Community Life, Aug/Sept 2015

Community The magazine for Johnson County and surrounding areas August-September 2015 Vol. 10, No. 4

Also featuring: Jamie Moore Landon Ledlow Larue Barnes

ADAMKING STOP SCU commander leads battle on drugs PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 15

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bringing it all

BACK home

Landon Ledlow and 6 Stones’ home by home impact in Cleburne

page 6

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man with a

PLAN

Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore is prepared for anything

page 14

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GETTING to know Larue Barnes A woman with a passion for recording family history for generations to come

page 26

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drugs

STOP here

Adam King leads SCU of undercover officers

page 38 on the cover page 50

TECH COLLY Downlow on drones

page 34

CHAMBER Latest news

Publisher

Managing editor

Graphics Director

Business Manager

Advertising executives

Copy Editors

Writers/ photographers

Classified executives

Kay Helms khelms@trcle.com

Eric Faught Tammie Kay Barbara Smith

Dale Gosser dgosser@trcle.com Monica Faram Dale Gosser

108 S. Anglin St. Cleburne, TX 76033 Phone: 817-558-2855 | Fax: 817-645-4020

Ashley Garey

Monica Faram Jessica Pounds Matt Smith Jamie Moore

Lynn Coplin

April Bradshaw Teresa Slade

Community Life, the magazine for Johnson County Š 2015 by Cleburne Times-Review. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Community Life is inserted into the Times-Review and distributed around the county free of charge.

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Before BRINGING IT ALL

BACK HOME

Landon Ledlow and 6 Stones’ home by home impact in Cleburne

T

STORY BY Matt Smith | PHOTOS BY Monica faram

o quote Bob Dylan, Cleburne resident Landon Ledlow threw it all away. At least, that’s how some might interpret it. Ledlow’s take, on the other hand, riffs off John F. Kennedy by asking not what Cleburne can do for him but what he, through working with others, can do for Cleburne.

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Call it divine intervention, random chance or speak of roads less traveled. Whatever the case, Ledlow, 34, remains steadfast that Cleburne called him home for good reason and that he’s right where God wants him to be.

That was not the original plan. After graduating from Cleburne High School in 1999, Ledlow hitched his star to Texas A&M Uni-

versity, determined to make his mark beyond the bounds of his childhood home since 1982.

“When I left Cleburne I never thought of coming back because I didn’t think Cleburne had anything to offer me,” Ledlow said, “which was just that youthful optimism. I thought I’d go out and conquer the world. Instead, I now represent the one who conquers.”

After

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Ledlow said he entered A&M with no overriding sense of direction. Three events, several years apart, inspired Ledlow’s eventual homecoming, a longing he didn’t fully comprehend just yet.

“About two and a half years ago I felt God steering us back to Cleburne,” Ledlow said. “But I didn’t know why.”

The first event involved tragedy and occurred not long after Ledlow left Cleburne.

“I was a team leader during the ’99 [A&M] bonfire collapse,” Ledlow said. “I’d always been religious growing up, but it was also something that was just there that I didn’t think about all the time. But absolutely, I grew up a lot after the bonfire.”

Ledlow transferred to Concordia University Texas where he earned degrees in communications and Bible languages before moving on to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis to earn a Master of Divinity degree.

There Ledlow met his wife-to-be, Becky, who would play a huge role in his return to Cleburne.

The couple wed in 2008.

“The extrovert is me; the introvert is her,” Ledlow said. “But it works perfectly and there’s peace there for both of us. I couldn’t do any of this without Becky though. She’s the greatest encourager I’ve ever had.”

The couple settled in Dallas, and Ledlow, an ordained minister, took a job at a church. The couple’s first daughter, Noa, was born in 2008.

“We had great jobs, great salaries, a great house,” Ledlow said. “Eventually we dropped all that and came back [to Cleburne].”

But first, a fork in life’s road posed a choice.

“An Arizona church approached us with an incredible opportunity to serve as lead pastor of a very large church,” Ledlow said. “It was a huge opportunity and we prayed about it and I asked Becky what she thought. ‘It’s not us,’ Becky said and I said, ‘I know, I don’t feel it either.’”

Becky Ledlow laughs remembering those times.

“We had been here to visit Landon’s family and I remember asking him one of those times before if he would ever want to move back here,” Becky Ledlow said. “He just kind of said, ‘Eh, I don’t know. I don’t think so.’ He thought at that time that Cleburne couldn’t really give him anything but now the attitude is more look what we can do for Cleburne.”

Having passed on Arizona, the Ledlows relocated to Cleburne.

“Walking in not knowing when, who or why,” Landon Ledlow said. “Just knowing we were supposed to be here.

“I had a 10-month-old daughter when we moved here. How crazy is that? You uproot everything that is secure to follow where you believe God is leading you.”

Although Ledlow didn’t know it at the time,

he was walking into a perfect storm of opportunity to make difference.

Cleburne Pride and 6 Stones

Before moving back to Cleburne, Ledlow met Scott Sheppard, executive director of 6 Stones, an organization founded in Bedford. Ledlow had no idea he would prove instrumental in bringing 6 Stones to Cleburne.

The religious-based organization carries out a number of charitable and community based initiatives, including the Community Powered Revitalization program. The organization teams cities, residents, churches, nonprofit groups, local businesses and other groups together. The organization’s goal involves helping elderly, disabled and financially disadvantaged families with home repairs. “A catalyst of hope” is how 6 Stones representatives describe their group.

Also unbeknownst to Ledlow was that Cleburne officials had recently stepped up code enforcement initiatives in part to prepare for the growth expected to flow from the recently opened Chisholm Trail Parkway, a toll road linking Cleburne to Fort Worth, and in part to beautify Cleburne and restore city and neighborhood pride. The goal was also to ensure that no Cleburne neighborhoods got left behind in the wake of predicted new growth.

Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain, Fire Chief Clint

Ishmael and other officials, however, wanted to approach the problem in ways other than simply focusing on code enforcement and fines.

Fines and enforcement are necessary and proper for those who simply fail to maintain their properties, Ishmael said. But what of those who fail to maintain their properties because they are unable to do so be it because of age, disability or financial reasons?

Cities, Ishmael argued, are not equipped to deal with such situations. Not wanting to leave it at that, Cain and others developed Operation Cleburne Pride, an initiative inspired by the community’s response to the 2012 Cleburne tornadoes.

“In the clean up efforts after the tornadoes we found that government works best when it, yes, helps out, but mainly gets out of the way and lets others who want to help come in and do just that,” Cain said.

Cain said the outpouring of volunteerism after the tornadoes by residents, areas businesses and other organizations inspired him and inspired the creation of Operation Cleburne Pride.

That organization stages several neighborhood clean ups each year. City officials help out, providing trash bins and sanitation trucks to haul debris off and so forth. The bulk of the work, however, comes from residents, area businesses, churches, civic groups and other area charitable

organizations such as Christmas In Action.

“It’s something,” Cain said. “Because you see all these people jumping in to help out the community. You see people in the neighborhoods we’re working in come out wondering what’s going on and they end up jumping in an helping. You see some of those people from the earlier neighborhoods joining in to help when we do the next neighborhood.”

Ledlow arrived back in Cleburne around the time Operation Cleburne Pride was getting off the ground. He returned home hoping to make a difference in his hometown but not yet sure how.

“I figured the best place to learn about the needs of the community would be to walk into the fire station,” Ledlow said. “They have their finger on the pulse of the community, know where the blight areas and parts of town in need are.

“So that’s what I did, walked in cold. ‘What does Cleburne need?’ I asked Clint. Never met him before in my life. Just walked in and said, ‘My name is Landon and I’m here to help.’”

Ishmael said he had no idea who Ledlow was other than he was the son of Cleburne resident Robert Ledlow.

“It’s funny that he showed up at that time,” Ishmael said. “Because a lot of things were kind of coming together simultaneously, Operation Cleburne Pride and other ideas we were kicking

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Photo by Monica Faram

Dorothy Christy, left, is one of several Cleburne residents whose homes received repairs from 6 Stones volunteers earlier this year.

Landon Ledlow, center, serves as Cleburne’s 6 Stones leader. Also pictured are his wife, Becky, right, and their children, Noa and Eve.

around on how to best partner the city with residents and other groups to revive city neighborhood.

“And it’s something we needed to do. In 20 something years in the city I’ve seen communities and neighborhoods age and deteriorate and our older sections of town go into slow decline.

If nothing’s done, those areas can die. Just look at Detroit.

“Where people don’t, or can’t, take care of homes you get vacant homes, more crime.

Homes have to be demolished. You get more and more vacant lots, which doesn’t help and you can lose neighborhoods that way. It’s like an ecosystem. Everything impacts everything else.

“We wanted to figure out ways the city, working with others, could begin the process of bringing those neighborhoods back. Homeowners have a vested interest in being part of the community and if we can get these programs off the ground we can begin to bring those neighborhoods back.”

The meeting with Ishmael led to meetings with Cain and other city officials.

After that first meeting with Ishmael, however, Ledlow said it became clear why he was back in Cleburne.

“We wanted to compliment, work with and do some of the things other organizations in Cleburne were already doing,” Ledlow said. “Organizations like Christmas In Action, Operation Cleburne Pride and Operation Blessing. We also wanted to do some things that hadn’t been done and knew we need a big organization behind us, which is why I got in touch with Scott Sheppard at 6 Stones.”

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“We spent about 18 months strategizing how we can do this, going through Texas local government codes, tax codes trying to figure how this could work, if it could work. Just hit and miss throwing ideas against the wall.

“That’s where my wife comes in again.

Becky thinks in a way that is just beautiful and I bounced a lot of ideas off of her. Overall, I feel like the right people at the right place at the right time came together to form this situation and obviously it’s my belief that God put the right people in the right place to bring this together.”

The city, along with various donors, jumped on board by providing seed money to establish 6 Stones in Cleburne.

Through establishing Community Powered Revitalization, one of the programs under 6 Stones’ umbrella, Ledlow, city officials and volunteers moved forward to work in tandem with and compliment those programs already in place.

“CPR’s goal is to bring the community around one another to provide needed repairs for home owners who simply need help getting their homes into livable shape,” Ledlow said.

CPR’s first event, held in March, initially involved repairing five homes.

“It was chaos and awesome,” Ledlow said.

“We hoped we’d get 250 people to show up. We got more, then even more people poured in the day of the event who hadn’t registered, which was great. We ended up with 424 people and working on seven houses instead of five. It was more than we hoped for. People learned about it and caught the vision asking how they can help, and that’s how you build a coalition of lasting impact.”

Volunteers repaired foundations, roofs, bro-

ken windows and porches among other repairs and painted several houses, including Dorothy Christy’s home on North Anglin Street.

Christy said the volunteers breathed new life into her 85-year-old home.

“I tell my nieces and nephews, ‘It’s the red house on the corner. You can’t miss it,’ when they come to visit,” Christy joked. “But I’m very thankful. We did some repairs but couldn’t afford all of them and [CPR] did a great job and I tell everyone who did it.”

Ledlow credits Christy as much as CPR. “These are the types of situations you want to see,” Ledlow said. “Her friends and family were out there with us and Dorothy was out there working as hard as any of the volunteers. We saw people coming around to see what was going on and helping out and almost all the homes we worked on, the owners were there working beside us. Some couldn’t for physical reasons but you’d be surprised how many joined in, and that’s what’s great to see.”

6 Stones volunteers also sprang into action after the near non-stop rain and attendant flooding of May to repair several weather-ravaged homes on Cleburne’s east side. Otherwise, the goal remains to stage major events in spring and fall before the Texas heat or cold settles in.

The new deal

“This part has not been done before,” Ledlow said of Cleburne 6 Stones’ latest development. “I can’t say not anywhere, but nowhere I’ve heard of. So it’s a fresh approach to us where we’re learning as we go.”

The plan involves houses condemned by the

city. Previously those houses were demolished or sold at auction. The problem, Ishmael said, is that people tended to buy them then do few repairs or tear them down leaving an empty lot in a neighborhood lots that stick out like missing teeth. The city and other taxing entities involved also rarely if ever make money off the auction sales and the property sit either still dilapidated or simply fixed up enough function as borderline rental homes. Any of which tends to compound the downward spiral of a neighborhood.

The potential for difference is huge, Cain said.

“You know, from the city’s perspective this all started with the [2012 tornadoes] where we learned how efficient and effective it was to take those in need and those able to help and put them together,” Cain said. “That’s what Operation Cleburne Pride grew out of. Landon coming on the scene just took that idea to a new level and it’s been exciting to see his passion and heart for people in action. To see a hometown boy return to make a difference one family at a time has just been amazing. And his passion for Cleburne is already making a difference. He’s a unique, creative outside-the-box thinker with the kind of positive attitude to see problems as potential solutions. Find 12 more like him and I think we could turn around not only our community but also impact the entire North Texas region. The

brick and mortar work Landon and the 6 Stones volunteers do is tremendous, but it pales in comparison with the impact on families and lives and that’s really what it’s all about.”

The plan, which the Cleburne City Council recently approved, is to turn those properties over to 6 Stones, though the ordinance leaves the city free to turn them over to any charitable organization of their choosing. 6 Stones then repairs the homes, if possible, if not they demolish and build new homes. The newly built homes are palaces, no, Ledlow said, but they will be nice, safe and sturdy family homes built with an eye toward complementing and bringing up the neighborhood.

The goal being to get families who could not otherwise afford or swing ownership into those homes. 6 Stones will also partner with local businesses, organizations and donors to maintain quality construction at the lowest price. Funds realized from the home sales roll back into 6 Stone to repair or replace other condemned homes.

“What we hope to do is provide families with the opportunity of home ownership,” Ledlow said. “Then walk with them as they learn healthy finances and home ownership. Many of our neighborhoods it’s just rent, rent, rent because of people’s credit scores or whatever they have trouble getting into a home. And that’s why we want

to increase home ownership because as that increases, so does the value, and community spirit, of the neighborhood.”

The group has yet to rehab or build any homes, though they recently received their first two properties from the city.

“We’re excited to get into the process,” Ledlow said. “How could we not be? We get to be part of a group that wants to breath new life into Cleburne. You know, I look at those old houses and realize that that was someone’s home once, a home where memories were made. Tearing them down doesn’t help the situation or the neighborhood or Cleburne any. But if they’re redeemable and we can bring them back that becomes a home for a new family now, a home for new memories.”

It’s a movement Ledlow said he hopes to see spread beyond Cleburne in time, 6 Stones having, under different leadership, flowered in Richland Hills and Watauga after the Cleburne chapter established.

“For the rest of Johnson County we’ll see what happens as word spreads,” Ledlow said “We’ll wait for that door to open though, don’t want to push it. But once it does open we’re going to run through it. That’s the best way to go about it, let others catch the vision and ask how they can help. That’s how you build a coalition of lasting impact.”

Community Life

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with a

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Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore is prepared for anything

F

PHOTOS AND STORY BY Jessica Pounds rom providing medical atten- tributes his love of helping others to his father, who was a lineman, and his mother, who was a tion to fighting fires and even flight nurse and paramedic. upholding the law, Johnson “I can remember my dad going out in the middle of storms when a tornado would come County Emergency Manage- through at all hours of the night, working to help people,” Moore said. “And my mom, I was ment Director Jamie Moore always enamored by her flying into the hospital on a helicopter and just the whole medical aspect has done it all when it comes to of it.” emergency services.

Moore said he really thought emergency medicine would be the direction of his career.

Influenced by his upbringing, Moore, who “There was one point in time where I thought I would go into nursing and be a flight medic,” grew up in Childress and Amarillo, said he at- Moore said. “Life just took a different path, really.”

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ence,” Moore said. “When it comes to a disaster and response to disasters, it involves so many more players from nongovernmental entities to governmental entities to volunteers. The scope is so huge.”

Moore said for a response to be effective, and ultimately with a goal to help people, you have to have somebody to coordinate all that effort.

“That is what emergency management is really about; coordinating all the efforts to save lives and property,” Moore said. “I was learning that it is very detailed and in-depth.”

A magnet for disaster

Courtesy photo

Moore overlooks a fire in Colorado in 2002 when he was working as a wildland firefighter. Over 4,000 acres of the Pike National Forest burned. During the first few days of the fire, smoke billowed miles into the air, blocking sunlight over Douglas County.

After high school, Moore went straight into Emergency Medical Technician school and then moved to Dallas where he worked on an ambulance 24 hours on and 48 hours off for several years.

While he was searching for a degree in paramedicine at the University of North Texas, Moore ended up coming across an emergency management degree program.

“It was such a broader scope of helping

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the public,” Moore said. “I realized emergency management doesn’t just deal with medical issues. It includes law enforcement and public works and all of these other people.”

All through college, Moore worked at the Medical Center of Plano in the emergency room.

“It was a natural fit; I had a passion and loved helping people in situations where their life was on the line and I could make a differ-

“When I was on shift in the emergency room in Plano we got the worst things,” Moore said.

“It has been a running joke that I am a magnet for disaster because it followed me throughout my emergency management career.”

After graduating from UNT, Moore moved to Colorado and said he was fortunate to get a job right away as a director of emergency management in Douglas County.

“About eight weeks after I moved to Colorado we had the largest wildfire in state history burn through our county,” Moore said. “Really, it was the largest event I had ever been a part of or seen; it covered 140,000 acres and burned for six weeks. We had to evacuate 13,000 people.”

Moore said the fire was a significant event in his career because it showed him how complex incidents really are.

“When you are dealing with wildfires like

that and even tornados and flooding, the process is very intricate and takes a lot of logistics,” Moore said. “It’s a very challenging situation and it takes a team of people.”

Moore said during the fire he was introduced to a concept that was developed around 1979 called incident command system.

“You have teams of people that come in and establish different organizations to effectively address all of the needs for the incidents,” Moore said. “To establish how to get fuel to fire trucks, how to get more law enforcement officers from across the state, how to evacuate 13,000 people — anything you can imagine you’d need to address during a large-scale emergency these teams do.”

A master of trades

Moore said he was so taken with the organization and its ability to address the incidents that he began training to become a member of one of those teams.

“I went to wildland firefighting school and began fighting wildland fires for about six years while I was doing emergency management for the county,” Moore said. “When summer hit,

I would travel all across the United States and manage the largest of all wildfires in the entire nation.”

Moore said he spent almost seven years traveling around on an incident management team, all while gaining a tremendous understanding of organizations and how it affects the outcome of the incident.

“That was about the time, and because the team’s organizational skills were so great, they began using wildland fire teams on things that had nothing to do with wildland fire. Sept. 11 was a great example of that. It wasn’t just a federal response, it was national teams who had never been to a building collapse but had such great organizational skills that they can manage effectively large-scale responses.”

Once the federal government realized these incident management teams had this type of capability, Moore said he started getting assigned on all types of incidents.

“We managed blizzards in Colorado where a $15 billion cattle industry was going to be ruined if we couldn’t airdrop hay to the cows because you couldn’t get to them,” Moore said.

