Victoria Advocate from Victoria, Texas • A3

VictoriaAdvocate.com PAGE DESIGNERCOPY EDITOR: NICOLE CRAPPS, NCRAPPSVICAD.COM VICTORIA ADVOCATE, Saturday, November 26, 2016 A3 CROSSROADSTEXAS FUNDRAISER IN BRIEF Be My Hero JJ 5K to benefit 4-year-old IF YOU GO BE MY HERO JJ 5K WHAT: Superhero-themed 5K to raise funds for the family of JJ Santellana, a 4-year-old undergoing cancer treatment. Canned food will be collected and sent to Venezuela. WHEN: 9 a.m. Dec. 3 WHERE: Riverside Park COST: $30, limited shirts available; children 10 and under free CONTACT: Jessica Santellana at 361 -935-9045 or Janet Rodriguez at 361-676-8181.

FOR MORE: Keep up with JJ as he battles cancer by liking his page, "Be My Hero JJ," on Facebook. marily affects children. After six months of chemo, he went into remission until March, when doctors found cancer had spread to his lungs. His mother, Claire Santellana, said JJ had surgery Nov. 3 to remove the tumor from his right lung, and his doctors will start him on a harsh regimen of drugs next month.

"We're going to try that and just pray that he stays clear," she said. But she says despite his diagnosis, JJ is just as active and caring as ever. "He's doing really well. I can't get him to sit still," she said. In September, JJ asked if he could collect pillows for the homeless, and Crossroads residents came through with an overwhelming amount of pillows and bottled water.

This time, JJ wants to collect canned food for people in Venezuela, a country facing a dire food shortage. Boy with cancer previously spurred pillow drive to aid Victoria's homeless BY LAURA GARCIA LGARCIAVICAD.COM After participating in three 5ks since September, Jessica Santellana got the idea to organize a 5K of her own. The Victoria registered nurse had already been thinking of ways to help raise funds for her cancer-fighting nephew, JJ Santellana. "This would be something he would enjoy, too," she said. Santellana said she's gotten sponsorships from locally owned businesses and support from her coworkers at Citizens Medical Center.

"It's coming together," she said. The "Be My Hero JJ 5K" starts at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3 at Riverside Park. Registration starts at 8 a.m., and there are limited shirts available.

JJ will turn 5 years old the day after the 5K. Proceeds from the super-hero-themed 5K will benefit JJ's family, which has recently moved to Katy to be closer to the MD Anderson Cancer Center. The family has been relying on credit cards to help with the move, loss of work and JJ's cancer treatment. "They're swamped," she said. "This will help them just a little bit." In March 2014, her nephew was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor, a rare cancer that starts in the kidneys and pri- LONGVIEW Whale washes ashore near Port Aransas PORT ARANSAS, A body of a 28-foot-long female sperm whale has been found washed ashore on private property north of Port Aransas.

The Port Aransas Coordinator with the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Tony Amos, tells Corpus Christi television station KRIS the whale discovered early this week on San Jose Island was in bad shape and likely died some time ago. Samples from the remains have been taken to try to find out a cause of death. He says it's been eight years since a whale has washed ashore in the area. Amos is discouraging people from trying to reach the remains since it's possible viruses on the animal could be transferable to humans. Port Aransas is about 20 miles east of Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico.

Rattlesnakes like new state office buildings AUSTIN Frequent sightings of rattlesnakes outside a couple of north Austin state office buildings have people who work in them rattled. Jessica Marsh, the general counsel for the Texas Civil Commitment Office, tells the Houston Chronicle she was coming out the front door recently, looked down and "there it was." State agencies in the buildings have sent memos to employees warning about the venomous reptiles. An Austin herpetolo-gist, James Tripp, says the snakes likely are living in landscaping rocks, shrubs or other areas around the buildings that border open fields. He says the activity is typical of developing areas where wildlife has been displaced. COMPILED FROM ADVOCATE WIRE REPORTS CONTRIBUTED PHOTO battling cancer.

the crisis from a coworker at school. Jessica Santellana said she hopes the fundraiser will JJ Santellana, 4, of Victoria, is Claire Santellana said JJ's best friend, Diego, from the hospital, lives in Venezuela. She always heard about PORT O'CONNOR Runoff election FROM A NEWS RELEASE A runoff election for director of the Port O'Connor Improvement District will be Dec. 10. The Nov.

8 election and subsequent automatic recount resulted in a tie be planned for improvement district Crumbling 106-year-old museum wall to be fixed help ease some of the finan- rial burden on JJ's family, "JJ just wants to help ev- eryone else," she said. through Friday and Dec. 5-6 at the Port O'Connor Fire Station. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

on election day. Voting will take place at the Port O'Connor Fire Station, 101 S. 6th St. iwii i hi II i Tn ii ii TTCTmSTW I it IT rTTiH tween Joyce Jordan and Allen Junek. Two directors were elected Nov.

8. The runoff will determine the third director's position. Early voting will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday PUKI OVER 1 5 CURIOS IN STOCK! usable condition will be moved to the front of the building where they can be visible to the public, and contractors then will purchase replica bricks, she said.

To seal and stabilize the wall, contractors will use a large syringe-like object to inject mortar into the brick, then crank the building's metal tension rods back together. Finally, a faux wall will be built one-half inch from the existing wall for painting, Loy said. The planned north wall work is not related to the ongoing facade improvements at the museum's Education Center. Loy said the museum is using a $10,000 matching grant from Longview's Main Street Program to install new fiberglass doors and panels plus wider doors, new light fixtures and exterior awning. Other East Texas projects awarded grant money are the Old Linden Firehouse in Cass County and Mount Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church in Anderson County.

The Texas Historical Commission awards grants for preservation projects from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund. Created by the Legislature in 1989, the trust fund is an interest-earning pool of public and private funds. The earned interest and designated gifts are distributed as matching grants to qualified applicants for the acquisition, survey, restoration, preservation, planning and heritage education activities leading to the preservation of historical properties and archeo-logical sites. Competitive grants are awarded on a one-to-one match basis and are paid as reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred during the project. The Everett Building, a two-story raised-basement structure, remains as one of the few architectural specimens in Longview associated with the cotton and oil eras in East Texas.

Granite used in the building's construction is said to be from the same Marble Falls quarry that provided for the construction of the state Capitol in Austin, according to Over century, high winds, heavy rain erode landmark LONGVIEW (AP) The Everett Building's north wall has endured more than a century of wind and rain erosion, but repairing the Gregg County Historical Museum's home isn't a simple fix. The Texas Historical Commission recently awarded museum directors a $30,000 matching grant to repair deterioration on the north wall and replace it with new concrete and mortar. Museum Executive Director Lindsay Loy tells the Longview News-Journal that 106 years of rain and "really heavy north" winds have started eating away at the mortar and face of the brick. Passers-by on Fredo-nia Street can't see the wall, but it was constructed of "substandard brick" that is not as high of a quality as the facade facing the street, "so the north end wall is deteriorating at a faster rate than the rest of the building," she said. In some places, the north wall is separating from the rest of the building, and storm water often flows into the second floor, she said.

"There is only one layer of brick, so what you see on the outside is what you see on the inside," Loy said. "The plaster is all gone." The Everett Building was built in 1910. It is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and one of five properties or districts in Gregg County listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Gem Meacham, a member of the Gregg County Historical Commission. Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks come with restrictions for anyone wanting to alter or relocate the structure. Meacham said state commissioners have reviewed local plans for north wall repair at the building and would not have approved grant funding if those plans violated state restrictions.

As early as next summer, contractors will reinstall brick to the entire north wall on the second floor. Any of the original bricks still in Broyhill fuBSmdM SOFA JHflm OVER 65 RECLINERS ON SALE! Sofa $1398 less 30 $419 Total: $979 Tax Included Cfiin A. MSIL'T I HBl i Rocker Recliner Rocker Recliner Queen Set Weautyrest $799 OCTOBER 31 NOVEMBER 29 See store for details. This card is issued by CenterState Bank of Florida, NA pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

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