NEWS
Montague County Crime Stoppers ready to take tip calls
By BARBARA GREEN
The Montague County Crime Stoppers tip line is now open and ready to accept anonymous calls with information on crime.
Creation of the program was a campaign promise for Sheriff Marshall Thomas when he ran for office in 2016 and efforts to begin the program started in April 2017 with an organizational meeting.
Crime Stoppers is the only program where tipsters stay completely anonymous. Calls go to a phone center in Canada where the caller gets a numeric code. The tip is then sent to the county Crime Stoppers, where it is disseminated to the appropriate agency. New billboards with the tip line have gone up in Bowie and Nocona.
Read the full story in the weekend News, plus see the first Crime of the Week.
CRIME OF THE WEEK
On April 4, Montague County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a reported theft at 2839 State Highway 59. Officers met with a complainant who advised sometime between March 21 and March 31, unknown suspects drove onto the property to a large carport where several items were stored.
Suspects took $17,000 worth of property including: Poulan riding lawnmower, Apollo red and white dirt bike, assorted riding gear, children’s drive-on car, catering dishes, Poulan weedeater, table saw, sander, jigsaw, mitersaw, air compressor with hose, gas grill, Sawzall and heat/air conditioning unit.
Call the Crime Stoppers tip line at 866-499-8477 with any information about this or any other crime.
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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