Greg Neeley of Longview has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as justice of the 12th Court of Appeals for a term to expire at the 2016 general election.

Jeannie Ash has hired on as assistant district director for state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton. She will be based in the Greenville district office. She previously served as district director for state Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, for nine years.

Royce Poinsett has hired on with the government affairs practice group of Gardere Wynne Sewell. He comes to the firm from Baker Botts LLP. He also counts previous stints as an adviser to Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick.

Marcus Deitz has been hired by McGuireWoods as a partner in Houston. Most recently, he was a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, where he focused on public finance transactions.

Eddie Aldrete of IBC Bank and Louis Malfaro of the Texas AFT have been selected to serve as officers for the National Immigration Forum. Aldrete will serve as vice chairman, and Malfaro will serve as secretary. Both have been on the forum board since 2013.

Deaths: Linda Bridges, 65, who was president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, a position she had served in since 2005.

Disclosure: IBC Bank is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Texas AFT was a corporate sponsor in 2011-13 of The Texas Tribune. Eddie Aldrete was a donor in 2009-11 and 2013 to The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.