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THE INDEX.

Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classiﬁeds

2A 3A 6A 7B 6B 9B 9B 6A

by Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com

T

here’s nothing conspicuous about Brinkman Street. Flooding has rotted its edges, but that’s the norm in these parts. Fresh Newport butts and parched bottles of Old English 800 decorate the Johnson grass sprouting from the curbs – again, not atypical. Brinkman Street, in and of itself, is not a hazard to anyone. But for eight blocks in North Houston, starting from the south at Curtin Street ending at Pinemont Drive to the north, and bordered by N. Shepherd Drive to the east, Brinkman is a continental divide. It is a partition between burgeoning neighborhoods to the west and a culture of crime to the east. Stuck in the middle? The city-owned Shepherd Park and an elementary school, Durham, desperate to recoup its reputation. Alan Rosen, the constable for Precinct 1, knows the area well. “It’s been on my radar since Day 1.” He’s been in ofﬁce since Jan. 1, 2013. Why is such a seemingly small area in Rosen’s district on his radar? Why would he take the time to drive the side streets off Brinkman to get another ﬁrst-hand look at the concerns? Some statistics would help.

Inside the rectangle

If you draw a border around this speciﬁc area of North Houston, you’ll ﬁnd Census Tract 5309, Block Group 1. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, this rectangle (which is .28 square miles) has a total population of 1,152 people. That includes two mobile home communities and at least two apartment complexes. The Leader, through an Open Records Request, asked the Houston Police Department to identify the number of times HPD had been called to any street inside this area over the past year. HPD was only able to gather 11 months of data – August 2012 - June 2013 (July 2013 stats were not available) – and they did not have data for Woodcrest Drive, where Richard Cruz, 31, was gunned down in his home on July 29. In the 11 months provided, HPD had been called to addresses in this area 1,920 times. Of course, not all of those calls resulted in arrests, but if those numbers are annualized over 12 months, that means HPD was called to this .28-square-mile area 2,094 times in the past year. With a population of 1,152, that means there were 1.82 calls per person last year. To put that number in perspective, HPD made about 1.1 million calls across the entire city in 2012, and there are 2.1 million people in the city of Houston, which translates to .48 calls per person in the city. That means the number of calls off Brinkman is 379 percent higher than the rest of the city.

If you drill down even further into those numbers, and look at actual offenses recorded by HPD, the numbers are staggering. In the past year, police reported: • 1 murder • 3 forcible rapes • 5 prostitution and commercial vice arrests • 24 aggravated assaults • 83 other assaults • 48 fraud cases • 55 robberies • 61 thefts (auto) • 418 thefts (non-auto) • 202 burglaries At one address in this area, 720 Thornton Drive, HPD has been called 43 times in one year alone. That is the address of Oak Crest Mobile Home Community, and the Harris County Attorneys ofﬁce said they would “look into” that property.

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One street separates crime from concern Brinkman Street

For more than three weeks, we’ve told you about our Readers’ Choice Awards, being voted on by everybody but you. Well, this is the last week of voting before we begin calculating all the ballots. So far, we’ve had more than 1,000 votes cast for speciﬁc businesses. Have you taken the few minutes to support the restaurant or doctor or school or church you like most? If not, turn to Page 9B of today’s Leader and ﬁll out the ballot. Or, if you’re of the digital persuasion, log on to our website. www. theleadernews. com and click the Readers’ Choice ballot on the right side of the page.

Martin St.

Crime, by the Numbers

Woodcrest Dr.

In the area shown at right, Houston Police report that 2,094* calls for service were made in the past year. With 1,152 people living in this ‘rectangle,’ that means there were 1.8 calls for every person. The average in the city of Houston in 2012 was .48 per person.

Thornton Rd.

Curtin

* HPD provided 11 months of data. The number of calls is annualized to 12 months for the sake of comparison

Curtin St.

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Each mark indicates the last known address for registered sex offenders in this area.

More than statistics

The concern over this small area of North Houston isn’t just about the number of times police have been called to potential problems. It’s about the impact such an area has on those living in and around it. On Christmas Eve 2010, Jonathan Foster, 12, was killed in a duplex on Oak Street. Mona Nelson was charged with the murder after video captured her dumping the burned body of Foster in a ditch off the Hardy Toll Road. Coincidentally, as of press time, Nelson’s trial was still ongoing before District Judge Jeannine Barr. As perviously noted, Richard Cruz was found shot to death in his home at 906 Woodcrest Drive on the night of July 29. According to neighbors, Cruz was wheelchair-bound and two men allegedly entered his home and shot him. Police have not arrested suspects in that case. Then there’s the fear that struck teachers at Durham Elementary School last year. According to Lorraine Cole, a mother and former teacher at Durham, students were being dismissed from school, and Cole was in the walker line, helping students to their rides home. Suddenly, Cole said a panic overtook teachers and administrators at Durham. “A parent noticed a man walking down Brinkman with a shotgun,” Cole said. “It was too late to do anything. We couldn’t get all the kids back into the school.” Cole said a parent followed the man down Brinkman and watched him turn onto Lehman Street. Police were called, and the incident proved to be nothing more than a scare. But a scare it was.

see Brinkman • Page 4A

Crime statistics in the area just east of Brinkman Street are 379 times higher than the rest of Houston, on average. Last week, HPD made an arrest outside of apartments on Oak Street. (Photos by Jonathan McElvy; Graphic by Jake Dukate)

Continued Coverage Inside Page Crime, statistics and overgrown properties are one thing. It’s the IMPACT to people 4A who live in and around this area that matters most. Page When you have these sorts of problems, there has to be a SOLUTION. We talk to of5A ﬁcials and residents for their ideas on improvement. Page Not so long ago, a neighborhood near Bellaire – Braeswood Place – faced the same 5A situation. Read how the community completely changed the area. Page Stories like these are never easy to tell. Good, law-abiding people get grouped into 6A the wrong crowd, and that’s not fair. But we believe the story is important.

Page 2A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

Citizens Empowered brings message of government transparancy to City Hall by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com A diverse group of Houston residents, led by Timbergrove resident Carlos Doroteo, organized a bipartisan effort to bring transparency and efficiency to city government. A thunderstorm on Tuesday afternoon prevented Citizens Empowered (CE) from announcing its platform on the steps of City Hall. But it couldn’t dampen CE’s message during a press conference just inside the City Hall building. Doroteo, the former Chief of Staff for Council Member Ed Gonzalez, had also worked for Council Member Melissa Noriega and State Rep. Rick Noriega. He left city government to finish law school. “I reflected upon what I saw,” Doroteo said. “There are problems inherent in the way the city functions. A lot of times people didn’t speak up about those things. We started talking about what (the city) do better and what we could change.” Last summer, Doroteo, who worked for Democratic politicians, reached out to Kathryn van der Pol, the co-owner of Adolf Hoepfl

Garage who describes herself as an independent conservative. Together, they came up with CE and its platform, “A Plan to Create A More Perfect Democracy in Houston.” “A lot of hours have gone into this,” Vander Pol said. van der Pol said CE transcends partisan politics and works in the best interest of all citizens. “This is an issue that brings everybody together,” van der Pol said. “How can (anyone) be opposed to that?” The items on the “Plan” include evening council meetings every other week, as opposed to during the afternoon when many citizens may be working or picking their children up from school; posting the Agenda online a week in advance, a requirement for 2/3 of the council to attend public session, a minimum of two public meetings for each city project, budget transparency, strong ethics regulations and stronger support for the Super Neighborhoods. Super Neighborhood Alliance vice president Jane Cahill West, former president of Super Neighborhood 22 (the Washington Ave. Coalition) became involved with CE because of its “common sense principles” and plans on bringing its

message to neighborhood leaders. “The Super Neighborhood people are involved in persuading the city to follow best practices and good policy,” Cahill West said. “Citizens Empowered’s Top 10 list is all about citizen involvement, participation and increased transparency. It’s critical for people to understand what changes are being made.” Of the afternoon public session meetings, Cahill West said “it discourages, rather than encourages, citizen participation.” George Hernandez, a resident of the city’s east side, co-founded the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and worked for Mayor Roy Hofheinz in the 1970s. Hernandez joined CE because change is necessary to the regular order of business. “In City Hall,” Hernandez said. “you pretty well have to go along to get along.” Doroteo, who graduated from the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, said CE is determined to spend a long time working for reform. “We want to educate the public on why we need to enact these reforms, and (we’re looking to) maximize citizen participation,” he said.

Police Reports, Aug. 10 - Aug. 16 AUG. 10

Theft 02:37 PM 1200-1299 19TH ST Burglary 07:00 PM 200-299 43RD ST Theft 05:20 PM 3000-3099 ELLA BLVD Theft 04:00 PM 400-499 HEIGHTS BLVD Theft 12:00 PM 3100-3199 MANGUM Theft 05:45 PM 9800-9899 HEMPSTEAD HWY Robbery 06:13 AM 900-999 35TH ST Theft 10:00 AM 1400-1499 20TH ST Assault 02:00 AM 4500-4599 CENTER ST Theft 05:32 AM 2500-2599 18TH ST Burglary 03:21 AM 3300-3399 PINEMONT DR Robbery 02:00 AM 2600-2699 SHEPHERD Theft 02:00 AM 4900-4999 DACOMA ST Robbery 09:47 PM 400-499 CROSSTIMBERS Theft 11:00 PM 4400-4499 OXFORD ST Theft 08:00 AM 2200-2299 WHITE OAK Theft 11:30 PM 3700-3799 WATONGA Theft 06:00 PM 3700-3799 SHEPHERD Theft 07:00 PM 600-699 STUDEMONT Burglary 10:00 PM 4000-4099 PINEMONT DR Theft 08:00 PM 4200-4299 MAIN ST Theft 02:40 PM 4200-4299 MAIN ST Theft 10:01 PM 5800-5899 KIAM

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Robbery 10:30 PM 100-199 25TH ST Theft 02:00 PM 1300-1399 21ST ST Theft 09:15 AM 700-799 CROSSTIMBERS Burglary 06:00 PM 4600-4699 CENTER Theft 03:10 AM 4800-4899 WASHINGTON AVE Theft 11:03 AM 5200-5299 WASHINGTON AVE Theft 02:00 PM 100-199 CROSSTIMBERS Theft 09:40 AM 400-499 HEIGHTS BLVD Theft 03:00 AM 600-699 STUDEMONT Theft 03:45 AM 5400-5499 BRINKMAN Theft 02:00 PM 2700-2799 MANGUM Theft 10:00 PM 600-699 8TH ST Burglary 03:30 AM 3900-3999 PINEMONT DR Theft 07:58 AM 1300-1399 DIAN ST Assault 12:50 AM 900-999 WINSTON Theft 09:00 PM 700-799 DAVIDSON ST

