Channelview Health & Improvement Coalition will be holding an in-person meeting next Thursday night, May 26th at 6:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Channelview Fire Department Station 3 located at 1210 Dell Dale, Channelview, TX 77530. There will be a social time from 5:30 – 6:20 p.m. before the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.
North Channel Star
Jeanne Shipp wins the new car Raffle
NORTH CHANNEL – A crowd numbering almost a thousand packed the Rotary Pavilion on Wallisville last Saturday May 14th, as the North Shore Rotary held their 47th Annual Catfish Fry & Crawfish Boil, a benefit event that raises money for Rotary community projects.
The event included fish fry dinners, cooked and served by Rotarians and area high school students, a live auction with over 70 lots of unusual and exotic items, a silent auction, and a raffle that gave away a new car or pickup truck and 19 other worthwhile prizes.
Chairing the event was Rotarian Ken Wimbley, and president Shawn Silman. The rest of the club filled volunteer positions and helped with ticket sales, auction prizes, sponsorship sales, food serving and more.
The Fish Fry returned this year as an in-person event, after two years of online or remote activity, due to health concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It seems the crowd brought two years of enthusiasm with them this year, in ticket sales and auction bidding.
L – R: Lt. D. Walker, Sgt. S. Flores, Officer F. Benavides, Officer R. Fisher, Sgt. C. Nieto, Constable Jerry Garcia, former Jacinto City Police Chief Allan Jamail, Chief J.M.Ayala, Lt. M. Longrigg, TCO Kacey Aguilar, Officer J. Pizano, Detective C. Cazares, Officer N. Frazier, and Officer E. Villatoro. Not pictured Galena Park Fire Chief Tom Ehlers (duty called him away) (Photo by Linda Jamail)
By Linda Jamail
JACINTO CITY – Saturday, May 14, 2022 law enforcement, firemen and veterans paid tribute to those fallen heroes who’ve died in the line of duty. This annual event began in the city in 1973 when the Jacinto City Police Officers Association had a monument and flag pole placed at Mercury Drive and IH 10 service road. It’s now been moved to the front of the police station at 10429 Market Street Road.
The month of May has memorial events for the Nation’s Armed Forces, Firemen and Law Enforcement so it was in 1973 the Police Officers Association decided to have a monument made recognizing all three services.
Jacinto City Police Chief Ayala thanked Constable Garcia, Galena Park Fire Chief Tom Ehlers and his officers for coming to the annual event. Chief Ehlers said he and his department are always willing to work with Jacinto City’s emergency departments to help save lives.
By Allan Jamail
Houston, TX. – Saturday, April 30, 2022 volunteers from all over the county showed up at the North Channel Pleasantville Elementary School to celebrate Earth Day with tree plantings and donating trees to citizens to take home to plant. Pleasantville Elementary School hosted a “Tree Planting and 500 Tree Giveaway.”
The event was a coordinated effort by Trees For Houston, LSG Sky Chefs, Lufthansa Cargo (Lufthansa Group parent company), Constable Jerry Garcia, retired or active teachers of HISD’s schools from Holland, Pleasantville, Furr including current and former students.
Texas voters get another opportunity to cast ballots starting May 16 in primary runoff elections slated for both Republican and Democratic candidates. The election is May 24, with early voting running until May 20. Statewide runoff races are slated for attorney general and land commissioner in both parties, lieutenant governor and comptroller in the Democratic race, and railroad commissioner on the Republican side of the ticket.
More information can be found about particular races at harrisvotes.com. Voters who cast ballots in one party’s primary cannot vote in the other party’s runoff election. However, voters who did not cast ballots in the primary can vote in either party’s runoff.
Early voting hours are Mon-Fri, 7am to 7pm, and the same on Tuesday, May 24 Election Day. Voting locations in this area include:
Harris County Public Health is now administering the 2nd booster dose of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines at all our vaccination sites. If you are over 50 or immunocompromised and received your first booster at least 4 months ago, you can now get a 2nd booster.
