Friday's Internet Edition, 4:13 PM, May 9, 2008. Local Mom Helps Organize Autism Resource Center - After four months of hard work and diligent research, the Dime Box Autism Resource Center will open following a dedication ceremony this Thursday evening, May 8, at 6 p.m. Dime Box resident Ida Schuman was instrumental in bringing a committee of nine people together that ultimately led to the opening of this important facility that will serve persons with autism and other developmental disabilities. She decided that such a facility was needed because her own son, James, was autistic. Now nine-years-old, James, was diagnosed with autism when he was in pre-kindergarten and is one of two students in the Dime . . . [Click for Full story] INSIDE NEWS STORIES LCRA Gives $16,100 Grant for Park Building Improvementsfont> Lexington’s Community Enterprises will be able to go a long way with finishing the Park Building renovation project with the help of a $16,100 matching community development grant given to . . . [ Full story ] Busy Month Includes End of School Activities Homecoming is just the beginning of one of the busiest months on the calendar for those of us who live in Lexington. With May comes the end of another school . . . [ Full story ] Wear Yellow on LIVESTRONG Day Lee County Area Cancer Resource Center Director, Carolyn Jackson, reminds everyone that next Tuesday, May 13, is LIVESTRONG Day. This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s one-day initiative to raise awareness . . . [ Full story ] . . . [ Full story ] . . . [ Full story ] Serving on the Dime Box Autism Resource Center committee are (left to right) Marion Weiderhold, Jean Davis, Rebecca Mahoney, Danielle Hicks, Ida Schuman and Danita Weiderhold. Not seen are DBISD President Opal Irvin, DB School Principal Kimberly Oppermann and Bonnie Langham.. Local Sports Lady Eagles Selected to All-District Teams Five Lady Eagles were selected to the 26-AA all district first team. Two more made the second team and two were given honorable mention. Also five Lady Eagles met the . . . [ Full story ] Local Obituaries Obituaries for the Issue Week May 8, 2008 Aura Lee Delta Domasch October 25, 1921 – May 2, 2008 Aura Lee Delta Domasch died at the age of 86 on May 2, 2008 at St. Mark’s Medical Center . . . [ Full story ] News Archive Sports Archive Local Obituaries Archive City of Lexington Gets Another $250,000 Grant Mayor Robert Willrich and Councilman Tim Brown were instrumental in helping Lexington get another $250K grant for the city’s sewer system. - The Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA), a state agency, presented an oversized, ceremonial check to the City of Lexington last week, awarding them a grant of $250,000 from the agency’s Texas Community Development Block Grant program. The money will be used to install 2,315 linear feet of sewer line with manholes and reconnection of 30 existing homes along Avenues B, D, G and Hester Street. Considering the extensive amount of work the City of Lexington needs to do to their sewer system, this grant will continue to help the City upgrade its services to the area residents. Mayor Robert Willrich, Sr. and Councilman Tim Brown were there to accept the check as they went before the Agency in Austin several months ago to explain why the City needed these funds. Mayor Willrich said, “This is the third such grant, totalling $750,000, the City has received in the past few years to help with our sewer upgrade. We are extremely pleased that ORCA recognized the significant impact their assistance will provide our city.” Councilman Brown said, “When you go get a grant, you are competing with other cities for a limited amount of money, so you have to be really prepared to get the grant. We were definitely prepared and we were fortunate enough to get this one.” Charles S. Stone, ORCA’s Executive Director said, “The agency is pleased to assist the City of Lexington with this project. This grant comes from ORCA’s Texas CDBG program, the largest such program in the nation and a vital resource for rural communities with limited funding options for infrastructure.” Kelle Odom, ORCA staff, presented the check to the city. ORCA administers the Texas CDBG program and is dedicated to helping rural Texans strengthen their communities by providing financial and other support for local basic public facilities and infrastructure needs, industries, services and households. For the 2008 funding cycle ORCA received $71,779,088 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the administration of the Texas Community Development Block Grant non-entitlement program. In fiscal year 2007, ORCA received $73,611,737 for this program. Every year, HUD provides federal Community Development Block Grant funds to states, which, in turn, provide the funds to small, rural cities with populations less than 50,000, and to counties that have a non-metropolitan population under 200,000 and are not eligible for direct funding from HUD. The rural-focused TxCDBG program serves approximately 1,017 eligible rural communities, 245 rural counties, and provides services to over 375,000 low- to moderate-income beneficiaries each year. Of the 1,017 cities eligible for TxCDBG funds, 740 have a population of less than 3,000 and 424 have a population of less than 1,000. The demographics and rural characteristics of Texas have shaped a program that focuses on providing basic human needs and sanitary infrastructure to small rural communities in outlying areas. As the state agency dedicated solely to rural Texas, ORCA makes the broad resources of state government more accessible to rural communities. 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