The strange and sentimental film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led among the films nominated for the 95th Academy Awards on Tuesday, scoring 11 nominations. “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” followed with nine nominations each.
Blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” each landed nominations for best film, and there is plenty of star power among the nominees. Both Rihanna and Lady Gaga were nominated in the original song category (for tunes from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” respectively), as veterans in the industry were recognized as well.
Those actors include Angela Bassett, who was nominated in the best supporting actress category for her role in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever;” Jamie Lee Curtis in the same category for “Everything Everywhere All at Once;” Judd Hirsch in “The Fabelmans,” nominated for best supporting actor; Colin Farrell in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and Brendan Fraser in “The Whale,” nominated for best actor; and in the best actress category Cate Blanchett for “Tár,” Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans” and Michelle Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Allison Williams, who most recently starred in the horror hit “M3GAN,” and Riz Ahmed, who received an Oscar las year for his role in the short film “The Long Goodbye,” announced the nominations.
The Academy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, March 12.
See below for a full list of the nominees.
BEST PICTURE
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Allyson Riggs/A24
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Elvis”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“The Fabelmans”
“Tár”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
“Triangle of Sadness”
“Women Talking”
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Angela Bassett in ‘Black Panther Wakanda Forever’
Annette Brown/Marvel Studios
Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Hong Chau, “The Whale”
Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Searchlight Pictures
Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Causeway”
Judd Hirsch, “The Fabelmans”
Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Peter Lanzani and Ricardo Darin star in “Argentina, 1985”
Amazon Studios
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany
“Argentina, 1985,” Argentina
“Close,” Belgium
“EO,” Poland
“The Quiet Girl,” Ireland
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
“The Elephant Whisperers”
“Haulout”
“How Do You Measure a Year?”
“The Martha Mitchell Effect”
“Stranger at the Gate”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“All That Breathes”
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Fire of Love”
“A House Made of Splinters”
“Navalny”
ORIGINAL SONG
“Applause” from “Tell It like a Woman”
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”
“This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’
Netflix
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“The Sea Beast”
“Turning Red”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’
Netflix
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Living”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
“Women Talking”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman in ‘The Fabelmans’
Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“The Fabelmans”
“Tár”
“Triangle of Sadness”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Austin Butler in ‘Elvis’
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Austin Butler, “Elvis”
Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”
Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”
Bill Nighy, “Living”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
Allyson Riggs
Cate Blanchett, “Tár”
Ana de Armas, “Blonde”
Andrea Riseborough, “To Leslie”
Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans”
Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
DIRECTOR
Paul Dano, Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord and Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans, co-written, produced and directed by Steven Spielberg.
Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”
Todd Field, “Tár”
Ruben Ostlund, “Triangle of Sadness”
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Babylon”
“Elvis”
“The Fabelmans”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
Reiner Bajo/Netflix
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
“Elvis”
“Empire of Light”
“Tár”
COSTUME DESIGN
Letitia Wright in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
Marvel Studios
“Babylon”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Elvis”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Paramount Pictures
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Batman”
“Elvis”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”
“The Flying Sailor”
“Ice Merchants”
“My Year of Dicks”
“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”
Shielded by anonymity and extra security, jurors got their first look Monday at a rare U.S. trial of a former Cabinet-level Mexican official charged with taking bribes to aid drug traffickers he was supposed to be neutralizing.After blowing a kiss to his wife and daughter in the courtroom gallery, Genaro García Luna, who once was Mexico’s top security official, watched with little outward reaction as opening statements began. His case folds in Mexico’s politics, its vast and violent drug trade, uncomfortable connections between the two, and delicate U.S.-Mexico relations about fighting drugs and corruption.
García Luna is accused of accepting millions of dollars to let the notorious Sinaloa cartel operate with impunity as it sent tons of cocaine to the U.S.
“The person who’s supposed to be in charge of fighting the Sinaloa cartel was actually its most valued asset … and with his help, the cartel made millions,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Philip Pilmar told jurors. He called García Luna “a man who betrayed both his country and ours.”
He said that while García Luna portrayed himself to both countries as a drug enforcement hero, he saw to it that the cartel got information on investigations, police escorts and smooth passage for its cocaine through police checkpoints — and sometimes even badges — for cartel members. Officers hand-delivered drug shipments from airports and acted as mercenaries to kill people whom the cartels wanted gone, Pilmar said.
García Luna’s lead lawyer, César de Castro, told jurors that the government’s case rested on “rumors, speculation and the words of some of the biggest criminals in the world.”
“No money, no photos, no video, no texts, no emails, no recordings, no documents — no credible, believable evidence that Genaro García Luna helped the cartel,” the lawyer said in his opening statement. He described the case as “a very public and angry display” by a U.S. government that is forsaking a onetime drug-fighting partner whose diligent work made him enemies: corrupt police officers, politicians who opposed the anti-drug war, and cartels. Traffickers are taking the stand to lessen their own punishments and exact revenge, the attorney argued.
“Don’t let the cartels play you,” he told jurors in his opening statement.
Cartel lays siege to Mexican city after recapturing of the son of ‘El Chapo’
They soon heard a different story from former police officer-turned-cartel insider Sergio Villarreal Barragan, known as “El Grande.”
He testified about joint Sinaloa-police raids on the rival Gulf cartel’s operations in the city of Monterrey; police officers letting him set up routes to move 1,700 to 2,600 pounds of cocaine multiple times a week through the state of Chiapas; and police tipping the cartel to forthcoming searches so the traffickers could clear out beforehand.
Villarreal Barragan said that after some Sinaloa cartel drugs were seized in the state of Sonora, he got the contraband released by reminding the regional police commander that the cartel had gotten him placed in his job.
During all these alleged episodes in the early 2000s, García Luna headed the federal police force — and got payoffs from the Sinaloa group, according to Villarreal Barragan. He described García Luna picking up duffel bags full of cash at a Mexico City safe house and collecting $14 million in cardboard boxes at a warehouse full of cocaine that police had seized from the Gulf gang and turned over to its Sinaloa rivals.
Cartel leaders viewed García Luna as “the best investment they had,” said Villarreal Barragan, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. García Luna’s lawyers haven’t yet had their turn to question him.
García Luna led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency from 2001 to 2005, then served as secretary of public security to then-President Felipe Calderon from 2006 to 2012.
Seen as the point man in Calderon’s bloody war on cartels, García Luna was also considered a key ally in a U.S. anti-drug-trafficking initiative that started in former President George W. Bush’s administration and provided Mexico’s police with equipment, technology and training. Photos shown in court depict García Luna with former U.S. President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Sen. John McCain and other high-ranking officials.
But García Luna also was dogged by allegations of ties to drug traffickers.
Then, during former Sinaloa kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s trial in New York, a former cartel member testified in 2018 that he personally delivered at least $6 million in payoffs to García Luna, and that cartel members had agreed to pool up to $50 million to bribe him.
García Luna, who moved to Miami after leaving his government post, was arrested in 2019 in Texas and has since been held without bail in a federal lockup. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. The 54-year-old could face decades in prison if convicted.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a leftist, has welcomed the trial, which could spotlight corruption on a conservative predecessor’s watch.
García Luna is being tried in the same Brooklyn federal courthouse where Guzman was convicted of running a sprawling international drug-smuggling operation for decades.
Like Guzman, García Luna is facing jurors whose names are kept secret. They also are escorted to and from the courthouse by deputy U.S. marshals and sequestered from the public while inside.
The commute home Tuesday could be a slow slog for many across the Houston area, which is bracing for heavy rain, strong winds, and potentially other types of severe weather.
A cold front is expected to pass through the region Tuesday afternoon, according to editor Eric Berger of Space City Weather. He said Monday morning that a line of storms figures to hit the city between 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, bringing 1-3 inches of rain on average along with gusty conditions and possibly thunder, lightning, hail, and tornados.
“There’s probably the potential for some street flooding,” Berger said. “It looks like this is going to come just before rush hour on Tuesday, so hopefully things will be improving by the time people start heading home (from work). It’s definitely going to be disruptive on area roadways Tuesday afternoon.”
A strengthening low-pressure system from the west is the culprit, according to Berger, who said temperatures are expected to be in the upper 60s with the potential for rainfall before the cold front arrives. The forecasted low for Tuesday night is 42 degrees, according to the National Weather Service’s Houston-Galveston office, which also is projecting wind gusts up to 40 mph during the latter part of the day and night.
Berger said winds are expected to shift late Tuesday and come from the north, with gusts potentially approaching 50 mph in coastal areas such as Brazoria and Galveston counties. He also said there could be isolated areas throughout the Houston region that see 4 inches or more of rain.
“We expect the severest weather, in terms of strong winds, lightning, thunder, that sort of thing, to be south of (Interstate 10),” Berger said.
Skies are expected to clear by Wednesday, but cooler temperatures will remain. The National Weather Service predicts highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s on both Wednesday and Thursday, with a high of 58 and a low of 47 projected for Friday.
“We’re going to see some of the coldest weather of the year so far,” Berger said. “For Houston, this is pretty chilly, even in January.”
Temperatures are expected to warm up this weekend, with projected highs in the 60s on Saturday and Sunday. The chance for rain also will return, according to the National Weather Service, with a 30 percent chance for precipitation during the day Saturday and a 50 percent chance at night.
Officials said the plane actually hit the roof of an 18-wheeler on its way down. No injuries were reported.
No injuries were reported after a small plane crashed on a northwest Harris County toll road on Sunday, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials.
The crash happened around 11:15 a.m. when the pilot of a single-engine plane reported a loss of power.
The plane was approaching the Grand Parkway near Cypress Rosehill Road when the pilot decided to land on the roadway, DPS public information officer Richard Standifer said.
“I’m just passing the Tomball stadium now. I’m going to try to bring it in over the road and land with traffic,” the pilot said in the recorded Live ATC communication
As the pilot attempted the emergency landing, the plane crashed into the top of an 18-wheeler, Standifer said.
“Not good. They’re on big fire. Big time. Emergency services now as fast as you can,” one dispatcher can be heard saying on the air traffic control communication.
Neither the driver of the big rig nor the pilot of the plane was injured, officials said.
Once the plane got to the ground, it caught fire. Officials said the wings of the aircraft were a little wider than the roadway and the fire started when the wings rubbed against the concrete barriers. There was a fuel leak, but Standifer said the Rosehill Tomball Fire Department got to the scene and was able to stop it.
Standifer said the pilot was flying a survey assignment and was coming from West Houston Airport. The Bonanza 35 aircraft is registered in Michigan.
DPS officials waited for National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration officials to get to the scene.
Familias de Houston están optando por comprar gallinas ante el incremento del precio del huevo en los últimos días.
Un brote de gripa aviar terminó con el 5% de las gallinas que producen huevos en EEUU y tardará al menos 4 meses para que los nuevos polluelos alcancen la edad de producción, dijo a Univision 45 un profesor de avicultura de la Universidad de Texas A&M.
Las ventas de gallinas están aumentando, asegura el gerente de un lugar donde se ofrecen las aves.
“Han estado hablando por teléfono todo el tiempo, preguntando si tenemos gallinas,” indicó Manuel Zavala, gerente de Quality Feed and Garden.
En los últimos tres días se han vendido 60 gallinas adultas
“ Es una buena inversión porque no cuesta mucho tener una gallina y es muy simple cuidarlas porque no necesitas vacunas, es más fácil que un perro y más barato también”, continúa Zavala.
Familias como la de Leslie Cortés han optado por comprar gallinas
“Yo elijo nada más tener 12 gallinas y las que van creciendo, me las voy comiendo pero siempre tengo 12 y porque no ponen diario, tengo 8 a 10 huevos diarios”, aseguró la mujer que compró cinco polluelos de $4 cada uno.
¿Le conviene terne gallinas en su casa?
El precio de las gallinas en edad para empezar a poner huevos es de $26, van a seguir produciendo hasta los 3 años y ponen uno al día.
