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Recycle this Saturday
Gladewater’s Monthly Recycling Day is set for 8 a.m. to noon Saturday
at City Hall. Volunteers from Gladewater Garden Club will be on hand to take
donations.
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Council, School Board discuss common issues in joint session
Cell phones, traffic, housing among topics Monday
By Aaron May
Staff Writer
The Gladewater City Council voted to purchase signs to enforce a ban on
cellular phone usage in school zones. The decision was made during a joint
workgroup session between the city council and the Gladewater ISD school
board Monday night at the Chamber of Commerce building on Main Street.
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| Gladewater Mayor Walter Derrick and GISD School Board President Garth
Cockerell work together during the first joint workgroup of the city
council and the school board. Aaron May/Mirror photo |
“We’re actually just two committees of one big board,” Mayor
Pro Tem John Ussery said. “We’re the leaders of this town and
people have entrusted us with that leadership to move this town forward.”
Dr. J.P. Richardson, GISD superintendent, said he wanted to thank the council
personally for the assistance they provided in meeting the needs of the schools,
including installing a one-way street and a gate near one of the campuses
to help control traffic during school hours.
Richardson went on to discuss other problems, such as the “dangerous” student
drop-off area in front of Broadway Elementary School.
“I personally drop my children off there on Friday mornings so I
know how dangerous it can be,” he said. He also commended the police
department for constantly patrolling the school zone during the high traffic
times.
Richardson also suggested the city work with contractors to build new middle-income
housing communities in hopes of attracting new residents to the city. He
said the addition of new homes would bring more tax revenue for the city
as well as bring more students to the schools, which will bring more state
funding to the schools.
Ussery said the city is trying to expand beyond the Sabine River to attract
more people, who work in the Tyler area, to move to Gladewater. He said the
challenge is to get water, sewer, and utility services extended beyond the
Sabine River so the land can be developed over the next 20 years for commercial
and residential uses.
Ussery also discussed ways GISD can get involved with the Folks Learning
About Gladewater program by taking citizens on a tour of the schools. He
said the goal of the FLAG program is to “educate citizens about where their tax
money is going” by taking them on a tour of city facilities, including
the water treatment plant and the police and fire departments. He said the
schools can also benefit by including...
...Continued in this week's edition of The Gladewater Mirror.
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Saturation Pointe
Sabine passes flood level, continues rising
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| A local fisherman stays warm in his cab with his pole perched on
the side of his truck Monday as he fishes in the swollen Sabine River. |
According to the National Weather Service, water levels on the Sabine River
reached three feet above flood stage (at 29.4 feet) Monday and are expected
to crest at 34.5 feet by the end of the week.
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| Along the Riverside, the picnic area at DI-JAC Park is nearly consumed
by the rising water. |
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Crime prevention
How to Protect Thyself? Meet Thy Neighbor
Officer stresses simple courtesy as safeguard against crime
By Aaron May
Staff Writer
In light of recent church fires in East Texas, Gladewater Police Officer
Al Harrison said the number one thing residents can do to prevent crime is “know
your neighbors.”
“Go meet your neighbors. Even though this is a small enough town,
I’ve come to find out not enough people know their neighbors,” Harrison
said. “If you know your neighbors, then you know if anything suspicious
is happening in your neighborhood.”
Harrison, the city’s crime prevention officer, said neighbors can
recognize suspicious activity more easily if they know who lives next door
and what they normally drive.
“If you know they drive a white truck and a red car, then you know
there should be know reason a blue truck is in the driveway,” he said. “If
you see a moving van pull up two doors down and someone starts unloading
all the furniture into the van, well you know your neighbor, you talked to
him last night, you know they’re not going anywhere. So you know to
call the police. But if you don’t know your neighbors, you’d
just think ‘those people are moving out. I never knew them. Oh well.’”
As the crime prevention officer, Harrison attends classes which train him
to institute new programs into the communities, such as neighborhood watches
and other programs, to get the citizens to take an active role in keeping
their neighborhoods safe.
Harrison currently provides free safety inspections for homes and businesses
and offered some tips for residents to properly secure their property.
