Phone: 281-980-6745 ww ww w.fbindependent.com .fbindependent.com P.O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 VOL 5 No. 1 Seshadri Kumar Publisher & Editor 10701 Corporate Drive, #282, Stafford, TX 77477 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, TX 77487 www.fbindependent.com 281-980-6745 Fort Bend Independent, (USPS 025-572) is published every Wednesday (for a subscription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodicals Postage Paid at Stafford, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487. Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land Road trip to Rio Save the date for the social event of the year! Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital will be the presenting sponsor for Fort Bend Cares Road Trip to Rio Dinner and Dance on Saturday Feb. 11, 2012. Fort Bend Cares is a chari- table foundation that cares for disadvantaged children and youth in need all over the county. This event will transform Fluor’s large cafeteria into a Carnivale themed paradise with a delectable array of food from local restaurants, music for dancing, silent and live auctions and casino style games to add to the fun. Sponsorships are available at the following levels: $7500, $5000, $2500, and $1000. In- dividual tickets are priced at $75. Become a sponsor by calling 832-392-1983 or visit www.FortBendCares.org for more information. Presenting sponsor, Me- morial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, is a full-service acute care facility that brings the lat- est medical technology and expertise to our community. Named as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the Nation by Thomson Reuters, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is the only hospital in Fort Bend County to achieve this distinc- tion. It also ranks in the top 5 per- cent of hospitals nationwide for patient satisfaction as well as being an Accredited Chest Pain Center. Its Children’s Emergency Center, through the affilia- tion with Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital provides fast access to the area’s Level I pediatric trauma center in the Gulf Coast area. Visit www.memorialher- mann.org or call 713-.222- CARE. Representatives from Fort Bend Partnership for Youth, Child Advocates of Fort Bend and Judge Ron Pope’s Infant and Toddler Court team cheer as furniture is moved into the group’s new youth activity house in Rosenberg. Gallery Furniture donated furnishings to replace those lost when a fire destroyed the house formerly used by the groups. A Gallery Furniture representative is in the ball cap in the center of the photo. See story on Page 5. Mark Mazique, left,Trae Smith, Tammy Brown, Subodh Bhuchar, and Melissa Owens. The Stafford Municipal School District superin- tendent, SMSD School Board, City of Stafford Mayor and City Council members donned hardhats and picked up shovels to break ground for the dis- trict’s new library and high school instructional ad- dition on Dec. 15. Front row: Board Secretary ShaMe- kka Pratt-Sim- mons, Board Pres- SMSD breaks ground for new high school facility, library See SMSD, Page 4 By SESHADRI KUMAR The largest straw poll event in Texas history is set for Janu- ary 12-14 in Minute Maid Park, Houston. The straw poll produced as a three day convention includes a lineup of noted personalities and conservative leaders from throughout Texas and the na- tion. Because of the changing dates for primary elections in Texas, the voice of Texas Re- publicans may not have much of a bearing on the election of their party’s nominee. The original mission for the devoted group of everyday volunteer Texans planning the Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll was to offer the voters of Texas a more profound voice in the presidential primary process. “Texas voters have been his- torically ignored despite the fact that Texas sends the sec- ond largest delegation to the Electoral College and possess- es the second largest popula- tion in the United States,” says Nancy Dunham, Sugar Land Tea Party activist and spokes- woman for the straw poll. The ambitious gathering will offer attendees the opportunity to listen to and speak directly with Federal and State candi- dates prior to the actual straw poll balloting scheduled from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m on Saturday, January 14. Those results will be tabulated and announced that evening prior to the close of the event. The poll will also allow Tex- as voters to cast their vote(s) remotely via phone and via pa- per ballot at the event. Keynote speakers Andrew Breitbart and Herman Cain headline an expanding cast of conservative luminaries, media personalities and congressio- nal candidates participating in the inaugural Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll. The straw poll includes live entertainment by recording art- ist Kevin Black and fundrais- ing for wounded Texas veter- ans. Profits from this event will benefit three veterans’ orga- nizations, the Texas Wounded Warrior Foundation, the Lone Survivor Foundation, VFW 9182, as well as Get Out the Vote efforts this year. Often Presidential candi- dates do not visit Texas be- cause by the time the primaries are held in Texas, the process is essentially over by that time. Sugar Land Tea Party activ- ist, Bill Moore, who is among the several volunteers working to make the straw poll succeed, says the straw poll would hopefully counter that feeling of disappointment among Tex- ans. The Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll will encourage Texans that they will have a chance to take a more active role in the politi- cal process, he said. The Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll organization is a regis- tered 527 non-profit corpora- tion. It consists of an extensive coalition of motivated volun- teer organizers. Several elected officials and candidates for political offices, including the Republican Party of Fort Bend County are par- ticipating in the convention. For more information, visit www.saddleuptexasstrawpoll. com. Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll set for Jan. 12 to 14 Steven Mark Lavine was sentenced to 290 years in pris- on across 34 separate criminal charges on December 15, 2011 by Judge James H. Shoemake in Fort Bend County. Lavine plead guilty to mul- tiple counts of theft, money laundering and misapplication of fiduciary property before placing his fate in the hands of the court. The 59 year-old Sugar Land man was charged with steal- ing approximately $1 million from numerous businesses who thought they were buying equipment from his company. According to Scott Car- penter, Chief of the Econom- ic Crimes Division, Lavine owned THC Technologies in Sugar Land. Through his business, he sold industrial machines to 17 different companies throughout the United States and Scotland from 2006 to 2009. When the companies transferred money to the defendant for their order, he would use it for personal ex- penses, pay off other debts and take out large cash withdraw- als. At one point the defendant was informed of a theft inves- tigation by the Sugar Land Po- lice Department, but he contin- ued to steal from several more companies. The defendant was sen- tenced to 20 years in prison on each of two first-degree felony charges, 15 years on each of two second-degree charges, 10 years on each of 20 sepa- rate third-degree charges, and 2 years confinement on each of 10 separate state jail felony cases. The sentences will run concurrently. “The defendant disregarded warnings from law enforce- ment and continued to steal knowing he would never make good on his promises,” said Assistant District Attorney Ro- dolfo Ramirez. Lavine’s attorney, Michael Elliott, had asked the court to grant probation in this case. Sugar Land man gets 290 years for 34 counts of economic crime Tax Return Preparation— Electronic Filing We are ready to help you with a broad range of tax needs including * Form 1040— Personal Tax Return * Business Returns —Corporate & Partnership * Tax Planning & Projections * Complimentary Electronic Filing for School Teachers, Peace Officers and Firefighters Sandersen Knox & Company, LLP 130 Industrial Blvd, Suite 130 Sugar Land, TX 77478 (281)242-3232 www.sktx.com; [email protected]ident Ettienne Zak, Trustee Virginia Rosas, Mayor Leon- ard Scarcella, Mayor Pro- Tem Felecia Evans-Smith, Councilman Ken Mathew, Councilman Robert Sorbet, Councilman Fred Woolridge. Back Row: Trustee Cindy Hoelscher, Superintendent Lawrence Hindt, Board Vice- President Ed Castillo, SMSD Instructor and Facilities Task Force member Col. Thomas Ehlinger. Superintendent Lawrence Hindt thanked the Stafford Community for approving a bond to transform the complex. Hindt said “it was great to begin my new job at SMSD with $49.9 million approved for facilities and technology.” Mayor Leonard Scarcella discussed his appreciation for the work that was done by ev- eryone involved and said that his mother, Mrs. Margaret Ha- vens, would be proud to see the library that bears her name enhanced to increase opportu- nities for the students and com- munity’s use. SMSD School Board Presi- dent Ettienne Zak discussed
Fort Bend Independent, (USPS 025-572) is published every Wednesday (for a subscription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodicals Postage Paid at Stafford, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487.
Offi cial newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Road trip to Rio
Save the date for the social event of the year! Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital will be the presenting sponsor for Fort Bend Cares Road Trip to Rio Dinner and Dance on Saturday Feb. 11, 2012.
Fort Bend Cares is a chari-table foundation that cares for disadvantaged children and youth in need all over the county.
This event will transform Fluor’s large cafeteria into a Carnivale themed paradise with a delectable array of food from local restaurants, music for dancing, silent and live auctions and casino style
games to add to the fun. Sponsorships are available
at the following levels: $7500, $5000, $2500, and $1000. In-dividual tickets are priced at $75. Become a sponsor by calling 832-392-1983 or visit www.FortBendCares.org for more information.
Presenting sponsor, Me-morial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, is a full-service acute care facility that brings the lat-est medical technology and expertise to our community. Named as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the Nation by Thomson Reuters, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is the
only hospital in Fort Bend County to achieve this distinc-tion.
It also ranks in the top 5 per-cent of hospitals nationwide for patient satisfaction as well as being an Accredited Chest Pain Center.
Its Children’s Emergency Center, through the affi lia-tion with Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital provides fast access to the area’s Level I pediatric trauma center in the Gulf Coast area.
Visit www.memorialher-mann.org or call 713-.222-CARE.
