The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 46, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 19, 2014 Page: 1 of 16
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Sunday
January 19, 2014
AMERICAN
PROFILE
INSIDE
TODAY
score
Kemp girls fall to Life
Oak Cliff; Mabank
boys take overtime
defeat; Mabank
soccer schedule.
See Sports, Page 11A
Business of
month
Brittany Samford of
Stop-N-Gogh Art
Studio is honored at
chamber luncheon.
See Page 7A
EWS
IN
BRIEF
Mabank Fire
Department Chili
Supper
The Mabank Fire De-
partment is hosting a
chili supper from 4 to 8
p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18,
at the fire station at 111
E. Mason in Mabank. All
proceeds benefit the
Mabank Fire Depart-
ment.
Martin Luther King,
Jr. Holiday Closures
City post offices,
schools, banks and city
halls as well as
Henderson County of-
fices will be closed Mon-
day, Jan. 20, in obser-
vance of Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day.
Rootseekers
Genealogy Society
MEETING
The Rootseekers Ge-
nealogy Society meets
at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan.
20, at the Tri-County Li-
brary in downtown Ma-
bank. Margaret Ann Trail
will speak on “Intestant
Will Research.” Visitors
are welcome.
Kemp Band Boosters
The Kemp Band
Boosters met at 6:30
p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21,
in the band hall.
See BRIEFS, Page 16A
NSIDE
TODAY
SECTION A
Views & Opinions......Page2A
PP&E...........................Page 3 A
Jumps.........................Page4A
PP&E......................Pages 5-8A
Lake Life.....................Page 9A
Business Spotlight.....Page 10A
Sports......................Pages 11A
Obituaries...................Page 12A
Classifieds...........Pages 13-15 A
Weather....................Page 16A
fl 06005 63Dfl5 b
Your Only Loon. Pirn. For News Fno SPoars
The Monitor
©2014 MediaOne, L.L.C. COVEZINQ THE ENTIRE CeDf\K CHEEIC LfUCE AfcEA Vol. 40 No. 46 1 Section 75$
■ Mabank ■ Gun Barrel City "Kemp ■ Seven Points »Tool »Eustace * Payne Springs »Log Cabin ■ Enchanted Oaks •Trinidad "Malakoff
Animal shelter finances on sure footing
Grants, fee hike and public response to threat of closure bolster the bottomline
By David Webb
Monitor Correspondent
TOOL-The Humane
Society of Cedar Creek
Lake recently received
three grants totaling
$45,000 from charitable
organizations, putting the
struggling animal shelter
back on financial track,
according to the president
of the group’s board of di-
rectors.
Donny Shubert said the
organization received
$30,000 from the Mead-
ows Foundation, $10,000
from National Globe Life
and $5,000 from Maddie’s
Fund. The grant money
combined with $32,000
given by the community
during emergency fund-
raising in the fall and re-
structured fee agreements
with Henderson and Kauf-
man counties, along with
nearby cities has given the
group a big boost, he said.
“We’re in better shape
today than we have been
in a long time,” Shubert
said. “We’re getting a
great start for the new
year.”
Shubert and other vol-
unteers developed a new
business plan for the group
after it came close to run-
ning out of money for op-
erations at the end of the
summer.
As part of the new plan,
the group asked the coun-
ties to begin paying a per-
animal fee for homeless
pets taken to the shelter
rather than a flat rate per
year and increased fees
from the cities. Henderson
County will now be pay-
ing $75 per animal, Kauf-
man County will pay $65
per animal and the cities
will pay $45 per animal in-
stead of $17.50
Both counties signed the
new contracts, and all of
the cities, with the excep-
tion of Seven Points, have
approved the revised
agreements as well,
Shubert said. The Seven
Points City Council tabled
the agenda item at its last
meeting, citing the need for
further discussion because
of affordability issues.
“We should be in pretty
good shape,” Shubert
said. “It all depends on the
volume of animals we take
in.”
Shubert said the group
is grateful for the help it
received from the commu-
nity, local public officials
and the charitable organi-
zations. “People really
stepped up and supported
us,” he said.
Shubert said the group
is considering shutting
down the old building at
the animal shelter and re-
placing it with “something
new.” “That would be my
hope, but we will have to
see how things go,”
Shubert said.
The group built a new
building to shelter animals
Finance ESI See page 4A
County
leaders
adjust for
health-
care act
By Tracy Martin
Monitor Correspondent
ATHEN S-Henderson
County Commissioners
approved changes to its
personnel policy Tuesday,
based on changes to new
health care coverage re-
quirements.
All part-time workers
will have their hours cut
back to 25 hours per
week to make sure their
hours do not exceed 30
hours on average. Any
who averaged 30 hours in
any pay period, would
trigger the requirement to
provide full health care
benefits, based on the Af-
fordable Care Act. Pre-
cinct 2 Commissioner
Wade McKinney said this
is one of the unintended
consequences of
Obamacare.
“It hurts more than it
helps, it’s going to be a re-
duced paycheck for those
in part-time. They will lose
hours and we’ll lose some
valuable assets,”
McKinney said.
In order to give part-
time staffers full health
Sounding off: MHS wins sound projection grant
in time for ‘Wizard Oz’ musical
Courtesy Photo
Mabank Education Foundation members, under the leadership of Andrea Pickens (left), hold a check funding
eight grants to Mabank teachers for special requests to enrich the learning experience. The total amount is
$22,675.57. Here they stand with high school drama department head Glenda Gregory (center left), high
school academic coordinator Aaron Williams (center right) and principal Brad Koskelin (second from left).
The foundation funded a little more than $5,000 to upgrade the sound projection system at the Mabank High
School Auditorium in December, just in time for the extraordinary presentation of “The Wizard of Oz,”
playing this weekend. About 2,500 of the 3,400 students in the Mabank school district participate in performing
arts activities, most of which are presented on the MHS auditorium stage. See the Thursday, Jan. 23 issue of
The Monitor for more on grant funding for Mabank classrooms.
County E23 See page 4A
Williams seeks change of venue for his murder tr al
Hearing set for Jan. 24 at south campus courtroom
By David Webb
Monitor Correspondent
KAUFMAN-The de-
fense lawyer for former
Precinct 1 Justice of the
Peace Eric Williams will
seek a change of venue for
his client’s capital murder
trial during a hearing on
Jan. 24.
Attorney Matthew D.
Seymour filed the change
of venue motion Oct. 30,
2013 in 422nd Judicial Dis-
trict Court on behalf of
Williams. The lawyer
claimed in the petition that
the massive local and na-
tional “unfair” media cov-
erage involving Williams’
indictment would make it
impossible for the defen-
dant to get a fair trial in
Kaufman County.
The hearing will be held
in the South Campus
Courtroom as opposed to
the town square Court-
house because of security
concerns about the aging
downtown building.
The lawyer is defending
Eric Williams (center),
charged with capital
murder, seeks a change
of trial venue.
Williams against the
prosecution’s claim that he
killed Kaufman County
chief prosecutor Mike
Hasse and District Attor-
ney Mike McLelland and
his wife, Cynthia, in two
separate incidents in early
2013. Hasse was shot
down in the courthouse
parking lot Jan. 31,2013
and the McLellands were
slain in their home March
30, 2013.
In the wake of the kill-
ings, terror gripped Kauf-
man County employees, as
well as the rest of the city’s
residents. Many county
employees began carrying
guns for protection as re-
porters and photographers
descended en masse on
the city along with law en-
forcement officers from
across the state. Little
known Kaufman County
made the national news,
and it became the talk of
the state.
It was the first time in liv-
ing memory, anyone heard
of prosecutors being as-
sassinated in the state. Au-
thorities considered differ-
ent theories about the mo-
tives for the killings, but
suspicion quickly fell on
Williams because
McLelland and Hasse
prosecuted the former jus-
tice of the peace in 2012
on theft by a public servant
charges in a volatile trial.
The jury convicted Will-
iams, and he subsequently
lost his job and his license
to practice law.
County Judge Bruce
Wood said after the arrest
Venue Y/////X See page 4A
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Cantrell, Pearl. The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 46, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 19, 2014, newspaper, January 19, 2014; Mabank, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth630140/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .