NORTH CHANNEL✯STARYour News, Your Newspaper

CHANNELCURRENTS

US Census 2020, p. 8

VOLUME 7, NO. 40 (#296) THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019Serving all of the North Shore -- Channelview, Sheldon, Galena Park, Jacinto City

www.northchannelstar.com

Turner Chevrolet, p. 8Free RenFest Tickets, p.3

Jacinto City U.M.Church 75thAnniversary

Jacinto City United Meth-odist Church 75th Anniver-sary celebration, Sunday,October 27th from 3 to 4pm at 10730 Wiggins St. Ja-cinto City, TX. 77029.

North ChannelChamber“SALUTES” set forNov. 7

T h e N o r t h C h a n n e lChamber will hold its 11thannual Salute to Veterans,current military personnel,and First Responders.

Also taking place will bea Business Expo and HealthFair. The event will be heldat Armenta’s Reception Hallin Channelview, 823 Shel-don Road, from 10am to2pm.

Booths and Sponsor-ships are available, call theChamber at 713-450-3600.

View the ABC13video of makingour newspaper

https://abc13.com/society/meet-the-man-behind-the-crosby-star-courier-/5589062/

See Early Voting,Page 3

By Allan Jamail

Galena Park ISD Stadi-um – Friday, October 18,2019 the North Shore Mus-tangs easily defeated theBaytown Sterling Rangers63 – 0 remaining undefeat-ed in district play.

The Mustangs offensekept the scoreboard lit upwith 9 touchdowns (TD’s),with 433 total yards. Theyhad 231 rushing yards and202 passing yards.

The 9 Mustang touch-downs were made by, ZionAntoine (1), ShadrachBanks (2), Marcus Cockrell64 yard punt return TD &55 yard interception TD

Astronauts land in Galena Park School District

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALLNorth Shore Mustangs crushBaytown Sterling Rangers 63-0

Photo by Allan JamailMustang Zach Evans, a 62 yard touchdown, easily outrunning the Ranger defenders.

Photo by Allan JamailStanding left: Cloverleaf Principal Lee Brown, Crystal Guzmán & Jackie Fournier,Director of Math & Science Jacqueline Moreno (standing center) USAAstronaut Bruce Melnick

By Allan Jamail

Wednesday, October 16,2019 – Houston, Texas atthe Galena Park School Dis-trict’s Administration Build-ing astronauts gatheredfrom the United States,France, Germany and Hun-gary for breakfast beforedeparting to visit 12 schoolsin the district.

Participating astronauts

were, Jean Loup Chretien(accompanied by wife Flo-rence) (France) GerhardThiele (Germany), Tim Ko-pra & Farkas Bertalan(Hungary) and BruceMelnick & Mike Foreman(USA).

NC Star writer Allan Ja-mail joined the internation-al group and school officialsto document the historicalevent as they visited theschools, “it was very reward-

ing to see the excitementand high level of interestfrom the students agingfrom kindergarten to middleschool teenagers, it was 8hours well spent” Jamailsaid. “Students were al-lowed to ask questions, fromthem I learned bananas area forbidden fruit to take intospace, the aroma from itturns everything such as allother foods, cloths, paper-work etc into the smell of ba-

nanas. Instead of bread onlytortillas are allowed becausebread produces crumbs tofreely float inside the spacecraft capsule. I even learnedhow they use the restroom,the kids asked and so the as-tronauts told them how todo #1 and #2 in a gravityfree environment.”

Each year the Associationof Space Explorers (ASE)has five days of public pro-grams celebrating the past,

present and future of hu-man space exploration with125 flown astronauts andcosmonauts from up to 38nations, five internationalregions: USA, Russia, Asia,Europe and “at large” in-cluding Canada participat-ing.

Photo by Allan JamailMarcus Cockrell, on the Mustangs Special Team with a 64 yard touchdown punt return.

Photo by Allan JamailShadrach Banks, Mustang wide receiver hauls in a 22 yardDematrius Davis pass for a touchdown.

See Astronauts inGalena Park, Page 8

Early Voting starts October 21Constitutional Amendments, METRO bonds, HISD, MUDs

HARRIS COUNTY –Monday Oct. 21 is the firstday of Early Voting in theGeneral Election. EastHarris County area resi-dents will vote on 10 con-stitutional amendments,METRO’s MetroNext bondissue in some areas, and atax increase for ESD#60.Early voting continuesthrough November 1, and

you may vote this year atany election location. TheGeneral Election is sched-uled for November 5.METRO BOND ISSUE

Proposition A on theballot would authorize a$3.5 billion bond issue, tobe used for METRO streetimprovements, mobilityprojects, and other facili-ties. Funds for this work

would come from the exist-ing Sales Tax, and therewould not be any addition-al taxes required. Projectsincluded in this proposalare a new MetroRapid BusSystem, more HOV lanes,and extens ion o f theMetroRail system.CONSTITUTIONALAMENDMENTS

Texans will vote on 10

n e w C o n s t i t u t i o n a lAmendments on Novem-ber 5th. The issues ad-dressed include a stateincome tax, creating aflood infrastructure fund,and funding for the CancerResearch and PreventionInstitute of Texas. TheLeague of Women Voters ofTexas (LWVTX) conductsresearch on each amend-

ment to provide fair andunbiased information toTexas voters.

“The Texas Constitutionis among the longest in thecountry. Since it wasadopted in 1876, 498amendments have beenapproved by Texas voters.

(2), Dematrius Davis (1),Zach Evans, 62 yards TD(1), Zorhan Rideaux (1),Ismael Villafuerte (1).Kicker John Villalobosagain was perfect making

all 9 extra point kicks.Coach Jon Kay’s defense

continues to give up fewyards and points shutting

See NS Football Game,Page 8

Jona Granger was named Homecoming Queen and Kariri Gesorawas named Homecoming King for Channelview High School.

Channelview beatsBeaumont United 28-25for Homecoming

The Fighting Falcons moveto 2-2 in district and 4-3 over-all in a Homecoming winagainst the Beaumont Unit-ed Timberwolves last week.The Falcons racked up 321yards rushing, led by AltonLott and Dreak Thomas whohad a touchdown each and165 and 87 yards respective-ly.

The defense accounted for2 interceptions by KechoneBerryman and Trevin Chan-dler.

The Falcons take on the CE King Panthers Friday, Oc-tober 25th at 7 pm, at theSheldon ISD Stadium.

Channelview High Schoolnamed its Homecoming Kingand Queen during the half-time of the football gameagainst Beaumont United atRay Maddry Memorial Stadi-um last Friday. Kariri Geso-ra was named HomecomingKing and Jona Granger wasselected as HomecomingQueen.

Isaiah Hamilton chased down a United RB to prevent him fromscoring.

Page 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

✯ C O M M U N I T Y N E W S ✯

Cody Stephens billadvances inPennsylvania senate

WATER DISTRICTNOTICE OF PUBLIC

HEARING ON TAX RATEThe HARRIS COUNTY W.C.I.D. #84 will hold a public hearing on a

proposed tax rate for the tax year 2019 on November 12, 2019 at 7:00 PM at15900 Bear Bayou Drive, Channelview, TX 77530. Your individual taxes mayincrease or decrease, depending on the change in the taxable value of yourproperty in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property andthe tax rate that is adopted.

