Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 129, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 21, 2011 Page: 1 of 24
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119 young anglers registered for the Kid's
Fishing Frenzy at Pedigo Park Saturday
See Page 2B
Polk Counts
www.easttexasnews.com
mdt
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Thursday
April 21,2011
Volume 129 Number 32
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County
UPS 437-340
50 cents
Sports
Dustin Harris and
his 2010 Texas A&M
teammates were hon-
ored Friday at the
Zone Club in Kyle
Field. Harris received
an Academic Effort
Achievement Award.
See Sports, Pg. 10A
Living
Darrell Laird brings
home another big
fish trophy.
See Living, Pg. 1B
Quote for
the day
"The longest jour-
ney is the journey
inward."
— Dag Hammarskjold
1905-1961
Swedish diplomat
Local Weather
Clouds giving way to sun . Highs in
the low 90s and lows in the upper
60s.
Partly cloudy. Highs in the low 90s
and lows in the upper 60s
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the upper 80s and lows in the up-
per 60s.
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the
upper 80s and lows in the upper
60s.
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the upper 80s and lows in the mid
60s.
Index
Bulletin Board........5B
Classified.........7B-10B
Crossword..............7B
Community Calendar..5A
Obituaries...............6A
Official Records.....7A
Opinion...................4A
Living................1B-6B
Sports.............9A-10A
Man jailed after standoff with SWAT
LIVINGSTON - Polk
County sheriff’s deputies
were called to a residence on
Knob Hill three miles east of
Livingston at about 7 p.m.
Monday after a 911 caller re-
ported an armed suspect had
threatened family members
with a handgun.
Deputies arrived at the resi-
dence and were confronted by
the assailant on the front porch
armed with a pistol, according
to a statement released by Lt.
Mark Jones.
“The assailant retreated into
NORMAN FORTIN
the residence as all family
members were safely evacu-
ated to neighboring homes.”
Sheriff’s deputies with the
assistance from troopers from
the Texas Highway Patrol,
game wardens from Texas
Parks and Wildlife and a Polk
County Pet. 3 deputy constable
established a perimeter around
the residence.
The suspect was identified
as Norman Joseph Fortin, 44,
of Livingston.
The Polk County Sheriff’s
Office Special Response Team
Visitors at the annual Free-
dom Climb honoring Stuart
Moore, the first Polk Coun-
ty soldier killed in Iraq,
take time to remember Tex-
as military personnel killed
in combat operations since
Vietnam who are featured
on the Texas Fallen Heroes
Memorial. Photos of each
of those who made supreme
sacrifice appear on the
moveable tribute. For more
on the Freedom Climb, see
Page 11 A.
OISD parents speak out on budget
BY MARK JONES
Special to the Enterprise
ONALASKA - The first
30 minutes of Monday’s
Onalaska School Board
meeting was open to parents
to voice their concerns or to
promote certain programs
and individuals of special
achievement.
During that public comment
period, a few parents voiced
concerns over the rumored
and feared education budget
cuts. Regina McClain and
another parent who wished
to remain unnamed said they
were concerned about cuts to
the high school track and golf
programs.
McClain said she knew
the choices that the school
board faces tough decisions
on which programs to cut and
their position is unenviable.
She said she wrote a letter on
Monday, April 11, to Onalaska
school superintendent Lynn
Redden asking for an itemized
list of all athletic expenditures
and how much cutting each
program would save the
district.
She said the letter was
unanswered.
McClain said in an interview
after the meeting that she
is concerned about how the
decisions were being made on
which programs to be cut.
She said she believed
budget cuts began with junior
high sports but had spread to
high school athletics before
all of the junior high sports
had been exhausted.
She pointed out that high
school is where athletes seek
and are selected for college
scholarships. For this reason
she thinks it would be more
reasonable to cut Junior high
sports and keep as many
programs alive as possible at
the high school level.
Redden provided the
proposed Phase I Budget
reductions that will reportedly
save the district an estimated
$1.2 million. Cuts are
suggested for junior high
softball, junior high track,
high school golf and high
school track. Student travel
meals will also be cut.
Redden said no academic
programs will be cut, but
the cuts are not limited to
athletics.
Trustees will considercuts to
several employee benefits will
be cut or reduced, according
to Redden. One benefit on the
chopping block is reduced
See BUDGET, Page 8A
which includes Pet.4Constable
Dana “Bubba” Piper was sum-
moned to the scene for tactical
closure of the situation.
Texas Rangers from Polk
County, Walker County and
Angelina County assisted at
the scene in an attempt to es-
tablish communications with
Fortin.
After several attempts to
communicate with Fortin had
failed, members of the Lufkin
Pftlice Department Special
Response Team were sum-
moned to the scene with spe-
cialized camera equipment
designed for searching the
residence.
At 12:30 a.m. Fortin was
located inside a bedroom
of the residence. Fortin w'as
taken into custody without
incident. He was taken to
Memorial Medical Center-
Livingston by Americare
Ambulance Services to be
evaluated.
After being treated at the
hospital. Fortin was transport-
ed to the Polk County Jail and
charged with deadly conduct.
Drought continues to
bake most of Texas
Forest service battles fires
in Tyler, Trinity counties
BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
polknews@gmail.com
LIVINGSTON - Officials
with the Trinity River
Authority and local offices of
the Texas Forest Service say
Polk County has been spared
the devastating damage from
22 wildfires that have raged
across much of Texas over the
past week.
“We’re in a lot of trou-
ble right now,” said Ricky
Holbrook, regional fire coor-
dinator for the Texas Forest
Service. “The fuel moisture
index is at 3 to 5 percent and
its kicking our tails. That’s
pretty dang dry.”
“Our dozers are taking a
beating and need some repairs.
Our guys are getting tired, but
no one has been injured and
that’s what counts,” Holbrook
said.
TFS crews in the region
around Livingston were bat-
tling a series of arson fires in
Tyler and Hardin counties.
Additional resources were be-
ing called in from other states
to help fight those fires.
Crews had just stood down
from a wild fire near Groveton
in Trinity County that began
when a homeowner lost con-
trol of a debris fire.
“It’s contained, but it’s not
out. There’s a line around it,”
Holbrook said.
Spencer Karr, manager of
the Lake Livingston Project
for the Trinity River Authority,
echoed Holbrook’s distressing
reports.
Rainfall over the Lake
Livingston basin is nearly
two-thirds below what most
experts consider normal rain-
fall, Karr said Tuesday.
“It’s been a long time since
we’ve had a year that would
be considered by most to be
normal,” Karr added.
In 2010, the Lake Livingston
area had a 36 percent deficit
In 2009 it was a 22 percent
deficit; 2008 saw 32 percent.
“2007 was the last time we
had near normal rainfall —
within an inch or two,” Karr
said.
In April there were two days
with recorded rainfall.
TRA averages five rain
gauges located throughout the
reservoir and found 0.02 of an
inch on April 5 and 0.04 on
April 12.
A peripheral gauge recorded
0.12 for the maximum daily
rainfall for the month, accord-
ing to Karr.
Timely rains in the Dallas-
Fort Worth area have trav-
eled down the Trinity River
and kept Lake Livingston just
above the normal pool eleva-
tion. TRA showed a depth of
131.20 feet Tuesday. Karr
said.
April is historically a high
rainfall month. Karr said.
“If you look at major floods
over the past 100 years. April
is in the top four,” Karr add-
ed.
TFS reports 22 wildfires
were burning around the state
as of Tuesday.
In West Texas: A fire north
of San Angelo has consumed
152,000 acres and is 50 per-
cent contained. Two people
taking a sightseeing flight over
the fire were killed Monday
afternoon when their small
airplane crashed, the Federal
See FIRES, Page 2A
Onalaska school survey gets little response i
Greater input would help district's
decision-making, administrator says
BY MARK JONES
Special to the Enterprise
ONALASKA - At the
regular meeting of the Board
of Trustees of the Onalaska
Independent School District
on Monday, April 18, Stella
Todd gave the results of the
online surveys that rate the
quality of the school district.
Todd is the Director of
Curriculum and Instruction for
the district. The surveys were
conducted on three different
levels: students, teachers and
parents of both the elementary
and Junior high/senior high
campuses.
Unfortunately there is
not much information to be
gleamed from parental sur-
veys as only 4 percent of par-
ents participated in the online
surveys as compared to 5 per-
cent last year when the survey
was sent to the parents in pa-
per form.
Todd reported that this year
notes were sent home to the
parents of each student advis-
ing them of the online surveys
and how to get to them and fill
them out.
“Steps were taken to ensure
that this year’s surveys were
shorter and easier to fill out
in order to encourage greater
participation,” Todd said.
As a result of the mini-
mal number of parental re-
sponses, the information from
those surveys did not help the
school board in any future de-
cision-making, administrators
said. The sample was too low
to deduce an accurate inter-
pretation of parents’ collec-
tive opinion on the quality of
school functions.
There was much greater
participation among students
and teachers. On the elemen-
tary campus, 36 teachers and
270 students participated.
See SURVEY, Page 8A
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY AUSTIN GODDARD
Livingston firefighters hose down a truck load of wood
chips that caught fire as they were being hauled through
Livingston Tuesday afternoon. The chips were being
hauled through Polk County from Louisiana.
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 129, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 21, 2011, newspaper, April 21, 2011; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth659194/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.