After winning the series over the Giants thanks to Martín Maldonado’s 3-run bomb in Wednesday’s game, the Astros look to keep the wins coming this weekend as they take on the Mariners.
Fans can tune in to the games in Spanish on La Ranchera 101.7 FM on Friday and on La Ranchera 850 AM or 101.7 FM on Saturday and Sunday.
HOUSTON – The City of Houston is addressing public health risks associated with homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced today during a tour of a cleanup at Bellfort and the Gulf Freeway.
Councilman Robert Gallegos, Solid Waste Director Harry Hayes, and Marc Eichenbaum, director of the mayor’s homeless initiatives, joined the mayor to observe workers collect and remove trash from the underpass.
Since April, the Solid Waste Management Division has worked with city council members and community groups to identify locations and conduct weekly debris removal of more than 70 sites around freeway underpasses and other infrastructure.
On June 17, the city council approved the purchase of special COVID cleaning equipment, including six pickup trucks/trailer combinations and two rear loaders for heavy material.
The COVID-19 cleaning consists of removing trash, shopping carts, abandoned furniture, and power washing areas, to protect the community’s health and safety.
The mayor stressed that all COVID-19 cleanups follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, and SWMD employees respect the personal property of people living in the homeless encampments.
“Our crews have been out here talking to the people living in the encampments. They know we are not just trying to move them just for the sake of moving them,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “We want to treat them with the dignity and respect they rightfully deserve. Just because you are homeless doesn’t mean you need to be living in unsanitary conditions.”
“Managing public health while mitigating community spread of COVID-19 is a critical pandemic response mission of the Solid Waste Management Department. Our workers understand the importance of their role and duties to maintain a safe and healthy city for all residents, regardless of their life status,” said Solid Waster Director Harry Hayes.”Just as in other disaster response and recovery missions, Solid Waste Management employees are on the front line providing critical public services.”
“Improving the sanitation at these locations is just part of our multi-prong response to prevent the communal spread of COVID-19 within and outside of our at-risk, homeless population, including the distribution of masks and sanitation supplies, placement of handwashing stations, a specialized homeless testing program, and an overnight facility for those who need to quarantine or isolate and lack the means to do so,” said Marc Eichenbaum, Special Assistant to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives.
The City plans to continue the COVID-19 cleanups through the end of the year. However, Mayor Turner stressed that his primary goal is to provide permanent housing for people living on Houston streets.
“Over a month ago, we announced a $65 million partnership with the county to house about 5,000 people over the next two years. We plan to transition some of the homeless people on our streets now and put them into permanent supportive housing,” said Mayor Turner.
Though the Rockets could only put a timetable on when they will next evaluate Russell Westbrook’s strained quadriceps muscle, the expectation is that he will be out for the first few games of next week’s playoff series and possibly longer, a person with knowledge of the team’s thinking said on Thursday.
Westbrook was ruled out of Friday’s final seeding game against the Philadelphia 76ers after waking up sore on Wednesday, a day after returning from the injury, and undergoing an MRI.
Westbrook had not had any trouble with the injury during Tuesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs or immediately after, according to the individual familiar with the process so far.
Westbrook had said after that game he was confident he would play on Friday and with the weekend’s practices, have enough time to be at full strength for the start of the playoffs Monday or Tuesday.
The MRI, however, indicated a strain that will need enough time that the Rockets will prepare for the start of their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook’s former team, as if he will initially be out.
“We’ll see how he responds,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said after Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. “We’ll just see next week.”
Westbrook is averaging 27.2 points per game, making a career-best 47.2 percent of his shots. After a slow start while adjusting to his role in the Rockets’ offense and coming off off-season knee surgery, he averaged 30.6 points per game on 51.5 percent shooting, adding 7.9 rebounds and seven assists in those 27 games.
His arrival to the NBA’s campus in Florida was delayed because of a case of COVID-19, but he played in three games before going out with the thigh strain. He played 26 minutes on Tuesday and was scheduled to sit out the second half of a back-to-back before the MRI showed he would have to be out for Friday, too, and likely for longer.
Get outside and help beautify Buffalo Bayou! Volunteers are invited to help care for the parks and trails along the waterway with tasks like weeding, mulching, and picking up trash. Below are current opportunities with additional safety measures in place.
Check out the Volunteer page for more information or email Steve Parker, Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@buffalobayou.org to get involved. Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s 2020 Volunteer Program is generously supported by Enbridge.
Learn more about BBP through recordings of our first online presentation series
Last month, we launched our inaugural online series Deeper Dive with BBP. The three live webinars took a closer look at the history of Buffalo Bayou Partnership, upcoming plans along Houston’s historic waterway, and the thoughtful and engaging public art that enhances the visitor experience. Deeper Dive was hosted by BBP leaders including Anne Olson, President; Jose Solis, Project Manager; Karen Farber, Vice President of External Affairs; and Judy Nyquist, Board Member and Public Art and Programming Committee Co-Chair. We invite you to watch the recordings and dive deeper into BBP. Look out for more Deeper Dives coming soon!
