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Scholarships top $300K
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SANDERSON – In
spite of tough economic times this year, the 12 graduates of Sanderson High
School last week took home more than $300,000 in scholarships. It was the
highest total in several years, more than triple the $80,000 in scholarships
in 2006. Jacob
Benavidez won the coveted $16,000 Rose/Silver-thorne Foundation Scholarship
but he was not the top money winner. The top dollar
winner was Travis Roberts, who won state 1A championships this year in Cross
Country and one- and two-mile runs in track. The
previously-announced scholarship to Rice University was valued at $46,720 per
year. Travis also won the Sanderson Propane & Tucker C. McLaughlin
Memorial Scholarship for $1,000 and the $1,000 News West 9 Star Athlete
Award. Jacob also
took home $1,000 from the Hunters Feast, a $1,500 Midland College
Scholarship, an Angelo State University Ram Grant for $1,000 per semester,
$750 from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin and $250 from St.
James Catholic Church. Salutatorian
Jessica Garza received $91,750 in grants. They included
the $40,000 University of Incarnate Word Dean’s Scholarship, the $30,000 St.
Mary’s University Bordeaux award and a $12,000 Baylor Academic Scholarship,
along with an Angelo State University Carr Scholarship for $2,000 per year,
$1,000 from the Incarnate Word McCracken Alumni Referral Scholarship, the UIW
Endowed scholarship of $500 per year for four years and $250 from St. James
Catholic Church. Valedictorian
Victoria Busch won the scholarship for the highest-ranking senior from the
State of Texas, good for free tuition at any state university for two
semesters her freshman year. She also got
the Pecos County Bank Scholarship for $250 and the Sybil McKee Savage
Scholarship sponsored by the Culture Club for $300. Savage was a
charter member of the Culture Club when it was formed in 1927. She also
taught in Sanderson High School for 20 years. Darren Seidel
won the $1,000 Rob McClellan Memorial Scholarship, the $1,000 Leslie Octavia
Downie Memorial Scholarship and $1,000 from the Terrell County Hunter’s
Feast. He also took
home a $500 award from the Sanderson Masonic Lodge and a $250 award from
Saint James Catholic Church. The McClellan
scholarship was established 14 years ago by Rob’s parents, Reid and Jesse
McClellan, his brother Mike and the community of Sanderson after Rob’s death. Rob was an
all-around athlete and the 1991 Salutatorian.
He was in the process of furthering his education at Angelo State
University at the time of his death. Sarah Sivils
received $1,000 from the Hunters Feast and the $1,000 Octavia Downie Memorial
Scholarship. She also took home $500 from the Big Bend Open Road Race and the
$500 Lion’s Club Memorial Scholarship in memory of Elida Hernandez and E.R.
“Speedy” Montalvo. And Clarissa
Brotherton won the $1,500 Flora A. Daugherty Scholarship from Sul Ross State
University and the $300 Louise Causey Memorial Scholarship. “We are most
thankful to members of our community who have raised monies for these
scholarships,” Superintendent Gary Hamilton said. By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager SANDERSON – A
dozen Sanderson High School seniors took one of the biggest steps of their
young lives when they “walked across the stage” and accepted their high
school diplomas Saturday. Valedictorian
Victoria Sotelo Busch choked back tears in her remarks when she remembered
her friendship with Salutatorian Jessica Garza. “As for you,
Jess, you are the best friend I could ever wish for,” Victoria said. “These
past few weeks, you were here for me and I will never forget that.” She also
thanked teachers, coaches and family members. “I am so
greatful for the fact that Coach [Jerry] Garza came into my life,” she said.
