Start your Super Bowl celebrations right now as Game City Showcase kicked off on Jan. 30, offering four nights of free entertainment in four city districts. METRORail is the easiest way to reach the events scheduled each night from 6 pm -9 pm, starting Monday, Jan. 30 through Thursday, Feb. 2.  

There will be a METRO information booth on hand each night. Visitors can enter to win prizes by sharing their experiences on social media using #metroloveshou.

Houston Bike Share along with City of Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner, BBVA Compass, the Houston Downtown Management District and Visit Houston, celebrated the opening of the new “Crawford Island” Bcycle station and the launch of the “BBVA Compass Free Rides” program.

Through the BBVA Compass Free Rides program, Houston Bcycle 24 hour memberships will be FREE from January 27th - February 5th at all Bcycle stations across Houston, courtesy of BBVA Compass!  We know traffic will be crazy with the big game in town, and hope to alleviate some congestion by offering this transportation alternative to Houstonians and visitors alike. After the Super Bowl, BBVA Compass and Houston Bcycle will continue to promote healthy living with "Bike Share Free Fridays" from February 10th - March 31st. 

The “Crawford Island” Bcycle station — Houston Bike Share’s 14th downtown location — is situated between Discovery Green and the new Marriott Marquis, offering easy access to Super Bowl Live events and the NFL Experience at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Visit Houston and the Downtown District provided match funding and site construction for the expansion. The Bcycle kiosk at this location will feature work by local graffiti artist w3r3on3 (Gelson Danilo Lemos). 

For more information: https://houston.bcycle.com

1. REMOVE all valuables in your vehicle from plain view
   
   
2. LOCK all doors and roll up your windows
   
   
3. REPORT any suspicious activity or persons

For additional auto burglary prevention tips, click here. This information is also available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean.

To report suspicious activity or an auto burglary, call 311 or the non-emergency line of the Houston Police Department at 713-884-3131.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration have launched a new railroad crossing safety ad campaign. Although accidents at railroad crossings are an old problem, the problem can be solved. This ad is the latest in a two-year, focused effort to reverse the uptick in railroad crossing fatalities. Its message is simple: Stop. Trains can’t.

For more information, please visit: http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L18522#p1_z10_gD_lPR.

Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Public Library (HPL) Director Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson announce that the City of Houston is seeking its next Poet Laureate. The Houston Poet Laureate Program celebrates Houston's rich culture and diversity by creating excitement about poetry through outreach, programs, teaching and written work.

The Houston Poet Laureate Program is coordinated by the Houston Public Library and Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs. The new Poet Laureate will serve for two years starting in April 2017.  There is an annual honorarium of $5,000 provided through the City's Arts Initiative Grant Program.  Submissions are welcome from individual poets, authors, writers and spoken word artists. The guidelines and term requirements can be found at http://www.houstontx.gov/poetlaureate.html. Complete applications and documents need to be submitted online by midnight on February 5th, 2017, at www.houstontx.gov/PoetLaureateApplication.html.

Mayor Turner has appointed the Houston Poet Laureate Selection Committee - a diverse group of poets, scholars and literary experts - to assist in the nomination and selection process. The group includes: Ashley Turner, First Daughter of Houston; Robin Davidson, current Houston Poet Laureate; Marina Tristan, Arte Publico Press; Reyes Ramirez, DiverseWorks; Jack McBride, Writers in the Schools; Sally Connoll, UH Director of Graduate Studies, and Martha Serpas, UH Professor and Author. Non-voting members include: Jennifer Schwartz, Houston Public Library, and Radu Barbuceanu, Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs.

Finalists will be interviewed in person by the selection committee in March, and the final selection will be made by the Mayor. The Poet Laureate will be announced in April 2017 in celebration of National Poetry Month.

For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org, on Twitter @houstonlibrary or call 832-393-1313.

For further information about the City's Cultural Programs, go to www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs/ or follow the Mayor's office of Cultural Affairs on Facebook @HoustonMOCA.

• If you are going to exchange money for property, do it in a public place (police station, public parking lot). 
• If possible, have someone accompany you to the location.  
  
• Don't invite strangers to your home or go to their residences.  
  
• Perform transactions during daylight hours.  
  
• Avoid displaying large amounts of cash. Take only the amount needed for the purchase.  
  
• Utilize a proxy email rather than your regular email address to avoid revealing personal information.  
  
