Headlines

• Harris County Drought No Longer ‘Exceptional,’ Just ‘Extreme’ and ‘Severe’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Private Galveston Beach Likely to Go Up For Sale Soon in Bankruptcy Case [Houston Chronicle]
• Greatwood Residents Fear Affordable Housing Project [abc13]
• Renderings of Proposed New Buildings for Galveston Yacht Basin [Prime Property]
• Video Shows Light Rail Train Hitting Pedestrian [MyFox Houston]
• Seabrook Lifts Water Restrictions [Bay Area Citizen]
• Shenandoah Ends RenFest Shuttle Service [Woodlands Villager]
• Grand Parkway Area Population, Jobs Expected To Grow Faster Than Those Near Beltway 8 [East Montgomery County Observer]
• Your Ideas Wanted for Regional Plan [Cleveland Advocate]

Photo of Buffalo Bayou Overpasses: Thomas Hawk [license]

• Houston Still Building McMansions While Other Markets Downsize [Houston Agent Magazine]
• New Video Production Studio Near The Woodlands Built from 11 Shipping Containers [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Marathon in Pictures: More Than 28,000 Runners [KHOU; more slideshows here, here, and here]
• League City Park-and-Ride Service Will Begin in March [Galveston County Daily News]
• Gone Since Ike, Galveston’s Trolley Cars Could Return to the Island with Upgrades [Galveston County Daily News]
• Galveston Historical Foundation’s Architectural Salvage Warehouse Keeps Building Parts on the Island [Galveston County Daily News]
• 420 Acres of Brazos Bend State Park Scorched in Prescribed Burn [Fort Bend Sun]
• Pedestrian Trapped Under Metro Light Rail Train at Main and Polk [KHOU]
• River Oaks Shopping Center Failure Has ‘Galvanized’ Houston’s Preservation Community [Texas Monthly]

Photo of marathoners on the Elysian Viaduct: abc13

• Revised Clear Creek Flood Control Project Would Cause Net Loss of 124 Acres of Floodplain Forest [Pasadena Citizen]
• League City Lifts Water Restrictions [abc13]
• Galveston City Council Votes to Vote on Housing Plan Next Month [Galveston County Daily News]
• Tiny Woodforest Plans To Open Model Home Village This Spring, Tennis and Aquatics Center Next Year [Magnolia Potpourri]
• Galveston Island State Park Burn Postponed to Today [Click2Houston]

Photo of Downtown Skyline: Sarah Worthy [license]

• Mayor Lifts Sprinkler Restrictions, but They Could Return This Summer [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston Foreclosures Continue To Decline [Houston Business Journal]
• Pearland Looks To Market Itself as a Tourist Destination [Pearland Journal]
• Separate Routes for Houston’s 2 Marathons This Weekend [Houston Chronicle]
• Widening of Will Clayton Parkway Complete, Should Ease Congestion on FM1960 [Kingwood Observer]
• Houston Area Stands Out in New EPA Interactive Map Pinpointing Major Greenhouse Gas Polluters [Houston Business Journal; map]
• Occupy Houston Activists Team Up with Lenwood Johnson for Fourth Ward Rehab Project [Culturemap]

Photo of Reliant Park: Ed Schipul [license]

• Harris County Flood Control District Has No Plans To Clean Up Trash-Strewn Bayou Banks [MyFox Houston]
• Torn Brays Bayou Culvert May Have Contributed to Flooding Near Griggs and Long Dr. [abc13]
• Pulling Abandoned Cars out of Brays Bayou [KUHF]
• Big Infrastructure Improvements from Drainage Fee Won’t Kick in for a Decade [KHOU]
• Downtown’s Sea of Surface Parking Lots [Price Tags]
• Galveston Debates Park-and-Ride Link to League City [Galveston County Daily News]
• Beach Burn Scheduled for Galveston Island State Park [MyFox Houston]
• Texas Drought To Continue Until Late Spring At Least [Texas Climate News]

Photo of Brays Bayou near MLK and Spur 5: KUHF News

• Monday Storms Cause Massive Flooding, Tornado Damage [KHOU; slideshows here, here, and here]
• Some Houston Spots Got Six Inches of Rain Yesterday [Houston Chronicle]
• Roof Collapses at Mall of the Mainland from Tornado, Water Damage [Galveston County Daily News]
• Rain Increases Lake Conroe Levels [Magnolia Potpourri]
• Flood Control District Says Bayou Projects Made a Big Difference [KUHF]
• 24-Hour Fitness on Post Oak Blvd. Closing To Make Way for Four Oaks Place Tower Five [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• University of Houston Seeks Proposals to Design New $120M Stadium [Cougars]
• Houston Home Prices Will Increase 3 Percent in 2012, Real Estate Data Firm Predicts [Houston Business Journal]
• Proposed Tax-Credit Suspension Could Slow Galveston Development [Galveston County Daily News]

Photo of flooding on Norfolk St.: James Fuller/KHOU

• Metro’s New Toll Lanes Delayed, But Should Open Early This Year [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Post-Drought, ‘Re-Plant Houston’ Effort Begins Replacing Oaks in Memorial Park [KUHF]
• Abandoned Alief Condo Complex Drama Butts Up Against ‘Dallas v. Stewart’ Property Rights Ruling [Houston Chronicle]
• Uncertain Futures for ExxonMobil, El Paso Buildings Downtown [Prime Property]
• National Weather Service Says 2011 Was Texas’s Driest Year Yet [CBS News]
• FEMA Docking Social Security Payments for Stay in Trailer After Ike [Houston Chronicle]
• The Downtown Views from Houston House [InnerLooped]

Photo of Sunday’s Prudential Building Demo: Candace Garcia

• New Downtown Skyscraper Could Take Shape This Year [Houston Chronicle]
• Harris County Tops List of Nation’s Worst Air Polluters with More than 12M Pounds of Toxic Emissions in 2010 [KUHF]
• City To Plant 25,000 Trees this Arbor Day in Parks Hit by Drought [abc13]
• Memorial Police Vehicles Switching to Black and White, ‘Just Like on TV’ [Memorial Examiner]
• New Study Examines Country’s Parking Lot Proliferation [New York Times]

Photo of 1400 Smith St.: MJ Ecker [license]

• $24,000 Worth of Copper Stolen from Sugar Land Skeeters’ New Stadium [MyFox Houston]
• Eversole, Surface Avoid Jail Time, Sentenced to Probation in Corruption Trial [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot]
• City To Mark 50 Single-Family or Duplex Sites Slated for Replacement Public Housing Units [Galveston County Daily News]
• Metrostudy Predicts 10 Percent Rise in Home Construction, Resales for 2012 [Houston Business Journal]
• Underperforming Mall of Mainland Macy’s in Texas City to Shutter; Clearance Sale Starts Sunday [Galveston County Daily News]
• FEMA Deadline this Friday for Wildfire Victims [KUHF]

Photo of Midtown structure: Monica Danna [license]

• Census Shows Cinco Ranch Residents Have Worst Commute of Houston-Area Communities [Houston Business Journal]
• The End of Cabo and El Rey Downtown [Prime Property]
• Prudential Building Implosion Scheduled for Sunday Morning [Bayou City History; previously on Swamplot]
• Former Inwood Forest Country Club Golf Course Purchased by City Now Overrun with Weeds, Neighbors Complain [abc13]
• Metro Seeks Community Input on Route Cancellation Plans at 3 Meetings This Month [West University Examiner]
• Surveillance Video of Thieves Smashing Up Jewelry Store in Galleria, Snatching Rolexes [Houston Chronicle]

Photo of M.D. Anderson Houston Main Building: Candace Garcia

• 25-Year Master Plan for ‘Convention District’ To Be Unveiled this Month [Houston Chronicle]
• 7 New Midrise Apartment Complexes Make a 2012 Trend [CultureMap]
• Replanting Plan for Broadway Oaks and Palm Trees [Galveston County Daily News]
• Estate Sale Finds at Accused Swindler’s $1.2M West Houston Home [Houston Chronicle]
• Mapping Galveston’s Tree Stump Carvings [The Great God Pan is Dead; previously on Swamplot]
• Houston Railroad Museum Looking for New Home [abc13]
• Optimism Prevails for Real Estate in 2012, as Experts Offer Forecasts [Houston Chronicle]
• Travel in Time to Post-Drought Texas! [State Impact]
• City Council to Take Up Rule Changes Allowing Denser Housing Outside the Loop Again Soon [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

Photo of dead-tree sculpture, 1508 29th St., Galveston: Robert Boyd

• During Drought, Leaks Cost Houston Up to a Quarter of Water it Produced [Houston Chronicle]
• Moon Tower Inn on Canal Street Promising Second Life as a Brewery Built Out of Shipping Containers [Culturemap]
• Galveston Eases Water Restrictions [Galveston County Daily News]
• State Parks $4.6M Funding Appeal Brings in More Than $355K [Memorial Examiner]
• Frito-Lay Funded Fort Crockett Park Bike Racks, Seating, Shade Structure, Solar Lighting Nearly Complete [Galveston County Daily News]
• Fannie Mae Economist Cautious on Housing Market Outlook [Houston Chronicle]
• Free Tows, Metro Rides this New Year’s Eve [Culturemap]
• A Tree Grows at Brazos Bookstore [The Great God Pan is Dead]

Photo of George Bush Park: Flickr user dbkfrog [license]

• Awaiting Sentences, Eversole and Surface Plead for Leniency in Corruption Case [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
• Possible Reasons for Historic Plunge in Houston’s Murder Rate [KHOU]
• TxDOT Studying Possible 110mph Passenger Rail Service Between Houston and Austin [GuidryNews.com, via Houston Tomorrow, via Off the Kuff]
• Port of Galveston Closer to Deal for Bulk Cargo Terminal on Pelican Island [Galveston County Daily News]
• Hess Tower Strong Indication of Investor Interest in Office Market [GlobeSt.com]
• Downtown Architecture Tour this Saturday [CultureMap]

Photo: Patrick Fuller [license]

• Harris County Files Suit Against 4 Companies Over Decades of San Jacinto River Dioxin Contamination [Houston Business Journal]
• Galveston Police Search for Squatters in Rundown Beachfront Barracks [Galveston County Daily News]
• Houston’s Second Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins Opens, at Hobby Airport [Fly2Houston]
• Conde Nast Traveler Readers Like CityCentre’s Hotel Sorella [Conde Nast Traveler, via Houston Business Journal]
• Nominations Wanted for Heights Association’s Community Improvement Awards [Home in the Heights]
• Drought Reading: Two New Books on Water-Hungry Cities [State Impact]

Photo: Thomas Hawk [license]

• Trio Pleads Guilty in Downtown Kirby Lofts Mortgage Scam [USAO; previously on Swamplot]
• $300M Pipeline Project Would Bring Trinity River to Houston Taps [Houston Chronicle]
• Race To Salvage Millions of Dead Trees in Texas [State Impact]
• Dead Tree Removal on Pause for the Holidays [Bellaire Examiner]
• City Cites Few Problems with New Wi-Fi Parking Meters in Downtown Galveston [Galveston County Daily News]
• New Development of ‘Fifties Style’ Ranch Homes Opens in Conroe [Houston Business Journal]
• Minor Victory as 0.01% of Texas No Longer in Drought [State Impact]
• League City to Build Extra-Large Water Storage Tanks Near Bay Area Blvd. and Grissom Rd. [Galveston County Daily News]

Photo of Houston Ship Channel: Louis Vest [license]