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Jasper and Tyler County Wildfire Update

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

Monday, August 28, 2023- The Red Cross Southeast and Deep East volunteers have been hard at work since day one of the wildfires in Jasper and Tyler County. They have opened two shelters in Jasper County and one in Tyler Count to be able to help all the residents who were forced to evacuate their homes due to the large fire. Once the residents were allowed to go back into their homes, we were able to close the shelters down and open a resource center where anyone who was affected by the fire could come by and receive help.

As of right now the wildfire has burned over 3,000 acres and it is only 80% contained. We are expecting the fire to hopefully die off in the next few days. Tomorrow we will be sending emergency response vehicles into the community where the damage has occurred and speaking to the residents to see how we can help them. We will also be distributing emergency supplies to those who need them.

Our headquarters at Ebenezer Baptist Church will be closing today and we will be moving back to our chapter office in Orange Texas. Although our headquarters will no longer be in Jasper County it does not mean that we will not be there. We plan to have a team in the community every day as long as the residents need us. We ask that anyone who needs assistance to please contact us at 1800-RED-CROSS (1800-733-2767).

BECOME A RED CROSS VOLUNTEER The need to help during disasters has never been greater. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday for more information. Our most-needed disaster positions include:

•            SHELTER SUPPORT: Help at a shelter during a large disaster by welcoming and registering residents, serving meals, setting up cots, distributing blankets and personal hygiene kits, and providing information and other assistance to people in need.

•            HEALTH SERVICES: We also need volunteers who can use their professional skills as licensed healthcare providers to deliver hands-on support, including care and education to people staying at a shelter during a large disaster. Qualified licenses include RN, LPN, LVN, EMT, Paramedic, MD, DO, PA, NP and APRN.

•            DISASTER ACTION TEAM: While big hurricanes get the most news coverage, smaller disasters, such as home fires, are no less devastating to those affected. Join your local Disaster Action Team to help families in need by providing food, lodging, comfort, recovery assistance, and other support.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Help people affected by disasters by donating to support Red Cross Disaster Relief.  Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to, and help people recover from disasters big and small. Call, click, or text to give, visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds, and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

Medicare 101 Presentation (Polk County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

We will dive into Medicare, enrollment times, parts of Medicare, and Medicare options, also we will discuss resources that might also be available to assist you. There will also be a question and answer session after the presentation for any questions you may have.

Date and Time
Friday, Sep 8, 2023
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT
Location
Livingston Public Library 707 N Tyler Ave Livingston TX 77351
Fees/Admission
Free No Charge
Contact Information
9365373979
Send Email

Angelina College Athletics Weekly Update

By
Gary Stallard
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Greetings all, and welcome to another year of Angelina College Athletics. I hope your summer was great, and I hope you’re ready to get back into the swing of everything.

Our AC athletes are back on campus and hitting the practice fields already. On Sunday we held our annual Meet the Roadrunners banquet, and this Friday marks the opening weekend of Lady Roadrunner and Roadrunner soccer.

Here’s a quick rundown for you:

Meet the Roadrunner Banquet:

Sunday’s annual Meet the Roadrunner Banquet brought together our student-athletes and their families in one big gathering. There was a slide show/recap of a phenomenal 2022-2023 year at AC Athletics (including two teams – men’s soccer and softball – qualifying for national tournaments in the same year for the first time in AC history), and a challenge from president Dr. Michael Simon to “Beat that!”

Head coaches then brought their players forward for introductions and comments about the upcoming seasons.

The Roadrunner Foundation hosted the event, while Raising Cane’s sponsored and provided the meal.

Angelina College’s Ana Rendon runs her team through a drill during Wednesday’s practice session. The Lady Roadrunners open the regular season as part of a women’s/men’s doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Northeast Texas Community College. (Gary Stallard/AC Athletics photo)

AC Soccer Teams’ Open Season on Friday

With the NJCAA soccer season opening every August, players don’t get a ton of time to prepare, especially considering they don’t arrive on their respective campuses until the very beginning of the month.

Nevertheless, both the Lady Roadrunners and Roadrunners will kick off their 2023 campaigns this Friday, September 1 at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant.

The Lady ‘Runners, under first-year head coach Orlando Cervantes, kick-off at 2:30 p.m., and the Roadrunners and first-year head coach Martin Melchor follow at 5 p.m.

Both teams will play their home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 5 against Paris College. Game time is 5 p.m. for the Lady Roadrunners and 7:30 p.m. for the Roadrunners.