“He watched me grow and let me steal his food. Well, more like steal his
entire kitchen.” Victoria
thanked her parents and said she was sorry her mother could not be present. Amanda Busch
had to be in Mexico to attend to her mother after Victoria’s uncle died. “Fathers are
like Graham crackers for being rough around the edges but still sweet,” she
said “Mothers are like the sticky marshmallow that holds everything together
and siblings are the sweet chocolate Hershey bar rectangles that will always
be connected to us. “My father’s
favorite quote, ‘Maybe you can’t, but I can’ has always stuck with me and
pushed me to accomplish anything and everything,” Victoria said. Jessica had
some advice for the next group of seniors. “To those who
follow us, listen to the teachers, do as they ask and learn from them,” she
said. “Really, they want nothing but the best for you or they would not be
here. “Enjoy
Sanderson,” she said. “I know there is not much to do here but make the most
of it by creating lasting friendships that will go with you as you venture
into the world.” Class
President Blakeney Chriesman noted in her remarks that four of the graduates
had been together all 13 years in school. With her in
that group were Jessica, Darren Seidel and Jacob Benavidez. The graduates
walked across the stage to receive their scholarships from Garza as
Superintendent Gary Hamilton called out their names. Outside after
the ceremony, friends, family and guests joined in prayer and the Eagles sang
the school song and threw their caps in the air. Other
graduates included Travis Roberts, Clarissa Brotherton, Sarah Sivils, David Shoemaker,
Chris Marquez, Ryan Rosas and Jake Hall. SANDERSON – A
seven-hour power outage here last week caused by a severe thunderstorm in
southeast Pecos County has sparked interest in a battery backup similar to
one installed recently in Presidio. Presidio City
Administrator Brad Newton told the News Leader this week the four megawatt
battery has been dedicated but it is “not quite fully functional yet.” When it is,
the battery can provide up to eight hours of backup power in case of an
outage. Like
Sanderson, Presidio is on the end of a single line. Theirs is from Marfa 60
miles to the north. If lightning strikes a pole, it’s lights out in Presidio. Newton said
the city has an agreement to tap into the power across the border in Ojinaga,
Chih., but that can take several hours and Mexican power is at 50 cycles,
versus 60 cycles on the US side. He said the
four MW battery will provide power for 7,000 Presidio residents for about
eight hours. That’s seven times the Sanderson population. “It will be
kind of a neat thing if it works,” Newton said. Writing in
National Geographic News in March, Henry J. Reske said the single power line
was built in 1948, “when Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean walked
Marfa’s streets while filming the epic movie ‘Giant.’” He said
electrical storms erupt frequently in the rugged expanse between Marfa and
Presidio, which he quoted Newton as calling “one of the hottest places in the
nation.” “The area is a
significant border crossing and for them to lose computers was not a good
option,” Calvin Crowder told Reske. Crowder is
president of Electric Transmission Texas, LLC, a joint venture between
subsidiaries of American Electric Power and Berkshire Hathaway’s Mid American
Energy Holdings. The
“Texas-size battery” is a sodium-sulfur system consisting of 80 modules,
8,000 pounds each, built by the Japanese firm NGK-Locke. “Sodium-sulfur
batteries are not as well known as the now-ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries
that power laptops and cell phones, but they are by no means new,” Reske
writes. He quotes
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Donald Sadoway explaining the
technology. “It was used
by Ford in an electric vehicle in the early 1990s,” Sadoway said. “The
all-electric Ford Escort was powered by sodium–sulfur batteries made in
Heidelberg, Germany.” Reske said the
battery “is part of a larger modernization project that includes plans for a
new 60-mile, 69-kilovolt trans-mission line from Marfa to Presidio at a cost
of $45 million, to be completed by 2012. “As such, the
cost of the battery system will be shared by all 22 million customers on the
Texas electricity grid,” he wrote. “Even when the transmission line is
modernized, Crowder said the battery system will still be essential for
Presidio.” Troy
Druse, 88, dies at Rockport ROCKPORT –
Funeral services are pending in Sanderson for Troy William Druse, 88, who
died here Saturday. He was born
October 11, 1921, in Sanderson to William and Lydia Druse. A 1938
graduate of Sanderson High School, he attended Texas Christian University in
Fort Worth before entering in the US Army Air Corp during World War II. Druse was an
aircraft maintenance crew chief in Hawaii for most of the war. He was
honorably discharged with the rank of tech sergeant. After the war,
he started work as an assistant teller at Sanderson State Bank, moving up
through the ranks to executive vice-president before he retired. He also
started an insurance business in the early 1960s and then bought Peavy
Insurance in the late 60s or early 70s, conducting business as Peavy-Druse
Agency. Druse was a
volunteer fireman for many years and served as assistant chief for part of
that time. In the early
60s he and Albert Gilbreath were the volunteer ambulance squad for Terrell
County, eventually getting EMT training, which was not even available when
they started. He also was
involved with the county medical center where he recruited doctors, got
funding, purchased equipment and even cleaned the clinic. Druse was a
member of the American Legion and the Masonic Lodge. He was also a member of First Baptist
Church of Sanderson. His parents
and wife, Emma Faye Harris Druse, preceded him in death. Surviving are
one son, James “Dusty” and Janet Kozusko Druse of Rockport and one daughter,
Debra and David Brown of Okinawa, Japan. Expressions of
sympathy may be made by donations to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center or
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager SANDERSON –
Third grader Elijah Carrasco was the only student in Sanderson Elementary
school who had all As all year and was given an award on Friday at the
elementary awards ceremony. Kenney-Mae
Pacheco was the only fifth grader and the A/B honor roll all year. Fourth graders
Noah Aguilar, Luke Carroll, Chris Ibarra, Jacob Luevano and Hunter Truesdell
represented their class on the A/B honor roll all year. Kailey
Dominguez, Justin Flax and Lexie Coe were the only third graders on that
list. Second graders
who joined them were Isaiah Aguilar, James Bon, Cori Hilton, Taryn Mitchell,
Jayden Montalvo and Brooklin Zuniga. First graders
Dohnavon Anaya, Teja Anderson and Anthony Rodriguez also had all As and Bs. Landry
Lowrance, Gabby Aguilar, Gracie Rodriguez, Sara Hines, Katy Jahn, Kylie
Dominguez, Noel Carrasco, Noah Benavidez, Dominic Aguilar, Adrian Arredondo,
Jacob Rodger, Antony Rangel and David-Lee Franco all accepted the
Kindergarten Achievement Award. Rachael Serna,
Aaron Rodgers, Trinity Pacheco, Naylea Mendoza, Diego Fuéntez, Morgan
Campbell, Jeremiah Ramirez, Ely Farley and Dakota Mills received the
pre-kindergarten Phonics Award. There were
several awards handed out for highest average for the year in each core
subject area. Awards were
also given for accelerated readers who achieved the highest point by class. Pre-K and
kindergarteners donned their white caps and gowns for their graduation
ceremonies before the award ceremony. SANDERSON – A
substantial majority of students in Terrell County Independent School
District passed TAKS tests in the final testing of the school year, it was
announced late last week. Grades three
to 11 took the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills this spring and most
students aced at least part of their subjects. All third
grade students met the standard in reading and mathematics. There were five
out of seven who had commended performances in reading and three in math. Fourth graders
scored well when all of the 14 students met standard in writing and five of
those students had commended performances. Only one
student did not reach standard in reading but half of the class had commended
performances. There was only
one in math that did not reach standard but five had commended performances. Fifth graders
all passed the science test, the only one for that grade. Three of the six
students were commended for their performance. In the sixth
grade, all students tested met the standard for reading and seven had
commended performances. In
mathematics, all but two met the standard and three were commended. Out of 16
seventh graders, all were above standard and seven had commended performance
in reading. All but one
met the standard and three had commended performance in mathematics. All met the
standard in writing and seven had commended performances. Only one eight
eighth graders did not meet the standard in social studies and half of the
students had commended performance. Ninth graders
all scored at or above the standard in reading. Three of the seven tested
below standard in math but one had commended performance. In science,
two freshmen did not meet the standard and two had commended performance. Ten of 13
tenth graders passed English language arts. Five did not reach standard in
math, one in social studies and one in science. There were
eight sophomores who had commended performance in social studies, two
students in science, one in math and one in English. In the
eleventh grade, all students except two met the standard across all subjects
tested. The two were below standard in science. There were
eight commended performances in social studies, six in math, five in science
and four in English language arts. ‘Biggest
loser’ tells how it’s done By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager SANDERSON –
Kenneth & Audrey Turner of Sanderson met Daris George from the NBC show
“The Biggest Loser” recently. Their son,
Billy & Jennifer Turner, are friends with George and the three run
marathons together. George is a
deliveryman and a salesman from Ardmore, OK, where people thought he was the
