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Roadrunner Men Upset No. 4 Tyler Price Goal, AC Defense Lead to Program’s First Win over Ranked Team

By
Gary Stallard
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Mohammed Aljaf: Angelina College Mohammed Aljaf (7) breaks away from a Tyler defender during Saturday’s match. The Roadrunner men held off the No. 4 Apaches 1-0 for the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent. (Klarissa Casas/AC Athletics photo)

It only feels as if it’s been a long time coming.

In reality, the Angelina College Roadrunner men’s soccer program has only existed for three short years – barely enough time to establish roots, much less high expectations. There have been plenty of heart-breaking losses, with so many of those by a single goal.

That’s why Saturday’s 1-0 win over No. 4 Tyler Junior College set off such a wild celebration. After three years, the Roadrunners finally had their very first win over a ranked opponent.

Jack Price leapt the Tyler keeper on a blocked shot and smoked the ball into the net in the 59th minute for the match’s lone goal, but the work from AC’s back line – including Roadrunner keeper Sven Van den Oever –helped secure the program’s biggest win to date.

Brad Lowes, Usman Sotomi, Joe Estrada and others continually pushed back on every Apache scoring run, with Van den Oever slapping away two critical saves late in the match. When Van den Oever went down with an injury with just 28 seconds to play, Shane Wallace stepped in and, along with the rest of the defense, held off Tyler’s final charge.

The win gave the Roadrunners just their second two-match winning streak of the season. More importantly, the win lifted AC into a tie with Coastal Bend Community College for the fourth-place spot in the Region XIV standings. The conference tournament at the end of the month will feature the league’s top four teams, and with five matches remaining in the regular season (all of those on the road), the Roadrunners have an opportunity to qualify for the post season for the first time in the program’s brief history.

Earlier in the day, the Roadrunner women fell 3-0 to No. 2 Tyler.

Both AC teams celebrated Sophomore Day in pre-match ceremonies. Roadrunner women playing in their final home games were Eva Phillips, Italli Suarez, Stefany Lopez, Bety Hernandez, Makayla Lewis, Jasmin Keller, Savannah Keziah, Bailey Bowers, Daisy de Boer and Sasha Moreira.

Roadrunner men sophomores seeing their home finale were Elmer Hernandez, Jose Estrada, Fernando Marquez, Bryan Nunez, Brad Lowes, Matthew Lannan, Usman Sotomi, Eldi Seiti, Javier Montes and Mikolaj Stan.

Both AC teams will play at Paris College on Friday beginning with the women’s match at 4 p.m.

The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.

An Update from Trent Ashby

By
Rep. Trent Ashby
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I recently had the pleasure of congratulating a dear friend of mine – Dr. Keven Ellis, of Lufkin – on his recent appointment by Governor Abbott to chair the State Board of Education. This occasion reminded me of how important it is to have individuals from East Texas serving in leadership capacities. Did you know that the Governor of Texas has the authority to make appointments to over 3,000 state boards, commissions, or councils? I know firsthand the Governor’s Appointments Office needs more applicants from rural and East Texas who are willing to serve in one of these appointed positions. If you are interested in exploring what opportunities are available, or in filling out an application, please visit: https://gov.texas.gov/organization/appointments

With that here’s this week’s legislative update. . .

Legislative Update

This week we’ll dive into propositions seven and eight, as we continue our weekly examination of propositions that will be on the ballot in November.

Proposition 7 proposes a constitutional amendment to extend the authority to distribute revenues derived from permanent school fund land to the State Board of Education (SBOE). The General Land Office (GLO), which is currently responsible for managing revenues, would retain that authority. The proposal also doubles the annual cap on fund distribution from $300 million to $600 million. Proposition 7 would help improve funding for public schools when sufficient revenues are available and would also give the GLO and the SBOE more flexibility to distribute proceeds.

Proposition 8 proposes a constitutional amendment to create the flood infrastructure fund as a special fund in the state treasury outside of the general revenue fund. The money in the fund would be used by the Texas Water Development Board to provide financing for drainage, flood mitigation, or flood control projects. As we continue to recover from natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, we must also ensure that we have resources available to help mitigate damage in the future. By creating the flood infrastructure fund outside of the general revenue fund, we will better protect money needed for flood projects from being redirected for other purposes. Additionally, by providing both grants and loans, the fund will facilitate access to flood project financing for smaller, rural communities that may not have the resources to raise the local matching funds required for federal disaster programs.

