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In Other News: Post-Election Edition

November 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge defensive back Germod Williams makes the news for his athletic talents, but it's the As and Bs that he makes in school that will take him far. Photo courtesy of Jim Eastin.

Lots of stuff happens every day in our community, and we don’t have the staff to cover everything. And sometimes we don’t even hear about it here at Oak Ridge Now until we read it somewhere else. But you might not have heard about it either, so we once again bring you another edition of In Other News.

I am positive – absolutely positive – that everyone is happy that election season is behind us. We live in a conservative, Republican-dominated community, and last week nobody running against a GOP candidate received more than 22% of the vote in Montgomery County (congratulations to you, Bryan Cambrice, candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3, for garnering the most votes, percentage-wise for the Democrats).

School Board elections, however, are non-partisan, and the race for Conroe ISD Trustee Position 7 was a bit closer. Former Oak Ridge High School teacher Jessica Powell prevailed over incumbent Joe Michels, beating him by over 8,000 votes 59% to 41%.

Mrs. Powell currently works as an instructional technology specialist for Huntsville ISD. Mr. Michels, the former mayor of Oak Ridge North, was originally appointed to the seat in July, 2011, following the retirement of Gerald Irons, Sr.

Oak Ridge North is moving forward with it’s sewer and water pipe rehab project. We all anxiously await the day when the construction is complete on Robinson Road.

Living Magazine ran a nice article on the War Eagle Band in preparation for the trip to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Somehow they forgot to mention Oak Ridge High School band director Jack Allen, but hey, anytime we get recognized in a glossy magazine, we shouldn’t complain.

There was a lot to glean from the ORHS Aerial View newspaper this past week. The War Eagle swim and dive team hosted their third annual Breast Stroke for Breast Cancer Swim-a-thon last Friday, in hopes of reaching this year’s goal of raising $7,000 to fight breast cancer. Over the past two years this event has raised $11,000. Wow.

The Aerial View also had features on four standout students:

  • Senior defensive back Germod Williams, who is sorting out offers from various universities, including Rice and Northwestern. That’s what happens when you excel at both football and academics.
  • Freshman QB Braden Letney, who made a huge leap from the freshman team to quarterbacking the varsity team in a competitive 5A district. And did it really well.
  • Junior Nathan England who, as part of an Eagle scout project,  raised $6,000 this summer selling sausage in front of Wal Mart and Home Depot, and used the money to buy the materials to build a gazebo for Bridgewood Farms. He then spent the rest of the summer building the gazebo. Outfreakingstanding.
  • Makenna Spencer, Senior class president, Colonel on the Liberty Belles, National Honor Society member, National Dance Solo champion, Homecoming Queen, and devoted Christian. If you told me she was working on a cure for the common cold and has a plan to solve the European debt crisis, I would believe you.

Finally, Impactnews takes a look at Compadres Texas Cafe, in the same building as Simon’s Barber Shop on Hanna Road, and its menu of vintage Tex-Mex selections. We recommend the chicken-fried anything.

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In Other News: Kirkland’s Is Here Edition

November 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of kirklands.com

Lots of stuff happens every day in our community, and we don’t have the staff to cover everything. And sometimes we don’t even hear about it here at Oak Ridge Now until we read it somewhere else. But you might not have heard about it either, so we once again bring you another edition of In Other News.

It looks like the most important thing to happen in our area over the past week or so, at least in my wife’s estimation, is that Kirkland’s has finally opened in Wood Ridge Plaza on I-45. It is where the Lone Star Scrapbook store (whose mention is customarily followed by a moment of silence in my house) used to be. They opened just in time for the holiday decorating and holiday shopping seasons. My guess is that some stuff is already on sale, so be sure to go get your Kirkland’s on.

This pales in comparison to the big Kirkland’s news, but I have also heard we’re having a pretty big election next Tuesday. The Villager reports that nearly 472,000 residents are registered to vote in Montgomery County. The article also lists all the forms of ID permissible to bring to your polling place (the voter ID measures passed by the Texas Legislature are currently under review by federal courts) if you don’t have your driver’s license or voter registration card. Yes, a copy of your utility bill will do just fine. On a side note – 472,000! – how many of you remember when Conroe and The Woodlands, the two largest population centers in the county at the time,  each contained less than 30,000 residents?

Of those 472,000, over 122,00 folks have already cast their ballots in early voting, which closed yesterday. If you have yet to vote, be sure to exercise that right this coming Tuesday. No matter if we are not a swing state. No matter if the Senate race is projected to be a landslide. No matter if many folks are running unopposed. The right to vote has been denied to so many people in so many places over the years, and so many people have died fighting for us to have that right today. Vote.

A man was electrocuted and killed last week while allegedly trying to steal copper wire from an electrical substation on I-45 just north of Rayford. There are a number of pithy things that could be said here, but the man was somebody’s son, and possibly somebody’s brother, father, or friend. Our prayers go out to his family.

The dedication ceremony for Irons Jr. High School took place last week. The school’s namesake, Gerald D. Irons, Sr., was on hand to take part in the festivities. Irons served on the Conroe ISD School Board for 21 years. He credited his parents for instilling a strong work ethic in his youth and stressing the importance of education. “If you work hard and you study hard, you can accomplish your dreams,” Irons said. “You always win when you never quit.”

Commuting from our area to Houston has never been easy. I-45 has been under construction somewhere for the better part of the last 30 years. The Houston-Galveston Area Council, the Texas Department of Transportation, and Federeal Highway Administration are looking into possible long-term solutions to alleviate traffic congestion along I-45. Short-term, the existing HOV lane will be extended from 1960 to Conroe, and the Grand Parkway may possibly take some traffic. Long term possibilities include high-speed passenger rail (we’ve all heard that off and on for 30 years), making a section of the freeway elevated (double-decker style) and building a tunnel under I-45. Because, you know, flooding is never an issue.

Photo courtesy of Betty Lynne

The Oak Ridge High school Air Force Junior ROTC Booster Club is conducting its annual poinsettia sale. You can purchase one four different colors of poinsettias for $12.00 apiece (order form at the bottom). Proceeds from the sale go to fund scholarships for graduating seniors. Hurry and get yours, because the deadline is next Tuesday, November 6.

Finally, this week’s restaurant report showed Pizza Hut on I-45 and Babin’s pass their inspections with flying colors. Popeye’s on I-45 north of 242, not so much – three demerits for inaccessible hand wash facilities. Yes, we all love that chicken at Popeye’s. We’d love it more if the employees are able to wash their hands there once in a while.

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In Other News: Flyover Edition

October 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge's Makenna Spencer is featured on Channel 39's Newsfix program as a Class Act.

Lots of stuff happens every day in our community, and we don’t have the staff to cover everything. And sometimes we don’t even hear about it here at Oak Ridge Now until we read it somewhere else. But you might not have heard about it either, so we once again bring you another edition of In Other News.

We’ve had a surprisingly crime-free couple of weeks in our area. Oh, I am sure there were some crimes committed – they just were not major enough to make any of the police blotters. We did have some governmental feather ruffling, however, and the associated resolutions and carefully worded statements to the press.

The big topic the last couple of weeks has been the proposed “flyover” – an overpass exit from I-45 to Research Forest Drive intended to alleviate congestion at the current intersection of the I-45 feeder road and Research Forest. If you’ve spent any time at 6:00 pm at that intersection on a hot summer day with a broken air conditioner, you can well understand why a better traffic solution here is desired.

A proposed project to build the flyover was submitted to the Houston Galveston Area Council, who has about $400M available for area transportation projects. The project was one of three, totaling an estimated $15M, submitted by The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1.

Robert Heineman, vice president of planning for The Woodlands Development Company, claimed there was no time to consult with the City of Oak Ridge North or the City of Shenandoah before submitting the projects.

That apparently means that the ten minutes for a couple of phone calls was just going to be too much, and would delay getting the proposal delivered in the required time frame. Perhaps they learned about the proposal the morning of the deadline, wrote up something on the back of a napkin (or built a small model constructed of straws, toothpicks and sugar packets), and got it submitted just in time.

My favorite quote from the article was, “the flyover would not have a negative effect on the shopping areas in Oak Ridge North along Interstate 45. In fact, he said it could help by freeing up the access roads allowing shoppers easier access to the businesses.” Because, you know, nobody ever goes to Baker Street or Salt Grass any more because of the traffic.

