Home > Talk of Lufkin > Archives > 2009 > June
June 2009
Hotel owners withdraw support for tax increase
Local hotel owners pulled in the welcome mat after city and county officials recently tried for bills that together would have put Lufkin’s hotel tax at one of the highest in the state.
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EDITORIAL: An Energy Tax: Cap and trade bill will have little impact on temperatures, but will cost Americans more
Despite the continued increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, global temperatures have decreased for the past two years. Those declines have brought some needed skepticism into the whole man-made global warming debate. Link to full story
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Thinking inside the box: Could popularity of Redbox, Netflix signal end of video rental stores?
The face of movie rental has changed, leaving many Lufkinites wondering how traditional video stores are staying in business. Link to full story
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Property appraisal protests reach 800
The record number of property appraisal protests has reached 800 with more expected this week, according to county officials. Link to full story
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NWS identifies strange clouds seen over Lufkin in April
The National Weather Service identified threatening clouds over downtown Lufkin photographed in April as mammatus clouds, associated with strong thunderstorms, but pictures from around the world have not been so easily recognized. Link to full story
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Fly girls: Thirty-two teams fly into Angelina County Airport for annual Women’s Air Race
The Angelina County Airport was buzzing with excitement as the first of 32 teams radioed in for landing at the Lufkin leg of the 33rd annual Women’s Air Race, which is celebrating the 80th year of women’s air racing. Link to full story
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Lufkin grad blogging about his cross-country bike trip
A 4,000-mile cross-country bike ride during the cruelest summer heat imaginable? Link to full story
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How to beat the heat: Officials offer advice for protecting people, pets and plants from the summer sun
Summertime in East Texas inevitably brings trips to the lake, picnics and temperatures rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as is predicted to be the case for the next several days. Link to full story
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Angelina County unemployment rate rises to highest level in nearly 10 years
Angelina County’s unemployment rates is at its highest in nearly 10 years, according to numbers released Monday by the Texas Workforce Commission.
In May the county hit 8.1 percent, up from 7.4 percent in April. A year before the county’s rate was nearly half that at 4.7 percent in May 2008.
Lufkin topped 8 percent in May, up from 7.3 percent in April, nearly twice the rate of 4.6 percent in May the previous year. The last highest rate for Angelina County was 8.1 percent in June 2003, according to labor force statistics available through 2000.
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Downtown facelift: City encouraging business owners to spruce up buildings by offering to match improvements at 50 percent of the cost up to $1,000
Main Street Director Barbara Thompson, along with downtown business owners, have begun working to revitalize downtown Lufkin. Link to full story
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Formal protests: Angelina County property owners file hundreds of forms indicating intent to argue; chief appraiser welcomes visits
Angelina County residents and business owners have filed several hundred forms indicating their intent to protest the appraised values of their property, according to the county’s chief appraiser. The Angelina County Appraisal District had received around 500 protest forms by Friday afternoon, Jerry Hogg said, and more were likely on the way via the mail. Thursday was the deadline to file property value protests in Texas, but the local Appraisal Review Board will still consider mailed protests postmarked by that day. Full story
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LISD adopts sex ed programs
No one from the community came to voice their opinion about the new sex education curriculum for two Lufkin campuses next year at the LISD board meeting Thursday night.
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City council names Langston mayor pro tem
At Tuesday night’s regular meeting, Lufkin City Council voted to make councilman Don Langston the new mayor pro tem. Also, the council finalized who will serve on the new Lufkin Convention and Tourism Board. The board will work toward making Lufkin a more tourist-friendly place.
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Lufkin ISD adopting new sex education curriculum
Lufkin’s school board addressed some possible changes for Lufkin’s 2009-2010 school year curriculum in a finance meeting Tuesday. The School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) proposed the implementation of a sex education program beginning in middle school carrying through to high school.
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City council grants permit for downtown game room
Downtown Lufkin just got a lot more entertaining. Lufkin City Council on Tuesday night granted a special use permit for an indoor commercial recreation and entertainment facility for K-Dog’s Game Room, located at 212 E. Burke Ave., in the old Sterling Paint building.
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EDITORIAL: Pack Attack
Lufkin Panther football fans knew Clay Berry as a fiery motivator of the Pack’s special teams unit when he was named head baseball coach in 2005. How that kind of attitude would translate to the baseball diamond remained to be seen. a href=”http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/06/16/eddy.html” target=”open”>Link to full story
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BFF! Coston alums have been friends since the first grade
Graduation promises to remain “lifelong friends” often fall short, but Coston Elementary School’s first group of first grade students have demonstrated that, with a little bit of effort, people can remain friends from elementary to high school and beyond. Link to full story
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Lufkin Industries close to completing facility for windmill gear box repair
At Tuesday’s Lufkin Host Lions Club meeting at Crown Colony Country Club, Shawn Calhoun, general manager of the gear repair division at Lufkin Industries, gave an official presentation shedding more light on how much of a role wind power will play in the future of the company.
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Lufkin Industries believes wind energy important part of its future
The winds of the west could be blowing job opportunities into Lufkin. Lufkin Industries is weeks shy of completing a renovation of a downtown building that it plans to use for repairing windmill machinery. Company officials have kept the project under wraps over the last year, but said Monday they believe wind energy will play a part in the future of Lufkin Industries.
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Local agencies hoping Angelina garners state pilot program for juvenile offenders needing residential mental health care
Overgrown grass, peeling paint and abandoned buildings sit in a taxpayer’s ghost town in Hudson that some are hoping will be the site of a new state pilot program serving juvenile probationers with mental health issues.
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Wrong-way fatality wreck not the first along stretch of U.S. 59
A fatal crash last week involving a suspected drunk driver traveling in the wrong lane of traffic is not the first of its kind to happen along that stretch of highway on U.S. 59 south of Lufkin.
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Taxing situation: Some small business owners protesting tax hike
Small business owners in Angelina County are facing the price of higher property taxes this year due to the increase in property values. When Bravo Hair Salon relocated from Downtown Lufkin to the South Loop Crossing Shopping Center five years ago, co-owner Jamie Davis said she did not think property taxes would increase the way they have. Full story
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Happy (job) hunting: Despite country’s economic downturn, East Texas Job Fair gives hope to hundreds with more than 49 employers and 1,000 positions available
Though the country may be in the midst of a downturn, it doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people willing to work. Link to full story
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Officials seek person who defaced Angelina mural
A mural in downtown Lufkin representing the face of Angelina County had an added, unwanted feature Monday — one that has upset local officials and will cost taxpayer money to fix. Link to full story
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Audibel donates hearing aid to Diboll woman
Listening intensely as if taking a call from the president, a Diboll woman smiled excitedly, responding, “The time is 11:32 and the temperature is 81 — I can hear on the phone with both ears!” Link to full story
