By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

With the local election on the horizon, candidates may apply for seats on local city councils and school boards until Feb. 27.

The City of Clifton will have three seats in the election which are current-ly held by Mayor Richard Spitzer, and two aldermen, Raymond Zuehlke and Kristye Fehler. The city will also be filling the one-year term currently held by Mike

Schmidt. He was appoint-ed to his seat for one year, which is the maximum by law. So there will be a third alderman’s seat on the bal-lot for a one-year term.

At this time, Mayor Rich-ard Spitzer, Raymond Zuel-ke, Kristye Fehler and Mike Schmidt have filed for seats on the council.

Clifton Independent School District will be ac-cepting candidates’ appli-cation for trustee seats cur-

By Simone Wichers-VossThe ClifTon ReCoRd

It lies in people’s nature to avoid change; even if the change is for the better in the long run. Changing the system governing county road maintenance proves no exception.

At the Bosque County Commissioners’ Court Monday, Commissioners Douglas Day and Durwood Koonsman voted against a pos-sible change in the county’s road maintenance going to public vote.

Commissioners Ronnie Liardon and Sam-my Leach approved bringing the issue to vote and approving a May 9 special election ballot. Bosque County Judge Dewey Ratliff cast the deciding vote overruling Day’s and Koons-man’s opposition.

In the present road maintenance system - the precinct system - each commissioner is re-sponsible for their precincts road maintenance, including the necessary manpower and equip-ment.

The unit system is a centralized system, with

a maintenance administrator or engineer who delegates work in the county depending on the direct need.

Bosque County resident Dan Ahart had or-ganized a petition to place an optional Unit Road System on the ballot for the citizens of the County to vote on. The petition offered 549 qualified signatures, surpassing the 491 signa-tures to be officially considered.

The Commissioner’s Court in this action were not approving or instituting the new sys-tem, they were approving the right of the coun-

ty’s voters to make the decision. “We are very appreciative of this action

by Commissioners Leach and Liardon along with Judge Ratliff which gives the citizens of Bosque County a say in our local government,” Bosque County Republican Club Chairman Janet Jackson said.”We would like to thank the many people who were instrumental in the pe-tition drive for their time and efforts.”

Starting in mid March a series of informa-

Serving Bosque County Since 1895

Vol. 121, No. 8 • 75 cents www.bosquecountytoday.comFebruary 25, 2015

TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION2014 AWARD WINNING NEWSPAPER

Commissioners’ Court split over unit system

David Corpier(254) 675-3511

Cell: (254) 386-7005402 North Avenue GClifton, Texas 76634Solar Energy Installation

Authorized Retailer for these companies.

Kick up your heels

The ClifTon ReCoRd

CenTex Youth Fair fundraiser successful

Deadline to file for local elections

see BALLOT, page 5

Birdwell presents Texas Treasure Business Awards

Court votes 3-2 to place unit system, emergency services district issues on May 9 ballot

By Paige Key / The ClifTon ReCoRd

The Texas Treasure Business Awards were presented by Sen. Brian Birdwell during a ceremony on Friday to (from left) Don Harris of Don’s Cleaners, Birdwell, Carol Spicer of The Clifton Record, Phyllis Gamble of the CLIFTEX Theatre, Kim Prescher of Leon’s Flooring, and Main Street Director Ashley Able who nominat-ed the four businesses for the award.

Historical Honor

see ELECTION, page 3

45th Chamber banquet Saturday

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

The annual FFA and 4-H fundraiser drew over 200 guests to the fajita dinner and silent auction on Saturday night at Womack Hall.

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

With a large crowd on hand, the CLIFTEX Theatre hosted the Texas Historical Commission’s presentation of the Texas Trea-sure Business Awards on Friday evening. Sen. Brian Birdwell was on hand to present the individual awards.

Rustin Qualls of Clifton Main Street welcomed everyone and talked about the awards and how the businesses have all supported Clifton and the State of Texas for well over 50 years, adding that most have been in business over 100 years.

J.W. Thiele, Mayor Pro Tem of Clifton, noted that these busi-

nesses have been stalwarts of the community for many years. “Though I feel I have been here as long as many of them,” Thiele said with a laugh. “I remember sitting in the theatre, in the old wooden seats, when movies were only 10 cents.”

Thiele then gave a brief history of Sen. Brian Birdwell, his many injuries in 9-11, and his “Face the Fire Ministries,” prior to intro-ducing him for the awards cere-mony.

Sen. Birdwell took the podium saying how pleased he was to be a part of the awards ceremony. He also gave DeWayne Burns re-grets for not being able to come. Birdwell also apologized for The Clifton Record publisher Brett

Voss, not being on hand, saying how proud Voss was to have The Clifton Record honored with the award, and how much had had wanted to be present.

Birdwell also thanked Russell Devorsky, executive director of the Heart of Texas Council of Governments for being on hand.

He read a little history of each of the businesses before pre-senting them with Ashley Able, Clifton Main Street Director and co-sponsor of the award ceremo-ny.

Those accepting the awards were Kim Prescher for Leon’s Flooring; Carol Spicer for The Clifton Record, Don Harris for Don’s Cleaners; and Phyllis Gam-ble for the CLIFTEX Theatre.

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Everyone working on the annu-al FFA and 4-H fundraiser dinner and auction held Saturday evening at Womack Hall deemed it a huge success. Over 200 friends and fam-ily showed up to enjoy the fajita dinner and purchase a wide variety of items from the silent auction.

All hands were on deck, as Jason Whitney, ag instructor and a mul-titude of others manned the grill outside cooking up pounds and pounds of chicken, beef, and veg-etables for the fajitas. Inside, crews put out desserts and all the fixings for the dinner.

Some helping out were youths that will be showing in the Central

Texas Youth Fair, and some were parents, such as Bryan and Lisa Prescher who kept it all organized and rolling along.

The youths were all introduced and each told everyone what they would be showing at the fair, in-cluding steers, swine, chickens, goats and lambs.

Throughout the evening, every-one in attendance spent time going back and forth to the silent auction, upping bids and finally going home with items they wanted.

During the end of the evening, tickets were eliminated until the last three tickets were chosen for prizes ranging from $50 to $350, with E.J. Belvin, a life-long sup-porter of the fair, winning the top prize.

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Join the Chamber at Texas Safari on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. for the 45th Annual Clifton Chamber of Commerce Ban-quet.

The Chamber will be serv-ing smoked baby back ribs and chicken with all the fixings. A very brief presentation of the Community Service and Life-time Achievement awards will immediately follow dinner.

Gil Parks, a professional auc-tioneer from Stephenville, will drive a short auction with high

demand items to include: Jan Kieta’s Gourmet Cooking class and dinner, Overnight Spa Pack-age at Canyon Oaks; a Rough Creek weekend; sport packages including Baylor Football tick-ets and Dallas Stars tickets, and four Ranger tickets with park-ing pass, a Backyard Relaxation package, and a Cull Buck Hunt.

Enjoy the music of Widgeon Holland Trio all evening. There will be excellent food, fun mu-sic and all your favorite people – for only $35 per ticket.

Call or visit the Chamber to-day to be part of the fun! 254-675-3720.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Chester and Sue Posey received the 2014 Lifetime Achieve-ment Award at last year’s banquet held at Texas Safari.

Page 2 s February 25, 2015 News The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

Sudoku

To submit non-profit events to The On This Date Calendar

Email: carol@cliftonrecord.com SUBJECT: Calendar

FEBRUARY

19 • Bosque County Ro-tary Club meets at noon at the Clifton Civic Center for a weekly luncheon and program every Thurs-day.

21 • The Clifton 4-H and FFA will host their annual dinner and fundraiser at Womack Hall in support of youths showing live-stock at the upcoming Central Texas Livestock Show and Sale to be held Feb. 26-28. (More infor-mation to follow)• The annual Cayote Chili supper and bingo games will be held from 5-7 PM at the Cayote Community Center.

23 • Clifton Lions Club meets every second and fourth Tuesday at noon for lunch, a meeting, and a program at the Ameri-can Legion Hall in Clifton City Park..

24 • The annual Fall Clif-ton Lions Club Pancake Supper will be served up from 5-7 PM at the Clifton Civic Center.

26 • Bosque County Ro-tary Club meets at noon at the Clifton Civic Center for a weekly luncheon and program every Thurs-day.

27-28 • A pottery workshop will feature hand-building a textured teapot. For information, call 675-3724.

28 • The annual Clifton Chamber of Commerce Banquet will take place at Texas Safari. For infor-mation and tickets, con-tact the Chamber at 254-675-3720.

MARCH

1 • An afternoon of mu-sic will highlight Amy Blake, international op-era star and singer from France, at 2 p.m., at the BAC. Tickets are $50 for sponsors, $35 for re-served, and $10 general admission. For informa-tion and reserved seat-ing, call 675-3724.

3 • Prairie Rose Chapter of the Native Plant So-ciety of Texas will host a program on Using native

plants in landscaping, by Steven Chamblee, at 6:30 PM at the Somervell County Citizens Center in Glen Rose. Programs are free and open to the public.

3-7• Central Texas Youth Fair and Sale will be held at the fairgrounds in Clif-ton. For more informa-tion, contact Scott Con-rad at 254-376-7175.

5 • The Clifton Civic Im-provement Society will meet at the Clifton Civic Center at 2 PM for a busi-ness meeting and pro-gram.• Bosque County Rotary Club meets at noon at the Clifton Civic Center for a weekly luncheon and pro-gram every Thursday.• Soup R Bowl and Bin-go games, along with a artisan show of bowls which may be purchased for $15 for the Culinary Club’s soup, will take place at the Bosque Arts Center. Reservations are needed for dinner at 6 p.m.

9 • Clifton Lions Club meets every second and fourth Tuesday at noon for lunch, a meeting, and a program at the Ameri-can Legion Hall in Clifton City Park..

12 • Bosque County Ro-tary Club meets at noon at the Clifton Civic Center for a weekly luncheon and program every Thurs-day.

14-15 • “The Supper Quilt” preview at the Bosque Arts Center. For information, contact the BAC at 675-3724.

17 • Laguna Park Library will co-sponsor a course, “Wi$e Up: a Laymans guide to easy budget-ing” with instructor Kate Whitney of the Extension Service. The free course will be held from 10 AM to noon at the Laguna Park Community Church. For information, call 254-622-2665.

19 • Bosque County Ro-tary Club meets at noon at the Clifton Civic Center for a weekly luncheon and program every Thurs-day.

ONthisdate

The Clifton Record Calendar

Locals active at Houston Livestock Show

CMA presents Shall We Dance featuring international star

Blood drive draws plenty of donors

An afternoon at the operaLocal Report

The ClifTon ReCoRd

“Shall We Dance” is the title of the per-formance by international opera star Amy Christianna Blake sponsored by the Civic Music Association. Blake will perform Sunday afternoon, March 1, at 2 p.m. in the Tin Building Theatre at the Bosque Arts Center.

The New York Times hailed Blake for her beautiful singing and her tremendous power and stage presence. Blake has re-ceived accolades for her expressive sopra-

no voice and won numerous competitions both in the United States and Europe

Blake’s performance will consist of her selection of songs by Rodgers and Ham-merstein and Gershwin as well as Puccini and Debussy, amongst others.

Some of Blake’s past highlights include Mimi in La Boheme with the Brooklyn Opera with Steven Crawford and a recital schedule for the Chateau of Mouans-Sar-toux, for the Rogoland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway.

From 2004 to 2006 she has played a number of roles in well-know operas in

both the United States and Europe. In concert Blake has sung everything from Handel’s Messiah to Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Tickets are still available for this special event, with general admission tickets at $10 and a limited number of reserved tick-ets at $35. Reserved seating tickets include entrance to a post-concert reception in the Jones Gallery. Call the Bosque Arts Center 254-675-3724 for ticket purchases.

Blake, the daughter of Katherine and Richard Clark of Clifton, resides in Nice, France.

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

The Carter BloodCare and Goodall-Witcher Auxilia-ry blood drive on Tuesday, drew a large number of do-nors, including two persons who were able to give the “Double Red” donation, keeping the Alyx machine busy.

Bebe Phillips and Donald Rueter were the two who offered up two pints of red cells on Tuesday.

Giving one pint of whole blood saves up to three lives with each donation, and there is no substitute for human blood when hospital patients require a transfu-sion. Whole blood, kept cool in refrigerators, can be trans-fused for 21 days after the donation.

However, red cells drawn during a Double Red do-nation, can be used for 42

days after they are donated. More than 69-percent of all transfusions require red blood cells, which carry the hemoglobin and oxygen in the body. Anemic patients, transplant patients, heart surgery patients or accident and trauma patients need red cells, usually in multi-ple units. Because of auto-mated donation technology, you can safely give two full transfusable doses of red cells in a single donation. The procedure takes just 20-30 minutes longer than a whole blood donation and can be performed every 112 days.

Everyone is urged to keep up with the local blood do-nation opportunities, and “help save a life.”

The next Clifton Com-munity Blood Drive will be held April 14, from noon to 6 p.m. at the Clifton Civic Center.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Brenda, of Carter BloodCare, works on a Double Red dona-tion made Tuesday in Clifton.

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Juanita Miller, Bosque County Go Texan Ambassador announced results of the 2015 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Horseshoe and Washer Pitch-ing Contests held at Katy, on Jan. 24, Bosque County along with teams from the other Go Texan Counties participated in the contests.

As a result of teams participating in the Go Texan Contests, a 2015 Bosque County High School Senior will be awarded an $18,000.00 scholarship Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship in May 2015 to further their

education.Doris Hieden and Brooks Symank

of Valley Mills represented the Bosque County Go Texan Committee in the Horseshoe Pitching Contest at the 2015 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Contests at Katy, and finished in eighth place.

Milton Cortez of Clifton and James Holden of Meridian represented the Bosque County Go Texan Committee in the Washer Pitching Contest and fin-ished in the top 16 teams.

Miller said that a Quilt crafted by Mil-dred Morrison of Walnut Springs has been entered in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Quilting Contest.

Also the “Coon Creek Cookers” with cookers Danny Burnett and Dennis Cheyne will be traveling to Houston to compete and represent Bosque County in the World Championship BBQ Cookoff to be held Feb. 25-March 1.

Miller reminded High School Seniors in Bosque County that, applications for the Area Go Texan scholarship are available through the Show’s Website at www.rodeohouston.com, for the appli-cant to complete online and submit to the Show by the February 23, 2015 deadline. Additional supplemental documents must be submitted and postmarked by February 27, 2015. 2015 scholarship re-cipients will be announced in May 2015.

News February 25, 2015 s Page 3The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

Gardens civic meeting topic

INthenews

The Clifton Record News Briefs

County offers several activities to commemorate event

Texas Independence events

CIS presents Disney musical

Annual food drive hosted by Farm Bureau

ELECTIONFrom Page 1

County hosts tire amnesty

Celebrating Texas independence

City holds surplus auction

The musical, “Disney’s Aladdin Kids” will be pre-sented by students at Clifton Intermediate School on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. at Bettis Auditorium.

Tickets are only $2 at the door – come out and support the student’s musical endeavor.

The City of Clifton will be holding an auction to liq-uidate surplus items owned by the city on March 7, at the Armory in City Park. The doors will open at 11 for viewing, with the auction to begin at 1 p.m. Auctioneer to be Vernon Songer (Lic.#16300).

All purchases must be paid for in cash at the time of sale.

The Clifton Civic Improvement Society will meet March 4 at 2 p.m. at the Clifton Civic Center.

Valerie Burns will present the program on ‘Container Gardens’.

“Everyone is welcome to come join us and learn new ideas for spring planters,” said Barbara Lammert.

The first event to celebrate Texas Independence in Bosque County will be held Saturday, Feb. 28, and will be the annual Bosque County Historical Committee’s Preservation Luncheon to be held at noon at the Clifton Civic Center.

The luncheon will host speaker Garland Lively who will talk about the history of the Smith Bend and Coon Creek communities.

Luncheon reservations must be made by Thursday, Feb. 26, and tickets are $15. Please call 254-435-6182. Weithorn’s Catering of Valley Mills will bring the lun-cheon.

On March 14, there will be a city and county clean up day held in both Clifton and Meridian.

A Tire Amnesty event will take place during the clean up, open to Bosque County residents, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Clifton at the fairgrounds; and from 8-noon in Meridian at 1211 N. Main Street.

No tractor tires or rims will be accepted. No contrac-tors or dealers will be allowed.

For more information, call Clifton City Hall at 675-8337 or Meridian City Hall at 435-2381.

rently held by Greg Gloff and Kenneth Lowrance.

At this time, both incum-bents, Greg Gloff and Ken-

neth Lowrance have filed as candidates, along with Bill Murdoch and Julie Tremi-llo.

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

In a week filled with activities, several Bosque County organiza-tions and schools focus their at-tention on Texas Independence. Activities start on Feb. 28 with the Bosque County Historical Commit-tee’s Preservation Luncheon.

This year’s schedule is:March 2 – The Sterling C. Rob-

ertson Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas sponsor a program at Knox Hall in the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco from 4 – 6 p.m.

