Stephen F. Austin State University

Commentator Gary Borders describes a unique hour-long goodbye video at the Pines Theater in Lufkin. It was replete with Mr. Peanut, monkey business and movie candy, resulting in a one-of-a-kind memorial service for a beloved art professor.

A research associate at the Center for Regional Heritage Research at Stephen F. Austin State University is wrapping up 3-D scanning and analysis of dozens of prehistoric Caddo artifacts that will be returned to the Caddo Nation this fall. At least 130 museums have human remains and funerary objects affiliated with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, according to its cultural preservation office.

Researchers at Stephen F. Austin State University are tracing the roots of a cowhide trunk that could have belonged to Thomas J. Rusk, an early political and military figure in Texas. The trunk’s lid bears the initials TJR. It’s one item in a massive collection at Millard’s Crossing Historic Village. Executive director David Young said the trunk was purchased by Nacogdoches native Lera Millard Thomas who was a compulsive collector and an early preservationist. She created a living history village on her family’s land called Millard’s Crossing in the 1970s.

Nacogdoches, Texas-based employee development consultant Kent Hutchison will present a social media workshop on Aug. 2 to help workers in government agencies incorporate it into their departments. The presentation is part of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Texas Certified Public Manager program. Hutchison said city departments that use social media more fully embrace open government, and citizens should demand this communication.

Airs Sunday, April 7 at 6 p.m. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow at Stephen F. Austin State University in February, 2013. As part of her visit she sat down with Judy McDonald before a live audience in the Baker Pattillo Student Center. The conversation includes insight into growing up a Kennedy as the eldest child of Robert Kennedy and niece of John F. Kennedy. They also discuss her work as a lieutenant governor in Maryland and former U.S. deputy assistant attorney general as well as her work on issues including public safety and improving access to higher education as well as the Police Corps, a program granting higher education scholarships to those who pledged to work as police officers.

     Judy McDonald is a former president and CEO of the Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation and she served on the Nacogdoches City Commission for 18 years, becoming the first female mayor of Nacogdoches. She says "Townsend's experiences during one of America's most turbulent times give her an interesting perspective on both historical events and current issues."