Headlines

• Woodlands Trader Joe’s Opening This Friday; Montrose Store To Follow on Sept. 21 [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Under New Owner, Leases on the Rise at Fake-Venetian Vintage Park Shopping Center [Houston Chronicle]
• Momentum Breaks Ground on 7-Story Audi Dealership at Greenbriar and 59 [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Galleria-Bound Arhaus Furniture Store Breaking into Furniture Store-Crowded Area [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Lawsuit Aims To Close 4 ‘Illegal’ Massage Businesses on West FM 1960 [Click2Houston]
• West U Completes New Lighting, Irrigation, Landscaping for City Hall Entrance [West University Examiner]
• Historic Battleship Texas in Houston Ship Channel Springs a Leak [KUHF]
• Survey Ranks Houston 11th Most Expensive U.S. City, Behind Dallas [Houston Business Journal]
• Cartoon Dinosaur Billboards for Kentucky’s Creation Museum Going Up in Houston, Other Cities [Houston Chronicle]
• Smelly Corpse Flower About To Bloom in Galveston’s Moody Gardens [KUHF]

Photo of Wiley Robertson mural: Candace Garcia via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Buc-ee’s, Texas City Officials in Talks About Building Store near I-45 Outlet Mall Site [Galveston County Daily News]
• Inn at the Ballpark To Undergo $10M in Renovations To Become a Westin [Prime Property]
• Galveston’s Avis Frank Gallery Taking Over Old King Biscuit Space in Woodland Heights [Home in the Heights; previously on Swamplot]
• Texas City’s Historic Bell House Fully Restored and Open to the Public Once Again [Galveston County Daily News]
• In Alvin, Jason Chaney’s Barbed Rose Steakhouse Out, Jason Chaney’s Coastal Crossing Grill In [Culturemap]
• Coppa Opening in Rice Village Next Summer, Wants To Be the Next Carrabba’s [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Free Downtown Trolley Service Greenlink Now Operating [Houston Chronicle]
• Sound Ordinance Cases Being Dropped; Law Doomed To Fail from the Beginning, Says Law Professor [Hair Balls]
• Memorial Thicket Residents Rallying To Prevent Skanska from Draining Neighborhood Lake [Prime Property]
• League City Oak Tree Relocation Delayed Again, No New Move Date Set [abc13]
• Houston Among Top 10 Cities for Potential Hurricane Damage [Houston Business Journal]
• More Than 100 Dolphins Found Dead Along Texas Gulf Coast [Houston Chronicle]
• Revisiting the Houston Locations Used in Wes Anderson’s ‘Rushmore’ [A.V. Club via Art Attack]

Photo: Stephen J. Alexander via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• $75M Galveston Wastewater Plant Texas’s Largest Ike Disaster Recovery Project [Galveston County Daily News]
• UTHealth School of Dentistry Moves Into New $155M Building South of VA Hospital [KUHF]
• Texas City Investing Millions in Downtown District [Galveston County Daily News]
• Redevelopers of Imperial Sugar Plant Hoping To Lure Children’s Museum of Houston, House of Blues to Sugar Land [Culturemap]
• League City Considers Swapping Its Waste Water for Drinking Water from Texas City [Galveston County Daily News]
• Tanglewood Residents Help Replant One of 368 Small Parks Damaged by Drought [Houston Chronicle]
• Washington Ave Business Owners, Residents Clean Up ‘Goat’ Graffiti [KHOU]
• Kirby & Bissonnet Shop Repairs About 15 Pothole-Damaged Tires a Day; City Repairs About 50,000 Potholes a Year [abc13]
• Rare Black-Tailed Godwit Spotted in Brazoria County; Like ‘Elvis Showing Up’ [KHOU]
• Houston Named Third Most Popular Moving Destination in New Study, Ahead of Dallas–Fort Worth [Houston Business Journal]
• How Carol Isaak Barden Convinced Seattle Architect George Suyama To Build in a House in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Once It Hits the Mid-90s, Houston Becomes a Ghost Town [Leon Hale]
• Could Texas Survive as a Sovereign Nation? [TM Daily Post]

Photo of Texas Medical Center: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Woodlands Commercial Space at 7 Percent Vacancy; Demand Grows [Community Impact News]
• Longhorn Steakhouse Expands into Houston with Sugar Land Location; Woodlands and Others To Follow [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Zoo’s New Touch-Sensitive Water Park [Click2Houston]
• League City Oak Now Lifted Out of the Ground, 1,500-Foot Move Likely Monday [Galveston County Daily News]
• State Seeking Bids To Extend Grand Parkway to US-59, ExxonMobil Campus [Cypress Creek Mirror]
• State Considering 85 MPH Speed Limit on Hwy. 130 Between Austin and Seguin [Click2Houston]
• North Harris County Slips Back into ‘Moderate’ Drought [Houston Chronicle]
• State Navigates Water Rate Increases as Drought Lingers [Texas Tribune]
• Fans, Beckham Complain About Dynamo Afternoon Heat; Saturday Game Time Pushed Back [abc13]

Photo taken from top of San Jacinto Monument: wwbjr via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• HPD Pitches a New Downtown Campus, Replacing ‘Inadequate’ Buildings at Riesner St. Site [Houston Chronicle]
• Construction Begins on Baybrook Mall Cheesecake Factory [Galveston Island Daily News]
• 21-Story Highrise Replacing Allen House Remnant To Have Private Resident Vegetable Garden [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• First 3 Residential Builders Announced for Springwoods Village Master-Planned Community Next to ExxonMobil Campus [Houston Business Journal]
• Enclave at Lake Pointe Development Next to Sugar Land Whole Foods Getting Townhome Model by July [Houston Business Journal]
• Spec Office Buildings Making a Comeback in Houston [Culturemap]
• Move Delayed as League City Oak Weighs 100,000 More Pounds Than Initially Thought [Galveston Island Daily News]
• City Council To Discuss West U On-Street Parking Changes at June 25 Workshop [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of line for today’s opening of new Chick-Fil-A at East Blvd. and Spencer Hwy.: Deer Park Broadcaster

• Historic League City Oak Being Uprooted Today; Move Will Be a ‘Spectacle’ [Galveston County Daily News]
• Clear Lake Shores Sues Former Councilman Over ‘Unsightly’ Property [Galveston County Daily News]
• Firm Says Downtown Bellaire Too Far Gone To Become Walkable; Wants To Add More ‘Curb Appeal’ Instead, Unify Piecemeal Properties [Bellaire Examiner]
• Fort Bend County Baseball Complex Freedom Park Delayed by Cost Overruns [Houston Chronicle]
• Rumors Swirl over Potential Buyer of BP’s Texas City Refinery [Galveston County Daily News]
• Mosquitoes in The Woodlands Test Positive for West Nile Virus [abc13]
• Hurricane Study Highlights Galveston-Area Bridges Vulnerable to Strong Winds [Bay Area Citizen]
• New Website Calculates Your Risk of Flood, Wind Damage from a Category 2 Hurricane [Hair Balls]
• Midtown Management District Applies for Texas Arts Designation [Houston Chronicle]
• A History of Allen Parkway — River Oaks’ Link to Downtown [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Venus transit over River Oaks: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Buyer of Downtown Galveston’s Medical Arts Building Plans To Put 84 Luxury Apartments Inside [Galveston County Daily News]
• Space Center Houston Needs $1.8M To Refurbish Shuttle Replica [KHOU]
• Revamped Memorial Silver Triangle Plaza Features Curved Jogging Trails, Bricks from Old Houston Streets, Sustainable Landscaping [Bellaire Examiner]
• Three Privately Funded Pocket Parks Increase Conroe’s Recreational Opportunities [Courier of Montgomery County]
• The Era of Olympic-Size Public Pools in Houston Is Over [abc13]
• Neighbors Tired of Cycle of Illegal Dumping in Front of Abandoned Fifth Ward House [abc13]
• Election Runoffs Keep Campaign Signs on Sante Fe, League City Lawns a Bit Longer [Galveston County Daily News]
• Sustainable Landscaping in Cross Creek Ranch Means Residents ‘Don’t Feel Like They Are Raping Mother Earth’ [Culturemap]
• Award-Winning Art Car Covered with Lipmarks Stolen, Then Found [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Esperson Bldg. reflection: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Shuttle Replica Completes Barge Trip from Florida with 5-Hour, Mile-Long Journey Along Nasa Road 1 [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Visitors To Be Able To Walk Inside Shuttle Mockup by Late Fall [Galveston County Daily News]
• Missouri City-Owned Quail Valley Golf Clubhouse and Event Center Opens Later This Summer [Sugar Land Sun; previously on Swamplot]
• Soon You Can Make Your Own Beer at Downtown’s Café Luz [Culturemap]
• A Breakdown of the Montrose Management District’s Expenditures [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Park Board To Consider Plan To Charge for Seawall Parking on June 12 [Galveston County Daily News]
• 80 Percent of Harris County’s Housing Stock Would Suffer Wind Damage During a Properly Aimed Category 4 Hurricane, Says Study [Houston Chronicle]
• George Mitchell’s Cook’s Branch Conservancy: A Former Ranch Once Eyed as a Second Woodlands Restored to Pre-Settlement Condition [Houston Chronicle]
• Wortham Theater Center Construction Photos [Culturemap]
• In Houston, Old Buildings Become Art; In Dallas, They Become Dumps [The Scoop Blog]

Photo of shuttle replica on Nasa Rd. 1: Flickr user txflygirl

• ExxonMobil Planning Major New Chemical Plant in its Baytown Complex [Reuters]
• Downtown’s Inn at the Ballpark To Become a Westin [Culturemap]
• Houston Construction Contracts Up 21 Percent from Last Year, Finds Report [Houston Business Journal]
• Nighttime Seawall Blvd. Construction Keeping Nearby Residents Awake [Galveston County Daily News]
• Some Sugar Land Residents Worried About Construction of Apartments in River Stone [abc13]
• Scammers Taking Advantage of Houston’s Rental, Leasing Demand [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Lawsuit Claims Pearland Police Statue Copied Sugar Land Police Statue [Hair Balls]
• Crazy Rasberry Ants Spotted in Katy [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
• West U Warns Residents After Hawk Sighting: Protect Your Little Pets [West U Examiner]
• Local Groups Say Toxic Part of San Jacinto River Should Be Off-Limits to the Public [KUHF]
• Band Writes Original Songs About Houston Landmarks [Culturemap]
• Watch a Live Stream of Historic League City Oak Tree’s Move Now Through June 5 [abc13; webcam]
• Tour PDR’s LEED Platinum Office at 2 Houston Center Today [Houston Business Journal]
• Harris County Flood Control Wants You To Get Flood Insurance [KUHF]

Photo of a windowless Upper Kirby Borders: Brennan Rosales

• Council Approves Hobby Expansion, International Flights To Start in 2015 [Houston Politics]
• United Says It’ll Cut Planned Operations at IAH, Eliminate 1,300 Houston Jobs; Terminal B Expansion ‘in Doubt’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Baybrook Mall Line Forms at 3 am for Today’s Opening of Houston’s First H&M [abc13]
• Multimillion-Dollar Video Production and Recording Studio Opening on Richmond Ave. [Houston Business Journal]
• Megabus To Announce New Express Service from Houston to Galveston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas [KHOU]
• 5,000 Loads of Dirt Hauled In To Repair ‘Grand Canyon’ Gorge in Richmond [Click2Houston]
• Bees Nest Removed from Sugar Land Skeeters Playground [Click2Houston]
• League City’s Drought Contingency Plan No Longer In Effect, But Residents Still Asked To Conserve [Bay Area Citizen]
• Galveston Landmark Commission Recognizes Restoration Projects [Galveston County Daily News]
• Phoenicia Blooms into a Downtown Staple [29-95.com]

Photo of I-10: Josh Burdick via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• City Council To Vote Today on Hobby Expansion Deal [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Now Second-Fastest-Growing City Nationwide — Behind Dallas [Houston Business Journal]
• Burger King Might Return to Galveston — in a Gas Station [Galveston County Daily News]
• Cotton Creek Estates Homeowners in Baytown Frustrated by Spotty, Smelly Water Service [Click2Houston]
• Harris County Mosquito Control Warns About Small ‘Stealth Mosquitoes’ That Attack at Night [Click2Houston]
• Nation’s Largest Gas Can Manufacturer Says Shortage Possible This Hurricane Season [KUHF]
• El Tiempo Opening New Restaurant Next Door to Ninfa’s on Navigation [Houston Business Journal]
• Galveston Had Record Memorial Day Weekend, with an Estimated 500,000 Visitors [Galveston County Daily News]

