MICHAEL
Inside Today: Local gym owner will help you turn over a new page • Page 1B
S I LV A
New merchandise arriving daily Come check us out!
MICHAEL SILVA
713.725.8748
Flower & Gift Shop 10570 NW Frwy • 713-680-2350
Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston
michaels@johndaugherty.com
Saturday, January 20, 2018 • Vol. 63 • No. 1
About Us 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494 news@theleadernews.com www.theleadernews.com Facebook/THE LEADER.
Winter Whipped Photo contributed The school is fondly remembered for the large red shoe house that was part of the playground.
Temple Oaks sale brings sadness, resignation
3414 WASHINGTON AVE FEASTURBANEATS.COM
50
OFF
$
* Pest • Pest • Mosquito
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
signs in November of what could be an abnormal winter; and it has certainly played out as such. Going back to 1989, there had been just 10 snowfall events in Houston prior to Dec. 8, according to data from the Houston-based Weather Research Center, and just 35 total since first being recorded in 1895. And of those 10, only four had produced more than even trace amounts of snowfall. Before Dec. 8 dropped 0.7’’ of snow on the area, you would have to go back to 2010 for the last time we experienced significant winter events. You would have to go further (Dec. 4, 2009) before finding the last event to drop more than trace amounts of snowfall, when exactly 1’’ blanketed the ground, according to Weather Research Center records. Further, there had previously been just five occurrences in Houston history when the city experienced multiple significant winter events twice within roughly the span of a month since 1895; and records from the Weather Research Center indicate it had not occurred
The news that Temple Oaks Baptist Church at West 34th Street and Oak Forest Drive had decided to sell all of their property to a commercial developer and dissolve the church was sad for many people who had fond memories of the church and its school. “I went to Sunday school there 45 years ago,” wrote Kim Heinze. “I remember the bus would drive around the neighborhood and if you wanted to go to church, you stood out front of your house. As an adult, I worked there in the office and my two oldest children attended preschool there. They are now 25. So many memories.” “I’m honestly glad it’s being sold,” wrote Jennifer Graves. “I went to school when it was the original Baptist school in the late 70s, early 80s and it’s made me sad to see it look the way it does now.” Originally, Temple Oaks only wanted to sell 79,000 square feet of its property. Temple Oaks’ Brother Sam Parker said the church planned to finance a remodeling and renovation project for the remaining property. But with a shrinking congregation, the decision was made to sell the entire four acres. “Temple Oaks Baptist Church would be 68 this next month and has been a light for God’s grace all these many years,” wrote Temple Oaks Trustee and Deacon Larry Inman on The Leader’s Facebook page. “Sadly, our membership has dwindled, we’re not bringing in enough money to make salaries and pay bills, and we don’t have the resources to attract new members.” Vice President Tommy LeBlanc at Avison Young confirmed that the price for 79,000 square feet was $32.50 per square foot, or $2.5 million. Parker declined to name the purchase price or the buyer at this time, although he said the developer planned a shopping center. If the $32.50 square foot price was applied to the entire four acres, the price would be in the neighborhood of $5.7 million. Inman told The Leader that Temple Oaks Baptist Church was actually formed as Peoples Baptist Church on December 5, 1950. The name was changed to Temple Oaks Baptist Church on October 13, 1957. “The first piece of property was one acre of land on the south side of 34th St. at the intersection of Oak Forest and meetings began in a tent,” he said. The first permanent building was built by volunteer labor in the summer of 1950, and had a sawdust floor. The first auditorium was completed in
See Winter P. 4A
See Church P. 4A
*• Rodent Rodent • Termite
281.407.8517
*Promo Code: FAMILY. Call for details
Insulating Since 1979 $
get 50 OFF your purchase of $750 or more Attics • Walls • Floors Noise Reduction • Removal
713-868-1021
www.paylessinsulation.com
inside.
Farm fresh bounty. Head to the market with your recipe and our list of local resources.
