Free Republic

Did you know that local government entities used to be able to opt out of Social Security? In the late 1970's the Social Security Administration was nearly bankrupt and the original stipulation that local governments could opt out of the program. Well, Galveston County in Texas decided to opt out! Then-County Judge Ray Holbrook, County Attorney Bill Decker and Houston businessman Kebodeaux set up a fund that has outperformed the Social Security program two to three times over! Says current Galveston County Judge James Yarbrough, "It has been a great success for us!" Well, when the SSA finally did go...

If you don’t understand the uproar in Friendswood about the city’s plan to issue $11 million in debt without voter approval, just ask yourself a couple of questions: What if city leaders are completely right about the legal question? Is it still a good idea to borrow money without asking voters for their approval? Is a good idea to obligate them when they have clearly indicated they want a say about any debt they’d be responsible for? City officials have asked a judge in Travis County for a ruling that says the city can issue certificates of obligation to finance...

FRIENDSWOOD — The city has asked a Travis County judge to say it is legal for Friendswood to issue $11 million in debt without voter approval. The city had planned to issue $11 million in certificates of obligation to fund roads, parks, an animal shelter and a records building, but some residents said the city charter prohibited the city from issuing certificates of obligation. While bonds require voter approval, certificates of obligation do not. The city charter was amended by voters in 1997 to prohibit the city from issuing debt without voter approval that it could not finance from its...

"TEXAS CITY — A man who used a four-letter word to describe to his neighbors how their cat left feces in his yard was acquitted Tuesday of a disorderly conduct citation." "“A little piece of America died today when a jury of six says it’s OK to curse in front of a 13-year-old when asked not to,” Rainey said. " "“It’s a sad day for morality, that this type of behavior is condoned,” Rainey said." "Loflin was at least the third person cited for cursing in public in the last 12 months in Galveston County."

Saturday, for the first time in the history of Galveston County, an African-American woman was elected mayor. Geraldine Sam, 57, a lifelong resident of La Marque and an educator, edged two challengers to take her place in history by the narrowest of margins. “I cannot even describe how I feel,” Sam said, while celebrating with family and friends at a restaurant. “I was trying to eat earlier, and I can’t even eat. It’s amazing. Just awesome.” Sam received 355 votes, outlasting challengers James Osteen, 316 votes, and Bill Charbonneau, 289 votes, according to complete, unofficial results. Sam, who will serve...

FRIENDSWOOD — More than 300 people gathered in a city park Tuesday to rally against “out of control” government spending and to ship protest tea bags to Washington, D.C. Whether the first of what will be a series of tea party protests across the country is the start of a grass-roots political movement or just another form of political theater is yet to be determined. “I think it is too early to say,” said Rice University political science professor Bob Stein. “There is a good deal of partisanship, but for an event the Republican Party would normally put its stamp...

January 21, 2009 I am sure you have heard rumors about Galveston, here are the facts. Please read this carefully, each of us must be concerned about our Endowment Fund and our ability to serve Children for many years to come. Therefore, the Joint Boards found it necessary to do the following. Ralph W. Semb, President and Chief Executive Officer, Shriners Hospitals for Children SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN GALVESTON HOSPITAL UPDATE Shriners Hospitals for Children (SHC) is facing the most tumultuous and trying economic environment in the history of the organization. Leadership is focused on what is best for the...

GALVESTON, Texas — Even the most grizzled investigators were reduced to tears by the disturbing details of the death of 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers. The tot's already decomposed remains had been stuffed into a plastic container that was dumped into Galveston Bay. A fisherman found the container and its contents on a tiny island about a mile from the shore of the huge bay in October 2007. On Monday, jury selection is set to begin for the capital murder trial of Riley Ann's mother, 20-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor. She and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, are accused of beating...

It was the storm of the century - the 20th century.  Before Katrina became shorthand for nature's fury, there was the unnamed hurricane of 1900 that nearly wiped Galveston, Tex., off the map. An estimated 6,000 people were killed when the Category 4 storm packing 135 mph winds made landfall on Sept. 8, 1900, making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.  Now it could get whacked again by Hurricane Ike.LIVE TRACKER: FOLLOW IKE'S PATH In 1900, Galveston, located on a flat island off the Texas coast, was a boom town with 42,000 residents. It was then the biggest...