“Si tienes tres gallinas adultas, te pueden poner hasta tres docenas a la semana y nada más te cuesta 25 centavos alimentar un ave”, agregó Zavala.
Restricciones y regulaciones
La ordenanza de la ciudad permite tener gallinas, deben estar en un corral, no pueden andar sueltas”, indicó Elisa Salazar, oficial de control animal de la ciudad de Houston.
Las gallinas deben estar a 100 pies de distancias de otro hogar, escuela y hospital, debe mantener limpias las jaulas y bebedero.
Los gallos no están permitidos dentro de la ciudad, el infringir la ley podría generar multas de hasta $100 por animal.
Las familias están tomando la decisión porque aseguran que podrán consumir huevos de alta calidad y a buen precio.
Jeff Bezos made a surprise appearance at a Washington Post editorial meeting on Thursday morning for the first time in over a year.
His attendance in person sparked fears among staff about the severity of upcoming layoffs by the newspaper, which he bought in 2013 with ambitions to drive it into the digital era.
In recent years the Washington Post has suffered dwindling ad revenue, a decline in site traffic, and a shortage of new subscribers. Last month, its publisher Fred Ryan announced that layoffs were coming in the new year.
Despite his suggestion the cuts would likely only affect a ‘single-digit percentage’ of its 2,500-person workforce, the news triggered a frenzy among staff, and the paper’s union membership grew.
Its union guild said it now has about 670 members, roughly 67 percent of those eligible, and that around 60 of those joined since the announcement in December.
The staff has been provided with little information about the layoffs and last month the Amazon CEO refused to comment on them, which meant his visit on Thursday only heightened panic.
‘[People] don’t know what to make of it,’ one journalist told The Daily Beast.
During the meeting, Bezos remained fairly tight-lipped, as he sat next to The Post’s top editor, Sally Buzbee in a glass-windowed office on the sixth floor of the paper’s headquarters.
‘I’m delighted to be here and see all these faces,’ he announced at the beginning of the meeting, the New York Times reported. ‘Thank you for allowing me to listen in,’ he continued.
As he left the meeting an employee in a red shirt carrying the insignia of the union stopped him to ask why he was planning to lay off staff without offering them buyouts.
Bezos responded that he had come to listen – not to answer questions – but emphasized that he was committed to The Post’s journalism.
‘As Bezos walks through the office, we want him to see that Post employees are a powerful and united front,’ wrote the guild in an email to its members in the days before.
It said in a public statement on Thursday: ‘We hope that Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has heard employees’ appeals for a stop to these impending layoffs that, as far as we can tell, are not financially necessary or rooted in any informed business strategy from publisher Fred Ryan.’
‘Jeff is visiting The Post this week and meeting with Fred Ryan, Sally Buzbee, and other members of the staff,’ a representative for The Post wrote in an email to The Daily Beast.
The spokesperson confirmed the layoffs were still going to happen in the first quarter of this year but did not say exactly when.
The outlet reported the meeting transpired as it would on any other day, with editors discussing its current stories and trends in the news.
At one point an editor mentioned it was planning to run a story on the termination of AmazonSmile – one of Bezos’ charitable endeavors. That story was published at 11.37 am on Thursday.
On Wednesday around 18,000 Amazon workers woke up to news their employment had been terminated, ‘effective immediately’.
The layoffs were the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves by Amazon and overseen by Bezos.
Mexico’s president said Wednesday that he would consider a request by convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to return from the United States to complete his sentence on humanitarian grounds.
The Sinaloa cartel founder has appealed to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for help due to alleged “psychological torment” that Guzman says he is suffering in a U.S. prison.
“We’re going to review it [the plea],” Lopez Obrador told reporters.
It was unclear if Mexico had the power to grant the request, “but the door must always be left open when it comes to human rights,” he added.
El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 of charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons-related offenses.
According to one of his lawyers, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, Guzman is unhappy with the harsh prison conditions including isolation and a lack of sunlight.
He hopes to return to face outstanding charges and complete his sentence in Mexico under a prison agreement between the two countries, Rodriguez told AFP.
On Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had downplayed the chance of any government intercession in favor of Guzman, who twice escaped from jail in his home country.
