Leader2 20 a

Mosquitos

Inside Today: Local Girl Scouts share their best pitch • Page 1B

Fleas

New Merchandise Arriving Daily

Ticks

We make outside fun again!

Call Today For Free QuoTe

713-864-8888 www.mosquitojoe.com

Flower & Gift Shop

Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston

10570 NW Frwy • 713-680-2350

Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Vol. 62 • No. 8

About Us 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494

Residents voice dissent over Reagan name change issue

By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com

Your neighborhood drinkery & eatery 2307 Ella Blvd.

(713) 701-9105 www.tbpheights.com

Takeout Available

Presented by

March 30 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

SPJST Lodge 88 1435 Beall St. The Leader’s premiere, annual event for area seniors is coming closer and closer. RSVP today for your chance to attend this free event.

RSVP online at theleadernews.com and See Page 7B

“Shocked,” “disgusted,” “ridiculous,” “vicious” and a “disgrace” – these were some of the choice words used by Reagan alumni and other members of the Heights community who packed the inside of the auditorium at Reagan High School Tuesday night in describing their feelings about HISD’s proposal to rename the school.

The meeting had been called by HISD trustee Anna Eastman, after she previously motioned that a vote to approve a name change be delayed until further input from the community could be collected regarding the issue.

The meeting was a chance for many to

Pos in

news@theleadernews.com www.theleadernews.com Facebook/THE LEADER.

air their frustration and disappointment with the board in what some called a decision driven by politics.

At the start of the meeting, Eastman sympathized with those who felt they were blindsided by the suddenness of the district’s process.

“I had suggested to the board president that we should have gatherings in our school and maybe have a lesson on who these people were,” Eastman said, referencing the district’s efforts to rename other schools in HISD named after Confederate figures. “The motion that came forward in January was a surprise to me. I expected to be notiSee Reagan P. 5A

g

Photo by Jonathan Garris Reagan High School alumni and other members of the community waited patiently for their chance to speak to HISD trustee Anna Eastman at a meeting Tuesday night.

Johnson focuses on diverse issues in District 139

By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com

for

In the race for the District 139 seat, former Houston City Council member Jarvis Johnson is touting his experience passing ordinances and drafting legislation to position himself as the most qualified for the position formerly held by Sylvester Turner.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Johnson is hoping his time on city council, proposing legislation and negotiating with others in the community, will make him stand out among the competition. He is running against Kimberly Willis, Jerry Ford Jr. and Randy Bates.

His experience in owning a restaurant is also something he believes bolsters his experience in handling what he considers to be the three biggest challenges across the district – education, economic development and criminal justice.

“I think the district is so diverse that one set of issues certainly does

Success

WHYILOVEHOUSTON.COM

CHECK OUT HEIGHTS’ 1ST MINI MURAL

See District P. 2A

For Full Article See Page 7A

Singer proud to call Heights home

ART BOX FESTIVAL & LIBRARY BOOK DRIVE SATURDAY 11 AM - 1 PM

By Kim Hogstrom For The Leader

3414 WASHINGTON AVE FEASTURBANEATS.COM

Contributed Photos A growing number of students in elementary schools across the Houston area, including several in The Leader area, are taking advantage of new after-school yoga programs run by a business woman and mother.

INSIDE.

Yoga program sees success among area elementary schools

By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com

Celebrating over 20 years of delicacies at Decapo’s

Find it on 1B

The INDEX. Church

4A

Classifieds

4B

Coupons

5A

Food/Drink/Art Obituaries

1B 7A

Opinion

3A

Public Information Puzzles Sports

2A 4A 7B

While many students are competing in sports, headed to libraries or finishing art projects, a growing group of students at several Leaderarea elementary schools are rolling out their yoga mats.

Star Yoga Group is now two years out from its relatively small beginnings with owner Samantha Moore.

Moore started the program following receiving her yoga teaching certification in 2014. She said she was inspired by a suggestion to begin an after-school yoga program not unlike Arts Alive for local elementary students.

“The idea took off,”

Moore said. “Now we’re in seven schools across the area.”

Of those schools, Moore runs programs at Durham, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest Elementary. Anywhere from 10 to 20 students are in these programs, which aim to help young children with learning self-regulation – how to remain calm and also keep balanced, both physically and mentally.”

“My goal is teaching kids how to focus and how to use things that they always carry with them – their breath and their body – to guide them,” Moore said.

“Yoga has always provided an outlet for me as far as management of stress and other basic life skills.”

Moore also said her program counter-acts the downside of children being exposed to technology at a young age. Techniques like learning challenging poses and proper breathing are some of the ways she works to help children address some of their problems.

“I love technology and I work in technology,” Moore said. “However, there is a negative impact on children. They don’t have the attention span, they don’t have the emotional skills and sometimes have issues with making contact. These are issues that yoga can help with.”

Moore said she has been surprised with the response from schools in The Leader

area, with 30 to 45 minute programs appealing to students as young as preschool age. She currently has several other teachers helping with the program, and Moore herself has a background in teaching young students and high school students in places like Klein ISD and Spring Branch ISD. Not only has she received positive feedback from both boys and girls, but also from parents.

She recalled one story from the parents of a child going through a divorce and things were a bit tense in their home.

See Yoga P. 5A

Houston Heights songstress Sharon Montgomery grew up in the oil patch, in tiny Nederland, TX, just outside of Beaumont. The young vocalist cut her teeth singing in southeast Texas honky tonks, some with stages shielded by chicken wire to protect performers from flying beer bottles.

It was a tad bit of a “rough” start.

Today, you could find Montgomery booked to sing at a $1,000-a-plate Houston museum gala, an international socialite’s birthday party, or the Houston Grand Opera Ball, to name only a few.

Gifted with a razor-sharp sense of humor, Montgomery’s memories of See Singer P. 2A

Contributed Photos Montgomery has come a long way from her time in the honky tonks of southeast Texas.

Your Neighborhood Bankers

Experienced community bankers providing value to Houston business owners. Please stop by – we want to YLVLW ZLWK \RX DQG ¿QG RXW KRZ ZH FDQ KHOS \RXU EXVLQHVV / 5 $P\ 5LWWHU ± %DQN 2I¿FHU /HQGHU 0DUJDUHW 9DQGHYHU ± 693 /HQGHU 6FRWW /HVWHU ± %DQN 2I¿FH 3UHVLGHQW &HFLOLD 5RGULJXH] ± $93 2I¿FH 0DQDJHU -XVWLQ 9LFNUH\ ± 93 /HQGHU

2222 North Durham Houston, TX 77008

281-517-8760

MA K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E, TO G E T H E R .

www.allegiancebanktexas.com

The public.

Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Page 2A

Police Reports • Feb. 10 - Feb. 13 FEB. 10

Burglary 2:20 AM 300-399 E 16TH Theft 4:47 AM 700-799 E 19TH Theft 2:57 AM 1100-1199 HARVARD Theft 5:15 AM 1100-1199 WALLING Burglary 4:30 AM 900-999 YALE Theft 7:54 AM 1500-1599 NORTH LP W Theft 11:58 AM 100-199 YALE Theft 3:45 PM 2500-2599 SHEARN Theft 8:10 AM 1900-1999 TAYLOR Theft 7:59 AM 0-99 E CROSSTIMBERS Burglary 12:51 AM 5900-5999 KANSAS Theft 5 AM 3300-3399 W 11TH Burglary 8:42 AM 1200-1299 DEL NORTE Burglary 12:31 PM 3900-3999 SHERWOOD Robbery 8:04 AM 3800-3899 MANGUM Theft 12 PM 500-599 W 23RD Burglary 11:05 PM 1300-1399

Don’t Be A Victim!

Concealed Handgun Classes

we Buy aLL GuNS

New LoCatioN

2001 Karbach Suite F Houston, TX 77092

713-694-4867

Buy SeLL trade

Gift Certificates

Black Gold Guns & ammo Licensed FFL/Class III Dealer YALE Burglary 1:30 PM 300-399 E 36TH Theft 5:30 PM 4100-4199 YALE Theft 10:02 AM 4300-4399 YALE Burglary 11:52 PM 1700-1799 HOUSTON AVE Theft 2:40 PM 2700-2799 W T C JESTER Theft 1:30 AM 3000-3099 N LOOP W Theft 9:43 AM 2900-2999

MANGUM Theft 5 PM 600-699 W 30TH Burglary 4:45 AM 1500-1599 WALTON Burglary 5:15 PM 1300-1399 CROSSTIMBERS

FEB. 11

Burglary 1:40 AM 900-999 W CAVALCADE Theft 11:08 AM 900-999 N LOOP W Theft 6:06 AM 900-999 N LOOP W Burglary 12 PM 800-899 FISHER Theft 2:24 PM 2100-2199 ELLA Burglary 5:43 AM 1800-1899 TATTENHALL Theft 10:30 AM 9800-9899 HEMPSTEAD RD Theft 8:36 AM 200-299 E 38TH Theft 3:15 PM 5200-5299 INKER Burglary 12 PM 700-799 THORNTON Burglary 11:58 PM 2000-2099 W 43RD

FEB. 12

Burglary 3 AM 300-399 E 40TH 1/2 Theft 2:36 AM 100-199 YALE Theft 10:36 AM 200-299 SPELL Theft 3:56 AM 5100-5199 N SHEPHERD Theft 12:15 PM 10800-10899 NORTHWEST FWY Theft 12:33 PM 1400-1499 SHEPHERD Theft 9:10 AM 0-99 W LOOP N/NORTHWEST FWY IB Theft 12 PM 4700-4799 SHERWOOD

FEB. 13

Burglary 4:59 PM 1100-1199 HERKIMER Assault 4:30 PM 4600-4699 N SHEPHERD Burglary 11:34 AM 200-299 T C JESTER Burglary 9:24 AM 900-999 PINEMONT Theft 8 AM 4700-4799 DACOMA Reports are provided by SpotCrime.com based on data from the Houston Police Department.

