03.30.06
Posted in News at 11:16 pm by Paloma Cruz
Forecast: Hurricanes likely to target Texas coast
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Texas coast from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana border is likely to be the target of higher than normal hurricane activity over the next 10 years, private forecaster AccuWeather said today.
The 2006 hurricane season will be more active than normal and could bring a devastating storm to the U.S. Northeast also, the forecast said.
The outlook comes after the most costly hurricane season on record in 2005, with storms crippling New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast and briefly knocking out a quarter of domestic fuel production.
[snip]
The current storm cycle and above-normal water temperatures in the Atlantic are reminiscent of the pattern that produced the 1938 hurricane that struck Providence, Rhode Island, killing 600 people, Bastardi said.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 11:14 pm by Paloma Cruz
FEMA urges preparedness for hurricanes
– reported by the Pasadena Citizen
As the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, FEMA urges Texans and everyone throughout the Gulf Coast, to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
This year is projected to be as bad as or worse than this past season, which brought devastating hurricanes like Katrina and Rita.
[snip]
A long-range projection from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, predicts an above-average 17 named storms this season. Nine of these storms are expected to become hurricanes with three being at least category 3 or higher.
Hurricane preparedness reduces fear, anxiety and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families and individuals should be prepared before a hurricane strikes. Representatives suggest putting together an emergency preparedness kit long before it is needed. Part of the reasoning for this is that supplies that are necessary will be much easier to come by before the threat of a hurricane actually exists.
Representatives from FEMA suggest that the following items be included, among others, in the emergency preparedness kit: a first-aid kit, extra prescription medications, written copies of prescriptions, other special medical items, important documents and records, photo IDs, proof of residence, information you may need to process insurance claims, cash (because power outages mean banks and ATM’s may be unavailable), a battery-operated radio, flashlights with extra batteries, phone numbers of family and friends, coolers for food and ice storage, paper plates, plastic utensils, manual can opener, knife, tools, booster cables, fire extinguisher, duct tape, tarp, and rope.
Experts recommend always keeping this kit in a centralized location for quick accessibility.
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03.29.06
Posted in News at 10:40 pm by Paloma Cruz
TSU names temporary replacement for president
– reported by KTRK ABC Channel 13
[snip]
Provost Dr. Bobby Wilson will fill the role on a temporary basis. Slade is under investigation for alleged misuse of school funds totaling more than $200,000.
TSU’s Wilson put in charge temporarily
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Texas Southern University regents tapped longtime Provost Bobby Wilson to lead the historically black institution in the absence of President Priscilla Slade. The regents placed Slade on paid leave March 16 pending the outcome of an inquiry into her spending.
[snip]
TSU Selects Interim President
– reported by Click2Houston.com
[snip]
Priscilla Slade was placed on paid leave, pending the outcome of an investigation into the alleged spending of university money on her private home.
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Posted in News at 6:39 pm by Paloma Cruz
Strayhorn urges lawmakers to boost budget for teacher pay
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn released a new report Tuesday indicating that the state loses $13.8 billion annually by underpaying teachers.
She also called on Gov. Rick Perry and state lawmakers to fund a $4,000 across-the-board pay raise for all Texas teachers and fully restore state-funded health care supplements for all Texas educators in the upcoming special session of the Legislature.
[snip]
The report also notes that Texas ranks 33rd in the United States in teacher salaries and more than 37,000 teachers in Texas are leaving the profession each year for better paying jobs.
She adds that students in classrooms with inexperienced or poorly prepared teachers are at greater risk of flunking and dropping out of school.
[snip]
Strayhorn’s report reveals that high school drop-outs in Texas chew up some $11.8 billion in social services, incarceration and welfare expenses. By adding in the cost of teacher training and recruitment and other expenses, that price tag jumps to $13.8 billion, the report states.
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Posted in News at 12:34 pm by Paloma Cruz
Houston area must quickly pick disaster commander
Perry orders a decision to be made ahead of hurricane season
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Local county judges and mayors have less than a month to select a single operational commander to coordinate evacuations and emergency response during the Houston area’s next large-scale natural disaster, Gov. Rick Perry ordered Tuesday.
The order, a result of Perry’s efforts to improve upon last year’s massive and troubled evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita, seeks to better coordinate command and communications among numerous governmental agencies with often competing interests.
The county judges and mayors within each of 24 “councils of government” in Texas must establish a command structure by April 18 and name an incident commander by April 20. (The local region, known as the Houston-Galveston Area Council, encompasses Harris and 12 surrounding counties.)
These deadlines were imposed because hurricane season begins soon thereafter, on June 1.