“It doesn’t matter what sort of incident it is,

whether it is a wildland fire or a tornado, a lot of the response is the same. You have to respond with fire trucks and policeman, with public works there to help you with utilities or clear roads out of the way so you can have access.”

Moore was married by then and realized how important it was to have family around so he and his wife, Ashley, moved back to Texas.

“When we moved back I started working with the Wichita Falls Fire Department,” Moore said. “While I was there, again that magnet hit and we had major flooding and evacuated homes.”

After a couple of years, Moore said he wanted to work in a more urban area so he took a position as emergency management planner with the Denton County Fire Marshal’s Office.

“One of the duties of the fire marshal is law enforcement because they enforce fire related laws,” Moore said. “So, I went to the police academy and become a law enforcement officer.

I went from working on an ambulance to being a fireman to also being a peace officer.”

One of the reasons Moore said he did that wasn’t just because of his interest in fire investigation and arson, but when you coordinate

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groups of public safety people you have to know how they respond to incidents so you know how to write the plan.

“One of the motivating factors for me to become a peace officer was so I could understand the law enforcement aspect of response to emergencies, making me a better emergency manager,” Moore said. “When I finished that, I realized I wanted to utilize the same skill set I had been using the past 15 years in an area where I could have more leeway to exercise some of my thoughts and ideas on how we could effectively respond to the community in an emergency.”

a place to call home

“I thought it would be a natural fit to bring my skill set to a more rural area in a place that I am familiar with; a place that is much more conducive to the country and family lifestyle that I wanted,” Moore said. “I have two children [Kade, 8, and Kenley, 5,] and the Metroplex is great, but I grew up in a small town. That is the kind of atmosphere that I want my kids to grow up in and Johnson County is very much like there.”

Moore, now 39, said he has fond memories of visiting his grandparents in Cleburne as a child.

“I remember coming here as a kid and spending summers here with my grandparents,” Moore said. “I can remember some of those memories of Cleburne from back then as I look around and recognize things like the railroad tracks on Kilpatrick Street. I remember that from when I was 5 years old — crossing the railroad tracks and seeing a Dairy Queen.

And I can remember the fireflies.

I loved Johnson County because I spent a lot of time here when I was young.”

Moore said it wasn’t long after he took the position of emergency 18

Community Life

Photo by Jessica Pounds

One of the tasks Jamie Moore has as the Johnson County Emergency Management director is looking for ways to use technology and be better prepared for emergencies. Moore helped create a smartphone app called Emergency Ops Center that educates residents on public safety.

management director that one of the biggest tornados that ever hit Cleburne.

“One of the things about Johnson County that is really unique is there is such an amazing willingness among public safety to work together,” Moore said. “When it comes to public safety, all other things aside, public safety responders don’t see jurisdictional boundaries. “We had people from Cleburne, Joshua, Burleson and Godley, the sheriff’s office, and responders from outside of Johnson County to help with the incident.

“There was no, this is Cleburne and this is Johnson County,” Moore said. “That doesn’t happen here and that’s a real blessing for me. It makes our job much easier when we can coordinate people and not have people say they are not going outside of their city limits to help you. I can tell you that that is not the case everywhere.”

Cleburne Fire Chief Clint Ishmael said he applauds the county for hiring Moore when he applied for his position.

“From a emergency management standpoint, it’s important that the city of Cleburne and Johnson County have the ability to work together well,” Ishmael said. “We have had that with some of our emergency management directors, but Jamie brings that to a new level with his experience and expertise in that field.

“He wasn’t here long when that tornado came

through a couple years ago,” Ishmael said. “In a situation like that you don’t want each individual organization in their own war room trying to make strategies, plans and tactics on how you are going to address the situation. Often times with politics you pay more attention to political boundaries but in emergency services we are more worried about people and there’s not really a clear line for that boundary.”

Moving forward

Moore said it is a really great time to be in Johnson County because the area is growing tremendously.

“If you look across the Metroplex where people want to live, you see a lot of people looking toward Johnson County because we have a great community and great schools,” Moore said. “We are about to see one of the most amazing times of growth in the county’s history.”

As a result of that, Moore said one of the things his office does is look for ways to use technology and to be better prepared for when there is an influx of people.

“That’s important in our job because when we had the tornadoes in the middle of the field and nobody lived there it didn’t really matter,” Moore said. “But when we have a tornado in the middle of a field that now has a subdivision in it which wasn’t there years ago, it makes a huge difference.”

Moore said there are, on average, two tornados per year in Johnson County.

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“The reason a lot of people don’t realize that is because the tornadoes might occur in rural areas of the county,” Moore said. “In the next 10 years, sure we’ll still have those areas, but they won’t be as rural as they are right now. The incidents are going to seem like they are increasing because now we have people where we didn’t have people.”

Moore said his office has taken great strides to institute technologies that will help deal with future emergencies.

“We have successfully argued for and have received one of the [Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere], high-definition radars,” Moore said. “This network of radars, which allows you to literally see which street a tornado is on, that technology doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world except the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Cleburne is a part of that.”

Moore said his office also created a smartphone application.

“We’ve been teaching people what to do in a tornado for 40 years,” Moore said. “In school, you learn to go away from windows, go in the bathroom. That’s really great but if you don’t know that a tornado is coming it doesn’t matter what you know.

“We created an app called Emergency Ops Center, based on what we do in the emergency management office,” Moore said. “The primary piece of that is a map, called an incident map, that shows at any given time in real time what is going on across the county whether it is a structure fire or motor vehicle accident or a road closed for construction or a tornado. This app

Courtesy photo

Jamie Moore’s son, Kade, sits in his lap during a visit while he was working for the Wichita Falls Fire Department in 2008.

will show you exactly, on a map, what is going on in the county.”

Moore said no other organization in the U.S. has developed a smartphone app specific to educating the citizens on public safety issues that are immediate and now.

Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said it has been great having Moore in Johnson County.

“Jamie is the right person for the position that he is in,” Alford said. “He has the heart,

dedication and drive to keep our citizens safe in times of natural disasters.”

Alford said he sees Moore as a team player.

“He seeks others’ input on how to address issues, often times issues that can and will affect the lives and safety of our citizens,” Alford said.

“Jamie stays abreast of all new technology, training and trends that will better serve our citizens and the first responders that he works with on a daily basis.”

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611 NE Alsbury Blvd.

Burleson, TX 76028

817.447.4477

Proud of our Resident Survey Satisfaction of 96% www.covenantplaceburleson.org Facility #000384

Licensed Vocational Nurse on staff â&#x20AC;¢ Trained staff available 24 hours per day â&#x20AC;¢ Individualized care plans â&#x20AC;¢ Recreational activities planned by a dedicated activity director â&#x20AC;¢ Weekly housekeeping and laundry service â&#x20AC;¢ Transportation available with wheelchair lift â&#x20AC;¢ And much more!

A Capital Senior Living Community

HI, I’M JOE TAYLOR. Overton, Texas. What keeps me coming back to the Trail? It’s just absolutely sensational.

I have people tell me what they’ve spent playing one round at Pebble Beach and a night at the hotel, or going to Pinehurst for a couple rounds. We do the entire week, travel, hotel, green fees, good meals and everything for the price of one day at these places. And it’s absolutely a sensational place to come.

TO PLAN YOUR VISIT to Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, visit rtjresorts.com or call 1.800.949.4444 today. facebook.com/rtjgolf twitter.com/rtjgolf

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Visit our Website at www.burlesonchamber.com Advertise your business in our newsletter contact: Cleburne Times-Review 817-645-2441

JULY/AUGUST EVENTS

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

POWER OF HEELS LUNCHEON WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP FEATURING WINJIE TANG MIAO, SENIOR VP AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION OFFICER, TEXAS HEALTH RESOURCES (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) $15 Members/$20 Non-Members and Late Registration/ Corporate Tables & Exhibit Tables Available Title Sponsor: Texas Health Neighborhood Care & Wellness Burleson Sweet Sponsor: H-E-B

FRIDAY 9/4 Burleson Public Library 248 SW Johnson Ave., Burleson

LUNCH & LEARN: DIGITAL MARKETING 2.0 (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)

Presented By: Tom Trost, G/O Digital **Free Small Business Workshop Bring Your Own Brown Bag Lunch Co-Hosted with the Burleson Public Library

TUESDAY 9/8 Location TBD

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS (5:30 - 7:00 p.m.) **Free to Burleson Chamber Members

FRIDAY 8/7 Burleson Public Library 248 SW Johnson Ave., Burleson

LUNCH & LEARN: SIX KEY POINTS TO DRIVE PEAK PERFORMANCE & GENERATE MORE BUSINESS (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)

Presented By: Tim McRay **Free Small Business Workshop Bring Your Own Brown Bag Lunch Co-Hosted with the Burleson Public Library

FRIDAY 9/25 Location TBD

TUESDAY 8/11 Burleson High School

BISD NEW EMPLOYEE LUNCHEON WELCOME NEW BISD TEAM MEMBERS! SPONSOR A TEACHER OR PROVIDE GOODIE BAG ITEMS. (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) $25 PER TICKET Title Sponsors: Texas Health Resources Cleburne | Burleson | Huguley

THE POWER OF HEELS: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP SPEAKER SERIES – FINAL LUNCHEON OF 2015 (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) $15 Members/$20 Non-Members and Late Registration/ Corporate Tables & Exhibit Tables Available Title Sponsor: Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth Sweet Sponsor: H.E.B

FRIDAY 7/31 Lifegate Church 601 SW Thomas St., Burleson

TUESDAY 8/18 WestStar Mortgage’s Newly Expanded Offices 835 SW Alsbury Blvd. Ste H

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS DUE TO THE BISD LUNCHEON, BAH WILL BE HELD ON THE 3RD TUESDAY IN AUGUST! (5:30 - 7:00 p.m.) **Free to Burleson Chamber Members Sponsor & Host: WestStar Mortgage

BURLESON NETWORKING GROUPS

BURLESON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS / WEDNESDAYS 7:30-9 a.m. at Holiday Inn Express in Burleson For more information, contact Ruth Moor at 817-447-3476 NEW BUSINESS MEET & GREET / THURSDAYS 11:30 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. AT HIDDEN CREEK The Terrace A Networking Group for new business ventures.

