Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 93, Ed. 1 Sunday, November 21, 1999 Page: 1 of 52
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Thanksgiving
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Volume 117 Number 93
Polk County
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Local Aggie triumphs over tragedy
_ ENTERS l*P moTD »Y GORDON LfSAMON
TRAGEDY HITS HOME -- The United States, Texas and
Texas A&M flags fly at half mast at Livingston High School
Friday in the wake of the collapse of the Texas Aggie Bonfire
Thursday that claimed 12 lives. LHS graduate Chip Thiel is
among nine students who remains hospitalized due to the acci-
dent.
Equipment purchases also eyed
Court to address flooding
LIVINGSTON - Chip Thiel in-
stinctively grabbed a cable as be felt
the logs of the Aggie Bonfue begin
to shift under his feet shortly before
2:30 am Thursday. It was a reflex
action that saved his life.
The 40-foot high tower of logs
collapsed within seconds, taking 12
young Uvea and injuring 27 others,
including Thiel.
The 1996 graduate of Livingston
High School and Texas A&M sen-
ior was working on the fourth
suck, the top of the 40-foot lower
of logs that was supposed to have
grown to SS feet before being lit on
the eve of annual Texas A&M ver-
sus University of Texas footbaU
game. The Aggie Bonfire is a 90-
year tradition
As he felt the logs give way.
Thiel grabbed a nearby cable.
"That's probably what saved his
life," his father, Dr. Milton Thiel, a
Livingston veterinarian who is also
a graduate of Texas A&M, told re-
porters at St. Joseph Regional
Health Center Thursday night. He
said his son was Ulking and was
worried about the friends who had
been working with him on Bonfire.
"Two boys, they were right next to
me, I think they're gone." Chip told
his father.
Chip underwent surgery Thursday
morning to repair a punctured lung
and a compound fracture of his leg
below the knee. He was still listed
in fair condition early Saturday but
his prognosis is good.
He is expected to remain in the
hospital for about a week, according
to family friends.
A replacement blood drive to
benefit Thiel and others injured in
the Aggie Bonfire collapse will be
held from 10 a m. until 4 p m
Wednesday at 203 N. Jackson St. in
Livingston (see additional In-
formation on page 3A).
Thiel, an ag economics major at
A&M, was president of the Living-
ston High School Chapter of the
FFA, was a member of the Na-
tional Honor Society and also
served as a student athletic trainer
during his high school years.
Rags at Livingston High
School, as well as at the Polk
County Courthouse and Livingston
City Hall, flew at half-mast Friday
in honor of the students who died in
the Aggie Bonfire collapse.
LIVINGSTON -- During its regu-
lar meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, the
Polk County Commissioners'
Court will consider action pertain-
ing to ratification of an emergency
watershed program and road aid
bridge assistance (from the Novem-
ber 1998 flooding), including
authorization for the county judge
to execute documents.
An agreement with the Univer-
sity of Texas Medical Branch-
Galveston for indigent health care
services will be considered for ap-
proval.
A waste management request for
determination and/or authorization
to rebuild or replace a D6H Cater-
pillar dozer will be considered, as
will a sheriffs department request
to purchase a replacement stove for
the jail.
Commissioners will consider ac-
tion pertaining to a rebid on the
sale of a surplus dump truck for
Precinct 3, as well as action per-
taining to a bid for the purchase of
a maintaincr with the sale or trade-
in of a used maintainer for Precinct
4
Offers to purchase the following
tax foreclosure properties will be
considered: Lot 1 of Block 14 of
Impala Woods No. 1 in Precinct 2
and Lots 3547 and Lots 49-54 of
Shady Shores in Precinct 2.
Verification of the Texas De-
partment of Transportation off-
system bridge loud potting compli-
ance will be considered.
Sec ROAD pg. 2A
Goodrich board to meet
with TEA representatives
GOODRICH - The Boanl of County School Land Task Force, a
Trustees of the Goodrich Independ- class of 2000 request for a spring
ent School District will meet Dr. break activity and proposed foot-
Shirley Johnson, the Texas Educa-
tion Agency (TEA) curriculum
monitor assigned to the district, aid
Karen Case, associate commis-
sioner of accountability and school
accreditation, during its regular
meeting at 7 p m. Mt day.
Action items to be considered for
approval by the board include the
textbook committee, the pro-rata
portion of expense of the Polk
Thanksgiving holiday observed
County and city, offices will be
closed this Thursday and Friday for
the Thanksgiving holiday. There will
be no curbside garbage collection for
city of Livingston residents on
Thursday, but the regular ga. age col-
lection schedule will resume on Fri-
day.
Banks and post offices will be
doted on Thursday, but will reopen on Friday. The Polk County En-
terprise business office will also oe dosed only on Thursday.
LI
P
ball.
The board will alio consider
changing the dale of the December
board meeting to Dec. 14.
Superintendent James Boyce will
report on the auditorium renovation
project, technology and wiring aid
GISD staff appreciation.
The board will enter into an ex-
ecutive session for the discussion of
personnel.
In communication items, the
board will review a letter from the
TEA regarding the commissioner's
Oct. 12 hearing, a letter from TEA
regarding administrative support far
the monitor assigned to GISD and a
letter from Attorney Roger D.
Hepworth, regarding completion of
the Forest Springs Subdivision
care.
Individual instructional program
overviews will be presented by the
middle school and high school sci-
ence, ag and business teachers.
Other items on the agenda include
approval of the minutes and finan-
cial reports.
Thiel's rank in the massive bon-
fue project was that of a Brown
Pot, a group of about a half dozen
civilians and Corps of Cadets
members responsible for supplying
the labor for the project
"Chip believed that being a
Brown Pot was a huge honor," his
roommate, Marcus Edwards, told
reporters
Red Pots are the ones in charge
of the project, explained Rusty
Thompson, who has been faculty
advisor to Bonfire for nine years
All of the civilians and Cadets in-
volved in building Bonfire undergo
training, he said.
"Much has been said here today
about the fact that this is an all-
student-run event and the lack of
supervision," Thompson said a( a
press conference Thursday. "The
folks out here who build this have
the expertise and training where
safety is their number one concern."
The 90-year tradition builds
friendship and camaraderie like no
other, he added. There is a hierarchy
in which students carefully select
their leaders from among their own.
Cadets and civilian students build
the stack after cutting the timber at
the beginning of the semester and
moving it to the site
That same camaraderie was evi-
dent as the logs were tediously re-
moved - one by one at fust to pre-
vent further collapse onto possible
survivors trapped under the stack
and then two or three at a time as
hope faded late Thursday Students
kept vigil around the scene, lending
support to rescue workers and
showing support for their fellow
Aggies
The last body was removed from
the stack at approximately 1 am
Friday.
The death toll reached 12 at ap-
proximately 8:30 p m. Friday with
(he death of Timothy Doran Keriee
Jr., a sophomore who had been
hospitalized since Thursday morn-
ing.
Others killed in the accident in-
clude: Jeremy Richard Frampton, a
senior from Turlock, Calif.; Jamie
Lynn Hand, freshman from Hender-
son; Christopher Lee Heard, fresh-
man from Houston; Lucas John
Kimmel, freshman from Corpus
Christi; Bryan Allen McClain,
freshman from San Antonio; Chad
Amhony Powell, sophomore from
Keller; Jerry Don Self, sophomore
from Arlington; Nathan Scott
West, sophomore from Bellairc;
Miranda Adams, sophomore horn
Pasadena; Michael Ebooks, fresh-
man from Carrollton; and Christo-
pher David Breen, a fanner student
from Austin.
CHIP THIEL
as an LHS junior
USD's new campus on schedule
Drought a boon to building
LIVINGSTON -- The dry weather
that has taken a toll on crops, gar-
dens and lawns has been a blessing
for those constructing the Living-
ston Independent School District's
new seventh, eighth and ninth grade
campus.
Construction Manager Bob
Kingham told the LISD Board of
Trustees Thursday that the building
is far enough along that, if the
weather turns wet, there is plenty of
inside work to do to keep the proj-
ect on schedule.
Masonry work should be com-
plete by Christinas and permanent
electrical power should be complete
just after the holiday, he said. Bar-
ring any unforeseen problems, dis-
trict personnel should be able to
move in to the new school by the
end of July or First week of August,
in time fur the start of the 2000-
2001 school year.
Thursday's meeting began 15
minutes earlier than usual to allow
for a public hearing on the Aca-
demic Excellence Indicator System
(AEIS) report. No members of the
public were present to address the
report, which includes genera] data
on student performance.
When the regular meeting began,
the AEIS report was approved, as
were district and campus improve-
ment plans.
Trustees also appointed a Text-
book Committee for 1999-2000.
Committee members include pri-
mary campus personnel Pam Maze,
Emily Allen, Mary Pixley, Mi-
chelle Moore and Lucy Kuntz; ele-
mentary teachers Frances Harrell,
Maureen DeVilleneauve, Robin
Clark and Rose Milspaugh; inter-
mediate teacher Sherry Steffey; jun-
ior high teacher Kristy Long; and
high school personnel Dorothy
Berger, Sandra Coker and Carolyn
Cowan.
In other business, the board ac-
cepted a gift of a plotter, a copy
machine capable of printing maps,
which was presented to the high
school by Livingston Telephone
Co.
Trustees voted to delay awarding
a bid on the purchase of metal stor-
age containers until its December
meeting.
The highest bids received were
accepted for the sale of several used
school buses. Walter Wilkersan
will purchase Five Chevrolet buses
for a total price of $2,200 and a bid
of $228.75 from J&E Salvage was
accepted for a GMC step van.
Local Policy Update 61, reflect-
ing changes made during the last
legislative session, was approved
on second reading and Local Policy
FM, which will allow students to
mist up to 10 days of school each
year to attend UIL activities, was
approved on First reading.
Trustees also approved the dis-
trict's organizational chart; approved
an overnight stay by the basketball
team during a tournament in Port
Neches, for which the host team
paid for lodging; and were advised
of three sex offenders residing in the
district.
Also approved was participation
in the Lufkin Regional Day School
Program for the Deaf, through
which someone from Lufkin will
come here to work with nine deaf
LISD students.
The board also agreed to request a
class size waiver far kindergarten
and fourth grades. One class in each
of those grades now exceed the state
mandated 22:1 student/teacher ratio
and other classes in those grades are
at or near capacity. *- -
Following discussion in dored
session, the board agreed to add
three people to the substitute
teacher list, all three of whom have
previously done substitute teaching
for the district, and agreed to hire a
part-time secretary in the Food
Service Purchasing Department
__PHOTO IY GORDON l
ITS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE... - Juan Cuellar
(on ladder) and Alberto Paramo of the Livingston Parts and
Recreation Department turn pillars at Livingston City Hall into
giant candy canes. This will be the fust Christmas for the new
city hall, which is being decorated in advano if a lighting
ceremony and Christmas on the Square program set for 6 p.m.
Dec. 3.
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 93, Ed. 1 Sunday, November 21, 1999, newspaper, November 21, 1999; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790976/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.