5 things for Houstonians to know for Wednesday, August 19

John Guess Jr., CEO Emeritus of the Houston Museum of African American Culture, talks about the bronze statue "The Spirit of The Confederacy" on display at the museum, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Houston. The bronze statue, called "Spirit of The Confederacy," was removed from a downtown Houston park in June following a March 2018 recommendation by a task force established by Mayor Sylvester Turner. The statue, which has been in storage following its removal, arrived at the Houston Museum of African American Culture on Monday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Here are things you need to know for Wednesday, August 19:

1. Clear Creek ISD substitute teacher’s aid accused of sexual assault of a child, making child porn in 2016

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Last June, Webster police were tipped off that dozens of images of child pornography had been uploaded to an online Dropbox account from an internet address in Webster.

They traced the web address to an apartment in Webster where they served a search warrant on July 1 and arrested 24-year-old Jose Godoy.

Last September, Godoy was hired as a part-time substitute teacher’s aide by the Clear Creek Independent School District. He was fired following his arrest in July. Webster Police Department Detective David Nettles said at this point, there’s no evidence that he approached any students.

Read more.

2. EXPLAINED: What caused the huge swing in Texas’ coronavirus positivity rate this month?

After days of hitting record-high positivity rates in Texas last week, the numbers fell dramatically. State health officials said that fluctuation was caused by problems in data being reported by some labs.

On Aug. 7, the seven-day positivity rate hit a record of 19.41%. That number continued to climb until it hit an all-time high of 24.5% on Aug. 11. The next day, the rate plummeted seven points and fell to 11.25% on Aug. 15.

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3. President Trump to posthumously pardon women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony

Grappling for votes — and the spotlight — as Democrats hold their national convention, President Donald Trump reached back Tuesday to the signature issue of his 2016 campaign to deliver a broadside against Democratic rival Joe Biden over immigration.

As Democrats gathered virtually, Trump targeted voters in a pair of key swing states and sought to curry favor with women voters by pardoning Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.

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4. Houston Museum of African American Culture takes possession of Confederate monument that once stood in Sam Houston Park

A Confederate monument that stood in a Houston park for more than a century before it was removed two months ago is now in the possession of the Houston Museum of African American Culture.

“The Spirit of the Confederacy” was removed from Sam Houston Park during the overnight hours of June 17.

Read more.

5. Watching the tropics: What to know about 2 systems in Atlantic right now

The KPRC 2 Severe Weather Team is tracking two systems that are moving through the Atlantic Ocean this week. There is also a third system in Africa that is also being tracked.

This system is less impressive out of the two invests, but computer models do show a circulation entering the southern Gulf of Mexico early next week.

Read more.


3 things to share

WORD OF THE DAY

Handspike [hand-spahyk] (noun) a bar used as a lever.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Aug. 19, 1909: The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, now the home of famous motor racing competition the Indianapolis 500.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Every great inspiration is but an experiment - though every experiment we know, is not a great inspiration.” - Charles Ives


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