trymahjong

KHOU did a piece at 10pm on a San Antonio lawmaker putting forth a one cent per ounce tax on full sugared sodas. This link tells about the legislation http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/01/31/54438.htm

The Captain only spoke of Washington Ave,

The Captain did tell us the "no parking" would be temporary. He explained that in the age of "tweeting" huge numbers of fans might converge on a single establishment in a matter of minutes--with the accompanying traffic snarls etc. He said it was safer to have the street clear of parked cars in case emergency vechiles were needed to get somewhere quickly down Washington ave.

I started a different thread on the proposed Memorial of Mary's--it's in the Montrose forum.

I attended the central 1&2 PIP meeting and the Captain told us that all street parking on Washington Ave between Houston and Shepherd will be suspended during the NBA allstars Feb. 15 - 17. Thought I'd give everyone a heads up.

I drove by today and it has been leveled and hauled away.

thought this would be a nice addition to this thread http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2013-02-01/feature21

I don't mind getting called for jury duty-- I guess I have been called twice over the pass 7 years then twice when i lived for 5 years in Ft. Ben County. The new "Jury plaza is completed and beautiful and there is special parking for jurors underground that connects to the jury pool room. The security seemed a bit much-- everyone had to remove their shoes--it was really cold when I was last called and there were a lot of boots and some of those boots needed that special boot removal thingy so the line was really long. If you bring something to read and a bottle of water, it's not too bad-- I've never had to stay past lunch break Something interesting the DC mentioned-- There is a place to sign up (on the Harris county district court website) for Harris County Jury duty--it requires a six month committment- and there is a basic back ground check available for anyone who has been convicted in Harris county--you just have to know the last name and birthyear.

sooooooooooooooooooo you are part of that 29% the District Clerk spoke of . . . . . ahem. . . .the DC did regale us with a few charming stories of the creativity of some judges in issuing unique punishments for those that didn't respond. I remember most of instances involving money payments that corresponded to the amount of money you made- so a grocery clerk might have been made to pay $100 while a doctor or lawyer who chose not to respond would pay $1000. Some of the more creative punishments had the audience laughing. Thank goodness he didn't mention those punishments that involve standing on a street corner of a busy street and holding up a sign that declares what you did wrong.

don't know much about the plans for new campus but, one of the uses the residents association offered for the old location was as a culinary school.

They have located into one of the restored houses in Avondale. They have open houses occasionall, very infomative. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Azerbaijani-Cultural-Center/346997758727522

The District Clerk issues summons to everyone in Harris County over 18 who has a drivers license or is a registered voter. Only 69% of those people respond to that jury summons. Those 69% get that jury summons every 2 1/2 years---over and over. The District Clerk was making the point that if everyone responded-- the time between each individual getting a jury summons would increase to once every five years----I liked that notion

I learned at Neartown meeting that the COH bike share program is expanding into Montrose. Bobby Heugal has offered his property in front of Hay Merchant to be a "weigh station". An additional property is being searched out on Westheimer between Stanford and Brazos. a little background http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Bike-sharing-program-kicks-into-high-gear-4181173.php

When Kirk Baxter made his presentation to Neartown about the proposed Memorial, he said he had spoken to new owners of the property about the posibility of putting the Memorial to Mary's on the SE corner of Waugh and Westheimer so the glass would reflect the the renovated building that was formally Mary's. He went on to say the owners of the property had told him they are planning a 6 story mixed use project. He told us the owners seemed to favor his proposal.

At Neartown Meeting yesterday I heard Kirk Baxter give a history and Culture account of Mary's. Then he presented professtional drawing (made by himself) for a proposed Memorial. It was moving. Bobby Heugal donated the doors from the original Mary's and most of the roof tiles were salvaged. a few locations locations were discussed. The back park of the parking lot of the orginal building; Across the street infront of Half price books; A block North on Waugh and Hyde park. This is at the earliest stages but a wonderful hearftfelt presentation.

District Clerk Chris Daniel spoke to Neartown yesterday. He let us know that 61% of people that get a summons to serve on juries, respond. That means everyone gets a notice about every 21/2 to 3 years. But if everyone rsponded the time between getting juries summons would go to once every 5 years!

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2013/01/hall-says-hell-challenge-parker-for-mayor-this-fall/ This intrigued me. He has wanted to run for twenty years? He bought a new home so there would be no more questions that he lived in Houston? wow

wonder if the old route 66 cafe on Fannin could be redone and used by SSO

Free Childhood Immunizations through May 2013 The Houston Fire Department (HFD) and the Care Van program have teamed up again to provide Houston area children, birth - 18 years, with free childhood immunizations through May 2013. This is the perfect opportunity to get your children immunized for school. IMPORTANT NOTE: The clinic on Thursday, January 17 at Fire Station 44, 675 Maxey Road, Houston 77013 will be offering free flu shots for the children too! The flu shots will only be available at this clinic on January 17. REMEMBER: For each clinic, a parent or adult guardian must accompany the child(ren) and provide the updated immunization records for each child. To see a complete list of all spring 2013 clinics in English and Spanish, visit http://www.houstontx.gov/citizensnet/spring_2013_free_immunization_schedules.pdf. For additional information visit http://www.houstonfire.org/, http://www.carevan.org/ or contact Paul Box at the Houston Fire Department Public Affairs Division at paul.box@houstontx.gov or 832.394.6636

City of Houston is working on a study known as the Urban Houston Framework that will help guide the City in the development of policies, tools and incentives to encourage responsible, sustainable development throughout Houston. One of the primary goals is to promote urban centers. To assist with that effort, we are conducting an online poll and need your participation. We are interested in hearing what characteristics you think best describe Urban Centers of varying scales. Understanding that a "one size does not fit all", we want you to tell us what amenities best define a Small Urban Center, Medium Urban Center and Large Urban Center. To take the online poll, go to http://www.urbanhouston.metroquest.com/. The comment period will close on January 30th. To better understand what Urban Centers are, please visit the project website at http://www.urbanhoustonframework.com/. For more information, please email urbanhoustonframework@houstontx.gov.

thanks for those links-- I go to the neartown meetings monthly. I was surprised at the last meeting to hear that making Westheimer 3 lanes from Bagby to Shepherd ( I think). I had remembered Westheimer being 3 lanes when we lived in Houston in the 70's. Increase in traffic is supposedly what changed it to 4 lanes. . . . now all these years later, it will be put back to 3 lanes to help with traffic flow. ;/

Neartown (4th Tuesday Cherryhurst community center 7pm) all meetings open to public- http://www.chron.com/heights/news/article/Neartown-group-to-focus-on-traffic-issues-4128526.php

sorry-- http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-06-12-lower-westheimer-gets-a-new-bar-with-buzz-rosemont-social-club-plans-to-cater-to-the-uchi-crowds/ I was looking up both, guess the Seraph fell from my shoulder and knocked into my keyboard. :}

hmmmmmmmmm not sure about the bland bit . . . . they bring out that big pepper mill and crank away. I liked the idea of this place, I'm always charmed that the building was saved and I liked the space. I always walked so the parking thing wasn't a problem. Somehow most times I went, they seemed a bit stressed, as if one server hadn't shown up. I got an email that, they are serving a huge Christmas Dinner, Dec. 18th. I hope it's a full house, so they can have a bit of financial cushion.

Rosemont Social Club Replacing Prive Lounge http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/12-03-12-new-high-end-mexican-steakhouse-to-open-in-montrose-after-years-of-searching-for-right-us-spot/