The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 23, 2003 Page: 1 of 23
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www.colonyleader.com
50c
972-436-3566
Colony Courier-Leader
The Colony Public Library A- *
6800 Main St. \
Lonal hast TheColony, TX 75056-1133
Going strong (
Lakeside Community W1
Theatre will present the cwas rest
drama "Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?” 1
Sports
On the right track
The Cougars are preparing
for the District 7-5A Track
and Field Championships.
ao >
— See Page 3A
— See Page 1B
VOLUME 22, NO. 11
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2003
INSIDE
Charity sale set
for Saturday
There will be a rummage sale
benefiting Trenton Tidwell, a
local boy diagnosed with
Burkitt’s
Leukemia/Lymphoma, from 8
a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at
Trinity Presbyterian Church,
4700 Nash Drive, The Colony.
Money will be used to offset
the cost of his medical treat-
ment.
For information, call Suzanne
Blowers at 972-370-1797 or
Stacy Hale at 972-370-9632.
Local chorus to
sing anthem
The Lakeside Communty
Chorus has been invited to
sing national anthem at 2 p.m.
on April 27 before the Frisco
Rough Rider and Midland
Rockhounds baseball game.
For information, call 972-292-
0780 or visit www.ridersbase-
ball.com.
INSIDE
Severe weather
awareness
Lightning can strike anytime a
person can hear thunder. The
Colony Fire Chief explains
storm safety. See page 4A.
Letters to editor
Local gas prices scrape bottom of barrel
Local prices lower than
surrounding communities
truck at Race Trac and said the area’s low
gas prices were the reason she chose to
pump there.
“We’re really glad that it’s dropping out
here," she said. “I think they need to keep
going down."
She said filling up the truck had cost
her $26 when gas was at its peak, but now
she can fill up for $22. Regular unleaded
BY LEAH A. SHAFER
STAFF WRITER
The Colony residents are getting first gas cost $1.38 Monday night, mid-grade
grabs and some of the lowest gas prices in was $1.48 and premium fuel was $1.58.
the Dallas area. It’s attracting our-of towners, too.
Prices were as much as 15 cents per Donny Perez, a Little Elm resident,
gallon cheaper within the city than in sur- said he makes a point to stop in The
rounding communities. Colony on the way home to fill up his
Cheapest gas was found in the heart of Chevrolet Trailblazer because of the
the city. The Race Trac at 4350 Main St.
had regular unleaded gas for $1.27
Tuesday. Stop and Go at 5208 S. Colony
Blvd, had regular unleaded for $1.38.
The average price of unleaded gas in
Dallas is down by nine cents from a month
ago, according to the Web site dallas-
gasprices.com.
Prices jumped slightly at the BP
Amoco, Mobil and Shell stations along
State Highway 121, where regular unlead-
ed gas was $1.49, mid-grade gas was $1.59,
and premium grade gas was $1.69
Monday.
Lower gas prices are a relief to The
Colony residents, compared to the prices
of what they faced about a month ago.
Tara Powell, The Colony resident, was
filling up her husband’s Chevrolet pick-up
lower prices.
“I make sure I stop here to fill up,” he
said. “It’s a little higher in Little Elm. E
Hopefully, [prices] will keep going down.” s
The national retail gas price is expect- a
ed to average $1.56 per gallon for regular
during the summer according to the
Energy Information Association. .
High crude oil costs, low motor gaso- =
line inventories and growing gasoline *
demand are factors contributing to high
gasoline prices this year according to the
Energy Information Association.
Staff writer Stacy Wright con-
tributed to this report.
Contact Leah Shafer at 972-538-
2104 or shaferL@starcnTexas.com.
A winning tradition
Explorers win three trophies at competition
BY LEAH A. SHAFER
STAFF WRITER
If having skilled “junior officers” is a sign of the future for the |
police department, then The Colony is in great shape.
The Colony Police Explorers Post 5151, a group of young men
: and women learning about law enforcement, recently attended a
| | competition at University of Texas at Dallas and brought home tro-
j phies in three of the four events in which they competed.
This is an unusual feat for a group that started in 1998 and is not
See what The Colony resi-
dents have to say about candi- 1
dates for city council and
LISD school board. See
Opinion, page 6A.
Local students
recognized by
telent program
Six students from Griffin and
Lakeview Middle schools
were recognized by Duke
University as part of the Duke
Talent Identificaiton Program.
See Education, Page 7A.
Salt controversy
pours among
professionals
How much salt is too much?
Doctors, researchers and the
public disagree. See Get
Honest About Your Health,
Page 3B.
Sports injury
seminar offered
Medical Center of Lewisville
is offering a free clinic about
avoiding sports injuries. See
Health, Page 3B.
funded by the city.
“I’ve had really good luck with this post - we’ve been pretty |
lucky. They really know what they’re doing,” said The Colony Det. |
Charles Wood, the group’s senior instructor and founder. “Overall '
the one characteristic is that they really do care what they’re doing
and they have a lot of motivation.”
Explorers range in age from 14 to 21 and learn the ins and outs
of the job of policing.
“It’s a career interest group associated with Boy Scouts of
America that basically gives young men and women insight into a
career in law enforcement and gives them an opportunity to par-
ticipate in law enforcement under supervision to determine if
they’re going to want to pursue that after college,” Wood said. “Our
normal meetings are training. We put them through scenarios that
police officers come across in daily activities to see how they react
and get them to learn how a police officer thinks and responds.”
Explorer posts exist across the state and nation and compete in
regional, state and national events. There are 12 possible areas of
competition, including “arrest and search,” “first aid,” “crime
scene,” “bomb scene,” “crime prevention,” “misdemeanor traffic
stop” and “felony traffic stop.”
The Colony post won second place in “domestic disturbance,”
first place in “physical agility,” third place in “burglary in progress”
and seventh place in “arrest and search.”
Through after-school classes and training, Explorers learn
aspects of law enforcement such as the Texas penal code, arrest
search and seizure laws, dealing with the 4th amendment, traffic
laws and basic police tactics.
“They have to have some kind of knowledge of the law to know
if they can make an arrest,” Wood said. “They get 30 minutes to
work through the problem.” $
For Will House, an Explorer for five years and student at Collin
County Community College, the competitions are a time to test the
skills he has been learning at weekly meetings.
House and his partner Ryan Chandler, a junior at The Colony
High School, partnered for burglary in progress.
“It was in this huge basement under UTD and very dark - it was
a worst-cast scenario and I was on pins and needles,” House said.
“It’s nice that The Colony has done so well for a small town post
- we don’t have as much money.”
House, whose father is a The Colony police officer, said his
Explorer work is preparing to apply with the department when he
turns 20-1/2.
“I like to think any police department would jump on anybody
that has five years of training in this stuff and is likely to go through
See EXPLORERS, Page 5A
INDEX
Local Beat......
Opinion........
Education......
The Colony SPCA
Sports.........
Health.........
Man on the Street
2A
6A
7A
9A
1B
3B
4B
How to Contact Us:
Gen. Office:972-436-3566
Classified Ads: 972-422-SELL
Circulation: 972-424-9504
64709 00010
Regular
39
) nium
LONNIE ERICKSON/SPECIAL TO THE LEADER
Residents of The Colony are enjoying some of the lowest retail gasoline pricing in the
area.Some gas stations had prices falling below $1.30 per gallon Tuesday for regular
unleaded, considerably lower than neighboring communities.
LISD makes school naming policy
Teacher’s impact
not soon forgotten
Vernell Gregg still gets wedding
invitations, post cards, pictures and
letters years later from her students,
telling her thank you from the impact
she has had on their lives.
“Those are the rewards that I say all
the money in the world could not
replace,” Gregg said.
For 16 years Gregg has enhanced
student’s lives by pushing them to do
their best.
Gregg first came to the district in
1981, after constantly approaching the
administration for a job.
The administration warned her that
most of the students were white and
they said they were bad. But that didn’t
scare Gregg away.
She told them, “I can deal with the
kids. We are all after the same thing -
green money. And if you take a chance
on me, you won’t go wrong.”
Gregg first started teaching fourth
grade at Degan Elementary School.
See IMPACT, Page 10A
BY STACY WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Lewisville ISD adopted a policy of naming future schools at
the last school board meeting.
The policy requires suggested names to be submitted to the
communications department list that will be maintained.
Then those names will be taken to the construction commit-
tee, composed of three school board members, which eventu-
ally must have final approval by the entire school board.
The need for a policy came about after a group of parents and
others from the surrounding community, petitioned to have a
new school named after retired LISD educator, Vernell Gregg.
Gregg was the first black educator at Degan Elementary. She
stayed with the district for 16 years, most of which she taught
at Delay Middle School.
“It’s just an honor to even be thought of,” Gregg said. She said
the district does need a policy.
“It’s just unfortunate that it had to come about like this.”
For final approval, the policy states that all seven board mem-
bers have to be present during the vote and five out of seven
trustees must vote yes to that name.
“And the reason for that is to avoid any controversial names,”
Lakusta said. “We are considering having some citizens input
into some parameters on just guidelines of what type of qual-
ifications the person should have to have a school named
after them.”
The district is opening two schools next fall - Marjory Vickery
See POLICY, Page 5A
Watching the gymnasium grow
Construction will continue
throughout the summer on
The Colony High School’s
new gymnasium.
Project workers estimate that
the gym will be comple in time
for the next school year in
August.
LONNIE ERICKSON/SPECIAL TO THE LEADER
Local governments and organizations create awareness of sexual assault
BY BRENT FLYNN
STAFF WRITER
State and local governments
in conjunction with several non-
profit organizations are getting
the word out about the serious
consequences of sexual assault
and what can be done to pre-
vent it.
The Austin-based Texas
Association Against Sexual
Assault is conducting a media
blitz of TV and radio ads
statewide as part of their cam-
paign and Gov. Rick Perry has
designated April as Sexual
Assault Awareness Month.
Locally, Denton County Friends
of the Family, a nonprofit shel-
ter for victims of relationship
abuse, is organizing a candle-
light vigil in Denton. The city of
Lewisville brought attention to
the problem of sexual assault
when Mayor Gene Carey read a
proclamation in support of the
awareness campaign at
Monday’s city council meeting.
Mark Young is the education-
al coordinator for Denton
County Friends of the Family.
He is helping to organize the
“Take Back the Night” protest
march against sexual assault
and candlelight vigil this
Thursday night in Denton. The
march will begin at 6 p.m. start-
ing at the Friends of the Family
thrift store located at 1014
University Drive and ending
with the candlelight vigil on the
Texas Woman’s University
Campus.
“We want to send a message
that we have the authority to
take back the community and
put an end to this,” Young said.
“Laws can be made but until
society changes (sexual
assault) w ill remain a problem.”
Young said many people
don’t realize how frequently
sexual assaults occur in our
society. He said statistics indi-
cate that one in four females
will experience some type of
sexual assault in their lifetime
and one in five males have been
victims of sexual assault. The
intimate nature of the crime
means in many cases the crime
goes unreported. Young noted
that 80 percent of rape victims
never report the incident.
"When you break down what
is sexual assault many people
automatically think forced or
brutal attack but it could also
be coercion or manipulation,”
he said. “Say, for instance, you
are not on equal footing with
the perpetrator. Consensual sex
can only happen when both
people have equal power in the
relationship. Giving in to fear is
not consensual sex.”
Date rape is an example of a
type of sexual assault that can
fall into a gray area.
“Sometimes a person will get
drunk and feel afterward that
they were taken advantage of,”
he said. “Alcohol is used as a
weapon. It is used to render
someone helpless. Anytime a
person says they don’t want to
do anything sexual, that should
be the end of the conversation.”
One major aim of this cam-
paign is to make the public
aware that there are resources
in their community like Friends
of the Family that can help vic-
tims of sexual assault. Another
aim is to help friends and family
spot possible sexual abuse of
loved ones.
“One thing to look for is a
controlling relationship or
someone being fearful to
speak,” Young said. “Hiding
bruises, outbursts of anger and
a pattern of changing plans at
the last minute can all be signs
of abusive relationships. What’s
being said? Is there verbal
abuse? Isolation? Attempts to
minimize the abuse? These are
all signs to of sexual abuse.”
The phone number for the
Friends of the Family crisis line
in Denton is 1-800-572-4031. The
number in Lewisville is 972-221-
0650.
Contact staff writer
Brent Flynn at 972-538-2115
or at flynnb@starcntexas.
com.
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Shafer, Leah. The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 23, 2003, newspaper, April 23, 2003; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1621769/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.