Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 132, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 18, 2014 Page: 1 of 50
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WALL OF FAME
James Sykes added
to Calgary's Wall of
Fame.
See Page 7A
VOLUME 132 NUMBER 75
Polk County
.....wr** 1
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County Since 1904
Visit our website at www£astTexasNewsxom
THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
CASA
FUNDRAISER
"Justice is Served"
catfish dinner
planned for Sept. 25.
See Page IB
50 CENT
Officers seize 21,500 more marijuana plants
BY BRIAN BESCH
Enterprise staff
pcenewsroom@gmail. com
LEGGETT - Polk County
Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) has
found a new tract of mari-
juana fields in Polk County.
The bust was discovered
Monday morning off of Up-
per Leggett Road and about
3.1 miles from Highway 59.
The seizure is the third in the
area this month.
After seizing over 100,000
cannabis plants growing near
Goodrich in July and 6.0(H) in
Schwab City in August, the
Polk County Sheriff's De-
partment moved north on La-
bor Day to seize 9,066 plants
west of Corrigan. Another
14,800 plants were found by
San Jacinto County authori-
ties inside the Sam Houston
National Forest.
An anonymous tip came
in Sunday afternoon, but for
safety reasons, the search was
called off due to darkness. A
Department of Public Safety
(DPS) helicopter found the
grow site around 7 a.m. the
next morning.
Though no suspects are in
custody at this time, around
21.540 plants were stashed
in trailers behind the PCSO
building for processing Tues-
day afternoon. The collection
is estimated at over $37.7
million.
OONTRIBITED PHOTO
MATURE PLANTS — Unlike most of the marijuana fields discovered over the
summer, the plants found Monday near Leggett were fully mature and evidence
at the scene indicated the growers were preparing to harvest and distribute them.
UOMRIBl U l> PHOTO
DRYING LINES — Many of the marijuana plants seized Monday had already
been cut and were in the process of being dried for distribution. Growers had
clothes lines strung in the woods from which to hang the drying plants.
Polk County Deputy Chief
Byron Lyons said the grow
site was set up closely like
the others that have been
found. There were a total of
10 fields in a 68-acre tract.
“It was a sophisticated
grow,” Lyons said.
This location had a water
well dug and there were gen-
erators just like the one in
Schwab City. This one was
different because they had an
actual water well, so the only
place they needed a generator
was at the water well hous-
ing. The generator sat inside
the building and the only
time they needed it was when
they ran water through the
tank. They would fire up the
generator and fill the tank up.
then shut it off.
All of the seizures are still
under investigation. Lyons
said other than similarities,
nothing has been found ties
one site to the other.
“There is nothing that I can
say at this point where that
particular grow is related to
any of the others. We’re just
taking evidence and letting
the evidence point to whether
or not there is anything other
than just similarities. That
part of the investigation is
slow, because you’re going
through document after docu-
ment. building graphs, build-
See PLANTS. Page 2A
Vehicle mishaps claim 3 lives
Two teenagers die in ATV accidents
LIVINGSTON-Three
people have died, in a three-
day period, on Polk County
roadways, including two
teenagers involved in sepa-
rate all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
accidents.
Ethan Vaughn Cronin. 15.
of Livingston died as the re-
sult of injuries sustained in an
ATV accident at 10:08 a.m.
Sunday on Benny Griffin
Road, three-tenths of a mile
north of County Line Road.
Cronin was driving a 2013
Honda ATV northbound on
the dirt road and was going
through a left curve when, for
unknown reasons, the vehicle
ran off the right side of the
roadway into a ditch, accord-
ing to Texas Highway Patrol
Trooper Allen Stanton.
The vehicle rolled front-
wards, throwing the driver
into the ditch, the investi-
gation showed. The ATV
landed on top of the driver,
then rolled onto its right side,
coming to rest facing south in
the ditch.
Cronin was transported by
ambulance to the Livingston
hospital and was being trans-
ported by medical helicopter
to a Houston hospital, but
was pronounced dead at
12:26 p.m.
A 13-year-old Katy boy
was killed Saturday after he
rolled a Polaris Ranger while
riding on private property in
the Camp Ruby area. He wys
taken by ambulance to CHI
St. Luke’s Health Memorial-
Livingston but subsequently
was pronounced dead due to
internal injuries.
Also investigated was a hit-
and-run accident at approxi-
mately 10:40 p.m. Friday on
EM 3277 that claimed the life
of Leslie Way ne Johnson. 31.
of Liv ingston.
Preliminary reports indi-
cate Johnson, a [vedestrian.
was struck by a vehicle in the
westbound lane of FM 3277.
according to Trooper Chad
Seamans. That vehicle left
the scene. At least one other
vehicle is believed to have
struck Johnson after the ini-
tial impact.
Johnson was pronounced
dead at the scene by Precinct
I Justice of the Peace Darrell
Longino.
Authorities have located
possible suspects in the hit-
and-run and the investigation
was continuing at press time
One held after assault on LPD officer
LIVINGS PON - A
20-year-old Woodville man
was being held in the Polk
County Jail this week after
being charged with assaulting
a police officer on Monday
night.
