The Brown County Water Improvement District #1 approved permits Tuesday for a pair of professional fireworks shows to be held at Lake Brownwood on 4th of July weekend.

The first of these shows will be held at Gilligan's Store and Park and Campgrounds (formerly known as Sandy Beach) at Lake Brownwood on Friday, July 5th.

Chester Davis of American Fireworks will be setting up and setting off the show that night. For more information or anyone interested in sponsoring the show can call (325) 784-5679.

The second fireworks display will be on Saturday, July 6th at Wild Duck Marina (320 High Top St.) as they host their 2nd Annual 4th of July Bash. 

The Brown County Water Improvement District #1 (BCWID) board of directors is taking a hard look at implementing Stage 4 water restrictions as the level of Lake Brownwood drops with the onset of warmer weather.

As of Tuesday, Lake Brownwood was 12.12 feet below spillway level at 1412.88 msl (mean sea level) which is a drop of .6 of a foot since this same time last month.  The decline rate is expected to increase as temperatures, wind and summer consumption rates increase.

“Everyone needs to observe the restrictions, and as we continue through this summer, right now we are 1.8 feet from the trigger point on Stage 4,” said BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks.  “Stage 4 will be no outside watering.”

Spinks said that their wholesale water customers such as Brownwood and Early will be required to have a 50% reduction in water usage which will be passed on to residential water users through the Stage 4 restrictions.

“We will need to review that at our meeting in July to see where we stand as far as lake levels, if we have had any rain,” Spinks said. “We will have to be more stringent on enforcement and one of those enforcements could be a surcharge on that water.”

Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) recently awarded Shoppa’s Material Handling, Ltd. its highest dealership honor, the President’s Award, for 2012. Shoppa’s Material Handling is one of 15 elite recipients of this distinguished award and was selected from TMHU’s network of 70 dealers and 225 dealership locations in the United States and Canada.

Shoppa’s Material Handling was recognized at Toyota’s Annual Dealer Meeting for demonstrating excellence in parts, service, equipment sales, customer satisfaction and overall dealership operations. This is the thirteenth time Shoppa’s Material Handling has been awarded the President’s Award and its predecessor the Quality Dealer Award.

Law enforcement arrests and reports released Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

Saturday, June 6

*5:26 PM – Brownwood Police were called to the 1700 block of Main Blvd regarding a civil standby.  According to the report, the residents returned home to find their front door removed and several items taken from the residence.  The facts surrounding the case were stated by the officer to be similar to a prior call in the neighborhood.

Friday, June 7

*A Brown County Sheriff’s deputy responded with Guardian EMS and Zephyr first responders to a location on County Road 270 regarding a female who had been kicked in the head by a horse.  According to the report, contact was made with the injured female who was found to be extremely intoxicated and had difficulty answering the deputy’s questions.

Monday, June 10

*Early Police arrested 58-year-old Paul George Challenger for disorderly conduct.

*Brown County Sheriff’s Office arrested 44-year-old Amy Grady for manufacture delivery of a controlled substance penalty group 1 equal or greater than 1 gram in a drug free zone.

*23-year-old Chelsey Raylene Mayes of Zephyr turned herself in on a warrant related to burglary of a habitation.

There were 25 participants in the Wednesday Evening Jackpot Fishing Tournament held at Lake Brownwood on June 5th.  Each Wednesday, sign up is from 4:45 to 5:20 pm at the lake dam ramp and fishing hours are from 5:30 to 9:00 pm sharp.

The results of the tournament are below:

Lake conditions:

Weather was mostly clear.

Wind: 9 to 16 mph SSE, gusts to 24

Air Temp: Start 93° End 86°

Water was stained to clear 76° to 77°

There were 27 fish weighed in for a total of 46.19 lbs.

Out of 25 contestants, 14 people weighed in fish with 4 limits.

Contestants

1st.  Jeff Windham.........................................6.32

2nd.  Audwin Hall...........................................4.85

3rd.  Brad Windham......................................4.65

The annual Brownwood Juneteenth Celebration is right around the corner and organizers are planning a full weekend of activities, live music, games, and fun.

