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Posts published in “Day: February 7, 2019”

Wood Shadows II citizens happy with hike and bike trail changes

Feb 7, 2019
Wood Shadows II resident’s welcomed the good news from Lisa Kasianowitz, Houston Parks Board Outreach Manager (red boots) and Chip Place Managing Director of Capital Projects for the Houston Parks Board for making changes after they complained in October about the trail running near their backyards. The new route was well received after hearing it would now run along Lafferty Oaks street. (Photo by Allan Jamail)

By Allan Jamail

Houston, TX. – Friday, February 1, 2019 — Members of the Houston Parks Board met with the same citizens of the Wood Shadows II Subdivision where a proposed hike and bike trail back on October 26, 2018 met strong criticism. Back then the suggested route would have been placed close to the backside of their homes. The main complaint then was this would allow users of the trail to possibly wander into their yards and maybe break-in or steal things from their backyards.

The newest proposal relocated the trail to the front side of the homes going along Lafferty Oaks street. It now will include a new neighborhood park to be constructed on vacant lots where flood prone homes were obtained by Harris County’s Flood Control buy-out program and demolished.

Lisa Kasianowitz, Houston Parks Board Outreach Manager (above photo in red boots) conducted the meeting and Chip Place Managing Director of Capital Projects for the Houston Parks Board assured the citizens the new park and entire trail will be maintained to prevent high grass and trash from littering it. They said the area will be patrolled by police patrol cars and the bike patrol and will only be open from dawn to dusk. The new trail and park will put out for construction bids this summer.

Iris Jones the Secretary of the Wood Shadows II Civic Club and a nearby homeowner said, “For 30 years we have lived peacefully in Wood Shadows II subdivision, all we want is a nice safe and clean neighborhood.” She thanked the Park’s Board members for responding to their concerns.

Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman holds citizens advisory committee meeting

Feb 7, 2019
Photo by Allan Jamail

By Allan Jamail

Houston, Tx. – January 23, 2019 – Diane Trautman Harris County’s newly elected Clerk held her first Election Advisory Committee (EAC) meeting. She hasn’t wasted time in full-filling her campaign pledges of having citizen involvement in her decisions and to make it more convenient for voters to cast their ballots.

To get broad based county-wide citizen involvement Trautman will have seven Election Advisory Committee (EAC) meetings. The meetings will educate and seek input from the minority languages of the county as required under the 1965 and 1975 Voting Rights Act (Section 203). Trautman will include meetings in Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. She’ll use these EAC meetings to unveil her Countywide Voting Centers Plan and or her Election Day Vote Center (EDVC) plan.

Another of Trautman’s major campaign pledges was to make it easier for voters to vote on Election Day. If her EDVC plan is approved by Harris County’s Commissioners Court, it would make it possible for anyone to vote on Election Day at an Election Day Vote Center (EDVC) at any of Harris County’s 700-plus polling locations. Currently, county residents have multiple options during early voting, but on Election Day, they can only cast a ballot in their home precinct.

Galena Park ISD Community Pep Rally honors North Shore Mustangs

Feb 7, 2019
2018 North Shore Mustangs State Football Champion’s for Conference 6A Division I standing at the table displaying both the University Interscholastic League and MaxPrep trophies with Army National Guard Airborne Staff Sergeant Carla Henry and Coach Jon Kay. (Photo by Allan Jamail)

By Allan Jamail

Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 3 PM was a day that will go into history for the Galena Park ISD community. The Army National Guard, UIL and MaxPreps came together to bring the GPISD community a proud day. The event was billed as a Pep Rally and it surely was, as thousands of fans, family and students packed the stadium cheering their Mustangs.

The Master of Ceremonies was Casey Johnson, a North Shore High teacher who kept the program agenda moving forward and lively with his occasional encouragement and stirring up the crowd to get loud cheers for their Mustangs. The Mustang Nation was “in the house” and let it be known they love their East-Side Boys.

Terri Moore, Assistant Superintendent at Galena Park ISD, introduced elected officials who presented proclamations or resolutions honoring the team. Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner, Jacinto City’s Mayor Ana Diaz, Galena Park’s Mayor Esmeralda Moya, Senator Carol Alvarado, State Representative Ana Hernandez, County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Constable Chris Diaz, GPISD Trustees Jeff Millier, Wilfred Broussard and Yuroba Harris, representing Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, who couldn’t attend. Mayors Turner and Ana Diaz proclaimed North Shore Mustang Day in their cities.

Bill Moore representing MaxPrep for Andy Beal, President and Founder, gave a press statement proclaiming the undefeated North Shore Mustangs 6A Division I number one in the nation. Maxprep is a CBS Sports Digital property, and it’s the online high school sports leader devoted exclusively to the coverage of high school sports, and uses an intricate program to determine team rank. The computer-based system utilizes the huge number of game results played nationwide each season. The Mustangs set a school record for most wins in a single season; evaluations included strength of schedule, talent, quality wins and returning starters, and to qualify for the Nation’s number one rank, you must have won a state championship.

The Mustangs trampled their opponents to the tune of a 41 point average margin of victory. They set a school record for most point scored in a season with 854 (53.4 average).

Allan Jamail, NC Star writer, asked Coach Kay for a prediction and goal for 2019. Kay said, “I can’t predict this far out. We’re losing some great senior talent, but we have a good crop of upcoming players we’ll work to develop to try to fill in for those we’re losing.

“My goal is to be the best we can be” Kay said.