South Belt-Ellington Leader Thursday, December 12, 2019
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4343 yearsyears ofof coveringcovering SouthSouth BeltBelt Voice of Community-Minded People since 1976 Thursday, December 12, 2019 Email: [email protected] www.southbeltleader.com Vol. 44, No. 46 Beltway ramp to close The westbound entrance ramp from the Gulf Freeway to Beltway 8 will be closed in both di- City runoff elections slated for Dec. 14 rections from 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, through 5 a.m. Monday, Dec. 16. The City of Houston will hold runoffs Saturday, post. Alcorn and Eric Dick. Local Election Day polling locations include Other closures Dec. 14, for races not defi nitively decided in last Vying to replace him are Carolyn Evans-Shaba- Unlike in previous elections, Harris County vot- the Harris County Scarsdale Annex, Beverly Two inside lanes of the northbound Belt- month’s general election. zz and Brad “Scarface” Jordan. ers will be able to cast their ballots at any polling Hills Intermediate School, Garfi eld Elementary way 8 frontage road will be closed at SH 3/Old In addition to the highly publicized mayoral The Leader has offi cially endorsed Ev- location located in the city limits, regardless of pre- School, Stuchbery Elementary School, Beverly Galveston Road daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. contest, eligible voters will also weigh in on multi- ans-Shabazz in the race. See editorial in the Dec. 5 cinct. Approved this past March by Texas Secretary Hills Community Center, San Jacinto College through Thursday, Dec. 12. ple City Council races, including that of District D, edition of the newspaper. of State David Whitley, Harris County is now the Fine Arts Center, Frazier Elementary School, At least one outside lane of the southbound which encompasses much of the South Belt com- South Belt residents will also have a chance to sixth county in the state with a population of more Laura Welch Bush Elementary School, Park- Beltway 8 frontage road will be closed at Ge- munity. vote in fi ve at-large City Council races, as they are than 100,000 to participate in the Countywide Poll- er Williams Library, El Franco Lee Communi- noa Red Bluff daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Competing for the position of mayor are incum- citywide positions. ing Place Program. ty Center, Genoa Staff Development Center and through Tuesday, Dec. 17. bent Sylvester Turner and challenger Tony Buzbee. Competing for the At-Large Position 1 seat are Participation in the CPPP was pushed by new Burnett Elementary School. Both northbound and southbound U-turn Turner narrowly missed the 50-percent threshold Mike Knox and Raj Salhotra; vying for the At- Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman, who cam- To see a complete list of polling locations or a lanes at Beltway 8 and Vista will be closed needed to avoid a runoff in the Nov. 5 election, re- Large Position 2 seat are Willie R. Davis and Da- paigned on the issue. sample ballot, visit www.harrisvotes.com. continuously through Friday, Jan. 10. ceiving 47 percent of the vote to Buzbee’s 28 per- vid W. Robinson; competing for the At-Large Po- The closures are associated with the ongo- cent. sition 3 seat are Janaeya Carmouche and Michael ing project to widen Beltway 8 from two to Also coming short in the mayoral election was Kubosh; vying for the At-Large Position 4 seat are Brewster killed in line of duty four lanes in each direction. current District D City Council Member Dwight Anthony Dolcefi no and Letitia Plummer; and com- Boykins, who will now be forced to relinquish his peting for the At-Large Position 5 seat are Sallie Houston Police Department Sgt. Christopher his nine years of service, he was assigned to the Melillo hosts charity jog Brewster, a former longtime South Belt resident, Southeast Patrol Division, Gang Division and was killed in the line of duty Saturday, Dec. 7. Continued on Page 4A Melillo Middle School, 9220 Hughes, will According to investigators, Brewster, 32, was host its sixth annual Jingle Bell Jog at the school responding to a domestic disturbance call around Saturday, Dec. 14. (The Leader incorrectly listed 5:45 p.m. in the 7400 block of Avenue L when the date as Dec. 5 in last week’s edition.) Aimed Former a male suspect shot him multiple times. He was at helping local families in need, participants are transported to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medi- asked to bring two nonperishables food items cal Center, where he was pronounced dead. or one new unwrapped toy. All donations will resident Assisting offi cers established a perimeter go toward the Leader’s annual Christmas drive. around the crime scene and were able to appre- (See related story on this page.) Holiday dress is hend the suspect without