Jai’ Lynn Boots
Brennan Gregory
Isaiah Ochoa
Blake Bowman, Alternate

Isaiah Ochoa won his 4th grade classroom spelling bee in December., and went on to compete against the 2nd through 8th graders who had also won. He did well and will advance to the District Spelling Bee next month (along with two others and an alternate).

We are so proud of him for this accomplishment! We wish him good luck & good skills!

-Mom and Dad

Steven Raabe, Trustee of the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust, announces that twelve projects, from eight entities, totaling nearly 3.3 million dollars have been approved for funding.

The projects being funded, by category, are:

Habitat Restoration (Five projects totaling $1,236,129)
Restoring Oyster Reef Habitat in Tres Palacios Bay and Developing Best Practices for Future Restoration, $399,816, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Saving the Integrity of Keller Bay and Sandpoint Peninsula, $394,313, Texas A&M AgriLife,
Texas A&M University
Coastal Aquatic Plant Nursery and Restoration Outreach, $265,000, Matagorda Bay Foundation
Enhancing Environmental Response, Conservation, and Education Opportunities in the Matagorda Bay Ecosystem, $62,000, Matagorda Bay Foundation
Habitat Restoration of the Hog and Schwing Bayou Preserve, Calhoun County, TX, $115,000, Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust
Environmental Research (Four projects totaling $1,599,673)
Sediment Quality Assessment Survey of Lavaca and Matagorda Bays, $400,000, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Lavaca Bay Ecosystem Assessment: Gathering Key Baseline Data Among Nursery Habitats Spread Across a Pollution Gradient, $399,776, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Trophic Linkages and Habitat Connectivity of Popular Sportfish in the Matagorda Bay System, $399,932, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Assessing the Threat of Tire Leachate and Urban Runoff on Matagorda Bay Fish Populations, $399,965, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
Public Education (One project totaling $223,650):
Coastal Explorers Middle School Curriculum, $223,650, Calhoun County Independent School
District
Improving Public Access (One project totaling $141,000):
Hog Bayou Park Improvements, $141,000, Calhoun County
Youth Camps (One project totaling $91,200):
Matagorda Mañana Floating Classroom, $91,200, Texas Floating Classroom
The effective time frame of these projects ranges from 6 to 36 months.
Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust was funded as a result of the settlement of a Clean Water Act lawsuit, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper and S. Diane Wilson v. Formosa. The mission of the Trust is to support and fund environmental mitigation projects, studies, and initiatives in the Matagorda Bay and San Antonio Bay ecosystems.
For further information visit the trust’s website at www.MBMTrust.com.

For the 2nd Nine Weeks of the 2021-2022 School Year

For the 2nd Nine Weeks of the 2021-2022 School Year

PreK Alessia Smith
Kindergarten Brendan Brandt
1st Grade Jacob Stryker
2nd Grade Cora Haschke
3rd Grade Paxon Crone
6th Grade Vanessa Martinez

The Friends of the Port O Connor Library Inc. are sponsoring book signings and entertaining and informative programs by former local teacher and award winning author, Curt Locklear who will present on January 24, 2022 and retired War veteran turned romance writer William (Bill) Innocenti, Project Manager for our library construction who will present on Feburary 7, 2022. Programs are scheduled from 6 – 7:30 pm in the Multipurpose Room of the POC Library.

Curt Locklear
Award Winning Storyteller And Author

CURT LOCKLEAR

Curt Locklear is an award-winning author, historian, teacher, education consultant, and public speaker. He has presented to thousands from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi to Georgia to Minnesota to Maryland. He generally plays his guitar and banjo at his speaking engagements and enlivens the presentation with songs, stories and jokes.

His banjo picking is featured at the beginning of the hit Texas PBS TV show, “The Daytripper.”

He is a historian of elements of the Civil War west of the Mississippi – the TransMississippi and of Texas history.

He has won short story awards, and his three published novels are rated 5 Stars – highest rating. ASUNDER, A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR and SPLINTERED (ASUNDER 2) which took first place in the 2018 International Laramie Awards. The third novel, RECONCILED, has been hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling. His fourth book is a mystery tale set in Dickens’ time. SCROOGE AND CRATCHIT, DETECTIVES. The fifth book is THE DARK MALEVOLENCE, (A SCROOGE AND CRATCHIT, DETECTIVES MYSTERY.) Both are receiving high marks.

Charles William
‘Bill’ Innocenti
Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel

CHARLES WILLIAM INNOCENTI III

Charles William Innocenti III, or simply “Bill” as his friends call him, retired from the US Army in 2008 as Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-one years of service. As a career Army officer he never imagined writing about romance but it’s said people write about what they know.
Bill spent a total of six years fighting, working and living in a war zone giving him a unique perspective on war and life. Bill says, ‘”the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the dust strewn streets of Baghdad are as familiar to me as the numerous Army posts I lived or my high school haunts in Victoria.”

His service started on the East West German Border in Fulda, Germany in the waning days of the Cold War and ended after his third deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007.

After retiring from the Army in 2008, Charles worked as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan with officers and Soldiers of the Afghan military in support of Operation Enduring Freedom until 2011.
Charles was born and raised Victoria, Texas until he left for the Army and an adventure that would take him around the world with opportunities to work with and lead this generation’s “greatest Americans.”

The day after he graduated Basic Training, Charles married an amazing lady named JoAnne who is the cornerstone of their wonderful family with three children, Will, Jessica, and Rachel.

Charles holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Houston, Victoria, and two Masters degrees from the Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.