City Seal
From the Office of Council Member Mike Laster 
Distric
t Journal
Official Newsletter of Houston City Council District J

Friday, May 16, 2014
Mike Laster - Flipped
832.393.3015
City Hall Annex
900 Bagby
Houston, TX 77002

PO Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251-1562

Matt Brollier
Chief of Operations

Agenda & Policy Director

Sharon Shanahan
Administrative Services Director
 
Constituent and Community Affairs Director
  
Community Links


District J Parks 

City Contacts 

HPD (non-emergency) 

713.884.3131

 

Anti-Gang Office 

832.393.0931

 

Mayor's Citizens' Assistance 832.393.0955

 

Department of Neighborhoods 832.393.1038

 

Health & Human Services

832.393.5169

 

Parks Department 

832.395.7000

 

Public Works & Engineering 832.395.2511

 

Solid Waste Management 713.956.6589


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District J Remembers . . .    

              

 

Your District J Office will be hosting two memorial gatherings at HFD Fire Stations 51 and 68, in honor of Captain Matthew Renaud, Engineer-Operator Robert Bebee, and Fire Fighters Robert Garner and Anne Sullivan, who lost their lives in the Southwest Inn fire on May 31st, 2013.

 

A floral wreath of remembrance will be presented and a brief memorial ceremony will take place on Friday, May 30th in front of Station 51 beginning promptly at 5:30 p.m., and in front of Station 68 at 6:30 p.m. Please park on Bintliff for Station 51 and at the Lee LeClear Tennis Center for Station 68.

 

We encourage anyone from the community who would like to pay homage to these brave heroes to join us for the presentation of wreaths to each fire station.

 

Please keep the fallen, their loved ones, and all of our brave HFD personnel in your thoughts and prayers.

 

God Bless, 

 

Mike Laster - signature 

-Mike Laster, Council Member - District J 

Big Green Bins Coming to 1,000 Homes

 

 

The 2014 expansion of single stream recycling started last week and will bring the program to over 1,000 homes in District J! New areas will include the Mid-West and Uptown parts of District J, as well as portions of the Glenshannon, Shenandoah, Sharpstown, and Bonham Acres neighborhoods. Council Member Laster has been lobbying the administration for this increase in District J since 2012.

 

The expansion has been successive in nature, and Solid Waste is attempting to bring the big green bins to smaller neighborhoods with each phase. After this expansion approximately 107,000 homes in the City will be left without Single Stream, but the entire City will benefit from the program before 2016.

 

Council Member Laster continues to advocate for expansion to all single family homes in District J. If you would like to see a map and schedule for your area, including whether you are on "Week A" or "Week B" pickup, please click the link provided here.

The 22nd Annual Gulfton Festival

 

Gulfton Festival

This Saturday, come on out to the 22nd Annual Gulfton Festival at Burnett-Bayland Park for food, activities, a parade, and some good ol' family-friendly fun!

 

The Parade will start at 11am, and will begin at Benevidez Elementary School and travel down Gulfton to Chimney Rock. The festival itself will last from 11:30am to 2:00pm in the Park. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the HPD Storefront in Gulfton. If you would like to donate, or are a business that would like to participate, please call (281) 610-5237 or click the links provided above.

Buy-a-Bench for Lee LeClear Tennis Center!

 

Efforts are underway to raise funds to completely renovate the Lee LeClear Tennis Center after 40 years of use! The renovation will include a new tennis facility and a Learning Center for Health and Wellness.

 

One of the ways to contribute to this worthwhile project is to "buy a bench". There will be fifty (50) benches, two on each court. Each individual bench that is sold will have a plaque placed on the back of the bench in honor of the name of a person, a family, a tennis team or a business that purchased the bench. The tax-deductible donation for each bench is $2,500.00.

 

Donations can be made by check payable to The Houston Parks Board. Indicate it is for the "buy a bench" campaign for the Lee LeClear Tennis Center. Alternatively, you can go to the Houston Parks Board and follow the instructions on how to contribute using a credit card.

 

And be sure to mark your calendar to attend The Lee LeClear Legacy Reunion on September 20, 2014, at the Lee LeClear Tennis Center!

 

Get Focused on Distracted Driving

Memorial Hermann Southwest Seminar

 

Memorial Hermann Southwest will be holding a seminar on distracted driving this Thursday May 22nd, from 10:30am to 11:30am. It will be held in the Admiral Room on the Concourse Level and will feature first responders and families of those who have been impacted by the effects of distracted driving.

 

For more information call Suzanne Curran at (832) 286-7922 or Gerrit von Wenckstern at (713) 778-6268.

Color Your Community

 

The Alief International District will be having a mural painting event this Sunday, May 18th at the Alief Nature Center & Community Garden, across from Youngblood Intermediate School at Beechnut & Dairy Ashford.
 
Painting supplies and instructions will be provided for members of the community to help paint this one-of-a-kind mural. There will also be music, refreshments, and face painting at the event, which will run from 10am to 1pm.

Registration for Chinese Youth Camp

 

 

Houston Chinese Youth Camp is a week long summer camp where students ages 8-18 can learn about Chinese heritage, gain leadership, and build lifelong friendships. Throughout the day, campers attend classes taught by experienced teachers on different aspects of the Chinese culture, such as:

  • Dragon Dance
  • Chinese Yo-yo
  • Folk Dance
  • Chinese Dodgeball
  • Chinese Arts & Crafts

In the evening, various activities are held, such as a Chinese dodgeball tournament, a talent show, a dance party, and mini-Olympics, just to name a few. They welcome anyone to attend camp, regardless of whether or not you are of Asian-American descent.

 

CYC 2014 will be held at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana from July 20-26. To register please visit the links above. Hurry because registration ends May 18th!

Kudos to Southwest Schools!

Soccer Team Wins Charter School Tournament

 

 

The Southwest Schools Boys Soccer team recently won the Texas State Charter School Soccer League Championship for 2014! TSCSSL is the official charter school league representing 160 schools across the state. 

Congratulations to all the boys and the coaches, Jesus Zepeda- Athletic Director and Dean of Students, and Roberto Navas, Assistant Coach. Go Eagles!

Upcoming Events

Calendar2
  
Please refer to the Community Events Calendar on our website for the time, location and other event details.

New events are added every
week. Be sure to check it often!
  
  

Saturday, May 17

  •  22nd Annual Gulfton Festival   
Monday, May 19
  •  Brays Bayou Association Meeting
Tuesday, May 20
  •  Sharpstown Rotary Club
  •  Braeburn PIP Meeting
Wednesday, May 21
  •  GSMD - Environmental & Urban Design Committee Meeting
  •  Midwest PIP Meeting
Thursday, May 22
  •  International District Board of Directors Meeting
  •  Sharpstown Civic Association Meeting
Monday, May 26
  •  Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 27
  •  Sharpstown Rotary Club
  •  Alief Super Neighborhood Council Meeting

Wednesday, May 28

  •  City Council - Consolidated Session