Twenty Peaceful Minutes

Welcome to Twenty Peaceful Minutes (20PM) - a community website for Forney, Texas. In addition to this blog, 20PM is home to the Forney discussion forums, which you may reach by clicking the Forney discussion forum link or going to http://20pm.net/forums; also, considering signing up for email or newsreader (RSS feed) notifications of new posts to the 20PM blog!

This Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 9AM Commissioner Ray Clark will be holding a Town Hall meeting at the Forney Sub-Court House located at 200 E. Main in Forney.

The meeting does not have a set topic and is instead an open forum to allow citizens to address any questions they may have to Commissioner Clark as well as Paul Allen, the Road & Bridge Supervisor. The meeting will continue until all questions have been addressed.

As County Commissioner for Precinct 2, Commissioner Clark is the elected official at the county level that represents Forney and much of the surrounding areas, including Travis Ranch and Windmill Farms. Among other duties, the county commissioners, in cooperation with the county judge, set the county’s budget each year. If you cannot attend the meeting, Commissioner Clark’s phone number is 972 564-4054 or you may reach him via email at rayclark@kaufmancounty.net

• Sheriff David Byrnes Meeting With Windmill Farms Residents This Thursday

  The Windmill Farms Neighborhood Watch Association will be hosting Kaufman County Sherriff David Byrnes at their next...

• Family Safety Fair this Saturday - Free & Open to All Area Residents!

  This Saturday, May 17th, the Windmill Farms Community Watch is sponsoring a Family Safety Fair from 2-4PM....

• This Saturday: Register to Vote & 10,000 Easter Egg Hunt!

  Have you registered to vote since moving to Kaufman County? Or, are you a long-time Forney resident...

OLDnFEEBLE, an area blogger, posted something recently that caught my attention, especially given recent heated discussion on the Forney discussion forum here on 20PM entitled ‘Plan to Build Toll road on Helms Trail from I20 to 80‘. From the article on ONF’s blog ‘A Seat At The Table?‘:

An article in today’s Dallas Morning News informs us of what would appear to be one of those really, really important meetings of regional representatives on vital transportation issues.

Drilling down into that article’s link to the North Central [Texas] Council of Government’s Regional Transportation Council membership appears to reveal that there is NO representative from Kaufman County or any city in Kaufman County on this council.

Research shows that while there are forty members on the Regional Transportation Council (RTC), including a county judge from Johnson County and a county commissioner from Ellis County, two counties that are of a similar size as Kaufman County, Kaufman County is completely unrepresented on the RTC.

Why should we care about a committee of 40 elected and appointed officials that meets monthly in Arlington to talk about roads that may not be built for 20 years? It’s simple - the RTC is the major planning group that guides the alignment of new roads in the Metroplex; they can align a toll-road along a small street like Helms Trail and knock out hundreds of homes, and on the other extreme, they can decide to completely bypass a city when routing major thoroughfares that have the potential to bring growth, development and increased tax revenue.

(Read on …)

• New Video and Maps Regarding Regional Shopping Center Planned for Forney

  I've uploaded a video from Monday's City Council meeting where Pate Transportation detailed plans for a new...

• Are You Registered to Vote? Kaufman County Tax Office Gets Inundated with Registrar Applicants

  Kaufman County Tax Office Gets Inundated with Registrar Applicants Are you registered to Vote? April 12th is...

• Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office Recovers Nearly $150,000 in Stolen Property

  On February 4th, investigators from the Kaufman County sheriff's office were attempting to locate Brian Edward...

Final results have been in from Kaufman County for a while, and now final results are in from Henderson County, 31 out of 31 precincts have reported in, so we know the outcome of the Republican Primary for Texas House - District 4. Incumbent Betty Brown defeated challenger Wade Gent by a narrow margin of 51.88% of the vote to Gent’s 48.12% of the vote.

Republican Primary

For State Rep, District 4 - Kaufman County Results
Betty Brown - 3,890 - 50.46%
Wade Gent - 3,819 - 49.54%

For State Rep, District 4 - Henderson County Results
Betty Brown - 4876 - 53.06%
Wade Gent - 3,112 - 46.94%

For State Rep, District 4 - Combined Results
Betty Brown - 8,766 - 51.88%
Wade Gent - 8,132 - 48.12%

• Wade Gent Announces His Candidacy for State Representative, District 4

  The Athens Review published a piece yesterday in which Wade Gent, Forney resident, announced his intention to...

• Entire State Watching Hotly Contested House District Four Primary Between Gent & Brown

  While the rest of the country watches the Democratic primary in Texas to learn who will capture...

• Kaufman County Primary Results - 42 of 42 Precincts Reporting

  I'll update this post as additional votes are tallied, and provide some commentary tomorrow, as well. UPDATE...

I’ll update this post as additional votes are tallied, and provide some commentary tomorrow, as well. UPDATE - with 42 of 42 precincts reporting in Kaufman County (although I’m not certain if this includes mailed, military, provisional, etc. ballots), all the races have been decided except perhaps the contest between Betty Brown and Wade Gent for Texas House District 4, as we’re still waiting on 9 more districts to come in from Henderson. I’ll create a new post once the results are in from Henderson as well.

Thus far, it looks like incumbent sheriff David Byrnes has defeated challenger Eddie Frankum for the Republican nomination for sheriff; Dick Murphy looks to have the Republican nomination for Tax Assessor-Collector, as well. For Precinct 2 Constable, incumbent Joe Don Law has prevailed over Kalon Rollins and for US Senator, incumbent John Cornyn has won the nomination.

For president, while Mike Huckabee has a strong showing here in Kaufman County, within less than 80 votes of John McCain, most media outlets have already called the state-wide nomination for McCain and say that McCain has clinched the Republican nomination for president. UPDATE - Huckabee has pulled ahead of McCain by 66 votes. Huckabee continues to load McCain, now by 75 votes, but apparently hasn’t seen success outside of Kaufman County, as he has officially conceded to McCain, who is now the Republican candidate for president. Huckabee’s lead in Kaufman County is now 216 votes. Now it’s up to 242 votes, wow. Huckabee ended the night winning Kaufman County by 284 votes.

The one race that’s still too close to call is Texas House District 4, where incumbent Betty Brown leads challenger Wade Gent by only 247 votes. UPDATE - Brown’s margin is down to 174 votes. Now it’s at 179 votes. However, these results only include Kaufman County. I’m working to find updated Henderson County results, but Dallas News and other sites seem to be far behind on updates in this race. Found the Henderson County results, apparently the updates are slow because Henderson has only tallied a small portion of their votes so far. The combined totals put Brown ahead of Gent by 626 votes. Brown’s lead has climbed to 786 votes with 22 of 31 precincts reporting in Henderson County and 41 of 42 here in Kaufman County. With all the Kaufman County precincts reporting, Brown’s lead is 766 votes. Chances are, she’s won another term in the Texas House, but I’ll post a new story once the final numbers come in from Henderson County, as well.

On the democratic side of things, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama by over 1,000 votes and appears to be the choice of Kaufman County Democrats. UPDATE - Clinton’s lead is up to almost 1,200 votes now. Now it’s at 1,220 votes. Now at 1,383 votes. Now down to 1,297, but with only one precinct left, it looks like Clinton has locked up Kaufman County. And with all the precincts reporting, Clinton ended up beat Obama by 1,281 votes in Kaufman County.

Republican Primary

For Sheriff
David Byrnes - 5,435 - 75.42%
Eddie Frankum - 1,771 - 24.58%

For Tax Assessor-Collector
Dick Murphy - 5,186 - 72.93%
PJ Gibson - 1,925 - 27.07%

For Pct 2 Constable
Joe Don Law - 2,034 - 78.26%
Kalon Rollins - 565 - 21.74%

For State Rep, District 4 - Kaufman County Results
Betty Brown - 3,890 - 50.46%
Wade Gent - 3,819 - 49.54%

For State Rep, District 4 - Henderson County Results (22 of 31 precincts reporting in Henderson so far)
Betty Brown - 3,807 - 55.02%
Wade Gent - 3,112 - 44.98%

For State Rep, District 4 - Combined Results
Betty Brown - 7,697 - 52.62%
Wade Gent - 6,931 - 47.38%

For President
John McCain 3,601 - 44.58%
Mike Huckabee 3,885 - 48.09%

For US Senator
John Cornyn 5,906 - 82.24%
Larry Kilgore - 1,275 - 17.76%

Democratic Primary

Hillary Clinton - 5,457 - 55.64%
Barack Obama - 4,176 - 42.58%

Results are being posted to this thread in the discussion forum as well, and updates will generally appear there first.

