The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular fell 6.5 cents in the past week to an average of $3.56 per gallon as of yesterday.

The local price compares with a national average that has fallen 2.8 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.70, according to gasoline price website HoustonGasPrices.com.

Senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said he expects gas prices to continue its downward trend, at least for the short term.

“Average gasoline prices will likely continue to decline in the days ahead of Memorial Day, but folks will still say come next year that prices went up over the weekend this year. It’s a sign of how sensitive motorists become to gasoline prices around the holidays, nothing more, and most of the time, the myth isn’t true,” DeHaan said. “This year will be one of those years- unless you’re on the West Coast, prices have been slowly coming down.”

Including the change in gas prices in West U during the past week, prices yesterday were 17.8 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 25.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

The national average has decreased 15.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 13.7 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued the watch as atmospheric conditions are expected to be favorable for producing high levels of ozone pollution in the area.

Elevated concentrations of ozone can act as a lung irritant. Individuals with chronic lung disease such as asthma and emphysema, as well as the elderly and small children, are particularly sensitive to ozone and should attempt to avoid exposure.

To minimize exposure, those who may be affected by the elevated ozone levels are urged to minimize exertion outdoors during the midday to early evening hours or stay indoors or in an air conditioned area during these times.

Ozone reaching excessive levels may occur at any location throughout the greater Houston region depending on wind direction and other factors. Excessive levels may linger until sunset.

Ozone warnings will be issued if air pollution levels are detected at unhealthy levels.

The campaign kicks off today in an effort to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.

“The goal of HISD’s Police Department is to ensure the safety of all our schools, but we need the help of the community when it comes to seatbelt safety,” HISD Police Chief Jimmy Dotson said.  “Drivers need to ensure that they wear a seatbelt at all times for their own safety, and our officers are committed to enforce seat belt laws at all times.”

Seat belt use saves thousands of lives across America each year and HISD’s Police Department is helping spread the word.

NHTSA statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.  However, in that same year 22,187 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to NHTSA, and 51 percent of them were not wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.

“School will be out for the summer very soon so it’s important we are aware of more children playing in neighborhood streets,” said Dotson.  “We ask that all drivers take extra precaution when driving in their neighborhoods to ensure the safety of all our students during the summer break.”

While this year’s Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization runs from May 21 through June 3, motorists should know that officers are out enforcing seat belt laws year-round.

Officer John Guerra

Officer John Guerra was arrested by the West U Police Department in April and charged with breach of computer security after he reportedly hacked into his estranged wife’s computer.

According to court documents, Guerra covertly installed a program on his wife’s computer to track her Internet use. Guerra and his wife are reportedly in the process of getting a divorce.

In an e-mail to City Manager Michael Ross on Wednesday, Police Chief Ken Walker said that Guerra had been demoted to police officer.

“An internal review found that he had failed to act in a manner consistent with the job description of a police sergeant,” Walker said. “Also, his behavior violated several police department general orders.”

Guerra has been assigned to non-police duties until his case is resolved. If he is convicted, his employment status will be reevaluated, Walker said.

Guerra has been with the police department since 1994.

The city held three town hall meetings in April to hear from residents about their concerns and suggestions for improving or changing on-street parking regulations. Nothing is being proposed at this time.

More than 200 people turned out for the town hall meetings and numerous people submitted comments to the city by e-mail. Some residents favored parking on one side of the street, some favored parking permits, while others wanted the council to consider changes to streets on a case by case basis.

The city’s traffic engineering consultant is analyzing the comments and information from the town hall meetings and will make recommendations to the city council in June.

The first city council workshop has been tentatively scheduled for June 25.

“We will keep you updated as we proceed and will, of course, make every effort to get the word out when the council workshops are scheduled,” Mayor Bob Fry said in his mayor’s message on the city’s website.

Council will hold one or more workshop to discuss the traffic engineer’s recommendations and will decide if any changes are needed.

Re-evaluating on-street parking and parking across sidewalks is one of council’s 2011-2013 goals. Parking problems were the number one issue that came up when the council members were block walking for the May 2011 election.

The council has approved the second reading of an ordinance to allow for special permits for the consumption of alcoholic beverages on city property.

The council directed city staff in January to bring an ordinance back to council that would allow for a special permitting process for the sale and consumption of alcohol.

Staff recommended that council approve special permits for private events at the Community Building, private events at Colonial Park Pool, and city sanctioned events at Colonial Park, the recreation center and city hall.

Special permits were also recommended for Party on the Patio Summer Concert Series at Colonial Pool, Music Under the Stars Outdoor Classical Concert Series at Colonial Park and various city and “Friends Sociable” events at all four municipal facilities.

Application form and rules require the City of West University Place, Edloe Café Express at Colonial Park, Colonial Park Pool Rental Customers, Community Building Rental Customers and The Friends of West University Place Parks Inc. to:

1) Abide by the laws of the State of Texas regarding the sale, consumption, or distribution of alcoholic beverages, including without limitation, those laws prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons under 21 years of age;

2) Provide that certified law enforcement officers be on duty during the rentals and city related special events where alcohol is to be provided and consumed, as determined necessary by the city manager or his designee, based on a recommendation from the chief of police or his designee.

3) Agree to indemnify the city, with the obvious exception of city hosted events and activities, from any and all liability associated with the sale, consumption, or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the public place during the duration of the special permit.

Under the proposed ordinance, the permit exclusively allows for the consumption of alcoholic beverages on city property, including either bring your own bottle or allow the permit holder to serve alcohol.

A $25 non-refundable fee will be charged for each permit issue and each permit application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Glass containers are prohibited at all events.

As of yesterday, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular was $3.63.

The West U price compares with a national average that fell 3.3 cents in the last week to $3.73 per gallon, according to gasoline price website HoustonGasPrices.com.

Despite the recent drop in prices, senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said supply remains tight.

“While gasoline prices east of the Rockies have been falling, the West Coast remains at the mercy of refinery production. The entire West Coast right now is looking for any reason for a continuation in the price rally we’ve seen in the last week as supply remains tight and stakes high as Memorial Day weekend is just two weeks away,” DeHaan said. “While pump prices may continue their decline outside the West Coast, any refinery blip certainly has the potential for localized hotspots, and motorists should be aware of that.”

Including the change in gas prices during the past week, prices in West U yesterday were 22.9 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 22.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

The national average has decreased 16.5 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 20.3 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

The City of West U has accepted an offer to sell the vacant city owned lot at 3936 Marlowe.

The West U City Council tonight approved a contract to sell the city owned property at the corner of Marlowe and Weslayan.

City Manager Michael Ross told InstantNewsWestU that the city recently had three interested buyers and he has signed a contract with an individual who made an offer for the asking price of $365,000.

The city has agreed to sell the 6,000 square foot lot, which has been on the market for the last four years, contingent on the buyers due diligence to close within 45 days.

The name of the individual who has agreed to purchase the property is not being released at this time.

The city has had a slew of problems with the Marlowe property since 2005 when a lawsuit was brought against the city.

The city issued a building permit to former property owners Thomas and Paula Peden in December 2004. The permit was then revoked in February 2005 after a resident questioned if the home under construction was too big. The Pedens sued the city, which eventually resulted in a settlement where the city purchased the lot and tore down the half-built house.

The lawsuit cost the city more than $300,000 in legal fees and $400,000 to purchase the property.

The city recently spent about $5,000 to fix up the property and make it more appealing to buyers, Ross said.

The Marlowe property was listed with Roger Martin Properties for $400,000 up until this past March when the city decided to lower the price to $365,000. The city will net $345,000 at closing.

Ross said it is a relief for the city to have finally sold the Marlowe Street property.

“Cities shouldn’t be in the real estate business,” he said.

The METRO Board of Directors has heard from several of the transit authority’s multi-city mayors who are at risk of losing mobility funding for road construction projects in their cities.

The board also heard from dozens of people, either for or against continuing the general mobility program, during a special meeting last Friday.

METRO is considering ending its general mobility program, which provides funding to 14 of the transit authority’s multi-cities, including West U and Bellaire.

West U receives $259,000 per year for mobility projects and forfeits 1 percent of its sales tax to METRO, which equals about $1 million annually, West U City Manager Michael Ross said.

Since the inception of METRO, West U has forfeited over $18 million in sales tax revenue to the transit authority.

METRO is sponsoring a referendum that will be brought to the voters either on Nov. 6, 2012 or May 11, 2013.

