The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 65, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Page: 2 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Clifton Record and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Nellie Pederson Civic Library.
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rr • *
Phone (254) 675-3336 • Fax: (254) 675-4090
E-mail: newa@cliftonrecord.com • ads@cllftonrecord.com
The Clifton Record
The Clifton Record ONLINE:*
http://cliftonrecord.com
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2003
• DE-FUNDING
Continued From Page One
recirculates the problem. If they
are so ill they cannot participate in
the criminal process, then they’re
just going to go through a short-
term mental health process and be
put right back onto the streets.”
“We’ve had several cases locally
which have pointed out these adult
and juvenile mental health prob-
lems, and these problems have
been growing over the years.
We've seen cases processed
through the justice system where
it became real apparent the clients
just weren’t functional, didn’t re-
ally know who people were, and
didn’t communicate well,” Robert-
son explained.
But many state agencies seem
to be unwilling or unable to provide
assistance.
Robertson said patients have
been taken to a Waco psychiatric
facility and kept for about a half-
hour, with the medical officials de-
termining there was nothing
wrong with the client and sending
them back to Bosque County. With-
out directly making the charge,
Robertson indicated a lack of in-
surance coverage probably had a
lot to do with that diagnosis.
Area law enforcement officials
have picked up persons with obvi-
ous mental problems and taken
them to similar facilities, only to
have them refused admittance, as
well.
Robertson did say that not all
agencies treat cases such as this
as lightly, that many are “signifi-
cantly more thorough” in their ex-
aminations.
Once a series of diagnoses is
completed that point to mental dif-
ficulties in an individual, a judge
can send a client for evaluation
and treatment at an Austin state
hospital. While there, medical offi-
cials determine whether the indi-
vidual is competent to stand trial.
Such a process is similar whether
the offender is a juvenile or an
adult.
“One report the judge got back
said a client had significant psychi-
atric problems, that he was dan-
gerous to himself and dangerous
to others, and, by the way, ‘we’re
going to release him,”’ Robertson
said. “He had been through their
acute treatment program and had
done very well, he had his medi-
cines, and now he’s ready to come
home,” Robertson said the state
reported.
“Personality testing found he
has difficulty identifying and relat-
ing to other people, shows im-
paired reality testing, made
attempts to maintain an appear-
ance of emotional stability, needs
structure in order to monitor and
control his thoughts, that when
faced with even ordinary levels of
stress he may deteriorate further,
demonstrates low frustration tol-
erance, shows poor impulse con-
trol, and his behavior may become
more dangerous,” Robertson con-
tinued.
The diagnoses pointed out the
individual was not mentally fit to
stand trial, so he was going to be
released back into the general
populace, even though the results
showed a need to place the client
in a highly structured residential
center.
Robertson said he contacted the
state MHMR center on one case
and was told there was no place for
the individual, but that possibly a
regional agency might be able to
offer some assistance.
“County Attorney Patricia Fer-
guson Coy and Juvenile Probation
Officer James Humphries con-
tacted MHMR in Waco and were
told they had no place, either. They
said the only place he could possi-
bly go would be the Waco Center
for Youth, but when he turns 16
years old he can leave of his own
free will,” explained Robertson.
He said the MHMR official was
asked what can be done to protect
the community when such a per-
son is brought back to Bosque
County and begins exhibiting dan-
gerous tendencies. The reply was,
“Nothing. He’ll have to hurt some-
body.”
Child Protective Services can
provide some relief to such prob-
lems, but only if family members
- are willing to abandon their rights
to provide for the individuals.
“A parent or guardian has to say,
‘This child cannot come back to my
house,’” noted Robertson. Often
times, family members are not
willing to just give up on their rela-
tive, even if they are poorly
equipped to handle the situation.
And, CPS can only help with juve-
niles... adult clients cannot become
part of such a solution.
Robertson said that since the
state discontinued its mental hos-
pitals programs, many persons
who have needed long-term care
and have needed continual help
staying on their medication —
such as those diagnosed as being
manic depressive, psychotic, or
schizophrenic — will not stay on
their medication routines unless
there’s a caregiver around. And
when such individuals are re-
leased to their family home, fam-
ily members are often not
equipped or capable of providing
the care needed.
While the budget crisis may
have not yielded many options,
cutting funding of services for citi-
zens with mental difficulties has
only made a bad situation worse,
and likely will cost the state more
in the long run.
“Cutting mental health and
mental retardation direct service
funding does not bring a net sav-
ings to the people of Texas,” said
Eldon Tietje, executive director of
Central Counties MHMR, which
serves Bell, Coryell, Hamilton,
Lampasas, and Milam counties.
“Not having services for persons
with mental disabilities doesn’t
make their disabilities go away. It
just results in their untreated
mental conditions getting worse
until they wind up in the emer-
gency room, involved with law en-
forcement, or possibly taking their
own lives.”
“We don’t want to turn into is
simply a crisis management
clinic,” Denton County Mental
Health and Mental Retardation
Center CEO Bill Drybread told a
Dallas newspaper. “It’s much
more cost-effective to treat men-
tal illness before it becomes a cri-
sis.” He said that without
prevention, persons with serious
mental problems will likely have
problems within the family and
with their jobs, often losing their
homes and jobs and ending up in
jail or in a hospital.
Drybread called this process
“cost-shifting” in the Dallas
Morning News story, because gov-
ernments end up footing the bill
for medical expenses or jail time
instead of treatment before they
get there. “Those people are not
going to go away; they’re not go-
ing to disappear,” he said.
“You’ll see longer waiting for
programs, some overflow into the
criminal justice system, and more
police calls because these support
systems are being removed,”
added Lauralee Harris, executive
director of the Mental Health As-
sociation of Tarrant County.
‘ That’s where the real brunt of the
problems will show up.”
• GRELLE
Continued From Page One
River in spring.”
Grelle began painting at an early
age, through the guidance of West-
ern artists James Boren and
Melvin Warren, both of whom
moved to the Clifton area while
Grelle was in high school. He has
been profiled in several publica-
tions, including Southwest Art, Art
of the West, Western Horseman,
InformArt, and American Cowboy.
Grelle lives with his two sons
near Clifton, a few miles from
where he was born.
As of Friday, Aug. 8, other items
that will be included in the auction
are:
• Four tickets to the Dallas Cow-
boys/Arizona Cardinals game on
Oct. 5, dontated by Peter and
Charon Denher.
• Mexican dinner for eight, do-
nated by Sue Kerley and Mattie
Derryberry.
• Two fresh, homemade cococut
pies, donated by Diane “Sissy”
Allen.
• Lone Star Bedding, donated by
Clifton Moulding.
• Custom Professional Bleach-
ing Kit, donated by Dr. Ernest
Erickson, DDS and Dr. Steven
Regan, DDS.
• A pecan pie baked and donated
by Sidney Carlisle.
• Two hand-thrown pitchers by
George Ann Kinser, donated by
George Ann and Wayne Kinser of
Bosque Machine.
• A “weekend package” that in-
cludes overnight accomodations
for one night, a three-course din-
ner for two and breakfast for two
the following morning, donated by
Rough Creek Lodge.
• A Charbroil Silver Smoker, do-
nated by Meridian Ace Hardware.
• “The Chisholm Trail” book,
donated by the Bosque Memorial
Museum.
• A limited edition print of
“When Winters Are Hard” by
James Boren, donated by Mary
Ellen Boren.
— Local Sales, Use, and Economic Development Tax - August 2003 —
Net Rebate City's Sales Economic Dev. Eco. Dev. Eco. Dev. Eco. Dev. To-Date Pet.
This Period Tax Portion Tax Portion Portion, 2002 Year-To-Date 2002 To-Date Change
CLIFTON
MERIDIAN
$37,328.32
$9,001.85
$24,885.55
$6,002.57
$12,442.77
$3,001.28
$1-7.856.53
$2,946.69
$90,877.97
$20,099.48
$101,038.96
$20,064.30
-10.0S&
0.17%
Rebates include local sales taxes collected, in June by monthly filers and reported to the State Comptroller's Office in July
Economic Development Corporation totals are from the rebate totals supplied by State Comptroller s Office.