VIPER VIOLENT FELONY WARRANT TASK FORCE
Harris County, TX — TUESDAY, May 10, Harris County Pct. 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia was joined by County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, and Pct. 6 Constable Silvia R. Trevino announced VIPER – a new violent crime warrants task force approved by Commissioners Court. The warrant roundup initiative aims to reduce the number of violent offenders on the loose in Harris County. After being considered by Commissioners Court, VIPER passed unanimously with a 4-0 vote.
There are more than 50,000 people in Harris County who are wanted by police, including more than 700 people who are wanted for murder. The Harris County Commissioners Court passed the creation of a new task force that will be aimed at tracking down and arresting the most violent offenders.
The Harris County Violence Persons Task Force, or VIPER, consists of deputies from both the sheriff’s and constables’ offices. VIPER will add much-needed staff, whose purpose will be to track down and arrest the most violent offenders in Harris County. The task force will be made up of two teams, each team will consist of 4 deputy constables and 4 deputy sheriffs.
“VIPER will help ensure public safety that must be addressed,” Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. “Putting a stop to the culture of not feeling there are any consequences for criminal activity.”
East Harris County Empowerment Council serving 6 communities in the North Channel area. We have an upcoming event on Saturday, May 21st that we think is a phenomenal opportunity for residents in the area to receive FREE laptops and hotspots through a partnership we have with Harris County Public Library.
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST we will be handing out these items to Harris County residents who possess a Harris Co library card. We will also be offering them the ability to sign up for that library card while they are in line. One laptop per cardholder and one hotspot per household will be given away.
The drive thru event will be held at North Shore Episcopal Church, 13125 Indianapolis St (off of Uvalde) from 9am – 12pm (or until supplies run out).
By Allan Jamail
Jacinto City, TX. – Saturday, April 9, 2022 – District 143 State Representative Ana Hernandez had another successful food distribution event where hundreds of vehicles, many with more than one family in them, lined up to get help. Hernandez is known throughout the North Channel area for spreading help to the needy.
State Representative Hernandez’s staff, District Director Adriana Aguirre Hernandez and Community Liaison Linda Jamail, created a well-organized event which included over fifty volunteers from Galena Park High School and other organizations, who moved hundreds of vehicles through the line quickly so that volunteers and Rep. Hernandez could load the commodities into their vehicles.
Rotarians and the public will get together this Saturday, May 14 for the 47th Annual North Shore Rotary Catfish Fry & Crawfish Boil. That’s a mouthful, but it sure tastes good.
This annual event returns to an in-person style, at its traditional location in the Rotary Pavilion behind the courthouse on Wallisville Road.
Fish-Fry chairman Ken Wimbley promises that this will not only have the tastiest crawfish of all time, but also the best items for the Live and Silent Auctions. The Rotarians have had over a year to prepare and collect some unique and great items. All proceeds from the event will go to scholarships and other community projects benefitting North Shore.
The public is invited not only to come have lunch, but to take a chance on the Raffle, and win a new Toyota Tacoma pick-up or a Toyota Camry sedan. Raffle tickets are $100 and available at the door. They include two great fish dinners. There are a total of 20 expensive prizes in the Raffle – so, take a chance.
Sheldon bonds fail; Moya re-elected Mayor of Galena Park
HARRIS COUNTY – Voters went to the polls last Saturday, and voted on the few issues that were on the ballot. Two state constitution amendments, that lower property taxes, easily passed. Statewide, 1,300,000 votes were cast, with 85% approving the amendments.
Other ballot items were local, including two bond issues in Huffman, that were defeated by over 60% of the electorate that voted, and a Sheldon bond issue that was defeated by more than 65% of those who voted. Obviously the electorate was not in a mood to spend money that might mean higher taxes for them. Both districts had stated that they needed the money to build or improve facilities to accommodate student growth.
In Crosby, three directors for Newport MUD were elected: Earl Boykin, Deborah Florus, and DeLonne Johnson. Johnson won by only 3 votes over her opponent, John Webb by a count of 128 to 125.
GALENA PARK
In a closely watched election for Mayor and City Council, the incumbent Mayor Esmeralda Moya and her slate of four city commissioners were reelected. For months this administration had drawn criticism on social media and the attention of voters and the press. However, when given the chance to change, the actual number of voters that went to the polls was about half the number that voted 4 years ago, in 2020 when Moya was elected.
Vote Totals are as follows: