January 1, 2009

Funding will help ensure first responders have the resources to keep Texas communities safe, Cornyn says. The Lometa Volunteer Fire Department will receive a grant of $130,343 to support firefighters and their work as first responders, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced Wednesday. The funding can be used for training and support operations, and to purchase firefighter safety and rescue equipment.

Ross McSwain, author of See No Evil, Speak No Evil, A History of Mob Violence in the Texas Heartland, 1869-1904, will speak about his book at the Rylander Library on Tuesday January 6th at 1:00 p.m. A book signing will follow. All interested in Texas history are invited.

The Freemasons of San Saba Masonic Lodge will meet Saturday evening, January 3rd at the lodge hall in San Saba. Members, their ladies and OES are asked to bring a complimentary covered side dish, salad, bread or dessert. A meal of ribs will be served at 6:30 PM, provided by the Past Master Douglas H.

On Friday, December 12th, San Saba Middle School took five students to the Region 7 district band tryouts at Brady High School. Nickie Ortiz, Mikayla Eden, Ethan Ingram, Ryan Guidroz and Heather Wilcox competed with other 7th and 8th graders from our district. 7th grader Mikayla Eden and 8th graders Ryan Guidroz and Heather Wilcox placed high enough to advance and spent Saturday at Brownwood High School.

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior Senator, today announced the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), through the Economic Development Administration, has awarded the Development District of Central Texas and the Central Texas Council of Governments with a $150,000 grant to establish an economic development planning framework, process, and strategy that supports private capital investment and job creation in the region. “As a former small business owner, I recognize the i ...

AUSTIN, Texas - Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Division have arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas. “Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities,” said Col.

Marian Deans, San Saba Players in Progress (PIP) Coach/Coordinator, accepts this generous donation from the RVOS Lodge President, Michael Deans. Participating Insurance Agents not pictured include Bill Kirkpatrick, Jimmy Jones, and David Potts. San Saba PIP's extended a big THANK YOU to RVOS Insurance Company!

You probably began 2008 with the best intentions: lose a few pounds, reduce debt, start saving for college or retirement. You may have even written New Year’s resolutions and started working on them. Here are a few suggestions: First, make a budget. Compare what’s going out with what’s coming in. If your expenses exceed your income, you’ll never get ahead. Track what you spend.

The LCRA Board of Directors approved four resolutions related to the LCRA-SAWS Water Project, giving guidance focused on protecting and benefitting the lower Colorado River basin. As work on the feasibility studies progresses, LCRA staff requested guidance on key policy assumptions related to: projections for firm municipal and industrial water needs in the lower Colorado River basin; planning for expected needs for agricultural irrigation; use of groundwater for agricultural needs and how wate ...

SSMS Beginners Band performs some traditional Christmas Music at the Band Concert. Mr. Jeff Pannell shows off his singing abilities with the MS band on “Blue Christmas.” Members of the 4th grade sing during part of the band concert. The HS Band with friends perform traiditional Christmas Music with a loud and fresh twist.

Navy Fireman Dakota D. Saunders, son of Teresa L. and John S. Saunders of Lometa, Texas, along with fellow sailors and Marines aboard USS Dubuque (LPD 8), Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group (PELSEG), homeported in San Diego, Calif., recently returned from a six-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation. During the deployment, the PELSEG conducted maritime security operations, theater security cooperation, community relations projects, and participated with coalition na ...

Weather across West Central Texas can change dramatically and lead to the development of flash floods, drought, winter storms, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and even wildfires. Here are the 5 most significant weather related events for 2008 which impacted West Central Texas. Location/Storm Event: Wildfire on February 25, no fatalities; Northwest Hill Country moderate drought all year, no fatalities; Concho Valley and Brown County tornadoes April 9-10, no fatalities; Anson wind storm on April ...

The minimum Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax rate paid by Texas employers in Calendar Year (CY) 2009 will be 0.26 percent, up from a 25-year low in CY 2008. The new rate is the first increase in the employer UI tax rate since CY 2004, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) announced today.

