Sunday, February 9, 1997
NewsBytes: Dirt roads, frivolity and practical
jokes, among other things
Though Planning Director Carl Lockett took a lot of heat over
his proposal to rename a portion of Forrest Hill Road as "Dry
Gulch Road," it was less offensive than a suggestion from
some wiseacre city staffers.
Noting that, indeed, a one-mile north-south stretch of Forrest
Hill was nothing but a path of dust and gravel, some suggested
"Dirt Road." That idea quickly was dismissed as "too
frivolous."
After an uproar last week by Forrest Hill residents about Lockett's
suggestion, zoning commissioners settled on "Old Forrest
Hill Road."
Incidentally, the road was named about 20 years ago for Callie
and Louis Forrest, who lived along what was once a rural pathway
for 50 years.-- ANTHONY WILSON
----
Ed Patton, chairman of the Citizens Library Review Panel, exacted
his revenge on Reporter-News Editor Glenn Dromgoole last week.
In a Sunday column last month, Dromgoole, tongue firmly in
cheek, predicted the panel will end up recommending that a consultant
be hired to study the possibility of forming another task force.
The process would be repeated, the editor believed, until everyone
in Abilene has served on a library task force.
At Tuesday's panel meeting, Patton, a practical joker who loved
the column, nominated Dromgoole as an honorary member. But K.O.
Long, co-chair of the first task force, balked.
"I think we may be rushing into this," Long said
from a prepared script. "I think we need to give this suggestion
a little more consideration, so I move that we table it."
The group agreed unanimously as Patton proclaimed, "Glenn
Dromgoole has been tabled."
But the editor had the last word. He reports he will begin
drafting boundaries to determine who can use which libraries in
Abilene.-- ANTHONY WILSON
---
Movies have stereotyped bankers as sending debtors to the "poor
farm" for decades, but John Huffman of Albany may be the
first banker to actually own one.
Huffman, the president of Albany's First National Bank, recently
submitted the only bid for Shackelford County's 160-acre poor
farm. Huffman bid $401 per acre, a total of $64,160, for the land
that had belonged to the county for more than 100 years.
Huffman said he has no plans to develop the property but will
raise some cattle on it and perhaps use it for hunting.
Shackelford County Judge Ross Montgomery said the funds will
be used on the courthouse's $1 million restoration project. --
ROY A. JONES II
----
During the annual Abilene Christian University Economic Outlook
Conference this week, local economist Dr. Thomas Kim reported
that his computer projection for the Key City's economy for 1997
showed 8 percent growth. That's about three or four times more
than what most other prognosticators are predicting.
Kim distanced himself from the projection, explaining that
this is the first year he and his computer have tried this.
One business leader in attendance suggested Kim's computer
might have been one of those that occasionally has trouble calculating
accurately.
"Maybe he needs one of those replacement Pentium chips,"
the businessman quipped.-- DOUG WILLIAMSON
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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