life of the party but too “larger than life” to actually date. George and his
mother Cheryl, the owner of the Sears store in Ardmore, decided to get on the
show to lose weight and get in shape. Cheryl lost 45
pounds before getting booted off the show. Her son kept going and lost more
than 150 pounds before the end of the show. When Daris
started, he weighed nearly 350 pounds and in nine weeks he weighed less than
250 pounds. His final weight was about 180 pounds. “If I can lose
weight, anyone can,” Daris said. The
25-year–old told Audrey that this was the first time he had ever had a chin. Audrey said he
is the nicest and most wonderful young man she has ever met. “During the
running of the show he had the option of taking $1,000 or taking a two-pound
advantage and he gave the show the money back because losing the weight was
more important to him,” Audrey said. Among those in
town for high school graduation last week were a group of grandparents of
Travis Roberts. Coming to call
were Joe & Sandra Taylor, a retired couple from the Dallas area who
travel around the country. Also in town to visit Travis was grandpa Travis
Roberts from Marathon. The family
watched as young Travis received his high school diploma Saturday. His mother
said the family is proud of all his hard work and his achievements. “There will be
a luncheon on Saturday for the community at 1 p.m. at the Saint James Hall
and a dance at 9 p.m. and the whole town is invited,” Roberts said. Travis won
State 1A championships this year in cross country and one- and two-mile runs
in track. Graduate Jake
Hall also had visitors. Mem & Jeanne Hall from Marfa came to see his
graduation. Vince & Leslie Jones of Gilmer also came. Bitty Kay
Williams of Dripping Springs came along with C.J. Matoka of Smithville,
Kenneth Johnson and Donald Bell of Bastrop to watch the graduation. Chona
Shoemaker of Las Vegas came to town to see her son David Shoemaker graduate. David’s dad
Ray Shoemaker of Sanderson said his dad
David G. Shoemaker of Temple came to watch young David graduate. Also in the
family, Tim & Kim Woodward of Orem, UT, and Candy Haas of Del Rio came to
see David receive his diploma. A former SHS
grad, Davis Stumberg was in town for a visit with his folks, Forrest and
Lindy Stumberg last week. Davis, the
salutatorian and winner of the Rose/Silverthorne Foundation scholarship in
2008, is a dance major at North Texas State University in Denton. By
ANNA La Fleur Production
Manager SANDERSON –
Stripes of Sanderson, better known by its former name of Town and Country,
has been swiping driver’s licenses like a credit card of anyone purchasing
alcohol or cigarettes. “I haven’t
heard anything about that but it seems like an invasion of privacy,” Sheriff
Clint McDonald said. A Stripes
spokesman said state law requires merchants to card individuals and that it
is a local manager’s decision to run such identification through the system
because it is not company policy nor required by law. “Regarding the
public’s complaints that this practice violates their rights, no one is being
forced to purchase cigarettes or alcoholic beverages so no one is being
forced to provide their identification,” said Carolyn Beck, director of
communications and governmental relations at Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission. “If anyone does
not want to show their ID to the store clerk, they can refuse and buy their
cigarettes or alcoholic beverages elsewhere or go without,” Beck said. “It’s
just like buying items with a credit card. If you don’t feel comfortable
providing your credit card to a store clerk, you can use cash or buy your
products elsewhere.” Use of a
"transaction scan device" provides access to information on a
driver's license for the purpose of complying with state law carding for age
verification. For more
information, call toll free 2-1-1 to connect with Health and Human Services. Uncles of
Sanderson, the other “convenience store” in town, does not swipe licenses. SANDERSON –
The county swimming pool, which is scheduled to be closed on Mondays, was
open this Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. County Pool
Superintendent Mike Sanchez said the pool opened officially on Saturday and
will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. An adult swim
hour is from 6 to 7 p.m. and a lap swim and mom and tot swim from 7 to 7:30
p.m. those days. “Parents need
to make sure that toddlers wear swim diapers and not regular diapers due to
the absorbent nature of the regular diapers and the fact that they tend to
fall apart when they get too full of water,” Sanchez said. Private
parties can be scheduled for a fee and those interested should contact
Sanchez at 432/345-2998 or a lifeguard at the pool. DEL RIO – The
Box Canyon Road Bridge near here will officially open at 11 a.m. today after
a reconstruction project. Box Canyon
Road is northwest of here off US Highway 90 about two miles west of the Lake
Amistad Reservoir in Val Verde County. The
newly-built bridge over Box Canyon was constructed by Relmco, Inc. at a cost
of $570,000. The five-month
