Get up and move in 2011! Join us for some hiking fun. We are a new group in the Johnson County, Texas area that are interested in hiking for fun and fitness.  There are no dues, the only price of admission is your participation.  Please check out Johnson County Hiking Group today.

Johnson County Hiking Group

Did you know that one of the candidates for U.S. Congress voted in the Democratic Primary in 2008?  Did you know one of the candidates for U.S. Congress was on the Board of Directors of a business with ultra-liberal financier George Soros?  Concerning a different candidate, did you know he was the only one of the current candidates to run in the 2008 election and came within 4% of winning the seat?  Did you know the other four of the current candidates failed to support that sole Republican candidate in the 2008 election?  Where were they then?  Why should you vote for them now?  Do you know which candidate these apply to?  Maybe you should!

Did you know one of the candidates for State Representative, who claims on his signage to be a “conservative Republican”, publicly endorsed our ultra-liberal U.S. Congressman in the last three elections?  Do you know which candidate?  Maybe you should!

Do you know which candidates are incumbents?  Do you know how those incumbents have performed in their job?  Do you know the back ground of the challengers?  Maybe you should!

Go to www.JCRP.org and www.johnsoncountyelection.com.  Use Google and other web searches.   Read the newspaper.  Question what is said.  Do the research.  Get informed.  Then go vote!

Dan Hunt
Cleburne, Texas

March Primaries.  The JCRP is inviting Republican candidates from all races, from local to State to U.S. Congress.
Each candidate who has an opponent will have 5 minutes to speak, followed by taking questions from the audience.  Each

candidate with no opposition will be allowed 2 minutes to speak.  Candidates will be available to meet with the crowd both before

and after the forum.  The Johnson County Republican Women are providing snacks and punch.
“This is a great opportunity for the voting public to meet and get to know the candidates on a one-on-one basis, and hear what the

candidates stand for”, said Dan Hunt, organizer for the JCRP Candidate Forum.  “The JCRP always encourages voters to get

informed, and then to get out and vote.”
Some of the candidates who have already committed to coming are Rob Curnock – candidate for U.S. House of Representatives

from Texas District 17 (which includes Johnson County), Justice Felipe Reyna – current Justice of the 10th Court of Appeals, John

Matthews – current Commissioner Precinct 2, Jeff Monk – current Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Becky Williams – candidate for

Johnson County Clerk, Richard Sikes – candidate for Johnson County Clerk, and many others.
The Candidate Forum will be held on Saturday, January 30, at 7:00pm in the County Commissioner’s Courtroom in then historic

Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Cleburne.  Admission is free.
* * *

The Casual Observer

The Casual Observer

Who among you know  the meaning of the red octagon  shaped sign at many street intersections? It’s really self explanatory. The meaning is spelled in large white letters, “STOP.”  It does not mean “slow down and proceed.”

There is a STOP sign just south of my residence. Every time I sit on my front porch, I see driver after driver slow and proceed. The city could place a police officer there and add to the city treasury greatly.

Let’s try another one, right turn on red. The law says that you can turn
right on red only after you “STOP” and check for traffic.

A three vehicle accident happened recently on North Nolan River Road
because one driver did not STOP before turning right on red. Unfortunately the driver that hit him was racing another driver. Again, the city would do well by placing a full time officer in this area during the school year. I have observed teenagers come out of the drive on Nolan River very fast disregarding oncoming traffic.

Folks, let’s be careful out there and observe these traffic laws that are basic.

On other subjects, the new Civic Center is coming along nicely. It’s strange that I observe only a few construction workers on the scene when I drive by, yet the work seems to be progressing. Maybe there a good gremlins that come in nights to help out.

The Johnson County Community Lodge in Cleburne is going up after twelve years of setting idle. If you don’t know about this, it’s a shelter for those who need temporary housing. Most of the construction is being done by volunteer with the local merchants donating the materials. I’ll be telling you more about this at a later time.

