2 men attempt early-morning Share Your News with organization events, and school ation, please send to Southern Daily news to us includinig your name and [email protected] jewelry heist in River Oaks If you would like to share news or phone number in case more informa- or contact information with our readers, please tion is needed. John Robbins 832-280-5815 send the unique stories, business news For news and information consider- Jun Gai 281-498-4310

Inside C5

Saturday, December 23 , 2017 | www.today-america.com | Southern News Group Trump signs tax, government spending bills into law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tion, healthcare and military spending. President Donald Trump signed Republicans also are divided over whether Republicans’ massive $1.5 trillion to follow up their sweeping overhaul of the tax overhaul into law on Friday, U.S. tax code with a dramatic restructuring cementing the biggest legislative of federal benefit programs. victory of his first year in office, and House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he would also approved a short-term spending like to revamp welfare and health programs bill that averts a possible government but Senate Republican Leader Mitch McCo- shutdown. nnell told National Public Radio on Monday Trump said he wanted to sign the that he was not interested in cutting those tax bill before leaving Washington programs without Democratic support. on Friday for his Mar-a-Lago estate Trump’s year also closes with significant in Florida, rather than stage a more turnover of many top staffers who had been formal ceremony in January, so he in the White House since early in his term. could keep his promise to finish work On Friday, the White House confirmed before Christmas. Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn and “I didn’t want you folks to say I Jeremy Katz, who worked under White wasn’t keeping my promise. I‘m House economic adviser Gary Cohn, were keeping my promise,” he told report- leaving.individual insurance plans through ers in the White House. the Obamacare online exchanges that the The two pieces of legislation repre- government subsidizes based on a person’s sent Trump’s most significant accom- income. plishment with Congress since taking Trump in October cut off billions ofdollars office in January, as well as a sign in subsidy payments to insurers that help of what awaits when he returns from people pay for medical costs, causing insur- U.S. President Trump displays signature after signing tax bill into law at the White House in Washington Florida after the Christmas holiday. ers to raise 2018 premiums by more than 20 The tax package, the largest such percent or drop out of selling plans in the overhaul since the 1980s, slashes the Obamacare marketplace. corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 His administration also halved the enroll- Business percent and temporarily reduces the ment period to six weeks and cut the federal tax burden for most individuals as advertising and outreach budget by 90 well. percent. It also has proposed putting cheaper plunges below $12,000, heads Trump praised several companies that insurance policies offering bare-bones med- have announced employee bonuses ical coverage on the Obamacare market in for worst week since 2013 in the wake of the bill’s passage, 2019 or 2020. naming AT&T, Boeing, Wells Fargo, The Republican tax overhaul passed by Con- NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) Comcast and Sinclair Broadcast gress on Wednesday revoked a key element - Bitcoin plunged by a quarter to Group. of Obamacare: a fine imposed on people below $12,000 on Friday as investors “Corporations are literally going wild who do not obtain health insurance. dumped the in manic over this,” he said. Health policy experts have said repeal- trading after its blistering ascent to a Democrats had opposed the bill as a ing that fine is likely to destabilize the peak close to $20,000 prompted warn- giveaway to the wealthy that would Obamacare online marketplace by allowing ings by experts of a bubble. the young It capped a brutal week that had been and healthy touted as a new era of mainstream to forego trading for the volatile coverage, when bitcoin futures debuted on CME leaving Group Inc (CME.O), the world’s larg- people est derivatives market on Sunday. with costly Friday’s steep fall bled into the U.S. pre-existing stock market, where shares of com- Broken representation of the Bitcoin , placed medical panies that have recently lashed their on a monitor that displays stock graph and binary codes, are conditions fortunes to bitcoin or - its seen in this illustration picture and driving underlying technology - took a hard In the futures market, bitcoin one-month up premi- knock in early trading. futures <0#XBT:> on Cboe Global Markets ums. The biggest and best-known cryp- were halted due to the steep price drop, while The non- tocurrency had seen a staggering those trading on the CME BTCF8 hit the limit partisan twentyfold increase since the start down threshold. Congressio- of the year, climbing from less than In the spot market, bitcoin fell to as low nal Budget $1,000 to as high as $19,666 on the as $11,159, down more than 25 percent on add $1.5 trillion to the $20 trillion Office estimated that repealing the so-called Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange national debt during the next decade. individual mandate fine would increase the BTC=BTSP on Sunday and to over BTC=BTSP, its largest one-day drop in nearly The spending bill extends federal number of uninsured by 13 million by 2027. $20,000 on other exchanges. three years. For the week, it was down around funding through Jan. 19, largely at It also said premiums would rise 10 percent Bitcoin has fallen each day since, with a third - its worst performance since April current levels. It does nothing to re- most years over the next decade. losses accelerating on Friday. solve broader disputes over immigra- 2013.

12/01/2017 to 12/31/2017 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2017 C2 BUSINESS “It’s 2017,” Musk said. “We should have SpaceX’s Elon Musk Has Unveiled a lunar base by now. What the hell’s going on?” (Courtesy https://qz.com/) A Rocket That Can Fly To The Related Moon, Mars— Elon Musk wants to fly people And Shanghai! around the world in under an hour lunar landers and rockets to perform ro- Red Dragon turned out to require a seri- botic science missions on the lunar sur- ous redesign of the vehicle’s heat shield, SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, presented SpaceX’s “BFR” space vehicle is face, and lay the groundwork for human which would have made it impossible to his vision for getting people to Mars with- shown docked with the Internation- exploration. The administration’s deci- achieve on time while accomplishing the in five years at the International Astronau- al Space Station in this rendering. sion to tap Oklahoma congressman Jim company’s other goals. tical Congress in the South Australia city (Photo/SpaceX) Bridenstine to lead NASA is seen as con- Musk’s new plan envisions sending a car- of Adelaide on Friday. The spaceship, dubbed the BFR, would If Elon Musk has to make his big rocket firming that view, though the Senate has go mission to Mars without humans on carry about 100 people into outer space, smaller, he’s going to make sure it still has yet to confirm him. board in 2022—the next window when it but at the end of his presentation he float- enormous ambitions. is easy to fly from earth to the red plan- ed the idea of using it to fly anywhere SpaceX’s chief executive updated his Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos et. Then, in 2024, he hopes to follow up around the world in less than 60 minutes. company’s plans to colonize Mars at a poses in front of his rocket. Credit: with human colonization. The BFR is de- He painted a picture of people boarding global space conference in Australia. He Blue Origin signed to carry about 100 passengers, with a ship in New York City to head out to described a rocket and spacecraft suitable 40 cabins and several community spaces SpaceX has said in the past that it hoped a launchpad in the Hudson River, where for transporting humans safely to the sur- during a mooted three- to six-month voy- to finance its Martian plans byoperating they take a 7,400-mile flight from the Big face of the moon in 2022, to a Martian age. Such a mission is far more ambitious an internet-broadcasting satellite constel- Apple to Shanghai in just 39 minutes. colony by 2024—and from New York to than anything currently contemplated by The SpaceX rocket landing lation, but that scheme has faced regula- The most popular long-haul flights could Shanghai in less than 40 minutes. space exploration agencies, and for that in Shanghai. (Screenshot via tory difficulties and Musk did not mention be completed in under 30 minutes, Musk The serial entrepreneur’s speech at the reason many are skeptical of the timeline SpaceX/YouTube at http://www. them during his talk. said — from Los Angeles to New York International Astronautical Congress is a described by Musk, who has been a serial businessinsider.com/elon-musk- The proposed system depends on a num- in 25 minutes; Melbourne, Australia, to sequel to one delivered in 2016 that de- over-promiser when it comes to delivery wants-to-fly-people-around-the- ber of still-unproven technologies, in- Singapore or New York to London in 29 scribed the architecture for a rocket sys- dates. world-in-under-an-hour-2017-9) cluding enormous carbon fiber tanks to minutes; New York to Paris in 30 minutes; tem that could take humans to Mars at carry propellants; a new engine called the SpaceX’s rivals haven’t missed this trend. and Sydney to Cape Town, South Africa, $200,000 a ticket. While the rocket in Raptor that runs on methane; the ability to The hearing featured a representative in 35 minutes or all the way to Zurich in question is still referred to by the code- mine propellants on the moon and Mars; from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ well-fund- 50 minutes. name BFR—Big F**ing Rocket—it is and re-fuelling the vehicle in space. This ed rocket company, describing the com- 16 meters (52 feet) shorter and half the year, Musk did not share any dollar figures pany’s Blue Moon lunar