Cold, wet season an anomaly for Houstonians By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com Those living in Houston know it can be bipolar. But as balmy, 68-degree weather Monday afternoon gave way to temperatures in the teens Tuesday morning, it was more than just Texas being Texas; the recent happenings are very nearly unseen before in our area. For a recap of As Houstonians woke problems the winter from a good night’s sleep, storm created, see it may have seemed like a normal day at first. That full story is, until, they glanced at ice clinging to everything PAGE 4A in sight or cars blanketed with a fresh coat of snow. What’s more, it was the second major winter event in the area in barely a month’s time (following a snowfall Dec. 8); and anyone who has lived in Houston for any amount of time knows snow does not happen often. So what factors are at play causing the historic wintery occurrences? Matt Lanza with Space City Weather said this season can certainly be classified as an oddity, to say the least, even given the current La Niña conditions which tend to inspire more severe weather events in the southern U.S. Bush Intercontinental Airport even reported its third recorded snowfall of the season, matching its 1973 record for snow events in one season. “We are in fact in a La Niña [period], which is often milder and drier than an average winter in Texas,” Lanza said. “Each winter is unique though; so you have to assume each winter is its own blank slate regardless of that.” While the “dry” part has worked out for the most part, Lanza said this particular La Niña period showed
Photo by Merin Noonan Top, city workers treated the bridge at 34th St. and T.C. Jester on Tuesday morning. Above, readers shared their weather photos. The icicle covered fountain at the Berryhill on West 43rd was a great photo op.
FIND IT.
Timbergrove resident embraces challenge as PWE Director
FOR SALE: Indoor treadmill for light-medium level. Great for therapy. 713-748-9089.
By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Page 4A
Our city faces a major challenge regarding future flood prevention, and a local neighbor will be one of those at the forefront of the charge. Earlier this month, Timbergrove resident Carol Haddock – a licensed professional engineer who has worked in the private sector as well as city, county and federal governments – was selected to serve as the next director of the city’s Public Works and Engineering Department, and plans to hit the ground running. “It’s an honor to even be
The INDEX. Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 7A Coupons. ................................................. 6A Food/Drink/Art................................... 1B Obituaries.............................................. 6A Opinion. ................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 3A Sports. ....................................................... 3B
considered. To be given the opportunity to step into a role where you have the authority – along with the responsibility – to make decisions that can help move an organization forward and help residents is incredible,” she said. “You may not say it’s a life goal, but at the end of the day it’s what we come to work, to try and do every day – get in those positions where we can make a difference.” Haddock was previously the Harris County Flood Control District’s program manager of Project Brays, a $480 million project that has already started reducing flooding in the
Carol Ellinger Haddock
Brays Bayou watershed. With City Council approval of her appointment, Haddock will be the first woman to serve as the city’s PWE director.
“To head a department so essential to the basic services on which all Houstonians rely, the city needs a uniquely positioned Public Works chief who delivers customer-friendly results on an hour-to-hour basis while keeping an eye on a vision for an even better city in the future,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “Carol Ellinger Haddock is that person.” Even before entering the public sector, Haddock possessed a background in watershed management and flood plain mapping. As her career advanced, however, she reached a point when understanding needed to go
beyond the numbers, to realizing how flooding influenced policy and how decisions were made. Once she realized the outcomes there would influence how areas withstood and recovered from a flood, was when the longtime Timbergrove resident decided to move into the public sector. She later graduated with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Rice University and a master of arts degree in public administration from the University of Houston. Haddock also previously spent a year as a conSee Director P. 4A
Your Neighborhood Bankers
Experienced community bankers providing value to Houston business owners. Please stop by – we want to YLVLW ZLWK \RX DQG ¿QG RXW KRZ ZH FDQ KHOS \RXU EXVLQHVV / 5 $P\ 5LWWHU ± %DQN 2I¿FHU /HQGHU 0DUJDUHW 9DQGHYHU ± 693 /HQGHU 6FRWW /HVWHU ± %DQN 2I¿FH 3UHVLGHQW &HFLOLD 5RGULJXH] ± $93 2I¿FH 0DQDJHU -XVWLQ 9LFNUH\ ± 93 /HQGHU
2222 North Durham Houston, TX 77008
281-517-8760
MA K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E, TO G E T H E R .
www.allegiancebanktexas.com