Home > Talk of Lufkin > Archives > 2008 > April
April 2008
Electric idea: Huntington man takes gas prices out of the equation by powering his Chevy pickup with batteries
Mack Darnell, a retired Texas Forest Service employee, wasted no time after he retired in 2004. He began working morning to evening on woodworking, painting and other projects.
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EDITORIAL: Brady’s Bill
Some people want to make the Big Thicket more of a big deal. We think it’s a grand idea.
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Feds release DaVita patient death numbers
Nineteen patient deaths occurred at DaVita Lufkin Dialysis in a five-month period ending in April before its temporary closure, according to a survey released Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through an open records request. Full story.
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Dog stayed with boy until he was rescued
The two sisters screamed the little boy’s name as they walked through the woods. Both were near hysterics early Sunday morning. After ten hours of searching the women began to lose hope of ever finding the 6-year-old boy.
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Report: Clemens had relationship with Mindy McCready
NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Clemens had a decade-long relationship with country star Mindy McCready that began when she was a 15-year-old aspiring singer and the pitcher was a Boston Red Sox ace, the Daily News reported. Full story.
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Congressman introduces bill to expand the Big Thicket
Congressman Kevin Brady, of The Woodlands, introduced a bill over the weekend, H.R. 5891, to expand the Big Thicket National Preserve by as much as 100,000 acres, doubling the area of the preserve and allowing more public recreational use and additional protection. The bill especially targets land that will connect the nine land units and six water corridors of the current preserve, according to a release from the Texas Conservation Alliance. Full story.
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Rebates start landing in bank accounts: How will we spend?
Tax rebates have begun dropping into bank accounts, but in this economy, gas and groceries may trump a high-end TV, a fancy dress or a new sofa — making the checks less of an economic jump-start than the government hoped for.
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EDITORIAL: Texas roads
“It is an abdication of responsibility.”
That’s what Gov. Rick Perry thinks of the possibility that the Texas Legislature might again stand in the way of his efforts to privatize the construction of toll roads across Texas.
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Local drivers, businesses say they are feeling effects of gas at $3.50 a gallon and diesel at $4
Local drivers are reeling from $3.50-a-gallon unleaded gasoline and $4-a-gallon diesel.
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EDITORIAL: Hidden Costs
In the well-meaning rush to produce alternative fuels as a way to reduce oil imports, Congress went overboard subsidizing ethanol made from corn.
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EDITORIAL: Benefit Rodeo
This year’s Angelina Benefit Rodeo could be one of the best yet.
The annual event begins at 7 tonight at the George H. Henderson Jr. Exposition Center, and a lot of things are working in the rodeo’s favor this year: The weather looks like it’s going to cooperate — it’ll be a little warm, if anything — and the rodeo has a record number of cowboys and cowgirls entering the competition. And instead of a dog-and-pony show, the specialty act this year is a freestyle motocross exhibition team that will come close to scraping the ceiling of the expo center.
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Zavalla school superintendent resigns her post
The Zavalla school board voted Tuesday night to accept the resignations of Superintendent Kathy Ray and board member Carryl Carrell.
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EDITORIAL: Shield Laws
When Sen. John McCain said last week that he would vote for federal legislation to protect journalists’ confidential sources, it was a welcome sign of support for a stalled proposal.
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Rock of the Ages: Workers remove historic rock wall on U.S. 59; part of it will be moved to City Hall
Dust was sent shooting into the air over U.S. Highway 59 as construction workers tore down the remnants of a Lufkin landmark. Amid the upheaval, members of the Texas Forest Service were dodging heavy machinery trying to capture the final images of the historical feature.
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Sweet sorrow: Lufkin’s April Didrikson and her customers will soon be parting ways as she heads for adventures in New York, Paris and closes her popular bakery
Sweet sorrow: Lufkin’s April Didrikson and her customers will soon be parting ways as she heads for adventures in New York, Paris and closes her popular bakery. Full story
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Nation’s economic woes hit some local companies harder than others
Many larger industries and businesses remain strong, but smaller businesses have taken a hit from the economic problems affecting the rest of the country, according to some local small business owners.
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EDITORIAL: School Sex
For many of us, the question that comes to mind when we hear of a teacher having consensual sex with a student is, “Where were the kid’s parents?”
For many others, the question is, “Why isn’t the student arrested, too?”
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When does your vote not count? When it isn’t counted
If you voted electronically in Box 13 in the Angelina County primary, your vote doesn’t count — yet. Angelina’s county and district attorneys filed a petition Friday asking for a recount of the primary election votes after an electronic error caused some votes to not be counted and others to be counted multiple times.
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Local rapper ‘Bigg Jake’ collapses, dies at car wash
Local rapper Jrozzney D. Morrison, aka “Bigg Jake,” was pronounced dead Thursday morning at Memorial Health System of East Texas after collapsing at a car wash. Morrison, who was diagnosed as morbidly obese, had visited the hospital the night before with chest pains but was eventually released, according to a Lufkin Police Department spokesperson. Full story.
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Hundreds arrested in immigration raids at Pilgrim’s Pride plants
MOUNT PLEASANT — Federal agents arrested hundreds of people Wednesday in raids at Pilgrim’s Pride chicken plants in West Virginia and four other states, the latest crackdown on illegal immigrant labor at the nation’s poultry producers. Full story.
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Eye for design: Lufkin High School student headed to national contest after winning state competition for graphic design
It’s still over a month until graduation, but senior John Terry already has one summer trip planned. Terry will be competing in the National Skills USA contest in Kansas City, Mo., in June. The Lufkin High School student will be representing the state of Texas after winning the state competition for graphic design earlier this month. Full story.
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Nacogdoches commissioners pass no-smoking ordinance
Nacogdoches city commissioners heard an hour of pubic input before voting unanimously Tuesday night to prohibit smoking in public places throughout the city. Full story.
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City council tables decision on speed limit change on Hwy. 59
Lufkin City Council members tabled a decision to change the speed limit on a part of Highway 59 from 70 mph to 60 mph. Full story.
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Byrd completes 30 years of service on AC board
Joe Byrd, longtime member of Angelina College’s Board of Trustees, will not be seeking reelection this year when his term is up. Byrd, 92, has served as a member of the board for 30 years, including terms as president, vice president and secretary. Full story.
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Pineywoods Academy student donates hair to Lock of Love
The little girl’s blond ringlets swayed as she helped her “Nanny” pick out a wig. Six-year-old Courtney Dusek didn’t understand why her grandmother had lost her hair. She heard the words “cancer” and “chemotherapy” when she listened to her parents talking. The reality hit her, though, as she, her mother and her grandmother tried on wigs together. Full story.
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Lufkin mayor supports I-69 — if it follows current U.S. 59
Despite the uproar over the state’s proposal to build Trans-Texas Corridor 69 through East Texas, Lufkin’s mayor says he supports the highway — as long as it follows the path of the current U.S. Highway 59. Full story.
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Leveling the playing field: Company that used prison labor to compete with Lufkin Industries must prove how it will compete fairly in the market or it may lose its state contract in 90 days
A Kingwood-based trailer company’s prison labor contract that may have contributed to the downfall of Lufkin Industries’ Trailer Division will be suspended in 90 days unless the company levels the playing field or unemployment numbers drop, a state senator’s spokeswoman said Thursday. Full story.
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Guitar hero: LHS drafting student designs, builds his own guitar, then plays the national anthem at the Skills USA Competition
Almost 40 years ago, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix wowed the Woodstock crowd with his now-famous rendition of the national anthem. Last weekend, Lufkin High School student Tad Dickerson shredded his own version of “The Star Spangled Banner” for an arena full of thousands at the Skills USA Competition in Corpus Christi. Full story.
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LISD trustees approve issuance of tax school building bonds
The Lufkin ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the issuance of the first series of unlimited tax school building bonds. The 2008 series will total over 14.7 million dollars, leaving the district with approximately 14.5 million after issuance and underwriter fees are taken out, according to Coastal Securities Financial Advisor Lewis Wilks. Full story.
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Nacogdoches city leaders to consider smoke-free ordinance
NACOGDOCHES — Following an example set by growing numbers of states and cities across the country, leaders in the city of Nacogdoches will consider a ban on smoking in public places during a city commission meeting Tuesday, Full story.
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EDITORIAL: Disheartening
Encouraging people in Lufkin to recycle, by and large, hasn’t worked. Trying to force them to recycle hasn’t worked.
The city of Lufkin has decided to take away the blue recycling bins from its residents unless they say they want to keep them for recycling purposes.
That’s disheartening.
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EDITORIAL: Airline Safety
It’s not often that we salute folks for doing their jobs. But it is appropriate to applaud a few very courageous Federal Aviation Administration inspectors, who risked their careers by exposing problems at Southwest Airlines and the FAA, their employer.
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City to give residents bigger trash cans and remove their recycling bins unless they opt in
Lufkin’s Solid Waste/Recycling department plans to replace all of the city’s residential 65-gallon trash carts with 96-gallon trash carts beginning next month.
Steve Floyd, director of Solid Waste and Fleet Maintenance, said he hopes the residential cart replacement program will soothe some problems.
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EDITORIAL: Downtown Facelift
The Angelina Hotel in downtown Lufkin may finally be headed for restoration. In its heyday in the early 1900s, the hotel, with its ballroom, was a gem in downtown’s crown. The last few decades the stately old lady has fallen into disrepair, changing hands without anyone managing to give it the facelift it needed.
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EDITORIAL: Above the Law?
Federal officials are running into all kinds of hurdles as they stumble along in their efforts to fence out illegal immigrants from south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Lufkin native testifies in tense air safety hearing in Washington
Three months after retiring to his hometown, Phil Thrash left quiet Lufkin to make noise on Capitol Hill.
Thrash, a former Continental Airlines air crew manager, told the House Transportation Committee on Thursday that Federal Aviation Administration officials quashed his efforts to investigate a fatal accident that occurred in El Paso in early 2006.
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Road hazards: $32 million-plus U.S. 59 construction project begins, is expected to take just over three years to complete
The U.S. 59 construction project has begun. This $32 million-plus project, contracted by Zachry Construction Corporation out of San Antonio, is expected to take just over three years to complete.
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EDITORIAL: Road Repairs
Texans want the state to upgrade the highway system and maintain roads and bridges, not one or the other.
Texans want both: upgrades to accommodate increased traffic and upkeep of the current infrastructure.
Unfortunately, Texans are not well-served by either the state transportation agency or state lawmakers who hold its purse strings.
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Conference touts strict underage drinking policies
Prevention and progress were the themes at Wednesday’s East Texas Regional Forum hosted by The Coalition and Texans Standing Tall. The day-long event, held at Crown Colony Country Club, presented attendees with various strategies for cutting down on underage drinking in Angelina County.
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EDITORIAL: Texas Two-Step
Rough and tumble democracy broke out all over Texas last weekend as thousands of primary voters attended their state senate district conventions.
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Council approves tax abatement for renovations to Angelina Hotel
Lufkin city council members Tuesday approved a tax abatement schedule for renovating the Angelina Hotel.
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Surprise: House creates outside ethics panel
It was a long time coming, and it didn’t come easily, but the House finally agreed to establish an independent panel to investigate ethics violations by its members.
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Diboll ISD chosen for state curriculum project
On Monday Diboll ISD participated in the research phase of a Texas School Performance Review project regarding curriculum management systems in Texas school districts.
