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The seven Paris City Council districts, as proposed to bring the population of each in compliance with 2010 Census data, are shown individually below.
(Click on a particular district TWICE to grow the map to a larger size for easier viewing. This will enable you to detect street names.)
Together, these seven redistricting maps comprise Redistricting Plan 1(D), which will be up for a final vote by the council on Monday, Sept. 12, following a public hearing.
DISTRICT 1–GREEN (JOE MC CARTHY)
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DISTRICT 2–ORANGE (ROBERT AVILA)
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DISTRICT 3–YELLOW (JOHN WRIGHT)
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DISTRICT 4–LIGHT BLUE (RICHARD GROSSNICKLE)
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DISTRICT 5–PURPLE (MATT FRIERSON)
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DISTRICT 6–PINK (EDWIN PICKLE)
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DISTRICT 7–LIGHT GREEN (AJ HASHMI)
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By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
Residents of Paris will get their opportunity on Monday, Sept. 12, to speak out on the proposed redistricting plan for the City of Paris’ seven city council districts.
After the hearing, the council will take final action on the redistricting plan, which then will be forwarded to the Justice Department for approval under the Voting Rights Act of 1973.
After a workshop session on Aug. 25 in which “Redistricting Map 1(D) was hammered out, mayor AJ Hashmi said:
“The process of redistricting has been completed by the council, and now it is open for public discussion. Opinions from the public will be taken and considered, but do please realize that a lot of time and effort has been put into it so that we are in compliance with federal regulations on the population while retaining the ethnic flavor of districts 1 and 2.”
“Everybody is perfectly happy; the map is looking very, very nice,” Hashmi said, after the workshop, during which all seven council members signed off on it.
“Everybody gave up a little bit in order to get to an alignment that everyone was OK with,” councilman Edwin Pickle said.
Pickle said the new Map “1D” is not as “nice and boxy” as the council had hoped to achieve.
“It’s just not neat and tidy. It looks gerrymandered, even though it’s not. Or actually, it is gerrymandered, just by the nature of what we had to do with districts 1 and 2,” Pickle said.
By federal mandate, two of Paris’ seven districts must preserve an ethnic population designed to allow the election of two minority council members on Paris’ seven-member council.
The 2010 Census that became available earlier this year showed that over the past 10 years, District 1 had become under-populated by about 400 people and District 2 had become under-populated by about 800 people.
The challenge was to add that many people back to those two districts while still preserving the ethnic flavor of both districts. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of black residents had decreased in districts 1 and 2 and increased in other districts.
District 1 councilman Joe McCarthy will give up several blocks on his western boundary to District 2 colleague Robert Avila, but will pick up virtually everything in inner northeast Paris that formerly was in District 4. Also coming into District 1 is an area of apartments north of Loop 286, along Stone Avenue across the street from North Lamar High School.
District 2 now has an eastern boundary of approximately north Main Street. The proposed remap will stretch east from NW 19th Street to NE Fifth Street over the southern half and to Fitzhugh over the northern half. District 2’s southern boundary is mostly Bonham Road and Lamar Road, except for a stretch south to Washington Street between SW First Street and SW Seventh Street.
District 3 takes in most of southwest Paris below Bonham Road (plus a two-block area of West Houston Street near Loop 286 where District 3 councilman John Wright lives). District 3 also includes both sides of south Loop 286 all the way around to the east loop.
The area south of U.S. 82 and west of Loop 286 would go from District 3 to District 4, which will swoop around the north loop in a big semi-circle that takes in the Oak Creek neighborhood off Farm Road 195 and will also take in the territory along NE 33rd Street north of Paris Ford. Virtually all of northwest Paris west of NW 19th Street would also be in District 4.
An area of eastern Paris along Old Clarksville Road to Airport Road was returned to District 7, instead of being placed in the far-ranging District 3. District 3 councilman John Wright had exaggerated that his district “goes all the way from Toco to Reno.”
District 5, represented by councilman Matt Frierson, will remain pretty much unchanged. An earlier redistricting version would have placed several blocks of the Historical District in District 2, but that was reversed in the latest plan.
District 6, represented by Pickle, will comprise the area between Lamar and Clarksville, between SE 24th Street and SE 33rd Street, and north of Lamar generally between NE 20th and NE30th.
District 7, represented by Hashmi, will include all of the Morningside Addition, along Old Clarksville Road out to Airport Road, all along Farm Road 195 for a couple of miles, and inside Loop 286 generally east of NE 30th St. and SE 33rd St.
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Did you know that the fear of public speaking ranks number one in The Book List’s rankings of fears? Think about that. More people are afraid to speak in public than to DIE. One of the many benefits of enrolling your kids in theatre classes is building self-confidence and overcoming the fear of public speaking. Confidence in themselves and the ability to speak in public will serve children not just for oral book reports in school, but really for any profession or position later in life. To be successful, you will have to give presentations and speeches.
Being involved in theatre also helps kids develop empathy. As children learn to embody their characters thoughts and feelings they develop empathy and communication skills. Children involved in drama also learn about teamwork and cooperation. They learn to take direction, lead, support and trust others. Clearly, theatre classes enhance a child’s scope of learning and growth in many ways, but honestly, my kids do it because it’s fun.
All three of my children are involved in PCT’s Children’s Theatre. They love the classes, the teachers and most of all – they LOVE being on stage! Registration for fall classes will be held on Saturday, September 10th at the PCT Brown Center of Creative Arts from 11am-1pm. Classes begin the week of Monday, September 12th.
