News

Navarro ISD cancels school today; No changes for Seguin or Marion ISD students

(Seguin) -- Schools in the Navarro ISD are closed today. The district announced that it had spoken with law enforcement officials who advised the district that additional rainfall later today may make it difficult for its buses to get through low-water crossings. The district originally wanted to delay the start of school to 10 a.m., but district officials decided to cancel school to make sure its students stayed safe.

There are no delays or cancellations for students in the Seguin, New Braunfels, Comal or Marion school districts. It's business as usual for all of those districts.

Tropical Storm Hermine affects Seguin

As Tropical Storm Hermine makes its way across the state, the storm system has dumped several inches of rain in the Seguin and Guadalupe County areas.

As a result of the heavy rains and high winds in the area, several residents and businesses are reporting power outtages and tree limbs in roadways. We're also receiving reports that several traffic lights across town are not functioning properly. Remember,when you come to a traffic signal that is not working, treat it as a four-way stop.

City and county crews are hard-at-work trying to correct these issues.

For the most up-to-date information, listen to AM 1580 KWED.

Cancellations for tonight:

All Seguin Volleyball Association games for tonight (Wednesday) have been cancelled.

Are you ready?
September is National Preparedness Month

5 Things You Need to Do Today
- Know how to turn off electricity, gas and water if authorities advise you to do so. (Remember, you'll need a professional to turn them back on.)
- Predetermine specifically where you will evacuate to should the need arise. A friend or family member's home in another town is an ideal first choice. Make sure your hosts know of your plan. It is also a good idea to have a backup location or two.
- Have a person well outside of the region designated to serve as the contact point for your friends and family to call for updates. Make sure everyone important to you knows who your designated contact is.
- Put all important documents, photo ID’s, and family photos not on display in a water tight container that you can grab and take with you at a moments notice.
Start building your emergency kit

Items to Include In Your Emergency Kit
- First aid supplies and a book on emergency first aid
- Essential medications.
- Diapers and formula for infants
- Special items for elderly or disabled family members.
-Spare eye glasses and sunglasses.
- At least two gallons of water per person, per day. Three day minimum supply.
- Non-perishable food - MREs are great and very convenient but canned food is more than adequate. Don’t forget the can opener.
- Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper - Nine parts water to one part bleach can be used as a disinfectant. In an emergency, 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water to treat water for other uses. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.
- Cash - If the power is out ATMs and credit card machines won’t work.
- Matches in a waterproof containers
- Toilet paper, soap, baby wipes, feminine supplies and other hygiene products.
- Camp stove and fuel, cooking and eating utensils.
- Duct tape, tarp, rope, pliers, hammer and nails, general tools, jumper cables, whistle, garbage bags, zip ties, dust masks.
- Protective clothing, rainwear, and bedding or sleeping bags.
- Battery-powered radio, flashlight, and extra batteries.
- Road maps
- Pet food (and water), pet supplies including leashes and crates or kennels.
- Paper and pencil
- Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

By Jessica Domel

(Seguin) -- What are you supposed to do if you hear the county's emergency sirens on your way to or from work today? What do you do if there's a wildfire in your neighborhood? These are questions that local, state and national officials are hoping everyone already or will soon know the answers to. September is National Preparedness Month - a time when agencies across the nation work to educate residents about what to do during an emergency and encourage everyone to be more prepared.

Dan Kinsey, Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator, says there is a wealth of information for local residents on the county's website.

"We want people to be prepared for anything that might happen - anything from a tornado or a hurricane to a water main break. We encourage people to be prepared. We have, on the Emergency Management page of the county's website, a list of five things that you need to know how to do today, and we also have some items you might want to include in an emergency kit, so I would encourage anybody who's interested in something like that to go to the county's website www.co.guadalupe.tx.us. Then just under 'departments,' look for emergency management," said Kinsey.

