NEWS
Bowie mayor says ambulance costs ‘just tip of the iceberg’ in budget issues
By BARBARA GREEN
Nearly 200 people filled the Bowie Community Center for a Mayor’s Town Hall meeting Monday night to review the financial status of the city.
The elimination of ambulance runs outside the city limits may have been the initial impetus for the meeting, but Mayor Larry Slack said this is just the “tip of the iceberg” of the financial problems.
“We inherited a lot of this through the years and there are some tough decisions that will be required. Electric rates have been disguised as a tax for years. It is going to take a cooperative effort within all the departments. If we continue the same spending habits we will have to borrow money to make payroll next year,” said the mayor.
The audience was filled with a variety of citizens. Numerous fire departments were represented including the City of Bowie and its volunteer department.
Bowie Rural VFD had members present as did Saint Jo VFD and officials from the Nocona General Hospital Ambulance.
The meeting opened with a review of the city’s budget operation which centers on the utility fund that sells products including electricity, water and sewer, and then the general fund which receives taxes and fees as its revenue stream.
Read the full story in the mid-week News.
The Bowie City Council approved a $950,000 project to improve the walking path at Pelham Park on Oct. 27.
Bowie Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Janis Crawley said the upcoming project will repave 26,277 square feet of pathway in concrete, spanning about 0.6 miles in length.
The work covers the trail section northeast of the Blade, curving past the soccer fields and toward the swimming pool.
Another section goes around the pool and sport courts, then back down toward the Blade. The project will also widen the trail section to eight feet and add a new 36-foot bridge.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
Montague County voters joined the rest of the state with a tremendous turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
The elections administration office reported with all 10 precincts counted a turnout of 56.01% or 8,732 casting ballots. There are 15,591 registered voters in the county.
While there were no county contested races, there were two city council and two school board elections.
The Bowie City Council has three places on the ballot. Laura Sproles, incumbent, was not challenged for her place two.
Levi Bailey won the precinct one seat with 925 votes. Valerie Thomerson received 328 votes.
In precinct three, Terry Gunter won with 1,027 votes and Glenda Durham was second with 383
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
A 15-year-old Nocona boy was killed in a crash following a law enforcement pursuit just after midnight on Nov. 1.
Sgt. Aaron Brandle, public information officer with the Montague County Sheriff’s office, said the crash occurred on Nov. 1 at around 12:21 a.m.
The vehicle in the pursuit crashed in the 3600 block of Cardwell Road in Montague County. The juvenile was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was ejected as a result of the crash.
The release states responding law enforcement personnel immediately initiated life-saving measures at the scene. The juvenile was subsequently transported to Nocona General Hospital, where despite continued life-saving efforts, he was pronounced deceased.
While the authorities have not publicly identified the deceased, several community efforts have been launched to assist the family of AR “Mando” Alcantar, a sophomore at Nocona High School. Students and staff also have taken steps to remember the popular young man.
A Gofundme account also has been sent up under the name Small Town, Big Hearts – Help support the Alcantar Family. It was organized by Kelsey Cabrera.
(Top photo – AR “Mando” Alcantar)
Read the full report in the Thursday Bowie News.
The Bowie News staff apologizes for the error in spelling of the the young man’ s name in the print edition. It stated “Mondo” and that was incorrect. We did not find the error until after press time.
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