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Saturday, December 17, 2016 • Vol. 62 • No. 52
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White Oak Bayou trail extension unveiled to public Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Photo by Landan Kuhlmann Karla Cisneros, Houston City Council District H, addresses the public as part of the White Oak Bayou trail extension ribbon cutting ceremony last Friday, Dec. 9. The two-mile project is part of the Bayou Greenways 2020 project, aimed at transforming the city’s bayous.
Blue skies and a light winter chill greeted Houstonians Dec. 9 as a continuous effort to transform the city’s bayous and increase trail accessibility took a major step forward. City officials and residents alike gathered to officially mark the opening of the White Oak Bayou Greenway, which ushered in this area’s section of the city’s Bayou Greenways 2020 endeavor. Bayou Greenways 2020 is a public-private partnership between the Houston Parks Board, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department
and the Harris County Flood Control District. “Great things happen when people all come together, and this here today is such a great example of what’s happening with Bayou Greenways 2020,”
councilwoman Karla Cisneros said. The project is a joint effort to enhance recreation, conservation and alternative transportation in Houston and transform the city into a healthier, more beautiful destination. By trans-
Holiday Rush
Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
4705 Inker St. 713-861-8883
inside.
All I want for Christmas Local school kids share their letters to Santa
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Christmas rush presents major test for local vendors By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
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Love doesn’t die After the death of Flying Saucer owner Bill Leeson in 2015, the company continued to thrive - although a recent hiccup will delay production for a bit.
That Christmas spirit is in the air, bringing with it a mad final-week dash to polish off that pages-long shopping list for those held most dear—in turn placing shop owners on high alert as the revolving door spins on its merry way. Local shops in this area are in the midst of prepping for this onslaught, so The Leader decided to take a look at what it takes to survive this home stretch and keep up with the Christmas madness as it unfolds. First comes those precautionary measures owners must take in order to account for every contingency possible with regards to staffing, restocking and more; and for Lift owner Rhonda Rhodes (a holiday season vet in her seventh year of business), the rush is akin to a final exam after an entire year
of cramming. “What I do every year is spend the entire year gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend, Small Business Saturday, and then all through December for Christmas,” she said. “This is like the finals, and the entire year has been studying for it.” Rhodes’ necessary “curriculum” requirements include doubling up on staffing, using January through November to stock up on what she foresees as hot sellers through various avenues and paying meticulous attention to every minute detail of each order. “If I need to hire employees I train them for months. I stock up for months—during January and June markets I look for items to sell during the holidays,” she said. “There is also a lot of physical labor involved in all the shipments arriving, checking them all in and putting them all out.” Much of the same applies for Big
Blue Whale owner Vanessa Wodehouse, as the toy store must call on all available resources — including college employees and area teachers donating time during their Christmas vacation — as the madness ramps up. “It’s around the clock and all hands are on deck—we’re either helping customers find the right gifts, wrapping or restocking all the time,” Wodehouse said. “I try to make sure all of my orders are finished before December so that it’s just helping customers and restocking. It’s one or two orders a week as opposed to what we’re ordering in September and October.” AG Antiques owner Debbie Greenbaum mirrors Rhodes’ approach (especially as a store with a fairly unique product base), sometimes increasing typical staffing by almost 50 percent to accommodate the uptick in foot See Vendors P. 3A
Amidst the final holiday rush, at least one Christmas present is coming to the Heights far earlier than expected. According to officials with the Texas Department of Transportation, the Yale Street Bridge in the Heights is scheduled for a February opening—a full 10 months ahead of the original project timeline. “We had to work in a coordinated effort with the contractor to make sure everything was in order, and we were able to move forward more quickly than anticipated,” TxDOT Public Information Officer Danny Perez said of the acclerated timeline. “We considered it a win for the community and the city of Houston to be able to get this project done quicker—it’s definitely a positive for everybody involved.” The Yale Street bridge is a vital corridor for anyone traveling into the Heights and surrounding communities, and since its closure, traffic in the Heights area has often become more maddeningly congested than normal—a fact Perez said the city and TxDOT knew all too well. However, he said the temporary headaches were necessary to create an easier commute. “We had a special traffic control near Heights Boulevard, but we knew that wasn’t something we wanted to sustain for a long period of time,” he said. “Thankfully we had some good weather, and that played a big part into being able to get this done. We knew that those folks would be impacted by the closing of the bridge, but we also knew that once it was open it would a positive development for the community, so we tried to get it done as soon as possible, and thankfully we were able to do it.” Additionally, the new and improved Yale Street bridge will allow commuters to use the corridor as a detour or alternate route and stay off the frontage roads, taking traffic off the main lanes. “Any corridor that runs into I-10,we know closing it is going to have a major impact on that area, so this will keep everything flowing over there,” Perez said.
Residents voice deeper concerns on water works project
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By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
The INDEX. Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 5B Coupons. ................................................. 6A Food/Drink/Art................................... 1B Obituaries.............................................. 5A Opinion. ................................................... 4A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 4A Sports. ....................................................... 7B
See Bayou P. 3A
Christmas comes early, Yale Street Bridge to open soon
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Strong Tap. Harold’s Tap Room set to expand to meet growing demand.
forming previously underutilized land along the bayous, officials say Bayou Greenways 2020 will bring new accessible greenspace to many “under-parked” parts of the city. The $4 million Heights-area extension breaks off from the Heights trail and winds west for two miles along White Oak Bayou from Studemont Street and the Heights Hike and Bike trail to the T.C. Jester trail (extending the White Oak Bayou trail to 11 miles in length), and creating numerous neighborhood connections along the way. “This is one of the most ambitious parks projects in the entire coun-
Photo by Landan Kuhlmann Paul Dugas with city of Houston Parking Management addresses residents at last week’s community meeting.
Following the release of Alliance Residential Group’s plans for the old Heights water works complex between 19th and 20th Streets earlier this month, so many residents expressed concerns that a follow-up meeting was organized to give property owners an extended forum within which to explain their concerns. Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen and representatives from the city of Houston were on hand at the Dec. 7 gathering to further address the myr-
iad of resident concerns, which came in large part with regards to infrastructure, traffic and pedestrian safety. Flooding For some, concerns in reference to flooding and how runoff would impact the surrounding area stood paramount, spurring a discussion on how developers would operate within the overall infrastructure of the neighborhood and what would be required with regards to storm sewers, water and more. According to City Engineer Tim Lincoln, developers are required to submit a wastewater reservation letter. In that letter, pertinent information
will be given, such as the square footage of what they’re proposing, the type of intended poling, the fixture count for faucets and bathrooms and more. “That information is then calculated to determine the amount of wastewater the development is proposed to have,” he said. Following the calculation, the system around the area is then modeled for estimation’s sake. “What we look for is the point of connection to where it does not adversely impact the area See Concerns P. 6A
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