Dr. Smith opened his private practice in 1981. He has built a thriving practice based on one principle: "The Art of Dentistry in a Gentle Style"
Between completing dental school and beginning his Houston practice in 1981, Dr. Smith worked with the United States Public Health Service National Health Service Corps. This experience, when coupled with his interest and background in microbiology, laid a strong foundation for particular concern with sterilization and infection control within his practice, and eventually led him to lecture and publish both nationally and internationally on universal infection precautions in dentistry.
Dr. Smith is an accomplished sculptor, having several of his pieces bronzed. One such bronze was auctioned for charity and another featured in several advertisements in OutSmart Magazine as a way to highlight his tagline, "The Art of Dentistry in the Gentle Style". He is able to channel his artistic talents in dentistry to create the most breathtaking makeovers. Most extraordinarily, he has the canny ability to calm the most fearful and anxious of patients.
Honored with OutSmart Magazine's Gayest and Greatest Dentist award since 2000, Dr. Smith has also been named as a "Top Dentist" in Houston by H Texas Magazine and Houston Press.
A patron of opera, Dr. Smith travels the US and Europe to see performances by his favorite composers. In his spare time, Dr. Smith enjoys spending time with friends or catching up on the latest Hollywood feature films.
Dr. Carrell joined the practice in 2014, first as a part-time associate, then full time in 2016. It took the better part of 8 years for Dr. Smith to find the perfect fit in Dr. Carrell.
Dr. Carrell's undergraduate degree in biology was obtained from the University of Texas at Austin. His dentistry degree (DDS) was obtained from the University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston, where he was active in groups both on and off campus, having served as President of the local chapter of the American Student Dental Association. As a practicing dentist, Dr. Carrell is an active member of all major dental and patient advocacy group organizations, including the American Dental Association, the Texas Dental Association, the Greater Houston Dental Society, and the Academy of General Dentistry.
An avid learner, Dr. Carrell is always improving himself and learning new technologies through continuing education. Since joining the team, Dr. Carrell has become certified in administering both Invisalign clear braces and in conscious sedation for patients with dental anxiety. He also understands the importance of giving back and in the value of dental community service, taking opportunity to volunteer with Special Olympics, Texas Missions of Mercy and Give Kids a Smile.
Outside of dentistry, Dr. Carrell enjoys spending time with friends, family and pets Dorothy & Roy (poodles), and Oliver (cat). His free time is spent reading, trying new restaurants and travel with his partner, Austin, our newest dentist.
Dr. Austin Faulk was born in Louisiana, but has lived in the Houston area for the last 17 years. He is excited to join MDG Houston and work alongside other dentists in Houston, like Dr. Smith and Dr. Carrell.
Dr. Faulk received his B.S. in Biology and minored in Business Administration at Texas A&M University. Dr. Faulk graduated from the University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston and was involved in many organizations throughout dental school. Dr. Faulk served as President and was a founding member of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry student chapter at UTSD, working to promote oral health for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities.
Dr. Faulk has participated in a dental mission trip to Jamaica where he and team of dentists and dental students provided free dental care to over 500 patients. He was also involved in the American Student Dental Association and the Houston Academy of General Dentistry Fellow Track program. He remains active in the Academy of General Dentistry, the Greater Houston Dental Society, the Texas Dental Association and the American Dental Association.
Dr. Faulk enjoys spending time with friends and family as well as playing with his two poodles (Dorothy and Roy) and his cat (Oliver).
Serving as lead hygienist for Dr. Smith since 2013, Carino takes great pride in patient care and education. With over 30 years of experience in the dental field, her greatest satisfaction is the impact she has on the overall health of the patient.
Born in Mexico City, Carino took the opportunity during high school to participate in a foreign exchange program in Sioux City, Iowa. After returning to Mexico she entered the School of Dentistry at the University of Mexico where she graduated in 1981 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery. After several years she and her husband, Jose, had an opportunity to move to the US.
Carino got involved in the dental field in the US, first attending dental assisting school and finally dental hygiene school at the University of Texas School of Dental Hygiene where she graduated with the highest honors earning her entrance into the coveted Sigma Phi Alpha Dental Hygiene Society.
Carino has been singularly instrumental in bringing evidence based dentistry to the hygiene department at Montrose Dental Group where her program has worked to improve the lives of countless patients using DNA testing to determine the host's inflammatory response to oral bacteria.
In her spare time Carino donates her time to serving underprivileged communities in US and Mexico. She loves to hike in the park with her husband Jose, spend time with family and friends, especially playing with her two-year-old grandson, along with traveling and cooking.
A native born Houstonian, Hifa always had a desire to help others. From this grew her need to work in the field of healthcare. During high school she participated in "hospital rotations" where she shadowed an experienced hygienist and began to understand the relationship between oral and systemic disease. This involvement deepened her wish to find a career that would satiate her yearning to help people and her need to work within the healthcare industry.
After applying and being accepted to the University of Texas Dental Branch, Hifa attended the School of Hygiene where she graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in 2012. After graduating, Hifa spent a couple of years working with an agency so they could place her in many different office settings. This experienced gave her the opportunity to witness first-hand the different practice philosophies and helped her settle on the type of practice that held her same model on delivery of care.
Hifa began working part time in the hygiene department alongside Dr. Smith in the summer of 2014. In 2017 Hifa accepted a full time position with Montrose Dental Group where she has won the hearts of patients with her gentle style and instruction-based care. Being bi-lingual in English and Arabic has furthered Hifa's reach to a broader spectrum of patients.
When not at work, Hifa enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, and friends and family. In quite times she likes long jogs and especially sleep, which always seems to be in short supply for a young mother of two.
Phyllis Le Clair is Houstonian by birth, but grew up in a small town in the Texas Hill Country, just outside Austin. She moved back to Houston and studied Dental Assisting in 1986-1987 at Houston Community College after attending the University of Houston.
For more than 30 years, Phyllis has been providing exemplary service to patients. With years of experiences under her belt, Phyllis found her dental-home at the office of Bruce W. Smith, DDS (now MDG Houston) when she was hired in 2002 and takes pride in being the most tenured of the staff. She and Dr. Smith share the same philosophical view of treating patients with dignity and respect.
Since, Phyllis has been an integral part of the practice and feels at home in both the back and front of the office, though she readily admits preferring the back of the office where she is able to assist the dentists with caring for patients.
When she's not assisting patients, Phyllis enjoys traveling with her Fiancé, Sean, and spending quality family time with her two daughters, her grandchildren and her two cats, Charlie and Astro.
Born and raised in Houston, Susan came to the field of dentistry 18 years ago when she decided to study dental assisting at National Institute of Technology (now Everest Institute). Her first year as a dental assistant was in a clinic for the under served with a diverse clientele.
Her time there provided the opportunity to hone her dental assisting skills, and most importantly, shine a light on the need for improved processes to deliver dental care in a practice setting. Over the years Susan delved deeper into the operational side of dentistry and her role soon expanded to clinical manager.
Working one-on-one with consultants, Susan began to focus much of her career on quality improvement at chair-side, humanizing customer relations and refining her administrative talents. Susan joined the MDG Houston in 2018 and has quickly become an integral asset to the team.
She divides her time when she's not learning more about dentistry between biking, camping, adventures in food and especially, spending quality time with her beloved son, Alexander.
A life-long Houstonian, Kelly spent several years during high school in Brazil, where she learned the native tongue of Portuguese. She is a graduate of Midwestern State University in Theater. Afterward she attended the Art Institute of Houston where she studied the culinary arts.
After culinary school, Kelly worked a small boutique vineyard which encourage her to more vigorously pursue her love of wine and food pairings culminating in food and beverage manager at the famed Intercontinental Hotel.
Kelly's was hired part time by Dr. Smith in early 2015 as a personal chef to cater community charity events. It was a natural transition to bring her theatrical and kitchen management assets to the office that make her a perfect fit for MDG Houston front desk where organization and prioritization is paramount. It is because of her gastronomy and theatrical talents Kelly joined MDG Houston full time in 2016 to put her organizations skills to work.
