leader0622a

SATURDAY | June 22, 2013 | Vol. 59 | No. 34 | www.theleadernews.com | @heightsleader

Leader Listings: No sign of home sales slowing in this area • B

8A7A

THE INDEX.Public Safety 2AHipstrict 9ATopics 4AObituariesCouponsPuzzles 5ASports 9BClassifieds 6B

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��10570 NW Frwy • 713-680-2350Darlene’s An Oak Forest resident is facing civil pen-

alties in excess of $200,000 for parking his semi-tractor truck in his driveway and not heeding legal warnings to stop.

Darrel Gashette, a 35-year-old lifelong OF resident who graduated from Black Middle School and Waltrip High, is a long haul/re-gional truck driver who has consistently parked his rig in his driveway at 1430 Wake-field.

He’s since moved his truck to a site where he pays $150 per month to park it, but said

parking the truck in his driveway had never been an issue before attorney Jason Lawhorn, and his wife, Patricia, moved into the neigh-borhood and began filing formal complaints with the city of Houston.

According to court papers, the city is seek-ing an injunction to enforce the residential use restrictions established in the deed re-strictions of Oak Forest Section 2. Gashette didn’t respond, after being served on Jan. 8, by the deadline of Feb. 4.

It continued, “In a suit filed to enforce deed restrictions, it is not a defense that the activity is incidental to the residential use of the property, when the suit alleges any of the following activities violates a restriction limiting property to residential use: storing a tow truck, crane, moving van or truck....longer than 20 feet.”

Oak Forest man owes $200k in property fines

Oak Forest resident Darrel Gashette is facing fines in excess of $200,000 for parking his semi-tractor truck in his driveway. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

by Michael [email protected]

After years of parking his big rig at home, David Gashette has racked up enough penalties to bankrupt him

A messy week in the HeightsTREE COMES DOWN • PLANTLIFE ILLEGALLY RAZED • YARN BOMB BOMBED • PROTESTORS VISIT JACKSON LEE

Heights residents failed to save a massive sycamore tree on the corner of 23rd and Oxford streets, and by the time the tree was tak-en down Tuesday, protesters who had led a sometimes contentious charge were nowhere in sight.

After a three-day email cam-paign, about a dozen protesters were told by a city urban forester Monday morning that they had no legal grounds to continue their fight, and the trimming of branch-es resumed.

There is no Houston ordinance protecting the tree, and the syca-more’s listing on Trees for Hous-ton’s Harris County tree registry is “more of a notoriety thing, an honor,” said Dale Temple, senior superintendent of urban forestry for the city. “There’s no legal force behind it.”

The 2011 registry listed the sycamore as Harris County’s larg-est, with a 149-inch circumfer-ence, 106-foot height and a canopy spread of 80 feet.

Nearby resident Jessica Wilt had launched the campaign Friday, met

Residents can’t save towering sycamore

by Charlotte [email protected]

Above, no protesters were on hand Tuesday as the sycamore was slowly brought down. On Mon-day, there were plenty of protesters and four law enforcement officers. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

At left, Officer M. Donato asks protesters to stay out of the street for their own safety on Monday, as a giant sycamore tree was being cut down.(Photo by Charlotte Aguilar)

The gun control debate has officially ar-rived in the Heights and Oak Forest.

The Armed Citizen Project, a Hous-ton-based non-profit advocating Second Amendment rights, protested outside Con-gresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s West 19th Street office on Tuesday morning.

ACP has received international press for its program to give free pump action shot-guns to Oak Forest residents, provided they take a one-day class and pass a background check.

The protest was in response to Jackson Lee’s Monday morning press conference. The Congresswoman, along with a non-profit called Moms Demand Action, marked the sixth anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy with a call “for gun sense in America.”

Citizens gathered outside Sheila Jackson Lee’s office in the Heights earlier this week to protest her gun control stance.

(Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

Jackson Lee hears from Armed Citizen Project protesters

by Michael [email protected]

You cut what?

The Houston Parks & Recreation De-partment put a halt to the clearing of trees and other plantlife in Woodland Park – the city’s second oldest park.

Story, Page 3A

see Fines • Page 5A

see Tree • Page 5A

see Protest • Page 5A

Artists’ project in the Heights destroyed; reward for help catching vandals.

Story, Page 3A

Time running out to honor local heroes

You have until June 28 to help us celebrate the true meaning of our most patriotic holiday, the Fourth of July.

The Leader is seeking to honor our true American heroes – men and women from our neighborhoods on active duty with the military for Independence Day.

Please email us photos of your loved ones in uniform as jpeg at-tachments to [email protected], along with their name, military branch and rank, current base and duty, name of their high school/col-lege, parents and/or spouse and the name and contact information of the person submitting the information.

Submissions may also be dropped off at The Leader, 3500-A E. T.C. Jester Blvd. between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Sure, the picnics, parades and fireworks are all important. But at the same time, let’s remember those who are living their patriotism far from home by serving their country and continuing to protect our freedoms.

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GENERAL LAWN CLEAN-UP: Yard and flower bed work. Henry, 713-686-4773.

What

YOU CanFind Inside

See more in our CLASSIFIEDS

• Pages 6B-8B

It’s that time of year again. Harris County Mosquito Control has con-fi rmed its fi rst fi nding of the West Nile virus, detected in a mosquito collected from a trap in the 77346 ZIP code in northeast Harris County and began nighttime spraying in that area.

Dr. Rudy Bueno, Director of HCPHES Mosquito Control says, “Our comprehensive mosquito surveillance program is key to identifying the presence of the virus in our community and guides our control efforts to help us better protect our residents,” said Dr. Rudy Bueno, mosquito control director for the county. “West Nile Virus has been in our envi-ronment since 2002. As we head into the summer months, enjoy the outdoors but remember to protect yourself and your family from mos-quito-borne disease.”

Mosquito Control encourages residents to eliminate mosquito breed-ing habitats from their property and to take appropriate precautions to avoid being bitten by disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Mosquito-Proof Your Property* Don’t “feed” the storm drains. Sweep up lawn clippings, leaves and

tree limbs.* Remove/empty any containers that can hold water such as tires,

fl owerpots and toys. * Change water in birdbaths and pet water bowls every 3 to 5 days. * Keep rain gutters free of debris. * Make sure screens are in good condition. Prevent Mosquito Breeding in Boats* Cover your boat and store it in a covered place. * Drain any standing water and make sure the bilge pump is work-

ing.* Invert canoes, kayaks and small boats to store.

Personal Protection* When outdoors, use an insect repellent containing the active ingre-

dient DEET, Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535 and apply as directed on the label.

* If possible, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants from dusk on because this is when the primary mosquito (Culex) that transmits West

Nile Virus is most active.Most people who are infected with West Nile Virus show no or only

mild symptoms such as: low grade fever and headache. More severe signs and symptoms can include: high fever, stiff neck, disorientation, encephalitis, and rarely, death. If you think you have been infected with West Nile Virus, contact your health care provider.

For more information about West Nile Virus, visit the website at www.hcphes.org.

A • The Leader • June 22, 2013 • @heightsleader

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Time for a refresher course: First trace of West Nile found

The culex mosquito is the main culprit in transmitting West Nile virus.(File photo)

A Garden Oaks resident off 30th Street posted this picture on Facebook last week of a man burglarizing her vehicle overnight, along with an alert to neighbors. “...this guy broke one of my windows and smashed out the other in my suv,” the posting read. “Rummaged through my stuff but didn’t take anything. His truck is easy to spot. Older model dark colored Chevy step side with white tailgate.”

Caught in the Act

Follow uson Facebook!

facebook.com/THE LEADER.

A • The Leader • June 22, 2013 • www.theleadernews.com

Leader NibblesNo Berryhills confi rmation – yet

Yes, Park Blair – who owns the popular Berryhills Baja Grill on 11th Street in the Heights – has fi nally taken over as owner of the property where a gas station has sat on the southwest corner of Ella and 43rd Street. But no, he’s not ready to confi rm yet that he’s putting up another Berryhills there, despite the widespread anticipation and speculation.

Blair told The Leader the property has closed, after prolonged negotiations, and the gas station there pumped its last tank last weekend. But Blair said he has a few details to work out before he makes an announcement about the property’s future.

“That’s become a very, very valuable corner,” he said.

Wakefi eld Crowbar opensThe Garden Oaks-Oak Forest area (becoming known, aff ectionately, as GOOF on some

social media) is about to get another of the neighborhood casual eateries-drinkeries that thrive, even in out-of-the-way spots.

The Wakefi eld Crowbar, 954 Wakefi eld Drive, was set to begin lunch and dinner service Thursday (after our press deadline). The restaurant-patio features a menu of bar food, salads, burgers, sandwiches, baskets of chicken tenders, fi sh & chips and shrimp, with heartier fare such as sausage and peppers, beef stew and spaghetti with an array of toppings.

Weekend breakfast will start the weekend of June 29.We’ll leave it to our Thirsty Explorer to tell you soon about its menu of specialty cock-

tails and craft beers. (See Thirsty Explorer on Page 9A today.)The Crowbar’s most interesting feature is its lit sand volleyball courts, which are used

for league play during the week but available for open play and rentals Fridays through Sundays.

The Crowbar is on Facebook and reachable at 713-686-8388.

Don Jose welcomes ElvisDon Jose Mexican Restaurant, 5305 Antoine, will be hosting Elvis Presley – or a reason-

able facsimile – in a tribute performance by Ray Covey at 7 p.m. June 25.There will be $2 margaritas to go along with the dinner and show. Reservations are

encouraged at 713-682-3853.

I’m about as excited about the beginning of hurricane season as I am having to share a litterbox with Simon, my 15 year old, toothless, persistently-fl atulent, tuna juice-addicted feline housemate. All I’m hearing these days is you humans discussing what the tropics might have in store for us this year. Even KHOU’s chief meteorologist, (and fellow cat-enthusiast) David Paul, is managing to toss the words “hurricane,” “tropics” and “preparedness” into every other sentence. What about your pets? Do you have everything in order to care for them in case of an emergency?

To help us all prepare our pets for hur-ricane season, our friends at BARC have released a helpful pamphlet, chock-full of prudent advice on weathering any dangerous storm--or other emergency situation--with your pet. The pamphlet (in it’s entirety and ready to print) is available at: www.houstonBARC.com, but here are the main bullet points. If you have friends and neighbors with pets who could benefi t from this infor-mation, would you consider printing it out and helping them to prepare as well?

Building a Pet Emergency Kit:* Before a disaster occurs, build a pet

emergency supply kit that includes items your pets use on a regular basis, includ-ing food, water, medications and familiar toys. Also be sure to include a photo of you and your pet.

* All medical records, including a rabies certifi cate, pet license information and other important documents should

be in a waterproof container or bag within the kit. Please ensure your pets are up-to-date on their vaccinations.

Developing a Plan for Pets:* Whether the family plans to stay at

home or evacuate, pets should never be left behind during an emergency. If it is not safe for people, it is not safe for pets.

* If an emergency requires evacuation, get your pet emergency supply kit and decide whether it is best for your pet to stay at a shelter. If you plan to take your pet with you, be sure the place where the family is going accepts pets.

* Please ensure your pet is micro-chipped. This increases your chances of being reunited with your pet should he or she get lost during a disaster. Visit BARC’s website to learn more about the importance of microchipping your pet.

* Set aside a specifi c time every year to update your pet’s city license, veteri-nary, and microchip information. This information is crucial to reuniting your pet with your family if he or she becomes lost.

Staying Informed:* Visit HoustonOEM.net and sign up

for AlertHouston, the City’s Emergency E-mail Notifi cation System to stay up-dated on the latest emergency news in Houston.

* If your pet is lost during a disaster, begin the search for him or her imme-diately by visiting the “Lost or Found a Pet?” page on www.HoustonBARC.com.

You can follow Molly on Twitter @TheMollyDiaries.

MollyDiaries

The

Spare your tabbies and terriers tropical troubles

The Houston Parks & Recre-ation Department announced late Wednesday that it had stopped a developer from removing trees and other plantlife illegally from three-quarters of an acre city property in Woodland Park, the city’s second oldest park.

It was fi rst noticed by a bird watcher, who wondered why their was a bulldozer in the park and why so much land was cleared.

The Friends of Woodland Park contacted city offi cials about what they termed a “massacre” that clear-cut a large wooded area that’s in the fl oodplain and slopes to White Oak Bayou. They indicat-ed, in a blog and correspondence, that it appeared the developers of City Homes townhomes at 1420 Wrightwood had apparently or-dered the cutting.

“Enough is enough,” opponents said in a blog. “Developers aren’t all evil people, and no one be-lieves central Houston should be torn down and abandoned so it can return to pristine swamp and bayou land, but we have to take as strong a stand as possible against the reckless destruction of public property.”

The city reacted quickly. “The party responsible has agreed to stop work on the grounds of the park, and has agreed to comply with HPARD requirements,” the

parks department said in a written statement Wednesday. “HPARD will work with the responsible party to mitigate the damage to city property.”

According to Friends of Wood-land Park treasurer Pat Rutledge, the area that was destroyed had the most vegetation in the entire park.

“(Developer) Bill Workman said the contractor misunderstood -- we think that’s nonsense,” Rut-ledge said.

Efforts to reach Workman were unsuccessful.

Rutledge said the Friends of Woodland Park believe that the land was intentionally cleared to give the property owners a nice view of the bayou, which would thus make the property more mar-

ketable.Preliminary fi ndings, accord-

ing to the statement, are that veg-etation has been damaged or re-moved from about 3/4 of an acre, including some healthy trees, and replanting and reforestation will be necessary. Erosion control and possible regrading of the site may be required. “HPARD will coor-dinate with the Houston Public Works and Engineering Depart-ment and the Harris County Flood Control District to correct what-ever problems have been caused by these actions,” the statement went on to say. “In addition, a de-bris pile resulting from the illegal removal of park plants and trees will require removal.”

Removal of plants from city

parks is forbidden by city parks rules and regulations, as described in the City of Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 32. Destruc-tion of public property is prohib-ited by Title 19, Chapter 191 of the Government Code of Texas.

Woodland Park, located at 212 Parkview, 77009, consists of 19.67 acres near White Oak Bayou and the Woodland Heights neighbor-hood. It has been a city park since 1914.

Rutledge said the park has re-cently been designated as part of a historic district known as Ger-mantown.

The group has contacted State Sen. Sylvia Garcia and State Rep. Jessica Farrar regarding their issue, and Rutledge said they’ve both been supportive.

In their communication with the city, Friends of Woodland Park are seeking:

1) Reforestation with native plants and mature trees. They can’t just plant some grass and wash their hands of this. They need to pay a landscape professional to develop a plan that will then be subject to the approval of the City of Houston Parks Department to ensure we get back to nature as quickly as possible.

2) A hefty, hefty, hefty civil pen-alty.

3) Criminal prosecution if the destruction rises to the level of criminal destruction of public property.”

Success: City, residents stop developerby Charlotte Aguilar

[email protected]

Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward to fi nd a suspect in the felony destruction of a public art project on Heights Boulevard.

A week after two dozen creative volunteers “yarn-bombed” a metal structure between 16th and 17th streets, the structure was largely stripped of the artwork, which was later found in a nearby trash can.

Inner Loop Crime Alerts on Facebook reported the crime Sunday morning, and a passersby came forward on the Heights Life Facebook page -- and reported to police -- that they had seen an agitated woman in her 40s-50s in exercise clothes tearing down the pieces.

Heights resident Mary Goldsby coordinated the installation, which stood between 16th and 17th streets, as part of International Yarn Bombing Day on June 8..

Some of the volunteers were knitters who created color-coor-dinated blocks of design that were laced to the structure by other vol-unteers.

Goldsby had to get a permit from the city Parks & Recreation Department to install the art, and it was to stay up for a month. As part of the agreement, she had to monitor the project once a day.

Comments on Facebook ranged from sadness to anger that some-thing created for the public would

be torn down.One man who commented said

he had observed the pieces in the trash Saturday and thought it had merely been removed and dis-carded.

Heights activist Mark William-son summed up the sentiment in one word: “Disgraceful.”

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

‘Disgraceful’: Heights yarn bomb public art destroyed

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The Heights

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Volunteers knitted and crocheted coordinated pieces as part of a “yarn-bomb” and installed them June 8 on Heights Boulevard. One week later, the work was torn down in what’s being considered a felony act of vandalism.

(Photo by Ken Fountain)

Pat Rutledge, of Friends of Woodland Park, looks at the park’s damage on Monday. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)


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THE READER.

Stop giving the real tree huggers a bad nameI need to admit something to our read-

ers, especially in light of the agitated news we have in today’s paper. I am a

tree hugger. In fact, I am one of the big-gest tree huggers you’ll ever meet.

We camped a lot when I was young, and one of our favorite places was called Bankhead National Forest. The trails through that forest, in the spring and fall, were the highways I think God intended us to travel, and my Dad knew that. He wouldn’t allow me, or my brother, or whatever group of friends accompanied us, to look at the ground.

“Keep your head up,” he’d say. “Look around.”

He was right. The trees in that forest were alive – and I don’t just mean green. They hovered over us with authority, and even in a temporary breeze, their sway, their dance, was regal. In a way, I always thought the trees – not lions – were the kings of the jungle.

Camping wasn’t the only place I found my love for trees. As a youngster, I had an affinity for breaking my arm. Once, my older brother and his buddy dared me to jump across a creek. In a moment of big-brother-approval, I made the leap, albeit only halfway across the ditch. My arm landed on a brick, and I climbed to shore and chained myself to the massive pine in the backyard, waiting on Mom to rescue me.

A couple of miles from my childhood home, my best friend, Scott, and I found another crystal clear creek one afternoon deep in the woods. We followed that creek

all the way to a barb-wired fence and a curtain of pine trees. And on the other side of those trees, we discovered the raunchiest, most beautiful pond where 3-pound catfish awaited our hot dogs and hooks. This, apparently, was a private pond – or so the fence would indicate. Didn’t matter. We’d awake in the early morning hours, or wait until dusk, and hide behind one of those pines, peering every few minutes at our disappearing bobbers.

This love of trees has extended far be-yond my childhood. My wife and I often groan about the lack of natural habitat in this city, and we take as many trips as possible to areas where water flows, trees

grow and birds fly. My wife is a birder (at least I think that’s what you call them), and while I still struggle to find the joy in spotting grackles, I fully understand that being in a natural habitat beats the stew out of walking around a concrete track. Fact is, I’m a birder too. I chase birdies al-most every weekend, hoping I make more of them than bogeys. And while trees on a golf course often incite anger, I love them all the same.

So you can imagine how I felt this week when I saw the news about an historic sycamore tree coming down on a newly developed property in the Heights. Some experts speculated the tree might be close to a century old. Maybe it provided shade

to a few young boys in its day. Maybe it was home to a hundred different spring-time nests of birds my wife would have spotted.

Here’s how I felt about that tree. Good riddance. Take it down. Chop it into a billion pieces for all I care.

Wait, what?Yes, I love trees as much as any person

in this wide world. They have framed nearly every great memory I have in my life, and I expect they’ll do the same for my children and my children’s children. But I love trees because they are a frame – not the picture inside that frame.

