The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 22, 1988 Page: 1 of 18
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Montague County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Friends of the Nocona Public Library.
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EXP• 06/8^
ARLN-6006 7278
AW MICRO PUB. *3UU
2201 brookhollow plz
ARLINGTON; TX
76006
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Merry Christmas
^Nncnnu News
Thursday, December 22,1988
Volume 83, No. 29
Thirty-five Cents
Two Sections, Eighteen Pages
Photo by Tracy Mesler
Holiday Progam
Nocona Elementary School students entertained their family and friends Monday night an hour long season
program presented at The Carpenter's Shop.
It wasn't Santa Clause
knocking on the door!
Two burglary suspects fled when
the victims turned out to be at home
Friday night rather than away.
As a result, Sheriffs deputies now
have a description of the vehicle in-
volved and a possible break into a
string of burglaries at Oak Shores on
Lake Nocona.
Shortly before 9 p.m., Delbert
Firestone went to the front door to
answer a knock only to find two men
dressed in camaflouge and wearing
masks demanding to be let inside.
Rather than complying, Firestone
called for his wife to call the police and
bring him his gun as the two fled from
the scene.
Sheriffs deputies later spotted a
mid-70* s vintage sedan matching the
description the Firestones gave but
were unable to stop the car despite a
pursuit.
“They weren’t close enough for
anything,” said Chief Dep. Jim Grant
In the preceding week, four differ-
ent residences at the lakeside subdivi-
sion had been burglarized.
On Dec. 10, Rebecca Walker re-
porter the loss of four standard guitars.
Five days later two burglaries were
reported to deputies. Jim Nelson re-
ported the loss of two VCRs, two tele-
visions, a record player and speaker;
and S.R. Mitchell reported the loss of
a 12 gauge shotgun and some shells.
On Dec. 16, J.G. Lovetie of Wic-
hita Falls reported the loss of radios,
televisions and other electronic items
from his lake cabin.
“So we have a problem up there
right now,” Grant noted. “So we’re
going to try and solve that little prob-
lem some how.”
Deputies worked a burglary Mon-
day at Frontier Shores on Lake Amon
G. Carter. E.L. Johnson reported to
loss of a television and a microwave as
the string of thefts struck on the south
side of the county.
Jury hands out sentence
HENRIETTA — A jury of Clay
County residents assessed the maxi-
mum punishment allowable to Onie
Wayne Grooms, 68, of Nocona for the
Aug. 3 death of a 4-year-old Nocona
youth.
The jury took 45 minutes to find
Grooms guilty of involuntary man-
slaughter.
The largest financial institution in
Montague County hopes to have its
Nocona branch opened by February,
according to Joe Probst, president of
First National Bank of Bowie.
FNB-B received approval to estab-
lish a branch bank in Nocona from the
Dallas office of the Comptroller of the
currency. The notification was re-
ceived by telephone on Dec. 20, ac-
cording to Probst
“We are excited about offering on-
site banking service to Nocona,” said
Probst “We have been anxious to hear
if our application filed in October was
approved. Today we received official
notice. Nocona has been a part of our
trade area for years. We look forward
Dist Atty. Jack McGaughey put
witnesses on the stand who testified
that Grooms backed his car out of a
parking area, across a driveway and
inside the side of the home and 504
Baylor St., where Diaz and Paula
Galicia resided.
The car smashed through the wall,
pinning 4-year-old Emmanuel Diaz
to serving the people and the commu-
nity with enthusiasm."
Phil Staley, formerly vice-president
of Fanners & Merchants National Bank
of Nocona, will head the Nocona
branch of FNB-B, which will be lo-
cated at 604 East U.S. Hwy. 82 in the
old Georgia’s Restaurant building.
According to Probst, the branch
will be opened after remodeling and
installation of bank fixtures and equip-
ment. That is expected to be com-
pleted by February 1989, according to
the bank.
FNB-B is the largest financial in-
stitution in Montague County with total
assets in excess of $100 million.
Galicia beneath the bumper and drag-
ging him through the wall when the car
pulled forward.
The trial was moved to Clay County
on a change of venue granted by 97th
District Court J udge after both defense
attorney Stuart Shelton of Bowie and
McGaughey, of Nocona, filed motions
for a change of venue.
Judge Douthitt cited pretrial pub-
licity — consisting of a letter to the
editor in The Nocona News and one
front page story in The Bowie News
— as making it difficult to find an
impartial jury panel to hear the case.
Grooms was sentenced to 10 years
in the Texas Department of Correc-
tions and assessed a $5,000 fine—the
maximum punishment allowed.
Judge Douthitt noted that state law
does not allow for the filing of a poten-
tially harsher punishment in such cases.
In pre-trial motions. Judge Douthitt
granted Shelton’s motion to suppress
the evidence of a breathalyzer, which
showed Groom’s blood alcohol con-
tent to be 0.29% — almost triple the
level of presumed intoxication, 0.10%.