lander. Another mass of last year’s version. But the new about the cost of developing the rocket or came from Astrobotic, a company which rocket would still be the largest and most the tickets to ride it, but he did say that plans to launch a moon mission for its powerful ever built by humans, capable of it would be cheaper per unit of mass than own lander, Peregrine, on a rocket built carrying 150 tons of cargo into orbit, and any existing rocket. by United Launch Alliance, SpaceX’s almost entirely reusable. SpaceX has already developed the world’s An artist’s rendering of a moon chief competitor for government launch The biggest criticism Musk faced last year most advanced and cost-effective rocket base community. business. The real-estate baron and space was that he didn’t adequately explain how booster technology in the Falcon 9, and entrepreneur Robert Bigelow had made it At the same time, few organizations have his rocket would be financed—a reality has captured a huge share of the private Elon Musk promises 39-minute simple with a cartoon case for returning SpaceX’s engineering talent, finances, Musk conceded with a joke about Kick- satellite launch market while flying mis- journeys from New York to Shang- to the moon. and recent experience in developing new starter. This year, he aimed to answer the sions for the US Air Force and NASA. In hai. (Photo/Boston Herald ) In cannibalizing the lunar business plans space technology. question. 2017, the company has outstripped rivals “If we’re building this thing to go to the of his competitors, Musk is only behav- Pivoting its business plan to make best The biggest criticism Musk faced last year by flying 13 successful missions, eight of moon and Mars, then why not go to other ing like a self-respecting tech CEO. His use of existing technology has allowed was that he didn’t adequately explain how which returned the booster rocket to earth, places on earth as well?” he said. presentation also borrowed from Virgin SpaceX to thrive where other rocket start- his rocket would be financed—a reality in its most productive year ever. SpaceX Musk offered no insight on costs, but the Galactic, which hopes to use a subor- ups have failed. Musk’s remarks came on Musk conceded with a joke about Kick- is valued by its investors at more than $20 idea would be the most dramatic change bital space plane to carry people like an the ninth anniversary of the company’s starter. This year, he aimed to answer the billion. to air travel since the supersonic Concord ultra-fast airliner. To close out the show, first successful launch. But SpaceX aban- question. But the company has faced some recent arrived on the scene in the mid-1970s, Musk shared a rendering of his enormous doned that vehicle, the Falcon 1, because NASA is already contemplating pub- setbacks in its quest to colonize the solar traveling at twice the speed of sound and rocket flying passengers from point to it could not make enough money from it. lic-private partnerships, akin to the one system. At a conference in July, a visibly cutting the eight-hour flight between Paris point on earth’s surface, reducing the time It adapted the design for a space capsule that helped SpaceX develop its own tech- disappointed Musk said that a plan— and New York to less than 3 1/2 hours. of any trip to less than an hour. While it to win a series of contracts from NASA nology, to explore the moon. At a con- known as the Red Dragon program—to He also promised a smooth ride. is hard to imagine daily service between that became the foundation of its business. gressional hearing in early September, modify the Dragon spacecraft, which “Once you’re out of the atmosphere,” he major metropolitan areas provided by a Now, with its inter-planetary vehicle, NASA’s director of advanced exploration services the International Space Station, said, “it will be smooth as silk, no turbu- rocket the size of the Saturn V, it’s pos- SpaceX is following the money once systems, Jason Cruzan, described the and send it to Mars would be cancelled to lence, nothing.” (Courtesy http://www. sible with the technology the company is again. After all, there’s no shame in re- agency’s plans to use privately-developed prioritize the system he described today. businessinsider.com/) imagining. turning humans to the moon. Saturday, December 23, 2017 C3 A Snapshot Of The World