Activities and events such as Kiddie Korner, games, concessions, live music, and more will be featured on Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15 at Cecil Holman Park  (1100 Hall Street) and the Bennie Houston Community Center  (505 Cordell).

Friday, June 14th ----- Noon to Midnight  ---- “ The Wilburns from Geneva, Switzerland will be performing from 7pm (o? & on) to midnight. Rudi Wilburn is a native of Brownwood and coming home with his (2) sons to perform.

On Saturday the 15th ---9am to midnight --- “In The Mix Band” out of Dallas will perform from 8pm to midnight.

City of Brownwood officials reported that tens of thousands of dollars are being recouped thanks to an audit of utility services, and more refunds are expected in the near future.

City of Brownwood Finance Director Walter Middleton reported at Tuesday’s city council meeting that electric and phone service billing was recently audited which revealed a large amount of overbilling.  The audit, according to Middleton, found electric overbilling which amounted to $97,525, of which the city has recovered $53,638 and is expecting another $38,433 claim to be received soon.

City officials are in the process of negotiating the refund of such and met in executive session Tuesday to decide how to proceed on overbilling from Verizon.

After the executive session, City Manager Bobby reported that actions are being taken to negotiate a settlement with Verizon, including if necessary filing suit.

“In August 2011, the City of Brownwood hired Ben Sanford, a consultant with Tri-Stem, Ltd. to conduct an audit of the city’s phone billings and services.  The City has filed a claim with Verizon asking for a refund of approximately $94,000 for overbilling,” said Rountree.  “The City Council authorized Tri-Stem, Ltd., and their consultant, Ben Sanford & Associates, to continue negotiating a claim with Verizon to reimburse overbilling and to take any and all actions, including, filing suit against Verizon on behalf of the City of Brownwood to collect the claim.”

I have officially lost my taste for driving in the city. I can’t handle it! Recently I drove over to the big city of Austin for a MommyCon Mini convention. It’s been years since I’ve driven in a city with more than 20,000 people in it. Anything bigger than a two-lane road makes my palms sweat. I was a little freaked out when I merged into the flow of traffic as I entered Austin.

I sort of looked like Ricky Bobby making his a comeback after his big wreck when the other drivers zoomed past and he shouted, "Was that the other cars?!"

No wonder people in big cities are stressed! They all have to blast around at high speeds and whip in and out of lanes without signaling while texting on their phones! That’s not the life for me, brother. From now on if I need to attend an event in a city bigger than Abilene I’m making Mr. Coers drive. Feminists everywhere might be cringing, but I’m planting myself in the passenger seat. He can open my car door for me too while we’re at it. And since I’m going old school with my mode of transportation – I might as well go old school with this fun Jello Poke Cake recipe from the 70?s. Retro, dig it.

The Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce and Condor Document Services will host a document shredding day on Saturday, June 15th from 9 AM to Noon at the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce - 600 E. Depot Street.

The on-site mobile shredding truck will destroy all documents beyond recognition. Drive up and drop off up to 3 files boxes of documents. For each box of documents, please bring 2 non-perishable food items to support local area food banks. Please no metal, plastic or spiral bound notebooks.

Howard Payne University athletics today announced that former NCAA III National Player of the Year and current women’s assistant basketball coach Meia Daniels will take over the reins of the HPU women’s basketball program.

Meia Daniels, who has served as an assistant coach last season for Howard Payne, will take over a Lady Jacket program that has had 10 consecutive 20-win seasons and posted fourth American Southwest Conference West Division titles in the past seven years.

"We are pleased to be able to promote Meia Daniels to our head coaching position as well as our Senior Woman Administrator (SWA),” said Howard Payne Director of Athletics Mike Jones. “She has been mentored by two outstanding coaches in Chris Kielsmeier and Josh Prock and was a great collegiate player.  She knows how to win and how hard you have to work to be successful at this level.  These experiences will serve her well as she enters this new phase of her career."

