Area students garner HLSR art show honors - Page 4
WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 22, 2023 JEANNE GREGORY REALTOR®, CRS, GRI, ABR
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 48 • No. 21 • $1.00
By Ken Fountain
SOUTHWEST
713-854-0923 Each Office Independently Owned & Operated
Staff Reports
After being indicted by a Fort Bend grand jury on February 6, a woman was arrested by Fort Bend County Sheriff's deputies for the alleged theft of $30,000 to $150,000 in COVID-19 relief and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds, according to news release from the office of District Attorney Brian Middleton. Robin Laschae Williams, 32, is currently free on $5,000 bond and has an initial court date set for March 29 in the 261st District Court. The indictment is the most recent obtained by the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division, in an effort to recover funds that were intended to assist legitimate Fort Bend County businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according the the release. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General investigated the case in conjunction with investigators from the District Attorney’s Office. “COVID-19 relief programs were designed to lift up our community during crisis, and due to the number of people and businesses that requested funding, some deserving small businesses were unable to benefit to keep their businesses operating,” District Attorney Brian Middleton said in the release. “Anyone considering similar schemes to steal government funds intended to assist citizens in need, should know my office will prosecute these offenses to protect our community.” FEMA, a component of DHS, assists the public during disasters such as hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. "This arrest sends a SEE THEFT PAGE 5
Whitbeck
Coming off a failed referendum in November that would have kept the thentax rate in place, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees in a special meeting Thursday called a $1.2 billion bond referendum for the May 6 election. The bond is designed to fund new construction as well as rebuild some campuses, as well as provide
funding for long-deferred maintenance projects across the district. The special meeting was held after the board postponed a vote on the bond at the end of a marathon meeting on Monday. The district has not had a bond in five years, and as a result some of its 82 campuses are rated in “critical condition” due to outdated plumbing, roofing, electrical and HVAC systems, according to a FBISD news release.
“The board of trustees is mindful of its responsibility as stewards of taxpayer dollars, and it carefully considered the different bond options,” FBISD Board President Kristen Malone said in the release. “I am excited the board has taken the administration’s recommendation to bring a $1.2 billion bond to voters. This bond will fund rebuilding, SEE BOND PAGE 5
Proper remembrance
Lucas Leal, second from right, and a group of his friends stand beside the U.S. flag retirement box they assembled outside Meadowls Place City Hall. Leal decided to create the box as part of his final Eagle Scout project. (Contributed photo)
Meadows Place resident spruces up city hall with Eagle Scout Project By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Lucas Leal, a lifelong resident of Meadows Place, was looking for a final service project to complete his requirements to become an Eagle Scout. The 18-year-old Dulles High School senior saw that many of the U.S. flags hanging outside homes his community were frayed or torn. As a patriotic young man, he decided the best thing he could do was assemble a box for people to drop off their old flags so the could be retired in the proper manner. "To me, the flag has always represented free-
dom, the freedoms we have in this country," he said. Leal has been involved in Scouting for many years, first as a Cub Scout and steadily moving up the ranks. At first, he said, he didn't set his sights on becoming an Eagle Scout, but as he learned new skills and earned more merit badges, the ambition gradually took hold. He had earned the required Eagle-level merit badges, such as camping, wilderness survival. and swimming, but deciding on a final service project had stumped him a bit. After searching on the internet, the idea of a flag
About 200 flags have been collected at the box outside Meadows Place City Hall since it was completed in January. (Contributed photo)
retirement box seemed to be the perfect idea. He sent off for a kit box, and on January 14, he and several of his friends spent about five-and-a-half hours painstakingly assembling the box in front of City Hall. An extremely sped-up video of the full assembly process can be found on the city's website at cityofmeadowsplace. org/city-hall-f lag-retirement-drop-box. SEE SCOUT PAGE X
Sugar Land Council council to take up Imperial project By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Williams
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
FBISD placing $1.2 billion bond on May election ballot KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Woman indicted for theft of COVID funds
Joy of Djemb Drumming ensemble CELEBRATES Black History Month See photos on page 6!
Sugar Land City Council on Tuesday was set to consider a plan to amend the city's land use plan to allow for the proposed redevelopment of the Imperial Char House and the surrounding area after the Planning & Zoning Commission reached a tie vote on its approval during its February 14 meeting. Because the 4-4 vote at
the end a long and sometimes contentious meeting means that the proposed amendment failed, according to the rules of the commission, it will take a super-majority of City Council to overturn the decision. Since one council member, Nausahad Kermally, has recused himself on the matter, all but one of the remaining council members would have to vote in favor of the amendment to reach that threshold, according
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to city spokesman Doug Adolph. In December, the city announced that Houston based PUMA Development had developed a proposal that would transform the Imperial Char House, perhaps the city's most iconic building, into an office building with retail and food-and-beverage components. The Char House would be the first phase of the redevelopment of Sugar Land City Council will again take up the proposed redeSEE PROPOSAL PAGE 5
velopment of the Imperial Char House and surrounding area. (Photo by Ken Fountain)