“Frankly I don’t see any possibilities for him, but I’m going to review it with the prosecutor’s office,” Ebrard told reporters.
One of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested by Mexican security forces this month in an operation that left 29 people dead and sparked a dramatic shootout at an airport in the city of Culiacan.
Telecom billionaire Carlos Slim, Mexico’s wealthiest man and the former richest man in the world, has re-listed his palatial New York City townhouse for a whopping $80 million, according to a jaw-dropping StreetEasy listing update.
Located at 1009 Fifth Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Slim — otherwise known as Carlos Slim Helú — previously listed the 20,000-square-foot property for the same price in 2015. At the time, that $80 million ask was a record price in the city — and today, it’s the priciest townhouse for sale across the city, according to StreetEasy data.
Moreover, if the property sells for that princely eight-figure sum, it would break a record for the most expensive townhouse ever sold in the Big Apple. (The current record holder, according to StreetEasy data, belongs to Vincent Viola’s $59 million sale of 12 E. 69th St. in 2021.)
Its mere size, massive for New York standards, is also nothing to sniff at. StreetEasy also shows it’s the largest townhouse for sale across the boroughs.
One of several entertainment areas with coffered ceilings.CompassThe home is made up of eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms — as well as grand windows and old-world hardwood floors.Compass
Slim, whose net worth is currently $90.7 billion, purchased the limestone and red-brick mansion from the now-late Russian oil titan Tamir Sapir in 2010 for $44 million.
Known as the Benjamin N. Duke House, it has been described as “the rarest opportunity to acquire a piece of history and make a bold statement in your portfolio.” Built between 1899 and 1901, it was designed by the firm of Welch, Smith & Provot in the Italian Renaissance Palazzo style, and is considered one of the last remnants of the luxe mansions along Fifth Avenue facing Central Park that remain in private hands, the listing notes.
Spanning 27 feet along Fifth Avenue — and a grand 100 feet along 82nd Street — the interiors feature marble fireplaces and ornate moldings throughout, a grand staircase that climbs up through five levels, and a skylight on the top floor.
The terrace and rooftop provide panoramic views of Central Park and the city skyline.
“The building can be reimagined as a private residence or converted into a gallery, store, museum, or foundation given its prime location across the Met Museum,” the listing adds.
Jorge Lopez with Compass holds the listing — and declined to comment.
The business magnate, investor, and philanthropist Slim and his family control América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm. He is a self-made man, the son of Catholic Lebanese parents who immigrated to Mexico. He studied Civil Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (known by its Spanish acronym UNAM) School of Engineering.
This listing comes at a time when Gilded Age mansions — themselves a rare breed — are back at the forefront in New York’s residential market. In late 2022, the successor states of the former Yugoslavia sold a Fifth Avenue mansion for $50 million in an all-cash deal.
May this new year bring you and your family great peace, joy and prosperity.
As 2023 begins, I am on medical leave, focusing on my health. In the meantime, under the guidance of the Board of Directors, MECA is in excellent hands with Armando Silva as acting Executive Director supported by MECA’s staff that is committed, competent, experienced and courageous, accepting this unexpected challenge with grace, compassion and agility to manage the many magnificent attributes of MECA.
Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. I will see you soon.
Armando Silva | Acting Executive Director
Friends and family, I am excited to be serving as MECA’s Acting Executive Director in the absence of our beloved founder, Alice Valdez. As a proud MECA alumni, I do not take this assignment lightly. On the contrary, I realize that I “stand on the shoulders of a giant.” I know that I walk in the footsteps of a woman whose relentless drive has brought this organization to the forefront of arts education in our city and who has built a pillar of strength and resilience for our communities of color. I promise to give my all as I continue to implement, and attempt to grow her vision. I ask that you bear with me as I traverse this daunting task before me. Knowing that Alice is in my corner gives me all of the confidence necessary to plow through. As a dancer, this is but a “failli,” a transition step preparing me for another jump. Come, take the leap with me!
Esmeralda Salinas | Associate Director of Programs & Support Services
Welcome to another exciting and creative year! Come by and visit our Support Services office in Room 103 for more important information and exciting opportunities! We look forward to seeing our students and their families! Happy New Year!
Lizeth Gonzalez | Out Of School Director
Welcome back! As MECA’s Out of School Director, I am here to support with any scheduling, registration, billing and any other programming needs you may have. My primary goal is to have a safe, supportive and productive learning experience for everyone in the arts. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Carolina Salazar | Education Coordinator
As MECA’s Education Coordinator I am working to provide academic support in our community through in-house tutorials and homework assistance to students of all ages including lifelong learners. We are continuously working towards providing a safe learning environment that encourages mentorship and personal growth.
Julio Lopez | Ballet Folklorico Director
The MECA Ballet Folklorico now boasts 5 levels of training for students ranging in age from 5 years old to senior citizens. The group is regularly touring throughout Houston Metroplex proudly representing MECA at various events during the year. In 2022 we entered into a partnership with the Amalia Hernandez Arts Academy (Mexico City, Mexico) to offer teaching certification in specialized celebrations in dance such as Xantolo/Dia de Muertos that took place in November and Carnavales en Mexico that will take place in February. I invite you to join us this year at one of the many events as we deliver the beauty of Mexican folk dance to the masses.
Hugo Balino | TBH Facilities Manager
I have the pleasure of acting as the Technical and Production Director for MECA at the TBH Center. I look forward to another great year of helping you with your production needs, space rentals, and anything else I can to bring your tech ideas into fruition. Keep an eye out for great comedy fun, too. I am working on producing an open mic comedy night starting in February.
Eddie Gonzalez | TBH Registrar & Technical Assistant
I’m Eddie Gonzalez, writer, actor, arts advocate, and community activist. I joined the MECA team in 2022 to lend my talent and support in the implementation of MECA’s mission. Visit me at MECA’s East End Campus at the TBH Center to learn about our arts classes and diverse programming. This year I am placing a special emphasis on creating the perfect communal space by ensuring a hospitable environment, cleanliness, and accessibility. I can be reached via email at eddie@meca-houston.org or by phone at 713-222-1213.
Kathy Hardy | Finance Specialist
I joined MECA in 2021 as MECA’s Finance Specialist bringing with me 35 years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping practices. I work closely with MECA’s development staff and Board-led finance committee to ensure accurate financial documentation and reporting. I wish you a happy and prosperous new year.
Ruth Ramos | Project Associate
I am Ruth Ramos, a recent graduate of the University of Houston Downtown Marilyn Davies College of Business. I first joined MECA as a college student, assisting with the Historic Dow School Rehabilitation Project and supporting MECA’s Founder in the development department. I am proud to announce that I now serve as the organization’s Project Associate, a newly created position for me in response to the organization’s need and in recognition of my efforts in support of it’s mission.
John Taylor De La Garza | Graphics Coordinator & Administrative Assistant
As MECA’s Graphics Coordinator, I’m excited to see firsthand how MECA meets new families & people to receive creative and educational opportunities. I look forward to helping MECA nurture and support our Houston community.
MECA’s work to provide year-round, high quality arts education, social services and vigorous academic support is made possible by generous contributions from the following donors:
He said that while García Luna portrayed himself to both countries as a drug enforcement hero, he saw to it that the cartel got information on investigations, police escorts and smooth passage for its cocaine through police checkpoints — and sometimes even badges — for cartel members. Officers hand-delivered drug shipments from airports and acted as mercenaries to kill people whom the cartels wanted gone, Pilmar said.
The commute home Tuesday could be a slow slog for many across the Houston area, which is bracing for heavy rain, strong winds, and potentially other types of severe weather.
Officials said the plane actually hit the roof of an 18-wheeler on its way down. No injuries were reported.
Familias de Houston están optando por comprar gallinas ante el incremento del precio del huevo en los últimos días.
Jeff Bezos made a surprise appearance at a Washington Post editorial meeting on Thursday morning for the first time in over a year.
Mexico’s president said Wednesday that he would consider a request by convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to return from the United States to complete his sentence on humanitarian grounds.
