KSTV News

The Tarleton Counseling Center has received the second continuation since 2017 of the Victims Assistance Grant — $221,520 for resources for students who have experienced violence. The grant, awarded by the Governor’s Office through the federal Campus Victim Assistance Program, provides campus-specific victim aid. The grant provides salaries for a full-time advocate and three full-time counselors trained to assist survivors of physical and sexual abuse, intimate partner abuse, domestic violence, stalking and harassment, and to work with students who come to Tarleton from the foster care system. The grant also provides prevention training for students, staff and Tarleton police officers.

—The virtual star party, hosted by Tarleton State University’s College of Science and Technology has been rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 in response to anticipated weather issues. The free live-stream will originate from the observatory at Hunewell Ranch seven miles east of Stephenville. Virtual attendees will view live images and hear in real time from Tarleton astronomer Dr. Shaukat Goderya.
Historically, an in-person public event has been held at the observatory in late fall and early spring. To follow pandemic restrictions for social gatherings, Dr. Goderya’s live-stream will enable audiences to see and hear about celestial objects in the evening sky. Objects faintly or not seen by the naked eye are magnified greatly, providing those online a rare view of planets, their moons and distant galaxies.

The city of Stephenville continues to be mainly where all of the newest COVID-19 tests are coming from. With Thursday’s Erath County COVID report, it showed 10 of the 13 overall cases frpom the past 24 hours were with residents of Stephenville. The remaining three were with residents living in unincorporated parts of the county. The total number of active coronavirus cases in the community dropped by one to 186. 53 people remain hospitalized in Erath County with COVID illnesses.

A team led by Tarleton researcher Dr. Eun Sung Kan has been selected to receive a 2020 National Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) national program award from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The team’s three-year grant, totaling more than $1.4 million including matching funds and federal support, was awarded for the proposal “Biocarbon-Enhanced Dairy Manure Management Demonstration for Enhanced Water Quality.”

The project is expected to demonstrate a biocarbon-assisted phytoremediation system for enhancing water quality during dairy manure application in three Texas counties and improve knowledge of field-applied surface-functionalized biochar and how it can enhance water quality during dairy manure application when used in conjunction with plants.

The surge in coronacvirus cases locally contionues, as Erath COunty reported 18 new psoitive test results in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday. Eight of the cases are in Stephenville, while another eight are in rural Erath County and two are in Dublin. The number of active coronavirus cases in the county now stands at 187, an all time high since the pandemic began in mid-March. However, the number of people hospitalized with COVID ilnnesses in Erath County rose by two. It nouw stands at 53. The age group expericning the most cases continues to be the 20-29 age group, which now has a total of 341 cases since the pandemic began.

Brown County is also having a tough time with COVID, as the Brown County Health Administrator gave the city council an update Tuesday. Lisa Dick told the council that there were 184 cases of COVID in Brown County as of yesterday morning and 15 patients were being treated at Brownwood Hospital. 35 people have died from the virus there. The hospital has requested nursing assistance from the state.

Erath County’s COVID-19 report on Tuesday showed the highest number of positive tests ever in one day. 42 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Erath COunty over the previous 24 hours. Records have been broken in every category, as the surge in coronavirus cases in the community is showing no signs of letting up. An additional death was added, so Erath County now has 18 deaths since the pandemic started. Among the 42 people who tested positive, 27 are in Stephenville, 11 are in rural parts of the county and four are in Dublin. The number of people hospitalized also rose to a record high yesterday. It now stands at 51. And the number of people considered to have actiuve coronavirus also now stands at a record 189 people.

Tarleton State University’s College of Science and Technology will host a virtual star party at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. The free live-stream will originate from the observatory at Hunewell Ranch seven miles east of Stephenville. Virtual attendees will view live images and hear in real time from Tarleton astronomer Dr. Shaukat Goderya.
Historically, an in-person public event has been held at the observatory in late fall and early spring. To follow pandemic restrictions for social gatherings, Dr. Goderya’s live-stream will enable audiences to see and hear about celestial objects in the evening sky. Objects faintly or not seen by the naked eye are magnified greatly, providing those online a rare view of planets, their moons and distant galaxies.

Virtually all of the 15 new cases of coronavirus that were reported on Friday came from residents living in the city of Stephenville. 14 of the 15 cases were there. The other remaining cases is from a patient residing in Dublin. The number of people who active have coronavirus now stands at 173. That’s two more than Friday’s report and the highest level ever in Erath County. Also, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 illnesses rose by two on Friday, to 47. That is also a record number.

The annual Stephenville Turnbow-Higgs AMerican Legion Post 240 Veterans Day program is scheduled for this Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. The event will be held at the Erath County Courthouse. The event will follow CDC guidelines, so masks and social distancing will be required. Hand sanitizer and wipes will be made available, too. The keynote speaker is Stephenville Mayor Doug Svien. Svien was elected in 2018 after seven years on the Stephenville City Council. Svien has also been the CEO of The Rock House COmpany, where he was employed for nearly 30 years. Erath County United Way and Interbank will serve coffee and doughnuts to attendees.