FOR the proposal: Allen Hall, Hugo Arriaga, Edna Ponder, Tomas Fernandez, and Bud Mills

AGAINST the proposal: None

PRESENT and not voting: None

ABSENT: None

The following table compares taxes on an average residence homestead inthis taxing unit last year to taxes proposed on the average residencehomestead this year.

Last Year This Year

Total tax rate (per $100 of value) $ .60000/$100 $ .60000/$100

Adopted Proposed

Difference in rates per $100 of value $ .00000/$100

Percentage increase/decrease in rates(+/-) .00%

Average appraised residence

homestead value $ 148,995 $ 158,896

General homestead exemptions available $ 0 $ 0

(excluding 65 years of age or older or

disabled person's exemptions)

Average residence homestead taxable value $ 148,995 $ 158,896

Tax on average residence homestead $ 893.97 $ 953.37

Annual increase/decrease in taxes if

proposed tax rate is adopted (+/-) $ 59.40

and percentage of increase (+/-) 6.64%

NOTICE OF TAXPAYERS' RIGHT TO ROLLBACK ELECTION

If taxes on the average residence homestead increase by more than eightpercent, the qualified voters of the district by petition may require that anelection be held to determine whether to reduce the operation andmaintenance tax rate to the rollback tax rate under Section 49.236(d), WaterCode.

Bob Leared Interests 713-932-9011

At a confer-ence hosted byCounty AttorneyVince Ryan lastweek, experts de-scribed the envi-r o n m e n t a lchallenges facingHarris Countywhen storms likeHurricane Har-vey strike theTexas coast, thehome of hun-dreds of chemicalcompanies andoil refineries.

The sympo-sium titled “En-v i r o n m e n t a lDisasters in Harris Coun-ty,” held on Oct. 10 fea-tured scientists, lawyers,and other experts who dis-cussed what governmentand industry were doingand could do to prevent theloss to life and propertyfrom flooding and severeweather events.

“Our office is willing totake the lead in protectingour community with re-spect to the environment,”said County AttorneyRyan. “This symposiumwas a great effort to keepall parties focused, en-gaged, and up-to-date withthe latest information andefforts by our office andother agencies.”

Attorney Charles Irvine,lead counsel in a lawsuitagainst the Army Corps ofEngineers, for flood dam-age to hundreds of homeslocated upstream of theBarker and Addicks Reser-voirs in west Harris Coun-ty, said the Corps knewthat torrential rain stormsregularly occurred in Har-ris County and that the ar-eas upstream from thedams would flood. He de-scribed the devastatingimpact of flooding to home-owners.

County Attorney Vince Ryanhosts symposium to addressenvironmental disasters

Jim Blackburn, Co-Di-rector of the SSPEED Cen-ter, Rice University,showed the catastrophicimpact of a Hurricane Ike-type storm moving up theShip Channel. He said itwould be one of the worstenvironmental disastersever to occur in the UnitedStates, jeopardizing over200 chemical plants, shut-ting down refining capaci-ty for six to 12 months, andplacing the lives of 800,000people at risk. He calledfor the construction of theGalveston Bay Park, a se-ries of islands extendingfrom Houston Point downthe ship channel to TexasCity, to provide protectionfrom storm surge.

Arturo Blanco, Director,Office of Communities,Tribes and EnvironmentalAssessment, EPA Region 6,shared the EPA’s environ-mental justice outreachand emergency responseinitiatives. Rodrigo Cantú,Environmental JusticeTeam, Lone Star Legal Aid,discussed protecting com-munities from environ-mental hazards –especially low-income,marginalized communi-ties. Randy Palachek, Se-

nior Technical Expert, andKirk Dean, Ph.D., Princi-pal Scientists, Parsons, dis-cussed dioxincontamination at the SanJacinto River Waste Pits.

Other presenters in-cluded Dr. Latrice Babin,Interim Director of HarrisCounty Pollution ControlServices, Anne Hutson,Assistant District Attor-ney, and Bethany Dwyer,Assistant County Attorney.

The symposium is partof the County Attorney’scontinued environmentalprotection efforts. Lastweek, County AttorneyRyan swore-in environ-mental attorney ClarissaKay Bauer as an assistantcounty attorney to helpwith environmental casesagainst several large cor-porations, including ITC,KMCO, Valero and Exxon-Mobil.

“We can only effect thechange necessary to pro-tect our environment if wework together,” said Coun-ty Attorney Ryan. “We hada great turnout today, andwe will continue to workwith all interested agen-cies and organizations tokeep the focus on our en-vironment.”

County Attorney Vince Ryan welcomes the participantsat the "Environmental Disasters in Harris County"symposium on Oct. 10.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Anew bill is headed to thePennsylvania Senate floorin honor of a King’s Collegestudent who died of sud-den cardiac arrest.

Senate Bill 836, or Pey-ton’s Law, is based on leg-islation that was justenacted in Texas.

Julie Walker is a PennState fan, but instead ofcheering for a team, thecrowd at the State Capitolin Harrisburg was cheer-ing on Senate Bill 836, alsoknown as Peyton’s Law, inhonor of Julie’s daughter.She was 19 years old,studying to be a physicianassistant at King’s Collegein Wilkes-Barre when shedied six years ago of sud-den cardiac arrest, alsoknown as SCA.

“The education commit-tee just voted on Peyton’sLaw, and it is going to be

pushed to the Senate floor,so I realized there was nostress, no pressure, just afun, incredible day,” Walk-er said.

Peyton’s law, sponsoredby Senator Mike Regan ofthe Harrisburg area, ex-pands on an act from 2012that required informationto be provided to student-athletes about SCA. Thefoundation says it’s thenumber one killer of stu-dent-athletes in the U.S.,and the number two medi-cal cause of death of peo-ple under age 25.

Cardiac issues can bedetected in an electrocar-diogram, and this lawwould require notificationof student-athletes andtheir parents that the testcan be part of their stan-dard physical.

It’s modeled after a sim-ilar bill just passed in Tex-

as, shepherded through bythe Stephens family, wholost their son Cody. Mon-day would have been hisbirthday.

“This is preventable.This is preventable by asimple ECG test, 86 per-cent of the cases of SCAcan be detected with a five-minute, $20 test that theWalker Foundation is giv-ing,” Scott Stephens said.

“Their hard work in Tex-as really streamlined thebill, made it more present-able. We took it, and I liketo say Pennsylvania-izedit, got support from Repub-licans and Democrats,”said Senator Mike Regan,(R) Cumberland County.

“We continue to giveAEDs to the community, 49states out of 50, and byDecember 2, we’ll be in our50th state. Let the beat goon,” Rachel Moyer said.

Scott Stephens (in black hat) at a Rally in the capital building of Pennsylvaniain Harrisburg for Peyton’s Law (similar to Texas’ Cody Law).

Page 3THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019 NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

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Early Voting,CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

On October 16, 1921,Elizabeth Leonard and for-ty other businesswomen,who wanted to make a dif-ference in their communi-ties, came together to signthe original Pilot Charter.Two days later, those wom-en met for the very firstPilot Club meeting.

