Brady Standard-Herald and Heart O' Texas News (Brady, Tex.), Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 2, 2001 Page: 1 of 8
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Tuesday
January 2.2001
AT
50 Cents
(USPS 062-900) Brady, Texas 76825
Printed on
Recycled Paper
indan
pale
www.HeartOTexasNews.com
and Heart O’ Texas News
Five fire units battle
toxic blaze at Borden
Confragation contained after 14 hours
FINISHING STAGES—Firefighters hose down the inside of the structure that housed a fire at the
Borden Chemical Plant The structure containing air filters burned for over 12 hours before it was extin
guished. Fire crews from several area departments were called it to help battle the slow burning blaze.
New Year’s resolutions—
reasonable goals ensure success
. By AMANDA HOWELL’ Schumann, co-owners of Brady’s new-
New Year's resolutions—each est 30 minute workout center.Curves
January with the arrival of a new year, for Women® which is a nationally-
comes t he common phrase that tends k nown franchise designed speci fical I y
to fly in haste from the lips of people for the female gender, have docu-
across Ameriea. mented proven weight loss results with
What's not so simple is following just over one month in the business,
through with those infamous and all- "Goals such as a New Year’s reso-
* — loo-Common unachievable’ New lution to lose weightcan be accom-
Year’s resolutions
~ plished when set realistically," said
But making those New Year’s reso-
lutions should include realistic ex
pectations and a plan that helps people
reach their goals Most people make
resolutions because they want to
change something about themselves
that they don't like or would like to
improve ■
The trouble with resolutions is that
with more than 60 percent of all reso-
lutions abandoned in the first quarter
of the new year, they are often diffi
cult to keep if they're unrealistic
It’s no surprise that losing weight
ranks as one of the top New Year's
resolutions With every festive occa-
sion def ined by its sweets and family
favorites, most Americans tend to
overindulge during the holiday sea
son and add on a couple of extra
pounds
During the post holiday monthsof
January and February, many people
strive to overcome holiday weight
gain. For those with chronic weight
problems, the task of losing weight
can seem particularly daunting -and
urgent this time of year.
Camille Sammons and Elisha
Seven-year-old
boy injured in
shooting accident
A seven year-old Brady boy suf
fered minor injuries from an acciden
tal gunshot wound that occurred on
New Year’s Day
The accident occurred at approxi-
mately 12 p m Monday on the prop-
erty located behind the First United
Pentacostal Church on the Brown-
wood Highway
The boy, his brother and his grand
father were target shooting with a .22
Caliber revolver when the weapon
misfired. The grandfather was at
tempting to remove the cylinder from
the revolver when it discharged strik-
ing the boy in the upper arm The bul-
let passed through the boy’s arm and
did not strike any bones or major
blood vessels.
Brady EMS crews responded to
the scene and transported him to the
Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital
where he was treated and released
Mrs. Sammons. "A lot of women say.
How am I gonna do that?’ With sen
sible eating and working out on the
Curves for Women® circuit that goal
can easily he accomplished."
"Realistically, women can lose six
inches and a few pounds in the first
month in our circuit. It's important to
note that when someone jumps back
into the cycle of exercise that they're
going to first build muscle content
and increase their metabolism."
Mrs. Sammons went on to add that
when muscle content is established,
all unwanted fat will burn off at a
much faster rate when continuing with
an exercise program.
"Resistance training also benefits
women who suffer from osteoporo-
sis, diabetes and high blood pressure,"
■ said Mrs. Sammons.
With a successful first month be
bind the new co-owners, the local
club membership which is capable of
accommodating 200 women, boasts
Wacky weather, council top stories of Y2K
By AMANDA HOWELL
A new, year, a clean slate and a
fresh boost of motivation will act as
the driving force in2001 as the Brady
Standard-Herald brings its readers
the latest up-to date news coverage
and advertisements.
But what about the news of the
past? Will the hottest topics and con-
troversial events that made headlines
in 2000 be chalked up to news of
yesteryears and eventually forgotten?
