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By Brandon k. Scott
One of the things on lindaWoltkamp’s bucket list was tofinally meet her father’s pilot fromtheir days serving in the unitedStates Army Air Force duringWorld War II.
Woltkamp’s father Fred diednearly four years ago, but not
By Brandon k. Scott
A handful of citizens had achance Saturday to see forthemselves what Huntsvilleschool district administratorshave been clamoring about formore than a year concerningrundown campus facilities.
The morning tour took inter-ested community members on abus from Huntsville HighSchool to Mance Park Middle
School, then Scott JohnsonElementary and Gibbs Pre-KCenter.
Those are the four campusesHISD would like to either makesignificant renovations to, ordemolish, due to the age of thefacilities and corresponding
operational issues.Tourists seemed to agree the
older parts of Mance Park werethe most objectionable. RichHeliand, who spoke against lastspring’s failed bond election,
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THE HuNTSVIllE ITEM$1.50Sunday, January 12, 2014
sPorTs: Bearkats sweep basketball doubleheader — Page 1B
Weather......................... 2a
obituaries...................... 5a
opinion.......................... 4a
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High: 72 low: 55
It’s going to be a beautifulday to play some golf orgo to the park. With a hightemperature in the low-70s, why not do both?
WEATHERsPorTsCHAMBer GAlA In PICTuresPage 1B
Pages 2A & 3A
JoSHua YateS/tHe HuntSvIlle Item
the boys showers at mance Park middle School made an impact on about a dozen Huntsville community members who toured four separate HISD campuses Saturday morning. Students, teachersand employees at mance Park middle School must deal with many daily challenges, including a cramped kitchen, drainage and plumbing problems and worn-out equipment in the gym areas.
Three-hour tourCommunity members go on
of four Huntsville ISD schools
JoSHua YateS/tHe HuntSvIlle Item
administrators showed potential voters the crowded kitchen area at HuntsvilleHigh School where meals are prepared daily for about 1,300 students.
JoSHua YateS/tHe HuntSvIlle Item
Charles Wagamon, left, leads linda Woltkamp and her brother tom on a tour ofthe HeaRtS veterans museum on Friday afternoon. Wagamon flew with theWoltkamps’ father, Fred Woltkamp, during combat missions in World War II and itwas linda’s wish to meet Wagamon after her father passed away.
Unique reunionmakes everyonehappy at HEARTSVeterans Museum
Who will be Huntsville’snext Citizen of the Year?Huntsville Item accepting nominations now
Parts of Mance Park Middle School makeimpact on small group of morning visitors
See SchoolS, page 9A
“ ... Mance Park was worse than I thought it was. There are definitely some issues and I haven’t
got a clue on how to fix them all.”Rich Heiland / Huntsville citizen after tour of Huntsville ISD schools
See reunion, page 6A
By cody Stark
Nominations are nowbeing accepted for TheHuntsville Item’s 17th annu-al Citizen of the Year Award,which honors an individualor individuals who havemade significant contribu-tions to the community.
To be eligible for theaward, a nominee must liveor work in Walker County.
Nominees will be judgedaccording to their contribu-tions toward the advance-ment of the community withparticular emphasis on thepast 12 months.
The winner will beannounced at a reception inhonor of the finalists on Feb.20 at 6 p.m. in the confer-ence center at the HEARTSVeterans Museum. The
See citizen, page 6A
1-12 editorial pages:layout 1 1/11/14 11:29 Pm Page 1
by stePhen Green
With every educational institution inWalker county shut down for the day, studentsgot a chance to learn — some for the first time— about foreign objects flying down from thesky.
reports of the substance rarely found insouthern parts of texas began late thursdaynight until this strange stuff created a smallblanket tucking away cars, buildings and real-ly everything it touched.
meteorologists call it “snow.”isaiah mclellan, 7, and his family drove to
huntsville from conroe to find hills snowyenough to slide down in makeshift sleds.
“i thought you could make snow angels,”mclellan said while chasing ducks and geesearound the grounds of the sam houstonmemorial museum. “but if you’re in texas allyou get is grass.”
many native texans have never seen truesnow, but instead a slushy mixture of snowand sleet. mclellan said he has seen real snowbefore.
“Well yeah!” he said. “on tv.”sam houston state university students
rachel drewes and ruth oviedo had classesoff, too. they were furiously writing names onthe top of a snow-covered picnic table.although they had seen snow before, theywere excited when it flurried to the ground
late thursday night.“my first thought was, ‘i have to build a
snowman,’” said drewes, a senior theatermajor. “so we’re out here writing ourfriends’ names in the snow and sending it tothem.”
oviedo, a senior criminal justice major,works for the museum and was excited whenthe school, which includes the museumgrounds, sent out the message around 10:30p.m. that facilties were closing due to thewintry weather.
“i almost had to work today,” she said. “iwoke up my roommate last night. i couldn’tmiss the opportunity to go outside (in thesnow).”
several families walked the museumgrounds, Pritchett Field, the university cam-pus and the various parks aroundhuntsville. they took pictures and videosof themselves in snowball fights or throw-ing the powder into the air and letting it cas-cade down.
others stayed home and feverishly rolledsnowmen and gave them a texas-stylemakeover.
Weather reports say the Walker countyarea got between 3 and 4 inches. city andcounty emergency crews worked overnightto sand roads in need.
all facilities closed due to the weatherare expected to resume function during theirregularly scheduled hours.
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sPOrTs: Bearkats hire new head football coach — Page 9a
The survey says: K.C.’s the Bearkats’ new man
JoShua YateS/the huntSville item
Sam houston State’s new head football coach K.C. Keeler told reporters Friday afternoon that hecame to huntsville to win championships. he believes the Bearkats are positioned well to makeanother run at an nCaa Football Championship Subdivision national title. Keeler was introducedFriday to Bearkat football supporters and the media before meeting with the Sam houston Stateplayers. For a complete story on Friday’s press conference, see Sports, page 9a.
by stePhen Green
it looks like a lot of people agree withhuntsville isd. the time has come to builda couple of new schools, or make signifi-cant upgrades at existing schools, at least.
more than 600 people took huntsvillleisd’s online survey that was done to meas-ure the community’s support for anotherbond election. more than 70 percent ofrespondents believe the district’s facilitiesneed a major upgrade.
the preliminary results, released at
thursday night’s board of trustees meeting,seem to suggest that respondents thinkhisd buildings need improvement withonly 27 percent saying the district had“adequate and appropriate facilities.”
dr. karin olson-Williams, hisd boardmember, said that the board should treadlightly with the results.
“We need to be very careful with theway we interpret these results,” she said.“these results don’t mirror those whovoted in (last spring’s bond) election.”
JoShua YateS/the huntSville item
a fresh layer of snow covers the ground on the South side of tX-hwy 19 just before sunrise Friday morning. huntsville residents awoke to frozen roads and icy windows as the winter weather blew 3
inches of snow into Walker County late thursday night.
Let it snow!
Community may vote infavor of bond this time
more than 70 percent of survey’s respondents believesome of huntsville’s schools need major upgrades
See survey, page 7A
Citizens frolic in winter wonderland
Stephen green /the huntSville item
Snowmen begin to pop up around town ashuntsville residents of all ages enjoy the raresnowy conditions on Friday morning. ice and snowcovered much of Walker county as the winterweather settled in late thursday night.
by michael Graczyk
associated Press
HOUSTON — A federalappeals court has upheld theconviction of a former Texascollege student from SaudiArabia sentenced to life inprison for trying to make abomb for use in a religiousattack that possibly was target-ing former President GeorgeW. Bush.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Courtof Appeals on Thursday reject-ed an appeal from Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 23. A federalcourt jury in Amarillo in June2012 convicted him ofattempting to use a weapon ofmass destruction.
Prosecutors said Aldawsari,serving his life term at a feder-al prison in Terra Haute, Ind.,had collected bomb-makingmaterial in his Lubbock apart-ment and researched possibletargets, including Bush’sDallas home, the Cotton Bowl,Hoover Dam and “people ofNew York,” according to thetrial transcript.
Aldawsari’s lawyers con-tended in their appeal beforethe New Orleans-based 5thCircuit that the trial judgeimproperly allowed evidence,gave invalid jury instructionsand erred in calculatingAldawsari’s sentence.
Dan Cogdell, the lead attor-ney for Aldawsari, did notimmediately respond to mes-sages Friday from TheAssociated Press.
