The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 73, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 13, 2000 Page: 1 of 12
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The Clifton Record i
Wednesday
Edition
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- ONE SECTION-PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
Serving Bosque County Since 1895 —
Clifton, Texas 76634 vol. 105, no. 73 — Wednesday, sept. 13,2000
Clifton ISO Trustees Adopt Tax Rate For 2000-2001 School Year
Jerry Golden Says Board Should ‘Be Ashamed’ For Not Enacting Tax Rate Decrease
By W. Jay Campbell
EDUCATION EDITOR
CLIFTON — In a 6-1 vote
Wednesday, Sept. 6, Clifton Inde-
pendent School District trustees
approved a local tax rate of $1.5231
per $ 100 valuation for the 2000-2001
school year, which includes $1.3549
for maintenance and operations
and $0.1682 for debt service.
Voting for the measure were
Board President Bill Murdoch,
Vice-President Bruce Scaff, Secre-
tary Dawn Stenmark, and Trustees
Larry Musselman, Craig Hoffman,
and Don McCrary. Trustee Jim Ca-
nuteson voted against the majority.
After the meeting, he declined to
comment on his opposition to the
Record Number Of Runners
new tax rate.
Trustees have been careful to
point out that even with a negligible
tax increase ($1.5231 as opposed to
last year’s $1.5228), school tax bills
will not be the same as the previ-
ous year since appraisals on busi-
nesses and homes were increased.
Prior to the vote, during an open
forum, local businessman Jerry
Golden questioned board members
on a number of points related to the
budget process. He stated that he
was not suggesting any fiscal im-
propriety but that he was not sat-
isfied with the budget and tax
proposal and alleged that “the pro-
posed tax rate results in at least
$737,000 in new tax revenues re-
sulting from a stunning 24-percent
increase in the tax rolls.”
In Golden’s view, there should
have been a tax rate decrease in
light of the windfall revenues ex-
pected from the Southern Energy
electrical power plant being
erected at Lake Whitney.
“It defies logic,” Golden said,
“that a $737,00 windfall could turn
into a deficit budget, unless that
was the intent from the beginning.”
The $8,041,730 budget adopted Aug„
21 for the 2000-2001 school year,
during which revenue is expected
to be $7,033,998, left a deficit of
$107,742.
Golden said that public records
at the Bosque County Central Ap-
praisal District show that taxable
values in Clifton ISD have in-
creased by $47 million between
1999 and 2000, with $34 million new
taxable values coming from South-
ern Energy.
The power plant alone, accord-
ing to Golden, will provide $517,000
in new tax revenue this year and
increases in property value will re-
sult in about $220,000 in additional
funding. He predicted that power
plant revenues could surpass $1.5
million by 2001, and that over the
• See TRUSTEES, Page 2
OFFICIALLY OPENING THE BRIDGE — Dignitaries from Bosque and Johnson Counties as well as state
government gathered to cut the ribbon to officially open the new Brazos Point Bridge last Friday. Among
those shown are (In front, from left) Bosque County Judge Bobby Joe Conrad), Johnson County Judge
Roger Harmon, State Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, the Rev. Joe Stephens (who opened the ceremony with a
prayer), and Johnson County Pet. t Commissioner R.C. McFall, who spearheaded the bridge project and for
whom the Johnson County side of the new structure will be dedicated. sian Photo By David Anderson
QUITE A CROWD — Citizens and dignitaries alike came from across Bosque. Johnson, and Somervell
Counties, as well at from other parts of the state, to attend the dedication ceremony for the new Brazos
Point Bridge. The structure (at left), a cooperative effort between Bosque and Johnson Counties and the
State of Texas, replaces the old iron structure at right, which has been given historical status by the Texas
Historical Commission.
Staff Photo By Dav 1 Andersor
Brazos Point Bridge Packed
For Opening Ceremonies
By David Anderson
CUFTON RECORD CITY EDITOR
BRAZOS POINT - Dozens
and dozens of well-wishers as
well as those involved — directly
or indirectly—with the construe
Uon of the new Brazos Point
Bridge were on hand Friday
morang ft* a cerenxny celebrat-
ing the opening of the new struc-
ture. The bridge replaces an
historic iron bridge at the same
location which has been in use
since being built in 1914. The
bridge connects northern Bisque
and Johnson counties, and ties
just a few hundred yards south of
the SomerveD County line
The ceremony not only cel-
ebrated the opening of the new
bridge but honored the retirement
of the old bridge to vehicular traf-
fic
“Eighty five years ago our ances-
tors gathered here for a similar cer-
emony on January 28. 1915.” said
Jack Carlton of the Johnson
County Historical Commission.
The iron bridge was once known as
“the best on the Brazos River. " said
Carlton, and even received national
attention from federal transporta
tion agencies
“During its 85 years the old
bridge has touched the lives of
many and I’m grateful die powers
that be deemed the bridge de
serves to live on," said Carlton
calling the historic structure the
“little sister" to the new concrete
bridge The old structure has
been named an official Texas His
torical Landmark by the Texas
Historical Commission.
