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Trinity County News 2

Hanging it up (VIDEO)

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122420 bell 1TONY FARKAS | TCNS Joe Warner Bell talks about his tenure as County Attorney for Trinity County. His last day in office is Dec. 31.

Trinity County attorney retiring after 43 years

By Tony Farkas

GROVETON — When Joe Warner Bell first took office as Trinity County Attorney, cases were entered on typewriters, and the only places to buy liquor in the area was Houston, Huntsville and even Groveton.

The “mostly” Trinity County native has been County attorney 43 years, 3 months 16 days and 2 hours, give or take. He got into the position because he was appointed; Bell was in private practice in Trinity for six years prior to taking the county job.

“I was in general practice, which means I did anything that came my way, which is pretty much what I do now,” he said.

When the 258th Judicial District was created, they needed to fill three positions — district attorney, district judge and county attorney, and Bell got the nod.

He kept with it, though, for the simplest of reasons — it was a steady paycheck.

“It didn’t have a lot of benefits at the time, but I felt I could do more here than I could (in private practice),” he said.

Was appointed to the position first, then had been running for reelection since then.

In addition to the changes in liquor sales and technology, the courthouse has changed, including his office location, which was moved six or seven times over the course of his career.

Bell said the population of the county has doubled, and the jail, which has room for seven people and was almost never full, is full now almost all the time, with up to 40 inmates at a time.

The most contentious commissioners’ court Bell said he has advised was the first one he served with, since it had two commissioners who were related and on opposite sides of the political spectrum, another development that is mirrored in politics today.

Video interview with Joe Bell

“There was one commissioner that I had prosecuted three times for DWI,” Bell said. “In fact, on the filing day for election, he was sitting in jail.”

The things his office has had to deal with over the years has been varied, but one set of cases in particular stands out, and echoes some of the issues of today: election fraud.

“We had some guys that … liked to play the edge,” Bell said. “At that time you had to have an excuse to vote absentee — either you were elderly or were going to be out of town. (Apparently) there were many people who had never left Trinity County in their lives were going to be out of town on election day.”

Bell said there were ballots with forged signatures on them, and even a few of them were marked for people who were in nursing homes. Several elderly women voted twice; they had voted early, but were hauled to the polls on election day and were made to vote again.

“I didn’t grasp the depth of the problem until I got into office,” he said. “People have said that there’s nothing wrong with mail-in voting; I voted mail-in one time and it got lost. My mother, who was over 65, voted, and her vote was tossed out because they said she was a crazy old woman. What it was, the person she voted for, they didn’t want that vote counted.”

The more heartbreaking cases Bell said he has dealt with involves child abuse, especially when, as it happened in one case, involves the parents and stepparents. However, he said that the most rewarding part of the job was finding homes for neglected and abused children, and getting women away from abusive partners.

Also, when Bell took office, there was a civil suit against the county over county districts, which were said to have disenfranchised African American voters; Bell got the suit delayed until new district lines could be drawn, which led to the suit being dropped.

Bell said his position is to act as the attorney for the county, but there’s a difference between his office and district attorneys: the DA prosecutes felonies, and everything else falls under the purview of the county, except child support which goes to the attorney general.

122420 bell 2COURTESY PHOTO Trinity County Attorney Joe Warner Bell is presented with a plaque of appreciation by representatives of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments on Thursday. Bell has been a member of the DETCOG board for 42 ½ years, since July 1, 1978, which DETCOG Executive Director Lonnie Hunt described as “some kind of record.

“Also, we’re in charge of eminent domain, when the government comes to you and tells you they’re going to take your land,” he said. “We’ve only done that a couple of times; most landowners don’t mind giving up a little strip of land to make roads better or fix the bridges.”

Bell said his office represents the state in child protective services cases, as well as adult protective services cases.

“We’ve had a lot of fun,” Bell said. “I’m going to rest a bit, but I still have some work to do for the county. They’ve contracted me to do any redistricting (because of the 2020 Census).”

Bell said that the bulk of his job has been answering questions, then, after a long chuckle, Bell said of his successor, Colton Hay: “Be ready for it, it’s coming.”

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Groveton project making good progress (VIDEO)

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121720 sidewalk updateTONY FARKAS | TCNS Groveton Mayor Byron Richards shows one of the areas designated for personalized pavers, part of the city’s downtown revitalization project.

By Tony Farkas

GROVETON — The project to renovate and replace downtown sidewalks is proceeding rapidly.

Mayor Byron Richards said that the project should be completed around the end of March.

“The’ve got quite a bit done, and should have not problem finishing on time,” he said.

Crews started on the east side of the Square, replacing sidewalks and adding handicapped access and railings; Richards said because of the season, and because there were retail outlets on the west side, work there would begin after the end of the year.

The west side of the street will be a two-tier setup when completed, and there will be 18 old-style lights placed around the area. Colored contoured cement will be added around the sidewalks for some style and contrast.

“We’re trying to keep the old town charm, while showing that we’re progressive,” Richards said.

A new feature to be added will be personalized pavers, and room on both sides of the Square have been added. Richards said that orders have been sparse; however, the deadline is Feb. 28, 2021, and there are 450 spaces available.

