Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Page: 1 of 16
sixteen pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
500
Vol. 158, No. 49-16 pgs.
eeai)
www.thecherokeean.com
MB
Rusk, TX 75785
WEDNESDAY
January 30, 2008
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper
The Rusk Eagles and Lady Eagles struggled
against Huntington and Diboll. One Eagle
made all of his free throws. Who was it?
See pg. 1B
ALLABOARD!
The Texas State Railroad
announces special events
for 2008. Who is that
masked man?
For more, see pg. 4B,
Rusk ISD to build $4.3 million nest or the Eagles
New gymnasium to feature hospitality room,
practice facility and will seat 1,200
By Gloria Jennings
Staff Writer
Rusk High School students will
be using a new gym by next year's
basketball season.
The school board voted Thursday
evening to fund the $4858,458
school gym. The new facility should
be ready for district play in Novem-
ber 2008.
"We are really funding a gym and
a half,'' said Superintendent Dr.
Jim Largent. The plans for the new
COMING
Blood drive slated
at Lon Morris College
Carter Blood Care and Stewart
Regional Blood Center will have a
blood drive at Lon Morris College
from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday,
Feb. 6, in the Wilson Administration
Building community room. Those
donating blood are asked to eat a
good meal and bring a picture ID.
For more information or to sign up.
contactAmanda Hoiloway by e-mail
at aholloway@lonmorris.edu or by
phone at (903) 589-4065.
gym include the new almost 1,200
seat gym, plus a pract ice gym with
wooden flooring at the rear of the
building.
The practice gym will only be half a
court but there will be enough sp ace
at the rear to finish the practice
gym into a full-size: regulation gym
in the future.
There will be no scoreboard at the
practice gym and there will not be
enough room for spectators,
The actual cost of the new gym
itself will be $;3,688,103. Cost of the
practice gym will be $181,834 The
gym will include a stairway and an
elevator.
Aparking lot for approximately 15
cars will add another $58,000 to the
construction budget.
Dr. Largent said visiting buses
can be parked in the lot and those
students can go directly to the bus
without having to go back through
the gym.
Another $77,166 will go toward
the construction of a hospitality
room in the lobby area above the
restrooms. "This will be an area that
we will use for coaches and referees
for tournaments and when we host
playoff games, ' I )r. Largent said. "If
you think you are going to want the
hospitality room, you need to do it
now, because you will never go back
and build it," he added.
The guaranteed maximum price
of the project will be $4005,103.
The district will add architect fees
of $278,355 and Rusk ISD fees of
$75,000.
Cost of the project will be paid
through building fund monies and
the district will not have to borrow
money to finance its cost.
Meeting with the board were Mal-
com McKinley, architect with Good-
win-Lasiter of Lufkin; and Stephen
Berry of Berry Clay, contractor for
the project in Rusk.
In another matter. Dr. Largent
said the owner of propert y adjacent
to the primary campus had not ac-
cepted a price offered by Rusk ISD
to purchase the property.
A counter offer had been made by
the owner and the school district
has notified him that the offer is
not acceptable.
Oncor will replace electrical poles
on the junior high campus.
Attending the meeting were David
Fulton, president: Dr. Anthony Hoi -
comb, vice-president; Frances Long,
secretary; and Roy Cavazoz, Rodney
I luggliins and Britt Patterson. Ab-
sent was Mike Ross.
^.CIS/O^
2008
cherokee county
POLITICAL CALENDAR
COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 1
Kelly Traylor, (R)
COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 1
Kevin Lankford, (R)
COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 3
Moody Glass, Jr.*, (D)
CONSTABLE, PRECINCT 2
Jack White, (R)
CONSTABLE, PRECINCT 2
Mark Green, (D)
The Democratic and Republican
primaries will be held March 4. Early
voting is 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 19-29
at the following locations:
• RUSK: Cherokee County
Court House, County Clerk's office,
(903) 683-2350
• JACKSONVILLE: Senior
Citizens Center, 300 S. Bolton,
(903) 586-1696
• ALTO: A. Frank Smith Method-
ist Church, 103 Cooper St.. (936)
858-4347
* denotes incumbent
Pd political adv. by the candidates
If you are a political candidate
seeking office and would like to
have your name added to the
Cherokeean Herald's political
calendar, please stop by our office
at 618 N. Main St. in Rusk. Ask for
information about the Oldies Radio
-97.7FM political calendaras well.
Call (903) 683-2257.