Reminders

The mobile office is on the road this month and looks forward to seeing you on the following dates, in the following locations: October 2nd from 9:00-11:00am at the Leon County Courthouse in Centerville, or at the Madison County Courthouse Annex in Madisonville from 1:30 – 3:30pm; October 16th from 9:00 – 11:00am at the Houston County Courthouse Annex in Madisonville, or from 1:30 – 3:30pm at the Trinity County Courthouse in Groveton; October 23 from 9:00 – 11:00am at the San Augustine County Courthouse in San Augustine.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if we can help you in any way. Our District office may be reached at (936) 634-2762, or you can call my Capitol office at (512) 463-0508.

AC Soccer Teams Hosting Final Home Stand this Weekend Women, Men Celebrate Sophomore Day on Saturday

By
Gary Stallard
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Savannah Keziah: Angelina College defender Savannah Keziah (16) shuts down an opponent during a recent match. The Roadrunner women and men host their final home stands of the season on Friday and Saturday against Jacksonville College and Tyler Junior College, respectively. (Gary Stallard/AC Press photo)

A scheduling quirk left the Angelina College women’s and men’s soccer teams with a front-end loaded home schedule, meaning the teams already have played all but two opponents in the friendly confines of Lufkin.

The schedule also means that despite another three full weeks to play in the regular season, the Roadrunner women and men have but just one home stand remaining.

AC’s squads will host Jacksonville College on Friday evening and Tyler College on Saturday in crucial conference matches.

Crucial, because both Angelina College teams remain in the mix for their respective post-season berths.

The Roadrunner women (8-3, 4-2) have won three straight matches and currently sit in third place in the Region XIV standings. AC’s ladies handled Jacksonville 7-1 in the teams’ first meeting back on Sept. 6, with Daisy de Boer scoring a pair of goals and dealing three assists.

AC’s men (3-7-1, 2-5) are just a single game back of the fourth-place position in the conference standings. The Roadrunners beat Jacksonville on Sept. 6, with Taurayi Tugwete scoring two goals, including the game winner in overtime.

Saturday’s matches have AC teams facing the nationally ranked Tyler College teams in a doubleheader. The Apache women (9-0, 6-0) currently are ranked No. 2 in the nation, while the Apache men (10-2, 7-0) are ranked No. 4.

Friday’s matches against Jacksonville College kick off at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the women kick off at 2 p.m. with the men following immediately afterward.

Prior to each of Saturday’s matches, AC coaches will recognize the teams’ sophomores in pre-game ceremonies.

All matches this weekend take place at Jase Magers Field in Lufkin.

The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.

Drug-Free All Star Substance Interest Workgroups

By
Joshua Blackwell
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Underage Drinking Interest Group from left to right: Logan Peikiert, Brissa Gonzales, Lakeyn Powell, Jada Salaiz, Trace Lucas, Destanie Snider, Cesar Lopez, Odalis Perez, Toby True, and Journey Carver. Not pictured are Alexie Hernandez, Cy Murphy, and Misti Mills.

The Coalition recently hosted Texans Standing Tall, a state-wide coalition, for a training with the Drug-Free All Stars on media advocacy for substance abuse prevention. Texans Standing Tall is a statewide coalition working towards healthier and safer communities that are drug, alcohol, and nicotine-free. The Drug-Free All Stars are Angelina County high school seniors who are committed to maintaining a drug-free lifestyle and preventing substance abuse in their communities.

On September 24th, 2019, Texans Standing Tall trained the Drug-Free All Stars on how youth can engage in media advocacy efforts to reduce the use of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine products as a part of a larger movement to shape a healthier future in Texas. The training encouraged students to collaborate and work together to use different mediums of media to promote their prevention message. Texans Standing Tall worked with the All Stars to make their messages engaging with different populations, use media that is relevant to targeted populations, and communication tools to use to raise awareness about youth substance abuse.

The All Stars each chose a substance prevention workgroup that they will work with throughout the year to combat the use of that substance in Angelina County. The four prevention workgroups consisted of Underage Drinking, Marijuana, Prescription Drugs, and Nicotine Products. Each of these groups will work together throughout the year to raise awareness on their substance, create media messages, and complete other activities to reduce the use the substance they are focused on.

Since 1988, The Coalition has focused on eliminating the use of harmful substances by affecting public policy, laws, attitudes and behaviors, all in an effort to foster healthy life-long choices for the local community. For more information about the Drug-Free All Stars, contact Abby Baker at The Coalition at 936-634-9308.

Angelina College Announces Smith-Hutson Scholarship Recipients

By
Gary Stallard
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First-year recipients of Angelina College’s Smith-Hutson Scholarship are (front row, L-R) Blair Strickland, Jessica Crisanto, Sandra Zuniga, Mylee Powell and Haley Jacobs; and (back row, L-R) Asa Dewitz, Landon Thompson, Katherine Hawthorne, Alexis Lopez, Rafael Bahena Jr., Katelyn Ray, Kristyn Smith and Rachel Barrett. Not pictured: Adrian Luna and Dominic Perez. (Jan Anderson-Paxson/AC Press photo)

Angelina College has announced the 2019 recipients of the Smith-Hutson Scholarship, awarded to students with academic potential and established financial need who are committed to completing a certificate or degree at Angelina College.

Third-year recipients include Makayla Ray, Maddison Hoose, Jennifer Hernandez and Kylie Rodgers.

Second-year recipients include Andrea Vidal, Jaselyn Johnson, Milneshia Phipps, Summer Durham, Chloe Vineyard and Monica Vera. Back row, are Vanessa Terrazas, Kyndell Gore, Colton Lovell, Brennon Davis, Jolie Cheney and Cooper Bendy.

First-year recipients are Blair Strickland, Jessica Crisanto, Sandra Zuniga, Mylee Powell and Haley Jacobs. Back row, are Asa Dewitz, Landon Thompson, Katherine Hawthorne, Alexis Lopez, Rafael Bahena Jr., Katelyn Ray, Kristyn Smith, Rachel Barrett, Adrian Luna and Dominic Perez.

Students remain eligible to receive a Smith-Hutson Scholarship for a maximum of two years of undergraduate studies, or three years for those enrolled in a health career related program, provided the recipient maintains a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.5 and completes a minimum of 24 semester credit hours toward their degree each academic year.

For information on applying for scholarships, contact AC’s Financial Aid office at fareceptionist@angelina.edu.

Gary Stallard’s e-mail address is gstallard@angelina.edu

AC Softball Hosting Texas Glory on Saturday Newcomers to Debut in Teams First Fall Game

By
Gary Stallard
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Angelina College’s Makayla Rodger leads the Lady Roadrunners in their first fall game on Saturday. AC will host Texas Glory at 1 p.m. at Roadrunner Field in Lufkin. (Gary Stallard photo)

The Angelina College Lady Roadrunner’s 2019-2020 softball team will feature a roster filled with newcomers – including first-year head coach Josh Barnes – to go with five sophomores returning from last season’s national championship runners-up squad as it kicks off the new year.

On Saturday, the team will showcase its entire group in AC’s first fall game of the season.

The Lady Roadrunners will host Texas Glory at Roadrunner Field in Lufkin in one of three home games scheduled for the fall season. Next week, on Oct. 5, AC’s ladies will participate in the Fall Louisiana Championship in Shreveport, LA. The Lady ‘Runners will play Grambling State University at 11 a.m., Louisiana Tech University at 1:50 p.m. and LeTourneau University at 4:10 p.m. All of those games take place at Cargill Park, Field #3.

Saturday’s game against Texas Glory is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.

Dealing with a dead tree

By
Cary Sims
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We’ve seen lots of oaks die in this past year.

But what to do with dead trees? You can cut it down. You can hire someone to remove it. Or if you have plenty of land around it, you can leave it to benefit wildlife.

Felling your own tree can be very rewarding. Done wrong, it can ruin a good day with damage to property and cause serious or fatal injury to the cutter or bystanders.

There are several places to learn how to properly and safely cut trees. Be sure to examine your surroundings and have an escape route for you to take if the tree doesn’t fall as planned.

There are two crucial cuts to properly fell a tree: an undercut and a back cut.

Your first cut is your undercut. The undercut serves as the guiding or aiming slot for the tree. Basically, it is a V-shaped notch placed on the side of the tree in the direction of the desired fall. For trees that are essentially straight, the depth of the undercut should be about one-fourth of the tree’s diameter.

Only after you have a properly executed undercut should you start with your back cut. The back cut will ultimately fell the tree.

The back cut is made on the opposite side of the tree, slightly above the hinge point of the undercut. The back cut releases the stresses on the back of the tree, allowing the tree to fall. Never make the back cut lower than the undercut because that reverses the roles of the two cuts. Never cut through the undercut because that will cause you to lose all control over the tree.

If this makes you too nervous or unsettled, stop and call a tree service company.

If you have a leaning tree, stop and call a tree service company.

If you have power lines nearby, stop and call a tree service company.

If the fall of the tree is too close to any structures, stop and call a tree service company.

We are blessed with at least eight local businesses that offer tree removal service. Be sure to ask for reference and as around before hiring.

Additionally, be sure to ask if they are insured against personal and property damage. Even experienced tree service businesses have had trees fall in the wrong place.

Lastly, if you have some acreage and if there is plenty of space around it, you can leave it for the wildlife. If there is plenty of space around it where, when it does fall, it won’t bother anything,

Many folks have difficulty understanding the value that trees have for wildlife, especially dead trees. Yet they do have special value for several species.

Some people believe leaving dead trees in the forest to rot is a waste of resources. However, dead trees offer both shelter and food to many wildlife species. Dead trees and their limbs are a natural and desirable part of wildlife habitat.