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Theft 07:30 AM 3400-3499 ELLA BLVD Burglary 05:27 AM 600-699 STUDEMONT Theft 04:45 AM 4200-4299 34TH ST Theft 01:00 AM 3100-3199 MANGUM Theft 05:00 PM 700-799 11TH ST Theft 07:35 PM 500-599 SHEPHERD DR Theft 09:28 PM 2000-2099 WAKEFIELD Theft 01:00 PM 4200-4299 MAIN ST

AUG. 14

Theft 07:30 PM 800-899 MELWOOD ST Theft 09:30 PM 1200-1299 22ND ST Theft 06:15 PM 4300-4399 SHEPHERD Theft 10:00 PM 2200-2299 TANNEHILL Theft 05:20 PM 2300-2399 SHEPHERD Theft 03:30 PM 800-899 26TH ST Theft 11:30 AM 2900-2999 WHITE OAK Burglary 12:10 PM 2100-2199 ELLA Theft 01:45 PM 100-199 YALE

AUG. 15

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Timbergrove resident Carlos Doroteo, former Chief of Staﬀ for Council Member Ed Gonzalez, speaks to the media on Tuesday afternoon at City Hall about Citizens Empowered, an organization he started, as Kathryn Vander Pol, center, and Jane Cahill West, right, look on. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

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Theft 08:00 AM 100-199 39TH ST Theft 06:00 PM 2800-2899 WASHINGTON AVE Theft 02:44 PM 700-799 CROSSTIMBERS Theft 10:23 AM 3800-3899 11TH ST Theft 05:53 AM 4100-4199 34TH ST Robbery 06:20 AM 4600-4699 SHERWOOD LN

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Page 3A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

Art a la Carte: It’s not always about shows Yeti Sunshine Travelling Snowball Trailer www.yetisunshine.com Snowballs: $3.75 Italian Soda: $3.75 Toppers and Stuffers: 50¢ - $2 extra Kid Friendly: They might be suspect at first, but Yeti Sunshine finishes a winner LE’s Favorite: Coffee Snowball with Cajeta topper

Review: Yeti Sunshine snowballs are supernatural I could see it on the look on her face. My dad told me this is a snocone but …. well, this thing kind of looks like a chubbier version of an ice cream cone. And why does it have a straw sticking out the side of it, her look was saying. This thing The Bomber (my five-year-old going on 15) was quizzically staring at was a signature snowball from the barnstorming frosty dessertslingers known at Yeti Sunshine. We were in Antidote’s parking lot on Studewood where Yeti had parked its unique tin can trailer marked up with blue and orange writing and a sneaky-looking abominable snowman. There have been plenty of Yeti sightings in north Houston this summer, particularly at this neighborhood coffee shop and at Hello Lucky up the street. The Bomber snapped out of her gaze of curiosity and made a quick move into the snowball with the spoon straw. She realized that the strawberry flavoring was draining down from the top end of the icy delicacy and turning the tip translucent like the dessert had just seen a ghost. Those disappearing toppings are made with all-natural ingredients: fruit or natural flavoring and sugar cane syrup. But it’s the urbane palette Yeti offers that has it pioneering a new frontier for sno-cones. This day there was Lime-Thai Basil, Lemon Ginger, Tamarind, Grapefruit and Mango on the flavor menu. The Bomber took couple of cautious nibbles from the now syrup-less peak. She wasn’t feeling it. So she dug out a couple of bites from the side of the tiny tower of frost searching for that sugary taste. This section still had a dull red hue to it. She looked at me and said in a low voice, “This isn’t very good.” For a kid who is used to carving out bites of ice cream from personalized Blue Bell cups and inhaling Oreo-topped frozen yo-

gurt, the taste and consistency of a Yeti snowball was a foreign feeling. But it’s actually the peculiar texture that makes the snowballs as unique as its flavors. You don’t expect shaved ice to be so smooth, but it’s just slightly on the grainier side of gelato, a sheared version of ice cream that is almost soft when it first gets inside your mouth. And they use only filtered water for the ice. (It’s certainly a far cry from the pebble-sized ice and artificially flavored dumpster fire of a sno-cone that The Bomber and I had at a recent Astros game.) By this time, Leader Eater had started into a coffee flavored snowball that had a thick and caramelly cajeta topper. (I was this close to the iconic coffee house, so a java flavored dessert seemed appropriate.) You can give your snowball a bold twist with these thick adders. This day, Yeti was offering cajeta, cream and chile and limon. These feathery sno-cones can also be stuffed with a creamy vanilla from the local cold dessert experts at Fat Cat Creamery. By this time, The Bomber had worked quite a crater from the one wall of her snowball. I glanced over at what looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a bite out of the side. As I looked away, I saw out of the corner of my eye the rickety frozen totem pole give way and crash down on the lap of her white shorts, with Yeti Sunshine shrapnel splayed around one of Antidote’s tables. The compassionate snowball architect in the trailer poked her head out and asked if we wanted another one. “No, thanks,” I said. Just then, The Bomber’s disappointment with losing the top half of the snowball took a 180 as she looked down at a bright red pool of strawberry juice swimming with finely shaved ice in the cup. She put that straw to work and in no time peered back up at me with red lips. “This,” she said, “is good.”

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This week, it seems a bit more than art shows keep popping up on my radar. Being creative doesn’t always have to involve art. Shopping, for example, is an art form, according to my sister Melanie. First up, Friday night I’ve included a couple of shows Mitch Cohen I menArts Columnist tioned last week, the Citywide African American Artists Exhibition closing and the Now, What Was There? solo exhibit of Carey Reeder’s work. It’s the fourth Saturday and that also means the Houston Re-Market returns. Then on to some artful shopping and one very important press conference.

Friday, Aug. 23

17th Annual, Citywide African American Artists Exhibition, 6-8 p.m. Glassell School of Art, 5101 Montrose Blvd, Houston, Texas 77006 Sponsored by the MFAH through the patron group Five-A (African American Art Advisory Association) and the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), the initiative offers artists the opportunity to show their work to a broader public, and to the collecting community. My friend Keith Hollingsworth is in this exhibit. This is an awards ceremony, as the reception has passed. Now, What Was There? • Cary Reeder - Lawndale Art Center, Grace R. Cavnar Gallery, 4912

Main Street. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Solo Art Exhibition at Lawndale Art Center Focuses on Vanishing History of Houston Heights www. caryreeder.com Sip & Shop 6-9 p.m. Style Cycle, 246 W. 19th Street, Houston Heights, Texas 77008. A happy hour shopping event 10 percent of all sales from 6-9 p.m. will be donated to Camp Victory Texas, Inc. www.style-cycle.com Good Vibes Party Round 2 @ Liberty Station 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Liberty Station 2101 Washington Ave, Houston, Texas 77007. Artsy, food trucks, bands - in one of the few cool Washington Ave. Bars. When you go be sure to check out Man Ready Mercantile. Other unique vendors include Bravado Spice (hosting), Jolly Roger Gourmet Jams, Real Dill Pickles, Mustachestuff.com, Urban Izzy (mobile shopping!) and The Shoe Bar, which is a shoe boutique housed in a trolley car! www.facebook. com/events/1394464887443455

Saturday, Aug. 24

Houston Re-Market 4302 Harrisburg, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. The goal of Houston Re-Market is to foster responsible consumerism. The market features approximately ten very affordable vendors who use recycled and reused materials and other sustainable practices in their craft. Visitors are encouraged to bring their recycling, swap items too. Of course you’ll ﬁnd a food truck or two and live music to entertain. Get all the details online, www.houstonremarket.com. Avenue Gallery’s August Closing Reception, 6-9 p.m. Avenue Gallery, 3219 Houston Ave., Houston, Texas 77009. Featured Artists are Kiki Neumann, Regina Lee, Toria Hill, Billy York, Andy Gonzalez, Vivian Mora, Ricardo

Brew House opens Aug. 27 The Brew House has a brew for you, whether it is in the morning or the evening, with coffee, cappuccino, espresso and wide selection of beer and wine. The house coffee will be the Estate Don Teofilo, which comes from a local distributor, Java Pura in Bellaire. There will be breakfast offerings in the mornings and pizzas baked in the evenings. Beginning August 27, at 6 a.m., The Brew House will open at 5022 Pinemont Drive in the building that was formerly Crazy J’s Ice House. The venue has undergone a makeover with free upgraded Wi-Fi, more non-alcoholic drink offerings, and art designed by the owner’s 14 year old daughter Shelby. For more information, call 832-804-9079 or visit www. thebrewhousetexas.com.

Dance hall restored to Country/Western venue

Gomez, Marcia Gomez, Sam Van Bibber, Debbie Clendennen, and Taylor Clendennen. www.avegallery.com Get out of town! Galveston ArtWalk is today - a must see event. For more than 25 years, the Galveston Art Center has produced ArtWalk on Saturday nights from 6-9 p.m. in the heart of the historic district. A ﬂyer listing all ArtWalk participants with times and locations can be downloaded at www.contemporaryartgalveston.org.

Thursday, Aug. 29

Stitched Brand Bags: Kickstarter Party and Fashion Show 6-9 p.m. At G Gallery 301 E. 11th St, Houston, Texas 77008. Here are local artists supporting local businesses and making the world a better place. Throw in a fashion show, some refreshments add one of the coolest art galleries in the Heights and BAM - one really cool evening, do not miss this one. Stitched is a unique hand-bag company that merges ﬁne art with everyday necessity creating sustainable communities with every bag. www.stitchedbrand.com www.facebook.com/ events/446101855497240 August Maker Meet Up - 7-9 p.m. Onion Creek 3106 White Oak, Houston, Texas 77008. Makers, you know who you are, this meeting is for you. There will be people who can help you make, market, and sell your creations. What is a maker? See more here: http://makerfaire.com/bea-maker/ Join this local group online: www.facebook.com/ events/427572887356706

Saturday, Aug. 31

EXTRA ! EXTRA ! 7-10 p.m.

If you attend the Good Vibe Party Round 2, make sure to check out Man Ready Mercantile and some of the unique products. Kallinen Contemporary, 511 Broadway, Houston, TX 77012. A News Media Art Happening Featuring Wayne Dolceﬁno, 40+ Artists and Live Press Conference. This was on the Facebook invite to: “Nothing less than the future of the news media, and with it the People and World, is at stake.”What can I say? We’d all better show up for this one! www.facebook.com/ events/561963613842103 Cohen is the founder and manager of First Saturday Arts Market. Contact him at ArtValet@gmail. com or visit him on the web at www.ArtValet.com.

