The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 14, 1998 Page: 2 of 16
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PACE 2-A
The Albany News
Thursday, May 14,1998
Bus barn fire being investigated as arson
The costly fire that destroyed
the 63-year-old Albany bus barn
two weeks ago is now being in-
vestigated as arson and local
law enforcement officials are
seeking the public's help to solve
the case.
The blaze broke out about
11:00 p.m. on April 28, and
spread quickly through the
building that housed four buses
and the school car. All the Ve-
hicles were a total loss.
District Attorney Gary Brown
stated Tuesday that the fire was
officially being investigated as a
case pf arson and he has had
rasters printed stating that a
1,000 reward is being offered
for information that leads to the
arrest of the person or persons
responsible for the blaze.
Drown said that he did not
have any suspects in the case
yet and is seeking the public's
help.
The charred stone walls of
the building have been knocked
down as a matter of safety. Fire
officials removed the five burned
vehicles and sifted through the
ashes for clues in the case prior
to the walls being razed.
Albany Fire Marshall Lynn
Wilkins said that he was noti-
fied by State Fire Marshall Don
Turk of Anson that no acciden-
tal cause for the fire was found.
"When you examine a fire
scene and don't find an acciden-
tal cause the investigation be-
comes an case of arson," said
Wilkins.
Fire investigators declined to
comment about specifics in the
case, but Wilkins did add that
the point of origin of the fire has
been determined.
Wilkins stated that local citi^
zens who may have information
about the case should call Na-
tional Insurance Crime Bureau
hotline at (800) 835-6422 to be
eligible for the $1,000 reward.
"People can call the local
Crime Stoppers number with
information, but we will not be
able to offer the $1,000 reward,"
said Wilkins. "I am sure that
Crime Stoppers will also pay for
any information in this case, just
not as much."
The local Crime Stoppers
number is 762-3767.
Supt. John Trice stated that
the district through the District
Attorney's office will seek to have
the case prosecuted to the full
extent of the law.
District Recovering
The blaze destroyed 40 per-
cent of the school's fleet of buses
and the Driver's Education car,
which has left Trice and other
school officials scrambling to
take care of the district's trans-
portation needs.
A car was leased so that
Driver's Hid classes can continue
and so far three buses have been
purchased.
Trice bought a 15-year-old
International at a used bus sale
at Region 14 the weekend fol:
lowing the fire, and two new 35-
passenger buses have been de-
livered pending school board
approval on Monday night.
Trice stated that he will prob-
ably look for one more used bus
at a couple of sales coming up
this month.
"We found a company in Hous-
ton that had a couple of new
buseB ready to go and the educa-
tion code allows a district to
make purchases without going
through the bidding process in
cases of emergency.
The new buses will cost the
district $38,500 each.
Two ofthe five vehicles, along
with the building, were covered
by fire insurance. However, the
school carried only liability in-
surance on the three older buses
that were destroyed.
Trice estimated the loss to
the school at $100,000, with re-
placement costs running as
much as $200,000.
The superintendent also
stated that he was working with
the architect and contractor in
charge of adding a new wing to
the grade school for a design and
cost estimates for a new bus
barn. He stated that he would
recommend to the board that
the facility be built at the high
school campus.
The structure that burned
was across the alley from the
First Baptist Church and across
the street from the Robert Nail
Memorial Stadium. The high
school was originally located on
the same hill top, and the bus
barn was not moved when a new
high school was constructed in
1960.
I Appreciate Your Vote
And for your voting, no matter who you voted for. I shall
represent you on the City Council to the best of my ability. My
objective shall be to provide good services to everyone while
getting our money's worth for every tax dollar we spend.
I believe that councilpersons should make policy, not
become involved in operations. That is the responsibility of
city employees. If you have comments about or recommen-
dations for changes in policy, please let me know.
Most sincerely,
Ed Tackett
SCUCUaha
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fauder elect <*£
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Sfom* —fiftc 13, t99%
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Albany Mows
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Albany ISD employee jack Crook looks over one of two new 35-passenger buses purchased
to replace those destroyed in the bus barn fire two weeks ago. The district has also bought a
used vehicle and is looking for another. (Staff Photo)
■ CHAMBER NOTES
Citizens help at weekend event
WETURN
MONEY
ON HAND
IN HAND
See us for your financial needs
HOME AUTO
LOANS LOANS
HOME IMPROVEMENT LOANS
FIRST
NATIONAL
BANK
Albany/Breckenndge
Ml MBFK fDIC
By Lisa Sanders
Chamber of Commerce
Executive Director
• Western Heritage Events Suc-
cessful
The Fort Griffin Fandangle
participated in the annual West-
ern Heritage Classic Parade last
Thursday evening and the cal-
lippe brought home a first place
plaque in its division. The cal-
liope was accompanied by the
Six Flags that have flown over
Texas, and of course, escorted
by the American flag and the
Fandangle flag. This was quite
an impressive entry, if we do
say so ourselves! Many thanks
to all who gave of their time and
energy — there couldn't be bet-
ter publicity for our 60th Anni-
versary year
• "Howdy Neighbor"
On Saturday, the Albany
Chamber of Commerce partici-
pated in the "Howdy Neighbor"
exhibit sponsored by the Texas
Midwest Community Net work.
This was also held at the West-
ern Heritage Classic and gave
us the opportunity to meet and
greet! Thanks' again to all who
made these events possible. It
takes many hours and lots of
hard work to make these events
worthwhile.
• Fandangle Practices
Fandangle practices are up
and running - be sure to go to
practice. You might miss some-
thing if you're not there!
• "Packaging Your Community"
The Texas Department of
Economic Development is spon-
soring another workshop as part
of the summer mini-series. The
workshop is entitled "Packag-
ing Your Community" and is
conducted by tour operators.
This gives us the chance to hear
what they are looking for when
selecting a community andh<V|)v
to beBt cater to their needs. Arty-
one interested, please call the
Chamber office.
• Grand Openings
Nothing is more exciting than
grand openings and we have
two to celebrate this weekend.
Join the Chamber on Friday af-
ter lunch for a ribbon cutting at
Dress the West (old Ranch Rags
building) and welcome Lisa
Flowers and Stephanie Bran
don as new Chamber members.
They will be hosting their offi-
cial grand opening on Saturday,
and have many festivities..'
planned. Be sure to stop by ana
introduce yourself.
The next grand opening of
the weekend needs no introduc-
tion, but a hearty congratula-
tions is in order to Mr. and Mrs;
Gene Thompson and Robert an(|
Jeanie Echols as they celebratfe'
the opening of the Baird Motor
Inn. We have several Fandangle
tours booked into the Rairq
motel and feel this will give
much needed additional lod^'
ing for Albany. Stop by Baird
and see the results of much hard
wmk. ■
• Cflumber Luncheon * 1
Once again, the Albany
Chamber of Commerce meets
for lunch on Friday at Fort Grif-
fin General Merchandise. Th'e
meeting is at noon and everyonb
is invited to attend. ThiB week,
K.C. Jones will be giving a pro-
gram on deer sheds. This should
be of great interest to everyone.
See you at lunch Friday.
set this week
Anyone who wants to be in
volved in the 60th anniversary
performances of the Fort Grif-
ii n Fandangle should attend this
week's general rehearsal begin-
ning at 8:00 p.m. Thursday night
at the Prairie Theater.
According to Fandangle di-
rector Betsy Parsons, it is criti-
cal to begin coming to practices
immediately.
"I t isn't very long before open-
ing night, and we have a lot of
plans to get ready for the 60th
anniversary," she cortimented.
The theme of the 1998 anni-
versary production will be "Vin-.
tage Fandangle." Many old fa-
vorites will be performed for the
crowds, as well as "pulling out
all the stops" on Special effects.
Production numbers for the
entire cast will be held weekly
on Thursday nights, with other
scenes and songs rehearsed dur-
ing the week.
Square dancers from four
years of age through seventh
grade are asked to meet at the
theater at 8:00 p.m. on Wednes-
day nights, with Huppi Hi prac-
■ SCHOOL HOLIDAY
tice for teenagers following at
9:00 p.m.
For more information about
the Fandangle or to order tick-
ets, call the office at 762-38118 or
762-2525.
No classes planned Friday
Students, faculty and staff of
the Albany schools will take
their final official holiday of the
1997-98 school year this Friday,
May 15.
The date coincides with the
state track meet in Austin,
which a number of local resi-
dents normally attend.
May 15 was originally
planned as a "bad weather day,"
but since it was not necessary to
use it. earlier in the year, it will
he utilized this week as a holi-
day.
In addition, classes will dis-
miss early on Thursday, May
14, with both campuses finish-
ing at 12:60 p.m.
The school year will end on
Thursday, May 28 with an early
dismissal time of 12:50 p.m.
Attention
Current & Future
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Social Security checks through direct deposit.
The Edward Jones Full Service Account may be just the place for
you to receive your Social Security checks. This account offers
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< .ill or slop by toddy
for more information
I r> I i W«il Walker
Bret kenrldue, TX 76424
254-55,'-332l>
1 (100 441 4096
www.edwardjones.com
MumMSII'l
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 14, 1998, newspaper, May 14, 1998; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth414047/m1/2/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.