Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monitor Staff Reports
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–Slow moving storms through East Texas last Thursday afternoon put area schools and cities on alert with the threat of severe weather and a tornado watch.
Kemp schools and Mabank Intermediate delayed dismissal times as reports of possible tornado sightings in the area started coming in, especially near Talosa.
But the Cedar Creek Lake area missed a tornado touchdown, and storm clouds moved off around 4 p.m.
Heavy rains and some hail was received, but no damage was reported locally.
However, for Midlothian it was a different story. Sirens went off when two confirmed tornados were spotted around 2:30 p.m. in a field southwest of U.S. 287 and U.S. 67, according to police chief Carl Smith and reported by the Waxahachie Daily Light.
Professional photographer Ray Ivey (Ivey photography.wordpress.com) was stunned to see a funnel cloud descend within a few hundred feet of his back door and recorded the photo seen above. Even so, Smith reported no damage in the area, except for a UPS truck that was blown off the road. No one was injured.
Ennis reported two traffic accidents attributed to the storm, one involved the rollover of a tractor-trailer on I-45, but no funnel cloud sightings.
Winning
“Buck” drawn for $500
Monitor Staff Reports
GUN BARREL CITY–Texas Tan operator Jennifer Clamon got to draw the winning name from
the Bonus Bucks promotion Monday. 
Texas Tan customers took full advantage of the consumer savings program, making the
business the greatest contributor of entries for the grand prize of $500.
Ninety-three of the more than 738 entries came from Texas Tan.
From April 7 to May 9, the Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation, and 80
businesses in the city partnered to sponsor the Bonus Bucks program.
For each “Buck” worth either $5, $10 or $20 spent on services or merchandise
valued at least $20, $50 and $100, a chance at the grand prize drawing was awarded to
motivate greater shopping within the city.
“I gained a few new customers from the program,” Clamon said. But more than
that, her regular customers used the bonus to purchase boutique items, such as shirts,
slippers or tanning lotions, she said.
Bonus Bucks shoppers saved $7,585 by redeeming $1,165 worth of “bucks,” program
organizer Linda Rankin said. Their purchases generated $38,000 in sales for local
businesses and sales tax for the city.
“We’re excited about the success of the program and the amount of goodwill
generated,” Rankin added.
The winning bonus buck was spent at Main Street Grill by Deanne Miller, Clamon announced.
“I was extremely surprised,” Miller said when she learned the news.
A Trinidad resident, Miller said the $500 award will come in handy, as her daughter is
graduating from high school this week and her son is turning 16 next week.
Miller said she just used the one bonus buck, valued at $5, to buy her family dinner at
Main Street Grill.
Mabank starts sewer upgrades
Monitor Staff Reports
MABANK–Mabank is moving forward with its plan to improve its wastewater plant.
City council members awarded a bid May 18 to Larry Parker, owner of ATS out of Trinidad,
to accomplish the half-a-million dollars’ worth of work.
ATS offered the lowest bid, utility director Ronny Tuttle said, and described the
improvements.
The work includes replacing the system’s aging grit removal system and installation
of three 15-horsepower aerators, removing the old ones.
Also, new weir gates are being installed, and a new automatic transfer switch for a
generator is going in.
In addition to work at the plant, plans call for upgrading Lift Station No. 1, Tuttle
added.
In other business, council members:
• heard a report on the status of the unsafe building at 102 W. Market St.
The owners once again asked for an extension, while engineers develop their
recommendations. Action was tabled until June 1, when the building is expected to be
condemned and an order to demolish issued.
• saw the oath of office administered to re-elected council members Shannon Steakley,
Tim Johnson and Dennis Terry.