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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.

That's because Texas and at least four other states are heading for a "serious shortfall" of family physicians by 2020, a national doctors group predicts.

Population growth and the rising number of elderly people in Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Idaho will make the need most critical, said Dr. Perry Pugno of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

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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.

Quintero's common law wife was in the courtroom to hear the charges.

"She feels remorse for the family," an unidentified friend said. "She can't control what he did."

Police said Quintero used his common law's wife gun in the killing.

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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.

Airport officials told 6 News about 200,000 people a year fly out of San Antonio instead of their hometown, Corpus Christi. This year, passenger traffic is down 6.5% compared to this time last year.

6 News found that most roundtrip tickets out of Corpus Christi typically run about $50-80 more than San Antonio, but the airport believes that's small enough for most of us to reconsider the extra 2-hour drive north.

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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.

"It works for some," said Tori Beck of Duke Energy. "It doesn't work for everybody. Not everybody wants to work until later in the afternoon, so those who do have the option."

Some Duke Energy employees can go into work early and get a day off, giving them more time at home and reducing traffic.

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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

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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.

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