SCORING THE STUDEMONT KROGER 
The blogger grocery store reviews are in! Or at least one of them, for the just-opened Kroger south of the Heights at 1440 Studemont. Former Stop & Shop cashier Viula finds helpful price scanners, a few extremely wide aisles (and a few especially narrow ones), some discolored lettuces, some very shy salsa, and strange logic in the organization of orange and orange-y juices: “Not life shattering or even really news worthy outside of the fact that I am writing about what a disorganized mess this supermarket seemed to be,” she writes. “But it’s counter-intuitive and makes a mundane task more frustrating than it should be.” In sum, she pronounces: “Eh.” Next up — if anyone publishes one — blogger reviews of the Kroger’s same-opening-day neighbor, the new Washington Heights Walmart? [The Heights Life; previously on Swamplot] Photo: The Heights Life
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A parking garage is planned on Westpark just west of Kirby Dr., to serve the Goode Company Taqueria and Goode Company Seafood restaurants that sandwich it. The new garage will replace the stylin’ 1966 glazed-brick-front Elgin Butler Brick Co. office building and adjacent warehouse that have served as Goode Company’s offices and commissary since 1988. Together, the modern buildings measure more than 14,000 sq. ft.
- Huge Damage to Northeast in Sandy’s Path; Millions Without Power [New York Times]
- ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ Ship Bound for Galveston Sunk by Hurricane Sandy off North Carolina’s Outer Banks [Galveston County Daily News]
- More Cartoon-Like Renderings of Exhibits Planned for New Downtown Tourism Center [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- Texas’s First Driver’s License Megacenter Opens in Pflugerville Today; Spring and Rosenberg Locations To Open by End of January [Houston Chronicle]
- Sears To Close 2 Woodlands Product Rebuild Centers Next Year, Cut 117 Jobs [Houston Business Journal]
- Nonno Tony’s World Kitchen Slated To Open in Time for Biker Rally Thursday at Pier 21 [Galveston County Daily News]
- TxDOT Officially Awards $1.04B Contract To Design, Build, Maintain 38 Miles of the Grand Parkway [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Deadline for Public Comment on Plans for I-45 Expansion Is Nov. 9 [The Leader]
- Councilman Davis Takes Hands-On Approach to Cleaning Up District B [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Politicians Using Tax Dollars To Put Their Names on Hundreds of Road Signs [KHOU]
- Slideshow: Houston’s Largest Boutique Hotels [Houston Business Journal]
- East Montgomery County Improvement District Spent 2 Full Years of Tax Revenues on Stalled New Caney Theme Park, Donations to Defunct Nonprofit [Click2Houston; part 2; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of Annunciation Orthodox School: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
A ground-floor restaurant spot in the almost-complete 6-story brick condo building at 1111 Studewood St. will be taken by the third location of the Union Kitchen, the Leader‘s Charlotte Aguilar reports. A sign in a window facing north onto E. 11th 1/2 St. indicates a TABC application for that space is currently under review. A broker from Personette Properties says a model unit for one of the building’s 20 residences should be ready for visits by December 1st — and move-ins by the first of the year. 1111 Studewood Place is also working to sign up a fitness facility and a medical office for the building’s office space, the broker says. The building has its own garage; all the condo units are on the top 3 floors.
