(Chris Moran, Houston Chronicle)
City Council outlawed feeding homeless people anywhere in Houston without permission of the property owner, voting 11-6 Wednesday after a month of protest that persisted even as the ordinance was vastly scaled back from its original form.
Bitter debate over whether the city could and should restrict the locations and manner of the feeding of homeless people played out as scores of people testified against the ordinance during its three appearances on the council agenda.
Mayor Annise Parker unveiled the plan last month with the announced intention of guaranteeing the safety of food served to the homeless and to channel charity to the places where it could do the most good. It was, Parker said over the course of the month, a plan to get the most food to the most people.
Originally, Parker proposed requiring that all charitable food be prepared in city-certified kitchens, that at least one person from each feeding organization take a food safety class and that everyone who wants to feed the homeless register with the city. The penalties for violations ranged as high as $2,000.
The version passed Wednesday reduced the maximum penalty to $500, made registration voluntary and lifted the food prep requirements. The property restriction does not apply to the feeding of five or fewer people.
(Read more at the Houston Chronicle)
OTHER HEADLINES:
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- Contractors Discuss Ike Funding Nightmare (KTRK 13 News)
- Texas Residents Sift Through Rubble From Tornadoes (KTRK 13 News)
- What The Dallas Tornadoes Mean For Insurance Premiums (KUHF Public Radio)
- Texas Judge Awaits Feds’ Letter on Obama Health Care Mandate (Houston Chronicle)
- Did Mega Million Jackpot Proceeds Help Texas Public Schools? (Houston Chronicle)
OPINIONS ON THE NEWS:
Higher Education Access and Affordability
- Top Colleges Can Help Transform Education
(Daniel R. Porterfield, Houston Chronicle)
“Today, [a] leadership gap is all-too pronounced. Data from the U.S. census and industry-watch groups show that low-income and minority communities provide only small percentages of our scientists, military leaders, judges, economists, technology entrepreneurs, doctors, journalists and business owners.” - Years of Tuition Shell Games Clobber Students, Families
(Patricia Kilday Hart, Houston Chronicle)
“Before tuition deregulation, Texas colleges and universities leaders every budget cycle looked for ways to scrimp. They knew, especially if they were going to get permission to hike tuition, that they’d have to justify their plans to a wary Legislature. …Now, non-elected regents do the dirty work for them.”