2023
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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 50 • No. 31 • $1.00 Visit www.FortBendStar.com
Recent Commissioners battle over county attorney’s role, TSTC appoint redistricting committee members Industrial Systems grad already working in field By Ken Fountain
KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
In yet the latest brouhaha over redistricting during a Fort Bend County Commissioner Court meeting, commissioners last week selected along party lines six members of a proposed 10-member citizens’ redistricting committee they had instituted in the previous meeting. But the biggest, most highly-charged battle was over an item the commissioners ended up tabling: a vote to authorize the court to hire outside legal counsel to assist on matters they deem “do not conflict the the authority of the Fort Bend County Attorney,” an action which the court’s two Democratic members and County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson strenuously fought.
Since March, the Commissioners Court has been embroiled in a running battle over redistricting after Texas Rep. Matt Morgan, a Republican whose 26th District includes portions of Fort Bend County, sent a letter to the county saying many of Fort Bend’s voting precincts were illegal under state law because they had either too many or too few voters. Redistricting, both at the state and local levels, normally is done every 10 years after the release of new population data from the U.S. Census. Longtime Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers, a Republican, has led an effort since Morgan’s letter to not only take action on fixing the voting precincts but to do a full-on mid-decadal redistricting. Fort Bend County County Attorney Bridgette SmithLawson, foreground, listens as members of Commissioners Court engage in a heated debate about the hiring of outside counsel during their July 22 meeting. SEE ROLE PAGE 5
BEEKEEPERS, UNITE! Venesa Medrano, who graduated from the Industrial Systems program at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus in May, is currently working as a maintenance technician at the Frito Lay warehouse in Rosenberg. Photo courtesy Texas State Technical College
Fort Bend hobbyists swarm to save pollinators and cut taxes
Community Reports Vanesa Medrano wanted to fix things. Coming from a job in social work, she would often see broken things from doorknobs to appliances to machines. It sparked a desire in her to learn how to fix them. “I wanted to solve more problems in my work,” Medrano said. “I couldn’t really do anything about it back then, but now I can fix just about anything.” Medrano decided to turn that desire into an opportunity to learn. She applied to Texas State Technical College’s Industrial Systems program at the Fort Bend County campus in Rosenberg and got to work. As she was working toward an associate degree in the program, she ended up getting an internship at the local Frito Lay warehouse in Rosenberg. “Once I graduated, I was given the opportunity to apply to work full-time at the warehouse,” Medrano said. “It’s a big change from what I was doing before but I’m enjoying it.” Medrano graduated from the program in May of this year. As a maintenance technician, she works to keep the robots and machines at the warehouse functioning at full capacity. But a great job doesn’t mean she has given up working toward more. “My long-term goal is to be a manager of technicians,” Medrano said. “At the moment, though, I want to get the experience and get my hands dirty.” For those who are hoping to follow in her footsteps and apply to the Industrial Systems program, she says to just go for it. “Study more and take the chance at being in this program,” she said. “There’s always a benefit to it, both career-wise and personally.” For more information, visit tstc.edu.
At the SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique you will find an abundance of bee-themed items.
Danessa Yaschuk is president of the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association and owner of SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique, a bright, boutique-style honey shop in downtown Needville. Photos by Juhi Varma
By Juhi Varma SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Beekeeping is all the buzz in Fort Bend County, where a growing swarm of hobbyists is stepping up to help native bees battle shrinking habitats and invasive species. Lawn care platform Lawn Love released its 2024 ranking of the best and worst states for beekeeping – placing Texas at No. 4 nationwide. (California took the top spot.) One beekeeper at the heart of this movement is Danessa Yaschuk, president of the Fort Bend Beekeepers
Association and owner of SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique, a bright, boutique- style honey shop in downtown Needville. What began as a hobby with two hives in her Sienna backyard has grown into a 400-hive operation, placing bees on properties across Fort Bend County, including at the Sugar Land Regional Airport. “I didn’t even know beekeeping clubs existed when I started 10 years ago,” said Yaschuk, who now lives in Damon with her husband, two sons, and many, many bees. “I went to my first meeting expecting five people.
Instead, the room was packed.” Dayna Druke, owner of 150 hives across Fort Bend County, is part of this growing number of Texans turning to beekeeping for environmental and economic reasons. The Fort Bend Beekeepers Association usually draws 50 to 60 attendees to its monthly meetings, each with their own unique path into beekeeping. Originally from Wisconsin, Druke started with just three hives a decade ago to reconnect with her agricultural roots. “We have some acres here in
The Fort Bend Beekeepers Association usually draws 50 to 60 attendees to its monthly meetings, each with their own unique path into beekeeping.
Rosenberg, and it’s nice to cultivate or grow something,” she said. “Bees are classified as livestock, even though bees aren’t traditionally what somebody thinks of as livestock. I started with three hives, which are manageable. You can even put three hives in a neighborhood backyard.” After more than two decades in the U.S. Army, Jody Taylor could have chosen a quiet retirement. Instead, he picked up a smoker, donned a veil, and started tending to bees.
SEE BEEKEEPERS PAGE 3
FBISD board position to remain vacant until next year By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
A Fort Bend ISD trustee position will remain vacant until next year’s board elections after trustees were unable to reach a consensus on a candidate to replace departed Position 5 trustee Sonya Jones, board president Kristin Tassin announced at Monday’s meeting. Jones, one of the most conservative members of the previous board, abruptly announced her resignation on social media immediately following the May elections, in which she was not a candidate. Jones later attempted to “rescind” her resignation, but the board formally accepted it at its June 9 agenda review meeting. Tassin announced then that the
board would appoint a new member to replace Jones, The district sought community members who seek to fill out the remainder of Jones’s term, which expires in May 2026. The person selected will not be required to run for reelection. The deadline for applications was = July 7. and trustees were to review the applications between July 8 and July 21. The board was to announce the selected appointee on July 28, and that person would have begin serving August 4. But after some preliminary business at Monday’s meeting, Tassin made a brief statement, saying that on behalf of the board, she wanted
SEE FBISD PAGE 4
The Fort Bend ISD board failed to reach consensus on an applicant for the Position 5 position, which will remain vacant until next year’s election. File photo