NEWS
Saint Jo City Council hires fire marshal
The City of Saint Jo has a new fire marshal as the city council made the appointment during its May 13 meeting.
Gary Hines, a retired professional firefighter and certified fire investigator, will take the position. City Secretary Debbie Dennis said the post is required by ordinance but has not been filled for a long period.
The council set dates for a budget workshop for 2 p.m. on June 14 and 2 p.m. on June 28 for the ordinance workshop, as the council works to update its rules.
Aldermen gave their support to a proposition by Councilman Jack Dunn who is asking the Legislature to allow Texas’ smallest cities, those with 2,500 or few in population, to receive an additional share of sales and use tax. He would like to see the funds used in these communities to repair and replace aging infrastructure without new taxes or reliance on state grants.
In letter to State Rep. David Spiller, whom Dunn will meet with on June 1, the alderman explains much of the state’s 6.25% share generated locally flows into general funds and is spent on other priorities. He would like Spiller to author this legislation. Dunn gave the letter to the council along with a powerpoint on the plan.
“A single water treatment plant upgrade or sewer rehab carries massive, fixed costs that do not shrink with population size. These communities, often with only a few hundred or a couple thousands residents, simply cannot spread those costs across enough ratepayers or a broad tax based,” the letter states.
Dunn suggests a “graduated sales tax retention policy:” 1% additional share for cities with 2,500 or fewer residents; .75% for those 2,500 and 5,000; and .50% for cities between 5,001 and 10,000. It would be dedicated to infrastructure. Dunn says the overall statewide fiscal impact would be negligible, but could help sustain small, rural cities.
Bowie Library’s Summer Reading program began on June 8 and will continue through July 28.
This year’s theme is “Unearth a Story,” with a focus on prehistoric items and dinosaurs.
Summer reading is open to children ages 0-12 and these free programs will be at the Bowie Community Center at 10 a.m. every
Tuesday in June and July excluding June 23, July 14 and July 21 when it will be at the library.
Children will be given a reading log to bring with them to each program. Each child also receives a book at the end of the series.
The program will include the following activities: June 16, Bright Star Theater Group; June 23, Read and Go take home craft; July 7, dinosaur exhibit; July 14, Tales ‘N’ Trails Museum program; July 21, Read and Go take home craft and July 28, Creature Teacher.
‘Tween and Teen
There will be a summer reading program for this age group of those 11 to 18.
Programs at are 2 p.m. June 11, 18 and 25 all at the library. Youngsters can do dinosaur scratch art, air-dry clay diffuser disc and take part in an escape room. Call 872-2681 with questions.
On June 8, 2026, at approximately 9:16 p.m., a deputy with the Montague County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Bowie Police Department in reference to a runaway juvenile from Indian Hills Road, Bowie.
The reporting party was the mother of the missing female. The mother advised her daughter identified as Emalyn Maye Scott a 16-year-old white female had been missing since approximately 1 a.m.
The reporting party advised Emalyn and a female friend had gone for a walk around midnight on U.S. 81 near Indian Hills Road before returning to the residence and going to bed. When the mother got up on the morning of June 8, Emalyn was not at the residence.
Emalyn was entered into NCIC/TCIC and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was contacted. A notice also was sent to all agencies within 200 miles of Montague County.
The last known whereabouts of Emalyn was on June 8, 2026, at approximately 12:30 a.m. where a deputy had come into contact with her and her friend during their walk that was reported by the mother. She was observed again, walking by herself, at approximately 2 a.m. These contacts were prior to her being reported as missing.
Emalyn is approximately 5’02” tall, weighs 120 pounds, has black hair and green eyes.
If you have any information on Emalyn’s whereabouts contact the Montague County Sheriff’s Office immediately at (940) 894-2871.
A BOIL WATER NOTICE remains in effect for the 400 block of Decatur Street following a water main break. Residents in the affected area should be using boiled or bottled water for drinking, eating, or brushing teeth. If you need bottled water as a result of this notice, please contact the City of Bowie, TX Office of Emergency Management at (940) 977-4941.
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