Perhaps this should not be called a Biblical Gem because after many years of writing Gems, this is the first time I am offering information without a scripture to discuss. I will do two things in this document that you have not seen from me before. I will repeat information on Iraq that I have used before, because many may not have seen it and I think it is appropriate for this time in history.

It’s that time of year when we all think about changes we want to make in our lives. For many people, those resolutions include a vow to eat more healthfully, exercise or lose weight. Before you start thinking about how to make your change and assure it happens, you have to figure out what changes you want to make.

Doug Suggs had surgery on his foot last week. He will be on crutches several weeks. Before his surgery Doug was able to go to Sonora on a preachers hunt. Robert Baugh and Trey Dobbs also went. DiAnne Scott had surgery on her knee last Tuesday. The doctor told her she would be able to walk right away.

2008 came and is on the verge of going into the shadows. As we look back at this year we ask how did we do? Are we happy with the things that took place last year? Did we leave some things undone? Are there more things that we can accomplish?

90 Years Ago-Jan. 2, 1919 War is what Sherman said it was and then some. Since peace has perched upon the Olive branch, if some humane official will now suppress the swivel chair writers of wooden editorials, bulletins and some calamity befall the author of Confessions of Roxanne (she must have been a gay old sister) we can manage to get through life with the other little vexations that daily beset us.....W.D.

We have arrived at the end of the old year and the new one begins on Thursday. We had no rain at all in December. That brings our years’ total to 17.7 inches. It is hard to imagine that we received 46.5 last year. This is the driest year we have had in 25 years.

Reading Recommendations: The Heretic Queen, Heiress of Misfortune, Pharaohs Beloved, Michelle Moran. The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty's Royal family, all with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former queen, Nefertiti. The girl's deceased family has been branded as heretical, and no one in Egypt will speak their names.

Seems as if we would never get through with the holidays of the Christmas celebration, but here we are right in the middle of the one on the advent of the New Year. While we are certainly assured of being rather weary of all the Turkey, Dressing, and all the trimmings that seem truly traditional of the Xmas season, it will be good to welcome the New Year with table fare of Blackeyed peas, sow-belly, Cabbage, & cornbread or whatever you deem most appropriate for New Year’s day.

Several years ago my wife and I took some young married couples to a marriage retreat and seminar that a good friend of mine was teaching. We had a great time while we were there and at the very end we all stood up and repeated our marriage vows to each other.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. There were times in my life when I said "I wish I could start all over, just put all this mess behind me and get a brand new start at life".

Have you ever wondered how the Stargazer predicts astronomical events with such certainty? Does it seem like he has a cosmic crystal ball? Actually what I use is far more reliable than the devices of fortune tellers. In foretelling night sky events, I rely on smart people who know how to calculate the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars and other heavenly objects we enjoy watching.

Saul set his heart to demonize and persecute Christians. Christ took hold of Him on a lonely desert road outside Damascus, Syria. Without sight for three days, he contemplated this Jesus he so vehemently opposed. A man named Ananias went to Saul and spoke to him about Jesus. “Why do you delay?

This will be the last bit of news from Bend for the year of 2008. Santa Claus didn’t bring the rain that we so badly need. Saturday a cold wind was blowing out of the North, and it was hard to breathe because of all the dirt and dust in the air.

This is the final column of the year! I cannot believe the year has ended so quickly. Since school let out on the 19th, I have had a house full of company. I met my sister in Dallas on Monday. United Airlines lost her luggage, so we had to travel to San Antonio, where they promised the luggage would be delivered.

The "Take a Child Hunting" program of Operation Orphans, Inc. enjoyed another successful season of taking less fortunate kids deer hunting in the Texas hill country. During the five hunts held this season, 237 boys and girls from 24 children's homes harvested 259 animals. 42 ranches hosted the young hunters and their guides.

