Walmart causing headaches for NW Houston business owners ...

khou.com
Posted on May 23, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Updated yesterday at 12:47 PM

HOUSTON – A traffic solution for a new Walmart Super Center in northwest Houston is upsetting several business owners who say the construction is costing them customers.
A new median was installed within the past two weeks to curb traffic on Silber Road and prevent it from spilling into the nearby Afton Village neighborhood. The measure comes after months of talks between neighbors, city officials and Walmart.
"This is the least restrictive (solution),” councilmember Brenda Stardig said at a recent meeting. “And it's still not to the (neighborhood’s) satisfaction but this is what we've got."

Many of the neighborhood’s 250 residents were concerned that traffic coming off I-10 would use their side streets as a driveway for the new Walmart, which opened within the past few weeks.

Rather than install gates in the neighborhood, which the city’s legal department said would be a liability of emergency vehicles couldn’t get though, city officials decided to build a median that would make it impossible for northbound drivers to turn left into Afton Village.

But landlord and business owner Dan Riley said his 70 tenants are having a very tough time getting to their apartments.

“(Walmart) is bringing economic development to the east side of Silber, (but) they've basically said we don't want the west side of Silber developed," Riley said.
At least a half dozen other business on the west side of Silber have also complained of slumping sales since the median was installed. Drivers heading north are now forced to drive a half-mile before they can make a U-turn to head south.

READ THE FULL STORY WITH VIDEO AT KHOU

Officer involved shooting at Houston mall ...

MYFOX:

Officer-Involved Shooting Near Northwest Mall: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

A Houston police officer, who worked a second job as a security guard at a nightclub, was involved in a shooting on the parking lot of Northwest Mall.

The shooting took place around 2:15 a.m. Monday outside El Chaparral on the mall complex.

Five officers were working security at El Chapparal and were helping control parking lot traffic after the nightclub closed when gunshots were fired.
Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith said a man behind the wheel of a black BMW car was driving the vehicle erratically through the parking lot.

Smith also said the car was moving toward officers and people who were leaving from El Chaparral. The BMW driver lost control of the car, which caused the BMW to strike several other vehicles.

When the apparently-armed driver stepped out of the BMW, an HPD sergeant fired his weapon at the driver.

The driver was struck in the hand and tried to run away from the parking lot on foot, but was captured by officers and taken to Ben Taub General Hospital to be treated for his wounds.


Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110516-northwest-houston-officer-involved-shooting#ixzz1MWtW5bFK

Babysitter takes cops on chase with child in car ..

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman led Houston police on a chase through southwest Houston Sunday afternoon with a baby in the car.

It started when police conducted a traffic stop. The woman gave a fake name, then took off with the toddler in the back seat, officials said.

Officers chased the woman from downtown through the University of Houston campus, down to the south side around the 610 South Loops, then to the Southwest Freeway at Beechnut where she voluntarily stopped in a convenience store parking lot.

The 18-month-old girl was checked by emergency medical personnel and appeared to be fine. Police said she was in a car seat the entire time.

According to officials, the driver fled because she had outstanding warrants.

Houston police said the woman was the child's babysitter.

Child Protective Services custody took care of the toddler until her mother picked her up Sunday night.

The babysitter was in custody late Sunday, facing charges of child endangerment and felony evading arrest. Her name was not released.

Cyclist killed in NW Houston.

A 51-year-old man was killed Wednesday evening after he apparently rode his bicycle into the path of a pickup in northwest Houston, authorities said.

Investigators said the man, whose identity was not released, was eastbound in the 4900 block of Kelley, near Wipprecht, about 7:15 p.m. when he made an unsafe lane change and was struck by an eastbound GMC pickup. The man died at the scene.
No charges have been filed and investigation is continuing

Texan heads Bin Laden raiders

The commander of the U.S. military unit responsible for killing elusive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — Vice Adm. William H. McRaven — is a San Antonio native and graduate of the University of Texas in Austin.

McRaven, 55, earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1977, although a campus dean said a computer listing didn't indicate whether the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps member had an interest in the print side of news coverage, broadcast or public relations.
A fellow ROTC member recalled McRaven as eager for military service.

"He was extremely focused on preparing for special forces details," said Curtis Raetz, of McKinney, who majored in engineering at UT, served in the Marine Corps and now works in private business.
'He had drive.'

Raetz, who graduated a year before McRaven, said the ROTC program included required courses such as naval science.

James Gruetzner, who served in the same Navy ROTC batallion as McRaven, told Cox Newspapers, "He had drive. He went on extraordinarily long runs to stay in shape. He was very dedicated."
McRaven's Navy biography states he attended the Naval Postgraduate School and was its first graduate in Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. In 1995, he wrote a book called Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare Theory and Practice.

McRaven became commander of the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command in 2008.
In that role, he reportedly led the planning and execution of bin Laden's death Sunday at the hand of Navy SEALs, an acronym that stands for Sea, Air and Land.