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AUSTIN—The Texas comptroller’s office approved and paid $285 million in unclaimed property claims during the past fiscal year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced last week. The comptroller’s office has returned more than $3 billion in unclaimed property to rightful owners since Texas’ unclaimed property program began in 1962. The state is currently holding more than $6 billion in cash and other valuables through the program. The $285 million in unclaimed property returned in fiscal 2021 represents more than 538,000 properties. These belongings include things such as forgotten utility deposits or other refunds, insurance proceeds, payroll checks, cashier’s checks, dividends, mineral royalties, dormant bank accounts, and abandoned safe-deposit box contents. Businesses generally turn property over to the unclaimed property program after it has been considered dormant for one to five years. There is generally no statute of limitations for unclaimed property the state holds, which means there’s no time limit for owners to file a claim—they can do so at any time. For more information about the unclaimed property program, or to search for unclaimed property and begin the claims process, visit the comptroller’s unclaimed property website, ClaimItTexas.org, or call 800.321.2274 (CASH).

Coffee Memorial blood here today Volunteers are urged to participate in the Canadian Community Blood Drive, which is being held today, Thursday, Sept. 16, from noon to 6 pm at the Church of Christ Fellowship Hall.

This was the money shot in a tour of the Lipscomb County Courthouse last Thursday morning, just two days before Saturday’s formal rededication was to take place. The courthouse, built in 1916 in the Classic Revival style, has been the focus of a $3.74 million preservation project since 2020. On Thursday, county workers were busily moving into new offices, organizing files and records, and giving everything a last-minute mop and polish and dusting. This photo was taken from the balcony above the beautiful county and district courtroom, which more closely resembles the set of the classic movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In fact, while in the courtroom balcony on Saturday, retired Lipscomb County Attorney Otis Shearer reminisced about his experiences trying cases there, and quoted lines from the same movie. One visitor to the courthouse this weekend—former Lipscomb County Deputy Treasurer Cathy Ricketts—described it perfectly: “The inside of the courthouse is beautiful. They preserved the tile floors (cleaned them, etc.), but found amazing longleaf pine floors underneath the carpet in the offices. The courtroom is the stunner. They took out the suspended ceiling and redid the balcony that was a catchall for junk when I worked there. Just awesome.” Cathy said her husband, Doug, was pleased that they kept the huge frame he built for a quilt that various quilters in Lipscomb County created, featuring the old schoolhouses. PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN

National POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Recognition Day was created by an act of Congress in 1979 after 2,500 Vietnam-era families petitioned Congress for a day of remembrance. It is now held each year on the third Friday in September. Its overriding message is, “You are not forgotten.”

AMARILLO—State Sen. Kel Seliger is kicking off his annual town hall meetings for District 31, which spans 37 counties throughout the Panhandle, South Plains, and Permian Basin, to discuss the recently completed 87th regular session and 87th first and second special sessions. In light of the recently called 87th third special session, the town halls will be held virtually.

She was prosecuted for aggravated sexual assault of a child and is a registered sex offender. She is now accused of concealing her past while promoting fraudulent real estate investments. Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles filed an emergency cease-and-desist order to stop the scheme and protect Texans from harm.