Van Alstyne- Funeral services for Edward Graham Martin Sr will be held at 2:00 PM Wednesday, March 29 at the Western Heights Church of Christ. Rusty Sherry will officiate. Burial with Marine funeral honors will follow at Hall Cemetery with Edward Martin Jr, Leonard Rodgers, Brady Martin, Jay Martin, Brent Weilbacher, and Grant Bingham serving as pallbearers. Mr. Martin, 60, passed away Thursday, March 23 in Van Alstyne.
Edward was born June 15, 1962 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia to Ernest and Beverly (Jay) Martin. He served in the US Marine Corp and was a proud patriot of his country. He was a business owner doing appliance repair for several years and enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. Edward had a life-long passion for raising and working with dogs and also owned a kennel for many years, Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun.
Edward will be remembered as a loving husband and father. He is survived by his wife Rhonda of Van Alstyne; mother, Beverly Martin of Van Alstyne; children, Edward Martin Jr of Plano, Brandi Weilbacher and husband Brent of Van Alstyne, Brook Bingham and husband Grant of Pottsboro, Leonard Rodgers of Van Alstyne, Victor Rodgers and wife Charlie of Van Alstyne, Brady Martin of Van Alstyne, and Brennan Martin of Van Alstyne; brother Jay Martin and wife Lezlie of Overland Park, KS; mother-in-law, Della Skerkis of Van Alstyne; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Ronnie and Millie Davis of Sadler. He was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Martin Sr; brother, Ernest Martin Jr; and son, Brock Martin.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers any donations be made to Home Hospice of Grayson County.
The register book can be signed online at waldofuneralhome.com.
Christian music artist Natasha Owens, of Frisco, never intended to get into the political arena, but after being frustrated with the amount of fraud seen in the November 2020 election, she decided that she would attack the cancel culture community head on without fear and with full faith. Her most recent song, “Trump Won” has supplanted Apple’s iTunes chart as the #1 song—replacing ‘Justice for All’ a combination of January 6 prisoners and President Donald J. Trump reciting the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance.
After releasing the album entitled American Patriot and listening to her audience, she kept hearing from her over and over from her fans that ‘Trump won. Everybody knows that Trump won.’ Owens’ husband inspired her to write a song about Trump winning the election.
“It (Trump won and you know it) became a saying in our house. I started putting a jingle to it and we would make up all kinds of words and verses that were so funny—we were just kidding around with it,” said Owens. “It started to wear on me. I was worried about being cancelled out in Contemporary Christian because Nashville is too woke for their audience. The progressiveness has made its way through the church.”
Owens feared ostracizing herself from her Contemporary Christian market but she said she came to the realization that standing up for truth and what is right was more important than trying to please the Nashville group that she didn’t align with anyway.
“It says in the Bible what’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is right in the end times and that’s what we’re living in,” said Owens. “Stuff that we know is not true is being blasted out there and everybody is being censored for misinformation and deceiving people when we know in our hearts that it’s true. We see it.”
When the movie 2000 Mules was released, Owens said it showed clear proof of cheating and it was the damning evidence.
“This is it, right here,” said Owens of 2000 Mules. “This is how they stole the election.”
Owens said she got to the point where after Trump announced his campaign, she felt she needed to blast words that everyone is afraid to say—Trump won.
“I know that advisors to President Trump are probably telling him that he needs to steer away from this topic and to just move on,” said Owens. “But when you talk to people out there—average Americans, they want it acknowledged, they want it talked about. They’ve been censored for so long and they want something done about it. It’s not going away. We need to hit it head on instead of running from it.”
The censoring is real as the YouTube video of Trump Won was labeled as false information by independent fact-checkers. A scene in the video shows election officials improperly scanning the same ballots multiple times, however, Facebook’s independent fact-checkers said it does NOT which triggered the violation.
The video was released prior to the song being available for purchase. Owens says it only takes two to three days to get a song live on Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, and other digital platforms.
“For some reason, they dragged their feet and it was a week and a half late. So we jumped the video out there and it’s been gathering steam and not one thing has been done on Facebook until yesterday (Thursday),” said Owens. “When it hit number one and it gets all this press and suddenly it’s being censored.”
As of Saturday, YouTube still had the video posted, and it has not been censored by Twitter, Rumble, or Truth Social.
“It’s just Facebook,” said Owens. “How do you get around that? They censored a President for how long? Years? It’s just something you can’t fight. But at least the others are playing nice so far.”
She and her husband live in Frisco, but she was originally from Memphis, Tennessee and moved to Colleyville, Texas at the age of 14. She graduated from Grapevine High School in 1994 and met her husband, of Arlington. They’ve lived in Plano and Prosper and moved to Frisco two years ago.
Owens’ music career is a story in itself. She comes from a musical family where her parents sang and recorded. But she never wanted to be in the spotlight because she said she suffered from severe anxiety.
“I wanted to sing on the praise team and in the choir but never step forward to do a solo or anything like that,” said Owens.
Her father passed away in 2010 in Colleyville in a tragic accident while cleaning his gun.