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The once thriving ballroom and concert venue known as the Esquire Ballroom is now Neon Boots Dancehall and Saloon. Built in 1955 by Raymond Proske, the Esquire was home to many well-known acts of the 50s, 60s and 70s, such as Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Charlie Pride, Jim Reeves and many more. Since the Esquire closed in 1995, it has been several other venues and bars. The new owners have completely restored the building and upgraded its features. The new dancehall, which will cater to gay audiences, will feature a huge dance ﬂoor and performance stage, six bar stations, table service, expansive outdoor area with deck and patio. The owners also anticipate installing a mechanical bull, sand volleyball court and horse shoes for outside in the yard.

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Leader Nibbles Piatto Ristorante coming to Studewood

The Leader conﬁrmed Monday that a third location of Piatto Ristorante will open at 1111 Studewood in December. Piatto Ristorante is owned and operated by John Marion Carrabba, of the famed Carrabba family, who created the menu from recipes passed down through four generations. Menu favorites include the fried asparagus topped in crab meat and the calamari. Every Wednesday Piatto Ristorante serves Osso Buco, a braised veal

shank, slow roasted for eight hours and topped with a vegetable red wine reduction, then served over creamy risotto.

Papa Murphy’s coming to 43rd & Ella

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The number one rated Zagat Pizza Chain Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza is slated to open in September at 1214 W. 43rd St., Ste 1000, behind Starbucks. Papa Murphy’s pizza is made fresh in front of you, but is taken home to bake in your own oven so you can enjoy it piping hot whenever you want it.

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Page 4A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

Safety concerns grip parents by Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com Darryl Rickaway has two grown children in college. He lives in Shepherd Park Plaza, grew up playing in Shepherd Park, and remembers the days when Durham Elementary wasn’t bound by a protective fence. “When I was a kid, the playground was open,” Rickaway recalled. “That was our ﬁeld. We had games there every Sunday afternoon.” Those days are long gone. Rickaway remembers the fence going up in the 1970s, and he also remembers when Shepherd Park was as safe as anywhere for the neighborhood gang of children. Things really began to change about 15 years ago, when Houston Police closed their station on the corner of Martin and N. Shepherd. “If someone was chasing us when we were younger, we’d get on our bikes and ride straight to the police station,” Rickaway said. “But once that station closed, that’s when we really started to see a rise in crime.” That’s wasn’t the only reason. Chamboard Lane is one of the only straight streets that runs through Shepherd Park Plaza, a neighborhood in North Houston that has seen young families increase and home values spike in the past two years. “People used that street as a shortcut through the neighborhood. And so did the police.” Once police cars stopped riding the streets of the neighborhood, Rickaway said that was another reason for an increase in crime. The eastern most boundary of Shepherd Park Plaza and Candlelight Plaza is Brinkman Street. The details of crime and public safety concerns on the other side of Brinkman have been detailed at length, but what hasn’t been addressed is what impact those concerns have on two neighborhoods that want nothing more than to reclaim Durham Elementary School and the safety of young and old people alike in those neighborhoods. “Durham Elementary is very near and dear, and very valuable to all of us,” said Rickaway who, along with his wife, Laurie, have both served as presidents of the Durham PTA. “We met Angie [Sugarek, the new principal at Durham] a couple of weeks ago, and we told her that this is our school, and it hasn’t been treated that way for the past couple of years.”

Not sacriﬁcing children for school

Lorraine Cole, a mother of two who lives in Candlelight Plaza, is a Realtor for Hartman Realty. The last two years, she

In the past three years, most of the schools in this area have improved their rankings. Durham is the biggest exception. School Oak Forest Elem. Travis Elem. Harvard Elem. Garden Oaks Elem. Field Elem. Love Elem. Durham Elem.

2010 Rank 22 71 92 438 217 292 367

2013 Rank 6 76 83 107 185 382 584

was also a fourth-grade teacher at Durham, and she knows exactly what Rickaway feels. “We have chosen to send our children to Durham,” said Cole, whose husband, Gejaun, is an engineer. “But I am not going to sacriﬁce my kids for that school.” Cole, like many in the neighborhood, has been frustrated with Durham and the path the school has taken in the past few years. Along with three principals in three years, the school has gone against the trend set by other elementary schools in the area. Children at Risk is a non-proﬁt organization that measures the successes of schools across Texas. In 2010, out of 557 schools in the Greater Houston area, Durham ranked 367th. That’s hardly a topnotch school by any standard. Meanwhile, Oak Forest Elementary was ranked 22nd and Garden Oaks was ranked 438th. In the past three years, Oak Forest has climbed to the No. 6 ranking in the city, ahead of West University, Bush and Condit elementary schools, to name a few. Garden Oaks Elementary has climbed from No. 438 to No. 107 in the metro area. Durham Elementary? In the same three years when OFE and GOE have surged up the rankings, the school has slipped 217 spots – from No. 367 to No. 584 (out of 775 elementary schools now in the metro area). “We’ve lost a lot of kids at Durham,” Cole said. “Last year, when I was there, we had 585 students. This year, I think the enrollment is around 485 students.” What’s worse for Cole is that neighborhood children are not attending Durham – opting for other schools in the area or spending money on private schools. “We have, literally, hundreds of kids in

While children play across the street in Shepherd Park, there’s rarely a time when others are standing outside the Brinkman Neighborhood Food Store sipping a beer. While there haven’t been reports of problems in the park, the perception is that the area is not safe for children. (Photos by Jonathan McElvy) Candlelight and Shepherd Park Plaza,” Cole said. “I looked on the roll last year, and we had a total of 12 kids in the school from those two neighborhoods.” Vicki Cangelosi responded to a Facebook request from The Leader, and when asked about the school, she said Durham is not an option. “I attended Durham in the early ’80s,” she wrote. “Not sure why things have changed so much between then and now... We live in a beautiful neighborhood, but unfortunately I feel private school is our only option.” Megan Rasmussen, responding to the same question, said when local families left the school, there was no choice but to bring students from other areas. “... The neighborhood kids who attended [Durham] grew up and their parents stayed here,” Rasmussen said. “The school had to be populated from elsewhere.” That’s exactly what Cole has seen, both as a teacher and a parent. “The apartments [on Oak Street] are some of the biggest problems for the school because transients live there,” Cole said. She explained that parents who live in those apartments jump from special to

special. They’ll live there for a month or two, then they ﬁnd a rent special at another apartment complex – often out of the school zone – and they’ll take their children out of the school. “It’s so sad when that happens,” Cole said. “We’re just starting to build trust with those students, and they get yanked out of the school. And that’s the biggest thing with a child – to build a relationship, to build trust.”

Public safety’s impact

Everyone interviewed for this report said safety concerns on the eastern side of Brinkman are largely to blame for the community’s lack of involvement in Durham. Constable Alan Rosen, during a drive through the area, could quickly point to places that “have a criminal element.” What’s interesting is that in every police report submitted to The Leader during this investigation, there has never been a report of a crime at Durham. There have been no cases of wanderers slipping onto school property. There are no reports of unwanted visitors entering the school. There have been no abductions or injuries or criminal mischief. Karen Cruse, a member of the active

Citizens’ Patrol group in Shepherd Park Plaza sums it up best. “Here’s what I don’t like about it. There are people drinking in that park. They walk across Brinkman, come sit in the park, and they’re watching the children playing,” she said. “I don’t like them there. I don’t like it at all.” Cruse, a perfunctory sort of person by nature, may speak for hundreds of families in the area. Yes, Durham has had administrative issues the past few years, and the building isn’t the most modern of the elementary schools in the district. But there’s reality in the perception that the area around Durham Elementary is not a safe place. Two people interviewed for this report said they were concerned about gang activity on Oak Street. One person said there were rival gangs on each side of the street. Victor Gonzalez, director of programs for the Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office, said he is not aware of any gangs in that area. “We’ve never had any complaints from there,” Gonzalez said. “We haven’t seen blatant graffiti, and we haven’t had any indications that we have a problem.” And Gonzalez would know. His son graduated from St. Pius X High School. He lives on Tidwell. And if you spend five minutes talking with Gonzalez, he can give a complete history of gang activity all across the city. In that regard, maybe the perception – a false one in some circumstances – has created a reality that things are worse than they really are. Then again, the discomfort parents like Cangelosi feel is real. It’s the impact of public safety concerns. And Durham Elementary, in many ways, is the victim.

BRINKMAN, from Page 1A • Overgrown properties pose risk to neighbors over into [Shepherd Park],” said Deputy J.P. Moulden, who works for the Sheriff ’s Department but is paid to constantly patrol adjoining neighborhood Shepherd Park Plaza. “When he comes over here, we move him back across Brinkman.”

“It really bothered me,” Cole said. “I was in a panic. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Sex oﬀender concerns

Anyone has the ability to visit the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website and search for registered sex offenders. The search can be done by zip code, and every registered offender is listed, along with his or her date of birth and address. A simple search of the DPS website revealed there are eight registered sex offenders living in this small section of North Houston. Two of those registered live less than 800 feet from Durham Elementary School. Two other known offenders live less than 800 feet from St. Pius X High School. Just across N. Shepherd, there are eight other registered sex offenders living in an apartment complex at 607 Thornton Road. According to DPS, “Paroled sex offenders are not allowed to be within 500 feet of any place where children are known to congregate.” Rosen, who said he planned to investigate each of the registered offenders, believes there is a law that does not allow them to live within 1,000 feet of a school. As of press time, Rosen was still searching for speciﬁcs of that law, and Texas DPS said that each offender is handled on a case-by-case basis. “It all has to do with the conditions of the parole,” said a spokesman for DPS. Sister Donna Pollard, head of school for St. Pius X, said she gets an updated list each month of any new registered offenders. She told The Leader she wasn’t aware that one of those registered lived less than 200 feet from the school’s property. “We gated our campus eight to 10 years ago, just because we wanted this to be a safer area,” Pollard said. “It helps that our students are older [St. Pius X has high school students only], but when I get this information, if it’s someone very close to us, I will notify our security people.”

Wrapping up the problem

During a drive through some of the streets oﬀ Brinkman, Constable Alan Rosen, of Precinct 1, stopped to look at the property at 922 Oak St., where the city of Houston posted a notice that the lot must be clean by April 14, 2013. (Photos by Jonathan McElvy) What about the environment?