Representatives from Fort Bend Partnership for Youth, Child Advocates of Fort Bend and Judge Ron Pope’s Infant and Toddler Court team cheer as furniture is moved into the group’s new youth activity house in Rosenberg. Gallery Furniture donated furnishings to replace those lost when a fi re destroyed the house formerly used by the groups. A Gallery Furniture representative is in the ball cap in the center of the photo. See story on Page 5.
Mark Mazique, left,Trae Smith, Tammy Brown, Subodh Bhuchar, and Melissa Owens.
The Stafford Municipal School District superin-tendent, SMSD School Board, City of Stafford Mayor and City Council members donned hardhats and picked up shovels to break ground for the dis-trict’s new library and high school instructional ad-dition on Dec. 15. Front row: Board Secretary ShaMe-kka Pratt-Sim-mons, Board Pres-
SMSD breaks ground for new high school facility, library
See SMSD, Page 4
By SESHADRI KUMARThe largest straw poll event
in Texas history is set for Janu-ary 12-14 in Minute Maid Park, Houston.
The straw poll produced as a three day convention includes a lineup of noted personalities and conservative leaders from throughout Texas and the na-tion.
Because of the changing dates for primary elections in Texas, the voice of Texas Re-publicans may not have much of a bearing on the election of their party’s nominee.
The original mission for the devoted group of everyday volunteer Texans planning the Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll was to offer the voters of Texas a more profound voice in the presidential primary process.
“Texas voters have been his-torically ignored despite the fact that Texas sends the sec-ond largest delegation to the Electoral College and possess-es the second largest popula-tion in the United States,” says Nancy Dunham, Sugar Land Tea Party activist and spokes-woman for the straw poll.
The ambitious gathering will offer attendees the opportunity to listen to and speak directly with Federal and State candi-dates prior to the actual straw poll balloting scheduled from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m on Saturday, January 14. Those results will be tabulated and announced that evening prior to the close of the event.
The poll will also allow Tex-as voters to cast their vote(s) remotely via phone and via pa-per ballot at the event.
Keynote speakers Andrew Breitbart and Herman Cain headline an expanding cast of conservative luminaries, media personalities and congressio-nal candidates participating in the inaugural Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll.
The straw poll includes live entertainment by recording art-ist Kevin Black and fundrais-ing for wounded Texas veter-ans.
Profi ts from this event will benefi t three veterans’ orga-nizations, the Texas Wounded Warrior Foundation, the Lone Survivor Foundation, VFW 9182, as well as Get Out the
Vote efforts this year.Often Presidential candi-
dates do not visit Texas be-cause by the time the primaries are held in Texas, the process is essentially over by that time.
Sugar Land Tea Party activ-ist, Bill Moore, who is among the several volunteers working to make the straw poll succeed, says the straw poll would hopefully counter that feeling of disappointment among Tex-ans.
The Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll will encourage Texans that they will have a chance to take a more active role in the politi-cal process, he said.
The Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll organization is a regis-tered 527 non-profi t corpora-tion. It consists of an extensive coalition of motivated volun-teer organizers.
Several elected offi cials and candidates for political offi ces, including the Republican Party of Fort Bend County are par-ticipating in the convention.
For more information, visit www.saddleuptexasstrawpoll.com.
Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll set for Jan. 12 to 14
Steven Mark Lavine was sentenced to 290 years in pris-on across 34 separate criminal charges on December 15, 2011 by Judge James H. Shoemake in Fort Bend County.
Lavine plead guilty to mul-tiple counts of theft, money laundering and misapplication of fi duciary property before placing his fate in the hands of the court.
The 59 year-old Sugar Land man was charged with steal-ing approximately $1 million from numerous businesses who thought they were buying equipment from his company.
According to Scott Car-penter, Chief of the Econom-
ic Crimes Division, Lavine owned THC Technologies in Sugar Land.
Through his business, he sold industrial machines to 17 different companies throughout the United States and Scotland from 2006 to 2009. When the companies transferred money to the defendant for their order, he would use it for personal ex-penses, pay off other debts and take out large cash withdraw-als. At one point the defendant was informed of a theft inves-tigation by the Sugar Land Po-lice Department, but he contin-ued to steal from several more companies.
The defendant was sen-
tenced to 20 years in prison on each of two fi rst-degree felony charges, 15 years on each of two second-degree charges, 10 years on each of 20 sepa-rate third-degree charges, and 2 years confi nement on each of 10 separate state jail felony cases. The sentences will run concurrently.
“The defendant disregarded warnings from law enforce-ment and continued to steal knowing he would never make good on his promises,” said Assistant District Attorney Ro-dolfo Ramirez.
Lavine’s attorney, Michael Elliott, had asked the court to grant probation in this case.
Sugar Land man gets 290 years for 34 counts of economic crime
Tax Return Preparation— Electronic FilingWe are ready to help you with a broad range of tax needs including* Form 1040— Personal Tax Return* Business Returns —Corporate & Partnership* Tax Planning & Projections* Complimentary Electronic Filing for School Teachers, Peace Offi cers and Firefi ghters
Sandersen Knox & Company, LLP130 Industrial Blvd, Suite 130
ident Ettienne Zak, Trustee Virginia Rosas, Mayor Leon-ard Scarcella, Mayor Pro-Tem Felecia Evans-Smith, Councilman Ken Mathew, Councilman Robert Sorbet, Councilman Fred Woolridge.
Back Row: Trustee Cindy Hoelscher, Superintendent Lawrence Hindt, Board Vice-President Ed Castillo, SMSD Instructor and Facilities Task Force member Col. Thomas Ehlinger.
Superintendent Lawrence Hindt thanked the Stafford Community for approving a bond to transform the complex.
Hindt said “it was great to begin my new job at SMSD with $49.9 million approved for facilities and technology.”
Mayor Leonard Scarcella discussed his appreciation for the work that was done by ev-eryone involved and said that his mother, Mrs. Margaret Ha-vens, would be proud to see the library that bears her name enhanced to increase opportu-nities for the students and com-munity’s use.
SMSD School Board Presi-dent Ettienne Zak discussed
PERRYHOMES.comPlans, prices and availability are subject to change without notice. (11/10)
V O F B C !Cross Creek Ranch2,200 - 2,900 sq. ft. (281) 633-25552,900 - 3,300 sq. ft. (281) 238-0919 2,900 - 3,700 sq. ft. (281) 238-0919
Westheimer Lakes1,600 - 3,100 sq. ft. (832) 222-2120
Old Orchard 1,900 - 4,000 sq. ft. (281) 277-18002,600 - 4,400 sq. ft. (281) 265-4555
The Oaks of Rosenberg 2,100 - 3,300 sq. ft. (281) 633-9366
River Park West2,200 - 3,300 sq. ft. (832) 222-2804
Telfair3,800 - 5,400 sq. ft. (281) 778-0050
Riverstone2,200 - 2,900 sq. ft. (281) 778-2100 2,600 - 4,100 sq. ft. (281) 778-3840
Sienna Plantation3,400 - 7,000 sq. ft. (281) 778-7800
Creekmont1,900 - 3,500 sq. ft. (281) 431-8600
Shadow Creek Ranch1,600 - 2,900 sq. ft. (713) 436-87511,900 - 3,300 sq. ft. (713) 436-93702,500 - 3,300 sq. ft. (713) 436-8751
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Methodist Sugar Land Hospital (MSLH) celebrated another successful year of de-livering Leading Medicine to the Fort Bend community by hosting a special luncheon for the often “unsung heroes” of medicine – offi ce managers, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assis-tants and other professionals who keep physician offi ces running smoothly and provide the fi rst level of patient care.
More than 190 people at-tended the event, which in-cluded brief presentations on new Methodist Sugar Land Hospital services and inno-vative offerings for patients, physicians and the commu-
nity, followed by a Q&A with hospital CEO Chris Siebena-ler.
“Physician offi ce staff members play a critical role in every patient’s treatment process,” Siebenaler said. “We are honored to celebrate the hospital’s leading technol-ogy and services and to share our excitement for the future with them.”
Offi ce staff members were pleased to learn that MSLH continues to add services, in-cluding:•6th fl oor expansion - ortho-pedic and neurosurgery •4 additional state-of-the-art operating rooms • A 4th MRI - the industry’s
most powerful whole body 3 Tesla MRI technology that improves patient comfort•Robotics - da Vinci SI Sur-gical Robot to use real-time fl uorescence imaging tech-nology
“We were pleased and ex-cited to learn that Method-ist Sugar Land Hospital is the fi rst in the region to offer the ground-breaking technol-ogy—da Vinci® SI Surgical System—to our patients and the community we serve,” said Cintya Chavez with Dr. Henry Pham’s offi ce.
“Not only will it further enhance MSLH’s established surgical robotics program, but it will also result in improved
outcomes for our patients.” Offi ce staff members also
learned about the recent ac-creditations and awards that MSLH has received, includ-ing:•Stroke Silver Plus Perfor-mance Achievement Award•Chest Pain Center Accredita-tion •National Committee for Quality Assurance for the Spine Center and their Sur-geons
“We enjoy attending these luncheons and fi nding out the latest and greatest about Methodist Sugar Land Hos-pital. Knowing this informa-tion allows us to be better informed for our physicians, offi ce staff and our patients. It is wonderful to be a part of a hospital that is evolving and receiving many awards and accreditations. It was very im-portant to learn about the re-cent stroke accreditations and the Chest Pain Center accredi-tation, a designation reserved for hospitals that demonstrate the highest level of expertise in treating heart attack pa-tients,” said Peggy Ruiz with Diagnostic Cardiology of Houston.
