Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 26, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 2009 Page: 1 of 36
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ONE DAY
WONDER
Was Missouri man U.S.
President for a day?
See Page 3A
Polk County
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www.easttexasnews.com
Sunday
March 29,2009
Volume 127 Number 26
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County UPS 437-340 Price: 50 cents
Sports
Big Sandy's Jason
Hamilton gets kudos
from Gov. Rick Perry
during Champions
Day at the capitol.
See Sports, Pg. 9A
Living
Reenactors demon-
strate life in a Civil War
encampment during
the Battle of Long King
Creek at Pedigo Park.
See Living, Pg. 1B
Quote for
the day
7\ sense of hu-
mor is part of the
art of leadership."
— Dwight D.
Eisenhower
(1890 - 1969)
34th U.S. president
Local Weather
71/46 4 -
Mainly sunny. High 71F. Winds
WNW at 5 to 10mph.
Sun
3/29
77/54
Mon
3/30
Mix of sutfand clouds. Highs in the
upper 70s and lows in the mid 50s.
Tue
3/31
72/47
/.......
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the
low 70s and lows in the upper 40s
Wed
4/1
76/55
A few clouds. Highs in the mid 70s
and lows in the mid 50s.
Thu
4/2
76/46
Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 70s
and lows in the mid 40s.
< 2009 American Profile Hometown Content
Service
Index
Bulletin Board.............5B
Business Guide...........8B
Classified..............9B-12B
Crossword...................9B
Community Calendar........5A
Obituaries....................6A
Official Records..........7A
Opinion........................4A
Living......................1B-7B
Sports..................9A-12A
TNLSR auction brings in $300,000
BY CHARLES K. FRANKLIN
Staff Reporter
CharlesKFranklin@gmail.com
LIVNGSON -The 64th annual
Trinity-Neches Livestock Show
and Rodeo went off without a hitch
Thursday evening. Kids from all
over the county brought livestock
they had been raising during the
previous year to show for the
judges.
At auction the lower-ranking
steers are brought in first to
establish a good base priee to build
upon for the champions and reserv e
champions.
"The Trinity-Neches Livestock
Show auction brought in over
$300,000 this year,” Auctioneer and
Livingston Mayor Clarke Evans
said. “Last year, the auction made
$347,000. The grand champions
and the other top animals brought
a little bit more, but last night we
floored in those lower animals and
the prices held pretty good.”
The money raised is distributed
among the entrants creating college
nest eggs for many of them.
"Sometimes w e get focused on the
money this event raises, but it's all
about teaching kids responsibility,
leadership, character and other
qualities that are invaluable to
them the rest of their lives,” Evans
said. "All m\ kids were in Ag. That
experience of putting on rubber
boots and getting out there when
it’s cold and raining, and coming
home after school and walking that
animal ... That builds character.'
There is a financial reward for
FFA and 4-H students who work
hard with their projects. Evans
said his son Andy (w ho is now a
financial planner) had $2(),()(X)
from his FFA participation.
Some of the categories included
chickens goats, rabbits, swine,
lambs and of course cattle. Each
animal category was broken down
further to define breeding stock and
market varieties. In addition tothese
awards which were given by the
Go Texan committee, Texas Farm
Bureau sponsored Showmanship
awards for those individuals who
See LIVESTOCK, Page 2A
THE GRAND CHAMPION STEER raised by Matt Hubbard of Corrigan
FFA brought $I().(XX) at the auction Friday night. Buyers arc Hubbard's
Farm & Feed, Nicholson Trucking EEC and Mike Perry Motors.
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY GORDON LEBARRON
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY CHARLES K FRANKLIN
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY CHARLES K FRANKLIN
wmm.
4 ,v'
Polk County jobless
rate matches nations
Local unemployment Improves
more than half-point over Jan.
AUSTIN — Polk County’s jobless rate is 1.5 percent
above the statewide figure — but at 8.0 percent, it’s slightly
below the national rate and 0.6 percent better than the
January rate, according to data released this week by the
Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). For the same period
laster >ear Polk County had an unemployment rate of 6.1
percent.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to
6.5 percent in February, w hile the U.S. unemployment rate
climbed to 8.1 percent. The Texas unemployment rale is
up slightly from 6.4 percent in January and 4.5 percent in
February 2008.
Polk County had a labor force of 16,588 and 15,258 of
those currently have jobs. That leaves 1,330 unemployed.
Nacogdoches County has the lowest unemployment
rate in the 12-county Deep Fast County area at 5 percent.
Sabine County is facing the worst unemployment with 13.1
percent out of w ork.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted nonagricultural cmplov merit
fell by 46,100 in February, Revised data showed Texas
employers lost 55,900 jobs in January. Texas recorded a
net loss of 62,600 in the past 12 months, compared with job
losses of 4.2 million nationwide during the same period.
