NORTH CHANNEL✯STARYour News, Your Newspaper

VOLUME 9, NO. 2 (#357) THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021Serving all of the North Shore -- Channelview, Cloverleaf, Sheldon, Galena Park, Jacinto City

www.northchannelstar.com

Outsmarting Cancer,Page 8

Insurrection at US Capitol,Page 5

San Jacinto College,Page 3

COVID-19RESOURCES

City of Houston Pre-Screening832-393-4220

Harris County Ask a Nurse713-634-1110

Harris County Pre-Screening832-927-7575 orreadyharris.org

Harris County Mobile Tests713-439-6000

MD Medical 1-888-776-5252Methodist Hospital

Download mymethodist app.

HOUSTON AREA19 COUNTIES

TEXAS

UNITED STATES

WORLDWIDE

COVID-19Cases as of

January 12, 2021

424,203 POSITIVE4,456 DEATHS

338,930 RECOVERED

1,993,187 POSITIVE30,629 DEATHS

1,568,710 RECOVERED

91,374,370 POSITIVE1,956,635 DEATHS

50,537,714 RECOVERED

22,775,378 POSITIVE379,444 DEATHS

--- RECOVERED

87th Texas Legislatureconvenes this weekNew Housespeaker laysout challenges

The 87th session of theTexas Legislature openedTuesday with COVID-19encompassing every aspectof what the lawmakers do,according to new HouseSpeaker Dade Phelan.

“COVID, obviously, itwill be a blanket over theentire session,” Phelantold his hometown TV sta-tion, KFDM Channel 6, inBeaumont. “We will dealwith it in every aspect ofpolicy. It will be a huge de-termining factor in thebudget.

Before the pandemichit, Phelan said, legisla-tors “were supposed tocome into this budget cy-cle with a surplus, and nowwe’re coming into it with adeficit …” Money will beeven tighter for the nexttwo-year budget lawmak-ers write during the ses-sion, he said.

“The No. 1 goal is to getthe economy back ontrack,” Phelan said

For opening day, Lt.Gov. Dan Patrick andState Rep. Charlie Geren,R-Fort Worth and chair ofthe administration com-

mittee, laid out safety pro-tocols for lawmakers andvisitors to follow at theCapitol, which recently re-opened after closing inMarch because of the pan-demic. The opening cere-mony was scheduled to beshorter than usual to re-duce time spent gathering.

“It’s always been diffi-cult to be speaker. It’s nev-er been easy, but going intothis session, the 87th, giv-en the budget deficit, redis-tricting, and the fact thatwe have the first pandem-ic in 102 years in which tooperate, I’m exceptionallyproud they’ve given methis honor,” Phelan said ofthe bipartisan coalition oflawmakers that voted forhim to be the new speak-

er.Phelan, a Republican,

stressed the bipartisanspirit of Texas and citedhow well former Gov.George W. Bush workedwith Democratic Lt. Gov.Bob Bullock during theirtime serving together atthe Capitol.

“That is the Texas mod-el. We’ve always workedthat way,” Phelan said. “Ifyou’re sitting at the speak-er’s dais and you’re lookingat all the chairs in theHouse chamber, there is noleft side or right side, red,blue, like there is in Wash-ington, D.C. We all sitamongst each other.”

Lawmakers are sched-uled to be in session untilMay 31.

County libraries provideservice in spite of PandemicBy Jada Mier

Harris County BranchLibraries Celebrates 100years of Service and Con-tinue modified servicesduring the Pandemic.

This year HCPL cele-brates the library’s firstone hundred years and itscommitment to remain a

vital and vibrant assetfor the people of HarrisCounty. Edward Melton,HCPL’s Executive Directors a y s , “ T h e g r o w t h ,progress and innovationyou see in the library’s sto-ry over its first one hun-dred years mirrors that ofHarris County.” In prepa-ration for their Centenni-al, HCPL librarians, forthe first time, began sys-tematically collecting anddigitizing materials to doc-ument the library’s histo-ry. Their efforts resulted inthe HCPL Digital Archive,an ongoing collection ofphotos, articles, scrap-books, and videos of HCPLsince 1921. Each month in2021, the Archive willpresent digital exhibits totell a specific story – book-mobiles, important peopleat HCPL, hurricanes andother disasters. It will alsofeature each of HCPL’s 26branches throughout 2021,with detailed timelinesthat trace the library’s cen-

tury long commitment toserve Harris County resi-dents.

Although Harris Coun-ty Branch Libraries havebeen closed to the publicsince the end of March2020. The libraries havehad alternatively a strongonline presence by postingvirtual programs to Face-book and Instagram pages.Since people can no longerwalk into library buildingsto browse books or utilizethe rows of computers, thenew curbside services havemade it possible for citi-zens to still obtain materi-a ls and pr int neededdocuments.

Stratford, North chan-nel, Jacinto City, GalenaPark, High Meadows, and

Aldine are only six of thetwenty-six Harris CountyBranches that have adapt-ed their services to meettheir community’s needs.Two of their most success-ful system wide programsinclude Book Buddies andtheir Career Online HighSchool scholarships. In theCareer Online High Schoolscholarship the studentsEarn an accredited highschool diploma while gain-ing real-world career train-ing through a flexible,supportive, online educa-tion program. Book Bud-dies switched f rom abranch run program to acounty wide program,

See LIBRARIES, page 3

The 2020~2021 North Shore Senior High School Scarlets Dance Team. Director Mrs. Audra E. Taylor & AssistantDirector Ms. Angela Upshaw. (Allan Jamail Photo)

Military Officers: Captain Olivia Riojas-Bellini, Co-Captain Jade Johnson, Sr. Lieutenant Nuves Cordero-Ramsden, Jr.Lieutenants Trinitee Armstrong, Benet Matteer & Bria Murphy.

Social Officers: President Abigail Tellez, Vice President Linda Hermida, Secretary Ameyha Young, Historian Allayra Jenkins& Social Chairpersons Jakayla Griffin & Tyteonna Pullins.

Line Dancers: Hailey Allard, Susan Ascencio, Judith Cardona, Alexa Coomer, Jessica De La Cruz, Priscilla Diaz, IsabellEsparza, Raquel Fultz, Melissa Garcia, Elizabeth Gonzales, Emily Guerrero, Jordyn Hadnot, Malenna Hamlin, Emily Herrera,Deivion Houston, Aniyah JacksonJasmin Jimenez, Isabella Jimenez, Sofia Lenart, Jennifer Martinez, Reina Martinez, Angelica Molina, Montserrat Molina,Alexa Moya, Emily Najar, Angela Ornelas, Natalie Parra, Brigit Pineda, Rebecca Portillo, Marisol Ramirez, Nyla Ramirez,Savanna Ramirez, Armani Rebollar,Jazmine Rodriguez, Ayriel Rucker, Cristal Salazar, Victoria Stuart, Syrena Tijerina, Ashley Trejo, Delanie Vega, Ashley Walter,Sierra Ward, Serenity Wilkins & Kennedy Wiltz.

By Allan Jamail

January 12, 2021 –“Once a Scarlet, Always aScarlet” is the motto of theScarlets. The GPISD Scar-lets is a dance team thatperform at functions likevarsity football and bas-ketball games, pep rallies,community events andcontest in the state. TheScarlets are composed ofstudents from the 10th,11th, and 12 grades ofNorth Shore Senior High,with a junior varsity danceteam called the Reserves,which is composed of the9th graders.

The Scarlets have aBooster Club which sup-porters, fans and citizenscan join for $8 a year. As amember of the boosterclub, you’ll receive infor-mation on upcoming Scar-let events and be invited tovote on fundraisers whichis how they earn money to

North Shore Scarlets Dance Team performs

Sontinued. SeeSCARLETS, page 8

By Allan Jamail

Katy, TX. - Saturday,January 9, 2021 at Katy’sLegacy Stadium the NorthShore Mustangs (EastsideBoys) were eliminated inthe Class 6A Division lState Semifinal footballgame by Austin WestlakeChaparrals 24-21.

The Chaparrals took thegame’s opening kickoff andafter getting stopped onthe 41 yard l ine theykicked a 41 yard field goalfor the game’s first score totake the lead 3 - 0.

The Mustangs took theensuing kickoff and intheir opening drive Mus-

tangs junior running back Xavier Owensfumbled the ball giving it back to West-lake on the Mustangs 14 yard line. With

Westlake Chaparrals end Mustangs playoff run 24-21

See MUSTANGS FALLTO WESTLAKE, page 6

North Shore’s junior running back #32 XavierOwens stretches the ball across the goal with a9 yard go-ahead 4th quarter TD. (Allan Jamail Photo)

#8 Mustang’s sophomore wide receiver DavidAmador catches a 2nd quarter 55 yard TD passfrom quarterback Dematrius Davis for their firstscore. (Allan Jamail Photo)

only 5 minutes into the game Chaparralsquarterback Cade Klubnik threw a touch-down (TD) pass giving them a 10 - 0 lead.

North Shore’s Dematri-us Davis completed a 55yard pass to David Amadorfor a TD bringing the scorewithin 3. Chaparrals 10,Mustangs 7. Later theMustangs passed up a fieldgoal attempt on fourthdown while trying to pickup a first down, insteadgiving up the ball on lossof downs. Before halftimeWestlake extended theirlead 17 - 7 on a 47 yardpass for a TD. To close thefirst half Davis had hispass intercepted.

The Mustangs took the

JACINTO CITY HARRIS COUNTY BRANCH LIBRARYTEXAS STATE CAPITOL, AUSTIN

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STARPage 2 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

281-328-5869

Home Health Care

CROSBY’S HOME

TOWN HOME CARE

Skilled Nursing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy,Speech Therapy, Medical Social Worker, Home Health Aide,

Hospice Services*Physical Therapy Position Available

CALL TODAY TO SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR MEDICAREFUNDED HOME HEALTH CAREPhysical Therapy Position Available

Locally owned and Operated by Tabatha and Jonathan Brady

Non-Discrimination PolicyNo client shall be, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability or handicap,

sexual orientation, marital status, religion or status with regard to public assistance or veteran status,excluded from admission to services through Omnix Health Care Services, Inc.

Jack Noonan B.B.A., T.R.E.B., E.A.

CRI FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT COMPANYA DIVISION OF CORPORATE RECOVERY, INC.

TAX PREPARATION & CONSULTATIONAll Federal, State, Foreign & Individual, Partnerships,Trusts, Estates, Corporations (C,Sub S & Limited Liability)

& Payroll Tax Returns,Intuit Pro-Advisors,Service All Businesses & Individual Taxes

Specialists in getting late filers into I.R.S. ComplianceBusiness Solutions for New Tax Rules, Regulations and Tax AuditsDebt Consultation and Bankruptcy Protection as a Solution to your Debts

Other Services RenderedBookkeeping, Computer Systems, Financial Management,

Investments, Payroll, Property Rendition,Real Estate & Business Brokerage

Normal Business HoursMonday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to Noon – 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Saturday By AppointmentASK FOR YOUR FREE COPY OF OUR INCOME TAX ORGANIZER

JACK NOONAN, B.B.A., TREB, E.A. & STAFFIRS Enrolled License # 2018 – 65282

6400 FM 2100 North Main, P.O. Box 1428, Crosby, TX 77532-1428Telephone (281) 328-1755 Fax (281) 328-5280

E-mail: cri.tax.jhinson@gmail.com

Maximum Tax Savings

Crosby man welcomescentenarian birthday

Alvin Stasney, 100, lives in Crosby where he was born on January 2, 1921 andstayed to raise his family. Stasney turned 100 years old on January 2 whilerecuperating in the hospital from partial hip replacement surgery. He is picturedon this great day with his wife, Virginia and three children, Rebecca, Laura andMark. He can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 379, Crosby, Texas 77532.Alvin Stasney is the last living crew member of the Mairzy Doats, a World War IIbomber crew. The Mairzy Doats name was taken from the title of a nonsense songby the Pied Pipers that was just fun to sing and popularized during the war byBob Hope and Bing Crosby. The song made the pop charts several times, with aversion by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944.

During the early months of1944, Alvin Stasney, servedas navigator on a B-24 Liber-ator 4-engine bomber. At thattime of the air war over Eu-rope the loss rate for airmenwas so high that it appearedstatistically impossible tocomplete their required 25missions to be sent home,“mission accomplished.” Forexample, upon joining the 392Bomb Group based in Wen-dling England, my Dad’s firstmission was to bomb a Mess-erschmitt facility (Nazi air-plane manufacturing facility)near Gotha, Germany. Onthat day, 20% of the Libera-tors in his group were lost,and half of the planes thatsurvived received battle dam-age. The crew was alone overBerlin unaware the missionwas scrubbed.

According to the MightyEighth War Diary by RogerFreeman, on March 3, 1944the entire 8th Air Force wasdispatched to the Berlin areawith approximately 750

heavy bombers and 730 fight-er aircraft. The weather con-ditions faced that day turnedout to be among the worstever experienced, with heavyclouds up to 30,000 feet andtemperatures reaching belowminus 60º F.

With zero visibility in anydirection, Alvin Stasney’s B-24, named the “Mairzy Doats”crossed through another B-24’s propwash. Their planewent into a stall and partialtailspin, diving perilously to-ward the sea below. Pilot JoeDarnell struggled and even-tually he pulled their Libera-tor out of its dive towards thefrigid North Sea below.

The Mairzy Doats resumedcourse. Weather deteriorated,the temperature dropping be-low their gauge dial limit ofminus 60? F. The aircraft ra-dio stopped working, theirwrist watches froze. With vis-ibility still at zero, their planebecame separated from therest of the formation. How-ever they continued on to the

war industrial target justnorth of Berlin, with Stasneynavigating by instrument.

Nearing their target, PilotDarnell found some visibilitybut no other aircraft waspresent. The entire force hadbeen recalled due to the hor-rific weather conditions. Dar-nell’s crew didn’t receive themessage due to distractionfrom their near crash andtheir radio malfunction.

Upon landing, NavigatorAlvin Stasney and Bombar-dier Frank Richardson wereimmediately transported tothe hospital by ambulance.

No debriefing of Alvin wasdone, so nothing was ever en-tered into the 392nd BombGroup official records regard-ing this first American B-24over Berlin - albeit unofficial.

Both Stasney and Richard-son flew the next two Berlinmissions on March 6th and 8th.Richardson, was killed in ac-tion on March 18.