“He was gone so quickly and I was such a daddy’s girl and the oldest of the family so I held everybody together,” said Owens who soon found herself in a deep depression at the one-year mark of his death.
She began to question why and speak negatively. She received a call from her pastor who asked her to be the music minister. She informed him that she struggles with severe anxiety and was dealing with severe depression and couldn’t get out of bed every day.
“He kept calling me and kept calling me and I kept getting worse and worse. The enemy had already convinced me that the world would be a better place without me. He called me on a day that I can honestly say that if God had not crossed my path when he did with a lifejacket, I wouldn’t be alive today,” said Owens. “So I said yes to a position I was petrified to take and mentally wasn’t prepared to take. But I was tired of feeling the way I was feeling and I said yes and that was the beginning of many years of recovery.”
While at the church, they brought in a man to teach them new songs and he eventually asked Owens whether she had ever thought of putting out an album. She said no but was open to the idea as long as it would be music that would help people get through a trial. With that, her first CD was created.
“Somebody I knew sent my music to someone else and this big manager out of New York called me and said, ‘I feel something in your music. I’ve never helped a Christian artist but I’ve always done rock and pop. But I’m new to Christ and I feel like maybe I can help you.’” Owens explained.
Six weeks later, she received a call from him on Father’s Day and said his father was dying of cancer and he had thought of Owens when one of her songs began playing on his phone.
“He said, ‘I feel like God wants me to help you.’ And that was the beginning of the music career,” said Owens, who opened for Michael W. Smith a few weeks later in front of 20,000 people.
She originally turned down the offer because she didn’t have a band and had never sang the songs live and was about to have a panic attack.
“He said it’s October 3rd—think about it and let me know, The wind got completely knocked out of me and I said I’ll do it. He said, ‘what changed your mind?’ I said, ‘That’s my dad’s birthday.”
Her album entitled, I Made it Through was exactly what she wanted which helps people get through trials. And each album thereafter has been another chapter in her recovery.
“I think God had to really show up and direct me because he knew I was paralyzed by fear and that I wouldn’t step out unless I knew that this is what God wants me to do,” said Owens.
Eventually, she became involved in President Trump’s Faith Initiative Team where she saw first-hand what he was doing that the media wasn’t showing. During COVID, her husband inspired her to create an album about hope and the importance of freedom. That’s when she produced her fifth album American Patriot which eventually landed her at Mar-a-Lago to perform.
Trump’s Faith Initiative team consisted of pastors, Christian artists and others who had a platform that could compete with the media which wasn’t sharing truthful information. In November 2021, she was invited to the first event of the America First Policy Institute at Mar-a-Lago.
“I told myself this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’ve got to drop everything and attend this gala,” said Owens. “Little did I know that was the first one of 14 that we did within a year. We just kept getting invited back—mostly to sing.”
While performing a concert, President Trump approached her and talked to her while she was singing.
“I sang a warrior song and dedicated it to him because I feel God sent him at the perfect time to help America,” said Owens, who said Trump teared up during one of her songs. “It really shows you his heart. He jus loves Americans and he loves the babies.”
Her sophomore album, We Will Rise, was named “Inspirational Album of the Year” at the 2018 We Love Christian Music Awards, which led to a deal with Nashville-based Radiate Music and extensive media coverage including appearances on Fox News, HLN, Newsmax and more. Owens has been making regular appearances on the conservative circuit in recent months with CPAC 2022 in Orlando, performing the national anthem for the largest and most influential annual gathering of conservatives in the world. She also performed for nearly 50,000 at this year’s Hero’s Honor Festival alongside Toby Keith and Craig Morgan.
The song that has caught on fire across the country will most likely send her on stage for Trump rallies in the future. And now she has no fear.
Jack Leavenworth has served as a city councilman, a member of the City of Howe’s Comprehensive Plan committee, and a board member of the Howe Development Foundation. Leavenworth Properties invested approximately half a million dollars into downtown Howe. He most recently served on Howe’s Planning & Zoning Commission, but was removed from the P&Z after he, in the October 18, 2022 meeting, opposed a zone change request that would allow a high-density planned development. According to Leavenworth, the city did not notify him that he was removed and he came to realize it last week when he didn’t receive a packet prior to the P&Z meeting.
Jack Leavenworth at a January 2019 Planning & Zoning Committee Meeting. Staff photo.
In the December meeting, Mayor Bill French nominated his neighbor Madison Snapp to replace Leavenworth’s seat. A month later, Larry Duncan was appointed to the P&Z board. During that meeting, City Administrator Jeff Stanley told the city council that because several members had not shown up to meetings, Larry Duncan had been asked to join the P&Z.
“Me and him has talked and he’s willing to participate,” said Stanley. “Both him and the mayor and I have known him for several years, but I’ve known him for probably as long as anybody around here. Our kids went to school together and we did band together and he’s a super great guy—likes this town and wants to see nothing but good for this town.”
In the October P&Z meeting, Leavenworth made a motion to deny the Ponderosa Point development just north of Howe High School. Leavenworth stated the reason he didn’t support the development was because it didn’t include space for a school site and it didn’t match the city’s Comprehensive Plan established in 2010.
