Kennedy Space Center making preparations for Hurricane Dorian

As Hurricane Dorian approaches, preparations are underway at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center for the imminent storm.

The National Hurricane Center said Dorian could strike the Florida Peninsula as a Category 4 Hurricane for a Sunday night landfall.

In the meantime, the space center is preparing to close Monday, with a team of 100 to 120 people staying behind to monitor the storm’s effects and conduct a safety inspection once it passes.

Those staying at KSC will stay at the Launch Control Center, which is certified to handle a Category 5 hurricane.

On Wednesday, KSC had its Crawler Transporter 2 vehicle to Launch Pad 39B where it began transporting the Mobile Launcher there early Friday morning back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

“The Mobile Launcher and Crawler Transporter 2 that will be used for the Artemis program are buttoned up inside the Vehicle Assembly Building,” according to KSC’s press release.

It had been at the pad undergoing hardware testing and checks for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024.

Moving at about one mile per hour, it takes about eight hours for the crawler to get to the pad from the VAB.

NASA teams, using the historic crawler-transporter, slowly move the mobile launcher from Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018. The mobile launcher will eventually host the agency's Space Launch System rocket.

Buy PhotoNASA teams, using the historic crawler-transporter, slowly move the mobile launcher from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018. The mobile launcher will eventually host the agency’s Space Launch System rocket. Emre Kelly / FLORIDA TODAYBuy PhotoFullscreen6 PhotosPhotos: NASA’s crawler-transporter on the move at Kennedy Space Center

“This was done for shuttle numerous times so this is nothing new,” Crawler Project Manager John Giles told FLORIDA TODAY.

This is the first time the crawler transports a vehicle in preparation of a hurricane since the shuttle days, Giles said.

If Dorian does hit the Space Coast, “(the crawler) will stay in the VAB underneath the Mobile Launcher and as soon as it’s safe, we’ll bring it back out to the pad,” he said.

According to KSC, the VAB is built to withstand winds around 125 mph.

Kennedy Space Center’s Crawler Transporter 2 vehicle heads to pad 39B in preparation for Tropical Storm Dorian. (Photo: ANTONIA JARAMILLO / FLORIDA TODAY)

The visitor complex, meanwhile, anticipates to close Sunday and stay that way for the duration of the storm, visitor complex spokeswoman Rebecca Shireman said.

“On Saturday, August 31, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be open during regular hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.” according to the visitor complex’s press release. “Kennedy Space Center Bus Tours to the Apollo/Saturn V Center will be available until 2:30 p.m. Special interest tours will not be available.”

As of now, Shireman said the visitor complex is preparing for the storm by storing away loose items such as umbrellas, banners and so forth. The rockets displayed at the rocket garden do not need extra safekeeping since they are made to withstand high winds.

Although the storm’s path remains uncertain, people in Puerto Rico and Florida are already prepping for Dorian. USA TODAY

Both the space center and the 45th Space Wing, which commands Patrick Air Force Base and the Air Force Station, entered a Hurricane Condition IV (HURCON IV) Thursday morning in preparation for Dorian.

“HURCON IV indicates surface winds in excess of 50 knots (58 mph) could arrive in the area of Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station within 48 hours,” according to the wing’s press release.

The wing leadership has initiated a “recall” notification of all base personnel, which entails contacting everyone at the station and on base to get the status of where they are and teams will begin disconnecting electrical power to non-essential facilities. The wing also encourages all personnel and residents to take action for the possible arrival of Dorian.

“These actions include the potential for evacuation of the base and all barrier islands,” according to the release. “Wing leadership is coordinating preparation and response operations with Brevard County and NASA emergency management operations centers.”

The 45th Medical Group is curtailing services in preparation for the storm and all appointments will be deferred until normal operations resume.

“Other facilities on base, such as the commissary, Base Exchange, Child Development Center, Youth Center and Riverside Dining Facility are open,” according to the release.

Hurricane Dorian expected to hit Bahamas as ‘devastating’ storm, then shift toward Carolinas

“Homes, houses, structures can be replaced,” the prime minister of the Bahamas said Saturday as he urged people to evacuate areas at risk. “Lives cannot be replaced.”

Hurricane Dorian strengthened and shifted slightly early Saturday, setting it on course to potentially miss a direct hit with Florida and make landfall in the Carolinas.