Theatre classes for four different age groups are being offered this year. The Children’s Theatre Advisory Committee has slightly restructured the classes this year and has also hired new teachers (with the exception of Cody Head who teaches teen theatre). The emphasis of the program is on teaching children acting skills in a supportive, fun environment and developing the kids into actors as they progress through the various class levels.
For kindergarten and 1st grade there is Creative Drama taught by Ashley & Mike Pickering. This class introduces your child to the wonderful world of acting through theatre games and experimental dramatic play and includes both a fall and a spring skit for family and friends. The class will meet on Thursdays. Two class times are available: 4:15pm-5:15pm or 5:30pm-6:30pm.
For grades 2nd – 4th grade, there is Introductory Theatre Skills taught by Alan Jones & Katherine Burns. This class will introduce kids to staging, blocking, movements, voice and theatre skills. Participants will also perform a Christmas Show and Spring Play. The class meets Mondays at 5:15pm -6:15pm.
Kids in 5th-7th grade can enroll in Intermediate Theatre Skills & Performance taught by Laura Hutchings. This class includes a Reader’s Theatre performance in the Fall and in the Spring the class breaks into two casts for a Full Production including costumes, sets, sound and lighting for area schools. Over 2000 students visit the PCT Theatre to see this spring play. The class meets Tuesdays at 4pm-5pm or 5:15pm -6:15pm.
Teen Theatre (8th grade & up) is taught by Cody Hea and includes Reader’s Theatre during the Fall semester and a traveling Social Theatre in Spring. The Social Theatre will travel to local schools and present plays on relevant social issues like bullying. This class meets Tuesdays at 5:00pm – 6:00pm.
All Classes meet at the PCT Brown Centre of Creative Arts located at 115 Clarksville Street, just of the square in downtown Paris. For more information email pct@1starnet.com or call the Theatre office at 903-784-0259.
“Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” ~ George Burns
From one mom to another,
Jenny Wilson
Jenny Wilson is a mother of three. She has a weekly story-time at the Paris Public Library, teaches a Mommy & Me class at Central Presbyterian Day School, serves on the PCT Children’s Theatre Advisory Committee, the Aikin Parent Association Board, the Crockett Parent Association and is a Sunday school teacher at Holy Cross Episcopal Church. She also is a certified yoga instructor, Jazzercise instructor and marketing consultant.
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Left to Right: Cortney Trammel, Brook McDade, Anna Moore, Taylor Kennedy
Red Dirt Revolution is finally almost here and ShutDownTown will be there to kick it off. In the upcoming days before RDR, Culture Shock will be posting articles showcasing the artists that will be playing that day, September 3rd. Keep an eye out everyday to read a new article about one of the artists to hear their thoughts about Red Dirt Revolution and upcoming news about their bands.
Although most people probably have their doubts about women in Texas Country or Red Dirt Music, being it’s mostly male dominated, this does not deter Shutdowntown, hailing from Edgewood, Texas, from climbing to the top as fast as they can. The group consists of Amanda Graves, who delivers astonishing, angelic vocals with heart touching lyrics; a great entertainer, and Cari Smith, who delivers notable guitar lines, undeniably catchy melodies, and superb vocals; also a “shutdown” type entertainer. Since the release of their album, Flush, in 2009, which features great tracks like, “6AM”, “Downhill”, “Bury Me”, and “Get Out”, they have played hundreds of shows and have had quite some success promoting it throughout the region. The record, produced by Mike McClure and Joe Hardy, features very honest country songwriting that is complimented with the fusion of rock and the blues. The girls both say that they are lovers of 80′s country and 90′s grunge rock, giving them influences ranging from the Dixie Chicks to Nirvana and from Patty Griffin to Collective Soul. With the buzz building about the group, landing the gig at the upcoming Red Dirt Revolution was a perfect step in the right direction for Shutdowntown. They are set to be the openers of the festival and will kick of their set at noon to get the whole party started, followed by Paris local Merrol Ray. This will be a great opening to a great day of music and mud by the Red Dirt girl duo, Shutdowntown. To check out music, find tour dates, chat with band, view photos, or join their mailing list visit www.reverbnation.com/shutdowntown.
Here are a few more links to Shutdowntown Media:
www.youtube.com/user/theshutdowntown – Videos and follow the bands Video Blog
www.cdbaby.com/artist/shutdowntown – buy, preview, download tracks from Shutdowntown
Red Dirt Revolution is taking place at Pitcock Ranch, 900 CR 15400, Deport, Texas. The event is sponsored by many of Paris’ local business including, Paris Blues Society, K95.5, eParisExtra.com, AMR RV & Outdoor, Paris Kawasaki, Toyota, Discount Wheel and Tire, Cavendar’s, and many more. A portion of the alcohol proceeds will go towards benefiting the Paris Blues Society this year. The event will take place rain or shine and is all ages. There will be lots of four wheeler trails and four wheeler riding, but you must be 16 years of age or older to ride. The complete rules and guidelines are printable from the Red Dirt Revolution website, as well as any other information you may need at www.reddirtrevolution.com. You can also see the line up and the times, as well as buy tickets online. Tickets are also available at Cavender’s Boot City in Paris, Greenville, and Texarkana. The artists playing that day will include, ShutdownTown, Merrol Ray, Whiskey Roadshow, Cody Riley Band, David Grace, Tyler Bryant, Johnny Cooper, and Jason Boland and the Stragglers. This is a must see event that we should be happy is taking place in our home area. Bring out the ATV and the lawn chairs, grab up the family, and head to fields and trails of the Pitcock Ranch on Saturday, a full day of mud and load “Red Dirt” music is in store.
Article by Josh Allen/eParisExtra!
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