KFDM COOP

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Great Article

The AG has 45 days from last week. Could be tomorrow, Wed, Fri, The week after? Who knows.

The AG said they had to release it last week and PN-G filed a letter saying they thought it was best they didn't. The hiring is 23 days away (Feb 10), the AG Office has 45 days to tell them they have to release it, my gut feeling says they will release it before Feb. 10 as soon as the AG's office tells them they have to.

Because people want to see it and they are Curious. Every Media outlet in SE Texas has now applied for the list. A ton of PN-G people i know that live in PN also want to know. 8)

It is the Law and they will have to release it. Here's the deal...The AG said they had to release it last week and PN-G filed a letter saying they thought it was best they didn't. The hiring is 23 days away (Feb 10), the AG Office has 45 days to tell them they have to release it, my gut feeling says they will release it before Feb. 10 as soon as the AG's office tells them they have to.

UIL Events Moving Out of Austin? Bill Would Rotate UIL Events Out of Austin BY LEE NICHOLS, Austin Chronicle Every year, the battle cry for high school athletes across the state is "Austin or bust!" That's because in every sport except football – as well as in many academic, theatrical, and music events – the University Interscholastic League annually holds its championship competitions in the Austin area, often on the University of Texas campus. That cry may have to change if the Lucio family has its way. Companion bills – House Bill 68 filed by Rep. Eddie Lucio III and Senate Bill 101 filed by his father, Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., both of Brownsville – would bar the UIL (the governing body for public school competitions in Texas) from hosting "regional or statewide" competitions in the same location in consecutive years. That could have a huge economic impact on Austin. The events bring thousands of athletes, coaches, parents, and others to the capital city, meaning hotel bookings, restaurant sales, and shopping dollars. According to the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau, the total economic impact of the UIL basketball tournaments each March is $19.2 million. The boys teams draw 108,000 visitors and $11 million; the girls bring 38,000 visitors and $8.2 million. The state track meet brings an estimated 40,000 people and $8 million to town. "The Rio Grande Valley for many, many years has been bypassed, simply because we did not, for a very long time, have the facilities," said Lucio III. "But with the economic growth, the economic development, we have so much to offer the state now. [Holding the events annually in Austin] also has an undue burden as far as costs for our school districts, for busing and hotels every year for our students, and then parents, also, having to take off from work and travel to Austin every year." Asked what the UIL thinks of the proposal, spokeswoman Kim Rogers said that as state employees, she and other UIL staffers are prohibited from expressing an opinion on the legislation. However, listening to Rogers describe the logistics of hosting the events, it's probably a safe bet that the UIL would not enjoy the headaches of moving them from city to city. "Essentially, it would mean that we would have to move every activity every year," Rogers said. "I guess [there would be] a financial impact in just going to a new site, traveling for our staff and participants to different locations, making sure we have the same kind of accommodations. It could lead to the fact that maybe there will not be another facility in the state that could accommodate." The Lucios leave a loophole for that last point: The bill stipulates that an event may only be held at a site if "the infrastructure and capacity of the location's facilities are sufficient to serve the needs of the competition" and that a location may be used in consecutive years "if an alternative location is not available." The other areas of the state aren't necessarily being bypassed due to lack of facilities. Rather, Rogers says, state events have long been held here because "we are part of the University of Texas. We host a number of activities on campus at UT facilities because we are a department of UT, and we are centrally located in the state, so it makes it easier for participants traveling to state competitions. There are a number of reasons why we have our events in the places that we do. It's not arbitrary. There is some thought behind them." _ UIL State Competition Sites Tennis: Penick-Allison Tennis Center (UT) and Lakeway World of Tennis Cross Country: Old Settlers Park (Round Rock) Volleyball: Strahan Coliseum (Texas State University) Swimming & Diving: Jamail Texas Swimming Center (UT) Wrestling: AISD Delco Center Basketball: Erwin Center (UT) Soccer: Round Rock Independent School District Athletic Stadium Golf: Austin, various courses Track & Field: Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium (UT) Softball: McCombs Field (UT) Baseball: Disch-Falk Field (UT) and Dell Diamond (Round Rock) State Marching Band: Alamodome (San Antonio) Some other music competitions: Austin area, including UT

UIL Events Moving Out of Austin? Bill Would Rotate UIL Events Out of Austin BY LEE NICHOLS, Austin Chronicle Every year, the battle cry for high school athletes across the state is "Austin or bust!" That's because in every sport except football – as well as in many academic, theatrical, and music events – the University Interscholastic League annually holds its championship competitions in the Austin area, often on the University of Texas campus. That cry may have to change if the Lucio family has its way. Companion bills – House Bill 68 filed by Rep. Eddie Lucio III and Senate Bill 101 filed by his father, Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., both of Brownsville – would bar the UIL (the governing body for public school competitions in Texas) from hosting "regional or statewide" competitions in the same location in consecutive years. That could have a huge economic impact on Austin. The events bring thousands of athletes, coaches, parents, and others to the capital city, meaning hotel bookings, restaurant sales, and shopping dollars. According to the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau, the total economic impact of the UIL basketball tournaments each March is $19.2 million. The boys teams draw 108,000 visitors and $11 million; the girls bring 38,000 visitors and $8.2 million. The state track meet brings an estimated 40,000 people and $8 million to town. "The Rio Grande Valley for many, many years has been bypassed, simply because we did not, for a very long time, have the facilities," said Lucio III. "But with the economic growth, the economic development, we have so much to offer the state now. [Holding the events annually in Austin] also has an undue burden as far as costs for our school districts, for busing and hotels every year for our students, and then parents, also, having to take off from work and travel to Austin every year." Asked what the UIL thinks of the proposal, spokeswoman Kim Rogers said that as state employees, she and other UIL staffers are prohibited from expressing an opinion on the legislation. However, listening to Rogers describe the logistics of hosting the events, it's probably a safe bet that the UIL would not enjoy the headaches of moving them from city to city. "Essentially, it would mean that we would have to move every activity every year," Rogers said. "I guess [there would be] a financial impact in just going to a new site, traveling for our staff and participants to different locations, making sure we have the same kind of accommodations. It could lead to the fact that maybe there will not be another facility in the state that could accommodate." The Lucios leave a loophole for that last point: The bill stipulates that an event may only be held at a site if "the infrastructure and capacity of the location's facilities are sufficient to serve the needs of the competition" and that a location may be used in consecutive years "if an alternative location is not available." The other areas of the state aren't necessarily being bypassed due to lack of facilities. Rather, Rogers says, state events have long been held here because "we are part of the University of Texas. We host a number of activities on campus at UT facilities because we are a department of UT, and we are centrally located in the state, so it makes it easier for participants traveling to state competitions. There are a number of reasons why we have our events in the places that we do. It's not arbitrary. There is some thought behind them." _ UIL State Competition Sites Tennis: Penick-Allison Tennis Center (UT) and Lakeway World of Tennis Cross Country: Old Settlers Park (Round Rock) Volleyball: Strahan Coliseum (Texas State University) Swimming & Diving: Jamail Texas Swimming Center (UT) Wrestling: AISD Delco Center Basketball: Erwin Center (UT) Soccer: Round Rock Independent School District Athletic Stadium Golf: Austin, various courses Track & Field: Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium (UT) Softball: McCombs Field (UT) Baseball: Disch-Falk Field (UT) and Dell Diamond (Round Rock) State Marching Band: Alamodome (San Antonio) Some other music competitions: Austin area, including UT

LC-M lifters shine in Anahuac Van Wade The Orange Leader ANAHUAC — The Little Cypress-Mauriceville powerlifting team recently competed in the Anahuac Powerlifting Meet and came away with excellent results. On the girls’ side, Lady Bear Meghan Fontenot easily won the 123-pound division with a total weight of 760 pounds adter the three venues of squat, bench press and deadlift were all added up. Teammate Maggon Crosslin captured the 165-pound division with 540 pounds while Katyle harries was second in the 220-pound class with 810 pounds. The Bear boys also came away with some top-notch finishes as Tyler Wright won the 123-pound class with 630 total pounds. Bear Traylon Vincent was first in the 165-pound class with 900 pounds. Frank Snoddy took the 275-pound division with 1,135 pounds. Troy Davenport was second in the 165-pound class with 865 pounds. Joshua Trahan nabbed third in the show class with 940 pounds. Zach Sonnier was fourth in the 148-pound class with 730 pounds and Johnathon Fontenot was fourth in the 198-pound division with 855 pounds. LC-M will be hosting its own powerlifting meet Thursday, Jan. 22 in the LC-M weight room. Schools participating include the host Bears, Anahuac, Evadale, Liberty and Kountze.

No hater here! 8)

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From Bob West, Port Arthur News Interesting to see how differently two area school districts have approached disseminating information on the hiring of a new football coach to their patrons and the news media. Little Cypress-Mauriceville, without prodding, released the names of all its applicants. Port Neches-Groves, on the other hand, is refusing to make names available, and has gone so far as to write the Texas Attorney General to try and thwart news media Freedom of Information requests. It’s basically a stalling tactic, although the PNGISD is using the noble ruse of protecting the privacy of applicants. Let’s hope they aren’t trying to keep names secret because their Master’s degree requirement resulted in an underwhelming list of applicants. From what I hear, they’re fishing for a coach they want who didn’t bother to apply. Meantime, I have to think the Texas Attorney General has more important stuff to deal with than helping the PNGISD keep secrets.

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:'(

8) 8) Congrats!!

Yea it was just a matter of time.

Final

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Beaumont Enterprise PN-G school district should release names of coach applicants By ENTERPRISE OPINIONS January, 16, 2009 The Port Neches-Groves school board is causing a needless problem and expense for its taxpayers. It is refusing to release the names of those who have applied for athletics director/football coach in violation of and ignorance of state law and previous attorney general's rulings. . This is silly. This exact issue has been dragged through the AG's office and the courts many times. It is settled law. Only two exceptions exist to the requirement that the names of all applicants for public jobs be released - university presidents and school district superintendents. . Any attorney should be able to tell the PN-G board that privacy statutes don't apply. Trustees are flouting the law by requesting an AG's opinion. They quite probably are hoping that by the time the AG rules against them, the hire will be made and they will have safely circumvented the law and gotten their way. . Taxpayers deserve to know who the applicants are before the new person is hired, not after. They may be forgiven for wondering what else trustees are hiding.

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Post scores here

Post scores here

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;D