Refugio County Press (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 51, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 2, 2011 Page: 1 of 34
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Volume 51, No. 43
www.mysoutex.com
June 2, 2011 -50<
Kenda Nelson photo
More than 40 county residents gathered on Memorial Day center. Veterans of VFW Post 6290 placed a wreath at the
under the oak trees at the Veteran's Memorial in Heritage memorial and Post Commander Jeff Steele asked the crowd
Park to pay tribute to the men and women who died in to pay to those, living and dead, who served this country,
service to the nation including veteran Saragosa Bela, at
Sequenced
signal lights
keep traffic
moving
By KENDA NELSON
Editor, County Press
As of last Thursday, the
maximum wait time at
traffic lights on the major
side streets on U.S. 77
in Refugio is 87 seconds,
according to TxDOT offi-
cials.
With U.S. 77 used
as a hurricane evacua-
tion route and regular
highway traffic increas-
ing every year, TxDOT
implemented coordinated
sequencing of the five
traffic lights through
Refugio.
The less used side
streets like West and
Jeter have a maximum
wait time of 96 seconds;
whereas those with high-
er usage, including FM
774, Commons and U.S.
183 have the lesser wait.
“These maximums
would generally only
occur when the traffic on
U.S. 77 is very heavy,’
said Tom Tagliabue, pub-
lic information officer for
TxDOT’s Corpus Christi
district.
TxDOT will monitor
traffic on U.S. 77 at the
five intersections with
traffic lights.
We appreciate the
opportunity to work
with the citizens of
Refugio on this proj-
ect.’
— Tom Taglibue
TxDOT
The lights will remain
green on the highway
until cameras detect cars
on the side street to allow
local traffic to cross over
the highway.
“The one aspect of the
program that is set in
(See TxDOT, 14A)
Cindy McClain turns to Facebook
in aftermath of Joplin’s tornado
Internet, smart phones keep family in touch after storm
By KENDA NELSON
Editor, County Press
obby Simon
was talking to
his grandmoth-
er on the tele-
phone moments before
the worst tornado in 50
years struck Joplin, Mo.,
on May 22.
“I have to go take cover,”
Dolores McCoy told her
grandson.
Frantic and worried
about his grandmother,
Simon, called his moth-
er, Cindy McClain, in
Refugio.
“Most all of my fam-
ily lives in Joplin — hun-
dreds of them,” McClain
said.
A heart-wrenching 25
minutes passed while
McClain and Simon
waited anxiously by the
phone.
Deaths
George Robert
“Archie” Archambeault
Karen Johnson Freligh
John Barber Kelley Jr.
Richard Marion
Phillips
Robert Cecil Staples
McCoy finally got no word from her loved
through, the tornado had ones and cable out in
turned away from her most of the city, McClain
home and she is fine. turned to Facebook.
Another 36 hours would “As I began to get calls
pass before all her family from family members, I
was accounted for. would put what they said
With phone lines down, on Facebook.
Contributed photo
With hundreds of her relatives living in Joplin, Cindy McClain
posts information on Facebook, the source of communication
between her loved ones after the tornado struck on May 22.
McClain became the
information arm for her
relatives.
“I spent the whole
night watching the news
and putting things on
Facebook,” McClain said.
“Some of my cousins were
missing; it was just over-
whelming to cope with it
all.”
McClain says she broke
down numerous times
but, through the help
of her boyfriend, Chivo
Martinez, she got through
the night.
“He helped me to deal
with everything,” she
said.
Relatives living just a
few miles from one anoth-
er had no clue who had
come out of the storm
alive. Any family member
with a “smart” cell phone
could access the Internet
and obtain updates from
McClain.
Information was passed
along — Aunt Patty
Seward took refuge in
the bathroom, the only
thing left standing; a
first cousin and several
cousin’s kids all lost their
homes; cousin Pamela
Zimmerman is wading stems, trucks are on their
in river water and mud sides, the electricity is
up to her ankles; every- out,” Zimmerman said,
body is alive but nobody “I don’t know what we
is unscathed. would do without Cindy.”
“The trees look like (See Facebook, 3A)
IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
All graduations are Friday, June 3.
A-THS: 8 p.m. in the high school gym
RHS: 7 p.m. in the RHS auditorium
WHS: 7:30 p.m. in Eagle Stadium
Index
Briefs
Classifieds Page 7 A
Community Page 3 A
Church Page 6 A
Obits Page 2A
Sports Page 13 A
Bake sale
A bake sale will
be conducted for the
Bobcat Alumni team on
Saturday, June 4, at 9
a.m. in front of O’Reilly’s.
Proceeds go towards the
team.
101 anniversary
The New Light Baptist
Church will celebrate its
101st church anniver-
sary on Sunday, June
5, at 3 p.m. with guest
preacher Pastor Samuel
J. Sutton and mem-
bers of Mount Pilgrim
Baptist Church.
Master of Ceremony of
praise and worship will
be Pastor Karl G. Combs
and the St. Luke Baptist
Church members.
Everyone is invited.
Board meeting
The Refugio County
Child Welfare Board will
meet on Monday, June
6, at 6:15 p.m. at the
First United Methodist
Church, Fellowship Hall
in Refugio.
The public is invited.
Public hearing
The Refugio County
Joint Airport Zoning
Board will conduct a
public hearing on the
proposed airport zoning
policy on Tuesday, June
7, at 7 p.m. in the dis-
trict court chambers at
the county courthouse.
County residents are
encouraged to attend.
4th meeting
The 4th of July com-
mittee will meet on
Wednesday, June 8, at
6:30 p.m. in the Refugio
Council Chamber at City
Hall. The public is invit-
ed to attend. More ideas
and more new help is
requested.
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Nelson, Kenda. Refugio County Press (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 51, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 2, 2011, newspaper, June 2, 2011; Refugio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth740066/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dennis M. O’Connor Public Library.