Antonio, and drove him 28 miles south to Leming, Texas, where Moczygemba owned a farm. Oswald told him that he'd recently traveled from Laredo to San Antonio, but was now heading back towards Laredo. Moczygemba described Oswald as mid 20s, about 5'8", 150 pounds. Oswald was wearing a hat and a heavy coat that was much too warm for the weather; the coat was closed up all the way to the neck.

Around this same time, Lee Oswald applied for a job at the Continental Oil Company in Houston, and was interviewed by a Mrs. Sheppard. He told her he had just returned from Mexico with a friend, and that they had attempted to proceed from Mexico to Cuba. He mentioned he was staying at the Savoy Apartments two blocks away. George Ryan, manager of the Stop-N-Go drive-in grocery in Houston, told the FBI that, around this time, Oswald tried on three successive days to cash a $65 check at his store.

Chris Courtwright, "Oswald in Aliceland."

John Armstrong, "Harvey and Lee: The Case for Two Oswalds, Part 2," PROBE, Vol. 5, No. 1, November-December 1997.

[Subdude]

I certainly apologize then for spreading false information. I had stumbled on the Oswald story while researching the Savoy, but I know next to nothing about the Kennedy assassination so I didn't realize it was bogus.

[jfre81]

>6 months later, this is still downtown's most happening spot.

[Houston19514]

>6 months later, this is still downtown's most happening spot.

As usual, HAIFers focus on the negative.

6 months later, one of the three vacant hotels is about to be re-done into an Omni, which will be a 4 or 5 star hotel and a beautiful addition to downtown Houston.

[jfre81]

Really? You've got the scoop....do tell us. I can't find anything else on it.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[musicman]

Really? You've got the scoop....do tell us. I can't find anything else on it.

I'll believe it when I see it.

i think there's a little confusion..the HP article is on the savoy, holiday inn and central square building but the title of the thread says savoy, holiday inn and sheraton. the sheraton is the one being remodelled so the area of south downtown is still silent

[sevfiv]

it's the old sheraton-lincoln next to the Hyatt -- not one of the buildings from the article

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...?showtopic=4417

http://houstonist.com/2007/07/25/new_life_for_do.php

[jfre81]

OK, thanks for clearing this up....the picture I posted I took on Sunday from that parking lot on Leeland/Main. Quite the visual paradox there in looking to the south vs. the north.

To the south you have what you see above. I was hoping to see *squatterkid* triumphantly waving at everyone from the roof of the Days Inn...

To the north...

Surely with those views, eventually somebody will do something about lower Downtown.

[Houston19514]

Sorry for the confusion. Never trust a headline. ;-)

[TXTwizter]

Its sad to see the old Holiday Inn in its current state. IMO its the cities fault for not being more aggressive in doing something. All the building needs is a little TLC and a b*ttload of cash.

[rsb320]

Its sad to see the old Holiday Inn in its current state. IMO its the cities fault for not being more aggressive in doing something. All the building needs is a little TLC and a b*ttload of cash.

There's a thread on here somewhere. I think they began gutting the old Holiday Inn/Days Inn building earlier this year. They were going to make it into a fancy suite hotel or something like that.

[sigma]

Its sad to see the old Holiday Inn in its current state. IMO its the cities fault for not being more aggressive in doing something. All the building needs is a little TLC and a b*ttload of cash.

I worked for a capital management group in Houston in 1996 that received a commercial project perspective on the "Heaven on Earth" or former "Holiday Inn" hotel and its marketers were seeking $60,000/unit. I believe the hotel has 410+ hotel rooms. From my perspective, the pricing was quite distended even for 1995 - 1999 property speculation.

[WAZ]

Hello all,

My name is Craig Malisow, and I'm a reporter with the Houston Press. I'm looking into writing a story about the history and current status of the old Days Inn, Savoy, and Central Bank(?) buildings. So far, this forum has turned out to be a great resource.

Can anyone help with more info about current owners, building conditions, etc? I'd especially like to hear from anyone who's spent time inside the buildings.

Besides contacting me here, you can reach me at craig.malisow@houstonpress.com, or at 713.280.2481. I don't think the local media have done an in-depth exploration of why these buildings have basically been allowed to rot all these years, and I'd like to talk to all the players involved.

Thanks,

Craig

Good luck in your story!

You could also look the Plaza Apartment Hotel on Montrose Boulevard.

That building sat vacant and rotting for years, before finally being renovated into the "Tradition Bank Plaza." I wonder what the players on that project have to say about the three Hotels.

[editor]

A blogger by the name of Ed Kohler has written a very long analysis of posting, traffic, and Digging patterns on Digg by certain Digg users who appear to be employees of Village Voice Media. One of the people he zeroes in on is the Web Editor at the Houston Press.

If you're not familiar with Digg, I'll try to sum up the blog entry as best I can: Ed accuses a group of Village Voice Media employees (including one at the Houston Press) of manipulating the social news site Digg so that other people will think their articles are more interesting than they really are. This is achieved by voting up each other's article submissions, which is a serious social no-no and can get you banned from most social internet sites. The result is more money for Village Voice Media.

Whether it's true or not, I can't say. But it's certainly an interesting read for people who like Digg. I used to read it a couple of times a day, but stopped about a year ago because the quality of the submissions went down so much and it seemed to be flooded with public relations drek.