Singer from P. 1A the start of her career remain dear to her.

“One particularly memorable dive bar was wallpapered in green shag fur,” Montgomery said with a laugh. “It had a sticky dance floor, and only one song on its jukebox. That song was ‘Wasted Days and Wasted Nights’ – who wouldn’t love that?”

And her dodgy beginnings are not without value to Montgomery.

“Thanks to those experiences, I can now sing opera, pop, jazz, country western, and the good ole’ oil patch rhythm and blues,” Montgomery said. “I’ve had to be versatile. It was what I needed to do to survive in the music business.”

Montgomery has done a bit more than survive. In the 1990s, she moved to New York City to pursue performing opportunities and was received well. The Texas songstress sang in places such as Carne-

gie Hall and The Carlyle Hotel.

After attending one of her performances, famed film critic, Rex Reed, once wrote in his column that ”She is one of the most versatile mega-talents today. Sharon Montgomery has a voice from music heaven.”

Houston Artist David Adickes is renowned for his work including the 67-foot Sam Houston sculpture outside of Huntsville, and everyone’s favorite, the “I ‘Heart’ Houston” sign on I-10 on the edge of the Heights. He has followed Montgomery for more than 25 years.

“Sharon is a world-class talent,” Adickes said. “Her versatility is remarkable, from ballads to rock, to scat and jazz.

The women is a real musician; she’s the real thing.”

Missing her Southeast Texas roots, Montgomery eventually left New York City and landed in Montrose. Soon after, she a bought a home in Sunset

Heights and never looked back.

“I realized I didn’t recognize Montrose. All the charm and funk that it used to have, disappeared,” Montgomery said. “I didn’t leave Montrose, Montrose left me. Now, I find the Heights offers all that and more; the rich collection of artists and musicians makes it the most interesting and inspirational community in Houston. I absolutely love the Heights.”

There was a time not so long ago, when many of the best restaurants in Houston offered live music for their guests’ pleasure. That fact provided a living for many Houston’s working musicians.

According to Montgomery, the foodie craze has had a negative impact on the live, local music scene.

“Food has become entertainment,” Montgomery said.

“When I first started working,

there was a symbiotic relationship or partnership between food and music. When restaurant owners wanted to enhance guests’ experience, they added live music. That’s all but gone now. However, the pendulum may be swinging back.”

And that’s another great thing about the Heights, says Montgomery: the addition of several live music performance venues, including the renovation of the Heights Theater. These new developments coupled with the density of talented musicians in the area, are destined to make the Heights the center of the live music in Houston.

“I am so excited about the opening of the Heights Theater, I can barely find the words,” Montgomery said. “It will be a class operation and a gift to the musical landscape for both audiences and musicians. I just can’t wait.”

the District B seat he presided with civic clubs and Super over on city council – makes Neighborhood representathe area prime for better com- tives. munity outreach.

He envisions “The message behind my TSS-003-VT20160_PrintTimeAdR2_4.92x10.5_RMA_1 copy.pdf quarterly townhall meetings campaign is going to be lead-

ing by example,” Johnson said.

“My question to voters will be – do you want someone with someone with 1experience 2/12/16 or3:16 PM promises?”

Super Neighborhood 12 to host forum for District 139 election Near Northwest Houston residents can find out more about the candidates vying for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s former seat during the Texas State Representative, District 139 Candidate Forum, 6:30-8 p.m. Monday, February 22, 2016, at Advent Lutheran Church, 5820 Pinemont Dr. With four candidates participating in the Texas Democratic Primary March1 – and no Republican candidates – time is short to learn more about who will likely be the next Texas State representative for District 139 during the 2017-2019 term.

The forum, sponsored by the Central Northwest Super Neighborhood Council (SN 12) and the Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association, will give voters a chance to meet the candidates and learn where they stand on issues like transportation mobility, education and healthcare.

The four candidates running for Turner’s seat are Randy Bates, Jerry Ford, Jarvis D. Johnson and Kimberly Willis.

The Texas Democratic and Re-

The Right Agent Whether you are buying, selling or building choose the agent that’s right for you.

Jan Clark, J.D. 281-686-0761 Janhtx@gmail.com

ARNIEAltsuler ALTSULER ANDREA JOSEPH Arnie AndreA Joseph Managing Director Commercial & Investment Single Family Homes Listing & Sales New Home Builder Services Buyers & Sellers Representation (281) 236-7777 (832) 324-9903 aka@altsuler.com andreajoseph@kw.com aka@altsuler.com andreajoseph@kw.com

HOW MAY WE HELP YOU? (DFK RIÀFH LV LQGHSHQGHQWO\ RZQHG DQG RSHUDWHG

I am back in the neighborhood to help with all of your Real Estate needs.

Call today!

Mildred HoleMan realty The Office with a Heart Residential/Commercial | 713-691-6434

Mildred Holeman Owner/Agent

love to help!

District from P. 1A not outweigh the others, however,” Johnson said. “Economic development, or the creation of jobs, is going to be at the top of that list.”

Among his achievements in office, Johnson said his work in establishing the city’s Habitability Ordinance was a positive for the city which sought to set a standard of living for those who own rental properties. Johnson also said he “fought diligently” on city council regarding unbundling contracts to allow small businesses take advantages of opportunities and spoke of the need to revitalize communities by attracting new residents, particularly city employees.

“When you talk about economic development, you have to create sustainable mixed income communities,” Johnson said. “When you look at those individuals working in the public sector, 75 percent of police officers don’t live in the city limits. We need to increase the tax base by attracting more people to move back as opposed to moving out to the suburbs.”

Attracting new residents means building better housing and Johnson said businesses (with jobs) would likely follow.

“Young people need the opportunity of being employed,” Johnson said. “Without that, [they] will be forced to fend for themselves.”

Johnson said his approach to funding better schools for young people is removed from the “pie in the sky” ideas of his opponents.

“If I propose that we are going to increase per-pupil spending, then where is that revenue coming from?” Johnson said. “We’re looking at how do we start taxing certain entities and how do we look at pulling back much of the oil and gas companies that are allowed to have a multitude of different tax breaks.”

Beyond ensuring that school districts receive state lottery money, he also emphasized that the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana might be a potential outlet for revenue and cited Colorado and Washington’s revised drug laws.

“I think the country has moved in a direction much like the prohibition era,” Johnson said. “I’m not really concerned about dumbing down or lessening the sentencing more than I’m concerned that does it even need to be a crime in the first place.”

Johnson also said the size of District 139 – smaller than

publican primaries will be held Tuesday, March 1. Early voting runs through Feb. A Candidate Mingle from 6:30-7 p.m. will give voters a chance to meet candidates up close. The political forum with questions from the audience will begin at 7 p.m.

“By attending this forum, Near Northwest Houston residents can help ensure that their voices are heard in the State Legislature,” said Mark Klein, president, SN 12 Council.

eileen

GAMEL HARTMAN

.com direct

Primary Election: March 1st

In MeMorIaM

Miriam esther Long Doby

M

Early Voting: February 16th - 26th REMINDER: YOU MUST BRING ONE FORM OF APPROVED PHOTO ID TO THE POLLS. TEXAS - IS S U E D

June 10, 1924 - February 2, 2016

iriam Esther Long Doby went home to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on February 2, 2016. Mim was proceeded in death by her parents, Wilson and Grace Carl Long; Husband, B.G. Doby; daughters Linda Sue and Diane Grace.

Mim was born in Bloomsburg, PA (Columbia County) on June 10, 1924 and proudly graduated from Bloomsburg High School in 1943. On February 26, 1949 Miriam and B.G. Doby married in the First Baptist Church of York, Pennsylvania. After four years in York, Miriam and B.G. moved to Miami and finally landed in Houston where they lived 31 years at 1114 Timbergrove Lane. Miriam was an active member at the Houston First Baptist Church and spent many hours with The Keenagers. In 1984 The Doby’s retired from their company, Astro Limo and Travel Service and began to prepare for their new home in Palacios, TX. Our Mimi was a devoted and loving mother, grandmother and great- grandmother. She lived 91 full years and spent her final days on this Earth in love and laughter and for that we will always be grateful.

Mim is survived by her daughter, Jayne Doby Steward and son, Gary Wilson Doby; Grandchildren, Samantha Steward, Spencer Steward, Lauren Doby and Cameron Doby; Great-grandchildren, Serik Anthony Olivares, Savannah Olivares, Sophia Olivares, Santino Olivares, Scarlett Olivares, Riley McAdams, Avery McAdams, Jaxx Steward and Jaden Steward.

Memorial service will be held Thursday, February 18 @ 11:00am.

Houston’s First Baptist Church, 7401 Katy Frwy, Houston TX 77024.

In MeMorIaM

rev. Bryon Kinder rose DRIVER LICENSE

HANDGUN LICENSE PERSONAL ID CARD

T

US-I S S U E D

CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATE

PASSPORT MILITARY ID

PLAN YOUR TRIP TO THE POLLS @ 1 (800) 252-VOTE

GET A FREE TEXAS ELECTION IDENTIFICATION CERTIFICATE.

/TXSECRETARY

With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. Voters who do not possess a form of approved photo identification may obtain a Texas Election ID Certificate at no charge.

Voters with a disability may apply with the county voter registrar for a permanent exemption to showing photo ID at the polls. The application must contain written documentation from either the U.S. Social Security Administration evidencing he or she has been determined to have a disability, or from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs evidencing a disability rating of at least 50 percent.

February 20, 1929 - January 27, 2016

he Rev. Bryon Kinder Rose was born in San Francisco on February 20th, 1929 to Harold and Catherine Rose. He passed away January 27, 2016 in Georgetown, Texas, at the age of 86. Bryon graduated from San Jose State University in 1953 and received his Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School at TCU in 1957. During his 50 plus years of ministry, Bryon pastored Disciple of Christ churches in Texas and Indiana. Passionate in his service to the community, Bryon received many awards including the Outstanding Human Relations Award from the NAACP for his work in the civil rights movement and the Key to the City of El Paso. He was instrumental in founding the Houston Jail Ministry, was a member of the Texas State Human Relations Board, founded the Houston Interfaith Hunger Coalition, and supported migrant worker rights in El Paso. He was also an Eagle Scout.

He loved being in the mountains, singing, sailing, and most of all he loved his family. Bryon is survived by his wife of 36 years, Susan, his children: Chris, Cheri, Scott, Sophie and Ned; his grandchildren: Jason, Benjamin, India, Ben, Oliver, Hope, Eva, Molly, Lane, and Katie Jane; his great grandchild, Noah, and many other family and friends.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held February 27th at 2 pm at the First United Methodist Church in Georgetown, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given in the memory of the Rev. Bryon K. Rose to the Excellence in Ministry Program Fund.

Please send donations to the Pension Fund of the Christian Church, Attn: Kate Hurst, PO Box 6251, Indianapolis, IN 462066251. Additionally, donations may be sent to the First United Methodist Church of Georgetown, Southwestern University Student Interns Fund.

The Topics.

Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Page 3A

We need to keep small business open A n article I read this week grabbed my attention, and not for the reason you might suspect.

If you’re in the financial business, you read about the market. If you’re a lawyer, you read about big verdicts in periodicals. And if you’re in the media business, you read about our industry’s bloodshed.

I have a friend who warns me about this, because unless your business starts with the words Amazon, Facebook or Google, media stories aren’t kind these days.

Radio executives read about Sirius and Pandora and Apple Music.

Television honchos would just as soon take a sledgehammer to the knees of Netflix, Amazon (they keep popping up), Hulu and the modern-day DVR, if that’s still such a thing.

And newspapers? Sheez. We’ve been writing an extended version of our obituary for the past two decades because we gave away our brains to save our bones.

Think about it: During the birth of the internet, newspaper execs were so giddy about getting people to their websites that they freely tossed every story online in hopes of boasting about how big of an audience they had. We were a grocery store that gave away the steaks in order to sell more napkins.

In fact, the newspaper industry was so successful at being idiots

Jonathan McElvy Publisher

with our important commodity (news) that we convinced the entire world that news, in fact, should be free. And that’s when those start-up companies like Google and Facebook attacked. They took our free content, merged it into news feeds and exquisite searches, and started selling sponsored posts and ad spots at the top. Today, Google’s revenue is greater than all the newspapers in the United States, combined.

When young business majors study the dumbest industries in America, they will no doubt turn to the executives of the newspaper business and write masterful pieces of tragedy.

And that gets me back to the article I read earlier this week that deserves to be shared. The article was about a public newspaper company called McClatchy, which owns papers like the Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

During McClatchy’s earnings call,

CEO Pat Talamantes told investors that advertising revenues were down 11.7 percent over the previous year. That continues a slide that began somewhere around 2009 for most major newspapers, and as Talamantes said, the trends for this year “are not very different.”

But what really grabbed my attention from the article was not the plight of the newspaper business.

Instead, Talamantes said print’s problem is that retailers all across the nation are feeling the same pinch newspapers have for almost a decade, and this won’t surprise you in the least.

The major retailers that have long been strong supporters of newspapers have lost their customers.

Think about how shopping has changed in just the last three years.

My wife and I have a son who still thinks the potty is a great idea, but not a necessity. When we need diapers, do you think my wife goes to the store and buys a mammoth box of Pampers? Nope, Diapers. com delivers them to the door free of charge. We just have to plan two days in advance.

When my wife wants shoes, she splits her time between stores (when she actually has time to brave traffic) and Zappos.com.

And let’s not forget the company that won’t stop - Amazon. Just three years ago, you could buy 1,000 shares of that company for

$265,000. Today, those 1,000 shares are now worth $521,000. Those are earnings of $256,000 in three years (you know, if you had the money to make the initial investment, which most all of us don’t.)

Amazon makes shopping for anything as simple as a few clicks and a refund policy, and in the process, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the local businesses in our area of town that must be feeling the same pinch our industry has felt over the past decade.

And that’s when you start thinking to the future. One day, will we need Realtors to sell our homes, or will we just virtually list it and let a smart phone guide buyers through open houses?

Car lots are almost a thing of the past. One day, you’ll buy your car online, have it delivered to your home for a test drive, and you’ll either send it back or have the delivery driver leave in your old car.

Even doctors will change. It won’t be too long that we virtually visit a doctor, tell him/her/it our symptoms and get a prescription delivered to our house later that afternoon. We probably won’t have robots come to our homes to perform surgery, but general practice doctors will either be specialists or they’ll disappear.

The list goes on and on, and sometimes I wonder if small businesses all across our community un-

Texas Congressional Districts have the Line’s Share of Gerrymandering THE ABACUS – Let’s see.

One point one million divided by 34 million, or is it the other way around? Oh, hi. I am figuring up how much money each of us will be billed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, our official state panderers, for their latest expensive grandstanding waste of our tax dollars. And it’s high time we low-tax, low-spend conservatives rise up as one and shout: “You two give hypocrisy a bad name!”

It’s all very complicated, but began in 2011 when the Texas legislators redrew the state’s maps for the state Senate and House and U.S. Congress. Texas needed approval from the feds, and sued to get it. But Democrats charged the new boundaries favored the Republicans, i.e., gerrymandering. As state attorneys general, Abbott and later Paxton, defended the new district lines -- and lost. The Dems were declared “prevailing parties” in the case, and their lawyers were awarded $1.1 million, billed to the taxpayers of Texas. The state appealed paying the legal fees, and now the U.S. Supreme has ruled for the Dems. That $1.1 million will be shared among three sets of attorneys. Wait.

This just in. Lawyers in the case say the final figure owed by the state will climb once fees for the appeal process and Supreme Court briefings are tallied. So the meter is still running even though we got out of the cab.

Does all this ring a bell?

Sound familiar? Abbott and Paxton lose, we get stuck with the bills which reached a cool $13 million as of last December. If you voted for either Abbott or Paxton, please pay my share of these enormous legal fees for which we are getting nothing in return but more bills. Actually, in Paxton’s case, the taxpayers of Collin County are paying an additional $100,000 to prosecute our attorney general on felony fraud charges.

Wait! Another case. A Harris County Grand Jury has refused to indict Planned Parenthood for that video tape fiasco about selling baby parts, and has instead indicted the two tricksters who tried to ensnare Planned Parenthood.

The stingers were stung. Nevertheless, Abbott and Paxton say they will continue with their attempts to indict the organization – at our expense.

When will these taxpayers’ friends and watchdogs of the state treasury stop wasting our money?

In the heat of this latest million-dollar dud lies the undeniable fact that Texas Congressional lines are terribly gerrymandered to favor one party – guess which one? Don’t take my word for it. None other than Abbott,

Lynn Ashby Columnist

then our attorney general, said in a court brief, he wrote: “In 2011, both houses of the Texas Legislature were controlled by large Republican majorities, and their redistricting decisions were designed to increase the Republican Party’s electoral prospects at the expense of the Democrats.” That’s not a smoking gun, that’s an H bomb (H for hypocrite). He added that this tactic is still constitutional, despite “incidental effects on minority voters.” If “incidental effects” means “your vote doesn’t count,” then he’s right.

How bad is Texas gerrymandering? In an effort to dilute the liberal vote in Travis County, it is divided into five different Congressional districts, including one that runs from Austin to Houston. Even outside studies find that Texas has some ridiculously gerrymandered districts. Each Congressional district in Texas has an estimated population of 698,488 people. However, using computerized maps, Democratic voters are bunched into a few districts and dilutes the rest.

That gives the GOP a thumb on the scales. Both Buzzfeed and the Washington Post have branded two Texas Congressional districts as among the worst gerrymandered areas in the entire nation: One bunches together the liberal parts of San Antonio and Austin, the other is Congressional District 33 which connects liberal areas of Fort Worth.

While Texas may be worse than most, some other states do the same. Estimates find only 15 of the 435 House seats are considered truly competitive this year. One of the worst examples was in New York where, in the Republican-controlled Senate, Sen. Guy Velella, a Bronx Republican, managed to redraw the house of a former challenger out of his district. Alas, Sen. Velella lost his seat after 18 years, but only when he was convicted of bribery.

In the on-going, and expensive battle over redistricting in Texas, some knotty questions arise. Do you count prisoners and college students who come from elsewhere?

This last case has been fought over for years in Waller County, which contains the mostly black enrollment of Prairie View A&M. In any event, Texans are real wussies when it comes to redistricting, unlike the people of Arizona.

In 2000, they used the state’s voter-initiative process to amend the state constitution, largely stripping redistricting power from the Legislature and giving it instead to a five member independent commission. It’s worked so beautifully that the state’s unhappy legislators have sued. When will Texans be that brave?

All this time, you have been wondering, how much is one point one million divided by 34 million? No, actually you have been wondering why this shell game is called gerrymandering. The term comes from Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence (the only signer to be buried in Washington D.C.), a drafter of the Constitution, House member, governor and vice president under James Madi-

son. As governor of Massachusetts in 1812, he signed into law a state legislative map that included a strangely shaped district obviously drawn to benefit his party. A cartoonist for the The Boston Gazette added a head, wings and claws to make it look like a salamander. An opposition newspaper editor named Benjamin Russell said, since the monster was hatched by Gerry, “Better say a gerrymander.” Gerry’s name was pronounced with a hard “G” like in gag or grasp, but the term has been softened to be pronounced “jerrymander.”

The next U.S. Census will give Texas at least two more Congressional seats. Get out your checkbook.

Ashby borders on ashby2@ comcast.net

derstand how important these days are to maintaining a business that will last until the next generation.

I don’t have a solution just yet.

Instead, I’m doing something I’ve never before done in a column. I’d like to ask readers, consumers and small businesses to begin sharing their stories with us.

Specifically, I’d like to know what small businesses are doing today to compete in a market that increasingly moves to tablets and smart phones.

Readers, are there stores you love to visit? If so, why?

Over the next month, I’d like to compile your answers and share them with our readers and other businesses.

Here’s what I know: Newspapers like ours haven’t finished our obituaries because we are intent to cover the communities we serve better than any other medium. I believe if we keep doing that, you’ll continue to read our news.

I also know that after neighborhoods and schools, small, local businesses are the cornerstones of communities. We need them to thrive. We need locals to shop with them. And we ought to start discussing a way to keep real doors, rather than web addresses, open.

Email me your thoughts at the address below. jonathan@theleadernews.com

The reader.

Don’t view us through the national lens

Dear Editor: I have lived in the Oak Forest area for the past year. In that time, I have found the op ed articles to be too surreal and disjointed to bother with rebutting. However, your “Don’t View Us…” apologia that seems to pander to the insular mindset of other readers who seem to have an aversion to a “liberal” point of view, has prompted me to respond.

What you and those who decry the “L” word (i.e., liberal) forget is that we do not live in a vacuum. Houston and the state of Texas are not islands unto themselves. News that affects the nation, Texas, and Houston as a whole (not just a few select neighborhoods) affects us all. The danger in thinking The Leader is a “homer” is a regrettable and limiting mindset. The recent defeat of HERO gave Houston a social black eye among those who seek liberty and equal protection under the law for all its citizens. Yet HERO was

Email us your letters: news@theleadernews.com reduced to little more than the juvenile dread of who may see whom in a public toilet.

And here you are, holding up your figurative hands, claiming The Leader has no public agenda. If what you write is true, why publish at all? All publications, local or international, have a point of view. Publications make their contribution to the populace as a whole. When writing an opinion piece, it’s just that, one writer’s opinion. You cannot back down by claiming not to have an agenda, not to have an opinion. If this were the case, the op ed pieces in The Leader are little more than filler hammered out each week to occupy a certain number of columns and inches.

Lately, I’ve been reading The Leader just for the sake of the puzzle page. At least with the puzzle page, the offerings may at times be confounding but no one feels bound to apologize for the puzzles being provocative or challenging; neither should The Leader.

Jack Brown

the leader Puzzlers.

Answers found in this week’s Classified section

SUDOKU

aCrOss

1. Cronkite’s network 4. Fire insect 7. Gas usage measurement 10. Express pleasure 11. Humbug 12. Every 13. Capital is Valletta 15. Copycat 16. Bound book sheets 19. Steps to an upper floor 22. Local school organizations 23. Old English 24. Atomic #73 25. Cheerless 26. The bill in a restaurant 28. Singer ___ Lo Green 30. Domesticated 33. Mammary gland of a cow 37. Honorable title (Turkish) 38. Alias 39. Emblem of a clan 42. Edouard __, Fr. painter 44. Short-term memory 46. Used to speak to the Queen 47. Vertical spar for sails 50. Expresses surprise

52. Morning 53. A long narrative poem 57. Minor punishment 61. Ice or roller 62. GE founder’s initials 63. Moses’ elder brother 64. Beak 65. A major division of geological time 66. Fuss & bother 67. Young women’s association 68. Feeling sorrow 69. Straggle

dOwn 1. Bog arum lily 2. Thin plain-weave cotton fabric 3. Thick rough piled carpet 4. A way to lessen 5. Amazon river tributary 6. Larceny 7. Make ale 8. Begged 9. White of egg 13. Road travel guide 14. Aircraft tail 17. Italian monk title 18. Sino-Soviet block (abbr.)

20. Goblin

21. A baglike structure in a plant or animal 27. Date 29. I, Portuguese 30. Design on the skin 31. Time before 32. Free from gloss 34. V.P. Quayle 35. Supplement with difficulty 36. Tell on 40. Landed properties 41. Metric ton 42. One thousandth of an ampere 43. Former __ Hess, oil company 45. Siemans conductance unit 46. Woman (French) 47. More (Spanish) 48. Request 49. Group jargon 51. Stakes 52. In advance 54. Yiddish meat pie 55. Equal, prefix 56. Box (abbr.)

58. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates 59. Scarlett’s home 60. S. branch of the Lower Rhine

WORD SCRAMBLE

Page 4A • Saturday, February 20, 2016

The calendar.

AIKIDO & SELF DEFENSE

IDOL OF THE HEIGHTS Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce The Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce is holding a last call for vocalists to be contestants in the 7th annual “Idol of the Heights� competition. Pre-registration is $30 for all music genres. Rock and Country preliminary will be at Little J’s, 5306 Washington, Feb. 19. Semifinals will be Feb. 26, at Karbach, 2032 Karbach St. The final 10 contestants will perform at the finals March 5, at the Crawfish Festival, (Ashland and 20th St.) Information: 713-861-6735, www.heightschamber.com.

enjoy $1 hot dogs. Information: www.shrp.com, 281-807-8700.

STEAK NIGHT American Legion Post 560 Come by the American Legion Post 560, 3720 Alba Rd., for a delicious steak dinner Feb. 19.

Steaks will be served from 6 p.m. until sold out, so come early.

Information: 713-682-9287, americanlegionpost560.org.

MONTHLY HAPPY HOUR HYPO This month’s event will be hosted at Black & White from 5-8 p.m. Feb. 25. Complimentary appetizers will be provided. Black and White is located at 1001 Studewood. The cost is $15 for a non-member before Feb. 25 and $20 for non-member at the door.

Information: info@heightschamber.com, www.heightschamber. com.

WEINER DOG RACES Sam Houston Race Park Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 N. Sam Houston Parkway West, welcomes back Houston’s fastest Wiener Dogs to take part in a funfilled and family-friendly evening of live racing Feb. 20. The event will feature wiener dog races a distance of approximately 30 yards in between live thoroughbred horse races. Families can

HERITAGE FAMILY DAY The Heritage Society Longhorns, chuck wagons, music and crafts will bring cowboy culture alive for the family at the February Heritage Family Day. View the new exhibit Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy and learn the importance of the vaquero to Texas cattle ranching.

Refreshments will be served. The free event will be from 1-4 p.m.

Feb. 21, at The Heritage Society, 1100 Bagby. Information: 713655-1912, ext. 101, heritagesociety.org.

MYSTERY WRITERS BOOK SIGNING The Book Scene Local authors Hardy Roper and Diane Twilley will be doing book signings from noon-4 p.m. Feb. 27, at The Book Scene, 1820 W. 43rd. Information: 713-869-6117.

RELATIVES AS PARENTS CONFERENCE DePelchin Children’s Center This free workshop will be from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 27, and will feature workshops, a vendor fair, door prizes. Lunch will be provided. No children allowed. The event will be at DePelchin Children’s Center, 4950 Memorial Dr. Registration is required as space is limited.

If emailing, please include first and last name, phone number, referral source and email address.

Information: 713-682-8911, houstonboardroom@mch.org.

THE FOREIGNER Houston Family Arts Center Larry Shue’s award winning comedy, “The Foreigner,� is coming to the Houston Family Arts Center, 10760 Grant Rd. This madcap farce will debut on the Garza Main Stage March 11 through April 3. Visit the website for showtimes and tickets. Information: www.houstonfac.com, 281-587-6100.

SPRING CRAWFISH BOIL Krewe of Cajuns and Cowboys Pre-purchase tickets now to the Krewe of Cajuns and Cowboys’ 11th Annual Spring Crawfish Boil for $25. Tickets are also available for $30 at the door. The event will be at 11 a.m. March 5, at Lucky’s Pub, 801 St. Emanuel.

Credit Cards will be accepted at

the door. Free crawfish and beer provided while supplies last.

Live music will be performed by John Vincent Curry and DJ Kyle Berg. All proceeds will go to Texas Children’s Hospital. Information: www.cajunsandcowboys.org.

GARAGE SALE Poe Cooperative Nursery School Poe Cooperative Nursery School will hold their 41st annual garage sale from 8 a.m.-noon, March 5, at Poe Elementary School, 5100 Hazard. Donations will be accepted from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 20. Information: poecogaragesale@gmail.com, www.facebook. com/poecogaragesale.

SPRING SALE Resurrection Church Come check out the largest consignment sale in central Houston. The sale will be held at Resurrection Church, 2025 W. 11th St., March 3 through March 5. Consignors wanted. Information: 713-861-9149.

Classes Enrolling Now Japanese Martial Arts 40 yrs experience 8th Degree Black Belt

Life Line Screening at St. Matthew’s Life Line Screening will be at St. Matthew’s Feb. 27. This Saturday event accommodates those working during the week. Life Line Screening is helping to save lives with early detections of heart and cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Those interested in the screening should call 1888-653-6450 to schedule an

appointment. Screenings run from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church is located at 4300 N. Shepherd Dr. For information, visit the website at www.stmatthewsmethodist. org. or call 713-697-0671.

TALC holds Valentine’s Day party All Saints Third Age Learning Center (TALC), 215 E. 10th St., offers classes and activities that will continue until May 6.

Senior Adults in the community are welcome to participate in activities that TALC offers such as classes in computer, Conversational Spanish, mah jong, computer, woodworking, line dancing, stain glass and much more. There are also special parties, seminars, day trips and birthday parties. A hot lunch is served at noon Monday through Friday for $2.

TALC will celebrate Valentine’s Day with a party on Friday, Feb. 26, in the parish hall.

Festivities begin at 10:30 a.m. with refreshments, door prizes and live music by Big Ed and the Happy Band.

For lunch reservations or information, call 713-248-1277.

Eat, Pray, Read! women’s book club meets at Oaks Presbyterian The Oaks Presbyterian Church welcomes all women

family DentiStry State-of-the art procedures, instruments & techniques

“One of Houston’s Top Dentists� — HTexas Magazine 2004-2015

new patient Special

70

Exam, X-Ray & Cleaning $ Regularly $100

Mathew Naftis, D.D.S. w w w. d r n a f t i s . c o m

1214 W 43rd Ste 300

who enjoy reading and getting together for dinner to join the Eat, Pray, Read! book club.

The group meets at 7:15 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month to discuss the previous month’s selection while enjoying dinner. The book for the next month is also chosen, and the evenings close with prayer requests from the group.

The selection to read before the next meeting on March 1 is “The Invention of Wings� by Sue Monk Kidd. According to NPR, “The novel is a textured masterpiece, quietly yet powerfully poking our consciences and our consciousness.

Oaks Presbyterian Church is located at 1576 Chantilly.

For information go to www. oakspresbyterian.org or call 713-682-2556.

MANNA Resale Store seeking donations Gently used donations allow MANNA’s mission in helping those in need. MANNA is available to pick up donations.

Contact the Resale Store at 713-686-6440 to schedule a pick up.

MANNA has partnered with the Women’s Resource of Greater Houston to offer free financial literacy classes. The class is called Money Matters and will help teach the basics money management. Classes are offered the first and third Wednesday every month from noon-2 p.m. at St. James Church located at 1602 W.

43rd St. MANNA has partnered with the Houston Food Bank and the Health and Human Services Commission to assist individuals in applying for and managing social service programs. Spanish speaking assistance will be available.

MANNA will provide assistance for SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, etc. to all individuals the first Friday of every month, starting Friday, March 4, from 9 a.m.-noon at St. James Lutheran Church located at 1602 W. 43rd St. Ad # 36774

8

$

40

Years

Ad # 22283 Sunday - Bible Study For All Ages .. 9:30am Morning Worship............ 10:45am Age Graded Zones ...........6:15pm Wed. Prayer Meeting & Missions Organization .....................6:15pm Dr. John W. Neesley - Senior Pastor

713-864-1470

Call us and compare our prices to

ANY OTHER FACILITY! 713-681-1383

Guide Oaks Christian ChurCh 1216 Bethlehem at Ella Blvd.

(713) 688-7761

Sunday School 9:30 AM Morning Worship10:45 AM

Pastor Don Joseph Member of MANNA Visit us on FaceBook www.oakscchouston.org

GETHSEMANE LUTHERAN CHURCH 4040 Watonga • 713-688-5227 Reverend John Cain, Pastor Worship Services 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. (Nursery Provided) Sunday School & Bible Classes 9:15 a.m.

Preschool Program • Mon. - Fri. 9-2 p.m.

Member of MANNA

You are cordially invited to the church that can guide you in what you must do to be saved.

it is the norhill Church of Christ.

Hear The Gospel - Mark 16:15; Roman 10: 14-17 Believe The Gospel - John 8:24; Hebrews 11:6 Repent - Luke 17:3-5; Acts 17:30 Confess - Mathew 10:32; Romans 10:9-10 Be Baptized - Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Col 2:11-13 Live Faithfully Till Death - John 8:31; Revelation 2:10; Hebrew 10:23 The Norhill Church of Christ is a non-denominational church located in the near north side of Houston in the inner loop 77009 area.

It has operated as a church of Christ since 1927, it is located at 634 West Cottage on the corner of West Cottage and Reagan streets.

The Norhill Church of Christ teaches only the Bible, without reference to any man-originated creed. Bible study services for all ages are held at 9:30am Sunday mornings. Sunday morning Worship begins at 10:15am. Sunday evening worship is at 5:00pm Wednesday evening worship and Bible study is held at 7:30pm.

Norhill welcomes everyone to attend worship or Bible study to learn more about the truth of the Bible.

www.noRHiLLCoC.oRG

FREE Routine Male Cat Neuters

4U 4UFQIFO T 6OJUFE .FUIPEJTU $IVSDI " $BSJOH 4IBSJOH 'BJUI 'BNJMZ

4VOEBZ .PSOJOH 8PSTIJQ BOE 4VOEBZ 4DIPPM GPS $IJMESFO :PVUI BOE "EVMUT

4DPVUJOH HSPVQT GPS BMM BHFT )PNF PG +PIOTPO .FNPSJBM 4DIPPM GPS -JUUMF $IJMESFO

49

$

5315 Antoine@ Pinemont

713-688-9625

Hours: M-F 7am-6:00pm Sat. 8am-12 Noon

ProtECting Your ChilD’S tEEth

West 34th St.

COVERED STORAGE NOW AVAILABLE 12'X30'

* With Wellness Exam

New Well Puppy & Kitten Exam

(Between Ella & T.C. Jester)

No Deposit No Late Fees Controlled Access Lighted & Secure

75 *

Call About Cat Vaccines

Aztec Storages Lowest Prices in Town!

713-682-7939

CARE

cReDiT

Dog Rabies Vaccination

AARP MONTHLY MEETING AARP Chapter 1265 The monthly meeting will be held at 10 a.m., March 7, in the community room at 1520 Candlelight Ln. Special guest will be Carilyn Hall of The Rose of Texas Continuous Care Service.

The meeting is open to anyone 50 or older, and will be preceded by a meet-and-greet at 9:30 a.m.

Information: 713-681-1133.

(Disciples of Christ)

www.gethsemanelutheran.org

DEBBIE ourrealtordebbie@aol.com EllIott

www.aikibudo-aikido.com

of quality care for your family pets

ChurCh 1822 W. 18th

713-906-5481 Realty Associates

From the Pews.

The Solitaires monthly luncheon at St. Stephen’s The Solitaires, a support and fellowship group, welcomes widows and widowers to the monthly luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at Don Jose’s Mexican Restaurant, 5035 Antoine Dr. RSVP to Barbara Johnson at 713-686-6116. The Solitaires will take a day trip to Old Town Spring on March 4.

Call the office for details.

The Johnson Memorial Preschool is registering 3- and 4year-old children for the 20162017 school year. Children must be 3 years old and potty trained by Sept. 1. For information or to schedule a tour of the school, please contact Amy Mingle, director at 713686-8241 or jms@stsumc.org.

St. Stephen’s UMC is located at 2003 West 43rd St, between T. C. Jester Blvd and Donna Bell. For more information, call the office at 713-686-8241, or visit www.stsumc.org and the church’s Facebook page.

Experience and Knowledge...

A Powerful Combination

Chase Baker, D.D.S.

T

his last weekend we participated in the “Give Kids a Smile� event at the UT Dental School in providing much needed dental care to underserved children in our community. Taking care of these children reminded me of the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure�, and in this case an ounce of dental sealants is worth a pound of dental fillings!

If your child’s teeth are susceptible to decay, even with regular brushing, you may want to ask your dentist if he would recommend pit and fissure sealants to protect and prevent future decay.

Pit and fissure sealants are a proven method of decay prevention.

They are particularly helpful in protecting the groved chewing surfaces of permanent molars, which tend to trap food particles, making them more vulnerable to decay. In the pit and fissure sealant process, a thin plastic coating is applied to the tooth surface.

This is a relatively simple procedure, with little or no discomfort involved for the child. Usually the sealant will last several years and can then be reapplied if needed.

Your child’s molars or back teeth are probably the hardest working teeth in the mouth. That’s where the heavy grinding and chewing are done. Pit and fissure sealants are an excellent way to protect them from and keep them free of decay. Ask your dentist if this may be a good treatment for your child.

Prepared as a public service to promote better dental health. From the office of: Chase Baker, D.D.S., 3515 Ella Blvd., 713-682-4406.

MESSAGE OF THE WEEK

Banish Fear, anger and hatred

F

ear, anger and even hatred are sometimes justified, but they are such negative, corrosive emotions that it would be best to banish them entirely from our lives. Many of our fears turn out to be completely unfounded, and thus we worried for nothing. But, even in cases where our fears are justified, we will usually handle ourselves better if we can put our fears aside in order to deal with a situation. Besides, those nagging fears belie our trust in God. As for anger and hatred, these are even worse than fear, since these negative feelings are usually directed at other people. Besides destroying our relationships rather than repairing them, these emotions tend to grow within us and poison our minds. People who spout anger and hatred may recoil at the idea that they are spewing poison and hate, but these angry hate-filled people are easy to spot, and we should do our best to soften their wrath or perhaps turn away from them ourselves.

Fear, anger and hatred can become habits of mind, and while there is something satisfying in going on a rant, it is usually useless to do so, and it is surely harmful to the overall quality of our lives and our souls.- Christopher Simon

3FW ,FWJO 3 0UUP 1BTUPS 8 SE 4U â—† X X X T U T V N D P S H

Candlelight Church of Christ Join us for Services in English or Spanish

A House of Hope and Prayer in the Heart of Houston Rev. Elizabeth Grasham

Sunday Worship 10am & 5pm Sunday Bible Classes 9am Wednesday Bible Study 7pm

4215 Watonga Blvd. • 713-681-9365 Houston, TX 77092

Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Page 5A Yoga from P. 1A

Reagan from P. 1A fied and that my communities would be notified that this change would be made.”

Eastman also admitted that she doesn’t have much hope when it comes to preserving the name as the majority of the board is steadfast in their commitment to the renaming initiative.

“I have to say that, as a trustee, I’m not proud of the way this has transpired,” Eastman said. “I believe schools belong to the public, in the truest sense of the word. I also know that many of our schools are named after really complicated people and some have a more profoundly complicated history than others.”

Among the 50 or so speakers at the event included Howard Moon, one of the key organizers of the Save the Name community group, who referenced Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech about cutting off the “chains of hate,” and said that revenge should not factor into the board’s decision. He said the revenge sought by the board would put hate into the hearts of thousands of Houstonians.

“They are wrong to teach revenge to the young, tender minds of our school children,” Moon said. “The civil war is over – let’s go forward.”

Stephen Marmion, chairman of the board for the John H. Reagan Golf Tournament for Scholarships, also spoke about his organization and how the name might negatively impact efforts to raise scholarship money.

“Each year for the past three years we have awarded $50,000 in scholarships,” Marmion said. “We do this because we are Reagan alumni. These scholarships go primarily to low income minority students. All of us urge you to please not change the name – we love the school and we love the history and it has nothing to do with something that happened 200 years ago.”

Others were critical, sometimes sharply, of the board’s aim to utilize what might be over $200,000 in reserve funds to replace signs and other elements at schools with new names.

“To me, this is a little bit contrary to what [the board’s]

charge is – to provide a good education,” Class of 1961 alumni John Sanders said.

Jerry Keith, a graduate from the class of 1968, also expressed his disappointment.

“I just think changing a name is not going to change history,” Keith said.

Chris Wise, an English teacher at RHS, pointed to the mediocre national ranking of Texas schools as a testament to the argument that the money which would be used to change the school name would be better used elsewhere.

“There are plenty of other crises for our money to go towards,” Wise said.

There were some dissenting voices among the largely pro-Reagan name crowd. One person said they were in favor of keeping the Reagan name but still changing those who carried names that are “clear glorifications of the Confederacy.” Another resident in particular drew the verbal ire of the crowd after referencing a letter Reagan wrote in 1860, wherein he argued that the constitution was “made

by white men” and “for white men” and also claimed that slaves were “incapable of self-government.”

Overall, the mood of the crowd could have perhaps been best represented when one junior attending the school stood and asked those to recite the song of the alma mater, to which the crowd responded with enormous pleasure and sang in unison.

In the end, Eastman thanked principal Connie Berger and the community for their help in coordinating the meeting and providing their feedback and said the item will be on the agenda at the upcoming meeting on March 10. She also encouraged people to stay involved with their district, and she pointed out that meetings regarding lackluster graduation rates or other major issues aren’t nearly as well attended as meetings regarding name and mascot changing.

“The biggest issue with this conversation is we have a lot of other pressing, urgent issues we need to focus on besides names,” Eastman said.

Authentic Mej icano Cuisine

Contributed Photo Having fun is always a benefit for children, but Samantha Moore says her yoga program can also help with navigating stress in life.

• LIMIT ThREE cOuPONS PER TABLE • Full Service Bar - 13 oz. Regular Margaritas $2

Free Dinner

weekdays & saturdays 3:00-6:00 pm. sunday - all day

Mexican Restaurant

Mexican Restaurant

Buy 1 Dinner and 2 Drinks, Get 1 Dinner Free (up to $10.00) One coupon per table

FAJITAS FOR TWO

Dine In Only After 3:00 pm • Expires 3-7-16

15

$

 Daily luNch SPEcialS  Bar FacilitiES  takE-Out OrDErS availaBlE

2615 Ella Blvd. @ 27th  713-868-5232

Mexican Restaurant

“[The mother] walked into his room and he was sitting down and meditating,” Moore said. “He’s a very high-energy kid and she sent me an email to let me know that he’s using it when things are stressful and beyond his control.”

Moore is also hoping that yoga will be seen not as a “hippie” activity, but as a normal and relaxing activity and highlights that the yoga taught to children is not religious. From personal experience, Moore believes yoga is one of the best outlets for helping children navigate life’s stresses.

“The awareness of their emotions and not making them right or wrong but teaching them how to shift their perspective is huge for kids,” Moore said.

Classes are offered at Garden Oaks Elementary Wednesday and Friday after school at 3 p.m., at Oak Forest Elementary at 3:15 p.m. Fridays and Durham Elementary Friday after school. Classes cost $20 per class and there are about 14 classes a semester. For more information, visit www. staryogagroup.com.

OPEN Monday - Saturday 8am - 10pm & Sunday 8 am - 4pm

5305 antoine @ pinemont 713-682-3853

5 OFF DINNER

$

45

WITH THIS COUPON DINe IN ONly.

Party Room Available

Buy One Dinner And Receive $5 Off Second Dinner Of Equal Or Lesser Value.

DINe IN ONly. this coupon good mon. thru fri. 3pm til closing.

valid mon.-fri. 3 pm til closing this coupon also good saturday and sunday 11:00 until closing. and all day sat. and sun.not excludes alcholic beverages valid with other offers. not valid with other offers. offer expires 3-5-16 offer expires 3-5-16

I’m In PaIn...Can Hudson HelP?

Buy 1 Entree & get

350 OFF

$

Let Hudson HeLp You find reLief

• Headache • Arthritis • Loss of Sleep • Scoliosis • Leg & Arm Pain & Numbness • Backache • Tension •Whiplash

29

$

95

10% Discount - Group of 10 or more - Eat in • not valid with other offers

Must present ad at Reg. time of appointment. $140.00 Expires February 29, 2016.

Party Trays Available

Hudson CHIroPraCtIC

Open 7 Days a Week

1430 W. 19th Street

Yes We Accept • Medicare • Medicaid • Insurance • WORKERS COMP

1820-1 W. 43rd. St.

Se Habla Español

w w w.G o l d e n C a fe C h i n e se.co m

(713) 290-1905

We also offer our Buffet To-Go

FREE All you cAn eAt Buffet

Sun.-Thurs. 11am - 8pm (8pm-Close - Menu Order)

Fri.-Sat. 11am - 9pm

(9pm-Close - Menu Order)

4

A Special Thank You To Our Customers Limit 1 to a customer.

Offers expire 3-5-16

Dine-In Only. No Takeout Orders. Good 3-10 p.m. only.

• Not available on Senior Citizens or Kids Menu • One coupon per table / one coupon per family ORIGINAL COUPON ONLY! No copies accepted • Must be presented before ordering • Expires 3-5-16.

Happy Hours: Mon-Thur 3-8

Your Entire Purchase At All Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Stores.

Expires 3/31/2016

20% OFF food

Excludes Alcholic Beverages • Excludes use with Fajitas for 2 special • Offer expires 3-7-16

4618 Dacoma

(Between Hwy. 290 and Mangum)

(713) 680-0825

10% Off Cake

20% OFF

LIve MUSIC Thursday - Sunday 6 til Close

* Lunch Specials Daily * Take Out Orders Available * Complete Bar Facilities * Party Room Available (Seats 85)

The Salvation Army Family Store

11031 Northwest Frwy 290 Next to Conn’s 832-849-0947

713-869-8883

Buy 1 Dinner Get $4.95 OFF Second Dinner

14191 NW Frwy. (290 @ Fairbanks N. Houston) 713-329-9600

Specials

Delivery Order

Min. $15 Order within 4 miles Delivery $30 or more FrEE 6 Pcs. Cheese puffs or 3 egg rolls

$ 95 OFF secOnd entree

Sloppy JoE Sandwich

Homemade Mexican Food

Second Entree

Chinese Restaurant

EXAM & X-RAYS

On any customized cake. Your choice of Fondant, Buttercream, or Whipped Cream. Any flavor. Any size Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Expires 3/7/16

Breakfast Tacos Every Morning Starting at 6AM Monday - Friday Monday - Friday 6AM-9PM Saturday - Sunday 8AM-9PM

Free Cookie

When you buy 5 cookies Offer Expires 3/7/16 • Wedding Cakes • Quinceanera Cakes • Birthday Cakes • Cup Cakes • Pastries • Desserts • Bolillo • Conchas • Campechanas • Empanadas • Quesadillas De Atole • And More..

4620 Dacoma St. • 832-962-4879 @PanaderiaCelaya2

@panaderiacelaya

Full Bar

Happy Hour All Day • EVERY DAY

Special BreakfaSt Sat & Sun 9am - 2pm

3

$ 99

fajitas for 2

with shrimp

1595

$

FREE DONUTS 2 KOLACHES FREE DOzEN FREE DONUT HOLES Get 1/2 dozen glazed donuts FREE with purchase of one dozen donuts or more.

With purchase of one dozen glazed donuts.

Buy a dozen donuts and get 1 dozen donut holes FREE!

Good at this location only. One coupon per visit. Tax not included. Not valid in conjunction with other coupons.

3410 Ella Blvd. at 34th St.

(713) 682-4343

Page 6A • Saturday, February 20, 2016

Safety Never Felt So Good.

TM

Presenting the all new Safe Step Walk-In Tub featuring MicroSoothe.

It oxygenates, softens and exfoliates skin, turning your bath into a spa-like experience.

$750 OFF when you mention this ad.

Call Today Toll-Free

1-800-370-1768

' $* ) !! . # $$ * $' $*' ) $#( ' '

$* # ( + *% )$ , # .$* / !! .$*' %' ( ' %) $#( , ) $*' # # # #) '# ) $# ! %' ( ' %) $# ( '+

*' '

"

-% ' ( " '

!

(800) 673-5219

! ( #$) ) ) , $ #$) ''. $#)'$!! (* () # ( # + ! %' ( ' %) $# ( ' &* ' $' !! %' ( ' %) $# " ) $# $' '( Use of these services is subject to the Terms of Use and accompanying policies at www.canadadrugcenter.com.

COMPUTER PROBLEMS? We will Fix Your Computer TODAY! | 24/7 Emergency Service Available |

Save up to 65% by comparing TOP carriers in your area! Call Now!

CALL US NOW FOR A FREE DIAGNOSIS!

| Regular Maintenance | Data Recovery | | Virus Removal |

Overcoming Your Credit Card Crisis The battle with credit card debt can be a constant struggle against high interest rates and monthly payments that never seem to make a dent in what you owe. How is it possible to make monthly credit card payments and never get anywhere?

This problem is caused by high interest rates that eats up most of your payments. Even though you make your minimum payment, you don’t make much headway eliminating the debt.

Luckily, there’s a way to find debt relief without incurring more debts. Using certified credit counseling like Consolidated Credit, you can get professional

advice to identify the right solution for your needs.

A certified credit counselor can review your options to see which solution is best for you. You can qualify for lower interest rates or even eliminate them, while consolidating your credit card debt into one easy payment to get you out of debt faster. Every financial institution differs, but most people see a reduction of total payments by up to 30-50% as they pay off debt faster.

CALL US! WE CAN HELP

:HȇOO KHOS \RX ȴ QG WKH ULJKW SODQ DQG FDUULHU IRU \RX Compare every plan in your area with the lowest rates!

Compare top carriers costs and EHQHČ´ WV VLGH E\ VLGH Compare your plan to current market rates!

Friendly service, hassle free & no obligation to sign up!

LS SEARCHER

Freedom from debt can become a reality!

Call now

www.LeaderSearcher.com Your local business and community directory

'( )( *' %+ , $%-) '. +'#( /0($* 1))2 10*3 4' )5 6

if YOUR

ADVERTISING

BUdget is tight

consider

LEADER sales Rep for pricing

713.686.8494

but I’m never alone.

I have Life Alert.ÂŽ

For a FREE brochure call:

1-800-519-5981

PURCHASE OF A NEW STAIRLIFT!

1-800-625-0619 CALL NOW TOLL-FREE

*Certain restrictions apply.

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAW Win...No Award / No Fee

Applications/Hearings/Appeals Immediate Access to Experienced Personnel

We Strive For Quick Claim Approval Free Consultation CALL TODAY FOR IMMEDIATE HELP!

(800) 716-0893

All Cases Considered

Bill Gordon & Associates is a nationwide practice limited to representing clients before the Social Security Administration. Bill Gordon is a member of the Texas & New Mexico Bar Associations. The attorneys at Bill Gordon & Associates work for quick approval of every case. Results in your case will depend on the unique facts and circumstances of your claim.

LEADER

!

" #$%&

Call a

$UH \RX DQG ROGHU" MedicareFAQ (Elite Insurance Partners) helps individuals understand all Medicare options, including original Medicare Parts A or B or any of the other Supplemental Medicare plans like; Medicare Supplements (Medigap), Medicare Advantage (Part C) or Prescription Drugs (Part D).

This is a solicitation for insurance. Not a branch of Medicare or any other government agency.

800-294-0176

Black & White

800-651-8743

LEARN about the plans, COMPARE the different types of plans, and SAVE on the plan you choice! Speak with a licensed adviser today!

(Fees may apply for voluntary participation in debt management - all counseling services are free.)

$250 OFF*

Get a FREE no obligation review of your Medicare options.

| Friendly Certified Computer Repair Experts | | Laptops, Desktops, Printers, Networks |

MENTION THIS AD FOR

Paying too much for your current Supplemental Medicare plan?

| Mac & all PC Brands |

800.731.6783

Do you or a loved one STRUGGLE on the stairs?

We have the AFFORDABLE solution!

Confused about your Medicare Options?

Imagine The Difference You Can Make

DONATE YOUR CAR 1-800-470-1342 FREE TOWING TAX DEDUCTIBLE Help Prevent Blindness Get A Vision Screening Annually Ask About A FREE 3 Day Vacation Voucher To Over 20 Destinations!!!

Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Page 7A

Business Spotlight: Kathlyn Curtis hosts ribbon cutting, new art piece unveiling

OnesJunkRemoval.com Junk • Trash • Debris

By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Kathlyn Curtis admits she isn’t an art aficionado by any means, but the Heights-based realtor is hoping a new mini mural art box along Heights Boulevard will help promote reading and the arts in the neighborhood she lives and works in.

“I do like art that brings people together, whether it’s art that teaches people or unites a community I’m always very supportive of it,” Curtis said.

“Definitely in this case of the art box, I see this happening.”

Curtis has worked to help sponsor the Heights first “Mini Mural Art Box,” painted by Shelbi Nicole, to be unveiled near her new office at 1333 Heights Boulevard as part of an event Feb. 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The event will feature face painting for children, a raffle, food trucks and other entertainment to celebrate the art box. The event also serves as a ribbon cutting for her new office, also located at 1333 Heights Blvd. in Suite 103. As a fifth-generation Houstonian, Curtis previously practiced law as a tax attorney before leaping into selling real estate with Keller Williams, and she understands the importance of bringing together a community like the Heights.

“I love my new office particularly because it’s an old, restored building,” Curtis said.

“It has a nice, home-y comfortable feel where people can

Home Garage Yard Business

Hoarding Cleanup specials

Appliances, Furniture, Flooring, Construction, Branches

Great Service • Great Prices Offering same Day service Free estimates • Insured

See our reviews on Angie’s List

281-414-8698

Curtis

Contributed Photo Shelbi Nicole’s Mini Mural Art Box sits on Heights Boulevard, ready for its introduction to the community with the help from its main sponsor, realtor Kathlyn Curtis.

come and go when they need to. I can walk to the library and I can walk to lunch and my son also visits. It’s a totally different lifestyle from working in a low-rise office building.”

Mini Murals like these are designed to re-imagine utility boxes along roads as canvases, intended to beautify neighborhoods and promote a sense of community in the areas they are established. Curtis said the original idea was to paint the box on Heights Boulevard to mimic the old trolley that ran through the neighborhood years ago.

