Wills Point Chronicle (Newspaper) - February 25, 2005, Wills Point, Texas Since 1879 ors See Story Page Donations Sought For Surgery Costs See Story Page www Also Covering Lake Tawakoni and Elmo Van Zandt Newspapers Officer Suspect Injured In Scuffle 2 SECTIONS 18 PAGES WITH INSERTS WILLS POINT TEXAS 903 RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM WORKING HARD Q The Freshmen Relay has been ing very hard to raise money for the American Cancer ciety They had a garage sale February 5 and will be holding another one on February Nora Phillips house located on Market 2965 They will also be holding a bake sale at Brookshire's on March 5 The children are also holding a raiser where they go in groups and do odd jobs around So far they have raised more than for the American Cancer Society Hali Ramsey is captain and Addie captain For more information on the fund-raiser events or to make a donation which is tax deductible call Ramsey at 903 or at 903 7847 The team expressed appreciation to all of the people who have helped with the different events so for SPRING SOFTBALL LEAGUE FRIDAY FEBRUARY Q There will be a ing at 2 p.m Sunday March 13 at city hall for any teams interested in playing in a spring men's and women's Softball league This meeting is open to anyone wishing to put a team together for the spring league Items to be discussed in- clude rules and rule changes from last season The season should start sometime around the middle of April Anyone with questions or comments is encouraged to attend the meeting or contact Chuck Allen ball league coordinator at 214 See MORE WHAT'S INDEX Chamber Chirps Church Lunch Menu Obituaries Police Schedule of History 2003 Texts Pros Avenl Winner Whiter 500 By Sheila Kunick Staff Writer private zen was stabbed and bitten while attempting to help police arrest a suspect at the Edgewood Dairy Queen on Monday Dairy Queen employees called police about p.m after a man acting suspiciously walked into the restaurant and said his keys had been lost or stolen After Edgewood Police Of- ficer Becky Baskin arrived the suspect resisted Baskin and fled to the kitchen after being cuffed by the officer Jimmy Brashear a citizen who was in the Dairy Queen at the time saw assistance was needed in the arrest of the suspect While trying to assist he was stabbed and bitten by the Baskin also received a cut on her hand Neither were believed to have been seriously injured The knife used by the suspect was taken from the kitchen Edgewood Police Chief David Hammonds said Jimmy Brashear went in to help officer Baskin get the guy down He got cut with a knife He added girl- friend went to someone's house and tried to use the phone The highway patrol is trying to cate her The lady at the house took her home somewhere in the county know who she is at this time The suspect whose name had not been released at press time was transported to a Kaufman hospital after being injured while being apprehended Elizabeth Barney a Dairy Queen employee said When guy came in he was acting weird He said that his car keys were missing or stolen I don't know who called the police but when Becky Baskin got there she was trying to talk to him She asked him to put his hands on the counter She cuffed him She sat him down and he was being real physical with her Then he gets up and starts walking to the back We heard a lot of crashing At the time the ambulance ar- rived backup had arrived and three people were holding down the suspect They had to strap him said It took four guys to get him out Diane Garcia another Dairy Queen employee said the received an injury to his head as he continued to fight the officers as he was being taken out of the restaurant Before this incident occurred the suspect had parked an stolen vehicle at Newman's Grocery and walked over to the Dairy Queen Mayor Speaks Out On Allegations Photo bv Sheila Kunick Edgewood Police Officer Becky Baskin is pictured in the kitchen area of the Edgewood Dairy Queen where a suspect was captured after stabbing and biting a citizen and resisting arrest on Monday Baskin also received ah injury from a knife the suspect retrieved from the kitchen area The name has not been released as of press time f Represent EDC On Committee By Julie Vaughan Editor The Wills Point EDC pointed administrator Lettie Clark to serve on the newly formed Van Zandt County Com- munity Rail District Committee and approved budget changes during their regular meeting Last month the board dis- cussed asking Wills Point City Council member and business owner Fran Carter to serve on the board Clark explained that after discussions with Carter and Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches Clark agreed to serve in Carter's place In turn Clark said Carter has volunteered to assist when needed Clark told the board that Koches is setting up a bank count for funds that area EDCs had committed to paying for the assistance of John Helsley to set up the committee The committee held their first meeting Thursday afternoon In other business the was also updated on Van Zandt County Road 3523 which was incorrectly identified in last month's Chronicle as Due to drainage problems at the intersection of Industrial Drive and 3523 board County Commissioners Agree To Join Program By Julie Vaughan Editor With allegations of child lestation reports of destroying public records and the tion of Wills Point City Council member Mike Jones from his post as Richardson Fire Chief mayor Roy Caldwell addressed tions and concerns in a recent interview One of the biggest questions is Is the Wills Point trying to protect The city of Wills Point has not received any complaints ther civil or criminal complaints filed against councilman