The Kaufman County Observer

Shane Crowe Demands Stories, Photos Be Removed

admin — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:52:45 +0000

[See Also: The Amador Arrow | AmadorArrow.com]

[See Also: The Placer County Observer | ThePCObserver.org]

The California father accused of molesting his daughters and others has asked that Freedom of the Press Group LLC remove any and all postings, articles, radio show interviews and our newspaper content. We will not comply with this request, as it is all a matter of public record. Shane Crowedoes, however, deny any wrongdoing.

I am formally requesting that any and all webpages and radio programs that include my child’s name, photograph or any reference to allegations that my child has been or is currently being abused be removed. I have not given permission for my child’s photograph or name to be posted on any website or to be discussed on any radio program. Any threats previously made have been reported to the authorities. The same will be done for any future threats. You do not have permission to post this or any correspondence per the confidentiality notice included in this email as well as the previous email. Sincerely, Shane Crowe

Why Does Kaufman County’s SWAT Unit Need Camo?

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:31:31 +0000

[The Kaufman County Observer | KaufSyrup.com] Why do SWAT members need camo? This looks more like a para-military organization than a police/sheriff’s office unit:

SWAT a valuable asset for county

On a daily basis situations present themselves that a patrol deputies should not handle by themselves. Barricaded persons, hostage situations, high risk warrant, and civil unrest, are just a few situations that call for a specialized team effort.

Specialized team effort insures the safety of all officers responding to escalated incidents.

The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit has the ability to respond to unconventional incidents in a coordinated manner without unduly depleting the agency’s ability to respond to other routine calls for law enforcement service.

Kaufman County’s SWAT team is a mix of deputies and police officers from surrounding cities. They volunteer for this assignment and do not receive extra pay for the hazardous job they are tasked with.

Members of this team have strong community values, and a drive to help keep the community safe. They have families at home depending on them just like everyone else.

Although they are SWAT members, each have regular daily duties that they are responsible for in addition to being on call at a moment’s notice. All team members go through rigorous training requirements in order to qualify to be a member.

Each member has to be in good shape physically, a good marksman, and mentally tough. They must be able to handle all levels of stress in any type of situation.

Direct Link: http://www.kaufmanherald.com/articles/2011/11/12/news/doc4ebab6e12c962726681253.txt

Mabank Brookshire’s Sells Halal Food

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:55:18 +0000

MABANK — A barbecue restaurant sells non-pork meat. A pizza restaurant in Palmer sells nothing but beef topping-pizzas. And today while shopping at the Mabank Brookshire’s, I picked up two blocks of Vermont’s Cabot Cheese — with a halal label underneath the kosher label. First, let’s find out what halal and kosher mean:

Halal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal
Kosher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_foods (rabbinically kosher foods vs. Torah kosher food)

Second, let’s specify why this is important for health reasons:

1) Clean meats can be found in Leviticus 11; it’s not just for “Jews,” but for all Believers in Yahweh and his son, Yeshua (Christian theology and doctrines teach that the “law was done away with.”)
2) Nothing deemed “unclean” is safe to eat, not just for our health, but because some animals, scavengers, bottom-feeders are used to depict pagan, “worldly” nations and peoples
3) The only main difference between Torah kosher and halal is that Muslims can eat camel
4) The burgeoning Muslim and Messianic populations in Ellis County are now getting in the hang of marketing their religiously-correct foods to more of the populations in the area

Photos that show the best-tasting cheese (I ate this stuff a lot when I was in New Hampshire in 2009…working at the Republican Party office, Cabot cheese and crackers were the staple) and the halal and kosher labels:

This Cabot cheese was bought at the Mabank Brookshire’s. Good stuff. Very good stuff.

FYI: Freedom of the Press Group LLC owns four properties in Henderson/Kaufman counties:

The Seven Points Signal (SevenPoints.info)
The Cedar Creek Copy (CedarCreekCopy.com)
The Payne Springs Pilot
The Kaufman County Observer (KaufSyrup.com)

The Palmer pizza restaurant, Mr. Milano’s, serves the best-tasting pizza I have ever had. Literally. Ever. Some of the nicest Muslim guys own the place (they also own the Mr. Milano’s in Seven Points), and their meat toppings are all-beef. The BBQ restaurant in Midlothian is located inside the convenience store at the corner of Walnut Grove and Highway 287. Of course, there are friends of mine — well-intentioned but borderline paranoid — who will see this halal craze as further proof that Sharia law is about to take over. Eh, I tend to think of it as just another source of actual healthy food. Now all we need is a kosher cafe.

YouTube | Kemp City Council Meeting | Oct. 11

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:51:11 +0000

KEMP — One of several videos from Oct. 11′s council meeting:

Videos: www.YouTube.com/EllisCountyO

Councilman Tommy McSpedden, the tyrant-looking guy in the red checkered shirt, generated some hostility when, during a discussion of the police department, called out a woman about being biased (“against”) towards the police department. Mayor Donald Kile then had to intervene with his gavel.More photos and videos coming soon!

