Stay informed March 2, 2021 about pandemic, Our 27th Year of Publishing FREE vaccine news (979) 849-5407 PLEASE Weekly © 2021 Bulletin SEE PAGE 9 mybulletinnewspaper.com TAKE ONE LAKE JACKSON • CLUTE • RICHWOOD • FREEPORT • OYSTER CREEK • JONES CREEK • ANGLETON • DANBURY • ALVIN • WEST COLUMBIA • BRAZORIA • SWEENY Car eggings Dionicio Rodriguez’s historical concrete art It got very ruffle feathers adorns San Bernard River residences Jerry Zezima cold, and the Tribune News Service (TNS) By Janice R. Edwards I have always been considered The Bulletin lights went out a good egg, even though most of Situated on the rural San my jokes are rotten. That’s why I Bernard River residences of two By John Toth squawked when I found out that Sweeny neighbors, two pieces of The Bulletin chicken-hearted punks had recently very unusual “lawn furniture” were, I woke up to an unusually cold egged a bunch of cars in my neigh- it seems, magically created. room. borhood. At first glance, they appear to “What’s that blue flashing light,” One of those vehicles belongs to be a well-built wooden palapa table asked Sharon. That’s the light that my son-in-law, who had parked it on Hardy and Sherry Herrington’s comes on when the power goes out, in my driveway. Feathers ruffled, I property and a gazebo on the prop- I replied. called the local police precinct and erty of their close neighbors, Keith That’s how our adventure with was connected to a cop whose puns and Stephanie Cunningham. the cold weather and lack of power are as criminal as mine. But, take a closer look – they Officer Vasilecozzo, who works in Memories are made of this Ramblings dispatch, took my complaint over the phone. are both made of concrete. Since began. “Can you crack the case?” I their commission in 1926, these It will come back in a few minutes, asked. pieces have survived hurricanes, I thought. A transformer must have “I think so,” he replied, presumably floods and anything Mother Nature frozen up somewhere in the city. If it with a straight face, “but I wouldn’t has thrown at them, showing mini- were just that simple. put all my eggs in one basket.” mal wear. Yet, they remain, quietly I didn’t realize how extensive “These miscreants have obviously testifying to the quality of their art. and dangerous conditions would run a-fowl of the law,” I told him. Unless you know the owners of become. Our power has never gone (Continued on Page 11) the properties, you will probably out in the winter since we moved never see them since they are on here in 1989. It went out a few times private property, but through the during hurricanes or tropical storms, Answers that new generosity of the owners and my but it didn’t take all that long to get photographs, the story of this art Photo by Janice R. Edwards it back. ‘Jeopardy!’ hosts can be shared. I figured that if the Texas grid can Dionicio Rodriguez’s concrete palapa table (commissioned in 1926) is withstand scorching summers with Thanks to years of research shown on Hardy and Sherry Herrington’s property near Sweeny. by Patsy Light and Maria Pfeiffer, months of 90F-plus temperatures, it don’t want to hear these two Rodriguez pieces and some of Rodriguez’s best pieces Both the palapa table and the can withstand a much shorter period By Greg Schwem others around Texas were regis- for revealing the artist’s attention gazebo were commissioned in 1926 of freezing weather. Tribune Content Agency tered in the National Register of to detail. When working with the by James Richard Marmion, a San (Continued on Page 5) Back in 2018, when he was hap- Historical Places by 2004, when cement, he created what looks Antonio native who was involved pily cancer free, the late “Jeopardy!” the previous title holder owned the like growth rings, bark, knot holes, in real estate, buying railroad INSIDE THIS ISSUE host Alex Trebek announced he was property. and even wormholes. The palapa rights-of-way for the New York and Brazoria’s pondering retirement. Immediately I Both the palapa table and chair roofs of both pieces show detailed Texas Land Company Limited. began polishing my resume. How to manage and the gazebo are considered thatching. (Continued on Page 8) Heritage Day In an earlier column, I pleaded your county with executives at Sony Pictures Celebration Television, distributors of the popular Gathering Place Brain Fair set for Saturday, March 27 quiz show, to consider an unknown library account host for the role. Specifically, me. The 2021 Brain Fair will be held regular visit is 7 minutes. At our the Fair.” SEE PAGE 9 Someone whose updated LinkedIn Saturday, March 27, from 9 a.m. sixth Brain Fair, people will have “Although Gathering Place’s profile would include “Unbridled pas- until