Crime is measurable. Trash and weeds and people hanging around a corner store sipping tall boys is not. But on the eastern side of Brinkman, all of those things are rampant. Take, for example, a piece of property at 922 Oak Street, less than 400 feet from Durham Elementary. It is impossible to take two steps onto the property without being tangled in tree limbs, beer bottles and poison ivy. Grass and weeds have grown seven feet high. One tree, located toward the front of the land, is a mangled mess of vines, save for the one item of civilization found buried behind the weeds. Nailed to the tree is a violation notice from the city of Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods. The notice says the property is in violation of Ordinance 10-451, and the violation is for weeds and one other thing, which can’t be deciphered because poison ivy covers the words. The violation notice is dated April 2, 2013, and the property owner was given

until April 14, 2013, to clean the lot. As of Aug. 19, the sign remained in the grips of the weeds. According to the Harris County Appraisal District, this lot is owned by Jericho Adell and lists his address as “unknown.” The lot is 14,550 square feet and if you look hard enough through the overgrowth, you can make out the listed 864 square-foot house near the back of the property. The appraised value of the lot is $103,000. The Harris County Tax Assessor’s website indicates Adell has not paid taxes on this property since at least 2007, and the total property tax owed, according to the site, is $26,097. “My guess is that Jericho Adell is probably deceased,” said Alan Rosen, constable of Precinct 1. “Something needs to be done about this, though.” Enter the city of Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods, where citizens are encouraged to report problems like the one at 922 Oak St. This is the department that posted the yellow sign on this speciﬁc lot.

Evangelina Vigil, public information ofﬁcer for DON, said there are seven divisions in the department and one of them, Inspections and Public Services, is charged with handling properties like the one on Oak Street. She said someone at their ofﬁce would check the complaint and determine next steps. “There’s a lot to something like this,” Vigil said. “First, we have to give a notice to the owner. Then, we go back and inspect what has been done. At that point, the owner can be cited, and then there is usually a hearing.” When asked what happens if a property owner does not appear for a hearing, Vigil said there can be an emergency abatement. “When we have absentee owners, usually, the city will clean it up.” The concerns are not just over a single over-grown lot. All along the area east of Brinkman, trash litters the streets and the culverts are anything but manicured. At the Brinkman Neighborhood Food Store, Rosen said there is a known homeless man who lives outside the building. “Every once in a while, he wanders

In an area where crime statistics are obviously high, where folks roam the streets, where cars make late-night stops in the middle of the road, the problem isn’t one of race, or creed or class. “This isn’t a race issue at all, even if people want to make it that,” said Ed Gonzalez, a member of the Houston City Council and mayor pro tem. “This is, plain and simple, an issue of public safety. We’ve got to have tunnel vision here. Just go after the criminals. Deal with the crime issue.” Lorraine Cole, who lives in Candlelight Plaza, is an African American who feels exactly the same. “No, it is not about race. This is about the values that people have,” Cole said. “I know they may not have the educational background that we have, but it’s not about that. They don’t have the same values I have.” As public safety is concerned, the problem is that many people who live in this small area of North Houston have made crime a daily way of life. No, not all who live in the “rectangle” are criminals – there are many hard-working, honest people there. But where crimes are to this extent, the lifestyle begins to impact those who have, or want, no part in it. Durham Elementary, once considered an excellent neighborhood school, has been through three principals and has seen enrollment drop by nearly 100 students this year alone, according to Cole, who served as vice president of the PTA. When crime and registered sex offenders and an alleged half-way house are less than a block from the school, and where children are exposed to safety issues unimaginable to some parents, that’s when the crime becomes a community issue. A community concern. And the continental divide that is Brinkman Street is a concern.

Page 5A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

Can safety, school be reclaimed? by Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com Karen Cruse is one of a number of people who don’t mind hopping in the car, driving the neighborhood, and checking to make sure no suspect visitors are roaming the streets. She’s part of the Citizens’ Patrol group in Shepherd Park Plaza – a group lauded by every public and law enforcement official around. “You guys have one of the best Citizen Patrols anywhere,” said Constable Alan Rosen. City council members Ellen Cohen and Ed Gonzalez said the same. But for all the good work Cruse does to bring security to her neighborhood, she also has concerns about what, if anything, can be done to actually improve some of the crime elements on the eastern side of Brinkman Street, where crime statistics are 379 percent higher than the average in Houston. “It feels like we’re fighting these battles by ourselves,” Cruse said last week. “It feels like there’s just not a lot we can do.” Maybe that’s how people feel when they hear of another burglary, or theft, or armed robbery in Shepherd Park Plaza or Candlelight Plaza. But during a monthlong investigation into the concerns over areas east of Brinkman, The Leader found a host of solutions. If they were wrapped into one package, maybe the sum of the parts creates an entire answer. “It’s hard when you have neighborhoods surrounding your neighborhood, and it seems like there’s not a lot you can do,” Rosen said. “But yes, you can do things.” In the article below, we highlight Braeswood Place, a neighborhood in Bellaire that almost perfectly mirrored what those in North Houston face. Crime statistics were high. A murder set the community into a mode of action, rather than fear. But along with that example, there are numerous ideas that citizens and elected officials have pondered over the past couple of years.

A Fence

Darryl Rickaway, an active member in Shepherd Park Plaza, has begun discussions with Cohen and Rosen to consider putting a fence along the eastern side of Shepherd Park, virtually blocking the entrance to anyone from Brinkman Street. Of course, Shepherd Park is a city park, meaning everyone in Houston has the same right to the area. “The problem in the park is people coming across Brinkman who have no business being there,” Rickaway said. “By putting up a fence, those people would have to have access to the park. They could park on Dunsmere, or we could put a gate or a turnstile there.” J.P. Moulden, a deputy for Constable Alan Rosen, has a contract with Shepherd Park Plaza to monitor the neighborhood throughout the week. He thinks Rickaway’s idea is a good one. “We kind of use Brinkman as a bumper,” Moulden said. “We try to push folks who don’t belong here back over there. But if we’re chasing someone from in the neighborhood, all they have to

do is run across the park and then they disappear.” Rosen likes the idea of the fence. “The area is just too wide open,” he said. Cohen is a little more reserved in deciding whether the city can support fencing off Shepherd Park, which would give the appearance that some people aren’t wanted. “Councilwoman Cohen has more parks in her district than any other member of the council,” Rickaway said. “She said she can’t just demand a fence be put there, but she did say she’d start making calls on it.” One solution to getting a fence installed is having citizens foot the bill. “Cohen said there’s no funding for it right now,” Rickaway said. “Maybe the city would be willing to pay 50 percent of it. And I’m pretty conﬁdent we could raise the other 50 percent.” No timetable has been set for a decision on the fence, but Rickaway said he expects to hear back within the next week.

Reclaiming Durham

Much attention has been given to the the poor ratings of Durham Elementary. Lorraine Cole, who once taught there and still has children in the school, said enrollment is down by 100 this year. But Cole hasn’t thrown in the towel, and others aren’t willing to do that either. Rickaway and his wife have met with the new principal, Angie Sugarek, and told her they want their neighborhood school back. Saying so and doing so are two different things. Cole thinks she has a solution. “You know, even if your child doesn’t go [to Durham], the community here has to let HISD know you want the school to get better,” she said. “We choose to send our kids to Durham. We want to give our kids a real-world perspective, because at Durham, there truly are the haves and the have-nots. But if parents in our neighborhoods would send their children to Durham, we could ﬁll that school up.” Megan Rasmussen echoed Cole’s idea. “Even if you feel your ‘only option’ is private school, please consider how much you can beneﬁt from a strong neighborhood school, and look into supporting it in other means,” she said. “There are those of us who think Durham is lovely (even if the building isn’t) and will send our kids there because we want to.” According to Cole, public schools are a numbers game. At a certain level, when one child goes to an elementary school, that takes away an opening for another child. It’s not that Cole wants to be exclusive, but she believes parents – more than any other entity – have the ability to reclaim Durham. “We could take it back if we wanted to,” she said.

Buying property

As detailed in the story below on Braeswood Place, members of a community do have the ability to do more than watch old properties rot. In our main story of this investigation, we highlighted a property at 922 Oak Street, where rubbish and weeds have consumed the lot where property taxes haven’t been paid in six years, and where the shell of an 864-square-foot house still stands. According to Rosen, there’s a

a few problems

Plenty of ideas

Shepherd Park Plaza has a hidden treasure. Deputy J.P. Moulden is contracted by the neighborhood to drive the street, watch for folks who don’t belong, and he even says he knows every dog and cat that belongs on the streets. But Moulden, and the sense of safety he provides, is only part of the answer to improving the area around Brinkman. Below are some of the ideas from people who live and represent the area.

Cleaning things up

Ellen Cohen, Houston City Council

No matter how much police protection is around, residents still have to do their part. Don’t leave car doors open. Don’t leave valuables in plain sight. The ﬁrst step to protection is protecting yourself.

Ed Gonzalez, Houston City Council

You’re going through a transformation in your neighborhood right now. These things take time. Meanwhile, think about the “Broken Window Theory.” Leave one broken window unﬁxed, and the mindset permeates to your neighbors.

Alan Rosen, Constable, Precinct 1

Report overgrown lots. Get law enforcement involved every time you can. Businesses, clean up your mess. And the community must become involved. Don’t sit back and wait for someone else to report a problem.

Darryl Rickaway, Resident

Building a fence along the eastern border of Shepherd Park would help law enforcement catch those who enter the neighborhood. While a fence might take community donations, it’s one step to keeping folks who don’t belong out of Shepherd Park.

Lorraine Cole, Resident

First, parents with children in Shepherd Park Plaza and Candlelight Plaza should consider reclaiming Durham Elementary. Sending you children there will make an immediate impact. On another note, Cole says the city of Houston should raise taxes on the property east of Durham. “Then, I think [the community] should buy the whole area.”

Kathryn van der Pol, Business Owner

Use the tools aﬀorded to you. Call law enforcement when you see a problem. She has done that, and she’s seen it work.

Of Course There’s More...

If you see a property that is out of control, with weeds and poison ivy and limbs covering the home, call 311. You’ll be directed to the Department of Neighborhoods – anonymously – and you can track the progress of your complaint.

Useful Phone Numbers North Division (HPD) – (281) 405-5300 Robbery Division – (281) 405-6500

good chance that lot will be auctioned off in the near future. The question, then, is who will buy it? “Maybe that’s what you do,” Rosen said. “Maybe you start going in and buying up that property. Work with a developer on it.” Cole and her husband, Gejuan, think the same thing. “My husband and I were talking about it, and we both hope the taxes will go up,” Cole said. “Then, I think [the community] needs to buy the whole area.” Rickaway said there has even been conversation about the civic club of Shepherd Park Plaza buy-

new law changed that to 25 units per acre.” In a sense, that may be self-defeating for residents in Candlelight Plaza and Shepherd Park Plaza. It could offer a reprieve, though. According to Rickaway, the apartments on Oak Street – at one point – were some of the nicest around. “As time went on, that changed.” Olivia Carrizal, through a Facebook response to the question, said the same. “Years ago, I lived on Oak Street in some apartments. Who knew just how bad those apartments would get in the early 2000s.”

