Year In Review - October
Amongst the Snyder Daily News’s biggest stories in October 2019 were earth tremors, an event which allowed people to meet their local first responders, a ceremony in honor of Texas’s first licensed female aviator, a trio of wins for Ira in West Central Texas’ Careers in Action video contest and an escaped inmate captured in Snyder.
Three minor earthquakes were registered within 14 hours of each other in northern Scurry County at the beginning of the month.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported that all three tremors were reported approximately 12 miles north of Snyder and about 3 miles below the surface.
The first quake registered a 4.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale, and was followed by a 3.8 magnitude quake and an aftershock quake, which registered 2.5 magnitude.
Law enforcement did receive calls from people who felt the quakes that registered 4.0 and 3.8, but no damage was reported.
Snyder residents got to rub shoulders with area first responders during National Night Out at Towle Park.
Representatives from the Snyder Police Department, Scurry County Sheriff’s Office, Snyder Fire Department, Scurry County EMS, Department of Public Safety, the Texas Game Warden’s office and Native Air med-evac were on hand during the two-hour event, offering tours of various emergency vehicles as well as answering questions at information booths and conducting several games.
National Night Out was established to give the public a chance to visit with first responders in a social setting, Snyder Police Department Chief Brian Haggard said.
“Normally, when most people meet the police, they’re getting a ticket or are in an emergency situation,” Haggard said.
“This way, they got to come and meet us in a more social setting. It was a way for us to try to bring the community together.”
The Scurry County commissioners voted to name the Winston Field terminal for longtime Fluvanna resident Edith McKanna, the first woman in Texas to receive a pilot’s license and to own her own plane, as well as being a charter member of the Ninety-Nine Club, composed of the first 99 women pilots in the United States.
On October 5th, County Judge Dan Hicks was joined by Commissioners Shawn McCowen, Craig Merritt and Terry Williams during the unveiling of the Edith McKanna Terminal banner.
“The Ninety-Niners really spurred this and we wanted to name something for Edith McKanna,” Hicks said. “She did stuff all over this country and it started right here in Scurry County. Mrs. McKanna needed to be honored.”
Three Ira High School teams won cash awards for their entries in the Workforce Solutions for West Central Texas’ Careers in Action video contest in October.
The team consisting of Anzlee Hale, Kandice Clark, Charlotte Highfield, Ryki McCown and Samantha Briseno won the $1,000 top prize in the overall healthcare division for their video, Nurses: Everyday Heroes.
The other two teams received $500 and $150 for placing second in their respective divisions with their videos, The Power is On and EMT: Answering the Call.
Seventy-nine videos submitted by 15 schools were entered in the contest. Ira technology instructor Walt Burt said Ira won the second-most money awards, behind Abilene Wylie High School.
After nearly one hour of chasing him, law enforcement personnel apprehended a Mitchell County Jail inmate on Hill Ave in late October.
The Scurry County law enforcement center received information that Christopher Charles Minor, 29, of Abilene, escaped from the Colorado City jail and used a Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office vehicle.
The vehicle was spotted near Stripes on Coliseum Drive that morning.
Mitchell County law enforcement reported the stolen vehicle may have contained weapons and ammunition.
Officers searched from Hill Ave. to Ave. E and at one point had guns drawn to search alleys, high brush areas and backyards.
Within the hour, law enforcement reported that Minor was in custody and was transported to the Scurry County Jail.