JEWELER
TO STARS
Celebrity designer
plans Galleria store.
PAGE B7
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
New limits target ‘forever chemicals’
Municipal water systems will be required
to test for and reduce cancer-causing PFAS
By Rebekah F. Ward
STAFF WRIT E R
The federal government is
cracking down for the first time
on municipal water systems with
high levels of PFAS, a family of
chemicals linked to cancer, low-
ered immune response, high
cholesterol and other health
threats.
PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl
and polyfluoroalkyl substances,
are used to make everything
from nonstick cookware to fire-
fighting foam. Also called “forev-
er chemicals,” they break down
Firefighter Jeremy Perez works the scene where an EF-1 tornado destroyed several businesses early Wednesday in Katy.
Tornado hits Katy businesses
Storm spawned EF-1twister that damaged strip center, weather service says
By Octavia Johnson, Juhi
Varma and Jon Shapley
STA FF WRIT E RS
An EF-1 tornado with
winds peaking at 90 mph
touched down early Wednes-
day and caused heavy damage
to some businesses in Katy,
the National Weather Service
said.
Storms traveling through
greater Houston left downed
trees and more than 100,000
people without power.
Cody Jarrell, who had been
sleeping in his white Nissan
parked across from the heavi-
ly damaged Bourbon Street
Humble ISD trustees spar over Title IX report
By Elizabeth Sander
STA FF WRIT E R
Humble ISD trustees voted
Tuesday to accept the retirement
of the superintendent’s hus-
band, Troy Kite, and to release
the findings of a lengthy Title IX
Advice........A12 Comics ......A12 Editorials....A7
Business .....B7 Directory ....A2 Health.........A8
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: VISIT NOW FOR BREAKING NEWS, CONSTANTLY UPDATED STORIES, SPORTS COVERAGE, PODCASTS AND A SEARCHABLE NEWS ARCHIVE.
JUDGE MULLS
DEFENDANTS
Apple, Travis Scott-linked companies will
remain in Astroworld festival civil suit.
PAGE A3
• THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
very slowly or not at all under
natural conditions, accumulat-
ing in both humans and animals.
The U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency finalized its first-
ever limit for concentrations of
the chemicals in drinking water
Wednesday, announcing the rule
to curtail “PFAS exposure for ap-
proximately 100 million people,
prevent thousands of deaths and
reduce tens of thousands of seri-
ous illnesses.”
While the new regulations im-
pose individual limits on five
“forever chemicals” and an addi-
tional cap on combinations of
The storm left piles of debris and shattered all the windows
at a nearby sports bar. No major injuries were reported.
investigation that, alongside
multiple related Title IX cases,
cost the district more than
$500,000 to mediate.
Kite, Humble ISD’s executive
director of UIL and fine arts, is
married to Humble ISD Super-
intendent Elizabeth Fagen.
Nation.........A4 Puzzles .......A11
Obituaries..B11 Sports...........B1
• VOL. 123, NO. 181
four others, thousands of similar
chemicals fall outside its scope.
More than 9,000 synthetic PFAS
have been used in consumer
products for decades, but the
EPA rule considers just six of the
most common.
Water systems have three
years to begin testing for the
chemicals. Municipalities forced
to begin treating for some forever
chemicals are likely to filter out
additional PFAS inadvertently
through their new processes.
Despite high levels of some
PFAS, the Houston area may still
fall below the acceptable limits
set under the new regulations.
A peer-reviewed study pub-
lished in Science of the Total En- Victor Hernandez, left, and Luis Martinez fill containers with a
Water continues on A6 water hose. New rules limit the amount of PFAS in tap water.
Photos by Jon Shapley/Staff photographer
Sports Bar, said he woke up at
3 a.m. to find his car shaking
uncontrollably. He said he felt
the wind lift his car and then
put it down.
“I thought, ‘OK, this is how
I’m going to die,’ ” he told the
Chronicle.
The Harris County ESD 48
Fire Department posted
photos of the damage to a
nearby Firestone car repair
building and Bourbon Street
Sports Bar on Wednesday
morning.
Meteorologist Jeffry Evans
with the National Weather
Service said during a news
conference that the violent
Tornado continues on A5
A Title IX complaint was first closed session by the Board of
filed by assistant athletic direc- Trustees over the course of
tor Jana Williams against Kite months.
nearly a year ago. Kite made two Parents have been asking in
complaints in response: his own recent meetings for the district
Title IX complaint and a general to bring to light the allegations
grievance. Discussion of these and why more than $500,000
complaints has been held in Humble ISD continues on A6
TV..................A11 TWITTER: @HoustonChron INSTAGRAM: HoustonChron
Weather.....B12 LINKEDIN: Houston-Chronicle FACEBOOK: @HoustonChronicle
A WAY
FORWARD
Vision issues had him
modify fitness routine.
PAGE A8
• $3.00
Brett Coomer/Staff file photo
Hamas
leader’s
family
killed
Deaths from airstrike
by Israel threaten to
strain cease-fire talks
By Tia Goldenberg, Jack
Jeffery and Wafaa Shurafa
AS S O C I ATE D P RE S S
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli air-
craft killed three sons of Hamas’
top political leader in the Gaza
Strip on Wednesday, striking
high-stakes targets at a time when
Israel is holding delicate cease-
fire negotiations with the militant
group. Hamas said four of the
leader’s grandchildren were also
killed.
Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are
among the highest-profile figures
to be killed in the war so far. Israel
said they were Hamas operatives,
and Haniyeh accused Israel of
acting in “the spirit of revenge and
murder.”
The deaths threatened to strain
the internationally mediated
Deaths continues on A6
Bonfire
tradition
may return
to A&M
By Samantha Ketterer
STAF F WRI TE R
Almost 25 years after a 40-
foot stack of logs collapsed and
killed 12 students at Texas A&M
University, one university sys-
tem regent has asked the vic-
tims’ family members for input
on potentially bringing the Ag-
gie Bonfire tradition back to
campus, according to commu-
nications obtained by the Hous-
ton Chronicle.
The conversations come as
part of the Texas A&M Univer-
sity Rivalry Committee, which
the system’s Board of Regents
created in October to study and
recommend ways to “appropri-
ately commemorate” the re-
newed rivalry with the Univer-
sity of Texas this fall. Until the
tragedy, students had embarked
on the massive building project
Bonfire continues on A5
A2 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
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Houston institution shines on ‘GMA’
By Bao Ong
STA FF WRIT E R
Cleburne Cafeteria, an 83-
year-old institution that gener-
ations of Houstonians have
turned to for nostalgia as much
as the restaurant’s chicken fried
steaks, is featured among a
handful of U.S. cities in the
Comfort Food America tour on
“Good Morning America.”
The ABC network spotlight-
ed the restaurant, 3606 Bisson-
net, on Wednesday morning af-
ter airing previous episodes in
Cleveland and Denver.
Before diving into fried
chicken with a side of mac and
cheese for breakfast, ABC cor-
respondent Ike Ejiochi shared a
slice of the restaurant’s history
in Houston and ties to the com-
munity, where Houstonians
Harris County pedestrian bridge named after late rabbi
By Shakari Briggs
STA FF WRIT E R
A Harris County bridge will
bear the name of Rabbi Samuel
Karff, honoring the life and leg-
acy of a man remembered for
being an advocate for civil
rights and social justice.
County officials made the an-
nouncement during a ceremony
on Tuesday at the site of the
bridge, which will span over
Brays Bayou from North Braes-
wood Boulevard to South
Braeswood Boulevard.
“The late Rabbi Samuel Egal
Karff dedicated his life to foster-
ing understanding, unity and
justice while faithfully serving
Congregation Beth Israelth—
the oldest Jewish congregation
in Houston,” said Harris Coun-
ty Commissioner Rodney Ellis
in a statement. “It is our pro-
found honor to dedicate this pe-
destrian bridge in his memory
— a bridge that symbolizes the
connections he tirelessly
worked to build across commu-
nities.”
Karff’s children — Amy Karff
Halevy, Elizabeth Karff Seitz
and Rachel Karff Weissenstein
— joined county officials at the
event to pay homage to their fa-
ther who died back in August of
2020. The Rabbi Samuel Karff
Bridge will serve as a pedestri-
an and bike bridge in Meyer-
land, a news release says. Con-
struction on the bridge began in
January and should wrap up
sometime in the fall, according
to officials.
“My sisters and I often say
that we hit the jackpot in the
parent department,” said Liz
Karff Seitz, daughter of Samuel
Deputies shoot, kill armed man after chase on northeast side
By Samantha Ketterer
Harris County deputies fatal-
ly shot a man Tuesday at the end
of a police chase in northeast
Houston.
Authorities were unable to lo-
cate one of the fleeing vehicle’s
occupants, who took off on foot
in the East Little York area,
HPD Assistant Chief Alvaro
Guzman said. Three others
AROUND THE AREA
CHANNELVIEW
Man accused in death
of transgender woman
A 54-year-old man has been
arrested in the shooting death of
a transgender woman in 2021,
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonza-
lez said.
James McNutt was arrested
and charged with murder in the
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have been ordering dishes from
a cafeteria-like setting since
1941.
“From meatloaf and mashed
potatoes to some fried chicken,
Texans have been lining up for
Cleburne’s most comforting
dishes,” Ejiochi said.
“Good Morning America”
has spotlighted Houston’s culi-
nary scene over the past few
years, from crowning Bun B’s
Trills Burgers as the best in the
country to highlighting Dande-
lion Cafe as among the coun-
try’s best breakfast joints.
The show gave Cleburne
owner George Mickelis a plaque
with a gold-colored plate and
fork for being featured on his
Comfort Food America tour.
The roughly five-minute seg-
ment pointed to Cleburne’s fo-
cus on its comfort food, “where
Karff. “We truly did. We all
adored our father, loved him
deeply and we miss him terri-
bly.”
In addition to his work
throughout the community,
Karff served as the senior rabbi
at Congregation Beth Israel.
Karff ministered to his flock for
nearly 25 years. He graduated
from Harvard University and
became ordained at Hebrew
Union College. Karff along with
Archbishop Joseph A. Fioren-
za, a Catholic and Rev. William
A. Lawson, a Baptist, fought for
were taken into custody.
The chase began at 4083
Orange Grove Drive. when dep-
uties recognized a Chevy Mali-
bu described in a suspicious
persons call, Guzman said. The
call had involved a disturbance
between two vehicles, at least
one of which reportedly had
weapons, he said.
Deputies pursued the Malibu
until it wrecked in a ditch at
death of Martina Caldera, 38.
On Dec. 6, 2021, Caldera was
found fatally shot by deputies
near an overpass on the East
Freeway at Sheldon Road in
Channelview. Investigators ini-
tially believed she was killed in a
car accident.
In 2022, Caldera’s brother told
the Houston Chronicle he be-
lieved she was shot somewhere
else and left on the overpass. Cal-
dera had 10 siblings, according to
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every day is Thanksgiving,” re-
maining popular in the commu-
nity as various food trends
come and go.
Nick and Pat Mickelis bought
the Cleburne Cafeteria in 1953,
when it was located downtown
at Cleburne and Fannin, from
owners Anabelle Collins and
Martha Cavanaugh, according
to the restaurant’s website.
They moved the restaurant to
its current location on Bisson-
net in 1969, and the Mickelis’
son George eventually took
over ownership and operation.
Two separate fires in 1990
and 2016 nearly ended the his-
toric restaurant’s run.
“Thank you for being a staple
in this place for 80 years,” Ejio-
chi said. “It’s phenomenal, and
I hope it goes on for 80 more
years.”
civil rights for more than 50
years.
“Dad was a scholar, preacher,
pastoral counselor, gifted writ-
er, lecturer and humanitarian,”
Karff Seitz said. “He was hum-
ble and kind and had a very gen-
tle and calming presence. From
the moment he opened his
mouth, he commanded your at-
tention.”
The project will make room
for additional recreational op-
portunities for area communi-
ties in connection to the Brays
Bayou Greenway, Ellis said in
3500 Polly St., Guzman said.
Five people in their late teens or
early 20s fled the vehicle, and
two were detained after a short
pursuit. A K-9 also caught a
third suspect, who was injured
with a dog bite, the assistant
chief said.
Two deputies located a fourth
suspect near 9700 Bertwood
and shot at him sometime before
2:15 p.m., Guzman said. Initial
a 2021 feature in the Baytown
Project.
HARRIS COUNTY
Woman charged after
theft of purse at grave
A woman arrested by Harris
County Precinct 6 and accused of
stealing a purse out of a woman's
car while she attended to her
daughter's gravesite is being in-
vestigated by Precinct 5 in11other
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
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Copyright 2024 Houston Chronicle Co.
Karen Warren/Staff file photo
Diners are served during Cleburne Cafeteria’s soft opening in
November 2017. Fire destroyed the local favorite in 2016.
Rabbi Samuel
Karff of
Congregation
Beth Israel
explores how
religious leaders
can teach and
preach about
divine healing in
a lecture to
Houston’s annual
Clergy Institute
in 1999. A
Meyerland
bridge will bear
the name of
Karff, honoring
the life and
legacy of a man
remembered for
being an
advocate for civil
rights and social
justice.
Staff file photo
the news release. The bridge sion in action, bridging not just
will provide a safe route for stu- distances but also connecting
dents walking or biking to communities and enhancing
school to use along with easy ac- the Bayou Greenways system.”
cess to nearby businesses, li- Residents can also expect the
braries or parks, he added. construction of a 428 linear feet
“By investing in projects that of concrete trail section as part
connect neighborhoods, parks of the new venture.
and greenspaces, we continue “My office has prioritized ex-
to make progress toward a more panding equitable access to
accessible and equitable coun- green space and trails for all
ty,” said Beth White, Houston communities,” Ellis said. “This
Parks Board president and project is one more critical piece
CEO, in a statement. “The dedi- of connecting this vast city with
cation of the Rabbi Karff Bridge quality green space and accessi-
is a poignant symbol of this mis- ble trails.”
reports have indicated that the Guzman said.
suspect had also fired a weapon, The chase prompted a lock-
said Tommy Diaz, assistant down at nearby Shadyvale Ele-
chief with the Harris County mentary, which has since been
Sheriff’s Office. lifted.
The man was taken to the The Houston Police Depart-
hospital in critical condition and ment will investigate the shoot-
died, authorities said. ing. The two deputies who dis-
Law enforcement officials charged their weapons are 10-
could not find the fifth person, and 11-year veterans of the sher-
although they do not believe he iff’s office. It is unclear whose
poses a threat to the community, gunfire struck the dead man.
cases. burglary.
Latoya White has been Precinct 5 said it was investi-
charged with burglary of a vehi- gating separate cases of burglary
cle and credit card abuse. Investi- where someone would break car
gators allege she broke into a windows, steal purses and then
woman's car last week to steal use credit cards to go shopping.
her purse and then attempted to When they heard about White's
use a credit card from the purse arrest Monday, the spokesperson
to purchase about $500 worth of said cross-referenced videos
items from a Walgreens. from those cases with images of
The woman whose purse was White, which led to them con-
stolen was cleaning her daugh- necting her to those cases.
ter's gravesite at the time of the From staff reports
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A3

Apple, other firms remain in Astroworld suit

By John Wayne Ferguson
STA FF WRIT E R
A Harris County District
court judge whittled down the
number of defendants named in
a civil lawsuit seeking damages
over the deaths and injuries
caused by the 2021 Astroworld
disaster.
Judge Kristen Hawkins’ or-
ders Monday didn’t let every
company and person out of the
massive civil case, however. Ap-
ple Inc., the technology giant,
and companies affiliated with
Astroworld headliner Travis
Scott, were denied in their bids
to be dismissed, according to
court records.
The orders came ahead of a
trial anticipated to begin in May
seeking damages over the death
of one of the 10 people killed in
the crowd crush tragedy. That
trial is expected to be a bellweth-
er for the hundreds of other law-
suits filed in connection the con-
cert.
In recent months, some of the
dozens of named defendants
have sought to be dismissed
cords, a record label and one of
the producers for the concert;
and Paradocs, a medical service
provider.
Darryl Platt, Live Nation’s di-
rector of operations, was also
dismissed from the lawsuit, ac-
cording to court records.
Another order denied Apple
Inc.’s motion for summary judg-
ment. Also kept in the case, for
now, were Front Gate Ticketing
Solutions, a promoter and the
concert’s official ticket provider;
and four concert security com-
panies: Contemporary Services
Corporation, Apex Security
Group, AJ Melio and Associ-
Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer ates, and Valle Services.
Judge Kristen Hawkins presides over the Astroworld concert Travis Scott-connected busi-
death case in 2022. She dismissed some defendants Monday. nesses LaFlame Enterprises
and Catcus Jack Enterprises al-
from the matter, arguing that Hawkins’ first round of or- so had their requests for sum-
plaintiffs hadn’t done enough to ders Monday didn’t go into spe- mary judgement denied, ac-
connect their role in the concert cifics about why some compa- cording to court records.
to the deaths and injuries. nies were dismissed and others Apple in a March filing ar-
Some of the defendants’ law- remained. gued that its role in planning the
yers made their cases for remov- She signed orders dismissing concert was limited, and said
al in court last week. Others, in- Eighteentwentysix, a company the company had only agreed to
cluding Travis Scott’s attorneys, that produces concert tours; Re: livestream Travis Scott’s perfor-
are expected to seek similar Source Event Group, which de- mance at NRG Park three days
judgments Monday. signs concert stages; Epic Re- before the festival was sched-
uled to begin. The plaintiffs’
lawyers objected to Apple’s ar-
guments, saying the company’s
cameras crowded the already-
packed concert area and con-
tributed to the crowd crush.
The plaintiffs said LaFlame
and Cactus Jack had critical
roles in promoting the concert,
and making it a financial suc-
cess — and that they were in-
volved in securing the stream-
ing contract and in the design of
the stage where the crush hap-
pened
The original lawsuit had tar-
geted three other Scott-owned
entities, including his charitable
foundation, but the plaintiffs
told the court that that they had
dropped those claims.
The first civil trial connected
to Astroworld is expected to be-
gin in May.
No criminal charges were ev-
er filed over the concert. Last
year, a Harris County grand jury
declined to bring charges
against a group of people, in-
cluding Scott, who were in-
volved in the planning of the
concert.

Council rejects CenterPoint’s $5 gas rate hike proposal

By Yilun Cheng
STA FF WRIT E R
City Council unanimously
denied CenterPoint Energy’s re-
quest for a natural gas rate hike,
following city consultants’ con-
cerns over the fairness of a pro-
posal that would raise monthly
bills for Houstonians while low-
ering them for customers in oth-
er parts of Texas.
The Houston-based utility gi-
ant first proposed the rate
change last October. Under the
plan, Houston-area customers
would see their monthly gas
bills increase by an average of
$5, a move that is expected to
generate an additional $59 mil-
lion in revenue, the council
meeting agenda shows.
On Wednesday, City Council
voted to reject the proposal
without any discussion. Center-
Point plans to appeal the city’s
decision with the Texas Rail-
road Commission, the state
agency overseeing the oil and
gas industry, CenterPoint
spokesperson Logan Anderson
said. The company has already
submitted a parallel request to
the commission, and the two
cases will be consolidated.
CenterPoint has around 1.9
million gas customers in Texas,
with more than 1.1 million in the
Greater Houston area, accord-
ing to its filing with the Railroad
Commission.
The utility company current-
ly has four divisions in Texas –
serving the Houston, Texas
Coast, South Texas and Beau-
mont areas – each with its own
operations and pricing struc-
tures. As part of its ongoing re-
City Council members, seen here at a meeting in January, voted unanimously Wednesday against
a natural gas rate hike following consultants’ concerns over fairness of the proposal.
quest, the company proposes to
merge them into a single entity.
Anderson said the goal is to
improve efficiency and “avoid
unreasonable differences in
rates among localities.” Adopt-
ing a statewide rate structure,
however, would have varying ef-
fects on existing operations.
Residential customers in the
Houston and Texas Coast divi-
sions would see their gas bills go
up, whereas those in Beaumont
and South Texas would benefit
from rate decreases. Additional-
ly, Houston-area customers are
expected to generate significant-
ly larger revenue increases for
CenterPoint than those in the
Texas Coast division.
Alton Hall, the city’s legal
counsel, said the company’s
plan unfairly shifts the burden
of higher per-customer service
costs in more sparsely populat-
ed areas onto Houstonians.
“Houston is absorbing and, in
fact, subsidizing issues with the
cost structure in the other two
divisions that are getting de-
creases,” Hall said during a
council hearing two weeks ago.
Jon Shapley/Staff photographer
Council Member Martha Cas-
tex-Tatum highlighted the addi-
tional financial strain this rate
increase would impose on
Houston residents, who are al-
ready grappling with high infla-
tion and recent hikes in their
water and electric bills.
“I think everyone around the
table is very focused on our con-
stituents and their finances,”
Castex-Tatum said.
Patrick Peters, the company’s
vice president for regulatory
services, said the consolidation
would bring long-term benefits
to all Texas customers, includ-
ing Houstonians.
“That does allow us to be
more efficient in the way we op-
erate, rather than maintaining
these boundaries that were set
45 years ago. It also helps us to
be more responsive to our cus-
tomers if there’s an event on the
gas system,” Peters said during
the hearing.
Utility companies typically
adjust their rates every few
years to reflect the changing
costs of running their systems.
Hall pointed out that although
CenterPoint has not initiated a
full rate case for several years,
there have been six interim rate
adjustments since 2017, amount-
ing to nearly $100 million in ad-
ditional funding for Center-
Point’s services.
“It’s not as though we’ve been
waiting since 2016, 2017 with
stagnant rates,” Hall said, add-
ing that these interim rate hikes
weaken the case for a substan-
tial rate increase this time.
Anderson said the adjust-
ments only allowed CenterPoint
to recover the costs of incremen-
tal capital investments, which
were necessary to “consistently
supply our customers with de-
pendable natural gas service.”
She noted CenterPoint re-
cently updated the Railroad
Commission on the significant
progress the company and
Houston have made toward a
settlement and asked the agency
to extend all current deadlines
to allow for more time for nego-
tiations. If they do not reach an
agreement, the agency is expect-
ed to rule on the case in the sum-
mer.

Hidalgo calls Paxton suit challenging income program ‘cruel’