[SNIP]
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Posted in News at 6:31 am by Paloma Cruz
A symbolic ‘perfect match’
Yellowstone Academy, which is aimed at inner-city students, will buy historic school
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Houston Independent School District will sell its historic Douglass Elementary School campus to the Yellowstone Academy — a 4-year-old private school designed to put inner-city children on the same footing as their counterparts in the suburbs.
Yellowstone Academy’s $1.9 million bid for the property put it atop a list of potential buyers that included the KIPP Academy, the charter school group that’s using the Trulley Street site for a temporary school for students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. HISD shut down the public school last year because of declining enrollment.
[snip]
At Yellowstone, a Christian school that opened in August 2002 at a church in the Third Ward, the majority of families pays less than $25 a month — meaning tuition accounts for less than 1 percent of the school’s $1.7 million annual budget.
Tuition rates are calculated based on each family’s income, expenses and even life-style choices. The average Yellowstone student comes from a family with an annual income of $9,600 a year. More than half receive public assistance and nearly 80 percent are from single-parent families, according to school statistics.
Nearly all children are black. Some of the families live in temporary shelters and a few of the children are in Child Protective Services custody.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 6:04 am by Paloma Cruz
HISD superintendent’s statement on walkouts
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
All the students who participated in today’s walkouts will be disciplined. The parents of each student who participated will be contacted and informed of the student’s actions. Each student action associated with today’s events will be reviewed by school officials, and students may, at the discretion of the principal, be placed in detention or in-school suspension, and may also be subject to other sanctions.
If these demonstrations continue on Wednesday or another time in the future, the consequence for students who violate the standards of conduct will be more severe. A repeat of today’s demonstrations could cause students to be suspended for up to three days, or be removed.
[snip]
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Posted in News at 6:00 am by Paloma Cruz
Houston area students protest immigration reform proposal
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
About 150 students from an Aldine school staged a walkout this morning, hiking several miles to protest a potential congressional crackdown on illegal immigration.
After walking some eight miles from Eisenhower High School, 7922 Antoine, to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office at 126 Northpoint Drive, the group stood outside holding signs and a Mexican flag for about two hours.
By 2 p.m. the students had dispersed but few if any appeared to have boarded the school buses sent to retrieve them.
[snip]
Other students said they walked past Aldine High School which was locked down so others could not leave.
[snip]
Houston-area students march to City Hall
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Hundreds of students from Houston-area schools skipped class this morning to march in the rain to City Hall and participate in other local rallies to protest tighter restrictions on immigration.
Hector Arguelles, 18, said he and about 100 other students from Jeff Davis High School felt inspired to walk out today after seeing teens protest nationally Monday.
He prepared and distributed a flier to help his classmates understand the main points of proposed federal legislation that aims to make it a crime - rather than a civil violation - to live in the United States without proper documentation. The legislation would also put penalties on employers who hire immigrants and build fences along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.
[snip]
At least a dozen school buses were parked along McKinney. The buses were sent by the Houston Independent School District to drive students back to Austin, Davis and Sam Houston high schools. By 1 p.m., school officials announced that the students were back on their campuses.
[snip]
Students protest proposed tighter rules
Walkouts that were organized over the Internet held at Eisenhower and other schools
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
About 150 students, most of them Hispanic, left Eisenhower around 9 a.m. and walked nine miles to an immigration office, where they stood outside holding signs and a Mexican flag for nearly two hours.
By 2 p.m. the students had dispersed at the urging of about a dozen police officers, but none boarded the four school buses sent to retrieve them.
Students at several other schools in Houston also walked out in opposition to proposed federal legislation that would impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, build fences along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, punish those who assist illegal immigrants, and make it a crime — rather than a civil violation — to be in the United States without proper documentation.
The marches were organized primarily over the Internet after several massive protests took place last week around the country, including one in Houston on Saturday that drew 6,000 marchers.
[snip]
More headlines:
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Posted in General at 12:10 am by Paloma Cruz
You can now keep up with all activities from the Houston Genealogical Society, via their new RSS feeds. Topics fed include:
- Press releases
- Articles
- Calendar events
- Job listings
- Resume listings
Found via Library Technology in Texas.
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03.28.06
Posted in News at 6:17 am by Paloma Cruz
A stricter curfew for juveniles proposed
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Hoping to curb a recent spike in crime among Houston-area youth, Mayor Bill White’s office has proposed a stricter juvenile curfew law that would make it illegal for children under the age of 17 to be on the streets after 10 p.m. on most nights.
Although White’s office told council members at a public safety meeting Wednesday that a recent poll shows the community would support the new law, some leaders balked at the proposal, requesting more time to talk to parents and children before considering the change.
White’s proposal bumps up by two hours the current requirement, changing the nighttime curfew to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday for anyone 16 years old and younger.
Under the current law, it’s illegal for youths 17 and younger to be in a public place between midnight and 6 a.m. any day of the week, and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays.
[snip]
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