For fun, Kelly loves to read comic books, camp, and spend time with friends and family, especially her rescue dog Minnie and husband Wayne.


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Thu, November 27, 2014
Disney Parks After Dark: A Canopy of Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios
by Jennifer Fickley-Baker, Editorial Content Manager, Walt Disney World Resort
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is in full swing at Disney's Hollywood Studios, with more than 5 million lights on display.
Here's a shot of my absolute favorite part of the display – the canopy of lights that you get to walk under as you exit the Streets of America area of the park.
Disney Parks After Dark
Come out to the park to see it for yourself through January 4, 2015.
Share Disney Parks After Dark: A Canopy of Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Visiting Walt Disney Word Resort for 40 years and not once seeing this light display because of the bright lights ( because of a brain aneurysm suffered years ago, and headaches caused from certain venues)
It makes me sad to not have this experience to add to my "Disney Story".. But someday I'm going to make it my mission to visit and deal with the headaches and issues associated with my health. It looks like its worth the chance!
ellen on November 28, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Tue, March 3, 2020 Walt Disney World Resort
#DisneyParksLIVE: Watch the Replay of the Dedication of Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
Sun, March 1, 2020 Walt Disney World Resort
Wacky New Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway-Inspired Merchandise Available at Disney's Hollywood Studios on March 4
Fri, February 28, 2020 Walt Disney World Resort
Learn to Draw: Shere Khan at The Animation Experience at Disney's Animal Kingdom

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I am a seasoned professional with experience at all levels of branding and design, including consultation, project management and production. I give attention to detail while maintaining perspective on the big picture.
Advise/mentor the design team on best practices, art direction, file prep, production choices and more. Strategic in establishing print, mailing and large format vendors for the university, I collaborate to provide quality results. While lead designer for graduate admissions, commencement, and other marketing projects across campus, I continue to educate our colleagues in the evolving brand of the university in unison with my MARCOM teammates.
While continuing all tasks of the senior designer, also hired and managed the mid-level designer.
Involved in a more strategic role in MARCOM department. Met directly with campus clients to determine project directives. Sole art director, designer and producer of quarterly alumni magazine. Collaborate with staff web team to produce coordinating websites for many projects. Responsible for maintaining the SU brand across both print and digital media, working directly with the Brand Director and VP of Marketing. Other roles include supervising two part-time interns and interviewing for office staff positions.
In collaboration with the creative director, developed and produced strategic marketing projects for various university clients. These involved creative brief development, art direction, design, production and complete project management. Produced marketing collateral that included the quarterly alumni magazine, viewbooks and annual reports, short and long brochures, campaign packages, newsletters, invitations, advertisements and signage. Hired and directed photographers, illustrators and freelancers. Managed client budgets, vendors, and attended press checks.
Collaborated with the principal on the creative direction for clients such as insurance and investment companies, health management firms, real estate agencies, banks, attorneys and printers. Designed corporate marketing/ branding packages, which included logos, brochures, catalogs and advertising. The position required full design, production, project and print management skills.
Provided design and production expertise in creation of logos, stationary systems, brochures, mailers, newsletters and greeting cards for various print clients. Assisted in digital pre-press, customer service and estimating.
Provided design, production, traditional and digital pre-press services. Member of the company marketing committee.
Provided in-house production and design in support of various print clients.
Designed images for sportswear, hang-tags and labels in the Women's and Girl's Division.
Fluent in Adobe CS6 InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Bridge and Acrobat X.
Proficient in Microsoft Office and FileMaker Pro. Macintosh user since 1990.
Phinney Ridge Association  |  Annual Winetaste Event – poster design, previous nine years.
CASE Awards  |  Multiple awards for SU alumni magazine, graduate viewbook and commencement program.
The Vineyard Wineshop  |  Branding and collateral, advertising, direct mail, signage and website.


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Home Pinecrest Pinecrest's Michael Haggard is a man you should meet
Pinecrest Featured
Pinecrest Home
Pinecrest's Michael Haggard is a man you should meet
Michael Haggard is one of the country's top attorneys, a champion of numerous causes and a winning youth football coach. But what truly defines him is his role as a family man: husband of his wife Bekki and father of daughter Madison and son Carson.
