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John Whitmire Endorsed for Houston Mayor By Building Owners and Managers Association

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John Whitmire announced today that the Houston Building Owners and Managers Association has endorsed him in his campaign for mayor of the City of Houston.

“Houston BOMA is the premier commercial real estate association working to support and advance the interest of the commercial real estate industry representing 1,100 members managing over 200 buildings throughout the Greater Houston area,” BOMA said in a statement. “We are endorsing Senator John Whitmire for Mayor of Houston because he aligns with our membership on many goals, including crime reduction, initiatives to address homelessness, flood mitigation, city finance transparency, and government accountability.”

Whitmire has represented Senate District 15 in the Texas Senate for the past 40 years, after serving ten years in the Texas House. He knows Houston is a great city, where its diverse population comes together to tackle tough issues. Whitmire wants to see the city reach its full potential by taking on the tough issues facing our city. Those issues include public safety, illegal dumping, homelessness, flooding and drainage, street and water system repair and neighborhood traffic safety. He also wants to boost the morale of police and firefighters and let them know that Houston has their backs.

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Education

Texas Southern University opens recruitment office at Choctaw stadium in Arlington

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Texas Southern University established a tangible long-term presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex by opening the Arlington Recruitment Office at Choctaw Stadium.

President Lesia Crumpton-Young, along with members of the Board of Regents, administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, April 12.

“Texas Southern University is pleased to expand our robust recruiting efforts in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and to partner with the City of Arlington in doing so,” said president Crumpton-Young. “This recruitment center represents the University’s commitment to removing barriers for our prospective and current scholars that may prevent them from matriculating and graduating from our esteemed institution. It will serve as a resource for those families, especially for families that are going through the application and enrollment processes for the first time.”

The recruitment office will be staffed with someone who will be able to provide assistance for prospective students and their parents to complete applications, financial aid paperwork and much more.

“The City of Arlington is excited to partner with Texas Southern University in this commitment to ensuring more students from Arlington and the entire Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex have access to an outstanding college education,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said. “TSU is one of the premier universities in the state of Texas. We look forward to the work that will be done to make the path to a degree easier for students in our region.”

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is home to the University’s largest recruitment and alumni bases outside of Houston.

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Houston

Passenger punches United Airlines employee before flight to Houston

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A new video appears to show a United Airlines passenger repeatedly hitting a flight attendant before a flight to Houston this week.

The woman who recorded it says the man got angry when she asked him to move out of her assigned seat.

Watch as the passenger punches repeatedly. Other passengers reach out to stop him, and he backs up.

Naya Jimenez shot this video before her flight took off from San Francisco to Houston just after midnight. She says the man was angry because she asked his wife and then him to move out of her assigned seat.

“They had to bring in a gate attendant to try to talk to both of them, and then, he began slurring his speech a little bit, like, ‘Sir, why are you smiling at me?’ is the first thing he said,” said Naya Jiminez.

United Airlines confirms staff contacted law enforcement. But that was after Jimenez says the man nearly jumped out of the plane.

“After he paused for a minute, he ran toward where the pilot was, where the emergency exit doors are, and attempted to open it — successfully opened the emergency exit, was about to jump down, and the plane is elevated, right, so he would have jumped apparently two stories to the ground, and the flight attendants just kicked in, and everybody pulled him back to safety,” said Jimenez.

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State Rep. Jolanda Jones’ staffers resign over ‘abusive and hostile’ work environment

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The senior staff for Democrat state Rep. Jolanda Jones alleged in a letter the Houston lawmaker’s office became a toxic workplace, including “physically threatening behavior” and demands that staff deal with issues involving Jones’ personal life.

A Democratic state representative from Houston lost her senior staff Thursday after the group collectively resigned following what they alleged was mistreatment and cronyism at the hands of their former boss.

In a letter to state Rep. Jolanda “Jo” Jones, D-Houston, the three former staff members accused the representative of knowing her son was having an inappropriate relationship with an office intern, which the former staffers said “displays disrespect for the workplace and diminishes the morality of the office.” They also argued that the same son is also the general counsel for a lobbying outfit Jones is tied to and that his relationship with the intern represents a conflict of interest.

The letter was signed by Jones’ chief of staff Kory Haywood, legislative director Catherine Mouer and district director Yesenia Wences.

Beyond the ethical issues, the staff alleges that Jones demanded of her state employees engagement in issues involving her family and personal life, including requests that staff “assist in the coordination of the terminal cancer treatment of [her]son’s father-in-law” and involving staff “in [her] son’s legal issues and criminal charges.”

The resignation letter also claims Jones has engaged in “physically threatening behavior” in public, which made staff feel unsafe and made them unable to perform their duties.

Late Thursday, a person inside Jones’ locked office at the Capitol referred The Texas Newsroom to a statement the lawmaker made to the local FOX News affiliate earlier.

“Working in the Texas Legislature is a stressful and demanding job, especially when you are in a daily fight to protect your constituents from attacks on their, their families, their civil rights, their schools, and their ability to control their own bodies,” the statement to FOX26 reads. “Some on my staff have decided this job is not for them. I wish them good luck and success in their next endeavors.”

The staff also allege that Jones demanded rides to the airport in pre-dawn hours, disparaged staffers’ family members and threatened to terminate staff members.

Cassi Pollock, a spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, said in a statement the office learned of allegations against Jones on Wednesday.

“The allegations are under review by the appropriate entities, as outlined in the rules of the Texas House,” the statement said. “The Speaker’s office takes all allegations seriously and expects that this matter will be addressed and resolved as soon as possible.”

The former staff’s letter ends expressing regret for needing to depart Jones’ office, but says they were left without options.

“We cannot allow anyone to be threatened or harassed, especially in a professional setting. It is time for you to show real leadership by taking immediate action to address these issues, rather than covering them up,” they wrote. “We appreciate the opportunities that we have had during our time serving HD 147, and we apologize for any inconvenience that our resignations may cause. However, we feel that it is important to stand up for what is right and maintain our integrity as professionals.”

They concluded by adding:

“It is time you own your S.H.I.T.”

The line is a reference to the title of Jones’ 2018 book “Owning My S.H.I.T. Suffering Hardship Internalizing Trauma.”

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