HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT ADDRESSING INCREASE OF SUPERBUGS THROUGH ANTIBIOTIC STEWARDSHIP

HOUSTON - The Houston Health Department is expanding its efforts to address antibiotic resistance, one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health. Antibiotic resistance happens when the overuse and misuse of antibiotics lead bacteria to develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them.

The health department’s Healthcare Associated Infection Program now includes long term care facilities such as retirement homes and rehabilitation centers. The program works with healthcare providers and pharmacists to enhance infection control and antibiotic stewardship.

“When used properly, antibiotics save lives,” said Dr. David Persse, local health authority for the Houston Health Department. “However, the overuse and misuse of antibiotics is leading to increases in superbug bacteria, leaving few options when treatment is needed for infections.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 47 million antibiotic prescriptions in U.S. outpatient settings are prescribed unnecessarily. CDC reports that each year in the United States, at least 2.8 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 35,000 people die as a direct result. Many more die from complications from antibiotic-resistant infections.

In addition to efforts in healthcare settings, the department also works to educate patients and the community about proper use of antibiotics, especially during U.S. National Antibiotic Awareness Week, Nov. 18-24, 2019.

The health department encourages patients and families to be antibiotics aware by knowing: 

• Vaccination protects us against infections, reducing the need for antibiotics which helps limit antibiotic resistance.
• The future of antibiotics depends on all of us. Good hand hygiene prevents infections from spreading.
• Antibiotics do not work on viruses, such as those that cause colds, flu, bronchitis, or runny noses, even if the mucus is thick, yellow, or green.
• Antibiotics are only needed for treating infections caused by bacteria, but even some bacterial infections get better without antibiotics, including many sinus infections and some ear infections.
• Antibiotics will not make you feel better if you have a virus. Respiratory viruses usually go away in a week or two without treatment. Ask your healthcare professional about the best way to feel better while your body fights off the virus.
• If you need antibiotics, take them exactly as prescribed. Talk with your doctor if you have any questions about your antibiotics, or if you develop any side effects, especially diarrhea, since that could be a Clostridioides difficile infection (also called C. difficile or C. diff), which needs to be treated.
• Antibiotics are critical tools for treating life-threatening conditions but can cause side effects and lead to antibiotic resistance.

“Improving the way healthcare professionals prescribe antibiotics, and the way we take antibiotics, helps ensure these life-saving drugs will be available for future generations,” said Dr. Persse.

More information about the proper use of antibiotics and the health department’s stewardship activities is available at HoustonHealth.org.

SHEFFIELD EDUCATION CENTER TO GET A FACELIFT

Austin, Texas - Since 2000, the Splash! Exhibit held at the Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center, part of the Barton Springs Bathhouse, has taught locals and visitors about the unique habitat that the Austin blind salamander and Barton Springs salamander call home.

As a continuation of the Barton Springs Bathhouse Rehabilitation project, the education center will be receiving a facelift. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) invites community members to a meeting on Dec. 5, 2019, to share about what Splash! has meant to them and to help PARD identify how a revitalized exhibit space can continue to educate the next generation of visitors to Barton Springs.

Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center Community Meeting

Barton Springs Bathhouse Rotunda
2201 William Barton Road Andrew, Austin, TX 78746
Dec. 5, 2019, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Background Information

Barton Springs Pool is home to two endangered species: the Barton Springs salamander and Austin blind salamander. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior permit allows for the continued operation of Barton Springs as a pool for people to enjoy alongside the salamanders. Due to the needed ecological sensitivity required for this space, the City of Austin created a Barton Springs Pool Habitat Conservation Plan. Within the permitted plan, the City is required to provide at least $45,000 annually to salamander education efforts. The Splash! Exhibit receives nearly 70,000 visitors annually.  The Splash! Exhibit hosts programs for Austin Independent School District students as part of the Austin Nature & Science Center school programs and Austin Watershed Protection Department’s Earth Camp. It is also home to the Austin Nature & Science Center’s summer camps for ages 9 to 15. Together these programs served over 16,000 participants annually, many of whom are from traditionally underserved communities.

Visit the project web page for more information. 

STATEWIDE RECOGNITION FOR AUSTIN'S BRUSH SQUARE MASTER PLAN

Austin, Texas - The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) was awarded a Planning Achievement Award in Urban Design for the Brush Square Master Plan by the American Planning Association (APA) Texas Chapter at its Annual Planning Conference on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019 in Waco, Texas. The Brush Square Master Plan was adopted by the Austin City Council on March 28, 2019.

The master plan envisions Brush Square as a unique park for downtown Austin that is distinct yet complementary to other downtown squares and public spaces. Brush Square is one of three remaining historic public squares from the 1839 Waller Plan for the City of Austin and is located in the southeast area of downtown. It is home to the Susanna Dickinson Museum, O. Henry Museum, the Austin Fire Museum, and historic Central Fire Station #1.

Design and implementation of Phase I of the master plan will begin in 2020. Phase I maintains the operating Fire Station #1, but will shift the parking lot westward to capture more central green space and to provide screening of the parking. Accessibility, circulation, lighting, and signage improvements will be implemented in Phase I.

Existing heritage trees will be protected and an array of native or adapted plantings will be added to provide visual delight and habitat. Shaded, small gathering spaces will be abundant as places of respite for nearby residents, workers, transit users, and event attendees. The square will also comfortably support larger events, such as the annual O. Henry Pun-Off. The Brush Square Master Plan was developed in coordination with the planning and design firm Asakura Robinson.

