Volume 63, Number 19
Azle News
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
THE
www.azlenews.net
Hope springs eternal
Hornets demolish Chisholm Trail
Page 1B
Page 9A
Property owners move toward common goal
It’s Twins!
Ranchoaks residents exchange information, ideas by carla noah stutsman About 60 property owners in the Ranchoaks Addition Phase II (RAPII) attended a meeting at The Abbey Church Saturday, Oct. 18 to learn more about a lawsuit filed against them and to brainstorm for a solution. RAPII resident Debbie Clark explained to those in attendance that a lawsuit filed in February by the owner of a single 40-plus acre lot located across a drainage easement from other lots in the addition seeks to exclude that lot from existing covenants and deed restrictions that currently apply to all lots in the subdivision. Lot 27 is owned by 12021 Jacksboro, LLC and admits it is in violation of a restriction that allows only residential use of the lots. Azle High School seniors and twins Jeff and Julie Waldock were crowned 2014 AHS King and Queen In fact, the property has only been at halftime of the annual Homecoming football game Friday, Oct. 17. Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman used in commercial endeavors.
A gas well was also drilled on the lot – an activity expressly not allowed in the restrictions. But the lawsuit contends the covenants and restrictions have never been enforced in the addition since they were executed in 1984, and asserts they should be removed. I’m being sued?! Many lot owners in the addition had no idea they had been sued until very recently, since the judge in the case only required the plaintiff to notify a few lot owners whose property abuts Lot 27. A group of property owners within the subdivision, in response to the lawsuit, tried to promote the idea of creating a Home Owners Association PLEASE SEE GROUP, PAGE 2A.
On quakes and injections: SMU expert says ‘relationship plausible’ by mark k. campbell Brian Stump, Ph.D, told Azle Rotarians Oct. 16 that a “plausible relationship” exists between local earthquakes and injection sites. The SMU professor discussed a trio of recent quake activities – near DFW Airport in 2008-9, around Cleburne in 2009, and in the Azle area that began last November – and how information being gathered is leading to a mound of data.
“There is a plausible relationship between injections and earthquakes, but there is no absolute conclusion,” Stump said. After detailing that the series of DFW Airport quakes “lined up with injector wells,” Stump added that, while “there is a linkage” between the tremblers in Cleburne, the wells there had been operated for “four or five years” before the quakes began. The 12 seismic monitors installed
around the Azle area have given the SMU team “lots of data,” he said. Stump said he expects to have the conclusions paper peer reviewed and available “within the next two months.” It remains to be seen if the fluid disposals are quake triggers, he noted. Stump said, “Earthquakes are a national hazard.” He said the Azle area sits on the Mineral Wells fault and that “earth-
Briar VFD captain sentenced to 8 years
quakes are not unusual in Texas.” Geologically, Texas is considered in the eastern part of the U.S. where sound waves propagate more than in the west. Of great concern in the east is the possible impact of quakes on nuclear power plants, he said. Stump addressed the uptick in seismic activity in Oklahoma and said that while earthquakes have been on the rise since 2000, “it was not unexpected.” He noted that there are hundreds of thousands of injection wells that have not generated quakes. Stump said fracking – “the forcing of fluid into tight shells” – might cause “very small earthquakes,” but that “wastewater disposal is a problem.”
He added, “When you disturb stressors, you can have small earthquakes.” In Azle’s case, two injection wells were within two kilometers from the majority of the earthquakes; each well injected different volumes of fluid. Stump said the experts are still trying to determine fluid flow calculations, noting that “pressure depths are tough to measure.” The study group needs to know fault depth and to understand how “fluids get from here to there.” The ultimate plan is for, after all the data is examined and peer review completed, a set of standards to be recorded. The data could help define why “earthquake sequences have decayed” locally, Stump said.
Reed convicted of indecency with a child by carla noah stutsman A long-time captain for the Briar Volunteer Fire Department was sentenced Oct. 16 to eight years in the state penitentiary for fondling a young boy with whom he attended church. Travis Jerrad Reed, 33, was convicted of indecency with a child, a second-degree felony, earlier the same day. According to a press release issued by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s (TCDA) Office, jurors deliberated for about an hour-anda-half before convicting Reed, and another two hours before deciding his sentence. In addition to his position with the Briar VFD, Reed also volunteered to help with the youth group at the Azle church, as well as other youth organizations in the Azle area. As a Briar VFD member, he participated in Azle’s annual Homecoming Parade on Oct. 13 – just hours after the jury that decided his fate was seated. Reed was tried in Criminal District Court 3 in Fort Worth, where Judge Robb Catalano presides. TCDA prosecutors told the court Reed hosted a bonfire and sleepover at his home for several boys from
church in the summer of 2011. After everyone went to sleep, Reed put his hand inside the sleeping bag of the boy, who was 11 years old at the time, and fondled him. The boy testified that Reed also attempted to touch him in an inappropriate way on two other occasions. The same boy and one other testified that Reed looked up their shorts during a martial arts class taught by Reed at the church. “We hope that people who are in trusted positions and in positions of
Travis Reed
authority want to protect our children and we put trust in them,” said prosecutor Anndi Risinger. “In this case, the defendant used those positions to gain the trust of this child and his family, and he violated that trust in the worst possible way. This jury had a difficult job and we hope their verdict sends a message to this defendant and the community.” An investigation into the young boy’s allegations led to Reed’s arrest on Oct. 23, 2012, by Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) deputies. Reed posted $7,500 bond and was released from the Tarrant County Jail the following day. He was indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury on April 17, 2013. According to a TCSO investigator, information obtained during a forensic interview with the victim in the case indicated that all three incidents occurred in 2011. Reed, who is married with an infant child, faced two to 20 years in prison. He was taken into custody immediately after his conviction and must serve at least half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
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This Week in Azle History
5 Years Ago
Controlled Burn Snuffed
The Azle Fire Department was summoned to a controlled burn in the 1300 block of Northwest Parkway around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15. According to Interim Parker County Fire Marshal George Teague, a couple of items were found on the burn pile that could potentially be unsafe to burn. Azle firefighters quickly put the fire out, and the property owner just as quickly rented a tractor and a dump truck to properly dispose of the burn pile. Photo by Kim Ware
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In October 2009, the Azle High School Marching Green Pride qualified for the state band contest after finishing first in the Area round in Odessa.
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