“Our physicians rest as-sured knowing our patients are receiving the best care with the latest state-of-the-art technology all in one conve-nient place and so close to home.”
“It was so exciting to hear that Methodist Sugar Land Hospital continues to bring leading-edge services home to our patients,” said Yasmine Santiago with Dr. Mickey Bush’s offi ce.
“Methodist Sugar Land Hospital has made it so much easier for our doctors and pa-tients to access quality care in our community.”
For more information on
Peggy Ruiz, Anna Ruiz, MA and Jennifer McCammon, RN
Methodist Sugar Land Hospital celebrates new services with physician offi ce staff
Yasmine Santiago and Diana Buban
Mayra Gaitan and Cintya Chavez
Methodist Sugar Land Hospi-tal, visit MethodistSugarLand.
com, or for a physician refer-ral call (281) 274-7500.
Pump and Motor TechnicianThe Utilities Department has an opening for a pump and motor technician. The primary responsibilities are to assist the Crew Chief with repairs and preventative maintenance to the water and wastewater distribution and collection systems. Requirements: HSD or GED; Two years experience in utility operations, maintenance, and/or repair of water and wastewater facilities required. Must possess a Valid Class “C” Texas Driver’s. Apply at www.sugarlandtx.gov. Position closes at 5 p.m., January 9, 2012.
The City of Sugar Land
European OMB Valves, S.p.A., headquartered in Italy, has announced it is locating its Western Hemisphere head-quarters in Stafford, Texas.
OMB Valves, Inc. (OMB) will begin construction imme-diately on Phase I of its new 42,000 square foot Western Hemisphere headquarters, bringing 20 new jobs to Fort Bend County. OMB is a diver-sifi ed manufacturer of valves for the Oil and Gas industry.
OMB plans an initial Phase I capital investment of ap-proximately $5.5 million in the building, which will also serve as a manufacturing fa-cility. The headquarters will be located at the northwest corner of North Promenade
and U.S. Highway 90A. With Phase II, the company expects to double the number of jobs and the size of the facility in two to fi ve years.
“We’re excited to bring manufacturing jobs to this region, and chose Stafford because it is a major hub for valve manufacturing and dis-tribution,” says Keith South-ard, director of sales in the Americas for OMB Valves, Inc. “Stafford’s ideal location gives us convenient access to our customers throughout North and South America, particularly those located in the Gulf Region.”
“OMB is a fantastic addi-tion to an elite group of com-panies located in Stafford
servicing the upstream and downstream oil and gas indus-tries,” says Mayor Leonard Scarcella of Stafford. “Con-sidering our low cost of doing business and the fact that we have no city property tax, and our proximity to major trans-portation routes, OMB has chosen a strategic location to place its Western Hemisphere headquarters.”
The City of Stafford and Fort Bend County provided tax incentive assistance to OMB in the form of tax abate-ment. This location also offers the benefi t of Freeport Tax In-centives on inventory from the City of Stafford, Stafford Municipal School District, and Fort Bend County’s Wa-
ter Control & Improvement District #2.
“Fort Bend County re-mains focused on creating a favorable business climate that helps create jobs and de-velop long term commercial investment,” says Jeff Wiley, president of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Develop-ment Council (GFBEDC). “In today’s challenging global economy, our strong business climate continues to attract both domestic and interna-tional corporate relocations. We welcome OMB to our community.” For informa-tion on corporate expansions and relocations in Fort Bend County, visit FortBendCoun-ty.org or call (281) 242-0000.
Pregnancy Resource Center of Fort Bend County (PRC) helped its clients during this Christmas season.
On two occasions, Santa visited the Center with smiles, winks and ringing bells. It was wonderful to see the children’s faces light up as they got a picture sitting on Santa’s knee and received a candy cane and goodie bag.
Their mothers, who partici-pate in our Learn Earn Plan Program or visit our Center during the last year experi-encing a crisis pregnancy, were also grateful to receive gifts which help them provide Christmas gifts for their fam-ily.
Most of these gifts were generously donated by the Encouragers Sunday School Class from Sugar Creek Bap-tist, with additional dona-
tions from ABC Dental, Sa-cred Heart Teresians, Beauti Control representatives, the Rosenberg Fire Department, Community Health Choice, Subway, Pizza Hut and Cici’s Pizza, as well as other gener-ous individuals.
In addition to Santa Claus coming with these gifts, qual-ifi ed parents were able to sign up with “Smiles on Wheels”, a program started four years ago by Dr. Iraj Jabbary from ABC Dental.
This program is available to children in the Richmond/Rosenberg area, as well as other areas in Houston.
PRC clients brought their children to the Rosenberg fairgrounds on December 16 – where almost 2,000 bicycles were given out to needy chil-dren, ages 3 to 15, from vari-ous organization referrals.
Silvester Ocampo, Victoria Becerra, Laura Rodreguez, Loryss Gonzalez, Fuentes Family, Misty Ocampo, and Dr. Iraj Jabbary.
Additionally, PRC repre-sentatives, Dr. Jabbary and staff visited the home of one of our PRC clients whose family is experiencing fi nan-cial and medical crises.
This family of eight re-ceived fi ve bikes, many gifts and even some Christmas dec-orations. The parents were not at home to receive these gifts, because their 11 year-old son who was diagnosed with leu-kemia earlier this year, recent-ly received a bone marrow transplant from his sibling.
While this client lives at the Ronald McDonald House all week, the family works to-gether to keep things going at home.
Now they are also facing unknown health problems with their four-month old baby, who is having medical problems and undergoing test-ing.
—Lisa Smith
A PRC family with Santa Claus.
Pregnancy Resource Center helps clients
Italian manufacturer OMB Valves locates Western Hemisphere headquarters in Stafford
Are you looking for something meaningful to do in the New Year and interested in making a difference in the lives of chil-dren?
Beginning January 30, Child Advocates of Fort Bend is of-fering a week-long training class to train volunteers to advo-cate for abused and neglected children. This is one of two op-portunities offered in 2012 to complete the volunteer training class in a single week.
Child Advocates of Fort Bend is a non-profi t agency dedi-cated to providing a voice for abused and neglected children in Fort Bend County.
With an army of volunteers, Child Advocates of Fort Bend currently serves more than 400 children each month through its Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program and Children’s Advocacy Center. Volunteers must be over 21 years of age, complete an application and submit to background screening. For more information or an application, contact Volunteer Services at 281-344-5171 or [email protected].
Child Advocates of Fort Bend offers week long training class
Gearing up for training (L to R) are Leroy Hodge, Carol Thesing, Sasha Soileau, Heather Rashid and Brandy Knudson.
FREE SEMINAR. The University of Texas MD Anderson Re-gional Care Center in Sugar Land is hosting their PIKNIC (Part-ners In Knowledge, News In Cancer) lunch presentation on grief, supportive care and end of life issues with Kay Swint, M.S.N., Clinical Administrative Director of the Supportive Care Center at MD Anderson. This free educational seminar will be held on Thursday, Jan. 26 from Noon – 1 p.m. PIKNIC is an informal ed-ucational forum open to anyone interested in learning more about the issues, needs and concerns relevant to the cancer experience. Sessions will take place at the Sugar Land Regional Care Center, 1327 Lake Pointe Parkway, in the fi rst fl oor conference room. Registration is required. Call 281-566-1802 to reserve your spot. A free lunch will be provided for the fi rst 10 attendees.
By RUSSELL JONESIf Republicans fail to defeat
Obama in 2012, they have no one to blame but themselves. Time after time, candidates for the Republican nomina-tion have tripped, gaffed, and self imploded as they struggled through their internecine war to select a champion to take on a president who is determined to remake the nation in a vision determined by a career as a community organizer and Chi-cago politician.
Perry’s implosion was probably the most memorable brain freeze on record. Unable to recall the third of three gov-ernment departments which he had promised to eliminate, Perry stammered for at least a minute during a November de-bate. “Oops!,” said Perry, and his candidacy was effectively ended.
Many believe that Cain took himself out of the race as a re-sult of a series of embarrass-ing disclosures by women who were unknown to his wife. He may have survived those chal-lenges, but essentially disqual-ifi ed himself from becoming the leader of the free world when he appeared to blank out during a newspaper interview for a full two minutes follow-ing a question on American policy in Libya.
The worst gaffe may be yet to come. Out of a fi eld of weak candidates, Republicans are sure to ultimately fi eld a weak nominee. If Romney is the nominee, which may be in-evitable, three- fourths of the party base will be disgruntled. With an unhappy base, any one of several former and potential candidates for the nomination may decide to run as an inde-pendent.
Paul is the most likely. In his third run for the presiden-cy, it is now or never for him. Regardless of the outcome in
Iowa this week, he is unlikely to ultimately garner the nomi-nation. With a sizable base and considerable funds, Paul may see himself as having a larger appeal to independents and disappointed Democrats than the ambivalent Romney.
