Things That Matter

Here’s The Latest On Hurricane Harvey And How Texas Are Dealing With The Damage

By August 29, 2017 at 3:17 pm
Twitter/@houstonpolice @YonksHTX

As flooding continues in Southeast Texas, four days since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, we are now seeing the devastation that it has left in its path. And the rain is supposed to continue until tomorrow. The Weather Channel reports that Harvey’s center is currently in the Gulf of Mexico, which means the hurricane is expected to hit the Louisiana coast tomorrow.

Initial reports of fatalities are currently at 14, including a family of six that died while trying to evacuate. The New York Daily News reports that Manuel Saldivar, 84, his wife Belia, 81; Daisy Saldivar, 6; Xavier Saldivar, 8; Dominic Saldivar, 14; Devy Saldivar, 16, were in a van attempting to leave Houston. The van was overcome with flood waters as it tried to cross the bridge

As rising waters continue to overtake various parts of Houston, officials in Brazoria County tweeted that residents had to leave the area quickly because the levee had been breached. NBC also reports that two Houston reservoirs have overflowed.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Houston and are surveying the damage. But the First Lady is getting clowned for wearing heels and a “FLOTUS” hat on her trip.

The Mexican government has attempted to offer aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey, but Trump has yet to approve any of it.

The hashtag #HoustonStrong is showing us some truly emotional photos of people helping others in need, and is also capturing what exactly is happening in Texas.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also confirmed the death of 60-year-old police officer Steve Perez, who was trying to get to work and help. Police chief Art Acevedo was clearly shaken during a press conference:

This is just one visual of how much waters have risen in Houston.

Yesterday, the Mayor tweeted that undocumented people should not fear seeking help.

“If you are in a stressful situation, I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what your religion is, I don’t care what your language is, you come and take advantage of every service that we have,” Turner said, according to The Hill. “If you’re in a stressful situation and you need help, you call us for help. We want you to call. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should not call okay?”

While a lot of the news has been dire, there have been some incredible people that have done whatever they can in order to help. The Houston Police gave a shout out to Taqueria Del Sol, which served food to patrol officers.

In other parts of Houston, the Gonzales family used their boat to help several people evacuate.

These panaderos were holed up in a bakery, so they made bread and gave it to those in need.

Gloria Maria Quintanilla didn’t let flooding stop her from getting to her job.

“I worked at the hotel up there,” she said to a New York Times reporter, adding that she only makes $10 an hour. “It was my day to work, and I’m a very responsible person,” Quintanilla said, speaking in Spanish. “I had no idea it was going to be like this.”

READ: After Criticism, Border Patrol Announces It Will Close Immigration Checkpoints In Path Of Hurricane Harvey

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Showtime’s ‘Bad Hombres’ Is A Documentary Highlighting The World’s Only Binational Baseball Team

Entertainment

Showtime’s ‘Bad Hombres’ Is A Documentary Highlighting The World’s Only Binational Baseball Team

By October 19, 2020 at 8:38 am
BY  | October 19, 2020 AT 8:38 am
tecolotes_2_laredos / Instagram

Sports have a way of bringing people together. The experience of rooting for your team is a unifying feeling that transcends borders and culture. Showtime is exploring the importance of sports through the lens of the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos.

“Bad Hombres” is a documentary highlighting immigration under President Trump through baseball.

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos are the only binational professional baseball team in the world. The team splits their home games between stadiums in Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Director Andrew Glazer wanted to highlight the immigration issue through a sports lens to offer a different layer to the narrative.

“Most of the people trying to come into the U.S. are families and children trying to escape horrible violence in Central America,” Glazer told CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “That story has been told, so what I wanted to do was show people in a way that I thought would be relatable to what life is like on the border. What life is like on those two sides and how interconnected they are. The thing that struck me to be honest is that initially in Laredo, Texas was how pervasive Spanish is spoken.”

The documentary shows the struggles of the baseball team trying to make sense of the volatile U.S.-Mexico border relations.

The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos split time playing their home games between two stadiums in the U.S. and Mexico. The Trump administration’s constant battle with Mexico and threats to close the border put the team’s season in jeopardy. A first look teaser shows team managers trying to coordinate the release of game tickets in time with the ever-changing immigration announcements from the Trump administration.

“Bad Hombres” speaks politics without directly addressing politics.

“Even though my film has an overarching political message, the players are not covertly or overtly political in any way,” Glazer told CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “They are baseball players and they are living their lives and a lot of them are trying to make it to the majors and some of them were in the majors and are now finishing their careers. There wasn’t a whole lot of political discussions.”

Glazer made sure to highlight the depths and complexities of the team members dealing with the political climate without politics.

“Inherently, what made the team fascinating is you had players from the U.S. who were Anglo-American players and Mexican American players who had a different perspective,” Glazer told DJ Sixsmith. “Then you had Mexican players and some Dominican players and Cuban and people from everywhere else. There were different languages and different perspectives. Seeing how that developed over time was pretty fascinating.”

“Bad Hombres” is streaming on Showtime.

READ: Veronica Alvarez Is The Coach For The Oakland A’s And Her Presence Is Giving Girls A Chance To Pursue Baseball

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Voting Rights Activists Are Sounding The Alarm Of Latin Voter Suppression In Texas

Things That Matter

Voting Rights Activists Are Sounding The Alarm Of Latin Voter Suppression In Texas

By October 9, 2020 at 11:46 am
BY  | October 9, 2020 AT 11:46 am
Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool / Getty Images

Voting turnout is the topic on everyone’s lips as we get closer to Nov. 3. The current election cycle has seen record early voting, especially for Democrats. However, in Texas, the increased turnout has led to what many are calling voter suppression to prevent the growing Latino community from voting.

Voting advocates are sounding the alarm that Texas’ GOP governor and politicians are suppressing Latino voters.

Latinos are 40 percent of the Texas population. According to a poll, Latino voters in Texas are more motivated than they were in the 2018 midterms. Twenty-eight percent of Latino voters turned out in 2018 and things have changed drastically since, mainly due to Covid-19.

Latinos in Texas are facing disproportionate rates of Covid-19 infections.

Houston Public Media reported that while Latinos make up 40 percent of the population in Texas they make up 52 percent of Covid infections. Meanwhile, white Texans make up 30 percent of Covid infections. The numbers show an uneven response to the pandemic that has left Latinos behind.

The forced consolidation of drop-off locations and limiting of mail-in ballots is further endangering the Latino community. The Covid pandemic is not over and forcing people to vote in person will only increase the spread of the virus.

One way Gov. Greg Abbott has made it harder for people to vote safely is limiting drop-off locations for mail-in ballots.

Gov. Abbott made the decision to limit the number of ballot drop-off locations to one per county. As demonstrated by the graph above, this leaves 4.7 million residents of Harris County one drop-off location. Gov. Abbott cited the false Republican talking point of voter fraud as his reasoning for suppressing the vote in the Lone Star State. By comparison, Los Angeles County, home to 10.4 million residents, has 398 drop-off locations for mail-in ballots.

Despite this, Texas Latinos are fired up and ready to vote.

A poll found that 90 percent of Latinos voters are ready to vote in the 2020 election. Sixty-six percent of those voters are leaning towards are are definitely voting for a Biden/Harris ticket compared to 25 percent voting Trump/Pence. A large majority of Latino voters says that it is more important to vote now than it was in 2016 because of everything that is at stake.

READ: Republicans Have Made Voting In This Majority Latino Town In Kansas Nearly Impossible

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