Book Signing and Presentation at the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas, October 3, 2024
Cuero, TX – The Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas is excited to host a special Fun After
5 Chamber of Commerce event featuring award-winning author Amanda Skenandore on
Thursday, October 3, 2024, at 5:30 PM. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to meet
Skenandore as she presents and signs copies of her latest novel, The Medicine Woman of
Galveston.
Set in the late 19th century, The Medicine Woman of Galveston offers a captivating tale of
resilience, healing, and the complex intersection of medicine and culture. The Pharmacy &
Medical Museum, with its authentic period displays, is the perfect backdrop for this event,
immersing guests in the rich historical context of the novel.
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Skenandore’s work or discovering her writing for the first
time, this is an event not to be missed. In addition to the book signing, the evening will feature a presentation from the author, providing guests an inside look at her inspiration and the extensive historical research behind her novel.
This event is open to the public, and Chamber members are especially encouraged to attend for a chance to network, explore the museum, and enjoy an unforgettable evening of history and literature.
For more information, please contact the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas at 361-485-8090 or afitts@cityofcuero.com.
About the Author:
Amanda Skenandore is an award-winning historical fiction author and registered nurse. Her debut novel, Between Earth and Sky, won the American Library Association’s Reading List
Award for Best Historical Fiction. She is known for her meticulously researched novels and compelling portrayals of historical medical figures and events. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas:
Located in the heart of Cuero, Texas, the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas is dedicated to preserving the history of pharmacy and medicine. The museum offers an authentic glimpse into the medical practices of the past, making it the ideal setting for this special literary event.
For more information, please contact the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas at 361-485-8090 or afitts@cityofcuero.com
More immigrants than ever before call the United States home. Many of them have become U.S. citizens through naturalization, making them eligible to vote in November’s presidential election. In fact, naturalized citizens’ numbers are growing as the federal government processes citizenship applications at its fastest rate in years.
Here’s a closer look at the nearly 24 million immigrant adults who are naturalized citizens, according to a Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Throughout this analysis, we use the terms “eligible voters” and “electorate” to refer to U.S. citizens ages 18 and older.
Naturalized citizens make up a record number of eligible voters, according to the 2022 American Community Survey. That year, 23.8 million naturalized citizens were eligible to vote, accounting for about 10% of the U.S. electorate.
The number of adults who are naturalized citizens has grown steadily in recent decades. Between 2012 and 2022 alone, their numbers grew by 32%, from 18.0 million to 23.8 million. During the same period, the number of U.S.-born adults increased by 8%, from 202 million to more than 217 million.
2.
Most naturalized citizen eligible voters have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years. About three-quarters of immigrant eligible voters (73%) have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades. Another 20% have lived in the country for 11 to 20 years, while relatively few (8%) have been in the U.S. for a decade or less.
This pattern reflects the United States’ lengthy citizenship process. Generally, immigrants are required to be lawful permanent U.S. residents for at least five years before they are eligible to apply for citizenship. However, the median number of years before immigrants are eligible for naturalization varies by their country of birth.
3.
Among naturalized citizen eligible voters, more than half (55%) live in just four states: California, Florida, New York and Texas. These four states are also the country’s most populous when looking at eligible voters overall. Combined, they’re home to roughly a third of the U.S. electorate (32%).
California has by far the most adult naturalized citizens of any state at 5.6 million, or 23% of the nation’s total.
4.
In 13 states and the District of Columbia, naturalized citizens make up an estimated 10% of all eligible voters or more. The states where naturalized citizens account for the largest percentage of the electorate are California (21%), New Jersey (19%), New York (19%) and Florida (17%).
In West Virginia and Mississippi, naturalized citizens make up some of the smallest shares of eligible voters overall – about 1% of the electorate in each state.
5.
The naturalized citizen share of the electorate differs widely in some potential battleground states in the 2024 election. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are widely considered to be among the swing states this fall. The share of eligible voters who are naturalized citizens differs considerably across these states.
In Nevada and Arizona, naturalized citizens make up 14% and 9% of all eligible voters, respectively. They account for 7% of eligible voters in Georgia, and about 5% in both Pennsylvania and Michigan. In Wisconsin, they are just 3% of the electorate.
