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ALDINE – Family members were summoned by an unknown informant to an SUV located behind a car wash and check cashing business at 4000 Aldine Mail Route near JFK Blvd. last Wednesday Morning.
Sheriff’s Deputies said that the body was Jaime Diaz, 44, and was in the rear luggage area of the SUV. They said he showed signs of trauma and the death was not self-inflicted or natural. (more…)
EAST ALDINE – The oldest bank in the Aldine area has a new building and modern new facilities next to their old location on East Little York.
Prosperity Bank is now conducting business from their new branch, which was completed and opened just recently.
The bank announced that they had sold their old three story building next door, and it would be torn down by the new owners, and two fast food restaurants built on the site.
The new building is a one story facility with as many active teller windows and drive-thru lanes as the old building, since this branch is one of the busiest of all 250 locations in the Prosperity Bank network. They have branches throughout Texas and Oklahoma, according to their spokesperson.
Prosperity also has two other offices in the East Aldine district, including one on West Little York, and another on Aldine-Bender.
By Ed Sterling, Texas Press Association
AUSTIN — While the Memorial Day holiday was observed across Texas, lawmakers stayed busy at the state Capitol, voting on key bills in the final three days of the 86th Texas Legislature’s 140-day regular session.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen did what they jointly set out to do at the beginning of the session in January. They exercised their leadership skills well enough for the Senate and House to pass property tax reform (Senate Bill 2) and school finance reform (House Bill 3), and to pass a state budget for fiscal years 2020-2021 (House Bill 1).
The Legislature is constitutionally mandated to pass a state budget every two years. HB 1, the state budget written by House Appropriations Committee Chair John Zerwas, R-Richmond, and sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, contains $250.6 billion in spending. The two-year budget is subject to certification by the state comptroller. The governor has until June 16 to sign or veto any bill or veto any line item within HB 1.
SB 2, titled the “Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019,” amends the property tax appraisal and rate-setting processes. Lt. Gov. Patrick called it the first property tax reform in 40 years. “It will provide an average of $200 in property tax relief this year on a $250,000 home,” Patrick said.
Our first few months in Washington DC have been busy. With settling in of warmer weather and sunshine, our work on Capitol Hill has really been gearing up. I want to take this chance to fill you in on our work, our committee assignments, and our priorities for the people of Texas’s 29th Congressional District.
Committee Assignments
A big part of our work is done through committees, which are specialized groups of representatives who focus on certain issues throughout the year. Committee membership is chosen by the Speaker of the House. I am pleased to have received a seat on two very influential committees, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
House Judiciary Committee
The House Judiciary Committee is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities. The Judiciary Committee is also the committee responsible for impeachments of federal officials. My background as a lawyer and former judge has allowed me to make an immediate impact on the committee.
Additionally, I also sit on two House Judiciary subcommittees, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. These subcommittees have kept us hard at work fighting what I believe is the White House’s anti-immigrant and anti-family agenda.
By Kent Bernhard – Contributor
On May 21, area business leaders and community partners gathered at the new HPD North Belt Division to announce the various improvements coming to the North Houston District.
Excellent access to transportation, major development projects and less crime have all combined to make the North Houston District one of the hottest areas in the city.
“Over the last three years, there’s a really positive vibe in the area,” Greg Simpson, president of the North Houston Management District, says. “We’re very proud.”
The 12-square-mile area bordered by the Hardy Toll Road to the east, Airtex Boulevard/Drive to the north, Veterans Memorial to the west and West Road to the south is in the midst of a major real estate development boom. Its crime rate has fallen thanks to multi-pronged community efforts. And major recreation, beautification and rebranding efforts are under way.
One result of those efforts is the development major projects such as an Amazon distribution center and the $100 million redevelopment of ExxonMobil’s former offices in the area.
Development in the district (more…)
By Allan Jamail
Houston, Texas – Friday, May 24, 2019 at the George R. Brown Convention Center a sellout crowd of 2,400 Democratic Party members assembled for their annual Johnson-Rayburn-Richards (JRR) fund raiser to hear Hillary Clinton, their 2016 former presidential candidate.
The JRR is named for former President Lyndon Johnson, former U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and Gov. Ann Richards.
Hillary remains very popular in the Houston area; in 2016 she won with 54 percent of the votes, she carried Harris County with 162,000 more votes than Donald Trump and got more votes than President Barack Obama had won four years earlier in 2012.
The former U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, First Lady and recent presidential candidate criticized President Donald Trump and called the upcoming 2020 presidential election one of the most critical in the nation’s history.
Clinton said, “We can’t just cross our fingers and pray and hope for a perfect candidate to come along. We have to organize and work hard getting out the voters. We must talk about the issues and remind Americans we are the party that can deliver for them. We support health care for all, women’s rights, an economy that provides fair wages for all, equal pay for women, decent immigration laws, protecting the children of immigrants and we also are the party that will stand up and protect the Constitution and address what is a very real constitutional crisis that this president has put us in.”
State Representative Armando Walle is visiting all the schools in Aldine ISD and his District 140, now that the legislative session is over.
He was present at the MacArthur Senior Breakfast, along with Superintendent Goffney and Mayor Turner. He said he was encouraging students to go after their dreams.
“Thanks to our Mayor Sylvester Turner for coming by MacArthur Senior High School’s Senior Breakfast. Appreciate him for being in Aldine and spending time with our kids,” Walle said.
Two hundred eighty-two Aldine ISD seniors received the opportunity to continue their academic careers by receiving either Aldine Education Foundation (AEF) or Aldine Scholarship Fund (ASF) scholarships during an awards ceremony this spring at the M.O. Campbell Educational Center.
AEF incorporated in 2012 to enable more Aldine ISD students to receive financial support for colleges of their choice, to award grants to educators for innovative instructional programs and to recognize and reward excellence in educators and students.
ASF, now under the direction of the Lone Star College Foundation, has a permanent endowment totaling more than $2 million, which sends AISD students to Lone Star College.
During the ceremony, AEF awarded 147 scholarships and 135 AISD seniors received ASF scholarships. The scholarships awarded this year totaled $573,000. That’s an increase of 31 scholarships from the 2017-18 school year.
“Because of significant support from Noble Drilling, this is the third consecutive year AEF was able to award a four-year, $20,000 scholarship to a graduate from each of Aldine ISD’s high schools,” said AEF Director Michele McGovern. “Additionally, the amazing support of Aldine ISD staff through payroll deductions funded $98,000 in scholarship funds for 26 students.”
Prior to the awarding of the scholarships, Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney delivered the Superintendent’s Challenge to this year’s scholarship recipients.
“You have done so much to get yourselves here – skipped social events to study, stayed after school to work on projects, all the things that it takes to meet your goals,” she said. “It is those traits – hard work, determination, and sacrifice that make you a true scholar and those same traits will suit you well as you go into the next chapter of life.”
She also challenged the scholarship recipients to embrace this next chapter in their lives.
Aldine ISD graduation Ceremonies May 30-June 1
Aldine ISD will hold eight graduation ceremonies May 30-June 1 at the M.O. Campbell Educational Center (1865 Aldine Bender Road).
Houston, TX – City Council Member Dave Martin would like to bring to resident’s attention that Houston Public Works has lowered Lake Houston by six inches as of Monday, May 20, allowing contractors to begin a critical rehabilitation project on the Lake Houston Spillway Dam. Lake Houston will be lowered another six inches on Tuesday, May 28, following Memorial Day weekend, for a total lake reduction of one foot through the fall of 2020.
The Lake Houston Spillway Dam Rehabilitation Project will provide increased stability to the dam through the installation of a new reinforced concrete training wall. This project also includes partial demolition of a splitter wall, which is the device used to break up the flow of water over the spillway. Contractors with Thalle Construction Company will build new concrete anchor blocks at the bottom of the training wall and elevate the Ogee and Stilling pool weirs by seven feet, thus altering the water flow from the spillway.
During this project property owners should be prepared for varying levels on Lake Houston through the fall of 2020 as any time the lake is above 41.5 feet, it will be immediately lowered back to 41.5 feet in an effort to minimize disruption of the project. In these instances, advance notice may not be possible and property owners should secure property along the shoreline for this extended period of time. During the time of this project recreational activities will be disrupted and boaters are urged to use extreme caution on the lake due to lower levels as well as increased instances of exposed debris.