Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Breaking News: Fort Bend County Bans Fireworks

Fort Bend County officials have banned the sale, use, and possession of aerial fireworks in unincorporated areas like New Territory because drought conditions could increase the risk of fires, said County Attorney Roy Cordes. The emergency order, signed by County Judge Bob Hebert on June 24, was legally possible to enact because the Governor had already issued a disaster declaration warranted by the recent drought, said Cordes.
By state statute, the order can only cover a 60 hour period, but the county requested the Governor’s Office to extend the ban up to 30 days, said Cordes.
The order does not pertain to licensed pyrotechnics who are discharging fireworks for an approved event like the one at New Territory’s Sports Complex, clarified Cordes.
As a precaution, the fire department will be present at the fireworks show in New Territory, said Community Manager Dwayne Lowry.
And patrol deputies with the Pct. 4 Constable’s Office will also be making the rounds in New Territory over the holiday weekend, said Chief Deputy Chad Norvell. “We will definitely be enforcing the ban”, he said.
Violators may be charged with Possession of Fireworks, a class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500, he said.
Fort Bend County has been experiencing a heat wave for the last few weeks, with temperatures in the 100’s. According to rain gauges at the Brazos River Bridge in Richmond, the last measurable precipitation (in total inches) was .03 on May 24. There was less than an inch of rain reported for the month of May and none in June.
Similarly, discharge rates at the Brazos River (how much cubic feet of water is moving downstream each second) is at record lows,
said a spokesperson with the Texas water Science Center in Galveston. On June 24, 2009, the discharge rate was 413 cfs. The lowest recorded rate for this date in history was 482 cfs in 1952. The median rate is 4690 for this time of year.
If water usage increases in New Territory as a result of the lack of rainfall and extreme, hot weather, the MUDs may have to implement their drought contingency plan. Currently, the wells are operating below 70% of capacity. If they run at 85% of their capacity for three consecutive days, the MUDs will initiate Stage One which is voluntary conservation, said the Operator. According to the plan, participating residents would alternate watering their lawns based on an even numbered or odd numbered house number. The next stage, mandatory conservation, kicks in when the wells are running at 90% capacity, said the Operator. Violators would face significant fines if their water usage exceeds stipulated limits, she said.
Signs will be posted throughout the community if the drought contingency plan is implemented, she said. “Of course, we are encouraging conservation at all times. By conserving now, we may be able to keep water usage low enough to avoid the drought contingency plan,” she commented.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

HWY 90 Improvement Meeting May 26th

TXDOT is conducting a public meeting at Brazos Bend Elementary School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26 to discuss proposed improvements to US 90A from Hwy. 6 to Loop 762 in Richmond. One of the proposed design changes includes a multi level interchange at US 90A and SH 99 (the Grand Parkway). These Direct Ramps would allow traffic to continue without stopping along 90A and SH99. Additional right-of-way would be required for the proposed design change.
All interested citizens are invited to the meeting which will be an “open house” format for the two hour period. Exhibits will be displayed and representatives from TXDOT will be on hand to answer questions and to gather public input.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

FBISD--not making up school days lost to Hurricane Ike?

Fort Bend ISD plans to submit a waiver request to the Texas Education Agency to excuse lost instructional days due to Hurricane Ike.
At the September 22 business meeting of the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees, Dr. Timothy Jenney, superintendent, recommended, and the Board concurred, that the district not make up the six official days when the district was forced to be closed due to Hurricane Ike. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is not requiring districts to make up those days, and is leaving the decision up to each individual school district as to how it will proceed. The recommendation will be formally acted upon at the October 13th Board Meeting. A formal waiver request will then be submitted to the TEA.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

New Territory Blvd. Traffic Alert

New Territory residents will face increased traffic coming and going into the community for up to six weeks starting May 1 while LID 17 builds a flood gate on New Territory Blvd. at the Telfair border. New Territory Blvd. entering New Territory will be narrowed to two lanes for inbound and outbound traffic during that period. Once completed, the road will be back to four lanes of the same original width, said an engineer with LID 17's engineering firm, LJA. LID 17 will add Magnolias, Oleanders and low shrubs to mask the cement walls in the median and on either side of the boulevard that are necessary to support the floodgate. The gate is designed to rise up and act as a levee if activated by rising waters during a 100 year event. When LID 7 raises the levee around New Territory, the internal levee between New Territory and Telfair and the floodgate will become redundant, said the engineer. Telfair has essentially completed raising their levees and this is the final component necessary to meet new FEMA criteria. "We realize the road is heavily used and we want to cause as little impact as possible to residents," said the engineer of the floodgate project. LID 17 is paying approximately $400,000 on the floodgate project.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Stephen F. Austin H.S. ranks in the top 10

Children At Risk, a non-profit organization and a watchdog group that looks out for our children has released their 2008 rankings for 145 Houston area high schools based on the following 14 indicators that you can read at the following link provided. http://www.childrenatrisk.org//cmsFiles/Files/Methodology%202008%20FINAL2%20no%20sublists.pdf
The short of it is, New Territory parents can be quite proud of the quality of education in our neighborhood. Particularly, Stephen F. Austin High School is now ranked in the top 10. William B. Travis High School does not make this list because there is no data available prior to 2006-2007 academic year. The data is required for calculating a 4-year graduation rate. Overall, the F.B.I.S.D. High Schools are arguably the highest ranked ghroup of all districts in the Houston area.

Here are the rankings for the 145 high schools in our area.


1 YES PREP PUBLIC SCHOOLS YES PREP SOUTHEAST CAMPUS
2 HOUSTON ISD
DEBAKEY HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE HEALTH
PROFESSIONS
3 HOUSTON ISD
HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING &
VISUAL ARTS
3 FORT BEND ISD CLEMENTS H S
5 KATY ISD CINCO RANCH H S
6 SPRING BRANCH ISD MEMORIAL H S
7 KATY ISD TAYLOR H S
8 SPRING BRANCH ISD
WESTCHESTER ACADEMY FOR
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
9 HOUSTON ISD
HIGH SCHOOL FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
10 FORT BEND ISD STEPHEN F AUSTIN H S
11 FORT BEND ISD LAWRENCE E ELKINS H S
12 FORT BEND ISD DULLES H S
13 CLEAR CREEK ISD CLEAR LAKE H S
14 SPRING BRANCH ISD STRATFORD H S
15 HOUSTON ISD EASTWOOD ACADEMY
16 HOUSTON ISD LAMAR H S
17 FORT BEND ISD KEMPNER H S
18 KLEIN ISD KLEIN H S
19 ALIEF ISD KERR H S
20 HOUSTON ISD BELLAIRE H S
21 HOUSTON ISD CARNEGIE VANGUARD HS
22 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD CY-FAIR H S
22 FORT BEND ISD GEORGE BUSH HIGH SCHOOL
24 HUMBLE ISD KINGWOOD H S
25 FRIENDSWOOD ISD FRIENDSWOOD H S
26 CHARTER SCHOOL HARMONY SCIENCE ACADEMY
27 FORT BEND ISD HIGHTOWER H S
28 CLEAR CREEK ISD CLEAR BROOK H S
29 BARBERS HILL ISD BARBERS HILL H S
30 ROYAL ISD ROYAL H S
31 NEEDVILLE ISD NEEDVILLE H S
32 KATY ISD KATY H S
33 MONTGOMERY ISD MONTGOMERY HS
34 GALENA PARK ISD GALENA PARK H S
35 HOUSTON ISD WESTSIDE H S
36 DEER PARK ISD DEER PARK HS
37 LAMAR CISD FOSTER HIGH SCHOOL
37 CONROE ISD OAKRIDGE H S
37 HUFFMAN ISD HARGRAVE H S
40 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD CYPRESS FALLS H S
40 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD CYPRESS CREEK H S
42 SPRING ISD WESTFIELD H S
43 SWEENY ISD SWEENY H S
44 BRAZOSPORT ISD BRAZOSWOOD H S
44 SPRING ISD SPRING H S
46 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD JERSEY VILLAGE H S
47 KLEIN ISD KLEIN COLLINS HIGH SCHOOL
48 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD LANGHAM CREEK H S
48 CONROE ISD CANKEY CREEK HS
50 HUMBLE ISD HUMBLE H S
51 SPRING BRANCH ISD SPRING WOODS H S
51 KATY ISD MAYDE CREEK H S
53 CLEAR CREEK ISD CLEAR CREEK H S
54 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD CYPRESS SPRINGS H S
54 CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD CYPRESS RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
54 LAMAR CISD LAMAR CONS H S
57 WILLIS ISD WILLIS H S
58 TOMBALL ISD TOMBALL H S
59 MAGNOLIA ISD MAGNOLIA HS
59 HEMPSTEAD ISD HEMPSTEAD H S
61 LAMAR CISD B F TERRY H S
62 CROSBY ISD CROSBY HIGH SCHOOL
63 ANAHUAC ISD ANAHUAC H S
64 WALLER ISD WALLER H S
65 LA PORTE ISD LA PORTE HIGH SCHOOL
65 HOUSTON ISD BARBARA JORDAN H S
65 GALVESTON ISD BALL H S
68 DANBURY ISD DANBURY H S
69 HOUSTON ISD WASHINGTON B T H S
70 ALIEF ISD HASTINGS H S
71 TARKINGTON ISD TARKINGTON H S
72 HOUSTON ISD MILBY H S
73 LIBERTY ISD LIBERTY H S
74 KLEIN ISD KLEIN OAK H S
75 CONROE ISD CONROE HS
76 HOUSTON ISD CHAVEZ H S
77 HARDIN ISD HARDIN H S
78 ALDINE ISD CARVER H S FOR APPLIED TECH/ENGI
78 BRAZOSPORT ISD BRAZOSPORT H S
80 GOOSE CREEK CISD STERLING H S
80 EAST CHAMBERS ISD EAST CHAMBERS H S
82 DAYTON ISD DAYTON H S
83 HOUSTON ISD DAVIS H S
84 ANGLETON ISD ANGLETON H S
85 NORTH FOREST ISD FOREST BROOK H S
86 HOUSTON ISD AUSTIN H S
86 HOUSTON ISD SCARBOROUGH H S
86 ALIEF ISD TAYLOR HIGH SCHOOL
89 FORT BEND ISD THURGOOD MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL
90 SPRING BRANCH ISD NORTHBROOK H S
91 HOUSTON ISD WALTRIP H S
92 TEXAS CITY ISD TEXAS CITY H S
93 HOUSTON ISD ALTA ACADEMY
94 PASADENA ISD PASADENA HIGH SCHOOL
94 SANTA FE ISD SANTA FE H S
96 PASADENA ISD DOBIE HIGH SCHOOL
96 GOOSE CREEK CISD LEE H S
98 HULL-DAISETTA ISD HULL-DAISETTA H S
99 HOUSTON ISD SHARPSTOWN H S
99 STAFFORD MSD STAFFORD HIGH SCHOOL
101 CHANNELVIEW ISD CHANNELVIEW HIGH SCHOOL
102 HOUSTON ISD REAGAN H S
103 ALVIN ISD ALVIN HIGH SCHOOL
104 HOUSTON ISD FURR H S
104 NORTH FOREST ISD SMILEY H S
106 GALENA PARK ISD NORTH SHORE SENIOR HIGH
106 SHELDON ISD C E KING H S
108 CLEVELAND ISD CLEVELAND H S
109 ALIEF ISD ELSIK H S
110 CHARTER SCHOOL JESSE JACKSON ACADEMY
111 HITCHCOCK ISD HITCHCOCK H S
112 CHARTER SCHOOL CALVIN NELMS HIGH SCHOOL
113 KLEIN ISD KLEIN FOREST H S
114 COLUMBIA-BRAZORIA ISD COLUMBIA H S
114 HOUSTON ISD WORTHING H S
116 HOUSTON ISD YATES H S
117 HOUSTON ISD SAM HOUSTON H S
118 HOUSTON ISD MADISON H S
119 FORT BEND ISD WILLOWRIDGE H S
120 HOUSTON ISD JONES H S
121 NEW CANEY ISD NEW CANEY H S
122 HOUSTON ISD LEE H S
123 DICKINSON ISD DICKINSON H S
124 SPLENDORA ISD SPLENDORA H S
124 CHARTER SCHOOL COMQUEST ACADEMY
126 PASADENA ISD SOUTH HOUSTON HIGH SCHOOL
127 PASADENA ISD SAM RAYBURN H S
128 LA MARQUE ISD LA MARQUE H S
129 CHARTER SCHOOL RAUL YZAGUIRRE SCHOOL FOR SUCCESS
130 CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL
131 CHARTER SCHOOL GIRLS & BOYS PREP ACADEMY
132 HOUSTON ISD H P CARTER CAREER CENTER
133 CHARTER SCHOOL GEORGE I SANCHEZ H S
134 HOUSTON ISD WESTBURY H S
135 HOUSTON ISD KASHMERE H S
136 HOUSTON ISD WHEATLEY H S
137 HOUSTON ISD STERLING H S
138 CLEAR CREEK ISD CLEAR VIEW EDUCATION CENTER
139 HOUSTON HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL HOUSTON HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL
140 HUMBLE ISD QUEST H S
141 HOUSTON ISD CONTEMPORARY LEARNING CENTER H S
142 CHARTER SCHOOL
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE
CHARTER SCHOOL
143 CHARTER SCHOOL NORTH HOUSTON H S FOR BUSINESS
144 CHARTER SCHOOL
HOUSTON CAN! ACADEMY CHARTER
SCHOOL
145 CHARTER SCHOOL
ALPHONSO CRUTCH'S-LIFE SUPPORT
CENTER

Here’s a link to their complete news release on the school rankings http://www.childrenatrisk.org/childrenatrisk.cfm?a=cms,c,449