The Odessa American from Odessa, Texas • B1

just the way it is or was, we hope OCAL TATE DEATHS 3B ETC. 4B TV LISTINGS 5B THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012WWW.OAOA.COMSECTION CHECK IT OUT Grace Point Church is offering a 13-week course from Financial Peace University, beginning Monday. Call 413-5334. AROUND THE BASIN ODESSA AMERICAN STAFF a glance at going on around the Basin. Today VOLUNTEER TRAINING What: The Medical Center Hospital Volunteer Services Department has scheduled volunteer training for those interested in volunteering with MCH Auxiliary, MCH Friendship Home or other volunteer teams.

When: 9 a.m. to noon. Where: MCH conference room in the cafeteria small dining rooms 500 W. Fourth St. Call: 640-2249.

DEMONSTRATION What: The Ellen Art Museum has scheduled a free Tai Chi demonstration and question and answer session. When: 10 a.m. Where: Ellen Art Museum, Rodham Auditorium, 4909 E. University Blvd. Call: 550-9696 ext.

210. Email: artmuseum.org. Visit: www.noelart museum.org. SEMINAR What: The University of Texas of the Permian Basin has scheduled Investing 101. When: 12:30 p.m.

to 1:30 p.m. Where: The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Mac Boring room, 4901 E. University Blvd. Moderator: Tony Love. Admission: Open to the public.

Call: 552-2633. PREGNANCY TESTING What: The Medical Center Hospital has scheduled a free pregnancy testing clinic. When: 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. each Thursday.

Where: MCH Free Pregnancy Testing Clinic, 415 W. Fifth St. Call: 640-6000. BELLY DANCE What: Belly Dance, the basics beyond of American Tribal (modern improve) belly dance style. When: 5:30 p.m.

to 7 p.m. Where: Love To Dance Studio, 2817 JBS Parkway, Suite E1. Call: 349-1472. Visit: www.loveto dancestudio.com. CHILDBIRTH CLASSES What: The MCH Center for Women Infants has scheduled childbirth classes.

When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting today, Tuesdays and Thursdays through Feb. 23. Where: MCH Center for Women Infants, fourth floor classroom, 500 W.

Fourth east side of the MCH Campus. Class fee: $25 and scholarships are available. Call: 640-1714. Visit: www.mch4 women.com. he other day, as I was relistening to all of my favorite Bruce Hornsby tunes, I remembered that he wrote a lot about the oppression of African-Americans in the south.

Songs like Way It and on the paint pictures of racism, strife and suffering. Way It is masterpiece about how for years, folks just accepted racial inequality as the status quo. As Black History Month gets under way, I realize we have come a long way, but we still may have work to do. I recall all of all of the racial issues I have covered as a reporter and surprisingly, there have been a few too many. Remnants of racial inequality are still sprinkled across Texas in little towns like Stephenville, Brownwood and Hico.

While listening to on the a song about the Klu Klux Klan and their practice of cross burning, pillaging, white supremacy and hate, I was reminded of a hot day in Stephenville in March of 2007 when the Traditional Christian Knights of the KKK of San Angelo showed up for a rally. It was a disturbing day indeed. It all started that January when a celebration held by Lamda Chi Alpha at Tarleton State University made the national news after photos of the students went viral on the Internet. The photos showed students dressed as Aunt Jemima and other black stereotypes eating fried chicken and drinking malt liquor from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags. wanted the students to know we stand behind them, and we feel like they were the Grand Wizard Roger Davidson told me.

There were more than 200 members of law enforcement both surrounding and inside two chain link fences that circled the Erath County Courthouse as about 300 spectators watched and listened as the Grand Wizard and fellow KKK spewed racial slurs through a bullhorn. But the hate spewing was overshadowed by the hundreds who attended the rally and hollered at the Klan members to love our race and our the de-hooded Davidson told me that day. not a hate group; here to show our American A fight broke out in the crowd a few feet away from me, between an anti-Klan person and a pro-Klan per- son. It was a riot. Three non- Klan folks were arrested for unruly behavior.

Go figure. But thankfully, on the same day, others were holding unity rallies to bring the community together. That helped the healing begin. Five years earlier, in Brownwood, the Sons of Confederate Veterans tried to force the county to display the confederate flag over the courthouse in 2002. A vehement fight ensued between the organization and members of the community, with Brown County commissioners finally agreeing only to display the flag in the museum.

