The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 30, 2014 Page: 1 of 10
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THINK BANKING. THINK LOCAL. THINK FIRST.
DAVID DAS PIT, MIKE WILSON
819 Rollingbrook * Baytown • (281)420-9660
WWW^TEXASFIRSTBANK COM
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_THURSDAY,JANUARY 30,2014_
WW Vol. 94, No. 22 © 2014 • Since 1922 ,
The Baytown Sun
.baytownsun.com
Crosby man charged in road-rage deaths
Mother, son, 2, killed in head-on collision on their way to church
THE BAYTOWN SUN
Emil McMahon, 32, of Crosby, has been
charged with two counts of intoxication
manslaughter in the death of Tania Verch-
er, 27, and her son, Alejandro Vercher, 2,
during a “road rage” incident in east Harris
County on Sept. 29.
Witnesses said McMahon was driving
his truck to overtake a car driven by his
wife, with whom he had argued earlier that
day. Their 1-year-old child was her passen-
ger.
According to crash reconstruction esti-
mates, McMahon’s truck was traveling at
approximately 72 miles per hour when it
crossed into oncoming traffic on FM 1942
near Garth Road, hitting a car carrying Ta-
nia Vercher and her son.
They died as a result of the crash follow-
ing the heroic effort of at least one bystand-
er to revive the child.
McMahon was treated for injuries at a
hospital, where he consented to his blood
being drawn for laboratory testing. The re-
sult showed he had been under the influence
of controlled substances when the crash
took place, according to court records.
Harris County Jail records show McMa-
hon is being held on four separate charges:
For each of the two victims, he is charged
with both manslaughter and intoxication
manslaughter with ve-
hicle. Bond was set at
$50,000 for each of the
charges.
The Verchers were on
their way to church at
Atascocita United Meth-
odist Church where Ta-
nia’s husband and Ale-
jandro’s father, Heath,
is director of music. The family lived in
Baytown.
MCMAHON
Troubled Waters
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Baytown Sun photo/Albert Villegas
Signs warning fishermen not to consume the fish found in the San Jacinto River line the bank near Market Street in Channelview.
Future of San Jac Waste Pits to be discussed tonight
EPA to host meeting in Highlands
for residents to ask questions
BY ELESKA AUBESPIN
eleska.aubespin@baytownsun.com
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency is hosting a
meeting tonight to discuss
the future of the San Jacinto
Waste Pits Superfund Site, a
toxic waste dump in the San
Jacinto River just west of
Highlands.
The meeting, from 6 to
8 p.m., is being held at the
Highlands Community Cen-
ter, 604 Highlands Woods
Drive. Residents will have
a chance to speak and ask
questions about how the toxic
waste should be cleaned up.
The San Jacinto Waste Pits
are located in an area on the
west bank of the river that
was used as a landfill site in
the 1960s and 1970s, receiv-
ing toxic waste from a paper
mill. The area later subsided,
resulting in the area being
submerged.
Pollutants, notably dioxin,
have leaked from the former
landfill into the river, causing
widespread contamination of
fish and crabs.
A temporary cap was built
over the site to stop addition-
al leakage while the EPA, the
Texas Commission on Envi-
ronmental Quality, and the
companies responsible for
the cleanup continues work
on finding a permanent solu-
tion.
Now a decision must be
made whether to leave the
waste there, capped on site,
or move it away from the riv-
er permanently.
A decision on how the area
will be permanently cleaned
up is expected later this
spring.
In addition to officials from
EPA, the meeting will also
have representatives from
TCEQ and Harris County,
which has taken an active
role in pushing for clean-
up. The county has lawsuits
pending against the responsi-
ble companies.
Neither the paper compa-
ny nor the landfill operator
that placed the material in
the pits still exist in the form
they did at the time. Through
acquisitions and mergers,
though, responsibility for
the cleanup is believed by
the government to belong to
International Paper Co. and
McGinnes Industrial Mainte-
nance Corp.
Baytown
gets a bit
shadier
ExxonMobil to plant
trees at Unidad Park
THE BAYTOWN SUN
Working alongside Mayor Ste-
phen DonCarlos and City of
Baytown employees, ExxonMobil
Baytown Olefins Plant employees
will donate their time and energy at
Unidad Park on Friday.
As part of ExxonMobil’s adopt-
a-park volunteer project, more than
150 30-gallon trees will be planted
along walking paths and near fam-
ily picnic areas in this popular city
park.
“Unidad Park lost hundreds of
trees during the last devastating
drought, so we were thrilled when
ExxonMobil contacted us to donate
trees and volunteers for their adopt-
a-park project,” said Baytown Parks
Department Director Scott Johnson.
“Our citizens will enjoy these trees
for years and years to come, and we
thank ExxonMobil for being a great
corporate neighbor.”
ExxonMobil Baytown Olefins
Plant Manager Woody Paul is proud
to participate in the day’s event.
“When we heard about the need
at Unidad Park, which is located di-
rectly across from our ExxonMobil
Baytown Complex, we knew this
was the park for us to adopt for our
tree planting project,” stated Paul.
“It is our pleasure to work together
with the Baytown Parks and Recre-
ation Department and breathe new
life into Unidad Park.”
ExxonMobil provided full fund-
ing of the project, including trees,
irrigation supplies and other needs
such as mulch and fertilizer. Layout
and design of the project was han-
dled by Baytown Parks and Recre-
ation Department employees.
SEE TREES • PAGE 3
Barbers Hill touts its
academic successes
BY ELESKA AUBESPIN
eleska.aubespin@baytownsun.com
All of Barbers Hill schools
earned the highest rating
possible from the Texas Ed-
ucation Agency last year.
According to a Texas An-
nual Performance Report
for 2012-2013, the district
earned “Met Standard”
ratings, Assistant Superin-
tendent Sandra Duree told
school board trustees Mon-
day.
The district also surpassed
state averages at every grade
level and in every subject on
State of Texas Assessments
of Academic Readiness
(STAAR) tests in 2013.
“There are many things to
be proud of in our academic
perfonnance report,” Duree
said.
“We are pleased with our
trends in student achieve-
ment and very pleased with
our six-year upward trend in
student attendance, which is
now over 96 percent,” she
added. “But our quest is
excellence for every student
and we will continue that ef-
fort as we move forward in
2014.”
SEE BHISD • PAGE 6
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Baytown Sun photo/Albert Villegas
Children who attend Goose Creek CISD students run to board a school bus along
Stonehedge Drive Wednesday morning. School opened two hours than normal
following a bad weather day Tuesday that forced the cancellation of all classes
because of frigid weather and dangerous driving conditions.
GCCISD inundates
parents with phone
calls, text messages
BY MARK FLEMING
mark.fleming@baytownsun.com
Goose Creek CISD was
plagued with problems in no-
tifying parents of the delayed
start of the school day as the
district’s automated telephone
system made repeated calls
to the same parents - often w
ith incomplete messages. The
calls started Tuesday night and
continued through Wednesday
morning.
Some parents reported getting
SEE GCCISD • PAGE 3
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Classified 7 • Obituaries 6,9 • Sports 5,6 • Crossword 7 • Community 2 • Weather 2 • Stocks 6 • Viewpoints 4
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Bloom, David. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 30, 2014, newspaper, January 30, 2014; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth745880/m1/1/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.