Since that October day,98 years ago, some chang-es have been made. AnchorClubs, the youth division,and Compass Clubs, theyoung adult division, havebeen added. Also, men arenow welcomed as membersin clubs around the world.The one thing that hasnever changed is PilotClub members, throughout

Each year, Dr. Angi Williams, Galena Park I.S.D. superintendent of schools, presents a “Stateof the District” address to area business leaders, school district stakeholders and othercommunity members. This year, the “State of the District” address was prepared in a newscastform with students from our schools serving as anchors and field reporters.During the October board meeting, Dr. Williams and the Board of Trustees recognized thefollowing students for serving as anchors and field reporters in the 2019 State of theDistrict video production: Jalyriah Stanton, North Shore Senior High; Nicole Zavala,Woodland Acres Middle School; Maria Cortes, Galena Park High School; Rodrigo Gutierrez,Galena Park Middle School; Gabriella Salazar, Galena Park Elementary; Jesus Perez,Cunningham Middle School; and Olivia Washington, Havard Elementary.Galena Park I.S.D. would like to thank these young leaders for narrating the “State of theDistrict” address!The Channelview ISD

Special Services Depart-ment organized a team ofstudents and district staffto participate in the Au-tism Speaks Walk event onOctober 19 at the Univer-sity of Houston.

Students and sponsorsfrom the CHS InteractClub and the CHS MathClub participated in thewalk alongside CISD staffmembers. “Our goal is tobring awareness to autismand involve our studentsand staff members,” saidNan Meharg, CISD Coordi-nator of Special Services.“Through participation inawareness campaigns, weare able to educate ourcommunity.”

The Autism SpeaksWalk is the largest fund-raising event dedicated toimproving the lives of peo-ple with Autism. For more

CISD Staff members Gloria Roach, Hawann Wilson, NanMeharg, Bessie McPeters, and Ashton Johnson participatedin the 2019 Autism Speaks Walk held on the campus of theUniversity of Houston.

information, you may visitwww.autismspeaks.org orcontact the CISD Special

Services Department at281-860-8006.

San Jacinto Pilot Club CelebratesPilot International Founder’s Day

the world, continuing toserve their communitiesevery day.

San Jacinto Pilot Clubmembers came together tocelebrate this Founder’s

Day with a membershipmixer October 16, 2019.More details of this localchapter can be found atwww.SanJacintoPilot.com.

Pictured are: Karen Westbrooks, Barbara Wedemeyer, JulieFallin, Carolyn Roberts, Renee Cooper, Lori Conger.

Galena Park I.S.D. Board of Trusteesrecognizes participants in the Stateof the District Video

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Channelview ISD raisesawareness of AutismSpectrum Disorder

Members of the Channelview High School Interact Club and the Math Club participated inthe 2019 Autism Speaks Walk.

You decide which of the 10proposed amendments willbecome part of the TexasC o n s t i t u t i o n , ” s a y sLWVTX president GraceChimene.

The League’s VotersGuide is available onlineon the LWVTX websiteand Texas voters can re-view their ballot, makechoices, and print out theirc h o i c e s f r o mVOTE411.org. The printedVoters Guide can be foundat many Texas public li-braries. Texas voters maytake the printed VotersGuide, their VOTE411.orgprinted list, or their ownnotes into the pollingbooth. They may not usetheir phone in the pollingplace.

Amendments to consider inthis election:

-- Proposition 1 wouldamend the Texas Constitu-tion to allow a municipaljudge to be elected in morethan one jurisdiction.

-- Proposition 2 (SJR 79)would allow the Water De-velopment Board to issuegeneral obligation bondsfor the Economically Dis-tressed Areas Program(EDAP). The outstandingbonds could not exceed$200 million. The bondswould be used to developwater supply and sewerprojects in economicallydepressed areas of thestate. The EDAP assistswater in f ras t ruc tureprojects when the medianincome of a region is lessthan 75% of the state’s me-dian income.

-- Proposition 3 wouldallow the Texas Legisla-ture to give a temporaryproperty tax exemption ina disaster area.

-- Proposition 4 would

prohibit the Texas Legisla-ture from establishing apersonal state income tax.

-- Proposition 5 wouldrequire the Legislature toallocate sales tax revenuefrom sporting goods salesto the Texas Parks andWildlife Department andthe Texas Historical Com-mission.

-- Proposition 6 wouldauthorize the Legislatureto double the maximumbond amount for the Can-cer Prevention and Re-search Institute of Texas to$6 billion.

-- Proposition 7 woulddouble the amount of mon-ey that the General LandOffice could distribute tothe Available School Fundto $600 million.

-- Proposition 8 wouldcreate a Flood Infrastruc-ture Fund to assist in fi-nancing drainage, floodmitigation, and flood con-trol products.

-- Proposition 9 wouldauthorize the legislature toexempt precious metalsheld in a Texan preciousmetal depository to be ex-

empted from property tax-es.

-- Proposition 10 wouldallow the transfer of a lawenforcement animal to aqualified caretaker in cer-tain circumstances.

CITY OF HOUSTONFor those residents that

live in the City of Houston,there will also be an elec-tion of a Mayor, from afield of 12 candidates. Theincumbent , SylvesterTurner, is running for re-election. Some of the well-known challengers are BillKing, Tony Buzbee, andDwight Boykins.

The position of CityController is also open,with incumbent ChrisB r o w n v s . O r l a n d oSanchez.

City Council will vote onand elect 16 new members,some representing dis-tricts and some at-large.

City residents will alsofind four HISD trustee po-sitions up for election, andHouston Community Col-lege will elect three trust-ees.

A number of MUD dis-tricts, not in this area, areholding bond referendumsand directors elections.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THENOVEMBER 5TH ELECTION

Last Day to Register toVote for 11/5 Election: Oc-tober 7

Early Voting: October21 to November 1

Last Day to RequestVote by Mail Ballot: Octo-ber 25

Vote by Mail Deadline:Must be received by No-vember 5 at 7pm

Election Day: Nov. 5

VOTER ID INFORMATIONIn Texas, you are re-

quired to bring a validform of ID with you to thepolls. There are 7 forms ofID you can use: a Driver’sLicense, a US passport, aUS military photo ID, aTexas Personal Identifica-tion card, a photo US citi-zenship certificate, or aTexas Election Identifica-tion Certificate. If you donot have a photo ID or can-not reasonably obtain one,

you may still vote uponsigning a form and pre-senting an original copy ofyour Voter RegistrationCard, certified birth certif-icate, current utility bill,bank statement, govern-ment check, or paycheck

with your name and ad-dress on it.

For help on registeringto vote, checking your reg-istration status, or findingwhat’s on your ballot, visitVOTE411.org or our votingwebpage.

Page 4 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

✯ O P I N I O N P A G E ✯

STATE CAPITALHIGHLIGHTS

By Ed Sterling

✯

THEPOSTSCRIPT

ByCarrie Classon

✯

Editor & Publisher..............................Gilbert HoffmanAssociate Publisher.....................Mei-Ing Liu HoffmanAssoc. Editor/Advertising Manager.....Lewis SpearmanAssistant Editor.........................................Julieta PaitaProduction Manager...........................Luis HernandezAsst. Production Manager............Gerardo HernandezEntered as Periodicals Class at Highlands Post Office, Highlands, TX 77562. Under the Actof Congress of March 3, 1879. Published 50 weeks per year, on Thursday, by GrafikpressCorp., 5906 Star Lane, Houston, TX 77057. Opinions in this paper are those of the au-thors, and not necessarily this newspaper’s. Any erroneous statement which may appearwill be corrected when brought to the attention of the publisher. Liability for errors islimited to the reprinting of the corrected version. Submissions are encouraged, in person,by mail, by Fax, or by email, to grafikstar@aol.com.

