Summer Semester
By: Roy Ryder
The estate of wealthy Pinebox former resident Phoebe Cushing will be auctioned off this July and the proceeds will go to various charities in and around Golon County. The auction has been anticipated since Cushing’s death in September, but legal challenges by her surviving children have delayed the event. A recent out-of-court settlement between the survivors and the Cushing estate has cleared the way for Dallas-based Chelsea Public Sales to make its announcement.
Phoebe Cushing was a longtime resident of Pinebox and was the heir to the Golon Lumber Company fortune and 99 years old at the time of her death. Her husband, Max Cushing, passed away in 1993 from complications from an auto accident. She spent her final years administering several charitable organizations in Pinebox.
The estate sale will take place July 23 at the Cushing residence and will be available via the Internet on the Chelsea Public Sales web site. Harold Biggs, chief auctioneer, also anticipates that several bidders will observe via closed circuit television and have agents present at the event. The auction is open to the public but bidders must register with Chelsea Public Sales and make a deposit of $1000 before bids will be accepted.
“An auction like this comes around once a decade, perhaps once in a generation, and we have already been contacted by a number of private collectors,” Biggs said in a telephone interview. “Although all of the Cushing estate offers an excellent value for collectors, there is considerable interest regarding the Cushing compilation of rare books, exotic curios from around the world, and extensive art collection.”
Posted in Local News, Sophomore | No Comments »
Summer Semester
By: Thomas Alvarez
While all of you are aware of the fire that destroyed the offices of The Raven’s Report, there’s more to the story that we’ve had to keep quiet for nearly 7 months now. Slowly, you began to see our reporters write fewer and fewer news articles until in September of last year publication of the Report ceased altogether when our newsroom caught on fire trapping and killing student staff photographers Jake Miller and Sara Marshall.
In addition to the deaths of our friends, senior staff members—myself included—were abducted from our homes, rendered unconscious and forced to reside isolated in a concrete and steel vault in a location that is still unknown. Following the abduction, remaining Report staffers received messages threatening them if they continued writing for the Report—messages signed with the familiar closing: “Those with no eyes are watching.” These demands were shown to campus President Nelson who immediately issued a moratorium postponing The Raven’s Report publications.
Three days ago, other Report staffers and I were returned to our homes in much the same way we were taken. We remember very little of the events that occurred there. We are all shaken and afraid. Who or what could have done this so quickly to all of us? What had we uncovered that made an organization with such obvious resources take note?
While some of us have become more dedicated to finding out what happened and why we were taken, others were affected by the events and have left campus—possibly Pinebox—without a word. For the time being, The Raven’s Report will only be produced through this website, and without our offices available to us articles published will be more infrequent than in times past.
We have established a Twitter feed @theravensreport so that we can send immediate reports out quickly and notify our readers as soon as posts can be created on this site. If you have any information about the abduction or deaths of Jake and Sara please contact the Report or President Nelson immediately. Our apologies for the delays in our publication, we hope you understand.
Be careful ETU, those with no eyes are watching all of us.
Tags: those with no eyes are watching
Posted in Campus News, Current Events (news), Freshmen | No Comments »
Summer Semester
By: Roy Ryder
Village Creek, Big Thicket National Forest
The Golon County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday that the bodies of two parachutists who went missing following a jump over Pinebox have been recovered from Big Thicket National Forest. Ellie Castle and David Wang were part of the Texas Air Rangers performing aerial acrobatics for a June 19 skydive over the Pinebox Athletic Field. Castle and Wang were seen with the Rangers until they broke apart to open their parachutes, but were not with those who landed at the softball field. A search had been undertaken by the Sheriff’s Office and Golon County Search & Rescue but was called off on June 26, a week after the two went missing.
Sheriff Butch Anderson declined to comment on where the bodies were found but said that hikers had reported seeing brightly colored cloth in the treetops of a particular area, which prompted his office to investigate. Anderson refused to speculate on what may have caused the accident but did state that it appeared that neither skydiver had opened their parachute. An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration is under way and Anderson said the FAA report would provide further details when released. He referred questions regarding the FAA investigators to his secretary, who has not returned repeated calls as of press time.
This reporter has learned that the pilot of the aircraft used by the Texas Air Rangers made radio contact with the Golon County Airport shortly after the team jumped. Pilot Gus Swisher reported violent air currents, instrument failure, and that he was in danger of colliding with “unusual” nearby aircraft. No other aircraft are known to have been in the area at the time of the jump.
Tags: Big Thicket, Butch Anderson
Posted in Local News, Sophomore | No Comments »
Summer Semester
By: Colleen Parker
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.
Tags: Deadlines
Posted in Campus News, Junior | No Comments »
Spring Semester
By: Roy Ryder
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.
Posted in Local News, Sophomore | No Comments »
Spring Semester
By: Steve May
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.”
Tags: Robert James, storm, tornado
Posted in Current Events (news), Senior | No Comments »
