Karnes Co. TX - NEWS - June 2006 This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kimm Antell Copyright. All rights reserved. http://files.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Copyright 2006 Victoria Advocate Online (http://victoriaadvocate.com) ************************************************ June 1, 2006 Runge ISD accused of mishandling education SONNY LONG - Victoria Advocate RUNGE - The parents of a former Runge school district student have asked state and federal authorities to investigate their claim that their child's educational opportunities were mishandled. Runge school officials say the boy is married and has legal control of his own affairs. Still, they said, the 17-year-old is welcome to return to school anytime. The boy was a 16-year-old special education student at Runge High School when, his mother and stepfather - Isabel Prieto and Tony Casillas - claim he was not allowed to play football because he is of mixed race and because of his learning disabilities. The boy is Hispanic and black. On May 1, Prieto filed a discrimination complaint with the federal Office for Civil Rights in Dallas. The Runge school district is named in the complaint, which asserts discrimination retaliation based on his parents' complaints. The complaint also claims the school district allowed the 16-year- old to withdraw from school without his parents' consent. Runge Head Football Coach Darryl Smithey said residency issues were at the core of the confusion over the student playing football. "His playing football was not really an issue with me," Smithey said. "He never showed up for practice, and we heard he was living in Kenedy. When he did show up, we let him back on the team. Then he stopped coming to school." Smithey and high school principal Scott Cutler said there was confusion about where the teen was living. Both were told his parents had moved to Kenedy. Then they were told the student was living in Runge with his grandparents. Then, Runge Superintendent Ernest Havner said, last winter the teen moved in with his 18-year-old girlfriend and mother of his child, facts that his parents don't dispute. "He established himself as a married man," Havner said. His parents say he is not married. They also claim they were excluded from conferences concerning their son, even before he moved in with his girlfriend. Admission, Review, Dismissal (ARD) documents - which are used during special education conferences with staff, students, and parents - provided to the Advocate show the student being placed in a regular algebra class without parental consent after an ARD meeting on Sept. 27, 2005. He was taken out of the class after an ARD meeting on Oct. 11, 2005. The ARD document indicated parental consent was given via telephone for the withdrawal. Prieto said neither she nor Casillas made the call. Havner is baffled by the allegations. "We're doing the best we can for all of our kids ... all of them," Havner said. "There has been no due process through the school district. On this issue, they (the parents) have never visited with me at all. All we've gotten is letters, telling us what we did wrong. We'd love to sit down with the parents and have them involved in their child's education. We want the young man to get an education, but there has to be support from his parents, too." Principal Cutler, too, said the student's parents never came to him wanting to discuss any problems with their son. Prieto has also filed a complaint with the Texas Education Agency Division of Special Education Programs, which suggested she submit the complaint to the investigative arm of the TEA Division of Educator Certification and Standards. TEA spokesperson Debbie Ratcliffe said the agency would not comment on a pending complaint. Casillas made an appeal to the school board during the public forum session of its meeting on May 8. "I am here today to notify the Runge ISD school board of the actions taken against my son by Runge ISD staff and employees," Casillas said. "The actions taken by school officials are not only a disgrace to the teaching profession but also to the community of Runge itself." The Advocate was unable to reach the son for comment. • Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-275- 6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. ******************************************* June 1, 2006 Board hires new principal for Gonzales Junior High School GONZALES - Tony Dominguez is the new principal at Gonzales Junior High School. The Gonzales school board hired him during a special session Friday. Dominguez was formerly the principal at Oak Run Sixth Grade Center in the New Braunfels school district, and has worked in administration in the Austin and Medina Valley school districts. He was the middle school principal in Karnes City from 1994-97. He is enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Texas in Austin. He replaces former junior high principal Vic Salazar, who is the district's new director of human resources. *********************************************** 