Trump cannot get over the celebrity caused by his earlier false start of trying out for the presidency. Although his early notoriety over the birther is-sue probably did not help him, many conservatives like his brash approach to economic reform and foreign affairs. He would have signifi cant support over a Romney seen by many as an indecisive milquetoast.
Palin continues to linger in the wings, not having yet ruled out a third party run. If it hap-pens, Obama gets re-elected. Period. Republicans will have no one but themselves to blame.
Where is OSL?Last month this column
highlighted a new political group in town calling itself Occupy Sugar Land. Actually only occupying the tables out-side of Starbucks rather than the entire city, sipping lattes instead of marching, and wear-ing matching outfi ts instead of simulating the raucous disar-
ray of the original Wall Street protesters, OSL was intent on getting its message out to the one or two reporters who actu-ally showed up in response to a press release announcing the event.
These Occupy protesters seem to have less idea of their purpose than their New York mentors. No, they were not anti-capitalists. Yes, income inequality was terrible. But, more importantly, their com-plaints focused on Sugar Land, rather than the broader national issues.
Some unidentifi ed local fi end was said to be “manipu-lating local business leaders into building baseball stadi-ums,” a situation obviously needing correction. OSL com-plained that “deep inequities” result from tax abatements for corporations that burden indi-viduals. These horrible activi-ties were said to be rampant in our city.
A week later this column challenged OSL to come for-ward with evidence to support their ridiculous claims. They have had three weeks to re-spond. So far, there has been nary a peep.
In the group’s early public-ity, it bragged that it was rapid-ly growing and will become a signifi cant political force in the city. It invited all Sugar Land-ers to join its discussion group on Yahoo. The initial demon-stration had a turnout of nine, a mere eleven short of its goal. At the beginning of December, it had six members in its Ya-hoo group. At the beginning of January, it had six members. Perhaps Occupy Sugar Land has seen its zenith.
Jones served as a member of the Sugar Land City Council from 2003 through June, 2011. He owns a law fi rm and a title insurance company in Sugar Land.
over? On an unscientifi c CNN poll, 85% of respondents said “Good riddance to 2011.” Of course, 2012 is an election year so those 125,000+ people may want to think twice about that. After all, is there anything else that can be written, polled or shown about the Iowa caucus? I thought the best one was how those wily Iowans have learned to fl eece the rest of the coun-try—the news media and the political campaigns anyway to pour millions into their econo-my. Talk about jingle bells.
Looking back on the year there are several trends that are quite interesting. What they mean may depend on your viewpoint . . . but they’re inter-esting to consider.
The weather. This past year we had weather records that matched the 1936 Dust Bowl, doubled the 1974 record num-ber of tornadoes, and exceeded the 1927 Mississippi River re-cord fl ood heights. One year. Many climatologists believe that these extremes are like baseball players on steroids. The extra oomph from the heat in the atmosphere fuels the in-tensity of the weather patterns so you get records.
Most concerning is that drought, which was also great in Russia, increases food prices. That’s not good news to people living on fi xed incomes or those
living close to or on the edge. So our next trend: suburban
poverty and the stress on food pantries. I know Fort Bend pan-tries have had increased needs, but are those needs coming from the middle class? In Chicago the affl uent suburbs of DuPage County west of Chicago, a Pew Research survey shows that pov-erty and numbers in poverty in-creased 50%. I plan to call the Fort Bend food pantries to see if more middle class in need is a trend they are seeing.
Even with unemployment dropping somewhat, some say new jobs are not paying as well. Others say it depends which em-ployment ladder you’re on. Does it matter? If someone has used up savings or is in the hole, digging out will take a lot longer or may not be possible if your job pays less.
And 40 and 50 year olds, who have never saved, are starting to recognize what that means
. . . and what they’ve missed in compound interest. Some say, why didn’t “they” teach us about this? Having practical programs in schools does have an impact . . . making these lessons relevant is happening in some schools to-day. And that’s something that will have positive impact years from now.
And it takes knowledgeable teachers and good curriculum to produce relevant school pro-grams for life lessons. In Texas we are geared to raising property taxes to pay for buildings. I’ve never seen a building that could teach a student. And we still live under the assumption that we can pay less than the private sec-tor and still attract high quality teachers. We drastically need to beef up programs in science and math if America is to have those better job ladders. Lots of talk in Fort Bend in 2011 about science and math buildings versus teach-ers. Californians who brought us Proposition 13 are now saying, raise my taxes if it goes to the public schools.
How do these reported trends impact us in Fort Bend? Some interesting musings for 2012. The good news is we have a can do spirit in Fort Bend. Resolution time, folks.
Some of the drivers that create “growth” in our com-munity are the same ones that will destroy our community when it is built-out.
Much like feeding a griz-zly bear, the economic de-velopment council’s appetite for new taxes has fostered unsustainable growth and de-pendency on more taxes from the next new development of homes and small businesses. We are at the point of being “built-out” in Sugar Land and the voracious appetite for new taxes cannot be satisfi ed.
Still, our city council con-tinues to feed the EDC grizzly bear with TIRZs (Tax Invest-ment Redevelopment Zones) for a fl ood of new apartments. Apartments with children that our schools are not funded to support.
The ironically parasitic mosquito/ baseball stadium is also beyond one’s “fi nancially conservative” imagination.
Some of our elected and past elected offi cials con-tinue to mislead people about these infamous TIRZs. These self-funding, tax tools bring in projects that require many city services while they pay little to no property taxes. As a result, the growing tax burden continues to fall ever more heavily on homeowners and small businesses.
This increasingly heavy tax responsibility is multiplied by
the city’s demands that Home Owner Associations (HOAs) pay for lights, signage, and landscaping, even when these projects are not a part of the associations.
Clearly this is a city gov-ernment/privatized govern-ment partnership that cre-ates double taxation with no means to hold either account-able or rein either in.
Home owners, who are ex-perienced about the ways of HOAs, understand that they work far less for homeowners than they do for their industry vendors.
As privatized governments, they are also in a position to put down dissent with fi nes, private constables, and whis-pering campaigns that se-lectively target opposition. Those who understand this issue understand it clearly. Those who don’t, usually profi t from the extortion and abuse.
Sugar Land is not exempt from the economic woes of the rest of the planet. People are hurting while our non-governmental economic de-velopment council elects their own to our legislature, city council, school board, and even positions within our privatized HOA governments. And yet, the real hurt involves Sugar Land as a whole.
We have evolved for fast growth by consuming taxes
from developments yet to be built, and now, we are almost built-out. This dynamic de-mands something brand new - “sustainable management.”
We have been dependent on new developments that pay new taxes, while our TIRZs and tax abated businesses continue to demand city ser-vices.
Our shocking property tax rate, which must include MUD taxes, LID taxes, HOA dues, as well as basic property taxes, is no longer sustainable.
People are moving and will move (sprawl) to the next city on the prairie.
I hear Needville is starting to look like the new Sugar Land, while Sugar Land is poised to be the new Alief. If there is any loyalty to real community, demanding change and Occupying Sugar Land should be the option, not moving.
The resident distribution age in Sugar Land 2011, peaks at the late forties. http://www.city-data.com/housing/hous-es-Sugar-Land-Texas.html. This is an indicator that home-owner retirees will not be far away or possible for most people. With the economy as it is, we cannot expect a fl ood of young people to offset the rate that our city’s taxes and waste chase away our current residents. Concerned Resident
Letter: Unsustainable growth
By RON PAULLast week, as most Ameri-
cans were celebrating the hol-idays with family and friends, the Obama Administration announced plans to seek yet another debt ceiling increase in the New Year.
While some fi scal conser-vatives will try to block this increase, their efforts are de-signed to fail thanks to the procedure set up by the last debt ceiling negotiations. Congress would have to pass a joint resolution opposing the increase, which the president could simply veto.
Thus, an additional $1.2 trillion on top of our already unsustainable debt is a fore-gone conclusion. Our Gross Domestic Product continues to contract and now stands at $14.5 trillion. The debt already far exceeds that and will soon hit the new ceiling of $16.39 trillion.
Everyone in DC acknowl-edges that the debt is unsus-tainable, yet few are willing to take serious steps toward addressing it. Politicians in Washington cannot face the fact that the blank checks must stop.
Many think we can ignore the mounting debts and defi -cits and eventually the econo-my will magically turn around and grow its way out of the mess.
If you really understand why the economy is founder-ing, you understand the bur-den cannot all be put on the backs of the American people while politicians stick their heads in the sand.
According to a USA Today
analysis, there are currently over $61.6 trillion in unfunded future government liabilities, which amounts to $528,000 per American household.
A huge part of these liabili-ties are Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – prom-ises made to make the Ameri-can people feel secure in their futures.
But how secure should the American people feel know-ing that a default is becom-ing more mathematically un-avoidable with every NEW program added, every bailout, every debt ceiling increase, every new war we rush into, and every round of quantita-tive easing from the Federal Reserve?
The last thing politicians should be doing is adding to that $528,000 household bur-den, with either more spend-ing or more taxes.