FILE PHOTO: A collection of Bitcoin (virtual currency) tokens are dis- played in this picture illustration

U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters as he arrives at West Palm Beach international airport in West Palm Beach

U.S. President Donald Trump signs tax overhaul legislation into law in the Oval Office Visitors react as a diver dressed as Santa Claus swims with fish at the Aquarium of Paris at the White House in Washington

A defaced and a mock Ciudadanos election sticker are seen on a bench graffitied with yellow British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visits Red Square in Moscow ribbons, symbolizing the demand for the release of jailed Catalonian politicians, in Barcelona

A statue of the baby Jesus on a bed of bullet shells is seen in a Wounded Palestinian demonstrator dressed as Santa Claus is Cataldo Ambulance medics and other first responders revive a Nativity scene outside the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi evacuated during clashes with Israeli troops at a protest near 32-year-old man who was found unresponsive and not breathing the border with Israel in the southern Gaza Strip after an opioid overdose on a sidewalk in the Boston suburb of Everett, Massachusetts, U.S., August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2017 C4 COMMUNITY museum broke ground at its new location flight Hall of Fame, an area dedicated to on November 9, 2015. Initially scheduled understanding flight with interactive dis- Relocated Lone Star Flight to be dedicated on September 1, 2017, the plays and touch screens to page through. opening was postponed to September 16th They have flight simulators for an extra Museum Now Open In Houston due to Hurricane Harvey. charge. Future plans include a restaurant. way in advance include their B-17, B-25, This new building is designed and built DC-3, P-47, F6F, F4U, SBD, PT-17, T-6 especially for housing the aircraft former- and the F8F. Most of the airworthy planes ly housed and based at Scholes Field in were flown out of the museum prior to the Galveston. It is a very impressive facility hurricane. Those remaining as well as the with room for expansion. Two big hangars static displays were largely destroyed or full of vintage air craft from the early days heavily damaged. of flying all the way through WW2 , Ko- Following the destruction of Hurricane This new building is designed and built rean War, and Vietnam. They have a Texas Ike, the museum made the decision to especially for housing the aircraft former- flight Hall of Fame, an area dedicated to move to Ellington International Airport in ly housed and based at Scholes Field in understanding flight with interactive dis- Houston. It is working with the Collings Galveston. It is a very impressive facility plays and touch screens to page through. Foundation and Texas Flying Legends with room for expansion. Two big hangars They have flight simulators for an extra to create a combined aviation museum full of vintage air craft from the early days charge. Future plans include a restaurant. The vintage $38 million facility military The Lone Star Flight Museum, located in complex. In March 2014, the museum of flying all the way through WW2 , Ko- (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclope- aircraft museum in Galveston that was Houston, Texas, is an aerospace museum received $7.6 million from FEMA. The rean War, and Vietnam. They have a Texas dia) swamped by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and that displays more than 40 historically survived Harvey after recently moving to significant aircraft and many hundreds Houston is now open. of artifacts related to the history of flight. The ceremony took place on Saturday, The museum’s collection is rare because Houston’s Newest Urban Park, September 30 at 11 a.m in the Heritage most of the aircraft are flyable. Located Hanger where Mario Diaz, Director of next to Ellington Airport, the museum is The Acre, To Open In Downtown “There’s no space too small to create the architect Chip Trageser, a managing part- Houston Airport System joined Lone Star housed on about 100,000 ft2 (10,000 m2) benefits of parks,”said Adrian Benepe, ner with the Office of James Burnett, Flight Museum leadership and elected of- of property, including its own airstrip. The director of civic park development at the which designed the Acre and is consulting ficials including Congressman Pete Olson, museum, formerly located in Galveston, Washington, D.C.-based Trust for Public with Brookfield on the center’s master Congressman Randy Weber, and former moved to Houston to avoid a repeat of the Land. “Private property owners have to be plan. Houston Mayor, Annise Parker. devastation suffered during Hurricane Ike. part of the solution.” The museum was set open Sept. 2 but The museum began as a private collec- delayed ceremonies as parts of Houston tion of historic aircraft in 1985. By 1990, were flooded by Harvey. Spokeswoman that collection had grown enough that its The centerpiece of the Acre is a Lisa Spence said Wednesday that the new owner decided to place them on public lawn that will accommodate 1,500 complex wasn’t damaged. display. The Lone Star Flight Museum, people for special events. The Lone Star Flight Museum, also home a non-profit organization funded entirely to the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame, suf- through private donations, was formed for As park spaces go, Houston’s newest ur- Trageser’s team planted 171 new trees, fered flood damage when Ike pounded that purpose. ban oasis is a mere postage stamp, occu- including pistachios, elms and overcup Galveston in September 2008. Authorities pying just over an acre of privately held Even an acre of”green infrastructure” oaks. “As everyone in Houston knows, later decided to relocate to Houston to be land, developed with private money. But can make a positive difference for the you’ve got to have shade to have any farther from Gulf of Mexico storms. in post-Harvey Houston, the value of ev- environment: Trees enhance air quality chance of being outside,” Trageser said. Volunteers last month flew most of the ery inch of permeable green space sudden- and reduce heat islands, also improving “It’s really about creating a micro-climate vintage planes about 50 miles (80 kilome- ly seems more evident. storm-water absorption. that feels great in July and August.” ters) north to Houston. Known as the Acre, the signature piece Benepe said the trust has converted about Because the Acre sits atop an underground of Brookfield’s $48.5 million renovation 20 asphalt school yards in New York to parking garage, many of the trees are of One Allen Center on the west side of permeable playgrounds. Each is about an growing in specially-designed mesh plant- downtown opens Monday. The park con- acre, and has absorbed from a half-million ers that form green mounds. Move to Houston tains a wide-open plaza and a linear lawn to more than a million gallons of storm Central Houston president Robert Eury The museum reported heavy damage from that will seat up to 1,500 people for spe- water per year. called the Acre “a very bold move” for Hurricane Ike, stating on September 16, cial events such as concerts. To squeeze out more space for the Acre, Brookfield, which he said has a “remark- 2008, that the hangars and Hall of Fame The company created the park prior to Brookfield reduced One Allen Center’s ably great track record” of programming had received seven to eight feet of water Hurricane Harvey, primarily to attract a ground floor and re-created it as a “glass arts and cultural events in its buildings. and the lobby three to four. Damaged air- new generation of tenants in innovative Distinguished museum guests box” that will soon have a chef-driven He sees the park as good for downtown craft include a B-58A and F-100 on loan businesses. But a national parks expert joined the local community and restaurant with views of the park, helping business, too. from the US Air Force Museum, Consol- said that such small civic gestures can enjoyed for an afternoon of cele- to draw more people toward the space. “It so much reflects changes in the nature idated PBY-5A, Dehavilland DH-82A, have significant environmental benefits, bration an evening at the ribbon “It’s almost like a give-back to the city: of how we view work spaces today,” Eury Grumman F3F-2, Lockheed PV-2D, and especially when they are multiplied many cutting and dedication of the newly Taking building away to create an oppor- said. (Courtesy chron.com) Stinson L-5. Aircraft flown out of harm’s times across cities. opened Lone Star Flight Museum. tunity for outdoor space,” said landscape

