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2-27-16 TWIH City news, features, and updates February 27, 2016 Th i s W e e k i n H u n t s v i l l e PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR! Hope to see you at all of the above events on Wednesday, March 2! This year’s featured speaker at ll a.m. Denton Florian, Executive Director of the Sam Houston Project and a native Texan. He organized and led the team that pro- duced the celebrated documentary, Sam Houston, which won five EMMY Awards. The film, the web site, and the assets represent the largest collection of digital information on Sam Houston’s life that has ever been assembled. He will speak on “Why Sam Hou- ston Matters.” 20th Annual HUB Show Entities come together to help businesses The City of Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, the SHSU Small Business Development Center, and Walker County will together sponsor the 20th Annual Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)/Vendor Show. The HUB/Vendor Show will be held in the Walker County Storm Shelter located on Highway 75 North, on March 17, 2016. From 10-11 a.m. there will be a training session which will provide detailed information on how to do business with govern- ment entities, with presenters including the State of Texas and the City of Huntsville. Lunch for participating vendors will be served immediately following the training, to allow more opportunity to network, with introductions and opening remarks beginning at 11:30. The HUB/Vendor Show is scheduled to conclude at 2:30 p.m. “The main objective of the show is to assist vendors in the Huntsville area increase their customer base to include govern- ment entities,” Smith said. “Each level of government has slightly different bidding requirements and this can be daunting to the vendors. The sponsors will be available to discuss various details pertaining to their purchasing processes and proce- dures.” These will include Sharon Schultz, HUB Director with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Robert Barragan, Director of the SHSU Small Business Development Center; SHSU Assistant Director of Contract Management Bob Chapa; Walker Coun- ty Purchasing Agent Mike Williford; and Billie Smith, City of Huntsville Purchasing Manager. All will be available to address any questions related to their entity's purchasing procedures. “While there will be no charge for booth space or to attend any part of the event, booth space will be provided on a first- come, first-serve basis,” Smith said. “Vendors from all across the state attend each year, and, during the last several years, we have reached capacity prior to opening day.” For more information, contact Billie Smith at (936) 291-5495. To register a company for booth space, call Ruby Cowan, TDCJ HUB Coordinator, at (936) 437-3128. EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH! Candidate Filing Continues Through March 7 Ballot applications are being accepted for the May 7 Special Election to Fill a Vacan- cy. Andy Brauninger’s election as Mayor in December left an open seat on the City Council, for At-Large Position 1. Individuals interested in running may wish to review the information available at http://www.huntsvilletx.gov/395/ElectionsElecciones in the City’s Candidate Packet. Candidates may file until 5 p.m. on Monday, March 7, 2016, in the City Secretary’s office at City Hall (1212 Avenue M). For more information, contact citysecre- tary@huntsvilletx.gov or call 936-291-5403. Gentlemen, You’re Being Challenged! Mayor Andy Brauninger has committed to help bring awareness to the issue of sexual assault by participating in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event on April 19. He’s joining others in challenging men throughout the community to come out and walk a mile in heels generously provided by Payless ShoeSource™. Men literally walk one mile in women's high heeled shoes to protest sexualized violence, educate their communities and raise money for chroni- cally underfunded rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and other sexualized violence prevention and re- covery services. The Mayor will present a proclamation at the March 15 City Council meeting in support of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Huntsville. Additional events will be held locally throughout April, starting with the annual Ignite the Night event beginning at the Gaertner Performing Arts Center at 4:45 p.m. on April 5. Chili Cookoff Benefits Huntsville Kids! City of Huntsville employees banded together on February 18 to raise $1060 for HISD’s Socks and Undies Drive. HISD’s Social Services Master Social Worker Sally Dowis thanked the staff for their efforts, saying, “There are some children in our district who have never owned clean underwear that were not hand-me-downs. Others have none that fit. This is truly appreciated and will help many kids in our area.” HISD’s Home/School Liaison Juanita Hall and Sheila Cannon, United Way Piney Woods Coordinator, joined Dowis in tasting and judging and were on hand to help award the winning teams. Proceeds came from team entry fees and “tips” left at each team’s table as a form of voting for the Chili Pot Award. Employees paid to attend the lunch, receiving samples and toppings from each of the twelve teams, and a ticket allowing them to vote for the Golden Ladle Award. (The Nice Try Award