Hood County News from Granbury, Texas • Page 2

2A Hood County News FROM PAGE ONE Saturday, February 5, 2011 www.hcnews.com CIRCULATION For delivery or billing questions, subscriptions and vacation stops Phone 817-573-7066 or 817-279-9718 Delivery in county: Granbury, Lipan, Tolar, Paluxy, Cresson, Bluff Dale, Glen Rose, Rainbow and Nemo 6 mo 1 Year $45 2 Years 3 Years $118 Delivery to remainder of Texas: 6 mo 1 Year $65 2 Years 3 Years $169 Delivery to out of state: 6 mo 1 Year $89 2 Years 3 Years $239 CLASSIFIED Have a car to sell? Want to rent your house? Planning a garage sale? Phone: Metro Toll Free: Fax: email: Classifi ed billing questions? Call 817-573-7066 and ask for classifi ed billing. CLASSIFIED DEADLINES Wednesday issue ...................1 p.m. Monday Saturday issue ......................1 p.m. Thursday RETAIL ADVERTISING The Hood County News P.O. Box 879 1501 S.

Morgan St. Granbury, Texas 76048 Other questions? Call 817-573-7066 or 817-279-9718 Penny Holloway executive Lisa Riley executive Karen Chandler executive Bonnie Espin assistant www.hcnews.com INFO 125th Year USPS 249-520 P.O. Box 879 1501 S. Morgan St. Granbury, TX 76048 www.hcnews.com Phone: 817-573-7066 Fax: 817-279-8371 The HOOD COUNTY NEWS is published at 1501 S.

Morgan Granbury, TX 76048 twice a week. Periodicals postage paid at Granbury, Tx. 76048. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the HOOD COUNTY NEWS, P.O. Box 879, Granbury, Tx.

76048. Any erroneous refl ection upon character, standing or reputation of any person, fi rm or corporation, which may occur in the HOOD COUNTY NEWS will be gladly corrected once brought to the attention of publisher or editor. The publisher is not responsible for copy omissions or typographical errors that may occur other than to correct them in the nearest issue after it is brought to his attention and in no case does the publisher hold himself liable for damages further than the amount received by him for actual space covering the error. The HOOD COUNTY NEWS is an award-winning member of the Texas Press Association, North East Texas Press, West Texas Press and National Newspaper Association. Publisher, Jerry Tidwell Asst.

publisher, Joe Thompson manager, Rick Craig Editor, Roger Enlow Sports editor, Rick Mauch Press, Dan Martin or Vincent Hernandez Newspaper In Education, Martha Pyron WELCOME TO THE HOOD COUNTY NEWS 2011 Hood County News, All Rights Reserved HOW TO CONTACT US YOUR LOCAL WEATHER LOOKING BACK 30 years ago, 1981: Mr. and Mrs. Jack Copeland, longtime residents of Granbury, were honored by Happy Hill Farm Home at an opening and dedication ceremony for the Copeland-Spears Home, a new living unit at the school. 20 years ago, 1991: Hood unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. 10 years ago, 2001: Granbury High School choir members Abigail Bodine, Nathan Arcos, Jackie Christensen, Jeremy Gentry and Gayla McBroom were named to the All-State Choir.

Sat Mainly sunny.Highs inthemid 50sandlows inthelow 30s. Sun Plentyofsun. Highsinthe low50sand lowsinthe low20s. Mon Lightwintry mix.Highsin thelow40s andlowsin theupper 20s. Tue Partly cloudy.

Highsinthe upper30s andlowsin themid20s. Wed Snowshow- erspossible. Highsinthe upper30s andlowsin theupper 20s. OPINION POLL How would you rate yourself as an icy-road driver? Can drive with the best of them. Only average.

Not sure exactly what to do when I start sliding off the road. I stay home and stay warm. To vote go to the Hood County News Web site www.hcnews.com and click on Poll near the top of the page. Results and a new question will be in issue. Buses start up daily even when out BY MARK WILSON AND DEBBIE SCHNEIDER HOOD COUNTY NEWS Contrary to what you may have heard, local school buses were running all week.

