Home Care In Houston, TX

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- City of Houston warming centers are set to open earlier than the original 8 p.m. time it announced late last week.

Beginning at 3 p.m. Monday, the following facilities are available to anyone who needs to escape the elements. The city said the earlier opening is based on current conditions and anticipated continued winter weather.

All city of Houston facilities will accept pets. These pets may be required to stay in kennels provided by BARC.

In addition, at least two places of worship have made their facilities available, as well as a YMCA center. According to the city, the facilities agreed to open in coordination with the city centers at the same dates and times.

The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management also announced the following locations for those seeking shelter:

In terms of daytime centers, the city said all city libraries, community centers, and multi-service centers are available, in addition to the Salvation Army facilities below. They are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

The City of Houston will offer free rides to these locations for anyone who needs assistance. To arrange for a ride, please contact 3-1-1.

Ways to reach 3-1-1:

Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale is crossing his hat into the warming center ring. He announced his Gallery Furniture store at 6006 North Freeway is open Monday and Tuesday for Houstonians who need a warm place of refuge and a free hot meal.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee also announced a warming center at Box Creative/Community Works CDC at 7111 Homestead Road, Houston, Texas 77028. The center opened at 3:30 p.m.

Warming centers outside of Houston

In Galveston County, the Salvation Army is opening an Inclement Weather Center and Warming Station during our upcoming cold snap.

The center will open at 7 a.m. at 601 51st St. from Monday through Wednesday.

In Texas City, St. George's Episocpal Church at 510 13th Ave. N is being used as a warming center. The center is also in need of white trash bags, large black trash bags, first aid supplies - like bandaids and medical gloves, gallons of water, snacks, clothing, socks and shoes, washcloths, hygiene items, and paper plates.

In Cleveland, students and their families can stay warm at Cleveland Middle School and Santa Fe Middle School starting on Sunday.

The schools will open at 9 a.m. and are expected to run 24/7 until Tuesday at 5 a.m., according to Cleveland ISD.

"In the event that the district closes on Tuesday due to weather, the warming centers will extend their hours. At this time, Tuesday, January 16th is a normal school day," the district said in a news release. "These warming centers will be open to enrolled students and their families. Students must have their IDs. Families will be allowed to bring their own blankets, pillows, chairs, food, drinks, etc. No alcoholic beverages will be permitted. It's important to note that the district is ONLY providing a warm space for families. Food and drink will not be provided by the district. Pets are not able to be accommodated."

WATCH: WARMING CENTERS OPENING ACROSS HOUSTON

A USPS employee at the north Houston processing center spoke exclusively with KHOU 11 News about their recent experience working at the facility.

HOUSTON — "Never in my postal career has it been this bad."

That's coming from a longtime United States Postal Service employee who said he's fed up with excuses and wants the public to know what's really causing the mail delays at two Houston-area processing centers.

The 30-plus year postal worker said the problem is with a key piece of equipment -- a new parcel sorting machine that was set to be installed during peak season, just before the holidays.

"Supposed to be a massive machine," the employee said.

So big, he said they had to remove two other machines, but the big issue was that the new machine didn't fit inside the facility.

The employee said without any large sorting machines, mail is piling up everywhere.

"It's a whole mess," the employee said. "Every open space, aside from the hallways, has mail or trash sitting there."

He said the mess is so bad, that it's making it hard for contractors to try to fix the situation.

"The mail backlog in the building has slowed contractors down," the employee said. "Can't do their job with the congestion of the mail.

Congressman Al Green said extra employees have been brought in to help with the mail delays, but the USPS worker said they can only help so much. He said the large sorting machines are needed before things can get back to normal.

He believes that could take months.

"Midsummer, a little later. I would be surprised if they have it cleaned up before April," he said. "I think that is generous."

He said somebody needs to pay for what's happened with these mail delays.

We've reached out to USPS on this worker's claims. As of Wednesday, we've not gotten back a response.

KHOU 11 was the first to tell you about the delays and has been reporting on it now for more than a month.

USPS blames the "temporary" delays on a modernization of its mail and package processing network. The postal service said it's working to process packages as quickly as possible.

Tracking the mail: Our stories on the postal delays

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Deputies have identified the suspect in a standoff that shut down the I-10 East Freeway in both directions on Wednesday.

The dramatic standoff caused traffic backups for several hours.

"We were just in a standstill for like three hours. I had places to be and stuff to do. I didn't have time to be sitting in no traffic for no three hours," Kenshara McCullum said.

"I didn't know what was going on. I thought maybe it was an explosion down here because this is the capital of explosions down here on this stuff," Fred Peacock said.

SkyEye was live over the chaotic scene, capturing the moments SWAT went in with heavy machinery and a K-9 to get the driver, who authorities said refused to come out.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office identified the driver as Trinidad Cutshall and said he will be charged with felony evading.

He sustained lacerations on his face during the standoff and apprehension. HCSO said Cutshall is receiving treatment, and once that's done, he will likely be brought to the Harris County Jail and will then be scheduled to go before a judge.

Cutshall was behind the wheel of a semi-truck that stopped in the middle of the I-10 East Freeway, according to deputies.

When law enforcement tried to approach the truck, Cutshall reportedly took off, leading deputies on a slow pursuit.

The semi-truck finally stopped on the side of the freeway eastbound near Sheldon Road after spike strips were deployed and remained there for two more hours. All the while, video showed the truck's tires spinning, seemingly as Cutshall revved the engine.

Law enforcement used tactics such as verbal commands, tear gas, crisis negotiators, and less-lethal munitions, but HCSO said Cutshall resisted the entire time.