Aldawsari was arrested inFebruary 2011 after the FBIsearched his computer andapartment for evidence underterms of the ForeignIntelligence Surveillance Act,which allows such searches ifthere’s probable cause theoffender is an “agent of a for-eign power.” The appeal con-tended the search involvingAldawsari wasn’t validbecause there was no evidenceof any foreign power’sinvolvement.
But a three-judge panel ofthe appeals court said “pro-tection of the nation againstterrorist threats” made thesearch proper under a provi-sion of the act.
Convictionupheld inTexasbomb plot
See bomb, page 7A
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sPorts: Bearkats bounce lamar in southland Conference basketball — Page 1B
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Obituaries...................... 5A
Opinion.......................... 4A
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High: 67 Low: 47
Partly cloudy and season-able. increasing cloudslate. Winds S 5-10 mph.
WEATHERsPortsPets of the weekPage 1B
Page 2a
BlACK HISTORY MONTH — JOREEN WAddEll
ElECTION 2014: WAlKER COuNTY TREASuRER
After 13 years in treasurer’s office,Klawinsky wants to be the boss
By StepHen Green
She’s done the time. Now she has hereyes on the top prize.
Walker County Treasurer candidateAmy Buckner-Klawinsky has workedfor the treasurer’s office for 13 years.She said after encouragement from herfamily and coworkers, she wants to be
the boss.“My knowledge of
county government willallow me to support thepeople of WalkerCounty,” she said.
Klawinsky is current-ly the county’s assistant
klawinsky
Now’s the perfect time for Cook torun for public office, and to serve
By StepHen Green
This campaign for Walker Countytreasurer has been a long time comingfor Huntsville Realtor Martha WilliamsCook.
She said she’s always wanted to runfor public office.
“When I saw that the incumbent was
not running, I decided tofile,” Cook said lastweek. “I was a teacherfor a number of yearsand I thought about iteven back then, but itjust wasn’t possible atthat time.”
Cook
STePHen green/THe HunTSviLLe iTem
retired HiSD teacher Joreen Waddell stands on the steps of mance Park middle school, the former site of Huntsville High School where she was one of a group of students to lead the integration.
Joreen Kelly Waddell, farleft, stands next to homeeconomics teacher LucilleJohnston, Huntsville HighSchool’s first black facultymember, in 1967.
PHOTOS cOurTeSy Of
HunTSviLLe HigH ScHOOL
See klAWinSky, page 9A See cook, page 8A
Joreen Kelly, right,is pictured during
her freshman yearat Huntsville High
School.
HISTORY MAKERBy StepHen Green
September 7, 1965 was an average dayin Huntsville. Students slowly got out ofbed and headed off to school for the firstday of class.
At the time, they had no idea they werebecoming a part of history.
Joreen Kelly (now Joreen Waddell)put on the new clothes her mother justbought from Felder’s Dry Goods store.She fixed up her hair and walked toschool.
For many of the students of HuntsvilleHigh School, the first day of school in thefall of 1965 would be like any other. Butfor Waddell, it was the beginning of a
four-year adventure in unexplored terri-tory.
Waddell was one of the first black stu-dents who chose to attend HuntsvilleHigh School rather than the all-blackSam Houston High School when HISDbegan the integration process.
“I told my mom I wanted to sign up togo to Huntsville High School,” Waddell
said late last week, recalling a tense con-versation with her mother, Ella MaeKelly, who still lives in Huntsville. “Shewasn’t excited at all, mainly because thesummer before this was to take place,they had the ‘Hey You!’ (civil rights)movement, the marching and all of this to
See HiStory, page 7A
Joreen Waddell remembers what it was like to be one of Huntsville High School’s first black students
We may get a short breaktoday from the brutal heat thathas become the rule in Huntsvilleover the lastcouple ofweeks. It mighteven rain a lit-tle more today.
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SPORTS: Freshman quarterback catches coach’s eyes — Page 7A
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Opinion.......................... 4A
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indexHigh: 88 Low: 73
Weather
The hunTsville iTem
The Greater East Texas CommunityAction Program Head Start, serving WalkerCounty, will hold an orientation for all par-ents of children attending Head Start for theupcoming school year.
Parents need to plan to attend one of theAug. 14 sessions, either at 1 p.m. or 6 p.m.People are being asked to contact the centerimmediately at (936) 291-9190 if they havenot yet registered for a session.