Photo of Midtown Park Fountain: lc_db via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Galveston Pleasure Pier Parking Situation ‘Like Mardi Gras Every Day’ [KHOU]
• Galveston Launches Weekend Shuttle Service Between Seawall, Downtown, Moody Gardens To Ease Congestion [Newswatch]
• Video Tour of Galveston’s New Pleasure Pier [CultureMap]
• Pepper Jacks To Open in Cabo Space Downtown [Prime Property]
• Treasures Owners Insist New Washington Avenue Establishments Will Be Sports Bars, Not Strip Clubs [Culturemap]
• City To Demolish Ike-Damaged Beach-Front House Today [Galveston County Daily News]
• Mexican Buyers Lead International Shoppers in Houston Real Estate Market, Settling in Woodlands, Royal Oaks, Galleria [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston Struggles To Regain Population As Its Economy Rebounds [Houston Chronicle]
• Cleveland Looks To Move Past Rash of High-Profile Crimes, Odd Occurrences [Your Houston News]
• Touring Timber Cove, the ‘Community of Moonwalkers’ [Houston Chronicle]
• More Than 350 Houston-Area Gas Pumps Guilty of ‘Pump Jumping’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Memorial Park Founder Will Hogg: Houston’s Forgotten Philanthropist [Hair Balls]
• Harold’s in the Heights Owner Harold Wiesenthal Dies [Newswatch]

Photo of Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier: KTRK

• League City Begins Unearthing Compton Oak for 1,500-ft. Move [Galveston County Daily News]
• Seabrook-Kemah Bridge To Be Closed for Real Next Friday for Mock Space Shuttle Arrival [Bay Area Citizen; previously on Swamplot]
• 16 Percent of Woodlands Trees Dead or Dying, Finds Audit [Woodlands Villager]
• Forecasters Predict 9 to 15 Hurricanes This Season [KHOU]
• Houston Food Pioneer Georgia Bost of Georgia’s Farm to Market Dies [Culturemap]
• Montrose Hotel La Colombe d’Or Unveils Stash of Picassos, Man Rays, Dalís [Culturemap]
• How To Clean Up the Former Meth Lab in Your New Home [Hair Balls]

Photo of George Hermann sculpture in Hermann Park: bpawlik via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Galveston Pleasure Pier’s Soft Opening Is Tomorrow [29-95.com]
• Landry’s Owned Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Opens on Pier Today [Galveston County Daily News]
• Japanese Chain Uniqlo Eyeing First Houston Location [Culturemap]
• Inside Real Estate Guru Ed Wulfe’s BLVD Place Offices at Post Oak and San Felipe [Prime Property]
• Southwest Agrees To Pay for Hobby Expansion Costs; Plan Moves To City Council Vote Next Week [Houston Chronicle]
• Port of Houston Authority’s Secret Talks To Turn Bayport Cruise Terminal into Military Outpost Collapse [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• In Fare-Free First Week, League City—Galveston Park and Ride Service Averages 250 Rides a Day [Galveston County Daily News]
• Houston Drivers Wasted an Average 21.4 Hours Stuck in Traffic This Past Year [INRIX via Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Ranks Low in Survey Measuring Park Acreage, Access, Budgets in Largest US Cities [ParkScore via Newswatch]
• Mosquito Crop Harvest in Harris County Arrives Early This Year [Click2Houston]
• About 61,500 Harris County Residents Not Counted in 2010 Census [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Point Bolivar lighthouse: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Hobby Airport Expansion Agreement with Southwest To Be Announced Today [abc13]
• Big New Idea in Astrodome Report Being Revealed Today: World’s Largest Planetarium [abc13]
• Appeals Court Rules Galveston Open Beaches Act Unconstitutional, Orders Retrial [Houston Chronicle]
• Final Council Vote Allows League City Homes To Secede from Historic District [Galveston County Daily News]
• Businesses Along Light Rail Construction Path Received ‘Couple Million’ in Cash Assistance from Metro [KUHF]
• Residents near Bayport Ship Channel Fighting Proposal to Dredge Waterway, Create 450-Acre Island in Galveston Bay [abc13]
• Abandoned Pecan Grove Home Annoys Neighbors [Click2Houston]
• ‘The Rig’ — Pearland High School’s Football Field — Cut Up By Vandals [abc13]
• Is Minute Maid Park Going to Level Tal’s Hill? [Hair Balls]
• Houston Lost More People Than It Gained in Fiscal Year 2011 [The List]
• Galveston Historical Foundation LEED Platinum ‘Green Revival’ House on Avenue Q [Inhabitat]
• Dolce Vita on Lower Westheimer Closed After Early Morning Dumpster Fire [abc13]

Photo of downtown rainbow: mlanza via Swamplot Flickr Pool