Wylie East graduate Eno Benjamin enters this season for Arizona State as the featured running back.

The 2019 college football season will have a distinct flavor of local talent on the Div. I level.

Perennial playoff and district title contender Sachse will have the largest contingency.

By David Jenkins • Sports Editor • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

These Wylie East High School alumni start their teaching careers this fall as new members of the Wylie Independent School district staff. Pictured are, from front, Haley Black, Cornel Walton, Kathryn Klakamp, Shaynon Crawford, Craig Noguez and Tristen Rouse.

When nearly 2,000 students from Wylie, Sachse and Lavon enter Wylie East High School on Aug. 15, many will be focused on reuniting with friends and comparing classes. What most people don’t see is all the work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure a smooth first day.

By Morgan Howard • Staff Writer • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

GISD has introduced the gold pass for seniors aged 65 and older. This VIP pass allows them to attend any school sporting or fine arts event for free. Sign-up is available at the district’s printing office. (Morgan Howard/The Sachse News)

Senior citizens in Garland Independent School District boundaries have a new way to get involved in their community.

On Thursday, Aug. 1, the district began offering senior citizen VIP passes, also called gold cards.

By Morgan Howard • Staff Writer • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

Sachse Police Department has increased their measures to catch criminals on camera.

The department recently announced its partnership with RING, a home security camera provider. RING offers various types of video devices and also has an app called “Neighbors” for users to message each other.

By Morgan Howard • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

Collin County’s Operation Athena resulted in the arrest of 19 individuals on child pornography related cases. (Courtesy photo)

The Collin County Sheriff’s office continues to work to keep child predators off the street.

Last week the department conducted “Operation Athena,” an operation that directly targeted individuals who use the internet to prey upon children and traffic in child pornography.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat who won District 32 last November, will make several stops in the area throughout the next month. (Courtesy photo)

Sachse residents who want to have a say in what happens in Congress will soon be able to offer feedback in person.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat who won District 32 last November, will make several stops in the area throughout the next month.

He plans to visit Sachse’s Laurie Schwenk Senior Activity Center on Thursday, Sept. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

For the full story, see the Aug. 8 issue or subscribe online.

Although Sachse Community Center won’t open until mid-winter, the city council has already voted on hours of operation and membership and reservation fees. They hope to reevaluate after a few months and get input from residents. (Morgan Howard/The Sachse News)

After a discussion that lasted about an hour, Sachse City Council has settled on hours of operation, membership fees and reservation fees for the new community center.

Council fine-tuned these details during their July 15 regular meeting. The center is under construction and slated for completion in December.

They first discussed hours and fees in June, giving Parks and Recreation Director Lance Whitworth their opinions on what they hoped to see. Whitworth came back last week to present final options.

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday. The proposal passed 6-1, with Councilmember Brett Franks voting no – he preferred later hours and staying open on Monday.

By Morgan Howard • Staff Writer • [email protected]

For the full story, see the July 25 issue or subscribe online.

Sachse’s Xavier Forman is challenging for playing time at quarterback. (Oladipo Awowale/C&S Media)

With the start of the football season drawing closer, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine has released their predictions.

The staff picked Sachse and Wylie to make the postseason within Class 6A in 2019, Community in 4A and Wylie Preparatory Academy in Texas Christian Athletic Fellowship Div. II, with Plano East coming up just short in 6A and Wylie East in 5A.

In addition, the schools had players named preseason MVP’s.

The Mustangs, out of Garland ISD, will once again stampede their way to another district title in 10-6A, according to Dave Campbell’s.

Also picked for the postseason were Lakeview Centennial, Rowlett and Wylie.

Below them were North Garland, Naaman Forest, Garland and South Garland.

Sachse’s Anthony Anyawu was named the preseason defensive MVP and the offensive MVP was Lakeview Centennial’s Camar Wheaton.

For the full story, see the July 24 issue or subscribe online.

By David Jenkins • Sports Editor • [email protected]

Connections. They can be logical, sequential or relational, or in the case of Gynovel Henry and Nate Hawkins, they can be life altering.

March 26, 2018 is a date many will remember. It was the day that Gynovel, Nate and 23-year-old Killian Kass’ lives became forever intertwined after Killian’s unexpected death in Alamogordo, N.M. His organ donation that day gave Gynovel, Nate and several other people a second chance.

They are considered some of the lucky ones. Twenty people die each day waiting for a transplant. As of January 2019, 113,000 men, women and children were on the national transplant waiting list states organdonor.gov.

By the time Gynovel got Killian’s heart, his options were limited and he had begun to lose hope. The 48-year-old divorced father of teen sons had been on the transplant list since 2014. When medical interventions failed to work, he was classified an end-stage heart failure patient in October 2017. In January 2018 he was admitted to UT Southwestern where he waited for a new heart. His first transplant attempt three months later failed after spending six hours in surgery to find out the heart was no good.

 By Sonia Duggan • Associate Publisher • [email protected]

 For the full story, see the July 25 issue or subscribe online.

It’s time to get outside and enjoy summer BBQs, gardening, hikes and much more. Don’t let mosquitoes keep you inside; Instead enlist these chemical-free strategies to manage these pests in your landscape.

Start by eliminating the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds. Drain the water out of buckets, old tires and clogged gutters and downspouts that hold water needed for mosquitoes to reproduce.

Check kids’ toys, tarps and pool covers that also retain water. Drain the water and store these items in the garage or turn them over to keep them from becoming a mosquito breeding ground. Even small containers hold enough water for hundreds to thousands of mosquitoes to breed.

Change the water in birdbaths at least once a week. Make it part of your routine maintenance; rinse birdbaths when watering containers. Or install a small pump to keep water moving to prevent mosquito breeding.

By Melinda Myers • Host of The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series.

For the full story, see the July 24 issue or subscribe online.