Posts published in August 2021

Sterling-White Funeral Home and Cemetery presents: THE WISDOM OF PRE-PLANNING

Aug 31, 2021

Everything you ever wanted to ask about funeral, cemetery and cremation planning!

PLEASE JOIN US

Free dinner and complimentary educational seminar providing valuable information about final arrangement planning, financial considerations, and much more. Gain the peace of mind of understanding all your options!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
7:00 – 8:30 PM
TEAPOT DEPOT
112 DENNY ST., HIGHLANDS, TX 77562

RSVP: 281-426-3555
Seating is limited! Call now!

Sterling-White Funeral Home & Cemetery
11011 Crosby-Lynchburg, Highlands, TX 77562

PUBLIC ENJOYS FIRST RESPONDERS DAY

Aug 26, 2021

The Harris County Sherriff’s Office Deputy’s booths personnel: L – R: Deputies, Sgt. D. Meek, Sgt. J. Gomez, E. Rivera, A. Schubert, E. Payton, T. Mordecal, S. Guidry, N. Powell and D. Almendarez. (Photo by Allan Jamail)

The Harris County Emergency Services District No. 12 (HCESD#12). Back row: Deputy Chief Scotch Blair, Battalion chief Sergio Gomez, Captain Brian Bunnell, Captain David Lee, Captain Beau Powers, Engineer Tralaya Jackson, Firefighter Joel Navarro, Firefighter Ricardo Rangel. Front Row: Firefighter Brian Petry, Firefighter Jose Valdez, North Channel EMS Jose Garza, North Channel EMS Christian Rivera, Firefighter Sean Peterson, Firefighter Richard Davis (Photo by Allan Jamail)

By Allan Jamail

At the Leon Grayson Center, hundreds of residents of the area came out to visit their 1st Responders and venders booths to learn and hear about many topics of interest.

Some of the busiest booths visited were from the Harris County Sheriff’s office and the Harris County Emergency Services District No. 12 (HCESD#12).

Attendees visiting the HCESD#12 booth learned how to reach them in case of a fire or a need for an ambulance. The ambulance service is the North Channel Emergency Service and the Fire Department both can be reached by calling 911. When making a 911 call caller needs to answer the WHERE-WHO-WHAT questions. Which is: WHERE is the location of the emergency, WHO you are and a call back number, and WHAT is the nature of the emergency. Pamphlets were provided on many safety concerns from fire prevention, hurricane preparedness, rising flood waters and many more issues.

You can Bet: Casino night was fun

Aug 26, 2021

PARTICIPANTS came dressed as the “Roaring 20s”. (Photos Willie Glasgow)

By Jada Mier

Jacinto City’s Town Center transformed into a casino for the North Channel Chamber Foundation’s annual scholarship fundraiser last Friday, Aug. 13.

With a “Roaring 20s” themed casino night, foundation chairman Bill Palko said that the theme was meant to express the community has come roaring out of COVID. This of course was decided before we once again entered the red zone with COVID cases increasing.

Local companies, North Shore Rotary, and Chamber members joined for a night of games and Chick-fil-a. Poker, blackjack, and roulette were a few of the games played with funny money. A raffle took place with a chance to win a bucket of wine, a YMCA membership, and much more.

Namesake Bill Palko tries not to lose too much.

Playing it safe, all attendees sported masks, and tables were set six feet apart. Bill Palko, the foundation’s chairman, explained that all the proceeds would be going to a $5,000-dollar scholarship. The scholarship is to be awarded to a local student.

Walle’s return from DC allows Quorum in Legislature

Aug 26, 2021

Texas Democratic Representatives Armando Walle, and Ana Hernandez, seen above, and Garnet Coleman broke ranks with the group of missing Legislators, and returned to Austin from DC. This allowed the Republican controlled House to declare a Quorum for the first time in over a month.

ALDINE – State Representative Armando Walle and two other Democratic legislators, Ana Hernandez and Garnet Coleman, returned from their hiatus in Washington to the state Capitol in Austin last week. Their absence, along with about 50 others, had kept the Texas House from having a quorum and unable to pass controversial Voter Restriction legislation that the Democrats said would disenfranchise many minority voters.

However, with all Republicans plus these three Democrats and a few others who never left, the Speaker of the House Dade Phelan declared they had a Quorum, and would proceed to act on legislation.

The three returning Democrats received a great deal of criticism for allowing this to happen, from labor unions, minority voter groups, and their colleagues that were still in Washington.

Walle’s office issued the following statement in defense of the return:

North Shore Rotary hears area Coaches as High School Football season starts

Aug 26, 2021

At last week’s North Shore Rotary luncheon, held in the Monument Room of San Jacinto College North, the audience had the opportunity to meet and hear from the head football coaches at each of the high schools in the area.

ABOVE, Rotary president Shawn Silman, center, with coaches (L to R) Spiro Amarantos, GALENA PARK; Averion Hurts, CHANNELVIEW; Jon Kay, NORTH SHORE; and Derek Fitzhenry, C. E. KING/SHELDON.

Jacinto City receives $1.95 million federal grant

Aug 19, 2021

Mayor Ana Diaz (left) and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee holding a replica of the $1.95 million check Jacinto City obtained through a U.S. Community Funding matching funds grant. L to R: Lt. M. Longrigg, Elizabeth Flores, Ivan Rojas, Mayor Ana Diaz, Maria Espinoza, Allen Lee, Joyce Raines, Gabe Perez, Kathy Greiner, Mike Bodak, Lon Squyres and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. (Photo by Allan Jamail)

Congresswoman Lee announces grant to improve Water Distribution System

By Allan Jamail

JACINTO CITY, TX. August 11 – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee announced to Mayor Ana Diaz, Councilman Allen Lee, and city officials, along with a group of citizens and community leaders, the news that $1,950,000 of funds will be given to the city for water line infrastructure improvements.