As a player, Daniels was 109-12 over four seasons leading the Lady Jackets to three American Southwest Conference championships, four NCAA III national tournament appearances and a NCAA III National Championship in 2008. A 2008 graduate of Howard Payne, Daniels holds numerous HPU and ASC records and is second in career scoring at Howard Payne with 2,118 points.

DeBorah Simpson, a member of the Black Republican Party of Johnson County will be the guest speaker for the Brown County Republican Women’s Club June meeting.

DeBorah will discuss the  history of Texas Republican Party, especially the contributions of black people in Texas, the foundation of the United States Judeo-Christian principles and the challenge of upholding and recognizing the two mentioned items as the point from which political decisions (i.e. voting, volunteering, organizing, etc.) are made.

The meeting will be held Friday, June 14th, 11:30 AM at the Brownwood Country Club. Cost of the luncheon is $12 per person to be paid at the door.  The public is invited to attend.

VFW Post 3278 with the Men’s & Ladies Auxiliary will commemorate the World War II Invasion of Normandy at their meeting on Wednesday June 12, 2013 at 6:00 PM at the VFW Post located at 2300 Stephen F. Austin. The public is invited to join in the observation.

VFW organizers share the following historical account:

Despite unfavorable weather forecasts, General Eisenhower made the decision to attack on June 6, 1944.  At 0200 that morning, one British and two American airborne divisions were dropped behind the beaches in order to secure routes of egress from the beaches for the seaborne forces. After an intensive air and naval bombardment, assault waves of troops began landing at 0630.

More than 5,000 ships and 4,000 ship-to-shore craft were employed in the landings. British forces on the left flank and U.S. forces on the right had comparatively easy going, but U.S. forces in the center (Omaha Beach) met determined opposition.

Nevertheless, by nightfall of the first day, large contingents of three British, one Canadian, and three American infantry divisions, plus three airborne divisions, had a firm foothold on Hitler's "fortress Europe.”

Brownwood ISD is watching legislative events in Austin very closely in hope of more state funds to help offset a projected budget shortfall for the current fiscal year.

“As the legislative session winds down, we do feel that we are going to receive some additional monies for this biennium, exactly how much; we’re not real confident in the numbers yet,” said Deputy Superintendent Kevin Gabaree.

A preliminary school funding template reflects new school finance funding elements adopted by the 83rd Legislature during the regular session and will help determine state funding being allocated to public schools. The template is currently only preliminary because of applicable bills that have not been signed into law yet.

One such bill is HB 1025 which is currently waiting for the governor’s signature and could help BISD improve on their expected budget shortfall for the year.   HB 1025 would give additional appropriations of funds to various state agencies including $200 million for public education.

“It would help substantially if we would get that additional payment, and we would get that in August if we get that,” said BISD Superintendent Reece Blincoe.

Officials said that their portion of that money would not cover the entire amount of the negative budget, but would help the district substantially.

“It would decrease the deficit,” Gabaree said.

Law enforcement arrests and reports released Monday, June 10, 2013.

Friday, June 7

*9:27 AM – Brownwood Police were called to the 500 block of W. Commerce regarding identity theft.  According to the report, an unknown person used the complainant’s identity to obtain a loan.

*11:03 AM – Brownwood Police were called to the 2700 block of Temple Avenue regarding an unwanted person.  According to the report, a female complainant stated she had been struck by a male suspect; however she declined medical attention.  The male subject was unable to be located, the report states.

*1:25 PM – Brownwood Police were dispatched to Wal-Mart, 401 W. Commerce, regarding theft.  According to the report, a male suspect was identified by a loss prevention employee and issued a citation for theft under $50.  He was then released from the scene, the report states.

*2:02 PM – Brown County Sheriff’s Office received a report of credit card abuse.  According to the report, the complainant stated that an unknown person had made unauthorized purchases online with her credit card and she wished to pursue criminal charges.