Karnes Co. TX - NEWS - June 2008

This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kimm
Antell

Copyright.  All rights reserved.

http://files.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm

************************************************

From wkcurrent.com

JUN 04, 2008

Friedrich-James family shared spirit in face of struggle

EDITOR'S NOTE - This is the 120th of a series of articles marking
Kerr County's sesquicentennial.

By Irene Van Winkle

West Kerr Current

When not at her house in Fredericksburg, Donna Faye Friedrich Croy
stays just a short way out of Kerrville, on a bit of the old
Friedrich property her grandfather had bought long ago. There's a bit
of about a half-dozen long-time Kerr County families in her blood -
German, Scots-Irish, with a little Cherokee thrown in - all hardy
breeds that fought, persisted, healed, founded, rebelled and
eventually found a niche in history.

Donna Faye's ancestors on her father's side go back to Peter and
Susannah Moose Lowrance, followed by the Dentons, and then the
Friedrichs. On her mother's side, it's tied to the Burneys,
Crenshaws, Saners, Pyeatts and James's.

One of Peter and Susannah's children was Anna Carolina (1836-1918),
born in Arkansas, who wed another Arkansas native, Benjamin Franklin
Denton (1830-1877).

Martha Caroline "Mattie" (1869-1948) was one of their 11 children
and married Albert Charles Friedrich (1868-1939), whose story comes
later in this narrative.

To go back in time, there was a piece in the Kerrville Mountain Sun,
one in a series called "Early Settlers," in 1955 (as a preview to the
upcoming 1956 Kerr County Centennial), which told that John Thomas
James was born in 1820 in Virginia. He came to Texas with his parents
in 1828, and is said to have fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in
1836.

John Thomas bought 26,485 acres along the lagoon and Padre Island in
1859, but sold it in 1871 and built the James Hotel in Corpus Christi
on Water Street. The hotel was later demolished and replaced by the
Lichtenstein Store. He also founded the town of Oakville and was its
mayor for many years.

He married Lodusky Fulton, a native of Grimes County, and had two
children, Melisa (who married three times) and Nathan, who married
four. Donna Faye said she had documents showing that he also
purchased slaves.

She added that both John Thomas and Nathan (1842-1914) served in the
Civil War, fighting for the Confederacy. Nathan spent most of his
time away in Arkansas and Louisiana. He returned to Texas, and began
cowboying in Liveoak. Over the next three decades, Nathan would
outlive all four of his wives, and sire 12 children. 

The list began when he met and married Mary Adams in 1866. Within
four short years, they had two children (Homer and Edward), but Mary
died during the second childbirth. 

Within one or two years, Nathan married Emma Summers, and after one
child (also named Emma), Emma died in 1873.

That same year, he wed Mary E. Smith and the couple moved to Kerr
County, settling northeast of Kerrville. 

With Mary, Nathan had offspring Callie, Mary, Maggie, Thomas and
George.

Sadly, Mary E. died in 1882, and by 1884, Nathan wed yet again.

Wife #4 was Eugenia Malta Pyeatt (1865-1913), born in Carthage,
Panola County, Texas, who bore him Frank, Samuel, Henry and Malta
Eugenia. Eugenia Pyeatt had a brother named Miles, also.

Eugenia Malta died just two years before Nathan after an
unsuccessful operation. She was buried with Methodist rites, and
Order of the Eastern Star. 

Nathan became ill with Bright's disease, and also was weakened from
three bouts of pneumonia during his lifetime. He was a lifetime
charter member of the Masonic Lodge, who performed his funeral
service at Nichols Cemetery, where he and Eugenia are both buried.

His obituary said that among his last words, "he exhorted all in the
room to 'repent and do right.'"

Donna Faye does not know if or who Homer, Emma or Frank ever
married, but it is recorded that Edward married Mary Harmon. Maggie
married W.W. Holloman, Callie wed Joseph Edward Henderson, Mary
married William Boeckman and Sam wed Anna Hein Waring.

Malta Eugenia married Marvin Randolph "Bud" Porter (born in Marfa,
Texas), and this couple became Donna Faye's maternal grandparents.
Bud Porter also had a sister, called Mattie.

Bud was actually raised by his maternal grandparents, Thomas A. and
Eutencia Burney Saner, when his father, Benjamin, died. Benjamin had
married the Saners' daughter, Mary L., in 1885. Mary also had a
brother named Robert (1855-1941).

Thomas and Eutencia were buried at Nichols Cemetery.

"Benjamin ran a freight line from Kerrville to Corpus Christi,"
Donna Faye said. "One time he went on a trip and just disappeared. No
one knows what happened to him."

Neither does Donna Faye have any record of Mary L. Saner Porter's
death, except that it was in Kerrville. Mike Bowlin at the Kerr
Regional Historical Center in Kerrville was unable to find exact
records. However, under her brother Robert's obituary in 1941 they
also listed a sister, "Mattie" Terrell/Turell of Dallas, who may or
may not have been yet another sibling.

It may be possible, also, that Mary L. had already died, or was dead
by 1900. However, Bowlin found a census record in Kerrville showing a
Bud and "Mattie" (likely his sister) living with the widowed Eutencia
Saner.

Bud (or Papa, as Donna Faye called him) apparently sold land to
Methodist Encampment. Donna's mother, Ruby Belle, was born in a home
(now moved after a flood) that was the first house on the right of
the street off Junction Highway.

Malta's grandmother, Elizabeth Frances Tucker Pyeatt (1848-1927),
was born in Washington County, Arkansas, and died in Palisade Mesa,
Colo. She was truly a brave woman, Donna Faye said. Incidentally,
Elizabeth's sister, Mary Alice, married Hugh Carey Crenshaw, another
well-known West Kerr County family name.

"My great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth, was a medicine woman, a full-
blooded Cherokee Indian in Colorado," she said. "She lived near the
miners' camps and would pack up her white mule with all her healing
herbs, and go from mine to mine to care for the miners."

According to a 1906 letter from Elizabeth's husband, Sam Carnahan
Pyeatt (1836-1913), they were the first to build a home in Craig,
Colo.

Interestingly, Elizabeth's sister, Lela, married William Crenshaw.

The tie-in with Ruby and her husband is interesting, and Donna Faye
said she only learned some of the information after a recent family
reunion. What she found out, is that her great-grandfather had more
than one family.

The Friederich ancestry goes back to George Friedrichs (1845-1922)
who came from Hanover, Germany with his parents, Gottlieb (1803-1871)
and Antoinette Schrade (1804-1893).

George married Charlotte Eline Elizabeth Martin (1845-1935) from
Roherbach, Germany. They lived in Runge, Texas. But as Donna Faye
said, "he started fooling around." When George and his girlfriend
came to Kerr County, their first baby was born. They stayed several
years, then George went home to get a divorce and eventually married
his girlfriend.

Donna Faye's paternal grandfather, Albert Charles Friedrich (1868-
1939), was born in Meyersville. Donna Faye, who said Albert Charles
was about 14 years old when his father wanted to go back to Runge,
said he wasn't going back, and he jumped off the wagon and hid. His
father looked around for him, but never could find him.

"Grandpa ended up going to Judge Julius Real, who put Albert Charles
to herding sheep," Donna Faye said.

In 1893, he married Martha Caroline "Mattie" Denton (1869-1948), the
eighth of 11 children of Benjamin Franklin and Anna Caroline Lowrance
Denton. Albert Charles saved his money, and also got a loan from
Judge Julius Real. Albert went to Gillespie County and eventually
amassed a great deal of land, including the area now called Tierra
Linda.

Between 1898 and 1914, the Friedrichs had 10 children: Edna, Annie,
Joe (who fell off a wagon at the age of two and died), Elizabeth,
Hubert, Julius, Albie, Louis, Lonnie and Charles. 

"My dad was raised at the home place on Friedrich Road. Grandpa
bought the now-Tierra Linda property in 1936, which my Dad and his
brother, Louis, ran as one ranch. The other part, where a horse farm
belonging to Linda Lashley now sits, went to his other son, Hubert.
Farther down, by the lake, that land went to his son, Julius. Charlie
and Lonnie got the Friedrich Road home place."

Charlie was was only married once briefly. Upon his death, he left
his portion to about 18 living nieces and nephews, who each got about
50 acres. Donna Faye bought out one of her cousins, and has 100
acres, which sits off Friedrich Road.

It was son Albie who married Donna Faye's mother, the high-strung
Ruby Porter when he was 30 and she was half his age. Ruby grew up in
the little red house located on the James Avery compound on Harper
Road.

Donna Faye did not mince words about her mother's rough upbringing.

"Her mother died when she was just 10 years old, and I think she
never matured beyond that," she said. "Her father married Nora
Castleberry, who she hated."

And perhaps with good reason - step-mother Nora took most of the old
family possessions and burned them.

"Things began to escalate," Donna Faye said. "Nora drank, and used
to beat mom when Bud was gone. After one very traumatic incident,
Ruby fought back and swore she would never hit her again."

Bud, she added, could not stop Nora from abusing Ruby, but he
boarded Ruby at Notre Dame Catholic School in Kerrville at the age of
10 for four years.

Albie was living on the Friederich land, which originally had
measured thousands of acres.

"When Dad would go to town, he'd pass by Ruby's house, and she'd sit
on the fence by the road. She just liked engaging people in
conversations. After she was put into the convent, Dad corresponded
with her, and would visit her. I remember in one letter, he told her
she had to stop going down the fire escape to go see the boys at
Schreiner (Military Institute)."

A "bride of the week" newspaper ran an announcement for Ruby's
rainbow-colored wedding shower at the Harwood Ranch on Harper Road.
Among the activities, including guests writing down their favorite
recipes, were a presentation of the book, "Don'ts for the Bride."
Ruby was then asked to find the end of the rainbow, where she found
all her shower gifts. 

Donna Faye said Ruby had a keen business sense. She worked at C.R.
Anthony Company in Kerrville, and later partnered with Clarabelle
Snodgrass in the tap-and-toe dance school.

Ruby had also bought a place between Hye and Johnson City called the
Rocky Creek Country Store.

"She added a cafe, a liquor store, a bar, dance hall and rent
houses," she said.

Donna Faye graduated from Johnson City. She married once, then
divorced, and her second husband, Bill Cammack, later passed away.

For years, Donna Faye said, Albie played the violin/fiddle with a
band, Hearts Delight Playboys. He died of a heart attack in 1958.

Back in the 1956 Centennial celebration of Kerr County, there is a
well-remembered photo (by old-timers) of Albie's aunt and uncle -
Molly Gibbens and Alfred Colbath - who were the oldest living
natives, being crowned King and Queen of the celebration by then-
Governor Allen Shivers. 

"My mother made those crowns," Donna Faye said, proudly. 

Donna Faye's daughter, Tiffany, lives in San Antonio, a former
teacher now working at Harcourt Brace (now called Pearson Publishing)
which produces books for TAKS testing.

Donna Faye and her husband, Bob, split their time between
Fredericksburg and their ranch off Harper Road. They stay busy
operating a business, Hill Country Insurance.

Out at the ranch, they keep a llama and a donkey who keep each other
company. Not to mention any other critters that might happen to
wander in.

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 05, 2008

DeWitt museums head Back Thru Time with wedding exhibits

BY SONNY LONG

YORKTOWN – The unveiling of wedding photographs and attire, some
from the 1800s, is one of the highlights of the first weekend of the
fifth annual Back Thru Time History Trail.

The Yorktown Historical Museum exhibits include more than 150
photographs contributed by Yorktown residents and people with
Yorktown ties who have moved away. The wedding clothing display also
includes some dresses from the 1800s. The photographs range mostly
from the late 1800s to the 1940s, with a few newer ones – 1969 being
the most recent – also on display.

“The response from the public was great. We got a lot of
photographs,” said Marie Metting Boles of the town’s historical
society.

Boles, who came up with the idea, said she has a particular interest
in the role of flowers in wedding ceremonies, since her mother owns
and operates a Yorktown flower shop.

“I guess it helped me realize the importance of flowers in the lives
of people,” she said.

Boles praised Linda Hurta, who spent countless hours typing all the
tags for the photographs, among other things. Bill Tapp created the
display boards. Organization members and other volunteers helped
bring the displays together.

The infusion of contributed photographs also gave the museum an
opportunity to photographically archive not only the submitted
photos, but much of the museum’s collection as well.

“This was something that needed to be done a long time ago,” said
longtime historical society member Irene Wulf.

Bob Allen, of the Victoria Regional History Center, archived the
photographs for the museum.

The wedding exhibit will remain up about one month. The museum,
dedicated in 1978 in the two-story 1876 Eckhardt Building, also
includes displays of early freight wagons, an indoor cistern, John
Wesley Hardin’s spur, and many more aspects of life in early rural
Texas.

