Want to stay connected to Denton County? Watch for my column each month for updates and events happening in Precinct 3 and around the county.
Denton County Office of History and Culture
The Office of History and Culture is looking for descendants of Zach Rawlings. Zach Rawlings/Rawlins/Rollins. Zach was born sometime around 1846 and came to Lewisville, Denton County in 1860 as a slave. He worked as the Janitor for the Denton County Courthouse from 1886 – 1911 and was living in the Denton community of Quakertown at the time of his death in June of 1911. Zach had three children: (Mary) Mollie Rawlings Bledsoe, James Rawlings and Callie Rawlings Sims.
If you have any information on possible descendants of Zack Rawlings, please contact Peggy Riddle at the Denton County Office of History and Culture at 940-349-2852. You can find more information on the Office of History and Culture for Denton County at www.dentoncounty.com
Our Area 4th of July Festivities Set in Stone
Red White & Sounds of Lewisville will be Tuesday, July 3, in Old Town Lewisville (fireworks shooting will be from the MCL Grand so the best viewing will be at the Wayne Ferguson Plaza.) Up and coming artist Sara Hobbs will be on the Main stage at 6:00 p.m., followed by Desperado, the Eagles Tribute Band, at 8:00 p.m. For more information on these activities, go to www.visitlewisville.com. Remember to bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair for your comfort. Also, food and drinks will be sold on site. The Fireworks finale will start around 9:30 p.m.!
Flower Mounds Independence Fest 2018 will be on Wednesday, July 4th with the wonderful Pat Green headlining the big event. Admission and parking is FREE at Bakersfield Park and the gates open at 5:00 p.m. with the fireworks finale around 9:50 p.m. For more information on the day of events, go to www.flower-mound.com/festival.
Lake Cities 4th of July
This is a one-of-a-kind celebration uniting the communities of Lake Dallas, Corinth, Hickory Creek and Shady Shores in celebration of our Nation’s birth. The festivities begin with a patriotic parade, followed by food, contests, vendors, and toe tappin’ music. The day is brought to a close with one of the largest, most dazzling fireworks displays in the area. For more information go to www.lakedallas.com
Tax Office Online Queuing System Changes the Way You Wait
You’ve seen this before but it’s worth repeating!
The month of January is the busiest time of the year for the Denton County Tax Office, and in January of 2017, wait times at the tax office averaged between 45 to 90 minutes per customer. One year later in January 2018, as a result of a new queuing system, the longest wait times never exceed 30 minutes, with average wait times dropping below 15 minutes in all tax office locations.
As of the end of March, you can now reserve your place in line for Denton County Tax Office services prior to arriving to the office by going to the tax office web site, selecting the office location, and getting in line before you arrive at an office. This new service, “Wait Anywhere,” serves as an online check-in system.
The Denton County Tax Office first began testing the queuing system in the Carrollton location in October of 2016. This allowed customers for the first time to sit and relax while waiting their turn to be served. Since then, the systems have been added to all tax office locations.
Once the system was in place in all locations, the tax office began monitoring each location with a global dashboard interface, making the Denton County Tax Office the first users in North America, and only the third government entity in the entire world, to do so.
All Denton County residents can find the current wait times for all six locations conveniently on the tax office website at www.tax.dentoncounty.com and make a decision which office is the best for their purposes. Once a customer decides which office to visit, they may also click on “Get in Line Today” and actually get in line prior to traveling.
Simply by entering mobile phone number and selecting the service type they need, the system will generate text messages that will inform them of their anticipated arrival time to the selected location. If a customer needs more time or decides to cancel, a simple one-character response to the prompt can add time to their anticipated arrival time or cancel altogether. Once the customer arrives in the office, they simply check in at the kiosk with their phone number.
Future innovations of the queuing system will allow customers to actually make appointments for future dates and times. This will be very effective for customers who have high volume or transactions that are more complex and need more than a few minutes to complete their work.
