Published: December 31, 2008 07:59 am         

Hurricanes, election top second half of year

A pair of unwelcome visitors using the monikers “Gustav” and “Ike” highlighted the final six months of 2008 in Anderson County as area emergency workers were on full alert for Mother Nature during much of September.

Many Anderson County residents received property damage due to high winds and fallen trees, while thousands of area homes and businesses were without power for several days due to the effects of the more potent Hurricane Ike whose arrival came in mid-September.

The final half of the year in Anderson County also saw the usual assortment of politics and crime — sometimes in the same story — garner its share of local headlines.

Although predominantly national stories, Anderson County residents also watched gasoline prices freefall during the autumn months, while the U.S. elected its first African-American president, Barack Obama, during the November general election.



Other stories making headlines during 2008’s final six months included:



July

1 — A motion is filed by the City of Dallas in a U.S. district court to limit the development of the Neches River Wildlife Refuge to one acre.

2 — Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor tells the Herald-Press his agency’s investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Precinct 3 Commissioner Ronny Smith has been completed and turned over to the Anderson County district attorney’s office for consideration.

5 — Twenty-two year-old Eric Davis of Palestine is charged with murder by Houston County authorities in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Betty Cruz at the woman’s residence in Grapeland.

9 — Former Anderson County chief jailer Steve Quick, Democratic candidate for Anderson County sheriff, is arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury-family violence after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

11 — Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe tells the Herald-Press that the charge against sheriff candidate Steve Quick will likely be dropped after the suspect’s former girlfriend recants her statement of two days earlier.

14 — An independent auditor tells Anderson County commissioners that the county had a “healthy” fund balance of approximately $5.4 million at the end of 2007.

21 — The founders of Academy of Texas Music Inc. announce that Palestine will once again host the Texas Music Awards during 2009.

25 — Thirty-four year-old prison inmate Sam Kilgore is sentenced to “life without parole” after being found guilty of murdering his cellmate at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Michael Unit in August 2006.

28 — The Palestine City Council passes a city ordinance, stiffening penalties on illegal litterers.

31 — Twenty-four year-old Luis M. Trejo of Palestine, who was in the U.S. illegally according to authorities, is sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty of having sexual intercourse with his 8-year-old stepdaughter inside their local residence during October 2007.



August

2 — David Giles, a lieutenant with the Palestine Fire Department, receives non-life threatening injuries after being struck from behind by a motor vehicle as he walked on the side of FM 315.

7 — Palestine is formally announced as the 17th city to be given GO TEXAN Certified Retirement Community status during a ceremony attended by numerous local, area and statewide officials.

9 — A 24-year-old Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officer at the Michael Unit is seriously injured after being stabbed almost 20 times by an inmate he was escorting to the unit’s shower unit.

13 — Joshua Neal Ponder, 32, who formerly served for six years as youth pastor at Palestine’s First Baptist Church, is arrested by Mabank police for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in Henderson County.

15 — Palestine and Anderson County residents flock to local retail stores as the state’s 10th annual clothing sales tax holiday kicks off at 12:01 a.m.

20 — Eighty-one year-old Mary Waters of Palestine, who had sustained a deep neck wound administered by some type of sharp instrument, is found deceased inside her residence on CR 363, approximately 5 miles east of Palestine, off of U.S. 79.

25 — Nearly 100 Anderson County residents pack the county courtroom at the Anderson County Courthouse Annex to protest the county’s proposed tax increase of more than 4 cents.

26 — Calling it a “worst-case scenario,” the Palestine Independent School District Board of Trustees adopts its 2008-09 budget, requiring the utilization of more than $1 million in district fund balance monies.

27 — Arbitrators with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority order former Palestine investment broker Brent Lemons to pay back more than $4 million to swindled investors.

29 — After being roundly criticized four days earlier for a proposed tax rate increase, Anderson County commissioners approve the county’s 2009 budget with no tax hike, instead dipping into the county’s fund balances by a total of approximately $1.3 million.



September

1 — With Hurricane Gustav having made landfall, local emergency officials say slightly more than 100 persons are being housed in three local church-based shelters in Palestine.

8 — Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor tells the Herald-Press that the old section of the Anderson County Jail has received the OK from state officials to house out-of-county inmates.

12 — Palestine, Anderson County and other officials prepare for the pending arrival of Hurricane Ike which is expected to make landfall around noon the following day as a Category I storm.

13 — Hurricane Ike moves through Anderson County and East Texas around mid-day, causing property damage and leaving approximately 15,000 homes and businesses in the county without power.

15 — The Palestine City Council approves its 2008-09 fiscal year budget which features a tax rate of 63.9 cents per $100 valuation.