At least their engines were running for a while each day staying ready for whenever the Granbury Independent School District re-opens its doors to students. The ice on area roads caused doors to be closed starting on Tuesday, after the winter storm and its freezing precipitation began falling at about 3 a.m. that day. Terry Slemmons, in his ninth year as transportation director for the GISD, said the engine in each bus in the fleet of 50 is started up and runs for a while to stay in road-ready condition. still crank Slemmons said.

helps. We let them all run. Older buses have a tendency to not want to start. nothing more frustrating than one that Slemmons said the buses were already prepared with adequate amounts of antifreeze. Snow chains are not part of the school winter arsenal, however, because of the expense and the time that would be needed to put them on.

would be very difficult to put them on 50 Slemmons said. Schools in this area typically have to stay closed very long, Slemmons noted. usually just a day or two a year that Slemmons said. is the longest I can Although some students near the school may have been able to make it safely, school remained closed for everyone. It just be safe or fair for many in outlying areas to be asked to make the journey, according to Slemmons.

some of the developments, there are some steep Slemmons said. unsafe, and just not a risk willing to Slemmons said that on days when the travel conditions are in question and need to be checked, he and Superintendent Ron Mayfield will be joined on the roads at about 3 a.m. by other GISD directors who live in the various quadrants of the school district. The main thing is the back Slemmons said. typcially driving the roads by 3 a.m.” They also stay in touch with school officials in nearby Glen Rose, Aledo, Weatherford and Stephenville to see if they are planning on closing staying on the same page about the current and incoming weather situation.

phone rings off the hook, usually by 4 a.m.,” Slemmons said of such days. When conditions are back to normal and all systems are the maintenance crew starts work by 5 a.m., and the first buses roll out by 6, Slemmons said. PART-LY OPEN Auto Parts Warehouse, at 4332 Highway 377 East in Granbury, remained open for business but it was only trickling in on Wednesday, according to store manager Tony Scott. had a lot of antifreeze and wiper blades sold before (the Scott said. lot of farmers checked their tractors for antifreeze.

Tuesday, people were saying almost too late. Mainly not much Scott said auto mechanics whose shops were open sup- plied the bulk of their business when road conditions were at their worst. He said repair shops were providing 60 of their sales that day. They had sold two radiators and a clutch. still Scott said, adding that many customers are likely to realize they have other needs within a few days.

imagine people will find out when it starts thawing Scott said. SEEKING HARDWARE people are finding out that their water lines buried very Jason Lyman said Wednesday night. When the freezing temperatures settled in, many folks experienced frozen lines. Lyman, the store manager at said lots of people have been in the store to get plumbing supplies. By Wednesday, the store was sold out of clamp-on heat lamps and electric space heaters.

The store also experienced a run on heat tape, a special tape with a heating element to help keep plumbing lines open. Pipe insulation was another popular item. this Lyman said, doubt if anyone in town has any heaters After the ice storm left its mark, Lyman said people were in the store Tuesday seeking ice melt, pool salt and sand. were looking for anything to make their walkways he said. people are re-building their well Lyman said.

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One of them was transported to the hospital, he said. At one point Tuesday while Lewis and other Good Samaritans were trying to hook a chain to a vehicle, another car sliding on the ice came perilously close to striking them. Those who were rescued from the freezing temps were grateful. were just happy to be able to get going, or to even have a ride home to get out of the he said. 817-573-7066, ext.

258 RESCUE: Drivers grateful for help FROM PAGE ONE CHARGES FROM PAGE ONE IT STILL WORKS: Hannah Winkleman, 14, tries out an homemade sled on the slopes at Granbury High School Thursday. Granbury girls soccer coach David Win- kleman said that he, his brother and his dad made the sled when he was 8 years old 35 years ago. Schools were closed Tuesday through Friday due to icy road conditions. DAVID WINKLEMAN first victim sexual assault of a child, sexual performance of a child and indecency with a child. The charges involving the other three alleged victims are indecency with a child by contact, Christian said.

