Registrastion Deadline for Summer II Approaching

The registration deadline for the second Summer semester is Friday, June 26. Students are allowed to take up to two classes per session, and the summer is divided into two sessions. The first summer session is well under way, but Summer II starts on Monday, July 6. Summer sessions at ETU are a popular way for students to make up grades if they have a “bad semester” or to graduate early by completing classes during the compressed summer schedules.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get out of here, even study,” said ETU senior Cody Hillborough before his 2.5 hour class Friday morning.

That sentiment is shared with many other seniors who were only a few credits shy of graduating in May. The Registrar’s Office estimates that another 150 seniors will be elgible for graduation by the end of the summer semester.

Botanist Missing in Big Thicket

On Friday, May 29, Mary Ann Wilkinson kissed her husband goodbye and went for one of her long hikes in the Big Thicket. She has not been seen since. Her car was discovered in a parking lot near an area of the Big Thicket known as Tunny’s Run. Deputies from the county Sherriff’s office and volunteers have conducted a search of the area and found nothing.

Mary Ann Wilkinson recently received notoriety for discovering a new species of flowering plant called Ravenstar in the Big Thicket. Her discovery was hailed at a recent conference Austin. Her husband, Hank Wilkinson, said that she has since visited to the area many times but always returned. According to her husband, on the day of her disappearance, she was complaining of a headache before she left but was otherwise in good health.

Freak Storms Strike

A freak thunderstorm struck Pinebox last Monday, leaving many trees and limbs down, and several small tornadoes damaged several businesses in downtown Pinebox.

“The storm came out of no where.  It must have formed due to the extremely high summer temperatures the past month.  No one saw this coming,” said Robert James, KPTX meteorologist.

“It is not unheard of, but with the high pressure cell over Texas, it was unexpected and did not fit any of the computer projections.”   The greatest surprise were the formation of “small tornadic cells,” that struck downtown Pinebox and caused extensive damage to roofs and windows in the area.

“I think we are safe from any further development, at least for a while.”

Mike Marley Hypnotizes Hundreds

Mike Marley, a professional hypnotist and entertainer, put on a great show last Friday night in the Student Center before several hundred students and faculty. In an amazing feat of his craft he hypnotized the entire crowd and had them acting like chickens, dogs, and used car salesmen (each trying to sell cars to everyone else).

Remarkably, he videotaped the event and posted it on the internet after showing the crowd what he had them do. Some of the hypnotized were upset however. “He didn’t ask my permission and I don’t appreciate being made a fool of,” said Senior Chemistry student, Valery Pina.

Mr. Marley answered the concerns, “It was a Mesmerism show and no one can be hypnotized without wanting to be. I’m sorry if it offended anyone, but that’s the show.”

The ETU administration has yet to return any calls about the show, but issued this statement: “The show was a hit with most of the attendees and we are certain that Mr. Marley acted in a fully appropriate way for that type of event.”

Police Report On Loud Sound Heard On Campus

Campus police have finished their investigation into the loud boom that occurred over the campus last Wednesday, stating that the source of the noise was a high-altitude explosion of a weather balloon filled with hydrogen gas. The boom, which rattled windows and knocked items from shelves, was heard at 12:48 p.m. all around campus and caused some students to panic. Eighty-three calls to 911 were made from campus phones and many people worried about a terrorist attack.

“The cause of the noise was an explosion that occurred at altitude overhead, maybe as high as 3000 feet up,” stated investigating officer Stephen Durant. “The balloon had been released by the ETU Astrophysics department as part of research into the upper atmosphere. Apparently, static or some kind of natural phenomenon set off the hydrogen in the balloon. Due to the distance, by the time the sound reached the ground, the fireball had dissipated and there was nothing to see. The weather balloon and the experiment that it carried were incinerated, resulting in no debris.”

Calls to the ETU Astrophysics department were not answered. Still, officer Durant believes the matter is settled.

“As far as we’re concerned, the case is closed. We aren’t going to look into this any more.”

Two Missing After Noodling in Lake Greystone

Two men are missing after a day of fishing and noodling on Lake Greystone, and a third is currently being investigated by the Sheriff’s Department for possibly having played a role in the disappearances.

Last Saturday, Clay Matthews and Peter Johnson, were fishing on Lake Greystone when they met Dr. Robert Newhouse, an itenerate professor from Massachusetts, and apparently took him noodling east of Dale Island.

Noodling is the practice of finding holes under the water and placing your arm into it hoping that a large catfish, usually a flatheads, will bite down on the arm, and can be fought to the surface by the fisherman.

“Noodling is a dangerous practice,” according to Golan County Gamewarden Jim Bohay.  “You could just as easily stick your arm into a nest of water mocassins, or disturb an alligator.  Some of those catfish weigh as much as seventy pounds and it is not unknown for noodlers to break their arms, or even be drowned due to this unorthodox practice.”

Local authorities are dredging the area for the bodies of Clay Matthews and Dr. Robert Newhouse, but the bodies have not yet been found.  Divers have been brought in from Houston, and it is hoped that the bodies will soon be recovered.

“The area where the accident happened is not very deep, but there is a channel that runs to a deeper part of the lake with enough flow that the bodies could have been carried further out into the lake,” Bohay explained. “We will find them.”

The Sheriff’s Department is also investigating possible foul play in the case, as “there are questions about what really happened out there that day,”  according to Sheriff Butch Anderson.  Sheriff Anderson stated that Peter Johnson is a “person of interest” in this case and “his story is being investigated.”

“First, though, it is absolutely essential that the bodies of these men be recovered for their families to have closure and to be certain as to what actually happened out there last weekend.”

This article is taken from our upcoming Anthology: Buried Tales of Pinebox and is from One That Got Away, by Preston P. DuBoseA fishing trip on Lake Greystone takes a turn for the strange when best friends Clay and Pete find a body in the water. Things get even more interesting when the body turns out to still be alive!

Preston Dubose is President of 12 to Midnight and he grew up in Pinebox, Texas…or at least someplace similar. His writing credits for the Pinebox setting include Brainwashed and Bloodlines. He is a Christian, a Freemason, a husband, and a father. His blog can be found at flametoad.com.