“Texans are facing tough economic times now with
significant statewide job losses," said Texas Workforce
Commission (TWO Chairman Tom Pauken. "However,
the Texas unemployment rate remains far below that of
other large states and the nation as a whole.”
Education and Health Services added 14.7(X) jobs in
February, for an industry gain of 58,600 positions in the
past year. Mining and Digging employment grew by 1,6(X)
in February adding 15,700 jobs over the last 12 months.
Industry losses hit Professional and Business Services and
Construction the hardest, down 27,000 and 15,500 jobs,
respectively.
“The numbers of reported job losses make unempkn ment
more challenging, and TWC is intensifying our assistance
to job seekers,” said TWC Commissioner Representing
l^tbor Ronny Congleton. "Help with work search, skills
training and other services are available at workforce
centers across the state."
The Midland MSA experienced ihc lowest
See UNEMPLOYMENT, Page 6A
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL — In addition to months of feeding, grooming and exercising livestock proj-
ects some area 4-H and FFA members tried their hand at rodeo events Thursday night at the Barney Wiggins
Arena. Details on all the riding, wrestling and tying will be in Thursday's edition of the Polk County Enter-
prise.
Teams counting down to Relay May 1
BY LYNN BROWN
Staff Reporter
lynnbrown56@gmail.com
LIVINGSTON - Polk County
Relay For Life is in high gear this
spring with the main event taking place
at Pedigo Park May l. Over 70 teams
have signed up for booth space on the
park grounds.
With each team consisting of l()
members or more, more than 700
volunteers are working for the fight
against cancer.
Several teams have becomed involved
this year, broadening the event to i ncl ude
more areas of Polk County. Some
teams begin fundraising efforts only
weeks after the main event and engage
friendly competitions encouraging
more expressive and imaginative effort
among team members.
The American Cancer Society is the
beneficiary of the activities of Relay For
Life. Polk County Relay efforts have
gained regional and national attention
and awards.
Larger and more populated counties
hosting Relay events visit Polk County
to learn what makes this particular
event so successful.
The theme for 2009 is Wide World
of Sports making for more family fun
one night
fjght
one relay
pofr county rtilov ?or life • moy l 20UV
ONE shirts designed by the Be-
lievers Relay For Life team focus-
ings on the unifying spirit of the
event.
with all sports to be represented.
The Believers, a seasoned American
Cancer Society Relay For Life team, is
well-known for T-shirts: The team has
designed T-shirts for holiday occasions
and just for fun to aid in the fundraising
efforts to fight cancer.
The team is sharing their success by
offering other teams the opportunity to
sell T-shirts and receive a portion of the
proceeds.
Two new T-shirts are available before
the Relay event.
One of the shirts is becoming known
as the ONE shirt. "These shirts will
help show how Polk County unites
together as "ONE” for the American
Cancer Society’s Relay For Life,”
Tammi Ogletree, a Believer team
member said. “Our community stands
out among other communities because
we are literally united for “ONE” night,
“ONE” fight and "ONE” relay. This is a
one-of-a-kind shirt that no other Relay
in the nation will have. I can’t wait to
see them out and about and ready for
Relay on May I,’’ added Ogletree.
AnotherT-shirt soon to be seen around
the county is the “Relay ’09” baseball
style shirt. With a light colored body
and purple sleeves, this shirt furthers
the 2009 theme.
"The baseball style shirt depicts
this year's theme at Relay which
is Wide World of Sports. They are
also unique and are only available
in Polk County,” Ogletree said. "We
are excited about this year’s theme
and all the teams arc gearing up for a
fun night filled with a wide range of
sports. This shirt will really bring out
the sports fan in all of us and support
Relay,” Oglctrej;, who also serves on
See BELIEVERS, Page 7A
Chesswood group
helps families cut
grocery costs
BY LYNN BROWN
Staff Reporter
lynnbrown56@gmail.com
LIVINGSTON - In difficult economic times, one
of the most vulnerable area’s of the family's budget
is food. Chesswood Baptist Church and Angel Food
Ministries have teamed up to offer families in our
community nutritious, low cost food.
Angel Food Ministries (AFM), the national food
relief distribution network, broke records last month
by filling more than 500,000 food orders across the
country. AFM continues to break its own sales records
each month from Monroe. Ga. where the program has
been in continuous operation lor 15 years.
In Livingston, Chesswood Baptist Church became a
host site for the AFM program last September. In the
last seven months the church has helped families beat
rising food costs and tightened budgets with more than
$40,000 of food.
Each regular box of food includes fresh and frozen
products such as vegetables, fruit and meats. Boxes
also include items like pancake mix, canned goods,
eggs and a dessert.
A basic box order is $30 and have a variety of items
that provide nutritional balance < d enough food to
feed a family of four for one week.
See ANGEL FOOD, Page 6A
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 26, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 2009, newspaper, March 29, 2009; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth821096/m1/1/?q=music: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.