- ‘Wintry Mix’ Blankets Montgomery and Liberty Counties as Temperatures Dip Below Freezing [MyFoxHouston]
- Houston Home Builders Still Playing ‘Catch Up,’ Expected To Start as Many as 35K Homes Annually Over the Next 5 Years [Prime Property]
- Burned House Of Pies on Kirby Pushes Back Reopening to Mid-February [Houston Chronicle]
- Pappas Restaurants Opening in the Hilton Americas-Houston and Former Striphouse Downtown [Prime Property]
- Texas Historical Commission Drops Effort To Protect Galveston’s Historic Fort Crockett from Developers; Landmark Will Likely Be Demolished [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Man Who Built, Donated, and Installed Handmade Wooden Train in Donovan Park Fired from Heights Association for Doing So Without Permission [The Leader]
- Homeland Security Study Recommended $16M in Safety, Security Upgrades for Metro [KHOU]
- Metro Bags Outside Search, Will Hire Interim Leader Tom Lambert as CEO, President [Houston Chronicle]
- Here’s a Video of That Car and the Hermann Park Kiddie Train Colliding [Jalopnik]
Photo of the Lockwood/Eastwood light rail station: Alex Luster via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
It sounds like the heights folks have finally gone as low as they can go.
The Leader story apparently does not tell the complete tale. They fired the man because he didn’t ask their permission to spend $5000 of his money to build a train for the kids. Then the HHA president hires his own brother to fill the position of the fired man. That stinks.
Surely they have more of a reason. Or, are they that stupid?
With all the references to insurance in the article, it sounds as though the firing is due to the threat of the association getting sued if a kid injures themselves on the equipment. Not to defend the association’s actions in the least, but I’m sure it began as a preventative measure to legally protect themselves. If anyone should be blamed, it’s the personal injury lawyers and the lawsuit-happy culture they’ve built.
Let’s see. Heights Association President fires paid custodian of park. President then puts his own brother in the paid position. Association President also advertises heavily on Swamplot.. Bingo, no negative comments about Association President posted. Is this Houston or Washington?
And dont forget, they are willing to keep the train since the insurance company said its ok.
I cant decided whether I am happy that someone is actually auditing and/or looking into Metro or scared that the Feds are poking their head around everywhere in the name of security.