GRAFIKPRESS is publisher of community newspapers, including Highlands STAR-CrosbyCOURIER; Barbers Hill Dayton PRESS; Northeast NEWS; North Forest NEWS, North Chan-nel STAR. Combined circulation of these newspapers exceeds 50,000, Readership exceeds110,000 according to industry standards. We also print dozens of school, ethnic, andgovernment publications on contract. Call for information to 713-977-2555.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In-county, $28.00 per year. Out of county, $35.00 per Year. POST-MASTER: Send address changes to Star-Courier, P. O. Box 405, Highlands, TX 77562

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Star✯CourierStar✯Courier

“An AutumnTale”

My parents live in a cabindeep in the north woods. I knowthis sounds like the start of afairytale. Sometimes it seems abit like one.

There are bear in the woods.Deer run in herds. The seasonsare far more pronounced andextreme than those I am used to.After a day of glorious autumnsunshine on my bare arms, Iwoke in the middle of the nightand saw, in the moonlight, thatsnow had covered the ground,turning the green grass white.

“It won’t last,” my motherassured everyone within earshot.“There’s still a lot of nice fall daysto come.”

I knew she was right, butthose snowflakes were a not-so-subtle reminder that summerwas officially over and a verydifferent season on its way.Autumn brings a sense ofanticipation and a tiny dose ofdread.

The weather turned dark andrainy. I went for a walk in a rainponcho I’d hauled around in apouch for two years and neverworn. The poncho was brightred, I discovered. I pulled thehood up over a broad brimmedhat and headed out.

I was walking down a narrowroad in a light rain when I heardthe pickup stop behind me. Iturned around and saw a womanand a young girl in the truck.

“Maybe they’re lost,” Ithought. I wouldn’t be of muchhelp if they were, a virtualstranger there myself. But Istopped as the woman rolleddown her window. She looked atme for a moment.

“I thought you were someoneI knew,” she announced.

“Oh,” I replied, temporarily ata loss for words.

“Would you like someapples?” she asked.

“Um… you have apples?” Ithought perhaps she had pickedthe last of the season’s fruit. Ilooked in the back of her truck.There was nothing there.

“Yes,” she said. “I just boughtsome.”

“What kind are they?” I wasexpecting she’d tell me theywere McIntosh or Winesaps. Itwas apple season, after all.

“Walmart,” she replied.“Oh.”“Do you want some?” she

asked again. “You can have thewhole bag if you want!” I had noidea what the correct responsewas, but this seemed like it waspretty important to her.

“Um… sure, I’ll take one,” Idecided. The truck was a doublecab. She jumped out of the frontand opened the backseat door.

“My daughter says you looklike Little Red Riding Hood,” shetold me.

“I guess I do!” I agreed.She reached into a bag and

pulled out an apple. It was tinyand bright red. She handed it tome. Her nails were long andwhite and pointed. I looked at thebright yellow leaves on the wetpavement and her long whitenails holding a shiny red apple. Isuddenly felt a little nervous.

I took the unnaturally redapple.

“Thanks!”“I used to walk here all the

time,” she told me. “I used towalk here every day!”

“Ah!” I responded, feelingseriously awkward.

The little girl was staring atme. I wondered if I was expectedto eat the apple on the spot.

“Well, I better get on home!” Iannounced, tucking the apple inmy pack.

“Bye-bye!” she said. Thetruck started up and they droveoff.

When I got back to myparents’ cabin, I told my motherwhat had happened. My motherlooked at the bright red apple fora long moment.

“Maybe we should just keepthat apple for decoration,” mymother said.

Maybe we should.Till next time,Carrie

AUSTIN — Gov. GregAbbott on Oct. 15 an-nounced $61.2 million inHomeland Security GrantProgram funding to sup-port state and local effortsto prevent terrorism andprepare for threats thatpose the greatest risk tothe security of Texans.

The awards, releasedprimarily to cities andcounties across Texas, in-clude 264 projects underthe State Homeland Secu-rity Program and 136projects through the Ur-ban Area Security Initia-tive.

“As governor, my top pri-ority is keeping our com-munities safe,” Abbott saidin a news release. “Thesegrants will ensure ourcommunities have the re-sources they need tocounter terrorism state-wide and enhance securi-ty for all Texans. Ourongoing efforts to keepTexas safe would not bepossible without our part-nership with the federalgovernment, and I thankthem for their continuedassistance.”

Larger expenditures ofgrant monies would be ap-plied as follows:

—$24.3 million to pro-vide equipment, trainingand exercise support forlocal, regional and state-level response teams suchas SWAT, bomb, HAZMATand search and rescue, andfor other law enforcement,fire and emergency medi-cal services personnel thatserve communities acrossthe state;

—$13.4 million to sup-port statewide planningand preparedness effortsthat provide the founda-tion for effective homelandsecurity capability devel-opment and implementa-tion;

—$8.3 million to sustainand enhance operationalcommunications capabili-ties facilitating informa-tion sharing andcoordination essential forthe successful response toall types of threats andhazards; and

—$3.2 million to sup-port state and regional fu-sion centers promotingongoing intelligence andinformation sharing capa-bilities and analysis, pro-duction and exchange ofcritical threat data be-tween federal, state and lo-

Terrorism prevention programsacross Texas to receive funding

cal partners.Research first, then

voteBallots in the Nov. 5

election will include pro-posed constitutionalamendments, special elec-tions and local politicalsubdivision elections, in-cluding those for mayor,city council, school board,municipal utility districtsand other local entities.

Texas Secretary ofState Ruth Hughs on Oct.16 encouraged eligible vot-ers to take advantage ofthe early voting periodahead of the election,which began on Oct. 21and will end on Nov. 1.

Hughs, the state’s chiefelection officer, also urgedvoters to research the can-didates, amendments andmeasures that will appearon their ballots as theyprepare to make theirvoices heard.

Voters with questionsabout how to cast a ballotin upcoming elections maycall 1-800-252-VOTE.

AG announcesset-tle-ment

Texas Attorney Gener-al Ken Paxton on Oct. 18announced a $117 millionmultistate settlementwith Johnson & Johnsonand its subsidiary EthiconInc. for deceptively mar-keting transvaginal surgi-cal mesh devices.

Texas was joined in thelawsuit by 40 other statesand the District of Colum-bia. The Lone Star State’sshare of the settlement isnearly $9 million.

Transvaginal surgicalmesh is a synthetic mate-rial that is surgically im-planted through the vaginato support the pelvic organsof women who suffer fromstress urinary incontinenceor pelvic organ prolapse.

The settlement wasreached after a multistateinvestigation, launched in2012, found that the com-panies failed to adequatelydisclose the products’ pos-sible side effects.

Jobless rate stayslow

The Texas WorkforceCommission on Oct. 18 an-nounced that the Texaseconomy added 7,600 sea-sonally adjusted total non-farm positions inSeptember and the unem-ployment rate held steadyat 3.4 percent for the fourthmonth in a row.

The September unem-ployment rate matches theall-time record low first setin June, the lowest record-ed unemployment ratesince series tracking beganin 1976.

