"Suspicious Vehicle" (Cop Chronicles#5)

After two years my wife and i had saved up enough money to purchase our first New Car. This was a very big deal for us, and we were proud of what we had accomplished. Finally the big day came and we got our new car. Now this was not your everyday new car, especially in CleburneTX. We got ourselves  a Smart Car. That may not sound like a big deal in most cities but we had one of only three. Where we got into trouble was where we lived. The other two Smart Cars lived in the better part of town where new cars are a dime a dozen. On the other hand our Smart Car stuck out like a soar thumb. Remember my earlier Post "Man with a gun,Shots fired", nobody showed up to check it out. Well now they showed up for all the wrong reasons. And once it began i thought it would never end. We were returning home from Ft.Worth and as we approached town i was telling my daughter about the speed trap coming up and to slow down before you get there. I was not speeding when we got to the speed limit sign, but i got pulled over anyway. This was only the third day we had the car. The first thing the cop asked was "What kind of car is this?" and before i could answer he said "i didn't think a car this small could go that fast". He then gave me a ticket for going 50 in a 40. I have not had a speeding ticket in 20 years and should not have gotten one then. This was just the beginning, for the next three weeks we were followed, chased and watched. Every time we would go for a ride,when a cop would see us he would turn around and run up to us at a high rate of speed and then follow us all the way home. Sometimes pulling us over just to check us out. Then they would drive by our house real slow several times a day just staring at us. It got so bad that we wouldn't  go anywhere in our new car in fear of getting a ticket for having a new car. After a month went by they must have gotten bored with us and they moved on to harassing someone else.

Was He the Man? No i'm the Man!

In 2008 i purchased a storage building and had it delivered to my property. Because it was over a certain size i had to get a construction permit from the city and have it inspected. This made no since to me because it was a pre-built unit. So i got my permit and had it delivered then called for an inspection. In a couple of days a city truck pulled up and three men get out. One of the men asked to see my permit and i showed it to him. They went back to where the shed was and took some measurements then walked around  and looked it over. Then "the man" said it looked good everything is ok. I asked if he needed the permit and he said no i could throw it away. Two weeks later another city truck pulled up and a man gets out and says he is there to inspect my building.I informed him that it has already been done. He seemed to get very upset and said "he is the man" that does the inspecting and there was no record of my inspection. He asked for my permit and i told him what i had done, he said that he would let me know if my building passed inspection or not. He went around and measured and looked and finally said it had passed and drove off. Can't fight city hall, even if they are goofy as a goat.

CleburneTX has done it again.

This story really upsets me, it proves my stories are real . We have two papers in town, one prints what everybody(by everybody i mean City officials) wants us to hear. The other one prints the truth about what goes on here. And for doing that they are being shut down and run off. Even the freedom of speech is not allowed in CleburneTX. Apparently it ruffles the wrong feathers, here is the news article about it,

 

THE ARTICLE NO ONE EVER WANTS TO PRINT by Don Rice It’s been over five years since the Cleburne Eagle News changed ownership, and those years have not been without controversary and public reaction. The purchase of the newspaper was originally intended to promote local businesses, including the two owned by the purchaser. Somehow that intention fell to the side and a political atmosphere took over, when the newspaper questioned some facts and issues with a local school bond election. The employees and writers became subject to threats, both verbal and written. There was even a statement to burn the office down with the editor inside. Employees received threatening letters that had the local police watching their homes at night. A large effort was instituted by those who opposed the publishing of the weekly paper to stop businesses and citizens from advertising and subscribing, and one school board member was caught emailing businesses criticizing their dealings with the paper. As an added effort businesses were called and told if they continued to do business with the newspaper the school district would cease to do business with those businesses. It has been a bumpy ride to say the least. As part of any deal in making certain issues public, there is always people that are happy and people that are mad. This has been the case with this newspaper. We were nieve enough to think that when wrongdoings were presented to the citizens that they would rise up and demand changes be made. Boy was we nieve! It seems we took on half the population of this town in our efforts to inform. All this was undertaken because we felt it needed to be. We thought the little guys should see what was really going on with their tax dollars. The paper was never motivated because of profit to do these things, as it would have been much more profitable to take the middle road and print a rosy picture of everything as the other newspapers do. It’s hard to produce a profit when you make the community leaders mad by exposing things that happen behind closed doors. Some of Cleburne’s finest are still hard at work trying to stop the printing of this newspaper. We have attempted to sell the paper so that it would continue as the lone voice for truth in local media, but a deal has never been completed. The financial drain and the constant beating of our heads against so many has take it’s toll, and perhaps those that had problems with the truth being printed are close to winning. If a sale is not completed soon, or some new financial remedy is not found the closing of the newspaper may be the only option. We hoped the paper would furnish a different view the community would embrace and remain a part of the area, as we believed it filled a need to make the local public aware of what is actually going on, not what other media reports. We are working to find another solution, or a purchaser so the Cleburne Eagle can remain as a local publishing option, and remain “the people’s paper”.

"Tear it down"

We have an older home with a carport that has seen better days. So i wasn't real surprised when i got a notice from the City to tear it down. To save money i decided to tear down the carport myself, with the help of everybody i could get my hands on of course, and hire someone to haul it off. I searched the local newspaper and found several company's to do the job at a fair price. Everything was going great until they asked if i lived inside the City Limits. That's when i found out i had to use the company that the City of Cleburne has a contract with. I called the City to get everything set up, well with the price of there contracted company and a nominal fee for the City plus tax. The cost went from a doable $200 to a heart stopping $600 for the first day plus $100 for each additional day that we keep the dumpster. My hands were tied so i had to do this no matter what it cost. Here comes the fun part, the deposit is the $600 for the first day,paid in cash before they will deliver the dumpster. Any extra days will show up on your water bill the following month. I paid the $600, got my receipt, went home and waited for my dumpster to appear. Later the next day it was dropped off, fortunately they bill on full business day.The next day we tore down the carport and loaded it in the dumpster.The following morning i called the City to pick up the dumpster and stop further billing. We got it done in one day so it's paid for already, done deal, at least that is how it is supposed to work. When i got my water bill the following month it was also a notice of termination in ten days unless i paid the $600 for the dumpster service the previous month. So i took my receipt to the City to show them i have paid. They told me i did it wrong and that they had returned my $600 deposit and had to pay the water bill or be terminated. I told them they were wrong and had everybody that works there to come forward until i found the person i paid. Success, she cleared it up and i was on my way, until the next months bill came. Friends it took 6 months of taking my receipt to the City before they finally cleared it up. Hang on to those receipts!

"eeny meeny mynee moe where did all the real food go" ?

Cleburne TX is about 25 miles south of Ft.Worth, but it's a whole world away when it comes to simple things.Here is a couple of examples. We have a wal-mart super center like most every town in America, we also have a huge wal-mart central supply warehouse. The problem is we have the worst stocked store anywhere i know of, why? We have a Sears store too, but you have to order everything from the catalog. That brings me to the main subject, food. I have established the pattern that Cleburne goes by, so maybe this will make since, maybe not.Up until about ten years ago, going to a restaurant meant TacoBell, pizzaHut and many more of the same. So it was big news when Chilis then Applebees opened, then more and more. Then something happened that nobody believed would ever happen, Cleburne went wet. Plans for more places to open are in the works and i see no end in sight. Sounds like things are going good in Cleburne but are they? Seems to me we have been enslaved by the mega-restaurant steam roller. What happened to the real food places, with a real cook or a Chef, that uses fresh and or local produce. We do have a couple of places left, like "The purple turnip" and several Mexican owned establishments. Overall i fear for the future of our food culture, and there is not a thing i can do about it.

"Narcotics n Sex Toys"(Cop Chronicles#4)

This one speaks for itself, Narcotics officers set this one up. Only in CleburneTX could this happen, this is how far they will go to get arrest records up. This validates all the stories i have and will tell in the future about (Cop Chronicles). This story is in the form of a news article, so click here to get the link :Beware of Sex Toys.

