Welcome to another episode of About Mansfield, I’m Steve Cosio with Coleen Daniell, who is broadcasting from home today, along with the entire About Mansfield news team. Thank you for being here. This is Episode 26, our six-month anniversary, and thank you for being a part of our success as we watch our listener numbers grow each week. 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:
• Council unanimously approves homestead exemption
• COVID-19 not getting better in Mansfield
• Big League Dreams closes after employee tests positive for COVID-19
• City leaders talk about making change in race relations
• City staff seeks approval for a Main Street “parklet”
• Assistant Fire Chief retires after 24 years of service
• Sahara Desert dust could make for a stunning sunset in Mansfield
Alexa is here with the weather and Stacey Main interviews the Mansfield ISD PTA Council President Samantha Lee. We are Mansfield’s only source for news, talk and information. This is About Mansfield.
———————————————
NEWS
Welcome back to About Mansfield.
City Council unanimously approved Mansfield’s first homestead exemption Monday night. Even though homeowners will receive a small reduction on the tax bill, Councilperson Julie Short said that we’re moving in the right direction. [SHORT] Councilman Casey Lewis explains how the program will work. [LEWIS] Councilman Terry Moore confirmed his checklist with Deputy City Manager Peter Phillis, who presented the proposal. [MOORE 1] Councilman Moore said it’s what the homeowners have been asking for. [MOORE 2]
–0–
The COVID-19 epidemic is not getting any better in Mansfield. About Mansfield’s Dennis Webb has the story.
[WEBB]
–0–
Big League Dreams closed its ballpark facility Monday after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. An email from the Mansfield Youth Baseball Association notified parents and coaches of the closure. According to the email, Big League Dreams closed the facility to sanitize contact areas of the park. Work is being done to determine the origin and what type of contact this employee may have had with others. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the Mansfield Youth Baseball Association does not have any games scheduled at the facility until Thursday. According to the BLD Facebook page, the facility opened recently with a 75% capacity limit in the stadium club restaurant and implemented and encouraged social distancing throughout the facility, yet there were no limitations on spectators.
–0–
City leaders got together on Friday to answer race relation questions submitted by the community. Bethlehem Baptist Church pastor Michael Evans hosted the 90-minute video conference, which included local leaders Mayor David Cook, Police Chief Tracy Aaron, MISD Police Chief Greg Minter, MISD Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Cantu and members of the Mansfield High School Black Student Association. Pastor Evans plans to hold the second of four quarterly meetings in September.
–0–
City Council discussed Monday night the possibility of adding a temporary parklet to Main Street. The parklet will be an ornate, aesthetically pleasing gathering area that could take up a couple of parking spaces along Main Street. Director of Planning and Development Matt Jones explains the concept. [JONES 1] Mayor Cook says it could benefit downtown. [COOK] A quality design was a major topic but the main concern was safety. [JONES 2] The City would run the temporary program, which has been favored by nonprofits Downtown Mansfield, Incorporated and the Historic Mansfield Business Association. Council approved to hear more about the project in their next meeting.
–0–
24 years is a good run working one company. Especially when that company is Mansfield Fire-Rescue. About Mansfield’s Robby Terry has the story.
Clay Cawood was hired by Mansfield Fire-Rescue in May of 1996 from the Odessa Fire Department. During his tenure here, Mr. Cawood was a founding member of the Fire Department’s Honor Guard and Fire Safety Clown Program and ascended the ranks to Fire Marshal, a role he has filled for the last ten years. In 2018 Mr. Cawood was instrumental in adopting the International Fire Code by the City of Mansfield. Fire Marshal/Assistant Chief Clay Cawood has retired after 24 years of service to the citizens of Mansfield. Chief Cawood, we applaud you for your accomplishments and wish you the best in your retirement. Reporting for About Mansfield, I’m Robby Terry.
–0–
And, just when you thought that 2020 couldn’t get any weirder, a massive plume of dust from the Sahara Desert; the thickest in decades; is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the United States later this week. Computer models are indicating that the dust could reach Mansfield and the rest of North Texas by this weekend. Weather dot com reports that the densest plume began to emerge off western Africa last weekend and has now traveled over 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, covering an area larger than the contiguous United States and western Europe. Dust plumes like these are said to produce spectacular sunrises and sunsets yet typically become less concentrated the farther to the west they move.
WEATHER
Friday is National Canoe Day. My neighbor just bought a new canoe. He can canoe a new canoe. Can you canoe a new canoe? Let’s find out if Mother Nature is going to cooperate for a day on the lake anytime this week. Alexa? [ALEXA]
IRRIGATION TIP
The Tarrant Regional Water District recommends that you do not water your lawn this week. Recent rainfall has provided most of our lawns with all the water it needs for this week. Be sure to turn your sprinklers OFF until next week. For more watering and irrigation tips, log onto WaterIsAwesome.com.
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 AboutMansfield.com and enter your email address under the “Follow Podcast by Email” heading on the home page. And, if you own an Amazon device, listening is as easy as saying, “Alexa, play the About Mansfield podcast.”
And, by the way, thank you for all of the five-star reviews on Apple Podcasts. Coming up after the break, Stacey Main will chat one-on-one with Mansfield ISD PTA Council President Samantha Lee. Stay with us. I’m Steve Cosio with Coleen Daniell, and the entire news team and this is About Mansfield.
———————————————
INTERVIEW
[SAMANTHA LEE]
———————————————
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 Jan Brier who was the first person to email the correct answer to last week’s trivia question — what are the latitude and longitude coordinates for the intersection of Broad and Main Street in Historic Mansfield?
According to Google Maps, the coordinates are: 32 degrees, 33 minutes and 48.6 seconds NORTH by 97 degrees, 8 minutes and 31.3 seconds WEST. Jan 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.
———————————————
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 question is: [YOU MUST LISTEN FOR THE QUESTION]
Email your answer to trivia@aboutmansfield.com.
Good luck and thanks to Fish City Grill for the gift card.
CLOSING
Coming up next week on About Mansfield: our usual array of news, talk and information including our in-studio interview with Texas Wesleyan Professor of History Dr. Christopher Ohan. The show will be released on Wednesday July 1st. 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, AboutMansfield.com. We will never send you any spam, we promise. Thanks for listening. For Coleen Daniell, and the entire news team, I’m Steve Cosio and this… is About Mansfield.
#