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Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee Urges EPA Action on Ozone Measures
Southwest Freeway SB connector ramp to I-610 West Loop SB to be closed for 2 years in Galleria area
Houston drivers are going to need to get ready for another major closure at the I-69 Southwest/I-610 West Loop Interchange Reconstruction Project continues.Starting on April 29 at 9 p.m., the Texas Department of Transportation will be closing the I-69 Southwest Freeway southbound connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound. TxDOT said the $259 million projects is going to take approximately two years to complete.
“We’re four years into the project with two years left,” said Danny Perez with TxDOT. “We’re getting close, but everything we’re doing now is – there’s going to be some impacts.”
“We’re making room not only for the new ramp we’re going to build but we’re also making room for the 610 main lane bridge that we’re building over 69,” he continued.
Perez said the closure is unavoidable as TxDOT plans to build a new ramp close to the footprint of the existing one. While the closure may be an inconvenience, it’s all in an effort to improve traffic moving from one freeway to another.
“When you’re on the main lanes and you have that one person in the left lane and they need to get over to the right lane weaving over at the last minute we’re putting those connectors back – we’re putting those entrances back further – so they can make their decision further back,” Perez said.
On top of this, the Chimney Rock exit on the south side of Highway 59/I-69 Southwest Freeway will be closed for about two months.
TxDOT recommends drivers take the Fountain View exit ramp from the Highway 59/69 southbound main lanes, make a U-turn at Fountain View, get back on the first entrance to Highway 59/69 Southwest Freeway northbound main lanes and take the connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound to avoid this closure.
“This interchange project gets us to a good place to keep traffic flowing through that area,” Perez said. “There’s a lot of movement. There are 300,000 cars on either freeway.”
“We’re getting close to moving to project forward to the finish line,” he said. “Once it’s opened up it’s going to be great for folks traveling through that interchange.”
Source: khou
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¡México presente! Eiza González impacta con elegante vestido en la Met Gala 2022
Dicen que la elegancia se hereda y parece ser cierto en Eiza González, quien no ha dejado de sorprendernos con los looks que nos ha regala en cada pasarela. La mexicana ha sabido posicionarse en el mundo del entretenimiento así como en la moda, ¡y vaya que es parte de ella!, pues engalana a todos con su porte. Ahora tocó mostrarlo con un magnífico vestido durante la alfombra de la Met Gala 2022.
Como toda una miembro de la realeza, la actriz hizo su aparición con un look de inspiración clásica, muy acorde a la temática de este año, el gilded glamour. El vestido adornado con lentejuelas, plumas y un increíble collar de diamantes enaltecen la belleza de la mexicana, quien muestra un atuendo sobrio pero ideal para la gala.
The Houston Fire Department Debuts New State-Of-The-Art Supervisor Vehicles
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Texas Activists Say They Have Enough Signatures To Put Marijuana Decriminalization On Another Local Ballot
Activists in Denton, Texas say they’re confident that they’ve collected enough signatures to place a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the local ballot.
The group Decriminalize Denton said that it will continue collecting additional petitions until May 3 while it also works to verify the more than 2,500 signatures that have already been gathered. But as of last week, organizers said that it appears that they’ve already netted enough to put the measure before voters in November.
The campaign plans to submit the signatures to the city in the first week of May. They need 1,745 valid signatures from registered voters for ballot placement.
Meanwhile, as Denton activists pursue the midterm election in November, the campaign Ground Game Texas successfully put cannabis decriminalization on the Austin ballot for next month. Early voting for that local measure started on Monday.
The Denton petition says that police “shall not issue citations or make arrests for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses, except in the limited circumstances.” Those limited circumstances include investigations into violent felony cases.
Police also couldn’t issue citations or make arrests for class C misdemeanor offenses for drug residue or drug paraphernalia in lieu of a marijuana possession arrest.
The proposal would also make it so city funds could not be expended to test for THC concentration in cannabis products to determine whether it meets the state’s legal definition of legal hemp or illegal marijuana. Law enforcement in Texas has been especially thrown following hemp legalization.
Additionally, the initiative would prohibit police from using the odor of cannabis alone as “probable cause for any search or seizure,” with limited exceptions.
The city would be required to work with the local police department, as well as “other relevant stakeholders,” to educate them about the policy change and inform updated training protocols.
For what it’s worth, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in January that he doesn’t believe people should be incarcerated over low-level marijuana possession. However, he also incorrectly suggested that lawmakers have already adopted the policy statewide.
While Austin and other major Texas cities like Dallas have already independently enacted law enforcement policy changes aimed at reducing arrests for cannabis-related offenses by issuing citations and summons, these ballot initiatives would take the reform further.
Ground Game Texas is also actively working to put marijuana decriminalization on local ballots in Killeen and Harker Heights, and activists in San Marcos began a similar campaign in September.
There is no statewide, citizen-led initiative process that would enable advocates to put an issue like decriminalization or legalization on the Texas ballot. But at the local level, there are limited cases where activists can leverage home rule laws that allow for policy changes.
A recent poll found that a strong majority of Texans—including most Republicans—support even broader reform to legalize marijuana for adult use.
The survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that 67 percent of Texas residents back the broad reform. Fifty-one percent of participants who identified as Republican said they back legalization.
In Texas, drug policy reform did advance in the legislature during last year’s session, but not necessarily at the pace that advocates had hoped to see.
A bill to expand the state’s medical cannabis program and another to require a study into the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics for military veterans were enacted.
Advocates remain disappointed, however, that lawmakers were unable to pass more expansive cannabis bills—including a decriminalization proposal that cleared the House but saw no action in the Senate.
The House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill in 2019, but it did not advance in the Senate that session.
The Texas Republican Party adopted a platform plank endorsing decriminalization of marijuana possession in 2018.
A Texas poll that was released over the summer found that 60 percent of voters in the state support making cannabis legal “for any use.”
Separately, the state Supreme Court last month heard testimony in a case concerning the state’s ban on manufacturing smokable hemp products—the latest development in a drawn-out legal battle on the policy first proposed and challenged in 2020.
FBI Warns of Increase in Sextortion Schemes Targeting Young Boys
The FBI is warning parents and caregivers about an increase in incidents involving sextortion of young children. The FBI is receiving an increasing number of reports of adults posing as young girls coercing young boys through social media to produce sexual images and videos and then extorting money from them.
Sextortion begins when an adult contacts a minor over any online platform used to meet and communicate, such as a game, app, or social media account. In a scheme that has recently become more prevalent, the predator (posing as a young girl) uses deception and manipulation to convince a young male, usually 14 to 17 years old, to engage in explicit activity over video, which is then secretly recorded by the predator. The predator then reveals that they have made the recordings and attempts to extort the victim for money to prevent them from being posted online.
Sextortion is a crime. The coercion of a child by an adult to produce what is considered Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) carries heavy penalties, which can include up to life sentences for the offender. To make the victimization stop, children typically must come forward to someone—normally a parent, teacher, caregiver, or law enforcement. The embarrassment children feel from the activity they were forced to engage in is what typically prevents them from coming forward. Sextortion offenders may have hundreds of victims around the world, so coming forward to help law enforcement identify the offender may prevent countless other incidents of sexual exploitation to that victim and others.
The most effective way to disrupt these criminals is through awareness, education, and having serious discussions with your children about their online safety. We recognize victims may feel embarrassed and thus hesitant to come forward and report these incidents, but the FBI strongly encourages victims to notify law enforcement so that these individuals are held accountable and are prevented from harming other children. “While we understand victims may feel embarrassed, it is important for them to not just tell someone but to talk to, and cooperate with, investigators. We’ve noticed that some children who have reported being victims of sextortion are apprehensive to work with us or are unresponsive when we reach out,” says Supervisory Special Agent Jeanette Milazzo who heads the FBI Houston’s Crimes Against Children Task Force. They of course want to put this behind them, but because these individuals are likely victimizing other kids, their cooperation is key.
The FBI provides the following tips to protect you and your children online:
- Be selective about what you share online, especially your personal information and passwords. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you or your children.
- Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
- Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that a person is who they claim to be.
- Be suspicious if you meet someone on a game or app and they ask you to start talking to them on a different platform.
- Encourage your children to report suspicious behavior to a trusted adult.
If you believe you or someone you know is the victim of sextortion:
- Contact your local FBI field office (contact information can be found at www.fbi.gov), the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (1-800-the-lost or Cybertipline.org).
- Do not delete anything before law enforcement is able to review it.
- Tell law enforcement everything about the encounters you had online; it may be embarrassing, but it is necessary to find the offender.
In 2021, the IC3 received over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints, with losses over $13.6 million. This number reflects all types of sextortion reported, not just this scheme.
More information about sextortion, including graphics and a video PSA, can be found at https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/stop-sextortion-youth-face-risk-online-090319.
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS ANNOUNCES COMPLETE COMMUNITIES UNIVERSITY SPRING 2022 GRADUATES
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Man who killed 11-year-old in Channelview drive-by shooting sentenced to 40 years in prison
A 24-year-old man from Humble has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of 11-year-old Kamren Jones, who was sleeping in his Channelview home when he was shot to death, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Thursday.
“Gun violence is a blight on our community, and it is never more tragic than when an innocent child is gunned down in the safety of his own bed,” Ogg said. “This was not an accident, not a random terrible mishap; this child’s death was the inevitable and terrifying result of spraying a residence with bullets.”
Kamren, a student athlete and class jokester, was killed when 20 rounds from an AK-47 and a dozen rounds from a 9 mm handgun were fired at his family’s rented home in the 15100 block of Brentwood.
Sonnie Reyes pleaded guilty on the eve of trial in March and asked to be sentenced by a judge. He had been arrested and charged with the murder weeks after the incident in June 2019. Investigators have speculated that the drive-by shooting was in retaliation for an earlier drive-by shooting.
Reyes, a rapper who performed under the name “East Side Sonnie,” has several arrests going back to 2017 and has had his bond revoked at least twice while awaiting trial.
Assistant District Attorney Sepi Zimmer, who prosecuted the case, said the judge “got it right” because Reyes needs to face the consequences for killing an 11-year-old.
“This family had just moved in, was completely innocent and did not know this house had been shot up before because of who lived there before,” Zimmer said. “It’s just so heartbreaking and devastating to this family because they didn’t do anything wrong, and meanwhile Sonnie Reyes has never shown any remorse.”
A second defendant, Cameron Moore, is also charged with murder in the incident and awaits trial.