This is unequivocally a problem of too much spend-ing by a government far out-side its Constitutional bounds.
It is especially a slap in the
face to the American family when the Federal Reserve di-lutes the dollars we work for in order to bail out profl igate banks and governments in Eu-rope.
The already perilous state of our economy and our cur-rency should not be further endangered in a futile attempt to save the Euro.
The least the government can do is allow Americans a choice in how to actually secure their fi nancial futures that doesn’t depend on a sink-ing dollar and irresponsible government.
My competing currency bill allows for that and I will continue to fi ght for economic freedom from foolish and self-ish whims of the central bank.
It is nothing new for Wash-ington to kick economic pain down the road.
Optimistic politicians hope things will stay cobbled to-gether just long enough to get through another election cycle, or that another admin-istration will have to deal with the mess.
The longer this cowardly attitude prevails, the bigger the problems become. Con-gress and the administration should exercise some good judgment, some political courage, and make the needed budgetary changes now.
It would not be that dif-fi cult to do if Washington would simply work its way back to the Constitution in-stead of straying even further from it.
(Ron Paul represents the 14th Congressional District in Texas.)
Paul
Debt burden threatens American families
Texas Straigth Talk
the long process involved in reaching this date and the positive results achieved from working together.
In May the Stafford commu-nity overwhelmingly approved four propositions totaling $49.9 million to support the district’s vision for transforming its sec-ondary educational opportuni-ties and facilities. Focusing on college or career readiness, the
bond propositions were the re-sult of a fi ve-year Vision Plan created by over 125 members of the Stafford community working together since January 2010. The plan includes a new mission statement, seven strat-egies and 50 goals.
Using the plan as its guide, a Facilities Task Force recom-mended approval of a bond referendum to support the in-frastructure required to imple-ment the Vision Plan. In Feb-ruary the SMSD School Board
approved a resolution sup-porting the bond referendum and the City of Stafford City Council approved the bond ref-erendum at its March 2, 2011meeting.
Hindt said “it is exciting to work with a school board andcity council that is passionateabout providing each studentan outstanding educational ex-perience.”
For additional informationconcerning the school district, go to www.staffordmsd.org.
SMSDFrom Page 1
bond propositions were the re approved a resolution supSMSD
JANUARY 4 , 2012 • INDEPENDENT • Page 5
Community News
Become an essential part of an adult student’s life by sign-ing up to be a tutor at the Lit-eracy Council!
The Literacy Council of Fort Bend County will be holding tutor training on Sat-urday, January 14 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday, January 16 and Wednesday, January 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
After 12 hours of training, outstanding volunteers are equipped to teach Basic Lit-eracy and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to adults.
The trainings prepare tutors to organize and compile les-son plans, learn about various tutoring techniques, under-stand the purpose of the Liter-acy Council and much more.
Tutors do not need knowl-edge of any foreign language, nor do they need formal teach-ing experience. There are only three qualifi cations needed to become a tutor at the Literacy Council, a desire to help adult students, patience and com-mitment to three hours of tu-toring per week.
“The reward that our tutors feel after helping a student
fi nd their “voice” is indescrib-able,” said Amelia Perez, Pro-gram Director.
“Students arrive at the Lit-eracy Council timid and shy, but once they feel comfortable with the language and their speaking abilities, their confi -dence soars and they are say-ing ‘Hello’ to everyone they pass in the hallways. It is an incredible transformation and a source of pride for the tu-tors.”
If you are interested in im-pacting someone’s life by be-coming a tutor, please contact the Literacy Council at 281-240-8181 or visit the website at www.ftbendliteracy.org.
Volunteer tutors are needed at outreach locations across Fort Bend County. The next tutor training dates are Janu-ary 14, 16 and 18. Help us to “Change Lives Through Lit-eracy!”
Since 1987, the Literacy Council of Fort Bend Coun-ty has been Changing Lives Through Literacy. The mis-sion of the Literacy Council is to end intergenerational cy-cles of illiteracy by improving adult literacy skills and gener-
Fort Bend Partnership for Youth (FBPY) is the recent benefi ciary of a generous do-nation from Jim McIngvale, known to most people in the Houston area as Mattress Mac.
The Gallery Furniture own-er donated furnishings for the newly-opened youth activity house on FM 2218 in Rosen-berg. The house was leased in November after a fi re de-stroyed all the belongings of the house the group has occu-pied for the past fi ve years.
“FBPY works with juve-niles in a mentoring program that has been ongoing for many years,” board member Kathy Johnson wrote in a let-ter to McIngvale. “We recent-ly located a new place, but sorely lack just about all fur-nishings and other necessities to get it back up and running.”
According to Johnson, the activity house is also known as the visitation house by the
Department of Family and Protective Services, Child Advocates of Fort Bend and the Infant and Toddler Court Program. “The house became a much needed venue for par-ents whose children were in CPS custody,” she said.
A special baby’s room had been set up in the house for the small children involved in Judge Ron Pope’s Infant and Toddler Court Program. “This program strives to give children from ages 0-3 addi-tional access to their parents,” said Johnson. “The one hour per week visit in the sterile en-vironment of a small room at the CPS offi ces in Rosenberg was not working for these lit-tle ones.”
Child Advocates also used the visitation house in its Wings program as an indepen-dence house for children who are over 18 and thus out of the foster care system.
“CASA teaches them to be
self-suffi cient, right down to shopping, planning and cook-ing a meal, cleaning, all the basics they do not know,” said Johnson. “This program has been so successful, more so since the kids had access to the house.”
In addition to Mattress Mac, Irfan Abji and his wife, Alejandra Abji of Oakdale Group donated baby furnish-ings for the baby’s room and NRG Global Giving donated funds to buy new computers to be used in the mentoring program for GED tutoring.
“To the babies, teens and all the children in between, this house has been a home, a haven, a place to learn and will be again,” said Johnson. “With this furniture, we are about ready to move our pro-grams back from the various charities that had been loaning us space to continue on for the last six months.”
—DIANE PARKS
Among those watching the furniture being carried into the Fort Bend Partnership for Youth activity house are Mary Gready, Fort Bend Partnership for Youth in jacket talking to camera; from left, Kathy Johnson, Fort Bend Partnership for Youth; Billie Van Slyke; a Gallery Fur-niture representative; Pam Beach, FBPY; Janice, FBPY; Marsha Carden – FBPY; Jeramie Parker, mentor with probation dept.; and Don Johnson, FBPY.
Mattress Mac donates furniture to FBPY
The Fort Bend CORPS had a successful ribbon cutting cere-mony last week with the completion of their fi rst Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) home here in Fort Bend County.
Fort Bend CORPS and the local community celebrated to-gether as the keys to this wonderful home were presented by Anthony Francis, Chairman, along with other board members and County offi cials. Television media from Channels 2, 11, 13, 26, Univision and Telemundo were all present to televise the event.
Bel Furniture from Houston, provided the family with an entire house full of furniture and Fiesta provided $500 worth of gift cards. Santa and his elves made an appearance and the children sang Christmas carols to the cameras and those in at-tendance.
The fi rst of seven homes being built by Fort Bend CORPS is being funded through a cooperative HUD grant program ad-ministered by Fort Bend County Community Development.
“The CORPS is the only non-profi t in the nation using NSP funds to effectively cleanup blighted properties and re-construct them into new homes,” said Ron Castillo, Executive Director.
The home was constructed using green building materials and energy star rated appliances. It is a total of 1,235 square feet with central heat and air, solar powered attic ventilation system, 3 bedrooms with a study, including a spacious master bedroom, 2 bathrooms, including an ADA accessible bathroom and a large front porch complete with energy star ceiling fans.
For more information on the CORPS or its programs, visit www.fbcorps.org or call 281-617-7416.
1318 Guadalupe-the fi nished home before the ceremony.— Photos by: Kerry Jarka
Paula Soto, family member, and Brandy Leonhardt watch as Santa and the elves unload furniture donated by Bel Furniture.
Ron Castillo, Fort Bend CORPS Executive Director, inter-views with John Donnelly, Fox 26 Morning News.
Home for the Holidays: CORPS builds new home for family in Stafford
Literacy Council of Fort Bend County offers tutor trainingate community-wide literacy awareness.
The Literacy Council pro-vides several programs for its students: Basic Literacy,
English as a Second Lan-guage, GED Preparation, U.S. Citizenship Prepara-tion, Computer Skills and Job Readiness Skills.
People say it’s just a cookie. What can a cookie do? A Girl Scout Cookie can do a lot. It could help send a city kid to camp. It could help pay for a fresh change of clothes for an abuse victim rushed to a shel-ter. It could cheer up a soldier far from home. When you buy Girl Scout cookies, you help girls do great things!
January 7 marks the start of the Cookie Program for Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council (GSSJC).
The Girl Scouts Cookie program is the largest girl-led business in the country and generates over $700 mil-lion for girls and communities nationwide. The Girl Scout Cookie Sale is a unique pro-
gram activity for girls. The experiences girls gain and the leadership skills they acquire last a lifetime.