Leading job growth inSeptember was the profes-sional and business servic-es sector, which added9,600 jobs. The constructionsector followed, adding7,200 jobs. Education andhealth services added an-other 1,800 jobs.

The Midland Metropoli-tan Statistical Area record-ed August's lowestunemployment rate amongTexas MSAs with a non-seasonally adjusted rate of2.0 percent, followed by theAmarillo MSA at 2.5. TheAustin-Round Rock, Col-lege Station-Bryan andOdessa MSAs each record-ed the third-lowest rate at2.6 percent.

Effort promotessafety

Nov. 7, 2000 was the lastdeathless day on Texasroadways, and since thatday, fatalities resultingfrom vehicle crashes onTexas roadways have num-bered more than 65,000,according to the Texas De-partment of Transporta-tion.

In its “Be Safe. DriveSmart” campaign, TxDOTis taking safety messagesto community events in theoil-and-gas producing Per-mian Basin and Eagle FordShale regions, where driv-ing-related fatalities arehigh. The campaign is partof #EndTheStreakTX, a so-cial media and word-of-mouth effort thatencourages drivers to makesafer choices while on theroad.

SocialSecurityMatters

by AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell GloorAssociation of Mature American Citizens

Dear Rusty: I retiredfrom work this year (age62) and I will receive myfirst social security bene-fits in September. Is therea special rule for the firstyear you retire that allowsyou to not pay taxes onyour social security sinceyou have earned no otherincome since you retired?Before I retired, I earnedabout $50,000, which Iknow is more than the usu-al allowed income. Signed:Retired Senior

Dear Retired Senior:I'm afraid there is no such"first year" rule which ex-empts you from paying in-come tax on your SocialSecurity benefits. Whenyou file your Federal in-come taxes with the IRSyou will need to claim yourSocial Security (SS) bene-fits as part of your income,and whether it is taxablewill depend upon whetheryour "modified adjustedgross income" (MAGI) forthe year exceeds $25,000(if you file single) or$32,000 (if you file mar-ried-filing jointly). "MAGI"includes your taxable in-come from all sources (your“adjusted gross income”from your Federal incometax return), plus any tax-exempt interest you mayhave received, plus half ofyour annual Social Securi-ty benefits. If your MAGIexceeds the above levels,then up to 50% of your So-cial Security benefits willbecome a part of your tax-able income; or if you ex-ceed $34,000 (filing single)or $44,000 (filing married-jointly) then up to 85% ofyour annual SS benefitswill become taxable. If youdon't exceed those levelsyour SS benefits aren't tax-able as income.

However, I suspect youmay be confusing incometax on your Social Securi-ty benefits with anotherrule - Social Security's"earnings test" which, ifyou have not yet reachedyour full retirement age,sets a limit on what youcan earn without your ben-efit payments being affect-ed. If you are collectingbenefits before you havereached your full retire-

Income Tax on Social Securityvs. the Earnings Test

ment age and you exceedthe annual earnings limit($17,640 for 2019) SocialSecurity will withholdsome of your benefits – $1for every $2 you are overthe limit. If that is whatyou're referring to then,yes, there is a special rulefor the first year you arecollecting Social Security.That special first year rulesays that if you claim ben-efits mid-year and youhave not yet reached yourfull retirement age, you'llbe subject to a monthlyearnings test for the re-mainder of that year, rath-er than the annual test. So,if your benefits start inSeptember, provided youdon’t earn more than$1470 in September or anymonth thereafter in 2019you won't lose any benefits.But if you do exceed thatmonthly limit, even by $1,you won't be entitled toany SS benefits for thatmonth. The monthly test isonly in the calendar yearyou claim benefits - it goesaway for you in 2020 andyou'll be subject to the an-nual earnings test only fornext year.

Please note that theearnings limits are consid-erably more if you areclaiming in the year youwill reach your full retire-ment age. If this were theyear you will reach yourfull retirement age, theannual limit would be$46,920 and the monthlylimit would be $3910(these limits change annu-ally). However, if you stayfully retired and don’t re-turn to work you will notneed to worry about theSocial Security earningstest but, depending on your“MAGI,” you may need topay income taxes on yourSocial Security benefits.

This article is intended forinformation purposes only and doesnot represent legal or financialguidance. It presents the opinionsand interpretations of the AMACFoundation’s staff, trained andaccredited by the National SocialSecurity Association (NSSA). NSSAand the AMAC Foundation and itsstaff are not affiliated with orendorsed by the Social SecurityAdministration or any othergovernmental entity.

Page 5THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019 NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

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Rotary District GovernorGary Gillen visits Highlands

✯ L I F E S T Y L E P A G E ✯

With the return of 2019NFL season to our TVscreens a few weeks ago, itseems timely to point outthat the town of Crosbyhas had at least a coupleof its high school gradu-ates make it into the NFL.Playing for the NFL is afairly rare achievementwith only about 1700 pro-fessional players in anygiven season. In all, onlyabout 24,000 players haveever played in the NFL,which isn’t that manywhen you consider that theNFL began way back in1920 as the American Pro-fessional Football Associa-tion. The first paid playerwas in 1892 in Pittsburgh.He signed a $500 contract.Today the average salaryis almost $2 million perseason.

Pictured on the left isLeo Rucka. He graduatedfrom Crosby High Schoolin 1950, and went on toplay for Rice University.He was drafted in 1954 bythe San Francisco 49ers.He was a backup center onthe 1956 team, but his ca-reer was cut short when hewas drafted to go to theKorean War after only fivegames in the NFL. The pic-ture of him here is from histime in the service whenhe played football for thearmed forces. He laterplayed for the CanadianFootball League, and waseventually inducted intothe Rice Football Hall ofFame.

Pictured on the rightis Austin Walter. He andhis twin brother Astongraduated from CrosbyHigh School in 2014. LikeLeo, they both receivedscholarships to play forRice University. Austingraduated last year andwas invited to the SanFrancisco 49ers tryouts,and received a contact tojoin the summer trainingcamp roster. He played intheir final preseason game,and came close to scoring

a touchdown in his limited minutes nearthe end of the fourth quarter. Unfortu-nately, he did not make the 53-man ros-ter for the regular season, but he caughtthe attention of the injury riddled NewYork Giants. They signed him to a con-tract a few days ago, on October 10th. Heis now their third string running back(pictured here). He had a stand out ca-reer at Rice, where he led the country inall-purpose yards, and was only the fourthplayer in Rice’s history to eclipse 4000 all-purpose yards.

Austin’s twin brother Aston, had anumber of injuries while at Rice. Howev-er, he was granted an additional year ofeligibility because of them, and he is cur-rently playing his final season for theOwls. He is finally healthy this season,and rushed for over 100 yards and twotouchdowns in their game against Loui-siana Tech in one of his best games as anOwl. We’ll have to wait until next year tosee if he also gets a chance at the NFL.

There may be other Crosby alumni whohave made it to the NFL, that I am un-aware of. 1978 alumni, Anthony Brockwon a divisional championship with theUSFL Houston Gamblers in 1984 as a de-fensive linebacker. There have also beena number of NFL cheerleaders from Cros-by.

