CASA slated to hold informational session
Court Appointed Special Advocates will host an informational session about CASA and volunteering from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at the CASA office, No. 24 Briercroft Office Park.
This is a no-obligation introduction to CASA and lunch is provided.
RSVP to Amanda Norfleet by Wednesday at 763-2272 or email amandan@lubbockcasa.org to attend.
New, gently used backpacks needed
The annual Kingsgate Center Backpack to School Drive is looking for new or gently used backpacks to be donated.
After experiencing several years of consecutive drought, climatologists were surprised by just how quickly the state improved its dry conditions.
About 57 percent of the state — including Lubbock and the South Plains — was in a drought this time last year, said Brian Fuchs, climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center. Now, only 4.61 percent of the state is in a drought.
Lizzulli Mendoza was on a mission to find the perfect pair of Converse shoes Sunday at the South Plains Mall in Lubbock.
But, she said with so many great back-to-school deals this tax-free weekend, her mom and sister kept getting distracted.
Before darting off to a shoe store, Mendoza was holding shopping bags filled with shirts from Zumiez and jeans from Hollister Co.
“This is the only place I can find pants that fit,” said Mendoza, adding she’s not looking forward to going back to school this fall.
If you’ve been to Covenant Health on a Friday within these past few months, you’ve probably seen the shirts supporting Chris Dougherty.
“It’s been the most touching and humbling thing that I’ve seen in my life,” said Dougherty. “I never thought I’d see something like that. Of course, I never, ever, ever thought I’d be battling cancer, especially at a young age. I never thought I’d be thinking about stuff like this.”
New chapter
Dougherty had just begun the interview process for a position at Covenant Health when he found out he had melanoma.
Preventing the spread of germs and disease starts with proper hygiene, according to local school health officials.
Hand-washing is important but it’s not enough, they said.
“Wash your hands,” said Paulett Rozneck, Student Health Services coordinator for Lubbock Independent School District. “Put some soap and water and rub them really well. Hand washing is the first and foremost to rid your skin of any kind of bugs or bacteria.”
Kathy Balko, with Frenship Middle School, said good hand hygiene habits begin with parents and teachers leading by example.
Harleigh Vigil wasn’t bothered by waking up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
She was excited to go fishing at Buddy Holly Recreation Area during the seventh annual Vamos a Pescar, Let’s Go Fishing event.
Still, the 8-year-old Lubbock resident didn’t think she would actually catch any of the catfish organizers stocked the lake with the day before.
But, she was the first in her family to catch something — a 4-inch catfish.
AUSTIN — The financial troubles Texas rural hospitals have experienced during the past four years may not be over after all.
Two months after the Texas Legislature restored most of the Medicaid funding cuts made in the 2011 session — when lawmakers tackled a $27 billion shortfall — the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals says “rural hospitals remain in financial distress and more could be on the brink of closure.”
Steven Presley at Texas Tech’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health said one of the best ways to prevent a mosquito outbreak in an area is to keep weeds and grass trimmed.
That’s just one of the benefits to controlling weeds in a city. Apart from being a potential eyesore and a pain to walk through, weeds cause hay fever — mostly through cross-pollination — in some people. Complaints have also been reported in Lubbock of concerned drivers, saying the weeds in some areas make it hard to see at an intersection.
Chivalry, young love, mothers both proud and defensive and another outdoor adventure all play out in the newest Wilder Good novel written by a teacher at Hutchinson Middle School.
Nathan Dahlstrom, an English and creative writing teacher at HMS, has written three books in The Adventures of Wilder Good series under the name S.J. Dahlstrom. The latest, “Wilder and Sunny,” was released in June.
Dahlstrom is adamant that his characters, Wilder and Sunny, are too young to have a relationship, but are at the age when boys and girls start noticing each other.
Deacon Juan Cavazos doesn’t think local Catholics will have any problem receiving Pope Francis’ message earlier this week advising believers to welcome divorced couples into the church.
Three men face felony organized crime charges in connection with the theft of police equipment from a Lubbock County sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle.
Tyler Dean, 18, Corbin Bucchi, 21, and Korbin Perez, 22, face charges of organized crime and fraudulent use or possession of identifying information.
Lubbock police investigators accuse the three of stealing police gear from deputy Bo Roberts’ pickup truck, according to an arrest warrant released Friday.
When the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved items from its finance and administration committee on Friday morning, it approved total expenditures of $1.895 billion for the 2016 fiscal year, or a 9.26 percent increase.
Merit increases of 2 percent at Tech, TTU Health Sciences Center and TTUHSC-El Paso and a 3 percent increase at Angelo State University were part of that budget.