Eight varieties of cookies are available for sale this year, including Thin Mints, Cara-mel De Lites, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbread, Thanks-A-Lot, Lemonades and Shout Outs!. All varieties of Girl
Scout Cookies are zero trans fat per serving and the price for a box of cookies is still only $4.00.
From February 18 through March 25, Girl Scout Cookies will be sold at cookie booths outside of grocery stores and other retail venues. The sale ends March 25.
When all of the cookies have been consumed, remem-ber, the box is not empty. Each box sold helps to create thousands of happy memories and incredible achievements that the cookie program has made possible.
Every box of Girl Scout Cookies resonates with prom-ise and possibility. Your sup-port of Girl Scouting through
purchasing Girl Scout Cook-ies helps make that promise and those possibilities into re-alities for girls.
Girl Scouts of the USA is the world’s preeminent or-ganization for girls, with a membership of more than 3.7 million girls and adults. Girl Scouting builds girls of cour-age, confi dence, and charac-ter, who make the world a bet-ter place.
Chartered by GSUSA to provide Girl Scouting lo-cally, Girl Scouts of San Ja-cinto Council is one of the largest Girl Scout councils in the country serving more than 76,000 girl members and nearly 18,000 adults in 26 southeast Texas counties.
Girl Scout Cookie has a mission
Glenn Rodgers in Concert The Friends of the Arts committee, First United Methodist
Church, Missouri City presents in concert Glenn Rodgers. A pianist since the age of fi ve and organist from the age of thir-teen, Glenn is well known for his creative programming on recitals where the repertoire for both instruments is required. He has directed choirs in large cathedrals as well as small town halls and parish churches. Bring your family and friends for a very enlightening and entertaining afternoon to First United Methodist Church, Missouri City on Saturday, January 14, be-ginning at 4 p.m in the church sanctuary. The location is 3900 Lexington Blvd., Missouri City....cross street is Murphy Road with a welcome sign near the entrance. Concert is free to the public but love donations graciously accepted. More details, call 281-499-3502, or e mail: [email protected], Website: www.fumcmc.org. Friends of the Arts is a commu-nity out reach ministry of First United Methodist Church that is dedicated to offering a variety of fi ne arts to the church and community free of charge.
Phlebotomist Roxanne Rodelo with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center helps Deputy Rizkallah Ayoub of the Fort Bend County Sher-iff’s Offi ce at the Norsworthy Blood Drive held Tuesday. Almost 60 people turned out Tuesday to participate in the First Annual Deputy John Norsworthy Blood Drive held at the Fort Bend County Sher-iff’s Offi ce. On Dec. 27, 2010, Deputy Norsworthy was involved in a motor vehicle accident while en route to back up another deputy on a traffi c stop. Deputy Norsworthy was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital – The Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries on Jan. 4, 2011. He was 39 years old, and left behind his wife, Me-lissa, and a daughter and son, Kaitlyn and Jacob. Family members were among those who participated in the drive Tuesday. The Katy Fire Department also dedicated its quarterly blood drive held Tues-day toward the Norsworthy Blood Drive .
For free listing of upcoming community events, send email to editor@
fbindependent.com
NewsPage 6 • INDEPENDENT • JANUARY 4, 2012
LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE
PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 at 1:30 P.M. CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 and the names of the proposers made public. Proposals received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.RFP 12-020 – GENERAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES-FORT BEND COUNTY SENIOR CENTERA pre-RFP conference will be conducted on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 9:00 AM (CST). The pre-RFP conference will be held at Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Travis Annex at 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX. All vendors are encouraged to attend. Lump sum pricing is required. Successful vendor is required to provide bonds. Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Crystal Lake Estates Subdivision Replat No. 1, Precinct 1. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B. Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact Chris Kalkomey with Charlie Kalkomey Surveying Inc. at 281-342-2033 for information prior to the hearing.Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
Quail Valley Fund Home Owners Association, Inc. trustees are asking for inter-ested persons to submit their names for election to the po-sition of trustee. The cutoff date for submitting the appli-cation is Jan. 27, 2012, 4 p.m. Those interested may send their name along with a brief resume to Quail Valley Fund, P. O. Box 846, Missouri City, Texas 77459. Resumes may also be faxed to 281-499-6621 or emailed to [email protected]. Call 281-499-8371 for any questions.
Quail Valley Fund seeks nominees for HOA board
LEGAL NOTICEINVITATION TO BIDDERS
Sealed Bids will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All bids will then be publicly opened and read in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469. Bids received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.BID 12-021 – TRAFFIC SIGNALIZATION PROJECT: FRY ROAD AND GASTON ROAD A pre-bid conference will be conducted on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM (CST) with site visit to follow. The pre-bid conference will be held at Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Travis Annex at 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX. All bidders are encouraged to attend. Unit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are required.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr.,Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE
PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 at 1:30 P.M. CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 and the names of the proposers made public. Proposals received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.RFP 12-024 – LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE OF CAMPUS ON EUGENE HEIMANN CIRCLEUnit pricing is required. Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing Agent Fort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEINVITATION TO BIDDERS
Sealed Bids will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All bids will then be publicly opened and read in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469. Bids received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.BID 12-025 – 15’ SHREDDERS Unit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are not required.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Signed: Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEINVITATION TO BIDDERS
Sealed Bids will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All bids will then be publicly opened and read in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469. Bids received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.BID 12-016 – FALCON LANDING BLVD ROAD EXTENSION
A pre-bid conference will be conducted on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 9:00 AM (CST) with site visit to follow. The pre-bid conference will be held at Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Travis Annex at 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX. All bidders are encouraged to attend. Unit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are required.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr.,Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Fulbrook, Section 2A, replat of lots 3 and 4 of block 2, Precinct 3. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B. Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact David Leyendecker with Clay & Leyendecker Inc. at 281-391-0173 for information prior to the hearing.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Fulbrook, Section 2D, replat of lots 5 and 6 of block 4, Precinct 3. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B.Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact David Leyendecker with Clay & Leyendecker Inc. at 281-391-0173 for information prior to the hearing.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Fulbrook, Section 3A, replat of lots 1 and 2 of block 1, Precinct 3. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B. Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact David Leyendecker with Clay & Leyendecker Inc. at 281-391-0173 forinformation prior to the hearing.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Fulbrook, Section 3A, replat of lots 4 and 5 of block 3, Precinct 3. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B. Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact David Leyendecker with Clay & Leyendecker Inc. at 281-391-0173 forinformation prior to the hearing.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 for Fulbrook, Section 5B, replat of lots 9 and 10 of block 1, Precinct 3. The hearing will be held in the Commissioners Courtroom, William B. Travis Bldg., 309 S. Fourth St., Rm. 700, Richmond, Texas.Under state law, you the owner, have certain rights with respect to the proposed replat. Should you wish to exercise your right, you may be heard at the planned public hearing. You may contact David Leyendecker with Clay & Leyendecker Inc. at 281-391-0173 forinformation prior to the hearing.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM CONVERSION TO CHLORAMINE DISINFECTION
Beginning on January 17, 2012, the City of Missouri City in conjunction with Vicksburg Joint Powers Authority and Sienna Plantation Municipal Utility District Number 1, will begin changing the disinfectant that is used in these potable water systems from chlorine to chloramines. This change is intended to benefi t water customers by reducing the levels of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in the system, while still providing protection from waterborne disease. However, the change to chloramines can cause problems to persons dependent on dialysis machines. A condition known as hemolytic anemia can occur if the disinfectant is not completely removed from the water that is used for the dialysate. Consequently, the pretreatment scheme used for the dialysis units must include some means, such as a charcoal fi lter, for removing the chloramine prior to this date. Medical facilities should also determine if additional precautions are required for other medical equipment. In addition, chloraminated water may be toxic to fi sh. If you have a fi sh tank, please make sure that the chemicals or fi lters that you are using are designed for use in water that has been treated with chloramines. You may also need to change the type of fi lter that you use for the fi sh tank.If you have questions please contact the customer service phone number on your water bill.
City of Missouri City
COMBINED NOTICE OF FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS
January 4, 2012Fort Bend County, Texas309 S. 4th Street, Suite 602Richmond, Texas 77469281-341-4410
This Notice shall satisfy the above-cited two separate but related procedural notifi cation requirements.
REQUEST FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS
On or about January 20, 2012 Fort Bend County will submit a request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the release of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (PL 93-383), as amended to undertake the following:
Project Nature/Scope Renovation of approximately 6,500 sq. ft. of existing warehouse space in
a building attached to the rear of Arcola City Hall. The renovated space will be used as a Multi-purpose Community Center. It will house a computer lab, youth programs, restrooms, a kitchen and senior citizen programs.
Project Location Federal Funds $100,000 - FY 2011 CDBG FundsCity of Arcola, rear of Arcola City Hall –13222 Hwy 6
FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
Fort Bend County has determined that the project will have no signifi cant impact on the human environment. Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is not required. Additional project information is contained in the Environmental Review Record (ERR) on fi le at the Fort Bend County Community Development Department, 309 S. 4th Street, Suite 602, Richmond, Texas 77469 and may be examined or copied weekdays 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Any individual, group, or agency disagreeing with this determination or wishing to comment on the project may submit written comments to the Fort Bend County Community Development Department. All comments received by January 19, 2012 will be considered by Fort Bend County prior to authorizing submission of a request for release of funds. Commentors should specify which part of this Notice they are addressing.
RELEASE OF FUNDS
Fort Bend County certifi es to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that Robert E. Hebert in his capacity as Fort Bend County Judge consents to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts if an action is brought to enforce responsibilities in relation to the environmental review process and that these responsibilities have been satisfi ed. HUD’s approval of the certifi cation satisfi es its responsibilities under NEPA and related laws and authorities, and allows the Fort Bend County to use Program funds.
OBJECTIONS TO RELEASE OF FUNDS
HUD will accept objections to its release of funds and Fort Bend County’s Certifi cation received by February 6, 2012 or a period of fi fteen days from its receipt of the request (whichever is later) only if they are on one of the following bases: (a) the certifi cation was not executed by the Certifying Offi cer or other offi cer of the County of Fort Bend approved by HUD; (b) the County of Fort Bend has omitted a step or failed to make a decision or fi nding required by HUD regulations at 24 CFR Part 58; (c) the grant recipient or other participants in the project have committed funds or incurred costs not authorized by 24 CFR Part 58 before approval of a release of funds by HUD; or (d) another Federal agency acting pursuant to 40 CFR Part 1504 has submitted a written fi nding that the project is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality. Objections must be prepared and submitted in accordance with the required procedures (24 CFR Part 58) and shall be addressed to HUD, 1301 Fannin, Suite 2200, Houston, Texas 77002. Potential objectors should contact HUD to verify the actual last day of the objection period.
Robert E. HebertFort Bend County Judge
LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE
PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 for the following until THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 at 1:30 P.M. CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Travis Annex, 301 Jackson, Suite 201, Richmond, TX 77469 and the names of the proposers made public. Proposals received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.RFP 12-026 – BULK FUELUnit pricing is required. Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.
Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
Don’t miss Fort Bend The-atre’s acting classes beginning January 14, 2012 through March 3, 2012.
Classes will be held on Sat-urday mornings at 2815 North Main Street in Stafford. Each session teaches stage acting techniques, including panto-mime, improvisation, vocal-izations, and characterization and ends with an exciting per-formance open to family and friends.
Classes are available as fol-lows: 8:30-9:15 a.m: ages 5-7; 9:15-10:45 a.m: ages 8-12 (beginner); 10:45 a.m-12:15 p.m: ages 8-12 (advanced); 12:30-2:00 p.m: ages 13-18.
Back by popular demand... sessions for ages 5-7 will be 45 minutes packed with the same concepts using age ap-propriate materials. The cost is $100. The cost for ages 8-18 is $200. All sessions are pay-able by a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold your child’s place, balance must be paid in full by Jan. 6. Space is limited! For more information visit the “Education” tab on the FBT website www.fortbendtheatre.com or call (281)208-3333 to register.
Fort Bend Theater offersacting classes
Nunsense!Frolic in the madness of
Fort-Bend Theatre’s produc-tion of Nunsense at 2815 Main Street in Stafford, Janu-ary 27 – February 5, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidently poisoned the fi fty-two bingo-playing nuns that help run a leper colony on an island south of France. With no funds for the burials fi ve of the nineteen surviving nuns must fi nd a way to over-come this disaster. What fol-lows is an outrageously hilari-ous story that will make you laugh from beginning to end! Tickets ranging from $12 - $15 are available on the FBT website www.fortbendtheatre.com.
For more information, call 281-208-3333.
Award-winning Fort Bend Theatre will hold auditions for the critically acclaimed mu-sical The Music Man, Janu-ary 22-23 at 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. at North Main St in Stafford, Texas.
Singers and dancers from age 6-65 are needed, along with 6-10 year old boys for the role of Winthrop Paroo. Audi-tioners should bring their mu-sic or their accompaniment cd (with no vocal please) and be prepared to sing. Dance audi-tions will be on Tuesday at 7 p.m (please dress dance ap-propriate). Please bring your headshot or a recent photo and resume.
For more information, visit the FBT website at www.fort-bendtheatre.com and click the upcoming auditions tab or call 281-208-3333.
Audition for Music Man
The Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce is excited to present the spectacular annual Chairman’s Gala 2012 “Fly Me To The Moon” on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at Safari Texas Ranch. “This event is pure fun,” says incoming Chairman Bruce Mer-cer, “This is our night to celebrate our retiring offi cers, honor our tireless volunteers and welcome in our new offi cers.”
A festive evening is planned and the only thing that will be missing is the auction and long speeches.
The cocktail reception starts at six-thirty, followed by a gourmet dinner, brief awards and recognitions.
Then, enter the “Copa Club” where you can dance the night away to the music of SOUND ADVICE and enjoy Vegas-style casinos. Complimentary cocktails, wine and valet parking are included.
To make this possible, the following Chamber members have signed up as event sponsors for Chairman’s Gala 2012 – “Fly Me to the Moon”; Galaxy Sponsors: The Harris Law Firm, Null-Lairson, P.C. Moon Sponsors: Brown & Gay Engineers, Inc., Classic Chevrolet, St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital, Windstream Communications; Star Sponsors: Huitt-Zollars, Imperial Development~Riverstone~Sienna, Method-ist Sugar Land Hospital, Minute Maid, Nalco Company, Rice & Gardner Consultants, Inc., Safari Texas Ranch, University of Houston Sugar Land & Wharton County Junior College.
Reserve your table and play among the stars of Fort Bend at “Fly Me to the Moon”!
The three sponsorship levels are: Galaxy at $5,000, Moon Sponsor at $3,000, or Star Sponsor at $2000 which includes recognition at the event and in the program, marketing materi-als and ringside seating.
Corporate tables for ten are also available for $1,250 and individual tickets are $125.
Hyatt Place Reservations are available for $100 (deluxe room, complimentary transportation and breakfast for two).
Dress is black tie optional and seating is limited. Register online at www.FortBendChamber.com or contact Shauna Wil-liams for more information at 281-491-0277.
Chris Breaux, left, Outgoing Chairman - Null-Lairson, P.C.; Bruce Mercer, Incoming Chairman – First Victoria; Bill Hickl, III, Treasurer - UHY Advisors
Fort Bend Chamber chairman’s gala:
Fly me to the moon
Coastal Prairie Quilt Guild Meeting will be held on Feb. 1 at The First United Meth-odist Church of Missouri City, 3900 Lexington Blvd., at 7 p.m. Jenalia Moreno, an award-winning Houston Chronicle reporter whose colorful stories bring her subjects to life, will be the guest speaker. She is the di-rector of the fi lm “Stitched” which will be viewed that night. For more information, go to cpqg.org or call Candy Horsley at 281-341-8309.
Coastal Prairie Quilt
Guild Meeting
Fort Bend Lawyers Care hostsFree answers to legal questions
CALL TO QUALIFY: 10 a.m. to Noon
An attorney will return calls from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m on Janu-ary 6. The Legal Line phone number is 281-239-0015.
Legal Line is available to low-income residents of Fort Bend County. Civil legal questions that can be addressed in-clude: Divorce/Custody/child support, Adult Guardianship, Adoption, Real Estate, landlord/tenant, Credit Issues, and Wills & Probate.
Legal Line is for advice and counsel ONLY. Please contact Fort Bend Lawyers CARE if you need more information at 281-239-0015 or www.fortbendlawyerscare.org.
Fort Bend Lawyers CARE’s mission is to provide equal access to justice through volunteer lawyers. Fort Bend Law-yers Care is funded in part by grants from The George Foun-dation, Texas Access to Justice Foundation, Fort Bend Junior Service League, and Fort Bend County Bar Association.
By BARBARA FULENWIDERThe newest entrant in Toyo-
ta’s growing family of hybrid vehicle is the Prius v, which gets an estimated average of 42 miles to the gallon and has a new panaoramic view moonroof.
The four-door with hatch-back blends versatility and fuel effi ciency into a comfort-able, mid-size package. The Prius v, with “v” expressing the vehicle’s versatility has the same Hybrid Synergy Drive system as the third-generation Prius.
Comfortable interior space and good visibility are assist-ed by a high seating position, ample head room and gener-ous rear legroom. A low, rear hatch reveals 34.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats.
Seating for fi ve is designed for young families. Sliding second row seats allow for easier ingress and egress and
rear-storage fl exibility, with a 45-degree recline. The 60/40 split, folding rear seats pres-ent four different seat arrange-ments and a fold-fl at front-passenger seat allows for long cargo.
As with other Prius models, the driving controls including Push Button Start, parking switch, drive-by-wire shift toggle and driving mode but-tons that are immediately at hand. Rear seats fold, slide and recline to confi gure for any mix of passengers and cargo.
Also available, and a Toy-ota-fi rst, is a Panoramic View Moonroof with power retract-able sun shades that provides an open atmosphere in the cabin.
The Hybrid Synergy Drive system in the Prius v uses two high-output motors, one 60kw (80 hp) unit that mainly works to power the compact, light-weight transaxle and another
smaller motor that mainly works as the electric power source. Maximum motor drive voltage is 650 volts DC.
As with current-generation Prius cars, Hybrid Synergy Drive is a series-parallel hy-brid system that can provide power either from the engine alone, or the motor alone, or any mix of both. A hybrid control computer manages the system so that optimum pow-
er is delivered according to driver demand. It uses a start/stop system and regenerative braking to conserve fuel and recharge the battery upon de-celeration.
In addition to the standard driving mode, Prius v drive system also includes an Eco driving mode, an EV driving mode, and a Power mode. In Power mode, enhanced mid-range response enables easier
coping with slopes and moun-tainous terrain. In EV mode, the Prius v can run on battery power alone for short dis-tances and lower speeds, up to about a mile. In Eco driv-ing mode, the engine manage-ment system prioritizes fuel economy, managing throttle response and limiting power consumption from the air con-ditioning.
A new feature, Pitch and Bounce Control, works with suspension enhancements to improve ride comfort and control. Because the Prius v is a larger vehicle more likely to carry loads and passengers, front and rear suspension com-ponents have been redesigned to improve handling and ride quality. Front coil-over spring and damper capacities have been signifi cantly increased and a new upper support has been designed. The steering gear has been attached to the front suspension member, and
the stabilizer bar repositioned for more responsive steering feel and enhanced ride com-fort.
In the rear, a torsion-beam suspension design has been fi tted with appropriately tuned springs and dampers. The new rear-suspension system is de-signed to help ensure stability and ride comfort.
Standard wheels are 16 inches in diameter, with 17-inch wheels available as an option.
Like all Toyota models, the Prius v comes standard with vehicle stability control, trac-tion control, anti-lock braking system, electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist. It also features the standard brake-override system.
The Prius v retails for $29,990 The optional ad-vanced technology package added $5,580 and included numerous enhanced audio and video features.
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YOU CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO BUY A HOME!
Buying ٠ Selling ٠ Leasing ٠ Investing
Buying a home can be an intimidating process. Don’t go through it alone, use a Realtor.
$450,000. 8615 Halls Retreat, Missouri City - 4 bedroom/4 bathroom. HUGE STORY 2 STUDY. MASTER RETREAT WITH HIS/HER CLOSETS. MASTER BATH FEATURES JACUZZI TUB & HIS/HER SINKS W/ PREMIER GALAXY GRANITE. LARGE OPEN ISLAND KITCHEN W/ 6 GAS BURNERS. STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES, CUSTOM CABINETS & WALK-IN PANTRY.
$900,000. 47 Commanders Cove 5 Bedrooms/5 Full & 2 Half Bath-rooms. Quality abounds in this most magnifi cent Tuscany Stucco! Designed to provide amazing views from every room!
$349,500. Crown Jewel – 3/4 Bedrooms/4.5 Bathrooms. Executive Series. 1 1/2 story with upstairs gameroom on wooded lot. Huge master closet. Gorgeous 3/4 acre lot backing wooded reserve. Covered Patio. Hardwd fl oors. Gourmet Kitchen w/granite
$549,900. 6806 Peatwood Way – 5 Bedrooms/3.5 Baths. Home sits on a large cornelot. Great fl oor plan at an amazing priceHome is in great condition and has beeupdated with wood fl ooring, stainless applances, granite countertops, island kitchen.
$209,500.3006 Lake Estates – 4 Bed-rooms/2.5 Bathrooms. Beautiful David Week-ley. Travertine throughout. Crown Molding. Hi ceilings. Gourmet Island Kitchen updated w/ rare granite, stainless appliances., double ovens, bow-bay window .& built-in micro-wave. Breakfast area w/oversized windows
$162,900. 5819 La Crema – 3 Bedroo2ms/2 Bathrooms. This impeccably maintained home features a great open fl oor plan w/ an extended tile entry, central kitchen w/ Corian counter tops, breakfast bar, large breakfast nook, and a charming front porch. Home has 2’’ blinds throughout.
SOLD
This move will be remem-bered for the performance by Keira Knightley as the sexu-ally complicated patient of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fass-bender) even though 2011 will be remembered as the year of Michael Fassbender.
In the year 2011, Fass-bender is also credited with starring roles in “Shame” “X-Men: First Class” “Jane Eyre” “Haywire” and a short fi lm entitled “Pitch Black Heist.” Fassbender versus Ryan Gosling who starred in “Drive” “Crazy, Stupid Love” and Clooney’s “The Ides of March.”
If you don’t know who Fassbender and Gosling are,
then you are too old or not go-ing to enough movies.
But that’s ok because I’m young and go to a lot of mov-ies and you are my friend so we’re good. My 19 year old niece, Lizzie B., knows them quite well.
Knightley’s Sabina Speil-rein has a shot at a nomination for Best Supporting Actress because I believed her when she went into contortions when asked by the famous Dr. Jung “…tell me about the fi rst time your father beat you.”
The movie is based on a true account of the relationships between Jung and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Jung and his Russian patient/
lover Speilrein. I’m not letting the cat out of
the bag if you know your psy-choanalysis history. Freud and Jung were the founding fathers
of what we now casually call “therapy.”
There is much controversy about Freud’s relating most events to sex, but these guys
got it all started. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Director David“A His-tory of Violence” Cronenberg, 67, created a beautifully con-structed fi lm that articulates an intriguing story of the mys-teries of Freud and Jung in the early twentieth century.
I don’t know much about these guys, butt occasionally I’m pretty sure I have a Freud-ian slip.
While I’m touting Knight-ley, let’s remember that Fass-bender and Mortensen are outstanding not to mention Vincent “Black Swan” Cas-sel’s magnifi cent portrayal of Otto Gross, but quite simply, Knightley won the acting con-
test among these four accom-plished actors.
Cronenberg is one of our best and this movie is extraor-dinary and will reach clas-sic status because of the odd subject matter matched with a brilliant production.
It’s just not a fun movie and will never have a broad appeal, but if you are search-ing for a fascinating plot, sen-sational acting and editing, memorable costumes and set designs, and captivating mu-sic, then this is the movie for you.
The Fort Bend Aggie Moms’ Club college scholarship ap-plications for 2012-2013 are now available for Fort Bend County students currently at-tending Texas A&M Universi-ty College Station, Galveston and Blinn TEAM. Completed applications including tran-scripts with Fall 2011 grades must be received by Feb. 13, 2012.
Scholarship amounts rang-ing from $500 to $1500 will be awarded in May 2012.
Electronic applications can be found online at fortbend-moms.aggienetwork.com. For more information contact [email protected] or Mary Beth Morris at 281-799-1054.Scholarship Winners 2011
Mom’s Club will be meeting on Monday, January 9th at the Sugar Land Recreation Cen-ter,234 Matlage Way. Our pro-gram for the evening is Greek Life. Please join us at 7 p.m. for refreshments, social time, and boutique shopping fol-lowed by the program.
We will also begin selling raffl e tickets for a drawing on March 31 for a 2012 Chevy Malibu LT furnished by Clas-sic Chevrolet-Don Kerstetter. This raffl e benefi ts our Fort Bend Aggie students’ schol-arships which are awarded in May.
Fort Bend Aggie Moms’ Club awards college scholarship
What is the purpose of the SSaaddddllee UUpp TTeexxaass SSTTRRAAWW PPOOLLLL™™??
The SSaaddddllee UUpp TTeexxaass SSTTRRAAWW PPOOLLLL™™ is a registered non-profit (527) organization.
The organization was inspired by Texas citizens who dreamed that Texans, historically ignored yet sending the second largest delegation to the Electoral College and possessing the second highest population in the United States could make a difference in the presidential primary if their collective voice was heard – especially prior to the first block of primary elections. This straw poll is that voice.
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Provide Texas voters with the opportunity to speak directly with Federal and State candidates, to solidify their choice for the primary election and prepare them for the straw poll.
Elevate and propel the best candidate with a boost into the primary elections with a ffiirrsstt ooff iittss kkiinndd SSTTAATTEE WWIIDDEE TTEEXXTT PPOOLLLLIINNGG SSYYSSTTEEMM that allows Texas voters to cast their vote(s) remotely via phone and at the event via paper ballot.
Unify conservative voters from all walks of life through dialogue & collaboration and with influential American activists via speeches, rallies and engaging discussions regarding the American process.
Demonstrate that the American ideal present in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that the United States absolutely grants equal opportunity to the states and the final word to her people.
The inaugural SSaaddddllee UUpp TTeexxaass SSTTRRAAWW PPOOLLLL™™ will take place on January 12 – 14 2012 with the mission of setting the standard for the first block of primary elections that follow shortly thereafter. Thursday will be devoted to load in and set up along with a number of networking and educational sessions. Friday and Saturday will feature talks by Presidential, Senatorial & Congressional candidates and a number of acclaimed conservative personalities. Attendees may choose to participate in one or more training / breakout sessions presented by notable conservative activists. Friday afternoon will culminate with an inspiring 2 hour tribute to our courageous American veterans. The premier Texas’ state wide straw poll will be held on Saturday with the results delivered that evening.
Republican Primary
April 3, 2012
Thomas J. Parr, M.D.
281-491-7111
Call us first directly from the field!You may be able to save both time & money.
