Home > Talk of East Texas
LISD seeks faculty, staff involvement
The Longview Independent School District wants to involve its teachers and staff more in decision making after a report showed staff feel they aren’t included enough, district spokesman Brian Bowman said.
A School Improvement Report compiled by the Region 6 Education Service Center for Longview High School said “communications between the district, school and teachers is limited and is affecting the positive and productive relationships among most of the teachers.”
The report went on to say there is limited involvement with teachers and staff on the decision making and policy development processes.
The report also said “positive and productive working relationships are established among most of the students, teachers, support staff and administrators.”
“I do think we have a positive working relationship with most of our staff members,” Bowman said. “In any successful organization it’s not going to be enough until 100 percent of our staff, parents and students feel they’re involved.
“In a district our size with about 1,400 employees, it’s always a challenge to communicate with every single staff member. Our goal is that everyone will feel like they are part of the team and part of the solution in increasing student achievement.”
In attempting to involve staff more, Bowman said the district needs staff members to “become involved in the decision making process. We have meetings before and after school. There are opportunities available.”
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think about the recent Longview High School report?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile
The bond between horse and rider is such an enduring theme that longtime trainer Monty Turnbow isn’t sure he can explain it.
He thought for a moment on a November afternoon in Longview.
“Horses take you to a place in life you’ve never been before,” he said.
Not satisfied, he walked into the stable he owns with his wife, Cindy, where she was grooming a large sorrel. He asked if she could put it any better.
“Horses will mirror the personality of the rider,” she said. “They pick up on emotions and where you are in life, simply by the way you’re riding. They pick up on your inner feelings.”
The Turnbows, owners of Turnbow Performance Horses and Training Stable, and other people who love horses say the history of equine East Texas is long and rich. Now horse owners around Longview are coming together, issuing surveys and making plans to let people know they haven’t gone anywhere.
“We don’t want to form a club, but maybe raise awareness,” said Stuart Russell, a former police officer who owns Spur of the Moment Farm with her husband, Stoney.
She said plans include a “tour of barns” clinic in which professionals offer training about reining horses, barrel racing, halter and pleasure and other competitive focuses.
The horse owners also hope to offer their two cents about Gregg County’s planned multipurpose facility, which has been put on hold during the recession. The nearest public indoor facility that hosts horse shows is in Marshall, according to Gregg County extension agent Dennis Smith.
“Especially in the summertime, you don’t see many horse shows held outdoors,” he said. “I guess we’re getting softer.”
Click here to read the entire article.
Are you a horse lover?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment |
LHS review: Curriculum use lacking
Longview school officials on Wednesday said teachers will receive more training after an outside report showed educators aren’t using the district’s curriculum program regularly.
“This report and what we’re doing is not an attempt to give teachers or anyone a sense of anxiety,” said Deputy Superintendent Micah Lewis. “It is to help them teach students and to help us as a curriculum department to get better. Longview is the best place in Texas to get an education, but if we’re not striving to become better, it won’t stay that way.”
Specialists from the Region 6 Education Service Center in Huntsville performed a leadership and development audit in October at Longview High School. Each team member had an extensive background in curriculum and education, including as superintendents, principals and teachers, said Mark Kroschel, chairman of the school improvement team. Region 6 has conducted similar reports for many other districts, he said.
They observed core classes and evaluated lesson delivery, student engagement and grade level appropriateness. The year-long contract with Region 6 cost $35,000. The price tag includes the report and additional training.
The report showed use of the district’s CSCOPE curriculum was limited or nonexistent.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think about the audit?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
No butts about it
Tiffany Hachquet isn’t proud of being a smoker.
The 27-year-old Longview resident began smoking at 16 and quit when she got pregnant with her daughter in 2004. She started smoking again about a year ago.
“I thought it was a cool thing to do when I was teenager,” Hachquet said.
“I don’t think it’s glamorous or a good idea any more. However, during a period when I was under a lot of stress, I returned to smoking to calm my nerves. One cigarette a day led to a couple a day, and before I realized it, I was smoking regularly again.”
Hachquet smoked a pack a day before her pregnancy. She now smokes about half that and said she intends to quit once things in her life calm down a bit.
“I do want to quit,” Hachquet said. “I realize it’s unhealthy. I did it once before, so I know it’s possible. I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind and really be determined to make the change.”
Several East Texas cities have adopted smoking bans during the past decade in an effort to help nonsmoking residents avoid the problems of second-hand smoke.
Kilgore adopted a citywide smoking ordinance during the summer, but a local restaurant owner said it’s difficult to tell what effect, if any, it’s had on business and health.
Tonya Willis, the owner of Circle Cafe in Kilgore, said she’s seen a small decline in customers, but doesn’t know whether to blame the ordinance or the economy.
Click here to read the entire article.
Are you trying to quit smoking or have you quit?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Drug court rehabilitates parents, reunites families
Meagan Vail has had drug problems.
The 22-year-old Longview resident said she became addicted to methamphetamine about two years ago. Though she got away from that drug six months later, she began to smoke marijuana heavily.
Her drug abuse led to Child Protective Services taking her children — a 3-year-old son and a 1-year-old son — and placing them in a temporary home. The agency referred her to Gregg County’s family drug court as a way to help her get her children back.
Vail joined the voluntary program, which she said helped her reach six months of sobriety. Earlier this month, she became the first person in the program to graduate to its second of three phases.
“They’re like my cheerleaders,” Vail said. “They keep me on track.”
Click here to read the entire article.
What can be done to help residents with substance abuse problems?
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment |
Residents favor home buyout
Residents along Iron Bridge Creek in South Longview have a collective decision to make that could either simply repair the creek bed or drastically change the channel.
“This is not just fly by night. Every council member is taking it very seriously,” District 3 Councilwoman Sidney Bell Willis said at a town meeting Tuesday about flooding and erosion of properties along the creek.
“If you can’t come to a decision tonight, worry Mr. Bonds, worry Mr. Dean, and of course, you can come sit on my front porch and worry me,” Willis said to a crowd of about 35 people.
Public Works Director Keith Bonds detailed three options the city might employ to ease flooding concerns that residents brought to City Hall on Aug. 13. The solutions include repairing the creek bed for $1.2 million; spending $5 million to buy all 40 homes that would be under water during a catastrophic flood; or buy the homes and construct wider, deeper channel beds for Iron Bridge Creek at a total estimate of $15.1 million.
Click here to read the entire article.
What would you do to ease flooding concerns near the creek?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment |
Students’ names blast off with space shuttle Atlantis
Hundreds of Longview children blasted off into space Monday along with space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member crew who are making an 11-day delivery flight to the International Space Station.
“Ten-nine-eight …,” a dozen students counted down. “… three-two-one.”
“Blast off,” they shouted as they individually released red, blue, orange, green, pink and purple balloons carrying their names into the wind.
“We’re famous,” shouted Malinda Tolbert, a third-grader at J.L. Everhart Magnet Academy of Cultural Studies.
The school’s 397 students signed a poster that was taken aboard Atlantis for the 11-day flight, said Deborah Wasson, who oversees the school’s magnet program. It’ll be returned to the school when the shuttle returns to Earth, she said.
To celebrate the space shuttle and to make the event more realistic, a class of students launched their own balloons into the air at 1:28 p.m., the same time as the shuttle launch. They also watched Atlantis launch in their classrooms.
NASA will retire the three remaining shuttles next fall. What do you think?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
City officials to hear Iron Bridge Creek drainage concerns
Two months after South Longview residents brought their erosion concerns to city hall, city hall is coming to them.
A town meeting is set for 7 tonight at Broughton Recreation Center to discuss drainage issues associated with Iron Bridge Creek. The city notified affected residents along the creek about the meetings, but anyone is invited to attend.