• Trust your instincts and avoid uncomfortable situations. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.   

The purpose of the Summer Food Service Program is to ensure youth ages 1- 18 years old continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free lunches and snacks that meet Federal nutrition guidelines are served at Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) approved sites such as community centers, churches, apartment complexes, public libraries, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs as long as State funding is available, and HPARD continues to be an eligible entity to manage such funds. The program is also offered at HPARD’s 52 Community Centers in conjunction with the Summer Enrichment Program for youth. To be eligible to participate, the site must be zoned to a school that has 51% or more of students receiving free or reduced lunch.

Attached is a list of the 2016 Summer Food Service Program sites for reference only. All sites must reapply every year for review by TDA. Eligible sites must complete the following steps for TDA approval to participate in the program:
 

• The site must complete a request to participate which includes the site eligibility and participation information.
  
• The site returns the completed request to participate to the SFSP staff.
  
• The qualifying school that the site is zoned to must be verified through the school district website or district office, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report printed for submission with the site application.
  
• SFSP staff submit the site application to the TDA Texas Unified Nutrition Programs System (TX-UNPS) website.
  
• TDA reviews site application and approves site, typically within 2 weeks.

SFSP Sites By District

SFSP 2017 Request to Participate

• Park & Ride tickets
  
• Free Rider Rewards
  

METRO's Rider Rewards program now also credits Q Mobile ticketing users five FREE tickets for every 50 single-ride tickets bought and activated.  

Single-ride tickets and METRO Day passes are also available through the app. All mobile tickets include FREE three-hour transfers to METRO services with fares of equal or lesser value traveling in any direction. 

Riders transferring to a higher fare service - from local bus or light-rail to a Park & Ride, for example - are encouraged to buy Park & Ride tickets at the start of a trip to save additional charges.
In February METRO introduced Q Mobile Ticketing, which allows customers the convenience of purchasing and presenting fares securely - from a mobile phone - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

METRO is making it easier for METROLift patrons to use its local buses and trains with a new pilot program that gives free rides to Park & Ride lots, transit centers and rail stations.

The new METROLift Feeder Service began on New Year’s Day and will continue for six months. This new service is one of nine areas of the METROLift Moving Forward initiative that has worked to improve service quality and the sustainability of the METROLift program, said Michael Andrade, director of Paratransit Services for METROLift.

“METROLift Feeder Service offers customers a more direct trip to their destination by utilizing a portion of their trip from a fixed-route transit center, rail station or Park & Ride service,” said Andrade. “This service is completely free.”

Customers can book a trip seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., by calling: 713-615-6241.

They can also book same-day Feeder Service trips. When scheduling a trip, riders can book both legs of their trip at the same time with a Feeder Service reservationist.

By increasing access to its local buses and trains, METRO hopes more METROLift customers will enjoy the benefits of more direct trips. Still have questions on how this works? Come to an informational session scheduled throughout the city this month. 

Click here to see locations, dates and times.

With pedestrian and bicycle-related fatalities on the rise this year, HPD is offering tips to keep pedestrians and motorists safe.  In addition, pedestrian safety brochures, in six languages, may be found on the department's website at http://www.houstontx.gov/police/keep_houston_safe/index.htm

Pedestrians are reminded:

• Do not walk across the street unless at a crosswalk
  

• Take the extra minute or two to walk to a crosswalk
  

• Obey "Walk/Don't Walk" traffic signals
  

• Stop and look both ways before stepping into the street
  

• Make eye contact with a driver; don't just look at a vehicle
  

• Wear light colored and/or reflective clothing if walking at night and carry a flashlight
  

• Do not wear headphones or talk/text on a cell phone while walking across the street
  

• Be extra careful in construction zones
  

• Be cautious, alert and aware of your surroundings
  

• Avoid distractions (like talking and texting on cell phones)
  

• Always be on the lookout for pedestrians and bicyclists
  

• Stop and render aid if you strike a pedestrian or vehicle
  
  
• Stop and render aid even if you do not have a driver's license or insurance

• Minor critical emergency home repairs are those repairs critically needed to alleviate life, health or safety hazards
  
• Applicants must be qualified to participate in the program; applying does not guarantee approval for or acceptance into the program
  
• Rebuilding Together Houston will provide critical repairs UP TO $10,000 per home to qualified applicants
  
• Specific repair services are determined based on condition of home, cost of repairs and availability of funds