20 — The final shelter in Anderson County closes down as local officials largely shift their Hurricane Ike efforts to administrative details and paperwork.

24 — Hundreds of area high school students participate in “See You at the Pole” student-initiated prayer events which began in Burleson in 1990.

29 — Anderson County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ronny Smith pleads guilty to three misdemeanor counts of abuse of official capacity and resigns his position, three months before the end of his elected term.



October

2 — Anderson County Court-at-Law Judge Jeff Doran is named 2008 Citizen of the Year at the annual Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet at Meadowbrook Country Club.

4 — Westwood Independent School District voters reject a 13 cent rollback tax increase by a 225-to-141 margin.

6 — A severe late night thunderstorm plows through Anderson County, ripping the roof off of a vacant bank building in Frankston and leaving numerous downed trees in Tennessee Colony in its path.

7 — Palestine and Anderson County residents celebrate the 25th annual National Night Out with block parties and other similar festivities, including the serving of hot dogs and other treats.

9 — More than 200 people participate in the “Catch the Hope” Alzheimer’s Walk in Palestine as they show support for Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

13 — The Palestine City Council unanimously approves the proposed $2.9 million budget for the Palestine Economic Development Corp.

16 — Pfc. Heath Pickard, 21, a graduate of Frankston High School, is killed approximately 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq when his unit is hit by mortar fire and rocket-fired grenades.

23 — Sixty-four year-old Charles Glendell Mewburn of Cayuga is sentenced to 198 years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting his 5-year-old granddaughter.

25 — Approximately 10,000 people jam downtown Palestine as the annual Fall Oktoberfest features food, arts and crafts and picture-perfect autumn weather.

29 — Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst addresses members of the Palestine Rotary Club, focusing on UT Tyler Palestine’s “Paving the Way” expansion project campaign.



November

4 — Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor, a Republican, earns his second term in office by easily defeating Democrat challenger Steve Quick in a local race, while Barack Obama makes history as he becomes the first African-American to be elected U.S. president.

7 — Malinda Shea Lucas, 34, former circulation manager at the Palestine Herald-Press, is arrested at her boyfriend’s residence in Montalba and charged with allegedly embezzling more than $107,000 from the newspaper.

10 — Anderson County Judge Linda Bostick Ray announces that she will not appoint newly-elected Precinct 3 Commissioner Kenneth Dickson to fulfill the position’s unexpired term, meaning he will be sworn into office on Jan. 1, 2009.

13 — Twenty-nine year-old Jason Jermaine Cumby of Athens, a burglary suspect, is shot to death by officers in a Frankston neighborhood, while 31-year-old Frankston police officer Jason Ward is seriously injured following a brief pursuit of Cumby’s vehicle.

15 — Fourteen year-old Michael Colgrove, a Westwood student, is killed after being struck by a train near the Trinity River near the Long Lake community.

20 — A pair of Alabama state prison escapees are arrested by Palestine police on felony escape warrants at a convenience store in the 1000 block of East Palestine Avenue.

25 — Eric Lamond Davis, 22, of Palestine is sentenced to life in prison by a Houston County jury for the July murder of 30-year-old Betty Cruz who was shot to death at her Grapeland residence.

28 — Four persons are killed and three injured in a four-vehicle wreck outside of Buffalo on U.S. 79 on the day after Thanksgiving.



December

2 — After approaching $4 per gallon earlier in the year, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline falls below $1.80 in Palestine.

4 — Wilda Page, longtime owner of Page Hardware in Elkhart, dies at a Palestine hospital at the age of 85.

5 — Minnesota Viking running back and former Palestine High School athletic standout Adrian Peterson donates $9,000 to the East Texas Regional Food Bank in Tyler.

9 — State Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, tells the Herald-Press he is among the lawmakers seeking to unseat Tom Craddick as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

11 — Fifty-nine year-old Charles Leslie Smith of Palestine is sentenced to three years probation in a Tyler federal court after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a military-style machine gun in April 2007.

13 — The Cayuga Wildcats advance to the Class A, Division II state football championship game by virtue of a 42-7 victory over Ganado in the semifinals.

18 — Eighteen year-old Israel Marquez, a former Palestine High School student, is sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to tagging the school with graffiti at the conclusion of the 2007-08 school year.

20 — The Cayuga Wildcats fall in their bid to become Class A, Division II state football champions, falling to Stratford, 24-13, at Abilene’s Shotwell Stadium.

22 — Anderson County commissioners decide to turn over operations of the Anderson County Transfer Station to a private company based in Kilgore.

28 — A 6-year-old girl receives minor injuries after a 1966 Cessna 150 crashes into a grove of trees off the runway of the Palestine Municipal Airport after it started as her grandfather was preparing it for takeoff.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

     

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