This is the ninth photo in a series, ofhistoric photos of Crosby and the sur-rounding area in honor of its upcomingbicentennial. Over the next few weeks, wewill hopefully present some more histor-ic photos. Crosby was settled in 1823,making it one of the oldest settlementsin Texas. Lifelong resident Jody Fuchs, ispreparing a photographic history of thecommunity in preparation for the upcom-ing event, and is looking for other old orinteresting photos of the community. Heis working with members of the CrosbyHistorical Society, Donna Davenport andKlaus Duda. In October, the HistoricalSociety will hold a meeting, where Jodywill present some of the 1000’s of old pho-tos that he has collected thus far in prep-aration of this project. The meeting is freeand open to any interested persons, soplease feel free to join us at 2:00 PM onSaturday, October 19th at the CrosbyBrethren Church.

The book will cover the entire 200-yearpictorial history of the town, as well asbriefly covering the surrounding commu-nities of Highlands, Huffman, Lynchburg,Barrett, Baytown, Liberty, etc. If you haveany interesting photos or artifacts of thearea or its residents from 1823 until thepresent, please contact the Crosby His-torical Society at 281-731-7010.

Historic Crosby Photo

Highlands VFD BBQ and Raffle

www.starcouriernews.comwww.northchannelstar.com

HIGHLANDS ROTARYCLUB NEWS

✯

Sheila McDonald,Highlands Rotary Clubpresident, presents acheck to District 5890Governor Gary Gillen,in support of the RotaryFoundation. Gillen saidthat over the life of theclub, they havedonated $211,000 tothe Foundation.

Gillen emphasizedthe internationalnature of Rotary, with1.2 million membersworldwide. In 2022 thei n t e r n a t i o n a lconvention will be heldin Houston. The Rotarymotto this year is“Rotary connects theWorld.”

The 72nd Annual High-lands VFD BBQ & Raffle,a fundraiser for the fire-fighters, was held last Sat-urday, Oct. 19 at Station17. The money also fundsthe fire prevention pro-grams at local schools.

A large crowd enjoyedthe excellent food,games, and silent auc-tion, as well as the raffleprizes.

PHOTO AT RIGHT: Ad-bisya Speaks pulls the raf-fle tickets. BOTTOMPHOTO: Children alwayshave fun at the BounceCastle, and slide.

Winners of the Rafflewere:

-- Carlton Adam, $1000gift card

-- Debbie Pregeant,$750 gift card

-- Jeanette Young,$500 gift card

-- Roger Simmons,$250 gift card

-- Robert Mansfield,BBQ Pit Boss Pellet Smok-er.

The Highlands Fire De-partment was founded in1942. Harvey Little hasbeen chief for 27 years.The department has 16pieces of equipment, andruns EMS ambulance ser-vice 24/7/365.

Page 6 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

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In the day to day rushof life, do you take thetime to notice thosepeople who go the extramile? Perhaps you stopin at the McDonald’s onUvalde in the morning onyour way to drop yourchildren off at school.The lady at the firstwindow always takes thetime to tell you to have ablessed day. The lady atthe second window takesthe time to wipe the sodaoff of the outside of thecups. If you then travelwest on Woodforesttowards Normandy, youmost likely see a HarrisCounty Constable truckand then you spot abeautiful smiling facedirecting children acrossthe street to Green ValleyElementary. The deputyis taking the time tospeak to each child aswell as the parents whoare walking their chil-dren to school.

You might be one of themany who stop in to dropoff clothes at the drycleaner or frequents alocal barbershop orbeauty shop, you knowfirsthand what customerservice is all about. Thenagain there might be anoffice you only visit once ayear, perhaps to renewyour car registration andas you enter, you recog-nize a familiar face.There is something abouta smile that takes awayfrom the frustration of along line.

There is somethingabout when the tempera-ture begins to drop thatshifts our thinkingtowards the upcomingholiday season. We caneither get frustrated thatthe retailers in the areaseem to have Christmasdecorations out evenbefore Halloween arrivesor we can take the time tosee the excitement in the

Harris County Attor-ney Vince Ryan won apermanent injunctionlast week to stop thesale of illegal syntheticmarijuana by a smokeshop located in eastHarris County. Theshop also agreed to payone million dollars inpenalt ies to HarrisCounty, the City ofHouston, and the Stateof Texas.

On Oct. 11th, 152ndDistrict Court JudgeRobert Schaffer signed ajudgment against theowners of the store lo-cated at 12745 EastFreeway prohibiting theshop’s sale of syntheticmarijuana, also knownas “spice,” and to pay themillion dollar judgmentamount.

The lawsuit was filedas a result of an under-cover investigation bythe Houston Police De-partment stemmingfrom a string of kush-re-lated overdoses in Her-mann Park in June ofthat year. The investiga-tion discovered threesmoke shops operatinga s S p i c e B o u t i q u eowned by two botherswere selling syntheticmarijuana and the own-ers were subsequentlyarrested.

During the course ofthe lawsuit, the Courtsigned Orders requiringthe stores to hire li-censed peace officers toprovide security at thestore along with otherconditions to abate thecriminal activity. As aresult, the owners closedthe stores located at2574 S. Loop West,Houston, Texas, and9896 Southwest Fwy,Houston, Texas.

Take the Timeeyes of the children in thestores. Perhaps as youshop, you notice thatholidays bring outdifferent emotions withdifferent shoppers. Theremay be those older peoplewho stop and look atdisplays and remembertheir youth. There maybe a spouse of someone inthe military who islooking at items andpraying their loved onewill be home for theholidays. There areprobably those who areunemployed and hopingthey find a job beforetheir children startasking what Santa Clausis bringing. Take thetime to notice the expres-sions and make time forconversation. You mightbe the only one whonotices their expressiontoday.

Too often we arefocused on our own livesthat we do not take thetime to think about whatothers are going through.As the holiday seasonapproaches, challengeyourself to notice at leastfive people this week whoyou can encourage. Makea list. Be intentionalabout writing down thosefive people as well asnoticing five things thatyou love about yourcommunity. Think aboutfive people you can send ahandwritten thank younote for something theyhave done this year tomake your life a littlemore special. Stop adreflect about five teacherswho impacted your life.Maybe instead of moneyon that cup of coffee ordessert, you can take thattime and money to sendthem a gift card or evenstop and get an item forone of the many upcomingholiday toy drives. Takethe time to be thankfuland give of yourself thisyear.

Gems are Beautiful,Rare, and Durable

Almost all gems areminerals but, very fewminerals are gems. To bea gem, a mineral must bebeautiful, rare, anddurable. When a gem israre, it's hard to find andsome gems are muchharder to find thanothers.

RoughMost rough gems are

crystals and their shapesdepend on their chemicalstructures. Aquamarineand emeralds come inhexagonal (six-sided)shapes, while diamondsand spinel are oftenoctahedrons, for example.Not all rough gems arecrystals - lapis lazuli isrock and amber isfossilized resin.

Cut and PolishedGem crystals can be

cut and polished intoshiny gems. When a gemis cut, it is referred to as afashioned gem. Skillfulfashioning can show off agem's luster or color.

A Few MoreInteresting "Gem"Facts

* Gems are found inseveral places around theworld. Brazil, India,Australia, andMadagascar are goodsources of gems. Even theUSA produces certaingems.

* The state of Floridatook on the MoonstoneGem as their state gem totie in with their role inthe lunar program whichallowed men to walk onthe moon.

"What areGems?"

* The Thunderegg isOregon's State Rock. Thisgem was said to havebeen made by theThunder Spirits who livedin the craters where thisgem is formed. TheSunstone is Oregon'sofficial gemstone

* In 1991 a singleGarnet was discovered inVirginia weighing morethan 2,800 carats. It wasnamed the RutherfordLady.

* The largestDiamond discovered inthe USA is the Uncle SamDiamond. It originallyweighed more than 40.23carats. It was found atthe Crater of DiamondsState Park in Arkansas.

* The Dom Pedrowhich is the world'slargest cut and polishedAquamarine stone weighsin at a little more than10,000 carats and is apart of the Smithsonian'sNational Gem andMineral Collection.

(credit goes to theGemological Institute of Americafor some of the content in thiscolumn)

Thank you for readingthe "Ask Diamond Jim"column and forsupporting the NorthChannel Star Newspaper!

Diamond Jim is adiamond dealer andprecious metals broker ofNTR Metals. See more at:www.pineforestjewelry.com

If you have questionspertaining to jewelry,watches, diamonds,precious stones, preciousmetals, and otherquestions related to thejewelry industry, emailjmills@pineforestjewelry.com

Harris County AttorneyVince Ryan winsMillion Dollar JudgmentAgainst Smoke Shop

“The sale of syntheticsubstances is illegal andhas proven to be danger-ous and deadly in someinstances.” said CountyAttorney Ryan." Profit-ing from this illicit activ-ity at the expense ofpublic health and safe-ty will not be toleratedin Harris County”

The Final Judgmentrequired the Defendantsto pay penalties for thesale of synthetic sub-stances. County Attor-ney Ryan co l lec ted$300,000 for the Coun-ty, while $500,000 wentto the Office of the At-torney General of Texasand $300,000 went tothe City of Houston. Alarge portion of thismoney was paid to lawenforcement.

The Harris CountyAttorney’s Office estab-lished the nuisanceabatement program todeal with businesseslike Spice Boutique. Theprogram has had suc-cess across the countywith closures of illicitspas, game rooms andafter-hours bars. Addi-tionally, the County At-torney’s Office has beensuccessful in filing suitagainst apartment com-plexes where prostitu-tion, narcotic offensesand aggravated crimeshave taken place and of-ten appointing a receiv-e r t o m a n a g e t h eproperties until theyclean up their act.

“These business oper-ators know the law andthey know what they’redoing is illegal,” saidCounty Attorney Ryan.“We will continue ourefforts to close illegalbusinesses and curb il-licit activity.”

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LOOKING FOREXPERIENCEDCOOKfor Family Owned/Operated fast-pastedRestaurant.Must have currentFood Server or FoodManager Certificate.Looking for motivatedindividual with flexibleavailability. Please fillout application at CatDaddy’s Kitchen,14045 FM2100 #110,Crosby.Please text ownerwith copy of applica-tion at 832-233-9861to set interview.

41-2

NOTICE OF SALENotice is hereby given pursuant to Chapter 59of the Texas Property Code that CROSBYBOAT, RV & MINI STORAGE, located at15118A FM 2100, Crosby Texas 77532, willhold a public sale at 10:00 o’clock a.m. on the9th day of November 2019, at the above ad-dress to sell for cash only the contents of StallsD-8 & D-9, James Ruppert Howard and Bob-by Jones, Stall F-18, William Eddins, Unit #A-16, Justin Deforrest, Unit #A-24, Roy Cook andUnit #J-3, Lyza Camp, Tenants, in order to sat-isfy a Landlord’s Lien. The property to be soldis trailer, Zero-Turn Lawn Mower, tools andhouse hold items, etc.....

41-2

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Sealed proposals for Construction of the 2019 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation project to serve theHarris County Municipal Utility District No. 50 in Harris County, Texas will be received at the office ofHarris County MUD 50, 12900 Crosby-Lynchburg, Crosby, TX 77532, until 1:00 P.M. local time,November 14, 2019 and then publicly opened. A NON-MANDATORY BUT HIGHLYRECOMMENDED PRE-BID CONFERENCE will be held at the office of Harris County MUD 50 onNovember 6, 2019 at 1:00 P.M. Each bid must be submitted in a 9” x 12” envelope and accompaniedby Cashier’s Check or Bid Bond, duly executed, in the amount of not less than five (5%) percent ofthe bid.

The Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 50 is proposing to rehabilitate a portion of the existingsanitary sewer collection system within the District and the adjoining service area. Project workconsists of point repairs of existing sanitary sewers, grease removal, root removal, pipe bursting,cured-in-place pipe lining, manhole inflow protection dish installation, manhole rehabilitation, andmanhole cover replacement. The scope also includes the replacement of a force main under anexisting Harris County roadway. The project pavement demolition and reconstruction, storm waterpollution prevention plan and traffic control plan will be performed as necessary.

This project is eligible for CWSRF funding; therefore, the following requirements apply:• This contract is contingent upon release of funds from the Texas Water Development Board(TWDB)."• "Any contract or contracts awarded under this Invitation for Bid (IFB) or Request for Qualifications(RFQ) are expected to be funded in part by financial assistance from the TWDB. Neither the State ofTexas nor any of its departments, agencies, or employees are or will be a party to this IFB, RFQ, orany resulting contract.• This project is subject to the American Iron and Steel (AIS) requirements of P.L. 113-76Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014. All iron and steel products for construction, alteration,maintenance, or repairs incorporated in these plans must be produced in the United States.• "Equal Opportunity in Employment - All qualified applicants will receive consideration foremployment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin. Bidders onthis work will be required to comply with the President's Executive Order No. 11246, as amended byExecutive Order 11375, and as supplemented in Department of Labor regulations 41 CFR Part 60."• This contract is subject to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "fair share policy", whichincludes EPA-approved "fair share goals" for Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and WomenBusiness Enterprise (WBE) firms in the Construction, Supplies, Equipment, and Servicesprocurement categories. EPA's policy requires that applicants and prime contractors make a goodfaith effort to award a fair share of contracts, subcontracts, and procurements to Minority BusinessEnterprise and Women-Owned Business Enterprise firms. Although EPA's policy does not mandatethat the fair share goals be achieved, it does require applicants and prime contractors to demonstrateuse of the six affirmative steps. The current fair share goals for the State of Texas are as follows:

CATEGORY MBE WBECONSTRUCTION 19.44% 9.17%SUPPLIES 25.34% 8.82%EQUIPMENT 16.28% 11.45%SERVICES 20.41% 13.66%

• Equal Opportunity in Employment – All qualified Applicants will receive consideration foremployment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or handicap. Thecontractor shall carry out applicable requirements of 40 CFR Part 33 in the award and administrationof contracts awarded under TWDB financial assistance agreements. Failure by the contractor tocarry out these requirements is a material breach, which may result in the termination of the awardedfinancial assistance.• Right to reject any and all bids.• All laborers and mechanics working on the work site and employed by contractors andsubcontractors on projects funded directly by or assisted in whole or in part by and through the CleanWater State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund shall be paid wages asdescribed in the section, Mandatory David-Bacon Act Contract Conditions.• Any contracts in excess of $2,000 for construction, alteration or repair (including painting anddecorating and funded under the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water StateRevolving Fund programs shall include the Mandatory David-Bacon Act Contract Conditions.

