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Jacinto City’s Easter Bunny giving Easter bag goodies to Jacinto City’s Alcala family. John, wife Erica and son Ivan. Saturday, March 27, 2021. (L – R: Bunny Helpers; Mayor Ana Diaz, Councilman Mario Gonzales, Bunny & Councilman Gregg Robinson. Photo by Allan Jamail)
By Allan Jamail
Houston, TX – Friday, March 26, 2021 at the GPISD stadium, the North Shore Mustangs Varsity Soccer team advanced in the Boys Soccer 6A Regions 3 & 4 playoffs by defeating the Deer Park Deer 6 – 4 in overtime in the Bi-District round.
The Mustangs, under head coach Richard Hurtado, with Assistant Coaches Marlon Trent and Ezequiel Calleros, leads the district with an impressive record of 10 wins, 2 loses and 2 ties.
By Allan Jamail
Jacinto City, TX. – Monday, March 29, 2021 will go down in history as one of the most important days in the City’s history. In 1944, its first school — a tiny wooden building originally named the Industrial Elementary School — which contained one office, a small kitchen, cafeteria, and several classrooms with 200 students, now has been transformed to the latest state-of-the-art school. In 1947, the city of Jacinto City was incorporated and the name of the school was changed to Jacinto City Elementary.
Two years after the May, 29, 2019 ground-breaking ceremony, the new two-story, $26+ million school, home of the Tigers (mascot), has the most latest technological advances available. It will accommodate grades Pre-K through 5th grade.
The North Shore Rotary Club is planning their 46th Annual Rotary Fundraising Event, a Fish Fry without the fish this year, due to the Pandemic. Instead of the Rotary Pavilion on Wallisville, it will be held on May 15, 2021 at Turner Chevrolet.
During the past 46 years, the North Shore Rotary has raised millions of dollars that this great organization has then invested back into our communities. Each year the North Shore Rotary “Catfish Fry & Crawfish Boil” remains one of the most exciting events of the year. Rotary identifies many people and causes needing assistance during the year. ‘Service Above Self’ is a way of life for all Rotarians and it is that commitment that drives each of us to help those in need.
This year (like last year) COVID has not made it possible for us to have the fish fry part of the event and, while we will miss that part this year, safety is the most important aspect of any event. However, the Rotary MEGA Raffle will absolutely be held on May 15, 2021 at Turner Chevrolet and here are some of the great prizes you could win:
* Choice of 2021 Chevrolet Camaro or Colorado
By Carrie Classon
March is winding down and my sister-in-law, Lori, is going with it.
There is too much food and too many flowers because that is what we do when someone is dying, when we don’t know what else to do as, gradually, the unthinkable becomes accepted and even ordinary. We make more food and bring more flowers. But there is too little time. There is always too little time.
Lori is spending most of the time she has left sleeping, which means she is not in pain but also that no one can talk with her and we miss her already, while she is here among us.
There are circles of grief, as I’ve heard it explained. Her husband, Robert, is at the center, and one ring out are her children and my husband, her brother. I am a bit further out in orbit, in Lori’s solar system of sorrow, missing her ready laugh and irreverent observations.
HARRIS COUNTY – All adults will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Texas beginning Monday, March 29. The Texas Department of State Health Services expects vaccine supplies to increase next week, and providers in multiple parts of the state have made great strides in vaccinating people in the current priority groups. The state’s Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel recommended opening vaccination to everyone who falls under the current Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations to protect as many Texans as possible.
“As a matter of fact, we in Houston had pretty much exhausted our waitlists and we wanted to have more real-time appointments available,” said Houston Health Department director Stephen Williams. Texans can continue to find vaccine providers throughout Greater Houston and sign up on waitlists through the DSHS Vaccine Information page at dshs.texas.gov/covidvaccine.
By Allan Jamail
Jacinto City, TX. – At the Jacinto City council meeting members of the Jacinto City Police Department were recognized for their outstanding performance in the investigation and apprehension of several dangerous crime suspects. Multiple felony criminal cases were solved involving aggravated robberies, house burglaries, vehicle burglaries, stolen credit cards and stolen motor vehicles. The suspects after being booked were transferred to the Harris County Jail and are awaiting their trials.