In overall numbers, Georgia’s naturalized citizen electorate is the largest among these swing states at 574,000, while Pennsylvania is not far behind at 546,000. Both of these states were among the closest in the 2020 presidential election.
6.
The top countries of origin for adult naturalized citizens in the U.S. are Mexico, India, China, the Philippines and Vietnam. About 3.7 million immigrants who are eligible to vote in the U.S. (15%) hail from Mexico- the largest group from any one country. India (8%), China (7%), the Philippines (6%) and Vietnam (4%) round out the top five countries of origin.
The origin countries of immigrant eligible voters is somewhat in line with U.S. immigration patterns observed over the last six decades or so. Of all immigrants who’ve come to the U.S. since 1965, about a quarter arrived from Mexico. About another quarter came to the U.S. from Asia, with the largest numbers arriving from China, India and the Philippines.
7.
Most immigrants who are eligible to vote are Hispanic or Asian American. These two racial and ethnic groups have grown in number in recent years.
Hispanic adults make up the largest share (34%) of immigrant eligible voters as of 2022. About 8.1 million adult naturalized citizens are Hispanic, an increase from 7.5 million in 2018.
About three-in-ten immigrant eligible voters (31%) are Asian as of 2022. Nationwide, they account for about 7.5 million adult naturalized citizens, up about half a million people from four years earlier.
The number and share of White immigrant eligible voters have held relatively steady between 2018 and 2022 at about 4.9 million, or 21% of the total.
The nation’s 2.5 million Black adult naturalized citizens account for 11% of the immigrant electorate as of 2022 – a similar share to 2018.
8.
The naturalized citizen electorate differs from the U.S.-born electorate on a variety of demographic measures. Immigrant eligible voters skew older than their U.S.-born counterparts. They’re also somewhat more likely to have a bachelor’s degree, live in households with slightly higher incomes and have lower levels of English proficiency.
Age: About six-in-ten immigrant eligible voters (58%) are ages 50 and older, compared with 46% of U.S.-born voters. And just 8% of immigrant eligible voters are under 30, compared with 22% of the U.S.-born electorate.
Education: 39% of naturalized citizen eligible voters have a bachelor’s degree or more education, compared with 36% of the U.S.-born electorate. Naturalized citizens are also less likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to have completed some college or have an associate’s degree. This is the highest level of education for 22% of naturalized citizens, compared with 30% of those who are U.S.-born.
Family income: The median total family income among naturalized citizen eligible voters is $92,870, compared with $84,000 among U.S.-born eligible voters.
English proficiency: 37% of immigrant eligible voters say they speak English less than very well, far higher than the 2% of U.S.-born eligible voters who say the same.
Over the last decade and a half, Pew Research Center has conducted religion-focused surveys all around the world. One question we have asked in each of these surveys is “How important is religion in your life?” Another one we’ve asked repeatedly is “How often do you pray?”
Using these questions, we see a broadly similar pattern across the 102 countries and territories we surveyed between 2008 and 2023. The places that are most religious by these two measures tend to be in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East-North Africa region. The places that are least religious tend to be in Europe and East Asia.
Of course, there are dimensions of spirituality that these two survey questions don’t pick up, as we’ve explored in regional surveys. At the end of this analysis, we discuss how we could incorporate new measures in the future.
Importance of religion around the world
People in sub-Saharan Africa are typically among the most likely to say that religion is very important in their lives. At least 90% of adults say this in Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda and Zambia.
In contrast, people in nearly all European countries surveyed are among the least likely to say that religion is very important in their lives. In Estonia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Latvia and Finland, 10% or fewer adults say this.
The pattern in South and Southeast Asia is not as consistent as in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Adults in some places in this region are among the most likely worldwide to place a great deal of importance on religion. Consider Indonesia, for example, where nearly all adults say religion is very important in their lives. But far smaller shares in Singapore (36%) and Vietnam (26%) give this answer.
In the United States, 42% of adults say religion is very important in their lives. This is below the 102-place median of 55%.
Rates of daily prayer around the world
Latin Americans are among the most likely in the world to say they pray daily. In both Guatemala and Paraguay, 82% of adults say this, as do 78% in Costa Rica and Honduras.
Meanwhile, in no place surveyed in East Asia do more than 21% of adults say they pray daily. This includes 13% of people in Hong Kong and 19% in Japan.
Adults in the U.S. are in the middle of the 102 countries and territories analyzed when it comes to rates of daily prayer. Some 45% of Americans say they pray daily, which is nearly identical to the 102-place median of 46%.
The complexities of measuring religiosity globally
Asking people about the importance of religion in their lives and how often they pray can provide an important window into their religiosity. But these questions work better in some places than in others.
These two measures may be especially valuable in places where Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – predominate, because prayer and formal religious organizations are central to those traditions. In other parts of the world, we need to ask additional questions to capture key aspects of religious or spiritual observance.
A prime example is our 2023 survey of East Asian societies and neighboring Vietnam. Before this survey, we consulted with experts from the region to devise questions that would tap into the most relevant aspects of spirituality. We also conducted qualitative research in Japan and Taiwan to ensure we were taking the right approach.
The survey found that while few East Asians consider religion very important in their lives or pray daily, many people across the region hold religious or spiritual beliefs and engage in traditional rituals. For example, many East Asians participate in rituals to honor their ancestors.
We also asked tailored, culturally relevant questions in our 2019-20 survey of nearly 30,000 adults in India. For example, that survey found widespread adherence to dietary choices related to religion. We found that 92% of Jains are vegetarian, and 67% of India’s Jains also abstain from eating root vegetables. Among all Indian adults, only about half said they would ever eat in the home of someone whose religion has different rules about food.
How we plan to measure religiosity and spirituality around the world in the future
Our recent survey of East Asia and Vietnam largely marks the end of our customized, region-by-region surveys of religiosity and spirituality. But this does not mean we are done researching religion around the world.
Building on what we’ve learned, we now plan to conduct surveys in 30 or more countries at the same time. By simultaneously surveying countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, we can gain a comparative understanding of spirituality around the world.
As we survey the same countries over time, we can also repeat some questions to see how different parts of the world are – or aren’t – changing religiously.
This new approach will allow us to ask questions around the world that were originally designed for a specific region. For example, based on our work in East Asia, we plan to ask respondents across the globe whether they think various parts of nature have their own spirits. We recently asked questions like these in the U.S. and found that 48% of American adults believe that mountains, rivers or trees can have spirits or spiritual energies. This is similar to the share of adults in Japan and Vietnam who believe in such spirits.
Using measures from a variety of cultures and religious traditions will help us move toward a richer understanding of people’s spiritual lives.
Discover the amazing world of herbs with Denise Goebel, Our Family & Community Health AgriLife Extension Agent. Learn about the health benefits and culinary uses of herbs in this informative session. This is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your knowledge and connect with fellow community members.
Event: All About Herbs – The Star Plant Date: Thursday, September 26th Time: Coffee at 9:30 AM, Presentation at 10:00 AM Location: Cuero Public Library, 207 E. Main, Cuero
For more information, please contact the Cuero Chamber of Commerce at (361) 275-2112.
On Monday, September 23, 2024, Bfit Cuero Wellness Center joyfully celebrated its tenth anniversary of promoting fitness, wellness, and personal growth. Throughout the last decade, their memberships and programs have thrived, thanks to the steadfast commitment and support from the remarkable Cuero community.
To mark this special milestone, the center hosted a day filled with exciting activities and offers:
Free Chair Massage by Crispin: Attendees relaxed and unwound with complimentary chair massages available until 5 PM.
Free Tea by AlphaLyfe Nutrition: Guests enjoyed refreshing cups of tea while supplies lasted.
Special $10 Joining Fee: New members took advantage of a special $10 joining fee throughout the month of September.
Door Prizes: Participants had the chance to win fantastic prizes through door prize giveaways.
The celebration was a remarkable journey, showcasing the thriving fitness community that Bfit Cuero Wellness Center has built over the years. Here’s to many more years of health, wellness, and growth together!
Thank you for being a part of the Bfit Cuero Wellness Center family. We look forward to continuing this journey with you!
Yorktown ISD Kitty Kat JV volleyball team clinched the Consolation Championship at the Falls City volleyball tournament on Saturday, September 21st. The tournament followed a traditional format, awarding only a consolation and a tournament champion. Teams that lost their second match were eliminated from the competition.
