NEW YORK -- Upromise, the loyalty program that helps families save for college, is expanding its service to include fundraising for elementary, middle and high schools.

The Needham, Mass., company was to announce on Tuesday that it will launch the Upromise Schools Program. The first participant will be the Houston Independent School District, which operates the public schools in the city of Houston.

"Our mission at Upromise is trying to help individuals and families realize the dream of higher education," Tom Anderson, chief executive officer of Upromise, told the AP.

"Ability to pay is important, but so is being prepared for college," Anderson said. "The idea behind the schools program is that you can help your child's education today - and in the future."

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HOUSTON -- A chemical spill was reported at the Valero refinery in the Houston Ship Channel Thursday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The Houston Fire Department responded to the sulphur dioxide spill at the refinery on Manchester Street near 97th Street at about 9:55 a.m.

Fire officials said they are treating 20 to 30 people at the scene for inhalation injuries.

Officials are working to determine the wind direction and are taking air samples to determine if the incident poses a threat to the community.

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Better income, hours in specialty medicine is fueling 'serious shortfall,' academy reports.

By LEIGH HOPPER
Houston Chronicle

In the not-too-distant future, patients may be unable to seek the advice of a family physician and, instead, find themselves hopping from one specialist to another as they struggle to manage multiple chronic ailments.

HOUSTON -- A slew of local academicians recommended Wednesday that Houston immediately lower its levels of air pollutants because the level is currently toxic enough to cause deaths by cancer.

The 245-page report's authors -- who span the fields of environmental health, engineering and law -- said the screening levels being used by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are inadequate, and that enforceable air quality standards need to be adopted. The report also examined health consequences, and recommended pollution reduction strategies that other states and countries have implemented.

Texas has the highest level of air pollution in the country, and yet it only uses a guideline that is considered when issuing business permits, said Victor Flatt, an environmental law professor at the
University of Houston and one of the study's authors.

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HOUSTON - A judge denied bond for a man accused of killing a Houston police officer, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday. Houston police said Juan Leonardo Quintero, 32, shot and killed Officer Rodney Johnson during a traffic stop on Thursday.

»Nation's First Wi-Fi....Parking Meters?

CORPUS CHRISTI - Over the next few months, you can expect to see new ads for the Corpus Christi International Airport. They are designed to bring local travelers back to the local airport, instead of those in San Antonio or Houston.

HOUSTON - Houston is testing the Flex in the City program, designed to help reduce traffic during the morning and afternoon commutes, KPRC Local 2 reported. More than 100 companies are participating in the program, including Duke Energy.

PASADENA, Texas -- An armored truck was stolen outside of a Pasadena grocery store Tuesday afternoon and a suspicious device was found, prompting an evacuation, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Police said two men approached the truck outside of the El Rancho store on Jackson Avenue near South Randall Street at about 12:15 p.m. and told the guard they had a bomb.

"One of the suspects said something to the effect that he had a bomb and that he would blow up the armored vehicle if the operator did not authorize his access into the vehicle," said Capt Bud Corbett with the Pasadena Police Department.

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MIAMI (AP) - A tropical depression was nearing tropical storm strength Monday, hours after forming in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Leeward Islands, forecasters said. More here

HOUSTON - A woman gave birth in the Harris County Jail after her request for medical help was denied, a witness told KPRC Local 2 Friday. Crystal Williams, 25, was in a holding cell at the Harris County Baker Street Jail on Tuesday with a 20-year-old woman who was nine months pregnant.

This time the seats were behind the bench. Nice critique of defensive coordinator Richard Smith's gum chewing. Really. Read it here

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Florence formed Tuesday in the open Atlantic, becoming the sixth named storm of the 2006 hurricane season, and was likely to grow.

Florence had top sustained wind near 40 mph, 1 mph over the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm, and it was expected to slowly intensify to hurricane strength, according to the National Hurricane Center. More here

GALVESTON - For more than 90 years, the name USS Texas has brought to mind the huge battleship that sailed into battle in two world wars and is now a moldering monument near the San Jacinto Monument.

For the thousands who lined the shores of Galveston and Pelican islands Monday, the name USS Texas likely now will bring to mind the sleek profile of the Navy's newest submarine, which arrived to great fanfare Monday in preparation for its scheduled commissioning by first lady Laura Bush at week's end. More here

From Houston's ABC13: Ernesto strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Hurricane Season in Miami said.

It could grow into a Category 3 hurricane by Thursday, menacing a broad swath of the Gulf Coast including hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

1199 words on what to wear on the sidelines.
Really. Count them yourself here

HOUSTON -- A college student is being charged with carrying explosives aboard an aircraft, after authorities in Houston found a half-stick of dynamite in his checked luggage. Howard Fish, 21, was detained after bomb-sniffing dogs reacted to his luggage. He had been on board a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina.
More at Houston's Channel 2

»abclocal.go.com/ktrk/weather/090···es.html

You've likely heard the saying that there are two sides to every story. But there's an interesting twist to that adage.

Dog Placed In Quarantine

POSTED: 8:33 am CDT July 23, 2004
UPDATED: 8:51 am CDT July 23, 2004

HOUSTON -- A 6-month-old baby died early Friday from injuries he received when the family dog mauled him in his home, News2Houston reported.

The family lives in the 28000 block of Fox Lynn Drive in Spring. Montgomery County emergency officials were called to the home around 5 p.m. Thursday.

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Students Moved To Westchester High School

HOUSTON -- Brick facades that are not fastened to interior structures, creating a collapse hazard, have forced the shutdown of a west Houston high school for the upcoming school year.

Stratford High School, 14555 Fern, where a $14 million renovation project had just begun, has been deemed unusable by Spring Branch Independent School District officials because of the problem.

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