GOP attempts to exclude Democrats from polling locations on March 2nd

Contrary to Texas State election laws, the Denton County Republican Party is putting the Denton Fire Department in the middle of a political power play over the use of public facilities by both major parties in the upcoming Primary Election. The Fire Department agreed to allow both Parties the use of Station No. 4 for as a polling place on March 2nd, yet the GOP is claiming an exclusive contract.

“The GOP,” said Phyllis Wolper, chair of the Denton County Democratic Party,” wants to prevent our Party from using the fire station and possibly other public facilities, claiming it has exclusive rights.” “Assuming such an exclusive clause actually exists in their contracts, according to our contacts at the Texas Secretary of State, such a demand for exclusivity would violate State law. “Facilities supported by public money, such as schools, fire houses and public offices, cannot discriminate for or against one particular political party. Parties have to be treated equally and fairly,” she added. That’s the starting point of democracy.”

“The taxpayer money used by both parties to hold their primary elections comes from the Texas Secretary of State. “We have confirmed again with the Secretary of State’s office who agrees with our position that there can not be exclusive agreements that bar the opposition Party from using the same public facility. I sympathize with Denton Fire Department and those who run other public facilities who find themselves in the middle of a controversy that is so far outside their mission to serve the greater community,” said Wolper.

Michael Burgess likes to hang out with wacko liars. Of course when you have NO ideas of your own, you pretty much have to lie about your opponents' ideas or anything related to your opponents' ideas if you want to score political points. People like Bachman will never be burdened by the facts, as long as they can make shit up that is consistent with what they believe.

But hey, stupid is in the water these days.

Parents in LISD are not happy with the rezoning proposals, which are splitting some neighborhoods in weird ways. As usual, the school board decided not to even give parents the courtesy of a response, hiding behind their incorrect notions about the open meetings act.

Anyone want to place a bet on this? I'll bet you a dollar that the school board passes this rezoning unanimously as currently planned without as much as a comment. If anyone actually gets some dispensation from this, it will be the Highland Village parents, since the tiny city has 3 of the 7 seats on the board, and Lewisville has none.

Speaking of the school board, the elections are coming up, and filing for the seats held by Placke, Kim, and Duke begins Monday. LISD spokeswoman Karen Permetti says each of the incumbents has expressed a desire to run again. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact us, so we can get your story.

Lewisville Police are investigating a serious injury accident that occurred last night two vehicles travelling westbound on College St. ran down the embankment into I-35 traffic.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., a 2001 Chevrolet Prism and a 2009 Toyota Tundra were travelling westbound on College Street. Both vehicles disregarded a stop sign at College Street and the northbound frontage road. The vehicles crossed the frontage road and travelled down an embankment onto Interstate 35. The vehicles struck a 2000 Honda Accord and a 2002 Hyundai Sonata travelling northbound.

A male passenger was ejected from the Chevrolet Prism. He was taken by air ambulance to Parkland Hospital. His condition is believed to be life-threatening. The driver of the Sonata was transported by Lewisville paramedics to Medical Center of Lewisville.

Captain Kevin Deaver of the Lewisville Police Department says that officers did interview the driver of the Tundra, who was chasing the driver of the Prism: "The driver of the Tundra believed the occupants of the Prism had stolen lawn equipment from his vehicle. He confronted them at his residence and they sped off. He was chasing them in his vehicle when both vehicles crashed. "

The identities of the injured parties are not being released at this time.

We visited the intersection this afternoon and there is only a small "One Way" sign on the frontage road, to the left of where College St. intersects. There is a stop sign at College St. There is no curb, guard rail, or reflective arrow sign on the access road adjacent to College Street.

The City of Lewisville will announce tomorrow that it has been awarded a $3 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. The money will be used to revitalize Main Street, from Mill Street, East to the new DCTA regional rail station. The city will provide a $750,000 match toward the grant award. A second grant is being sought for a similar project on Mill Street, from Main Street to Business 121.

Preliminary design and environmental studies are expected to begin this year, and the full project should be complete within 24 months. the grant money comes through the Sustainable Development Fund, from toll revenue and other state sources.

Heroes deserve to be recognized.

Lewisville ISD High Schools move to district 8-5A.
So, all the district games will be against another Lewisville school, a Plano school, or an Allen school.

Speaking of LISD, The Board of Trustees election is coming up in May, with the seats held by Placke, Kim, and Duke up for re-election. Duke has announced she'll run again, and I have one other Lewisville resident who has told me she will run, but there is some coordination with other cities to determine which seat. Tiny Highland Village is a small fraction of the population and tax base of the district, but has 3 board members. That needs to change this cycle.

City Council Liveblog
The Lewisville City Council met tonight, and TJ Gilmore has the live blog. (Strangely, his site is down at the moment with this message: "TJGilmore.com will be back after these commercial messages. Site redesign in progress. " - What do you think that means?)

Urban Drilling Meeting
This weekend, we posted video from Thursday night's urban drilling town hall meeting. Txsharon of Bluedaze wrote about 387 posts about this today, so I'm just linking you to her main website, so you can read them all.

If you love me...
You will buy me one of those mandolin banjos like the guy who was playing alongside Taylor Swift on last night's Grammy awards. I want one. I need one. And God bless her heart, Taylor is just as cute as can be, but lord have mercy she was so off-key.

