By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

05-04-06

The Knippa ISD School Bond Election clinches a one-vote victory on Monday after appearing to go down in flames Saturday night over a tie-vote vote tie which according to Texas Election Law equals a defeat.

Earlier this afternoon, Uvalde County Elections Administrator Christine White issued the following election results update following a ballot Board meeting,

In a statement sent to local media, White wrote, “The ballot board met this afternoon and processed the 3 provisional ballots received on election day (2 rejected, 1 accepted) and the 3 mail ballots (all accepted) that were postmarked on election day and received in today’s mail.  I have attached the updated election results.”

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

01/10/25

  As colder weather sets in and many of the fields having been plowed in the surrounding area, mice and rats are finding their way into residences, businesses, schools and other buildings.  Linda Lively of Falco Pest Management stated that this is a seasonal problem. She also said Falco Pest Management has mouse boxes available.

 Area schools may also be experiencing a problem with mice. The Uvalde Hesperian has received one report from a concerned parent over mice at the Knippa ISD campus buildings.  The parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I feel the school is not properly handling the mice/rat issue. I worry about potential disease.”  The Uvalde Hesperian reached out to the Knippa ISD District Superintendent for a comment yesterday and is awaiting a response.

  Silvia Ocasio, the owner of RedBack Pest Management said she starts getting calls about mice and rats starting in September when the weather starts changing.

   The Uvalde Hesperian called TJ Moore Lumber Yard Ace Hardware and asked if they still had mouse and rat traps. The clerk who answered said that a customer just came in and bought a whole lot of stuff. The clerk also said that they still had rodent traps in stock.

 The following article from the Centers of Disease Control or CDC provided information on identifying and dealing with unwanted mice: Controlling Wild Rodent Infestations

12-10-24

Article submitted by Addison Day

As assigned by their ENGL-1301 Professor, Professor Ruiz, this group of Knippa Collegiate students banded together to face a topic they felt strongly about. These girls discussed and brainstormed ways to present the brutalities of reality for children around the world in a respectful manner while taking inspiration from Jonathen Swift in his article, A Modest Proposal. In this article, they offered a satirical solution to the problem, while at the end proposing a true suggestion in order to grab the attention of those around them. 

Stolen through a Screen

  Statistics from the year 2022 state, one in six kids ranging from ages nine to twelve have experienced romantic or sexual conversations with an online-only contact. To make things worse, one in eight children of the same age range had shared a nude image with an online-only connection. (Thorn, Online Grooming) These statistics have only become increasingly worrisome over the recent years, from 2022 to 2023 reports of children being
victims of sexual exploitation online shot from 32 million to 36 million. (USOPC) Although systems have been instituted to prevent online child trafficking such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, which allows individuals to report suspected sexual exploitation of children, something more must be done. Access to social media allows children to meet and interact with strangers, which must be prevented.

  In order to prevent children from speaking with strangers online, their access to social media will be revoked until they turn sixteen. This will prevent them from having such easy access to people who they do not know, and who want to harm them. In schools, if the district chooses to do so, the students will have access to heavily monitored and restricted devices which will be used only for school purposes. This would be good for the workforce, as there would be jobs monitoring which needed to be filled. Although firewalls could be instituted, children can learn their ways around this, and firewalls are not always reliable.

  If the school does not choose to allow access to technology, then the students will have to find other ways to complete their assignments. The students will have to use physical textbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. This may seem arbitrary and impractical, but if these ways of completing assignments worked in the past, then they will work now. Although the assignments may take more time, it will allow the students to remain safe from a whole other
world being the internet.

  The solution previously suggested may seem extreme, as our world today relies so heavily on technology. However, online child trafficking is a large-scale issue which requires a real solution. Many people use technology under someone else’s name and image. This is deceitful to all those they come into contact with on the internet. This act, known as catfishing, causes around 55%-65% of online child trafficking. (Thorn) In order to prevent this, social media
apps must require pictures of the user to be submitted along with facial recognition to verify that it is the same person. Another measure which must be taken is the children must take a seminar similar in educational levels to that of Driver’s Ed. In this seminar the children will learn of the dangers of trusting people online.

  Children need to be protected from the dangers of social media. We should not only protect the children, but a punishment should be applied so child trafficking can potentially be prevented. The punishment should be applied to anyone who is involved in the act of child trafficking. The punishment should be life in prison with no chance of parole. The victim should not be alone, there should be support groups put in place. The victim should be able to have
someone to talk to. Overall, we have a big issue, online child trafficking, but we can try our hardest to prevent it. Our job is to keep the children safe, if you see something say something. We are in this fight together to stop child trafficking.

Websites used
https://eightdaysofhope.com/app/uploads/2022/11/Human-Trafficking-Statistics-and-Online-Safety.pdf

https://www.usopc.org/news/2024/april/26/dhs-launches-know2protect-public-awareness-campaign-to-combat-online-child-exploitation-and-abuse-with-many-public-and-private-sector-partnersincluding-google-meta-snap-roblox-nascar-u-s-olympic-paralympic-committee-boy-scouts-of-america-national-police-athletic-league-and-more#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20National%20Center,reports%20received%2010%20years%20ago

Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

10-22-24

On Friday, October 18th, a parent of a Knippa school students contacted the Uvalde Hesperian reporting that she was informed by the Knippa ISD Principal Melissa Garza her child’s name wes included on a “kill list” created by another student who is currently under investigation by the Knippa School’s Police Department.  Two parents who have communicated with the Uvalde Hesperian have choosing to remain anonymous at this time.

“I’m scared to death for my children,” another parent said.

According to a statement from school district officals, the student who is alleged to have created the list has been removed from school.

A second parent received a call from Knippa School Principal Melissa Garza on Friday, October 18th informing her of her children’s names were also on the list.

According to an official statement (see below) just released by the district, the list contained both students’ and teachers’ names.

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco informed the parent and a San Antonio TV news reporter his department is assisting this ongoing investigation.

The Uvalde Hesperian sent an email to Knippa ISD Superintendent Benny Hernandez shortly before 8AM Tuesday morning, October 22st requesting an official statement or comment and also followed up with a phone call requesting a return call.

According to one parent, the District Attorney is also involved in the investigation.

by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Top Picture is of the 2023 Knippa National Night Out Event | Picture by Robinson

10/01/24

Uvalde and Knippa communities will be holding National Night Out events tonight with local Law Enforcement agencies and first responders in attendence.

The Uvalde National Night Out events will be held at El Jardin de los Heroes Park in Uvalde from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and the Knippa event will be held at the Knippa ISD campus from 6:30PM to 8 PM.

The Uvalde Police Department posted the following information on it’s Facebook Page:

What to Expect:

Location: El Jardin De Los Heroes Park, 801 W. Main Street

Date: October 1, 2024

Time: 6 PM – 8 PM