bridge construction project which began in November, 2009, was made possible
by dedicated federal funds through Val Verde County. The project
was precluded by the paving of Box Canyon Road. It includes the previous paving of road and
the current bridge construction and was 10 years in the making. FORT STOCKTON
– The city faced a “Stage Five” water emergency this week and, at press time,
officials hoped to stop a leak before the city ran out of water. A 10-foot
crack and three-foot hole in the city’s main water line was discovered
Wednesday afternoon and the City Council convened an emergency meeting that
evening. Noting
“emergency water shortage conditions,” the council unanimously approved a
drought contingency plan aimed at a 70 percent reduction in water use, which
would bring demand down to two million gallons per day. “The city
normally has five million gallons of water in storage but the broken line,
along with the panic surge in usage, has left the city with about a one-day supply,”
a release said yesterday morning. “Under a Stage
Five response, all outdoor watering is to cease and commercial car washes and
all laundries are to be closed,” the city statement said. “The Stage Five
restrictions must remain in effect for a minimum of three days.” Johnny McComb
and volunteers from Lariat Services and Child’s Corp. brought “expertise,
crews and equipment to the site” to help with the emergency, the city
statement said. “By 10 p.m.,
the water line had a temporary patch in place to allow an emergency flow of
water to the storage tanks,” the statement said. “The water will not be
processed through the reverse osmosis plant but it will be chlorinated. The public is
advised to boil all water before use in drinking or cooking until further
notice,” it said. Subra,
Whitehead on Dean’s List ALPINE –
Melissa M. Subra and Rebekeh L. Whitehead of Marathon were among 256 Sul Ross
State University students, 203 on the Alpine Campus and 53 at Rio Grande
College, named to the spring semester Dean’s List. Whitehead
posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average while Subra recorded a 3.562. The list
recognizes students who maintain a grade point average of 3.3 or higher on a
4.0 scale. Undergraduate
students who are enrolled for 12 or more semester credit hours are eligible
for the list. ALPINE – Open
auditions will be Monday and Tuesday, June 7 and 8, for the Theatre of the
Big Bend’s “Alicia in Wonder Tierra,” a bilingual adaptation of Lewis
Carroll’s classic tale “Alice in Wonderland.” Auditions will
begin at 5 p.m. each day in the Studio Theatre in the Francois Fine Arts
Building at Sul Ross State University. “Alicia in
Wonder Tierra” will be performed July 15 to 18 at the Kokernot Amphitheatre
as part of a Latin Children’s Festival. It was written
by Silvia Gonzales and will be directed by Brenda Gallegos. For more
information, call 432/837-8219 or visit the webpage at www.sulross.edu/tobb. AUSTIN – Gov.
Rick Perry has urged President Obama to stop efforts by the Environmental
Protection Agency’s to take over Texas’ federally-delegated, successful Title
V permitting program and replace it with a less effective Washington-based,
bureaucratic-led, command and control mandate. “Texas’ air
quality permitting program is achieving significantly cleaner air while
encouraging jobs and economic growth at the same time,” Perry wrote in a
letter to the President. “The facts prove that penalizing Texas will
undermine those significant environmental and economic successes and harm
America’s leading producer of domestic energy, refined products and
chemicals. “The EPA’s
unwarranted actions will kill good American jobs, reduce our economic output
and undermine critical domestic energy and petrochemical supplies for all 50
states,” Perry wrote. “Worse still, the EPA’s actions are unwarranted given
the tremendous air quality improvements made by the State of Texas.” The EPA
announced efforts last week to take over Texas’ permitting program, which
went into effect under Gov. Ann Richards in 1994 and was approved by the
Clinton administration. The air Texans
breathe today is cleaner than it was in 2000, the governor said. As Texas added
much of the nation’s job, population and economic growth, the Texas clean air
program achieved a 22 percent reduction in ozone and a 46 percent decrease in
nitrous oxide emissions, compared to a 27 percent reduction in national NOX
levels between 2000 and 2008. Additionally,
no county in Texas is in nonattainment for fine particulate matter, one of
the pollutants with the greatest impact on human health, Perry said. ALPINE – Sul
Ross State University Director of Teacher Education and Associate Professor
of Education Dr. Tyra Manning has requested that her assignment be changed to
a half-time teaching position effective with the fall semester. Associate
Professor of Education Dr. Jim Hector has been named interim director while a
national search is underway for a permanent replacement. Manning will
teach one class and assist Hector with the transition. “Dr. Manning
has worked hard to improve the Education program at Sul Ross,” President Dr.
