A (sometimes) tongue in cheek review of the news published this week regarding Wise County.
Normally posted every Sunday around 6:00 p.m.
For the week ending 8/26/00:
| The Story | After the burn ban is ignored by someone burning trash, a fire destroys the home of Charlie Bible Sr. as well as several structures associated with his business. Fire Marshal Mike Bement said officers would no longer issue warnings to those caught violating the burn ban. |
| News worthiness (on a scale of 0 to 5) | **** |
| The Spin | Yeah, do that again and we'll write you a ticket. |
| The Story | In response to incidents like the Columbine school shooting, the Wise County Sheriff's Office forms an eight person sniper unit equipped with M-14s. |
| News worthiness | ** |
| The Spin | "Actually going out and shooting somebody in not the object of the game," said Captain Harold Denney. |
| The Story | H.D. Boswell of Decatur writes a pretty darn good letter to the editor explaining how homeowners get screwed in Texas by others abusing the agriculture tax exemption. (You know, the guy that puts one goat on his 500 acres and pays a fraction of his taxes as a consequence). Boswell points out the Rep. Phil King proposes abolishing the property tax method and going with a sales tax method instead. |
| News worthiness | ** |
| The Spin | Boswell claims, and we have no reason to dispute his math, that the sales tax rate would have to be 28% to generate the current amount of tax dollars. |
| The Story | Judge Melton Cude (R) demanded, and got, a $10,000 pay raise for his court reporter but was rejected in his attempt to get $5,000 raises for two of his staff members. Cude wrote that denying a raise for his Court Coordinator would be "an arbitrary and unreasoned discrimination on your part, something that has occurred over the past several years". |
| News worthiness | **** |
| The Spin | Maybe using "please" would be more effective. |
| The Story | Kyle Stephens writes a letter to the editor blasting county commissioner James Hubbard for comments he made about a recent meeting on the proposed tax rate. |
| News worthiness | * |
| The Spin | Since Stephens is seeking election as a commissioner, shouldn't that be a paid political ad? |
| The Story | A fire at the Bridgeport Country Club destroys 31 golf carts and 75 sets of clubs. |
| News worthiness | ** |
| The Spin | Seventy-five devastated guys have yet to leave the bar. |
| The Story | Good guy Charles Wilhite writes a letter to the editor praising Decatur football coach Kyle Story noting "he is using Christian principles as well as involving the family in order to build the character of the players". He also wrote that the coach recently spoke "that winning was very important, but more so is the way you win". |
| News worthiness | ** |
| The Spin | The Spin suspects that Decatur fans would like to win with a "way" that generates 300 yards passing and a strong running game. |
See something in the local papers that struck
you funny? Then suggest
a topic for The Spin.