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Master
Gardeners
InsIde
InsIde sPORTs
14 PaGes VOluMe 102 nO. 174 JOhnsOn COunTys daIly newsPaPeR 75 weekdays $1.50 sundays
Thursday
September 1, 2011
x Red-light camera viola-
tions are on a complete
turnaround so far this year
with Burleson seeing a
sharp decline in the number
of violations. Page 3
x The Cleburne Yellow
Jackets know a tough test
awaits on Friday when
Frisco Centennial visits Yel-
low Jacket Stadium. Page 7
TO suBsCRIBe OR adVeRTIse 817-645-2441 OR 817-558-2855 OFFICe hOuRs: MOn.-FRI 8 a.M. TO 5 P.M.
InsIde CLASSIFIEDS 11-13 // OBITUARIES 2 // FARM & RANCH 6 // SPORTS 7-9
CISD holds public hearing on Hill tax rate
By AmBer Bell
REPORTER@TRCLE.COM
The first of two public hearings
to discuss the Hill County College
tax rate increase was held Tuesday
in the CISD boardroom, but not a
single resident showed to speak.
The Hill College tax rate will
go up 8 percent if board members
approve it.
The current tax rate for resi-
dents is 4.0332 cents per $100 of
property valuation. The new tax
would be 4.3558 cents. State law
provides the tax rate cannot be
raised beyond five cents.
Hill College officials are visit-
ing every district in Johnson
County, except Burleson, asking
for the tax increase. The additional
funding would provide more vari-
ety in class offerings to Cleburne
High School Students who wish to
take dual credit courses.
The public is asked to attend
the next CISD public hearing to
address concerns before school
board members. Those who wish
to speak must sign up before the
meeting on a sheet posted outside
the boardroom.
The next public hearing is set
for Sept. 13. The board will vote
to keep the tax rate the same or
raise it at their regular scheduled
meeting on Sept. 19. More infor-
mation will be available as it is re-
leased.
Also up for discussion were
campus improvement plans.
The plans include ways each
campus intends to improve on
state-mandated testing scores and
Adequate Yearly Progress, the fed-
erally mandated accountability
system. Eight CISD campuses
failed to meet AYP in the 2010-11
school year. Schools district-wide
have made plans to meet and ex-
ceed scores in 2010-11.
Superintendent Tim Miller said
the board needed to approve the
plan as-is, though details are ex-
pected to change.
By approving the plans today
youre basically saying were
good with the plans as a frame-
work, he said.
Board members raised some
concern about rubber-stamping
the plans as complete when it was
clear there was work to be done.
By mAtt Smith
MSMITH@TRCLE.COM
A shortfall of about $600,000 al-
most certainly assures a property tax
increase for Cleburne residents in the
coming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Nonetheless, council members
have yet to set a tax rate, and dis-
agreed on what the rate should be
during Tuesdays budget workshop
and tax rate public hearing.
The current rate is 70.64 cents per
$100 of property valuation. City staff
have recommended increasing the
rate to 72.64 cents per $100.
The shortfall, in large part, comes
courtesy of decreasing royalty reve-
nues from gas wells and leases on
city-owned properties.
The council, for the last several
years, transferred $1.5 million of
those royalty funds to the citys gen-
eral fund to offset the property tax
burden on residents. Doing so re-
duced residents portion of the tax
bill by 8.64 cents, city officials said.
Unfortunately, the days of high
royalty collections appear to be over,
for now at least. Economic conditions
coupled with a slowdown in drilling
activity play a role. So does a recent
letter from Chesapeake Energy [who
hold the majority of the citys gas
leases] announcing that companies
intention to begin recapturing certain
post-production costs from royalties
paid out to all their lease holders, in-
Council
wrestles
with tough
budget
decisions
see BudGeT, Page 4
East Henderson Street closed after workers hit gas line
Cleburne frefghters
not likely to respond
to Possum Kingdom
By mAtt Smith
MSMITH@TRCLE.COM
Cleburne police and firefighters
shut down a portion of East Hender-
son Street and several side streets on
Wednesday morning after a con-
struction crew working near East
Henderson and Oran streets struck a
gas distribution line at about 8:30
a.m.
The accident resulted in no inju-
ries or additional damage. Rescue
workers nonetheless evacuated
homes and businesses within three
blocks of the site.
Workers from Atmos Energy
Corp. arrived a short time later to
shut the line off and begin repairs.
Possum Kingdom
Several Cleburne firefighters re-
sponded to wildfires in various areas
of the state earlier this year. Although
they were happy to help out, CFD
firefighters likely wont respond to
the recent Possum Kingdom wild-
fires, CFD Assistant Chief Keith
Scarbrough said on Wednesday.
The Possum Kingdom fires
sparked on Tuesday and had burned
more than 7,500 acres and destroyed
at least 25 homes by Wednesday.
When we went to wildfires in
East Texas in April Cleburne and
Johnson County were nice and green
with no drought, Scarbrough said.
But in four months a lot has
changed for the entire state of Texas.
Because of dry conditions here, ev-
erywhere really, we dont need to be
taking our resources out of the area,
which is why TIFMAS [Texas Intra-
state Fire Mutual Aid System] is us-
ing more federal and out-of-state de-
partments now.
TIFMAS, a program maintained
by the Texas Forest Service, coordi-
nates local departments throughout
the state to mobilize and respond to
wildfires and other large-scale disas-
ters. TIFMAS is a voluntary program
and the sate reimburses the expenses
local departments occur while re-
sponding to emergencies out of their
districts.
A rash of wild and grass fires
throughout the county this summer
have kept local firefighters busy
given the fact that several have lasted
days or weeks. At least 25 area de-
partments in addition to state and
federal firefighters responded to fires
Monica Faram/Times-Review
actor dean smith, left, talks with Gwen wilson, field technician for devon energy, at wednesdays united way of Johnson County campaign
kick-off luncheon. wilson is on the volunteer committee for devon energys united way campaign. smith was the featured speaker for the
Cleburne event and will speak at todays luncheon in Burleson as well. see more photos on Page 5.
Cowboy classic
By monicA FArAm
FEATURES@TRCLE.COM
Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Olympic
gold medal winner. Veteran. Actor. Stunt
double. Exceptional husband, father and
grandfather. Cancer survivor.
These are just a few words and phrases
used by 2011 United Way Campaign Chair-
man Aly Engstrom to describe Dean Smith,
the featured speaker at the United Way of
Johnson Countys campaign kick-off lun-
cheon on Wednesday in Cleburne.
Ive been a pretty lucky fellow all my life
for getting to do the things in my life that
Ive wanted to do, Smith said. A lot of peo-
ple thought I was kind of loco when I got in
the movie business back there in 1957 but Id
always pretty well did the things that I
thought I should be doing with my life.
Ive met so many wonderful people in
my lifetime, and I have been just lucky to get
to do what Ive really wanted to do. When I
started out they wanted me to do a lot of
things. They wanted me to be a doctor or a
lawyer. I went to Hollywood and spend 40
years of my life riding, running and jumping,
getting to meet my heroes. As I look back on
my life, I dont regret any of that.
Smith encouraged those attending the lun-
cheon to allow their children to pursue their
United Way kicks off 2011-12 campaign at luncheon
see lunCheOn, Page 4
see sTReeT, Page 4
see CIsd, Page 4
1
CIeburne Conference Center Saturday, September 10th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit www.cIeburnechamber.com for more information.
If busy caII: 817-487-9090 www.darryIIackey.com
817-558-6997 817-296-4890
Proud to be the
PRE8ENTNG 8PON8OR at
Business Expo 2011
at a

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