In order to secure a spot, there are order forms available on the city’s website — cityofgroveton.com — or by calling the city at (936) 642-1122.

With the renovations, “maybe we can get some more businesses to move to the Square,” Richards said. “After TxDOT redid the street, we get a lot of traffic, and we want to make the city impressive.”

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Master gardener Sandra Cluck dies at 78

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cluckCOURTESY PHOTO Sandra Cluck

Aug. 28, 1942-Dec. 5, 2020

Sandra Lee Anderson Cluck of Vidalia, La., 78, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, in Natchez, Miss. Sandra is survived by her husband, Jack Cluck of Vidalia; one daughter, Cassy Muscalino and her husband, Joseph Muscalino, of Vicksburg, Miss.; one son, Jason Cluck and wife, Fran Cluck, of Shreveport, La.; and a brother, Thomas Anderson Jr. Sandra is also survived by one granddaughter, Courtney Davis, and husband, Mark Davi,s of Vidalia; and nine more grandchildren and 27 great-children. She is preceded in death by her son, Trace Cluck, and grandson Mason Cluck.

Sandra was born in San Antonio on Aug. 28, 1942, to Teddy Jo Burnett and Thomas Anderson Sr. Sandra graduated from Pasadena High School with honors and attended Rice University. Sandra met and married Jack Cluck on June 30, 1961.

Sandra was a devoted mother, grandmother and a master gardener in her garden club in Oklahoma and participated in numerous flower shows. Sandra enjoyed fishing, painting and caring for her family. Sandra, along with her husband and family, had the opportunity to live in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, back to Texas then finally to Louisiana to enjoy time with family.

A private service will be held for the family.

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Trinity gets the spirit (VIDEO)

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IMG 3741 copyTONY FARKAS | TCNS Trinity residents enjoy the mild weather during the downtown Christmas celebration on Saturday December 5, 2020.

By Tony Farkas
Julia McMichael

TRINITY — Vendors sold their goods and Santa was singing; children were laughing and bells were ringing.

Baked goods and dancing and sleighs full of bling, these were Trinity’s favorite things.

On Saturday December 5, 2020, Trinity residents were treated to its annual Christmas celebration, although organizers had to make some changes to accommodate social distancing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly cancelling the parade of lights.

However, Julia McMichael of the Trinity Peninsula Chamber of Commerce said the event was wonderful.

IMG 3762TONY FARKAS | TCNS Misty Dowdell dances with 4-year-old Alexis Adkisson while Santa serenades the crowd with Christmas carols.

“We had more than 200 people,” she said. “Vendors said they made money and had a steady stream of people.”

McMichael said the day was excellent, full of sunshine and fun, and people wore masks and were cautious.

“We wanted to have something to lift the spirits of the community, and we did that,” she said. “Vendors said they had pretty good traffic and were looking forward to next year.”

Since there were no contestants in the ugly sweater contest, there were two other sets of awards given: cutest baby and best costume.

In the cutest baby contest, first place went to 4-month-old Aria Suttle, second place was Christi Ann Harrelson, and third went to Caroline Suttle.

For best costume, there was a three-way tie for first — Tiffany Sanchez and Natalie and Jesus Reyes; second went to Delilah Poehl; and third place also was a tie — Carolyn and Valorie Cleveland.

imagejpeg 1001COURTESY PHOTO Santa’s sleigh, which was parked this year due to COVID restrictions, still was a hit with Trinity residents.

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Born to Be Wild (GALLERY)

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IMG 9321PHOTOS BY PHILLIP SCHMITTEN Rocky Raccoon here is waiting to grow up and be released back into the wild.

By Philip Schmitten
TCNS Correspondent

GROVETON — Ever wonder what happens to the animals in the wild who are sick, crippled or abandoned? They end up at Circle B Farm & Wildlife Rehab in Groveton.

This single-family crusade to care for orphaned, abandoned and injured animals from the wild is totally paid for by the Bergman Family, who takes care of the daily routine of providing and care of the 76 animals in their care now.

They have had more than 100 wild animals to take care of in the past. Donations are always welcome from the public and much needed.

Shasta, Rodney, Hanna and Mattie Bergman are responsible for the daily care of these animals. With Shasta working full time as the Trinity County Clerk, Hanna and Mattie pull a lot of the day to day duties.

All wildlife belongs to the State of Texas, so if you spot an animal who seems to be lost or in trouble, call the local Game Warden and they, most likely, will contact Circle B for the rescue.

“We are licensed by the State of Texas to care and house these wild animals, with the goal of returning them to the wild when they are ready,” Shasta said.

They care for just about all wild animals; they have had foxes, skunks, possums, rabbits, squirrels, deer and raccoons. The care and feeding of these animals takes some effort, but the Bergmans love what they do. Their goals are to have a sanctuary where the public can visit to see and learn about animals in the wild.

They rescue animals from all over the area, going as far as Texarkana. At the present time there are a lot of animals going hungry due to overpopulation —the deer, rabbits and squirrels are fighting for food and starving from lack of nourishment.

Shasta Bergman summed to up when she said, “Circle B Farm & Wildlife Rehab is dedicated to caring for orphaned and injured wildlife, with the sole intent of being able to release each animal back into the wild, where they belong.”

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