"My father Andy Haggard, who founded The Haggard Law Firm and was my partner for many years, taught me that being a successful trial lawyer requires hard work, but that maintaining a balance with your family life is just as important," says Michael Haggard. "More than once I've said to a judge 'Your Honor, with your permission, may we continue tomorrow…my son has a football game at 5:30 that I'd like to attend'."
Beyond that of family man Haggard describes himself as having three different lives. First is his role as Managing Partner of The Haggard Law Firm, one of the country's top firms specializing in litigating personal injury and wrongful death cases. He recently won a case involving a victim who died on a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship after being denied proper medical care and given medication by the ship's doctor that exacerbated his condition.
"When we accept a case like that one, we look at it from two perspectives, "says Haggard. "First, how can we win the case and help the family rebuild their lives? And second, is there an opportunity to take it from the courtroom to the legislature and work to get laws changed, in Florida and nationally, to prevent these tragedies from happening again?"
After former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker's granddaughter drowned in a hot tub accident when the drain suction held her underwater, Haggard not only took on the case and won it, he was also instrumental in the passage of a bill in the U.S. Congress that requires pump cut-off switches in hot tubs to prevent suction entrapments. There hasn't been a suction entrapment death in the United States ever since.
The Haggard Firm is also a leader in trying cases involving negligent security.
"We're handling several of the Parkland school shooting cases," says Haggard. "There simply must be a step up in school security. Most people don't mind. When that lockdown call comes, they certainly appreciate it. Everyone has to agree that there is a gun violence problem when the United States has had 290 school shootings and the rest of the world has had just 29."
Haggard describes his "second life" as being a champion of the cause to finding a cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), an inherited condition that can prove fatal without lifelong kidney dialysis or kidney transplant.
Diagnosed with the disease in his early 30's, doctors monitored Haggard's condition until 2016 when he underwent a kidney transplant at Tampa General Hospital. He started a fundraiser, Casino for a Cure, which takes place every May and to date has raised more than $1 million.
"What's really exciting is that we now have our first drug that slows the progress of the
disease," he says.
He was very fortunate to find a living donor in his brother in law Allen Buckhalt, an Army Blackhawk Helicopter pilot who was deemed by doctors to be an excellent match for Haggard. Buckhalt deployed to a combat zone just six months after being a living donor.
"Allen and I are strong advocates of the living donor program, having been through it ourselves and knowing how safe it is for both donor and patient," says Haggard. "All that's required is a blood type match and that the donor be healthy. It's a very common procedure these days."
Haggard's "third life" takes place on athletic fields, where he's one of South Florida's most enthusiastic coaches. As soon as his daughter Madison and son Carson were old enough to start playing competitive sports (they both chose football), Haggard went "head over heels" into coaching after a day at work.
"I love being a trial lawyer but I also have a lot of fun coaching football with assistant coaches Johan Betancourt and David Charlton," he says. "We coached the Suniland Sun Devils for years and ended up winning four Superbowls, including the year I was transplanted. Some of these kids come from very tough neighborhoods and it was pretty emotional for me when they sent me off with handwritten notes. I was back in just over three weeks because I couldn't wait to see the kids."
What motivates Haggard is not only winning on the field, but giving these young football players some tools to succeed in life.
He says, "I show them a chart that shows what the average NFL career of 3.5 years pays out, versus the lifelong career of a college graduate. I encourage them to find something they love, and follow their dream."
At the end of every long day spent in court, addressing the Legislature, attending a Board Meeting of the PKD Foundation or coaching football, Haggard looks forward to coming home to Bekki, Madison, a lacrosse player and cross country runner at Palmer Trinity School, and Carson, a football quarterback at Gulliver.
Michael Haggard…Pinecrest's Renaissance Man / Family Man.
The Haggard Law Firm can be reached at 305-446-5700 and at www.haggardlawfirm.com.
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Kelley M. Sep 22 .
Large collection of "Surf Brand" clothing and accessories. Pricing is average for the lines they carry but they offer great end of season sales and discounts. Get on their mailing list and they will send you notices and discount cards for seasonal events even if you don't regulary shop there. Located at Mile Post 2 on the bypass.
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Public records and the information and data that come from them can be invaluable to your stories and can take your reporting to the next level. This is true for all journalists, but particularly important for young and early-career reporters trying to make their work stand out.
Using public records you can quickly add context to a story and dig deeper in breaking news situations. You are able to give the community more than just the who, what, where, when and how of a situation.
By submitting public record and FOIA requests, you are able to hold government officials and agencies accountable. But, most important, you can report and cover the stories and issues others are not, because you are looking deeper and taking the time to uncover what may not already be out in plain sight.
Public information laws and the federal FOIA can be intimidating, and keeping up with requests and fighting for information is not always easy. But, in my opinion, it is always worth it.
While the laws governing public information and what is available differ from state to state, don't be intimidated or let the hoops you sometimes have to jump through discourage you.
Think about following up on a specific story you did. Were there any questions left unanswered?
For me this is the perfect place to start. What did you still want to know? Why were you not able to get the answers to those questions? Or maybe you think there could be a pattern.
In situations like this, submitting a public information request can be really helpful. For example, request a government worker's employment file or disciplinary record. Or consider a request for how many times a police agency has responded to a specific type of call. Ask for when, where and who was involved.
Maybe you want to know more about a specific department: How much are they spending on travel, or how much are people in the department making each year?
Think about using documents for feature stories. Freedom of information requests do not always have to lead to investigative or hard-news stories.
What about a story on the people with the most speeding tickets in your town? Or how often lawmakers have been pulled over for speeding? That can be done with a relatively simple public records request.
Government expense reports can also lead to great stories about how people and agencies are spending m where they are spending money and who is spending it. Consider trying a story about where city council members are eating and what kind of food they are ordering. Is it a filet mignon and high-end bottle of wine that's expensed to taxpayers?
Some other records to consider for features: business registrations, U.S. patents, county consumer complaints and code enforcement records.
Of course, you need to be aware of common exemptions. While journalists, certain organizations and the public continue to push for transparency, some information generally remains secret and out of the public domain.
If you are requesting public information, it's a good idea to know what some of these common exemptions include. When dealing with crimes or crime reports, victims and sometimes a suspect's personal identification information may be withheld. This could apply to their name, address, telephone number, Social Security number, etc.
Some information involving ongoing investigations can be withheld from the public. Be sure to follow-up on these requests closely and know the law through and through, because you should be able to get some information, even if it's very basic. And by keeping up with these requests involving ongoing investigations, you can be sure to get the information when the investigation is over, and not weeks or months after.
Once you know what is out there and become comfortable with the laws and records in your state and community, submitting requests becomes second nature. It's a good practice to dedicate an hour (or more) on a specific day every week to check up on requests and make new ones. Doing so will keep you in the routine of making records requests a regular part of your journalistic duties.


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Top Korean Films of 2010
4. The Yellow Sea
Na Hong-jin burst onto the scene in 2008 with The Chaser, one of Korean cinema's most vital films of the past few years. All eyes were on him and his new film The Yellow Sea, which reunited his debut's stars Kim Yun-suk and Ha Jug-woo (though their roles as protagonist and antagonist are swapped), when it opened in December. A big film with a large scope, Na's second feature is a slow-burning crime film that builds into a heart-pounding action vehicle. I did not see the original, lengthier cut, which many had reservations about but I was mightily impressed by the pacing with sucked me more and more into the film as it progressed. One of the most exciting cinema releases of 2010, The Yellow Sea cemented Na Hong-jin as a major international talent, not to mention its excellent stars Ha and Kim, who keep going from strength to strength.
MKC Review
Intro - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - Best of the Rest
Year 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - All Time (Top 25)
Genre Gangster - Revenge
Reviews and features on Korean film appear regularly on Modern Korean Cinema. For film news, external reviews, and box office analysis, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update, Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Korean Reviews, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (Korean Standard Time).
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Top 40 Korean Horror Films