On the Emergency Management page, there is an "Emergency Supplies" link with information about what types of things people should have on-hand in case of emergency. Severe weather and other disasters can lead to loss of electricity and utilities. In a large scale disaster, it could take some time before rescue workers can get to a home. Because of this, Kinsey says it is important for people to have an emergency kit inside their homes with First Aid and enough supplies to last a family three days in it. Kinsey says this kit would also be helpful in the event that a family needs to evacuate to another location.

The site also includes five things that everyone should do today - including knowing how to turn off electricity, gas and water to a housen and building an emergency supply kit. The list of five things you need to do today and items to include in an emergency kit can also be found online at www.seguintoday.com.

Guadalupe County has 23 emergency notification sirens placed strategically throughout the county. Kinsey says these sirens are used to warn people in the area of any type of disaster - whether it be a tornado in the area, flooding or a hazardous materials incident.

"Our area is prone to flooding - flash flooding in particular. Also on the website, we have our emergency notification system operating guidelines that tell you how and when we sound the sirens and what to do when you hear the sirens, which is tune into KWED 1580 AM because sound the sirens not just for flooding, but for haz mat release, tornados (and) whatever, but the response is different in each occasion. Basically the sirens mean turn on the radio and find out what's going on," said Kinsey.

Guadalupe County also has two different types of callout systems to provide information during an emergency. When activated, the emergency callout systems will begin calling residents and will play an automated message that starts with, "This is the Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office with an emergency message..." Most messages also refer people to AM 1580 KWED for the most up-to-date information on what is happening in the county.

KWED radio has partnered up with Seguin and Guadalupe County officials, as well as the Guadalupe Blano River Authority, to broadcast vital information during emergency situations. KWED can be found on the radio dial at AM 1580 and on cable channel 21 in the Seguin area. In addition, KWED also streams live online at www.seguintoday.com.

Because the county conveys its emergency information through KWED, Kinsey says residents should have a battery or crank-operated radio on-hand in the event of an emergency.

In addition, Kinsey says it's also important for the people who live along the Guadalupe River to have a Flood Preparedness Plan from GBRA. Copies of the flood plan are available at GBRA at 933 E. Court St. or online at www.gbra.org/flood/default.aspx.

Whether or not you live on the river, Kinsey says natural and man-made disasters can strike at any time and that's why it is so important for everyone to be informed and prepared for anything.

"Our area is prone to several different types of disaster - flooding; wildfire; we do have two major interstates that run through the county, which leads to the possibility of a haz mat incident; we also have railroads and large-diameter natural gas pipelines; and all sorts of pipelines and electrical substations. Anything could happen. We just people to be aware and aprised of the potential for danger and to prepare," said Kinsey.

The "severe weather" section on the county's emergency management site also contains detailed information about severe weather and what you can and should do to protect yourself and your family during those emergencies. The site can be found online at www.co.guadalupe.tx.us. Click on the link that says "Departments" and then "Emergency Management."

State organ, tissue donor registry hits one million mark

By Jessica Domel

(Seguin) -- Over one million Texans have now responded "yes" when asked if they'd like to become a member of the state's organ and tissue donor registry. The Texas Department of Public Safety announced earlier this month that one million people have signed up for the state's Glenda P. Dawson Donate Life Registry since it went online in the fall of 2006.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger says the milestone provides the perfect opportunity for the state agencies involved with the donor registry to talk about what it means to become an organ donor.

"Many people don't realize, or maybe they've forgotten that you can register to become an organ or tissue donor at the DPS driver's license office or when you go online to conduct driver's license transactions. Actually, more than 80-percent of the donors in the registry come through DPS, and so that's something we're very proud of," said Vinger. "The organ donation registry recently hit the one-million mark. They say that for every person, those organs and tissues could save eight more people. It's very important and it's a major milestone and hopefully it will also spread awareness about organ and tissue donation as well."

