Houston Style Magazine Vol 34 No 14

Publisher Francis Page, Jr. fpagejr@stylemagazine.com

Associate Publisher

Lisa Valadez lisa@stylemagazine.com

Managing Editor

Jo-Carolyn Goode editorial@stylemagazine.com

Social Media Editor/Videographer

Reginald Dominique reggiedominique@me.com

Sports Editor Brian Barefield brian_barefield@yahoo.com

Food Writer

Alex Jack alexandriajack1991@gmail.com

Arts Editor Kathleen Coleman kathleen@stylemagazine.com

NATIONAL WRITERS

Jesse Jackson jjackson@rainbowpush.org

Roland Martin www.rolandmartin.com

Judge Greg Mathis www.askjudgemathis.com

Erynn Haskins editorial@stylemagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Vicky Pink vhpink@gmail.com

Mike Munoz artrepreneur91@gmail.com

ADVERTISING/SALES

AdVertising emAil advertising@stylemagazine.com

Reuel Williams reuel@stylemagazine.com

Layout Editor Cameron C. Lee thisiscam6@gmail.com

Erynn Haskins e.haskins90@gmail.com

MINORITY PRINT MEDIA, LLC, D.B.A.

Houston Style Magazine & www.StyleMagazine.com

Phone: (713) 748-6300 • Fax: (713) 748-6320 Mail: P.O. Box 14035, Houston, TX 77221-4035

©2023 Houston Style Magazine, a Minority Print Media, L.L.C. Company. All Right Reserved. Reproduction in whole or within part without permission is prohibited. Houston Style Magazine has a 2019 Audit by Circulation Verification Council (CVC). Houston Style Magazine is a member of the Texas Publishers Association (TPA), Texas Community Newspaper Association (TCNA), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), Independent Free Paper of America (IFPA), Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) and Members of Greater Houston Partnership(GHP). National Association of Hispanic Publications, Inc. (NAHP, Inc.), Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HHCC), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Latin Women’s Initiative (LWI), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals (HAHMP), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and Supporters of Greater Houston Partnership(GHP)

Elections matter. Today’s Chicago mayoral run-off matters. The two candidates in the run-off –Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas – offer starkly different visions and agendas for the city. And today, the people will decide – but only those who show up and vote.

Happily, all can vote in Chicago. Even if you aren’t registered, or haven’t voted in the past, you can go to a polling place, register and vote at the same time. Same day, on-site voting registration allows busy workers and distracted parents to cast their vote, without having to register ahead of time.

Yet in the first round of the mayoral election, with a multitude of candidates, barely more than one-third – about 36 percent – of those eligible cast a ballot.

In this race, the two candidates offer a dramatic choice. Brandon Johnson is a former teacher and union organizer. He grew up in Chicago in a working-class family. He wants to repair and invest in Chicago’s public schools, ending the slash- and-close policies that have been so costly. He also wants police reform. He wants to add social workers and mental health professionals so police spend their time on preventing and solving crime, and not on tasks like resolving domestic quarrels or treating mental illness that they aren’t trained for. His financial support comes primarily from unions.

Paul Vallas is a conservative. He was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools in the mid-’90s. He pushed choice schools and took out loans and skimmed money from teacher pensions to help seed them. He left the school system in a deep crisis. He promises an updated version of school privatization, taking

COMMENTARY ELECTIONS MATTER

By Jesse Jackson, National Political Writer

money from public schools to pay for it. He has the support of the rightwing leaders of the Chicago Police Union, in part because he promises more of the same – more police without reform or accountability. His financial support comes largely from wealthy private donors – many of them conservative Republicans. The two campaigns have unleashed millions in ads – many of them negative, some scurrilous – like the claim that Johnson would “defund the police.” Underneath the ad barrage, the choice is clear. If you believe that Chicago needs to invest in its public schools and reform its police, Johnson is your candidate. If you believe that public schools should be drained to support private ventures, if you want more of the same from the police, and if you prefer a candidate who is funded by wealthy financial interests, Vallas is your man.

If you prefer a candidate supported largely by workers and

their unions, Johnson gets your vote. There are other issues but these surely are defining ones.

Increasingly, elections across the country – from the White House to city councils – feature stark choices like this. Under the influence of Donald Trump, the Republican Party has become more wedded to the politics of fear and division, more committed to tax benefits for the rich and program cuts for the poor, more wedded to big money and big oil, and less committed to democracy and free and fair elections.

For example, today in Wisconsin, voters will elect a new member of the highest court in the state, who will represent the deciding vote on a court panel that is basically split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The progressive candidate favors a woman’s right to choose and defends the right to vote, opposing the partisan gerrymandering that allows Republicans to dominate the legislature with a minority of the

votes. The conservative candidate is anti-choice and will uphold partisan gerrymandering. Again, a stark choice, one that, with Wisconsin a swing state in a divided nation, will have a major effect on national politics over the next few years. Elections matter – and they matter even more as the partisan divide gets ever wider. As the choices get starker, then it is even more vital that more and more people express their opinion by casting their ballot. Vote today if you still can – and be prepared to vote in the future. This country faces deep challenges – and our democracy depends upon citizens to make the choices.

You can write to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in care of this Newspaper or by email at: jjackson@rainbowpush.org

Mayoral candidates Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, left, and Paul Vallas pose for portraits before meeting with members of the Tribune Editorial Board and staff at the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center on Jan. 23, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tri)

Mayor Sylvester Turner's 15th annual Family Day in the Park has been postponed until May.

Please stay tuned for the announcement of a new day!

POSTPONED: MAYOR TURNER'S 15TH ANNUAL FAMILY DAY IN THE PARK

Mayor Turner apologizes for the inconvenience this may cause and appreciates your support of this family-friendly event. We'll see you next month.

Family Day in the Park festivities

Comerica Bank and Iron Mountain Incorporated will securely shred sensitive paper documents for free from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 15 at Comerica’s Mangum Banking Center (2201 Mangum Road, Houston 77092).

SHRED SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS, HUNGER AT COMERICA’S MANGUM BANKING CENTER ON APRIL 15

By StyleMagazine.com - Newswire

awareness about identity theft prevention and the importance of recycling while providing support to those facing hunger in our community.”

All paper from Shred Day Houston will be turned into pulp and recycled after being securely destroyed. The public, including small business owners and nonprofits, is invited to bring personal or business paper documents to be securely destroyed and recycled. There is no limit to the amount of paper individuals can bring, and those with large loads will be accommodated. A complete list of Shred Day guidelines and more event details can be found at www.comerica.com/ShredDayHouston.

This event also will help shred hunger. The Houston Food Bank will be on-site to collect cash and credit card donations, as well as nonperishable food items.

“At Comerica, we are committed to building strong and sustainable

communities by providing resources that promote financial education as well as donating to nonprofit organizations to help maximize positive impact,” said Jason Baker, Comerica Bank's Houston Market President. “Shred Day raises

“This year’s event falls just a few days before the tax deadline, so it is a great reminder to dispose of your tax documents seven years or older,” Baker said. “It also is an opportunity for small businesses and organizations to safeguard their reputation by securely shredding sensitive and confidential paper documents.”

Since 2013, Shred Day Houston has securely destroyed and recycled more than 920,000 pounds of paper and provided 313,000 meals for area residents facing hunger.

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court Tuesday afternoon.

Trump surrendered and was placed under arrest Tuesday before he was arraigned in a historic and unprecedented court appearance, in which the former president heard the charges against him for the first time. While the arraignment was routine, the case is now poised to linger over Trump’s 2024 candidacy as he fights the charges both in court and in public.

Prosecutors alleged that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.

Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign, prosecutors alleged.

Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” according to the charging documents.

The indictment returned last week by a grand jury against Trump was unsealed Tuesday and provided the public – and Trump’s legal team –with the first details about the specific charges he will face.

The indictment was quickly criticized by Trump’s Republican allies, and even some legal experts raised questions about the case. CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig said that prosecutors will have to make their case that Trump committed felonies and not misdemeanors by showing that the falsified records were used to conceal another crime, which was not identified in the indictment.

“One of the complicated legal questions here is in order to bump that up from a misdemeanor to a felony you have to show that those records were falsified to commit some other crime, some second crime,” Honig said. “You heard the defense lawyers, I think, rightly, complaining about that.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference after the arraignment that the indictment

DONALD TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO 34 FELONY COUNTS OF FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS

By Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle, CNN

did not specify what laws Trump broke because “the law does not so require.”

Bragg highlighted one law that Trump allegedly broke during the conference: “New York state election law – what makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means.” He also mentioned violations of a federal election law capping contribution limits.

The evidence, Bragg said, will be “borne out in a public courtroom in downtown Manhattan,” he said.

Next hearing in December Trump responded to the judge when directed to do so during the arraignment and made the not guilty plea himself.

The former president’s voice was measured in the courtroom. He walked in slowly scanning the reporters in the courtroom and looked at the judge when he was speaking.

The next in-person hearing date for Trump’s case in New York is currently set for December 4.

In addition to the indictment, a 13-page “statement of facts” detailed in plain language how Trump allegedly committed crimes to help him get elected to the White House in 2016. “From August 2015 to December 2017, the Defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to

suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects,” the statement of facts says. Prosecutors described a “catch and kill scheme” to suppress negative stories about Trump – “in furtherance of his candidacy for President.”

Each criminal charge Trump is facing relates to a specific entry among the business records of the Trump Organization, according to the indictment.

The Manhattan prosecutors accuse Trump of repeatedly causing false entries in the business records.

A judge said Monday night that news outlets were not allowed to broadcast the proceedings, rejecting a request from several media organizations, including CNN. Five still photographers, however, were allowed to take pictures of Trump and the courtroom before the hearing begins.

Trump to respond at Mar-a-Lago While there had been some discussion about Trump speaking to the media while in the courthouse Tuesday, he did not do so. Trump left the courthouse, boarded his plane and returned to Palm Beach, Florida. He is expected to speak at an event at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening. Trump has consistently denied all wrongdoing and condemned the indictment as political persecution.

Some of Trump’s comments came to the fore during the arraignment

when prosecutors handed the judge a packet of Trump’s social media postings and informed the court that Trump was making threats with “irresponsible” social media posts, specifically citing Trump’s sharing of an article that showed a photo of Trump with a baseball bat. Trump’s attorneys responded that Trump has First Amendment rights and said that he was expressing his frustration with alleged illegal leaks about the indictment from the district attorney’s office. Trump’s lawyers also claimed that Trump’s social media posts were not threatening.

Judge Juan Merchan acknowledged Trump’s right to free speech but warned both sides not to incite violence or civil unrest with words or actions. Merchan said that if he was shown more social media posts, he’d have to take a closer look at it.

Neither side made a request for a gag order.

Bragg’s indictment marks the first criminal charges against Trump, but it’s not the only potential legal trouble in front of the former president: Special counsel Jack Smith is still moving forward with an investigation into Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. And a Fulton County special grand jury has completed its investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina and Boris Epshteyn during his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court on April 4 in New York. (Andrew Kelly/Pool/Reuters/Getty Images)

GM DEFENSE RECEIVES FULL-RATE PRODUCTION DECISION FROM U.S. ARMY FOR INFANTRY SQUAD VEHICLE PROGRAM

By StyleMagazine.com - Newswire

GM Defense LLC, a subsidiary of General Motors, said today that the U.S. Army provided a fullrate production decision for the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). GM Defense won the initial $214.3 million contract to develop the light and agile all-terrain troop carrier to transport a nine-Soldier infantry squad and their equipment in June 2020.

“I’m proud of the GM Defense team for reaching this important milestone in the Infantry Squad Vehicle program and am thankful for the close relationship we maintain with our trusted U.S. Army program office customer,” said Steve duMont, GM Defense president. “Achieving the ISV full-rate production decision strengthens our credibility and amplifies the success of our manufacturing processes. By working in close collaboration with our customer, we have delivered more than 300 vehicles to our U.S. Army customer with many already fielded to the Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.”

The ISV is based on the award-winning Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck architecture and leverages 90 percent commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) parts, including

Chevrolet Performance race components. At 5,000 pounds, the expeditionary ISV is light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and compact enough to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for air transportability. The vehicle’s high percentage of COTS parts provide global defense and government customers

flexibility and optionality to outmaneuver threats and support mission requirements as they evolve.

“Our flexibility during the pursuit of the ISV helped us win the early stages of the contract award and has since played a pivotal role in delivering the best value solution to the U.S. Army,” said Rick Kewley, GM Defense vice president of

Product Development and Advanced Engineering. “Not only did customer feedback make the ISV better at an accelerated pace, but it also helped us bring to bear the engineering and manufacturing expertise from our parent company, General Motors, to add new capabilities while fulfilling the Army’s design and performance requirements. We remain confident in our ability to meet higher production quantities in the future.”

GM Defense has demonstrated the adaptability of the ISV by expanding the initial nine- passenger troop carrier into a family of vehicles. The GM Defense-produced ISV variants offer configurable vehicles adapted for a broad range of mission profiles, including fire support, command and control, electronic warfare, counter-unmanned aircraft systems, reconnaissance and logistics, and casualty evacuation.

The ISV was the first major award for GM Defense since the subsidiary was reestablished by its parent company in 2017. For the latest GM Defense news, please visit www.GMDefenseLLC.com and follow GM Defense on LinkedIn and Twitter.

HReopening of the Eldorado Ballroom at Project Row Houses

HThe historic Eldorado Ballroom opened with a 1940' retro theme. Legends honored Horace Grisby, Jewel Brown, and Lizette Cobb, for her father, Arnett Cobb, per reformers for the Eldorado Ballroom. Project Row Houses also gave keys to its founder's artists Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, George Smith, and Bert Samples. In attendance Chairs Anita Smith and Hasty Johnson, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Councilwoman Carolyn Shabazz, HCC Board member Reagan Flowers, and Percy and Cheryl Cruezot.

Specialized Assessment & Consulting is bidding on Project 22-10-09-A Special Education Services, for the Houston Independent School District. We are looking for possible M/WBE subcontractors to provide the following services:

● Licensed Specialists in School Psychology

● Educational Diagnosticians

● Speech-Language Pathologists

● Occupational Therapists

● Physical Therapists

● Licensed Professional Counselors

● Orientation and Mobility Providers

● Teachers for students with auditory and visual impairments

● Social Workers

● Interpreters

● Translators

If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Specialized Assessment & Consulting at: contracts@specializedtx.com.