2005 Archives

2004 Archives

2003 Archives

Friday               February 18, 2005

Galveston Chamber of Commerce

Jerry Mohn assumed the chair of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce at the Annual Meeting of the Chamber at the Tremont House Davidson Ballroom Thursday night.

"I appreciate the chamber's and the members' confidence in me and I promise to live up to your expectations and hopefully will exceed those," Mohn said on accepting the traditional ship's wheel.  

Several awards were presented at the event.

Business Expansion Awards were presented to GPM, Inc., Galveston Health & Racquet Club, Fertitta Hospitality and Landry's Restaurants, Inc. and Transitional Learning Center.

The Business of the Year Award was presented to Moody Gardens.

Community Service Awards were presented to Mohn and Betty Massey.

Renaissance Awards were presented to the City of Galveston, Park Board of Trustees, Tilman Fertitta and Galveston Economic Development Partnership.

The Golden Division Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Delores Jenson.

Ambassador of the Year Awards were presented to Terri Simpton and Bill Clement.

The Chamber Service Award was presented to outgoing chair Marshall Stein.

Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented to Massey and Mohn.

The meeting, billed as a Prom Night, featuring the music of the Platters, was a tribute to William A. Ross, Jr., who received the Christie Mitchell Beachcomber Award. 

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Photos and Audio

Pasadena City Council

Pasadena City Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 on several motions, with Jack Douglass opposed, to approve several items related to the Strawberry Road Extension Project.

"This is another sad day in the history of Pasadena," Douglass said.  "This is a road to nowhere that is not needed.  It's going to cost the city a lot more money than we anticipated."  Listen   Download

"You are riding this horse to death," complained Council Member Don Harrison. "This project is going to continue and it's going to be good for the City of Pasadena." 

The city council unanimously approved on final reading the purchase of a $101,382 traffic signal pre-emption system from ACM Highway Products. Listen  Download

"When the fire trucks approach intersections, the lights will turn green for the fire trucks and red for those others," said Mayor John Manlove.  "It's a great system." 

The city council voted 5-4, with Douglass, J.J. Isbel, Jerri Neely and Dana Philibert opposed, to approve an $84,770 contract with Tanner Consulting for development of a record management plan. 

The city council voted unanimously to accept a $1,319 donation from Target Corporation for use by the Pasadena Police Department to purchase equipment for ongoing criminal investigations.

All other agenda items were approved.

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City of Houston

Houston Mayor Bill White and representatives of Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas, Metropolitan Transit Authority Chair David Wolff and the Houston Automobile Dealers Association today announced an expanded Motorist Assistance Program for Houston area freeways.

"This is another important step to make our highways safer and reduce traffic congestion," White said.  "We are working with our public and private partners on this expansion, and with the City's SafeClear towing program we are making real progress that Houston drivers are noticing."

The proposal focuses on several areas of cooperation. They are:
 
  ·  A single MAP dispatching system in the TranStar facility
with the Houston Police Department, the Sheriff's Department, Metro Police patrol units and SafeClear tow operators.

  ·  Increasing the number of MAP patrols from the current nine vehicles to 19.  Initially  Metro Police will staff the 10 additional vehicles during peak traffic shifts of 5:30 a.m. to  9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays.  White said that Metro Police and HPD will work together to ensure that this additional deployment will be on those freeway segments with the highest volume of traffic incidents and responses.

  ·  Vehicles will be donated by the Houston Automobile Dealers Association, as they have done in the existing MAP program.

  ·  Implementing a towing assistance program funded by Metro for $30 per tow, not to exceed $442,000 per year within the SafeClear service area.  Additional funding to bring the total up to $600,000 will be available for similar services outside the city limits based on agreements with those jurisdictions. 

Metro will also partially fund the free tows provided in the city under the SafeClear program. These tows will be limited to the peak  periods of Metro's increased MAP deployment. They will include short tows to a safe location off the freeways and assisting motorists with minor problems. 

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Galveston Independent School District

Galveston Independent School District School Attendance Zones and Facility Usage Committee co-chairs Beau Rawlins and Assistant Superintendent for Administration Lynne Cleveland presented an update, as well as several recommendations at Wednesday's meeting of the school board.

    ·  The district should continue and expand its ninth grade center at Ball High School rather than creating a separate ninth-grade campus.  This ninth grade wing will operate under its own budget and principal. 

    ·  The committee will continue to research options on the organization of the district’s middle schools.

    ·  The committee will continue to evaluate and make recommendations on the district’s transfer policy.

    ·  The district should continue to work to reverse the court order on L.A. Morgan Elementary School regarding desegregation.  Under this order, only "white" or Hispanic students outside Morgan’s attendance zone are allowed to enroll in the district’s Two-Way Immersion program.  This order dates back to 1959.  The committee will receive an update on the status of the district’s appeal at a future meeting. 