For more info, contact Annmarie Newell at 817-249-4400 BURLESON BUSINESS BUILDERS / FRIDAYS 8:30-9:30 a.m. AT FRESCO’S For more information, contact Linda Molina at 817-447-7371

RSVP Online for these events at www.burlesonchamber.com/calendar or call the Burleson Chamber, (817) 295-6121 for more information. a ce Arem er eson Burlr of Com be Cham hire Wil7s6028 .

S.W X 104r4leson, T u B r.com1 e b m a 12 sonch817-2955--66192 e l r u : .b Phone 17-29 8 www Fax:

Join the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce

550 Members strong, the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce offers networking, business education seminars and connections to business leaders in our community.

Interested in learning more about the Chamber? Contact us at (817) 295-6121.

The mission of the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce is to be an advocate for our members and for business in Burleson.

We are in business for business!

Contact Us at 817-295-6121 For more information email the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce at burlesonchamber@burleson.org.

SAVE THE DATE

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Fall Quarterly Meeting CEO Forecast

October 15, 2015 • 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pathway Church (325 NW Renfro St., Burleson)

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Affiliate and Table Sponsorships Available.

Contact the Chamber for more information at 817-295-6121.

BACC Annual Golf Tournament

817-447-3065 308 East Renfro Street, Suite 100 Burleson, Texas 76028 www.anbtx.com

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SAVE THE DATE

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It’s never too early ~ BURLESON HOLIDAY BAZAAR

Vendor Opportunity Saturday, November 14, 2015 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

For more information email holidaybazaar@burleson.org Facebook.com/BurlesonHolidayBazaar

(817) 386-8170 1024 S.W. Alsbury, Burleson, TX 76028 (817) 558-0226 827 North Main, Cleburne, TX

w o n k o t g n i t t e G s e n r

a B e u r a L

A woman with a passion for recording family history for generations to come PHOTOS AND STORY BY Jessica Pounds

S

ince the mid-’90s, Cleburne residents have opened up their Sunday edition of the TimesReview to read a feature article in the living section titled “Getting to Know You.” The articles, written by Cleburne resident Larue Barnes, have highlighted some of the county’s most captivating people such as small town business owners, military veterans and people with uncommon hobbies among many others.

Barnes is a freelance writer who has contributed thousands of stories to the TimesReview.

Using her gift of writing as a creative outlet, she said, began as a child with the need to self-entertain.

“It would have been so wonderful to have lived in a neighborhood where my parents would say, ‘Go play and come back for lunch or supper, and go to the movies on Saturday, or go swimming at the pool and walk to the library and get all the books you want,’ but it was not that way,” Barnes said.

Barnes said she spent most of her early childhood growing up near “The Four Sixes,” a historic ranch near Guthrie. Her family later moved to Grandview where her dad, Bob Harper, was the superintendent of Grandview ISD and her mom, Madge, was a teacher at Grandview Elementary School.

“I didn’t have brothers or sisters and we always lived out in the country so I had to have a good imagination,” Barnes said.

With a tune always at the tip of her tongue, Barnes said she remembers making up the words to songs before she could even read.

“Words were my thing,” Barnes said.

“Singing in church when I was very young, I wouldn’t know the words so I would make them up. I remember my father asking my mom, ‘Madge, do you think we should let her do that?’ My mother would tell him I was just making a joyful noise to the Lord.”

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➤Profound affirmation

As a freshman at Covington High School, Barnes said a teacher named Pearl Henson encouraged her to follow her passion of writing.

“She was the first person who ever recognized my creativity,” Barnes said. “I wrote a play and she thought it was so good that she made copies and took all my classmates down to the auditorium and they read their parts and we acted out the play. It was just like Broadway to us.”

After transferring to Grandview High School her senior year, Barnes was inspired even more by another teacher.

During her senior year, Barnes said she wanted to take journalism classes but at that time they were only open to journalism majors.

“I really wouldn’t take no for an answer so I insisted that I really wanted to take it,” Barnes said. “They said I had to talk to the dean of women. So I went to talk to her and I explained how I really loved to write and I wanted to take journalism and she let me.”

Barnes said the chance to prove herself emerged when she was given a column for the university’s newspaper, The Rambler.

“I really got to know a lot of people on campus that way,” Barnes said. “When they gave out

or infamous depending on who you talk to — if he would let me be a freelance writer sometimes.

He told me to write something for him and so I did and he liked it.”

Barnes said she remembers getting paid by the inch of copy.

“As I remember it was 35 cents an inch, which was nothing really,” Barnes said. “I still had a full-time job, but I wrote on my afternoons off. My first story was about a man who sold tamales as he pedaled his bicycle around.”

Trying to keep her articles interesting, Barnes said she sometimes interviewed some questionable people.

Courtesy photo

Larue Barnes and her family. From left are Katie Barnes, E.J. and Larue Barnes, Bob Barnes, Joni Hundley, Nathan Barnes, Tina Barnes, Elyse Hundley and Lauren Hundley.

“I had a wonderful English teacher there and her strength was composition and structure,” Barnes said. “So I had her and Mrs. Henson who helped me.”

Barnes graduated in 1955 and enrolled at Texas Wesleyan University as a business education major.

“In my freshman English class, my teacher encouraged us to write an essay on the feelings upon entering college,” Barnes said. “I wound up entering my essay in a competition and I won a national second place spot in a Baptist student magazine.

“I lived in the dorm and I got a telegraph that I had won $50,” Barnes said. “That was better than Broadway — I had won money and I was going to be published.”

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the awards at the end of the year they gave me one for outstanding journalism student. It was nothing really big because it was a small class, but to me, that was an affirmation.”

➤Getting her foot in the door

During college, she married E.J. Barnes, and they moved to Cleburne after she graduated.

“My first job out of college was in a medical clinic as a secretary and I had to take dictation from 10 different doctors,” Barnes said. “They preferred shorthand and wanted someone right there with them without all the machines.”

Although Barnes enjoyed her job, she said she wanted to write more. That’s when she visited the editor of the Times-Review for the first time.

“I asked Jack Proctor — he’s either legendary

“I really wanted to interview this palm reader who was set up in this spooky little house,” Barnes said “I told Jack what I was going to do and he said, ‘Oh no, that is dangerous, you can’t go in that house.’ I thought well if he thought it was dangerous it probably was, so I didn’t do it.”

Taking a short break from writing, Barnes began teaching business and English at Grandview Junior High School in 1962.

“I wasn’t there long when someone from Cleburne High School asked if I would come over and establish a vocational office education program where kids would go to school half day and work the other half,” Barnes said. “I told them I couldn’t leave in the middle of the year so they waited on me and I began the next year and established that in 1966.”

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In 1993, Barnes retired from teaching.

“I loved teaching, but after I retired I was bored out of my head,” Barnes said. “I was only 54 years old at the time and I didn’t know what to do with myself so E.J. said I should write again.”

Barnes said she once again took a trip to the Times-Review office where she knew the editor, Rob Fraser.

“I began writing again for the paper around 1994 and when Mel Rhodes came he gave me my old column. They asked me what I would like to name it and I thought, ‘Getting to know you.’”

After 20 years, Barnes still contributes a monthly article to the Times-Review.

“I have met wonderful people, hundreds and hundreds of wonderful people,” Barnes said. “I have notebooks of everything I’ve ever written and if I stacked them up they’d be taller than my head probably.”

E.J. Barnes said he has always encouraged his wife to follow her dreams of writing.

“I think she is a wonderful writer,” he said.

“Even back in college she had the know-how.

“I love for her to be able to write for the TimesReview. We have met a lot of people we probably would have never met otherwise and have really gotten to know more about Cleburne.”

➤ Stories of stories

Barnes said she never runs out of ideas for people to write about.

“I’ve lived so long and I know a lot of people who will recommend people to me,” Barnes said.

“Invariably, they are good leads. Wilma Reed has been a mentor for me; she would send me ideas and they were always good.”

Reed said Barnes is generous for crediting her in any way to her writing.

“Years ago, she enrolled in a writing class I

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was teaching in connection with Cleburne ISD Community Education,” Reed said. “She is my prize student. However, she already had the gift of writing and maybe the class just gave her the little bit of confidence she needed at the time. Clearly, she writes from her heart and that is why readers love her articles.”

Barnes said one of the most memorable people she has written about was a military veteran.

“His wife had Alzheimer’s and had snow white hair,” Barnes said. “I asked if she had a picture of when she was younger and she told me she didn’t. I don’t know how I could know this, but I asked the man if he had a picture of her when she was young in his billfold.

“He opened up his wallet and he had a picture of her and a lock of her bright red hair. He had never taken it out after all those years and it touched me that he still saw her the way she used to be.”

Barnes said every so often, a story will not unfold the way she planned.

“I wrote about this man and went to visit with him twice at a nursing home,” Barnes said. “I worked very hard on the story and his wife was a retired English professor.

“The night before the deadline he called me and said he was sorry, but it just wasn’t going to work out. He said he was just not comfortable with it but I found out from a mutual friend it was his wife that said no.”

