Abilene News: June 16-30, 1996

6/30 - Voters Easily Approve Expo Center Enhancements
6/30 - Abilene Resident Fighting Adult Material
6/30 - Some of Rocket's Red Glare Doused in Area
6/30 - Area Activities for the Fourth of July
6/30 - Fireworks Policies for Towns, Counties in Area
6/29 - Dyess Team World Champs Again in Airlift Rodeo
6/29 - Guilty Pleas in Last Year's Fatal Rotan Fire
6/29 - Lueder's Fire Department May Be Out of Water
6/29 - Special Prosecutor Named: Nolan County District Attorney Frank Conard was named special prosecutor Friday for the theft trial of former Taylor County treasurer Anna Moore.
....Senior Judge John Forbis of Childress made the appointment early Friday, a day after Taylor County DA James Eidson removed himself from the case because of the possibility he might be called as a witness.
....Moore, who resigned early last year, is accused of taking about $1,000 from an employee Christmas account funded by staff donations and vending machine proceeds.
....Defense attorney Ed Paynter said Thursday he expected the case, which had been scheduled to go to trial July 8, would be delayed until September or October. Conard said Friday he couldn't say now when he might be ready.
...."I have absolutely zero knowledge about the case at this time, so I can't comment on how I'll proceed," Conard said. "As soon I get the judge's order, I'll examine the file and go from there.
6/29 (early) - Wreck Kills Abilene Man: A one-vehicle accident just east of Baird resulted in a fatality early Friday morning.
....Johnny Robert Windham, 44, of Abilene, was pronounced dead at 7:10 a.m. by Justice of the Peace Don Burns.
....According to Texas Department of Public Safety trooper David Parkhill, Windham's truck crossed Business I-20, struck a highway sign and hit a drainage ditch sometime after midnight.
6/28 - Expo Center Bond Election is Saturday
6/28 - Special Prosecutor to be Named for Anna Moore Theft Trial
6/28 - Snyder Native Making Independent Film in Taylor County
6/28 (early) - City Begins Eminent Domain Proceedings: The Abilene City Council initiated eminent domain proceedings against three Antilley Road property owners who are reluctant to part with their land at the city's price.

....The four parcels are needed to widen Antilley Road to five lanes from Buffalo Gap Road west past Wylie High. The city has successfully negotiated the sale of 16 neighboring pieces of land.
6/28 (early) - McCaleb, Vasquez Named to Groups: Abilene Mayor Gary McCaleb has been named to the Advisory Board of the U.S Conference of Mayors.
...During the group's annual meeting, five new board members were selected. Others include the mayors of Boston, New Orleans, North Little Rock, Ark., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
...Paul Vasquez, an Abilene city councilman, has been chosen as a new member of the Transportation and Communications Policy Committee of the National League of Cities.
6/27 - All Dyess Personnel in Saudi Arabia OK
6/27 - Representative: Abilene/Dyess Relationship a Model for the State
6/27 - Dyess Maintains Lead in Airlift Rodeo
6/27 - Breckenridge Drug Bust Nets 19 Arrests
6/27 - Cisco's White Elephant's Days May be Numbered
6/27 (early) - Summer Enrollment Down: First-term summer enrollment at most area universities has declined compared to five years ago, but that trend may change, some school officials say.
....Declines in the overall student population and the cyclical nature of the business of college enrollment are at least two factors that may have led to the five-year declines.
....Hardin-Simmons, Tarleton State and Howard Payne universities were the only three schools that exhibited slow but fairly steady growth in their Summer I student population from 1992 to 1996.
....Most other schools in the area suffered at least some decline, with periods of slight fluctuation commonplace.
....A decline in the number of high school graduates is an important factor behind enrollment drops at many colleges, said Bobbye Fry, McMurry registrar.
6/26 - Two Deaths at Prison Both Termed Suicides
6/26 - Go Expo! PAC Has Raised $23,000
6/25 - Pecans Trees at the Root of Eminent Domain Fight
6/25 - New Abilene ISD Preliminary Budget Proposed
6/25 (early) - Downsizing Subcommittee Meeting in Abilene: A state subcommittee studying the closure and downsizing of Texas militarybases will hold a public hearing here Wednesday.
....State Rep. Layton Black, D-Goldthwaite, chairs the subcommittee that islooking at the feasibility of establishing an entity to protect Texas basesfrom further actions of the national base closure commission.
....The meeting will be at 10 a.m. in the multi-purpose room of the JohnsonBusiness Building at Hardin-Simmons University.
6/25 (early) - Drought Tour Stopping in City: State lawmakers and officials are beginning the Drought ReliefInformation Tour next month.
....On the tour, state and federal officials will travel the state tellingTexans how to get help.
....Five meetings in West Texas are scheduled with the first on July 8 inAbilene and the second on July 16 in San Angelo. Mayors, county judges andcity managers in area senatorial district will be invited.
6/24 - AISD Board to Get Preliminary Budget: Abilene school trustees will receive the proposed preliminary budget for the 1996-97 school year during tonight's school board meeting.