“For home inspections, we check to make sure all the doors are set
with the proper thickness,” he said. “You don’t want your
front door to be a hollow-core door. You want a solid wood door or a metal
door.
“You also want a deadbolt that generally has a one-inch throw (how
much the bolt extends into the door frame), he said. He also recommended
using long screws to set a lock deep into the wall studs.
“If you just put the screws that hold your deadbolt into the door
jam, that’s only about a half-inch piece of wood keeping somebody out
of your house. But if you run three-inch screws through the door jam and
into the stud, that’s a lot of safety keeping somebody out of your
house.”
Harrison also suggested locking windows, but said there are some crime
prevention suggestions which conflict with the health and life safety code.
“In crime prevention we prefer – especially on a door that
has glass in it, a double cylinder deadbolt, which means you need a key on
the inside and on the outside. If not, the thief can stick his hand through
the window and open the deadbolt. Then the deadbolt is useless,” he
said. “But the life and health safety code says you can’t have
a lock that needs an alternative option of opening; you’ve got to be
able to use your hand.”
Harrison also said he prefers double locks on windows, but once again the
code says the windows have to be “easy opening” so people can
escape in the event of a fire.
“We recommend that people compromise the best they can,” he
said. “We check that they have a good alarm system, which is [Underwriters
Laboratories] rated. We also make suggestions with lighting around the house
in certain places. You want to have good lighting over each door and at the
corners.”
Harrison said, “The perfect crime prevention situation is that your
lights reflect the sun.”
He understands this is not very peaceful in a small community, so he suggests
motion sensor lighting, which only comes on if some approaches your property.
Harrison said the police department offers free home and business inspections
and many insurance companies offer discounts for home owners who pass the
inspection.
He said the inspections are free but can be time consuming, especially
for businesses.
“The home owner needs to understand that it’s going to take
me a good hour or two to go through their house, talk to them and make suggestions,” he
said. “And businesses need to understand that I’m going to tie
up half of their day. Especially a larger business, I might be out there
the whole day because I have come out in the daylight and in the dark to
see how their lighting is in the dark.”
Harrison said the department understands the tough economic times and presents
business owners with a minimum and maximum recommendation.
“We understand economic restraints. I can sit there and tell you to do
this, but your budget sure ain’t going to afford it,” he said. “If
you spend all your money making your business safer, you won’t be able
to put any money back into your business to provide for your customers. That’s
why we offer the minimum and the maximum recommendations. If you can find something
in between, that’s great..."
...Continued in this week's edition of The Gladewater Mirror.
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Superintendent cites ongoing traffic danger after recent fatality
By Phillip Williams
Mirror Correspondent
The Jan. 29 auto accident which killed Union Grove first-grade student
Nathan Croley reiterates the dangers of motorists turning off U.S. 271 in
the Union Grove city limits, School Supt. Brian Gray said last week.
Gray told The Mirror on Feb. 2 that he was meeting with representatives
of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that day to try to expedite
the installation of an inside turn lane on the highway. It would run from
the intersection with North Point Pleasant Road, where young Croley was killed,
to the intersection with FM Road 1844, the superintendent said.
Gray was unavailable for comment Monday on the meeting's outcome. He had
said turning off the highway to the school is dangerous under present conditions.
Young Croley died after school hours when the car driven by his father
had slowed or stopped to make a turn off the highway, and was struck from
behind by a commercial van, said the Department of Public Safety.
Three licensed professional counselors – two of them from other
school districts – were at Union Grove Elementary on Monday of last
week to help students deal with the tragedy.
Gray said Tuesday he called in Ore City ISD Counselor Yvette Dauster and
James Bowie ISD Counselor Dru Driver to join Union Grove ISD Counselor Angela
Brown in assisting students.
The superintendent said Ms. Dauster has family in the Union Grove
area and "is familiar with our kids." Gray said he had worked with
Ms. Driver when he was a principal at James Bowie.
"When you're dealing with students this young...they ask some questions
that are sometimes off the wall," Gray told this newspaper. He said
the children need to be allowed to get their feelings "off their
chest," and that school personnel "try to be compassionate for
our kids."
"We just were a shoulder to cry on if that was what was needed...and
basically a hug, and that's what we tried to do," he added.