The event will be held at the HuntsvilleHead Start Center, located at 125 FM 980, inHuntsville.
During the meeting, staff members will
By sTephen Green
Huntsville’s City Council was supposed to decide onan agreement between the city and BFI Crossroads, aDallas developer, at next Tuesday’s meeting. But that’snot going to happen.
Mayor Mac Woodward told the Item on Thursdaythat BFI Crossroads asked for the agreement to bepulled from the Council’s agenda as of 6:47 p.m.Wednesday.
“I don’t want to speculate on what he’s doing toomuch,” Woodward said, referring to Jeff Brand, manag-er for BFI Crossroads. “He said he was going to go backand review the plans he had.”
Brand told City Council on July 15 that the project —situated on the west side of Huntsville on Interstate 45between Walmart and the Ravenwood Shopping Center— would bring in a Spec’s liquor store and three otherbusinesses, including a 4,400-square-foot sit-downrestaurant.
City Council was considering a 5-year tax incentiveof a maximum $350,000. That would be split among 50
percent of the property tax on the improvements madeto the land, 50 percent of the sales taxes on Spec’s andthe sit-down restaurant, and a waiver on permit andinspection fees.
The total amount of taxes, at an estimate, that wouldbe rebated to the developer would have been slightlyover $343,000, according to economic developmentdirector Aron Kulhavy.
Councilman Keith Olson said the news of Brandpulling the request for the 380 agreement was disap-pointing.
“It’s disappointing that we could lose out on somegrowth, no doubt about it,” Olson said Thursday after-noon. “The only way we are even able to consider
decreasing taxes is dependant on growth.”Olson and Councilman Don Johnson both argued in
favor of the agreement at the last meeting.Councilmen Andy Brauninger, Ronald Allen and Joe
Rodriguez all argued against the agreement as some-thing that might kill small businesses in Huntsville in anunfair way. Brauninger said Thursday that he’s not sureif the developer pulled the agreement based on the reac-tion from the July 15 meeting.
“I was opposed to giving the 380, so I guess from mypersonal standpoint it solves my concerns,” Brauningersaid. “So I don’t look at it as a victory or a loss. He made
For now,
the sun setson city’s latest controversial retail center
dallas developer pulls out of project that had huntsville’s city council divided as it headed for vote
TOm WADDILL/THE HUNTSvILLE ITEm
The vacant land between Huntsville’s Walmart and Target stores will remain that way for a while. A Dallas developer pulled out of a possible retail project that would have brought a Spec’s liqour store, asit-down restaurant and two other stores to town.
“It’s disappointing that we could lose out on some growth, no doubt about it. The only way we are even able to consider
decreasing taxes is dependant on growth.”
KEITH OLSON / Huntsville city councilman
“I was opposed to giving the 380, so I guess ... it solves my concerns. So I don’t
look at it as a victory or a loss. He made thedecision that it might not be a good idea.”
ANDY BRAUNINGER / Huntsville city councilman
Parents’ orientationplanned for head startprogram in huntsville
See reTail, page 3A
See orienTaTion, page 2A
Armored truck offer ‘suicide’The hunTsville iTem
Editor’s Note: Fred Carrasco, whoalong with two other inmates tookhostages in the library of the HuntsvilleUnit, finally made a transportationdemand for their attempted escape.These stories appeared in the Aug. 2,1974 edition of The Huntsville Item.
Speaking through the daughter ofone of the 10 civilian hostages, FredGomez Carrasco called an offer oftransportation by TDC Director W.J.Estelle a “suicide” offer, and again stat-ed his demand that no condition be
CarrasCo siege 40th anniversary
TexasDepartment ofCorrectionsDirector W.J.Estelle Jr., insuit and tie,talks to thenews mediagathered out-side theHuntsville Unitto give anupdate on thehostage situa-tion in the unit’slibrary duringthe summer of1974.
See suicide, page 3A
HI_20140801_A001_Layout 1 7/31/14 10:49 Pm Page 1
by stePhen Green
The events of theCarrasco siege are well-
known.Three inmates held up
the Huntsville “Walls”Unit for 11 days in theprison library. The siegeended with two of theinmates dead, as well astwo prison employees,Elizabeth Von Beseda andJulia Standley.