County residents next week will have a chance to air concerns to state lawmakers and area leaders about Hurricane Ike recovery efforts. The committee on Hurricane Ike will meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 7 at the Galveston Island Convention Center, allowing the public to tell state lawmakers and area leaders what issues and obstacles they face almost four months after the storm struck Southeast Texas on Sept. 13, causing catastrophic flooding from storm surge and displacing thousands of people from their homes. The storm was the third most destructive to ever make landfall in the United States. The committee has...

But not a drug raid. A prostitution raid. It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn’s home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on. As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, “You’re a prostitute. You’re coming with me.”

This weekend's Dickens on The Strand is Galveston's first major event since Hurricane Ike struck in September, and could indicate how quickly this island city can revive its vital tourism industry. The 35th year of the festival, which recreates the 19th century with period costumes, also is an attempt by Galveston businesses to let the outside world know that most of its restaurants and hotels and many of its attractions are up and running. ...The Galveston Tourism and Convention Bureau has predicted that tourism will return to pre-Ike levels by spring break, but that is of little consolation to shop...

My aunt, who used to live in Texas City, moved to Austin this summer. I collected these videos for her and thought some of my fellow Gulf Coast FReepers as well as some of those on NN's ping list might be interested in viewing them.

Two large land tracts that had been eyed as possible locations for temporary mobile home communities for those displaced by Hurricane Ike look to be off the table. County commissioners Wednesday deferred considering a plan for the federal government to conduct a detailed assessment of property in front of the County Criminal Justice Center in Galveston and on Monday, the city of Hitchcock rejected a plan to put a community at Jack Brooks Park. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had eyed those two locations to place mobile homes for 319 of the estimated 1,000 people eligible for temporary housing in...

Much of the University of Texas medical school on this island suffered flood damage during Hurricane Ike, except for one gleaming new building, a national biological defense laboratory that will soon house some of the most deadly diseases in the world. How a laboratory where scientists plan to study viruses like Ebola and Marburg ended up on a barrier island where hurricanes regularly wreak havoc puzzles some environmentalists and community leaders. “It’s crazy, in my mind,” said Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer in Houston. “I just find an amazing willingness among the people on the Texas coast to accept risks...

A month later, piles of Sheetrock, appliances, furniture and family mementos dot most streets in this island town. Electronic road signs in southeast Texas flash, "Watch for cows next 20 miles," a reminder that few fences remain to hem in livestock. Blue tarps cover 11,000 roofs for 100 miles from Houston to the Louisiana line. (snip) The storm is the most expensive in Texas history, with an estimated pricetag of $11.4 billion — so far.

Backe among 11 cited at bar ‘riot’ By Chris Paschenko The Daily News Published October 6, 2008 GALVESTON — Police arrested 11 people, including Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe and a FEMA official, at a disturbance at a Galveston hotel bar early Sunday. However, one witness said police used force on people who were offering no resistance to police. “It’s blatantly obvious — this was the fault of the Galveston Police Department,” said Dennis Byrd, the owner of a seawall restaurant. Byrd said Backe’s treatment by police couldn’t be justified. It was not clear Sunday night how or whether that...

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

GALVESTON, Texas - The final hours brought the awful realization to victims of Hurricane Ike that they had waited too long. This storm wasn't like the others, the ones that left nothing worse than a harrowing tale to tell...

More Ike pics.http://www.tpicks.com/pictures%20people%20have%20sent%20me.html

Schooled In Disaster by: Lance Nation, September 30, 2008 In the recent Senate Hearing, the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs attempted to establish whether the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina were effectively implemented along the gulf coast when Hurricane Gustav and Ike hit Louisiana and Texas this past summer. “I have some good news about the federal response,” stated Houston’s Mayor Bill White in his opening testimony. “President Bush, Secretary Chertoff, Administrator Paulison, and the most senior members of [the Federal Emergency Management Administration] and the Corps of...

One of the disadvantages of being a writer and former journalist is that I’m always sharing news and information. It’s also an advantage in times of crisis by providing instant therapy. Recipients of my Hurricane Ike email updates may have less flattering names for it. I attended a meeting on the Tuesday before Ike invaded our shores. One participant said we shouldn’t worry, because the Gulf is big and the chances of Ike hitting us were small. I predicted we’d see a lot of wind, rain, and flooding, something akin to Tropical Storm Allison back in 2001. Only without the...

