Posts published in “Day: February 24, 2011”

By BOBBY HORN JR.
HIGHLANDS—A man wanted for stealing copper near Dayton, has been identified by authorities as Lance Leon Mears, 25, of Highlands.
Last week the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office released photos of a man on a pole cutting electrical wires, allegedly attempting to steal the copper.
After the pictures were released the sheriff’s office received tips leading them to a residence in the 100 block of Pin Oak in Highlands. However, Mears was not at home.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest for the Dayton theft. The sheriff’s office said that Mears is also suspected of other copper thefts in Liberty and Harris County.
Mears has had other encounters with law enforcement.
On Nov. 1, 2010 the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mears on a charge of driving with a suspended drivers license.

By GILBERT HOFFMAN Star-Courier
HIGHLANDS– Sampson Masonic Lodge No. 231, annually honors a local citizen or group with their “Community Builder Award” for outstanding service to the community. This year, the award went to a couple well known in the community, Claudia and Bobby Birdsong, for their involvement in numerous civic causes and organizations.
The award was presented to the Birdsongs by Worshipful Master Christopher Watson, in a ceremony held last Saturday afternoon at the Lodge, attended by family, friends, and Masons.

Watson and members of the community that know the Birdsongs well spoke to the audience about their history of service to the community, and the friendliness and warmth they show to all. Speaking of their appreciation of the Birdsongs were Pastor Tim Edwards, Fire Chief Harvey Little, as well as Watson.
Several audience members also made comments, the one most often heard was “Claudia is the best cook in Highlands!”
Tim Edwards spoke about their service, reminding the audience that Jesus said “the greatest is the one who serves.” He recalled 14 years of Claudia’s service to the First Baptist Church members, taking care of people. He also noted Bobby’s long service as a coach and sponsor of the Little League and Highlands Sports Association.
Harvey Little recalled what great neighbors they are, as well as Bobby as a hunting friend, and colleague at the fire department.
In his comments, Worshipful Master Watson noted that Claudia had served at the Church since 1986 as church secretary, headed the Food Pantry, supervised the Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for the needy, and Share your Christmas for local school children. She kept in touch with local groups, such as Rotary, Sampson Lodge, area churches, and Pilot Club for needs of families in the community.
Watson said that Bobby had retired from Lyondell Chemical, and been a Deacon at First Baptist Church since 1986. He has been a volunteer fireman for 17 years, serving as Assistant Chief and responsible for maintenance of the department vehicles. He partipates in the Fill the Boot Campaign, and annual HVFD BBQ. Bobby had worked with area boys and girls for many years coaching baseball and softball, and for 5 years has been Assistant VP of the Pony League baseball team.
The Birdsong’s family was present at the ceremony, including children Cindy Wilingham with husband Eric and their 2 children Courtney and Tyler; and son Billy with wife Melody, and their 2 children Logan and Morgan.
After the awards ceremony, the attendees gathered for a social occasion and refreshments in the Sampson Lodge Building.

By GILBERT HOFFMAN and LEWIS SPEARMAN Star-Courier
CROSBY– A town hall meeting that combined State Representative Dan Huberty’s first public forum, and the school district’s report on the school budget, was held last Thursday night at the high school auditorium. Several hundred people turned out, and although the crowd was civil, they voiced quite a few concerns about TxDOT’s current plans for improvements on FM2100, and what the reduced school budget will mean to teacher’s jobs and classroom instruction quality.
Both TxDOT and Crosby ISD expressed concern that reduced funding from the state would greatly curtail what they could accomplish.

For instance, a much discussed widening of FM2100 from Crosby to Huffman, with left turn lanes and other safety features, is not going to happen in the near future, District Engineer Delvin Dennis said. Construction costs of $25 million, and land acquisition of $15 million put this project far into the future, he said. Dennis did say that some minor safety improvements would be implemented between now and September, and a study would attempt to lower the speed limit from 55 mph to 50 mph.
When Rodney Foster pointed out that as many as 16,000 cars a day use this stretch of road, Dennis compared it to FM1960 with 60,000, saying it was a much more serious problem that he was dealing with.
Several residents of Jackson Bayou, and Gena McMillan, who has a business on Kernahan, expressed concern about access to their properties when the railroad overpass is built. The TxDot engineers said that temporary widening would allow some access, but that other roads with alternate access would be blocked, but just for a few days. McMillan was not satisfied with this answer, and asked the public to contact her on her new website, www.visitcrosby.com.
When mention of the new US90 was made, the audience burst into applause, and some told of the time saving this has meant to them.
School Finance
Huberty made the point about choosing between Needs vs Wants. He made the point that “Texas does not have any money,” and road and school budgets will be affected. The Legislature is now trying to fix a $27 billion dollar shortfall.
He said that in March the state Comptroller will issue a new revenue forecast, and the Legislature must spend no more than this. However, the economy seems to be recovering, and sales tax collections are up, 11% in January for example.
Huberty expects that the state will pull $3.5 billion from their “Rainy Day” fund to help with school financing.
As a prior school board president, in Humble, Huberty said he has a “passionate approach to education,” and will be working on minimizing the funding cuts.
Superintendent Moore pointed out that Crosby ISD has already taken a number of budget reductions, and they are now working on a budget for 2011-2012 that will be finalized when the state’s contribution is known, probably in August.
The current Crosby ISD budget is $39.5 million, and this will probably have to be reduced by $3.9 to $5.3 million, Moore said.
For certain, Moore said, “The cuts will be uncomfortable.”
Because of the arcane funding formula that the state now uses, the only way to get more money for your budget is to pass a tax increase.
Moore said that to save money, the administration staff is working fewer days, i.e. this is a salary reduction; reducing all travel; using resignations and retirements to reduce staff; and looking at “job sharing” as a possibility.
Huberty and Moore said that there will be another Town Hall meeting at the end of March, at the Newport Elementary.