HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-12 Euless ArticlesDISTRIB UTED TO:
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ARTSNET changes name
Bedford-based ARTSNET has a new
name: Arts Council Northeast. The name
change is effective immediately. ,
Council President Cathy Hernandez
said, "We are excited about the new name
and feel that it is more reflective of our
purpose as an arts council, which is to en-
courage, support and facilitate artistic cul-
tural opportunities within the
communities of North Tarrant County."
Founded in 1975 as the Trinity Arts
Foundation, ARTSNET evolved from the
Trinity Arts Guild. Since 1997, the non-
profit has granted more than $600,000
with a match totaling more than $1.2 mil-
lion for the arts in North Tarrant County.
These grants support art programs for at-
risk youth, school children, children who
have lost loved ones, senior citizens and
emerging arts groups. I
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FOCUS 1 Real Estate Td
Acme takes cue from 1980s, cuts production
in downturn
There was no slow decline for Fort
Worth's Acme Brick Co. when the housing
market began heading south in 2006. In
fact, Acme CEO Dennis Knutz said orders
came to a screeching halt in one month's
time: luly 2006. ,
In that one month. Knautz said orders
for liis company's bricks - used in a variety
of buildings, but heavily in residential con-
struction - dropped 27 percent. And then
they continued to fall.
Knautz said the company took the les-
sons learned From the 1980s recession to
take a proactive stance and make some
tough decisions.
Since that time, as the housing market
has continued to struggle, Knautz said his
company has worked hard to position it-
self to wait out the current recession. But
that hasn't come without some big
changes in the company.
Since July 2006, Acme Brick has tem-
porarily closed 13 of its southwest plants
- many of them in Texas - and has cut
1,300 jobs, most of those from the com-
pany's production line.
"When the brick business or construc-
tion business is going gangbusters, there's
not enough bricks to go around, so there
are shortages," Knautz said. "Shortly after
1983, our strategy was to build some in-
ventory, since brick has no shelf life issue,
to be prepared for when the market recov-
ers. We didn't know that would take five
years and we had to carry that inventory
for a long time and at those interest rates,
it was not the best economic situation."
Knautz said he and his company
learned From the late 1380s real estate bust
in Texas - so much so that the company
hew what would have to happen for it to
survive.
"We've been through these cycles be-
fore," Knautz said. ". . . We've learned from
our business, being cyclical as it is, how to
get big and how to get small over and over
again. And right now we've had to get
small."
In fact, Knautz said Acme is operating at
40 percent capacity currently, taking into
account its 13 shuttered plants. L,ocally,
Acme's Denton plant continues its opera-
tioris as well as one of the two blalakoff
plants. But the plants in Bennett and
Bridgeport have dosed, whittling the num-
ber of Acme plants in the Southwest
United States down from the 24 operating
in 2006 to 11 currently.
"We were blowing and going to replen-
ish and stock products in '05 and '06, and
we ended up with excess inventory that we
didn't want to be saddled with for several
years," Knautz said. "So we began to
ratchet down pretty quickly. That took us
three years, but just last year rve started
selling more than we were producing."
IZnautz said as the industry begins a re-
covery and as brick orders pick up, Acme
will likely add that increased production
rate to its operating plants before it opens
any or the idle plants.
"It may be several years before those
idle plants start to open," he said.
Knautz said rvhen the shuttered plants
do open, finding skilled - or semi-skilled
- workers might prove to be a challenge.
In 2005 and 2006, Knautz said Acme took
advantage of a U.S. visa program for semi-
skilled seasonal workers to come to Texas
from Mexico as employees.
"From a hiring standpoint, it's hard
work to find workers," Knautz said. "I
think finding workers will be a challenge
for us and will take a long time. We have
to make sure they are legally employable,
they have to pass a drug screen and several
other key factors and those take time."
Comparatively, Knautz said though his
company currently is down to 40 percent
productivity, in 1988 Acme Brick operated
with a production rate of 67 percent. At
the end of the 1980s, he said Acme closed
three plants permanently.
"Things are different now than they
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were then," Knautz said. "Then we closed
three plants after running in overdrive.
Today, we're temporarily closing plants,
hoping we don't have to walk away from
any ofour capacity."
In addition to slowing its production,
Knautz said Acme also is making an effort
to delve into other product lines to diver-
sify the company. Besides bricks, Acme
currently sells block products, natural
stone, fireplace inserts and floor and wall
tile as well as VAST products, an energy ef-
ficient paver option just added late 2009.
"If you think about it, brick doesn't
have much of a remodeling market, but
some of the other products like VAST and
the floor and wall tile do, so we're looking
at those and that entire segment as an area
we can move into more as remodeling is
picking up some speed in light of new
home building winding down," he said.
In the mean time, Knautz said Acme
will continue with business as usual in this
downturn until the market corrects, wait-
ing on an increase in housing permits, fol-
lowed by housing starts as indicators the
market is picking up.
"We are watching those two measures
very closely," he said.
Acme is owned by Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. and according to Berkshire's annual
report, the mega company gained a net
worth of $21.8 billion in 2009. The
company added Fort Worth's Burlington
Northern Santa Fe to its holdings in
2009.
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REAL ESTATE
NorthTexas home sales fell in
February, but median price up
Percent Percent
change Median change
85 Arlington, Dalworthington 28 -10% $1 25,000 -4%
Gardens, Panteao w
86 SE Arlington 13 +44% $75,500 +23%
87 Far SW Arlington 37 t42% $143,000 -4% -
88 Far SE Arlington 62 -14%$118,000 -6%
89 Mansfield 57 +lo% $765,000 +9%
101 Downtown Fort Worth 4 +3000/0 $322,450 +37%
102 !Sa@naw/Fort Worth 58 , -22% $126,500 4%
north side
104 East Fort Worth 30 -9% 878.500 +3%
105 SE Fort Worth (Rosedale) 1 9 -Im $23,000 4%
106 South Fort Worth , 27 +29% $54,500 , -8%
(EvermanlForest Hill)
107 West-central and 26 -1% $175,100' -11%
, SW Fort Worth pCU)
108 Westcentral Fort Worth 31 -9?A $232.040 +6%
1 11 Fort Worth (south of 92 -4% $107,100 +7%
I-201Crowlev~ . -- 1 -. - -.-J/
7 12 Far west Fort Worth 58 +41% $106,500 -396
(Benbraak/White
Settlement)
122 Hurst ,29 4% 8142.000 +5%
-,
125 Southlake 16 4% $496,250 4%
126 Keller 40 -5% $247.750 -15%
130 Fort Worth Summefield/ 114 +7% $148,360 +2%
Park Glen
132 Trophy Club/Westlake 12 +71% $277,000 -46%
Source Real Estate Center, Texas A&M Un~erslW
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Arlington sees bump in revenue
Statewide, January sales tax revenue
declined 8.8 percent.
By AMAN BATHEJA and SUSAN SCHROCK
abathela@star-telegrarn.com,
sschrock@star-telegram.com
Arlington bucked the trend of most other
large cities and saw a recent bump in sales
tax revenue, according to figures released
by the state Wednesday.
The state comptroller's office reported
collecting $1.6 billion in sales tax revenue
from transactions in January, down 8.8
percent compared with the same period in
2009. The drop is an improvement over
trends from last year.
"After eight straight monhs of double-
digit declines, sales tax losses have begun
to moderate," Comptroller Susan Combs
said.
While revenue for Texas cities was down
6.8 percent on average, Arlington's jumped
by 5.4 percent, the second-biggest gain
among the top 20 largest cities in Texas.
Round Rock had the largest gain in that
group.
Football games at Cowboys Stadium
and the popular Arlington Highlands
shopping center are credited for the city's
January sales tax boost.
"It's the entertainment district activity,
it's the restaurant activity. Those things
contributed to the positive number," City
Manager Jim Holgersson said. "Thank
goodness for the stadium and thank good-
ness for the restaurants in the Highlands.
Before figures for January came out, Ar-
lington officials expected sales tax collec-
tions for the fiscal year to be down about
3.6 percent. Now, ~olgersson said he be-
lieves that the gap will be about $100,000.
Arlington is working to reduce expendi-
tures and maintain 52 employee position
vacancies to keep the budget in the black.
I Holgersson believes that with careful plan-
ning -Arlington will have a little over
$500,000 left at the end of the budget year.
"There is no need for a budget adjust- January sales tax revenue
ment yet," Holgersson said, unlike 2009's City % change
midyear budget cuts. from Jan. '09
The news is not as great for fiscal 2011, Austin 1.76
Arlington City Council members learned Arlington 5.43
Wednesday. Bedford
- 8.85 The city is projecting a $5.7 million Benbrook -24.39 shortfall, and that does not include em- zue Mound ployee pay raises, Holgersson said. City of- 36.72
ficials are looking at ways to reduce spend- COlleY"ille 0.55
ing to narrow the gap and will give the Crowley -3.32
council an update in May. Dalworthington Gardens 7.40
"We know about it. We have time to Dallas 0.79
work on it," Holgersson said. Ebgecliff Village 153.74
Fort Worth suffered a 4.7'percent drop ~~l~~~ -1 6.35
in sales tax revenue, far worse than Decem- Everman -34.74 ber revenue, which was down less than 1
percentage point. Forest Hill -3.22
"It's nothing to be happy about, but it's -4.70
in line with what we were expecting," said Grand prairie -13.96
Horatio Porter, a city budget officer. Grapevine -8.1 3
Porter said a recent revision by city Haltorn City -3.23
staffers assumes that sales tax revenue will Get -1.94
be down through the rest of 2010. Houston -1 1.54 "Obviously we're hoping that the recov- Hurst -6.78 ery kicks in pretty soon, but in an attempt Keller * to be cautious and conservative, we're just -0.20
expecting them to be down from last year," Ke"edale 5.55
Porter said. "We haven't gotten any indica- Lake Worth -6.24
tion that things are about to recover." Lakeside 30.35
Benbrook's sales tax revenue dropped * Mansfield -1.81
24 percent, one of the largest declines in p.~~~h ~i~hl~~d ill^ 1.65
Tarrant County. City Manager Andy Way- -24.1 4 man said he hadn't seen the comptroller's Pelica: ea
report but could guess the cause. "We ha- 240.30
ven't lost any businesses, so I suspect we're Hills -7.73
like everyone else subject to the recession River Oaks -8.65
and feeling those effects," he said. Saginaw -4.99
Sales tax makes up a substantial part of San Antonio -1.38
revenue for cities. Many municipalities are sansorn park 10.08
e$ected 'to cut spending in next year's southlake e 0.88
budgets. City officials are closely watching Watau 3.08 their sales tax revenue to determine how
big those cuts will need to be. Westlake 50.80
Westworth Village . 0.42
White Settlement AMAN BATHEJA, 817-390-7695 -8.38
SUSAN SCHROCK. 817-390-7639 source Texas Comptroller
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JAILHOUSE INTERVIEW
••
Euless -man who is accused of
murder says it was self-defense .
•
Prosecutors say Jason x times as he opened up a
Walker stabbed Wesley switchblade.
