Welcome to another episode of About Mansfield, I’m Steve Cosio with Coleen Daniell, who is social distancing by broadcasting from home, and Robby Terry and Stacey Main are in-studio. Thank you for being here. Coming up on this episode, news and local weather for the upcoming week.
And, as always, we will conclude this episode with the trivia question of the week for a $25 gift card to Fish City Grill.
Let’s take a look at this week’s headlines:
• City manager announces immediate retirement
• Peaceful protest draws thousands to the streets of Mansfield
• Texas Ranger statue with ties to Mansfield is removed from Love Field
• Governor Abbott implements Phase 3 of reopening Texas
• Strip mall at Broad and Walnut Creek sees businesses moving out
• Local church gets the cross they asked for and more
Alexa has the weekly weather forecast, we have a fascinating in-studio interview with former NASA engineer Mansfield resident Dennis Webb.
We are Mansfield’s only source for news, talk and information. This is About Mansfield.
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NEWS
Welcome back to About Mansfield.
City Manager Clayton Chandler tearfully announced his immediate retirement at the city council meeting Monday night. Chandler served as the city’s chief executive officer for over 36 years.
During his tenure, Chandler has guided the city’s growth and development, bringing it local and national attention. Notably, his vast knowledge of finance and fiscal management has culminated in the city earning a coveted AAA bond rating. Under his leadership, the city has been recognized multiple times as a Money Magazine “Best Places to Live in America”, been recognized three times as a Gold Medal winner for an excellent park system, received the Blue Legacy Award for excellence in water conservation projects, among a vast number of additional awards. Chandler held back tears as he addressed the council. [CHANDLER]
Chandler told council that, even though his retirement is effective immediately, he will be available for consultation until the end of September. Each council member took a moment to express their best wishes including an emotional Brent Newsom. [COUNCIL]
Council approved the mutual retirement agreement by a 6-1 vote.
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Thousands of people took to the streets of Mansfield Friday in a peaceful protest. About Mansfield’s Stacey Main has the story. [MAIN]
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A twelve-foot bronze statue of a Texas Ranger was removed from the main lobby of Dallas Love Field on Thursday. The Ranger, dressed in full regalia including cowboy boots, a pair of pistols on his hips and a Western hat, was a reminder of the nearly two hundred years the Texas lawmen patrolled the Lone Star State.
The Texas Ranger sculpture was a gift to the city of Dallas in 1963 when, according to city officials, policies requiring the extensive review of public art donations were not in place.
According to the book Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers, the 12-foot bronze statue in the main lobby of the airport is modeled after Texas Ranger Sgt. E.J. Banks.
Mansfield history buffs may recall that Sgt. Banks was the commanding officer in 1956 when the NAACP, backed by a court order, attempted to integrate Mansfield High School. Banks casually leaned against a tree and saw no need to disperse the crowd of white supremacists, to his left: a black person was hanged in effigy. Cult of Glory was released on Tuesday. The City of Dallas did not state if the statue will be replaced.
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Governor Greg Abbott announced his third phase Wednesday of reopening Texas during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing virtually all businesses to operate at 50% capacity. Restaurants were already permitted to be open at 50% and can immediately increase their table size from six people to 10. On Friday, restaurants can ramp up their capacities to 75%.
While the number of positive cases continues to rise in Texas, the governor emphasized that the new cases are “largely the result of isolated hot spots in nursing homes, jails, and meat packing plants.” According to his office, those places made up more than 45% of the new cases over roughly the last week.
The latest numbers in Tarrant County include 198 cases reported last week. As of Monday, Mansfield has a total of 138 cases, 63 recovered and four deaths, according to the Tarrant County website.
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The corner of Broad and Walnut Creek has seen some changes recently. Months ago, the Mansfield ISD purchased the strip mall that houses the Mansfield Mission Center Thrift Store and several other businesses. And while the thrift store has signed a multi-year lease, the small business owners received notices that no leases will be renewed and have been slowly moving elsewhere.
Eterna Health Foods, owned by Kay Ray, has relocated to the Painted Tree Marketplace on the 287 service road next to Half Price Books. Minuteman Press confirmed that they received a letter stating that their lease will not be renewed. Sage Mansfield recently closed their doors while shop owner Pam Comeau still operates her Doliber Bay Soap Company from home with online shopping. MISD will reportedly allow the Farmers Market to operate in the parking lot once coronavirus restrictions have been lifted.
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Some touch-and-go moments for a local church at Monday’s council meeting. About Mansfield’s Robby Terry has the followup story.
