NEWS
Bowie City Council pushing to reopen economy earlier
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
The Bowie City Council wants to get the local economy moving again and would like to jump right into phase two of the governor’s plan due to the low number of active COVID-19 cases.
Councilors debated the issue during its Monday night meeting. Mayor Bill Miller said we have to “open up our country,” and invited State Sen. Pat Fallon to comment via the video conference link.
Fallon said one death is too many, but at this point the predictions for much higher deaths and hospital needs have not come to pass in Texas so he believes it is time to start reopening.
“We have 21,000 hospital beds reserved for COVID-19 patients, 1,550 are occupied. We have capacity. Anyone who needed a bed or a ventilator had one. We are okay on personal protection equipment for medical personnel, but we are running low on gowns. Texas is one of the the least hit as the 40th high state with confirmed cases and 41st in deaths. We hunkered down, but it is time to get out of the foxhole and keep moving,” said Fallon.
He was enthusiastic about the governor’s plan, but said he would have liked to have seen it go a bit further adding they have a lot of questions to clarify. Governor Greg Abbott outlined his plan in a Monday press conference with phase one allowing all retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls to reopen May 1 at 25 percent capacity.
This plan also outlined protocols for certain counties with five or fewer lab confirmed cases of the virus. Those counties may on an individualized basis, increase occupancy limits up to 50 percent for those retail categories listed in phase one. Montague County falls into this category and could jump immediately into phase two.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
Jan. 1, 2025 is the first day of a new elected term for many Montague County officials. There will be a swearing-in ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 in the courthouse annex.
The public is invited to attend with refreshments to follow.
Officials being sworn in are: Sheriff Marshall Thomas, County Attorney, Commissioner One Roy Darden, Commissioner Three Mark Murphey, Constables Jerry DeMoss and Harvey Johnson and Tax Assessor Kathy Phillips.
One person was killed in a two-vehicle accident in the early morning hours of Dec. 28 on U.S. 81 (U.S.287) 0.2 miles from Fruitland Road.
Texas of Public Safety officials said the wreck occurred at 5:23 a.m. on Dec. 28 on the highway in front of Camper’s Paradise.
The preliminary investigation showed a 2013 Kia Soul driven by Shelley Gene Jewell, 66, Gainesville, was traveling southbound in the northbound lane of the highway. A second vehicle, a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Jose Noe Vences, 39, Dallas was traveling northbound.
The two vehicles struck head-on. The Soul continued into the center median where it came to rest. The Tahoe rolled onto its top and came to rest across both northbound lanes.
Jewell was pronounced dead at the scene from injuries in the crash. Vences was transported to Medical City Decatur with non-incapacitating injuries. His passenger, Maria Tinico, 42, Dallas, and a six-year-old male minor were not injured, while a passenger, a 12-year-old minor, was transported to Medical City with non-incapacitating injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
As with your personal lives, looking back on the year reflects all the emotions from excitement and disappointment to fear and sadness.
Montague County experienced all the norms of Texas weather with drought followed up by flooding, and a few tornadoes also blew across the Cross Timbers. Bowie enjoyed almost a year with an emergency room only to be crushed with its close just a few weeks shy of one year. The lead prosecutor for the tri-county 97th District was indicted on two theft charges, which lead to her resignation and a pending trial.
Nocona High School was elated as its Lady Indians competed at the state tournament, while its barbecue teams competed at state and national contests. Bowie also was ecstatic to see the Nelson/Mill Street project completed after some two years of it being closed.
The Bowie News staff went through all of our editions to note the top news and while we could not include every tidbit, we tried to include things that impacted entire communities.
In your mid-week News find a month by month listing of the top news stories and some of our favorite photos.
Top photo- May 29 tornado in the Forestburg area. (Courtesy photo)
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NEWS2 years ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
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NEWS1 year agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
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NEWS2 years agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
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NEWS2 years agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
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NEWS1 year agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
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NEWS2 years ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
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NEWS2 years agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
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NEWS2 years ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint