North & East Texas
Fannin County Commissioners Court appointed Dean Lackey as Precinct 4 Commissioner to replace Joe Strong, who died in June.
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Freestone County Commissioners Court approved tax abatements for Sanderson Farms, which plans to build a feed mill in Butler.
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Grayson County Commissioners Court approved a loan of $4 million from the county’s reserve funds to expand the juvenile justice center by 72 beds.
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Gregg County is introducing an electronic judicial filing system that the Texas Supreme Court has ordered for all counties by 2015. Tax attorney John Bolster told the Longview News-Journal that Gregg is the first county in Texas to implement the system, for which Gregg contracted with Tyler Technologies.
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Harrison County marked the reopening of its historical museum after a redesign and remodeling.
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Jasper County Commissioners Court approved a $4.45 million renovation project for the courthouse annex. Funded primarily with a federal grant, the project will expand the annex so that it can also serve as an emergency operations center, shelter and events center.
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Kaufman County Commissioners Court renewed its annual agreement with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to provide low-income residents with assistance on vehicle repairs when their vehicles fail to meet emission control standards.
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Leon County Commissioners Court approved an online tax system that will allow residents to “get online, see their taxes, know how much they owe, and either pay it online or send a check,” according to tax assessor-collector Robin Shafer.
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Nacogdoches County Commissioners Court selected J.E. Kingham Construction and DRG Architects to provide renovations to the Lightfoot Law Enforcement Center.
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Red River County has a new Commissioner for Precinct 3. Richard Harvey, a former Commissioner, was appointed by Judge Morris Harville to fill a vacancy left by the death of Ben Ray Storey.
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Rusk County Commissioners Court heard in a report that hangars at the county airport are at capacity with a waiting list, and traffic and fuel sales have both increased in recent months. Commissioners Court also approved the additions of a drug dog for the Rusk County Mounted Patrol and a K-9 for the Precinct 3 constable.
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San Augustine County received a state grant of $8,279 to help veterans pay transportation costs to travel for medical appointments and a grant from Deep East Texas Council of Governments to fund upgrades to the 9-1-1 recording system.
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Upshur County Commissioners Court appointed Barbara Winchester as county clerk to replace Brandy Lee, who was named county auditor.
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Van Zandt County Commissioners Court approved the purchase for $1,000 of a “passive alert” drug dog from the Shiner police department.
South Texas
Austin County Commissioners Court honored Dorothy Budnick, who retired after working 50 years in the office of the county tax assessor.
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Bexar County Commissioners Court voted to spend $5.5 million to appease 19 Espada Road homeowners whose homes were flooded when water in the San Antonio River reached historically high levels earlier this year.
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Calhoun County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of 6.5 acres of land for $297,300 from the Calhoun County ISD for a new rural health clinic.
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Fort Bend County Commissioners Court approved tax abatements for Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., a leading global supplier of food services that plans to construct a $35 million building to employ about 400 people in Missouri City.
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Harris County Commissioners Court agreed to let voters decide the fate of the Astrodome, an iconic stadium that has fallen into disrepair since it was shuttered four years ago. Voters will be asked Nov. 5 to authorize up to $217 million in bonds to pay to convert the stadium into a convention center and exhibition hall. The building of 400,000 square feet opened in 1965 and was once home to the Houston Astros of MLB and Houston Oilers of NFL.
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Hidalgo County will begin Jan. 1, 2014, requiring attorneys to file documents in all civil cases electronically. “We are excited to be one of the first counties in the state of Texas to implement the e-filing mandate,” District Clerk Laura Hinojosa told the Brownsville Herald. Also, the county’s new courthouse judicial annex opened.
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Kleberg County Commissioners Court voted to join the city of Kingsville to purchase a wheelchair-accessible van for about $22,000 to transport local veterans to nearby cities for healthcare and other services. Commissioners Court also approved the purchase of two brush trucks for the VFD in Riviera.
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Travis County will receive $2.4 million over the next two years in state grants to fund a program that provides low-income residents up to $3,500 each to repair or replace polluting cars and also $47,000 for a program in which constables “crack down” on counterfeit vehicle inspection stickers. Commissioners Court also approved plans of the nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes for an $8 million development that will house about 200 homeless people on 27 acres in eastern Travis County, and they agreed to make $1.3 million in security upgrades to the county’s north campus as recommended by Kroll Advisory Solutions.
West Texas
El Paso County has a new Commissioner for Precinct 4. Patrick Abeln, former director of the El Paso International Airport, was appointed to replace Daniel Haggerty, who died recently.
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Floyd County Commissioners Court approved reinvestment zones and tax abatements for wind energy companies.
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Hemphill County Commissioners Court approved an additional $225,000 for a project at Hemphill County Airport for upgrades to runway construction, paving, lighting and signage. The Canadian Record said a total of $710,000 has now been allotted to the project. Commissioners Court also approved an economic development grant of $150,000 to Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy to locate its new regional headquarters in Canadian.
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Kerr County Sheriff W.R. “Rusty” Hierholzer presented Deputy Alex Monroe with the Director’s Citation from the Texas Public Safety Commission and the Department of Public Safety for his response to an April 26, 2013, multi-vehicle crash on I-10 in Gillespie County. Upon arrival at the scene, Monroe encountered a victim with severe leg injuries who was bleeding profusely. Monroe administered first aid and applied a makeshift tourniquet to the man’s leg until EMS personnel arrived. The man was later identified as an off-duty Pasadena Police Department officer who, while assisting victims during the initial crash, was subsequently hit by another vehicle.
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Lynn County Commissioners Court approved tax abatements for a Wind-Tex wind energy project that has been sold to Connecticut-based Starwood. Commissioners Court also accepted a proposal from Guardian Security Solutions to install panic buttons ($17,955) and security cameras ($26,498) at the courthouse and annex.
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Pecos County Commissioners Court approved a one-time grant of $14,260 for a fire alarm system for the building that houses the Head Start program.
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Terry County Commissioners Court completed the purchase of a building of 13,800 square feet that previously housed the Church of Christ to use after remodeling as the Brownfield Senior Center.
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Yoakum County Commissioners Court voted to purchase a building in Denver City for $225,000 that will house Precinct 2 justice of the peace, driver’s license office, MHMR and juvenile probation.
– Compiled by Garner Roberts