After resolutions by the the city councils in Oak Ridge North and Shenandoah to oppose the project as submitted, members of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors amended their previous resolution supporting the flyover to indicate support for a mutually-agreed upon traffic solution (but not necessarily a flyover).

So what other solutions are really viable? I mean, a flyover would take passing traffic away from Red Robin and Lupe Tortilla and the other places along I-45 that people might pass up going home from Houston to The Woodlands. I’m not sure a flyover alone would put those places out of business, but it could surely affect their bottom lines. But what else could they do? You’d have to wipe out Home Depot’s parking lot to put in place a 270 degree circle exit like they have at Lake Woodlands going to the mall. You could employ traffic cops during peak traffic times at that intersection, but is that really feasible? And how much would it ultimately speed things up? What other solutions could there be?

Also note that while the Woodlands Township BoD approved a resolution to find an acceptable solution, nobody has rescinded the original proposal from the HGAC. Maybe they’ll amend it, but I suspect they’ll run out of time. In the end we’ll either have a flyover or the HGAC will look at the objections and simply fund a project somewhere else. And sitting at that intersection on a hot afternoon will still be no fun.

In other government silliness, James Noack, the Republican nominee for Precinct 3 commissioner, surely made a fine impression upon the folks he wants to work with in the future. He asked that the county commissioners limit current Precinct 3 commissioner Ed Chance’s spending to 25% of his annual budget, and require commissioner’s court approval for anything above that amount.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Mike Meador responded, “[Ed Chance has] been there 25 years. To me, it’s an insult. He’s professional and dedicated. I could see it if he was a longtime incumbent and got beat and was pissed off. He’s a tremendous commissioner and an asset to Montgomery County. That was pointed at Commissioner Chance. I wouldn’t vote that.”

Mr. Noack apparently will learn that governing is not as easy as getting elected. You have to actually work with other people, and compromise when necessary. Good luck getting your own pet projects approved by the people you’ve pissed off before even getting elected, Mr. Noack.

Luckily, the City of Oak Ridge North seems to take a little more care in making difficult decisions. They announced they’d have to increase the rates for water and sewage services due to the replacement of outdated infrastructure, but they also were able to hold the line on monthly garbage pickup fees. They considered all the possibilities, and came up with an innovative solution, keeping in mind the needs of their residents. That’s the way local government is supposed to work.

We’ve been covering Oak Ridge High School sports fairly closely this fall, but it’s always good to take a look what other folks are saying about our War Eagles. Glenn Sattell of Woodlands Online, who has been covering South County sports for over 20 years now, has a nice article and pictures on the War Eagles’ win over College Park. The Villager also has a story and a few pics from the big game. Earlier the ORHS Aerial View ran story on how difficult it is to fight through a losing season.

Woodlands Online ran a story and photos of the Lady Ware Eagles’ loss to the Cavaliers last Friday. That loss notwithstanding, the Aerial View chimes in with some reasons why the ORHS volleyball team is really having a good season. Finally in sports, the Aerial View gives us a pre-season preview of the Oak Ridge High School swim team, whose first meet comes this week.

Channel 39′s Newsfix ran a nice interview with Oak Ridge High School’s Makenna Spencer for its weekly Class Act segment. We agree with them that Makenna’s a class act, and will have our own feature story on her in the coming weeks.

Milstead Automotive will be hosting a Fall Classic Car Show on October 20th, with all proceeds going to Montgomery County Youth Services. Meanwhile, Benders Landing Estates hosted its inaugural Live Well Give Well Project land sales event on Sept. 22, and was able to raise $8,000 for the Montgomery County Women’s Center. Also, throughout the month of October, Lone Star College-Montgomery is partnering with the Conroe Noon Lions Club to collect old or used eyeglasses, lens, frames, and even cell phones in buckets placed on campus As part of the “Lions Recycle for Sight” initiative, the Lions Club will take the donations to recycle or distribute to needy people locally and overseas at no charge. Nice work on all accounts, folks.

Speaking of Lone Star College, tomorrow night they will be presenting a jazz concert featuring unforgettable love songs. No word yet on whether or not The Partridge Family’s “I Think I Love You” will be included. If jazz is not your thing, maybe the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival is. The annual festival goes on this weekend, Friday the 12th through Sunday the 14th. Good entertainment, food, fun, carnival rides, and of course, catfish will highlight the festivities. Note that you’ll probably want to go Friday night (no football game) or Sunday (after church) so you can save Saturday for Oak Ridge’s own Nest Fest.

Finally this week, The Villager has a story about Gooses Acre, a nice little pub in Waterway Square. You should check it out. I personally recommend the fish and chips or the Monte Cristo. Make sure you ask for Kiel to be your waiter. And tip him well — our family could use the extra money.

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Brighton Helping To Fight Breast Cancer Throughout October

October 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Breast Cancer Charities of America (BCCA) has been selected as The Woodlands Brighton Collectibles Power of Pink charity for this year.  BCCA’s Help Now Fund that provides housing and utility monies for patients undergoing treatment will receive $10 from each Power of Pink bracelet sold in The Woodlands Mall Brighton Collectibles store during the month of October.

Also, 10% of sales of additional products purchased along with a Power of Pink bracelet during the launch days this Friday and Saturday will be donated to the charity.  Brighton’s founder, Jerry Kohl has donated more than $4.5 million to breast cancer charities in the past decade.  This is Brighton’s 10th year of creating a limited edition Power of Pink bracelet to raise charitable funds.

The Unmasking Breast Cancer Masquerade Gala, which is BCCA’s largest annual fundraiser, will be Friday, Oct. 26 at The Marriott Woodlands Waterway.  Guests are encouraged to wear hot pink and a mask. For more information or to purchase tickets for the gala, visit www.UnmaskingBreastCancer.com.

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In Other News: Bomb Threat Edition

September 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

Lots of stuff happens every day in our community, and we don’t have the staff to cover everything. And sometimes we don’t even hear about it here at Oak Ridge Now until we read it somewhere else. But you might not have heard about it either, so we once again bring you another edition of In Other News.

The biggest news in our community this week: there was a bomb threat Wednesday morning at Oak Ridge High School. This comes on the heels of similar threats at the University of Texas and LSU. The school was evacuated and students cooled their heels in the parking lot until administrators, CISD police and other authorities could sweep the school for explosive devices. As in the other bomb threats, no bombs were found. In this particular case, however, the two students who phoned in the bomb threat were indeed found, and are now facing felony charges.

Of course, our school leaders have to treat every threat seriously, in order to ensure the safety of our kids. It’s difficult to be too cautious when students’ and teachers’ lives are potentially at risk.

There was plenty of other criminal activity happening in our little corner of the world this past week. Early this morning a man was killed at the ironically named Good Fortune Club on I-45 just south of Sawdust. The accused murderer was apprehended at one of the Shell stations on I-45 and Sawdust at about 10:30 am.

Office Depot on I-45 in South County was robbed Friday. The suspects got away in a blue Mustang they have borrowed from a Ford dealer for a test drive. They made it all the way to Loop 336 south of Conroe before County Constables, CISD police and Oak Ridge North Police caught up with them. We suspect they were able to avoid the whole, “Let me talk to my sales manager” price haggling on the Mustang.

Two motorcyclist attempted to flee police early Friday morning, but it didn’t end well for them. One was stopped in Oak Ridge North, and the other was launched from his motorcycle at Richards and Rayford. He was not wearing a helmet. Earlier in the week, on Wednesday around lunch time a man attempted to flee police during a traffic stop on I-45 south of 242. He ran across the freeway, into the woods, and was found a couple of hours later.

In items not involving any perpetrators, a couple of new businesses opened in our area recently.The French Courtyard Consignment House on Robinson Road features high quality antiques and new furniture. The aptly-named Cupcake Shack (literally a little blue shack under a big Milstead sign on Rayford Road) also opened, serving, you guess it, cupcakes, along with coffee, sticky buns, breakfast tacos and other items. I have heard rave reviews about this place. Be sure to stop by both of these places, and continue to support our local businesses.

