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Community Corner

🌱 COVID Christmas + Firefighter Equal Pay

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Houston.

Chris Stomberg, Neighbor
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(Patch Media)

Wake up, Space City! It's me, Chris, your humble servant of the Houston Daily — coming right back at you with the plug on what's happening. Today, we'll look at:

  • COVID for the holidays.
  • A jazzy brunch event.
  • Prop B reaching the end of a long legal road.

But first, today's weather:

Sunshine and some clouds. High: 60 Low: 54.

Here are the top stories in Houston today:

  1. Texas Medical Center revealed statistics earlier this week that point towards another possible COVID wave hitting Houston this holiday season. Other parts of the country are currently seeing an increasing number of cases of COVID, influenza, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Thankfully, Houston's cases of influenza and RSV are plummeting after peaking earlier this year. Dr. Wesley Long, the medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, said, "At least for us, here in Houston, the story that's being written is we had this very early peak of flu and RSV and they're starting to come down. But then we're probably going to see a winter speed bump of COVID." (Houston Chronicle)
  2. Local jazz brass quintet ROCO is celebrating the winter season by hosting a Yuletide Brunch and Brass event tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. The event will take place at Houston Botanic Garden and tickets cost $75 for adults and $35 for children. Brunch, coffee, and mimosas will be served to attendees as they enjoy an eclectic set list collection of jazzy tunes including "Hanukkah Swing," "Twenty Carols in Two Minutes," a mashup of "Game of Thrones" and more. Members of the Houston Botanic Garden will receive a $10 discount on tickets. (Houston Press)
  3. TX Supreme Court will finally issue a ruling on the voter-approved mandate Proposition B which calls for firefighters to be paid the same as Houston police officers. Proposition B was approved by voters in 2018, but the police department as well as the city of Houston have fought to invalidate it ever since. City officials say that if the mandate succeeds, the city's finances will be in jeopardy resulting in problems delivering essential public services as well as layoffs. However, Firefighter Union Chief Marty Lancton said, "Every single step of the way we have said the will of the voters is what is right and should prevail, and I think what we saw today is the Justices asked the right questions and the end of the road is here." A ruling is set to be issued within the next 60 days. (FOX 26 Houston)
  4. Despite neighbors and residents repeatedly reporting an illegal dumping site in a Houston neighborhood, the site continues to grow in size. Residents of Sunnyside are at their wits end as furniture, carpet, shoes, old phones, mounds of trash, and food are starting to stink and attract flies. Local resident Terence Jefferson said, "(Monday), a guy had a trash can coming from whatever street he was on and came rolling right here and just dump it in the trash. (He said) 'Oh Mr. Jefferson, it's OK. It's OK.' No it's not!," He also says that he has been given case numbers and been promised that waste departments will handle the issue, but no one has showed so far. (KTRK-TV)
  5. A Houston area doctor is implementing a lung cancer screening program to help bring statistics down. Numbers from the American Cancer Care Society show that more people die of lung cancer than of breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. Dr. Houssam Oueini of Houston Methodist Baytown said, "We look at these scans to make sure we don't miss any precursors or early cancer. The majority of the time these are not cancer, but our job as physicians is to try to weed these out and make sure we don't miss the ones that are going to become cancer." The program is being expanded to their location in Katy and will eventually be offered at all Houston Methodist campuses. (KPRC Click2Houston)

Headlines you need to see:

  • County approves safety plan after Astroworld tragedy (Houston Public Media)
  • Best Buy opens new "Experience Store" in Sugarland, The Woodlands (Houston Chronicle)
  • Oil spill coats Louisiana canal in 3,500 gallons of used lubricant from Houston-based company, Coast Guard says (KPRC Click2Houston)
  • New boba tea shop coming soon to Friendswood (Community Impact Newspaper)
  • Texas neighbor kills dog: Only ABC13 Houston reports on Crosby family losing family pet to gunman across street (KTRK-TV)

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Today in Houston:

  • Cistern Illuminated at Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern (11 a.m.)
  • Arts Market at Houston Heights (11 a.m.)
  • Fitness: Pilates at Discovery Green (6 p.m.)
  • Film: Elf at Rooftop Cinema Club (6 p.m.)
  • Karaoke Thursdays at The Secret Group (10 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • José Abreu and the Houston Astros agreed to a three-year contract Monday. The team introduced Abreu during a news conference Tuesday. (KPRC2 / Click2Houston via Facebook)
  • Deshaun Watson may face protestors, including some of his accusers, and pointed questions when he returns to the field Sunday against the Texans. Watson was released from the Texans after controversial claims from many women about his inappropriate sexual behavior off the field, but he still plays as the quarterback of the Browns. (ABC13 Houston via Facebook)
  • Potentially lethal remote-controlled robots are coming into service for the San Francisco police department. Civil liberties and police oversight groups strongly disagreed with the new addition to the police arsenal which will mainly consist of robots equipped with explosives. (KHOU 11 News via Facebook)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Thursday! I'll see you tomorrow for the Friday low down. Hang in there, we're almost to the weekend.

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

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