This evening, Rep. Michael Wray and Senator Douglas Berger will hold a public forum on the proposed House budget and its impact on four key areas of our district. The forum is slated for 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at the old courthouse in Henderson, 122 Young St. You may view more information about it on the event page on our calendar here.
Wednesday I had lunch at Don Lorenzo’s downtown and Velma immediately gave me a great report of the interest in the gift certificate promotion. She said there were numerous people coming in saying they were hoping to win the contest. She had not heard of our website before I approached her about the promotion so having so many people come in and talk to them about it was an eye opener. I do want to clarify something for those that went. She reported that several people asked who I was, and she would not say. That was not my intention. Here’s what happened. When I arranged the promotion, I explained we had to do it in a way that the winner could receive the prize yet still remain anonymous to me. I explained about the community’s desire that people remain anonymous unless they wanted their identity revealed (via a Verified Account for instance). She mistook that to mean that I wanted to be anonymous, which is not the case. My name is plastered everywhere, I’m past the point of being anonymous. So apologies to those who she would not reveal anything about me, that was not intended.
In relation, this was a great experiment to gauge business and community involvement in our website. Don Lorenzo’s saw a direct effect on their customer base regarding the promotion. We would love to run more promotions and contests, and your business could help. If you would like to reach over 4,000 area readers with your business, advertising isn’t your only option. You could donate a gift certificate, a product, a free service etc. for us to use as a promotion. Any value item is appreciated. (We could bundle small items together for a package prize) The winner of the $20 gift certificate to Don Lorenzo’s, Jennifer, exclaimed on our Facebook she was so grateful because this was the first thing she had ever won in her life. Jennifer, even though it was only $20 we are glad you can now saw you have won something! If you’re interested please contact us for details.
I am surprised so many people asked about me. So much that she had to mention it to me. Given that, would it be helpful to anyone to have an official HiH meet and greet event? The problem with that is then you’re revealing your face to me, and to the others who come. But if everyone understands that no one will reveal their username your comments still remain your own.
Enjoy Thursday’s open line
Why do you waste your time and energy with this police blotter reports and ignore the issues in the city and county. I see nothing about the increase in water rate rates that has nothing to do with the cost of water or the cost of cleaning sewer water. The county held a meeting without public notice to hire some high pressure salesman to compel residence to buy their water plan. And all HiH can worry about in making the police chief look good.
Jason I am pleading for you to retake editorial control of HiH this new owner has no clue what he should be doing.
There are plenty of us who want to see the police blotter reports Anonymous. Jason did a great job and the new owner is doing a great job.
I will agree that this site has definitly changed; and looking at how many post are done each day, and what is being talked about; it looks like HiH is on the down side. I have noticed that alot of issues within the county and city are not talked about. The proposed budgets, tax increases, the incident at MPH, are not even metioned, all we get are reports from Burger and Wray. I know Phil is doing an excellant job with what he has, but could HiH being ‘done a slow death’?
Commissioner Eddie Wright, in my personal notes of the May 6th Commissioner’s meeting I wrote ‘of course Tommy is being sneaky with this zoning proposal; just like the rest of the Commissioners have been sneaky about County Wide Water’. There were two requirements for the water plan, 50.1% of the voters had to approve borrowing the money and 80% of the property owners had to buy into the plan. The voter’s gave you step 1, the property owners across the county did not give you step 2. So the commissioners and the County Manager did the age old divide and conquer routine until an 80% in one small area could be contrived. That is sneaky. That is less than honorable. That is not what I expect from someone claiming to be a man of the christian god.
The straight head plan of zoning and water failed! So the Commissioners return with a divided plan, water first next zoning. Sneaky people will do their dirty work behind closed doors and in closed Commissioner’s meetings.
What I saw and heard from the peanut gallery that night was nothing short of a revelation by Commissioner Brummitt, that a sneak attack on the citizenry was well under way. Commissioner Wright as the saying goes, when the shoe fits you wear it.
Thank you Commissioner Brummitt for revealing the deceptive endeavors to zone the county.
I love to read the police blotter. I wish there was more of it. I think the new owner is doing a great job.
I was right disappointed that we sent a reporter to the city council meeting on Monday to do a report and hardly anyone commented on it. If there’s not interest we won’t continue to do it. Anonymous, and anyone else, if you would like to donate your time to attend meetings and write reports please contact me.
In case you missed it: http://homeinhenderson.com/2011/05/10/henderson-city-manager-unveils-budget-shortfalls/
Also today the Henderson – Vance Chamber of Commerce is hosting a membership drive. Read about the details http://homeinhenderson.com/event-detail/?event=30
I guess Anonymous you are just impatient, i believed last City council, HIH posted a news about the city council and Phil Hart even hired a reporter just to be in the meeting. Transitioning to one owner to another needs time and patience, it just like moving to a new house. I guess I rather have someone reporting me what happened on a city, county or board of education in an article rather than having Phil posted a hour of video that I have to listen.