Standley was a librarianand Beseda was a mathteacher for the prisonschool district. They werekilled at the end of thesiege when the inmatesmounted their grandescape attempt in amakeshift Trojan horse.Out of ideas and short ontime, the inmates shot thewomen in the head duringtheir deadly escapeattempt.
“(Beseda) was alwaysfull of life,” said SandyRisinger, at the time a 28-year-old mother expectingher second son. “Her andher husband both. It wasso hard to lose her.”
Risinger knew Besedawell because her motherworked at the storeBeseda’s parents owned.She also attended schoolwith Beseda’s son.
Risinger and otherHuntsville residents were
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indexhigh: 90 low: 72
east texas’ brief summerrespite from the brutal heat isnot over yet. Get out and enjoytoday’s cooler temperaturesbecause the hot stuff should beback by the middle of the week.see you at the park.
Weather
WWIInnddHHAAmm SSccHHooooll ddIISSttrrIIcctt
4400 YYeeAArrSS llAAtteerr
PPaaggee 99AA
CarraSCo Siege 40th anniverSary
Photos Courtesy of the texas DePartment of Criminal JustiCe
Correctional officers and texas Department of Corrections staff members tend to the injured immediately following the exchange of gunfire between law enforcement officers and the trio of hostage tak-ers at the conclusion of a tense 11-day standoff at the huntsville “Walls” unit back in the summer of 1974.
‘Something you never forget’
Photos Courtesy of the texas DePartment of Criminal JustiCe
With inmates on the outside acting as extra protection, fred Carrasco, ignacioCuevas and rudolfo Dominguez walk slowly out of the “Walls” unit surrounded by ahomemade shield on the night of aug. 3, 1974. When the inmates got stuck on theramp coming out of the prison, shooting began. tDC employees elizabeth Besedaand Julia standley were both shot and killed. Carrasco and Dominguez were alsokilled during the shoot-out.
People who were insidethe ‘Walls’ still remember
by cody stark
It seemed like just another dayas people went about their busi-ness at the Huntsville “Walls”Unit on July 24, 1974.
Inmates were shooting hoops inthe yard with Texas Department ofCorrections officers keeping aclose watch nearby.
Lt. Wayne Scott, a 23-year-oldSam Houston State Universitygraduate, was returning from theback gate about 1 p.m. after send-ing out inmates on the afternoonwork squad.
That’s when normal routineturned to total chaos.
“There was yelling that inmateshad hostages and guns in thelibrary,” Scott recalls 40 yearslater. “Not knowing what tobelieve I started walking up theramp to check it out with anotherguard, Bruce Noviskie. Twoinmates suddenly appeared andstarted shooting at us through theglass doors, and we vacated thearea as fast as we could.”
Scott, who would eventuallybecome the executive director ofthe Texas Department of CriminalJustice before retiring in 2001, hada close call as a bullet tore throughhis shirt without hitting him.
by JP mcbride
The longest prison siege in U.S.history ended 40 years ago todayright here in Huntsville, with abloody shoot-out that killed twohostages, Elizabeth Beseda andJulia Standley, and two inmates,Fred Carrasco and RudyDominguez.
Former Huntsville Item CityEditor David Lindsey andManaging Editor Mike Leggettrecall the Carrasco prison siegebeing the most nationally prominentnews story they ever covered duringtheir long newspaper careers.
“Being part of a national storyfrom Huntsville, Texas, and havingthe advantage of knowing every-body from various churches andcivic clubs, it was a very personaland very intense experience as ayoung reporter,” said Lindsey, whowas 22 years old when the siegeoccurred back in 1974.
“Frankly, as many stories as I’vewritten since then, and even to thisday, there was nothing that grabbedme by the throat like that did,” headded.
Leggett feels the same aboutthose 11 long days in Huntsville.
See inside, page 8A
Forty years later,Item editors share
memories fromthe biggest storyof their careers
SSPPoorrttSSPPaaggee 11BB
Somber Huntsville residentsremember victims and the
aftermath of 11-day standoff
See somber, page 5A See story, page 6A
8-3 editorial pages_layout 1 8/2/14 10:24 Pm Page 1
By Winston spencer [email protected]
After nine years as the assis-tant director, John Green is final-ly the man in charge of theHuntsville Hornet MilitaryMarching Band.
