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EMPIRE-TRIBUNEEMPIRE-TRIBUNESTEPHENVILLE

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E-T DIGITALE-T SPORTS

GETTIN’ IT STARTEDHigh school teams kicked off their 2013 football seasons Thursday and Friday. Scores, photos, more… page A6

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Check out sideline video from Friday’s game online now at yourstephenvilletx.com

14 pages ★ Vol. 113, No. 156 ★ ©2013

Good morning,SubscriberSusanCulpepper,Stephenville, TX

By SARA VANDEN [email protected]

For about a year now, Kevin McCully has single-handedly fought the Stephenville Inde-pendent School District over what he says is unfair treat-ment within the girl’s athletic program at Henderson Junior High.

� e father of two who hails from Nebraska moved to Stephenville in 2010 and said he slowly began to believe that girls are not treated as fairly as boys in sports.

At issue is what McCully says is a long list of inequities that discourage young, female athletes from continuing to play sports at the high school level.

In a complaint � led with

the district in March 2013, McCully lists 57 grievances. In some of the most notable, he contends that the girls, speci� cally on lower level skills teams, have inferior uniforms, less contests than boys, split practices and fewer coaches.

� e complaint also states that girls’ locker rooms and showers are substantially smaller than what boys enjoy, and that money from gate receipts and concession stands are not divided equitably among boys and girls athletics.

In September 2012, McCully began voicing his concerns with SISD administrators, and in March 2013 � led a grievance with the district.

At � rst, he said administra-tors seemed to listen to his concerns, but says he doesn’t

believe that Superintendent Dr. Darrell Floyd ever understood his arguments.

“I always felt our view of the fundamental treatment of girls was worlds apart,” McCully said.

A� er taking the complaints to the third grievance level, at which time it was presented to the school board, McCully and his wife Angie � led a federal lawsuit against the district on behalf of their two daughters.

� e lawsuit, � led in Tarrant County on Aug. 27, demands the school district begin the “design, acquisition, instal-lation and implementation of equal facilities, coaches and services for girl’s athletic teams and boy’s athletic teams at Henderson Junior High as soon as possible in order to

achieve gender equity.”� e McCullys are asking for

$300,000 in compensation.SISD o� cials were served

with court papers on � ursday.McCully said although the

legal � ght has just begun, he and his family are bracing themselves against potential backlash.

“For those opposed to this, what are you afraid of?” McCully asked. “We feel girls should have uniforms, a coach, a place to practice and games to play in. To which part of that do you object?”

What the district saysSISD o� cials say the district

has spent countless time and money answering McCully’s various complaints and re-

What prompted the lawsuit against SISD?

By JESSIE [email protected]

Four local golfers experienced the ultimate thrill at Leg-ends Country Club this summer — a hole in one.

Joe Don Slawson began the hole in one party on his 39th birthday — June 25 — and by the end of the summer Allen Shearer, Billy Tomlinson and CD Jones had joined in the fun. Each were awarded a commemorative putter by Leg-ends a� er a round of golf Friday a� ernoon.

Slawson knocked his tee shot in the cup on the par-3 11th with a 5-iron. � e ace — Slawson’s � rst-ever — was wit-nessed by Jerry May and Clayton Roberson.

Tomlinson, 64, is the only member of the foursome to have multiple hole in ones. He hit his second with a 7-wood on the par-3 � � h with Perry Elliott, Jess Elliott and Wiley Cox witnessing.

Allen Shearer, 60, matched Tomlinson at the � � h, going from the tee box to the bottom of the cup in a single stroke with his 5-wood. � e shot was witnessed by Kerry Diciccio and Legend’s employee Wesley Rhodes.

C.D. Jones, 63, used a 5-wood to knock his ace dead in the cup just more than two weeks ago on the par-3 11th. Cox had the rare pleasure of witnessing a hole-in-one for the second time, while others looking on were Boots Elliott and Alan � orpe.Follow me on Twitter @etsports

HOLE-IN-ONE

No ‘fore’ neededLocal golfers ace holes at Legends

JESSIE HORTON/E-TC.D. Jones, John Mow, Joe Don Slawson, Allen Shear-er, John Traweek and Billy Tomlinson are shown at Legends Country Club Friday after Jones, Slawson, Shearer and Tomlinson were awarded putters com-memorating hole-in-ones this summer.

By CALEB [email protected]

� e Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council is calling all art connoisseurs to visit the River North Gallery Sept. 7-27 to view the work of Mary Waters, a local Stephenville artist and teacher, and her talented students from the First Baptist Church Fine Arts Academy.

“� e gallery is going to include a variety of works from my students and myself,” said Waters. “� ey have really produced a lot and done extremely good work on all the pieces that will be included.”

� e gallery will focus on water colors but will also have additional mediums, including oil paints and paper painting, which is when pieces of magazines are used to create a painting of their own.

� ere will be an artist’s reception from 5-7 p.m. � urs-day, Sept. 12, at the gallery.

“� e community is welcome to come and view the art-work free of charge. Many of the pieces are for sale and it would be great to continue to encourage these students,” Waters said.Follow me on Twitter @caleb_mccaig

ART

Local artist to showcase personal and student works

CONTRIBUTEDThe work of Mary Waters and her students at First Baptist Church Fine Arts Academy will be featured in an exhibit at the River North Gallery in September.

DARYL ROBINSON/E-TPlumes of thick, black smoke billowed from Crouch Dairy in Dublin Saturday afternoon when farm equipment reportedly caught on fire. Fire crews from Dublin, Erath County and Lingleville responded to the blaze. No injuries were reported.

BLAZE AT DAIRY SENDS FIRE CREWS SCRAMBLING

By CALEB [email protected]

� e Stephenville City Council will meet Tuesday, when they will hear public opinion on the proposed tax rate for the upcoming year.

� e city council is decid-ing whether to pass the proposed tax rate of $0.495 per $100 of taxable value.

� e council will also con-sider adopting the budget for the � scal year 2013-14. � e budget includes $250,000 to be used for compensation purposes.

“� ere is money put in the budget this year to work on a pay plan,” said city administrator Mark Kaiser. “� e $219,000 will come out of the general fund, $28,000 out of the water sewer fund and $3,000 from

the land� ll fund will be used to focus on a pay plan to balance compensation and to maintain a competitive environment.”

According to Kaiser, the pay balances are not an issue.

“Economic growth has occurred in our community and that will help pay for these additions,” he said.

� e meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening in the City Hall Council Chambers.Follow me on Twitter @caleb_mc-caig

STEPHENVILLE

City council to host public hearing on tax rate

City administrator Mark Kaiser

SEE SISD, A2

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EmpirE-TribunESTEPHENVILLE

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E-T DIGITALE-T SPORTS

A PIVOTAL WEEKENDCassidy Cline and the Bees secured the 7-3A championship Friday, while the Jackets inched closer to the same feat. Tarleton’s teams then hit the hardwood on Saturday…Page B1

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20 pages H Vol. 113, No. 25 H ©2013

Good morning,SubscriberGaryHenderson,Stephenville, TX

For more unpublished photos, blogs and video from area events, visit yourstephenvilletx.com

BY DONNIE [email protected]

Joint investigation among Erath County Sher-iff ’s Office, the Texas Rangers, Department of Public Safety and the Stephenville Police Depart-ment are ongoing in the homicide case of Jeffrey Vegas Sewalt, 56.

The Sheriff ’s Office had received word of the shooting that resulted in the death of Sewalt who was found lying in an enclosed porch at his home off Pigeon Road Friday afternoon reportedly by his girlfriend.

“Mr. Sewalt suffered a gunshot wound to the head,” Sheriff Office Capt. Jason Upshaw reported. “We have interviewed numerous people, and everyone has been extremely cooperative with law enforcement.”

Upshaw stated the same people will be inter-viewed several times over the next few days as new information becomes available.

Motive is unknown at this time and no arrests have been made.

Sewalt’s body was sent to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, and results are pending.

Still no arrest in Friday slaying

Investigators were on scene Friday working what appears to be a murder investigation.

JESSIE HORTON /E-T

BY JESSIE [email protected]

Copies of Dream Season are on sale now at various locations throughout Ste-phenville including HEB, WalMart and

the Empire-Tribune office, located at 590 E. South Loop.

The Stephenville High School Yellow Jackets completed the 2012 season 13-1 and earned the school district’s fifth state title. Only 17 schools have done so in Texas football history.

As the excitement from the 2012 3A Division I State Championship continues, the Empire-Tribune has released Dream Season, a commemorative magazine that follows the team from the first snap to the final seconds of the championship game at Cowboys Stadium.

E-T Sports Editor Brad Keith said it was an honor to cover such high-caliber high school football and the magazine is a great way to share the newspaper’s pas-sion with the community.

“Covering the state championship was an awesome experience for us and I’m sure it was an awesome experience for everyone in this community who had the opportunity to take part in the playoff journey,” Keith said. “It was a fun and memorable year. It truly was a ‘dream season.’”

The magazine includes features on the championship journey, the record-setting offense and coach Mike Copeland’s fifth state title, as well as photos from the championship celebration and through-out the season.

DREAM SEASON

Commemorative football magazine on shelves now

BY DONNIE [email protected]

Stephenville learned change was coming to town last November when it was announced InterBank was acquir-ing locally owned Town and Country Bank. And Monday morning saw the genesis of a new banking arrangement.

President of the Central Texas Region of Inter-Bank Mark Martin was visibly excited about the move to Stephenville.

“InterBank is here because it is such a great opportunity to be in Stephenville,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place, and I have a big background here - it’s almost like com-ing home for me.”

A Breckenridge boy by birth, Martin has strong ties to the area, having be-come a Tarleton State University student in the fall of 1970. Four years later, he graduated with a degree in business administration.

His next move was into the oil and gas industry, and that field is what led to his eventual entrance into the world of banking.

“I had a partner I worked with in the oil and gas industry and he bought a bank in Breckinridge,” Martin explained. “I went to work for him, and I was there for 15 years.”

His friend would go on to acquire

more banks and subsequently founded InterBank. But Martin was emphatic that each bank was allowed to retain its unique, community flavor. All banks in the InterBank family will carry its logo with the town’s name above it.

“What you are going to find is this company grew up in community banks,” he said. “And this bank will be Stephenville InterBank. There will be no other Ste-phenville InterBank.”

Martin realizes there are some Town and Country cus-tomers who might be a bit troubled by the changes they see in the institution, but he wants them to know they will be minor adjustments and stressed the positive aspects of being part of a bigger picture.

“Let me tell you what it is going to mean to you,” he said. “You are going to see a different sign out by the street very soon. As you reorder checks, you will see a new bank name on your check.”

In addition to no discernible interrup-tion in operations of the institution, he reflected on how being a part of a family of banks will benefit its customers.

“We are bigger, and we have more resources,” he said.

And what about those checks that many still have stashed in desk draw-ers, sporting the Town and Country logo? Martin said customers can use the

BUSINESS NEWS

Meet InterBank’s new president

Mark Martin

See KYLE on Page A2

See MAGAZINE on Page A2See BANK on Page A2

Chris Kyle

2 shot dead at Rough Creek LodgeChris Kyle, author of “American Sniper” among the dead

BY SARA VANDEN [email protected]

A former Tarleton State University student who wrote the best-selling book, “American Sniper,” was one of two victims shot and killed at Rough Creek Lodge Saturday.

Chris Kyle, 38, and another man were found dead at Rough Creek’s shooting range between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday, according to Sheriff Tommy Bryant.

Eddie Ray Routh, an Iraqi war veteran, was arrested hours later after a manhunt led authorities to Lancaster where Routh was taken into custody just before 9 p.m. Saturday.

Routh, 25, is expected to be charged with capital murder.

Investigators had not released the name of the second victim at press time, but reports indicate he may have been Routh’s neighbor.

Bryant said the three men were at the shoot-ing range Saturday when Routh shot the victims at point-blank range before fleeing in Kyle’s truck .

Kyle was a former Navy SEAL who served four tours of duty in Iraq, where he was given the nickname “The Devil of Ramadi” by insurgents.

In 2008, he made his longest successful shot after he spotted an insurgent with a rocket launcher near a U.S. Army convoy at a range of 2,100 yards (1.2 miles).

Kyle was recently honored by the Tarleton Alumni As-sociation as the Outstanding Young Alumnus for 2013.

“Our hearts go out to Chris’ family and friends at this tragic moment,” Tarleton State University President, Dr.

E-T Sports Editor Brad Keith holds up a copy of “Dream Season,” a magazine chronicling the Yellow Jackets’ road to the state champi-onship. The magazine is on shelves now. SARA VANDEN BERGE/E-T