News

December was a busy month for everyone in town including the folks at the Fairfield Library. We sponsored a logo design contest which ended on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and was won by Fairfield Junior High School student Madysen Farris; continued the Book Bingo which just ended on Thursday, Jan. 3, and was won by Cathy Henry; had a great (freezing) time at our decorated campsite at the Fairfield State Park on Saturday, Dec.  8; hosted an Intro to Excel Adult Technology class on Thursday, Dec. 13; enjoyed Christmas at the Library on Friday, Dec. 14; as well as regularly scheduled Wednesday Story Times with Mary King. We hope that all our friends in the community enjoyed these events as much as we did.

Thanks to concerned family members one girl is safe and a 37-year-old Teague woman is being held in the Freestone County Jail on a $250,000 bond. Amber Michelle Parker, a Mexia ISD reading teacher, was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 2, after an investigation showed she was attempting to sell an underage female relative to multiple men in Morocco.

Justice of the Peace 4 Judge Shirley Mays originally set Parker’s bond at $25,000. Mays was unavailable for comment as of presstime Tuesday. No attorney has been listed for Parker.

Fairfield Police Sgt. David Utsey has been named interim police chief as of Tuesday, Dec. 11, at $30 per hour and city council members approved the placing of a formal ad to replace retired police chief Kenny Bulger. There were three items on the new business agenda for the council Tuesday night, yet two of them were removed from the agenda because the individuals referencing these items were unavailable at the time of the meeting.

The third item was a discussion and possible action on a report from Contract Service Innovations LLC regarding the final report on the internal audit of the Fairfield Police Department. Mike Alexander with Contract Service Innovations LLC requested this item.

Fairfield Intermediate School Birthday Book Club celebrated November and December birthdays with lunch and birthday snacks in the library. These students' families donated a book to the library in honor of their birthday. The members celebrating this month are Michael Zachry, Loressa Covert, Kaylee Williams, Austin Archibald, Prestin Clark, Braylen Collett, Landon Morrison, Logan Freer, Owen Lane, Finn Smith and Jace Clark. The Fairfield Intermediate School is very grateful to these families for their donations.

Photo courtesy of Teresa Minze

Fishing Friends,

Excitement was in the air Friday, Dec. 14, as the Fairfield ISD Education Foundation awarded over $11,000 in grant money. The grants were presented to all four Fairfield campuses in dramatic fashion as the band marched through the halls while the Education Foundation Board of Directors handed out checks to the recipients. “It is the absolute best day for the board. We are always excited to see the faces on the faculty and students when they receive the grants,” said FISD Education Foundation President Brian Evans. Jennifer Chavers’ junior high students will receive funds for digital discovery programs to connect students with the outside world and learn to problem solve through teamwork.  Fairfield Junior High School was also awarded orb robots that target problem solving and creative thinking through a coding application. This program will be implemented by Kristen Dunlap.

Troubling information has been brought to light after a five month investigation into the Fairfield Police Department showed issues with the municipal court and a lack of leadership, among other problems. The audit began in July after former Fairfield police officer Natalie Wilson filed a report in May against recently retired Chief Kenny Bulger citing a “hostile work environment.”

Bulger was placed on paid administrative leave by Mayor Kenny Hughes before returning to his post in July.

In case No. CV18334, the City of Fairfield (CoF) filed a plea to the jurisdiction against a lawsuit filed against them by the City of Teague (CoT) back on Sept. 18, which was scheduled to be heard Wednesday, Nov. 28. However, the attorney for the CoT requested a continuance of the case Monday, Nov. 26.

Freestone County's 77th District Court Judge Patrick H. Simmons ruled in favor of the continuance for the CoT and will be heard on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019.

After finding a small discrepancy between the number of total ballots cast and the number of provisional, or paper, ballots while canvassing, County Judge Linda Grant asked County Clerk Linda Jarvis to have a representative call the court.

Jarvis said the ballot board manually tallied the provisional ballots.

“They [the voter] may have made a mark or left it blank and because they [the ballot board] doesn’t know what was intended they [the ballot board] put marks for all the overvotes,” Jarvis explained. “That is their explanation of how they make the choice, what the voter intended.”

Faith Academy of Freestone announced their first trimester honor roll recipients, as well as awards given for honorable character. Laura Lindsey and Triston McAlpine were chosen for the Honorable Character Award for showing Christ-like character qualities.

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