Narcotics Line – (713) 466-3673 Vice Division Line – (713) 308-2582

ing Shepherd Park from the city. “I don’t know if that can happen, but if it did, we could really secure that area,” he said. Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gonzalez said the city recently passed a law that increases the number of people who can live on any speciﬁc area in the city. “The purpose is this: If a developer knows they can buy a piece of property and have more units on that property, maybe that becomes a better investment for the developer,” Gonzalez said. “The old law said there could only be 15 units per every one acre. The

Maybe the most immediate impact any one person or group could have would be to instill a sense of pride in the area east of Brinkman. Gonzalez likes to refer to it as the “Broken Window Theory.” “To ﬁx this, it has to be a partnership,” he said. “Each neighbor has to set standards for what’s permissible and what’s not permissible. Instead, you end up getting the Broken Window Theory. If you allow one broken window, it becomes a cancer. It permeates throughout the neighborhood.” Laurie Hardwick, also responding to a Facebook question, said the community would be better served if folks on the eastern side of Brinkman would take some pride in where they live. “I think the main issue in that area is a lack of a cohesive neighborhood group,” Hardwick wrote. “I don’t think that the law abiding folks over there have an easy way to come together and work toward overall improvements. SPPCC and the CPCC got involved a few years ago when someone was trying to open a questionable halfway house just a few blocks from Durham.” The city of Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods is designed to help communities like this stay clean. They aren’t just the accountability arm, either. It’s part of their job to clean trash, weeds and overgrown lots. Evangelina Vigil, public information ofﬁcer for the department, said citizens should not hesitate to call 311 to make a complaint about hazards or nuisances in their area. “The city tracks those requests, which provide vital information for addressing the issue or the problem,” Vigil said. “Citizens submitting reports or complaints can remain anonymous. Callers are given a reference number so that they can call back to check on the status of their requests.” It seems another solution is stopping the broken windows before they permeate throughout the community.

Public safety

It has become as clichéd as any comment published in The Leader over the past year, but Cohen, Rosen and Gonzalez all continue to harp on the need for residents to do their part in staying safe. “We had a town hall meeting a few months ago, and during the meeting, we had police ofﬁcers walk through the parking lot to inspect cars,” Cohen said. “Sixty percent of the cars in the lot either had their doors open or valuables in sight.” Cohen said you can’t prevent crime, but an educated community goes a long way toward slowing it.

Kathryn van der Pol, a business owner on N. Shepherd, said she can look across the street toward Thornton Road and see some of the criminal element that concerns citizens. She has done exactly what law enforcement always suggests. “I’ll call the vice squad and the police captain, and I’ve had some success with them,” van der Pol said. “I know they made a prostitution arrest across the street, and I also know they coded some violations because of the call.” Rosen said there is not any one thing that can be done to solve this problem. But he said four specific actions can create a lasting solution. “First, get law enforcement involved whenever you can. Call them. Make reports,” he said. “Second, get the city involved through nuisance abatements.” The place to start with a nuisance abatement is through the Department of Neighborhoods. Making a call to 311 and reporting a property gets the entire process working, according to Vigil. Rosen said the third solution is for businesses in the area to clean up along the streets. “Is their grass cut? Is there trash on the street?” With a lack of zoning laws, one problem Rosen sees is that dirty businesses detract from the quality of life in a specific area. And last, Rosen said the community has to get involved. One solution is what Shepherd Park Plaza has done through its Constable Program. “[J.P. Moulden] watches this neighborhood,” Rosen said. “He knows every car that’s supposed to be here. Every person that’s supposed to be here.” Moulden interjects: “I know every dog and every cat in this neighborhood.” Gonzalez has a more philosophical approach to the solution – both of public safety and quality of life. “One challenge for you all is that you’re having a lot of growing pains,” he said. “When you have the sort of transformation you’re having in that area of Houston, you’re transforming from what it used to be to what it’s going to be. The remnants of what it used to be are still there today.” Gonzalez should know. He grew up in the Heights, watched his neighborhood change, and says the gentrification of the Heights is still an on-going process.

All in one

Whether it’s self-awareness for your own safety, to considering a visit back to Durham, to investing money in a worn-out lot, the consensus of The Leader’s investigation into this area of North Houston is pretty clear. First, there are no short-term solutions. In our piece about Braeswood Place, it literally took a generation to make the change. Maybe it doesn’t have to take that long, but it won’t happen in a month. No single solution is too difﬁcult. Community involvement takes time, and that is all. School involvement takes a little courage. And making a phone call on a ﬁlthy property just takes a cell phone and an anonymous tip. There are areas all over our coverage area that face the same issues every day. In order to impact change, no matter how great or small, the real solution is getting members of the community to be aware. Be active.

Braeswood Place faced same scenario, residents took it back by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com More than 20 years ago, a group of community leaders in a southwest Houston neighborhood banded together to improve their neighborhood, schools and infrastructure. Braeswood Place is a subdivision that was built in the late 1940s/early 1950s that had started to decline by the mid-to-late 1980s. Between the neighborhood’s two schools that were located three blocks apart, Mark Twain Elementary and Pershing Middle, were Post-World War II eightplexes and dilapidated apartments. According to Bill Blackwood, a member of the Braeswood Place Homeowners Association, the dilapidated apartments between the two schools were so full of crime and drugs that “some cops didn’t even want to drive there.” At one point in the late 1980s, Houston ISD considered shutting down Twain. “The whole area was not good,” Blackwood said. “We wanted to save the neighborhood, the schools. You had to do something about it or get out.”

After a murder rattled neighbors who lived near Braeswood Place near Bellaire, a group of citizens formed Stella Link Redevelopment Association to purchase land and old homes. Today, Braeswood Place is considered one of the nicest neighborhoods in Houston. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter) Blackwood and fellow neighborhood leaders chose the former. The tide began to shift when two of the apartment properties defaulted on taxes. Members of the Braeswood Place HOA went to the courthouse and made a bid on the properties. They purchased them and immediately

tore down the eight-plexes. The leaders of the HOA went into a limited partnership for the property they’d just purchased. On top of that, they made a commitment to Twain, “to put (our) kids in that school and support it,” said Blackwood. Eventually, the HOA realized it couldn’t raise private money in its current set-up,

so the Stella Link Redevelopment Association (SLRA) was founded. “We started picking up a little momentum,” Blackwood said. “We hired a professional developer, put a master plan together of ballﬁelds and supported youth and schools. We started writing grants for redevelopment and got support from the

city.” Through this process, the SLRA worked with the city to build a park, a library, a YMCA and a fire station in the neighborhood. New buildings were built at both Twain and Pershing, which both improved significantly. Some of the results didn’t come to fruition until 2002, such as the park and the library, but it was worth it, according to Blackwood. “People did it for their kids, and their kids were out of college when (the project) finished,” Blackwood said. “They stuck with it, and believed in ‘pay it forward’.” Blackwood said neighborhoods facing similar challenges should look at Braeswood Place’s example. “A lot of good things happened because people had personal drive to clean up their neighborhood,” Blackwood said. “People have to get together, start looking at this bigger picture. Anything’s possible if you get the right momentum going. The schools are important. These people supported these schools when the schools weren’t popular.”

Page 6A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

These stories aren’t easy to write, but maybe they get us talking

O

ver the past month, I’ve had a chance to spend time digging into a story I’ve wanted to tell for almost a year. It’s the story of a street in North Houston that borders two of the up-and-coming neighborhoods in The Leader’s coverage area. There’s no doubt you’ve read better-written pieces than what I’ve offered today. And I imagine I could have taken another two months to interview residents, allowing them to tell more of their story. In all, I think we talked to about 15 people for this story. We filed requests with the city of Houston for as much information as we could find. We talked to city officials, department spokespeople and as many of you who wanted to speak on the record. Your reaction, in many ways, will determine if such an exercise was wrapped in futility, or if spotlighting a “rough” area of town proves to be a catalyst for improvement. There’s something that doesn’t feel right about plowing into a story like this, though, and that’s part of what I’d like to discuss. The purpose of investigating the crime and public safety issues on the eastern side of Brinkman Street in North Houston is singular: Put your focus on something, and most times, you’ll see improvement. It’s like running any business. If you focus on product, rather than sales,

JONATHAN MCELVY Publisher

the product improves. Focus on expenses, rather than revenue, and expenses get better. Focus on eight blocks between Brinkman and N. Shepherd, and maybe we can do something to improve the area. Here’s what doesn’t feel right, despite all the good intentions: When you write about a speciﬁc area – in this instance, .28 square miles – you tend to lump everyone into a category. If you write about problems on Oak Street, which we’ve done, you might as well say everyone on Oak Street is a criminal. If you write about a mobile home community on Thornton Road, where police have been called 43 times in the past year, it’s very easy for readers to assume that every person living in that community is part of the problem. I expressed my concern about writing this series of stories to Ed Gonzalez, an Hispanic who serves on the Houston City Council and is mayor pro tem. I told him that writing about an area where African Americans and Hispanics

live will come across as an attack on race. Just as bad, I felt like it does a lot to propagate a feeling of classism, where one group of people is better than another. Gonzalez assured me that wasn’t the case. “We’ve got to have tunnel vision here,” he said. “Deal with the crime issue.” As much as possible, that’s what we’ve tried to do in the report, “On the Brink.” We’re talking about an issue of public safety, public welfare, if you will. I know, without a doubt, that good people – law-abiding, hard-working, honest people – live in this highlighted area, and if it’s even possible, those folks need to know they aren’t being lumped into a crowd of miscreants. That’s one of my concerns with publishing a collection of stories about one area of this community. There’s another. We deliver The Leader to more than 30,000 homes every week,

THE READER. Wrong approach to animals

Dear Editor: I read [Jonathan McElvy’s] August 10 article in the Leader. It doesn’t make any sense to me why you are complaining about victims of sex slaves - a terrible crime, and somehow trying to blame to people who love animals. All I’ve got to say is “Huh?” What the heck does one have to do with another? Yeah, people love animals. Why is that so terrible? According to the statistics I see for Houston, (see attached billboard), Houston has been killing 80,000 animals a year, mostly healthy animals who have done nothing wrong - except for being born. This has been going on, unabated, ever since I arrived here in the 80’s. That equals 2.5M killed dogs and cats. The problem with Houston’s sex slave traffic is that Houston is a “sanctuary city” for immigration. Take away that status, and you take away most of the sex trafficking. Another point - instead of lambasting people for loving animals, why not slam men who pay to have sex with slaves mostly very young teenaged girls and boys - in the 12 to 15 year old range? How about that as a headline for your paper? If men were not willing to pay for sex, all sex slave trafficking would disappear overnight. Stop criticizing people who love others and make this world a better place to live and put the blame for terrible acts of abuse on people who use and abuse others - including animals and humans. Many psychological studies show that people who abuse animals also abuse humans. Sue

Let Poe Know

Dear Editor: I recently received Congressman Ted Poe’s Immigration Reform survey in the mail. it is important that his constituents

see the light on this issue as the powerful forces gather to push through an amnesty bill in Congress. Immigration Reform or “Comprehensive Reform” are code words to lead into some type of amnesty scheme with promises for enforcement NEVER KEPT. Poe is shifting on this issue quite dramatically and needs to hear from you. In the survey introduction he states: “Amnesty is not an option, but what we have now is just that-de facto amnesty” this is straight out of the RNC script ﬁrst applied by Senator Marco Rubio. Don’t believe it! The government is refusing to enforce our laws and trying to deceive, distract and wear down the public. Take note of the company Rep. Poe is keeping. In May he was a panel member in a forum held at First Baptist Church with Pastor Fleming and Insurance salesman Norman Adams (an avid opponent of AZ-type legislation) both of whom lobby for Comprehensive Immigration Reform at both the state and Federal level. Rep. Ted Poe will also be on a panel this month for Immigration Works titled “What Employers Need”. His townhalls are hard to track and when you do ﬁnd them, they are assigned topic events to keep the public from asking questions on immigration.The Wall Street Journal recently wrote a piece about a bill Rep. Poe is co-authoring to double low-skilled visas for the restaurant and construction industries. He is all in for cheap labor subsidized by the taxpayers. Finally, the boldness of the Republican party in backing the interests of business over working-class Americans that are struggling with high unemployment and stagnant wages are evident in a recent Breitbart story. The RNC is seeking a party platform change to set the goals of immigration exclusively for the needs of employers. It is time to act! Call your reps and tell them NO BILLS! NO AMNESTY! Liz Theiss

North Houston. Every one of us has seen the same problem. What struck me most during my series of interviews was how the physical environment in which we live plays a major role in our quality of life. Gonzalez called it the “Broken Window Theory.” If we don’t care about where we live, if we let one window remain broken, that attitude seeps to others around us. It’s a cancer, as Gonzalez put it. It has nothing to do with race or class. It has to do with responsibility to those around us. Despite some concerns a publisher feels with calling out a speciﬁc area of a community, I’m excited about what happens next. Just during the course of our reporting, the city of Houston agreed to come clean a lot at 922 Oak Street. According to the Department of Neighborhoods, a contractor will be at the property on Aug. 28, lawnmowers in tow.

and according to our audit in December, about 72,000 people read our newspaper every week. It’s safe to assume that 99 percent of the people who picked up The Leader today have never even driven down Brinkman Street. Reading ﬁve or six stories about a sliver of land that has no impact on your life may seem like a complete waste of time. So if we knew that to be the case, why did we pay for so much ink on one topic? In my humble opinion, this area along Brinkman Street is typical of so many other areas in our community. On one side of the street, you’ll ﬁnd manicured lawns, clean front porches, painted homes and trash actually put in city-managed containers. Then, you look across the street and see trash on the ground, junk on the porch and weeds growing across the sidewalk. It doesn’t matter in you’re in the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest or

In the mobile home community on Thornton Road, the Harris County Attorney’s ofﬁce took the information we gave about 43 calls to one address in the past year, and they said they would look into the property. Constable Alan Rosen had the chance to drive through this area, and I can guarantee he’ll do everything he can to improve public safety. He said he would check on registered sex offenders in the area to ensure they weren’t living too close to Durham Elementary and St. Pius X. So what happens now? If the community feels we’ve taken a cheap-shot at a small slice of this area, please let us know. If you want to get involved in improving the lives of everyone inside and outside of this area, feel free to send me a note and I’ll put you in touch with the right people. Email jonathan@theleadernews.com

SUPERIOR Expanded, comprehensive emergency care. And still the only trauma center in The Heights. The best choice for trauma care in The Heights is now even better. Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital proudly announces the expansion of our emergency services. By adding nearly 10,000 square feet with the latest medical technologies, we continue to provide the highest quality trauma care right here in our community. So in case of emergency, you know where to turn — Memorial Hermann Northwest.

To learn more, visit memorialhermann.org

Find him online

Due to space considerations in this week’s edition of The Leader, Lynn Ashby’s column can be found on our website, www.theleadernews.com. He will return to his rightful position on the page next week.

ASHBY AT

LARGE

THE C CLASSIFIEDS. Ad # 8-24

Wanting to run a classiﬁed ad? CALL 713-686-8494 Monday - Friday. We accept credit cards.

AUTOS & TRUCKS THE OFFICIAL CAR FOR THE TEXANS — HYUNDAI! Call Ken W. Johnson, certiﬁed sales consultant for South Loop Hyundai, 713-335-4314 today! New/Used/Certiﬁed/Pre-Owned Vehicles. (9-14) 1998 FORD MUSTANG: 5-speed, red, good condition, very clean. One owner. $3,450 obo. 281797-1105. (9-14)

AUTOS & TRUCKS

AUTOS & TRUCKS WANT TO BUY

It’s easy to place a Leader clas2004 MUSTANG, 1992 OLDSMOsified. Just call us and charge it BILE VAN, 1989 SUBURBAN: to your credit card. Best offer. All individually owned/ excellent condition. 713-201- TOP CASH PAID FOR YOUR 9999. (8-24) GUNS: FFL concealed handgun classes. 713-694-4867. (TF) 1979 CHEVROLET PICKUP SILVERADO: Original owner. Restore WE BUY ONE TOUCH ULTRA this one. 713-688-5367. (9-7) STRIPS: $22 for 100 count box. 281-764-9615. www.selldiabetWWII or Earlier... 1958 FORD PICKUP SWB: Runs, icstrips.com. Military medals, drives, solid body. Needs finishing. $5,800 negotiable. 281-770- Sell it fast with an inexpensive patches, knives, etc. 9123. (9-14) Leader classified. 936-648-3967

WANT TO BUY

AUTOS & TRUCKS WANT TO BUY SPECIAL OCCASIONS CHARMING VENUE FOR YOUR NEXT GATHERING: Houston Heights Woman’s Club’s Historic Bungalow, perfect for small events. Recitals, luncheons, fundraisers — events up to 100 people. Grand piano, stage, round tables, small catering kitchen. Call Lizz Martin, 281217-6070, regarding this Heights landmark. (TF)

LEADER PUZZLER SOLUTIONS

WANT TO BUY AUTOS & TRUCKS

Page 7A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

MANNA - DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Your neighborhood thrift store appreciates any and all donations. We can arrange pickup for large items or large donations. Call 713-686-6440 or donate at 1806 W. 43rd St. Thank you. (TF)

GARAGE SALE: Saturday, Aug. 24. 1339 Sue Barnett Dr. 8 a.m. Furniture, home goods, clothes, much more.

GARAGE SALE

COMPUTERS

WORK WANTED

Home, Small Ofce Computer Repair

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Upgrades, Installation, Conguration (Virus-Removal) Home - NetWorking

1714 Latexo - 77018 Thurs • Fri • Sat 7AM-5PM L.R. Suit, Dinette, Desks, China Cabinet, Tools, Bird Cages, China Collectibles & Household

5007 Poinciana Sat 8/24 9am-4pm Sun 8/25 9am-4pm Furniture, Refrigerator, Dishes, Christmas, W/D. Glassware, Household misc.

MULTI-FAMILY GARAGE SALE

GIANT SALE

Saturday 8/24 8AM Desks, storage chest, bookshelves, clothes, jewelry, much more.

FRI • SAT • SUN 10AM - 9PM 2602 Campbell Rd. 713-239-0291

Double Decker Flea Market

1018 LaMonte

COMPUTER PROBLEMS?

5003 Bayou Vista Sat 8/24 Sun 8/25 • 8am-3pm

832.641.6786

Referrals Welcome

FOR SALE

No Job Too Large Or Small

713-529-4174 713-723-9689

ASK FOR

WE BUY/SELL GUNS: Top cash paid. FFL concealed handgun classes. 713-694-4867. (TF)

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OVERGROWN? Look For Help In Our

GUNS & AMMO

Lawn & Garden

3344 E.T.C. Jester

713-682-5549

Guide

www.republicarms.com

HELP WANTED

BUS DRIVERS NEEDED FOR CHURCH SHUTTLE: Approximately six hours a week. Must have CDL and passenger endorsement. Call 713-681-3600.

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING COMPANY is currently looking for leadmen with minimum one year of experience. For more information, please call 713-6882435 or apply at 2048 Johanna Dr. We are an equal opportunity employer. (S) (8-24)

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING COMPANY is currently looking for a licensed chemical applicator with a valid Texas license. Good salary and beneﬁts. For more information, please call 713-6882435 or apply at 2048 Johanna Dr. We are an equal opportunity employer. (S) (8-24)

ANIMAL LOVERS NEEDED to volunteer at no kill animal shelter in the Heights. Download volunteer application at www.nokill1. org or visit us in person at 107 E. 22nd Street, Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (TF)

MECHANIC WITH EXPERIENCE on Econoline vans needed. Experience with A/C, alternators, brakes and suspension. Tools required. Salary commensurate with experience. 713-681-3600. (TF)

FULL-TIME CHURCH SECRETARY

The congregation at Advent Lutheran Church, a 50 year old church of the ELCA in Northwest Houston, Tx is seeking a personable responsible individual to ﬁll the position of permanent full-time Administrative Assistant. Please see job description full details at www. adventhouston.org under News. Call 713-686-8201 or email resumes@adventhouston.org for more info.

2217 W. 34th, Ste. A.

713-686-6622

Johnny & Rhea Danna, Owners RETAIL CENTER www.thefoamstore.com WHOLESALE PRICES

HOUSTON HEIGHTS TOWER

TEACHERS & BUS DRIVERS

FRONT COUNTER HELP NEEDED

Drivers: Stiles Truck Line: Local & Regional: Home Weekends

NOW HIRING BUS DRIVERS BUS DRIVERS NEEDED AT ALDINE ISD

All types of Vendors (gift, crafts, product, information, food) wanted for the First Annual Pumkin Patch Bazaar on Saturday October 19, 2013 at Grace United Methodist Church 1245 Heights Blvd. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Will have children’s area, and music for the event. For information/sign up contact Pat Boggess 832-347-9382. lovettandpat@gmail.com

the

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FOAM store

NOTICE OF SEIZURE AND INTENT TO FORFEIT Notice is hereby given that the United States Department of the Interior is hereby commencing a forfeiture proceeding against the following items of wildlife or wildlife products, which were seized in the Houston area of Texas on the date indicated because they were involved in one or more violations of any of the following law: Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1538(a)(1)(A), l6 U.S.C. 1538(c)(1) and 16 U.S.C. 1538 (e) and 16U.S.C. 3372 (a)(1). These items are subject to forfeiture to the United States under Title l6, U.S.C. Sec. l540(e), 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1377, or l6 U.S.C. Sec. 3374 and Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Section l4.91(a) and 14.61. Any person with an ownership or financial interest in said items who desires to claim them must file a claim with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Law Enforcement office,16639 W. Hardy, Houston, TX 700606230. Such claim must be received by the above office by September 29, 2013. The claim will be transmitted to the U.S. Attorney for institution of a forfeiture action in U.S. District Court. If a proper claim is not received by the above office by such date, the items will be declared forfeited to the United States and disposed of according to law. Any person who has an interest in the items may also file with the above office a petition for remission of forfeiture in accordance with Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, and Section 12.24, which petition must be received in such office before disposition of the items. Storage costs may also be assessed.

Item Two (2) Sea Turtle (Cheloniidae sp.) Shell inlaid boxes Five (5) Sea Shell (Mollusca spp.) Shell boxes

• Free Training • Free Child Care • $14.30/hr

ADULT CARE

Medical Beneﬁts, 401k, Vacation Pay CDL-A w/Flatbed Exp. 855-314-5676

Drivers: Don’t get hypnotized by the highway, come to a place where there’s a higher standard! Up to $2K sign on, Avg $61K/yr + bonuses! CDL-A, 1 yr exp. A&R Transport: 888-202-0004

DIESEL MECHANICS NEEDED

with experience needed. Apply Now M-F in person at 5608 Hoover - 6:30 am 713-686-6470

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Experienced P&C Insurance Professional

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for established Farmers Insurance Agency located in the Heights. Email lfeldman@farmersagent.com or call 713 552 9436.

• Part-time • Small Group Instruction • Specializing in Pre K-8th grades Will improve basic skills and provide enrichment for above level students. Submit inquiries to Susan Sessions at sessionstutoring@gmail.com

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HONEST, RELIABLE, ELDERLY LADY would like to care for your loved ones. Serious callers only. 281-227-2029. (8-31)

NOW HIRING

EXPERIENCED CAREGIVER available weekends or live in. Duties include cooking, housekeeping. References available. 713-256-4024. (8-31)

Friendly, energetic people for a new concept to the Heights, City Oven.

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We are a fun and fast paced bar with a focus on food. A neighborhood joint that you can grab a local beer, order a brick oven pizza and watch your favorite event on our tvs. Open for lunch, dinner and late night on the weekends.

Home and private duty in your own home. Heights & Timbergrove area

713-869-4374

Please apply in person at 2808 White Oak Houston Tx 77007 Monday - Saturday 11am-7pm

Need Vacation $$$$?

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Shop Online 24/7 ��

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Insured

713-690-TREE-(8733)

TREE CARE

PROFESSIONALS

Comm.-Res. • Trimming • Removal • Stump Grinding • Planting • Pruning • Trash Hauling Free Estimate • Insured Lino 281-704-6828

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Al’s

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Experienced LAWN & TREE SERVICE

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Al Rojas 713-863-7310 Cell 713-416-1092

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713-480-9450 Verdeco

Professional Lawn Care • Mowing • Mulching • Shrub Trimming • Trash Removal • Cleanups 1 Time • Fertilizing

713-703-6406 Verdecolawncare@gmail.com • Landscape Design & Installation • Maintenance • Irrigation • Drainage • Lighting • Pool Design & Installation We accept all major Credit Cards

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Landscaping • Insured Satisfaction Guaranteed

Espinoza Lawn & Garden Irrigation Drainage Systems Tree Trimming • Wood Fences Flower Beds • Fertilizing

FREE ESTIMATES 713-290-0485 832-573-9229

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Residential/Commercial FREE ESTIMATES/Credit Cards

�� Lawn Care

Mowing • Edging • Blowing Flower Bedding • Fertilizing

TREE CUTTING & TRIMMING

FREE ESTIMATES – 17 Yrs. Exp.

(281) 948-4879

• Tree Removal • Trimming • Pruning • Stump Grinding • Lot Clearing Free Estimates • Bonded - Insured www.medinatreeservicehouston.com hotmail: nicolas.medina15@hotmail.com

713-301-8584

U S Tree Experts

• Landscape Installation • Weather Damage Replacement • Tree Trim & Removal • Lawn & Bed Maintenance • Landscape Lighting • Organic Soil Amendments

• Tree Removal • Shaping & Trimming Insured • Free Estimates

www.richtersservicesinc.com

713-681-4079 • 713-410-4265

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FRANK ZENIL

LAWN EQUIPMENT PARTS & REPAIR

LUXURY LAWNS

Lawn Maintenance Landscape & Design Sprinklers/Drainage Systems Free Estimates 20 yrs. exp.

713-688-4244 David Bartula

Alfredo’s Landscape Landscape Renovations

• Mowing • Seasonal Color • Mulching • Wood Fences • Cleanups • Pressure • Tree Trimming Washing

832-563-9301

Gilbert’s Landscape

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713-466-4612

ONLY $5/CLASS Candlelight Community Center

Candlelight Lane 15201520 Candlelight Lane 713-634-9315 713-634-9315 EVERY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY EVERY 6:45PM 6:45PM TO TO 7:45PM 7:45PM

NEED A TUTOR? Retired teacher, ﬂexible hours, weekends. Pre K — 8th grade. 281-964-9901. (9-14) AIRLINE CAREERS: Get trained as an FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualiﬁed students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance. Dallas 800-732-1069 or Houston 800481-8920.

PETS & LIVESTOCK FIND YOUR FRIEND FOR LIFE: Adopt or foster a shelter animal. www.nokill1.org. (TF) THREE MINI-DACHSHUND PUPPIES: Male, wormed, shots. 713-295-0738. (8-31) PUPPIES FOR SALE: 1/2 Weimaraner, 8 weeks old. $50. 713-690-8733.

Haute Dawgs Mobile Pet Spa We will meet or beat our mobile grooming competitor’s prices

Lawn Mowers Chainsaws Trimmers Blowers

OPEN M-F 8-6 • SAT 9-2 PICK UP & DELIVERY AVAIALABLE

Mower Parts and Supply Co. 4560 W. 34th @ Mangum (Next to Fiesta Tacos) 713-686-8306 We service most major brands!

832-722-7367

M&M Pet Sitting

Affordable Pet Care In Your Home Will Treat Your Loved Ones As My Own

Cell (713)444-8517 (713)682-5246

Mitzi Bonded

I Pause For Paws

• Dog Walks • Dog Grooming • Pet Sitting • Insured Alan’s Pet Services

832-613-7245

Alan-r-digges@swbell.net

Royalty Pet Center Since 1976

LET THESE PROFESSIONALS ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR LAWN & GARDEN NEEDS Specialize In Dif�cult Removals, Trimming and Planting of New Trees Free Estimates

INSTRUCTIONS

(in The Heights)

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LAWN & GARDEN GUIDE Ranger Tree Service

BARMAID/WAITRESS NEEDED: Apply in person. FT/PT, days, nights, weekends. Catty-Corner Ice House, 895 Wakefield. 713-294-2054. info@cattycornericehouse.com. (8-24)

Teachers Needed For �� Afternoon Tutoring ��

EXPERIENCED CAREGIVER: Available ﬁve days per week. Latisha, 832-343-4277.

Call

713-680-0101

Lawn Maintenance Supervisors & Helpers

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WANTED - PAINTER’S/CARPENTER’S HELPER: Must have some experience. Must have transportation. Male or female. 713-201-9999. (8-24)

NOW HIRING

��

Apply online at www.aldine.k12.tx.us or call 281-878-7811 (West of I-45) or 281-985-6192 (East of I-45)

SLEEP BETTER

713.686.6622

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING COMPANY is currently looking for English speaking foreman with one year+ of experience. Good salary and beneﬁts. For more information, please call 713-688-2435 or apply at 2048 Johanna Dr. We are an equal opportunity employer. (S) (8-24)

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. Strong work ethic. BA degree. 3-5 years exp. preparing complex partnership, ﬁduciary, corporate, and individual income tax returns in public accounting. Valid CPA certiﬁcation. Exp. preparing estate and gift tax returns a plus. email resume: rayshadwell@tmgcpas.com

VENDORS WANTED

Memory Foam Mattresses

TAKING APPLICATIONS FOR DELIVERY DRIVER: Standard transmission. Bilingual a plus. Heights area. Call Sandy, 713868-0950.

CPA - PARTTIME/SEASONAL

THE FOAM STORE

Pursuant to federal regulations, the waiting List for applicants who are disabled but are under the age of 62 years is CLOSED effective August 15, 2013. The Waiting List is closed because the waiting period for persons eligible for the list is in excess of three (3) years.

REFRIGERATOR SERVICEMAN WANTED: Excellent pay. 713688-1201.

F/T & P/T up to $15 hour Apply in person @ Fuzzy’s Pizza 823 Antoine I-10 & Memorial

� Custom Cut � Memor y Foam � Chair Pads � Couch Cushions � Mattress Foam

NOTICE

Value $1090.00

JAMES

7 DAYS

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REPUBLIC ARMS

you read this ad, then you know advertising works.

File No. Seizure 2013203142 06/07/2013

• Garage Cleaning • Lots Tree Cutting • Fence Debris Removal • Demolish Free Estimates • All Concrete

BLUE MOON ANTIQUES: Antiques and collectibles. We do estate sales. 3311 Ella. 832-2867882. www.bluemoonantiqueshouston.com. (TF)

if

LEGAL NOTICES

QUICK TRASH HAULING

KAM ENDEAVORS: Antiques, collectables and estate sales services. 9950 Hempstead 77092. 713-416-5872. We buy, sell and liquidate. (8-24)

Candlelight Oaks Furniture, Harley Davidson Sportster new pipes, tools, welding helmets, household, clothes, misc.

ALTERATIONS: Reasonable. Pick up and delivery. Charlotte, 713-694-0003. (TF)

House Cleaning Is Our Specialty • Free Estimates • 20 Years in the Area

We offer Mobile Repairs Mr. PC Computer

TUPPERWARE AVAILABLE: Call JoAnn Lord at 281-9233729. (TF)

Garage Sale-Moving

SEWING

281-414-8698 HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

It’s easy to place a Leader classiﬁed. Just call us and charge it to your credit card.

LISTINGS

• Appliances • Yard Debris Garage Clean Outs Free Estimates CALL Manny Insured

832-818-4970

HELP WANTED

JOB

Business or Home

RON'S YARD SERVICE Great work at competitive prices!

• Mow • Edge • Weedeat • Fertilize Ask for Ronnie

Frusco Landscape & Irrigation Co. Since 1975

• Sprinkler Systems • Drainage Systems • Design • Installation • Service & Repair We specialize in Sprinkler Repair

Gardening Makeover Specialists Heights Resident

Lic.# 4876 Joseph Frusco Consultant

(832) 435-8685

www.fruscolandscaping.com

281-468-2158

TREE CLIMBERS Expert Tree Services

• Removal • Trim • Prune • Spray • Feed • Top • Stump Grinding Fully Insured • Free Est.

