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News

County working with 2020 Vision on structure for courthouse lawn

Beautification of the courthouse lawn was the discussion between the county and 20/20 Vision recently.

County Judge Keith Umphress met with the group last week. The group is a community action committee focused on the beautification of the city and county as a whole. Umphress told commissioners at their regular meeting the board allocates funds to different groups for that purpose, but had never participated with the county.

STATE CHAMPS!

It is not often high school students wanting and gladly accepting more work. In the case of Jacksboro High School’s cheerleading squad, it helped them pick up a state title Thursday, Jan. 16.

It was the third straight year the girls placed in the top five at the UIL Spirit State Championship in Fort Worth. The previous two years the girls had finished 4th out of more than 75 teams.

Jacksboro showed it wanted something better this year before the school year even started, earning first place finishes in all events during Cheer Camp last summer.

Council takes no action on ordinance declaring sanctuary for the unborn

For the second time in as many meetings, the Jacksboro City Council elected to take no action on an ordinance making the town a sanctuary for the unborn.

Mark Lee Dickson, the Director of Right to Life East Texas, was one of four to speak to the council during a planned presentation on the subject. Dickson, a Longview native, said he reached out to Mayor Alton Morris and City Manager Mike Smith after receiving a notification about the city declining to take action back in December.

Father asking for help locating vehicle involved in Jack County wreck

Kevin Summerlin is asking for help locating a third vehicle involved in a wreck which left his son John Paul “Jacob” Summerlin with serious injuries and Omar Frank Pittman dead on Dec. 2.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety press release, Pittman, 70 of Atoka, Okla., was driving a 2003 Toyota passenger car East on U.S. 380 approximately 12 miles East of Jacksboro when he attempted to pass a vehicle on a hill in a no passing zone and had a head-on collision with a 2008 Ford passenger car driven by Jacob Summerlin, 20 of Ponder.

Council appoints three to Jacksboro EDC board

The Jacksboro City Council voted to appoint three citizens to the Jacksboro Economic Board of Directors after hearing from Board member Bryan Bumpus during their council meeting.

Bumpus recommended Kate Moore, incumbents Jerry Graybill and Brad Bouldin be appointed to the board.

The board member then discussed some of the projects which the EDC board and Executive Director Lynda Pack have accomplished since the EDC’s inception in 2009.

Community enhancement meeting focuses on revitalizing Jacksboro

About 15 community members attended a Jan. 14 meeting to try and gather ideas for events to bring tourists to Jacksboro. 

City Manager Mike Smith said he wants to put a committee together within the next month, so ideas can be brought to them for development and possible use.

“Residents come to us all the time to pitch ideas and then expect the city or someone to make it happen,” Smith said. “That will be the focus of this committee.”

State reaches plea deal for Perrin murder

The 271st District Court Attorney's office reached a plea deal Jan. 8 with Jalynn Fayann Caffey for the Dec. 4, 2018 murder of Glenn Newton Plumlee, of Perrin.

According to the judgement filed in the district clerk’s office, Caffey will serve 20 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Caffey, 26, had turned herself into the Hood County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 4, 2018 after she confessed to the murder of Plumlee to a Hood County jailer.

Pair arrested for Christmas Day burglary

A pair of Florida residents were arrested for a Christmas Day burglary at a Jacksboro drilling facility.

Matthew Murphy, 44, and Misty Moorehead, 33, of Port Orange, Fla. were arrested last week after a two-week plus investigation. According to an investigation report, Jack County Sheriff’s Deputy Keaton Marlow was  dispatched to Erwin Water Well Drilling in the 6600 block of Farm-to-Market Road 4 on Dec. 25 about a possible burglary which had just occurred. 

NWTFS dedicate building after Campsey

Jack County native Harry Campsey was recognized by  Northwest Texas Field and Stream as they dedicated their Youth Activities Facility to him on Dec. 7.

According to a press release, NWTFS has a 52-year tradition where they develop future leaders by learning conservation through a hunting experience. The event, started by Campsey with JC Romines, had the goal  of providing the outdoor experience to the youth of the Wichita Falls Boys and Girls club.

Campsey’s family settled in Jack County in 1906 near Hwy. 148 and Puddin Valley.

JISD prepared for HB 496

Jacksboro ISD was years ahead of the game when it came to some new mandates laid out in HB 496 by the Texas Legislature in their 86th session.

The bill, which went into effect at the start of the new year, requires school districts to provide bleeding control kits in easily accessible areas of campuses, use the kits in their emergency preparedness plans and provide agency-approved training to personnel who may be expected to use the kits.