Main News / Local
Published 09/02/2010 - 12:21 p.m. CST
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Highland Village residents discuss the opening of the new four-lane road going through their neighborhood.
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Since FM2499 has been opened last week to traffic moving across Lake
Lewisville, Highland Village residents have expressed concern about
the
prospects of automobiles moving at highway speeds near their
backyards
and bike paths. Highland Village and the Texas Department
of
Transportation are responding to requests for safety walls, signs
and
other features to reduce potential accidents and protect
property values
on upscale homes just south of the lake. Residents
are asking the City
of Highland Village for increased police
patrols, four-way stops and
crosswalks to make it safer to navigate
through the heavier traffic
expected when FM2499 will connect with
Swisher Road in Corinth with an
official ribbon-cutting October 30.
Rating: 0
Published 09/02/2010 - 12:20 p.m. CST
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Garrick and Kirsten Palmer, standing on their property with a recently-installed metering station in the background.
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As Flower Mound strives to protect its citizens from harmful effects
of
gas operations with tougher ordinances and fewer variances, one
of its
families fears no one can stop a proposed facility they
believe
threatens their health and property value. The compression
station falls
outside Flower Mound Town limits in area recently
released from
Bartonville's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
Rating: 0
Published 09/02/2010 - 11:48 a.m. CST
It is a privilege to serve the citizens of the great State of Texas
and I
am announcing my intent to become a Republican Primary
congressional
candidate for the United States House of
Representatives in 2012. As
many people know, the Texas Legislature
will start redistricting for an
expected gain of three or four new
U. S. Congressional seats in less
than a year from now, due to high
population growth.
Rating: 0
Published 09/02/2010 - 11:46 a.m. CST
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Emma Fuhrmann
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At the age of 18 months, Emma Fuhrmann signed with the Kim Dawson
Agency
as a child model, where she did print work for Neimans, JC
Penney,
Dillards, and Learning Resources. Her acting debut began at
age 5 when
she auditioned for her first commercial and booked it!
Rating: 0
Published 08/26/2010 - 11:06 a.m. CST
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Lantana Cub Scouts Pack 802 at the start of Lantana-O event.
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As part of their summer activity program,
Pack 802 Lantana Cub Scouts
took part in “Lantana-O," a local
orienteering event on Saturday August
14. The event was a smaller
version of The Longhorn Council's 'Cub-O,'
which is one of the
largest orienteering events in the country.
According to Cubmaster
Daren Linnabary, the purpose of the event was
twofold. "Firstly, it
enabled our Scouts to maintain contact with each
other during the
summer, and secondly it helped them to develop their
map reading
skills in a familiar and safe environment with trained adult
leaders." Webelos Den Leader Mike Rieder added: "this gave the boys a
taste of what to expect in an orienteering event by developing map
skills and applying their character connections for being good Scouts
in
gaming and sportsmanship while maintaining a competitive
attitude."
Rating: 0
Published 08/26/2010 - 11:00 a.m. CST
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The entrance to Palermo’s Italian Café in Bartonville.
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With a combined 46 years in restaurant ownership, Joseph
and Faye
Sutaj know how to serve terrific food. The Sicilian-born
restaurateurs
have received rave reviews in the Dallas Morning News,
Fort Worth Star
Telegram, Forth Worth Weekly and Zagat's. One New
York visitor, who
dined with a restaurant critic friend in Fort
Worth, labeled their
lasagna as the best he's ever had. The word
"best" has also been used to
describe their chicken picatta, lobster
ravioli and, of course, pizza.
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 12:12 p.m. CST
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Judge Ramirez at work on the bench at Denton County Court at Law Number two.
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After losing an opportunity to serve as Probate Court
Judge in a
tight Republican Primary race with Bonnie Robson last
May, Double Oak
attorney Robert C. Ramirez III took a faster route
to the bench. Denton
County Commissioners recently appointed Ramirez
to serve as Judge of
County Court at Law No. 2 after Republican
Party precinct chairs
selected him to replace Judge Margaret Barnes
on the November ballot for
that position. Barnes has been appointed
to replace District Judge Lee
Gabriel, now the Republican candidate
for Place 7 on the 2nd Court of
Appeals. All three judges have been
sworn into their new posts and will
stand for election in November
to begin full terms in January, 2011.
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 12:05 p.m. CST
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Dr. David May, Chief of Staff at Texas Health Resources Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound speaks in a panel discussion arranged by the Congressional Health Care Caucus. To his left is Bobby Hillert, Executive Director of the Texas Physician Hospitals Advocacy Center and to his right Rep. Michael Burgess.