I suppose there are others who love trees more than I do. I’d suggest that Den-

nis Clooney, whose company was hired to remove the tree on the corner of Oxford and 23rd Street, probably loves trees more than me. He knows when they’re healthy, he knows how to care for them, and he knows when they prove a risk to actual people.

What really gets in my craw is that the people who screamed at workers and ma-niacally searched for ordinances to save that sycamore lost absolutely all perspec-tive of the reasons for taking down the tree.

I talked to a Realtor in the market who told me a story about the value trees give to property in our area. She had a home in Garden Oaks that was appraised for much less than the sale price of the home. She told the appraiser that the family making the offer wasn’t buying the house.

“They were buying the trees,” she told me. “The appraiser went out, looked at the trees, and appraised the house for the buying price.”

What these protesters may not realize is that the developer of this home in the Heights lost a lot of value in the home once that tree came down. The home lost natural shade, reducing the energy bill for decades to come. There was nothing about taking down that tree that made any sense for the owner of that lot. Well, except that if one good storm came through Houston, there’s a strong likeli-hood that sycamore would have put a gaping hole through at least two homes.

I understand the love of trees, but I can’t stand it when folks who call themselves tree huggers give us real tree huggers a bad name.

Email [email protected]

JONATHAN

MCELVY

Publisher

‘Brute force tax collectors’...Dear Editor:What a ridiculous puff piece (“Speeders Beware: Houston traffic

cop keeps area safe,” June 15). Boutte and his often-partner Ofc. Davis can be seen on rotating through every N-S street between downtown and the Heights, always posted in a speed trap, always during rush hour, writing as many tickets as fast as they can.

And, unsurprisingly, always in spots where the flow of traffic is consistently and safely higher than the posted limit. Saving many joggers at 100 Waugh at the Memorial overpass, Ofc. Boutte? Or 700 S. Shepherd near the run-down apartments after the long empty straightaway? Or 700 N. Shepherd after the long downhill bayou overpass? No?

Seemingly the only purpose these two serve are to act as brute-force tax collectors, sucking cash out of the productive com-muters of this city. There are many HPD officers out there working thankless, brutal jobs every day that deserve a word of thanks and a note of praise, but this is not one of them.

Heights commuter via www.theleadernews.com

...or heroic?Dear Editor:Just read the article in The Leader; good for him. People NEVER

go the 30 mph speed limit on Yale, and it can be somewhat irritating.

Tena M. Clark via THE LEADER on Facebook

Heights art vandalismDear Editor:Wonder if the “suspect” thought the art itself was some sort of

vandalism and weren’t aware it was a city sanctioned art display?Ansley Stewart via THE LEADER on Facebook

Dear Editor:LAME. Was there any signage saying that this was a display &

not just a yarn mob bomb (as if that would be something anyone would need to freak out & destroy anyhow?!). Wow.

Stine Martin via THE LEADER on Facebook

Dear Editor:I see this driving to work everyday. I’m from the UK and love to

see the Heights doing stuff like this. In London you see art and crafts everywhere its very cool. I hope this does not deter anyone from letting others enjoy their craft.

Kev Morris via THE LEADER on Facebook

Dear Editor:Such a shame that someone would do this. I love walking down

Heights and seeing the new art that has been displayed:( I do hope they find who took them.

Nancy Figueroa via THE LEADER on Facebook

Battle to save Heights treeDear Editor:The problem is not the large tree. The problem is that replace-

ment trees are not allowed to grow because of our antiquated landscape practices. Do not lament the disappearance of an old tree. Fight to restore the vegetation that provided a spot for this tree to sprout.

Dennis Woodward via THE LEADER on Facebook

Crime in Oak ForestDear Editor:What happened to the beefed up Constable patrol? The escala-

tion of crime in our OF neighborhood is crazy! I see cops /con-stables occasionally now but never really doing anything except disobeying traffic laws for no apparent reason.

Stephanie L. Campbell via THE LEADER on Facebook

Attendance perfectionDear Editor:I am shocked that these young women had perfect attendance

(“Thirteen years of perfect attendance,” June 15). I liked this story because it explains their wonderful accomplishments. I liked this story because it was a positive story; some of the stories in the paper are negative. I wish everyone could have perfect atten-dance like these young ladies did. You know if people in today’s society went 13 years without missing school they would get a better education and with a better education the more successful a person can be. Thanks again for writing a positive article.

Jack Goodman

BLIGHT BULLETINS -- Published by and for the residents of Running Rats Acres (RRA). Yes, this is the summer edi-tion because we never got around to put-ting out the spring edition, or the winter one, for that matter. If you can do better, contact Ed DeTroit at 345 Mourning Widows Drive and tell him you’ve got so much idle time on your hands that you can put out this crummy newsletter.

Our first business is old business. In our last edition (fall of 2012) we mistak-enly wrote that the Fishfins were moving to Tyler to be closer to their oldest son, Mildew, who is located at the Belo Unit temporarily -- probably five to 10 years. Mildew is actually at the Walls, so the Fishfins are staying put, but intend to pay compensation for the 21 neighbor-hood burglaries Mildew was convicted of, of which he was convicted. Whatever. We were incorrect in reporting that Roger Rockslide is studying at Harvard. Actually, he is being studied. We were close. Finally, there has been some grum-bling that the day for this year’s Fourth of July parade and frog-fry has not been listed. It will be on July 4th. Speaking of celebrations, there will not be a neigh-borhood Labor Day picnic and children swapping this year as our attorneys have advised us not all the food poisoning lawsuits have been settled from last year.

A fond farewell to John Smith and his family at 409 Cattle Guard Place. They are moving back in with Mary’s parents in Newark after John’s cover with the Federal Witness Protection Program was blown. These government cutbacks are affecting everyone. We must put an end to the vicious rumors that Vladi-mir Putin, his ex-wife, Ralph, and their children, Larry, Moe and Curly, are actually Russian spies. Lots of houses have rooftop weather vanes with a radio antenna, barbed wire fences and a get-away ‘99 Volga backed into the garage. The Putins assure us they will raise their blinds eventually “as soon as vee moof der dark room to der basement.” Oh, those funny Putins. Vladimir once asked how he could decipher the community’s building code.

A big shout-out to Cindy-Sue Wheat-germ on Pond Scum Circle. She entered her mixed pit-bull-Rottweiler, Rabid Rover, in the Ugly Dog Contest. Not only did Rabid Rover with the blue ribbon but Cindy-Sue was first runner-up. Our sympathies to J.R. and R.J. Mousely over the loss of J.R.’s job at the Boom-Boom Fire Cracker Works. I think we can all agree that “flammable” and “inflamma-ble” mean the same thing but are easily confused. He should be up and around shortly.

The board has received a check from FEMA for “the terrible destruction, seen in photographs, wrought on your community by the E-5 tornado in May.” We weren’t touched by that tornado, but we’re keeping the money. Good news for our swim team, the Racin’ Ratkins. They have finally been re-accepted in the city’s Kids Summer Swimming Conference now that most of their scabs have healed. There are still openings in the 9-12 age bracket since officials noted some of our members wore their college colors.

In other news, as you may know, in this last session of the Texas Legisla-ture a few laws were passed which will effect the Homeowners Associations (HOA) across the state. For example, any flagpole more than 100 feet tall must be topped with a flashing red light to warn

approaching Life Flights or, in our case, SWAT team helicopters. All homeowners must allow electric power line rights-of-way through their property. This is important to the RRA HOA since we are expecting electric power any month now. Due to abuse in some cities, the Leg-islature has followed Gov. Rick Perry’s recommendation and has banned HOAs from confiscating a house if the owner has a funny name, but confiscation is allowed if the owner puts up yard signs endorsing Democrats, the EPA or that commie front, the U.N.

In addition to these new state laws, we have some new rules just for RRA. No more than three (3) cars will be allowed up on blocks in the front yard. For some members of our community who like to park their cars on the street, we want you to know about a new invention called a “garage” which can hold a car or even two. If you can’t afford a “garage,” try parking your pickup on what’s called a “driveway.” It’s that concrete slab that goes from the street to the “garage.”

Another new rule: Those highly coveted Yard of the Month signs must be removed after one year. Along these same lines, all outdoor Christmas decorations must be taken down by Easter. Follow-ing a few complaints (76), the board has ruled that no one can live full-time in

an RV. An un-mowed lawn, after three months, does not qualify as “a wheat field.” Putting a historical plaque on your garage does not exempt it from being painted. Garbage must be put in garbage cans, and “recycling” does not mean you can build a tree house in your front yard with old tires and empty Coors cans.

Our neighborhood constable, Sgt. Terry “Truncheon” Naptime, reminds all sex offenders that they must be regis-tered with him and that a new state law requires they not leave their house unless it’s burning. This especially applies to those who are also pyromaniacs. He apologizes for the 4 a.m. raid on the Mc-Seedy Pawn Shop & Consignment Bou-tique, but reminds us, “Good neighbors don’t make good fences.” Sgt. Naptime wants everyone to know that the crime rate in our community “is now almost less than that of Juarez.” This year’s Alert Neighborhood Watch program does not include rear windows. He also asks that if anyone has seen his patrol car please advise.

That’s all for now. Just remember our neighborhood’s motto: What happens in Running Rats Acres stays in Running Rats Acres – unless you’re not vacci-nated.

Ashby is neighborly at [email protected]

It’s summer; time to keep watch on the neighbor hoodsASHBY

ATLARGE

Trees provide one of the most regal frames we can find, whether we’re chasing birds or birdies.


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In a Sept. 27, 2012 letter from city attorney David Feldman to Gashette, it states “the deed restric-tions prohibit, among other things, the use of property for business or commercial purposes.”

The letter also informed Gashet-te of the “$1,000 per day” fines if the violation continues after the defendant receives notice. Gashette said he’ll be forced to file for bank-ruptcy, if he has to pay those fines.

