Magnolia man arrested for sexually assaulting 8-month-old boy

By Brian Walzel
Editor

A Magnolia man was arrested last week for allegedly sexually assaulting an 8-month-old baby boy. Andrew Noel Prescott, 24, was arrested March 11 after Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call on Scotty Lane in Magnolia. According to police, the baby had suffered human bites to his face, buttocks, feet and genitals. The child was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Andrew Noel Prescott

Investigators interviewed the mother of the child who reported that she had allowed Prescott to stay at her home the night before. Prescott was also interviewed at the scene and arrested. He was initially charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Investigators later learned that while the mother was sleeping, Prescott took the child to his home where he sexually assaulted the child. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office later charted Prescott with aggravated kidnapping and both bond amounts were upgraded to $500,000 for each charge.

According to Lt. Joe Sclider, the mother of the child and a family friend notified authorities and paramedics when they discovered the injuries to the child.

Prescott was still in jail as of press time last week. Anyone with information about this case or Prescott is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division or CrimeStoppers.

THS students get first-hand glimpse of dangers of drunk driving

By Brian Walzel
Editor

Although the carnage wasn’t real, the emotion was. The young bodies loaded into the hearse woke again the following day and the fake blood from the other “victims” came off with nothing more than a good scrubbing.

A Shattered Lives participant portraying the Grim Reaper looks over an “injured” student in a mock accident scene at Tomball High School.

But the hope of the Shattered Lives program, a simulated drunk driving accident scene, is that the impression on the students of Tomball High School will last a lifetime.

The event returned to Tomball for the first time since 2006, this time presented to the same students who were freshmen and sophomores then and who didn’t get the opportunity to experience first hand the impressively elaborate crash scene.

They filed out to the stadium’s visitor parking lot on a crisp March 11 morning to a devastating scene: four vehicles strewn out across the pavement, one upside down, one on its side, two crammed together after an apparent head-on collision and young bodies hanging limply from each.

“It was very powerful,” senior Ryan Anderson said. “It was really great that they could pull that off. I think for a lot of people, it made a big impact.”

As the students crammed in for a closer view, a frantic 9-1-1 call played out over the loud speakers. Soon, Tomball Police cars, Tomball Fire Department trucks and Northwest EMS ambulances raced in, sirens blaring to attend to the wreck. It was all a show, but the message hit home.

Senior Kelsey Garbs was one of the participants in the scene. She played a student that was killed in the accident. “I have seen so many people that were my friends go to parties and drink and get on the road,” she said. “It’s not just fake. People know that it really is real.”

Several students fought back tears. Parents who were invited to the program couldn’t show as much restraint. About midway through the program, an emergency air ambulance landed at the scene. A student was wheeled by stretcher across the parking lot and into the air ambulance and flown away.

Just after the air ambulance departed, paramedics on the scene ruled that Garbs was deceased and called for a Klein Funeral Home hearse. One of Garbs’ parents was brought out and identified the body, which was then placed in the hearse and taken to Tomball Regional Hospital.

Garbs’ cousin was involved in a drunk driving accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. She said that while she was laying on the ground, she thought back to what her cousin must have been experiencing.

“I was laying there and thinking this is crazy how my cousin was laying the same way I was,” Garbs said.

Anderson portrayed one of the more than 100 “living dead” students. Earlier that morning, Anderson was pulled from his class. His obituary was read to the students and a memorial for him was placed in his classroom.

“I think the program just helped put the idea in our heads that drunk driving is a terrible thing to do,” he said.

According to Shattered Lives organizers, “the program is intended to teach high school juniors and seniors the consequences of making bad decisions and is aimed at helping students make better life decisions and choices, especially when peer pressure is involved. The program has been geared toward drinking and driving, but also teaches that all decisions and actions have consequences.” For more information about the program, visit www.shatteredlives-tomball.org.

The Society of Samaritans will be distributing Easter baskets to needy children 12 and under in the Magnolia area community on March 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The baskets include candy, toys, coloring books, Bibles, inspirational items and more. Last year, SOS donated more than 350 Easter baskets to the community. The charity will also deliver 400 Easter meals to needy Magnolia area families. Sign up for both the Easter baskets and meals through March 20. SOS is also in need of volunteers to help distribute the baskets and meals. They are located at 31355 Friendship Drive in Magnolia. For more information, call 281-259-8452. Pictured, members of the Joy Sisters Bible Study group of Magnolia First Baptist Church assemble Easter baskets for SOS.
Submitted Photo

TISD saves $850,000 in campus improvement projects

Savings allows board to approve more upgrades

By Brian Walzel
Editor

A number of Tomball Independent School District campus improvement projects have been completed significantly under budget, prompting the Board of Trustees to approve more than $300,000 in additional upgrades at campuses throughout the district.

Starting with an initial allocation of $2.7 million for fund balance projects, just under $1 million of that was earmarked for several projects. All eight of those improvements were completed under budget.

The biggest savings came in the retrofitting of light fixtures at Decker Prairie Elementary (DPES), Lakewood Elementary (LES) and Tomball Intermediate (TIS). That project carried a $380,610 price tag, but was completed for $14,238.06, saving more than $366,000.

Chalkboards at DPES, LES and TIS were replaced with marker boards at an expense of $58,210, a savings of $253,262 from an original cost estimate of $311,472. More than $100,000 was allocated to replace cafeteria windows at both LES and DPES, but the final cost of those upgrades totaled less than $14,000, more than $90,000 under budget.

Once all the projects were completed, the district saw a balance of residual funds of $849,718. The savings allowed the district to approve another $317,000 in projects the following night, including $52,000 to retrofit lights at Tomball High School (THS).

Other improvements the board approved were the addition of remote lighting in the THS parking lot, a new sound system in the school’s competition gym, new drinking fountains at TIS, DPES and LES, and the replacement of old toilets at the THS stadium. The board also approved the installation of up to 32 new security cameras at THS, which could increase the total number of cameras to 90.

“We feel like we still have some areas of the school where we don’t have the monitoring (we would like),” David Schuelke, assistant superintendent for ancillary services, said.

At Rosehill Elementary, a chain link fence will now be placed between the playground and the school’s parking lot to keep children from running into the lot during recess. After the approval of the $317,000 in new projects, the total funds available for additional projects is more than $530,000.

Biblical archaeologist to offer course at Magnolia United Methodist

Dr. James W. Fleming, an archaeologist and scholar of Biblical history and interpretation, will present a Bible Conference entitled “Jesus said ‘I am,’” based on the Book of John, at Magnolia United Methodist Church, April 11, 12 and 13.

Dr. James Fleming will present a Bible archaeology course at Magnolia United Methodist Church from April 11 to 13.

Fleming has taught courses on both the Old and New Testaments across the U.S. and in Israel, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa. His life’s work is to help people understand the Bible through history, archaeology and geography, as well as theology. He uses an ecumenical approach to suggest implications of old and recent discoveries for faith journeys of students. He also leads study tours through the Holy Land, Turkey, Italy, and Greece, teaching how and where different events in the Bible took place and what the impact on the local people was then and what it is now.

Fleming will teach on Friday evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m., on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and will speak at Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. The cost of the course is $30 prior to April 1, plus $20 for an optional notebook. Continuing Education Certificates are available for pastors and other church-related professionals. Lunch and snacks are included in the fee. Registration information is available from the church located at 419 Commerce Street, Magnolia, TX 77355 or by phone at 281-356-6647.

From the Book of Clifford

By Clifford Parker
Contributing Writer

This story is for men only!

(I love doing that! You would not believe the number of women that get angry at me because they read the story anyhow and then get mad even after I have told them the story was for men only!)

Men, we must unite! Our lifestyle is being taken over by women! Travel with me through this deep thought process and let’s consider our plight!

Are women taking? We get in trouble for thinking our thoughts. I’m sure I’m gonna be in trouble for putting them on paper! I have female staff members who answer my questions before I ask them. My wife gets angry at me if I don’t understand her conversations! Has God evolved women to the point that they are actually reading our brain waves?

I am the appointed chauffeur in my family. When the women of the family want to go somewhere, I usually carry them around in our vehicle because it seats eight. They can be talking and talking when all of a sudden my wife will say, “What do you think honey?”

I may respond, “What do I think about what, my love?”

And then, with a tone that tells me I’m in trouble, she will snap back, “Why aren’t you keeping up with our conversation?”

Now, the truth of the matter is the conversation went something like this.