There was another man, Barnes said, who was skeptical about doing an interview.

“I went out to his ranch to interview him and his wife, for some reason, had told him not to use any dates,” Barnes said. “I’d ask him when something happened and he’d say, ‘Well, I can’t give you that date.’ I told him he was very gracious, but I could tell he didn’t want to the story. It just doesn’t always work out.”

Photo by Jessica Pounds

Larue Barnes, left, and her husband E.J. have lived in Cleburne since the late ’50s.

Looking back, Barnes said she had found if people are reluctant about her writing about them, she shouldn’t push it.

“If they aren’t willing you just have to understand that,” Barnes said.

Some people, Barnes said, are actually more than willing to share their story.

“I had a guy once who said, ‘My story is going to blow you away,’” Barnes said. “He was so into himself and had told his story so many times, bragging about himself, that when the story came out I’m sure he didn’t get any feedback from his friends because they had already heard it all before. It’s the humble, ordinary people that people want to read about.”

Dale Gosser has been the managing editor of the Times-Review since 2002.

“Larue has been a staple in the Times-Review for many years,” Gosser said. “There’s a good reason for that. She’s good at what she does and she enjoys meeting people and telling their stories. Many people think they can do this type of job because it sounds fun or easy, but it’s not. It requires the skill of making a story flow and allowing the reader to follow it without any type of confusion or without having to ask themselves questions.

“Larue is thorough in her work and you mix that with her background in education where she cares about spelling, grammar and getting things right, and it all comes together in a well-written, well thought out feature.”

➤ Around the world and back

Barnes, who is now 77, said she has had many other writing opportunities throughout her life.

“God has just always used me as a pawn piece,” Barnes said. “He’s always put me where he wanted me and I’ve tried to let him use me wherever I was.

It’s been a lot of fun.”

In 1996, Barnes realized she had a collection of World War II stories from her columns.

“I had over 52 of them so I went to Hill College in Hillsboro and they said they would like to publish them at no expense to me,” Barnes said. “I had to rework it but they published a limited edition of 500 books and they sold out quickly.”

Barnes said she has even had stories published in different countries.

“E.J. and I have traveled a lot,” Barnes said. “We were in England once visiting some friends there and they knew the editor of one of the newspapers.

He made clearance for me to be able to write feature articles for them while I was there and it was fun.”

Barnes said it has been great to freelance as a writer in Cleburne.

“When I first started having a weekly column, people would stop me at restaurants and at church and oh, it was just wonderful,” Barnes said. “It’s been humbling the way people trust you and tell you things that their husband or wife didn’t even know, especially the older people.”

When Barnes is not in her home office typing up her next article, she and her husband spend time with their two children, Joni Hundley and Bob Barnes, and their four grandchildren, Lauren, Elyse, Nathan and Katie.

The Barnes have also been members of Field Street Baptist Church since 1958.

“That first Sunday with them I noticed a Baptist student magazine there that was opened to something I had written,” Barnes said. “An affirmation of sorts to me that I was where God wanted me.”

Barnes said she has been a member ever since.

“I have been the director of the Adult Sunday School department since 1979 and E.J. is a deacon,” she said. “We also sang in the regular choir for 50 years before joining the senior choir. We love the people there very much.”

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Cleburne Chamber of Commerce

Summer concert series finishes with Little Texas

I

t’s an all country affair for the finale of Cleburne’s summer concert series courtesy of Rio Vista’s Shane Watson Band and Nashville’s Little Texas. Better yet, admission is free.

The Aug. 29 show wraps the third year of free summer concerts in downtown Cleburne’s Market Square in what has now become an annual tradition of family fun.

The show kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with Little Texas set to hit the stage at 9 p.m.

Marshall Young Insurance sponsored 2015’s slate of shows which, as in year’s past, offered a musical mix with self-billed “Rolling Stones experience” Satisfaction having started things up in June followed by Texas country artist William Clark Green in July.

“We had the Rolling Stones band, we had Texas country and now we finish with a great night of traditional county,” Cleburne Chamber of Commerce President Cathy Marchel said. “We bring in different types of bands every year to offer people a

Courtesy photo

Little Texas finishes off the summer concert series on Aug. 29 at Market Square.

variety to choose from. But all the shows are free and all are lots of fun so we encourage everyone to come out and enjoy a great night of summer under the stars in downtown Cleburne,” Little Texas sprang from the young country movement of the

early ’90s and mix modern rock style with traditional country themes.

Their first release, “Some Guys Have All The Luck” went Top 10 as did their follow up single, “First Time For Everything.”

Little Texas’ debut album spawned multiple hits while the follow up,

James Hardie. The Making of a Dream Home. ®

JamesHardie A Great Place To Work. www.jameshardie.com

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Big Timeâ&#x20AC;? sold more than 3 million units and generated three No. 1 hits. The band has since sold more than 7 million records and accrued three Grammy Award nominations.

The Shane Watson Band garnered the most Facebook likes on a local band contest hosted by the chamber and, as their reward, chose to open for Little Texas.

The band formed in the back of an old bar in 2013 in Rio Vista, according to their website and have since gone on to perform numerous shows throughout Cleburne and the area.

The band cites an eclectic mix of influences ranging from Grace Potter to Stoney LaRue to the Eagles and Miranda Lambert.

Their spin on Texas music, band members say, is guaranteed to put any crowd on their ear and wanting more. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the last show of the summer,â&#x20AC;?

Marchel said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So we hope to see everyone out here. Bring your chairs, coolers and friends and come ready for a great night of music. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had great response to all our shows so far pulling several thousand in from the Metroplex and all the way from McKinney and Tyler, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also for our residents offering them one of the many things to enjoy in their hometown.â&#x20AC;?

Night golf tourney to be held Aug. 22

T

he Cleburne Chamber of Commerce Night Golf Tournament Shot in the Dark returns Aug. 22 at the Cleburne Golf Links.

Activities include golf, dinner, drinks and a putting contest.

All registration must be in advance. Cost is $75 per person. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great event,â&#x20AC;? Cleburne chamber President Cathy Marchel said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We play some holes in the light and the rest after dark.â&#x20AC;?

Presenting sponsor is Layland Plumbing. Other sponsorships are available. To register, call 817-645-2455.

:H 5HDOO\ $UH

Those hard to find vehicles arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so hard to find anymore!

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BRANDI GREENE

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Cleburne Chamber of Commerce

Shop Cleburne First at Business Expo

T

he Cleburne Chamber of Commerce presents the 17th annual Business Expo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Cleburne Conference Center.

Lone Star Autoplex is the presenting sponsor of the Expo again this year.

The Business Expo is a chance for local businesses to showcase what they do to other businesses and to the community.

“Come and support our businesses participating in Business Expo,” Cleburne chamber President Cathy Marchel said. “We appreciate the support for our local businesses.”

For the last five years, the Expo has been held on Saturday and the chamber received an overwhelmingly positive response. The community is able to be more involved with the Expo being held on the weekend.

The chamber encourages local businesses to sell products out of their booths and vendors will have a payment plan option: pay half of the fee by Aug. 14 and the remainder by Oct. 1. This will be a day of

Lone Star Autoplex is the sponsor of the 17th annual Business Expo.

shopping all in one place. One stop shop to experience all that Cleburne has to offer.

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne is hosting a health fair in conjunction with the expo.

“They will be doing flu shots and providing health-related awareness items,” Marchel said.

There will also be some new

Courtesy photo

additions to the show that you will not want to miss out on.

“It’s a family-friendly event,” Marchel said. “We have a Kids Zone available for kids. So bring the whole family on Oct. 3 and shop Cleburne first.”

For businesses wanting to have a booth or for a sponsorship in the Business Expo, call the chamber for more information at 817-645-2455.

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1828 N. Main Cleburne / 817-202-0430 Mon-Sat 8-5 / Closed Sunday

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Our firm also provides personal legal representation in many areas including Wills, Trust, Probate and Family Law.

13 E. Henderson Street, Cleburne, TX 76031 / 817-645-3993 / info@bradleylawyers.com

Talk to one of our agents today!

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2015 CALENDAR

U.S. Rep. Roger Williams to speak at luncheon

U

.S. Rep Roger Williams, R-Austin, will be the featured speaker at the Cleburne Chamber of Commerceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quarterly luncheon on Aug. 26.

The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at Liberty Event Center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our first event to be held at Liberty Event Center.

We greatly appreciate their support in letting us do that,â&#x20AC;? chamber President Cathy Marchel said.

Cost is $15 for chamber members and $20 for nonmembers

by Aug. 21. After that it is $20 for chamber members and $25 for nonmembers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We feel very honored that the congressman has taken time out of his busy schedule to come and speak to the Johnson County community,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Please call and make reservations to hear an update on the latest things going at the legislative level.â&#x20AC;?

The luncheon is sponsored by Wal-Mart Distribution Center. For reservations, calll the chamber at 817-6452455.

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Enrollment open for 2015-16 Leadership Cleburne class

E

nrollment is now open for the 2015-16 class of Leadership Cleburne. The nine-month course meets once a month and is made up of citizens who have an interest in leadership roles in the community.

All areas of city government, county government, state government, health, quality of life, education and the economy are covered.

If you are interested in enrolling in Leadership Cleburne 2015-16 or being a sponsor, call Tara Janszen at the chamber at 817-645-2455.

Community Life

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adam King: drugs stop here I

STORY BY Matt Smith | Photos by Monica Faram

t’s a dangerous job at times, bringing Stop the Offender Program Special Crimes Unit Commander Adam King and his fellow officers up close and personal with drug dealers, gang members and other criminals. King said he and his coworkers remain vigilant against possible perils but at the same time downplay them to some degree.