“We didn’t know how it would resonate with the current residents who might not even know about it,” Curtis said. “[Nicole] later came up with the idea for something that echoes the Little Free Libraries that are popping up all over the area.”

Curtis herself has a Little

Free Library in front of her home, which provides free books that can be borrowed or lent by neighbors at any time.

Nicole’s art box is painted not unlike the shelves of a public library with the bottom layer of the box featuring an abstract design of an encyclopedia or other educational anthology.

“People used to have encyclopedias on hand and when I was a kid and bored sometimes I would just pick one of the volumes and look through it,” Curtis said. “With the internet, you kind of have to know what you’re looking for – which is amazing in its own way – but I don’t think it will ever fully replace books.”

For more information about Curtis or the Mini Mural event, visit www.whyilovehouston. com.

Busines Spotlight: Changing lives by changing oil

By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Byron Rusk, owner of Master Car Care and RNS Auto Care, has a simple deal for residents in need of an oil change – donate $35 to Child Advocates at either of his locations and get two free oil changes for one vehicle for the rest of the year.

Rusk’s businesses have been donating to Child Advocates through this program, called Car Pros for Kids, for the last 23 years. Each February, his auto centers join others across the Houston area in generating funds for the program and have generated about $10,000 to $12,000 each year for the non-profit which assists children who are victims of abuse.

Rusk first recalls joining hands with the organization years ago.

“I thought this was perfect,” Rusk said. “When I heard a presentation about their work I thought it was great stuff. At one point, I went to the organization and met with one of their directors and pitched the idea. I told them they don’t have to do anything and we’ll try it out for one year and, if it works, we’ll keep doing it every year.”

Over 20 years later, people still haven’t stopped coming in each February to donate their $35 for their oil changes.

In fact, the initiative has only grown.

“In the first year, we collected $750,” Rusk said. “The next year, it doubled as it spread by word of mouth and then we really started promoting it.”

The numbers continued to roughly double each year, and outreach efforts have continued to grow alongside the advent of the internet, with so-

cial media, email blasts, radio commercials and ads in local publications like The Leader.

Rusk emphasized that 100 percent of the $35 goes towards Child Advocates and their support programs.

“The most needy in our city are the children who are abused and neglected,” Rusk said. “This is something that everyone can and should support. It’s why we have stuck with the program and our clients appreciate being rewarded with a bargain for their oil changes and the donation is also tax deductible.”

To schedule an appointment with Master Car Care, call 713-862-6630, visit www. mastercarcarehouston.com or visit the business at 2305 Yale St. RMS Auto Care can be reached at 713-529-5855, visit www.rmsautocare.com or stop by 1759 Westheimer Rd. at Woodhead.

Senior eXP

March 30, 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. • SPJST Lodge 88 (15th & Beall)

The Leader and Memorial Hermann Greater Heights is hosting a day-long event geared toward seniors in our community, and you’re invited.

The Leader’s 2016 Senior Expo is designed to be a service to the numerous seniors who live in our area.

We’re asking businesses all across the community to take part in this day-long event that will provide information about issues that are important to you.

There will be speakers attending to help with health care concerns, including the impact of the new Affordable Care Act, and what it means to Medicare.

Professional finance planners who can help you take that dream trip or manage your fixed income better. And attorneys who will talk to you about any legal concerns you have.

But this isn’t going to be all serious business, either. We’ll have snacks in the morning and lunch in the afternoon. There will be games and activities going on throughout the day and prize give-aways from local businesses.

The best part, besides the food, fun and fellowship is that it is all FREE! All you have to do is register.

What to Expect at the 2016 Senior Expo • FREE Admission • FREE Food & Drinks • Educational information on health, finances and legal concerns • A chance to meet experts who will offer free advice on a number of issues important to you • An opportunity to mingle with friends • $500 in gift card giveaways

senior expo reGisTrATion Name Phone # Address Email Address

MAil to: The leader - Senior Expo P.o. Box 924487 Houston, tX 77292 CAll uS: (713) 686-8494 do it oNliNE www.theleadernews.com (see “Senior” tab)

Page 8A • Saturday, February 20, 2016

Introducing a cat into a canine clan

Dear Tabby, We’re in the process of adopting our first cat. We have three dogs as well, so we’re apprehensive about how to introduce the new kitty into our pack of dogs.

Any suggestions?

Getting acquainted with kitty in Cottage Grove Dear Getting Acquainted, Congratulations on your new addition! While it’s often a bit stressful introducing a new pet into a household, with a little forethought and planning, you can make sure that kitty gets started off on the right “paw” with your dogs.

Experts and vets alike have several tips for the introduction process. Here are some of my favorites: • Confine your new cat to one medium-sized room with her litter box, food, water and a bed. Feed your resident pets and the newcomer on each side of the door to this room.

This will help all of them to associate something enjoyable (eating!) with each other's smells. However, don't put the food so close to the door that the animals are too upset by each other's presence to eat.

Gradually move the dishes

closer to the door until your pets can eat calmly, directly on either side of the door. Next, use two doorstops to prop open the door just enough to allow the animals to see each other, and repeat the whole process.

• Switch sleeping blankets or beds between your new cat and your resident animals so they have a chance to become accustomed to each other's scent. Rub a towel on one animal and put it underneath the food dish of another animal.

You should do this with each animal in the house.

• Once your new cat is using her litter box and eating regularly while confined, let her have free time in the house while confining your other animals to the new cat's room.

This switch provides another way for the animals to experience each other's scents with-

Omer Eugene Caraway,

C

S

Pet of the Week

Meet Capt. Cuddles. This 5 year old boy was rescued from a hoarding situation, where he never had enough food, water or attention. Luckily, Capt. Cuddles holds no grudge against humanity, as long as humanity holds its hands behind his head, gives a little scratch behind the ear and then lets him curl up or on your lap--could that be you? If so, go to www. saveacatrescue.org or visit the shelter located at: 2618 Newman Street 77098.

The Obituaries.

85, born Dec. 2, 1930 in Kansas City, Mo., died Feb. 13. Caraway worked 46 years for the railroad, retiring from Union Pacific Railroad. He was a longtime member of Candlelight Church of Christ.

He is survived by his daughters Cathy Ray, Rhonda Caraway Krueger, Gina Salway, son Gary Caraway, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

out a face-to-face meeting. It also allows the newcomer to become familiar with her new surroundings without being frightened by the other animals.

• Finally, when you’re ready for face to face introductions, keep your dogs on leashes in the presence of the cat and see what happens. Be sure to pet your dogs and the cat at the same time, so that the dogs can see that the cat is “one of us.”

How you can help: BARC could really use some baby blankets to keep all of their “fur babies” snuggly and warm. You can drop off gently used or new blankets at BARC at 3300 Carr St or see the link to their Amazon wishlist at www.HoustonBARC.com.

Do you have a question for Tabby? If so, email her at dear tabbyquestions@gmail.com

I M O

NG

N O O

Raymond Earl Poole, 63, born Nov. 21, 1952, died Feb. 11. Poole retired from Union Pacific Railroad in 2015. Poole is survived by his wife, Carolyn Sue Hammons Poole, children Amy Lynn Verret-Godfrey, James Ray Poole and Jana Marie McLain, sisters Elizabeth Delfield, Cindy Wright, brother Robert “Bobby” Poole, and five grandchildren.

Beverly “Anne” Shipley,

80, born July 9, 1935, died Feb. 12. Shipley worked for Shell Oil, retiring in 1999. She served as Chaplin for the local chapter Daughters of the Republic of Texas. She is survived by her children Teresa Bishop, Chris Shipley, Scott Shipley and Staci Wimbush, six grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.

“We Make Real Estate Simple.”

Opti

on P

endi

ng

oak ForeSt

1435 ricHeLieu 4-3½-2 3,172 sq ft.

LindaLe Park | 201 keLLey St

4-2-2

$815,000 MLS #9821404

2,192 sq. ft. • $424,900 MLS #68004256

Now there’s a new option from Houston’s

Serving the neighborhoods Oak Forest • Shepherd Forest • Shepherd Park Plaza • Heights Candlelight Plaza • Timbergrove • Lazybrook • Garden Oaks

Grovewood

845 auGuSta dr #19 1-1 698 sq. ft. $139,000 MLS #17011784

Need To List Your House? Call Today!

Janet & Cecil Schmidt

713.419.7918 janetschmidt58@yahoo.com

At the Top Consistently in 2015!

Home ServiceS Premier ProPertieS 713-686-5454

Put our 38 years of experience to work for you!

Hi! I’m Tony May. Come see me for all your insurance needs

Auto Home Life Business THe MAy Group, LLC

We make insurance simple.

MeMoriAl locATion

GArden oAks locATion

730 North post oak, Ste 402 Houston, TX 77024

3902 North Shepherd Houston, TX 77018

FAX 713-874-0628

FAX 713-695-7368

713-807-8264

It’s not an emergency, but it’s still urgent to you.

713-695-4584

acknowledged emergency care leaders.

Introducing Memorial Hermann Urgent Care.

Walk in and get the care you need when you need it – without the wait.

Coming Soon to Heights area 4500 Washington Avenue, Suite 300 Houston, TX 77007 713.861.6490

9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Daily Walk-ins welcome mhmg.memorialhermann.org