Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 27, 2012 Page: 1 of 12
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cyan magenta
black
Crowley's Larry
Cheeks named
2nd Team All-State
— Page 1B
Crowley
Christmas
in color
— Page 6B
Crowley ISD
second six weeks
'A'honor rolls
— Page 2-3B, 5-6B
www.crowleystar.net
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2012
VOL. 26 NO. 34^75 CENTS
GRAND OPENING
Tarrant County College and
the Crowley Independent School
District will host a grand open-
ing early next year, introduc-
ing Crowley residents to its new
educational partnership at the re-
cently established Crowley South
Campus Center.
The celebration will be from
3-6 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Bill R. John-
son Career Technology Center,
1033 McCart in Crowley.
CSCC is the result of the re-
sponse of the community college
and the local school district to the
business community's request to
grow an educated workforce by
increasing college educational
opportunities.
It is projected to serve 1,000
dual credit students and tradition-
al academic transfer, workforce
development, developmental ed-
ucation and continuing education
students.
The 50,000-square-foot facil-
ity initially will house basic cours-
es including anatomy and physi-
ology, English, social science and
teacher education.
Additionally, a limited num-
ber of computer classes and busi-
ness applications will be offered.
Planned future offerings include
computer aided drafting and de-
sign, general biology, and math,
along with a limited number of
graphics courses.
More information about
TCC's dual credit program at
South Campus is available from
South Campus Director of Aca-
demic Affairs Jeana Locke at
jeana.locke@tccd.edu or about
the grand opening from South
Campus Divisional Dean Jo
Bagley at jo.bagley@tccd.edu.
ADDED PATROL
The Texas Department of Pub-
lic Safety will increase DWI pa-
trols through Jan. 1.
DPS troopers will focus DWI
patrols in high-risk locations
at times when alcohol-related
crashes are most frequent. The en-
hanced patrols that target intoxi-
cated drivers are funded through
a grant from the Texas Depart-
ment of Transportation.
"Drinking and driving are al-
ways a concern during holidays,
and there is no doubt that in-
creased enforcement by DPS and
other law enforcement will help
save lives," said DPS Director Ste-
ven McCraw. "But the public must
also do their part to help make
sure all travelers on our roads
have a safe and happy holiday
season. Plan ahead. Designate a
non-drinking driver or find alterna-
tive transportation if you plan to
drink, and never get in a car with
an intoxicated driver."
FEE INCREASE
Beginning in January, resi-
dents of Crowley will see a 2.28
percent increase on their gar-
bage bill.
Thursday night, the Crowley
City unanimously approved the
slight hike in solid waste removal.
The previous charge was
$1 1.66 and it will now increase
to $11.91 beginning with the
next bill. The increase is .25
cents per home.
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INSIDE
Police Report................2A
Area News....................3A
Sports........................ IB
Classifieds..................4-5B
O 3 f V
I £ O I &
CITY GOVERNMENT
Council bans sale of synthetic pot
By JAY HINTON
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
As of 12:01 a.m. Friday,
Dec. 28, by Crowley city or-
dinance, it will be illegal buy,
sell and use certain synthet-
ic cannabinoid substances
commonly known as K-2 or
Spice, among other things,
marketed as incense.
The Crowley City Council
voted unanimously Thursday
night to amend the “Offens-
es” in Chapter 54 of the city’s
ordinances to make such
practices illegal.
“I thank the council for
passing this ordinance. It’s
a great step for our commu-
nity,” Crowley police Lieu-
tenant Luis Soler said. “It
addresses some of the issues
that have recently come up
regarding the use of these
products. Nothing we have
heard and done research on
indicates it’s a good product
to have around.”
Soler and two residents
from the area addressed
the City Council asking
it to adopt the new ordi-
nance.
In most cases, Soler said,
the chemical compounds
have been slightly altered to
make them “legal” under the
law, but the product is intro-
duced into the body, the ef-
fects of it are the same: a 20-
to 30-minute high, euphoria,
hallucinations, agitation,
anxiety, nausea, vomiting,
tachycardia, elevated blood
pressure, tremor, seizures,
paranoid behavior and non-
responsiveness.
According to the amended
ordinance, it shall be unlaw-
ful to use, possess, purchase,
sell, gift, barter, publicly dis-
HOWARD EISENBERG/CROWLEY STAR
Bailey Barksdale, right, shows her brother, Brady, and father, Brad, a thing or two about computers during a recent open house.
OPEN HOUSE
Computers now a part of everyday life
By HOWARD EISENBERG
For the Crowley Star
North Crowley High School held
its second annual Computer Science
Open House in conjunction with the
nationwide Computer Science Edu-
cation Week, earlier this month and
more than 75 visitors, students and
guests attended.
