The Guidry News
© 1996, Guidry News
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The Guidry News
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© 1996, Guidry News
Service
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Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston-Galveston Area Council
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The Galveston Park Board of Trustees expects about 300,000 spring breakers to visit Galveston Island during SpringFest, a three week period beginning this weekend. Release "We are very excited about this spring break season this year," said Dianna Puccetti, chair of the park board, at a news conference at R.A. Apffel Park on East Beach. Puccetti said SpringFest should create a $15 million economic impact. Major Vic Maceo of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol said a full staff of lifeguards will be on duty during SpringFest, as well as the summer season. "This year we are going to have more lifeguards than we have had in the past, working; and we will be working longer hours to cover the beach more efficiently for the public," Maceo said. Maceo announced that the Beach Soccer Tournament on East Beach, sponsored by Anheuser Busch, Latino Marketing and Community Relations and Del Papa Distributing Co., will include "a water safety campaign aimed at the Latino community." Galveston Police Department Sergeant Joe Pena said that the park board and the city have hired additional police officers for SpringFest. "We have done so in the form of hiring additional patrol officers and motor(cycle) officers," Pena said. "Also enhancing that with foot patrol officers, moped officers and bike officers on the Seawall, along with ATV units and patrol units to patrol the East Beach and Stewart Beach areas." Pena stressed that the visitors are being encouraged to have a good time, "but to do so in a considerate manner for others," and to obey the law. Ronnie Schultz, director of Environmental Health Programs for the Galveston County Health District said safeguards are in place to protect the health of SpringFest visitors. "The Galveston County Health District has teamed up with the Texas General Land Office as one of the local Beach Watch partners responsible for testing a portion of the entire Texas coast," Schultz said. "We routinely test at 46 testing stations (in Galveston and Bolivar). Puccetti said a successful SpringFest is expected to lead to a successful summer season. "We anticipate that we will have 1.8 million visitors," Puccetti said, adding that the summer visitors will generate $184 million in economic impact to Galveston. SpringFest activities include a St. Patrick's Day celebration, Galveston Island Spring Break with the Twisted Parrot, FeatherFest, The Grand Kids Festival, My First Triathlon, Galveston Wine & Food Celebration, ArtWalk, Hoopla 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament, Yaga's Wild Game/Barbeque Cook-off and the Oldies 107.5 Classic Car Show. Visit http://www.galveston.com/springfest/ for additional information or call (888) GAL-ISLE or (409) 763-6564. Print
Version La Marque City Council on Monday voted to cancel the May 7 election because no candidates have filed to run against incumbents Bill Charbonneau and Hank Wren. Thus, Charbonneau and Wren will serve another term. The city council named members to collective bargaining negotiation teams with police and firefighters unions. City Manager Robert Ewert, Finance Director Dan Hernandez and Council Member Keith Bell were named to the team to negotiate with police officers. Ewert, Hernandez and Mayor Pro Tem James Osteen were named to the team to negotiate with firefighters. The city council voted to approve the first reading of an ordinance to establish an ad valorem tax freeze for residential homestead property owners who are disabled or 65 years of age or older; and the first reading of an ordinance amending the classifications and salary plan for the La Marque Police Department. All other agenda items were approved. Nassau Bay City Council on Monday voted to give City Manager John Kennedy a five percent pay raise. The action came after the annual evaluation of the city manager. The city council voted to approve a resolution in support of funding in President George W. Bush's budget for the Clear Creek Federal Flood Control Reevaluation Report to be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city council appointed a subcommittee of council members John Haugen, Ron Swofford and David Braun to review a proposed bill to create a management district in the commercial areas of Nassau Bay. The city council voted to accept the city’s annual audit for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, as presented by Mark Fifield, CPA, Fifield & Company, P.C. All other agenda items were approved. Police Chief Ron Wrobleski reported to the city council on the process of transferring the city's dispatch duties to the City of Webster. Shoreacres City Council on Monday voted to extend its interlocal agreement with the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Employee Benefits Pool. The city council voted to solicit applications for a depository services contract. All other agenda items were approved. Council members Jayo Washington and Tom Rivak were absent. Mayor Nancy Edmonson administered the oath of office to new part-time police officer Christopher Paul Smith. City council candidate Sandra Lochner urged the city council to not approve an overpass over 146 for Shoreacres Boulevard. She said the project would encourage commercial traffic and have a negative impact on neighboring homes. The City of League City will conduct a series of public meetings on the proposed revisions to the city's zoning ordinance and map. "The revisions are designed to achieve the strategies, policies and standards set out in the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan," said a news release. "Some of the tasks involved in the revisions include defining use regulations and standards for new districts; updating existing district regulations to reflect Comprehensive Plan policy; and establishing supplemental standards for mixed-use activity centers and neighborhood centers." The existing zoning map will also be updated to reflect new districts. The meetings are scheduled for March 17 at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; and March 31 at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. All meetings will be held at the Johnnie Arolfo Civic Center. For more information call (281) 554-1080 or visit www.ci.league-city.tx.us. Taylor Lake Village Mayor Nathalie O'Neill, in a message published on The Online News Station Forum Page reported on a campaign to clean up the City Park. Message "The city has worked hard to clean up our City Park," O'Neill said. "We removed a dump site, removed substandard structures, re-roofed the pavilion, put in a mile long decomposed granite hike and bike trail and repaired drainage. Citizen volunteers have committed time and energy as well. Eagle Scouts have built two beautiful bridges, a sand volleyball court and installed five park benches into concrete slabs. Citizens planted over 800 trees in memory of those lives lost 9-11. Galveston Bay Foundation had Marsh Mania Day and helped us restore the marsh adjacent to our pier." However, she added that the pier in the park is not safe and has been closed to the public for over a year. "The city did not have the funds in our current budget to rebuild this without a tax increase, and we all hate those!" O'Neill said. "This spring we plan on undertaking the rebuilding of our pier if funding can be found." O'Neill said some contributions have come from The Association of Bayport Companies, and more are expected. "We hope to receive enough grants/donations to approve a bid and begin removal/construction this spring," O'Neill concluded. Houston-Galveston Area Council The Houston-Galveston Area Council Board of Directors today voted to send a letter to members of the Texas Legislature with comments and recommendations about a bill proposing sweeping changes to two areas of the state-provided Health and Human Services activities, Mental Health/Mental Retardation/ Substance Abuse and Services to the Elderly and Disabled. "The driving force behind this bill is an effort to provide new, and presumably less expensive, solutions to the rising cost, in the state’s view, of behavioral health in particular and the coming rising cost of aging and disabled services as the ‘baby boomer’ generation begins to age and become higher users of these services," said H-GAC Executive Director Jack Steele. Listen Download"This would be a sweeping and dramatic reorganization," Steele added. "Interestingly enough, although there are a great many items designed to be reorganized, there are, at this point, no revenue sources to undertake this work and sponsors of the bill say revenues would come through savings that would be achieved by some undefined method." The letter to Representative John Davis, of the Clear Lake area, and State Senator Jane Nelson, of Lewisville, the bill's sponsor, makes several recommendations, including the need to provide state funding for the restructuring. The board also unanimously approved sending a letter to Representative Beverly Woolley and other members of the Legislature putting the board on record as opposing Woolley’s proposed ethics bill as currently written. The bill would require all local elected officials and members appointed to local boards and commissions to keep track of the dollar value of gifts offered and report them within seven days of their totaling $250 or face a misdemeanor violation. Gifts offered to officials’ spouses and children would also be accountable. "These are not gifts that have been accepted, only offered," said Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, who maintains the bill is onerous and unworkable. "The unique provision of this particular bill is that our state senators and representatives have deemed that it shall not apply to them." "I think that letter probably ought to contain a positive statement that the H-GAC board supports appropriate ethics and disclosure, but that there are specific problems with this bill," Steele said. The board voted unanimously to table a recommendation to send a letter to Houston Mayor Bill White addressing his air toxics plan, outlined in his recent State of the City address. "The board felt that it would not necessarily be appropriate for the board to comment back to its members on actions that they have taken. It’s preferable that H-GAC represent the interests of its members as a group to other entities, such as state and federal government bodies and their agencies," Steele said. Matagorda County Judge Greg Westmoreland, newly-installed H-GAC board chair, presided over his first meeting Tuesday, as members unanimously approved his committee appointments: Finance and Budget – Houston City Council Member Addie Wiseman, chair; Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, vice-chair; Projects Review – Walker County Commissioner B. J. Gaines, chair; Dickinson City Councilman Kerry Neves, vice-chair; Emergency/Trauma Care Policy – Austin County Judge Carolyn Bilski, chair; Deer Park City Councilman Denton McDugle, vice-chair; Election – Pasadena Councilman Bill Welch, chair; Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, vice-chair; Legislative – Meadows Place Alderman Terry Hensley, chair; Brazoria County Commissioner Jack Harris, vice-chair; Water Resources – Waller County Judge Owen Ralston, chair; Friendswood Council Member Jerry Ericsson, vice-chair; Audit – Missouri City Councilwoman Eunice Reiter, chair; La Porte Councilperson Chuck Engelken, vice-chair; and Planning – Deer Park City Councilman Denton McDugle, chair; Pearland Mayor Tom Reid, vice-chair. All other items were unanimously approved. The United States House of Representatives on Monday unanimously approved legislation to ensure that FEMA grants do not add to the tax burden of disaster victims. The legislation was co-sponsored by Congressman Ron Paul. Federal
tax laws did not specifically address the issue of taxing
federal disaster relief, but some FEMA officials have
suggested that grants should be considered taxable income.
HR 1134 settles the issue by stating that federal
disaster mitigation payments are excluded from gross income. “It
makes no sense for the IRS to tax FEMA or other federal
disaster grants,” Paul said.
“The people of the 14th district of Texas
already pay plenty of taxes to fund FEMA.
Why should they be hit with another tax bill when FEMA
returns some small measure of those taxes in the form of
disaster relief?
