The Wylie News (Wylie, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 30, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 23, 1998 Page: 1 of 32
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MERRY CHRISTMAS! SPECIAL HOLIDAY GREETING SECTION INSIDE!
THE WYLIE NEWS
Volume 52: Issue 30
Covering Wylie, Sachse, Murphy and the surrounding area
Wylie, Texas Wednesday, December 23,1998
50 Cents
Highlights
County amends KCS agreement
City tables ratification of railroad deal
LEND YOUR EAR THIS WAY—Santa Claus came to Sachse
Saturday for the annual Kids Christmas party sponsored by
the newly organized Wives of the Sachse City Council. The
children brought canned goods which will be distributed to
needy families. Photo hy Hatty Montaytnv
Nigerian business deal
a scam, officials advise
✓ Area briefs Page 2A
✓ Tree recycling
schedule Page 2A
✓ Carona has bypass
Page 3A
✓ Banjo Man comes to
Sachse Page 10A
✓ Pirates win 2 PageIB
y AMMEKMAN NAMED
All District Page IB
✓ Power Points Page 4B
^ Holiday Greetings
Page 1C
Achievements
National Who’s Who
selects Pritchard
Roy E. Pritchard of Wylie
has been named to The
National Register’s Who’s
Who in Executive and Pro-
fessionals 1999-2000 edition.
Pritchard is the founder and
president of Reatta Resources
Inc., an independent oil and
gas exploration company.
Notices
Fund established
for Thomasson
An investment trust fund
has been established for Tana
Thomasson at American
National Bank, 301 S Hwy.
78. Thomasson, a senior at
Wylie High School, was
recently diagnosed with
Rhabdomyosarcoma, a form
of cancer.
For more information con-
tact the bank at (972) 442-
6565 or Ovetta Vardell at
(972) 442.1502.
Holiday closings
The cities of Murphy,
Sachse and Wylie will be
closed Thursday and Friday
in observance of Christmas.
All U.S. Post Offices and
area banks will be closed Fri-
day.
The Wylie News will be
• closed Friday and will close
^ at noon Thursday.
Deadline for classified wil
remain noon Monday. Edito-
rial and display advertising
deadlines will be noon
Stressing
According to the Journal of
Psychosomatic Research,
some of the major causes of
stress are:
Death of a spouse
Divorce
Personal injury or loss
Losing a job
Pregnancy
Mortgage over $100,000
Outstanding achievement
TYouble at work
Work condition changes
Christmas
In This Issue
Obituaries .........4A
Births.............5A
Dining Guide.......8A
Opinion...........9A
Sports............. IB
Classifieds......... 6B
By Donnita Nesbit Fisher
During their meeting Monday,
Collin County Commissioners
approved an agreement with the
Kansas City Southern Railroad
regarding the KCS plan to build a
rail classification yard in northeast
Wylie but made amendements to
the deal that forced the Wylie City
Council to delay its approval of the
project.
The Council was expected to
ratify the contract at a special
called meeting Monday night hut
instead tabled the matter..
County commissioners amended
the agreement to establish a mone-
tary cap for the cost of rerouting
Skyview Drive and asked for input
into the construction plans for the
road before the contract is lei said
By Donnita Nesbit Fisher
One week after two separate
fires damaged buildings in down-
town, businesses arc still assessing
damages and trying to determine
how best to protect the historic
area.
Ballard Street Cafe owner Gary
Bowland appeared before the city
council to ask them to consider
making downtown a historic dis-
trict.
Heirloom Candle Factory owner
Rollie Tesh, local bankers and
property owner Bob Heath met
with the Wylie Economic Devel-
opment corporation and Wylie Fire
Chief Shan English addressed
members of the Wylie Downtown
Merchants Association.
"We’re going to help in any way
we can, but it is difficult to make
promises when you don't know
what’s needed,” said Provident
Bank President Ray Turner “We
will do whatever is reasonable and
whatever we can."
“We are still in a state of devas-
tation,” Tesh said “We weren't
able to salvage anything and we'll
have to start over from scratch. It
seems like a monumental task hut
we want to build it hack We can
have materials to be hack in busi-
ness within three weeks and we
plan to do so."
Tesh said he has a tentative
agreement with properly owner
Mike Tibbals to purchase the land
Both Tesh and T ibbals were unin-
sured
“Lots of people have offered
their services for free labor-wise.
We don’t know what the cost to
rebuild will be, hut with donated
Wylie City Manager Mike Collins
"The information was not faxed
to the railroad until late in the after-
noon and the railroad's attorney
felt they did not have the authority
to approve the amendments,”
Collins said.
‘There has been a slight change
in the agreement with the railroad
hut we expect to hear hack in 48
hours,” said Mayor John Mondv.
“This is not a show stopper"
In the arrangement, the eity and
county "agree to the construction
and commencement of operation of
the classification yard and that they
will take no action to prevent it,”
according to information provided
by the city. In exchange, the rail-
road will remove the tracks that
parallel Hwy. 78 from I'M 544 to
Eubanks and dedicate the right-of-
labor it won't he as bad as it could
be. We want to put (the building)
back to the original kxik,” he said
Bowland asked council members
to consider ordinances to preserve
the historic look of downtown
“The way the code stands now
there is nothing to stop an owner
from putting a modern face" on
their building, he said.
The candle factory, 121 N. Bill-
iard, was completely destroyed by
the bla/e dial begun about 11:30
p.m. Dec. 9.
Other businesses damaged in the
By Chad F.ngbrnck
The devastating fires that
scorched several businesses in
downtown Wylie Dee 9 and 10
have touched off mandatory fire
inspections for all business along
Ballard Ave.
In a meeting last Thursday
night, Fire Chief Shan English
recapped the cause and extent of
the damage of two separate, unre-
lated electrical tires which dam-
aged eight businesses.
Mayor John Mondy, mayor pro
tem J.C. Worley and City Manag-
er Mike Collins also attended the
meeting.
Addressing about 35 members
of the Wylie Downtown Mer-
chants Association, English said
that both fires were confirmed to
have started due to electrical
shorts.
way to the county.
In a prepared statement to be
sent to all Wylie residents when the
agreement is finalized, Mondy said
the agreement “results in do inter-
modal system, the dedication of the
right-of-way for the future widen-
ing of State Highway 78, the clo-
sure of 15 rail crossings and a sig-
nificant reduction in train whistle
blowing, the relocation and
redesign of the EM 544/Hwy. 78
intersection and rail crossing, the
ability to realize the maximum ben-
efits of S10.5 million in improve-
ments to our thoroughlare system
and the development of a 15-track
classification yard which, at build
out, will be approximately 18-20
feet below grade ”
KCS will begin utilizing the Cot-
See TERMS Page 3A
first fire include Hampton Cleaners
, 119 N. Ballard, and Wylie Flower
and Gifts. 129 N. Ballard.
Hampton sustained severe
smoke and water damage and the
common wall between the two
business collapsed. Hampton’s has
temporarily set up shop across the
street in a comer of Wylie Printing
and Office Supply, 130 N. Ballard.
Wylie Flower and Gift had
smoke and water damage and lost
much of its inventory of artificial
(lowers and paper products but is
Sw~MERCHANTS ~Page 2A
The first fire, which was
reporied at 11:28 p.m. Dec. 9,
began in the hack attic of Heir-
loom Candle Factory located at
121 N. Ballard Ave.
The second fire was reporied
at 10:12 a.m. Dec. 10. According
to English, an electrical short
happened at 104 N. Ballard Ave..
one of the six buildings which
contained the LadyLike Ski
Shop
As a result ot the fires, and due
to the age ol many of the build-
ings along Ballard Ave.. each
building owner will be required
to complete a thorough electrical
inspection of their property.
“We do not want to cause any
undo hardship on building own-
ers," said English. “But the
inspections will he necessary to
help protect the downtown area
See INSPECTIONS Page 2A
By Donnita Nesbit Fisher
Several local businesses have
recently received letters from the
Nigerian National Petroleum Cor-
poration outlining a business pro-
posal and promising a S3.72 mil-
lion pay-off.
Local banking officials and fed-
eral government agencies say it’s a
scam and although most people
recognize it as such, some still play
the gamble hoping to beat the con-
artist at their own game.
“I know a woman who actually
went to Nigeria to investigate the
offer." said Gary Overby, president
of First National Bank of Sachse.
“She was given the ran around and
was lucky she got out alive."
Unless a person knows someone
in Nigeria, items with Nigerian
post marks should be suspect,
according to Secret Service Agent
John Jones. “It's a scam." he said.
"They get you to cooperate or give
them some information about your-
self and then they empty your bank
account"
It’s a con that surfaces every few
years, said Ray Turner, president
of Wylie’s Provident Bank “It’s
been around about 20 years," he
said.
Turner said he advises customers
to throw those letters away or send
them to the proper governmental
agency.
Marvin Fullet, president of
American National Bank of Wylie,
agrees. “We tell our customers to
ignore and throw away those letters
and never give anyone your bank
account number.” Fuller said.
The letters are often signed hy
different people, purporting them-
selves to be engineers. They start
out asking for the “strictest confi-
dence in this transaction, this is hy
virtue of it’s nature as being utterly
confidential and top secret as you
were introduced to us in confidence
through the Nigerian Chamber of
Commerce, foreign trade division."
Hie letter explains that the Nige-
rian Petroleum Corporation, Feder-
al Ministry of Finance and the
Presidency review past military
contracts and have discovered
"grossly over-invoiced" items by
die past governmental administra-
tion.
“The companies that executed
the contracts have been duly paid
and the contracts commissioned
leaving the sum of US S 12.4 mil-
lion floating in the escrow account
of the Central Bank of Nigeria
ready for payment," the letter
reads.
The letterwriter then says he has
been “mandated as a matter of trust
by my colleagues ...to look for an
overseas partner to who we could
transfer the sum of US 512 4M
legally subcontracting the entitle-
ment to your company "
After the funds have been trans-
ferred, the letterwriter promises to
See LETTERS Pagf M
AT THE SCENE—Firefighters and emergency is listed in serious but stable condition with
personnel worked for more than 30 minutes to multiple injuries at Methodist Medical Center
free 47-year-old Sandra Williams from her in Dallas. The driver of the other car was
vehicle. I he Wylie resident was injured in a attempting an Illegal pass according to police
near head-on collision Friday on FM 1.378. She reports. Photo />» IkmilmNmHiPkktr j
Downtown merchants work to clean
up, re-open after last week's blazes
Fire chief starts downtown
required wiring inspections
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Engbrock, Chad B. The Wylie News (Wylie, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 30, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 23, 1998, newspaper, December 23, 1998; Wylie, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth584361/m1/1/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Smith Public Library.