News and controversial events
brought to the forefront in 2000 will
mold and shape the news items in
2001 and beyond Everything from
drastic weather conditions to contro-
versy in Council Chambers covered
the front pages in 2000
As is tradition with the coming of
a new year, the Brady Standard-Her-
aldrated the hottest dews topics in its
"Top Ten" list and provides its read-
ers a chance to review and reflect on
the issues that affected Brady and
McCulloch County over the past 12
months
Whether it was no weather to dry
weather to seemingly sopping wet
1 30 members
A rewarding bonus offered to
Curves' members is its free merchan-
disc giveaways. "It’s an extra incen-
tive for our members,” explained Mis
Sammons. "We like to earn our stuff
It means more to us that way "
Also in the business of shaping
figures across the county, Ona Ellison,
owner of Tone N-Tan added, "You
have got to be consistent with your
exercise. You can't work out for one . .n □
, ,,, 1 • GROUP EFFORI—Fire officials from Brady and Brownwood con-
Ter on wha.....eft to be done to exting.......cBorden fire:
Year's resolution to lose w eight They <
get discouraged and give up. Cnnoil m AN hi TO II o *
"And of course, eating is probably OU1C Ilidy 1111 V ICY
80 percent of your total workout pro
gram You can't just exercise and ex city mana ver ton ight
pect the-weight to come off. you ha ve • 11 y C1105 C 1 CUP A 1 SAX &
to maintain a healthy diet as well."
. Mrs. Ellison explained. . A full-fledgedcity manager could be back on the payroll tonight following
Dr Don Rosen, director of the the regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
Counseling Center at I exas Womens The Council will call the meeting to-order at 7 pm in Council Chambers
University added. Any time is a good and following the ordinance category on the agenda will adjourn into an
time for a person to make a change in executive session to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation,
his or her life. The new year often is resignation, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee: city
convenient and makes a good starting manager, electric, landfill/street and water/gas, supervisors.
point. Following the executive session, the Council will reconvene and acton the
"But making those resolutions and employment of a city manager and evaluations of the above listed supervisors,
keeping them is one of the most diffi- Also on tap for the evening, the Council will act on a resolution adopting
cult tasks for anyone to manage at the Open Records Act procedures The item stems from a previous meeting when
beginning of the new year. People ;|n audience member questioned the protocol followed by the City when open
See Council on page 2
See Resolutions on page 8
weather, the climate and Mother Na
ture was always a big interest in 2000
and has earned first place on our "Top
Ten" list.
A bitter scare that first took light in
1999 when McC Tulloch County got its
worst rain season in 10 years. Brady
and much of Texas jumped into 2000
under severe drouth-like conditions.
The' word drouth took on a whole new
meaning in McCulloch County in 1999
and the first half of 2000. The mean
ing focused on a reality that few hoped
to contemplate, but most had come to
expect ,
The reality was that without the
precipitation needed to make the land
and agriculture prosperous, McCul
loch County, along with the majority
of other Texas counties, suffered tre-
mendously.
In JANUARY 2000, the rain gauge
got off to a slow start the first two
weeks of the month with 0 35 inch of
recorded precipitation, 0.75 inch short
of the monthly average.*
The first rainstorm of 2000 didn't
give much satisfaction to Brady Lake
either as only 0.20inch was reported
A fire that occurred in an air filter
ing system at the Borden Chemical
Plant in Brady took personnel from
five fire departments nearly 14 hours
to extinguish.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. Fri-
day, Dec. 29, Borden plant engineer
Doug Curry discovered smoke com
ing from a bag house located on the
seventh floor of the plant. He con
tacted plant manager Mike Smith w ho
made the decision to call the fire de
partment
Upon arrival at the scene, local fire
department personnel assessed the
situation and planned a strategic at
tack of how to fight the fire. The
in FEBRUARY, the Heart of
Texas and area farmers and ranchers
got a glimmer of hope when the dry
conditions brought on in earlier
months were dampened when rainfall
measured up to one inch or better
across the county.
Amounts ranging from 0.48 inch
to 1 25 inches were recorded all across
the county.
