New Bell 911 addresses ready for distribution
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BELTON — The Temple Daily Telegram reported that rural Bell County residents will soon be receiving
notification of their new 911 addresses. Jim Reed — director of planning and regional services for the
Central Texas Council of Governments — told county commissioners at a Monday work session that the
council will be mailing letters to about 5,000 rural residents. "We have converted all the rural routes and
(post office) box numbers to physical addresses," Reed said. "As soon as we get commissioners court
approval, notification will go out to those addresses." County Judge Jon Burrows said the approval will be
an action item on the court's March 26 agenda. CTCOG was hired to finish a 911 mapping project that will
give each rural address in Bell County a physical address that dispatchers and emergency service personnel
can identify and locate. The state of Texas — in the form of the Commission on State Emergency
Communications — has mandated the 911 addressing and mapping, which began in 1992 and was
supposed to be finished statewide by last August. Reed said Bell County will finish the project at or under
its $322,000 budget. He said the 911 address changes do not mean rural residents have new mailing
addresses right away. Those will come at a later unspecified date. "Residents will be notified by the Post
Office when it's an official mailing address," Reed said.
Temple school trustees OK 2001-2002 calendar
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The Temple Daily Telegram reported that in a meeting highlighted by public concern on issues including
the future of the leadership for the tennis program and special education, Temple school trustees Monday
approved the 2001-2002 calendar and the purchase of two new school buses. The calendar will allow for
177.5 instructional days and 9.5 professional days with a start date of Aug. 21.According to John Hancock,
district director of student services, the state legislature is considering a proposal that would not allow
school to begin prior to Aug. 21.The buses were approved as part of several bid items which included next
year's textbooks. The 53-seat buses will cost more than $126,000, have a wheel chair lift, and carry a fiveyear/100,000 mile warranty. Topping the list of about 12 concerned citizens who spoke at the meeting was
the status of the tennis team. A major outcry of support came on the behalf of Temple High School's
former head tennis coach Gregory Hilley, who was hired by the district last year. "This was the first time
in many years in which the students felt like a team," said parent Warren Smith.
"We're fortunate to have had such a team leader," he added, with others asking the board to reconsider the
coach's contract and to allow for an assistant coach to further enhance the program.
Several parents echoed Smith's praise of the departed coach.
Two parents requested the board review the special education program, citing "deficits in staff training" and
student isolation concerns. A third parent went into a closed executive session to voice complaints about
specific special education personnel.
District Master Gardener Julie Curtis-Win thanked and congratulated the district for its support of the
Junior Master Gardeners program.
She also expressed gratitude toward for the district's widespread support from the community and Fort
Hood for the dedication of the Lastovica Outdoor Science Lab.
Members of the Temple Coalition of Fine Arts revisted the board with a positive outlook on the future of
the district's continuance of the fine arts programs.
"We've had very amicable and positive exchanges about the programs and are looking forward to helping
the district fill the position for a district fine arts coordinator," said David Perez.
Afterward, trustees congratulated Dustin Chaffin, Chelsea Roeder, Erin Greene, Sarah Brindley and Lori
Fisher for recent honors in UIL music competition after emotional gratitude to the district from Temple
High School choral director Rebecca Northen.
"I thanked all the parents who have supported these students in all they do," she said.
The board also recognized Temple High School's recently named National Merit finalists Amanda Coots,
Stacie Lee and Jennifer Marshall for their academic achievements and the district's 2000 Crystal
Commendation Award from the Texas Schools Public Relations Association.
In other action, trustees approved this school year's summer programs; changes to the district's investment
policy; replacement of two members on the School Board Advisory Task Force; and teacher and
professional contracts for next year.
Temple College sweeps UMHB JV
BELTON — The Temple Daily Telegram reported that the Temple College baseball team got back-to-back
strong pitching efforts from starters Chris Hill and Trip Gordon as the Leopards swept a doubleheader from
the University of Mary Hardin Baylor junior varsity 5-0 and 8-2 Monday at Red Murff Field .In the first
game, Hill (1-0) went five innings with one walk and four strikeouts, and Matt Sanders pitched the last two
innings in the combined shutout .In the nightcap, Gordon (1-0) went four innings and TC's bats erupted for
eight runs in the win. The Leopards got three runs in the third inning, four in the fourth and one in the sixth.
UMHB got two runs in the fourth for their only runs of the afternoon. "We got excellent pitching today,"
TC baseball coach Craig McMurtry said. "Chris was in control the whole time and even had a no-hitter
through four innings. We took him out in the fifth because it was his first start and we wanted to keep his
pitch count near 60."
In the first game TC (16-10, 7-5 in the Northern Texas Junior College Conference) put up three runs in the
third on RBI singles by David Sudyka and Cody George and RBI double from David Anderson. All of the
Leopards runs came with two outs.
The Leopards added two more in the fifth on a solo home run over the left field fence by Ryan Jackson.
The other run came when Thomas Melvin came home on fielder's choice double play.
"Overall, I was very pleased with the way we played today," McMurtry said. "We got some timely getting
and our pitchers did a good job keeping (UMHB) off the bases."
The Leopards return to conference action on Wednesday when they travel to Ranger for a doubleheader set
to begin at noon.
TC to make conservation efforts during summer
The Temple Daily Telegram reported that the Temple College board of trustees voted Monday for the
college to go to a three-day weekend this summer, as an experiment to hopefully cut utility costs by
$40,000.
In its monthly meeting on the main campus, the board also discussed state funding, the status of dormitory
construction plans, and college growth.
Since the TC credit week is already Monday through Thursday, the change to a longer weekend will
primarily affect staff and faculty, who will continue to put in 40 hours, said college president Dr. Marc
Nigliazzo.
In the past, he said air conditioning has been shut down through the summer weekends, except for rooms
with temperature-sensitive equipment.
Nigliazzo said he'd personally seen the four-day summer plan work during his tenure at another college,
and that other institutions in the state had reported success with it.
Temple College had budgeted for a 17 percent increase utility costs this year, he said.
"We're going to go over that," he added.
The library was already slated to be closed this summer for renovation.
TC has been working for several months on plans for the new 288-unit student housing project which will
replace the current 30-year--old dormitory, said Susan Howe, public information officer.
The college is experiencing some tax exemption snags in getting their bond program for the project insured
and rated by Standard & Poors, reported Bea Wohleb, building committee chairwoman. In spite of thius,
she expected the project to begin this summer and be completed by January 2002.
The college continues to await the outcome of state funding being determined by the Texas legislature, said
Nigliazzo. As funding now stands, based on area population growth, TC would be getting "less than onehalf of what we'd hoped for," he said. "We're thankful for that. At least it's there."
Rep. Dianne Delisi (R-Temple) is encouraging the college to work with the Texas Senate, he said, and
"within two weeks we will know what the appropriations bill will look like."
Nigliazzo presented population growth statistics from the 2000 census showing Temple College with a 43
percent increase since 1990. In a partial breakdown, the Hispanic population of TC increased by 87 percent
and the African American population by 73 percent.
In a survey, actual instruction hours at TC increased by 27 percent 1997-2000, surpassing such area
colleges as Navarro College and Blinn College, Nigliazzo reported.
The board voted to retain two maintenance department employees, Skeet Powell and Fred Green, to fill the
role of campus construction manager. Powell will cover major projects, with a $10,000 stipend, and Green
will receive %5,000 to manage smaller construction jobs. T would cost the college $30,000 to hire an
outside manager, said Wayne Criswell, vice president of administrative services.
The board voted to add Paul Roberts as a part time faculty in government.