Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
We've had some great times...
In spite of being shot by my wife I
have had a great time. (Laughs) And we've had a great marriage.
/ You could almost say it was love at first sight. We'll tell you about two Garland police officers
who met in the Police Academy, got married, and now more than thirty years later,
retired together. Work is well underway on Garland's
Downtown Redevelopment Project. We'll tell you about a temporary addition that will be seen high
above downtown. (This is their time to shine...) Plus,
an adult special needs theatrical group celebrated their tenth anniversary production.
We'll tell you all about the difference the program is making in the actors' lives.
This and much more, next on Garland Spotlight.
(music)
(music)
(music)
Hi ya'll, I'm Tralana Pollard. Welcome to Garland Spotlight, where we turn our spotlight on
the people and programs that make Garland a great place to live, work, and play.
City leaders celebrated the grand opening of Garland
Water Utilities new laboratory. Located at the Rowlett Creek Wastewater Treatment
Plant, the new facility houses different labs from all across the city under one
roof. (clapping)
It's the official opening of the new laboratory here in the City of Garland
at Rowlett Creek Treatment Plant. (laughter)
This new lab makes it more efficient, we've got more proper ventilation.
We can do more extractions, doing organic extractions. As you see here,
we have four vent hoods set up so we can do like sixteen extractions
at one time instead of four, as in the old lab. We have
the process control is in the core lab, which our staff
works seven days a week, so on the weekends everything is central located.
The laboratory building basically
is about a 5,200 square foot building.
It's a support lab for the Wastewater Treatment division, which also encompasses
pretreatment in both wastewater treatment plants, Duck Creek and Rowlett Creek.
They provide all the sampling for the EPA
and TCEQ state-mandated discharge
monitor reports and permits for the industries in Garland.
This lab is
able to find all kinds of organic and inorganic rare metals, everything
else that's in our water. We use it to test samples at certain
industrials sites and all the water input sites
for the city of Garland. So if anything were to show up, we would probably find out
about it here. A lot of the industries do bring their samples here to let
them be examined, so this is the first line of defense for all
Garland residents keeping their water clean and drinkable, and to make
sure that what goes downstream from here is also safe.
And, progress is becoming visible in Phase 2 of Downtown Garland's Redevelopment Project.
The planned parking garage
behind City Hall will soon begin to rise from its foundation. To make that happen,
a 100 foot crane will assist in the building's construction. We
can expect to see the crane above Downtown Garland sometime in February.
The project includes more than 150 new apartments, as well as a
facelift for City Hall. For more information, go to garlandtx.gov
and click on the Downtown Redevelopment Button. And,
the iconic shopping center sign at Garland Avenue and Miller Road will not have to be taken
down after all. Work is under way onsite to renovate the 60 year old
sign. A WalMart Neighborhood Market will appear on the site, but the City
worked with developers to assure the sign would be preserved.
You could say that it was love at first sight for two Garland police officers.
Jay and Gloria Delmar met as rookies in their Police Training
class more than 30 years ago. They married and raised a family, all
while working as Garland police officers. Now, they bring their longtime careers
with the City to end, together. Nick Gibson has the story.
(background chatter)
It's a familiar sound that fills the halls of the Garland Police Department.
It's a party. A retirement party for two police officers,
Jay and Gloria Delmar. That's right,
Jay and Gloria are married and retiring from the force together. But this
is the end of the story. The beginning started well over 30 years ago.
We started the Academy
July 14 in 1980. In the Academy,
Jay was always right ahead of me, and running with me every day. Back then
we were in the middle of the pack. So it was always my goal
to either catch him, or even better, pass him. Well
I never did catch him and I never did pass him. But, I do say that now
I chased him until he caught me. / And that's exactly what Jay did.
He caught the eye of young Gloria, and the two went on to
graduate from the Academy. And the relationship blossomed from there. /
I invited him over for a meal to thank him for being my friend.
And if he asked me out after that, then that means he is interested. If not,
then nobody is embarrassed and we are still just friends. Well, he asked me out. And on the first date
we went on, he asked me to marry him. He said he was afraid some of the other guys were
going to ask me out and I said no, I won't date anybody else, I'll just date you. /
And Jay got his wish. After two years of chasing Gloria,
and secretly dating on the force, the couple finally got married.
And not long after that, they started a family too. /
We at the Police Department here are a family.
And we have had some great times.
In spite of being shot by my wife, I have had a great time (laughs). And we have had a great marriage.
That is the reason why I tell folks that we have been happily married
for at least 22 years. / And now, after nearly
70 years of combined service with the police force, Jay and Gloria
will focus on family. But will never forget their
past one. (music)
(music)
The Delmar's
service, along with the work of many other Garland police officers contributed to our next
story. Law Street, a legal and public policy website,
has listed Garland as one of Top 10 Safest Cities in America.