• REBATES
Continued From Page One
leads the pack with a 29.97 percent
increase over the first eight
months of 2002. Iredell (up 7.36
percent), Morgan (up 3.65 per-
cent), and Meridian (up 0.17 per-
cent) have seen smaller
increases. Joining Clifton in the
negative column are Cranfills Gap
(down 14.4 percent) and Valley
Mills (down 13.89 percent).
In all, rebates to all cities were
down almost 25 percent on the
month, and year-to-date totals are
lagging 7.55 percent behind.
Rebates from sales in unincor-
porated areas of the county were
also down, dropping 15.58 percent
for August, and are 9.85 percent
behind 2002’s year-to-date totals.
August’s sales tax rebates in-
clude local sales taxes collected in
June by monthly sales tax filers
and reported to the Comptroller in
July.
More details of sales tax pay-
ments to individual cities, coun-
ties, transit departments, and
special purpose districts can be
found on the comptroller’s web-
site (www.window.state.tx.us/
taxinfo/allocsum/compsum.html).
The next sales tax rebate allo-
cations will be made on Friday,
Sept. 12.
• BURN BAN
Continued From Page One
the past few days, most being in
North Texas. In anticipation of in-
creased fire activity, the Texas For-
est Service is mobilizing
prevention personnel resources
across the state.
Area counties that already have
or soon will implement outdoor
burning bans include Bell, Erath,
and Hill. If the drought conditions
continue, others will likely follow
suit.
“We respond to wildland fires
when the fires exceed the capac-
ity of the local volunteer fire de-,
partments,” said Mark Stanford,'
chief of fire operations for TfS.
“We are set up to monitor re-
sponse efforts statewide and as-
sess all available resources
resulting in a rapid, initial re-
sponse to areas in need.”
Residents in the very dry North,
West, and Central Texas regions
should take extra safety precau-
tions to prevent fires and to pro-
tect their property in the event of
a wildfire .
• Create a defensible space of at
least 30 feet around your house
and outbuildings; Closely mow
lawns, and prune trees at six feet
above the ground, ’frees should be
spaced widely apart.
• Keep mufflers and spark ar-
resters on agricultural equipment
in proper working order, and
watch out for rocks and metal
when bush hogging or mowing.
• Monitor hay-baling operations
closely; dry hay can ignite within
the baler.
• Watch out for sparks when us
ing welding equipment to build
fences or repair equipment.
• Avoid driving or parking ve-
hicles in grassy areas where tall,
dry grass comes into contact with
hot pollution control equipment
under the vehicle.
• Observe county burn bans.
Check with your local fire depart-
ment to determine if bans on out-
door burning have been issued.
“When the humidity falls below
20 percent, any spark will start a
fire, including those from ciga-
rettes,” said TVaci Bowen, fire pre-
vention specialist for North
Central Texas.
Texas Forest Service is respon
sible for protecting 148 million acres
and 254 counties against wildfires.
For more information on fire risk and
ways to protect property visit on-line
(texasforestservice.tamu.edu).
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Net Payment
Comparable
Percent
2003 Payments 02 Payments
Percent
CITY
THiLPeriad
Pml. Prior Yl
Chanje
To Date
To Date
Cbanae
CLIFTON
S37.328.32
$53.569 60
-30.31%
$272,633.92
$303,116.89
-10 05%
CRANFILLS GAP
$865.15
$1,289.66
-32.91%
$6,166.58
$7,204 43
-14.40%
IREDELL
$836 21
$757.43
10.40%
$3,705 75
$3,451 39
7.36%
MERIDIAN
$9.003 85
$8.840 08
1.85%
$60,298.43
$60,192.91
0.17%
MORGAN
$1,012.65
$1,098.78
-7.83%
$6,503.23
$6,273.97
3.65%
VALLEY MILLS
$2,492.62
$4,407.01
-43.43%
$25,202.06
$29,269.45
-13.89%
WALNUT SPRINGS
$2,657.02
$1,904.93
39.48%
$14,027.71
$10,792.42
29.97%
CITIES TOTALS
$54,195 82
$71.867 49
-24.58%
$388,537.68
$420,301.46
-7.55%
BOSQUE COUNTY
$27,735 88
$32,854.98
-15.58%
$198,231 70
$219,915.03
-9.85%
• COMPTROLLER
Continued From Page One
historic drop of 4.6 percent shows
that our Texas economy remains
weak and there is still no turnaround
in sight/
With just one month left, sales tax
collections for fiscal year 2003 are
down 1.8 percent — $236,504,862 —
from last fiscal year. That number is
even worse than the 1.1-percent de-
cline Texans experienced in fiscal
year 2002.
