02.16.06
Posted in News at 7:19 am by Paloma Cruz
Pasadena’s crime rate drops in 2005
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The crime rate in Pasadena went down for a third consecutive year, officials reported this morning.
During 2005, there were 5,547 reported crimes, a reduction of 10.5 percent from a total of 6,200 in 2004. Since 2002, Pasadena’s reported crimes are down 22.8 percent. The reduced crime rate is based on statistics for the seven types of crime counted in the federal Uniform Crime Report.
[snip]
Overall, Pasadena had 38.3 crimes reported for every 1,000 people in the city. The number is more than half that of neighboring Houston which had a rate of 70 per 1,000 population, Pasadena police spokesman Vance Mitchell said. City officials attribute the lower crime rate in part to increased police patrol. The city has hired more civilians to handle duties in the jail and dispatch operations, allowing more uniform officers to patrol. The city has 267 police officers.
As someone who lives here… nice to know. 
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02.15.06
Posted in News at 6:53 am by Paloma Cruz
A Texas City company won the contract to rebuild News Orleans’ Superdome. Here’s some news coverage with more details:
Texas City Firm Wins Bid To Rebuild Superdome Roof
Company Will Work On 10-Acre, $32.5M Roof From March To September
– reported by Click2Houston.com
Brazos Urethane Inc. has been awarded a $32.5 million contract to rebuild the hurricane-damaged roof of the New Orleans Superdome, the company’s president said.
The Texas City company will work on the 10-acre roof from March to September, when the New Orleans Saints are scheduled to play their first home game of the NFL season on Sept. 24.
President Wally Scoggins said the company already completed a $2.5-million contract to build a temporary roof for the dome in October. Hurricane Katrina struck the city in late August.
The 19-year-old company was the only bidder for the contract and completed the deal Friday, Scoggins said. The company, which is located about 35 miles southeast of Houston, expects to employ 150 workers throughout the job.
[snip]
Texas City firm wins job of rebuilding Superdome roof
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
Glenn Menard, general manager for SMG, the company that manages the Superdome, said Monday that the total cost of fixing the sports arena could reach $182 million. Most of the cost will be covered by insurance claims and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The NFL is expected to contribute at least $15 million, he said.
The Superdome was used as a shelter for 25,000 to 30,000 people after the storm. Its structural frame was not affected by the hurricane, but the building lost 70 percent of its roof, resulting in major damage as rain poured into the building.
The dome’s 450,000-square-foot oval roof towers 275 feet above the indoor football field. The center of the roof is too high for construction cranes, so workers will use a variety of other hoisting machines, Scoggins said.
[snip]
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02.14.06
Posted in News at 7:47 am by Paloma Cruz
Friendswood academic decathlon goes for 14th title
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
[snip]
If you’re a member of Friendswood High School’s academic decathlon team you can, and that ability has helped put the team in a familiar position — preparing for the state championships in two weeks.
The team won 55 medals at regional competition, all while having two new coaches and several new team members.
The group was the top team in the Medium School Division at the meet at Deer Park in January. The team scored 43,456 points.
With 13 consecutive years of winning state championships, the team is now setting its sight on another.
[snip]
The decathlon focuses on 10 events. They include art history, classical music, science, economics and mathematics.
The nine-member team consists of three A honors students, three B students and three C students.
[snip]
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02.13.06
Posted in News at 6:37 am by Paloma Cruz
Bridal show coming to town
– reported by Houston Community Newspapers
[snip]
The Your Loose Ends Luxury Bridal Show will take place on March 18 and 19. On Saturday, doors will open at 11 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m.; and Sunday doors will open at noon and close at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets, if purchased in advance through www.yourlooseends.com will be $4. Tickets at the door will be $8.
For more information concerning the Luxury Bridal Show at the Pasadena Convention Center, contact Your Loose Ends at (281) 998-1872.
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02.12.06
Posted in News at 2:23 am by Paloma Cruz
Seeking a better trip down memory lane
Deer Park ISD looks to rejuvenate its museum with fresh
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Deer Park Independent School District wants to preserve some memories and mementos of its 75-year history in a museum.
Organizers of the Deer Park ISD Historical School Museum are collecting items for display in the redesigned museum in the Wolters Administration Building. A volunteer committee of district employees, Deer Park graduates, retirees and community members created the museum decades ago.
The displays and artifacts, however, have not been updated since the early 1980s, so it’s time for a redesign, said Matt Lucas, the district’s spokesman.
One of the prized donations in hand is a 16 mm film of the 1952 state championship football game, in which Deer Park High School (then a Class A school) lost to Wink High.
The film was in poor condition, but Lucas found a Friendswood company that restores films onto DVD.
As part of the redesign, display cases will feature every campus in the district. Sports teams and fine arts groups, important personalities from the district’s past as well as more recent accomplishments are being featured.
[snip]
Donations needed for the museum include rare photographs and those in excellent condition. Other items needed for display are band or athletics uniforms; old sports equipment; old classroom equipment, such as flash cards; science or computer lab equipment; and printed materials such as the valedictorian’s graduation speech from a particular year or a program from a school play.
Other items include school shirts or other school spirit-related items; high school graduation rings; letter jackets or blankets; old library, cafeteria or other departmental equipment or items; musical instruments; items that were used daily, such as an old school locker; and elementary and junior high school yearbooks.
[snip]
The redesign was planned to coincide with the school district’s 75th anniversary celebration, scheduled for May 4.
For more information about the district museum or the 75th anniversary, phone Lucas at 832-668-7030 or e-mail him at mlucas@dpisd.org.
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02.11.06
Posted in News at 3:56 pm by Paloma Cruz
Pre-Mardi Gras Events Take Comic Tone
– reported by Click2Houston.com
Weeks before Mardi Gras, New Orleans residents are kicking off the celebration with an upbeat parade — and a bit of satire.
Mardi Gras is Feb. 28, nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Some private events started Saturday.
A satiric parade in the French Quarter will take aim at Hurricane Katrina and politicians blamed for chaotic relief efforts. This year’s theme is “C’est Levee” — a pun on the French phrase “C’est la vie,” meaning “that’s life.”
Parade props will feature fake levees and effigies of Louisiana’s governor and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Other displays ask France to buy Louisiana back. This year’s parade route is called a “projected path,” and maps are adorned with a swirly hurricane symbol.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 12:44 pm by Paloma Cruz
Hispanic Musicians Flock To Pasadena Store
– reported by Click2Houston.com
Requintos, bajo quintos and bajo sextos fill the jam-packed Guitar Stringer shop in this growing working-class city.
Accordions painted the red, white and green of the Mexican flag occupy a display case, and songbooks for Los Tigres del Norte share shelf space with Fleetwood Mac method books at this music shop.
Once catering to Anglo industrial plant workers, Guitar Stringer owner Robert Stringer estimates that 70 percent of his customers today are Hispanic musicians. In response, the store carries Spanish-language DVDs, guitar straps decorated with the Mexican flag and a line of accordions, an instrument popular in Hispanic bands.
[snip]
With everything from congas to large, round-backed guitarones on sale in Houston stores, the boost in business from Hispanic musicians is helping local music stores compete with Internet retailers and music store chains. Just across the street from Guitar Stringer, a Wal-Mart store sells a guitar for less than $100.
But musicians still shop at independent retailers where they can easily try out instruments before making purchases.
Some are professional musicians, who perform at area restaurants, clubs and parties.
“They can make a decent living out of it,” Robert Stringer said of the local artists.
Others simply enjoy playing, and many perform at their Spanish-language Christian churches.
[snip]
About 40 percent of Parker’s customers are Hispanic, said Kroger, who advertises in English and Spanish to tap into both markets. Her customer roster includes bongo-buying musicians and disc jockeys in the market for turntables and microphones they will use at quinceaneras for 15-year-old debutantes.
Kroger hires bilingual salespeople and repair technicians to better serve Spanish-speaking customers, who often fill the store on Sundays, when entire families shop after church.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 12:41 pm by Paloma Cruz
Authorities Warn Friendswood Park Patrons About Flasher
Deputies Say Man Exposed Self To 2 Girls Inside Restroom
– reported by Click2Houston.com
[snip]
Harris County sheriff’s deputies said the man exposed himself to two 9-year-old girls at Randolph Park on F.M. 2351 near Wandering Trail last weekend.
Investigators said it happened in the women’s restroom as the girls were coming out of the stalls.
[snip]
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02.07.06
Posted in News at 10:05 pm by Paloma Cruz
Plant fire in La Porte injures 1 person
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
An explosion and fire erupted in LaPorte near Hwy. 225 and Battleground Road in southeast Harris County Tuesday afternoon.
At least one person was injured and transported to UTMB by ambulance in fair condition after aluminum oxide powder caught fire at an aluminum handling warehouse, said a spokeswoman for Akzo Nobel Chemicals. She said the injured person was a contractor of the company.
[snip]
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02.06.06
Posted in News at 9:59 pm by Paloma Cruz
Pasadena woman hit with $10 million judgment
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Texas Attorney General’s office announced today that it had won a $10 million judgment against a Pasadena-based immigration consultant accused of bilking hundreds of immigrants out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for fraudulent services.
The judgment — the largest in the state for such a case — for penalties and restitution was filed in the 295th Civil District Court. The Attorney General’s office filed the lawsuit against Yolanda Perez in February 2005, accusing her of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
[snip]
She operated under several names including New Anointing/Nueva Uncion, Perez Immigration and Tax Service, and Greater Houston Family Outreach. She charged clients $300 to $400 per person for help with their immigration visas, permanent residency and work or travel permits.
Clients later learned they faced deportation because of errors in the documents filed or were ineligible for permanent residence.
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