Lifestyle

   Bay City ISD trustees approved edits made to the student code of conduct and a presentation on updates made to student and employee handbooks during a special board meeting Monday night.
   “What you will see are mainly revisions to the TASB model,” said Lisa Moya, Director of Curriculum for the district.
   “Because we were in a special legislative session, a lot of these updates came to us late.”
   The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) provides a “model student code of conduct” and “model student handbook” to districts to assist in communicating essential information to students and parents for the current school year.
   “There has been some clarification in the language for mistreatment of others in the student code of conduct,” added Moya.
   Those changes read as:

Matagorda County Commissioners Court approved a fiscal 2017-2018 tax rate that’s aimed at raising the same amount of property taxes as the county took in the present fiscal year.
   There was no discussion of the tax rate at the court’s regular meeting Monday, as County Judge Nate McDonald read the agenda item that said the county’s levy will be 41.898 cents per $100 valuation.
   The present fiscal year tax rate is 41.998 cents, and the county passed on Monday the effective rate of 41.898, which includes the maintenance and operations effective levy of .41507 cents and a debt-service rate of .00391 cents.
   The effective rate raises the same amount of property tax revenue from county properties as the current tax rate, according to an announcement from Tax Assessor-Collector Cristyn Hallmark’s office.
   In addition, the court also set a public hearing on the county’s proposed fiscal 2017-18 budget for 9:55 a.m. Aug. 21.

  Few people realize that the headquarters of a national organization – with an estimated 4,000 members worldwide – is located in Bay City.
   The Sons of the Republic of Texas (SRT) national office has been in Bay City since 1994.
   “This is the only national or world organization located in Bay City as far as I know,” said Bobby Wilkinson, a member and past president.
   There was quite the celebration when the SRT office opened at 1717 8th St., where it remains today.
   The organization’s annual convention was held in Bay City the year before, in 1993, and a chamber ribbon cutting marked the office opening in 1994.
   There was a little glitch during that ceremony, however, because one of SRT top officials announced the office as the “new temporary headquarters.”

   Wharton County Junior College is registering for the Fall 2017 semester.  
   Students may register online now through August 27 on the web. Walk-in registration may be completed at the Wharton campus, Sugar Land campus, or the Richmond campus now through Aug. 25. Registration appointments are not required.
   Fall classes begin Aug. 28.
   Wharton County Junior College offers an associate of arts degree for those intending to transfer to a four-year institution, an associate of arts in teaching degree, associate of applied science degrees, and certificate programs. 
   For more information about programs or registration, call 800.561.9252 or visit wcjc.edu.   

   The Hundred Club of Matagorda County will host the 40th Annual Law Enforcement Awards Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at Eagle’s Hall, off North Texas 60, in Bay City. 
    “This dinner is an opportunity for the entire community to show support for our peace officers,” said project chairman Bill Aber.
    “Awards will be presented after the meal,” Aber said, “and the public is invited at no charge.”
    “Law enforcement officials, officers, and their families are special guests,” according to Past-President Haskell Simon.
    “We hope to see members of the Hundred Club and their families in addition to the general public participate in this highly-anticipated annual event,” said Hundred Club President Steven Reis.
   Simon explained that “support for all law enforcement officers in Matagorda County is the whole point of the Hundred Club.”

   A sentence of eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine was given this week to a Van Vleck man convicted of possessing child pornography by a Matagorda County jury in June.
   Jonathan David Lewis, 48, was convicted of third-degree felony possession of child pornography in 130th District Court June 15.
   District Attorney Steven Reis said this was the first time a child pornography case was tried here – suspects in previous cases pled out for probation. 
   In addition, Reis also told a breakfast meeting Friday morning the case also showed that intricate methods Homeland Security special agents use to catch those possessing child pornography videos and sharing them online.
   Videos in this case showed children as young as 3 to 5 years old. 
   An initial sentencing hearing last week was reset for this week, when the sentence was handed down by District Judge Craig Estlinbaum.