ROBBY: Living Church pastor Trustan Baba was on pins and needles as the city council debated the place of worship’s proposed building, LED sign and 60-foot cross for over an hour Monday night.
Living Church agreed to reduce the size of their LED sign, which will be adjacent to Highway 287, and increase their masonry and glass to 70% in alignment with city ordinance. The most debated part of the evening was over their proposed 60-foot cross near the church’s 287 entrance. Living Church agreed to push the cross back at least 200 feet into their 32-acre property line and away from the highway approximately 250-300 feet. They also agreed to delay the cross installation until Phase 2 of their project, when they build their 3,000 seat auditorium.
Pastor Baba related the evening to being in the ring. [BABA 1]
Baba responded emphatically whether a hypothetical 60-foot Star of David should be allowed or not in Mansfield. [BABA 2]
Councilman Brent Newsom sought to reduce the height of the proposed cross. [NEWSOM] The 50-foot height amendment failed, ultimately resulting in the passing of the proposed 60-foot cross along with the rest of the Living Word project. Reporting for About Mansfield, I’m Robby Terry.
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WEATHER
Saturday is National Weed Your Garden Day while Monday is National Nature Photography Day. Let’s find out if Mother Nature is going to cooperate for the entire week. Alexa?
Wed 10 – Sunny. High near 90F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
Thu 11 – 93°/63°/0%
Fri 12 – 94°/68°/0%
Sat 13 – 96°/69°/0%
Sun 14 – 97°/71°/0%
Mon 15 – 98°/73°/0%
Tue 16 – 100°/73°/0%
That’s a look at news and weather. If you have a news tip that you would like us to follow up on, send us an email to news@aboutmansfield.com. Again, that’s news@aboutmansfield.com.
Just a reminder to follow this podcast so you will be automatically notified when a new episode is released. The easiest way is to log on to our website at About Mansfield.com and enter your email address under the “Follow Podcast by Email” heading on the home page. For those who enjoy listening to this program on the Apple Podcasts app, we would greatly appreciate you taking a couple of seconds to give us a positive rating.
Coming up after the break, he is a former NASA engineer, author, musician, and Mansfield resident: Dennis Webb joins me in-studio, six feet apart and in masks! Stay with us. I’m Steve Cosio with Coleen Daniell, Robby Terry and Stacey Main and this is About Mansfield.
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INTERVIEW
[PLEASE LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW]
LISTENER COMMENTS
We welcome all feedback about the program. Feel free to chime-in by sending an email to comments@aboutmansfield.com or by voicemail at 817-435-2938. That’s 817-435-2938. We’ll read or play back some of the comments in a future episode.
TRIVIA WINNER
Congratulations to Chris Sheraden who was the first person to email the correct answer to last week’s trivia question — All totaled, how many schools are there within the MISD organization? According to the MISD website, there are 46 schools. Chris has won a $25 gift card to Fish City Grill. After the break, this week’s trivia question of the week. I’m Coleen Daniell and this is About Mansfield.
Hi, this is John with Pool Aid, your local pool care specialist. The CDC has determined that pool maintenance services are an essential business due to the added threat of bacteria, algae, mold and funguses. That is a byproduct of the lack of cleaning in chemical imbalance. Allow us to be an essential part of your pool. If you have any questions or concerns or need a certified professional to help keep your pool safe and clean. Visit us on the internet at PoolAid.net. That’s PoolAid.net. We’re here for you.
TRIVIA
It’s time for the highly-coveted, wildly popular, Trivia Question of the Week. The first person to email the correct answer to trivia@aboutmansfield.com will receive a $25 gift card to Fish City Grill, home of the world famous Oyster Nachos! You can find them at the corner of Debbie Lane and 157 or on the Internet at FishCityGrill.com. Let’s get to this week’s question. Coleen?
The city manager oversees the day-to-day operations of the city, reporting to the City Council and directing a management team of professionals. Clayton Chandler has been Mansfield’s city manager for over three decades. This week’s trivia question is:
[YOU MUST LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM FOR THE QUESTION!]
Good luck and thanks to Fish City Grill for the gift card.
Coming up next week on About Mansfield: our usual array of news, talk and information including an in-studio interview with the director of the Mansfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Theresa Cohagen. The show will be released on Wednesday June 17th. Until then, don’t forget to follow to this podcast, if you haven’t already, so you never miss an episode. It’s free and easy. Just enter your email address on our website, About Mansfield dot com. We will never send you any spam, we promise. Thanks for listening. For Coleen Daniell, Robby Terry and Stacey Main, I’m Steve Cosio and this is About Mansfield.
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