“We can’t afford to go whistling
past the graveyard. State govern-
ment must Work even harder at find-
ing ways to save taxpayers dollars,”
Strayhorn concluded.
• HEAT WAVE
Continued From Page One
erwise normal conditions, a
damaging, scorching north-
west wind struck terror and
near disaster to a 25-mile
stretch across the northwest
side of Lake Whitney for
nearly three hours,” the book
reports.
Just hours before, it had
been a normal Texas night for
June, with the temperatures
in the area hovering in the 70s.
But just after midnight, the
storm struck without warning,
with temperatures nearly dou-
bling.
The old Mooney Village
Store was heavily damaged.
Mothers reported wrapping
their children in wet sheets
and towels to keep them as
cool as possible. Radiators on
automobile engines spontane-
ously boiled over. Crops were
scorched and carbonized by
the almost-instant heat.
Perhaps one of the hardest-
to-believe aspects of the story
— given the proliferation of
today’s instantly-available
news on the television, radio,
Internet, and through other
avenues — is that the story al-
most went unnoticed outside
the Kopperl area.
“The event would have gone
undocumented except for vet-
eran cameraman Floyd Bright,
who, hearing the incident the
next morning, recorded it on
film,” the books reports. “Except
for the film story on file at the
television station (KXAS-TV Ch.
5) in Fort Worth, there is no other
record of this most unusual
storm.”
• BCCAD
Continued From Page One • “
said that all the taxing entities
were notified of the proposed bud-
get changes, and most supported
it except two, the Cify of Clifton
and the City of Walnut Springs. “,
During the audience with indi-
viduals portion of the meeting,
John Bodovsky said with a smile,
“I’m glad to see you’ve come tb
your senses, but you could have
lowered them some more.”
Director Mike Domel explained
the capacity in which the appraisal
district works to keep property tax
steady, and said, “I assure you, we
try to save you money.”
When the conversation turned
to school funding issues, Dorrjel
replied, “If you find a better way
to fund these schools, I’ll go down
to Austin with you ”
Bodovsky said he appreciated
the directors on board, as did SU”
san Baker.
“I feel ya’ll do a great job,” salt}
Baker. “It’s hard work to get good
people on the board.”
During the public hearing on the
proposed budget, Chief Appraiser
Henry answered questions edn-
cerning equipment items in the
budget, like computer mappipg
programs and copy machine
leases.
“If you find something to cut, let
us know,” said Domel.
Wildlife Management Policy
The board unanimously ap-.
proved adopting a policy on
stricter requirements for wildlife
management filings. In order to
for property owners who want to'
receive ag property values with
wildlife management, they mdst
now provide the appraisal district
receipts of their expenses, a wild;,
life management plan, and a wild-
life professional to sign off on it.
“This policy will help us receive
more information to more easily
track their practices,” said Chief
Appraiser Henry. “People who re-
ally want to do it, will do it right.”
Tabled Items
The board approved the bills'
and payroll, but tabled three itefn^
until next meeting: the audit dii;
gagement for 2003 - 2005, the re-
tirement system for 2004, and ARB
members for the 2004-2005 term.
tt'^Jtfdegrees
side, 112 degrees
in his home.
The summer heat jeopardizes the health of many Texans, mostly children under five and
adults over 50. To help provide heat relief, TXU Energy Aid offers financial assistance
through social service agencies to customers who are temporarily unable to pay their
electric bill. TXU Energy matches, dollar for dollar, each donation to TXU Energy Aid upto
$1 million. See the back of your TXU Energy bill for information. Donations will directly
help those in your community who are in need of assistance, if someone you know needs
energy assistance, call the TXU Cool Line at 1-800-818-6132.
'**•
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Cool a home wW. the warmth of your heart.
REP Certificate No. 10004
#TXU
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 65, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 13, 2003, newspaper, August 13, 2003; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790322/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.