Volume 62, Number 27
Azle News
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
THE
www.azlenews.net
Local Blockbuster closing
Ladies start district at 1-1
Page 1B
Page 8A
After the storm Area still recovering from ‘IceAgeddon’ BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN No doubt the Dec. 5-6 ice storm will go down in history as one of the worst in this area. Area schools were closed for four days, city street crews worked overtime trying to keeps roads passable, and police, deputies and fi refi ghters responded to an abundance of calls of all kinds. Rick White, Public Services Director for the city of Azle, said street crews sanded more than 50 locations across the city and re-sanded those locations multiple times. “We used more than 60 tons of sand during this event alone,” White said, adding that the effort also utilized 75 man-hours, all at overtime rates. Critical locations kept well-sanded included Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle, Azle’s central fi re station, police department, street department storage area, all bridges in the city, all major intersections and streets, and many hills. AISD ice woes The Azle Independent School District (AISD or district) meanwhile dealt with ice in several different flavors. First and most obvious was the initial safety threat of widespread icing of roadways that caused the district to shut schools down a half-hour early ThursPLEASE SEE ‘ICEAGEDDON’, PAGE 2A.
Seismometers at work in Azle area
It took hard, cold labor, but Azle ISD workers repaired a water leak that allowed the return of students after missing four days to a pre-winter ice storm. Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman
BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN The latest earthquake in the area occurred Saturday evening, Dec. 14, at 10:54 p.m. about a mile south of Springtown. That was just a day ahead of the installation of four NetQuakes instruments provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in the area. Heather DeShon, associate professor of geophysics at Southern Methodist University’s Roy D. Huffi ngton Department of Earth Sciences, said additional equipment is also on the way to help in the collection of data related to the series of earthquakes that began suddenly the night of Nov. 5. Since that time, 22 quakes measuring 2.0 or more have been recorded in the areas around Azle, Reno, and Springtown. Two of those 22 quakes were just east of Eagle Mountain Lake; three additional quakes (not included in the 22 in the immediate area) have occurred in an area between Mineral Wells and Jacksboro west of the immediate area.
BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN The Azle High School Marching Green Pride (MGP) placed 13th overall in the Texas State Marching Band contest in November. Now, individual AHS band students are climbing the steps necessary to see who will make it to the All-Area and then the All-State bands. Those students started things off right at All-Region auditions, with 26 individuals named to that band. Eight of those students will also advance to Area auditions. “These students have been working on difficult music for four months and did an outstanding job,” said assistant band director Kim Murphy. “We wish the best to those who will be advancing to Area competition in January in their quest to make it to the TMEA [Texas Music Educators Association] All-State band, the highest individual achievement for a high school musician.” Murphy added that freshman All-Region auditions will be held Jan. 13 at Denton Ryan High School and she is confident some ninth graders will be added to the list once those results are posted. In the meantime, the following musicians are basking in the All-Region limelight:
Follow along online DeShon said the four NetQuakes instruments are functioning and future events will use data collected from them to pinpoint their locations. Furthermore, anyone can view the data collected from the instruments on the USGS website by copying and pasting this link: http:// escweb.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/ heliva.pl?3&AZFS_HNZ_ NQ_01_00&latest. The link will take you to data for the current date for the instrument identifi ed as NetQuakes seismometers are bolted to concrete foundations to ensure they are AZFS. The other three instru- well-coupled to a structure and accuments are identifi ed asrately record ground motion. AZHS, AZCT and RESD. Click on the “Data Selector” link at the bottom of the page to see links to other data feeds. Note that each instrument has three channels: the north (N) and east (E) channels record horizontal movement while the vertical (Z) channel records vertical movement. What you’ll see This fi rst group of instruments has been deployed to monitor the burst of seismicity that has been occurring in the area since early November. The USGS NetQuakes instruments are designed to be installed in private homes, businesses, public buildings and schools with an existing broadband connection to the Internet. SMU’s research team, led by DeShon, also will deploy a group of 15, single-channel sensors provided by the Incorporated Research Institutions for PLEASE SEE QUAKE, PAGE 5A.
MGP seats 26 in All-Region bands Area, then State berths eyed by AHS musicians vances to Area ● Mackenzie Austin, Bb clarinet, Symphonic Band, advances to Area ● Keirstin Cage, Bb clarinet, Concert Band. ● Savannah Shafer, Bb clarinet, Concert Band. ● Gabryella Martinez, Bb clarinet, Concert Band. ● Grace Villalpando, alto clarinet, Symphonic Band, advances to Area ● Morgan Redmon, bass clarinet, Concert Band. ● Victoria Mauk, bass clarinet, Concert Band. ● Matt Derting, alto sax, Concert Band. ● Mary Potts, alto sax, Concert Band. ● Taylor Brown, tenor sax, Concert Band. ● Brady Carlson, trumpet, Symphonic Band, advances to Area ● Bruce Mikel, trumpet, Symphonic Band, advances to Area ● Devon Oliver, trumpet, Symphonic Band, advances to Area ● Daniel Vazquez, trumpet, Symphonic Band. ● Carter Loeffelholz, trumpet, Concert Band. ● Devin Starnes, trumpet, Concert Band. ● Lydia Bazan, French horn, Symphonic Band. ● Gabby Di Carlo, French horn, Concert Band. ● Jarred Williams, French horn, alternate, ● Jacob Derting, trombone, Symphonic Band. ● Makayla Almeida, flute, 5A Symphonic Band, advanc● Dawson Tetts, bass trombone, Symphonic Band, ades to Area vances to Area ● Kayla Karnes, oboe, Concert Band ● Colten Chancellor, tuba, Concert Band. ● Geena Thompson, Eb clarinet, Symphonic Band, ad● Kyle Novikoff, percussion, Concert Band.
Azle man killed in Cresson wreck BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN An Azle man was killed in an accident in the far southeastern corner of Parker County. Randy Joe Dick, 55, of Azle, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at 6:29 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10. According to Senior Trooper Gary Rozzell of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Dick was driving a 2006 Sterling tractor pulling a 1999 utility box trailer southbound on US Highway 377 near its intersection with Yellow Stone Road north of Cresson. Dick struck a 2006 Toyota Celica, also southbound, but disabled in the right turn lane with no lights.
A Special Section
The right front of Dick’s vehicle struck the left rear of the Toyota, Rozzell said. The impact caused truck and trailer to veer left and Dick then over-corrected to the right. The tractor-trailer spun clockwise, striking a brick wall and a fence before side-skidding into the east bar ditch, where it came to rest on its left side. The Toyota went to the right after the impact and struck a tree, Rozzell said. The only occupant of the Toyota was a passenger, Susan R. Beasley, 32, of New Braunfels. Presumably, the driver had set out on foot some time prior to the accident
to get gasoline. However, a routine check on Beasley by law enforcement turned up a warrant from another county for violating a promise to appear in court regarding a charge of driving with an invalid driver’s license with a previous conviction or suspension and/or without insurance. Beasley was taken into custody at the scene. She posted $3,500 bond and was released from the Parker County jail the following day. Rozzell said that while there was some ice still on the highway when the accident occurred, the exact reason why Dick’s vehicle struck the Toyota remains under investigation.
2nd Grade Letters to Santa Claus
SEASON’S GREETINGS Follow us on Twitter @TheAzleNews
Like The Azle News on Facebook 40 pages plus supplements
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: Have you gotten all of your Christmas shopping done?
Vote at www.azlenews.net
LAST WEEK’S POLL: Did you suffer any damage from ICEAGEDDON?
YES: 40 percent
NO: 60 percent
$1 Azle, Texas 76020