'Professor' retiring after 35 years of Folklife Web Posted: 06/08/2006 12:00 AM CDT Jessica Belasco San Antonio Express-News You can't miss Professor Katzenjammer. He's the one decked out in lederhosen, mismatched socks, a hat covered with buttons and a tie that hangs to his knees. The emcee is a familiar sight at the Texas Folklife Festival, which runs through Sunday on the grounds of the Institute of Texan Cultures. But if you haven't seen him yet, better check him out this weekend. After 35 years, the harebrained German character — the alter ego of Karnes City resident Robert Thonhoff — will bid auf wiedersehen to the event. "I'll be 77 soon," Thonhoff says. "I can't do the polka the way I used to." Thonhoff calls Professor Katzenjammer "a blend of German folk hero Baron Münchhausen, Spanish folk hero Don Quixote, Texas folk hero Pecos Bill and Viking comic-strip character Hägar the Horrible." Sometimes it's hard to separate Thonhoff — a retired educator, respected author and former Karnes County judge — from the nutty Katzenjammer (which means "hangover" in German). Both throw German words and phrases into conversation, both are kind of goofy, and both love the festival and its commitment to multiculturalism. Oddly, Thonhoff isn't a full-blooded German or even a native Texan. He was born and raised in Salida, Colo., and moved to San Antonio in 1947 when he joined the Army Air Corps. He served as a medic at Lackland AFB, earned his history degree at St. Mary's University and embarked on a career in education. Professor Katzenjammer, on the other hand, came to life in the small German community of Fashing, where Thonhoff was the teaching principal of the rural elementary school. In 1964 he dressed up as Doktor D.W. Quack, an absent-minded German doctor who did a medicine show on the back of a Model-T Ford at the Fashing Bestfest. Thonhoff changed the name after someone suggested he seemed more like a Professor Katzenjammer, a reference to "The Katzenjammer Kids," a long-running comic strip about mischievous German children created by Rudolph Dirks. When O.T. Baker started the Texas Folklife Festival in 1972 to celebrate the traditions of the state's ethnic groups, he asked Thonhoff, a close friend and one of the original researchers at the Institute of Texan Cultures, to be an emcee. Thonhoff plans to dedicate this year's festivities on Stage 5 to the memory of Baker, who died in January at 95. "I think that Bob is the perfect example of a Folklife Festival participant," said festival director Jo Ann Andera. "They do it because they love their heritage and their culture and they love the festival. And we all love him. He is irreplaceable." He is, first and foremost, an entertainer, the old-fashioned kind who sings and dances and tells stories. One of his favorite stories is how he and his wife, Victoria (aka Frau Katzenjammer), arrive at the festival a different way every year. They've traveled in a hot-air balloon, a canoe, a paddleboat and in tubes on the San Antonio River (he says). They've ridden a longhorn steer, a donkey, a camel and a buffalo, been shot out of a cannon and shot off in a rocket (he says). They've even cross-country skied all the way from Karnes City after a freak August snowstorm. "I have a great imagination. I like to believe that other people believe me, but they don't," Thonhoff says. For his final year, he says, he will arrive downtown in a rickshaw pulled by his wife, one week after the couple celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. "Frau Katzenjammer is the one who cares for all the details, and she carries the load," Thonhoff says. "She's a very loving and caring, understanding and patient and long-suffering wife. The only way I've been able to do this is because of her." Victoria Thonhoff, whom Robert calls "Mutter," says she humors her husband. "You never know what's on his mind," she says. "You never know what he's going to come up with next." Here's one no one could have foreseen: after a blacksmith friend branded Katzenjammer's lederhosen at a Fashing Bestfest, the professor has had the garment branded every year since 1984 in front of an audience at the Folklife Festival. The brands are mainly replicas of Spanish-Texas brands that go back to the 1700s. Doesn't that hurt? "The blacksmith would usually hold a heavy glove between the brand and my flesh," he says. "But one time it went all the way through." The fact that there are few unmarked spots on his uniform is another reason to retire, he says. At 6 p.m. Saturday, he will receive a brand that is a replica of one by Joseph Antonio Curbelo, lieutenant governor of Texas in 1780, and one that says, simply, "The End." "I'm going to put them in a special place in my closet and hold their memory in a special place in my heart," Thonhoff says. jbelasco@express-news.net *********************************************** June 19, 2006 Four killed in Saturday night accident in Karnes County Zeke MacCormack Express-News A rosary is set for tonight for four members of a Three Rivers family killed Saturday night in a