September 21, 2018

Thank you for subscribing to my e-newsletter. Below you will find updates from federal, state and local agencies on events from this week.

The Army Corps of Engineers provided further information on the Emergency Dredging project in the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. The Nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert Test originally set for Thursday was postponed until October 3, due to ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence. Harris County released a public service announcement for National Preparedness Month. The Texas Water Development Board released their State Flood Assessment for Public Comment. The SBOE approved a streamlined social studies class and a Mexican American studies course. Each of these items is highlighted in the newsletter below.

Should you have questions regarding anything in this newsletter, please feel free to contact us directly using the information provided at the bottom of this email.

Sincerely, 

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The Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (HCOHSEM) has released a new disaster preparedness public service announcement (PSA) just in time for National Preparedness Month (NPM) which runs through the end of September. “The PSA is part of Harris County’s ongoing public awareness campaign to encourage residents to prepare for emergencies,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. “Because disasters can occur in many forms and can happen at any time.” 

Images in the PSA also remind the public of the “neighbor helping neighbor” spirit that has helped us recover from disasters. By taking steps now to prepare for emergencies, we ensure that our families and communities can respond and recover from all types of emergencies. Together, our efforts will build a stronger and more resilient community. “Harris County works year round to educate and prepare our residents through outreach events, publications and other materials,” added Emmett. “But it is up to each individual follow through with their own disaster plan.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the  Emergency Alert System (EAS)  and  Wireless Emergency Alerts  (WEA) on the backup date of October 3, 2018 due to ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed. The test was originally planned for September 20, 2018 but has been postponed until October 3, 2018 due to ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence.

Americans at all income levels have experienced the challenges of rebuilding their lives after a disaster or other emergency. In these stressful circumstances, having access to personal financial, insurance, medical, and other records is crucial for starting the process of recovery quickly and efficiently. Taking the time now to collect and secure these critical records will give you peace of mind and, in the event of an emergency, will ensure that you have the documentation needed to start the recovery process without delay. Read more about this topic here.

"Your information and thoughts on flood mitigation in our state are vital to this first comprehensive assessment on flooding in Texas. As such, please consider taking part in the public review and comment period on the  Draft State Flood Assessment . The public review and comment period begins  September 17, 2018 , and ends at 5:00 p.m. on  October 3, 2018 . There are three options for providing comments:

State Flood Assessment Public Comments

Texas Water Development Board

1700 North Congress Avenue,

P.O. Box 13231

Austin, TX 78711-3231

 

We encourage you to participate in this final opportunity to contribute to the flood assessment. All comments received by the deadline will be considered. Please contact Mindy Conyers, State Flood Assessment Coordinator, at 512-463-5102 or  [email protected] , with any questions."

Texas schoolchildren will still learn of the heroic "Victory or Death" letter penned by Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis while besieged in the Alamo, under streamlined social studies curriculum standards given approval Friday by the State Board of Education to solicit public feedback. The board rejected a proposal by an advisory group that suggested deleting the specific reference to the famous letter and deleting the word “heroic” when describing the Alamo heroes.

 

Instead the board unanimously voted to include this revised language to the seventh-grade Texas history standards: "Explain the issues surrounding significant events of the Texas Revolution, including the Battle of Gonzales, the siege of the Alamo, William B. Travis's letter 'To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World,' and the heroism of the diverse defenders who gave their lives there; the Constitutional Convention of 1836; Fannin's surrender at Goliad; and the Battle of San Jacinto."

 

Stephen Cure, a member of the Texas history work group that recommended the initial changes, said the committee recommended deleting the explicit reference to the Travis letter “because the specific reference was repetitive and unnecessary since it is impossible to teach the siege of the Alamo without teaching about the letter.” He said the work group believed that the “heroic nature of the diverse participants in the siege would be taught” whether the standard included the word heroic or not.

 

SBOE Chair Donna Bahorich said, “I appreciate the hard work of all those who served on the social studies work groups. The board accepted many of their recommendations, but the board unanimously felt the need to defend the Alamo. Texas has a unique history and it has been clear this past week that Texans feel passionately about telling this story.”

 

The vote was a first reading, or preliminary, vote. The final vote on streamlining of the kindergarten through 12 ^th grade social studies curriculum standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, will occur at the board’s next meeting scheduled for Nov. 13-16.

 

The State Board of Education also gave final approval to a new course called Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies. It is the first ethnic studies course approved by the Texas board and is believed to be the first Mexican American Studies course approved by any State Board of Education.

 

The course will be available for use in Texas public schools in the 2019-2020 school year. The one-credit elective course is based largely on a local course created by the Houston Independent School District.

Our office is always ready to assist you. Call or email us and we will do our best to help. Many State Agencies also have hotlines or citizen assistance offices to assist you. That contact information is available at this link, in alphabetical order: 

http://www.lrl.texas.gov/genInfo/stateAgencies.cfm

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