By Jen Rice
STAFF WRIT E R
Harris County leaders are
defending their new guaran-
teed income program after Tex-
as Attorney General Ken Pax-
ton’s office sued to stop the ini-
tiative from going into effect,
accusing the attorney general of
targeting the Houston area
while overlooking similar pro-
grams in San Antonio, Austin
and El Paso.
At a news conference on
Wednesday, Harris County
Judge Lina Hidalgo called the
timing of the lawsuit “cruel”
and “unscrupulous,” alleging
Paxton’s office waited until re-
cipients had been notified they
had been selected for the pro-
gram before filing the lawsuit.
Harris County approved its
pilot program last June, which
aims to send $500 monthly pay-
ments for 18 months to around
1,900 low-income households.
Now, with recipients notified
and the first payments sched-
uled for later this month, Pax-
ton’s office has asked a Harris
County district court judge to
stop the checks from going out
and rule that the program is un-
constitutional under state law.
Commissioner Rodney Ellis
said it was clear the state had
become “too comfortable with
using people as props,” and
some of the county’s poorest
residents could pay the price.
Though the $20.5 million Up-
lift Harris program is funded
using a portion of the county’s
federal pandemic recovery dol-
lars, Paxton’s office is arguing
the program violates a state law
that prohibits the gift of public
funds to any individual.
Similar guaranteed income
programs in other parts of Tex-
as appear not to have drawn
Paxton’s scrutiny. San Antonio
launched the state’s first guar-
anteed income program in De-
cember 2020, Austin began its
$1.1 million pilot program in
September 2022 and, most re-
cently, El Paso County ap-
proved its guaranteed income
program in December.
But Harris County’s program
caught Paxton’s attention after
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a
Houston Republican, wrote to
Paxton in January asking him
to look into whether it is legal.
Bettencourt has spearheaded
numerous bills aimed at the
county and was successful in
his effort last year to pass a state
law abolishing the elections ad-
ministrator’s office only in Har-
ris County.
Harris County Attorney
Christian Menefee, who joined
Hidalgo on Wednesday, criti-
cized Bettencourt for flagging
the program, describing him as
“obsessed with Harris County
government.”
Hidalgo and Ellis both added
that Bettencourt’s objection to
the county’s plan to provide fi-
nancial support to residents in
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo shows the lawsuit filed by
Attorney General Ken Paxton during a Wednesday news conference.
need was hypocritical since his
Houston tax business received
a $623,500 paycheck protection
loan that was forgiven in 2020.
However, Bettencourt on
Tuesday argued the federal
loans were fundamentally dif-
ferent than the guaranteed in-
come program.
“That is a law that was
passed by a bipartisan Con-
gress … and signed into law by
the president,” Bettencourt
said.
Paxton’s lawsuit is part of a
broader movement to oppose
the guaranteed income pilot
programs that have emerged
around the country in the wake
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State lawmakers in Arizona, Io-
Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
wa and Wisconsin have intro-
duced legislation to prohibit
programs that were imple-
mented in Phoenix, Des Moines
and Madison. Wisconsin Gov.
Tony Evers, a Democrat, vetoed
the bill last year on the grounds
that he objected to the Legisla-
ture’s “continued efforts to arbi-
trarily restrict and preempt lo-
cal government partners across
our state.”
Paxton’s office also ques-
tioned the legality of the Uplift
Harris selection process, ac-
cording to the lawsuit filed
Tuesday.
In the first stage of the pro-
cess, some 6,000 eligible appli-
cants were randomly selected
from the over 82,000 applica-
tions received. Finally, around
1,900 participants were ran-
domly selected from that
group. To be eligible, applicants
had to live below 200% of the
federal poverty line and live in
one of 10 high-poverty zip codes
or participate in the ACCESS
Harris County public health
program.
The Attorney General’s of-
fice argued Uplift Harris violat-
ed state law because it used a
“random lottery” to select par-
ticipants, a method employed
in numerous programs includ-
ing the Houston Housing Au-
thority’s public housing wait-
list and the City of Austin’s
rental assistance fund.
Though Menefee, Ellis and
Hidalgo vowed to defend the
program all the way to the Tex-
as Supreme Court, they said
Wednesday they doubted that
the state’s top justices – all of
whom are elected Republicans
– would deliver a ruling that
rises above partisan politics.
Menefee admitted he is “less
than confident” that the county
will receive fair treatment, par-
ticularly from Texas Supreme
Court Justice John Devine, who
made headlines last week for
remarks he made at a conserva-
tive event that included criti-
cism of Harris County.
Bettencourt thanked Devine
during the speech, telling the
justice, “You’re one of the rea-
sons why we do win fights at
the Supreme Court.”
A4 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
AROUND THE NATION
& WORLD
MISSISSIPPI
6 ex-officers get new
sentences for torture
Already sentenced to many
years in federal prison, six white
former Mississippi law enforce-
ment officers have been sen-
tenced in state court for their
roles in torturing two Black
men.
The state sentences handed
down Wednesday didn’t add
time to the federal prison terms
the defendants had already
received. But the victims’ sup-
porters hailed the yearslong
sentences, saying they took on
unique importance in Mis-
sissippi, where local residents
saw echoes of the state’s history
of racist atrocities by people in
authority.
All six defendants admitted to
subjecting the victims to numer-
ous acts of torture last year after
a neighbor complained that the
men were staying in a home
with a white woman.
NEW YORK
Court again rejects
Trump trial delay
For the third straight day, a
New York appeals court has
rejected an attempt by Donald
Trump’s lawyers to delay the
former president’s hush money
criminal trial.
Trump’s lawyers had argued
that the trial should be put off
indefinitely while they fight to
remove the judge, Juan M. Mer-
chan, and challenge several of
his rulings. Justice Ellen Gesm-
er’s ruling is another loss for
Trump, who has tried repeated-
ly to get the trial postponed.
Barring another appeal, the
decision means the first of
Trump’s four criminal trials will
start as scheduled on Monday.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
250 cherry trees a gift
for 250th anniversary
Japan is giving the U.S. 250
new cherry trees to help replace
the hundreds that will be ripped
out this summer as construction
crews work to repair the crum-
bling seawall around the capital
Tidal Basin.
Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida made the an-
nouncement Wednesday during
an official visit to Washington
where he was honored with a
state dinner at the White House.
President Joe Biden says the
gift is meant to mark the 250th
anniversary of the U.S. in 2026.
The cherry trees were first
planted in 1912 as a symbol of
friendship between Japan and
the U.S.
AUSTRALIA
Biden may end push
to prosecute Assange
President Joe Biden said
Wednesday that he is consider-
ing a request from Australia to
drop the decadelong U.S. push
to prosecute Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange for publishing a
trove of American classified
documents.
For years, Australia has
called on the U.S. to drop its
prosecution against Assange, an
Australian citizen who has
fought U.S. extradition efforts
from prison in the U.K.
Assange has been indicted on
17 espionage charges and one
charge of computer misuse over
his website’s publication of a
trove of classified U.S. docu-
ments almost 15 years ago.
American prosecutors allege
that Assange, 52, encouraged
and helped U.S. Army intelli-
gence analyst Chelsea Manning
steal diplomatic cables and
military files that WikiLeaks
published, putting lives at risk.
Australia argues there is a
disconnect between the U.S.
treatment of Assange and Man-
ning. Then-President Barack
Obama commuted Manning’s
35-year sentence to seven years,
which allowed her release in
2017.
Assange’s supporters say he
is a journalist protected by the
First Amendment who exposed
U.S. military wrongdoing in
Iraq and Afghanistan that was
in the public interest.
A British court ruled last
month that Assange can’t be
extradited to the United States
on espionage charges unless
U.S. authorities guarantee he
won’t get the death penalty.
From wire reports
NATION & WORLD
U.S. military vet who fled charge
apparently joined Russian army
By Steve LeBlanc
and Nick Perry
AS S OCIATED PR E S S
BOSTON — A U.S. Air Force
veteran who fled a charge of pos-
sessing sexually explicit images
of a child told his lawyer he
joined Russia’s army, and video
appears to show him signing
documents in a military enlist-
ment office in Siberia.
Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former
elected official in a small Massa-
chusetts city, was expected to en-
ter a guilty plea in Rhode Island
in early January but did not
show up to court, according to
prosecutors. Last week, video
surfaced that appears to show
the 28-year-old in Russia and ex-
pressing support for the coun-
try’s war against Ukraine — foot-
age that could be used to pro-
mote Moscow’s narrative of the
conflict.
His lawyer, John M. Cicilline,
told the Boston Globe that he
called Puello-Mota on Jan. 8, the
day before he was expected to
plead guilty. According to prose-
cutors, he boarded a flight from
Washington, D.C., to Istanbul,
Turkey, a day earlier.
“He said, ‘I joined the Russian
army,’ or something like that,”
Cicilline told the Globe. “I
thought he was joking.”
Cicilline said Puello-Mota
wanted a career in politics and
thought the criminal case had
ruined his life.
“I’m sure he joined the Rus-
UNITED IN PRAYER
Muslim devotees offer Eid al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of Ramadan, the
Islamic holy month of fasting, on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya. Muslims around
the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, but events are overshadowed by
the worsening crisis in Gaza and Israel’s expected military offensive in Rafah
after six months of war. “We should not forget our brothers and sisters in
Palestine,” an imam in Kenya said.
BRIAN INGANGA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prosecutor: Man built ‘alternate
reality’ to gain sex and money
By Rebecca Boone
ASS OCIATE D PR E S S
BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho
man charged with three mur-
ders in an unusual doomsday-
focused case crafted an alter-
nate reality so that he could ful-
fill “his desire for sex, money
and power,” a prosecutor told
jurors Wednesday morning.
“When he had a chance at
what he considered his rightful
destiny, he made sure no person
and no law would stand in his
way,” prosecutor Rob Wood
said.
Chad Daybell, 55, is facing
charges of first-degree murder,
insurance fraud, and conspira-
cy to commit murder and grand
theft in connection with the
deaths of Tammy Daybell, 7-
year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and
16-year-old Tylee Ryan. Last
year, their mother, Vallow Day-
bell, received a life sentence
without parole for the killings.
Prosecutors say the couple
justified the three killings by
creating a detailed and apoca-
lyptic belief system, part of an
sian army because he didn’t want
to register as a sex offender,” Ci-
cilline said.
A person answering Cicilline’s
office phone said he would not
make any additional comment.
Puello-Mota served in the U.S.
Air Force and deployed to Af-
ghanistan in 2015, when he was
19, media releases show. He later
served with the Massachusetts
Air National Guard’s 104th
Fighter Wing as a security forces
airman.
Puello-Mota was arrested in
2020 in Warwick, R.H., after he
called to report a stolen gun and
police said they found nude im-
ages of a 17-year-old girl on his
phone. He was charged with one
count of having sexually explicit
images of a child. He was later al-
so charged with trying to deceive
prosecutors and his command-
ers about the case. Cicilline told
the Globe he reached a deal to
plead guilty to all charges in ex-
change for an 18-month prison
elaborate
scheme to elim-
inate any obsta-
cles to their re-
lationship and
to obtain money
from survivor
Daybell benefits and life
insurance. Val-
low Daybell referred to her two
youngest kids as zombies, one
friend testified during her trial.
In opening statements, Day-
bell’s attorney argued that his
client lived a normal, faith-fo-
cused life before he met Lori
Vallow Daybell.
In fall 2019, prosecutors say
he tried to fraudulently collect
on his late wife’s life insurance
policy, and Vallow Daybell con-
tinued to collect both children’s
social security benefits after
they died.
Chad Daybell has pleaded
not guilty to the charges, and
the trial is expected to take
more than two months. Prose-
cutors said they will seek the
death penalty if Daybell is con-
victed.
The grim story began in the
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
An image
posted on
pro-Kremlin
media sites
appears to
show U.S. Air
Force veteran
Wilmer
Puello-Mota
in a military
enlistment
office in
Siberia.
Associated Press
sentence.
Videos surfaced on Russian
social media and local television
in March showing the blurred
image of a man in a uniform in
what appears to be a war zone
displaying the U.S. flag.
In video posted online last
week, a man who looks like Puel-
lo-Mota talks directly to the cam-
era, speaking in English over
background music and Russian
subtitles and discussing a mili-
tary operation.
President Vladimir Putin has
eliminated nearly all indepen-
dent media in Russia — and state
media aligned regularly trumpet
Russian victories in Ukraine, de-
nounce the West and otherwise
amplify good news while ignor-
ing the bad.
The Rhode Island attorney
general’s office said in a court
document last month that it had
received images purporting to
show Puello-Mota in Ukraine
and Russia.
fall of 2019, when the two chil-
dren were reported missing
and police launched a search
that spanned several states.
Vallow Daybell and Chad
Daybell were having an affair
when both of their spouses died
unexpectedly, investigators
said. Vallow Daybell’s husband
was shot to death by her broth-
er Alex Cox in Arizona in July
2019. Several months later, in
October 2019, Tammy Daybell
died. An autopsy later deter-
mined she died of asphyxiation.
Vallow and Chad married
just two weeks after Tammy
Daybell died, drawing suspi-
cion from authorities.
Friends later told detectives
that Vallow Daybell and Chad
Daybell believed they had been
reincarnated and were tasked
with gathering people before a
biblical apocalypse.
Wood said Chad Daybell de-
scribed both children as being
possessed before they disap-
peared.
The bodies of the children
were eventually found buried
in Chad Daybell’s yard.
U.S. State Department offi-
cials said they were aware of me-
dia reports about Puello-Mota
fleeing to Russia but have had no
contact with him and have no
way to confirm those reports.
The most recent video appears
to show Puello-Mota entering a
building in Khanty-Mansiysk
and shaking the hand of a uni-
formed man. At the end of the
video, he is seen signing a docu-
ment. According to a plaque on
the door, it’s a military recruit-
ment center run by the Russian
Defense Ministry.
“Obviously it’s a difficult situ-
ation. It’s war. It’s a special mil-
itary operation,” Puello-Mota
says in the video, adding that he
was lucky to be with “people
from the international brigade.”
Ian Garner, an assistant pro-
fessor of politics at Queen’s Uni-
versity in Canada, called it “a
huge propaganda opportunity”
for Russia.
“To be able to show off an
American citizen who has cho-
sen to reinvent themselves, to re-
form themselves and become a
part of the Russian war machine
seems to provide evidence that
Russia is winning a much bigger
spiritual war,” he said.
Puello-Mota held the rank of
technical sergeant when he
forced to leave the guard in Octo-
ber 2022 because of the criminal
case, said Don Veitch, a spokes-
person for the Massachusetts
National Guard. His security
clearance was also revoked.
General to
Congress:
Ukraine
needs ammo
By Tara Copp
AS S O C I ATE D P RE S S
WASHINGTON — The top
general for U.S. forces in Europe
told Congress on Wednesday
that Ukraine will be outgunned
10-1 by Russia within a matter of
weeks if Congress does not find a
way to approve sending more
ammunition and weapons to Ky-
iv soon.
The testimony from Army
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of
U.S. European Command, and
Celeste Wallander, assistant sec-
retary of defense for internation-
al security affairs, comes as Con-
gress enters pivotal weeks for
voting for aid for Ukraine, but
there’s no guarantee funding will
be improved in time.
Ukraine has been rationing its
munitions as Congress has de-
layed passing its $60 billion sup-
plemental bill.
“They are now being outshot
by the Russian side 5-1. So the
Russians fire five times as many
artillery shells at the Ukrainians
than the Ukrainians are able to
fire back. That will immediately
go to 10-1 in a matter of weeks,”
Cavoli said.
Republican House Speaker
Mike Johnson has been trying to
find a way forward for the bill
that would fund new rounds of
munitions production at U.S.
firms to enable the Pentagon to
then rush more munitions to
Ukraine. Johnson is trying to
bring it to the floor for a House
vote, but he is facing concerns
from members who cite domestic
needs, including border security.
The speaker is also facing a
threat to his leadership role from
his far-right flank by Georgia Re-
publican Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene who has called for his
ouster over the issue.
While the political battles on
Capitol Hill continue, the dire
battlefield situation in Ukraine
worsens.
Cavoli told the lawmakers that
in this conflict, the U.S. flow of
155mm artillery shells has been a
lifeline. “The biggest killer on the
battlefield is artillery. In most
conflicts, but in this one definite-
ly. And should Ukraine run out,
they would run out because we
stopped supplying — because we
supply the lion’s share of that,”
Cavoli said.
Russia’s own production of
missiles has ramped up and can
launch large-scale attacks every
few days.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
HISD to rethink two English-only tracks
By Sam González Kelly
STAFF WRIT E R
Houston ISD’s appointed Su-
perintendent Mike Miles said
Monday that he will ask the dis-
trict’s Board of Managers to walk
back plans to add English-only
pre-kindergarten tracks at the
Helms and Wharton dual-lan-
guage schools at the board’s
monthly meeting on Thursday.
The district had previously
planned to open English-only
tracks at the popular Spanish im-
mersion schools as part of its ef-
forts to expand pre-kindergarten
offerings across the city, saying
the move was necessary to ac-
commodate families zoned to
those campuses. The agenda for
Thursday’s board meeting, how-
ever, now includes items to desig-
nate Helms and Wharton as
“separate and unique schools,”
which would allow them to skirt
those requirements by moving to
an application-only model for all
students.
The superintendent’s recom-
mendation comes after intense
pushback from parents who in-
sisted that the schools retain their
unique Spanish-language im-
mersion models. Over two dozen
parents spoke at last week’s
board workshop to defend their
schools’ dual-language programs
and plead with district leaders to
back down on the decision.
“I’m persuaded by some of the
comments from the board meet-
ing, but also others that I’ve
heard, that they have a great cul-
ture right now — a dual-language
culture, not an English-only cul-
ture, and that they have really
good programming and they’ve
been successful, they’ve been
thriving,” Miles said.
While HISD offers dual-lan-
guage options at 80 of its 274 cam-
puses, Helms and Wharton are
unique in that they offer school-
wide immersion, in which native
Spanish speakers are integrated
BONFIRE
From page A1
for decades, drawing massive
crowds when they annually
burned the pile ahead of the
A&M-UT football game.
“The members of the commit-
tee and I are extremely sensitive
to your loss,” Regent John Bell-
inger wrote in a letter to a vic-
tim’s family, which was first ob-
tained by the Texas Tribune. “I
do not want to reopen the many
wounds that you have but it is
important for me to have your
opinion.”
Texas A&M discontinued Ag-
gie Bonfire after 1999, when the
pile of 500 logs fell during con-
struction. Students began hold-
ing an unsanctioned, off-cam-
pus bonfire in 2002, and Bellin-
ger appealed in his letter to the
victim’s families as the father of
a student who participated in
the unsanctioned building.
“The bonfire has minimal
oversight for safety measures
and there is a concern that even
though this is not a university
sanctioned event, it still in-
TORNADO
From page A1
early-morning storm produced
a small tornado.
“There’s not much of a track
and it’s not very wide, so we
haven’t yet determined exactly
where it started, where it end-
ed, but there’s not a lot of dam-
age on either side,” he said.
The storm broke the win-
dows at the Firestone and then
strong winds swirled into the
building and peeled off the
roof, causing the outer wall to
collapse, according to Evans.
The tornado started on nearby
Mason Road, came into the
parking lot and tore up the
building, he said.
Robert Pena, 53, said the
Firestone building had been
there since the 1980s.
“I feel bad for the people that
had their cars in (the Firestone
building),” said Pena, who was
at the strip center near South
Mason Road and Kingsland
Boulevard.
Nearby, the sports bar’s win-
dows were all shattered.
Romero Sanchez of ESD 48
said his department was first
on the scene after receiving a
call at 3:30 a.m.
“Driving down the road, we
saw the building had col-
lapsed,” Sanchez said. He said
with native English speakers in
every classroom and share the
same programming, which is
split between the two languages.
The majority of dual-language
programs at other HISD campus-
es operate as an individual track
within the broader school sys-
tem, or serve only emergent bilin-
gual students, meaning students
whose first language is not En-
glish.
Parents celebrated the super-
intendent’s proposal to backtrack
on the English-only pre-kinder-
garten classes, which they said
would have further limited dual-
language seats at the highly com-
petitive campuses and diluted the
immersion experience for cur-
rent students. Miles’ proposal for
Helms and Wharton marks the
second instance in the last month
in which the superintendent has
backed down on plans that drew
the ire of parents at high-per-
forming schools, many of whom
threatened to vote “no” on a likely
bond referendum this fall.
The first was Miles’ reversal on
his use of “proficiency screen-
ings” to determine whether prin-
cipals could keep their jobs next
year.
Brooke Longoria, the PTO
president at Helms, said that
while she was “cautiously opti-
mistic” about the development,
the community was “so apprecia-
tive of the board and Superinten-
dent Miles responding to com-
munity feedback and recognizing
the importance of Spanish im-
mersion in Houston ISD.”
Longoria, a critic of Miles’ ad-
ministration and frequent pres-
ence at HISD board meetings,
was one of the dozens of parents
who spoke at last Thursday’s
workshop. Others, however,
were new faces.
“Helms is a really tight-knit
community, we really support
one another and value our diver-
sity of voices. We wanted to go
out and say why our program is
volves several hundred TAMU
students who could potentially
be at risk,” he wrote.
Bellinger did not return re-
quests for comment. Nothing
has been decided out of the
many recommendations from
the rivalry committee, and Pres-
ident Mark A. Welsh is not ex-
pected to see a report until May
or June, university officials said.
“President Welsh charged the
Rivalry Committee to explore
options and recommend activi-
ties as we welcome UT into the
SEC,” said Susan Ballabina,
Welsh’s chief of staff. “The com-
mittee will bring those ideas to
President Welsh in May. After
the president is briefed, he will
share his decisions on ideas that
will be implemented.”
Aggie Bonfire was among the
most famous of A&M’s many
traditions, beginning in 1909
and continuing for nine decades
under the tutelage of student
construction workers who pre-
pared year-round for the event.
They amassed huge crowds
ahead of the rivalry football
game and lit the stack to sym-
bolize Aggies’ “burning desire”
Wednesday’s storm broke the windows at the Firestone on
Mason Road in Katy, and strong winds then peeled off the roof.
the crew did not see anyone at
the scene while checking the
perimeter and make sure utili-
ties were cut off.
Jarrell, who had been sleep-
ing in his Nissan, captured the
storm’s impact on video, where
he is heard saying the Firestone
was destroyed.
In the parking lot of the strip
center, a furniture moving
truck was lying on its side.
Some of the debris from the col-
lapsed buildings was spread
out of the parking lot or sitting
A dual-language kindergarten student colors her worksheet in
October 2023 at Patterson Elementary. The HISD board is set to
rethink English-only pre-K tracks at Helms and Wharton schools.
worth preserving,” she said.
Miles said the initial imple-
mentation of English-only tracks
was part of the district’s pre-kin-
dergarten expansion, which aims
to add hundreds of more seats to
the district’s early childhood edu-
cation program. He said the dis-
trict will now look to shift those
pre-kindergarten seats for zoned
families to other schools near
Helms and Wharton.
The district did not specify
which schools would accept the
neighborhood students previous-
ly zoned to Helms and Wharton.
Former HISD trustee Judith
Cruz, the parent of an eighth-
grader at Wharton, said the move
to designate both schools as “sep-
arate and unique” is long over-
due, given how competitive en-
rollment at both campuses has
become, and said that school
leaders at Wharton have been
pushing for the distinction for
years.
“For whatever reason, the re-
volving door of (HISD) leader-
ship has made it really hard (to
get the separate and unique des-
ignation), so the fact that from
one week to the next, this admin-
to beat the Longhorns.
The 1999 bonfire lighting nev-
er occurred, and the collapse
still leaves a major mark at Tex-
as A&M. The university opened
a memorial at the site of the
wreckage five years later, and
the university settled the last of
the lawsuits surrounding the
deaths in 2014.
That agreement included a
provision that any return of the
tradition to campus would
come with external oversight
from architectural and engi-
neering professionals, Fort
Worth attorney Darrell Keith
told the Fort Worth Star-Tele-
Jon Shapley/Staff photographer
in a pile.
Stores in the shopping center
remained closed Wednesday as
owners and managers awaited
inspection by the Harris Coun-
ty engineering department be-
fore allowing workers and cus-
tomers back in.
Hein Pham, whose family
has operated a laundromat at
the center for 10 years, said she
had never witnessed anything
like this before.
“Luckily, we have a very good
landlady, and she’s already
Yi-Chin Lee/Staff file photo
istration was able to present that
recommendation to the board is
really exciting,” Cruz said.
Neither principal at Wharton
or Helms returned a request for
comment.
For zoned parents at the dual-
language schools, however, the
development is bittersweet. Eliza-
beth Carlson is the mother of a
kindergartner who started at
Helms this year because she was
zoned to the school. While the
separate and unique designation
wouldn’t affect current students,
it could put her youngest child’s
enrollment in jeopardy when it
comes time to apply for pre-kin-
dergarten at Helms, since the
school would no longer have to
set aside seats for zoned students.
Though Carlson supports the
pending removal of the English-
only track at Helms, she ques-
tioned why the district felt the
need to implement it in the first
place, if zoned families were al-
ready being adequately served by
the dual-language program.
HISD data shows that emergent
bilingual students in dual-lan-
guage programs performed bet-
ter on end-of-year assessments
The 1999
collapse still
leaves a
major mark
at Texas
A&M. The
university
opened a
memorial at
the site five
years later.
Associated Press
file photo
gram.
Keith, who represented some
of the victims’ family members,
said that he has not talked to
any of his clients about the po-
tential of resuming the tradition
on campus. But at the time of
the settlement, some were “ada-
mantly” opposed and others
were more open.
“My personal view was, from
the beginning, not against Bon-
fire at A&M, but was against fa-
tally defective Bonfire at A&M,”
Keith said Tuesday.
Bellinger, the regent, request-
ed a meeting in one letter to a
victim’s family, dated Jan. 11. He
helping organize cleanup ef-
forts,” Pham said, as HFD offi-
cers surveyed the washateria’s
shattered door.
Other crews that responded
to the scene included the West-
lake Fire Department, Houston
Fire Department, Community
Volunteer Fire Department,
Harris County ESD 48 Fire De-
partment, Harris County Fire
Marshal and Harris County
Sheriff ’s Office.
Harris County ESD 48 Assis-
tant Chief Mark Donovan said
Houston crews were called to
Katy because they had resourc-
es that could help “detect move-
ment in the building.”
“We were very fortunate this
didn’t happen just a few 100
yards farther down because
there are neighborhoods right
behind this shopping center,”
Evans said.
Firefighters treated the bar
owner for minor injuries but he
wasn’t taken to the hospital, ac-
cording to Harris County ESD
48 Fire Department. No other
injuries were reported, depart-
ment officials said.
Some of the nearby business-
es were closed at the time, Har-
ris County Fire Marshal Laurie
Christensen said.
Not only was Katy affected
by the weather, but more than
100,000 CenterPoint Energy
customers experienced power
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A5
than their counterparts in other
multilingual models, and had
higher passing rates on the En-
glish-language STAAR test than
the district average in both read-
ing and math.
“If they say we need to ensure
quality education for zoned stu-
dents, how is providing Spanish-
language instruction not doing
that?” Carlson said. “I do think
that HISD is taking the wrong
out here, they should be expand-
ing zoned dual-language and im-
mersion programs, not answer-
ing the call for more immersion
by eliminating zones.”
Miles said that there were “pol-
icy implications” to having a zon-
ed school versus a separate and
unique school, but did not elab-
orate on what specific policies the
district might be breaking by con-
tinuing to solely offer dual-lan-
guage programming at Helms
and Wharton without first desig-
nating them as separate and
unique.
“Helms and Wharton are very
unique schools, they’re dual-lan-
guage and you have to want to be
in a dual-language program and
follow that programming, so
that’s why we think they should
be separate and unique schools,”
Miles said.
Phase I of the pre-kindergar-
ten application closes April 22,
and families will learn about
their student’s placement by May
10, according to the district’s web-
site. They must accept their stu-
dent’s placement by May 30.
Other item’s on Thursday’s
board agenda include a motion to
establish an agreement with the
Southwest University of Political
Science and Law to create a Con-
fucius Institute at HISD, where
students would “receive instruc-
tion centered on Chinese lan-
guage and culture,” and an agree-
ment with Prairie View A&M
University to establish a teacher
and principal residency pro-
gram.
was in the preliminary stages of
considering how to provide
oversight of the bonfire and po-
tentially move the unsanctioned
event to West Campus or the
RELLIS property, he said.
Students might welcome pro-
fessional input but have at least
been adamant about construct-
ing the off-campus bonfire
themselves, said Dion McInnis,
an alumnus and member of the
A&M Student Bonfire Board of
Directors, which supports the
yearly event. That attitude will
continue no matter where the
bonfire is held, he said.
Since the 1999 tragedy, the
students have changed their
construction technique: The
pile still looks like its original
wedding cake design, but every
log on the inside now touches
the ground, McInnis said. The
new system of internal supports
also includes four poles tied
with steel to a center pole.
“What I’m always going to
believe in is a bonfire that is
built and led by students —
however that looks, wherever it
is, Bonfire is where the students
who are building it are,” he said.
outages in the Houston area
Wednesday morning. However,
the numbers have been de-
creasing. Some places had is-
sues of flooding and downed
trees due to the heavy rainfall
in high-risk areas.
Tornadoes aren’t new in Tex-
as. Harris County has had the
most tornadoes of any other
county in Texas with more than
240 since 1950, according to
Chronicle meteorologist Justin
Ballard.
“Many of the tornadoes that
strike Harris County are EF-0
or EF-1, though there are some
notable exceptions like the Jan-
uary 2023 tornado,” he said.
The state will provide re-
sources and increase the readi-
ness level of the State Emergen-
cy Operations Center to Level
II.
The severe storms and flash
flooding warnings garnered at-
tention from Gov. Greg Abbott,
who directed the Texas Divi-
sion of Emergency Manage-
ment to deploy additional state
emergency response resources
prior to the storm.
“Texans in at-risk areas are
encouraged to remain weather-
aware, heed the guidance of
state and local officials, and
make an emergency plan to
protect themselves and their
loved ones,” Abbott said in a
news release.
A6 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

DEATHS Al-Aqsa TV said the brothers

From page A1
cease-fire talks, which appeared
to gain steam in recent days even
as the sides remain far apart on
key issues.
The slayings also come as Isra-
el is under intensifying pressure
— increasingly from its top ally,
the U.S. — to change tack in the
war, especially when it comes to
humanitarian aid for desperate
people in Gaza.
Haniyeh said Hamas would
not cave to the pressure leveled by
the strike on his family.
“The enemy believes that by
targeting the families of the lead-
ers, it will push them to give up
the demands of our people,” Ha-
niyeh told the Al Jazeera satellite
channel. “Anyone who believes
that targeting my sons will push
Hamas to change its position is
delusional.”
Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV station
aired footage of Haniyeh receiv-
ing the news of the deaths
through the phone of an aide
while visiting wounded Palestini-
ans who have been transported to
a hospital in Qatar, where he lives
in exile. Haniyeh nodded, looked
down at the ground and slowly
walked out of the room.
Hamas said Hazem, Amir and
Mohammed Haniyeh were killed
in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza
City, where Ismail Haniyeh is
originally from. The militant
group said three of Haniyeh’s
granddaughters and a grandson
were also killed, without disclos-
ing their ages.
were traveling with family mem-
bers in a single vehicle targeted by
an Israeli drone.
The Israeli military said Mo-
hammed and Hazem were
Hamas military operatives and
that Amir was a cell commander.
It said they had conducted mili-
tant activity in the central Gaza
Strip, without elaborating. It did
not comment about the grand-
children killed.
The strike on Haniyeh’s family
is the latest bloodshed in a war
with no end in sight.
Earlier, Israeli War Cabinet
minister Benny Gantz claimed
Hamas has been defeated mili-
tarily, although he also said Israel
will fight it for years to come.
“From a military point of view,
Hamas is defeated. Its fighters are
eliminated or in hiding” and its
capabilities “crippled,” Gantz said
in a statement to the media in the
southern Israeli city of Sderot.
But he added: “Fighting
against Hamas will take time.
Boys who are now in middle
school will still fight in the Gaza
Strip.”
Gantz reiterated the Israeli gov-
ernment’s commitment to go into
Rafah, the city at the far southern
tip of the Gaza Strip where more
than half the territory’s 2.3 million
people are now sheltering.
For Palestinians, the strike on
Haniyeh’s family darkened an al-
ready grim Eid al-Fitr holiday,
which ends the holy fasting
month of Ramadan. Palestinians
marked the holiday by visiting the
graves of loved ones killed in the
war. In the Jabaliya refugee camp
near Gaza City, people sat quietly
by graves surrounded by build-
ings destroyed in Israel’s offen-
sive, which was launched in re-
sponse to the deadly Hamas at-
tack on Oct. 7.
As misery in Gaza lingers, Isra-
el has faced increasing pressure,
including from its own top ally,
the U.S., to change tack in the war,
especially with regards to the de-
livery of humanitarian aid.
In an interview with Spanish-
language broadcaster Univision
that was recorded April 3 and
aired Tuesday, U.S. President Joe
Biden criticized Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling
of the war in Gaza and urged his
government to flood the belea-
guered territory with aid. He re-
peated that call again Wednesday,
saying the efforts to boost aid
were “not enough” and demand-
ing another entry point for trucks
in northern Gaza.
Gantz said Israel would soon
open a new crossing to serve
hard-hit northern Gaza, an early
target of Israel’s in the war.
After months of supporting the
“Anyone who
believes that
targeting my
sons will
push Hamas
to change its
position is
delusional,”
said Hamas
leader Ismail
Haniyeh.
Vahid Salemi/
Associated Press
war against Hamas, the White
House has ramped up pressure
on Israel to reach a cease-fire and
taken a sterner line that has rat-
tled the countries’ decades-old al-
liance and deepened Israel’s in-
ternational isolation over the war.
The most serious disagree-
ment has been over Israel’s plans
for an offensive in Rafah. The rift
was worsened by an Israeli air-
strike last week on an aid convoy
that killed seven workers with the
World Central Kitchen charity,
most of them foreigners. Israel
said the deaths were unintention-
al, but Biden was outraged.
Biden’s latest comments high-
light the differences between Isra-
el and the U.S. over humanitarian
aid to people in Gaza, where the
war has led to warnings of immi-
nent famine for more than a mil-
lion people.
“What he’s doing is a mistake. I
don’t agree with his approach,”
Biden told Univision when asked
if Netanyahu was prioritizing his
political survival over Israel’s in-
terest.
Israel halted aid deliveries to
Gaza in the early days of the war,
but under U.S. pressure has slow-
ly increased the number of trucks
allowed to enter the territory.
Still, aid groups say supplies
are not reaching people quickly
enough, blaming Israeli restric-
tions and noting that thousands
of trucks are waiting to enter Ga-
za. Countries have attempted less
efficient ways to deliver aid, in-
cluding airdrops and by sea.
Israel says it has opened up
more entry points for trucks to
enter, especially for northern Ga-
za. Israel also accuses aid groups
of being too slow to deliver aid
once it’s inside Gaza.
Aid groups say logistical issues
and the precarious security situa-
tion — underscored by the strike
on the aid workers — complicate
deliveries.
Netanyahu has vowed to
achieve “total victory,” pledging
to destroy Hamas’ military and
governing capabilities to prevent
a repeat of the Oct. 7 attacks and to
return hostages captured by
Hamas and others that day. He
says that victory must include an
offensive in Rafah.
Israel launched the war in re-
sponse to Hamas’ cross-border
assault in which militants killed
1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
took roughly 250 people hostage,
according to Israeli authorities.
More than 33,400 Palestinians
have been killed in the relentless
fighting, according to Gaza’s
Health Ministry, which doesn’t
differentiate between civilians
and combatants in its count but
says most of the dead are women
and children.

WATER stringent: they capped the two

From page A1
vironment last spring found
high levels of PFAS in some
Houston-area tap water sam-
ples.
Still, while lead author Kath-
erine E. Pelch said some Hous-
ton sites had “very high levels” —
more than 40 parts per trillion —
of a variety of PFAS, the combi-
nation detected in the study will
not violate the new rule. Many of
the 70 PFAS her team tested for
are not commonly monitored by
municipalities.
The new EPA regulations set
maximum individual contami-
nant levels that were much more
most-researched chemicals,
PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per
trillion and limited three others
to 10 parts per trillion.
The American Chemistry
Council, a trade association that
represents the interests of many
chemical companies headquar-
tered in the Houston area, ques-
tioned the costs of the new rules
as well as the underlying science.
“We strongly oppose this rule
and will be working with the
broad range of concerned stake-
holders to determine next steps,”
the council said in a statement,
adding that the group does sup-
port the establishment of a new
drinking water standard but
thinks the EPA got these stan-
dards wrong.
The trade group represents
major “forever chemicals” man-
ufacturers such as DuPont,
which was recently found by
U.N. advisers to have knowingly
contaminated a North Carolina
community for decades through
its PFAS production practices.
Nonprofits advocating for en-
vironmental policies applauded
the new rules in spite of their
limited applicability.
“EPA used the best available
science as the basis for setting
drinking water standards for
these toxic PFAS. … EPA’s action
today is the most significant step
to date to safeguard public
health from these pernicious for-
ever chemicals,” said Maria Doa,
the Environmental Defense
Fund’s senior director of chem-
icals policy.
The environmental group was
one of many calling on the feder-
al government for years to re-
duce the chemicals’ prevalence, a
broader movement that gained
traction following initial investi-
gations into DuPont and Che-
mours in the North Carolina
case.
EPA officials estimated that
up to 10% of the country’s public
drinking water systems subject
to the new rule will have to make
changes to comply with its lim-
its. The agency said its Water
Technical Assistance program
would help small, rural and dis-
advantaged communities make
the necessary updates, while the
White House announced $1 bil-
lion in newly available funding
to help with implementation —
part of a total of $9 billion in Bi-
partisan Infrastructure Law
funds for tackling PFAS and oth-
er “emerging contaminants” in
the nation’s tap water.
While the EPA estimated the
new cleanup will cost up to $1.2
billion annually nationwide, sev-
eral water systems groups ques-
tioned that estimate. The Amer-
ican Water Works Association
released a study last year esti-
mating the national cost for
treatment systems to reduce just
PFOA and PFOS to EPA rule
levels would surpass $3.8 billion
per year.

HUMBLE ISD applause.

From page A1
was necessary to litigate
the process with outside
counsel. Trustees an-
swered this call Tuesday,
voting 4-3 after a lengthy
debate to make the docu-
ments regarding the Title
IX investigations public.
“At some point, you as
our elected leaders have to
ask yourself how many
dollars we can pay —
knowing that every dollar
spent on these investiga-
tions could have been in-
vested in our teachers and
students,” said Oscar Silva,
a parent who serves as an
administrator of Humble
ISD’s parents social media
group.
Three trustees disagreed
vehemently with the call to
make the reports public be-
fore all of the relevant Title
IX investigations are com-
pleted and before the At-
torney General’s decision.
But the majority voted for
immediate transparency,
although it is not clear yet
when the documents will
be released to the public.
“We spent a lot of money
and that’s your money, you
deserve to know where it
went,” said trustee Michael
Grabowski. His remarks
were met with audience
Trustee Ken Kirchofer
noted that the outside
counsel fees may have
soared as high as $800,000
as of Tuesday.
Another agenda item
stated the board could take
action regarding the em-
ployment duties of the su-
perintendent, which some
trustees said caught them
by surprise when the agen-
da was posted over the
weekend. The board took
no action on that, after ac-
cepting Kite’s retirement.
Trustee Martina Lem-
ond Dixon said she was
“furious” that the superin-
tendent’s team had been at-
tacked by the public.
“This is truly unaccept-
able,” Dixon said. “In my
opinion we have the best
superintendent by far.”
Fagen makes $338,756 at
her post in Humble ISD,
which began after she was
appointed in July 2016. She
worked as superintendent
in Arizona’s Tucson Uni-
fied School District and
Colorado’s Douglas Coun-
ty School District for eight
years combined.
“I recused myself from
this matter on May 4, 2023,
and therefore, have made
no decisions regarding any
of the pending Title IX
complaints, including
spending,” Fagen said in a
statement after the meet-
ing.
Trustee Robert Sitton
publicly thanked her for
everything she had done as
superintendent of the dis-
trict.
The divided board has
become problematic for the
district, according to some
speakers at the meeting.
“Humble ISD Board of
Trustees and Superinten-
dent may be reigned upon
like Houston ISD if TEA
Commissioner Mike Mo-
rath sees the incompetence
that this board has dis-
played this past year,” said
Yavonne Martinez, refer-
ring to the recent Texas Ed-
ucation Agency takeover of
the state’s largest school
district.
Stakeholders asked the
board to return its focus to
students. Many in the audi-
ence reacted with frustra-
tion during ongoing board
discussion. One audience
member even brought pop-
corn to the meeting in a
red-striped plastic popcorn
box.
“What’s going on with
this board is unaccept-
able,” trustee Marques
Holmes said at the start of
the meeting.
“We’re not a team of
eight anymore,” Sitton ech-
oed. “It’s dysfunctional at
best.”

Humble
ISD
athletic
director
Troy Kite
will retire,
and the
district will
release a
Title IX
inquiry
into
complaints
that have
cost over
$500,000
to mediate.

Staff file photo

HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
F o u n d e d 1 9 0 1 • A H e a r s t N e w s pa p e r
Nancy A. Meyer
EDITORIAL
HISD should
keep bilingual
programs intact
Brooke Longoria loves her kids’ ele-
mentary school in the Heights and she
especially loves its schoolwide, dual-
language program.
“Our children who graduate from
Helms are biliterate, bilingual and bicul-
tural,” Longoria told the editorial board.
“We’re an English-speaking family,”
she continued, “but my husband is
Latino, so having the culturally affirm-
ing curriculum for my children is really
meaningful to my family.”
About half of the students at Helms
speak Spanish at home and half speak
English at home. Likewise more than
half of the campus is economically
disadvantaged, according to district
figures from last school year.
Longoria is an involved parent and
serves as president of the school’s par-
ent-teacher organization, so not much
gets past her. When she logged onto the
Houston ISD’s school choice portal this
spring; however, she saw something
curious: parents applying to the school
could now choose an English-only pre-
kindergarten class for their kids. Par-
ents at Wharton Dual Language Acade-
my in Fourth Ward saw the same thing.
Even a single English-only track at
these schools is a bad idea. At both
Helms and Wharton, immersion is the
point. Learners are mixed together in
the same classrooms, speaking mostly
Spanish in the early years, whether
they’re native Spanish speakers or not,
and moving toward a 50/50 split in the
later elementary years. This type of
quality dual language instruction is a
precious thing because immersion
builds fluency and confidence, along
with a supportive culture that nourishes
language acquisition.
“To add an English-only track would
really dilute the program,” said Longo-
ria.
While HISD has some 80 campuses
with so-called “bilingual” programs,
most only serve a portion of the stu-
dents in separate classrooms. Typically,
they’re students whose first language
isn’t English. This segregated approach
doesn’t build community as effectively,
and the educational outcomes aren’t as
good as campuswide ones that mix all
learners. Both national and local re-
search show the effectiveness of such
programs including one study of third-,
fourth- and fifth-graders in the Chicago
area, for example, that found that stu-
dents from all backgrounds enrolled in
so-called two-way immersion dual-
language programs performed better
than their peers on math assessments
and comparably or better on reading
assessments depending on grade level.
And a study of area districts found that
students in bilingual and dual-language
immersion programs were more likely
to become English proficient than their
peers in English as a second language
programs.
Introducing the new pre-K classes at
Helms and Wharton seemed an odd
move from a district under the control
of a state-appointed superintendent
who had actually prioritized dual lan-
guage and emphasized its evidence-
BIBLE VERSE
And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in
Egypt.
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Viewpoints c/o Houston Chronicle, 4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, Texas, 77027 or viewpoints@chron.com.
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OPINION
• PU BLIS H ER & PRE S I D EN T
SV P/ ED I T O R-I N-C H I EF
based academic benefits. Wouldn’t an
English-only pre-K mean eventually an
English-only kindergarten, first grade,
second grade and onward?
“There should be more dual-language
seats,” not fewer, said Longoria.
Dozens of parents agreed and spoke
up at last week’s Thursday board work-
shop. And in a tentative reversal, Super-
intendent Mike Miles seemed persuad-
ed, saying Monday that he planned to
ask the board of managers Thursday to
drop the English-only pre-K offerings.
That’s a welcome, and somewhat sur-
prising shift. Miles came into the job
saying he’d need to tune out the “noise”
of critics, and on certain changes —
reconfiguring libraries into team centers
and cutting librarians at the reconstitut-
ed New Education System schools, for
example — he’s tuned out everything, it
seems. Not this time.
The board of managers should cer-
tainly listen, as Miles has. The state
takeover is ostensibly about fixing
things in HISD that are broken, not
things that are working well. Both
Wharton and Helms earned A’s in the
state’s 2021-22 ratings, the most recent
available on the Texas Education Agen-
cy website.
Miles said he wants the two campus-
es to receive new designations, in part
to satisfy some legal fine print, that
would get rid of the attendance zone
and require all students to apply to get
in, including those who live nearby.
That change wouldn’t affect current
students, according to Chronicle report-
ing.
Fully supporting dual language at
Helms and Wharton isn’t exactly a hard
call to make.
We’re concerned, however, with how
this reversal came about. In March,
Miles changed course after the Chron-
icle reported on a list of principals who
weren’t offered mid-year contract re-
newals. His decision to not use mid-year
proficiency screenings to make termina-
tion decisions and instead wait for the
more comprehensive evaluations at the
end of the year, as we wrote at the time,
was more about optics than a real
change in his approach to rehiring
principals, but at least he appeared
willing to listen. Miles said the new
faces who showed up to speak at an
HISD board meeting influenced him.
Are Miles’ listening ears only attuned
to new voices, and if so, which? Are
they the ones representing the more
well-heeled neighborhoods? Or just the
ones whose concerns seem removed
from the chants of activists? It’s under-
standable for Miles to block out some of
the “noise” that’s motivated by politics
or coming from entities who wanted
him out before he even began. But those
groups, too, have valid concerns, in-
cluding about teacher turnover, a cul-
ture of fear, and the quality of special
education instruction.
Miles made the right call at Helms
and Wharton. We hope the board will
follow suit. And we hope both will keep
their listening ears on for all of HISD’s
students.
At Helms
Elementary,
about half the
students
speak
Spanish at
home and the
other half
English. The
school offers
dual-language
immersion
programs.
Contributor
file photo
Deuteronomy 10:19
Alejandra Matos
Jack Sweeney MA NAG I N G E D I TO R F O R AU D I E N C E
C HA I R MA N A ND C O N TE N T STRATE GY
Kelly Ann Scott Jennifer Chang
SE N I O R D I RE C TO R O F
EX P ER I MEN TAT I O N AN D I N N OVATI O N
OPINION
What I figured out
on my 70th birthday
By Anne Lamott
WA SH I N GT O N P O ST
I turned 70 today, a young age for an
older person to be, but it is the oldest I
have ever been by a long shot. It has
been well over six decades since I
learned in arithmetic how to carry the
one, and the rest has sped by like micro-
fiche.
One big juicy, messy, hard, joyful,
quiet life. That’s what my 70 years have
bequeathed me.
In my teens, already drinking and
drugging, I didn’t expect to see 21, and at
21, out of control, I didn’t expect to see
30. At 30, I had published three books
but, as a sober friend put it, was deterio-
rating faster than I could lower my stan-
dards.
Then at 32, I got clean and sober, the
miracle of my life from which all other
blessings flow. My son was born three
years later. The apple fell close to the
tree: My son went off the rails, too. He
and his partner had a baby at 19, which
had not been in my specific plans for
him, but you know the old line: If you
want to make God laugh, tell Her your
plans.
The baby, soon to get his learner’s
permit, turned out to be the gift of a
lifetime. My son got clean and sober 13
years ago, and the three of us grew up
together. Then after a long search, I met
this brilliant, kind writer guy and, three
days after I started getting Social Securi-
ty, I married him. Yesterday, I published
my 20th book, called “Somehow.” Today,
when I woke up, I was 70. Seventy!
I think that I am only 57, but the pa-
perwork does not back this up. I don’t
feel old, because your inside self doesn’t
age. When younger people ask me when
I graduated from high school and I say
1971, there’s a moment’s pause, as if this
is inconceivable and I might as well have
said 20 B.C. That’s when I feel my age.
But I smile winsomely because, while I
would like to have their skin, hearing,
vision, memory, balance, stamina and
focus, I would not go back even one
year.
My older friends and I know a thing
or two.
In general, though, I know how little I
know. This is a big relief.
I know that my lifelong belief, that to
be beyond reproach offers shelter and
protection, is a lie. Shelter is an inside
job, protection an illusion. We are as
vulnerable as kittens. Love fends off the
worst of it.
I know now that everyone is screwed
up to some degree, and that everyone
screws up. Phew. I thought for decades
it was just me, that all of you had been
issued owner’s manuals in second
grade, the day I was home with measles.
We are all figuring it out as we go. Aging
is grad school.
I know a very little bit about God, or
goodness, or good orderly direction. I
am a believer, but I don’t trouble myself
about ultimate reality, the triune nature
of the deity or who shot the Holy Ghost.
I say help a lot, and thanks, and are You
kidding me??? Have You been drinking
again, Friend?
I know about something I will call
cloak hope, most obvious to me in the
people who swooped in and helped me
get sober in 1986, and swooped down
again in 2012 for my child. In my case, an
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A7
Lisa Falkenberg
V P/ E D I TO R O F O P I N I O N
Raj Mankad
D E P U TY O P I N I O N E D I TO R
elderly sober woman named Ruby saw
me in my utter, trembly hopelessness —
afraid, smelly and arrogant; she swept in
and took me under her wing. She
wrapped her cloak around me and was
the counternarrative to all I believed at
32, i.e., that I needed to figure things out,
especially myself, and who to blame.
I know the beauty of shadows. Shad-
ows show us how life can gleam in con-
trast. Sunshine might be dancing out-
side the window, but the wonder is in
the variegation, with fat white clouds
bunched up on the right casting shad-
ows on the hills and gardens, and
brushstrokes of gray clouds on the left
and — most magical — the long narrow
shawl of fog right across the top of the
ridge. The day is saying, Who knows
how the weather will morph, but mean-
while so much is possible. And that is
life asserting itself.
I know life will assert itself. Knowing
this means I have a shot at some mea-
sure of pliability, like a willow tree that is
maybe having an iffy day.
I know everything is in flux, that all
things will turn into other things. I am
uncomfortable with this but less so than
in younger years. Michael Pollan wrote,
“Look into a flower, and what do you
see? Into the very heart of nature’s dou-
ble nature — that is, the contending
energies of creation and dissolution, the
spiring toward complex form and the
tidal pull away from it.” So I don’t sweat
feeling a little disoriented some days.
I have grown mostly unafraid of my
own death, except late at night when I
head to WebMD and learn that my
symptoms are probably cancer.
I know and am constantly aware of
how much we have all lost and are in
danger of losing — I am not going to
name names — and am awash with
gratitude for lovely, funny things that are
still here and still work.
I know how to let go now, mostly,
although it is not a lovely Hallmark
process, and when well-wishers from
my spiritual community exhort me to let
go and let God, I want to Taser them.
But I know that when I finally tell a best
friend of my thistly stuckness, the telling
is the beginning of release. You have to
learn to let go. Otherwise, you get
dragged, or you become George Costan-
za’s father pounding the table and
shouting, “Serenity now!”
I know that people and pets I adore
will keep dying, and it will never be OK,
and then it will, sort of, mostly. I know
the cycle is life, death, new life, and I
think this is a bad system, but it is the
one currently in place.
I know I will space out and screw up
right and left as I head out on this book
tour, say things I wish I could take back,
forget things, sometimes onstage, and
lose things. I just will.
I gave myself an inspiring pep talk on
my inner beauty, the light within. And
then I had a moment of clarity: I asked
the person driving me to the venue to
stop at CVS, where I bought blush and a
lipstick that was accidentally brighter
and glossier than I usually wear. I
looked fabulous. Age is just a number
when you still know how to shine.
Anne Lamott is an American novelist and
nonfiction writer. Her latest book, “Some-
how: Thoughts on Love,” was published in
April.

HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 • SECTION A
Inspired to row
in a new direction
By Lindsay Peyton
C ORRE SP ONDENT
W
est Universi-
ty Place
residents Dr.
Jim and
Jeanette
Bocell have a meet-cute story
worthy of a rom-com.
Before the couple walked
down the aisle 24 years ago,
Jeanette was Jim’s barber.
“The shop where I worked
was a prestigious men’s salon,”
Jeanette said. Jim was a reg-
ular, and when his barber was
out of town, she filled in. She
soon became his favorite bar-
ber.
After years of appointments,
one day he stalled for a mo-
ment before leaving the chair.
“Dr. Bocell, is there anything
else I can get you?” she asked.
“Well, I was wondering if
you’d like to go out for coffee,”
Top: Dr. Jim Bocell earned his Multimillion Meter Crew paddle as part of a Row House Bellaire program that tracks distances rowed.
Above: Jim Bocell and his wife, Jeanette Bocell, like the program because they are able to work out side by side.
HEALTH
Surgeon modified fitness he responded.
“That’s how it all got start-
routine after rare condition ed,” Jeanette, now 66, said.
Not long after the two began
started affecting his vision dating, Jim, who is now 76,
began having a problem with
his vision.
He was seeing brown spots.
For instance, he once thought
someone had spilled coffee on
his medical assistant’s white
lab coat, when in fact, nothing
was there.
He was diagnosed with
multifocal central serous cho-
rioretinopathy, a rare condi-
tion that worsens over time
and is tied to men with a Type
A personality who face signif-
icant stress at work. As an
orthopedic surgeon, Jim fit the
bill.
Bocell had completed his
undergraduate studies at Har-
vard University and then
moved to Houston to attend
Rowing continues on A10
Photos by Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Shingles vaccine is key to lowering risk
Q: I am just getting over
the horrible shingles. I
thought I had chicken pox
when I was younger, but I got
shingles anyway two months
ago. It is horrible and debil-
itating with nerve pain and
rash pain after the blisters
start to disappear. Once this
miserable thing passes (if it
ever does),
should I get
the new and
improved shin-
gles vaccine at
some point, or
am I good to go
Dr. Keith for a while?
Roach I’m 77 and still
TO YOU R in basically
G O OD
H E ALT H
good health.
A: Just to
clarify, you got
shingles because years ago, you
did have chicken pox. The
chicken pox virus is called the
varicella-zoster virus because it
causes chicken pox (varicella)
and shingles (zoster). You get
shingles when your immune
system is weakened, which can
happen when we get older or
when we are stressed. As you
correctly say, shingles can be
miserable, with pain that can
persist for weeks or months (or
even years).
Unfortunately, people can get
shingles more than once, so you
should absolutely get the newer,
two-dose Shingrix vaccine,
which reduces the risk of shin-
gles by as much as 97%. You
can get the vaccine as soon as
the lesions are all crusted over,
but it’s not urgent to get it right
away, although I wouldn’t let a
year go by.
People have asked me about
getting a second complete vac-
cine sequence after getting shin-
gles, despite getting vaccinated
with the new vaccine. They also
ask about getting the vaccine at
an age younger than 50. I can’t
answer these as there aren’t
good data, but these kinds of
cases need to be handled indi-
vidually by the person’s doctor.
There are times when it is rea-
sonable to use the shingles
vaccine at a younger age or as a
second dose.
Q: A friend of mine has
been diagnosed with “stiff
heart” and has kind of given
up because there is no treat-
ment. With all the advances
in medicine, isn’t there some-
thing that can be done?
A: It’s not always easy to
guess what a medical diagnosis
Minerals in multivitamins may lead to gastric issues
JOE AND TERESA
GRAEDON
PE OPLE ’S PHA RMACY
Q: Why do I get constipat-
ed when I take a new multi-
vitamin? My most recent
attempt resulted in four
days of constipation. I had
to take Ex-Lax to recover.
A: A lot depends on the
ingredients in your multivita-
min. Minerals such as calcium
or iron in high enough doses
could lead to constipation. You
may wish to look for a formula
without those minerals.
Our “eGuide to Controlling
Constipation” describes many
medications that can cause
irregularity and what to do
about it. This online resource
can be found under the Health
eGuides tab at Peoples
Pharmacy.com.
Q: As the mother of two
Type 1 diabetics who are
now both in their 40s, I’ve
been watching technology
and equipment become
much easier to use. My
daughter was diagnosed in
1983 at age 4. We used a
clunky Accu-Chek machine
and pricked her fingers and
toes multiple times a day.
Today, 40 years later, she
can just put her phone to
her CGM arm patch and get
an instant reading. She has
no signs of diabetic compli-
cations and has had three
healthy pregnancies.
THE EXPERTS
The two-part Shingrix vaccine reduces the risk of shingles by as much as 97%.
might be from a simplified
description like this, but my
best guess is that your friend
has a type of heart condition
called “heart failure with pre-
served ejection fraction”
(HFpEF).
The left ventricle, which is
the chamber of the heart that
provides oxygenated blood to
the body, is indeed stiff, requir-
ing high pressures to fully fill
the chamber. The damage to the
heart in HFpEF can come from
many conditions, including
high blood pressure, diabetes,
obesity, blockages in the arter-
ies, atrial fibrillation, kidney or
lung disease, sleep apnea and
just getting old.
Whenever possible, the un-
derlying conditions should be
treated. Specific treatment for
HFpEF can be frustrating, but
medical advances are catching
up. New classes of medicines
have been shown to improve
symptoms.
If a person has volume over-
load (such as swelling in the
legs or lungs), they will need to
control the fluid with a diuretic.
Once the excess fluid is re-
High doses of minerals, such as calcium or iron, in multivitamins can lead to constipation.
Insulin pumps used to
have tubing that clogged
frequently. Today, pumps
have no tubing and connect
directly to the monitor
patch to deliver the right
amount of insulin.
A: Thank you for reminding
us how challenging it was to
monitor blood sugar levels.
Today, continuous glucose
monitors (CGMs) are about the
size of a quarter and are both
easy to use and accurate. The
moved, treatment with a sodi-
um-glucose cotransporter-2
(SGLT2) inhibitor, and a miner-
alocorticoid receptor antagonist
has been shown to improve
symptoms and outcomes.
In people who are obese with
HFpEF, the use of semaglutide
has been shown to improve
their exercise ability and quality
of life, and it has just received
an indication by the Food and
Drug Administration to protect
the heart in this situation.
However, there are other
possibilities, such as amyloid-
osis. It has specific treatments
depending on the type of amy-
loidosis, in addition to the treat-
ments mentioned for heart
failure.
Q: Why aren’t people able
to see an allergist to be de-
sensitized to a peanut al-
lergy? As a child, I was al-
lergic to dust, pet hair, milk
and other things, but I re-
ceived treatments. I am not
bothered by any of these
now. It would seem prudent
to desensitize people who
have allergies that are life-
typical CGM stays on the arm
for two weeks and can trans-
mit data to a smartphone or
insulin pump. This makes it
possible for people with diabe-
tes to track how food and ac-
tivity affect their blood glu-
cose.
This summer, the over-the-
counter Dexcom Stelo Glucose
Biosensor System will become
available for people with Type
2 diabetes who do not use
insulin. People without diabe-
Bob Owen/Staff photographer
threatening, like peanut al-
lergies.
A: Allergy immunotherapy
continues to be a commonly
used and valid treatment for
many allergies, including envi-
ronmental allergies, insect ven-
om allergies and, more recently,
food allergies. The treatment
can be used for peanut allergies,
but it is certainly not perfect.
So, it isn’t used very often.
The goal of immunotherapy
is to get a person to tolerate the
allergen that they have an al-
lergic response to. This involves
giving very tiny amounts of the
allergen below the level that
would trigger an allergic re-
sponse. Over time and under
extremely close observation, the
amount of the allergen is in-
creased. For allergens like pol-
len, they are typically given by
injection under the skin (or by
drops under the tongue), but for
food allergens, they are given
orally.
For peanut allergies in partic-
ular, reactions are common
during oral immunotherapy.
For about 1 dose per 1,000 under
supervision in an allergist’s
Getty Images
tes will also be able to use this
technology to track their own
blood sugar.
Q: A lot of people take
over-the-counter pain medi-
cines, but I suspect most
don’t know about side ef-
fects. Tylenol can cause
serious liver damage, even
liver failure, but the public
is not adequately warned.
All of the NSAIDS, in-
cluding OTC drugs like ibu-
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A9
office, emergency treatment
with epinephrine was required.
Even during maintenance thera-
py at home, a reaction occurred
3.5% of the time, requiring treat-
ment in 0.7% of all doses.
Although oral immunothera-
py is effective at getting people
to tolerate peanuts, the effec-
tiveness is not long-lived, with
only 13% still able to tolerate a
peanut challenge three years
after discontinuing mainte-
nance therapy. (Of people who
continued maintenance therapy,
37% were able to tolerate the
peanut challenge.)
Until there are significant
improvements in outcomes, I
am unlikely to recommend oral
immunotherapy for people with
peanut allergies, unless they are
unable to effectively avoid expo-
sure to peanuts and continue to
have repeated reactions.
Whether they’re on immuno-
therapy or not, patients are still
advised to continue careful
avoidance and have emergency
treatment immediately avail-
able.
A new treatment for food
allergies was just approved by
the Food and Drug Administra-
tion. Omalizumab works by
blocking the immunoglobulin
IgE, which is critically impor-
tant in allergic diseases. The
study showed that 47% to 80%
of subjects who were treated
with omalizumab (given by
injection every two to four
weeks) for four months were
able to tolerate a standard dose
of the foods that they were
allergic to (peanuts, plus at least
two other foods). However, it
appears that the benefit of the
treatment does not persist after
the treatment is discontinued,
and it is intended for use in
conjunction with food allergen
avoidance to protect against
accidental exposures.
In the future, combining this
new medication with oral im-
munotherapy could be superior
to using either alone, and it can
help prevent serious or fatal
allergic reactions from inad-
vertently being exposed to pea-
nuts. Further studies are ad-
dressing this issue.
Dr. Roach regrets that he is
unable to answer individual
letters, but will incorporate
them in the column whenever
possible. Readers may email
questions to ToYourGoodHealth@
med.cornell.edu or send mail to
628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL
32803.
profen and naproxen, have
ominous warnings about
serious bleeding in the di-
gestive tract as well as the
risk of stroke or heart at-
tack. The public trusts
these OTC medicines and
some people overuse them.
In my opinion, they
should be prescription
drugs with limits on the
dosage. What do you think?
A: You have identified a
serious problem with the way
people think about medica-
tions. Most consumers per-
ceive prescription drugs as
strong and potentially hazard-
ous. Virtually every TV com-
mercial lists frightening ad-
verse drug reactions.
Many people assume that
OTC medications, however,
are very safe. If they bother to
read the warnings on the pack-
aging, they might be surprised
to learn that pain relievers that
contain ibuprofen or naproxen
are inappropriate for many
people. Both drugs state that
consumers should ask a doctor
if warnings about bleeding
ulcers would apply. The labels
also suggest checking with a
health care professional before
using if the patient takes other
drugs or has high blood pres-
sure, heart disease, cirrhosis of
the liver, kidney disease, asth-
ma or has had a stroke.
Many people are opposed to
the idea of restricting access to
these pain relievers, even
though they can cause very
serious complications.
Write to Joe and Teresa Graedon
in care of King Features, 628
Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL
32803, or email them via their
website: PeoplesPharmacy.com.
A10 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

ROWING
From page A8

Baylor College of Medicine,

lured by its prestigious presi-
dent, Dr. Michael DeBakey.
At first, he was pursuing
cardiology, but during rota-
tions, he felt drawn to orthope-
dics. Treating and operating on
the musculoskeletal system
reflected his interest in body-
building and sports. He had
played football in college and
was captain of Baylor’s rugby
club. During medical school,
he maintained a gym in his
house and spent his free time
lifting weights.
“I was the first guy in Hous-
ton to get sports medicine
training credentials,” he said.
“And I started Baylor Sports
Medicine Clinic with a variety
of doctors who took care of a
bunch of teams.”
He would become the per-
sonal physician to the Oilers.
He also cared for the Rockets
and other area teams, as well
as professional athletes, in-
cluding boxer George Fore-
man.
When the spots started
appearing, he was concerned
that his vision could become a
major obstacle. And he wanted
to let Jeanette, his new girl-
friend, know early, to give her
an easy out. She confidently
told him, “It’s nothing we can’t
get through.” Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer
Jim Bocell works on his rowing form with Ann-Marie Rains, the lead coach at Row House Bellaire.
Modifying a fitness
routine
Bocell closed his practice in
2005. His vision was declining,
Jim tried everything to im-
prove his sight. He has had 15
“This is the hand I’ve been dealt. one on crutches and another
with a knee replacement. The
and he did not want it to affect operations and met with reti- I have to play it.” workouts can be adjusted to be
his performance as a surgeon. nal specialists all over the Jim Bocell
less intense to fit the need.
“It was so devastating for country. “It’s all based on the person
him,” Jeanette said. “That was “Unfortunately, nothing has and where they are,” she said.
what he loved. He knew since worked,” he said. For Jim, the key has been
he was 3 years old that he As his vision worsened, he signed up to try a class and “They’re both really warm, staying on the machine, in-
wanted to be a doctor. It broke modified his lifestyle to match. have never looked back. welcoming and encouraging,” stead of moving to the floor for
his heart.” “This is the hand I’ve been Row House offers classes said Rains, the lead coach at additional exercises. He can lift
“It’s what I was born to do,” dealt,” Jim said. “I have to play with a coach guiding the way. Row House Bellaire. “They weights handed to him while
Jim said. “That I couldn’t do it it.” Members get cardio on rowing both cheer for people. He’s seated or choose to continue
was just a terrible blow.” The couple searched for a machines, also known as rising above a disability,” she rowing during that segment of
Another distressing fact was way to exercise together, with- “ergs.” Then, they move to said. “And it’s inspiring to so the workout.
that Jim’s beloved home gym out any success, until a friend floor exercises for resistance many people. He does not have to worry
was becoming increasingly suggested, “Why don’t you try training and stretching. “We can modify the ma- about his balance or sight. And
dangerous. And he couldn’t go rowing?” “I really enjoyed it from the chines and the exercises,” she he can still feel the burn. “I get
for runs or ride his bicycle. Jeanette began to research first time,” Jim said. said. “It’s a great workout for the cardiovascular condition-
First, the couple tried going and found Row House Bellaire, everyone, from the athlete to ing without putting my health
for walks around Rice Univer- a gym offering indoor low- Rowing side by side the person just getting off the at risk,” he said.
sity or Memorial Park. “Then, impact, full-body workouts. Ann-Marie Rains met the couch.” Best of all, he said, “We get
even that started getting The fitness center had opened couple early on at the gym and A few current members have to go together. We exercise side
treacherous,” Jeanette said. in the summer of 2019. They the three became fast friends. physical challenges, including by side.”
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A11

WORD SLEUTH JUMBLE DAILY CROSSWORD

Find the listed words in the diagram. They run in all directions — forward, backward,
up, down and diagonally. ©2024 King Features Syndicate Inc.
ACROSS 49 NNW opposite 21 Notoriety
1 Data depiction 50 European range 22 Investigative
Wednesday’s unlisted BOSTON MARATHON WINNERS: 6 Mouth piece? 51 “August: __ journalist Paula
clue: BOAT. MEN’S WHEELCHAIR DIVISION 9 Slalom markers County”: Streep 25 Delta deposit
Thursday’s unlisted 14 Diet that precludes film 26 Container that
clue hint: ONE WHO grains and dairy 52 Agile may have a built-in
SHOOTS ARROWS. 15 Charlottesville sch. 54 Actress Gadot sharpener
16 Animal wearing red 55 Small part to play 27 Mental image
Badid pajamas in Anna 57 Skilled sort during meditation
Brinkman Dewdney kids 58 Let up 29 Bias-free
Cassidy books 60 Pretty strange environments, or
Couprie 17 Hybrid wheat 61 Chops in the what 20-Across
Frei
species kitchen and 27- and 35-
Hall
18 “A Life Outdoors Is 63 Likely to speak out Down are
Hug
a Life Well Lived” 64 “Say Yes to 30 Latte order
Knaub
co. Heaven” singer specification
Murray
19 Get greasy Lana Del __ 31 Dishwasher
Nietlispach
Romanchuk
20 Mindset that may 65 Goddess of peace detergent
Soejima
hinder growth 66 Put forth units
van Dyk 23 Quick burn 67 Chemistry suffix 34 Retail outlet whose
Viger 24 “Me too” indicating a double products often
Yamamoto 25 Deep rift bond come with Allen
28 Plant used as an 68 Exams wrenches
herbal medicine 35 Tabletop decor
32 Rollover subj. DOWN piece with raked
33 Getting a grip, 1 Waze tech sand
SUDOKU maybe 2 Future genre 36 Need for some
CRYPTOQUIP 37 “It’s __-win 3 Smart __ denim jeans
Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the situation” 4 Speaker emerita 39 Observes
The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for
numbers 1 to 9. another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the 38 Slip in judgment Nancy 42 Loch with a
puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give 40 “Jeopardy!” host 5 Complete disasters legend
you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error. Jennings 6 Peer at a trial 47 “Me, mon ami?”
©2024 King Features Syndicate, Inc. 41 Getting hungry, 7 State firmly 48 Animation still
probably 8 Counts down the 50 Tequila plant
43 Uses a keyboard minutes, maybe 53 Approvals
44 Come to a close 9 Member of the 55 Suspenders
45 Slips through the blue man group? alternative
cracks? 10 Dresses that twirl 56 Exchange a few
46 Spanish “Hey!” 11 Unbelievable story words, say
47 Field where things 12 Outback bird 59 Roof sealant
disappear? 13 Softy 62 Fury

for bread aficionados: “All You Need Is Loaf.”

©2024 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ANSWER: Catchy Beatles tune that has become an anthem

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS DON’T --

By Rebecca Goldstein ©2024 Tribune Content Agency 4/11/24

What Farmer Wants a Wife ACES ON BRIDGE

By Bobby Wolff
FOX, 8 p.m.
Today, as South, you bid four

to watch
During the final mixer, the ladies meet the
farmers’ families and get to know them
better in the new episode “Farmers’ Family
Dinner.”
spades over East’s one-diamond
opener. It is unlikely you have
a slam on, and bidding to four
spades right away might make
life difficult for the opponents.

THURSDAY
April 11, 2024
All times Central. Start times can vary based
on cable/satellite provider. Confirm times on
your on-screen guide.
Fallout
Prime Video  New Series
This adaptation of the globally popular video
game is set 219 years after a nuclear event
that’s driven survivors to take shelter in
subterranean vaults across Earth. A darkly
comic and all-new storyline follows Lucy (Ella
Purnell), who has lived her entire life below
ground. After a startling turn of events, she
returns to the surface, where a mechani-
cal-armored soldier from the Brotherhood
of Steel and his sidekick (Aaron Moten),
radiated roaches and Walton Goggins as a
noseless bounty hunter called the Ghoul are
poised to make a mess of her mission. All
eight episodes are available today.
Young Sheldon
CBS, 7 p.m.
Georgie and Mandy (Montana Jordan and
Emily Osment) tie the knot in the new epi-
sode “A Proper Wedding and Skeletons in the
Closet.”
Patti Stanger:
The Matchmaker
The CW, 7 p.m.  New Series
Ultimate matchmaker Patti Stanger will team
up with The Bachelor‘s Nick Viall to help sin-
gles find love while teaching them the tools
to “become the most eligible versions of
themselves” in this new dating series.
Elkhorn
INSP, 8 p.m.  New Series
That ends the auction, and
West kicks off with the club
king, which holds, followed by
a trump shift. He can see the
‘Fallout’
This original 10-episode drama is inspired danger of heart ruffs coming
by Theodore Roosevelt’s first months in the in dummy, of course, and dia-
PRIME VIDEO Badlands of the Dakota Territory as he strug- monds can wait.
gles to establish his ranch, Elkhorn. Along You win the trump shift cheaply
poltergeist (guest star Lamorne Morris) who the way, he disarms a barroom bully, faces in hand and unblock the
is attached to a newly arrived Woodstone diamond ace. You can see nine
down hired guns, tracks down horse thieves, tricks, but where might the 10th
guest. kills a grizzly bear, forms lifelong friendships come from? The heart ace is
and begins to transform himself into the surely offside, as there are only
Grey’s Anatomy man who will be forever identified as “The 19 points missing and West must
ABC, 8 p.m. hold the club king-queen for his
Cowboy President.” opening lead. If West had the
In the new episode “Never Felt So Alone,” heart ace too, it would mean
a group of medical students is injured by a Law & Order: East had made an opening bid the third club and ruff a heart
floor collapsing at their white coat party. while vulnerable with only 10 in dummy before pitching your
Special Victims Unit points. Your best chance of fourth heart on the diamond
securing a 10th trick must be via king. You can come back to
So Help Me Todd NBC, 8 p.m.
a heart ruff in dummy, but how hand with a high ruff to draw
CBS, 8 p.m. Star Mariska Hargitay directed this episode, might you achieve that? trumps and claim.
“Children of Wolves,” in which a teenager Your should lead a heart from Note that if you waste dummy’s
Margaret and Todd (Marcia Gay Harden and hand, planning to cover West’s heart king covering anything
Skylar Astin) defend an international opera found unconscious in the park leads to a
card. When he follows low, but West’s 10 on the first round
star and supreme diva (guest star Jenifer missing-persons investigation. Meanwhile, insert the heart nine. East wins,
of the suit, West can gain the
Lewis) in the new episode “End on a High Benson (Hargitay) must help Noah (Ryan but as you had hoped, does not lead with that card on the
Buggle) come to terms with the past when he have another trump to play. You
Note.” second round of hearts to lead
questions the origins of his birth. ruff his club return and surren- another trump, killing dummy’s
der another heart. Again, East ruff.
Lovers and Liars Station 19 must win the trick. You trump
The CW, 8 p.m.  New Series
ABC, 9 p.m.
Originally titled FGirl Island because of its fe- LEAD WITH THE ACES ANSWER: Open one spade.
male spin, this FBoy Island spinoff will follow In the new episode “My Way,” Vic (Barrett Four spades should show a
Doss) struggles with emotional burnout;
three single men who must determine if the weaker hand in high cards than
Maya (Danielle Savre) helps Carina (Stefania this. You would bid that without
24 women on the island are there for love or the diamond ace, so how is
for the $100,000 prize. Spampinato) navigate some difficult news.
partner to know whether to try
for slam if you open four spades
with this hand as well? You will
CATCH A
jump to four spades over a one-
no-trump response, to show a
stronger version of the preempt.
CLASSIC Incidentally, while you do have
eight playing tricks, opening two
clubs would be a wild overbid.
TCM Special Theme:
The Beginning of a
©2024 Dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication for UFS

Next Level Chef Beautiful Friendship: LOOKING BACK BIRTHDAYS

FOX, 7 p.m.
In the new episode “Bingo, Bango, Bento!,”
30 Years of TCM UNITED ARTISTS 1968: President Lyndon Ethel Kennedy is 96.
B. Johnson signed into law Actor Joel Grey is 92.
the seven remaining chefs work individually TCM, beginning at 7 p.m. Mankiewicz with Darcy Hettrich, TCM’s vice the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Actor Louise Lasser is
to create Japanese-inspired dishes for their Turner Classic Movies continues its president of talent from 1993 to 2017. Next which included the Fair 85. Pulitzer Prize-winning
bento boxes, then prepare a Wagyu beef dish 30th-anniversary celebration (it launched is That’s Entertainment! (1974), with Housing Act, a week after columnist Ellen Goodman
in the elimination challenge. on April 14, 1994) with three more movies Mankiewicz and Dennis Millay, senior di- the assassination of Martin is 83. Movie writer-director
introduced by current TCM hosts along rector of programming for TCM from 1993 Luther King Jr. John Milius is 80. Actor
Ghosts with key people who have contributed to to 2017. Finally, there is 1942’s To Be or 1814: Napoleon Peter Riegert is 77. Movie
CBS, 7:30 p.m. the network’s success from its earliest Not to Be (pictured), introduced by Dave Bonaparte abdicated as director Carl Franklin is
days. Tonight’s lineup begins with My Karger with Alexa Foreman, TCM senior Emperor of the French and 75. Actor Bill Irwin is 74.
In the new episode “The Polterguest,” Al- Favorite Year (1982), introduced by Ben was banished to the island Country singer-songwriter
researcher from 1993 to 2014.
berta (Danielle Pinnock) hits it off with a of Elba. (Napoleon later Jim Lauderdale is 67.
escaped from Elba and Songwriter-producer Daryl
returned to power in March Simmons is 67. Rock
1815, until his downfall in the musician Nigel Pulsford
Battle of Waterloo in June (Bush) is 63. Actor Lucky
1815.) Vanous is 63.
A12 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

BIZARRO
ROYAL STARS
Today’s Birthday (April 11). You are warm-
hearted. You’re an optimist with excellent
people skills who is good at problem-solving
and mediating with others. This is a year of
exciting change!
Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important
decisions from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EDT today
(3 a.m. to 6 a.m. PDT). After that, the Moon
moves from Taurus into Gemini.
Aries (March 21-April 19) HHHH Your ef-
forts to do anything, which might include
trying to persuade others to do something,
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM will be successful today, because you will
speak with confidence in a convincing style.
Tonight: Conversations!
Taurus (April 20-May 20) HHH You’ll have
no trouble convincing people in authority to
listen to you today. You will be persuasive.
This is also an excellent day to tackle big
ideas. Tonight: Many ideas.
Gemini (May 21-June 20) HHHH Today
the Moon is in your sign dancing with Pluto,
which makes you almost obsessive. You will
get results! Tonight: Socialize!
Cancer (June 21-July 22) HHH Today you
have a quiet determination about wanting
to achieve something. Fortunately, with the
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE Sun at the top of your chart, you look good
to everyone. Tonight: Privacy.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) HHH Travel for plea-
sure or a chance to do something different
that will enrich your life. Because of this, you
might end up in an intense conversation.
Tread carefully. Tonight: Friendships.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) HHH You’re high-
viz today, which means people notice you
BLONDIE
more than usual. In fact, some people seem
to know personal details about your private
life. Tonight: You’re admired.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) HHHH Today you
want to shake things up a little. This might
allow you to talk to people who are different,
who can bring something interesting to the
table. Tonight: Explore!
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) HHH This is a
productive day for you. You can argue in
a convincing way for your best interests.
Tonight: Check your finances.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) HHH Expect
an intense conversation with a partner or
close friend today, mainly because each
party wants to get their own way. This is why
compromise or some kind of a consensus
will be difficult. Tonight: Cooperation.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) HHH You might
have ambitious ideas today about how
to improve your health or perhaps how to
improve your job. Home repairs and redeco-
rating projects are also still on the menu.
Tonight: Work romance?
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) HHHH Ro-
mance will be intense today. Actually, this is
a poor day for important romantic discus-
sions because people won’t be flexible.
Therefore, lighten up! Tonight: Socialize!
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) HHH Family
discussions will be intense today because
somebody wants their own way. Quite likely,
finances and expenditures are an important
topic. Keep in mind that with fiery Mars in
your sign, you might be coming on like gang-
busters. Easy does it. Tonight: Entertain.
King Features Syndicate

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!

BEETLE BAILEY

GARFIELD

CURTIS

SHERMAN’S LAGOON

B.C.

Dear Abby: I am trying While it would have been compassion-

to come to terms with the
passing of my wife, “Char-
lotte,” a month ago. What
hurts is the silence from a
particular couple.
For years, we were very
close with this family when
we both had young boys
growing up. We celebrated
all the joys and life-changing events
together, including going out to dinner ev-
ery Friday and vacationing together. Once
our boys were on their own, we gradually
saw less and less of the couple, but kept in
touch.
When Charlotte passed, they were two
of the first people I notified. They were
out of town at the time, so I postponed
her memorial a day so they could attend. I
felt they were so important to us that they
should be there.
I have not heard one word from this
couple! They live a mile away, and I
haven’t received a dinner invitation or
even a phone call. I’m shocked by their
lack of caring, knowing I am home alone
and devastated over Charlotte’s passing.
A simple phone call to ask how I’m doing
would be helpful. What do you think
about this?
Abandoned In New York
Dear Abandoned: I am sorry for the loss
of your wife. Because it is so recent, your
pain must be overwhelming. Regarding
this couple, I suspect that once your sons
were grown, their friendship with you
was already on the wane.
ate for them to have stepped up when
they received the news of your wife’s
passing, they may not have known what
to say or do, so they did nothing.
If you wish to talk with them, by all
means, call them. But when you do,
do not expect them to offer more than
cursory condolences. Concentrate on the
friends who ARE willing to be there.
REX MORGAN, M.D.
Dear Abby: I met a man online and have
been dating him for the past four years.
His parents have been living with him
since the pandemic, and I have yet to be
invited to his home or to meet them. He
is from Bolivia and says his parents want
him to marry a Catholic Bolivian girl
— and someone without children. I am
divorced, American and mother of two.
He tells me he’s afraid that if I meet
them, our relationship will be over. He
keeps saying they are moving back to
Bolivia, but they are still here. I also have PHANTOM
never met his friends. After all these
years, I have yet to meet one of his friends.
What should I do?
Off The Radar In Wisconsin
Dear Off The Radar: Recognize that
this man may not have been entirely
truthful with you about his circum-
stances. Bluntly put, he may be married,
or he may not be who he has represented
himself to be in other aspects of his life.
Because your relationship hasn’t pro-
gressed after four years, MOVE ON. ARGYLE SWEATER HOCUS FOCUS
www.DearAbby.com
Andrews McMeel Syndication

Dear Heloise: I have a be expensive. When my new refrigerator

round lawn sprinkler that
shoots water straight up in
the air. Last year, I bought
a child’s wading pool that
was big enough for two
small children and filled it
with water. Then I placed
the round water sprinkler
in it and let my grandkids
play inside. They had a
blast, and on a very hot day, it was a good
form of entertainment. They were wear-
ing the sprinkler like a crown, pretending
they were part of a fountain and having
a ball.
Entertaining children does not have to
arrived, the grandkids played with the
box it came in for hours. Another day, I
bought some cheap sidewalk chalk, and
they loved drawing on my paved drive-
way with it. When it rained, we made
paper kites out of tissue paper and rags.
We started to grow an avocado in a jar
of water back in October, and now that
it’s sprouting roots, we’re off to plant it
this coming weekend. They named the
tree “Oscar,” and he’ll be planted in my
backyard.
All it takes is a little imagination!
J.D., in California
Heloise@heloise.com
King Features Syndicate
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 A13

FAMILY CIRCUS ZIGGY ZITS

MUTTS

WALLACE THE BRAVE

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

BABY BLUES

PEANUTS

LUANN
BREAKING CAT NEWS

HEART OF THE CITY RHYMES WITH ORANGE

HI & LOIS WUMO

BALDO CRANKSHAFT

RED & ROVER CANDORVILLE

SALLY FORTH F MINUS

A14 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
 SPORTS
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 • SECTION B

ROCKETS ASTROS

Feisty Timely hits never materialize

attitude Offense went 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position in loss to Royals UP NEXT

serving By Matt Kawahara “We didn’t have a ton of guys That a 4-3 loss for the Astros ASTROS AT ROYALS
STAFF W R ITER left,” Espada acknowledged. reached that point was avoidable. When/where: 1:10 p.m.
Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu, Their offense outhit the Royals 14-7 Thursday in Kansas City,

purpose KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Having

deployed his top four available re-
lievers Tuesday, Astros manager
Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader had
pitched. Seth Martinez, Tayler Scott
and Brandon Bielak had all thrown
but left a series of scoring chances
unfulfilled. Houston’s lineup fin-
ished a combined 5-for-18 with run-
Mo.
TV/radio: SCHN; 790 AM,
93.3 FM (Spanish), 1010
Victories rise Joe Espada turned to what depth he
had. Right-hander Wander Suero,
multiple innings the day before.
Parker Mushinski, also called up
ners in scoring position after enter-
ing the day hitting .241 in those situ-
AM (Spanish).

as punching bag newly called up from Triple-A, Tuesday, is left-handed. Salvador ations. It left13 men on base, leading
ASTROS UPDATES
punches back emerged from the bullpen for the
bottom of the 10th inning in a tied
Perez, the Royals’ veteran right-
handed catcher, loomed to lead off
to a three-run output on a night
when every starter had at least one For our
game. The 32-year-old inherited the the 10th. So Suero it was. Perez hit. latest game
By Jonathan Feigen runner placed on second base and a drove his second pitch into the gap Yordan Alvarez collected four. coverage,
STA FF WRIT E R matchup with the Royals’ cleanup in left-center field for a walk-off Jose Altuve, Alvarez and Kyle Tuck- scan this
hitter. Royals win. Astros continues on B5 code.
The advantage of the
Rockets’ way of playing
might not be as planned,
or maybe even noticed.
But when they leave the
floor after a win, with
Tuesday’s against the Or-
lando Magic serving as
the latest example, there is
often a teammate waiting
in the locker room to greet
and congratulate them.
They do not have a play-
er ejected from every
game. But they do get in
more than their share of
skirmishes, from the win
at Phoenix that might
have triggered the charge
through March to the
home finale Tuesday.
It’s not that the idea is to
brawl. But scuffles some-
timesresultfromthefeisti-
Rockets continues on B2

UP NEXT
ROCKETS AT JAZZ
When/where: 8 p.m.
Thursday in Salt Lake City.
TV/radio: SCHN; 790 AM,
93.3 FM (Spanish), 1010
AM (Spanish).

