Spring storms have been creating dangerous conditions for the past two weeks, and Mother Nature continues to douse North Texas with rain this week.
For January through April the City of Bowie water plant staff recorded 14.56 inches of rain, including a whopping 11.76 inches in April alone. For the first six days of May the rain has totaled 1.55 inches.
Nocona received a bit more rain for this period, a total of 19.28 inches according to Texas Mesonet. In April it recorded 9.89 inches and in March 3.25 inches. For the first six days of May 4.36 inches was recorded.
Lake Amon G. Carter is still more than 100% full and threatening to go

over the emergency spillway when it reaches 927 msl. The lake is considered full at 920 msl and as of May 6 it was 924.47 msl.
Last week, the city sent out flood warnings for those downstream in the path of water that could flow out of the lake across this spillway. One month ago the lake was full at 920.06
City Emergency Management Coordinator Kirk Higgins said Monday as of now no water has come out of the spillway, but he does not expect that to continue if the rain does not stop. The lake continues to be closed due to flooding.
Lake Nocona was at 828.44 msl on May 6 and is considered full at 827.5 msl. Just one month ago the lake was 88.4% full at 825.60 msl. Its boat ramps were closed briefly last week due to flooding, but have since reopened.
Last week’s heavy rainfall continues to plague city streets and low-lying areas. While not unexpected the creek that flows in the Nelson Street area east toward Pillar was raging full of storm water last week topping the creek bed going into the streets and under nearby houses.
Public Works Director Stony Lowrance said a section of Rock near Pillar has been closed, although Pillar remains open. A section of the curb and road on the creekside has broken away and fallen into the ditch creating hazardous road conditions. A small part of the street had been coned off as a small section had caved in last month.
Lowrance said they are keeping a close eye on this area as rains continue, noting this is not an unexpected problem as the Rock and Pillar Street has been debated in the city council as being the next major capital project for the city. Nearby Nelson Street drainage was completed in late 2024 and while it alleviated flooding issues in that area, it also is sending more water down to an intersection where the culverts are in the same deteriorated and eroded conditions as those were under Nelson Street that were replaced.

Top photo: A section of the curb and street near Pillar and Rock has collapsed into the creek bed following last week’s rains. (Photo by Rosie Cole)

The Montague County Commissioner’s Court will meet at 9 a.m. on May 12.
A brief agenda of business awaits the court in its regular session.
The court will consider approving the Law Enforcement Support Office application.
Consider applying to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a scrap tire facility permit.
Discuss precinct one removing excess dirt and debris from bar ditches and giving it to Gary Brewer, Rickey Joyce and David Steadham.

For the children of Tia Hutson a guilty verdict for the man who killed their mother is a complicated feeling, but it has restored their faith in the legal system as they try to move forward.
On May 1, after almost two weeks of testimony, a jury returned a verdict of guilty on Gregory Bell in the beating death of Tia Hutson. It only took 25 minutes for the jury of eight men and four women, to return a maximum term of life in prison and fine of $10,000.
The 58-year-old Bell handed over his sentencing to the jury if he was convicted. Assistant District Attorney Paige McCormick urged the jury to show Bell how they feel about what he did and sentence him to life.
The trial lasted one day shy of two weeks as the jury went out to deliberate May 1. Bell was charged with the murder of Tia Hutson, 50, Saint Jo.
His former girlfriend, Hutson was found beaten and raped inside her home on Aug 5, 2022. Six days later she died from her injuries never regaining consciousness. Bell was accused of using a large flashlight to beat her.
It has been almost three years since Trevor Riley and his sister Kami Taylor lost their mother Tia Hutson. They remained fearful for their family as no arrest was made for 15 months. Then after the arrest the time ticked away until the trial.
Both of them testified in the trial and sat through it day after day waiting for a verdict. Riley says they really didn’t have a choice but to take it day by day, adding the new team at the district attorney’s office was very accommodating and understanding, and their support made it easier.
“Our family would like to express our gratitude to the people that helped us find justice. Their compassion and professionalism was an indescribable comfort in our time of need,” explained Riley.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

Victim impact statement from Kami Taylor, daughter of Tia Hutson
I remember the night my mom was murdered. It felt like the ground disappeared beneath me. One minute, she was making me waffles in our kitchen and hours later, she was beaten and raped in her own home. I still remember the moment I found out. Everything around me went quiet, like the world stopped spinning., I couldn’t cry right away, I couldn’t even speak. Something inside of me broke, and I’ve never fully put the pieces back together. Tia Hutson wasn’t just taken from me, she was ripped from my life by an act of senseless violence, and nothing could have prepared me for the pain.
Her absence is something that burdens me every day, in the quiet moments when I need her voice, a hug, a laugh, a friend. But no. She was taken from me, an 18-year-old who had just started to get a taste of life, by someone who was supposed to love her and care for her. I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night, crying for her. I miss her. I need her.
Greg Bell is a dangerous individual unfit for society. Not only did he terrorize, rape, and murder my mom, he threatened to do the same to me and the rest of my family. He has shown reckless disregard for the law. I cannot explain the daily terror I faced at his hands, afraid that I would run into him somewhere and he would do the same thing to me as he did to my mom.
Tia was taken too soon. I lost her one week before I started college, her funeral being the day before my first day of class. She never got to see me graduate with my associate’s degree, and she won’t see me graduate with my bachelor’s. She won’t see me get married.
My mom was a problem solver and a fixer. I wish she could fix the pain he’s caused me, and the pain he’s caused all of us. What hurts most is knowing she’s not going to be here smiling, laughing, living, and growing old. But instead, I was left in silence, with questions that will never be answered, and with a pain so deep that it follows me everywhere. Her death didn’t just hurt me, it shattered my world. And every day, I’m still trying to survive the weight of losing her.
But, momma, we did it. We got justice.