Here’s today’s edition of news you can use. As always, the focus is Houston, and Southeast Texas. Opinions are my own. Any questions?
COMMUNITY
Houston, With Its Mix of Poverty and Rain, is Especially Vulnerable to Zika Virus, Researchers Say
Public health researchers say Houston — with its mix of poverty, rainy conditions and world travelers — is particularly vulnerable to the spread of the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne disease that has dangerous effects on the fetuses of pregnant women. At a recent conference of public health experts and researchers at Rice University, Peter Hotez, a fellow in disease and poverty with Rice University’s Baker Institute, described the situation in Houston and the U.S. Gulf Coast as a “perfect storm” of conditions that could facilitate the next wave of the Zika virus, a condition the World Health Organization has declared a health emergency.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Unveils Strategic Plan To Fight Human Trafficking
Identifying more victims and better coordinating the legal and social services offered to them are two of the goals. City officials said Houston’s reputation for being a human trafficking hub is reflected in the statistics. Data compiled by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center’s hotline indicate that, out of the roughly 2,000 cases which occurred in Texas from December of 2007 until June of last year, more than a third originated in Houston.
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or Multi-year plan provides training, ad campaign to recognize signs
For Foster Kids, a Push to Ensure Medical Care Treats Psychological Pain
A review of Texas' foster care system found that an unexpectedly low number of children had accessed mental health care services. State officials hope a new network of clinics will better connect kids with trauma-informed behavioral health care.
T-Squared: A Series on Mental Health Policy
Across Texas and the nation, there are programs to address the mental health needs of people who are suffering. Military veterans get help transitioning back to civilian life. The juvenile justice system gets much-needed support services. But despite those efforts, major challenges remain in providing mental health care to those who need it most, triggering passionate policy debates. Those challenges are the focus of Mental Health Matters, a partnership between The Texas Tribune, the Mental Health Channel and KLRU. Throughout Mental Health Month in May, we are joining forces to examine different areas of concern and the work being done to fill in the gaps.
Houston really wants the proposed bullet train to make a stop downtown
A planned high-speed rail line remains a popular project with city officials, many of whom are holding onto hope for an eventual downtown terminal. Texas Central Partners, the private firm proposing the Houston-to-Dallas line, briefed a city council committee Monday, telling officials they remain on track to break ground in late 2017.
BUSINESS
People on the Move: David McClanahan
Retired, President and CEO, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. at Retired, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. United Way of Greater Houston named David M. McClanahan, retired president and CEO of CenterPoint Energy, as this year's recipient of the distinguished Robert W. Kneebone Volunteer of the Year, the highest honor given to a United Way volunteer for leadership and commitment to community service.
GHP: The Economy At A Glance
This month’s edition of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Houston: The Economy at a Glance covers the apartment market, industrial space, sales tax collections, foreign trade, and employment.
FMC Technologies names new CEO
FMC Technologies Inc. has appointed Douglas Pferdehirt president and CEO, effective Sept. 1. He takes over the CEO role from John Gremp, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors during the transition. Pferdehirt will take over the chairman role when Gremp retires in May 2017. Gremp has served as CEO of FMC Technologies since 2011 and has been with the company for 41 years. Pferdehirt was named to the president position a year ago. Before he joined FMC Technologies in August 2012 as executive vice president and COO, Pferdehirt worked for Schlumberger Ltd. for 26 years and held various leadership positions.
Oil company bankruptcies accelerate despite rise in crude prices
Eighteen North American oil companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March and April, the most in a two-month period since oil prices began their slide in the summer of 2014. And it could get worse, analysts said. U.S. crude prices fell nearly 3 percent Monday in a sign the market could be headed for another drop. Nearly 70 companies in the United States and Canada have filed for bankruptcy during an oil bust in which prices plummeted from more than $100 a barrel to less than $30 in less than two years. Despite gutting drilling operations, and laying off thousands of workers to conserve cash, these companies could not longer meet the interest payments to creditors who have become less sympathetic as the bust drags on.
Port Freeport stakes its claim on cargo boom
The idea of Port Freeport - 60 miles due south of downtown Houston on a marshy stretch of Texas gulf coast - as a titan of foreign trade might sound bananas. Along with automobiles, its most well-developed business is, well, bananas brought in by the pallet by Dole and Chiquita. Yet Freeport has drawn support from local elected officials across the Houston region, who are drumming up support for spending potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare local freight routes for the growing port to capitalize on an expected cargo boom from a wider Panama Canal.