Iron Bridge Creek is a Sabine River tributary that begins near Level Street between Clover Lane and Maple Street. It crosses 12th Street before running almost parallel to 12th, crossing Birdsong, Millie and Margo streets and Estes Parkway near Interstate 20.
The City Council wants input about three solutions offered by Public Works Director Keith Bonds. The costliest solution — buying all 40 homes along the creek and improving the entire ditch between Level and Millie streets — would cost $15 million, he said. Cheaper solutions include spending $5 million simply to buy the homes, or spend $1.2 million to repair and stabilize sections of the channel.
Click here to read the entire story.
What do you think the city should do?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Upshur County commissioners vote to require meeting minutes’ submission
Upshur County commissioners on Monday rescinded a 2003 decision and directed the county clerk to begin providing copies of meeting minutes for their approval.
The unanimous decision came after a dispute between Commissioner James Crittenden and County Clerk Peggy LaGrone in which LaGrone claimed Crittenden was using his position to attack her politically. She’s up for re-election in 2010.
Commissioners in 2003 voted to stop approving meeting minutes based on a change in state law, which made it optional for county clerks to submit meeting minutes for commissioners’ approval. Though it’s not required by law, most other Texas counties, including Gregg and Rusk, approve Commissioners Court meeting minutes.
Crittenden requested an agenda item be added to Monday’s meeting to reconsider the county’s position, saying, “Our minutes are just as important as any other document approved in court.”
Before the vote, Crittenden and LaGrone argued about whether commissioner’s court minutes are available to the pubic on the Internet. Links to minutes from past meetings are available on the county’s Web site, www.countyofupshur.com, but they are not up to date. Links on the county clerk’s Web site, www.countyofupshur.com:8000, had more current information, but those links also were not up-to-date on Monday afternoon.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think of the decision?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Program boosts scores for some LISD students
State test scores tell a significant story for a particular student group in the Longview school district’s International Baccalaureate campuses.
Margaret Davis, the school district’s International Baccalaureate director, said while overall test scores aren’t always higher than at other campuses, those programs are helping to improve economically disadvantaged students’ test scores.
Those students’ scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills have improved to the point they’re outscoring or keeping up with similar students’ scores at traditional campuses.
That’s significant, Davis said, because economically disadvantaged students are the hardest group of children to educate.
“Having an inquiry-based learning model and extra training for teachers does help support those students,” she said.
The district implemented IB programs at four campuses five years ago as part of a magnet school initiative. Jennifer Scott, the district’s assistant superintendent for administrative and pupil services, said the Justice Department was pressing the district to do something about the diversity of those schools, by attracting students to those campuses by choice.
One of those campuses, Pinewood Park elementary, closed before the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. The campus never achieved authorized International Baccalaureate status, and it was closed as part of the district’s plan to consolidate its 11 elementary schools into seven campuses. The campus had the lowest enrollment in the district, and the Texas Education Agency rated it academically unacceptable two years in a row in a designation based largely on TAKS scores.
Click here to read the entire article.
Do programs such as International Baccalaureate really help student performance?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
A welcome sticky situation in downtown Henderson
When the Henderson Depot Museum acquired a crushing mill in the 1980s from Herbert Leopard, employees had no idea a festival soon would follow.
“We just wanted to see if we could make syrup one time,” said Susan Weaver, museum publicity chairwoman. “Now we’ve developed a festival around syrup making.”
Henderson officials are hoping the sweet treat will again draw thousands of people to town today for the 21st Annual Heritage Syrup Festival. The event will feature a slew of folk artists and family activities.
There should be plenty of syrup making, too, Weaver said.
Click here to read the entire article.
Are you attending the Syrup Festival? What are your favorite memories?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Clique claim leads to call for inquiry
City officials said Friday they are beginning a process to name an interim fire chief, and they vowed to end divisions, if there are any, within the fire department.