was given to the team with the fewest tickets.) The team with the Best Thematic Presentation (team name, decorations, etc.) received the Hot Pepper Award. City employees love raising money for charities that benefit our community and citizens, and this was a tasty way to do so! Clockwise from above left: the IT Depart- ment’s team The Hot Trots won the Nice Try Award (fewest tickets); Esther Herklotz of Solid Waste won the Golden Ladle Award (best chili by popular ticket vote); Human Resources; Fleet Services; HPD; the Deer Camp Chili team of Gene Woods & Jay Wiggins from the Engineering Dept. won the Chili Pot Award (most tips); Tour- ism & Cultural Resources; the Finance Dept.’s Chili Chili Bang Bang team won the Hot Pepper Award (best thematic presenta- tion). National Accreditation for Main Street The Texas Historical Commission (THC) commended Huntsville for successful annual progress as a designated Main Street community, one of 58 to be recognized this year. The Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) began in 1981 as one of the first state coordinating programs in the country. 2016 marks TMSP’s 35th anniversary. Local Main Street programs focus on responsibly utilizing a community’s historic assets for economic benefit and to increase quality of life. During 2015, more than $216 million was reinvested into Texas’ 90 Main Street districts. Additionally, 327 small businesses and 1,710 jobs were created. Main Street programs in Texas are staffed, but rely on community volunteers to carry out the program. In 2015, Main Street volunteers reported more than 115,000 hours of work donated in support of the program. “For 35 years, the Texas Main Street effort has provided substantial return on investment to local communities across the state,” said Mark Wolfe, THC Executive Director. “Recognizing these individual local programs through an annual accredita- tion process proves that Main Street’s ambitious annual goals are being achieved.” The THC’s Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) made the announcement February 10 at the winter gathering of Texas Main Street managers in New Braunfels, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a Texas Main Street city. “The combination of effort by Main Street volunteers, staff and other local partners reaps great dividends. The state recog- nition and national accreditation recognizes these efforts,” said Debra Drescher, TMSP state coordinator. Accredited programs show above average performance in ten categories on an annual report. Selection criteria focus on planning, partnerships, staffing, volunteer effort, preservation ethic, training, and program assessment through reporting. The state office also works with programs throughout the year by providing various services based upon local needs. City of Huntsville Main Street Coordinator Lindsay Lauher was delighted with the recognition for the local program. "Receiving National Recognition is a lot like passing a standardized school test, it takes both program achievement as well as local support into account,” said Lauher. “These components play an equally important role in our ten graded criteria reports, which make gaining the recognition more challenging and also more rewarding. Everyone has an important role in Main Street’s success!" For additional information about the national Main Street effort, visit the National Trust Main Street website at www.preservationnation.org/main-street. For more infor- mation on the THC’s Main Street program visit www.thc.state.tx.us/mainstreet. Above, Lauher (holding certificate) is joined by the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) state staff in New Braunfels earlier this month. The City of Huntsville Solid Waste and Recycling Division will not be collecting curbside residential recycling on Friday, March 25, 2016, in observance of Good Fri- day. Only commercial customers with dumpsters and roll offs/compactors will have garbage collected on Friday, March 25, 2016. The Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling Facility will be closed to the public on Friday, March 25, 2016 and open on Saturday, March 26 from 7;30-noon only. For any ques- tions about collection, contact the Solid Waste and Recycling Facility at 936-294- 5712. TABC Announces Statewide 2016 Spring Break Undercover Operations Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents from across the state are set to conduct hundreds of undercover operations in an effort to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors during Spring Break. The undercover operations - dubbed "minor stings" - will take place March 1-15 at retailers located along popular travel corridors be- tween major Texas cities and the Gulf Coast. During the operation, undercover TABC agents will accompany a minor-aged volunteer, who will attempt to purchase alcohol. Retailers who sell alcohol to the underage person could face possible administrative action by the TABC. Members of TABC's Audit & Investigation Division will visit each of the targeted retailers prior to the undercover operations in order to provide training on ways to recognize suspected underage customers. During the 2015 Spring Break undercover operations, TABC agents visited more than 900 retailers and found more than 90 percent to be in full compliance with the law. Agency officials say they hope for an even better compliance