2023
READERS’ CHOICE
An introduction to Ryan Lee Reid, the ‘Piano Cowboy - Page 3
281.690.4200 WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 29, 2023
Sugar Land council approves $49 million in drainage improvement contracts Staff Reports Sugar Land City Council on November 21 approved a $4.9 million construction contract for drainage improvements in Covington West and Imperial Woods, according to a news release. The project was part of four general obligation bond propositions totaling $90.76 million approved by Sugar Land voters in November 2019. The projects included in the propositions were selected based on planning through various master plans, City Council input and the results of citizen satisfaction surveys that indicated drainage, public safety and traffic and mobility are the top three priorities for residents. More than $47 million was approved for drainage improvements, including the Covington West and Imperial Woods project that is expected to begin in December and should be finished by the fall of 2024. “This project is intended to increase our capacity to move stormwater and decrease street ponding within the Covington West and Imperial Woods neighborhoods,” City Engineer Jessie Li said in the release. “Accomplishing this objective requires understanding the limitations and deficiencies of the existing drainage systems that serve the neighborhood and recommending improvements that are both functionally efficient and financially effective. Two previously completed drainage projects in Covington Woods will allow this project to reduce adverse impacts to the Covington Woods drainage ditch.” City staff obtained a 30-year zero interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board for design and construction. Based on current interest rates, the loan could save taxpayers about $1.8 million, according to the release. The project generally includes a combination of storm sewers, small water lines, manholes, sanitary sewers and pavement reconstruction/pedestrian improvements (i.e., roadway reconstruction, sidewalks, wheelchair ramps, curbs, driveway reconstruction, removal/re-installation of street signs and pavement markings, removal/replacement of mailboxes and yard drain pipes) along: ·Arcadia Drive between Michele Drive and Greenway Drive; ·Greenway Drive between Arcadia Drive and Mason Road; ·Mason Road between Greenway Drive and Oakwood Lane; · Oakwood Lane between Mason Road and Lynnwood Lane; and · Lynnwood Lane between Oakwood Lane.
SEE IMPROVEMENT PAGE 2
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Missouri City resident to receive presidential lifetime achievement award By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Missouri City resident Rodney Griffin has a long history of public service to the community, and it’s being recognized in a big way. On December 3, he will receive a President’s Lifetime Achievement Award at an event at City Centre in west Houston. Griffin, 77, who grew up in the Sunnyside neighborhood of southeast Houston, has lived in Missouri City since 1980. His parents, Margaret and William Griffin, were both educators and businesspeople who were adamant that their children
excel in their studies. Griffin attended Houston public schools and received a Jesse H. Jones Scholarship from the Houston Endowment, the philanthropy founded by the well-known Houston business and governmental leader. He chose to attend the University of Texas in Austin, where his older sister had already graduated. Griffin received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with a minor in government studies, in 1970. “I’m proud to say I was in that first decade of African-American students to actually attend the University of Texas as undergraduates,” Griffin said.
Missouri City resident Rodney Griffin will receive a President’s Lifetime Achievement Award at a Houston event on December 3. Photo by Ken Fountain
The university first desegregated its undergraduate programs in 1956, he said. Griffin and his fellow Black undergrads from that era
formed an organization called Precursors Inc., who recently partnered with UT to honor and archive the history of that era with a monument and a trail of historical markers. Griffin said that if there was any benefit to the Jim Crow era that we grew up in, it was that teachers in Black schools of the time were “excellent.” “The teachers we got, if they were in today’s market, they would be in corporations somewhere, but that was all closed to them because they were Black,” he said. “So we benefited as children. We were prepared very well to meet the challenges of the
University of Texas, in terms of academics. There were other challenges. You had to be mentally tough, because there were many obstacles there because of the color of our skin.” After graduating, Griffin went to work as a curriculum writer for the Southwest Educational Development Lab in Austin, part of a nationwide program set up by Congress during the Nixon Administration. The program, now called SEDL, was designed to develop new ways of teaching that could meet the learning styles of all types of students.
SEE AWARD PAGE 2
Fort Bend Diwali See Page 4 - for more photos from the last week’s Diwali celebration
Young dancers with the Sunanda Performing Arts Center dance on the steps of Sugar Land City Hall during Fort Bend Diwali. Photo by Ken Fountain
Sugar Land Holiday Lights continues through Jan. 1 Staff Reports
The 10th annual Sugar Land Holiday Lights is ongoing through Jan. 1 at Constellation Field. Courtesy Sugar Land Space Cowboys
The 10th annual Sugar Land Holiday Lights, presented by Houston Methodist, is ongoing at Constellation Field, home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land. Mobile ticketing has been implemented for all events. The ticket office
at Constellation Field is available to accommodate any ticketing issues, but all ticket purchases will be conducted online. Attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance for ease of entry and to save on day of event pricing. A full listing of special promotional events, which run through January 1, and ticket purchases can be
found at www.sugarlandholidaylights.com. Children 3 years and younger do not require a ticket. The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022.
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