The
Thursday, December 19, 2013
WWW.SPRINGTOWN-EPIGRAPH.NET
Ladies champions of Poolville tournament
Page 10A
Local Blockbuster closing
Springtown woman charged with child endangerment BY NATALIE GENTRY Lacie Danielle West, 28, of Springtown was arrested Dec. 14 after Springtown police found her special needs child half-naked, running down the road that evening. She has been charged with a second-degree felony, abandoning or endangering a child. A 911 call came in just after 5 p.m. from a convenience store in the 600 block of North Main Street. Police arrived on the scene to fi nd the woman
Page 1B
Volume 50, Number 36
$1 Springtown, Texas 76082
Passion in the Stands
who made the call trying to warm the 9-yearold child. According to police, the child was only wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, and no pants underwear, socks or shoes. His hands and fi ngers were blue, and his legs were a vivid red from exposure to the 38-degree temperature. The wind chill that evening was just above freezing.
Lady Porcupine hoops fan Brinklee Dauenhauer wasn’t shy about rooting for Springtown in SHS’ victory over Muenster at the Poolville tournament Dec. 13.
PLEASE SEE CHILD, PAGE 2A.
Sales tax revenue falls a whopping 41.86 percent from 2012 BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN The latest state sales tax numbers had no good news for Springtown. The city’s revenue for December was $77,942 compared with December 2012 revenues of $134,075. That’s a decrease of a startling 41.86 percent. The city’s 2013 total revenue is also down. It collected $896,910 during 2013, compared with $986,034 in 2012, a 9.03 percent decrease. State sales tax revenue in November was $2.41 billion, up 2.8 percent compared to November 2012, according to Texas Comptroller
Photo by Mark K. Campbell
Susan Combs. “State sales tax revenue continues to grow at a moderate pace as expected,” Combs said. “Sales tax collections have increased for 44 consecutive months. Revenue from sectors such as wholesale trade, services industries and restaurants contributed to the most recent increase.” Combs will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts their December local sales tax allocations totaling $579.6 million, up 5 percent compared to December 2012. PLEASE SEE LATEST, PAGE 4A.
Reviewing the city’s the ice storm response BY NATALIE GENTRY As the ice fi nally melts, Springtown offi cials take stock of winter storm preparedness and road conditions. “We were as prepared as is possible for this type of event,” said Mark Krey, Springtown City Administrator. “The challenge with ice storms that have freezing rain and sleet coming down
over a period of hours is keeping materials in place during the storm.” Krey noted that freezing rain coats any sand that is down, and dilutes any chemicals as it continues to build a layer of ice on the roads’ surface. “Sleet covers sand and salt mixtures so they become ineffective,” he continued.
To combat the ice, the city used approximately 15 cubic yards of sand/ salt on the roads. Springtown has 33 miles of roads, so the city has staffed operations with personnel skilled in operating the motor grader so they were able to go over the roads, breaking up the ice, once it formed a layer thick enough to be
scraped. “Removing the majority of the ice required two trips down each road at a speed of three mile per hour,” Krey said. “So this took close to 24 total hours of actual motor grader operation to complete the job.” It will take some time to inspect all the city roads for ice-induced damage,
but Krey doesn’t foresee any major problems. “I really don’t expect many new potholes on the city owned streets since the majority of them are new,” he said. “[State owned] FM 51, North Main, will be the most notable problem area for potholes since the asphalt surface was already in poor condition.”
SOS places 41 band members on All-Region band BY NATALIE GENTRY The Sound of Springtown had 50 members compete for a chair in the Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) Region 7 All-Region Band last Saturday. And 41 succeeded. In addition, six participants will advance to the next round – Area – to be held at Waco Robinson High School on Jan. 11. That sextet: Emily Wilkerson, Cha-
nae Pitts-Richardson; Shelbie Steele; Aaron Byrd; Jacob Matthews; and Mitchell McGonigle. The number of band members to win a place in the All-Region band rose by 12 students from last year’s 29 places. With 41, SHS also had the most students to make the band of any school in the region. Next closest was Alvarado with 27 then Kennedale with 26, and Stephenville and Castleberry with 19.
Forty-one members of the Sound of Springtown won chairs in the All-Region band on Dec. 14. Springtown had the most students of any school in the area to make the band. Photo courtesy of Springtown Independent School District
SHS’ Qualifiers: Emily Wilkerson – fl ute (Area qualifi e Katie Joyner – fl ute Alex Sanders – fl ut Michala Rodriguez – clarinet Jimmie Gee – clarinet Kristyna Hickey – clarinet Emily Novak – clarinet
A Special Section
Nazaketh Montes – clarinet Jessica Merts – clarinet Emily Belcher – bass clarinet Chanae Pitts-Richardson – bassoon (Area qualifi er Jade Whittle – alto saxophone Mitchell McGonigle – tenor saxophone (Area qualifi er Pedro Galvan – trumpet
Luis Moreno – trumpet Nikki Sorrels – trumpet Christian Lindsey – trumpet Peter Merts – trumpet Hunter Poe – French horn Grace Scott – French horn Becca Eaton – French horn Tabi Rogers – French horn Lucy Meraz – French horn
Shelbie Steele – trombone (Area qualifi er Ryan Huff – euphonium Lexie Little – euphonium Kaylon Cremeen – euphonium Bryson Wheatley – tuba Amrin Bailey – tuba Aaron Byrd – percussion (Area qualifi er Jacob Matthews – percussion (Area qualifi er Cameron Bosch – percussion
Cameron Walden –percussion Grant Trichel – percussion Josh Hall – percussion Dakota Mattocks – percussion Harrison Carter – percussion Clara McIntosh – percussion Jennifer Hibler – percussion Parker Eudey – percussion Madison Beckwith – percussion
2nd Grade Letters to Santa Claus
SEASON’S GREETINGS Follow us on Twitter @SpringtownEpi Like The Springtown Epigraph on Facebook