“The main purpose of the com-
puter science open house is to see
and enjoy the programs of the CISD
computer science students and to
identify current and future career
opportunities for computer science
majors,” said G. Lynne Ryan, NCHS
computer science teacher and spon-
sor of the NCHS Computer Science
Club.
The field of computer science can
often be subtle, but it touches every-
one’s lives on a daily basis and plays
a critical role throughout society. It
is essential for driving innovation
and economic growth, as well as pro-
viding rewarding job opportunities
to individuals seeking computer sci-
ence as a career.
Computer science is a broad sub-
ject area with several specialized
areas: computing, computer engi-
neering, informatics, information
technology, software engineering,
and information systems.
Computing deals with the com-
putation of data, while informatics
deals with the collection and pro-
cessing of information. Computer
engineering deals with the overall
design of products that use comput-
ers and software while software en-
gineering specializes in the design
and creation of software programs.
Information systems is the area
that covers the design and operation
of things like online purchasing, in-
ventory, or payroll systems while in-
formation technology deals with how
computers can be incorporated into
schools, businesses, and other orga-
nizations.
Dr. Barrett Bryant and Dr. Rich-
ard Rinewalt were special guests at
the event.
Biyant is the chair and a profes-
sor of the Computer Science and En-
gineering Department at the Univer-
sity of North Texas, while Rinewalt
is the associate dean of science and
engineering and associate professor
of computer science at TCU.
Students and parents hovered
around these guests asking ques-
See COMPUTERS | Page 5A
THREAT
3 schools locked down
By JAY HINTON
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
Three Crowley ISD cam-
puses were placed on brief
lockdown Wednesday after-
noon to allow for the Crowley
Police Department to inves-
tigate the possibility of vio-
lence.
The lockdown went into
effect around 1 p.m. and was
later lifted around 1:40 p.m.,
Crowley ISD public informa-
tion officer Anthony Kirch-
ner said.
“We put three campuses
on lockdown as a precaution-
ary measure at the request
of the Crowley Police, who
were investigating rumors of
a potential security threat,”
Kirchner said. “Police thor-
oughly investigated and did
a security sweep at all three
campuses and the lockdown
was lifted when they gave the
all-clear.”
Crowley Police Lt. Luis
Soler said two written threats
See SCHOOLS | Page 4A
JAY HINTON/CROWLEY STAR
Crowley and Southwest Fort Worth experienced a White
Christmas Tuesday. The marquee at NCHS collected snow
while recording a crisp temperature of 32 degrees.
play for sale, or attempt to
sell, gift or barter a prohib-
ited smoking material within
the city limit.
With the addition of the
new ordinance, Crowley
now falls in line with Bur-
leson, Cleburne and other
surrounding areas that have
banned the sale and distribu-
tion of these products.
See BAN | Page 4A
McCurtain
LAW ENFORCEMENT
McCurtain
promoted
to detective
By JAY HINTON
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
With his experience in law
enforcement as a patrol officer
and deputy, Cory McCurtain
seemed like the natural fit for
Crowley’s open position as a de-
tective in the department.
McCurtain, 33, who has
been with the Crowley PD for six
years, was promoted to the po-
sition earlier this month on the
recommendation of the panel of
three of his peers.
“He’s very eager and he’s got
the drive that I think the other
investigators were looking for,”
Crowley police Lt. John Wen-
man said. “One thing they said
to me is they wanted someone
that was ready to come in and
hit the ground running. I be-
lieve Cory is the person to do
that.”
McCurtain replaces Beth
Crouch, who stepped down af-
ter 11 yearn in the police depart-
ment to relocate with her hus-
band, who took a job outside the
area.
“It’s a change in my career
and I’m looking forward to
bringing some new ideas and
also different techniques that
I have gone through in my ca-
reer,” McCurtain said.
Prior to coming to Crowley,
McCurtain gained the lion’s
share of his experience as a
deputy in the Palo Pinto County
Sheriffs Office where he spent 4
1/2 years. Earlier in his career,
he worked in narcotics and at a
countyjail.
“I was exposed to a lot of
different crimes in the county
from burglaries to robberies
to homicides, and I worked a
capital murder,” he said. “With
all that combined, it was a real
broad spectrum in knowing how
tilings will be here.”
As part of his job in Palo
Pinto, he answered calls, inves-
tigated, wrote warrants, made
See POLICE | Page 2A
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Hinton, Jay. Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 27, 2012, newspaper, December 27, 2012; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth808203/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.