All about De Leon, Texas and the surrounding area...

*CLICK HERE to return to the Archives Index*
Thursday, April 10, 2008	De Leon Free Press — De Leon, Texas 76444	Volume 117, No. 40

The "Full" Free Press is now available on the Internet!

It will display the entire newspaper on your computer.

Please Click Here

Front Page Headlines

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

The Middle Trinity Groundwater Conservation District met in regular session, Thursday, April 3, 2008 and, among other items, discussed the current prospect for relocation.

All directors -- Rodney Stephens, George Bingham, Jerry Fronterhouse, Ed Dittfurth, Fred Parker and Jerry Henshaw -- were present for the meeting, as were MTGCD general manager Joe Cooper, administrative assistant Sharon Mainord, and Wes Burris, field technician.

Among the prospective properties the Real Estate Committee mentioned were the building that houses Patrick Street Pharmacy, and the site of the former 99 Cents Store (both on Patrick St.) in Dublin, and the former site of Star Arms (near Stephenville on Hwy. 377). Prices ranged from $225,000 to more than $500,000. Board members had not viewed the properties, but there was discussion on possible parking problems at some of the locations, as well as concerns about having to convert space for labs, storage, etc.

Chairman Rodney Stephens expressed his opinion that the district needs to buy land and build a structure to suit their needs, while others believe that time constraints make buying an existing building preferable. There will be an update next month on the properties viewed.

During the Public Comments section of the meeting Elaine Smith, of Worried About Water, thanked Joe Cooper, and the board, for supporting the group at a recent hearing in Austin.

“We went, we fought, we argued, and hopefully we won on an injection well application that was about four miles down the road from me out here on 487 (near Dublin),” Smith said. “We found out this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s in-experienced, all sorts of bad things are going on. We pointed it out to the Railroad Commission, hopefully they will take heed and deny the application. They are working on a water monitoring agreement, if they, by some miracle, do approve the application. I think we’re going to win-win in either case there.”

Smith then asked the board for an update on a situation dating back to September of 2006. “The board approved a permit for Larry Griffin to sell water outside the district,” Smith said. “The minutes of that meeting stated that a meter was installed and the company was to pay the district .025 cents per one thousand gallons of water pumped. I don’t recall hearing of any reporting or statistics on that operation since then, are there any reports?”

Mainord said that the operation was actually under the direction of Cude Energy, and Cooper assured Smith that the district was “keeping an eye on everything.”

“We have a form we give them, where they take their meter reading monthly,” Cooper said. “We periodically check it, and we go out there at the end of the year and verify the reading. We send them an invoice on the amount of water that they have to pay the export fee on. And it has to go to their headquarters, and it generally takes a while for the turnaround but they have paid for their exported water.”

“This year it was $281,” Mainord said. “The first year it was like $126 dollars.”

Next up was the quarterly review of investments. “The Investment of Public Funds Act requires that we review our investments quarterly,” Cooper said. “We are using TexPool as our investment vehicle.”

Cooper then said that the total investment right now is $797,259.47.

“We have two accounts,” Cooper said. “You’ll recall that the County Tax Assessor-Collector in each of our two counties deposits money into a bank account that we maintain in each county, then we transfer the money from those banks into TexPool.”

After answering a few questions, Cooper said, “I still believe that TexPool is the best deal that we can do. It’s earning good interest for us.” Several directors expressed agreement. Since the item was on the agenda for review only, no action was required.

The Quarterly Drought Assessment was next and Cooper quoted from the Palmer Drought Severity Index. “The PDSI for March 2008, for North Central Texas, is 0.34,” Cooper said. “That number translates into near normal conditions.” Cooper said the prior three quarters have all been rated very wet conditions, and things seemed to be returning to normal.

For full article, subscribe to the DeLeon Free Press. E-mail edition is only $20/year.

I was born and raised in Blanket, where my parents Chester and Iva Damron still reside. I am a 1974 graduate of Texas A&M University with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. My experience includes 34 years active veterinary practice. In 1975, I opened the Stephenville Veterinary Hospital. In 1979, I became owner and operator of 4D Game Ranch located in Sidney, where I currently reside with my wife Julie. I am on the Board of Directors for the Central Texas Land Bank, formerly the Federal Land Bank Association of Texas, where I serve on the compensation and audit committees. A local branch is located in Comanche.

I am a lifetime member of the Exotic Wildlife Association, in addition to being an active member of the International Brangus Breeder’s Association.

I am currently semi-retired and believe that my extensive medical and technical experience will be a great asset to the Board of Directors at Comanche County Medical Center. I have a common sense approach to the many challenges that the healthcare profession faces, including staff retention and fiscal management. I believe that my commitment to overcoming these obstacles will result in hospital growth, staff stability, and a positive move toward our future. I would appreciate your vote and look forward to serving you and your family for many years.

By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter

VAN DYKE -- Comanche County Medical Center CEO Kevin Storey reported on Tuesday that the medical equipment financing deal with Toshiba Medical Systems has not yet been finally approved by Toshiba.

As reported in last week’s edition, the CCMC Board voted the authority for Storey to complete arrangements for the hospital to borrow $6.5 million from Toshiba to be used for the purchase of a variety of medical imaging and other equipment, a new medical records software system and other improvements.

Since the proposed debt is not guaranteed by the taxpayers, but only by the hospital’s revenues, no bond election will be required.

Storey states he was advised on Monday that he should hear something final from Toshiba on Wednesday. He earlier expressed high confidence that the financing arrangements would eventually be approved.

Once the financing is finally approved, Storey plans to prepare an informational release for the public giving more information on the pending transaction.

DeLeon High School students traveled to Tolar High School for University Interscholastic League competition events on Tuesday and Thursday, March 25 and 27. Several students placed highly and will advance to regional UIL competition.

The DHS Number Sense team of Josh Kelly, Michael Kelly, Margaret Nabors and C.J. Grumbles earned first place and will advance to regional. Josh Kelly placed first and Michael Kelly placed second among the individual Number Sense competitors.

The DHS Mathematics team, consisting of Josh Kelly, Michael Kelly, Margaret Nabors and Stuart Martin, earned second place honors. Again, Josh Kelly was the first place individual competitor and will advance to the regionals in this event as well. Kelly also placed sixth in district Calculator Applications competition.

Whitney McDonald also earned a first place in Prose, and she will advance to regional competition.

The regional competition will be on Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock.

A complete listing of all DHS UIL competitors and their events:

Informative Speaking - Latisha Abbey and Tyler McKinney.

Persuasive Speaking - Jennifer Lewis.

Spelling - Elizabeth Lewis and Meagan Holder.

Science - Catilina Gonzales, Veda Holland, Chance Singleton, Scott Jordan, Jake Paul and Alex Rorie.

Literary Criticism - Brody Hammonds, Kevin Smith and Clint Hulsey.

Feature Writing - Jennifer Lewis and Catalina Gonzales.

Editorial Writing - Brody Hammonds and Tyler McKinney.

Headline Writing - Catalina Gonzales, Brody Hammonds and Richard Ramirez.

Mathematics - Josh Kelly, Michael Kelly, Elizabeth Lewis and Stuart Martin.

Poetry - Kyler Caraway and R’Leigh McLearen.

Prose - Tyler McKinney, Cody Welch and Whitney McDonald.

Ready Writing - Carrie Boen, Jennifer Lewis and Georgeanne Landreth.

Current Events - Kevin Smith, Chance Singleton, Brody Hammonds and Matt Nowlin.

Calculator - Josh Kelly, Michael Kelly, Margaret Nabors and Emilie Royall.

Number Sense - Michael Kelly, Josh Kelly, CJ Grumbles and Margaret Nabors.

Social Studies - Catalina Gonzales, Chance Singleton, Brody Hammond and Matt Nowlin.

PENNY AUCTION. The annual Penny Auction, hosted by the Womens’ Division Chamber of Commerce, was held Friday, April 4, at the City Hall auditorium and was deemed successful by event organizers. Approximately 400 cups were sold and more than 100 people spent several hours bidding on items donated by area individuals and businesses. Shown above is Womens’ Division member Claudia Stephens, as she collects the pennies from a table full of bidders.

ANIMAL CLINIC. Sasha, a miniature schnuazer owned by Julia Morris, was one of the first animals to arrive at the Animal Clinic hosted by the City of DeLeon last Saturday and is seen here with veterinarian Dr. Michael Burk and animal control officer Chuck Crawford. Also present were Sandy Files, left, and (not pictured) Karen Wilkerson and Marilyn Harbour, who registered the 37 animals that received their city tags. Harbour said that even more animals were vaccinated, but that those who lived outside the city limits did not need to apply for tags.

AND WE THINK OUR ROADS ARE BAD! Around three dozen Jeep and other four wheel drive vehicles took on challenging trails on the Bingham place between Beattie and Sipe Springs last Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6. They were divided into different single file groups that played follow the leader, attacking trails that ranged from very difficult to well nigh impossible. The trail shown was not deemed all that difficult, since they were saving the best ones for later. One more event is planned for this spring. Parties interested may contact Gerald and Nina Fronk at 893-5858.