Brady Standard-Herald

75¢(USPS 062-900) Brady, Texas 76825 June 1, 2016Printed on

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Brady Standard-Herald and Heart of Texas News

By James stewartThe challenge was simple—

be able to answer 40 questions about any significant world event that happened between Sept. 1, 2015 and May 1, 2016. For the Brady High School Current Events team, they achieved the ultimate, they won first place at the State UIL competition on current events.

Last week, the Brady High School UIL Current Events team of Juan Selvera, Cole Speck, Austin Reeves and Rex Ross brought home the gold medal from the state UIL meet. It was a feat that was not easy to accomplish. In doing so, they knocked off the peren-nial powerhouse from S&S Consolidated in Sadler, a team that has won four of the last five current events competitions at the state level. To sweeten the deal, Brady also edged out the team from Wall who tied with S&S for second place.

Coached by Brady High School government teacher Rex Ewert, the team of two seniors and two juniors partici-pated in the state tournament having qualified by winning the Regional Meet several

Click it or ticket program underwayWith the summer vacation season officially here, Texas law enforcement officers are increas-

ing efforts to issue tickets to drivers and passengers who are not wearing seat belts. The “Click It or Ticket” initiative runs through June 5.

Last year in Texas, 2,370 motor vehicle crashes involving unrestrained occupants resulted in 889 fatalities and 1,854 serious injuries. Wearing a seat belt helps keep occupants from being ejected in a crash and increases the chances of surviving by 45 percent. In pickup trucks, that number jumps to 60 percent, as those vehicles are twice as likely as cars to roll over in a crash.

Texas law requires drivers and all passengers—including those in the back seat—to wear a seat belt or else risk a ticket, fines and court costs up to $200 each. Children younger than 8 years old must be in a child safety seat or booster seat unless they are taller than 4 feet 9 inches. Fines issued to drivers for unrestrained children in their vehicle can be as high as $250 plus court costs.

To learn more about “Click It or Ticket,” visit texasclickitorticket.com.

John Dagen won the runoff last Tuesday for the Republi-can Primary election for Mc-Culloch County Sheriff.

Dagen will now face Felipe Bernal who was the lone can-didate who filed to run on the democratic ticket.

There were 1,387 votes cast in the run-off for sheriff and Dagan received 795 votes which equated to 57 percent of the votes. George Escobar re-ceived 592 votes or 43 percent of the votes cast.

Dagen wins Republican nominee for sheriff

Thanks to an effort organized by local volunteers and busi-nesses, the annual July 4 weekend fireworks celebration is back on for the Brady community.

A committee named “The Brady Community Involvement Committee” that has been led by Rick Althof, announced Tues-day that a sizeable donation by Premier Silica, added to funds already raised by the group, had made it possible to secure the date of July 2 for this year’s fireworks display.

According to Althof, three other local companies including Stone Transport, Brady National Bank and The Locker Sports Bar & Grill have also stepped in with significant donations to help cover the cost of the fireworks.

“Even with these donations, we have not yet met the goal of $15,000 to completely pay for the show,” said Althof. “The Brady Community Involvement account has been established at Brady National Bank for individuals who would like to do-nate. All donations are tax deductible and will go toward the fireworks show with any extra proceeds to stay in the account for next year’s show.

“The committee is still working hard to reach that $15,000 goal for the fireworks but we still need more help.”

By Neal Ulmer On Monday morning at the Brady VFW Post 3234, their

families and four different groups joined together to pay tribute to those who gave their life for the freedoms we have today.

The Brady VFW Post 3234 hosted the event in conjunction with the Heart of Texas Historical Museum, the Iron Horse Mo-torcycle Club, Boy Scout Troop #425 and Carter Home Health.

Giving the welcome was museum president Kyle Moseley with the opening prayer by Pastor Gaylon Morris. Posting of the colors was performed by local Boy Scouts.

Vietnam Veteran Dennis Bolinger read off the names of McCulloch County fallen soldiers who served in either World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam. As each name was read veteran Michael Owens rang a hand bell.

The National Anthem was sung by Karen Behrens followed by Clayton Moore, commander of Brady VFW Post 3234. Moore said this is the day we remember with humble reverence the memory of those absent comrades who gave true meaning of the words, “Valor, Sacrifice, Loyalty and Perseverance.”

Moore went on to remind us to support our soldiers no matter what branch they serve in or wherever they are posted. He went on to give the history of Memorial Day, which was established by a presidential decree on May 5, 1868.

Outside the VFW hall, a squad of veterans gave a 21-gun salute to those who had fallen in one of the wars. Composing the

Group gets fireworks back on July schedule

BHS current events team wins state

Dagan received 461 votes in early voting while Escobar received 349 of the 810 early ballots. On election day, Dagan received 334 votes and Escobar received 243.

JohN DageNrep. CaNDiDate for sheriff

Pearson storms his way back to winner’s circle

weeks ago. The challenge is simple—answer 40 questions and write one essay over world events that have occurred in the past seven months. Other than the dates provided, the questions could quite literally cover the world.

“We started working and studying on world events on a regular basis at the start of the school year,” said Juan Selvera, a senior member of the team. “It’s something that quite liter-ally can cover any topic that has happened in world news over the past seven months. And it may be a topic that has evolved over the past several months and not just a one-time occurrence.”

The question pool ended up ranging from what font is used on road signs to what country’s prime minister was implicated in the Panama Papers leak and subsequently resigned. If it has been a part of major world news over the past seven months, it was a possible question for the contest.

For the Brady team, they successfully answered enough questions to beat the team from S&S that has won the tourna-

By James stewartA first-round course record

of 10-under par 61 by Steve Alexander, coupled with a 62 by David Pearson Jr. and a 63 by Tim Walker set the stage that the 58th Annual Dr. Harry C. Priess Businessmen’s Memo-rial Day Classic was going to be one for the record books.

Walker and Pearson both carded a 63 on Sunday dur-ing the second round to begin Monday’s round only a stroke apart. Alexander’s second day total of even par 71 dropped him eight strokes back. But it was Monday’s round that closed the deal for Pearson as he fired a four-under 67 to cruise to a six-stroke, 21-under par victory over Walker in the 54 hole tournament.

“Pearson is a solid com-petitor and he doesn’t make mistakes,” said Walker, a Brady native and local busi-ness owner. “On any other given day, the scores I shot this weekend would win a tournament, but David just played really well and put on a display of how to play golf.”

21-under par, 54-hole score sets new standard

Pearson’s 62-63-67—192 is the lowest tournament record by a considerable margin in the history of the tournament.

One of the oldest match play tournaments in the state, the tourney began in 1959. It was a match play tournament in every flight up until 2012 when the decision was made to change the Championship Flight to three days of stroke play while the remaining flights played match on Saturday and Sunday and finished with the traditional stroke play on Monday.

Pearson’s victory makes this the third time his name will appear on the Championship Trophy that was revamped this year to honor the long-standing history of the annual tourna-ment. Pearson won his first lo-cal title in 2010 and then again in 2012. He was runner-up last year losing by a single stroke on the final hole, but this year, he cruised to a six-stroke win.

“I came in to this tourna-ment not even thinking I was

NEW TROPHY—The newly-revamped trophy for the Dr. Harry C. Priess Businessmen’s Memorial Day Classic was presented to David Pearson (left) by Skip Priess and BGA President Curtis Owens following Pearson’s 21-under par win Monday afternoon.

FINALLY DONE—Members of the Brady High School Class of 2016 celebrate gradu-ation with the traditional tossing of the caps following last Friday night’s commencement exercises where 86 seniors received their diplomas.

BEST IN THE STATE—The Brady High School cur-rent events team of (left to right) Rex Ross, Juan Selvera, coach Rex Ewert, Cole Speck and Austin Reeves brought home the team title in the UIL Current Events contest held last week in Austin.

IN MEMORY—Members of the local Boy Scout Troop 425 participated in Monday’s Memorial Day cer-emony that was held at the local VFW Hall. Pictured are Jakob Zamora, Aaron McBee and Robert Stafford.

Veterans, community observe Memorial Day at local VFW Post

ment five of the past six years. “We started this year with

the goal of just making it back to state,” said Ewert. “Then after Regionals, we looked at the scores and refocused and seriously began working to bring home a medal.”

The team has had study ses-

sion and after-school practice for most of the past five months. They bounce ideas, topics of discussion and work together to make the team better and more well informed.

“One of the neat things about our team is that we are all dif-ferent,” said Reeves, another senior on the team. “We all have different backgrounds, religious beliefs and even basic political beliefs, but it allows us to work well together.”

Throughout the competitive season, the team has worked to broaden their knowledge of current events. They’ve taken part in online tests and traveled to tournaments to put their knowledge up against other teams from across the state.

“We’ve even competed

See Memorial on Page 10 A

See Current on Page 10 A

See Golf on Page 6 A

Standard-Herald photo by James Stewart