Name of Event: Choral Concert: presented by The Musical Feast Choral Society of Greater Lewisville

Dates and Time: Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 7PM
Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 3PM

Location: The Episcopal Church of the Annunciation.
602 N. Old Orchard Lane, Lewisville, TX 75077

Admission: $15 general admission; $12 students & seniors; $7 children. Discounted tickets: $30 family of four; $10 per person for groups of ten or more.

Artistic Director: Blair King
Accompanist: Mark Parker

Music Theme: “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” – Timeless and Classic Love Songs

Contact: Blair King: 214-796-4006

More Information at www.musicalfeast.org

Wheelchair accessible. Free on-site parking.

Reception to follow concerts


Musical Feast is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization
Sponsored, in part, by the City of Lewisville via the Greater Lewisville Arts Alliance (GLAA)

The Lewisville City Council will receive recommendations Monday Night from the city's Charter Commission, which has now wrapped up its work in reviewing the city's charter. The charter is a somewhat like a constitution, in that it sets out the powers of the local government. Once every two years, the city can review its charter and present necessary change to the voters for approval.

Most of the changes recommended were either technical clarifications, or removal of language that conflicted with, or was already covered by state law.

The biggest recommendation was to allow non-binding citizen referendums. The Council had previously considered a non-binding referendum on the question of banning smoking at restaurants, but our current charter does not specifically allow it. State law precludes non-binding referendums except where they are explicitly allowed in the charter.

The Commission minutes, which are a good read for anyone interested in the process, reveal interesting discussion with Councilman John Gorena about whether to add term limits to the Council seats. Gorena believes members should be limited to no more than 2 full 3 year terms.

I thought this snippet from the minutes was enlightening:

Councilman Gorena stated that it would behoove him not to have term limits. He stated that he ran because he wanted to see changes because he was concerned regarding the Good Old Boy System calling the shots for the City. He stated that he was not saying anyone was doing a bad job; however, sometimes things need mixed up and being on the City Council was not a rubber stamp.

Councilman Gorena acknowledged that City Secretary Heinze was typing everything he said and indicated she did not need to type everything and include it in the minutes. City Secretary Heinze stated that she was doing her job.

Councilman Gorena stated that staff gathers information for the City Council to review and then they vote based on that information. He stated that he was just trying to get things done and he was not saying that the City Council are bad people. Councilman Gorena stated that it is a choice to make to do term limits and acknowledged that good people could be gotten rid of and bad people may get into office.

The Lewisville Police Department has released its 2009 Uniform Crime Report, which is available for citizen review. (Monthly stats here...)

Overall, the crime rate increased by .9% this year, with Part I offenses up 7.8% and Part II offenses down 4.2% this year. Rapes and robberies were down by 12.5% and 16.5% respectively, but burglaries of habitations were up by 10.4%, with 382 in 2009, versus 346 in 2008. Motor vehicle theft was up 32.2%, with 447 in 2009, versus 338 in 2008. Aggravated assaults were down 8.9%, at 92 down from 101 in 2008.

Shoplifting is up 30.9%, with 699 in 2009 versus 592 in 2008.

Overall, LPD answered 74,622 calls for service, responding to 2,414 traffic accidents. There were 9 traffic fatalities in Lewisville in 2009, and at least 1,019 people injured in accidents. Hit and run crashes were 516. LPD officers issued 26,429 traffic citations (just over 1 for every 4 residents), and 4,677 warnings. LPD issued more warnings in 2009, and fewer citations.

LPD was responsible for 5,243 arrests, up from 5,018 last year. Of those, 454 were for major crimes. There were 523 drug-related arrests, and 532 DWI arrests.

Prestigious soccer tournament heads to Railroad Park

Lewisville’s new Railroad Park will host its first major sporting event February 5-7, as the Legacy Freedom Cup 2010 will showcase top-notch youth soccer players.

The tournament, put on by Liverpool FC and featuring more than 100 teams with players from U-15 through U-19 age groups, will be held at the new facility, which boasts seven full-size lighted soccer fields, in addition to Lake Park and two soccer parks in adjacent cities.

Lewisville’s newest athletic complex, the 269-acre Railroad Park, opened on Nov. 2 and already is drawing large crowds to its state-of-the-art outdoor sports facilities. Key components of the park are seven lighted soccer fields with championship-quality hybrid turf and bleacher seating; four lighted football fields with scoreboards; four lighted baseball/softball fields with 400-foot outfield fences; three concession buildings with covered patios; three manmade lakes; a 1.5-mile walking trail; the city’s first skate park; and the city’s first dog park.

Submitted Report

On Labor Day weekend of 1969, just two weeks after the Woodstock Festival, 150,000 music lovers and other hippies converged on Lewisville, Texas for the Texas International Pop Festival- 3 days of music and camping, skinny dipping, and assorted other hippie activities.

Now 40 years after the historic festival, Denton resident Richard Hayner is raising money to place a historical marker at the DCTA Hebron Station, currently under construction near S.H. 121 and I-35E in Lewisville. The marker is expected to cost $1,600.

To raise funds for the marker, Hayner is holding a fundraiser on Sunday, January 31st at the Flying Pig Roadhouse in Lake Dallas from 1 PM to 8 PM.

Admission is $10, and the following acts will be there:

Johnny Nitzinger,
Soul Sacrifice (Santana tribute),
Swan Song (Led Zeppelin tribute)
Piece of My Heart (tribute for Janis Joplin)

Memorabilia and autographed CDs will be offered as door prizes and raffle items.

More information is available at the Texas Pop Festival website or email richard@texaspopfestival.com