As the final days for early voting were ticking away Montague County Elections Administrator Ginger Wall said there had been a strong turnout with 12% of registered voters casting ballots for the May 4 Bowie and Forestburg Independent School District Bond elections.
The final day for early voting ended at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Going into the final day there were a total of 1,088 early voters for the bond elections.
On election day May 4 polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at three locations: Bowie Senior Citizens Center, Forestburg ISD Library and Sunset City Hall. Voters can cast ballots at any of the three locations and remember your photo identification.
Bowie ISD is asking voters to reconsider a $65.8 million bond issue, they defeated last November 1,079 to 855. Board members indicated they felt all the needs were still there and they needed to get more information out to the voters.
In the plans there would be a new intermediate school built, and the present intermediate would be renovated to accommodate junior high students that would be moved from their present building.
A weight room would be added at the high school, which did not include one when it was built and a restroom at the baseball/softball fields. Parking would be expanded at the front of the elementary school and a new bus route flow established around the building to alleviate traffic issues.
Forestburg ISD is asking voters to consider a pair of propositions. Proposition A is $4.1 million and centers on a new classroom addition to the high school adding rooms and restrooms, storm shelter and a new roof.
Proposition B at $2.1 million would be for a new eight-lane track, bleacher system and press box with full handicap accessibility and new field with 24/7 public access.

A Saturday night incident involving a sheriff’s deputy trying to detain a female suspect resisting arrest and attempting to take his weapon lead to minor injuries for both.
Shortly after 8 p.m. April 27, Deputy Chandon Heugatter, after responding to a complaint by Kim Hill, served her neighbor Amanda May Hill with a criminal trespass warning for her to stay off their property.
Kim Hill lives at 125 Michigan, while Amanda Hill lives at 307 Front Street, both are neighbors in the Sunset area. Chief Deputy Jack Lawson said the original complaint was Amanda Hill was breaking into their storage sheds and “trashing the property.”

It lead to a confrontation between Amanda Hill as the officer tried to talk with her and then arrest her as she ran back to her house and would not follow his commands to stop.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.

Spring thunderstorms and tornadic activity during the weekend caused significant damage in nearby southern Oklahoma cities of Marietta and Sulphur, and while flood warnings were issued for Montague County there were no reports of significant damage in the area.
Flood watch and warnings for the northern part of the county went up Saturday night, but there were no warnings issued for the City of Bowie. Kirk Higgins, emergency management coordinator, said there were no hyperlink warnings set out Saturday and he is unaware of any storm-related damage.
There also were reports of text messages being sent out that only stated “Shelter in place,” with no explanation or attribution. Higgins said he is unaware of any such warnings and the possibly bogus messages if real would have included some explanation.
With the official kickoff of summer a little more than a month away at the end of May, local lakes will go into the summer season strong.
Lake Amon G. Carter reached 100% at 920.51 mean sea level as of April 29. Just one month ago it was at 85.65% full at 918.03 msl, and it remained stable just dropping to 84% six months ago. One year ago it was just shy of full at 97.8% or 919.71 msl.

Read the full story on the local lakes in the mid-week Bowie News.