DeanForJudge.com Early to Nov.2,2,2018 2018 Earlyvoting: voting: Oct. Feb. 22 20–March Primary Day: Tuesday, 6 ElectionElection Day : Tuesday, Nov. March 6, 2018 Political Ad Paid for by Dean Hrbacek for Judge Campaign, Kathy Luckenbach, Treasurer, in compliance with the voluntary limits of the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act.
VOL 11 No. 44
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County & Missouri City
Early voting slows down after a brisk start
By SESHADRI KUMAR More than 120,000 people have voted early as of Monday afternoon in Fort Bend County. Though the voter turnout in the first 7 days of early voting this year was more than double compared to the 2014 nonpresidential year election, the trend appeared to be the same as in the 2016 presidential election. Early voting ends Friday. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. In 2016, during the first 7 days of early voting, 117,787 people had voted. This year, the total early voting during the first
7 days was 111,035. In 2014, total early voting number was 72,000. The voting pace during the second week of early voting in 2014 was less and a similar trend is being seen this year. In 2016, about 210,000 people voted early and the election day voting was 51,543, making the total votes polled 266,857. It appears the total number of votes cast will be in the 65% range this year as in 2016. According to election observers, the increased voter turnout all over the country,
including Texas, was mostly attributable to the Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, which galvanized people from both the parties. Meanwhile, Fort Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham said he received a handful of complaints where the straight party voting ended up changing the vote in senator’s race. Oldham said it was an error caused by user, when the user after voting straight ticket, See VOTES, Page 3
JINGLE TREE AT HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE IN SUGAR LAND. Planning committee members include, left to right: Farrah Gandhi, Susie Goff with Scooter, Alicia Scala, Back row left to right: Syndee Howgate, Kavita Self, Adrienne Barker, Jennifer Bombach, Gerry Fuller, Kelsea Lake, Linda Webb, Amanda Junker, June Joseph-Steele, Jana Baumann, and Cee Cee Parker. The festive events take place November 9 – 15 and Dec. 8. See Story on Page 2.
Sugar Land teen among ‘top young scientists,’ invited to the NYSE Closing Bell Ceremony
Mehaa Amirthalingam, a freshman at the Global Studies Academy at Travis High School in Fort Bend ISD, is the second place winner in the top 10 young scientists in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Mehaa’s award winning discovery is her new idea of a toilet flushing system that uses both freshwater and grey water. Her platform of research has been water conservation and she has been working on it for the last three years. On October 22, Mehaa was invited to ring the New York Stock Exchange closing bell with the top winner. Mehaa said that “if we do not make small adjustments in the way we utilize water now, we may have to make huge compromises in the future.” She cites the situation of taking baths in a bucket to save and reuse grey water in Cape Town as a possibility in the future. When Mehaa was selected as one of the finalists (top 10) among thousands of applicants across the country in early June, she was assigned a mentor, Dr. Jen Hanson of MIT, from 3M with the objective of creating a prototype of the idea she submitted to the contest. With a rigorous short term research and additional help from a panel of 3M water scientists, she created a final product that will potentially sell for a price of $30. Mehaa realized that the slow growth of grey water usage in homes in America is due to lack of awareness. She adds that in the early 1900s, the use of grey water was considered illegal, but today there are regulations (NSF/ANSI 350 and 305-1) to make it easy for anyone to adopt greywater recycling. She says it is not only good for the environment, but also a good investment due to a reasonable 5-year breakeven period. As her next goal, Mehaa plans to reach out to water conservation agencies across the globe to increase awareness of her solution and to build model homes equipped with her product. As 3M is an innovation-driven company allowing employees to use 15% of their time for any research based on personal interest, Mehaa plans to continue to work with Dr. Hanson to create turnkey solutions
Dr. Jen Hanson, left, with Mehaa Amirthalingam that include filters and tanks required for grey water purification and storage. She has also been contacted by several researchers in India with technologies for handling and purifying grey water to combine their technology with her solution, more particularly on aspects of microbial disinfection techniques. Mehaa believes innovators should focus more on practical issues although it is tempting to work on profit oriented topics. Mehaa loves to dance, enjoys photography even as she strives to revolutionize current water conservation methods. She was recognized as one of the Top Indian American Role Models for Girls in the nation and was also recognized in many publications.