Assistant Fire Chiefs Kenny Southwell and Claude Ford will report to City Manager David Willard until an interim chief is appointed, city spokesman Shawn Hara said. Southwell served as interim fire chief in 2007 between the time that former chief Richard Lazarus retired and the city hired Michael Pruitt as chief. Southwell, a 19-year veteran, also was a candidate for the job.
Willard put Pruitt on administrative leave in the first week of November, and the City Council approved firing him Thurdsay by a 4-3 vote.
In a media release Friday, Willard said the Longview Fire Department will continue to follow its existing chain of command. Ford oversees fire operations, and Southwell oversees department administration.
“The only difference is going to be, instead of to the chief, (assistant chiefs) will report to Willard until an interim fire chief is appointed,” Mayor Jay Dean said. “I’ve asked for a process by which an interim is appointed because I want it to be very transparent, very open and no clique is involved.”
At Thursday night’s City Council meeting, several residents and former firefighters spoke about a clique mentality within the fire department.
“The Longview Fire Department has a clique,” said Ken Everett, who said he worked more than 30 years in the department. Hara said the city could not confirm how or when Everett was discharged from the city, and Everett couldn’t be reached Friday. “I tried to talk about (it) a year and a half ago to Dean that this was going to come to a head.”
Everett said it was a similar clique in 1979 that led to the removal of a fire chief at that time.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think about the fire department changes?
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment |
Downtown streetscape project wrapping up for holidays
KILGORE — Orange construction cones and yellow tape in downtown soon will be replaced by red, green and white holiday decorations, and officials said Thursday that the transformation will come in time for holiday shopping.
Substantial construction, or concrete work, is slated for completion by Dec. 1, Main Street Manager Fallon Burns said. Final completion is scheduled Dec. 29.
Workers broke ground on the $1.8 million project in January. The plans called for vast changes — new sidewalks, planters, additional trees, light poles, benches, trash cans and street signs.
In September, a group of merchants petitioned the city, seeking $1,000 compensation for each month construction affected their business. Burns said the mood has since changed.
“We’re just bracing ourselves for Christmas,” she said. “The mood downtown is very festive. Everyone is excited about the Christmas season.”
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think of Kilgore’s streetscape project?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Longview ISD ends minimum grading policy
When Longview Independent School District students take home their third six-weeks report cards in December, the grades will reflect the scores students actually earned.
The district is eliminating its minimum grading policy because of state legislation, district spokesman Brian Bowman said Thursday.
Senate Bill 2033, approved by the Texas Legislature, says a classroom teacher must give a grade that reflects a student’s mastery of a subject, a district cannot set minimum grades and a student who fails must be given the opportunity to make up or redo an assignment or exam.
The district had contended it wouldn’t eliminate its policy that gave students a minimum grade of 59 because the legislation was unclear as to whether it pertained to overall scores or daily assignments. A ruling from Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott said the law was intended for report card grades and assignments.
“This gives teachers an opportunity to be even more involved,” Bowman said.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think about the policy change?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Council ousts Pruitt, despite his defenders
In a 4-3 vote, the City Council on Thursday upheld City Manager David Willard’s decision to fire Michael Pruitt after nearly two years as Longview fire chief.
The council’s decision followed a discussion before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 150 residents and comments from 18 speakers, who spoke on issues from race to diversity in the city’s workplaces to whether a clique mentality has damaged the fire department.
“This department has earned the respect of the citizens of Longview (and) has worked to be one of the finest fire departments in the state,” Mayor Jay Dean said, “and as your mayor, I don’t want to sacrifice that.”
Council members John Sims, Daryl Williams and Sidney Bell Willis — who all voted against the termination — wanted the council to form an independent panel to weigh the matter. Williams said he couldn’t fire an employee who had no negative evaluations or complaints in his personnel file.
