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Inside Today: Foodie fantasies come to life for young couples • Page 1B

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10570 NW Frwy 713-680-2350

HISD board will hear public, then vote Thursday on 4-cent tax hike

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The Reader’s Choices we overlooked

Last week, we unveiled The Leader’s 2013 Reader’s Choice Awards, inadvertently omitting four categories. We want to make it up to them with this front-page recognition. They were nominated, then voted by our readers as the best bookstores, wedding-related businesses, children’s clothing outlets and antiques stores in our communities -- all very competitive categories. Please join us in honoring -- and better yet -- trying them out.

Houston ISD says that state funding cuts since 2011 are making it necessary to go to trustees for approval of a tax rate increase of 4 cents for each $100 of assessed property value. Taxpayers will have a chance to voice their opinions at a public hearing before the board on Oct. 10, and members are expected to vote on the measure immediately after. The increase would be the ﬁrst for the district in 12 years and would bring the tax rate to $1.1967, which is the lowest, it says, of any school district in the region and nearly 23 cents less than the average school system in Harris County. Through its homestead exemption, HISD offers a 20 percent tax rate reduction for homeowners who claim a single property as their primary residence. Starting in 2011, the state legislature severely reduced funding to public schools, costing HISD near-

ly $200 million over a two-year period. The district dealt with the cuts by cutting expenses and laying off employees in the ﬁrst year, and by covering the next year’s deﬁcit with one-time federal funding, pulling from its savings and reducing the accelerated funding it employs to pay off its debt. When the budget process launched earlier this year, there was talk of a 6-cent tax rate hike, but rebounding residential and commercial property values throughout the district and other factors held the proposal to 4 cents. The public hearing begins at 5 p.m. in the board auditorium at district headquarters at 4400 W. 18th St. The meeting will be broadcast live on the district’s website, www.houstonisd.org, and on HISD’s TV channel 18 on Comcast or channel 99 on AT&T.

With the start of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month, The Leader is again turning its attention and resources to the important issues of education about this disease that aﬀects so many. Next week, as we did last year, we will devote our monthly Our Health section to stories about medical breakthroughs, area resources, special events and inspiring tales of those in our communities who have coped with – and some who have conquered – breast cancer. And, as we did last year, we will be donating a portion of the advertising proceeds from the section to The Rose, which provides such admirable services for prevention, diagnosis, education and treatment of breast cancer.

MANNA heaven from

What MANNA oﬀers

BOOKSTORE 1st - TheLift 2nd - Murder by the Book 3rd - Kaboom

Resale Store 1806 W. 43rd St. Houston, Texas 77018

BRIDAL 1st - Ventura’s 2nd - Darlene’s 3d - Posh Petal

Oak Forest’s Wine Extravaganza raised about $27,100. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

Assistance, Food Pantry and Vision Center 2101 W. 34th St. Houston, Texas 77018

CHILDREN’S CLOTHING 1st - Thread 2nd - Tulips and Tutus 3rd - Gymboree

MANNA Store hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. To donate or schedule a pick up, contact the store manager at 713-686-6440. Drop oﬀ donations are accepted during store hours. No dumping or drop oﬀs after hours. MANNA receives new donations of clothing, furniture, household wares, toys, electronics and home décor, books and jewelry. MANNA no longer accepts encyclopedias, computers or mattresses.MANNA’s Assistance Program operates every Monday (except holidays) from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. by appointment only.

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MANNA’s Food Pantry is open Mondays from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and the 3rd Saturday of each month from 9 a.m.-noon. Appointments are not needed.

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Can YFindOUInside CHARISMA CAR WASH: Grand Opening. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-13. 505 N. Loop W. (between Shepherd and Yale). TIN HALL: www.tinhall.com. 713664-7450. Swap meet/garage sale, Sunday, Oct. 27. Spaces for rent.

First place in Reader’s Choice Awards

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The face of need: more than 1,000 area residents turn to MANNA each month for food and eye care that they couldn’t otherwise aﬀord. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)

Softening life’s blows for those without a safety net by Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com When a three-alarm ﬁre broke out last March at The Woods at Lamonte Apartments, the 16 families who lost their home and possessions found crucial assistance through Ministry Assistance of the Near Northwest Alliance, or MANNA. “We opened the food pantry and resale store after hours to accommodate them,” said MANNA director Patricia Dornak. “The families got vouchers to use in the shop, and MANNA paid one month’s rent [in their new apartment] due to the extreme set of circumstances.” The resources to help those in need come in large part from one place – the MANNA Resale Shop at 1806 W. 43rd St. “The

by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com

store is the primary source of funding,” said Dornak. The monies raised from people who shop at the store in turn support MANNA’s Assistance Program – including the food pantry and vision center at Temple Baptist Church on 34th Street. The pantry is afﬁliated with the Houston Food Bank and sometimes provides toiletries and baby food. The vision center gives free exams to qualiﬁed applicants as well as complimentary frames for their lenses. Anyone who has seen the lines at the assistance center knows how many people there are in Leader communities without

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Sipping for safety Oak Forest residents enjoyed the Taste of Oak Forest Wine Extravaganza last Saturday night at the home of Justin Gordon, a homebuilder in the area. The event, which featured fine wines from Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and California and food samples from local restaurants such as Plonk!, Jus’ Mac and Rainbow Lodge, raised about $27,100 money toward the neighborhood’s plan for private security, according to organizers. The Oak Forest HOA has decided to hire a private security firm, S.E.A.L.S., and it needs to raise $170,000 by Oct. 15 to make it a reality. S.E.A.L.S, which also patrols in Sharpstown and the International District, would begin patrol with three officers on Nov. 1. Two S.E.A.L.S. officers were present at the event, and they were greeted by many of the eventgoers as they entered the Extravaganza. Forty-five percent of the original goal of 1,200 households (22 percent of OF households) have paid toward the program. Many OF residents have paid more than the $250 per year, to help their neighbors who may be on a fixed income. According to Oak Forest HOA president Craig Powers and board member Lucy Fisher-Cain, they’ve raised about $120,000, and that’s not counting about $27,100 from the wine fundraiser. Ideally, the board would like to put the money raised from the wine event into a security fund that would help if residents moved, stopped paying or passed away, they said. “At this time, that’s not our plan (to use the wine money toward the $170,000), unless we need it,” Fisher-Cain said. But if the Oct. 15 deadline is approaching, and the HOA is short, they’ll use the wine event money toward the $170,000 goal. “Once people think the program is going for-

ANTIQUES 1st - Gen’s Antiques 2nd - Grace Hart 3rd - Chippendale’s

Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classiﬁeds

We’re thinking pink again, to spotlight breast cancer

MANNA’s Vision Center is by appointment only and applicants must meet eligibility requirements. This program operates every Wednesday (except holidays) from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. Assistance Program – 713-682-5652 Food Pantry – 713-682-5652 Resale Store – 713-686-6440 www.manna-houston.org/index.html

Exchange student’s Reagan football hopes sidelined by UIL ruling by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com An 18-year-old Norwegian foreign exchange student chose Houston so he could study and play football, but the University Interscholastic League has kept him off the gridiron. Reagan High senior tight end/ defensive end Magnus Kinne is the same age as his classmates, but the UIL rejected his foreign exchange waiver and denied his appeal due to compete in varsity athletics due

Reagan High senior tight end/defensive end Magnus Kinne, an 18-year-old exchange student from Norway, has been denied varsity eligibility by the University Interscholastic League because he enrolled in ninth grade ﬁve years ago. In Norway, ﬁrst grade is the American equivalent of kindergarten. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter) to Section 405 of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules. Reagan (3-1, 2-0) has six more regular season games on the schedule, and the Bulldogs are

widely projected to win their ﬁrst district championship since the 1950s. The UIL won’t address speciﬁc situations with the media, but an

email exchanged obtained from Kinne’s mother, May Elisabeth S. Kinne, from the UIL Waiver Department replied to her on Sept. 4 that “Magnus enrolled in the ninth-grade ﬁve years ago and and he enrolled in the 10th grade four years ago. Therefore, he is ineligible for varsity athletics.” There’s no kindergarten in the Norwegian education system, and students begin their formal studies in ﬁrst grade -- the American equivalent of kindergarten. Both systems have 13 grades.

Kinne has two older brothers who played high school football at age 18 in New York and Washington State, respectively after completing 12 grades in the Norwegian education system. Kinne is allowed to compete in practices, but he’s declined the option of playing junior varsity football, according to Reagan head football coach Stephen Dixon. “I would have gone to America anyways (with football or not) as

see Ruling • Page 5A

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