Neil Ferguson

O n August 24, members of the leadership team at Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Investar Bank NA rang the Nasdaq Closing Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City's Times Square. The ceremonial bell ringing marks a significant milestone for Investar Bank as it celebrates 20 years of serving customers, supporting communities and building relationships across its markets. The bank operates 10 banking offices in Texas.

The SW Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business (SWGSB) has added a new trustee to its board of advisors. Kit Sawers , inaugural CEO of Southern Methodist University's (SMU) new Dallas office and a vice president of the university, has joined the SWGSB board as the SMU representative. In her role as CEO of SMU's Dallas office, Sawers leads the university's engagement across the region, bringing together business development, executive and continuing education, research collaborations and student career pathways.

San Antonio-based Jefferson Bank has hired David Morris as senior vice president/trust and estates officer and Taylor West as senior vice president/commercial lending officer.

On August 26, El Paso-based WestStar named Marcela Candia vice president/director of accounting. In her role, she oversees accounting operations, financial reporting, regulatory compliance and internal controls and works with senior leadership to support the bank's financial objectives.

C ommunity bankers from across the state will gather in San Antonio later this month for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas 52nd Annual Convention , a perfect opportunity for education, networking and inspiration for those shaping the future of Texas community banking. Set for September 19–22 at the Signia by Hilton La Cantera Resort & Spa, the convention will feature nationally recognized keynote speakers, breakout sessions on the latest banking and technology trends, updates on legislative affairs and multiple opportunities to connect with peers.

Author summary Malaria remains a major global health challenge, and choosing how best to use limited resources for control is difficult. Mathematical models can help by testing possible intervention strategies before they are used in the real world. However, detailed malaria models that track individuals are computationally slow, making it impractical to run the thousands of simulations needed to rigorously quantify uncertainty in model predictions. This is a significant limitation, because data on malaria transmission are often sparse or imprecise, and understanding the range of plausible outcomes is essential for sound decision-making. We developed malariasimple, a new R package that provides a faster, simplified version of malariasimulation, an established individual-based malaria transmission model. Our model retains the essential biology of how malaria spreads between humans and mosquitoes, as well as the effects of widely used control interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets and preventive drug treatments. We show that malariasimple produces outputs that are very similar to the more detailed model while reducing runtimes by up to 99.6%. This speed makes it practical to fit the model to data using Bayesian methods and to quantify uncertainty in predictions. malariasimple therefore offers a useful tool for researchers and policy analysts who need fast, interpretable malaria simulations.

On August 18, San Antonio-based Vantage Bank announced the appointment of Layne E. Nunes as executive vice president/chief treasury and network banking officer. He will oversee the new treasury and network banking division and provide strategic leadership for treasury management, treasury operations, network banking and related customer-focused services. He brings more than 30 years of experience in commercial banking, treasury management, sales leadership and portfolio growth to the role.

O n August 27, the New York Stock Exchange opened the headquarters of NYSE Texas at the historic Old Parkland campus in Dallas. The new headquarters provides NYSE Texas-listed companies with a dedicated venue and event space.

San Antonio-based Vantage Bank has named Tray Mounce executive vice president and Houston regional president. Mounce, who joined the bank in 2023 as executive vice president and Houston market president, has 36 years of banking experience.

In the lexicon of psychedelic music, Zamrock is hardly one of the best-known styles. Yet, this strange fusion, consisting of a handful of Zambian groups offering up their distinct interpretation of ’60s and ‘70s rock and roll, was once a major musical force in its namesake African country. Decades later and well past its heyday, it has maintained something of a cult following. Much of this is due to W.I.T.C.H., an acronym for We Intend to Cause Havoc, one of Zamrock’s most notable acts, that has spent roughly the last 15 years touring to appreciative fans after a hiatus that started in the late ‘80s. They have even been releasing new albums over the last few years, including 2026’s Lazy Bones!!. Much of the band’s popularity and longevity comes from the spirit of Emanyeo “Jagari” Chanda, the only original member, who remains a true believer in W.I.T.C.H.’s mission. On Saturday, September 6th, Jagari and his current lineup brought W.I.T.C.H.’s message and music to Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon.