Talk of the Neighborhood highlights Central Texans’ achievements.

* Applause *

* Jill Braswell of Waco was one of 25 long-distance runners with a medical device selected as one of the 2010 Global Heroes by Twin Cities in Motion, a nonprofit organization that directs the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis, Minn.

Braswell, who has a pacemaker to treat an arrhythmia, finished the 26.2-mile marathon held Oct. 3 in 5 hours, 27 minutes and 49 seconds.

The Medtronic Global Heroes program celebrates runners who have medical devices to treat their conditions. The Medtronic Foundation provides race entry and travel expenses for the runners and donates $1,000 on behalf of each runner to a nonprofit organization that educates and supports people who live with the same condition.

* Nate Camp, manager of the Quality Inn & Suites hotel in Waco, received by the Innovation Award from Choice Hotels International Inc.

This award is part of the Awards for Property Excellence (APEX) program from Choice Hotels, franchisor of the Quality brand. The Waco Quality Inn & Suites was one of only five Choice brand hotels in the state to receive a 2010 APEX award.

* Scott & White Healthcare has appointed Dr. Glen Couchman as its new system chief medical officer.

Couchman will oversee more than 850 physicians within the Scott & White Healthcare System.

He served the previous two years as associate system chief medical officer at Scott & White. Couchman began his career with Scott & White in 1982 in its department of family and community medicine.

* Scott & White Hospital’s Neuroscience Institute in Temple was designated as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence, according to a 2006-09 Neuroscience Center of Excellence Survey.

The survey, sponsored by NeuStrategy Inc., is the only one of its kind in the neurosciences and analyzed 175 neuroscience programs across 41 states.

* Class Acts *

* Jason Jordan, a 2001 graduate of Bruceville-Eddy High School, and a 2004 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor graduate, recently spoke at the 2010 International Critical Legal Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

The conference invited Jordan to present his paper on the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. The paper is due for a June 2011 publication in a collection with other papers.

Jordan is a Master of Science candidate at the University of North Texas in Denton.

* Darrell Ross of Bruceville-Eddy was chosen for membership in the National Society of High School Scholars. He is the son of Jackie Hestilow of Eddy and Sul Ross of Salado.

* Jason Kilgore of Moody received a degree in kinesiology from Texas A&M University in August.

* Harold Ramm, superin-tendent of Groesbeck ISD, was named Superintendent of the Year by Education Service Center Region 12.

He did not advance as one of the five state finalists.

* In the Military *

* Pvt. Taylor Montey, a 2009 graduate of West High School, graduated from basic military training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and from AIT (advanced infantry training) from Fort Sill, Okla. His next duty station will be Fort Stewart, Ga. He is the son of Crystal Montey of West.

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