The Raven’s Report

A photo of one of the Texas Air Rangers at the Friday jump.

Golon County Search & Rescue and the Golon County Sheriff’s Office are continuing the search for two parachutists who are missing following a jump on Friday. The parachutists, Ellie Castle and David Wang, jumped with a local parachute enthusiasts group as part of the celebration of Pinebox Softball Daze, which began Friday evening. The group, the Texas Air Rangers, practices aerial maneuvers and pinpoint landing and often performs at air shows around the region.

Sherriff Butch Anderson has confirmed that all twelve members of the group, including Castle and Wang, were aboard the DeHavilland Twin Otter when it took off from Golon County Airport. Witnesses among the group report that Castle and Wang jumped at the same time as the others. Photographs taken from the ground show all twelve members linking arms to form a circular “star cluster” as they descended. Ten members of the Texas Air Rangers landed at the Pinebox Athletic Field as planned, but Castle and Wang failed to appear.

Although no official cause has been put forward and no bodies have been recovered, a member of the Texas Air Rangers stated on condition of anonymity that the two parachutists may have collided in midair, knocking them unconscious and they fell to the ground without opening their chutes. Another member of the team, also speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the dive became difficult after the group broke up, with violent air currents and unusual updrafts.

Texas Air Ranger president Adam Lang has released a statement thanking the Golon County Search & Rescue and Sheriff’s office for their continued efforts.

An ETU professor angry about a mistake on his paycheck attacked several people at ETU’s payroll office on Monday afternoon. Campus police responded to a 911 call from and found Dr. Timothy Dolby in the process of destroying the office. He refused to comply with officer’s instructions and police used use force to subdue him, including several uses of a police taser and pepper spray.

Gladys Rimley was working in the office when Dolby arrived. “He was extremely agitated about what he thought was a mistake of a penny on his paycheck. When I showed him that it wasn’t an error, just a matter of rounding up in his favor, he went berserk. He screamed, used the most vile profanity, and started throwing things and jumping on the desks. I’ve never seen anyone behave like that. It was terrifying.”

Dolby is a professor of biology at ETU and has a reputation for being well-liked by students and faculty. However, in recent days, associates and staff noted that his behavior had become increasingly bizarre. He cancelled office visits with students and failed to show up to teach classes. Long-time friend and colleague Grant Slade reports that he tried to talk to him on Friday but Dolby verbally attacked him.

“When I sought him out to see if I could help, he accused me of trying to steal his research about a recently discovered flower that he was researching. It was an insane paranoid ramble about how everyone wanted to take his work and destroy him.”

Dolby has been charged with assault and destruction of property and is being held in the Golon County Hospital, pending examination.

On Tuesday, Golon County emergency personnel responded to a 911 call of an unconscious man on an electrical pole on county road 25, north of Pinebox. On arrival, they found Pinebox Electrical employee Devon Little unconscious and hanging from the pole where he had been conducting routine maintenance. EMTs called for support and firecrew arrived and pulled Little down. Little was treated for burns at the scene and was rushed to the Golon County Hospital in Pinebox, where he remains in stable condition.

Although it was initially believed that Little was the victim of an accident caused by the power lines, it was learned that the electricity in the local area had been shut off for the maintenance. Upon looking at victim’s equipment, it was determined that Little had actually been struck by lightning.

“While getting him down, his helmet came off and it wasn’t until we found it that we saw the hole,” Pinebox Electrical manager Pete Boyd said. “It was a good three-inch hole burned right through the high-density plastic. Good grief but that must have been some shock.”

Little’s mother, Kendra Little, stated that this is not the first time her son has been struck by lightning. In 1996, he was hit by a bolt while camping in the Big Thicket with a group of friends. And again in 2003, Little was struck by lightning while playing softball at the Pinebox Sports Park.

“My son seems to draw lightning out of the sky,” Mrs. Little said. “Maybe the third time’s the charm and he won’t be hit no more.”

Temperatures reached 100 degrees in Pinebox this past weekend, driving students in search of water recreation. ETU students were in two separate water accidents.

The first occurred at Lake Greystone. Junior Accounting major Tiffany Taylor was waterskiing when a ski hit one of the numerous tree stumps lurking just under the water, leftover from when the natural lake was dammed and expanded. Taylor is listed in guarded condition at the Golan County hospital.

The second accident occurred at the Gateway Apartments swimming pool when a party turned too rowdy. Several witnesses reported that senior Forestry major Hector Martinez claimed that he could breath under water. Martinez is on the ETU swim team and recently placed second in a competition with other Texas universities. Martinez dove under water and reportedly swam laps around the pool for several minutes before eventually coming to a stop. No life guard was on duty, and at first the other partiers did not realize something was wrong.

Martinez was resusitated on scene and refused further medical treatment. He and several other students were cited with tickets related to under age drinking.