According to Jimmy Sumbera, Administrator for Harris County ESD No. 50, and the Channelview Fire Department, a reclassification of the ISO rating for the department will have possible benefits to Channelview property owners. This information may reduce your insurance rates, but you must notify your insurance company of this change. The reduction in your homeowner’s policy will not be automatic. Channelview Fire Department is getting the word out to the community related to the upcoming change in our ISO Public Protection Classification rating. For the past year the fire department has been working with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to have Channelview Fire Department evaluated for a reclassification. The PPC Classes range from 1 to 10 with a Class 1 providing the best fire protect and also resulting in the best insurance rates. Channelview is currently a Class 6.
Report by Rep. Ana Hernandez
On March 8, Speaker Dade Phelan announced the first phase of the House’s legislative reforms to protect consumers and strengthen our state’s electric grid in the aftermath of the recent, unprecedented cold weather event. Speaker Phelan highlighted the following key legislation filed by members of the Texas House of Representatives:
HB 10 – Reforming Energy Reliability Council of Texas Leadership
HB 10, filed by Representative Paddie, restructures the ERCOT board, replacing the unaffiliated members with members appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House. HB 10 also requires all board members to reside in the state of Texas and creates an additional ERCOT board member slot to represent consumer interests.
HB 11 – Protecting Consumers and Hardening Facilities for Extreme Weather
HB 11, filed by Representative Paddie, requires electric transmission and generation facilities in this state to be weatherized against the spectrum of extreme weather Texas may face. Utilities will be required to reconnect service as soon as possible and prevent slower reconnections for low-income areas, rural Texas, and small communities.
HB 12 – Alerting Texans During Emergencies
East Harris County, Texas – March 2, 2021 – East Harris County Empowerment Council (EHCEC) hires Val Senegal as Director of Resource Development.
A Louisiana native, Val Senegal, has been recently named as the Director of Resource Development for East Harris County Empowerment Council.
As a former AmeriCorps member, public school teacher, and political candidate, Senegal brings a wealth of knowledge and experience addressing the subject matters of public safety, affordable insurance, education, behavioral health, and mental health within both the public and private sectors. Her extensive experiences as both a change agent and an employee-centric leadership professional will complement the initiatives of EHCEC. Senegal will lead EHCEC’s fundraising & volunteer initiatives. Terence Narcisse, Founder & CEO of EHCEC, said, “We’re very excited to have Val join our team. Her experience, knowledge, and management capabilities will propel us to the next level!”
We are Texans, and the concept of freedom is an essential piece of our identity. We all want the freedom to go out to eat and to socialize, the freedom for our economy and our schools to open without the fear of getting deathly ill, the freedom to use amazing science and vaccine developments to our full advantage. But taking away critical public health interventions that we know are working in the name of personal freedom won’t make our community safer, nor will it hasten our return to normalcy. The state’s decision on Tuesday to end the statewide mask mandate and increase business capacity to 100% is a threat to all of the sacrifices and progress we’ve made, as well as to everyone who has not yet received a vaccine. At best, Tuesday’s decision is wishful thinking. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid.
Every time COVID-19 public health measures have been pulled back, we’ve seen a spike in hospitalizations. If we start the climb now, we’d be starting from the highest starting point ever when it comes to our hospital population, an unacceptable and dangerous proposition. Even more troubling is the revelation that Houston has the unfortunate distinction of being the only city recording every major strain of COVID-19. Our positivity rate is still sky high and moving up, not down — we’re now at 13% positivity. We’re still seeing hundreds of new cases a day. With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, we’re finally inching closer to the finish line of this deadly, destructive pandemic — now is not the time to reverse the gains we’ve worked so hard to achieve. We’re able to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel now because of the common sense steps we’ve taken to prevent the spread of this virus, like wearing masks. We can’t take one step forward just to take two steps back.