New industrial complex coming to NW Houston.

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) has begun work on two industrial buildings totaling 212,000 square feet located in Liberty Northwest Business Center in Houston. The buildings are the company’s second and third sustainable development projects in Houston.

The first building will be an 84,000-square-foot flex facility at 5500 N. Sam Houston Parkway West. The second building will be a 128,000-square-foot warehouse building located at 14031 Hollister Road. Both will be located in the rebranded Northwest Business Center, formerly known as Beltway at Bammel, at the northeast corner of Beltway 8 and Highway 249.

Each building will feature advanced fire suppression systems giving tenants the flexibility on product type to be stored, and the ability to accommodate high levels of office build-out, plus a shared 200-foot truck court. Malvern, PA-based Liberty, which is seeking LEED-CS certification, estimates completion of both projects in January 2012.

Green features will include enhanced daylight views and insulating glass, energy efficient lighting, high energy-efficient HVAC equipment, along with low-flow plumbing, among other water-saving features.

Liberty acquired two multi-tenant industrial buildings totaling 326,400 square feet at the center in 2007. With both buildings fully occupied, the company will expand on its remaining 28 acres. Liberty can add up to four more additional buildings in the business center.

The architect for the development project is Perry Seeberger, the engineer is Terra Associates, and the general contractor is Cadence McShane.

NW Houston residents not happy with new strip club

by Tiffany Craig / KHOU 11 News
khou.com

HOUSTON—No matter how you dress it up, residents near 290 and Mangum are not happy with the addition of a new strip club.

The Sunset Strip Club opened up in the old Steak & Ale location this week.
“I’m a Christian and we don’t believe in that,” said neighbor Vicki Higerd. “We don’t like it and it’s too close to us.”
Higerd is not alone. David Edwards is worried about his son growing up around the sexually-oriented business.

“This is where my child’s growing up,” said Edwards. “Now, my child’s going to grow up and see whatever riff-raff is going be coming out of that place.”
But it’s more than upset homeowners.
For years, the Houston Independent School District fought the strip club from setting up shop because it’s just down the road from Delmar Stadium, a facility that’s used year-round by students for sporting events.

HISD released a statement after the club opened this week.
“We are disappointed with the decision to allow a sexually-oriented business to operate so close to a school athletics complex,” the statement read.
Higerd agreed.

“All of the schools around here go to that stadium to do their football and all of that and soccer and it’s just too close to that,” she said.
Sunset Strip manager Lloyd Ace invited KHOU 11 News into the club that also doubles as a sports bar.

“How do you feel about being the unwanted neighbor?” asked KHOU 11 News Reporter Tiffany Craig.

“We’ll I’m sad that we’re unwanted,” said Ace. “I can understand people’s feelings but our closest neighbors are across the freeway. This is really a commercial area.”

Man killed over pack of cigarettes ...

Authorities have identified a suspect accused in a fatal stabbing after they argued about a pack of cigarettes at a group home in northeast Houston Monday night.
Jarvis De-Allo Leverett, 35, is charged with murder in the death of Arthur Lee Washington, 52, in the 9200 block of Kerry Glen Circle about 7:30 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department.

Police said Washington died at the scene.
Leverett is being held in the Harris County jail without bail, according to county records.

Houston police said two men, later identified as Leverett and Washington, began arguing about 3:30 p.m. at the group home where they lived.
Both men have been diagnosed as schizophrenic, police added.

Washington had asked Leverett to pick up a pack of cigarettes for him at the store and then became angry when Leverett returned with only half a pack, police said.
The pair argued for hours and when they met again later that night on the patio behind the house, their confrontation escalated.
Leverett suddenly came at Washington with a knife and stabbed him after a brief chase through the backyard, police said.

A caretaker at the group home disarmed Leverett and called police.
Police said that Leverett said "The guy kept messing with me."
Staff writer Dale Lezon contributed to this report.

Read more at the Chron

The forecast?

Free diabetes screening!

