A Jack County jury found Jeffery Blankenship, 47, guilty of aggravated robbery in a three-day trial which concluded last Thursday. District Judge Brock Smith sentenced him to 55 years in prison.
It took most of the day Tuesday to select the jury of eight women and four men which brought the verdict after about an hour and half of deliberation late Thursday afternoon.
Workforce Solutions of North Texas will host a seasonal job fair from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at 4309 Old Jacksboro Hwy. Entrance 3, Wichita Falls.
PERRIN – School board members here reviewed their goals and made some adjustments as part of Thursday night’s regular meeting.
Many of the goals were thought to be generalizations and needed to be expanded on, such as school safety. Board Vice President Mark Sims said he thought the goals needed to be simple enough to remember but detailed enough to serve a purpose.
“It would be hard to remember 11 goals (which the board has now) but if we had five which are broken down that’s what we need.”
Pleas
December
Dustin Ellis Short, burglary of a habitation,
Justin Randal Fullingim, prohibited substance in a correctional facility and theft of property more than $2,500 but less than $30,000
Jonathon Allen Moore, evading arrest or detention with vehicle and assault bodily injury-family violence
January
David Allen Flynn, sexual abuse of a child continuous, victim under 14
Jack County cities fared better with sales tax allocations for February than the state average. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced last week, cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts would receive $953.9 million in local sales tax allocations for February, 4.6 percent more than in February 2018.
Bryson’s February payment is $5,757.85, a 8.49 percent improvement over $5,306.87 for the same period in 2018.
BRYSON – Council members here are trying to decide compensation for their member on the County Emergency Management Committee.
Former City Administrator Frank Hefner, who is also the county’s Emergency Management Coordinator, was selected as their representative on the committee. Mayor Sheila Birdwell said during Monday night’s regular meeting giving Hefner some compensation on the committee is important.
Checking into seeing what, if any, compensation other entities provide will be done and a decision made during the March meeting.
The recycling bins in Jacksboro will soon disappear. City Manager Mike Smith reported the five bins located in town are being filled with nonrecyclable items.
“So when it gets to the recyclable yard, they say, ‘No, you’ve got to turn around and take that to the dump,’” Smith said. “So it’s costing Waste Connections quite a bit of money. What they asked is could we amend the contract so that rather than putting strictly recyclable bins in those five locations they just put trash bins for now.
Three local entities will host elections this May.
Jacksboro Mayor Alton Morris has drawn an opponent for his seat. Johnny Rupe filed to run against him Friday.
Council members Melanie Belcher and Joe Mitchell filed to keep their seats.
Jacksboro ISD trustee James Taylor is also opposed with Kelly Mower filing to fun against him on the filing deadline date as well. Incumbents David Spiller and Lisa Perry are unopposed.
JACKSBORO — The Texas Well Owner Network is hosting a water well screening April 11 in Jacksboro to give area residents the opportunity to have their well water screened.
The screening will be from 8:30–10 a.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Jack County, 100 N Main St. in Jacksboro.
A meeting explaining screening results will be at 6 p.m. April 15 at the same location.
The screening is presented by AgriLife Extension and Texas Water Resources Institute in partnership with the AgriLife Extension office in Jack County.
Update Feb. 6, 2019: A request for comment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas was unanswered prior to press time, but a representative has responded via email telling the Herald-Gazette the company wishes to relay its side of the dispute. There will be a follow-up if any new information adding to the understanding of the situation becomes available.
More than a year after Blue Cross Blue Shield dropped Faith Community Hospital from its network, the two are still working to resolve coverage issues.
