Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 57, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 18, 2002 Page: 1 of 18
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262? EAST YANDELL
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ENTbKKKlSE
Thursday
July id, 2002
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County
UPS 437-340 Price: 50 cents
Of Trad« Days
E5
Director fired
LIVINGSTON -
tfuuar into a better quality Trade Days. He
9m 0K.rm Hi—Tng at next «id, ‘Our future plana for Trade
feioath’s Third Monday Trade Days.. Dayi don’t include you.’ I aaked
fit
- that of Johnny Walker.
i Director of Livingston’s Third
Monday Trade Daya ainqe its in-
ception in June 1999, Walker was
fired this week in what Cky Man-
ager Sam Gordon called “an inter-
nal management deciaion."
Gordon declined to comment fur-
ther regarding Walker’s dferaiseal.
' “We’re in the process of plan-
ning a reorganization of Trade
Days. We will certainly continue
having it, but are looking at aome
changes regarding operations,”
Gordon said when asked if the va-
cancy will be filled.
’ Walker said he was called in
'about three weeks ago and given
'three alternatives - “work under the
[parks and recreation department;
^manage Trade Daya on a part-time
Wis, which means I’d lose my
'benefits; or the possibility of leas-
ing it ' - ■1
i; “I told the vendors there was a
possibility of me not being here
next month, (because) I already
knew I was not doing the first two,”
Walker said.
Over 100 vendors signed a letter
to the city in which t^ey voiced
their support and appreciation for
Walker and complimented his pro-
fessionalism.
“1 went to see him (Gordon)
Monday an4 told him I wasn’t in-
terested in the first two alterna-
tives,” Walker said. “We met yes-
terday and he wasn’t interested in
leasing it tome. - -
“He said he wanted to build it
Mm when this was effective and he
Said today,” Walker said, adding
that Gordon referred to foe letter
from foe vendors as “foe straw that
broke foe camel's back.”
Held foe Friday, Saturday and
Sunday preceding foe third Monday
each month at Pedigo Park, the
operation has become a popular
shopping spot for locals and visi-
tors.
Vendors have come from Arkan-
sas, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana,
Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Minne-
sota, California, Oklahoma, Iowa,
New York, Colorado, Ohio, New
Mexico, Arizona, Mississippi, Ala-
bama, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Geor-
gia, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska
and, of course, Texas. : "
In an interview for foe Polk
County Welcome Guide, a June
2002 supplement to foe Polk
County Enterprise, Walker was
quoted as saying that Trade Days
has drawn an average of about ISO
vendors per show during foe past
year and that foe customer base has
increased each year. , ' -
Gordon presented a review of foe
Trade Days operation at the June
11 meeting of the Livingston City
Council, reporting that actual reve-
nue from the monthly event has
declined. He apprised council that
' during foe three years of its exis-
tence, there have been 1,464 differ-
ent vendors involved in foe show,
803 of whom only participated in
rijg, •
See SHOW pg. 4A
SIGN OF POWER - Last Christmas, Garland and Ann Ruther-
ford erected a cross with Christmas lights on a pine tree at their
Lakeside Village residence. When lightning struck the tree dur-
ing a recent summer thunderstorm, me bolt traveled downward,
scarring die tree above and below the cross, but completely
avoided the cross itself: not even one of the Christmas light
bulbs was broken. The 4 ^ * * ’
ing machine in the resi
ported.
RAIN LEAVES LEFTOVERS - Stephen and Christopher Ellis had no problem finding pud-
dles to play in after five days of rain. Officially, Livingston has received 3.14 inches of rain in
recent days. The skies finally cleared Wednesday and forecasters predict a return to more typi-
cal summertime weather, which means those rainy day leftovers won’t last long.
Man
killed
LIVINGSTON - The second traf-
fic fatality in as many days oc-
curred Friday night, when 21 -year-
old Bradley Wayne Walker of
Livingston died following, a one-
vehicle accident on FM 2500, 14.8
miles east of Livingston.
The accident occurred at 9:40
p.m.
Walker was driving a 1985
Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck
northbound when the vehicle went
partially off foe road to the right,
according to Texas Highway Patrol
Trooper Glen Goodwin. He said the
driver overcorrected to foe left and
the pickup truck crossed both
northbound and southbound lanes,
running into a ditch. The vehicle
then rolled onto its top, sliding ap-
proximately 18 feet before coming
to rest in the ditch.
Walker was transported by Angel
Flight medical helicopter to Lufkin
Memorial Hospital, where he was
pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m.
Walker was related to 17-year-
old Lindsey Lois Williams, who
was killed in a one-vehicle accident
the previous night on the Alabama-
Coushatta Indian Reservation.
Funeral services for Walker were
held Monday at the First Indian
Texas Baptist Church, with inter-
See DEER pg. 4A
USD board to create superintendent profile
LIVINGSTON - Having Iasi
month hired Fred Weaver of Texas
Association of School Boards Su-
perintendent Search Services to
help find a new superintendent for
foe Livingston Independent School
District, foe next step will be meet-
ing to determine what the board
wants in a superintendent.
A planning meeting to create a
superintendent profile will be held
Aug. 1, foe board decided during its
regular monthly meeting Monday
night.
LISD Superintendent Janet Mor-
ris has announced that she will re-
tire at the end of January, 2003.
In other business during Mon-
day’s meeting, the board reviewed
student handbooks, approved an
appraisal calendars for teachers and
administrators and approved cam-
pus appraisers. Principals and assis-
tant principals will serve as ap-
praisers on their respective cam-
puses, with Elwanda Strickland,
director of Polk County Special
Services, to serve as special educa-
tion appraiser.
A budget amendment reflecting
the line-item transfer of funds to
send junior high school vocational
teachers to a professional develop-
ment conference also gained board
approval, as did a request for seven
high school choir students to attend
Choir Camp at Stephen F. Austin
State University July 23-26.
Engagement letters ffotn foe ac-
counting firm of Hereford, Lynch,
Sellars and Kirkham for a Drop Out
Audit and State Compensatory
Education Audit were also ap-
proved.
County Tax Assessor-Collector
Marion A. ‘Bid’ Smith was author-
ized to calculate the LISDs effec-
tive tax rate in preparation for
eventual adoption of a tax rate and
budget for the 2002-2003 school
year.
The board reviewed proposals on
various items for foe upcoming
school year. Athletic and voluntary
student insurance will be obtained
through Brazos Valley Premiere
Plan, as it has been for the past
seven years. Milk will be supplied
■ li-il • . - .'V * •'■
by Foremost, ice cream from Blue
Bell, bread from Earthgrain and
snacks from McKee Foods and
William George. Grocery, frozen
food and paper product bids were
awarded to various vendors on a
line-item basis. Prepared pizza will
be supplied by Pizza Hut, the only
bidder.
The board received notice of two
sex offenders residing in the dis-
trict. Morris reported on the Level
II board training schedule and on
notice from the Polk Central Ap-
praisal District of four outstanding
lawsuits filed against the appraisal
district and Livingston and Ona-
laska school districts.
Following discussion in closed
session, the board accepted resigna-
tions from Lillie Ann Slovak, busi-
ness computer and information
systems teacher at the high school;
Danny Jackson, high school sci-
ence teacher; Meredith Walker,
fifth grade teacher and Ann Carr,
nurse at Pine Ridge Elementary
School.
Approved for employment were
Lori Smith-Stewart, who will re-
place Kay LaRue as high school
Spanish teacher; Jason Watson,
who will replace Slovak at foe high
school; Richard Smith, who will
replace Jackson as high school sci-
ence teacher; Sherri Steffey, who is
transferring from the intermediate
school to the junior high to replace
Rae Calvin as science teacher;
Doris Perry, transferring from the
junior high to foe intermediate
school to teach fifth grade; Darla
Hale, who will replace Steffey at
the intermediate school; fourth
grade teacher Everlou Marsh, who
will replace Gene Budden as coun-
selor at Timber Creek Elementary;
Lawrence Ledbetter, replacing
Marsh as fourth grade teacher;
Barbara Smart, second grade
teacher at Timber Creek; Peggy
Payne, replacing Charlene Lowe as
third grade teacher (Lowe has
transferred to Pine Ridge); and
Juliette Wilson, teacher of the visu-
ally impaired.
See SUBSTITUTES pg. 4A
OISD trustees to protest proposed values
f; not even one of, the Christn
lightning took out & telephone answer-
iidence, But no other damage was re-
ONALASKA - Citing a differ-
ence of approximately S7 million,’
the Board of Trustees of foe Ona-
laska Independent School District,
during its regular meeting Tuesday,
authorized the law firm of Ray
Wood & Bonilla to file a judicial
appeal against foe state comptrol-
ler’s office to protest the district’s
proposed values.
The board approved foe 2002-
2003 vendor list, contracts for foe
food service department, foe stu-
dent code of conduct and the stu-
dent handbook.
The in-service staff training
schedule for foe upcoming school
year was reviewed.
Following an executive session
foe board approved hiring foe fol-
lowing teachers: Catherine
Brunson, seventh and eighth grade
science; Linda Randolph, seventh
grade history; Susan Bell, seventh
grade math; Kara Traylor,- ninth
grade world geography; Mark
Riggs, ninth grade agriculture and
science; Susan Klevinski, seventh
and eighth grade reading; TraCy
Mark Levin, seventh, eighth and
ninth grade theater arts; Phyllis
Anizan, sixth grade reading and
language arts; and Patsy Uleston,
fourth grade social studies and
writing. \
Superintendent Kerry Cowart re-
viewed the district TAAS results;
reviewed the certified values pro-
vided by the Polk Central Appraisal
District; apprised foe board of up-
coming Level II board training;
reviewed bousing arrangements for
foe fall Texas Association of
School Boards conference; reported
that he’d received the total budget
for the Polk Central Appraisal Dis-
trict (CAD) as approved by its
board of directors, as well as a list
of lawsuits pending against foe
CAD.
Cowart also reported that the dis-
trict received an invoice from foe
architect; received the results of
soil testing at foe new school site;
an<f received two open records re-
quests.
Junior High School Principal
Terry Sowers reviewed TAAS
scores and reported that he is work-
ing on foe master schedule. He also
reported that he is preparing for
campus level staff activities in Au-
gust.
Elementary School Principal
Keith Smith reported on foe sum-
mer reading academy, a two-week
program geared toward first and
second graders that began Monday.
He said 12 students are participat-
ing.
Smith reviewed TAAS scores
and reported that he is still looking
for an elementary PE teacher.
Construction Consultant Jay
Davis reported that the bids were
published in the Polk County En-
terprise and the Huntsville Item. He
reported that the bids will be
See BUS pg. 4A
Employee benefits
on GISD board agenda
GOODRICH - Employee bene-
fits for the 2002-2003 school year
will be considered for possible ap-
proval by the Board of Trustees of
the Goodrich Independent School
District during its regular meeting
at 7 p.m. today (Thursday).
In other preparations for the up-
coming school year, the board will
also consider action on cafeteria
prices, school handbooks and cafe-
teria, petroleum and supply bids.
A budget workshop will be
scheduled and the board will con-
sider approval for the Polk County
tax assessor-collector to complete
foe 2002 effective tax rate.
The board will consider action on
a bid on property No. 96-131 and
account No. HI200-0555-00.
A tax refund for Wayne Coker
will be considered for approval, as
will a budget amendment for the
2001-2002 school year.
Superintendent Clay Webb will
update the board on the completion
of the track, as well as the admini-
stration parking lot.
An executive session is on the
agenda at which time the board will
deliberate personnel and property.
Other items on the agenda in-
clude approval of the financial re-
ports and minutes of the June 27
meeting.
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 57, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 18, 2002, newspaper, July 18, 2002; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth788973/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.