Crime Stoppers expands safe schools resources

Just in time for the start of a new school year, Crime Stoppers of Houston is ready to take school safety training to a much higher level.

"The goal has been to train every Crime Stoppers across the state of Texas," said Rania Mankarious, CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston. "But we said we even need to do more. So, how do we do that with a limited staff, and the idea was we're going to create a webinar."

The webinar series will provide school safety training across the state and possibly the nation. It was made possible by a $275,000 grant by Spindletop Charities.

"It's going to be prevention, child exploitation, cyber safety," said Constance White the Executive Director of Spindletop. "It's going to be for parents, co-workers, it's going to be incredible."

Find out how to take part in this free training to enhance school safety everywhere on this week's Houston Newsmakers.

Death rate of African American women prompts UH program

Why are African American women dying at a rate that is much higher than white women? That is one of the questions the Healthy Start Initiative at the University of Houston will be trying to answer.

The program received almost $5 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration for the five-year project.

McClain Sampson is the project director.

"What we're seeing is a major disparity among African American women and their infants," she said. "The mothers are dying at three times the rate of white women and the babies are dying at about twice the rate, and when we try to look at what's going on, there seems to be a host of factors."

Sampson and program director Eulalia Gillum are guests this week to discuss the objectives of the program and who is eligible in what could be a groundbreaking project.

Permitting headaches could be a thing of the past

Anyone who has ever tried to pull a permit from the city of Houston probably has a story about that experience. Most likely not a positive one.

Jeri Brooks says that is changing. She is the Chair of the Houston Permit Center Advisory Board and says improving the center will help improve Houston's economy.

"We're going to focus on a couple of things," she said. "How do we make the process easier for residents? How do we provide better customer service?  And how do we communicate that message in the market so people understand how to use the permitting center."

Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall airs at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

More information

Rania Mankarious,  CEO, Crime Stoppers of Houston

Crime-Stoppers.org
713-521-4600
Twitter: @CrimeStopHOU
Instagram: crimestoppersofhouston

Constance White, executive director of Spindletop Charities 

SpindletopCharities.org
713-469-7568
Twitter: @Spindletop_HOU
Instagram: spindletopcharities

McClain Sampson, Ph.D. associate professor, project director at UH Healthy Start Initiative

Learn more about UH Health Start
713-743-2255
Email: mmsampson@uh.edu 
Twitter: @HHouston
Instagram: Universityofhouston

Eulalia Gillum, program director at UH Healthy Start Initiative

Learn more about UH Health Start
713-743-2255
Twitter: @HHouston
Instagram: Universityofhouston

Jeri Brooks, chair of Houston Permit Advisory Board

OneWorldStrong.com
832-626-2369
Email: Jeri@oneworldstrong.com
Twitter: @OneWorldStrong