For the first time since Hurricane Ike blew away much of the city, residents of Galveston began streaming home today. But the city is in such bad shape, those hurrying back home were given an ominous warning: Bring tetanus shots, rat poisoning and don't bring children. If that's not enough, planes are spraying the city with insecticide to prevent a boom in the mosquito population, the water isn't drinkable and people are urged to wear face masks to guard against inhaling toxic mold that is proliferating in the sweltering city. Nevertheless, highways into Galveston were jammed with cars today as...

I have dreaded a monster hurricane coming to our area for years. I even said that last year. My fears came true last week at this time when Hurricane Ike came crashing in. Granted it was just a Category 2 hurricane at landfall with large areas of Category 1 winds. You can hear the loud howling winds and rain. Also, you can hear the debris hitting the ground and transformers exploding and creating bright flashes that look like lightning. Going through a hurricane is torture, like having a bunch of large needles inserted into you one at a time. I...

GALVESTON, Texas — It's been nearly a week since Hurricane Ike bulled ashore, and the images of once-bustling coastal Texas communities reduced to only a faint shadow of their old selves are no less staggering. Survivors traipsing past debris piled higher than their heads. Loose livestock grazing beneath downed power lines. Before-and-after shots of whole neighborhoods washed away. Scores of people taking on the drudgery of making it all livable again for weary and anxious evacuees still waiting to come home.

The short - but eventful - life of IkeIn its brief lifespan of only 13 days, Hurricane Ike wreaked great deal of havoc. Affecting several countries including Cuba, Haiti, and the United States, Ike is blamed for approximately 114 deaths (74 in Haiti alone), and damages that are still being tallied, with estimates topping $10 billion. Many shoreline communities of Galveston, Texas were wiped from the map by the winds, storm surge and the walls of debris pushed along by Ike - though Galveston was spared the level of disaster it suffered in 1900. (28 photos total)   Some amazing...

With no idea of numbers, authorities say final accounting may take years GALVESTON, Texas - The death toll from Hurricane Ike is remarkably low so far, considering that legions of people stayed behind as the storm obliterated row after row of homes along the Texas coast. But officials suspect there are more victims out there and say some might simply have been swept out to sea. Exactly how many is anybody's guess, because authorities had no sure way to track those who defied evacuation orders. And the number of people reported missing after the storm, whose death toll stands at...

With a late evacuation, contradictory messages to her citizens and now a failed first attempt to give evacuees a chance to check their homes, it's been a tough week for Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. The four hectic days were filled with Hurricane Ike's destruction and the reality that thousands of residents were reluctant to leave. Now there is the arduous task of keeping her promise to them that she would have them home soon while trying to combat a growing public health crisis. Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with her tiny quorum of three council members...

Excerpt - A part of the current problems with recovery from the ravages of Hurricane Ike is that the city of Galveston’s part-time, unpaid mayor has virtually all the power in the city. The person who runs the city every other day, the city manager, is secondary. That’s backwards, and it gets in the way of effective government in the face of dangerous community crisis. The person in charge in an emergency should be the person who has hiring and firing authority over city department heads. That person is Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc, and Galveston would be better off...

Friday, they prepared for the worst. Saturday, they watched and waited. What they saw Sunday was not good. "We're affected right now, huge," Landry's Restaurants chief Tilman Fertitta said after a hurricane assessment meeting with a dozen of his executives Tuesday.

GALVESTON, Texas -- A legendary Galveston nightclub and former dance hall that jetted out above the Gulf of Mexico was destroyed by the massive storm surge of Hurricane Ike, KPRC Local 2 reported Saturday. The Balinese Room, located at 2108 Seawall Blvd., was ripped apart when Ike came ashore. The decades-old Balinese Room was a famous, recognizable landmark that extended 600 feet from Seawall Boulevard at 21st Street into the Gulf of Mexico

Excerpt - GALVESTON — Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas on Monday ordered all city employees not to talk to news reporters. She did not say when that order would be lifted. Thomas and City Manager Steve LeBlanc will be the only officials allowed to talk to reporters. City spokeswoman Mary Jo Naschke vehemently denied the city was trying to clamp down on coverage. She said emergency personnel and city employees were too busy to talk to reporters. Naschke also said the city had been accommodating news reporters by allowing them access to the island when others weren’t allowed, giving them escorted...