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care
act passed by
Congress last year would prevent construction of new
physician-owned
hospitals like Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
Flower Mound,
Congressman Michael Burgess said during a panel
discussion at the
hospital Tuesday. Burgess added that, unless there
are changes to the
legislation, the current hospital will be
prevented from expanding. Dr.
Burgess, a physician with important
committee assignments dealing with
health care issues, has been an
outspoken opponent of the health care
reform bill passed last year.
The discussion held Tuesday was one of
three scheduled in the 26th
Congressional District by the Congressional
Health Care Caucus,
chaired by Burgess. Burgess has been highly critical
of the
legislation which he has described Tuesday as "poorly crafted"
and
"so unstable it appears to be designed to collapse of its own
weight."
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 11:38 a.m. CST
Many great things have happened within the first
100 days of a new
administration. Roosevelt passed the Emergency
Banking Act, Kennedy
created the Peace Corps, and Reagan initiated a
series of tax cuts and
spending reductions under an economic program
that would later bear his
name. Unfortunately, such progress is a
rarity within the first 100 days
of a local government agenda.
Bureaucracy and politics often impede
work and delay much needed
progress, but in pursuing an aggressive
agenda, NFL, along with Tom
Hayden and other members of council, have
addressed desired policy
revisions, pressing community health issues,
and needed
transportation updates, and we’re in the process of
finalizing a
balanced budget in one of the most difficult economies on
record.
With a majority of its members working together to address a
wide
variety of community needs, this Town Council is on track to be one
of the most productive in Flower Mound’s history.
Rating: 0
Published 09/02/2010 - 11:47 a.m. CST
The senior member of our new Town Council majority has compared their
administration with those of FDR, JFK, and Ronald Reagan. The
historical
comparisons suggested by the Mayor Pro Tem would be
laughable if they
were not so sad. What they do accomplish is to
point out the boisterous
ego of the current Council Majority. One of
the first things this
council did upon taking office was to create
the Oil and Gas Committee
to review and make recommendations for
changes to the Town’s Ordinance.
Rating: 0
Published 08/26/2010 - 11:09 a.m. CST
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Executive Producer and Lantana resident, Gregg Jackson, stands next to a poster for the movie he recently produced.
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Hoping to put a human face on the issue of
immigration, Lantana
resident Gregg Jackson has produced Ilegales; a
movie highly acclaimed
in a recent film festival and limited
screenings. An Ohio-native,
Jackson was a long-time El Paso resident
who, for 15-years, owned a
maquiladora plant in Ciudad Juarez. He
said he's tired of watching
Republicans and Democrats use
immigration reform as a partisan issue to
bash each other while
taking no significant steps towards implementing
policies that are
humane and effective. An audience of approximately 20
prominent
Denton County residents watched and discussed the film at a
private
viewing in the home of Charlie and Suzette Sabatino in Argyle on
Saturday night.
Rating: 0
Published 08/26/2010 - 11:03 a.m. CST
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One of the ice cream machines in the pool area of Lantana, which was the scene of the vandalism.
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Lantana Neighborhood Watch volunteers know a lot about
what is going
on in their community, as a certain young vandal can
unhappily attest.
The crime watch group swung into action recently
when Lantana Community
officials asked them to help identify some
young people in a security
camera video near one of Lantana's
swimming pools. One of the teens
defecated and smeared the smelly
substance on the machines. The video
was taken on Tuesday night. The
teen was identified by Friday and
visiting with a Sheriff's deputy
about it on Monday morning. “We
certainly don't have a lot of issues
with crime in Lantana,” said Bruce
Crawford, community manager.
However, he thinks the crime watch is great
because it not only
helps solve crimes, it also deters them.
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 12:15 p.m. CST
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Hot air balloon rides brought out the crowds at the Highland Village Balloon Festival and Fair last year.
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The 23rd Annual Highland Village Lions Club Balloon
Festival &
Fair will be held on August 20-22nd at Copperas
Branch Park on Lake
Lewisville.
Celebrate the last few weeks of summer and spend a day with the family at a One-Stop-Spot to get your carnival, concert, food and hot air balloon fix. The young and the young-at-heart can ride a variety of amusement rides, including a pirate ship, hamster balls, rock climbing, merry-go-round and many more. Set up the lawn chairs and blankets for live music on Friday and Saturday evening with bands including Jon Rutherford & The Professional Honkey Tonkers and the Kat Moore Band, just to name two. Enjoy roasted turkey legs, barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers, funnel cake and much more. Early birds can enjoy the sight of over a dozen majestic hot air balloons take off or land at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. For nighttime entertainment, watch the Balloon Glow, an event which illuminates the whole park with brightly colored patterns from the hot air balloons.
Celebrate the last few weeks of summer and spend a day with the family at a One-Stop-Spot to get your carnival, concert, food and hot air balloon fix. The young and the young-at-heart can ride a variety of amusement rides, including a pirate ship, hamster balls, rock climbing, merry-go-round and many more. Set up the lawn chairs and blankets for live music on Friday and Saturday evening with bands including Jon Rutherford & The Professional Honkey Tonkers and the Kat Moore Band, just to name two. Enjoy roasted turkey legs, barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers, funnel cake and much more. Early birds can enjoy the sight of over a dozen majestic hot air balloons take off or land at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. For nighttime entertainment, watch the Balloon Glow, an event which illuminates the whole park with brightly colored patterns from the hot air balloons.
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 12:07 p.m. CST
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During a break in the meeting, Flower Mound Mayor Melissa Northern reads proclamation presented to Town Secretary Paul Paschal, as Mayor Pro-Tem Al Filidoro offers bouquet of flowers to Ms. Paschal, who is retiring after 15 years with the town. Councilmen (seated, left to right) Steve Lyda and Mike Wallace look on.
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The Flower Mound Town Council voted to replace two
members of its
Oil and Gas Advisory Board Monday because of their
participation in a
lawsuit against the town and approved a contract
to upgrade Dixon Lane
from a point near Flower Mound High School to
FM2499. Board members
replaced were Prakash Parameswaran, a
plaintiff in a lawsuit filed
against the town on July 30 seeking an
injunction to prevent issuing
permits for drilling on the Hilliard
property and Jennifer Rodgers a
director of the group providing
financial support for the lawsuit. Town
officials have been moving
towards issuing a drilling permit on the
Hilliard property under its
existing ordinances because the drilling
requires no variances from
existing law. Most wells drilled within the
town have had variances
granted by the town's Oil and Gas Board of
Adjustments and Appeals.
But after being denied variances, Hilliard made
adjustments to his
property and drilling plans so the project could go
forward without
variances. Both removed board members were active in the
political
campaign that elected Mayor Melissa Northern, Al Filidoro and
Steve
Lyda to the Council in May.
Rating: 0
Published 08/19/2010 - 11:41 a.m. CST
As a native of the North Dallas area, I know as
well as anyone how
much Texans love to spend time in the sun, but
now, after years of
medical training, I know that my many summers
spent on Lewisville Lake
have put me at risk for a silent killer.
This year alone, approximately
120,000 people in the United States
will be diagnosed with the
aggressive skin cancer, melanoma.
Although it only accounts for about 4%
of all skin cancers
diagnosed, it will be the #1 cause of skin cancer
related deaths,
accounting for almost 10,000.
Who is at risk? The number one risk factor for developing melanoma is exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Chronic exposure to the sun as well as periods of intense exposure (like getting severe sunburn) increases the risk even more. Your risk factors are increased if you are a fair-skinned person who burns easily in the sun or if a close relative has been diagnosed with melanoma. An increased risk also comes if you have a very large number of common nevi (moles).
Who is at risk? The number one risk factor for developing melanoma is exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Chronic exposure to the sun as well as periods of intense exposure (like getting severe sunburn) increases the risk even more. Your risk factors are increased if you are a fair-skinned person who burns easily in the sun or if a close relative has been diagnosed with melanoma. An increased risk also comes if you have a very large number of common nevi (moles).
Rating: 0
Published 08/12/2010 - 4:37 p.m. CST
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Jordan Barta, with her pink and white 1986 Ford Pickup, stands out in the parking lot at Flower Mound High School.
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Jordan Barta loves to pick up a microphone, get in
front of a crowd
and sing country music. Last week the Flower Mound
High School junior
delighted a dozen clients at Day Stay for Adults
in Lewisville, one of
whom was so enthralled, she joined Jordan at
the microphone on the last
song. This week, she's hoping for a
breakthrough in front of American
Idol judges in Austin. "I've been
singing and writing music since I was
5," she told the News
Connection. Barta started performing in front of
live audiences as a
third grader, though she entertained friends and
family much
earlier, singing along with recorded music.
Rating: 0
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