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Front Page Headlines

Auto Accident Claims Life

of DeLeon Foster Father

At 8:58 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, DeLeon resident James A. “Jimmy” Jones, 64, suffered a tragic accident when the Chevrolet 1500 pickup he was driving slammed into a large Ford F-450 utility pickup on Hwy. 6 approximately five miles east of Dublin.

Jones was heading eastbound toward Alexander when the pickup in front of him slowed to enter Private Road 1401. Jones was apparently unaware that the pickup had slowed, according to first responders, and struck the utility bed of the truck at near full speed.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene by Erath County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Latrelle Cain.
Jones was not wearing a seatbelt. However, unconfirmed reports indicate that Jones may have had a medical excuse for not using a restraint.

Jones, a self employed repairman, leaves behind a wife of 25 years, Dana Jones, and nine daughters, as well as a long list of foster children who called the Jones residence home throughout the years.

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Appraisers Antique Road Show

Arrives Saturday

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

 The first ever DeLeon Chamber of Commerce and Heritage Appraisers Antique Roadshow will be held this Saturday at the DeLeon City Hall, beginning at 9 a.m. More than 20 vendors are signed up to participate in the event, but according to Linda Levens, the chamber’s executive director, people can still jump on board.

“There’s still time for people to sign up as vendors,” Levens said, “and we’re going to keep taking appraisals until the appraisers say they’re going home.” Levens said there should be at least three appraisers on hand for the event, maybe more.

“The appraisers want to have time to shop while they’re here,” Levens said, “so if people have antiques they want to sell they need to think about participating.”

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 Council Adopts Budget,

Approves 2010 Tax Rate

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

DeLeon Council members approved, with no discussion, the first reading of Ordinance #010-09, adopting the 2009-10 fiscal year budget, and the first reading of Ordinance #011-09, adopting the 2009-10 tax levy during their regular meeting, Thursday, September 10, 2009.

On Friday, City Administrator Karen Wilkerson provided more information regarding the new tax rate.
“We were at $.60 and we went to the effective tax rate which is $.620931 per $100,” she said. “The effective rate went up, but the appraisal values of the houses went down, so we raised less total property tax than last year’s budget by $874, which is 2.6 percent. Of that amount, $1,945.88 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the roll this year.”

“We could’ve taken the rollback rate,” Wilkerson added, “…but it would have raised the taxes even more, but they (council members) chose not to do that because it’s already hard.

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

 New Business Wants to do

Business the Old Way

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

A DeLeon Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony was held recently for All American Satellite, a Dish Network Authorized Retailer now doing business locally. Business owners John Cox and Dale Etterling were on hand for the ceremony, and later provided a little information on their Abilene-based operation.

ALL AMERICAN SATELLITE. A DeLeon Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony was held recently for All American Satellite, a Dish Network Authorized Retailer now doing business locally. Pictured, left to right, are Chamber Directors Jim Farley and Marlene Cox; John Cox and Dale Etterling of All American Satellite; and Directors Linda Levens, Ingrid Lindsey and Tim Beaty.

“We hope to bring back something from the old days – the old-fashioned ways,” Cox said. “Where you know exactly who you’re doing business with.”

“Right,” Etterling said. “If you call us, we will take care of the problem. If there’s a change in programming or whatever, we’re going to be the one handling it. You won’t be on the phone for hours, and you won’t be talking to someone in Pakistan.”

“We want that hometown feel of ‘it’s John and Dale’ call us,” Cox said. “The reason we’re reaching out to towns around Abilene,” Etterling said, “is because we’ve seen, while we were working for an RSP (Regional Service Provider), that a lot of the outer-lying areas really didn’t get taken care of.”

“We even give our customers our cell phone numbers,” Cox said. “We want that hometown feel of ‘it’s John and Dale’ call us.”

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 Council Hears Comments

on Police Officer’s Health

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

DeLeon City Council members addressed a lengthy agenda item during their most recent meeting, Thursday, September 10, 2009, which included two speakers during the Citizen’s Presentation portion of the meeting.

Council members present were Gayle Stroud, Bobby Schuman, Billie Lightfoot, Pauline Villarreal and Mayor Danny Owen. Councilman Lee Childers was absent.

Also present were City Administrator/Secretary Karen Wilkerson, Police Chief Ralph Dickey, Comanche County Emergency Management Coordinator Ray Helberg and Rob Duncan, public works administrator.

The first to speak during the Citizen’s Presentation portion was Chris Fullagar who said she was there in response to a recent Free Press article about DeLeon Police Detective Heather Hill.

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 County Plans for Christmas

By JON AWBREY, Publisher

A second public hearing on a proposed tax increase to $0.64 resulted in silence Monday during a regular meeting of the Comanche County Commissioners Court, although commissioners allowed the hearing to remain open for much of the morning.

