A message from
COMMISSIONER R. JACK CAGLE
W
elcome to the inaugural edition of Precinct 4Update, the premier online and print magazine for residents of Harris County Precinct 4!
As your commissioner, it is my pleasure to tell you about all the county facilities, programs, and services available to you. I believe that one of the most efficient and enjoyable ways to share all that Precinct 4 has to offer is through the lively writing, engaging photography, and vibrant layout featured biannual in the new Precinct 4Update. This innovative magazine replaces and consolidates Update and Precinct 4 Times, the former general-interest and senior adult publications, respectively. Subscribers to one or both of those magazines will now receive Precinct4Update, which highlights the many events, facilities, and programs available to you as a Precinct 4 resident, as well as an occasional take on current events in county government. Houston swarms with pesky mosquitoes, so it’s appropriate to feature an article on the native “mosquito assassins,” which are predatory insects bred and studied by my office’s Biological Control Initiative. These surprising insects may look like your typical pest mosquito, but they are actually a natural pest killer – feasting on mosquito larvae. A partnership between Precinct 4 and the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science provides an avenue for further studies of this natural ally in our annual battle with skeeters. Also in this issue, read more about Biological Control Initiative’s joint venture with the Harris County Flood Control District and numerous volunteer organizations to create a dragonfly habitat featuring native wetland vegetation that filters and cleans stormwater runoff.
And to give you a glimpse into a few of the programs offered in Precinct 4, I assigned Crystal Simmons, our media relations and communications specialist, to pen a first-person account of some of the programs offered on any given day, from fitness classes and outdoor activities to art and woodworking. A quick note about that name, Precinct 4Update: that’s not a typo. The “4U” together in the title is a reminder that this publication is “for you,” the residents of Precinct 4, and that my staff and I work for you each day. I hope you enjoy this new magazine as much as my staff and I enjoyed putting it together 4U.
R. Jack Cagle
2
Precinct4Update Fall/Winter 2019
