01/24/14 1:30pm

2015 W. Alabama St., Montrose, Houston

Jazzy Girls Beauty Boutique, 2015 W. Alabama St., Montrose, HoustonAn episode of Animal Planet’s hit show Call of the Wildman that aired 5 months ago featured the show’s star Ernie Brown Jr. (who goes by the nickname “Turtleman”) and his sidekick Neal James ridding a Montrose beauty salon of an infestation of about 20 Mexican free-tailed bats. The escapade filmed in the back storage rooms of the Jazzy Girls Beauty Boutique on West Alabama St. just east of Shepherd was only one of several dozens of purported animal rescues performed by Turtleman “with his bare hands” in the course of the top-rated Sunday night cable TV show, which is now in its third season. In the other segment of the episode, called “Bat Hair Day,” he rescues a raccoon from a cave.

The supposedly cruelty-free “live action” Montrose winged-creature extrication, which was filmed in April, was reported locally in the Chronicle and Culturemap as another quirky Turtleman success story shortly before the episode aired in early August. But an investigation published earlier this week by Mother Jones reveals that the show’s creators had themselves planted the bats in the salon to allow them to film Turtleman and his assistant removing them.

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Jazzy Girls Have Left the Building
01/24/14 10:30am

View Showing Construction of Hermann Park Plaza Apartments, 5745 Almeda Rd., Houston

Hark! Ye down there, amidst the freewayishness and — what? Some sort of dirt hill? A bit of earthwork and foundation pouring appears to have begun on the new 193-unit apartment complex M-M Properties is developing along the southbound 288 feeder road between the misaligned block-long stretches of Hermann Dr. and MacGregor Way. The 2.1-acre site was forged by merging a drainage-friendly never-been-built-on swath that cuts diagonally through the site with a bit of extra feeder-road frontage to the north. The view, sent in by a Swamplot reader, is taken from high above in the northern Mosaic condo tower. Almeda Dr. extends along the left side of the photo; the new complex will have a 5745 Almeda address. The Amalfi at Hermann Park apartments are at the far left.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

Construction Overview
01/24/14 8:30am

lockwood:eastwood green line metro light rail stop

Photo of the Lockwood/Eastwood light rail station: Alex Luster via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
01/23/14 11:30am

402 Mignon Ln., Memorial Bend, Houston

402 Mignon Ln., Memorial Bend, HoustonFrom the caps-lock, asterisk-punctuated copy for 402 Mignon St., listed since mid-December for $550K: “LARGE DESIRABLE CORNER LOT IN MEMORIAL BEND*NEW LARGE HOMES THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD*AN AMAZING LOCATION AND GREAT SPRING BRANCH SCHOOLS*PROPERTY SELLING FOR LOT VALUE ONLY*APPOINTMENT REQUIRED TO WALK THE PROPERTY*”

The 1956 flat-roofed building with redwood siding and terrazzo floors was designed by architect Harold Oberg and converted into an actual residence after sales in the neighborhood were completed.

Filet Mignon, Please
01/23/14 10:30am

DeLuxe Theater, 3300 Lyons Ave., Fifth Ward, Houston

And look — all it took was a little uh, clearance from the city. You can see the working arm of the excavator inside what used to be the innards of the DeLuxe Theater at 3300 Lyons Ave. in this photo from this morning sent to Swamplot by a reader. Long the focus of various repurposing plans, the shell now appears ready for its latest renovation project.

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Innards Out
01/23/14 8:30am

house behind washington street

Photo of house behind Washington Ave: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
01/22/14 3:00pm

Bennigan's Restaurant, 8401 Westheimer Rd. at Dunvale, HoustonIf tracking the comings and goings of Bennigan’s in Houston has become a little confusing , that’s understandable. The Irish-stewish bankruptish restaurant chain suddenly shuttered all of its U.S. locations — including 20 in Houston — back in 2008; 3 years later, the chain’s new owners announced the impending arrival of as many as 10 new restaurants in Houston alone. The first of these new-concept franchises appeared under the tower sign of a strip-center endcap at Westheimer and Dunvale (above) in 2012. A second location opened just a couple of weeks ago in a former Aldo’s spot on the feeder road across I-45 from The Woodlands. And yesterday the company announced it had “nearly 100 restaurants under contract for development over the next several years worldwide,” including a new grand opening in Houston to be announced soon. Bennigan’s is also planning a comeback for its sister Steak & Ale chain, which had packed out of Houston with the Bennigan’s retreat in 2008. President and CEO Paul Mangiamele is planning a “big announcement” about Steak & Ale’s future on Friday.

But in the meantime, the comeback Bennigan’s at 8401 Westheimer has shut down, the always-checking-it-3-times staffers behind the b4-u-eat restaurant newsletter now report. A new location of smaller scale chain 59 Diner has already signed up to replace it.

Photo of Bennigan’s at Westheimer and Dunvale: Laina C.

Bennigan’s Begin Again