The Thyme Square strip center at the corner of Riley Fuzzel and Birnham Woods also recently opened, featuring a mailbox/shipping place, a little grocery store, and Southern Maid Donuts. Rumor also has it that panini place will be opening up next to the Cupcake Shack in a few weeks.

Rico’s Mexican Grill is having a fish fry this afternoon at Tamina Park, with all the proceeds benefiting Children’s Books on Wheels. Always nice to see local businesses giving back to the community. I doubt that I have to do much convince most of you to frequent Rico’s of our way of saying thank you.

Woodlands Online ran a story and some nice photos of the ORHS volleyball team’s 5-game victory over Conroe.

Finally, not much to report in this week’s Restaurant Report. It is good to see, though, that both Tom Cox Intermediate and York Junior High made it through their inspections with flying colors.

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Repairs On and Along Robinson Road Underway

September 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Driving Robinson Road in the next couple of months? Be prepared for delays and detours, as some much-needed repairs are underway.

Lane closures and detours along the stretch of Robinson Road just west of Hanna Road in the City of Oak Ridge North are expected to accommodate repairs to the road surface and utilities. Officials from the Oak Ridge North are working closely with engineers and contractors to minimize the impact to residents, businesses and travelers along this thoroughfare.

Phase One of the project include repairs to the road surface immediately in front of Oak Ridge North City Hall at 27424 Robinson Road. Work began on Tuesday and through Monday, September 17, 2012, the westbound lane of Robinson Road is closed from city hall to Hanna Road. The eastbound lane remain open with intermittent delays between the hours of 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The detour route for westbound traffic is: north on Hanna Road to Woodson Road, west on Woodson Road to Blueberry Hill Drive, south on Blueberry Hill Drive back to Robinson Road. This closure will not impact the driveways of any businesses as they are all west of the planned closure.

Phase Two of the project will be repairs to water and sewer lines along Robinson Road east of Maplewood Drive. This portion of the project will run from September 17, 2012 – November 5, 2012. There will be intermittent delays throughout the construction zone during this time with periodic lane closures. The construction zone will include all of Robinson Road between Maplewood Drive and Hanna Road. The potential for additional detours exists.

Updates on construction and lane closures may be found at www.oakridgenorth.com and www.facebook.com/oakridgenorth. Again, all businesses remain open during this construction. The city requests your cooperation as you use caution traveling through this area to safeguard workers in the construction zone.

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Hot August Night Turns Out Pretty Cool

August 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The annual Bender’s Landing Car Show took place Saturday night outside the Clubhouse in Bender’s Landing Estates. This year’s theme was a “Hot August Night”, an homage to the iconic 1972 Neil Diamond live album of the same name. The rains and clouds had other ideas, however, mercifully cooling the evening down before the show got underway.

Bender’s Landing residents enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers and bratwurst while checking out nearly 30 vehicles in the Clubhouse parking lot and listening to Chuck Sheldon’s car-song playlist. The event was generously sponsored by Milstead Automative, Christian Brothers Automotive, and Red Tub Car Wash.

Pictured below are some of the vehicles featured in the show. 

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Palin Jabs at Perry While Rallying for Cruz

July 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, stopped by Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands after Friday's rally. Photo courtesy of Sarah Palin / Facebook.

Standing on a stage in the middle of a park facing a crowd of more than a thousand supporters of former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin smiled and pointed at the black boots on her feet.

“You know who gave me these boots?” she asked sweetly. “Your governor.”

The crowd cheered. Then Palin delivered the punch line.

“At least in that one case he made a good decision,” she said.

It was the most overt reference to what has emerged as the dividing line in this intense July 31 Republican runoff to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring.

A large swath of Republican leaders in state government are backing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, while a bevy of the country’s most well-known conservatives are rallying around Cruz.

The two factions have traditionally been on the same side. Palin even spoke at a similar rally in favor of Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election bid in 2010.

Now members from each side are openly dismissing each other as politically irrelevant in Texas.

Sarah Palin's gift from Rick Perry. Photo courtesy of Dr. Melissa Clouthier via Twitter.

As the laughter subsided, Palin qualified her jab at Perry, who is backing Dewhurst, by adding, “We’ll be a team after this is all over again.”