noon at the Brazoria County two hours to visit with neurologists programs are devoted to dementia Are you ready sion for a game that involves more Fairgrounds at 901 S. Downing in Dr. Blair Krell and Dr. Forbes,” Dale education and support services for than ‘buying an o.’” Angleton Libby, Gathering Place CEO, said. caregivers, at the Brain Fair we also to apply for (Continued on Page 7) Social distancing will be prac- “We encourage people to bring address prevention and treatment ticed, and masks will be required. a list of their questions for the of many types of diseases because facebook.com/ “The average length of doc- physicians and for attorney Laura most begin with dysfunction in the Medicare? SEE PAGE 16 thebulletinbrazoriacounty/ tor-patient face time during a Cole, who will also have a table at (Continued on Page 3) Page 2 THE BULLETIN March 2, 2021 (979) 849-5407 www.mybulletinnewspaper.com Texas freeze caused desruction, deaths Winter Storm Uri has killed at least 21 people, left millions of Texans with- out power and spun killer tornadoes into the U.S. Southeast. The brutal cold engulfed vast swaths of the United States, shuttering COVID-19 inoculation centers and hindering vaccine supplies. In Galveston County, along the Texas Gulf Coast, the authorities said two residents had died from exposure to the cold and one person from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. March 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 What happened to the Texas power grid? Texas has a stand-alone power grid that’s deregulated. The majority of the state’s power is controlled by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which is known as ERCOT. It’s a competitive pric- ing market, meaning it trades on supply and demand. Texas has chosen to operate its power grid as an island, which means the state can’t import power from other states when it’s most needed. The impacts are also felt in the fall and spring, when Texas has an abundance of power that it can’t export. The Texas grid collapsed during the extreme cold because some 28,000 megawatts of coal, nuclear, and gas power went offline — about a third of ERCOT’s total capacity. ERCOT failed, because fossil fuels failed. And one fuel failed in particular: natural gas. According to ERCOT, wind power accounts for at least 15.7% of the electricity generated in Texas, as wind was 17.4% of elec- tricity generated in ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas’s power. The cause of the power outages was initially blamed on frozen wind turbines by some govern- ment officials, including Texas governor Greg Abbott, but frozen natural gas lines and instruments were the main cause. Wind turbines, meanwhile, were responsible for 13 percent of the total lost electricity output. www.mybulletinnewspaper.com (979) 849-5407 March 2, 2021 THE BULLETIN Page 3 Strange but True By Bill Sones hemisphere spin one direction while miles per hour, though fortunately and Rich Sones, Ph.D. those in the Southern hemisphere most of the bees won’t pursue very Can prayer heal? spin the other way? If so, would far. Q. Statistically and scientifically a tornado stop when it got to the But one University of Miami grad speaking, can prayer help treat equator? student on a field trip to Costa Rica medical conditions? What are some A. Tornadoes are small enough reportedly stepped on a colony in a of the conundrums that make a that they can spin either way in cave crack, caught his foot and died “yes” or “no” here problematic? either hemisphere, and they are of 2000 stings! A. No doubt religion can be a observed to do just that, says Scrambled pacemaker dramatic de-stressor, optimism University of Hawaii meteorologist signals booster and enhancer of well-being Steven Businger. An estimated Q. It’s an electromagnetic jungle that leads to health and longer life. 90%-97%, however, do twist coun- out there for patients with cardiac But the difficulty with empirically terclockwise in the Northern hemi- pacemakers. What “beasts” lurk? testing prayer on sick people is sphere (as seen from above) as a A. Older microwave ovens and that most of them already have result of how spawning storms form. computers, big TV screens, electri- others praying for them, says A tornado can form near the equa- cal heaters, fluorescent lights, even Hope College psychologist David tor and cross it, though tornadic casino slot machines are all ready G. Myers in “Is Prayer Clinically conditions are not common there. to pounce, says Duke University Effective?” in “Reformed Review.” Larger storms, such as hurricanes, biomedical engineer and professor So how to test the effect of addi- only spin one way in each hemi- of pediatrics Roger Barr.