Allen Owen, mayor of Missouri City and the chairman of the multi-cities, told the board that they made the mistake of going to the legislature in 1997 about getting out of METRO and didn’t.

“We should have,” he said.

Owen said Missouri City will have to raise taxes by 6 cents if the mobility funds stop completely.

“We’re the little guys,” he said. “Think about the effect it will have on my citizens.”

West University Place, Bellaire, Southside Place, Bunker Hill Village, El Lago, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Hunters Creek Village, Piney Point Village, Spring Valley Village and Taylor Lake Village have hired a consultant to provide lobbying services to deal with general mobility funding.

The remaining cities that belong to METRO, which include Humble, Katy and Missouri City, have their own lobbyists.

Katy Mayor Don Elder said that if the mobility funds do not continue, they will also have to raise taxes.

“We’ve been dumped on long enough,” he said. “We receive no services in the 10 square miles of Katy from METRO.”

Former West U Mayor John Neighbors said the decision needs to be based on “fairness and trust” and that “METRO should continue to fund fair and equitable mobility funding.”

Bellaire Mayor Phil Nauert said that Bellaire considers itself a partner of METRO and would like the transit authority to “continue as our partner.”

“Let us together maintain what we have,” he said. “We’re in this together, but we want to stay in this together.”

The board also heard from Congressman John Culberson who spoke in favor of the multi-cities.

“There’s no new money on the federal level,” he said.

Culberson urged the board to write the ballot language in plain English so everyone could understand it and to stop looking for new revenues from tax payers.

“Cut things you can’t afford,” he said. “Focus on what you do well.”

METRO’s funding comes from collecting a portion of the state’s 8.25 percent sales tax from the governments in the transit authority’s service area. Harris County, Houston and the 14 multi-cities all contribute 1 percent of their sales tax to METRO’s revenue. The cities get 1 percent for mobility projects, and the state gets the remaining 6.25 percent.

In 1999, METRO formed contracts with the City of Houston, Harris County and the multi-cities for distribution of general mobility funds, which is 25 percent of METRO’s portion of the sales tax. The cities can use the funds for street improvements and transit projects.

METRO began contributing funds for various projects with Houston, Harris County and the multi-cities in 1982 and formalized its sales tax revenues into the general mobility program in 1987.

METRO President and CEO George Grenias presented the board with two “what if’ scenarios for beyond September 2014, including continuing the general mobility program or ending it completely.

Grenias gave a comparison of how METRO would be affected if the mobility program continued or ended.

If it continued, he said METRO would see limited increase in service hours for local and commuter bus routes, the transit authority would be able to provide a very modest expansion of their bus fleet, park and ride expansion would be minimal, rail construction would resume by 2028-2030 and there would be no capacity for matching grants on major projects until 2025-2027, amongst other things.

If the mobility program ended, Grenias said METRO could increase service hours for local and commuter bus routes, significantly shrink the gap in their bus fleet, significantly expand their park and ride service, resume rail construction by 2018-2020 and have the capacity to match grants for major projects by 2015.

Things won’t get any worse for METRO if the mobility funding continues, Grenias said.

Board member Carrin Patman said there’s a misconception in the community that METRO is broke and they need to get the word out that they’re not.

“We’re not broke today and we’re not going broke because we’ll manage our way through situations,” he said.

Grenias said he sees benefits for ending the GMP entirely, but it’s a board decision.

“I don’t relish your debate, but you’re going to have to figure this out,” he said.

“I do think this is one of the most important things we will face during our terms on the board,” METRO Board Chairman Gilbert Garcia said.

HESC, a private nonprofit organization, currently has more than 2,300 registered players who come from more than 60 zip codes in the Houston metro area.

The club is staffed with professional coaches who implement a training curriculum to provide the best environment for players to succeed.

HESC is committed to a consistent style of play across all age groups and focuses on teaching and developing players individual skills. They encourage players to work with their teammates and introduce them to organized team concepts.

“As the parent of two boys who have played in the program, my take-away is that the program encourages self-expression, confidence and teamwork, all valuable attributes as my boys grow into responsible young men,” HESC President Bob Corrigan said. “As president of the club, I am most proud that we are a resource for, and serve, all young athletes in our community, boys and girls, regardless of resources and ability level.