Of the one million people who have joined the registry, Vinger says 773,000 have indicated their wishes to be organ donors through the driver's licensing system. Because of changes in the way the state organ and tissue donation registry has been implemented, Vinger says Texans who wish to become organ donors should double-check the online registry at www.donatelifetexas.org to ensure that they're on the list.

"There's been some back and forth in terms of how the program has been run. I will say this, if you have a donor sticker on your driver's license, you're probably not actually part of the new registry. So you'll need to verify that registry by going to donatelifetexas.org. I think that one of the things that's important is to get people thinking about organ donation before they come into the driver's license office so the shock doesn't hit them when somebody asks them 'Would you like to be part of the organ and tissue donation registry?'" said Vinger. "Sometimes that's just going to set people back a little bit, and so we hope to educate people that this is an option when they come in so they can think about it first and then make an informed choice once they get into DPS because that's one of the easier ways to do it. There's several different ways to sign up for the registry, but the vast majority of people have come through DPS driver's license offices."

Three state agencies - DPS, the Department of State Health Services and the Department of Motor Vehicles - and three organ and tissue recovery agencies - LifeGift, Southwest Transplant Alliance and the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance - all participate in the registry. In Texas, Vinger says one way people can register is when applying for or renewing a driver's license in person or online.

"The driver's license office will ask you. Once you're registered, you'll receive a letter and a donor card to officially confirm your decision to become a registered donor," said Vinger. "We also encourage you to talk to your family because if your family is not aware that you're an organ donor, that might cause problems at the time of your death and understandably so - they're grief-stricken and they don't want to think about that at that exact moment. Of course, there's some necessity for speed after the death of a person to get the organs transported. So make sure that you talk to your family members about it, express your wishes so that they're not surprised and traumatized, perhaps, when you pass away. I think most family members, if they understand what your wishes are, are going to honor them."

Texans can also register online at www.donatelifetexas.org or www.donevidatexas.org. The online registration process takes approximately five minutes. All donor information is private.

Before this online registry was created in 2006, there was no official, centralized list of people who wanted to give consent to being an organ or tissue donor. The registry helps ensure people's wishes are carried out after they die, but Vinger says it's still very important that family members talk to one another about their choice to donate.

"It's a very emotional issue. Many people don't like to think about their own death and their loved ones don't like to think about death, but it is a reality. There's many people that would like to help somebody, and their desire to help somebody could actually save other lives. So it's important for people to at least start researching this and really think about it and decide if it's something they would like to do," said Vinger.

Despite hitting the one million mark, state officials say there is a critical shortage of organs available for transplants.

"There's more than 10,000 in Texas currently waiting for an organ or tissue transplant, and also, despite the fact that we've hit the one-million mark, only five-percent of Texas residents over the age of 18 are registered as organ or tissue donors," said Vinger. "So there's still a lot of work to be done."

The Glenda P. Dawson Donate Life- Texas organ and tissue donor registry is named in memory of State Representative Glenda Dawson, a kidney transplant recipient, who championed the cause of organ donation.

Navarro ISD cancels school board election, new trustees to come on board

Greg Gilcrease

Cheryl Patterson

Rick Martin

Shari Burkett

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Geronimo) -- Navarro ISD voters will not be heading to the polls this November. Instead the Navarro ISD in about two months will be welcoming three fresh faces and one familiar one to its board of trustees.

The district has officially ordered the cancellation of its Nov. 2 election. Superintendent Dee Carter says the district has declared the only four candidates to file for a seat on the school board duly elected.

She says the order was made because there were the same amount of candidates as there were openings on the ballot.

"We had four positions that were up for election and that's because we are at the very last phase of transitioning to the four year terms and so at this election we had four trustees whose terms were up. Only one of our incumbents chose to file again. That's Dr. Greg Gilcrease and we were happy to see that," said Carter.

The new trustees will include Richard Martin, Shirley "Shari" Burkett and Cheryl Patterson.

Carter says those trustees who did not seek re-election include current board president David Reiley, vice-president Steve Ramsey and trustee Bill Peek.