The Visitor Center at The Water Works (105 Sabine Street) is now open daily from 10am-6pm.
Johnny Steele Dog park is now open daily from 7am to 8pm.
Gracias por visitarnos, este artículo contiene la revista digital de ¡Que Onda Magazine! de fecha 13 de agosto hasta el 19 de agosto del 2020.
METRO has received confirmation a bus operator and a bus repairman have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of cases to 180 METRO employees and 51 contractors since March 2020.
Eighty-three of the employees had no contact with the public. METRO tracks and reports all positive cases among its 4200 employees and the various contractors who provide services to METRO. We are also conducting temperature checks of employees and others before they begin their workday at METRO facilities or on our vehicles.
The bus operator last worked Aug. 6 and in the two weeks prior, drove the following routes:
*The chart above reflects the days the operator was on duty two weeks prior to the last day on the job.
The bus repairman last worked July 24 and had no contact with the public.
Anyone who comes in contact with an individual who tests positive should monitor themselves for possible symptoms, contact your health care provider as soon as you develop any symptoms, and self-isolate to avoid possibly exposing others, including refraining from using public transportation.
METRO is working with public health officials so they can identify and notify anyone who traveled the routes driven by the bus operator during those time frames as well as anyone else who may have been impacted by the latest positive cases.
Since mid-March, METRO has sought to minimize the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission by operators or passengers by encouraging social distancing. On March 23, the agency temporarily suspended collecting fares to avoid unnecessary contacts. Shortly thereafter, orange mesh fencing was installed across the aisles of every local bus to assure appropriate distancing between operators and passengers.
More safety upgrades are also being added to buses, trains and METROLift vehicles. Operators and riders will now have access to hand sanitizer while on board and protective shields around drivers’ seats will provide another layer of separation between operators and the public. Operators and riders are required to wear a face covering while on the system.
We appreciate and greatly value our riders. We have taken many actions, including working with the community at large, to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19. To prevent or minimize its transmission on the transit system, METRO asks all riders to use the system only for essential trips at this time, practice social distancing when you do ride transit (i.e., stand or sit at least 6 feet apart, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, wash your hands for 20 seconds before boarding transit and after deboarding, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, or cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and stay home if you are sick). Additionally, riders should stand or sit no closer than six feet behind the driver.
METRO’s number one priority is protecting the health and safety of our customers, community and employees.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) is the region’s largest public transit provider, offering safe, reliable and affordable transportation services about 370,000 times per day. Besides operating more than 1,200 buses on METRO’s network, METRORail‘s system includes the Red Line (Main Street and Northline), Green Line (East End) and Purple Line (Southeast). METRO’s services also include: STAR Vanpool, METROLift, HOV/HOT lanes, Bike & Ride program, Park & Ride, and road improvement projects. Learn more about METRO services at ridemetro.org where you will also find useful tools like the RideMETRO app where you can plan your trip and even pay your fare from your phone.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday will unveil the county’s guidance for school reopenings, recommending based on a handful of COVID-19 metrics that schools offer only virtual instruction in the coming weeks until the virus is further curbed.
County officials are issuing the guidance as families and education officials continue to grapple with the idea of resuming in-person classes in the coming weeks, and after Gov. Greg Abbott barred local officials from ordering campus shutdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Under the non-binding guidance, Hidalgo and county health officials will recommend that school districts offer only virtual instruction as long as Harris County, across a 14-day span, records more than 400 new COVID-19 cases per day, remains above a 5 percent test positivity rate or continues to devote more than 15 percent of hospital beds to COVID-19 patients.
School districts are advised to reopen with reduced capacity as those metrics improve and Harris County hospitals see a 14-day average decrease in their general and intensive care unit bed populations. At that point, school officials can consult with Harris County Public Health officials on their plans to reopen.
Harris County officials are recommending schools remain closed longer than some other organizations.
Researchers at Harvard’s Global Health Institute recommended that schools could begin to partially reopen once daily case counts total about 25 per 100,000 residents — a metric that El Paso’s health authority, Hector Ocaranza, followed in issuing his campus reopening guidelines.
Harris County’s metric recommends starting to reopen only once daily case counts reach about 8.5 per 100,000 residents.
Hidalgo and county health officials are set to roll out the guidance, which they are billing as a “roadmap to reopening schools,” at a 2 p.m. news conference. The metrics will be presented using the county’s existing COVID-19 “threat level system” — a color-coded mechanism the county is using to advise residents on the severity of the pandemic — and are based in part on models used in other states and countries, according to a draft of the roadmap.