The youngest was 10 when the alleged incident took place, said the DA. The others that came forward since arrest told authorities they were 12 and 13 when the alleged incidents occurred. The reported inappropriate contacts occurred between 1995 and 2003, stated Christian. Johnson was 54 last October when he was taken into custody by investigator, Robert Young, after a late-night interrogation at the Justice Center. The other three males contacted the district attorney after that time.

boys have been very courageous coming Christian said. anticipate that the case will be tried before the end of the 817-573-7066, ext. 258 WINTER: One of the coldest weeks ever FROM PAGE ONE top of the ice. Temperatures recorded by the Brazos River Authority in Granbury this week after the cold blast ranged from nighttime lows of 13 to daytime highs of 21. In addition, winds blowing as high as 40 mph produced wickedly cold and dangerous wind chill marks that often dipped well below zero.

Schools in the county were closed Tuesday through Friday because of the dangerous driving conditions. Government offices, as well as many businesses, either remained closed or opened later than usual. Brief, controlled power outages on Wednesday presented still another challenge for many residents. Heavy demand for more heat in homes and businesses rose dangerously close to the point of potentially compromising the power grid. That trend, if not addressed, could have triggered much longer, involuntary rolling blackouts, officials said.

TxDOT crews have been working around the clock applying sand mixed with salt since about midnight Monday, in advance of the Arctic assault that brought ice followed by snow, according to public information officer Michael Peters of the Fort Worth office. Sleet began falling in earnest at about 3 a.m. Tuesday. is one of the worst winter ice storms with sustained freezing temperatures had in 15 years, so clearing the roads has been a said Michael Peters, a public information officer with TxDOT road operations division in Fort Worth. have been working 12-hour shifts around the clock, and we will continue to do so until the icy conditions are An Oak Trail Shores resident said this week that the pipes in her kitchen are frozen, and her family is out of basic She said that road treatment is needed in her area so they can get into town, but feared they will have to try and find a way to make it by foot down the Donald Linney, road administrator for Hood County road operations, said Thursday that they have been with requests, and the supply of sand was dwindling.

trying our best. got everybody doing what they Linney said of the 36 county employees in the road operations department. hitting all the main roads. The biggest problem is that it thaws, then it refreezes. getting awful low on sand, and everything has been closed.

trying to get Linney said that because of the unknown amount of precipitation that was predicted to hit the area Thursday night, some of the sand had to be saved so they run out. He said that the ice coating on the roadways was fairly evenly distributed throughout the county, with some exceptions. got more snow than sleet, so not so bad Linney said. While Fort Worth District includes nine counties, Peters said that there have been seven trucks distributing sand on Hood and Somervell county roads. made a lot of headway on the major highways Peters said.

still a lot of ice on some of the rural roadways. Where possible, we use snow plows to blade off up to 2-3 inches of ice accumulated. Most of the main roads have at least one set of dry grooves for Peters said that another substance used on icy roads, magnesium chloride, is similar to antifreeze. used for pre- treating roadways, as well as for de-icing. But it seem to be effective in temperatures below 15 degrees, Peters said.

The number of traffic accidents reported in Hood County decreased from Tuesday to Wednesday. Between 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. Tuesday, 10 major and 13 minor vehicle accidents were called in, along with 30 requests for motorists assists, according to statistics provided by Lieutenant Kathy Jividen. In the 24 hours starting at 10 a.m.

Wednesday, there were seven minor and only two major accidents, with seven assists. Numerous incidents of vehicles sliding into ditches and getting stuck, at times, overwhelmed the number of available emergency service providers. Sheriff Roger Deeds reported that one man used his tractor to pull as many as 15 vehicles back onto the roadway along Temple Hall Highway. The slippery conditions also took a physical toll on people on foot outdoors, causing an untold number of falls. One Hood County resident reportedly had to undergo hip replacement surgery after falling.

m.wilson@hcnews.com 817-573-7066, ext. 254..