Tasty Treats Easy To Make Page 3-B
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Ricebird Golfers Heading To State Page 1-B
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Copyright ® 2014
Volume 130 Number 11 • Saturday, April 19, 2014
Schooltime photo post prompts EC warnings
14 Pages, 2 Inserts
Highway Rescue
Prison van crash leaves five injured
Elementary child contacts unknown person who ‘liked’ image
Firefighters cut through steel cage to free one inmate
By JODY LARIMER reporter@leader-news.com
An El Campo ISD elementary student reportedly received what district officials are calling “a real-time, sexually inappropriate video” and shared it with other classmates during a recent technology day. “To my understanding, the incident happened throughout the day (Friday, April 4) between three individuals,” Superintendent Mark Pool said. “Whether it happened in class or during PE or in the cafeteria is not clear.” Pool refused to say at what elementary campus the incident occurred adding, “we’re trying to protect the identity of the kids involved.” The student posted personal pictures on Tango, a communication site. When an unknown individual “liked” one of the pictures, the student reportedly “face-
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com
(See DISTRICT, POLICE, Page 7-A)
County cancels jury Wharton County residents who received a jury summons card for county court on Monday, April 21, can disregard the notice. The case scheduled before Judge Phillip Spenrath has been canceled, according to County Clerk Sandra K. Sanders.
Inside: Staff Still There To Help – See Page 5-A VIEWPOINT......................................Page 4-A OBITUARIES.....................................Page 7-A SPORTS.............................................Page 1-B LIFESTYLE.........................................Page 3-B CHURCH LISTINGS..........................Page 4-B CLASSIFIEDS & REAL ESTATE........Page 5-B
LOCAL WEATHER Saturday Mostly Sunny DAY: 0% NIGHT: 0%
HIGH: 80º LOW: 57º
Sunday
Partly Sunny DAY: 0% HIGH: 82º NIGHT: 20% LOW: 60º
Monday
Chance of Thunderstorms DAY: 20% HIGH: 81º NIGHT: 20% LOW: 61º
Tuesday
Mostly Sunny DAY: 0% NIGHT: 0%
75¢
HIGH: 86º LOW: 61º
Last Week: Avg. High: 74º • Avg. Low: 53º
R ain G auge
Last 7 Days............................... .27 In.
Last 30 Days........................... 1.01 In. Same Time In '13...................... 1.52 In.
Year To Date........................... 4.78 In. Year To Date '13....................... 6.76 In. Data Collected by LCRA at El Campo Memorial Hospital
B urn B an : LIFTED COUNTY’S MEAN KBDI: 280 Burn Ban is put into effect when the mean KBDI reaches or goes above 500.
ONE OUT, ANOTHER STILL BEHIND THE WHEEL: El Campo volunteer firefighters pull one prison guard from the transport van overturned on U.S. 59 Thursday morning while the other awaits assistance. Three inmates were also freed from the vehicle. L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree
Two guards and three inmates were injured Thursday when a prison van overturned on U.S. 59 at North Blue Creek Road. The van came to rest on its passenger side in the median directly across from Mikeska’s Barbecue on the highway shortly before 7 a.m. As the two prison transport guards remained held in place by their seat belts, the three chained inmates were held in separate steel cages in the back. “The driver of the van indicated he was being passed by an 18-wheeler and felt like it was crowding him or cutting back in front quickly, so he moved to the right to avoid collision and lost control of the van,” El Campo Police Chief Terry Stanphill said. El Campo police officers and Wharton County Sheriff’s deputies were quickly on the scene providing security for working EMTs and volunteer firefighters, traffic control and scrambling to account for firearms carried by the two guards. Firefighters cut away the van’s front windshield to reach the two guards, both of whom were reportedly conscious and alert. They were transported to El Campo Memorial Hospital for treatment. “We were able to get keys to get access to the back cages,” El Campo Assistant Fire Chief and paramedic Jimmy George Jr. said while stripping off the black latex (See ONE RESCUED, Page 5-A)
El Campo’s CDC offers helping hand to businesses By JODY LARIMER reporter@leader-news.com
Creating jobs through attracting, retaining and expanding business in El Campo is the main function of the City Development Corporation, but a lot more goes on behind the scenes. “We really do what a lot of communities wish they could do,” Executive Director Chandra Spenrath said. “We are able to attract new businesses as well as support the ones who are here.”