Eventually, HCSO SWAT moved in, landing a helicopter on the freeway and using a piece of heavy machinery called "The Rook" to tear the side of the 18-wheeler apart. Meanwhile, Cutshall still sat in the driver's seat.

Investigators believe he had "some level of impairment." He was seemingly unfazed when deputies deployed tear gas in the truck's cabin.

A K-9 was finally able to help take the suspect into custody. SkyEye was live as officers pulled Cutshall out of the truck and onto the ground.

His face appeared to be bloody as paramedics put him on a gurney and took him away from the scene in an ambulance.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said every precaution had to be taken to keep nearby drivers safe.

"We don't know if he is armed or if he has a long rifle or serious fire power in there, so we have to consider all things at this point," Gonzalez said in a press briefing before the suspect was arrested.

No cargo was found inside the trailer of the semi-truck, officials said. Investigators also did not find any weapons in the truck during an initial search while it was still stopped on the freeway.

It's unclear when Cutshall will make his first court appearance.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- For months, building debris has piled up where a former business once stood on West Bellfort Avenue.

Viewers reached out to ABC13 because they said it's a hazard for those who live near the area.

According to neighbors, the site was once home to an abandoned business before it was demolished in November, and now all of the debris has been sitting out in the open for months.

"An eye sore, of course, a hazard," community member Elizabeth Lutz said. "The construction vehicles stayed there for a couple of days, so we thought maybe the trash bins were going to come and they were going to clean it up, but that never happened."

If you've driven along West Bellfort Avenue and South Post Oak Frontage Road lately, you may have noticed the piles of debris from what used to be a daiquiri business.

Lutz and other neighbors told ABC13 this has become a safety concern. At the site, ABC13 crews could see long pieces of rebar, broken glass, pieces of concrete, and trash.

The debris site is also in the heart of a school zone.

"There are other kids who walk to the middle school down the street, and so it's very likely that they can get hurt," Lutz said.

There's no fencing around the debris sight, and no cleanup has happened since it was initially demolished.

Eyewitness News has learned through city representatives that the property owners demolished the building illegally.

"There were absolutely no permits issued for demolition of this property," Councilwoman Abbie Kaman said.

Kaman said the property has now been cited multiple times for not following the law.

The Harris County Appraisal District lists Kormex Foods as the owner of the site.

However, Public Works representatives said through their investigation, they have found that Kormex Foods no longer owns this property.

Public Works is working to find out who the property owner is, why the building was demolished, and who did it.

"If there's anything we can do on the city side to get some fencing up. Again, it's the property owner's responsibility, and that's why citations are issued when that doesn't happen, but at this point, we need to see some type of resolution," Kaman said.

Kaman said she's working with Public Works and the Department of Neighborhoods to put fences up as soon as possible.

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Houston, United States

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Text description provided by the architects. The Houston Endowment headquarters has been thoughtfully designed to be the center of a network, equally a meeting place for members of the community and for the distribution of resources and expertise back to the community at large. The headquarters was imagined to have an anchoring quality in a transient city, a measure against the significant urban transformation that has followed the restoration of the Buffalo Bayou and the surrounding neighborhood.

The challenge of the project addressed by kdA and the design team was to create a building that is simultaneously a front door and a back porch for the organization. The front door is the public representation of the Foundation, formal enough to greet institutional partners while remaining approachable for any member of the community to feel welcome, with a strong sense of belonging for collaborators and first-time visitors alike.

The building’s signature design element is an airy, elegant superstructure generously shaded by a large canopy within a grove of oak trees. The design is strongly connected to the site and context: the landscape and history of Spotts Park on the banks of Houston’s Buffalo Bayou. The intricate lattice of the sculptural roof canopy offers a sense of shelter to both the organization and the local community, encouraging the use of outdoor terraces, maximizing use of daylight within the building, and minimizing solar gain. Interior spaces are conceived within public and private zones and are highly flexible, linked to the park through a series of exterior terraces, shaded by the canopy. The design promotes healthy working and offers welcoming engagement spaces that provide zones for convening and collaborating with the community. The dynamic setting of the new headquarters allows the Houston Endowment unprecedented engagement with its many partners.

For the construction of the building, the architectural and engineering teams evaluated numerous systems, ultimately recommending the headquarters be constructed using a hybrid steel and cross- laminated timber (CLT) approach.

The building’s CLT, a mass timber product consisting of layers of lumber glued together in alternate directions, offers exceptional strength while also enabling a reduced carbon footprint as a renewable resource, and steel framing provides both stability and flexibility. intricate latticed canopy maximizes daylight in the building, while minimizing cooling requirements and energy consumption. Together, steel and mass timber achieve a highly efficient and visually appealing new headquarters.

The 2030 Net Zero Challenge was set as the project’s primary sustainability objective, providing an achievable and forward-thinking framework and setting a goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 through prioritizing energy-efficient planning and design. By including a geothermal well system, high-efficient rainscreen fac?ade, and shade canopy, the carbon consumption of Houston Endowment headquarters will be reduced by 33%, as compared to a typical office building. The energy generation from the photovoltaic system will cover the balance of the required energy demand, therefore resulting in a “net zero” project.

As a supporter of the vibrant arts community of Greater Houston, the Houston Endowment has purchased its permanent art collection with the new headquarters in mind, reflecting a bold vision to celebrate acclaimed local artists, lift up emerging artistic talent, and tell the stories of diverse people and communities in the region. The collection includes works by JooYoung Choi, Jamal Cyrus, Julie DeVries, Mark Francis, Sherry Tseng Hill, Julia Barbosa Landois, Rick Lowe, Matt Manalo, Delita Martin, Ami Mehta, Kate Mullholland, Phillip Pyle II, Preetika Rajgariah, and Gerardo Rosales.