The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 18, 2011 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Montague County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Friends of the Nocona Public Library.
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Page 2, Thursday, August 18, 2011, The Nocona News
Tracks n tracings . . .
o double punching
'You II back up. thrtmgh the cones...
By Tracy R. Mesler
Rather than the typical
taxpayer double punch,
thanks to hold-the-line atti-
tudes at the city and county,
and state stagnated tax rates
at the school level, the only
threat to their pocketbooks
that taxpayers face this year
as increased property val-
ues.
Typically, when tax rate
setting time rolls around in
August and September, tax-
payers face getting hit from
two directions - rising prop-
erty values, as determined
from real estate sales
records, and rising tax rates
set above the calculated
effective tax rate.
The effective tax rate is
the rated needed this year to
generate the same amount of
tax dollars that an entity had
at its disposal.
Some, like Montague
County, have typically
adopted a rate higher than
the effective rate. In fact, it
has been at least three
decades since the county
last did not exceed the
effective tax rate.
Others, such as the city,
have at times 'held the line'
and at times have not. This
year, Mayor Robert
Fenoglio has urged the staff
to 'hold the line' on the tax
rates.
Meanwhile, since the
Texas Legislature lopped
50-cents off the maximum
property tax a public school
could assess, school tax
rates have been locked at
the maximum of $1.04.
There is a procedure where-
by local entities can exceed
that amount, but it takes an
affirmative vote from the
taxpayers. Prior to the cur-
rent recession, such efforts
have, historically across
Texas, only been successful
about half the time.
So this year, taxpayers
get a break - unless the
value of their property has
increased. Then while their
tax rates may not increase,
their total tax bill will.
Of course for city resi-
dents, there is a double
whammy this year as the
city intends to raise both
water and sewer rates for
the first time in several
years.
Want to know when the
football scrimmage is
today?
Well don't bother check-
ing the 'Athletic' link on
Nocona High School's web-
site. The information is not
there.
And when's the next vol-
leyball game? Well, the vol-
leyball page has more infor-
mation than the football
page - but it is last year's
information.
And as of early Tuesday
afternoon that meant neither
team's schedules could be
found
Of course by now
Nocona patrons have come
to expect their district's
webpages to be a tad bit
behind schedule.
It does announce when
the first day of school is, but
only the Middle School has
its "Meet the Teacher" dates
and times on the website.
Neither of the other campus-
es have that information
posted.
So to answer those origi-
nal questions.
The football scrimmage
is tonight (Aug. 18) at 6
p.m. but at Jack Crain
Stadium since Chico's field
is unplayable.
The next home volleyball
game is not until Saturday,
Sept. 3, when the Lady
Indians host the Lady
Knights of Notre Dame. The
squad was at Aubrey
Tuesday, at Graham in a
tournament this weekend, at
Sanger Tuesday the 23rd
and then at Wichita Falls
High School on Tuesday the
30th.
**
Sound off, readers!
Letter to the editor:
As citizens of Texas, we
have a chance to lead our
nation in declaring our inde-
pendence from imported oil
and to stop the American
dollars flowing to foreign
regimes that wish harm
upon our nation and people.
While Texas has long led
the nation on domestic oil
production, we now have a
chance to reach vast new
reserves of oil and gas that
were unreachable only a few
years ago.
Using the new combina-
tion of horizontal dril ling
and hydraulic fracturing,
enormous reserves of oil
and gas from all over Texas
and the nation will aid in
fueling America's energy
independence. A vital ingre-
dient of this process will
come EOG's new sand mine
project in Cooke County. A
particular type of sand
found in our community
will be mined and processed
to be used in producing
energy here at home.
While it is important to
note that EOG's sand mine
will bring good jobs and
increased tax revenues to
our communities, with the
development of this project
and the associated explo-
ration, we must remind the
communities that sand pro-
duction in Cooke County is
part of a much larger pic-
ture, the push for American
Energy Independence.
I realize the "Not in My
Backyard Mentality," but
with advanced technology
and sound management of
this facility, it can coexist in
our communities to the bet-
terment of everyone. I
respectfully submit this let-
ter for your consideration.
Sincerely, Jeff Skinner
Skinner Tank Trucks
f of 9 charges sealed
driving while intoxicated.
Her bond was set at $30,000.
And Francis Leo Stadler
Jr., 48, of Wichita Falls, was
indicted for the March 6
offense of possession of cer-
tain chemicals with intent to
manufacture a controlled
substance. His bond was set
at $35,000.
MONTAGUE - Seven of
the nine felony indictments
handed down by the
Montague County Grand
Jury last Monday were
sealed pending the arrest and
arraignment of the defen-
dants.
Tessa Gail McNeil, 43, of
Bowie, was indicted for the
June 4 offense of felony
I 1
DANCE
Nocona VFW
Saturday, August 20
TIN RIVERS
From 9 'til 1 a.m.
WE ARE NOW A SMOKE FREE
ESTABLISHMENT.
NO ONE UNDER 21 UNLESS WITH
A PARENT OR GUARDIAN.
••• CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK!!! •••
We now accept Visa, Mastercard
and Discover.
— Photo by Tracy Mesler
County Judge Tommie Sappington gets his 'driving" instructions before taking a turn in the rock 'n roll scat of the
Texas Association of Counties truck simulator — part of the county's safety prev ention program.
Road hands, deputies take
turns in driver simulation
By Tracy R. Mesler
MONTAGUE - As part
of a decades' long safety
program, Montague County
brought the Texas
Association of Counties'
driving safety simulator to
the county this week.
Sheriff's deputies, police
officers, road and bridge
hands and even the County
Judge took turns in the simu-
lator honing their driving
skills in a variety of road and
weather conditions.
Both the peace officers
and the road hands took part
in three hour classroom ses-
sions before belting them-
selves into the simulators
and taking a driving test.
The TAC's Don Courtney
taught the law enforce-
ment/pursuit course while
Jack Coffey taught the road
hands course.
One out of every 100 pur-
suits results in death,
Courtney noted. Four out of
every 10 pursuits results in a
collision.
The Texas Association of
Counties is working to
reduce collisions among
county drivers through its
innovative driving simulator.
"My goal is to use the
driving simulator to reduce
cost to the county by reduc-
ing collisions and injuries to
county drivers," Courtney
said.
TAC's driving simulator
offers professional county
drivers the opportunity to
experience real-world driv-
ing conditions in a high-tech
environment that replicates
situations drivers may actu-
ally encounter while on the
road. Studies have shown
that driver-training programs
effectively reduce risks
while educating drivers on
safe-driving measures.
"Drivers tend to slip into
old habits behind the wheel,"
Courtney said. "From the
very beginning, I can tell
whether they are used to
driving with a seat belt on. I
can tell if they steer the
wheel one handed or two
handed, whether they use
their signals and mirrors."
The driver's seats are
manufactured in a way to
move, vibrate and shake as
they would during version
driving situations.
The simulator can throw
all sorts of weather condi-
tions up on the video
screens.
"The vehicles will roll,
and the perspective will
change as if you are rolling,"
Coffey told Road Hand
Jimmy Harris of Nocona as
he was the first up - with a
half dozen elected county
officials crammed into the
simulation trailer waiting
their turn.
For the road hands it was
a test simulated version of
their CDL test.
Law enforcement person-
nel received three hours con-
tinuing education credit for
their participation.
"Montague County
Sheriff, deputies, jail admin-
istrator, one of Saint Jo's
patrolmen, and three of
Nocona's patrolmen attend-
ed," said Glynnis Russell,
Chief Deputy County Clerk
who chairs the county's
Safety Committee. "Which
was about fifteen attend the
law enforcement and eight-
een from road & bridge. The
law enforcement part was
done on Tuesday and
Wednesday and road &
bridge was done on
Thursday and Friday. "
•kick
Example is the school of
mankind, and they will
learn at no other.
-Edmund Burke
If you can get
him out of the
vault...
wish this
fifty year old a
Happy Birthday
on August 23rd!
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Editors & Publishers
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P.O. Box 539
115 Cooke St.
Nocona, Texas 76255-0539
(940) 825-3201 fax (940) 825-3202
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Mesler, Tracy R. & Mesler, Linda L. The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 18, 2011, newspaper, August 18, 2011; Nocona, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth439376/m1/2/?q=%22Business%2C+Economics+and+Finance+-+Journalism%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Friends of the Nocona Public Library.