Update on the city water transfer, sale of property for development, KHS graduate earns honors and Kennedale football players past and present are in the news.
ITEM – At the December City Council meeting last month, Kennedale City Manager George Campbell stated that an announcement was forthcoming regarding the transfer of utility billing and customer service to the City of Arlington, and that staff had begun working on TCEQ requirements necessary to begin purchasing water from the City of Arlington.
ITEM – At the upcoming Kennedale City Council, the Council will consider the sale of the approximately 2-acre property at 600 W Kennedale Parkway [North Bowman Springs Road] for $5,000 in return for the developer building upon it 16 single family small bungalow homes, a pocket park, and either welcome signage or a public art element at the corner. In addition, the Council will consider the sale of 6820 Oak Crest Dr. W. for the purposes of developing the property according to the concepts presented, which includes six small affordable single-family units for seniors, a small green space at the rear, and head-in parking.
The Kennedale City Council will meet in regular session Tuesday, January 19 starting at 5:30 pm. See the agenda here. To zoom the meeting, go to the City of Kennedale webpage.
ITEM – From Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, Texas … Cierra Bentley, was one of 343 students named to the President’s Honor Roll, the highest academic recognitions for the Fall 2020 Semester. A student who completes 12 hours in one semester with no grade lower than A (4.0) will be included on the President’s Honor Roll. Bentley, a Kennedale graduate, is majoring in music and has made the honor lists at MSU several times.
Bentley who is a flutist, was also in the “spotlight” for the MSU Music Department this past fall as the department recognized some of their current students. Bentley said in the article, “My favorite thing about MSU is that it’s a small school and it feels like my hometown.”
ITEM – Sports – From Dallas Cowboy The Draft Show … Ohio State may have lost the National Championship bout with Alabama, but one of the draft prospects that raised his stock with a solid performance was linebacker Baron Browning. Browning played his prep football at Kennedale High School which sits about 12 miles from AT&T Stadium, before taking his talents to Columbus. He was first mentioned in last Thursday’s preview of the title game but stole the show as the most impressive defensive player on Monday night with a strip-sack of Heisman Trophy candidate Mac Jones and five tackles.
ITEM – Sports – Saturday Blitz Texas Football: 3 2021 signees who’ll have instant impacts … Defense was an issue for Texas football in 2020 as the Longhorns allowed 28.5 points per game and 265 passing yards per game, numbers that aren’t good even in the Big 12. Texas is supposed to return most of the players in its secondary but will be losing Chris Brown, who tied for the team lead in pass deflections with seven.
JD Coffey, who is out of Kennedale, Texas is ranked seventh among safeties and 156th overall in the 2021 class and with his knack for making plays on the ball, he could easily see time on the field early for the Longhorns in 2021.
In the last three seasons of high school football, he had almost 200 tackles and 14 interceptions. He can move around the secondary and could even see time in some sub-packages early on, which is another reason he makes the list.
Texas needs more playmakers in the secondary, regardless of position and Coffey is a guy who can fill that need right away next season. [Coffey graduated early and has already reported to the Austin campus.]