Stanley told Leavenworth that he had discussed the development with Howe ISD Superintendent Kevin Wilson and that there were other plans for school sites down the road.
“On a subdivision this small, we wouldn’t ask for something like that,” said Stanley.
“I don’t think 3,000 people is small,” said Leavenworth. “The acreage is small, but it’s high-density. The need for schools should be by people, not the acreage.”
P&Z meetings and council meetings generally do not draw members of the community, but this particular October meeting did draw a standing-room-only crowd. One of those was Crystal Lawson who lives in the Howe ISD school boundary who stated that the schools were already overcrowded and the development would impact the ISD.
Beyond the schools, her second stated objection was her concern for nearby roads that would be impacted by the heavy traffic.
“That’s a major site with a lot of accidents,” said Lawson.
After listening to comments from the audience and the development group, Leavenworth made the motion to deny the necessary zone change for the planned development. With only three P&Z members present, the motion died without a second.
During the following city council meeting, members of the audience were concerned about what the influx of population would do to the schools in which Mayor Bill French told the citizens that they needed to attend Howe ISD Board of Trustees meetings for their concerns with the school.
Councilwoman Sarah Myrick was the lone dissenting vote in the rezoning for the planned development. Since then, French’s mayor seat is being challenged by Karla McDonald who formally announced her candidacy in January, and by Cort Myrick (Councilwoman Myrick’s husband).
Leavenworth, 85, said he was not surprised by the removal. He said the city’s comprehensive plan is being ignored as well as the citizens.
“I’m not so much upset that I’m not on P&Z as I am that they aren’t following the 2010 Comprehensive Plan that was put in place,” said Leavenworth.
The Howe Enterprise reached out for comment from Howe City Administrator Jeff Stanley, but received no response.
Then-Mayor Jeff Stanley addresses Jack Leavenworth at a January 2019 Planning & Zoning Meeting. Staff photo.
David Carl Griffin, 63, of Van Alsytne, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for felony Theft of Property and several counts of Misapplication of Trust Funds. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges in November of 2022 and was sentenced by Judge Jim Fallon of the 15th District Court following a sentencing hearing. Judge Fallon also sentenced the defendant to 10 years deferred probation on a 1st degree felony of Misapplication of Trust Funds exceeding $300,000.00 and ordered restitution to the victims.
In October of 2020, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from a property owner who advised they had entered into a contract with and paid the defendant; however, a sub-contractor simply did some basic dirt work and the defendant never returned to complete the project. An investigator with the Sheriff’s Office began conducting an investigation and determined there were at least six other victims in Grayson County who had paid the defendant for work and they all suffered the same fate as the original complainant. In addition, the investigation revealed several more victims in Collin County. Many of the property owners ended up with sub-contractors who were never paid by the defendant and all the property owners spent significant sums of money satisfying the sub-contractors and having their construction projects completed by a different builder.
“Everyone understands that in business sometimes deals fall through and contracts are broken. However, in this case there was a clear pattern of criminal conduct. We also applied a unique aspect of the Texas Property Code which requires builders who enter into contracts and receive funds, to hold those funds in trust,” said First Assistant District Attorney Kerye Ashmore. District Attorney Brett Smith added, “We hope this sentence sends a message to builders and contractors, especially in light of the tremendous growth currently in Grayson County. If you take money from citizens and repeatedly fail to meet your commitments that may just be a crime.”
The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Kerye Ashmore. DA Investigator Mike Ditto assisted in the case.
The City of Howe released the following statement on the city’s website (cityofhowe.org) which outlines to the citizens a temporary change in disinfectants:
Attention (All customers East of Hwy. 75 & Abbington Meadows Apartments):
The City of Howe public water system, (PWS) ID TX0910013, will temporarily convert the disinfectant used in the distribution system (ONLY EAST OF HWY. 75 AND INCLUDING ABBINGTON MEADOWS RESIDENTS) from chloramine to free chlorine. The conversion will begin on March 6, 2023 and continue through April 3, 2023. During this period, you may experience taste and odor changes associated with this type of temporary disinfectant conversion. If any water quality issues arise at your residence, please contact City Hall at (903) 532-5571 so that a work order can be produced for Public Works to respond and properly document and address the issue.
Public water systems are required to properly disinfect their water and maintain an adequate disinfectant residual in the distribution system. Chloramine, free chlorine combined with ammonia, is widely used as a disinfectant because it persists for long periods while also limiting the formation of disinfection by-product contaminants. Prolonged use of chloramine coupled with other factors that can affect water quality, such as high temperatures or stagnation of water, may result in the growth and/or persistence of organic matter within the pipes of the distribution system, which may hinder the ability to maintain an adequate disinfectant residual. A temporary conversion to free chlorine, partnered with flushing activities, helps to rid distribution pipes of this organic matter and improve the quality of your water overall.
City of Howe has chosen to implement a temporary disinfectant conversion to free chlorine based on the purchased water supplier North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) performing their routine annual chlorine conversion also known as “Chlorine Burn”.
Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact Director of Public Works Michael Phillips at (903) 532-5571.
Additional informational resources pertaining to this treatment process are below:
