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Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 • Vol. 68 • No. 33
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Teenage girl reported missing from Acres Homes By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Houston police are asking for the public’s help in trying to locate the whereabouts of a missing girl who was last seen in the Acres Homes area last week, according to the Houston Police Department.
Jeilayh Franklin, 15, was last seen around 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17 in the 7900 block of Sealey Street in the Acres Homes area, according to the police department. Franklin stands 5-foot-4 and weighs about 100 pounds, according to the department, with brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing a gray
hooded coat with light blue jeans, according to the police department. Anybody that has information about Franklin and/or her potential whereabouts is asked to call the Houston Police Department’s Missing Persons unit at 832-394-1840. Jeilayh Franklin
!"#$%&'(##%)""*"* INSIDE.
Violent crime falling in Houston, data shows By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Highlighted Check out our featured realtors of the month inside today.
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Earning honors Heights offensive lineman Frank Moss Jr. was recently recognized by the Touchdown Club of Houston.
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Contributed photo Local shelter Houston Pets Alive! recently took in a severely emaciated dog found on the side of the road named Dobby, and is currently taking care of him.
Local animal shelter seeking support for severely emaciated dog By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Fill the void Art columnist Mitch Cohen has the scoop on art events to fill up your September schedule.
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Raising awareness The Houston Food Bank is holding special events all through August to raise awareness of hunger and those in need.
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THE INDEX. Public/Topics ...........................2 Classifieds ................................................. 7 Local Culture ...........................8 Food & Drink ...........................8
As a severely emaciated dog is fighting for his life, a local animal shelter is trying to raise awareness and fund necessary for his care after he was found on the side of the road. Houston Pets Alive! located at 2800 Antoine Dr. Suite 2854 – just west of Highway 290 and a short drive from Delmar Stadium – recently responded to an urgent request Monday from a local intake shelter partner for a severely emaciated dog in need of emergency attention, according to a news release from the organization. Houston Pets Alive! is a nonprofit organization with the mission to save the lives of at-risk com-
panion cats and dogs and find them loving homes serving the Houston area. The organization says it acts as a “safety net” for municipal shelters/impound facilities and serves at-risk animals by working alongside its animal welfare partners to reduce euthanasia, pet homelessness, and animal suffering in the Houston area. The dog, a two-yearold MinPin Mix named “Dobby,” had previously been taken to the intake shelter by a citizen who had found him on the side of the road, according to the release, before Houston Pets Alive! took him in. He has been under care 24 hours a day the last two days, according to HPA! “This is the most severe case of malnutri-
See Crime P. 5
Photo from Facebook Dobby has been in Houston Pets Alive! care since earlier this week, and the shelter is asking for help raising funds for his outsourced medical care.
tion/starvation ever witnessed at our facility,” the shelter wrote on Facebook Tuesday. “He
is fighting for his life and requires 24/7 care in order to survive.” See Dobby P. 2
Harris County ordered to end elections administration office By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com
Harris County’s elections will be turned back over to its elected county clerk and tax assessor-collector’s office following a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the state’s highest court voted to deny Harris County’s emergency motion for temporary relief (TRO) regarding of the implementation of Senate Bill
Ann Harris Bennett
Teneshia Hudspeth
1750, which will now go into effect next month. The bill rules that as op-
posed to an election administrator’s office, the county’s election opera-
tions must now be run by county clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and tax assessor-collector Ann Harris Bennett. The ruling overturns a lower court’s ruling that temporarily granted Harris County an injunction blocking the bill, which will take effect Sept. 1 and be in place for the November elections. A Travis County District Court judge had sided with Harris County on its request to temporarily block SB 1750 and issued
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Violent crime has continued to fall in Houston to begin the 2023 calendar year through the end of July, according to a recent report released by the Houston Police Department. In a report released last week through data gathered from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the department said that it had investigated at least 14,379 violent crimes through the end of the month – down about 8.5 percent from the 16,140 violent crimes investigated at the same point in 2022. Non-violent crime is also down 2.1 percent, according to the report, while overall crime is down 3.4 percent. Violent crimes investigated and included in the report are murder, aggravated assault, robbery, sexual assault, human trafficking, and kidnapping. The city said initiatives such as its One Safe Houston have been crucial in helping the crime decrease, along with the work of police officers. “(One Safe Houston) is a holistic approach to improve the quality of life in the City of Houston,” the city said. “HPD was able to increase officers on the street for increased visibility, address specific crime trends, and focus on high crime areas. HPD increased officers on the street for increased visibility, addressed specific crime trends, and focused on high-crime areas.” The reported decrease in violent crimes is in line with what
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a temporary injunction preventing state officials from enforcing the law. However, the office of the Attorney General of Texas appealed the District Court’s order to the Texas Supreme Court. The state supreme court will still hear a challenge to the ruling on Nov. 28. And some local officials are pushing back against the ruling, which impacts Harris County alone. See Elections P. 6