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WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 14, 2024
Man charged with murder of city of Sugar Land employee By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
One man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Joseph Aponte, Sr., a city of Sugar Land employee who was killed in a collision with a car allegedly fleeing from police following a burglary in Missouri City on February 7.
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Fort Bend ISD board grapples with $136.2 million overrun on bond program By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
At its next regularly scheduled meeting on February 26, the Fort Bend ISD board of trustees is expected again to take up a matter that has been brewing over the previous month or so - a projected $136.2 million cost overrun on projects in the $1.26 billion bond program, the largest in the district’s history, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in May 2023. The overruns were the
subject of the sole information item at a specially called meeting on February 5 after trustee Rick Garcia, a member of the board’s audit committee, brought it up during at the previous regular meeting on January 22, the first for new Superintendent Marc Smith. In a lengthy presentation, senior members of the district administration said the unanticipated overruns stemmed from two major issues. First, according to Deputy
Superintendent Steven Basset, new estimates of the bond program’s projected costs, based on such factors as total square footages of campuses, that an outside consulting firm, PBK, that had been sent to a former senior employee of the district in November 2022, when the district was planning for the bond, had not been shared with the district’s executive team.
SEE GRAPPLE PAGE 2
The Fort Bend ISD board has begun to grapple with a projected $136.2 million cost overrun on projects in the $1.26 billion bond program approved by voters in May 2023. Photo by Ken Fountain
Second Mile Mission Center helps give neighbors hope, independence
Joseph Aponte, Sr., an employee of the City of Sugar Land Public Works Department, was killed while on duty in an automobile collision on February 7. Courtesy City of Sugar Land
Sugar Land police arrested Overeth Riascos Barahona, 40, a native of Columbia, on Saturday and charged him with murder, according to a press release from the city. The murder charge stems from the fact that the incident arose from an alleged felony.
Overeth Riascos Barahona, 40, has been charged with murder in the automobile collision death of City of Sugar Land employee Joseph Aponte, Sr. on February 7.
According to police, Barahona was driving a Toyota Highlander that struck and killed Aponte, 56, of Needville. Missouri City police were pursuing Barahona and two other men when the Highlander collided with a city of Sugar Land truck driven by Aponte, an employee of the city’s public works employee. The collision occurred on the westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 90A at Gillingham Lane just before 10:30 a.m. Sugar Land fire and EMS personnel responded quickly to the scene of the accident, which was just outside the Public Works campus, Sugar Land Police Chief Mark Poland told the Fort Bend Star. Aponte had just pulled out of the parking lot in a city-owned vehicle. While emergency personnel were able to extract Aponte from the truck, his injuries were “non-survivable,” Poland said.
SEE MURDER PAGE 2
Chiquita Gyamfi, a staff member of Second Mile Mission Center, sorts donated produce at the facility off Highway 90 in Missouri City. Photo by Ken Fountain
By Dayna Worchel NEWS@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Brandon Hoybach, warehouse manager at Second Mile Mission Center in Missouri City, loves his job and seeing the direct impact it has on the lives of the people they serve. “I enjoy helping those in need,” he said during a quick break from his warehouse duties. “We are able to meet their hunger and clothing needs, but our goals are to help our neighbors to become independent,” Hoybach said. The atmosphere inside the Second Mile is usually positive and upbeat with staff members and volunteers working together. Hoybach related a recent story of a woman with leg and shoulder pain who came into Second Mile for services. “She said she forgot all about her pain when she was talking to
us,” he said. Audrey Smith has been a food pantry volunteer for a few months, and echoed what Hoybach said. “I love the people who work here. Everybody always has good vibes and positive energy,” she said. And she loves helping the neighbors who come in to shop for food. Indeed, walking into the Second Mile Mission Center food pantry feels very similar to the inside of a neighborhood grocery store. Bins of colorful, fresh produce and vegetables give an inviting welcome to shoppers. Along the walls, refrigerated cases contain gallons of milk and other needed perishables. And outside of the building, shoppers, along with volunteers, roll their shopping carts full of groceries to their cars.
SEE HOPE PAGE 2
Brandon Hoybach, warehouse manager at Second Mile Mission Center in Missouri City, says he loves seeing the direct impact the mission on the lives of the people it serves. Courtesy Second Mile Mission Center