NEWS
Early voting closes out with more than 50 percent turnout
Election season seems to have been going on forever, but it comes to an end on Tuesday when American voters go to the polls to have their say on national, state and local elections.
Early voting has been steady across the county and appears to be record-breaking with 7,012 early ballots cast shortly before noon on the final day. That is 49 percent of the 13,519 registered voters in the county, but election officials expected it to pass 50 percent early afternoon. In 2016 the presidential election drew 5,944 early voters.
Ginger Wall, elections administrator, said while nearly 50 percent of the county’s registered voters went to the polls early, there are still plenty who will vote on election day. The election staff will begin processing early ballots on election day and begin uploading them by 7 p.m. when polls close.
Wall said early voting went well with no major issues. Voters planning to arrive on election day should be prepared for possible lines. She also reminds those who have not submitted their mail-in ballot to the post office, those may be hand-delivered by the voter to the election administrator’s office by 5 p.m. on election day.
There were 650 mail-in ballots requested including those by military and citizens out of the country on election day.
Voters may cast their ballots at any of the locations since Montague County operates county-wide polling. Polling locations and sample ballots will be available at the county website: co.montague.tx.us, click elections.
Read the rest of the story in the mid-week Bowie News.
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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