Top State Senator Threatens Bill To Override Local Rules On Uber, Lyft
Texas Senator Charles Schwertner announced plans to file the bill after Austin voters upheld a city ordinance requiring the fingerprinting of drivers with the ridesharing services. If passed, the bill would nullify a similar rule in Houston. Uber has threatened to leave Houston over its ordinance requiring the fingerprinting of ride-sharing drivers. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a statement Saturday in support of Austin voters, saying, “The City of Houston will not compromise on public safety either.”
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H-E-B moving closer to redeveloping Shepherd Plaza site
Leader calls Houston one of the most competitive metro areas. Shepherd Plaza, the once-bustling, now-forlorn shopping center just north of the intersection of Greenbriar and the Southwest Freeway, is moving closer to its destiny of becoming an H-E-B store. Indeed, much of the center at 2110 Portsmouth is vacant, but tenant Tuesday Morning apparently holds the longest lease of the remaining retailers. Fresh Market cited its own growth strategy in announcing that it will close all of its Texas stores, including four in the Houston area, on May 18, less than three years after its local launch. Analysts said the company likely misjudged how its smaller-store format would play in Houston, where H-E-B, Kroger and Wal-Mart control about 80 percent of the market and retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have a significant presence.
NONPROFIT / OTHER
Montgomery County leaders call for federal disaster aid
With more than 400 homes flooded on April 18, officials want federal aid. Two and a half weeks after heavy rain storms swept through the Greater Houston area, flooding more than 400 homes in Montgomery County, piles of water damaged belongings still lined the streets of the Timber Lakes-Timber Ridge subdivision, waiting to be cleaned up. The neighborhood just south of The Woodlands was one of the hardest hit parts of the county, with about 130 homes suffering severe flood damage. In the meantime, local community groups have taken the lead in offering assistance. Interfaith of The Woodlands, a local nonprofit organization, is one of the organizations coordinating assistance by providing those affected by the storm with clothing, food, water, and, in some cases, temporary housing and financial assistance.
FEMA adds Montgomery County to disaster declaration
The Federal Emergency Management Agency added Montgomery County to its presidential disaster declaration Monday, meaning victims of the April floods will be able to apply for assistance. Anyone in the county who been has affected by storms between April 17 and 24 can apply to FEMA for assistance in covering expenses incurred. This assistance typically will happen through monetary grants.
Thief keeps stealing from Houston charity
Police are looking for a thief who keeps targeting a northwest Houston charity. Someone stole a catalytic converter off Project C.U.R.E.’s only truck for the third time in a year. Surveillance video form a donated camera caught a man dressed in black stealing a catalytic converter from the charity’s box truck parked in front of the office.
New Orleans Plan: Charter Schools, With a Return to Local Control
Control of the city’s schools is expected to return to a locally elected school board for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Nothing has defined and even driven the fractious national debate over education quite like this city and the transformation of its school system in the decade since Hurricane Katrina. Reformers say its successes as an almost all-charter, state-controlled district make it a model for other failing urban school systems. Charter school opponents and unions point to what has happened here as proof that the reformers’ goal is just to privatize education and strip families of their voice in local schools across the country.
Through The Looking Glass: How Children's Books Have Grown Up
It might seem totally obvious: Children should read fun, fantastical books in the classroom and outside of it, so they can learn to love to read. But it turns out that this particular view of children's books is relatively new. American classrooms have had some form of children's books since the 17th century, but the books teachers have used, and the way they use them, have changed dramatically. For our Tools of the Trade series, we decided to go back to the beginning.
New Kinds of Lenders, Same Old Biases
Can alternative financing options create a more equitable system or are they doomed to repeat the same types of discrimination? For women and people of color, getting a loan from a bank can be an especially difficult proposition. That’s why many hope that the growth of alternative lenders will usher in a different, more equitable kind of credit system. But a recent paper suggests that these new lenders may be in danger of repeating some of the same old mistakes.
The U.S. Military Is Failing to Support Its Sickest Kids
The military health-care system serves 2 million children, but there are only a handful of full-time pediatric social workers across the Defense Department’s sprawling network of hospitals. In the civilian world, this kind of staffing is “unimaginable.”