(If you can follow this conversation, then you must be one of the women reading this that aren’t supposed to be reading it in the first place.)

Question: “What time did they leave?”
“About three of them,” was the answer.

Question: “Did they buy anything?”
Response: “Yes, it was a cute red color and I told them I would love to help her.”

Question: “How mad was she?”
Response: “Yes they all had the same one!”

Question: “Really? Oh boy, I bet she really overspent on that!”
Response: “That’s exactly the same kind we saw in the tool shed!,” and on and on and on…

Now, if any of you guy’s can understand the above conversation, you have found waaayyy too much of your feminine side! But I will get in trouble for not connecting to the conversation.

Not only have our brain waves either been tapped or zapped by women, they have now taken to stalking us!

Have you noticed how many men have lost the role as hunter? In the past the male species was the hunter and the female was the prey. Just go to a local mall or any public place. We now see women all dressed up in camouflage.

To me camouflage is issued for one reason and one reason only. That is to hide myself while hunting. To blend in.

The wearing of camouflage in public really doesn’t blend in too well with the glass store fronts and mall settings so I can only assume the women that wear such clothes in public must be trying to learn how to stalk in public.

It’s either that, or they are trying to hide from someone and think the clothes make them blend into their surroundings. I wonder what would happen if I accidentally bumped into one of the fully camouflaged women on the sidewalk. Can I apologize and say, “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you!”

What about the gimmie hats? We don’t even have our own gimmie hats anymore. They now come in all these frilly colors and gimmie hats are now a fashion statement. Some people come into our office with the hat pulled down to the eyelids and dark sunglasses. They make me wonder if they are going to rob the place. But when I see the hat is dirt free, I usually can assume a female is under the hat and then I wonder why she had to take a man’s traditional hat and use it as a fashion statement.

And have you noticed all of the half price sales? Our ladies flock to these discount stores and don’t even realize the half price sale is only selling the half clothes. Look around. Coats, shirts and sweaters now are only half what they used to be.

They all are cut off at the midriff and the bottom half of the stomach area is exposed to the elements. How can half a coat keep a whole body warm?

I am already in trouble with this story. A woman here in my office has already gotten her hands on a rough draft. She pointed out to me that men put on hats, gloves and sweaters and go outside during the winter time in running shorts…

At least a man has hairy legs to protect himself! (Oh no... that’s probably the next fashion trend. Hairy legs and arm pits!)

Oh well, I guess somewhere, somehow this will all work itself out, but in the meantime I sure hope I don’t see any of you guys trying to put on makeup and dresses!

-- Clifford

Cunningham to be out by June, Smith’s fate undecided

By Brian Walzel
Editor

Ron Cunningham’s days as an employee of the City of Magnolia are officially numbered. The City Council met in closed session for more than two hours March 11 to discuss his and Capt. Mike Smith’s fate with the city after a Montgomery County Grand Jury issued indictments against Cunningham, the city’s police chief, and Smith earlier this month.

Ron Cunningham

The council voted to place Cunningham on paid administrative leave through June 30 when his contract expires. According to Mayor Jimmy Thornton, after that time Cunningham’s contract will not be renewed and he will no longer be employed by the city.

When the indictments were announced, Thornton placed Cunningham on what he called an unofficial administrative leave with pay. “He and the captain didn’t want to hang around the department,” he said. “So I just told them to stay home.”

According to Thornton, Cunningham’s salary is approximately $60,000 a year, or about $5,000 a month. By keeping him on the payroll, the city will pay Cunningham $15,000 between now and June 30. Thornton said the council chose not to terminate Cunningham in order to avoid possible legal action. “If you terminate someone before they’re found guilty, you’re opening yourself up to a lawsuit,” he said.

The ruling on Smith was less conclusive. The council agreed to keep him on paid administrative leave at least until the next council meeting. After that, it remains to be seen what will become of Smith’s job with the city. “We have several options we’re looking at,” Thornton said.

Mike Smith

Cunningham and Smith surrendered at the Montgomery County Jail March 10, less than a week after the indictment was handed down. The two posted personal recognizance bonds of $1,500 each for two Class A misdemeanor charges each of official oppression and were later released.