The existence of numerous species depends on the presence of dead trees. A fallen tree becomes infested with fungi and insects. As the tree decomposes, nutrients are recycled into the soil and a microhabitat favorable for the growth of new tree seedlings is often created.

My friend Greg Grant is intentional about leaving standing dead trees in the woods on his small acreage. One of his passions is birding and by leaving a couple of snags in the woods, he feels he is encouraging a variety of birds.

I hate that we’ve had so many trees die this past year but let’s safely remove them or even consider leaving them to benefit wildlife.

COMMISSION APPROVES NEW CONTRACTS FOR LUFKIN DISTRICT

By
Rhonda Oaks
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LUFKIN – The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday approved more than $514.9 million in new construction projects statewide, with more than $4.7 million approved for the Lufkin District. In addition, more than $40.7 million was approved for maintenance contracts statewide, with more than $2.5 million approved for the Lufkin District.

Construction projects approved for districtwide locations include:

  • Two projects, a $2.36 million and a $2.35 million were awarded to Stripe-A-Zone, Inc., Grand Prairie, TX, for the installation of profile pavement markings at various districtwide locations in Angelina, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Sabine, Houston, Trinity, Polk, San Jacinto and Shelby counties.

Maintenance contracts approved for the district include:

  • A $718,542 bridge maintenance project was awarded to Scott Tucker Construction Company, LLC Fort Worth, TX that includes:

Angelina County: BU 69 NB at the Union Pacific Railroad; Spur 278 at Hurricane Creek and SH 103 at Crawford Creek

Houston County: US 287 at Mayes Branch, SH 21 at Big Creek and FM 1280 at Lost Creek

Nacogdoches County: SH 7 at the Attoyac River and FM 343 at the Angelina River

Polk County: US 190 at Choates Creek, FM 942 at Brushy Creek and FM 942 at McManus Creek

Sabine County: SH 21 at Carrice Creek, SH 87 at Housen Bayou Relief, SH 87 at Big Sandy Creek Relief and FM 2971 at Housen Bayou

San Augustine County: FM 705 at Copelle Creek, FM 3153 at Palo Gaucho Bayou and FM 3153 at Cypress Creek

San Jacinto County: SH 105 at Peach Creek, SH 156 SB at Stephens Creek, FM 945 at Sand Creek and FM 222 at Huffman Creek

Shelby County: US 96 at BNSF Railroad, SH 87 at Tenaha Slough, US 59 at Flat Fork Creek Slough #2, FM 947 at Nelson Creek and FM 947 at Ship Creek

Trinity County: SH 19 at Tantabogue Slough

  • A $1.3 million maintenance contract that includes on-call traffic control services for Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine and Shelby counties. Area Wide Protective, Inc., North Canton, OH, will serve as contractor for the maintenance section services.
  • $520,270.28 maintenance contract that includes on-call traffic control services for Polk and San Jacinto counties. Area Wide Protective, Inc., North Canton, OH, will serve as contractor for the maintenance section services.

As these projects begin, motorists are urged to stay alert and reduce speed through work zones. For more information about road conditions and closures statewide, visit drivetexas.org. For more information on these and other Lufkin District projects, contact Rhonda.Oaks@txdot.gov or (936) 633-4395.

Tree Pose: Yoga for Young Kids at the Texas Forestry Museum

By
Joshua Blackwell
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Lufkin – The Texas Forestry Museum will host Tree Pose: Yoga for Young Children on Saturday, October 12th from 10 – 11 am. Children will learn fun yoga poses, enjoy a snack, and play with the museum’s interactive exhibits. The event is free to the public. We hope to see your family there! A special thank you to our event sponsor, LiveWell Athletics Club. Photos will be taken at the event for promotional materials.

Call for Texas Forestry Hall of Fame Nominations

By
Joshua Blackwell
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Lufkin – The Texas Forestry Museum is seeking nominations for the 2019 Texas Forestry Hall of Fame. To be eligible for consideration, individuals must have been/be a member of the Texas forestry community, and have made substantial and lasting contributions to forestry and forest conservation in the state through an outstanding act or extended dedicated service. Hall of Fame inductees are honored at the Texas Forestry Museum’s Hall of Fame Reception in November.

Guidelines and nomination forms are available at the museum or online at treetexas.com/exhibits//halloffame.forms. Nominations should include a statement describing the nominee’s accomplishments and a brief biography, along with documentation. Nominations will be accepted through October 4, 2019 and should be mailed to: Texas Forestry Museum, 1905 Atkinson Drive, Lufkin, TX 75901, or info@treetexas.com.

The Texas Forestry Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, except major holidays. For more information on the Texas Forestry Museum, please call 936-632-9535 or visit www.treetexas.com.

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