12/23 Saturday, December 23,2017 C5 LOCAL NEWS 2 men attempt early-morning jewelry heist in River Oaks

It was a scene straight from a jewelry store, where they began rope then jumped about 20 feet to the movie. breaking glass cases. A silent roof of a neighboring store. Two men wearing ski masks alarm alerted police. “He took a running leap, and he and dark hoodies attempted an Houston police and Harris County made the jump,” Lt. Dale Hubert said. early-morning heist Friday in deputies responded while the Officers aren’t sure how much jewelry River Oaks. At around 3 a.m., they suspects were still inside, trying to the suspects managed to steal, but broke into a jewelry store by cut- collect as many valuables as they they found scattered jewelry and ting a hole in the roof with axes, could, dropping a few along the broken cases inside the store. Hubert saws and other tools, Houston way. said jewelry store heists are more police said. Both suspects managed to escape. common during the holidays They were lowered by a rope into One quickly climbed back up the

Texas security regulators clamp down on Bitcoin mining scheme

Texas security regulators warned consum- ers about investing in USI-Tech Limited, a Dubai-based firm promoting low-risk, high-return investments tied to Bitcoin, an unregulated form of virtual currency. The Texas State Securities Board issued a cease and desist order this week against the FILE PHOTO: A copy of bitcoin standing on PC overseas company for selling investment motherboard is seen in this illustration picture contracts to mine Bitcoin, referring to the significant computer power and energy con- sumption it takes to track Bitcoin trading past month, according to CoinDesk which tracks activity. The agency said that USI-Tech and prices. two U.S.-based sales agents are soliciting USI-Tech nor the sales agents are registered to sell investors in Texas through Craigslist adver- securities in Texas. The investment is not regis- tisements, YouTube videos and websites. tered in Texas. Neither the company or its sales agents The state securities board also alleges that USI- could be immediately reached for comment. Tech is telling potential investors that they can State regulators allege that USI-Tech claims make even more money by convincing others to its Bitcoin platform “consistently provides invest. Investors can earn “up to 35 percent com- FILE PHOTO: A Bitcoin logo is displayed at the Bitcoin Center returns of up to 150 percent per year” and missions” through its “unique referral marketing plan,” according to the securities board.he found New York City in New York's financial district that investment returns do not depend on the underlying value of Bitcoin. The price out he didn’t have a say on its plan to levy assess- of Bitcoin, which opened Thursday at ments on commercial property owners to pay for $16,454.72, has doubled in value over the its programs.

11/11 to 01/12/18