Thurs., Jan. 23    Port O’Connor Service Club 10:00 am    Port O’Connor Community Center
Mon., Jan. 27    Candidate Forum 5:30 pm    Seadrift Community Center
Sat., Feb. 1    Warriors Weekend Muster 5:00 pm    VFW Hall, Port Lavaca
Mon., Feb. 3    Sen. Kolkhorst to Speak 5:45 pm    Grace Episcopal Parish Hall,Port Lavaca
Mon., Feb. 3    Intercoastal 4-H Club 6:30 pm    R&R RV Park
Tues., Feb. 4    Pct. 3 Commissioner Debate 5:30 pm    Grace Episcopal Parish Hall, Port Lavaca
Tues., Feb. 4    Seaddrift City Council 7:00 pm        Seadrift City Hall
Thurs., Feb. 4    Bunco 7:00 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center
Thurs., Feb. 13    Sweetheart Banquet6:30 pm    Port O’Connor Community Center
Sat., Feb. 22    Abandoned Crab Trap Removal  713-829-2852
Sat., March 7    Boater Education Class  361-552-9747
Sat., March 21    CCA Banquet, Port O’Connor 989-824-0110; 713-626-4222

Taylor Herrera of Port Lavaca was one of 19 graduates of Victoria College’s Law Enforcement Academy honored on Dec. 11 at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex for completing VC’s 95th Basic Peace Officer Certification Class.
Successful completion of the Basic Peace Officer Certification Class allows students to take the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) examination to become a certified peace officer in Texas.
VC offers two academies a year – one during the fall semester and another during the spring semester. Both academies are held Monday through Friday with classes meeting 8 to 10 hours a day.
For more information on VC’s Law Enforcement Academy, call (361) 582-3208 or email James.Martinez@VictoriaCollege.edu.

Kristen Machicek of Point Comfort was one of 41 Fall 2019 graduates of Victoria College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program honored at a pinning ceremony on Dec. 12 at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex.
Victoria College’s two-year Associate of Applied Science degree in nursing is fully approved by the Texas Board of Nursing and accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.
Successful completion of the ADN Program enables graduates to apply for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Satisfactory achievement on the exam qualifies graduates for licensure as a registered nurse.
For more information on Victoria College’s ADN Program, call (361) 572-6435 or email Tyler.Turk@VictoriaCollege.edu.

VC Offering Electrical Classes

Victoria College will offer Electrical Level 1, 2 and 3 classes during the Spring 2020 semester.
Electrical Level 1 will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 11-June 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Room 226 of the Industrial Training Center at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex. The course will provide an introduction to the electrical trade, electrical circuits, theory and safety, conductors and cable, device boxes, hand bending and residential electrical services. Students must first successfully complete the mandatory “Core Curriculum: Introductory Craft Skills” class. The cost for the Electrical Level I class is $750 and includes all materials.

Electrical Level 2 will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays, Feb. 10-June 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Room 222 of the Industrial Training Center at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex. Students will study alternating current; motors theory and application; circuit breakers and fuses; conductor installations, terminations and splices; conduit bending; grounding and bonding; and pull and junction boxes. Students must have first successfully completed the Electrical Level 1 course. The cost for the Electrical Level 2 class is $650 and includes all materials.

Electrical Level 3 will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 11-June 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Room 222 of the Industrial Training Center at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex. The course will provide advanced study in load calculations, healthcare facilities, and standby and emergency systems. Topics will include advanced controls, fire alarm systems, HVAC controls, heat tracing, freeze protection, motor operation and maintenance, medium-voltage termination and splices, and specialty transformers. Students must have first successfully completed the Electrical Level 2 course. The cost for the Electrical Level 3 class is $700 and includes all materials.

Scholarships and financial aid are available. For more information or to register, call (361) 582-2528 or email Mary.Hardy@VictoriaCollege.edu.

Computer Literacy Class

Victoria College will offer a Computer Literacy class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 11-27 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Room 307 of the Conference & Education Center at VC’s Emerging Technology Complex.

The cost for the class is $150 and includes all course materials and textbooks.

Students will learn computer basics and how to operate Microsoft Windows 7, navigate the Internet, and send and receive email. Topics will include computer terminology, hardware and software.

The deadline to register for the class is noon on Jan. 30.

To register or get more information on the class, call (361) 582-2528 or email Mary.Hardy@VictoriaCollege.edu

They’re big, they’re a bit smelly, and they eat dead stuff! Vultures might not the prettiest of birds… some might even say ugly. But they are some of the most important animals around you! Vultures are what clean up after the rest of nature. They can make an animal carcass disappear in no time.
Some call them buzzards, a name given to them by the first English settlers who thought that they looked like the hawks called buzzards from back home in Europe. They do fit in the larger family of raptors that hawks also belong to, but vultures are vultures, not hawks.

There are only two species of vultures in Texas today, but that was not always true. Besides the common Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture we see almost daily, at some point in history Texas skies also saw California Condors soaring in search of food. Reach even further back and there is a mystery vulture whose wing span was even larger than the condors! Fossil skeleton records from caves have shown both of these species lived here. California Condors have an impressive nine foot wing span… but the ancient bird, thought to be a vulture species, was up to 14 foot!

Our local cleanup crew is now made up of the Turkey Vulture, with their featherless red heads, and its smaller cousin the Black Vulture with an equally featherless head that stays black. Besides the different colored heads, they can be told apart in flight by the much shorter tail on the Black, and their shorter rounder wings that have a “silver” appearance at the wing tip. The Turkey has silver in the wing as well, but it’s the whole trailing edge of the wing, not just the tip. Turkey Vultures also fly with their wings in a dihedral, or slight V shape, often rocking back and forth. Be cautious because you can’t always judge by head color as the young Turkeys have black heads until close to adulthood.

Both vultures eat carrion, and the riper the better it seems. This helps the Turkey Vulture find its food, as they “hunt” by smell. They can smell something dead from a long ways away. The Black Vulture finds its food by sight, and will often cheat by keying in on the Turkeys circling over a dead animal… just follow the guys around that can smell the stuff! And there is a distinct pecking order that can be seen at a carcass. Turkeys go in first, and it may be that they can better start the process with more powerful beaks, etc. If a Crested Caracara joins the fray they wait their turn after the Black Vultures. Caracaras are not vultures (nor eagles) and closer related to falcons, but they do eat a lot of carrion, however that’s another story.
One “fun” fact about Black Vultures… they “release excrement” on their legs and feet to keep them cool! That is what gives their legs that nice white appearance. But strange as they might be, we must be thankful that these big guys are around! Without them we’d have a much smellier world!

The Intercoastal 4-H Club had their monthly meeting January 6, 2020. On January 31, 2020 4H photography entrees are due for the photography contest.

On February 13, 2020 there will be a Sweetheart Banquet hosted by the Port O’Connor Baptist Church at the Port O’Connor Community Center. 4-H members are asked to help serve.

We will have consumer decision making practice January 19, 2020 at the Port O’Connor Elementary library at 5:00 p.m.
Our next meeting will be February 3, 2020 at the R&R RV Park at 6:30 p.m. Grades K-12 welcome!

McKenna Guevara
VP/Reporter