Polk County News

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From Enterprise Staff

He’s got the hair. He’s got the dance moves. He’s even got the pinky finger positioned just right. His attention to detail has made Travis Powell one of the best Elvis Presley Tribute Artists in the world, and he’ll soon be performing two shows nearby. He will be at the Lufkin Pines Theater at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 and at the Huntsville Old Town Theater at 4 p.m. on Nov. 6.

“Every day I do vocal rehearsals and watch videos of him for an hour. I believe the more you watch him, the more it becomes second nature and you can do the moves from muscle memory. When it’s muscle memory, and you’re on stage, you can relate to the audience better. All the little things you watched and heard come to you and you’re not worried about what moves you are going to do next,” Powell said.

Powell placed in the top five at the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Graceland in 2014. He will perform an array of the King’s music, including his early stuff, some ‘70s songs and beloved “Aloha” tunes. He will be accompanied by an eight-man band, “Edge of Reality,” and will change his clothes to coordinate with the songs.

During the performances, Powell wants audience members to be taken back in time for a couple of hours and feel like they really are at one of Elvis’ concerts. Although he never met Elvis himself, he continues to meet people who tell him stories about seeing Elvis live.

“It’s a bonding experience when people tell me stories about Elvis. I appreciate the people who love Elvis as much as I do. They get it because they loved Elvis then and they still do,” he said.

Powell said that one of the reasons Elvis is “still alive” is because his music isn’t just appealing to people who were around when he was performing. He said he is hopeful that young people who attend his show will go home and look up Elvis’ tunes and get hooked.

“Elvis’ music was timeless. I believe Elvis, even though he had his faults, was a good guy who sang from his heart. I believe we, people in general, gravitate toward people that you can tell they believe what they sing. I don’t believe he ever sang a song that he couldn’t connect to in some way,” Powell said.

Being able to relate to Elvis is what Powell said has made him one of the top Elvis tribute artists in the world.

“Me and Elvis are both Southern guys. We were brought up the same way -- in terms of how much I practice and how much I really pay attention to the details in the little things -- like how he stands or how he holds his finger -- gives people a better illusion that they are watching Elvis,” Powell said.

Ever since Powell was 4 years old, he has been enamored with Elvis, but it was just four and a half years ago that he started impersonating him professionally. Since then, he has traveled the country, bringing his blue suede shoes with him. He has won eight prestigious Elvis impersonation contests, including “A Tribute to the King” competition in Milwaukee this year. In 2014, he won the Heart of the King Horizon Award for best new Elvis tribute artist, which afforded him with the opportunity to perform on the same stage that Elvis performed on in Vegas from 1969 to 1977.

Powell attributes his success to his devotion and daily study of Elvis. He also has his own sideburns and orders his jumpsuits from the company that owns the rights to Elvis’ original patterns.

“I try to make the tribute as authentic and as close to Elvis as I can get,” Powell said. The all-female group and National Doo Wop Champions, “Shake Rattle & Roll,” will open the concert and also perform as backup singers for Powell.

For reservations call Steve Fountain at 832-312-0074 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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By Emily Banks Wooten
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A mapping oversight caused some confusion at the polls this week that could have affected both the Chester ISD school board election and the Corrigan-Camden ISD bond issue election had it not been discovered and rectified.

While Chester ISD is primarily located in Tyler County, a portion of the district extends into Polk County, and as such, residents of that portion of the school district vote in Polk County. Voters in the Chester ISD will elect four school board members in the election.

Just a little to the east, voters in the Corrigan-Camden ISD will go to the polls to vote “for” or “against” two propositions in a bond issue election.

Proposition A is “The issuance of $21,490,700 of bonds by the Corrigan-Camden Independent School District for school facilities (and any necessary or related removal of existing facilities), and the purchase of any necessary sites for school facilities, and the levying of a tax in payment thereof. Required statement for all school district bond propositions pursuant to Section 45.003, Texas Education Code: This is a property tax increase.”

 Proposition B is “The issuance of $3,675,200 of bonds by the Corrigan-Camden Independent School District for stadium facilities, and the levying of a tax in payment thereof. Required statement for all school district bond propositions pursuant to Section 45.003, Texas Education Code: This is a property tax increase.”

Polk County Tax Assessor-Collector Leslie Jones Burks, who also serves as the county’s voter registrar, said she dealt with the appraisal districts in both Polk and Tyler counties and that it took her all of one afternoon and all of one morning, but that she got it fixed.

“I wasn’t going to let it go until I got it fixed,” Jones Burks said.

Chester ISD Superintendent Dr. Paul Drake agreed.

“It was brought to my attention by a concerned citizen that when he went to vote, he was unable to vote for the Chester School Board, but was able to vote on the Corrigan bond issue. I understand he told them this was a mistake and they said they would void it and he would have to do a provisional ballot. I spoke to Leslie Jones Burks. We were told it only affected three people that live on McKnight Lane and they have fixed those.

“I’m not overly concerned because I was told it was corrected and fixed and such a small grouping. If it was a larger grouping, that would be different. The concerned citizen that came to me, I don’t know if it was fixed on the same day or the next day, but I was told it was fixed. I don’t know if he ended up with a regular ballot or a provisional ballot,” Drake said.

McKnight Lane is an offshoot of the Barnum Loop between Corrigan and Chester.

“I know the gentleman it affected,” Jones Burks said. “He owns all three houses on the road. He lives in one and the other two are rentals.

“When I received my information from the mapping department, it had them (the three houses in question) in the Corrigan school district. I knew that was wrong, so I contacted the appraisal district. They were paying school taxes to Chester. The pictometry was wrong in Polk County. His property is the county line,” Jones Burks said.

Pictometry is a patented aerial survey technique for producing oblique georeferenced imagery showing the fronts and sides of buildings and locations on the ground. Photos are captured by low-flying airplanes, depicting up to 12 perspectives shot from a 40-degree angle, as well as an overhead view of every location flown.

According to Jones Burks, not everyone can go online and look at the pictometry, only those with passwords.

“The layer was incorrect on the pictometry, but was correct on the regular mapping,” Polk County Chief Appraiser Chad Hill said, emphasizing, “Our maps are used for appraisal district business only.”

In Polk County, the tax assessor-collector has always served as the voter registrar and was responsible for disseminating the voter registration cards while the county clerk and her staff have run the elections. However, that will change effective Jan. 1, 2023.

An order transferring voter registration duties from the tax assessor-collector to the county clerk was approved by the Polk County Commissioners Court during its regular meeting June 14.

  “We met, Commissioner Purvis (Precinct 3 Commissioner Milt Purvis) and myself, with (County Clerk) Shelana Hock and (Tax Assessor-Collector) Leslie Jones Burks and discussed combining the two instead of having them split and Shelana has very graciously agreed to consolidate those services in her office,” County Judge Sydney Murphy said, emphasizing that the change would not be made prior to the November election.

When asked she is relieved to no longer have the responsibility that comes with being voter registrar for the county, Jones Burks said, “It was hard for me. It was very hard. I’ve worked in that office for 31 years. Bob Willis hired me.”

It is hoped that having all election-related activity handled by one office will eliminate some of the issues that have plagued Jones Burks’ office in recent years.

Several residents from the Midway Loop attended the May 24 meeting of the Polk County Commissioners Court, with two of them addressing the Court during the public forum. Their concerns were that when they voted in the March 1 primary election, they were able to vote in the race for Precinct 4 commissioner. However, when it came time to vote in the May 24 runoff election for Precinct 4 commissioner, they were unable to and were told they were in Precinct 3. Some were allowed to vote provisionally, but others were not given that opportunity.

