Today Newspapers (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 21, 2009 Page: 1 of 16
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Cosmetic Dentistry * lummeers • Family Dentistry |
■ We Create Beautiful Smiles
Let us create a new smile for you.
We would love to have you as a
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Wm. A. Brown D.D.S., F.A.G.D.
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INSIDE
Opinion 4
Lifestyles 5
Religion .6
Sports 9-11
Education 12-13
www.todaynewspapers.net
Vol 1, No. 9
CEDAR H
©2009
Today Newspapers
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Today Newspapers - serving the Best Southwest for more than 40 years
DeSoto teachers, students criticize district
By JILL QUARLES
Today Staff
DeSoto Independent School District
teachers, students, parents and taxpayers
had vocal comments at the regular May
11 board meeting, addressing discipline,
academics and campus safety.
Meeting agenda items were straight-
forward and included approving a bank
in which to place district money, dis-
cussing an added 15 minutes to the
school day and allocating possible stim-
ulus money, but eight DeSoto citizens,
including Mayor Pro Tem Carl
Sherman, shifted the meeting's focus to
what they believe are important district
problems.
Karen Daniel was the first of three
DISD teachers to address the board, and
in doing so, expressed concerns about,
discipline, safety academics and eco-
nomics in the high school.
Daniel has taught in the district for
almost 30 years and said she believes
DeSoto school administrators are
attempting to turn the district into a
"mega school," and sited this as cause
for academic and disciplinary problems.
She referred to the school's academ-
ically unacceptable state TAKS test
ranking and told the board." We didn't
Cedar Hill bans
long truck idling
By STEVE SNYDER
Today Staff
Turn that engine off!
In the main item of business at its May 12 agenda, the
Cedar Hill City Council approved an ordinance adopting
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Idling
Limitations Rule, as suggested to cities throughout the
Metroplex by the North Central Texas Council of
Governments. The COG is especially targeting semis and
other heavy-duty diesels, noting they create 15 times as
many emissions in idling as gasoline engines.
Under the rule, all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight
rating of more than 14,000 pounds cannot idle for more
than five minutes from April-October, the peak of North
Texas' ozone season. Other restrictions ban semi drivers
from idling to control a sleeper berth in a residential
neighborhood, school zone or hospital area, or within 2
miles of a facility offering external heating and air condi-
tioning, such as a truck stop offering external hook-ups for
semis.
See IDLING, Page 6
Hasta la vista, mayor!
Today photo by CHRIS HUDSON
Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke got wet for a good cause May 16 at Bray Elementary
School's annual PTA carnival.
have this problem as a community
school," adding that 63 percent of unac-
ceptably scoring students are economi-
cally disadvantaged, compared to a sig-
nificantly smaller percentage of DeSoto
residents.
See DESOTO, Page 14
USD wants
public in on
super search
By BILL CONRAD
Today Staff
Lancaster citizens wanting a say in
the hiring of the new Lancaster ISD
superintendent have a chance to share
their input with a search firm May 26.
Arrow Educational Services was
hired by the district in April to conduct
the search. Arrow has worked with sev-
eral districts in the area including
DeSoto, Midlothian and Mabank.
Arrow has formed a questionnaire
for Lancaster residents and district
employees to gage what people believe
is important in a new superintendent
and help them form the criteria that will
be used to make a recommendation to
the board.
See LISD, Page 6
DV schools
thumbs up
Today photo by CHRIS HUDSON
Cancer survivors and their loved ones hit the track to fight cancer in the
Best Southwest Relay for Life at DeSoto's West Middle School May 15.
'Big C' survivors celebrate life
By JILL QUARLES
Today Staff
Lucie Weaver doesn't embody any
stereotypical image of a cancer patient.
Wearing a bright purple Relay for Life sur-
vivor's T-shirt and chatting energetically
with friends over an outdoor lasagna din-
ner, the 22-year breast cancer survivor and
32-year DeSoto resident has a complicated
medical history of invasive surgeries and
"frightening" procedures.
Like Weaver, thousands of other sur-
vivors, along with their caregivers, friends
and families, participate in the American
Cancer Society's signature event not only
to celebrate their survival, but also to make
a statement - that much work remains to
fight cancer and to educate the public about
its realities.
This year's Best Southwest Relay for
Life event was May 15-16 from 7 p.m.-7
a.m. at DeSoto West Middle School. The
theme was patriotic and centered on the
slogan, "Yes, we can find a cure."
"No one would even talk about 'the
dreaded c' until Betty Ford had it," she said,
remembering her own diagnosis in 1987, a
time when she said ignorance prevented
awareness to the disease and sensitivity to
its sufferers.
"I'm glad medical science doesn't treat
it like it's contagious anymore," Judi Anne
Worthington, another survivor said. Wor-
thington works in the medical field and
said she has seen a shift in medical profes-
sionals' attitude and approaches to cancer
treatment during the past two decades.
See CANCER, Page 8
By BETHANY BERRY
Today Staff
Results from a recent community
survey showed residents have a posi-
tive impression of Duncanville Inde-
pendent School District and details
why a majority of voters voted against
the 13-cent property tax increase.
Marc DelSignore, vice president of
Baselice and Associates Inc., present-
ed the preliminary report at a May 11
school board meeting and informed
boardmembers that the district is "fair-
ly well regarded" by the community,
giving a 71 percent approval rating.
When compared to administration
and school board members, teachers
received a 68 percent rating from
respondents. DelSignore contributed
this to teachers as being the "face of
the district." Administration ranked 48
percent and boardmembers 40 per-
cent.
DelSignore noticed differences in
media sources respondents used to
learn new information about the dis-
trict, pointing out 42 percent of par-
ents use the Internet as a source, while
only 13 percent of other adults receive
their information from the Internet.
"What's important to keep in mind
is that non-parents tend to be a lot
older," he said. "And from previous
research, older citizens aren't as apt to
use the Internet, and this plays a part
as to why they aren't as likely to use
the Internet to get the information."
See SURVEY, Page 8
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Today photo by BILL CONRAD
Texas Workforce Commissioner Andres Alcantar speaks prior to the
presentation of a $90,009 training grant to WNA Cups Illustrated May
13. Cedar Valley College will provide the training for the company.
Manufacturer partners with
CVC for state training grant
By BILL CONRAD
Today Staff
With the current economic down-
turn forcing businesses to make budget
cuts, finding money to provide training
to employees can be hard to do.
Luckily for businesses in the Best
Southwest, Cedar Valley College might
be able to help.
WNA Cups Illustrated, which oper-
ates a plant in Lancaster and is one of
the leading manufacturers of plastic
cups in the nation, partnered with CVC
and received a training grant from the
Texas Workforce Commission totaling
$90,009.
Texas Workforce Commissioner
Andres Alcantar was at WNA Cups
Illustrated to present the check May
13. He said that even with the economy
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in the shape it is in now, the Workforce
Commission has grant money to give
out to help Texas companies.
"We have a statewide program for
companies that partner with communi-
ty colleges, technical schools and other
non-profit organizations," Alcantar
said.
"That program has been enhanced
this year due to money received from
The American Recovery and Reinvest-
ment Act. We have received money and
distributed money that was received
for job training through the stimulus
act."
Alcantar said the goal of the grants
is to make companies more productive
by increasing the training level of their
employees.
See GRANT, Page 14
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Today Newspapers (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 21, 2009, newspaper, May 21, 2009; Duncanville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth403316/m1/1/?q=%22~1~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.