Industrial Job Fair In Alvin Thursday

ALVIN, Texas -- Are you looking for work?

You might want to head out to Alvin on Thursday.

The Alvin Community College and other community partners are hosting an industrial job fair at the Knights of Columbus Hall on County Road 146 and Highway 6.

The fair will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Bring your resume and dress for success – interviews will be given on the spot!

Lady Lions Get New Coach

Alvin Living Stones pitcher Samantha De La Rosa has experienced a couple of TAPPS state championships in volleyball, and now the junior right-hander would like to do the same in softball.

“Of the two sports, softball is definitely my favorite, and this year, we feel like we have the team that can go all the way,” she said. “Some of the players know what it takes to get to state and win, and we hope that carries over into softball.
“But even though we’re confident, we’re not looking too far ahead or only concentrating on state because if we do that, we could be tripped up.”

The Lady Lions are first trying to capture a TAPPS District 4-2A/A title against co-members Bellville Faith, Dickinson Pine Drive, Huntsville Alpha Omega, Kingwood Northeast and Victoria Faith, and during the first round, Bellville Faith handed Living Stones a 12-2 loss.

“We beat ourselves in that one with numerous errors, but we tried to learn from it and move on,” first-year coach Michael Anne Bryant said. “We’re still in a good position to finish in the top two, and then we can really focus in on the playoffs.
“The players are working very hard to make it happen, and we’ve had the entire team out there even during optional practices. Their mindset is state, they break every huddle by saying ‘state,’ and that’s where we want to end up.”
De La Rosa gets nearly 100 percent of the starts in the circle, but freshman Kaitlyn Anderson can also pitch when not holding down second base.

“De La Rosa is our No. 1 pitcher, and Anderson is so valuable to us at second, so that’s where they are most all of the time,” Bryant said.

Living Stones has no seniors in a lineup that has juniors Taylor Dillard (shortstop), Megan Pena (right field), Korina Moore (catcher), Shelby Young (left field) and Ashley Kubeczka (first base), sophomores Bailey Wagner (CF/SS) and Janelle Bullock (courtesy runner/OF), and freshmen Kristen Freeman (third base) and Dani Dudley (utility).
“Dillard has a gun for an arm, Bullock is our fastest player, and Young has a great attitude while always giving 100 percent, and she can play just about anywhere,” Bryant said.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Students learn important skills at ROTC

The Facts
Published April 20, 2009

CLUTE — Brandon Jones isn’t sure why he joined Brazoswood High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program, but he knows why he stayed.

“You make a lot of friends and it teaches you a lot about life,” he said.

Jones, a 17-year-old junior, has learned more about leadership and responsibility from the Reserve Officers Training Corps than he would have learned in any other classroom, he said. The skills he has learned will help him not only in the future, he said, but are helping him succeed in school now.

“I would have probably failed other classes without ROTC,” Jones said.

These experiences are common among ROTC students as instructors work to make leaders out of all of the cadets, Chief Master Sgt. Larry Ceaser said.

“We instill values of citizenship, service to the United States and personal responsibility for actions,” Ceaser said.

Cadets take a class every semester that is about 40 percent aerospace science, 40 percent leadership and 20 percent physical fitness and drills, Ceaser said. But being a member of ROTC doesn’t stop there.

Junior ROTC members also participate in many community service projects and the drill teams attend competitions.



LEARNING TO LEAD

Natasha Ruiz, a 17-year-old Brazoswood senior, has learned a lot about how to lead thanks to the efforts of her instructors. Ruiz is the Corps Commander this semester, a position that puts her in charge of all 87 members.

Ruiz plans to attend Texas A&M University and get a degree in forensic science, she said. She knows the leadership skills she learned in ROTC will serve her the rest of her life.

Discipline is another characteristic cadets learn, said Justin Duncan, a 16-year-old Brazoswood junior.

The hardest requirement to be in ROTC is students must wear their uniform once every week, Ceaser said. If they don’t wear their uniform three times, they will fail the class, he said.

“It’s not very popular because the uniform isn’t considered cool,” Ceaser said.

Cool or not, Ceasar understands why the uniform requirement matters.

“Right now they don’t see the importance,” Ceaser said. “But no matter what you do in life, there will be some type of uniform.”

Little things like this are how ROTC instructors ensure students learn all they need.

“It’s better to learn how to be organized and do things in a structured way now,” Ceasar said.

They will be better off as adults and in college, he said.

JOINING THE MARINES

At Alvin High School, which affiliates its Junior ROTC program with the Marine Corps, different students joined for different reasons, but they all learn the same principles.

Alvin sophomore David Hinojosa joined to be different from his family, he said. He didn’t want to get into trouble as his older siblings had done.

Amanda Choate, also sophomore, joined because her family members were in it before her, she said. But through the program she has learned to be herself, she said.

“It teaches them to be leaders in their home, school and community,” said Major Jim Spakes, an instructors with Alvin’s ROTC program. “We’re making more responsible citizens.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

County rolls ahead on road projects

By John Lowman
The Facts

Published March 26, 2009
ANGLETON — They’re not the kinds of changes people usually notice when driving by, but they’re designed to eventually make the trip to work or school easier.

Brazoria County Commissioners this week approved continued funding for a dozen road projects, mostly for drainage, right of way purchases and engineering to improve transportation in the northern part of the county. The majority of work is part of the ongoing $50 million mobility bond package passed by voters in 2004, County Engineer Gerald Roberts said.

“A lot of it is drainage, and we can’t get the designs finished until we get the right of way, and get drainage plans done,” he said.

Roberts said $95,000 in drainage changes along CR 48 and CR 58 are required. CR 58 is south of Pearland, near the Rodeo Palms subdivision and stretches west from Highway 288 to CR 48, or the old Airline Highway in Manvel. The CR 48 project goes from Highway 6 north to Mustang Bayou.

About 10 acres is needed along the roadways for detention ponds and ditches. Engineers had an overall drainage plan but needed more information to finalize that plan and move ahead with widening of the two roads, he said.

“To advance this project, we needed drainage outfalls,” Roberts said.

The court also approved $95,000 for engineering, traffic signals and continued work along CR 48 from Highway 6 to CR 894 at Mustang Bayou in Precinct 4, and another $37,800 on CR 48 and CR 58 for drainage and right of way.

The majority of that money is drainage-related, but some will be used for traffic signals and signs, Roberts said.

“We originally didn’t plan to have a traffic signal at County Roads 48 and 58, but further study warranted it,” he said. “We’ll build it and Pearland will maintain it.”

Commissioners agreed to spend $38,900 on mapping and engineering along the east-west CR 101 in Precinct 2, just north of CR 58 at Mustang Bayou near Sedona Lakes. They also agreed to $36,000 for bridge construction on CR 63 at North Hayes Creek in Precinct 2, east of Highway 288 near Iowa Colony City Hall.

Also this week, commissioners OK’d $35,000 for engineering and design services for a bridge on CR 723 in Quintana, in Precinct 1; $24,500 for work along CR 101 in Precinct 2; and $2,600 for right of way along CR 74, or Apollo Road, in Precinct 4 behind Cold River Ranch subdivision.

Pearland residents who live off McHard Road asked Brazoria County commissioners to look into repairs and traffic changes on that thoroughfare as the county covered a dozen road-related issues Tuesday.

Read the full story HERE.