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Saturday, March 21, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 20
Art on Wheels About Us 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494
By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
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INSIDE. Photos by Betsy Denson Alberto Herrera welds used motorcycle pipes to the front of Reagan High School’s Art Car. The students learn welding, masonry, and even plumbing, and they also learn to work as a team.
Under Pressure in Garden Oaks (or lack thereof) Dozens of residents living in the Garden Oaks share one thing in common - undesirable water pressure. City officials say they are working to fix the issue, but some are still scratching their heads over how long they will have to wait to get some relief at the tap.
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Reagan High School students bond, learn with help from Art Car class By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com When Reagan High School junior Juan Sanchez heard about the after-school Art Car Class from his girlfriend, he was game to see what it was all about. “I like doing stuff that is artsy,” said Sanchez. He thought he’d just be painting a car, but soon found out that it was “way different.” Like whittling groupies out of foam, welding motorcycle
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Black & White In this month’s Food & Drink section, The Leader delves into the newest restaurant moving into the former home of the iconic Stella Sola restaurant in the Heights. Find out what the Mediterranean concept has in store for foodies across our area.
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The INDEX. Church
6A
Classifieds
4B
Coupons
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Food/Drink/Art Obituaries
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Opinion
3A
Public Information Puzzles
2A 3A
Officials meet with residents over Nicholson Trail dispute
pipes onto a car and drilling guitar legend Jimi Hendrix onto the roof. All in a day’s work for the 10 or so kids who are creating the Art Car “Electric Ladyland,” a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. The Art Car Class is headed up by art car enthusiast Rebecca Bass who was hired by Principal Connie Berger to be Reagan’s Art Car teacher this spring. Bass moved to Houston in the early 1970s and graduated from the University of Houston in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Sciences and a minor in Studio Art. “But I kept going until 1984,” said Bass, due to her penchant for auditing art classes. From 1984 to 2012, she taught art in HISD schools. It was in 1991 when she was working at Edison Middle School in Houston’s Second Ward, where 90 percent of her students were classified “at-risk”, that she decided to involve the seventh and eighth grade students in the creation of an Art Car. The initially skeptical
The Houston Parks and Recreation Department is emphasizing cooperation and safety with members of the Heights community following a public meeting Tuesday evening addressing the recent controversy over plantings by residents along the Nicholson Hike & Bike Trail. Many residents living along the trail were concerned that trees and other plants they had planted were going to promptly uprooted by city officials following a dispute between neighbors in the area who reported complaints about some of the plants. Marilu De La Fuente, director of the HPARD Adoption Programs, gave a presentation with other HPARD representatives regarding the current process for adopting parts of a trail and the regulations behind spacing and acceptable plant types. De La Fuente said HPARD bears part of the blame for the recent dispute along the Nicholson Hike & Bike Trail as the organization has taken a See Trail, P. 5A
Oak Forest resident Johnny Rojas works with Reagan High School junior Mark Flores to get rock legend Jimi Hendrix affixed to the roof. Rebecca Bass says that Flores has been a good student of the process and also mentors other students.
middle school students took first prize in the Art Car Parade that year, and the next too – beating out the adults. Bass has created 28 Art Cars with students at Edison and the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center (GLEC) as well as at Bellaire, Waltrip and Davis high schools. When she went to Sam Houston High School to lead the students in the creation of an art car, a team of filmmakers followed the five month process, resulting in Art Car: The Movie. “I live in the Heights, so I really enjoy being involved with the kids from my own community,” said Bass. “I love watching them become a team. They’ve never had anything like this.” She said that the students participate in the class on a voluntary basis and accrue community service hours. They also learn masonry, welding and even plumbing.
Oak Forest resident and artist and metal worker Johnny J. Rojas, who is no stranger to the Art Car scene himself, is also working with the Reagan students. “He teaches them the basics, and then they practice a lot,” said Bass. Different kids get different things from the process. Junior Alberto Herrera said he has a lot of fun and that “it takes my mind off of things.” Senior Luis Medina learned that carving a female body out of foam is a lot harder than it looks. “I didn’t have anything going on, so I just started coming more and more,” said Junior Mark Flores. Modest in his abilities, Flores has become a teacher to the other students, according to Bass. “He’s very patient with the others,” she said.
Hamilton MS Teacher of the Year reflects on achievements Kim Hogstrom For The Leader Amber Benn has much to proud of in her career as a math teacher at Hamilton Midlde School. Now, the former Houston Texans cheerleader has been named the 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year at the school Benn had high praise for her fellow teachers, administrators and students alike, and her pathway to success at Hamilton Middle School stretches all the way from the football field to middle school classrooms. “The kids at Hamilton amaze me,” Amber said. “The things they can learn and the things they can do are just remarkable. Teaching is such a rewarding experience.” A Universty of Houston graduate, Benn originally thought she would use her degree in biology to teach science, but that wasn’t in the stars.
See Car, P. 4A
See Teacher, P. 4A
Shady Acres residents opt to have own ‘Spring Cleaning’ By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Volunteers from the Shady Acres community had an early morning March 14. A small group of residents, weary of trash finding its way in esplanades and nearby curbs, wielded plastic claws and trash bags, walking up and down W. T.C. Jester Boulevard, E. T.C. Jester Boulevard and West 34th Street collecting garbage. “We’re trying to make it a monthly thing,” Jan Hughes said. Hughes said she and other members of the civic club have grown frustrated
with the lack of upkeep by the Texas Department of Transportation and, in some cases, the city of Houston. “If you drive around Houston much, it becomes a familiar sight,” Hughes said. “There’s trash everywhere, especially with all of the construction we’ve had to endure for the last few years. It’s one thing for these guys to come through and help give us a lot better access to the areas, but it seems like many of them still haven’t come back to clean up their mess.” Nearby construction on US 290 has done little to help the situation, Hughes
said. Mowing has also been neglected in some areas, Hughes claims, and Leader publisher Jonathan McElvy’s editorial regarding the poor state of certain feeder roads did bring some attention to the situation. However, some Shady Acres residents found the concern to be fleeting. Hughes said the city does mow the esplanades around the area, but right of way fences and those under TxDOT jurisdiction can sometimes go without proper care. Things are See Cleaning, P. 5A
Jaye Tullai
Photo by Jonathan Garris Volunteers from the Shady Acres Civic Club collected trash along W. T.C. Jester Boulevard March 14 as the group feels TxDOT hasn’t been owning up to cleaning a number of area roads.
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