Fort Bend athletes showcase skills in Tokyo - Page 5
Stafford's Chunk's Burger spiced up a recent meal. Read the review inside today's edition on Page 8. (Photo by Stefan Modrich)
WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 4, 2021 Check out
our Daily specials
Planned gas station frustrating county residents By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
online ordering & Curbside pick-up!
9920 Hwy 90A Suite #D-120 Sugar Land, TX 77478 832-532-7816
Area parents worry amid variant spike By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Sumita Chowdhury Ghosh sees the daily updates about the rise in cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, and worries about what it will mean for her two children who are about to go back to Fort Bend ISD schools. More than just being worried about the unknown, Ghosh is concerned that both parents and even local school districts are relatively powerless to do anything about it, she said. “We’re stuck between a rock and hard place,” she said. “I have serious concerns.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed a new executive order that, among other things, reiterates that no public school district, governmental entity or entity that receives government funding can institute a mask mandate. The order changes little about public policy in the state, instead mostly reiterating executive orders and guidance Abbott has already given. “The new executive order emphasizes that the path forward relies on personal responsibility rather than government mandates,” Abbott wrote. Abbott’s decision comes as a growing number of residents have checked themselves into Fort Bend County hospitals in recent weeks and have been diagnosed with the Delta variant of COVID-19. As of early June, Fort Bend County was seeing daily case increases in only the double digits, a sharp decline from thousand-case increase days in early 2021, according to the county’s coronavirus dashboard. But those daily cases increases have gone up to about 400 per day as of the latest count, according to the dashboard. COVID-related hospitalizations are also on the rise. Coronavirus patients now account for about 10.3 percent of all operational hospital beds in Fort Bend County facilities, up from about 7.9
Yetzirah Urthaler Basaran and her husband thought they had purchased the perfect home – a beautiful residence they’d get to help design themselves in a brand-new development called the Haven at Seven Lakes. And the Katy ISD schools are some of the best in the region, she said.
Abbott
It wasn’t until the Richmond couple was driving to a preconstruction meeting in June that they noticed a sign advertising a gas station, and began to have concerns, she said. “If we’d known this was going to be so close, I don’t think we would have purchased this home,” Basaran said. “In terms of priorities, health comes first before schools.” Basaran’s mother, for instance, is battling breast
For t Bend residents have some apprehension about the planned Pit Stop Express gas station in Katy. (Photo by Matt deGrood)
cancer and Basaran worries about living so close to a facility that produces benzene, she said. As the couple set out
SEE GAS STATION PAGE 7
Soaking up sunshine
Pictured above is Acciona's solar plant in Portugal. The Spain-based renewable energy company is building a solar plant in Fort Bend County, which could look similar to the one shown here. (Contributed photo)
Solar booming in Fort Bend County, state By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend County for years has drawn major companies looking to invest in solar projects because of its proximity to Houston’s energy market, its comparative abundance of land and an eager county government seeking to benefit from the growing market. It’s those factors, along with several others, that led Fort Bend County resident Stephen K. Brown II to help an Australia-based group launch a solar farm project in his home county after first looking at sev-
Work has begun on a Fort Bend County solar farm, which will be located in the southwest portion of the county. (Contributed photo)
eral other places, he said. Brown is the interim CEO of Clean Energy Fund of Texas and former president of another renewable
energy company called Capital Assets Energy. He helped Lendlease buy county land several years ago that is now being de-
veloped into a solar farm by Acciona, a Spain-based renewable energy company that is taking advantage of tax abatements offered by the county. “Compared to those counties south of Houston – Brazoria and Galveston – there’s less flooding,” Brown said. “So, Fort Bend is more attractive.” The county has been part of an almost quiet revolution in Texas, the rapid and dramatic expansion of the solar industry – a trend that looks set to continue even after some elected leaders lambasted the industry without evidence for causing the near-catastrophic failure
of the state’s power grid during February’s winter storm. Officials with the county did not respond to requests for comment by Monday afternoon about why they’ve decided to invest in solar projects. “Solar is booming in Texas, and even more so since the storm,” said Nick Liberati, a spokesperson for EnergySage, a company that allows customers to compare prices from different solar companies. In the week of the storm, searches on the company’s website increased about
SEE SOLAR PAGE 7
H-GAC to start exploring public transportation options By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 45 • No. 50
Leaders with the Houston-Galveston Area Council are soliciting input on the state of public transportation in Fort Bend County and the Houston region. Public transportation across the region had been steadily growing and expanding before the pandemic begin in
March 2020, according to Jamila Owens, the council’s travel demand program manager. At its height, Fort Bend County residents were making more than 14,000 trips per day on the county’s commuter route. But the pandemic has cut those numbers in half, and while they’ve recovered slightly in recent months, regional travel experts are
working to see what needs residents have for public transportation, Owens said. “I think we’re in an interesting spot right now,” Owens said. “The newer generation is more open to public transportation than maybe we were previously.” Fort Bend County commuters currently have two options for public trans-
portation, Owens said. The first is a commuter bus service that makes regular trips to the Galleria area, Gre-
enway Plaza and the Texas Medical Center, with service to downtown set to begin in 2022, she said. There’s also a demand-response service, which residents could use to arrange a trip within Fort Bend County, say from Sugar land to Missouri City, Owens said.
SEE OPTIONS PAGE 7
JERRY FLOWERS
Real Estate Agent, MBA, CNE, ABE Army Veteran (RET) • 832-702-5241 Jerry@dreamhomesbyjerry.com
4500 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478