NEWS
DA pleads not guilty on theft charges
A pre-trial hearing was set for late October in the theft trial of 97th District Attorney Casey Hall.
An Oct. 31 date was selected at Friday’s arraignment for Hall on the theft of property $2,500 -$30,000 charge. Hall, appearing with her attorney Abe Factor, pled not guilty.
Matthew Shawhan, Texas Attorney General’s office, appeared for the state before Judge Lee Gabriel. It was a brief arraignment of less than 30 minutes.
After hearing the plea, there was a brief recess as the judge consulted with the court coordinator about the possible dates for a pre-trial hearing. The two attorneys also adjourned into the conference room for a brief chat.
The pre-trial hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 31 in the district courtroom.
Hall was indicted on July 8 by a Montague County Grand Jury for two theft complaints connected to a pair of 2022 financial transactions involving Attorney General grant funds used in her office to supplement salaries. The DA is accused of requesting the funds for a staff member and then depositing the two checks at $9,166.66 each into her personal account. Hall has denied all the allegations.
The DA, who represents Montague, Clay and Archer Counties, agreed to temporary suspension in the Aug. 9 removal petition hearing and a jury trial in that civil action is pending.
Katie Boggeman, who defeated Hall in the March primary and is unchallenged in the general election, was sworn in to serve as DA during the suspension.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie City Councilors accepted a proposed tax rate for 2024 and conducted the public hearing on the 2024-25 budget this week.
Those items were just part of a lengthy agenda that spanned the topics of calling an election, trash collection prices and natural gas rates.
There were no public comments in the hearing on the budget. The overall projected operational expenses total $23,296,885 with nearly comparable revenues of $23,306,568 for a closely balanced budget.
Some of the budget highlights include a 5% pay increase for hourly workers and 3% for department heads. The insurance increase is 4.9% and there are a little more than $600,000 in capital expenses for four pieces of equipment, park equipment and a 10% match for fencing at the airport. The utility fund will transfer in about $1.350,000 into the general fund and ad valorem taxes estimated at $2,587.483.
This budget’s tax rate is proposed at .5430 cents per $100 in property value. City Manager Bert Cunningham noted this is the third year for the rate to remain at this level. The public hearing for the rate and budget adoption will be on Aug. 26.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
As the Bowie Independent School District winds down its fiscal year at the end of August there are no new revenue streams expected and there is still a $1.2 million deficit looming on the horizon.
The board of trustees met Wednesday night for a 90-minute budget workshop where they focused on salary and insurance options, and realized without any real change in state funding they can expect another deficit year in 2025.
Paula Peterson, finance director, opened with an overview of the revenues in general operating, child nutrition and debt service, along with the expense reports through the end of July.
In general operating tax and other local revenue year to date totals $8,511,179 which is at 76% of its budget.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Bowie first responders were on the scene of this one vehicle crash around 4:30 p.m. on Friday after this pickup crashed through the fence and collided with the portable building science lab room behind the junior high on Mill Street. Luckily there were no students on campus, but a teacher was inside the building. She first thought a tree had fallen before going outside. The driver of the pickup was transported to Bowie ER for treatment of his injuries. No additional details are available at this time, but The Bowie News will follow up for the mid-week edition.
(photo by Barbara Green)
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