“The Austin Parks and Recreation Department thanks the American Planning Association Texas Chapter for recognizing the sense of place that the Brush Square Master Plan will create. This important urban square provides space for residents and visitors to learn about Austin's unique culture and enjoy healthy recreation opportunities,” said Kimberly McNeeley, CPRP, Director of PARD.

NEW MINI-PITCH SOCCER COURT PROVIDES HEALTHY AND SAFE PLAY OPPORTUNITIES IN SOCCER-PASSIONATE NEIGHBORHOOD

Austin, Texas - A soccer-passionate part of Austin has a new court to play the sport and the project partners celebrated today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Through a partnership with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), Soccer Assist, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and financial contributions from the community, the Dove Springs Recreation Center now offers a new soccer/futsal court. Community support was coordinated by the Dove Springs Recreation Center in consultation with the Dove Springs Advisory Board. 

The court offers the neighborhood a new option for healthy play. This project was initiated as part of PARD’s Community Activated Parks Projects (CAPP) program, which offers a way for the community to initiate improvements on parkland. Soccer Assist, an Austin-based nonprofit organization, submitted a CAPP in October 2018 to transform an underused tennis court at the Dove Springs Recreation Center into a state-of-the-art soccer play space.

Notably, this will be the first U.S. Soccer Foundation mini-pitch collaboration in central Austin and part of 1,000 safe places to play mini-pitches that the U.S. Soccer Foundation is installing with partners across the country by 2026. These soccer spaces support the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s It’s Everyone’s Game campaign to ensure children in underserved communities can benefit from all that the game of soccer has to offer.

“The Community Activated Parks Projects program provided a way for the community to tell us what healthy play options they wanted, and we listened,” said Kimberly McNeeley, Director of PARD. “Austin Parks and Recreation Department is thankful for the partnerships that provided this healthy play resource at the Dove Springs Recreation Center.”

CELEBRATE JOHN TREVINO JR. METRO PARK AT COMMUNITY MEETING #4

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department invites the community to John Treviño Jr. Metropolitan Park to build community with neighbors, learn about the latest master plan development, and share priorities for what comes next.

 

John Treviño Jr. Metropolitan Park

9501 FM 969, Austin, TX 78725

Dec. 7, 2019, 10 a.m. to noon

 

A community open house and celebration will be held at the park site. While the land is currently not accessible to the public, the gates will be opened for this special event. Community members will be able to visit key areas of the site, including a rustic ranch building, open meadows, and spectacular heritage trees. The master-planning team will share the preferred plan, which has been developed based on community input from previous gatherings throughout the summer. The meeting will be in an open-house format with opportunities to ask questions and share thoughts and priorities with the team. There will be with free refreshments and nature activities for the whole family.

Gran Fondo Hincapie returns to Fort Worth in 2020 at new location

Mayor Betsy Price, herself an avid cyclist, welcomes riders to the 2019 event.

The acclaimed Gran Fondo Hincapie cycling series returns to Fort Worth for the second year in 2020, this time at a new location: Sundance Square Plaza.

The 2019 ride was overwhelmingly successful, bringing more than 1,000 cyclists from around the world to Fort Worth for a weekend filled with cycling, gourmet dinners and a live recording of Lance Armstrong’s “THEMOVE” podcast.

The March 28, 2020, ride promises to be even bigger, with proceeds benefitting FitWorth, a family-focused nonprofit promoting healthy and active lifestyles through health education and events.

The original Gran Fondo Hincapie in Greenville, S.C., now in its seventh year, has topped charts and received stellar reviews, acclaimed for the cycling celebrities in attendance, as well as the careful attention to safety, onsite viewing screens, course and segment timing, live tracking and streaming, live bands at the rest stops, and free family festival.

Key components of the Gran Fondo Hincapie series are standard routes of 15, 50 and 80 miles, as well as the high-end customer experience, highlighted by a celebrity chef dinner the evening before the ride.

Register for the ride and festivities.

Japanese Fall Festival returns to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden

The Japanese Garden consists of seven acres filled with cherry trees, Japanese maples, magnolias, bamboo, bridges and ponds that are home to 1,200 koi fish.

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s annual Japanese Fall Festival is back and bigger than ever, expanding beyond the walls of the Japanese Garden and into the surrounding areas — which means more vendors, more food trucks and more opportunities to celebrate Japanese culture.

The Japanese Fall Festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, and Sunday, Nov. 24. Last admission will be let in at 4 p.m., and general garden admission fees apply:

• Adults: $12.
• Seniors (Ages 65+): $10.
• Children (Ages 6-15): $6.
• Children age 5 and under are free.
• Grow Members are free.

Entertainment will include performances by the Dondoko Taiko Drummers, Goisagi Daiko Drummers, Sakura & Okinawan Dancers, the University of Texas at Arlington’s Japanese Cultural Society Japanese dance group, demonstrations by G.K. Sugai, a traditional Japanese swordsman and Croft Taekwondo. The Fort Worth Japanese Society will have kimonos available for families to try on, and a Kamishibai theatre performance will occur each morning.

Additionally, families can enjoy Japanese crafts, games, calligraphy, origami and local mahjong groups will both play and teach the game.

Several vendors will sell anime, jewelry, antique Asian scrolls, stationery, art prints, bonsai trees and Raku pottery. Food trucks will include Spin Sushi, YIM Yam Food Truck and Bobaddiction.

A complete list of activities is available on the Fort Worth Botanic Garden website.