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STAR Page 3THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

Highlands Rotary modifiesFeb. 6 Chili Feast

Raffle ON, Chili OUT, Location NEWHIGHLANDS – The raf-

fle associated with the An-nual Highlands RotaryChili Feast will be held atThe Highlands UnitedMethodist Church, 107 WHouston St., Highlands, onSaturday, February 6th.Due to the pandemic, therewill not be a Chili dinner,auction or any other typeof events that is usually as-sociated with the ChiliFeast. Just the raffle.There will be nothing heldat St. Judes Catholicchurch this year.

Rotarians will be at theMethodist Church from 9am till 12 noon on Feb 6thto sell tickets and peopleare encouraged to comethere to buy tickets if theyhave not bought ticketsyet. Cut off for ticket saleswill be 12 noon on the 6th.

There will be a live in-ternet feed, Facebook, Clu-brunner or other location.The drawing will be held inthe same manner as before- all ticket stubs will beplaced in the hopper andall ticket stubs will bedrawn and all ticketsdrawn will be recorded asusual.

Prizes will be availablethat day at the MethodistChurch and if the winnercan not pick them up thatday they will be taken toWeston Cotten’s Law Of-fice on the corner of Wall-isville and Thompson inHighlands.

This is the Rotary Club’sONLY fundraiser for all ofthe projects they do in andaround Highlands, includ-ing Scholarships, Partnersin Eduction, Bay Area

Homeless Shelter, the bookmobile for Highlands Li-brary (in progress), Bay-town Youth Fair, CrosbyYouth Fair, Bra’s for theCause and many more,and we are asking the com-munity to please continuetheir support by buyingthese tickets. Tickets areavailable in the communi-ty at the office of LarryWhite, DDS - 281 426 3558,Charlie’s Ice House - 281426 3632 and JeremyRosenkranz State Farm -281 426 3512 and WestonCotten Law Firm - 281 4214050.

Our sponsors will berecognized on that daythrough our live feed andwe want you to please saythank you to all of them fortheir support in this diffi-cult year.

opening the program forLittle Buddies all overHarris County. Book Bud-dies at Home is a free pro-gram that brings childrenin K-3rd grade (Little Bud-dies) and HCPL staff (BigBuddies) together to sharethe joy of reading in a safeonline environment. For10 weeks, the buddies metonce a week for 30 minutesof one-on-one shared read-ing on Teams.

The first thing to changeacross the board was howpatrons were able to gettheir physical items. Em-ployees of branch librariesare doing phone-in refer-ence and checkout work.Through Harris CountyPublic Library’s online cat-alogue patrons are able tobrowse books, movies andCD’s and call the branchdirectly to have itemschecked out. After the pa-tron calls the branch oftheir choice all that is leftto do is to drive to the lo-cation and pick up the re-quested items.

Printing services workalmost exactly the sameway, it’s an all online pro-cess. At each Branch thereis a poster explaining indetail how to print out doc-uments directly from anydevice. Once a patron hasuploaded their documenta n d n e c e s s a r y f u n d sthrough PayPal the onlything left to do is call thebranch and provide themwith their library cardnumber so that an HCPLemployee can take theirdocuments to them.

Book and movie bundlesare also a service offeredby each branch, patronscan request a customizeda s s o r t m e n t o f b o o k sthrough Harris County’swebsite Hcpl.net and pickthem up once they receivea conformation email orphone call. The librariesmission has always been toservice the community, thepandemic has not stoppedtheir mission it’s simplychanged how they com-plete it

High lands STRAT-FORD: 832-927-5400

Address: 509 StratfordSt, Highlands, TX 77562

Channelview NORTHCHANNEL: 832-927-5500

Address: 15741 Wallis-ville Rd, Houston, TX77049

Jacinto City: 832-927-5520

Address: 921 Akron St,Houston, TX 77029

Galena Park: 832-927-5470

Address: 1500 Keene St,Galena Park, TX 77547

Aldine HIGH MEAD-OWS: 821-590-1456

Address: 4500 AldineMail Rte Rd, Houston, TX77039

Aldine ALDINE: 832-927- 5410

Address: 11331 AirlineDr, Houston, TX 77037

Harris County LibrariesCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

OBITUARIES✯

Ernest Todd Rosspassed away in Pasadena,Texas on January 3rd, 2021.Ernest Todd Ross is pre-ceded in death by hisMother Theresa Flo Rossin February of 2020.

Ernest Todd Ross is sur-vived by his Sons ErnestPaul Ross of Houston, Tex-as, Ernest Todd Ross ofBessemer, Alabama, andJosha Walker of Wheeling,West Virginia; Sister TaraErna Neal and husbandMark; Grandson Cristanand Grand Daughters Cal-ie and Amelia.

Ernest Todd Ross wasborn in Steubenville, Ohio

in June of 1962. He gradu-ated from C.E. King HighSchool in Houston in 1978.

13701 Corpus Christi St.,Houston, TX 77015

713-455-5100www.CarterFuneral-

Houston.com

Mr. Ross had a variedworking career in the OilField Services, as a Paint-er, a Carpenter, Blinds In-staller and Telemarketing.He will be missed deeplyby his Family.

Future remembranceservices are pending.

ERNEST TODD ROSS

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STARPage 4 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

✯ O P I N I O N P A G E ✯

STATE CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTSBy Chris Cobler

✯

Texas is going big with itsapproach to COVID-19

Editor & Publisher..............................Gilbert HoffmanAssociate Publisher.....................Mei-Ing Liu HoffmanAssoc. Editor/Advertising Manager.....Lewis SpearmanAssistant Editor.........................................Julieta PaitaMarketing Manager..............................Willie GlasgowProduction Manager...........................Luis HernandezAsst. Production Manager............Gerardo HernandezEntered as Periodicals Class at Highlands Post Office, Highlands, TX 77562. Under the Actof Congress of March 3, 1879. Published 50 weeks per year, on Thursday, by GrafikpressCorp., 5906 Star Lane, Houston, TX 77057. Opinions in this paper are those of the au-thors, and not necessarily this newspaper’s. Any erroneous statement which may appearwill be corrected when brought to the attention of the publisher. Liability for errors islimited to the reprinting of the corrected version. Submissions are encouraged, in person,by mail, by Fax, or by email, to grafikstar@aol.com.

GRAFIKPRESS is publisher of community newspapers, including Highlands STAR-CrosbyCOURIER; Barbers Hill Dayton PRESS; Northeast NEWS; North Forest NEWS, North Chan-nel STAR. Combined circulation of these newspapers exceeds 50,000, Readership exceeds110,000 according to industry standards. We also print dozens of school, ethnic, andgovernment publications on contract. Call for information to 713-977-2555.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In-county, $28.00 per year. Out of county, $35.00 per Year. POST-MASTER: Send address changes to Star-Courier, P. O. Box 405, Highlands, TX 77562

News and Ad Phones....713-266-3444FAX Line....713-977-1188email: grafikstar@aol.com

Member Texas Press Association

and theUSPS 244-500

C R O S B YH I G H L A N D S

Barbers Hill✯Dayton PRESS

Star✯CourierStar✯Courier

Trying to speed upTexas is going big

with its approach toCOVID-19 vaccinationsthis week.