"We're sorry to see our other three incumbents make another decision. They've been excellent board members and I appreciate everything that they have done very much for this school district and for their community but they have certainly done their share and so I respect their decision," said Carter.

Each of the new trustees will officially take their seats after Nov. 2.

Man salutes local job training and placement program for a second chance

Antonio Gomez proudly shows off the award given to him by the Workforce Solutions Alamo office. Each year the agency's board of directors honors individuals and employers throughout the region for their contribution or success with the job training and placement program. Gomez was presented with the 2010 Guadalupe County Workforce System Award for Excellence Through Individual Achievement. Gomez credits the agency for helping to turn his life around.

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- A high school dropout who faced multiple barriers to employment is being recognized for overcoming his obstacles. Many of these obstacles were eliminated in large part to the job readiness program at the Workforce Solutions Alamo Seguin office.
Antonio Gomez, 21, was recently presented with the 2010 Guadalupe County Workforce System Award for Excellence Through Individual Achievement.

The award was presented in Seguin during a workforce development agency's board of directors meeting at Texas Lutheran University.

Prior to this award, Gomez faced challenges to achievement in large part to his status as a high school dropout on probation. He was unemployed, nearly homeless and had limited transportation when his probation officer called the Workforces Solutions staff in Seguin to ask if the office could help Gomez.

As part of mentoring Gomez was required to take job readiness and other classes to prepare for finding employment and had to set short and long-term goals as well as meet schedules to accomplish these goals.

Gomez says he came to the realization that he could not continue down a non-productive path and chose to let Workforce Solutions help him help himself and get his life back on track.

"I didn't think I'd be capable of doing anything like this or being able to set a bar for anybody, any of my peers or anybody older than me -- it didn't matter," said Gomez.
Making that initial contact for Gomez was his probation officer Teresa Chavez. Chavez says she appreciates the Workforce Solutions Alamo for giving her the resources to help those that come through her office. She says she is so proud of Gomez and is already working to enroll him in college.

"First off, I saw the need and I said I understand that Texas Workforce has the tools, so I made that phone call. I said, we have a guy here and he needs direction and funding is zero on his side - what could we do for him? So Carl --he's from Texas Workforce -- stepped in and ran from it from there. We kept in touch on, ‘Well this is what I'm doing for Antonio,’ and ‘Okay Antonio these are your goals,’ and we built up goals that we were going to achieve, and he gave us direction on how we were going to meet those goals," said Chavez.

With guidance from the workforce office, the Seguin ISD Adult Education Program and the Guadalupe County Probation Office, Gomez studied and prepared himself for the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) exams within three months. He used his bicycle to get to the classes. He not only took all five exams in one day but he also scored higher than necessary to earn his GED -- ranking him in the top 25-percent of his graduating class.

Carl McMurtry, a career development specialist at the Workforce office in Seguin, says he knows first-hand how hard Gomez has worked to help turn his life around.

"When he first came in, he said he needed help and he was looking pretty scruffy and she had already called me and sent him over. He was looking pretty bad and down and he didn't look like he was going to succeed, and I think he was this close to going to jail, and he said he needed somebody to help him, and I said, ‘Well, we're going to help you if you want to be helped. You do this, this and this and then you come back and you do all that stuff (and) you'll be alright,’ and he did," said McMurtry.

Gomez says today he holds down two jobs one at Native American Contracting and one at Comet Cleaners. He says his accomplishments thus far are well-worth the effort.

"Stick your neck out and go for it, try it. Do anything you can for it. I mean if you want to you, you can. As my probation officer says and yes I am on probation but that doesn't limit anybody to anything. But as my probation officer says as long as you are able to do it, then do it. That's all it takes is a step -- baby steps," said Gomez.

Gomez says realizes that team effort that is behind his success and he is appreciative to all those who stepped up during one of the most vulnerable times of his life.

"I'm very grateful that I've met these two individuals as well as my fiancé Michelle Schlicthing. She's been by my side through everything and she's helped me push as well as Teresa and Carl. Thank you," said Gomez.

