Westbury Community Garden may be in jeopardy

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Neighbors are fighting to save the Westbury Community Garden and keep it exactly where it is. The seven acre site in far southwest Houston now may be in jeopardy.

The undeveloped land has been owned by the Houston Housing Authority for three decades. It's been leased by the Westbury Civic Club for a community garden for only the past two years. The question is how much longer the garden will remain.

It's a garden fighting the elements beneath a hot Texas sun but it's thriving -- for now.

Gardener Dita Geary said, "It's pretty terrific to watch kids learning where their food actually comes from."

Last month, amid all the green, something unusual was spotted around the garden -- surveyors for the Houston Housing Authority were sizing up the land. The authority owns the land that is leased for the community garden for only $10 a year.

There is concern that all this might be developed or sold, even as the Westbury Community Garden was about to expand to the rest of the seven acre site.

"It's not going to happen now because we're not about to pour money into the place that might go for naught," Geary said.

There is a petition drive to save the garden, appealing to the Housing Authority to let it stay. Meanwhile, things keep growing and people keep working, looking ahead to the winter and perhaps even next spring.

"Seasons don't wait, so we're not going to wait," Geary said. "We're just going to keep planting."

The CEO of the Houston Housing Authority said that the land is being surveyed and it must also be appraised to determine if it should be sold or whether it should be developed for low income housing purposes.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local, deborah wrigley

View the original article here

FBI raids Westbury Community Hospital in southwest Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Federal agents raided a local mental health clinic in southwest Houston, shutting the place down for the day without any notice.

FBI agents surprised employees and patients of Westbury Community Hospital on Hornwood Thursday. And it looks like they were after the company's records.

The entrances to the parking lot here have been sealed off. Federal agents spent much of the day there. Stunned employees and patients were turned away Thursday morning, and they left with a lot of questions.

The doors of the Westbury Community Hospital outpatient facility may be open, but the hospital is not open for business.

"I showed up for work and the place was surrounded and it caught me off guard," said Jeanette Tingle, who has served as Director of Intake at Westbury Hospital since 2006.

She watched in disbelief as federal agents loaded boxes and boxes of what appeared to be files onto a truck parked near the hospital's entrance.

"I don't know what they are being accused of. Nobody has told me anything. I think they are just investigating to see if we are doing what we're supposed to be doing," Tingle said.

Several doctors work at the hospital, which offers same-day outpatient therapy to patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and then bills Medicare for it. Tingle not only stands by the quality of the services provided here, she says everything is done by the book.

"We're so thorough and we go backwards and forwards. We have a large medical records department and they make sure that every note for every group is documented," Tingle told Eyewitness News.

The FBI stopped short of calling this an investigation with a spokesperson telling us, "We are lawfully and legally present at the location conducting law enforcement activity. No arrests have been made."

"Places like this are all these people have," said Tingle.

And she says she's committed to helping those who need it and dedicated to her employer, no matter what happens.

"It is ethical because it's a Christian-oriented company. I wouldn't be with any other company," Tingle said.

Westbury has another clinic in Baytown. We contacted the hospital administrator and are awaiting a response.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local, andy cerota

View the original article here