Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 13, 2001 Page: 1 of 32
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ujcrokccau/Hcrald
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper - Established Feb. 27, 1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel
Vol. 152, No. 43 - 32 Pages Thursday, December 13, 2001
Economic development for Rusk
requires long-term commitment
Catch the holiday spirit a
CittCe early this year. Take
a peek at our special
holiday spectacular.
See sections C-D
Rusk, TX 75785
25 cents
More than 50 Rusk area
residents attended an economic
development town meeting
Monday night at the South-
ern Cherokee Federal Credit
Union.
Speaker for the event was
Susan Campbell, an economic
development coordinator/main
street manager, for the City
of Bowie.
Attending the event were
representatives of Main Street,
the City of Rusk, Rusk Eco-
nomic Development Board and
Rusk Chamber of Commerce.
Ms. Campbell, who moved to
Bowie from Fort Worth in 1998,
assumed the reins of the city's
program. Bowie has two half-
cent sales taxes designated for
economic development. Both
sales taxes were approved by
voters in 1996. One is used for
job retention and the other is
for education and job training.
With proceeds from the latter,
the community has built a $2.1
million junior college to train
their young people for the job
market.
A Main Street type program
was begun in 1991, but it was
not until 1997 that the city
obtained Main Street status.
She reminded those attend-
ing the event that economic
development is an investment
and those involved have to be
in it for the "long haul."
First thing to do, she said,
is to identify your players and
then come to the table. "This
took us time to plan and we
brought in help from TXU.
Then, we hired a consulting
group to target industrial
groups. This consulting group
coordinated our plans and
taught us how to communicate
with one another."
Mrs. Campbell explained
that she is a city employee
and has only one boss, the
city manager. One-third of her
salary is paid by the city and
two-thirds by the Economic
Development Board. Salary
for her assistant is paid half
and half by the city and the
economic development board.
The Economic Development
Board is composed of repre-
sentatives from the industrial
base in the community.
Economic Development part-
ners in Bowie include the
Economic Development Steer-
ing Team of the Bowie Chamber
of Commerce, Bowie Economic
Development Corporation,
Bowie 4B Sales Tax Corpora-
tion, Bowie Industrial Develop-
ment Foundation, the City
of Bowie and Bowie Main
Street.
A drapery factory was
recently brought into the com-
munity, which pays $3 to $5
above the minimum wage.
Along with the pay scale the
company offers an employee
benefit package.
Among the items that have
not been addressed by her
boards are applicants for state
economic grants and housing.
She said people come into the
community from throughout
the area to work.
Rick Waldrop said, "I think
an outside facilitator is neces-
sary. We need someone to kick
this off."
Kenneth Melvin said, "I am
sure we can get TXU to come
here and help us set up goals.
The first time they came, we
weren't ready."
Stephanie Caveness said,
"We need to hire a coordinator
and set up goals."
Appreciation was expressed
to Mrs. Campbell for coming.
I
Jt
Dereck Montgomery, Aito High School junior, places an
angel topper on the school's patriotic-themed Christmas
tree. The tree was decorated with red, white and blue
ornaments.
Candidates
file for
positions
Candidates will continue to
file for places on the Republi-
can and Democratic ballots
through 5 p.m. Jan. 2, 2002.
Filing as Democrats with
John Ament in Jacksonville
last week are Bri'Ann Pate
Driver, candidate for county
treasurer; Billy McCutcheon,
incumbent Commissioner
Precinct 4; and Bobby
Caveness, incumbent justice
of the peace for Precinct 4.
They join candidate incum-
bents District Clerk Marlys
Sue Mason, County Judge
Harry Tilley, County Clerk
Laverne Lusk, Commissioner
Precinct 2 Kevin Pierce, Jus-
tice of the Peace Precinct
1 Brenda Dominy; and candi-
dates Forrest K. Phifer for
County Court at Law Judge;
Patsy Lassiter and J.P. Acker
III for county treasurer; Byron
Underwood, candidate for
commissioner Precinct 4; and
Gerald Wood, candidate for
justice of the peace Precinct
3.
No one had filed by noon
Tuesday with Jerry Rix,
Republican County Chair-
man, but he said he was
expecting a candidate to file
that day.
A Christmas Angel
'V
.5
4
_
Tori Taylor and her dog, Bell, get in the spirit of the season
during the annual Rusk Christmas parade, Dec. 6. Tori and
Bell rode on the Eastside Baptist Church float. Children
dressed as brightly wrapped packages walked alongside
the float.
-Photo by Lauren Gonzalez
Commissioners okay
salary for assistant DA
Cherokee County Commissioners
authorized District Attorney Elmer
Beckworth Monday morning to offer
up to $40,000 to a person applying
for a new assistant district attorney
position.
In the event Mr. Beckworth hires
someone with no experience, that
person will be offered $35,000. The
salary will be then increased after
a period of time to $37,500. But in
the event he can obtain someone with
similar experience, then he can go as
high as $40,000.
In another matter commissioners
voted to go with Mother Frances
Hospital in Jacksonville for an Health
at Work Program.
The program offers services for non-
injury related services as well as for
workers compensation services.
Kimberly Braly, representing Mother
Frances, met with the court to explain
their new program. With approval of
the contract the county will get an
additional 15 percent discount from
the cost of service.
Employees who are injured on the
job will not have to wait to see a doctor.
"They will not have to sit and wait. We
will get them fixed and back at work,
even if it is light duty," she said.
The rate the county will pay for the
worker's comp cases is that set by the
state on a pay scale.
"Employees will need to get to the
quickest place and we are the nearest
facility," Ms. Braly said. Director for
the program is Dr. Alexander Scott.
Employees are not forced to use
the Mother Frances facility. She said,
"We are a choice state and they have
the right to choose where they want
to go."
The county was already using
Mother Frances for its drug screening
for the probation department and the
sheriff's department.
Rick Stewart of the Dogwood Trails
Task Force appeared before the court
asking for the county to pass a
resolution authorizing expenditure
of the $10,000 budgeted for this
year. The task force will apply for a
$737,468 grant. Entities have agreed
to contribute $215,050 as matching
funds.
A break-up of those funds include
$128,701 from the City of Palestine
for two police officers, salaries and
fringe benefits; $47,149 from Anderson
County for an investigator, salary
and fringe benefits; Cherokee County,
$10,000; City of Rusk, $5,000; City
of Jacksonville, $13,000; City of New
Summerfield, $5,000; City of Alto,
$2,500; City of Wells, $1,200 and City
of Frankston, $2,500.
Grant information will be left with
the county clerk and city secretaries of
each of the participating cities.
Mr. Stewart explained that when
they come to the city of Rusk the chief
or his designee accompany them on a
raid. Also, they contact the sheriff's
department for someone to accompany
them on a raid.
Commissioner Bob Johnson asked
Please see COMMISSIONERS page 6
Dream Tree volunteers make the holidays
brighter for local disadvantaged children
■ There are more than
200 needy youngsters listed
at area banks
By Gloria Jennings
Cherokeean/Herald Writer
Christmas is for children
and some never grow up.
Toni and Wayne Guinn
and their daughters, Jennifer,
15, and Elizabeth, 12, are like
that. Of course they gear their
Christmas activities toward
buying for others. The entire
family takes its obligation of
coordinating the Rusk Dream
Tree experience seriously.
Louise Morriss, Rusk Cham-
ber of Commerce manager,
says that Mr. Guinn is in and
out of her office almost every
day. "He is just checking on
things and seeing how many
names have been taken from
the trees and how much money
has been donated."
Getting ready for the Dream
Tree begins as soon as the
Arts and Crafts Fair is over in
October. "You would think this
is a little early, but there isn't
much time before Christmas."
Referrals are made and paper
work begins.
The Dream Trees usually go
up in financial institutions in
mid to late November.
This year there are more
than 200 youngsters and
many names still remain on
trees at Austin Bank, Citizens
1st, Jacksonville Savings and
Southern Cherokee Federal
Credit Union.
Toys and cash
donations are
still needed
Persons may go by and pick
out a name or names of children
on the tree. Last names are
not known by the giver. Only
a code number is given for the
family last name. Persons who
do not want to shop may take or
mail their checks to the Rusk
Chamber of Commerce, P.O.
Box 42, Rusk, Texas 75785.
December is a busy month.
The Guinn family in its entirety
and volunteers shop all week-
end the week before gifts are
distributed.
"It's not unusual to spend
$1,000 at a time. This is made
possible through the kindness
of our friends and neighbors,
the wonderful people in Rusk,"
Mr. Guinn said.
The Guinns shop for 30
children at a time. "People
look at us kind of funny," he
said.
He told about one time when
they filled three buggies with
gift items and had parked them
to fill other buggies when store
employees started putting the
things back on the shelves. "We
had to start all over with those
buggies," he noted.
"Shopping is something else
and we go at it like we are
an army, matching kids ages,
color preference and sizes with
our gift lists," he said. "We try
to find the best quality and
value in toys and clothing for
these youngsters because this
may be the only gifts they get,"
Mr. Guinn said.
When a child asks for only
clothing, that wish is respected,
but a toy is always added.
The chamber secures sizes
and preferred colors for each
child. "It used to be a problem
with only the child's age on the
information sheet," he said.
"The children that we choose
as a family from the tree are
usually boys," Mr. Guinn, the
father of two girls said. "It is fun
buying gifts for an 8 to 10-year-
old boy. When the Guinns
and other volunteers finish
shopping, the fun continues.
Other volunteers report to
the chamber office and begin
wrapping gifts.
Everything must be ready
for parents to pick up the gifts
on Dec. 19. That date was
chosen because it is the day
before school dismisses for
Christmas.
C M Y K
The chart to
the left com-
pares autumn
rainfall from
the past four
years.
-graphic: CherokeeanlHerald
Cherokee Co. experiences
unpredictable November
As temperatures across
Cherokee County rose to
highs of 78, then flirted with
the freezing point for a brief
period, rainfall for November
was just as sporadic and
unpredictable.
Total rainfall for the month
was 4.68, significantly less
than this time last year,
when the county received
nearly a foot of rain.
One of the driest Novem-
bers in recent years occurred
in 1998, when the average
was only .55. But overall,
2001 has shaped up to be one
of the wettest years since
1997, when the yearly total
for the county was 67.63
inches.
Cool temperatures and
precipitation pushed back
into the area over the week-
end, with December shaping
up to be as unpredictable as
November.
Rusk is an official report-
ing station for the National
Weather Service.
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 13, 2001, newspaper, December 13, 2001; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152495/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.