VOLUME 27, NO. 138 MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012

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Petition Fails: A petition to sell liquor by the drink in Liberty has failed to garner the required number of certifiable signatures to move forward. Of the 787 signatures that appeared on the petition, 447 were qualified and 340 others were disqualified. To prompt an election, 695 qualified signatures were required.

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Devers Superintendent: On Thursday, Devers ISD trustees named Elizabeth “Liz” Ellisor Harris, 54, as the lone finalist for superintendent to replace Dr. Cody Abshier. There is a required 21-day waiting period before that can come to a final vote.

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Runoff: Early voting begins today and continues through this Friday for the July 31 party primary runoff elections. Liberty County has four local Republican primary runoff races. There’s also a GOP runoff for the newly created U.S. Representative District 36 seat that includes all of Liberty County. Early voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today through Friday at the Liberty County Courthouse, the Cleveland Annex and Dayton Community Center. Voting is 3 to 7 p.m. at Hardin City Hall.

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Dayton Tax Rate: Dayton City Council is proposing a tax rate increase of 4½ cents per $100 of assessed property value to 68.53 cents this coming year. Dayton City Manager David Douglas said a drop in certified values in Dayton of more than 5 percent has left council with little choice if they are to keep tax revenue where it was last year. The projected Dayton city budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 is slightly more than $12 million. That’s about a $1 million increase over last year’s 11.3 million city budget. Public hearings on the proposed budget and tax rate for the City of Dayton will be in August.

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2012 Property Values: The Liberty County Central Appraisal District has released its Certified 2012 Property Values, and Chief Appraiser Alan D. Conner said there has been a slight increase in countywide values. The estimated final certified values for 2012 are $4.419 billion – that’s up 2.46 percent from last year.

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Obituaries: Beatrice “Bea” Cessna Larke, 94, of Rockwall, formerly of Dayton, Liberty and Hardin. Service is 10 a.m. Tuesday at Pace-Stancil in Dayton. 

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*Lake Release: 1,000 CFS – Liberty Bridge: 6.42 ASL*