The museum also includes a large doll collection.

The Back Thru Time History Trail spotlights Texas heritage in a
different county each weekend in June. Weekend one includes towns in
DeWitt County, weekend two features Goliad and Refugio counties,
weekend three highlights Bee County, and in weekend four, the trail
leads to Karnes County.

In addition to the Yorktown museum’s display, another highlight of
weekend one is the grand opening of the DeWitt County Courthouse from
1-4 p.m. on Saturday. Renovation on the 1896 courthouse has now been
completed. A re-dedication for the courthouse was held late last
year. County workers should be back in the building in the coming
weeks.

************************************************

From ntxe-news.com

June 7, 2008

Cattle Raisers name new Special Ranger for District 27 

By Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 6, 2008—Texas and Southwestern Cattle
Raisers Association has named Emil “Sonny” Seewald Special Ranger for
District 27. He will be stationed in Atascosa County, and his
district will encompass Atascosa, Medina, Bexar, Wilson, Karnes, Live
Oak, Bee and San Patricio Counties. 
Seewald has more than 37 years experience in law enforcement, 25 of
which as an investigator with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Most
recently, he worked as an investigator for the district attorney’s
office in the 81st Judicial District. He is licensed by the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education as a
master peace officer.  

He said he looks forward to getting out in the field, meeting area
ranchers and working with other law enforcement agents to fight theft.

Seewald can be contacted at 830/784-3820 or
seewald3120@sbcglobal.net. 

TSCRA’s 28 Special Rangers are commissioned by the Texas Department
of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
and assist in recovering stolen livestock and equipment and
apprehending the thieves. They also frequently provide educational
programs on theft prevention and proper branding procedures.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 131-year-old
trade organization whose 15,000 members manage approximately 4
million head of cattle on 51.5 million acres of range and pasture
land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma.  TSCRA provides law
enforcement services, livestock inspection, legislative and
regulatory advocacy and education opportunities for its members.

************************************************

From seguingazette.com

Navarro athletics thrived under new AD

By Jason Chlapek
The Gazette-Enterprise   

Published June 8, 2008

Last year at this time, the Navarro athletic department was looking
for a new athletic director and head football coach.

That’s where Les Goad came in. 

Goad, who came over from Lockhart, was hired in June 2007, to
replace Lin Havron, who left in May after a 10-year tenure in Panther
Country.

Although there were plenty of changes, Navarro still experienced
plenty of success during the 2007-08 school year.

In football, Goad came in with a new offensive philosophy — the slot-
T — and taught his players the offense in less than two months before
the start of the regular season. While it was difficult at times, the
Panthers seemed to learn on the fly as they opened the season with a
pair of blowout victories over Marion and Comfort.

But injuries caught up with Navarro as the Panthers finished 4-4
down the stretch and missed the postseason by one game, finishing
District 29-2A play with a 4-3 record. 

Their three district losses were to the three playoff teams of 29-2A
— Poth, Randolph and Stockdale.

Despite coming up short, Navarro’s 6-4 finish gives Goad and the
returning players something positive to build on in 2008-09. Of
course, replacing 24 seniors will be a tall order.

The Navarro volleyball team lost some key cogs from its region
semifinalist team in 2006, but the Lady Panthers had enough returnees
to aim for a 14th consecutive trip to the postseason. Navarro held
its own against its share of teams from the 5A, 4A and 3A ranks in
nondistrict play before embarking on its 29-2A slate.

The Lady Panthers dominated their district slate sans eventual state
runner-up Poth, who swept its way through 29-2A for the second time
in as many years. Despite finishing as the district runner-up,
Navarro was still primed for another long playoff run.

The Lady Panthers disposed of Hawkins in three games in the bi-
district round before sweeping past District 32-2A champion Freer in
the area round to set up a region quarterfinal match against
Jourdanton. 

Jourdanton was the champion of 30-2A, and showed why as the Squaws
claimed the first game of the match. 

But Navarro battled back to claim the next three games, and the
match, as the Lady Panthers advanced to the region semifinal round
for the fifth time in six years.

Navarro faced a Schulenburg team who placed third in a tough 28-2A
loop and had a 6-foot-2 hitter named Allison McNeal, who signed with
Nebraska. Despite a hard-fought match, the Lady Panthers came up
short in three games.

All three games were decided by three points or less (25-23, 25-22,
25-23).

Navarro finished the year 30-10, and the glass will be half-full for
the Lady Panthers in 2008 as seven players return and seven players
graduate.

While the volleyball team extended its postseason streak to 14
seasons, the boys basketball team tried to snap a 13-year playoff
drought. The start of the season was difficult for Navarro as the
Panthers went into district play with a 5-6 record.

But once district play started, Navarro began to turn the corner as
the Panthers won six consecutive 29-2A contests after dropping the
league opener to eventual champion Poth. Following back-to-back
losses to Poth and Karnes City, respectively, Navarro finished
district play with five wins in a row to claim second place in 29-2A
with an 11-3 mark as well as its first postseason appearance since
1994-95, when the Panthers were in Class A.

Navarro wasn’t just happy to be in the playoffs for the first time
as a 2A team, the Panthers wanted to stay for a while, and they did
so by handling San Antonio Cole, 45-44, in the bi-district round.
Navarro’s win set up an area round matchup with 32-2A champion Santa
Rosa.

Like Navarro, Santa Rosa was a run-and-gun team. But Navarro had a
size advantage, while Santa Rosa had an outside-shooting advantage.

The Warriors hit 12 three-pointers to the Panthers’ one as Santa
Rosa ended Navarro’s season with an 86-77 victory. Navarro ended the
season 20-12, and swept the Gazette Enterprise’s All-Area superlative
honors as guard Zach Hernandez was named Player of the Year, forward
A.K. Williams earned Newcomer of the Year honors and coach Bob Ermel
was named Coach of the Year.

The girls basketball team had plenty of new faces and struggled out
of the gate as the Lady Panthers lost six of their first seven games
en route to a 1-6 start. Navarro also struggled a bit in district
play as the Lady Panthers finished the first half of 29-2A action
with a 4-3 record.

But Navarro responded to win five of its last seven contests to
finish district play in a third-place tie with Yorktown as both teams
went 9-5 in 29-2A. The teams met in a playoff play-in game just three
days after the Lady Panthers pounded the Lady Cats, 44-27, in the
regular season finale.

But this time, Yorktown had the edge as the Lady Cats posted a 49-37
victory to keep Navarro home for the playoffs. The Lady Panthers
finished 16-16 overall.

Shortly after concluding the girls basketball season, Navarro girls
basketball coach Darrell Harborth embarked on another task — interim
head softball coach. Harborth accepted the post after Wade Miller,
the previous head softball coach, resigned to accept a position at
Canyon.

With just a week in between basketball and softball seasons,
Harborth did not have the luxury of setting up a lengthy nondistrict
schedule, therefore, the Lady Panthers played just two nondistrict
softball contests and did not participate in any predistrict
tournaments.

Despite the late start, Navarro found a way to win eight of its 12
district contests and clinch the third-place playoff spot out of 29-
2A. The Lady Panthers finished third to Poth and Yorktown,
respectively.

First up for Navarro in the playoffs was Natalia. The teams met in a
one-game playoff with the Lady Panthers coming out on top, 4-3.

Next up for Navarro was George West, a team the Lady Panthers
defeated in the region quarterfinal round a year earlier. But this
time, George West was the No. 2 team in 2A and the teams participated
in a best-of-three series instead of a one-game playoff.

George West swept Navarro, 10-0, 8-6, to exact revenge from 2007,
and end the Lady Panthers’ season at 10-7.

Navarro will have a new softball coach in 2009 as Shaun Miller will
accept the role. The Lady Panthers also return all players from this
season sans Rachele Herzog, who committed to Schreiner.

The baseball team was primed to make another run for the district
championship after running the table in 2007. But this time, the
Panthers wanted more as they wished to advance in the playoffs as
opposed to getting knocked out early.

After dropping the season opener to La Vernia, Navarro won 23 of its
next 24 contests, including all 14 district games. The 14-0 district
record marked the second time in as many seasons that the Panthers
were undefeated in 29-2A play.

Navarro was 13-0-1 in district play in 2007.

The Panthers received a first-round bye and faced Refugio in the
area round. The Bobcats took the first game from Navarro, 4-3, but
the Panthers bounced back to seize the next two games, 6-3, 7-5, to
win the series and move on to the region quarterfinal round against
31-2A champion Odem.

Navarro and Odem met in a best-of-three series, but the Owls’
pitching duo of Jacob Moreno and D.J. Serda proved to be too much for
the Panthers as they each threw complete games and combined to strike
out 16 batters in a 6-1, 11-4, sweep of Navarro.

The Panthers, who lost 11 seniors to graduation, finished the year
25-5.

In addition to Navarro’s success in team sports, the Panthers also
had success in cross country, golf, tennis and track and field as
Courtney Haass qualified for the state meets in both cross country
and track, the boys golf team went to the region tournament, and the
tennis program claimed district championships in four of the five
brackets.

Over the next two school years, Navarro will compete in 28-2A in a
similar alignment as Karnes City, Kenedy, Nixon-Smiley, Poth and
Stockdale will still compete with the Panthers for district bragging
rights. The only difference is the new district consists of six
schools instead of eight as Randolph was realigned into 27-2A and
Yorktown moved down to Class A.

If Year Two of the Goad era is as successful as Year One, expect big
things from the Navarro athletic department.

************************************************

From kristv.com

June 9, 2008 

Game Wardens Find Body Of Missing Swimmer

CORPUS CHRISTI-Game wardens recovered the body of a missing swimmer
from a cove in the state park area over the weekend. 

Wardens searched for 58-year-old Domingo Pesina of Karnes County
Saturday night. 

KRIS 6 News learned he was swimming in Lake Corpus Christi with a
friend, when he went underwater and never surfaced. 

A justice of the peace pronounced Pesina dead Sunday morning. 

An autopsy and a toxicology test will determine the exact cause of
death.

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 10, 2008 

Ramirez takes over Kenedy program

By MIKE FORMAN

Mike Ramirez’s first head- coaching position will be a challenging
one.

Ramirez will attempt to improve the fortunes of the Kenedy football
program after being named the athletic director and head football
coach by the school district’s board of trustees late Monday night.

Ramirez will replace Tim Collins, whose contract wasn’t renewed
after the Lions went 0-10 in his first season as athletic director
and head football coach.

Ramirez was the defensive coordinator at Class 5A Harlingen South
last season.

He was previously an assistant at Arlington Seguin for three
seasons. He has also coached at Fort Worth North Side and Irving High
and was a undergraduate assistant coach at Angelo State.

“I want to get into the community and become part of the community
and get everyone involved in all of the sports,” said Ramirez, who is
scheduled to start at Kenedy on July 1. “I want to get as many kids
involved as possible.”

Kenedy scored a total of 21 points last season and was shut out in
seven games while surrendering 453 points.

The Lions haven’t had a winning season since 2004 and haven’t been
to the playoffs since 1999.

“I saw this job as an opportunity,” Ramirez said. “Of course it will
be a challenge. I want to give the student-athletes the opportunity
to have success. We’re going to do things the right way and see if we
can turn things around.”

Kenedy returns six starters on offense and defense in the upcoming
season and will compete in District 28-2A against Karnes City, Nixon-
Smiley, Navarro, Poth and Stockdale. 

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 11, 2008

Kenedy residents recall the thrill of winning baseball state
championship

By Cathy Passmore


They had been here before. In fact, the year before. At that time,
the Kenedy Lions baseball team had made it to the semifinals and
lost. And because they had lost before, after coming so far, they
were determined not to let it happen again.

The semi-finals this time against Alverado had some strange twists
like a power outage that led to the game restarting the next morning
at 8 a.m. It was a close game, too - Kenedy 5, Alverado 4. They then
found out they would play their championship game that same evening!
And, it took up to the 6th inning before the game began to break for
the Lions in the state championship game against La Grange. But this
time they were determined to take home the championship, winning 3-2
on June 10, 1983.

In the stands this time, too, was a very enthusiastic supporter
among many enthusiastic supporters. And this was all pretty new to
him.

When Wade Phelps moved to Kenedy, Texas in 1981, little did he
realize what he soon would witness and become a participant of, once
he moved to his new town and opened his dental practice! And the
Kenedy Lions baseball team was the reason.

As soon as baseball season started, "You could feel the whole town
come together. It really was a community thing," Phelps said.

He learned all about the year of 1982 when the Lions got almost all
the way to the state championship game, but lost in the semifinals.
So, when 1983 came around it was that much more thrilling.

"Everyone got caught up in the excitement of the possibility of this
is the year," Phelps explained.

"I and the other doctors even scheduled our patients’ appointments
around the games as much as we could. We really wanted to be a part
of the team’s fans at the games."

With many enthusiastic fans getting a bad rap these days, it was
unique to find out about the good behavior of the home fans in the
stands. 

"Overall, the home crowd was very well behaved," Phelps said. "There
was a fan leader, named Barbara Johnson, whose voice could be heard
calling attention to one and all should their behavior be out of
line."

It was noted that even in the closest games the crowds were there to
support the team. 

Jerry Garcia, a member of the winning team, agrees.

"After coming so close and almost winning the year before, we were
determined to be the champions in ’83," Garcia said. "The coaches
kept encouraging us. And we continued playing and practicing by
ourselves all summer long after that loss and played as a family."

"There were five sophomores, three juniors, and three seniors and
many of us had been playing together seven or eight years going back
to our Little League years," Garcia continued.

Garcia also remembers that the home town crowd was so supportive and
united in that support.

"When our semifinal game wasn’t able to finish the evening before
due to the power outage and started up again the next morning at 8
a.m., instead of all going home and coming back the next morning,
most just got motel rooms and stayed so they wouldn’t miss any of the
game." 

Garcia also said when they returned to Kenedy, the local radio
station at that time, KTNR, asked what the team wanted to hear and
they asked for and heard played We Are the Champions over the P.A.
system on behalf of the team.

"We still keep in touch with each other," Garcia said. "It was a
once in a lifetime experience for us all."

So, after 25 years, many community members are offering
congratulations once again to the Kenedy Lions State Baseball
Champions of 1983.

************************************************

From valleymorningstar.com

June 10, 2008 

Former South DC Ramirez takes Kenedy job

By ELADIO JAIMEZ

HARLINGEN - Mike Ramirez was looking for an opportunity.

And he found one in somewhere in between San Antonio and Victoria.

Ramirez and his family will make Kenedy their new home.

And there, the 28-year-old football coach will get his first shot at
being a head coach.

Ramirez, the former Harlingen South defensive coordinator that
brought a new sense of enthusiasm and passion for the game, was hired
Tuesday as the athletic director and head football coach of the
Kenedy Lions in south central Texas.

"I'm really looking forward to going there and working with those
kids," Ramirez said. "They have good kids there and I feel I can go
there and make a difference."

And considering the Lions' recent football history, Ramirez has his
work cut out for him.

Kenedy finished 0-10 last season with a 0-7 District 29-2A record.

The Lions only scored 21 points all season.

After this year's realignment, Kenedy will compete in 28-2A and will
play in a six-team district.

Kenedy's last winning season came in 2004 when the Lions were 6-4.
The Lions' last playoff appearance was in 1999.

"I'm excited," Ramirez said. "I feel like I can go in there and
develop relationships with the community and encourage participation
in the whole athletic program. They've had a few rough seasons but
we'll see if we can turn things around over there."

Ramirez is the third Harlingen South assistant football coach to
leave the Hawks program in the last month.

Former South offensive coordinator Jesse Landeros and offensive line
coach Danny Cortez moved to Rio Hondo at the end of the school year.

Ramirez arrived in Harlingen last summer and remained with the Hawks
for one season.

The young coach developed great relationships with his players and
in a sense, lit a fire under them the defense didn't know it needed.

Ramirez and his defensive staff produced Valley Morning Star All-
Valley first teamers Israel Neeley (linebacker) and David Nerio
(defensive back) and second-teamer Rolando Salinas (linebacker).

Ramirez said he'd miss the players at South as well as his fellow
coaches, the faculty and administration at Harlingen South.

"I couldn't have asked for better kids then the ones at South,"
Ramirez said. "I think Harlingen South has great players. The
teachers, faculty and administration were always very supportive and
it's a great place to coach."

************************************************

From seguingazette.com

June 12, 2008

Dave Campbell's projects district finishes

By Jason Chlapek
The Gazette-Enterprise  

GUADALUPE COUNTY — There’s nowhere to go but up for the Seguin
football team in 2008.

The Matadors not only moved down into Class 4A, they also landed in
arguably the toughest 4A district in the state — 27-4A. The district
itself features three teams ranked in the Dave Campbell’s Texas
Football Top 25 poll.

The Dave Campbell’s Texas Football annual magazine, which will be
released to the public later this month, also picked Seguin to finish
eighth in the district. Seguin coach Jim Carson isn’t buying into it.

“The best Region IV-4A programs in the state minus Calallen are in
our district so somebody had to be picked to finish last, but
luckily, we’re not listening to the prediction,” Carson said. “We’ve
got some good veteran players coming back and some young guys who
stepped up in the spring. I feel good about the things we
accomplished in the spring.”

The Matadors return six players who started at least one game on
offense and five on defense. Among the offensive returnees are wide
receiver D’Shawn Singletary, who also saw time at cornerback in 2007,
running back Dyon Cairo, offensive linemen Jake Castillo, Donald
Fennell, Tyler Griewahn and Isaiah Lampkin. Kyle Hilsberg, who saw
time in five games at quarterback last season, is competing for the
starting signal-caller position with varsity newcomer Brig Gerlich.

Returnees on defense are linebackers Jacob Amescua, Cody Grimsley
and De’Ondre Mitchell, defensive backs Wayne Clemons, Ricky
Hernandez, Ronnie “Bubba” Lawson and Jordan Palacios and defensive
tackle J.D. Rivera.

While Seguin has a new slate of district opponents, the Matadors
still get to spar with San Marcos, who has been their district rival
since the 2002-04 alignment. 

Seguin’s new district consists of five teams who made the playoffs a
year ago with three of them advancing two rounds deep. Those three —
No. 12 Alamo Heights, No. 15 Steele and No. 19 Kerrville Tivy — also
are picked to finish in the top three in the district.

Canyon, who was 6-5 a year ago with its playoff loss to eventual
Division II-4A champion Lake Travis, is predicted to finish fourth,
while San Marcos, 5-6 a year ago with a playoff loss to eventual 5A
state semifinalist Madison, is picked to finish fifth. Clemens, 5-5 a
year ago, and Boerne Champion, 4-6 as Boerne High School in 2007, are
predicted to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, with Seguin
picked to finish eighth. The Matadors were 2-8 in 2007 as members of
25-5A.

Marion, like Seguin, has nowhere to go but up as the Bulldogs also
are picked to finish last in their new home — 27-3A. Marion also has
a year with Glenn Davis under its belt, who completed his first year
in Bulldog Country in 2007.

Marion still has to contend with La Vernia and Luling, who finished
1 and 2, respectively and also have to deal with former district
rivals Poteet and Somerset and 4A refugee Sam Houston.

Marion was 1-9 a year ago, but returns all but eight letterman from
last season, including nine offensive starters and five defensive.
Among the offensive returnees are quarterback Jordan Littlefield,
tailback Keith Carter, tailback/wide receiver Taylor Greene, wide
receiver Curtis Davis, tight end Ricky Gonzales, and offensive
linemen Colt Handy, Paul Heinrich, Nick Spriggs and Andres Vega.

Returning defensively for the Bulldogs are Greene at strong safety,
linebacker Caleb Franke, Vega and Handy both at defensive tackle and
Gonzales at defensive end.

The 27-3A race is expected to be won by La Vernia, who finished 8-3
a year ago with the 26-3A title under its belt. Luling, 4-7 a year
ago, is picked to finish second, while Sam Houston, who missed the
playoffs with a 3-6 mark in 2007, is predicted to finish third.

Rounding out the 27-3A predictions are Poteet (5-6 in 2007) at
fourth, Somerset (2-8 in 2007) at fifth and Marion at sixth.

Navarro, like Marion, is entering its second season with its current
coach Les Goad. Goad was caught by surprise when told his Panthers
were chosen to win the District 28-2A championship.

“The way these preseason polls usually work are they like teams who
have a lot of players coming back, and it’s a bit of a surprise that
we were picked to win because we have just seven starters back,” Goad
said. “Of course, the players we have coming back are good players.”

Navarro finished 6-4 in Goad’s first season at the helm, narrowly
missing the postseason. The Panthers’ new alignment is very similar
to the previous one as Karnes City, Kenedy, Nixon-Smiley, Poth and
Stockdale remain, but Randolph and Yorktown were aligned into new
districts.

Randolph was the 29-2A champion last year, but Goad does not believe
the Ro-Hawks’ absence will make things any easier in the newly-
aligned district.

Goad’s biggest concern entering the 2008 season is the number of
holes he has to fill, particularly at quarterback.

“It’s always tough going into the season without a quarterback with
varsity experience,” he said. “We expect a lot of competition for not
just the quarterback spot, but also other vacated positions once we
start two-a-days [in August].”

All four of Goad’s quarterbacks from 2007 graduated.

Returning for the Panthers are running back Jacob Garcia, who rushed
for more than 1,000 yards in 2007, offensive lineman/defensive
lineman Kyle Mueller, who started both ways in 2007, offensive
lineman Skyler Richter, linebackers Zach Aguilar and Justin Newton
and defensive back Will Valdez.

Navarro is picked to win the district, while Karnes City, 6-4 a year
ago, is predicted to finish second. Poth, who was 7-4 in 2007, is
picked to finish third followed by Stockdale (10-3 in 2007), Nixon-
Smiley (1-9 in 2007) and Kenedy (0-10 in 2007). 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 13, 2008 

Area Vals and Sals

Karnes County

Ryan Matthew Esparza has been named valedictorian of Runge High
School. He is the son of Danny and Sally Esparza. He plans to attend
Rensselear Plytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. to major in biomedical
engineering and continue his education leading to a M.D. in
orthopedics. His accomplishments include excelling in math and
science; member of National Honor Society and FFA; participated in
various sports and mentored students. 

Jordan Elizabeth Esparza has been named salutatorian of Runge High
School. She is the daughter of Danny and Sally Esparza. She plans to
attend Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to major in nursing to become a nurse
anesthetist. Her accomplishments include excelling in language arts;
member of National Honor Society and FFA; being Miss Karnes County
2007. 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 16, 2008 

Bloomington makes Goad new AD/football coach
By MIKE FORMAN 

Brad Williams and Lonnie Goad were already acquainted with each
other and they’ll soon be working together.

Williams, the interim superintendent of the Bloomington school
district, on Monday hired Goad as the Bobcats’ athletic director and
head football coach. Goad will replace Shawn Brown, who resigned at
the end of the school year after one season at Bloomington.

Goad was the defensive coordinator at Sealy last season and spent
the previous five seasons as the defensive coordinator at Sinton.

“I know Mr. Williams and I like working for good people,” Goad said.
“I’m also looking forward to becoming a head coach. They’re not just
giving away head coaching and athletic director’s jobs.”

Williams said the district received around 15 applications for the
position after advertising for just over a week before he decided to
go with Goad, who was a candidate for the position last year.

“He has a variety of experience at the large schools and the small
schools,” Williams said. “I’ve seen his teams play and they’re
disciplined and well thought of. I like his demeanor and he fits in
well with what our expectations are in Bloomington.”

Goad will become Bloomington’s fifth athletic director and head
football coach in the last six seasons. The Bobcats won their first
three football games last season before losing their last seven,
extending their district losing streak to 27 games. Bloomington
hasn’t had a winning season since 1998 and hasn’t advanced to the
playoffs since 1999.

“I think there’s a chance for improvement at Bloomington,” Goad
said. “The key is establishing a belief system. It’s hard to have
that when you’ve had such a revolving door. It takes time to develop.
They did not get in the situation overnight and you cannot get out of
it overnight. It’s a work in progress. You have to have patience and
take the time to make things happen.”

Goad, who is the brother of former Kenedy and current Navarro coach
Les Goad, began his coaching career in Las Cruces, N.M. He has also
coached at Kenedy, New Braunfels Canyon, San Antonio East Central and
San Antonio Southwest.

Having coached at Sinton, Goad is familiar with Refugio, Taft,
Skidmore-Tynan, Odem and Banquete, who will be Bloomington’s foes in
District 30-2A the next two seasons.

“We played a lot of those schools when I was at Sinton and I know
some of the head coaches,” Goad said. “I want to get to work as soon
as possible. I’ll spend most of the summer learning the kids’ names
and giving them a chance to learn about me.”

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 18, 2008

Drought hurting local farmers and ranchers

By Kevin Matula


With the beginning of summer almost underway, the situation for
local farmers and ranchers does not look very good.

"Overall, all the field crops are in horrible shape," Karnes County
Extension Agent Dennis Hale said. 

Hale notes that the lack of measurable rain has contributed to the
field crop situation. He said that the county has not received
measurable rain since last year this time. 

"Fall, and winter, and spring have been dry," Hale said. "And what
we’ve got have been two-tenths here, three-tenths there... so the
field crop situation is not good... across the board. The ones that
are still in decent shape are getting worse by the day."

He says that the heat, lack of rain, and high winds are major
contributing factors to the bad field crop situation. 

"A number of the crops are beyond help," Hale said. "It wouldn’t
matter if it rained today, it wouldn’t change them, they’ll be a
total loss." 

He does note that if it were to rain today, crops such as cotton
could be saved, and could help farmers make a crop. Wheat has already
been harvested. 

Hay has also been affected by the drought.

"By this time of year we should already have one hay cutting done,
and already starting to grow the second hay cutting," Hale said. "And
what hay cutting they have had has been very, very low, some haven’t
even had a hay cutting."

He said that even if it starts raining, hay production will be less
than it should be. 

"Seventy percent of our rainfall normally falls in April, May and
June, that’s kind of on the average," Hale said. "And about thirty
percent of our annual rainfall falls in September and October."

"The odds are against us... once we get out of June... the odds are
that hay production will be lower than usual." 

Hale says that the cattle situation is bad but not as bad as the
field crop situation. 

"Our cattle numbers from the last drought have never quite
recovered, so it’s not like we’re ‘fully stocked’ and we’re certainly
low on grass, but it hasn’t reached epidemic proportions yet."

According to Hale, he knows some producers that are feeding hay and
feeding supplemental feed.

"Normally those cows would be knee deep in grass and wouldn’t be fed
hay or supplemental feed," Hale said. "I haven’t heard of anyone yet
selling off cows due to the drought." 

However, Hale said that if it doesn’t rain this summer, that might
just happen. 

"Grass growth is not going to be out there and they (ranchers) are
going to either have to feed them or they’re going to have to sell
some of them."

According to him, the difference between this drought and the last
big drought is that feed prices are substantially higher and cattle
prices aren’t as good as the last big drought.

"The last drought you were actually able to feed your cattle through
the drought which is pretty tough to do," Hale said.

He notes that showers are great, but the ranchers and farmers need,
what he calls agriculturally significant rain, where the rains are
heavy such as five inches. 

According to Hale, even though the county has been affected by the
drought, these conditions will probably have no effect on next year’s
field crop and the hay crop. 

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 18, 2008

Kenedy city council discusses water tower problems

By Cathy Passmore


At the conclusion of the workshop with Veolia Water Capital prior to
the regular City of Kenedy city council meeting, discussion continued
about the water problem that had occurred at the Otto Kaiser Memorial
Hospital recently when all of the water in its tower was drained. 

Council members were quite concerned and discussed that this would
have been avoided had some of the features that are soon to be
implemented under the new contract with Veolia been installed.

"What happened that caused the water leak?" asked Mayor Randy Garza.

"Failure of a valve in place to detect the leak and shut it off
didn’t work," answered Veolia Water Project Manager Ray Borroum. "The
tower was drained of water at 2:00 a.m. by the time the leak was
discovered," Borroum said. The fire department was called in to help
and be on standby until the problem was fixed.

"This shows how much the SCADA System (Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition) will help once it is installed at the hospital and
school water system areas," Councilman Ken Reiley said.

"As soon as the contract is ready and approved by the council, such
measures will be put into place. In the meantime, one device that is
compatible with the soon to be installed system could be put into
place now," Reiley added.

Councilman Bob Patton agreed, along with Mayor Garza that in the
meantime a contingency plan needs to be in place as to who, what, and
where to call in an emergency situation like the lack of water at the
hospital.

The finalization and renewal of the Veolia Water Capital contract
offering was tabled to the next meeting after final revisions have
been made.

Ray Kroll, the new executive director for the Karnes County Economic
Development Corporation, was introduced to the council.

"I am looking forward to working with the council and citizens of
Karnes County," Kroll said. "My phone is in my pocket and my door
will be open to hear ideas and concerns. I have high expectations in
working with the Kenedy City Council."

Council members said that they also have high expectations.

City Manager Reggie Winters had several items for the council to
discuss.

"The suggested process to approve the bills for payment has been
given to you and will be in the council members’ packets every month
to review." Winters said. "Any large bill will be for council’s
approval." 

After discussion, the process for payment was approved.

Winters also noted the Naismith Engineering 2008 Street Assessment
Report has been given to the council to read and review.

"You will note there are seven phases to replace or improve the
streets at a cost of about $17 million to complete over a five year
period," Winters explained. "Also, this report should be shared at
our zoning and planning meeting for the committee’s review." 

The decision on the report was tabled to a future meeting.

Winters then presented an update on the request a few meetings back
to close McCaskill Street from Kenedy Alley to FR792. According to
the proposal to abandon the street, owners of property abutting the
street would be in agreement and Tijerena could then purchase the
area adjacent to his home. Since all the owners had been given the
opportunity to respond to this, the council approved the abandonment,
closure and sale for $592 to Tijerana.

Winters also reported that the city has been notified of an
assessment for payment to the Union Pacific Railroad of $1,500 for a
license for use of land adjacent to the railroad. 

City Attorney Craig McAda suggested that the city could apply for an
easement for the use of the property next to the railroad where city
water lines already exist. He said he will look into getting more
details and the matter will be put on next month’s agenda for
consideration.

McAda also said that the interlocal agreement proposal brought
before the city council at the last meeting from the Community
Council of South Central Texas was ready for approval. The proposal
is in regards to assisting individuals with utility bills on a one-
time basis and who must apply through the city to get the assistance
from the South Central Texas Community Council. The proposal was
approved.

Councilman Felipe Leal brought code compliance issues to the council
for discussion from the Building Standards Commission of Kenedy of
which he is a member.

"My concern is that there is a need for a fund to be developed to
pay for abandoned properties that have buildings to be demolished or
land cleaned up when it is not being done by the owner," Leal said.

Leal also said he is concerned about the issue of all complying with
the building standards without showing favoritism of any kind.

"The Commission members need to all be careful to attain to the
highest standards," Mayor Garza said.

After discussion, the council asked City Attorney McAda to look into
this issue. The need is to bring the property into compliance with
the possible consequence of its sale and going back onto the tax
rolls. These properties involve all of the taxing entities including
the school district. McAda requested an inventory of the properties
in non-compliance. The council approved directing the city attorney
to look into and work on these issues.

As for the issue of funds being raised for the demolition projects,
Councilman Reiley said, "An amount of funds needed for this issue
should be included in next year’s budget."

Councilman Bob Patton reported that the baseball field fees were
still being studied and that there had been a committee for this
matter formed two years ago. At this time discussion centered on the
issue of priority being given to teams who have used the fields in
the past, particularly Little League and other school or youth
groups. After that, other leagues would be allowed to use the fields.
Lights are still needed on the Red Holschak field and discussion with
the school administration has not concluded. 

"I think it would be helpful to have Sandra Lundquist, city
secretary, on the committee," Councilman Patton said. "She is the one
that helps make and keep the baseball schedule for the fields during
the season."

The council decided to table this once again until another meeting
time.

Councilman Ken Reiley reported on a follow-up discussion with El Oso
Water Supply Company and their proposal to sell water to the City of
Kenedy. After discussion, he and the council members agreed that to
seek this supply of water at this time is not the answer.

"But," said Reiley, "perhaps at some time it might work as a backup
for water to the hospital as a stand-by source." 

The possibility for further discussion was left open at this time.

The recommendations for replacing Mae Koerth and Delma Cabellero
with Brenda Ihrig and Barbara Gonzales, respectively, to be on the
Kenedy Public Library Board were approved.

Councilwoman Mary Ann Sanchez made the recommendation that all city
council members attend regular training meetings for council members.

"There are many updates concerning laws and procedures and even
public relations standards that would be very helpful for the
members," Sanchez said. "Most other governing entities require these
training sessions for their members." 

Sanchez said that she had learned a lot at the recent session she
had attended.

Discussion followed and suggestions that such training could be
arranged to occur in at City Hall would be looked into.

At the conclusion of the meeting, City Manager Reggie Winters
reminded the council members about the Chamber of Commerce banquet
that will happen next week on June 20.

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 18, 2008 

University of Houston-Victoria announces names on spring Dean’s List

The University of Houston-Victoria recently released its spring 2008
dean’s list to recognize all undergraduate honor students.

Below is a list of students by school on the dean’s list and their
home cities:

School of Nursing: 

Bay City: Debra Ann Alfaro-Mirelez, Katherine Vern. Baytown: Sandra
Eiland. Blessing: Cannan Garcia. Cypress: William Johnson. Edna:
Michelle Johnson. El Campo: Lisa Mach. Ganado: Rhonda Skoruppa.
Houston: Emily Agasa, Terrie Banks, Maria Isabel De Guzman, Kathleen
Dee, Mary Dela Torre, Fausat Lawal, Roseline Onyedum, Angela Taylor.
Katy: Jennifer Ross. Lake Jackson: Leslie Bateman. Missouri City:
Jessy Kurian, Sukunya Thunyodom. Port Lavaca: Traci Shefcik.
Richmond: Kathleen Beddingfield, Caleb Odesa, Yves Senat, Britt
Smith. Rosenberg: Helen Anyiam. Sugar Land: Olusola Adeniran, Pamela
Galicki, Rita Nwazojie, Roya Saemian. Victoria: Laurie Bubela, Sara
Dohmann, Elizabeth Duran, Heidi Mansy, Marianna Measom, Deborah
Payne, Gwendolyn Schlamb. Webster: Jennifer Srubar. Yorktown:
Patricia Goehring.

School of Arts and Sciences:

Alief: Jonathan Tran. Beeville: Jason Gallagher, Teresa Kozar.
Bloomington: Cannan Garcia. Juan Martinez. Brookshire: Tamara Weeks.
Crossroads: Amy Bolton. Cuero: Neal Tolbert, Danny Tyl. Cypress: Fred
Salas. Damon: Ashlen Brown, Anson Brown. Deer Park: Robert Perez.
East Bernard: Elvis Zapalac. Edna: Mark Branham, Wesley Clifton,
Whitney Damborsky, Chad Guidry, Nathan Sappington. El Campo: Garret
Bubela, Krystal Hernandez, Christopher Ramos. Goliad: Shaye Gohlke,
Magdalena Moreno. Hallettsville: Shadra Pastucha, Donna Philippi.
Houston: Katherine Clark, Ashley Falco, Brooke Grzelak, Tu Ho, Fartun
Jafar, Sahar Minhas, Jonathan Owens, Jacqueline Perez, Ranier Perez,
Denise Todish. Katy: Cheree Monney, Inez; Sarah Anzalotti, Ashley
Bellows, Christie Blaylock, Justin Griffin, Luz Herrador, Heidi
Mitchell, Lauren Mitchell, Heather Montgomery, Paul Sesar, Kendra
Stroud. Kingwood: Michael Tellez. La Ward: Albert Fikes. Longview:
Elizabeth Williams. Missouri City: Belinda Phares, Shawn Sturm.
Palacios: Alysha Diaz. Point Comfort: Joshua Shott. Port Lavaca: Jay
Babcock, Janice Tater. Refugio: Connie Koonce. Rosenberg: Zachary
Bromberg, Mason Gibson, Gabriel Gonzalez, Tarsha Jackson, Sarah
Standley, Sanjay Thadani, Oscar Morales, Ronald Petrusek. Salado:
Tracey Eddy. Seadrift: Terri Kubena, Kimberley Westbrook. Stafford:
Robert Manning, Christopher Thomas. Sugar Land: Anil Ali, Phillip
Gomez, Dinorah Hollingsworth, Nickolas Ibanez, Edna Ihaza, Paul
Marshall, San Nguyen, Ryan Shuck, Katayoun Tavasoli, Lindsey
Thurmond, Paloma Valenzuela, Kelly Ware. Victoria: Chadley Abston,
Aftan Alameda, Tyson Brown, Brent Coates, Melanie Dixon, Jessica
Escobar, Brittany Faas, Annette Fossati, Tracey Gerdes, Ann Gonzales,
Sarah Guilbeaux, Sarah Guseman, Veronica Gutierrez, Jeffrey Harris,
Cherlyn Hodge, Nicholas Jobe, Monica Monroy, Katie Moody, John Moore,
Lacy Orsak, Monette Potra, Guy Proctor, Tracie Quinn, Shirin
Roozegar, Arelecia Ross, Jesus Ruiz, Lauren Simcik, Shannan Stockton,
Marcus Taylor, Galdina Tollefson, Nichol Upton, James Vinson,
Jeramiah Wimberly. Yoakum: Cheri Carroll. Yorktown: Valerie Romans.

School of Business Administration: 

Baytown: Robert Moya. El Campo: Sterling Strarup. Fairfield:
Christie Smith. Fort Worth: Sheketa Young. Houston: Elizabeth
Boxleitner, Timothy Hine, Eboni Pettus, Crystal Ratliff, Phillip
Roberts. Katy: Christina Anderson. Kenedy: Jean Gonzales. League
City: Lindsey Ferguson. Leander: Gabriel McEver. Missouri City:
Kasper Liu. Port Lavaca: Hong Du, John White. Richmond: Stephanie
Chavez, Holly Holderman, Deidre Miller, Lindsey Wiesenborn, Sarah Wu.
Rockwall: Trudy Pryga. Rosenberg: Daniela Abrego, Philip Flores. San
Diego: Kelly Faria. Spring: Kristen Lindley. Stafford: Melany
Guelker, Ranga Rajan Kandoor, Dalene Sykora, Ashley Trevino. Sugar
Land: Widad Abu-Sada, Jimmy Badaoui, Travis Barnhill, Kirsten Freyer,
Matthew Zapalac. Victoria: Olimary Arrisola, Theresa Cooke, Wade
Cooper, Emily Hroch, Shalee John, Valerie Kemp, Chad Kern, David
Mikulenka, Billy Nguyen, Kelly Pafford, Chinh Pham, Jennifer Renken,
Kerry Roddy, Kyle Rother, Amanda Soester, Tiffany Totah, Jonathon
Trcka, Justin Tuneberg, Megan Wright. Wharton: Clifton Black. Yoakum:
Misti Onhaizer. Yorktown: Joy Sixtos.

School of Education and Human Development: 

Angleton: Shelley Kaspar. Bay City: Paulett Collins, Esmeralda
Lopez. Blessing: Estrella Arnold. Boling: Samantha Foisner, Kimberly
Sanchez. Brazoria: Karen Presa. Brenham: Dawn Bolcerek. Brookshire:
Carmen Hernandez. Conroe: Jennifer Atchley-Johnson. Corpus Christi:
Kathrine Otahal. Cuero: Jessica Rudd. Cypress: Pamela Hollister,
Yvonne Meece. East Bernard: Deborah Haltom. Edna: Jessica Franz,
Kelli Koop, Ashley Morton. El Campo: Amber Bram, Stacie Broman,
Kassie Cerny, Cristina Chacon, Traci Faas, Nikki Garcia, Amy Ortiz,
Gretchen Seymour, Amanda Trevino, Hanni Wissinger. Ganado: Katherine
Horelka, Fannin; Amanda Bures. Goliad: Glenda Goynes, Jaquelyn Rubio.
Gonzales: Kelli Stewart. Granbury: Jennifer Forbes, Hallettsville:
Laura Grafe, Jaime Hermes, Nancy McKneely. Houston: Maria Carrillo-
Pena, Krystle Cavanaugh, Suzanne Chamness, Christine Daudet, Jennifer
Flores, Elizabeth Garcia, Kimberly Gibson, Allison Luce, Debra
Marshall, Vanessa Masson, Lap Ngo, Bonifacia Orduno, Janis Rougeau,
Diann Rugg, Nancy Salinas, Courtney Wiltshire, Stephanie Wischmeyer.
Humble: Laura Turner. Hungergord: Leigh Hudgins. Inez: Jill Garner.
Katy: Elizabeth Baker, Brandy Bielik, Julie Breath, Candace Clark,
Carolina Colonia, Clare Dolen, Traci Grange, Donna Harrison, Jessica
Hartwig, Penny Harvey, Julie Hill, Teresa Holland, Kinnari Hoover,
Jennifer Huff, Dana Jehlen, Bonnie Khan, Amanda Kimbrew, Deanna
Martinez, Jennifer Mond, Trudy Moore, Tammy Obrien, Sjominique
Stephens, Angela Sticker, Teresa Sturm, Ashley Traugott, Gina Vidal,
Lis Wicker. Kenedy: Patricia Dunno, Jennifer Gonzales, Bridgit
Hernandez.La Grange: Tenille Adamcik. Louise: Darla Cook, Kasey
Larson. Moulton: Peggy Vanek. Needville: Jennifer Arlitt, Lisa Gooch,
Krista Kehrer, Mandi McNeely, Theresa Sanchez.Nixon: Erin Haws.
Pettus: Denise Jenkins.Port Lavaca: Ruby Curtis, Maria Hernandez,
Lauren Mayo, Corey Rose. Refugio: Leslie Haug. Richmond: Jennifer
Crabtree, Patricia Davey, Bonnie Dumas, Jessica Dunlap, Frances
Hamill, Samuel Hamman, Jennifer McGaughey, Kathleen Pohler, Kara
Riddell.Rosenberg: Laura Rendon. Schulenburg: Monica Kusy, Gloria
Velazquez, Maria Velazquez. Seadrift: Ashley Waghorne. Sealy: Nikolle
Chaney, Rebecca Galyen, Melissa Melton, Dawn Prihoda. Shiner: Sara
Janak, Krystal Patek. Spring: Olleen Galvan. Sugar Land: Karrah
Melendez, Bridget Moore,Heather Roe, Teresa Vazquez. Tivoli: Nora
Duenez, Rhonda Sims. Tynan: Melissa Jostes. Victoria: Alvina
Cranfill, Shannon Cupp, Patricia Dowden, Caroline Findlay, April
Geistman, Willene Gossett, Jessica Horvath, Jennifer Janak, Jennifer
Kitchens, Rebecca Knight, Stacy Malandrakis, Kristen Marshall, Cheryl
McCollough, Kelly Moore, Debra Moreno, Holly Peters, Katrina Pogue,
Hillary Reinartz, Ashley Roell, Amanda Schroeder, Paula Smith,
Sherneice Stalling, Karen Taylor, Yvonne Vasquez, Troy White, Sarah
Young, Machaela Zellmer. Wharton: Kimberly Lynch, Wallis; Leslie
Barron, Kristina Gaona, Petra Garcia, Nancy Gutierrez, Carolyn
Mitchell. Yoakum: Victoria Drozd, Therese Ferry. Yorktown: Heather
Mutchler. 

************************************************

From greenervisionfarms.com

6/20/2008 

Two neat visits
Posted by The Phillips Family 

Heidi and I took a mini-vacation this week on Tuesday and Wednesday
to San Antonio.  While we were down there we picked up a few things
for the store and had two fantastic visits.

We stopped by and visited a great couple who own a little farm
called County Line Farm outside of Kenedy, TX.  The Dorecks have a
small cow-calf operation, a catch-your-own catfish pond (we'll take
the kids back there some time) and a really big garden.  We brought
back some of their yellow squash, okra, and blackeyed peas.  All
grown using organic practices.

The coolest part of our trip was our stop off at Garden-ville in San
Antonio.  We are trying out some of their organic fertilizer and hope
to start selling a few organic gardening supplies at the store (maybe
next year).  We got to meet Malcolm Beck, the founder and one of the
really big pioneers in organic gardening in the Southwest for the
last 50+ years.  We spent a few minutes with him and half an hour or
more with his wife.  They were really encouraging and helpful. 
Hopefully in the next year or so we'll start to implement some of
their suggestions.

All in all it was a fun trip and we're really excited about some of
the ideas we hope to implement in the next year.  Keep an eye out!!

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 22, 2008 

Little League tourneys start this week

Victoria will host the Little League Baseball District 27, Area II
11- and 12-year-old tournament beginning Friday at Elder Field.

Victoria Northeast and Victoria Southeast will be among the seven
teams in the double-elimination tournament. Also competing will be
all-star teams from Ganado, Bloomington, Calhoun County, Industrial
and Edna.

Ganado will face Bloomington at 6 p.m. in the tournament's opener
Friday. Calhoun will play Victoria Northeast on Friday at 8 p.m.

Victoria Southeast will play Industrial on Saturday at 6 p.m. and
Edna will face the Ganado-Bloomington winner on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The tournament's championship game will be on July 4 at 7 p.m. The
Area II winner will advance to play the winner of the Area I
tournament, which will be held in Cuero.

Victoria Northwest and Runge will open the Area I tournament on
Thursday at 6 p.m. Kenedy and Goliad will follow with their game
Thursday at 8 p.m.

On Friday, Karnes City and Cuero will play at 6 p.m. and Victoria
Southwest will face the Runge-Victoria Northwest winner at 8 p.m.

The Area I championship game will be played July 3 at 7 p.m.

Cuero will also host the District 27, Area I 9- and 10-year-old
tournament beginning Thursday. The tournament will have teams from
Victoria Northwest, Victoria Southwest, Cuero, Goliad and Kenedy.

Edna will host the Area II 9- and 10-year-old tournament beginning
Thursday. The teams competing will be Victoria Northeast, Victoria
Southeast, Industrial, Edna, Bloomington, Calhoun County and Ganado.

The District 27 11-year-old tournament will be held in Inez.
Victoria will be repesented by teams from all four leagues -
Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. Cuero will be the
other team in the five-team tournament, which begins Thursday.

Cuero will host the Junior League Area I tournament, which begins
July 3. Victoria West, Kenedy, Karnes City, Goliad, Runge and Cuero
will have teams at the tournament.

The Junior League Area II tournament will begin July 3 and be held
in Port Lavaca. Victoria Southeast, Calhoun County, Industrial,
Ganado and Bloomington will compete in the tournament.

The District 27 11- and 12-year-old softball tournament will be held
in Inez beginning Friday. Victoria Southeast, Cuero, Calhoun County,
Falls City, Kenedy/Karnes City/Runge, Edna and Ganado will make up
the seven-team tournament.

Eight teams - Bloomington, Runge/Karnes City, Edna, Cuero, Goliad,
Industrial, Ganado and Calhoun County - will compete in the District
27 9- and 10-year-old softball tournament, which begins Thursday in
Edna. 

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 18, 2008

School nurse talks to Karnes City school board members about
‘wellness’

By Kevin Matula


Karnes City School District Nurse Bernadette Bluhm updated the board
of trustees at the June 9 meeting on the happenings of the School
Health Advisory Council (SHAC).

"The School Health Advisory Council has been in place for
approximately three years... we’re focusing on the wellness of our
students in our school district," Bluhm said. "In 2006...we had to
bring in a wellness policy to the school district and it was like all
the other surrounding school districts around here we took kind of
what we call a generic policy. We put that into place and it was a
policy to promote general student wellness and to reduce childhood
obesity."

Bluhm said that in doing this, what they needed to incorporate in
the coming years was nutritional guidelines which included:
nutritional education, physical education, physical activity, and
other school based activities along with school employee wellness. 

"We did a nutritional/diet survey last (school) year asking all the
children from the elementary to the junior high to the high school
their favorite foods and what was sad to find out was the first one
was chicken nuggets and the other was pizza and that’s just not very
nutritious," Bluhm said. "But of course I think that’s maybe how our
society is." 

Bluhm notes that if the trends (in childhood obesity) continue, many
experts believe that today’s children might be the first generation
in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.

"And why does it come to the school? Because twenty percent of the
United States population can be found in the ‘school community’, so
they’re focusing on the schools," Bluhm said. "Because of the size
and accessibility of the school community, school health programs are
one of the most effective ways to encourage healthy habits." 

The school district has partnered up with The Alliance for a
Healthier Generation, for five year period.

"Basically, there’s no money involved, but lots of resources at the
federal level and they will fly national, well-known experts in the
field of physical education, physical activity, which are two
separate categories we’re learning about," District Grant Coordinator
Sherry Sommers said.

These experts will also be helping in health education, and they
will also work right along with the cafeteria and help with food
choices. 

According to Sommers, the experts might even be able to get the
school district in a pilot program, to get a no-cost curriculum. 

Sommers said that the way the district was contacted about the
program was because the program wanted to target the San Antonio
area; ten rural school districts, and Karnes City was one of the ten
that were chosen.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s web site is
www.healthiergeneration.org. The alliance is partnered with The
Clinton Foundation and The American Heart Association. 

In other business, Jason Young from LaMarr Womack and Associates
updated the board on the new science lab addition to the junior high
school.

According to Superintendent Frances Penland, the projected price tag
of the addition and remodel of current science rooms will be
$733,237. The projected completion date is October 23, 2008 with
normal allowances for weather delays.

"The three existing classrooms have been completely gutted and an
access has been cut into the exterior wall to connect the new
facility to the existing building," Assistant Junior High Principal
Robert Higginbotham said. "The two labs on each side will be expanded
a bit and will no longer be labs...they will be classrooms. The
middle classroom will be converted into a lab prep room and a storage
room for lab materials and equipment. The remaining area will be
converted into hallway to connect the two new labs, prep room,
storage room and two renovated classrooms to each other and the main
building. This will give us two state-of-the-art science labs with
prep area and storage in addition to two fully equipped classrooms"

************************************************

From lauriekendrick.wordpress.com

June 21, 2008

This, I Believe…I Think

Sometimes, I reach a point where I stop and make a semi conscious
assessment of where I am in my life. Sometimes, I feel that all that
I am and what I believe in is starting to erode….like the lettering
in the photo above.

Oy.

Lately, age has become a factor. It’s hard for me to believe I’ve
lived 49 years. Forty-years???? I honestly don’t know how that
happened. My forties have been such a blur. So much bullshit happened
in the past eight years.

Then again, there’s a lot that didn’t happen and I should be
grateful for the absence.

And if I were to express gratitude, to whom would I make the gesture? 

God????

Ah yes….God.

Wanna know something about Laurie and God?

I was raised Catholic in a small town South Texas. The church was
comprised of a congregation consisting mostly of ridiculously devout
Mexicanos, Polish families, Czechs and then the random,
Welsh/Scottish “ne’er do wells” known as the Kendrick clan. 

The Mexicans have such an interesting relationship with the church.
Mary is a celebrated fixture, as are the pantheon of saints and of
course, there’s always Jesus. There used to be much superstition
among the old school Mexicans.. so much so that where the church was
concerned, Catholic dogma ranked second. And since Mexicanos were the
predominate force, that’s to whom the church catered everything.


The parish in which I was raised, used to have an order of nuns
(Carmelite nuns, I think) who taught Catechism. For you non
Catholics, Catechism is an indoctrination of all things Catholic.
Brainwashing? Yeah..sure, whatever. 

These nuns I remember wore habits that were every bit similar to the
Islamic burqua we see today. These women were completely covered—-the
only thing visible were their faces and hands. Everything else was
covered up tighter than a jar of pork rinds in Fallujah.

They were mean and they had the damnedest accents. I don’t know the
countries they called home, but they weren’t Americans. They
comprised the church choir–for a while anyway. And when they tried to
sing? It was an adenoid fest. The most nasal cacophony I’d ever heard
in my life. Imagine, if you will, a slide whistle that can barely
enunciate.

“Cod in tree puh-son; blassahd tree-nee-tee” .

I thought I was listening to bad auditions for a local production of
“Flower Drum Song”.

Horrible.

And the horror didn’t stop there. Their English was abysmal. The
above example of their attempt singing English language hymns wasn’t
that far off the mark.

Check this out—I was confirmed at age 11. The nuns handled all
details. After the ceremony, I looked down at the certificate of
confirmation. Someone named “Loxie Kednik” just became an official
congregate of the St. Cornelius Catholic Church of Karnes City, Texas.

I stopped going to Mass after graduating from high school. I started
going again a few years ago, but grew tired of it’s monotony. Nothing
had changed and that, I found to be a problem. Every once in a while,
my Catholic roots will emerge and I’ll go to a church to sit and
commune. But I don’t feel I need to go to church to pray and/or make
my intentions known. I believe I can do that anywhere. The church as
an edifice of worship, adds structure–literally and physically. And
that’s fine if your faith requires that.

As for my faith? 

I’ve been asked before if I believe in God. Interesting question. I
know I believe in something that’s bigger than me. Bigger than you,
too. What it is exactly, I’m not sure.

If I were asked to personify God, I was raised to believe He looks
something like this:



Long white hair and beard….hung out on a cloud. But that’s just an
image of God that man can relate to.

Now, speaking of image. It’s written in the Bible, maybe the Torah
or both that we’re made in the “image of God”. That’s confounding to
me. I mean, how can that be? As I see it, it’s a flawed concept. As
mortal humans, our lives are finite. We’re corporeal, too—-we have
bodies. How is that in any way, like God, the omniscient, omnipotent,
supernatural being we’re taught to believe that he is??

I don’t know, but with few exceptions, just about every culture on
the planet believes in a supreme entity.


The safety in numbers aspect of that offers me no reprieve, because
I’ll admit, I sometimes have my doubts.

On 9/11, I had my doubts.

As I watched the World Trade Center crumble, I wondered where God
was. Ironic, isn’t it that that’s the reason why the towers were
attacked in the first place? Think about it: the 19 hijackers firmly
believed they were doing it for Allah. They felt they had every right
to kill the infidel Americans because they/we didn’t believe as they
did. God was on their side.

Wait, isn’t he on our side too?? “God Bless America” and all that???
Greatest country on Earth, right?


But where was God that day?

Where was He as desperate people jumped from the top floors of Tower
One as it burned?

Where was God during the Oklahoma City bombing?

Katrina?

Thailand during the tsunami?

The California wildfires?

Virginia Tech?

Where is he when children are kidnapped, raped and murdered?

We hear so much about free will and God. OK, fine, but would someone
please care to explain to me how in the hell free will comes in to
play with that one?? How is it a child’s free will to experience that?

I posed that question to a New Age, metaphysical type a while back.
She tried to convince me that the child had a contract with God–upon
conception no less–to be a scapegoat for mankind. The child’s soul
“agreed” to be kidnapped, raped and tortured so that perhaps, new
laws could be implemented about kidnapping and then perhaps, maybe
fewer children might suffer the same fate.

Huh?

That’s just human drivel and a weak sauce attempt to explain the
inexplicable. And that leads me to this: why do New Agers and
evangelicals and Holy Men dressed by Sherpas in Tibet even try to
explain what they don’t know? No one is THAT enlightened!! And that
includes you too, Pope Benedict!! 

The truth is, no one has the answers. You ask eight people, you’ll
get eight very skewed answers.

You ask a rabbi, you’ll get a Jewish take—with guilt.

As a Calvinist-based Presbyterian and he’ll tell you it was your
destiny to ask these questions.

Ask an evangelical and you’ll get her perspective—-for the next
eight hours.

Ask an atheist and you’ll get ridiculed.

I don’t know why bad things happen to good people. I don’t know why
good things happen to bad people. But I do think that there is
somehow, a connection that exists.

I know that’s simplifying the impossible. But at one time, I knew it
to be true.

In 1991, I was in a horrible accident. The truck in which I was a
passenger drove off the road and over an overpass into a creek below.
The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. I went through the
windshield and broke a million bones. There were several surgeries, a
lengthy hospital stay.. I was in pelvic traction along with a full
leg cast. That meant I was immobilized—I couldn’t move and remained
that way for almost two months. In addition to the intense pain, I
found out that my injuries had compromised my ability to have
children. I lapsed into a state of depression.

One afternoon, a nurse came in and noticed I was down. She said that
I should be grateful that I survived the accident because there was a
reason I was spared. God had something in store for me.

My ego of course, immediately conjured visions of grandeur: I’d win
an Oscar; I’d develop a cure for cancer. I’d coach the Astros to
their first World Series win.

Fast forward two years:

I was working for a popular morning radio show here in Houston. I
received a letter handwritten in pen, on notebook paper and it was
from a boy, a local High School senior who was writing to tell me
thank you.

He had been very depressed. He was hanging around with the wrong
bunch of kids, got into drugs..parents were divorced and uninvolved
with his life…a life spinning out of control. His young existence was
in shambles. So, one morning, he decides to wake up in order to die.

With his radio on our station, he grabbed a handgun and sits on his
bed. He put the gun in his mouth…he could taste the metal and the
gunpowder. He placed his thumb on the trigger. And just as he was
about to pull the trigger, he said he heard me say something so
funny, that he had to remove the gun from his mouth to laugh. And he
went on to say that it was in that moment he knew that if he could
still laugh at something, even at the bleakest, lowest moment of his
life, that maybe, things weren’t that bad. Maybe he could go on
living and life just might be OK.

At that moment, I got it!!! I was spared so that he was spared. 

I have no idea what happened to him, but I’d like to believe that
his existence is now making or will make a difference to someone else.

Life is about our interconnectivity.

Then, on September 11th, 2001, none of that made sense anymore.

In all honestly, it still doesn’t. I can’t explain any of that. I
don’t have a handle on what God is and what God isn’t. I only know
what I know and I’m not even sure of that.

Of that which I do know, I can tell you that Life isn’t clear cut.
Life isn’t at all simple or laid out in easy to comprehend black or
white concepts–now in four fun flavors in a new, convenient travel
size!!!

Hardly.

Sometimes white is black and black is white. It’s a conundrum.

Take prayer, for instance. I am convinced when we pray to God–the
Universe, the Cosmos…whatever the vernacular… we might not be given
what we want, but we’ll always be given what we need. And sometimes,
in a most circuitous way. 

For example: 

We ask for riches and it never materializes in gold bricks. We’re
given a brain to figure it out and the stamina with which to make
money; to be prosperous. 
We ask for courage and sometimes, we’re given huge problems and pain
to overcome. Awareness is earned; never “given”

We pray for love and rarely does it come on the form of a beautiful
Goddess incarnate or a handsome prince on a white horse. There are
times when love comes in the form of being able to help people we
don’t even know 
In the grand scheme of things when it comes to God, what we want and
what we need are two different things.

I think it all boils down to this: Life is at times, quite messy; it
is difficult and it is involved.   Sometimes, it’s ugly.

And sometimes, it’s monumentally beautiful.

We’re conceived through the fertilization of sperm and egg. We’re
born and we live. Life is what we make of it. It’s all about the
choices we make. If we decide to move or not move. To speak or not to
speak. To turn left or turn right.

To love or to hate.

There are consequences for every action and for every inaction.

It’s all about perspective and that means ultimately, we deem Life
as either good or bad.   It’s our call. It’s all about the human
experience as we attempt to survive the human condition. It’s so much
more about us than we realize.


Frankly, I think THAT’S about as close as I can get to explaining
everything….especially free will.

Life IS our call. OUR CALL and God and our belief in “Him”–whatever
that happens to be—fills in the cracks. What we don’t get and can’t
explain–or don’t want to explain, we hand over to Him…the divine
catch all.

This, I believe.

Well, that, plus I’m also beginning to think that blind faith is
emotional Spackle for the human psyche.

************************************************

From rsoe.hu

June 22, 2008

Federal Aviation Agency
Report by: Southwest Region Operations Center
Preliminary Data

Airplane incident or accident information 
GLIDE Code VI-20080622-9747-USA 
Date/Time 22.06.2008 - 15:00:00 
Event category Incident 
Country USA 
State Texas 
County - 
Location Kenedy 
Airplane type HUSK 
Airplane ID 719MA 
Event phase Landing 
Airplane task Pleasure 
Damage level Minor 
Crew number 1 persons 
Passenger number 0 persons 
Injured crew number 0 persons 
Injured passanger number 0 persons 
Ground number 0 persons 
Description 
Aircraft on landing, went off the end of the runway and struck a
fence, near kenedy, tx 

************************************************

From http://www.cousinconnect.com/d/a/176217

23-Jun-2008

ADAMS : COWEY : MUNSELLE 

I am searching for the grave of my great-grandmother, ELLEN
KATHERINE COWEY MUNSELLE. She died in Dewville, Gonzales County,
Texas in 1891. She was the daughter of Charles William Cowey and
Hester Ann Rodgers Adams, and she married James Lawrence MUNSELLE in
Karnes County, Texas on 14 Sep 1884. Would greatly appreciate any
help.

************************************************

From seguingazette.com

June 24, 2008

Local shelter seeks donations

By Ron Maloney
The Gazette-Enterprise  

SEGUIN — The Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter got a $70,000
grant in March to be applied toward renovations that will cost an
estimated $250,000, but might never get to spend it.

That’s because the grant, by the Algur H. and Virginia Meadows
Foundation, is an incentive grant that must be matched dollar for
dollar locally and so far the center that houses abused women and
their children has managed to raise only $10,000, and time is running
out, said Executive Director Linda Rutherford.

“We have until Aug. 1 to match it and we have $60,000 to go,”
Rutherford said. “We’re very concerned because if we can’t raise the
match, they could say they’ll never give us money again and we don’t
want that to happen.”

The center, located in the Seguin area, houses up to seven women and
20 children at one time in an environment that is as home-like as
Rutherford and her staff can make it.

And that’s pretty challenging because of myriad maintenance and
upkeep issues that have continued to pile up over the years.

Recently, members of the Seguin Police Officers Association and the
Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Seguin program helped with painting
and other repairs. 

There are still big issues at the center, though such as floors and
walls damaged by flooding, antiquated and inadequate septic systems,
lack of central air conditioning, family, instruction and storage
space and landscaping issues including grading and parking.

The center has seven full-time employees, four part-timers and a
number of volunteers. It is supported by the state Human Health and
Resources Commission, and is helped as well by private donations and
by its own thrift store, called “The Cranny,” located on River Street
near city hall. It is also funded by the Guadalupe County United Way.

But with rising fuel prices percolating through the economy,
donations are becoming more and more difficult for non-profits to
get, Rutherford said.

“There are many non-profits here, and we’ve been very lucky we have
people who sustain us with donations — we’re very fortunate for their
concern,” Rutherford said. “People in Guadalupe County are good about
giving, but a lot of people are feeling the strain right now.”

Still, Rutherford said, the amount the center would need to raise to
match the Meadows grant — $60,000 — would represent less than $1 from
each Guadalupe County resident.

“The board has discussed a fundraiser, but we don’t have a lot of
time,” Rutherford said. “If you have one dollar you can donate, put
it in an envelop and send it to us.”

The majority of the women helped by the center fall between the ages
of 18 and 44, and 98 percent of them are low-income. Most are from
Guadalupe, Gonzales, Karnes and Wilson counties, but that is not a
requirement for service.

The goal is to provide clients with short term, safe housing and get
them hooked up with appropriate counseling, social, job or legal
assistance so they can gain the resources necessary to get out of an
abusive environment and become self-sufficient.

Two of those clients spoke a little bit recently about what the
center has done for them.

One, a local woman, is making her second visit to the shelter, and
expects to be there three weeks before she’s able to move into her
own apartment.

“I didn’t have anybody to help,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d
have done. But they’ve helped me get out of bad situations, get my
life stable and get back on my feet.”

The second comes from some distance away, fleeing to Texas from an
abusive situation in another state because Texas, she said, has
always felt like home.

“My husband tried to kill me,” the woman said. “I’ve been here about
a month and a half, and this shelter has given me so much. I’ve been
able to re-establish relationships with my kids and with myself.
There’s someone here to talk to 24/7, and they open up a lot of
resources to you. This is a place where you can heal.”

Rutherford said the center works hard to take care of the needs of
its clients. She just wishes it could do so in an environment that
was a little less moldy, had a little less rotten wood or stripped-up
floors and maybe a yard that didn’t funnel water into the building in
heavy rains — or flood its septic systems, which are so outclassed
the staff must ration bathing and other activities so as not to back
up the sewage.

“I don’t want people to come out here and look at sand bags, and I
don’t like them to see rotten wood,” Rutherford said. “We clean every
day and mop the floors, but you couldn’t tell because they’re all so
bad.”

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 25, 2008

Runge ISD receives math instruction grant

(AUSTIN) — Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, announced today
(Friday) that Runge ISD will receive a $34,572 grant from the Texas
Education Agency for its Mathematics Instructional Coaches Pilot
Program. 

Beeville ISD received a similar grant totaling $254,572 for the two
school districts in Senate District 21. 

The grant will allow districts to contract with an approved service
provider to assist in developing the content knowledge and
instructional expertise of teachers who instruct students in
mathematics at the middle, junior high, or high school levels. 

"I am pleased that Runge ISD will receive this significant grant
that helps support mathematics teachers and provide them with
instructional assistance," Senator Zaffirini said. "I also
congratulate and am proud of the other deserving academic
institutions that demonstrated a strong commitment to educational
excellence and look forward the confirmation of this preliminary
award." 

Confirmation of the award is pending verification by the Texas
Education Agency that the grants comply with statutory requirements
and with the intent and purposes of the grant program as applied to
the academic institutions. 

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 25, 2008

Details emerge about downtown Karnes City car crash

By Kevin Matula


The police investigation concerning the hit and run accident into
Jonathan Schulz’s insurance building that occurred Saturday, June 14
at 3:48 am, has uncovered that Karnes City resident Jacob Eric Lopez
was the owner of the 1999 green Cadillac Deville at the time of the
accident.

According to the police report, upon arrival to the scene the
vehicle appeared to be driving on E. Calvert as it approached the
intersection of Lady Badger Dr. and E. Calvert, the vehicle continued
straight onto the private property (owned by Jonathan Schulz). 

The vehicle appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed to take
the curve, but no skid marks were on the roadway.

Once the vehicle left the roadway it struck a century plant
approximately eight inches thick, according to the police report.

The vehicle traveled through the parking area, then hit the Farmers
insurance sign that was set in the ground. The vehicle then hit the
building resulting in major damage to the exterior and interior, a
large hole was made in the side of the building. 

The vehicle was then found resting upside down on its roof between
three large trees. 

The driver of the vehicle was not at the scene, but witnesses say
they saw one male get out of the vehicle and run south into the
residential area of Karnes City, but he couldn’t be identified.

The police report stated that, "There was also an extremely strong
odor of an alcoholic beverage inside the vehicle and a beer bottle
and wine bottle were found (surrounding the vehicle)."

The keys were left in the ignition by the driver. 

When the police notified the owner, Jacob Eric Lopez, he stated that
he was not driving the vehicle and he believed someone took his
vehicle due to the fact that he always leaves his vehicle unlocked
with the keys in the center console.

The investigation to identify the driver is still underway.

Anyone with information regarding this accident is encouraged to
contact the Karnes City Police Department at 780-2300.

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 25, 2008

Falls City school board approves proposed facility projects

By Kevin Matula


The Falls City ISD Board of Trustees was updated on various projects
by community members, and other board members at Monday night’s
meeting.

"Coach (Mark) Kirchhoff (athletic director) had asked me to possibly
look into getting more power into the field house," electrician and
community member Gene Swierc said. "I promised Ms. Bettin
(superintendent) we would take one of the air conditioners and put it
in the cafeteria and install one in the band hall, and we can’t even
do that without upgrading the electrical."

What he found was that there is an available circuit in an existing
switch gear.

"As far as my labor to put it in, if y’all air condition for the
kids, I’ll put it in, if y’all pay for materials," Swierc said. "I
think it needs to be done, it’s long overdue."

The board approved to have 100-amp electrical service installed to
supply the air conditioner in the band hall and field house.

Trustee Alfie Kowalik updated the board on his project he is taking
care of, the locker room.

"Basically we’re moving the existing toilets, three urinals, two
hand sinks, three old shower heads…" Kowalik said. "We’re adding
three new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act ) comfort height
toilets, three new wall hung hand sinks, fourteen shower valves...ten
for the boys (Falls City student athletes) and four for the visitors."

According to Kowalik, the project can be done fairly quickly before
two-a-day football practices begin. 

The board also brought up a past subject; consolidating to one
polling place for school board elections. Finding people to want to
sit at three different polling places (Cestohowa, Hobson and Falls
City) is one major reason for the want to consolidate, but some think
it might cause some hard feelings.

"I know the deal about saving some money, but I think it’s really
going to cause some hard feelings," School Board Vice-President
Patrick Jarzombek said. "I know Karnes City did it, and I understand
change, but it’s got its good points and its bad points."

Karnes City ISD consolidated from five polling places to one. With
the exception of Kowalik, other board members agreed that it’s time
for the change. 

"What if we do it one more year? I mean realistically, how many
people are we talking about putting out of their way? Hobson is like
three miles away... and I’m not saying their votes (Hobson and
Cestohowa) aren’t important," Kowalik said. 

The savings would be around $800. Currently, voting clerks get paid
$10 per hour, and the judges get paid $12 per hour, which was decided
at the May meeting.

There was no action taken, although board members agreed to stay
with three polling sites until the next election held.

Also, at the beginning of the meeting Board President Raymond Dziuk
said that Superintendent Bettin had a telephone request from
community member Steven Swierc for a board member packet that is all
inclusive (every board member has a packet at every meeting
concerning different items on the agenda). 

Dziuk said that they contacted legal counsel and they agreed that as
a courtesy they would give him a copy of the packet. Each piece of
paper in the packet cost ten cents a copy, his total ended up being
$3.80. Bettin did say that it is in the district policy that all the
requests must be written. Dziuk said that E-mailed requests are also
acceptable.

The board of trustees hired Elizabeth DeLeon as a Spanish teacher
and Bryan Osuna was hired as a teacher/coach. Osuna has coached for
Pettus as the girl’s head basketball coach before.

************************************************

From thecountywide.com

June 25, 2008

The Countywide earns awards at state contest

The Countywide, Karnes County’s newspaper, brought home several
awards from the Texas Press Association’s 2008 Better Newspaper
Contest.

Competing against similar newspapers from around the state, The
Countywide was presented with the awards during the Texas Press
Association’s summer convention in Arlington on Saturday.

Editor-Publisher Joe Baker earned first place honors in the "sports
photo" category. Baker also earned fourth place honors in the
"feature photo" category.

The Countywide earned second place honors in the "general
excellence" category.

The Countywide earned third place honors in the "sports coverage"
category.

Columnist Cletus Bianchi earned 4th place honors in the "column
writing" category.

The Countywide earned third place in the "sweepstakes" category,
accumulating 275 points based on the other awards received.

"We are always happy when we do well in statewide competition," said
Editor-Publisher Joe Baker. "There are a lot of great newspapers in
Texas and we are delighted to be recognized for excellence among our
peers. Credit goes to Mr. Bianchi, the great staff we have and the
support of the community we live in. We hope to keep making The
Countywide better and better with each passing year."

************************************************

From seguingazette.com

June 26, 2008

New CCSCT executive director to start in July

By Michael Cary 

SEGUIN — The Community Council of South Central Texas has a new
executive director set to start work on Monday, July 7.

The board voted unanimously in May to offer the position to Robert
Lucio, a senior program officer for the Texas Department of Housing
and Community Affairs in Austin.

Lucio has more than 30 years of experience in the area of
technology, and he has a master’s degree in management and finance
from Webster University and a bachelor of science degree in math and
physics from Southwest Texas State University.

CCSCT’s former executive director, Louis Ramirez, tendered his
resignation in November after reports surfaced that the agency had an
outstanding debt of about $80,000 in a line of credit from Wells
Fargo Bank and the CCSCT’s family planning program was more than
$150,000 in debt.

Michael Gerber, executive director of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs, the agency that funnels funds to CCSCT
for programs, had publicly called for Ramirez’s resignation.

Lucio said the agency now has a solid foundation, and that he has
the experience to do the job of executive director.

“I know I can turn this thing around,” Lucio said.

“He has a lot of qualifications and I think he will be able to get
the CCSCT moving in the right direction,” Adolfo Aguilar, then-board
chairman, said when the board voted to approve Lucio.

The CCSCT board also elected a new slate of officers on June 20.

Comal Commissioner Gregory Parker will serve as the board chairman;
Jose Muñoz of Comal County is first vice-chair; Elisa Rahmes of
Karnes County is second vice-chair; Emmettt Rotter of Wilson County
is secretary; Karnes County Judge Alger Kendall is treasurer; and
Joel Garcia of Bandera County is parliamentarian.

Parker said the CCSCT is primed and ready for a financial turnaround.

“We want to get off cost reimbursement and restore the image of the
organization,” Parker said.

He also said the board of directors will spend the next six months
on strategic planning and its mission statement.

“We also will have a debt management plan to get us out of the red,”
he said. 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 28, 2008

ROUNDUP

COLLEGE STATION STATE 4-H ROUNDUP

Congratulations to the 4-H members who competed at State 4-H Roundup
in College Station, June 10 –13. They are scholarship recipients,
Stephen Janak, Oren Kilgore and Kaitlyn Spann; Ninth place consumer
decision making team, Shaylyn Drozd, Melanie Janssen and Katelyn
Rather; 11th place share the fun skit team, Melanie Janssen, Stephen
Janak, Caitlin Reinecke, Carroll Powtizky and Tasha Kloesel; eighth
place share the fun dance team, Erin Hessler and Teneal Reinecke;
seventh place rifle team, Paul Hahn, Stephen Janak and James Hood;
Colton Fischer won two blue ribbons and Ashley Tucker won two red
ribbons with their photography entries.

COUNTY RECORD BOOK CONTEST

Congratulations to the following 4-H members for placing in the
county record book contest: Beef category – juniors: Samuel Morris,
first place; Dylan Hempel, second place; intermediates: Justin
Albrecht, first place; Dustin Hempel, second place; seniors: Seth
Tater, first place, Chase Goodman, second place, James Hood, third
place. Clothing and textile category: intermediate – Cheyenne
Borchert, first place. Consumer education category: seniors – Shaylyn
Drozd, first place; Melanie Janssen, second place. Citizenship
category: senior – Tasha Kloesel, first place. Food and nutrition
category: junior – Jessica Loredo, first place; intermediate –
Kerilyn Wendel, first place; senior – Katelyn Rather, first place.
Goat category: intermediate – Travis Johnston, first place.
Horticulture category: junior – Seth Garrett, first place. Horse
category: senior – Kristi Hinton. Lamb category: intermediate – Allan
Parsons, first place. Leadership category: senior – Stephen Janak,
first place. Poultry category: junior – Kelly Spann, first place.
Rabbit category: senior – Ashley Tucker. Shooting sports category:
intermediate – Samuel Portis, first place; seniors – Aaron Portis,
first place, John Wilson, second place, Jory Schroeder, third place.
Sport fishing category: junior – Cody Bishop, first place. Swine
category: junior – Amanda Albrecht, first place, River Koehl, second
place; intermediates – Breana Tater, first place, Casey Tucker,
second place; seniors – Teneal Reinecke, first place, Meagan
Boedecker, second place, Carroll Powitzky, third place, Caitlin
Reinecke, fourth place. Wildlife and fisheries category: junior –
Kelley Wood, first place; senior – Meagan Lesak, first place,
Christopher Wood, second place.

LAMB AND GOAT WORKSHOP

A lamb and goat workshop will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 8,
at the VLS Pavilion. The Biela family from Karnes County will conduct
the workshop. They will discuss selection, starting projects on feed,
general health, and breaking/training. The Bielas have been very
successful throughout their show career on both the county and state
level. There will be live animals utilized for demonstration purposes.

MANAGER APPRECIATION DINNER

A club manager and assistant manager appreciation dinner and club
update meeting will be at 6 p.m. July 10 at the extension office. All
managers and assistants are encouraged to attend.

HARVEST OF FUN PLANNING MEETING

A Harvest of Fun planning meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. July
16, in conference Room B at the extension office. All adult
volunteers are invited to attend as well as 4-H members.

DISTRICT RECORD BOOK JUDGING

District record book judging will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July
17 at the Victoria County 4-H Activity Center. Please notify the
extension office by July 2 if you are interested in serving as a judge.

COMMERCIAL STEER PROJECT 

There has been some recent interest by families concerning
participating in the commercial steer project at San Antonio and
Houston. If you would like to learn more about what the project
consists of please call Jeff Perry at 361-582-6303.

BROILERS FOR SMALL ANIMAL PROJECT

Looking for a small animal project? Why not raise broilers. This six-
week project is relatively inexpensive, doesn’t require much space,
and is a lot of fun. All you need is a 10 foot x 12 foot area
(indoors or out), feeders, waterers, a cardboard brooder ring, wood
shavings, some drop lighting, and a love for chickens. Start with 50
baby chicks and enter your best set of three in the livestock show at
the end of six weeks. Contact Sam Womble, county extension agent, at
361-575-4581 for more information. We’d love to hear from you and
help you try your hand at raising broilers.

The Victoria County 4-H Program has a new Web site. The site
features everything from club information to project information,
newsletters to handbooks, and leadership opportunities to contest
information. We are excited about this opportunity to provide instant
information via the web, and we hope that you will find it useful. To
access the new Web site go to our local extension Web site at
http://victoria-tx.tamu.edu and click on the “Victoria County 4-H
Website” link at the top of the page. 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 28, 2008 

2008 Advocate All-Area Baseball Team

Pitchers: Travis Tomek, jr., Bay City; Denver Diefenbach, jr., St.
Joseph; Dakota Pinney, so., Flatonia; Jon DeLaRosa, sr., Hallettsville.

Catcher: Chance Leissner, jr., Bay City.

First Base: Kendall Kusak, jr., Shiner St. Paul

Second Base: Chance Harryman, jr., Cuero.

Third Base: Mike Vickery, sr., Edna.

Shortstop: Shaun Rutherford, sr., Bay City.

Outfielders: Tyler Arndt, jr., Cuero; Dylan Langhamer, sr.,
Schulenburg; Kevin Daniels, so., St. Joseph.

Utility: Kyle Condel, sr., Shiner.

Designated Hitter: Hunter Pinney, sr., Flatonia.

Pitchers: Blake Payne, sr., Memorial; Drew Holland, jr., Karnes
City; Ryan Deal, sr., Refugio; Matthew Hamman, jr., El Campo; Cody
Martinez jr., Gonzales.

Catcher: Chris Whitehead, sr., Edna & Gil Hodges, jr., Shiner St.
Paul.

First Base: Jordan Quinn, sr., Edna.

Second Base: D.J. Pustka, sr., Shiner & Rance Whitaker, sr., Calhoun.

Third Base: Cameron Bestezny, sr., Hallettsville.

Shortstop: Matt Rocha, sr., Refugio & Clayton Mikes, sr.,
Hallettsville Sacred Heart.

Outfielders: Colby Hines, jr., Bay City; J.D. Rivera, sr., Wharton,
Mark Alvarado, sr., Memorial.

Utility: Landon Appling, so., El Campo & Ckody Burton, so., Gonzales.

Designated Hitter: Roman Madrid, sr., Memorial & Trey Parma, sr.,
Yorktown & Frank Kassner, jr., Bloomington.

Memorial: Chris Hernandez, Zach Pacheco; St. Joseph: Don Paul
DuBose, Andre DelBosque, Kevin Van Ry; Bay City: Derek Montgomery,
Chad Barrett; El Campo: Bryan Skow, Andrew Kinder; Calhoun: Joel
Lopez, Bobby Faltesek, A.J. Pina, Hunter Hammond; Beeville: Oscar
Banda; Wharton: Chris Acuna, Chris Looper; Cuero: Troy Ruiz, Ross
Goebel, Patrick Nami, Kolton Smith; Gonzales: Marshall Lambrecht,
Jacob Bird, Curt LaFleur, Tim Decker, Landon Bozka; Palacios: Craig
Wilson, David Sandoval, David Hunt, Russell Laws; Yoakum: Tres Tyler,
Mat Berkovsky, Covey Morrow, J.R. Love, Preston Kocian; Goliad:
Matthew Podschelne, Billy Sippel; East Bernard: James Powell, Clinton
Graves, Matt Stelzel, Aaron Alexander, Cameron Orsak; Boling: Sean
Hollis, Trevor Archer, Tanner Thompson; Van Vleck: Dalton Rodriguez,
A.J. McCreary, Kade Kucera, Elvis Cortinez; Hallettsville: Tanner
Carson, Colby Schindler, Nolan Besetzny, Garrett Henke, Chad Bujnoch,
Jameson Grasshoff, C.T. Klimitchek; Edna: Rocky Vaclavik, Ross Orsak;
Weimar: Jeremy Maupin, Paul Edwards; Schulenburg: Cody Broun, Marty
Bigham, Eric Schrader; Tidehaven: Matt Rocha, Jarad Ramirez;
Industrial: Jordan Chovanec; Rice Consolidated: Trent Popp; Ganado:
Jason Staff; Yorktown: Kalvin Corpus, Kevin Owen; Karnes City: Andres
Coronado; Nixon-Smiley: Chester Casas; Kenedy: Thomas Caballero;
Bloomington: Tim Cantu, Philly Garcia, Arnulfo Garza; Refugio:
Malcolm Whitmire, Jourdan Ortiz; Flatonia: Cote Schacherl, Chris
Migl, Zach Mikulenka, Dallas Ponder, Sean Masek; Shiner: Drew
Stafford, Julian Longoria, Ryan Lawrence, Gabe McAfee; Louise: Wesley
Branscum; Moulton: Alan Buehring; Runge: Chris Torres; Woodsboro:
Matt Escamilla, Clint Bingenheimer, Marcus Jaramillo, Dustin
Capistran; Pettus: Jake Stanley, Alonzo Carreon, Mauro Torres;
Hallettsville Sacred Heart: Colby Mikes, Garet Pustejovsky, Marshall
Sevcik, Brandon Bludau, Andrew Herndon, Grant Pustejovsky, Aaron
Schaefer; Shiner St. Paul: Josh Soto, Ben Van Sickle, Travis Sauer,
Blue Hybner, Kevin Patek, Devin Patek; Faith Academy: Kody Smith, Tim
Villarreal. 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 28, 2008 

Northeast cruises to 24-0 win

Jerry Vasquez, Jonathan Ortega and Trent Whitley hit home runs to
lead Victoria Northeast to a 24-0 District 27 Area II tournament win
over Victoria Southeast on Saturday at Elder Field.

Northeast will play Bloomington in a battle of unbeaten teams Monday
at 6 p.m.

Area I 10-Year-Old Baseball

CUERO – Ben Williams, Dillon Delgadillo and Kameron Payton combined
on a no-hitter Saturday to lead Victoria Northwest to a 11-1 win over
Cuero. Northwest plays for the championship Monday at 7 p.m.

11-12-Year-Old Baseball

INEZ – Victoria Northwest captured a 3-2 win over Victoria
Northeast. Northeast plays Victoria Northwest today at 6 p.m.

Area II 9-10-Year-Old Baseball

EDNA – Bryce Martinez’s home run was one of 19 hits for Victoria
Northeast, which claimed a 14-6 win over Victoria Southeast.
Northeast plays Edna on Monday at 6 p.m.

11-12-Year-Old Softball

INEZ - Calhoun County defeated Cuero 21-1 and Falls City defeated
Kenedy/Karnes City/Runge 2-1 on Saturday. 

9-10-Year-Old Softball

EDNA – In Friday night’s games, Industrial beat Goliad 18-6 and
Ganado edged Calhoun County 8-7. 

************************************************

From victoriaadvocate.com

June 30, 2008

EVERYONE GETS IN THE ACT
Team effort leads Northwest to 9-1 win in 11- and 12-year-old Area
II baseball

BY MIKE FORMAN

The Victoria Northeast All-Stars were selected in a vote of their
coaches and fellow players and the voters were obviously well informed.

Northeast remained the only unbeaten team in the District 27 Area II
11- and 12-year-old tournament with a 9-1 win over the Bloomington
All-Stars on Monday evening at Elder Field.

Eight of the 12 players on the Northeast roster had a hit, including
consecutive singles by substitutes Kyle Kutchka, Kyle Davidson and
Josh Cantu in a four-run third inning.

Six players scored at least one run, as Northeast guaranteed itself
a spot in the championship game.

“Everybody takes turns on this team,” Northeast catcher A.J. Calvo
said. “We do not call it subbing, we call it our rotation.”

“We can put any nine on this team anywhere,” outfielder Tyler
Stocker said. “We all can play just about any position and we can
still win.”

Bloomington scored a run in the top of the first inning on singles
by Ruben Aguirre and Javier Reyes, which was the first time Northeast
had trailed in three tournament games and the first run it had
surrendered after winning its first two games by a combined score of
42-0.

Bloomington pitcher Keanu Escamilla struck out the first four
batters he faced before Hunter Perkins doubled and came home on a
single by Calvo and Stocker followed with a two-run home run.”

“He was the best pitcher we have faced,” Stocker said. “We just had
to scoot back in the batter’s box.”

“Hunter started it with the double and we knew we could do it,”
Calvo said. “Hunter also came in and did it on the mound.”

Perkins relieved starter Trent Salas in the first inning and yielded
only two hits and struck out six.

“Hunter came in and did the job,” Northeast manager Carlos Salas
said. “He was at 17 pitches before I decided to let him go all the
way. We still have lots of pitching.”

Jerry Vasquez had two hits for Northeast, which played errorless
defense.

Northeast will play Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Elder Field for the
chance to move on to the district tournament.

If Northeast loses on Wednesday, it would play again Thursday at 7
p.m.

“We just need to put the ball in play,” Davidson said, “and play
more defense.”

Area I 11-12 baseball

CUERO – Austin Davis went 4-for-4 and broke a 7-7 tie with a two-run
double in the sixth inning to lead Victoria Northwest to a 9-7 win
over Cuero in the District 27 Area I 11- and 12-year-old baseball
tournament.

Unbeaten Northwest advances to Wednesday’s 7 p.m. championship game
against either Cuero, Goliad or Victoria Southeast.

Cameron Zafereo went 3-for-3 and Cody Janak pitched the final two
innings to get the victory for Northwest.

11-year-old baseball

INEZ – Cole Urban and Timothy Gleinser hit home runs to lead
Victoria Northeast to a 26-0 win over Victoria Southwest in the
District 27 11-year-old baseball tournament.

In the later game, Victoria Northwest beat Victoria Southeast 18-6.
Southwest and Northwest will meet in a 7 p.m. elimination game today.

Area I 9-10 baseball

CUERO – Blake Henneke struck out six en route to throwing a two-
hitter and leading Victoria Northwest to an 11-1 win over Cuero in
the championship game of the District 27 Area I 9- and 10-year-old
baseball tournament.

Dillon Delgadillo went 3-for-4 with two doubles, Elijah Lopez went 2-
for-4 with a triple, and Dylan redding went 1-for-2 with a triple for
Northwest.

Area II 9-10 baseball

EDNA – Industrial defeated Victoria Southeast 10-0 and Calhoun
County downed Ganado 14-2 in the District 27, Area II 9-and 10-year-
old tournament on Sunday night.

11-12 softball

INEZ – Victoria Southeast blanked Karnes City/Kenedy/Runge 12-0.

In the earlier game, Edna topped Falls City 5-3. Edna will play
Calhoun on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Today, Cuero will face Victoria Southeast at 6 p.m. and Falls City
will play Ganado at 8 p.m.

9-10 softball

EDNA – Bloomington beat Cuero 13-9 in the District 27 9-and 10-year-
old tournament Sunday. 

************************************************