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Bridge to stay closed after more damage discovered By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
The popular MKT Bridge in the Heights, where work had been ongoing to repair damage caused by a fire last summer, will remain closed for the foreseeable future after additional deficiencies were discovered. The nonprofit Houston Parks Board, which is funding and overseeing the repair work, announced Sept. 10 that further repairs will be needed before the pedestrian bridge can safely reopen.
Parks board president and CEO Beth White had said in June, when the repair work began, that the goal was to have the bridge open and in use by Labor Day. “We are disappointed that the bridge will not open as originally planned and cannot say for certain when the bridge will reopen to trail users,” the parks board said in a statement. “We will post updates as we have them and our current detour remains in place.” Times Construction, the
contractor enlisted by the parks board, has been in the process of replacing damaged bridge piles, the abutment backwall and a deck expansion joint that were damaged in an August 2020 fire that started in the wooded area underneath the bridge. The parks board said the repair work was about 50 percent complete when the additional damage, which was not visible during the initial assessment, was recently discovered by the contractors. See MKT P. 6A
Photo by Adam Zuvanich The MKT Bridge, a popular pedestrian pathway between the Heights and Downtown Houston, will remain closed after additional damage caused by an August 2020 fire was recently discovered by contractors during repair work.
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Photo from Facebook Hurricane Nicholas caused a large tree to fall across Michaux Street and onto power lines earlier this week in the eastern part of the Heights.
Nicholas brings power outages, no local flooding By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Page 5A
No meat, no problem. Stefan Modrich explores the area’s vegan and vegetarian scene.
Page 9A
Playing in the rain. Mitch Cohen says wet weather should not dampen your day.
Much of Houston hunkered down Monday night, with residents gathering food, water and emergency supplies while preparing their homes, vehicles and properties for the worst. A large tropical storm was on the way, and became a hurricane overnight, so heavy rain was expected and flooding was likely in a region that regularly sees both. But Nicholas proved to be a mere nuisance for residents of the Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest areas, who awoke Tuesday to widespread power outages but few other problems caused by the storm. Multiple neighborhood leaders said their communities “fared well” and they had not heard of any significant flooding or damage in the area, except for a few fallen trees and downed power lines caused by wind gusts. “It was pretty uneventful, I would say,” said Emily Guyre, executive director of the Houston Heights Association. “There was lots of wind and rain.” More than 460,000 electricity customers across the Houston region were without power early Tuesday morning, according to CenterPoint Energy, and neighborhoods throughout the area were impacted. The most widespread outages locally were in the Heights, while the Timbergrove and Lazybrook area to the west experienced the fewest amount of outages. Power was back on in much of the Heights by midafternoon Tuesday, according to CenterPoint, which said
Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 6A Coupons. ................................................. 8A Food/Drink/Art................................... 9A Opinion. ................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 3A Sports. ....................................................... 5A
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Photo from Twitter account of Roxanne Werner White Oak Bayou near T.C. Jester Boulevard nearly flooded during Hurricane Nicholas earlier this week.
in a news release that the number of customers without electricity across the Houston area had dwindled to about 160,000 as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. “Due to the extensive damage caused by the storm, impacted customers should anticipate some outages taking as long as four to five days, with the majority restored earlier as repairs are safely completed,” CenterPoint executive vice president Kenny Mercado said in a statement released by the company. See Nicholas P. 6A
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We are in the midst of the most exciting time of the year at The Leader. For more information call 713-686-8494 or e-mail: frank@mcelvymedia.com And no, we’re not talking about hurricane season. We’ve been collecting votes for our annual Readers’ Choice Awards, which highlight the best businesses and services in the Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest areas - as judged by you, our loyal readers and dedicated community members. This year’s ballot has appeared in recent editions of The Leader and is in today’s newspaper as well on Page 4A. It also can be found online on our website, TheLeaderNews.com. There are 130 categories covering just about every type of business and professional service that caters to the community, along the specific services provided by those vendors. The expansive list includes hardware stores, clothing shops, attorneys, banks, beauty salons, florists, doctors and hospitals, restaurants and bars, schools and churches, real estate agents, auto shops and dealers, electricians and art galleries, among many others. If you can think of it, it’s likely on the ballot. So we hope you’ll take the time to vote for your favorites, and there are two ways to do that: You can fill out and submit a ballot online, or you can fill out the hard copy ballot in this newspaper and bring it to our office at 2020 North Loop West, Suite 220, which is at the northeast corner of Loop 610 and East T.C. Jester Boulevard. The deadline to vote is 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, so please act now and do not delay. We want your beloved business or service to receive the recognition it deserves. And don’t forget to tell your friends, neighbors and co-workers in the community. The more ballots submitted and the more votes cast, the better. Thank you in advance, readers of The Leader, for making this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards especially memorable. We cannot wait to see who takes the top honors in the array of categories, whether they are repeat winners or new businesses that have made big splashes in the community. So please let us know what you think.
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ODC soccer Opening Day scores big
Page 10A
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Waiting game. The pandemic has been especially tough on the Special Olympics.
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By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com If local residents were out and about on Arbor Vitae Drive or Pinemont Drive early last Saturday morning, they might have been taken aback seeing a wave of colorful banners and smiling children on their way from Collier Regional Library to the Oaks Dads’ Club soccer fields a short Photo by Landan Kuhlmann distance away. Coach Sal Lopez, right, gets his team in position for a photo But for ODC soccer president with Diesel, the Houston Dynamo mascot, back right, during the Chad Symcox, the expressions Oaks Dads’ Club’s Opening Day ceremonies last Saturday.
that mattered were not on the faces of passersby – they were on the faces of exuberant children gleefully announcing the return of ODC soccer’s Opening Day ceremonies. “Seeing all those smiles and everything is just incredible to me,” he said. “The parents and kids have all wanted this for a long period of time – and the kids definitely want to be able to get back to some kind of normalcy.” Each year, the Oaks Dads’
Club has kicked off its competitive soccer season with Opening Day ceremonies full of fun, team cheers and anticipation. It’s something that was missing last year due to COVID-19, but returned with a bang bright and early last Saturday, Sept. 11. At least a dozen teams marched north on Arbor Vitae Drive from Collier Regional Library before making a sharp left and heading west to the fields See ODC P. 6A
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