- Heights close to getting popular Union Kitchen at 1111 Studewood Place building [The Leader]
- 1111 Studewood St. [HAR]
- Previously on Swamplot: Meanwhile, at the Corner of 11th and Studewood, A Rooftop Party Deck Behind the 11th St. Someburger? Those Lofty Earlier Designs for 1111 Studewood Place, Studewood Place: Some New Building Behind the 11th St. Someburger
Photos: Candace Garcia
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON DREW ME TO THE SEA “When I lived near the Spur, the traffic sounded like ocean breakers and lulled me to sleep at night. Now I live on the coast and the breakers remind me of 59, but with a better view.” [miss_msry, commenting on Comment of the Day: A Difference in Freeway Sound Quality]
- W Bellfort Ave Daily Ashford area [LoopNet]
LITTLE HOUSE OF COFFEE AND DRINKS OPENS BEHIND UCHI 
Friday was a grand grand opening day in the Inner Loop. The big bear-hug welcomes may have been for the long-awaited Washington Heights Walmart and the Studemont Kroger — but also making its debut on that day was tiny Southside Espresso, the little up-Grant-St.-behind-Uchi coffee place Fusion Beans proprietor Sean Marshall has been working on since signing a lease for the 714-sq.-ft. space labeled 904-C Westheimer 15 months ago. The tiny coffee house will be open until midnight every night — in part to flex its newly acquired beer-and-wine license. [Eater Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: David Buehrer
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Fortunately, you’ll have saved plenty of room for dessert:
- Planned Island Public Housing Would Only Accommodate About 30 Percent of Current Applicants [Galveston County Daily News]
- LongHorn Steakhouse Opening Third Houston Location Today in The Woodlands [Houston Business Journal]
- BB’s Cafe Wants To Expand Po-Boy Empire Outside the Loop [Culturemap]
- Galveston OKs First Beach Renewal Project Since Supreme Court Decision Turned Public Beaches Private in West End [Houston Chronicle]
- Neighbors Complain About Kimberley Lane Halloween Display Featuring Bloody Mannequins, Hanging Dolls, Chainsaws, Body Parts [Click2Houston]
- Houston Flights to Nearly 30 Destinations Canceled Because of Hurricane Sandy [abc13]
- New Astros ‘Lone Star’ Logo Leaked in Academy Store, Online [Ultimate Astros]
- Sugar Land Recognized as ‘Clean Air Leader’ for Commuting Initiatives [Sugar Land Sun]
- J. Patrick Homes Model in Fort Bend Wins Greater Houston Association of Builders Design Award [Sugar Land Sun]
- Affordability, Light Rail, Historical Architecture Draw Arts Organizations to Midtown [Houston Chronicle]
- Alley Theatre Would Make a Defensible Outpost During Zombie Apocalypse [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Sawyer Park, Candace Garcia via Swamplot Flickr Pool
A steady stream of movie-minded customers — many bearing their lengthy wish lists of titles to snag — hit today’s preview of Audio Video Plus’s closeout sale. And learned that storefront operations at the shop at 1225 Waugh will be pretty much ceasing. But not entirely: Sales will continue from the location via the internet and randomly occurring open house days TBD, a store manager declared on Friday. Meanwhile, the rarely full parking lot is getting a bit more of a workout, as are the film collectors racing through the still-stocked aisles and vying for remaining packaged and rental copies of the “Movies and More” touted on a banner above the entry. The preview continues 11 to 7 Saturday.
- Previously on Swamplot: Audio Video Plus on Waugh is Clearing it Out
Photos: CALwords
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A DIFFERENCE IN FREEWAY SOUND QUALITY “I used to live upstairs in a 4 plex on the other side of the Spur on 59. I never found the freeway noise bothersome even though I could practically see the whites of the drivers’ eyes from my bedroom window. It was a constant whooshing that I just pretended was the sound of the ocean . On the other hand I later lived blocks and blocks away from I-10 but the sound of 18 wheelers shifting gears used to annoy me when I was trying to sleep. It depends more on the traffic patterns than distance.” [Tangyjoe, commenting on Porch-Sitting on the Edge in Woodland Heights]
Photographer Karen Dressel was on hand at lunchtime today to document the final few bites of the excavator demolishing the last of the 3 former Ruggles Grill buildings at 903 Westheimer, just east of Montrose. Two adjacent buildings, at 817 and 907 Westheimer, were torn down earlier this month; Cherry Demolition’s excavator worked up an appetite waiting on-site for the last demo permit to come through. That happened yesterday, and the meal began shortly after breakfast this morning:
- 3810 Childress St. [HAR]