Houston Northwest Medical Center is offering a free diabetes prevention screening on Saturday, August 20

From 8 to 11 a.m., you can learn more about your risk for developing diabetes. The event will screen to see if you are at risk for type 2 diabetes and includes: blood glucose, blood pressure, weight, and a personal diabetes risk assessment. The screening is free, but appointments are required. To register, call 281-580-0000.
Prevention starts with understanding your health and setting goals, then gradually making changes to achieve long-term success. Even if diabetes runs in your family, you can make lifestyle choices to help delay its onset and prevent serious complications.

There are seven common risk factors associated with diabetes. While these do not guarantee a diagnosis of diabetes, they are important to consider.

• Obesity - Being overweight or obese increases your risk for diabetes. This is the primary risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

• Family History - If you have a parent or sibling who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you run a higher risk of developing the condition.

• Inactive Lifestyle - Because muscles cells have more insulin receptors than fat cells, regular exercise can decrease insulin resistance. Regular exercise also can help control weight and lower blood sugar levels by increasing insulin effectiveness.

• Increasing Age - People over the age of 45 should be tested for type 2 diabetes every three years if results are normal. If results are borderline, the test should be repeated annually.

• Genetics - African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Alaska Natives, American Indians, and Asians are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

• High Blood Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure - The risk of developing diabetes increases if your HDL (good) cholesterol level is under 35 mg/dL or your triglyceride level is over 250 mg/dL. High blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher also increases diabetes risk.

• Gestational Diabetes - Women who developed gestational diabetes when pregnant or gave birth to a baby that weighed more than nine pounds run a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

For people living with diabetes, sugar (or glucose) can be bad if left unchecked. In diabetics, glucose can build up in the blood stream because their bodies do not produce or properly use insulin to process the sugar into energy. This can result in a condition is called hyperglycemia, which can result in complications, so it is important to know the symptoms and how to treat the condition. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, weight loss, blurred vision, or slow-healing sores.

For more information, contact the hospital’s Diabetes Services at 1-877-22-Tenet (1-877-228-3638).

HPD officer kills knife-wielding suspect who killed another man.

KHOU:

An off-duty police officer shot and killed a knife-wielding suspect who stabbed another man to death early this morning at a gas station near a bar in northwest Houston.

The shooting occurred at the station at 4401 W. 18th near the 610 West Loop about 2:15 a.m. Monday, according to the Houston Police Department.

Police said the suspect, whose name has not been released, died at the scene. The man who had been stabbed was taken to Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name has not been released.

The officer, who is identified as C.E. Hightower, was not hurt. No other injuries were reported.
Police said Hightower and another off-duty officer were in uniform and working an approved extra job directing traffic in the parking lot of the El Chaparral club when they saw a group of men get into a confrontation outside a nearby gasoline station.

The officers rushed to the station and intervened. They pulled one of the men away from the altercation, but the man went to his vehicle, grabbed a knife and began stabbing another man he had been fighting.

Hightower saw the assault and ordered the attacker several times to drop the knife. The man ignored the commands and continued to stab the victim.
That’s when Hightower, in fear of the victim’s safety and the safety of others nearby, fired several shots, hitting the knife-wielding man. The man got up after he was shot, climbed into his vehicle and drove a short distance, plowing through several bushes and slamming into a few cars in the El Chaparaal parking lot before he stopped.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7648026.html#ixzz1RpP4uHYk

Tuesday morning busy for Houston Firefighters

2 Building Fires in Northwest Houston: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

HOUSTON - The Houston Fire Department was kept busy early Tuesday morning with two fires in northwest Houston -- one at a convenience store and one at an apartment complex leasing office.

Firefighters arrived around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday to the A-MADCO Food Store on Long Point Road near Thonig Road and found smoke and flames coming from the rear of the building.

Since the store was closed, firefighters forced their way into the building and were able to put out the fire within 10 minutes and prevent it from spreading throughout the store.

The firefighters determined the fire started in the electrical room. No one was injured in the fire.
Firefighters later arrived around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday to the Yale Village apartment complex on Yale Street near Patrick Street and found a small fire above the door of the leasing office.


Read more: HERE