Hopefully Mr. Kohler is missing something fundamental. I know we have several Houston Press employees who are very good regular HAIFers. Perhaps one or more of them will weigh in on the situation.

[kylejack]

Digg did such a poor job of policing this stuff that it became kind of an "everyone does it" kind of thing, especially because of all the Ron Paul sycophants. Minor offense, IMO.

[sheeats]

Hopefully Mr. Kohler is missing something fundamental. I know we have several Houston Press employees who are very good regular HAIFers. Perhaps one or more of them will weigh in on the situation.

What exactly is it that you want us to weigh in on? The Houston Press has the distinction of being the most widely read (online, that is) of all the Village Voice papers. That can't be attributed entirely to Digg. A lot of the Press writers and bloggers are just as flummoxed (happily flummoxed, of course) about that as anyone else. And I know for a fact that Keith has a lot more to do than simply Digg or Stumble articles all day long and figure out these overly-complex ways of manipulating Digg; he's simply got too much on his plate for that. Is he an active Digger? Yes. Is he "gaming" the system? No. The whole thing is silly.

[Ed Kohler]

What exactly is it that you want us to weigh in on? The Houston Press has the distinction of being the most widely read (online, that is) of all the Village Voice papers. That can't be attributed entirely to Digg.

Good point. It's not entirely attributed to Digg. Although Houston Press has been the most successful of VVM properties at getting front paged at Digg. And it's also very active on other social media networks (not just Digg).

Sadly, it's not clear whether the Houston Press' content is actually good or if it's just good at gaming social media sites. Personally, I don't consider slideshows of hamburgers to be great journalism.

Is he an active Digger? Yes. Is he "gaming" the system? No. The whole thing is silly.

I recommend asking Houston business owners who's ads are being served to people around the world to people the Houston Press has drawn to their site through Digg gaming whether this is silly or now.

[N Judah]

The Houston Press is so crappy I wouldn't be surprised. And if it weren't affiliated with some out of town conglomerate these sorts of issues wouldn't even be coming up.

[musicman]

Is he "gaming" the system? No. The whole thing is silly.

spoken like someone on the payroll

[crunchtastic]

This year's best of editon is out. Interesting winners in the 'City Life' cateogry. Discovery Green is readers choice Best New Development while Houston Pavillions is the editorial choice. I would have thought those two the other way around, but I am gratified that readers value an outdoor public space over a shopping mall.

Niche must have waged a fierce write-in campaign: the editorial choice for best tourist attraction is the 'refineries at night.'

And how awesome is this: best 15 minutes of fame is the Hurricane Bear! Remember him from one of the news bits from the pre-Ike seawall?

And, of course, HAIF is best local website! WOOT!

[kylejack]

DG won last year, so give HP a chance.

[musicman]

i just picked up a copy at lunch. some of the best choices are just not believable like best margarita. Bodegas??

[sheeats]

DG won last year, so give HP a chance.

Yeah, something to keep in mind is that if a place/person/thing/restaurant won in its category last year, it's exempt from winning this year. But next year is free game again!

[kylejack]

Yeah, something to keep in mind is that if a place/person/thing/restaurant won in its category last year, it's exempt from winning this year. But next year is free game again!

Except Spec's.

[sheeats]

Except Spec's.

Yeah, except Spec's. I don't know how that slipped in there a second year in a row...

ETA: Didn't realize there wasn't a link to the online list of winners, so here it is:

http://www.houstonpress.com/bestof

[sarahiki]

Also of note:

Best hidden neighborhood is Glenbrook Valley.

Best place for outdoor sex is the Houston Arboretum... I hope this doesn't lead to a rash of illicit encounters there! I would hate to run into that on a nature walk with the kids.

[infinite_jim]

Look at the lower left hand side of the picture. You can see the semicircular frame of what used to be the Days Inn sign and logo.

There are a couple of birds of prey that have nested in the sign frame this spring. They spend most of the clear days swooping about the street canyons in search of flocks of small migrating birds.

[rsb320]

There are a couple of birds of prey that have nested in the sign frame this spring. They spend most of the clear days swooping about the street canyons in search of flocks of small migrating birds.

I saw those Hawks yesterday morning, but they landed on the Central Square sign and disappeared. ...probably doin' the nasty up in there.

[relocating]

I was just looking for some data for school, and I bumped into this website

http://www.commonground.org/?page_id=18

This organization remodels old buildings in NYC and develops them into housing for homeless, seniors, and vets.

Perhaps something like this could help to revamp some of the abandoned buildings in downtown Houston.

What would you think?

[Daniepwils]

I was just looking for some data for school, and I bumped into this website

http://www.commonground.org/?page_id=18

This organization remodels old buildings in NYC and develops them into housing for homeless, seniors, and vets.

Perhaps something like this could help to revamp some of the abandoned buildings in downtown Houston.

What would you think?

It is a great idea I think for helping out vets and seniors, but who will be paying for it? If it is tax dollars, I don’t want my tax dollars being spent on homeless people who are lazy, however I have no problem helping out people who are homeless who are mentally challenged or a vet (which is a great majority of homeless around here), but I will not help people out who are lazy and don't want to contribute to society.