10/01/14 12:00pm

Area Surrounding Former Brio Superfund Site, Dixie Farm Rd. at Beamer Rd., Southbend Subdivision, Friendswood, Houston

Inspired by reading René Steinke’s new and recently optioned-for-film novel Friendswood, the plot of which centers on the aftermath of the Brio Superfund mess just south of I-45 and the Beltway, Cite magazine’s Allyn West returns to the former chemical waste facility at Dixie Farm Rd. and Beamer Rd. to snap some photos and have a look around: “The first thing you pass is a landfill. And then, incongruously, you pass archetypal subdivisions with bucolic names, much like Southbend must have been. There’s a dedicated bike lane on both sides of Dixie Farm, clearly marked and freshly painted. Then turning toward the site onto Blackhawk Boulevard, you pass Ashley Pointe, a new subdivision. That morning, I saw construction workers milling about around unfinished stick frames. If Southbend still existed, Ashley Pointe would sit right next to it.”

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Buried Secrets
03/22/13 12:00pm

THE MULLET MANAGES TO PAY RENT The graffiti training ground known as The Mullet spent much of this week pleading on Facebook for donations to help cover $2,000 in rent and avoid a lock out of the repainted warehouse at 10902 Kingspoint Rd. between Fuqua and Almeda Genoa Rd., reports the Houston Chronicle‘s Francisca Ortega, but it appears that the spraypainting will be able to go on a little while longer: “After making the plea they received about $800 from about 10 different donors. A benefactor then agreed to cover the rest. . . . With the next 30 days of rent covered, [co-curator Justin] Hinojosa said they are looking forward to next month and raising money to help cover the final facility structural improvements.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Candace Garcia

04/30/10 3:30pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: GAME BIRDS OF THE SOUTH BELT “There is a gun range close to 288 and Beltway 8 that has about 10 Peafowls (just found out only the male is actually called a Peacock) running wild. It’s crazy to be shooting your gun and right next to you is a curious bird that is completely unphased by the banging of the pistol. Very beautiful, LARGE birds that are used to being around people and guns! Very strange!” [AJ, commenting on The Feral Peafowl of Nottingham Forest]