Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 17, 1980 Page: 2 of 28
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At-
k A-Burleson Star, Thursday, January 17, 1980
Lines Are Not Exactly Forming
To File For County Offices
BY DORIS E. WILSON
'With nine county offices on the line
for re-election in the May 4 primary,
political aspirants are not exactly
beating down the doors of the filing
offices in Cleburne.
Eleven days have passed since the
opening filing date, Jan. 5, and 15 more
days, Feb. 4, remain before the filing
deadline. There appears to be only one
contested incumbent, who will have a
-♦challenger or challengers. Incumbent
;:;35phnson County Sheriff Stuart A.
•Imffman of Burleson and Fort Worth
^policeman, Delphus D. Runnels of
Cleburne, are emerging as contenders
for the sheriffs office. There are
rumors others may file soon. v
While Johnson County Tax Assessor-
Collector Dennis McWilliams has not
officially announced his retirement
after 27 years of service to the county,
he has said privately that he will not
seek the office in 1980.
“There comes a time,” he told The
Star, “when it is time to step down.
That time for me is now.”
D1 health is one contributing factor in
McWilliams’ decision not to run.
The first to file for that upcoming
vacancy on the Democratic ticket is
;- Burleson Taxman Eld Cftrroll, whose
. contract with the Burleson Indepen
dent School District expires this year.
j;< In the sheriffs race, Huffman was
!•: the first contender to seek a third
four-year term for the office he has
held sine* 1973.
In announcing his candidacy, Huff-
man said that during his terms of office
his staff had been increased to 10 field
deputies; four dispatchers; four correc-
tional officers and one office deputy.
He said salaries for field deputies
have been upgraded to a competitive
level with other law enforcement
officers in the area.
“Their efficiency also has been
increased with the requirement of
Cardio Respiratory Resuscitation
training, since often they are the first
to arrive on the scene of an accident or
crime,"
“We have modernized the teletype
communications in our department
with a hook-up to the National Criminal
Information Center in Washington,
D.C. and the Texas CIC in Austin, as
well as continuing to improve radio
communications with other law agenc
ies in our area.
“While we know we cannot stop
crime in the county, we are striving to
lower the crime rate with more patrols;
more contact with people; and we are
asking the continued support of people
in the county in helping us control it,”
Huffman said.
Huffman said in his opinion crime
had decreased in the county and that it
was his goal to keep it on the decrease.
Huffman is married to the former
Maggie Ruth Godsey of Alvarado.
Thev have six children and eight
grandchildren. A resident of Burleson
Huffman is a member of the National
and Texas Sheriffs Associations andof
the Masonic Order.
Runnels, 39, who lives in Cleburne, is
basing his candidacy for the office of
sheriff on his 61/? years experience
with the Fort Worth Police Depart
ment during which he was elected by
the Tarrant County Safety Council as
an Outstanding Officer of the Year.
“During this time with the Fort
Worth Department, I have accumulat
ed ov^r 775 hours of training in all
phases of police work. Also, I have 45
college hours toward a degree in law
enforcement,” he stated.
A life-long resident of Johnsoh
County and for the past 10 years a
resident of Cleburne, Runnels worked
for the Cleburne Fire Department for
seven years and served two years with
the U.S. Army.
The son of Mason and Evelyn
Runnels of Rio Vista, he is married to
the former Linda Kay Moseley of
Joshua. They have two children.
Incumbents, filing to seek re-election
and running uncontested as of Press
Time Wednesday, are County Attor
ney Dan Boulware; Precint 1
Commissioner Bill Atwood of Cleburne
Precinct 2 Commissioner Loyd Reese
of Alvarado; Pet. 1 PI. 1 Justice of the
Peace Vernon Asher of Cleburne; four
constable slots, Sammy Glenn of Cle-
burne, Pet. 1; W.H. Gregory of Joshua,
Pet. 2; C.E. (Red) Fannon of Alvarado
Pet. 3; J.W. Tackett of Grandview, Pet.
4.
Potential candidates have until Feb.
4 to file their intentions with Democra-
tic County Chairman David Anderson
in Cleburne or Republican County
Chairman Jere Swtazel, also in
Cleburne.
House
Burglary
Monday
Police are checking leads in the
burglary of a home at 213 NE Moody
sometime Monday.
Rick Smith call^l police shortly after
11 p.m. Monday and told police of the
burglary of about $3,500 in stereo
components, seven guns and a camera.
Smith said the house was last secure
about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Police said it appeared the intruders
forced their entry through a window on
the front porch of the house.
