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Heavy Hitters

Some of the stuff we looked into while you were reading last month’s issue

We thought we’d shed some light on a monumental Texas hero, burned-out bulbs and a high school coaching legend. Plus, a patriotic nod to the Fourth (you know, amber waves of grain and all that). Hey, speaking of amber …

Bright Ideas for Those Burned-Out CFLs

Priscilla Pearson, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative member, recently wrote to us asking what to do with burned-out compact fluorescent lightbulbs, or CFLs. They contain small amounts of mercury, and she wanted to know how to dispose of them properly.

Here are some ideas:

• Contact your local waste collection agency about its policies for recycling the bulbs.

• Earth911.com is a good place to look for collection or drop-off locations and schedules. This website has information about recycling and repurposing all sorts of materials.

• Local hardware stores, especially big-box ones such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, often offer in-store recycling.

• Check with your CFL manufacturer. Some sell prelabeled kits so you can mail back your used lightbulbs.

• As a last resort, the Environmental Protection Agency suggests putting your old CFLs in a plastic bag before putting them in with your regular trash to help prevent the mercury from escaping.

1,115

Texas’ winningest high school baseball coach, Bobby Moegle (pronounced MAY-gul) of Lubbock Monterey was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in February. The legendary coach won 1,115 games and four state championships in his 40 years as head coach for the Plainsmen. Moegle, 80, is the first high school baseball coach to make it to the Hall, which is in Waco. Moegle was known as a tough drill sergeant of a coach, a reputation that was expounded upon in a 1999 Sports Illustrated article with the headline “Next to him, Patton was a Wuss.” The article tells of the time in 1973 when a junior varsity player showed up 15 seconds—SECONDS!—late to practice and Moegle ordered him to run. When practice ended three hours later, the kid was still running. Moegle never told him to stop and instead sat in a lawn chair and read a few chapters of Gone with the Wind.

Standing Tall in State History

“A Tribute to Courage,” better known as the Sam Houston statue, casually looks out over drivers making their way between Dallas and Houston just outside of Huntsville on Interstate 45. At 67 feet, the concrete figure is the tallest monument to an American hero in the world, according to the town’s website.

July 26 marks the 150th anniversary of Houston’s death. The epitome of a career politician, he was a U.S. representative and governor of Tennessee, the first and third president of Texas, and a U.S. senator and governor of Texas—all in his 70-year life.

Houston was born in Virginia in 1793, but he spent most of his life in Tennessee. He came to Texas at 39 and was quickly swept up in the political turmoil of a possible revolution, becoming a commander in the Texas military in the fight for independence from Mexico. After the war, he was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas and served as a politician until just before his death.