The indictment came for retaliation Cunningham and Smith are alleged to have committed against Cpl. Mike Alexander. Alexander submitted a letter to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in June claiming officers in the department were ordered by Smith and Cunningham to issue tickets to or arrest current councilman Sammie Scott and former councilman Richard Anderson without cause. Alexander was terminated in July after Cunningham claimed the corporal attempted to install tracking software on his computer. Alexander was later reinstated by the City Council and placed on paid administrative leave.

Thornton last week named City Marshal Jeri Carpenter the interim police chief. However, council also instructed City Administrator Ryan Kelley to “seek an individual who is certified to fill the chief’s position until another chief is hired.”

Before a new chief is hired, city administrators want an evaluation of the police department. Council also voted to hire an independent firm “to do an entire evaluation of the police department.”

Hooks to host vintage World War II planes as part of national tour

By Brian Walzel
Editor

As part of a 160-city nationwide tour, The Collings Foundation’s “Wings of Freedom Tour” will land in Tomball March 28 with a trio of vintage World War II bombers on display.

Three vintage World War II bombers (from front to back), the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and the North American B-25 Mitchell, will be on display March 28-31 at Hooks Airport.

The event will be held March 28 through 31 at David Wayne Hooks Airport and will feature the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and the North American B-25 Mitchell, planes the Foundation calls “the backbone of the American effort during the war from 1942 to 1945.”

“If it hadn’t been for these planes, we wouldn’t have won the war,” said Franklin Stephens, Judge Advocate of the Tomball VFW Post 2427. “These planes brought Germany to its knees.”

Visitors can take a tour of the aircrafts for a $10 donation for adults and a $5 donation for children under 12. Thirty-minute flights are also available on each of the planes for between $325 and $425 per person.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. on March 28 with the planes on display at Gill Aviation at the airport. The hours of the ground tours will be from 2 to 5 p.m. March 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 29, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 30 and from 9 a.m. to noon on March 31.

According to Stephens, The Collings Foundation has the largest collection of refurbished vintage World War II planes in the country. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational foundation “devoted to organizing living history events that allow people to learn more about their heritage and history through direct participation.” The tour is in its 19th year and visits an average of 110 cities in more than 35 states each year.

“We (the VFW) didn’t know what kind of reaction they (The Collings Foundation) were going to get and we are getting a fantastic reaction,” Stephens said. He added that the display has made stops before at Ellington Field in south Houston, but the aircraft face such a restricted airspace that event organizers chose to look elsewhere.

Stephens said a renewed interest in World War II history has increased anticipation for the event. “This thing has really grown since the interest in World War II planes,” Stephens said. For reservations and information on flight experiences, call 800-568-8924. For more information about The Collings Foundation, visit www.collingsfoundation.org.

At the March 7 First Friday Luncheon of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tomball Police Department recognized its Officers of the Month. Sherine Amanollahi and Stacey Smith were honored for their involvement in aiding fire fighters in a Feb. 25 fire at Cobble Creek apartments. Pictured (from left to right), Miss Tomball 2008 Caroline Dernick, Woodforest National Bank’s Ashley Crisler, Smith, Amanollahi, and Tomball Police Department Capt. Rick Grassi.
Photo by Amber Roth

Tomball Art League Spring Show ‘best one yet’

The Tomball Art League held its Spring Fine Arts Show March 8 at the Tomball Community Center.

According to event organizers, “the show was the League’s best show yet with over 55 artists participating, showing 220 pieces of art work.” The show was judged by nationally recognized artist Laurie Humble, a member of the Texas Watercolor Society and the National Society of Artists.

Mike Ivey poses with his award-winning piece.

The Best of Show Adult winner was Mike Ivey. Ivey is a retired minister who is now making painting one of his priorities. The Best of Show Student winner was Barry Carter, a middle-school student in the Magnolia Independent School District. Carter was unable to attend the awards ceremony because he was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo accepting an award for another painting submitted in the Rodeo student art competition.

The Tomball Art League is a member of the Lone Star Art Guild and abides by the show rules of the Guild. Those artists winning ribbons in the Spring show will be eligible to compete in the much larger Lone Star show in May.

The League joins with The Regional Arts Council in promoting the arts in the Tomball area, particularly in encouraging young artists. More than 20 artists from surrounding schools entered work in this year’s event.

