Lifestyle

  The final plans for CenterPoint Energy’s planned transmission line between the utility’s Bailey Substation in Wharton County - near Lane City - and the Jones Creek Substation in Brazoria County show it will cross a small section of northern Matagorda County.
   That’s a relief to many Matagorda County property owners who saw the preliminary maps of CenterPoint’s 345-kilovolt (kV) line include Brazoria, Matagorda, and Wharton counties.
   CenterPoint began notifying those affected property owners in September 2018.
   CenterPoint’s application presented 30 geographically diverse routes, using a combination of 164 routing segments, to be considered in evaluating the project, PUC documents show.
   The proposed routes in Matagorda County – and there were several different options on the original application - caused quite a stir among residents, particularly with property owners who would be affected if the line went through their acreage.

   A handful of new laws take effect with Jan. 1 this new year and affect a variety of personal, governmental and business venues.
   The new laws all were passed during the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature.
   Those laws include:

   In what Precinct Commissioner Kent Pollard called the “last commissioners court meeting of the decade,” the county approved contracts with Matagorda County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) and Friends of Elder Citizens.
   The five-year contract with MCEDC – from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024 – calls for the agency to provide economic development services.
   The county agrees to pay MCEDC $80,800 annually – several other entities across Matagorda County also fund MCEDC.
   The agency is charged with organizing an economic development program for the entire county, along with business retention, business attraction, workforce development, and community development.

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    Registration is now open for the annual “Camo Half K” event sponsored by the Bay City Parks and Recreation Department slated for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Train Depot, 2620 Avenue G, Bay City.
   Registration/Day of Registration fees is $25 per person Jan. 2-25.
   The fee includes a race shirt, camo bag, and a medal.
   Shirts are not guaranteed for registrations made after Jan. 4.
   Proceeds from the event will help Bay City Parks and Recreation raise money for the LeTulle Dreamscape amenities like benches, and shade structures.
   “Walk, waddle, stagger or crawl down Avenue G starting at the 1905 MOPAC Train Depot to Fifth Street and back to the depot in your best, craziest, most original camo gear, just remember we are in public,” said Parks and Recreation Supervisor Kelly Penewitt.
   “Start your Camo Day off with donuts and hot cocoa to charge you up to waddle down the avenue.”  

   COLLEGE STATION – Imagine a tool that can discover problems on utility lines before outages, before power failures spark deadly wildfires, or before fears of wildfires prompt massive, pre-emptive power outages such as those suffered recently by millions of Californians.
   Well, the tool exists. It is available today. And it works.
   Engineers at Texas A&M University have developed the tool, a one-of-a kind diagnostic software called Distribution Fault Anticipation (DFA).
   It is a software that interprets variations in electrical current on utility circuits caused by the deteriorating conditions or equipment. It warns utility operators to respond to particular problems before they cause outages and possibly spark fires.
   Electric power companies have nothing else like it.
   DFA has been tested successfully by more than a dozen utilities in Texas and elsewhere over the past six years.

   “Spies in Disguise” is not your normal spy movie – even as a kid-friendly and family-centric sort of film.
   Honestly, I didn’t have high hopes going into the film, but that changed through the pace of the movie.
   Plus, having such a talented and wide-range of voice actors certainly helped.
   Spies is a computer-animated spy comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
   Loosely based on Lucas Martell’s 2009 animated short Pigeon: Impossible, the film is directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane in their directorial debuts.
   It also stars the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, alongside Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled, and Masi Oka in supporting roles.
   Smith’s and Holland’s character interactions are the highlight, by far.