NEWS
DPS offers tips for safe Thanksgiving holiday travels
As Texans prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) offers tips for safe travel and calls on residents to celebrate responsibly.“The Thanksgiving weekend invariably means increased traffic on roadways, and DPS is reminding Texans that we all have a responsibility to help make the roads safe for everyone,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “Our Troopers will be on the lookout for dangerous drivers who disregard the law – at the same time, we urge drivers to use extra caution while traveling and to always drive sober.”
DPS troopers will be patrolling Texas around-the-clock during the holiday weekend looking for drunk drivers, speeders, seat belt violators and other drivers who are endangering themselves and others. During the Thanksgiving weekend in 2015, DPS troopers issued 28,835 traffic citations and warnings for a variety of violations, including speeding, no insurance and seat belt/child safety seat usage. DPS patrols also resulted in 219 driving while intoxicated arrests, 127 fugitive arrests and 94 felony arrests during the same time period.
DPS offers the following tips for safe travel during the Thanksgiving holiday:
- Don’t drink and drive. Designate a driver or take a cab.
- Slow down – especially in bad weather, construction areas and heavy traffic.
- Eliminate distractions, including the use of mobile devices.
- Buckle up everyone in the vehicle – it’s the law.
- Slow down or move over for police, fire, EMS and Texas Department of Transportation vehicles and tow trucks that are stopped on the side of the road with emergency lights activated – it’s the law. Also, show the same courtesy to fellow drivers stopped along the road if it is safe to do so.
- Don’t drive fatigued – get plenty of rest before trips or take breaks as needed.
- Drive defensively, as holiday travel may present additional challenges.
- Make sure your vehicle is properly maintained before your trip begins.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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