Most of the dosesavailable this week aregoing to 28 largerproviders that canvaccinate at least100,000 people, TexasDepartment of StateHealth Services offi-cials said in a state-ment. Some doses alsowill be going to smallerproviders in more ruralparts of the state.

“We are workinghard to improve thevaccination process foreveryone,” Dr. JohnHellerstedt, statehealth commissioner,said in a statementexplaining the pivot tothe larger vaccinationhubs.

Providers thatreceive the largeramounts of vaccine willvaccinate health careworkers, people 65 andolder, and those whohave a medical condi-tion that increasestheir risk of severedisease or death. Theyalso agree to provide aregistration phonenumber and websiteand to vaccinate peoplefrom surroundingareas.

The Texas Depart-ment of State HealthServices surveyedvaccine providers abouttheir capacity tooperate large, commu-nity vaccination sitesand on Sunday pub-lished a list of vaccinehub providers. Thehubs will receive atotal of 158,825 dosesthis week.

An additional 38,300doses will go to 206providers. Of Texas’254 counties, 104 will

receive vaccine ship-ments this week.

State health officialsstressed that peopleneed to register inadvance for the shotsand should not justshow up at one of thehubs. Officials alsourged patience assupplies remainlimited.

Model behaviorThe small city of

Dickinson set anexample for how tohandle a close election.

The race for mayorended in a tie, but thetwo candidates didn’tduke it out. Instead,candidates SeanSkipworth and Jenni-fer Lawrence followedstate law, which callsfor a random selectionin the unlikely event ofa tie.

Election officials inDickinson, population21,000 in GalvestonCounty, put the candi-dates’ names on ping-pong balls placed in atophat. Even thoughher name wasn’tdrawn, Lawrencedidn’t demand a“Hunger Games”-styletrial by fire.

Mayor-elect Skip-

worth described adecidedly differentscene to KHOU-TV:“We get up there, oneof us wins, one of usloses, and we give eachother a hug or whatev-er, say, ‘Good job’ andwish you the best.Hopefully that’s howit’s going to be in thecountry in the futuregoing forward.”

Chris Cobler is aboard member and pastpresident of the Free-dom of InformationFoundation of Texas.He welcomes email atccobler@texaspress.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the unusual events in Washington DC last week, we presenttwo views on the activities of President Trump. One view is from the usually liberalBob Franken, the other from the usually conservative Rich Lowry. Neither opinion isnecessarily that of this newspaper or its staff. YOUR OPINION is welcome. Send aletter for possible publication to Northeast News, 5906 Star Lane, Houston TX 77057or an email to NENEWSROOM@aol.com. Please limit your words to about 200. Letterswill be subject to editing. Thank you.

The Trump Legacy ofPhoniness —One last con:President Donald Trumpand first lady MelaniaTrump skipped out ontheir New Year’s gala atMar-a-Lago, where fanswith too much money paida thousand or so bucks sin-gly because the Trumpswere advertised to attend.

But suddenly, the firstscammers bailed and re-turned to the White House,leaving family membersand other second fiddles todiddle those willing to bedefrauded by the right-wing star-hucksters. Whilethe Trumps are worldchampion charlatans,there’s no shortage of Bun-co artists in Washington.

Only too happy to jointhe Trumpster in his elab-orate last-minute swindleto hold on to office by hookor crook was Ted Cruz. Ina biopic, there’s no obviousactor who would be cast asTrump. But Cruz woulddefinitely be played bySnidely Whiplash of Rockyand Bullwinkle fame. Nev-er mind that Whiplash isa star of animation. He ISTed Cruz. It’s not that Sen.Cruz actually cares wheth-er President Trump is suc-cessful. If The Donaldfalters, Cruz would like tolay claim to his 74 millionvoters. And Donald Trumphas four years to falter.Could he have badly blun-dered with his hour-longintimidation call threaten-ing Georgia Secretary ofState Brad Raffensperger?

He threatenedRaffensperger with “crim-inal” prosecution unless hesuddenly were to “find”nearly 12,000 Trump votesin Georgia, which would

reverse the state’s election.By the way, BradRaffensperger, the loyalRepublican, cast his ballotfor Trump before he decid-ed to steadfastly follow allthe rules in counting thevotes. Including now, whenhe politely turned downthe president and hishenchpersons. The ques-tion, among others, is howcould they not know thecall was being recorded?

And Trump’s four yearsout of office and being sub-ject to criminal actionhasn’t even begun. Fouryears is a long enough timefor all the memories of theTrump years to evaporate:the coronavirus, the rac-ism, the misogyny, the cru-el xenophobia, the faciledemagoguery. This is to saynothing of the fact thatPresident Joe Biden willhave time to create his ownmesses.

What the Trumpsterbase has not forgotten iswhy the millions favoredTrump in the first place:the unfairness of the eliteand their so-called experts(they lump all the real ex-perts in with the phonies).They despised the intellec-tuals, many of whomtalked a good game but lit-tle else, and felt they hadsuffered from affirmativeaction and foreign compe-tition. They also believedthat their old-fashioned

cultural and religious be-liefs were under attack.And along came DonaldTrump. He had alreadyshown he has the grift gift.He had been born intowealth but also inheriteda ruthlessness to do what-ever it took to wriggle outof his ineptitude andachieve huge wealth in theprocess. An old Southernexpression is that TheDonald is able to fall in abucket of spit and come outsmelling like a rose. Well,that’s pretty close. He hasan instinctual ability forpublic relations. He willfind some way to be in thespotlight.

No matter how JoeBiden will try, DonaldTrump will parlay theclaim that he was cheatedout of re-election into a jus-tification to be favorednext time around. Hemight succeed. Ted Cruzand the others can onlyhope he might not. Theonly ultimate fight in theGOP will be between oneof them and a “NeverTrumper” like Mitt Rom-ney. Romney pretends hismotives are pure, butthat’s just his con. Call himGrift Romney, running hisown sting versus a Demo-crat. Both will still be run-ning against DonaldTrump, still the center ofattention, which is all heever wanted.

Bob Franken is anEmmy Award-winning re-porter who covered Wash-ington for more than 20years with CNN.

(c) 2021 Bob FrankenDistributed by King Fea-tures Syndicate, Inc.

The Trump legacy of Phoniness – One last con

Trump’s ShamefulGeorgia Call —PresidentDonald Trump has turneda narrow electoral defeatinto a bid for infamy. Hisgoal in the post-electioninterlude has been moreand more explicitly to over-turn the results of the elec-tion. Indeed, a couple ofweeks ago he tweeted sim-ply, “#OVERTURN.”

We now know, thanks toa recording of his phoneconversation with GeorgiaSecretary of State BradRaffensperger from overthe weekend, how far he’sgone to pressure state offi-cials to join him in this rep-rehensible goal. Hishour-long lobbying ofRaffensperger to declarehim the winner in the stateis among the worst thingsan American president hasever been caught saying onthe record. There is now nodoubt that Trump lostGeorgia. Both machine andhand recounts have con-firmed a Biden victory offewer than 12,000 votes.Trump has been agitatingfor a signature audit, andstate officials examined astatistically significantsample of 15,000 absenteeballot envelopes in CobbCounty. They found 10 mis-matched signatures, butthe voters in question allvouchsafed for the legiti-macy of the ballots whencontacted by investigators.

Georgia has certified itsresults multiple times andappointed its electors intime to meet the “safe har-bor” deadline under feder-al law, when they aresupposed to be consideredfinal and conclusive by thefederal government.

Yet, here comes Trumpwith an LBJ-style bout ofarm-twisting to getRaffensperger to declareall of that a grievous mis-take. The power differen-

tial between a president ofthe United States and astate secretary of state isvast — Trump is the mostpowerful man on the plan-et whereas Raffenspergerisn’t even the most power-ful man in Georgia. Trumpput Raffensperger in theinherently awkward posi-tion of having to tell him“no” over and over — snow-ing him with a variety ofnumbers for supposed ille-gal votes, making him par-ry wild accusations,mocking him and threat-ening him with vague le-gal repercussions and,implicitly, with the end ofhis political career.

There is a reason thatRaffensperger didn’t takeany of the reported prior 18attempted calls from theWhite House. Still, to hisgreat credit, he did indeedtell Trump “no” politelyand firmly.

Of the two elected offi-cials on the call, only onewas calm, reasonable andcogent — and it wasn’t thepresident. Trump was re-petitive and ill-informed.He had no idea whatcharges had been de-bunked weeks ago. Hedidn’t, or couldn’t, distin-guish between true andfalse information. He wasfuzzy on the details of hisown legal case. He retailedconspiracy theories aboutballots being burned andvoting machines being re-moved that would be em-barrassing if your uncleshared them on Facebook.The only thing that mat-tered to him was getting

Raffensperger to pro-nounce him the winner —legal process and facts bedamned.

The problem withTrump has always been hishighly personal view of thepresidency, wherein insti-tutions, constitutionalprinciples and sheer pro-priety take a backseat tothe felt needs of his ego. Attimes in his presidency,this failing has been madeto serve worthy ends, e.g.,stoking economic growthand confirming recordnumbers of conservativejudges as bragging points.

Since the election,though, this tendency hasbeen particularly starkand unredeemed. His per-sonal inability to acceptthe sting of defeat has ledhim, shamefully, to wagewar on a legitimate elec-tion. If he were to somehowsucceed in his goal of over-turning the result, hewould subvert Americandemocracy and irreparablyharm our governing insti-tutions, while stoking aconstitutional crisis of amagnitude we’ve only ex-perienced rarely in our his-tory.

And for what? To avoidadmitting that he lost.Trump has gotten no-where, except in convinc-ing some Republicansenators and members ofCongress to indulge his in-sistence he really won. Ev-ery time the presidenthoped someone with au-thority over the electionwould bend his way,whether an elected officialor judge, he’s found some-one like Raffensperger, du-tiful and conscientiousenough to say “no.”

Rich Lowry is editor ofthe National Review.

(c) 2020 by King Fea-tures Synd., Inc.

Trump’s Shameful Georgia Call

OPINION✯

(AUSTIN) — TexasComptroller Glenn Hegarreleased the Biennial Rev-enue Estimate (BRE) to-day, showing the state isprojected to have $112.5billion in revenue availablefor general-purpose spend-ing during the 2022-23 bi-ennium.

The revenue estimaterepresents a 0.4 percentdecrease from funds avail-able for the 2020-21 bien-nium. This decline is adirect result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which causedrevenue collections to fallwell short of what was ex-pected when the Legisla-ture approved the 2020-21budget; the ending 2020-21balance will be close toa negative $1 billion.

“As is always the case,this estimate is based onthe most recent and pre-cise information we haveavailable,” Hegar said. “Itrepresents our efforts toprovide lawmakers withthe most accurate forecastpossible as they craft thebudget for the 2022-23 bi-ennium and the supple-mental spending bill toaddress the remainder ofthe current biennium.

“The forecast, however,remains clouded with un-certainty. The ultimatepath of the pandemic andthe behavior of consumersand businesses during aresurgence are difficult togauge. It’s also unclearhow they’ll respond oncethe pandemic is fully un-der control. As a result,there is a wide range ofpossible outcomes for staterevenue through the end offiscal 2023, with the possi-bility of revenue fallingshort of this forecast butalso a chance revenuecould exceed it, perhapssubstantially.

“In any case, the Legis-lature will again face somedifficult choices to balancethe budget. While savingsfrom agency spending cutsand federal funding couldhelp erase the projectedshortfall for this biennium,a substantial supplemen-tal appropriations billcould increase it, therebyreducing revenue availablefor the next biennium.”

TX Comptrollerestimates $112bavailable

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STAR Page 5THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

Houston legislators safe after Capitol RiotTrump blamed; SJLee, AGreen seek impeachment

Houston Congresspersons Al Green and SheilaJackson Lee are among the Representatives inCongress that are leading the move to impeachthe President for his part in inciting the riotslast week.

Rioters broke into the Capitol building while a joint session ofCongress was taking place, to certify Joe Biden as president elect.Congresspersons and others in the room took shelter behind theseats, before they were evacuated to a safe room away from theintruders. ABOVE, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee crouchesbehind the seats, until she can make her way to safety.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congress was in jointsession last Wednesday, meeting to certify theElectoral College votes from state electors for thepresident and vice-president. Shortly after thesession started, a large crowd of about 8000 per-sons left a rally near the White House where pres-ident Trump was speaking, and assembled at theCapitol, breaking through barriers and storminginto the building.

What followed was a deadly riot, where Con-gress members had to be taken to safe locationsaway from the destruction and assault of the mobof demonstrators. Our legislators including SheilaJackson Lee, Sylvia Garcia, and Al Green werejust some of the local representatives that wereled to safety.

These supporters of President Trump stormedthe U.S. Capitol in a protest aimed at thwartingthe vote on certification of the electors and theirvotes, with the aim of stopping the peaceful trans-fer of power to the new administration.

At the nearby rally, President Trump had toldthe demonstrators to march to the Capitol and“fight like hell” against a “stolen” election. As aresult, hundreds of the mob members entered thebuilding, fighting with Capitol police as theywent. They broke windows, doors, signs, and fur-niture, and stole items throughout the building.

In the ensuing fight with authorities, therewere five deaths and hundreds injured. One dem-onstrator was fatally shot in the neck as she at-tempted to enter through a broken window, andthe other deaths were medical emergencies fromthe fighting. One Capitol policemen died from thestruggle, the others were members of the mob.

Later in the afternoon police were reinforced

by members of the National Guard, who had been called by the WhiteHouse after some delay, blamed on the President. In a statement dur-ing the insurrection, Trump issued a recorded message urging the mobto leave the building and return to their homes, but he added “we loveyou.” The message also repeated the complaint that he lost the elec-tion fraudulently.

After order was restored in the Capitol building, the members of theHouse and Senate returned to their seats, and continued to vote onacceptance of the electors from each state. Congresswoman Sylvia Gar-cia reported in a media interview that they finally adjourned at about

3:30 in the morning, having to debate the creden-tials from two states, Arizona and Pennsylvaniawhich were finally approved as submitted.

Members of Congress, including Democratsand Republicans, immediately called for demon-strators to be arrested and held accountable fortheir lawlessness.

Continued Below.

Legislators safe after riot,CONTINUED

In addition, Congressand much of the nationblamed President Trumpfor his rhetoric, and for in-citing the march on theCapitol with his speechjust prior to the insurrec-tion.

