VOL 10 No. 33
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County & Missouri City
Reese Vannerson, AAU Distance Triple Crown winner
Reese Vannerson won the distance triple crown in the 12-year-old division, finishing off the sweep by winning the 1500m (4:34.20) Thursday, Aug. 3. Earlier he won the 800m running 2:11.29, and the 3000m running 9:58.69. Vannerson was the only 12-year-old boy to run under ten minutes in the 3000m. There were five AAU National Championship records broken on day six of the AAU Junior
Olympic Games in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Reese Vannerson is a 7th grader at St. Laurence Catholic School. He is the son of Rodney and Lisa Vannerson, residents of Riverpark subdivison in Sugar Land. After taking home three gold medals at the AAU Junior Olympics, Reese told an interviewer that he did not even know what triple meant. “I wanted to win at least one, maybe two, but I never thought that I would win three,” Vannerson said. He medaled in three events, including the 3000, 1500 and 800 meter runs. In the 800 meter run, he even turned in his personal best. As Reese gets bigger, stronger, faster, his ultimate goal is not far off: he says he wants to earn a medal in the U.S. Olympics one day. He has been affiliated High Velocity Youth Track. He is now on the road to USAT Youth and Junior National Championship to try to improve on his 2nd place finish from last year.
County Judge proclaims ‘Clear the Shelters Days’
On Tuesday, Aug. 8, during Commissioners Court, Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert proclaimed Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20 as Clear the Shelters Days at the Fort Bend County Animal Services Shelter. The Clear the Shelters adoption event is a partnership with NBC/Telemundo and Fort Bend County Animal Services staff and volunteers, who have agreed to devote their time, resources and energy to the united effort to bring attention to the homeless at the shelter. During this event there is no adoption fee and all adoptions include spay or neuter of the animal, microchip, and the first series of vaccinations including rabies. Hebert said, “We have a collection of wonderful dogs and cats looking for a nice family to adopt. Come by during our Clear the Shelters weekend [Saturday, August 19 and Sunday August 20] and find a match for your family.” For more information, contact animalservices@fortbendcountytx.gov or www.fortbendcountytx.gov/animalservices.
Pictured from Left to Right: Rene Vasquez, Fort Bend Animal Services Director; Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert; Dr. Andrea Muegge, Fort Bend Animal Services Veterinarian; Anna the Pup, In Search of Good Home; Barbara Vass, Fort Bend Animal Services Adoption Coordinator; Smokey the Kitty, In Search of Good Home; Rodney Garcia, Fort Bend Animal Services Assistant Director; Tigger the Pup, In Search of Good Home.
Are community newspapers “litter” or “literature”
Can I ask you please, please, please do not deliver to Sugar Mill neighborhood? We would all appreciate it very much. Please consider just delivering it to the 2 people who might read it instead of the 1000’s who don’t want it delivered. On my walk this morning, I picked up about 20 newspapers that have been left on the street all week. See attached. People don’t even pick it up out of their driveway and it becomes soggy trash. The newspaper is basically littering the entire neighborhood and we don’t want it. Do I need to call the City of Sugar Land to have these papers stopped? We have enough trouble with people throwing trash out of their cars to have to deal with newspapers littering the entire neighborhood on purpose. WE DO NOT WANT YOUR
PAPER DELIVERED TO SUGAR MILL. IF WE WANT IT, WE CAN GET IT FROM A NEWS STAND. PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE STOP THROWING YOUR PAPER IN SUGAR MILL. I will call the Mayor of Sugar Land if I have to to stop you littering the neighborhood. Thank you very much for your consideration. I received this email last week. This is not the first one of its kind, but I have been receiving such calls for more than 20 years that I have been associated with community newspapers in Fort Bend County. That many people do not pick up the paper or read it is true. If I received one call requesting the newspaper be delivered in their neighborhood, the following week three people would call asking the de-
livery be stopped. We recognize the right of an individual to read or not to read the paper, and to receive it or not. If we received a phone call or an email from a resident asking that the paper not be delivered to their home, we take it seriously and comply with their request. At the same time, I am compelled to take issue with those who call the newspaper “litter” or “trash.” One may find a newspaper “trash” after reading its content. What is litter for one person, may be literature for another. A general call for stopping the newspaper delivery based on one’s desire “to save the trees” or to “save the environment” is again one point of view that may not be shared by all. For the environmentallyconscious people, we have an option: They can get the newspaper in digital form and we can email the paper to them, if they sign up for the same. That there is a decline in newspaper readership is not in dispute and it is a reflection, in part, of society’s interest in civic matters as evidenced by people’s poor participation in the voting process. The number of people voting in local and national elections is abysmally low. That trend also shows the apathy or indifference of people towards happenings in their schools, neighborhoods, city governments, justice sys-
tem or elsewhere. I want to cite one example here. Last week, the City of Sugar Land sent a press release seeking feedback on the “Proposed Budget Emphasizing Financial Resiliency, Maximum Proposed Property Tax Rate.” “A public hearing on a proposed $231 million budget for fiscal year 2018 is scheduled for Aug. 15, at 6 p.m., at Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North. “Public hearings on the proposed 2017 tax rate are scheduled at the same location on Aug. 22 at 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. “During the first budget workshop on Aug. 3, council members expressed concern about the decrease in funding available for rehabilitation due to the slowdown in sales tax revenue and valuations that have fallen below projections. “Accordingly, City Council discussed three potential tax rates during a workshop on Aug. 10: *Keeping the current rate of 31.595 cents would require budget cuts of $802,710 from the proposed budget, resulting in a reduction in service levels. *The effective tax rate plus 3 percent of 32.233 cents funds the budget as proposed and is consistent with the City Council-adopted Financial Management Policy Statements.
*A rate of 33.007 cents, which would fund the FY18 budget as proposed and provide for replenishing rehabilitation funds reduced in the proposed budget by recovering revenue lost through the decline in sales tax revenue approved for property tax reduction equal to .774 cents on the 2017 property tax rate. City Council will continue to discuss budget and tax rate considerations at future meetings. At the Aug. 15 meeting, City Council will also take a vote to consider a maximum proposed 2017 tax rate up to 33.007 cents per $100 at a future meeting. Proposed rates for consideration must be posted by law and are for discussion purposes only; a final decision to approve the budget and set a tax rate is not scheduled until Sept. 19. For more information on the budget, proposed tax rate and public hearings, visit www.sugarlandtx.gov/ budget.” Going by past experience, one or two people may show up to speak at the public hearing and most of the time, no one goes to speak. If one or two people go, that may be because they read the news about the public hearing in the newspaper. Houston TV stations do not give such public service announcements. The information is available on the city website. How many people would
be visiting the city website to know what is happening? Thus, the community newspaper is the only reliable source of such information. Again, if someone says I don’t care, that is his or her prerogative. As the Sugar Land resident mentioned in the email, it is our obligation to deliver the newspaper to the “two people” who want it. We err on the side of caution and believe that people who do not specifically call for stopping the delivery want the newspaper or at least don’t mind taking it and placing it in the trash can. Some nasty residents would say, they use it for their bird cage. What an irony? In the only country in the world, where “free speech” is an inviolable Constitutional right, we are talking about stopping the newspaper delivery. That may be called “free non-speech.”
If you do not want to receive the newspaper, please call 281-980-6745 and leave a message, giving your address. If you want to receive the paper by email, you can visit fbindependent.com and sign up for receiving news via email. If you want to read the newspaper on your mobile phone, you can download the “FBInd” app from the Apple store or the Google Play store free. —SESHADRI KUMAR