A tailgate party will take place before the games. Contact Brett Reeves (mareeves@angelina.edu) for more information.

The Angelina College men’s soccer team poses for a team photo during a recent Media Day. The Roadrunners open the 2023 regular season on Friday as part of a women’s/men’s doubleheader at Northeast Texas Community College. (Gary Stallard/AC Athletics photo)

To view the full schedule of Angelina College Athletics events, visit angelinaathletics.com.

The email address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.

 

ERCOT Expects Tight Grid Conditions, Requests Conservation Today from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

(Austin, TX) – Due to a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and forecasted low wind generation, operating reserves for ERCOT are expected to be low in the afternoon and evening. As a result, ERCOT is asking Texans to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, today, August 29, from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. CT.  We expect similar conditions to persist through tomorrow and ask Texans to stay tuned for additional communications.

Today’s conservation appeal does not indicate that ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential to enter emergency operations this evening because of a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and forecasted low wind generation. ERCOT will continue to closely monitor conditions throughout the day and will keep the public informed through our communications channels.

ERCOT is requesting all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities.

ERCOT continues to use additional tools to manage the grid reliably, including using reserve power, calling upon reductions by large electric customers who have volunteered to lower their energy use, and bringing more generation online sooner. ERCOT is also working with out-of-state Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Market Participants to obtain additional power generation capacity. ERCOT has also requested Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) enforcement discretion, which allows a generator to extend its service/run-time/operations to help meet demand, if needed, and maintain grid reliability.

Conservation is a widely used industry tool that can help lower demand for a specific period of peak demand time, which is typically late afternoon into the evening hours. Energy-saving tips can be found on the TXANS webpage at ercot.com/txans.

If you are experiencing an outage at this time, it is local in nature and not related to overall grid reliability. Please check with your local electric provider for more information.

Why the Request to Reduce Usage?

  • Wind. Wind generation is forecasted to be lower this afternoon/evening during peak demand time.
  • Thermal Generation. High level of unexpected thermal generation outages.

Peak Demand

  • ERCOT set a new, all-time, unofficial peak demand record of 85,435 MW on August 10, 2023.
  • In 2022, the August peak demand was 78,465 MW.
  • This summer, ERCOT has set 10 new all-time peak demand records.
  • Last summer, ERCOT set 11 new peak demand records with a high of 80,148 MW on July 20.

Consumer Assistance

  • Public Utility Commission of Texas Hotline: 1-888-782-8477

Stay Updated

  • Sign up for TXANS notifications on the TXANS webpage.
  • Download the ERCOT Mobile App for additional notifications: iOS | Android.
  • Monitor real-time and extended conditions at ercot.com.
  • Subscribe to ERCOT Emergency Alerts which are not sent through TXANS notifications.
  • Follow ERCOT on Twitter (@ERCOT_ISO), Facebook (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), and LinkedIn (ERCOT).

ERCOT Communications

Hay Considerations During These Difficult, Dry Times

By
Cary Sims
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At this writing, the weather forecasts that I reference show no real chance of rain in our part of the world. Hay buying to fill the shortfall has begun in earnest.

Let’s take some time and put hay purchasing decisions on equal footing. We’ll examine how to price hay equally by weight. When buying hay, I know too many producers who ask about the size of the bale without knowing anything about the weight or its quality.

It should be stated that folks who buy hay ‘by the ton’ are already where we should be. When you purchase hay by the ton then one really does not care what size the bale is. If you stack a flatbed trailer with 4X4s or 5X6s, purchasing by weight is the smartest way to go.

Thus, for the many cattlemen who still buy hay by the bale, it seems a nearly impossible task to eyeball a bale of hay and determine the quantity and quality of hay that’s within it. To make it more difficult, you must match the asking price to the other prices for hay that match loosely by bale size. It truly is a daunting task.

To help us get a better idea of the volume of hay in a bale, let us use some basic equations that we learned in geometry in high school. A round bale is nothing more than a cylinder. The volume of a cylinder is measured as 3.14 times the radius squared times the height of the cylinder (V= π R2 x H). If we apply that to a 4X4 bale of hay, we come up with a volume of 50.27 cubic feet. If you take that same formula and apply it to a 5 by 5 bale of hay, then you come up to 98.18 cubic feet. Surprisingly, a 5X5 bale is indeed double the volume of a 4X4.