Deadline nears for ECPD drug drop off offer, six days left Those wanting to rid themselves of out-of-date or unwanted medications have just six more days to take them to the El Campo Police station. After 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, police will remove the drop box and turn all collected items over to the DEA for destruction. So far, more than 3 pounds of assorted medications and about 150 needles have been dropped into the lobby box, Community Service Officer Mark Biskup said. Most items, he added, have been left on weekends. It’s been “a lot of cough syrups, prescription and over the counter,” Biskup said, adding no items have been rejected. Those wanting to drop off medications need to simply come to the ECPD station, 303 E. Jackson, any time during the day or night. No questions are asked, no one is required to show identification. The program is only open to the general public. Doctors, dentist offices and other medical offices have specific procedures to follow for medication disposal. For those not wanting to use the drop-off point, but wanting to dispose of medications properly, the ECPD and DEA offer the following guidelines: • Take medications out of bottles. • Mix them with something unappealing like cat litter or coffee grounds. • Seal in a bag or disposable container and throw away. Do not flush medications down the toilet.
In February of 2013, the number of Wharton County jobs was 21,438, according to Workforce Solutions. In February this year that number was 21,958, suggesting that 520 jobs were created. However, no specific data is available on how many of those jobs are specific to El Campo or a result of CDC efforts. “Looking at the unemployment rate is a good indication that jobs were created and filled in Wharton County,” Spenrath said. “El Campo is continuing to see growth in job creation due to the
demand of products produced or provided by companies in and around Wharton County.” The CDC, a 4A corporation, is funded by a quarter cent of municipal sales tax dollars which must be spent on industrial development or related efforts. Development funds have gone to companies such as New ICM, Vallejo Properties and Hlavinka Equipment Company, while incentives have been (See CDC JOINS, Page 8-A)
Easter Tradition
Eight-year-old Cea’zmin Hood, right, helps two-and-a-half-year-old Jeradzia Waddy during an Easter Egg hunt recently in Evans Park. The two are the children of Jasmine and Jerry Waddy of El Campo. They, and most other children, will be enjoying more hunts or chocolate bunnies this weekend as part of Easter observances. L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree
ECHS One-Act Play State Bound Page 5-B
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Play Off Loss Ends Ricebird Season Page 1-B
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Few casting early votes in upcoming May election By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com
Less than 3 percent of registered voters had cast ballots for the El Campo City Council’s at-large race when polls opened for the final day of early voting Tuesday. Through the first six days of early voting, 180 people had cast ballots at the El Campo poll site in comparison to 571 in 2012, the last time at-large Council posts were on ballot. During that election cycle, 627 early votes were cast and 443 on Election Day. “I don’t know what the reason is, but it’s just dead (this early voting period),” Elections Administrator Audrey Wessels said. When polls opened Tuesday morning, 119 ballots had been cast in Wharton and the Needville poll (for junior college voting) had received 155 ballots. East Bernard, however, has a school bond election and city alderman posts on the ballot. There, 862 votes had been cast. There are 1,681 registered voters in the city of East Bernard and 2,548 in the school district.
Copyright ® 2014
Volume 130 Number 16 • Wednesday, May 7, 2014
K-5 campuses won’t happen in ECISD Despite ‘disadvantage’ in current elementary set up talks focus on overcrowding only By JODY LARIMER reporter@leader-news.com
Overcrowding at Myatt Elementary has district officials reconsidering realigning schools, but creating standard K-5 campuses has been
dropped from discussions – again. “The idea of having K-5 campuses was brought before the school board for discussion a few years ago, but was quickly dismissed as being too difficult,” Pool said. “This issue has been explored again by the Community Facilities Advisory Committee Elementary School Subcommittee, but after hearing the reasons why the board did not entertain the idea earlier, they dropped the discussion.” Realigning elementary schools as second through fifth came up in February 2012, but was
shot down due to fears of dividing the community and impracticality. “I see the community having a civil war over this,” Trustee David Hodges said at the time. “I don’t want to poke that hornet’s nest.” Having kindergarten through fifth grade elementary campuses is standard, Pool said. “Just from personal knowledge, I would say that the majority of elementary schools throughout the state have a K-5 grade structure. Districts that
RECORD-SETTING
AGAIN By JODY LARIMER reporter@leader-news.com
Inside:
Courts An El Campo man will spend the next three years behind prison bars, punishment for spitting on a police officer.
