MICHAEL
Inside Today: SPX to rename field for Gary Kubiak • Page 3B
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MICHAEL SILVA
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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston
10570 NW Frwy 713-680-2350
Saturday, November 4, 2017 • Vol. 62 • No. 45
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Arrest foils ring of robberies By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com On a night filled with kids and parents parading out and about trying to get their hands on as much candy as possible, crime did not take a day off. The armed robbery of a local pawn shop interrupted the Halloween goings on in the Heights Oct. 31, and authorities believe the perpetrators could be connected to additional investigations. According to the Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, deputies
working an extra Halloween shift were flagged down around W. 19th Street and N. Shepherd regarding an armed robbery at the Cash America Pawn shop. According to police, the subsequent report quickly turned up the suspects’ vehicle, which deputies pursued until three suspects abandoned the car and attempted to flee the scene on foot. Following apprehension of all three suspects in various areas, deputies were able to recover 10 handguns, jewelry and a large amount of cash that had been
taken from the Cash America Pawn Shop after searching the vehicle. All three suspects arrested have been charged with aggravated robbery according to police. Further, the suspects are believed to be connected in some way to multiple ongoing robbery investigations of other cash store robberies within the local area. Precinct 1 deputies are working with Houston Police Department’s Major Offender’s Division and the ATF in the on- Alert residents in the Heights flagged down a Constable who arrested 3 suspects who may be tied to many armed robbergoing investigation. ies in the area. (Photo by Jonathan McElvy)
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Michael Callihan, a Heights resident, enjoys dousing a Yankee’s fan during the Astro’s ALCS pennant win.
Whatever outcome, Callihan enjoying ride Editor’s Note: This is the great dilemma of weekly newspapers. Game 7 took place about four hours after The Leader’s deadline. So whether we’re celebrating or a little distraught, we figured a local Astro’s fan deserves the front page.
Heights Mercantile, the new shopping center on 7th Street and Yale, has its final tenant in place, pending signatures.
Page 1B
Find it. VERY NICE 2 BD/1 BATH HOME - HEIGHTS AREA: Close to downtown, central A/H, W/D connections, ceiling fans and LED lighting in all rooms. $1,300 monthly, $500 deposit. 713-366-1636.
Classifieds • 4B
The INDEX. Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 4B Coupons. ................................................. 6A Food/Drink/Art................................... 7A Obituaries.............................................. 6A Opinion. ................................................... 4A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 4A Sports. ....................................................... 3B
Success of King’s BierHaus brings area new tenants
By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com Michael Callihan can’t believe the journey he’s on. The lifelong
super fan has followed the Astros from the Astrodome to Minute Maid Park, and from Boston to Los Angeles, crisscrossing the nation in support of his boyhood team in their quest for a title –and regardless of the result, he possesses exactly zero ounces of regret. In last week’s edition, numerous fans gave first-hand accounts of their Astros fandom, and The Leader was later inundated with nominations for one person – Cal-
lihan. Unfortunately, press time had already passed. However, our staff decided that Callihan would be the first fan to get our call if the series extended long enough. Callihan’s passion for the hometown team has humble roots, implanted in him by his father and grandfather around the age of 8. “They would always take me to the Astros games when I was
There’s something of a business chain reaction happening on T.C. Jester Boulevard, thanks to the booming business of King’s BierHaus and I Cycle Bike Shop. Michael Sperandio with Ancorian, which leases to BierHaus, said that there were three spaces available for lease and all have been taken. Two of the new tenants are Tea & Victory and AshleyCakes. Vanessa Briceño and husband Jason Bush are the proprietors of Tea & Victory, a board game café and bar, which has been doing pop ups around the area for a while. “That name One of the new tenants on T.C. is a play on Jester is Tea & Victory, which will ‘Tea & Sym- have a library of 500 board games. pathy,’ and we just like the way it sounds, festive and relaxed,” said Briceño. The 3,300 square foot space at T.C. Jester will be the first storefront. Briceño says that the emphasis is more on café than bar as they won’t serve hard alcohol, but instead coffee, tea, beer, and wine. There will be counter service for food. The other draw will be their 500 board game library. “I have a master’s in game design, both for computer and board games,” said Briceño. “Jason and I met here, moved to New York and then came back. Board game cafes are common in New York and we thought it was crazy Houston didn’t have one so we decided to give it a shot.” People can come in and check out games to play, similar to a library. Staff will be on hand to recommend games and to teach them. Briceño, who lives in the Heights, wants to appeal See Tenants P. 2A
See Callihan P. 3A
Williams devoted to saving Heights schoolhouse By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com A piece of almost-forgotten local history could be on its final studs. When motorists zoom up and down North Shepherd Drive, they’ll take notice of Heights Veterinary Clinic, an auto repair shop, and a grouping of used car lots – sights so common many don’t bat an eye. Seemingly bypassed by the naked eye at 40 miles per hour, however, is a small piece of Heights history – a tiny, one-room schoolhouse which pre-dates North Shepherd. At first glance, it seems like any old run-down building around town, with windows boarded up, the blinds drawn, and hardly a soul venturing close. Upon further inspection, however, one would see the yard mowed and the rest of the building in good shape consid-
Kenneth Williams has spent almost three decades trying to preserve the schoolhouse.
ering it has been closed for nearly 30 years – all thanks to the efforts of one man who does not wish to see another piece of history torn down. Kenneth Williams, owner of the Heights Veterinary Clinic immediately adjacent to the now-abandoned building, owns the property on which the
old schoolhouse still sits. And while he wishes to use that land for hopeful future expansion, the process for doing so (in his mind) is not simple as taking a wrecking ball to the thing. And if he is unable to find a buyer willing to move and preserve it, he said, it could be gone soon.
“We’re about to lose another building, and another piece of our history,” said Williams, a long-time Heights resident who attended Reagan (now Heights) High School. “I’ve seen more buildings torn down in my lifetime than I would like, and it would break my heart to see it gone.” When Williams bought the clinic, to the best of his knowledge, he knew the adjacent property had been used for campaign rallies and other causes, and used by the Rosebud Garden Group until around 1989; but it wasn’t until a classmate’s father came into the clinic one day that Williams had the revelation. Upon learning the school dated back to the early 1920s as the Lowell Street School, he launched a personal See Schoolhouse P. 3A
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