The Bahamas, meanwhile, braced for the powerful Category 4 storm to move near or directly over parts of the country from early Sunday to Monday, prompting officials there to urge residents to evacuate areas most at risk.

“Homes, houses, structures can be replaced,” the prime minister of the Bahamas said Saturday. “Lives cannot be replaced.”

Tourists vacationing in the Bahamas were sent to government shelters set up in schools, churches and other buildings offering protection from the storm as residents evacuated.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents of his state to remain vigilant, cautioning that the hurricane could change course again and bring dangerous storm surges and flooding even if it does not make landfall there.

“As you’re looking at these forecasts, a bump in one direction or the other could have really significant ramifications in terms of impact,” the governor said at a Saturday morning news conference.

Dorian’s maximum sustained winds increased to nearly 150 miles per hour with even higher gusts, which brings it close to a Category 5 storm, defined as having winds 157 miles per hour or higher.

The northwestern Bahamas are expected to start feeling the effects of the hurricane as early as 2 a.m. Sunday, officials said.

“On its present track, it’s expected that the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama will be seriously impacted by Hurricane Dorian on Sunday, Sunday night and into Monday,” said Jeffrey Simmons of the country’s meteorology agency. “This is a very strong and dangerous hurricane.”

About 73,000 people and 21,000 homes are at risk, with a potential storm surge of 10 to 15 feet, the country’s prime minister, Hubert Minnis said.

To put that into perspective, Minnis said, “I am 6-foot-1, surges will be two to three times my height.”

“Heavy rains, capable of life-threatening flash floods are expected over portions of the Bahamas and coastal sections of the southeastern United States this weekend through much of next week,” the National Hurricane Center said Saturday.

Authorities said they closed airports in the Abaco Islands, Grand Bahama and Bimini, but Lynden Pindling International Airport in the capital of Nassau would remain open.

Image: Hurricane Dorian — A man constructs storm shutters before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian on the Great Abaco island town of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, Aug. 31, 2019.Dante Carrer / Reuters

Dorian strengthened to a potentially devastating Category 4 storm Friday evening as it continued to churn in the Atlantic Ocean on course to the southeastern United States early next week.

Police: 21 People Shot, 5 Killed in Mass Shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas

At least 21 people were shot and five killed in a mass shooting in and around the cities of Odessa and Midland, Texas, Saturday afternoon.

Police later confirmed that the shooter, a white man in his mid-30s, had been killed by officers at the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa.

The shootings sent the two neighboring west Texas cities into chaos as police hunted for the gunman. Businesses and hospitals went into lockdown. The gunman apparently switched vehicles, hijacking a USPS mail van during his rampage, leaving police to initially report that there were two shooters roaming the area. They later clarified that there was only one gunman.

Here’s what we know so far.

What happened in Midland and Odessa?

Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke said that the incident began when the suspect was pulled over for a traffic stop by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper about 3:15 p.m. Central Time. The suspect shot the trooper and fled in a gold-colored Honda.

The traffic stop happened on Interstate 20, the highway that connects Midland and Odessa. At least one other person was shot on I-20, police said.

Gerke said the gunman then shot multiple people on 42nd Street in Odessa.

At some point, the gunman hijacked a U.S. Postal Service van. Gerke said the believes the postal employee is among the victims.

In this image made from video provided by Dustin Fawcett, police officers guard a street in Odessa, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. Dustin Fawcett—AP

Midland and Odessa (cities of about 140,000 and 100,000 people, respectively), are about 20 miles apart, connected by Interstate 20. They are about 240 miles east of El Paso, where a gunman targeting Hispanic victims killed 22 people at a Walmart on Aug. 3.

“This was a joint effort by a multitude of departments to find this animal and bring him to justice,” Gerke said at a later press conference.

How did people respond to the mass shooting?

Multiple businesses, offices and dorms at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin were put on lockdown during the shooting, according to local news station CBS 7. Music City Mall in Odessa, Texas was closed during the shooting, with CBS 7 reporting a chaotic scene as police worked to clear the area.

About 5:30 p.m., anchors at CBS 7 in Odessa were told “we’ve gotta go” and left a live shot following reports of people running through the Music City Mall, where the TV news studios are located. The anchors left the live shot, but continued to broadcast off screen. They later returned on air, but were told once again that they had to evacuate after multiple officers enter the studio. CBS 7 reported officers were going store-to-store in the mall, clearing the building.

Midlands Police Department had initially reported that a Home Depot store had been the site of one of the shootings, although the company said in a statement to TIME that none of its stores had been the site of a shooting.

Reached at 6:45 p.m. EST, Madison Tate, director of marketing and community relations at the Odessa Regional Medical Center, could not confirm whether patients had been sent to their hospital but said the hospital was on lockdown along with the rest of the city.

Police and sheriff's deputies surround the area behind the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, after reports of gunfire. — Police and sheriff’s deputies surround the area behind the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, after reports of gunfire. Tim Fischer—Midland Reporter-Telegram/AP

Who is the mass shooter in Midland and Odessa?

The shooter has not yet been identified, although Gerke said that he is a white man in his mid-30s.

The El Paso department/branch of the FBI said just before 6:30 p.m. Central that “it is too soon to know motive or the identity of the suspect.”

It is too soon to know motive or the identity of the suspect.
— FBI El Paso (@FBIElPaso) August 31, 2019

Police had initially said the shooter or shooters were believed to be shooting people from two separate vehicles — a hijacked U.S. Postal Service van and a small “gold/white” Toyota truck, according to the Midland Police Department. Police later said the two vehicles were associated with the same person.

.@MidlandTxPD there is no longer an active shooter situation. Stay clear of the area while law enforcement resources contain the scene. #midlandodessashooting
— FBI El Paso (@FBIElPaso) August 31, 2019

Gerke said police have since received additional unverified reports about an active shooter, “which is to be expected because our citizens are a little jumpy after this,” but noted these reports were not confirmed. He added that “once this individual was taken out of the picture, there have been no more victims.”

Police declined to comment on the type of weapon used during the shooting, though earlier statements had cited a rifle.

Who are the victims?

There 21 shooting victims, Gerke said. As of 7:30 p.m. Central, it is unclear whether the five people who were killed are included in that number.

Russell Tippin, CEO and president of the Medical Center Health System, confirmed that 14 victims were inside Medical Center Hospital but did not note the ages or conditions of any patients.

A local news station, NewsWest9, has reported that one of the victims is a 17-month-old baby, who was transported to the hospital after being shot in the face.

The suspect injured police from three different agencies–– officers from the Odessa Police Department and Midland Police Department, and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper.

How are politicians responding to the shooting in Midland and Odessa?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement that he and the First Lady were “heartbroken over this senseless and cowardly attack.” He thanked first responders for their quick action.

“I want to remind all Texans that we will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence,” Abbott said. “We will unite, as Texans always do, to respond to this tragedy.”

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that Attorney General William Barr had briefed him on the shooting, and that the FBI and law enforcement are “fully engaged.”

Attorney General for Texas, Ken Paxton, said in a statement that he was “horrified to see such a senseless act terrorize the fine people of the Permian basin” and thanked first responders for their response.

Former Texas congressman and 2020 Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, whose hometown of El Paso was devastated by the Aug. 3 mass shooting, spoke out about gun control measures from the campaign trail in Virginia.

“We don’t know how many have been shot. We don’t know how many people have been killed, the condition of those who have survived. Do not yet know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them. We do know this is f—-d up,” O’Rourke said.

“We do know this has to stop in this county. There is no reason that we have to accept this as our fortune, as our future, as our fate.”

Omar fires back after Alabama GOP calls for her expulsion

Omar, however, noted that she was elected by the people of Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, “not the Alabama Republican party.”

Omar suggested that if Republicans wanted to “clean up politics” they shouldn’t move to nominate “an accused child molester as your Senate candidate” — an apparent reference to embattled former judge Roy Moore, who lost a special election for Senate in 2017 after several women went public with allegations against him.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is firing back in a public feud with the Alabama Republican Party. Omar called out the state GOP for its support of a Senate candidate that was embroiled in numerous sexual assault allegations, after the state party urged that she be expelled from Congress.

According to AL.com, Alabama Republicans moved to support a resolution calling for the removal of the freshman congresswoman, citing her past controversial statements on the September 11th terrorist attacks, which her supporters said were taken out of context; comments she made on campaign finance that many considered to be anti-Semitic, for which she apologized; and her staunch support of the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli government.

In their resolution, the party calls for its state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of seeking Omar’s expulsion from the House.

Omar, however, noted that she was elected by the people of Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, “not the Alabama Republican party.”

In that same tweet, Omar suggested that if Republicans wanted to “clean up politics” they shouldn’t move to nominate “an accused child molester as your Senate candidate” — an apparent reference to embattled former judge Roy Moore, who lost a special election for Senate in 2017 after several women went public with allegations against him.

Moore announced back in June that he was throwing his hat back into the ring and running for Senate in the state, looking to defeat incumbent Doug Jones in a rematch. Moore, a Republican, narrowly lost to Jones in a 2017 special election to fill former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat.

Taking a page out of President Trump’s playbook, Moore has repeatedly lambasted Democrats for carrying out what he claimed was “evidence of intent to disrupt a state Senate race” after both Republicans and Democrats widely condemned his 2017 run as numerous women came forward with detailed accounts of sexual misconduct against Moore when he was a judge and many of the accusers were minors. Moore has denied any wrongdoing.

He said such “collusion” by Democratic operatives in Washington would not be tolerated and claimed, without evidence, Jones was the “beneficiary of election hacking.”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to announces move to expunge marijuana convictions

FOXX… “The technology and innovation made possible through our partnership with Code for America will help us provide broad and equitable conviction relief for tens of thousands of people while ensuring that more of our time and resources can be used to combat violent crime..”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced Tuesday a partnership with Code for America to expunge the criminal records of people convicted of marijuana charges.

When the drug becomes legal across Illinois in January, many people will be eligible for expungement. The partnership with Code for America will use Clear My Record technology to automatically seal tens of thousands of eligible cannabis convictions in Cook County.

“The technology and innovation made possible through our partnership with Code for America will help us provide broad and equitable conviction relief for tens of thousands of people while ensuring that more of our time and resources can be used to combat violent crime,” said Kim Foxx. “This partnership is one of many steps Cook County is taking to leverage technology in order to better serve our community and bring our criminal justice system into the 21st century.”

It was two years ago Aaron Floyd was arrested on drug possession, which is his only felony conviction.

“I was walking down the street and a police pulled me over, took my weed. Took me to jail and they charged me,” Floyd said.

That one incident has now changed the course of his life.

“It’s hard for me to get a job,” Floyd said. “I call and they keep popping up. The only job I can get is Uber Eats and they help me a lot.”

With this new partnership, that obstacle could soon be obsolete. Floyd’s conviction will be expunged as Illinois gets ready to legalize marijuana.

Other in the same situation might soon benefit use of technology that will automatically find those records.

“Our software encodes the law and simply makes it possible to read those records very, very quickly,” said Jennifer Pahlka with Code for America. “That outputs the convictions that are legally available to be cleared.”

Code For America has helped to clear more than 8,000 marijuana convictions in San Francisco. Those convictions can hurt people’s chances of finding a job or even housing.

Code for America’s partnership with Cook County expands our Clear My Record program to a second state and further proves that justice can happen at the scale and speed we know is possible in the digital age,” said Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director, Code for America. “Thanks to the leadership of State’s Attorney Foxx, we’ll provide conviction relief expeditiously, at reduced cost, and in bulk in Illinois, and help tens of thousands of individuals get a fresh start. And we’ll continue to show that government can work as it should for all people, when we bring government into the 21st century.”

Under the new law, felony marijuana offenses of amounts involving under 30 grams will be expunged. Furthermore, not prosecuting low-level cases should free up prosecutors to pursue more serious crimes.

“If you look at the top 10 cases that are referred to the State’s Attorney’s Office, six out of 10 are related to drug possession cases. Six out of 10 in a city like Cook County that is dealing with the epidemic of gun violence,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Once a record is expunged, a notice will be mailed to that person. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office hopes to begin the process before the end of the year. They said they will start with the most recent convictions and work their way backwards.
Those with 30 to 500 gram possession charges will have to petition to have their charges expunged. And non-automatic expungements are not guaranteed, since prosecutors will have the ability to object.

It is time to investigate Forbes for deceitful publications and research misconduct

Forbes “who-is-who or who-is-Not” series remain a marketing strategy facilitated through a questionable process to woo the highest bidders, but the repercussions are eating deep into their integrity.

A violation of fundamental standards in professional study experimentation is a big deal. In fact, the integrity of all experiments and professional research studies are often preserved by codes for scholarly conduct and ethical behavior implanted to minimize false reporting and other disreputable activities. Given this circumstance, a chain of publications by Forbes using specific experimental ratings to pronounce who is rich or poor among regions, gender, and other categories of businesses is emitting some red signals.

By Anthony Obi Ogbo

Forbes is an American bi-weekly business magazine reputed for who-is-who features related to finance, industry, investment, and marketing. With outstanding circulation figures, this magazine has been around since 1917, spinning topical feature stories on every subject areas, including communications, science, politics, and law.

However, contradictions and controversies that pervade Forbes research and publications must not just be ignored. For instance, the recent arrest of one Obinwanne Okeke (Forbes 100 Most Influential Young Africans 2018) in the United States by operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has validated every suspicion. Okeke, an acclaimed global entrepreneur who has long been celebrated by Forbes was nabbed for allegedly defrauding top American companies of huge sums of money.

For years, Okeke, chairman ‘Invictus Group’ was Forbes-endorsed model for entrepreneurial success. He had appeared on the cover of Forbes Africa who named him one of ’30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 to Watch’. He was one of the featured speakers at the Forbes Under-30 Summit EMEA 2017 held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel. This summit convened the greatest young entrepreneurs and game-changers from America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to foster world-changing ideas.

In the age of information technology, the major concern remains how Forbes could explain this romance without authentic verification of Okeke’s sources of income.

This article is not intended to attack the fundamental nucleus of the entrepreneurial process or success. In strong words, it is critical of how a few editors can just sit down in an obscure Jersey City office and joggle up figures to control who-is-who or who-is-Not.

**One of Forbes’ best business models, Obinwanne Okeke in chains:** For years, Okeke, chairman ‘Invictus Group’ was Forbes-endorsed model for entrepreneurial success. He had appeared on the cover of *Forbes Africa* who named him one of *’30 Entrepreneurs Under 30* *to Watch’.* He was one of the featured speakers at the *Forbes Under-30 Summit EMEA* *2017* held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel.

In my last book, Maxima of Political Leadership,” I explained how Forbes controverted its own grading track with study ranks and figures that were inconsistent with reality. I faulted Forbes 2018 World’s Most Innovative Companies because none of the top six made it to the first ten companies listed in their World’s Most Valuable Brands. Thus, it would be hard to explain how Forbes top 7 technology-based most valuable firms (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Samsung, and AT&T) were not found in its top list of innovative firms. Strange, isn’t it?

To make its activities more distrustful, Forbes has been consistent with its promotion and publication of unscrupulous global merchants with a questionable source of income. The publication would always label their sources of income as “oil and gas” or “self-made.” But the question is, when has “self-made” become a source of 10-figure business income?

**Ms. Alakija and Ibrahim Babangida:** Forbes totally failed to investigate that this woman’s wealth was tied to two of the most corrupt regimes in the continent’s history of politics. Alakija’s fashion business was tied to Nigeria’s president Ibrahim Babangida family, whereas her oil and gas ventures were indirectly sourced and sustained by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

This might be the case with this woman called Ms. Folorunsho Alakija who was leading a high-volume offshore scheme. Forbes romanced with Alakija’s wealth without appropriately investigating the ethical matters behind her very source of oil and gas business. Yet Alakija made it to Forbes lists of Power Women 2016, Billionaires 2019; Africa’s Billionaires 2019; with her source of income listed “oil and self-made.”

Forbes further totally failed to investigate that this woman’s wealth was tied to two of the most corrupt regimes in the continent’s history of politics. Alakija’s fashion business was tied to Nigeria’s president Ibrahim Babangida family, whereas her oil and gas ventures were indirectly sourced and sustained by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It may be recalled that in 2016, Obasanjo bragged during a public speaking that Mrs. Alakija, was among the 25 billionaires he made during his tenure as President. Alakija,in turn, accused Obasanjo’s administration of forcefully taking back a bulk of the profit generated from the said oil venture. The revelation without a doubt was that these corrupt leaders and business folks were busy enriching themselves off of public funds in a country where unemployment and poverty rate are off the roof.

Aliko Dangote, of the Dangote Group, is no exception. Dangote is an acclaimed Africa’s richest man who would claim he made his money being the continent’s largest cement producer. Dangote made it to Forbes lists of Powerful People 2018, Billionaires 2019, and Africa’s Billionaires 2019, with his sources of income listed as cement, sugar, flour, and again “Self Made.”

Mr. Dangote was not honest about his business. Dangote has systematically colluded with various regimes in Africa to stockpile government contracts; colluded with regimes to quash competition and create a monopoly and product scarcity to drive price and demand. He had used billions made off of unscrupulous ventures to conspire with different interests to influence elections through backdoor donations and sponsorships; and consequently used his wealth to direct political and economic interests to himself.

**Celebrating Dangote, Alakija, Okeke:** With its sloppy features and documentary stories often promoting crooked billionaires with questionable character, Forbes should be investigated to determine if there is collusion in the process to fabricate figures for abnormal profit.

With its sloppy features and documentary stories often promoting crooked billionaires with questionable character, Forbes should be investigated to determine if there is collusion in the process to fabricate figures for abnormal profit. Research studies should seek truth and cultivate new knowledge to grow social development. In modern research, legal and ethical issues associated with the subject and researcher are a great component. Fabrication and manipulation of data make up serious scientific misconduct. Forbes must come clean.

Forbes “who-is-who or who-is-Not” series remain a marketing strategy facilitated through a questionable process to woo the highest bidders, but the repercussions are eating deep into their integrity. The motivation to commit scientific misconduct in these publications are obvious–to boost circulation, enlarge advertising base, and rake in revenue by auctioning their ratings.

♦ Anthony Ogbo, PhD, Adjunct Professor at the Texas Southern University is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015) and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us

Upcoming Houston City Elections (Part 4) – the Heart, Smarts and Courage Route

Candidates who run on nothing will have nothing to stand on to govern if they are elected

This year’s city elections are around the corner and this is the time for all candidates to reveal themselves. They should not afraid to let us know who they are. I have always maintained that those who run on nothing will have nothing to stand on to govern if they are elected.

This is one of my series of articles on the upcoming Houston City Elections. The aim is to share knowledge and thoughts with both the candidates and voters regarding crucial issues and interests.

Harvey Recovery

A candidate for City Controller or City Council cannot be afraid to tell us -The voters what they plan to do to help Houstonians who were hurt by Harvey. It has been two years and all the people, in our City, who were impacted by Harvey have still not been helped. That is a failure to focus and prioritize.

Helping our neighbors recover from Harvey is a moral issue. Houston Strong must be more than just a slogan. What the people did during the storm must be the baseline, not the high-water mark, compared to what the city, state and county must do.

Which at-large council candidate will make helping Houstonians recover from Harvey their top priority?

City Employees

Which candidates will make paying all city employees fairly their priority? There is no “city services” without city employees-municipal, police and fire.

Modernizing City Government

Which candidates are going to make modernizing city government their priority? Which candidates have the heart, stamina and courage to review all city programs and policies and tell us which are obsolete and are no longer needed, which need to be updated and modernized and what new policies and programs are necessary for the new needs of Houstonians now (and in the years ahead) as the emerging new economy impacts and undermines the City’s old economy revenue streams?

Finance & Budgeting

Which candidate or candidates are going to focus on becoming experts on city finances and the city budget so they can protect the taxpayers interest regardless of whether or not the City Controller is utilizing the authority granted to them under the City Charter to protect city taxpayers and ensure fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability at City Hall.

It’s clear that there needs to be another set of fiscal checks and balances at City Hall when it comes to contracts awarded without Council approval, airport expenditures, affordable housing funds, Harvey Recovery Funding, ReBuild Houston drainage fee expenditures, water and sewer funding and managing the city debt (General Fund and Enterprise Funds including Pension Bonds, Houston First and the Tax Reinvestment Zones (TIRZs) all across the city).

TIRZs and Special Districts’ funds are also taxpayers money that is supposed to be used to help improve Houston and not just to award contracts. Which candidate is prepared to take on this oversight responsibility? This will take political courage and fearless confidence as well as a lot of studying and hard work.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Which candidates are going to focus on transportation and infrastructure? We need more than just potholes fixed. We need streets rebuilt, transportation construction better coordinated and we need a Metro champion on Council to speak up and speak out for those in our City (and region) who need public transportation.

Metro

Metro does not exist to simply help reduce congestion. Metro exists because it is a life line for those, in our community, who don’t have a vehicle to connect them to jobs, healthcare and quality, affordable food for themselves and their families.

Metro is a quality of life institution and infrastructure.

We need Metro Next (and beyond) so that TxDOT can stop destroying Houston neighborhoods to build highways to the suburbs that make both air quality and flooding worse in city neighborhoods – an even bigger threat to the public’s health, safety and welfare.

We need Council Members who will stand up to TxDOT to protect the lives and property of Houstonians; homeowners, renters, the homeless and business owners and entrepreneurs.

Houston is a great city but to be an even greater world class city, our region must have regional rail and be connected to the rest of the state by rail as well as by roads and airports.

It’s time for the newly elected members of Congress from the Houston area to step up and help deliver the funding we need for regional commuter, light and high-speed rail.

Housing, Gentrification & Revitalization

Which candidates will lead the way on addressing homelessness, hunger and poverty in our City? Which candidates will become experts on housing and community development such that they can lead the effort on the issue of gentrification and putting together the coalitions and public/private/non-profit partnerships needed to build at least 25,000 single family affordable homes a year for the next four years and beyond? Houston needs more housing for working class Houstonians inside the 610 Loop. We also need to better utilize federal funds and the Land Assembly Redevelopment Authority (LARA) and affordable housing funds from our TIRZs to help the working class and low-income residents of our historic neighborhoods remain in their homes.

We not only have to build more new housing in our City, we also have to help residential homeowners repair and fix up their older homes and show them how they can pass it from one generation to the next as a source of generational wealth. Doing this would help reduce the number of dangerous buildings and weeded lots in our neighborhoods and reduce the city’s expenses for mowing lots and boarding up dangerous buildings.

Quality of Life

Finally, who will be the newest champion of public safety, green spaces and quality of life on Council?

Building a great city includes but is much bigger than just a great economy and jobs. Those are the starting points and building blocks. A truly smart city is more than just technology; its safety, accountability of police officers, trees and green spaces, bike lanes, a comprehensive public transportation system, quality of life, a living prevailing wage, great public schools, modern infrastructure, environmental justice, resiliency, heart, sustainability and broadly inclusive and shared prosperity.

Who Are You?

Candidates, who are you? Don’t be afraid to let us know. If you run on nothing, you will have nothing to stand on to govern if you are elected.

Thank you and God Bless Houston. For constructive dialogue, you may contact me directly >>>

Hon. Robinson is the former Chairman, City of Houston Transportation, Technology and Infrastructure Committee; Former Vice Chairman, Houston-Galveston Area Council Transportation Policy Council (H-GAC TPC) and Associate Professor of Public Administration, Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, Texas Southern University.

Iowa’s Longest-Serving Republican Switches to Democratic Party, Citing Trump

Rep. Andy McKean, Iowa’s longest-serving Republican lawmaker, left his party on Tuesday to join the Democrats, and cited President Donald Trump as a factor in his decision.

“With the 2020 presidential election looming on the horizon, I feel, as a Republican, that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party,” McKean told reporters at the Iowa Capitol during a news conference on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, that’s something I’m unable to do.”

McKean named several behaviors by Trump that he said were “unacceptable.”

“He sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting, often in a crude and juvenile fashion, those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we are attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance, ethnicity or disability,” he said.

He added: “I believe that his actions have coarsened political discourse, have resulted in unprecedented divisiveness, and have created an atmosphere that is a breeding ground for hateful rhetoric and actions. Some would excuse this behavior as telling it like it is and the new normal. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it.”

McKean, who served seven terms in Iowa’s house after being elected in 1978, then three terms in the senate before retiring in 2006, rejoined the house in 2016 and returned to a very different political atmosphere than the one he’d been accustomed to. “I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the stance of my party on the vast majority of high profile issues and often sympathetic with concerns raised by the minority caucus,” he said.

McKean’s exit puts him among other state Republican legislators in suburban districts who have left the party in recent years.

“Homes, houses, structures can be replaced,” the prime minister of the Bahamas said Saturday as he urged people to evacuate areas at risk. “Lives cannot be replaced.”

What happened in Midland and Odessa?

How did people respond to the mass shooting?

Who is the mass shooter in Midland and Odessa?

Who are the victims?

How are politicians responding to the shooting in Midland and Odessa?

Omar, however, noted that she was elected by the people of Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, “not the Alabama Republican party.”

Forbes “who-is-who or who-is-Not” series remain a marketing strategy facilitated through a questionable process to woo the highest bidders, but the repercussions are eating deep into their integrity.

Candidates who run on nothing will have nothing to stand on to govern if they are elected

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