The Kats narrowly lost their first match to Poth in three sets, but then decisively won against Kenedy and Woodsboro in two sets each, securing the Consolation Title. Excellent work, Kitty Kats!
The Texas Department of State Health Services is putting a statewide focus on congenital syphilis, a disease that has profound effects on hundreds of babies in Texas each year. Congenital syphilis cases rose from 166 in 2017 to 922 in 2022, the most recent year with final data, tracking with an increase in syphilis among adults. Texas accounted for 25 percent of the congenital syphilis cases in the United States in 2022 compared with roughly 10 percent of total births.
“These are heartbreaking statistics,” said DSHS Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, MD, MPH. “They become even more heartbreaking when you consider that congenital syphilis is preventable when moms with syphilis receive timely testing and treatment either before or early during pregnancy.”
Shuford is reaching out directly to health care professionals with a letter and video asking for their help to ensure all pregnant women are tested for syphilis three times during pregnancy as required by state law. Texas Health & Safety Code 81.090 requires screening during every pregnancy:
At the first prenatal examination and visit.
During the third trimester visit (no sooner than 28 weeks gestation).
At delivery.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that can also spread from mother to child during pregnancy or at delivery. When that occurs, it can cause premature birth, low birthweight, stillbirth, deformed bones, deafness, blindness, jaundice and infant death.
Testing is critically important since syphilis can be cured with the right antibiotics. Once an infection is detected, prompt and complete treatment can reduce the chances the baby will be affected by 98 percent.
“That is where we in public health and health care can make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time,” said Shuford. “We must find ways to increase prenatal care and the testing that goes along with it, and then make sure there is a strong connection to follow-up care.”
This Friday, DSHS will host a congenital syphilis summit in Houston, bringing together health care professionals, community health workers, health insurers, state and local public health, community groups, state agencies and others. They will gather in person and virtually, hearing from state and national experts, meeting others doing similar work in their parts of the state and returning to their communities with concrete next steps to reduce congenital syphilis among their neighbors.
Also, this week, DSHS has posted new congenital syphilis web pages that include resources for health care providers, community groups and patients. And DSHS launched a new data dashboard on congenital syphilis with information about the disease, how to identify and treat it, and recent trends and county-level data. People can find it and more public health data on the Texas Health Data section of the DSHS website.
In a heartwarming pre-game ceremony, fans and attendees of the Gobbler vs. Buccaneers game on Friday night gathered to honor the legendary 1974 Gobbler team and their coaches on the 50th anniversary of their State Championship victory.
The Portal to Texas History
Imagine if we could travel back in time to witness the expressions on their youthful faces just moments after their epic triumph. How surreal it must have felt for them at that instant, and how pivotal that day would become.
Photo courtesy of Sherry Lynne
The 1974 Gobbler team achieved a perfect 15-0 record, winning the State Championship. They had won back-to-back state championships in 1973 and 1974. They proved they could be the best, making a name for themselves, some making generational leaps that would forever change the course of their life. Their victory made a name for their school, and their city. Their hard work, dedication, and teamwork paid off, and they became legends in Cuero.
Photo courtesy of Sherry Lynne
They had gathered earlier in day at the high school cafeteria before the outdoor ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of their incredible achievement. Those Gobbler boys of ’73 and ’74 now respectively, senior citizens who came from different backgrounds and walks of life, to play football. The atmosphere was filled with nostalgia and pride and the Senior Gobblers remembered how Coach Buster Gilbreth led the team to four state championship appearances within six years, secured consecutive state championships in 1973 and 1974, and established an impressive 44-game winning streak from 1973 to 1975. This streak has become the longest for any high school football team since the early 1950s and remains one of the most distinguished in the annals of high school football history.
Photo courtesy of Sherry LynnePhoto courtesy of Sherry Lynne
They reflected on the past and felt a pang of sadness for those who were no longer with them. They took photos, shared laughter, and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a beautiful reminder of the enduring spirit and camaraderie that defined the 1974 Gobbler State Championship team. The legacy of the 1974 Gobbler State Championship team continues to inspire and motivate future generations.
Photo courtesy of Sherry LynnePhoto courtesy of Sherry Lynne
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