Pasadena Citizen - Features
In business
Commission creates web site
The Texas Residential Construction Commission has launched a new Web site, IkeResponse.org, designed to provide all known state and federal Internet resources at one location.
Executive Director Duane Waddill said the commission’s builder and remodeler search information is also prominently displayed so Texas residents can look up information about the builder or remodeler they’re thinking about hiring to fix their home.
In addition to being a clearinghouse for Hurricane Ike information, the commission is sending commission staff to the region for the next three months to conduct job site audits to ensure no unregistered fly-by-night companies or builders from other states set up shop in Texas illegally.
Commission staff will also meet with local building officials over the next several weeks to find out how the commission can assist them and local registrants as they work to rebuild their communities.
For more information about any commission-related issues, go to IkeResponse.org or www.texasrcc.org.
HUD providing funds to Texas
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $178,143,196 in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grants for neighborhoods that have been hard-hit by foreclosures.
According to HUD, grant recipients will use this funding to buy foreclosed homes, land and property, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties, offer down payment and closing cost assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers, and create “land banks” to assemble, temporarily manage, and dispose of vacant land to encourage re-use or redevelopment of property.
Locally, Harris County is set to receive $14,898,026.66 while the city of Houston is earmarked to get $13,542,192.55.
Hydrogen, fuel cell grant
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) a grant worth $177,209 for an 18-month project, in cooperation with the State Energy Conservation Office and the Texas H2 Coalition, to educate local and state leaders in Texas about hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
HARC is a non-profit independent organization engaged in sustainable energy and transportation research that serves as a boundary organization working with governments, universities, and industry alike. In close coordination with DOE, HARC will develop written and graphical hydrogen and fuel cell technology information aimed at informing state and local government leaders.
HARC will organize and conduct face-to-face workshops and web-based seminars to teach as many leaders as possible during this project. The project will help provide knowledge and awareness to leaders who can make improved decisions about hydrogen and fuel cell technologies while at the same time helping to develop those projects and actions that best fit Texas’ current conditions and longer range energy opportunities.
Action taken against CEMEX
The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Houston-based CEMEX Inc. for failing to properly pay overtime back wages amounting to more than $5 million to about 2,000 ready mix drivers from eight states in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The department filed the suit against CEMEX following an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division in Houston covering the three-year period from September 2005 to September 2008.
The investigation found the company failed to pay overtime wages on piece rate and incentive bonus pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, for which nonexempt employees are entitled to premium pay.
Affected employees of CEMEX, a provider of cement and concrete products, worked in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
For information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Houston at 713-339-5500. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.
The Texas Residential Construction Commission has launched a new Web site, IkeResponse.org, designed to provide all known state and federal Internet resources at one location.
Executive Director Duane Waddill said the commission’s builder and remodeler search information is also prominently displayed so Texas residents can look up information about the builder or remodeler they’re thinking about hiring to fix their home.
In addition to being a clearinghouse for Hurricane Ike information, the commission is sending commission staff to the region for the next three months to conduct job site audits to ensure no unregistered fly-by-night companies or builders from other states set up shop in Texas illegally.
Commission staff will also meet with local building officials over the next several weeks to find out how the commission can assist them and local registrants as they work to rebuild their communities.
For more information about any commission-related issues, go to IkeResponse.org or www.texasrcc.org.
HUD providing funds to Texas
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $178,143,196 in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grants for neighborhoods that have been hard-hit by foreclosures.
According to HUD, grant recipients will use this funding to buy foreclosed homes, land and property, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties, offer down payment and closing cost assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers, and create “land banks” to assemble, temporarily manage, and dispose of vacant land to encourage re-use or redevelopment of property.
Locally, Harris County is set to receive $14,898,026.66 while the city of Houston is earmarked to get $13,542,192.55.
Hydrogen, fuel cell grant
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) a grant worth $177,209 for an 18-month project, in cooperation with the State Energy Conservation Office and the Texas H2 Coalition, to educate local and state leaders in Texas about hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
HARC is a non-profit independent organization engaged in sustainable energy and transportation research that serves as a boundary organization working with governments, universities, and industry alike. In close coordination with DOE, HARC will develop written and graphical hydrogen and fuel cell technology information aimed at informing state and local government leaders.
HARC will organize and conduct face-to-face workshops and web-based seminars to teach as many leaders as possible during this project. The project will help provide knowledge and awareness to leaders who can make improved decisions about hydrogen and fuel cell technologies while at the same time helping to develop those projects and actions that best fit Texas’ current conditions and longer range energy opportunities.
Action taken against CEMEX
The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Houston-based CEMEX Inc. for failing to properly pay overtime back wages amounting to more than $5 million to about 2,000 ready mix drivers from eight states in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The department filed the suit against CEMEX following an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division in Houston covering the three-year period from September 2005 to September 2008.
The investigation found the company failed to pay overtime wages on piece rate and incentive bonus pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, for which nonexempt employees are entitled to premium pay.
Affected employees of CEMEX, a provider of cement and concrete products, worked in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
For information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Houston at 713-339-5500. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online