"It's been a rough few days," Gray said on Tuesday of last week.
A fund was being established at Austin Bank in Gladewater to
assist the Croley family...
...Continued in this week's edition of The Gladewater Mirror.
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Upshur County Grand Jury indicts 18 locals
By Phillip Williams
Mirror Correspondent
GILMER – The Upshur County Grand Jury returned 18 indictments, six
of them sealed, last Wednesday, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy
Byrd's office.
Defendants, charges, and bonds in the open indictments were as follows,
the office reported:
Adam Alexander Beckworth, 27, of Big Sandy, was separately indicted on
charges of indecency with a child and injury to a child. Beckworth,
charged with committing the indecency last Nov. 11 and the injury last Nov.
9, was being held in county jail on other charges, Byrd's office said.
Anthony Kevin Brown, Jr., 29, of Big Sandy, possession of a controlled
substance (methamphetamine) on Aug. 21, 2009, $10,000
Dedrick Marquez Brown, 38, of Gilmer, possession of a controlled substance
(methamphetamine) last Dec. 10, $7,500
Leland Wayne Hock, 55, of Gilmer, possession of a controlled substance
(methamphetamine) last Nov. 5, $10,000
Tonya Carleen Montgomery, 41, of Kilgore, possession of a controlled substance
(methamphetamine) last Nov. 17, $10,000
Deborah Lee Murray, 38, of Longview, possession of a controlled substance
(oxycodone) last Oct. 27, in county jail under $10,000 bond,
the office said
Margaret Eileen McDaniel, 46, of Longview, unauthorized use of motor vehicle
last Oct. 15, $5,000
Corey Jimerson, 18, of Longview, and Carey Ray Hathcoat, 18, of Ore City,
were separately indicted on aggravated robbery charges in connection
with the Dec. 29 robbery of an Ore City business. They remained
in county jail under $100,000 bond each, said Byrd's office.
Donald Paul Arrington, 52, of Gilmer, driving while intoxicated; subsequent
offense--habitual offender last Dec. 16, $10,000
John Mark Boles, 46, of Diana, driving while intoxicated with child passenger
on Jan. 23, $7,500
The sealed indictments included unlawful possession of firearm by felon;
debit card abuse; two for forgery; and two for driving while intoxicated--subsequent
offense, said Byrd's office.
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GOP forum produces some sparks
By Phillip Williams
Mirror Correspondent
GILMER – A forum for local candidates in the March 2 Upshur County
Republican primary was generally civil in tone, although it produced a
few barbs here Saturday night.
An estimated 100-125 persons attended at the Gilmer Civic Center, said
Rhonda Pope, president of the Republican Women of Upshur County, which
sponsored the forum.
Some 17 of the 19 invited candidates in seven contested races appeared.
They were questioned by a three-member panel, fielded mostly-written questions
from the audience, and made brief opening and closing statements.
The panel included Joyce Hugman of Gladewater, a former State Republican
Executive Committee member who was representing the Republican women's
club; Gilmer free-lance journalist/businessman Phillip Williams, a frequent
contributor to this newspaper; and Neal Barton, news director and
commentator at KETK-TV in Tyler.
All but one of the questions from the audience were submitted in writing.
The most heated moment in the approximately 1 1/2-hour event occurred
when Upshur County Sheriff Anthony Betterton stood in the audience and
posed a question to Brenda Patterson, seeking re-election as
county GOP chairwoman. One spectator shouted at the sheriff that "you're
showboating," but Mrs. Patterson answered the question.
The candidates faced inquiries on a wide variety of topics. Some
included their views concerning the hiring of a county road engineer; their
opinion concerning the county budget; how many Republican primaries they
had voted in; and why they either thought they merited re-election,
or the incumbent who is running should be replaced.
Among the few criticisms any candidate made of a GOP opponent came when
County Judge Dean Fowler, seeking re-election, said he was "offended" by his
opponent John Melvin Dodd's statement that "the county has become
the laughingstock of East Texas." Dodd was referring to bickering
among county officials.
The only two invited candidates who didn't show...
...Continued in this week's edition of The Gladewater Mirror.
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