August 5, 2026

This is the West Texas Dispatch. I'm Nathan Bernie Sanders. The city of Abilene has spent much of this year working on a new multi-year contract with firefighters. By the end of March, officials had come to an agreement on pay raises, but the city council voted it down. A few days later, the previous agreement expired. Then on April 3rd, the City Council approved a temporary extension for pay and benefits through September. Now the firefighters have asked, and the City Council has approved, a plan to put the process on the November ballot. Jared Jasmine Crockett is the president of the Abilene Professional Firefighters Association. He joins us in the studio. Jared, thanks for coming in. I appreciate you having me on and appreciate all those who have supported us going forward to get all this done. This has been a challenging situation. You thought you had an agreement, and then the plans went sideways. Why did your members decide they want collective bargaining and binding arbitration added to the ballot for voters to decide? Were talks with the city stalled? So for one, to not completely relitigate the past, but if we go back and look, our contract actually expired October 1st, and we did not actually start negotiating until the following year there was a six-month grace period in there. And so our members were frustrated because there's no real timelines to meet confer. And so under collective bargaining, you have to have timelines in place and actually meet and have discussions rather than just, okay, if we can meet together, that would be great. There's places like Wichita Falls that have had meet confer for over 20 years and they never had a contract nor met with the city. And so that's the pause that we had and hearing stories like that. We don't want to end up in a situation where we can't even meet with the city and actually continue on this contract we've had and we've added to and taken away from over the last 20 years. As I mentioned, you did reach an agreement. First, tell us what was in the agreement that went to the city council in March. So that agreement that was reached between us and the city manager was the same agreement that we've had. We didn't add to or take away from that agreement. We've had that agreement and was reconfirmed in 2022 by Mr. Hanna. And then we started that agreement initially. 2019. So it's been the same agreement, same way we've structured our pay and everything else. There wasn't any changes to it. It's the same thing that's been approved before. Council members expressed concerns about limited future budget flexibility. Do you understand those concerns? And is there a way to address them while still accomplishing your goals? I understand counsel's concerns with budgeting. That's their main job. But I think that it also comes into play. Like, firefighters don't want bad things for Abilene either. Like, we are very fiduciarily responsible to the taxpayer. That's who we work for. And when we look at raises and things like that, we do a ton of research. We get something back from the IFF that shows exactly how much surplus revenues the city's had over the last six years. And so...

we knew all of that going into it. We weren't asking for any increases. We were just asking for what we had. And so while I appreciate and understand the concerns, to me, they were unjustified or unwarranted. So what's the big sticking point now? And does this move to put the process in front of the voters mean that you've lost trust with the city? I don't think that we should have lost trust with the city. I think that through this whole process, I've been mindful that I still have to go and negotiate with the city. I still have to go and... and sit down with the city manager and have a good relationship to come to an agreement in the future. This was just a different process, is all the one that has a more structured way of negotiating. And that's all we were looking for. And... I hope that the voters can understand that. It's not majorly different. It just gives a little bit more structure to both sides. And what's the status for Abilene's firefighters? They're still getting paid to provide the public service we rely on them for under the old contract terms. What is the impact on AFD's work and structure? Well, as far as the pays, there's not much that's been changed. Of course, that money was already budgeted for from last year. So October 1 would be a new budget year. The only difference is has to do with things like promotional testing. So there was a thing in our contract that allowed for tests to be good for two years. We had a guy who was set to promote within like 14 days of that contract expiring. And because of that, we had to go through a whole other promotional process. He actually did come out first on this new promotional process, but there was a chance he may not have gotten to promote. We also had somebody who was seeking to lateral hire and Abilene, and they were days away from being hired. You know, that's the thing when we talk about pay and benefits. Trying to recruit and retain good qualified applicants is very difficult and challenging for the fire service. And so that contract voiding like that took away the opportunity to hire that person and that individual that we know that would have been qualified and a good candidate for Abilene because that was no longer in our contract anymore. Our contract was expired. Jared, just to clarify for folks, you represent an association, not a union, and there are limits to what you can do, correct? Yeah, so an association is not in a traditional sense of union at all. We're not allowed to strike and we're not allowed to reduce the benefits or reduce the quality of service that we provide in any way if we were to do that under the law 142 on Texas local government code. We would cease to be an association who's supposed to voice the concerns of the members to the management. We would also, any individual that did that, if they were to say anything about striking or reducing that quality of service, they could not only be fired and lose their job, but they also, there's a criminal.