– See Page 2-A ALSO INSIDE:
SALE OF EXCELLENCE: Wharton County Youth Fair volunteer and former fair president Wayne Waters shouts out Saturday as yet another bidder signals and the price of a project goes up.
L-N Photo by Jody Larimer
LOCAL WEATHER Wednesday
Chance of Thunderstorms DAY: 0% HIGH: 83º NIGHT: 20% LOW: 72º
Thursday
Chance of Thunderstorms DAY: 30% HIGH: 84º NIGHT: 40% LOW: 71º
Friday
Chance of Thunderstorms DAY: 50% HIGH: 87º NIGHT: 50% LOW: 65º
Saturday
Chance of Thunderstorms DAY: 30% HIGH: 87º NIGHT: 0% LOW: 68º Last Week: Avg. High: 80º • Avg. Low: 54º
R ain G auge
Last 7 Days.................................. 0 In. Last 30 Days............................. .27 In. Same Time In '13...................... 2.53 In. Year To Date........................... 4.78 In. Year To Date '13....................... 8.82 In. Data Collected by LCRA at El Campo Memorial Hospital
B urn B an : LIFTED COUNTY’S MEAN KBDI: 425 Burn Ban is put into effect when the mean KBDI reaches or goes above 500.
(See PLAN CALLS, Page 7-A)
WCYF SALE OF EXCELLENCE
(See ELECTION DAY, Page 8-A)
VIEWPOINT......................................Page 4-A OBITUARIES.....................................Page 7-A SPORTS.............................................Page 1-B LIFESTYLE.........................................Page 5-B CROSSWORD...................................Page 8-B CLASSIFIEDS & REAL ESTATE........Page 9-B
75¢
22 Pages, 5 Inserts
The Wharton County Youth Fair’s Sale of Excellence broke records again this year, topping last year’s sale-day tally by a little over $89,000. A total of $970,225 for 275 lots was collected Saturday, an average of $3,528 per lot. That beats last year’s sale day total of $881,062 by $89,163. Group buyers is what keeps that number climbing annually, Sale Chair Penny Kmiec said Monday. And she’s happy with this year’s results. “Yeah, we’re up almost $90,000. Our buyers and our communities are just wonderful.” But not all money has been collected. More is still coming in for the student projects through addon sales, Kmiec said, and will continue through Friday. “So far, we’re at about $60,000 in add-on sales,” Kmiec said. “That’s just a rough estimate.” A complete total will be calculated once all add-on dollars are collected. The top lot went to lot number six: El Campo Junior/Senior 4-H member Madysen Korenek’s Grand Champion Steer, “Boots.” Boots was sold for $20,000, but (See TOP STEER, Page 9-A)
Lucky Little Lady Hutchins kid survives bike wreck, now talking safety By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com
Just four days after flying over her handle bars and undergoing emergency brain surgery, one Hutchins Elementary third grader spent her morning trying to tell others what had gone wrong. She wasn’t wearing a helmet and that almost cost her her life. That oversight, 10-year-old Julie Hart said, means she’s not allowed to run, can’t attend school for, most likely, the next two weeks, and has been banned from bicycles for the next four months. The daughter of Jennifer and James Hart can, however, warn others of the potential life-threatening danger of riding unprotected. (See BIKE CRASH, Page 10-A)
Telling Her Tale
L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree
Julie Hart, left, explains how her Thursday bicycle wreck occurred to El Campo Police Department Community Service Officer Mark Biskup as mom Jennifer looks on. The meeting took place in the Hutchins Elementary School nurse’s office Monday. After undergoing emergency brain surgery Thursday, Julie had only been home one day, but wanted to spread a safety message to other children.