News

PERRIN ­– Cliff Gilmore has been selected as the lone finalist to fill the Perrin-Whitt CISD Superintendent position.

Board members made the unanimous decision after a 17-minute closed session during Tuesday night’s regular meeting. Gilmore was one of 30 applicants said to have applied for the position and one of five candidates interviewed, according to Interim Superintendent W.R. Tucker.

Gilmore is retired but most recently worked for the Aspermont ISD. He replaces John Kuhn, who resigned earlier this summer to take the superintendent position in Mineral Wells.

Volunteers from First Assembly of God in Jacksboro measured all Jacksboro Elementary School students for new shoes Tuesday. The church is partnering with Convoy of Hope and its Rural Compassion Initiative to provide a new pair of brand-name shoes to all of the more than 500 students at the school. 

Those needing identification to participate in the Nov. 8 election will be able to obtain it in Jacksboro for a few days coming up next month.

The Texas Department of Public Safety will have a mobile station issuing Election Identification Certificates to Texans who do not already have an acceptable form of photo ID necessary to vote at the Jack County Law Enforcement Center, 1432 FM 3344, October 4-6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Jacksboro Middle School was under lockdown for less than an hour Tuesday afternoon.

School officials decided to go into lockdown following an incident that occurred while the 6th grade boys were having PE on the school’s football field.

According to a narrative written by Student Resource Officer Matt Windham and information from Superintendent Dwain Milam, a 19-year-old male on West College Street was enticed by students on the football field which caused a verbal disturbance.

The Central Business District in Jacksboro just got a lot smaller. The Jacksboro City Council voted to reduce the restrictively zoned area at a special called meeting Tuesday evening.

The Planning and Zoning Commission has been weighing the option for months. The area of the CBD encompassed several more blocks prior to the vote Tuesday creating a smaller district bordered by North, East, South and West streets around the courthouse square.

Tuesday, the Jacksboro City Council approved its budget and tax rate for the fiscal year set to begin Oct. 1.

The general fund expenditures are set at $2.83 million and the utilities budget at $2.4 million. The city adopted the effective tax rate of $1.26 per $100 of property value, which is an increase over last year’s rate of $1.18 but raises the same amount of revenue due to a decline in property values.

Jack County adopted its FY 17 budget and set its tax rate to fund it during a Tuesday meeting.

An effective tax rate of 45.14 cents per $100 was approved, the same rate as last year. With a $206 million drop in tax rolls, commissioners were forced to cut more than $250,000 from the budget to keep from raising the tax rate beyond the effective rate, County Judge Mitchell Davenport said. The general rate is 35.95 cents with maintenance and operation coming in at 29.79 cents and interest and sinking at 6.15. The special (road and bridge) rate is 9.19 cents.

Jacksboro's VFW Post 8914 is working to build an enclosed deck on the building. Members worked on the new addition to the post Sunday, Sept. 4.

Commander Daniel Stubblefield said a Bryson student is building a grill to go with the new outside area and will donate it to the post once he finishes stock show competition as part of his ag mechanics class.

The post is seeking further donations to complete the deck project.

Two men are being held in the Jack County Jail as of Wednesday for break-ins at Perrin. Charges have also been filed against four juveniles.

Hayden Jett, 18, and Dalton Lewis, 18, who recently moved to Perrin from Oklahoma, were arrested for burglarizing the school. Four juveniles, two boys and two girls ranging in age from 12 to 16, have also been identified in connection with the break-ins.