Press Release<\/a><\/p>\nGovernor Greg Abbott today delivered the keynote address and presented awards to honor the service and sacrifice of peace officers, firefighters, and first responders at the 2026 Star Of Texas Awards in Austin.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, on September 11, 2026, we remember those we lost and are inspired by the bravery and resilience that define what it means to be an American,\u201d said Governor Abbott. \u201cTexas is eternally grateful to those who serve and protect our communities every single day. The men and women we have lost will live on through their brothers and sisters in uniform, friends and family, and Americans who are free today because of their sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his remarks, the Governor acknowledged the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and recognized the valor of the first responders who ran towards danger that day. Additionally, he shared the stories of Texans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our state and nation.<\/p>\n
The Governor was joined at the ceremony by Supreme Court of Texas Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge David Schenck, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Texas Department of Public Safety Colonel Freeman Martin, and other local and state leaders.<\/p>\n
Established in 2003 through House Bill 1937, the Star Of Texas Awards honors and commemorates individuals who made profound commitments while performing their duties as peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical first responders.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Star of Texas Award recipients are:<\/p>\n
\tJuan Cruz Arizpe, Amarillo Fire Department
\n\tAlyssa M. Lopez, Austin County Sheriff\u2019s Office
\n\tHeather Cavazos, Austin Police Department
\n\tJessica Marie Jacob, Austin Police Department
\n\tStephen Sakr Johnson, Austin Police Department
\n\tAdam Ross Reinhart, Austin Police Department
\n\tJaxon Dean Walker, Austin Police Department
\n\tAaron Randal Armstrong, Caldwell County Constable\u2019s Office
\n\tBrent Harrison, Castro County Sheriff\u2019s Office
\n\tNikolas Robert Anderson, Cedar Park Police Department
\n\tElijah Monroe Garretson, Copperas Cove Police Department
\n\tLuis Jose Pomales Jr., Dallas Police Department
\n\tAshton Lawrence Rosebud, Dallas Police Department
\n\tKenneth M. Lewis, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office
\n\tCaleb E. Halvorson, Fort Worth Fire Department
\n\tJames B. Huddleston, Fort Worth Fire Department
\n\tAustin Erik Griswold, Harris County Sheriff’s Office
\n\tBenjamin Abbott, Houston Fire Department
\n\tColbey Bailey, Houston Fire Department
\n\tLemuel Delray Bruce Jr., Houston Fire Department
\n\tPaige E. Hennighan, Houston Fire Department
\n\tIris Rodriguez, Houston Fire Department
\n\tStephen Doyle Scott, Houston Fire Department
\n\tJoaquin J. Garza, Houston Police Department
\n\tJonathan R. Gibson, Houston Police Department
\n\tShawn Lee Wilson, Levelland Police Department
\n\tAndrew Lee Cavazos, Lubbock County Sheriff\u2019s Office
\n\tJorge Martinez, Lubbock County Sheriff\u2019s Office
\n\tMichael Lee Hankins, MedStar
\n\tRex T. Plant, Memphis Police Department
\n\tRusty Lee Peace, Newark Fire Department
\n\tCorey Stefan Rogers, San Antonio Police Department
\n\tTyler John Sauvage, San Antonio Police Department
\n\tJacob Andrew Candanoza, Terrell Police Department
\n\tJerry Wayne Adamick Jr., Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tDakota David Hughes, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tAlan M. Johnstone II, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tAustin Bryan Parrott, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tDamian Christian Rains, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tKevin Ramirez Vasquez, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tDerrick Martez Waters, Texas Department of Public Safety
\n\tJames Clinton Black III, Texas Tech Police Department
\n\tLevi Israel Ridley, Texas Tech Police Department
\n\tK9 Andor, Waco Police Department<\/p>\n
Additional photos of the ceremony will be provided here<\/a> when available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 11, 2026 | Austin, Texas | Press Release Governor Greg Abbott today delivered the keynote address and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-433861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}