NEWS & NOTES

Education

The Sunset High School’s robotics team took a top prize at the University Interscholastic League state championship last month. The team won in the 5A6A First Tech Challenge division, for teams in ninth-12th grades. They were challenged to design, build, program and operate robots to compete head to head. The team members were Karen Garcia, Valerie Alvarez, Maria Diaz, Jennifer Servilla, Samantha Morales, Ana Palomares, Ivan Martinez, Nick Moncada, Jesse Estudillo, Allan Cruz and Alexander Alonzo. The coaches are Gary Dimanh, Jacob Soto, Lakisha Farrow and Calvin Harris.

Trees

The owner of a 4-acre property in Red Bird hacked down 70 trees without the city’s permission in June. The property, on Ledbetter at U.S. Highway 67, was a buffer between residential neighborhoods and the highway. Now that the trees are gone, neighbors say they have less shade, more highway noise and an increase in critters near their homes. The trees were protected under the city’s tree ordinance. The city’s chief arborist, Phil Erwin, told The Dallas Morning News that he is working with the property owner, SNSA Group, to mitigate the damage.