Lee said, “When I heard Congress’s House Appropriations Committee would be adding Community Funding Projects as an opportunity for Members of the House to address specific local needs with direct funding to solve problems that helps people and communities, I immediately thought of Jacinto City.”

She continued saying, “I reached out to Mayor Ana Diaz and City Manager Lon Squyres to learn what Jacinto City’s needs were and to suggest that they apply for funding for a Community Funding Project. This project will improve the health and safety of all residents of the City by furnishing clean, safe drinking water and the ability to protect homes and businesses from fires.”

The City will only pay the 20 percent of the funding project.

DOLCEFINO SUES CITY OF GALENA PARK

Aug 19, 2021

Wants access to records, meetings

By Gilbert Hoffman

GALENA PARK – An ongoing dispute between the City of Galena Park government and various citizens in the community, has moved to the courts for resolution or at least the next round.

The dispute centers on whether the public, and Commissioner Maricela Serna, have been excluded from knowledge of business conducted by the city, and whether their attempts to discuss this matter in Commissioner meetings have been obstructed or muted. Serna has sought the help of Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Consulting to gain access to the information and the meetings.

Wayne Dolcefino, founder of Houston-based investigative media firm Dolcefino Consulting, filed a Harris County state district court lawsuit August 17th, 2021, against Mayor Esmeralda Moya, City Secretary Mayra Gonzales, City Attorney Robert Collins for wholesale violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act.

Following is his statement in regard to the court filing, and the ongoing dispute with the city:

County offers $100 for new vaccine shots

Aug 19, 2021

HARRIS COUNTY – Harris County Public Health Announced New Vaccine Incentive Initiative for All First Dose Recipients on Tuesday of this week.

Residents who receive their First dose of the COVID-19 vaccine through HCPH will receive a $100 cash card.

In an effort to improve vaccination rates and better protect the residents of Harris County from COVID-19, Harris County Public Health (HCPH) will provide $100 cash cards to residents receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at an HCPH vaccination site.

State Senator Alvarado filibusters to block Voter Restriction bill

Aug 19, 2021

Senator Carol Alvarado speaking at the Texas Legislature during her 15-hour filibuster.

Texas Senate outlasts 15-hour filibuster by Senator Carol Alvarado to pass GOP voting restrictions bill

AUSTIN, Texas — Since before sunset Wednesday, state Sen. Carol Alvarado had been on her feet speaking, not allowed to sit or lean against her desk, on the Senate floor.

Unable to take bathroom breaks or drink water, she had worn a back brace, eyeglasses and running shoes and talked slowly behind a desk stacked with papers and with a microphone in her hand as she mounted a 15-hour filibuster. The target of her efforts was Senate Bill 1, the GOP’s priority bill that would place new restrictions on voting that many opponents say would disproportionately suppress ballots from voters of color and disabled voters.

But ultimately, her speaking marathon could only delay the passage of the bill in the Republican-controlled Senate. Shortly after she finally stepped away from her desk around 9 a.m., the Senate voted to advance the measure on a 18-11 party-line vote.

With her Democratic colleagues surrounding her desk on the Senate floor after her marathon, Alvarado invoked her Houston constituents – the voters who took advantage of the voting options SB 1 would ban – and asked why they should not be allowed as many opportunities to vote as the county was willing to offer.

Abbott sued over mask mandate ban

Aug 19, 2021

A growing number of school districts, counties and cities have defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates, as COVID-19 cases continue to spike due to the delta variant and a low rate of vaccination among Texans.

As KUT.org reported, officials in Dallas and Bexar counties won a first round in court in requiring masks in public schools and most government buildings. School districts in Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, among others, are requiring students, teachers and staff to wear masks.

Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are appealing the initial district court decisions and have vowed to sue any government official who defies the governor’s order.

HOSPITALIZATIONS, COVID-19 CASES CONTINUE TO RISE

Meanwhile, the number of new cases of COVID-19, overwhelmingly among unvaccinated Texans, continues to rise with 98,383 reported in the past week along with 628 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations are approaching the peak levels of mid-January, with 11,381 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, up 27% from the week before.

As students return to classrooms across the state, the number of children in Texas hospitalized with COVID-19 is at one of its highest levels since the pandemic began. In the 19- county region around Dallas and Fort Worth, there were no staffed pediatric beds available late last week, according to KUT.org.

County returns COVID threat level to RED

Aug 12, 2021

Delta Variant fills Hospitals

HARRIS COUNTY – Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo raised the COVID-19 threat level to “red” on Thursday afternoon, as the COVID-19 delta variant has increased hospitalizations and strained the region’s hospital resources over the past month.

It’s the first time the county has hit its highest threat level since June 2020.

The new advisory indicates that severe and uncontrolled outbreaks are present in the community and worsening, and that the public health capacity in the region is strained or exceeded, Hidalgo said.

“It’s straining our staff, it’s straining our hospitals, and it’s imposing heartbreak and anxiety in so many families in Harris County,” Hidalgo said.

The county judge called the latest surge a “perfect storm” of strained staff, a more transmissible virus, and the limited ability for local leaders to implement public health policies after Gov. Greg Abbott issued orders preventing such measures.

Hidalgo urged everyone eligible for a vaccine to get one, or else avoid “all but the most essential interactions.” She also recommended both the vaccinated and unvaccinated wear masks, and told the public to use ERs for life-threatening emergencies only.