By MARCH it was proof positive
that Mother Nature works in mysteri
ous w ays as reported ram totals ranged
from 3 0 inches on the north side of
town to a disheartening 0 15 inch on
the south side Small pea sized to
marble-sized hail accompanied the ,
showers but quickly dissipated with
the storm
Less thanone inch of precipitation
made it to the ground in APRIL with
Brady recording 0 92 inches The av-
erage monthly total for April was 2.10
inches By April and with a minimum
amount of rainfall recorded, Brady
was already close to three inches un
der the average rainfall total.
MAY brought a million dollar rain
.to McCulloch County—well, parts of
potential of phenolic-resin fumes if a
large fire erupted prompted fire de
partment officials to wear self-con
tamed breathing apparatuses at all
times while in the building.
"The dust that was in the bag house
is a by product of resin-coated sand,"
said Smith "When that dust burns, it
has the potential to emit phenolic gas
which is toxic to humans. For that
reason, it was deemed necessary to
use air packs until we could be sure
the air quality had improved to safe
levels,"
Fife Crews used 90 air tanks, each
of which provided 30 minutes of
breathing air before the air quality
McCulloch County anyway. East
Sweden gauged an official 5.26 inches
ofprecipitation followed by Rochelle
with4.00inches, and Brady with 3.90.
Top Ten Stories of 2000
1. Wacky weather—From drouth-like conditions to a soppy No-
vember.
2. Council resignations—Mayor, four councilmen, city secretary
tender resignations. One accepted. ' ,
3. Water treatment ptant—City approves $9 million water treat-
ment plant at Brady Lake. . - ”
4. School prayer—Student initiated prayer voted on in primary
election.
5. Fires grip Brady and Central Texas—Local necessity arises for
new fire truck. oil ‘
16. The Haven—McCulloch County's domestic abuse shelter.
7 Business closings—Mary 's Closet, Western Auto, Hepburn’s and
Lintz’s.
8 McCulloch County Courthouse celebrates 100th birthday.
9 Keep Brady Beautiful—Giving the back doors to Brady a face
lift. . .
10. Brian Stearns—McCulloch investors wait as civil and criminal
trials’delayed.
improved and it was determined that
commercial respirators would provide
adequate protection
The actual structure in which the
fire was located was a steel box lo-
cated on the seventh floor of the plant
The box was filled with large bags
that acted as giant air filters that
cleaned the exhaust air just prior to it
being expelled back into the atmo-
sphere. Those bags are hung close
together with minimal unused space
inside the actual bag house which
made reaching the source of the fire
virtually impossible.
The exact cause of the fire has yet
to be determined, but according to
Smith, it is believed that a spark or
ember somehow made its way into the
bag house and created the situation.
"The way in which these bags burn
is similar to a punk that is used to light -
fireworks. It smolders rather than
flames up," said Smith.
The smoldering effect of the bags
created intense heat that slowly passed
from one bag to the next. The way in
which the fire was controlled was to
isolate it to that single bag house and
then drench it with large amounts of
water.
To isolate the fire, plant personnel
and firefighters removed sections of
ductwork leading to and from the bag
house. Once it was isolated, extin-
guishing the fire became a process of
simply dousing the bags with thou-
sands of gallons of water.
According to assistant fire chief
' Eddie Sayles, there was over 120,000
gallons of water used before the fire
was extinguished.
"We tried water, inverted steam’
and two types of foam and nothing
seemed to work," said Sayles. "Every
time we knocked it down, it would
smolder for a few minutes and then be
right back to the way it was."
The location of the fire and the
weather conditions proved challeng-
ing for crews as they had to lay over
1,500 total feet of hose just to reach
the fire. Once the water began flow-
ing, fire personnel had to deal with
26° F temperatures through the night
that created icy steps and footing sur-
faces.
Fire crews from Brady, Melvin,
Mason, Lohn and Voca battled the
fire all night. Early Saturday morn-
ing, a five-man crew from Brown-
wood with experience in fighting this
See Borden on page 8
The western portion of McCulloch
County didn't fare as well. Melvin
See Y2K on page 8
Brady Standard-Herald
See a glimpse of the Year 2000 in pictures on Page 5
1
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Stewart, James E. Brady Standard-Herald and Heart O' Texas News (Brady, Tex.), Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 2, 2001, newspaper, January 2, 2001; Brady, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1668637/m1/1/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting FM Buck Richards Library.