The IRS doesn’t tax people when the federal
government builds a new bridge or highway in their
neighborhood.
FEMA is simply another federally-funded program, and it
is preposterous to consider FEMA grants taxable income.”
Coastal Connection, the electronic newsletter published by Washington lobbyist Howard Marlowe, reports that the American Society of Civil Engineers on Monday released its 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure - assigning a cumulative grade of D for the nation's infrastructure, including public parks and recreation, rail and security. "We need to establish a comprehensive, long-term infrastructure plan as opposed to our current `patch and pray' method to ensure a better quality of life for everyone," said ASCE President William P. Henry in the article. "To remedy America's current and looming problems, ASCE estimates an investment need of $1.6 trillion over a five-year period from all levels of government and the private sector," the article reports. "This amount does not include estimates for infrastructure security needs." The 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure assesses the same 12 infrastructure categories as in 2001, in addition to three new categories - public parks and recreation, rail and security. The following excerpt is from the Public Parks and Recreation section of the Report Card, which received a grade of “C-” from ASCE: "Many of our nation's public parks, beaches and recreational harbors are falling into a state of disrepair. Much of the initial construction of roads, bridges, utility systems, shore protection structures and beaches was done more than 50 years ago." The report contends that these facilities are anchors for tourism and economic development and often provide the public's only access to the country's cultural, historic and natural resources. "Coastal areas are vital to Americans, providing a home for 53 percent of the nation's population on just 17 percent of the land area, as well as popular vacation destinations for American and foreign tourists," the article notes. "In fact, coastal areas generate almost 31 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Beaches provide shore protection in these areas, and have a tremendous national economic impact." Students
at Clear For more information about the meeting call the school’s office at (281) 338-5600. Prevent Blindness Texas will have its 8th Annual “Swing Fore Sight” golf tournament on Monday March 28 at the Galveston Country Club. Chairs of the charity event are Beth and J.D. Epstein. Proceeds directly benefit Prevent Blindness Texas - Gulf Coast’s free community and patient services devoted to eliminating preventable blindness in Galveston County. For more information contact Connie Shaut at 409-762-9074. East Point Elementary fifth-grade student Asa Aguilar, of El Paso, won top honors in the General Land Office’s Treasures of the Texas Coast 2005 Children’s Art Contest. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Aguilar's work was chosen over more than 6,300 others. “Asa’s entry captures the essence of sunrise or sunset on a Texas beach,” Patterson said. “Its vivid, jewel-like colors suggest the contest theme: Treasures of the Texas Coast. But as talented as Asa is, many of the other entries were equally good, making it awfully hard to pick an overall winner.” Asa, 10, and her teacher, Gwynn Flato, will each receive two round-trip, coach-class tickets from Continental Airlines to any Continental destination in the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Her classmates will also get a class party at one of two Schlitterbahn Waterparks (in New Braunfels or South Padre Island). Two winners from every region in the state have also been chosen. All 48 regional winners will receive a ticket to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, two all-day passes to Schlitterbahn Waterparks, a journal made of recycled denim from Keep Texas Beautiful, a certificate of recognition from the commissioner and a calendar featuring the winning artwork. Their winning artwork will be featured in the General Land Office’s Children’s Art Contest Calendar, which will be available in January 2006. The winning artwork will also be on exhibit at the Texas State Capitol March 31-April 2, in the Central Gallery, Capitol Extension, Level 2. This year’s contest sponsors are Continental Airlines, Schlitterbahn Waterparks, the Texas State Aquarium and Keep Texas Beautiful. The annual contest is organized through the General Land Office’s Adopt-A-Beach Program. This year’s Spring Cleanup is scheduled to take place Saturday, April 23 at 29 sites along the Texas coast. “Adopt-A-Beach cleanups are a fun way to help the environment and beautify the Texas coast,” Patterson said. “Whenever you enjoy a day at the beach, remember to thank the thousands of Adopt-A-Beach volunteers who make it more enjoyable.” The artwork submitted to the Children’s Art Contest is used to support and promote volunteer participation at the Adopt-A-Beach Cleanups. For more information on the Adopt-A-Beach Program or the Children’s Art Contest, call toll-free (877) TXCOAST. The artwork will be displayed later this week on the Adopt-A-Beach Web site at: www.texasadoptabeach.org. Scheduled
Meetings Today, March 15
Gulf
Coast E-news,
published by Guidry News Service, provides comprehensive
coverage of posted public meetings in Galveston, Harris and
Jefferson Counties as well as regional news impacting the
Upper Texas Gulf Coast. Jim and Lynda Guidry are publishers of Gulf Coast E-news and The Online News Station. Jim Young is Houston City Correspondent. Dana Patricia Burke is the Bay Area Houston Correspondent. Chuck Lawrence is Galveston City Correspondent. Carl Guidry covers events in Jefferson County. Anita Donatto covers the education beat in Galveston. Patty Mayeux is editor of Gulf Coast E-news. Robert John Mihovil is a special photographic correspondent for Guidry News Service We
are seeking to hire reporters & marketing agents to
expand our coverage in Jefferson & Harris Counties. |
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