The new bridge was built by
Bosque and Johnson Counties in
cooperation with the Texas De-
partment of Transportation It
carries a price tag of $1J million
of which Bosque County paid
175.400 and Johnson County paid
$85,462. The remainder was
picked up fay the state, with the
• 8m BRIDGE. Page 2
* ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO! — As Joe Holmes fired the starting gun, 63 runners took off on the early
morning- 5K run over the hills of Cranfills Gap on Saturday during the annual Septemberfest celebration. TM
runners ranged in age from seven to “indeterminate” (over 60) and they all told Holmes they’d return next yiif
because they enjoy the run from the Old Rock Church through the beautiful countryside.
Staff Photo By Carol Moulton
40 Years Later The ‘Heat Storm’ At Kopperl
Is Remembered During Recent Hot Weather
ByCakoi Moulton
FEATURES EDITOR
CLIFTON - With the recent
days-on end stretch of high tern
peratures blanketing Texas, it
wasn’t hard for many folks to think
about the "heat storm” that hit
Kopperl on June 15,1960. with high
winds and temperatures reaching
a record 140-plus degrees.
In the book. “Texas Weather" by
Harold Taft, chief meteorologist for
TV Channel 5 in Dallas, he wrote
about the strange heat storm, say-
ing, “Shortly after midnight, under
clear skies and otherwise normal
conditions, a damaging, scorching
northwest wind struck terror and
near disaster to a 25 mile stretch
across the northwest side of Lake
W’hitnev for nearly three hours "
When interviewed by Bosque
County historian Elizabeth
Torrence in June. 1989. Willie Belle
Vinson, a resident of the Lakeside
Village area, reported that the heat
storm actually began around 10
p m , as she was closing up her
store She noted that bv midnight,
with the temperatures at "87 and
rising" the high winds had taken
the roof off the Lakeside Village
grocery store, and that car radia
tors were boiling o er
“We started wetting towels and
wash rags to keep cool We even put
a wet sheet over the children so
they could be comfortable ard
breathe." said Vinson
"There was no lightning, no thun
der, no anything; just this strong
wind You could hardly stand on the
walk out in front of my house be
cause the sand and the pebbles
would hit you in the face." said
Vinson “We got to where, when it
kept getting hotter, we would wrap
jur legs with towels and our arms,
and go back out and see if we could
see what was causing the storm "
“It lasted until 3 a m., it just kept
getting hotter and hotter About 3
a m., it stopped just like turning off
a hydrant It just quit. " Vinson said
She added that within about 30 min
utes the temperatures had fallen
back to normal
Vinson said that the heat storm
had burned tomato plants beside
her bait house and had lulled about
2.500 minnows in the big minnow
tubs in the shop, along with all the
worms in the shop
Taft s report of the incident noted
that the "blowtorch-like wind hit
7/ Just Kept Getting Hotter and Hotter. ’
with speeds estimated at 80 to 100
mph, and the temperature jumped
from near 70 to 140 degrees."
Cotton fields and corn fields in
the vicinity were burnt, “leaving
only a few- burnt stalks standing in
the fields," said Taft's report.
Taft attempted to explain the phe-
nomenon as a downward force of air
from the earlier thunderstorms in the
area, saying that the “downward force
must have been fierce, for heated air
tends to rise, not fall."
Except for veteran cameraman
Floyd Bright, of KXAS-TV Fort
Worth, traveling to the area the
next morning, no other record was
made of the storm
Recently, a reporter from Chan
nel 11 news in Dallas, traveled to
the area to investigate the 1960s
incident, and interviewed Inez
Burns, a Kopperl resident who had
lived there during the storm.
1 for 1
THE VARSITY CUBS RAISED THEIR HELMETS high in celebration of
their season-opening win over the Trojans last Friday night at West Fol-
lowing their 14-8 win last week, the Cubs will host Hamilton this Friday at
Cub Stadium, with a 7:30 p.m kickoff set for the Cubs home-opener.
Staff PriOTO Bv i
1 MooUd'*
Bosque FSA Working On Emergency
Measures Related To Ongoing Drought
MERIDIAN - Gerald Baker,
chairman of the Bosque County
Farm Service Agency County Com-
mittee. announced that all efforts
possible are being taken to enable
emergency programs to be imple-
mented due to the continuing
drought. Pastures are in extremely
poor condition, ponds are going dry
and excessive temperatures are
taking a toll on livestock.
Currently, ground work is bdfig
carried out to collect weather data
and reports are being generated to
permit producers to participate in
the upcoming emergency programs.
Sign-up for these programs will be
announced by all means availabieas
soon as they are enacted
For more information, contact
the Bosque County FSA office in
Meridian at <254' 435-2355
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 73, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 13, 2000, newspaper, September 13, 2000; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790460/m1/1/: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.