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Alcohol petition rears head, staggers forward for Spring

By JON AWBREY, Publisher

Dost the tap runneth over, or dost the tap runneth dry?

The warm flow of controversy may soon run again in the gutters of DeLeon, as DeLeon bar owner Andre Koda has reopened the issue of liquor sales inside the city limits, after voters rejected the initiative last May by one vote.

On Jan. 5, Koda filed an application for a petition with the Comanche County Clerk’s office seeking an election within the City of DeLeon to legalize the sale of all alcoholic beverages including mixed drinks.

The application for petition was accompanied by seventeen signatures from registered DeLeon voters, seven more than the ten required for the petition process to continue.

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Nowlin Funeral Home under new management

By Donnie Nowlin
Special to the Free Press

We are pleased to announce that Nowlin Funeral Home is under new management and ownership, and is now Nowlin Anders Funeral Home. For 35 years, our goal has been to provide dependable, personalized service to the DeLeon community. This will continue to be the goal of Nowlin Anders Funeral Home under the ownership and management of Todd and Angela Anders.

Todd and Angela are extremely excited and proud to become part of the DeLeon community. Todd graduated from Common Wealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas, in 1999. He is a licensed funeral director, embalmer, and pre-planning consultant with over 11 years of experience and was formerly with Wade Family Funeral Home in Arlington, Texas. Todd is originally from Schulenburg, Texas. Angela graduated from Sam Houston State University with a BBA in Business Management in 2005. Angela is originally from Eastland, Texas.

“Our goal is to make DeLeon our home and to earn the trust and respect of the DeLeon community,” Todd Anders said. …

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DISD: a “lighthouse district” because of new technology

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

Last week, students at DeLeon High School received brand new laptop computers -- MacBooks -- to use for school assignments.

LAPTOP COMPUTERS. The DeLeon High School students pictured above were among the very first to get new laptop computers, Tuesday, January 5, 2009, to use for their school work. Students 9-12 grade will use the computers this year, with the expectation that the computers will eventually replace text books.

According to Dr. Randy Mohundro, DISD superintendent, approximately 190 computers were distributed, with the purchase funded by federal stimulus money in the amount of approximately $225,000.

Mohundro said he was very excited about the opportunity, noting that it indicates that DeLeon is one of the lighthouse districts in this area.

“This 1-to-1 initiative is a part of a bigger program known as E-STEAL,” Dr. Mohundro said. “This program has provided a laptop computer to every teacher in the district. In addition, it has provided interactive whiteboards, projectors, document cameras, and carts for every classroom in the district.”

Mohundro said that a “technology task force” of high school teachers was provided with training directly from Apple. “They will receive additional training during this semester on how to implement this technology into the classroom,” he said, “and then the task force will serve as trainers for the rest of the staff.”

Michelle McIlvain, DHS English and theater teacher, is among those most excited about the laptops.
“Now all of our students have the same educational opportunities as each kid in the community, state and nation,” she said. “They will graduate with life skills which will make them marketable in today's workforce.”

Cliff Coan, the high school’s technology teacher, also expressed enthusiasm for the laptops.

“For my classes, this is great,” Coan said. “The high school computer labs were running outdated Windows machines (with Win 2000 on them), and were barely able to run the required programs. The new MacBooks are close to the top of the line, and come with all the software we need. In addition, we were able to install the same open source software we had been using in my classes for the past two years, so the transition in the Business Computer Information Systems classes has been as close to seamless as possible.

“The kids are now able to take their computer classwork home with them, if they need to,” Coan said, “and can finish it there and email it in, or turn it in before class on the network. If a kid is gone to a stock show or something or is sick, I can email the assignments to him and have him email them back.

It's truly great to be working on up-to-date hardware and software.”

Coan said the students are adapting quicker than most of the teachers.

“That’s kind of a nice thing,” Coan said. “There's always more than one way to do anything on a computer, and when I learn something from a kid, it makes us more of a team. That's the way the world works, and there's nothing wrong with a school being similar to the way the world works.”

Liesa Nowlin, Director of Instruction for DISD, said the high school teachers were a critical component in both the planning and implementation of the laptop distribution and training.

“The students are always their top priority,” Nowlin said. “The teachers worked diligently to devise the most efficient ways to guide the students through this process. I commend the teachers for the way they worked together in these efforts that lead to a successful initiative.”

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Royal King to receive AQHA historical marker

With the end of the Christmas holidays, Monday’s regular meeting of the Comanche County Commissioners’ Court was a livelier place than in past weeks, with particular attention paid to a number of veterans’ issues and continued additions to the courthouse square.

All commissioners, Gary Underwood, Precinct 1, Kenneth Feist, Precinct 2, Sherman Sides, Precinct 3, and Jimmy Dale Johnson, Precinct 4, were present for the meeting, as well as County Judge James R. Arthur and the regular host of county officials and staff.

Among the most interesting items discussed by the Commissioners was the erection of a historical marker to the World Champion Cutting Horse Royal King.

“Royal King was one of the most influential quarter horses in history, and was made a foundation horse several years ago,” said Christy Perkins of the Comanche Chamber of Commerce. “The American Quarter Horse Association would like to place a historical marker for Royal King on the courthouse square.”

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DISD honors School Board
Special to the Free Press

SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH.  January is School Board Appreciation Month, and DISD’s board members were honored with a special presentation Monday. The DISD board is, bottom row left to right, Lisa Nowlin, Kelly Dickey, Becky Golden, top row left to right, DISD Supt. Dr. Randy Mohundro, Brad Sanders, Larry Don Womack, and Daylon Whitehurst. Not pictured is board member Dr. Brandon Gilmore.

The DeLeon ISD Board of Trustees met in regular session on January 11, 2010 for their first meeting of the New Year. The Board was honored by the administration for their service to the district and community with a special presentation for School Board Appreciation month. The event is held every January and seeks to honor Trustees for their service to the children and community that they serve.

The Board then reviewed the consent agenda that was presented by the administration.

Enrollment for the district continues to hold strong at 705 following the return of students from the semester break.

The Board was also briefed on the construction progress for the new high school. As of Monday, January 11, the job site trailer and a port-a-potty announced the beginning of the project. (Note – Heavy equipment to begin the site work had begun to arrive on Tuesday, January 12).

The Board was also briefed that beginning next month a new report would be added to the consent agenda that would detail progress by various contractors and would be the basis for pay request for the project. It was noted that the Board could expect to begin expending funds for the project in February.

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Chamber of Commerce Banquet set for January 23
By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

The DeLeon Chamber of Commerce Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, January 23, and event organizers are promising a great time for all involved.

The banquet will be held in the city hall auditorium, beginning at 6 p.m., and will be catered by Cook’s Fish Barn. In recent years the event has been held at Prados and Blue Moon, but Linda Levens, executive director of the chamber, said that it’s important to “spread the wealth around” among chamber members when it comes to chamber functions.

“Prado’s did a fabulous job last year,” Levens said, “and Dr. Randy Mohundro (DISD superintendent) has offered us the cafeteria at the new school for next year, if it’s ready. Cook’s is a chamber member, and there are other businesses in town that cater and feed and so on.”

Although she won’t give up all the details, Levens said the entertainment will be top-notch this year and compared the talent to names like Redford, Monroe, Pitt, Cher and Minnie Pearl.

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Coming Events

Call 254-893-6868 if you have an event to list

Comanche County Livestock Show

The Comanche County Junior Livestock Show is scheduled for this Saturday, January 16, Monday, January 18, and Tuesday, January 19 at the Comanche County Show Barn.

Lions Club Pancake Supper

The Lions Club Pancake Supper -- with pancakes, sausage, bacon, juice, milk and coffee -- is scheduled for Tuesday, January 26, 2009 at Perkins Middle School (time to be announced at a future date).

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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