The Texas Department of State Health Services' annual airdrop of vaccine baits, credited with turning the tide against the spread of rabies strains carried by coyotes and gray foxes, will begin next week. Some 2.9 million baits will be dropped over parts of 41 Texas counties. "The purpose has been to create and maintain zones of vaccinated coyotes in South Texas and gray foxes in West-Central Texas to prevent the spread of rabies to other animals and humans and to eventually eliminate canine a ...

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples is pleased to announce $5 million is now available to help farmers and ranchers improve production efficiency and air quality by upgrading their farm equipment through the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP). TERP, operated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), provides financial assistance to replace older diesel or gasoline-powered engines, thereby reducing harmful air emissions. “A greener Texas is a cleaner Texas, and that’s wh ...

In Texas, we take pride in doing things on a grand scale. When it comes to cotton production, I am proud Lone Star State cotton producers make a Texas-sized contribution to the world, growing nearly a tenth of all the world’s cotton right here in Texas. In fact, Texas is the leading cotton producer in the U.S., growing almost half the nation’s cotton supply last year and more than one-third of the nation’s output in 2008.

C.D. (Leek) Sanderson, 82, of San Saba passed away Saturday, December 20, 2008 in San Saba. C.D. (Leek) was born February 16, 1926 in San Saba, the son of William Mitchel Sanderson and Ima Gean Robbins Sanderson. Leek worked in the air conditioning repair industry and served with the U.S.

Velma Marie Ketchum, 89, of San Saba passed away Wednesday, December 24, 2008 in Brownwood. Velma was born December 6, 1919 in Cherokee, Texas, the daughter of James P. Ketchum and Lillian Herring Ketchum. Velma worked as a housekeeper for the Eventide Nursing Home and attended the Parkview Baptist Church. Velma is survived by one brother: James Ketchum and his wife Jeannine of Burnet and one sister: Louise Hyman of Richland Springs and several nieces and nephews. Velma is preceded in death b ...

The San Saba Lady Dillos recorded one win and one loss before the Christmas Break. We started off District with a bang with a big home win over Dublin (74-31) and then we suffered our first loss of the year falling at Bangs (43-31). We jumped on Dublin early and never looked back.

Erica Hoyt graduated with honors from Allied Health Careers Friday, December 5th as a State Board Certified Dental Assistant. Erica is currently working in Lampasas and is excited to start her new career.

The San Saba 4-H's Shooting Sports team started in January working on achieving the progressive skill designations in the National Rifle Association (NRA) Marksmanship Program. Our fourth quarter has come to an end and the awards have been earned! Ron Gerhart has qualified for Marksman 1st Class shooting a light rifle in the standing position.

B Team-Most of the teams already mentioned do not have "B" teams on our schedule this year. Also, there is no tournament for "B" teams on our schedule this year, so this part will be much shorter. If a team comes to our place and does not have a "B"

Cherokee ISD Jan. 5-9 Monday Lunch: Chicken Nuggets, Corn,Mashed Potatoes, Salad, Apricots, Milk, Tuesday Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup, Grilled Cheese, Crackers, Fruit Cups,Milk Wednesday Lunch: Wedge Pizza, Green Beans, French Fries, Orange Jell-O, Milk Thursday Lunch: Meat & Bean Chalupa, Rice, Cheese, Salad, Salsa, Peaches, Milk Friday Lunch: Cheese Hamburger, French Fries, Salad, Pickles, Onions, Brownies, Milk Richland Springs ISD Jan. 5-9 Monday Breakfast: B ...

• Alcoholic Beverage Code Referencing Minors • UNDERAGE DRINKING LAWS Minors who purchase, attempt to purchase, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages, as well as minors who are intoxicated in public or misrepresent their age to obtain alcoholic beverages, face the following consequences: · Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500 · Alcohol awareness class · 8 to 40 hours community service · 30 to 180 days loss or denial of driver’s license If a minor is seven ...