Hurricane Ike, which swept through Galveston and Houston overnight, caused substantial damage to Reliant Stadium, so the Texans game against the Baltimore Ravens will not be played Monday night. The home opener, originally scheduled for Sunday, had been pushed to Monday night because of the storm. "The facility will not be usable," Shey Guinn, president of SMG, the company that manages Reliant Park, told the Houston Chronicle. "There's some structural damage to the roof. Part of it is off," Guinn said, according to the paper. "There's also some other damage on the property caused by wind and water. We're in...

Please take a moment to pray if you haven’t already for those in the path of Hurricane Ike. All day my thoughts have been on the stories I grew up hearing my grandmother tell of the “Galveston Storm of 1915” (that was before hurricanes were named) - of the last moments she had with my grandfather when he came home for lunch and walked to the sea wall with her and told her at what point she needed to head for other shelter, of his pausing at the front gate as he left for one last look and wave, Grandma...

.HURRICANE IKE TO AFFECT NO. TX. .SYNOPSIS.HURRICANE IKE WILL MAKE LANDFALL NEAR HOUSTON EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. IKE WILL QUICKLY MOVE NORTH.GENERALLY ALONG A LINE FROM HOUSTON TO PALESTINE TO PARIS. THE STORM WILL WEAKEN TO TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH LATE MORNING SAT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF NO. TX. WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WITH HIGHER TOTALS.STRONG GUSTY WINDS.AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED. TXZ135-147-148-162-175-130400- /O.CON.KFWD.HI.W.0001.080913T0600Z-080914T0600Z/ HENDERSON-FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LEON-ROBERTSON- 509 PM CDT FRI SEP 12 2008 .HURRICANE WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SAT TO 1 AM CDT SUNDAY. .NEW INFORMATION. A HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS...

Click on the link for a slide show on the storm surge - Galveston is already a mess and the worst is yet to come.

Galveston Island, Texas Webcams (Various). At link.

Large and dangerous Hurricane Ike approaching the Upper Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations began in earnest Thursday as an estimated one million coastal residents headed inland. There were widespread reports of gas stations running out of fuel. The National Weather Service posted dire storm surge predictions of 20-25 ft storm surge along the coast and bay heads. Hurricane warnings covered a 400 mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico. Wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday, or nearly $1 a gallon, out of fear of what Ike might do. Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours Discussion Updated every 6 hours Buoy...

GALVESTON — Tropical Storm Edouard formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday and could make landfall near Galveston by Tuesday morning, said forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Edouard is the hurricane season’s fifth named storm. What had been a cluster of storms around a low-pressure system on Saturday was upgraded to a tropical depression Sunday afternoon and then to a tropical storm at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Forecasters expect the storm will strengthen. The storm was hugging the Louisiana coast and moving west. A tropical storm watch was in effect from Port Arthur to Galveston. John...

Houston - This year's annual meeting of the Texas Gang Investigator's Association (TGAI) was held at the Omni Hotel in Houston in June. In addition to three days of training on recognizing and fighting gang violence in our communities, prisons, and schools, the 800 members present took time to recognize law enforcement officers, correction officers, and probation officers throughout Texas who have shown diligence and excellent work in fighting gang violence. The association recognized Judge Lonnie Cox of the 56th District Court as the Ted Poe "Damn Good Judge" of the year. In presenting the award to Judge Cox, Director...

Friendswood physician Robin Armstrong, a former medical missionary in Africa, recently was re-elected vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party, the only black person to serve in one of the state party's top two positions during the 20th and 21st centuries. Q: Affirmative action, what about that? A: I don't think it's a policy that's really necessary, and I think Barack Obama is a good example of that. People generally want to be helpful to minorities and want to see them succeed on their own. Sure, racism is out there, but I don't think that is the majority of people...

Every year county appraisal districts mail notices of appraised value changes to millions of property owners across the State which prompts protests by unhappy taxpayers. Even with fewer values than usual increasing in Galveston County this year, hundreds of property owners attended classes to learn how to be effective in the protest process. I know because I taught those classes and attendees confirmed what seems to me to be obvious -- the system needs to be changed. In 2006, the Governor’s Task Force on Appraisal Reform traveled the state collecting information on problems associated with our current property tax system....

Joy from rescue of 5 Aggie boaters turns grim when 6th member of capsized boat crew is found dead amid wreckage A day that started with the joyous rescue of five crew members of a Texas A&M University at Galveston sailboat closed with the somber discovery of the sixth sailor's body in the wreckage of the sunken ship. Roger Stone, whose body was recovered by a salvage crew Sunday about 27 miles southeast of Freeport, was called a hero for helping two students escape from below decks seconds before the Cynthia Woods capsized. "I'm sure that's what lost his life,"...

It has been roughly three months since residents of Huntsville and Walker County attended town hall meetings to voice their opinion on the Trans-Texas Corridor/I-69 project to the Texas Department of Transportation. There was no question then that there was strong opposition to the proposed 1,600-mile national highway, and it seems as though residents’ efforts to stop it has not lost any of its momentum. Several residents attended the Walker County Commissioners Court on Monday morning, expressing concerns about the project and encouraged the court to take another step of action. The five-member court agrees with the majority of the...

Down here in Galveston County, the Ron Paul bots tried to hijack the convention using subterfuge and tactical advantage of surprise, that would have made al Queda proud (high-placed sleeper, multiple coordinated attacks with a goal of causing a larger scale effect at the State convention and later at the National convention. Unfortunately for them it was discovered and thwarted for the most part by perceptive Republicans that took action and alerted others to help block their efforts. But it did make for a long and chaotic mess. Like jihadists, they took advantage of a weak Party leadership in transition...

Plots by Communists to infiltrate America. The disintegration of borders and rural areas. Citizens mobilizing and rising up against government agencies and big business. It all sounds like the plot for a summer blockbuster, but it's something that could be happening in your own backyard. These were just a few of the topics addressed in the "How to fight the TTC" workshop, held Monday at the Pitser Garrison Civic Center in Lufkin. The conference served as an informational meeting aimed at informing citizens and local government officials how they can unite in trying to stop the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project....

The Obama camp hotly disputed a claim this week by Galveston County Democratic Chairman Lloyd Criss that on election night, Obama supporters took caucus sign-in sheets to their campaign headquarters and added names to them. Criss, a Clinton supporter, made the claim earlier this week. But he said that since it didn’t change how many delegates the candidates got, he wasn’t that concerned about it. But Aaron Schiller, who ran the Obama campaign in Galveston, insisted it didn’t happen. “He was taking a free shot at us,” Schiller said. On Friday, Criss said he wasn’t sure that Obama supporters took...

Texas Rep. Ron Paul has no chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination, but the libertarian iconoclast has pressed on with his national campaign. And he has done so even as he faces a more pressing challenge to his political future back home: a challenge in his March 4 Republican House primary in the state’s 14th District, located in and around the southeastern Texas cities of Victoria and Galveston. The 72-year-old Paul, who is allowed to run simultaneously for president and for re-election to Congress under Texas law, is being opposed in the 14th District primary by Chris Peden, a...

US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), 72, has represented the 14th District in Texas for 20 years, and while he has faced some serious Democratic challengers in the past, this year he is confronting a major battle in the Republican Primary. His opponent is Chris Peden, mayor pro tem of Friendswood. Whether or not the race is close is a matter of conjecture. No independent polls have been released and both camps claim their internal surveys show them with comfortable leads. Mark Elam, Paul’s congressional campaign manager, blogging on the Lone Star Times website, contends Paul is leading by about 60%...

White House Contender Raised Millions, Sparked Debate, Now Fights for Day Job In the House, they are but one lone vote, one voice in a fractured chorus of 435. In Congress, they are members on the world's second greatest deliberative body. But if they're not in the majority, they don't often get to debate much at all. On the campaign trail for president, however, they can raise their profile from local pol to national voice. They can raise millions, draw crowds, rally the base, needle the front-runners, and maybe, just maybe, start a movement or at least force a dialogue....