More arrests are made
SPD continues to roundup suspects in murder case

Marcus Senon Garcia

Refugio "Root" Navarro III

Felicia Michelle Garza

Heath Michael Camarillo

Stephen Manuel Medrano

Robert John Hernandez

By Jessica Domel

(Seguin) -- Seguin Police have made over half-a-dozen arrests in connection with the fatal shooting of Geoffrey Carrizales, 34, last week.

Police Chief Kevin Kelso says the victim's brother, Refugio "Root" Navarro III, 25, Felicia Michelle Garza, 23, Heath Michael Camarillo, 22, Stephen Manuel Medrano, 21, and Robert Hernandez, 21, were all arrested over the weekend for engaging in organization criminal activity - a charge Kelso says the suspects may have been involved in gang activity.

"That charge applied to the situation going on. We have members of two different gangs - rivals - and several of the individuals involved have been identified as gang members or affiliates of gang members and that's the charge that applies in this situation," said Kelso.

All of those suspects are currently being held in the Guadalupe County Jail in lieu of $1-million bonds.

Throughout the investigation, Kelso says detectives have received information that the LA Boys and IMG gangs were involved in the shooting that lead to Carrizales' death.

As a result of that information, detectives at the Seguin Police Department were able to receive arrest warrants for at least a dozen people who are also being charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Kelso says law enforcement officials from throughout the area - including the US Marshals Service - have been working to serve those warrants.

"We have about 30 officers in different teams throughout the city and adjoining cities right now to include officers from the city of Seguin, sheriff deputies, county attorney's investigators, district attorney investigators as well as US Marshals are fanning the area to try to find these folks," said Kelso.

The first arrest in the murder investigation came Tuesday night as Seguin Police arrested Marcus Senon Garcia, 26, and charged him with murder. Garcia is currently in the Guadalupe County Jail in lieu of a $1-million bond.

In addition to those suspects that are already behind bars, Kelso says police are still looking for Joseph Ramirez, 20, Daniel Rodriguez, 17, Gabriel Ricarte, 28, Villon Trevino, 17, and Frank Torres, 22. All are expected to be charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Danny Cavasos, 21, is being sought on murder charges.

Kelso says detectives are still hard-at-work trying to figure out exactly what led to Carrizales' death.

"The whole situation is ongoing. We're still investigating. We have officers still here and detectives still here working numerous hours around-the-clock trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together just because of the type of individuals we're dealing with. It makes it a little more difficult, so we're working extensively on getting all the pieces together. We do anticipate possible more warrants in the very near future," said Carrizales.

Carrizales died Monday, Aug. 30 at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center from a gunshot wound he sustained while at a home in the 1100 block of Magnolia Street. Kelso says, at this time, police believe Carrizales was inside the home when someone drove up and shot multiple times at the residence with a handgun. Carrizales was the only person inside the home who was struck by the gunfire.

Kelso says at this time police also believe that the shooting may also be connected to a stabbing and assault that occurred Tuesday evening at Depot Tire Shop at the corner of New Braunfels and Austin streets. After the incident, police on the scene said that George Gil, 20, was at the local business when several men exited a parked vehicle and began to assault Gil. Gil was flown to University Hospital where he was last listed in stable condition. At this time, police are not clarifying exactly how the two incidents may be connected.

As investigation into the fatal shooting and stabbing continues, police are asking that anyone with information about the crime contact the Seguin Police Department's anonymous narcotic tip line at 401-2391 or the Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 303-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous if they chose.

Area church to host free grief support group

By Jessica Domel

(McQueeney) -- An area church that has dealt with its share of loss is now giving back to the community by offering a free grief support group. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 14, McQueeney Baptist Church will host a once-a-week GriefShare Biblically-based support group for people who have lost a spouse, child, family member or friend.

