The strong showing on the Washington Post High School Challenge rankings and Newsweek’s America’s Best High Schools of 2012 are the result of HISD’s Advanced Placement initiative that began with the 2009-2010 school year.  That was the year Superintendent Terry Grier called on all high schools to expand student access to college-level AP courses and the district agreed to pay the exam fees for all students in those classes.

“This is great recognition of the hard work being done by teachers and students at high schools across the Houston Independent School District,” Grier said.

Today, all HISD high schools offer a minimum of 10-15 AP classes, and the number of exams earning a score of 3 or higher, which is the score most colleges require for course credit, is up 35 percent.

HISD’s strong AP progress is one reason the district is among four finalists for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes the top urban school district in America. This week, a Broad Prize panel of experts is touring HISD schools as part of the evaluation process.

Twenty-one HISD high schools earned recognition in the Washington Post High School Challenge, a list of 1,800 schools representing the top 9 percent in the nation when it comes to preparing graduates for college. Only 125 Texas high schools made the list, and HISD campuses – Carnegie Vanguard, Eastwood Academy, and DeBakey High School for Health Professions – represent three of the national top 100.

HISD high schools that made the Washington Post list include:

2012 Rank         School Name

10                    Carnegie Vanguard

23                    Eastwood Academy

96                    Challenge Early HS

114                  DeBakey HS for Health Professions

153                  Bellaire

161                  High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

168                  East Early College

194                  Furr

228                  High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

267                  Lamar

275                  Westside

548                  Westbury

553                  Lee

833                  Chavez

1,001               Milby

1,062               Reagan

1,121               Scarborough

1,158               Washington

1,205               Davis

1,377               Waltrip

1,571               Austin

HISD high schools also occupy 9 out of 1,000 positions on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools.  Only 86 Texas high schools made the Newsweek list. HISD schools on the list are:

2012 Rank       School Name

13                    Carnegie Vanguard

72                    Eastwood Academy

75                    DeBakey HS for Health Professions

162                  High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

439                  Bellaire

446                  Challenge Early College

685                  High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

883                  Lamar

957                  Mount Carmel Academy

The campaign kicks off today in an effort to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.

“The goal of HISD’s Police Department is to ensure the safety of all our schools, but we need the help of the community when it comes to seatbelt safety,” HISD Police Chief Jimmy Dotson said.  “Drivers need to ensure that they wear a seatbelt at all times for their own safety, and our officers are committed to enforce seat belt laws at all times.”

Seat belt use saves thousands of lives across America each year and HISD’s Police Department is helping spread the word.

NHTSA statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.  However, in that same year 22,187 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to NHTSA, and 51 percent of them were not wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.

“School will be out for the summer very soon so it’s important we are aware of more children playing in neighborhood streets,” said Dotson.  “We ask that all drivers take extra precaution when driving in their neighborhoods to ensure the safety of all our students during the summer break.”

While this year’s Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization runs from May 21 through June 3, motorists should know that officers are out enforcing seat belt laws year-round.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued the watch as atmospheric conditions are expected to be favorable for producing high levels of ozone pollution in the area.

Elevated concentrations of ozone can act as a lung irritant. Individuals with chronic lung disease such as asthma and emphysema, as well as the elderly and small children, are particularly sensitive to ozone and should attempt to avoid exposure.

To minimize exposure, those who may be affected by the elevated ozone levels are urged to minimize exertion outdoors during the midday to early evening hours or stay indoors or in an air conditioned area during these times.

Ozone reaching excessive levels may occur at any location throughout the greater Houston region depending on wind direction and other factors. Excessive levels may linger until sunset.

Ozone warnings will be issued if air pollution levels are detected at unhealthy levels.

After posting three dominant relief appearances, including two that helped secure the regular season Conference USA title over the weekend at UCF, Duffey has been named the league’s Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career. In his three outings the Owl right-hander totaled 5.1 innings pitched and did not allow a run nor a hit. More impressive, he struck out 13 of the 17 batters that he faced, including nine in a row at one point.

Duffey fanned three batters in 1.2 innings in a shutout victory on the road at Southland Conference champion Sam Houston State on Tuesday (May 15). The Houston native then turned in a pair of brilliant performances in the two Owl wins at UCF. In the game two win on Friday he struck out all five batters he faced. On Saturday, Duffey struck out the side in the eighth and fanned the first batter in the ninth to give him nine-straight strikeouts of nine batters over a two-game span. The streak was snapped with a base-on-balls, and after an Owl fielding error on a fielder’s choice play, UCF suddenly had two men on base and the potential tying run at the plate. Duffey was able to get the Knights to fly out, and he then fired a game-ending strikeout to preserve the 5-2 victory to help Rice take the regular season conference championship. The 2012 C-USA title is the program’s 17th- consecutive conference championship going back to 1996.