  ·  The committee will delay any decisions on attendance zones until the district is able to provide more concrete enrollment numbers.

The committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, March 14 to discuss the transfer policy, middle schools and the district’s effort to verify enrollment numbers. This 30-member committee is comprised of PTO/PTA presidents or designees, staff and seven community members, each designated by a board member. 

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La Marque Independent School District

La Marque Independent School District won the bronze metal in the Super Quiz Relay during the Academic Decathlon earlier this month. The nine-member team competed on the topic of astronomy.

Also, a La Marque High School junior received the gold metal and two bronze metals for her scholastic competitive abilities.  Andrea Cantu received the gold metal for the highest Honors Team score on the La Marque team.  She won the bronze metal in language and literature; and she won the bronze metal in Interview.

Other students who were recognized for their scholastic abilities were Kristina Hayes and Brittany Stewart.  Hayes received the gold metal for the highest Varsity Team score on the team. Stewart  received the gold metal for the highest Scholastic Team score on the team.

Varsity members of the Academic Decathlon are  Khristina Hayes, Demond Kelly and Whitney Randall.  Scholastic Team members are Brittany Stewart, Lauren Anthony and Lauren James.  Honors Team members are Andrea Cantu, Gary Botello and Katherine Dyer.

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Galveston-Trivandrum Sister City Society

Galveston Chamber of Commerce President Gina Spagnola presented a check for $7,370 to Deputy Consul General Ramji Lal Koli to assist in recovery from the tsunami that devastated the coast of India.

"The mayor and the city council as well as all of the citizens of the city of Galveston have worked very hard to show support financially  for the disaster that you had," said Galveston City Council Member Patricia Bolton-Legg.

"My thanks to Galveston and the Trivandrum Sister City Society," said Koli. 

For additional information about the sister city organization, visit www.hydus.com/gtsc.  

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My Texas Music Awards Show

The Third Annual My Texas Music Awards Show will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Big Texas Dancehall and Saloon at 803 E. NASA Road 1 in Webster.

"The awards show, honoring established and independent Texas music artists, will feature numerous live music performances by nominees, and will be hosted by KHOU-Channel 11 personalities Eileen Faxas and Johnathan Walton," said Lucky Boyd, who founded MyTexasMusic.com with his wife Jinelle.  

“This year’s MTM awards show promises to be a true reflection of the broad musical spectrum that is Texas music,” Boyd said. “We’re particularly pleased that Shake Russell, the 2004 Entertainer of the Year, will perform at this year’s event.”

Boyd said that unlike some awards shows based on industry votes or fan polls, the MTM Texas Music Awards winners are chosen through a "unique blended vote of musician and industry peers, with online fan voting also counting for a percentage of the final award tally". 

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the event. Ticket-holders are invited to stay for the awards show after-party. After-party tickets can also be purchased for $5. 

To purchase advance tickets visit www.mytexasmusic.com.  For more information call (409) 935-7877. 

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Scheduled Meetings
Meetings will be held in the regular meeting place of the city council or other governmental body, unless otherwise specified.

Today, February 18
5:30 North Galveston County Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting for JSC Federal Credit Union, 2300 I-45, at the corner of FM 1764 and FM 2004, next to Mall of the Mainland.
8:00 Moscow Circus, The Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston
8:00 Nunsense, The east-end theatre company, etc., Galveston
8:00 Same Time, Next Year, Bay Area Harbour Playhouse,3803 Highway3, Dickinson

Saturday, February 19
8:30 Law and the Media Seminar, South Texas College Of Law, 1303 San Jacinto, Houston
9:00 West Galveston Island Property Owners Association, Galveston Country Club  
9:00 Galveston Historical Foundation  Sacred Places Tour Details
3:00 Moscow Circus, The Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston
8:00 Moscow Circus, The Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston
8:00 Nunsense, The east-end theatre company, etc., Galveston 
8:00 Same Time, Next Year, Bay Area Harbour Playhouse,3803 Highway3, Dickinson

Sunday, February 20
2:00 MTM Texas Music Awards! Big Texas Dancehall and Saloon, 803 E. Nasa Road 1 Webster
2:30 Nunsense, The east-end theatre company, etc., Galveston 
2:30 Same Time, Next Year, Bay Area Harbour Playhouse, 3803 Highway3, Dickinson

Monday, February 21
President's Day Holiday
4:30 Friendswood City Council Worksession
5:30 University Area Association Roundtable, William Temple Center, 427 Market, Galveston. Neil Geary, director of public affairs for BP America, Inc. will discuss the proposed liquefied natural gas plant on Pelican Island
6:30 Dickinson Independent School District Board of Trustees Special Meeting 
7:00 Friendswood City Council 
7:30 El Lago City Council

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