10% OFF Labor w/ad

281-866-8859

New Horizons

Lawn Maintenance Landscaping & Design Sprinkler Repair Residential/Commercial Free Estimates Taylor Herrmann

713-298-4628

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Dennis Clooney - Manager 25+ Years Experience • Tree Trimming/Removal • Stump Grinding • Fertilization • Construction Preparation • Residential/Commercial Insured Liability and Workman’s Comp

713-683-TREE (713-683-8733) FREE ESTIMATES

• Grooming • Boarding • Pet Supplies 9900 N. Houston Rosslyn

713-849-9000

www.royaltypetcenter.com

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Call for appointment

713-682-1158

5800 N. Houston Rosslyn Houston TX 77091 Tues. & Thurs. 7am - 6pm Wed., Fri. & Sat. 8am-5pm

Back-To-School Special $35 regular grooming.

Come meet Heather our newest certiﬁed groomer. She has 16 years grooming experience but is new to the area. We have added a walk-in shower for our big dogs spa experience. With our added groomer and equipment we will be able to process your fur baby much quicker.

�� GROOMING

3414 Ella Blvd. 713-681-6218

USED CAR

SHOPPING?

Turn To The Leader Classiﬁeds. Find great deals in the neighborhood.

GENERAL PLUMBING HOME IMPROVEMENTS

GENERAL CARPENTER AND PAINTING: Small jobs welcome. Excellent references. 832-5230360. (8-31)

The Leader is the ONLY paper that delivers both weekly and daily news to the community. If you want to stay in touch with your community turn to the Leader. Discover why more readers are turning to the Leader than any other community publication.

Looking for DAILY news on what’s happening in your community. Check us online @ www.theleadernews.com

GENERAL HOME IMPROVEMENTS

PLUMBING GENERAL HOME IMPROVEMENT

BURGLAR BARS: Custom made. Residential and commercial. Free estimates. 281-448-2759. www. burglarbarsandmore.com. (TF) HANDYMAN: Build, repair fences, garage doors or decks. Carpentry — install Hardi-plank, cabinets, windows, doors, locks. Painting, home theater set up. 35+ year Oak Forest resident. Call David, 832-491-8031, leave name and number.

SIFUENTES SERVICES Room Additions

• Ceramic Tile • Kitchen/Bath • Flood Damage Repair • Painting • Sheetrock, Concrete Small Jobs Welcome Free Estimates

281-508-1718

www.camposroofing.com

CAMPOS Roong “The Residential Roofing Spe cialists”

Re-roofs • Repairs Hardi Siding • Gutters • Windows

All Work Guaranteed - Free Estimates

919 Judiway • (713) 680-3530

UPSCALE YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS

CUSTOM Millwork & Cabinetry. Trim & Countertops. General Remodeling & Custom Tile Work. Residential & Commercial

GRADY GREEN REMODELING

• Painting • Sheetrock • Tile Work • Roong • Carpentry • Carpet • Concrete • Power Wash • Burglar Bars • Brick • Trees FREE ESTIMATES - Hector

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FRA NK ’S

ROOFING

Interior/Exterior

Sheetrock • Power Wash

713-849-2727

Free Estimates

www.asap-roong.com

Cell: (713)832-584-0725 729-2585 (281) 686-2315

J&D HANDYMAN SERVICE

For Your Home Repair Needs:

CO.

� Painting � Drywall � Hardi Plank Siding � Any Type of Carpentry Work � Complete Remodels

281-272-6900 CELL713-569-4199

(713) 681-6563

AMS Remodeling

Grady Green - owner • grady@gradygreen.com

COMMERCIAL - RESIDENTIAL • Custom Homes • Garages • Room Additions • Kitchens • Bathrooms • Hardi Siding Free Estimate

Shop 281-442-7863 Cell 281-831-2302

25 Residential & Commercial Years • Shingles: Flat - Tile - Metal • 5" and 6" Seamless Gutters • Carports • Carpentry • Free Estimates

713-664-1815

FREE ESTIMATES DAVID OJEMAN 713-682-8033

20 Yrs. Exp. - 30 Yr. Resident

BALDERAS Wood Floors CONCRETE WORK R’ Us • Driveways • Sand • Finish • Installation New or Old Flooring

281-763-0635

FENCE SALE • Chain Link • Wood • Wrought Iron • Operators 30 yrs. Exp. Free Est.

Tony 713-680-9353 Cell 281-787-5942 tonymunozjr@comcast.net

Fence Repair & Installation 281-827-5136 30 years experience FREE ESTIMATES

ALL HOME REPAIR

• Termite/Water Repair • Sheetrock • Painting • Roong Repair/Replace • Shower/Bath Redo • Tile • Flooring/Carpet @ Wholesale Prices Sales & Installations

35 Yrs. Exp. & Leader Advertiser

Call Sam 713-582-5500 713-686-2285

WOOD FENCING Repair & Install Pressure Washing Painting • Siding

Gilbert 281-948-4879

ROOFING

• Sidewalks • Patios FREE ESTIMATES Call Gregory

832-675-2485 713-864-3755

PLUMBER

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At Reasonable prices

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Painting Interior/Exterior

Sheetrock Repair

Handyman Services Power Washing Good References

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APPLIANCE & TV REPAIR We deliver The Leader to you without charge, but we’d sure appreciate your telling our advertisers that you saw their message. After all, they’re the ones that really bring you our paper.

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Specializing in Galvanized Pipe Replacement

GARAGE DOOR SERVICE

� � � � � � � • Openers • Cables � � • Springs • Sections � � Repaired & Replaced � � � � 281-352-3350 � � 713-545-6162 � 24 Hrs/7 Days � � Se Habla Espanol � �

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Repair & Installation All Type Fences • Chain link • Wood • Ornamental Iron Small jobs welcome Call 7 Days

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Hot Water Heaters Installed

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Houston Heights

wiring and repairs

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Serving Inner Loop area since 1978

Have a strong opinion about something that’s going on in your neighborhood? Share your thoughts with thousands by emailing us a Letter To The Editor to news@theleadernews.com.

Our advertisers bring you The Leader each week. Let them know that you saw their ad.

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� Quality Work � Low Prices � � Hand Nailed � Hardi-Siding � Oak Forest Area Resident 40+ years Free Estimates

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TEL

Your opinion is valuable ... share it with the community in our letters to the editor column.

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LET

713-248-0763

ASAP

GENERAL HOME IMPROVEMENTS PLUMBING ELECTRICAL SERVICES

PLUMBING Since 1977 Free Est.

References • Heights Home Owner

281-827-4447

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HELP YOU WITH SPRING FIX-IT LIST • Painting • Ceiling Fans & Lights • Drywall • Carpentry • General Repairs • Door Locks

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Page 8A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • @heightsleader

Call for our Summer Special $1800 select unit

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Page 9A • The Leader • August 24, 2013 • www.theleadernews.com

OFHOA chooses private security ﬁrm for patrol by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com The Oak Forest Homeowners Association has approved a plan to hire a private security ﬁrm, Strategic Executive and Logistical (S.E.A.L.) Security Solutions (S.E.A.L.) to patrol the neighborhood. The HOA will host a public meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at Black Middle School to see if enough homeowners will pay to make the program a reality. A letter will be mailed to all of the residents regarding the meeting. Paying for security is voluntary in Oak Forest. S.E.A.L. representatives will attend the meeting and answers questions for residents. “The goal is 25 percent of the houses in the neighborhood,” HOA president Craig Powers said. “There’s a pretty good chance we can have enough money with fewer houses than that. We haven’t signed the contract yet. We’re waiting to see if we actually have enough participation from the neighborhood to pay for it.” S.E.A.L., a Houston-based company that has patrolled the area for about a decade, contracts with 30

City levies ﬁne against developers The city of Houston has recovered $300,000 to restore recent damage to Woodland Park by a private developer. Woodland Park, located at 212 Parkview, is a 19.67 acre park near White Oak Bayou in the Woodland Heights neighborhood in City Council District H. It has been a city park since 1914. “The residents of Woodland Park were justiﬁed in their outrage over this tragic act. There is no way to be able to fully restore the vegetation and trees that grew there over so many years, however we were amenable to a settlement in this case,” said Mayor Annise Parker. “The city of Houston fought to ensure the developer would pay for the vegetation to be replanted, and hopefully it can begin to grow again without further incident.”

The Oak Forest Homeowners Association board opted for a private security firm, S.E.A.L. subdivisions and four districts. They have approximately 170 officers, all of whom have K-9 units. The company also works overseas with cargo ships to stop the threat of pirates. The officers carry weapons and are authorized to make arrests. “All of our guys are K-9 certified through DPS,” said S.E.A.L. director of operations James Alexander. “We get to areas that don’t (usually) get patrolled like bayous, fencelines and alleyways. The whole area gets covered, not just out in the open. The control center is open 24 hours per day. Our GPS monitor knows where every officer is every four minutes. We work real close with HPD and the

Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.” Powers said the HOA is looking at contracting for 120 hours per week, but it could potentially be more, depending on how much monetary support they get from the homeowners. The HOA chose S.E.A.L. over the Harris County Precinct One Constable contract program and another private security firm. Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen had a presentation during an Oak Forest community meeting in May. Powers and Lucy Fisher-Cain, chairperson of the HOA’s security committee, said S.E.A.L. is more cost effective and they’ll be able to focus all of their resources on the neighborhood. “They better meet the needs for Oak Forest,” Fisher-Cain said. “A lot of people are going to want more information for it, before they agree to put money down.” Powers said a 100 percent contract with the Constable’s office would be about $90,000, as opposed to a 100 percent contract with S.E.A.L. for approximately $60,000. After an arrest, S.E.A.L. officers turn the case over to the Houston Police Department, who would book the suspect into the Harris

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County Jail. “If they make an arrest, they don’t have to book the offender into jail,” Powers said. “During that entire time (a law enforcement officer is booking a subject into jail), they’d be off patrol.” Sharpstown Civic Association (SCA) is a super neighborhood that had contracted with a Constable’s Office for the past 20 years but switched to S.E.A.L. last year. SCA Homeowners Association president Jim Bigham said it’s been a positive transition. “When the officer is interacting with the citizen, they’re really strong,” Bigham said. “It helps the neighbors feel more involved and pro-active.” Alexander said the private security’s difference is its pro-active approach. “We’re more pro-active, than reactive, like the police,” Alexander said. “We get the visibility out there and try to make sure that things don’t happen.”

Child Care & Learning Centers

Full Time Weekly Tuition 6 wks-11 mos .........$175 12-17 mos ...............$155 18-23 .......................$155 2 yr. olds .................$155 3-5 yr olds...............$145 Pre-K (1/2 day) .........$95 School Age ...............$85

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713-462-5093 6606 W. 43rd

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