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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston Saturday, April 27, 2019 • Vol. 64 • No. 17
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Council approves firefighter layoffs By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com While the city and local unions for firefighters and police officers participate in court-ordered mediation regarding an implementation plan for Proposition B, the Houston City Council voted Wednesday to lay off 220 firefighters as it moves forward with immediate implementation and attempts to balance a bloated budget. After lengthy debate about the layoffs, the item passed by a vote of 10-6. Shortly after, Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hoped the job cuts could be avoided before they go into effect.
“This administration is committed to doing everything we can to work this out,” he said. Teams of attorneys for the city as well as the police officers and firefighters unions entered a Harris County courtroom April 18 hoping to receive clarity on the legality of Proposition B, the voter-approved referendum that grants Houston’s firefighters equal compensation to police officers of similar rank and experience. Instead they got a clear directive from a state district court judge, who told them to work it out amongst themselves. Judge Tanya Garrison of the 157th
Civil District Court issued an order of mediation in the case, a months-long legal battle over the legality of Prop B. The parties held two mediation sessions earlier this week without coming to an agreement and plan to resume negotiations next week. Turner’s office and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association had been attempting to negotiate a phased-in implementation of Prop B, which came without a funding source. According to the city, it would cost upwards of $100 million if implemented immediately. See Prop B P. 2A
Taking aim
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, after the city council voted to approve 220 firefighter layoffs Wednesday, said he hoped they could ultimately be avoided.
Yousafzai mural defaced
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INSIDE.
Photo by Betsy Denson Debbi Benavides is the team captain of Rule #1, a pool team based at the Inwood Bayou Pub. Rule #1 is one of a number of teams that play in the Lonestar BCA, a women’s league in Northwest Houston.
Pool league brings women together By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Hey good cooking. Zarah Parker offers her review of The Union Kitchen.
Page 7A
Riding for a good cause. A local cycling shop has a team competing in the BP MS 150.
Page 6B
Whoever said pool is a man’s game hasn’t spent time with the Lonestar BCA, a women’s league in Northwest Houston sanctioned by the Billiards Congress of America. The women – among them a pharmacist, teacher and cancer survivor who now runs other pool leagues – gathered on a recent Sunday afternoon at Bar Sports on Hempstead Highway. They have been playing together in the Lone Star league for about 10 years, some even longer. What brings them together is simple. “We play for the love of the game,” Debbi Benavides said. Benavides, an Inwood Forest resident who has been playing pool for about 20 years, is the team captain for Rule #1. “We established the name as a reminder to our team that the first rule of pool is to make our shot,” Benavides said. Rule #1 recently competed at a statewide tournament in Temple, placing fifth out of 27 teams. Next
up is a national tournament in Las Vegas this July. The team’s home base is the Inwood Bayou Pub. Owner Johnny Calzada is its sponsor. “Deb has managed our Sunday women’s league since it was first started,” Calzada said. “We feel very fortunate to have Deb and her team Rule #1 playing and representing Inwood Bayou Pub. These girls have chemistry, camaraderie and a close friendship. We hope to have them continue to play for many more years as a Sunday league.” Other teams in the league include the Brats, GAL’s, H-Town Girls, Diamond Cutters, Defense Divas and Different Strokes. Many of the league’s members started playing in the American Poolplayers Association (APA) and over the years moved to the BCA. “The reason we play BCA is because it is like a chess match, as in play smart and safe,” Benavides said. There is player movement between the league’s teams over time, but everyone remains on friendly terms. Jen Melvin was 18 when she start-
See Pool P. 6A
See Mural P. 6A
Photo by Adam Zuvanich A mural of Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was recently vandalized. Artist Jessica Padilla began restoring it Tuesday.
Overflowed toilet leaves OF man in messy situation By Adam Zuvanich
THE INDEX. Church/Calendar. ............................. 5A Classifieds.............................................. 4B Coupons. ................................................. 6A Food/Drink/Art................................... 7A Obituaries.............................................. 5A Opinion. ................................................... 4A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 4A
ed playing pool on her mom’s team. Now 31, she’s a member of Rule #1. “I was on my mom’s team, but I play against her now,” Melvin said. Defense Divas team member Stacy Ambros owns a costume shop down the road from Bar Sports and said she was working in a pool hall when a team saw her playing and recruited her. Like Melvin, she’s been playing since she was 18. The competitive outlet the game delivers is matched by the camaraderie it provides. Patty Phillips, a former executive who plays with the Defense Divas, said she treasures being with “the girls.” “We’ve been playing with or against each other for 10-plus years,” Phillips said. “I’m honored I to get to play with them.” One of the most experienced league members is K.C. Mink, a 20year pool player who has achieved master status in the BCA. Some years ago, a diagnosis of lymphoma — and its treatment — left her with neuropathy and extreme fatigue
Residents of Timbergrove and beyond expressed shock about the Sunday night defacement of a mini mural featuring Nobel Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai at T.C. Jester Boulevard and Ella Boulevard. The mural, painted by artist Jessica Padilla and funded by Houston Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen, was just completed in February. An advocate for female education in her native Pakistan, Yousafzai survived an assassination attempt when she was 15 years old and went on to promote and support the right to education. “(I) saw that (Monday) morning,” Mitzi Longoria wrote on the Timbergrove Manor Facebook page. “So sad. I work across the street and the girl artist worked all day for weeks painting the mural.” Padilla, who learned of the graffiti when contacted by The Leader on Monday, started restoring the mural by painting over the vandalism on Tuesday morning. She also reached out to UP Art Studio, a group that partners with community sponsors to paint mini murals on utility boxes around Houston. “I’m not surprised this happened,” Padilla said. “Just disappointed.” Once she finishes restoring the mural, Padilla said it will soon get a clear
azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Photo Adam Zuvanich Oak Forest resident Antonio Helm discusses repairs done to his home on West 43rd Street, where a toilet backed up Feb. 23.
Antonio Helm said he was told he could lose his home if he did not remediate water damage caused by an overflowing toilet. Then, because of overflowing costs related to fixing the problem, the disabled Oak Forest resident was threatened to have his home taken
away. A toilet in Helm’s onestory house on West 43rd Street backed up Feb. 23 and covered a bathroom floor in a thin layer of unsanitary water, which he said he cleaned with towels and Clorox before calling Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup. By the end of the next day, the company had dug into his backyard to replace a faulty
drainage pipe, gutted his bathroom and part of the adjacent kitchen and left large fans running to dry out the two rooms. Helm amassed charges totaling more than $6,000, which he thought his homeowners’ insurance policy would cover, based on assurances he said he was given by at least one Roto-Rooter employee. But his claim was denied. He now has
an outstanding balance of about $3,500 with Roto-Rooter, a national company that last week mailed Helm a letter saying it would put a lien on his 65-year-old home if he did not immediately pay in full. “If something happens to this,” Helm said of his home, “I’m living under the bridge. Literally.” See Damage P. 8A
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