Weather Outlook
'W
THURSDAY
morning showers
50% chance of rain
High: 55
Low: 32
OLDIES RADIO
KWRW - FM and KTLU - AM
RACE TO THE MOON
On the 5th anniversary of shuttle crash,
Rusk company makes giant contribution
fo NASA's Orion moon project
■9
By Leland Acker
Staff Writer
When Joel Jackson, of Rusk, began
racing at the age of 16, he did not
think his racing career would take
him to theinoon. However, his off-road race
car building expertise has attracted the at-
tention of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA),
"NASA contacted us along with 28 other
companies," Mr. Jackson said. "They visited
with us here."
NASA has contracted with RaceFab to
build two moon rovers for the Orion Moon
mission, which is to build a space station on
the moon.
"There were- a number of qualifications we
had to meet," Mr. Jackson said. "We had to
be certified to the aircraft level of welding.
We almost exclusively work in space frame
chassis."
"They actually consulted us for the design,"
said Jason Jackson, Mr. Jackson's son who
also works at RaceFab.
"The moon rovers will be used to build the
station and roads," Jefferson Jackson, Mr.
See MOON ROVER, pg. 6A
PHOTO: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Alto City Council
addresses water,
gas problems
By Leland Acker
Staff Writer
The Alto City Council continues to clean
up the mess left after the Jan. 14 dismissal
of Utilities Supervisor Charhe Luse. Since
Luse's departure, signs of negligence have
surfaced at the sewer plant and ongoing leaks
have been discovered in the gas system. The
council continued to take steps to rectify both
situations during the Jan. 2.3 special meeting
at city hall in Alto.
Mayor Pro Tem Annie Walker opened the
meeting by suggesting the council appoint
nt ili ties employee Brandon Tyer as the new
utilities supervisor,
"I agree!" said Councilman Monty Golhns.
"He appears to know what he's doing, and
he's doing it."
Mr. Tyer currently holds a Class D water
license and will have to obtain a Class 0
water license to be qualified to become the
nt ili ties supervisor on a permanent basis.
He wül also have to get a hcense to operate
the gas system.
Mr. Tyer told the council he is testing for
the Class C water hcense and is working
toward his gas hcense. Mrs. Walker said she
expected all of his hcensing requirements to
be met within the year.
In the meantime. Alto will stay in compli-
ance of state regulations requiring licensed
operators of water and gas systems by enlist-
ing the help of Carl Pennington to oversee the
Please see ALTO CITY COUNCIL, pg. 6A
Rusk City Council discusses
upcoming council election
By Gloria Jennings
Staff Writer
A discussion of calling a city elec-
tion will be continued until Feb. 14
when the Rusk City Council meets
again.
Member s of the council discussed
proposals to be presented to voters
at a meeting Thursday evening in
city hall. Larry Sinclair, city at-
torney, outhned propositions for
charter changes as prepared by a
special committee. The possibility
of re moving four ofthe propositions
to shorten the size of the ballot were
discussedandtentatively approved.
The council agreed that proposi-
tions three, five, eight and nine be
removed from the ballot.
Proposition three requires the city
to paybondon council members and
others employed by the city. Mr.
Sinclair said another place in the
charter requires that the city pay
bond payment premiums.
Proposition five states the size
of the council could be changed by
ordinance rather than charter re-
vision. Mr. Sinclair suggested that
this proposition be removed from
the ballot and not be considered.
Proposition eight deals with
changes in supplements and
amendments to the budget, Mr.
Sinclair said, "I do not feel this
proposed amendment warrants
submission to the voters. The char-
ter already states what affirmative
vote is required for passage of any
item of business."
Proposition nine deals with the
availability of city records, Mr.
Sinclair said, "I believe the exist-
ing charter provision is legally
sufficient to protect and accomplish
the concerns of the charter amend-
ment committee on this subject.
Accordingly; I believe the Submis-
sion of this proposed amendment
is unnecessary,"
Proposition four, which is planned
to be presented for consideration in
the election, deals with the removal
ofthe mayor's right to vote. Voters
gave the mayor this right at a spe-
cial election on May 4, 1996. Prior
to that time, the mayor only had a
vote in case of tie.
"I would hke to see proposition
four not go on the ballot. I have
talked with aformer mayor, He said
it was hard to get out andcampaign
See RUSK COUNCIL, pg. 6A
SFA College of Education
>• Stephen F.
Austin State Uni-
versity officially
unveiled the new
name of the James
I. Perkins College of
Education during a
luncheon Tuesday
on campus. The
college was recently
renamed for Citizens
1st Bank President
and Chairman ofthe
Board James I. Per-
kins, who spoke to
the crowd of about
400. Mr. Perkins is
a former member
and chair of the SFA
Board of Regents
and a longtime
supporter ofthe
university. He also is
among the founders
ofthe SFA Founda-
tion, as well as a
former chairman.
PHOTO: SFA
CM K
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 30, 2008, newspaper, January 30, 2008; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152819/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.