West Cedar Creek Water District to Charge $10 per 1,000 Gallons >10k Gallons

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:50:13 +0000

CEDAR CREEK LAKE — Customers of the West Cedar Creek Municipal Water District will start to see a new surcharge tacked onto their bills in the next billing cycle, according to the Mabank Monitor’s Oct .13 issue.

“Attacking the problem on two fronts, directors also agreed to eliminate the variance from surcharges on monthly water usage above 10,000 gallons a month.

Until now, those watering livestock and commercial farmers were granted the variance. Now a $10 surcharge on every 1,000 gallons above 10,000 [gallons] will be billed except in extraordinary circumstances and medical purposes.

Effective with the next billing cycle, customers will note the surcharge added.”

Source: TheMonitor.net

The West Cedar Creek MUD was the subject of much discussion at the Kemp City Council recently that The Ellis County Observer (acting in concert with The Seven Points Signal, The Cedar Creek Copy and The Payne Springs Pilot) attended and covered. YouTube videos from that meeting can be found here: www.YouTube.com/EllisCountyO

7-Year-Old Kemp Girl Falls Off Bridge; City Ignores Pleas

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:41:31 +0000

KEMP — A mother has made several attempts to get city officials to install a railing on a bridge that her 7-year-old daughter fell from. Her repeated pleas for help to the City of Kemp have fallen on deaf ears. Ironic, considering at the Oct. 10 city council meeting, Councilman Tommy McSpedden and others were very chatty: http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/?p=31797. Councilman McSpedden, in a separate discussion on code enforcement, remarked, “I’ve been here 22 years, and I’m tired of looking at it

” Yet, the City of Kemp’s first role is to protect the safety of its citizens. A girl falls off a bridge, and no one so much as responds to the mother’s cry to help prevent another injury — or, Heaven forbid, a death.

“There is a huge creek that runs threw our yard wich the road goes over,” mother Jamie Greer said. “This bridge has about 8 ft drop maybe more and only has maybe 12inch siding. My 7-yr-old daughter was riding her bike over it on the side walk and looked behind her to check on her friend and the front tire hit the siding and made her lose balance and over the bridge she went. My son ran in the house and yelled [his sister] just fell over the bridge. . . I took off running out the door to see my mother and 2 sisters also rushing to her. She stood up with not so good balance with blood running down her face. I called 911 they showed up asking her questions and she couldn’t remember her grade or teachers name among other things. . .they then put her in the ambulance. .Her oxgen and blood pressure was low so they gave her oxgen and [off to Children's Hospital] we went. . .she was released six hours later with a concusion . . . she had a swollen face for three days and had to go to school like that. . . I have went to City of Kemp requesting a rail to be put up about two to three weeks ago and have wrote on City of Kemp’s Facebook wall several times and I’m not getting any response or help.”

City of Kemp’s Facebook Wall: https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Kemp-TX/225984150748686

Note: Click the photos for larger views.

Anyway, Jamie Greer is pleading with her city to make sure no other child or person gets hurt. Her daughter, thankfully, only suffered a concussion. The Ellis County Observer and our sister publication, The Seven Points Signal, recommends Greer attend a city council meeting — with us there (+ cameras) — and put these concerns on the public record in front of Councilman McTalksTooMuch and the other council members.

The Ellis County Observer: http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/?p=32123

The Seven Points Signal: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Seven-Points-Signal/148309635218143

The Cedar Creek Copy: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cedar-Creek-Copy/220610201291070

HD-4 | Not Gooden Enough

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:22:03 +0000

HOUSE DISTRICT 4 — State Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, is going to have to answer for some votes and voting records from his first term in the state Legislature. What? Didn’t think anyone was paying attention? If Gooden (I’m older than him by about two years) was my child and came home with the 44 percent ranking on his report card (Texas Eagle Forum) or the D that Texans for Fiscal Responsibility gave him, he’d be grounded. Or, in this case, thrown outta office. There’s at least one primary challenger so far, though: Dr. Stuart Spitzer (story here: http://kaufsyrup.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/hd-4-dr-stuart-spitzer-aims-for-state-rep/)

Here’s the vote for House Speaker Joe Straus:

Direct Link: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/RecordVote.aspx?LegSess=82R&RcdVtNo=1&Ch=H&Dt=01%2F11%2F2011

Yeas – Aliseda; Allen; Alonzo; Alvarado; Anchia; Anderson, C.; Anderson, R.; Aycock; Beck; Bohac; Bonnen; Branch; Brown; Burnam; Button; Callegari; Carter; Castro; Chisum; Coleman; Cook; Craddick; Creighton; Crownover; Darby; Davis, J.; Davis, S.; Deshotel; Driver; Dukes; Dutton; Eiland; Eissler; Elkins; Farias; Farrar; Fletcher; Frullo; Gallego; Garza; Geren; Giddings; Gonzales, L.; Gonzales, V.; Gonzalez; Gooden; Guillen; Gutierrez; Hamilton; Hancock; Hardcastle; Harless; Harper-Brown; Hartnett; Hernandez Luna; Hilderbran; Hochberg; Hopson; Howard, C.; Howard, D.; Huberty; Hunter; Jackson; Johnson; Keffer; King, S.; King, T.; Kleinschmidt; Kolkhorst; Kuempel; Larson; Lavender; Legler; Lewis; Lozano; Lucio; Lyne; Madden; Mallory Caraway; Margo; Marquez; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; McClendon; Menendez; Miles; Miller, D.; Miller, S.; Morrison; Mr. Speaker; Muñoz; Murphy; Naishtat; Nash; Oliveira; Orr; Otto; Patrick; Peña; Phillips; Pickett; Pitts; Price; Quintanilla; Raymond; Reynolds; Riddle; Ritter; Rodriguez; Schwertner; Scott; Sheets; Sheffield; Shelton; Smith, T.; Smith, W.; Smithee; Solomons; Strama; Taylor, L.; Thompson; Torres; Truitt; Turner; Veasey; Villarreal; Vo; Walle; Weber; Woolley; Workman; Zerwas

Nays – Berman; Burkett; Cain; Christian; Flynn; King, P.; Landtroop; Laubenberg; Parker; Paxton; Perry; Simpson; Taylor, V.; White; Zedler

Present, not voting – Hughes; Isaac

Absent – Davis, Y.

Here’s the EmpowerTexans.com scorecard: http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/2011/06/29/conservative-scorecard-d-for-lance-gooden-c-for-nichols/

Here’s the Texas Eagle Forum scorecard: http://www.libertylinked.com/posts/8564/another-exciting-candidate—/View.aspx

Map of the new HD-4: (click on the image for a larger view)

HD-4 | Dr. Stuart Spitzer Aims for State Rep

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:02:09 +0000

KAUFMAN — Dr. Stuart Spitzer is set to take on state Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, in the GOP primary for the House District 4 (HD-4) seat, a district that covers all of Kaufman and most of Henderson counties. Spitzer is already being backed by Tea Party leaders and conservative grassroots organizations. Gooden is serving his first term after knocking out longtime state Rep. Betty Brown in the 2010 GOP primary. Spitzer’s Web site is www.StuartSpitzer.com.

Stuart Spitzer

Gooden, who The Ellis County Observer and The Kaufman County Observer have criticized as “not Gooden enough” in legislative report cards, has a war chest of $52,579.57, according to his last Texas Ethics Commission campaign finance report. The last period on file electronically is the June 30 report. The figure may or may not be larger.

See Also: The Kaufman County Observer (KaufSyrup.com)

See Also: The KCO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kaufman-County-Observer/288170874530620

Taxpayers Target Kemp ISD Trustees

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:44:15 +0000

KEMP — Outrage over rising costs for a football field turf, the potential for laying off teachers and other administration-led decisions prompted citizens to band together — after The Ellis County Observer published the strategy — to form the Kemp Taxpayers Association and target for removal in 2012 several board members. Actions and decisions made by Superintendent Peter Running helped spur the creation of the KTA, as well as the property tax increase that was recently approved.

“We read what you posted and said, it’s time to get rid of these clowns,” said one Kemp ISD resident who only used his first name, Mike. “We have a few ideas that we’ll try to get off the ground for these guys next election.”

To view the school board member’s name, click on an individual photo:

With board meetings at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., The Ellis County Observer and sister publication The Seven Points Signal have both chided the district for intentionally meeting at those times to keep citizens in the dark. No more, says the KTA.

[Secretive Kemp ISD Meetings: Click Here to View the 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. "secret" meetings]

“With your [paper's] help, we’re going to bring some accountability to this school district,” Mike said.

Kemp ISD’s bond package debt — the debt load approved by voters in bond elections — the subject of several of those board agendas, is $47,365,553. For a Class 3A district, that’s a “moderate” amount of debt. But, divide the number of students by that debt, and you will get an interesting figure altogether…(working on getting the student population figure…)

The Kaufman County Observer Re-Launch

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:41:42 +0000

KAUFMAN COUNTY — The Kaufman County Observer launched in 2008 but went on hiatus. Well, I’m proud to announce that today, Sept. 14, it has been re-launched, this time with a focus on the 2012 election season. Some details about KaufSyrup.com:

Freedom of the Press Group LLC
The Kaufman County Observer
KaufSyrup.com
P.O. Box 221
Palmer, TX 75152
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kaufman-County-Observer/288170874530620?sk=wall

Joey G. Dauben
Publisher
214-872-0747
joeygdauben@gmail.com
Facebook.com/jdauben

News tips: joeygdauben@gmail.com