Gashette said many residents use their homes for businesses, and that the deed restrictions also prohibit the OF2 homes from being more than 2,200 square feet.

“All of the new homes are violat-ing the deed restrictions like crazy,” Gashette said.

Gashette requested, and received, a formal hearing regarding the is-sue, which will be held June 24 in the 125th Judicial Court, down-town Houston.

He spent $2,500 on an attorney but said that was ineffective and will represeni himself in court.

Gashette said he’s done a con-siderable amount of legal research and can’t find where he violated the deed restriction. He’s taken his case to Facebook, where he’s re-ceived considerable support from his neighbors.

Efforts to reach the Lawhorns be-fore press time were unsuccessful.

with the developer and the arbor-ist he had hired, and began con-tacting tree preservationists and neighbors when she wasn’t satis-fied with the builder’s assertion that the tree was a potential dan-ger and needed to come down.

By Monday, Wilt claimed 75 signatures on a petition and im-plored the developer to “be a hero and wait on this.”

Ed Goerig of Period Construc-tion told The Leader Friday he had originally designed the spec home to incorporate the tree, but that when he had it evaluated, he was told it was unstable and should be removed.

“Liking it is not the issue,” he said, “especially as we head into hurricane season.”

“Just because he bought this property doesn’t mean he has the right to destroy this tree,” Wilt said.

In fact, said the three Houston policemen, one Harris County constable and two members of the Parks & Recreation Depart-ment staff dispatched to the scene Monday, the owner did have that right.

“It’s horrible and I understand how you feel,” Officer M. Donato told Wilt, “but it’s done. You can talk and yell all you want to.”

A cluster of residents assem-bled, and others cruised slowly by asking questions as the drama unfolded.

The protesters sometimes en-gaged the arborist and his crew, as well as the officers who warned them to stop blocking traffic.

At one point, Wilt and another neighbor exhorted a tree cutter perched high in the sycamore and the other workers on the ground, in Spanish, to walk away from the project – that the neighbors would pay them more than they were making on the job to stop.

The workers’ employer, arbor-ist Dennis Clooney, said the tree had been topped off at some point 15-25 years ago by a trim-

mer or a storm, and hadn’t been tended properly after that. The unchecked proliferation of new growth on the top had made the tree top-heavy, he said, and he had also discovered evidence of decay and cavities in branches, which could lead to further in-stability.

“I’m a good guy caught in a bad position,” said Clooney, who patiently talked to protesters. He said he was donating the large pieces of wood from the tree to a custom furniture maker, “so it will live on.”

The builder received support from at least one neighbor. Rich-ard Jenke, who lives catty-corner from the tree, said he had thought about buying the property “and the first thing I would have done was take down that tree. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”

Still, a number of neighbors used words like “heartbreaking” to describe emotions at watching the tree limbs be cut off one by one.

“The builder is not being re-spectful to our heritage,” said Preston Murski, who has lived in the tree’s shade across the street for 35 years. “Trees are the heri-tage of the Heights.”

Susan Davis, a three-year Heights resident, said she wanted to make sure prospective buyers knew a significant tree had been destroyed, to let builders know “they should put some thought-fulness into these decisions. We want to let other builders know we don’t want them coming in and tearing down trees if they want to build in our neighbor-hoods.”

Several residents told The Leader they would work to try to establish a tree protection ordi-nance in Houston.

“The importance really strikes you when you realize we won’t live to see another sycamore this big in our lifetimes,” said orga-nizer Wilt.

Kyle Coplen, the 29-year-old founder of ACP, said Jackson Lee was “denouncing the Second Amendment and attacking our organization.”

Coplen, who says his organiza-tion is “empowering people”, said he heard there would be a pro-gun control group to counterprotest, but they never arrived.

Representatives from Jackson Lee’s office did not return calls by press time.

At one point, the protesters began chanting “Sheila, Sheila” and a representative from the of-fice informed them that the Texas 18th District’s Congresswoman returned to Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Coplen said the Congress-woman’s gun control stance goes against the Oath of Office that she took.

When asked if ACP would op-pose Jackson Lee’s re-election next year, he said “we’re not a political organization.”

Jackson Lee has represented the 18th District since 1995, and she won re-election last fall with a 75 percent to 22.6 percent victory over Republican candidate Sean Seibert. The seat has been held by a Democrat for the past 40 years.

Still, the protesters, who were

split among residents and non-residents of the district, were dis-appointed with her handling of the gun control issue.

“She has no clue what the people in her district think,” Oak Forest resident Judy Myers said. “Sheila Jackson Lee doesn’t represent all of the citizens in her district.”

Myers found out about the pro-test through radio talk show host

Michael Berry’s Twitter account.“I’m all for ACP,” Myers said.

“We need to protect ourselves because the government can’t or won’t do it.”

A man named Rodney, who said he lives near FM 1960, attended the protest as well.

“ACP is giving away free shot-guns to see if it cuts down on crime,” Rodney said. “Sheila Jack-

son Lee is against it for some rea-son. We need to defend our Sec-ond Amendment rights, protect our family, homes and property.”

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CLUES ACROSS

The Puzzles.Solutions in this issue’s classsi ed section.

33. Material 34. Article 35. Ballplayer Ruth 36. 5th largest Greek island 39. Hand drum of No. India 40. A style of preparing food 42. Former ruler of Afghanistan 43. AKA Cologne 44. Not generally occurring 46. Auto 47. Print errors 49. Interspersed among 50. Electrocardiogram 51. Churns 52. Ice hockey feint 53. Drive obliquely, as of a nail 54. Dried leaves of the hemp plant 55. Ardour

ACROSS Cont...

1. Lyric poems 2. Hungarian sheep dog (var. sp.) 3. A pad of writing paper 4. Lists of candidates 5. Base, basket and foot 6. Samoan capital 7. Mythological bird 8. Urban row houses 9. Sensationalist journalism 10. Carried on the arm to intercept blows 11. Estrildid nch genus 13. PA 18840 16. S.W. English town & cheese 21. Runs disconnected 23. Mourners 28. Old world, new 29. Atomic #25 30. Sweet potato wind instrument 31. Legend 32. 3rd tone of the scale 33. Russian jeweler Peter Carl 35. Capital of Mali 36. Extremist sects 37. Violent denunciation 38. Tooth covering 39. Music term for silence 40. Smoldering embers 41. Writer Jong 43. Actor Kristofferson 45. Adam and Eve’s 1st home 48. Fish eggs

18. Sedimentary material 19. Tree toad genus 20. Passed time agreeably 22. Custodians 24. 3rd largest city in Zambia 25. 18th Hebrew letter (var.) 26. Coasted on ice 27. Libyan dinar 28. Displayed exaggerated emotion 31. Andalusian Gypsy dances

1. Selects 5. A cutting remark 9. Teaspoonful (abbr.) 12. Having two units or parts 13. Quality perceptible to the sense of taste 14. Expression of surprise 15. Italian Island 16. A coarse cloth with a bright print 17. Propose a price

CLUES DOWN

Some of the best children’s programs can be found at your local library. The fact that they are free and in the air conditioning is just ic-ing on the cake. Take a look at what’s going on at Leader libraries during the summer. As the Houston Public Library says - last minute changes or cancellations are unavoidable. For the most up-to-date event information, please visit their website, www.houstonlibrary.org/summer.

Heights Neighborhood LibraryHouston Fire Department – Tuesday, June 25, 10:30

a.m.All About Turtles – Wednesday, June 26, 3 p.m.

Wiggle Tales (Mosquito information from Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services) – Wednesday, July 3, 3 p.m.

Pacodu Exotics – Tuesday, July 9, 10:30 a.m.Texas Snakes and More – Wednesday, July 10, 3 p.m.Waldorf Storytime (Bayou Village School) –Thursday,

July 11, 10:30 a.m.Dinosaurs Rock – Tuesday, July 16, 10:30 a.m.Jungle Jim’s Wild Encounters – Wednesday, July 17, 3

p.m.Ronald McDonald – Thursday, July 18, 10:30 a.m.Nature Discovery Center/Back to the Bone – Tuesday,

July 23, 10:30 a.m.Swim Jim: Water Safety – Wednesday, July 24, 3 p.m.Houston Audubon Society – Tuesday, July 30, 10:30

a.m.Cinderella Ballet – Wednesday, July 31, 3 p.m.

Oak Forest Neighborhood LibraryEJC Farms Petting Zoo – Tuesday, June 25, 11 a.m.Houston Fire Department – Tuesday, July 2, 11 a.m.Origami (for teens)-Tuesday, July 9, 11 a.m.Mike Artell, Cartoonist – Thursday, July 11, 5 p.m.Carranza Puppets: The Reading Show – Tuesday, July

16, 11 a.m.Gymboree – Tuesday, July 23, 11 a.m.Isaac Barron Hip Hop (for teens) – Thursday, July 25,

4 p.m.Happy the Clown – Tuesday, July 30, 11 a.m.

– Betsy Denson

Area residents who recycle re-ceived some good news earlier this week.

The Center Street Recycling Center, 3602 Center Street, will be open at least through December, and possibly through December 2014, according to a verbal agree-ment.

The city is finalizing the lease agreement with Admiral Linens.

According to Gary Readore, chief of staff for the city’s Solid Waste Management Department, the recycling center was sold to Admiral Linens for revenue pur-poses. Price was $2.01 million.

“We just contacted them and saw if they had the ability to extend it through the rest of the year,” said Gary Readore of the city’s Solid Waste Division.

The recycling center was sched-uled to close on June 1, but the city worked through negotations with Admiral to extend the use of the property through December, with the option of another extension through December 2014.

Readore said a member of the city’s real estate division is work-ing with Admiral on the lease ex-tension.