Many members of Con-gress, including Speaker ofthe House Nancy Pelosi,and members of our localdelegation, called for re-moval of Trump from of-f i c e , e i t h e r b yimpeachment of throughthe provisions of the 25thAmendment to the Consti-tution, which calls for theremoval of the President ifhe is unfit to conduct theduties of his office.

Congresswoman SheilaJackson Lee, and Con-gressman Al Green wereespecially vocal in theircriticism of Trump. Theyalso criticized some of theirfellow Congressmen, in-cluding Senators Ted Cruzand Josh Hawley, for op-posing the certification ofthe Electoral College votesand asking that they bethrown out.

Jackson Lee describedthe incursion as follows:

But we were engaged inthe constitutional process

Thousands of demonstrators formed a mob that broke through barriers, foughtwith police, and entered the Capitol building. They broke into offices and theHouse and Senate chambers, breaking windows, doors, signs, furniture, andstealing many office items. Besides carrying weapons, police later found two pipebombs and many Molotov cocktail bombs in the possession of some of the mob.The mob included members of QAnon, Proud Boys, militia groups, elected officials,and organized ordinary protestors, according to authorities.

Texas Senator Ted Cruzwas singled out as one ofthe instigators of theinsurrection, with his anti-election rhetoric.

and the chambers were at-tacked,” Jackson Lee said.

She added that initial-ly, some members began toflee while others, whocouldn’t, waited until theywere told to do so.

“The doors were locked.The doors were stamped-ed. The doors were jammedwith furniture. Guns weredrawn, shots were fireda n d w e w e r e o n t h eground. In the essence ofthe United States Capitol,the symbol of democracy,right before our very eyes,was not only attacked butit was an attempt to de-

stroy. Glass breaking. Go-ing into windows. This is asymbol o f the UnitedStates of America. Puttingflags of Donald Trump onhistoric statues. This wasa horrible scene, becauseAmerica represents, to theworld, the greatest democ-racy ever. So frankly, whathappened, plain and sim-ple - attack. I think theother thing that was so dis-tressing was that a youngwoman was shot right out-side of the chambers. Thatyoung woman is dead.Blood lays at the feet ofDonald J. Trump,” shesaid.

As a result of her expe-riences in the riot, Con-gresswoman Jackson Leelast Thursday introducedArticles of Impeachmentagainst President DonaldTrump.

“At this moment in ourhistory, our Constitution-al forefathers are cryingout for us to use the toolsprovided in this agelessdocument. Yesterday, wesaw domestic enemies in-cite violence and invadethe people’s house with theintent to harm. Enough isenough! The president hascompletely lost whatever

moral authority he hadand is unfit as Command-er in Chief,” Jackson Leesaid in a release.

In her Impeachment Ar-ticles, Jackson Lee claimsTrump has continued toundermine the essentialinstitutions and founda-tions of a democratic sys-tem of government in theUnited States. She alsolists he has engaged in along train of abuses andusurpations to make him-self an authoritarian rulerunaccountable to, and in-dependent of, the people ofthe United States.

Her charges include:Refusing to acknowl-

edge Russian interferencein the internal affairs ofthe United States, andthen opposing responsesby Congress and the Exec-utive Branch to protect thenational security and in-terests of the UnitedStates against future Rus-sian interference and ag-gression.

Refusing continuouslyto acknowledge to theAmerican people that hewould accept and be boundby the verdict rendered inthe 2020 Presidential elec-tion, instead claiming thatany outcome in which hewas not declared the win-ner was fraudulent, rigged,and illegitimate.

Instituting frivolouslawsuits to overturn theresults of the 2020 Presi-dential election, falsely al-leging wide-spread votingfraud but producing no ev-idence in support of hisspurious allegations.

Failing to take action toprotect and defend Feder-al officers and personnel,property, buildings, andinstitutions on January 6,2021, at the U.S. Capitolthat was besieged by sup-porters of Donald JohnTrump, resulting in exten-sive damage to the proper-ty of the United States andthe deaths of at least fourpersons.

As well as Jackson Lee,another local Congress-man has been calling forTrump’s Impeachment forthe last 3 Congressionalsessions.

On Thursday, January7, 2021, Congressman AlGreen released the follow-

ing statement, indicatinghis co-leadership of Rep.Ilhan Omar’s (MN-05) ar-ticles of impeachment aswell as his original co-sponsorship of Rep. DavidCicilline’s (RI-01) articlesof impeachment:

“Joined by over 100 dif-ferent Members of Con-gress overall, I presentedthree sets of articles of im-peachment against Presi-dent Donald J. Trump in2017, 2018, and 2019 be-cause of several well-doc-umented instances of hisimpeachable conduct .These efforts laid the foun-dation for the successfulimpeachment of our 45thPresident of the UnitedStates on December 18,2019,” Congressman AlGreen (TX-09) stated.

“The President’s morerecent rhetoric and actionshave been harmful – in-cluding his request ofGeorgia’s Secretary ofState to unlawfully over-turn the 2020 presidentialelection results as well as

his seditious incitement ofinsurrection at our na-tion’s Capital during theJoint Session to count elec-toral votes.”

“Bearing all this inmind, I am proud to co-leadRep. Omar’s articles of im-peachment and co-sponsorRep. Cicilline’s articles ofimpeachment, because Isupport impeachment forimpeachable offenses.”

Congressman Greenadded, “For the past fouryears, it has been perspic-uously clear that PresidentTrump is unfit to be presi-dent and has engaged inimpeachable behavior.Some may deem impeach-ment pointless when only13 days remain before histerm expires. Some maysay the Senate will neverconvict him. I believe it isessential that Members ofCongress go on record andindicate where they standwith this would-be dictatorwho employs sedition andincitive rhetoric to fuel hisbase.”

Capitol Police block doors to House Chamber withfurniture, and point drawn guns at intruders. FortBend former sheriff Troy Nehls is in blue shirt.

Trump at Rally directed crowd to march to Capitol andbe strong in opposing Electoral College certification.

Louise Beran Petters wentto be with the Lord, January6, 2021. She was born Sep-tember 10, 1934, at home, toMorise and Katie Beran inEastgate, Texas.

After she graduated fromDayton High School in 1951,she left the farm in Eastgateand moved to the big city ofHouston, Texas to begin herlife long career in the mort-gage industry. Her career be-gan at John S. Dunn, as a fileclerk. John S. Dunn later be-came Mortgage & Trust andthen sold to Mellon Mortgage,where she retired as VicePresident after 40 years ofservice with the same compa-ny.

In 1957, she married Will-iam (Billy) Petters at SacredHeart Church in Crosby, TXwhere they remain members

OBITUARYLOUISE BERAN PETTERS

for over 60 years. While liv-ing and working in Houston,she gave birth to twins,Melinda and Michael. Sheonly had 3 weeks maternityleave, so she left the babieswith her Mother during theweek while she and Billworked. They returned to thefarm on the weekends to careand nurture their babies.

Louise was known as ahardworking soul by everyoneshe knew. While working inHouston, she would return tothe farm on her vacation andhelp the family pick cotton.Once her children were older,she was involved in manyschool activities and sheserved on the Sacred HeartSchool board for many years.