But healing has begun there too. In Brownwood, folks from a local organization are renovating the Hardin School, the segregated all-black school until the early 1960s. And Hico, the county seat of Hamilton County, long thought of as the seat of the KKK in Texas, is trying to change its image. One of the most popular restaurants changed its name from the Koffee Kup Kafe (formerly known as a meeting place for Klansmen) to the Koffee Kup Family Restaurant. I here in 1982when the Ector County Independent School district was ordered to comply with federal desegregation laws passed nearly 30 years prior in 1954.

But I did go to school here and saw the inequality first hand. But the tides have turned here too, finally. So as we march forward, I hope words ring true in the future just the way it is some things will never change ah but you believe them COLUMN CELINDA HAWKINS column appears on Thursdays. Email oaoa.com. Pharmacist Chris White administers a flu shot to Charles Brewer Tuesday at Walgreens on Eighth Street.

This flu season, mild compared to recent years, should wrap up around May. HEATHER LEIPHART ODESSA AMERICAN See ATB Page 2B BY GABRIELLA LOPEZ As spring approaches so does the end of an already mild flu season. kind of slowed down on our flu shots Walgreens pharmacist Jared Smedley said. After kicking off in October, the flu season will wrap up around May, Ector County Health Department Director Gino Solla said. Unlike more extreme seasons, such as 2010 which featured the H1N1 virus, Ector County ended up with an overabundance of flu vaccines, Solla said.

purchased 700 doses of Solla said, adding that they ad- ministered almost 500 doses. Flu vaccines protect people against the three main flu strains indicated to cause the most illness during the season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. The World Health Organization assesses what strain was prominent the previous year in the southern hemisphere to determine what vaccine should be used, Solla said. use those strains for Solla said. It is recommended that children from six months old to 8 years old be vaccinated, and children who receive the vaccine last year should get two doses this year, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services web- site.

While the demand for flu vaccines is fairly constant there are more providers administering flu shots, Solla said. There are about 30 providers in Ector County, Solla said. Some of those providers are seeing a decline in flu shot requests too. Unlike October, when they were giving about 10 flu shots a day, the Wal- greens pharmacy is only giving a few flu shots a week now, Smedley said. Currently, Medical Center Hospital is not offering any flu vaccine clinics to the public, MCH representative Amber Sweeney said.

But if people are still interested in having a flu shot to get them through the rest of the season, some pharmacies are still offering them. still have it Smedley said. ON THE NET Centers for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov/flu/key facts.htm HEATHER ODESSA AMERICAN Senior Pharmacy Technician Victoria Saucedo works behind the counter Tuesday at the Walgreens on Eighth Street. Some vaccine doses are still available Flu season winds down as spring nears AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION BY NATHANIEL MILLER With $1.6 million budgeted for the indigent defense fund and a $63,506 grant from the Task Force on Indigent Defense for fiscal year 2011-12, Ector County Judge Susan Redford said still possible for the county to go over its allotted budget this year. just have to see how this year pans Redford said.

Indigent defense which includes court-appointed attorneys, investigators, expert witnesses and any extraneous trial expenses is provided to those accused of a crime and are found they cannot afford representation on their own. In fiscal year 2010-11, Ector County commissioners set aside $1.5 million for indigent defensebut the total spent by the end of the year ended up being a little over $1.7 million, Redford said. The $62,793 from the Texas Fund on Indigent Defense did little to offset the budget shortfall. The reason for the increase in indigent defense spending during the past couple of years, Redford due to the number of high profile cases such as murder and sexual assaults that have been going through the courts. taking a toll on that she said.

In Midland County Judge Mike Bradford said his county had set aside about $1.4 million this year for their indigent defense budget and said they received a $63,396 grant from the Task Force on Indigent Defense. In 2011, Bradford said the county spent more than they budgeted, but he said he had better hopes for this year. probably just spend the $1.4 Bradford said. In Ector County, defense attorneys are not required to be on the list of court-appointed lawyers; however, those who do volunteer for the service are put on a list and selected depending on who is next. In special cases, a lawyer with certain skills such as being bilingual or specializingin a certain type of case can be utilized.

Fees paid to attorneys for their services are determined by the type of case and the amount of time that is spent on it. Should the client get deferred adjudication or a ON THE NET Ector County and District Courts Plan and indigent standards: tinyurl.com/ 7348w7f ON THE NET ECISD desegregation ruling: tinyurl.com/ 7op6ar9 Redford: County could go over budget again Indigents cost courts See INDIGENT Page 2B.