Jim Fredricks

Does our nation deserve people like Sgt. Eddie Wright, or Capt. Brent Morell, or any of the hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women who have served this country or been wounded or killed in action?
I still say yes, in principal. But we could do more to honor their sacrifice. A lot more.
Sgt. Eddie Wright, a retired Marine and Conroe resident who lost his two arms in combat in Iraq, spoke to a standing-room-only Veteran’s celebration of The Woodlands Rotary Club on Thursday.
Although he paid a steep price to keep his commitment to serve this country, Sgt. Wright exhibited no regret for his service, and clearly didn’t want anyone’s pity. He hopes rather to inspire others to serve a country he loved enough to pay the price of the loss of his forearms.

Being a Marine was a lifelong dream for Sgt. Wright; it was a dream he nourished from an early age.

“It was always my dream to be a Marine,” he told club members. “Ultimately l was able to make that dream a reality.
“I remember when we were on patrol one night; My unit was inserted into the suburbs around Fallujah. It was surreal. I couldn’t believe I was doing what I had always imagined.”
It was Fallujah – the scene of some of the fiercest door-to-door fighting of the entire war – where Sgt. Wright’s dream eventually took a brutal detour.
“It was 2004. We got into a big firefight and we were ambushed.
“I was in the lead vehicle and I was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.”
The blast ripped off both hands. While he lay there stunned, he could hear and see a steady barrage of bullets snapping through the thin walls of his unarmored Humvee. He thought to himself: “If I get hit again, that’s it.”
Wright would lose both forearms and later be awarded a bronze star medal with combat distinguishing device for heroic achievement.
But he readily acknowledged he was alive only because of someone else’s supreme sacrifice: Capt. Brent Morell.
It was Morrell’s heroic charge straight into the ambush that saved Sgt. Wright’s life and the lives of numerous other Marines.
Here is the citation for Morell’s Navy Cross – awarded posthumously:
“The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Captain Brent Lee Morel, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as Platoon Commander, Second Platoon, Company B, First Reconnaissance Battalion, FIRST Marine Division, First Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 7 April 2004. Captain Morel's platoon escorted a convoy into the Al Anbar Province when 40 to 60 insurgents in well-fortified and concealed positions initiated an ambush. Witnessing a rocket-propelled grenade crippling his lead vehicle and while mortar and machine gun fire erupted, he ordered his remaining two vehicles to secure a flanking position. Captain Morel left his vehicle and led a determined assault across an open field and up a 10-foot berm, in order to maneuver into firing positions. The boldness of this first assault eliminated several insurgents at close range forcing their retreat. Observing his Marines pinned down from enemy fire, Captain Morel left the safety of his position and continued the assault, eliminating the enemy's attack. During this valiant act, he fell mortally wounded by a withering burst of enemy automatic weapons fire. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Captain Morel reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.”
“If it wasn’t for his actions, I wouldn’t be here today,” Sgt. Wright said. “It’s people like that who are the real heroes; I was just trying to fight my way out of the situation.”
Sgt. Wright has paid an enormous price to serve his country. But he thinks little of it today. After a year of physical and occupational therapy where he learned to use the claws that now substitute for the forearms he lost in Iraq, Sgt. Wright still sees a bright future for himself, his wife and baby daughter.
And the community has done what it could to help. Sgt. Wright was the 20th serviceman to receive the keys to a new furnished home from the organization HelpingaHero.org.
“I wouldn’t trade anything. I was fortunate to be able to live out my dream; and I’m still young enough to pursue my new dreams, with my wife and my baby daughter,” he said.
And he hopes he and other veterans, armed with the lessons they’ve learned in their service, can put those lessons to use for their country.
“I believe this is the greatest nation in the world; we hope to keep that dream alive.”

The county's largest communities -- The Woodlands, Conroe -- and several smaller cities posted sizeable increases in sales tax revenue, a sign of increased consumer spending locally.

That's good news and a strong sign of a growing market. Underlying consumer demand and growth in the economy is the foundation for home sales.

The good news came from the monthly sales tax allocation report released Wednesday, Nov. 9 by state Comptroller Susan Combs.

Conroe City Administrator Paul Virgadamo touched on the news at Thursday morning's Board of Director's meeting for the Greater Conroe/Lake Conroe Area Chamber of Commerce.

"Conroe's sales tax is up 10.6 percent," Virgadamo said. "We have climbed out of a hole we found ourselves a couple of years ago, and we are on the positive side."

The recession dug a hole for Conroe and many others cities throughout Texas as consumer spending dried up and sent sales tax collections revenue plummeting.

But the numbers for Conroe, The Woodlands and many other cities have been rising steadily for a year. Consumers are spending more, putting more money in local businesses, and yielding more revenue for local cities.

This chart shows the percent increase (or decrease, in some cases) for the county's top cities:

The good news was generally reflected statewide, according to the Comptroller's Office.

According to a comptroller press release, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said that state sales tax revenue in October was $1.87 billion, up 15.9 percent compared to October 2010.

"Strong growth in business sectors such as the oil and natural gas industry boosted sales tax revenue for yet another month," Combs said. "State sales tax revenue has now increased for 19 consecutive months. Sales tax also grew in the manufacturing industry, as well as consumer sectors such as the restaurant industry and retail trade."

The sales tax figures represent September sales reported by monthly tax filers and July, August and September sales reported by quarterly filers.

Voters will be going to the polls around the state today to cast ballots on the state constitutional amendments; they’ll also be casting ballots on numerous local issues, including a $200 million Montgomery County road bond referendum.

The Courier has a nice breakdown of the issues and its editorial stances here and here.

I’m headed to the polls, and here’s how I’m going to vote on the road bond and the constitutional amendments:

County road bond election - YES

There is no doubt the county needs to fund road improvements to keep up with its continued growth. Typically, the county has done this through road bond elections, with the last being 2005. On average, the county has a road bond election about every three to four years.

This referendum contains numerous projects for all parts of the county, such as improving and widening Walden Road near Lake Conroe, widening Honea-Egypt Road and McCaleb Road, widening Budde Road and Nursery Road in south Montgomery County, and extending League Line road to the Lone Star Executive Airport.

PROPOSITION 1 – YES

Proposition 1 authorizes the Texas Legislature to provide an exemption from property taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran. The burden of defending this country falls on a small number of military personnel and their families who endure great hardship in the call of duty. They earned this exemption.

PROPOSITION 2 – YES

Proposition 2 provides for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board up to $6 billion at any time without having to go before voters for approval. The state would be able to continue issuing new bonds to fund water projects as previous bonds are retired without having to go back to voters. Water is a critical issue for the state, especially in the midst of a severe drought; the bonds would fund a wide variety of projects, including water resource development, water quality and flood control. The state is protected because the debt is paid back by the local entity that receives the loan.

PROPOSITION 3 – NO

Proposition 3 would provide for the issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of Texas to finance educational loans to students. It would authorize The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to issue and sell more general obligation bonds as needed to pay for more financial loans to students. Unlike Proposition 2 – where at least voters at the local level can question the use of state loans for water infrastructure, Proposition 3 gives a blank check to the coordinating board. In addition, I believe the easy availability of student loans has contributed to soaring enrollments and tuition inflation. This is a power that should be reserved to voters.

PROPOSITION 4 – NO

This proposition would give the legislature the power to permit a county to “issue bonds or notes to finance the development or redevelopment of an unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted area and to pledge for repayment of the bonds or notes increases in ad valorem taxes imposed by the county on property in the area.” In short, the state proposes giving counties the same power that cities have. However, counties already have economic development tools, such as tax abatements, that should suffice. Also, groups such as Texans for Fiscal Responsibility fear that this proposition could open the door for “Kelo”-style property seizures for the purposes of economic development. Certainly, we don’t need to encourage any movement toward such policies.

PROPOSITION 5 – YES
Proposition 5 would allow cities and counties to enter into interlocal contracts with other cities or counties without the imposition of a tax or the provision of a sinking fund. In short, this would make it easier for cities and counties to consolidate projects or services and reduce duplication, which would save tax dollars. Cutting a little red tape to encourage greater efficiency is a worthwhile move.

PROPOSITION 6 -- NO

Proposition 6 would allow the General Land Office to distribute revenue from permanent school fund land or other properties to the available school fund to provide additional funding for public education, and providing for an increase in the market value of the permanent school fund for the purpose of allowing increased distributions from the available school fund.

This is a bad idea; it opens the door to eroding the principal of the permanent school fund. The state needs to find other ways to fund public education rather than weakening a permanent source of funding.

PROPOSITION 7 -- NO

The constitutional amendment would allow for the creation of more taxing districts in West Texas. It would authorize the Legislature to permit conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County; those districts would levy property taxes to issue bonds to fund development and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities. These responsibilities already fall under county government and should be supported by existing county property taxes; it is up to counties to manage their budgets wisely to accommodate these needs.

PROPOSITION 8 - YES

Proposition 8 would allow land currently used for farming, ranching, wildlife management or logging to be developed for water conservation without changing its tax status. The exemption would not apply to land that is not already eligible under existing uses. Water conservation is an appropriate state policy goal; it makes sense to permit exemptions to encourage it.

PROPOSITION 9 - YES

This constitutional amendment would authorize the governor to grant a pardon to a person who successfully completes a term of deferred adjudication community supervision and against whom charges are then dropped. Currently, the governor can extend pardons only to those who have been found guilty of a crime; the amendment would extend the power to pardon to cover deferred adjudications. It is a reasonable extension of the governor’s pardon power.

PROPOSITION 10 – YES

This constitutional amendment would change the length of the unexpired term that causes the automatic resignation of certain elected county or district officeholders. Currently they must resign if they announce their intention to run for another post with more than a year left in their current term. The amendment would permit them to remain in their post if they announce with less than one year and 30 days remaining in their term. It is designed to adjust for new federal filing dates enacted to permit more time for the delivery of ballots to the military and others overseas.

The Woodlands has branded itself as a great place to "live, work and play" -- and in this case, the brand is reality.

One of the things I love most about The Woodlands is its respect for the environment and a desire to merge the best aspects of community with the surrounding natural environment.

Take the bike trails, for example, where more than 160 miles of pathways and trails link the various residential villages and commercial areas in The Woodlands.

Those trails not only provide an excellent means of enjoying the great outdoors and getting in a good run or bike ride -- they are an opportunity to see some truly beautiful little gems of nature.

Take this view below, for example, of Shadow Lake, off Lake Woodlands. I captured this scene on an early morning run:

This is part of a neighborhood park. It is just a short walk away from a nearby residential village. You can't see them in this photo, but off to the right is a fishing pier where kids can dip a line in the water.

After I posted the above photo on Facebook, one of my friends responded with this post:

"Driving home yesterday I saw a bald eagle flying over Woodlands Parkway. It added to a beautiful morning."

Here's another shot I took while running the trails:

The Woodlands is dotted with scenes like these. And with 160 miles of trails and pathways -- you've got plenty to see!

He’s completed six Ironmans, competed professionally in triathlons, was a collegiate MVP at Clemson University in swimming, is a devoted husband and father, and more recently in the middle of this brutal recession, acquired -- and then expanded -- a string of retail shops devoted to swim sports.
Tj Fry clearly loves a challenge. Spend a few minutes with him, and you may just want to take on a few challenges of your own.
He notched his most recent Ironman – the venerable Kona Ironman competition in Hawaii – in early October of this year. As we sit and visit for a bit in the Starbucks in Market Street in The Woodlands (he has water – I do the loaded latte), I’m intrigued to find out what drives him.

