Page 19 AROUND THE STREETS LPPD Bike Patrol Hits The Streets Get Rid Of Un-Used/Expired Drugs Safely BY MAGGIE ANDERSON, contaminate our water supply. SGT. JOHN KRUEGER Anyone considering using the I had forgotten about the LP dropbox is asked to keep the Police Department making medicine in its original contain- available to everyone a dropbox er if possible, and tightly seal to put un-wanted and un-used the medication in a plastic freez- medications. I think this article er bag to prevent leakage or area is a reminder for those who had contamination. Because of the also forgotten what to do with anonymous process involved, old-unused prescriptions, both intentionally done to encourage for humans and animals. In the higher levels of deposits, anyone La Porte Police Department making a drop off is encouraged lobby sits a prescription drug to remove personal information dropbox, manufactured by Me- from the prescription labels. Bike Officers stop frequently at parks and community dReturn LLC, designed for the Residents are asked to avoid centers and patrol along the City’s Northside, Spenwick, purpose of collecting unused, placing needles, inhalers, or Brookglen, Shady River, Pecan Plantation, Summer Winds, unwanted, or expired medica- thermometers into the drug Bayside Terrace, South Broadway and other high-density tion. It is made available in a collection box, as their presence neighborhood areas. As pictured, this style of patrol allows simple and anonymous fashion. may result in injury or contam- community members to interact with officers first-hand, LPPD believes the collection ination. spending time getting to know each other and discussing box will aid in their ongoing The MedReturn Drug Collec- ways to improve community safety. Although LPPD does not effort to keep drugs out of the The La Porte Police Department tion Unit was purchased using have full-time bicycle officer duties, the Department makes hands of individuals who may now offers a way to anonymously drug seizure monies and is every attempt to deploy such officers during special events, use them in an unsafe or unlaw- dispose of unused, unwanted, or available to the public 24 hours as well during the summer months among areas where the ful manner. In addition, when expired medication. a day within the La Porte Police bicycles will aid the community in the most efficient ways. viewing the situation from a Department Lobby, located at For more information on the Department’s bicycle patrol non-criminal (i.e. non-abuse) as- flushing them down the toilet or 3001 N. 23rd St. For informa- activities, or the School Resource Officer program, please pect, many people simply do not throwing them away. Both of tion on the MedReturn process, call 281-842-3118, or log onto the LPPD website at http:// know how to properly dispose these methods have damaging please contact the Department laportetx.gov/453/School-Resource-Officers. of their unused medicine, often effects on our environment and at 281-471-2141. Hartman, did not have a smooth The main span of the bridge is most difficult situations and sell HARTMAN continued from page 1 construction process. Originally 2,475 feet long, the length of you some Baytown Sun adver- expected to be complete within eight football fields. There are tising at the same time,” did not to get to La Porte. two years, the construction of more than 618 miles of cable live to see the bridge completed. On July 29, 1933, local resi- the bridge faced multiple delays, strand used in the construction He passed away in 1991. dents gathered on the shores of including the bankruptcy of a of the bridge, almost twice the His grandson, also named Tabbs Bay for a two-day barbe- Mexican company selected to distance from Houston to Den- Fred Hartman, told the Houston cue to celebrate the opening of produce the steel for the bridge. ison. There are 192 cables, the Chronicle at the time of the the Morgan’s Point Ferry. Further complications arose longest ones stretching 650 feet bridge’s opening: “Until his last For twenty years, it was the when the contract was award- from the bridge to the towers. breath, he dreamed of seeing a primary means by which people ed to a company from South More than three million cubic bridge connect Baytown and La in La Porte crossed to get to the Africa, which at the time held feet of concrete, enough to pave Porte but he never dreamed they other side of the Ship Channel apartheid policies. After a push 13.86 miles of two-lane highway would name it after him.” before the Baytown-La Porte was made by several local orga- with full shoulders was used Now 20 years have passed tunnel opened in September nizations, including the City of in the construction. More than and the bridge continues to play 1953. Baytown, for TxDOT to finish 40 million pounds of steel was a vital role in our area’s econo- The $10 million tunnel was “No Passing, No Light, No the project, the bridge was final- used to construct the bridge, my, serving as an essential route approximately 4,100 feet in Horns!” A view inside of the ly completed. On September 27, which is about the weight of for the movement of goods to length and consisted of prefabri- Baytown tunnel taken in 1995, the Baytown and La Porte over 16,000 automobiles. The I-10 from the Port of Houston. It cated sections that were sunk into April 1963. Photo courtesy Chambers of Commerce hosted double diamond towers support- will play an even bigger role in place on the Ship Channel’s floor. of TexasFreeway.com and the bridge’s grand opening, ing the bridge stand as tall as a the movement of vehicles once The tunnel had a diameter of 36 TxDOT archive library. attended by multiple guests, 45-story building. the Grand Parkway is complet- feet with a 1 inch steel shell and 2 for the Baytown tunnel, began including Governor George W. The tunnel was eventually de- ed around Houston. feet of concrete lining. The actual touting the need for the bridge, Bush, State Representative Mike molished and removed between A marvelous structure, the roadbed inside was flat with a since the two-lane tunnel was Jackson, Baytown Mayor Pete 1997-1999 in order to accom- Fred Hartman Bridge will con- ventilation shaft running under- often leaky and clogged with Alfaro, La Porte Mayor Norman modate the deepening of the tinue to serve the residents of neath its surface. traffic. His actions helped spur Malone, TxDOT Executive Ship Channel by the U.S. Army Baytown and La Porte for years The tunnel had a capacity of the Texas Department of Trans- Director William Burnett, and Corps of Engineers. to come, and it will stand as a 25,000 vehicles a day, which had portation to announce a proposal the Hartman family. Fred Hartman, whose closest lasting monument to the work been exceeded by the 1970s. It to build a bridge to replace the According to the program friends described as a man who of a man who helped bring the was during this time that Fred tunnel in October 1985. published for the grand opening could “smile himself through the concept to fruition. Hartman, the editor and publisher The tunnel continued to be ceremony, the eight-lane bridge of the Baytown Sun from 1950 to in use while the bridge was constructed by Williams Broth- 1974, who originally convinced being constructed. The $100 ers is designed to hold a capac- several local entities of the need million bridge, later named after ity of 200,000 vehicles per day. Doggie Styles 4926 LUELLA • DEER PARK Pet Grooming 281-542-0585 HOURS T-T-F: 8 am - last dog out Wed: 12 pm - last dog out Sat: 8am - 2 pm Please pick up your pet when we call that your pet is finished! Like us at www.facebook.com/thedoggiestyles www.aroundlaporte.com www.facebook.com/aroundlaporte AROUND LA PORTE • SEPTEMBER 2015.