Danae Gibbs, a Riverbend Church staffer, was shot twice by the Las Vegas shooter at the Harvest 91 concert on Sunday night.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Danae Gibbs, a part time children’s ministry staff member at Riverbend Church, was one of the hundreds of wounded victims in the Las Vegas mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Gibbs was shot twice: once in the groin, and once in the abdomen. As of Monday night, she was out of surgery and in recovery at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. She was still groggy from the surgery but she is expected to recover well, said Kevin Hedges, Riverbend pastor of creative arts.

On Sunday night, Gibbs, 23, was at the three-day country music festival listening to Jason Aldean with a friend as part of an early birthday celebration. Gibbs will be turning 24 later this month.

Gibbs, who lives in the San Marcos/New Braunfels area, graduated from Texas Tech University in the class of 2017 several months ago.

Continue reading →

By MONICA LITTLE
Contributor

Photos by Bill Seitzler, Monica Little

Middle school night was Friday night at the Viper football game where 8th graders, who are in band, dance and football, from Canyon Ridge and Four Points middle schools, were invited to participate with students in the same organizations at Vandegrift.

It is a night the middle school is welcomed to get a glimpse of what is to come. It is a night 8th graders may for the first time dance or perform in front of a full stadium with a packed and spirited student section. A night they can ask a high schooler anything from should I take that AP class to how heavy is that drum? A night for the first time they will trade up their mini tuba for a sousaphone with pride. A night the students of Vandegrift welcomes their brother or sister into their beloved section for just one night.

Continue reading →

Local resident Rodney Reid is a snake wrangler and so far this year, he has removed nearly 150 snakes from the Four Points area like the one shown here.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Brian Jameson found a large rattlesnake in his backyard one evening earlier this month and called snake wrangler Rodney Reid to remove it and relocate and release it.

“He was very calm and handled the situation with professionalism and ensured everyone watching was in a safe place,” said Jameson, of Steiner Ranch.

Just Sunday afternoon, Suzanne Lucas, also of Steiner, found a rattlesnake curled up under her flowers near her front door. She also called Reid to remove it, and that event made his 149th snake removal in the Four Points area since January 1.

Continue reading →

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Travis Ryan (right) was reenlisted into the Marine Corp by Capt. Christopher White at Vandegrift, because Ryan believes in what the school stands for. Gunnery Sgt. Pichardo was part of the ceremony on Friday night. Photo by Bill Seitzler

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Travis Ryan, the U.S. Marine Corps representative at Vandegrift High School, was reenlisted into the Marine Corp in a pre-game ceremony on Friday at the Viper football game with Capt. Christopher White.

Staff Sgt. Ryan is a Round Rock native and enlisted into the Marine Corps in August of 2005. Since then, he has served his country honorably on four continents and in 15-plus different countries. He has conducted missions that include: humanitarian assistance, non-combatant evacuation operations and combat logistics support.

Over the past couple years, Ryan has been a part of the Vandegrift community as much as many of the faculty and staff. He noticed that this school stands for something greater than itself and has a pride in its namesake Marine Lt. Matthew Vandegrift and its motto “second to none”.

“This school embodies many of the same values of the Marine Corps such as honor, courage, and commitment,” Ryan said.

His time in the Marine Corps was coming to an end so he applied to re-enlist and was approved. He asked to have his re-enlistment ceremony at VHS because he loves the school and what it represents.