Get ready to hear more flounder talk.Texas Parks and Wildlife's Coastal Fisheries Division will hold five more meetings to solicit public input about possible changes in flounder, shark and reef fish regulations, according to a department news release. more >>
SEADRIFT - A coastal town has added more eyes to watch future development. The newly created Seadrift planning commission will swear in four of its five members at its first meeting on Jan. 8. The Seadrift city council approved its establishment in November. more >>
PORT LAVACA – Linda Medina watches drivers run red lights continually on state Highway 35.
“Half don’t even do the speed limit,” The Pantry cook from Port Lavaca said. “That’s how wrecks happen.”
Medina hopes the installation of red-light cameras along the highway will deter people from running red lights, especially by Calhoun High School at Half League Road.
The cameras should be operational by Monday, City Manager Gary Broz said, adding the cameras need electric work finished by AEP Texas. Redflex Traffic Systems finished installing the cameras at three intersections in Port Lavaca earlier this month.
The Crossroads area will keep an eye on the city, the first one to install red-light cameras. While the talk of such cameras in Victoria died in controversy and a backlash from residents, Port Lavaca heard a public outcry from its residents to establish a system to stop deadly wrecks.
Drivers may see cameras posted at other intersections in the Yoakum District of the Texas Department of Transportation, but these monitor flow and volume of traffic to change the lights, Bryan Ellis, public information officer, said.
Port Lavaca is the first in the district to actually install cameras that can issue tickets to drivers, Ellis said.
“I’m sure the eyes are going to be upon us,” Broz said. “I hope to show them we get the red-light runners to quit running red lights.”
Mayor Will Armstrong agreed Victoria would watch to see if Port Lavaca’s program meets success.
The Victoria City Council discussed the possibility of red-light cameras during the summer when Police Chief Bruce Ure presented a report on the subject. But residents cited privacy concerns and Mayor Pro Tem Lewis Neitsch feared the cameras would force drivers to slam on their brakes, causing more rear-end crashes.
A November report by the Texas Transportation Institute, part of the Texas A&M University system, shows that statewide overall, right-angle crashes decreased 43 percent while rear-end crashes increased 5 percent after red light cameras went into effect.
“We received some citizen input both for and against, but there wasn’t overwhelming support from the citizens,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong doesn’t think the issue will go away, because on any given day, he may see someone run a serious yellow or red light.
Port Lavaca residents shouldn’t worry about slamming on their brakes as the cameras only start taking photos when a vehicle enters the intersection after the light turns red, Police Chief John Stewart said. That means vehicles caught in the intersection trying to make a turn or passing through the intersection when a yellow light turns red will not be subject to Redflex citations.
Maintaining a proper speed would limit brake slamming and rear-end crashes, Stewart said.
If someone runs a red light, the citation is first judged and approved by the Port Lavaca Police Department before Redflex mails the ticket to residents. Residents pay Redflex the fine.
Because these citations are not moving violations, Redflex and the city would pursue payment through civil court, Broz said. Unpaid citations are also considered when renewing a driver’s license.
But Stewart said he hopes the awareness of the cameras will be enough to keep drivers and pedestrians, including schoolchildren, safe.
“Our approaching Redflex to begin with was resulting from a fatality that occurred here last year,” he said. “There was a public outcry.”
Residents may remember that 73-year-old Port Lavaca woman Jessie Henderson Jones was struck and killed by an 18-wheeler that ran a red light at state Highway 35 and Virginia Street. Several wrecks since then prompted the Port Lavaca City Council to appoint a citizens committee on the issue. That committee unanimously thought red light cameras would improve safety.
The city of Sugar Land started using red light cameras contracted through American Traffic Solutions at the start of the year, Doug Adolph, assistant communications director, said. After six months, traffic accidents at the intersections with cameras decreased 25 percent. more >>
An estimated 50 people will lose their jobs at the Dow Seadrift Operations' Nordel MG hydrocarbon rubber unit, Site Manager David Pankratz said. "(This is) tough news and certainly a tough impact for many of the people who work at Dow," Pankratz said. more >>
PORT LAVACA - Calhoun County residents called for jury duty for Calhoun County Court- at-Law No. 1 at 9 a.m. Monday need not appear. The jury has been canceled, according to a news release from County Clerk Anita Fricke. more >>
In an ailing economy, consumers aren't the only ones guarding their spending a little more closely. Chemical plants are also tightening their belts and saving money where possible. more >>
PORT LAVACA - Kelli Rothmann loves the grain and hay smell of a horse. The 14-year-old Calhoun High School ninth-grader grew up with horses and has shown them for years. But horse judging is completely new to her. more >>
PORT LAVACA - A 19-year-old inmate tried to return home after escaping from custody Tuesday night, but his parents turned him in. Nicholas Davie Ybarra told Calhoun County jailers he fell in the shower at 8 p.m. He was taken to Memorial Medical Center for an examination, Sheriff BB Browning said Wednesday. more >>
AUSTWELL - With the last few cold fronts, biologists sighted whooping cranes totaling last year's record numbers at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. more >>
PORT LAVACA - One woman dedicates her time every year to honor veterans. This year, veterans in the American Legion Post 167 showed their thanks for Jacque Rudd with a certificate of appreciation. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4403 made Rudd and her late husband, Michael T. Rudd, honorary members. more >>
SEADRIFT - Diane Wilson relaxes on break from her book tour in the rocking chair of her sun porch in her Seadrift home. Curly black tendrils of hair stray from a loose ponytail as she reflects back on the trials of her life. She wears a purple and red Indian skirt, an allusion not only to her Bohemian spirit, but also her ties to fighting for Bhopal, India, the site of the world's worst industrial disaster. more >>
Formosa Plastics' Point Comfort plant was fined $121,443 for repeated air violations. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved the fines Wednesday after documenting six air violations between 2005 and 2006 during inspections, an agency news release stated. Formosa's fine includes $60,721 for Point Comfort wastewater treatment plant repair assistance, a supplemental environmental project. more >>
PORT LAVACA - Layoffs are hitting Calhoun County as residents hold back on spending. Calhoun County Community Ministries received 224 walk-ins in October for people needing help with electric bills and groceries, Loretta Brown, executive director of the United Way of Calhoun County said. Ministries provides emergency assistance for those in need. more >>