Lone Star College Nursing Program gets new lab space at Tomball Regional

The Lone Star College (LSC)-Tomball Nursing Program has a new space for its laboratory instruction, which is “bigger, better and right in the center of all the action,” according to Pat Handley, LSC-Tomball program coordinator and adjunct faculty.

Alisa Chandler (left) and Christi Borski (right) perform range of motion exercises on student Carin Bennett (in bed) in the new lab.

This semester the nursing program began using a newly-renovated space on the third floor of the Tomball Regional Medical Center, replacing their old facility in the diagnostic building that was located apart from the hospital.

The LSC-Tomball Nursing Program, which offers degree and certificate training leading to state licensure to become a Registered Nurse or a Licensed Vocation Nurse, utilizes labs to learn and practice nursing skills as part of their training, according to nursing professor Kathy Mikilitus.

“The labs are an essential part of the program because this is where they get the hands-on training,” Mikilitus said. “And the better experience they receive in their labs, the better nurses they will be.”

During labs, students learn how to start IV’s, administer medication, change dressings, and tracheotomy care, among other skills. Using the SIM man and SIM baby – computerized mannequins that simulate many kinds of medical scenarios – nursing students essentially get a life-like patient experience.

The nursing lab facility has five hospital bed stations, as well as two cribs, two offices for staff, a computer lab with Internet and research material access, a waiting area with sofas, and a television/VCR/DVD center for viewing training materials.

Located right above the hospital’s cardiac care unit and across from the emergency department, the lab gives students a feel for their future, said Handley.

“Being in the hospital and walking the same halls as nurses, doctors and staff helps our students visualize their life beyond the classroom,” she said. “It helps to reinforce their goals and why they are in training.”

Indictment latest in a long line of mishaps in Magnolia

By Brian Walzel
Editor

It’s hard not to feel at least a little bad for the City of Magnolia. Recently the announcement came that its police chief, Ron Cunningham and Capt. Mike Smith were indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury and subsequently placed on administrative leave. This is yet another black mark on the city’s checkered past.

For a city so bogged down in controversy, March has been a bad month. Of course, the citizens and its administrators will tell you they don’t want your sympathy; they will hold their heads high and plod on through these rough times. But the rough times seem to never end in Magnolia. Years of infighting among council members, lawsuits involving the police department, investigations, citizen unrest and stagnant city growth have frustrated everyone from the most common citizen up to Mayor Jimmy Thornton.

Some have even relegated themselves to believing Magnolia will always be this way. Thornton is trying desperately to change that perception, but it’s apparent the battles have taken their toll. The jovial Thornton was elected during a perilous time in the city. The police department and two of its council members were entrenched in a bitter lawsuit. City administration was still scrambling from the City Hall fiasco where more than $1 million of citizen money was spent on a building the city barely had time to arrange the furniture in before it was deemed unfit by health officials. Even the city’s water supply system was in such decay and dysfunction, water had to be rationed.

Thornton did his best to put on a happy face, say that everything was going to be okay and that Magnolia was headed in the right direction. Shortly after, the Magnolia Ridge development was announced, the water problems were well on their way to being fixed and a new police chief, Cunningham, was named to replace the embattled Paul Rex.

But Magnolia Ridge, which was hailed as the financial savior of the city, battled countless problems from financing to development and faced continuous delays. The citizens also threw a wrench into the plans when they voted to pink-slip City Manager Roger Carlisle, who was receiving a hefty paycheck from a cash-strapped city.

Perhaps overpaid, but Carlisle was a go-getter, an aw-shucks type who had experience, a plan and a vision, all things the city desperately needed. Now the city is at another crossroads. They thought they had their man in Cunningham. They thought the department would finally be cleaned up and get back to the business of policing the city. But a Montgomery County grand jury had other opinions.

The city does have smart, dedicated people leading it. People like Dave Sutherland, Todd Kana, Patsy Williams and Thornton all have their own ideas, and perhaps agendas, but they all want what they believe is best for the city.

Here is their chance. Starting last week they began to put the whole Cunningham/Smith/Alexander debacle behind them and took a significant step forward with the announcement that they will hire an independent company to evaluate the department. That is the sort of wide-range thinking the city needs. It will take a long, long time to right the wrongs that have been done in Magnolia. But be patient and have faith in the decision makers.

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