Headlines

• Top Airport Official Backs New International Terminal at Hobby [KUHF]
• Apartments Off I-10 at Silber To Be Demolished for Car Dealership [Prime Property]
• All That Land-Clearing Next to La Marque’s Walmart Wasn’t for Sam’s Club After All [Galveston County Daily News]
• West U Residents Sound Off on Limits to On-Street Parking [InstantNewsWestU]
• New Lakeside Drive Extension Near Hwy. 146 To ‘Revolutionize’ Traffic Flow in Seabrook [Bay Area Citizen]
• Galveston City County Votes on Beachfront Construction Prohibitions This Thursday [Galveston County Daily News]
• Computer Glitch Results in $1 a Gallon Gas in Pasadena [abc13]
• Mysterious Red Lights Spotted in Texas City Sky [Galveston County Daily News]
• Dining in the Remnants of Houston History [Culturemap]
• Slideshow: Inside the State-of-the-Art Houston Food Bank [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Little Pinata Shop, 1019 Studewood: Christopher Newsom [license] via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Potential 70-Percent Property Tax Increase Dampens Enthusiasm for Woodlands Incorporation [Houston Chronicle]
• Baylor College of Medicine’s Empty Hospital To Become an Outpatient Center [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Former Gallant Knight Location at 2511 Bissonnet Will Be 23-and-Up ‘Speakeasy’ Bar [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Asia Officials Could Help Bring Houston-Dallas High-Speed Train [Texas on the Potomac via Houston Business Journal]
• Texas Representative Looks To Halt Insurance Company Desertion After 11,000 Policies Dropped Statewide [Galveston County Daily News]
• Workshop To Discuss New Galveston Noise Ordinance on May 1 [Galveston County Daily News]
• Yoshio Taniguchi’s New Asia Society Texas Center Opens to Visitors This Weekend [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Homebuilding with Houston’s Night-Herons [Houston Chronicle]
• Behind the Scenes at the Bayport Terminal U.S. Customs Office [Houston Business Journal]
• Old Houston Photos Matched Up with Present-Day Views [Hair Balls]
• Montrose Duplex Goes Craftsman [River Oaks Examiner]
• Tips for Furnishing Your First Home [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Minute Maid Park on opening day: Candace Garcia

• Houston Metro Area Now the Fifth Largest, According to Census Estimates [Houston Chronicle]
• Proposal To Add Toll Lanes to U.S. 290, Texas 288 Scheduled for Vote on Tuesday [Houston Chronicle]
• Alamo Drafthouse To Open New Theater in Vintage Park, near 249 and Louetta, by End of Year [Community Impact Newspaper via Prime Property]
• From Seattle to Houston, Apartment Construction Surge Threatens To Stall Growth in Rents [Bloomberg]
• BBVA Compass Sign Going Up at Dynamo Stadium [Houston Business Journal]
• Slideshow of Sugar Land Skeeters’ New Stadium [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Drought Conditions Officially Gone [KUHF]
• Citing Low Aquifer Levels, State Officials Encourage Residents To Conserve Water [Bay Area Citizen]
• Woodlands Woman Scares Off Burglar Dressed Like Spider-Man [Click2Houston]
• Four-Foot Alligator on Pearland Pkwy. Service Road Stops Traffic [abc13]
• Festival To Celebrate Transformation of Houston’s East End [KUHF]

Photo of Discovery Green fountain: lc_db via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Hines Joining 1,000-Acre Inside Beltway Industrial Project West of I-45 [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Some Sugar Land Residents Oppose Inclusion of Apartments in Imperial Sugar Site Project [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Houston Authority Votes To Eliminate ‘Scattered Sites’ from Public Housing Master Plan [Galveston County Daily News]
• All That Land-Clearing Next to La Marque’s Walmart Is for a Sam’s Club [Galveston County Daily News]
• American Spectrum Realty Sells Two Park Ten Buildings, Industrial Property [Houston Business Journal]
• 102-Year-Old Carroll House To Become Independence Heights’ First Protected Landmark [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston’s Retail Market Vacancy Rate Dropped, Added Jobs in 2011, According to Report [GlobeSt.com]
• Houston Office Market Absorbed 900,000 SF in First Quarter of 2012 [KUHF]
• Galveston Contractors Discuss Ike Funding Nightmares [abc13]
• Conroe To Abandon Metered Parking in City-Owned Lot [Courier of Montgomery County]
• Forecasters Predict Less Hurricane Activity Than Average This Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Haven’s Stolen Hive Replaced with Bedroom Bees [MyFox Houston; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of Houston Ship Channel: bpawlik via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Apartment Buildings and More on the Rise in Uptown [Houston Chronicle]
• Conroe Area Firefighters Battling Lack of Hydrants in Rural Areas [Courier of Montgomery County]
• Student’s Car Stuck in Galveston Island Sinkhole After Waterline Breaks [Galveston County Daily News]
• Danbury Residents Fed Up with Faucets Running Brown Water [abc13]
• Bald Eagle Power Line Deaths On the Rise [Houston Chronicle]
• Poetic First Ward For Sale Signs Explained [Art Attack; previously on Swamplot]
• Family-Run Ladco Washington Park Design Center Houston’s Largest Decorative Showroom for Interior Designers [Houston Chronicle]
• Lake Houston Water Quality May Suffer from Trinity River Link, Urbanized Tributaries [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of Main St. at Prairie: James Ramos via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Angelika Loses Arbitration, Ordered To Pay Bayou Place $80K for Lease Dispute [Prime Property]
• Kinder Morgan To Take Over, Rename El Paso Building at 1001 Louisiana [Houston Business Journal]
• Five-Story Apartment Complex Going Up Near Lakes on Post Oak [Prime Property]
• Dual Restaurants Taking Over Former Gravitas Space at Taft and Allen Pkwy. [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Is All That Land-Clearing Next to La Marque’s Walmart for a Sam’s Club? [Galveston County Daily News]
• Tree Falls on Hurricane Ike Victims’ New Baytown Home During Yesterday’s Storm [Click2Houston]
• Rock Band’s Auto Shop Rehearsals Annoy Stone Pine Neighbors [abc13]
• 10-Foot-Long Alligator Caught Near Sienna Crossing Elementary in Fort Bend County [Click2Houston]
• Texas Population Now an Estimated 26 Million [Houston Business Journal]
• Brio Tuscan Grill Taking Over Shuttered Pesce Space at Kirby and West Alabama [Culturemap]

Photo of fence on West Alabama St.: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Trailblazing Houston Architect John Chase Dies [Houston Chronicle]
• Texas Supreme Court Upholds Property Rights On West Galveston Beaches [KUHF]
• Developers Eager for Stalled Rule Change Allowing Increasing Density Outside the Loop [Houston Chronicle]
• Accused Swindler’s West Houston Home on Market as Short Sale for $995K [Prime Property]
• Metro To Spend $100K Moving Tree in Light Rail Path, $650K Building MLK Memorial Nearby [Houston Chronicle]
• Discovery Green Looking To Raise $25K To Replant Dead Grass [Culturemap]
• Galveston Paid Seawall Parking Program Going Back To Drawing Board [Galveston County Daily News]
• HISD Plan To Annex North Forest ISD Off for Now [abc13]
• Homeowners in Ike Disaster Housing Program Facing Liens [Galveston County Daily News]
• Tomball Moves Forward with Grant Process for Property Damaged in Ike [Tomball Potpourri]
• Residents Being Paid To Take Down Campaign Signs [Sugar Land Sun]
• Charges Dropped Against Clear Lake Shores Blogger Arrested for Encouraging Spamming of Council Member’s Email [Galveston County Daily News]
• Houston’s Best Parking Lots [Houston Chronicle]
• Alligator Spotted in Pond Behind League City Apartment Complex [Click2Houston]