Ricardo Maestas said. “A rapidly increasing enrollment in education courses
and high scores on the TExES examination required for teacher candidates in
Texas have demonstrated the results of the efforts by Dr. Manning and the
entire Education faculty. “We are
pleased she will continue to assist our efforts by helping with the
transition to a new director and remaining as a faculty member,” Maestas
said. Hector
rejoined the Sul Ross faculty in 2007. He served as head baseball coach for
two years, head football coach for five years and was an assistant professor
of physical education from 1992 to 1999. He later
taught at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and in the Kerrville
Independent School District. Hector
attended Tyler Junior College, the University of Wyoming and completed his BS
degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1978. He earned a
Master’s degree from Sul Ross in 1980 and an Ed.D. from East Texas State
University at Commerce in 1993. Manning joined
the Sul Ross faculty in January 2008. She attended Texas Tech University,
then transferred to Washburn, KN, University, where she earned a BS degree in
education in 1972. She received
both a Master’s degree in 1977 and Ed.D. in Education in 1979 from the
University of Kansas. SANDERSON –
Project Graduation, the all-night, chemical-free party for graduating high
school seniors Saturday had taken in $28,000 to $30,000 as of press time this
week, including $1,500 from Piñon Foundation and more was coming in. Co-Chairman
Gina Garza said money and gifts came from merchants and others and there were
several fund raisers to pay for the party. The annual
“Dude Looks Like a Lady” pageant May 19 raised $810, Garza said. Male
students dressed in female garb and females dressed as guys for the program. Other fund
raisers included a pancake breakfast, car washes and several concession
stands at school activities. The 44
students and their guests at the party in the High School Gym after the
graduation ceremony took home gifts including a $500 Sul Ross tuition
certificate, a set of tires, televisions, bicycles, GPS sets, Blue Ray sets,
iPods, cameras and other prizes. “Eight of the
13 [seniors] requested laptops and they each got one,” Garza said. “They were
customized for each student.” Twelve
received their diplomas Saturday before the party. Students were given a
“wish list” to request items to be given away. Students could also suggest
activities, food and other ideas for the party. “Shellie
[Martin] was wonderful,” Garza said. “She provided pizza and hot wings for
the party and then she showed up early [Sunday] with hot cinnamon rolls.” Volunteers
Teresa Brotherton, Travis Roberts, Marisa Hall and Garza also served fresh
fruit, nachos, drinks and popcorn. Serving with
Garza on the Project Graduation Committee were Co-Chair Michelle Marquez,
Secretary Cheryl Seidel and Co-Treasurers Blain Chriesman and Hall. Chaperones
included Luis Martinez, Jon Tom and Tanna Lowrance, Jase and Jessica Harkins,
Amy Carman, David and Tami Carrasco, Leighton Conway, Jerry Garza and GEAR-UP
staff member Rockland Owens of Alpine. Next year’s
Project will get $500 in startup money from the Texas Department of
Transportation and a list of things to consider next year, Garza said. “Teri
[Chriesman] came up with a big list for them,” she said. Garza said any
funds left from this year’s event will be divided up equally among the
graduates. Leftover paper
goods will go to the upcoming class and a bucket of pickles was donated the
Elementary School library for the accelerated reading program. She said all
students attending the affair passed a “breathalyzer” test to determine they
were drug and alcohol free, a requirement to attend the party. |
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