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GettaClue

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  1. The Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) has issued its annual Honor Roll of public schools, The TBEC honor roll is unusual in that it gives accolades to schools which have higher commended rates on the TAKS than those schools with students of similar demographics. (Most other rankings just use the usual minimum passing rates.)

    This year, just 252 schools in all of Texas made this Honor Roll, which is less than 4% of all the schools in the state. LINK TO ENTIRE LIST

    CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD's TBEC HONOR ROLL SCHOOLS for 2010:

    HAMILTON ELEMENTARY received a score of 67 from the TBEC and had 51 percent of students performing at the commended level.

    SAMPSON ELEMENTARY received a score of 67 from the TBEC and had 49 percent of students performing at the commended level.

    MOORE ELEMENTARY received a score of 54 from the TBEC and had 39 percent of students performing at the commended level.

    GLEASON ELEMENTARY received a score of 50 from the TBEC and had 37 percent of students performing at the commended level.

  2. I saw an ad from Wienerschnitzel in the business section of today's Chronicle which reads "Wienerschnitzel is now offering new franchising opportunities in Houston." From what I hear, there hasn't been a Wienerschnitzel in Houston in 25-30 years.

    There was one in the Bear Creek area on N. Highway 6 just a few years ago. It was co-branded with a Church's Fried Chicken, right across the road from where the Rave movie theaters are now located..

    Church's is still there, but Wienerschnitzel isn;t. They were not a good fit with Church's, because chicken takes so much longer to cook. Their drive-thru and counter lines used to really tick people off who were just coming for a hot dog. I mean, you'd go there to order a Mustard Dog and a Chili Cheese Dog and you'd inevitably get behind some bozo who has ordered the 20 piece Family Pack o'Chicken with 8 side items. Your order which should have taken maybe 2 minutes tops wound up being a 30 minute frustration fest. It was ridiculous!. When JCI opened up the road in Copperfield, people started to go there instead, not because the food was better but because you didn't have to commit hours of your life to getting your hot dogs.

    Anyway, I am thrilled to see them coming back! They are always a must-have anytime we go to places like San Antonio, Austin, San Marcos, Albuquerque, most of CA, Las Vegas, etc.

  3. 21 Cy-Fair ISD schools were honored as National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA) Just for the Kids 2009 Higher Performing Schools in Texas.

    B)

    • Hamilton Elementary School for Math, Reading, Writing and Science;
    • Hamilton Middle School for Reading, Writing, Science and Social Studies;

    • Sampson Elementary School for Math, Reading and Science;
    • Cypress Woods High School for Math, Science and Social Studies;

    • Danish Elementary School for Reading and Science;
    • Goodson Middle School for Science and Social Studies;

    • Keith Elementary School for Math and Science;
    • Black, Lamkin, Millsap and Moore elementary schools for Science;

    • Aragon and Spillane middle schools for Social Studies;
    • Copeland, Emmott, Jowell, Owens, Sheridan and Willbern elementary schools for Math; and

    • Jersey Village and Langham Creek high schools for Social Studies.

    LINK

  4. I do wonder if XOM will move the Chemicals office on Eldridge to the new location, and what the impact on the Brookhollow campus will be.

    Brookhollow is comparatively empty now as it is. Most of the back office operations which were housed there as recently as 2-3 years ago have been quietly off-shored to places like Asia and South America.

    As for Chemicals, it too no longer houses the same volume of employees as it did in its heyday. My gut feeling is that with land and quality buildings in the Energy Corridor being so highly desired these days, and with the company consolidating so many of its divisions to a new centralized location, I think that building's days as an XOM workplace are probably numbered, in favor of a move to the bright and shiny new campus up north.

  5. There's been so much scuttlebutt over this lately. I guess this announcement effectively kills the 8+ years worth of rumors of XOM relocating to the remnants of the HP campus or its general area. :(

    Lots of disappointment in the area over this one.

  6. I just think common sense dictates certain steps people can take to mitigate the likelihood of becoming a victim. I just happen to believe that leaving your purse on, let's say, the seat of your car in a parking lot, is not very smart.

    I feel a sense of obligation, as a responsible citizen, to eliminate within reason the chances of myself being a victim of crimes of opportunity. I leave my garage door closed at night, lock car doors, etc.

    For example, if I leave town for a couple of days and leave my garage door open only to find upon my return that I've had tools, etc stolen, I accept partial responsibility for it occurring. I certainly don't place all the blame on the police department, etc. for preventing it from occurring.

    But maybe that's just me.

    Stupidity or ignorance or forgetfulness are not crimes in and of themselves. We shouldn't penalize those very human traits merely because it's easier than holding the bad guys accountable.

    Look, no one is saying that it's smart to stand on the freeway with a sign that says, "HEY DRUNKS, HIT ME!" But whether you do or whether you don't, you can still get killed on the freeway, in your car or out of it, by drunks, by inattentive people, or by somebody who just could not stop in time.

    The world is a scary place and we should certainly do whatever we reasonably can to protect ourselves. But when we can't or don't, for whatever the reason, we shouldn't be called to account for it while the acts of the perpetrators are minimized and even virtually excused. That's how we as a society become acclimated and accepting of crime as something normal and to be expected. And when we come to see something as normal and to be expected, then we have no reason to do whatever it takes to change it, either.

  7. Actually, I have.

    In college my car was stollen from the apartment complex I lived in at the time. I did not blame myself or the apartment management. The fact is, everyone likes to find someone to blame. It is easier than admitting you are at fault.

    Blame should be placed when it comes to crime, squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrator! That's how we ultimately get handle on this kind of stuff and change things. It's not enough to say, "Oh well, nobody's fault!' Or "My fault, I guess shouldn't own a car or anything else someone else might want to take!" That's nothing more than apathy at best, and things only spiral downhill from there.

    And blame needs to be placed on the backs of our local police and sherriff depts., and the governmental agencies whcih don't adequately fund them on whatever levels. Citizens should reasonably expect that their community will be actively patrolled, that their calls for help will be answered in a timely manner, that their reported crimes will be effectively investigated and that they will be treated with respect. We need to demand that. If we don't, we'll only get more of what we have now, and worse.

  8. Have you ever been a victim of a smash with nothing in the vehicle to grab? I have, TWICE. And a third time, they systematically dismantled my built-in stereo system, which had actually been installed with extra security features. They didn't get it out, but they did one helluva lot of damage trying!

    The bottom line is, these hoodlums are going to do this stuff no matter what you do or don't leave in your vehicle and it IS going to cost you big $$ and a bunch of your sense of personal well-being and confidence, everytime it happens We shouldn't have to live in a world of going around looking over our shoulders every minute. It sucks the quality of life right out of us. That's not living in civilization, it's living in anarchy.

    Carrying on about what someone should or shouldn't have done to avoid being a victim only serves to distract from the fact that these asshats are doing it in the first place and that no one is doing anything to stop them. Shifting the blame to the victim doesn't solve squat and it doesn't stop the crime from happening.

    You want to talk personal responsibility on most any issue, fine I'm there! But NOT when it comes to crime. Sorry, if a person is lawfully going about their business and is a victim of a crime, it is not the victim's fault, period! Asserting that it in any way is, is effectively victimizing them twice and I won't be party to that...and for the sake of a civilized society, neither should you. Put the focus where it belongs!

  9. Let's NOT play blame the victim here, okay? I know it makes us all feel better to do so, as it allows us to get too comfy in thinking that it couldn't have happen to us, because we'd be ever so much more careful. But that's delusional, dangerous malarkey. It can and does happen to anyone, including people who are cautious and even those who super-humanly always do the right things.

    There only two places to point the finger of blame in these situations: One is at the asshats who commit the crimes, and other is at the entities whcih fail to provide proper protection and security.

    I'm not going to feed any hysteria into this particular topic. But I will tell you this for certain: That "manager" either doesn't know everything that's happened in his parking lot recently or he is lying to you. In either case, discussing the reality of the incidents with randomly-calling customers is a serious breach of policy and security.

  10. Our schools could use the same lesson which responsible parents teach their children: If you don't take care of the things you already have, you will not be allowed to get anything new.

    Whether a bright, shiny new toy or a new building with all the bells and whistles, it's a waste to let what you have fall into disrepair. Shame on the parents and the citizens who willingly pay for new toys and buildings when whiny children and school boards demand new things without taking proper care of what they already have.

  11. This could be very interesting. Just about every day, we see something new going up in Katy and wonder what's next. What would you like to see in Katy? Try to be specific, instead of more shopping, say that you would like to have a store like Macys for example.

    Let's hear it...what would you like to see open up in Katy?

    What do we have enough of already?

    More parks, green space, community centers, nature preserves.

    There is plenty of everything else already. Katy now looks like Everywhere Elseville, USA.

  12. I've lived in Katy for 22 years. Somehow, we managed to survive quite nicely without "masterplanned communities," big box crap and massive commutes for much of that time.

    I and many others moved here originally to be away from all of the "conveniences" and managed to build a very secure, sedate lives in a semi-rural settig without malls, strip centers, McMansions, etc. Increasingly, Katy is looking like Generica...aka: Everywhereville, America. It's sad, it's pathetic and it's entirely unnecessary.

  13. Anywhere you go in Houston, or Texas its going to be sprawl. So, my advise. Stop talking about it, and get use to it.

    I see money, and more jobs for people. You see, sprawl.

    I refuse to get used to it. It doesn't have to be this way. The more we as citizens of this area talk and work together, the more community building there can be, and the less buliding for building's sake there could be. Quality of life is hugely lacking in this part of Texas, and sprawl is a big reason why.

    You see money in this? For whom? A few developers and the politicians they pay off to get what they want? It sure isn't for many of those people who are getting those jobs you value. Most/many of them are low-paying retail and service jobs, not the kind of job and money you can build a decent quality of life upon.

    Katy is gonna be the new Woodlands IMO, and eventually connect with Sugarland. There IS no getting away from progress.

    This doesn't evenly remotely meet my definition of "progress."

    The things they're building clearly already exist elsewhere about town. Why move out away from it all and then declare, "Ohhh, we need a CVS out here!" What increasingly does not exist is peace, quiet and unpaved space. More of those kinds of things would indeed be progress.

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