action that can be taken against them. So in no way are we a union. We're an association in the state of Texas doesn't allow that. 143 and even 174 preclude us from doing any kind of striking. So I want listeners to understand that. This is just a way of having a conversation between management and the firefighters, just really all we're adding. We're not able to do any of those kinds of things that you hear about in other states. So there are two ballot propositions. Talk a little bit about each one and what will a yes vote mean? So if they vote in favor of both ballot initiatives, then they're going to be basically voting for adopting 174, which is collective bargaining, the law that the state of Texas has for that, giving that process in place. That process allows for arbitration to happen in the event that we came to an impasse on an item, but it's not binding. So we've seen in places like Beaumont where that process goes through. They spend all this money going through an arbitrator or third party middleman. And he makes a decision and then the city or the association doesn't follow it. So we don't want to see that happen. We've already had strained relationships. The second ballot initiative that we're asking for is binding arbitration. which just says that in the event that we come to an impasse on some particular item may not even be money related, maybe testing or maybe something else that has to do with something the city's asking for. It'll go to that third party middleman and he'll make a decision on it and that's final so that we don't have to go through, you know, years of district court or something we can just get a decision within a few months. And we're okay with that. As firefighters, we just want a decision quickly and we want something that's fair and balanced in the middle. And that's what we would get out of having that third party person come in and look at it in the event we got there. That's not ever the goal. Does waiting on the November election drag out this process? We can't actually come to an agreement until after the November process is done. You can't be under contract and actually have a ballot initiative run like that. So it forced us into a situation when our membership decided to go for this, that we weren't going to be able to come back to the table and meet. So that's some of the... confliction with council wanting us to come back to the table, but us deciding ultimately this is what we wanted to do, we had to forego meeting again. You've been a firefighter in Abilene for over a decade. Your father was a firefighter. And obviously, you're very plugged into how things are across the state. How do you feel that the situation in Abilene compares to other firefighter groups around the state of Texas? I think that ultimately, Abilene had a decent relationship with council and with the city management before.

I think that given all the circumstances, some of it's not their fault. Some of it comes back to the cyber attack that Abilene received yet last year, which strained the process because we couldn't meet at that point. Some of it goes to having new people in there and maybe having different ideas about what we should do going forward or even not understanding the process. And so while most of those agreements were made with Mr. Hanna and then we're just ceremonially done with counsel later, It seems like they wanted to do things a little bit different. And so I don't think I want to, you know, I don't want to beat up counsel or any one person for this happening. I think that what we're looking for is what we're looking forward for. And just maintaining a good relationship so that we can keep qualified applicants. We're not continually retraining people and spending a year and a half to two years. of money and time on a person to see them go somewhere else. And so really and truly, like, that's what we're looking for is just a fair process to be able to bring up issues and have a good conversation between the firefighters and the city management. Jared Jasmine Crockett is the president of the Abilene Professional Firefighters Association. Jared, thank you so much. Appreciate you having me on. Appreciate all the support we've had. So thank you.

This is the West Texas Dispatch. On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott issued a moratorium on new data center projects. Greg Abbott declared that all proposed connections to the state's electrical grid are on hold until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Public Utility Commission of Texas can complete comprehensive audits. This moratorium is something officials on both sides of the aisle have called for. Another aspect many leaders are making noise about is the tax breaks the data centers have been getting for more than a decade. The exemption was intended to lure a growing technology industry and generate high-paying jobs, but data centers are no longer in emerging industry. Driven by cloud computing and artificial intelligence, they are spreading rapidly across Texas, and the projected cost of the tax break has climbed into the billions. Last week, state lawmakers asked if Texas is giving up revenue for projects that would be built anyway. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports. No tax exemption should operate on autopilot. That's what Republican State Senator Joan Huffman, chair of the State Senate Finance Committee said about data centers and the tax carve-outs they've enjoyed for a decade. Huffman said things have changed since the data center sales tax exemption was passed in 2013. It's a much different animal these days. So it's time and it's appropriate and necessary actually for the legislature to re-examine. whether this exemption still delivers a return that justifies its rapidly mounting foregone tax revenue. The exemption allows qualifying data centers to avoid Texas's 6 and a quarter percent sales tax on servers, network equipment, cooling systems, generators, software, and other purchases. It also exempts the electricity used to operate the facilities. To qualify, a data center must invest at least $200 million, occupy at least 100,000 square feet, and create 20 permanent jobs. Republican State Senator Lois Colhurst asked if the state comptroller's office was following up and making sure the data centers were meeting the requirements for the exemption. Is it just check, check, check, check? We trust them, check, check, check. Go down the list, check, check, check, check. And here you go. Here's your certification for... millions of dollars from the state of Texas. The Comptroller's office said they accept the data center's self-certification, but six of the 20 projects that had entered the audit process were found non-compliant or withdrew.