"So it's HER fault?" (Cop Chronicles #3)

My teenage daughter went out to get into her car which was parked in our driveway and locked. She found the window broke out and her backpack gone. All her school books,homework and projects were in that backpack. She was very upset and crying, i calmed her down then called the Cops. An officer came out and took a report and said there wasn't much they could do. Then believe it or not he proceeded to tell my daughter that it was all her fault this happened. She started crying again but that didn't stop him, he continued to belittle her by saying if she was smarter she wouldn't leave anything she wanted to keep in the car.There was no mention of how somebody broke out the window because the car doors were locked, and it was in the driveway on private property. I finally had all i could stand and i asked him what the hell was wrong with him? My daughter just went through a traumatic experience and instead of helping this teenager through this you attack her and make her cry again. Then he actually  threatens to arrest me for saying hell to loud and threatening his authority. I do have the right to protect my daughter from abuse by an authority, and ask the question why? OH I FORGOT THIS IS "CLEBURNETX.".

"But we have Cletrans"

A few years ago i started hearing stories about people without transportation but have daily visits to the local
hospital. The local hospital is located on the highway just at the edge of town. This means you must have transportation to get there and back. No problem, we have "Cletran" short for Cleburne transportation. They have different vehicles on designated routes and for a fee you can ride one until you get to or close to where you wanted to go. Problem, The bus that goes to the hospital only stops once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. So no matter what time your appointment is you will be at the hospital all day just waiting. This sounds very exciting to me, i hope one day that i can be held captive all day at the hospital by "Cletran". I have been trying to start a shuttle service of my own that would eliminate this problem and give "Cletran" some healthy competition. Of course you have to do everything nice and legal, like insurance, permits and approval from the city of Cleburne. Did i mention that "Cletran" is owned and operated by the city, oh yes, it surely is. So one day i call up the city to get the information i need about permits and such. As i explained my plan to the lady on the phone, suddenly she interrupted  me and i kid you not she said "But we have cletran, we don't need another form of transportation, why would you do something like that?" Well i was flabbergasted, how do you respond that kind of reasoning? I couldn't, so i thanked her for her help and hung up.
PS. I did not start the service that i wanted to for lack of funding. Maybe someday in the future i will be able to

Let me say this about that

Before i go any further with the "Cop Chronicles" i want to explain a couple of things so you won't get the wrong idea about me. I was raised to respect authority of any kind and i raised my children to do the same. I am very thankful for the Police and firemen of CleburneTX, they do a wonderful job, without them there would be mayhem. That being said, there is an ongoing problem here. Remember it only takes one bad apple...

"Man with a gun, shots fired" (Cop Chronicles #2)

Bad boys bad boys what you gonna do? If you are watching Cops on TV and the call comes in "Man with a gun, shots fired", what happens? Everything happens, code three, lights  and siren, extreme caution. That is what is supposed to happen, well at least they come check it out, right? Wrong. It all depends on where you live in CleburneTX as to what response you will receive. Apparently i do not live in that coveted wonderful and protected part of town. We do have Cops in our neighborhood, but that is not always a good thing. A couple of years ago while watching TV,(might have been Cops) i heard a gunshot, so i went outside to take a look. About a block and a half away across a vacant lot stood a man firing a pistol in the air. He took several shots, then he walked out of sight. While this was going on i called 911 and told them what was happening. Now keep in mind,this is only 5 or 6 blocks from downtown, and in a residential zone with children outside playing. Nothing, No response, not even a drive by, i called again, still no response. Now to put this in perspective, i went to Nicaragua earlier this year and i went to the airport with a friend of mine. My friend lives in a nicer part of town than i do. So at about 3:30am my son took me to his house to load and leave for DFW Airport. We weren't there 10 minutes before a cop rolled up to see why we were there.

"It's my front yard" (Cop Chronicles#1)

Today the infamous Cleburne Police proved they believe themselves to be "Gods". 
I was going to start the "Cop Chronicles"at a later date, but they just couldn't wait any longer. I walked out on my front porch and there they were,Cops in my front yard. Just outside my front door was the Dog Catcher,to my left, in the lot that i own, sat a woman and her dog. Her car was being emptied of its contents, lot's of contents. After several minutes of searching they(cops)had her put her dog in the dog catchers vehicle, then hand cuffed her. I was standing in my driveway about 15' from them taking pictures with my cell phone.While the officer was handcuffing the woman, he stopped and started questioning me about what i was doing and why i was doing it. He obviously wanted me to stop and go away, then i simply said "it's my front yard and i  find it interesting". After a few seconds he hung his head then they took the woman away. This may not sound like much of anything, but the stories are many and they get a lot more interesting.

Who's in Charge?

I am a firm believer in God & Jesus. That being said, i also do not understand how everything work's. I am on a quest to learn all i can about the mind of God. My question today is"when we pray, how can or will it affect the outcome of what is prayed for?" Example: My daughter is looking for a job and the seemingly perfect job was available. Employees of the company know and love her, the boss knows her,she has experience. The boss passes over her for an inexperienced unknown person. What happened, did the employees push too hard and make the boss mad so he has to show them that he makes the choice not them. Was it Gods will to not have that job, did i push my daughter too hard to get that job? Here is the big question, did we pray for the right thing and did we change Gods mind or influence Him at all? Did my daughter miss out on the perfect job because of human error or influence, or is God in control no matter what we do?
How i see it: I got real mad at first, but in the end i believe, "All things work for the glory of God" and the right job will come in Gods time.

OK, Give it some gas, the light turned green!

I pulled up to a red light on Granbury st.here in the big city of CleburneTX. As i look to my right, i see a luv truck with the hood up. The bed of this little pickup is full of people,so is the cab. The driver is waving his arm and screaming, "OK, Give it some gas, the light turned green!". Then i noticed a young man sitting on top of the motor, under the open hood, with a 5gal. gas can on his shoulder pouring gas directly into the carburetor. As he poured the little truck started moving forward, and with a hoot n holler they were gone. Thank God it did not backfire.
PS. The spelling of "Granbury or Grandbury" is actually  spelled both way's in all the maps of "Cleburne". I guess they don't know how to spell it either.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I have been to third world countries that have better roads than we do here in CleburneTX. CluburneTX has been known for years as a living "Peyton Place". We live in a "Good ol Boy" way of Politics, this is obvious when it comes to street repair. New pavement will be laid to all City Officials homes, while the poorer parts of town are left out. That's ok, i can live with that,but this is what i do not understand. While putting down a new layer of asphalt a repair crew will come behind them, cut a hole, make underground repairs, then patch the surface. So the new road already has a patch, and not a good one. This goes on n on n on, all the way down the new road. At least it is new, most of the roads will destroy a cars front end or you will just vanish into a mega hole.

Let's get this party started

Just let me say, i would rather live here than in FT. Worth or Dallas. Tried it and don't like it. There is a lot to say for small town life, if it was a normal town. Cleburne Tx. is not your average small town.
I am doing this Blog thing just for me, i do welcome your comment's & thought's on whatever i say.Just so you will know, everything i say will be the truth, nothing is made up or a lie.I will only talk about what i know first hand. I hope you enjoy, and if not, sorry.

What were they thinking?

I posted the question "Why are there no on or off ramps on the highway (loop) around Cleburne TX.?
 Let me explain; We have what is supposed to be a loop around Clebune, after ten years or so it only goes about half way around. That is not the sad part, the real kikker is there are no exit ramps.You have to make a right turn off the highway, while the traffic is moving along at 70 miles per hour. If you don't live here and know where your going your in trouble, sign's are few and far between.Did i tell you it was only a two lane highway,well it is. I have no idea how many wrecks, injury's & death's have occurred in all these years but they were unnecessary. I have heard rumor that they are now putting in ramps, good for us if they do it right, to late for so many others.

Where do we go from here?

Back in the late 70's i was a teenager cruising the city park here in Cleburne. We had a blast doing nothing but parking, talking, driving. Sometimes we had trouble, but nothing major. At least we were together for safety and we were in town. Then the eighties came and the Great City of Cleburne in all it's wisdom closed the park accept for daytime use only. The thing is they didn't care what the teenagers were going to do now, they just didn't want them in the Park. So they went to what was then Buddy Stewart Park, geuss what happend, they got run off. Then they went to the back side of the lake, yep, run off again. Well this has gone on for years,and the last i heard they meet at the Staples parking lot, or close to it. The problem is that they keep getting run off but never told where they can go. It is so bad now it's like a game for Cops. Teens are meeting in the yards of there friends, and when the Cops see all the cars and kids they start giving them a hard time about parking, noise or whatever they can think of. I have seen this happen and heard many stories of the same thing. If the City would spend just a little of all that gas well money on the youth or at least tell them where they can go so the Cops won't mess with them, the problem would be over. I think the real problem is they just don't care.