Caldwell said We have heard as everyone else has lots of rumors and but no substantiated facts The last time I checked the constitution still applies and he Jones is innocent until proven Caldwell added So at this point we have no ible evidence or charges against councilman Jones and continue to protect his constitutional rights as well as anyone else's We treat him the same as we would anyone else Jones resigned from the Richardson Fire Department ruary 1 after an almost 25 year career with the department He has served the last almost two years prior to his resignation as fire chief The Dallas Morning News re- ported February 17 that a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Jones on charges of im- proper tampering with ment documents This comes after it was re- ported by the Dallas Morning News that Jones was being by the Richardson Police Department on allegations that Jones destroyed public records In an investigative report last week by 8 News in Dallas former Wills Point High School graduate James Lunsford Jr said he had befriended Jones in the late 1980s and early 1990s and said he had been molested for four years Van Zandt County District At- torney Leslie Poynter Dixon said in the February 20 issue of the Van Zandt News her office was not investigating Jones Dixon said the statute of tations for victims of child lestation extends 10 years after the date of the alleged victim's By Wilbur Callaway Correspondent The Van Zandt County Com- missioners unanimously proved joining the Texas VINE Victims Information tion Everyday program after a lengthy discussion Tuesday morning during a special court session Lyn Baker provider of the Texas VINE Service in Van Zandt County explained to the court that the program uses a separate computer set up in the sheriff's department at the justice center and is designed to keep up with inmates released from jail We need access to informa tion about all released inmates so victims can be notified This means any victims of any crimes and we want a good faith effort made to contact each of she said Baker told the court There will be an initial grant to the funded by the Texas Attorney General's Office to set up the system Then the county will receive an additional annually for nance of the equipment The program is guaranteed through she added Van Zandt County IT Director Lawrence Crabb said he felt the county should move to secure the funds but not commit to the gram for a couple of months need a firewall built around the computer which will cost over he said Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches noted that the cost of the firewall needs to come out of the grant money so the county does not have to pay for it Van Zandt County District At- torney Leslie Dixon said What they want to know is who got out of jail so the victims no- Baker said Rains County is the only county around you that is not on this system There are about 150 counties in the state using it now She added that it is not a new system and said Tarrant County has been on the VINE system about seven years and several others at least six years The commissioners also had a long discussion before ing authorization for the county judge to execute a certificate proving the local portion of the tax-exempt industrial bond of Southwest Water Company projects John Stoker of Community Development Associates LLC told the court We want to make capital improvements of up to in the Callender Lake and Hickory Hills areas in the south part of the county at no liability to the county Cockrell of Callender Lake and Arnold of See PROGRAM birthday The television news station reporter attended last week's regular council to tion Lunsford He answered no comment to their questions and retreated into the employee area of the city Caldwell said The news crew respected the employee only area I was very proud of them for that and went outside It evening that while waiting on Jones to leave the police ment where he had retreated that a private vehicle pulled up to the door and a person in a coat got in the truck to leave while being questioned by the news man From what I understand a private vehicle was pulled up to the police department entrance and a private citizen had left by the police department door 1 don't know what occurred back Caldwell said man Jones decided to leave at that point and left from the front of the building and got in a hicle and the reporter Mr Brett Shipp attempted to ask him questions and Mr Jones declined See MAYOR Page Historic Building Gets Restoration By Julie Vaughan Editor For Paul Addison it's a hobby to purchase buildings and re- model them but for Addison's most recent purchase it is a chance to preserve history and give back to the community in a big way The Rose Dry Goods building has been a piece of Wills Point's rich history before brick streets and automobiles It has survived forces of nature and modernization and today still stands on North Fourth Street looking out over the heart of Wills Point In December the building be- came available for purchase through Century 21 Hesskew Realty in Wills Point Within 30 days the building was sold by agent Peggy Rogers to Addison a fire sprinkler con- tractor who quickly began work on his newest project He started cleanup and eling of the upstairs in ber and has big plans for the building doing loft apartments Addison told the Chronicle There was an ing apartment a kinda converted apartment they had converted the law offices into The stock area of the original store is what Addison plans to convert into apartments Carper's Antiques will remain downstairs which Addison said adds to the Ste BUILDING Page 4 A Addiso so PW to convert it into three loft apart i
