Headlines

• City Council May Allow Tailgating Outside Downtown Sports Venues as Dynamo Opening Nears [KHOU]
• First Phase of Texas City Tanger Outlet Center 85 Percent Leased [Galveston County Daily News]
• Granite Properties To Build 12-Story Westchase Office Tower [Houston Business Journal]
• League City In Talks To Buy 10M Gallons of Water a Day from Pasadena [Galveston County Daily News]
• Sinkholes Strike Backyards on Falloon Dr., South Crooked Creek [KHOU]
• Three Upcoming West U Town Hall Meetings To Address On-Street Parking [West University Examiner]
• The Restoration Hardware-Like Wares of Tomball’s Laurie’s Home Furnishings [Design Houston]
• Houston Among First Cities To Get Electric Ford Focus [Fuel Fix]
• In Texas Tradition, Museums That Enshrine the Quirky [New York Times]

Photo of Hutcheson St. power lines: Christopher Newsom via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Lobbying Duel Sparked Between United, Southwest over Hobby International Flights [Houston Chronicle]
• Memorial City Lawsuit To Charge TIRZ 17 with Illegally ‘Seizing Homes with Floodwater’ [Memorial Examiner]
• Property Value Notices To Start Hitting Houston Mailboxes [abc13]
• City Tears Down Dilapidated Former Sports Bar on Jensen Dr. [abc13]
• Buffalo Speedway Construction Project To Wrap Up by End of Month [InstantNewsWestU.com]
• Old World-Style 15-Foot Clock Tower Installed in Bellaire’s Paseo Park [Bellaire Examiner]
• Wittenberg Oberholzer-Designed Mason St. House Has Museum-Worthy Art Collection [Houston Chronicle]
• League City Councilwoman Recycles ‘Gray Water’ in Backyard Rain Garden [Galveston County Daily News]
• Longview Man Recreated Oval Office in Own Home for $250K [Texas on the Potomac]
• A Meter So Expensive, It Creates Parking Spots [New York Times]

Photo of E. Richey and Imperial Valley Dr. area: Candace Garcia

• Memorial Woods Townhomes ‘One More Rain’ Away from Falling in Banks-Eroded Bayou [KHOU]
• 2 Bronze Deer Statues Stolen from Woodlands Entrances [Courier of Montgomery County]
• Houston No Longer In Drought, Just ‘Abnormally Dry’ [Hair Balls]
• Highway Graffiti Cleanup Costs TxDOT $50K a Year [abc13]
• Dilapidated Former Sports Bar on Jensen Dr. Poses Danger, Say Neighbors [KHOU]
• Resumed Foreclosure Filings in Houston Up Only Mildly Over Last Year [Houston Agent Magazine]
• Lungs Found on Jamaica Beach Probably Belonged to a Dolphin [Galveston County Daily News]
• Read the Agreement that Ended the City’s Ashby Highrise Lawsuit [Prime Property]
• Eastbound Highway 225 Lanes Closing for Road Work This Weekend [Bay Area Citizen]
• Highland Village Apple Store, new iPad Debut [TechBlog; previously on Swamplot]
• After Almost $30M in State and City Incentives, Proposed Austin Apple Campus May Still Go to Phoenix [9to5Mac]

Photo of Highland Village Apple Store opening: Candace Garcia

• Partying Teens Inflict $100,000 in Damages to Nearly Completed Cypress-Fairbanks Home [Covering Katy]
• Dallas-Based Spire Realty Buys 18-Story Galleria-Area Office Building [Houston Business Journal]
• Meyerland Sends Out Warning as Community Hit with Break-Ins, Stolen Pets, Cell Phone Snatchings [Bellaire Examiner]
• Window-Smashing Thieves Target Tanglewood Homes [Click2Houston]
• Spring Breaker Finds Lungs on Jamaica Beach [Galveston County Daily News]
• Santa Fe Attempts To Lure Houston Tourists with New Tabloid Promotion [Santa Fe New Mexican]
• ‘Building Modern Houston’ Reading, Tour on March 21 at Houston Public Library [Design Houston]

Photo of shopping center at 2540 Broadway St., Pearland: Stephen J. Alexander via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Only 2 U.S. Cities Have More Dangerous Drivers Than Houston, Men’s Health Finds [Hair Balls]
• $20M in Renovations Approved To Refurbish Moody Gardens Hotel Lobby, Rooms [Galveston County Daily News]
• More than Double the Rainfall for Houston So Far This Year Than Last [KHOU]
• Drought Partially To Blame for Increased ‘Bee Rustling’ Incidents [KHOU; previously on Swamplot]
• Fifth Ward Residents Demand City Demolish Abandoned, Caved-In Homes on Lavender St. [abc13]
• Accident-Prone Glenbrook Valley Block Still 2 Years Away from Getting Speed Bumps [abc13]
• West U City Council Re-Evaluating Street Parking, Parking Across Sidewalks [InstantWestUNews.com]
• Rice Village Shopping District ‘On the Upswing’ [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of David Adickes sculpture, Lyric Centre: darktiger via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Radar System Upgrade Will Help Houston Identify, Track Tornadoes [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Real Estate Sector Generates $1.95B in Salaries [Houston Business Journal]
• Tolled Section of Tomball Pkwy. ‘Likely To Happen’ [Houston Politics]
• Repairs Closing Washburn Tunnel for Next Three Weekends [Pasadena Citizen]
• Beer Island Replacement Little Woodrow’s Aims To Open Next Week [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]
• Oak Ridge North Developing ‘Action Plan’ for Growth [Woodlands Villager]
• Gator Pulled from League City’s South Shore Harbour Marina [KHOU]
• 100-Acre Family Farm in Spring Keeps Houston in Vegetables, Berries [Friendswood Journal]

Photo of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church at Clay and Robin streets: James Ray via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• State Spent 10 Percent of Federal Longterm Recovery Funds, Rebuilding None of 4,100 Homes after Ike [Texas Tribune]
• Shady Acres Homeowner Realizes His Neighborhood Floods After Heavy Rains [KHOU]
• 190,000 Gallons of Raw Sewage Flows into Baytown Cedar Creek Bayou [KHOU]
• Settlement Goods & Design Opens in Montrose Blvd. Strip Center [Culturemap]
• ‘Just Another Townhouse’-Looking La Maison in Midtown Listed in Bedandbreakfast.com’s Top 10 Urban B&Bs [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
• $21 Million Lakeside Villas at Cinco Ranch Apartment Complex Will Feature 2, 3-Story Brick Arches [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Gained 94,700 Jobs Last Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Southern Apache Museum Opens in Northwest Mall [Houston Chronicle]
• GE CEO Wants Company To Grow in Houston [Houston Chronicle]
• Unsold for 9 Years, 48,000-sq.-ft. Hickory Creek Mansion Heads for Auction Block [KHOU]

Photo of Mickey Leeland Memorial Park sculpture: lc_db via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• MFAH Opens Daily Parking Lot Exhibit of ‘Curated’ Food Trucks [29-95.com]
• Rendering of Superblock Park Proposed for Midtown Superblock [Midtown Rocks]
• Hunt Begins for Developer of 1,000-Room Convention Center Hotel [Culturemap]
• Houston Averages 230 Water Main Breaks a Day [Click2Houston]
• Dayton Still Waiting on 2008 Ike Reimbursements [Cleveland Advocate]
• Hurricane Ike Dredging Debris Found Along Crystal Beach [Galveston County Daily News]
• Seawall Paid Parking Start Date Postponed [Galveston County Daily News]
• Power Rates May Increase in Texas This Summer [Click2Houston]
• Seabrook’s Pelican Grill ‘Restaurant Impossible’ Makeover Will Air in April [Bay Area Citizen]

Photo of Medical Center: darktiger via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Sports-Focused TV Studio Headed for Struggling Houston Pavilions [Culturemap]
• New Wastewater Treatment Facility Planned for Pasadena [Houston Business Journal]
• Turning a Neglected Century-Old House, Corner Store in Galveston into Low- and Moderate-Income Housing [Galveston County Daily News]
• East End’s Rufus Cage Elementary Declared Historic Landmark [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
• Zip Code Error Causes Outer-Loop Residents To Be Overcharged for Street Lights [Click2Houston]
• Conroe City Council Considers Tougher Ordinance To Preserve Mature Trees [Courier of Montgomery County]
• Bagby Slimming Down to One Lane in Midtown as Tunneling Construction Begins [InnerLooped]
• Memorial City Mall Debuts eVgo Charging Station [Covering Katy]
• Slideshow of Homes, Bungalows Less Than 1,000 SF Up For Grabs in Houston [Prime Property]
• Frescoes Leave Menil Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum Through the Roof [Culturemap]

Photo of Rufus Cage Elementary School: Candace Garcia

• League City Will Spend $197K To Move Compton Oak to Donated Land [Galveston County Daily News]
• Liberty County Sheriff: Watch out for Poachers Growing Marijuana on Your Property [Cleveland Advocate]
• Drought Blamed after Rotted Huffman Tree Falls on Trimmer [Click2Houston]
• Transportation Policy Council Approves $78M for US 290 Congestion-Easing Projects [Cypress Creek Mirror]
• Bellaire Keeping New Trash Pickup, Curbside Recycling Rules in Place [Bellaire Examiner]
• Highway 146 Closed This Weekend at Port Rd. for Ramp Construction [Bay Area Citizen]
• Four Finalists in National Student Competition To Reinvent Downtown Post Office [Prime Property]
• Slideshow: Alabama Theatre in the 1970s and ’80s [Bayou City History]
• How to Get Eminent Domain in Texas [State Impact]

Photo of the University of St. Thomas: bjoelio via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Most Diverse Region in the Country; Pearland and Missouri City Lead the Way [Houston Chronicle]
• Road Closures This Week at IAH [abc13]
• Slideshow of Dynamo Stadium, Opening on May 12, on Schedule, Budget [Houston Business Journal]
• Developer Planning 5-Story Hotel on Seawall Blvd. [Galveston County Daily News]
• Company Seeking Approval for Multistory Housing Development on East Beach [Galveston County Daily News]
• TxDOT Figuring How To Spend Extra $2 Billion in Transportation Funds [KUHF]
• Sunday Washington Ave Churchgoers Sick of Seeing Leftover Trash from the Drake [abc13]
• Forest Service Conducts Controlled Burn of 120 Acres in Jones State, Sam Houston National Forests [Courier of Montgomery County]
• Allen Stanford Jurors Can’t Reach Verdict [Stanford Watch]
• Car-Sharing Service RelayRides Expands to Houston [KUHF]
• Applying for an FHA Loan Before April 1 Can Save You Money [Culturemap]
• Photo Tour: Montrose, Just North of the US-59 Boundary [HAIF]

Photo of Main and Rusk St.: Flickr user darktiger via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Officials To Meet with ‘Distressed’ Future Ashby Highrise Neighbors on March 12 [Memorial Examiner; previously on Swamplot]
• Condo Association at Royalton River Oaks Sues Contractors Over Corroding Crown [Prime Property]
• League City Council Approves Plan for $187M in Road Expansion Projects [Galveston County Daily News]
• Woodlands Development Standards Committee Denies Abortion Prayer Sign [Woodlands Villager]
• League City Aiming for Simpler Drought Contingency Plan Before Summer Starts [Galveston County Daily News]
• Dowling and Texas Intersection Closed This Week For Light Rail Track Installation [KUHF]
• Texas City Residents Tired of Neighboring Limestone Company’s Constant Booms [Galveston County Daily News]
• State Climatologist Careful to Avoid Mentioning Global Warming in Titles of Talks at State Agencies [KUHF]
• Menil Byzantine Fresco Chapel Closes; Future Still Undecided [Houston Chronicle]
• Rediscovered Rice University Relics Include Remnants of 1950s-Era Computer, President’s Top Hat [Houston Chronicle]
• Artist Charlie Stagg Leaves Behind House of Glass Bottles and Aluminum Cans in Vidor [Culturemap]

Photo of Bob Fowler sculpture in Texas Medical Center: lc_db via Swamplot Flickr Pool

• Houston Has Highest Levels of ‘Super-Commuters’ [Atlantic Cities]
• Kroger Shopping Center Coming to FM 1093 and Spring Green Blvd. in Fort Bend County [Prime Property]
• State’s Electric Generation Capacity Will Be Tight This Summer [KUHF]
• New Bellaire Recycling Rules Begin Today, May Stop Monday [Bellaire Examiner]
• Brazos Canoe Trail Project Begins as 2 Launch Sites Opened [Sugar Land Sun]
• Estates of Legends Ranch Reverses Course, Allows Family To Keep Baby Kangaroo Being Trained for Intellectually Disabled [Houston Chronicle]
• Magazine Ranks Houston No. 1 for Corporate Expansions, Relocations [Houston Business Journal]
• Ai Weiwei’s Bronze Zodiac Head Sculptures Now Installed in Hermann Park [Houston Chronicle]
• Slideshow Preview of This Saturday’s Houston Modern Home Tour [Culturemap]

Photo of Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals, Hermann Park: Molly Glentzer

• Taxi Rides Will Now Cost You 40 Cents More a Mile [KUHF]
• Gas Prices, Rise in Employment Lead To More Houstonians on METRO Buses, METRORail [Click2Houston]
• First Tenant for Former Stanford Financial HQ: Keller Williams Metropolitan Realty [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]
• Memorial City Drainage Group Revives Water Detention Lawsuit Against TIRZ [Memorial Examiner]
• Construction Expected Soon on League City Jimmy Changas [Galveston County Daily News]
• Pampa Grill Customers Resort to ‘Istanbul Grill’ Parking Method [Eating Our Words]
• Alice Waters Christens Houston Permitting Center Vegetable Garden [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Slideshow of Horse-Friendly Houses [Prime Property]
• Vote for Your Favorite Freeway [Loop Scoop]

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

• First Tenant for Dinerstein’s Millennium High Street Will Be Dinerstein-owned Low-Cal Eatery [Houston Business Journal]
• Houston Job Growth To Spur Commercial Real Estate Development, Says Report [Houston Business Journal]
• St. Louis Company Will Oversee Rebuilding of Public Housing Damaged by Ike [Galveston County Daily News]
• Oil Prices Rose 26 Cents in Houston This Month; Likely To Keep Rising [Houston Chronicle]
• League City Council Scraps Eminent Domain Proceedings after Compton Oak Landowner Lowers Price; Will Buy Direct [Galveston County Daily News]
• Two Years After Noise Citations, Bayport Terminal Still Loud, Says Resident [Houston Chronicle]
• Baby Kangaroo Being Trained for Intellectually Disabled Violates HOA Restrictions at Estates of Legends Ranch [The Courier of Montgomery County]
• Parking Space Pollution Costs up to $20B a Year Nationwide [Streetsblog Capitol Hill, via Houston Tomorrow]
• How More Expensive Housing Can Actually Cost You Less [Atlantic Cities]

Photo of Fred Hartman Bridge: James Ray via Swamplot Flickr Pool