Unreported News

This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition (familiarly knownasthe Malfunction Junction News Edition or Snooze Junction News Edition), Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.

Houston  News Edition of Continental Newstime
Continental Features/Continental News Service
501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265
San Diego, CA 92101
(858) 492-8696
E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com

* Congressional News Briefs ... Senator John Cornyn explains, concerning Congressional coronavirus legislation, that the first bill sent to President Donald Trump for signing funded development of a vaccine, clinical trials and additional diagnostic tests, while assisting health-care professionals and first responders in their work treating patients and preparing for new cases; that the second bill is geared to relieving small businesses and individual workers that have been affected economically by the crisis; and that the third bill, for which he also voted, called the CARES Act, had been temporarily delayed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who sought to load the bill with provisions for stricter controls on airline emissions and with provisions for solar-panel tax credits. Aside from the well-publicized point that Texans and other Americans earning less than $75,000 a year--couples earning less than $150,000 a year--will receive living allowances of $1,200 apiece and $500 for each child, the Act permits individuals to access their retirement accounts without an early-withdrawal penalty for coronavirus-associated expenses; it lets individuals defer student-loan payments with no penalty or interest during the next 6 months; it enables individuals to deduct more of their charitable giving from taxes; it temporarily furnishes a weekly federal unemployment-insurance benefit of $600 to augment the state maximum benefit; it provides an extra 13 weeks of federally-financed unemployment eligibility after exhaustion of the individual's state benefits, through year's end; and it temporarily opens eligibility to the self-employed, railroad workers, independent contractors, persons having limited work histories, and employees of non-profit organizations. Meanwhile, for businesses, the Act increases the amount of deductible business interest that can be claimed; it furnishes $500 billion in secured loans to impacted businesses, with an Inspector-General and Oversight Board charged with ensuring accountability in the program; it makes $350 billion available for Small Business Administration interruption loans; it postpones the employer payroll tax; and it expedites and eases bankruptcy filings by raising the maximum debt threshold for small- and medium-size businesses to file. For the health-care industry, the Act furnishes additional aid of $100 billion for hospitals; $11 billion for vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other medical priorities; $1.5 billion for federal, state and local public-health agencies; and, given an emphasis on tele-health access, $1.3 billion for community health-center treatment of coronavirus patients. With respect to aid for state and local entities, there is $150 billion for state and local government based on population and $272 billion for such services and institutions as scientists engaged in research for treatments and vaccines; law enforcement and first responders; hospital and health-care work; acquisition of medical equipment and personal-protective gear; affordable housing and homelessness assistance; local schools and universities; and those small businesses in need of help to fulfill their payroll obligations. Noting that the state of Texas is due to receive a $237-million federal grant for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Senator warned Democrats against promoting a partisan agenda. In other developments, Senator Ted Cruz dismissed the Saudi Arabian excuse, the Russians are driving down the price of oil in the global market also, saying that, while Russia is not a friend, Saudi Arabia is a diplomatic and military ally. The Senator said that flooding the oil-supply market threatens to drive American producers out of business and cause thousands of job losses and that the reaction of the 13 Senators--the Senate's strongest supporters of Riyadh--who protested Saudi action can even be this: "the relationship with the United States is going to change very fundamentally." Also, Senator Cruz echoed the President's call for a democratic transition from the Maduro regime in Venezuela, asserting that the coronavirus outbreak has potential to overwhelm the country's health-care system, amid the general instability the regime causes in the region. Further, he insists that the country's officials must immediately release the CITGO6 and other Americans held without cause in Venezuela.

* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Abbott has received support from Senator Ted Cruz and Senator John Cornyn, in
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requesting that President Trump issue a major disaster declaration for the coronavirus, so the Federal Emergency Management Agency furnishes the state personal protective equipment, medical and testing supplies, medical-response personnel, and hospital beds, thereby overcoming shortages of ventilators and all the other items listed. The two Senators had written the President to urge FEMA and SBA coordination with Texas officials after the President's national-emergency declaration, saying, "Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect public health, and lessen the threat of an even larger disaster." Then, too, the Governor announces that he has issued a disaster proclamation declaring that the coronavirus represents a public-health threat to all counties in Texas; that the Executive Order he issued seven days ago requires a 14-day quarantine for air travelers entering the state from areas hit hard by the virus; that today he has applied the restriction to travelers from California, Louisiana, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Miami, as a way to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak; and that this proclamation will remain in effect as long as the Executive Order supporting it is in force, unless amended, revoked, or replaced. Beside observing the President's decision and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommendation to require social distancing until April 30th, with Department of Homeland Security guidelines on Essential Critical Infrastructure, the Governor has announced $14.1 million in grants to enhance the value of military installations in the state and to maintain employment; appointment of Ector County Judge Debi Hays as Chair of the Commission on State Emergency Communications, which oversees the 9-1-1 service and the state's poison-control program; and suspension of state statutes inhibiting use of state Department of Housing and Community Affairs program funds to help Texans overcome coronavirus hardships to pay their rent.

* County Government News Briefs ... The Harris County Commissioners Court, prior to adjournment of its Public Meeting of March 24, was due to take up a request to approve, after County Attorney review, a contract valued at $240,000 with Greenberg Traurig, LLP for legislative liaison services, on behalf of the County, in the nation's capital; a request for consideration of inmate phone services and call rates during the current public-health emergency; the Precinct One Commissioner's request for consideration of the Community Services Department's Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance Programs in light of the coronavirus outbreak; and, among other matters, the Precinct Two Commissioner's request for consideration of an agreement with the Lift Fund to furnish non-interest, four-year loans totaling $10 million to support small businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.
* City Government News Briefs ... Mayor Sylvester Turner, participating in the assembly-line packing of care packages, has announced a food and supply drive for the City's homebound and other needy senior citizens, estimated to number more than 10,000, in partnership with the Kroger Company and Gallery Furniture (locations at 6006 N. Freeway and Grand Parkway), with collection times daily between 8 AM and 10 PM, and with Gallery Furniture accepting donations of cleaning supplies and toiletries, as well. Besides, the Mayor informs that the Harris County Stay Home, Work Safe order that was set to expire tomorrow has been extended through April 30, with a continuing exemption for the 16 declared critical-infrastructure services, the Mayor reminding that the purpose is to prevent the health-care system from becoming overloaded with coronavirus patients. With the opening of a second testing site yesterday, the City now has the capacity to test 500 individuals per day, and of the 377 Houstonians who have tested positive, 38 have been municipal employess. Four patients have died, so far.
The Houston City Council, scheduled to meet on April 7th, is set to address a Consent Agenda consisting of such business as approval of the Public Works Director's recommendation to establish the final contract amount with National Works, Inc. at $808,877.61 for sanitary sewer cleaning and television inspection; adoption of an Ordinance establishing the Harris County Municipal Utility District Number 575 with authority to issue bonds for City road facilities, and approval of a Hotel Occupancy Agreement for 400 room nights at 1314 Texas Avenue for use as a coronavirus quarantine site.

* School District News Briefs ... The Governing Board of the Houston Independent School District reports that, among Interim Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan's Priority Items considered at the Board's March 12th meeting, approval of the Board Monitoring Update, with Progress Measures--based upon the Board's 2010 Declaration of Beliefs and Visions regarding effective use of taxpayer dollars to achieve a rigorous education in reading and math, consistency, and safety--was postponed until this month.

* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that, as of 5:53 PM, current conditions at Houston Hobby Airport are overcast, with a temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 69 percent, wind out of the southeast at 17 miles per hour and gusts as high as 28 miles per hour, a barometric pressure of 29.87 inches, a dewpoint of 62 degrees, and visibility of 10 miles. The forecast for tonight calls for a 30-percent chance of showers mainly between 7 PM and 3 AM, cloudy skies and an over-night low temperature around 68 degrees, and southeast wind of 5 to 10 miles per hour. Friday is expected to be cloudy, with thunderstorms possible after 5 PM, a daily high temperature of about 79 degrees, southeast wind again of 5 to 10 miles per hour, and a 40-percent chance of precipitation.

* Sports ... The NBA announces that Rockets Coach Michael D'Antoni has been named Western Conference Coach of the Month for February. Former Astros catcher Evan Gattis confirms that he will not be returning to baseball, and the Texans will see the NFL open a new playoff berth in each Football Conference in 2020.

OnVideo Guide to Home-Video Releases By Harley W. Lond (c. 2020)
April 14

Just Mercy … Powerful true story follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuvering and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them. Director: Destin Daniel Cretton. Also stars: Rafe Spall, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Tim Blake Nelson. 2019, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 136 min., Drama, Box-office gross: $35.489 million, Warner. Extras: To Be Announced. 3 stars
April 21

The Turning … A young governess is hired by a man who has become responsible for his young nephew and niece after their parents' deaths. A modern take on Henry James' novella "The Turn of the Screw." Newly-appointed nanny Kate is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora and Miles. Quickly, though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear. Director: Floria Sigismondi. Stars: Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince, Mark Huberman, Karen Egan. 2020, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 94 min., Horror, Box-office gross: $15.367 million, Universal. Extras: Alternate ending, deleted scenes, "Behind The Turning." 2 stars





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Question Time with Public Officials

The American public expects public officials to deal with, rather than dodge, difficult public-policy problems, to be transparent in their public-policy positions, and to state their views confidently, thoughtfully and boldly. One week was allowed to finalize the response, by E-mail, of each of the Presidential candidates listed below.
The Continental News Service had announced its intention to publish results of this multi-respondent poll in its on-line newspapers over the course of time, and these newspapers include its Washington D.C. News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.

Would you, Senator/Representative/Governor, support legislation, or even sponsor legislation, ending all federal government grants to Planned Parenthood if it was conducted in an even-handed and non-discriminatory manner; that is, likewise ending all federal and federally-subsidized state grants to faith-based and all other non-profit groups, whatever their specific tax-code classification?
__ Yes. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is ________________________________________________________________________________.
__ No. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is _________________________________________________________________________________.
X No Comment. Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee.

* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.” hastes=hurries.

[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]

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*Free

Cameron Parish News Edition

of Continental Newstime newsmagazine

VOLUME I NUMBER 1 MARCH 19, 2020

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What's new in Cameron Parish, Louisiana? Find out here:

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This is a Special Issue designed only to encourage a would-be editor-publisher in Cameron Parish, Louisiana to start a regular weekly or bi-weekly newspaper and to show that, using the structured format below, the proverbial wheel need not be re-invented—to eliminate the complexity in restoring newspaper coverage to Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Just as our Website indicates, Continental Features/Continental News Service is available to give guidance, to offer some cartoons/comic strips and other feature material free of charge, and to help a new local editor-publisher expand by 26 pages one time monthly for readers interested in receiving a general-interest magazine insert. CF/CNS desires more exposure for our cartoons, comic strips and newspaper columns, but we do not exist to compete with a local editor-publisher in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. We publish too many other newspapers and publications to regularly publish a Cameron Parish community newspaper, too. It is our hope, besides, that a local editor-publisher in Cameron Parish will not neglect to publish ads, so local businesses receive wider publicity for their products and services. Thank you.

Cameron Parish News Edition of Continental Newstime
Continental Features/Continental News Service
501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265
San Diego, CA 92101
(858) 492-8696
E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com

* Congressional News Briefs ... Cameron Parish's agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Clay Higgins, has written to Governor John Bel Edwards, raising First Amendment Constitutional objections to the Governor's Executive Order prohibiting church services attended by more than 250 people, insofar as the Executive Order infringes the right to the free exercise of religion. In addition, Congressman Higgins has joined such Republican colleagues as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in backing the Trillion Trees Act, House Bill 5859, which would promote more tree planting in urban areas and on marginal agricultural land here in the U.S.; produce more wood in our forestlands rendering them more resistant to insects, disease, and catastrophic fires; furnish a sustainable building tax credit as an incentive to innovative building practices; and provide technical support abroad to reverse deforestation and increase forest growth, all toward sequestering 205 gigatons of carbon. Besides, the Congressman has voted for passage of the bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act, House Bill 6201, which is designed to furnish financial protections to American workers and make coronavirus testing available without charge. Then, too, the bill offers employers a tax credit, instead of establishing a new entitlement program, as a means of extending financial aid to workers who are ill, in quarantine, or caring for others because of the coronavirus. Maintaining Hyde Amendment prohibitions against using funds for abortion, the bill likewise fosters tele-health services for new Medicare beneficiaries so the health-care system is not overwhelmed. Higgins says the legislation represents a "whole-of-government focus" on the coronavirus threat that affords Americans health security and economic stability.

* State Government News Briefs ... Governor John Bel Edwards announces that he has expanded his Proclamation geared to slowing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the wake of the second and third reported coronavirus-related death in the state, saying this builds on "aggressive measures" already in place. Citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations and a one-hour-plus conference call with President Donald Trump and Vice-President Michael Pence underscoring the importance of enhanced mitigation efforts, the Governor has strengthened his Proclamation, with at least 132 confirmed cases of coronavirus, to prohibit assembly of more than 50 people, thereby ordering the closure of casinos, bars and movie theaters and restricting restaurant operations to delivery, take-out and drive-through orders. Given a two-week lag time for symptoms to appear, the Governor says that the assembly restrictions, which encourage video meetings and tele-conferencing, may end on April 13, but the situation is due to be re-assessed seven days before to determine whether there has been a flattening of the coronavirus curve. Meantime, the chief law-enforcement official in each parish shall have power to impose a local curfew. Further, the Governor has made requests to the Small Business Administration, so far, for Economic Injury Disaster Loans designed to aid Orleans and Jefferson Parishes.

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* Parish Government News Briefs ... The Cameron Parish Police Jury, meeting most recently on March 10 in the West Annex Board Room (148 Smith Circle), was scheduled to hear reports on the Cameron Fisheries Update, the Occupational Tax and the Rail Feasibility Study and took up an agenda free of requests for drilling and pipeline permits, but including requests for permits by Shell Energy LLC to obtain after-the-fact, emergency authorization to construct a levee to prevent water from topping a road and entering an existing drill site; by Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. to maintenance dredge an existing marine berth, a construction dock, and a proposed marine berth along the Sabine River Channel, with annual dredging, transfer of material for shoreline protection, and establishment of a wetlands and wildlife preserve; and, among others, by Roy Bailey Construction to temporarily store excavated material within a permitted borrow-pit project area. Similarly, the Parish Police Jury was tasked with making appointments to Fire Protection Districts 1, 7, 9, and 14, since the terms of incumbents had expired; filling a Gravity Drainage District Number 3 vacancy resulting from resignation; tabling for 60 days the matter of a Waterworks District Number 11 resignation, because Bryan Granger's term expires May 5, 2020; and, among other appointments, taking up Waterworks District Number 9 and Lower Cameron Hospital District Number 2 selections tabled last month. Next, Parish Police Jury members were set to conduct a Public Hearing into Proposed Amendments affecting Temporary Food Service during Festivals and Fairs. The starting point was defining recognized festivals and fairs to include the Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival, the St. Mary of the Lake Fall Food Festival, the Grand Chenier Alligator Festival, the Summer Bayou Bash Festival, the Hackberry Duck-Off, and the Cameron Saltwater Fishing Festival. In other business, the Parish Police Jury planned to accept bids for the CDBG-funded Rockefeller Shoreline Protection Project and to authorize the Police Jury President to execute contracts for the project; to exercise authority to advertise a speed-limit reduction from 25 miles per hour to 15 on Miller Avenue (PR 225) in Grand Chenier; to approve a Resolution authorizing Rural Public Transit to apply for a Formula Grant for Rural Areas to enhance mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities; to endorse the Police Jury President's Proclamation marking the Parish's Sesquicentennial 150th Anniversary; and, before payment of bills and adjournment, approval of such items as a $12,000 appropriation for the Cameron Council on Aging Meal Program.

* School District News Briefs ... The Cameron Parish School Board, School Superintendent Charley Lemons announces, will be providing to-go breakfast and lunch meals to anyone 18 and under, in the aftermath of onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Monday through Thursday between 11:30 AM and 12 Noon by prior telephone or E-mail arrangement with Dr. Holly Castile [(337) 775-5784 Ext. 1013]. Otherwise, school-closure to-go breakfast and lunch meals will be available between 11 AM and 12:30 PM, Monday through Thursday, at Grand Lake School, Hackberry School, Johnson Bayou School, and South Cameron School. Moreover, the School Board has a policy, during the current school closure, to permit students in grades 4-12 to check out their content-filtered Chromebooks for educational purposes, with distribution times limited, depending on the school, to March 18 or, in the case of the Grand Lake School, to March 23 from 9 AM-12 Noon on the High School side of the campus. And the Superintendent has prepared a COVID-19 informational resource for employees, students, parents/guardians and stakeholders generally.

Please E-mail info@continentalnewsservice.com for a copy of Brian Crowell's cartoon feature, "J.V. All-American"

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of Continental Newstime newsmagazine

Houston News Edition

Continental Features/Continental News Service

"The newspaper-feature super-channel"

VOLUME VII NUMBER 1 APRIL 2, 2020