East Bernard Express (East Bernard, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2012 Page: 1 of 10
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East Bernard
Thursday,
August 23,2012
Volume 69, No. 34
10 Pages
75 cents
Today is the 237th day of the year,
with 129 days remaining.
INSIDE
Football luncheon
planned today
PAGE 7
Equipment OK'ed for EBVFD
By KEITH MAGEE
kmagee@journal-spectator.com
The East Bernard City Council on
Monday approved $16,500 in funding
for the East Bernard Volunteer Fire
Dept, for the next two years.
The funds will be used to purchase
rescue equipment for the city, fire de-
partment Capt. Doug Hancock told
council members during a presenta-
tion.
The two pieces of equipment the
fire department plans to purchase in-
clude:
• A lift bag set ($7,040) will replace
a set purchased in 1989. The set in-
cludes five bags with a total lift capac-
ity of 92.6 tons. The bags can be used
for various types of rescues, including
motor vehicle incidents, structure col-
lapses and heaving lifting.
• Set of rescue struts ($9,430)
would be new equipment for the de-
partment. The strut system allows for
safer, better, quicker and more stable
vehicle stabilization than the depart-
ment’s current use of wooden and
plastic cribbing.
“It would be a nice complement to
our resque equipment,” Hancock said.
The council’s last contract with the
fire department was approved two
years ago and was for $15,000 ($7,500
per year). It expired Sept. 30, 2011.
The contract approved Monday will
also be for two years and will expire
Sept. 30, 2013.
“The purchase of the two systems
will augment and upgrade our cur-
rent complement of rescue equipment
to better serve the citizens and visitors
of East Bernard in their time of crisis,”
Hancock wrote in a letter requesting
the funding.
Also appearing before the council
with Hancock was Fire Chief Randy
Kresta.
In other business, council members
approved moving forward with the bid
See EQUIPMENT, Page 2
Annual Soap Bowl this
Friday at 5 p.m.
PAGE 6
Classified......................8
Editorial..........................4
Living................................5
Puzzle...............................8
Sports...............................7
Worship Directory......6
TODAY’S
FORECAST
Today a 20 percent
chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Mostly
sunny, with a high near
93. Northeast wind 5
to 10 mph. Tonight a
20 percent chance of
showers and thunder-
storms after 1 a.m.
Partly cloudy, with a
low around 76. South-
east wind 5 to 10 mph
becoming light after
midnight.
Friday a 20 percent
chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Partly
sunny, with a high near
93. Light east wind be-
coming south 5 to 10
mph in the afternoon.
Friday night a 20 per-
cent chance of show-
ers and thunderstorms
before 10 p.m. Mostly
cloudy, with a low
around 76.
FROM
THE BIBLE
Taste and see that
the Lord is good. Oh,
the joys of those who
trust in him!
Psalm 34:8
GOT NEWS?
For items of interest, from
wedding engagements to
community events, contact
532-0095 or
news@journal-spectator.com
You also can drop off items
at our office at 115 W. Burle-
son St., Wharton, TX 77488.
Photo by EBISD photojournalism
EBISD band director Kenneth Thurman, left, gets a warm welcome from Flippen Group motivational speaker Dalbert Galloway, who
shared the message "Capturing Kids' Hearts" during this week's in-service.
Getting Ready For School
Classes start
Monday for
EBISD students
By BENJAMIN SHARP
bsharp@journal-spectator.com
From a portable iPad lab to a cur-
riculum management system to a fresh
corps of energetic teachers, East Ber-
nard ISD is gearing up for an exciting
and successful school year.
Superintendent Ross Aschenbeck
said everything’s on line to help the
district’s students achieve their highest
potential when they return to classes on
Monday morning.
“We are very fortunate here at EBI-
SD to have great teachers and tremen-
dous kids,” he said. “I emphasize the
importance of being surrounded by good
people and we have, in my opinion, the
best staff in the state.”
East Bernard has experienced a little
staff “shuffling” this year, with three in-
structors moving to new positions. That
includes Mark Kirkscey, who will teach
eighth grade science; Susan Koenig,
who will teach fourth grade writing; and
Kenna Kirkscey, who will now take on
the challenge of first grade.
The district will also welcome 13 new
teachers. At the high school, there’s ge-
ometry teacher Sherry Kubena, math
instructor Erica Weden, math teach-
er Michele Grymes, science teacher
Nicholas Jones, history teacher James
Hawkins, band director Kenneth Thur-
man and instructional aide Emily Aki.
