Inside Today: Revive has two new tenants • Page 1B
Something for
Everyone on your list.
UnReal
Flower & Gift Shop
Bowling
3020 Mangum Rd 713-682-2506
Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston
10570 NW Frwy ❖ 713-680-2350
Saturday, November 24, 2018 • Vol. 63 • No. 43
ABOUT US 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494 news@theleadernews.com www.theleadernews.com Facebook/THE LEADER.
Insulating Since 1979 $
get 50 OFF
your purchase of $750 or more Attics • Walls • Floors Noise Reduction • Removal
713-868-1021
www.paylessinsulation.com
Project delay prompts paranoia among homeowners By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com The red, white and blue post with “METRO” at the top has not been removed. Neither has the adjacent pavilion nor the “Pinemont Park & Ride” sign sitting next to an entrance gate that has long been locked. There still is a spacious slab of concrete inside the fence surrounding the property, although in some spots grass and weeds are sprouting up through cracks in the pavement. “It’s the same as it was when they
closed it down,” said Sandra Cirone, president of the homeowners association for the nearby Pinemont Park neighborhood. “It looks exactly the same. They haven’t done anything with it.” The lack of activity at the old parkand-ride location at the corner of Pinemont Drive and Federal Plaza, which closed in 2013 and was sold to Harris County two years later, has sparked speculation among nearby homeowners. Some have worried the land will be used for a low-incoming housing project, even after they helped to thwart such a plan in 2015.
Photo by Adam Zuvanich The vacant Pinemont Park & Ride lot.
METRO was persuaded to back out of an initial agreement with the Houston Housing Authority and sell the property to the county for the purposes of constructing an office building. That plan
Holiday Blessing
Braun buys strip center in Heights By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Jason Knebel (713)232-9712
jasonk@greenwoodking.com
GREENWOOD KING
PROPERTIES
INSIDE.
’Tis the season for Holiday markets: A rundown of places for you to score the perfect Christmas gift.
Page 1B
ON THE WEB.
Contributed photo Joshua Baggett holds his newborn daughter immediately after her birth on Memorial Day. The Baggetts welcomed Clarice after two years of trying to get pregnant and multiple miscarriages along the way before the joyful conclusion.
Oak Forest couple’s nightmare is now a Thanksgiving dream
The Baggetts, who both work in the craft beer industry and are in their mid-30s, were elated. “I picked his favorite restaurant to tell him I was pregnant and everything,” Lene said. “We didn’t hide it at all.”
By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Listing for Santa Sightings: Visit theleadernews.com for a listing of “Santa Sightings” in the area. We’ll tell you when and where Santa will be so he can receive your kids’ Christmas wishes.
FIND IT. FOUND DOG: Near Mytiburger, Glebe at 43rd. Gray/white, large dog. Call to identify. 713412-4338. YOLANDA’S HOUSE CLEANING: Background checked. 713-553-4983, 281-435-4205. Trash hauling available. BUSINESS ACCOUNTING Personal Financial Asst. IRS Notices, All Tax Filings. M&C Consulting, 713-862-7971, m.c.consulting@hotmail.com.
Page 4B
THE INDEX. Church....................................................... 6A Classifieds.............................................. 4B Coupons. ................................................. 5A Food/Drink/Art................................... 7B Obituaries.............................................. 6A Opinion. ................................................... 4A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 4A
Clarice Baggett is celebrating her first Thanksgiving this week. It will be an occasion for which her parents are eternally grateful, because she almost never joined them. After two years of attempted pregnancies and three miscarriages, the Baggett family added to their blended family when they welcomed a baby girl on Memorial Day 2018 – the pot of gold at the end of what once was a rainbow of emotions. Lene Baggett already had an 11-year-old daughter upon meeting her husband a few years ago, but something was still missing. Joshua Baggett didn’t have any children of his own, and the allure was powerful. At first, all went according to plan
Contributed photo Oak Forest resident Lene Baggett in the hospital with daughter, Clarice, who is celebrating her first Thanksgiving this week.
for the Oak Forest couple. Within a month of beginning to try to become pregnant, it happened.
First dominoes fall But when Baggett and her husband went to the doctor for a standard six-week checkup, heartbreak struck – there was no heartbeat. One week later, the couple returned for hormonal blood testing, but still no heartbeat. “My hormone levels had gone down, so we knew we had lost it,” Lene said. “Like so many people in this position, we didn’t know why
Contributed photo The existing development will undergo an eight-month renovation.
UT head coach Pierce returns to SPX roots By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com In life, and in sports, all it takes is one bad hop to alter a chain of events. University of Texas baseball coach David Pierce knows that all too well and took some time last week to impart lessons he learned at his alma mater off West Donovan. Pierce, a 1981 St. Pius X alumnus and native Houstonian, returned to familiar halls Friday morning to speak to a new generation of Panthers as they prepare for life outside the St. Pius X walls.
“I just wanted to help these kids realize that they have great potential. We all have gifts, and they can use those to make themselves better and to make their classmates around them better.”
-David Pierce
“We’ve got all these plans for after high school, but there come some hiccups in the road,” Pierce said to an auditorium full of hundreds of St.
Pius X students. “We’ve got coping mechanisms to deal with those, and that’s what you learn at a place like St. Pius X. The greatest thing of be-
ing part of a team is watching those around you maximize their potential.” Realizing and maximizing potential was a prime theme of Pierce’s address to the Panther student body. He addressed several of his coaching stops – such as his appointment to Wayne Graham’s staff at Rice in 2003, when he became the hitting coach and threw batting practice – in the light that he believes they occurred primarily because he was left-handed. It was a simple, typically unremarkable attribute, but it was See Pierce P. 5A
Happy Thanksgiving
lue
3802 Ella
Braun Enterprises has announced the acquisition of a shopping center at 1002 N. Shepherd directly across from the Kroger. The new development is being branded as Shepherd Row in the Heights. The existing center is approximately 18,506 square feet. Zach Wolf with Braun said they plan to completely renovate and seek out additional tenants to appeal to the surrounding community. Existing tenants include Ideal Bakery, La Fondita Michoacan, MetroPCS, Jo’s Liquor, Speedy Mart, Esmeralda’s Jewelry, Farmers Insurance and Houston Aquatics. Wolf said that any talk about which tenants will remain is premature as the deal to purchase closed very recently. “As always, we want to try and keep tenants,” Wolf said. The center joins many other new developments on N. Shepherd, including the new H-E-B scheduled to open in early 2019 and the recently announced M-K-T which will be a 200,000 square foot retail and office development at the northeast intersection of North Shepherd and 6th Street. To help with traffic flow at Shepherd Row, Braun Enterprises has acquired a house directly behind the center to get additional parking. The renovations on Shepherd Row should take approximately eight months to complete and Wolf expects new tenants to begin work during the construction period. Any existing tenants will remain open during the construction. “We are very excited to acquire an existing shopping center in such a high-traffic area in the heart of the Heights,” Wolf said.
See Birth P. 7A
Call or Come In
a Lot V
OAK FOREST SEC 1
remains in place, with the county having hired a new architectural firm for the project in August. Still, there have been recent discussions within the homeowners associations for Pinemont Park and Forest West that an apartment building was in the works instead. “That’s a rumor,” said Wayne Norden, president of the Near Northwest Management District. Dimetra Hamilton, a spokesperson for the Harris County Engineering Department, said the project for a multiSee Pinemont P. 8A
To Donate To
Juana Almeida Raul Garcia STUDEWOOD PLACE 832-884-3732 1111 Studewood #508 281-515-6815
2-1. Prime location lot available for new construction. Frontage is 70’. Minutes from downtown and the Houston Heights. $335,000 MLS# 28898388
2-2.5 Heights loft with stunning views from rooftop pool. 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath + 2 parking spaces. $579,000 MLS# 92446454
GARDEN OAKS COURT
834 Garden Trace Ln.
Cheryl Luck 713-408-9949
3-2.1 Gated community. Updated home integrates
an impressive array of finishes throughout w/a dramatic open floor plan. $369,999 MLS# 27020245
A NAME YOU CAN TRUST 713-686-5454
| www.preproperties.com
|
1803 W. 43rd • Houston, TX 77018
© 2013-2018 BHH Affiliates, LLC. Real Estate Brokerage Services are offered through the network member franchisees of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Most franchisees are independently owned and operated. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.