VOLUME 127, NUMBER 79 ROSENBERG-RICHMOND, TEXAS

AND TEXAS COASTER

www.fbherald.com 75 CENTS

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

LCISD, Needville teams ad-vance to area round; see Sports

Internet meme: So all charges against Jussie Smollett have been dropped. I hope he doesn’t beat himself up over it.

Leonard “Todda” Hein confirming how he spells his nickname...Donna Kay Tucker getting a visit in with long-time friend Ginger Lamkin...Sisters Faye Rhemann Lawson and Lilla Rhemann Wright playing big roles in the success of Saturday’s Lamar High School 1960s class reunion...

Rachel Meza Romero, 75Robert Cantu, 69

See Page 3

— BH

7 286037 20032

MoNday, ApRIL 1, 2019

Too funny!

We live by faith, not by sight.2 Corinthians 5:7

Good Afternoon

Fort Bend Journal

Around the Bend

Obituaries

Today’s Scripture

Thought for Today

Chamber fundraiserThe Central Fort Bend Chamber of

Commerce will host its Cornhole & Craw-fish fundraiser on Friday, April 5, from 3-7 p.m. at Dry Creek Social Club. Proceeds benefit Leadership Fort Bend Scholarship Fund.Register at www.cbca.org.

Fishy Fun Family FestivalParks Youth Ranch will host its annual

“Fishy Fun Family Festival” on Saturday, April 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Parks Youth Ranch, 11614 FM 361 in Richmond.

Barbecue fundraiserSt. Paul Lutheran Men in Mission will

hold its annual barbecue on Sunday, April 7, at the American Legion Hall, Rosen-berg. Serving will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Meal tickets are $10 each. Tickets are available at the church office Monday-Fri-day from 8 a.m to noon.

Hermann Sons LifeMembers of the Rosenberg-Richmond

Lodge will meet on Monday, April 8, at the Rosenberg Civic Center at 7 p.m. Fried chicken will be served. Members bring a vegetable, salad or dessert. For more in-formation, call 281-344-8055.

Crop Walk for HungerThe annual Crop Walk for Hunger is

scheduled to take place Saturday, April 13 at the Harvest Park in Needville. The walk is approximately three miles and starts at 8 a.m. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Twenty-five percent of the mon-ey raised goes to Helping Hands and the Needville Food Pantry.

German SocietyThe Fort Bend Chapter of the Tex-

as German Society will have lunch at the House of Blue in the Needville High School on Tuesday, April 16, at noon. Cost is $10. For reservation, call Theresa at 281-914-3592 by April 9.

“We must beware of a tyranny of opinion which tries to make only one side of a question the one which may be heard. Everyone is in favour of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.”

— Sir Winston Churchill, British politician

The Rosenberg Veterans of Foreign War Auxiliary, Post 3903, will host a “Meet the Candidates” forum on April 8, at the VFW Hall,1903 First St. in Rosenberg.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. for a short meet and greet time, followed by the program at 7 p.m.

The general public is encouraged to attend as this event will provide an excellent opportunity for the public to meet and ask questions of candidates for city offices.

For more information, contact Justice of the Peace Mary Ward at marymsw100@aol.com or Vickie Lynn Tonn at vickietonn@yahoo.com.

BY SCOTT REESE WILLEYswilley@fbherald.com

Richmond city leaders said Monday that they are not involved in illegal or un-ethical activities, despite what one com-missioner alleges.

“The city of Richmond takes great pride in delivering the highest quality municipal service with the resources available to the citizens and customers of Richmond while representing its’ cit-izens with integrity and transparency, adhering to ethical values which repre-

sent our Community, such as fairness, compassion and honor in all areas,” City Manager Teri Vela said in a letter to The Herald.

“The city staff and commission follow all federal and state laws, as well as our three governing documents; our charter, our rules of the commission and our eth-ics ordinance.”

Vela issued the city’s response to alle-gations made by Position 4 Commission-er Josh Lockhart last week.

“Over the past year it has become ap-parent to me that the city has become

laced with corruption at the highest de-cision-making level,” Lockhart said in a letter of resignation.

“The collusion, favoritism, extortion, illegally empowering and willingness to look the other way has cost the city millions of dollars and exposed us to un-known liability.”

The Richmond City Commission will meet tonight to determine whether or not to accept Lockhart’s resignation, and to decide whether to fill the vacancy or wait until a new commissioner is elected in May.

Lockhart has chosen to not seek anoth-er term on the commission.

Two people are running for Lockart’s position.

In her letter to the Herald, Vela said the city of Richmond does not condone unethical activities by its staff or elected leaders.

“The city commission has established citizen boards, commissions, and com-mittees to assist in making decisions re-lated to city activities,” she explained.

Richmond city leaders deny illegal or unethical activities

HERALD pHOTO BY AVERIL GLEASON

The sunrise set the skyline ablaze on Monday morning. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 60s today. The cool front will carry on through Tuesday morning.

Set the sky on fire

BY AVERIL GLEASONagleason@fbherald.com

At the Rosenberg City Council meet-ing on Tuesday, council members will consider accepting a grant from the Fire-house Subs Public Safety Foundation for the rescue boat and to appropriate fund-ing for the purchase of a squad vehicle, amounting to $75,000.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 2110 Fourth St.

In February, council accepted a grant award from Firehouse Subs of $25,000 for a rescue boat for the fire department.

Additionally, the department has re-quested funding for the squad vehicle.

This vehicle would primarily be used for medical call responses that do not re-quire use of the large fire equipment and would ultimately result in a cost savings in operations and maintenance.

The squad vehicle purchase total, with EMS equipment installation, is approxi-mately $50,000.

The fire department has budgeted funds remaining from the Fire Station No. 1 generator and electrical project and will use these excess funds to buy the squad vehicle.

This portion of the budget adjustment will reclassify $50,000 from improve-ments to vehicles, city staff noted.

In other business, council members

will hold a second public hearing on a strategic partnership agreement with Municipal Utility District No. 162, other-wise known as Sunrise Meadows.

“The district has held public hearings, as they’re required to do,” Community Development Director Travis Tanner told council at the first public hearing, held March 19.

“And they’ve approved the agreement. The city does have to go through the same process in order for this agreement to take effect.

“The SPA basically sets forth terms for future annexation for the district. And it provides that the city will not annex the district before it’s built out.”

Sunrise Meadow is located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Rosen-berg. The MUD was originally consented to by the city in 2005 to serve a 305-acre development, and was expanded by 42 acres in March 2018, and an additional 10.5 acres in July 2018.

“So, basically there’s a mutual benefit to both the city and the district to enter into these agreements,” Tanner contin-ued. “The district would not likely be an-nexed for a long period of time.

“However, when the time comes, the city is not required to include the district in an annexation plan, which makes the process seamless because annexation terms have been agreed on in advance.”

Rosenberg FD to buy new squad vehicle

Fort Bend County Libraries will pres-ent a Texas-history program, “The Battle and Fall of the Alamo,” on Wednesday, April 10, beginning at 7 p.m., in the meet-ing room of George Memorial Library, lo-cated at 1001 Golfview Drive in Richmond.

Dr. Nicholas Cox, a professor of U.S. and Texas History at Houston Communi-ty College, will discuss the history of the Alamo, from its Spanish origins to present day, with a focus on the events leading up

to the Texas Revolution and the historic battle in 1836.

Dr. Cox received his doctorate degree in 19th century U.S. Southern history from the University of Houston in 2012.

He is the program coordinator of the history department at Houston Communi-ty College.

The program is free and open to the public.

For information, call 281-342-4455.

Library to present program on the fall of the Alamo

SEE RICHMOND, PAGE 10

Edward Ceterski, 9, feels a coyote pelt during the Brazos Cultural Heritage Festival on Sunday. He and his fa-ther, Justin, also felt a porcupine’s quill at the Texas Master Naturalist booth. Master Naturalist Katie Sallean, also showed off the organization’s collection of animal skulls. More photos, Page 10.

Heritage and culture on displayHERALD pHOTO BY SCOTT REESE WILLEY

Candidates forum set for April 8

BY AVERIL GLEASONagleason@fbherald.com

North Rosenberg is prone to flooding.Homes were flooded and city structures damaged or ruined

in the two floods that washed through Rosenberg in the last few years.

At the Rosenberg City Council meeting on Tuesday, council members will consider approving the Community Develop-ment Block Grant Program application for the long-delayed north-side water line and sanitary sewer improvements.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 2110 Fourth St.

City staff pursued the grant application for engineering and construction of water lines and sanitary sewer infrastructure improvements to serve the north side of Rosenberg.

The infrastructure project was originally approved for CDBG funding in 2005.

Northside water line improvements on agenda

SEE ROSENBERG, PAGE 10

GALVESTON (AP) — Negotiations are underway between the Fort Bend Independent School District and Fort Bend County to determine who will ultimately own land near Sugar Land where last year the remains of 95 for-mer state of Texas convict laborers were unearthed.

The Galveston County Daily News reports the bodies, 94 male and one fe-male, were in unmarked graves, ranged in age from 14 to 70 and were buried there between 1878 and 1910 when large sugar plantations operated under such

harsh conditions that the place came to be known as the Hellhole of the Brazos.

Galveston County resident Samuel L. Collins III and Reginald Moore, of Houston, meanwhile, have been updat-ing groups on the Sugar Land 95, the history of convict leasing in Texas and progress toward permanently creating a suitable memorial at the site where the bodies were found.

On April 12, Collins and Moore will lead a one-day seminar at Rice Univer-sity, and in June, they will speak at The Bryan Museum in Galveston.

Texans share history of convict leasing, unearthed remains

BASTROP (AP) — Officials say three siblings from Huntsville and a friend have died in a two-vehicle accident in Central Texas as they traveled to watch a drill team competition in San Antonio.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the wreck happened Friday night on westbound Texas 21 near Bas-trop. A pickup truck rear-ended the sib-lings’ stopped vehicle waiting to turn.

A Huntsville Independent School District statement on Sunday says three

siblings died — a high school junior, an eighth grader and a sixth grader.

Their mother, who was driving, was hospitalized in critical but stable condi-tion.

The fourth person who died, a girl, was a 2018 Huntsville High School grad-uate.

Names weren’t immediately re-leased.

DPS says the pickup driver and a pas-senger weren’t hurt.

3 siblings, 1 friend killed in Central Texas traffic accidentGirls were returning from a drill team competition