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CCMC reports positive progress

By JON AWBREY, Publisher

The much lamented profitability problems surrounding the Comanche County Medical Center may be ebbing, according to the latest reports given by hospital staff at a regular board meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The hospital continued to report losses, however, the $57,389 loss for August was exponentially smaller than the mid-six figure loss reported for July.

Although hospital administrators continue to stress that full recovery from the losses sustained by billing problems over the past eight months will likely require more time to correct, it appears that those corrections are fully under way for the first time.

“The financial results are much better than in the last couple of months,” said CCMC CEO Kevin Storey, “Frankly, I was a little surprised that the loss was as low as it was.”

Storey credited the positive movement to the newly hired Director of the Revenue Cycle Kim Kniskern.

“Since Kim’s arrival, she has found more wrong than right, but she and her staff have been working hard to correct our problems. Most of the problems she has identified were related to lack of knowledge, understanding, and training.”

The recognition of these problems has led, the administration reported, to the billing of $5.5 million in the last three weeks, with a collection rate of 39 percent, a rate that is expected to increase.

“We should see some big improvements in October and especially November,” said Storey.

“She’s probably done more in three weeks than anyone I’ve ever seen,” said CCMC CFO Tom Letz, regarding Kniskern.

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MTGCD ‘Sends Message’ to Austin, State Legislators

By JON AWBREY, Publisher

The Middle Trinity Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors met for several hours Thursday to consider amendments to district rules, approve operating permits, and discuss a number of items important to the district, including the construction of the new district office.
Most amendments to the district’s rules were simply additions that would recognize Bosque County as a new member of the district.

However, some amendments to district rules sparked a vociferous debate among the directors, especially amendments that included the language “future desired conditions” and “managed available groundwater.” Some directors viewed the language as threatening to the status of the district’s inactive grandfathered wells - a status that Director George Bingham said was universally acknowledged when the district was formed nearly a decade ago.

Other directors disputed the state’s numbers regarding the amount of groundwater that the district currently has.

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Coan Restores DHS Photos

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

As a photographer, Cliff Coan, DeLeon High School’s technology teacher, couldn’t help but be concerned when he saw the deteriorating condition of the photos from the Bearcat “wall of fame” in the foyer of the gym. But as a former Bearcat, Coan found the situation simply unacceptable. He decided to restore nine of the photos.

BRINGING MEMORIES BACK TO LIFE. Cliff Coan, DeLeon High School technology teacher, displays on his computer screen a “before and after” photograph of 1975 All State Quarterback Craig Smith.

“These are pictures of people who were named to All-State in football,” Coan said, “and there are others up there like state champion typing and so on, but they weren’t all in the same condition.”

Coan said that the ones he restored were from the 1970s.

“They were colored prints originally but for a long while they’d hung in the foyer in front of the (high school) office and the morning light would get to them. So over the years (before they were placed in the gym) the color faded. On some of them it faded almost completely away. Some were much worse than others -- they were really, really bad. Some of them also had water damage.”

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Morgan Declares He Will Not Seek Reelection in 2010

Judge James Morgan has announced that he will not be a candidate for re-election to the 220th District Court bench in 2010.

“It has been a great honor and privilege to serve the people of this district and I have enjoyed my tenure, but I feel the time has come to step aside. I plan to finish this current term which ends December 31, 2010,” the judge said in making the announcement.

“I am a firm believer in electing judges, so I wanted to announce my intentions early enough that anyone who may be interested in running would have time to prepare,” he concluded.

Judge Morgan was first elected judge of the 220th District in 1982. He is currently serving his seventh consecutive four year term. The district is composed of Bosque, Comanche and Hamilton Counties.

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Don Carruth Wins Football Picks

By JILL SMITH, Reporter

Week five in our football contest proved to be a tough one for most of our pickers on the college games.

Don Carruth was the closest, being the only contestant with a one miss pick, winning him the $50.00 for this week.

Two other contestants were not far behind with their two missed picks, Robert Hudson and Steve Baker.

All predictions were correct on Comanche’s big win over Dublin, and New Mexico’s loss to Texas Tech.

The upset for our pickers this week was on the oh so close nail-bitting college games. Miami’s one point win over Oklahoma was missed by 84% of the panel, the Iowa St. loss to Kansas St. was missed by 74%, and 60% predicted wrong when Arkansas dominated Texas A&M.

Good luck to our contestants in week six. It will be interesting to see how our panelist make their picks on the up coming college games.

Coming Events

Call 893-6868 if you have an event to list

Ramirez Benefit

A drawing for a handmade quilt, and a silent auction will be held in addition to the dinner benefit for Beatriz Ramirez, this Saturday, October 10, at the DeLeon City Hall auditorium from 5 to 7 p.m. The quilt and auction items have been donated by businesses in DeLeon and Gorman. Ramirez will use funds raised to seek treatment at the Stem Cell Institute in Costa Rica. Event organizers hope that everyone will participate in this worthy cause. For more information, please call Don Halbrook at 254-893-6310, or 254-734-5832.

Proctor Harvest Dinner

A Harvest Dinner (turkey and dressing, ham, brisket and all the fixings) will be held Saturday, October 10, 2009 at the Proctor Community Center. Proceeds will benefit the center. For more information, including costs, contact 254-977-4285.

Rejebian Book Club

The Rejebian Book Club will meet in the Tarleton Dining Room, Saturday, October 10. Serving lunch will begin at 11 a.m. Guest reviewer will be Dr. Rosemary Rumbly of Dallas. For more information, call 254-893-6317.

Sipe Springs VFD Birthday Party and Fundraiser

The Sipe Springs VFD will hold a fundraiser and birthday party at Cooks Fish Barn on Hwy 36 between Comanche and Rising Star on Monday, October 12, 2009. Dinner begins at 5 p.m., an auction will start at 6 p.m. and “Elvis Presley” will take the stage at 7 p.m. So go hear Elvis and help them celebrate 20 years of emergency service to the citizens of Comanche and surrounding counties. All proceeds will go directly to benefit the Sipe Springs VFD. The SSVFD is a non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible.

Trick or Treat

The DeLeon Chamber of Commerce announced this week that Downtown Trick or Treating will be held Friday, October 30, and that Elaine Gibson, of Gibson Images, will take Halloween photos at the DeLeon City Hall auditorium from 4:30 to 8 p.m. For more information, including costs for photos, call 893-2083. 

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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