Tag Archives: keep athens beautiful

Week of July 23, 2012

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Mugshot of Guthrie.

Story No. 1 – Murder suspect back in Henderson County: Jackie Guthrie was arrested in Galveston last Friday on a murder warrant after a statewide manhunt. He is suspected of murdering an 18-year-old woman in Coffee City and kidnapping his 19-year-old pregnant girlfriend.
Why it is important: This is the county’s first murder since July 4, 2011.
Learn more: It seems like every media outlet had this story. Check out The Athens Review and The Athens News.

Story No. 2 – Tuesday is Election Day: Runoffs in the state’s primary election are set for this coming Tuesday.
Why it is important: It seems like this primary has been going on forever, but really it has only been since late last year.
Learn more: Check out The Malakoff News and The Athens News, because they have a list of combined polling places.

Story No. 3 – County budget coming: For the past few weeks, county officials have been going through the budgeting process for 2013.
Why it is important: According to the Athens Review, the cost of running the county is going up, but the government has no more money.
Learn more: Rich Flowers has the story.

Story No. 4 – Tool police chief fired: The Tool City Council fired Police Chief Warren Loscuito last week, citing “personnel problems,” in a 4-1 vote.
Why it is important: Combined the change at the Tool PD with the craziness at Seven Points PD the past couple of years and you have to at least consider the problem of instability on the northwest corner of Cedar Creek Lake.
Learn more: The (Mabank) Monitor and the Athens Review both had stories.

Story No. 5 – KAB Eco Camp: Keep Athens Beautiful and The East Texas Arboretum hosted an ECO Camp for children kindergarten through fourth grade all this past week.
Why it is important: Because with murder, taxes and firings at the top of the list, I needed something happy. Plus, there are some great photos on the KAB Facebook page.
Learn more: Check out the photos here.

Week of June 11, 2012

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Story No. 1 – Big bills for primary election: Henderson County Commissioners’ Court is still paying bills from last month’s primary election. According to the County Auditor, the election cost the county about $43,000.
Why it is important: Because the primary isn’t over yet! There is still a runoff to go, and that will push the cost even higher.
Learn more: The Malakoff News and The Athens News had the story this week. Check Page 7A.

Story No. 2 – Athens man gets out of jail after illegal sentence: Gerald McMorris was released recently after serving 20 years even though he had the wrong sentence.
Why it is important: Because not only did the system get this wrong, the system also fixed the mistake.
Learn more: Art Lawler at the Review wrote a four-part series on McMorris this week. Start here.

Story No. 3 – Stephanie Perryman is KAB top volunteer: Last Friday, Keep Athens Beautiful named board member Stephanie Perryman its Volunteer of the Year.
Why it is important: Because KAB is an important part of Athens, and the group had a great year.
Learn more: The Athens News had a story and photos. Remember, the Athens News pages start at the back of the file.

Story No. 4 – Tyler police catch man flashing joggers: James Claybourn Kiser was arrested Wednesday for indecent exposure on the Rose Rudman Trail.
Why it is important: Kiser is from Athens, has a long criminal history, and is the suspect in flashing incidents at Cain Park.
Learn more: The Tyler Paper has the story.

Story No. 5 – No information on Tool remains: Police still have no information on the skull and human remains found near Tool earlier in the month. Sheriff’s officials said a report from the forensics lab could still take a few weeks.
Why it is important: A lot of folks are very interested in this story and are waiting to see what happens.
Learn more: There have been no updates in the newspapers, but The Malakoff News/Athens News reported the lack of new information this week on its Facebook page.

Week of April 9, 2012

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The crew at Acme Brick was decked out in blue last Wednesday to show support for the effort to end child abuse.

Story No. 1 – County Goes Blue: On Wednesday, April 11, folks throughout Henderson County wore blue in support of ending child abuse.
Why it is important: The county has a serious problem with child abuse.
Learn more: The Review has a story about Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Story No. 2 – 52nd Henderson County Livestock Show: Kids have been all over the Henderson County Fairgrounds this week showing animals and projects. The week culminates 1 p.m. Saturday, April 14, with the premium auction.
Why it is important: Anything that’s been around more than half a century and is still this popular is important.
Learn more: The Review has a photo of the Queen and Princess.

Story No. 3 – Lovato returns home: Elena Lovato was named the head women’s basketball coach at TVCC this week, replacing co-coaches Michael and Kenya Landers.
Why it is important: The TVCC women’s job is the best in JUCO basketball, plus the Lady Cards are coming off a national championship.
Learn more: Read about it at the TVCC website.

Story No. 4 – KAB Clean Up: Keep Athens Beautiful will be hosting the annual Spring Clean Up this Saturday, April 14.
Why it is important: It is a great time to get rid of all that trash for free.
Learn more: KAB has a good Facebook Page and there is a Spring Clean Up Event Page.

Story No. 5 – No Smoking Ordinance 1st reading: It’s been going on since November, but the debate over a No Smoking Ordinance in Athens is coming to a close. The City Council approved the ordinance on first reading this week and is expected to give its final approval on April 23.
Why it is important: The ordinance will cover most public places in the city, so it will impact smokers and non-smokers alike.
Learn more: Local blogger Michael V. Hannigan posted about the issue during the public hearings stage. The Athens Review had a story when the city made an exception for bars.

Week of March 26, 2012

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Michael and Kenya Landers won the national championship last weekend and then landed jobs with the University of Mississippi women’s basketball program days later.

Story No. 1 – National Champions: The Trinity Valley Lady Cardinals notched the program’s sixth national title last weekend, beating Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, 69-55.
Why it is important: Did I mention it was No. 6? Plus, the win came on the day the court in Salina, Kansas was named for the late TVCC legend, Kurt Budke.
Learn more: Jayson Larson from the Review was there and has the story on the championship and the court being renamed.
Bonus Info: The public is invited to join Trinity Valley Community College for “No. 6: A Celebration” on Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Gym when the college will celebrate the undefeated season and sixth national championship of the Lady Cardinals.

Story No. 2 – TVCC loses women’s basketball coaches: Less than a week after winning the national title, Lady Cardinal co-coaches Michael and Kenya Landers accepted offers with the University of Mississippi.
Why it is important: Now the best coaching position in JUCO women’s basketball is open.
Learn more: Here’s the story from the college. 

Story No. 3 – County OKs premises use policy: Commissioners’ Court this week approved a policy listing the rules for using county property.
Why it is important: This particular policy figures to come into play when the Freedom From Religion Foundation (remember them?) comes back asking to put one of its banners on the Courthouse lawn at Christmas.
Learn more: Both the Review and The Malakoff News have stories.

Story No. 4 – KAB wins again: Keep Athens Beautiful has won the Governor’s Community Achievement Award for the eighth straight time.
Why it is important: Because the award comes with money (about $160,000), which KAB uses for projects around the city.
Learn more: The Review has a story. 

Story No. 5 – Atheist drops complaint against judge: The nativity scene controversy is the issue that never stops giving stories (see Story No. 3). Now, San Antonio atheist Patrick Greene has asked the state Commission on Judicial Conduct to drop his complaint against County Judge Richard Sanders.
Why it is important: While nothing was ever expected to come from the complaint to begin with, the change in Greene has become a story in itself. Consider, Sand Springs Baptist Church Pastor Erick Graham was on the Fox News Channel this week talking about the story.
Learn more: The Malakoff News seems to have a pipeline to Greene. 

 

Week of November 21, 2011

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Carol Morton of Keep Athens Beautiful is caught moving into her new office at the new Athens EDC building this week.

Story No. 1 – Moving into Athens EDC building: After more than two years, the first tenants have moved into the building purchased by the Athens EDC (the old Eckerd Drug building on W. Corsicana Street). So far AEDC, Keep Athens Beautiful, and the TVCC Small Business Development Center have taken up residence. The Athens Tourism Department and the Athens Chamber of Commerce will also be moving in.
Why it is important: Because having all those entities under one roof could act like an incubator for ideas and business for Athens … and also because it is your tax dollars that paid for the building.
Extra Info: The building has not been named yet, but several suggestions will likely be on the next AEDC agenda. Our favorite so far is the Athens Partnership Center.
Learn more: This Athens Review story from August marks the start of renovations to the building.

Story No. 2 – TVCC tree lighting: Monday (Nov. 28), Trinity Valley Community College will kick off the holiday season with a Christmas tree lighting at 7 p.m. There will be music and fun and a big elf in a red suit.
Why it is important: All around the county folks are getting ready for Christmas and the New Year. By the time Monday rolls around, decorations will be up on the square. The following weekend is the Athens parade and GBC parade, the weekend after that is the Malakoff parade. With everything going on it is nice to have an official start.
Learn more: Here are some more details from TVCC.

Story No. 3 – Education funding lawsuits: The Malakoff ISD school board this week decided to join a lawsuit against the State of Texas regarding school funding.
Why it is important: School funding doesn’t just touch everyone in the county, the issue goes directly back to the past Legislative Session and the way lawmakers cut the budget. Malakoff is not the only district involved – no, far from it. There are four different groups filing lawsuits, and the biggest one (which includes Eustace ISD but not Malakoff) represents more than 300 districts.
Learn more: The Malakoff story is here.

Story No. 4 – Seven Points settlement: Three separate lawsuit settlements involving the Seven Points Police Department will cost taxpayers $21,500.
Why it is important: First, because hopefully we are seeing the gradual winding down of the problems that have rocked Seven Points over the last couple of years. Second, because the problems that have rocked Seven Points over the last couple of years better be a cautionary tale for other small municipalities around the county.
Learn more: Art Lawler at the Review has been all over this story from the very start.

Story No. 5 – Holiday shopping season opens: The Christmas tree will be going up this weekend for many folks – which means thoughts will be turning not to sugar plums, but to filling up the space under the tree with gifts.
Why it is important: It isn’t just the season to be merry, it is the season to be scammed. The holidays already cost an arm and a leg, make sure it doesn’t cost your identity as well.
Learn more: The Athens PD has some great tips on how to be safe while shopping.