Houston Express Soccer Club has two programs open to boys and girls, including those living in the West U area.

HESC’s in-house recreational program, called West U Rec, offers boys and girls, ages U5-U12, an enjoyable, stress-free soccer experience. Standings are not kept and games are played against other in-house teams. Starting at U8, players can choose to remain in West U Rec or move to play in the competitive Houston Express Program. In age groups U9-U12, scores are kept.

Houston Express focuses on a higher level of development and competition for boys and girls, ages U8 and up, beginning with an Academy program to bridge recreational and competitive play. For U11 and up, Express players participate in full competitive play. Younger players in Express are part of the U8-10 Express Developmental Academy.

“HESC is committed to finding and developing coaches that are qualified to implement our curriculum and to serve as role models; coaches who are capable of sharing their own playing experiences and exhibiting leadership skills,” Director of Coaching Mark Gibbs said. “Our goal is to give children a chance to play in a competitive, positive environment whether a child is at the beginning stages of soccer or striving to play at the collegiate level.”

Houston Express teams are trained by licensed professional coaching staff and compete in various area leagues, such as Eastern District Division One Association Division 1 and Super 2, Houston Youth Soccer Association and State Classic League.

Registration is currently open for the fall season.

For more information, visit www.houstonx.org.

The Bellaire Fire Department responded to a water flow alarm at the school at 4601 Pin Oak Drive on April 25 at 1:25 p.m.

When firefighters arrived at the school, a maintenance worker said that a sprinkler head was activated and smoke was somewhere in the building, according to the incident report on file with the Bellaire Fire Department.

A firefighter found dark smoke coming out of a walk-in freezer in the cafeteria. The West U Fire Department was called for assistance.

After the fire was put out, firefighters entered the freezer and found that one of the blower units had caught on fire, burning the storage rack below the unit, according to the report. All of the wiring under the unit had also completely burned.

One of the sprinkler heads above the freezer did not go off when it caught on fire, but a sprinkler on the opposite end of the freezer did activate, the report said.

After an investigation, the fire department found that the fire may have started from an electrical short from exposed wiring.

The report also said that work had been done on the same unit the day before.

Pin Oak Principal Susan Monaghan sent a letter home to parents about the incident, saying that students were evacuated from the building for 45 minutes.

“Once the fire department gave the OK, everyone was allowed back in the building,” Pin Oak Principal Susan Monaghan said. “The students that had not eaten were fed, though it was later than normal.”

Monaghan’s letter to parents in its entirety is as follows:

“Dear Parents,

“Today at Pin Oak Middle School a small fire broke out in the back freezer in the cafeteria.  The students were removed from the building and the fire department was called.

“All students were evacuated from the building for approximately 45 minutes.   Once the fire department gave the OK, everyone was allowed back in the building.  The students that had not eaten were fed, though it was later than normal.

“I am very proud of our students and staff for reacting in such an orderly manner.  Everything went smoothly and without incident.  The Bellaire Fire Department complimented our students and staff on a job well done!

“If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.

“Susan Monaghan, Principal”

Davis was presented with an award for authoring legislation, now law, that gives law enforcement an adequate amount of time to search electronic evidence to help combat child pornographers.

“Passing this legislation was particularly important to me, as it has a direct impact on the safety of our community,” Davis said. “We must provide law enforcement the tools needed to effectively hold criminals accountable for their actions.”

“A child predator should not get a free pass simply due to an arbitrary timetable.  This bill I authored will give officers the ability to appropriately analyze evidence, making our children safer,” she said. “I appreciate the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce recognizing this legislation and its positive impact on our law enforcement efforts in Texas.”

Currently serving her first term in the Texas Legislature, Davis is on the Public Health Committee and Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee.  She is a sustaining member of the Republican National Committee and a member of the Republican Leadership Council with the Harris County Republican Party. Davis was recently recognized by the Houston Business Journal with the 40 Under 40 designation.

Davis received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Baylor in1998, before earning her Law Degree from the University of Houston in 2001.  Sarah and her husband, Kent Adams, live in the City of West University Place.

Davis represents West U, Bellaire, River Oaks, Braeswood Place, Southside Place, portions of Meyerland and Montrose and the Texas Medical Center.