News
Arrests Made by Gladewater Police
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- Category: News
- Published on Thursday, 09 May 2013 16:07
- Written by Super User
On Friday May 3, 2013,
The Gladewater Police Department received a call of a suspicious vehicle parked behind Truman Smith Children’s Care Center on West Highway 80. Upon arrival officers located 1996 Dodge Truck and 4 other individuals, 2 males and 2 females. While identifying them, one of the men gave a false name. When that name did not check out and the officer determined what his true identity was, he took off running north into a heavily wooded area. He was identified as Jeremy Clint Hadaway W/M 30 years old. The other persons were identified as Wesley Denton W/M 40 Years old, April Knight W/F 34 Years old, Precious Ford W/F 20 Years old.
It was determined that the Jeremy Hadaway had a Parole Violation Warrant for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. A tracking dog was called from Gregg County Sheriff’s Department and in a short while the suspect was located hiding under a brush pile. Hadaway refused to surrender and come out of the brush pile so the K-9 entered and extracted him from it.
Meanwhile, after additional officers arrived, and during the course of this foot chase and ultimate arrest of Hadaway, a “sawed off” semi-automatic shotgun was located in the vehicle. The barrel and stock had been shortened making it a Prohibited Weapon. Drugs were located in the possession of Wesley Denton.
Wesley Denton was arrested and charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Interfering with the Duties of a Public Servant.
Jeremy Hadaway was charged with Failure to Identify/Give False Information, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, and Evading Arrest or Detention.
The females were released and as the investigation continues there is a possibility that more charges could be filed depending on the outcome of the full investigation.
The initial call came in from a Care Center employee and officers arrived in less than a minute to the back parking lot. It is still unknown as to why the suspects were there.
The Gladewater Police Department takes seriously any danger that might exist to our most vulnerable citizens and employees at the Care Center, and are relieved that no one at the Center was hurt or endangered, and our officers responded quickly and professionally in taking these suspects into custody.
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013
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- Category: News
- Published on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 08:19
- Written by Super User
After-the-fact pension cutbacks like this are illegal in the private sector, and they are not acceptable for school employees in Texas. A grandfather clause (exempting employees who as of August 31, 2014, are age 50 or above, or have 25 years of service, or meet a rule of 70), which would spare some but leave hundreds of thousands of dedicated school employees exposed to this take-away of earned benefits, does not make the take-away legitimate.
Texas AFT is working to persuade the authors of these bills to remove the take-away of earned benefits, to improve benefits for both retired and active school employees, and to strengthen the TRS pension fund for the long haul. Meanwhile, more than 20,000 of you have bolstered our negotiating position by sending a letter to your legislators in opposition to the committee substitutes for SB 1458 and HB 1884.
SB 1458 is now eligible for a Senate floor vote as early as Wednesday, May 1.Please take the opportunity NOW to write again to your senator and representative to oppose the existing committee substitutes for SB 1458 and HB 1884 and to urge the legislature to:
--reject entirely the take-away of already-earned pension benefits from current employees;
--increase the state’s contribution rate to TRS, as recommended by TRS actuaries, to 6.9 percent in fiscal 2014 and 7.4 percent in fiscal 2015;
--require any increase in the employee contribution rate to be gradual and to be matched by increases in the state contribution rate; and
--provide an immediate benefit enhancement such as a 13th check for all retirees, not just for a small minority as proposed in SB 1458 and HB 1884.
Urge your senator and representative to demand a fair deal on TRS benefits now!
Don't Let Them Sell Out Our Neighborhood Schools: SB 1718 by Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) would authorize the commissioner of education to take over neighborhood schools rated low-performing and turn them over to charter operators. In the process, students, teachers, and parents would lose most of the safeguards of educational quality and fair treatment that they have under the Education Code. The bill could come up for a vote on the Senate floor as early as Wednesday. Write your senator now!
Block SB 218—a Made-to-Order Vehicle for Attacks on Public Schools: SB 218 by Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), the “sunset” bill to continue the existence of the Texas Education Agency, is a ready vehicle for amendments that would carry out a hostile agenda designed by private interests aiming to take over neighborhood schools and to eliminate state safeguards of educational quality.
The private interests behind this agenda have a ton of money and the political influence that money can buy. What they cannot match is the grass-roots opposition of thousands of parents, educators, and citizens in the communities served by our neighborhood schools.
