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Texas Rangers and the State Fire Marshal’s Office have determined the Jan. 24 fire that gutted the Estelline City Hall was caused by arson, officials said.
The Memphis Fire Department responded about 4 a.m. to the blaze in the building, 507 Burnett St., said Department of Public Safety Trooper Daniel Hawthorne. Firefighters contained the blaze within 20 minutes, he said.
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The folks in Estelline don’t need a billboard on the north end of the tiny town in Hall County to remind them. They know what everyone else in this part of the world also knows.
“I’ve heard it all my life,” said Farrah Farris, owner of The Beer Store, one of five businesses in Estelline, population 145, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. “I’ve shown my driver’s license before and it was a pretty good ways from here. It says Estelline.”
“The woman goes, ‘Oh my God, that’s the speed trap of Texas. Seriously, that’s what we’re known for.”...
...While locals are quick to say other Highway 287 towns, specifically Claude and Chillicothe, are just as bad, one downstate blogger, Aren Cambree, disagreed. Through the state’s Office of Court Administration, he performed a study to find which small towns generated the most revenue per capita from speeding tickets from 2000 to 2008.
First was Westlake, in Tarrant County. No. 2 was Estelline, which handed out 24,269 speeding tickets for a total ticket revenue of $2.8 million from 2000-08.
“Well, we’re a small town; it’s the only income we got,” joked Darrell Collins, a lifetime resident. “Seriously, it’s a safety issue. My word, I’ve seen trucks coming through here at 80 to 90 mph.”
The billboard may be the sign of the times, and good for a nodding chuckle, but it’s not changing a thing.
“Just slow it down and pay attention to your speed,” Warren said, “and you’ll be all right.”
quote:Basing it on revenue per capita seems kind of wrong headed.
While locals are quick to say other Highway 287 towns, specifically Claude and Chillicothe, are just as bad, one downstate blogger, Aren Cambree, disagreed. Through the state’s Office of Court Administration, he performed a study to find which small towns generated the most revenue per capita from speeding tickets from 2000 to 2008.
quote:So if you fail to stop at a stop sign and receive a citation, it is a speed trap.
Proceeding south on 287, I turned into the Shell gas station on my right on 287. Exiting the station I crossed 54 to make a right turn onto 287. There is a curve leading to the expectation of a yield sign. Looking for oncoming traffic on 287 I did not observe that there is actually a stop sign. $133 cost. This is similar to the preceding entry but seems to show that the trap works for any turn at this intersection.
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Traveling on hwy 287.... As you are turning to go east onto hwy 54, as you check for oncoming traffic you will take a curve onto hwy 54. Common sense tells you that you have a yield sign on the curve but at this intersection there is a stop sign. They hand out tickets there every evening.
quote:That one doesn't even indicate what infraction the complainer committed.
Lipscomb County Sherrif patrols from Oklahoma State line west to Booker Tx sheriff' deputys should be out in the county busting cattle russlers, elegal aliens, and dope peddlers instead of collecting revenue to bolster there lack of sales tax collections !
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Estelline's problem isn't the cop giving tickets, it is all the idiots blasting through without slowing down.
What Estelline really needs is speed bumps. Tall speed bumps. And maybe a red light at every intersection along 287.
quote:Travelling through Estelline, Highway 287 crosses, from North to South, Maysey Street, Henry Street, Cleveland Street, Harper Street, Katie Street, and Maud Street.
I think there are some folks posting that are unfamiliar with Estelline.
It's just two blocks long. If you put a light there, it would cause lots of wrecks. It also wouldn't help slow folks down either.