Holdover
assistant
rebuilds
on O-line
When a football
coaching change was
made in the offseason at
the University of Hous-
ton, Eman Naghavi did
what any-
one hop-
ing to stay
employed
would do.
He
came
Joseph bearing
Duarte gifts.
How Ed Zurga/Associated Press
ON T HE
COUGA RS else for
Naghavi

BIG STEP FORWARD

— who
had just finished his first
season as UH’s offensive
line coach — to endear
himself to a new staff
but to recruit players to
the team’s biggest area of
need?
Top prospect Spencer Arrighetti tries to pitch in for the ailing
“I signed a bunch of
guys,” Naghavi said after
Astros staff by making his major league debut against the Royals
a recent practice. “Even
COVERAGE OF WEDNESDAY’S GAME AT HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM/SPORTS
before I got here, with
UH continues on B4

THE MASTERS TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL

Streaking Sheffler Weigman learning

chasing 2nd major
By Dave Skretta
ASS O CIAT E D PRE SS
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scot-
tie Scheffler is not, by na-
ture, a selfish person. It’s
not how he was raised, nor
how he chooses to live his
life, and if that ever were to
change, he knows he can
rely on his wife, Meredith,
to bring him back to center.
The problem is that
Scheffler plays a selfish
sport.
“You’re out there by
yourself,” he said, “and
when you’re at the peak of
your game, you know, peo-
ple need stuff from you a
lot of the time, and you
have to be selfish with your
time. And it’s not easy to
say no, but you have to
learn how.”
Nobody is peaking high-
er these days.
Two years after winning
the Masters, Scheffler is
Scheffler continues on B3
while recovering
By Brent Zwerneman No. 1 QB
STAF F WRI TE R Conner
Weigman
COLLEGE STATION — is still not
More than half a year after 100% after
a season-ending foot injury, a foot
Texas A&M sophomore injury.
quarterback Conner Weig-
man continues a methodi- update on his starter dur-
cal recovery. ing spring drills. “He’s still
“He’s not 100% and he’s recovering … but he’s able
not going to be 100% com- to go (in practice) … he’s a
Warren Little/Getty Images ing out of spring,” new tough kid and it’s a testa-
Scottie Scheffler enters The Masters having A&M coach Mike Elko said ment to him that he under-
already won two tournaments this season. Wednesday in offering an A&M continues on B4
B2 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
ROCKETS FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
Season’s last road trip starts in Utah
By Jonathan Feigen
STA FF WRIT E R
SALT LAKE CITY —
The Rockets were forced
to accept that their mid-
season turnaround came
too late, their struggles on
the road to start the sea-
son and up to the All-Star
break costing them mar-
gin for error in their
hopes to reach the play-in
tournament.
They rectified that for a
while. They were 5-24 on
the road before a seven-
game road winning streak
that revived hopes of
reaching the postseason.
They lost their past two
road games, at Minnesota
and Dallas, as their play-
in chances crashed. But as
they begin a three-game
road trip to finish the
season, they get a chance
to test one of the areas of
improvement.
The Rockets return to
Delta Center, where they
took a one-point win
against the Jazz to com-
plete the winning streak.
Utah has lost its past 13
games, including seven
straight at home, where
the Jazz have won four of
the past six meetings with
the Rockets and will be
playing their home finale
Thursday.
They are not quite
locked into the eighth
position going into the
lottery, two losses behind
the Grizzlies from moving
up to the seventh spot and
two wins from falling
back to the ninth spot,
where the Rockets hold
the Nets’ pick.
The difference in lot-
tery chances would be
just 1.5% to move up to the
top pick, but 6.3% to move
into the top four or to
move back a spot, if the
Jazz has been considering
such things through their
losing streak.
The Rockets won’t
weigh such matters, with
their pick going to Okla-
homa City unless it jumps
into the top four.
They would like to
finish with a winning
ROCKETS
From page B1
ness that coach Ime Udoka
sought to instill and that
the Rockets added with the
free agents brought in with
a determination to not
back down from a chal-
lenge.
Needing to change after
three seasons of scraping
the bottom of the NBA, the
Rockets transformed from
pushovers to a team deter-
mined to push back.
“I don’t mind it,” Udoka
said. “It’s better than the al-
ternative, which is kind of
laying down and getting
ran over. We’ve had quite a
few (altercations) lately. It
took guys a half season or
so to really get that identity
of not respecting your op-
ponent too much.
“When guys had some
of the losing they had over
the last few years, we’re
trying to instill a little more
fight, a little more aggres-
siveness. We bring in vet-
erans and a certain coach
that loves that stuff, and I
think it’s going to rub off on
them. I don’t mind it at all.”
The latest dust-up Tues-
day had rookie Cam Whit-
more squaring off against
the Magic’s Joe Ingles,
earning quick double tech-
nical fouls. Just 14 seconds
later, Whitmore shoved
Orlando center Mo Wag-
ner, earning a second tech-
nical foul and the ejection
that comes with it.
With the Rockets short-
handed on the wings, Udo-
ka — the “certain coach
that loves that stuff” —
could not endorse Whit-
more’s departing, especial-
Fred VanVleet and the Rockets begin a season-ending three-game road trip
Thursday in Utah needing to win out to finish with a winning record.
record, a quest they kept
alive with their win Tues-
day. That would require
they sweep the three-
game road trip to close the
season, starting with the
first game of a back-to-
back Thursday in Utah.
Scoring revival
The Rockets completed
their 11-game March win-
ning streak when they
won in Salt Lake City, but
that might have been the
game the offense began to
tumble.
The Rockets were com-
ing off a game in which
they scored 132 points in
Oklahoma City, topping
one of the league’s best
defensive teams in over-
time. They had scored a
season-best 147 points
against the Jazz less than
a week before the re-
match.
The Rockets got out of
Salt Lake City with a win
but needed a fourth-quar-
ter scoring surge just to
get to 101 points. They
made just 38.5% of their
shots, 31% of their 3-point-
ers in that game. They
even struggled from the
line, hitting just 18-of-28
free throws.
ly for scuffling when no
one was scuffling with
him.
“Got to be a little smar-
ter,” Udoka said.
It was in keeping with
the Rockets’ determination
to more than hold their
ground and fight for what
they want.
They want more than
they achieved. Last week’s
slump and the five-game
losing streak it brought
ended their play-in hopes.
But the win against the
Magic demonstrated the
progress and perhaps even
the potential.
“I love the fight,” guard
Fred VanVleet said. “I love
the competitive spirit. We
have a lot to work with and
a lot of growing to do still.
But there’s a lot of promise.
I loved our togetherness
and the camaraderie, ev-
erybody wanting to win.”
The Rockets and their
opponents speak often
about Houston’s “physical-
ity.” It is a part of the Rock-
ets’ defense as much as
switching on screens, in-
stilled since training camp
when Udoka insisted on
the directive he heard from
Doug Collins to force oppo-
nents to make plays rather
than run plays. Nothing
was to be easy.
At their best, with a de-
fense that ranks 10th in the
NBA, the Rockets accom-
plished that, even without
traditional rim protection.
When they struggled, as
with the late-season slide,
they ranked 29th in April’s
five games.
Some of that slippage is a
credit to the opponents,
with two games against the
Mavericks and one against
Sports Editor: reid.laymance@houstonchronicle.com • sptletters@houstonchronicle.com
NBA
Beginning with that
game, the Rockets made
just 42.4% of their shots in
a six-game slump, the
second-worst shooting in
that stretch in the league.
They made 32.8% of their
3s in those games.
In the past two games,
however, they seemed to
be coming out of it. They
put up 136 points in Dal-
las, 129 through four quar-
ters, and 118 against the
Magic, ranked third de-
fensively in the NBA.
Unlucky No. 13
With the Jazz increas-
ingly playing rookies and
role players, they have
struggled in the expected
ways through the losing
streak. They rank tied for
second-to-last defensively,
last in opposing fast break
points and 25th in points
off turnovers during the
losing streak.
They have similarly
struggled offensively in
that stretch, ranking 27th
in field goal percentage
and 26th in 3-point per-
centage in the past 13
games.
The loss to the Rockets
was one of the few close
games the Jazz played in
the Warriors in the losing
streak. But the aggressive-
ness and competitiveness
made a comeback.
The objective isn’t to get
tossed from games, as
rookie Amen Thompson
did in the first quarter Sun-
day with a shove of Dallas’
Maxi Kleber that came
with the contact too high or
as Whitmore did Tuesday.
But ejections can be viewed
as an offshoot of the force-
fulness the Rockets want.
The Rockets commit the
third-most personal fouls
in the league, an area they
will need to improve but
which points to their
“physicality.” They lead the
league in technical fouls,
averaging .7 per game.
Udoka leads among coach-
es with 13. Dillon Brooks
leads players with 14.
When it comes to con-
frontations, however,
Brooks has not been alone,
as was seen in consecutive
games at Phoenix five
weeks ago. In the first,
Whitmore and Devin
Booker went at one anoth-
er, with Booker exchanging
an elbow for a Whitmore
shove. Both received tech-
nical fouls. Moments later,
Alperen ށengün received
two technical fouls and an
ejection. Two nights later,
Jalen Green and the Suns’
Bradley Beal scuffled. In
the next game, Thompson
and the Spurs’ Jeremy So-
chan went at it.
With the Rockets begin-
ning a season-ending
three-game road trip at
Utah on Thursday, they
can recall two incidents be-
tween forward Jabari
Smith Jr. and Jazz guard
Kris Dunn, the first earn-
Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
that stretch, with only
three of the 13 games in
the losing streak having a
margin of five or fewer
points in the final five
minutes.
On a roll
Rockets guard Fred
VanVleet scored a season-
high 37 points Tuesday,
but the uptick in his scor-
ing is not a one-game
anomaly.
After scoring in single
digits in consecutive
games, he has averaged 20
points per game in the
Rockets’ past 10 games. He
has averaged 24.7 points
in the three games against
the Jazz, with 20 assists,
seven steals and just four
turnovers.
VanVleet has been
scoring while Jalen Green
has been increasingly
initiating offense, often by
drawing double teams
and pulling two defenders
out. But VanVleet is still
the Rockets’ primary
playmaker. He throws the
fifth-most passes per
game in the league, ranks
seventh in assists, fourth
in potential assists and
sixth in assist-to-turnover
ratio.
ing double technical fouls,
the second weeks later es-
calating into a fight, with
Smith getting a one-game
suspension and Dunn sus-
pended for two games.
That also offered an in-
sight into Udoka’s logic.
“If you’re not going to
land a punch,” he said,
“you might as well not
throw it.”
The NBA might not con-
sider that to be the lesson
to take from the suspen-
sion, but Smith described it
as “Ime being Ime.”
Of the flagrant-2 foul
that earned Thompson’s
ejection Sunday, Udoka
said, “Nowadays, that’s a
flagrant-2. That might have
been a normal technical 10
years ago. Now, they get in
a bumping match. It’s a lit-
tle soft nowadays. You have
to understand how they’re
going to call it.”
A day later, when asked
about his conversation
with Thompson, Udoka
said, “I just told him aim
lower. Keep (the shove)
lower, and you won’t get
kicked out.”
Smith offered another
way to look at the Rockets’
tendency to draw technical
fouls and the fines that
come with it.
“It hurts,” said Smith,
who has had eight techni-
cal fouls. “I don’t like losing
money.”
Money aside, the Rock-
ets have done less losing
than in the previous three
seasons. If they can win
out, they will have as many
victories as in any two of
the previous three seasons
combined.
There were many im-
provements that led to
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
AT A GLANCE
WESTERN CONFERENCE
x-Minnesota
x-Denver
W
55
55
L
24
24
Pct
.696
.696
GB
—
—
Familiar territory x-Oklahoma City 54 25 .684 1
Green has had some of y-L.A. Clippers 51 28 .646 4
his better games of the x-Dallas 49 30 .620 6
season against the Jazz, New Orleans 47 32 .595 8
but his shot has been off Phoenix 46 33 .582 9
in the six games since the Sacramento 45 34 .570 10
Rockets left Salt Lake City. L.A. Lakers 45 35 .563 10 ½
He had 34, more than a Golden State 44 35 .557 11
third of the Rockets’ Houston 39 40 .494 16
points, in the previous Utah 29 50 .367 26
game against the Jazz, Memphis 27 52 .342 28
with nine rebounds and Portland 21 58 .266 34
six assists in that game. San Antonio 20 59 .253 35
He had 41 points in the EASTERN CONFERENCE
previous meeting. But
W L Pct GB
since playing the Jazz, he z-Boston 62 17 .785 —
has averaged 17.8 points on x-Milwaukee 48 31 .608 14
37.4% shooting and 22.4% New York 47 32 .595 15
3-point shooting. Orlando 46 33 .582 16
He has gone against Cleveland 46 33 .582 16
frequent double teams in Indiana 46 34 .575 16 ½
those games and has been Philadelphia 45 35 .563 17 ½
determined to move the Miami 44 35 .557 18
ball. He also has had Chicago 37 42 .468 25
better all-around games Atlanta 36 43 .456 26
than earlier in the season Brooklyn 31 48 .392 31
when he shot was off. Toronto 25 54 .316 37
In the past six games, Charlotte 19 60 .241 43
Green has averaged 5.5 Washington 15 65 .188 47 ½
rebounds and 5.8 assists Detroit 13 66 .165 49
while playing well defen- x-clinched playoff spot; y-clinched divi-
sively. sion; z-clinched conference.
Tuesday’s results
He has averaged 11.3 Houston 118, Orlando 106
potential assists in those Dallas 130, Charlotte 104
games, five more than he Philadelphia 120, Detroit 102
Indiana 140, Toronto 123
has averaged this season. Milwaukee 104, Boston 91
Still, he would welcome San Antonio 102, Memphis 87
a return of his shooting Miami 117, Atlanta 111 (2OT)
Minnesota 130, Washington 121
touch with a return to New York 128, Chicago 117
Delta Center. Oklahoma City 112, Sacramento 105
Denver 111, Utah 95
Rotation in flux New Orleans 110, Portland 100
L.A. Clippers 105, Phoenix 92
While the usual Rock- Golden State 134, L.A. Lakers 120
ets players will be out — Wednesday’s results
Alperen ށengün, Tari Memphis at Cleveland, late
Charlotte at Atlanta, late
Eason and Jae’Sean Tate Dallas at Miami, late
— the Jazz have been Toronto at Brooklyn, late
spreading playing time Orlando at Milwaukee, late.
San Antonio at Oklahoma City, late
around the roster. Minnesota at Denver, late
Lauri Markkanen has Phoenix at L.A. Clippers, late
played in just four games Thursday’s games
Chicago at Detroit, 6 p.m.
since March 2, missed New York at Boston, 6:30 p.m.
both recent games against Houston at Utah, 8 p.m.
the Rockets and is out for Golden State at Portland, 9 p.m.
New Orleans at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
the remainder of the sea- Friday’s games
son. Chicago at Washington, 6 p.m.
But the Jazz are also Orlando at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.
without John Collins, Brooklyn at New York, 6:30 p.m.
Charlotte at Boston, 6:30 p.m.
Collin Sexton, Jordan Indiana at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.
Clarkson, Walker Kessler Atlanta at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
and Kris Dunn. Denver at San Antonio, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Memphis, 7 p.m.
In Tuesday’s loss to the Milwaukee at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Nuggets, the Jazz were led Toronto at Miami, 7 p.m.
by Talen Horton-Tucker, Detroit at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at Portland, 9 p.m.
Luka Samanic and Omer New Orleans at Golden State, 9 p.m.
Yurtseven, none of whom Phoenix at Sacramento, 9:30 p.m.
played in the previous Utah at L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m.
game against the Rockets.
NOTEBOOK
Tuesday’s games
Rockets 118, Magic 106 SILVER SAYS A BAN FOR
RATORS’ PORTER POSSIBLE
Orlando 25 26 31 24 — 106
Houston 36 27 34 21 — 118 Toronto’s Jontay Porter
ORLANDO
FG FT Reb
Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
could face expulsion from
Banchero 36:12 7-19 7-7 0-7 6 1 21 the league if the gambling-
G.Harris
Carter Jr.
30:37 2-3 0-0 1-5 2 2 6
20:36 3-7 0-0 3-6 2 2 7
related accusations against
Fultz 34:20 8-18 2-2 2-4 2 3 18 him are found to be true,
Suggs 28:47 7-13 5-5 0-2 4 3 21
M.Wagner 21:57 4-9 4-4 2-5 1 1 12 commissioner Adam Sil-
Isaac 21:31 4-6 1-2 2-8 1 1 10 ver said Wednesday.
Ingles 17:48 2-6 2-3 0-3 2 0 7
Anthony 12:22 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 2 Silver, speaking after a
Houstan
Bitadze
7:43 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
1:37 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
two-day meeting of the
Black 1:37 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 league’s Board of Gover-
Howard
Okeke
1:37 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
1:37 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
nors, did not reveal any
Queen 1:37 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 specifics about the in-
Totals 240:00 39-87 21-23 10-42 23 15 106
Percentages: FG .448, FT .913.
vestigation surrounding
3-Point Goals: 7-24, .292 (G.Harris 2-2, Suggs 2-5, Isaac Porter, other than saying
1-2, Carter Jr. 1-3, Ingles 1-4, Howard 0-1, Fultz 0-2,
Banchero 0-5). the probe is ongoing.
Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 6 (Suggs 2, Fultz, Howard, Ingles, Isaac). “I have enormous range
Turnovers: 13 (Banchero 4, Fultz 3, Carter Jr. 2, Howard,
Ingles, Isaac, Suggs).
of discipline available to
Steals: 9 (Isaac 2, Suggs 2, Anthony, Carter Jr., G.Harris, me,” Silver said. “It’s car-
Houstan, M.Wagner).
Technical Fouls: Ingles, 2:00 third. dinal sin what he’s ac-
FG FT Reb cused of in the NBA. The
HOUSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Brooks 32:40 5-10 2-2 0-5 3 6 15 ultimate extreme option I
Thompson
Smith Jr.
37:38 6-7 1-2 3-8 4 2 13
40:29 9-17 2-2 1-7 5 3 23
have is to ban him from
Ja.Green 33:50 6-17 0-2 0-5 5 1 14 the game. That’s the level
VanVleet
Landale
37:39 13-22 5-6 1-8 6 4 37
23:20 3-4 1-2 0-2 4 2 8
of authority I have here
Je.Green 16:32 2-4 2-2 1-3 2 1 6 because there’s nothing
Bullock Jr. 9:29 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Whitmore 5:46 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 more serious.”
Hinton 0:51 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Samuels Jr. 0:51 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 ODDS AND ENDS
Williams
Totals
0:51 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
240:00 45-86 13-18 6-38 29 21 118
Giannis Antetokounm-
Percentages: FG .523, FT .722. po will miss the Milwau-
3-Point Goals: 15-35, .429 (VanVleet 6-11, Brooks 3-4,
Smith Jr. 3-5, Ja.Green 2-9, Landale 1-2, Je.Green 0-1,
kee Bucks’ final three
Whitmore 0-3). regular-season games
Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 7 (Landale 2, Smith Jr. 2, Bullock Jr., after an MRI confirmed
Thompson, VanVleet).
Turnovers: 12 (Thompson 4, Ja.Green 2, Smith Jr. 2, the initial diagnosis that
VanVleet 2, Brooks, Je.Green).
Steals: 7 (Thompson 2, Bullock Jr., Hinton, Ja.Green,
the two-time MVP has a
Landale, VanVleet). strained left calf. The
Technical Fouls: Whitmore, 2:00 third; Whitmore, 1:46
third. Bucks issued an update
A—18,055 (18,500). T—2:11. Wednesday regarding the
injury that caused An-
tetokounmpo to leave late
their 39-40 record going in- in the third quarter of the
to the final three games, Bucks’ 104-91 victory over
many that still need to be the Boston Celtics on
made to return to the post- Tuesday. … All-Star point
season. But the turn- guard Trae Young re-
around began with an atti- turned for the Atlanta
tude adjustment. Hawks on Wednesday
“I’ve always said our night against the Charlotte
competitiveness has been Hornets after missing 23
there from day one,” Udo- games with a torn liga-
ka said. “I never ques- ment in his left pinkie.
tioned that part.” Wire reports
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Tara VanDerveer retires after 38 seasons at Stanford and 45 in the game as the winningest coach in NCAA
history, setting the record at 1,203 victories on Jan. 21 and finishing with 1,216.
VanDerveer nails timing
After helping build women’s game, illustrious coach retires with sport on roll
Tara VanDerveer is one
of the legendary sculptors
of women’s basketball. The
Michelangelo of her craft.
So perhaps it makes
perfect sense that, in the
wake of a weekend when
her artwork ascended to
its greatest heights, she put
down her chisel, stepped
away from the marble, and
decided to admire what
she has carved from a
hard block of nothing but
dreams.
VanDerveer, Hall of
Famer, GOAT, the Olym-
pic gold-medal coach, and
the winningest head coach
in college basketball histo-
ry, is retiring.
She announced late
Tuesday that she is ending
a 45-year career as a head
coach. During her 38 years
at Stanford, she led the
Cardinal to three national
championships and 14
Final Fours but, more
important than all the
wins and accomplish-
ments, she changed the
game. How it was played,
how it was perceived, how
it was accepted.
VanDerveer watched
the game she helped build
soar to unprecedented
heights. On the day she
decided to call it quits, we
learned that, for the first
time in history, the wom-
en’s championship game
crushed the men’s champi-
onship game in TV ratings
over the weekend.
There is more to see
here in women’s basket-
ball. Plenty more. But the
heavy lifting has been
done. The lifting that peo-
ple like VanDerveer and
her good friend, the late
Pat Summitt, accom-
SCHEFFLER
From page B1
back at Augusta National
this week, still the world’s
No. 1 player and perhaps
hotter than ever. The 27-
year-old from Dallas has
been in the top 10 in seven
of eight starts this year, in-
cluding his back-to-back
wins at the Arnold Palmer
Invitational and the Play-
ers Championship, where
he became the first to ever
defend his title.
In his last start, two
weeks ago at the Houston
Open, his modern-era re-
cord of 28 consecutive
rounds under par finally
ended with an even-par 70
in the second round, and
Scheffler wound up one
shot off a playoff in second
place.
So it’s not surprising
that there are heavy de-
mands on Scheffler’s time
these days.
He is asked to speak at
various functions. Chil-
dren lining the ropes beg
for his autograph. (Adults
do, too.) He’s had Netflix
crews filming him for its
docuseries, “Full Swing,”
and the list goes on, seem-
ingly building with every
Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press
ford. She fully under-
stands the landscape of
what is happening with
today’s game. She has been
dealing with the Stanford
administration to reach a
little grace in admitting Ivy
League grad students,
ANN KILLION getting some transfer
COM M ENTARY students. She knows what
she’s up against.
plished. The coming season
So VanDerveer is step- wasn’t an appealing sce-
ping away from the game nario for VanDerveer, who
she changed. But one that knew what she was up
also changed her, fueled against. Do you want to
her, consumed her. It’s spend your 46th year in
hard to imagine basketball the game flying across the
without Tara. And Tara country to compete in an
without coaching. unfamiliar conference,
Over the many, many, because none of the high-
many years I’ve known er-ups in collegiate athlet-
her, I’ve had a bazillion ics can see beyond their
conversations with Van- own greed, past the
Derveer about her future, boundaries of their cash
her aspirations, her frus- cow, college football? Be-
trations, her view of the cause they couldn’t value
women’s basketball land- the worth and the beauty
scape and how it was in what VanDerveer and
changing around her. others helped build?
There were times I VanDerveer was com-
thought she would, abso- pletely heartbroken by
lutely, for sure, be ready to what had happened to the
announce her retirement Pac-12. She had, almost
immediately. Times I was single-handedly, turned
shocked to learn she re- the conference into a wom-
mained so committed to en’s basketball power-
the new world order of the house. And her reward? A
collegiate landscape. giant shrug, because it
So I was not completely inevitably was all about
stunned by the news that football. The collapse of
broke Tuesday night. Not the Pac-12 ended with a
with what the world of desperate flight to the
college sports has devolved ACC, a conference that
into. Not with the absurd didn’t necessarily want
challenges that a 70-year- Stanford (or Cal) and made
old woman who has no sense for either the
reached the mountaintop school or its athletes.
three times with a college “As much as I love my
team and once as an Olym- coaching staff and my
pic champion would face. teammates, I don’t want to
VanDerveer has a per- travel across the country,”
fect successor set up in All-America forward/
Kate Paye. Paye loves Stan- center Cameron Brink
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
Scottie Scheffler has finished in the top 10 in seven
of the eight events he’s played in 2024.
trophy he raises. to win a PGA Tour event as
“You have to learn how an amateur, and Scheffler
to say no to certain people,” was asked whether he had
he said, “because ultimate- any insights to pass along.
ly, when you come out to a “No, he’s too good,”
golf tournament, you’re Scheffler said with a smile.
here to compete, and “I don’t want to give him
you’re here to do your best. any of my secrets.”
And you can’t really get Scheffler was kidding, of
caught up in all the stuff course, because — as we’ve
that’s going around you.” established — he was not
Make no mistake: Schef- raised to be a selfish per-
fler’s almost-placid de- son. His parents, Scott and
meanor masks an intense Diane, provided that foun-
desire to win. That was evi- dation, just as they made
dent after he played a prac- sure that golf was never the
tice round with Nick Dun- most important thing in
lap, who earlier this year his life.
became the first player “My parents pushed
since Phil Mickelson in 1991 more education and being
said, discussing her deci-
sion to pass on her last
year of eligibility.
VanDerveer has fought
for years against what
Paye will face: the strict
Stanford admissions, the
condescending “you’re
lucky to be at Stanford”
attitude. Only now it is so
much worse, with Stan-
ford’s lag in the NIL and
transfer-portal world. The
centerpiece of next sea-
son’s team, Kiki Iriafen, is
being wooed by other
schools.
At a dinner with Van-
Derveer shortly after she
won her last champi-
onship in 2021, the con-
versation turned to the fact
that “the wild, wild West”
was coming to college
sports. But it has been
even more wild and chaot-
ic than anyone could ever
imagine.
The hope is that sanity
will, at some point, resur-
face. That a West Coast,
Pacific-based conference
of excellence will be re-
born. But VanDerveer
can’t wait for that.
Her mother, Rita, is 96
and can’t travel. VanDer-
veer needs hip surgery.
Her joy is water skiing and
hanging out with her dogs.
She has plenty to do, in-
cluding — let’s hope —
using her influence to
bring some sanity to the
collegiate landscape.
It it hard to imagine
women’s college basketball
without Tara VanDerveer.
But, like that of a great
artist, her imprint always
will remain.
Ann Killion is a columnist for
the San Francisco Chronicle.
kind to people on me,”
Scheffler said. “Sometimes
you see a lot of parents who
really want their kid to be-
come really, really good at
something, and they think
that’s what is going to
bring them joy. But becom-
ing a really good golfer may
bring you a little bit of mo-
mentary joy, but it doesn’t
sustain it for very long.”
In fact, Scheffler said
that winning a tournament
“makes me happy for
about five minutes.”
The Masters glow may
have lasted just a little bit
longer.
“The way I was raised,
golf wasn’t really a huge
deal in my house. It was
just something that I al-
ways loved to do,” he said.
“I had a very supportive
family in doing so. I have
three sisters, and I’m sure
they went to way more golf
tournaments than they
would have hoped to when
I was growing up. But (I)
just had a great support
system at home. And I feel
like I’ve said it a bunch, golf
is not just — it’s something
that I do. It’s not my life,
you know?”
He happens to be really
good at it, though.
That’s why Scheffler is
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Calipari starting
anew at Arkansas
AS S O C I ATE D P RE S S
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
— Arkansas hired John
Calipari as men’s basket-
ball coach on Wednesday,
a day after the Hall of
Fame coach stepped down
from the Kentucky pro-
gram he led to the 2012
NCAA championship.
The 65-year-old Calipa-
ri signed a five-year con-
tract with an annual base
salary of $7 million
through April 2029 with a
maximum of two automat-
ic rollover years for NCAA
Tournament appearances
that would extend the con-
tract to 2031.
The deal includes a $1
million signing bonus and
features retention bonuses
of $500,000 each year of
the contract along with
one-time bonuses for
making the NCAA Tour-
nament, reaching the sec-
ond round, Sweet 16, Final
Four and winning a na-
tional championship.
Kentucky had been paid
Calipari $8.5 million annu-
ally.
Calipari is the winnin-
gest active coach in men's
college basketball, with a
career record of 855-263 in
stops at Massachusetts,
Memphis and Kentucky.
He has led his programs to
six Final Fours and three
national championship
games. He has won nu-
merous awards, including
AP Coach of the Year in
2015.
Arkansas vice chancel-
lor and director of athlet-
ics Hunter Yurachek an-
nounced Calipari’s hiring
in a news release on Wed-
nesday. Yurachek noted
Calipari's reputation as an
elite recruiter and success
in the Southeastern Con-
ference as contributing
factors for the hire.
“As I visited with coach
Calipari during this pro-
cess, he acknowledged the
tremendous opportunity
we have at the University
of Arkansas to attract and
retain top players and
compete for champion-
ships," Yurachek said in a
statement.
An introductory news
conference was scheduled
for Wednesday evening in
Fayetteville.
Calipari replaces Eric
Musselman, who left for
the job at Southern Cal.
Calipari inherits a pro-
gram that went 16-17 last
season after three consec-
utive NCAA Tournament
appearances, including
the Sweet 16 a year ago and
the Elite Eight in 2021 and
2022.
Arkansas, like Ken-
tucky, has a rich history.
The Razorbacks have been
THURSDAY’S FIRST-ROUND TEE TIMES
No. 1
7 a.m. Erik van Rooyen
7:12 a.m. Jose Maria Olazabal
7:24 a.m. Danny Willett
7:36 a.m. Charl Schwartzel
7:48 a.m. Gary Woodland
8 a.m. Zach Johnson
8:12 a.m. Sergio Garcia
8:24 a.m. Lucas Glover
8:36 a.m. Phil Mickelson
8:48 a.m. Nick Taylor
9:06 a.m. Patrick Cantlay
9:18 a.m. Hideki Matsuyama
9:30 a.m. Jon Rahm
9:42 a.m. Scottie Scheffler
9:54 a.m. Wyndham Clark
10:06 a.m. Lee Hodges
10:18 a.m. Camilo Villegas
10:30 a.m. Mike Weir
10:42 a.m. Vijay Singh
10:54 a.m. Fred Couples
11:12 p.m. Justin Rose
11:24 p.m. Akshay Bhatia
11:36 p.m. Bubba Watson
11:48 p.m. Patrick Reed
Noon Keegan Bradley
12:12 p.m. Adam Scott
12:24 p.m. Tiger Woods
12:36 p.m. Brian Harman
12:48 p.m. Jordan Spieth
1 p.m. Dustin Johnson
the 4-1 favorite to win this
week, according to Fan-
Duel Sportsbook, the most
overwhelming favorite to
win the Masters since Ti-
ger Woods more than a de-
cade ago.
No pressure there.
“I step up onto the tee at
a tournament, my thought
process is always about my
preparation. I just remind
myself: I’ve done the work.
I’ve done everything I
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 B3
Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
John Calipari’s new base
salary fell about $1.5
million a season.
to six Final Fours, won the
national title in 1994 and
lost in the final in 1995.
Calipari announced
that he was stepping down
as Kentucky coach on
Tuesday, saying in a video
that the program “needs to
hear another voice.”
He left the Wildcats af-
ter going 410-123 in 15
years, including 23-10 this
past season. But the past
few campaigns have been
disappointing by Ken-
tucky standards with a 1-3
mark in its last three
NCAA trips, including
first-round losses to No. 14
seed Oakland last month
and No. 15 seed Saint Pe-
ter’s two years ago. The
Wildcats were top-three
seeds both times.
The most recent NCAA
loss set off immediate calls
to fire Calipari before ath-
letic director Mitch Barn-
hart stated soon after that
Calipari would return
next season. Doing so
would’ve triggered a buy-
out of more than $33 mil-
lion to dismiss him under
the terms of a 10-year, “life-
time” contract signed in
2019.
Money is no longer an
issue for Kentucky with
Calipari’s announcement
and Arkansas’ seismic
move that at first glance
makes the Razorbacks im-
mediate SEC contenders
given the coach’s track re-
cord. Kentucky won six
conference tournament
championships and six
regular season titles,
though it hasn’t won the
tournament title since
2017.
“It was my dream job,"
Calipari said in the video.
"Anybody in our profes-
sion looks at the Universi-
ty of Kentucky in basket-
ball and said, ‘that is the
bluest of blue.’ The last
few weeks we’ve come to
realize that this program
probably needs to hear an-
other voice that the uni-
versity as a whole has to
have another voice giving
guidance about this pro-
gram that they hear and
the fans need to hear.”
Jake Knapp
Taylor Moore Santiago De La Fuente
Austin Eckroat Stephan Jaeger
Luke List Christo Lamprecht
Thorbjorn Olesen Bryson DeChambeau
Corey Conners Jasper Stubbs
Chris Kirk Ryan Fox
Byeong Hun An Harris English
Sepp Straka Tony Finau
Joaquin Niemann Russell Henley
Min Woo Lee Rickie Fowler
Will Zalatoris Justin Thomas
Matt Fitzpatrick Nick Dunlap
Rory McIlroy Xander Schauffele
Viktor Hovland Cameron Smith
Adrian Meronk Grayson Murray
Denny McCarthy Cameron Davis
Ryo Hisatsune Neal Shipley
Si Woo Kim Emiliano Grillo
Adam Hadwin Stewart Hagestad
Eric Cole Peter Malnati
J.T. Poston Shane Lowry
Nicolai Hojgaard Adam Schenk
Sungjae Im Kurt Kitayama
Mattieu Pavon Tyrrell Hatton
Sam Burns Cameron Young
Jason Day Max Homa
Brooks Koepka Tom Kim
Ludvig Aberg Sahith Theegala
Collin Morikawa Tommy Fleetwood
could. I’ve checked all the
boxes,” Scheffler said.
“And, yeah, there’s defi-
nitely nervousness.
There’s definitely excite-
ment, anxiousness. I
mean, all those things go
through you when you’re
out there competing. It’s
just about how do you use
those feelings and emo-
tions to kind of enhance
your focus, and that’s pret-
ty much it.”
B4 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
BOYS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS
Goose Creek Memorial is undaunted
By Ted Dunnam
STAFF WRIT E R
Don’t expect stage fright
from the Goose Creek Me-
morial boys soccer team in
its first appearance in the
state tournament.
Memorial, which faces
Midlothian at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday in the Class 5A
semifinals in Georgetown,
hasn’t lost since Jan. 17
against Humble, and its
two other losses this sea-
son were also to Class 6A
schools. The Patriots are
18-0-2 in their last 20
games and are 21-3-2 over-
all.
Leander Glenn (29-0-1)
plays Friso Wakeland (18-
5-3) in the other semfinal
on Thursday. The title
game is at 1:30 p.m. on Sat-
urday.
“We’re just trying to live
in the moment and make
the best of it,” senior mid-
fielder Carlos Gonzalez
said. “We’re confident, but
we’re humble. We don’t
want to get ahead of our-
selves.”
Because Memorial has
been so consistent this sea-
son, it’s difficult to locate a
turning point. However,
11th-year head coach Wil-
liam Freeman said the Pa-
triots received a couple of
jolts in District 17-5A play
that served as a wake-up
call.
“After we cruised
through the first round of
district, we tied Port Ne-
ches-Groves and Crosby,
and that was a reality
check for us,” Freeman
With deep area roots that include his playing for Katy's 2003 state championship team, Eman Naghavi was
thrilled to be retained on UH's football staff by new head coach Willie Fritz.
UH
From page B1
the last staff, I had to
sign a bunch of offensive
linemen. I probably set
the world record on offi-
cial visits for offensive
linemen in a 12-month
period.”
Naghavi eventually
was the only holdover
from former coach Dana
Holgorsen’s staff kept by
new coach Willie Fritz.
(Defensive line coach
Brian Early had an offer
to stay but took the same
job at Missouri.) It didn’t
hurt that Naghavi had a
history with Fritz, hav-
ing served as offensive
line coach for one season
at Tulane when the
Green Wave won the
American Athletic Con-
ference title and beat
USC in a New Year’s Six
bowl.
Naghavi also has deep
ties to the Houston area.
He was a team captain
on Katy High’s 2003 state
championship team and
is the son-in-law of Hall
of Fame coach Gary Jo-
seph.
“I wanted to stay here.
I love Houston,” Naghavi
said. “Whoever got hired
here, I was going to
make my pitch. How else
Coach William Freeman, center, and Goose Creek Memorial carry a 20-game
unbeaten streak into Thursday’s state semifinal matchup with Midlothian.
said. “That told us that
teams are going to play
hard against us.”
Although Memorial
was staggered twice with
the ties from PN-G (21-4-5)
and Crosby (17-5-2), the Pa-
triots didn’t lose their foot-
ing. They have won seven
straight, including a 2-1
victory over Magnolia
West in the Region III-5A
championship.
Gonzalez’s overtime
goal proved to be the win-
ner.
“We know goals are go-
ing to happen against us,
but we don’t knock each
other down over it,” Gon-
zalez said. “We support
was I going to do that? I
needed to recruit offen-
sive linemen because we
lost four out of five start-
ers. I was going to (con-
tinue) to recruit, because
it’s for the betterment of
UH. During that process,
I just kept recruiting like
I worked here.”
A few weeks had
passed, Naghavi said,
when he found out he
would have a spot on the
new staff.
“Once everything
started going down,
that’s when I got in touch
with coach Fritz, and he
told me I’ve got a spot,”
Naghavi said. “Honestly,
I didn’t know what was
going to happen. Again,
just because he got the
job didn’t mean I had a
job. He could have had
something different
planned, and it wouldn’t
have hurt my feelings. I’d
love to stay, but if it
wasn’t in the cards, it
wasn’t in the cards.”
Naghavi’s return offers
some much-needed con-
tinuity for the Cougars,
who must replace four
O-line starters from last
season. Along with pro-
jected NFL draft pick
Patrick Paul, a first-team
All-Big 12 selection, the
Cougars lost center Jack
Freeman to graduation
each other throughout the
game. Even in practices,
we try to help each other to
be better on and off the
field.”
Gonzalez, who is near-
ing the 50-goal mark for
this season, will attract the
bulk of attention from
Midlothian’s defense.
“I like when that hap-
pens because, at the end of
the day, they leave gaps
open for my teammates,”
Gonzalez said. “We have a
lot of players that score a
lot of goals. If they focus
too much on me, they’ll get
scored upon by one of my
teammates.
“We always try to see
Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer
and left guard Tyler
Johnson (Colorado) and
right tackle Reuben Unije
(Louisville) to the trans-
fer portal. The four play-
ers accounted for more
than 2,800 snaps last
season.
Tank Jenkins, a two-
year starter at right
guard, is the only return-
ee after being granted a
seventh year of eligibility.
Demetrius Hunter, a
6-foot-2, 310-pound soph-
omore, has been
groomed the past two
seasons to take over at
center.
“We’ve made strides
and a lot of improvement
moving forward,” Nagha-
vi said of the offensive
line during spring prac-
tice, which concludes
with the Red & White
Game at 10 a.m. Saturday
at the Carl Lewis In-
ternational Complex.
“The big thing now with
a big turnover in the
offensive line is finding
continuity. That’s the
thing we are trying to
build every day. We have
a lot of guys with experi-
ence, just not with each
other.”
About those gifts:
Naghavi signed three
transfers who could
challenge for significant
playing time — Dakota
Rob Tate/Staff
how each team plays and
then adjust. If they come
out running something
different than what we
prepare for, we still know
we can adjust to any play
style.”
Freeman says playing
against talented Class 6A
schools early helped pre-
pare his team for the rigors
of the playoffs.
“It was a way to gauge
ourselves,” Freeman said.
“If we play good teams we
can identify where we
stand, and not just in the
5A level.
“We were having to
chase the game. It put
stress on the boys on how
White (Louisiana Tech),
Cedric Melton (Ole Miss)
and Jake Wiley (UCLA).
He also signed Larry
Crawford (Georgia Mil-
itary) and Hingano Hau-
tau, an All-American at
Foothill College, and
high school players Ray-
’Quan Bell (Westfield),
Ronnell McLain (DeSoto)
and Derek Joiner (Kan-
sas City).
UH has used the 15
practices this spring to
experiment and “rotate
and see where they fit,”
Naghavi said of some
players getting looks at
both tackle and guard
spots. With Jenkins firm-
ly entrenched at right
guard, seven to eight
players are competing
for playing time at the
other four spots on the
offensive line.
“We need to find the
right mix,” Naghavi said.
As the Cougars search
for that mix, Hunter said
having a familiar face
back in Naghavi is an
important start.
“It’s great when you
can build a relationship
with a coach,” Hunter
said. “We’re on the same
page. We know each
other’s likes and dislikes.
It’s really great having
coach Naghavi back for
another year.”
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
to manage things. We
learned some lessons, and
then you have a talk with
the guys and identify the
issues.”
Midlothian is 19-0-2 in
its last 21 games. Its lone
setbacks were back-to-
back on Jan.12 and13 to Ar-
lington Heights and Fort
Worth Eaton.
“We know Midlothian
is going to come out flying
and will be a great team,”
Gonzalez said. “It’s one
step at a time. I feel like
we’re the underdogs, but
we’re used to that and
we’re ready to prove peo-
ple wrong once again.”
The win over Magnolia
West wasn’t Memorial’s
lone test in the playoffs. It
had to bounce back from a
halftime deficit to edge Ga-
lena Park, 2-1.
“That was a tough,
tough game,” Gonzalez
said. “It was a different at-
mosphere. They had a lot
of fans and so did we. Ga-
lena Park played a differ-
ent style. We just fixed
things during the second
half, took our chances and
outplayed them.”
Freeman said there’s a
reason this team has
achieved unprecedented
success at Memorial.
“The players built the
culture,” Freeman said. “I
set the standards and the
expectations of what I
want, but ultimately, they
created their own identity.
We have a group of five se-
niors that work really well
together, and everyone
holds each other account-
A&M
From page B1
stands how important it is
to get these reps.”
While earning valuable
reps Weigman simply is
not at full go, as the Aggies
held a closed scrimmage on
Tuesday. Prior to the start
of his first spring practice
as A&M’s head coach, Elko
said Weigman was his No. 1
quarterback under new of-
fensive coordinator Collin
Klein.
“I said (that) and I want
to make sure that it’s said
the right way, but just be-
cause you go into spring as
the No.1doesn’t really mean
anything other than you’re
No. 1 going into spring,” El-
ko emphasized on Wednes-
day. “Conner had earned
that right we felt like from
how he had performed (in
2023), but like with every
kid in our program, compe-
tition is there.
“Conner knows there’s a
level of play he needs to
reach in order to continue
to be No. 1, and be No. 1
when we play Notre
Dame.”
Trainers have assured
Weigman and the coaches
he can practice — just not
push it too hard as he con-
tinues recovering from the
broken (weight-bearing)
bone. The former Bridge-
land High star has done so,
in limiting his running
along with leaving room for
improvement headed into
the Aggies’ opener against
the Fighting Irish on Aug. 31
at Kyle Field.
As for Weigman’s tough-
ness in continuing to press
on in practice Elko added,
“That’s a mindset I’ve been
very happy with our kids
this spring, that we have
guys out there who are
nicked up, and understand
how important it is to go on
the practice field and prac-
tice, and so that’s good, and
Conner is doing that.
“(But) … it still has to
slow down for everybody,
him included. I’m a coach
so I don’t know how to sug-
arcoat all this stuff, but it’s
not great right now because
they’re not comfortable in
(the system) yet. That’s part
of spring, just learning how
the system works and tak-
ing more and more reps.”
If Weigman isn’t fully re-
covered or has not pro-
gressed as much as he and
the coaching staff hope by
August, the Aggies are still
PAIRINGS
Boys
Class 6A
Semifinals
Seven Lakes (23-1-2) vs. Duncanville (20-2-3), 5 p.m. Fri-
day
Austin Vandegrift (22-2-2) vs. Lewisville Flower Mound
(22-2-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Class 5A
Semifinals
Leander Glenn (29-0-1) vs. Frisco Wakeland (18-5-3), 5
p.m. Thursday
Goose Creek Memorial (21-3-2) vs. Midlothian (23-2-3).
7:30 p.m. Thursday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Class 4A
Semifinals
Boerne (22-0) vs. Kilgore (25-2-2), late Wednesday
Navasota (23-2-1) vs. San Elizario (22-3), late Wednes-
day
Championship
Semifinal winners, 2:30 p.m. Friday
Girls
Class 6A
Semifinals
Rockwall (21-3-2) vs. Austin Westlake (16-4-2), 9:30
a.m. Friday
Prosper (24-2-2) vs. Seven Lakes (19-3-5), Noon, Friday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. Saturday
Class 5A
Semifinals
Colleyville Heritage (23-0-2) vs. Pflugerville Hendrickson
(21-3-2), 9:30 a.m. Thursday
Frisco Wakeland (24-0-2) vs. Leander Rouse (20-4-3),
Noon, Thursday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 11 a.m. Saturday
Class 4A
Semifinals
Celina 3, Lumberton 1
Boerne 2, Salado 1 (ET)
Championship
Boerne (23-1-3) vs. Celina (25-1-2), 2:30 p.m. Thursday
able.
“Our large junior class
accepts leadership, and
the sophomores are a ma-
ture group. When you
have players that are will-
ing to make sacrifices, that
builds a culture for suc-
cess.”
in good shape at quarter-
back based on the perfor-
mances last season of back-
ups Jaylen Henderson and
Marcel Reed.
“They bring something
different to the table,” Elko
said. “Jaylen Henderson is
getting a little bit more and
more comfortable func-
tioning within the system,
and he’s obviously ex-
tremely athletic. He does
have the ability to throw the
football well, it’s just seeing
the game and kind of get-
ting the game to slow down
for him a little bit so he can
be a little bit more consis-
tent.”
Klein said in particular
of the quarterback room he
inherited, “I’m getting to
know a little better of how
the guys tick and how they
learn.”
Weigman broke his foot
in Week 4 against Auburn
and was replaced by Max
Johnson, who has since
transferred to North Caro-
lina. Henderson started for
an injured Johnson in the
Aggies’ 10th game of the
season, a 51-10 home win
over Mississippi State,
what also turned out to be
coach Jimbo Fisher’s final
game at A&M. Fisher was
fired the following morning
for failing to compete for
Southeastern Conference
titles.
Henderson accounted
for four touchdowns, two
passing and two rushing, in
the blowout victory over
the Bulldogs. He played de-
cently in a 38-10 home win
over Abilene Christian and
a 42-30 loss at LSU to cap
the regular season. Hen-
derson, who will be a junior
this season, was hurt early
in the Aggies’ 31-23 Texas
Bowl loss to Oklahoma
State, allowing Reed more
playing time than anticipat-
ed as a true freshman.
“You kind of saw in the
bowl game he has really,
really high potential, and
it’s very similar (to Hender-
son) in that can we get it to
be out there every single
play,” Elko said. “With a
few less peaks and valleys
and a little bit more consis-
tent execution and opera-
tion is kind of what we need
from him.”
Reed in just his third col-
lege appearance threw for
more yards in a game (361)
than any A&M quarter-
back in 2023. He added 29
rushing yards on 10 carries
and a rushing touchdown
against the Cowboys.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 B5

