The Azle News

Page 1

Volume 64, Number 9

Azle News

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

THE

www.azlenews.net

The heat is on Page 1B

Football 2-a-days ongoing Page 11A

TxDOT and the missing memorials Page 3A

Ash Creek Park mosquito tests positive for WNV BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN One tiny mosquito. It may not sound like much, but when it’s collected in an Azle park and it tests positive for West Nile Virus (WNV) – well, it’s disconcerting, to say the least. The city of Azle participates in the WNV testing program with Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH). City officials were notified Wednesday, Aug. 5, that a mosquito sample collected at Ash Creek Park had tested

positive for the virus. Consequently, that park and the surrounding area along Twilight Drive and Dusk Avenue were sprayed for adult mosquitoes Friday night, Aug. 7 into the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 8. The product used is Envion 30-30. Envion is designed for application as an Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) or thermal aerosol to control adult mosquitoes and fl ies in areas such as, but not limited to: residential areas, indus-

trial areas, commercial areas, urban 2,633 mosquito samples at its North areas, parks, campgrounds, wood- Texas Regional Laboratory since sealands, athletic fi elds, golf courses, sonal surveillance began on April 1. A total of 104 samples have tested playgrounds, recreational areas, overgrown waste areas, roadsides, and oth- positive – Arlington (17), Azle (1), er areas where adult mosquitoes and Benbrook (1), Colleyville (1), Crowley (9), Edgecliff Village (2), Euless flies may be found. Park Superintendent Kyle Culwell (4), Fort Worth (26), Grand Prairie said the city will continue collect- (2), Grapevine (1), Haltom City (2), ing mosquito samples at locations Hurst (5), Keller (1), Kennedale (1), throughout the city to monitor for Lake Worth (5), North Richland Hills (5), Pantego (3), Richland Hills (5), WNV. As of Aug. 10, TCPH has tested Sansom Park (1) and Unincorporated

Tarrant County (12). To date, there has been only one human case of WNV disease (neuroinvasive) in Tarrant County. Protect yourself WNV is now in most of the United States. Most people get it through the bite of an infected mosquito. You can reduce your chance of getting the disease by avoiding mosquito bites. PLEASE SEE PARK, PAGE 5A.

Fire destroys home in Reno

fi re. Unfortunately, that relative and then another attempted to put the fi re out, fi rst with water from the kitchen and then with a garden hose before calling 9-1-1,” Harris said. “Even though La Junta Volunteer Fire Chief Tony Scarlato was near the area and arrived within minutes of the fi rst call, it was just too late to save the house.” Harris said the home was declared a total loss, and the family had no insurance. “I’m hoping someone steps up to help them – a church or organization that can help,” Harris said, although he did note the family is receiving some help from the American Red Cross. As for the juvenile, Harris does not expect to fi le charges in the incident, although he counseled the boy’s mother about watching him for signs he might BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN do something similar in the future. Juvenile fi re play is responsible for “The little boy did something wrong, a fi re that destroyed a home in the 200 but he also did some things right,” block of Overland Trail Thursday, Harris said. “I was actually pretty imAug. 6. pressed with the kid’s honesty.” Parker County Fire Marshal Kurt Firefi ghters from La Junta VFD, Harris said an 8-year-old boy with a Briar-Reno VFD, Springtown VFD, curiosity about fi re lit a sheet on fi re and Boyd VFD, as well as Parker and was able to blow the flames out. County Emergency Services District 1 But gases from that fi re remained responded to fi ght the blaze as temperwhen the boy, using a lighter, lit the atures soared well above 100 degrees. sheet a second time, causing the Harris also commended fi refi ghters fl ames to get out of hand immediately. at the scene and said he feels honored “To [the boy’s] credit, he immedi- to be able to meet volunteers in the fi re Firefi ghters from La Junta, Briar-Reno, and Azle battled a blaze that destroyed a home in Reno Aug. 6. ately went to a relative to report the service. Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman

8 year old causes blaze

Council considers 1.15¢ tax rate increase

West Entrance Gate Rising at Hornet Field

BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN If you live inside the city of Azle, your property tax bill and your water/ sewer bill will likely go up a little next year. But in the grand scheme of things, Azle residents still get that proverbial “whole lot of bang for their buck.” The 2015 tax rate proposed to Azle’s city council by longtime City Manager Craig Lemin is $0.6795 – just shy One benefi t from the long stretch of no rain is that work on the new west entrance to Hornet Field is making great progress. It is projected to be completed before the first varsity home game Sept. 11. Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman

PLEASE SEE GOLF, PAGE 4A.

Woman dies in Eagle Mountain boating accident BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN The body of a Fort Worth woman was recovered from Eagle Mountain Lake about 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, following a boating accident the night before. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Offi ce has identifi ed the woman as Wendy Nugen, 46. Capt. Cliff Swofford with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said his agency received a call about 7:20 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, about a person

missing in the water following a boat- Swofford said. “Using side-scan Sonar, we were ing accident near Lakeview Marina in able to locate a boat in about 25 feet the northeast portion of EML. Offi cials discovered that a male of water.” A dive team was unsuccessful in its victim had been picked out of the water, barely conscious, and transported efforts to locate the missing woman to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Monday morning, but as a crew prepared to raise the boat from the bottom Worth. A female who had been on the boat of the lake, they located the female victim within the wreckage, Swofford said. was unaccounted for, however. The damaged boat was recovered “When our game warden got there, he could only fi nd a debris fi eld com- shortly after the victim, he added. TPWD’s boat accident reconstrucprised of pieces and parts of a boat,”

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This Week in Azle History

tion team is assisting Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) in investigating the incident, and Swofford said. “I can’t say enough about the quality of investigation by TRWD. They are investigating the accident, and our game wardens are assisting them,” he said. Witness accounts indicated the speedboat was traveling fast when the accident occurred, Swofford said. “It’s a speedboat – it’s sleek, slim, and aerodynamic.” Swofford said. “The witnesses reported it hit a wave,

which created lift that sent it straight up, and it came back down at a slight angle, hit the water and sank.” Swofford said he couldn’t say for sure that the boat’s impact with the water caused it to break apart, but confi rmed the boat was “not intact” when it was located at the bottom of EML. The 49-year-old male victim spent the night in the Intensive Care Unit, but Swofford said he has learned his condition has been updated to “stable.”

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5 Years Ago In August 2005, the Marching Green Pride was being directed by interim director Chris Goodwin while Dr. Ross Grant’s contract was in limbo; he did not return.

22 pages plus supplements

$1 Azle, Texas 76020


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