Top 21 Stories of 2021 - Year in Review
Kingsville Police Officer Sherman Benys
Kingsville Police Department Officer Sherman Benys, 58.
Senior Patrolman Sherman Otto Benys Jr. died during the early morning hours at Christus Spohn Memorial Shoreline from a gunshot wound received in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence incident on Monday, November 1st, 2021.
“Chief Ricardo Torres, the officer’s and staff of the Kingsville Police Department and the family of Patrolman Benys have been overwhelmed by the support of our law enforcement brothers and sisters, and the citizens of the region for their prayers, blood, and monetary donations," a post from Kingsville Police Department.
Thousands of dollars were raised by the community for the family of officer Sherman Benys.
The incident brought attention the underlying issue of domestic violence in the Kingsville community.
The End Domestic Violence task force took to social media to let the community know that domestic violence is not just a family issue, but a community issue. Their mission is to educate and empower the community to build awareness, support, and prevention of domestic violence in Kleberg County and Bishop.
2. Winter Storm
Texas’ electrical grid operator implemented rolling blackouts across most of the state in mid-February after a massive winter storm brought unprecedented demand for electricity and forced multiple power-generating units offline.
To serve the Kingsville community during the winter storm, a group of missionaries donated hot chocolate to resident in Kingsville.
3. May Flood
The Coastal Bend area was under a flash flood watch on Wednesday, May 19, which caused several delays in the Coastal Bend area.
4. Former Javelina Basketball Player
Former Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelina basketball player and Rio Grande Valley native Raquel Gonzalez became the new NXT Women’s Champion.
Raquel Gonzalez
5. Texas Masks Mandates Lifted
Texas’ statewide mask mandate ended March 10. Businesses were allowed to operate at full capacity as long as the hospitals in their region had low COVID-19 admission rates.
6. Mass Exodus of Teachers and Staff at Pan Am in Kingsville
Several former students and staff members of the Presbyterian Pan American School took to social media in June to express their unhappiness over the resignation or firing of 15 employees within the last 6 months.
7. Texas Theater
BLG Entertainment has teamed up with Siggno Enterprises LLC and Coastal Bend Enterprises LLC to transform the Texas Theatre into a premiere entertainment venue. The partners behind this project have production and event planning experience in Adrian Gallegos of BLG Entertainment; music industry experience in Jesus “Jesse” Turner who has won numerous Grammy Awards as a Tejano singer, songwriter and producer for the Tejano group Siggno; dining and event planning experience in the Villarreal Family who opened and currently operate three successful restaurants and the event center Rancho Cielito Lindo.
8. Quilt of Honor
As one of the last World War II Navy veterans in the South Texas Area, 99-year-old Amadeo Salinas was given the “Quilt of Honor”. Watch the video below to learn more about his life in the Navy.
9. H.M. King Graduating Class
Desiree, an H.M. King high school graduate didn't know she had leukemia until she passed out at school. Watch her incredible story below.
10. Softball - Bishop and Santa Gertrudis Academy
The Bishop Lady Badgers and Santa Gertrudis Academy Lady Lions earned victories to advance to the Class 3A Regional Semi-Finals.
The Lady Badgers ended up defeating the Santa Gertrudis Academy Lions 3-1 to advance to the program's first UIL state tournament.
11. H.M. King Decals - The H.M. King Brahmas varsity squad decorated their helmets for the season with their loved ones.
12. Bishop Baseball - The Bishop Badgers moved to the Regional Semi-Finals in the Class 3A playoffs.
13. Bishop Fire - Nueces County E.S.D 3 and Bishop Police Department were called to a massive structure fire at 400 block of East Sixth Street in Bishop.
14. Market Swine Champ - At the Kleberg-Kenedy County Junior Livestock Show, 11-year-old Briley Hubert walked away with a Grand Champion banner in market swine, marking her second straight championship at the event.
15. Halloween Murder in Kingsville - The vehicle drove to Bishop eventually traveling back south on US 77 Business to Kingsville and drove back to the residence where the officers arrested the driver.
16. TAMUK professor Honored - Dr. Jingbo Liu, chemistry professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, was named one of the 2021 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
17. Bishop move up to 4A - After narrowly missing the mark to move up a UIL classification over the last 4 years, Bishop High School has eclipsed the marker that will send them to Class 4A in 2022.
18. Driver Found in Deadly Crash - In October, a 26-year-old Hispanic Male from Brownsville, reported to the Kingsville Police Department along with his attorney that he was responsible for the accident.
19. Navy Jet Crash - A Navy T-45C Goshawk training jet out of NAS-Kingsville carrying an instructor and a student crashed in a residential neighborhood in Lake Worth, Texas. This was the second crashed that has occurred under NAS-Kingsville within 6 months.
20. Kingsville MS 13 Gang Member - Kingsville Border Patrol Station agents were notified and encountered an illegal migrant from El Salvador. After arriving at the station, record checks revealed the noncitizen was a confirmed Mara-Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member.
21. Joni Rocks - Joni Collins and her daughter Jessica White, decorated rocks for the community to find.