When lawmakers created the program, the state estimated it would cost about $14.6 million during the 2014-15 budget cycle. The Senate Finance Committee now projects the cost at $3.3 billion for the 28-29 biennium. That figure covers state sales tax revenue alone, not local property tax abatements or the cost of building electricity and water infrastructure. Brad Reynolds is the chief revenue estimator for the Texas Comptroller's office. He told lawmakers the existing projection is already obsolete. So we have vastly, vastly more certifications for exemption. have been granted since that last estimate was done. So other things equal, I would say that suggests that the next estimate will be significantly higher. Lawmakers like Democratic State Senator Chui Hinojosa also questioned Reynolds whether Texas is getting the jobs it was promised. On the average, how many jobs are created by a data center? That I don't know. I just know that clearly some of them have difficulty achieving the 20. Republican State Senator Bob Hall said the lost tax revenue means other taxpayers must pick up the slack. So if we're going to give a huge tax exemption, we're going to shift that burden of the money that's needed to the people. The data center industry says that analysis overlooks the broader economic activity created by the projects. Dan Deer Rio is with the Data Center Coalition. Its members include some of the world's largest technology companies. He compares the exemption to Texas' tax treatment of manufacturing equipment. By defraying some of the costs of the inputs, it fosters continuous reinvestment in the facility to generate broader economic activity and taxable outputs. But the industry's statewide economic impact doesn't answer the central question facing lawmakers. how much of that investment would have happened without the exemption. Texas has other powerful advantages, available land, relatively inexpensive electricity, low regulation, and fiber optic networks. Shannon Hallbrook is with Every Texan, a research and advocacy organization. He told lawmakers the industry has matured beyond the need for a subsidy. The data center industry is viable in our state and no longer needs the subsidy. I mean, in 2013, 2014, 2015, it may have been a different story, but they seem to be doing very well here in Texas. Legislation to make data centers pay taxes. could take many approaches, eliminating the exemption, limiting it, ending the electricity exemption, imposing stronger job requirements or strengthening compliance audits. I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio.

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has had strong criticism for the Wild West era of Data Center building in Texas. He's joining us on the line to share his perspective. Commissioner, Governor Greg Abbott's moratorium calls for audits to look at everything from tax breaks to power use and generation to water use. You've been a loud voice calling for leaders to rein in the expansion of this industry. Is this what you wanted? No, I hate to correct you, but it's not a moratorium. I called six months ago for a one-year moratorium. Greg Abbott didn't do that. He did call for six-month moratorium, six months to get you right past election day. So that was just political campaign fluff. Keep in mind that Greg Abbott's a very crafty lawyer, and he wants these data centers to be verification in the audit. That's all the required. And I'm going to give you the example of how I can meet his two qualifications in less than one minute. So we need verification, all right? The state of Texas has verified that I'm a data center. I went down to your recent appointee, Robert Howden, filled out an assumed name certificate. This is my certificate. State of Texas says I'm a data center. I'm verified. Audit. Here is a forensic audit from an outside certified accounting firm. We have to provide this to our board members, to our shareholders. Here it is. Look it over. Boom, I just met everything he just required. So you can see it doesn't really slow things down much. So you've obviously had a particularly harsh criticism for Governor Greg Abbott. Can you understand why the state's leadership wanted to get in on this industry so quickly and so early? Yes, absolutely. And I did in the beginning. I was with Trump. He said, we're in an AI data race with China. Well, I don't want China to win anything, much less that. So I said, let's do it. Well, Greg Abbott, he recruited him to come here. What we didn't know is while he was doing that, he was also receiving millions and millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the data centers. So I've called on him for one year moratorium. He won't do that. I've called on him for a special legislative session so the legislature can act immediately. He's refused to do that. And now... For complete transparency and conflict of interest, I've asked him to return those campaign contributions from the data centers. He hasn't done that. So the special session, he's real good about calling special sessions when it's a topic he's really interested in. He's called six special sessions during the last two regular sessions. If he wants redistricting, he calls it. If he wants school vouchers, he calls it. If this was really important to him, he'd call a special session. and start protecting Texas. Now, I'm the lone Republican out there raising cane about this. The Democrats are raising cane. They're right on this issue. And we're going to lose some elections this fall because Republicans refuse to stand up. They're scared to stand up because they don't want to go against Greg Abbott because he's such a bully. If you'll remember, he spent about $5 million in my primary endorsing my opponent to get rid of me. So they know I'm right, but they don't want to suffer the wrath of a dictator like Greg Abbott.

You've said that Texas should use what you called cowboy logic when it comes to these data center projects. What do you mean by that? So if they're taking up good farmland, let's use a little cowboy logic and give them incentive to build somewhere else. If they're driving up our electric rates and using all over water, let's use a little cowboy logic. Let's take a pause and figure this out. How can we do this? And everybody, you know, win. Right now, the only one winning is the big data centers. Local people are losing big time. When one of those data center comes in, if you own property next to it, your property values just went in the dumpster. If you're a farmer and you've barely got enough irrigation water to make your crops, and the data center comes in, that water table is definitely going down. There is no requirement for them to recirculate water. There's no regulation requiring them to make their own electricity. Those are simply suggestions by the governor. That's why we need the legislature to meet and pass laws around this industry. I'm not necessarily against the industry. I just think it needs to have some type of oversight. On that note, the Agriculture Department's website lists two of your key objectives as economic development and consumer protection. Those two almost seem to be at odds with this data center issue. How do you find a balance between those two? We can build these data centers, but we don't have to build them on our very best land. They can build on our marginal land. We can build them without taxing the grid, but we need a one-year moratorium for technology to catch up. There's something called SMR, small modular reactors within probably a year that will be readily available on the market. These would actually put power back on the grid instead of take it off the grid. They're small nuclear reactors. They're very safe. We've been using them for 60 years in our submarines and aircraft carriers. We could use something called deep earth water. In a year, we'll have the technology to tap into that, but we're not there yet. That's how we can do this deal, but we need time for those technologies to catch up. There's a new legislative session that will begin in January. At that point, you will have wrapped up your service as ad commissioner in Texas. You've called for a special session. Are you talking with lawmakers about this issue? Every day, every day. Some lawmakers avoid me like the plague because they know the governor doesn't like me. They don't want to be seen as one of my allies. But the good ones, the ones that are concerned about Texas, that are concerned about their constituents, they're talking out about it. I believe there is a will in the legislature that could override the campaign contributions to actually get our hands around this and do it the right way. But keep in mind, those laws won't take effect until September of 2027. We don't have a year to get control of this. Commissioner Sid Miller, thank you for your time today. Thank you. God bless you, guys. Thanks for getting the word out.

