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WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 30, 2022 JEANNE GREGORY REALTOR®, CRS, GRI, ABR
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 47 • No. 62 • $1.00
Local hospital announces $231 million expansion By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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Area man convicted for sexual abuse of child By Ken Fountain
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A Houston area healthcare giant is expanding its footprint in Fort Bend County. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital this week announced that it is expanding its campus to meet the growing needs of the region, with Fort Bend County's population expected to reach 1 million by 2027. Through a recently announced $231 million investment, the expan-
sion project will include a large build-out of one of the existing towers on campus, which will add new medical/surgical beds, new universal beds, and a new neonatal intensive care unit. The project will also expand catheterization lab capacity as well as key outpatient areas, including emergency department rooms, operating rooms, endoscopy suites, CT and X-ray capabilities, key ancillary areas, and parking capacity. “Memorial Hermann
Sugar Land Hospital is situated in one of the fastest growing regions in Greater Houston, and as we work to meet the health needs of our community, it is clear that we must grow alongside them,” Malisha Patel, SVP and CEO of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land and Southwest Hospitals, said in a press release. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure we can continue providing the highest-quality SEE EXPANSION PAGE 4
Pictured is Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. The hospital has begun an expansion that aims to keep up with the county's growth. (Photo courtesy of Memorial Hermann)
Coming together
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On Nov. 18, a Fort Bend County jury found a Sugar Land man guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a young child and sentenced him on November 21 to 65 years in prison without the possibility of parole, the Fort Bend County District Attorney announced in a press release Monday. Carlos Alexander Castillo Crespo, 27, was convicted of for repeatedly abusing a child from 20192021. “The trauma this man caused this child at such a young age is immeasurable," Assistant District Attorney Jessica Ramos, lead prosecutor said in the press release. "I asked the jury to sentence the defendant harshly so he could never inflict this type of harm on any other child again. Their steep verdict does just that. He will not be eligible for release from prison until he is 92 years old.” Prosecutors presented evidence that Castillo Crespo admitted to law enforcement that he sexually abused a young girl for two years beginning when the child was nine years old and Crespo was 23. Crespo told police that he was in love with the young girl. “The defendant wanted the jury to believe he had a romantic relationship with this child and show him mercy,” said Dulce SEE CONVICTED PAGE 4
Members of the Sikh community perform a traditional Punjabi song of prayer during the Fort Bend Interfaith Thanksgiving Service last week. (Photo by Ken Fountain)
Fort Bend Interfaith Thanksgiving service draws diverse audience By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
The spacious sanctuary of St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land was filled near to capacity Monday for the Fort Bend Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, where representatives of various faiths offered prayers and reflections
"It's been three years, but we're here," Fr. Drew Wood, pastor at St. Laurence, said in opening remarks, to the applause of the attendees who had braved some somewhat dreary weather to come to the event. "We are here to be respectful towards each other, to get to know each other a little better, and to pray for peach in
the world, peach in our country, peace in our families," he said. Among the highlights of the event: the festival choir of Christ Church Sugar Land performed a song titled "Total Praise"; a choir from the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center performed a song based on a poem by Iman alBusiri; Cantor Renee Waghalter sang a mov-
ing Jewish prayer; and three monks from the Universal Door Buddhist Medication Center used glasses filled with water - from pure clear to muddied -- to illustrate how people's life experiences and confuse them about their true selves. Members of Hindus of Greater Houston, wearSEE INTERFAITH PAGE 4
Wonderful Indonesia Festival spreads local culture By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Crespo
from each of their traditions that resonated with the evening's theme, "Together in Love and Friendship." It was the first time the annual event, presented by the Fort Bend Interfaith Community, was held in person since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the previous two years, the event was held virtually.
A slight chill in the air didn't keep hundreds of people from turning out for the Wonderful Indonesia Festival at Sugar Land Town Square on Sunday and enjoying the tastes and cultural offerings of one of the largest countries in the world. The event, sponsored
by the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia, returned to Sugar Land for the second time, after its first time in 2019. In previous years, the event had been held at the consulate's headquarters in Houston's Westchase district. The event's move to Sugar Land is meant to highlight the cultural and economic ties between the area and In-
donesia, Consul General Andre Omer Siregar and Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman told attendees as they opened the festivities, with both of them gamely playing on traditional Indonesian drums. "We welcome everybody," Zimmerman said. Indonesia, an archipelago nation comprised SEE CULTURE PAGE 4
Erika Sinegar, the wife of the Indonesian general consul, dances at Saturday's festival while Aurelia Sky performs. (Photo by Ken Fountain)