The location is a block east of Heights Boulevard and a block north of Washington Avenue.

Last month, Readore said the city was looking for a property in the area to ultimately replace the 3602 Center St. drop-off.

The drop-off site is unstaffed and includes a parking lot with roll-off containers. Residents de-posit materials into it.

Houston solid waste officials announced last week that they’re adding parts of the Heights, Montie Beach and Sunset Heights to the automated curbside recycling program in July.

Households will receive a 96-gallon green automated cart into which they can deposit unsorted newspapers, maga-zines, office paper, junk mail, cardboard, paperboard, paper bags, glass bottles and jars, alumnimum, tin and steel cans and

1-5 and 7 plastics.Another 70,000 homes are scheduled

to be added in the fall, bringing a total of about 55 percent of the city’s homes into the single-stream recycling program.

The city also issued a request for qualifications for vendors wanting to oper-ate a massive new single-stream recycling facility and named Don Pagel, deputy director of solid waste, to run the expand-ing program.

Summer fun – all for free – at Houston library branches

Center Street Recycling Center open at least through December

Heights communities make cut for recycling expansion


Publishes June 29

Contact your sales rep for details! | (713) 686-8494

Covering traditional 4th of July favorites and other culinary infl uences.

Freedom • Fireworks • FoodCelebrating all that is American

COMING NEXT WEEK!

There’s only so much time you can spend at the pool this sum-mer. Looking for creative ways to beat the heat? Consider some of the ideas suggested by Leader readers.

Jenny Reitmeyer came up with a great way to make her son’s summer reading a more memo-rable experience. He’s going to write the authors of some of his favorite books in hopes of getting a response.

“Children’s book author Mary Amato has some great tips on how to increase your odds of re-ceiving a response from an author on www.readingrockets.org,” she said. “So I ordered some interest-ing return address labels with his name on them from Bohtieque on etsy.com, and he’s ready for his fi rst letter to Brian Lies, au-thor of Bats at the Beach.”

Lorraine McIntosh-Cole of Candlelight Plaza also wants to keep her children reading. To that end, she is starting a sum-mer book club for neighborhood kids.

“One is going to be for fourth- and fi fth-graders, boys and girls,” she said. “They will meet twice a month to discuss the selected book and do an activity related to the book. They will rotate amongst each other’s houses so that each child hosts at least once. I’m thinking our fi rst book is go-ing to be Harriet The Spy.”

Kara Hagan wanted to get the word out about a board games group at the Oak Forest Library. On Facebook as Team Tabletop, the group started meeting last year. This summer they will meet at 1 p.m. on Fridays.

“We had games for older and younger kids - classic games, card games, strategy games, Eu-ropean-style games, coopera-tive games, you name it,” Hagan said. “We averaged 10 to 15 kids a week. It was especially gratify-ing to see the older kids teach the younger ones.”

Crafting is on the agenda for many. While Pinterest got mul-tiple mentions, there were plenty of other resources shared by read-ers.

Viula Torgerson of The Heights Life has given subscriptions to Kiwi Crate (www.kiwicrate.com) to family members. “It’s not cheap, but they get a box each month with a great craft project,” she said.

Cindy Madi says that Klutz (www.klutz.com) has amazing craft books. “I have yet to feel I didn’t get my money’s worth. Any time your kid is entertained for a substantial amount of time it’s worth it,” Madi said. Topics include everything from juggling to tying elaborate knots, build-ing intricate paper airplans and learning magic tricks, with starter supplies included.

Karen Heys wrote in about a company that her sister-in-law started called Green Kids Crafts (www.greenkidcrafts). Based in California, it’s a subscription craft service that was recently named one of Dr. Toy’s Best Green Prod-ucts for 2013.

Closer to home, Marlo Mc-Clung Perez, the owner of Young and Restless Resale on Ella Bou-levard, says her store carries all of the Melissa and Doug craft items, as low as $3 and up. “I am a mom of two, and helping them with hand/eye coordination as well as having fun have always been goals of mine,” she said.

Kristen Cooley is getting a lot of ideas from San Francisco blog Wendolonia (http://wendolonia.com/blog/), including download-ing do-it-yourself comic book templates and making and racing cork canoes.

To inject a little science into summer, Elizabeth Rowlands mentioned the website Science kids (www.sciencekids.co.nz). “It has fun experiments like us-ing Mountain Dew to make your own 2-litre glowsticks,” she said.

And Anita Berry Johnson says that Our Best Bites (www.our-bestbites.com/category/crafts-

and-family-fun/) has some fun food-related crafts for kids.

Speaking of food, Valerie Fol-som suggests making homemade ice cream or popsicles. Lorraine Cherry thinks the summer is a perfect time to get kids cooking. “The project could include trips to local farmer’s markets, choos-ing a recipe, preparing and eat-ing,” she said. “This is basically how my mom taught me to cook back in the day, and it developed into a lifelong passion.”

Cherry says that Rachael Ray has a non-profi t called Yum-0 dedicated to this idea: “It’s a great site and also includes a bunch of recipes broken down by appro-priate age groups at: http://www.yum-o.org/recipe_search.php.”

Some readers are using a theme to rally their kids behind. Ashley Day was inspired by her daughter’s IB journey at Harvard Elementa-ry. “We love to do the Around the World,” she said. “We pick a place, wiki it, research it, print out pic-tures, and make a travel book. We also create a makeshift airplane out of IKEA little chairs and take off once a week.”

Laurel Zahrobsky said that last year her family did an ABC sum-mer. “Each day we wrote words that went with the letter of the day then planned our day with all

things having to do with that let-ter. We didn’t have a ton of “fun” money that summer so some of the things we did were communi-ty service oriented (i.e. “d”= do-nating, “f ”=free food bank tour). The community service ones were the most fun I thought.”

Philanthropy is also important to Monica Guy. When her old-est child was in high school, the family adopted a soldier from Anysoldier.com. Now her current high school daughter has request-ed they do it again. “It is a longer commitment than just summer, but now is a good time to get her to actively participate.”

Guy says that on the Anysolider web site you can view the specifi c requests of soldiers, along with other information. “You pick one (unit) and request the ad-dress,” she said. “If you are lucky like we were, a soldier will write back. Otherwise you may just get updates through the website, and basically what you send is shared among the soldiers.”

Trish Fucik believes that some-times the simplest ideas have the most traction. As soon as school ended, her kids got started on their living room fort. “It stays up for most of the summer,” she said.

Crafty ways to engage youngsters this summerNeighbors: Shout-outs to more grads and dads

Joe and Vicki Guidry are ex-cited to share with everyone that they have a new grandson, Chris-tian Ryan Collins. Almost two years ago Andrea and Shane Col-lins set the wheels in motion to become foster parents. In Janu-ary 2012, just one day after they were approved by CPS, they got a phone call that 3-year-old Chris-tian needed a home. The court fi nally awarded full custody to An-drea and Shane on June 4. Gabe (10) and Chase (8) are happy to have a new brother, and Christian will celebrate his 5th birthday in July as the youngest Collins son. Vicki said that she and Joe “are so proud that Andrea and Shane have opened their hearts and home to a child in need.”

Leah Porterfi eld and her two best friends, Adelaide Leonard and Allison Buttram, graduated June 9 from Waltrip High School. Together since kindergarten, all three girls graduated in the top 5 percent of their class and were ac-tive in many activities during their high school years, including cheer-leading, volleyball, and the Roses dance team. Leah will be attend-ing Texas State University in the fall, majoring in business. Allison will be attending the University of Houston, and Adelaide will be attending the University of Arkan-sas, majoring in food science.

Melanie and David Peterson would like to congratulate their son, Alex Petersen, who was grad-uated from Waltrip High School on June 9. “We are very proud of you, Alex.”

Pam and David Ojeman, both graduates of Waltrip’s Class of 1980, are proud to announce that their daughter Allison graduated with honors from Waltrip on June 9, was in the top 10 percent of her class, and was a drum major in the Ram Band. “We are so proud to be your parents and everything you’ve accomplished during your school years! We love you!”

Congratulations to Glenn Da-vis, Paolo Castagnoli, Rachel Kirk, and Moriah Smith, several of our neighborhood students who were graduated from HSPVA in its commencement exercises held at Jones Hall the evening of June 11. Paolo and Rachel, both instru-mental musicians, performed on-stage. Later, the audience enjoyed a slideshow of vivid artwork taken from the graduating visual artists’ senior shows, including those of Glenn and Moriah, while each art-ist described his or her vision and inspiration.

Mark your calendars for summer fun:

June 29 - Oak Forest Hom-eowners’ Association’s Le Tour de Oak Forest Bike Ride from 8-10:30

a.m. Open to Oak Forest residents as well as folks from surround-ing neighborhoods, the tour will begin and end at The Oak Forest Chill on Oak Forest at Judiway and participants will ride through all 18 Sections of the neighborhood along a carefully planned route. Registration will take place the Tuesday through Friday preced-ing the bike ride at The Chill from 6:30- 7:30 p.m. There is a $10 reg-istration fee, and bike helmets will be required for all bike riders. For non-bike riders, there are plenty of fun ways to be involved. Call Lucy Fisher Cain with any questions at 281-685-9829.

July 3rd - The Posh Petal will hold its fi rst ever Petals & Pizza event at Doyle’s Restaurant on from 5 to 8 pm. The evening will start off with live music and tran-sition into a full-blown karaoke contest. Entry is $5. RSVP to 713-894-8513 for the chance to win a doorprize.

A few more Father’s Day wishes from our neighbors:

Jacob, Olivia and Elena would like their father, Joe Araiza, to know that he is the very best and the most silly daddy in the world. Joe’s wife, Virginia, also sends her love and gratitude for Joe’s amaz-ing sense of humor and sweet ways with his family.

I’d like to say: “Where would the world be without Dads? Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there and especially to our own: Henry Dessardo! We love you and cherish each day we have together! Love, Dana, Matthew & Vince

Happy Fathers Day Andrew Alonzo! You are the best dad in the world. We love you all the way to the moon an back!

Happy Fathers Day to Chris Thompson from Aleida. I Love you Daddy!

Andrea Warren said, “I used to get so annoyed when my husband, Ty Warren, would tell people that we were planning on having kids when fertility doctors had told us we couldn’t. Here’s wishing a very happy fi rst Father’s Day to my be-loved husband who believed with his whole heart and never gave up that our dream could come true someday. Our surprise bundle of joy is due Sept. 12.”

Happy Father’s Day to my won-derful husband Eric Sterr who is an amazing father to Vincent and Isabella. Love, Heather

Happy Father’s Day to the world’s greatest swing pusher, corny joke teacher, sleep inducer, sidewalk chalk artist, train track maker, and all-around amazing daddy! We love you! Love, Wes and Charlotte

Clint Anders, you are our Su-perman. Thank you for teaching us how to fl y. Happy Father’s Day Dad. Love always, Chace, Mikah, Joshua and Noah.

Families of sixth-graders have a new, tuition-free middle school option that offers customized learning in a Museum District set-ting – if they’re willing to be part of an experiment.

The A+ Unlimited Potential School will launch in August, based in the Health Museum, operated by the respected Houston A-Plus Challenge organization. Deadline for application is July 1.

Forty students will be selected for the fi rst sixth-grade. They’ll be taught by two “Learning Coaches” who will custom-create lesson plans that involve heavy use of on-line resources.

“We’re looking for a student and a family that are comfortable with teaching and learning that are done in a different way than a traditional classroom,” said Scott Van Beck, a former principal and high-ranking administrator in the Houston ISD, who directs the A-Plus Challenge.

In his years with HISD, Van Beck saw the district improve its perfor-mance in elementary schools, but he became a strong advocate of trying new techniques to bolster learning in secondary schools. At A-Plus, he has created programs that do just that.

“This is sort of a lab school,” Van Beck told The Leader. “If this works, it can be added to the edu-cational choice marketplace.”

The school will aim for a set of

four “outcomes,” he explains:•Large gains in reading, writ-

ing and problem-solving that will see the equivalent of 4 1/2 years of growth during a three-year period, with a strong emphasis on teach-ing communication skills for the real world.

•Personalizing learning based around the needs of a pupil instead of having one set curriculum.

•Utilizing online resources to tailor learning. Van Beck cited foreign languages and history in-struction as areas that could ex-tend beyond traditional curricula.

•Taking advantage of the Mu-seum District location to set aside the traditional brick-and-mortar idea of a school for hands-on ex-ploration.

Instead of classes, the students will be divided in two 20-pupil cohorts, each led by a certifi ed teacher/coach.

“We’re looking for Houston, Texas,” said Van Beck. “We’re looking for a very diverse set of learners. Ethnic and socioeco-nomic diversity are what we’re after.”Applications will be simple, with no testing – just grade reports required. A phone interview will follow, along with a home visit af-ter initial screening.

Those interested can visit www.houstonaplus.org, call 713-658-1881 or email Imelda Cardoza at [email protected].

A workshop to explain the new school will be held at 9 a.m. June 22 at the J. Robinson Community Center, 2020 Hermann Drive.

Pilot middle school offers choices

by Elizabeth [email protected]

by Betsy [email protected]

Sherwood and Bethany Gorman play a spirited game of UNO as part of Team Tabletop at the Oak Forest Library. (Photo by Betsy Denson)

by Charlotte [email protected]

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A • The Leader • June 22, 2013 • www.theleadernews.comTHE CALENDAR.STEAK NIGHTSons of Legionnaires Post 5606 p.m. June 213720 Alba Road

Steak dinner will be served until sold out. Entertainment will be provided.

FOOD AND BOOK DRIVEThe Giving Back GroupGabby’s BBQ2-7 p.m. June 22 4659 Telephone Road 77087832-270-8807www.givingbackgroup.orgA silent auction, barbecue and ice cream eating contest will be featured by Nour-ish To Flourish. Food and books will be distributed to low-income, at-risk children in the neighborhood.

BILL W. AND DR. BOBThe Venue on 34th Street8 p.m. through June 222317 W. 34th St.www.billwplay.com A play by Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey. A story that chronicles the jour-neys of the two founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Performances are Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10 general admission.

‘SOIL AND MULCH MORE’ GARDENING CLASSHeights Plant Farm11 a.m. June 221422 Yale St.713-868-7990www.heightsplantfarm.com

Ashley Olmsted of The Ground Up, will

teach how to create beautiful, long-last-ing container gardens .

LITTLE NELL, THE ORPHAN GIRLTheatre SuburbiaJuly 19-Aug. 244106 Way Out West Dr.713-682-3525www.theatresuburbia.org

This “mellerdrammer” by Nelson Good-hue will be showing Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 24, with 3 p.m. Sunday matinees July 28, Aug. 4, Aug. 11 and Aug. 18. Tickets are $14 adults, $13 students and seniors, and $12 Sunday matinees. Reservations are recommeded.

MAM JOB FAIRMemorial Assistance Ministries Employment Services

10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 241625 Blalock [email protected]

The purpose for the event is to connect MAM clients and other qualifi ed job seekers in the area with businesses that are hiring.

TED POE LUNCHEONGreater Heights Area ChamberSheraton Brookhollow Hotel11 a.m.-1 p.m. July 263000 North Loop West713-861-6735 [email protected]

This networking event with business leaders is an opportunity for their clients and vendors to attend luncheon with featured guest Ted Poe. A single table of 8 is $300, multiple tables are $250 each,

and individual seats are $50. A display booth is $125 and includes luncheon attendance for one.

THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF Express Children’s Theatre Through July 27446 Northwest Mall713-682-5044www.expresstheatre.com

O. Henry’s literary classic comes to life in this musical adaptation. Visit the website or call the box offi ce for ticket informa-tion.

KIDS FITNESS AND FUN FESTNew Beginnings for Women of Houston 9 a.m.-noon Aug. 3 White Oak Conference Center

7603 Antoine Dr. 77088281-414-8416

www.newbeginningsforwomen.netNew Beginnings for Women of Houston,

Inc., a nonprofi t organization that serves the needs of disadvantaged women and children, will host the event to promote awareness and provide solutions for the critical issue of childhood obesity. Children can participate in Tae-Kwon-Do, kids yoga, jumprope, hula-hoop and line dancing.

POGGIOREALE FOURTH REUNION Aug. 4SPJST Lodge 881435 Beall St.713-695-6586, [email protected]


Salsa fundraiser atSt. James Lutheran

A “Learn How to Dance Salsa” fundraiser will be held 7-10 p.m. June 22. Tickets will be available at the door.

Other upcoming summer events include GED, Adult Lit-eracy, basic computer classes and a health forum.

St. James is led by the ministry team of Rev. Raymond LeBlanc and Aura Suarez, minister of out-reach.

For information, call the church office at 713-686-1577 or e-mail at [email protected].

Sea Scouts Ship 24 lunch at St. Stephen’s

Sea Scouts Ship 24 will host a luncheon at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, 2003 W. 43rd St., at noon June 23 in the fellow-ship hall.

The menu will include pasta, salad, bread and dessert. Mone-tary donations will be accepted to help the Scouts with the cost of a summer trip and a sailing rig they are building for a project boat.

There are still Vacation Bible School openings available for children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Preschool classes are full. Classes will be held July 22-26. Registration is $15 for the first child, and $10 for each additional child within the same family. Forms are available on the website and through the church office.

For information, call 713-686-8241 or visit www.stsumc.org.

Mobile Immunization Clinic at Pathways

Texas Children’s Hospital’s Mo-bile Clinic will be offering free im-munizations for children up to 18 years of age at Pathways Church, 5900 Pinemont. Free school sup-plies will also be given out to area school children.

Call 832-372-9871 for informa-tion.

Yard sale at St. Timothy’sSt. Timothy’s United Methodist

Church, 8787 N. Houston Ross-

lyn Road, will host a yard sale 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. June 28; and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. June 29. Indi-viduals can rent lawn space June 29, for $15. Barbecue lunches will also be available. Call 713-819-8456 for information.

Vacation Bible School will be 9 a.m. to noon July 15-19. The theme is “Everywhere Funfare Where God’s World Comes To-gether.” There is no cost and chil-dren age 3 through fifth grade are welcome to attend.

Call 713-466-5500 or visit www.sttimothysumc.org for in-formation.

Vacation Bible School at Hope Episcopal

Hope Episcopal Church, 1613 W. 43rd St., is offering Vacation Bible School from 6:30-8:15 p.m. July 15-19. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m.

The theme is “Living in the Imagination of God.” All ages are welcome.

Call 713-681-6422 or visit www.hope-episcopal.org to register.

Vacation Bible School at St. Matthew’s

St. Matthew’s United Method-ist Church, 4300 N. Shepherd Dr., will hold Vacation Bible School from 9 a.m.-noon July 15-19. This year’s theme is “God’s Back-yard Bible Camp Under the Stars.” Parents should visit www.stmat-thewsmethodist.org to pre-regis-ter their children. A link for VBS registration can be found on the home page.

On Tuesdays 9 a.m.-noon, the Sr. Adults meet to play games, have refreshments and enjoy fel-lowship along with the quilters group.

The Rev. Coats continues his sermon series on the book of Ga-latians. Sunday morning worship and a special Children’s Church begins at 9:30 a.m., followed by 10:30 a.m. Sunday School for all ages.

A Wednesday evening 6:30 p.m. prayer and praise service is avail-able, along with Holy Commu-nion.