The confusion was the result of precinct boundary lines being changed in the fall of 2021 following the decennial redistricting that occurs when new population numbers are revealed based on the Census. Redistricting is the process of dividing or organizing an area into new political districts and the purpose of redistricting is to establish and maintain voting districts that are faithful to the principle of one-person, one-vote.

Several members of the Court, as well as the audience, expressed concern regarding people being able to vote in the primary but not in the runoff. One referred to it as “unintentional election-tampering” and others questioned the legality of it.

In January of 2022 it was discovered that a number of newly mailed voter registration cards were incorrect, predominantly affecting citizens in Precincts 1 and 4.

According to 2020 Census figures, Polk County gained 10.4% in its population since the last accounting in 2010, up from 45,413 to 50,123. The Austin firm of Allison Bass & Magee LLP—which serves as general counsel for the Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas and as litigation counsel for the Texas Association of Counties—was retained by the county to assist in examining the data and developing a redistricting plan for the county.

Texas Law allows a deviation in commissioners’ precincts of up to 10% before boundaries are required to be redrawn and Polk County was over—in total—by 30.66%. Precinct 1 was 18.26% higher than the ideal population and Precinct 3 was 12.4% below the ideal, so a shifting of boundaries had to occur.

“We had eight different maps sent to us from Allison Bass. We got the last one the day before we were out for Christmas. I was just hoping and praying I put everyone in the right one. While everyone else had four days off for Christmas, I was off Christmas Day only because I was at the office dealing with maps. I was hoping and praying it would all work out,” Jones Burks said.

At the time, Jones Burks said if anyone had questions, they could call her office and she could look it up on a spreadsheet and tell them which precinct they were in.

In October of 2016, both the Polk County Enterprise and Livingston ISD each received complaints from voters who said they were unable to cast votes for school board positions. In response to the large number of calls, LISD issued the following statement from Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins: “The district has heightened concerns from the reports that we are receiving because it is our goal for the voice of the community to be heard. We have a joint elections agreement with the county, and we stand ready to do anything we can to aid in the resolution.”

A letter dated Oct. 27, 2016 that was addressed to Polk County voters from County Clerk Schelana Hock referred to an error in the school district voter database that was provided to her office that resulted in voters living in the Livingston ISD not being shown as eligible to vote in the LISD School Board election.

“If there is a problem with your ballot you should let an election worker know and we can help, but only if you say something before finalizing your ballot,” Hock said.

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By Brian Besch

Two inmates escaped after contract prisoner transport buses were pulled to the side of Highway 190 just east of FM 1276 Friday afternoon.

Initial reports were that two transport buses were on the side of the road, repairing one that had a flat tire, while two inmates escaped, assaulted one of the guards, took a weapon and ran into the woods, according to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.

“They ran from the bus, and while doing so, got a weapon away from an officer and knocked him down and ran into the woods,” Lyons said. “We had backup and support officers from the DPS, district attorney's office, (Alabama-Coushatta) Indian Reservation Police Department, and several different agencies that responded. TDC dogs were on standby, but a short time after we arrived on the scene, we got the first subject in custody. The second subject, who was in possession of the firearm, was actually caught a half a mile from here, where he'd run off into the woods and ran up on a homeowner. The homeowner found him and held him there until DPS got there and took him into custody. By the grace of God, this incident was able to be brought under control in just a matter of 30 or 40 minutes without any injuries.”

The sheriff said one of the inmates had taken a pistol, but it is still unclear whether that was taken from a secured location or off the officer’s person.

Lyons said it has been a while since anything like this has occurred. He said the situations are possible because there are so many fluid, moving parts. The sheriff commended his department for being prepared, well-trained within the county, and working together to respond in a decent amount of time.

The two individuals will face charges for escaping and could face further charges once the investigation is completed. 

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Identical signs were spotted at four different locations in Livingston Thursday, depicting a man in an orange jumpsuit with the words “Randy Wayne Maze pedophile alert.” According to the Polk County Jail report, Maze was booked on Oct. 28, 2020, on charges of indecency with a child with sexual contact. Courtesy photos