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Saturday, September 5, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 44
Local gymnast focuses on Olympic ambition By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
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INSIDE.
Many young athletes dream about being in the Olympics, but for Oak Forest gymnast Sophia Butler, it is not a dream but a goal. “I’d like to go by 2020,” said 11-year old Butler, who has been taking lessons at Discover Gymnastics ever since she was 3. It was not necessarily an auspicious start for Butler who said that she would run away from her first teacher, Coach Francisco, during the group classes. “I had a lot of energy,” she said. Father Jim Butler said that there was nothing about his daughter’s experience early on that would lead him to believe that she would be so successful in gymnastics.
“She was just a typical kid,” he said. But the coaches at Discover saw potential in their student and once Coach Haifa Abdullah took Butler under her wing as her team coach, things began to change. “Coach Haifa taught me to stay focused,” said Butler. “I was lazy.” Lazy is hardly a word that could be attributed to Butler now. She trains Monday through Thursday from 5-9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9-1 p.m. with head coach Costela Mihaiuc, assisted by Hong Jiang. Butler also was invited by USA Gymnastics to attend developmental training camps for 4 days each month at the National Team Training Center, which is held at the Karolyi Ranch, north of Houston. This straight A student at Black Middle School does her
Photo by Betsy Denson For local gymnast Sophia Butler, competing in the Olympics is not a dream, but a plan. The young athlete says she would like to go to the Olympics by 2020.
homework at school during some ancillaries – she is not required to do PE since she’s getting plenty of exercise – and also after school before her training. “My teachers are under-
standing,” she said. The intensive effort has resulted in a steady series of increasingly impressive accomplishments. Butler started competing as a Level 4 gymnast in 2011 – there are 10
Race to the Top
By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com While some in The Leader area were excited to hear news of an endorsement for the construction of the Houston-Dallas high-speed rail along a utility corridor by the Federal Railroad Administration, local representatives are saying ‘not so fast.’ A federal study released in late August endorses the use of a utility corridor, following the Centerpoint Energy and Oncor Electric delivery “high-voltage electrical transmission lines.” According to the report, the route would keep Texas Central Railway from having to utilize eminent domain along proposed pathways near highways and other roads. Mark Klein, president of Super Neighborhood #12, said one of the issues with the technical report is that it doesn’t necessarily indicate how routing would occur from Hockley, TX to Houston. “It also still leaves the door open to potentially using the corridor which leads through the Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and Inwood-area,” Klein said. “There are also certain parts of the report that concern us, particularly that opportunities may exist for TCR to
St. Pius X, Reagan and St. Thomas High Schools all won their season openers last week; however no game matched the excitement of SPX’s nail-biting win by a single point at the University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium. The Panthers defeated All Saints Episcopal by a score of 47-46.
Find it on 4B Elizabeth Villarreal REALTOR®
Photo by Christina Martinez Candidates for this year’s election for Houston mayor had a chance to speak about their platforms and answer questions submitted by Leader readers at Tuesday night’s candidate forum.
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Mayoral candidates talk government, representation at forum By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
INSIDE.
Building Success One of the Oak Forest area’s very own architects has plenty of work in the surrounding area people might be familiar with – particularly the new fire station on West 43rd Street.
Find it on 1B
Finding ways to run a more efficient city government while addressing the looming pension and budget issues in Houston were two hot topics among the candidates for mayor Tuesday night at Grace Church in Garden Oaks. Among the candidates participating in the forum were Sylvester Turner, Demetria Smith, Marty McVey, Bill King, Ben Hall, Adrian Garcia, Stephen Costello and Chris Bell. Another candidate, Nguyen Thai Hoc, also spoke before and after the forum discussion. The forum, co-hosted by the Garden Oaks Civic Club, Super Neighborhood #12 and The Leader, was moderated by The Leader’s publisher Jonathan McElvy and featured questions submitted by readers. Among the topics for discussion was Houston’s current charter which some feel advocates for a strong mayor’s office at the cost of a strong, centralized city council and other administrators. Chris Bell said the current city government has strayed too far away from the sense of collaboration
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that makes a city truly capable of tackling complex issues, citing his experience working in city council in the late 90s. “I think any mayor that thinks they can have their finger on the pulse of everything that’s going on without reaching out to members of city council and to civic associations and super neighborhood groups is kidding themselves,” Bell said. “I think you need to form partnerships with members of council and empower them when you can.” Costello also cited his experience from his current third term as a member of Houston city council, and said it’s up to the mayor to “recruit the input from city council.” He said he would run the city in the same vein as how he has run his engineering firm. “In the 15 years that I was the sole president and principal shareholder of the firm, not once did I have a contrary vote,” Costello said. “What I did is I recruited my partners and we talked about the issues collectively and we collectively made a decision. It’s all about the chief administrator
See Rail, P. 8A
File Art Local community activists still have concerns about Texas Central Railway’s proposed high-speed rail.
See Forum, P. 2A
Buyer revealed for former ‘That Pizza Place’ By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
The INDEX.
See Gymnast, P. 2A
High speed rail route still draws doubts
Football Season Begins
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levels in all – and in her first South-State Championship she was first all-around on the vault, the bars and the floor. At the 2013 State championships
Last June, a green fence was erected around the former That Pizza Place, 3322 Ella Blvd., sparking speculation about what would happen to the space. For a time, the Liberty Kitchen folks planned to turn it into Cowboy Surfers, a burger, fried chicken and taco joint, which also offered live music, but they gave up their lease. Now the property has been bought, as have a number of other parcels at 34th Street and Ella, by one entity. Crescere Garden Oaks, LP is now listed by HCAD as the owner of the following properties: 1605 W. 34th St. #1 (Texas Bus Sales), 1717 W. 34th St. #1 (storefront says Century Marketing, Inc.), 3330 Ella Blvd (El Rey Taqueria), 3322 Ella Blvd (That Pizza Place) and 1621 W. 34th St. (private home).
The registered agent of Crescere is Chris Hotze, who The Leader spoke to in June about his building at 1717 W. 34th because there was a lease sign up at the property. Hotze tells The Leader this week that the space is still fully leased to Glauser Landscape Company. As for the rest of it? “We are working with several concepts for the old pizza place,” said Hotze. “There has been significant interest from several large convenience store/ gas station combinations. We also have several fast food restaurants and automobile service companies that are very interested.” Patrons of El Rey can glean some hope from Hotze’s statement that they “hope to continue to have a long term relationship with El Rey as a tenant.” In June, El Rey owner See Buyer, P. 2A
Kenny Terrell Realtor
Photo by Betsy Denson Crescere Garden Oaks LP is now listed by the Harris County Appraisals District as the owner of a number of properties along West 34th Street and Ella Blvd.
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