“Really, in law enforcement, it’s the patrol officers who have the most dangerous job I think,” King said. “When they pull someone over, go up to someone, they’re usually alone at that point, and they have no idea at that point who they’re approaching.

“Our guys go up against bad guys, guys with gang affiliation, violent histories, prison time in a lot of cases. The difference is we usually know their situation and history beforehand. We have at our disposal training, tactics and technology that help reduce their opportunities to do harm to us.

“It can still be dangerous and it does get scary at times, but we go in with advantages.”

Through STOP SCU, King, since 1994, has worked with fellow Johnson County law enforcement agencies and a host of county and city officials to confront the never ending onslaught of drug and other crimes.

Their work the last 11 years helps maintain some semblance of quality of life throughout the county, many officials contend, and has served notice to drug dealers and other criminals that Johnson County is not the place to set up shop.

“You’re never going to completely be able to get rid of drugs and crime,” Johnson County District Attorney Dale Hanna said.

“But, big picture, those STOP agents working that unit have kept so much crime out of Johnson County it’s hard to put into words.

“And their reputation has spread into DFW and the Metroplex to the point that those type of people are hesitant to come into Johnson County and that’s because of the reputation of this force and their commander.”

Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford agrees.

“STOP is a vital unit that’s made a huge difference here,” Alford said. “All you have to do is look at other Texas counties that, because they don’t have the resources or for whatever reasons, don’t have a unit like this. The bad guys know that too and a lot of those counties are overrun with drugs and other crimes because of it.”

County Judge Roger Harmon called the creation of STOP SCU arguably the most important county initiative of his tenure.

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“STOP is one of the most important things we’ve done in Johnson County,” Harmon said.

“They’ve done a tremendous amount of good in keeping drugs and bad guys off our streets, keeping drugs away from our kids and keeping drug people from setting up in the county.

“When you consider the big picture that also means less crime by way of burglary and theft, less abuse of peoples’ wives and children.”

For King, born and raised in Fort Worth, inspiration came from a school mate’s aunt.

“I went to school with the niece of a Fort Worth police officer who was also a narcotics officer,” King said. “She told stories and that got me interested in what she was doing.”

King joined the Army after high school, serving as a military policeman stationed in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua and other Central American border locales.

“An MP does two things,” King said. “Your combat role and your law enforcement role. You go to combat then come back to you main post. In 1987, we were working drug interdiction. I supervised a team of canine handlers and investigated drug smuggling.”

The carnage of war left a huge impression on King as did the poverty and thousands of orphaned or abandoned children left to fend for themselves.

“We did see the killing, just the murdering of people was horrible what the Sandinistas did to anyone they thought opposed them,” King said.

Once out of the Army, King joined the Cleburne Police Department in 1989, the same year what later became STOP SCU began.

Before and after

Before the drug task force founded in ’89 the various law enforcement agencies of the counties basically fended for themselves when it came to battling drugs with separate agencies occasionally as best as possible working in concert.

The ’89 task force pooled the resources and efforts of Johnson, Somervell and Hood counties much like other task forces across the state. Task forces at that time operated largely independently fueled by federal funding.

The Texas Legislature, in 2005, placed all remaining multi-county task force systems under the supervision of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

King, who had been assigned to the local task force in 1994 as assistant commander. King said that he and other county officials found the new DPS model burdensome.

“When you have the people running the unit 40

Community Life

in Austin that’s not efficient,” King said.

“They’re there and we’re here and they don’t know what’s going on in Johnson County. The lawyers and bureaucracy slowed us down and, I think, the community standards in Johnson County are higher. What we had beforehand was more cost effective, of high character and very productive in fighting crime.”

The decision then was made to dissolve the task force in 2005.

The former member counties divided their assets four ways and King met with the county and district attorney to propose a single-county agency.

“We took Johnson County’s share of the assets and rolled them into [STOP SCU],” King said. “We didn’t want to call it a narcotics task force because we wanted to broaden our scope.”

King credits former Cleburne City Manager Chester Nolen and former Police Chief Terry Powell with suggesting that King be appointed commander of the new agency. Cleburne commissioned King as a city marshal, which allows him to oversee STOP and to work with other agencies, such as the DEA, as necessary.

Manpower and funding for the program flows from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments throughout the county.

“Each city, based

on population, pays a portion,” King said. “And money from seized assets.”

Stemming the tide

Although STOP battles crimes ranging from human trafficking to gang interdiction and a host of criminal investigations, drug-related crimes occupy the bulk of its energies.

“Marijuana, of course, but mostly meth is the problem around here,” King said. “Don’t see a lot of heroin. That tends to be more in the bigger cities that you see that. Some of the designer drugs, synthetic drugs that mimic LSD. Those aren’t really mainstream drugs though and more associated with the college kids and rave parties. We see that stuff, but more or less it’s the college kids from around here going to Dallas and places like that for parties.”

The days of busting methamphetamine houses are, while not gone, substantially diminished.

“Used to be a couple a day not long ago,” King said. “Now it’s a few a year. And the cost of cleaning those places up afterward and disposing of all that stuff is huge what with the regulations and special training.”

Much of the methamphetamine flows from Mexico now, King said. It’s cheaper to produce, easier to access the chemicals needed and tend to be more pure in form. Not to mention corruption south of the border and the infrastructure supporting gang and cartel operations, gangs that run the gamut from rag-tag cowboys to professional quasi military outfits.

“Los Zetas are the main bad guys now, and very dangerous,” King said. “A lot of those guys are former military who went to work for the Gulf Cartel then figured why work for them, just kill them and take the whole thing over. Those guys tend to be very professional, suits, look like businessmen, but very brutal and deadly.”

King holds that most of the police and citizens in Mexico are good, decent people who have simply become overcome and outnumbered by the cartels and crimes. Rampant poverty further complicates the matter.

How to reverse that trend is anybody’s guess and may not be possible short of military intervention.

“I hope not, but it’s hard to say,” King said when asked if he thinks Texas will ever legalize marijuana or relax penalties against it.

“What people don’t understand and, I think, need to understand is that marijuana, not everyone who tries it goes on to harder drugs, but it does tend to be a gateway drug,” King said. “Even for those who that’s not the case, use of marijuana still tends to erode their drive and focus. They’re still the same as they were in high school, just lethargic, no drive.

“I don’t condone drinking, but a lot of people can drink in moderation and still function in society. Marijuana use though changes who you are and takes away that drive and ambition. I’ve had heavy marijuana users admit that.”

It’s not rocket science

The majority of “clients” STOP officers deal with are hardly Harvard material.

“Even if they were at one time the drug

use over time usually incapacitates their ability to make good decisions,” King said. “A lot of times, through their mistakes and actions, they help catch themselves, and we’re always ready to capitalize on stupidity.”

Two seemingly unrelated incidents complimented each other perfectly coalescing in one of King’s favorite arrest stories.

“This guy called the dispatch at the sheriff’s office one morning complaining that undercover officers were following him around town,” King said. “And, well, let me back up because there was a phone call before that.”

A week or so before, King said he received a call from an elderly woman in a Cleburne neighborhood. She told King that frequent activity at one of the neighborhood houses led her to believe that drug dealing may be afoot. But, the activity was sporadic, heavy at times and nothing going on at others. King told the woman to call him back the next time activity picked up.

“But this guy, I told dispatch to patch his call through to me,” King said. “I could tell he was on his cell driving around cause I could hear wind and his car and radio. Anyway, right off, he says, ‘Why are you all fol-

Photo by Monica Faram

The STOP SCU, led by Cmdr. Adam King, works with the Johnson County police departments and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office when they need help.

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lowing me around?’ I said, ‘Because you’re a drug dealer and a user.’ He denied it and I said. ‘We know you are man. We’ve been following you. Why else would we be following you around?’

“So, I hear this kind of resigned sigh from the guy. He’s like ‘OK’ and asks if he should go ahead and pull over. I tell him instead that I want to talk to him and to come to the parking lot of [a restaurant in Cleburne] and remind him that our guys are following him so not to try to drive off.”

Sure enough, the guy pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later and, when King walked up to his car, rolled down his window and handed drugs over.

nally agreed to do.”

King called for back up then wired the suspect and gave him money and told him to go buy drugs from his supplier.

“So we’re following him, keeping a close watch on him to make sure he doesn’t try to speed away and lose us because we have no idea where he’s going,” King said. “Wouldn’t you know, he goes straight to the house that woman had called me about the week before.”

The suspect bought drugs, which he later handed over to King and company, which also provided King with probable cause to secure a warrant to search the house. King and his fellow officers returned later, park-

Photo by Monica Faram

Adam King creates many of the cameras and other technology items STOP SCU members use whenever they’re undercover.

“I don’t know who was following that guy, or if anyone was following him,” King said.

“It wasn’t any of our guys. I didn’t even know who he was.”

It gets better.

King told the suspect that he wouldn’t arrest him that day and could help him out some if he agreed to go buy more drugs from his supplier. The suspect said he couldn’t do that.

“I told him, ‘Look, we’ve been following you. We know what you do and we know your supplier,’” King said. “I told him for his sake he needed to help us out, which he fi44

Community Life

ing several blocks from and walking stealth mode up to the house. They entered the house, found drugs and arrested the supplier without incident.

“Afterwards we were taking off our tactical gear because that stuff’s hot and heavy and we were just wearing normal clothes under that,” King said. “And the officers were walking down the street to get their cars, these were just regular, not police or SWAT team vehicles, and pull them around to the front of the house.