Shelton argued “defendant did not
give any consent, implied or other-
wise, to the taking of any substance,
test or the making of any video or
audio recording, because at all times
he was not operating a motor vehicle
Please See "Jury" Page 9
Branch bank receives
OK to open February
—It's official!—
Commission approves Bridge
AUSTIN — With the unanimous
approval of the Texas Highway Com-
mission, construction of a bridge over
the Red River at Courtney, Okla., now
rests on the shoulders, and pocket-
books, of the Oklahoma Department
of Transportation and the Oklahoma
Highway Commissioner for the south-
western portion of the state.
Tuesday the Texas Highway Com-
mission unanimously approved fund-
ing of a $4.9 million bridge, state Rep.
Charles Finnell announced.
“That’s one step forward,” com-
mented J.D. Henry, planning director
for the Oklahoma Department of
Transportation.
The next step will be the ODOT
staff presenting the project to the
Oklahoma Highway Commission for
approval.
After that, the financing of
Oklahoma’s $2,355 million share of
the project will be the last major hurdle
to construction, he warned.
Finnell said the bridge will provide
a vital artery that will help stimulate
the economy of Montague County and
surrounding areas.
“I especially want to thank all the
concerned citizens of Montague
County who contributed their valu-
able time and energy to getting state
approval of this worthwhile project,”
Finnell said.
More than 250 concerned residents
of Montague and Cooke Counties
packed the Highway Commission’s
hearing room in January beseeching
the state to not only construct a bridge
across the Red River between existing
bridges at Gainesville and Ringgold
— but to construct a bridge and/or
connecting roadways that would serve
the needs of both counties.
Hilton Hagen of the Texas DHPT
said it will take about two years to
complete a design for the bridge and
secure construction bids. Half of the
$4.9 million cost of the structure will
be funded by the highway department,
the said, and the remainder by the state
of Oklahoma.
The bridge, which will link north-
ern Montague County with the area
south of Courtney, Okla., will be the
first to span the 50 mile section of the
Red River since the previous bridge
was destroyed in 1950.
The Texas Highway Commission
also approved $9.8 million of associ-
ated Farm to Market roads on the Texas
side, acquisition of right-of-way, and
also made a pledge to provide right-
of-way and utility adjustments for new
roads to serve the crossing.
Included in the $9.8 million in road
construction is the construction of a
new Farm to Market Road between
the ends of FM677 at Illinois Bend and
FM 2953 northcast of Lake Nocona,
the extension of FM 103 southward
out of Spanish Fort to the end of FM
2953 and the construction of a new
roadway between FM 677 and FM
373 at Bulcher.
The latter two additions will pro-
vide all-weather access to residents of
Valley View, Spanish Fort and the
Montague North Field to the bridge
site as well as access for residents of
Bulcher and Muenster.
“I think everything will go,” pre-
dicted Oklahoma StRep. Bill Smith
of Ringling. Smith is the vice-chair-
man of the House Transportation
Committee in Oklahoma City. “1
haven’t heard any complaint at all.”
“I don’t think we’re going to have
any problem with (funding) it,” he
said, noting that the project not only
benefits his district, with includes
Jefferson County, Okla., but also
benefits Love Co., Oklahoma, which
is a separate House and Highway
Commission District — doubling the
areas benefiting from the project.
“Probably the next step will be to
present a similar item to our own trans-
portation commission and see if wc
can get approval on this end,” Henry
projected. He did not foresee any
problems in getting the project ap-
proved.
“Probably what we’ll do is if the
Texas Commission approved it today,
probably try and get it as agenda item
for our January Commission meeting,
if we have time.”
Following approval by the Okla-
homa Highway Commission, the
environmental impact study will have
to be completed “which is already
underway,” contraction plans will have
to be completed (by the Texas High-
way Department’s Bridge Division)
and then bids solicited, opened and
awarded.
“The problem is going to be the
availability of funds,” Henry conceded.
“We’ve still got to come up with the
funds.”
As far as Oklahoma is concerned,
the project will compete “with other
critical highways of his in the stale.”
Funds in Oklahoma are al located to
the eight highway commissioner dis-
tricts on the basis of “percentage of
inadequate highway miles” — each
district’s percentage of the total num-
ber of “inadequate highway miles” or
roads in the state.
Then it will be up to the individual
Highway Comm. Sam Vcazy of
Ardmore, to allot the funds within his
district on a priority basis, Henry said.
The western boundary of Vcazy’s
district is the Love-Jefferson County
line, approximately three miles west
of the bridge site, which is due south of
Courtney, Okla.
Smith said he would renew efforts
to help the project along in Oklahoma
City — noting the bridge site would
benefit not only Ringling in his dis-
trict, but Ardmore, Wilson and
Healdton in the adjoining district to
tlie cast.
Photo by Tracy Mesler
Line Repairs
A string of major water main beaks on the south side of Nocona left city crews scramlbing last week having to
uncover the lines, places clamps around the breaks and move on to the next break before they could return water
service to that end of town.
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Mesler, Tracy R. & Mesler, Linda L. The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 22, 1988, newspaper, December 22, 1988; Nocona, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1209608/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Friends of the Nocona Public Library.