The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 35, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Page: 1 of 16
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WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 26, 2012
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 35
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SPORTS
Cross country
The Colony teams
finish third in
Flower Mound
p11A
INDEX
Voices, p2A
News & Business, p3A
Classified, pl3A
WEATHER
Highs near 91 through
Thursday with lows near 71.
Expect cooler highs through
the weekend near 85.
SERIOUSLY?
Wrong turn
TODAY.com reports —
Lindsay Lohan and
Amanda Bynes seem to
constantly be in trouble for |
their behind-the-wheel ac-
tivities. Lohan may or may
not have hit a pedestrian
with her Porsche SUV in
New York early Wednesday,
and Bynes was ordered by
a judge not to drive after
multiple incidents.
So tire maker Goodyear
has decided to offer the ac-
tresses some assistance.
They’ve sent letters to both |
women offering them free
trips to the company’s Ohio |
headquarters for a private
safe driving lesson with a
Goodyear professional
driver at the company’s
track.
The letter, signed by a
company vice-president,
notes that “driving can be
a real challenge.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It is not only fine feathers
that make fine birds.”
— Aesop,
The Jay and the Peacock
TODAY IN HISTORY
On this day in 1960, for the
first time in U.S. history, a
debate between major
party presidential candi-
dates was shown on televi-
sion. The presidential
hopefuls were Sen. John F.
Kennedy and Vice Presi-
dent Richard M. Nixon.
VERSE OF THE DAY
“And he has given us this
command: Whoever loves
God must also love his
brother.”
— 1 John 4:21
CONNECT WITH US
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thecolonycourierleader
Police department gets
‘MADD’ at drunk drivers
CARROLLTON PD SAYS DRUNK DRIVING IS MAJOR CONCERN FOR DEPARTMENT
MARTHE STINTON
mstinton @starlocalnews. com
Drunken driving is nothing
, new — it’s something police
departments have been bat-
I tling for years. The problem is
| of particular importance to
the state of Texas, which has
| the second-largest amount of
annual alcohol-related acci-
' dents, according to
MADD.org.
“Last year, the staff as-
sisted more than 4,000 victims
of drunken driving incidents,”
said Jeff Miracle, MADD Dal-
KELSEY KRUZICH / STAFF PHOTO
Nebraska Furniture Mart, one of the largest home furnishing stores in the nation, broke ground on September 25. Construction will take two years
and the store plans to open in 2015.
Nebraska Furniture Mart
breaks ground on multimillion-
dollar complex
MARTHE STINTON
mstinton @starlocalnews com
Get ready: more than
4,000 construction jobs and
2,000 retail positions are
coming to North Texas
within the next two years.
Nebraska Furniture Mart
celebrated its groundbreak-
ing on Tuesday in The
Colony as several city and
DCTA boasts big news at meeting
NEW TRAINS
NOW RUNNING
ON MOST
POPULAR UNE
Marthe STINTON
mstinton @starlocalnews. com
Dave Kovach has spent the
last five years representing
the city of The Colony on the
Denton County Transportation
Authority.
Kovach spent a few min-
utes at last week’s city council
meeting bringing the city up
to date on the latest develop-
ments. He said the biggest im-
provement — and what the
authority is most proud of —
is the addition of new trains
that recently started running
By the numbers
• Rank: 49
• 3 time offenders:
124.662
• 5 time offenders:
18.271
• DUI Fatalities: 1,259
las executive director.
On a local level, The Colony'
Police Department made 72
DWI arrests in 2011, repre-
senting 4 percent of the total
2,058 arrests in the city. This
number does not include DUI
NEW JOBS ON THE WAY FOR NORTH TEXAS AS RETAILER
MAKES THIRD AND LARGEST MOVE IN THE NATION
county officials welcomed
the giant retail furniture
store.
The Colony has been in
discussion with the Omaha-
based retail giant for the
past few years and was on
hand to welcome Nebraska
Furniture Mart officials to
the state.
The 1.86 million-square
Goals and
objectives
• Maximize service effi-
ciency and reliability
• Maximize the effective-
ness of service for the
DCTA’s ridership markets
• Increase the visibility
and elevate the image of
the DCTA
• Expand the DCTA's serv-
ices into areas where tran-
sit has a strong likelihood
of success
on the line.
The DCTA purchased 11
diesel-electric rail vehicles
from Stadler that are compat-
ible with the current rail sys-
tem. The vehicles incorporate
enhanced air conditioning,
passenger information system
and video surveillance, ac-
• % of total traffic deaths
DUI related 42
• % of change in DUI fatali-
ties from previous to cur-
rent year: 0.5
• State subsidy of drunk
driving fatalities: $5.9 Bil-
lion
Minor charges, since individu-
als do not have to be intoxi-
cated to be charged. The city
also had 191 public intoxica-
tion arrests in 2011, repre-
senting 9 percent of total
charges in the city.
foot development will be
part of the largest retail and
entertainment destination
of its kind in North America
and will be situated at State
Highway 121 and Plano
Parkway in The Colony.
Officials said Nebraska
Furniture Mart is expected
to attract more than 8 mil-
lion visitors from more than
• Coordinate regional
services with other re-
gional transportation
providers
• Tie the provision of tran-
sit to land-use and the re-
sulting demand levels
• Advocate sustainable
development practices
that support transit
• Maintain fiscally sound
and sustainable financial
plans and budgets that re-
flect community priorities
and values
cording to the DCTA website.
The spacious interior has
room for wheelchairs, strollers
and bicycles. The vehicles
have a capacity of 200 people,
with 104 seats and standing
room for 96 others.
This means that for the
first time ever; light-
More recently, from Jan. 1
through Aug. 31, 55 people
were arrested for DWIs and
119 were arrested for public
intoxication. If arrest rations
remain on the current track,
officials say the department
will see nearly 2,300 arrests,
91 of which would be DWI re-
lated.
Darren Brockway, public
information officer for the de-
partment, said if drivers could
witness the devastation drunk
driving accidents have on fam-
ilies as it happens, it would
200 miles way, and generate
more than $600 million in
sales annually. The store
will house more than
160,000 items for the home,
tempting the shopping ad-
dictions of homeowners
across the region.
The 90-acre plot will be
home to other retailers and
See NEBRASKA, Page 4A
weight/fuel-efficient, eco-
friendly vehicles will be per-
mitted to operate in rail
corridors concurrently with
traditionally compliant vehi-
cles, according its website.
The decision to purchase
the new vehicles came after
three years of research, Ko-
vach said.
“We learned some serious
lessons from our counterparts
in Austin who were buying
these Stadler rail vehicles,” he
said. “We had spent a lot of
time with the federal govern-
ment going through a lot of
regulations in order to get a
waiver to allow us to run these
new vehicles, which I believe
are safer, on our rail lines. We
spent a lot of time, not just on
See DCTA, Page 6A
make most people think be-
fore driving while intoxicated.
“In my 23 years of law en-
forcement, some of the most
horrific scenes that seem to
linger are the traffic fatalities
involving a drunk driver,” he
said. “Not only can some of
those scenes be extremely
gruesome, but part of our job
in law enforcement is notify-
ing the deceased’s next of kin.
Waking up a spouse, parent, or
other beloved family member
in the middle of the night to
See MADD, Page 3A
Budget
approved
YEARLY TAX
REDUCTION
PROVE
SUCCESSFUL
MARTHE STINTON
mstinton @starlocalnews. com
The Colony city council ap-
proved its final budget last week,
which has been reduced to 68
cents per $100 appraised prop-
erty value.
The certified tax roll of
$2,179,988,416 is an increase in
valuation of $23,993,308 — or
one percent of last years certi-
fied property tax value.
Total debt service require-
ments increased by almost
$185,000 from FY 2011-2012.
Next year, total debt sendees will
decrease $236,000 and will start
a progression of decreased re-
quirements until the debt is fully
paid in 2030.
Operating budgets are ex-
pected to end the FY 2013 with
80 days in the general fund and
60 operating days in the parks
and utility funds.
The council said there are
several items they would like to
address in the future, including
continuously lowering the tax
rate every year and eventually
separating city hall and the li-
brary into two separate loca-
tions.
Budgets
OPERATING BUDGETS WILL
ALSO PROVIDE $2,017,500 IN
ADDITION TO CAPITAL EX-
PENSES ABOVE NORMAL
AND REOCCURRING OPER-
ATING EXPENSES FOLLOW:
• Digital radio upgrade,
$820,000
• COLA raises, $400,000
• Patrol car camera up-
grade, $200,000
• Animal control remodel,
$152,500
• Police vehicle require-
ments, $175,000
• Vehicle replacement re-
serve, $100,000
• EMC replacement,
$50,000
• Mail box replacement,
$50,000
• Roof replacement at
Harris Plaza, $25,000
• Handheld meter reader
upgrade, $20,000
• Lift station enhance-
ments, $10,000
Total, $ 2,017,500
October 6
Kids’Day i
Free Activities e I
foll day of family fun!
A fuleepumpkins. Taking
Decorating Tening, Coloring
Pictures, Story Garden,
Books, Chalking the G
Potting Pansies & Salad
Greens and more.
, calloways.com w
alii
Celebrate! See the big Pumpkin Patch, the Picture Takin‘ Place, the Field of
Monster Plants, the Farmer sMarket., and the inspiring
lose © uhe 9=
1. noun
season!
Open Daily
9 am - 7 pm
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Mann, Rick. The Colony Courier-Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 35, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 26, 2012, newspaper, September 26, 2012; Plano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1622200/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.