ALDINE – It was a cloudy morning filled with sunny smiles on Friday, November 20 at Stehlik Elementary in Aldine ISD. Stehlik hosted a food drive to support students, families, and community members. Texas State Representative Armando Walle and Lone Star Trustee Myriam Saldivar surprised the campus with a $750 donation to support the food drive.
“I am truly speechless,” said Karen Wilkerson, principal of Stehlik Elementary. “The donation is needed this year. We know our families and the community has been hit hard financially, due to the economic impact of the pandemic. We are a family and we take care of each other.”
Teague Middle School Provides Families With Food for Thanksgiving(more…)
Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia explains that cleaning ditches prevents future flooding, and is his priority. He credits the public works crews in the background for their hard work, even through the Pandemic.
Harris County PCT. 2 — Since being elected into office, Commissioner Adrian Garcia has made drainage maintenance a major priority. This week, he celebrated the completion of 1 million linear feet of ditching in Precinct 2.
Roadside ditching and drainage maintenance improves water conveyance to drainage outfalls, which helps in the reduction of potential flooding for residents and businesses. Without proper maintenance, standing water can penetrate and seep under road surfaces causing deterioration, which in turn, requires more frequent, costly road repairs, and neighborhood flooding. Many neighborhoods that have not been serviced in years now have clean, excavated ditches.
Dozens of cars and vans joined in the parade, some driven by individuals, others by organizations and civic clubs. The East Aldine District provided lots of sweets and treats that were handed out along the way
East Aldine District sponsored a community Halloween “Spook-tacular” that safely brought treats and costumes to neighborhoods and kids around the Aldine area.
The Candy & Costume Caravan started 10 a.m. at the East Aldine Town Center, and for four hours wound its way through the residential neighborhoods, where families lined the streets waiting for the fun and decorated autos and vans to pass by. The Caravan ended the trip at James Drive Park on Bentley.
Resident took this photo of dust clouding the street.
ALDINE – Residents on Hartwick Street, who live near a busy Concrete Batch plant, are complaining that the neighborhood is filled with pollution, causing health problems for the families. The plant also works all hours of the day and night, neighbors said, causing unbearable noise.
Erick Garcia, who lives across the street from the plant, said the previous owner had only a few trucks, and kept the area clean. But in 2014 Integrity Ready Mix, owned by Manuel Malupa, took over the plant. Since then TCEQ have issued four violations about the plant’s operations, including “failure to prevent visible emissions from the dust collection system.”
State Representative Walle explains the limit of regulation, but agrees neighbors should be upset.
State Representative Armando Walle was at the site recently, listening to the complaints of the residents. He said that part of the problem is lack of regulatory authority. Walle said “I want to change state law to five local counties authority to regulate these facilities.”
HOUSTON – Archie L. Blanson, Ph.D., has been named LSC-North Harris president. Blanson previously served as LSC vice chancellor of Student Services before being named LSC-North Harris interim president in January 2020.
“Dr. Blanson was the overwhelming choice of the Search Advisory Committee and was rated the highest in the forums by employees,” said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC chancellor. “He will be a positive addition to our leadership team in this new role.”
Blanson devoted 39 years in education to Aldine ISD, finishing his career as deputy superintendent before joining LSC in June 2019.
“I am extremely honored to be able to continue to serve the community that I have been a part of for more than 30 years,” said Blanson. “Lone Star College-North Harris has an obligation to help the community prosper, and that will be the foundation for initiatives that I implement as president.”
FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR IH-45 IMPROVEMENT PROJECT COMPLETED
The long-awaited document is available for review by the public
By Danny Perez
HOUSTON – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) would like to announce that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is now complete for the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP). Since its release in 2017, TxDOT has been reviewing and addressing public comments on the Draft EIS and preparing the Final EIS.
The proposed NHHIP would include roadway improvements to add four managed express (MaX) lanes on I-45 from Downtown Houston to Beltway 8 North, reroute I-45 to be parallel with I-10 on the north side of Downtown Houston and parallel to US 59/I-69 on the east side of Downtown Houston, realign sections of I-10 and I-69 in the Downtown area to eliminate the current roadway reverse curves that limit capacity, and depress I-69 between I-10 and Spur 527 south of Downtown to improve safety by eliminating unsafe weaving.
The proposed project also includes reconstruction of mainlanes and frontage roads; addition of bicycle/pedestrian elements along the 44 Downtown streets that cross the freeways, including a 15- foot to 17-foot wide pedestrian buffer between the bicycle/pedestrian traffic and the vehicular traffic; addition of sidewalks along frontage roads; and addition of pass-through lanes on I-10 that will separate traffic desiring to go to Downtown from traffic destined to go through Downtown.
East Aldine District is sponsoring a SAFE FUN Halloween day event for kids and families. A parade through the streets of East Aldine will hand out sweets and treats, dress in costumes, and entertain with live music, horses, and a hayride.
The event will start at the East Aldine Town Center campus at 10:00 am, and end at the James Driver Park on Bentley by 2:00 pm. Families should line the streets with bags to collect the sweets, but be sure to wear Masks and keep a Social Distance from others.
Pct. 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and other officials of Baylor and Pct. 2 participate in the ribbon cutting last Thursday. The SmartPOD is behind them.
Will provide accessible Free Healthcare
COMMISSIONER GARCIA BRINGS INNOVATION TO PRECINCT 2 WITH THE FIRST BAYLOR SMARTPOD IN THE UNITED STATES.
This week Commissioner Adrian Garcia, along with Baylor College of Medicine and United Health Partners (UHP) announces the arrival and installation of the first of two SmartPods, which are adaptable and mobile health care structures. Designed by Baylor College of Medicine and validation was done with the help of NASA engineers, the SmartPods will be known as ACCESS2HEALTH at Precinct 2 Facilities.
Originally created to treat the Ebola outbreak in Africa, the SmartPods to be utilized in Precinct 2 are the first to be located inside the United States. Initially, ACCESS2HEALTH will be used for COVID-19 testing to be performed by United Health Partners, however, in the future, they will be available to treat infectious diseases and other illnesses.
The first SmartPod will be stationed at Northeast Community Center (10918 Bentley St., Houston, TX 77093) in Aldine. The second of the two SmartPod ACCESS2HEALTH units is expected to be stationed at East Harris Activity Center (7340 Spencer Hwy, Pasadena, TX 77505) and should arrive sometime in the Fall. The mobile clinics are an innovative answer to dealing with health care deserts in Harris County Precinct 2.
HARRIS COUNTY – Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed this week a motion to cut Harris County property tax rates. The motion was approved by Commissioners Court unanimously. The Garcia plan proposes a rate that will save taxpayers 1.3 cents per $100 of assessed value on their homes. The plan not only saves taxpayers money, it also still funds crucial priorities such as Flood Control and Harris Health.
Beginning Thursday, October 1, Aldine ISD Child Nutrition will offer free meals through an extended waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA).
Students learning on campus and at home can receive breakfast and lunch at no cost, for the remainder for the 2020-2021 school year. All students are eligible for one breakfast and one lunch per day per federal guidance. If a student eats breakfast and lunch on campus, the student is not eligible to pick up meals at the curbside meal site.
