Latest news with #Odessan
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
6 months in, Mayor Cal Hendrick says there's still work to do within the city
ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- It's been six months since Cal Hendrick became Mayor. The lifelong Odessan became Mayor on November 5th, 2024, beating the incumbent Javier Joven. Since then he has made some improvements to the City. He added signage to parks, road repairs, and many more. He's said there's a lot more to come. 'We found the funds and will soon begin construction on the Amy Bell Sports Center,' Mayor Hendrick said. 'That was huge for me because quite frankly it was dead in the water when I found it. Number two, we have fixed the parks. That is Woodson Park had no lighting and no signage. The waterpark didn't work. All of those things have been done or are in progress.' His job is not done yet with what he wants to fix in Odessa to make the City better. He said there's work to do before the real work can begin. 'Number one is to get fully staffed. Until we get fully staffed, we cannot be the organization we need to be,' Mayor Hendrick said. 'Number two, we continue to look at roads. There are a lot of roads in Odessa that need a lot of work, and we have Joe Tucker, an engineer out there looking at roads and putting priorities out. We have got to do a better job for our people. We have to make sure we have dependable water. But not only fresh water but also wastewater ' Mayor Hendrick said he is doing everything with one goal in mind, bettering Odessa for all who live here. 'This is my attempt to make Odessa better. I hope and represent to the citizens when I ran that everything, I do is what I believe is in the best interest of the citizens. Best interest in Odessa,' Mayor Hendrick said. 'I may not always be right and if I'm not I will fess up and say I made a bad call here. But at least we are going to look at every issue. What's important and we are going to do what we believe is what is important to Odessa. We are not going to focus on anything is what I call the essentials. Essentials are roads, water, trash, parks, police, fire. These are critical.' Mayor Hendrick says he wants the citizens of Odessa to trust in him and his council, as they continue to make Odessa great. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why oil wealth hasn't fueled West Texas prosperity
ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Beneath the dirt roads and pumpjacks, lies one of the richest oil producing regions in the world. With all that wealth underneath, many residents have wondered why more money hasn't been poured back into Odessa. The Permian Paradox is a three-part series that examines the reality of life in West Texas from historical identity to infrastructure gaps to commercial stagnation. In Part I, Odessa Mayor Cal Hendrick explained Odessa's deep roots in cattle ranching and hard work. Hendrick, a fifth-generation Odessan, described the city as one originally built by ranchers and not developers. Furthermore, he said that legacy of self-sufficiency still shapes the city's culture and policies. '100 years ago, Odessans were cattlemen, and they wanted the town to reflect that. Which was good for then but it has cost us now,' said Hendrick. The independence helped Odessa thrive during oil booms but without long term planning, it left infrastructure behind. Roads, water systems and zoning laws to this day continues to have lingering issues. In Part 2, City Council At Large, Craig Stoker, spoke about the food desert and inconsistent infrastructure. Basic needs require a commute; some drive more than 20 miles to reach a full-service grocery store, and Councilman Stoker, who formally worked with the food bank, pointed to Odessa's outdated infrastructure as a key obstacle to development. 'We're out here on an island,' said Stoker. 'Most development happens along the I-35, I-45 corridors. Trucks don't come here daily like they do in places where there is real estate for it.' Stoker mentioned that the closest cold storage facility is in Lubbock, which makes it a 'nightmare' for retailers and grocery store chains. Stoker said, national brands like H-E-B are focused on metro expansion and not West Texas growth which forces residents to rely on smaller chains or even drive to Midland for weekly necessities. Meanwhile, Odessa's Development Corporation focuses on attracting manufacturing and industrial warehousing, not neighborhood amenities. Some have argued that while those investments bring jobs, they don't always improve residents' day-to-day quality of life. Part 3, addressed where the money is going. Despite Odessa's wealth in oil, many new developments are popping up in Midland County, instead. According to Kevin Dawson, a local development tracker and Founder of Maybe in Midland/Odessa, most of the area's commercial growth is funded by private investors and families who already live in the region. 'Development here is local,' said Dawson. 'Its about who's within a 1-3-5 mile radius. Daily traffic, income levels, population, and its not just oil production that drives whats built.' This means areas with higher population density like parts of Midland, get more attention from developers. Meanwhile many Odessans continue to wait for the basics. There is hope. The mayor says long term projects like a new sports complex and much improved water infrastructure are in the works Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From Permian High to UTPB: Dr. Lyndsay Eiben takes baton as Director of Bands
ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The University of Texas Permian Basin has officially named Dr. Lyndsay Eiben as the new Director of Bands, ushering in a new era for the university's music department. In her role, Dr. Eiben will lead the growth and development of UTPB's bands program while continuing to serve as an assistant music professor. A native Odessan, Dr. Eiben brings a wealth of experience to the position not only as an accomplished flutist and educator but also as a product of the very community she now serves. 'We are pleased that Dr. Eiben will be leading our bands program,' said Dr. Christopher Morrow, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at UTPB. 'Though she has only been at UTPB a couple of years, she has already made an enormous impact on student success. She is a dedicated, student-first educator who is ideally poised to take our bands program to the next level.' As Director of Bands, Dr. Eiben will oversee all aspects of the program, including direction of the university's wind and percussion ensembles. Her appointment signals the university's commitment to excellence in music education and its vision to expand opportunities for student musicians in the region. Dr. Eiben's deep roots in the Permian Basin make her appointment all the more significant. A graduate of Permian High School, she went on to earn both her Bachelor's and Master's of Music Performance degrees from West Texas A&M University. She later completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Cincinnati's prestigious College-Conservatory of Music. Before joining UTPB's faculty, Dr. Eiben spent over a decade teaching music in the Ector County Independent School District. Her tenure included roles as Associate Director of Bands at both Nimitz Middle School and Permian High School, where her students consistently earned top honors, including placements in the elite 6A TMEA All-State Bands and superior ratings in UIL competitions. Beyond her educational work, Dr. Eiben maintains an active and vibrant performance career. She currently serves as the principal flutist for both the West Texas Symphony and West Texas Winds and is a frequent clinician and guest lecturer across the region, sharing her passion for music with both students and professionals. Her appointment is being celebrated across campus and the broader music community. 'With Dr. Eiben at the helm, we're confident the band's program will not only thrive but become a cornerstone of UTPB's arts presence in West Texas,' Morrow added. As she steps into her new leadership role, Dr. Eiben is poised to inspire the next generation of musicians while continuing to shape the cultural landscape of the Permian Basin…both in the classroom and on the stage. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOOD NEWS: Mayor speaks at Odessa Rotary Club meeting
Mar. 26—Odessa Mayor Cal Hendrick addressed the Wednesday, March 26, meeting of the Odessa Rotary Club at the Odessa College Saulsbury Community Room. Mayor Hendrick's presentation covered the many challenges facing Odessa and the issues that must be addressed in order for our city to grow. From water issues to city employee wages and trash pickup, Hendrick honestly laid out the framework for conquering these challenges facing Odessa. "The most important element in determining where our city goes and finding solutions to our current issues is you, the voter. I need every Odessan to get involved, show up at upcoming townhall meetings and the polls, and make your voices heard. Together we can meet those challenges head on and prepare Odessa for a vibrant, steady growth." The Odessa Rotary Club is a service organization made up of men and women business leaders who undertake local, regionally and worldwide projects for the betterment of mankind.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New nursing dean back at home
Mar. 18—A native Odessan is now officially heading up the School of Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center here. Kelly Moseley was recently named regional dean of the school after serving as interim for a year. She replaces Sharon Cannon in the role. A Permian High School graduate, Moseley attended Odessa College, Angelo State, where she earned a bachelor of science in nursing and a master of science in nursing with an education focus, and a doctorate in health sciences from Nova Southeastern University. Starting out, Moseley wanted to be a writer, but then her grandfather got sick and being in the hospital and watching what the nurses did took her in another direction. "I think my favorite part of what they did was spending time with him and helping to ease his fears. I thought that'd be a fun job just going to sit with patients and talk to them and get to know them and help them through whatever they're going through. So I switched my major to nursing," Moseley said. Moseley began working at TTUHSC School of Nursing in August 2008 as the retention counselor for the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. She said retention counselor was like a support person for students who were struggling in courses and she would help them take tests better. She has taught several different courses since then and is currently co-director for the Center of Excellence in Evidence-Based Practice. Before joining TTUHSC, Moseley was a staff nurse at Medical Center Hospital and an adjunct instructor of pharmacology and clinical at Odessa College. Moseley was named one of the Permian Basin Great 25 Nurses in 2019 and received the TTUHSC School of Nursing Exceptional Mentoring Award. An instructor Moseley had at Odessa College, Lori Wingate, was the one who inspired her to go into the education end of nursing. "She had us doing an assignment where we had to teach, like preschool-aged children about something. Our group picked sun safety, like wearing hats and sunscreen and stuff when you're playing in the sun. I think she really inspired me to go into education. I thought ... how fun to get to create these innovative assignments that your students really enjoy doing, and not just having them read from a book," she said. Moseley was interim dean for a year at TTUHSC and was appointed to the permanent position Jan. 1. Having grown up in Odessa and gone through school here is helpful in her new role. "Although I've made a lot of contacts in this role with people that I didn't know before ... I did know of the resources that we did have in our community, so I kind of think that gave me a leg up on who to reach out to for certain things. And ... Dr. Sharon Cannon, she was an amazing mentor," Moseley said. She added that she was fortunate that Cannon was able to show her the ropes and take her to meet people in the community. Being from Odessa also helps her recruiting prospective nursing students whether it be from public, private or charter schools. "I think that's a really good opportunity," she said. "We need to get into these areas and start reaching these kids at younger ages because by high school they pretty much know what they want to do. They may change their mind, but we need to reach them when they're younger," she said. One of her big goals is to get students more active and involved in the community. "I think people really don't know that we're here. I get asked constantly, oh, you drive to Lubbock every day? Our students get asked the same question. But I think that, one, we're tucked away over here, and we also don't have students out in their red scrubs, out in the community as often as I think they should be. I think that's a big part of nursing, too, is when you're out in the community, you see these resources that are available to your patients so when they start practicing as a nurse, they're like, hey, I remember doing this when I was in nursing school, this might benefit this patient," Moseley said. The nursing school has seen increased enrollment this year — from 60 last spring to 87 this spring. Typically the summer sees lower enrollment. Last summer they had 11 and this summer they expect 23 students, Moseley said. "We've done a lot more recruiting and advertising. Andrea (Storm) and her team are awesome; very helpful to us," Moseley said. Storm is the Communications and Marketing Manager for the TTUHSC Odessa campus. They had a recruiting event with Professor and physician Adrian Billings in Alpine. "They had several students come from different high school areas that were rural high schools, and their parents thought the only option was going to Lubbock, so they were really excited to find that they could just drive a couple hours versus ... six or seven hours all the way to Lubbock. They could come closer to home and get to drive back home on weekends if they wanted to," Moseley said. Moseley and her husband, Patrick, have two children. She added that the passing rates for the national nursing exam are high and the staff is awesome. "They love working with our students and they're (a) well-oiled machine," Moseley said. TTUHSC School of Nursing Dean Holly Wei commented after Moseley's appointment that Moseley would do an excellent job of serving the community. "Dr. Moseley is a native of the Permian Basin and has done an excellent job serving her community," Wei said in a news release. "She is committed to providing quality education to the next generation of nurses in West Texas."