This is the West Texas dispatch. In a Lubbock City Council meeting last week, recent fears of data center development met with generational frustrations over industrial zoning in North and East Lubbock, leading to threats of recalls for city leaders. KTTZ's Brad Burt reports many who spoke out felt ignored. Lubbock's City Council met last week to discuss changes to two small pieces of land on the north side of the city. rezoning around 50 acres from single-family residential to general industrial and annexing almost eight adjacent acres that tie the properties back to city limits and city resources. The council chamber at Citizens Tower was packed after rumors circulated on social media that the wider property, around 380 acres, currently owned by the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, or Lita, could be used to place a large-scale data center. Terry Holman from the land surveying firm Hugo Reed and associates working with Lita said the changes this week are part of an effort that started earlier this year to set up the whole plot with industrial zoning. It really is what I would call a cleanup or what I would call a finish out, so to speak, of the general industrial that we had already had in place. From a strictly zone, and yes, it is in conformance with the comp plan. From strictly a zoning standpoint, we believe this is really the only choice for us. Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia, the representative for District 1 where the land is located, addressed Holman, quickly asked the question on the minds of many in the room. I would like to know if this property will be used for a data center. This is where I'm just the hired help, and I'll defer to the boss. John Osborne is the CEO with Lita. He told the council that the reason the wider land was purchased in the first place was the rail line that runs through it with close access to the interstate. And that's also why he says it wouldn't be the best place for a large-scale data center. While I guess technically a data center could go on a property like this, it's not the highest and best use for that property. It's actually much better use for a rail-served industrial client or possibly a rail-served distribution type client. This response was not satisfactory for many citizens in the room. For many who live in North and East Lubbock, this frustration is something they've dealt with for many years. Old zoning tactics and the routing of water and power access dating back to segregation and redlining have led to many of Lubbock's industrial projects being placed in districts one and two, where predominantly black and Hispanic residents have grown up living next to factories and concrete batch plants. Citizens have argued that living near these facilities has had... negative impacts on health and quality of life for the people in these neighborhoods. Natalie Miller is the executive director of the North and East Lubbock Coalition, but she spoke to the City Council on Tuesday as a resident of District 2. We all love our city, you guys. Got in those positions saying that you want to do what's best for the city of Lubbock. Your citizens are saying, hey, we don't want this here. Over the last several years, similar issues have led to complaints from Texas Housers, the NAACP, legal aid of Northwest Texas, and the North and East Lubbock Coalition, arguing that the decisions creating this situation are a violation of the Civil Rights Act. Without any real changes from the city to address these issues, citizens continue to feel ignored.

We are asking you and we're pleading with you to do what you've been elected to do, and that's to represent your citizens. Miller noted that developers like Lita are, quote, doing what Lita is designed to do. Lita is a type A economic development corporation with development focused on industry through its board, appointed by the city council, CEO John Osborne, says Lita takes the complaints into consideration with development decisions. I've heard a lot of the challenges that the residents on the east side of Lubbock have with industry being nearby. And we've tried very hard to make sure that any industry that's coming over here is either very clean or is in the area that would be pretty normal for industry to be in. This corner of town was the site of a proposed 936-acre large-scale data center back in January, but members of the North and East Lubbock Coalition spoke out. to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which voted against the project before the developer eventually withdrew. The fears of large-scale data center development near surrounding communities like Abernathy led to significant opposition at the city's special meeting earlier this month and prompted a petition to impose an 18-month pause on the facilities in Lubbock. Organizers for the petition announced last week that they have sufficient signatures to put the moratorium before the city council, but now they're worried that developers are rushing to get projects. in place before the moratorium can be enacted. The pressure from these two issues converged in last week city council meeting where citizens cursed and threatened to recall council members who voted in favor of the zoning changes on the agenda. Adam Hernandez is a former city council candidate and leader for the group Lubbock Compact, which has been outspoken against industrial development in North and East Lubbock. He asked the council to pause the latest development and re-examine how groups like Lita are structured. My opposition to why this zone change does not need to be approved is really because of the environment that we've created as a city that we're operating under, that Mr. Holman and Mr. Osborne are operating under, that planning and zoning is operating under, that our planning department is operating under, that continues to lead to this same issue. It doesn't matter if it's a data center, doesn't matter if it's a concrete batch plant, doesn't matter what it is. It's an industrial use. Community activist Phyllis Gant has been vocal on data center concerns in Lubbock and the history of zoning issues in District 2. You can vote with us today, the people that voted and put you in place, or you can watch us do a recall. Yes.

The city council voted four to two in favor of the zone change. While the council has not yet voted on the data center moratorium, if they reject it, organizers will have the option of placing the proposal on the ballot for voters to decide in November. I'm Brad Burt in Lubbock. It's time for West Texas Roots. Before there were private lines, several families would be connected to the same telephone line and a nosy neighbor. Amelia Perry recalled when she had a party line and how it was wise to not gossip over the phone, because you never know who is listening in. She also talked about raising her family and how she has mastered the art of quilting. I didn't know anything else. I guess it was all right. We had a good home life. My dad owned the grocery store. Got up on Sunday morning and went to church, didn't question it. You know, we played games. I mean, like on Thursday afternoon, Thursday night, you knew what was going to happen. You didn't have to wonder, what are we going to do tonight? The neighbors were coming and you were going to play 42. Life was slower. We didn't know everything about all of our neighbors. We actually lived on a phone line, there was a ring rang at our house. If you wanted to eavesdrop, you could have. You didn't tell all your gossip on it because you did not know for sure who was listening. I think our ring was two rings, but maybe somebody down the road had three.

I went to Mathur School of Nursing in New Orleans, Louisiana. But I'd already met this man that I married, and I didn't stay. He had come back from service. I met him on a blind date. And he was ready to settle down and raise a family. And I guess I was two. When Ray and I married, we didn't have anything. We didn't go hungry, but I don't know why we didn't. Unless we hadn't lived out on the farm and had a garden, we probably would have. But you know what? We were happy. We didn't have enough sense to know. We just lived a pretty quiet life. And I used to say, we didn't get up and dance on the table and that kind of stuff. We were pretty common people. My husband and I used to square dance. Back in the days, when we were square dancing, you took your children with you. They'd find something to do while we were square dancing. And we came to Abilene most of the time.

master quilter. I quilt and have quilted all my life and taught quilting for years and years and years and there's always a quilt on my bed and a quilt on my wall even here. It's a God-given talent and I use it. A lot of the people here have one of my quilts that I brought with me and I just gave them way because it was just well you know it was given to me so I could give it to them. So we had two children, a son and a daughter. Both of them turned out to be wonderful people with very good educations. We were there for them. We went to their ball games. We made sure they came number one. They didn't ask to be born. I can't speak for Rick's life, that's his life, and I wouldn't tell the things, you know. Of course we're proud of him, but I'm just as proud of my daughter. You know, we've just had a normal West Texas life. We've lived in West Texas always don't want to live anywhere else. There's something about West Texas and West Texas people that is hard to find anywhere else. I don't know what it is. Did we have a hard life growing up and it made us more stable? I can't really express it any other way. My life was good. I've been more than blessed. And I still to this day have some of the best friends in the world. I mean best friends.

We recorded Amelia Perry's story at Lindale Living Center. This is the West Texas Dispatch. Summer is a great time for kids to take a break from homework, tests, and projects. And a lot of parents look forward to the break, but they also find themselves looking for ways to make the most of all that time. As KACU's Allison Diaz reports, some of them find what they're looking for at a local performing arts studio. Inside the rehearsal room, students from Miss Seas Performing Art Studio moved quickly between dance numbers and dialogue, learning an entire Broadway-style musical in just two weeks. It's an ambitious schedule, but for founder Cammy Zimmerman, it's a vital part of the studio's mission. I graduated from ACU in music education. I kind of wanted to help kids find their confidence at a young age, but to give kids a place to feel like they have a community and other people who share the same passion. Zimmerman's passion for creating that community started long before she opened a performing arts studio. Her mom, Karen Weirzig, remembers that even as a young girl, she demonstrated the determination to improve. She would work diligently and you have to practice, and I didn't even have to tell her, she'd just go practice and cultivate her talent and her love. For the last decade, Zimmerman has been able to work on instilling that passion and dedication to the younger generation. 12-year-old Avan Kershner has performed with Zimmerman since second grade. He says he's also learning to be flexible. I have learned that sometimes I feel like it's not always about what you want in theater. Basically, sometimes you have to adjust. Put aside what you want and become your character pretty much. And when you have to adjust, you've got to roll with it. For all of the students at Zimmerman's studio, which they lovingly call Z-Pass, the experience goes beyond improving their performance skills. They're exposed to valuable lessons about teamwork, dedication, and growth. And the longer students engage with the Z-Pass, those lessons continue to level up. Students who have been part of the community take on bigger responsibilities. And Zimmerman says over the years, many of the children who started in those early shows become reliable members of the production team. I kind of did it all for a while in war. all the hats and then as we grew my students that grew with me in the studio they started taking on roles so now Braxton Paris has been choreographing for us the past three years and he's like absolutely insane and phenomenal just fun fact found out Brody Paris also can sew and design costumes and so he actually this is his first show he's doing for that too and then just a lot of my students just stepping up into leadership roles

