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Anderson new Kemp AD
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–Kemp High School athletes were introduced to the new
head coach and athletic director, Greg Anderson, during a special
assembly Tuesday.
Anderson, who comes to Kemp from Sabine High School at Liberty City
(just north of Kilgore), told the gathering he would begin his tenure by
attending the baseball team’s area championship series Thursday.
Kemp’s Yellowjackets will face the Texarkana Pleasant Grove Hawks of
District 16-3A in a best-of-three area baseball championship series
opening at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at Hallsville High School.
The second game is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, at Hallsville High
School, with a third game (if necessary) set for 2 p.m. Saturday, May
12, at Driller Field in Kilgore.
Anderson told Kemp athletes he had coached at the 3A, 4A and 5A level.
“Now, I’m back where I wanted to be,” he added.
Last fall, Anderson’s Sabine Cardinals finished 0-10 in a killer
District 15-3A, featuring Gilmer, Gladewater, Spring Hill, Mineola and
White Oak.
“I’ve coached 13 years, and 11 of those years we’ve made the playoffs,”
he told the players. “We plan to do that again next fall.”
Prior to coaching at Sabine, Anderson coached at Plano East High School,
and he coached against the Yellowjackets about a decade ago when Kemp
faced Tatum in the football playoffs.
Anderson, 37, told the students he was a “program guy.”
“It’s important to me that we’re successful in every sport, both girls
and boys,” he said, pointing out the Sabine softball team was still
marching through the playoffs.
Anderson added he was looking forward to becoming part of the Kemp
community, and personally getting to know each of the student athletes
and their families.
“To me, we are all one family. I’m just a small part of that family,”
Anderson said. “My door is always open – day or night.
“We are going to make this program as successful as we possibly can,” he
added.
Anderson’s wife is also an educator, and they have two small children,
he told the students.
Later, talking to football players, Anderson told them, “I believe in
doing things the right way, and doing them the right way all the time.”
While he considers himself fair, Anderson warned them he will have high
expectations.
One of the players asked what offense he used, and he said he worked
with a multiple offense.
“A lot of it will be dictated by what this group can do,” he said.
Anderson urged the players to begin working toward the season
immediately, pointing out championships are won during the summer, not
during the fall.
Animal control hearings
slated
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
ATHENS–Henderson County took one more step toward solving its stray dog
and cat problem.
Tuesday, commissioners set dates for public hearings in all four
precincts on a proposed county animal control ordinance. See table on
page 4A for specific times and locations.
The ordinance will not apply to municipalities, only the unincorporated
areas and subdivisions.
“This will not solve Poyner’s problems,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Wade
McKinney said. “Theirs falls within the city’s jurisdiction.”
Highlights of the nine-page order include:
• Rabies vaccinations will be required for every dog and cat, according
to manufacturer’s recommendation, and animals will be required to wear
tags recording the vaccination date. Also, certificates of vaccination
are to be kept, and must be produced upon demand.
• Animals owned or harbored in violation of the order – including strays
– may be impounded in a suitable animal shelter.
• No impounded animal will be released without proper authority and
proof of rabies vaccination.
• Animals impounded due to a complaint filed in a justice court shall
not be released, except on the order of the court.
• The order declares all strays a nuisance, unless a current rabies tag
is attached.
• Dogs are considered restrained if they are on the premises of the
owner, on a leash, secure within the owner’s vehicle, or under the
verbal or visual command of the owner. Unrestrained dogs are subject to
impoundment.
• A $25 impound fee will be charged, plus no less than $10 a day for
boarding.
• The owner of any animal deemed dangerous or vicious will be required
to post $100,000 in liability insurance coverage, as well as meet a long
list of other requirements.
In other business Tuesday, the commissioners:
• approved a contract with ERI Consulting to remove asbestos from the
Stowes Building, at a cost of just over $9,000. Similar contracts are
still under consideration for the wings of the old county hospital in
Athens.
Commissioners Jerry West and Ronny Lawrence are to follow up on
potential hospital property buyers before a final decision will be made
on asbestos abatement in preparation for demolition.
“Sometimes, you’ll find if the asbestos has been removed, you’ll have
many more parties interested in buying the property,” an ERI
representative told the commissioners.
• heard voter registrar Milburn Chaney report snafus with the
state-sanctioned software that is supposed to keep track of the state’s
registered voters.
“It just didn’t deliver what they said it would do,” Chaney said. “It’s
a nightmare. I’d hate to imagine what it would be like were this a
presidential election.”
The integrated system had not been tested prior to its implementation,
and has become increasingly overburdened with the quantity of activity
being demanded of it by its users statewide, Chaney explained.
Southwest Data Solutions presented a proposal to alleviate the problem,
but the county still would need to purchase some additional hardware.
The software will cost $17,000, plus $6,000 for the license.
Henderson County Appraisal District successfully uses this program,
chief appraiser Bill Jackson said.
“They (Southwest Data Solutions) do a fine job for us,” Jackson said.
“We get the same programmer to assist us each time we call with
accurate, friendly, professional support.”
Commissioners McKinney and Hall were designated as a committee to review
the situation and present a recommendation to the court May 22.
• agreed to assist with road repairs for the Henderson County Fire
Chiefs Association training area up to $3,000.
• contracted with GHS for collections of delinquent court fees and
fines.
• purchased web-based software to assist in determining indigency for
the Indigent Defense Coordinator at $96 a month.
• agreed to subscribe to Accurint for Government, a database system that
will be used by Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Dale Blaylock to locate
people for warrants and payments of court costs/fines.
“They already use this system at Seven Points with great success,” he
said. Because the county is already using other LexisNexis products, the
regular $800 service will cost only $96 a month, he added.
• approved a cell phone change from Cellular One to AllTel for nine
county officials. The monthly rate is slightly less, but the move was
made to improve connectivity throughout the county.
• paid bills totaling $129,741.53.
Two hurt in roll-over
Monitor Photo/Pearl Cantrell
Emergency workers treat those involved in a lunch-hour rollover accident
on Mabank’s busy Third Street in front of Day Tire Tuesday. NOT
PICTURED: Emergency responders treat Mabank insurance business owner
Cozell McAfee, reportedly the driver of the Ford Ranger pickup pictured
here. McAfee and his daughter Diane Mixon were taken to East Texas
Medical Center in Athens by ambulance with non-life-threatening
injuries. According to eyewitnesses, the two were headed south when a
Chevy Lumina sedan pulled out from a gravel road just south of Day Tire.
McAfee’s truck flipped at least twice, taking out a row of mailboxes,
before landing upside down. Witnesses reported the occupants crawled out
of the truck on their own. The sedan was reportedly driven by Felicia
Borchardt, an employee of JIT Manufacturing, located behind Day Tire.
She was unhurt and unsure what had happened. The injured were scheduled
to be released from the hospital later Tuesday. An official report from
the Mabank Police Department was not available by presstime.
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