Other speakers at the rally reinforced the notion, insinuated by Palin, that those opposed to a Cruz victory in the runoff were also at odds with the Tea Party movement as a whole.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican and a Tea Party favorite, listed Senate race upsets of the past two years, including the victories of Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida.

“We the people have taken back our government and you’re seeing it in this election too. … The establishment picked their candidate — Austin, Washington. It was a done deal,” said DeMint, who predicted a “landslide victory” for Cruz that could only have happened under “the new political reality.”

Cruz spent most of his speech criticizing President Barack Obama but briefly referenced Dewhurst.

“My opponent thinks a big, big checkbook can buy this race,” Cruz said. “Let me tell you, nobody is going to buy this U.S. Senate seat. This race has been a testament to the power of grassroots.”

Hours before the rally, the Dewhurst campaign released an endorsement letter signed by 18 of the Texas Senate’s 19 Republican members. The letter described Dewhurst as “the right conservative to bring the Texas model to Washington, and get America back to work.” The campaign also released a new web video called “Welcome to Texas” that highlights Dewhurst’s record, and spokesman Enrique Marquez issued a statement accusing “Washington insiders” of coming to Texas to “rewrite Texas’ history of conservative values and principles.”

While many attendees at the Cruz rally said they prefer how the Texas government is run compared to the federal government, no endorsement could get them to strongly link Dewhurst to the state’s success.

David Maudlin, from the town of Cut and Shoot, called Texas “a solid state” but remained suspect of Dewhurst’s role in keeping it that way.

“I think he’s been in a good position to take credit, but he hasn’t really effected the change,” Maudlin said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-people/ted-cruz/palin-jabs-perry-while-rallying-cruz/.

Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

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South County Mosquitoes Test Positive for West Nile Virus

June 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

Photo courtesy of Sean McCann

The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a sample of mosquitoes in South Montgomery County has tested positive for the West Nile Virus, according to a press release on The Woodlands Township’s website.

The release states the TDSHS found a sample which tested positive at a surveillance site in South County and The Woodlands Township/Montgomery County Mosquito Abatement team launched the TDSHS recommended protocol that includes larviciding, spraying of select storm drains and targeted street spraying. Additional surveillance will be conducted.

No reports of human illness in Montgomery County have been filed with TDSHS at this time.
The TDSHS answers a number of questions about mosquitoes on its web site:
Where do mosquitoes breed?
A mosquito`s lifecycle has four stages -egg, larva, pupa and adult. All mosquitoes need water to breed and spend their larval and pupal stages in water. This is why it is important to prevent stagnant water from standing around your home.

How long does it take for mosquitoes to hatch after a flood?
Flood-water mosquitoes, which include some species of the Psorophora, Ochlerotatus and Aedes genera, lay eggs above the waterline in ditches, ponds, tanks and other places where water collects. The eggs can remain in dry conditions for several months. After floods or heavy rains when the water level rises, the eggs hatch and in a few days produce swarms of aggressive and hungry mosquitoes. Another wave of mosquitoes occurs later, typically 10 to 14 days after the rains stop. These mosquitoes are a big nuisance but rarely cause illnesses.

What about other types of mosquitoes?
Other kinds of mosquitoes, including the Culex genus, lay eggs on the standing water left by flooding or heavy rains. These mosquitoes may transmit viruses such as West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis or dengue fever.

Where are adult mosquitoes found?
Adult flying mosquitoes frequently rest in grass, shrubbery or other foliage.

How can mosquitoes be controlled around the home?
Get rid of standing water in which mosquitoes can breed. If there are any places around your home where water collects such as water-holding containers, house cooler drains and ponds, you may be raising mosquitoes.

What specific steps can people take to control mosquitoes outside a home?
Take the following steps to help cut down on the mosquito population:

  • Empty or get rid of cans, buckets, bottles, old tires, empty pots, plant saucers and other containers that hold water.
  • Keep gutters clear of debris and standing water. Remove standing water around structures and from flat roofs.
  • Change water in pet dishes at least once a day. Change water in wading pools and bird baths several times a week.
  • Fill in low areas in the yard and holes in trees that catch water.
  • Maintain your backyard pool or hot tub and be sure someone takes care of it if you are out of town.
  • Stock ornamental ponds with fish that eat mosquitoes.
  • Cover trash containers so they will not collect water.
  • Water lawns and gardens carefully so water does not stand for several days.
  • Repair any leaking plumbing and outside faucets.
  • Screen rain barrels and openings to water tanks or cisterns.
  • Keep drains and ditches clear of weeds and trash so water will not collect.