ASTROS
NOTEBOOK

Abreu bats 8th in order for 1st time

STAFF RE P O RT S For the past two sea-
sons, whenever players
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — make their first appear-
For the first time in his ance in a major league
major league career, José game, an MLB Debut
Abreu started a game in Patch created by Topps
the eighth spot in his trading cards is stitched
team’s lineup Wednesday. onto the jersey. After the
Astros manager Joe game, the patch is re-
Espada dropped the moved and authenticated
struggling first baseman to by Major League Baseball,
the eighth spot in the then included in a one-of-
order for the second of one Rookie Debut Patch
three games at Kauffman Autograph Card randomly
Stadium. Abreu entered inserted into a pack of
the game 3-for-34 this Topps cards later in the
season with zero extra- year.
base hits or runs batted in. Arrighetti will sign the
Espada said he had dis- card after the game, mak-
cussed the move with ing it extremely valuable
Abreu, a respected veter- among card collectors.
an, prior to making it. Even cards of rather anon-
“I think he understands ymous rookies are listed
that he’s got some work to for sale on eBay at more
do,” Espada said. “And than $1,000. A collector
we’re doing what’s best for even offered $150,000 to
the team, and he’s on anyone who pulled the
board with that.” card of Yankees' rising star
Abreu, in his 11th major Anthony Volpe last year.
league season, had played There may be a similar
in 1,422 games entering push for the card of Jack-
Wednesday. He had batted son Holliday, the No. 1
lower than fifth in just 42 Ed Zurga/Associated Press prospect in all of baseball
games started. Abreu had For the third consecutive outing, Cristian Javier gave the Astros a strong start Tuesday, giving up two who made his debut with
not started a game batting earned runs to the Royals in 51⁄3 innings. They were the first runs Javier has allowed this season. the Orioles on Wednesday.
lower than fifth prior to Arrighetti will be the
last season, when he post- of understands that we’re STATISTICS first on Vinnie Pasquan- fifth Astros player to wear
ed an 87 OPS-plus, 13 trying to do what’s best for tino’s ground ball that the patch after pitcher J.P.
percent below MLB aver- the team. BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E allowed Witt to score, France, outfielder Corey
Alvarez .347 .407 49 9 17 3 0 4 11 5 7 0 0 0
age, in the first season of a “He knows he’s not at Altuve .333 .407 48 10 16 4 0 3 3 6 9 0 1 0 tying the game at 3. Julks and catcher César
three-year, $58.5 million his best right now, and Peña
Caratini
.333
.333
.362
.333
45
12
5
3
15
4
1
0
0
0
2
1
7
3
1
0
5
5
2
0
1
0
1
0
On a chilly night, Ja- Salazar did so last year
deal with the Astros. we’re trying to do what’s Diaz .302 .348 43 4 13 1 0 2 5 3 8 0 0 0 vier’s velocity was down 1 and pitcher Blair Henley
In his first 11 games this best for the situation that Tucker
Meyers
.286
.238
.352
.304
49
21
6
3
14
5
2
0
0
0
2
2
7
4
5
2
10
6
1
0
0
1
0
0
mph from his season aver- wore it Monday.
season, Abreu hit .088 we’re in and trying to put Bregman .222 .300 45 1 10 3 0 0 2 5 8 1 0 1 age. He generated six Matt Young
Dubón .222 .222 18 2 4 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0
with one walk and 12 him in a position for him McCormick .211 .333 38 3 8 2 0 0 3 7 10 1 0 0 misses on 14 swings
strikeouts in 37 plate ap- to succeed, and the same Singleton
J.Abreu
.143
.088
.200
.162
14
34
0
4
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
12
0
0
0
0
0
1
against his fastball, Suero returns
pearances. His swing-and- thing with the rest of our Kessinger .000 .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 though, and used it to to Sugar Land
miss rate of 39.2% was well hitters. There’s some PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO finish three of his four
Blanco 2 0 0.00 2 2 0 15.0 1 0 0 0 6 11
above his career rate of matchups that are favor- Martinez 1 0 0.00 5 0 0 7.0 3 0 0 0 1 2 strikeouts. Javier’s in- The Astros optioned
25.2%, and he was averag- able for other hitters, and Coleman 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 1 creased changeup use reliever Wander Suero to
Díaz 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ing an 85.9 mph exit veloc- José Abreu is a pro. He Suero 0 1 0.00 1 0 0 0.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 could help keep hitters Triple-A Sugar Land be-
ity on his 22 batted balls understands that.” Javier
Montero
1
0
0
0
1.10
1.69
3
6
3
0
0
0
16.1
5.1
10
1
3
1
2
1
0
1
9
3
13
2
from keying on his fast- fore Wednesday’s game to
put in play, in the bottom Abreu’s numbers so far Valdez 0 0 2.19 2 2 0 12.1 11 3 3 0 6 10 ball. He got six called create an active roster spot
Scott 0 1 3.00 6 0 0 6.0 3 2 2 0 5 10
20th percentile of major reflect a small sample. Last France 0 1 4.76 2 2 0 11.1 14 6 6 0 3 9
strikes on changeups. for Arrighetti, their top
league hitters, according to year, he reached the end of B.Abreu 0 1 5.79 5 0 0 4.2 6 3 3 2 4 5 Javier exited in the sixth pitching prospect who was
Hader 0 2 6.00 6 0 1 6.0 5 4 4 1 3 7
Baseball Savant. May hitting .211 with one Brown 0 1 6.43 2 2 0 7.0 12 6 5 1 6 8 with one out and runners called up from Triple-A to
In Tuesday night's 4-3 home run. He finished the Bielak
Pressly
0
0
0
1
8.10
11.57
3
6
0
0
0
0
6.2
4.2
12
9
6
6
6
6
2
1
2
2
4
7
on first and third. Rafael make his major-league
loss to the Royals, Espada season with 18 home runs Mushinski 0 0 13.50 2 0 0 1.1 3 4 2 0 1 2 Montero stranded both debut against the Royals.
pinch-hit for Abreu in the and 90 RBIs, the latter Henley 0 0 135.00 1 1 0 0.1 4 5 5 0 3 0
his runners. Bregman Arrighetti also needed
top of the 10th inning with partly reflecting his taking atoned for his earlier error to be selected to the 40-
one out and a runner on Houston’s third-most plate there for him, that confi- 10 hits in 161⁄3 innings. by throwing out MJ Me- man roster. Utility player
second base in a tied appearances with runners dence will build, and we’ll Javier held Kansas City lendez at home plate on Cooper Hummel was
game. It was a notable in scoring position. Espa- start getting some produc- scoreless for his first four Renfroe’s chopper. Mon- designated for assignment
move in the situation given da, while moving Abreu tion out of him.” innings Tuesday, extend- tero retired Kyle Isbel on in a corresponding 40-
Abreu’s reputation as a down in the lineup, has ing a run of 15 scoreless a fly out to preserve a 3-3 man roster move.
run producer. Espada sent also voiced optimism that Javier adds innings to start his season. tie. Suero was called up
switch-hitter Victor Cara- Abreu will emerge from to strong start The Royals snapped that Matt Kawahara Tuesday, faced one batter
tini up to face Royals the early slump. run in the fifth. in the 10th inning and was
right-hander James “I just want to see confi- Overshadowed some- Javier issued a leadoff Debut means charged with the loss in
McArthur, who spoiled dence, someone who be- what by Ronel Blanco’s walk and allowed a single prized patch the Astros’ walk-off defeat
the platoon strategy by lieves he can hit,” Espada emergence, Cristian Ja- to eighth hitter Hunter in Kansas City. Hummel
striking Caratini out. said. “José Abreu is a vier’s first three starts Renfroe. A bunt moved When Spencer Ar- was claimed off waivers
Espada, asked Wednes- really good hitter. He’s have been an encouraging up both runners. Maikel righetti made his big from the Giants last week
day afternoon if he had been a really good hitter development for Houston’s Garcia skied a sacrifice league debut Wednesday by Houston and had ap-
discussed that move with for a very long time. And I injury-thinned rotation. fly, Bobby Witt Jr. tripled night, he was wearing a peared in three games for
Abreu, said: “Not so much think once he starts get- The right-hander owns a in a run, and Alex Breg- unique patch on the sleeve Sugar Land.
the rationale, but he kind ting some (hits) dropping 1.10 ERA and has allowed man made a high throw to of his Astros' jersey. Matt Kawahara

ASTROS Tuesday’s game

Royals 4, Astros 3
From page B1 Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Altuve 2b 4 1 1 0 1 1 .333
Alvarez lf 5 0 4 2 0 0 .347
er combined to reach base Tucker dh
Bregman 3b
5
5
0 2
0 1
0 0 1
0 0 1
.286
.222
eight times and score one Diaz c 5 0 1 1 0 2 .302
McCormick rf 5 0 1 0 0 2 .211
run. Alvarez drove in two J.Abreu 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .088
of Houston’s runs and is 14- b-Caratini ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333
Peña ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 .333
for-25 over his past six Dubón cf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .222
games. Three of his hits a-Singleton ph
Meyers cf
1
1
0 0
0 0
0 0 0
0 0 1
.143
.238
came against left-handed Totals 44 3 14 3 1 10
Royals starter Cole Ragans. Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Garcia 3b 4 0 0 1 0 1 .222
The Astros totaled 10 hits Witt ss 5 1 1 1 0 1 .333
against Ragans, the most Pasquantino 1b
2-Hampson pr
4
0
0
1
0
0
0 1 0 .108
0 0 0 .077
the left-hander has allowed Perez c 5 0 2 1 0 0 .341
in a game in his career, with Melendez lf
1-D.Blanco pr-lf
2
0
0
0
1
0
0 2 1 .333
0 0 0 .000
a loss to show for it. Velázquez dh 4 0 2 0 0 2 .323
Frazier 2b 3 1 0 0 1 1 .217
“We have some guys that Renfroe rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .156
are locked in,” shortstop Isbel cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .226
Totals 33 4 7 3 5 7
Jeremy Peña said. “I feel Houston 110 100 000 0—3 14 1
like Yordan can’t miss right Kansas City 000 030 000 1—4 7 0
now. But it’s just a matter of No outs when winning run scored.
a-flied out for Dubón in the 8th. b-pinch hit for J.Abreu in
putting together timely hit- the 10th.
1-ran for Melendez in the 8th. 2-ran for Pasquantino in the
ting. I feel like we’re doing a 10th.
great job of getting runners E—Bregman (1). LOB—Houston 13, Kansas City 10.
2B—Dubón (2), Alvarez (3), Velázquez (3). 3B—Witt (2).
on. But it says a lot about RBIs—Diaz (5), Alvarez 2 (11), Garcia (10), Witt (3), Perez
(10). SB—Peña (2), Melendez (1), D.Blanco (5). SF—Gar-
our team. We put together cia. S—Isbel.
good at-bats. Everyone goes Runners left in scoring position—Houston 6 (McCormick,
Meyers, Peña 2, Diaz, Tucker); Kansas City 4 (Isbel 2, Ren-
out there and competes. Ev- Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images froe 2). RISP—Houston 5 for 18; Kansas City 3 for 11.
Runners moved up—Frazier.
eryone’s got a great plan go- Yordan Alvarez racked up four hits and drove in two of the Astros’ three runs in Tuesday’s loss. Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
ing up to home plate. So in Javier 5 1/3 5 3 2 3 4 93 1.10
Montero 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 7 1.69
the long run, I think we’ll be “I thought there were no chance to get Peña, but gan to warm as soon as that day was his sixth in Hous- B.Abreu 1 0 0 0 1 1 19 5.79
OK.” some right-handed pitch- keeping the ball on the in- inning ended. Espada said ton’s first 12 games. Espada Pressly
Hader
1 1 0 0 1 2 26 11.57
1 0 0 0 0 0 11 6.00
Peña struck two hits and ers from their bullpen that I field held Yainer Diaz at there was no consideration said he was cognizant of the Suero, L, 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0.00
is batting .333 through 12 like having some left-hand- third base. McArthur to bringing Hader back for juncture of the season in Kansas City
Ragans
IP H R ER BB SO
5 10 3 3 1 5
NP
96
ERA
2.60
games. One of them nearly ed bats available for,” Espa- struck out Jake Meyers to the 10th. making the decision. Anderson 1 1 0 0 0 1 14 5.40
gave the Astros an edge in da said of pinch-hitting for strand Diaz there. “No, that was good “We have to be smart Stratton
Schreiber
1 2 0 0 0 2
1 0 0 0 0 0
21
8
3.60
0.00
the 10th. Peña was third to Abreu in a situation with “I didn’t quite square it enough there for Hader,” here,” Espada said. “And McArthur, W, 1-0 2 1 0 0 0 2 25 5.40
bat in the inning after Roy- the go-ahead run on second up, kind of hit it with the in- Espada said. “He’s done a we’ve got to be careful how Inherited runners-scored—Montero 2-0.
Umpires—Home, Jansen Visconti; First, Derek Thomas;
als reliever James McAr- base. “And that was one of side part of the bat,” Peña great job. He threw a clean much we ask from these Second, Andy Fletcher; Third, Mike Muchlinski.
T—3:03. A—11,926 (38,427).
thur retired Chas McCor- those matchups right said. “But I thought it did ninth. We’ve got to make guys. He came in in the
mick on a lineout and there.” have a chance of going sure that we’re smart about ninth inning, shut the door.
struck out Victor Caratini. Peña pulled a ground through. Shout-out to Bob- … the length of our season.” And he gave us a chance to combined to hold them
Caratini was sent up to ball that left his bat at just by Witt. Made a nice play.” Hader’s one-inning us- win the game.” scoreless for five innings.
pinch-hit for José Abreu, 79.2 mph but appeared It preserved a tie into the age is a well-established Two stranded runners in “We had some opportu-
who was 1-for-4 with an in- headed for left field. Short- bottom of the 10th. Hader, trend. He last recorded the next half-inning under- nities to get some guys in,”
field hit Tuesday and is stop Bobby Witt Jr. ranged the Astros’ closer, had used more than three outs in a scored a theme of the night. Espada said. “We just
now 3-for-34 with no extra- to his right and stopped it only11pitches in the bottom regular-season appearance After the Astros chased Ra- couldn’t capitalize and add
base hits on the season. on a dive. Witt’s throw had of the ninth. But Suero be- in 2020. His outing Tues- gans, five Royals relievers on some of the runs.”
B6 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

FOR THE RECORD

AROUND SPORTS MLB AT A GLANCE SCOREBOARD ON THE AIR

Allen AMERICAN LEAGUE

East Division
New York
W
10
L
2
Pct
.833
GB
—
WCGB
—
L10 Str
8-2 W-4
Home
4-1
Away
6-1
Odds
Home team capitalized
NBA
Television
Col. baseballMiami at Florida St. ACC 6 p.m.

reaches
Thursday Col. baseballMissouri at Georgia SEC 6 p.m.
Boston 7 4 .636 2½ — 6-4 L-1 0-1 7-3 FAVORITE LINE O/U UNDERDOG Col. baseballKentucky at Auburn ESPNU 6:30 p.m.
Baltimore 6 4 .600 3 ½ 6-4 W-1 4-2 2-2 DETROIT OFF OFF Chicago Col. hockey NCAA Frozen Four (semifinal): ESPN2 4 p.m.
BOSTON OFF OFF New York
Boston U. vs. Denver

new deal
Tampa Bay 7 6 .538 3½ 1 5-5 W-2 3-4 4-2 UTAH OFF OFF Houston
PORTLAND OFF OFF Golden State Col. hockey NCAA Frozen Four (semifinal): ESPN2 7:30 p.m.
Toronto 6 7 .462 4½ 2 5-5 L-1 2-1 4-6
SACRAMENTO 1 218 New Orleans Boston College vs. Michigan
Central Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away
MLB Golf The Masters ESPN 2 p.m.

with Jags
Cleveland 8 3 .727 — — 7-3 L-1 1-1 7-2 Thursday Hockey (w) World Championship (quarterfinal): NHL 10 a.m.
Detroit 7 4 .636 1 — 6-4 W-1 1-2 6-2 American League Finland vs. Switzerland
Kansas City 7 4 .636 1 — 7-3 W-5 6-2 1-2 FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG LINE Hockey (w) World Championship (quarterfinal): NHL 12:30 p.m.
Minnesota -116 at DETROIT -102 Czech Republic vs. Germany
W IR E R EP ORT S Minnesota 4 6 .400 3½ 2½ 4-6 W-1 1-4 3-2 Houston -134 at KANSAS CITY +114
TEXAS -188 Oakland +158 Hockey (w) World Championship (quarterfinal): NHL 7:30 p.m.
Chicago 2 9 .182 6 5 2-8 W-1 1-4 1-5
Baltimore -118 at BOSTON +100 United States vs Japan
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. West Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away National League Horse racing America's Day at the Races FS2 noon
— Standout pass rusher Texas 6 5 .545 — — 5-5 L-3 4-4 2-1 FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG LINE MLB N.Y. Mets at Atlanta MLB 11 a.m.
Los Angeles 6 6 .500 ½ 1½ 6-4 L-2 2-4 4-2 ATLANTA -200 N.Y Mets +168 MLB Astros at Kansas City SCHN, SCHN2 1 p.m.
Josh Allen and the Jack- Milwaukee -126 at CINCINNATI +108
Seattle 5 8 .385 2 3 3-7 W-1 3-4 2-4 MLB Baltimore at Boston MLB 6 p.m.
sonville Jaguars reached PHILADELPHIA -156 Pittsburgh +132
NBA New York at Boston TNT, truTV 6:30 p.m.
agreement Wednesday on Oakland 4 7 .364 2 3 4-6 W-3 1-6 3-1 NHL
Thursday NBA Rockets at Utah SCHN 8 p.m.
Houston 4 8 .333 2½ 3½ 4-6 L-1 2-5 2-3
a five-year, $150 million FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG LINE NBA New Orleans at Sacramento TNT, truTV 9 p.m.
contract that includes $88 NATIONAL LEAGUE PITTSBURGH -140 Detroit +116 NBA G League G-League Finals (Game 2): ESPNN 7 p.m.
TORONTO -192 New Jersey +158
million guaranteed, a East Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away Maine at Oklahoma City
N.Y RANGERS -220 Philadelphia +180
Atlanta 7 3 .700 — — 7-3 W-1 4-1 3-2 NHL Winnipeg at Dallas BSSW 7 p.m.
person familiar with the BUFFALO
FLORIDA
-137
-360
Washington
Columbus
+114
+280
Philadelphia 6 6 .500 2 ½ 6-4 W-1 2-4 4-2 Soccer UEFA Europa: Roma at Milan CBSSN 2 p.m.
negotiations said. TAMPA BAY -200 Ottawa +164
Tennis ATP: Monte-Carlo Masters Tennis 4 a.m.
Washington 5 7 .417 3 1½ 4-6 L-1 2-4 3-3 N.Y ISLANDERS -220 Montreal +180
The deal makes Allen DALLAS -142 Winnipeg +118 Radio
New York 4 7 .364 3 ½ 2 4-6 L-1 1-5 3-2
the third-highest-paid SEATTLE -235 San Jose +190
MLB Astros at Kansas City 790 AM 1 p.m.
Miami 1 11 .083 7 5½ 1-9 L-2 0-7 1-4 LOS ANGELES -192 Calgary +158
defensive player in the In Spanish 93.3 FM, 1010 AM
league in average salary
Central Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away Baseball MiLB Space Cowboys at Albuquerque 92.5 FM 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh 9 3 .750 — — 7-3 L-1 3-2 6-1 Triple-A Pacific Coast League
behind San Francisco's NBA Rockets at Utah 790 AM 8 p.m.
Milwaukee 7 3 .700 1 +1 ½ 7-3 W-1 3-2 4-1 East W L Pct. GB In Spanish 93.3 FM, 1010 AM
Nick Bosa and Kansas Chicago 7 4 .636 1 ½ +1 7-3 W-1 5-1 2-3 Oklahoma City (L.A. Dodgers) 6 3 .667 ½
City's Chris Jones. Cincinnati 6 5 .545 2 ½ — 5-5 L-1 4-4 2-1
El Paso (San Diego)
Sugar Land (Houston)
6
6
4
4
.600 1
.600 1
Allen, the seventh St. Louis 6 7 .462 3 ½ 1 5-5 L-1 3-3 3-4
Round Rock (Texas) 5 4 .556 1 ½ San Jose 78 18 51 9 45 173 310 Cincinnati at CF Montréal, 6:30 p.m.
New England at New York City FC, 6:30 p.m.
Albuquerque (Colorado) 2 8 .200 5 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
overall pick in the 2019 Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per Chicago at New York, 6:30 p.m.
West Division W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home Away West W L Pct. GB Seattle at FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
draft, set a single-season Tacoma (Seattle) 7 3 .700 —
conference advance to playoffs.
x-clinched playoff spot Miami at Sporting Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles 10 5 .667 — — 7-3 L-1 6-2 4-3
franchise record with 17½ Reno (Arizona) 5 4 .556 1 ½ y-clinched division Houston at Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.
Columbus at Real Salt Lake, 8:30 p.m.
Arizona 6 7 .462 3 1 4-6 W-2 4-3 2-4 Sacramento (San Francisco) 5 5 .500 2 z-clinched conference
sacks in the final year of San Diego 6 8 .429 3½ 1½ 4-6 L-1 4-6 2-2
Salt Lake (L.A. Angels) 4 6 .400 3 Tuesday’s results LA Galaxy at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m.
Las Vegas (Oakland) 2 7 .222 4 ½ Florida 2, Ottawa 0 Colorado at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.
his rookie contract. San Francisco 5 8 .385 4 2 3-7 W-1 3-3 2-5 Tuesday’s results Toronto 5, New Jersey 2 Sunday’s games
Packers-Eagles in Colorado 3 10 .231 6 4 2-8 L-2 2-4 1-6
Sugar Land 12, Albuquerque 4 Washington 2, Detroit 1
Carolina 4, Boston 1
Philadelphia at Atlanta, 1:30 p.m.
Austin FC at St Louis City, 3:30 p.m.
Tacoma 4, Reno 0
Brazil: The Green Bay El Paso 3, Sacramento 1 Montreal 9, Philadelphia 3 NWSL
Tampa Bay 5, Columbus 2
Packers will play the Tuesday’s results Salt Lake 12, Las Vegas 2
N.Y. Islanders 4, N.Y. Rangers 2 W L T Pts GF GA
Oklahoma City at Round Rock, ppd.
Philadelphia Eagles in the American League National League Wednesday’s results Winnipeg 4, Nashville 3 (OT)
Dallas 3, Buffalo 2
Kansas City
Chicago
3 0 0
2 0 1
9 11 7
7 5 2
Kansas City 4, Houston 3 (10) Detroit 5, Pittsburgh 3 Round Rock 7, Oklahoma City 6
first regular-season game Detroit 5, Pittsburgh 3 Milwaukee 9, Cincinnati 5 Sacramento 7, El Paso 3 Colorado 5, Minnesota 2 North Carolina 2 1 0 6 7 3
Anaheim 3, Los Angeles 1 Washington 2 1 0 6 4 3
in Brazil on Sept. 6. Baltimore 7, Boston 1 Yankees 3, Miami 2
Sugar Land at Albuquerque, late
Reno at Tacoma, late Seattle 5, Arizona 0 Houston 1 1 1 4 4 7
The matchup in Sao White Sox 7, Cleveland 5 Atlanta 6, Mets 5 Salt Lake at Las Vegas, late
Thursday’s games
Calgary 3, San Jose 2 (OT)
Wednesday’s results
San Diego 1 1 0 3 2 2
Yankees 3, Miami 2 Dodgers 6, Minnesota 3 Gotham FC 1 1 0 3 1 1
Paulo will mark the first Toronto 5, Seattle 3 St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 0
Oklahoma City at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Chicago at St. Louis, late Orlando 0 0 3 3 4 4
Sugar Land at Albuquerque, 7:35 p.m. Vegas at Edmonton, late
time since 1970 that the Dodgers 6, Minnesota 3 Arizona 3, Colorado 2 El Paso at Sacramento, 8:45 p.m. Arizona at Vancouver, late
Louisville
Bay FC
0 0 3
1 2 0
3
3
4 4
4 5
Thursday’s games
NFL has played a Friday Tampa Bay 6, Angels 4 Washington 5, San Francisco 3 Salt Lake at Las Vegas, 9:05 p.m.
Reno at Tacoma, 9:05 p.m. Columbus at Florida, 6 p.m. Seattle 1 2 0 3 2 3
night game on the sea- Cubs 5, San Diego 1 Detroit at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m. Utah Royals FC 1 2 0 3 3 5
New Jersey at Toronto, 6 p.m. Portland 0 2 1 1 6 8
son's opening weekend. Wednesday’s results Tuesday’s game Ottawa at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m. Angel City 0 2 1 1 3 6
Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers, 6 p.m.
Rice facing 8 charges: American League National League Space Cowboys 12, Isotopes 4 Washington at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.
Friday’s games
Kansas City Chiefs wide Minnesota 3, Dodgers 2 Minnesota 3, Dodgers 2 Sugar Land
Albuquerque
300 023 400 — 12 8 1
002 000 020 — 4 10 3
Montreal at N.Y. Islanders, 6:30 p.m.
Winnipeg at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Washington at Houston, 7 p.m.
Orlando at Utah Royals FC, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle 6, Toronto 1 (10) Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 3
receiver Rashee Rice Tampa Bay 4, Angels 2 San Francisco 7, Washington 1 W: Kuhnel (2-1). L: Davis (0-2). San Jose at Seattle, 9 p.m. Saturday’s games
Calgary at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m. Portland at North Carolina, 6 p.m.
faces eight charges in Houston at Kansas City, late Arizona 5, Colorado 3
Sugar Land— Robaina, Kuhnel (5), McDonald (7), Strot-
man (8), VanWey (9). Las Vegas— Davis, Adams (6), Jus- Friday’s games San Diego at Louisville, 6:30 p.m.
connection with a multi- White Sox at Cleveland, late Cubs at San Diego, late tice (7), Hollowell (7), Wilcox (8), Koch (9). Carolina at St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.
Angel City at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday's games
Miami at Yankees, late Milwaukee at Cincinnati, late
vehicle hit-and-run crash Baltimore at Boston, late Miami at Yankees, late
Arizona at Edmonton, 8 p.m. Kansas City at Gotham FC, 5 p.m.
Calgary at Anaheim, 9 p.m. Seattle at Bay FC, 7 p.m.
last month, Dallas police Oakland at Texas, late Mets at Atlanta, ppd. Colleges Minnesota at Vegas, 9 p.m.
Tuesday’s results
announced. Rugby
He is accused of one Thursday’s games Sam Houston 8, Houston 5
Texas A&M 6, UTSA 5 MLR
Tennis
American League Texas 9, Texas State 1 ATP World Tour Monte-Carlo
count of aggravated as- Minnesota (López 1-1) at Detroit (Skubal 1-0), 12:10 p.m. Incarnate Ward 11, Rice 5 Western Conference Rolex Masters
sault, one count of colli- Houston (Brown 0-1) at Kansas City (Singer 1-0), 1:10 p.m. Texas Southern vs. Huston-Tillotson, ppd. W L D PF PA PTS At Monte Carlo, Monaco

sion involving serious Oakland (Sears 0-1) at Texas (Gray 0-0), 1:35 p.m. Football Seattle
Houston
5
5
1
0
0
0
185
151
150
113
24
23
Men’s singles
Baltimore (Rodriguez 2-0) at Boston (Whitlock 1-0), 6:10 p.m. UFL Round of 32
bodily injury and six National League
San Diego 4 1 0 117 98 19
Alexei Popyrin, Australia, def. Andrey Rublev (6), Russia,
USFL CONFERENCE W L T Pct PF PA Dallas 2 4 0 204 186 15
counts of collision in- Milwaukee (Peralta 1-0) at Cincinnati (Martinez 0-0), 12:10 p.m. Birmingham 2 0 0 1.000 47 27 Utah 2 3 0 133 115 13
6-4, 6-4.
Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, def. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cana-
volving injury. Pittsburgh (Jones 1-1) at Philadelphia (Suárez 1-0), 5:40 p.m. Memphis
Michigan
1
1
1
1
0
0
.500
.500
37
31
32
36
Los Angeles 1 3 1 117 132 11 da, 6-4, 7-5.
Alex de Minaur (11), Australia, def. Tallon Griekspoor,
After the crash that Houston 0 2 0 .000 30 41 Eastern Conference Netherlands, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
W L D PF PA PTS
nvolved six vehicles in- XFL CONFERENCE W L T Pct PF PA
New England 4 1 0 154 89 19
Karen Khachanov (15), Russia, def. Francisco Cerundolo,
Argentina, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
San Antonio 2 0 0 1.000 47 31
cluding a Lamborghini MLB NOTEBOOK St. Louis 1 1 0 .500 43 42 Nola 3 2 0 129 112 15 Jannik Sinner (2), Italy, def. Sebastian Korda, United
States, 6-1, 6-2.
that Rice has said he was DC
Arlington
1 1
0 2
0
0
.500
.000
35
38
45
54
D.C.
Chicago
2 2 2 142
2 3 1 141
155
147
14
13
Stefanos Tsitsipas (12), Greece, def. Tomas Martin Etche-
verry, Argentina, 6-1, 6-0.
driving, Rice and four ORIOLES’ TOP PROSPECT major league games, Saturday’s games Miami 1 5 0 130 150 7 Ugo Humbert (14), France, def. Zhang Zhizhen, China,
HOLLIDAY MAKES DEBUT
other men were seen on batting .233 average with DC at Arlington, Noon Anthem RC 0 6 0 132 288 2 6-1, 6-4.

video leaving the scene.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Edey, Clark are
Wooden winners
After his rapid rise to two homers while play-
Memphis at Birmingham, 6 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Friday’s game
Utah at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
Hubert Hurkacz (10), Poland, def. Roberto Bautista Agut,
Spain, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
the majors, Jackson Holli- ing center field, shortstop
Houston at Michigan, 11 a.m. Saturday’s game Daniil Medvedev (4), Russia, def. Gael Monfils, France,
St. Louis at San Antonio, 2 p.m. New England at Houston, 7 p.m. 6-2, 6-4.
day was given a partic- and second base. Sunday's games Casper Ruud (8), Norway, def. Alejandro Tabilo, Chile,
ularly meaningful num- Nola at San Diego, 3 p.m. 6-2, 6-4.
ber with the Baltimore
He was twice recog- Golf Anthem RC at Chicago, 3 p.m.
Seattle at Los Angeles, 5 p.m. Transactions
nized by the organization Hole-in-one
Orioles. as the minor league de- Name, course, hole, yards, club BASEBALL

Zach Edey of Purdue Baseball’s top-ranked fensive player of the year,

became the second two-
time John R. Wooden
John Lloyd, River Pointe, 6, 144, 5 iron
Soccer MLB
American League
prospect made his big Hockey MLS BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Selected the contract of 2B/SS
and he was also the club’s NHL Jackson Holliday from Norfolk (IL). Designated INF/OF
league debut Wednesday baserunner of the year
Eastern Conference Tony Kemp for assignment.

Award winner as the night at Fenway Park, last season.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
New York
W
4
L
1
T
2
Pts
14
GF
11
GA
7
BOSTON RED SOX: Agreed to terms with INF/OF Ced-
danne Rafaela on an eight-year contract. Sent 2B Rob
Atlantic GP W L OT Pts GF GA
nation’s top men’s college starting at second base x-Boston 79 46 18 15 107 260 215 Philadelphia 3 0 3 12 12 7 Refsnyder to Worcester (IL) on a rehab assignment.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Placed 3B Yoan Moncada on the
basketball player on Wed- and batting ninth against ODDS AND ENDS
x-Florida 79 49 24 6 104 256 196 Inter Miami CF
Columbus
3
3
2
1
3
3
12
12
16
10
12
7 10-day IL. Recalled OF Oscar Colas from Charlotte (IL).
x-Toronto 78 46 23 9 101 288 241
nesday. the Boston Red Sox. He Chicago White Sox x-Tampa Bay 78 44 27 7 95 279 253 Cincinnati 3 1 3 12 7 5
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS: Transferred RHP Shane Bieb-
er from the15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Optioned RHP Wes
Atlanta 3 2 1 10 10 5
The 7-4 center joins struck out swinging his third baseman Yoán
Detroit
Buffalo
78
79
38
37
32 8 84 258 256
37 5 79 236 237 Toronto FC 3 3 1 10 6 9
Parsons to Columbus (IL).
HOUSTON ASTROS: Optioned RHP Wander Suero to
Virginia’s Ralph Samp- first time up. Moncada will miss at Ottawa 78 34 40 4 72 244 270 D.C. United 2 1 4 10 10 9 Sugar Land (PCL). Selected the contract of RHP Spencer
Montreal 78 30 36 12 72 222 271 Charlotte FC 2 3 2 8 6 6 Arrighetti. Designated OF Cooper Hummel for assign-
son (1982-83). The 20-year-old in- least three months and Chicago 2 3 2 8 11 14 ment.
Metropolitan GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Iowa's Caitlin Clark fielder, selected No. 1 maybe up to six with a x-N.Y. Rangers 79 53 22 4 110 274 223
CF Montréal
Nashville
2
1
3
2
1
4
7
7
8
8
13
13
TORONTO BLUE JAYS: Traded RHP Wes Parsons to
Cleveland for cash considerations. Sent C Danny Jansen
won the women's Wood- overall in the 2022 ama- severe leg injury sus-
x-Carolina
N.Y. Islanders
79
78
50
36
22
27
7 107 267 206
15 87 232 253
New York City FC 1 4 2 5 5 9 on a rehab assignment to Buffalo (IL).
Orlando City 1 3 2 5 5 11 National League
en Award on Tuesday. teur draft out of high tained while running to Washington 78 37 30 11 85 210 250 New England 1 4 1 4 5 11 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: Signed 2B Kolten Wong to
Pittsburgh 78 36 30 12 84 237 233
school in Oklahoma, is a first base on Tuesday Philadelphia 79 36 32 11 83 229 258 Western Conference
a minor league contract.
CHICAGO CUBS: Sent RHP Jameson Taillon to Iowa (IL)
SOCCER son of Matt Holliday, a night. The team said
New Jersey 79 37 37 5 79 257 273 W L T Pts GF GA on a rehab assignment.
Columbus 79 26 41 12 64 227 287 CINCINNATI REDS: Sent RHP Ian Gibaut on a rehab as-
seven-time All-Star and Vancouver 4 1 1 13 14 6
U.S. women top the 2007 NL batting
Wednesday that Monca- WESTERN CONFERENCE LA Galaxy
Real Salt Lake
3 1 3 12 14
3 2 2 11 11
11
8
signment to Louisville (IL).
MILWAUKEE BREWERS: Optioned RHP Kevin Herget to
Canada for title da suffered a strained Central GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Minnesota United 3 1 2 11 9 7
Nashville (IL). Reinstated LHP Wade Miley from the 15-
champion. adductor as he tried to x-Dallas 79 50 20 9 109 293 229
Los Angeles FC 3 3 1 10 11 10
day IL.
x-Colorado 79 49 24 6 104 296 242 NEW YORK METS: Optioned RHP Dedniel Nunez to Syra-
Alyssa Naeher made “Nervous? I mean, a beat out an infield x-Winnipeg 78 48 24 6 102 241 194
Houston 3 2 1 10 7 6 cuse (IL). Selected the contract of LHP Tyler Jay from Syr-
Sporting Kansas City 2 1 4 10 12 10
three saves in a penalty little bit. Not too bad,” grounder in the second
x-Nashville 79 45 29 5 95 256 239
Austin FC 2 2 3 9 11 12
acuse. Transferred RHP Kodai Senga from the15-day IL to
the 60-day IL.
St. Louis 78 41 32 5 87 227 240
shootout and converted Jackson Holliday said inning of Chicago’s 7-5 Minnesota 78 37 32 9 83 237 249
Colorado
Portland
2 2 3
2 3 2
9 10
8 14
12
14
PITTSBURGH PIRATES: Optioned RHP Carmen Mlodzin-
ski to Indianapolis (IL),
her own attempt to lead before the game. “I’m not win over the Guardians.
Arizona
Chicago
78
77
33
23
40 5
49 5
71
51
239
169
261
268
St Louis City 1 1 5 8 11 11 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: Sent RHP Sean Hjelle on a
rehab assignment to Sacramento (PCL).
the United States past as nervous as I thought I … The third game of a Pacific GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Seattle
FC Dallas
1 3 2
1 4 1
5 9
4 6
7
10 WASHINGTON NATIONALS: Recalled C Drew Millas from

Canada on Tuesday night would be. I’m more excit- four-game series between
x-Vancouver 78 48 22 8 104 267 213 San Jose 1 6 0 3 10 17 Rochester (IL). Optioned RHP Joan Adon to Rochester.
x-Edmonton 76 47 24 5 99 274 218 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. FOOTBALL
in the final of the SheBe- ed. Kind of changed the the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles 78 41 26 11 93 243 206 April 7 result NFL
lieves Cup at Columbus, mind frame from nervous New York Mets was post-
Vegas
Seattle
77
77
42
33
27 8 92 251 230
31 13 79 207 219
Portland 3, Sporting Kansas City 3, tie
Saturday’s games
GREEN BAY PACKERS: Signed CB Gemon Green.

Ohio, the Americans' fifth
straight title in the event.
to excitement. But yeah, poned on Wednesday Calgary 77 35 37 5 75 234 254 Los Angeles FC at Portland, 3:45 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: Re-signed OLB Josh Allen to a
five-year contract extension.
Anaheim 79 26 48 5 57 196 285 Toronto FC at Charlotte FC, 6:30 p.m.
I’m really excited.” because of inclement Orlando City at D.C. United, 6:30 p.m.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Signed K Matthew Wright.

The U.S. won the
shootout 5-4 after the
rivals played to a 2-2 draw
in regulation.
Sophia Smith scored
both U.S. goals.
OLYMPICS
Track and field
winners to be paid
Track and field is set to
become the first sport to
introduce prize money at
the Olympics, with World
Athletics saying it would
pay $50,000 to gold med-
alists in Paris.
The governing body of
athletics said it was set-
ting aside $2.4 million to
pay gold medalists across
the 48 events in Paris.
Relay teams will split the
$50,000 among members.
Payments for silver and
bronze medalists are
planned for 2028 in Los
Angeles.
Holliday will wear No. weather. The game is
7 for Baltimore. His fa- scheduled to be made up
ther wore that number Sept. 26 at 7:20 p.m.
during seven seasons
with the St. Louis Cardi- WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
nals and one with the Edouard Julien homer-
Colorado Rockies. ed twice and scored three
But it hadn’t been runs for the Minnesota
worn by a member of the
Orioles since former
Twins to spark a slump-
ing lineup and lead a 3-2
manager Cal Ripken Sr. victory over the visiting
was still coaching in 1992. Los Angeles Dodgers. …
One of his sons, Billy Cal Raleigh hit a two-run
Ripken, was the previous home run in the 10th
Baltimore player to wear inning as the Seattle
that number, in 1988. The Mariners beat the host
Ripken family, Orioles Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 to
royalty, gave its blessing avoid a three-game
to Holliday. sweep. … Nick Ahmed
RED SOX EXTEND RAFAELA and Tyler Fitzgerald had
The Boston Red Sox three hits apiece and
finalized an eight-year Jordan Hicks allowed one
contract Wednesday with run across six innings as
23-year-old Ceddanne the San Francisco Giants
Rafaela, the youngest secured a 5-1 win over the
player on their roster. visiting Washington
The deal includes a Nationals to avoid a
team option for 2032. three-game sweep.
Rafaela has played 39 Wire reports

County on EPA’s side in pollution suit
Paxton tries to block
new federal limits
on fine soot particles
By Rebekah F. Ward
STAFF WRIT E R
County Attorney Christian
Menefee late last week inter-
vened to support the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency’s
stricter standards for fine partic-
ulate matter, known as PM2.5.
The county joined a multiparty
consolidated case in the U.S.
Court of Appeals alongside state
attorneys general and nonprofits
hoping to save the EPA’s recent
Maria Tash, a fine jeweler that helps style celebrities, is opening a new location at the Galleria in April. Pictured is a
rendering of the new space on level one. The company opened its first Texas store in 2022 in Dallas.
Jeweler to the stars
Celebrity designer Maria Tash set to open a store in the Galleria
By Marissa Luck
STAFF WRIT E R
If you’ve ever admired the
bedazzled ears of celebrities
like Taylor Swift, Rihanna or
Kylie Jenner, chances are you
could thank celebrity jeweler
Maria Tash for the sparkling
effect.
The jeweler with a star-
studded client roster is open-
ing its first brick-and-mortar
location in Houston in late
April, after signing a 10-year
lease for a Level One store in
the Galleria.
Founded 21 years ago by jew-
elry designer Maria Tashjian,
the New York-based company
has built a loyal following with
its unique designs and its ap-
proach to tailoring the piercing
experience for every individu-
al. That’s gained the attention
of a host of celebrities, who
sometimes stop in Maria
Tash’s stores to browse jewelry
ranging in price from $80 to
Houston billionaires on Forbes list just keep getting richer
By Erica Grieder
STA FF WRIT E R
When Forbes released its
38th annual World Billionaires
List last week, it showed that
Houston’s members of that ex-
clusive club had gotten richer.
Of the 15 billionaires from
Houston, 12 who also were on
the list in 2023 are now worth
more, with their collective
wealth rising to $81.5 billion in
2024 from $71.1 billion last year.
And at least one has gotten
significantly richer just since
the list came out April 2, ac-
cording to Forbes’ “real time
net worth ranking”: Jeffery Hil-
debrand, founder of oil and gas
BUSINESS
HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM • THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 • PAGE B7
changes.
The move put Menefee at odds
with Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton, whose office sued
federal regulators last month to
block the tightened soot pollu-
tion rules.
EPA in February finalized
rules lowering the allowable roll-
ing average of particle pollution
below current levels in Harris
County.
The new limits mean Harris
County’s particle pollution levels
will soon violate the federal
Clean Air Act unless the area’s
soot levels drop precipitously.
These tiny flecks waft from car
exhaust, forest fire smoke and
concrete batch plants, among
Maria Tash specializes in
customized piercings in
unusual locations on the ear
and other spots.
over $100,000.
“We’ll get a call that Blake
Lively is in the store or Rihan-
na or Cardi B. I’m actually very
proud that the vast majority of
what you’ll see from us in the
celeb world are from (their) or-
Jeweler continues on B10
company Hilcorp, is worth
$14.7 billion as of April 8, com-
pared with $12.6 billion six days
earlier.
In fact, Forbes notes, Hous-
ton billionaires have done well
for a few years.
While almost half of the
world’s billionaires saw their
fortunes decline in 2022, the
magazine says, nine of the 11
Houston billionaires that year
got richer; and that was true
again in 2023 for 11 of Houston’s
13 billionaires.
Here are three reasons Hous-
ton billionaires are doing well
this year.
It’s generally accepted that
the United States avoided fall-
other sources, and even form in
the air from industrial gas emis-
sions. Long-term exposure — es-
pecially to the smallest particles
— can reduce lung function and
lead to premature death, while
their short-term impacts include
asthma attacks and bronchitis,
according to EPA documents
and public health research.
“We know that these pollut-
ants can lead to serious health
problems and have seen that too
many times in Harris County
neighborhoods. Instead of wast-
ing time suing the federal gov-
ernment, the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality
should be working to protect hu-
Suit continues on B12
Founder Maria Tashjian is opening her second Texas store.
ing into recession in 2023, even
as a roaring post-COVID eco-
nomic recovery spurred a se-
ries of interest-rate hikes from
the Federal Reserve — the mon-
etary policy equivalent of
pumping the brakes on the
economy.
Around the world, too, eco-
nomic growth broadly contin-
ued in 2023, despite forecasts
calling for a slowdown this
year.
“What a year it’s been for the
planet’s billionaires, whose for-
tunes continue to swell as glob-
al stock markets shrug off war,
political unrest and lingering
inflation,” Forbes notes.
Richer continues on B12
Harris County and others support the EPA’s stricter air
pollution standards introduced in February.
Photos courtesy of Maria Tash
Associated Press/Yi-Chin Lee/Jon Shapley
Jeffery Hildebrand, from left, Tilman Fertitta and Jim Crane
are among Houston’s richest billionaires.
Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer
Home
sales off
to mixed
start for
spring
By Marissa Luck
STAF F WRI TE R
Houston’s spring buying sea-
son started with conflicting sig-
nals as home prices rose but
sales declined in March.
Area home sales last month
fell 7.5% year-over-year to 7,334
transactions, according to a re-
port from Houston Association
of Realtors, suggesting mort-
gage rates around 7% may be
keeping potential homebuyers
on the fence. The number of
sales were also 24% less than
during the same month in 2022,
just as mortgage rates began to
climb.
The monthly decline follows
a period in which regional
home sales increased three out
of four months, offering hope
that more Houston home-
buyers were reentering the
housing market.
Although mortgage rates
have come down by about 1 per-
centage point from their post-
pandemic peak in October, they
ticked up to 7.01% last week
while the number of mortgage
applications were unchanged,
according to the Mortgage
Bankers Association.
“Inflation remains stubborn-
ly above the Fed’s target, and
the broader economy continues
to show resiliency. Unexpected-
ly strong employment data re-
leased last week further added
to the upward pressure on
rates,” said Joel Kan, the associ-
ation’s vice president and depu-
ty chief economist.
Some buyers and sellers are
moving forward anyway. In
Houston, the number of pend-
ing sales rose 4.9% last month,
according to HAR. And the
number of homes for sale on the
market swelled 26% in March,
giving buyers more selection.
“The rise in active listings in-
dicates more homeowners are
testing the waters and putting
their properties on the market,
but some buyers may be taking
a cautious approach due to con-
Sales continues on B12
B8 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

Business Editor Jonathan Diamond: Jonathan.Diamond@houstonchronicle.com

Elevated inflation is likely to delay rate cuts

By Christopher Rugaber
AS S OC IAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Consum-
er inflation remained persis-
tently high last month, boosted
by gas, rents, auto insurance
and other items, the government
said Wednesday in a report that
will likely give pause to the Fed-
eral Reserve as it considers how
often — or even whether — to
cut interest rates this year.
Prices outside the volatile
food and energy categories rose
0.4% from February to March,
the same accelerated pace as in
the previous month. Measured
from a year earlier, these core
prices are up 3.8%, unchanged
from the year-over-year rise in
February.
The Fed closely tracks core
prices because they tend to pro-
vide a good read of where infla-
tion is headed.
Wednesday’s figures repre-
sent a disappointment for the
White House. Republican critics
of President Joe Biden have
sought to pin the blame for high
prices on the president and use
it as a cudgel to derail his re-
election bid. Polls show that de-
spite a healthy job market, a
near-record-high stock market
and a decline in inflation from
its peak, many Americans
Rising costs of new cars and auto insurance are among the key
factors in stubbornly high U.S. inflation rates.
blame Biden for high prices.
The March figures, the third
straight month of inflation read-
ings well above the Fed’s 2% tar-
get, provide concerning evi-
dence that inflation is stuck at
an elevated level after having
steadily dropped in the second
half of 2023. The latest numbers
threaten to torpedo the prospect
of multiple rate cuts this year.
Fed officials have made clear
that with the economy healthy,
they’re in no rush to cut their
benchmark rate despite their
earlier projections that they
would do so three times this
David Zalubowski/Associated Press
year.
The report “pours cold water
on the view that the faster read-
ings in January and February
simply represented the start of
new-year price increases that
were not likely to persist,” Kathy
Bostjancic, chief economist at
Nationwide, said in a research
note. “The lack of moderation in
inflation will undermine Fed of-
ficials’ confidence that inflation
is on a sustainable course back
to 2% and likely delays rate cuts
to September at the earliest and
could push off rate reductions to
next year.”
BY THE NUMBERS
NEW YORK — Consumer inflation rose more than expected in March,
boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the
government said Wednesday. A look at some of the numbers. (Figures
from the Bureau of Labor statistics, unless otherwise specified.)
3.8%: The increase in the heavily weighted in the month
so-called core inflation rate from consumer price index.
March 2023 to March 2024. This -2.2%: The decline in the
measure strips out the more average price of used cars and
volatile energy and food prices. trucks last month. Those prices
22.2%: The rise in the price of soared early in the pandemic
car insurance from March a year because of a shortage of parts
ago. More expensive car repairs needed to build new vehicles.
and an increase in $3.58: The price in March for a
disaster-related claims are gallon of unleaded regular
among the reasons for the gasoline. That’s up 22 cents from
increase. February, but is still down about
1.2%: Year-over-year rise in the 73 cents from March 2022.
cost of groceries. The increases -7.1%: Air travel is one category
have moderated from the spikes seeing price declines. The cost of
of 2022 and early 2023. hotel rooms and car rentals have
$5.42: Price for a pound of also fallen from a year ago.
uncooked ground beef, up more
5.5%: The rise in the cost of a
than 20 cents from February. funeral in March compared to a
$2.99: The average cost of a year ago. In December, the
dozen Grade A eggs in March. National Funeral Directors
While that’s down from $3.45 a Association estimated the
year ago, it’s up from $2.05 in median price of a funeral with
March 2022. casket and burial rose from
$7,850 to $8,300 from 2021 to
5.7%: The year-over-year
increase in the cost of shelter, 2023.
mostly housing. Shelter costs are Associated Press

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HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
HoustonChronicle.com/Place-Legals
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Purchasing Cooperative of America (PCA)
is a national public procurement coopera-
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AD tive working with a public agency to pro-
vide Requests for Proposals for response
by Vendors who can provide the following
$90.00
Products/services to public sector enti-
* ties: 1) RFP OD-404-24 Aboveground Fuel
Storage Tanks: Construction, Distribution,
and Service; 2) RFP OD-405-24 Photog-
raphy and Related Items; 3) RFP OD-406-
24 Cured-in-Place (CIP) Rehabilitation for
Vertical Sewer Structures; 4) RFP OD-
Contact our team: 407-24 JOC Trades and Related Items; 5)
RFP OD-408-24 Containers: Shipping,
Storage, “Repurposed”, Housing Units
legals@chron.com Modular Style; 6) RFQ OD-409-24 Con-
struction Management. Vendors are invit-
ed to respond electronically to RFPs
OR through the PCA website portal at www.p
camerica.org/solicitations. Proposals are
due by 11:00 AM CT on Tuesday, May 7,
Visit our 24/7 website to place, anytime: 2024. Direct inquiries to Elaine Nichols,
Director, at 844-722-6374.
HoustonChronicle.com/Place-Legals
FORMAL BIDS - CFISD will receive
proposals 4/25/2024, 10:00AM for:
*Includes first 36 lines and 1 Affidavit of Art and Miscellaneous School
Supplies #24-06-4010RFP; Building
Publication. $2.00 each additional line. Materials and General Maintenance,
Repair, and Operations (MRO)
Supplies #24-07-6100RFP;
Medicaid & Student Health Related
Billing Services (SHARS) #24-06-
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
5362RFP; Ambulance and EMT
Services for Athletic Games and
Notice is hereby given that Letters of Administration issued on March 25, 2024, to
Jake Andrew Brunner, who has been appointed as Independent Administrator of the Other District Events #24-06-8020R-
Estate of William Andrew Brunner, Deceased, under Docket No. 518887 in Probate Court RFP; Floor Care Machine
Replacement Parts #24-06-
No. Two (2) of Harris County, Texas. All persons having a claim against said estate are
requested to provide notice in the manner and within the time provided for by law to the 6370RFP; Electronic/Technology
Equipment Repair Parts and Repair
attorney for said Administrator:
Service #24-06-7100R-RFP (12510
Windfern Rd., Houston, TX 77064).
Mark A. Sanders
Mark A. Sanders, P.C. www.cfisd.net/bids
11511 Katy Freeway, Suite 655
Houston, Texas 77079
Telephone: 281-531-0902 COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS
WILL BE RECEIVED BY PROCUREMENT
By: Mark A. Sanders, SERVICES, PORT HOUSTON, UNTIL 11:00
Attorney for Jake Andrew Brunner A.M., ON MAY 1, 2024, FOR THE
FOLLOWING:
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
(CSP-3178) HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL
Notice is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary for the Estate of Carol Deshazo EXPANSION CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT
Smaistrla, were issued on 1/31/2024, in Cause No. PR44283, pending in the Probate PROJECT (HSC ECIP) PROJECT 11: BAY-
Court of Brazoria County, Probate Court 1, Texas, to: Timothy Holmes. PORT CHANNEL LBC ATON RELOCATION
All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being administered
are required to present them to the undersigned within the time and in the manner RESPONDENTS MUST SUBMIT RE-
prescribed by law. SPONSES ELECTRONICALLY VIA EMAIL
c/o: Timothy L. Holmes TO: PROCUREMENTPROPOSALS@PORT
5002 W. Plum HOUSTON.COM
Pearland, TX 77581
DATED the April 8, 2024 NOTE: PLEASE INCLUDE THE SOLICITA-
/s/ Timothy Holmes TION NUMBER AND THE PROJECT TITLE
IPLHOU0041815 IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
SPECIFICATIONS MAY BE OBTAINED
FROM PORT HOUSTON’S
ePROCUREMENT WEBSITE: https://buys
Notice to Proposers peed.porthouston.com.
Request for Proposal will be received by Lone Star College for:
· RFQ #949 – Commercial Real Estate Brokerage. Electronic submittals due by 2:00PM,
Friday, April 26 , 2024. REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS WILL BE
· WebEx pre-proposal meeting: Friday, April 15, 2024, 10:00AM; call-in number 1-408- RECEIVED BY PROCUREMENT SERV-
ICES, PORT HOUSTON, UNTIL 11:00 A.M.,
792-6300, Meeting #2633 406 1234 · Contact: janet.bradley@lonestar.edu or (832)813-
6299. · Must Register to Bid: http://wwwappsdstc.lonestar.edu/istar/supplier.htm . If ON MAY 22, 2024, FOR THE FOLLOWING:
registered, please ensure your registration is up to date. For assistance with the on-line
registration process, contact MC-vendors@lonestar.edu. RFP-3179 RETIREMENT PLANS INVEST-
MENT CONSULTANT
A PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE WILL
BE HELD VIA TEAMS MEETING ON
PUBLIC HEARING WITHOUT VARIANCE OR SPECIAL EXCEPTION (both Virtual APRIL 30, 2024, AT 10:00 A.M. SO IN-
Meeting and Face-to-Face Meeting) TERESTED VENDORS CAN ASK QUES-
TIONS CONCERNING THE SCOPE OF
The Houston Planning Commission has received an application to allow the replating (or WORK. MEETING INSTRUCTIONS WILL
partial replating) of “OCEAN ESTATES “This proposal includes the replating of Lots 1 BE POSTED ON BUYSPEED.
thru 4 Block 2, Lots 1 thru 9 Block 3, and Lots 1 thru 4 Block 4 and Reserve “A” of
Ocean Estates as recorded under Film code 705558 of the Harris County Map/Deed re- RESPONDENTS MUST SUBMIT RE-
cords for the purpose of Modifying (17) Seventeen Single Family Residential Lots and 1 SPONSES ELECTRONICALLY VIA EMAIL
Reserve. TO: PROCUREMENTPROPOSALS@PORT
HOUSTON.COM
The new subdivision name is OCEAN ESTATES PARTIAL REPLAT NO. 1
NOTE: PLEASE INCLUDE THE SOLICITA-
This is the written notice of a public hearing the City send to all owners of property TION NUMBER AND THE PROJECT TITLE
within 300’ of the boundary of the plat and all parcels along or across from a block face IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
that abuts any street or private roadway extending 500 feet from the plat as measured
along the centerline of any street or private roadway that abuts the boundary of the plat. SPECIFICATIONS MAY BE OBTAINED
FROM PORT HOUSTON’S
The Houston Planning Commission will hold a public meeting and public hearing on this ePROCUREMENT WEBSITE https://buysp
replat. The Commission is the non-legislative body authorized to review and render de- eed.porthouston.com.
cisions on subdivision applications and requests. The meeting at which this item will
first be considered is listed below. A sign with this information has also been posted on
the project site.
The Houston Planning Commission has
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING INFORMATION:
Thursday, May 02nd, 2024, beginning at 2:30 p.m. received an application to allow the parti-
City Hall Annex Building, 900 Bagby Street al replat of Melbourne Place, Section 1,
City Council Chamber, Public Level, Houston, Texas being a replat of Lot 61, Block 5, as re-
corded in Volume 38, Page 36 of the Map
Members of the public may make comments or express concerns about the proposed Records of Harris County, Texas for the
project by either attending the meeting at City Council Chamber listed above or attend- purpose of creating 2 residential lots. The
ing the meeting via Microsoft Teams. The Microsoft Teams meeting will allow for a t- new subdivision name is Estates At
Bigwood Street. The Houston Planning
wo-way video/ audio communication with the Houston Planning Commission. For in-
struction on how to join the meeting, interested persons are advised to check our web- Commission will hold a public meeting
and public hearing on this replat on
site 72 hours prior to the Planning Commission meeting: www.houstonplanning.com or
Call: 832-393-6624. Thursday, May 2, 2024, beginning at 2:30
p.m. City Hall Annex Building, 900 Bagby
You may submit comments to: speakercomments.pc@houstontx.gov Street, City Council Chamber, Public Lev-
el, Houston, Texas. A sign with this infor-
Contact the applicant at (281)741-1998 or the City of Houston Planning Department at mation has also been posted on the proj-
(832)393-6600 for any additional information. ect site. Members of the public may make
comments or express concerns about the
proposed project by either attending the
meeting at City Council Chamber listed
above or attending the meeting via Micro-
Cause No. 202409230 soft Teams. The Microsoft Teams meeting
In the 234th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. will allow for a two-way video/ audio
Plaintiff: Gilberto Sauceda Montoya communication with the Houston Plan-
Defendants: Houston Armada Inc. and Douglas Grimes ning Commission. For instruction on how
CITATION to join the meeting, interested persons
The State of Texas, County of Harris are advised to check our website 72
To: Grimes, Douglas hours prior to the Planning Commission
12777 Ashford Point Drive, Apartment 502, Houston, Texas 77082, 3050 Washington meeting: www.houstonplanning.com or
Street, Kenner, Louisiana 70065 or wherever he may be found. Call: 832-393-6624. You may submit
On May 18, 2022, around 9:00 a.m., Defendant Grimes was driving a Dodge Ram 5500
comments to: speakercomments.pc@hous
tow truck eastbound on 17101 block of the Katy Freeway service road in Harris County, tontx.gov Contact the applicant at 713-
Texas. Around this same time, Plaintiff was also traveling eastbound on the 17101 block
480-4075 or the City of Houston Planning
of the Katy Freeway service road in front of Defendant Grimes. Defendant Grimes was Department at (832)393-6600 for any
distracted, inattentive, failed to control his speed and violently struck the rear of Plaintif- additional information.
f’s vehicle, causing the collision.
The collision occurred with tremendous force, proximately causing Plaintiff to suffer se- The Houston Planning Commission has
vere, excruciating, and painful personal injuries, including but not limited to, his neck, received an application to allow the parti-
al replat of Melbourne Place, Section 1,
back and right shoulder. At all times material to this suit, Defendant Grimes was operat-
ing the Dodge Ram 5500 on behalf of Defendant Armada. At all times material to this being a replat of Lot 62, Block 5, as re-
suit, Defendant Grimes was working within the course and scope of his employment for corded in Volume 38, Page 36 of the Map
Defendant Armada. At all times material to this lawsuit, Defendant Grimes had Defend- Records of Harris County, Texas for the
ant Armada’s permission to use its vehicle. purpose of creating 2 residential lots. The
new subdivision name is Views At
At all times material to this lawsuit, Defendant Armada was the employer of Defendant Bigwood Street. The Houston Planning
Grimes, and Defendant Grimes was acting in the course and scope of his employment Commission will hold a public meeting
with Defendant Armada. Consequently, Defendant Armada is vicariously liable to Plain- and public hearing on this replat on
tiff for the negligent conduct of Defendant Grimes under the theory of respondeat Thursday, May 2, 2024, beginning at 2:30
superior. p.m. City Hall Annex Building, 900 Bagby
Street, City Council Chamber, Public Lev-
The incident made the basis of this lawsuit resulted from the improper conduct of De- el, Houston, Texas. A sign with this infor-
fendant Grimes. The conduct of Defendant Grimes constituted negligence as that term mation has also been posted on the proj-
is understood in law, and such negligent conduct was a proximate cause of the occur- ect site. Members of the public may make
rence, injuries, and damages to Plaintiff made the basis of this suit. Defendant Grimes comments or express concerns about the
had a duty to exercise ordinary care and to operate his vehicle in a reasonable and pru- proposed project by either attending the
dent manner. Defendant Grimes breached his duty of care. His negligent actions and/or meeting at City Council Chamber listed
omissions include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following non-exclusive above or attending the meeting via Micro-
particulars: (a) failing to control speed, in violation of Texas Transportation Code soft Teams. The Microsoft Teams meeting
§545.351; (b) failing to pay attention; (c) failing to maintain a proper lookout; (d) failing will allow for a two-way video/ audio
to maintain a proper lookout; (e) driving his vehicle recklessly in violation of Tex. communication with the Houston Plan-
Transp. Code § 545.401; (f) driving while distracted; (g) failing to operate his vehicle in ning Commission. For instruction on how
a safe manner; (h) failing to operate his vehicle as a person of ordinary prudence would to join the meeting, interested persons
have in the same or similar circumstance; and/or (i) other acts of negligence and negli- are advised to check our website 72
gence per se. One, some, or all of the foregoing acts and/or omissions or others on the hours prior to the Planning Commission
part of Defendant Grimes constituted negligence. Such negligence was a proximate meeting: www.houstonplanning.com or
cause of Plaintiff’s injuries and damages. Call: 832-393-6624. You may submit
comments to: speakercomments.pc@hous
As a result of the incident made the basis of this lawsuit described in the preceding tontx.gov Contact the applicant at 713-
paragraphs and the negligence of Defendants, Plaintiff sustained significant injuries and 480-4075 or the City of Houston Planning
damages in the past and will, in reasonable probability, sustain these damages in the Department at (832)393-6600 for any
future. Plaintiff respectfully requests that the trier of fact determine the amount of his additional information.
damages and losses that he has incurred in the past and will reasonably incur in the fu-
ture, as well as the monetary value of these damages, which include, but are not limited The Houston Planning Commission has
to: (a) past and future medical care expenses; (b) past and future physical pain and suf- received an application to allow the parti-
fering; (c) past and future mental anguish; (d) past and future physical impairment; (e) al replat of Melbourne Place, Section 1,
past and future disfigurement; (f) past and future loss of wages; and (g) past and future being a replat of Lot 63, Block 5, as re-
loss of earning capacity. corded in Volume 38, Page 36 of the Map
Records of Harris County, Texas for the
YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. You may employ an attorney. If you or your attorney do not file purpose of creating 2 residential lots. The
a written answer with the District Clerk at the 234th Judicial District Court of Harris new subdivision name is Villas At
County, Texas at or before 10 o’clock a.m. of the first Monday after the expiration of 42 Bigwood Street. The Houston Planning
days from this publication, a default judgment may be taken against you.
Commission will hold a public meeting
and public hearing on this replat on
The Court, therefore, GRANTS, Plaintiff’s Motion, and it is ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND Thursday, May 2, 2024, beginning at 2:30
DECREED that the Plaintiff is authorized to serve Defendant Douglas Grimes by publica- p.m. City Hall Annex Building, 900 Bagby
tion in the Houston Chronicle and the Public Information Internet Website (https://www. Street, City Council Chamber, Public Lev-
txcourts.gov/judicial-data/citation-by-publication/). el, Houston, Texas. A sign with this infor-
mation has also been posted on the proj-
SIGNED this __27__________ day of ____March__________________ 2024. ect site. Members of the public may make
comments or express concerns about the
proposed project by either attending the
/s/ HONORABLE JUDGE PRESIDING meeting at City Council Chamber listed
above or attending the meeting via Micro-
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND SUBSTANCE: soft Teams. The Microsoft Teams meeting
will allow for a two-way video/ audio
Respectfully submitted, communication with the Houston Plan-
Jim S. Adler & Associates
ning Commission. For instruction on how
to join the meeting, interested persons
/s/ Frank W. Robertson are advised to check our website 72
FRANK W. ROBERTSON hours prior to the Planning Commission
State Bar No. 24033129 meeting: www.houstonplanning.com or
frobertson@jimadler.com Call: 832-393-6624. You may submit
MICHAEL GOMEZ
comments to: speakercomments.pc@hous
Texas Bar No. 24029578 tontx.gov Contact the applicant at 713-
mgomez@jimadler.com 480-4075 or the City of Houston Planning
WILLIAM S. ADLER Department at (832)393-6600 for any
State Bar No. 24078122
additional information.
badler@jimadler.com
12605 East Freeway, Suite 400
Houston, Texas 77015
Telephone: (713) 335-1021
Facsimile: (713) 335-1018
You voted!
chron.com/best
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 B9
CLEVELAND ISD
NOTICE OF GENERAL ELECTION
(Aviso de Elección General)
To the registered voters of Cleveland ISD, Cleveland, Texas:
(Para los votantes registrados en Cleveland ISD, Cleveland, Texas)
Notice is hereby given that the polling places listed below will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., on May
4, 2024 (Election Day) for voting in a general election to elect two CISD Board Trustees, Positions 1, 2
and 3.
(Notifíquese, por la presente, que las casillas electorales citadas abajo se abrirán desde las 7:00 a.m.
hasta las 7:00 p.m, el 4 de mayo de 2024 (Día de Elecciones) para votar en una elección general para
elegir a dos Síndicos de la Junta del comité de CISD, posición 1, 2 y 3.
ELECTION DAY VOTING – LIBERTY COUNTY:
On Election Day, LIBERTY COUNTY voters (Precincts 7, 20, 23, 26 and 31) may vote in the locations as
noted below.
(El Día de Elecciones, los votantes del CONDADO DE LIBERTY (precintos 7, 20, 23, 26 y 31) podrán
votar en las siguientes ubicaciones.)
Election Day voting will be conducted on Saturday, May 4, 2024, between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 7:00
P.M. at the following locations:
(La votación del día de las elecciones se llevará a cabo el sábado 4 de mayo de 2024, entre las 7:00 a.m. y
7:00 PM. en los siguientes lugares):
*Please note that Voting polling locations are subject to change.
(Tenga en cuenta que los lugares de votación están sujetos a cambios.)
Ames City Hall, 304 Martin St., Ames, Texas
Cleveland Civic Center, 210 Peach Ave., Cleveland, Texas (Curbside voting available)
Cleveland ISD Annex Building, 316 E. Dallas St., Cleveland, Texas (Curbside voting available)
Plum Grove City Hall, 9485 Plum Grove Rd., Cleveland, Texas
Sante Fe Administration Building, 1680 C.R. 3549, Cleveland, Texas
Tarkington ISD Meeting Room, 72 C.R. 2268, Tarkington, Texas
Tarkington Prairie Baptist Church, 25 C.R. 306, Cleveland, Texas
Dayton Community Center, 801 S. Cleveland St., Dayton, Texas (Curbside voting available)
Jack Hartel Admin. Building, 318 San Jacinto St., Liberty, Texas (Curbside voting available)
Dolen Baptist Church Gym, 10078 F.M. 787, Dolen, Texas
Hardin City Hall, 142 C.R. 2010, Hardin, Texas (Curbside voting available)
Hull-Daisetta High School, 117 N. Main St., Daisetta, Texas
Devers Elementary School, 201 Chism St., Devers, Texas
Curbside voting is available at the locations designated by calling 936-253-8050.
Limited voting is available only at Jack Hartel Administration Building, 318 San Jacinto St., Liberty,
Texas 77575.
(La votación en la acera está disponible en los lugares designados llamando al 936-253-8050.
La votación limitada está disponible únicamente en el edificio administrativo Jack Hartel, 318 San
Jacinto St., Liberty, Texas 77575.)
ELECTION DAY VOTING – MONTGOMERY COUNTY:
On Election Day, MONTGOMERY COUNTY (Precinct 41) voters may vote in the locations as noted
below.
(El Día de Elecciones, los votantes podrán votar en las siguientes ubicaciones.)
Splendora ISD Administration Building
Board Room/Sala de Juntas
23419 FM 2090
Splendora, TX 77372
ELECTION DAY VOTING – SAN JACINTO COUNTY:
On Election Day, SAN JACINTO COUNTY (Precinct 5) voters may vote in the locations as noted below.
(El Día de Elecciones, los votantes del CONDADO DE SAN JACINTO podrán votar en las siguientes
ubicaciones:)
BOX 5 – Bear Creek VFD
(Precinto electoral número cinco- Bear Creek
Precinto del comisionado, número tres)
11550 FM 1725
Cleveland, TX 77328
*San Jacinto County operates as a Vote Center County which provides all voters to vote at all open
Polling locations on Election Day. The boxes listed above are the “normal” Election Precinct Boxes for
Cleveland ISD.*
*El condado de San Jacinto funciona como un condado de centro de votación que proporciona a todos
los votantes votar en todos los lugares de votación abiertos el día de las elecciones. Los casilleros
enumerados anteriormente son los casilleros electorales “normales” para el Distrito Escolar
Independiente de Cleveland.
EARLY VOTING
Early voting by personal appearance will be conducted beginning April 22, 2024 and ending on April 30,
2024.
La votación anticipada en persona se llevará a cabo a partir del 22 de abril de 2024 y finalizará el 30 de
abril de 2024.
EARLY VOTING – LIBERTY COUNTY
The early voting sites for Liberty County for voting by personal appearance will be conducted at the
locations listed below. *Please note that Early Voting polling locations are subject to change. Los sitios
de votación temprana para el Condado de Liberty para votar en persona se llevarán a cabo en las
siguientes ubicaciones:
Cleveland Civic Center, 210 Peach Street, Cleveland, Texas 77327(Curbside voting available)
Cleveland ISD Annex Building, 316 East Dallas Street, Cleveland Texas 77327(Curbside voting available)
Hardin City Hall, 142 CR 2010, Liberty, Texas 77575(Curbside voting available)
Dayton Community Center, 801 S. Cleveland St., Dayton, Texas 77535(Curbside voting available)
Jack Hartel Community Building, 318 San Jacinto St., Liberty, Texas 77575(Curbside voting available)
Monday, April 22, 2024 through Friday, April 26, 2024 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday, April 27, 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 28, 2024 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Monday, April 29, 2024 through Tuesday, April 30, 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Curbside voting is available at the locations designated on this order by calling 936-253-8050.
Limited voting is available only at Jack Hartel Administration Building, 318 San Jacinto St., Liberty,
Texas
Early Voting By Mail: Applications should be sent to: Liberty County Clerk c/o Elections Department,
P. O. Box 369, Liberty, Texas 77575, Faxed: (936) 334-3236, email: elections@co.liberty.tx.us
The last day to register to vote for this election is Thursday, April 4, 2024.
CONDADO DE LIBERTY:
Centro Cívico de Cleveland, 210 Peach Street, Cleveland, Texas 7732(votacion en la acera esta
disponible)
Edificio de Cleveland ISD Annex, 316 East Dallas Street, Cleveland, Texas 77327(votacion en la acera
esta disponible)
Ayuntamiento de Hardin, 142 CR 2010, Liberty, Texas 77575(votacion en la acera esta disponible)
Centro Comunitario de Dayton, 801 S. Cleveland St., Dayton, Texas 77535(votacion en la acera esta
disponible)
Edificio Comunitario Jack Hartel, 318 San Jacinto St., Liberty, Texas 77575(votacion en la acera esta
disponible)
Lunes 22 de abril de 2024 al viernes 26 de abril de 2024 9:00 AM. – 6:00 PM
Sabado 27 de abril de 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Domingo 28 de abril de 2024 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Lunes 29 de abril de 2024 al martes 30 de abril de 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
La votacion en la acera esta disponible en lost lugares designados en esta orden llamando al 936-253-
8050. La votacion limitada esta disonible solo en Jack Hartel Administration Building, 318 San Jacinto
St., Liberty, Texas
Votación Anticipada por Correo: Se deben enviar las solicitudes a: Liberty County Clerk c/o Elections
Department, P. O. Box 369, Liberty, Texas 77575, Por Fax: (936) 334-3236, Por email: elections@
co.liberty.tx.us
El ultimo dia para registrarse para votar para la elección es Jueves, el 4 de Abril, 2024.
EARLY VOTING – MONTGOMERY COUNTY:
The early voting sites for Montgomery County for voting by personal appearance will be conducted at
the locations listed below. *Please note that Early Voting polling places are subject to change.
Los sitios de votación temprana para el Condado de Montgomery para votar en persona se llevarán a
cabo en las siguientes ubicaciones:
Central Library, 104 I-45 North, Conroe, Texas 77301
(Main Early Voting Location)
North Montgomery County Community Center, 600 Gerald Street, Willis, Teas 77378
Lone Star Community Center, 2500 Lone Star Parkway, Montgomery, Texas 77356
West Montgomery County Community Development Center, 31355 Friendship Drive, Magnolia, Texas
77355
Magnolia Event Center, 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia, Texas 77354
Shenandoah Municipal Complex, 29955 I-45 North Shenandoah, Texas 77381
Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center, 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, Spring, Texas 77386
East Montgomery County Fair Association Building, 21675A McCleskey Road, New Caney, Texas
77357
East Montgomery County Community Development Center, 16401 First Street, Suite 100, Splendora,
Texas 77327
Monday, April 22, 2024 through Saturday, April 27, 2024 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday, April 29, 2024 through Tuesday, April 30, 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Early Voting By Mail: Applications should be sent to: Suzie Harvey, P.O. Box 2646, Conroe, Texas 77305,
fax: (936) 788-8340, email: election.ballot@mctx.org
Early Voting Clerk: Suzie Harvey, 9159 Airport Rd, Conroe, Texas 77303
CONDADO DE MONTGOMERY
Biblioteca Central, 104 I-45 North, Conroe, Texas 77301
Lugar Principal de Votación Anticipada
Complejo Municipal de Shenandoah, 29955 I-45 North Shenandoah, Texas 77381
Centro Comunitario Norte del Condado de Montgomery, 600 Gerald Street, Willis, Texas 77378
Centro Comunitario Lone Star, 2500 Lone Star Parkway, Montgomery, Texas 77356
Centro de Eventos de Magnolia, 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia, Texas 77354
Complejo Municipal de Shenandoah, 29955 I-45 North Shenandoah, Texas 77381
Centro de Naturaleza Spring Creek Greenway, 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, Spring, Texas 77386
Edificio de la Asociación de Ferias Este del Condado de Montgomery, 21675A McCleskey Road, New
Caney, Texas 77357
Centro de Desarrollo Comunitario del Este del Condado de Montgomery, 16401 First Street, Suite 100,
Splendora, Texas 77327
Lunes 22 de abril de 2024 al sábado 27 de abril de 2024 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Lunes 29 de abril de 2024 al martes 30 de abril de 2024 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Votación Anticipada por Correo: Se deben enviar las solicitudes a: Suzie Harvey, P.O. Box 2646, Conroe,
Texas 77305, fax: (936) 788-8340, correo electrónico: election.ballot@mctx.org
Secretario de Votación Anticipada: Suzie Harvey, 9159 Airport Rd, Conroe, Texas 77303
EARLY VOTING – SAN JACINTO COUNTY:
The early voting sites for San Jacinto County for voting by personal appearance will be conducted at the
location listed below. *Please note that Early Voting polling locations are subject to change.
Los sitios de votación temprana para el Condado de San Jacinto para votar en persona se llevarán a
cabo en las siguientes ubicaciones:
Elections Administration Building, 51 E Pine Ave., Coldspring, Texas 77331
Main Early Voting Location
Monday, April 22, 2024 through Friday, April 26, 2024 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday, April 29, 2024 and Tuesday, April 30, 2024 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Early Voting By Mail: Applications should be sent to: Vicki Shelly, 51 E. Pine Ave, Room A1, Coldspring,
Texas 77331, fax: (936) 653-5808, email: ea@san-jac.us
Early Voting Clerk: Vicki Shelly, 51 E. Pine Ave, Room A1, Coldspring, Texas 77331.
CONDADO DE SAN JACINTO:
Edificio Administrativo de Elecciones, 51 E Pine Ave., Coldspring, Texas 77331
Lugar Principal de Votación Anticipada
Lunes 22 de abril de 2024 al viernes 26 de abril de 2024 8:00 AM. – 5:00 PM
Lunes 29 de abril de 2024 y martes 30 de abril de 2024 8:00 AM. – 5:00 PM
Votación Anticipada por Correo: Se deben enviar las solicitudes a: Vicki Shelly, 51 E. Pine Ave, Sala A1,
Coldspring,
Texas 77331, fax: (936) 653-5808, correo electrónico: ea@san-jac.us,
Secretario de Votación Anticipada: Vicki Shelly, 51 E. Pine Ave, Sala A1, Coldspring, Texas 77331.
Applications for ballots by mail must be received no later than the close of business on April 23, 2024.
Las solicitudes para boletas que se votarán en ausencia por correo deberán recibirse antes de las horas
de cierre el 23 de abril de 2024.
B10 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
Stocks fall after
hot inflation dims
hopes of rate cut
By Stan Choe
AS S OC IAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — A
washout on Wall Street
sent stocks sinking Wed-
nesday, as worries rose
that what seemed like a
blip in the battle to bring
down inflation is turning
into a troubling trend.
The S&P 500 dropped
0.9%, and the vast major-
ity of stocks within the in-
dex fell. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average tum-
bled 422 points, or 1.1%,
and the Nasdaq composite
sank 0.8%
Treasury yields also
leaped in the bond mar-
ket, raising the pressure
on the stock market, after
a report showed inflation
was hotter last month
than economists expect-
ed. It’s the third straight
report to suggest progress
on bringing high inflation
down may be stalling.
That hurts hopes that Jan-
uary’s and February’s dis-
appointing inflation data
may not have been as bad
as they seemed because of
some technical reasons.
“There are still embers
of inflation here and there
in the economy,” said Joe
Davis, chief global econo-
mist at Vanguard.
For shoppers, that’s
painful because of the po-
tential for even higher
prices at the store. For
Wall Street, it raises fears
that the Federal Reserve
will hold back on deliver-
ing the cuts to interest
rates that traders are crav-
ing and have been betting
on.
The S&P 500 had al-
ready leaped more than
20% since Halloween in
part on expectations that
the Federal Reserve would
lower its main interest
rate, which is sitting at its
highest level in more than
two decades. Such cuts
would relax the pressure
on the economy and en-
courage investors to pay
higher prices for stocks,
bonds, cryptocurrencies
and other investments.
But the Fed has been
waiting for more evidence
to show inflation is head-
ing sustainably down to-
ward its goal of 2%. After
an encouraging cooling
JEWELER
From page B7
ganic visits to the stores,”
Tashjian said.
Of course, celebrities’
personal stylists can coor-
dinate with Maria Tash
for specific major events
or awards shows. The
store will also make house
calls for certain big
names.
Maria Tash representa-
tives were once on such a
call for Swift and her
friend, actress Blake Live-
ly, when they were sur-
prised to find super model
Gigi Hadid there too,
ready for a custom fitting,
Tashjian said.
Swift, who sings she
can make “the whole place
shimmer” in her track
“Bejeweled,” is one of
many celebs who have en-
joyed Maria Tash’s tai-
lored process.
The experience involves
a stylist who considers an
individual’s ear anatomy,
as well as the angle and
placement of pieces, to
create a collection of pierc-
ings running up from the
lope into the corners, folds
and tops of the ears. The
idea is to create a flattering
assemblage of earrings.
“Swift does get pierced
from us first and then
sometimes we switch
(pieces). Once it’s healed,
we’ll offer her jewelry to
wear in the piercings be-
cause we know her spac-
ing, we know what diame-
ter fits and looks good,”
Tashjian said.
Shoppers can get the
tailored piercing experi-
last year, the fear now is
that inflation may be stuck
after January’s, Febru-
ary’s and March’s infla-
tion reports all came in
hotter than expected,
along with data on the
economy generally.
“Two data points don’t
make a trend, but maybe
three do,” said Brian Ja-
cobsen, chief economist at
Annex Wealth Manage-
ment.
“If we get one more
reading like this, Fed chat-
ter will shift from when to
cut to whether to hike.”
Prices for everything
from bonds to gold fell im-
mediately after the morn-
ing’s release of the infla-
tion data.
The yield on the 10-year
Treasury jumped to 4.54%
from 4.36% late Tuesday
and is back to where it was
in November. The two-
year yield, which moves
more on expectations for
Fed action, shot even
higher and rose to 4.97%
from 4.74%.
Traders sharply cut
back on bets that the Fed
could begin cutting rates
in June. They now see just
a 17% chance of that, down
from nearly 74% a month
ago, according to CME
Group’s FedWatch tool.
Perhaps more impor-
tantly, traders shifted
more bets toward the Fed
cutting rates just twice
over the course of this
year. At the start of the
year, they were forecast-
ing six or more cuts
through 2024.
High interest rates
work to undercut inflation
by slowing the economy
and hurting investment
prices. The fear is that
rates left too high for too
long can cause a recession.
Wall Street’s biggest
losers on Wednesday in-
cluded real-estate invest-
ment trusts, utility com-
panies and other stocks
that tend to get hurt most
by high interest rates.
Real-estate stocks in the
S&P 500 fell 4.1% for the
biggest loss by far among
the 11 sectors that make up
the index. That included a
6.1% drop for office owner
Boston Properties and a
5.3% tumble for Alexan-
dria Real Estate Equities.
Maria Tash
Maria Tash has patents
for specific piercing
locations at the top of
the ear (the helix) as
well as the hidden rook.
ence in Maria Tash’s
stores, working with styl-
ists and computer soft-
ware to plan customized
piercings. Nose, naval and
other body piercings also
are available in private in-
store rooms. The stores al-
so sell earrings and body
jewelry without piercing.
The brand was at-
tracted to Houston by the
strong online sales origi-
nating here, a robust so-
cial media following and
the city’s size, Tashijan
said.
“The Galleria is iconic,
when you think American
malls, that’s one of them,
so that’s why we went
there. I’m actually very
pleased that we’re in a
good spot somewhere
near the luxury wing,”
Tashjian said.
The Houston store is
Maria Tash’s second in
Texas; a Dallas store
opened in 2022.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
HoustonChronicle.com/Place-Legals legals@chron.com 713.362.6868
TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION FOR Application has been made with the Texas Alcoholic
TPDES PERMIT FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER Beverage Commission for a Wine and Malt Beverage
RENEWAL Retailer’s Permit by Noeka Home, LLC dba Noeka
Home, to be located at 3701 W Alabama Street, Ste,
Permit No. WQ0004985000
APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION. Battleground
165, Houston, TX 77027, Harris County. Owners of
Oil Specialty Terminal Company LLC, 1836 Miller Cut-Off Road, said corporation are Noel Bangs, Owner.
La Porte, Texas 77571, which operates BOSTCO, a bulk petroleum
liquid storage and ditribution terminal, has applied to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a renewal of
Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Permit No.
WQ0004985000, which authorizes the discharge of contact stormwater, FIRST AMENDED SUMMONS (Family Law)
tank drain wastewater, boiler blowdown, tempering water, floor wash
wastewater, and equipment cleaning wastewater on an intermittent and
CITACIÓN (Derecho familiar)
CASE NUMBER (NÚMERO DE CASO): 20FL001658
flow-variable basis via Outfall 001. The TCEQ received this application NOTICE TO RESPONDENT (Name): AVISO AL DEMANDADO (Nombre): SCOTT HARR
You have been sued. Read the information below and on the next page.
on November 16, 2023.
Lo han demandado. Lea la información a continuación y en la página siguiente.
The facility is located at 1836 Miller Cut-Off Road, north of the City of La
Porte, Harris County, Texas 77571. This link to an electronic map of the
Petitioner’s name is: Nombre del demandante: KATHERINE VO
You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a
site or facility's general location is provided as a public courtesy and is Response (form FL-120) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter,
not part of the application or notice. For the exact location, refer to the phone call, or court appearance will not protect you.
application. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your mar-
https://gisweb.tceq.texas.gov/LocationMapper/?marker=-95.07,29. riage or domestic partnership, your property, and custody of your children. You may be
ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs.
720555&level=18
For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the Califor-
The effluent is discharged directly to San Jancinto Bay in Segment No. nia Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp), at the
California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org), or by contacting your local coun-
2427 of the Bays and Estuaries. The designated uses for Segment No.
2427 are primary contact recreation and high aquatic life use. ty bar association.
Tiene 30 días de calendario después de haber recibido la entrega legal de esta Citación
The TCEQ Executive Director has completed the technical review of the y Petición para presentar una Respuesta (formulario FL-120) ante la corte y efectuar la
application and prepared a draft permit. The draft permit, if approved,
would establish the conditions under which the facility must operate. The
entrega legal de una copia al demandante. Una carta o llamada telefónica o una
audiencia de la corte no basta para protegerlo.
Executive Director has made a preliminary decision that this permit, Si no presenta su Respuesta a tiempo, la corte puede dar órdenes que afecten su
if issued, meets all statutory and regulatory requirements. The permit matrimonio o pareja de hecho, sus bienes y la custodia de sus hijos. La corte también le
application, Executive Director's preliminary decision, and draft permit puede ordenar que pague manutención, y honorarios y costos legales.
are available for viewing and copying at the Harris County Public Library Para asesoramiento legal, póngase en contacto de inmediato con un abogado. Puede
- La Porte Branch, 600 South Broadway Street, La Porte, Texas. obtener información para encontrar un abogado en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de
ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE NOTICE. Alternative language notice
California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en el sitio web de los Servicios Legales de California
(www.lawhelpca.org) o poniéndose en contacto con el colegio de abogados de su
in Spanish is available at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/ condado.
wastewater/plain-language-summaries-and-public-notices. El aviso
de idioma alternativo en español está disponible en https://www.tceq.
NOTICE—RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: These restraining orders are effec-
tive against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judg-
texas.gov/permitting/wastewater/plain-language-summaries-and- ment is entered, or the court makes further orders. They are enforceable anywhere in
public-notices.
California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them.
AVISO—LAS ÓRDENES DE RESTRICCIÓN SE ENCUENTRAN EN LA PÁGINA 2: Las
PUBLIC COMMENT/PUBLIC MEETING. You may submit public
comments or request a public meeting about this application. The órdenes de restricción están en vigencia en cuanto a ambos cónyuges o miembros de la
pareja de hecho hasta que se despida la petición, se emita un fallo o la corte dé otras
purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit
written or oral comment or to ask questions about the application. órdenes. Cualquier agencia del orden público que haya recibido o visto una copia de es-
Generally, the TCEQ will hold a public meeting if the Executive Director tas órdenes puede hacerlas acatar en cualquier lugar de California.
FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The
determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the
application or if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived
for you or the other party.
contested case hearing.
EXENCIÓN DE CUOTAS: Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario
OPPORTUNITY FOR A CONTESTED CASE HEARING. After the un formulario de exención de cuotas. La corte puede ordenar que usted pague, ya sea
deadline for public comments, the Executive Director will consider en parte o por completo, las cuotas y costos de la corte previamente exentos a petición
the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or de usted o de la otra parte.
significant public comments. The response to comments, along with 1. The name and address of the court are (El nombre y dirección de la corte son): FAMI-
the Executive Director's decision on the application, will be mailed to LY JUSTICE CENTER, COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, 201 NORTH FIRST STREET, SAN
everyone who submitted public comments or who requested to be on JOSE, CA 95113
a mailing list for this application. If comments are received, the mailing 2. The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petition-
will also provide instructions for requesting a contested case hearing or er without an attorney, are: (El nombre, dirección y número de teléfono del abogado del
reconsideration of the Executive Director's decision. A contested case
hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in a state district court.
demandante, o del demandante si no tiene abogado, son): JAMES J. HOOVER / ME-
GHAN HERNING SBN 21752 / 317815
TO REQUEST A CONTESTED CASE HEARING, YOU MUST
1520 THE ALAMEDA, SUITE 200, SAN JOSE, CA 95126
408-947-7600
INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IN YOUR REQUEST: your Date (Fecha): 10/31/2023
name, address, phone number; applicant's name and proposed permit
number; the location and distance of your property/activities relative to
---, Clerk, by (Secretario, por) C. RUBIO, Deputy (Asistente)
[SEAL]
the proposed facility; a specific description of how you would be adversely
affected by the facility in a way not common to the general public; a
AMENDED PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION (DIVORCE) OF:
1. LEGAL RELATIONSHIP:
list of all disputed issues of fact that you submit during the comment a. We are married.
period; and the statement “[I/we] request a contested case hearing.”
If the request for contested case hearing is filed on behalf of a group or
2. RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS:
a. Petitioner/Respondent has been a resident of this state for at least six months and of
association, the request must designate the group's representative for this country for at least three months immediately preceding the filing of this Petition.
receiving future correspondence; identify by name and physical address 3. STATISTICAL FACTS
an individual member of the group who would be adversely affected by a.
the proposed facility or activity; provide the information discussed above
regarding the affected member's location and distance from the facility
1) Date of marriage: 05/08/2020
2) Date of separation: 05/26/2020
or activity; explain how and why the member would be affected; and 3) Time from date of marriage to date of separation: 0.5 Months.
explain how the interests the group seeks to protect are relevant to the
group's purpose.
4. MINOR CHILDREN
a. There are no minor children
Following the close of all applicable comment and request periods, 5. LEGAL GROUNDS
a. Divorce of the marriage or domestic partnership based on:
the Executive Director will forward the application and any requests
for reconsideration or for a contested case hearing to the TCEQ 1) irreconcilbe differences.
Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled Commission 8. SPOUSAL OR DOMESTIC PARTNER SUPPORT
b. Terminate (end) the court’s ability to reward support to Petitioner/Respondent
meeting.
9. SEPARATE PROPERTY
b. Confirm as separate property the assets and debts in Property Declaration (form FL-
The Commission may only grant a request for a contested case hearing
on issues the requestor submitted in their timely comments that were not 160).
subsequently withdrawn. If a hearing is granted, the subject of a hearing 10. COMMUNITY AND QUASI-COMMUNITY PROPERTY
will be limited to disputed issues of fact or mixed questions of fact and a. There are no such assets or debts that I know of to be divided by the court.
law relating to relevant and material water quality concerns submitted b. Determine rights to community and quasi-community assets and debts. All such as-
during the comment period. TCEQ may act on an application to renew a sets and debts are listed in Property Declaration (form FL-160).
permit for discharge of wastewater without providing an opportunity for 12. I HAVE READ THE RESTRAINING ORDERS ON THE BACK OF THE SUMMONS, AND
a contested case hearing if certain criteria are met. I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY APPY TO ME WHEN THIS PETITION IS FILED.
I declare under penalty of perjury the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTION. The Executive Director may issue true and correct.
final approval of the application unless a timely contested case hearing
request or a timely request for reconsideration is filed. If a timely hearing
DATE: 03/29/2023
S/ KATHERINE VO
request or request for reconsideration is filed, the Executive Director
will not issue final approval of the permit and will forward the application
DATE: 03/27/2023
S/ MEGHAN HERNING, ESQ.
and requests to the TCEQ Commissioners for their consideration at a 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2/24
scheduled Commission meeting. CNS-3801805#
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
MAILING LIST. If you submit public comments, a request for a
contested case hearing or a reconsideration of the Executive Director's
decision, you will be added to the mailing list for this specific application CAUSE NUMBER: 2023-16152 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
to receive future public notices mailed by the Office of the Chief Clerk. HORRY COUNTY
In addition, you may request to be added to: (1) the permanent list for a IN THE 133RD JUDICIAL MELEIK ROACH,
specific applicant name and permit number; and (2) the mailing list for a DISTRICT COURT OF Plaintiff,
specific county. If you wish to be placed on the permanent and the county HARRIS COUNTY,TEXAS vs.
mailing list, clearly specify which list(s) and send your request to TCEQ BRIDGET WESTER AND SEAN DIGGS,
Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below. Plaintiff: SHAFALI GONDI Defendant,
vs. IN THE FAMILY COURT 15TH JUDICIAL
All written public comments and public meeting requests must be
submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 105, TCEQ, P.O. Box 13087,
Defendant: ALEJANDRO ALVARADO CIRCUIT
Docket No. 2022-DR
ROSA
Austin, TX 78711-3087 or electronically at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/ AMENDED SUMMONS
goto/comment within 30 days from the date of newspaper publication of CITATION BY PUBLICATION TO: THE DEFENDANT ABOVE-NAMED:
this notice. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and re-
INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE. For details about the status of THE STATE OF TEXAS quired to answer the Complaint herein, a
County of Harris copy of which is herewith served upon
the application, visit the Commissioners' Integrated Database at https://
www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid/. Search the database using the permit you, and to serve a copy of your Answer
to said Complaint upon the subscriber at
number for this application, which is provided at the top of this notice. To: ALE.JANDRO ALVARADO ROSA
his office, Hart Legal, PLLC, 125 Remount
AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION. Public comments and YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to be Rd, Charlotte, NC 28203, within thirty
requests must be submitted either electronically at https://www.tceq. and appear before the 133RD Judicial (30) days after service hereof, exclusive
texas.gov/goto/comment, or in writing to the Texas Commission on District Court of Harris County, Texas in of the day of such service, and if you fail
Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Clerk, MC-105, P.O. Box the Courthouse in the city of Houston, to answer the Complaint within the time
13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Please be aware that any contact Texas at or before 10:00 o’clock A.M. aforesaid, the Plaintiff in this action will
information you provide, including your name, phone number, email Monday, the 22ND day of APRIL, 2024. apply to the Court for the relief demanded
address, and physical address will become part of the agency's public being the Monday next after the expira- in said Complaint.
record. For more information about this permit application or the tion date of forty-two days after this cita- /s/ ___________
permitting process, please call the TCEQ Public Education Program,
toll free, at 1-800-687-4040 or visit their website at https://www.tceq.
texas.gov/agency/decisions/participation/permitting-participation. Si
tion is issued, and you are hereby com-
manded and required then and there to
appear and file written answer to the
Justin Montgomery
HART LEGAL PLLC
125 Remount Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28203
desea información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040. PLAINTIFFS ORIGINAL PETITION WITH
JURY DEMAND AND REQUIRED DIS- (803) 883-6423
Further information may also be obtained from Battleground Oil CLOSURES, filed in said Court on the
Specialty Terminal Company LLC at the address stated above or by MARCH 13, 2023 in a suit numbered
calling Mr. Brad Miller, Vice President of Terminals Regional, Kinder 2023-16152 docket of said court, the
Morgan, at 832-900-5012.
Plaintiff, SHAFALI GONDI and
ALEJANDRO ALVARADO ROSA the De-
Home Furniture and Home Furnishing
Issuance Date: March 20, 2024 Auction
fendant. the nature of plaintiff’s demand Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture –
and the said petition alleging: MOTOR
VEHICLE ACCIDENT.
Rugs, Consoles, Dressers, Sofa’s & Much
More
SUMMARY
Preview Sale April 10th & 11th from 10am
– 1pm
Live Auction April 12th from 10am – 2pm
On or about June 18. 2022. Plaintiff was Location – 2015 White Street Houston, Tx
traveling northbound on the Southwest 77007
Feeder Road, entering the intersection at
the 600 Block of Hillcroft Ave. in Harris
County, Texas, and Defendant was travel-
ing southbound at the 600 block of
Hillcroft Ave. in Harris County, Texas,
when Defendant failed to control his
speed, failed to maintain proper lookout
and struck Plaintiffs ,vehicle. The collision
caused the Plaintiff to suffer serious and
permanent bodily injuries.
Notice hereof shall be given by publishing
this Citation once a week for four consec-
utive weeks previous to the day of APRIL
22, 2024. in some newspaper published
in the County of Harris, if there be a
newspaper published therein, but if not
then the nearest county where a newspa-
per is published, and this Citation shall be
returned on the 19TH day of APRIL,
LEGAL
2024, which is forty two days after the
date it is issued, and the first publication
shall be at least twenty-eight days before
said return day.
HEREIN FAIL NOT, but have before said
NOTICES
court on said return day this Writ with
your return thereon, showing how you
have executed same.
WITNESS: MARILYN BURGESS, District & A SNORING SPOUSE
Clerk, Harris County Texas
GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND SEAL OF
SAID COURT at Houston, Texas this 8TH
day of MARCH, 2024.
Marilyn Burgess, District Clerk Harris
County, Texas TWO THINGS
By: Talitha McCarty
Talitha McCarty THAT KEEP YOU
Newspaper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE UP AT NIGHT
(SEAL)
Issued at the request of:
TIFFANY PENNINGTON
3120 SOUTHWEST FREEWAY
SUITE 350 Stay legal by posting
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77098
(713) 500-5000 your notice today!
BAR NUMBER: 24122984
legals@chron.com
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HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 B11

FCC: Internet providers must be transparent AI startups

By Cora Lewis
AS S OC IAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — Much like nu-
tritional labels on food products,
“broadband labels” for internet
packages will soon tell you just
what is going into the pricing of
your service, thanks to new
rules adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission
this week.
“If you’ve ever shopped for
home or mobile internet, you
can understand how hard it can
be to understand what you’re ac-
tually paying for,” said Jon Do-
nenberg, Deputy Director of the
White House National Econom-
ic Council, on a call with report-
ers.
“The broadband nutrition la-
bel is a tool that can help con-
sumers make sure they have a
clear, straightforward explana-
tion of home and mobile services
before signing up for anything.”
Following the design of FDA
food labels, these broadband la-
bels will provide easy-to-under-
stand, accurate information
about the cost and performance
of high-speed internet service to
help consumers avoid junk fees,
price hikes, and other unexpect-
ed costs.
Internet service providers
selling home access or mobile
broadband plans will be re-
quired to have a label for each
plan beginning April 10.
The labels will be mandated to
appear at any point of sale, in-
FCC/Associated Press
A sample broadband label
details what charges internet
service providers must
disclose under new FCC rules.
cluding online and in stores, and
they will be required to disclose
all pricing information — in-
cluding introductory rates, data
allowances, and speeds.
The labels will also include
links to information about net-
work management practices and
privacy policies.
Here’s what you need to know.
What’s behind
the new labeling?
Hidden fees and unexpected
rate hikes have dogged consum-
ers shopping for internet service
for years, and the Biden admin-
istration has been cracking
down on “junk fees” (opaque
and misleading fee structures)
across industries — including
banking, hotel and airline pric-
ing, and utility and phone ser-
vices — for the past several
Getty Images file photo
Internet service providers
will be required to have a
label for plans.
years.
On a call Tuesday, a spokes-
person for the FCC clarified that
the labels “cannot be buried in
multiple clicks” or hidden in a
way that a consumer might
miss.
“Fees can make it hard to un-
derstand the true cost of an in-
ternet plan,” said Donenberg,
adding that the agency is “com-
mitted to rooting out surprise
junk fees that some companies
pile on to your bills.”
What information will
each label contain?
• Monthly price and contract
length;
• Whether that price will
change after a certain period and
what it will change to;
• Complete list of monthly
and one-time fees, and early ter-
mination fee;
• Whether the company par-
ticipates in the Affordable Con-
nectivity Program and link to
check if one qualifies;
• “Typical” download and
upload speeds, and latency;
• Data cap and price beyond
that cap; and
• Links to network manage-
ment (e.g., zero rating and con-
tent blocking) and privacy poli-
cies.
What if I don’t understand
something on the labels?
A glossary is available to help
consumers better understand
the information displayed on the
label.
What if a provider doesn’t
display the label?
If a provider does not display
its labels or posts inaccurate in-
formation about its fees or ser-
vice plans, consumers can file a
complaint with the FCC Con-
sumer Complaint Center.
When do these rules
take effect?
While many providers will
begin displaying their labels in
April, some firms with less than
100,000 subscribers will have
until Oct. 10, 2024, to comply
with the FCC rules.
The Associated Press receives
support from Charles Schwab
Foundation for educational and
explanatory reporting to improve
financial literacy. The indepen-
dent foundation is separate from
Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The
AP is solely responsible for its
journalism.
appear to be
exploring
going public
By Jackie Davalos
B L O O M B E RG
Several artificial intelli-
gence startups are looking in-
to the process of going public,
according to an executive at
the New York Stock Ex-
change, as the market for tech
listings gains steam.
“I’d say that the majority of
the companies that are truly
pure-play, AI-focused are still
mostly financing themselves
in the private markets,” Mi-
chael Harris, global head of
capital markets at NYSE, said
at the Information’s Private
Capital Conference on Tues-
day.
“But we have seen a handful
of companies that are at least
exploring going through the
process.”
Since ChatGPT was re-
leased in late 2022, a long list
of AI startups have launched
to build generative AI servic-
es for consumers and busi-
nesses.
These startups have raised
billions from venture capital
firms and big tech companies
to support the high comput-
ing costs required to develop
AI tools.

Pearson, Mary Bain Spinks, Jimmie Lynn Sulton, Jacob

MARY BAIN HARALSON PEARSON
07/18/1931 - 04/06/2024
Mary Bain Haralson
Pearson (Mrs. Gary Pinkney
Pearson, Jr.), beloved mother
and grandmother, passed
away peacefully on Saturday,
the 6th of April 2024, at the
age of 92. She has been sur-
rounded daily by her family
for the past ten years as they
have cared for her.
Mary Bain was born on the
18th of July 1931, in Houston,
in the old Methodist Hospital
on San Jacinto Street. She
was the daughter of the late
James A. and Mary Bain
Haralson, and the grand-
daughter of the late Stonewall
Jackson and Winifred Parker
Bain, all from Houston. As a
fourth generation Texan and a
lifelong resident of Houston,
Mary Bain attended The
Kinkaid School (as did her
children and grandchildren),
where she graduated as part
of the original Richmond
Guard with many of her
lifelong friends.
Mary Bain studied at The
University of Texas at Austin
at a time when the School of
Television was held in the two
stalls of the carriage house be-
hind the Littlefield Mansion
and also hosted her own radio
talk show, which aired in
San Antonio and Austin. She
graduated from The Univer-
sity of Texas, having earned a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
in Radio, Television & Film.
While at the University,
Mary Bain met and fell in
love with a young legislator
named Gary “G.P.” Pearson.
After her presentation at Al-
legro in 1953 and a wonder-
ful courtship, Mary Bain
married G.P. at Christ Church
Cathedral on the 10th of April
1954, where her parents and
grandparents had both been
married. After 43 years of a
very happy marriage filled
with family, love, laughter,
and lots of traveling, G.P.
passed away in 1997.
Mary Bain exemplified
service to her community. She
served twice as the President
of the Ladies Parish As-
sociation at Christ Church
Cathedral, as a Docent for
many years at Bayou Bend,
on the Harris County grand
jury three times, and on the
Advisory Board of the Bryan
City Cemetery Association
(where five generations of the
family are buried). She was
also a proud member of The
Kinkaid Alumni Advisory
Board; one of the founding
members and a former presi-
dent of the Antique Study
Group; and a Board Member
of the Grievance Committee
for the State Bar of Texas.
Mary Bain’s proudest achieve-
ment serving her community
was acting as a President and
Board Member of the Holly
Hall Retirement Community
for over 50 years, one of her
dearest and lifelong projects
that she watched blossom
into the community it is
today. Mary Bain testified
in Washington, D.C. as an
individual investor in Enron’s
demise in 2002. After her
interview in front of the
Senate Commerce Commit-
tee, TV stations as far away as
England and Holland sought
her for comment.
Mary Bain loved all of
her family very much, often
declaring that “family is
everything”. She ensured that
her children grew up in a
house full of love, care, and
laughter. She made sure that
her family ate together at
the dinner table every night,
sometimes serving her sig-
nature enchiladas and queso.
She was very involved in her
children’s lives, attending
their school and extracurricu-
lar events.
Because she felt family to
be so important, she had a
strong interest in genealogy
and spent years researching
the family history, traveling
to see old family homes and
to find cemetery markers.
These endeavors culminated
with her authoring a beauti-
ful book about her family
which she distributed to her
children.
Mary Bain also did not
hesitate to open her doors
and bring others into the
fold, whether it was inviting
someone to the family Christ-
mas dinner or delivering
surprise Christmas presents
to other families’ doorsteps.
She would also turn the front
yard into the neighborhood
football field so everyone
could spend the afternoons
playing together. This sense of
community extended to Hal-
loween, when she created a
‘Spook House’ that the entire
neighborhood could come
enjoy as they trick-or-treated.
Mary Bain had an incredi-
bly vivacious personality, with
a witty sense of humor and a
contagious smile. Her famous
Christmas cards reflected her
creative flair and funny side.
Some of her cards featured
Mary Bain with her face
carved onto Mt. Rushmore,
competing in a roller derby
event, sky diving, tap dancing
with the Rockettes, and even
riding on a motorcycle—all in
her 80’s!
Mary Bain is survived by
her three beloved children,
Gary Pinkney Pearson III,
James Haralson Pearson
and his wife, Gina, and her
daughter Mary Bain Pearson
Pitts and her husband, John;
her three granddaughters,
Kristin Moore Pearson, Dr.
Elizabeth Bain Pearson, and
Megan Haralson Pearson;
and their mother, Gayle
Shadowens and her husband,
Jim. She is also survived by
her cousin, Mrs. Thomas
Sanderson of Austin and the
Hinnant and the Wheeler
families. She is predeceased
by her cousin, Winifred Bain
Wheeler Hinnant.
Mary Bain’s passing leaves
an irreplaceable emptiness
in the hearts of her devoted
the morning on Friday, the Judy Britton, Ida Jo Butler
family and she will be forever
12th of April, at The Church Grainger Moran, The Rever-
missed. Her family mourns
of St. John the Divine, 2450 end Laurens A. Hall, and the
her loss but revels in the
River Oaks Boulevard in board members of the Holly
many happy memories of
Houston, where The Right Hall Retirement Community.
a true lady from “the old
Reverend C. Andrew Doyle, The family will gather for
school” who exhibited grace,
The Reverend John R. Pitts, a private interment at Bryan
dignity, and happiness at
and The Reverend Lee Spruill City Cemetery in Bryan,
every stage of her life. She
will officiate. Immediately Texas, where she will be laid
always woke up with a smile
following, all are invited to to rest next to her husband,
on her face.
greet the family during a parents, grandparents, and
The family extends its
reception in Sumner Hall. great-grandparents.
great appreciation to those
For those unable to attend In lieu of customary
who cared for Mary Bain,
the service in-person, virtual remembrances, the fam-
including; Dr. Holly Holmes,
attendance may be accessed ily requests with gratitude
Dr. David McPherson, Dr.
by visiting Mrs. Pearson’s that memorial contribu-
Sean Savitz, Mona Patel N.P.,
online memorial tribute at tions please be directed to
and Lynn Cutrer from UT
GeoHLewis.com and select- The Church of St. John the
Health. The family also gives
ing the “Join Livestream” icon Divine, 2450 River Oaks
its love and endless gratitude
on the service section. While Boulevard, Houston, Texas
to Blanca Cantor who has
there you may also share 77019; the Endowment fund
been with the family for over
fond memories and words of of Christ Church Cathedral,
10 years and cared for Mary
comfort and condolences with 1117 Texas Avenue, Houston,
Bain with her whole heart;
her family by selecting the Texas 77002; or to the charity
and to Ana Caroli Roth and
“Add a Memory” icon. of your choice.
Celsa Menchú for their loving,
Those honored to serve as Day may break and night
caring and dedicated service.
pallbearers during Friday’s may fall, but happy memories
Friends are cordially invited
service are Frank Hinnant, of Mary Bain will live on
to a visitation with the family
Anne Hinnant Haller, Robert forever.
from five o’clock in the after-
Hinnant, Olive Elaine Hin-
noon until seven o’clock in the
nant, Hank Hinnant, Dr.
evening on Thursday, the 11th
Jody Wheeler Deming, Mark
of April, in the library and
Wheeler, Beth Walsh, Sam
grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis
Wheeler, Molly Ammondson,
& sons, 1010 Bering Drive in
Ed Stewart, Ardath Stewart,
Houston.
Karen Craig, Niculin Herz,
A funeral service is to be
and Pam Greenwood.
conducted at ten o’clock in
Honorary pallbearers are

MR. JACOB A. SULTON

JIMMIE LYNN SPINKS
02/19/1938 - 03/29/2024
Jimmie Lynn Spinks (nee
Genzer), 86, passed away on
March 29, 2024, surrounded
by loved ones. Born in Jena,
LA on February 19, 1938.
A dedicated educator and
administrator, she cherished
family time and friendships.
Jimmie Lynn was a seam-
stress and photographer,
creating memories with her
family and beloved dogs.
She is survived by her sons,
Steven Paul and Douglas
Brent Spinks, grandchildren,
brothers, and extended fam-
ily. Jimmie Lynn is preceded
by her husband, parents, and
sister-in-law. Condolences
07/05/1998- 04/03/2024
BERTHA M. GARCIA
02/28/1925 - 04/11/2019
When you died, Mom, I felt
the world crumble beneath
my feet. I may never walk
on solid ground again, but
I will walk, and I will move
forward because of the love
and strength you showed me
throughout my life and with
God by my side. My daily
prayer is to see you again one
day. I miss you Mom! Love
you! Your daughter, Christina The wonders of the world
is not a wonder for God. Our
may be left at https://www. son, brother and friend, Jacob
dignitymemorial.com/obitu- A. Sulton peacefully transi-
aries/pasadena-tx/jimmie- tioned on April 3, 2024.
spinks-11750679. We will celebrate his life
on Friday, April 12, 2024 at
11:00 AM in the Rose Chapel
of Mabrie Memorial Mortu-
ary. The family will receive
their guests immediately fol-
lowing the service in the Viola
Atrium of Mabrie.
B12 THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 HOUSTON CHRONICLE | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM

WEATHER
HOUSTON’S SEVEN-DAY FORECAST | Go to AccuWeather.com COASTAL FORECAST
GALVESTON BAY: Wind from
81 80 82 80 83 84 84 the north-northwest at 10-20
53 57 63 67 70 72 71 knots today. Seas 2 feet or less.
Visibility clear to the horizon.
TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY Tonight: Wind from the north
Sunny, warmer; breezy Mostly sunny Partly sunny and breezy Times of clouds and Low clouds and breezy Low clouds Some brightening at 7-14 knots. Seas 2 feet or
in the p.m. sun less. Clear.
MATAGORDA SHIP CHAN-
METRO AREA NORTH AMERICA TODAY INTERNATIONAL NEL TO HIGH ISLAND OUT
20 TO 50 MILES: Wind from
OUTLOOK Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Today Fri.
the north-northwest at 8-16
TODAY: Sunny and warmer; 110s Calgary Saskatoon Africa
Vancouver
Cairo 81/61/s 82/62/s knots today. Seas 2 feet or less.
breezy this afternoon. High 78 100s Regina Visibility clear to the horizon.
to 83. Winds northwest 10-20 Seattle Winnipeg
Cape Town 75/51/s 75/54/s
90s Casablanca 78/63/s 87/58/s Tonight: Wind from the
mph. TONIGHT: Clear. Low 50 80s Thunder Bay Dakar 79/68/pc 81/71/s north-northeast at 6-12 knots.
Portland
to 55. Winds north 6-12 mph. Ottawa Montreal Johannesburg 70/48/s 64/50/pc Seas 2 feet or less. Mainly clear.
70s
Lagos 94/79/r 96/78/r
60s
Minneapolis Toronto Boston Asia/Pacific
50s Beijing 76/53/s 83/58/s
40s Detroit Ho Chi Minh City 101/81/s 99/82/pc
AIR QUALITY 30s Chicago Hong Kong 82/75/pc 85/76/s
Salt Lake City New York Islamabad 89/66/c 88/64/c
Today’s forecast for the entire
20s San Francisco Jakarta 90/77/sh 90/77/sh
metro area by the TCEQ:
10s Denver Washington Karachi 93/75/pc 95/80/pc GALVESTON TIDES
0s
Kuala Lumpur 96/77/pc 93/76/t Highs Feet Lows Feet
Manila 94/80/c 95/80/pc
-0s New Delhi 101/77/pc 100/75/pc 8:39 a.m. 1.8 12:18 a.m. -0.3
Ozone watch -10s Los Angeles Seoul 66/47/c 72/47/pc --- --- --- ---
Phoenix Little Rock Atlanta
Shanghai 73/59/c 67/57/r
Good Unhealthy Singapore 89/79/t 89/78/t
T-storms
Sydney 71/58/s 72/59/s
RIVERS, CREEKS AND
Moderate Very unhealthy Rain Dallas
Unhealthy Hazardous Showers
El Paso Taipei 89/71/s 88/72/pc BAYOUS through 7 a.m. Wednesday
Tokyo 65/55/pc 62/53/pc Flood Latest 24-hr.
for sensitive Snow Hermosillo New Orleans
Houston Canada Location stage stage chg.
groups Chihuahua Calgary 55/34/c 58/35/c
Flurries
Edmonton 56/33/c 56/33/pc Brays Bayou South Main 54 16.71 -0.02
Ice Miami Brazos River Bryan 43 10.95 +0.29
POLLEN AND MOLD Jet stream
Montreal
Toronto
63/54/r
60/48/r
67/43/sh
52/39/sh Hempstead 50 14.28 -0.10
Yesterday’s readings by the Monterrey Vancouver 49/44/r 54/42/c Richmond 48 14.17 +1.49
Houston Health Department: Havana Winnipeg 51/30/pc 51/39/s Buffalo Bayou Piney Point 50 28.14 -0.06
Countpercubicmeterofair Europe Shepherd Dr. 23 2.18 +0.45
Medium 66 Mérida Cancún Amsterdam 60/54/r 65/54/pc
Tree pollen
Athens 77/62/s 79/64/s
Clear Creek Friendswood 12 2.02 +0.76
Weed pollen Medium 22 Anchorage Guadalajara Berlin 64/52/c 69/54/c Colorado R. Austin 29 11.54 +0.34
Grass pollen Heavy 30 Veracruz Copenhagen 56/44/sh 56/47/sh Bastrop 25 2.42 +0.05
Mexico City Villahermosa Dublin 63/51/sh 62/47/c La Grange 32 3.55 +0.01
Mold spores Medium 9384 Forecasts and
Honolulu Belmopan Frankfurt 65/45/c 72/47/pc Columbus 34 9.36 -0.06
Acapulco graphics provided by Geneva 64/42/s 70/45/pc
Low Heavy Cold Warm Stationary Wharton 39 8.14 -0.02
front front front AccuWeather, Inc. Istanbul 70/54/s 71/54/s
Medium Extremely heavy ©2024 London 66/52/c 68/52/c Bay City 44 3.23 +0.55
Madrid 80/45/s 78/45/s Greens Bayou Eastex Fwy. 61 39.09 +0.06
Note: No measurements on weekends; Moscow 64/46/pc 57/42/c
charts in Sunday and Monday papers reflect
Guadalupe R. Hunt 12 7.68 +0.01
forecast ratings from the previous Friday. FOR THE RECORD TEXAS NATIONAL cont. Paris
Prague
65/50/c
65/42/s
73/51/c
70/48/pc
Comfort 26 3.17 -0.01
George Bush Intercontinental Today Fri. Today Fri. Rome 66/49/sh 74/50/s Spring Branch 36 1.56 -0.01
Airport through 3 p.m. Wed. Abilene 75/53/s 85/59/c Cleveland 69/47/r 51/42/sh Stockholm 50/44/r 58/44/pc New Braunfels 13 9.41 +0.01
COMFORT INDEX
The comfort index takes into
Temperature Degrees F Amarillo
Austin
67/44/s
81/49/s
82/51/s Columbus
82/52/pc Denver
71/47/r
63/38/s
51/43/sh Vienna
78/48/s Warsaw
68/47/pc 73/52/pc Gonzales 31 11.38 +0.03
64/50/pc 64/54/c Cuero 20 7.31 -0.02
account how the weather will High 75 Beaumont 81/51/s 79/55/s Des Moines 58/41/pc 65/44/s Zurich 63/40/s 70/42/s
Low 66 Brownsville 87/60/s 86/68/pc Detroit 61/45/r 50/41/sh Latin America Victoria 21 5.46 +0.05
feel based on a combination of
Bryan/College St. 78/51/s 84/56/pc Duluth 52/36/sh 54/33/s Bogota Dupont 20 10.17 -0.11
factors. A rating of 10 feels very Normal high 79 Corpus 74/45/pc 74/48/c
comfortable while a rating of 0
Christi 89/59/s 85/67/pc Fairbanks 43/27/c 42/26/sn Buenos Aires 65/60/c 69/63/c Little River Little River 30 22.60 N.A.
Normal low 58 Dallas/Ft. Worth 74/51/s 80/57/s Great Falls 62/42/c 68/45/c Caracas Cameron 30 1.48 +0.10
feels very uncomfortable. 90/75/s 91/76/pc
Record high 92 in 1963 El Paso 84/56/s 87/58/pc Hartford 64/59/r 64/49/r Havana 90/73/sh 82/67/pc Navasota R. Easterly 19 4.57 +0.59
Today Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue. Record low 31 in 1973 Galveston 81/64/s 76/68/s Honolulu 82/73/c 83/72/sh Kingston 91/80/pc 91/79/s
Kingsville 91/56/s 87/65/pc Indianapolis 62/44/r 59/43/pc Lima Neches River Evadale 19 8.76 +0.02
10 9 9 9 9 7 Precipitation Inches Laredo 78/69/s 79/69/pc
Pine Island B. Sour Lake 25 12.44 +0.01
88/59/s 90/65/pc Jackson, MS 72/49/sh 76/47/s Rio de Janeiro 83/75/s 83/75/pc
24-hour total 1.88 Longview 73/43/s 78/53/s Juneau 49/32/pc 42/34/sn San Juan 86/78/r 86/76/sh Sabine River Bon Wier 30 14.27 -0.93
UV TODAY Month to date 1.89 Lubbock 72/47/s 80/55/c Kansas City 63/39/s 70/52/s San Salvador 94/69/t 94/68/pc Deweyville 24 19.20 -1.31
McAllen 91/58/s 88/66/pc Las Vegas 86/61/s 87/61/s Santiago
Values indicate the exposure to Normal month to date 1.26 Midland/Odessa 77/52/s 81/58/pc Little Rock 73/48/sh 78/51/s Sao Paulo
75/49/pc 69/49/c Orange 4 0.85 +0.30
the sun’s Ultraviolet rays. 79/65/sh 78/66/pc Burkeville 43 18.43 +6.32
Year to date 14.77 San Angelo 80/52/s 88/59/pc Los Angeles 82/55/s 71/56/pc St. Thomas 86/77/pc 87/77/pc
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. Normal year to date 11.58 San Antonio 83/53/s 83/58/pc Memphis 70/50/r 70/52/s San Bernard R. E. Bernard 17 12.22 +5.64
Texarkana 75/47/s 82/55/s Miami 89/72/c 84/67/pc Mexico E. San. Jac. R. Cleveland 19 8.48 +3.66
1 4 9 9 4 1 Other readings Victoria 84/51/s 82/61/s Milwaukee 54/46/r 60/43/pc Acapulco 88/71/s 90/72/s
W. San. Jac. R. Conroe 116 94.94 -0.41
Top wind speed 25 mph Waco 77/47/s 81/54/s Minneapolis 54/41/sh 60/43/s Cancun 87/71/sh 84/74/sh
0-2, Low 8-10, Very high Nashville 66/51/t 69/46/pc Guadalajara 90/56/pc 90/56/c San Jacinto R. Sheldon 10 2.06 +0.49
3-5, Moderate 11+, Extreme High barometer 29.69 in. 76/58/s Guanajuato 84/51/pc 87/53/pc Sims Bayou Telephone Rd. 30 2.14 +0.62
29.55 in. NATIONAL
New Orleans 76/58/pc
6-7, High
Low barometer New York City 61/56/r 63/48/sh Mazatlan 81/60/pc 82/64/pc Trinity River Goodrich 36 15.55 -2.62
High dewpoint 73° Today Fri. Oklahoma City 67/45/s 78/57/s Merida 89/68/t 89/71/s
Liberty 26 22.36 -0.71
Low dewpoint Albany, NY
59° Albuquerque 66/60/r 64/45/r Orlando 88/62/t 82/57/s Mexico City 82/52/c 85/55/c
Village Creek Kountze 20 3.52 +0.07
SUN AND MOON 72/48/s 78/51/s Philadelphia 70/59/r 65/48/sh Puerto Vallarta 85/66/c 87/70/pc
Average dewpoint 65° Anchorage 41/34/sn 41/28/c Phoenix 94/64/s 94/63/s Tampico 84/68/s 82/68/s White Oak B. Heights Blvd. 48 26.90 N.A.
First Full Last New
quarter moon quarter moon High humidity 96% Atlanta 71/52/t 70/48/s Pittsburgh 72/49/r 51/42/sh Veracruz 84/68/s 84/68/c
Low humidity 65% Baltimore 67/57/sh 68/49/sh Portland, OR 62/49/pc 63/46/c Middle East TEXAS LAKES
Billings 61/45/pc 75/48/pc Sacramento 81/50/s 66/51/pc Baghdad 80/61/sh 84/63/pc
Birmingham 65/50/sh 71/47/s St. Louis 66/49/r 67/49/pc Beirut 71/60/s 72/59/s Full Latest Release
Boise 75/49/pc 75/47/t Salt Lake City 72/56/s 81/58/c Dubai 92/79/pc 91/76/c through 7 a.m. Wednesday pool level cfs
Apr 15 Apr 23 May 1 May 7 KEY TO CONDITIONS Boston 54/51/r 62/49/r San Diego 69/55/s 65/58/pc Jerusalem 69/49/c 71/51/s Canyon Dam 909 887.09 40
s - sunny r - rain Buffalo 69/51/r 54/39/sh San Francisco 67/50/s 62/52/pc Kabul 68/49/pc 56/45/t Conroe 201 201.08 1064
Sunset tonight 7:46 p.m. pc - partly cloudy sf - snow flurries Charleston, SC 74/56/t 77/51/s Santa Fe 69/40/s 76/44/pc Mecca 96/68/pc 96/69/pc
Sunrise Friday 6:57 a.m. c - cloudy sn - snow Charlotte 76/54/t 68/47/pc Seattle 53/45/r 57/40/c Riyadh 93/69/pc 93/68/pc Houston 41.73 42.57 N.A.
Moonrise today 8:53 a.m. sh - showers i - ice Chicago 53/46/r 59/44/pc Tucson 91/60/s 90/57/s Tehran 72/50/pc 66/47/s Lake Travis 681 630.87 0
Moonset today 11:31 p.m. t - thunderstorms Cincinnati 66/47/t 59/45/sh Washington, DC 67/59/t 68/51/sh Tel Aviv 73/60/s 74/61/s Livingston 131 131.45

SUIT
From page B7

man health and the envi-

ronment,” Menefee said in
a statement, adding that he
thought Paxton was priori-
tizing short-term economic
interests over the health of
area residents.
The Attorney General’s
Office did not respond to a
request for comment on
Menefee’s filing, but said in
the past that the change
would seriously harm Tex-
as economically.
“The rule and its corre-
sponding compliance costs
will result in the closure of
manufacturing and indus-
trial facilities, putting Brett Coomer/Staff photographer
workers out of jobs and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeks to block
devastating the surround- the EPA’s stricter soot limits introduced across the
ing communities,” the of- country in February, saying the change would
fice said in March. seriously harm Texas economically.
Its statement called the
EPA’s new rule an “about- scientists fired by the
face” and questioned its sci- Trump administration
entific basis, since federal questioned the lack of ac-
agency staff had decided tion given scientific ad-
during former President vancements that showed
Donald Trump’s tenure not health impacts after expo-
to update the standards. At sure to lower levels of pol-
the time, a group of EPA lution.

RICHER lion dollars in assets, rates

can now work in your fa-
From page B7 vor: For example, you
could simply park a bil-
There’s a certain wis- lion dollars in a high-yield
dom in having cash, as the savings account and live in
old saw goes. relative comfort off of the
Rising interest rates in interest.
the United States have put
many consumers on the Another good year for
back foot, essentially shut energy industry
out of the housing market A bustling year for the
for the time being or turn- oil and gas industry is
ing to TikTok to bemoan generally bound to be a
their four-figure car pay- good one for the Houston
ments. regional economy and for
But if you entered this Houston’s billionaires,
restricted lending envi- many of whom built their
ronment with several bil- fortunes in the industry.

SALES sive.
The average Houston
From page B7 home price rose 1.3% to
$412,464, while the medi-
tinued interest rate fluc- an price rose 1.6% to
tuations,” said HAR $330,000 compared with
Chair Thomas Mouton a year ago, according to
with Century 21 Exclu- HAR.