Photo of Main St., Pasadena: Stephen J. Alexander via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Kemah’s 3,000 Parking Spots Not Enough During Tourist Season [Galveston County Daily News]
• Will Hines Announce a New Downtown Skyscraper at Realtors’ Expo Next Week? [Houston Business Journal]
• ‘Dangerous’ Home on Coleridge St. May Soon Be Demolished [InstantNewsWestU]
• FEMA Awards University of Texas Medical Branch $90.1M for Ike Damages [Newswatch]
• FEMA Won’t Reimburse Harris County Housing Authority $7M for Ike Damage Survey [Houston Chronicle]
• Bastard Cabbage Crowding Out Texas Bluebonnets in Central Texas, Making Its Way Eastward [Art Attack]
• Driver Caught in Katy Freeway HOV Lane with Dummy Passenger [abc13]
• Local Speeding Tickets Can Take Years To Fight in Court [KHOU]
• Clear Lake Shores Blogger Jailed for Encouraging People To Spam Councilwoman’s Email [Galveston County Daily News]
• Parking Lot Oasis in Houston [Texas Liberal]

Photo of Evergreen Cemetery, Eastwood: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Eastbound I-10 between U.S. 59 and Gregg St. Closed This Weekend for Meadow St. Bridge Repairs [Hair Balls]
• Astros To Host Two Tailgating Trials This Season [abc13]
• Texas City Tex-Mex Institution Taco House Retiring After 50 Years [Galveston County Daily News]
• Concrete Walls Go Up in Memorial Assistant Ministries $4M Expansion [Memorial Examiner; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Commercial Construction Contracts Increase 35% Over Past Year [Houston Business Journal]
• Report Predicts New Retail Development Will Double This Year to 2.2M SF [Houston Business Journal]
• TIRZ 17 Approves $47M Draft Budget for 2013 Capital Projects; Includes Storm Sewer Improvements, Detention Basin, Street Extensions [Memorial Examiner]
• Tanglewood Resident Finds Venomous Snakes in Pool [Click2Houston]

Photo of Eclectic Menagerie Park, Texas Pipe & Supply, Highway 288 at Bellfort: Gonzvales via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Shell Oil’s Downtown Headquarters at One and Two Shell Plaza To Hit the Market [Prime Property]
• League City Approves De-Annexation of 15 Homeowners from Historic District [Galveston County Daily News]
• Bridgeland Developer Drops Plan To Substitute Apartments and Strip Center for Mixed Use Town Center [Prime Property]
• West U Raises Water Rates 1.8 Percent [West University Examiner]
• First of 40 Del Tacos To Open March 28 [29-95; previously on Swamplot]
• Newly Adopted Galveston Parks Master Plan Recommends $4M in Upgrades [Galveston County Daily News]
• West U Council Considers Acquiring New Parks Land [West University Examiner]
• Someone Keeps Stealing the Storm Grates on North Freeway Feeder Road Near Gulf Bank [Click2Houston]
• Group Wants To Keep Walmart Construction Trucks Off Aging Yale Street Bridge [Houston Chronicle]
• Don’t Tape Your Windows During Storms, Say Hurricane Officials [Click2Houston]

Photo of Tacos Jose, Hwy. 6 at Huffmeister: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston 11 Cents Away from Gas Price Record [Fuel Fix]
• Wile Interests, Stream Realty Building New Office Space at I-10 and Greenhouse Rd. [Houston Business Journal]
• Gallery Furniture Fire Suspect Ruled Incompetent for Trial Due To Brain Tumor [Houston Chronicle]
• Nearly 4 Years After Ike, Shoreacres Sees Signs of Recovery [Houston Chronicle]
• National Hurricane Director: Growth in Surge Zone Population Hurts Houston Disaster Preparedness [Houston Chronicle]
• 60% of Americans Have Positive Outlook on Homeownership, According to National Survey [Houston Agent Magazine]
• Rice Gets $25M Gift for New Social Sciences Building [Rice News, via Prime Property]
• 89-Year-Old Cleveland Home Designated a Texas Historic Landmark [Cleveland Advocate]
• 21 New Projects Recognized in AIA Houston’s 2012 Architecture Design Awards [Bellaire Examiner]

