TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2022 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 6
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DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
News: 9/11 Gallery
Opinion: Water Infrastructure
Life & Arts: 'Catswalk
Sports: Bobcat Football
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REMEMBRANCE
Community remembers 9/11 first responders
San Marcos firefighters and Department of Public Safety officers walk down the steps of Bobcat Stadium in full uniform, Sunday, Sep. 11, 2022, at the 2nd annual Hays County 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. PHOTO BY CHRIS SWANN
By Nichaela Shaheen News Editor Clad in full uniform and carrying the weight of their gear as the morning suns rays beamed down on them, Hays County first responders completed a commemorative stair climb to honor those in their profession who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, on Sunday at Bobcat Stadium." Twenty-one years after the attack on the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City, Sept. 11 is a day that
holds emotions for many. Hays County first responders had the opportunity to remember the day and their fellow first responders by climbing up 110 flights of stairs at Bobcat Stadium, for the twin towers each consisted of 110 floors. The stair climb began at 8:46 a.m., the time that the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, hit the north tower. The climb was open to firefighters, law enforcement, EMS and dispatchers across Hays County. Firefighters like Aidan Campbell of the San Marcos Fire Department believe
it is their duty to honor the victims by finishing the job that responders were unable to complete on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. “The job is to save lives and protect property,” Campbell said. “In order to show the respect that we have for the firefighters and police officers on 9/11, we showed that we can do the job too, that we're upholding the standard.” Not only does this annual event serve as a way to honor those who lost their lives, but it also allows for the education of the historical event to be passed on to
younger generations. Kimberly Cisneros, mother of two and administrator at the San Marcos Fire Department, shares that it is important to bring youth to events like these. “My little guys are four and five years old and they weren't alive during this,” Cisneros said. “It's just teaching the next generation exactly what this was and what it meant; they've learned a lot by this.”
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Embarking on an unexpected journey By Nichaela Shaheen News Editor Texas State student Jimmy Amisial became a father overnight when he took in an impoverished boy from Haiti named Emilio on New Year's Eve 2017. Born and raised in Haiti, Amisial came to America to attend college in
2015. In Dec. 2017, he was on a trip home for winter break after completing his first semester at Texas State. On New Year's Eve, Amisial, who grew up volunteering at a local orphanage, was on his way to deliver gifts to the children when he heard a noise that caught him off guard. At first, he thought it was the sound of people
Jimmy Amisial (center) visits his son Emilio and family in Gonaives, Haiti. PHOTO COURTESY OF JIMMY AMISIAL
celebrating the new year. “I saw a panicked lady and I said, ‘oh, what's going on over there?’ She told me, ‘ you won't believe it. They are throwing the baby in the trash’ and no one wanted to do anything about it," Amisial said. A crowd had gathered around the baby, and no one bothered to help or
even touch the baby who was lying in a pile of trash. Despite the crowd's reaction, Amisial knew he needed to do something. "People are saying ‘I'm not going to touch it. I didn't put that baby there. It's cursed.' But to me, I saw a precious living soul, and without hesitation, I reached out and picked him up from the trash,” Amisial said When he first saw the baby he was covered in fire ants and would not stop crying. “He was crying in excruciating pain, I could hear the pain in his voice like he was saying ‘save me, save me,'" Amisial said. "I couldn't think of anything else but to save him.” Amisial then took the baby to his mother’s house where they bathed him, nursed him back to health and called local authorities to notify them about his discovery. Little did he know that reaching for the baby would change the trajectory of his life. The day after finding the baby, a judge visited Amisial. The judge recognized the heart and passion that Amisial had for the child. According to Amisial, children in Haiti often end up living their lives as orphans or gang members. It was the following question the judge would ask Amisial that would shock him to his core. The judge asked him if he was willing to become the baby's legal guardian. He told the judge to give him time to think about such a huge decision. "That wasn't my expectation at all when he said that to me. I kept thinking, I'm still in school I was struggling and I didn't really know what I was gonna do,” Amisial said
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