The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Page: 1 of 18
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SECTION 1, PAGE 001.qxd:Layout 4 3/12/13 11:12 PM Page 1
Two Silsbee girls headed to state powerlifting meet in Corpus Christ.
SECTION 2
L. U
Silsbee apartment fire displaces families
Silsbee, Kountze, Lumberton,
Evadale fire departments all respond
quickly, contains fire to one unit.
By Daniel Elizondo
editor @ silsbeebee .com
An early evening fire on
Sunday wreaked havoc for
several families in Silsbee,
after the apartment building
suffered heavy smoke dam-
age.
Fire ravaged a unit at the
Timber Apartments in Silsbee
on Texas 327 East on Sunday
leaving several families with-
out a home for the evening.
According to Silsbee Fire
Chief Billy Slaydon, a fire in
the kitchen in one of the up-
stairs units began to spread
into the attic, threatening a
building in the complex,
which houses four units.
Silsbee fire responded to the
call at 6:23 p.m. and battled
the fire an hour before it was
contained to within the one
apartment unit.
Mutual aid from surround-
ing communities provided
support including Lumberton
Fire, Kountze Fire and
Evadale Fire.
Silsbee VFD were the first
responders and immediately
worked on the attic to contain
the fire and prevent it from
spreading to the entire build-
ing.
“We knocked down the en-
trance and limited the fire to
within the kitchen,” Slaydon
said. “The only problems
were that the building suffered
heavy smoke damage on both
upstairs and downstairs apart-
ments.”
According to Slaydon, the
fire started on the stove, but
there was no direct cause.
Families in three units of the
building were displaced for at
least one evening. No word on
if the family of the unit that
caught fire would be able to
return any time soon.
There were no injuries re-
ported.
Photo by Daniel Elizondo/Silsbee Bee
Firemen survey the damage to an upstairs apartment unit that went up in flames on Sunday at the Timbers Apartments
on Texas 327 East. No one was injured in the blaze.
Lumberton school trustees
withdraw from re-election
By Daniel Elizondo
editor @ silsbeebee .com
Two Lumberton ISD
school board trustees with-
drew their names from seek-
ing re-election after filing
deadlines on March 1.
May 11 elections are on the
horizon and both school and
municipal entities begin the
process of campaigning.
Michael Bay less at-large
Place 6 and Gene Stewart at-
large Place 7, did not want to
seek re-election after both
had served since 2010.
Larry Dale Paine and
James David Kersh both filed
and will fill the positions
after the May 11 election.
In the city of Lumberton
municipal sector, position 2
councilman Steve Templeton
continues to fill the seat of
his deceased father Bo Tem-
pleton with an unexpired
term.
Tommy Blanchard has
filed before the March 1
deadline and will vye for the
position.
Four members on Silsbee
City Council also have terms
expiring with no one oppos-
ing the positions.
Mayor Herbert Muckleroy;
At-large Place 2 councilper-
son, Jim Willis; District C
councilperson Adalaide Bal-
aban; and Distict D coun-
cilperson Thomas Tyler
See ELECTION on PG. 10, SEC. 1
12 arrested on racketeering
Four defendants face capital murder charges.
Public Gives Lumberton ISD Earful
Photo by Andrea Whitney/Silsbee Bee
There was standing room only at the latest Lumberton ISD School Board meeting held
on Thursday, March 7. Parents, students and community members convened in a pub-
lic forum to discuss the controversy stemming from a picture posted on facebook of
LHS students posing in traditional Islam clothing.
Lumberton ISD trustees hear irate
parents in latest burqa scandal
BEAUMONT - Twelve
Southeast Texas residents
have been indicted and ar-
rested in connection with a
“white’s only” racketeering
enterprise that engaged in
methamphetamine distribu-
tion and murder in the East-
ern District of Texas,
announced U.S. Attorney
John M. Bales on March 11.
The four-count supersed-
ing indictment was returned
by a federal grand jury on
Mar. 7. Seven of the charged
defendants were already in
custody and the remaining
five were arrested on Mar. 8.
The indictment, which was
unsealed on March 11 in the
Eastern District of Texas,
names Kenny Don Stanley,
25, of Vidor; Tanner Lynn
Bourque, a/k/a “Two Shoes,”
a/k/a “Hitman,” 33, of Port
Arthur; Kristopher Leigh
Guidry, a/k/a “Hollywood,”
28, of Vidor; Vicki Stark-
Fitts, 49, of Hull; Craig
Pipps, a/k/a “Lone Wolf,” 40,
of Vidor; Erica Nicole Par-
rott, 27, of Vidor; Ricky
Allen Nichols, 54, of Vidor;
Michael Taylor Word, 45, of
Silsbee; Juanette Marie Cun-
ningham, a/k/a “Netty,” 46,
of Vidor; Mikell Allen Cun-
ningham, a/k/a “Mikey,” 28,
of Vidor; Cassi Diane Hetzel,
37, of Silsbee; and Mack
Langston Warner, 33, of Sils-
bee.
The indictment alleges that
six of the defendants, Stan-
ley, Bourque, Guidry, Stark-
Fitts, Pipps, and Mikell
Cunningham, participated in
the operation and manage-
ment of the SWS gang. The
defendants were scheduled to
make initial appearances be-
fore U.S. Magistrate Judge
Zack Hawthorn.
According to the indict-
ment, SWS is a race-based
organization operating inside
and outside of jails and pris-
ons, primarily in Texas. SWS
was founded during the
1990s by inmates within the
Texas Department of Crimi-
nal Justice.
SWS, which started as the
“Stupid Woods,” is also
known as “Solid Wood Sol-
diers” and “Separate White
State.”
The gang claims to protect
See FEDERAL on PG. 7, SEC. 1
By: Andrea Whitney
reporter @ silsbeebee.com
Parents, students and resi-
dents of Lumberton gathered
this past week in a standing
room only public hearing to
discuss an issue that has be-
come a huge point of contro-
versy and embroilment.
The issue of LISD students
posing for a picture wearing
traditional muslim attire did
not take long to earn viral sta-
tus once the picture appeared
on Facebook and the school
district has been thrust into a
tail spin ever since.
Parents, LHS students and
local citizens took to the
podium to express their ap-
proval and disapproval, sup-
port and anger, as the board
listened intently hoping to
come to some sort of resolu-
tion.
Several parents aired their
concerns with the lesson stat-
See LISD on PG. 10, SEC. 1
Truck ordinance conies down to Monday
By Daniel Elizondo
editor @ silsbeebee .com
After lengthy discussions over an ordinance
to be amended to allow for trucks to be parked
at residents, will take vote on Monday at Sils-
bee City Council meeting.
The new year began with logging truckers
wanting the ability to drive their respective
trucks to residents after a rash of burglaries oc-
curred where the trucks were being parked.
The current ordinance, which is titled Sils-
bee Code of Ordinances Section 36-59 does
not allow trucks in residential areas not zoned
as truck routes. Only owners with trucks being
used as their own sole purpose of transporta-
See TRUCK on PG. 10, SEC. 1
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And since he found me, by love he's bound me
To serve him joyfully
©Silsbee Bee 2013
404 Hwy. 96 South
P.O. Box 547
Silsbee, Texas 77656
Main number: 409-385-5278
Fax number: 409-385-5270
News: editor@silsbeebee.com
Advertising: advertising@silsbeebee.com
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Elizondo, Daniel. The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 13, 2013, newspaper, March 13, 2013; Silsbee, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth661188/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Silsbee Public Library.