Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 2007 Page: 1 of 20
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Giddings Times & News
SERVING LEXINGTON, DIME BOX, LINCOLN, SERBIN, NORTHRUP, PAIGE, LEDBETTER, MANHEIM, FEDOR & GIDDINGS
PUBLISHED AND EDITED BY A NATIVE LEE COUNTIAN -- PREUSS PRINTING CO., INC.
VOLUME 117
GIDDINGS, LEE COUNTY, TEXAS 78942-0947
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007
NUMBER 35
DA, Texas Ranger review
video of police shooting
Case to go before grand jury after toxicology report
District Attorney Ted Weems vices to all members of the
and Texas Ranger Rocky Ward- Giddings Police Department.
low have reviewed a video tape
of the actual shooting death of having to deal with the loss of
61-year-old William Leonard
Clark, involving two Giddings
police officers, as part of an
ongoing investigation of the
tragic incident.
Mr. Weems said the case
will ultimately be presented
to the Lee County grand jury
as is customary in any police
shooting.
“We are awaiting toxicology
results from the autopsy before
presenting any evidence to the
grand jury for their consider-
ation," said Mr. Weems.
He indicated that it may take
2 to 3 weeks before those
reports are released from the
Department of Public Safety
autopsy team in Austin.
Nine local pastors have vol-
unteered their counseling ser-
T
Chief appraiser resigns post
due to health-related issues
James Archer leaving, Board looking for replacement
Chief Appraiser James M.
Archer has submitted his res
ignation to the Lee County
Appraisal District Board due
to health reasons.
Mr Archer, who served the
county for more than a year,
will stay until the Board has
time to hire someone to replace
him.
"We will be taking applica-
tions the next two weeks and
will be holding a meeting to
look at candidates on February
12th," said Board Chairman
Douglas Spacek. "We hope to
have someone new in place by
March 1st."
The time for Mr. Archer's
resignation came at a good
time, and the transition of hir-
Dime Box Homecoming
Queen to be crowned Friday Arctic fronts could produce
Five Dime Box High School
students have been nominated
for 2007 Homecoming Queen.
The queen will be crowned
Friday evening following the
boys basketball game.
This year the nominees in-
clude Melanie Ariza, Syna-
tasha Parker, Dawn Rackel,
All officers on the force are
life involved in this shooting,
according to local officials.
The two officers involved
-- Christopher Law, a senior
patrol officer, and Ryan Kays,
a patrol officer -- were un-
injured and were placed on
temporary administrative leave
after the Sunday night, Jan. 21
incident.
As reported last week. Mr.
Clark was fatally shot when
he came out of his apartment
in south Giddings and began
walking toward and firing at
the two officers who had re-
sponded to a 911 call, accord-
ing to investigators.
Chief Deputy Rodney Meyer,
who also assisted the Texas
Rangers in the investigation,
said Mr. Clark's behavior was
ing someone new should be a
smooth transition, according to
Mr. Spacek
"Mr. Archer was very honest
and forthcoming with us, and
the reason for his resignation
has nothing to do with non-
performance or inability. It is
Council reconsiders issue of parking
commercial vehicles, trailers on streets
The Giddings City Council
again held a workshop con-
cerning an ordinance regard-
ing commercial vehicle traffic
and the prohibiting of parking
large vehicles and trailers on
residential streets.
Lauren Evans, and Emerita
Mata.
Melanie Ariza is the daughter
of Julia and Eduardo Saldana.
She participates in volleyball,
basketball, softball and cheer-
leading.
After graduation she plans
on attending Charles and
t ' HI
I V
uncharacteristic.
He had been employed as a
truck driver.
Mr. Clark’s wife, Barbara,
had reportedly been inside the
apartment, but had escaped
before the gun battle ensued.
She wasn't injured.
Police officers responded to
a call at 7:45 that a man had
pointed a pistol at his wife's
head and threatened her.
The gun battle and fatal
shooting took place about 15
minutes later shortly after 8
p.m.
Another fatal shooting
by police in September
Four months earlier, in Sep-
tember, there was another
fatal shooting by police in the
county.
This one involved two Lex-
ington police officers who
See VIDEO, page 5
strictly for him to deal with
health-related and personal is-
sues," Mr Spacek stated.
The new chief appraiser will
be the fourth hired by the
district in the past five years.
Amelia Stayton served about
See RESIGNS, page 5
The council has been meeting ‘the orginal ordinance, coming
for over two months on the
ordinance, trying to design it
so that it fits the needs of the
community.
At the Monday night meeting
they discussed going back to
Sue's School of Hair Design
in Bryan, where she will ma-
jor in cosmetology. Melanie
is sponsored by the varsity
cheerleaders.
Syntasha Parker is the daugh
ter of Sharon Moore and par-
ticipates in basketball. She
See QUEEN, page 4b
gez E a V
GETTING READY -- Fans (left) and John Davis at Sim-
anxiously await the takeoff of mang Park in Giddings Monday
two rockets being set up by morning. Immanuel Lutheran
sixth grade students Josh Hill School students launched 18
Learning made fun during
rocket-launching project
Immanuel students test rockets Monday morning
When the sixth grade Science
class at Immanuel Lutheran
School in Giddings were told
they were going to do a space
technology project shooting
real rockets into the air, their
eyes lit up with the excitement
of fun and learning wrapped
into one.
So teacher Frank Smith or-
dered all the supplies needed
to piece together 18 rockets
up with a map where that or-
dinance will be enforced, and
also line tuning it.
At first council considered
the proposed new ordinance
drawn up by the city manager
and city attorney.
That ordinance was deemed
bitter freeze here by Sunday
Pipe-busting weather being forecast by one meteorologist
A series of arctic fronts this
weekend are expected to bring
the coldest weather of the win-
ter so far to Lee County and
Central Texas.
While most Austin TV me-
teorologists aren't predicting
bitterly cold weather, KVUE’s
Two revolvers, cash
taken in local burglary
Two revolvers and cash were
reported stolen from a local
residence, according to Gid-
dings Police.
CpI. Joey Garza was dis-
patched to Nails Creek Rd.
at 9:30 pm Sunday. Jan 28
where he met with Kenneth
Wolf about me break-in.
Mr. Wolf stated that he had
See BURGLARY, page 8
- one for each student to make
their own.
“The students spent five days
building and painting their
solid propelling rockets, along
with constructing controllers
to launch the rockets," said
Mr. Smith.
The final stage of getting ev-
erything ready was assembling
launch pads for the rockets to
take off. When that was com-
too restrictive and would only
allow landowners to park one
commercial vehicle, trailer or
RV on the street at a person’s
home without a permit. Rent-
ers would not be allowed to
park a commercial truck or
trailer.
See PARKING, page 8
Mark Murray was still fore-
casting a “pipe-busting” freeze
by Super Bowl Sunday.
Mr. Murray has been predict-
ing since before last weekend
that the Jet Stream pattern was
going to deliver bitterly cold
weather into Texas and across
most of North America east of
Two cars damaged in
brick-throwing incident
Two cars parked at a local
apartment complex were dam-
aged in a brick-throwing inci-
dent last Thursday, Jan. 25.
Officer Farah Ramsey and
Chief Nathan Lapham were
called out to Shade Tree Apart
ments at 3:30 p.m. in regards
to a disturbance involving a
See BRICK, page 8
rockets as part of a space tech-
nology Science project that took
five days to build the rockets.
-- Tinies & News Photo
pleted, it was off to Simmang
Park on Monday morning to
test them out.
"We originally thought we
would shoot them off later in
the week. But with the colder
weather coming, we had to
move it up to Monday," Mr.
Smith said.
The class and a small group
See ROCKET, page 10b
Police chase alleged
shoplifter, who admits
to forging prescriptions
Giddings police officers
joined a local grocery store
manager in chasing down a 27-
year-old Ledbetter woman for
alleged shoplifting, who later
admitted forging prescriptions
at the same store.
Lt. Lacey Carvin was dis-
patched to Brookshire Bros. at
2:50 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 in
See CHASE, page 4b
the Rockies late this week.
He is calling for lows in the
mid to lower 20s when the
first and second fronts arrive
on Friday night and on Sun-
day, and maybe down into the
teens as the third front arrives
on Monday.
Each front is expected to con-
tain progressively colder air
as a large dome of arctic high
See ARCTIC, page 4b
Hundreds in Austin
protest Phase 2 toll
roads around area
Hundreds of activists came
out for a recent meeting of
the Capital Area Metropolitan
Planning Organization to once
again voice their opposition to
See TOLL, page 4b
Judge sentences six in
District Court in Giddings
1
21st District Judge Terry
Flenniken sentenced six people
in District Court in Giddings
NOMINEES for 2007 Dime Syntasha Parker, Dawn Rackel, will be presented in the high
Thursday.
James Arthur Gantt, 51, of
Box Homecoming Queen are, Lauren Evans, and Emerita school gym following the hoys Giddings was sentenced to
left to right, Melanie Ariza, Maia. The homecoming court basketball game Friday night.
10 years in prison on a charge
of possession of a controlled
substance-cocaine, less than
one gram, in a drug-free-zone.
repeat felony offender. Gantt
was ordered to pay $4,591
restitution and $696 in court
costs and attorney fees.
Johnathan Keith Kana, 25, of
Lexington was found guilty of
criminal solicitation of a mi-
nor. He was sentenced to five
years in prison and ordered to
pay $296 in court costs
See DISTRICT, page lb
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Preuss, L. M., III & True, David G. Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 2007, newspaper, February 1, 2007; Giddings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1665662/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.