fiery crash in Karnes County, a tragedy that stunned acquaintances and relatives. Robert Arenal, 33, was westbound on Texas 72 when he swerved the family's GMC pickup to avoid a cow in the road and collided with an oncoming truck, according to a report by Department of Public Safety Trooper Harold Estep. The pickup caught fire and Arenal, wife Alvina, 31, and their sons, Richard, 9, and Steven, 5, died at the scene, eight miles west of Kenedy. "It's a horrible situation," said Rusty Umphres, manager of Mission Petroleum where Robert Arenal was a mechanic. "Everybody is in turmoil." The family's three teenage daughters were home at the time of the crash. Alvina Arenal was their mother from a prior marriage, and Robert Arenal was their stepfather. The driver of the big rig, Guadalupe Villarreal of Victoria, was not injured. A rosary will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Eckols Funeral Home, 420 W. Live Oak, Kenedy. Funeral services are set for noon Wednesday at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Kenedy. "Everyone is taking it really hard here, really, really hard," said Michelle Cavazos from a Pizza Hut in Three Rivers where Alvina Arenal was assistant manager. "She was a really good person," said Cavazos, the manager. "She always put her family first." *********************************************** June 19, 2006 Former judge honored for helping Karnes County SONNY LONG - Victoria Advocate KENEDY - "I am not afraid of hard work." That statement above any other epitomizes the character of former Karnes County Judge Alfred Pawelek, who was honored Wednesday by the Alamo Area Council of Governments as its 2006 Regional Citizen of the Year. Pawelek, who served as Karnes County judge from 1995-2002, said of the award, "I was at a loss for words. I was very honored to be recognized from over such a large area." AACOG membership consists of 12 counties, including the heavily populated Bexar County, which includes San Antonio. According to an AACOG press release, the former judge was honored "for the many projects he spearheaded during his tenure as county judge which continue to benefit the people of his county." Among those projects was the construction of the local prison with no public funds. "The judge before me put me on a three-person panel with an attorney and a retired schoolteacher to study bringing a detention center to the county," Pawelek recalled. "We were consultants. We oversaw the policy and the hiring of the operator. "We had 8 or 9 percent unemployment at that time," said Pawelek. "And this was a big deal for us to hire 135 people or so." Revenue bonds were issued for prison construction, and eventually the prison would sell to a private company at Pawelek's recommendation. It is one of the largest taxpayers in the county. Pawelek is also proud of getting Karnes County in the Evergreen Water District so it could take advantage of the state's cloud- seeding program in the late 1990s. "I held meetings with farmers, ranchers, and store owners. We held a countywide election to join, and we got in," he said. "Being county judge is a full-time job. I worked more than 40 hours a week, that's for sure. I lost a lot of sleep over those projects," said Pawelek. Pawelek remembers some of the other challenges of his two-term tenure as county judge, some of them as close as the courthouse in Karnes City. "There were sewer problems at the courthouse," he said. "The old cast-iron pipes under the courthouse had rusted and there was raw sewage spilling out. My first day in the office, the ladies were all burning scented candles. They thought there was a dead animal under the courthouse." Pawelek took charge of the situation and had the sewage cleaned up and the old pipes replaced. The former judge took care of his employees in other ways, too. "The first budget hearing I had in July or August, courthouse workers told me they had not had a raise in several years. Well, our taxable values were so low at that time, the county couldn't afford to give them a raise. So I made an appeal to a private industry for a donation." Pawelek received a $125,000 commitment from the company and used $100,000 of it for employee raises and $25,000 as seed money to begin the Karnes County Economic Development Corporation. During his tenure, the former judge also worked with the commissioners court to bring the courthouse into compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, and hired the county's first animal control officer. "Privatizing the prison was a real feather in my cap, and helped my re-election," said the judge, who refused to run for a third term. "I could have run again, but I am a believer in only serving two terms." Pawelek added that he and Edna, his wife of 53 years, wanted to spend more time with their 11 grandchildren. They also have five grown children. "It was time to spend some time with them," he said. Sylvia Cisneros, who still worked for Pawelek and continues to work in the county judge's office, said, "He was a good person to work for. He was a good business person, very knowledgeable. And he was nice to his employees." Another project Pawelek is proud of is the establishment of a sister county program with the area his ancestors came from in Poland before moving to America and settling in Panna Maria. "My counterpart over there, a Judge Kurzal, wrote me a letter saying he had found out my people came from his county and wanted to know if I was interested in a sister county program." The process wasn't simple and involved approval from Washington, D.C. A lot of letters were exchanged, but eventually Pawelek and county attorney Robert Busselman made the trip to Poland with their wives to formally sign an agreement. "It was very enjoyable," Pawelek said. "We visited the schools and attended a banquet." The only problem - December in Poland. "It was eight or 10 below zero," said Pawelek. "We nearly froze." In 2003 Hubert Kurzal of Lesnica County, Poland, came to Karnes County and brought with him a flag he presented to County Judge Alger Kendall, Jr. who was now in office. Pawelek, of course, was on hand for the ceremony. The flag and sister county agreement are on display in the Karnes County courthouse. The agreement says the sister agreement was fostered, in part, "to promote and broaden economic cooperation and tourism between the two counties" and "promote any areas that will contribute to the prosperity and trade relations between the two counties." Also as part of the agreement, the two judges had decided a teacher exchange would benefit both counties. Teachers from Karnes County have been to Poland, and in 2004 two teachers from Poland came over and stayed with the Paweleks. "They stayed for nine days," Pawelek said. "We took them to Karnes City, Kenedy, Falls City and Runge schools, all of the ones in the county." Pawelek and Edna were also successful business owners. In 1950, they opened the Mid-Way Drive-In Theater (midway between Kenedy and Karnes City). "We had a good run with the theater," said Pawelek. "Of course, the county population was 23,000. By 1975 when we closed it, the county population was 12,000. We closed it 25 years to the day we opened it." But the husband and wife team weren't done. In 1973 they opened Polak's Sausage Farm Restaurant, which they ran until 2000. "We put our total effort into that restaurant," said Pawelek. "It was hard work, but I am not afraid of hard work." Pawelek, 76, said when they decided to retire from the restaurant business he approached two of his longtime employees about taking over the restaurant. "They didn't take me seriously," he said. "So I said, 'Do you want the undertaker to take me out from behind this counter?' Then they knew I was serious about selling." Pawelek continues to be active. He serves on the nine-county Camino Real Mental Health Service Board, representing that board on the State Council of Mental Health and Retardation. Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at361-275- 6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. *********************************************** June 20, 2006 Kenedy pursuing junked car violators KENEDY - Car owners who abandon their junked vehicles in Kenedy face fines and additional charges as the town cracks down on violators. On June 13, the city council received an update on the problem from Police Chief Duane DuBose. DuBose reported that the city's code compliance officer Jaime Albier and his staff have been busy identifying and contacting violators. Albier said in the last 18 months there have been 317 identified abandoned vehicles. In a town of about 3,500, that's one abandoned vehicle for every 11 residents. "It's an eyesore in certain areas and citywide," said Albier. "We have sent out a lot of notifications. Albier said in the last 18 months, 181 of the 317 vehicles have been removed by the owners. "That's a good start," he said, "but that still leaves 136 that we have identified as abandoned and notified the owners that are still there. We are at the point now where those who have been notified and done nothing will be called in for hearings and could possibly face fines." Albier said abandoned car owners can present evidence at the hearing, which is presided over by the police chief or his designee. Abandoned car owners, if convicted under the ordinance, can be fined up to $200 and be responsible for paying for the city removing the vehicle through a designated contractor or licensed scrap yard. According to the city ordinance, a junked vehicle is defined as a "vehicle that is self-propelled and does not have lawfully attached to it an unexpired license plate or a valid motor vehicle inspection certificate." In addition the vehicle, "is wrecked, dismantled, or partially dismantled or discarded or is inoperable and has remained inoperable for more that 72 consecutive hours if the vehicle is on public property or 30 consecutive days if the vehicle is on private property." The ordinance also declares that junked vehicles kept in "ordinary public view" are a public nuisance. "A vehicle that someone is working on can be behind a fence or