Got to thinking about this the other day because Dwayne Johnson, who is in a runoff for Precinct 2 County Commissioner, came by the house bragging about how the golf course and other businesses are essentially self-paying without using any county money. The idea is that all profits and expenses come, not from line items in the general Somervell County budget, but from the Enterprise fund. In the past, the golf club did not make enough money to run without additional moneys from the general budge
Had heard there was a huge subdivision with smaller lots going in off 144 and CR 2008. It was first discussed in a December 2021 County Commissioner meeting and then approved in February 2022. I called up my commissioner Dwayne Johnson to ask some questions, like how many houses (ie, how many people to expect will live there), will there be a road from the subdivision that goes directly to 144 or will everyone be trying to get onto 144 from 2008 (or going the other way past Fossil Rim to 67), wo
At least before 2018
Dwyane Johnson has a business Johnson Electric. located on CR 2010 in Somervell County The DBA for this was filed in April 2008, so presumably he has been doing business since that time, and surely just like other businesses that have personal property used in business, he has been subject to paying taxes on it, specifically rendering tax.
BUT for some reason Mr Johnson has not paid rendering tax on his business property UNTIL 2018, when
Towards the end of this last year (2021) two things happened. First, Turn and Burn's concession contract was not renewed, and second, Somervell County applied for, first, a private club license with TABC and then Mixed Beverage. The ostensible reason for Somervell County to kick out a private contractor who by Dwayne Johnson's indirect admission below, was making money for the county through concessions, was to help the golf course and other businesses be self-sustaining by running everything ou
From time to time, Somervell County Salon has published a list of the salaries of both Somervell County and Glen Rose Medical Center. Both, of course, are public entities so we get to know what our tax money is going for and to what jobs. The following information is from an open records request to Somervell County. Please keep in mind as you read that these numbers might not represent the full compensation for a given person. I have in process another open records request for the full amounts,
When I first came to Somervell County back over 20 years ago, I walked the property I was fixing to buy with a neighbor from across the street. He told me he had walked over all the lots then currently for sale, and had decided on his across the road, largely because it was downhill and had some impressive large oaks. For the property I wanted, it was and is on a hill, lots of fossils and rocks, and some woods. I liked it because it had so many different landscaping features. I figured I could f
Decent people with ethics do not require that 10 year old girls must carry babies to term when impregnated by a rapist (or any other age of women for that matter). Anyone that does feel that way, ie, that rapists have more rights than a girl or woman, has something seriously wrong with them, and should be shunned, even if they pretend they are somehow righteous people.
Have read in the past week or so about the 10 year old girl in Ohio who was raped by a man, and, because Ohio now has made
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Back in 2006, the statue that sits downtown on the Somervell County courthouse lawn was dedicated. Robert Summers created the statue, which commemorates the story of George and Charles Barnard and Juana Cavasos. I went down there, video recorded the goings on and made a compilation video of it. I like to show crowd shots rather than just the dignitaries at the gazebo; first part is more atmospheric, second part includes Walter Maynard, then Somervell County Judge and Bob Summers, James Ba
As a citizen who is trying to keep up on what is going on, but covid and other factors getting in the way, I wondered about what the fool the Somervell County Special Assistance District is, when it was passed, what it is for, etc. Did some research the last couple of weeks.
First, this special assistance district brings in additional taxes through extra sales taxes levied through businesses and the money is put into a separate county bank account. The sales tax cannot exceed the # set by
In February of last year, I got a call from my sister that my mom had landed in the hospital. And that the doctor told her that she might die within the next week. My entire family marshalled up flight plans and hotels and headed to where mom was seriously ill. Covid was around then but only just beginning to be spoken of. On flights home, all of us going to our various locations were cautious, one member wore a bandana around his face, and I remember being highly aware of a man coughing his hea
Tony Riker from the Texas Municipal Police Association was asked by the Somervell County Sheriff's Office Association to come do a presentation to the Somervell County Commissioners Court on 5/9/2022 specifically about how there are salaries paid within the Sheriff's department that are markedly lower than what other counties pay, and that there is a danger of losing professional employees to areas that pay equitably. Astonishingly, Mr. Riker was treated with arguments from, primarily, Judge Dan
I was so pleased to read of this man, Willie Hudspeth, who spent around 21 years protesting the Confederate monument that was on the Denton County courthouse lawn. His tireless protest, carried out almost every Sunday, finally led in June 2020 to the monument being removed. Denton County Commissioners Court voted to remove it on June 9, with the Texas Historical Commission''s later approval, and then the removal was done early in the morning, with little notice. Statue was taken to storage. Fro
Thought this was interesting. Allen West presented this to the Somervell County Commissioners Court at the regular meeting on Feb 14 2022. The report shows the racial makeup of all traffic stops, how many where from, say city streets,, or the highway, etc, was there a search, what type of stop was it, etc. Read for yourself, just going to put one stat here from the top of the report
Street address or approximate location of the stop
City Street 430
US Highway 570
County Road
Agenda for 4th October 2021
Did they screw it up and not follow the law when they approved the budget AND the HIGHER tax rate on 9/23/2021? Here was the signed motion made after Judge Chambers and the commissioners voted on it.
Apparently so. Brian Watts, former auditor for Somervell County, sent Somervell County Judge Danny Chambers an email on September 27, 2021 that basically accuses Danny Chambers and Dwayne Johnson, Somervell County Commissioner for Precinct 2, of hubris and v
At the Feb 14, 2022 Somervell County Commissioners Court had item 12: County Judge: Commissioner, Precinct 4: Discuss/Take Action on First Look Vista Ridge Ranch Subdivision. Appears that Brazos Partners LLC sold land to Vista Ridge Ranch, LLC, specifically 282.026 acres of land on the southeast corner of FM 199 and Hwy 67.
Wade Busch is commissioner of Precinct 4
Although these are unofficial documents, I am a little amused at how sloppy the filing is, hopefull
I live on a rural county road with a long driveway. I do not want packages that don't fit in our large mailbox to be left along the road, along the driveway or anywhere, basically, but the front porch. Most of the time the delivery services do this, which is most appreciated. If they don't, I like to know the delivery service so I can call them and request that the packages be left at the door. I assume that maybe the person delivering is new, or a fill-in contractor, etc. I've had the same wond
Had to laugh when I saw this. Just wrote about the 5/9/2022 Somervell County Commissioners Court meeting in which Judge Danny Chambers argued with the presenter regarding somervell county sheriff's department salaries. Dwayne Johnson notably stayed pretty quiet during this and one might think that he also had respect for TOMA (Texas Open Meetings Act) and would have refrained from discussing non-agenda items. But oh, no, there's a run off election coming so Johnson needed to find a way to toot h
In 2018, I wrote, in an article about Southern Baptists and separation of church and state, about how the hard right took over the Southern Baptist Convention with a URL of an article by Rick McClatchy and Bruce Prescott. The URL became invalid but today I came across the original article and going to repost here
Back in 2009, Morris Bussey, who has the Fossil Hunter enterprise, asked me if I'd like to come record a presentation about Panther Cave. Some people had won a trip to see it in a raffle, and I had never been, so I was excited to go. Ken Frye did the presentation and dressed in period clothing. The cave is on private property, so it was an added thrill to see where a family years ago lived in a cave and were visited by a panther.
Here are the 2 videos I recorded
Saw an interesting article in the Dallas Observer this morning, in which the Collin College board of trustees discussed not allowing "Anger, obscene or profane language, ridicule, personal attacks, and disruptive conduct are not acceptable behavior during the public comment period"
Up for discussion is whether a body should have rules of decorum that prevent personal attacks and disruptive conduct (would you want a person dressed like a Nazi parading around in front of the dais? , at leas
Pretty clear to me after watching the video that anyone who cosigns the beliefs below does not believe in the concept of the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, since they want their branch of christian sect to take over the world. Gives some new meaning to evangelism, with added pressure to build more churches and pressure everybody to join.
Is the seven mountains mandate biblical?
Ridiculously, one of the proponents of Seven Mountains Dominionism li
Have said before that I had geese, ducks, chickens, and guineas for some years. And loved them, although having them caused a few problems along the way, even though living in a rural area. More specifically, what I have wanted to do is fix up the front yard for some time, including flowers. The geese would come along and eat virtually any flower I attempted to grow, so I pretty much quit worrying about it while I had them. Also having a grassy lawn was an impossibility, and I don't miss it any
In the last couple of months, I was interested to know about a subdivision going in off 144 near the Bosque County line. I called to speak to Tammy, who is not my commissioner, but, frankly, I had no desire to speak to Dwayne Johnson, who is. When I called, the admin for the commissioners told me Tammy was not in. After I hung up, after not asking to speak to Johnson, I was surprised to see him calling me within a few minutes of my call. (I have heard that Johnson's wife works as admin for the c