Photo of rails near Jensen and Kelly St.: lc_db via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston No. 1 Relocation City For Third Straight Year, Says U-Haul [Houston Business Journal]
• Texas Must Decide on State Water Plan, Lawmakers Say [Houston Chronicle]
• Photos of the Alabama Theater Gutting in Progress [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Galveston Council OKs 20-story Apartment Tower on East Beach [Galveston County Daily News]
• Historic Bell House Home in Texas City Being Restored with New Porch, Roof [Galveston County Daily News]
• Kemah Council Introduces Ordinance Regulating Horse-Drawn Carriage Businesses [Bay Area Citizen]
• Newly Expanded Kuykendahl Rd. To Ease Traffic, Make Room for Development [Woodlands Villager]
• Former Hush Nightclub’s Security Alarm Going Off for Weeks [KHOU]
• Man Using Gulf Freeway Billboard To Find Second Kidney [Click2Houston]
• Society Writer by Day, Stripper by Night Replaces Chronicle Reporter Who Became Escort [Hair Balls]
• African American Culture Museum Exhibition Features Sandbags at Building’s Entrance [Houston Chronicle]
• Research Finds More Homebuyers Desiring Small Living Spaces in Urban Areas [HousingWire]

Photo of Houston Ship Channel: Jackson Myers via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Spill Sends 4,200 Gallons of Crude Oil, Wastewater into Highland Bayou [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Ship Channel Collects More Toxic Chemicals Than Any Other Texas Waterway [KUHF]
• Drought-Free Land in Texas Above 10% for First Time In More Than a Year [Click2Houston]
• $6M in Lake Houston Wilderness Park Upgrades Complete; Include Equestrian and Bike Trails, Cabins, New Lake [Houston Chronicle]
• Cypress Creek Lakes Planned Community on Fry Rd. To Add 1,000 New Homes [Prime Property]
• Skinny Dipper Apprehended in Hermann Park [Culturemap]
• Stanford Files for New Trial, Claiming Lack of Preparation Time, ‘Media Circus’ Impaired Case [Houston Business Journal]
• Parking Minimums Create Too Many Parking Spots, Study Finds [Atlantic Cities]
• Slideshow of Upscale Foreclosures for Sale [Prime Property]
• Tejas Chocolate Wants To Be Houston’s Neighborhood Chocolate Factory [Eating Our Words]
• Annual RDA Tour Features Homes with Art [Rice Design Alliance]
• Two More Home and Garden Tours This Weekend [Culturemap]

Photo of Union Pacific Railyard near Harrisburg Ave.: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Tailgating OK at Designated Dynamo Lots; Astros on the Fence [Houston Chronicle]
• Post Oak Bank Expands at 2000 W. Loop [CoStar Group]
• Dropped Bank Lawsuit Made $40M Diamond Beach Resort Loan Dispute Public, Randall Davis Complains [Galveston County Daily News]
• Details (but No Pics) of the Secret Briefing Room in Highland Village’s New Apple Store [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• Watering Restrictions Lifted in The Woodlands [Woodlands Villager]
• Woodlands Developer Working with Sculptor To Replace Stolen Bronze Deer Statues [Woodlands Villager]
• Think Tank Envisions 2 Different Futures for Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Your Input Wanted at Inner West Loop Mobility Study Meeting on March 29 [HAIF]

Photo of Kemah sunrise: Stephen J. Alexander via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Home Sales Climb for Ninth Straight Month, Finds HAR Report [Houston Chronicle]
• Movement Launches To Allow People to Raise 4-6 Hens Inside the Beltway, 610 Loop [Off the Kuff]
• Strong Winds, Rain Toppled Trees Throughout Houston Area [KHOU; slideshows here, here and here]
• Yesterday’s Storm Dumped Nearly 2 Inches on City [Houston Chronicle]
• Galveston City Council To Consider Bids to Replace 35 Causeway Lights [Galveston County Daily News]
• Centerpoint Classifies Street Lights by Zip Code, Fixing Glitch That Caused Outer-Loop Residents To Be Overcharged [Click2Houston]
• Houston Financial Prowess ‘Underestimated’ [Houston Business Journal]
• Slideshow: New Rice Village Boutique Office Facility Brings Modern Design, Art to the Workplace [Culturemap]

Photo of Hwy. 290 auto-dealer demo: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool