2 Great Shows - 1 Admission
Fort Bend
HOME & GARDEN
January 15-16 • Ft Bend County Fairgrounds
Show
FortBendHomeandGardenShow.com
Immersive entertainment concept coming - Page 3
WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 22, 2021
Missouri City residents plead guilty in alleged bribery scheme By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Three Missouri City residents who worked at Houston ISD have pleaded guilty in connection to a alleged bribery scheme involving millions in district funding and several high-ranking officials, including the district’s former chief operating officer and a former trustee, according to a Thursday news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Details of the alleged scheme became public Thursday, when officers arrested the district’s former chief operating officer, Brian Busby, 43, and a district contract vendor, Anthony Hutchison, 60, according to a news release. A federal grand jury two days earlier had returned indictments against the two men, according to the release. Those indictments, along with several guilty pleas involving other former district officials, were made public Thursday. Three Missouri City residents were among those who have already pleaded guilty. Derrick Sanders, 50, officer of construction services; Alfred Hoskins, 58, general manager of facilities, maintenance and operations; and Gerron Hall, 47, area manager for maintenance south, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. They face up to five years in prison, according to a release. Busby is accused of helping award construction and maintenance contracts to Hutchison in exchange for bribes and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of home remodeling, according to the indictment. Hutchison, operating as Southwest Wholesale, allegedly entered long-term contracts with the district and between 2011 and 2020 overbilled and inflatedly billed the district for services, causing the district to lose millions, according to the indictments. The other people charged in connection to the scheme, including former school board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones, who is a trustee for Houston Community College, all allegedly accepted bribes and either helped or declined to stop the problem, according to the release. Both Busby and Hutchison are accused of trying to interfere in the federal criminal investigation when they learned of it, according to the release.
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 46 • No. 18
County facing housing shortage By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
A quick glance down a street in Sienna is all one needs to see the full evolution of a neighborhood – a cozy home with trucks Homes are under construction in the fast-expanding Sienna parked in the driveway development. Fort Bend County, like many places across the and Christmas decorations country, is facing a housing shortage amid unprecedented across the lawn stands demand for homes. (Photo by Matt deGrood)
next to two homes with for sale signs out front. Next to them, contractors are hard at work building brand-new homes that will one day join the group of houses that prospective homeowners will visit. Developers both in Fort Bend County and across the nation went into the
early months of the pandemic expecting that, with a surge of layoffs and an unprecedented decline in business activity, fewer people would be looking for homes. But instead, the opposite has happened. In conversations with
SEE HOUSING PAGE 7
Delivering cheer
Members of the Rosenberg Fire Department carry a gift that was donated to the county's annual toy drive last Friday. Nearly 3,000 toys were given out to Fort Bend families and children in need. (Photo from Facebook)
Annual toy drive provides free gifts for county’s children By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Children in hundreds of Fort Bend County families will have at least one extra toy under the tree and a smile on their face this Christmas season, thanks to an annual holiday effort by the county to provide free gifts for children last weekend. County officials and volunteers were out at the County Annex in Rosenberg for the county’s annual Christmas toy distribution event last Friday, giving away toys to children and families in need this holiday season. Entities such as the Rosenberg Fire Depart-
Hundreds of children received free toys during the county's annual giveaway last Friday, Dec. 17 at the County Annex in Rosenberg. (Photo from Facebook)
ment, Fort Bend Social Services, the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Bend Kids and Cops,
and more served as toy collection sites for nearly 3,000 toys that were donated for the distribution.
The contributions enabled the county to give away free toys to more than 1,000 families during Friday’s drive-through event, according to a Facebook post from Fort Bend County Judge KP George. “We wanted to put a smile on their face – we want to make sure they have a holiday and a Christmas with presents,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page prior to the event. Lines were wrapped around the annex for the annual event, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle, as the county made an effort to help those families who may be struggling financially during the Christmas season.
“This is how we make a difference with our Fort Bend residents – our children, and especially our children born to economically-disadvantaged families,” George said. “We want to put cheer on their face during this holiday season.” It’s all a part of the county’s effort, George said, to provide hope and support for all of Fort Bend County’s citizens – no matter the season, occasion or hardships presented. “We will continue to serve our community with (these types of events), making Fort Bend County continue to be a better place for us, our children, and more generations to come,” he said.
New FBISD superintendent reflects on first 60 days By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
New Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Christie Whitbeck has been on the job for only about 60 days and already has a good sense of the pandemic-related challenges facing the district moving forward.
Of course, Whitbeck wasn’t unfamiliar with the district when she first accepted the job. “This has been my life’s work,” Whitbeck said. “I’ve spent the majority of my career in the Houston area.” Before arriving at Fort Bend in October, Whitbeck served as the
superintendent at Bryan ISD since 2017. But before that, she worked in FBISD for four years as a deputy superintendent. Whitbeck sat down last week with several media organizations to discuss her first 60 days on the job and elaborated on issues facing the district moving forward.
Catching up Starting next semester, all students in FBISD will return to in-person schooling, according to the district. That’s because the district this month announced it would end its virtual schooling option at
SEE SUPERINTENDENT PAGE 7
Whitbeck
JERRY FLOWERS
Real Estate Agent, MBA, CNE, ABE Army Veteran (RET) • 832-702-5241 Jerry@dreamhomesbyjerry.com
4500 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478