The General Election Will be Here Before You Know It
Make sure to cast your vote in November! Election Day is Tuesday, November 6, 2018. The last day to register to vote in the November election is Tuesday, October 9, 2018. Early voting runs Monday, October 22, 2018 to Friday November 2, 2018, and the last day to apply for ballot by mail is Friday, October 26, 2018 (Received not Postmarked)
As always, you can find all voter information on all Denton County Elections at votedenton.com, including a list of candidates, sample ballots, and more.
Upcoming Community and Nonprofit Events:
Youth and Family Counseling Event, “Thank a Hero Range Days” is July 9 – July 20, 2018
Join Youth and Family Counseling for their Thank A Hero Range Days at Crossfire Range in Flower Mound on July 9-20. Range hours are from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily at 801 Patriot Way in Flower Mound. Join them on July 20 from 1 – 3 p.m. for a lite lunch and awards presentation. The contests and prizes are just part of the fun!
Youth and Family Counseling hosts fundraising and awareness events that address the combined care of police, courts, probation, and school personnel to respond to mental health needs of at risk kids and community veterans, just to name a few.
Go to their event page at www.youthandfamilycounseling.org/ for information and tickets.
Unity in Communities Luncheon “In the Hearts of Texans”
Unity in Communities is a luncheon hosted by the Lewisville Area Chamber, the Flower Mound Chamber, and the Highland Village Business Association. The luncheon recognizes the work of our area nonprofit organizations who serve our community and honors one nonprofit organization that serves our community and honors one nonprofit as “Nonprofit of the Year.” The luncheon is Tuesday, July the Hilton Garden Inn, 785 State Highway 121 in Lewisville on Tuesday, July 24, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person and $350 per table of 10. For more information visit with your local chambers of commerce.
Denton County Alert System: Phone, Text & Email Notification When it Matters Most!
Denton County has switched providers for our mass notification system. If you previously signed up for alerts using CodeRed, Nixle, or our oldest system Reverse 911, it is now necessary for you to create a new account on the Everbridge system.
Any data provided to CodeRed, Nixle, or Reverse 911, has been deleted from their system. Your current up to date information will ensure we have a means of contacting you.
To get signed up go to www.dentoncounty.com Under departments click on Emergency Services, Emergency Services/Fire Marshal and then Emergency notification. You will need to set up a new account even if you had been previously signed up with CodeRed.
Ways You Can Help Eliminate Mosquito Breeding Grounds:
With all the news about mosquitoes and the diseases they can spread, everyone needs to take extra steps to remove potential mosquito breeding grounds around their homes. Please remember to:
Fill rotten holes in trees and hollow stumps that could hold water.
Drill drainage holes into the bottom of tire swings.
Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use.
Dispose of old tires, buckets, ceramic pots and other containers in your yard that may collect water.
At least once a week, empty standing water from containers, including birdfeeders, on your property.
Drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers that are left outdoors. Drainage holes only placed in the sides of containers allow enough water to collect for mosquitos to breed.
Clean clogged roof gutters, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to plug up the drains.
Turn over wheelbarrows when not in use.
Store boats covered or upside down or remove rainwater weekly. Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish.
Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used. Be aware that mosquitos may also breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.
Keep drains, ditches and culverts free of grass clippings, weeds, and trash so water will drain properly.
Fill in low areas on your property to eliminate standing water.
To help prevent mosquitoes, the standing water in your yard has to go!
Did You Know?
To keep your pets safe, leave them at home.
NEVER leave your pets alone in a parked car, it’s the law! It is unlawful for any person to intentionally or knowingly confine or allow to be confined any animal under such conditions or for such a period of time as many endanger the health or well-being of the animal due to heat, lack of food or water or any other circumstance which causes suffering, disability or death of the animal.
Connect With Us
Be sure and connect with Denton County on Facebook at facebook.com/DentonCountyTX and on Twitter @DentonCountyTX.
If you have any questions or comments, please let me hear from you. My email is [email protected] and my office number is 972-434-4780.
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