Devonte Dashawn Becks
was taken into custody fol-
lowing an altercation with
police that was followed by
a Toot chase In addition to
being charged with the felony
assault on an officer. Becks
was charged with resisting ar-
rest. evading arrest and with
violating the city's loitering
ordinance.
According to Livingston .
Police Department reports,
the incident occurred around
10:30 p.m. after officers
received information about
possible drug activ ity at the
Ridgecrest Apartments at
9()| Forest Hollow, possibly
involving several black males
w ho did not live on the prop-
erty .
When officers arrived at
the scene, they loomed h man
standing in the parking lot of
the apartment complex who
claimed to live in the com-
plex but could not provide
officers with his apartment
number.
During the course of the in-
vestigation,
officers said
the suspect
struck an
officer in the
face with a
closed fist
and then
tied on fool
Officers
BECKS
gave chase and subsequently
apprehended the man. a!
though the suspect continued
to resist while they placed
him in hand restraints
The officer who was at-
tacked received minor imu-
ries to his face and hands.
County budget, tax rate finally approved
USD board election canceled
BY BRIAN BESCH
Enterprise staff
pcenewsroom@gmail com
I IV1NGSTON The
Livingston School Board vot-
ed Monday to cancel Novem-
ber's school board election,
which was scheduled for Nov.
4. was cancelled. The action
came after no more than one
candidate per position.
In 1 iv ingston. Board
President Bea Ellis. Board
Vice President Casey Evans.
Frank Henderson and Board
Secretary Ben Ogletree vv ill
all return, as each runs un-
contested. Jeff Galloway will
relinquish his seat to the only
other citizen in contention.
Livingston Police Depart-
ment Detective Marty Drake.
I iv ingston Junior I ligh vv ill
have the size of its weight
room increased by remov mg
walls div iding it from the
equipment room. Currently,
class sizes outnumber the
room's capacity to utilize the
facility.
The walls are non-weight
bearing and made of ply-
wood. The project will not
only increase the room's size,
but increase safety and allow
the girls a place to lift. Costs
for the change are estimated
at less than $2,000.
The board approved the
consideration to direct the
superintendent to align
district aesthetics with district
mission. Livingston 1SD
Superintendent Dr. Brent
Hawkins said there are more
important aspects that can
be displayed on school walls
than the years each have
achieved satisfactory scores
on assessment tests.
" This was one that we
placed on there basically
as vv hat do vv e vv ant as the
image of our district when
Sit SCHOOL. Page 2A
BY GREG PEAK
Editor
polknews@gmail com
LIVINGSTON - After be-
ing sidetracked by commis-
sioners last week. Polk Coun-
ty s new budget and tax rate
were finally approved during
a special meeting Monday.
The spending plan will go
into effect on Oct. I and the
tax rate will be used to cal-
culate 2014 tax bills that will
he sent to taxpayers in a few
weeks.
The bottom line of the
2015 budget -- $27.9 mil-
lion - w as unchanged from
what was initially approved
on Tuesday. Sept 9. and the
overall tax rate needed to
fund it - 64 61 cents per SI00
in assessed value - also re-
mained the same.
At issue was how the tax
rate would be di\ ided be-
tween the county's general
and road & bridge funds
The version of the budget
approved by the county com-
missioners last week called
for the overall rate to be bro-
ken up with 37.65 cents allo-
cated to the general fund and
14.St) cents earmarked for
road & bridge. The remain-
ing 12.16 cents of the tax rate
would be used repay existing
county debt
However, after approv mg
the budget, commissioners
threw a monkey wrench into
the process when they ap-
proved - by a 3-2 vote a
motion offered by Pvt 1
Commissioner Bob W i 11 is to
change the div ision Under
\\ ilhs proposal, the road A
bridge fund would be allo-
cated 14 SS cents - the same
as it was under the 2014 bud-
get - while the general fund
would be cut to 3~ 5' cents
a shut oi 0 0s cents
Because of the change, the
budget approved minutes
earlier was no Ionge; va!id
and. had to be aduisted during
Monday 's special meeting
The 0.0S cent shut ir :hc tax
rate division amounted to
moving a little over s2;.(XH'
from the general fund '
tax income into the road A
bridge budget
To make up tor the loss in
See COl N 1 I . Paste 2 \
Inside
Bulletin Board...........................4B
Classified.............................5B-8B
Crossword.................................5B
Calendar.............................................3A
Obituaries..................................6A
Official Records........................5A
Opinion.......................................4A
Sports...................................7A-8A
UPS 437-340
Thu
9/18
Fri
9/19
Sat
9/20
Sun
9/21
Mon
9/22
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Morning:
showers aixl !
thunder
sK Hills
_
Quotation
It is better to look ahead and prepare than to
look back and regret.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
1962-
U S. Olympic gold medalist in track
I'olk. Conntu Home i>/ Catherine Hrou n
LAKE DATA
CURRENT LEVEI_____130.38
NORMAL LEVEL 131.00
RECORD LOW______12525
DISCHARGE_____1.000 cfs
RAINFALL
Last 7 days.--------------0.00
AM wsithar data
measured at Lake
Livingston Dam
wwwtrrttyraoig
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Peak, Greg. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 132, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 18, 2014, newspaper, September 18, 2014; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth788039/m1/1/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.