Volume 63, Number 30
Azle News
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
THE
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Ladies Castleberry tourney champs for third year in a row Page 9A
‘Widespread’ flu season makes its presence known Page 1B
ICY NEW YEAR
Finalists in search for police chief down to three Decision expected by Feb. 1 by carla noah stutsman The quest to name a new Chief of Police for the city of Azle is nearing its completion with the selection of three finalists for the position. Since former chief Randy Reed’s abrupt retirement in May 2014, the Azle Police Department has operated under the leadership of Interim Chief Darrell D. West. A 24-year-plus veteran of the Azle PD, West was the ranking lieutenant in the department when he was asked to fill in as chief on June 4. Last fall, City Manager Craig Lemin began the regional search for Azle’s next police chief, and rather quickly found himself looking at 32 well-qualified applicants. “We reduced that number to 15 after our initial review, and those 15 were sent supplemental questions and information forms,” Lemin said. “Upon reviewing those, we selected nine to move to the next step. Each of those nine applicants completed a DiSC Profile Assessment.” The DiSC Profile, according to Lemin, is a personality assessment – not a test, he emphasizes – that provides insights into natural and adaptable behavioral styles in relation to the workplace, leadership, management, and other situations and environments. Some Internet research found that the letters in the DiSC acronym stand for “dominance,” “influence,” “steadiness” and “conscientiousness” – four distinctive personality styles or profiles. Each personality style exhibits its own unique set of strengths as well as areas in which the individual must expend additional effort to supplement those strengths. DiSC purports to be “the leadThe New Year arrived with a b-r-r-r-r for man, beast, and hackberries. As it rained, the temperatures hovered around 30 to 33 degrees; fortunately, the roads remained free of ice. MORE PHOTOS ON ing personal assessment tool used by PAGE 11A! Photo by Mark K. Campbell more than 40 million people to im-
prove work productivity, teamwork and communication.” Following the profile assessment, each of the nine semi-finalists was interviewed by three members of the city management staff, including Lemin; the prospective field was narrowed to three. The final step in the process to identify the next Azle chief was scheduled to take place all day Wednesday, Jan. 7, Lemin said. “It will be an all-day assessment center designed to identify the person best suited to be the next police chief for the city of Azle. It will include six exercises designed to test the finalists’ skills and management styles,” Lemin said. “The assessors will be Chief Gary Johnson from Roanoke PD, Assistant City Manager Lawrence Bryant, and myself. We should be able to select the lone finalist by the end of the week.” Once that lone finalist is selected, a more thorough background investigation will be conducted. Lemin will then negotiate a salary with the finalist who will be offered the position contingent upon successful completion of drug and psychological testing, he said. “We hope to have new chief in place around Feb. 1.” The trio of candidates is: Rick Pippins Pippins is captain of administrative services with the Odessa Police Department. He has 31 years of law enforcement experience. He has been a supervisor for the past 22 years and has experience in all aspects of law enforcement. He currently oversees all administrative functions for Odessa PD PLEASE SEE POLICE, PAGE 3A.
Azle PD arrests 4 drunk drivers on New Year’s Eve by carla noah stutsman In spite of the usual warnings leading up to New Year’s Eve, one thing is clear: Some people are going to drink and drive. Azle police officers arrested four of them – likely only a fraction of those navigating the roadways after imbibing – all within a period of two hours and 20 minutes in the wee hours of Jan. 1. At 1:19 a.m., Cpl. Jordan Lashbrook arrested Justin Scott Phelps, 25, of Weatherford in the 700 block of Southeast Parkway. Phelps posted $5,000 bond for the class B misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and was released from the Azle jail later on Jan. 1. A half-hour later at 1:51 a.m., Officer Alex Kuenzle arrested 37-year-old Mary Alice Randall of Hurst in the 400 block of Northwest Parkway and charged her with the class B misdemeanor of DWI.
Year in review: Part 2
Assembled residents, gunfire, and ice bucket challenges highlighted 2014
by mark k. campbell Members of the 2014 football team comAs the second part of 2014 arrived, Azle peted at the state 7-on-7 tournament at Colsaw a wide variety of good and not so good lege Station. It rained more than two inches July 17 but events. the downpour – which flooded some streets – hardly dented the years-long drought. Still, July Azle’s annual Fourth of July celebration, after the rain, Eagle Mountain Lake “rose” Follow the Flag, drew record crowds to Cen- to less than seven feet low for the first time tral Park and surrounding venues. Former in months. Gregory Long, whose electrical scam had AISD administrator Ray Ivey received the taken advantage of local elderly residents, Lew Shaffer Award. A 13-year-old Springtown boy who was at was captured at an Oklahoma casino. Reno considered merging its volunteer fire a friend’s house near Briar recovered from a gunshot in the abdomen when a rifle dis- department with the Briar. BoonDocks was named the Best Cheesecharged as it was removed from a cabinet. burger on EML after a “very unofficial” taste They had hoped to shoot a snake. A man in a wig robbed the Boyd Road test took judges on a tour of lake restaurants. A nationally prominent drum and bugle Subway July 11. A woman was charged with shooting her corps 150 strong from Canton, Ohio, used Hornet Field to practice for an upcoming husband on July 8 on Pine Ridge Drive. competition in Denton. The parking lots
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This Week in Azle History
Randall posted $5,000 bond and was released from the Azle jail later the same day. Just 21 minutes after Randall’s arrest, Sgt. Bob Spohn arrested Edgar Allen Buxton, 44, of Azle, at 2:12 a.m. in the 500 block of Commerce Street. Buxton was charged with DWI, a class B misdemeanor, as well as for unlawfully carrying a weapon, a class A misdemeanor. He posted $5,000 bond for the DWI charge and $3,000 for the weapon charge and was released from the Azle jail later in the day. Cody Moore, 24, also of Azle, was arrested at 3:40 a.m. in the 400 block of Northwest Parkway by Officer Eric Scheid. Moore was charged with his second DWI, making the charge a class A misdemeanor. He posted $7,500 bond and was released from the Azle jail Jan. 2. Azle officers also arrested 10 individuals for warrants issued by various law enforcement agencies during the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3.
were filled with RVs and tractor-trailer rigs. Construction began on July 29 on the AHS campus for the voter-approved competition gym and CTE, Career and Technical Education Building. The facilities’ projected completion date is August 2015 – just in time for the new school year. The final Music in the Park group – Me & My Monkey, a Beatles cover band – broke the attendance record as an estimated 1,700 heard the band July 25. More than 40 motorcycles took part in the B-Heart Remembrance Ride, a fundraiser to help pay for the investigation of the death of a former AHS wrester, Dammion Heard; he was found dead in the Colorado wilderness. Lauren Dale, from Azle, was named an All-American wrestler after a tournament in Fargo, North Dakota.
The Marching Green Pride horsed around with the Greatest Show on Turf program in the autumn. PLEASE SEE YEAR, PAGE 2A. Photo by Mark K. Campbell
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54 Years Ago In January 1961, Azle was enduring its own Footloose as The Azle Banner (yes, Banner) contained letters of concern on both sides of “the dancing issue.”
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