For information, visit www.

stmatthewsmethodist.org or call 713-697-0671.

Church of the Holy Trinity holds VBS in July

Vacation Bible School will be offered at Church of the Holy Trinity, 211 Byrne, 9 a.m.-noon

July 22-26. Children, kindergarten through the sixth grade, will learn about the Bible and missionary adventures through stories, songs and games. Classes are taught by Youth Group volunteers.

Call 713-862-5657 or visit www.holytrinityrec.org for infor-mation.

OBITUARIES NEWS FROM YOUR PEWS

LOVE ALLOF GOD’S CREATIONLove all of God’s creation, even that which seems unlovable.

It’s easy to love kittens and bunnies and roses and rainbows. But, we have trouble when it comes to loving the cockroach

or the rat, or the stench from the sewer. But, that stench is God’s creation too, microscopic life doing exactly what God created it to do. That doesn’t mean you want to bathe in it. The stench may be nature’s way of telling us to keep our distance. There may be good reasons why we are naturally repulsed by spiders, snakes and other venomous critters. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t love and admire them on some level. Most of us will never have the same warm fuzzy feeling for a rat, a bat, or a snake that we will have for a kitten, but that doesn’t keep us from admiring the amazing way in which bats navigate their environment or the amazing way in which rats have managed to survive despite our best attempts to wipe them out. All of God’s creation is lovable, every grain of sand and every creepy crawly thing and every prickly plant and every form of radiation. We should strive to love all of God’s creation without bias.

“Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals,

love the plants, love everything.If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come

at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky ~

Church GuideMESSAGE OF THE WEEK

“The Heart of the Heights”1245 Heights Blvd.

Sunday School . . . . . . . 9:30 AMSunday Worship . . . . . 10:45 AM

Nursery ProvidedReverend Hill Johnson, Pastor

Grace UnitedMethodist Church

713 862-8883Food Pantry, Thurs. 2-4:30 PM

www.graceintheheights.org

Preschool Program • Mon. - Fri. 9-2 p.m.www.gethsemanelutheran.org

4040 Watonga • 713-688-5227

Member of MANNA

Worship Services 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. (Nursery Provided)

Sunday School & Bible Classes 9:15 a.m.

GETHSEMANE LUTHERAN CHURCH

Reverend John Cain, Pastor

Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.Sunday Worship - 10:30 a.m.

Nursery ProvidedMinistering to the Oak Forest

Community since 1948

(713) 682-25561576 Chantilly @ Piney Woods

OaksPresbyterian

Church

Reverend Noelie Day

Gospel Truth Church

1624 W 34th • 713-686-7689www.gospeltruthchurch.org

Sunday 10:30 amWorship and The Word

Children’s ChurchWednesday 7:30 pm

Life Equip classes for all ages

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713-864-4447 � Website www.gobc.orgInterim Pastor Dr. Bob Overton

Sunday Worship Servicesat 8:30am & 11:00am

3206 N. Shepherd

Pastor Jim Daniel

Bible Study 9:30 am

Sunday Worship Service 10:45 am

Sunday - Bible Study For All Ages .. 9:30am Morning Worship ............ 10:45am Age Graded Zones ...........6:15pmWed. - Prayer Meeting & Missions Organization .....................6:15pm

Dr. John W. Neesley - Senior Pastor

713-864-14701822 W. 18th

Member of MANNA

1216 Bethlehemat Ella Blvd.

(713) 688-7761Sunday School 9:30 AM

Morning Worship10:45 AM

��(Disciples of Christ)

Pastor Don Joseph

www.oakscchouston.orgVisit us on FaceBook

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Rev. Herschel Moore, PastorA House of Hope and Prayer in the Heart of Houston

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7151 Fairbanks N. Houston(1 mile North of HWY 290)

Always call your Vet if you have any concerns or questions

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An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of antibiotics overused.

Emerging antibiotic resistant germs are a real concern to the human and animal healthcare communities. Yes, we will need better drugs in the future, but at the front line of this never-ending battle, we primarily need responsible people so germ mutations never start. The overuse of antibiot-ics is dictated by doctors but driven by everyday people. Doctors prescribe unnecessary amounts due to lifestyles that could be improved upon for the benefi t of all.

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Letha S. Ayres, born March 20, 1928, died June 11. Ayres was a member of Eastern Star and a lifelong active member of West End Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband Henry Vojtek, sons Daniel and Travis Ayres, step-daugh-ter Hazel Reifel, step-son Cy Vojtek, three grandchildren, three step-grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Callie Francis Burleson, born Aug. 13, 1924 in Houston, died June 11. Burleson was a longtime member of Woodland Presbyterian and Heights Presbyterian Church. She is survived by sons Larry and Randy Burleson, daughter Carol Epps, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Robert Louis Donald, born Nov. 7, 1930 in Corpus Christi, died June 15. Donald graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1955 and com-pleted his residency in internal medicine at Hermann Hospital. He was a practicing physician in the Heights for more than 43 years, relocating to Round Rock, Texas upon retirement. He is survived by his daughter Barbara Donald, son Bob Donald, and sister Jane Lightfoot. Memorial contributions may be made to the TMA Foundation, 401 W. 15th St., Austin 78701.

Dale Edward Eckard, 58, born Sept. 15, 1954, died June 11, following a brief but valiant struggle with stomach cancer. Eckard earned a degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University and launched a successful career in human resources. He is survived by his mother Betty, and brother Paul. Memorial contributions may be made to Montrose Counseling Center or MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Joe Henry Elliott Jr., 72, died June 11. Elliott was a descendant of the German immigrant Karl Kolbe, the first settler in Spring Branch who also named it. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Eleanor, and daughter Melaina Elliott McGuire.

Frank Gonzales, 38, died June 9. He is survived by his three children Eric, Vanessa and Isaiah.

Carol Gunn, born Jan. 5, 1944 in San Antonio, died June 9. Gunn was a member of St. James Lutheran Church and a volunteer at Friends For Life Animal Shelter. She is survived by her daughter Shawna. Memorial contributions may be made to Friends For Life Animal Shelter, 107 E. 22nd St., Houston 77008.

Naomi Younger Haynes, born June 10, 1931 in Houston, died June 13. Haynes was a graduate of Jeff Davis High School, who married her high school sweetheart Richard from rival Reagan High, on June 28, 1950. She worked for Texaco’s executive offices then on to be the executive assistant to her husband and office manager for his law firm. She is sur-vived by her husband of 63 years, Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, children Trayce Alex-ander, Ricki Cheryl Haynes, Blake Haynes and Slade Haynes, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the local SPCA or HPD Canine Unit.

Arthur Conrad Kleiderer Jr., 90, born March 10, 1923 in Louisville, Ky., died June 16. Kleiderer joined the Air Force in 1943, and served in the 8th Airforce, 44th Bomber Division stationed in England. He was pilot of a B24 bomber with 10 crewman, flying multiple missions from October 1944 to May 1945. Capt. Kleiderer received the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters and Distinguished Flying Cross with First Oak Leaf Cluster. He is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Mary Catherine, daughters Karen Pancheri, Vivian Davis, Connie Watson and Mary Shindler, sons Arthur Kleiderer and Robert Kleiderer, 21 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Memorial contributions may be made to Saint Luke’s Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston 77027.

Donna Ruth Lindsey, born April

26, 1928 in Dallas, died June 11 in San Antonio. She was active in several Meth-odist congregations in Houston, with a special place in her heart and memory for St. Stephen’s UMC in Oak Forest. Lindsey is survived by daughters Donna K. Settles, Ruth A. Bowen and Tina Lopez, six grand-children and six great-grandchildren.

Evin H. Shelby, 92, died June 15. He had been vice president of Shelby Biscuit Company and a deacon at Second Baptist Church. He is survived by his chil-dren Melinda Lee and Evin Marcus Shelby, and two grandchildren.

Joe P. Siarski, born Sept. 13, 1931 in Plantersville, died June 15. Siarski joined the United States Army at age 21 and was a veteran of the Korean War, earning many medals, including the Bronze Star. He is survived by daughters Susan Fuller and Robin Thomas, sons Larry, Robbie, Allen, Tony and Steve, 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

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The Farm Stand is on the move again this weekend – but not far. The owner of the new Wakefield Crow Bar had been allowing our n e i g h b o r -hood farm-er’s market to use a parking lot for several weeks after its first loca-tion across from Petrol Station was taken over to build a swim school.

Now that the Crow Bar is open-ing for breakfast on Saturdays, the market is moving to a new loca-tion, in the parking lot of the Texas Auto Group, nearby at 948 Wake-field Drive near Golf (with a big thank-you to Justin Taghi).

Ultimately we are looking for a more permanent home for our traveling show, so if you know of anyone who owns a little patch

of ground (preferably paved) in the Garden Oaks-Oak Forest area that’s not used on Saturday morn-ings, let us know.

This Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Farmer Cathy will be bring-ing baby chicks to the market and the good folks of Hens for Hous-ton are coming to be our wran-glers and talk about their efforts to change the city ordinance to allow residents to have small backyard flocks for eggs.

Also, former Garden Oaks resi-dent Allison Bell is returning to promote her compilation of her Tuscan mother-in-law’s family recipes in her new cookbook, and our new friend Chuck is coming to sell cookies and other confections from new vendor Pam’s Sweets.

As always, “Come soon, come often” – and cuddle a baby chick.

Morales is founder and manager of the Farm Stand, where he pre-pares breakfast each week.

While the passing trains are part of an important ritual at Cottonwood, the tracks provided some scary moments last Saturday. When attempting to leave the parking lot, a customer mistook the railroad tracks as an exit. The driver did not get far once the edge of the railroad tracks were crossed. Emergency personnel were called to the scene, and a tow truck pulled the car to safety, out of the way of any oncoming trains.

When trains pass, there are $4 “Train Shots,” chosen by the bartender. There are also weekly shenanigans, which include: Mexican Mondays, which feature awe-some Mexican-inspired plates; Whiskey Wednesday, which offers whiskey specials that change every week; Steak Night Thursday featuring a 12-ounce ribeye with scalloped potatoes and grilled aspara-gus. Sunday Funday offers live music by Rozzano Zamarano on the patio with mimosas and bloody marys.

My advice: Be aware of the train tracks -- and the featured cocktail, Periwinkle. The Periwinkle is very tasty, with Dripping Springs Vodka, Creme de Violette, lemon, soda and lavender syrup.

Craft beer legislationis now law

Gov. Rick Perry has signed into law what industry sources are calling the most impactful beer legislation of the last 20 years. According to www.texascraftbrew-ersguild.org, the changes will improve the overall competitiveness of the Texas craft beer market by assisting brewers in the following areas:

- Gain the ability for packaging brewer-ies to sell their products to consumers on the premise of their breweries;

- Gain the ability for brewpubs to sell their products into the wholesale tier while also increasing the annual product limit of brewpubs;

- Protect small brewer’s existing rights to self-distribute and build brand value;

- Achieve these goals while protecting the integrity and viability of the three-tier system;

Prior to the enactment of these new laws, the Texas craft beer industry has regularly demonstrated its economic potential with production reaching $737 million in 2012, compared to $608 million in 2011.

Houston Pride WeekAccording to www.pridehouston.com,

the Houston Pride Week celebration is typically held the last Saturday in June to commemorate Stonewall Riots in New York. The parade is held in the evening after sunset, a tradition began in 1997, to become the nation’s only nighttime Pride Parade.

There will be numerous events through-out the week for the Houston LGBT Pride Celebration. The Festival and Pride Parade are at the center of the celebration and are attended by more than 325,000 people every year from all over the world. Festivities begin at 1 p.m., June 29, in Montrose. For more information, visit www.pridehouston.org.

Tour De Lone PintLone Pint Brewery presents Tour De

Lone Pint on June 25. The bike crawl will begin at Hay Merchant, 1100 Westheimer Road, at 6 p.m., with departure at 7 p.m. for D&T Drive-Inn, 1307 Enid St., with the end destination at Petrol Station, 985 Wakefield Drive. Riders will receive a free glass. For more information, visit www.lonepint.com or the Facebook page for Lone Pint Brewery, which a family brew-ery located in nearby Magnolia.

J. BLACK’S first anniversaryJ. BLACK’S Feel Good Kitchen & Lounge

will be holding a celebration for its first anniversary June 27. There will be complimentary sips and bites while they last and live music all night long. There will also be complimentary VIP gift bags for the first 100 guests and a photo booth with props for fun. J. BLACK’S is located at 110 S. Heights Blvd. For more information, visit www.jblacks.com/houston.

Grand Opening ofD&T Drive Inn

D&T Drive Inn will be holding its grand opening from 3-7 p.m. June 29. There will be food samples from the new menu and drink specials from Real Ale and other local brewers. D&T Drive Inn is located at 1307 Enid St. For more information, visit www.dandtdriveinn.com or find D & T Drive Inn on Facebook.

10/10 Wine Dealat Max’s Wine Dive

MAX’s knows a thing or two about good wine deals and 10/10 is and example. When you buy a bottle of wine to enjoy

during your meal and another bottle to-go, you will receive 10 percent off both. On www.maxswinedive.com, there is also an opportunity to take advantage of MAX’s Buy More, Save More promotion, which allows you to stock up on wine for friends, family or even yourself. MAX’s Wine Dive is located at 4720 Washington Ave.

– Ivee Sauls

As you read this I’m ending a five day cruise on the now infa-mous Carnival Triumph, for which I was preparing to leave when I wrote this. (No, I did not pack a suitcase full of toilet pa-per.) I hope to be back in time for the Satur-day night shows in the Heights.

As vast and sprawl-ing as H o u s t o n is, the most d a u n t i n g task for me has been to find a cal-endar or list of art events that cov-ers the entire city. Creating one is truly a chore.

Stephanie Toppin has created just such a list, and it is available online. Houston Craft Calendar is a comprehensive website that lists shows by day, week and month and also is in the beginning stages of listing crafters. She bills it on her Facebook page as “A simple listing of craft workshops, classes, camps, markets, and crafters in the Hous-ton area.” Have a look, and plan your weekends accordingly. www.

HoustonCraftCalendar.com.

Friday, June 21Mini Pops at Avant Garden,

411 Westheimer Road 77006, 6 p.m. The first evening program for Pop Shop Houston, indie craft under the stars with bands, cocktails, activities and more. h t t p s : / / w w w. f a ce b o o k . co m /events/313833708750537

Saturday, June 22Houston Re-Market 4302 Har-

risburg, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The mar-ket features about 10 very afford-

able vendors who use recycled and reused materials and other sustainable practices in their craft. Visitors are encouraged to bring their items to recycle or swap, too. You’ll find a food truck or two and live music for entertainment. www.houstonremarket.com

Artist Collective On Fannin Part Deux at Art Square Studios, 4118 Fannin (Entrance at 1009 Eagle St.) 3 p.m. - Midnight. Col-lective show, multiple media, even a couple experimental music acts. Food and drinks will be available, compliments of the artists. Great

space out in midtown on the light rail line.

Midsummer Night’s Dream Art & Social, The Gallery at 3202 White Oak, 77007, 6-9 p.m. Art show and summer solstice fun. Costumes optional. Featuring works by Denise St Clair, Gordon and Tara Jordan-Greenleaf. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

Montrose Skate Shop, Kar-bach Brewing Co, Bay Clean Power Wash, Go-Green Houston Products, Beyond Visuals, The Original Henna Company 360-6469 https://www.facebook.com/events/455150517910107 Why would I end a cruise? For this show. Check out this gallery space, it is what makes the Heights so much fun to visit and/or live here.

Colombia in Color: The Art of Alvaro Zorrilla, Heights Art Stu-dios 7:30-10:30 p.m. 214 E. 27th St. Houston 77008. “Colombia in Color is a collection of work by the artist known as “Zorro,” described as having a “naive and whimsical approach to painting…an interesting and at times comi-cal display of how he sees his own homeland memories,” according to Hans Payan Geler, http://hasg.blog.com

The simplistic palates of young eaters can be frustrating for a par-ent trying to get a son or daughter to squeeze down a couple pieces of broccoli or having to deal with that scrunched up facial response when you slide a dish of something oth-er than melted cheese in front of them. But occasionally, a kid’s lack of gastronomic sophistication can be just the clear-eyed perspective you need to cut through today’s culinary clutter.

Take the frozen yogurt phenom-enon, for instance. Leader Eater took The Bomber (my five-year-old going on 15) to check out the newest serve-yourself ice cream, err, frozen yogurt franchise in the neighborhood, U-Swirl. In the same vein as its ice creamy cousins, Menchie’s and BerriPop, U-Swirl has more than a dozen handles that will squeeze out frozen flavors such as Dulce-De-Leche, Mango Sorbet, Cake Batter and N.Y. Cheesecake.

A sprawling buffet of yogurt toppings offers a mind-numbing number of choices. There’s a vast array of nuts – plain and candy-coated; exotic fruit that typically hang off the lip of a oceanside va-cation cocktail; a bunch of those sugary cereals my mom never let me eat as a kid; and every choco-late bar you can imagine crushed up and sitting in trays ready to be scooped out on to your yogurt.

The place is a dessert fanatic’s dream and a parent’s nightmare (if you are in there consuming that much sugar anywhere even close to bedtime). The pastel-plastered interior leads you to the back where you peel off your own empty cup and, as The Bomber did, make a mad dash for your yogurt of choice. In her haste, she

didn’t dilly-dally around with all the clever flavors and was quickly pulling down the handle on one of the most timeless flavors in frozen desserts – cookies and cream. The Bomber put a slight layer of vanilla (a synonym for boring but a selec-tion that never disappoints) before surprising her father with some serious restraint at the topping bar, only shoveling a humble bit of mashed up Oreo cookies into her bowl.

Leader Eater was not so un-pretentious in my yogurt choices, abandoning my modesty and in-tertwining a couple of frozen ca-bles of the glamorous Cappuccino and Red Velvet Cake flavors and a heaping helping of Kit Kat choco-late bar pieces.

After we dropped our bowls down on the scale (U-Swirl prices its desserts by the ounce) and sat down on elongated vertical couch, Leader Eater realized that two of my favorite after-dinner delights – a frothy cup of Cappuccino or a towering slice of Red Velvet Cake (or both together) – are not ide-ally enjoyed when they come ooz-ing out of chilling machine in the form of frozen yogurt. Replicating those two tastes in ice cream form just doesn’t work with an overly synthetic flavor that is just off-put-ting.

On the other hand, vanilla and cookies and cream are in their natural habitat as a frozen dessert. As I dipped my spoon over into The Bomber’s bowl (to her mild protest), I was reminded what real frozen yogurt tastes like and that you should always follow a kid’s lead (no matter how simple the selections) when it comes to their culinary specialty: dessert.

U-Swirl Frozen Yogurt209 Heights Blvd.www.u-swirl.com

Frozen Yogurt: about 40 cents/ounceKid Friendly: This place is built for

youngsters LE’s Favorite: Cookies and cream

frozen yogurt

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Art a la Carte: Cruising for a calendar of local arts

Mitch CohenArts Columnist

Late Train - 1970s Paris, a photo by Gordon Greenleaf, will be part of the Midsummer Night’s Dream Art & Social at The Gallery at 3202 White Oak Saturday. (Submitted photo)

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There are train pros and cons at Cottonwood

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