Counselor Jane Tomlinson is a member of McQueeney Baptist Church, and she says the 13-week program is designed to help people work through the healing process.

"GriefShare is a facilitated group and it's using videotapes, group discussions and a work book to help people move through their journey of grieving from grief to joy so that they can celebrate the life of the individual that died and not be stuck in one of the stages of grief," said Tomlinson.

The support group sessions are free; however, participants are encouraged to purchase the $15 workbook during the first session. Tomlinson says the workbook will really help people dealing with grief because it is something tangible that a person can take home and reflect on after the course is over.

"Each person has their own grief and it's okay to grieve at different times and in different ways. Most people don't really understand that," said Tomlinson. "Healing is a powerful movement and once they have learned and moved to the acceptance, there's just a certain amount of joy and acceptance that makes life easier. Of course, we never forget our loved ones. We'll always remember then, but it just makes it a little more easy to live day-by-day."

Helping people live day-by-day is something the members of McQueeney Baptist Church understand, according to Tomlinson. She says the members of the church just felt it was important to offer this ministry to the people of the community as a way to help them heal.

"We just have had a lot of tragedy within our immediate church. We had our pastor that was in such a tragic accident several years ago and we've had some accidents that have caused death within our church family. It is something that is not just shared by our church, but across the community, Guadalupe County and extending areas," said Tomlinson.

The GriefShare series is designed so that anyone can join at anytime during the 13 weeks that sessions are being held.

"It's a growing process. It is a process to help people, so it would be beneficial to attend every session; however, it's not mandatory. There's 13 session and each session builds on the previous sessions. That will benefit each individual. We're going to start Sept. 14, which is a Tuesday, and we're going to begin at McQueeney Baptist at 6 o'clock every Tuesday evening and run through until we complete all 13 session," said Tomlinson. "This is an opportune time because then we're going to be facing the holidays, and that is when it's most difficult for families dealing with death and grief during the holiday because that's when we remember the most of course - what happened last year, etc..."

To ensure that there are enough workbooks for everyone during the first GriefShare session, Tomlinson is asking interested participants to RSVP to McQueeney Baptist Church by calling 557-5532.

McKee Archaeological site, Boy Scouts discover, identify, study and archive

Photos by Juli Morrison and Jody McKee

By Juliane Sullivan

Local volunteers interested in historical preservation can sample a taste of what it means to be involved in archaeology by participating in the ongoing Southern Texas Archaeological Association project at the Floyd and Jody McKee property just south of Max Starcke Park.

Joining in this project is a troop of Boy Scouts from Seguin who are assisting the pros in getting the job done. These scouts are working towards their Eagle Scout rankings and archaeology merit badge and this experience is, according to Museum Director John Gesick, "really a one-of-a-kind experience involving their participation; not many scouts live near an archaeological dig." Troop Scoutmaster is Chris Ayotte and Diana Kimble is Assistant Scoutmaster. They are Troop 317 from Cross Church, Seguin.

What is really significant to note is the troop shares a unique opportunity to work specifically towards their archaeology merit badges, a more difficult badge to earn due to the amount of the time required. The requirements for this badge are that the applicants must spend a defined amount of time at an excavation under the supervision of an archaeologist. “The scouts not only learn proper field techniques and documentation, they also participate in a field lab where they clean artifacts, identify, tag, catalogue, and prepare them for curation. The troop experiences the entire process of field archeology”, according to Rick Pulis, STAA.

Archaeological Steward Bob Everett is known for describing the project as "the richest archeological site I've seen on the Guadalupe River in 35 years." Everett is a steward with the Texas Historical Commission's Texas Archeological Stewardship Network.

Site of the dig, the McKee home, formerly the Saffold House was built in 1865 on a Paleo-Indian site. Now these scouts are currently working with the McKees and officials from the STAA to discover, sort, catalog and participate in analysis of any artifacts discovered at the Seguin location. Samples of finds will eventually be part of an ongoing display at the Seguin Heritage Museum, 114 N. River.

The group recently met again to continue the process and at that time, Jody and Floyd McKee urged local people who would like to become involved to volunteer and participate in any aspect of the Southern Texas Archaeological Association work at this site. The STAA was founded in 1973, is centrally located in San Antonio and furthers communications among professionals in the field and the public. Their goal is to preserve archaeological records, exchange information and ideas, promote investigation, documentation and facilitate interpretation and publication of the data.

The Seguin Heritage Museum offers many ongoing exhibits which include the Jody and Floyd McKee Collection with projectile points dating 200 to 11,000 years ago, the early archaic period. Evidence at the McKee site indicates it to be a "trade center" adding to the history of trade access areas in San Marcos and Bastrop. These include findings of turquoise from Arizona, Angostura points co-located with the Guadalupe bi-facial tools and saltwater seashells. In addition within the same display are ceremonial Indian headdresses and spears collected by Jody McKee. Also featured near the same display area of the museum are pre-historic and historic archaeological artifacts of Guadalupe County on loan from Bob Everett and two cases of prehistoric artifacts provided by Dr. Evelyn Streng, professor emeritus and chair of the geography department at Texas Lutheran University.

Dr. Streng's collection depicts early Native American life in Comal and Guadalupe County history. Artifacts included are original handcrafted pieces, scrapers, gouges, awls, spear and arrowheads. Everett's display also includes various arrow points, among those the Tortugas or Matamoros dart points and Harrell points along with many examples of early tools.

October will mark the annual observance of Texas Archaeology Month with activities occurring throughout the state to commemorate the various cultures and archaeological resources found in Texas and is coordinated by the Texas Historical Commission in association with the Texas Archaeological Society and the Council of Texas Archaeologists. The Seguin site will be an important focus in this year's observance.

Those interested in learning more are asked to call the museum at 372-0965 or stop by at 114 N. River St. The museum and its October events marking Texas Archaeology Month can also be accessed via Facebook or Twitter.

TICKETS ON SALE TODAY!

Comedian Bill Engvall to host performance in Seguin on Oct. 16

Show will benefit Children's Advocacy Center

Bill Engvall will bring his comedy act to Seguin during a benefit show for the Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center. Engvall, who owns property in Guadalupe County, has accepted an invitation to do a show on Saturday, Oct. 16 at Texas Lutheran University's Jackson Auditorium. Tickets are $50 each and can be purchased beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at radio station KWED and the Seguin Daily News.

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- Get ready to laugh. Nationally renowned comedian Bill Engvall is set to take the stage as he donates his time to the Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center in Seguin. The performance is set for Saturday, Oct. 16 at Texas Lutheran University's Jackson Auditorium.

Engvall is best known as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, the highest grossing comedy tour in history. Engvall also starred in and was the executive producer for “The Bill Engvall Show” which ran on TBS for a number of seasons.

Paul Marsh, executive director of the Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center, says he's honored to have one of the best comedians in the world support the local center. He says the best thing about Engvall's willingness to do the show is his ties to Guadalupe County.

"We're excited. Bill has promised to do a wonderful comedy show. Bill and his wife Gail own property here in Guadalupe County and Sheriff Zwicke was kind enough to write a letter to Bill and his wife to see if they would be willing to do a benefit concert on behalf of the Advocacy Center. Bill responded almost immediately that he would be happy to do that and is just being extremely generous with his time and his abilities so again we're very, very excited about this," said Marsh.

Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke is one of the advocacy center's largest supporters. Zwicke says after sending him the request, Engvall didn't hesitate one bit in saying "yes" to the performance.

"We'll about 10 years ago right after I took office, Mr. Engvall stopped by at the sheriff's office and visited us for a while, and when he left he told me if we ever needed anything, if he could ever be of service to us, to don't hesitate to call him. So we started looking at doing the project for the children's advocacy center because we need a bigger facility. I was looking for ways to raise money and had his picture in my office and got to looking at it and got to thinking about what he told me, and so we wrote him a letter and low and behold he responded rather quickly and said he'd be happy to come to Seguin and do it," said Zwicke.

The comedy performance will help kick off the fundraising campaign by the Guadalupe County Children's Advocacy Center to build a larger facility. The facility current operates at 424 N. River St. The advocacy center is need of more space to fully service kids who need to be interviewed following physical or sexual abuse. The idea behind the center is to provide a warm, homelike environment for children during the interview process in hopes of preventing further trauma.

Zwicke says he encourages individuals to purchase their tickets beginning next week. He says not only will individuals get to enjoy an entertaining evening but they will also support one of the most important non-profit organizations in the community.

"I believe the tickets are going to go real fast and I would encourage anybody who would like to see Bill Engvall in Seguin, Texas probably a once in a lifetime deal -- I would encourage them to come and also support the children's advocacy center by doing so," said Zwicke.

Tickets are $50 each will go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Tickets can be purchased at Keepers Interior on North Austin Street or at radio station KWED and the Seguin Daily News located at 609 E. Court St.

Guadalupe County re-designs, simplifies website for users

By Jessica Domel

(Seguin) -- Guadalupe County's face on the World Wide Web just received a facelift thanks to the county's Management Information Systems department.

Guadalupe County's PC Technician Rick Arroues has been working with the county's website, http://www.co.guadalupe.tx.us, for approximately four months now to re-design it and make it easier to navigate and find information.

"The primary goal was just to get a new, fresh look for the site to go along with the new building that was built, and to make the site easier to use for the people that visit it" said Arroues. "So it was just making it more visually available."

The information that was on the county's other website is still available on the new site. Arroues says it's just been stream-lined and made easier to use so that people spend less time clicking through menus to find what they need.

"There's some additional links to some of the city sites that are within the county - there are some additions there, but primarily it's all the same. It's going to be growing in the future," said Arroues. "It's not going to change its look, but we're going to try to add more features - things that would be more helpful to the public, make things easier and accessible to them and just categorize things a little better."

Management Information Systems Director Carl Bertschy says the idea for the new site came from County Judge Mike Wiggins who saw a need for the information on the site to be updated more often.

"This is really pushed by Judge Wiggins a lot because he wanted a really fast response to make changes and make things happen on the website to better serve the public," said Bertschy. "We did have a third-party person that actually helped do our website and they controlled it. We had to call them when we wanted changes. Now the difference is internally we're maintaining the website and we're doing it and controlling it in here. So if we have a change, we can do it right now and respond very quickly and especially if like the burn ban comes up or if there's any notices like the flood and things like that that we have to get immediate response out to, now we do it in-house and it's much quicker."

In addition to providing information faster, Bertschy says the site also saved the county money because it was made and is maintained in-house.

"Like I said, we had a third-party company that was doing it and we had to pay them a monthly fee to maintain the website. Usually though, in this case, it's another person that does the website. Web design in itself is a job by itself in the IT world, and so what you get is you have to hire somebody to do that. We're very lucky with Rick. He's very knowledgable in a lot of areas and so we're cross-utilizing him from being a PC technician to being a web designer too. He's got a lot of talent in that direction and so we just let him run with it, and it's worked out real good for us," said Bertschy.

Bertschy says he invites everyone to check out the new site, which provides agendas for the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court, information on all county departments, county precinct maps and other valuable information.

"The original website really had the framework and all the material there. It was just us making it look good and producing the lists, the drop-down lists, and things like that. It was just really taking the old website and re-designing it," said Bertschy. "Because we do do it in-house now and it's totally handled by all of us in here, if they have anything they want to see on it, any changes they'd like to make or anything that they think would improve the response for the public, for the county, let us know, and we'll be happy to see about getting it up and working for them."

To provide comments to the MIS department about the site re-design, click on the "Webmaster" link at the bottom of the county website main page or e-mail webinfo@co.guadalupe.tx.us.