Elections, Gas Prices Top Stories Of ’08

National events rarely affect the local populace quite like the way they did in 2008.

That is why, in selecting 10 top stories for the year in Van Zandt County, the top two came out of the economic and political realms.

On a more uniquely local level, there were plenty of triumphs and tribulations that dominated front-page headlines in the Van Zandt News.

Always challenging and a bit arbitrary, we present the top stories from the past 12 months as follows:

The rapid rise and fall of gas prices — Van Zandt County residents were feeling the pain at the pump for the first eight months of the year.

Regular unleaded gasoline steadily rose in price per gallon in January, eventually flirting with the $4 per gallon mark locally in the late spring and early summer.

The soaring fuel prices landed a second blow to consumers in the form of higher food and grocery prices across the board as transportation costs for items began to push wholesale prices up. It also revitalized local discussions about mass transportation to and from Dallas via train service.

By the summer, many locals were wondering if regular unleaded would be about $5 per gallon by the end of the year, but a funny thing happened on the way to December.

The dramatic rise in pump prices was equaled by its fall in the fall as the worldwide economy stagnated and crude oil prices plummeted. By Election Day in November, local pump prices had dipped below $2 per gallon in Grand Saline and continued to fall steadily to around the $1.50 per gallon mark just before Christmas.

Voters saw the nation’s first black president elected in November as Democratic candidate Barack Obama took a big victory over Republican John McCain.

Locally, many Obama supporters reflected on the significance of the presidential election and celebrated what they saw as the ultimate shift away from the country’s segregationalist past.

Democrats did not, however, have much to celebrate in local elections as Republican candidates swept county precinct races, including two county commissioner positions and two contested precinct constable spots.

Edgewood Police Department employees were greeted on the morning of July 24 with a sign on the door saying the department had been closed indefinitely and an escort to allow personal belongings to be removed from the premises.

Edgewood Mayor Charlie Prater said he made the decision to close the department out of budget shortfall concerns. Four days later, after a special city council meeting in a packed council room, the department was reopened.

Since that time, the EPD has moved to new offices on Northeast Front Street. A police secretary position and one full-time police officer position have not been filled after resignations, and the city cut its municipal judge position from full-time to part-time status.

To outsource or not to outsource? That was the question facing Wills Point City Council members in late September with emotions running high on both sides of the debate.

A plan to outsource the city’s ambulance service with Champion Emergency Medical Services, favored by mayor Scott McGriff, city manager Jim Stephens and two council members, was eventually scrapped for lack of council support in a council meeting in October.

In December, the council approved hiring Colin Blasingame as the new director of Wills Point EMS.

Joy reigned throughout the school district in the south central part of Van Zandt County in early March.

Led by senior Jordan Barncastle, now at Texas Tech University, Martins Mill High School captured its second Class A Division I girls basketball championship in three years. The Lady Mustangs beat Sudan, 48-43, in the championship game on March 1.

Van Zandt County became a little less dry in 2008 as far as alcoholic beverage sales were concerned.

After a very successful first year in business with his Papadale’s Grill and Cantina in Grand Saline, owner Dale Cobern successfully petitioned for a special use permit in Canton in September. He plans to open a separate eatery, licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, in part of what is now the Ranchero Restaurant sometime in 2009.

In December, the county’s second state-licensed Texas winery opened in Edgewood as Blue Rooster Too store owner Alan Roush received certification, despite vocal protest from one city council member.

The Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court moved forward on its plan for a new county court and office building in Wills Point.

Although the county already owned a tract of land on North Fifth Street, it negotiated with the city of Wills Point to purchase a lot directly across from the Wills Point City Hall building. Groundwork began in December for a building that will be the new home of the Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace office and courtroom, as well as the county tax assessor/collector substation in Wills Point.

Another building project in Wills Point made headlines earlier in the year. Cartwright Multi-Purpose Centre — housed in part of what once was the segregated school for many blacks in Van Zandt County — held a long-awaited grand opening ceremony in May.

More good news would follow when the centre got a donation of computer equipment from Best Buy and the Lake Country YMCA inked a deal in September to occupy and provide YMCA programs in the facility.

In August, the city of Canton made national headlines in a totally unexpected way.

Comedy Central news satire host Stephen Colbert made Canton, Texas, the latest in his line of a running joke insulting towns named Canton. Having started with Canton, Ga., and subsequently apologizing, then insulting another Canton, Colbert’s joke went through Kansas and South Dakota before landing in Van Zandt County’s seat, which he termed "an incorporated outhouse."

Canton officials responded with an invitation for Colbert to visit the town on a First Monday Trade Days weekend, although council member John Fuller was quoted joking that he would "mash his (Colbert’s) nose."

In Feburary, 294th District Court Judge Teresa Drum denied an injunction request filed by Grand Saline citizens James and Jeanne Ann Lea against the Van Zandt County Emergency Services District No. 2 and its board of directors.

The Leas had filed the injunction request fearing that three of the board’s five members would call for an election to dissolve the district, which had been the target of election impropriety accusations since its creation by voters in November 2006.

Instead, the entity appears to have steadily gained traction since the decision. It has begun paying bills and buying equipment for the Grand Saline Volunteer Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service. New director appointments were set to be made by the Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court in December.