rate this year. "These undercover operations have proven to be a useful tool in ensuring our retailers are in voluntary compliance with the law," said Chief Robert Saenz, TABC Chief of Field Operations. "While we were very pleased with the relatively low number of violations last year, when you're talking about an underage person getting behind the wheel while intoxicated, even one violation can result in loss of life. We're counting on Texas retailers to do the right thing and remain vigilant during this very busy time." For more information on TABC's efforts to curb underage drinking, visit the Agency's Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/TXABC. Thank you for making our community great! Volunteers from Gibbs Pre-K joined the Council at the February 16 meeting. Mrs. Betty Elvin and Dr. Joan Hudson hold garden clas- ses every Wednesday for over 400 students at Gibbs. Dr. Hudson has been a weekly volunteer at Gibbs for 18 years and “Mrs. Bet- ty” for 14 years. They are inspirational and knowl- edgeable, and have a love for children that amazes all the people who watch them at work with the students. National Book Awards Festival Comes to Town For a third year, the National Book Foundation returns to Huntsville in the springtime with the National Book Awards Festival. This budding lit- erary occasion brings recent National Book Award Finalists to town for three days of events. It's an outreach program that exists to promote reading and American literature on the SHSU campus, in the community, and in the public schools, with the goal of bringing books (and the worlds contained within them) to people who might not otherwise have access to them. The 2016 guests will be Fiction Finalist Angela Flournoy, Finalist in Young People's Literature Noelle Stevenson, and Poetry Finalist Ada Limòn. Join them all at the Huntsville Public Library’s Community Room from 5-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, to share the warm welcome for which we’re known. Then make plans for the main event on Friday, March 18, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Gaertner Center for Performing Arts. Steph Optiz, former literary director of the Texas Book Festival and fiction co-chair of the Brooklyn Book Festival in New York, will serve as the moderator for the onstage interviews. There will be other opportunities to meet and interact with the authors and learn more about their books and the National Book Foundation during this free festival, including activities at the Huntsville Public Library and the Wynne Home. For more info., visit www.shsu.edu/nba or follow at www.facebook.com/shsubookawards or @shsubookawards. At Your Library! There’s more in store at www.MyHuntsvilleLibrary.com Essential Oils Classes Return Essential oils teacher, Melissa Gonzalez, returns to the Huntsville Public Library for an all new se- ries of classes to discuss new topics on the use of essential oils. No registration required and classes are open to all. Check www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com for future class times. Call Mary Kokot (936) 291-5471 for more information and March schedule (final class in this four-part series will be April 11). Free Spanish classes A few spots still available for free conversational Spanish classes on Tuesdays from 3 to 4:15 p.m. at the Huntsville Public Library The 14- week program continues through May 10. Regis- ter now to reserve a spot. Contact Mary Kokot, Public Services Coordinator, at 936-291- 5471 for additional information. Tai Chi Classes Begin in April! The Huntsville Public Library is pleased to announce a new six-week Tai Chi class taught by Tai Chi instructor Gary Readore. Classes begin on Wednesday, April 13 and will be held on following Wednesdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room. Readore, a Tai Chi instructor for 25 years, teaches the Yang Style Long Form consisting of 108 movements. Tai Chi has evolved over several thousand years of research in China and is popular worldwide. Tai Chi has been shown in research to reduce anxiety, depression, and chronic pain conditions. It is believed by many to boost the immune sys- tem, improve respiratory function, burn calories, dramatically improve bal- ance, provide cardiovascular benefits, provide powerful stress manage- ment tools, and slow aspects of the aging process. Class size is limited so please sign up early. Contact Mary Kokot, Adult Services Coordinator, at (936)291-5471, or register online at www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com. Have plans for spring break? If not, come on down to the Huntsville Public Library and enjoy three days of Elementary Kids’ Crafts on March 7-9 at 3 p.m. (for 5th grade or younger). Sign up not required. THE HUNT IS ON! The Huntsville Public Library’s Easter Egg Hunt (for children six and under) will be held Wednes- day, March 23, at 10:45 a.m., on the lawn next to City Hall (Jane Monday Amphitheater area). Please bring your own bag or basket to hold what- ever goodies you find. Please note, the Easter Egg Hunt is being held in lieu of Story Time on this date. For more information, contact Children’s Co- ordinator Rachel McPhail at 936-291-5910. After a Flood: What Texans Need to Do to Prepare For the Next Disaster So, you and your family survived a big storm. The water has been pumped out of your basement. Your walls and floors are dry. Your roof seems to be intact. Your electrical appliances are working fine. And your flood-soaked refuse has been removed to the landfill. You are grateful it’s all over. But is it really? Ask yourself, “Are my house and property ready for the next big one? Will my family be safe the next time we flood?” Mitigation experts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) say there is no better time than now for homeowners to start thinking about what can be done to prepare for the next flood. For the big jobs, homeowners will want to hire a reputable licensed con- tractor. FEMA mitigation officials suggest getting bids from two or three contractors. And ask for references. Many other repairs may be easy work for handy do-it-yourselfers. Tasks like relocating basement or first floor electrical equipment and appliances, however, may require the help of a professional. Start with the main circuit breaker or fuse box. Move it up to at least 12 inches above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) for your home or building. Your insurance agent or local flood plain administrator will be able to tell you what that number is. Check with your local building department. If the electrical code allows, raise electrical outlets and switches above flood level. If you need to replace a flood-damaged furnace, water heater or air conditioner, have the new one installed on a higher floor. If your air condi- tioner or heat pump is outdoors, install it on a raised platform. Place washers and dryers on blocks, making sure they will not vibrate off the blocks during use. A 1- or 2-foot waterproof floodwall around appliances will protect them from shallow flooding. More do-it-yourself tips for repairing flood-damaged buildings:  Walls. If the wallboard and insulation were removed, wash and disinfect the exposed vertical wooden studs, and the horizontal wood- en sills at their base. If rebuilding, consider metal studs and sills as they are less damaged by water than wooden ones.  Wallboard. If you install the wall board horizontally (4 feet high), you’ll only have to replace half the wall if the next flood is less than 4 feet deep. Leave the wall open 1 inch above the sill. The baseboards will hide the gap, and all you have to do after the next flood is remove the baseboard and the wall cavity will drain freely and air will circulate better.  Floors. Particle board or plywood fall apart when wet for lengthy periods. Floor joists and some wood floors regain their shape when naturally dried. Use screws or screw nails on floors and stairs to minimize warping. Completely dry subflooring before laying new flooring or carpeting. Renail, then sand or place a new underlayment for a new floor.  Paints. Completely dry the surface before painting. This may take several weeks, but paint will peel if applied over a damp surface. Coat concrete surfaces with penetrating sealer for easier future cleanup.  Windows and Doors. When appropriate, replace flood damaged windows with vinyl or metal framed windows. Hollow core or poly- sty-rene foam filled metal doors are water resistant. Despite all that you have done, natural disasters are unpredictable, and even the best preparations may not hold up in the next flood. The first step in moving on after a flood is getting rid of damaged or destroyed personal property that can’t or should not be saved. FEMA mitigation experts tell flood survivors to always throw out flood-dirtied cosmetics, medicines, stuffed animals, baby toys and food that may be spoiled. It’s also a good idea to get rid of mattresses, pillows, rugs, books and other paper products. Should you throw away this or that? Good advice from one FEMA mitigation specialist: If you have to ask, throw it away. Next, dry out your house – lower the humidity. Open doors and windows to let fresh air circulate. Open closet and cabinet doors; remove drawers from their cabinets. Run dehumidifiers and fans. Give your housed plenty of time to dry. The rule of thumb is, if it takes one week for visible moisture to disappear, it will take at least another week for unseen parts to dry. Alternatively, you may want to turn the job over to a flooding and storm damage professional. Go online to search “water damage restoration” or “dehumidifying.” For more ideas on reducing flood loss, view FEMA’s booklet, “Protecting Your Home and Family From Flood Damage,” athttps://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/21471. Texas homeowners and renters who have registered for disaster as- sistance with FEMA are encouraged by recovery officials to “stay in touch.” Applicants changing their address or phone numbers should update that information with FEMA. Missing or erroneous information could result in delays getting a home inspection or in receiving as- sistance. Survivors with questions regarding their application for disaster assistance, or a pending appeal, should visitDisasterAssistance.gov or call the FEMA Helpline (voice, 711 or relay service) at 800- 621-3362. (TTY users should call 800-462-7585.) The toll- free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available. For more information on Texas recovery, visit the disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4245, Twitter athttps://www.twitter.com/femaregion6 and the Texas Division of Emergency Management web- site,https://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem.