| |
|
The "Full" Free
Press is now available via the Internet!
It will display the entire
newspaper on your computer.
Please Click Here |
|
|
Total
Outdoor Burn Ban
CLICK HERE |
|
Front Page Headlines
|
|
Council Members Hear Update
on Homeland Security Grant Funding
By LAURA KESTNER, Editor
|
|
An update on Homeland Security grants
within Comanche County was presented during the most recent
DeLeon City Council meeting, Thursday, March 12, 2009.
All council members -- Gayle Stroud,
Billie Lightfoot, Pauline Villarreal, Lee Childers and Mayor
Danny Owen -- were present for the meeting, as were City
Administrator Karen Wilkerson, Public Works Administrator Rob
Duncan, and Sgt. Ben Rowell of the DeLeon Police Department.
Prior to the council meeting, a
second public hearing was held on annexation of land east of
DeLeon, near the new Community Park. No one was present to
discuss the issue, and the hearing was adjourned.
Once the regular meeting began, Mayor
Owen announced that Tom Mann, of West Texas Council of
Governments (WTCOG) would speak to Council members during the
citizen’s presentation portion of the meeting regarding Homeland
Security grant information. Owen noted that he wanted to invite
Mann back to another council meeting to share more information
but since he wasn’t on the agenda full council participation
could not be expected.
“As you may know, the federal
government allocates the State of Texas more than $80 million
every year,” Mann said. “It’s divided up every year
according to the 24 councils of government regions throughout
the state.”
Mann said that along with that money
comes a lot of “guidance.”
“We have some very specific guidance
on how we’re to invest that money,” Mann said, “and for what
purposes we allocate that money, and who it goes to -- who’s
eligible to receive the funding.”
According to Mann, in the WTCOG
region, the Homeland Security grant funds are used to help law
enforcement, EMTs, hospital districts, school districts,
volunteer fire fighting organizations, and even public works
departments. Mann explained that in Texas, the only eligible
jurisdictions to receive direct grants are county governments
and city governments and special port authorities and
transportation authorities.
For full article, subscribe to the
DeLeon Free Press. E-mail
edition is only $20/year. |
|
 |
|
HOUSE
FIRE ON JOHNSON STREET. Friday the 13th proved to be a very
unlucky day for L.G. Abels when his home caught fire while he
was away. The fire was extinguished relatively quickly by DeLeon
volunteer firemen, seen above as the first unit arrived, aided
by firemen from Promontory Park and Sipe Springs. Although still
standing, the residence sustained heavy fire, smoke and water
damage. |
|
Commissioners Lift, Then
Reinstate Total Outdoor Burn Ban
By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter
|
|
COMANCHE -- The generous rains that
fell beginning on Wednesday, March 11, and for two days
thereafter, allowed a brief period of legal outdoor burning in
Comanche County that lasted almost a week.
Early Thursday afternoon, March 12, the Commissioners Court met
in a special session and declared the burn ban lifted for three
days, with the matter to be reconsidered at another special
meeting on the following Monday.
Monday morning, March 16, the
Commissioners met again and extended the burn ban for two more
days, reinstating it on Wednesday morning, March 18.
The total outdoor burn ban is once
again in full effect until the Commissioners again lift it. For
current burn ban information at any time, check out
www.comanchefire.com.
Over the weekend and on Monday many
took advantage of the moisture and the burn ban lifting to take
care of accumulated brush, trash and even dead grass in
pastures. It was the first time since the early winter frosts
that outdoor burning had been allowed.
So many took advantage of the
situation, and ultimately lost control of their fires, that the
county's volunteer firemen had a busy time.
DeLeon volunteer firemen were
simultaneously fighting two grass fires on opposite sides of
town last Sunday afternoon.
Monday afternoon a welder's sparks
triggered another grass fire and a call for area firefighters.
On Monday morning, March 16,
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg and volunteer fireman
Mike Evans both urged the Commissioners to immediately reinstate
the fire ban.
Helberg noted that the dead
vegetation had completely dried since the prior week's rains and
was as flammable as ever.
For full article, subscribe to the
DeLeon Free Press. E-mail
edition is only $20/year. |
Correction
|
|
A headline in last week’s Free Press
incorrectly stated that Marion Quade had filed for Place 2 on
the DeLeon City Council. Quade filed for Place 5, and will face
Gayle Stroud, the incumbent, on the May 9 ballot. |
Blood Drive
|
|
A blood drive will take place in
DeLeon, Thursday, March 19. The Meek Blood Center bloodmobile
will be at Lawrence Brothers from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m.
There has been a critical blood
shortage since December, according to information provided by
Meek Blood Center, with less than a one-day supply in inventory
on most days.
Meek Blood Center ships an average of
60 pints of blood each day used for patient care in 15 area
hospitals, including Comanche County Medical Center. There is no
artificial substitute for human blood.
Many different types of patients
benefit from blood transfusions, including cancer patients,
surgical patients, accident or trauma victims, newborn babies,
and those with chronic blood disease.
Donors must be at least 17 years old,
weigh a minimum of 120 pounds and be in good health. Each donor
must present a photo ID. Those who have eligibility questions
may call Meek Blood Center at 325-670-2798 or visit
www.meekbloodcenter.org.
Each donor will receive a free health
screening, total cholesterol test and a T-shirt. |
|
 |
|
LIVE
MUSIC DOWNTOWN. Amos Staggs, center, and his band were
playing for the crowd at the Blue Moon Cafe last Saturday
evening, March 14. Staggs, who has both performed and written
country and folk music for many years and performed in venues
ranging from Austin to Nashville and San Francisco, headlined
the Blue Moon’s reopening hosted by proprietor Andre Koda. While
Staggs and his band played on the first floor, some patrons were
playing pool and enjoying the music on the Blue Moon’s second
floor mezzanine. |
|
 |
|
BIG
WILDFIRE SOUTHEAST OF TOWN. After responding to two separate
fire calls within the same noontime half hour, DeLeon volunteer
firemen were summoned to a huge grass fire in the CR 450 & CR
446 area. There a steady southerly wind and large fields of dry
coastal bermudagrass combined to feed a fire that threatened at
least one residence, much hay and farm equipment. Firefighters
from Promontory Park, Sipe Springs, Dublin and Rising Star
joined in the effort, which extended well into the afternoon.
Other area VFDs were busy at the same time with other fires.
Above we see a freshly refilled DeLeon VFD brush fire truck
taking the time to douse flames approaching their tanker truck.
The fire line extended roughly a half mile in either direction,
north and south, of the road corner where this photo was taken.
Shortly afterward they were called to a wildfire near Comyn. |
|
Danny Owen, the Mayor of De Leon,
has a personal website.
Open Danny's
website by Clicking Here
Scott Hall has
creating an Internet website with history & photos of our town.
Click Here
to visit his website
|
|
|
|
All content of this site,
unless otherwise noted, is Copyright©2006-2009 Morgan Publishing Co.
All Rights Reserved. Any
duplication, in any form, without the written consent of the copyright
holder is prohibited.
|
|