For those who are interested and the remainder of the common bale sizes, here are the basic bale sizes: 4X4 = 50.27

4X5 = 78.54

4X6 = 113.10

5X5 = 98.18

5X6 = 141.37

Research from several universities and commercial sites says that hay density can vary from 9 to 12 pounds per square foot. In the bales I have examined, I have seen a very loose bale of hay at just under 9 lbs. per square foot and others as high as 11 lbs. per square foot.  But for simplicity, I’m going to assume a density of 10 lbs per cubic foot.  At 10 lbs/square foot, a 4X4 would be about 500 lbs. and a 5X5 would be just under 1,000 lbs., coming in around 980 lbs.

Even with the assumptions above, using a good set of public scales would be an excellent choice. At a national gas station chain in our town, the first time across the scales to get the weight is $13.50 and the next time is just $4.  So for less than $20, you can take a full load of hay and then an empty load of hay. Take the difference between the two weights and divide by the number of bales. You’ll then know the average weight of the bales. Bonus tip, fill up your gas tank before each weight to eliminate any error caused by the fuel weight.

Not convinced? We’ll take a hard look at a $60 bale of hay. If it is a loosely wrapped 4X4, then you could be spending $0.13 per pound. But if was a tightly baled, 5X5 round bale, you could end up with an investment of $0.06 per pound of hay.

And finally, let’s look at this another way. If you are confident that the $60, loosely wrapped (at 9 lbs. per square foot), 4X4 was a good purchase, then you could also justify spending $140 on a tightly wrapped (at 11 lbs. per square foot), 5X5 bale.  Run the math for yourself.

Cattlemen run a business with incredibly tight margins. I tip my hat to those who do well year after year with increasing input costs and facing unpredictable weather. Let the numbers above prod you and encourage you to make wise decisions as we continue to wait for rain.

SFA Part Time Job and Volunteer Career Fair (Angelina County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

Companies and organizations interested in hiring current SFA students for part-time or volunteer work are invited to attend SFA’s Part-Time Job & Internship Fair. The registration deadline for companies/organizations is August 30th.

Date and Time
Wednesday, Sep 6, 2023
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM CDT
Location
Grand Ballroom, Baker Pattillo Student Center, Stephen F. Austin State University Campus
Fees/Admission
Company registration is $75 and $50 for non-profit/government agencies.
Website
https://www.sfasu.edu/ccpd/upcoming-events
Contact Information
SFA Center for Career & Professional Development
Send Email

Red Cross Opens Shelters for Those Evacuated from Wildfires

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

The American Red Cross volunteers have opened two emergency evacuation shelters in Jasper County and a shelter in Tyler County. As the fire continues to rage out of control in our Southeast and Deep East chapter area our teams are there ready to support those in need.

As of last night, we had many people show up at our evacuation center in Ebenezer Baptist Church for comfort and support and had 7 stay overnight. In Tyler County we also had 7 people show up last night looking for a place to stay and we were happy to be able to provide that shelter for them at Colmesneil High School. Our shelters will remain open as long as the community needs us.

Jasper County:
Ebenezer Baptist Church, 1277 CR 44, Jasper, TX 75951
Jasper Harvest Church, 1501 South Wheeler, Jasper, TX 75951

Tyler County:
Colmesneil High School, 610 W Elder St, Colmesneil, TX 75938

Anyone is welcome at Red Cross shelters, including those with service animals. Our shelters provide visitors with a place to sleep, meals, beverages, snacks, comfort, and care.

The Red Cross urges everyone to follow evacuation orders from local law enforcement and to have an emergency kit ready to go. Find a shelter by visiting redcross.org/shelters or download the free Red Cross Emergency App, which includes wildfire safety tips. The app is available in app stores by searching for American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

If possible, people who stay in a Red Cross shelter should bring prescription medications, extra clothing, pillows, blankets, hygiene supplies, other comfort items and important documents. It is also recommended to bring special items for children such as diapers, formula, and toys.

The Red Cross delivers help to anyone regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or citizenship status. People who have disaster-caused needs do not need to be American citizens to access Red Cross services.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Help people affected by disasters by making a donation to support Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to, and help people recover from disasters big and small. Call, click, or text to give: visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Red Cross Opens Shelters for Those Evacuated from Wildfires

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

The American Red Cross volunteers have opened an emergency evacuation center in Jasper County and a shelter in Tyler County. As a fire rages out of control in our Southeast and Deep East chapter area our teams are there ready to support those in need.

