DAR hears from DA about identity theft

District Attorney R. Scott McKee. (COURTESY PHOTO)
District Attorney R. Scott McKee. (COURTESY PHOTO)

DAR press release

Sarah Maples Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) members were pleased to have as their recent speaker Scott McKee. His topic was “Identity Theft” and how it affects all of us. He started off his talk by saying that all law students should be required to read the Constitution as all our laws in Texas are based on the Constitution.

Identity theft can ruin your credit and it may take many years to get it straighten out if ever. Someone using your information can file for benefits, drivers license and so much more. It is very important to protect your social security number at all cost. Do not even write checks to anyone you do not know. If you have workmen in your home be sure and put your purse and any information away from prying eyes. It is a felony for someone else to use your name and information but that does not stop a smart crook.

Scott spoke of the phone scams that are going around and the meth labs in our community. They rely on the public to report strange odors and propane bottles laying around. He says of the scams if it sounds too good to be true it probably is and just hang up.

Scott enlisted in the Army as an Airborne Paratrooper at the age of 17. He served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq. After leaving active duty, he attended Texas Wesleyan School of law where he worked full-time and attended school at night. Scott was elected as the Henderson County District Attorney in 2008 and took office in January 2009. He began his second term as District Attorney in January 2012. A year after assuming office, he mobilized for deployment to Iraq. During deployment, he served as the Infantry Operations Officer, planning over 1,200 combat missions throughout Iraq. While in Iraq, Scott was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions and performance in a combat zone. He was recently promoted to Major and is currently assigned as a combat staff trainer. He has received many military decorations and numerous awards for his service as a prosecutor such as, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Best Attorney and the Hope Award.

Scott has done so much with his life and won so many awards it is impossible to list them all.

He has a lovely wife named Ashley and three children Stuart, Ryan and Ranger.

Rootseekers learn about technology

Margaret Ann Trail and Bob Stokes
Margaret Ann Trail and Bob Stokes

Rootseekers press release

Bob Stokes was the speaker at the last Rootseekers meeting. His topic was “Losing It.” How many of us are afraid to trust our computers to store our family information. He showed us how to back up our information and to do it often so as not to lose all that research on our families. How that technology changes almost from day to day and you must keep up to protect your data. He spoke of floppies, CDs, flash drives hard drives that all of us have used to store our information on. As that technology changes so must we.Small businesses should use technology to grow their business as there are talented company Vecro Tech provides quality services of web development,app development.

He showed us old LP records and how that had changed, Polaroid films fade over time and other film darkens. How slides have changed. Everything now seems to be going digital and those films need to be updated if they are going to be kept. After that it will be something else to come along that we will have to learn. I think most of us are old fogies and hate change but not Bob. He keeps abreast of all those changes and tries to bring the rest of us out of the dark ages. With the depletion of IPv4 addresses projected to happen in just a few days, it is very important that internet hosting providers, and ISPs test and deploy an IPv6 service on their systems as soon as feasible so as to really encourage the adoption and usage of it by everyday users. To this end, a number of web hosting resellers have developed our internet hosting structure and selected service providers that allow them run hosting on IPv6 and therefore provide services over IPv6 addresses today. A vast amount of software has thankfully become IPv6-ready, however there remains some essential aspects without support as of yet which jeopardize to delay complete migrations or updates of customers. These days, plenty of virtual servers, dedicated servers and hosted DNS and email systems are set for access over the IPv6 web. Unfortunately, shared internet hosting systems (with cPanel) are not set for IPv6 because of a lack of support for IPv6 in cPanel. This really is a shame but hopefully cPanel programmers will look into this in the near future. Click on a ipv4 broker site for more about the IPv4.

Bob has had many titles in his career, teacher in Waco and Dallas, Assistant Principal at Sunset High School, Principal of Samuel and Hillcrest High School, Assistant Director of Secondary Schools and Deputy Assistant Superintendent of all data processing services for the district. He received the Premier Principal Award given by the Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers and the honorary “Keeper of the Dream” award for his contribution to public education. He was described in D Magazine as a throwback to the ideals of earlier days, when discipline was prized and the emphasis in school was on the quality of classroom instruction. He has also been interviewed and quoted with pictures in Time Magazine and Readers Digest articles on “How to Search for your Roots” and The American Way, the American Airlines in-flight magazine on growing up in America.

We are so very honored to have Bob as a member of Rootseekers and all the work he does for this organization is incredible.

Check out the Rootseekers website here.

Obituary: Texie Ann Barton

Texie Ann Barton
Texie Ann Barton

Graveside services for Texie Ann Barton, 60, Kaufman, formerly of Athens are scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday in Oaklawn Memorial Park under the direction of Carroll –Lehr Funeral Home.

Mrs. Barton died March 26, 2013 in Kaufman.

She was born April 4, 1952 in Fredericksburg to the late Lloyd Lawrence and Dorothy Mae Parker Carter. She resided in Athens 1981 to 2007. She and her late husband Reuben Barton owned and operated Barton’s Kidd Jones Convenience store in Seven Points 18 years.

She was preceded in death by a sister Linda Lee Carter.

Survivors include son Bobby Burchfield and wife Misty, Kaufman; daughter Brandi Burchfield, Athens; grandchildren Britney Burchfield and Mason Burchfield.

Visitation for family and friends will be 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

You may leave a message of condolence for light a memorial candle for the family at www.carroll-lehr.com.

Obituary: Jules Wayne White

Funeral services for Wayne White, 79 of Athens, are scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at the Hannigan Smith Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Terry Thomison officiating. Burial will follow at Athens Cemetery.

Mr. White passed away on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Tyler.

Jules Wayne White was born Dec. 19, 1933 in Marshall, Texas the son of Louis White and Johnnie Mae Sanders White. He was a simple, Christian man who enjoyed life. He loved doing yard work and spending time in the outdoors. He was a loving father, brother and grandfather. He was a giving soul, helping raise his grandchildren. He will be missed by all he knew and loved.

Wayne was preceded in death by his parents; his loving wife Billie Jo White and his sister Melba Winkles.

He is survived by his two sons, Wayne White of Dallas, Morris White and wife Kelly of Athens; two brothers, Charles White and wife Sandy of Friendswood, Texas, “Doc” White and wife Janet of Plano, Texas; three grandchildren, Ashley White, Danielle Meaux, Lisa White and four great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Tuesday evening, March 26, 2013 from 6-8 p.m. at the Hannigan Smith Funeral Home in Athens.

Arrangements were entrusted to the Hannigan Smith Funeral Home of Athens.

You may light a candle or write condolences to Mr. White’s family at: www.hannigansmith.com.

TVCC Sports Notes: Softball sweep

(PHOTO COURTESY TVCC)
(PHOTO COURTESY TVCC)

By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information

SOFTBALL

The Lady Cardinals had the brooms out Monday afternoon at Cain Park, sweeping Angelina in non-conference doubleheader action. Coach Ashley Johnston’s squad won both games by a 7-3 score.

Erica Jordan had a huge day for the Lady Cardinals. In the two games, she went 4-for-5 with a pair of three-run home runs, a double and eight RBI.

In Game 1, Jordan was 3-for-3. Tessa Thomas was 1-for-2.

Kayla Cosby was the winning pitcher, scattering six hits.

Joining Jordan with multiple hits in the second game were Melissa Billingsley (2-for-3), Chantelle Whitehead (2-for-3), Alex el Cassabgui (2-for-3) and Thomas (2-for-3). Whitehead and Thomas each had a pair of doubles and Billingsley had a triple.

Melissa Boland had a hit and drove in a run.

Kim Leschber picked up the win on the mound.

The sweep improved the Lady Cardinals to 21-14 overall. They are 3-3 in non-conference play.

The Lady Cardinals, who have now won four straight, take to the road Thursday for a non-conference doubleheader against San Jacinto. Their next home doubleheader is scheduled Saturday, April 6 against Kilgore at 1 and 3 p.m.

SPRING FOOTBALL

The Cardinals kicked off their spring football workouts Monday and will continue through April.

Workouts are scheduled four days a week for five weeks, including some Saturday practices at Bruce Field in April. Afternoon workouts at the practice field begin around 3:15 p.m. each day and the public is invited to attend.

#CELEBRATING7

Plans for a college/community celebration of the Lady Cardinals’ seventh NJCAA championship are being finalized.

Stay tuned for the announcement when #CELEBRATING7 is scheduled.

IN APPRECIATION

The Lady Cardinal basketball team would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to the Cardinal Cheerleaders and the Cardinal Regiment Pep Band for their support all season, including at the national tournament. You are the best at what you do!

With those two outstanding groups, along with the Lady Cardinal fans attending the national tournament, it felt like home games at the Bicentennial Center. Also, the Lady Cardinals are appreciative to all the fans back home watching the games online and wearing red.

Championships are a team effort – a total team effort. Thank you for being a part of it.