In the end, no comments were received.

In other action, Comanche Chamber of Commerce Director Christine Perkins and Chamber Christmas Committee Chairman Dawson Hicks appeared before the court to discuss decorating the courthouse square for Christmas. Decorations should be in place by Thanksgiving.

Hicks asked that the county approve lighting the courthouse for the holiday season as a “country Christmas in Comanche.” Hicks reported that the Chamber desired to use LED lights that, he said, lasted longer, were more resistant to nature, and were more efficient than standard bulbs.

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

 Don Cox Fights Comanches

By JON AWBREY, Publisher

In March of 1865, high on a hill in central Comanche County, a small party gathered to bury the bleached bones of one of their heroes.

His name was McDonald “Don” Cox, and, as an Indian fighter, he was much esteemed in his own day. J.W. Wilbarger, the preeminent early historian of the Texas Indian wars and a contemporary of Cox’s, wrote that Cox had a “deliberate courage, which made him on all occasions one of the most successful, and to the Indians, terrible fighters.”

HIGH ON A HILL. McDonald Cox was buried on a hill overlooking the infant town of Comanche in 1865. His was one of the earliest graves in what would become Oakwood Cemetery.

But, by the summer of 2009, all that seems to remain of Cox’s life and memory is a curious mausoleum inscribed with strange scrolled letters.

“In memory of McDonald Cox,” reports the long-dead hand, “was born Sept. 28, 1832, killed by Indians Jan. 8th 1865 at Concho battle. Aged 32 years, 8 months.”

When Cox was growing to adulthood on a horse farm in Jackson County, Missouri, the Texas frontier and a career fighting Comanches probably did not occur to him, but when his parents, Silas and Margaret Cox, made the decision to bring their large family to Comanche County, it sent Cox on a fateful course of destiny.

Cox was 21 years old when he and his family arrived in Texas in 1853. Before they arrived at their Comanche County destination, however, the family suffered a heavy loss. The family patriarch Silas Cox died near McKinney, forcing his wife and children, including Don Cox, to continue to the wild frontier of central Texas without him.

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

 Billy Warren near perfect in

Free Press Football Contest

By JILL SMITH, Reporter

The 2009 Texas schoolboy football season is off and running. Games continued despite all the rain and out of all the entries, there were 34 missed guesses on the Brownwood at Stephenville game. Stephenville shut-out Brownwood for the first time since 1944.

Billy Warren won the $50 weekly prize with his entry that only missed on one game. Three other entries, Jack Casey, Barry Hooker, and Ruby Park also only missed one game, having the closest guest total points scored for game 1 determining the winner.

The games most often missed was Sidney’s big win over Panther Creek, Stephenville crushing Brownwood, and Gustine defeating Star. Over 55% of the panel missed these picks.

Cisco’s defeat of Ballinger and Texas Tech’s defeat of Rice was not missed by a single contestant. Most also predicted Strawn’s defeat of Zephyr and Rising Star’s demolition of Veribest. Virginia’s loss to TCU and Georgia’s win over South Carolina were also widely and correctly anticipated.

This week’s pick were a great improvement from the previous week and shows that we are all learning what our teams can do. You are just one week away from a possible $50 prize and bragging rights for the rest of the season..

Coming Events

Call 893-6868 if you have an event to list

Homecoming Bonfire and Downtown Pep Rally

The lighting of the Homecoming Bonfire is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, beginning at 8 p.m. The downtown pep rally is scheduled for Friday, September 18, beginning at 2 p.m.

Homecoming

DeLeon’s Homecoming is scheduled for Friday, September 18, with pre-game activities (Homecoming Queen and Coming Home Queen announcements) beginning at 6:45 p.m. DeLeon will play Dawson beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Antiques Road Show

The first ever DeLeon Antique “Road Show” is scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2009, downtown. The Heritage Appraisers, a well-known and respected Dallas firm, will do up to three appraisals per family, for free. This service will be offered on a first-come, first served basis. There will also be booths downtown featuring everything from antiques and collectables to garage sale items. For more information, call Linda Levens at 254-893-2083.

Youth Rodeo

Due to the rain, the Double N Cowboy Church Youth Rodeo has been rescheduled for this Saturday, September 20, with a new start time of 1 p.m. For more information, call 254-445-2400.

Promontory Park VFD Annual Fish Fry Fundraiser

The Promontory Park VFD annual Fish Fry& Auction fundraiser is scheduled for Monday, September 21, beginning at 5 p.m. at Cook’s Fish Barn. Tickets will be sold for a drawing for a king-sized quilt. Cost for the fish dinner is by donation.

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

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