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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-12 Euless Articles Repeat Mail Theft Suspect Targets Euless Apartment Complex Again By Irving Weekly Staff| Published October 30, 2024 On October 16, 2024, around 8:25 p.m., a suspect returned to an apartment complex in the 2000 block of State Highway 360 in Euless, TX, and stole multiple pieces of mail from the community mailbox. This was a repeat incident at the same location. The suspect was seen wearing a pink hooded sweatshirt with a distinctive logo and driving a maroon Cadillac. The same woman was involved in an incident at the same complex on September 30, 2024 at about 11:30 PM. She forced open the community mailbox bank and stole numerous pieces of mail. Security footage shows her stuffing envelopes into a large blue duffel bag before fleeing the area. She is a heavyset white female with dark hair pulled into a ponytail. She also appears to have a tattoo above her left eyebrow. The Euless Police Department is requesting any information on the suspect’s identity. Individuals with information are asked to contact Detective C. M. Smith at (817) 685- 1538 or can remain anonymous by reaching out to Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at (817) 469-8477. All westbound lanes of SH-121/183 at Bedford Euless Road to be shut down Friday night A similar closure is expected next weekend as well. Author: Zachary Yanes Published: 4:43 PM CDT November 1, 2024 Updated: 4:43 PM CDT November 1, 2024 BEDFORD, Texas — If you are traveling in Hurst Friday night, expect some delays as all westbound lanes of State Highway 121/183 will be closed at Bedford Euless Road. According to North Tarrant Express, the closure will begin at 8 p.m. and last until Saturday, at 10 a.m., weather permitting. North Tarrant Express said the following roads will be affected: • All lanes of westbound SH-121/183 at Bedford Euless Road: Closed Traffic will be redirected along the frontage road. • The entrance ramp to westbound SH-121/183 from Precinct Line Road: Closed Traffic will be redirected to the next entrance. • The exit from westbound SH-121/183 to Texas Boulevard 26/Davis Boulevard: Closed Traffic will be redirected to the exit at Precinct Line Road. • All lanes of northbound and southbound Bedford-Euless Road under SH- 121/1183: Closed Northbound traffic will be redirected to Precinct Line Road. Southbound traffic will be redirected to Texas Boulevard 26. • All lanes of eastbound Bedford Euless Road at Strummer Drive: Closed Traffic will be redirected to Texas Boulevard 26. According to North Tarrant Express, a similar closure is expected to happen next Friday as well. Additional details about those plans weren't provided. Reappraisal plan takes center stage as Tarrant Appraisal District board members are selected by Emily Wolf November 3, 2024 12:30 pm Fourteen people are vying for a spot on the Tarrant Appraisal District’s board of directors. Only five will get a seat at the table. The packed field is emblematic of how high-stakes a once unassuming position has become, due in large part to the board’s most controversial decision over the last ye ar: changing its reappraisal plan. The board members who led that charge — Matt Bryant, Eric Morris and Callie Rigney — were elected by residents in May. They were the first board members elected through a countywide vote, thanks to a constitutional amendment intended to give everyday people a greater voice on appraisal district boards. Traditionally, these boards have been made up exclusively of people appointed by taxing entities, like cities and school districts. The May elections expanded the board — which previously had five appointees — to nine members, including the three electeds and the tax assessor-collector. Several months after the newly expanded board gave final approval to a number of reappraisal changes intended to slow property value increa ses, some of the taxing entity appointees who voted alongside their elected counterparts could find themselves on the outside looking in. School districts, in particular, voiced outrage over the changes. They warned value stagnation could wreak havoc on school budgets because of Texas’ complicated school finance formula. Now, with all five appointed positions on the board up for grabs, how incumbent board members voted on the reappraisal plan changes could determine whether they make it back for another term. Of the five current appointed board members, four secured nominations. Rich DeOtte is the lone incumbent not nominated by a taxing entity. The deadline for taxing entities to nominate a candidate was Oct. 15. The nominees taxing entities will choose f rom include the following: • Mike Alfred o Current practicing attorney. Previously ran for a seat on the Grapevine -Colleyville ISD school board. o Nominated by Colleyville, Keller, Keller ISD, Southlake. o Full bio provided by Alfred can be found here. • Alan Blaylock o Current board member and Fort Worth’s District 10 council member. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by the city of Fort Worth. o Full bio provided by Blaylock can be found here. • Wendy Burgess o Current Tarrant County tax-assessor collector. Will leave office at the end of this year after losing the March Republican primary. o Nominated by Castleberry ISD, Northwest ISD, River Oaks. o Full bio provided by Burgess can be found here. • Fred Campos o Current Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD school board trustee. Previously spoke out against the impact the reappraisal plan would have on schools. o Nominated by Bedford, Godley ISD, HEB ISD, Hurst, Kennedale. o Full bio provided by Campos can be found here. • Mattie Peterson Compton o Former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. o Nominated by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. o Full bio provided by Compton can be found here. • Eric Crile o Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. Has expressed reservations about the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Haltom City, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, Lake Worth ISD, Tarrant County College, Watauga. o Full bio provided by Crile can be found here. • Daryl Davis o Current Crowley ISD school board trustee. o Nominated by Bedford, Godley ISD, Hurst, Kennedale. o Full bio provided by Davis can be found here. • Phyllis Grissom o Previously served on several Northwest ISD committees and the Fort Worth Library Advisory Board. o Nominated by Bedford, EMS ISD, Godley ISD, Hurst, Northwest ISD. o Full bio provided by Grissom can be found here. • Lee Henderson o Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. Public policy strategist and former software engineer. Has expressed concern about the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Crowley ISD and the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. o Full bio provided by Henderson can be found here. • Scott Lindgren o Former director of field operations for AT&T. Has expressed concern about the reappraisal plan’s impact. o Nominated by Haltom City. o Full bio provided by Lindgren can be found here. • Gary Losada o Current board member. Previously served on the Tarrant Appraisal Review Board. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Burleson, Keller ISD, Lakeside, North Richland Hills, Southlake. o Full bio provided by Losada can be found here. • Gloria Peña o Current board member. Former Arlington ISD board member and president. Voted against the final reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Arlington ISD, Bedford, Fort Worth ISD, Godley ISD, Hurst, Kennedale. o Full bio provided by Peña can be found here. • Vince Puente o Current board member. Co-owner and president of marketing and sales for Southwest Office Systems Inc. Voted in favor of the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Haslet, Keller ISD, North Richland Hills. o Full bio provided by Puente can be found here. • Sayeda Syed o Former candidate for an elected seat on the appraisal district board. Has expressed concerns over the legality of the reappraisal plan. o Nominated by Bedford, Colleyville, Crowley ISD, Fort Worth ISD, Godley ISD, Haslet, Haltom City, Hurst, Kennedale, Lakeside, Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Tarrant County College, White Settlement. o Full bio provided by Syed can be found here. Each entity has an assigned number of votes, and they don’t have to give them all to one candidate; it is not unusual for a taxing entity to split their vote total among several candidates. The city of Fort Worth was the first to vote when it cast all of its 660 votes for Alan Blaylock, the District 10 council member who is currently serving on the appraisal district board. Of all the taxing entities, Fort Worth has the largest number of votes, followed by Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County College and Tarrant County. School districts as a whole have 2,644 votes, while other taxing entities have 2,354. “We need people that understand, or at least have a basic understanding of the way that the school funding formula works, and how the assessed valuations impact the entities that ultimately vote for these individuals to be on the board,” Carmen Arrieta- Candelaria, chief financial officer for Fort Worth ISD, said. But the incumbent board members who voted for the reappraisal plan remain confident their choice was the right one. Gary Losada, the incumbent who has been most critical of taxing entities’ protesting the reappraisal plan, said he doesn’t have any concerns about his decision impacting his future on the board. “There are bigger forces at play that will determine whether I get on the board or not, and quite frankly, if entities as a whole feel I should not be on the board just because of this plan, and they’re not listening to the big picture of it, well, then I should not be on the board,” he said. “But if they make that decision solely on this and not a ll of what’s gone on in the last year, then they might be a little short -sighted.” Existing tensions ratcheted up a notch on Oct. 22, when nominees received a Google Forms survey asking a series of questions designed to assess how the candidates felt about the reappraisal plan. Answers to the questions would be shared with taxing entities during the vote allocation process, according to the survey. But many nominees were confused as to who was behind the survey. Less than 24 hours after the email was sent, candidates received a second email, this time from Julie Wooddell, the executive assistant to Chief Appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt. “You probably received a survey by email today. Please feel free to dismiss this request,” Wooddell said. “Multiple members of the board have thought it may have been an official communication from the district (but) it is not. Chairman Puente asked us to reach out to you and he strongly recommends that you do not participate in the survey.” The Fort Worth Report reached out to the email address that sent the survey. The group later identified itself as Tarrant Citizens for Responsible Government, and said it was inappropriate for Puente to discourage survey participation, but did not offer any details about its membership. Bobbitt confirmed he did not know who ran the group, either. Taxing entities have until Dec. 15 to cast their votes for candidates. The Tarrant Appraisal District is keeping a running tally of vote allocations, which can be viewed here. ‘The hands and feet of Jesus’: Euless faith- based nonprofit receives national award by Marissa Greene November 6, 2024 4:01 pm 6 Stones Mission Network will receive the 2024 George Washington Medal of Honor from Founding Forward, a national nonprofit focused on civic education and engagement, on Nov. 7, 2024. (Courtesy photo | Jen Leney) Nearly two decades ago, members of Cross City Church in Euless prayed for a miracle. The church, formerly known as First Baptist Church of Euless, was $6 million in debt. “The church was going through a financial crisis,” said Josh Merriott, executive pastor of communications and technology for Cross City Church. In 2005, members of the church started a campaign to pay off the balance and made three prayers: “Lord, is this of you?” “What is my part?” “Lord, bless your people so they may give generously.” Two years later, their prayers were answered. The debt was paid off, and the church placed six stone markers in their courtyard that surrounded a center stone in the middle that was engraved with the words “The Miracle.” Each stone marker symbolized each million of debt that had been settled. After the church had paid off its debt, leaders began envisioning ways to alleviate poverty within the community. The ideas culminated into 6 Stones Mission Network, a faith-based nonprofit established in 2009 that aims to alleviate poverty through various food, housing and educational resources. Now, the organization is being recognized on the national level. The Euless -based nonprofit will receive a 2024 George Washington Medal of Honor from Founding Forward, a national nonprofit focused on civic education and engagement. “Our faith is really why we do what we do,” said Trasa Cobern, 6 Stones’ chief development officer. “We are basically being the hands and feet of Jesus out in the community.” The George Washington Medal of Honor is given to nominees exemplifying civic responsibility and “whose efforts bring out the best of the American spirit,” according to Founding Forward’s website. The medal is to be awarded at the Dallas Area Chapter of Founding Forward’s Accolades Awards Dinner at 6 p.m. Nov. 7. People seek out 6 Stones for assistance for a variety of reasons, Cobern said. The nonprofit’s New Hope Center offers emergency food through its client -choice food pantry and partners with local businesses in restoring homes to owners struggling to afford the repair costs. 6 Stones also partners with HEB ISD to offer school supplies and an intramural soccer program. The nonprofit also partners with local churches to provide Christmas parties to elementary schools in the district. The organization often attracts eager volunteers from smaller churches that may not have the capacity to offer programs to get involved, Cobern said. “We are kind of a bridge between churches and the community to help plug in people in a large-scale way,” Cobern said. “I just love this organization so much, and I’m glad to see that other people really respond to what we’re doing and are commending that. Work could begin soon on H-E-B store in Mid- Cities Construction on the 119,000-square-foot store could be completed by as early as late 2026. Author: Noor Adatia (Dallas Business Journal) Published: 10:40 PM CST November 7, 2024 Updated: 10:40 PM CST November 7, 2024 EULESS, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here. Work on H-E-B’s forthcoming store in Euless could begin at the end of this year. Public documents filed Nov. 6 with the state revealed a potential construction timeline for H-E-B’s first store in HEB, which stands for Hurst-Euless-Bedford, located in the Mid Cities-region of the Metroplex. Ever since H-E-B LP began expanding in North Texas, HEB residents have been vying for a store to open up in the region that shares its name with the grocer. The grocery chain's name stands for the initials of its founder’s eldest son, Howard E. Butt. H-E-B appeared to answer residents’ plea for a new store when it announced plans in April for a store on the border of Euless and Bedford — just south of the Glade Parks shopping district. The new store is slated at 2105 Rio Grande Blvd., off Cheek -Sparger Road, according to the new state filing. Construction on the 119,000-square-foot store could be completed by as early as late 2026. Information found in Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filings is often preliminary and subject to change, but it can provide an early look into construction plans. Bedford Mayor Dan Cogan said the goal is for the project to be delivered by 2027. Euless City Council recently approved a site plan fo r the project, and now both cities are in the process of negotiating an economic incentives agreement with H-E-B. Cogan said city leadership is interested in signing an agreement with the grocer in part "to hold them accountable to a timeline." "We want to make sure they build quickly," he said. The estimated cost for the project is nearly $41 million, according to the TDLR filing. Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Narrate is listed as the design firm for the store. An H-E-B spokesperson said groundbreaking details for the store will be revealed soon. The company has previously confirmed it has owned the land for the store since about 2015. The retailer often acquires swaths of land well ahead of development as it attempts to follow the population growth of North Texas and align with the habits of shoppers. H-E-B, one of the largest private companies in Texas with a revenue of about $46.3 billion, is known for its meticulous site selection and is often a retail bellwether that other chains and shop owners follow. This will be H-E-B’s third store in Tarrant County as it continues its march west in the Metroplex. Its first Tarrant County store was in Alliance on the northern edge of Fort Worth. The new store also represents a unique collaboration between the city leaders in Bedford and Euless. Both cities pitched in on responsibilities to get the store to the area and even signed an agreement to split the store’s sales tax revenue 50 -50 — even if the store borders more on the Euless side. Additionally, the new H-E-B will likely serve residents not just in the HEB area, but also those in Irving, Colleyville, Grapevine and Arlington. H-E-B is also preparing to start work on a store in the Las Colinas part of Irving, its first location in Dallas County. This store is expected to generate about 700 jobs and deliver in June 2026. The company also has stores under construction in Rockwall and Forney. H-E-B has seven locations open in the four core Metroplex counties, plus others in surrounding areas.