Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 19, 2006 Page: 1 of 18
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‘LAST HOLIDAY*
Is this the last go-round
for Queen Latifah? Not
if the magic of movies
has anything to say
about it.
IN COMMON/Pag« 2
CEDAR HILL
KEEPS ROLLING
The girls and boys basket-
ball teams deflated a couple
of schools from Arlington
last week.
SPORTS/Paga 10
INSIDE
Opinion...............4-5
Religion...............6-8
Sports.................10
www. todaynewspapers. net
94922 5618 61
02006
Cedar Hill Today
500
Cedar Hill's oldest newspaper • serving residents since 19651
Thursday. January 19, 2006
Best towing policy? City hopes to find out
Current regulations leave it up to the officer, chief says
By LOYD BRUMFIELD
News Editor
Several cities, including DeSoto
and Duncanville, have instituted poli-
cies that call for towing vehicles in
which owners can’t prove financial
responsibility. Will Cedar Hill join that
list?
The answer has yet to be deter-
mined.
Current policy allows for the deci-
sion to be made at the discretion of the
police officer involved in making a
traffic stop, Cedar Hill Police Chief
Steve Rhodes told members of the city
council during a briefing session.
He is fine with that policy, he said,
but would institute whatever changes
the council called for.
“Uninsured drivers are becoming a
bigger problem for police depart-
ments, but having no insurance is not
synonymous with a lack of financial
responsibility,” Rhodes said, adding
that Cedar Hill officers never use the
word “insurance” during a stop
because their cases can get thrown out
in court if drivers can prove they have
some other means of maintaining
financial responsibility.
It’s a Class C misdemeanor to drive
in Texas without proof of financial
responsibility, Rhodes said.
According to the Texas Department
of Public Safety, one in five drivers
don’t have car insurance. In Cedar
Hill, 1,407 citations were issued for
failure to maintain financial responsi-
bility in 2005, accounting for about 25
percent of all violations, Rhodes said.
The typical fine amount is $254,
according to the Cedar Hill Municipal
Court.
In addition, 443 citations were
given out to drivers who didn't have a
license, and 547 vehicles were towed
to a facility in Lancaster that contracts
with the city
Officers can opt to tow vehicles if
they are deemed unsafe or if officers
believe they may provide evidence in a
crime, among other reasons, Rhodes
said.
Cedar Hill officers will have vehi-
See TOWING, Page 8
Ambulance
fee change
pondered
By LOYD BRUMFIELD
News Editor
A change in the way Medi-
care reimburses cities means
Cedar Hill will need to make
up for an estimated $45,878
fewer dollars in revenues.
One way might be to
increase ambulance fees the
fire department charges, EMS
Chief Kevin Cunningham and
Fire Chief Steve Pollock tcrid
the Cedar Hill City Council
during a briefing session
before its Jan. 10 meeting.
The fire department char-
ges a base fee of $425 to trans-
port injured or ill Cedar Hill
residents to hospitals. Non-
residents pay $500. Proposed
new fees will increase the base
rate for residents to $500 and
$575 for non-residents.
The city has two options to
deal with the shortfall, Pollock
said in a letter to City Manager
Alan Sims. It can leave the fee
structure as is and subsidize
Ihe loss through some other
revenue stream, or it can adopt
the new fee structure to break
even and recover an estimated
$45,767.
The second option allows
the city to recover the money
through user fees and does not
negatively impact those who
don’t use the service. Pollock
said in the letter.
Medicare fees accounted
for 33 percent of the city’s
billing revenue in 2005, Cun-
ningham said in the briefing.
Private insurance accounted
for 53 percent, while private
pay accounted for 10 percent
and Medicaid 4 percent.
“We’re not looking at this
as being a true funding
source,” Cunningham said. “It
would be done strictly to offset
changes in Medicare, not to
raise extra revenue, as other
cities appear to be doing.”
Cedar Hill last increased its
ambulance fees last year,
See FEES, Page 8
Remembering the dream
Today photos by CHRIS HUDSON
A group of students rides in a float as Lancaster paid tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during its
annual parade Jan. 14. The event featured floats and several bands from around the south Dallas County area.
Construction crew
unearths grenade
By LOYD BRUMFIELD
News Editor
Construction workers from
the Texas Department of Public
Safety came upon something
they don’t find every day while
working on a stretch of road in
the 100 block of N. Highway
67: a hand grenade.
“This is the first grenade
I’ve ever come across,” Cedar
Hill Fire Chief Steve Pollock
said. “You get things like that
from time to time: strange
packages, white powder.”
The workers contacted
police and fire departments
after coming upon the grenade
embedded in the asphalt,
Pollock said.
“We had no way of knowing
if it was armed or if it even was
real, so we called in the Dallas
Bomb Squad,” Pollock said.
Both sides of the highway
was blocked off as the bomb
squad disabled the device. It
was real, but the bomb squad
determined that the charge had
been removed from it and it
wasn’t dangerous.
No evacuations were made.
“At one time we thought
about evacuating some of the
businesses nearby, but the
bomb squad determined that
wasn’t necessary,” he said.
Street rehab list published
The Cedar Hill City
Council approved its street
rehabilitation projects for
2005-06 at its Jan. 10 meet-
ing. The rehabilitation will
either be an overlay or a slur-
ry seal. A slurry seal is a cold-
mix paving system that can
fix a broad range of problems
on streets. Think of it as an
industrial-grade asphalt sur-
facing.
No completion dates have
been set, but work should take
place throughout the year, the
council said.
1. Bear Creek Road — spot
repair/reconstruction as needed
(overlay)
2. Summit Place (overlay)
3. Angela Court (overlay)
4. Hood Street (overlay)
5. Linkhaven Drive (overlay)
6. Randy Drive — North of
Kingswood Drive (overlay)
7. Robin Road (Overlay)
8. Highland Drive — From
Whitney to Belt Line (overlay)
9. Whitney Street — 200 block
from McKinley to Matterhorn
(overlay)
10. McKinley Street — 400 block
(overlay)
11. Everest Street — 400 block
(overlay)
12. Long Court — 700 block
(overlay)
13. Yorkshire Drive (slurry seal)
14. Yorkshire Court (slurry seal)
15. Cambridge Drive (slurry seal)
16. Bristol Drive (slurry seal)
17 Valerie Drive (slurry seal)
18. Madlynne Drive (slurry seal)
19. Sharon Drive (slurry seal)
20. KariAnn Drive (slurry seal)
21. Meadowridge Drive (slurry
seal)
22. Daniel Lane (slurry seal)
23. Bradshaw Street (slurry seal)
24. Northwood Trail (slurry seal)
25. Jorgenson Road (slurry seal)
This information has been provided by
Council member Wade Emmerl on his blog
at www. wadeemmert com
Fire department honors Trevino’s father^
By LOYD BRUMFIELD
News Editor
On Aug. 15, a Cedar Hill High School
volleyball player collapsed at a match. By
the time paramedics arrived, Eddie Trevino
was already there, working to stabilize the
patient.
Her heart had stopped, but by the time
she reached the hospital, she was breathing
on her own.
“The key thing in all of this is that you
rarely see a positive outcome with things
l*ke this,” said Cedar Hill Fire Chief Steve
Pollock, who presented Trevino with the
department’s first ever “Citizens Lifesaving
Award” at a city council meeting Jan. 10.
Trevino, a Dallas paramedic, was only
doing his job, he said.
What is also unique in all of this is that
Trevino’s patient was his daughter, 15-year-
old Ciera.
She had suffered a heart attack and
some brain damage because of a lack of
oxygen, but she has made remarkable
progress since then.
The Cedar Hill soccer standout, along
with other members of her family, was
there to witness her father’s award.
“1 can’t imagine what it must be like
having to work on your own daughter,”
Pollock said. -...........
Eddie Trevino, a 20-year resident of
Cedar Hill, has been with the Dallas Police
Department since 1977 and was named
Paramedic of the Year in 1989.
Locally, he has served on three Cedar
Hill youth sports boards and has been a
longtime volunteer coach.
“We’re truly blessed for him to be a part
of our lives,” Pollock said.
Eddie Trevino thanked the efforts of
Cedar Hill’s paramedics.
“I watched her fall and saw her heart
stop, and when those guys showed up, it
was just such a comfort to see those guys
there,” he said, adding that many of them
are hisjieighbors.—-
His voice was thick with emotion when
he introduced Ciera and the rest of his fam-
ily to the council.
The chamber responded with a standing
ovation.
See TREVINO, Page 8
today photo by CTOTBUMWEtP
Cedar Hill Fire Chief Steve
Pollock presents the aw-
ard to Eddie Trevino.
Officials
dream of
‘transit
village’
Grant would
start process
By LOYD BRUMFIELD
News Editor
High-speed rail in Cedar
Hill? T he city is looking into
it
If approved, a grant request
submitted to the North C’entral
Texas C ouncil of Governments
would allow the city to hire a
consultant to develop plans,
codes and implementation
strategies for a “Transit-
Oriented Development Plan."
The plan is expected to cost
about $231,250, and the city
will match 20 percent of that
($46,250), Director of
Planning Rod Tyler said.
The grant will ultimately
“foster Rapitl Rail develop-
ment and bring a rail station to
Cedar Hill.” or perhaps one at
the Midlothian city limits and
one in the central business dis-
trict," Tyler said.
The rail line would be part
of a proposed Regional Rail
Corridor, not the Dallas Area
Rapid Transit system, although
such a rail system would reach
out to Dallas and Tarrant
County, somewhat like the
Trinitv Railway Express.
Cedar Hill's grant would do
more than |list bring rail here,
Tyler said li would also help
link the uptown downtown
area and "make streets livable
and walkable" and “support a
mix of land uses and higher
density within the Old Town
area ”
Such a transit area should:
• expand rail service acces-
sibility;
• support transit-oriented
development;
• serve the workforce near
the transit area.
• increase density and walk-
ability of areas near the rail
stations
The rail line would pass by
the new government center, the
proposed “lifestyle center" and
other areas of note in Cedar
Hill.
Tyler presented the propos-
al to the city council at a meet-
ing held Jan. 10. The council
unanimously approved the
application for the grant later
in the meeting.
The deadline to submit the
grant is Jan. 20, Tyler said, and
NCTCOG will make a deci-
sion in April.
NCTCOG’s Sustainable
Development Call for Projects
See TRANSIT, Page 8
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Gooch, Robin. Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 19, 2006, newspaper, January 19, 2006; Duncanville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth623982/m1/1/?q=iraq+reconstruction: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.