Copies of the bidding documents may be obtained from www.CivCastUSA.com: Search HarrisCounty MUD No. 50 - 2019 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation. Questions deadline is November 8th at5:00 P.M. Bidders must register on this website in order to view and/or download specifications, andplans for this project. There is NO charge to view or download documents.

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICES APPEAR IN THEHIGHLANDS STAR CROSBYCOURIER, AND THE NORTHCHANNEL STAR. CALL 713-266-3444 FOR MORE INFO.

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Page 8 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019NORTH CHANNEL✯STAR

advancing very quickly. Mr.Kopra discussed the skillsthat the selection commit-tees look for when selectingnew recruits to the program.He told them that whenlearning Math, Reading,Science and History thatthey are adding tools totheir tool box for use in thefuture. He went on to saythat “the most importantskill to learn in school ishow to get along with otherpeople.” He said that beingable to get along and workwith people who are not likeyou is an essential skill andpart of the process of gettinginto the space program. Thissupports the districts initia-tive for the 2019-2020 schoolyear of integrating SocialEmotional Learning intoour educational practices.

Galena Park students aswell as the teachers, staffand myself were very appre-ciative for the visit. The

Autronauts in Galena Park,CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ASE this year in Texas onOctober 16th had its “COM-MUNITY DAY”, where all125 flyers traveled to invit-ed destinations throughoutTexas, speaking to K-12schools and universities,community groups, civicleaders and company em-ployees about their mis-sions, and the future ofspace exploration. Thisyear’s goal was to meet with50,000 students to educatethem and to inspire futureexplorers, scientists, engi-neers and civic leaders.

In order to visit so manyschools in one day the astro-nauts were picked up earlyin the morning in ClearLake near NASA and shut-tled to the administrationbuilding in school vans. Af-ter a quick breakfast theywere divided into four teamswhere the district’s teamleaders

escorted them around thedistrict. Team Leaders wereJacqueline Moreno, Jacque-line Fournier, Robert Seib-ert, Tammy Merimon andRebecca Boutte.

GPISD elementaryschools visited were Cimar-ron, Cloverleaf, GalenaPark, MacArthur, Nor-mandy Crossing, PurpleSage, Sam Houston, ShirleyJ. Williamson, Tice, Wood-land Acres and middleschools visited were NorthShore and Woodland Acres.

In the middle of the daylunch was provided at vari-ous schools and the follow-ing students were awardedto eat with the astronautsfrom their participation in aclass event qualifying them.Romeo Milan, MadilynHogg, Melanie Acosta,Aaron Guillory, Rafael Her-rera, Camila Zamora,Sophia Viramontes, NoahMendez, Elias Renteria,Deshon Stoneham, XitzalyReyes, Bentley Labossiereand Julie Silva.

Fol lowing is uneditedstatements from threeteam leaders:

TAMMY MERIMON,DISTRICT ELEMENTARYSCIENCE SPECIALIST:

Galena Park Indepen-dent School District stu-dents had a rareopportunity to hear fromformer NASA Astronauts

and Cosmonauts fromaround the world onWednesday, October 16,2019. This was all a part ofthe Association of SpaceExplorers community out-reach day here in HoustonTexas.

Specifically, I got to spendthe day with Tim Kopra andFarkas Bertalan (Hungari-an). These two men visited3 of our campuses and pre-sented to approximately fivehundred students on thisday. They had very interest-ing backgrounds that theyshared with the students aswell as their experiences inspace. The students were en-gaged and very interested toknow four main things. One,how do you eat is space?Two, how do you sleep inspace? Three, how do youbrush your teeth in space?

And four, how do you use therestroom in space? The as-tronauts answered thesequestions and many more.The students were amazedto learn that it only takes8.5 minutes to get to the In-ternational Space Station,and that a space ship can or-bit the earth every 90 min-utes. Cosmonaut FarkasBertalan stated that he flewaround the Earth 144 timesin 8 days and was able to seea sunset or sunrise every 45minutes. They made the stu-dents laugh while creatinga new curiosity for them toexplore.

They talked about howthey became astronauts andhow the opportunities aremuch greater today to beable to go to space becauseof how space exploration isexpanding and technology is

knowledge gained and thecuriosity that was created isinvaluable.

ROBERT SEIBERT,COORDINATOR OFADVANCED ACADEMICS:

Having the PlanetaryCongress meet in Houstonand provide our studentswith the unique opportuni-ty to meet an astronaut wasan amazing experience forall. Our students and staffwere in awe and were grate-ful for the time that theyhad to learn about each as-tronaut's experiences inspace and ask questions.The astronauts were won-derful with the students andsurely inspired some ofthem to pursue their pas-sions.

JACQUELINE MORENO,DIRECTOR FORELEMENTARYMATHEMATICS AND

SCIENCE:Galena Park ISD hosted

several Astronauts onWednesday, October 16th.We had the privilege to takepart in the Association ofSpace Explores (ASE) Com-munity Day. When we heardabout the program we im-mediately knew we neededto get involved.

On this day, we had 4teams which went out to vis-it with students on 11 cam-puses across our district.Students Kinder thru 8thgrade had the opportunityto visit with these astronaut“flyers”. They heard storiesabout their travels in space,how they became part of thespace program and heardlessons of inspiration andperseverance.

The goal of the programwas to share their personalflight experiences, share in-formation about living inspace, the challenges of re-turning to the moon andtraveling to Mars. In addi-tion, they shared support forspace exploration and dem-onstrated how a STEM (Sci-ence, Technology,Engineering and Mathe-matics) background canmake it all possible. In ad-dition, the astronauts heldquestion and answer ses-sions with our students.

The students were so ex-cited to visit with “real live”astronauts. Something theymay have only dreamed ofor saw on TV. Thank you toall the astronauts who cameout to visit us, you all aretrue celebrities in the eyesof many of our students herein Galena Park.

The astronauts visit toGPISD came about afterJacqueline Moreno, Directorfor elementary mathematicsand science learned of it andwent through the process toqualify the district to be oneof the few schools in Texasto be accepted. “My passionis to bring experiences andopportunity to the kids ofour neighborhood,” Morenosaid.

Assistant Superinten-dant Terri Moore and LeslieLuciano, Administrative As-sistance to Moreno washelpful in providing infor-mation for this article.

Astronaut Mike Foremanis the mayor of Friend-swood, Texas and NC Starwriter Allan Jamail theformer mayor of Jacinto Cityat the close of the day wasable to share with each oth-er their mayoral experienc-es.

Photo by Allan JamailMustang Seniors leading the student cheering section.L – R: Thien Trinh, Agustin Banos, Jared Hunter & HectorTreviño

NS Football Game,CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

out the Rangers with nopoints allowed, holdingthem to minus 11 rushingand only 18 yards passing.

The 6A Region III Dis-trict 21 champion will bedecided when North Shoretravels to Beaumont andplays the West Brook Bru-ins both undefeated 4-0 indistrict play. The game ison Thursday, October 24th@ 7 PM @ 5250 Bayou Wil-low Way -- Beaumont, Tex-as 77707.

Photo by Allan JamailAdults Standing L – R: Sam Houston Elementary Principal Michelle Cavazos, USA Astronaut Bruce Melnick & AssistantPrincipal Hilda Nañez. Kneeling & sitting is students from kindergarten to 5th grade.

Photo by Allan JamailNorth Shore Middle School students and faculty with Astronaut Mike Foreman (centered in back, blue shirt)