I spent Memorial Day week end visiting friends in the Beaumont area.
There is still a lot of work to do  in helping the residents recover from Hurricane Ike.  It seems to me that we who have not been through such catastrophe can not or don’t want to relate to the loss these folks have experienced.  What would you do if, God forbid, Johnson County was hit by a hurricane or devastating tornado?

There are many organization looking for volunteers to help people in times of need. A lot of these organizations need our time more than they need our finances. After all, with the economy such as it is, I have a lot more time than I have finances. Find an organization that can use you help and talents. If you don’t know where to look, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.

The Casual Obsever is an occasional column written by a concerned citizen in our county.  Thanks for stopping by JohnsonCountyEvents.com.

Fly High Wireless ISP Tower

This Internet service provider tower blew over in the storms Tuesday night.  The tower belongs to Fly High Wireless.  The damage is an indicator of how strong the winds were in this area.  The tower is located near CR 1010 and CR 905.  No injuries have been reported.  Please tell your friends you saw it on JohnsonCountyEvents.com.

It was a rough Tuesday night in Johnson County.  The storms were moving toward the east and southeast but this huge tree and many other smaller branches were blown toward the west and southwest.  This damage occurred between Godley and Cleburne, north of 171.  Free fire wood anyone?  Thanks for stopping by JohnsonCountyEvents.com.

Plaza Theatre Company

Mr. Aaron Siler and the Plaza Theatre Company present Cash on Delivery.  According to Mr. Siler:

We are as excited as punch for Cash on Delivery opening May 1st.  It is a british comedy about a man who has been bilking the government by claiming benefits for multiple fictitious persons – all who supposedly live in his home. When he decides to go straight and kill off the made-up persons, only then does the government investigate. Witness the amazing amount of tight spots the con artist escapes from with the help of his upstairs neighbor and his mysterious Uncle George. A comic farce sure to split sides with laughter.

But a recent study by U.S. researchers has shown that students who chew gum in class – especially those in math classes – perform better than those who don’t chew gum.

The 14-week study was funded by Wrigley, a gum maker, and led by Craig Johnston and a team from Baylor College of Medicine located in Houston.

108 college students ranging from 13- to16-years-old were studied at a Houston charter school that serves mainly low-income Hispanic students.

About half of the students chewed a stick of gum during class, tests and homework. Eighty-six percent of the time while in math class, and 36 percent of the time while doing homework. The other half of students didn’t chew gum.

The results showed that after 14 weeks, the students who chewed gum showed a three percent increase in their math scores, according to the Texas Knowledge of Assessment and Skills, or TAKS test.

Johnson and his associates said the results were a small but statistical change.

Now where was this study when I was still in the lower education system? Remember the kid that was always getting in trouble for chewing gum in class? That was me.

At least it all makes sense why my math skills are so bad now, every time I got in trouble in math for chewing gum; I lost a bit of mathematical knowledge.

Where exactly was this when I was in high school?

State representative Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, filed a bill to the Texas Legislators that would pay high school students at lower performing schools for their good grades.

I knew I should have failed those last few years of high school!

The money would come from the estimated $6 billion Texas is expected to receive in stimulus funds for education. A pilot program will be enacted for a few years, and if proven effective, the state may create a permanent program in the future.

Such programs have already been enacted in New York, Arizona and Washington D.C.

Freshman at schools rated academically unacceptable could earn $50 for each A, $35 for a B and $20 for a C in their core classes, which includes science, math, social studies and English classes.

“It would definitely give me incentive to do better in school,” said Ethan Keyser, a freshman at Willis High School in Conroe, TX. “[It would be] even better for the kids making really bad grades.”

There are a lot of critics to the bill, though.

Take Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College.

“The downside to this is being ignored by those who support it, which is that once kids become accustomed to this, they become dependent,” he said in an article in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram. “They’ll want someone walking behind them the rest of their lives with an M&M to make sure they are rewarded for everything they do.”