I’d especially like to know what drives a guy to repeatedly compete in the Ironman, the most grueling athletic endurance event on the planet, featuring extreme distances in each of three disciplines: a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike race, topped off with a punishing full marathon, 26.2 miles. For a taste of his experience, see Tj’s blog here
It is an event whose ability to humble the strongest athletes was made famous in this Gatorade commercial, in which athlete Chris Legh has a nearly complete physical breakdown on the course. It’s painful to watch. Tj was bitten by the Ironman “bug” as a young boy. While it’s clear that he is in many ways a natural athlete, he points to his parents as playing a vital role in setting him on a path toward success.
A homegrown phenomenon, Tj was part of the first generation of kids who were born, grew up, and then graduated high school entirely in The Woodlands. It was a still young master-planned community when Tj’s parents – his dad Joe was a regional sales rep, mom Loretta a homemaker – moved to The Woodlands.
His foray into competitive sports, particularly his key sport, swimming, started with one of those classic parental decisions – Tj and his sister both were getting involved in sports, and the scheduling was getting difficult. The solution? Put them in the same activity.
“My sister was swimming, and scheduling the two of us was a little hard; they decided to put both of us kids in one sport to make shuttling us around easier,” Tj explained.
But it wasn’t just the scheduling that made a difference. His parents also laid down one very clear rule: you can choose your activity or sport – but you will pick something. Being a couch potato – or, these days, an Xbox junkie – was not an option.
“My parents were pretty clear; you can quit if you want; but you’ve got to pick something else to do. I wasn’t going to be sitting around on the couch watching TV,” he said.
“I think it was important they did that. The message was, ‘you’re not going to sit around on your ass and do nothing.’ ” As a result, he started swimming competitively at age 6, and by age 12 he had competed in his first triathlon.
It was that experience, he said, that helped form his desire to compete in the ultimate triathlon, the Kona Ironman.
“Honestly, the roots of it was doing a couple of kids races, and then I saw the Ironman on TV; and immediately my attention was drawn to that throughout high school and college;” he said.
“For whatever reason, I was drawn to things that looked difficult,” he said.
The Ironman is the very definition of difficult. It’s not just race day that is extreme – it’s the rigorous training schedule required to prepare oneself for the ultimate distances involved. Training weeks start at about eight hours of swimming, biking and running a week and stretch to as much as 16 hours per week as athletes seek to get in the distances that will prepare them for an Ironman.
“It can be all-consuming; if you’re not training, you’re always wanting to sleep and eat. It’s a real challenge,” he said. “There is a base level of fitness you have to have; you can’t even consider a triathlon until you get to that point.”
And it can be a challenge on families as well. A few weeks out from Ironman an athlete is putting in 120-mile weekend bike rides and 22- to 26-mile long runs. It requires a different form of endurance from wife Amy and his two children, Megan, 4 and Andrew, 2.
His running he can do earlier in the morning. But for Saturday bike rides “I’m gone for six hours and don’t get back until after lunch, and by the time I get back I’m exhausted. The challenge is to stay engaged with my kids even after six hours of cycling,” Tj said.
But on top of being a competitive amateur athlete, and managing a busy household with his wife, Tj took on yet another endurance challenge of his own back in 2009, deciding to leave a safe, stable and successful career as an executive for commercial lending at Woodforest Bank and diving into owning and operating his own business.
The economy was slowing at that point, and with commercial lending starting to slow as well, “I wasn’t as busy as I would have liked or expected to be,” he said. “Idleness is the devil’s playground, as they say.”
As he helped a friend review the numbers for a business deal, he saw the potential for his own business and discussed a possible career change with his wife. And instead of responding in fear, she saw the opportunity. “My wife told me, ‘don’t do it when you’re 60; now is the time to do it.’ So I decided to take a change and get into an industry that fostered the thing I loved to do.“
So he dove in to own and operate three Swim Shops of the Southwest stores, and almost immediately encountered a challenge probably similar to a sudden weather change that sends temperatures soaring on that final stretches of the marathon in an Ironman. Although Texas at that point in 2009 seemed to be weathering the national economic woes, about a month after he acquired Swim Shops the Texas economy tanked.
“At that point (when he purchased) the whole world was shrinking except for Texas; then I bought the business, and the next month the floor dropped out of the economy;” he said.
“I was just staring at every single thing and trying to brace for impact.”
Two things helped; first, he worked to control expenses. Also, he was fortunate in that his business -- a niche business that supplied clothing and equipment for school teams –was positioned to survive the recession better than some other retail outlets.
“I’ve noticed that one of the last sacrifices you make when things are tight is yanking your kid out of extracurricular activities,” Tj said. “That gave us a bit of a cushion.”
He’s made the changes to put the business on a solid enough financial foundation that he recently was able to expand to a fourth location in The Woodlands. And there may be more to come. “I’ve already got a couple of future locations picked out. It’s a tricky issue; you want to make sure everything’s firm and the cash flow is good. But I see us expanding the locations and what we offer.”
Meanwhile, he’s taking a bit of a break from Ironman competitions. And as a family, they’ve all learned to adjust to Tj’s continual push to excel. His wife recently completed her first marathon in Austin. And Tj’s determined to pass along the lessons he learned from his parents to his children. “Knowing how I grew up; I want to create that environment for them as well; I don’t want them to see dad on the back porch smoking a cigarette and complaining about his life,” he said.
They’re catching on already.“Sometimes my kids like to play what they call the ‘marathon’ game. They’ll run around in circles and say ‘we’re running the Ironman,” and their mom and I will clap for them.”