Lifestyle

    A new subdivision to Bay City was announced by the Bay City Community Development Corporation (BCCDC). 
   The subdivision will be the first of its kind in Bay City, with just under 200 homes that are perfect for the first- and second-time home buyer, said BCCDC Executive Director Jessica Russell. 
   The purchase of the land - a 40-acre tract beside McCoy’s Building Supply - was completed Wednesday, June 30, and will kick off the city’s move to create a Public Improvement District (PID). 
   The PID will be designed to help the development pay for infrastructure costs and move the project forward. 
   Developer Jim Maddox said he is excited to work in Bay City. 
   He has an extensive history with building Walgreens stores and several housing developments in the Houston area.
“I immediately saw Bay City’s potential with the growth in Matagorda County’s industrial areas. I wanted to be a part of it,” Maddox said.

   Bradley Westmoreland received the oath of office to City Council’s Position 3 Wednesday, July 7.
   Westmoreland will serve the unexpired term of the late Councilman Brent Marceaux.
   The Bay City native - Westmoreland is a 2000 BCHS graduate - said he’s engaged in public service.
   “I love this community and I want to invest in it,” Westmore land said.
   He was chosen to fill the council seat from among four other candidates for the position.
   Westmoreland said he’s impressed with the city’s plans for major water and wastewater improvements and looks forward to working on future city improvements.
   He pointed to the growth of neighborhoods in Bay City that provides options for families.  

   Bay City’s July sales tax allocation was off 9% from the same month a year ago, while Palacios’ July total was up 12% for the same period. 
   Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar recently announced he sent counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $893.2 million in local sales tax allocations for July, 20 percent more than in July 2020. 
   These allocations are based on sales made in May by businesses that report tax monthly.
Bay City’s July sales tax rebate totaled $537,818, compared to $592,987 from July 2020. 
   For the year, Bay City’s rebates have totaled $3,766,657 – down 0.05% from the year-to-date total of $3,768,813, from the same period last year. 
   Palacios’ July sales tax rebate was $74,862, a 12.6% increase over the July 2020 total of $66,478. 
   The city’s year-to-date total is $478,342, a 13% rise over $423,290 Palacios received for the same period last year. 

   MEHOP will host a fundraiser featuring Tejano music star Stefani Montiel beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Bay City Civic Center. 
   The event will open with local artists ConXzion of Bay City, Groupo Pronto of Palacios and headline six-time Grammy nominated artist Stefani Montiel.
Based in San Antonio, Stefani’s signature sound has gained international notoriety. 
   Her incredible vocals and energetic shows have garnished a loyal fan base and six Grammy nominations.  
   Other accomplishments include winning the Academy of Tejano Artists and Musicians “Female Vocalist of the Year” four times over, and winning “Rising Female Star,” “Female Vocalist of the Year” and “Entertainer of the Year” at the Tejano Music Awards.
“We are looking forward to the show” said Celeste Harrison, MEHOP CEO. 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released spring 2021 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results Monday, June 28.
   The TEA canceled the spring 2020 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that test was reinstated and given this spring.
   The results include exams in mathematics and reading for grades 3–8, 4th & 7th-grade writing, 5th and 8th-grade science, 8th-grade social studies, and high school end-of-course (EOC) exams in Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology, and U.S. History.
   Scores are categorized as approaches, meets, masters, and a scale score.
   Scale scores allow direct comparisons of student performance between specific sets of test questions from different test administrations.
   The scale score takes into account the difficulty level of the specific set of questions based on the test.

   A 15-year-old boy drowned after he was pulled under on Matagorda Beach Sunday, July 4.
   Matagorda VFD first responders were initially responding to a report of three people swept out in a rip current late Sunday afternoon, when they were notified about the 15-year-old boy.
   “On July 4th, late in the afternoon, Matagorda Fire responded to a call for three people swept out in a Rip Current. While en route another call for a drowning came in,” said Fire Chief Clay Bishop. 
   Matagorda VFD first responders split up to cover both calls,” the chief added.
   “Unfortunately, one of the calls was for a 15-year-old male missing in the water after being pulled under. 
   “He was found a short time later, and CPR was initiated, but the patient was unable to be revived,” the chief said. 

   There was a slight uptick in new confirmed COVID-19 cases, while there is little improvements in Matagorda County vaccination rates.
   Over the last 14 days, there were 11 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, compared to seven new cases over the same time frame last week, according to the Department of State Health Services.
   The per capita rate for the county remains around .2% per 1,000 residents.
   Matagorda County shows a 31.8% rate of residents fully vaccinated.
   As reported before, that rate is below most of the county’s surrounding neighbors.
   Fort Bend has 54% fully vaccination.
   That’s a significantly higher rate than even the state, which stands at 41.2% of Texans fully vaccinated.
   Brazoria County has 42% fully vaccinated, Calhoun County has 36% and Wharton, 33%.

   Matagorda County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) board members took a look at the demands placed on its executive director during a recent board meeting.
   Board Member Mitch Thames said he thinks it’s important to make sure the board understands what they are asking the executive director to do in his position. 
   Thames brought the topic up, because MCEDC’s Job Briefing Book has no job description for the executive director, suggesting a committee should put that together. 
   The board is asking the executive director to attend a significant number of meetings, he said. 
   The Palacios Economic Development Corporation contract requires the executive director to be in Palacios two days a week. 
   “I’m concerned we are turning his 40-hour work week into a significantly longer work week,” Thames said.