Jasper County:

Ebenezer Baptist Church, 1277 CR 44, Jasper, TX 75951

Tyler County:

Colmesneil High School, 610 W Elder St, Colmesneil, TX 75938

Anyone is welcome at Red Cross shelters, including those with service animals. Our shelters provide visitors with a place to sleep, meals, beverages, snacks, comfort and care.

The Red Cross urges everyone to follow evacuation orders from local law enforcement and to have an emergency kit ready to go. Find a shelter by visiting redcross.org/shelters or download the free Red Cross Emergency App, which includes wildfire safety tips. The app is available in app stores by searching for American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

If possible, people who stay in a Red Cross shelter should bring prescription medications, extra clothing, pillows, blankets, hygiene supplies, other comfort items and important documents. It is also recommended to bring special items for children such as diapers, formula and toys.

The Red Cross delivers help to anyone regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or citizenship status. People who have disaster-caused needs do not need to be American citizens to access Red Cross services.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Help people affected by disasters by making a donation to support Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to, and help people recover from disasters big and small. Call, click, or text to give: visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Angelina College Hosts Ribbon Cutting for Network Administration Program: New Course to Offer Degrees and Certifications in High-Demand Field

By
Gary Stallard
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Angelina College president Dr. Michael Simon (left, with scissors) and AC instructor Mary Larsen (right, with scissors) cut the ribbon during Thursday’s ceremony launching the college’s inaugural Network Administration Program. The new course, which will offer both a degree and certifications, came to fruition through the recent Title V grant from the Department of Education. (Gary Stallard/AC News Service photo)

With visiting dignitaries present, including members of the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, Angelina College on Thursday held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch its new Network Administration Program scheduled to start with the upcoming new semester.

“This ceremony is a way to support our Chamber investors and the new ideas they’re bringing into our community,” Amanda Crocker, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Chamber, said. “We’re celebrating the opportunities those ideas are creating throughout East Texas.”

The new program came to fruition as part of AC’s recent Title V grant from the Department of Education. AC president Dr. Michael Simon lauded “community relationships” for helping the college and community collaborate to ensure incoming students are gaining the knowledge and training necessary for current workforce needs.

“We’ve said forever, our mission is to help people in our service area reach their full potential,” Simon said. “What our Board of Trustees added was ‘people and communities’ because we really live that here at AC. I’m so glad to see this program come to life through the input of employers, and I’m grateful for the support of faculty and staff around the college.”

Mary Larsen, who designed the entire curriculum and will serve as the Network Administration Program’s instructor and developer, said the program will offer various avenues for students to pursue, including a two-year Associate of Applied Sciences degree and certifications Larsen said “are recognized worldwide.”

“We’ll teach cybersecurity, cloud-based servers, and programming for servers,” Larsen said. “Now that a lot of our server equipment is being used everywhere. Everything we do now is server-based, and it increases our students’ chances of getting a good job and entering the field.

“It also gives students who choose to continue furthering their knowledge in a particular area, such as security, the background to do that as well.”

Larsen said even students with rudimentary knowledge of computers can succeed in the course.

“Of course, students will need to know how to navigate a computer – how to log in, how to use some of the applications – while having some familiarity with the internet. Mostly, a student just needs a strong desire to work in the network server community.”

The introductory portion of the course begins on Monday, August 28. Larsen said for now, there are two entry-level courses set in an eight-week hybrid (part face-to-face, part online classes) format. Later, Larsen said, there’ll be labs enabling students to work in a “virtual environment.”

All of which may lead to a very rewarding career, according to Larsen.

“We’re seeing employees with this type of training earn starting salaries of nearly $70,000 per year,” Larsen said. “These types of skills we’ll be teaching are definitely in demand in today’s high-tech world.”

For further information, contact Krista Brown at kbrown@angelina.edu.

Elected Officials Reception (Angelina County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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0

Join us Thursday, September 28, for the annual Elected Officials Reception, presented by Oncor. We are excited to show our appreciation for Angelina County’s elected officials and hope you can attend.

Thank you to our additional sponsors.
Gold Sponsors: McWilliams Heating, Cooling & Plumbing and The Lufkin Daily News
Silver Sponsors: Lufkin Economic Development Corporation and MSGPR Ltd Co
Bronze Sponsor: Lee Trans
Cheers with the Chamber Sponsor: Crown Colony Country Club

Please register for this FREE event so we can get a head count >> bit.ly/elected2023
We hope to see you there!

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