The Associated Press is reporting that rising unemployment has contributed to the lowest Mexican immigration levels in the US in a decade. Their info is from the Pew Hispanic Center. According to them, immigrants arriving from Mexico dropped by nearly 60% between March of 2008 and March of 2009. Dramatic.
For the full story, read the Houston Chronicle’s article.
Chick-Fil-A is giving away a free meal to any customer brave enough to come into one of their stores dressed as a cow. This memorable event is happening on July 10th nationwide, and is part of a series of events providing customers with an opportunity to win (among other things) a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond.
The Houston Business Journal reports that there are 35 Houston-area locations (with at least one in Pasadena and one in Clear Lake). I will be out of town on this date, or I’d be tempted to check out a Chick-Fil-A just to see if anyone comes by dressed as a cow. And I’d bring my camera.
The Houston Independent School District and their partner Connection Academy have opened up their virtual school program to students across Texas. Houston Business Journal reports that this will allow 1,000 students to enroll in the virtual school program for free.
Think tuition is high enough? It’s about to get higher for students at the University of Houston System. The Houston Business Journal is reporting that UH System is going to increase tuition 3.98% for fiscal year 2010. The good news? It’s the lowest percentage increase the school has made in a decade.
UH theatre school creates summer camp for Fifth Ward students
– Houston Business Journal
The University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance is introducing a theater curriculum for elementary school students in Houston’s Fifth Ward as part of a summer camp program.A two-year, $260,000 grant from the Houston Endowment — the school’s largest grant to date — helped kick off the camp, which introduces acting, puppetry, storytelling and dance under the guidance of UH teaching artists, including theater faculty and graduate students.
[snip]
Local teachers ‘go to work’ at Houston-area businesses
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
More than 200 teachers will shadow at 68 Houston-area businesses this week as part of the seventh annual Teacher Externship Week.The program, a collaboration between Houston A+ Challenge and the Greater Houston Partnership, pairs teachers with business professionals in an effort to help teachers develop lessons based on their experience that they can share with their students.
[snip]
Libraries Are America’s Lifelines. Leave Them Alone
– by Kenneth C. Davis, at Huffington.com
[snip]In case you haven’t heard, New York City’s public library systems — three separate library systems in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens — are once again under siege, on the chopping block, threatened with draconian cuts in the face of New York City’s Great Recession. (The cuts were outlined in an article in Library Journal.)
Library cuts in down times remind me of the classic line from Casablanca: “Round up the usual suspects.” The public library is always suspect Number One when it comes to municipal budget cuts. And as librarians everywhere know, this is not a fact in New York City alone.
Underlying this reality are two simple facts. First, libraries do not have a vocal, powerful constituency. Unlike the police, teachers and firemen, they don’t have a potent union or benevolent association. There is no “Library Lobby” doling out campaign contributions. But far worse, libraries tend to be viewed by all too many people in power as a luxury.
In many of these minds, the public library is stuck with an antiquated image of stern ladies shushing noisy kids, retirees borrowing the latest bestsellers and — more recently — homeless folk camping out in a heated corner. They are all clichés. And dumb ones at that.
[snip]
The public library is not just about borrowed books. It is about information — the great currency of our time. And the library has, by default, become the bridge in the digital divide because it offers free access to computers. Can you imagine in this digital day looking for a job, submitting a résumé or a college application, or searching for housing without your computer? For millions of people, the library is their laptop.
[snip]
Then there is education. The library is the crucial backstop to the educational system, far beyond the fundamental notion of being a “homework helper” for a school kid with a science project. From learning to read, or speak English, to having a decent place to do schoolwork or doing graduate research, the library is still a cornerstone of an educated, enlightened America.
[snip]
I just picked this up, a little late, off the Houston Chronicle’s Inside the Bay Area blog:
Are you wondering what the recent Chapter 11 filing by General Growth Properties Inc., –which owns Baybrook Mall,means to you?
Well, I shop there myself and have a daughter employed at one of their stores, so I care, too.
So, it was good to know there’s no reason to panic.
Lesley Cheers, corporate communications director for the company, issued this statement in an e-mail to me:
Our core business operations remain sound, stable, and profitable. Our operational model is not flawed and our properties are desirable and performing well — these are not the reasons we commenced these chapter 11 cases. Rather, it was the unprecedented disruption in the real estate finance markets and the need to refinance or extend maturing debt.
Good news, sort of.
FRIENDSWOOD ELECTION PREVIEW
Opinions differ on bond vote
– by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
The second proposition is for $6.5 million, of which $6 million would be spent for a new library at a yet-to-be-determined location in the city’s downtown area.
The remaining $500,000 would be used to turn the city’s existing 16,000-square-foot library at 416 S. Friendswood Drive into a community center for hosting events and meetings.
[snip]
I received this in my email from the city of Houston:
Information on the Swine Flu
The City ofHouston ’s Health and Human Services Department continues to monitor very closely developments surrounding an outbreak of Swine Flu inMexico and cases reported elsewhere in theUnited States . We are working with federal and state health officials to ensure prompt detection and appropriate responses. There are no known cases inSoutheast Texas at this time. Meanwhile, the best sources of information and advice on the Swine Flu and this occurrence include the following:
- The City of
Houston website, which will provide information specific toHouston and the area as warranted: http://www.houstontx.gov/health/swineflu.html
- The state Health Department’s website providing information about
Texas ‘ situation and response: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu/default.shtm
- The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website:
- The World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
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