NEWS
Caleb Diehl case gets ‘new eyes’ from sheriff’s office
By BARBARA GREEN
Montague County Sheriff Marshall Thomas hopes a “fresh set of eyes” can provide new direction in the disappearance of Caleb Diehl and other cold cases within the county.
Kevin Benton, retired 30-year law officer, has joined the sheriff’s team as a part-time investigator and coordinator of the crime prevention program. Benton retired from the Wise County Sheriff’s Office in August.
Thomas said there is simply not enough staff dedicated to handle investigations, so when the opportunity to bring Benton onboard came up even for one or two days a week the sheriff grabbed it.
“We had a small amount of money in part time which we didn’t use, so I was able to bring him in. Since he retired he needed something to do,” laughed Thomas. “When you surround yourself with good, knowledgeable people it lessens the pressure in some areas.”
Read the full story in the mid-week News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
The 2026 certified property values for Montague County were released to the 16 taxing entities for which it sets values and for Montague County the total numbers were up 3.591%.
With the arrival of these numbers, the taxing entities can begin serious work on creating their budgets and proposed tax rates. Last year the Montague County Tax Appraisal District had to create two sets of values pending the November homestead election so they were happy things were back to just one set.
Certified values are based on property sales made as of Jan. 1, 2026. Chief Appraiser Kim Haralson said the values held up well during the protest hearings, and while minerals went down some there were a lot of new properties added.
New taxable property totaled $87,505,775 for 1,208 properties. Haralson said people appear to be setting up manufactured homes on some of the two-acre tract subdivision and other subdivisions are seeing people start to build houses.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
It is going to be a tough budget season for the Bowie City Council as it works through a draft budget proposal that tries to figure out how to pay for major projects and maintain present operations for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
As per the city charter, City Manager Bert Cunningham presented the budget proposal to the council on July 14, emphasizing without the final certified property values, as well as the final health insurance rates, it truly is a draft. The city staff also await the final bid numbers for the Rock and Pillar drainage project hovering around $2 million with plans to fund it through the budget.
A budget workshop was scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 27 with a public hearing to follow on Aug. 11.
Cunningham said the certified figures may become available by the end of the week, but that is uncertain. Two months ago the city’s preliminary values were up $70,530,035 from the 2025 final values, however, usually the certified values fluctuate slightly from the preliminary numbers, which totaled $497,939,568.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
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