I am already thinking of putting the link in my comment for the last report you did for the city council last Monday for the benefits of Anonymous and OneVoice. Thank you Mr. Hart for the link I hope Anonymous will stop whining about the city council and stop pretending he is concern about it.
This is called an Open Line which means anyone can bring up anything for discussion and/or comment. If you want to talk about water, taxes, etc. post your comment or your complaint and let others respond. I am appreciative of the blotter and other news because it keeps me informed without having to pay the Dispatch for some of the same information. Crime reports should be a public service so that citizens can be informed about what is happening where.
Very rarely did I ever post on the old style HiH. I read over it, but often times I just never felt the desire to post. Now I do. The format is great. It feels classier with more restraints to keep the garbage out. This is where citizens can come together, exchange ideas and discover what is really happening in the place we call home.
Hello One Voice, thank you for noticing that we are really putting a lot of stuff online and I am sure that is why you missed out some of the news we covered about the city council meeting and even the incident in MPH. (those were reported and blogged in the site)
For your references, please see link below for the MPH incident:
http://homeinhenderson.com/2011/05/11/person-shot-by-police-at-hospital-following-altercation-with-officer/
For the city council meeting, i believe my husband already posted the link for the said blog on one of his comments here.
Thank you for your feedback, we really appreciate it.
Anonymous and One Voice…
I see alot of the issues you are talking about on the site with no comments on them. If you are that concerned about them then why are they left without comment. If for some strange reason an issue you are concerned about does not appear on the site, then why not address the issue yourselves. I am sure Phil would welcome a well written article that addresses your issues.
As for the police blotter, that is not taking time away from the staff at HiH. I volunteer my own time to pick up the reports and type them up. I do this because I used to enjoy reading them in the local paper but now they want people to pay to read these. I don’t feel that is right due to those reports being public record. It is helpful for people to know what types of crimes are taking place out there. I am sorry you find it a waste of time but it is my time to waste. You can always use the scroll button to get you to a better article.
And once again, I do not work for HiH I just volunteer my time so this comment has nothing to do with the staff at HiH.
Hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful day :o)
The DISPATCH would do a service to us if it published the disposition of court cases. The HPD does an excellent job nabbing these criminals–and then the prosecutors and judges drop the ball in many cases, and the criminals are back out in no time on bail before the court case and then are rarely convicted.
Does anyone agree with me?
I can’t help it but I admire you Mr Michael Bobbit and your vigilant observation and commentary here about what happened on the last May 6th commissioner meeting and just like you I just wish this sneaky commissioners will stop with their devious plans and get working for the betterment of the county instead.
This has noting to do with HIH or any of the local Henderson and Vance County comments, but we just had a wonderful thunderstorm here in South West Texas, Hondo, D’hanis and now moving on to San Antonio. The ground is so dry that we had no water run off. From my window and the yard, all has been absorbed. This will help the fire fighters and quell those wild fires. Man will try to help with spraying water on the fields, but nothing in comparison when the good LORD decides to water the area. I truly feel sorry for those individuals that live along the flooding Mississippi. They once again will lose what was built after Hurricane Katrina.
Phil and Jason keep up the good work. I enjoy keeping in touch with what’s going on in Henderson and Vance County.
prudence…I agree I would love to see what happens with the cases however with as many court case as there are some days (over 800) it would be next to impossible to list them all. I am not even sure if that is public record or not. Phil I think mentioned something about this the other day (if I am not mistaken) but I wouldn’t even know where to get that type of information and like I said that would be an over-whelming job.
Prudence, I agree with you — I would like to see the court cases! Thank you Ellen Paynter for doing the crime reports!
This isn’t the first time that HiH has undergone a transformation — it’s just less gradual that the changes I put in place when I inherited the thing. There were complaints then that I didn’t do things like the previous editor, and they were true. I didn’t. The site was mine, and I ran it the way I thought it should be run. I had successes, and I made mistakes.
It is important to note that it was less than a year old when I began more-or-less running it on a day-to-day basis, and about a year old when I took the keys and began calling it my own. In 2006, the news blog was a cutting-edge concept, and I didn’t have a lot of experience to guide me in the direction I chose to take.
Five years later (a near-eternity in terms of cyberspace time) we’ve all had ample time to learn the strengths and liabilities of the format. Phil’s changes are fast and furious because he has had ample time to study the issue from an objective point of view, and, more importantly, he has the wisdom to have learned from the mistakes I made.
Just because users don’t comment on an article doesn’t mean it isn’t being read. Usually, it means only that there isn’t a great deal of controversy attached to the story. At the end of the day, it’s the hit counter that determines the relative success of a blog, and I understand that HiH is well above where it was when I began day-to-day management in 2005.
I am happy with my choice for the disposition of HiH, and I don’t believe that there is anyone invested in our community who is more capable of taking it further than I ever could have. Many of the changes he’s made are changes I might have made if I had known that they were even possible and if I had had the technical know-how to implement them.
Go Scotty!