HoustonHomes-FORSALE.com with Rita Nelson

WOW! ✨❤️ God essence is beautiful and is everywhere. FEED YOUR JOY! 🔥 Salt Glaciers In Zagros Mountains, lran

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1018115513680007&set=a.599365192221710

🔥 Salt Glaciers In Zagros Mountains, lran

🌈🩷🌺🥰

Good morning. I hope today surprises you with one of those small moments you couldn't have planned: a kind message, a familiar song, or five quiet minutes with a warm cup.

What would be a lovely start to your morning?

A.I. Companies Are Recruiting Electricians and Carpenters by the Thousands. The future of artificial intelligence depends on finding more skilled humans for some very physical jobs. BlackRock Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Initiative to Power the Next Generation of American Workers in Skilled Trades. As the U.S. faces historic demand for new and modernized infrastructure.

BlackRock’s Future Builders initiative — a national effort funded by The BlackRock Foundation — will help address urgent labor needs by connecting workers to skilled trades training, supporting them through completion and licensure, and helping participants build long-term financial security.

Empowering millions to save and prepare for retirement is core to BlackRock’s mission, and strong career pathways are fundamental to that goal.

As the country sees the need for historic investment in infrastructure, demand for workers in skilled trades such as electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and ironworkers continues to accelerate.

Click link to read more about Black Rock initiative. https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/media/press-releases/blackrock-launches-philanthropic-skilled-trades-initiative

Click PHOTO to read New York Times article https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/business/economy/data-center-electricians-training.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.Fe_v.ZEUjCjVO_d1R&smid=url-share

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/business/economy/data-center-electricians-training.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.Fe_v.ZEUjCjVO_d1R&smid=url-share

A.I. Companies Are Recruiting Electricians and Carpenters by the Thousands (Gift Article) The future of artificial intelligence depends on finding more skilled humans for some very physical jobs.

BlackRock Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Initiative to Power the Next Generation of American Workers in Skilled Trades. FREE TRAINING for electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and ironworkers. As the U.S. faces historic demand for new and modernized infrastructure. BlackRock’s Future Builders initiative — a national effort funded by The BlackRock Foundation — will help address urgent labor needs by connecting workers to skilled trades training, supporting them through completion and licensure, and helping participants build long-term financial security.

As the country sees the need for historic investment in infrastructure, demand for workers in skilled trades such as electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and ironworkers continues to accelerate.

Exclusive: Data center surge fuels BlackRock’s $30M training push in Texas BlackRock announced Wednesday that it is committing $30 million to support workforce training programs in Texas, with a focus on electrical careers.

HaPpY FRIDAY... ☺️I loved this story about the elusive squirrel at a baseball game. Take a little break during the day for a Laugh Out Loud moment.

There are two videos in the article. One longer, for full context, and then a much shorter one for those with less time.

Squirrel steals show at MLB game with incredible moves, elusiveness A squirrel stole the show at Monday's Tigers-Orioles game.

School districts and the quality of neighborhood schools are one of the biggest drivers of property appreciation rates. As summer nears an end, and families, and teachers prepare to start a brand new school year in a few weeks, learn which Greater Houston area school districts have the best middle, elementary, and high school STAAR scores. Click photo for elementary and middle schools, and click the comment link for highschool scores.

sneak preview... but do view all interesting data at links.
TOMBALL ISD
93%
PEARLAND ISD
89%
KATY ISD
87%
ALVIN ISD
83%
SPRING BRANCH ISD
83%

FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL STAAR scores. Tomball ISD and KatyISD continue to excel. ... click comment link for all area high school ratings.

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, measures student performance across Texas elementary and middle schools. If students approach, meet or master expectations on the exams, they “pass.”

While the STAAR test is nearing the end of its 15-year run in Texas — a new testing system will replace it after next school year.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2026/texas-staar-elementary-middle-districts/?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vcHJvamVjdHMvMjAyNi90ZXhhcy1zdGFhci1lbGVtZW50YXJ5LW1pZGRsZS1kaXN0cmljdHMv&time=MTc4NTQ5NzM4ODIyNA==&rid=MjBhZGFlN2YtNjc3Ni00ZDk1LWEwOWQtMTk3NjQ0ZDM1MzE0&sharecount=Mw==

These Houston-area school districts have the best high school STAAR scores Houston’s districts performed better overall compared to statewide results, with higher passing rates across subjects, a Houston Chronicle analysis shows.

Trump Accounts Launched July 4th Giving Certain Children $1,000. Here's Who Qualifies. If you had or will have a child born during the eligible period...don't miss out.

Trump Accounts launched July 4, giving children $1,000. Here’s who qualifies The accounts officially opened for deposits o nthe Fourth of July.

🩷🌺Blessings☺️

Deep in the heart of Houston 🎆🤘❤️
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SOoo INTERESTING! Learn the backstory and history of Houston's neighborhoods. Vincent Kickerillo, pioneering homebuilder of west Houston communities, dies at 97. “Vincent Kickerillo’s impact on the homebuilding industry and community development in our region cannot be overstated,” Aimee Bertrand, executive director and CEO of the Greater Houston Home Builders Association. “Generations of Houston builders and developers owe their careers and countless opportunities to Mr. Kickerillo.”..Across his nearly 70-year career, his company developed more than 22,000 lots and built 16,500 homes. He transformed forested land into suburban-style homes along Memorial Drive, and established master-planned communities such as Keilliwood and Nottingham Country in Katy as well as Lakes of Parkway near the Energy Corridor. He was known for large, traditional brick houses with cedar-shingle roofs, fireplaces and open floor plans, many of which still stand today. .The son of an Italian immigrant and sharecropper, Kickerillo was the youngest of 14 children in a low-income family in Bryan. He moved to Houston without his parents at 13, worked for Hughes Tool Co. and joined the Merchant Marines at 16, an experience his daughter said taught him the discipline he carried throughout his life. .After at least 12 years as a merchant mariner, Kickerillo used earnings he won playing poker to start building houses. When he was unhappy with a builder’s work on his own Memorial Drive home, he took over construction himself. He liked the process so much he started his own company in 1957.

Within a few years, Kickerillo’s real estate business was booming, and he moved into the land development and banking side of construction, too. But his lending to friends in real estate and to newly established banks came back to haunt him during the 1980s oil bust, when property values plummeted and several banks began failing. By April 1987, Kickerillo’s UnitedBank-Houston was declared insolvent, then the largest bank failure in the city’s history. The failure cost him personally about $50 million, according to newspaper archives.

He described it as “the scariest time of his life”, according to a 2011 interview in the Houston Business Journal.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey flooded his longtime Memorial home, destroying decades of possessions and memories. Stan Creech, a longtime friend who worked on several land deals with him, said he thought he would be devastated. “I said, ‘Mr. K, I am so sorry,’ and he said, ‘Tomorrow is another day,’” Creech recalled.

click to read whole article

Pioneering homebuilder of west Houston communities dies at 97 Kickerillo built thousands of homes, survived a devastating banking collapse and developed communities that still define much of west Houston and Katy today.