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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston
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Saturday, November 19, 2022 • Vol. 67 • No. 45
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INSIDE.
Playoff push The Heights Bulldogs kept their season alive, while local private school teams get the playoffs underway this week.
City beginning meal program for homeless By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
The city of Houston has launched a program it says is aimed at providing food and shelter for the city’s homeless population while offering them additional services to get them off the street. On Nov. 2, the city announced that it is partnering with Houston nonprofit Bread of Life on
the Dinner to Home program. The food program is designed to help those experiencing homelessness “embark on the path to being housed,” according to the city. “Food alone does not solve homelessness,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “However, when used with services and housing, food can be an important tool to help train professionals forge
Sylvester Turner
vital relationships needed to navigate vulnerable Houstonians into housing with wrap-around services.” According to data from Coalition for the Homeless, there are more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness at any given point in the Houston region. The organization also says that more than 52,000 people in Harris, Fort Bend, and
Light up the holidays
Montgomery counties accessed assistance avenues such as food or clothing assistance in 2021. The program will provide dinner four nights a week for three months, the city said, with an option to extend for up to 10 months. It will be managed by Houston-area nonprofit Bread of Life. See Dinner P. 5
HISD rolling out mobile enrollment unit for local students By Landan Kuhlmann
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landan@theleadernews.com
Art Valet Check out ArtCrawl Houston and Mural Fest this weekend.
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Don’t slow your roll Reviewer Dan Greer took a trip to Blue Sushi Sake Grill, and it did not disappoint.
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File photo by Landan Kuhlmann Pictured is a dragon display from a previous Lights in the Heights event. This year’s event is set for Dec. 10.
Lights in the Heights set for Dec. 10 By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Nibbles and Sips A local shop is offering Thanksgiving preorders and more in this week’s column.
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One of Houston’s most popular Christmastime events is coming back for a second straight year following a brief hiatus from the COVID-19 pandemic a couple of years ago. The annual Lights in the Heights holiday-themed display, put on annually by the Woodland Heights Civic Association, is back from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 This year’s featured streets during LITH will be Bayland and Woodland streets between
Studewood and Beauchamp streets, according to the event website, woodland-heights.org/ events-1/2022/12/10/lightsin-the-heights-december-10th. During the annual event, which has been held for more than 30 years, there will be unique and festive light displays for community members to see as they walk the event route as well as live entertainment from homeowners such as music and games. The annual event was briefly held internally within the Woodland Heights neighborhood, but returned to the general public
last year. The WHCA is also looking for lawns and porches to host bands that have been booked for the event. Anyone who would like to volunteer their lawn or porch for live music can email entertainmentlith@gmail.com For more information on Lights in the Heights 2022, such as directions and a route map for this year’s event, community members can visit woodland-heights.org/ events-1/2022/12/10/lightsin-the-heights-december-10th.
If area students and families see a large white van rolling around the neighborhood the words “Enroll Now,” scrawled in big block letters, there’s no reason to be alarmed – it’s just Houston ISD’s Mobile Enrollment Unit. The mobile unit, or E-Unit, is a new tool the district said it is using in efforts to increase classroom enrollment in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. With student enrollment still lagging behind its figures prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston ISD says the district is trying to make sure all families have equal access to the ability to enroll their students. According to a report from Houston Public Media, there were 194,852 students enrolled in HISD for the 2022-2023 school year as of August. The figure was down about 7.1 percent – or roughly 15,000 students – from pre-pandemic levels in the 20192020 school year, according to the report. Now, instead of having to go online – as some families may not have access to technology – or to their zoned school in order to enroll, students and families in Houston neighborhoods will be able to use mobile stations inside the unit to enroll in their school or choose from schools and programs districtwide, according to HISD. “Providing equitable access for families in every community means that we must meet our families where they are at,” HISD Superintendent Millard House II said. See HISD P. 5
THE INDEX. Sports............................................................. 4 Church........................................................... 5 Coupons....................................................... 3 Classifieds.................................................. 6
Photo courtesy of HISD The HISD Mobile Enrollment Unit is starting to roll out to local neighborhoods.
Food/Drink...............................7
Area getting into holiday spirit with local events you’re reading this, so are your potential customers Call today to advertise
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By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
As the season of major holidays begins next week, plenty of local residents likely want to start getting into the spirit. And there are plenty of events happening around Houston to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving and looking ahead to Christmas, including several happening in the area for residents of the Heights, Garden Oaks, and Oak Forest.
On Thanksgiving Day, Trattoria Sofia in the Heights at 911 W. 11th St. will be hosting a Thanksgivingcentric feast all day from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. The will be serving a 4-course prix-fixe meal along with their regular dinner menu all day, according to the restaurant. Reservations are recommended, and can be made by calling 713-804-0429. Community members can also book their table or see the special menu at www. See Thanksgiving P. 5
Photo from Facebook Several local holiday events are happening around the area in the spirit of Thanksgiving.
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