Upon her retirement, Lou-ise continued to stay busy byvolunteering at the Crosby

schools her grandchildren at-tended. She would help teach-ers with anything fromcutting out pictures to pop-ping popcorn on Fridays. Dur-ing the last few years of hervolunteering, you could findher in the library at BarrettPrimary. Her volunteer ser-vice did not go unnoticed, asshe was awarded Volunteer ofthe Year and the 2000-2001

Barrett Primary Yearbookwas dedicated in her honor.

In addition to her volun-teering with the school, shealso volunteered at ChurchesUnited in Caring and CrosbyCommunity Center where shewas recognized many timesfor her outstanding service asa volunteer.

Louise loved her family;she was a devoted Nanaw toall her grandchildren. Shenever missed any of their ac-tivities whether it be sports,plays, award ceremonies orbook fairs. In the summer, herand Papaw would load upALL the family and they tookmany memorable trips withtheir children and grandchil-dren. Louise loved to read.After her retirement, sheloved watching the Astros andthe Rockets. She began scrap-booking and spent manyhours making all her childrenand grandchildren their ownbook. Louise also enjoyed go-

ing to the casino with family,friends and grandchildren.Louise was a spunky white-haired lady before suffering astroke 5 years ago which pre-vented her from continuingher volunteer service. Louisewas preceded in death by herson Jason Paul Petters, son-in-law Michael Davenport.,her parents and her baby sis-ter Betty Jane Beran. She issurvived by her loving hus-band of 63 years, William (Bil-ly) Petters, son MichaelPetters, daughter and son-in-law Melinda and Les Arwine,daughter and son-in-law Lisaand Ronnie Ellender, all ofCrosby, Texas. GrandchildrenRhonda Barrett, Bob Ellend-er, Lindy Ellender Trahan,Amy Ellender, Matthew Pet-ters, Damian Petters, TaylorArwine and McKayla Petters.Great Grandchildren RykerPetters, Riley and Tori Bar-rett, William and Aurora Ar-wine, Blaine Ellender and

Trevor Trahan. She is alsosurvived by her three young-er sisters Kay Bray, MargaretGallagher and MaryAnn Mer-ritt and many more extendedfamily and friends.

She will be truly missed bythe Crosby community shedearly loved.

In lieu of flowers, pleasesend donations to SacredHeart Church 915 Runnen-burg Rd. Crosby, Texas orChurches United in CaringPO BOX 690 Crosby, Texas.

Honoring the Family asPallbearers are Bob Ellender,Matthew Petters, Taylor Ar-wine, Damian Petters, JaredBarrett, and Joey Trahan.

STERLING ~ WHITEFUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY

281-426-3555

11011 Crosby-Lynchburg Rd.Highlands, TX 77562

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STARPage 6 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

ASK THE EXPERT

ASK DIAMOND JIM

Diamond Jim:�“What isthe IndependentJewelersOrganization(IJO)?”

Call 713-266-3444 to AdvertiseYOUR Business in this Directory.

5,000 readers Weekly

NORTH CHANNELBUSINESS DIRECTORY

EILEEN BRIGHTWELL, DDSwww.brightwelldental.com

1820 Holland St. • Jacinto City, TX 77029

(713) 455-7923

P.O. Box 914, Channelview, TX 77530Mrroofer@mail.com

= Major credit cards accepted =

Free Estimates

Siding & Contracting LLC

281-452-0000New Roofs • Repairs • Painting • Hardi Plank Siding

• Mobile Home Skirting

Financing Available

The Independent Jewelers Organization is anelite group of retail jewelers. Members areMaster IJO Jewelers and are hand-selected formembership in the Independent Jewelers Organi-zation (IJO). IJO is an organization which onlyaccepts jewelers with the highest ethical stan-dards and superior professional integrity. IJOprovides marketing and educational opportuni-ties to over 1,000 members worldwide.

As a Master IJO Jeweler, members receivebenefits such as expert training, allowing them toupdate their knowledge, skills and experience tohelp the consumer make a confident jewelrypurchase. Group purchasing power allows MasterIJO Jewelers to pass a significant savings on totheir customers while maintaining the highestquality products they have come to know. And thefact that IJO Jewelers are active members oftheir communities means they strive to offer anunsurpassed level of service.

IJO members also offer you a host of exclusiveservices.

• Extensive buying opportunities, bringing thetop fashions and best prices to you, the customer.

• The ability to buy diamonds to buy directlyfrom the cutters through their offices in thefamous city of Antwerp, Belgium, the diamondcapital of the world.

• Master IJO Jewelers are full service jewelerswith knowledgeable staff who will educate andguide you through your purchase either online orat the store.

• Master IJO Jewelers have the opportunity toattend two trade shows each year, where top-notch jewelry vendors exhibit the latest designs.

The IJO is the best resource to find your local‘Master Jeweler’. The Master IJO Jeweler desig-nation affirms that each member company is anindependent jewelry business which operateswithin a well defined code of business ethics.Trust, Expertise, Honesty, Confidence andIntegrity are the core principals of a Master IJOJeweler, helping to ensure that you get the“Brilliance You Deserve”® no other jeweler canprovide. For more information please contact IJOat www.ijo.com.

Diamond Jim is a master jeweler, diamonddealer and precious metals broker of NTR Metals.Pineforest Jewelry has been a proud member ofthe IJO for many years. See more at:www.pineforestjewelry.com.

Thank you for reading the “Ask Diamond Jim”column and for supporting the North ChannelStar Newspaper!

If you have questions pertaining to jewelry,watches, diamonds, precious stones, preciousmetals, and other questions related to the jewelryindustry, email jmills@pineforestjewelry.com.

CHARLOTTE’SWEB

Get Involved in 2021I remember hearing “Somedays you feel like the bug

and somedays you feel like the windshield.” It seemsthat 2020 left a sour taste in many mouths. On analmost daily basis, social media as well as mainstreammedia is filled with negative comments. I am the firstto agree that due to experiences had in the past fewyears many have lost the basic values of empathy,compassion, kindness and concern for others. Yetinstead of complaining, let’s do something.

If you think you are more qualified than the currentelected leaders, start preparing to run for an electedoffice. This could be anything from your Civic Associa-tion Board or Homeowners’ Association, or perhaps onthe Municipal Utility District Board (Commonlyreferred to as MUD). You have the opportunities toserve on your local ISD School Board, San JacintoCollege Board or the Board of one of the many non-profits in the area. If you are interested in gettinginvolved with a political group, you can serve as anelected Precinct Chair or get involved with a localpolitical group and take it to a new level. (I wouldsuggest getting involved on a local level before jumpingat the chance to run for a national office or even state-wide office.)

Over the past two years, I have worked with othersto gather a list of the most common issues and con-cerns in our area. There are many people working onvarious projects and this year, my goal is to helpgather those groups together and let them exchangeideas and share the passion. (Decades ago, this is howthe North Channel Assistance Ministries came to be.There were many people working on food distributionsand while some people went to four or five a month,other neighbors went without food. The area churchesgathered together, listened to one another, prayed andjoined forces to help the community.) NCAM wasformed and today, decades later, they are still distrib-uting groceries to many of our neighbors.

These are the most common areas of concern thatpeople shared included Affordable Housing, Animals,Childcare, Community Beautification, CommunityEducation (GED, ESL and Citizenship classes),Criminal Justice, Domestic Violence, Food Insecuri-ties, Homelessness, Human Trafficking, LeadershipAcademy, Mental Health, Overcoming Addictions,Physical Health, Public Transportation, Safety, SeniorAdults, Single Parents, Sports Activities, Veterans andVoter Education. There are many more topics, yetthese received an abundance of comments. Over thenext few months, I am going to help you connect tothose who are already active in these areas as well asthose who want to get involved.

