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Inside Today: Real estate market continues to grow • 1B
The Vision is still alive! See page 13
THE
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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston
10570 NW Frwy 713-680-2350
Saturday, July 26, 2014 • Vol. 60 • No. 38
ABOUT US 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494 news@theleadernews.com www.theleadernews.com Facebook/THE LEADER.
AREA SPECIALIST
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THE BRIEF.
Milwee succeeds Burge as Chamber President
The Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce (GHACC) Board of Directors unanimously voted to name Jacob Millwee the organization’s next President. He will succeed Terry Burge, the longtime Leader publisher, who is stepping down at the end of August to become vice-president of Mueller Environmental Designs, a Houston-based manufacturer of natural gas production equipment. Milwee steps into the position having the most experience with the Chamber of any president in its history. In his six year tenure, he progressed to become Director of Operations, overseeing all of their activities. He is thoroughly familiar with the Chamber’s members, events and processes. “Due in no small part to the excellent leadership of Terry Burge, the Chamber is in the best position it has been in years,” Milwee said. “We have a strong base of dedicated members, successful events, and strong ties to both the community and our local government. I am deeply honored to be asked to continue to serve the Chamber in this new role.” The Chairman of the Board, Trent Salch, is excited about the future of the Chamber with Jacob at the helm. “Jacob’s work ethic and his dedication to the GHACC cannot be matched,” Salch said. “His leadership will help ensure the Chamber’s continued success and help us stay focused on creating new and dynamic ways to help our members and the Greater Heights Community.” Burge admits to having mixed emotions about his transition. “While I’ve accepted an unexpected and exciting new opportunity, my heart will continue to be here with the Chamber, and our wonderful community where I’ve worked for four decades,” Burge said. “The leadership and members have been incredibly supportive during my time here.”
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It’s your vision that really matters We print 52 issues of The Leader every year. If I had to pick a favorite edition, there isn’t even a close second. Of course, I’d encourage you to put down that smartish phone of yours and take an hour out of every week to skim through the pages of your local newspaper, but if you only read one edition a year, please spend JONATHAN some time with MCELVY this week’s Leader. For the second Publisher year in a row (and hopefully for many years to come), we’re turning The Leader on its head. Just for fun, we’ve even changed the name of the paper – well, kind of – for just this one week. Last year, I explained the genesis of this special edition. I’ll do it again for the newcomers and the new readers, if we should be so lucky to have any. For a number of years, The Leader published a section called “Those Were the Days.” The section was an ode to yesteryear – a time some would argue was much better than what we’re seeing in our neighborhoods today. We ran old advertisements. We told old stories. We pulled out the archives and tried to take you on a journey to the history of our homes, businesses and schools.
The value of yesteryear, however, is its impact on tomorrow. The recitation of history only matters when it frames our discourse on the future. Thus we created this once-a-year edition called “The Vision,” where nearly every story in today’s newspaper takes a look at what we might expect in our community in the years to come. Our staff started working on these stories nearly two months ago, and our charge was to ask those who understand our history best to offer their insights on tomorrow. I think you’ll find the work was well worth the investment. In today’s edition, you’ll find stories about some of the most pressing issues in our communities. What will our neighborhoods look like in five or 10 years? Are we going to lose all the character of our streets as ranch homes are demolished one-by-one? We’ve talked to one of the most influential social scientists in Houston about the demographic shifts in our neighborhoods. What does that mean for our schools, our land prices, our way of life? We’ve talked to our education leaders about the future of our schools – both public and private. Are we going to have the best neighborhood schools in the city, or are we a long way off from that bragging right? We’ve talked to law enforcement officials – the ones who have watched crime trends and the meteoric rise of
our neighborhoods. Have the changes in our neighborhoods made us susceptible to crimes we haven’t imagined? Is there new technology that will make us safer than ever before? All of these “crystal ball” stories have been fun to report. It allows us leeway in the questions we ask and the answers we receive. But my favorite part of today’s edition isn’t the hypothetical; it’s the factual. In The Vision, we talked to three wonderful people about the history of our area. We asked for their personal experiences, their perception of the changes, and their prognosis for the future. Anne Sloan, Delinda Holland and Dr. Jon Enloe have provided wonderful insights about this community, and I’ll do everything but beg you to read the three stories they graciously helped us craft. We found them to be intriguing interviews, and we also found a commonality among each of them – they care about what we become. Along with those stories, we’ve added another nugget to this year’s edition, and those who have moved here recently will appreciate it more than the “long-timers.” Ever wonder who Durham Drive and Durham Elementary were named after? Who was S.P. Waltrip? We’ve looked at roadways and school names, and we think you’ll enjoy learning a little about the namesakes of our community. Today’s edition of The Vision is something fun we get to do at our of-
Page 5B
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The area is going through a rapid transition. What does it mean for the future of the Heights, Oak Forest, Garden Oaks and North Houston?
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REAL ESTATE
Page 1B
The local real estate market continues to grow. What are some of the developments we can expect?
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THE INDEX. 6A
Classifieds
6B
Coupons
7A
Food/Drink/Art Obituaries
13B 8B
Opinion
5A
Public Information Puzzles Sports
2A 8A 12B
Email jonathan@theleadernews.com
A quick guide to what you can find inside this Leader special edition DEMOGRAPHICS
Church
fice, but I also think it’s an incredibly important tool in our community. Our day-to-day lives are usually wrapped up in what we’re doing, what our children are doing, what our bosses want us to do. Very few of us are able to step back from our busy lives and really reflect on our community, where we’re going, what we’re doing next. In relative terms, we are but a small little slice of this megatropolis called Houston. In some ways, that’s a great thing, because we maintain that smalltown feel so many of us crave. In other ways, though, that isn’t such a good thing. We don’t have city officials we really can call our own. They’re too busy for us, or they forward us to a different department. Our problems aren’t their priorities. If there’s one thing we’ve learned at The Leader over the last couple of years, it’s that the future of our area depends on those of us who live and work here. If we want to make improvements, we must take the lead. If we want to improve our schools, we get involved ourselves. And if we want to spur the local economy, we have to make that choice ourselves. In a strange way, that’s why we publish The Vision every year. We want to spur you, our readers and residents, to get involved in the discussion on our future. We want you to help shape it. We want you to understand our history to help shape our tomorrow.
CRIME
Page 2A
What are some of the ways local law enforcement will combat crime in the coming years?
EDUCATION
Page 11A
As our population grows, so does the demand for superb schools. What are parents doing to ensure that happens?