Harris County, TX – An apartment complex caught on fire and families were
evacuated last Tuesday morning. The fire occurred at Mi Casita Apartments located
at 5001 Aldine Mail Route Road in Aldine. The Eastex Fire Department was on
scene as well as Harris County Sheriff’s units to evacuate adjacent tenants.
Authorities reported that at least 8 units in the complex were affected by the fire
and smoke and water damage. No injuries were reported. The complex has had
multiple fires in the past two years, according to news records.
NORTHEAST – The East Aldine District held their quarterly Community Forum last Thursday at BakerRipley, and used the opportunity to introduce several new educational leaders to the community.
The meeting was chaired by East Aldine’s Richard Cantu, who introduced Jometra Hawkins, the Community Developer representative for BakerRipley, and Diana Del Pilar, the principal of the new Avalos P-Tech high school, part of the Lone Star College’s new building. Also speaking was the dean of the Lone Star College East Aldine campus, Luis Lucio.
HOUSTON –– A man was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, Nov. 22 for a shooting that killed two and injured six people at the Haverstock Hills apartments more than two year ago.
Kenneth Jones was found guilty of capital murder in the March 26, 2017 shooting at the apartment complex. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
His brother, Harvey Jones, was also arrested in connection with the shooting. Last August, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee gives out 200 Thanksgiving turkeys at Jacinto City’s Heritage Hall. Congresswoman Lee gives out annually 1,500 to 2,000 turkeys in her 18th Congressional District. (Photo by Allan Jamail)
By Allan Jamail
Houston, Jacinto City & Harris County – November 26, 2019 — 1,500 plus residents throughout Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s 18th Congressional District received turkeys and pies on her annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway Day.
Congresswoman Lee began early each of two mornings and going late into the evenings traveling throughout her district personally handing out turkeys. At each of the 20 stops Lee extended her message of goodwill and wishing a happy Thanksgiving message to approximately 2,000 of her constituents.
This year Congresswoman Lee and her volunteers were joined by Mahesh Rege, Regional Service Coordinator of Region 10, of the Houston Chapter of the Sathya Sai International Organization (SSIO) and his volunteers, Krishna Pallerla, Gayathri Ballingam and Srini Parthasarathy, giving away pies to those in attendance.
Announces New Focus on Early Childhood Development
Harris County, Texas – November 15, 2019 – Today, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo joined business leaders, residents, and community leaders from across the region to deliver the first State of the County address of her term. During her remarks to about 900 attendees, Judge Hidalgo outlined key areas of progress in fostering a safer, healthier, and more equitable Harris County and announced a new initiative that will focus on improving early childhood development.
“The state of our county is strong,” said Judge Hidalgo. “But being strong is about much more than having a low unemployment rate or a strong bond rating. It’s about making sure that all of our residents enjoy equal access to the great opportunities available to them in Harris County. Over the past year we’ve made county government more transparent, made strides to reform our criminal justice system, and have begun to make up for lost time when it comes to investing in our flood control infrastructure. But there is much more to do, and we look forward to another year of ambitious, meaningful initiatives, including a focus on what we can do to improve early childhood development and education.”
Drawing from the “Talking Transition” initiative, Judge Hidalgo will kick off a community engagement series next year as the first step towards a larger goal of a meaningful early childhood development initiative in Harris County. Programs that focus on early childhood development have one of the strongest returns on investment for any type of public program. Children who benefit from initiatives like subsidized childcare and early education tend to have higher high school graduation rates, fewer arrests, lower rates of substance use, and higher rates of employment as adults.
During her remarks, Judge Hidalgo also provided updates on key priorities since her swearing in. Some key areas of progress include:
For the 16th consecutive year, Aldine ISD received a rating of “Superior” under Texas’ School FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) accountability rating system. The “Superior” rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of Aldine ISD’s financial management and reporting system.
The primary goal of the School FIRST system is to ensure that Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices. The School FIRST system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes.
The School FIRST system has 15 indicators that are evaluated. The first five indicators are critical indicators and must be met to avoid failure. The other 10 indicators evaluate financial solvency and financial competency.
Texas State Representative Armando Walle of Houston is one of four state lawmakers who are being honored by Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks, with a 2019 Hunger Leadership Award for their work to end hunger in the 86th Texas Legislative Session.
A ceremony for Rep. Walle was held last Friday, November 15 at the Houston Food Bank.
The four lawmakers honored at the ceremonies were:
– Representative Armando Walle – Houston Food Bank (Houston)
– Senator Brandon Creighton – Montgomery County Food Bank (Conroe)
– Representative Terry Meza – North Texas Food Bank (Plano)
– Senator Charles Perry – South Plains Food Bank (Lubbock)
Each honoree championed critical legislation to support food banks in their effort to end hunger.
An exciting presentation was led by Rice University – Kinder Institute’s Dr. Stephen Klineberg at the North Houston’s Business Community Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Intercontinental Airport Hotel on Oct. 31.
More than 100 guests gathered to hear the acclaimed expert on Houston’s changing demographics and to learn about the latest improvements for Greenspoint. (more…)
In 1994, Gilbert Hoffman and his wife Mei-ing bought the Highlands Star – Crosby Courier, fulfilling one of Gilbert’s lifelong dreams: to own a newspaper. This also marked the beginning of what would become a small publishing conglomerate, serving the greater Houston area with community papers such as the Star-Courier, Northeast News, and North Channel Star.
This week, Gilbert celebrates his 80th birthday. Upon such a significant milestone, it is worth looking back on his remarkable life, family, adventures, and many careers. (more…)
L – R: Thelma Scott, Founder & CEO of S.A.F.E Diversity Communities; Yuroba Harris, Attorney Leona Filis with Filis Law Firm; and Freddie Jackson with Jackson Cares/Retired Firefighter
By Allan Jamail
Yuroba Harris well known in the 29th Congressional District was recently honored at a special program on November 2nd by S.A.F.E. Diversity Communities for her work on promoting Education, Career Awareness and Scholarships for students. Harris worked as the District Director for many years for retired Congressman Gene Green. She’s currently working on special initiatives for Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia with a number of faith based, nonprofit, civic organizations, community development and revitalization committees and boards.
During the special award presentation (also honoring Veterans), Mrs. Thelma Scott, PresidentCEO and founder of S.A.F.E. Diversity Communities, thanked Yuroba for her 17 years of support for their education and scholarship program efforts.