behind trees or shrubs so it is not visible from a public roadway," said Albier. There are also exceptions in the ordinance for collectors of antique vehicles and "special interest vehicles," but requirements for storing and parking them are also spelled out. Albier said the ordinance also applies to vehicle parts, like motors, that are in public view. Also during Tuesday's regular session, the council: • Named Ken Reiley mayor pro-tem. • Approved seeking a grant from the Texas Forest Service to obtain a brush truck for the Kenedy Volunteer Fire Department. • Authorized an easement survey near Diaz Hill for a proposed water line. • Approved seeking requests for proposals for radio read/remote control water meters. • Approved purchase of easements for utilities and land for the city park. • The Kenedy City Hall and public library will be closed Wednesday for air conditioning repair. Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-275- 6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. *********************************************** June 21, 2006 Back Thru Time History Celebration ends this weekend Advocate Staff Report KENEDY - Art, music and history will be on display during the final weekend of the 3rd annual Back Thru Time History Celebration. From 7-9 p.m. Friday, Rama Tiru, a professional photographer-artist and gallery owner from Austin, will have a one-woman show at the Second Street Gallery in Kenedy. Tiru will be on hand for the Friday night opening and the show will continue from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Tiru is well known for her work depicting small Texas towns and the people who live in them. She also shoots architecture and historical places. Nancy Brundrett and friends will also perform Texas music live at the gallery. Brundrett has won numerous awards for her music and poetry. On Saturday the renovated First National Bank Building, 201 W. Main St. in Kenedy, will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday. Tours will be held throughout the day and refreshments will be served. Owners Ed and Kathryn Farris will be on hand to talk about the history of the building. Also Saturday, the Jail House Museum in Floresville will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and the Lavernia Historical Museum will be open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the Karnes County Museum in Helena will be open from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. for tours. For more information, contact Saundra Schultz at 830-583-2330. *********************************************** June 22, 2006 Karnes City may run water services SONNY LONG - Victoria Advocate KARNES CITY - City administrator Larry Pippin thinks Karnes City can save money and provide the same quality service as the private company it has been using for almost a decade for operation of its water and wastewater departments. Last week Pippin recommended to the Karnes City Council that it not renew its contract with Veolia Water for operation of the town's water and sewer systems and street maintenance. "We are service oriented; they are profit oriented," said Pippin. "A private enterprise cannot run an operation less expensively than a governmental entity." Pippin told the council that since 1999 the city has spent $2.6 million with Veolia Water. He recommended not renewing the contract when it comes due in July 2007, the five-year anniversary of a 10- year contract signed in 2002. Street maintenance and other public works were added to the agreement at that time. "I have done a cost analysis and we can add eight employees to operate the systems and pay for them from the water fund and sewer fund," Pippin said. If the change is approved, Pippin would hire a director of public works, four water department employees, two sewer department employees, and a "rover" to take care of the city's parks and assist in other areas where needed. All these employees would also have responsibilities related to street maintenance and other public works projects. The city administrator said he brought up the issue now because the city is about to enter into its 2006-07 budget process and also because non-renewal of the contract with Veolia Water requires 120 days notice. Karnes City is in the process of building an 800,000-gallon sewer plant. "This is not a reflection on the job Veolia Water does. They do a fine job," emphasized Pippin. "I just think we can do it as well and save money, too." In neighboring Kenedy, city administrator Loretta Thiele is pleased with Veolia Water, which has operated the city's water and wastewater systems and maintained the city streets since January 2003. "It's all positive," said Thiele. "The street maintenance is getting done. They cleaned up Escondido Creek. They operate very professionally. I have no complaints." The city has four active water wells and is considering drilling another. Its 2.8-million-gallons-per-day reverse osmosis water treatment plant is state-of-the-art and will soon be adding arsenic removal. The company also operates the city's wastewater treatment facility. "They took on our staff of about 10 when they took over," Thiele said. "Veolia Water gave them credit for the time they had worked with the city as far as their seniority and benefits go. It was a good fit for everyone." The city administrator said that in the near future, the city will begin using a map to designate areas for Veolia Water to concentrate on for street repairs and maintenance. "We'll decide on one section of town at a time and send them into that area for a month, and have them fix all the potholes, make sure all the street signs are in good order, everything. Then we'll move them to another section of town to do the same kinds of things," said Thiele, who has been city administrator since August 2003. In addition to street maintenance, repair and sweeping, the city's contract with Veolia Water calls for a variety of duties. These include: repair and maintenance of drainage facilities including ditches adjacent to city streets, mowing and general cleanup of city rights of way and other city-owned property and facilities, traffic sign repair and replacements, decorating downtown with banners, Christmas lights, etc., tree trimming, minor building maintenance, repair and replacement of garbage cans, and spraying for mosquitoes. Veolia Water uses city-owned vehicles for much of the maintenance. Kenedy pays Veolia Water a total of about $140,000 annually for street maintenance services, and makes monthly payments of about $85,000 for operation of the water and wastewater systems. Veolia Water, with headquarters in Houston, serves more than 600 communities nationwide. It has more than 2,900 employees. In Texas, in addition to Karnes City and Kenedy, it has active projects in Burkburnett, Conroe, Gladewater and Odem. Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at361-275- 6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. *********************************************** June 24, 2006 Flood risk assessment gets more funding in three area counties Advocate Staff Report SAN ANTONIO - Modernization of flood plain maps will help better assess flood risks in three area counties. Funds for the updating of the maps in Goliad, Karnes and Wilson counties are part of the recently approved 2006-07 San Antonio River Authority budget. The maps, called Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps, are a collaborative effort with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which are also providing funding. The new maps should provide an improved picture of flood risks in all areas of the three downstream counties, according to a news release from SARA. The new budget also includes a focus on water quality with $200,000 in funding for debris cleanup under the regional debris removal program. This basin-wide program improves river flow and water quality through the removal of natural and man-made debris. The process is environmentally friendly and benefits residents both upstream and downstream of the cleanup sites. The project complements other ongoing water quality efforts such as the watershed protection plan and the stream monitoring program. SARA also includes Bexar County. *********************************************** June 28, 2006 District 27 Little League all-stars begin play Thursday BILLY MAU - Advocate Sports Writer Area Little League baseball and softball fields will come alive again this week as the District 27 all-star tournaments begin Thursday with the 9- and 10-year-olds. Port Lavaca will host the District 27 9-10 softball tournament. First-round action will start at 6 p.m. with the host Calhoun team taking on Edna. Industrial and Goliad play the late game at 8 p.m. Cuero and Karnes County play Friday at 6 p.m. with Ganado and Victoria Southeast playing at 8 p.m. Port Lavaca will also host the District 27, Area II 9-10 baseball tournament. Calhoun and Bloomington will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. Ganado and Victoria Northeast will follow with an 8 p.m. matchup. Edna and Industrial will play Friday at 6 p.m. and the 8 p.m. contest will feature Victoria Southeast against the winner of the Calhoun-Bloomington game. The District 27, Area I 9-10 baseball tournament starts Thursday at Victoria's Elder Field. Victoria Southwest will take on Runge at 6 p.m., and Karnes City and Yorktown will follow at 8 p.m. The 11 year-old baseball tournament also starts Thursday in Goliad. Victoria Northeast and Victoria Southwest will play at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to face Calhoun on Friday at 6 p.m. Cuero and Victoria Southeast will play Thursday at 8 p.m., with the winner facing Victoria Northwest on Friday at 8 p.m. The District 27 11-12 softball tournament starts Saturday in Ganado. Calhoun and Edna will play at 6 p.m., with Industrial and Karnes County starting at 8 p.m. Cuero and Goliad will play Sunday at 6 p.m., followed by Kenedy and the winner of Saturday's Calhoun-Edna contest. The District 27, Area I 11-12 baseball tournament also gets things started on Saturday. Karnes City will host the District 27, Area I tournament. Victoria Northwest and Victoria Southwest face each other at 6 p.m., and will be followed by Cuero and Kenedy at 8 p.m. Sunday's schedule features Runge and Goliad at 6 p.m., with Yorktown and Karnes City taking the field at 8 p.m. The District 27, Area II tournament starts in Ganado on Saturday with Calhoun and Edna playing at 6 p.m. and the winner facing Victoria Northeast at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Ganado and Victoria Southeast play at 8 p.m. on Saturday for the right to meet Bloomington in the second round at 8 p.m. on Sunday. ******************************** June 29, 2006 Small-town singer prepares for her homecoming APRILL BRANDON - Victoria Advocate GILLETT - For many recording artists, playing for a town with a population of well under 500 isn't exactly what they would call a pinnacle in their career. But for Krista Remmers-Morgan, putting on a concert in the small town of Gillett in rural Karnes County is something she has always longed to do. "It's crazy. I mean, I've traveled to Europe and back to perform and been all over the state of Texas, but I've never once sang for my hometown," she said. "I loved growing up there and I know there are people who live there that have been following my career since I was a teenager. And yet many of them have never gotten the chance to see me perform." But on Saturday, she plans to remedy that by putting on a free outdoor concert event at the General Store in Gillett. The concert will be from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Singing a mix of contemporary music and contemporary Christian music, she also plans to perform some songs from her CD, "By Way of Love," which was released in 2005. "With my father being a pastor, I was raised in a church and constantly surrounded by Gospel music. And that has definitely influenced my sound," she said. "I'm also inspired by the music of Patsy Cline, Reba McIntyre, Crystal Lewis and Celine Dion." Performing for audiences since age 12, Remmers-Morgan participated in her high school's Future Farmers of America talent contest. She eventually made it to the national competition, and her music career took off. After graduation, she began participating in the Miss America pageant system, which afforded her the opportunity to sing throughout Texas and overseas. But now, after recording and releasing her CD through a Canadian record company, this small-town girl spends most of her time working within the music ministry in her church in Dallas and traveling around as a guest performer for other churches, including Faith Family Church in Victoria and Faith Christian Fellowship in Yorktown. "My father has been the pastor in Yorktown for the past 16 years, so I've always had ties to this area. And I'm hoping to get some people from around the Victoria area to head out to the concert. I'd like to get as many people out there as possible. But even if it's just 100 people, I'll be excited, especially considering that would probably be the entire town of Gillett," she added with a laugh. Although she has no immediate plans to record another CD any time soon, this homecoming concert is something in her career that she definitely sees as a highlight. "This is a nice way to come home, to perform in the place where I started out. And I'm very excited to share the music off the CD that I've worked so hard for with the people who can say they knew me way back when." For more information about Krista Remmers-Morgan or to purchase a copy of her CD, go to www.kristaremmersmorgan.com. Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. She can be reached at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. ******************************** June 30, 2006 The stars come out Victoria Southwest rolls past Runge in 9-10 all-star tourney Advocate Staff Report Victoria Southwest rolled to a 17-7 win over Runge and Karnes City defeated Yorktown 15-5 in opening-round games of the District 27, Area I tournament for 9- and 10-year-olds Thursday night at Elder Field. In today's games, Victoria Northwest meets Kenedy at 6 p.m. and Cuero takes on Goliad at 8 p.m. Bloomington beats Calhoun PORT LAVACA - The District 27, Area II tournament for 9- and 10-year- olds officially got underway with Bloomington's 14-9 win over Calhoun County. Bloomington advanced to play Victoria Southeast today at 8 p.m. The second game in the Area II tournament saw Victoria Northeast roll to a 10-0 victory over Ganado. Both Ganado and Victoria Northeast will have today off and will face the loser and winner, respectively, of the Edna-Industrial contest that starts tonight at 6 p.m. Edna, Goliad win PORTLAVACA- The District 27 softball tournament for 9- and 10-year- olds began as Edna defeated host Calhoun County 16-9 in the early game and Goliad rolled to a 13-5 win over Industrial in the late game. Goliad and Edna will meet in the second round of the playoffs on Sunday at 6 p.m. Industrial and Calhoun will try to claw their ways out of the loser's bracket when they square off today at 6 p.m.