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The Fort Bend / Southwest
STAR
4655 Techniplex Dr. Suite 300, Stafford, Texas 77477 E-Mail: starnews@fortbendstar.com • Website: www.fortbendstar.com Office: 281-690-4200 • Fax: 281-690-4250 • TOLL FREE 1-888-430-7478 Volume XXXII • No. 42
Community STAR THIS MESSAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Denise Hussey Brazos Bend Guardianship Services 281-240-1707
POSITION: President of Board YEARS OF SERVICE: 6 Months CURRENT EMPLOYER: East West Publications
To assist disabled and incapacitated adults and their families with legal guardianship, money management and related alternatives. Wednesday, June 2, 2010
HHH
NALCO, others feel health coverage pinch
Observing Memorial Day
New law may help, but is it like having to buy a new Chevy Impala every year?
Sugar Land’s Memorial Day observance, honoring our Armed Forces, both past and present, was held at Memorial Park where Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, the half scale-replica, was displayed. The
man kneeling by the Vietnam Wall is U.S. Army retired Colonel David Kiger of Sugar Land, a veteran of that conflict. White pigeons marked the end of the ceremony. Photos by Larry Pullen
Owning a piece of history - $1.3 million Memories of the Eldridge Mansion – priceless By Elsa Maxey There’s an opportunity in Sugar Land to own a piece of history. This one will cost you $1.3
million. The historic Eldridge Mansion, as it has been known, is on the market. It sits on 3.56 acres of land. That’s eight house
lots. Two of them in front of the “mansion” were up for sale recently, but now the entire property, complete with the fenced in home, has been readied for a new owner, who will end up purchasing the place bundled with a history package. Less than a month ago, the white stucco beauty on the corner of Neal Drive and Lakeview Drive was put on the market. It is owned by a couple, who bought it in 2006, moved in with the family, and “they want to downscale,” said Shehnaz Bidiwala, agent with REALM Real Estate The Eldridge Mansion on the corner of Neal and Lakeview is now for sale. Professionals. Located in the Lake Village neighborhood in ”old” Sugar Land on the north side of U.S. 90A, the mansion is a classic, three-story Spanish style villa. “My gosh, yes, it was considered a mansion,” said 87-year old Robert Schumann, a native of By Elsa Maxey of the city’s ordinance allowing Sugar Land and lifetime resident, Sugar Land City Council for exemptions coupled with the who is well known as a reputable will have probably approved a support from Sugar Land Town one-time exemption for a smok- Square Management, the one-day ing prohibition in Town Square reprieve will probably be given Plaza for an event scheduled this for the “Texas Feast,” formerly upcoming Saturday on June 5. called the “Texas Fest,” which At press time, City Council had also was allowed the exemption By LeaAnne Klentzman not taken action, however, in light back in Sept. 2008. A Sugar Land burglar was The City of Sugar Land reports caught on camera this week. that last month it received a letter Memorial Day shortly before requesting the one-day exemption 10 p.m. Sugar Land police were to the Smoking in Public Places notified by an alarm company Ordinance, approved in 2007. of a burglar alarm at the Pearl By LeaAnne Klentzman It prohibits smoking in public Vision Center located at 1875 We are all places that include restaurants, S Hwy 6 South. When officers familiar too businesses, public parks, Town arrived on the scene, they discovwith the emails Square Plaza and outdoor arenas. ered the front showroom window announcing … A year and a half later in March shattered. The suspected burglary You’ve Won! Or, CRIMINAL 2009, the City Council approved tool, a rock, was laying in and Help I’m stuck OF THE WEEK another ordinance allowing for amongst the glass shards. Instead in Customs with bags full of exemptions from the prohibition of leaving a calling card, the money…send me 5k and I’ll of smoking in Town Square Plaza crooks left their images behind ... send you 5 million…. by City Council resolution. on the store surveillance cameras. Well, those must be falling Be on the lookout for a restrictAccording to police, a pair of on deaf ears because the crooks ed area at the Town Square Plaza suspects approached the business, have gotten even more cre- that will be cordoned off as the shattered the window with a rock ative…death threats by email. TexasFeast takes center stage to and helped themselves to a disIt reminds me of bank robbery hold what it calls a unique food play containing eyeglass frames via the drive-through with a and music event. The function that was inside the store attached note: “Send out all your money will also benefit the Wounded to the wall. The surveillance camor I’ll shoot out the glass … Warrior Project. era rolling the whole time then well, moron, its bullet proof! Whether neighboring Missouri recorded the pair get into a small Desperate times call for des- City will also make allowances dark car and drive away. At press perate measures so…when you for one-time exemptions along time the case is still under invesreceive the email with a subject the same lines remains to be seen. tigation. line of “ATTN. URGENT The voters in that city passed a Anyone with information is See DUMB, page 8 proposition last month banning asked to contact Crime Stoppers smoking in public places. at 281-342-TIPS.
Smoking okay in one section of Town Square for“Texas Feast”event
Smile you’re on candid camera
source of information about the area. “I knew of the house and had been in it several times,” he said. “Randall (Eldridge) and I, we were 9 years old, and we were friends,” recounts Schumann. Back in 1931, he remembers that there was an elementary school picnic on the home’s property. He and Randall attended Sugar Land’s Elementary School, at the site of the Lakeview Auditorium. All of those original school rooms are gone. “You know, that was the focal point of Sugar Land and all the major functions were held there,” he said. Down the street from the regal home now for sale, “the area where Lakeview Elementary School is, we also watched silent movies.” Schumann said that back then, “that big house was set back off Lakeview and it was built in 1928, more or less when all the other houses in that area started See MANSION, page 8
By Elsa Maxey With the advent of health care reform not yet in place and the current state of the economy, costs in the realm of health care in this area by some employers are being passed on to workers, retirees, or both. That is the case across the country and for NALCO, retirees will feel the impact soon. NALCO Energy Services Headquarters, operating in Sugar Land on U.S. 90A, advised its retirees that as of Jan 1, 2011, it would no longer pay for dental coverage and further, the retirees were told they would be paying 100 percent of those costs, if they opted for the coverage. “Nalco has historically sub-
sidized dental coverage costs for retirees,” said Charlie Pajor, Senior Manager, External Communications with the Nalco Company Corporate Headquarters in Illinois. This year the company is paying about half the total of the premium cost, he said. “Unfortunately increasing costs have forced us to eliminate the subsidy next year.” He confirmed that beginning in January, retirees will still have the ability to buy dental coverage under the plan, but they will pay the entire monthly cost. “We announced the change well ahead of our annual open enrollment for health care,” he said, in order for “our retirees to plan and budget as needed.” See NALCO, page 12
Driving while distracted Texting illegal in Missouri City By Elsa Maxey Missouri City has been spreading the word about a new ordinance, literally on the streets and also at homeowner association meetings. Texting or e-mailing while driving in the city is now illegal. This misdemeanor offense will be fined at an amount not to exceed $500 each time it happens. To make sure that message is clear, Missouri City posted “No Texts Emails or Apps While Driving” signs in eight major, visible locations. Effective this month and fol-
lowing a national trend, city leaders on the City Council, who approved an ordinance prohibiting the use of wireless communications devices while driving, authorized the go-ahead to the police department to enforce the local law. That ordinance was approved in February. Using a cell phone in school zones is already outlawed in the city, as is the case in other areas of the state. But, talking on a cell phone while driving… that’s still okay, that is, if state law does not prohibit it. See TEXTING, page 12
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Quail Valley Proud sponsored the Memorial Day Parade. Missouri City Firefighters, Mayor Allen Owen, Councilmen Brett Kolaja and Councilmen Danny Nguyen are pictured here with Parade Winners: Best Decorated Bike Jake Thomas; Best Decorated Wagon Jay Jay Jackson, Best Decorated Stroller Zoei Denney, Best Decorated Dog Keegan Jones, Most Patriotic Elizabeth McGray, Most Spirit Isla Hardy, Best Marcher Levi Boland, and Youngest Entrant Samuel Ochoa. Kids of “every age” enjoyed this celebration of those who have fought and fight for our freedom across the seas and in our neighborhoods including our Missouri City Police and Firefighters.