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Inside Today: Get ready for the health care changes • Page 2B
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SATURDAY | September 14, 2013 | Vol. 59 | No. 46 | www.theleadernews.com | @heightsleader sponsored by
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The Big Boom
THE BRIEF.
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Growth in this community is nearly everywhere you look, and this is only a small part of it. The most active area in this report is along Studewood and near White Oak/6th Street.
10570 NW Frwy 713-680-2350
Pay hike designed to boost jury participation
34th Street
Harris County jurors got a 33 percent “raise” this week – to a rate of $40 a day – and officials are hoping it’s an extra incentive for residents to serve. The announcement was made Tuesday, with District Clerk Chris Daniel saying the increase should help encourage part-time workers, homemakers, retirees and the unemployed to participate – and to reduce the number of jury summons that are ignored. Daniel said the move should also broaden the demographics of Harris County juries. “The public has more confidence in a justice system when jury panels reflect the demographics of the county,” Daniel said. “I’m hoping that higher jury pay draws in more people in general, including low-wage workers.” Jurors received a $2 a day increase last a year ago, bringing the daily rate to $30.
Graphic by Jonathan McElvy Map is not to scale
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8. City Oven - 2802 White Oak 9. Coltivare - 3620 White Oak 10. The El Cantina - 602 Studewood 11. Village of the Heights - 1407 Studewood 12. Torchy’s/Heights Gen. Store - 350 19th 13. Baptist Temple - 230 W. 20th St. 14. Fat Cat Creamery - 1901 N. Shepherd
Heights Blvd
1. Sonic - 2720 Washington Ave. 2. Social Junkie - 2412 Washington Ave. 3. Yale St. Market - Yale, south of I-10 4. Alta Heights Apts. - 145 Heights Blvd. 5. Alexan Apts. - Yale, between 7th & 5th 6. Yucatan Taco Stand - 1001 Studewood 7. Good Dog - 903 Studewood
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15. Foreign Correstpondents - 1819 Shepherd 16. Berryhill - 1201 W. 43rd St. 17. LA Fitness - 4412 N. Shepherd 18. Cowboy Surfer - 3322 Ella Blvd. 19. Hughies Tavern - 1802 W. 18th St. 20. Spaghetti Western - 1951 W. T.C. Jester 21. Tik Tok - 1412 W. 20th St.
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See more, Page 4B
by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com
W
e’re all about bringing you the latest news developments in your neighborhoods here at The Leader, but this week, our focus is about developments -- literally. There’s nothing weighty here about trends, forecasts, dollar figures. It’s all about what’s going in where and what might make the quality of your life a little more interesting in the next few weeks or months. Most of what’s new involves food, some
of it housing. That’s one of those chickenor-egg questions that can never be answered authoritatively. Is it upscale housing and high-end, high-density development that’s driving great retail and restaurants options, or are growing retail and restaurant options helping to attract more interesting housing? So here you go -- 21 new locations in Leader communities. Feel free to email us with your additions at news@theleadernews. com, so we can report what you observe in your own neighborhood for us to pass along, and to do this wrap-up from time to
time. 1. Sonic, 2720 Washington Ave. Washington Avenue has clubs and taverns that stay open into the wee hours and eateries that don’t, along with a smattering of food trucks. This recently opened Sonic, with drive-thru and drive-up service, is filling a niche for those interested in a quick order of Tots to offset their alcohol intake, according to accounts of long lines at the drive-thru, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. 2. Social Junkie, 2412 Washington Ave. Once the venerable Pig Stand, this location morphed into a trendy but troubled night-
Mystery solved: City says faulty valve was sapping water pressure by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com
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THE INDEX.
Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classifieds
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The days of low water pressure appear to be numbered for residents of Lazybrook and Timbergrove. The city of Houston Public Works Department has determined that a leaking valve is responsible for lower water pressure levels in the area. The specialty valve is 24 inches and connected to 72inch and 46-inch lines, respectively, according to Alvin Wright, public information officer for the city’s Public Works Department. It is located somewhere between West 18th Street and Ella. Wright said it typically takes 6 to 8 weeks for the specialty valve to arrive and for it to be installed, but it could be sooner. “We’ll open it, and open the pipeline, restoring pressure in the area,” Wright said. The water pressure rates in that area have been around 41-42 pounds, but one resident reported it as low as 39. The normal rate is 50, and anything below 35 is considered unacceptably low by the city. Public works employees have regularly visited homes in the neighborhood to check water pressure rates, but until now, the exact cause was unknown. Timbergrove resident Ben Crabb was the first resident to make the issue known outside the neighborhood, in July. He writes and edits the Nor’westerner
Until this week, low water pressure in the Lazybrook and Timbergrove areas was a mystery, with crews checking residents’ reports at hydrants and individual residential meters. Now the city has determined a 24-inch specialty valve needs to be replaced. (Photo by Charlotte Aguilar) monthly newsletter. “We could get off into a discussion about pressure vs. flow rates, and I found a neighbor who seemed pretty versed in all that, but basically, as consumers, all we best care about is to not have falling water pressure when Lake Houston supplies remain near 100 percent full,” Crabb wrote in the July edition of the newsletter. He’d described the problem, which affects everything from sprinklers to drinking water, as more of an “inconvenience” than a health issue.
spot known as Sawyer Park, and on Monday of this week, reopened as Social Junkie, just in time for the Texans’ Monday Night Football thriller. The emphasis of the 3,000square-foot facility is in on sports-watching, with 30 HDTVs on two floors and three bars, some with a view of downtown. Pig Stand aficionados wouldn’t know the old place. 3. Yale Street Market, between I-10 and Koehler on (yes), Yale Street. The vast old San Jacinto Stone yard and a couple blocks
see Development • Page 3A
Heights area gaining B-cycle bikeshare station One of the growing network of Houston B-cycle bike share stations will be placed in Spotts Park, 401 S. Heights Blvd., sometime this month, officials with the program announced this week as part of a series of six new sites. The location is near Waugh Drive, Washington Avenue, and about halfway between downtown and Memorial Park. That will bring the total to 27 stations -- largely in the downtown, Montrose, Museum District and Medical Center neighborhoods -- with about 200 bikes. The program, which is popular in big cities around the globe and was launched here in May of 2012, provides low-cost public bicycles that can be used for short rides between popular locations that have easy access to other public transportation. Other new locations include at 2401 Taft St. at Fairview, outside the Menil Collection at 1529 W. Alabama St., the Leonel Castillo Community Center at 2109 South St., at 2215 Milam St. downtown, and at Project Row House, 2521 Holman St. Riders can buy a 24-hour pass for $5, a week-long membership for $15 or an annual membership for $65. The memberships give access to the bikes for 60 minutes before rental charges of $2 an hour kick in. Houston B-cycle members can pick up a bike at any B-station and return it to that same station or any
see Bicycle Progam • Page 3A