CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital closes Medical Center location
CHRISTUS Health announced Feb. 24 that it will close its CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center location April 25 and will consolidate care into local CHRISTUS hospitals.
According to a news release, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa’s decision to close its Medical Center location came after an evaluation of the hospital's operations as well as a way to address the changing needs of the community.
For inpatient beds, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Westover Hills is opening a new tower in the spring and will have room for all inpatient beds occupied in CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center. Additionally, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Alamo Heights is adding advanced diagnostic and surgical equipment, and will open a critical care unit and an expanded emergency department. Both locations also have full-service emergency departments and surgical capacity.
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North East ISD receives C accountability rating from state
North East ISD received a C rating for accountability from the Texas Education Agency for the 2022-23 school year.
The ratings were released April 24 after a two-year delay. TEA could not release the ratings sooner due to a lawsuit involving more than 50 districts, including North East ISD, Northside ISD and San Antonio ISD. The lawsuit argues that the TEA changes to the rating system would unfairly lower the district’s ratings despite potential improvements in student performance.
Additionally, TEA is barred from sharing more recent school ratings from the 2023-24 school year due to another ongoing lawsuit. School performance ratings from the 2024-25 school year are scheduled to be released in August.
In a news release, NEISD Superintendent Sean Maika listed several achievements and growth across NEISD campuses, such as meeting grade level requirements at a higher level than the state averages from 2021 to spring 2024 and students outperforming the state averages in every subject. He also noted that the scores, which are largely based on State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results, reduce the complexity of student growth and school achievement.
Read more by Reporter Parks Kugle.
San Antonio City Council forms San Pedro Creek Development Authority
In a step towards making the downtown Missions ballpark a reality, the San Antonio City Council voted to form the San Pedro Creek Development Authority during its April 10 meeting.
According to city documents, the SPCDA is a local government corporation that will oversee the development of the ballpark and the surrounding area.
The creation of the SPCDA is part of the memorandum of understanding between the city, Bexar County, the Missions owners Designated Bidders and developers Weston Urban. The SPCDA will oversee the issuance of Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone bond financing for the development of the surrounding area and own the stadium upon completion.
The SPCDA Board of Directors will include three representatives each from the City, Bexar County and the developer/team ownership. City Council’s approval of the resolution also appointed the mayor, city manager and the city’s chief financial officer as the city’s three representatives on the board.
Read more by Reporter Parks Kugle.
Max and Louie’s New York Diner brings authentic New York flavors to San Antonio
Drew Glick, owner of Max and Louie’s New York Diner, comes from a long line of food service professionals. This family tradition began in Europe with his grandfather Louie and great-uncle Max, and continued with his father Melvin's catering business in New York.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn and Long Island, Glick had a dream of creating an authentic New York diner long before he moved to San Antonio.
At the suggestion of his uncle, Glick moved to San Antonio in 2011 and opened his first restaurant Drew’s American Grill, which he ran for three years. Due to a difficult location, Glick closed the grill and built the diner, which opened in North San Antonio in 2016.
Like most traditional East Coast diners, Max and Louie’s has an extensive eight-page menu, featuring Jewish delicatessen favorites such as knishes, matzo ball soup and pastrami sandwiches to burgers, pizza and all-day breakfast, complete with desserts and a full bar.
Read more by Reporter Parks Kugle.
Hill Country growth endangers vital water supply
As the Hill Country continues to be developed, Annalisa Peace, executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, said the groundwater entering the Edwards Aquifer is at greater risk of becoming contaminated.
Peace said protecting lands over the recharge zone—the area where water flows back into the aquifer—can be difficult because counties have limited capabilities.
“Most of the growth is taking place in the unincorporated areas, and counties are extremely limited as to what they can do. [However,] counties can pass an impervious cover limit, which we prescribe as, frankly, the best water quality measure that we could adopt to protect our karst water supplies.” Peace said.
Due to this unique threat, the GEAA focuses on the issue of water quality and advocates for stronger stormwater regulations.
“These water supplies [are] extremely vulnerable, because in these karst aquifers, pollutants can enter the aquifer with no filtration and travel really astonishing distances within a short period of time,” Peace said. “So you could have significant pollution events that would endanger public health.”
Read more by Reporter Parks Kugle.
