May 19, 2011 - Leonard Manor celebrated National Nursing Home Week last week. On Monday, the staff and residents enjoyed dressing in crazy hats and eating desserts. On Tuesday, they had a 50's theme with donuts for all shift staff and residents, followed by nachos and crazy dressing on Wednesday. Thursday was western day and attendees enjoyed ice cream floats. The week was finished off on Friday with hamburgers and fixings for all of the staff and residents. They also enjoyed playing Minute to Win It every day. Anyone interested in attending activities at the nursing home may do so.

Randolph Turns Down Consolidation With Leonard Schools

All 139 Leonard voters Saturday approved the proposition calling for consolidation of the Randolph district with the Leonard school district, while at Randolph the proposition was rejected by an overwhelming vote of 81-32.

The Leonard election was held in the city hall with Allen Spies as judge.

Kenneth Robinson was judge at Randolph where the election was held at the school building.

May 19, 2011 - Jesse Marshall, Matthew St. George and Ryan Miller clown around after eating pizza last Wednesday night before AWANA awards program practice begins. The kids and leaders were rewarded for a hard year of work with pizza, snacks and drinks. - Betsy Blevins staff photo

May 19, 2011 - The school year is coming to a close, which means that if you have young children, you are now one year closer to college days -- and college bills. At the same time, you are moving nearer to your own retirement. Can you save for college while you put money away for retirement? Yes -- but it will take planning, patience and discipline.

Your first step is to be aware of the challenges you will face. As you know, the financial crisis of 2008 and early 2009 took a bite out of just about everyone's retirement portfolio. And even though the markets have bounced back strongly, you might still have some ground to make up in your 401(k), Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or other accounts. At the same time, budgetary pressures may lead to reductions in Pell Grants and other federally backed financial aid to students, so you may need to provide more assistance to your children than you once might have thought.

May 19, 2011 - The staff at Leonard Manor would like to welcome the community in for a visit. The facility is under new management which is striving to achieve excellence in patient care for those who need 24-hour nursing attention. Come let the staff lift your spirits with activities designed for exercise and fun. The Leonard Manor is excited to be a part of the community and would like to be your first choice when extensive nursing is needed.

May 19, 2011 - The Leonard City Council met on Tuesday evening, May 10 for a very brief session, of which the majority of the time was spent in executive session. At 7:39 p.m. the council members and staff came out of executive session and Councilman Larry Thompson made a motion to approve contracts for Allecia Booher for full-time City Administrator and for Butch Henderson for part-time City Administrator until Sept. 30, effective May 10. The motion was seconded and got unanimous votes. Henderson will officially retire effective Sept. 30, 2011.
In other business, council members approved consent items for the previous month and listened to a report from Henderson on the groundwater conservation board.

May 19, 2011 - Leonard resident Sarah Burt won a ticket to game one of the Dallas Mavericks versus Oklahoma Thunder play-off series in a competition sponsored by News 8 Daybreak Monday. Burt, who has been a Mavs fan since 1999 when she met former player Shawn Bradley through work, got up at 2 a.m. to turn her face into a canvas of the Mavs logo, and change her hair and accessories accordingly. She then drove to Victory Park in Dallas and entered in the Game Face Competition before sunrise. Her trip to Dallas included a live interview with a Daybreak reporter where she was cheering for the Mavs and amping up the crowd. She won one of 20 tickets awarded that day - hers in row seven - and was also pulled aside and asked to sign a waiver so a video of her face could be used by the Mavericks.

May 12, 2011 - The home of Leamon Ray and Peggy Chandler at 510 N. McClendon Street was chosen as Yard of the Month for May by the Leonard Chamber of Commerce. - Betsy Blevins staff photo

May 12, 2011

Dear editor,

The Leonard Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone in the community who came out and supported our rummage sale fundraiser for this year's fireworks extravaganza for the 132nd Annual Leonard Picnic. We would like to give a special thank you to all the volunteers who helped plan the event, set up, work, and clean up after the event. Thank you to KD Johnson, Inc. and the Leonard Public Library for letting us store the donated items before the sale. Thank you to the City for the use of the Community Center for the event. Thank you to Penny Edwards, Kris Smith, Betsy Blevins, Haylea Brunson, Elizabeth Christman, Ava Barlow, Tim Harris, Angela Sadler, Elizabeth Kidd and Rose Farhood and the Leonard Public Library workers for organizing and marking all the items for the sale. Thank you to Darvin Nolen and the City Crew for moving all the items from the library and KD Johnson to the Community Center and for helping move everything out of the Community Center for the sale on Saturday morning. Thank you to Penny Edwards, Angela Sadler, Scott Blackerby, Elizabeth Christman, Willie and Liz Johnson, and Matt and Tania Riley for working the event on Saturday, and thank you to Scott Blackerby and Matt and Tania Riley for cleaning up after the sale. A special thank you also goes out to all the people who generously donated the items for the sale. As always, we could not have the success we do with our fundraisers without all the support we receive from the Chamber members and the Community.

With sincere thanks,

The Leonard Chamber Picnic Committee

May 12, 2011

• A concerned resident called police on May 1 after seeing a vehicle parked at several locations around Leonard ISD buildings. The officer found the vehicle and made contact with two occupants, who advised they were using the Wifi internet service. Both were cleared and released.
• A 58-year-old resident was arrested on May 3 during a warrant service.
• Officers were dispatched to the intersection of Willard Hall and Mulberry on May 3 at 7:50 a.m. after a minor accident had occurred. Reports show that a 40-year-old female resident stopped at the intersection, but failed to see an approaching van due to the sun. She proceeded into the intersection and struck the van. No injuries were reported and both vehicles were driven away from the scene.
• Officers took a burglary of a vehicle report on May 3 at 10 a.m. Reports show that a male resident found $280 missing out of the console of his vehicle where he had left it. The man asked his daughter about it, who in turn called a friend who had been at the residence earlier in the evening. The friend reportedly confessed that she took the money and would return it later that evening. The father advised that she never showed.
• A 19-year-old resident was arrested for burglary of a vehicle on May 4 at 3:24 p.m. Reports show that a man and his son observed the suspect lurking around a vehicle at a Leonard business where a family member worked. They called the family member to let her know and she walked out to find the suspect holding the woman's wallet that had been in her car. She told him to get on the ground and not move, while police were summoned by other business employees. Officers found $24.05 on the ground around where the teen was lying that had been removed from the wallet. He was taken into custody for the offense, a class A misdemeanor. A criminal trespass warning was issued against the teen, his mother and brother for the business.
• An officer counseled a resident on May 4 at 5:45 p.m. after observing him riding a mini bike on the street without a license plate. The man was advised that if he wanted to ride the bike on a public roadway, he needed to get a registration, an inspection and insurance on it.
• A property owner filed a report on May 6 at 5:30 p.m after discovering that some air conditioner units that he was storing for some of his rental properties had been taken. A neighbor told the man that he saw two people loading up the units. The reporting person told officers that he had contacted some recycling places and found where one of the two people involved had sold the stolen items to a recycling company in Ector. A representative from the company provided the man with the information he needed showing who sold the items.
• A 49-year-old resident was arrested on May 7 at 6:40 p.m. for burglary of a building and evading arrest or detention. Reports show that an officer was doing a routine security check on a vacant business building that had been vandalized several times. The officer observed a door open on the business and saw a man known to him inside carrying a large metal pipe. He yelled at the man to come out, but he instead took off running across the building and out a side door that led to Leonard City Park. The officer called for backup and drove around to the park to attempt to locate the man. A person at the park advised that the suspect had gone back around the building where the burglary had taken place. Officers from Trenton, Fannin County and Ladonia responded to assist, and the Ladonia officer located the man walking out of a wooded area onto Locust Street. The suspect told officers that he was headed home from his daughter's home. He was arrested for the burglary and evading arrest and also cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.
• An officer was dispatched to the 200 block of East Fannin on May 7 at 8:50 p.m. for a 911 hang-up call. The officer discovered the call was placed by a four-year-old child who was playing with a cell phone. The child stated that he would not play with the phone anymore.
• Officers responded to a noise complaint in the 400 block of South Cedar on May 7 at 10:45 p.m. One man at the home advised that his brother-in-law was drinking and talking really loud. The officer advised the man to keep the noise down.
• A local business called police on May 7 around 11:30 p.m. after several intoxicated people came to the business. The responding officer found six people in the bed of a pickup truck, and found all to be intoxicated. The officer issued six citations to individuals from Trenton, Milam, Hilo, Hi., Mountain View, Hi., and Leander, La. A search of the car also turned up a green leafy substance. A sober friend was contacted to pick up the passengers, and the driver was transported to Fannin County Jail on the class B misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana weighing less than two ounces. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
• A 28-year-old female resident was arrested on May 8 at 3:35 a.m. after it was discovered during a traffic stop that she had warrants for her arrest. The woman was originally stopped for a defective headlight, and dispatch advised she had an outstanding warrant out of Wichita Falls for theft by check, insufficient funds. The woman was taken into custody on that charge, cited for driving while license invalid and issued a warning for the defective headlight.
• Dispatch sent an officer to a residence on North Pecan Street on May 8 at 12:28 a.m. after a report of a possible drug overdose. The officer made contact with a female resident who was unaware of why the officer was at the home. When told they had received a call about a drug overdose, the female advised there were no drugs in the home and that was impossible. She further advised that she and her boyfriend had gotten into a verbal disagreement earlier and she refused to let him see their son, which caused more yelling and arguing. The boyfriend had left the residence by the time the officers had arrived.