4*
>!
1
Drug Program
Continued from Page 1
^'meeting with their own parent group.
•>: Mayor Robert Abies, who is chairman
•Jj of the volunteer Good Life Commission,
said tax-deductible contributions will
be solicited from all sources,
jj; Funds can be deposited in the PDAP
Burleson account at either local bank,
if? he said, and PDAP spokesmen will be
available for other publice meetings to
3? be scheduled later or for civic club
meetings.
*
£
$
S
£
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1
3
Involvement of local civic leaders
will continue, he said, and civic or
service clubs wanting further informa
tion on speakers and programs may
contact him either through the city
offices or his veterinary clinic.
Also attending the meeting Tuesday
night were Police Chief Homer Barns,
Juvenile Officer Bill Leader, Burleson
High School counselor Bobbie Lilly,
and business people in addition to
members of the Good Life Commission.
Parents speaking in behalf of the
PDAP program were John Duke Smith
of Burleson and Ed Walker of Arling-
ton.
One real estate firm pledged $200 to
help kick off a fund drive and a
grandmother said she would give $100
to help get things started.
Abies said two persons from Burle-
son would be on bank signature cards
and oversee distribution of donated
funds.
The PDAP program in Fort Worth is
governed by a board of trustees made
up of prominent citizens. If a center is
established in Burleson, it probably
would operate under the policies of the
E'ort Worth Board.
TAX DISTRICT OFFICERS-Election of officers was the first order of
business Monday at the first ever meeting of the newly elected Johnson
County Tax Appraisal Board. The officers are (l-r) Stacy Calvin of Burleson,
vice-chairman; Dean Scott of Cleburne, chairman; and J.W. Mayberry of
Alvarado, secretary. Star Staffoto.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasurer.
With shortages of all kinds of manufactured products causing prices to rise
almost daily, the idea of changing trash into cash is gaining more popularity.
Recycling is not only a fad. It’s a big industry these days. And a lot of folks
have found a way to cash in on what used to be a troublesome problem.
Paper, cans, old tires, even plastic garbage bags have a value if you can find
out who to sell the used stuff to. Even worn out, it’s worth something to
somebody.
Having faced a serious problem in regard to newsprint shortages in recent
months, we at the newspaper have looked for answers in recycling.
As it turns out, old newspapers can’t really be recycled into reuseable paper
to print the newspaper on, but you might still want to save it instead of tossing
it into the trash.
USED NEWSPRINT, old magazines, even telephone books and cardboard
boxes of all kinds have value - and the price is going up. -
Newsprint, for example, now can be taken to a recycling center and sold for
about $1.25 per hundred pounds. So, if you want to bundle up your old
newspapers and take them to Fort Worth (or give them to a Cub Scout group
or other youth organization raising money) it might be worth the effort.
Debbie Mitchelli at Western Reclamation on NE 33rd in Fort Worth told me
this week that the current $1.25 compares with 50 cents paid on junk
newspapers back in May. That’s when she started working for the company.
They’re more interested in high grade newsprint, not the color comics which
have a chemical in the ink that isn’t easily removed, but they’ll take almost any
kind of paper from shoe boxes to used computer printout paper.
In fact, the computer paper brings about $3.00 per hundred pounds and
those white tab cards (the ones with the punched holes) are worth about $5.50
per hundred. Some printing companies and computer companies save their
scraps and make money by doing it.
And, business is picking up, said Ms. Michelli. All kinds'of community groups
are getting into the act.
There’s also a good market for aluminum cans. An aluminum recycler in Fort
Worth told us the price is stable at about 1.16 cents per soft drink can or 29
cents a pound. It takes about 24 empty cans to make a pound.
The guy I talked to said he expects the price to go up to 35 to 36 cents a
pound in the near future, so things are looking up for the folks who look down
on the side of the road.
THAT’S WHAT really got me to checking into this recycling business in the
first palce.
Ted Whitley, one of the new members of the board of directors of the
chamber of commerce, claimed he saw a guy in a big fancy car one day picking
up trash along the highway.
I didn’t believe him. But it’s true.
‘T’ve got people bringing in cans In $17,000 Cadillacs,” said a recycler in
Cowtown.
“Some of ’em have been told by their doctors they need to do more walking
for their health, and they decided they might as well pickup some money while
they’re doing it,” he told me.
“Others just got to thinking how much they were wasting throwing away
beer cans and soft drink cans, and they started bringing them to me."
He also noted that some companies will take old garbage bags, melt them
down and sell them back to the manufacturers as a raw product.
“Those plastic bags the housewife puts on the curb are buried in the ground
and never wjh deteriorate,” he noted. “They just lie there forever, doing
nobody any good.”
Maybe someday, someone will figure out how to get the stbff out of those
municipal solid waste disposal dump sites. In fact, a special division of lone
Star Gas Co. was established a few years ago to work on exactly that idea.
IN THE END, it’s the money that makes things work. When it’s profitable to
conserve and recycle, people Will do it.
Maybe now’s the time. Maybe American trash will be the answer to OPEC
price increases. It might just be the thing that makes the Arabs think twice
about fooling around with “Yankee ingenuity.”-^
\
feTax B oard Sets Rules; f
m 7 V
Police Report
)
Elects Officer Slate
Officers were elected and general
operating procedures established at
the initial meeting of the newly elected
Johnson County Tax Appraisal Board
held Monday morning in Cleburne.
Chairman of the group is Dean Scott
of.;Cleburne; vice-chairman is Stacy
Calvin of Burleson; and secretary is
J.W. Mayberry of Alvarado.
Other board members are John
Duke Smith of Burleson and Sam
Walls, Jr. of Cleburne.
Beginning in 1982, the tax district
will have the responsibility of assessing
property for every taxing entity in
Johnson County with the sole excep-
tion of the county government.
A major problem facing the board --
and one discussed briefly Monday - is
the lack of funds for preparing for that
task. They are expecting a $2800 check
from the state in March and an
additional check later this year for
approximately $6,000. Without financ-
ial help from the county’s school
districts, though, the tax board will
probably be unable to hire a chief
appraiser until late next year.
The board is expected, to request
voluntary funding for 1981 from each of
the county's school districts.
ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE, but
one not discussed at length at this
meeting, would be to contract with
various school districts to assess taxes
next year. That could bring in enough
money to employ an appraiser.
BURLESON STAR
IUSPS-079780]
Second-Class Postage paid at Burle-
son, Texas 76028.
Wayne Hutson
James Moody
Chuck Hutson
Editor & Publisher
Managing Editor
Advertising Mgr
Subscription Price <9.25 Per Year
In Johnson and Tarrant Counties.
Other areas or Texas, $12.25
Outside Texas, 113.50
The Burleson Star is an indepen-
dent newspaper published twice
weekly on Monday and Thursday in
the interest of Burleson and adja-
cent areas by Burleson Publishing
Company, Inc., 319 N. Burleson Bivd.,
Burleson, Tx., 76028. Any erroneous
reflection on any indivi-
dual or firm will be corrected if brought
to the attention of the editor. Address
all correspondence to the Editor,
Burleson Star, P.O. Box 383, Burleson,
Texas 76028.
POSTMASTER: Send address
s&.po ■"
i « i niiaii i. .
Under terms of the law which set up
the single unit taxing districts across
the state, property may be appraised
by the tax district before 1982 by
contract with the individual school
districts.
In 1982, it becomes mandatory for
the tax district to assess property in all
the school districts and the cities as
well.
Some of the operating procedures
adopted by the board include setting
meeting times at 7:30 a.m.; holding
meetings “as called" instead of setting
a regular schedule (at least during the
early stages of organization); deciding
that a quorum will be three members;
and establishing the procedure by
★ C hamber
Continued from Page 1
of directors and last year served as
chairman of the banquet committee.
She also worked pn the Membership
Committee, chairmanned by Naomi
Cheslock. It was that committee that
organized The Ambassador Club, the
official greeters for the chamber, at
ribbon cuttings and open houses of new
businesses in town.
“Naomi worked awfully hard on this
until she asked to be relieved and then
I was elected president,” Sue related.
Membership in the Ambassadors is
limited to 25 with not more than one
represenative from each business est-
ablishment.
Sue is accepting her new respon-
sibility as chamber president with
some definite ideas, plans, and goals.
“We want to actively seek new
industry to locate in Burleson and we
want to define and develop a trade
area.
“I’ve always felt people will do what
they are asked to do and this is
especially true of the chamber.
“Perhaps, in the past, people have
felt the chamber was a ’closed society.’
But that is not true. We need the
cooperation of all merchants and bus-
iness people for t(ie good of the
community and for the good of their
own businesses.
“However,” she added, “people who
join the chamber or become active
hoping for some immediate monetary
rewards are going to be disappointed.
It is a matter of community interest
and cooperation.
"You get out of it just what you put
into it,” she added.
And then she smiled, "My philosophy
is. . .you don’t have to have a long face
to be effective in anything. I am going
to make this a fun year."
which meetings can be called (by the
chairman or by any other two mem
bers).
PERHAPS THE MOST important
procedure established, however, was
the decision that approval of a majority
of members was necessary on any vote.
Under that rule, three members would
make a quorum but a unanimous vote
of those three members present would,
be necessary before any action could be
approved.
One other topic was brought up at
the meeting and concer&d who would
make county appraisals. Calvin wants
to look into all aspects of hiring an
appraisal firm instead of an individual
to set property valuations.
Walls and Scott both appeared
opposed to this idea, but Mayberry
suggested that the board may want to
use both approaches and have utilities
and corporations assessed by appraisal
firms with the remainder of the
property assessed by a local staff under
the direction of a chief appraiser.
He said he would obtain some cost
figures and report back to the board at
a later date.
......... |
Letter To 1
I The Editor I
I would like to voice my opinion on
the wav the school board is handling
the situation of hiring a new superin
tendant for the BISD.
I believe the school board shouldn’t
interview anyone else for the job. They
have already gotten down to the two
men they think are best for the job.
They should go ahead with the 5-2 vote
and go on to other things that concern
our school district.
Is it not fair to our community nor to
the other two men’s communities to
keep lingering on who we are going to
hire. These two men need to know
where they stand so they can either
keep the jobs they have now or to go on
somewhere else.
I have a child that someday will go to
Burleson schools and I would like to
have the man that the five school board
members like and not because qf two
members that have a problem seeing
the qualities that the other board
members see. I think every parent
would want that for their children.
I hope I’m not the only one who sees
it this way.
-A Concerned Parent
(Name withheldby request)
FRIDAY, JAN. 11
12:44 a.m. - Suspicious person, CR
600.
8:16 a.m. - Suspicious person, 500
NW Newton.
8:55 a.m. - Burglary, 200 block NW
Newton. \ -
9:43 a.m. Theft, 300 NE Cindy.
Part of luggage rack taken from car.
10:36 a.m. - Suspicious person,
Beard Road.
3:52 p.m. -- Fire, Newton Street.
4:04 p.m. -- Report of reckless driver,
Burleson High School. Woman, 18,
arrested for disorderly conduct with a
motor vehicle.
4:12 p.m. - Traffic arrest, Magnolia
and Johnson. Man, 19, arrested on
warrants.
10:30 p.m. Noise, 300 block Robin
Ct. Noise thought child crying in
garage was from cat.
10:30 p.m. - Traffic arrest, Hillery
and Johnson. Man arrested on traffic
warrants.
SATURDAY, JAN. 12
10:30 a.m. - Theft, 1000 block I 35
Service Road South. Two head cattle
reported missing. No entry evidence
found and it was not know if cattle
stolen or strayed.
11:50 a.m. - Road blocked, 100 block
Red Oak Ct. Road blocked temporarily
for utility repairs.
12:01 p.m. - Vandalism, Burleson
Boys Club. Bullet hole through two
walls discovered.
1:11 p.m. Major water break, 300
block Lena.
1:15 p.m. Theft, 700 block Sandra.
Four wheel covers valued at $150 taken
off car in driveway.
1:18 p.m. - Fire, Miller and Com-
merce.
1:36 p.m. - Vandalism, Burleson
Cemetery. Flowers reported stolen
from graves.
1:55 p.m. Vandalism, 500 block
Sandra. Garbage reported dumped on
vehicle. ,
3:22 p.m. Wreckless driving,
Springtide and Sunset. Police contact-
ed driver and advised that wreckless
driving had been reported but took no
action because they did not observe
any violations.
4:07 p.ffl. - Fire, Gommerce and
Miller.
4:58 p.m. - Abandoned Auto, Eldred
and Main. Owner contacted.
7:05 p.m. -- Fireworks, Jill Ann.
Police unable to locate.
7:18 p.m. - Runaway child reported.
Boy, 12, returned home later that
evening.
7:26 p.m. - Theft, 600 block SW
Wilshire. Three hubcaps valued at $60
^ J
7:31 p.m. - Handbag found, 800 block
SW Wilshire. Police urtable to locate
owner.
7:41 p.m. -- Check person’s welfare,
200 block SW Cindy.
7:51 p.m. - Fire, East Service Road
and McAllister.
8:44 p.m. - Sick person, 300 block
SW Thomas.
10:38 p.m. - Assault, 100 block
Beverly. Mother of 14-year old boy said
he was given black eye by girl, 17. She
she would file simple assault charges.
11:02 p.m. - Vandalism, 200 block
Suzanne. Rock thrown at steering
wheel.
SUNDAY, JAN. 13
1:15 a.m. - Major accident, CR 714.
Police said accident was in Johnson
County.
2:53 a.m. - Minor accident, Newton
and 174. No one hurt when car hit
ditch.
2:54 a.m. Fire, Highway 731 and
174.
3:09 a.m. - Drunk, 174 and Newton.
Three arrested for public intoxication.
7:13 a.m. Fire, CR 802.
8:02 a.m. Minor accident, 200 E.
Ellison. No one hurt in two-car
accident.
8:48 a.m. - Theft, 300 block Jill Ann.
Theft of wheel cover and radial tire
reported.
10:09 a.m. -- Burglary alarm malfunc-
tion, 100 block Red Oak Ct. Burglar
alarm at private residence malfunction-
ed.
11:34 a.m. -- Vandalism, 300 block
NW Newton. Pickup damaged by
vandals.
1:03 p.m. Burglary, 300 block
Linda. Theft of tools from unlocked tool
box that happened in November re
ported. Loss set of $1,250.
5:43 p.m. - Careless driving, Judith.
Police viewed careless driving and
issued citation.
7:43 p.m. - Drunk, 174 and Ellison.
Male, 18, arrested for driving while
intoxicated and simple assault on a
police officer.
8:08 p.m. -- Drunk, Sunnybrook and
Wintercrest. Man, 24, arrested for no
driver’s license and warrants.
MONDAY, JAN. 14
12:30 a.m. Disturbance, 700 block
SW Wilshire. Woman, 18, taken into
custody as possible mental patient and
taken to Fort Worth facility.
3:47 a.m. Major accident. Hard
grove and I 35. Woman received
serious injuries in one-car accident.
6:46 a!m. -- Prowler, 700 block
Hillside. Police unable to locate.
10:26 a.m. - Possible drug violation,
600 block NW kenfro. Resident found
hair spray possibly being used as
inhalant and disposed of in yard.
3:29 p.m. -- Minor traffic accident,
300 block SW Wilshire.
4:18 p.m. - Injured person, Harrison
Texaco. Man, 17, injured by exploding
battery.
9:32 p.m. - Assist highway patrol in
pursuit of car on 135. Car stopped at 35
near 1187.
9:47 p.m. - Minor accident, Johnson
and Gardens. One car left scene of
minor accident on private property.
10:04 p.m. - Suspicious person, 200
block E. Renfro.
11:02 p.m. - Burglary, 200 block NE
Moody. $3,500 in guns and stereo
components stolen from home.
★ Trustees
Continued from Page 1
Relocation of the bujlding was ap-
proved and it was moved to Nola Dunn
the following day. A new fifth grade
teacher, Mrs. Pamela Jones, was also
employed to teach the new class. Three
fifth grade teachers had been teaching
over 100 students.
TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT rate
was increased primarily because of a
change by the Texas Education agency.
The TEA reimburses the local district
for travel expenses of vocational teach-
ers and rather than having different
rates for different teachers, the board
adopted the TEA rate for all teachers.
The old rate was $.16 per mile and
$22 per day and that had been upped to
$.20 per mile and $40 per day.
In other business Monday night, the
board
Approved an overnight trip to
Wichita I’alls for the high school tennis
team and to San Antonio for the middle
school Junior Historians.
Renewed membership in the Texas
Association of School Boards.
-Approved a leave of absence for
Mrs. Nancy Speer.
- Accepted the resignation of BHS
science teacher Jimmie Hughes.
-Discussed site selection for future
elementary schools.
★ Debate
Continued from Page 1
Erin Hunter had another first place
win in prose reading end Tracy
Spurgin finished third in that same
division. The other first place honors
went to Miss Spurgin in the' final event
of poetry reading.
In other individual events, Hunter
also had a second place in humorous
interpretation, Rice was second and
Mary Campbell was third in extemper-
aneous speaking.
In .debate, Burleson made a clean
swe^p, taking first through fifth place.
Lisa Kestler and Debby Wright were
first place winners; Miss Abies and
Miss Campbell placed second; John
Allen and Rice won third place; Scott
Myers and Diane Parker were fourth;
and the freshman team of Mark Jones
and Mark Nelon competed in the
varsity division and posted a 3-1 record
to take fifth place.
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Hutson, Wayne & Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 17, 1980, newspaper, January 17, 1980; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761452/m1/2/: accessed July 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.