Please write to your senator now to urge him or her not to let SB 218 come up on the Senate floor. It could come up as soon as Wednesday, May 1. This bill is just too dangerous! Note: TEA’s lease on life can easily be extended through another so-called “safety net” bill, so SB 218 is not a “must-pass” piece of legislation.
No Reason to Make It Harder to Fund Education: It’s hard enough as it is in the Texas legislature to secure adequate funding for education. But proposed legislation, SB 101 and SJR 10 by Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), would make it even harder, amending the state constitution to squeeze down spending growth to fit an arbitrary formula. Sen. Patrick’s proposed limit based on overall population growth and inflation ignores the fact that some subgroups—schoolchildren and the elderly, for instance—are increasing in number at a faster rate than the overall population and have greater and fast-increasing needs for state services than other segments of the Texas populace as well. Texas AFT and our allies in the Texas Forward revenue and budget coalition urge you to send a message in opposition to SB 101 and SJR 10. These extreme proposals could be considered any day now by the full Texas Senate.
Two Good Bills Advancing: SB 1799 by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) would set a 240-day deadline for the commissioner of education to decide employees’ grievance appeals—cases that now take an astonishing three years on average, even though the cases are decided on the basis of the written local record without any state-level hearing. SB 1799 passed the Senate today by a vote of 31-0. It now heads for the House, where an identical companion bill, HB 2952 by Rep. Justin Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) already has been passed unanimously in committee.
HB 2127 by Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) is a bill to make state health-plan benefits more accessible to adjunct faculty at community colleges. We are pleased to report the bill has been scheduled for House floor action on Friday, May 3.
Two Deceptive Bills Get House Committee Hearing: HB 300 by Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), under the deceptive label of “Families First,” would encourage privatization of public schools, steering taxpayer funds to private vendors and charter operators. HB 2976 by Rep. Naomi Gonzalez (D-El Paso) is the House version of the “parent trigger” bill that already has passed the Senate—better described as “parent tricker” legislation that preaches parental empowerment but delivers control of neighborhood schools to charter entities. Texas AFT testified against both bills in the House Public Education Committee this evening, along with educator, community, and parent allies. Ranged against us and in favor of these camouflaged pieces of bad legislation are lobbyists for the so-called Texans for Education Reform and other private interests that see public schools as an industry ripe for the picking. Upcoming Hotlines will give you a fuller report on the status of these two bills and others of their ilk.
Donations being accepted for monument to honor Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq veterans
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- Category: News
- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2013 09:05
- Written by Super User
The Gladewater Former Students' Association, a non-profit organization, is constructing and has ordered a four ft. by four ft. six inches thick polished African black granite to honor the veterans from Gladewater that have served in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
The project will cost approximately $10,000.00. It will be installed March 15,2013, and will be dedicated on May 27,2013, which is Memorial Day.
Donations are now being accepted by the Gladewater Fonner Students' Association, Box 1425, Gladewater, TX 75647. Any other information can be obtained from John Paul Tallent, President at 903-845-4553.
This new monument will be placed at the war veterans monuments that were constructed in 2002 at the cost of $60,000.00. The monuments are located on Pacific St. in downtown Gladewater.
For more information contact John Paul Tallent, President of the Gladewater Fonner Students' Association "A Texas Not-For-Profit Educational Assistance Organization Dedicated to GHS Alumni" at www.gladewaterformerstudents.com.
Wendy's Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting
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- Category: News
- Published on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 18:09
- Written by Super User
Crabtree and son trial date set - April 29
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- Category: News
- Published on Tuesday, 05 March 2013 10:45
- Written by Super User
BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS
GILMER--A state district judge on Thursday set an April 29 trial date for a former Upshur County commissioner and his adult son who are charged with holding a state game warden at gunpoint, said an attorney for the defendants.
Lloyd Allen Crabtree, 51, and Todd Allen Crabtree, 28, are charged in connection with an Oct. 6 incident in which the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission said Game Warden Shane Bailey was disarmed and detained by two armed men while making a routine check for hunting law violations on private property in Upshur County. No shots were fired.
At a hearing Thursday, 115th District Judge Lauren Parish set the trial date, but has not yet held a hearing on a prosecution motion to try the men jointly, said the Crabtrees' lead attorney, Longview lawyer Clifton (Scrappy) Holmes.
He said the defendants will plead not guilty, but that he hadn't decided whether he will agree to their being tried jointly. Judge Parish set a pre-trial hearing for April 5, Holmes said.
Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd, who is prosecuting the cases, was not immediately available for comment.
The elder Crabtree, who left office at year's end after being defeated for reelection last May, is charged with five felonies--three counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer; one count of taking a weapon from a peace officer; and one count of unlawful restraint with a deadly weapon.
Todd Crabtree is charged with one count each of those three offenses.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Turns 50 This Year
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- Category: News
- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2013 11:20
- Written by Super User
Agency Calls for Texans To Share Stories, Photos, Become Ambassadors for the Future
AUSTIN – In the late summer of 1963, the most popular show on television was “The Beverly Hillbillies,” a gallon of gas cost 29 cents, the University of Texas Longhorns were headed toward their first national football championship, “My Boyfriend’s Back” was the top hit on AM radio and Texas had a new state agency called the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Earlier that year, Texas lawmakers had begun consideration of House Bill 21, introduced by Weatherford State Rep. James M. Cotton, an attorney descended from a Parker County pioneer. The measure, called for by Gov. John B. Connally as part of his campaign to modernize state government, would merge the Game and Fish Commission with the State Parks Board to create a new agency dedicated to conservation, parks and outdoor recreation. The final bill passed in the Senate in early April and Connally later signed it into law with an effective date of Aug. 23.
This year, TPWD will mark its 50th anniversary using technology not even imagined in 1963. The department has set up a 50th anniversary web page at www.lifesbetteroutside.org where people can share stories and photos about their memorable moments in the Texas outdoors, and thereby inspire others to enjoy nature.
While online, the agency hopes people will sign up to become a Texas Parks and Wildlife ambassador and pledge to do things like visit state parks, take a kid hunting or fishing, and watch and share a video showcasing what’s made life better outside in Texas.
“With all the bounty and beauty of our natural places, our parks, our wildlife, and with everything that’s at stake in our state today, we are excited about our 50th birthday,” said TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith, “but we don’t want it to be all about us, and we want to look to the future as we celebrate our past.”
While acknowledging the many contributions of former and current TPWD employees, Smith says the agency wants the half-century celebration to focus on the people who support the department, and to inspire a new generation of supporters.
“We’re a successful organization in large part because of those who support us,” Smith said, “and we can’t fulfill our mission without help. If you love wildlife and parks, step up to be a TPWD ambassador and join us in shaping the Texas outdoors we want to see in the next 50 years.”
Upshur sheriff being sued
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- Category: News
- Published on Tuesday, 29 January 2013 16:30
- Written by Gladewater Mirror
A Vermont-based organization which says it "educates prisoners about their legal rights" has filed a federal lawsuit against Upshur County, Sheriff Anthony Betterton and Sheriff's Lt. Jill McCauley, alleging the co-defendants are "wrongfully censoring" the plaintiff's mailed communications with prisoners in the county jail.
Dallas attorney Cass Wieland, representing the county, has filed a general denial of the charges in the suit filed by Prison Legal News on Nov. 26 in United States District Court in Marshall.
The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of damages, alleges the county has violated PLN's right to free speech by rejecting and returning magazines and books it tried to send prisoners. Mrs. McCauley was named as a co-defendant because she is lieutenant over the jail and a "final policymaker" for it, the document said.
The lawsuit identifies PLN as a non-profit organization with primary offices in Brattleboro, Vermont, and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Human Rights Defense Center, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation. The center's "mission is centered on public education, prisoner education, and advocacy in support of basic human rights," says the 8-page document.
The lawsuit was filed by three Austin attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project--Brian McGiverin, Scott Medlock and James C. Harrington.
The document says PLN "publishes and distributes a 56-page legal information magazine addressing the rights of incarcerated people," which is distributed to prisoners in about 2,200 correctional facilities across the nation. PLN also distributes about 50 books by other publishers concerning the criminal justice system, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff says that since July 2011, PLN has mailed its magazine to Upshur jail inmates, and that those who subscribe to the magazine are also sent copies of the paperback book Protecting Your Health and Safety: Prisoners' Rights, published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. "The book gives inmates information about their right to medical care and protections against inhumane treatment," the lawsuit says.
"Since July 2011, PLN has received returned copies of its monthly magazine and books from the Upshur County Jail. Out of approximately 223 issues of PLN's magazine sent since July 2011, at least 86 issues were rejected and sent back. Many books have been returned the same way," the document states.