INSIDE | Marshall advances in playoffs
p. 9 The Fort Bend Star is launching a new series this week called Those Were the Days. The series will run on months with five Wednesdays in them. This week’s installment is the first of a threepart series looking at the history of Sugar Land.
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WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 29, 2017
FEMA closes Simonton Disaster Recovery Center Two others remain in county Staff Reports
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 40 • No. 16
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Fighting breast cancer goes beyond October Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure postponed to Jan. 27 By Joe Southern
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To meet the needs of Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey, the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in Simonton has transitioned to a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) as of Nov. 27. The center is located at Simonton Community Church, 9703 FM 1489. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. SBA customer service representatives will be available at the DLOC to meet individually with businesses, homeowners and renters to answer their questions, explain SBA’s disaster loan program, help them complete their applications and close their approved loans. Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. The SBA can also lend additional funds to help businesses and residents with the cost of making improvements that protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future. For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of all sizes, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace their damaged or destroyed primary residence. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Applicants may apply online using SBA’s secure website at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Survivors can still register for federal disaster assistance in the following ways until Nov. 30, 2017: • Online at DisasterAssistance.gov. • Calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362
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Lynette Lamey never set out to be an advocate for breast cancer awareness but after fighting the disease for four years she is proud to lead the charge. “Check your girls” is her battle cry and also the name of her Facebook page dedicated to the cause. It’s also the name of her team in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This year’s race was postponed to Jan. 27 due to Hurricane Harvey. Lamey, of Sugar Land, said it is fitting that the race was postponed. She said the fight against breast cancer is continuous and not confined to one month. “It’s more than pink and more than October,” she said. In recent years the month of October has become as synonymous with breast cancer awareness and pink ribbons as it has with Halloween and harvest festivals. As Lamey learned in the fall of 2013, the fight against cancer is more than a month; it’s relentless and unending. A career woman with a job in the oil and gas industry, Lamey was making plans for a business trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Wanting to tie up loose ends before embarking on her journey, she went to have her annual mammogram. That’s when she got the phone call. “We’d like you to come in and get a biopsy,” the voice on the other end of the line said.
Lynette Lamey, left, poses with her grandson Branson Holley and stepdaughter Miranda Lamey at last year’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. (Submitted photo)
She went in and had the biopsy. “They called me on the day I was getting ready to leave,” she said. “We know it’s cancer.” The revelation made for an emotional and introspective flight across the Atlantic. Having met with the surgeon, she was assured it was caught early enough that it wouldn’t take her life. What she
Dulles freshman raising funds for Harvey victims with Family Science Night event Donna Hill FOR FORTBEND STAR.
When talking with Anika Patel, it’s hard to believe she is only a high school student. The articulate ninth grader from Dulles High School has found a scientific approach to helping Hurricane Harvey victims, and is planning a fairly large community event – on her own – to help. She’s also come up with a unique theme for the event: Family Science Night, which is all about getting people together to learn more about science for one fun evening. Ticket purchases benefit Hurricane Harvey victims in Fort Bend County. Active in the community herself, Patel finds a source of organized support in area science groups. “Anika’s concern for Hurricane Harvey victims is commendable but her actions to help are extraordinary,” said Teri Mathis, a fellow Fort Bend Photography Club member who is helping Patel support the event. She noted that Patel has not only taken on the sizable community event by herself, but also initiated presentations and invitations for other science organizations throughout the area to participate. The multi science presentation called Family Science Night will be at Dulles High School Friday, Dec. 1, from 6-8 p.m.
had to decide was the course of treatment. “I wanted to save the girls,” she said, referring to her breasts. After a month in Dubai, Lamey came home and in October prepared to have the first of what would be five surgeries. “I had a lumpectomy,” she said. Lamey said she was glad it was
caught early. “It was an aggressive form of cancer. It was already in my lymph nodes,” she said. The chemotherapy treatments, however, hit her harder than she expected.
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Sugar Land man pleads guilty to child porn charges Staff Reports FOR FORTBEND STAR.
Dulles High School ninth grade student Anika Patel prepares for Family Science Night. (Submitted photo)
Tickets are $10 per person and all proceeds will be donated to the Fort Bend Forward Harvey Recovery Fund. “She’s an achiever, and very engaged in the community,” Mathis said. “And it’s great that she thought this event up by herself.” Patel is a student of the Math and Science Academy at Dulles High School. The busy ninth grader also volunteers at a stroke support group, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and at the George Observatory for the Fort Bend Astronomy
Club. It’s safe to say science is a big interest in Patel’s life. So is volunteering and coming up with the idea for Family Science Night. “It’s something I started this year to benefit Hurricane Harvey victims,” Patel said. “I thought it would be a good idea to involve science and raise interest and then more people would be involved.” “I came up with the idea after school re-started after the hurricane. And I started hearing stories on how people were
affected. My home hadn’t been damaged; I just wanted to help other people,” she said. Many local science clubs have joined in Patel’s fun evening of science. Clubs such as the Fort Bend Astronomy Club, Houston Museum of Natural Science Downtown and the Houston Gems and Minerals Society. Activities at Family Science Night include telescope viewing, updates on NASA missions, an inflatable dome planetarium,
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Michael Joseph Hall pleaded guilty to felony charges of promotion of child pornography and possession of the same on Nov. 20. The 27-year-old Sugar Land man then accepted seven years in prison in an agreement with prosecutors. Hall is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. According to Assistant District Attorney Michael Hartman, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cyber-tip from Skype and “Chatstep” that an individual was sharing known child pornography images with what appeared to be a minor in February. Sugar Land Police Sgt. Matt Levan, affiliated with The Houston Metro - Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC) investigated the cybertip. Levan executed a search warrant in March and found Hall in possession of pornographic images of children. Hall subsequently confessed to the promotion (distribution) of child pornography. “Studies have shown that a high percentage of offenders that collect and distribute child pornography also sexually abuse children,” said Hartman,
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Michael Joseph Hall
“which is why it’s so important to investigate beyond the initial pornography we discover.” “This case illustrates the importance of pro-active investigations in identifying perpetrators who would otherwise not be held accountable for their crimes. And without consequences, these perpetrators will not stop,” Hartman said. Hall plead guilty in the 400th District Court before Presiding Judge Maggie Jaramillo. Promotion of child pornography in this case is a second-degree felony, punishable by 2-20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Possession of child pornography is a third-degree felony punishable by 2-10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Hall was eligible to receive probation and had no prior felony convictions. Hartman and Katie Peterson prosecuted the case. Attorneys Ken and Judy Mingledorff represented the defendant.
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