Dan Bach has the story. / To receive this recognition of course is a great honor.
And I think it is emblematic of the fact that we do provide
some exceptional resources toward safest. / A national law and public policy
website ranked the City of Garland as one of the Top 10 Safest Cities
with over 200,000 residents in the United States. /
Our resources are pretty exemplary, and I think that we
use them in some very very creative ways and all that translates into
a community where we are a lot safer for it. /
Law Street attributes the city's public safety success to a variety of community programs,
including Neighborhood Crime Watch and Crimestoppers.
Adding "It is primarily the community-oriented population that helps keep the
city of Garland safe for its residents.
(Police radio) While 24-hour police
patrols continue to be the safety backbone for Garland, the community-based
efforts of the Neighborhood Officer Program provide an added
protective element. / Number one in most citizens' minds is the fact that we have the
Neighborhood Police Officer Program because that is one they identify most closely with.
We are one of the few communities that has
School Resource Officers, it is actually a model we have had in place for a quarter
of a century and now other people are even copying. / To allow for year-to-year and
city-to-city comparisons, the website's crime team used the FBI's
four major violent crime categories to create a standard measure of violent
crimes per 100,000 residents. Using this data,
Garland ranked as the ninth safest city with over 200,000 residents. /
Well obviously we will use a lot to talk about
the type of community we are. It is very important when
companies or families that are trying to consider
where they are going to move into the city when they move into the Metroplex. It makes a huge
difference in the type of community they want to pick. I think it is great
for our businesses, to be able to project that degree of
safety. I think it is great for the real estate community, to be able to go out and
say listen, this is the type of community that Garland is. /
Now I want to mention a few great events coming up in the City of Garland.
These delicate ground-level flowers signal the end of winter and the beginning of spring.
They are called Trout Lillies, and they are among the first plants to flower
season. WEar a comfy pair of shoes and join on Saturday, Feb. 22
for the Annual Trout Lilly Tour at the Spring Creek Forest Preserve.
Tours start promptly at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. /
(Folks, it is not a matter of if, it is gonna be a matter of when, when we have far more significant...) /
And with spring comes storm season.
Learn how to help keep your family and community safe by providing timely, accurate reports
to the National Weather Service as a Storm Spotter. Join National
Weather Service and FOX 4 Meteorologists for this year's SKYWARN
Severe Storms Program. Anybody is welcome to attend, whether or not
you want to become a Storm Spotter. This year's training will be held
at the Granville Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 15 beginning at 8 a.m.
To find out more about these and other events in our city, visit
our website at garlandtx.gov. And finally,
it's a theatrical program, here in Garland, created for special needs adults.
Celebrating their Tenth Anniversary performance at the Granville Arts Center,
Dramapalooza gives these aspiring actors their time in the spotlight.
(Good afternoon everyone, thank you so much for
coming out today. We are so excited to have our Tenth Anniversary
musical. crowd applause.
I am Lory Stewart
and I am going to introduce the cast to you just a second, but first we just
want to say a few things...) When I was in high school, I had the thought that
it would be really cool to teach drama to special needs people, but I really had
no idea what that would entail. And then in
1997, someone from the City called me and I am not sure how they got my number,
but they said would you want to teach a camp in the summer for drama and
theater? And i thought yea, this is a cool opportunity and I will get my students
to come help me and be my volunteers. So
I started with that, and I just loved it.
And Nicholas Smith, who is in the show and plays the
Knight of Cards, or Sir Nicholas, he was
in my class when I taught Theater. I used to teach theater at Naaman Forest
and now I teach Speech & Debate at Garland High School, but he was in my class for five years.
Because special needs adults can be in high school longer.
And I just fell in in love with him. He would be in the class projects and the shows,
and although he is nonverbal and he is in a wheelchair, he would just
love it. He would be so happy onstage and just being surrounded
by the singing and dancing and just being a part of it. And I just
fell in love with him. I just think he is one of the most special people I have ever met, and
we got to know each other on a personal level. I would go to his house
and visit him after he graduated and I just really wanted to continue that
relationship. And I thought, what better way than with a musical theater program?
(crowd clapping along)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
They love being around their friends, they love performing,
they love singing, they love being in the spotlight. And clearly
Sarah who was the Queen of Hearts, loves to be the center of attention.
She is our drama queen, she is a star, absolute star. And I think all
of them are. They enjoy it, this is their time to shine.
And their parents and friends and family come, and
they get to be funny and they get to have the limelight, and I
think like any student,
they just want to be the center of attention and be the star for just an hour or so.
And they just love it for that reason.
(music)
(music)
(music)
What a great group. They certainly shined up on that stage. And with that great performance,
we wrap up another episode of Garland Spotlight. Join us again next time
for another inspiring and informative view of our city. In the meantime,
go like us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest on what is going on in Garland.
I'm Tralana Pollard and I'll see you next time. (music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)