That choreographer, Braxton Paris, started performing with Zimmerman in fourth grade. This summer, after graduating high school, he choreographed Finding Neverland for the studio. For Braxton, he appreciated the opportunity to develop professionalism, which, he says, means even more to him than putting on an excellent production. I think the thing I've learned the most and it's helped me the most from this studio is the balance of professionalism and putting on a good show and also having a good work environment. I think there has to be accountability for the cast to, you know, practice and everybody pulling their way to put on a show, but also making sure we're being good humans and just having a supportive environment. Braxton and his twin brother, Brody, will be attending the Norwalk Conservatory of the Arts in Connecticut this fall. Brody, who played the lead in this musical as J.M. Bari Weiss, says the expectations set by Missy's studio prepared him for a conservatory long before he ever auditioned. No matter what the ages are for the kids, if you give them difficult things and hold them to a standard that is like what you want, they will rise to the occasion. If they have the passion, the level of professionalism, and that really, it truly has repaired me so much. The audience can enjoy the high level of excellence the studio produces on the stage, and even the experts who help out backstage recognize that the hard work and high expectations create top-level shows. Josh Hervey is the production and backstage coordinator for 83 Entertainment in Abilene. After nearly a decade of working alongside Zimmerman, Hervey says the studio consistently delivers standout performances. I've always considered them one of the best. in Abilene, even though it's all younger people. The two weeks of rehearsals wrapped up with a weekend of performances of Finding Neverland, and it marked another milestone for the studio, which celebrated the seniors who were among the company's first performers.

But for Zimmerman, the most meaningful moments happen long after the final curtain call. She loves having the chance to help young people discover their confidence, their creativity, and their ability to succeed. It was clear when the cast gathered before a recent performance that this lesson has landed with senior Amaya Myers. And Cammy Zimmerman will continue to cheer their success, no matter how far away the stage is where they're performing, with the passion and dedication they learned from her. I'm Alison Diaz in Abilene. Acclaimed author and poet Benjamin Netanyahu Alida Sines died on July 28th after a prolonged illness. Sines' work earned top literary distinction, including the Penn Faulkner American Book Award and Southwest Book Award. The Texas Institute of Letters honored Sines with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. His best-selling book, Aristotle and Dante discovered the secrets of the universe, became a feature film in 2023. The young adult novel is set in El Paso, the border city's Signs called Home. KTEP's Angela Cacherga has this appreciation. The border has lost a great one. Benhamine Alida Seines was no doubt the most famous writer from this region, a literary giant who was proud of his humble roots. Ben was born in a small farming community near Las Cruces in 1954, one of seven children. For a time he served as a Catholic priest and later a professor who taught creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso for many years. Above all, Ben was always an artist, poet, and writer rooted in the region he called home. A prolific writer, he loved the desert and believed in the bittersweet beauty of the border. His acclaimed collection of short stories, everything begins and ends at the Kentucky Club is set at the legendary Juarez Bar. Ben also wrote children's books. He was especially beloved for his young adult fiction and heard from many young fans who saw themselves and Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. The best-selling book became a feature film in 2023. Despite traveling the world, headlining big book festivals and being offered jobs in other places, Ben chose to live here on the border. During one trip for a book reading as his host showed off a gleaming city, Ben said, I like El Paso because we don't hide our poverty. He believed in the hardworking people who are the backbone of the city and so many other parts of this country. Ben had friends from all walks of life, including political leaders and others in powerful positions. At the hospital in those final days, there were so many visitors from all kinds of backgrounds. I told Ben, there's a revolving door of people who love you here, and he gave me a big smile.

I'm grateful to be among those privileged to spend time with our friend in the end. Ben's final gift to all of us is his new book, When the World Was Happy. It's fiction, a novel born of the heartbreak of losing a loved one to gun violence. It's in memory of his 13-year-old niece Amy and dedicated to her mother. Ben ends his author's notes saying, writing this book is how I love. He wanted others to carry on that legacy, and a day before he died, Ben asked the El Paso Community Foundation to create a fund to support writers in our border region. The Ben Hamin Alida Signs Literary Fund is now a reality. I'm Angela Kocherga. This has been the West Texas Dispatch. Thanks for tuning in. We're here each Wednesday at noon. Plan to join us. West Texas Dispatch is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also find it on the KACU mobile app. We had help this week from our executive producer Heather Claiborne and producers Shayla Conley and Caleb Lege. Calvin Claiborne is our digital editor. Special thanks to J.C. Gamble, who wrote our theme. I'm Nathan Bernie Sanders.