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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 43 • No. 46
'Sugar Land 95' site among discussed bond projects By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
This November, Fort Bend County voters could have decisions to make that will impact long-term infrastructure development, including one of the most notable interests in Sugar Land and Fort Bend ISD. According to minutes recorded from a June
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19 special meeting of the Fort Bend County Commissioner s Court, the county is considering putting a facilities bond million on the upcoming November ballot to upgrade and create amenities around the county. They would include projects in Missouri City, Sugar Land and other places in the area. Of particular note is a $3 million project in the draft, which would aid in
creating an educational exhibit and park at the historic abandoned cemetery discovered during construction of Fort Bend ISD's James Reese Career and Technical Center in early 2018. Fort Bend County can own, operate and maintain the cemetery where archaeologists discovered the remains of the "Sugar Land 95," a group of 95 African Americans who are believed to have been part
of the state's convict labor leasing program in the late 1800s, thanks to the passage of House Bill 4179 June 7. On June 17, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees approved the principal terms of an agreement that will transfer ownership of the cemetery to the county. As a result, FBISD board president Jason Bur-
SEE BOND, PAGE 6
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Community mourns loss of UH athlete from Fort Bend County From Staff Reports
Sugar Land Skeeters outfielder Willy Taveras takes a swing during an at-bat June 29 against the High Point Rockers The former major leaguer said he is happy extending his playing career with the Skeeters. (Photo by Joe Southern)
Taveras happy to play with Skeeters By Joe Southern FOR THE FORT BEND STAR
The Sugar Land and George Ranch communities are mourning a fallen son. Robert Platt, 20, a University of Houston pole vaulter who graduated from George Ranch High School, died in a boating accident on Lake LBJ
SEE LOSS, PAGE 11
Willy Taveras has played in the World Series twice. He had a 30-game hitting streak with the Houston Astros in 2006. In 2005, he was second in Rookie of the Year voting. He set a Colorado Rockies club record with 10 atbats in a single game (22 innings at the San Diego
Padres in 2008). He led the major leagues in stolen bases (68) in 2008 and also led the National League in bunt hits (24) that year. After playing for four major league teams (the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals are the other teams) and racking up all those records and kudos, one has to ask why, at age 37, is he playing for the Sugar Land Skeeters in the independent Atlantic League of
Professional Baseball? “To be around the guys and be able to have my family around and playing baseball. I can’t buy that, even if I have all the money in the world,” Taveras said. “We’re making the best out of the opportunity and at the same time feel very blessed to still be in a baseball uniform.” A native of the Dominican Republic, Taveras grew up loving and playing baseball.
“In the Dominican, baseball is a religion; everybody loves it,” he said. He loved watching players like Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. and always dreamed of playing in Major League Baseball. That dream came true on Sept. 6, 2004, with the Astros. He started in center field for the Astros his rookie season in 2005, the same year the Astros went to the World Series the first time. He was traded to
Colorado at the end of the 2006 season and the next year with Rockies went back to the World Series. Although he never won a title, he still counts being there as a career highlight. Since his time in the majors, Taveras has played in the minor leagues and Mexican leagues and considers himself fortunate to still be playing the game
SEE TAVERAS, PAGE 11
Richmond residents reach peak with Food Network title By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Shelby Bower and Robin Cates never made it onto the first season of the “Wedding Cake Championships” in 2018, having been chosen as alternates for the Food Network program. Bower had finished second in her only previous TV appearance on the Robin Cates (left) and Shelby Bower won the "Wedding Cake “Halloween Wars.” The pair would not be Championships" this year after not making the show's first denied the second time season on the Food Network in 2018. (Contributed photo)
around. Cates and Bower – the mother-daughter team behind Shelby Elizabeth Cakes, an award-winning boutique cake studio in Richmond – took the cake (and $25,000 grand prize) during the Wedding Cake Championships’ second season, which concluded June 24. The pair beat out five other two-person teams to become the winner. “It was pretty surreal,” Bower said. “It just felt
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amazing to hear our names come out of their mouths.” While viewers may have just seen the finished product, from the cake to the dialogue and the preparation, the competition was fierce and more than met the eye – and not just because of the other competitors. Inside the competition vineyard in Palos Verdes, California, Bower said the temperature reached as high as 102 degrees, complete with sweltering humidity that
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mirrored that in Texas. “People were surprised that we had to make that many cakes, especially outside,” Bower said. “We were right by the ocean as well, so there was all that humidity to deal with, too, which is bad for everything we’re doing. Everything just melts or gets sticky real fast, which can impact the very foundation of the cake. It was messing with
SEE CAKE, PAGE 10
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