TUESDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:
Video: KRIV 26 News
Pat Hernandez, KUHF Public Radio
Six years ago, high hopes went into the conversion of 80 wooded acres off Little York in northeast Houston. The plan was to turn the vacant land into a 375 home community.
But the Leland Woods neighborhood hit a road block after 41 homes were built. Credit markets dried up and builders got scared and left.
Now the neighborhood has come back to life. Chris Butler is with the City of Houston’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
“When we entered this program six years ago, it wasn’t really a community. It was just a bunch of houses that somebody dropped on the ground. The original developer and builder had kind of dumped this back in the city’s lap and walked away. And it’s taken us six years to actually get a new developer and new builder to come in here and to reinvest in this community.”
Workforce Housing Down Payment Assistance was created to provide families, whose combined annual income is 80% less than that Houston’s median income, with direct financial assistance. It will offset portions of the down payment with closing costs and pre-paid items and principal required for home purchase.
(Read & hear more of the story at KUHF Public Radio)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- Source of E. coli illnesses sought as cases rise to 10 (Chron.com)
- Magnet school plans upset community leaders (KTRK 13 News)
- Why So Many People in Houston Are Going Hungry (KUHF Public Radio)
- New breast milk donation center opens in Cy-Fair (KTRK 13 News)
- Sketch released of woman left in garbage bag (KPRC 2 News)
- Poll of residents puts Houston on list of least-safe U.S. cities (Chron.com)
- Official Chevron Houston Marathon ‘Run for a Reason’ charities announced (Your Houston News)
- Rise and shine: Mayor’s Literacy Leadership breakfast draws big early-morning crowd (Houston Culture Map)
STATE HEADLINES:
- House Tentatively Approves Morton Act, DA Sanctions (Texas Tribune)
- Knowing Your Neighbor When Deadly Chemicals Are Next Door (State Impact Texas)
- Budget Negotiators Tentatively Restore CPRIT Funds (Texas Tribune)
- TxDOT reminds people seat belts save lives (KIAH 39 Newsfix)