....This budget "sketch" outlines the district's financial needs for the coming school year. It precedes the formal budget, which will be presented with board approval in July when the official budget hearings begin.
....Dr. David Polnick, deputy superintendent for finance, said the board will look ahead to the new biennium during this budget session.
....Local revenue will be closely examined this year, Polnick explained, because the amount of tax dollars collected locally will have a "dramatic impact" on the amount of state funding AISD will receive over the next two years.
6/24 - Two Die in Crash: Two Bangs men died in a fiery one-vehicle crash on U.S. 67 between Bangs and Brownwood late Sunday afternoon, according to the Department of Public Safety.
....The deceased were identified as Jerry Stembridge, 32, and Martin Lee Blanchard, 37.
....According to the DPS, the men's car was traveling east on U.S. 67 at a high speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle on a curve. The vehicle hit a pipe fence, rupturing the gas tank and causing the car to burst into flames as it overturned.
....Both occupants were burned, and were pronounced dead at the scene at 6:50 p.m.
6/23 - "Speak Spanish in 60 Days" Gaining Popularity (See Lessons)
6/23 - Reunion of Booker T. Washington Alumni Was Enthusiastic
6/22 - State School Free of Deficiencies: In a weeklong audit of the Abilene State School, state surveyors found no deficiencies.
....This is the first time in school history that no deficiencies were found, said Joy Ellinger, state school director for community relations.
....Eight surveyors were on campus from Monday to Thursday, visiting homes and auxiliary areas. More than 600 standards were used to judge the facility.
6/22 (early) - Big Spring Man Sues over Abilene Bank Merger: A Big Spring man is suing to void the merger between SecurityState Banks of Abilene and Big Spring.
....Hayes Stripling Jr. has filed a suit in 118th Judicial District Courtagainst both banks and a number of their directors.
....In that suit, Stripling claims the bank directors unfairly received morefor their stock than outside shareholders at the time of the merger.
....Stripling maintains in the suit that the merger was "a sham to funnel moremoney to the individual defendants since they were directors negotiating thetransaction."
6/21 - Gang Activity Declining in Abilene
6/21 - Improvements to Add Two Lanes to Loop 322
6/21 (early) - Appraisal Money Went Fast: That $180,000 of your money the Central Appraisal District of Taylor County is holding has been diminished significantly.
....Following a front-page story in the Reporter-News, all but two of the 217 people or organizations on the list of owners contacted the appraisal district office Thursday.
...."I think the only ones that haven't contacted us are the Veterans Administration and Southwest Savings & Loan (now out of business)," said Richard Petree, head of the district.
6/20 - Appraisal District Has Money It Wants to Give Back
6/20 - New Boys Ranch Leader Takes Over
6/20 - Postal Workers Picket Because of "Bottom-Line Management"
6/20 - It's Hot and It's Gonna Stay Hot: The weather got a day's jump on summer Wednesday, blanketing Abilene along with most of the state with sweltering triple-digit temperatures during the afternoon.

....The 100-degree reading checked in at 4:35 p.m. and stayed almost two hours before the mercury drifted down a degree. That was par for most of the state, with only some East Texas and South Texas locales missing the 100-degree mark.
.....It could have been worse, though, judging from other Texas cities' reports, said Jerry O'Bryant of the National Weather Service. Lubbock and Amarillo both recorded record 100-plus readings, and Austin boiled under a heat index of 123-126 that combined 100-degree temperatures and soaring humidity.
....Get used to this for at least the next few days, O'Bryant warns.
....."We're in for a hot spell," he said.
.....From the start of summer today through Monday, chances are good each day that the temperature will top out at 100 or higher in and around Abilene.
6/20 (early) - Polnick: Too Early to Judge Lottery Proposal: Abilene ISD's chief financial officer said using profits from the Texas Lottery to ease the local taxpayer burden may be more of a gamble than it sounds.

....David Polnick admitted he's skeptical about the viability of Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock's tax rate plan proposed Tuesday. Bullock's idea is to use a combination of a surplus of lottery administrative savings and growing lottery profits over two years to provide $527 million more to schools while freezing homeowners' tax rates.
....Polnick said while the idea sounds like a winner, it's too early to bet on its success.
...."It sounds real great, but how are they going to do it?," he said. "Right now, it's just rhetoric laying the groundwork for things they want to push in the upcoming legislative session in January. We have no idea how it will affect school districts."
6/19 - Lytle Residents Now Happy with Expo Plan: A disputed road in the Expo Center bond proposal will be pushed away from Lytle Shores homes, Taylor County commissioners promised Thursday.

...By unanimous vote, commissioners placed into the official record a five-point plan for keeping the proposed extension of Play Street at least 120 feet from any homeowner's property line.
...A chain-link fence, landscape buffer and water detention structure for flood control would separate the four-lane road from the neighborhood.
..."The only thing I can think of to say is thank you," said Kris Southward, representing the residents whose homes would have backed up directly to the road as originally planned.
...Those residents had said they were prepared to organize opposition to the June 29 bond election if the proposal was not changed, and if the changes were not in writing.
...They will not organize now, Southward told reporters afterward, adding: "In fact I assume it will be the opposite, that there'll be very much a 'yes' vote from this group.
6/18 - Much Needed Rain Storms In:The price of good rains Monday was a little bad weather.

...Wind, lightning and minor flooding came with the package when a swift downpour hit Abilene along toward mid-afternoon. One bolt of lightning heavily damaged a home on Bent Tree Drive, and several other strikes knocked out electricity at scattered points in west Abilene.
...Gusty winds with the storm ripped off a section of a metal layer of roof at the Best Western-Mall South but caused no leaks. One sheet of metal draped over a highway sign, and another sliced down between two vehicles on the inn's parking lot, damaging a pickup slightly. Wind gusts reached 50 to 60 mph.
...Floodwater briefly covered the usual low places in the roads, including stretches of South Clack where a few unwary motorists flooded out.
...Power outages caused by lightning were eliminated and all power restored within two hours, said West Texas Utilities spokesman Keith Taylor.
6/17 - Murder-Suicide Rocks Cisco: The peace and quiet of an ordinary Sunday afternoon was broken with the discovery of the bodies of an estranged couple about 2 p.m. at a Cisco residence.

...The bodies of Sheila Scott, 31, and her estranged husband George, 36, were found in the Scott home in the 400 block of West 19th Street by Sheila's mother, said Cisco Police Chief Doug Fairbanks.
...He said it appears that George shot Sheila, then himself, in a bedroom. Both bodies were found fully clothed on a bed, and a .22 caliber rifle was nearby, he said.
...Apparently George placed a note on his wife's body, then shot himself.
6/17 - Reading Program Takes Local Elementary Students to the Next Chapter
6/16 - Abilene Cleans Up With Beautification Award: Congratulations are in order for Abilene's first place in the Governor's Community Achievement Awards, and Texas first lady Laura Bush will do the honors Monday.

...Bush will arrive at 9:30 a.m. at the Grace Cultural Center, 102 Cypress. The award is presented to communities that exhibit excellence in organization, cleanup, beautification, recycling, education and litter law enforcement.
...The nine winning communities split $700,000 in landscaping prizes provided by the Texas Department of Transportation.
...Donna Albus, coordinator of Abilene Clean and Proud, said the landscape project Abilene won is another way to instill pride in its citizens and encourage visitors to the community.
..."All year long we have worked so hard conducting cleanups and litter prevention education, and to receive first place in such a competition makes us know our community service has paid off," she said.

Abilene News: June 16-30, 1996

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