NEWS
Active COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the county
Montague County’s active COVID-19 cases continue to rise, as does the fatality count for the area reported to be at 14.
As of Monday there were 87 residents of the county in active isolation or quarantine with 79 cases confirmed by a positive test and eight probable based on contact or exposure.
The Texas Department of Health Service COVID Dashboard which records figures for all aspects of the pandemic shows 14 virus-related deaths in Montague County, however, Dr. Delbert McCaig, county health authority, said he knows of at least six more deaths which have had death certificates processed by the DSHS. Seven of the COVID deaths are from Nocona with the seventh one reported last Thursday night by the family on social media.
The health officer repeated what has been an ongoing issue since the pandemic started, with delays and discrepancies in the daily report local officials receive conflicting with and the state dashboard.
It takes three to five days for a positive test result to show up on the daily spreadsheets, while death certificates are processed from 10 to 14 days from the date of the death before they are shown in the reports.
Since the pandemic began there have been a total of 502 confirmed virus cases and 63 probable in Montague County. Across the state of Texas as of Monday there had been 1,100,979 confirmed cases, 20,588 fatalities, 165,126 active cases and 917,739 recoveries.
Free drive-up testing is expected to continue through December located at the Nocona General Hospital parking lot.
Visit gogettested.com to register.
NEWS
Medical needs community meeting on Nov. 19
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.
NEWS
Bowie Council members to take oath of office
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.
NEWS
Council celebrates reopening of Nelson by moving the barricades
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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