PG. 22 - 25 | SALUTE TO OUR ARMED FORCES CIBOLO • CONVERSE • GARDEN RIDGE • LIVE OAK • SCHERTZ • SELMA • UNIVERSAL CITY • WINDCREST
LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWS LOCALCOMMUNITYNEWS.COM | VOL. 8, ISSUE 5 | NOV. 17 - DEC. 15, 2020
HEALTH
DECISION 2020
Voters mostly return Metrocom incumbents
NOW AND AHEAD Pandemic alters SA medicine
by LEA THOMPSON
by EDMOND ORTIZ
BUOYED BY HUGE VOTER TURNOUT IN THE NOV. 3 ELECTIONS, six incumbents won their respective races in Converse, Schertz, Windcrest and the North East Independent School District.
by TRAVIS E. POLING
THE OUTBREAK OF THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS is transforming the nature of health care delivery across both the planet and the greater San Antonio area.
As providers grapple with the current disease and its staggering impact, physicians and other medical professionals are formulating plans to combat future pandemics. Edith Ambrester went through breastcancer management, chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Everything not requiring in-person consulting, from treatment-preparation instructions to
But, in the Alamo Colleges District, one board member was turned out and another heads for a runoff. Elsewhere, voters gave thumbs up to ballot measures from the municipalities of San Antonio, Universal City and Selma, plus VIA Metropolitan Transit. ELECTIONS continues on pg. 20 THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC has changed the way San Antonio-area schools conduct learning now and for the foreseeable future.
From public to private institutions, local communities face serious challenges including keeping students healthy, bringing learners back to campuses or instructing remotely, handling teacher brain drain and preparing for more shutdowns.
SPRING BREAK AND GOODBYES In Cibolo, when Watts Elementary School teacher Wendy Dylla said farewell to her second graders for Spring Break, she didn’t realize last March would be the final time she’d see them in person. “Before we left for break, (officials) told us, ‘Take your things with you because a COVID closure is a possibility,’ but we never thought ADAPTING continues on pg. 14
BUY
that this would happen,” Dylla said. But, within days, it did. Gov. Greg Abbott eventually ordered the shuttering of statewide campuses. Summertime saw the greater San Antonio area school systems — public and private and their corresponding new online classrooms — navigate constantly changing educational and safety guidelines, struggling to ensure a safe fall reopening.
LEARNING continues on pg. 12
PG. 25 | BUY LOCAL
RED FEATHER HEALING VETERANS continues on pg. 25