“Once you get used to eating all the time, it gets progressively and steadily worse,” said Kloeber, who lives in Sugar Land. It didn’t help that she was living in New Orleans, a city known for rich cuisine and an immediate gratification lifestyle.

Sandra Kloeber before her weight loss.

Sandra tried every diet out there – Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, the grapefruit diet, the soup diet, Nutri-system, and even weight loss pills. The diets worked, but once she lost the weight she went back to her old eating habits and eventually gained back more than she lost. Once, she lost 100 pounds and gained back 130.

“Instead of doing a lifestyle change I would lose the weight and think I could go back to the way I was before,” said Kloeber.

Eventually Kloeber, at 5 feet 10 inches tall, was 272 pounds and 40-years-old. She had sleep apnea, joint pain, back pain, a hyperthyroid condition and, most importantly to her, she was having a hard time being active with her two children, a 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

“I would run out of breath,” said Kloeber. “I would get less motivated because I was so big – and riding a bike when you are 280 pounds is not easy.”

For Kloeber – who had tried almost every diet available, and worked for a bariatric surgeon in New Orleans – surgery was a “no-brainer.”

Sandra Kloeber after her weight loss.

A year ago, Kloeber got an adjustable gastric band, one of several surgical weight loss procedures available. Now she is four pounds away from her goal weight of 180 pounds.

But surgery isn’t a magic fix – once again, just as she realized with her other failed diets, a lifestyle change was required to maintain any weight loss.

“It’s an unusual operation because you are trying to induce change in behavior,” said Erik Wilson, Kloeber’s surgeon at The University of Texas Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery Center.

To increase his patients’ chances for success, Wilson encourages them to participate in an online program called Realize My Success that is associated with Kloeber’s procedure. The site is like “having a miniature Dr. Wilson on your shoulder,” said Wilson, who added that about 50 percent of his patients use the site, and those that do typically lose more weight.

The site includes recipes, chat rooms, personal stories of weight loss success and a food journaling tool.

The theory behind Realize My Success is not limited to those who are losing weight through surgery – the issues of support, accountability and knowledge can help in any weight loss program, especially when it comes to food journaling, said Wilson.

“I’m a big believer, having looked across all channels of healthcare and sports and whatever, that if you measure something and look at what you’re measuring, you make it better,” said Wilson. “Knowing the number in and of itself makes you want to improve it.”

The food journaling concept is not new – the Internet is home to countless sites with food journaling tools, such as MyFoodDiary.com, Nutrimirror.com, Fitday.com and my-calorie-counter.com. Most well-known weight loss programs, such as Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, also have food journaling tools on their websites.

“Food journaling helps, there’s no doubt about it,” said Wilson. “You don’t have to do it every day for the rest of your life, but if you do it two or three days a month you get a good sense of what you were eating.”

Kloeber admits that in the first few weeks after her surgery, she would “cheat” a little.

“Then I realized, ‘you know this isn’t worth it,’” said Kloeber. “It was also something that kind of held me to my responsibility. When you put it down and you see what you are actually eating and what you are supposed to and what you’re not supposed to it does make you accountable for what you’re doing.”

Kloeber, now 100 pounds lighter, bikes up to six miles a day, runs with her daughter and plays soccer with her son. She is sure that had she not lost the weight she was looking forward to a future of hypertension and possibly diabetes.

For those thousands of people who have started 2010 with the goal of finally conquering weight issues, by whatever method, Kloeber says the outcome is worth the struggle.

“I struggle every day,” said Kloeber. “Stick with it, the outcome is so worth it. It’s a struggle so just hang in there and get support. As long as you have support someone who is going to encourage you it makes all the difference.”

Kevin Kline will run 10 hours a day for 13 days in his 500-mile trek across Texas to raise money for the Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

For Sugar Land resident and 93Q morning radio show host Kevin Kline, it all begins and ends with the children battling cancer at Texas Children’s Cancer Center. It was one young patient four years ago that inspired him to start running, and it is for all the patients that he embarked Sunday on a history-making 500-mile run across Texas.

Kline left Dec. 20 from Dallas, and plans to begin at 7 a.m. every morning and running 10 hours a day for 13 days, making his way to the State Capital in Austin, the Alamo in San Antonio and ending on the steps of Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center.

Kline is the president and founder of the Snowdrop Foundation, which raises money for Texas Children’s Cancer Center. The money supports the center’s work in pediatric cancer research, provides twice annual weekend excursions for patients, and awards college scholarships to pediatric cancer patients and childhood cancer survivors.

Kline started the foundation as a birthday present to the young woman, Chelsea, who was his inspiration to run his first marathon.

Kline was participating in his radio station’s annual fundraising event at Texas Children’s Hospital’s outpatient chemotherapy center in 2005 when he saw a young girl walk in. She walked over to a group of young children, all bald from the effects of the cancer treatment, and played with them for four hours.

Kline said he assumed she was a volunteer, noticing she had beautiful, long brown hair. During a break, he walked over to her and said he was impressed that she was spending her time helping the young patients, and she told him she was one of the patients, not a volunteer.

“I said you don’t look sick at all,” said Kline. “She said, ‘I’m not, I just have cancer.’”

The girl was 15-year-old Chelsea, who had been told she had only a 10 percent chance to live to see her 16th birthday because of a rare cancer. Chelsea did see her 16th birthday, but spent it in the hospital and passed away later that year. Kline served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

During her battle with the disease in 2006, she underwent a 28-hour surgery.

“I told her in honor of her ‘marathon surgery’ I would run a marathon for her,” said Kline, who ran his first marathon in 2007. After Chelsea passed away, he created the Snowdrop Foundation in her honor.

Kline relates everything about his 500-mile trek to children battling cancer – he says he will likely lose 8 to 10 lbs. during the 13 days as he runs between 7,000 and 9,000 calories a day, and look quite different in the end, not unlike the patients as they fight for their lives. He says the journey will have ups and downs, but it isn’t a race, he just needs to get from point A to point B.

“However long it takes,” said Kline. “Just like cancer patients. There are bumps along the way, nausea, complications, infections, but their ultimate goal is to remain positive and strong and get to the next point.”

He says the fact that he will run most of the time alone will mirror the isolation some young patients feel.

“When kids get diagnosed with cancer their friends stop coming around because they look different and the kids don’t know how to deal with it,” said Kline.

The ultimate goal of the run is to raise awareness of the Cancer Center and to raise $500,000 – twice what the Snowdrop Foundation has raised in its three-year existence. The money will be raised through corporate sponsors, individual donations, fundraisers from schools along the route and the sale of merchandise at the nightly stops, where there will be a “tent city,” food, music and the opportunity to spread the word about the work being done at the center.

Kline said he thinks many individual donations will come in after he finishes the run.

“There are a lot of people who don’t think I can do this,” said Kline. “Once we prove to those people how serious and passionate we are about this endeavor and that I have actually done it (the donations will come in.)”

Kline has dedicated a year to training for this endeavor, and has run the equivalent of seven marathons and three ultra-marathons since Jan. 1. The peak of his training was in October, when he topped out at 137 miles in one week.

He has gone through eight pairs of running shoes this year, which he is donating to another charity organization. He expects to go through three pairs of shoes during the 13-day run, and will auction those off to raise more money for the cause.

Kline said he started to get nervous a few weeks ago, when he realized what “a big torch” he was going to carry. He called Chelsea’s mother, and asked her if Chelsea was scared before she went into her 28-hour surgery.

“Her mom said no, because she knew what the outcome would be,” said Kline, an answer that eased Kline’s own apprehension.

During his training for the run, he ran the Grand Canyon, and talking about it leads him once again back to the children fighting for their lives.

“It was the hardest most grueling thing I have done, but it was also the most beautiful,” said Kline. “Obviously it’s the hardest thing they (the children) have done but when they get the news that they are in remission there are no more beautiful words in the world.”

Those interested can follow Kline as he runs across Texas on Facebook at
facebook.com/SnowdropFoundation and on Twitter at twitter.com/kkline. To donate visit
www.stridesacrosstexas.org.

A resident in the 4600 block of Holt told police he couldn’t enter his car on July 14 because of damage to the keyhole. Nothing was taken from the car.

The same day, police were dispatched to the 6400 block of Avenue B regarding found property. The found item turned out to have been stolen from a car in the 100 block of Pamellia.

In the 4500 block of Elm on the same day, the driver’s side window of a car was broken out with an unknown object. Nothing was taken from the car.

A resident in the 4500 block of Holt told police on July 15 that someone broke into the front door of the home and stole several items. Police are investigating.

A resident told police on July 17 that an unknown person was using her Community National Bank account to pay bills. Police are investigating.

A clerk at the Shell Station at 5910 West Loop South told police on July 17 that around 5:48 a.m. a man damaged a window on the east side of the building.

The victims all told police they were approached by a car containing black women and men. The cars were described as a gold Impala, a small gray car and a white Toyota, possibly a Camry. Police are investigating.

Several lifeguards witnessed the incident. The District Attorney’s Office refused assault charges, but the man was arrested for public intoxication and Class C assault. The case was referred to Child Protective Services.

Passenger Cedrick Garland, 17, was charged with criminal trespass and unlawfully carrying a weapon and passenger Jamarcus Brewster, 17, was charged with criminal trespass.

Police were called to the parking lot around 9:26 p.m. where two victims said they were robbed by three Hispanic men with guns. After a short chase, 17-year-olds Richi Juarez and Roman Walls were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery, along with another suspect who is not named because he is a juvenile. The stolen property was found.

The lease agreement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. would allow for the use of office space and parking through October of 2010 for a cost not to exceed $190,000. Council will hear the plans at the July 6 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, 7008 S. Rice Ave.

UP recently closed the crossings at Bissonnet Street and Bellaire Boulevard for improvements and those closures were the only time workers did not observe normal working hours.

The next step in UP’s maintenance involves leveling the rail bed, which includes the replacement if cross ties. The cross ties that are pulled out will be stacked on the side of the track and removed by another contractor.

Residents can sign up to receive the “tweets” at http://http://twitter.com/cityofbellaire..

Other Internet-based options for communication during hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30, include updates on the city’s Web site, http://www.ci.bellaire.tx.us/, and an e-mail notification system. Residents can sign up for emergency notification e-mails at http://www.ci.bellaire.tx.us/list.aspx.

If there are widespread power outages, as there were with Hurricane Ike, updates will be posted at the following locations:

• City Hall – 7008 S. Rice Avenue
• Library – 5111 Jessamine Avenue
• Parks and Recreation Facility – 5125 Laurel
• Police Station – 5110 Jessamine
• Public Works – 4337 Edith
• Evergreen Park – 4500 Evergreen
• Mulberry Park – 700 Mulberry
• Feld Park – 6406 Avenue B.

For Comcast customers, the city’s Municipal Channel 16 will broadcast information, or residents can call the emergency phone hotline at 713-662-8206.

Residents with special needs should register though the Transportation Assistance Registry by calling 211 to talk to a referral specialist. Residents who qualify for special needs assistance include:

• Residents with a disability or special health care need
• Residents who cannot drive or arrange transportation
• Residents who do not have a vehicle or anyone to help them evacuate

Before or during an emergency, the city will contact all residents that have registered with 211 to check on their status.

The land is between 12 feet and 15 feet in width, and totals about 14,550 sq. ft. The residents have asked for the city to abandon the land so they can purchase it.

City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said he had discussions with Metro concerning the painted stripe, and Metro originally wanted to market the new route more aggressively then they did. The service runs buses down Bellaire Blvd. to the Medical Center every 15 minutes with fewer stops than an average bus route.

“They did say one of the reasons for blue line is the Quickline route is kind of a cross between rail and bus,” said Satterwhite. “When you get on rail you know where the tracks are and where it is going. On the Quickline route it is marked much like a rail line would be. That was there reason for wanting to brand it that way.”

Councilwoman Peggy Faulk was not satisfied with that explanation.

“My feeling is we work hard in Bellaire to improve our community,” said Faulk. “We want to approve our appearance, and then some outside entity decides to paint a stripe down our street. I don’t like it.”

Faulk asked City Attorney Alan Petrov when another entity had the right to paint lines on Bellaire streets without approval from the city. Petrov said the entity would have to prove that the desired action was necessary for the entity to function.

“There would obviously be a point where we could say no, you can’t do that,” said Petrov. “And there’s a point where we can’t. The school district is a pretty good example of overlapping jurisdictions. The district has a right to build schools with the city of Bellaire. We can’t stop them from doing that but we can control where. We can impose regulations on them that don’t keep them from fulfilling their function. Is that blue line necessary? I don’t know. Probably not.”

Councilman Pat McLaughlan asked Petrov if it would be possible for council to pass an ordinance that would require council approval before an outside entity could put of signs in the city.

“We are continually plagued by visual pollution,” said McLaughlan. “Every government agency around here wants to stick up some sign.”

Petrov said it was possible, but the city might not have the power to say no.

“The process may allow council to hear that application, and you may be able to place certain controls on it, but the case may be that you can’t say no to them,” said Petrov.

The discussion ended with Faulk asking Satterwhite to provide council with an estimate for how much it would cost to have the painted line removed.

Metro’s new Quickline service has some Bellaire council members irritated – not at the new bus line, which is described as a route that runs with the efficiency of Metro’s rail line – but with the blue line painted on the street identifying the route.

A resident in the 1000 block of Mulberry told police on June 8 that someone removed air conditioning units from two of his properties.

On June 9, a resident in the 4800 block of Wedgewood told police that between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. someone took property out of her bedroom.

‘

The face was broken off of a statue in the front yard of a home in the 5300 block of Evergreen sometime during the night of June 8.

An American flag was reported stolen from the front yard of a home in the 4500 block of Evergreen on June 10.

Graffiti was painted on the back of Hancock Fabrics at 5867 Bissonnet on June 10.

A resident in the 500 block of Third told police on June 11 that at some point between May 16 and June 11, someone stole jewelry from her home.

A woman who stopped at the Baskin Robbins at 5408 Bellaire told police that while she was in the store someone broke the lock on her car and stole a television she just bought.

Council was discussing the appointment of three residents to serve two-year terms and one resident to serve a one-year term on the city’s Board of Adjustment when apparently it became obvious that due to overlapping applications, there could be a shortage of applicants for the Building and Standards Commission.

Siegel called a five-minute break so she could “go over her notes.” After saying she needed the break, she then said maybe the audience could take a five-minute break. Siegel looked over paperwork while still sitting in her seat in council chambers, spoke without a microphone to Councilwoman Peggy Faulk, then left chambers and went into a back room as the rest of council, with the exception of absent Councilman Will Hickman, continued discussions of an unknown nature without the use of microphones.

Eventually Faulk and Councilman Phil Nauert joined Siegel in the back room.

When questioned about the unusual circumstances, City Attorney Alan Petrov said council was technically not violating the Open Meeting Act, since no four couniclmembers, which would constitute a quorum, were speaking together at the same time.

He did, however, use his microphone to tell council members Jim Avioli, Pat McLaughlan and John Jeffery that they were “not to talk about government business” because council was on a break. Siegel, Faulk and Nauert were already in the back room when Petrov made the announcement.

Siegel returned to Council Chambers, and said she and Faulk had “made a couple of phone calls” while not in Council Chambers and solved the issue of board appointments.

Prices will remain as follows:

Breakfast – All Schools $0.00

Breakfast – Adults $1.70

Reduced Lunch – $0.40

Elementary School Full Price Lunch – $1.60

Middle/High School Full Price Lunch – $1.70

Lunch – Adults $2.65

The discussion will take place at councils regular session scheduled for 7 p.m. June 15 at City Hall, 7008 South Rice Ave.  

Aguilar is the editor for Houston Community Newspaper’s Examiner Newspaper Group, which includes the Bellaire, West U., River Oak and Memorial Examiners. In her application, Aguilar says she has lived in Bellaire for 22 years, and served two terms on the Recycling Committee and one term on the Parks Board in the 1990’s.

Aguilar says she created the citywide garage sale while on the recycling committee, as well as worked with former Public Works Director Dick Larson to create the “pioneering phone book recycling,” Christmas tree and yard waste recycling programs.

“With my writing and publicity skills, I think I could help plan and promote special events, bring public attention to fundraising efforts and assist with grantwriting, which I have done professionally for a number of organizations,” wrote Aguilar in her application, which lists her occupation as journalist.

Aguilar is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. interview Monday during a special City Council session scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Conference Room in City Hall, 7008 S. Rice Avenue.

Also scheduled for interviews are applicants Gregory Cauthen for the Buildings &Standards Commission, Jimmy Hauser for the Recycling Committee, Debbie Sharp for the Board of Adjustment, Randy Pollard for the Planning & Zoning Commission, Building & Standards Commission and the Board of Adjustment, and Scott Scheinthal for the Recycling Committee, Arts Commission and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

Two residents reported car windows broken and property stolen from their vehicles on June 1. The burglaries occurred in the 4400 block of Jane and the 4800 block of Linden.

A home under construction in the 5300 block of Maple was vandalized with graffiti on June 1, and the owner reported items stolen.

Byron White, 27, was arrested around1 a.m. June 5 after a traffic stop in the 6800 block of the Loop 610 East Service Road. White was originally pulled over for an expired registration, but was arrested for outstanding warrants out of the U.S. Marshall’s Office and possession of 1 gram of Xanax and 48 grams of Marijuana.