Taylor after an argument. Im not a violent man,"
Walker said,"I grabbed a knife,
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. z scrambled to get past them
•ramirez@star-telegram.com �• ' € and as I'm trying to get out, I
FORT WORTH—:Jason Walk- t h a poked at him with the knife.• "
er, Wesley Zane Taylor and
Traci Najera stood in a Euless 'Fighting for my life' —
apartment last May, drinking, f f An `autopsybythe Tarrant
talking and_ arguing. ,:`
:�� � Countymedical examiner's of-
Within minutes,Taylor,33, I fice showed that Taylor was
was dead on the floor,Walker
�` � ` . stabbed five times in the chest
ran to a nearby Waffle House, and forearms and cut several
and Najera waited for Euless times on his legs.
police.That much is undisput- Among Taylor's tattoos —
ed• were a swastika,'Aryan Circle"
But the details of what hap- and"Fear No Man,"according
pened on the morning of May STAR-TELEGRAM/KELLEY CHINN to the autopsy.Taylor had am-
20 are what will determine the "My girlfriend and I had had an argument,so she brings home this guy .phetamine and methamphet- --
future of the 39-year-old Walk- to beat me up,"Jason Walker said."I packed my bags and was ready to amine in his system.
er,who has been charged with leave when he pulled out a knife and she also had one." Taylor had been to prison
murder in Taylor's death. in Texas. He was first sen
Walker spoke about the J� Crime Time ` went' to jail for evading arrest tenced to five years in 1996 for —
death last week in the Tarrant ®' For more crime news,go in 2006. - burglary of a building in Tar-
County Jail,where he has been to star-telegram.com/blogs . In early 2009, he started rant County and released in '
since his arrest in May.His bail dating Najera. Court records 1998. His parole was revoked,
is set at$75,000. said. "Then the victim was indicate that she has been sent and he returned. in February
A few days ago,Walker said, stabbed." to prison twice on drug charg- 2000 and was released in 2001.
he turned down an offer from Walker's trial date has not . es. - ; Taylor was then sentenced
Tarrant County prosecutors to been set.If convicted,he faces Najera, 36, could not be to four years in prison in De- ..
plead guilty in exchange for a a maximum of life in prison. reached for comment. cember 2005 for having a pro-
20-year prison term. His attorney,Pia Rodriguez ' "She has a methamphet hibited substance in a correc-
"I was in my home defend- of Arlington, was in trial amine problem,and I thought tional facility in Jones County
ing myself,"Walker said. "My Wednesday and could not be I could help her,"Walker said. near Abilene. He was paroled —
girlfriend and I had had an ar- reached for comment. "But we were always arguing' in March 2009. .
gument, sa she brings home about it, and that's what hap- Walker said Najera has not
this guy to beat me up. Drugs and violence pened that morning." told the true-story of what hap-
"I didn't want any part of a Walker was born in Arlington On May 20,Najera left the pened.
fight. I packed my bags and. and raised Tarrant County. Euless apartment they shared "She's afraid that if, she
was ready to leave when he He dropped out of Grand Prai after an-argument,he said. doesn't say what police what
pulled out a knife and she also rie High School,but he earned "She's driving around and to hear, she'll go back to pris-
had one." a GED diploma; he said. For picks up this guy,"Walker said. on," Walker said._"She's told
Walker said he grabbed a years, Walker worked in con Walker believes that his them I flipped out and
kitchen knife and poked at` sanction, hanging Sheetrock, girlfriend intended for Taylor 'stabbed him, but- that's not
Taylor as he headed out the he said. to beat up Walker. what happened." •
door. He spent time in prison for According to Euless police, Walker expressed remorse
But Euless police say that cocaine possession about' Najera had picked up other for what happened.
although there was an argu- nine years ago, but he has men before and brought them "Pdidn't mean for it to hap-
ment, Walker stabbed Taylor been clean since,he said. to the apartment. pen,"he said."But I was fight-
more deliberately than that.:: Walker said that was his Walker said he was stand- ing for my life."
Walker "got into an argu- only trouble with the law, but ing in the kitchen when he was
Ment with his;girlfriend," Eu- Tarrant County criminal court confronted by Najera and Tay- DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.,
less police Lt John Williams records showed that he also lor.Taylor punched him a few 817-390-7763