• Final Henderson County Results Are In - Incumbent Betty Brown Defeats Challenger Wade Gent in House District 4 Primary

  Final results have been in from Kaufman County for a while, and now final results are in...

• March Primary Election Update

  The primaries are just around the corner, and while there's been a lot of attention on the...

• Entire State Watching Hotly Contested House District Four Primary Between Gent & Brown

  While the rest of the country watches the Democratic primary in Texas to learn who will capture...

While the rest of the country watches the Democratic primary in Texas to learn who will capture the Democrat’s nomination for President, the eyes of Texas are upon Kaufman and Henderson county, home to Texas House District #4. Incumbent Republican Betty Brown is being challenged by Wade Gent, who she only narrowly defeated in the Republican primary in 2006; the race is being watched by Republicans throughout Texas because Representative Brown is an ardent supporter of controversial Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, who fended off an attempt at the end of the last legislative session to remove him from an office he has said gives him “absolute authority”. Many observers feel that if more than four to six Craddick-supporters lose their positions to Democrats or Republicans who don’t support Craddick, Speaker Craddick will lose his position as Speaker of the House in the next term.

On a local level, the race is vital to the future of Forney; the North Central Texas Council of Governments estimates that Forney is one of the largest cities in District 4 - indeed, the population growth estimates indicate that Forney will be the largest city in District 4 by the end of the next two-year House term Brown and Gent are competing for, however, there isn’t even an office for the District 4 Representative in Forney yet (although plans for one were finally announced recently).

The primary is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 4th; polls will be open from 7AM to 7PM. All registered voters are encouraged to vote and it’s especially important that residents of Forney and the surrounding area let their voice be heard; politicians pay attention to which areas have more active voters, so please go vote! Where you vote depends on your precinct. Your precinct is listed on your voter registration card - find your precinct number on this list at the county website to find out where you vote. If you don’t know your precinct number or have lost your voter registration card (which is not a problem - you can vote by showing your driver’s license), visit this page on the Secretary of State’s website and enter your driver’s license number and they will let you know what your precinct number is.

I strive to keep Twenty Peaceful Minutes an open and neutral forum for all candidates and office holders, so I won’t be endorsing either candidate, but I do want to make sure voters make an informed decision, especially in such an important race as the Republican nomination here in Texas House District Four. It’s quite interesting reviewing campaign contributions and endorsements each candidate has received, so make sure to click ‘Read On’, below, for the full story - one candidate clearly has more ties to Forney, in my opinion. And of course, stay tuned Tuesday night when I’ll post the election results as they are tallied and there will no doubt be some lively discussion about the results in the Forney discussion forums.
(Read on …)

• Final Henderson County Results Are In - Incumbent Betty Brown Defeats Challenger Wade Gent in House District 4 Primary

  Final results have been in from Kaufman County for a while, and now final results are in...

• Wade Gent Announces His Candidacy for State Representative, District 4

  The Athens Review published a piece yesterday in which Wade Gent, Forney resident, announced his intention to...

• March Primary Election Update

  The primaries are just around the corner, and while there's been a lot of attention on the...

The primaries are just around the corner, and while there’s been a lot of attention on the presidential race, several state and local races are heating up around Kaufman County! Our current representative in the US House, Republican Jeb Hensarling appears to be running unopposed in the Republican primary, and apparently no challengers filed to run for the Democratic nomination for that position. However, Republican Betty Brown is facing stiff competition in her bid to be re-elected for a sixth term as our representative in the Texas House of Representatives - not only has Wade Gent, who nearly unseated Representative Brown in a previous primary, filed to run against her in the Republican Primary, Victor Morales has filed for the Democratic nomination for the position.
Click read on for more information about local races in the March 4, 2008 primaries…
(Read on …)

• Kaufman County Primary Results - 42 of 42 Precincts Reporting

  I'll update this post as additional votes are tallied, and provide some commentary tomorrow, as well. UPDATE...

• Wade Gent Announces His Candidacy for State Representative, District 4

  The Athens Review published a piece yesterday in which Wade Gent, Forney resident, announced his intention to...

• Final Henderson County Results Are In - Incumbent Betty Brown Defeats Challenger Wade Gent in House District 4 Primary

  Final results have been in from Kaufman County for a while, and now final results are in...

