Talk of the Neighborhood highlights Central Texans’ achievements.

* Applause *

* Eddie Beltran, a 1992 graduate of Lorena High School, was one of 60 San Antonio Police Department officers deputized to work in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day.

Beltran, the son of Edward and Gloria Beltran, has been with the San Antonio department for eight years, the last two on the Tactical Response Unit, which deals with high-risk warrants, gang violence and highway drug interdiction.

He was among 4,000 officers from across the United States deputized the day before the inauguration. On Inauguration Day, they worked the parade route from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m.

* Jeremy Rother, a December 2008 graduate of the golf course and landscape management program at Texas State Technical College Waco, landed a job at the world-renowned Pinehurst Golf Resort & Spa in North Carolina.

Rother, 24, is the second assistant supervisor at the resort’s course No. 8, built in 1996 to commemorate Pinehurst’s 100th anniversary.

The New Braunfels native and his new wife, the former Terri Huffman, will have full resort privileges. He credits Dan Wegand, golf course superintendent at Waco’s Ridgewood Country Club, for helping him get his foot in the door at Pinehurst. Wegand e-mailed the superintendent at Pinehurst, who invited Rother to submit a résumé.

* Bellmead Police Chief Robert L. Harold is the Cen-Tex African-American Citizen of the Month for January.

Born Sept. 5, 1942, in St. Louis, Mo., Harold started his law enforcement career after 26 years in the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of sergeant major. While stationed at Fort Hood in August 1982, he became a reserve police officer with Bellmead. He retired from active duty in August 1985 and was hired as the city’s first black full-time officer.

Harold worked for the Baylor Department of Public Safety and McLennan County Sheriff’s Department before being hired in October 1990 as Bellmead chief.

He and his wife, Mary Ann, have nine children, 39 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. They are members of Community Baptist Church. He also is past president of the Bellmead Lions Club.

* Class Acts *

* Lorena High School choir member Jordan Hanlin was chosen as one of the top first sopranos to this year’s Region 8 All- Region Choir. Jordan also qualified for the Pre-Area Choir and was selected first alternate to the All-Area Choir, which gives her a chance to audition for the All-State Choir next semester.

The Lorena High School Choir is under the direction of Robyn Maricle. Jordan also receives vocal instruction from Beth Fry of Fry Music Studios in Lorena.

* In the Military *

* Air Force Airman Samuel F. Thompson, a graduate of Axtell High School, has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Shelia Thompson of Waco.

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