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Posts published in “Day: January 28, 2021”

Harris County opens on-line Vaccine registration

Jan 28, 2021
Harris County Public Health Nurse administers a vaccination last week at the Pct. 2 Northeast Community Center.

HOUSTON — Starting on Tuesday, January 26th, Harris County Public Health (HCPH) will launch a new COVID-19 Vaccination Portal for residents who meet the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) criteria for receiving a vaccine. The portal will allow individuals to be placed on a waitlist and contacted once vaccines and appointments are available. The waitlist will be available via the vaccine information link on ReadyHarris.org and https://vacstrac.hctx.net starting no later than Tuesday afternoon. Eligible residents without internet access can also call (832) 927-8787 once the portal is live to be placed on the waitlist.

Harris County’s new “Smart Waitlist” system will not use a first-come, first-served process for allocating vaccines. In order to ensure fair access for elderly residents, working families, and vulnerable populations, registrants on the waitlist will instead be selected through a prioritization and randomization process in accordance with state guidelines. Only individuals who fall under the DSHS Phase 1A and 1B category will be eligible to receive the vaccine at this stage. Those who are not qualified to receive the vaccine under 1A or 1B will still be able to be placed on the waitlist but will not be contacted to schedule an appointment until the State of Texas expands eligibility beyond 1A and 1B, likely not until the Spring or Summer.

Priority phases:

Jacinto City’s Finest – Lt. Walker and Dispatcher Solis

Jan 28, 2021
Jacinto City’s Lieutenant Dennis Walker and Communications Specialist Leslie Solis. (Photo by Allan Jamail)

By Allan Jamail

Jacinto City, TX. – January 26, 2021 – It will soon be eight years since the day (March 20, 2013) when Jacinto City’s Lieutenant Dennis Walker was critically wounded while backing-up another officer, Sgt. J. Simpson-Castaneda, who had been dispatched to investigate a family disturbance call with a family member threatening them with a gun.

When Sgt. Castaneda entered the house, the deranged gunman opened fire, the bullet striking her and knocking her to the floor. Lt. Walker heard the gunshots as he arrived and without hesitation ran into the house where the gunman was about to shoot the wounded officer again. Walker got the gunman’s attention away from the wounded officer, preventing her death. The gunman and Walker exchanged shots, and the gunman fled for cover to the bathroom, but not before Walker received multiple gunshots to the chest. The suspect later surrendered and was subsequently sentenced to prison.

Texas proposes $119.7B yearly budget, down 3%

Jan 28, 2021
TEXAS STATE CAPITOL, AUSTIN

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan today released the following statement on the House’s base budget for the 2022-2023 biennium:

“The Texas House’s base budget prioritizes the needs of Texans during this consequential moment in our state’s history and advances the Legislature’s commitment to the historic public education and school finance and property tax reforms passed last session. The decisions we make during the 87th legislative session will have lasting effects on the future of our state, which is why the House will work to improve our business climate, foster economic prosperity, and do what’s right for our students. I am grateful to the Members of the House Appropriations Committee and the hardworking committee staff for their efforts throughout this process.”

The House base budget recommendations for FY 2022-23 appropriate $119.7 billion in general revenue, a decrease of three (3) percent adjusted for population and inflation. The House budget recommendations are $3.2 billion below the spending limit of 7.06 percent adopted by the Legislative Budget Board in November 2020, and maintain a majority of the five (5) percent reductions identified by state agencies in 2020.

Significant provisions of House base budget recommendations include the following:

Pandemic slows progress on new PO/TBA plant

Jan 28, 2021
Large red cranes loom over LyondellBasell’s Channelview site as installation of the company’s propylene oxide, tertiary butyl alcohol plant’s largest pieces of equipment, such as this 25-story-tall, 601-ton distillation tower are being installed. Once in operation, the PO/TBA plant will be the largest of its kind in the world.

By Jada Mier

CHANNELVIEW – The LyondellBasell Plant hosted their Annual CAPLE State of the Plant last Thursday night, January 21, where community members, plant leaders, and media representatives discussed how the plant has held up in the midst of the pandemic. The meeting was moderated by Anne Gowan.

Plant Manager Chris Cain opened up the night explaining that 2020 has been a “challenging year.” In spite of the challenges though, Cain said, “I’m proud of how our plant, company, and people have dealt with the pandemic and still making sure that our plant is safe and successful.”

There was an update on the new PO/ TBA plant expansion project. Site Integration Manager Dean Hoffman gave a detailed status update. The new PO/TBA plant will be the world’s largest. Hoffman said that in April, due to COVID-19, the number of people working construction on the project decreased from approximately 1,600 contractors to 200 contractors per day. In late May and early June, LyondellBasell (LYB) began to increase the number of construction workers to pre-COVID-19 numbers. The project will peak in mid-2020 with approximately 1900 contractors. The new plant will be completed in December 2022.