Oakridge Investments, the owner/developer of what will become Terrell Market Center, the development that is the current focus of Terrell’s Tax Increment Financing District (TIF District) deal with Kaufman County, has announced their plans for the site. Terrell Market Center is located where I-20, FM 148 and Spur 557 (which leads to Hwy 80) meet.

According to GlobeSt.com, Oakridge is keeping 36 acres of the 89 acre site for a 200,000 square foot retail/restaurant center (some media reports place the center at 200,000 sq. feet, others at 300,000 st. feet) and has sold the remaining land to Baylor. Baylor says they are evaluating the site and the surrounding area and have not made a conclusive decision about what they will use the site for beyond a ‘medical campus’ - it could potentially become a day surgery facility, a medical center/doctor’s office building or a hospital. Click read on for more…
(Read on …)

• Forney Regional Shopping Center Updates

  We originally broke the news of the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center planned for Forney...

• Forney at Terrell Basketball Photos from Terrell Daily Photo

  Jim has a very cool site over at TerrellDailyPhoto.com - he takes photos all over Terrell and...

• Forney Regional Medical Center & Forney Medical Plaza Update

  This past Friday, Cirrus Health announced that the land on which Forney Regional Medical Center will be...

The City of Forney has announced that they will be reviewing and updating the Comprehensive Plan to better prepare the city for future growth. The City is seeking public input on the Comprehensive Plan through a series of public workshops, the first of which will be held on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at the Forney High School cafeteria from 6 to 8:30 P.M. Make sure to attend and let your voice be heard in the future of Forney!
Click to discuss this post in the Forney discussion forums.

• Forney - Tree City USA?

  While doing some research recently on the National Arbor Day Foundation, I ran across information about the...

• City of Forney Hosting Retirement Reception for City Secretary, Odessa Moore

  The City of Forney will be hosting a retirement reception this coming Sunday, March 30th for Odessa...

• Forney ISD Holding Public Forum on Bond Election this Monday

  This coming Monday, March 5th at 7PM the Forney ISD School Board is holding a public forum...

In a press release posted on their website this morning, Forney ISD has announced that Dr. Darrell Brown has been named the lone finalist for superintendent of FISD.

Dr. Brown, 47, currently serves as Assistant Superintendent/Executive Director for Curriculum, Staff Development and Accountability in Katy ISD. The state requires a 21-day waiting period before Dr. Brown can sign a contract with the district - the FISD Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Monday, December 10th when Dr. Brown is expected to sign a contract to become the district’s new superintendent. The district will host a reception immediately following. Read on for more information about our new superintendent, whose photo appears below.

(Read on …)

• Forney ISD Superintendent Named Sole Finalist for Job with New Braunfels ISD

  Wow, from 0 posts in a month to 3 in a day! I wanted to post a...

• Forney ISD School Board Moving to Place Bond for 2nd High School on May Ballot

  In what became a 3+ hour meeting with a record-breaking turnout of 90-100 members of the public...

• New School Names Announced; Dallas Morning News Article on Forney

  I just noticed that the FISD Board of Trustees selected the names of 2 elementary schools to...

The Forney Police Department and the State of Texas issued the Amber Alert after the children were abducted on Friday afternoon. Law enforcement officials believe these children to be in grave or immediate danger.

Eli Sullivan a 16 year old white male, with brown hair, 5FT6 and 120LBS He was last seen wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

William Sullivan, a 12 year old white male with brown hair, 5ft4 and 90 pounds. He was last seen wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

The suspect is Lelah Jeanne Sullivan, a 48 year old white female with brown hair and brown eyes, 5ft 6 and 115 pounds.

The suspect vehicle is a beige Ford with Alaska tag number EEB204.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Forney Police Department at 972-552-3932 or dial 911. Please, everyone, keep your eyes open for this vehicle and this person and phone in anything you see to Forney PD or 911 immediately.

For updated information, please visit http://codeamber.org/sullivantx/

UPDATE, 7:50PM - CBS 11 just posted a ‘breaking news’ update to their website in which they say the woman is believed to be driving a 1983 Tioga RV, with Alaska license plate EEB-204. They say it’s believed she is attempting to leave the state with the boys, who they believe she took this morning.

• Forney Amber Alert Ends In Arrest in Alaska; Boys Found

  The Amber Alert issued in early November by the Forney Police Department and covered here on Twenty...