Sounding Board
Our Readers Write Email us at: bensharp@journal-spectator.com
County could lose acreage with TTC

Letter to the Editor:

Recent articles in the local papers discussing city government actions in regard to the proposed Trans Texas Corridor portray a disconnect of information.

The just released Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by TxDOT for the I-69/TTC project contradicts certain assumptions in these articles.

Firstly, the articles refer to a corridor width of 1,200 feet whereas the DEIS states that the minimum study width of the corridor is one-half mile (2,640 feet) with a maximum width of "generally four miles." (Note: Wharton County would lose over 20,000 acres from the tax base if the TTC were to cross the county at a nominal width of one mile.)

Secondly, comments by city officials indicate a certainty that the corridor will be constructed along the existing Hwy 59 rightof way. The DEIS identifies the "New Location Corridor Alternative" as the preferred option and states the use of "Existing Facilities" (Hwy 59) is beyond the scope of the study.

If TxDOT has informed the various regional groups studying the TTC that the Hwy 59 right-of-way will be used, then this begs the question of why we the taxpayers of the State of Texas are spending in excess of 100 million dollars to complete an environmental impact review that does NOT study this option.

I encourage all residents of Wharton County to become informed about this important issue. The DEIS is available in its entirety at TxDOT's website: ttc.keeptexasmoving.com

Please make plans to attend one of the upcoming public meetings.

Joe King

Glen Flora

Corridor might increase traffic woes

Letter to the Editor:

Please everybody, it is time to wake up to what the Trans Texas Corridor is going to do to our county and to our state!

TxDOT is going to use OUR TAX MONEY to buy the land to build a superhighway to move imported goods THROUGH the state from Mexico to Canada and to the middle of the country. There will be no LOCAL benefit from this thing and it is NOT being built as a regional transportation solution.

Matter of fact, with its limited access, it will cut off the southern part of the state from the remainder and actually make our (and Houston's) traffic problems WORSE.

And, insult to injury, a FOREIGN company is going to build it, manage it, and profit from it. This makes me think that we are supposed to pay our taxes to help pay for our own destruction. It will destroy homes, farms and livelihoods.

It will erase our community, and many others. Many families will be displaced. And you can expect to pay more taxes because of it.

Why don't they just bill it as the Great Wall of China - because it will divide Wharton county (and the state of Texas) in half.

Sharon Thyssen

Glen Flora

DA's office praised in murder case

DA's office praised

Letter to the Editor:

I am writing concerning how I see Josh McCown and his staff and the quality of job they all perform from an outsider's viewpoint. My name is Marvin Dunnam and I reside in Beaumont. I first met Mr. McCown in 1999 when our daughter, Lori (Dunnam) Lopez was murdered in a remote area of Wharton County. The entire District Attorney's office was extremely helpful during this very hard time for our family.

They not only worked with all branches of law enforcement involved in the case but they bent over backwards to assure us that everything possible was being done to locate Lori's killer and bring him to justice. Her killer was located in Mexico and this required countless hours, days and months of hard work to finally get him extradited to Wharton County for a trial.

All during this time Mr. McCown kept in close personal touch with me and my wife to reassure us and keep us up to date on all proceedings, while at the same time keeping any information confidential that might affect the trial, so as not to cause any blemish on the outcome of the trial.

I firmly believe that it was only due to the professional way that Mr. McCown and his staff handled every detail of the case and led the investigation along with the sheriff's office and the Texas Ranger's office, that an extradition of the killer, Romeo Lopez, and later a hearing ending with a guilty plea and a long jail sentence, ever happened.

I and my wife along with our son have become lifelong friends with Mr. McCown and his assistants, Becky Ivy and Pat Potter. I can't count the many phone calls, letters, Christmas cards and cards of encouragement we have received from them, not to mention all the other personal and thoughtful things they have extended to our family.

I never expected to receive this level of treatment from a District Attorney's office and I know we would have just become a number lost in the cracks if the case had been moved to Harris County like some would have liked to see.

I personally respect Josh McCown as a true professional in his profession while at the same time allowing the victim's family the courtesy of being treated like real people.

Due to that I will always proudly regard Josh as a true friend, a champion of the law and an advocate for justice.

Marvin and Connie Dunnam

Beaumont