How can people keep mosquitoes out of the house?
Be sure door, porch and window screens are in good condition. Don’t leave doors standing open to let mosquitoes in the house.

How can people protect themselves from mosquito bites?
Cover as much skin as possible to reduce exposure to mosquito bites and use a recommended repellent on exposed skin every time you are outdoors. Mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing, so spray clothes with repellent containing permethrin for extra protection. Also, limit the amount of time you spend outdoors from dusk to dawn. These are times when those mosquitoes likely to carry infections are most active.

What do people need to look for in an insect repellent?
Use insect repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535. Always follow label directions. Store insect repellent at the front and back doors of your home and apply when you go outside. Keep extra repellent in outdoor areas such as patios and decks.

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In Other News: Dirty Politics Edition

May 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of James Steidl via iStockphoto

Lots of stuff happens every day in our community, and we don’t have the staff to cover everything. And sometimes we don’t even hear about it here at Oak Ridge Now until we read it somewhere else. But you might not have heard about it either, so we once again bring you another edition of In Other News.

Dirty local politics raised its ugly head again this past week, as a political consultant for Precinct 3 County Commissioner candidate James Noack has come under fire for bribery and intimidation tactics. Nice.

Please, please, please vote responsibly this week. Don’t just vote for who some Political Action Committee tells you to vote for. There are some terrific people running for office this year. As well as some not so terrific folks. Take the time to make an informed decision. All of us will thank you for it. Nearly 20,000 folks have already voted in early voting in Montgomery County.

In more uplifting news, Oak Ridge High School biology teacher donated a kidney to one of her infant daughters. The Lady War Eagle softball team made school history by being the first Oak Ridge softball team to advance to the area playoffs. And ORHS psychology teacher Josh Algaze, who has been at the school for four years, is leaving to become assistant principal of York Jr. High School.

There will be a big fireworks display Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, sponsored by Wells Fargo. There will also be free live music on The Woodlands Waterway from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm both nights.

The City of Oak Ridge North passed a zoning ordinance to allow the city to regulate alcohol-based businesses. Three clubs opened in the city in the past month, all along the I-45 feeder: Rebels Honkey Tonk, Club 303 and Brass Monkey. That appears to be making some folks nervous. Of course, Sam’s Boat, Jack’s Place, Boulevard and others have failed along that stretch in recent years, so there may be no cause for real concern.

ORN also tabled an ordinance designed to prevent ORHS students from parking in nearby residential areas, and then walking to school.

Speaking of restaurants in locations that never seem to work, The Couier has a review of Alda’s Cucina Italiana, located on the west I-45 feeder north of Research Forest, previously occupied by AlpenHaus and a short-lived Mexican restaurant.

Lone Star College graduated a school record 5,251 students earlier this month.  The College is holding auditions for a Peter Pan musical on Tuesday, May 29.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by Neil Hampton Robbins, who was convicted in 1999 of the 1998 murder of Tristen Rivet, the 17-month-old daughter of Robbins’ live-in girlfriend, at the couple’s home in the Fox Run subdivision in Spring. Robbins was sentenced to life imprisonment.

State budget cuts have claimed another worthwhile program. The annual Shots Across Texas event, offering free or low-cost vaccines to hundreds of families in Montgomery County, has been discontinued.

The Texas Department of State Health Services stated in a letter that the change was made because of “recent fiscal reductions to both state and federal budgets and increased requirements for the federal Vaccines for Children program.

The Sadler Clinic, a mainstay in Montgomery County for as long as I can remember, has begun layoffs, expects more to come and is still leaving bankruptcy as a possible option. Sadler now has about 400 employees, down from about 700 employees several years ago.

Finally, a small, family-style assisted living center, Unlimited Care Assisted Living Cottages, has expanded. Unlimited Care cottages is located on Hannah Road in the Oak Ridge area.

 

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