$1.7M for George Strait, six-figure bonuses: Months later, a lawsuit forced Texas to release details on inaugural spending
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AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) To celebrate Gov. Greg Abbott s reelection last year, his inaugural committee paid a whopping $1.7 million to hire country crooner George Strait and his band. A coterie of top political aides and staff got more than $1 million, some of it paid out in six-figure bonuses. And a handful of lucky charities received $800,000 in unspent money.
Left out of that tally: the $116,000 taxpayers spent to keep all those inaugural expenditures secret.
Abbott and the 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee spent months fighting the disclosure of documents detailing how they spent a record-setting $5.3 million that event organizers raised mostly from corporations and wealthy donors.
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Aisosa Osaretin will graduate this month with a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law as well as a Master of Public Service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
A native of Nigeria, Osaretin moved to Minnesota with her family in 2016. She started law school at Bowen in 2017 and is now one step closer to fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer.
“I was really happy to be in law school. It felt like the beginning of a dream come true,” Osaretin said. “I always enjoyed reading the cases just to see how the judge would rule. I enjoy the experience of learning new things.”
The need is still there but the number of volunteers to meet that need is dropping.
The number of âCourt Appointed Special Advocatesâ to support Allen County children is less due to the pandemic. Just this year, 300 children who have been neglected and abused and have cases in the court system were given a âCASAâ volunteer, but 100 children didnât receive help. The need for volunteers is important to give these children a âvoiceâ in court and âCASAâ officials are working hard to get them.
Sara Heitmeyer is a CASA Program Manager and explains how they are thinking outside the box, âWeâre being a little innovative here and we are doing everything completely virtual. So, you donât have to leave your home at all in order to become a CASA volunteer. The orientation will be online, all training will be online, so we will be there to support you every step of the way but do that as safely as possible.â
Mending the broken house and heart northwestgeorgianews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from northwestgeorgianews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Agents National Title Insurance Company (ANTIC), Columbia, Mo., part of the Incenter family of companies optimizing lending processes, has promoted Elizabeth Blake, CPA, from Controller to Chief Financial Officer.
Ms. Blake, who joined ANTIC in 2015, brings a strong background in accounting and taxation to ANTIC at a time of rapid national expansion. Over the past two years, the company’s headcount has grown by more than 40%, and premium sales have more than tripled. ANTIC has also added 25 state licenses since 2019 for a current total of 44.
“ANTIC has depended on Elizabeth’s deep accounting expertise, regulatory knowledge and steady hand as we have executed our growth plan. I am excited to work closely with her on our senior leadership team,” said David Townsend, President.