further incident. Arturo encouraged, and prizes will be awarded for best brings joy Solis, 25, was charged with capital murder of a costumes. Registration will begin at 8 a.m., with police offi cer in the 182nd State District Court. the race starting at 8:30 a.m. For more informa- A 2006 Dobie graduate, Brewster was in the tion, call Kelly Jurek at 713-740-5260. to 1000s Latin Club and played French horn in the Long- Kirkwood Civic meets Dec.12 horn band. Following high school, Brewster at- Former South Belt resi- tended San Jacinto College, the University of The Kirkwood Civic Association has set its dent Thi Nguyen recently Houston and Blinn College, before earning a next meeting for Thursday, Dec. 12, instead hosted her third annual bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership of the regular date on the last Thursday of the Christmas festival for local from Texas A&M University-Commerce. He month. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. students, this year being was in the process of completing his master’s de- at the South Belt-Ellington Chamber of Com- held at Dobie High School gree. merce, 10500 Scarsdale, This will be a potluck Saturday, Dec. 7. An on- A third-generation member of Sagemont Christmas dinner. For additional information, line toy blogger known to Church, Brewster played guitar in the Student contact Ericka McCrutcheon at 281-989-9990. many as Princess T, Nguy- Ministry and Awaken contemporary worship ser- en was inspired to host the vice. Heavy trash pickup set yearly event after local Brewster graduated from the Houston Police City residents south of Fuqua will have residents helped her fami- Department Academy in November 2010. In heavy trash pickup Thursday, Dec. 12, (sec- ly following the May 2000 ond Thursday of the month). City residents death of her sister Jennie north of Fuqua and west of the Gulf Freeway Nguyen, pictured on the Waugh participates in Leader drive will have heavy trash pickup on Friday, Dec. front page of the newspa- A chill is in the air, and the South Belt com- This sentiment is shared by her mother. 13, (second Friday of the month). December is per shown above. A doll in munity is once again coming together to help “We’ve always been fortunate to have a nice for junk waste, but tree waste will also be ac- Nguyen’s likeness is also those less fortunate by participating in the annu- Christmas,” Robb said. “And it makes you feel cepted. For additional information, visit www. shown above. al Leader Christmas program. good to help someone else have a nice Christmas houstontx.gov/solidwaste. Photo by Marie Flickinger Now in its 37th year, the program is aimed at who otherwise wouldn’t.” helping families in the immediate area by col- Waugh, who was born with a rare birth de- Gulf Freeway closures set lecting food and gifts. fect known as cervical meningocele, has over- At least one northbound and one southbound Participating in the drive again this year is come many challenges of her own. At the time of main lane and frontage road lane on the Gulf Nguyen hosts Christmas festival Stacey Waugh, daughter of active community Waugh’s birth, doctors told her mother she would Freeway from NASA Bypass/NASA Road 1 member Sandy Robb. The volunteer has selfl ess- likely never be able to walk. Former South Belt resident Thi Nguyen, dents who were impacted by Hurricane Har- to SH 96/League City Parkway will be closed ly donated hours of her free time to support this “We never took no for an answer,” Robb known to millions by her online toy-blogger vey. daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and nightly from 9 year’s program. said. persona Princess T, recently returned to the The festival, however, has now grown to p.m. to 5 a.m. through Tuesday, Dec. 31. “I think it’s great,” Waugh said of the pro- Waugh, now 47, went on to attend Stuchbery, community to host her third annual Christ- help families in need from throughout the The northbound exit ramp on the Gulf Free- gram. “It helps the less fortunate.” Continued on Page 4A mas festival for area children. South Belt community. way at NASA Bypass/NASA Road 1 will be While the previous two events focused on Nguyen solicited help from the campuses closed continuously through 5 a.m. Friday, just helping students from Burnett Elemen- by asking administrators to invite 75 families Feb. 28, 2020. Motorists wishing to access Former resident Neil West dies at 89 tary, this year’s festival was held at Dobie from each of the eight local schools. these intersections may exit using the exit to and catered to children from all eight local In all, 2,300 people RSVP’d to this year’s Former longtime South Belt resident and ac- countless contributions to the community, West FM 518 and proceed on the northbound front- elementary campuses that feed into the area event.