“I’m supposed to decide in one week what (firefighters) said they’ve been suffering and going through in one year. I have no documentation to back that up,” Williams said. “If it was smoke there, then he should have been written up about the smoke before it turned into a fire.”
Ultimately, Dean and the remaining council members decided appointing an outside panel would only prolong what Willard and several Longview firefighters said was an irreparable relationship between the chief and his command staff.
“I’d love to have more time to think here. We don’t,” Councilman John Bolster said. “I really, really hate that this happened. But it’s past. It’s like a bad marriage.”
On advice from his attorney, Pruitt declined to comment after the vote. Willard said Pruitt will receive two months’ severance pay; he earned $97,000 annually.
Assistant Chief Kenny Southwell will be the department’s interim leader.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think of the fire chief’s termination?
Permalink | Comments (63) | Post your comment |
Saluting those who served
Veterans of all ages and from all branches of service commemorated Veterans Day at the Gregg County Courthouse on Wednesday morning.
It was the largest turnout for the past several years, said retired Lt. Gen. Charlie Wilson, who served as master of ceremonies. About 250 people came to the event, which was marked by sunshine and light breezes.
“Veterans Day has changed many times since it was first established in 1918, but its intent remains the same,” Wilson said. “This is a day to honor our veterans for their love of country and their service to America.”
Wilson singled out the veterans of World War II for special recognition, calling them “truly the nation’s greatest generation.”
Click here to read the entire article.
Do you know a veteran you’d like to recognize?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Kilgore prohibits skateboards, bikes in downtown area
Skateboard enthusiasts will have to find another place to skate besides downtown Kilgore.
The City Council on Tuesday voted to prohibit wheeled play vehicles, including skateboards and bicycles, from sidewalks in the downtown district. Wheelchairs or devices to aid handicapped people are allowed.
The ordinance defines the downtown district as the area bounded by Commerce, Knowles, City Park and Lantrip streets. The ordinance also bans operating the play vehicles within the City Park amphitheater and the park pavilion.
“I caught some young boys skateboarding against our new benches downtown,” City Manager Jeffrey Howell said, adding the benches cost about $1,000 each. Howell said skateboarders are welcome to use the skateboard area in City Park.
“We want to encourage them to use the facilities we’ve set aside specifically for that,” he said.
Howell said the city plans to install lights in the area so skateboarders can play after dark.
In other business, the council authorized filing a grant application with the Texas Department of Transportation to finance the Safe Routes to School program. Under the program, sidewalks and crosswalks would be built to connect Chandler Elementary, Kilgore Intermediate and Maude Laird Middle schools with adjacent neighborhoods.
“It’s a 100 percent grant,” Howell said. “If it’s funded then TxDOT, I think, will do the contracting and work.”
Howell said the city, school district and community worked to develop the plan of where the sidewalks should be placed.
What do you think about this program?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Pass when flashing, expect a ticket
Prompted by increased concern by school district officials, Longview police are cracking down on school bus-related traffic violations.
The Longview Police Department has started a new program aimed at spotting and citing people who pass a school bus while it is loading or unloading, said Kevin Brownlee, police spokesman. Based on bus driver suggestions, school resource officers ride school buses on scheduled days while patrol units follow nearby. If someone passes the bus illegally, the officers notify their counterparts in patrol cars, who stop and cite the driver.
“(People driving around buses) is very dangerous for kids,” Brownlee said.
While the program is similar to what Texas Department of Public Safety troopers did during National School Bus Safety Week in October, Brownlee said the police are focusing on areas and routes with a reportedly large number of violations. The effort is expected to stretch over several weeks in multiple school districts, he said.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think of this operation?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Longview hospitals clash over doctors’ advertisements
Advertisements by Longview Regional Medical Center highlighting endorsements from a group of Longview cardiologists have cranked up competition for local health care dollars.