New junior high teachers include Lau-
ren Sharp, fifth and seventh grade
reading and fifth grade social studies;
Christine Uribe, who will teach special
education; and Sarah Reimund, the as-
sistant band director.
See CLASSES, Page 10
County
moves
on two
projects
By KEITH MAGEE
kmagee@journal-spectator.com
Wharton County commis-
ioners are moving forward on
a couple of projects to spruce
up two county facilities in
Wharton.
Last week, commissioners
approved a $1,500 contract
with architect Ken Shanks &
Associates for services regard-
ing repairs of the facade on the
District Court building.
Commissioners also accept-
ed a bid from BLS of $59,800
for the facade renovation proj-
ect on the courthouse Annex B
and Annex D on Milam Street.
The county will advertise
for bids on the District Court
Building project and open bids
on Sept. 20.
They will be presented to
commissioners during the
Sept. 24 meeting.
The project includes remov-
ing the plaster and signs, as
well as the electric panels. A
generator will be provided by
Precinct 2 during the work.
“They will put the panels
back on once the stucco work
has been completed,” Shanks
said. “They will replace the
fabric on the canopies.”
The county had budgeted
$50,000 for the other project,
but commissioners will make
up the difference from the
fund balance.
In other business during
the Aug. 13 meeting, commis-
sioners received a good report
from Paula Lowe on the 2011
Comprehensive Financial Re-
port. Lowe gave an unquali-
fied, or clean opinion, which is
the highest the county could
receive.
City's sales tax collections down slightly
Local sales tax allocations: August 2012
County
Rate Aug. 2012
Aug. 2011
Difference
2012 to date
2011 to date
Difference
Wharton
0.50% $212,109.81
$209,455.55
+1.26%
$1,808,344.69
$1,471,646.13
+22.87%
City
Rate Aug. 2012
Aug. 2011
Difference
2012 to date
2011 to date
Difference
East Bernard
1.25% $22,502.84
$22,526.32
-0.10%
$164,100.20
$163,903.95
+0.11%
El Campo
1.50% $283,409.80
$287,207.21
-1.32%
$2,286,238.13
$1,893,681.88
+20.72%
Wharton
1.50% $185,677.50
$180,328.89
+2.96%
$1,467,377.29
$1,241,073.98
+18.76%
Source: State comptroller's office
By KEITH MAGEE
kmagee@journal-spectator.com
Sales tax collections in
Wharton and Wharton Coun-
ty were up in August, accord-
ing to figures released by the
State Comptroller’s office.
The two other incororated
cities — East Bernard and
El Campo — were down this
month.
Revenue was up for the
county for the ninth month in
a row, while the city’s revenue
was still up despite snapping
a five-month string of double-
digit increases.
In the city of Wharton,
$185,677.50 was collected, a
2.96 percent increase from
the $180,328.89 that was re-
ceived in August 2011. Year to
date, the city’s collections are
up 18.23 percent.
In East Bernard, the rev-
enue report has flip-flopped
quite a bit this year. After
having several months of fall-
ing revenue earlier this year,
the city had increased rev-
enue for two months in a row
before falling this month.
East Bernard collected
$22,502.84, a small. 10 percent
decrease from the $22,526.32
received last August. East
Bernard’s collections for the
year remain about the same
as last year, with a small .11
percent increase.
Wharton County received
$212,109.81 in August, which
was 1.26 percent higher than
the $209,455.55 collected a
year ago.
So far this year, the coun-
ty’s collections have increased
22.87 percent over the same
period last year.
Around the state, sales tax
revenue this month was $2.05
billion, up 10.1 percent com-
pared to July 2011.
“Business spending in the
oil and natural gas industry
and other sectors continues to
be robust,” State Comptroller
Susan Combs said.
“That spending, along with
increases in consumer sectors
such as retail trade, continues
to boost sales tax collections,”
Combes added.
State sales tax revenue has
now increased for 28 consecu-
tive months, Combs added.
Combs sent August sales
tax allocations totaling $632.1
million to cities, counties,
transit systems and special
purpose taxing districts, up
4.2 percent compared to Au-
gust 2011.
The sales tax figures rep-
resent monthly sales that
occurred in June, as well as
April, May and June sales
by businesses that report tax
quarterly.
• For details of August
sales tax payments to indi-
vidual cities, counties, transit
systems and special purpose
districts, locate the monthly
sales tax allocation compari-
sion summary reports on the
Comptroller’s website at www.
window, state, tx.us / taxinfo /
allocsum / compsum.html.
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Wallace, Bill. East Bernard Express (East Bernard, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2012, newspaper, August 23, 2012; East Bernard, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787407/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wharton County Library.