Jerry Gribble will portray Sam Houston and tell the story of his life. Students in fifth -12 grade will be honored for their participation in

the District History Contest. The Walnut Springs Historical

Society will feature a program by Texas Ranger Museum’s Kate Mc-Carthy. She will talk about the Tex-as Rangers from inception to the present day.

The program will start with a Bar-becue dinner at 6 p.m. and presenta-tion at 7 p.m.

March 3 – Memorial Service at the Oswald Family Cemetery at 1 p.m.

March 4 – The Bosque Valley Heritage Society program for fourth graders at the Valley Mills Ceme-tery from 10:30-11:30 a.m. to honor Roden T. Crain and Jonathan Mc-Fadden, veterans of the San Jacinto Battle.

– The Bosque County Collection

sponsors a program by Jim R. Rose, a lifelong Texas historian. The pro-gram is at the Bosque County Dis-trict Courtroom at 5:30 p.m.

His research in Comanche life will give a deeper understanding of Central Texas in the pioneer days.

March 6 - Bosque Memorial Mu-seum will host Jeff Hengesbaugh, historian from Santa Fe, NM and master story teller. He will make history come to life in the 1720 Spanish Territory which is now Tex-as.

Sponsors for Celebrate Texas In-dependence Week are First Security State Bank, the Bosque Museum, the Bosque County Collection, the Walnut Springs Historical Associa-tion and the Bosque Valley Heritage Society.

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Bosque County Farm Bu-reau hosted its annual Food Connection Day, celenbrat-ing the nation’s abundant and safe food supply and hosting a Farmers Share lunch from 11am – 1 pm on Tues, Feb. 17, in the park-ing lot of the Classic Chassis Auto Museum in Clifton.

Despite the cold weather, the group served up barbe-cue sandwiches to everyone who donated canned goods or monetary donations to the local food banks of Clifton, Meridian and Valley Mills.

The group took in 400

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

The Farm Bureau crew who worked out in the cold on Feb. 17, included (from left) Grant Dietiker, Calvin Rueter, Brooks Symank, Gary Phillips, Roger Krause, Robert Payne, David Bohac, and David Bevels.pounds of food items, along with $393 in donations.

Bosque County Farm Bu-reau will be also donating

$150 to each of the three food banks.

All but five or 10 percent of the White House’s spending blueprint will make it through intact. The President’s budget, in other words, is never “dead on arrival.”

It may not be obvious from the news coverage, but a good bit of Congress’s 2015 agenda just landed on Capitol Hill with a thud. I mean this literally. The federal budget that President Obama recently submitted runs to 2,000 pages.

This is the most important govern-ment document produced each year, so its heft is more than physical. The budget is how we decide what share of this country’s economic resources we should devote to government—and how we should spend them. It’s where we set out our national pri-orities, sorting out how to allocate money among defense, the environ-ment, education, medical research, food safety, public works... You get the idea.

Which is why you saw the politi-cal maneuvering begin the moment it arrived. In a press conference af-ter President Obama submitted his budget, House Speaker John Boeh-ner dismissed it out of hand. “The president gave the American people a good laugh yesterday,” he said. Ev-ery year, politicians play some vari-ation on this theme. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard a budget de-clared “dead on arrival.”

Yet here’s what you need to re-member: Congress changes only a small portion of the budget. Well over half is mandated spending—interest on the debt, entitlements, contractual obligations of the gov-ernment. And even when it comes to the roughly 40 percent of the budget that is discretionary spending, Con-gress never rewrites it wholesale; in general, all but five or ten percent of

the White House’s spending blue-print will make it through intact. The President’s budget, in other words, is never “dead on arrival.”

This is not to say that what Con-gress does will be unimportant. The debate from here on out will be spe-cifically about taxing and spending priorities—about how much money

On Feb. 23, 1942, the estranged wife of a Dallas newspaper columnist went on trial for the fatal shooting of her husband’s not-so-se-cret lover.

Back in 1979, D Maga-zine talked a former employ-ee of The Dispatch into rem-iniscing about Dallas’ gone but not forgotten tabloid that drove the establishment nuts and kept its readers enter-tained. No one had to twist Al Harting’s arm, however. He liked nothing better than to relive those wild and cra-zy days as a reporter for The Dispatch.

One evening in partic-ular stuck out like a sore thumb in the retired news-paperman’s memory. It was the night in April 1941 that Juanita Barr shot to death Blanche Woodall, the beau-tiful blonde girlfriend of her unfaithful hubby Eddie, popular gossip columnist for The Dispatch.

“I was on the ambu-lance-riding beat when the call came in,” Harting re-called in his retrospective. “Riding to the scene, the

driver informed me that Blanche was Eddie Barr’s mistress. When the police arrived, Lt. ‘Pokey’ Wright phoned Pop’s (Spaghetti House) and asked for Eddie.

“‘Eddie,’ I heard him say, ‘Nita has killed Blanche.’ There was silence (for) a moment, and when Pokey hung up he said, ‘Nita just went by Pop’s, threw the pistol on Eddie’s table and told him what she’d done.’”

Two hours earlier, Juanita Barr paid an unannounced visit at the apartment of the “other woman.” The maid refused to admit the late-night caller until Blanche Woodall, not the least bit alarmed, told her to let her boyfriend’s wife in.

According to the state-ment the maid gave police, the two women exchanged pleasantries for several min-utes. Maybe they even com-pared notes on their respec-tive marriages. Blanche’s divorce from a boxing pro-moter would become final on Monday, and Juanita had not been living under the same roof with Eddie for the past week.

A telephone call to a near-by liquor store brought a bottle of whiskey, which the pair shared like old friends. After a few drinks, they de-

cided to hit a couple of night-spots so Blanche got dressed and put on her makeup.

The accommodating host-ess offered her guest a quick cosmetic touchup and began to pluck her eyebrows. That was when Juanita reached for the pistol in her purse and shot Blanche twice in the face.

The victim’s two young children, ages two and eight, and her teenaged brother somehow slept through the sound of gunshots in an ad-joining room, but the maid came running. She saw Blanche Woodall lying life-less on the floor and her kill-er backing out the front door with the smoking murder weapon in her hand.

After proudly breaking the news to Eddie, Juanita disappeared. Early the next morning, sheriff deputies located her parked car in a “tourist camp” on the Fort Worth highway and hauled her off to the Dallas County jail.

By the time the case came to trial ten months later, Ed-die Barr had moved to Min-neapolis and wanted no part of the proceedings. Both sides agreed they could get by without his testimony and let him off the hook.

Since their client clearly

was as guilty as sin, Juanita’s lawyers went with a tempo-rary insanity defense. But to sell their argument that Juanita was pushed over the edge by the home-wrecker, they needed to show Eddie was a faithful spouse until he fell into Blanche’s evil clutches.

The district attorney blew that strategy out of the wa-ter with, quoting the Dallas Morning News, “a parade of witnesses that testified to (his) public infidelity.” When that line of question-ing was done, the state had succeeded in proving Eddie “knew many women, that he played the field.”

Next the defense tried to pull at the jurors’ heart-strings. Eddie’s mother took the stand to describe a meeting with Blanche two months before her de-mise. Backed by the vic-tim’s mother and sister, she begged her to let Eddie go, which, she claimed, Blanche promised to do.

In the climax of the stand-ing-room-only trial, Juanita testified for three riveting hours before fainting into the arms of her attorney. But before passing out, she swore the shooting was an

Page 4 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.comOpinion

EditorialLee Hamilton

Former Congressman

This Week In Texas HistoryBy Bartee Haile

INsessionBosque County Meetings

Rustic RamblingsBy Dr. Genie Ellis

The Clifton Record

Dallas love triangle ended with murder in 1941

COMMISSIONERS’ COURT• Bosque County Commissioners’ Court Monday, March 9, 9 a.m. Bosque County Courthouse MeridianCLIFTON CITY COUNCIL• Clifton City Council Tuesday, March 10, 1 p.m. Council Chambers Clifton Civic CenterCLIFTON ISD BOARD• Clifton Independent School District Board of Trustees Monday, March 16, 6 p.m. CISD Board Room Administration Building Clifton Middle SchoolECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT• City of Clifton Economic Development Corporation Thursday, March 19, 5:30 p.m. Clifton Chamber Board Room Chamber of CommerceCOMMISSIONERS’ COURT• Bosque County Commissioners’ Court Monday, March 23, 9 a.m. Bosque County Courthouse Meridian

Spring renewal

President calls budget shots

CapitolHighlights

By Ed Sterling

Governor gives lawmakers his state budget priorities

see RAMBLINGS, page 6

see TEXAS, page 5

see EDITORIAL, page 5

see CAPITOL, page 5

Ah, another February. The promise of spring rears its happy head again. So grateful am I for the season of re-newal that I write a col-umn about it every year. You’d think I could simply reprise an old one. But spring’s never exactly the same.

