01.30.07

today’s news is a train crash

Posted in News at 10:45 pm by Paloma Cruz

The Houston Chronicle reports that “A train engine crashed into a bus loaded with contract workers at Shell Oil Co.’s Deer Park plant today, sending 29 people to area hospitals with unspecified injuries, officials said.”

Where was the bus going? “The workers on the bus — just a few dozen of the 3,000 contract workers Shell officials said are involved in maintenance and updating work at the huge plant — were being transported to workplaces from satellite parking areas when the crash occurred, Oberton said.”

The good news is that the “accident did not cause any releases of chemicals or oil products.”

01.28.07

Clear Creek offering online control of your child’s lunch at school

Posted in News at 8:24 pm by Paloma Cruz

More and more schools are providing parents the option to access and control what their children are eating through online tools. Clear Creek is the latest in this trend.

Clear Creek takes lunch online
System provides parental control over children’s cafeteria accounts and eating habits
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

Students forgetting their lunch money is becoming a thing of the past in the Clear Creek school district with a new program that allows parents to deposit money into their children’s accounts via the Internet.

The new MealpayPlus system, which began earlier this month, allows parents to make credit card and debit card payments into their children’s account over the Internet or by telephone.

The program also lets parents monitor what their children are buying and how much money is left in their account. Parents get e-mail alerts when their children’s cafeteria account is nearly depleted.

“If your son buys a peanut butter and jelly sandwich five days in a row, you’re going to know. Or, if every day your child is getting a snack on top of his lunch, you’ll know,” said Carrie Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Clear Creek Independent School District. “This is much more than a lunch payment system. You’ll really be able to monitor what your child is purchasing and how the money is being spent.”

[snip]

Other area school districts have implemented similar programs.

The Houston Independent School District launched one a year ago, giving parents the ability to ban their children from spending lunch money on junk food.

The payment plan not only is a convenience for parents but also provides the technology to eliminate the type of bookkeeping errors that caused HISD to overcharge the federal government for meals.

The Houston district had to pay a $220,000 penalty because of its inability to keep accurate counts of free meals served to students from poor families.

The lunch payment program and tracking system is becoming the norm nationwide. The Dallas, Austin and Pearland school districts also have similar programs.

To register for the MealpayPlus program in the Clear Creek school district, parents can log onto www.mealpayplus.com or by telephone at 866-286-7228. Locally, questions can be directed to the district’s child nutrition services office at 281-284-0701.

Dynamo stadium may be coming to Webster

Posted in News at 8:19 pm by Paloma Cruz

Webster is one of four cities being considered for a new stadium to house the Houston Dynamos. If it happens, it would bring increadible economic benefits to the city.

Webster considered for soccer stadium
Dynamo looking at several area cities to locate permanent home
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

Webster is one of four area cities being considered for a planned new soccer stadium to be built by the Houston Dynamo.

The other three cities being eyed are Houston, Pearland and Sugar Land, team president Oliver Luck said. He and Dynamo captain Wade Barrett spoke at the Webster Business Alliance luncheon on Jan. 10 in front of more than 200 people.

The team would like to make a decision on the location of its new stadium by April or May, Luck said.

[snip]

01.25.07

more news to note

Posted in General at 12:27 am by Paloma Cruz

Found at the Houston Chronicle:

cross-posting

Posted in News at 12:03 am by Paloma Cruz

A round-up of recent links and posts throughout PalomaCruz.com:

01.24.07

don’t light up in League City

Posted in News at 11:35 pm by Paloma Cruz

League City passes smoking ban
But lighting up in bars OK if conditions are met
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

It’s official: lighting up in restaurants and other public places in League City will land you a stiff fine, after City Council unanimously passed the final reading of a smoking ban Tuesday.

The ordinance bans smoking in most public places, including restaurants, shopping malls, retail establishments, sports arenas and theaters.

Smoking is allowed in bars, however, as long as the business derives at least 51 percent of its income from alcoholic beverages. But bar areas of restaurants are off-limits to smokers because of the business income guidelines in the ordinance.

[snip]

It also prohibits smoking within 25 feet of seating areas of all outdoor sports stadiums, as well as within 25 feet of bleachers and grandstands for use by spectators at sporting and other public events.

However, smoking will be allowed at billiard halls where the business uses more than 50 percent of premises for operating pool tables, and at bingo halls where food sales make up less than 10 percent of gross sales.

[snip]

Previous stories:

hold-up at Taqueria Jesus Maria

Posted in News at 10:52 pm by Paloma Cruz

The Pasadena Citizen reports that Taqueria Jesus Maria was robbed, almost:

[snip]

Four suspects attempted to rob the Taqueria Jesus Maria on Spencer Highway Saturday morning. Police arrested the suspects after receiving a 9-1-1 call. Photo by Tantillo

[snip]

This is scary. That’s one of my mother’s favorite places (they have a great chicken milanesa). We go there all the time.

I keep reading and watching and seeing that crime is up, even in Pasadena. Somehow, it seems more real when it’s someplace you go to a lot.

Will I keep going? Well, I did mention the milanesa. Right?

01.19.07

will Texas require seatbelts on buses?

Posted in News at 6:47 am by Paloma Cruz

The Texas State Legislature is considering making seatbelts mandatory on school buses. This is a move to make buses safer for children. However, the bills being considered don’t mention where the cash-strapped school districts would find the funds to make the needed upgrades (if the bills passed). In my opinion, this is important information to have.

Opinions differ on seat belts
Bay Area school districts have varying thoughts on need for restraints on buses
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

School districts in Galveston County are closely monitoring three bills filed in the state Legislature that would require seat belts in school buses.

A House bill filed by Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, and a Senate bill by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would mandate that all school buses acquired by school districts after Sept. 1 have lap-shoulder seat belts for each passenger, including the driver.

Another House bill filed by Rep. Mike Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, would require each school bus purchased by school districts after Sept. 1, 2008, to have seat belts. It would also mandate seat belts for each school bus operated by or contracted by a school district after Sept. 1, 2017.

The Galveston school district already has ordered three buses with the lap-shoulder seat belts, which should arrive in July, and the devices will be on all future buses it purchases, district spokeswoman Christine Hopkins said.

Purchasing the buses with seat belts cost approximately $24,000 more and the vehicles have a one-third less seating capacity, said Arnold Proctor, the Galveston district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations.

[snip]

I don’t have children, so I have to confess that I didn’t know that buses aren’t already equipped with seatbelts. Silly me.

01.18.07

Houston preservationists using YouTube to get the message out

Posted in News at 6:48 am by Paloma Cruz

Proof that others are using Web 2.0 technology to make an impact.

Group trying to preserve old Sixth Ward character posts front-porch testimonials on YouTube.com
Click, sit and stay awhile
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

Leaders of one of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods, developed long before cars, paved roads or utility poles became part of the urban landscape, are using 21st century technology in their struggle to preserve a dwindling number of Victorian-era houses.

A series of YouTube.com videos features homeowner testimonials about the need to preserve the character of the area just west of downtown, which is listed on federal and local historic registries.

Posting the videos was an act of “creative desperation” after activists waited almost a year for city officials to help them create land-use regulations through the neighborhood’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, said Larissa Lindsay, president of the Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association.

[snip]

I may get an account just to see these videos. If any of you have viewed them already, let me know what you thought.

How to access:

01.17.07

Rodeo time

Posted in News at 12:34 am by Paloma Cruz

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo has announced its 2007 lineup. From the Houston Chronicle’s Handstamp, here’s the list of can’t-miss performers:

Visit the rodeo site for more information on tickets.

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