Duffey’s Owl teammates who have won or shared the league’s weekly hitting/pitching honor include Matthew Reckling (pitcher, three times), Michael Fuda (hitter, Feb. 27), Jordan Stephens (pitcher, Mar. 12) and Ford Stainback (hitter, May 13).

Jacob Wilson batted .381 on the week as the Tigers went 4-0. He hit .412 and collected four doubles and seven RBI for a C-USA series sweep lastweekend. For the week, he had eight hits, eight RBI and five runs scored, while adding two steals. He also blasted his league-best 16th home run against Tennessee-Martin last Tuesday.

Rice is 39-15 overall this season. With the C-USA regular season title the Owls also clinched the No. 1 seed at the upcoming C-USA Championship Tournament, scheduled to get underway on Wednesday (May 23) in Pearl, Miss. The tourney features four days of pool play followed by a single Championship Final on Sunday (May 27). Rice’s opening game in the tournament will be Houston starting at 3 pm.

The game is scheduled to resume Friday at 3 pm Eastern Time (2 pm Central Time) with UCF holding an 8-3 lead. The Owls are batting with two outs and the bases loaded. The second game of the series is scheduled to begin one hour the completion of game one.

UCF jumped on the scoreboard with a big five-run inning in the bottom of the third. The Knights loaded the bases on a walk, single and hit batsman. Shortstop Darnell Sweeney drove in two with a double to left-center. Chris Taladay followed with a two-run single, and he was able to advance an extra station when the Owls made a fielding error handling the ball. Taladay scored an unearned run on a single by D.J. Hicks that extended the lead to 5-0.

The Knights then added three more unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth after a Rice fielding error. The big blow was a three-run double by Alex Friedrich to make it 8-0, where half the scores were unearned.

Rice came back with three runs in the top of the fifth. Geoff Perrott and Michael Aquino knocked back-to-back doubles to left to lead it off. Aquino went to third on a ground-out to the right side and scored on an RBI grounder by J.T. Chargois. Michael Ratterree walked and Jeremy Rathen doubled down the left-field line for another score.

Umpires cleared the UCF facility when lightning began to strike in the area. Heavy rains followed, suspending play until Saturday afternoon.

The winner of this three-game series wins the C-USA regular season championship.

HISD’s non-teaching staff last received a pay raise in 2009-2010, and some, but not all, teachers received a raise in 2010-2011. No employees received raises this school year. Superintendent Terry Grier asked the board to consider the pay increases in an effort to remain competitive with surrounding Houston-area school districts that have already proposed doing so.

The teacher pay issue is especially critical as HISD seeks to compete with other school districts who are attempting to fill teaching vacancies caused by resignations and retirements. Each year, HISD loses about 1,000 teachers through attrition.  Under the proposal, teachers with 10 years or less of experience would receive a 2.25 percent pay raise, which would increase beginning teacher pay in HISD from $44,987 to $46,000.  Teachers with more than 10 years of experience would receive a 1.75 percent pay raise.

Other employee groups would receive the following salary increases under the compensation proposal:

• School bus operators, hourly food services employees, and salaried departmental employees on the lower end of the pay scale: 2.25 percent
• Substitute teachers, hourly employees, principals, assistant principals, and deans: 2 percent
• Professional employees and upper-level administrators: 1.75 percent

HISD began the budgeting process facing a $43.6 million shortfall caused primarily by the Texas Legislature’s decision last year to reduce public education funding by $5.3 billion.  HISD is among many Texas school districts that have filed a lawsuit seeking to force the state to fund schools at the constitutionally-mandated level.

The budget proposal includes maintaining HISD’s current tax rate, which is the lowest among all Harris County school districts.

The district would pay for the $20 million compensation proposal in part with $8.9 million from the district’s savings account, which currently stands at about $257 million.  About $17 million of the shortfall would be covered by reducing the amount of general fund money that is normally transferred to HISD’s debt service fund to help repay loans.  This reduction is a one-time option that will not be available in future years.

HISD has also identified several areas of potential savings for the upcoming school year. These include:

• $3.5 million in reduced employee healthcare costs through increased efficiencies that should not impact quality of service.
• $1.7 million less in special funding for six unique schools.
• $2.5 million in non-campus departmental cuts, primarily through eliminating positions and layoffs.  Last year, HISD eliminated 221 non-campus positions.

