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JANUARY 27 & 28
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WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 27, 2017
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 40 • No. 20
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Volunteers, Missouri City at odds over animal shelter By Theresa D. McClellan FOR FORTBEND STAR.
Did Missouri City officials retaliate against volunteers in the Municipal Volunteer Program who publicly aired their animal shelter concerns and encouraged residents to question the city? The question, which has been brewing in print and social media and led to protestors packing the second floor of City Hall, came to a head during a recent Monday night City Council meeting. Volunteers claim that once they publicly challenged city officials for underfunding the shelter and encouraged the public to complain in letters
and emails to the council, they were locked out of the facility and denied the ability to photograph the animals for online marketing purposes. When Valerie Tolman, recognized by the city as Volunteer of the Year for her work at the shelter, wrote a letter to the editor in the Fort Bend Star about the Dec. 4 special meeting where she said, “Councilman Wyatt, the Mayor and some administrators seem to be more interested in attacking and bullying city residents than fixing the issues at the shelter,” things got ugly, she said. “Within a few hours of that letter to the editor in the paper hitting the streets, a city employee ransacked the medicine room for the animals. Everything was taken away. How is
Missouri City animal shelter volunteers hold up photos of rescued animals at a recent city council meeting to protest the way the city has been handling volunteers and the shelter. (Photo by Theresa D. McClellan)
withholding meds helping animals? Now I can’t say for certain strongarm tactics weren’t in retaliation, but timing is coincidence,” she told the
Battle lines drawn for primaries By Joe Southern and Theresa D. McClellan
It’s going to be very crowded at the polls during the March primary, and that’s before anybody gets in line to cast a ballot. The ballots for the Republican and Democratic primaries in Fort Bend County are very crowded. With everything from a U.S. Senator, members of Congress and the governor to a whole slew of judges, voters will have a lot to choose from when they go to vote on Tuesday, March 6. Additionally, Democrats in the traditionally Republican county will have more choices than they have in a long time. A record-breaking number of local candidates filed Democrat for the upcoming May 6 primary election, which has democratic leaders excited. “This is recordbreaking. We had 30 local Democrats, in the previous election we had 10 or 12,” said Cynthia Ginyard, the Democratic Chairwoman for Fort Bend County. “People are tired of being politically correct when things are wrong. So they are saying, I’m gonna call it what it is. You’re hurting citizens and children, you’re saying one thing doing another and not telling the truth. I’m gonna do something about it and put you out of office,” added Ginyard. “We are the most diverse county and that’s what this room should look like and if we’re not, that’s a problem. We look like the United Nations because that’s who we are. We are not all black, all white, all Hispanic and all Asian,” she said. Below is a listing of candidates who will appear
Council on Dec. 18. The city said medicine at the shelter was confiscated and examined after the city staff learned that volun-
teers stored prescription medicine at the shelter. It’s been done for years, say volunteers, but the city feigned surprise, they said. An examination of that medicine by a licensed veterinarian found expired medications, medication prescribed to individuals who are not city volunteers or employees and several alleged controlled substances, according to a city press release. The medicine was turned over to public safety officials and the overthe-counter drugs later returned to the volunteers. The prescription meds were not returned. Since the room was packed, City
Getting healthier in 2018 Dr. Kota Reddy specializes in helping people with their diets to improve liver function, control or reverse diabetes and to lose weight. (Photo by
Joe Southern)
on ballots in Fort Bend County based on filings with the Texas Secretary of State:
Reddy Cardiac Wellness and Diabetes Reversal Center Address: 3519 Town Center Blvd South Suite A Sugar Land, TX 77479 Email: info@ reddycardiology.com Phone: 281-617-2203 Websites: Reddycardiology.com, Reddybread.com
U.S. Senator Democrat Beto O’Rourke Edward Kimbrough Sema Hernandez Republican Bruce Jacobson Jr. Geraldine Sam Mary Miller Stefano de Stefano Ted Cruz U.S. Representative District 9 Democrat Al Green Republican (None) District 22 Democrat Letitia Plummer Margarita Ruiz Johnson Sri Preston Kulkarni Steve Brown Republican Eric Zmrhal James Green Pete Olson Governor Democrat Adrian Ocegueda Andrew White Cedric Davis Sr. Demetria Smith Grady Yarbrough James Jolly Clark Jeffrey Payne Joe Mumbach Lupe Valdez Tom Wakely Republican Barbara Krueger Greg Abbott Secede Kilgore Lieutenant Governor Democrat Michael Cooper Mike Collier Republican Dan Patrick Scott Milder
SEE ELECTION PAGE 2
SEE SHELTER PAGE 9
What’s in your liver? Diet key to healthy liver, fighting diabetes, controlling weight By Joe Southern JSOUTHERN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Forget the apple, it’s an egg a day that keeps the doctor away. That’s according to Dr. Kota Reddy of Reddy Cardiac Wellness and Diabetes Reversal Center in Sugar Land. “A good saying is an apple a day keeps the doctor in the neighborhood and an egg a day keeps the doctor away,” he said. Dr. Reddy explained that apples – and all fruits – are made of simple sugars that have a negative impact on the body, especially the liver. “Liver disease is increasing in incidence and they claim in the next five to 10 years its going to be the largest epidemic, more than heart disease and cancers, leading to liver failure and liver transplants,” he said. Dr. Reddy specializes in treating heart and liver diseases as well as
diabetes. All of it, he said, is managed through diet. “All roads lead to Rome. All diseases emanate from fatty liver,” he said. “That means if you have a fatty liver it’s a sign you are developing resistance to insulin, you’re developing leptin resistance. Insulin resistance leads to diabetes and leptin resistance leads to obesity.” Diet: What to eat and what to avoid Dr. Reddy, who is also an author and speaker, has a diet program designed to help, heal, and restore the liver functions and reverse the symptoms of diabetes. Weight loss is one of the side effects of his plan. “The goal is simple; if you treat food like medication and eat nonaddicting food you’ll never have to worry about your health,” he said. “The purpose of the program is to teach you how to use your grocery store as your pharmacy. That means buying the right foods to
Joey Bangit uses the Fibroscan machine to check the liver of a patient.
help you eat.” If there is one thing Dr. Reddy could remove from the average diet it is sugar. “The right food would be anything that’s free of sugar, starch, and processed food, including sugar substitutes.” That means eliminating all protein bars, protein powders, processed meats, sweets, desserts, ice cream, pies, chocolates, soft drinks, etc., from your diet. Even natural sugars such as carrots, beets, onions, bell peppers,
sweet peas, paprika, sweet potatoes, yams, honey, agave nectar, alcohol, vinegar, fruits, fruit juices, and especially high fructose corn syrup need to be taken off the menu. “There’s no difference in the way the body perceives it when you talk about natural sugar, which is fructose, versus manmade fructose. They both go to the liver and they become fat,” Reddy said. Starches to avoid include rice, beans, lentils, breads, and potatoes. “Sugar causes diabetes, starch makes it worse. Sugar is the fire and starch is the gasoline,” he said. So what is good to eat? “Meat doesn’t cause diabetes. Eggs don’t cause obesity or diabetes. Cheese doesn’t cause obesity or diabetes. And it’s not a paleo diet. This is not a paleo diet. This is teaching you what to eat and what not to eat,” he said.
SEE HEALTH PAGE 6