Social media post leads to arrest - Page 2
Live Oak Grill lived up to its reputation in the community on a recent visit. Read our review inside on Page 8.
WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 5, 2020
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 44 • No. 51
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‘Citgo 6’ saga takes encouraging turn By Adam Zuvanich
Art Relieves Stress WE’RE OPEN! In-studio or To-Go
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U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, right, performs a magic trick last October for Katy resident Sergio Cardenas, whose father has been detained by the Venezuelan government since 2017. (Photo by Adam Zuvanich)
The youngest of Gustavo Cardenas’ three children has a rare genetic disorder, is confined to a wheelchair and was not expected to live as long as he has, according to his mother. Sergio Cardenas is stable and doing well for the time being, but he would feel much better if his father could come
home to Katy. The local family has been separated for the better part of three years, with Gustavo having been detained by the Venezuelan government since November 2017. That’s when he and five other Citgo executives were called to a meeting in Caracas, home of Citgo’s state-run parent company, and then arrested by the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
Cardenas and the other men, five of whom are dual citizens with family in the Houston area, were accused of treason but have yet to stand trial in Venezuela. And they have missed many milestones back in the U.S., such as the birth of grandchildren and, in Cardenas’ case, his son’s unlikely transi-
SEE CITGO 6 PAGE 6
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Elkins alum helps keep seniors safe
OakBend Medical Center CEO Joe Freudenberger gets his temperature taken before entering the facility on March 20, prior to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's mask order going into effect. Freudenberger is recovering from a recent case of COVID-19. ((Photo courtesy of OakBend Medical Center)
OakBend CEO recovering from bout with COVID-19
By Landan Kuhlmann
By Landan Kuhlmann
LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the Houston region, an increasing number of doctors have transitioned to telehealth or virtual healthcare to safely meet their patients’ needs. A recent high school graduate from the area is working to make sure Fort Bend County’s highest-risk population for the disease can utilize the service while decreasing their risk of catching the coronavirus. Joanna Yu, a 2019 gradu-
Joe Freudenberger has seen many COVID-19 patients inside OakBend Medical Center in Richmond. The pandemic recently hit even closer to home for OakBend’s 59-year-old CEO, who is in the midst of recovering from his own battle with the disease. And though he has been asymptomatic since July 23, the longtime executive said it was not an easy diagnosis
By Landan Kuhlmann
SEE SENIORS PAGE 7
Freudenberger
at play. Then he got tested for COVID-19.
Freudenberger said his battle against it remains in its final stages. “I had to kind of get my head back in the right place and decide that I was going to fight through it,” he said. “Whatever it was going to bring, it would bring.” Fort Bend County had reported 7,287 cases of COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the new coronavirus strain, as of Tuesday. At least 100 county residents have died from the disease, while 3,497 patients have recovered, according to the county.
Following contact tracing, Freudenberger said he discovered he was likely exposed to the virus from his eldest son during an indoor family dinner in early July. His wife and son both eventually tested positive as well. From there, Freudenberger said it was mind over matter in dealing with the disease. He continued to perform his daily duties as OakBend’s highest executive officer and go on daily
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Local student with skin condition earns scholarship LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Yu
to hear. “I was scared,” he said of receiving his diagnosis July 12. “I kind of felt like … this could be my death.” Freudenberger, who said he had been wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, said he awoke with aches and pains July 8. He initially associated them with back problems, brushing them aside as he went about his work from home. Just a few days later, however, he began developing a sore throat and severe cough, leading him to believe something more was
Magdalena “Maggie” Augustine already knows what she wants, even if the avenue to get there is unclear. What is clear, however, is that her recently awarded college scholarship will go a long way toward accomplishing those goals.
Are you
“I want to be happy and I want to change the world for the better,” she said. “If I can do those two things in my lifetime, I’ve done well.” Augustine, a soon-to-be freshman at the University of Texas at Austin who graduated from Fort Bend ISD’s Austin High School in June, was one of nine students from across the country recently se-
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lected to be part of Ortho Dermatologics’ Aspire Higher scholarship program, which recognizes students who are also living with dermatologic conditions with scholarships up to $10,000. The Aspire Higher scholarship program began in 2012 and has awarded $738,000 over the years to more than 50 students, supporting their
higher education dreams. Augustine has been managing psoriasis, a skin disease marked by red, itchy, scaly patches on the skin, while maintaining school and extracurricular activities such as theatre and social justice activism at Austin over the last two years.
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Augustine
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