Green’s the boss now and hecan do whatever he wants. A wiseman, though, Green says if it’snot broken, why try and fix any-thing.
“The band has been so suc-cessful for a decade now,” Greensaid late last week as he preparedfor a summer workout with theentire band. “Nine of those yearsI’ve been here and there are a lotof traditions already in place. Ourkids are a family here and it’s alot of things we do for them tofeel that way.
“It works, so I’m going to con-tinue doing it.”
Green learned a lot from hispredecessor, Nick Luggerio. He’sproud of what the Hornet Bandhas accomplished and is lookingforward to future successes in
Huntsville. “I don’t want to just maintain,”
Green said. “I want us to keepgetting better, and we are alwaysgoing to continue to seek outways of doing just that — keepgetting better.”
Green believes he’s got the tal-
ent and the kind of students tokeep moving the Hornet Bandforward.
Upperclassmen in the bandknow their roles. They constantlyencourage the younger students,while simultaneously upholdinga standard they not only expect,
but require from one another.Step into the Hornet Band’s
sanctuary and you’ll see why thisis a championship program.Everything is dress right dress,polished, and it’s still the “presea-
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Indexhigh: 97 low: 76
the temperature in huntsvillewon’t hit 100 today, but it’s goingto be close. if you go outside toplay or work, be smart abouthow long you stay in the sun.Drink plenty of water and wearlight clothing. looks like we’re infor another hot week.
WeatHer
SPoRTSBeST BeTS
Page 1BPage 6A
Students: STAAR test more challenginghigh school sophomore says students should ask more questions, take advantage of tutoring
huntsville hornet military marchinG Band
Joshua Yates/the huntsville item
huntsville high school band director John Green, center, watches over the hornet military marching band during step drills on thursday afternoon at huntsville highschool. this is Green’s first year as the hornets’ head band director after serving as the assistant director for the past nine years.
Leader of tHe Bandlongtime assistant
director Green excitedabout opportunity tolead hornet Band toeven higher heights
submitteD Photo
mcKayla Chamberlain’s carburst into flames after she raninto the railing on a bridge onstate highway 75 north.
Potentialtragedyturns outwell forHuntsvilleHS senior
By Winston spencer [email protected]
It all started to unfoldearly in the afternoon onJuly 25.
Kasie Kroll was atwork when the secretarytold here that she had anemergency telephone call.Perplexed, her mindimmediately went tothoughts of her 9-year-old.
chamberlain andher family believesomeone waswatching over them
See senior, page 9A
By stephen Green
After a month of bad newsregarding test scores, then afterhearing a relatively positivereport about accountability rat-ings, some Huntsville ISD stu-dents say the mixed results maybe because the STAAR test isfairly different from tests inyears past.
Darrick Hill, a soon-to-besenior at Huntsville HighSchool, said if he had to choosebetween the STAAR test and theTAKS test, which was eliminat-ed two years ago, it’d be the lat-ter.
“I didn’t like it then,” Hillsaid Friday. “But man I’d giveanything for the TAKS back.”
Hill says the STAAR testmakes students think more
rather than just going to find theanswer. Sophomore JaydenMathis agreed.
Mathis said the tests are simi-lar in their makeup, but that theyrequire students to think more.
“You can’t just go into thepassage or the reading, find theinformation and regurgitate it,”she said. “You have to slowdown and comprehend what thetest is telling you.”
HISD executive director ofcurriculum and instructionMarjetta Spriggs has said beforethat the tests changed from onethat measures base knowledge,like facts and figures, to one thatrequires students to pair thatknowledge with critical thinkingskills. Students have to analyzepassages rather than simplyfinding the answer in front ofthem as in previous tests.
This shift in testing philoso-phy was apparent statewide thisyear. Where TAKS passing rateswere in the high 80s to 90s inmost subjects and grade levels,schools were lucky to haveexceeded 70 percent this year.
“I don’t think many studentswere ready to carefully readthese passages and rely on
See staar, page 3A
Joshua Yates/the huntsville item
huntsville high school band director John Green, wearing a hat, discusses the day’s practice plan with a group of sectionleaders, who are also known as “momma and Papa Ducks,” during band practice thursday afternoon.
See leader, page 2A
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