Topic: Houston | VivirLatino

Ike Leaves People in Texas Homeless, Shell Shocked and in Need of Help

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:35:42 -0500

Nearly 400 people are missing two weeks after Hurricane Ike hit parts of Texas.

"There are a lot of elderly folks, just looking at the age column,"

Many of them are from the hardest hit areas of the county, including Boliver, Crystal Beach and Gilchrist.

About 75% of homes in the Galveston area are uninhabitable.

For the first time since Hurricane Ike blew away much of the city, residents of Galveston began streaming home today.

But the city is in such bad shape, those hurrying back home were given an ominous warning: Bring tetanus shots, rat poisoning and don't bring children.

If that's not enough, planes are spraying the city with insecticide to prevent a boom in the mosquito population, the water isn't drinkable and people are urged to wear face masks to guard against inhaling toxic mold that is proliferating in the sweltering city.

One way you can help is through giving to the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Via / ABC Local, ABC National, y Para Justicia y Libertad

Aftermath of Hurricane Dolly

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:08:05 -0500

Hurricane Dolly has calmed down into a tropical storm, but this doesn't mean Texas residents are in the all clear zone. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that thunderstorms are expected all day today, and that over 200,000 residents are without power.

Communities outside of Texas are also dealing with the after affects: Mexican residents faced mass evacuations and several people enjoying at a day at the beach in Florida almost drowned due to waves caused by Dolly.

I Am Latino...Ask Me: Americanos ask about the power of the Chancleta...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:35:10 -0500

Dear Urban Jibaro,

I work in the toy department of a major retailer in a pretty diverse part of Pennsylvania. I see a lot of Latino families and I am curious about something. Whenever a kid throw a tantrum in my department, I hear their mothers threaten them with "John Kletter" and they immediately start behaving in most cases.

I have 3 kids myself and I would love to know how John Kletter can help me when they act up.

My question is "Who is John Kletter, and why are Latino children so afraid of him?

"Gracias" (thats all the Spanish I know)

Misty (Lancaster PA)

***************************************************

Ok...so being that fact that I am completely new at this, I honestly did not know what the hell Misty was talking about. I googled "John Kletter" and did not find much...and was about to move on to our next submission...that is until I mentioned the question to one of my friends (she made me swear not to reveal her name) who has a thick accent and she said "que eso de jon kleta?"and then it hit me me like a ton of bricks...we had a phonetic translation issue here....John Kletter doesn't exist...at least not in the Latino universe what Misty actually witnessed was the power of the almighty "CHANCLETA".

This whole ASK A LATINO thing is gonna be fun...

So now that we got that squared away...Click below to read my official response to the first "ASK A LATINO" question.

ICE Raid in East Houston This Morning

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:39:35 -0500

I don't have too much information, as this is based on an email I received, but there apparently was an ICE raid this morning in East Houston, Texas. According to the email, 150 to 200 ICE agents conducted a raid close by the Houston Ship Channel. 60-70% of those who were detained were women (I'm sure some were mothers as well). ICE had release 16 people because one of them was actually a Mexican American and the rest had the legal right to work in the US.
The were also 10 pregnant women. 4 employees were transported for medical treatment, and of the 4, a woman was transported by helicopter to the medical center because she fell 20 feet off a stack of wooden pallets.

If anyone has anymore information, either first hand or via their local papers, please let us know. I will also be posting updates as they come in.

$100,000 for a lock of Che's hair

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:50:06 -0500

What would you do if you had an extra $100,000 laying around? More specifically, would you buy a lock of Che Guevara's hair? One Houston man has done just that:

Bill Butler, 61, was the only bidder for the hair, which was allegedly cut from the Marxist leader's head before his burial in 1967.

The collector described Guevara as "one of the greatest revolutionaries of the 20th century", according to staff at the Heritage auction house in Dallas, Texas.

He plans to display the item in his bookshop in Rosenberg, just outside Houston.

Jesus Christ is Puerto Rican and lives in Houston

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:55:17 -0500

Or a Puerto Rican that says he's Jesus. Thanks to an ubersnarky Spanish TV blogger I love, BobPop, you can see Jose de Jesús, "the second coming of Jesus Christ" on video:

Houston Hate Crime Against Latino On Trial

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:14:43 -0500

Those who say racism is dead need to look to Houston, Texas and the trial that began yesterday against 18 year old David Henry Tuck, a white skinhead accused of beating and sexually assaulting a 17 year old Latino because the Latino tried to kiss a white girl.

Prosecutor Mike Trent told the jury a girl said that the Latino teen tried to kiss her at a party in the Houston suburb of Spring and that the girl's brother hit him, Trent said.

"Then Mr. Tuck decided to take matters into his own hands and teach (the victim to) never do that again," Trent said.

Fear of deportation makes immigrants spend less

Wed, 24 May 2006 19:34:52 -0500

The Houston Chronicle has a very interesting piece today about the economic impact of recent raids against undocumented immigrants in the Latino goods and services sector in Houston. Apparently people are leaving their houses less, some have left their jobs and others are stashing away cash out of fear of they'll be the among the next group of rounded-up immigrants. The impact is being felt mostly by businesses that cater to the Latino immigrant population in Houston:

Although temperatures are rising, sales of paletas are not.

Carlos Gonzalez said his sales are half of what they should be during this peak season when his mostly Hispanic customers traditionally try to stave off the heat with the fruit-flavored frozen treats.

"It has gone down a lot," said Gonzalez at an international bus station on Harrisburg Boulevard where he stopped his paleta cart to sell to passengers. "People are afraid to go to work."

Across Houston, some small businesses that cater to the Hispanic immigrant community are reporting a sales slump that began last month after federal agents swept through pallet company IFCO Systems, detaining undocumented immigrants.

Read the whole article at Chron.com.

Via / The Houston Chronicle

Sesame Street's "Maria" to host Latina event

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:37:08 -0500

Remember "Maria" from Sesame Street? Well her name is Sonia Manzano and she's back on the scene to promote Catalina, a new magazine for Latinas and an event called "Essence of Latinas":

Known by millions of children and adults as “Maria” on Sesame Street, Sonia Manzano will join Catalina, the only national lifestyle magazine for “the mind, body, and soul of today’s Latina,” for two days of events celebrating Latinas. One event is open to the public, and the other is invite-only.

On May 7, Sonia will join the Catalina book club event at the Houston Latino Book & Family Festival. The Latina star will address a crowd of more than 600 and read from her highly acclaimed children’s book, NO DOGS ALLOWED. The reading, which is open to the public and includes an introduction by Cathy Areu, Catalina’s publisher and the author of the new book Latino Wisdom, will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Houston Community College Central.

More on Hispanic PRWire (Photo Hispanic PRWire)

Keeping it real back in the motherland

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 14:16:06 -0500

The story is a common one: a person immigrates to the United States out of necessity, but vows to return for the rest of his or her family. The promise is kept and the family also leaves for the States. The new vow is to return home one day, when things get better. This doesn't usually happen. Sucked up by the daily strife of just making it in a country as daunting as the U.S., that dream is easily erased for some.

Fortunately, that isn't the case of a group of Salvadoreños from Houston. Not only are they helping their pueblo, Olomega, solve some very basic infrastructure issues such as the building of bridges and roads, they are taking it one step further: they plan to make their pueblo a destination, and hopes that tourists begin to see it for the beauty it as for them:

Standing on the shore of the serene Lake Olomega, Nora Pineda envisions passenger boats cruising its surface, amateur fishermen lining its edges and musicians serenading tourists along a boardwalk.

She said hundreds of tourists could visit Olomega on weekends if restaurants, hostels and fishing spots are built near the water.

6 Cities Have Corazon

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:00:00 -0500

The National Latina Health Network is hosting a Healthy Heart Day on February 25th in 6 different cities across the country to celebrate National Heart Month. The day will include free blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, an opportunity for participants to speak briefly with a bi-lingual health counselor, receive educational materials about cardiovascular risk factors and leave with personal information to take to their doctors. All materials will be available in English and Spanish. One in four U.S. Hispanic adults has elevated cholesterol.In addition, heart disease is the leading cause of death among Hispanics in the U.S., according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Hispanics are twice as likely to have diabetes, a contributor to heart disease, than non-Hispanics.

Government pushes Houston to crack down on illegal immigration

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 18:02:02 -0500

I never thought of my hometown as a "haven" for the undocumented (much less its suburb Katy, or Austin), but apparently the U.S. government thinks so, and is pressuring Houston officials to change this:

City Councilman Mark Ellis is trying to force a vote on a plan directing police to enforce immigration law and requiring proof of citizenship for people receiving social services. The local effort coincides with a push by President George W. Bush and bills in Congress to crack down on illegal immigration.
``The federal government, they're not going to be able to get their arms around this issue alone,'' Ellis said in a telephone interview. ``They're going to have to have assistance from the local government and state government.''