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Saturday, August 10, 2019 • Vol. 64 • No. 32
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City receives grant to help fight area flooding of 12 interconnected basins at the 226-acre site of a former golf course on Antoine Drive north of West Little York Road. The project has long been on the wish list for the Harris County Flood Control District and the city, which purchased the property in 2011 with the idea of using it to mitigate flooding in the White Oak Bayou and Vogel Creek watersheds. “We’re excited but trying not to be too excited,” said Eileen Egan, a resident of flood-prone Inwood Forest. Egan also is the vice president of capital projects for the Near Northwest Management District, which uses Photo by Adam Zuvanich the golf course’s former clubhouse as White Oak Bayou flows through the former golf course in Inwood Forest, where the
By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com A Houston street can flood in a matter of hours, even minutes. Reducing flood risks in the city can take years, even decades. Residents of Northwest Houston are glad to know help is on the way, even if it continues to travel slowly. The City of Houston announced last week that it has been awarded grants from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) – its first federal grants since Hurricane Harvey ravaged the region in 2017 – for the design phase of two flood mitigation projects. One of those projects is the Inwood Forest Stormwater Detention Basin, which will be a series
See Flooding P. 8A
City of Houston and Harris County Flood Control District plan to construct a series of interconnected stormwater detention basins to mitigate flooding in the area.
Market makeover
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Photo from Facebook Marlon Gomez, also known as EMG Santana, was shot and killed at a Northwest Houston apartment complex last week.
Police release suspect sketch in shooting of Houston rapper
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INSIDE.
Plogging along. Area residents have taken up a new activity that combines fitness and cleaning up the environment.
Page 1B
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Photo by Adam Zuvanich Julie Martinez, right, and her father, Julio Martinez, have long sold produce, pottery and other goods at the Houston Farmers Market, which is undergoing a transformation led by MLB Capital Partners.
Evolving farmers market aims to mesh old with new By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
As Karla Cisneros said after seeing the plans for the Houston Farmers Market on Tuesday morning, the future is coming whether we’re ready or not. In the case of the longtime community staple, at least, she just hopes the future includes some of the past and present. Cisneros, the Houston City Councilwoman for an area that includes the eastern portion of the Heights, holds many fond memories of the 77-year-old farmers market on Airline Drive and sees it as a pillar of the neighborhood. It’s a culinary and cultural hub where visitors have taken their kids to pick out pumpkins and crack pe-
Photo by Adam Zuvanich Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd, left, and MLB Capital Partners’ Todd Mason are working together to remodel and revitalize the Houston Farmers Market on Airline Drive.
cans, heard a cornucopia of languages and bought exotic fruits and vegetables – without spending much money. “I hope they can really hold on to the past, because that’s really where the richness comes from,”
Calendar/Church. ............................. 4A Classifieds.............................................. 5A Coupons. ................................................. 7A Food/Drink/Art............................... 10A Obituaries.............................................. 8A Opinion. ................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 4B Puzzles...................................................... 3A
See Farmers P. 8A
Coffeehouse in Heights mixing cats with cameras
Page 5A
THE INDEX.
Cisneros said. “I don’t want to just see it be upscale, high end. It’s got to stay accessible to everyone. That’s part of the charm.” It’s also part of the pledge from real estate investor Todd Mason and world-renowned chef
Chris Shepherd, who are teaming up to remodel and revitalize the farmers market. Mason is the managing principal for MLB Capital Partners, which purchased the nearly 18-acre market in 2017, and he has enlisted Shepherd to run one of a few restaurants on the property and help secure a viable mix of food and beverage vendors. At a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday, both said they want to attract new clientele and cater to a surrounding area that is gentrifying. Adding restaurants is part of that strategy along with creating more parking, restrooms and greenspace while replacing the old, existing structures with modern ones.
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
It was Sigmund Freud who said “time spent with cats is never wasted.” The sentiment is shared by Renee Reed. She started El Gato Coffeehouse – otherwise known as the cat café – at 508 Pecore St. Suite A in the Heights in April 2017. “People didn’t understand Contributed photo El Gato Coffeehouse is parterning with Hive to what I was doing,” Reed said. “I
had a lot of meetings with the health department.” But the concept that started in Japan in the 1990s, in which people pay to interact with cats in residence, caught on in Houston, too. And now because of a unique partnership with Hive, a smart home company, time spent with the El Gato cats can happen remotely. During the month of August, Hive and El Gato will create what they call Houston’s first “smart”
1007 17th St.
cat café. Anyone who downloads the Hive app can connect with the cats of El Gato, who are available for adoption. Hive contacted Reed, whose company was looking to promote ways pet owners could engage with their pets while they were away from home. “They wanted a specific kind of partner,” Reed said of Hive. “It serves a purpose for both of See El Gato P. 8A
create Houston’s first “smart cat cafe.”
CURRENT PROPERTY LISTINGS
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Police have released a sketch of a suspect wanted in connection with the July 30 shooting death of a Houston rapper at the Mangum Oaks Apartments. Marlon Gomez, 30, who was known as EMG Santana and featured on a Slim Thug album released last week, was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department. HPD describes the suspect as a black male in his 20s or 30s and standing between 5-foot-10 and 6-0 with a slim to medium build. HPD spokesperson Jodi Silva said officers responded to a call to 4702 Mangum Rd. shortly before 8:30 p.m July 30. Witnesses said they heard several gunshots ring out before seeing two black males flee the scene in a red vehicle, according to HPD. Anyone with information on the suspect or his whereabouts is encouraged to call HPD’s homicide division at 713308-3600 or the Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
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