Most Longview physicians see their patients at Longview Regional or Good Shepherd Medical Center, but in the ad, Drs. Rajeev Singh, Rodney Henry and Charles Crumpler are quoted as saying, “We choose Longview Regional because our patients deserve a leader in quality cardiac care.” They also are quoted as saying they have “seen firsthand that LRMC’s commitment to quality care is as strong as ours.”
The three cardiologists are among the 11 associated with Diagnostic Clinic of Longview, all of whom will be featured in the advertising campaign, according to Longview Regional CEO Jim Kendrick. A second advertisement Wednesday featured Drs. Samir Germanwala, Jorge Massare and George Leatherman, who are quoted as saying, “Their commitment to advanced technology is why we choose Longview Regional.”
Edward Banos, president and CEO of Good Shepherd, took exception to the endorsements and told his employees in an e-mail that the cardiologists are touting Longview Regional because it agreed to pay the physicians more than $300,000 a year for services that have traditionally been free to the hospitals.
Kendrick called Banos’ comments offensive and said the endorsements came about because Longview Regional has been responsive to the needs and requests of heart specialists.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think of the advertisements?
Permalink | Comments (51) | Post your comment |
Each veteran has a story
American service members have returned home from war to be greeted by ticker-tape parades and kisses.
Others who served were greeted with accusations of being baby killers, and still others were greeted by no one at all.
There are as many stories as there are service members. On this Veterans Day, we take a look at three.
When Ron Franks, 61, joined the Marines in 1972, he did not plan to be a lifer.
“I intended to learn how to fly, get out and go to work for an airline,” he said with a mischievous gleam.
He didn’t count on loving what he did. He gave the military six years more than required for retirement, ending his active duty career as a colonel in 1998 and settling in Henderson with his wife, Debby, and daughters, Kristen and Kimberly.
Click here to read the entire article.
How are you observing Veterans Day? Feel free to share stories of your service or about veterans who have impacted your life.
Also, share your gratitude for the women and men who have served and continue to serve our country.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Longview’s Vision 2015 committee prioritizes community wants, needs
The Vision 2015 Committee on Tuesday focused on more than just need city infrastructure improvements.
Committee members ran the gamut of issues, from developing areas along Interstate 20 to positioning Longview as a retirement destination to fostering neighborhood associations that bring residents together and deter crime. One idea — establishing a human rights council — was among the issues that committee members voted to further study.
“We’re drawing the map so that the city can steer,” committee facilitator Randy Pennington said.
The City Council called the committee this summer to form a list of community wants and needs over the next five years. On Tuesday, the group selected 11 items from nearly two dozen ideas to explore further. Some ideas, such as sidewalks, a full-service hotel and development of an arts community, did not make the first cut. However, Pennington said some ideas could resurface before a final list is approved.
Click here to read the entire article.
What do you think about the committee’s work?
Latest comments
I waited many years to get my horse, a promise my husband made me 32 years prior. The Turnbows helped me realize those dreams. They patiently taught me how to ride and how to care for a horse. Now I own a horse that is the joy of my life. I don’t
... read the full comment by Brenda N. | Comment on Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile Read Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile
my husband,daughter and grandaughter have horses and what a great time they have. they have bonded them together and we LOVE our horses. just need more places to ride
... read the full comment by elizabeth | Comment on Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile Read Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile
Monty and Cindy are the best. We board our house Oliver at there stable and he is well taken care of. They love him like he is there own. Monty has taught my daughter more then just riding the horse, he and Cindy showed her how to care and love him and
... read the full comment by Tammy Greene | Comment on Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile Read Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile
Growing up in Longview in the 50s provided a horse-crazy girl a remarkable opportunity to ride and enjoy horses in an enviornment of quality animals. Tom’s (how could he be 80?) comments that Gregg county had some ‘name brand’ horses
... read the full comment by Sandy Horton Arledge | Comment on Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile Read Area horse lovers seek to raise community profile