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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 46 • No. 15
WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 1, 2021
Sugar Land mayor caught in fight over I-45 expansion By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
A contentious fight to stop the planned expansion of Interstate 45 through Houston has grown to draw a Fort Bend County elected official into its orbit. A group called Stop TxDOT I-45 last week penned a letter accusing Sugar Land Mayor
Zimmerman
Joe Zimmerman of ethical misconduct for using his role on the HoustonGalveston Area Council’s transportation group to advocate for the project, which he could benefit from professionally as an employee of engineering and architecture firm Halff Associates, Inc. Zimmerman last week told the Fort Bend Star he’d asked officials with both the city of Sugar
Land and the HoustonGalveston Area Council to double-check to make sure he hadn’t violated any ordinances, but assured readers he hadn’t done anything wrong, and that his support for the project wasn’t personally motivated. “HGAC is in charge of advancing the transportation needs of the entire region,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not just Sugar Land or
Fort Bend County, though this project would benefit everyone. And other elected officials on the committee are equally like-minded. We all come from different backgrounds and we’re looking at funding projects that will benefit the community decades from now.” The Texas Department
SEE I-45 PAGE 7
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Crews working on area biz development By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
The broken ground and smattering of building materials near the intersection of Kirkwood Road and Highway 90A are the most visible signs of an ongoing $19 million project to add two new industrial buildings to a city known for its business development. Crews are at work on a project called Kirkwood Industrial, under which they will construct two industrial shell buildings with a detention pond, according to Tatyana Luttenschlager, city planner for Stafford. The finished product will look similar to other development next door, Luttenschlager said. “No tenants yet as these are shell buildings,” Luttenschlager said. A request for comment sent to the developer behind the project, Crow Holdings Industrial, went unreturned as of Monday afternoon. Crow Holdings, the Dallas-based parent company, is a privately-owned real estate investment management and development firm that first opened in 1948, according to the company’s website. The company manages assets worth a combined $21 billion and has 17 different offices. Included in the company’s portfolio are several other projects in Fort Bend County. The Stafford Grove Industrial Park, for instance, opened in 2017 and offers 351,960 square feet of distribution space on Airport
SEE STAFFORD PAGE 7
Students in the "Culture Shock" class listen to a presentation at the Literacy Council of Fort Bend building on Nov. 17. The aim of the class is to help recent immigrants learn about the workings of the county and how they can get involved. (Photo by Landan Kuhlmann)
Immigrants learn ins and outs of county in 'Culture Shock' class By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Sue Lee has encountered a vastly different world from the one she knew growing up in Taiwan since she first came to Fort Bend County in 2004, she said. The Sugar Land resident has made two further moves between Taiwan and the U.S. since that first arrival,
but her most useful introduction to the particulars of the county might have come recently. Lee is one of several recent immigrants enrolled in a new class at the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County called “Culture Shock: How Things Work in Fort Bend County.” Over the course of the yearlong class, students visit museums and oth-
er events, listen to talks from Fort Bend County experts and learn about schools and other opportunities across the county, according to a lesson plan. “They’ve put a lot of effort into the design of the course,” Lee said. “It lets us know more about Fort Bend. We really get out and interact with society.” Longtime county residents Jeffrey Hoffman
and Margo Pasko are the joint leaders of the class, which is taught in the English language, held at the literacy council building at 12530 Emily Court in Sugar Land and available to those who pay an annual registration fee to the council. Most of the students are originally from countries in Asia and South America. The first seeds of the class were planted
about 10 years ago, when Pasko worked for a nonprofit organization and had a chance to attend a leadership forum at the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, she said. “It was an incredible experience,” she said. Fast-forward several years later, and Hoffman was teaching a group of
SEE LEARN PAGE 7
Young Hurricanes in first state quarterfinal since 2011 By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
When first-year Hightower head coach Cornelius Anthony arrived in April, he figured his team might be in for a rebuilding year, having just graduated 39 seniors - including at least eight starters - from a team that reached the regional semifinals in 2020. What seemed less likely was that the Hurricanes would find themselves playing with a chance to win a trip
to the state semifinals just a few months later. Eight sophomores start each game for Hightower on both sides of the ball, including their starting quarterback and running back. But Anthony and his team have ridden a wave of largely unprecedented success this season, and they’re going to ride it until it crashes. The Hurricanes defeated Manvel for the second time this season last Friday, taking down the Mavericks by a score of 31-21 at Hall Stadium to reach the state
Hightower cornerback Ephraim Dotson (pictured) is one of eight combined sophomore starters for the young Hurricanes. (Photo by Landan Kuhlmann)
quarterfinals for the first time since 2011. “I really thought this would be a rebuilding year – especially after not being able to go through a spring or offseason ball,” said Anthony, an Elkins High School
SEE HURRICANES PAGE 5
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Real Estate Agent, MBA, CNE, ABE Army Veteran (RET) • 832-702-5241 Jerry@dreamhomesbyjerry.com
4500 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478