Wednesday, June 22, 2016Page 10 A Brady Standard-Herald

McAnelly Insurance Agency106 N. BLACKBURN STAN McANELLY 325-597-2275

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amateur radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and backyards around the country. Their slogan, "When all else fails, ham radio works.” is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 35,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in Field Day 2015.

Hams have been very active providing communication net-works following tornadoes and hurricanes. Locally, hams have been active in Skywarn operations. They serve as they eyes on the ground for the National Weather Service (NWS) office in San Angelo. Radar does not “see” everything, therefore hams along with members of the fire departments and law enforce-ment serving as Skywarn spotters, help the NWS issue accurate warnings. They often answer this unnoticed call many times throughout the year.

There have been a couple of times where a fiber optic cable has been severed leaving Brady virtually isolated from the outside world, with long-distance land line service, cellular service and internet service not working. Hams are also mostly unaffected by events like the widespread power outages that have occurred. As a matter of fact, our group will operate the entire Field Day weekend free from commercial power.

In the Brady area, the Heart of Texas Ham Operators Group will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at VFW Post 3234 be-ginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and run until 1 p.m. on Sunday.

"We'd like to invite the public to come and see ham radio’s new capabilities and learn how to get your own FCC radio license," said HOTHOG spokesperson Robert Duus.

Amateur radio is growing in the U.S. There are now over 725,000 amateur radio licensees in the U.S., and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, ham volunteers provide both emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies and non-emergency community services too, all for free.

To learn more about amateur radio, go to http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio or visit the local website at http://www.hothog.org.

"The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air!" said Duus.

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mending fences and making decisions. He helped market the cattle and stayed active in agricultural organizations.

Edmiston officially came back to the ranch full-time in 2003, ready to continue building on his family roots and contribute more to agricultural organizations. He knows there were other people before his time who “stepped up to the plate,” and now it is his time to do what he can.

“When you grow up with a place that was loved by two generations before you,” he said, “you learn to respect and love what you have.”

Edmiston will be honored Sept. 10 at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock during a dinner recognizing his devotion to land and livestock.

Other recipients from Texas have been Nolan Ryan (2011) and Gov. Dolph Briscoe (1997).

Spur—Continued from page 1

Cement—Continued from page 1

quarry to using surface mining equipment. Broberg said to keep down the dust that both the plant roads

will be paved and watered and the quarry roads will be paved and watered. The excavation equipment used for mining has built-in dust control systems and dust from the plant operations will be controlled with equipment called bag houses.

The cement plant proposal presented to the county asks for tax abatement over a 10-year period once the plant is up and operating, beginning at 85 percent and ending at 72 percent. After that, it would pay about $2.9 million per year in taxes to the county.

Helping to explain the tax abatement, McCulloch County Chief Tax Appraiser, Zane Brandenberger provided a run-down of taxes the company would be paying in its first year of operation. He explained that at the 85 percent tax abatement level requested, the company would still pay the county over $127,000 in taxes. The company would also pay $1.8 million to the Rochelle School District and over $260,000 going to the water and hospital districts.

McCulloch County Commissioners will hold a public hear-ing on the company's request for a reinvestment zone and tax abatement on Monday, July 11 at 9 a.m. Fadi said he has plans to be in Brady for the public hearing.

Back in late 2015, the Brady Economic Development Cor-poration and the Brady City Council agreed to provide sales tax rebate incentives to U.S. Cement of approximately $287,000 over nine years. None of the incentives would be paid until after the plant is in operation with an employment of 200 people, and the city had realized an increase in sales tax receipts of at least $30,000 per year.

“This has been a good meeting,” stated Broberg. “We have our permit ready to submit to TCEQ, but we still have some issues to be solved and completed. It takes 12 months from the time the permit is applied until it is approved. The cement company can not do any construction until we receive the permit permission.”

Broberg said he has been attending both commissioners’ court meetings and city council meetings with U.S. Cement board member Mark Muratore.

“I agree with the landowners who live close to the site as they have a viable argument and point,” stated Muratore, after the meeting. “I’m glad more people came out today. We had a better mix of people who view the project in a negative or positive way.”

There were a few people who spoke in favor of the plant coming to Brady stating it would increase the tax base and offer jobs for many who have been laid off. One person mentioned the fact that there are a lot of high school graduates who do not want to go to college but to stay here and work.

A youtube link was provided to help area residents understand the proposed excavation process. See that video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osaObrhjqFA.

pit master was Robert Gott who scored a combined total of 23 points in the competition. He received seven points in the chicken division and also in the ribs division and nine points in the brisket division.

Runner up was last year’s defending champion Richard Lett who scored 20 points by getting 10 first place points in both the chicken and brisket divisions, but he missed out on the title by not scoring any points in the ribs division. Though Lett had won first place in both the chicken and brisket competition, his cumulative total was three points shy of the highest cumulative score posted by Gott.

“All in all, this year’s Smoke on the Hill was a success, bringing in new faces to the competition and offering gener-ous donations to a local charity,” said event organizer Robert Selvera. “Many competitors plan to return next year and most plan on inviting several more to the competition.”

Top finishers in each category include: Brisket

1. Richard Lett 2. Robert Gott 3. Shane Owens 4. Michelle

Ramsey 5. Kit Polk 6. Gabe Moreno 7. Chad Keith 8. Randy Deans 9. Derek Crownover 10. Kemper Croft

riBs1. Jason Cornett 2. Rick Perkins 3. Jarrett White 4. Robert

Gott 5. Derek Crownover 6. Scott Evans 7. Chad Keith 8. Kemper Croft 9. Don Feller Smith 10. Val Garcia

ChiCken1. Richard Lett 2. Dwight Phelps 3. Kit Polk 4. Robert Gott

5. Brian Matschek 6. Jon Williams 7. Harvey Gebhard 8. Vince Thompson 9. Chad Keith 10. Rick Perkins

Beans1. Kit Polk 2. Tommy Harris 3. Derek Crownover 4. Linda

Smart 5. Bobby Haggerton 6. Michelle Ramsey 7. Brian Matschek 8. Scott Evans 9. Harold Williamson 10. Dan Newsom

Overall1. Robert Gott, 23; 2. Richard Lett, 20; 3. Kit Polk, 14; 4(t).

Chad Keith 10; 4. Jason Cornett 10; 4. Rick Perkins, 10; 7(t). Dwight Phelps, 9; 7. Shane Owens, 8; 7. Derek Crownover, 8; 7. Jarrett White, 8.

Smoke—Continued from page 1