Harris County has remained at the worst threat level since late June. Across the last 14 days, the county has averaged 529 cases per day outside Houston and more than 1,400 overall, while COVID-19 patients through Tuesday made up 32 percent of intensive care unit beds across the county. Just 13 percent of general beds are being used by COVID-19 patients, though the county guidance recommends that both general and ICU bed usage fall below the 15 percent mark.
County officials have not yet publicly released the rate of COVID-19 tests coming back positive, though the Houston Health Department and Texas Medical Center on Monday reported positivity rates of 14.6 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. The city’s 14-day average has continued to decline since peaking at nearly 30 percent in early July, but remains above the county roadmap’s 5 percent threshold.
Hidalgo and Umair Shah, the director of Harris County’s public health department, lack the authority to order compliance with the roadmap before the school year begins. Abbott said July 31 that local school boards and state education officials can limit the reopening of buildings in the first eight weeks of the school year, but county officials may not shut down campuses preemptively.
The governor said local health authorities may shut down campuses in response to confirmed outbreaks in a building, but Texas Education Agency leaders said public school districts risk losing state funding if schools remain closed for longer than five days.
Once conditions improve, the county roadmap advises that school districts can reopen at 25 percent capacity or 500 students, whichever is lower. They can increase to 50 percent or 1,000 students when the county reaches even lower levels, before returning to regular in-person levels at the fourth and final level.
The roadmap states that the county must see a decrease in all four metrics — daily cases, positivity rate, hospital usage rate and hospital population — before moving to the next reopening phase.
“If any one of these indicators is not at a satisfactory level, our ability to manage the virus’s impact on our community is diminished,” the roadmap states. “For example, if disease transmission indicators are at lower levels but our COVID-19 hospital population is high, we must continue to maintain preventative measures to ensure that reopening schools does not overwhelm the healthcare system.”
The roadmap also encourages superintendents, upon reopening, to prioritize in-person learning for students with disabilities or “significant academic gaps,” those experiencing homelessness, or those in state-run protective daycare or who live in low-income households without reliable internet, among other groups.
Nearly all Harris County school districts are scheduled to remain closed or employ online-only classes through at least Labor Day. However, a few outliers remain on track to welcome back some students in the next few weeks.
Humble ISD is scheduled to begin limited in-person classes on Monday, allowing students receiving special education services to return. The district will allow all elementary school students to resume face-to-face instruction on Aug. 24, while middle and high school students will return for part of the week and continue online classes for the remaining time.
Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen has noted that the district’s corner of northeast Harris County is reporting fewer confirmed cases than other local areas. County officials alluded to this argument in the reopening roadmap, writing that “hotspots anywhere in Harris County impact our ability to manage the virus’s impact everywhere.”
Clear Creek ISD will host in-person classes beginning Aug. 31 for about 10,000 of its 42,000-plus students. The rest of the district will resume face-to-face classes on Sept. 14.
All public school families can choose to remain in virtual-only classes indefinitely. Districts can require staff members to return to work in-person, though employees can receive accommodations through the Americans with Disabilities Act and other workplace laws.
Astros hitting coach Alex Cintrón received a 20-game suspension for his actions toward A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano during Sunday’s benches-clearing melee in Oakland. Laureano, who charged the Astros bench after being provoked by Cintrón, was suspended six games by Major League Baseball.
Cintrón’s suspension is believed to be the longest issued to any major league coach and the longest for any on-field incident in at least 30 years. Reds manager Pete Rose was suspended 30 games in 1988 after bumping an umpire while arguing a call.
Laureano is appealing his suspension. Cintrón’s discipline is effective immediately.
The suspensions are steep due to the teams’ blatant violations of Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols. The 2020 operations manual prohibits fighting and instigating fighting, threatening “severe discipline consistent with past precedent.” Players from both sides pushed and shoved on Sunday, but no punches were visible on television replay.
Cintrón was suspended for “his role in inciting and escalating the conflict between the two clubs,” according to Major League Baseball’s announcement.After a disastrous weekend in Oakland. Houston Chronicle columnists Jerome Solomon and Brian T. Smith discuss the state of the Astros, how they can get out of their funk and the thin margin for error manager Dusty Baker and his team have these days.Video: Houston Chronicle
Last month, Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly received an eight-game ban for throwing at Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman and taunting the Astros as he exited the field. Baker received a fine for that incident, too, because his players left the bench and disobeyed the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
Baker was ejected a half-inning before Sunday’s brawl occurred. Cintrón was not made available to reporters despite numerous requests. Laureano told reporters that Cintrón insulted his mother during their argument, provoking him to run toward the dugout.
“Although I never referenced Ramon’s mother, my actions were inappropriate,” Cintrón said in a statement on Tuesday. “I apologize for my part in Sunday’s unfortunate incident. As coaches, we are held to a higher standard and should be an example to the players. Hopefully, other coaches will learn from my mistake so that this never happens again in the future.”
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