As I explained to my city son-in-law several years ago – before he was my daughter’s husband, fian-cée or even “long-time boyfriend” – details in the coun-try are different every year. No season is ever exactly the same as the year before.

Swiss chard’s been slowly spreading roots in the sec-ond Keyhole Garden. A few bunches are over a year old. Only two broccoli plants survived the winter. These should all be winter plants, but they never thrive for me until almost spring. Too early to plant tomatoes, cucum-bers and squash, so I’m adding to the existing winter slate and tossing in some onions for good measure. That’ll keep my green thumb satisfied until April.

Although later than usual, daffodils and paper whites/narcissus are blooming where the deer haven’t cropped them down. Late also is our pecan harvest. I’m grateful for any profit we may see from it – hopeful it might pay a portion of taxes or insurance.

New calves have appeared, close to two dozen lit-tle black lumps napping in wheat the cows are grazing down. I’m currently chuckling over the “babysitter” mama cow stuck guarding four little snoozing babies. I’ve always wondered how cows decide which one will draw this duty. There’s almost always a babysitter.

Are some more maternal than others? Do they volun-teer? Perhaps the others sneak away while one’s preoc-cupied – and then she suddenly realizes it’s her turn to watch the kids?

Until I moved back and began living here full time, I’d never noticed that cattle appoint babysitters and cordon off impromptu nurseries. It makes me smile and scratch my head. Once again, the instincts of animals humble me. I mean, it’s not as if they receive daily memos.

Birds flock to the feeders and birdbath as they have all winter. Yesterday I saw a blue bird. Soon migrations will provide more variety.

The average size of the herd on our not-so-high-fenced property has swelled to over twenty deer. Many choose to bed down nightly near the house. Like mama bunnies that make nests in the dog’s back yard, perhaps

On Feb. 17, Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his first State of the State address during a joint session of the Texas House and Sen-ate and released his rec-ommendations for the two-year 2016-2017 state budget.

In his 43-page Gover-nor’s Budget document, Abbott said he aims to: “Constrain the size and growth of government. Reduce agency spending. Suspend, reduce, and elim-inate unnecessary taxes and fees. Ensure govern-ment supports job creation and is accountable and transparent.”

Abbott is recommending general revenue spending of $99.4 billion for 2016-2017, slightly less than a 5 percent increase in gener-al revenue spending com-pared with the current bud-get. “By keeping spending levels lower than the growth in population plus inflation, we can ensure that the size of government does not grow. This allows Texas to significantly re-duce tax burdens,” Abbott asserted, and promoted the building of the budget on the following “core princi-ples”:

- Passing a constitution-al amendment to limit the growth in state spending to the historic growth in the state’s population plus in-flation.

- Limiting the size of government by reducing most state agency general

revenue expenditures by 3 percent.

- Securing additional funding for transportation infrastructure by passing a constitutional amendment to dedicate one half of the motor vehicle sales tax to transportation needs and ending many transporta-tion funding diversions.

- Stimulating private sector job growth by per-manently decreasing the business “franchise” tax by $2 billion, combined with comprehensive reforms.

- Providing property owners with $2.2 billion in property tax relief.

- Using any revenue that exceeds initial estimates or a portion of any sur-plus cash to reduce state non-self-supporting debt.

- Preventing future over-spending by passing a constitutional amendment

ending the use of funds in statutorily dedicated ac-counts for budget certifi-cation;

- Providing the governor expanded line-item veto authority to ensure prudent and sensible spending re-ductions.

In a set of official proc-lamations released Feb. 20, Abbott named five emer-gency items for state law-makers to address without delay: (1) improvements to early education; (2) higher education research initia-tives; (3) transportation funding; (4) border securi-ty funding; and (5) ethics reform. The Texas Consti-tution requires lawmakers to take action on the gov-ernor’s emergency items by March 13, the 60th day of the 140-day regular ses-

County February 25, 2015 s Page 5The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

BALLOTFrom page 1

EDITORIALFrom page 4

TEXASFrom page 4

custodyarrest log

Bosque County Sheriff’s Department

INRecent arrests made by

various law enforcement agencies in Bosque Coun-ty include (alphabetically) and made between 2/13/15 and 2/19/15, include:

• Cynthia Clemments Casarez, DOB 4/9/59, of Morgan, charged with as-sault causes bodily injury family violence, arrested Feb. 18.

• Rudy Valeria Felan, DOB 1/23/68, of Clif-ton, charged with theft of property over $20, under $500, by check, arrested Feb. 13.

• Steven Dwayne Jacks, Jr., DOB 5/26/79, of Val-ley Mills, charged with assault of public servant; obstruction or retaliation; assault of family or house-hold member with previ-ous conviction; terroristic threat of family or house-hold; resist arrest, search or transport; assault caus-es bodily injury family violence; assault causes bodily injury of family/MTR; arrested Feb. 17.

• James Emerson New-ell, DOB 12/26/74, of Morgan, charged with burglary of building; manufacture or deliver controlled substance PG 1 over one gram, under four grams; criminal nonsup-port/contempt; arrested

Feb. 23.• Demetrio Garcia Olve-

ra, DOB 12/20/45, of Clif-ton, charged with driving while intoxicated third or more, arrested Feb. 16.

• Nathan Scott Potter, DOB 9/1/86, of Clifton, charged with assault caus-es bodily injury family vi-olence, arrested Feb. 14.

• Richard Lee Sanchez, DOB 4/1/52, of Walnut Springs, charged with sex offenders duty to regis-ter life/annually, arrested Feb. 19.

• Dusten Shane Sargent, DOB 8/27/78, of Kopperl, charged with two counts, burglary of habitation; burglary of habitation/in-dictment; theft from per-son; two charged burglary of building; two charged burglary of building/in-dictment; theft of property over $1,500, under $20K/indictment; and burlary of habitation/indictment; ar-rested Feb. 18.

• John Skinner, DOB 11/19/72, of Chattanooga, charged with possession of controlled substance PG1 under one gram, ar-rested Feb. 19.

• Baily Briann Van Zan-dt, DOB 5/15/89, of Me-ridian, charged with resist arrest, search or transport/MTA, arrested Feb. 19.

should go to defense, or homeland security, or social welfare—and more generally about who has the best ideas for addressing the country’s needs.

There will be times in upcoming months when it sounds as though our economy’s health depends on what our lawmakers do. The budget, after all, is where the President and Congress can have an impact on the econ-omy.

I’m not persuaded, however, that it’s as large as they’d have us believe. For one thing, the Federal Reserve, through its control over the money supply, has its hands on an immensely important economic lever. So do the big banks, major corporations and, most importantly, millions of consumers.

Still, Congress faces important questions. The deficit, which in past years was the focus of furious debate, holds less attention this year because we’ve made so much progress in reducing it. A few years ago, it amounted to almost 10 percent of GDP; in 2014, it was 2.7 percent.

On the other hand, the federal debt—what we owe to creditors who financed our accumulated annual defi-cits—is higher than it’s been for generations, and we’re not dealing with the hard choices necessary to get it un-der control.

In particular, this means finding ways to control en-titlement spending in an aging society. We do not need to panic about our finances, but we can’t afford to be complacent either.

There will be voices in Congress over the next few months urging that we curb spending sharply. In a recov-ering economy that is still beset with income stagnation, I’d argue that slamming hard on the brakes would be a mistake.

Instead, we need to shift our spending toward invest-ment, focusing on areas that generate or underpin eco-nomic growth: infrastructure, research and development, education.

Congress used to reign supreme in budget-making. George Washington didn’t even think it was his job to send a budget to Congress, and the president wasn’t le-gally required to submit one until the budget act of 1921 codified the practice. Now, of course, the President has become the chief budget-maker, and the Congress reacts to—and largely accepts—his proposals.

The maneuvering on Capitol Hill over the next few months will, indeed, nudge the country in one direction or another. But our basic course was already set by the time those 2,000 pages hit lawmakers’ desks.

Lee Hamilton is Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.

accident. She had brought the gun along just to scare Blanche, and it went off when she grabbed for it.

The jury deliberated 18 hours before finding Juanita guilty of the lesser charge of “murder without malice” and sentencing her to four years in the state penitentia-ry for women.

Al Harting tells the rest of the story: “An appellate

court ruled for a new trial, which for some reason was never held. Though Eddie and Juanita were divorced, most who knew them think Eddie used the influence he had gained as one of Dal-las’ most popular men about town to keep her from pris-on.

“He died in San Antonio in the late Forties. Juanita’s fate is unknown.”

sion of the 84th Texas Leg-islature.

With the governor’s wishes now expressed, committees in both hous-es of the Texas Legisla-ture will continue to work on their own versions of a state budget for the next fiscal biennium. Those versions will have to be reconciled by the two bod-ies, and ultimately, with the governor, who has veto power.Court rules on immigra-

tion On Feb. 16, a Browns-

ville U.S. district judge is-sued a preliminary injunc-tion, pending the outcome of a multi-state lawsuit, to stall an executive order President Obama issued last fall that would allow some five million undocu-mented immigrants to ap-ply for work permits and avoid deportation.

In issuing the injunction, U.S. District Judge An-drew Hanen reasoned that the U.S. Administrative Procedure Act’s require-ment that public notice and a public comment period did not take place before a change in U.S. immi-gration policy could take effect.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lauded the rul-ing and noted in a Feb. 20 news release, “Texas leads a 26-state coalition fight-ing the president’s attempt to unilaterally grant am-

nesty to millions of illegal immigrants.”

The Obama administra-tion has filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a stay of the district court’s injunction.

Same-sex marriageAustin State District

Judge David Wahlberg, citing “unconstitutional prohibitions against same-sex marriage” in Texas, gave Travis County the green light to proceed with official paperwork culmi-nating in a marriage cere-mony uniting two women on Feb. 19.

Attorney General Pax-ton quickly obtained a stay from the Texas Supreme Court that prevents same-sex marriages. Paxton also seeks to invalidate the one marriage that was conduct-ed.

Gov. Abbott said, “Ar-ticle 1, Section 32 of the Texas Constitution de-fines marriage as consist-ing ‘only of the union of one man and one woman’ and was approved by more than three-quarters of Tex-as voters. I am committed to ensuring that the Tex-as Constitution is upheld and that the rule of law is maintained in the State of Texas.”

The constitutionality of same-sex marriage is a matter pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. A rul-ing is expected by June 30.

CAPITOLFrom page 4

tive articles will be published in the local papers.

Throughout April, seven publicized Town Hall meetings throughout the county will be held for the purpose of ex-plaining the system and addressing any possible opposition to the system.

These Town Hall meetings, led by Rat-liff, will give everyone on both sides of the issue an opportunity to address their concerns and viewpoints. A schedule will be published in the next few weeks.

A website Bosqueunitsystem.com will go live on March 9, with reports and in-formation from state agencies along with counties who have adopted and either kept or reversed their use of the system, with explanations on why or why it did not work.

“I suggest you use these and other official sites rather than undocumented

sources such as Facebook postings that are often more emotional than factual,” Jackson said.

Another mayor issue for Bosque County citizens, which was unanimous-ly approved by the commissioners, was adding the creation of an Emergency Ser-vices District on the ballot for citizens to vote on.

The ESD in Bosque County would be a change in funding and organizing the ambulance service in the county.

A petition to bring this issue to vote offered 139 verified signatures; 100 sig-natures would have been sufficient. Sev-eral county mayors, including Richard Spitzer of Clifton and Johnnie Hauerland of Meridian backed the petition.

At present, funding of the Bosque am-bulance services is through city taxes, with each individual city and the county

contributing to the services. But the cities and county have no say in the financial operations of the ambulance service.

In recent years, it has become increas-ingly difficult to collect the suggested donations from all of the county’s cities. Some cities, including Clifton and Me-ridian, pay more than their fair share to keep the services operational.

With an Emergency Services Dis-trict, the funds are governed by a Board of Trustees, and the funds are acquired through a separate tax.

Both issues on the ballot, the unit road system and the Emergency Services Dis-trict represent significant change for the county, and both have pros and cons. Un-til the May 9 elections, the county’s citi-zens will be able to inform themselves on these important issues, before they cast their vote.

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LifestylesPage 6 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

INmemoryThe Clifton Record Obituaries

RAMBLINGSFrom page 4

Penny Lee Ridlehuber Steinke, age 71, of Valley Mills passed away Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 in Valley Mills. Memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, at the First United Methodist Church in Valley Mills under the direction of Foss Funeral Home and Cremation Center.

Penny was born on Oct. 19, 1943, in Gainesville, Texas, to Walter (Tom) and Willma (Dunk-en) Ridlehuber. She grew up in Mart, and graduated from Mart High School. Penny worked several years at the Vet-eran Affairs Regional Office in Waco.

She was preceded in death by her mother. Among the family and friends who will miss her great-

ly are: her father, Walther Tom Ridlehuber; brother, Tom Ridlebuber and wife Lori; sisters, Mary Cheney and hus-band Doug, Rosalyn Eugster and husband Donny; sons, Shawn Steinke, Eric and wife, Sheryl Hull Steinke; grand-children, Kristoph Baker, Chelsea Baker, Maggie Steinke; great-grandson Jaxon Baker; and long time friend Gail Nutt.

Please join us in remembering Penny by visiting our me-morial at www.fossfuneralhome.com.

Penny Lee Steinke

Richard Thiele Jr., (better known as Junior), 77, of Waco, passed away Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, surrounded by family and friends. Funeral services were held Saturday, Feb. 21, at Pecan Grove Funeral Home in Waco with Bro. Jerry Walters officiating. Burial will follow at Robinson Cemetery.

Junior was born May 26, 1937, in Valley Mills, to Richard and Louise Thiele. He graduated from Lorena High in 1956.

He enjoyed farming, gardening, cigars, pickup trucks, spending time with friends and family and he especially loved being outdoors. His children remember him being a hard worker, and always helping out friends and family who were sick by using reflexology. They remember him going home to his parent’s farm in Lorena, so he could continue to help on the farm as it became harder on his parents.

Junior was preceded in death by his mother and father, Louise and Richard Thiele; sisters, Pauline Poehls, Wil-helmine Purvis, and Helen Klatt; daughter Jennifer Thiele; and lifelong best friend Bobby Jennings.

Junior is survived by his sister, Mary Schantz and hus-band, Robert of Parrish, FL; son, Roger Thiele of Ross; five daughters, Denetta and Paul Stopper of Austin, Janet Dale of Oklahoma City, Paula and David Holley of Hot Springs, Karyn and Harvey Piper of Monticello, AR, and Ronda Thiele of Austin; his seven grandchildren, Brian, Amanda, Jesse, Anthony, Garrett, Penelope, and Memo-ry; four great-grandchildren; and other family and friends including, Kevin and Dawn Schantz, Steven and Brandy Schantz, Alex Grace, Sarah Vladut, Ryan Ellinger, Murl Jennings and family, Sherri Gibson, Christina Whiteside, and Ashley Schantz.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Scott & White Hospice for their wonderful care of Junior.

Online Guestbook www.pecangrovefuneral.com.

Richard Thiele, Jr.

R.G. “Pat” Patterson, 83, of Valley Mills, passed away Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Cen-ter in Waco. A graveside service was held at Rockwood Cemetery, in Rockwood, on Feb. 18, 2015 with Rev. Collins Steward officiating.

Roland Glen Patterson was born Jan. 12, 1932 in Clif-ton, to Roscoe and Castell Patterson. He attended Clif-ton High School, and then joined the Marines in 1951 to 1954.

In 1955 he married Kay Steward. They were blessed with two children. They lived in Shreveport, LA for 33 years and then retired from Kansas City Southern Trans-port Rail Road in 1995 to Valley Mills.

Roland was a member of the Baptist church, and a

Roland Patterson

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Cal Foster celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by family and friends on Saturday at the Clifton Civic Center. The fami-ly made sure that he had his own cake, decorated with a Colt 45, to honor him and celebrate his day.

Why guess?Why guess?

Public notices in your newspaper take some of the guesswork out of what your local governmental bodies are planning to do with your tax dollars. It's your right to know what they're up to.

If it is not in the newspaper, how will you know?

The ClifTon ReCoRd

member of the Masonic Lodge for 50 plus years. He was a devoted husband and father who enjoyed hunting, fish-ing, and woodworking.

Roland was preceded in death by his parents Roscoe and Castell Patterson.

Roland is survived by his wife, Kay Patterson; daugh-ter Paige Patterson of Forney; son and daughter-in-law Pat and Judye Patterson of Rockwall; grandsons, Jere-my Patterson, Austin Patterson, and great-grandsons, Greyson and Trenton.

Clifton Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

the deer think proximity to us provides some sort of immu-nity against predators. This didn’t work out so well for the rabbits. Deer sleeping so close to the house drives the dogs a little crazy, but also gives them plenty to investigate on daily supervised runs outside their yard.

Evidence of deer, squirrels, raccoons, skunks, armadillos, barn cat and assorted other critters enhance the dog’ outings with intriguing smells and – let s be honest – a whole hecku-va lot of interesting poop.