“Right when I step out on the front porch my phone rings and it’s that woman who’d

called a week earlier. ‘Oh, Mr. King there’s all sorts of something going on at that house right now,’ she told me. ‘People coming and going walking up and down the alleyway.

There’s some guy standing on the front porch right now talking on the phone.’

“So I told her, ‘Well, can you describe this guy to me? And she said, you know, he’s tall and wearing blue jeans and a white shirt and, oh, he’s looking at me. He’s waving at me.’

“About that time I see the blinds in the window across the way close and it sounds like she’s getting down on the floor to hide.

So I’m like, ‘No, no it’s you know,’ took me a while to explain who I was and I was just having some fun but she finally realized it and she goes, ‘Oh honey, you are so good.’”

STOP officers often learn about drug crimes because of users and dealers’ paranoia, King said.

“We’ve actually had people just burn out and call and say they know we’re watching us and to just come and get them now,” King said. “The other side of that is people call and report things to us, which we encourage. But sometimes they get frustrated because they expect us to go out and arrest the suspects right then, which a lot of times we can’t do.

Because of laws and the Constitution we can’t just go around kicking in doors. But we’ll get them in the end because we never give up.”

Which doesn’t preclude a bit of fun in the meantime. King said he often sees people he knows to be involved in drug activity and that he walks up, says hello and hands them his card.

“The drug business is hard on people and something like that just messes with them, makes them more paranoid,” King said.

King said he mailed a Christmas card to one suspected methamphetamine dealer.

“It messed with him so much he pulled a trailer up to his house, loaded up and moved,” King said. “But he didn’t have the sense to move out of the county. Anyway, he started messing up and doing risky things and we caught him twice in the next two weeks.”

Not for all

Working undercover for STOP is a 24/7, on call, all-the-time-job, and not an easy one.

“We’ve had officers come on board and, after a few months, [say] ‘No, this isn’t for me,’ and go back to their departments to

Community Life

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do something else,” King said. “There’s no overtime or comp time. You’re on call all the time, basically never a day off. You have to give up a lot. It’s a crazy schedule with long hours. It’s tough on the officers, tough on their wives and kids. You know, you may not see them very often, not get to have many family meals. What do you say to that?”

One undercover officer, who preferred that his name not be mentioned, agreed, saying that the job is tough and requires a lot of strength and understanding from spouses and family members and leaning on the strong support system of fellow officers who understand what you’re going through.

King himself admits that his respite comes from church on Sundays.

“And, I’ve even had to get up and leave during church, so you never know,” King said.

His wife, Tammy, both lives and understands the pressure of her husband and his fellow officers’ job.

“It can be tough on families,” Tammy King said. “For Adam and me it’s flexibility and a clear understanding of what his job requires. We’ve been lucky in that our marriage has always been like that, but it can be really hard on younger officers and families.

“For me it’s a matter of I know how committed Adam is to his job, his values and for that reason we work very hard to protect family time, make time as we can and make sure we have quality time. We have a rule at home that family time isn’t about the job. Of

course, everyone goes through tough times and sometimes you have to vent to each other.”

“For the others on the team, that sense of camaraderie is important to Adam. When a new member comes on the team he wants to meet the spouse and explain what they’re getting into.”

Tammy King admits her husband has a dangerous, scary job.

“It is,” she said. “But I also know Adam’s commitment, the level of planning he puts in. Nothing is done half hearted out there

by Adam, nothing that could jeopardize the safety of his officers and himself.

“Then also I’m reminded all the time of the good in Adam, the level of respect he gives the defendants. How he’s not doing this just to arrest people. That he really tries to make a difference and hopes to turn peoples’ lives around.

“Which can be hard to remember sometimes because law enforcement has been so beat up in the news lately and I know they won’t say it but they need to be reminded how much they’re appreciated by so many and how much good they do.”

Thankless long hours and stress of the job aside, King said the work still makes a difference. But it also requires quite a bit of above and beyond attitude.

“You come to work here just for a paycheck and this will eat you alive,” King said.

“It’s not worth it under those circumstances.

This is, only way I know to explain it is, a

ministry of sorts. A calling to community a better place. If that’s how you feel going in you’ll do well.

“The reward of the job for these guys is they get to do more, longer, harder and make a bigger impact. These are the kind of people who want to be able to work to their full potential and are driven by a desire to make a positive impact on the community. That’s the only way I know to explain it. We get drugs off the street, get a dealer off the street, take out a drug house, these guys rejoice.”

Sometimes those differences come in ways not imagined, such as Cleburne’s recent efforts to step up code enforcements. That effort has resulted in the demolition of more vacant and dilapidated homes of late.

“What we’ve noticed, what we’ve heard from Adam King and our police department, is that that has had an effect on crime,” Cleburne Fire Chief Clint Ishmael said. “The focus was to remove unsafe structures and beautify neighborhoods, but this brings an added benefit.

“And it makes sense when you think about it. Those old houses were often used for drug and other activities. Well, once they’re gone the drug dealers aren’t likely to stick around and do their business on a vacant lot.”

It’s a family affair

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who have been abused, neglected or been the victim of a crime. The children of suspects arrested by STOP agents often land at CAC. That is another reason the Kings said they choose not to discuss their work lives at home unless absolutely necessary in order to focus on the good things in life as opposed to the tragic situations both deal with daily.

With no children of their own, the Kings decided to adopt after hearing another couple at church discuss their experience of having adopted children from China.

“We considered adopting locally,” Adam King said. “But we kept running into conflicts of interest, kids that Tammy had dealt with as an advocate or situations where I was investigating their parents.”

The couple’s daughter, SaiAnn King, who they traveled to China for when she was 10 months old, is 10 now.

“We know she was left in a basket at the gate of the orphanage,” Adam King said. “We have a small picture of her in the clothes she had on when she was found, sort of a homespun traditional Chinese garment, which leads us to believe she came from one of the poor farming villages in the area. Other than that there are no records and we don’t know about her past.”

The family plan to visit China soon so that SaiAnn can see her homeland.

“We’re going to get as close as possible to where we think she was born but a lot of that area’s underwater now since they built the Three Gorges Dam,” King said. “I’d love for

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Courtesy photo

Adam King, right, and his wife, Tammy, left, with their 10-year-old daughter, SaiAnn.

her to learn Chinese but there aren’t a lot of people around here who teach it. We got her the Rosetta Stone package, which she works on. But you know, she’s 10 and would rather play around like any kid.”

For King, it’s family and the job that fuel his passions. King comes up short when asked to name his favorite sports team or song.

“I don’t really, my dad didn’t allow music in the house so we didn’t have a radio or re-

cord player so I sort of grew up not paying attention to music,” King said. “I’ll listen to talk radio sometimes, which drives my wife and daughter crazy. I do like listening to my daughter sing at church.”

Queries on other hobbies garnered the same response.

“Well, I do enjoy books on tape, which are good because a lot of this job is just sitting around waiting,” King said. “Movies, I

don’t know the last one I saw. I can tell you about Disney movies and the things my daughter likes. Really my hobbies are the things my daughter likes, roller skating, fishing, things I can do with her. The sum total of my life really is my job and my wife and daughter and that bit of time I get to spend with them. I do like pro rodeo and off road motorsports. One of my bucket list items was always to compete in the Baja 500 or 1000, but by the time I’ll have time to do that I’ll probably be too old.”

End game?

The frustration, problem and challenge with the war on drugs is that it’s unwinnable most law enforcement officers agree, paramount to emptying the ocean with a teacup. With population growth predicted to be traveling Johnson County’s way in the years to come the situation will only grow worse. King said that the drug problem will likely never be wholly eradicated but takes issue more with the term.

“War on drugs?” King said. “Hey, I’m not fighting a war. I’ve seen what war does and it’s not pretty. I’ve come in low on helicopters during the civil war in El Salvador where you smell the place before you get to it and see all the dead bodies.

“Dealers yeah, but everyday users we need to remember those are mommies and daddies, brothers and sisters and I’m dang sure not going to wage war on them. That said, we’re not going to let people come in here and set up shop and sell that stuff.

“That means going after the head of the snake and if we have to go outside the county to cut the head off we will. Generally we don’t.

If it’s in DFW they’ve got officers to deal with that there. But if it’s a Johnson County problem the county line isn’t necessarily where we

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stop. Johnson County law enforcement agencies work together better than any area I’ve seen, and we have good relations with agencies surrounding us.

“When we can though, we try to lure the bad guys to Johnson County. Dale Hanna and our juries here have no problem putting drug dealers in jail for a long time. But the bad guys know that too and a lot will stop short of the county line.”

In the end, King said, STOP represents but one part of the equation.

“We’re just one spoke in the wheel,” King said. “Most of the citizens of Johnson County live here or moved here from the Metroplex because they want to get away from that stuff and don’t want drugs here. We can dang sure make a big difference with the citizens of the community working with us and supporting us and, in my mind, that’s a beautiful thing.”

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I

The growing airspace of drones

t’s a bird. It’s a plane. No ... it’s $53 on Amazon. a drone. The last few times I’ve At about $50, Tom’s Guide ranks been out at public gatherings I the Blade Nano QX as the best drone

By Monica have had the privilege of seeing a for the money. There are several verFaram drone flying around. sions available for a range of prices.

Technology Move over UFOs — unidentified If you’re looking for a good camflying objects — and hello UAVs — era drone, check out the Phantom 2 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Vision+, which starts at about $1,000.

