George Foundation elects new trustee - Page 3
Police are searching for these two women who allegedly committed a robbery outside a Sugar Land convenience store last week. Read more inside today's edition on Page 3. (Photo from FBCSO)
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 8, 2020
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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 44 • No. 85
U.S. Census available to Fort Bend residents By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
By email on that Life Insurance Policy you’ve been putting off.
Fort Bend County residents are on the clock to help determine how federal dollars will be funneled into county and municipal operations around the area. Beginning March 12,
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residents should have received a paper questionnaire or online invitation to complete the 2020 census, distributed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data from the census, a population and housing count that occurs every 10 years, guides how more than $675 billion of federal funding is
distributed to states and communities each year for services such as infrastructure, healthcare, school lunches, small business loans, nonprofit grants and more. It also helps determine how many representatives each state gets in Congress and is used to redraw district boundaries.
Though April 1 was officially “Census Day,” or the snapshot date, the census bureau will accept surveys through July. Everyone is invited to respond online, by phone or by mail this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic as officials look
SEE CENSUS PAGE 5
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THE STAR WILL BE CLOSED 4.10.20 FOR GOOD FRIDAY
County extends stay-athome order By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend County residents are extending their stay at home by at least a month. County Judge KP George announced April 1 that his “Stay Home to Save Lives” order was being extended through April 30 to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the upperrespiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus strain. As of Monday afternoon, Fort Bend health officials had reported 318 COVID-19 cases among county residents, including six deaths. “I trust my team of medical and public health experts that advise staying home during April is the only tool we have to save lives,” George said in an April 1 news release. In line with a March 31 executive order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Fort Bend residents can attend religious services as long as they practice social distancing guidelines that require people who are not family members to maintain at least 6 feet of separation between each other. Abbott issued stay-
SEE STAY HOME PAGE 6
Missouri City District B Councilman Jeffrey Boney poses with Dr. Joseph Varon in his room at United Memorial Medical Center. Boney, who was hospitalized for more than week after testing positive for COVID-19, is now at home recovering. (Photo from Facebook)
Missouri City councilman back home after bout with COVID-19 By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
tWith many things, it is said that the impact cannot truly be explained until it is experienced on a personal level. That holds true in the case of Missouri City District B Councilman Jeffrey Boney, who recently returned home after a battle with COVID-19 hospitalized him for more than a week. “I’m fortunate to be home now and on the road to recovery," he said Monday. "... This really has been a test of my faith.” The test to which Boney refers is the upper-respiratory disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus.
Boney
Gathe at United Memorial Medical Center, Boney said he tested positive for the virus and was admitted March 27. “I’m just truly blessed that I had a great team of medical professionals in
the right place at the right time to help me be able to fight through this,” he said. What transpired next was something Boney never anticipated. Following several tests, Boney said doctors discovered several underlying health conditions that led to his initial symptoms and presented issues when coupled with COVID-19. There were spots of pneumonia across both of his lungs, Boney said, which prompted his admission to the Intensive Care Unit. While he was in ICU, Boney said doctors found problems with multiple other internal organs that required treatment along with COVID-19. “They found that the coronavirus had really
been on the attack to my other vital organs – my kidneys, liver, lungs and heart – and they were having to overcompensate for the fact that the virus was attacking me internally,” he said. “My heart health was deteriorating, too. So they had a myriad of issues to address and deal with at one time.” However, Boney praised the work of Varon and Gathe, who he said began aggressively treating his symptoms one at a time. Boney is also on blood thinners as he deals with a pulmonary embolism (or blood clot) that was discovered on his right lung
SEE BONEY PAGE 6
Local church hosting virtual Easter ‘Egg-stravaganza’ By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
George
Fort Bend County officials had reported 318 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon, including six deaths. Boney’s experience, he said, is a lesson in not ignoring your body – no matter how innocent the symptoms. When he tested positive March 27, Boney said he coughed up blood, prompting a visit to his primary care physician, who initially told Boney he had food poisoning. Absent were the typical symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Still, Boney said, his body felt “off.” After U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee connected him with Dr. Joseph Varon and Dr. Joseph
Easter egg hunts are a time-honored tradition, but it’s not the time for people to gather in groups and have their kids running around together. Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in Fort Bend County, a local church is looking to connect its
congregation in spirit as it puts a new spin on an old classic. First United Methodist Church of Missouri City has been conducting services online at fumcmc. org/ and Facebook to promote social distancing. On Thursday, Senior Pastor Marty Vershel will host a group communion over Zoom. The even bigger draw, he said, will come Sat-
Two girls enjoy the 2019 "Egg-stravaganza. It will be held online Saturday due to COVID-19. (Contributed photo)
urday with the church’s virtual “Easter Eggstravaganza.” “We’re trying to make things as normal as pos-
SEE EASTER PAGE 6
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