If you have a pet-peeve and want something done,get involved. If you have a passion, get involved. If youare not sure where to start, ask. There are plenty ofactive community members who would love to haveyou join them in making the community a better place.

To contact me directly, please email me atCharlotte.Jackson@yahoo.com

opening 3rd quarter kick-off but Dematrius Daviswas intercepted again end-ing their drive and givingthe ball back to the Chap-arrals. The interceptionscame from Westlake’s hor-rific pass rush that sackedDavis 5 times.

M u s t a n g s d e f e n s estepped up and the Mus-tangs offense got the ballback. Trailing 17 - 7 De-matrius Davis ran for a 55yard TD, bringing thescore within 3 points, end-ing the 3rd quarter 17- 14.

With 12 minutes left inthe game beginning the4th quarter both teamsswapped possession sever-al times without a score.

With 4 minutes left inthe game and North Shorestaring a drive on theWestlake 19 yard line theymoved the ball 81 yards.Capping off the driveNorth Shore’s junior run-ning back #32 XavierOwens crossed the goalwith a 9 yard TD giving theMustangs their first lead ofthe game 21 to 17.

Under 4 minutes theChaparrals took the ensu-ing kickoff on their 30 yard

line and moved the ball 70yards. Faced with a fourth-and-goal from the NorthShore 1-yard line withtime ticking away, quar-terback Cade Klubnikfaked a handoff and rolledaround to the left end. Histouchdown with 1:43 left inthe game was the decisiveplay in their victory. Their1st quarter field goal end-ed up being the 3 point dif-ference.

It looked like the Mus-tangs still had time to pullout a win. They took theirfinal possession with 1:43to play. On first and ten aMustangs offensive line-man was called with a mo-tion penalty making it firstand fifteen. Faced withseconds on the clock a passto Shadrach Banks onfourth down after the offi-cials took a measurementit was inches short of thefirst down.

The victory extendedWestlake’s winning streakto 23 games. North Shore,the two-time defending 6ADI champion, saw its win-ning streak stopped at 29games.

North Shore fallsto Westlake,CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

At the end of the 3rd quarter Mustang’s #4 quarterbackDematrius Davis runs 50 yards while squeezing across thegoal after getting a key block from #6 junior Jhalyn Bailey.(Allan Jamail Photo)

With 1:43 minute to go and after a gallant single-handedstruggle by #7 Jayven Anderson Mustang’s defensive backwith Westlake Chaparral’s quarterback #6 Cade Klubnikbarely crossed the goal line for the final go-aheadtouchdown. (Allan Jamail Photo)

www.facebook.com/NorthChannelStar

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STAR Page 7THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

CLASSIFIEDCLASSIFIEDA D SA D S

Your AD will reach up to 50,000 readers in ourFIVE newspapers, with a combined circulationof 25,000 copies. Get ACTION on your AD. Ratesstart at only $16 for 20 words. A bargain!

Call 713-266-3444

A/C & APPLIANCEREPAIR

All Major Brands. In-Home Service, 20yrs. experience.Reparoelectrodomesticos,todo tipo demodelos. Call Mario,713-291-8286.

1-tfn

PRINTING &MAILINGFull ServiceMarketing Services.713-977-2555

tfn

SERVICES

PARTSSERVICESR.F. Hull Water Well- Pump Service.281-442-5630.

22-tfn

FOR RENT

In GalenaPark- 2 bed/1bathcentral ac.Across fromschool.$875/mo.979-665-8768

BASS MECHANICALA/C and Plumbing ServiceRon Bass Master Plumber

Phone # 713-647-2291

Family Owned Businesswith Family Prices

TACL BO12735C RPM 41930

Business DirectorySHOP LOCALLY -- Save Time & Money SHOP LOCALLY -- Save Time & Money

To advertise in the Business Directory, please call 713-266-3444 for details

P.O. Box 914, Channelview, TX 77530Mrroofer@mail.com

= Major credit cards accepted =

Free Estimates

Siding & Contracting LLC

281-452-0000New Roofs • Repairs • Painting • Hardi Plank Siding

• Mobile Home Skirting

Financing Available

CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR

✯

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE OF LOCATION OF ADMINISTRA-TIVE OFFICE

Notice is hereby given that the street addressof the administrative office of Harris County

Emergency Services District No. 80 is CrosbyFire Station No. 2, 123 S. Diamondhead Blvd.,

Crosby, Texas 77532.

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORSNotice is hereby given that Original LettersTestamentary for Docket No. 489635;Estate of GEORGIA SNIDER Deceased;In Probate Court No. 3 of Harris County,Texas, were issued on DECEMBER 23,2020.

RANDY L. FOSTER

The residence address of theadministrator is in Harris County, Texas.The mailing address is:

c/o Weston Cotten1500 Wallisville Rd

Highlands, TX 77562

All persons having claims against thisEstate which is currently beingadministered are required to present themwithin the time and in the mannerprescribed by law.Dated this JANUARY 7, 2021.

by WESTON COTTEN Attorney for the Estate

SERVICES

J.D. FENCEWe install & repairfences. All types ofchain l ink, woodornamental and iron.Free estimate. Smalljobs welcome. CallJose 281-221-0637.

tfn

A PLACE FOR MOM.The nation’s largest seniorliving referral service. Con-tact our trusted, local ex-perts today! Our service isFREE/no obligation. CALL1-855-972-7919

SENIOR HOMECARE

SENIOR HOMECARE

Star ✯ Courier / Press / North Channel STARPage 8 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

help offset costs or variousitems throughout theschool year.

Scarlet Captain OliviaRiojas-Bellini as all formerCapitan’s of the Scarletsand officers are selected byan independent judgingpanel who grades eachScarlet based on theirdance routine performanc-es, school activity partici-pation, school grades andvarious other categories.

Director Mrs. Audra E.Taylor and Assistant Di-rector Ms. Angela Upshawboth dance instructorshave a vast amount ofdance experience. Mrs.Taylor has an extensivebackground in dancing anddanced professionally,

NS ScarletsDance Team,CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Olivia Riojas-Bellini, Captainof the North Shore SeniorHigh School Scarlets DanceTeam. The Scarlets performdance routines at halftimefor fans at the Mustangsfootball and basketballgames.(Allan Jamail Photo)

she’s been directing danc-ers for 25 years and hasbeen with North Shore 23years. Ms. Upshaw is alsothe F ine Ar t s DanceTeacher and has beendancing since she was 5years old. To become amembers of the varsitydance team, 9th grade re-serves or the booster clubcall, 832-386-4151.

Congratulations to Conrad Rivera and Shaunte Morrisfor being named Galena Park I.S.D. (GPISD) 2021 Elementa-ry and Secondary Principal of the Year!

Mr. Rivera has been the principal of Pyburn ElementarySchool for 8 years, and Mrs. Morris has been the principalof Cunningham Middle School for 4 years.

GPISD would like to congratulate Mr. Rivera and Mrs.Morris, and to thank them for their hard work and dedica-tion.

Galena Park namesPrincipals of the Year