Gov. Greg Abbott made seven appointments to his Advisory Council on Cultural Affairs. Lisa Hembry of Dallas and Ali Zakaria of Sugar Land were named to terms to expire on Feb. 1, 2017. Veronica Vargas Stidvent of Austin, Juan Ayala of New Braunfels and Bryan Daniel of Georgetown were named to terms to expire Feb. 1, 2019. Abbott also announced the appointment of Ruth Ruggero Hughs of Austin and Steven Nguyen of Irving as the council’s chair and vice chair, respectively.