The Board of Education is expected to adopt the 2012-2013 budget at a public meeting in June.

Game times with the Knights are set for 5:30 pm on both Thursday and Friday, and 12 p.m. in Saturday’s series finale (all times listed are Central Time).

Rice and UCF are tied atop the C-USA standings and the winner of this series clinches the No. 1 seed of the upcoming Conference Championship next week in Pearl, Miss.

Benak scattered five singles with no walks while striking out nine in a career-long 7.1 frames. By the eighth inning only two Bearkat runners reached scoring position off the junior right-hander. It was the kind of start Rice head coach Wayne Graham wanted to see in a key midweek contest against a Bearkat team that had already clinched the Southland Conference regular season championship.

“Benak pitched a great game,” said coach Wayne Graham. “He had three good pitches. He had the best change-up he’s had this year.”

“We weren’t very lucky hitting,” coach Graham added. “We got five runs, but we hit a lot more balls hard then that. It’s a good RPI (Ratings Power Index) win, on the road.”

Rice challenged for runs in the first and second inning before finally breaking through in the top of the fourth. J.T. Chargois and Shane Hoelscher started the inning off with singles through the right and left sides, respectively. The runners advanced on a text-book sacrifice bunt by Michael Aquino. Chargois trotted home on a single to left by Geoff Perrott for a 1-0 advantage.

The Owls scored two more in the top of the sixth. Designated hitter Keenan Cook drew a one-out walk and stole second to move into scoring position. In Craig Manuel’s pinch-hit at bat, the Bearkats had a wild pitch that allowed Cook to advance to third. Manuel was hit by a pitch then surprised the home team with a steal of second base that two men in scoring position. Christian Stringer followed with a two-out single to left-center to score both runs and extend the Owls’ lead to 3-0.

Rice added two more runs on two hits and a couple of wild pitches in the top of the eighth to make it 5-0. There was still some drama to fight through in the bottom of the eighth. Bearkat right fielder Greg Olson led off with a single and Benak hit a batter with one away. The Owls went to the bullpen and issued a walk that loaded the bases.

The Blue & Gray brought in a second reliever, Tyler Duffey, who ended the threat with a total of four pitches to get a strikeout and fly out. With a scoreless ninth Duffey was back in form.

“It felt great out there,” Benak said. “I thought I had command of all my pitches and I got the change-up working early which was nice. It was tight there, but we got some runs and it took a little pressure off. Our offense can come up big at any spot in the lineup.”

The Owl duo of Stringer and Chargois each had two hits on the night. Rice is now 37-14 overall with six wins in the last seven games. The Bearkats are now 34-17 on the year.

The Owls’ road swing continues. Rice next plays a three-game Conference USA series at league co-leader UCF May 17-19. Rice then competes in the C-USA Tournmanent May 23-27 in Pearl, Miss.

The Owls first play at longtime state rival Sam Houston State (34-16 this season) on Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

Rice travels to Orlando, Fla., to meet conference foe UCF on May 17-19 and finish the C-USA schedule and regular season.

Game times against the Knights, 40-12 and co-leading the league with Rice at 15-6 are set for 5:30 pm on both Thursday and Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday.

Stainback had a strong week to help Rice grab a share of first place in the C-USA standings. In four games, the true freshman shortstop went a combined 9-for-18 (.500) with three doubles for a .667 slugging percentage. The Dallas native scored five runs, drove in three, and also drew a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch for a .571 on-base average. In the C-USA weekend series against UAB, he had three hits in a game-one win and went 4-for-4 in a game two victory with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored.

The weekly C-USA hitting honor is the first of the Stainback’s career. His Owl teammates who have won or shared the league’s weekly hitting/pitching honor include Matthew Reckling (pitcher, three times), Michael Fuda (hitter, Feb. 27) and Jordan Stephens (pitcher, Mar. 12)

Andrew Pierce threw his second complete game of the year and his first shutout with a three-hitter vs. East Carolina in the series opener on May 11. He fanned 11 and only one opposing runner reached second base.

Rice is now 36-14 on the season and in a tie for first place in the C-USA standings with UCF at 15-6 overall. The Owls have closed out the home portion of its regular season schedule and plays each of the next four games on the road. Rice is at Sam Houston State on Tuesday (May 15) followed by a three-game C-USA series at UCF on May 17-19. The Blue & Gray competes in the C-USA Tournament in Pearl, Miss., on May 23-27.

As of yesterday, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular was $3.63.

The Bellaire price compares with a national average that fell 3.3 cents in the last week to $3.73 per gallon, according to gasoline price website HoustonGasPrices.com.

Despite the recent drop in prices, senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said supply remains tight.

“While gasoline prices east of the Rockies have been falling, the West Coast remains at the mercy of refinery production. The entire West Coast right now is looking for any reason for a continuation in the price rally we’ve seen in the last week as supply remains tight and stakes high as Memorial Day weekend is just two weeks away,” DeHaan said. “While pump prices may continue their decline outside the West Coast, any refinery blip certainly has the potential for localized hotspots, and motorists should be aware of that.”

Including the change in gas prices during the past week, prices in Bellaire yesterday were 22.9 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 22.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

The national average has decreased 16.5 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 20.3 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

The redevelopment of McGovern Park represents a historic collaboration between three youth sports leagues –HESC, West University Little League, and West University Softball – and Annunciation Orthodox School, a private school serving children through Grade 8.

“Nothing like this exists in Houston or surrounding areas that is dedicated to youth soccer,” said HESC president Bob Corrigan.

Under the agreement, the Club and AOS will share a championship-caliber stadium with artificial lighting, covered spectator seating, concessions, bathrooms and locker rooms, and an auxiliary field adjacent to the stadium.  West U Softball and AOS will have a similar arrangement with respect to a softball field also located in the park.

“This first-class facility, when coupled with the club’s other field complexes, will give the club the absolute best facilities for youth soccer in the Greater Houston area and perhaps the state,” Director of Coaching Mark Gibbs said.

“Our club has nearly doubled in size over the last five years, to approximately 2,500 boys and girls,” HESC Vice President Adrian Crespo said. “McGovern Park will allow the club to absorb this growth and plan for future growth while ensuring that the club’s young athletes continue to have the best training environment in which to hone their skills.”

McGovern Park will be ready for competition beginning in fall 2012.

Before the teams alternated runs back-and-forth in both the 11th and 12th, UAB rallied to push across the tying run in the game’s tying run top of the ninth. Tanner Bryant hit a leadoff double, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on an RBI ground-out by Chase Davis to tie the game, 3-3.

The teams were deadlocked through 10 and in the 11th Davis reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored on Ryan Prinzing’s base hit to give the Blazers a 4-3 lead.

Rice continued to fight. Pinch hitter Keenan Cook started the bottom of the 11th with a single up the middle. Senior Daniel Gonzales-Luna pinch-ran at first base and moved to scoring position on Shane Hoelscher’s sacrifice bunt. He scored on Ford Stainback’s double off the left field wall that re-tied the game, 4-4.

“We had multiple opportunities with the bat in our hands,” said Rice head Wayne Graham. “One swing and we win the game.”

UAB responded two runs in the top of the 12th. Jeff Schalk drew a leadoff walk and was able to advance around to third on a pair of Rice wild pitches. He scored on a one-out single by Harry Clark to move back in front 5-4. Blazer pinch-runner Todd Wilkinson then stole two bases to reach third, where he scored on a ground-out to make it 6-4.

The Owls still would not give-in so easily. Michael Ratterree slashed a double down the third base line to led off the bottom of the 12th. He took third on a ground out and scored on pinch-hitter Michael Aquino’s hard-hit sacrifice fly to center field. UAB secured the final out to take the game by a score of 6-5.

“Mike (Aquino) almost hit it over his head,” Graham added. “Our pinch-hitters swung the bat well. Cook had that pinch hit in the 11th. That kept us in the game.”

The Owls quickly scored a run in bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Rathjen and stretched the margin to 3-1 by the fourth after RBI singles by Craig Manuel and Hoelscher. The Blazers cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the sixth before scoring the tying run in the top of the ninth.

Rice fell to 36-14 overall and 15-6 in C-USA action. The Owls are in a tie for first place in the C-USA standings with UCF. The Blazers improved to 28-25 on the year and 8-13 in conference.

Rice has closed out the home portion of its regular season schedule and plays each of the next four games on the road. The Owls are at Sam Houston State on Tuesday (May 15) followed by a three-game C-USA series at conference co-leader UCF May 17-19. Rice then competes in the C-USA Tournmanent May 23-27 in Pearl, Miss.

The proposal is intended to provide schools more flexibility to meet their students’ academic and developmental needs.  Earlier this spring, the Board of Education approved a resolution encouraging all elementary principals to offer their students daily recess, and this proposal would further enable them to do so.

Currently, the length of school days at HISD elementary campuses ranges from 7 hours to 7 hours and 40 minutes, meaning no school’s day would be lengthened by more than 15 minutes under this proposal. Schools that already exceed the minimum time requirement would be able to continue doing so.

The board’s regular monthly meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the board auditorium of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 West 18th St.

HESC, a private nonprofit organization, currently has more than 2,300 registered players who come from more than 60 zip codes in the Houston metro area.

The club is staffed with professional coaches who implement a training curriculum to provide the best environment for players to succeed.

HESC is committed to a consistent style of play across all age groups and focuses on teaching and developing players individual skills. They encourage players to work with their teammates and introduce them to organized team concepts.

“As the parent of two boys who have played in the program, my take-away is that the program encourages self-expression, confidence and teamwork, all valuable attributes as my boys grow into responsible young men,” HESC President Bob Corrigan said. “As president of the club, I am most proud that we are a resource for, and serve, all young athletes in our community, boys and girls, regardless of resources and ability level.

Houston Express Soccer Club has two programs open to boys and girls, including those living in the Bellaire area.

HESC’s in-house recreational program, called West U Rec, offers boys and girls, ages U5-U12, an enjoyable, stress-free soccer experience. Standings are not kept and games are played against other in-house teams. Starting at U8, players can choose to remain in West U Rec or move to play in the competitive Houston Express Program. In age groups U9-U12, scores are kept.

Houston Express focuses on a higher level of development and competition for boys and girls, ages U8 and up, beginning with an Academy program to bridge recreational and competitive play. For U11 and up, Express players participate in full competitive play. Younger players in Express are part of the U8-10 Express Developmental Academy.

“HESC is committed to finding and developing coaches that are qualified to implement our curriculum and to serve as role models; coaches who are capable of sharing their own playing experiences and exhibiting leadership skills,” Director of Coaching Mark Gibbs said. “Our goal is to give children a chance to play in a competitive, positive environment whether a child is at the beginning stages of soccer or striving to play at the collegiate level.”

Houston Express teams are trained by licensed professional coaching staff and compete in various area leagues, such as Eastern District Division One Association Division 1 and Super 2, Houston Youth Soccer Association and State Classic League.

Registration is currently open for the fall season.

For more information, visit www.houstonx.org.

When Rice opportunistically opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning after a SFA fielding error, that would be all the room Benak and the Owl bullpen would need on the night. The junior right-hander worked into the eighth for the first time in his career, scattering seven singles and a walk while striking out eight. He and relievers Zech Lemond and Matthew Reckling teamed to keep the Lumberjacks off the scoreboard for the team’s seventh shutout of the season.

“That’s exactly what we want him to do,” said Rice head coach Wayne Graham. “They are a pretty good hitting ballclub. I thought (Benak) did a good job.”

The Rice staff may have needed only minimal support, but the Owl offense posted runs on the scoreboard in four of the first six innings. In the bottom of the third sophomore Shane Hoelscher hit a one-out single, moved into scoring position with a stolen base and came home on Christian Stringer’s two-out base hit.

J.T. Chargois led off the fourth with a walk and Jeremy Rathjen followed with a bunt for a base hit. Junior Michael Ratterree knocked a Lumberjack pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer and a 5-0 lead. The shot was Ratterree’s sixth of the year, but also his third round-tripper in the last week.

The Owls stretched the margin to 6-0 in the sixth with a solo home run by Michael Fuda. The Owls have clubbed a total of nine homers over the last eight games.

Pitcher’s certainly like the offensive support. With an already high level of confidence in the Owl hitters, Benak focused on fine-tuning his own performance.

“The last couple of outings I haven’t had exactly the command I want with (my slider), being able to throw behind in the count, ahead in the count, whenever I want,” Benak said. “Tonight we were able to get ahead of most of the batters on the night and get some early outs in each inning.

Rice was in control when Benak took the mound to start the eighth, but SFA continued to fight. The Lumberjacks hit back-to-back singles and drew a walk to start the inning. Benak received a spirited round of applause from the 3,332 fans at Reckling Park when he was lifted from the game for Lemond out of the bullpen, but there was still the matter of SFA having the bases-loaded with no outs.

It was certainly a high-pressure situation for the Owl freshman, but Lemond coolly struck out the first two batters he faced. He then worked out of the jam by getting the next SFA hitter to fly out to short right field. Reckling worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the ninth to close out the win.

“Zech went in there and really picked (Benak) up, he was great,” coach Graham said. “That was a great-level relief performance. He’s a good pitcher now, he’s going to be a great one.”

Rice improved to 34-13 on the season with the team’s third-straight win. The Lumberjacks moved to 19-29 overall.

The Owls continue current homestand through the weekend. Rice next hosts Conference USA foe UAB May 11-13 at Reckling Park. Game times against the Blazers are set for 6:30 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday.

The magazine produced the rankings based on an analysis of data from nearly 22,000 U.S. high schools.  The rankings’ methodology gives considerable weight to the percentage of graduates who are considered college-ready based on students’ performance on college-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.

Using the magazine’s standard, 27 of HISD’s 33 rated high schools – 82 percent — meet or exceed the state average when it comes to college readiness.

The rankings are based on data from the 2009-2010 school year, when the Board of Education and Superintendent Terry Grier launched an aggressive expansion of the district’s AP program in all high schools.  Since then, the number of AP exams scored 3 or higher, the generally accepted passing score, has increased 35 percent.

“This is great news as we celebrate National Teacher Day,” Grier said. “Teachers across HISD are proving that the AP program is not just for the academically elite students. AP is for prepared students.”

The news also comes on the heels of the latest Children at Risk rankings of Texas high schools that included eight HISD campuses among the top 50.

In addition, the strong all-around performance of HISD students has placed the district among four national finalists for the coveted Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes the top urban school district in America. As a finalist, HISD is guaranteed a minimum of $150,000 in college scholarships for students graduating in 2013. The scholarship total will climb to $550,000 if HISD wins the award.

The nine HISD schools that earned spots in the magazine’s national rankings were:

Carnegie Vanguard (U.S. rank: 33; Texas rank: 3)

DeBakey High School for Health Professions (U.S.: 36; Texas: 4)

Eastwood Academy (U.S.: 121; Texas: 14)

Bellaire (U.S.: 349; Texas: 29)

Lamar (U.S.: 376; Texas: 32)

The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (U.S.: 377; Texas: 33)

High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (U.S.: 950: Texas: 81)

Challenge Early High School (U.S.: 1,069; Texas: 90)

Empowerment College Prep (U.S.: 1,947; Texas 159)

The Bellaire Exchange Club is hosting Bellaire stylist and owner of Toni’s Salon, Toni Rodriquez, who will speak about how she used the power of positive thinking to achieve her goal of being at the royal wedding.

Rodriquez will also have never before seen photos of the wedding on display.

The Bellaire Exchange Club will meet at Casa Dominquez Restaurant, 5213 Cedar St. on May 14 at 6 p.m.

The cost to attend is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers and includes dinner at Casa Dominquez Restaurant.

For those who would like to attend, call Gerald Franklin at 713-868-0068 or e-mail gfranklin@geraldfranklinagency.com.

Davis was presented with an award for authoring legislation, now law, that gives law enforcement an adequate amount of time to search electronic evidence to help combat child pornographers.

“Passing this legislation was particularly important to me, as it has a direct impact on the safety of our community,” Davis said. “We must provide law enforcement the tools needed to effectively hold criminals accountable for their actions.”

“A child predator should not get a free pass simply due to an arbitrary timetable.  This bill I authored will give officers the ability to appropriately analyze evidence, making our children safer,” she said. “I appreciate the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce recognizing this legislation and its positive impact on our law enforcement efforts in Texas.”

Currently serving her first term in the Texas Legislature, Davis is on the Public Health Committee and Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee.  She is a sustaining member of the Republican National Committee and a member of the Republican Leadership Council with the Harris County Republican Party. Davis was recently recognized by the Houston Business Journal with the 40 Under 40 designation.

Davis received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Baylor in1998, before earning her Law Degree from the University of Houston in 2001.  Sarah and her husband, Kent Adams, live in the City of West University Place.

Davis represents West U, Bellaire, River Oaks, Braeswood Place, Southside Place, portions of Meyerland and Montrose and the Texas Medical Center.

The Owls host state foe Stephen F. Austin at 6:05 pm on Tuesday (May 8).

The contest against the Lumberjacks (19-27 overall) is scheduled for a television broadcast by Comcast Sports Southwest. Rice then returns to C-USA action with a three-game weekend home series against UAB on May 11-13. Game times against the Blazers (26-23, 7-11 C-USA) are slated for 6:30 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday.

The UAB series marks Rice’s final home games of the regular season.