A now $450 million market, The 14-megapixel camera has the cadrones are rapidly becoming the latest without first informing the airport’s pability of 1080p or 720p HD video. popular tech toy. From Amazon deliv- operating authorities or aircraft conEvery review I’ve read on drones eries to law enforcement and military trol tower. suggests that if you own one you assistance, drones serve a variety of Prices range anywhere from $38 to should become involved with a group purposes based on the user. $30,000, depending on the size of the of those likeminded. Just a few are: NASA, the National Oceanic drone. Most drones are operated with My First Drone Beginners Group on and Atmospheric Administration and Northrop Grumman are conducting a three-year, $30-million experiment to use long-range UAVs to spy on storms as they evolve.

According to National Geographic, the Global Hawk drones can stay aloft for 30 hours and fly 11,000 miles with their 116-foot wingspans. That lets them reach and stay in stormy areas that manned planes can’t, performing valuable surveillance.

So why would you want a drone?

Photo by Jamie Moore There are several Johnson County Emergency Management Director Jamie Moore uses his drone for photography. uses for drones, including but no limited to: photography, home improvement Facebook; Flite Test forums at forum. a remote control or joystick. There and first person view. flitetest.com; Phantom Pilots at www. are some that allow you to hook your The Federal Aviation Administraphantompilots.com; FPV LAB at fpvsmartphone up to it and use an app tion governs anything that goes up in lab.com/forums; and diydrones.com. to control it. You can control it using the air. Drones cannot be flown more I hope to get one someday, or at Wi-Fi or bluetooth. than 400 feet above the ground, must least an attachment for my iPhone.

The best drone for beginners — be kept within sight and should not My main use would be for photograaccording to www.tomsguide.com — be used within five miles of an airport is the UDI U818A, which runs about phy. Happy flying!

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Foreclosures, complete house clean-ups, land clean-ups, brush & trash haul-offs, fencing, mowing of any kind, appliance removal, carpet removal, old furniture, etc. pp

www.ucallwehaulcleanup.com

FREE HAUL OFF APPLIANCES, WASHERS, DRYERS, FRIDGES, STOVES, A/C UNITS, RIDING MOOWERS, AUTO PARTS, ANY TYPE OF METAL 24/7

817-558-9032 YORKIE TOWNE SUITES

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Small Dog Grooming

ALL

UP TO 30LBS. NATURAL, BOTANICAL PRODUCTS

$35 FULL GROOM

â&#x20AC;&#x153;FUZZY FEET PET HOTELâ&#x20AC;?

Boarding/daycare Weatherfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Pet Hotel

â&#x20AC;˘ Accepting both large and small dogs â&#x20AC;˘ Indoor/outdoor rooms â&#x20AC;˘ Temperature controlled â&#x20AC;˘ Carpeted mats inside for comfort â&#x20AC;˘ Unique interior rooms â&#x20AC;˘ Lots of attention and Playtme Let your pet stay in our Hawaii Room, Nature Room, Garden Room or at the beach while your on vacation.

Let your pet have a stay-cation!

Call for specials/ Pricing today!

817-565-3556

For all your Handy needs!

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52

Community Life

BY

PET

AESTHETICIAN

APPOINTMENT SO YOUR DOG ISNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; T KEPT WAITING.

817-565-3525

LYDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEANING Bonded Basic cleaning, 2/3 bedrooms starts at $75 Baseboards, washing windows & laundry extra For information call

903-393-6009

MOWING & SOWING

R ESIDENTIAL Y EARLY S EPCIAL $30 M OWING â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S

** Once a week during peack season** + 4 FERTILIZER TREATMENTS (incl. weed control) $111/Mo.** Additional Services added at low cost.

817-526-0060

mowing-sowing. C O M

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LOUDERMILK EXCAVATING

over 30 years experience specializing in House & Building Pads Driveways Tree Removal & Clearing Landscape Services Clean Up & All types Soil & Rock Delivered Call Scott

@ 817-991-2890 for Free Estimates

TRI J CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC

CRESTWOOD SQURE APARTMENTS Spacious 2 Bedrooms Available Call 817-641-7300 www.crestwoodsquare.com

Complete Execavation Services Gravel & Dirt Hauling Demolition • Dozer Backhoe • Execavator RANCH • COMMERCIAL• RESIDENTIAL PO Box 1135 Weatherford, Tx. 76086 Randy Jenkins

817-718-1617 Green Acres Tractor Service Front end loader Brush Hog Box blade Post Pole Auger Tilling Contact Bruce

817-939-0839

G&L FENCE CONSTRUCTION

Custom Wood Privacy Ornamental / Pipe • Chain Link Rock & Concrete Curbing

Commercial & Residential • References Free Estimates • 14 years in Parker County Off Duty Fireghter

817-929-2931

www.glfenceconstruction.com

$10 off any $40 purchase with this ad

$10 off Shop Donate Volunteer

any $40 purchase with this ad

DISCOUNT BUILDING MATERIALS Open to the public Wed-Sat 9:30-5:30

1407 N. Brazos Ave Cleburne 817-556-2613

• Landscape Design & Installation •Landscape Maintenance •Sprinkler System Installation/ Repair •Sod Installation •Tree Service visit us @ www.sergioslandscapeirrigation.com to request a free estimate

940-452-8104 LI 20591

Guitar & Piano Lessons Ask about NEW Student Specials!

Free Consultation Available Guitar Lessons 817-944-8523 Piano Lessons 817-298-8510

Buying Older Mobile Homes, RV’s, Big Trucks & Tractors

817-629-7531

PAINTING INTERIOR / EXTERIOR Paper hanging, Light Carpentry Taping, Bedding, Cracked Sheet Rock Repair, Blown Acoustical Ceilings, INSURANCE CLAIMS WELCOME 25 Y EARS E XPERIENCE References, Work Guaranteed JACK CHRISTOPHER 817-613-8159 • 817-219-9392

Keller s Tree Trimming &

Fill Dirt, fresh dozed. Parker CO Area $3 per cubic yard, you Load & Haul.

(817)629-7531

Removal Serving Parker County for 25 years.

(817) 760-3540

Built Tuff LLC N EW B UILDS, REMODELING, C ONCRETE, FENCING L ANDSCAPING, PAINTING , ADD O N’S, BATHROOM, FLOORING T REE R EMOVAL, K ITCHENS , DECKS & R OOFING CALL FOR F REE E STIMATE

817-565-2217 OR

CONTACT

VIA E-MAIL

BUILTT UFFLLC@GMAIL. COM

Call Us Today 469-341-7831

Open Monday-Friday 10am-6pm Saturday 10am - 3pm.

Call us today for a FREE QUOTE Liability as low as $23 per car!

No license? No Problem!

Low Down Payment & Low Payment Fees Aceptamos Matriulas Local, Trusted & Independent Community Life

53

R&L Electric, Inc.

WOODHAVEN VILLAS

3/2 FREE garage with all units Call Kaleigh

817-594-0744

309 Tyler Ct. Weatherford Tx. 76086

Need trees trimmed? Dead/Dying trees?

Need a tree removed?

Shrubs/hedges shaped?

Don’t Pay Commercial prices for Residential work!

Happy Tree Trimming

817-565-0543 www.happpytreetrimming.com

FREE ESTIMATES COMPETITIVE RATES SOD LAYING FERTILIZING YARD CLEAN UP TREE AND BRUSH REMOVAL

I RRIGATION REPAIR DIRT WORK & STORM S HELTERS

FAST FRIENDLY HONEST

DOUBLE B RV-B OAT & SELF S TORAGE 10x10 $35/mo 10x20 $65/mo

COVERED RV/BOAT 24 foot $50/mo 30 foot $60/mo 40 foot $65/mo

817-202-9799

817-597-0604

Firewood Residential Commercial Credit Cards Accepted

K&T Green Works Hydromulch Landscaping Irrigation Installation and Repairs Drainage French

Drains and Dirt Work Free Estimates Contact us at 817-994-8233 LI0008871

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Call or come see us today!!

1yr. warranty on all New Appliances!!!

1607 B N. Main Street Cleburne, Tx. 76031 817-526-6568

54

Community Life

In My Home Child Care Newborn & Up! Space Limited Registered with State of Texas Excellent References For More Infor Call Joshua Area. CR 917 & 805 817-239-3209

SPARKLING CLEANING SERVICE

817-613-0819

Proudly serving Parker / Tarrant Counties and surrounding areas.

1 hr. minimum service call applies Mention this ad and receive

10% off

MENDOZA HOUSE LEVELING & FOUNDATION REPAIR Pier & Beam Repair Relevel also Brick Homes w/concrete slabs 30 yrs. experience Reasonable Rates

817-565-5336 940-704-2892 Manuel Mendoza

Weatherford • Mineral Wells

THEGRILLEDPEPPERLAWN mowing/trimming/fencing gutter cleaning/flowerbeds yard drains unstopped (682) 308-5293

TILE & MORE

Residential & Commercial

Moving In & Out After Events Clean-Up Blanca 817-933-8704 044 Nelly 682-459-46733

TECL 20145 Residential / Commercial “We are committed to service” 24-hour emergency

ALL TYPES OF TILE & WOOD

SHOWERS, TUBS, FLOORS, BACKSPLASHES, FULL RESTROOM REMODELS AND REPAIRS

26YRS. EXP. IN TARRANT JASON KELLER

Call for a free estimate by phone!

817-760-3540

Community Life

55

Getting you back to what’s important.

Women’s Surgical Services At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne, we know women today are busy, but don’t forget that taking care of yourself is time well spent. Which is why we offer minimally invasive surgical procedures with smaller incisions, less pain and shorter hospital stays. Which means you get back to what you love in no time at all. From hysterectomies to gall bladder removals, we’re here to help you take care of you. Learn more today at TexasHealth.org/Cleburne-Robotics.

1-877-THR-WELL

Doctors on the medical staff practice independently and are not employees or agents of the hospital. © 2015