Why are dogs so fascinated with the poop? It’s like, “Did you get the message the raccoon left on that log over there?” Or, “I see the deer have begun to favor that area under the hackberry trees lately.” And, “They’ve gotten into the wild onions again.”

Using which powers of deduction do they determine the latter? Believe me, you don’t want to know.

We lately have a group of animals cruising our property I’m not thrilled about. For the first time ever, there are feral hogs roaming. We knew this was coming. Neighbors have sighted them for the last several years. We knew they’d en-tered some of our land across the highway.

During the last week, we’ve seen evidence of encroach-ment in pecan bottoms, cultivated fields, pastures and even areas near Zack’s workshops and our little house.

Zack’s acquired a new purpose in life and yet another un-compensated “job.” Like a little kid, he’s already planning and plotting middle-of-the-night ambushes along the hog trail. As the honor of my presence is gently demanded for this command performance, I’m grateful for all the target practice of the last several years.

I’m not fond of killing anything I don’t plan to eat – and I certainly don’t care to eat these. But I’ll gladly protect my land from uninvited, destructive porcine intruders. I’ll be hunting in earnest for the first time in my life. Sort of antic-ipating it.

This mission doesn’t seem so much like “killing Bambi”.I’m looking forward to another spring on the ranch – a

time of growth, a new garden, fruit blossoms and flowers, welcoming new babies – and wait, what? – Shooting wild hogs.

Who’d a thunk it?

Devotional February 25, 2015 s Page 7The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

Weekly Scripture Reading

Scriptures Selected by the American Bible Society

©2015, Keister-Williams Newspaper Services, P.O. Box 8187, Charlottesville, VA 22906, www.kwnews.com

John 14:1-31

John15:1-17

Mark12:13-27

Mark12:28-34

Deut.6:1-25

Eph.3:1-21

Eph.4:1-32

Photo Credit Istockphoto.com/mandj98

SANDING SMOOTH THE EDGES Each finished piece of

wood furniture began as a tree in a forest, a tree made by the Creator. As regal as that tree stood, God gave man the knowledge and skill to refine it into innumerable items of intense beauty. It’s only by sawing down the tree, stripping the protective bark and sanding the rough wood that the tree is prepared for an end piece full of beauty. Sometimes, we feel cut down and stripped of our shields. As painful as that seems, God may be preparing us to be the best we can be. He may be smoothing our rough edges. Let God prepare you for greatness; visit your house of worship this week.

INthoughtThe Clifton Record Weekly Devotional

Around TownPage 8 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

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Roger Parks, always on hand to help the kids, attended the Clifton FFA and 4-H fundraiser dinner on Saturday.

Alice Brandenberger took her time selecting choices on the silent auction table at the FFA fundraiser on Saturday.

Bennett Field and Chuck Caniford support the kids in all fashions – one being helping at the grill on Saturday at Womack Hall.

As Emily Brewer cleared third, Coach Sam Canfield waved the upcoming runner to continue on the bases.

Rustin Qualls of Main Street welcomed everyone to the His-torical Commission’s special award ceremony on Friday.

Judge Dewey Ratliff attended the Texas Historical Commis-sion’s award presentation in Clifton on Friday evening.

Connie and Clifton Terry were on hand to enjoy the food, fel-lowship and fundraising at the FFA and 4-H fundraiser Sat-urday.

Vere Conrad and E.J. and Janice Belvis enjoyed visiting at Womack Hall on Saturday during the FFA-4-H fundraiser din-ner and auction.

Lisa and Bryan Prescher headed up annual youth livestock show fundraiser at Womack Hall on Saturday evening.

Jason Whitney, Ag Instructor at Clifton High School, spent most of Saturday evening cooking up fajita meat on the grill at Womack Hall.

John and Vickie Mitchell enjoyed the silent auction and faji-ta dinner fundraiser for the FFA and 4-H youths on Saturday.

Anna Marie and Charles Lindley, always supporters of the Central Texas Livestock Show, were on hand Saturday at the fundraiser.

www.bosquecountytoday.com The ClifTon ReCoRd 9

SPoRTSFebruary 25, 2015

Clifton baseball season begins Thursday

Spring training opens with baseball hopes

Smell The GrassBy Brett Voss

Publisher

Lady Cubs softball host annual tournament to open season, fall in finalClifton girls shine on the diamond

see VOSS, page 10

Clifton lifters place at meet

CouRTeSy PhoTo / The ClifTon ReCoRd

A couple of the Cubs powerlifters take a break during the Stephenville Meet.

Only a few short years ago, the Texas Rangers were the talk of the American League with two consecutive appear-ances in the World Series, while the Houston Astros had just moved to the American League as the 100-loss door-mats of Major League Base-ball.

Texas baseball fans dreamed of the day the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros would become viable rivals playing on the same level.

Be careful what you wish for.It happened last season, only not the way we all wanted. Al-

though the Astros avoided a 100-loss season for the first time in four seasons, the Texas Rangers joined them at the bottom of the American League West.

While spring delivers renewed hope for every baseball team, there’s plenty of reason to believe baseball in Texas might re-

turn to better times in 2015. This week marked the official beginning of spring training

as all the equipment trucks arrived in Arizona and Florida, while pitchers and catchers began to report to camps for the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.

For the true baseball fan, visiting spring training can be quite an experience. Fans can watch practices as every team works out in the morning. Most teams practice on training fields, not the main ballpark, so seating and access can be limited. And there’s no formal schedule, so you just show up in the morning to see who’s working out and what’s open.

With the first spring training games now just a matter of weeks away, fans will soon be flocking to ballparks in Florida and Arizona. With 15 teams in each state, the potential remains for travelers to plan a good trip in either place.

The Texas Rangers participate in Arizona’s Cactus League in Arizona with pitcher and catchers reporting last Friday and taking part in their first workout last Saturday. Ranger posi-tion players report today with their first workout taking place Thursday.

Built for both the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Roy-als, Surprise Stadium features two 37,000-square-foot club-houses with locker rooms, team kitchens, weight and training facilities and administrative offices. In addition, each team has a practice infield and six full practice fields.

It’s a little off the beaten trail, but Billy Parker Field at Sur-prise Stadium may be the perfect place to see a spring ball-game -- the sightlines are gorgeous, the concourses are wide, and the ballpark design is striking.

With the full Phoenix sun out for most games, you’ll want to carefully choose where you sit. Both teams draw well in spring training, so a little planning will be in order. But it will be worth the while, as Billy Parker Field stands out as one of the most pleasant venues in the Cactus League.

Historically speaking for the Texas Rangers, when the Washington Senators entered the American League in 1961, they established a spring-training camp in Pompano Beach, Florida. Even after moving the franchise to Texas, the Rang-ers stayed there until 1986, when operations were shifted to

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Beginning on Friday, the Clifton Lady Cubs hosted the annual softball tournament with a solid win over San Saba in the first game.

Going into bracket play on Saturday, the Lady Cubs made the most in the second bracket play with a 8-4 victory over Glen Rose. However, when they took on Troy for the championship game, they fell 14-5 to Troy.

Glen Rose got 12 hits compared with just nine for the Clifton Lady Cubs Varsity, but Glen Rose stranded six on base.

Emily Brewer went a perfect 3-3 at the dish for the Lady Cubs. She singled in the second, third, and fourth innings.

The game’s last lead went to the Lady Cubs thanks to a second inning rally that saw three runs cross the plate on two doubles and an RBI single by Jor-dan Woosley.

The Clifton Lady Cubs Varsity an-swered Glen Rose’s top inning with two runs of their own in the third. The Clifton Lady Cubs Varsity scored on an RBI single by Brewer and.

The Lady Cubs tacked on another three runs in the fourth. A bases loaded walk scored Kennadi Strawser to get the Lady Cubs on the board in the in-ning. That was followed up by Karlee Kleibrink’s single, scoring Brewer.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Rachel Anderson puts her whole body into the swing during recent softball action at home.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Kennadi Srawser took the mound for the tournament’s first game against San Saba.

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

The Clifton boys powerlifting team took eighth place out of 27 teams and almost 400 lifters at the Stephenville district meet.

The following Cubs compet-

ed at the meet with the follow-ing results: Isaack Santillan, 114, fourth, 750; Robbie Brew-er, 123, seventh, 725; Emilia-no Mar, 132, fifth, 850; Justin O’Neal, 132, eighth, 800; Dan-iel Chavez, 165, fifth, 1085; Josh Lucas, 181, eighth, 1005;

Jordan Larance, 198, eighth, 1170; and Jordan Allen, 275+, first, 1545.

Three Lady Cubs also com-peted, including: Malan Brewer, 114, 15th, 415; Judy Sarinana, 114, 18th, 375; and Macey Rob-erson, 198, sixth, 740.

CouRTeSy PhoTo / The ClifTon ReCoRd

The Clifton powerlifting teams competed at the Stephenville Meet on Saturday.

By Brett VossThe ClifTon ReCoRd

After have their schedule 2015 Texas high school baseball season opener cancelled due to ice and freezing conditions, the state-ranked Clif-ton Cubs will begin their quest for the Class 3A state championship Thursday at the Gatesville Tournament.

“We have eight returning starters and 10 re-turning lettermen from a district champion and regional quarterfinal team,” Clifton baseball head coach Brian Slater said. “The strength of the team will be our pitching staff. And as a team, we have set some lofty goals that we are currently work-ing hard as a group to achieve.”

In the pre-season top 20 poll, the Cubs rank 11th after posting a 21-14-1 record in 2014.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

During the Cub’s first scrimmage against Grandview on Friday night, Jaren Brooks got off to a good start with a hard right field hit that took him to third base. Jordan Larance gives it all he’s got swinging against the Grandview pitcher.

SportsPage 10 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

VOSSFrom Page 9

Port Charlotte. Ultimately, the Rangers moved spring train-ing from Florida to Arizona in 2003.

The Houston Astros partic-ipate in Florida’s Grapefruit League in Florida, but this could be the beginning of their finals days in Kissimmee. Astro pitchers and catchers reported to camp last Friday as well, getting in the first workout last Saturday. Hous-ton positions players reported Tuesday and begin working out today.

Osceola County Stadium is the smallest spring train-ing venue in the Grapefruit League, and it’s also the most basic. With the Astros owner-ship eyeing a move to Palm Beach Gardens in a few years, there will be limited opportu-nities to see the Astros in the greater Orlando area.

The very basic ballpark has been the spring-training home of the Houston Astros since 1985, when the team shifted spring-training facilities from Cocoa. Osceola County Sta-

dium and Complex features all armchair seating, separate major and minor league club-houses, an “Autograph Alley” and a party deck for private functions.

Despite the relative mod-est nature of the ballpark when compared to newer spring-training facilities, it’s still a great place to visit. The ballpark is comfortable, the players are usually excessable, and the food selection is great. Just don’t be expecting Disney World.

Historically for the Astros, the Houston Colt .45s began by holding training camp in Apache Junction, Ariz., in 1962-1963. In 1964, spring training was shifted to Co-coa Beach, where the Astros trained until 1984. In 1985, the Astros moved to their current spring-training home in Kis-simmee.

This season could be the dawn of a new era of Major League Baseball in Texas. And spring training will be where it all begins.

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cliftonrecord.com

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Stephen Caruso, Dis-trict President of Texas Retired Teachers Associa-tion, and Nancy Byler, first vice-president at the State level, were on hand to vis-it with the Bosque County chapter of RTA last week at Johnny’s Place in Clifton.

They encouraged every-one to keep on top of what was being said in the State Legislature about education in Texas, and noted that there may be changes in the future with retirements.

Two local schools were well represented by Super-intendents Rhoda While of Clifton and Dr. John Horak of Meridian. Both spoke briefly, bringing the group up to date on each of the schools’ activities.

Supt. White spoke first, noting that Clifton was on the “cusp of calling anoth-er bond election,” follow-ing the failure of the one last year. She noted that many of the citizens were not against a new elemen-tary school; however, they questioned the location and voted against it.

“We are currently under negotiations on what is known as the Tyssen prop-erty adjacent to the current middle and high schools,

and now have a design for the new school,” said White. She added that the cost of the construction has gone up over the past year, but she was hopeful that the election would pass and a new elementary school could be built.

White also talked brief-ly about the recent Milken award presented to Samatha Morgan at the Elementary School, noting that it had been kept totally secret until the presentation. She added, with a laugh, that Morgan had called in sick the day of the award, and had been told there were no substitutes available, so she “needed to come in for the morning.” She expressed her appreciation to the Milken Foundation, and the honor that was bestowed on the district with the award.

White also mentioned the recent death of anoth-er Clifton student (Jacob Mata) and thanked every-one for the outpouring of support and the prayers of all. “This is the fourth student in two years – but we are so blessed to live in a community that shows such great support for the schools and for everyone in it.”

Dr. John Horak spoke second, saying, “I love to visit with this group.” He

Two superintendents speak to RTALocal retired teachers meeting draws state representatives

went on to remind every-one that there is a great need to keep in touch with what is going on with the State Legislature.

“Meridian is going really well,” said Horak. “Actual-ly it’s been really wild with the girl’s (basketball team) winning the Bi-District championship.”

“We’ve also resurfaced our track and put in irri-gation to our ball fields,” said Horak. “And we are currently working towards adding two new ball fields, for youth baseball, making our complex better suited to serve the community.”

“I encourage everyone here to get on our list for substitute teachers – there is no substitute for the ex-perience that you all have,” said Horak. He also en-couraged everyone to try

and see the new movie, the “The Texas Promise,” a movie that concerns Texas public schools.

In closing, he told the group that Meridian Ele-mentary School has a Ti-tle 1 Recognition, adding

“This is a wonderful county to work in.”

The movie is about the aftermath of when Texas cut $5.4 billion from public schools, affecting 5 million students, Texans protested and districts sued the state

and won. The Texas Prom-ise is the gripping story of equity, politics, money, and our children as Texas and the nation make historic decisions about education, opportunity and our de-mocracy.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Nancy Byler and Stephen Caruso of the Texas Retired Teachers Association visited the Bosque County Chapter last week in Clifton (left); Superintendent Rhoda White (standing) discusses Clifton ISD at a recent RTA meeting in Clifton, while Super-intendent Dr. John Horak of Meridian seems to listens intently.

ClassifiedsPage 12 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

PUBLIC NOTICE

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATEREAL ESTATE

FOR SALE

BJ’s Public StorageONE MONTH FREE

Security CamerasNo Deposit - Call or contact

BJ’s Western Wear at 410 W.5th St.675-8113 or 386-7189 SOLUTIONS

314 S. Ave. G (Hwy. 6), Clifton, Texas

Mark Kettler, Owner/Broker254-709-7362

Nelda Kettler, Broker254-749-4045

Betty Odom, Realtor254-386-7675

Lisa Lopez, Realtor254-366-5886

RESIDENTIAL

522 N Ave Y- 3/2/2 brick, WBFP, o�ce, covered patio, large back yard, fenced...............APPOINTMENT ONLY...........................$135,9001910 White Street--3/2.5/2 Custom built,lots of extras ,plus computer area and bonus room..........................................................................................$176,000202 S Ave P 3/2/2 updated corner lot.............................................................$92,000Norse Area- 546 CR 4147, 19.99 ac w/mountain-hunting, 3/2 DW..$197,500902 W. Mary- 4/2 + bonus room, new paint-flooring-windows & more....$109,000102 S. Ave Q- 2/2/1 near hospital and nursing home, corner lot........$108,000320 FM 3221-Airport Addition- Charming- 4-2-2-split �oor plan-call for appointment.....................................................................................................$224,000819 S Ave O- 3/2/2- new windows and recent updates- large back yard with privacy fence...........................................................................................................$119,900466 CR 3220- Custom built home, 3/2/2 on 104+ acres, pasture and cultivation, cross fenced, co-op water with many more extras......................CALL

LOTS & ACREAGEO� Hwy. 6, Bosque river frontage, grass and cultivation, 60 Acres....................................$3,200/acreS Ave Q, 4 lots..................................................Make O�erRidgeview in Oak Run......................................$13,000

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MERIDIAN

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Classifieds February 25, 2015 s Page 13The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

FOR RENT

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HELP WANTED:Homecare for Senior. No nights or week-ends. Call 245-644-8918WANTED – Part-time/Full-Time Sales Repre-sentative position avail-able for The Clifton Re-cord and the Meridian Tribune. Experience in sales is a requirement. Salary negotiable based on experience. Providing a resume will be required. If inter-ested, please call The Clifton Record at 254-675-6110 and ask for publisher Brett Voss.The Clifton Record and Meridian Tribune are seeking Part-time Re-porter/Photographer to cover events in Bosque County. Contact The Clifton Record or Me-ridian Tribune Office regarding application.Drivers Wanted! Local Work! Home Daily, Benefits! CDL-A, 1yr. Exp, Great Driving Re-cord. Sunsetlogistics.com 254-652-7757; 817-589-1455 or 888-215-4285The City of Meridian is accepting applica-tions for a public works position. The job duties include street and water & sewer line repairs, meter reading, sign repair, operation of equipment and ve-hicles, etc. Commercial DL preferred. Drug screen. Applications may be picked up and returned to City Hall, 111 N. Main, Merid-ian, Texas. Open until filled. EOE.

FOR RENT: 2BR, 1BA Country House. H/A No Smoking, No Inside Pets. Srove and Refrig. Provided. %500 mo, $350dep 254-375-3433FOR RENT- Clifton 1BR/1BA Duplex, $350/mo + Deposit. Water Bill paid 254-744-7996FOR RENT 2 bedroom, 2 bath open concept. 307 E River Street $650 a month $650 deposit call 817-404-9098For Rent: 3 bedroom, 1 bath, Brick in quiet loca-tion, very clean, fenced yard & outside storage. 510 N Ave U. Rent $750 month with $500 deposit. Call 675-8020 for more info.

CountyPage 14 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

BAC accepting entries for 12th annual high school art show

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

The Bosque Arts Center Art Council will be accept-ing entries for its 12th annu-al High School Student Art Show through Friday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m. Artists from all Bosque County high schools, as well as artists from Hamilton, Hico, and Whitney high schools, are

free to enter.Entries may be brought to

the Bosque Arts Center at 215 S. College Hill Drive in Clifton between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. the week of February 23-27.

Media divisions include the following: Watercolor/Tempera; Oil/Acrylic; Pas-tel; Pencil/Ink/Charcoal (color & graphite); and Mixed Media. Entry forms,

rules, and complete show information may be found at www.BosqueArtsCen-ter.org, or by stopping by the Bosque Arts Center of-fice. There is no entry fee.

The Art Council will host a reception for the artists from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2015, to which the public is invited. The art-work will continue to be on display through March 21.

Local ReportThe ClifTon ReCoRd

The Nellie Pederson Civic Library would like to say thank you to the citizens of Clif-ton who have donated money on their wa-ter bills to the library. The donations will be used to purchase quality materials, pro-grams, resources, and provide services that will educate, entertain, and enrich the lives of all generations.

If one has not had the opportunity or ha-ven’t noticed that you can donate to the li-brary via your water bill please do so today.

By helping the library one also helps every citizen.

“The library places great emphasis on promoting literacy and should be the cor-nerstone of the community. Please join our efforts and our continuing commitment to adapt to the changing landscape of today’s public library and the evolving needs of our community by donating to the Nellie Peder-son Civic Library today,” said Lewis Stan-still, Library Director.

Anyone with questions or comments may contact Stanstill at 675-6495 or email to clif-tonlib@cliftontexas.us.

Civic Library donations appreciated

By Carol SpicerThe ClifTon ReCoRd

Since opening, the Laguna Park Library has continued to grow, expand, and excite the local community with a wide variety of events and education.

Not only do they have computers for the pub-lic’s use, but their books include a very wide variety of everything – from children’s books, to educational, to history, and novels. They also recently hosted a very large book sale.

Last summer the library tried to hold a farm-ers’ market, but due to the late freeze, flood, drought, and grasshoppers, Director Cynthia Choat noted that it did not go real well – how-ever, the library hopes to advance the idea of a community sustainable garden in the future.

On Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, the library hosted the eighth annual Everything Chocolate event. Where there was everything from cook-ies to cakes and candies for purchase, as well as

a chocolate fountain for dipping goodies, and even “chocolate Chili” cooked up by Choat.

Now, the library has set up a series of sustain-able living workshops throughout 2015, join-ing hands with the Laguma Park Community Church (where the meetings will be held) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The third Tuesday of every month will offer a new program, including a Food Handlers’ Course on Feb. 17; Wi$e Up: a laymans guide to easy budgeting on March 17; An introduc-tion to community gardens on April 21. Other gardening programs are set, as well as water-bath canning, dehydrating fruits and vegeta-bles, cheese making, soapmaking, and pressure canning.

The library will also offer workshops for kids starting in June which will include planting, cheese making and candle tapering.

For more information or to register for a course, stop by the Laguna Park Library on Hwy. 22 or call the library at 254-622-2665.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Laguna Park Library Director Cynthia Choate, along with Chris, serves up some of her award winning chocolate chili during the Everything Chocolate event held on Valentine’s Day.

Laguna Park Library grows strong

CouRTeSy PhoTo / The ClifTon ReCoRd

Lutheran Sunset Ministries Health Center residents Nancy Pruitt and Juanita Sargent put together, glued and framed a jig-saw puzzle of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” and donated it to the chapel.

Crop production, child care, garage sale & food safety

see AGRILIFE, page 16

By Marc Arnold, Kate Whitney, Chelsea Dorward & Karen Thomasy

Bosque County Extension Office

News & Notes

Agriculture February 25, 2015 s Page 15The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

Ranch Tails by Genie & Zack Zacharias

Last week, USDA put out its first crop pro-duction outlook for 2015, forecasting that U.S. farmers will plant less corn and soy-beans.

According to the Bob Burgdorfer of Farm Futures, the forecasted acreage for planted corn is 89 million, down from 90.6 million in 2014. Soybean acreage should decline slight-ly to 83.5 million from the record high of 83.7 million in 2014. Wheat acreage is expected to decrease to 55.5 million from 56.8 million acres planted in 2014.

The USDA also reported that the average U.S. corn price for the upcoming 2015-2016 season should be roughly $3.50 a bushel, down 15 cents from the 2014-2015 season. Soybeans are predicted to see a decrease of $1.20 a bushel this year; the per bushel pre-diction for 2015 is $9. The USDA also pro-jected the average 2015-2016 U.S. wheat price to be down to $5.10 as compared to last year’s price of $6.00.

For farmers in the area, the outlook for net

farm income is expected to be down this year, due to lower crop and livestock prices. The anticipation is to be the lowest since 2007 at $73.6 billion, but the debt-to-asset ratio should rise and be the third lowest since 1960.

Child Care ConferenceTexas A&M AgriLife Extension in Hood,

Johnson, Somervall and Bosque Counties are offering a conference for child care provid-ers entitled, “Inclusive Child Care for Infants and Toddlers.” The conference will be held on Saturday, March 21, from 8:00am-3:00pm at the LGMC Senior Circle in Granbury, TX. Six CEU’s will be provided to partici-pants. Registration is $20 per person and in-cludes lunch. Visit our website to find a list of topics and registration information: http://bosque.agrilife.org/calendar/inclusive-child-care-for-infants-and-toddlers/

Garage Sale The Bosque County-Wide Garage Sale is

just around the corner on April 10-11. Clean out your closets and garage this spring to

make some extra cash. Bargain hunters will find great deals on all kinds of items at garage sales throughout the county.

Online registration is open at http://bosque.agrilife.org/bosquecountywidegaragesale/. The $10 registration fee includes promo-tion of your sale in newspapers and websites throughout Texas, inclusion in the official ga-rage sale listing, and two yard signs to direct shoppers to your sale. Registration is due March 27 to be included in the listing. Call the Extension Office at 254-435-2331 for more information.

Food SafetyTexas A&M AgriLife Extension in Hill and

Bosque Counties are offering a Certified Food Manager Training on March 24-25 in Hills-boro, TX. The two-day training is accredited by the Texas Department of State Health Ser-vices. A registration fee of $125 per person

includes a training book and materials, and the certified ServSafe Exam. Registration is due by March 9. Contact Kate Whitney at the Extension Office for more details about the course at 254-435-2331.

Central Texas Youth FairIt is time for the fairgrounds in Clifton to

come alive with the activities of the 2015 Central Texas Youth Fair. The CTYF runs from March 3-7, and is open for all to come and support the youth in Bosque County as they participate in the Home Economics, Livestock, and Ag Mechanics contests. The CTYF also has an open class in the Home Economics division which allows adults to participate.

The youth in Bosque County put in many hours with their various projects to get ready

The Back PagePage 16 s February 25, 2015 The ClifTon ReCoRd • bosquecountytoday.com

AGRILIFEFrom page 15

Channeling The Sun’S RayS

for the CTYF, projects that teach them re-sponsibility and time management. Please make plans to come out and show your sup-port for the youth of Bosque County or stop by the Livestock and Cake Sale at noon on

Saturday, March 7. A full calendar of events for the CTYF can be found on the online cat-alog at http://bosque.agrilife.org/4-h/central-texas-youth-fair/, or by calling the Extension Office at 254-435-2331.

By CaRol SPiCeR / The ClifTon ReCoRd

With freezing, icy, sleeting and snowing weather conditions descending upon Bosque Coun-ty Monday morning, Clifton ISD became the area’s only school in attendance after a opening delay until 10 a.m. (top left); an iced-over bird’s nest not quite ready for spring (top right); a group of cows thankful for fresh hay in frozen conditions (above).